A/N: Two updates in a week, I must be on a roll. Hopefully it doesn't go away soon because I'm really enjoying it. I hope you enjoy it too!

~Matilda

Impulse

"I don't believe it." Gus was at a loss of words, Shawn was leaving? Just like that. Shawn wasn't even trying to fight it. He was just letting CHPD come and take him away. This upset Gus greatly but what could he really do? "Shawn." Gus tried. "We can fix this."

"No we can't." Shawn sounded annoyed. "I screwed up Gus. I'm done with all this. I'm going willingly. Psych is done, and I'm getting a new start. This could be good for me."

"But...my baby..." Every image Gus had ever conjured of Shawn playing the role of uncle was shattering. It sucked, big time. "I need you man."

"No. You need Jules, and she needs you. Gus it'll be okay. I'll write letters. This is for the best."

Gus was really hurt now. He looked to Henry who didn't look pleased either. Randall appeared to be apologetic, but the detective wasn't saying anything.

"Shawn, maybe it's a better idea not to drag this out. Go pack a bag; we can leave within the hour."

"Okay." Shawn gave Gus another look before pushing past him to go up the stairs to his room. Gus' emotions quickly turned to anger. He turned to yell up at Shawn's retreating form.

"You're not even trying!"

Shawn stopped, but didn't turn around. He allowed a beat of silence to pass before continuing on his way. Gus being unable to handle the disappointment just went to the door and left.

Shawn went into his room, and hearing the door close from downstairs knew that Gus was gone – good. As far as Shawn was concerned he had done well to screw up Gus' life too, and his friend deserved so much better than that.

It took Shawn less than an hour to grab everything he needed. Most of his belongings were already packed up in an overnight bag from the hospital. Shawn had been too lazy to unpack, not that it mattered now anyway. He slung the bag over his shoulder and slipped on his shoes heading back downstairs to meet Randall who was waiting patiently by the door.

"That was fast."

"Magic powers." Shawn gave a weak joke. "Hold on another minute." Shawn left Randall and went into the kitchen looking for Henry. "Dad?"

"What?" Henry sounded aggravated, he was closing the fridge door as he turned to face his son. He was clutching onto a cold beer. "What do you want?"

"I just – wanted to say, bye."

"No need." Henry cracked his beer open and took a swig. "You'll be back." Henry sounded so sure.

Shawn didn't argue, he went back to meet Randall who hadn't moved. "Let's go."

Randall nodded, and within the next few minutes they were on the road. They drove in silence, Randall's expression remaining stoic.

Shawn settled into his seat as best he could without irritating his back. He closed his eyes, he had no idea where they were going, but he didn't necessarily care.

"Tomorrow we have to go to your bank." Randall's voice broke the silence. This caused Shawn to raise a brow.

"Why?"

"To sort out all your assets, get your money. That sort of thing. You need to live off something."

"Ah." There was a pause. "Where exactly are we going now?"

"For the next couple of days, you'll be with me holed up in a hotel. Then on Monday, a secure location will be all ready for you to move in."

"Here?"

"No. I'm not sure yet. My bets are either on Coral Haven or Landsdowne."

Landsowne was a tiny subdivision a few miles past Coral Haven. They had a whopping population of 10 people. Shawn cringed a bit, it was a hick town sort of place.

"Landsowne? Really?"

"I'm just doing my job Shawn." Randall didn't leave it open for debate.

So much for a new start. At this point Shawn was seriously considering just making a run for it. Not really wanting to dwell on it, he switched subjects.

"What's been going on with Marcus lately?"

Randall's hands gripped the wheel tighter. "We're working on it."

"That really doesn't sound promising."

"We have some trust issues we're working out." Randall said. "You know it's kind of funny. When the case first started, Marcus and I argued all the time because I thought he still carried a torch for you. Then you and I worked closer together and I started to like you. Then the argument switched around, then Marcus got that picture and it's been hell ever since."

"Lassie got the same picture." Shawn mentioned. Though mentioning Lassie caused his chest to conflict a bit, and he looked out the window to avoid showing Randall any form of pain.

"You're still together though."

Shawn's stomach turned even harder. "Not exactly – but not because of the picture though. There were other things."

"I'm so sorry Shawn."

"Eh." Shawn was getting uncomfortable, but he wasn't about to let Randall of all people onto that fact. "It was overdue."

"Can I ask what happened?"

"A million times no."

"I see."

They fell back into silence, and eventually a hotel came into view. It was a small one; nowhere near the size of the hotel Shawn and Lassiter had stayed in when the Kensington case started. If Shawn had known that this case would've led to the eventual escape of Kayla and the end of Shawn's relationship, he would've ran. So fast. Shawn squeezed his eyes shut, trying to will the clock to turn back about a month.

"You okay?" Randall's voice called for his attention. "I have an advil if you've got a headache."

Shawn sighed, and shaking his head no, simply got out of the car and followed Randall inside. It was the quickest check in Shawn had ever experienced, as they approached the front desk, all Randall did was flash his badge and he was given two room keys.

The room was small, and sported two single beds. Shawn wasn't entirely surprised. He plopped his bag down and got into bed closing his eyes.

"This is home for the next few days." Randall said. "CHPD is paying for everything, so...you know...milk it."

"Maybe later." Shawn just wanted to fall asleep.

"So..." Randall said. "Anything you want to talk about? Concerns? Questions?"

"Nope." Shawn said. "Just tell me my new address."

"I don't know it yet."

"That's fine. Later."

"Something tells me you're taking this breakup really hard. Like – worse than a 13 year old who just got dumped for the first time."

"You and my dad should really hang out sometime."

Randall gave a small laugh. "Perhaps another time."

"Randall?"

"Yeah?"

"Go get a book or something, I'm not feeling very talkative, you're going to get bored."

Silence fell over the room, and Shawn turned so that he was facing the wall. He didn't care what Randall did or said. He just wanted to get this show on the road. So until Randall said it was time to go, Shawn was going to stay in bed.

"Gus it's just a night shift."

Back at the station, Juliet was trying to get Gus to let up. He was being pretty insistent that she come home with him.

"It's more than that." Gus argued. "Its overtime. Overtime is stressful. You don't need stress. You need to come home, put your feet up, read a magazine and get some sleep."

"I already read the magazines at your place, Gus its fine. This is how I worked right up until I got pregnant, and this is how I'm going to work during my pregnancy. The Chief has already pulled me from the field; the desk is all I have now."

"Okay." Gus gave in. "Okay, okay. I'll be at home when you get there."

"Baby, I didn't say you had to wait up for me. Go to bed, or better yet call Shawn. It's cheap night at the theatre tonight. Lord knows he probably needs a night out."

"I can't call Shawn." Gus sounded hesitant.

"That's crazy." Juliet answered. "Why not? He probably needs it more than you do. Selling Psych was a big move. Especially after a break up, he needs his best friend."

"Uh..." Gus seethed. "Listen...Juliet. It's not that I don't want to call him. I can't. Literally. I can't."

"Did you forget his number, because I have it, it's no big deal. Here pull out your phone, it'll take two seconds."

"It won't work."

"Gus you're acting crazy. Call him." She picked up the phone from her desk and offered it to him.

"Baby..." Gus' voice softened. "You're a cop right?"

"I hope so – where is this going?"

"When you're on a case, where one particular person's life is at risk, what's protocol?"

"Search the area, talk to any previous contacts and leads, and if nothing pops up after a couple weeks, the victim is placed into wit..." Juliet's eyes widened. "CHPD hasn't found Kayla?"

"Not even close." Gus confirmed. "Detective Peterson came to Henry's house earlier and picked Shawn up. Shawn's gone."

"Gone?" Gus and Juliet turned their heads to the door, just in time to see Lassiter who had just walked in only in time to hear the words 'Shawn's gone' two words that really didn't sit well with him. "What do you mean gone?" Lassiter's voice sounded rather threatening.

"Carlton." Juliet tried. "It's-"

"It's exactly what you think." Gus cut her off. "I didn't think you'd care since you up and left though."

"Tell me what happened." Lassiter didn't make it a question.

"The details are shaky." Gus said. "He didn't even tell his dad. He just...well...yeah."

"What? Just what?" Lassiter was getting all sorts of wrong images in his head. "How come the police weren't called? !"

Juliet looked over to Gus who had a bit of a twinkle in his eye, and she had to keep from grinning.

"They were. You weren't told because word hasn't gotten out yet that you two were done. Conflict of interest and all."

Lassiter didn't say another word; he walked right past them and out of the station. He was getting to the bottom of this. He had to keep from not panicking. Shawn and him were done. Finished. No longer. That meddlesome not psychic meant nothing to him. NOTHING.

Detective Lassiter needed to stop lying to himself. He hoped in his car and didn't even bother doing the safety check before taking off. His breath was hitched, his heart was missing beats. Gus' words were spinning round and round in his head.

"Shawn's gone. Shawn's gone."

Lassiter parked on a 45 degree angle on Henry's lawn, and didn't even bother knocking. He pushed through the front door calling out. "Spencer! Spencer!"

He didn't even notice that there were no other officers around, and he didn't seem to care that Guster of all people was taking the news of Shawn being good so ...well. None of this was occurring to him. He just needed to see Shawn. "Spencer!"

Lassiter was getting frantic. He spun around taking in the empty house. Not a single sound. "Dammit Spencer..." Lassiter turned back around to face the kitchen. Only to have stars explode behind his eyes. He was pretty sure he felt pain too, and he stumbled back holding his face.

Henry stood in place, his fist still out. The punch wasn't hard enough to knock the detective out, just enough to give him a bit of a shiner. "The hell are you doing in my house at this hour Carlton?"

Talking? Henry was talking. Carlton could barely hear over all the ringing in his ears. Finally though, Lassiter managed to process that he had just been hit, and words started to form on his tongue. "Ow! Ow! What...what the hell? !...You hit me!"

"You barged into my house at 11 o clock at night!"

"Your door wasn't even locked!"

"I keep a gun under my pillow."

"That's insane!"

"Really? And a colt strapped to the bottom of your coffee table is totally normal?"

"Shawn told you about my colt?"

"It doesn't matter now does it?" Henry rolled his eyes and moved into the kitchen motioning Lassiter to follow him. Lassiter obliged. When Henry pointed to a chair, Lassiter sat in silence, and didn't speak again until Henry was handing him a bag of frozen peas. Lassiter pressed it to his eye.

"I heard about Shawn."

"Excuse me?"

"Shawn. I overheard Guster talking to O'Hara about Shawn, he's gone."

"...You came into my house screaming because Shawn got put into witness protection?"

"Witness protection?"

"Yes. Witness protection. What did you think Gus meant?"

"...I honestly don't know."

"How's your shiner?" Henry sat across from him.

"Bruised." Lassiter responded. "So where's Shawn now?"

"I honestly don't know." Henry said. "But I can probably figure it out."

"...You'd help me find him?" Lassiter perked up, his voice dripping with disbelief.

"Look. I knew my kid wasn't psychic from day one. I didn't say anything because I felt like I owed him, and when you're a father. Upholding the law is just fine and dandy but eventually you have to be able to ask yourself just how far you're willing to take it in your household. Shawn wanted to try something new, he wanted to help people. He never hurt anybody, or caused too much trouble. He was just trying to do the right thing. Just like you are now."

"I feel like such a dick."

"You are a dick."

"Thanks for that."

"Hold on let me finish, you are indeed a dick. Yet for some god awful reason, Shawn loves you, and you not being there for him, is killing him. So you and I are going to figure out where he is, and you're going to get him back."

Lassiter took a breath, and removed the frozen peas from his face to look at Henry fully. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Henry crossed his arms. "Oh, and for the record? The black eye I gave you? That was just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to years of pent up dad rage. Mess up like this again? I'll have your body turned into a furniture set before anyone important realizes you're gone."

"Noted." Lassiter didn't say anything else; he was actually terrified that Henry was telling the truth. Right now he was more concerned about Shawn. "So when do we start?"

"In the morning." Henry said. "It's late. Unlike you I'm not suffering lover's strife. I'm going to sleep. Either go home and come back in the morning, or sleep in Shawn's room. It's the room that still smells like dirty socks after 15 years."

"Great." Oddly enough Lassiter found that comforting.

Neither Lassiter or Shawn slept very well though. Shawn in the hospital had had his fare share of sleep, and even though he refused to move from his bed, he kept his eyes trained on the wall wide awake. Throughout the night he listened to Randall do random things; push ups, flicking through a magazine, channel surfing. Shawn was even sure Randall had used his phone to go onto facebook a couple of times. Not that Shawn really cared. Eventually though a knock came to the door, and Shawn listened as Randall greeted a member of hotel staff, Shawn heard squeaking wheels, and knew it must've been time to eat.

"Shawn." Randall clapped his hands loudly. "Enough of this sulking bullshit come over here have a waffle."

"I'm not hungry."

"And I'm a ballerina. Come on. You've already let this breakup take away 10 pounds. Everyone struggling with obesity is officially jealous you. However it is now time to rejoin the human race. So up. Now."

"You're awfully offensive this morning."

"And you're pathetic. But if you eat a waffle I'll think you're less pathetic."

"So caring." Shawn's voice dripped with sarcasm, he didn't really want to spend the day arguing with Randall, so he got up and went over to the trolley of food. "One waffle." Shawn said. "Only one."

Shawn reluctantly took a bite; the waffle was still warm and was smothered in real maple syrup. That first bite seemed to remind Shawn that food was amazing. He plopped himself down and ate the rest of the waffle in ravenous silence before progressing to pile four more onto his plate.

"Holy crap." Randall said. "Save some for me."

"Never." Shawn was halfway done his second waffle. "The next time I break up with someone? I'm gorging instead of starving. I feel better, AND the shame is smothered with fat. It's a brilliant system."

"Right." Randall scratched his head confused. "Your attitude turned around pretty fast I must admit."

"Gotta snap out of it sooner or later." Shawn said.

"You're not over it though."

"God no – are those strawberries?"

"Yeah."

Shawn started to load up on strawberries.

"You're eating really fast."

"I'm hungry." Shawn protested.

"Still too fast."

"Ah -whaddya you know copper?"

About ten minutes later Shawn was benter over the toilette crying bloody murder. Randall stood under the threshold with his arms crossed and his brow raised. "Permission to say I told you so?"

"Shove it Randy cop!"

Randall gave a brief laugh and shook his head going back into the main part of the room. He went into his suitcase and started grabbing clothes. "Shawn when you're done yacking in there take a shower. We still have to go to the bank before your big move."

Shawn didn't answer Randall, the silence was expected, but Randall being thorough decided to go check on him. Randall popped his head back into the bathroom, only to see Shawn half way out the window at an awkward angle.

"Shawn! Seriously?"

"...Yes."

"Where are you even going?"

"I haven't figured that out that part yet."

"So you being sick was just a gimmick?"

"Oh no that part was real, it was the enthusiasm I had to fake. Now if you'll excuse me I'd like to carry out this epic escape."

"It doesn't look very epic to me."

"Its epic!" Shawn argued, then tried to move and realized he was stuck. "Maybe not as epic as I originally planned – little help?"

Randall sighed and moving to the window, wrapped his arms around Shawn to the best of his ability, he pulled but Shawn didn't budge.

"Holy crap Spencer you're really stuck!"

"I blame the fourth waffle, now pull!"

"I am!"

"Harder!"

"For god's sake Spencer stop pressuring me!" Randall was pulling and pulling, but Shawn wasn't giving. "What made you think you could fit through this stupid thing?"

"Uh...I didn't."

"Oh for the love of..." Randall pulled again. "I hate you Spencer."

"Well I'm not too fond of me either right now, so just keep pulling."

Randall pulled for a good few moments with nothing happening. Shawn was pushing from the other side to try to help him, and for a while it looked like nothing was happening until there was a crack. Shawn's entire body came free of the window, but it happened in a way that he practically came flying out of the frame. He landed on Randall with an 'unf' sound and the two rolled onto the floor. Randall was not impressed.

"Get off me!" He gave Shawn a good shove, Shawn who at that point had been steadying himself on his knees, went stumbling back, his face coming into direct contact with a doorknob.

"Ow!" Shawn seethed getting to his feet slowly, his hand clamped to his face. "Ow!"

"Oh suck it up!" Randall was on his feet. "What kind of an idiot gets stuck in a window? !"

"It was an impulse!"

"You have impulses to get stuck in windows? !"

"Frequently!"

"What? ! That's insane Spencer!"

"You're insane!"

Before the yelling escalated, Randall stopped and took a deep breath. "Show me your face."

Shawn moved his hand; his eye was already starting to bruise. "Give it to me straight."

"I officially look like an abusive asshole." Randall answered.

"Its funny because in this case I actually did fall into a doorknob."

"Are you going to try and run again?"

"Uh..." Shawn answered. "No...?"

"Can I trust you?"

"Absolutely." Shawn promised. Not.

Shawn grabbed what he needed from his bag and went into the bathroom again to shower. Twenty minutes later, he was with Randall in the parking lot again.

"So when we get to the bank, you're going to need two pieces of I.D to withdraw everything." Randall explained. "If you don't have it, you can temporarily sign over your account to me and we can get everything that way."

"Okie dokie." Shawn gave a false salute, and they came up to Randall's car. "Hey look over there!"

Randall turned. "Where?"

"I can't believe that worked – god you're easy!" Shawn hopped on one foot and turned on his heel taking off in a run. This caught Randall completely off guard.

"Shawn!" Randall called out. "Spencer you idiot get back here!" As far as Randall was concerned he still had a job to do and whether Shawn liked it or not, he was going to finish his job. Randall pocketed his keys and started after him.