Shawn stared at the one-way mirror for all he was worth. Occasionally he moved his gaze to a different part of the mirror, not being sure who was where on the other side of the glass. All he knew was that the people who were closest to him, who knew him best, were all in one room together. He needed one of them to see his now-naked eye. He needed just one of them to make the connection.

He was startled from his reverie when the door once again clicked open. Shawn knew they wouldn't let Lassiter back in there, not after he'd hit their suspect, but he hadn't expected Buzz to walk through the door. Shawn's first impulse was to grin at the big man, but then he remembered the stony silence and glowering expression the officer had worn on their trip through the station.

The grin died long before it reached Shawn's lips.

Shawn watched the door, waiting for Juliet to enter, or maybe the Chief. Someone who had a bit more rank than Buzz would have to conduct the interrogation, and with Lassiter out of the running, the two women were the most likely choices. Once again, however, Shawn was surprised.

The person who followed Buzz into the room wasn't Juliet. It wasn't Chief Vick.

It was Gus.

As always impeccably dressed in a grey suit and lavender dress shirt, Gus strode into the interrogation room as cool as a cucumber...though he pulled the second chair a ways back from the table before sitting down. Shawn let loose a mental chuckle at his friend's wariness even as he applauded the panache. Really, Shawn was proud of his best friend for walking into a room with a suspected kidnapper and sitting down like he did that sort of thing every day. Wrapping his feet around the legs of his chair, Shawn maneuvered it around so that he faced the table and his still-distant friend.

Of course, it all went downhill from there. Sure, Gus had the entrance down pat, but once he'd gotten settled in the chair, he just sat there, staring at Shawn. Not that Shawn minded - it was a break from the questions that he couldn't answer, but still, just sitting? Hadn't Gus learned anything over the past few years? Or from ANY cop show?

After a few very long, silent seconds, Gus scooted his chair a little closer to the table, peering at Shawn. Then he scooted forward a bit more, close enough that he was finally at the table.

Then he started to lean forward.

Okay, maybe Shawn needed to rethink his opinion of Gus's interrogation skills, 'cause Gus hadn't said a word, but Shawn was creeped out enough that, if he could speak, he would've answered anything Gus had asked, just to stop him from inching closer and closer.

But Shawn couldn't speak, and Gus didn't ask anything anyway, he just kept leaning forward, his gaze darting over Shawn's face like it was some kind of strange puzzle that he just couldn't quite get.

When Gus leaned so far forward he was past the center line of the table, Shawn leaned back in his own chair, but Gus just kept coming until his nose was almost touching Shawn's.

Uh, personal space, buddy?


Something was off. Gus KNEW something was off. And whatever it was, it was right here, in this guy's face. Some expression, some mark or mole or SOMETHING.

Gus let his gaze roam over the guy's face, but he couldn't see what it was that was bothering him so much. Sure, the beard was ugly, as was the guy's hair, and that nose ring was just plain weird, but it hadn't changed; it wasn't the problem. Finally Gus's gaze flicked up to the weird guy's eyes.

Whoa. Okay, that was it.

The guy had two different colored eyes. One of them was that flat black that had been unnerving all of them since they'd first seen it, but the other...

The other eye was a mixture of grey and gold, a strange whirl of colors so familiar that Gus would know it anywhere.

Startled, Gus pulled back, still staring at that one familiar eye.

"Shawn?" Gus whispered tentatively. It couldn't be, he was wrong, he had to be.

But the guy in the chair broke out into a huge grin, and that, too, Gus would know anywhere.

"Shawn!" he cried, and within seconds Gus was on the other side of the table, his arms wrapped around his best friend.