AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am sorry for the short chapter. Been super sick, but as an apology for the lateness, I added an unplanned Shawn bit.

This is probably my favorite title of any chapter I've written. it fits so perfectly. :D


Chapter 11- Desperate Times, Call for Despereaux Measures

"Hello Burton." Pierre greeted cordially, dispensing of the usual butchery of his name.

Gus instantly stumbled back, past the door frame and he kept backing up. He'd never really trusted the art thief to start with, especially since being hit over the head in Canada. Finding out from Shawn that Pierre was actually a vampire didn't help his case any either. He wondered if the threat, 'Don't come any closer or my girlfriend will beat you up.' would sound manly at that point, if he could even consider Coraline his "girlfriend."

"Despereaux? What are you doing here?"

Pierre rose gracefully and walked over to Gus, who had ended up backing himself into the wall next to the front door. "What? Shawn didn't tell you? I'm hurt." He put a hand to his chest dramatically. "I promised him I'd come to visit when I returned from abroad. We never got to talk much and I'm quite eager to catch up."

"Typical." Gus grumbled. Shawn was always forgetting to tell him things. "Shawn's not...here, right now." He didn't know if it would be a good idea to tell Pierre anything at this point. Any time he got involved, things became a lot more complicated.

Pierre nodded and backed away from Gus a few steps, smiling at how uncomfortable he made him, "Ah, he must be home with his fair Juliet. I heard about her delicate condition through the grape vine."

Gus opened his mouth to ask what kind of vampire grape vine discusses his friends, when the door burst in and Carlton came through it with a murderous look, and his gun drawn.


Carlton had been about to walk in the door when a wave of fear hit him hard, and he picked up a familiar voice. It was one he thought, and hoped, he'd never hear again. He kicked in the door and looked around, his eyes settling on Gus and Pierre.

Both men backed up in surprise as Carlton leveled his pistol at the thief. "What the hell Guster!?" He fought to keep his cool but he could feel it slipping as he looked into the smirking face of his arch nemesis. "Despereaux? He's supposed to be dead!"

Pierre's slightly amused, easy going smile returned. "Detective, a pleasure you could drop by in your... usual fashion."

Gus rolled his eyes. "Lassiter, what are you even doing here?"

The detective glanced at Gus, keeping Pierre in his sights. "I came because there was another robbery and when I came to the door, I felt... er, heard raised voices." That was a close one.

Pierre's eyebrows raised. "A robbery. I assure you detective I just got to town. You can't prove a thing."

"You being here can't be a coincidence." Carlton growled. Pierre might just even be behind everything, especially showing his face now, and the thieves all of a sudden going for a museum of all places.

Nodding, Pierre admitted, "Indeed detective, it is not a coincidence. Shawn asked me to come months ago."

Carlton cast an accusing glance at Gus, "Spencer knew he was alive? What about the funeral?" Shawn had seemed completely broken up at the prospect of Pierre's demise, but that was only after his father practically hit him over the head with DNA proof that he was really dead, right in the middle of the eulogy, causing Shawn to rant about everyone's mortality before bursting into tears.

It had actually been one of the best convict funerals Carlton had gone to, despite the uncomfortable display of emotion from Shawn, and he'd been to a fair amount. Only to verify that they were actually dead so he could open up a spot in his little black address book. Finding out Pierrewasn't dead ruined his week even more.

"Don't be angry with Shawn." Pierre drawled in his English accent. "He and Burton didn't find out till later, though I must admit Shawn's sentiments were touching."

"You too Guster? I could arrest you for aiding and abetting a criminal!" Carlton was torn between hauling both of them in or claiming Gus was a hostage. The man was going through enough right now. He clenched his teeth, holding back his anger before it got too out of control. He then took a deep calming breath, and caught the scent of something familiar. Chancing closing his eyes, he sniffed.

"It's about time detective." Carlton's eyes popped open to Pierre's smirk. "I was starting to think you were going to miss the obvious. I know you're still new to the whole vampire thing but really?"

The smell of decay was strong around Pierre, Carlton wouldn't have missed it before if he hadn't been so pissed off. Strong decay, meant old vampire, and chances were that Gus and Shawn already knew about that too. "You sons of bitches." He growled and lowered the gun reluctantly.

He couldn't arrest Pierre now. Faking your death was one thing, but putting a vampire behind bars would be racial suicide. No vampire could survive long in jail without being noticed, even ones who could probably escape easily. It's why they were so desperate to find Shawn, as a race they didn't do well in captivity.

Gus frowned, looking guilty. "We were going to tell you… it just never came up. You know how Shawn was…is. How Shawn is."

At the man's crestfallen look for the verbal slip, Carlton's anger melted away and he remembered why he was here.

Pierre didn't miss the slip either. He glanced between the other two men, puzzled. "Was?"

"Spencer was kidnapped five days ago while investigating thieves. They struck again today and I came here to tell Guster the news, when I found you. What's worse is this." Carlton paused, and took out the folded piece of paper with the spider symbol on it and pointed to the teeth. "Before they got him, they were never pointed."

Gus' eyes widened in understanding and the gentlemen thief's features turned dark. Carlton figured if there was at least one thing that Pierre would take seriously, it would be this. It was already a disaster that the thieves got turned, but if anyone found out about it, the consequences for them would be catastrophic.

"Do they still have him?" Pierre asked.

"We don't know. The place they first had him at was a gore fest, but he wasn't there." Carlton ignored Gus covering his mouth at the memory and continued, "We found more blood in a big rig that was stolen, but no sign of anything until today."

Pierre nodded as if coming up with a conclusion. "That settles it, you need my help."

"NO." Gus and Carlton said in unison.

Undeterred, Pierre continued, "Think about it gentlemen, who better to catch a group of vampire thieves, than a better, older, vampire thief?"

Carlton could see Gus' resolve start to crumble, and could understand why. Shawn was his best friend and despite reservations, Pierre was probably right and Gus did have more say in the matter than he did anyway. "Guster?"

Gus took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "What did you have in mind?"


So hungry...

Shawn paced back and forth restless, as far out as the chain around his neck would go, which wasn't far. They'd put it on him three days ago when he'd finally gotten out of that stupid chair, and broke the damn thing to smithereens. He'd almost made it out of the building too, but three vampires against one weak one weren't the best odds. He'd given them some good wounds though. He smiled at the thought.

Hesitant footsteps in the concrete hallway followed by squeaking wheels signaled that someone was approaching. Shawn stood quickly, already able to smell the human coming. It was always the human now. The others didn't want to chance being around him since that last spat.

The door opened slowly and the familiar wheel barrow carrying his meal came through it, followed by the haggard looking human. The human was as much of a prisoner that he was now because Shawn imagined his fledglings wouldn't want him escaping and blabbing their plans, despite the fact that just a week ago he was one of their best and most trusted friends.

Pausing his pacing, he smiled, showing his fangs. The human hated that, and hesitated at the door. The last time Shawn had almost been able to grab him. He imagined the incident was still fresh in his mind.

The human quickly pushed the body towards him and Shawn growled daring him to come closer. The sound echoed sinisterly around the large windowless room.

Shawn's eyes lowered to the body. The man in the wheelbarrow was dead, like all the others, with multiple bite marks already on most of the pulse points. Sloppy seconds. He thought bitterly. His fledglings didn't dare give him too much, lest he get too strong. They were getting too smart, despite his silence.

Reaching the end of his chain, he grabbed the wheelbarrow and crouched over the dead body sinking his teeth in and cursing the almost nonexistent blood flow. The human retreated quickly, but he would be back later to dispose of the body. Shawn thought he saw sympathy in the man's eyes, but he was beyond caring what the human thought anymore. Too little, too late. It was all about survival now.

Unfortunately, most of the time, he couldn't figure out why he even bothered anymore. He'd given up focusing on anything but the pain and hunger. There was nothing else… no friends, or family coming for him. His rage was his only company now, and that was the only thing that his captors had kept very well fed…


"No!" Henry shook his head at the three men standing before him. "No no no! I am not having him create some ridiculous plan and put my son's life in even more jeopardy!"

After a lot of convincing on Pierre's part, Carlton and Gus had finally agreed to let him talk to Henry about Shawn. Henry had never officially met Pierre, but he was there during the trials and saw how much of a smooth talker he was. He didn't trust him and the elder Spencer was surprised that Carlton was even entertaining the idea of listening to him.

"Henry, I've heard his plan. It's solid." Carlton didn't seem to want to give the thief any more props than that.

"Oh that's comforting!" Henry ranted and paced the floor. He, along with Gus, had been going insane for almost a week following any kind of clue that they could come up with and had come up empty. Then Juliet had called him a couple hours before and told him about the thieves possibly being vampires.

The thought of his son being forced to turn others was unthinkable. The thought that it had happened willingly never even crossed his mind. He knew his son. Shawn had made Carlton a vampire to save his life, and there was no way he'd consent to giving eternal life to a bunch of murdering thieves.

Juliet, who had been silent and sitting next to Maddie through the whole exchange stood up. "If he says he can help find Shawn, I believe him."

Pierre smiled, "Why thank you Juliet." He looked expectantly at Henry who shook his head and walked away into the kitchen.

As he entered and leaned against the counter, Maddie came up behind him. "Henry, why don't you just listen to him?"

" It's not just him Madds. This whole thing is my fault. I pressured Shawn into talking to you when he wasn't ready. Then, when he wanted to, I told him to wait." He heaved a sigh and turned to face Maddie, "If I'd just listened, he never would have run off by himself."

Maddie took Henry's face in her hands, "Henry, Shawn made his own decision to go to that place without backup. We just have to trust that our son is strong enough to survive this and come back to us." Tears started forming in her eyes. "If this man can help us get Goose back, I'd like to try, no matter who he is."

Henry grabbed her hands away from his face gently, and held them. "Okay, I'll listen."


Pierre cleared his throat as he started to run through his idea. He'd mulled it over in his head a few times and, as Carlton had said, it seemed like a solid plan. So far, they had focused on trying to find just Shawn. The group needed to expand their search to trying to find the thieves instead. They'd find the thieves, then they'd find Shawn. The other thieves were good, but he was better, and knew just how to get them.

"Okay, this is going to be a traditional bait and switch. Detectives if you would," He indicated towards Carlton and Juliet, "What have the thieves been stealing?"

"It mostly started out as department stores. Jewelry, expensive clothes and the like." Carlton explained. "Just stuff two-bit punks would lift."

Juliet nodded agreeing with her partner, "Then the murder happened. We figured the owner of one of the stores came in while they were emptying his safe. That's when we brought Shawn in." The group looked over as Henry and Maddie came back into the room. Juliet cast a smile in their direction and continued. "The latest robbery doesn't fit the pattern. It was a museum. A well-guarded one. The report shows that they stole some of the more valuable items and left without leaving any evidence or witnesses."

"The manager of the place went missing too. No one has heard from him since last night." Carlton added.

Pierre pursed his lips, "They're taking food… but why the museum?" He asked himself aloud. "Aha!" He exclaimed. "They're testing themselves."

"Testing themselves? Why?" Gus gave him a confused look.

"Because Shawn isn't telling them anything." Henry concluded.

Pierre smirked, "You are correct. I suspect Shawn hasn't been giving them the easiest time either and they picked some place hard to rob, not for the loot, but for the thrill. If they were trying to figure out what they can do it means we have an advantage. What we need to do, is to get them in the right place, at the right time. Hopefully they'll lead us back to Shawn."

Gus got it and grinned. "That means we need something that they'll come after no matter what, right?"

"Right you are Benton." Gus frowned and Pierre smiled slyly at him, his eyes going slightly pale. "And I have just the thing in mind…"


END NOTES: Despereaux is so eloquently funny, I love the character a lot.

I hope Lassie finds out in the show that Despereaux isn't dead. It would be such a funny moment.

So... sneaky Pierre huh? What do you guys think he's gonna do? :D