WARNINGS: Still a M/M story with Shawn and Lassiter = Shassie. Don't like, Don't read (and how'd you get to Chapter 25 without knowing that?) you have been warned.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but my 8-season DVD set filled with the glorious talent that is Timothy Omundson's 'Carlton Lassiter'.

A/N: Pleas Read/Leave a Review and let me know your thoughts on this story... I love to hear what YOU (the reader) have to say.

Lassiter entered the station and scanned the place as he pinged O'Hara's phone as he said he would. He carefully made his way to the ticket window for the SanFranXpress on the alert for anything that might happen. He didn't encounter anything between picking up the ticket the Chief had arranged and getting onto the train. Everything felt wrong about the situation. Shawn would not have been able to drive to San Francisco in the time between his voicemail and 'Jack's call.

All of his instincts told him that whatever was set up was going to happen on this train. The train entered a tunnel and as everything went dark, he pulled his gun from its holster. Lassiter heard the squeal of the train's brakes as he was hit on the head.

Juliet watched as her partner walked into the train station. She remembered its layout from the day she spent waiting for Scott Seaver and mentally walked with him once he was out of her sight. She smiled when her phone jingled to alert her that Carlton had made it to the ticket counter and was proceeding to the train 'Jack' had specified. She switched to the driver's side and waited.

The worst parts of any case was the waiting. Waiting on a judge to issue a warrant, waiting on evidence to be processed, waiting to find the location of a suspect, but waiting to hear from your partner when they've entered into a dangerous situation alone had to be the worst. While Juliet waited, she thought back to earlier in the day when she and the FBI agents were going through such intimate evidence. She remembered Carlton's face while he watched others watching the video of he and Shawn having sex. He had looked so defeated in the Chief's office. Like he had nothing left to keep private and only for himself. Juliet made a promise to herself that when this was all over that she would find some way to give Shawn and Carlton at least a fraction of their private lives back to them.

She was thinking over the myriad of images she had processed over the course of this case and trying to figure out how to unsee some of them when her phone rang.

"O'Hara. It's Dobson. The train has stopped inside the tunnel."

"I'm on my way. You keep a visual and follow if anyone gets off that train."

She threw on the lights and left the parking lot. Juliet hoped that whatever was happening Carlton and Shawn would be safe.

Just as she approached the first stop, Dobson called her.

"We have visual of the suspect. He looks to be dragging Detective Lassiter and loading him into a van. Do you want us to intercede?"

As much as she wanted to say yes, she couldn't. They had no idea where Shawn was and this guy was their only lead. Carlton would not want them to rescue him and leave Shawn.

"Negative. Follow the van, but do not confront the suspect. Stay with Detective Lassiter. I will be behind you. This is our only hope of finding Shawn."

"Copy."

Juliet followed Dobson's directions as he navigated her turn-for-turn. She was between five and seven minutes behind them and eventually turned off the lights on the Crown Vic to avoid their suspect catching on that he was being followed.

When Dobson finally told her that the suspect had stopped and entered the Marina, she ordered them to wait to do anything until she arrived. She parked the cruiser in the Marina's lot and joined Dobson and Starling on the pier.

"He took Detective Lassiter onto the boat on the end. The name is the same characters on the license plate: XPCT2WN."

Starling handed her the binoculars he had been using, but she saw no movement. Whatever was happening on the boat made no disturbance in the area. She then called in their status to the Chief and the FBI agents joined them just several minutes later.

Juliet watched the boat her partner and his partner were on while a plan was devised to get to them.

Lassiter was immediately on alert when he opened his eyes. His arms reflexively went for his gun even though he couldn't quite yet see through the bright lights. Unfortunately, his arms didn't move as they were bound behind him. He pulled on the restraints and felt them give, but only slightly. Ropes knotted around his wrists. Great. He knew the knots and how to tie and untie them, but having them behind his back slowed his progress and he had yet to find out where he was or if Shawn was near.

The hit he took on the head must have been a whopper, as his vision was still blurry minutes after opening them. He was able to make out shadowed movement from the other side of the room.

"Shawn? Shawn, is that you? Are you in here with me?"

Lassiter heard a muffled response. The shadowed figure didn't get any closer, so he presumed that if it were Shawn he had been tied and gagged. He blinked and tried to get his eyes to clear. Just as he made progress and could actually see Shawn on a chair across from him, the door to the room opened.

"Well, well, well. Now look what I have finally acquired. The detective AND the lovely boyfriend." Lassiter watched 'Jack' move into the room and pace between them. He tried to take in everything he could about their captor that hadn't already been in the file he'd been read. His clothes looked like they had been bought years earlier; the colors were faded. He could see wear marks on the belt at his waist that showed that the man had lost a considerable amount of weight over the period of its ownership and everything hung as if it didn't belong on the body before him.

"Now, Detective, I had to gag Shawn over there because he just wouldn't shut the hell up. He annoyed the shit out of me in just five minutes. That's something I hadn't been prepared for, you know? The pictures and the video I took as I had watched you two just didn't show me just how much he loved to talk. About nothing. I honestly do not know how you've tolerated that."

"He's an acquired taste. Why don't you just let him go so he can find someone else to annoy. You have me. You can use me to negotiate whatever you want from the SBPD."

"Oh. So selfless. But the TWO of you are what I want. You see, I had what you had once. Someone to come home to, someone to love and call when the day got too rough at work. I loved him so much. But then, in the name of 'religious freedom' and personal preference, I lost him and everything good in my life."

Lassiter took his eyes off 'Jack' and saw that Shawn's eyes had gone wide. He had never been so quiet before; his silence unnerved Lassiter. The way this wacko was talking things couldn't be going well and all he thought about while listening to 'Jack' was how to get himself and Shawn out of this room. He focused on the knots at his wrists and worked at them while their captor yammered on about his trials.

"All Ryan and I wanted was to live together and be happy." 'Jack' walked into Lassiter's space and used his hand to make him look in Shawn's direction. Lassiter halted his work in order to not give away what he was doing.

"You're happy with him, aren't you?"

Lassiter nodded, but didn't answer verbally. He saw that Shawn's expression had changed from the fear he had moments ago. Shawn nodded back.

"Now imagine all of what you're feeling ripped away from you." 'Jack was getting angry while he talked and Lassiter didn't like that fact. When the hand on his face let go, he resumed his efforts. 'Jack' turned away from him and walked toward Shawn. "I woke up in a hospital a week after we were attacked. You have no idea what it feels like to hear that what you thought had been a nightmare had actually happened."

'Jack' knelt between Shawn's legs and placed his hands on his thighs. Lassiter clenched his jaw at the sight and doubled his efforts to get untied. He could almost free his right hand.

"Those bastards cut me, Shawn." He ran his hands up Shawn's thighs and then rubbed against his crotch. 'Jack' stroked Shawn through his pants for a few moments. "That feeling right there? That natural response you have right now, I haven't been able to have since that night."

He kept touching Shawn and Lassiter could tell even from where he sat, that Shawn's body was responding to it. He knew it wasn't because Shawn was enjoying it, it was as 'Jack' had said, his body's natural reaction. Lassiter felt the heat from his anger burn. No one was supposed to be able to touch Shawn like that but him. He closed his eyes and focused on working on the rope.

'Jack' unzipped Shawn's jeans. Shawn made a muffled noise from around the gag and tried to push himself backwards. As he was pulled from his jeans and exposed, Shawn made what Lassiter made out to be a loud 'No.'

"Watching the two of you has gotten me so close to getting an erection Shawn. And I've never had one as nice as yours." 'Jack' continued stroking Shawn, then bent down and licked the head. "God, I miss this. I need the two of you to help me, Shawn. I want to feel this again." 'Jack' ran his tongue down then up the shaft before standing. He left Shawn exposed and hard. "I think I can with your help. You will need to help me convince your detective. The two of you can stay here with me on my boat. You let me watch you have sex, maybe even participate once in a while, and I think I just might be able to get up again."

Could this guy really think an idea as crazy as that would work out? Lassiter could bet that in this guy's head this whole thing sounded like a great idea. He would even bet money that murdering the people that didn't want to work with him was somehow logical in his mind. 'Jack' was still talking when Lassiter's right hand fell free of the knot and he was on his feet moments later. 'Jack' still stood with his back facing him and Lassiter took advantage of being out of his line of sight. In seconds, Lassiter had 'Jack' in a headlock.

"I say no." The crazy freak struggled against him, but ultimately Lassiter won the fight. 'Jack' passed out from the lack of oxygen and Lassiter checked to make sure he wasn't dead before going to Shawn and untying him.

"Thank God you're a bad ass, Lassie." Was the first thing Shawn said once the gag has removed and his pants were re-fastened. He grabbed Lassiter by the collar and planted a sloppy kiss onto him. Lassiter's adrenaline was racing and he could feel Shawn's lips trembling against his. He wrapped his arms around him and pulled him closer. He ran his hands across Shawn's back to comfort him. At that moment, Lassiter never wanted to let him go.

But let him go was what he needed to do in order to get them both out of the room and off the boat. With great pain, he leaned down for one more kiss then pulled away.

"We need to get him and us up and out of here."

"Sure thing. I certainly can't wait to get out of here. I desperately need a shower before I begin to seriously apologize for getting myself in trouble and then show my gratitude for you saving us from an indefinite amount of weird."

"Let's just pick him up and get him on deck." Lassiter hoped the SBPD team was somewhere close. If they had stuck to the plan they had created, they should be surrounding the area any moment.

Just as he and Shawn reached the top of the boat's steps and onto the deck, 'Jack' startled awake and flailed himself in an attempt to get free. Lassiter grabbed at him to try and subdue him. He heard his partner's voice over a bullhorn.

"SBPD. You are surrounded. Get your hands up."

'Jack' made no such effort to do as Juliet ordered. As Lassiter wrestled 'Jack' to the deck, he could sense a flurry of motion as he supposed the FBI and the SBPD teams made their way onto the boat. Once he and two agents had control of 'Jack' and the man was in cuffs, Lassiter finally could take in the scene. The FBI agents escorted 'Jack' off the boat, but there was no sight of Shawn.

Where had Shawn gone? Had he gotten off the boat while he and 'Jack' were fighting? He scanned the dock, but saw nothing of his boyfriend.

"Carlton!" Juliet's voice was alarmingly urgent and he turned to where she stood at the edge of the boat. "Shawn went into the water."

To Lassiter, the distance he covered to get to O'Hara seemed like miles. He sprinted and when he finally joined her, he saw Starling surfacing with Shawn in his grasp. Shawn's eyes were closed and he didn't seem to be breathing. Lassiter quickly helped Starling lift Shawn back onto the boat and began CPR.

"We already have an ambulance on site, Carlton, they're coming now."

The first responders were at Lassiter's side and pushing him away within minutes. Lassiter stayed where he was on the deck and Juliet sat down with him and held his hand as the paramedics worked to revive Shawn. After just a few compressions, they announced that his heart was beating. They quickly moved him to a stretcher and into the ambulance that was waiting.

At the hospital, Lassiter sat with Juliet as they waited for Henry to make it to the hospital. The doctor was hopeful about Shawn's condition, but he hadn't regained consciousness since the fall off the boat. He was completely on edge when Shawn's doctor approached them a second time. He jumped up from the chair he had been sitting to talk with him. He hoped it was for good news.

"The suspect of your investigation. Did he mark or tag his victims?"

"What makes you ask?" Had been O'Hara's question back to the doctor and he pulled out a photo. It was of Shawn's chest where "CJL-SBPD-256" had been marked.

Carlton took the photo and just stared at it. "This was over his heart, right?"

"Yes, it was Detective. Is it relevant to your case?"

"No. No, this is personal. Not evidence. But, thank you Doctor." Juliet politely took back the photo from her partner and handed it to the doctor for the medical file.

Lassiter was still stunned by how Shawn had decided to use his name in the tattoo when Henry arrived. As with with everything Henry did, his arrival was loud and angry. His anger landed on Lassiter when he saw him in the waiting area.

"What the hell happened? Has there been any change?"

"Henry, Shawn was caught in the middle when 'Jack' tried to escape. Somehow he tripped and hit his head on the railing before he fell. The doctor believes he was unconscious when he hit the water... I'm sorry, Henry. We just have to wait for him to wake up."

Henry eyed Juliet and then looked back at Lassiter.

"I'm going to go in and see if they'll give me details. I'll call you with any updates, detectives."

"But, Henry..."

"Go home, Lassiter."

He watched Henry meet with the nurse on duty and was then escorted to Shawn's room; a place he hadn't been let into on account that he wasn't a family member.

"Come on, Carlton. He'll call you. He's just angry right now."

"Yeah."

Lassiter stared out his window as Juliet drove him home. He tried to think of anything other than Shawn lying unresponsive in the hospital, but the only other thought that entered his mind was of Shawn's tattoo. The fact that he had permanently etched his initials and badge number over his heart nearly made him fall apart.

After Juliet got him inside their house and left with a promise to check on him a little later, he was alone in the house with all their things. His and Shawn's. Every room had something of Shawn's in it and it overwhelmed him. When he couldn't take the quietness of the living room anymore, he walked into the bedroom and opened the top drawer of his dresser. He dug around to the back where he had placed a small jeweler's box.

He settled on their bed, opened the box and stared at the ring inside. It was his grandmother's ring, the one he had finally gotten returned from Victoria. Victoria never wore it; he had proposed to her with it, but then she immediately demanded he buy her a different ring. It had been left in the back of her dresser until she returned it to him. Lassiter had always loved the ring with it's Celtic design and silver band. There was no diamond on it, which was probably Victoria's main reason for disliking it, but it was crafted quite intricately.

He placed the box on his nightstand and leaned himself back against the headboard. As he closed his eyes, he made a silent plea to whatever God there was in the universe to have Shawn come through this and wake up soon.

Lassiter was woken up by the doorbell ringing. He hadn't realized he had fallen asleep and groaned as he walked to the door. The moment he opened the door he was met with the too bright smile of his sister's.

"Hey Carl." Her smile dropped as she took in the way he looked in front of her and he remembered that this was the day he had promised to meet with Lauren and his dad.

"Shit. Hey LuLu. Sorry, I forgot you and Dad were coming. It's not really a good time and I'm not really in the mood for a visit right now."

"What happened?" Lauren pushed past him and into his living room. Lassiter held the door open and waited for his father to step through.

"Dad's not here. It's just me." She sat on the couch and looked at the floor. "Seems he was just here for a few days to check in."

"Sorry LuLu. Both Shawn and I thought he was making a change."

"Hey, it's nothing he hasn't done before, right?" He watched her try to force a smile and fail. He closed the door and took a seat next to his sister. "What's happened with you? I was hoping to visit with you and Shawn."

"Shawn's been in an accident. It was while we were working a case and he's in the hospital."

"Oh." Lauren patted the leg closest to her. One thing the Lassiter children didn't know what to do was comfort anyone; especially each other.

"LuLu, I'm going to lose him. I can feel it. It's just like everything and everyone else I have ever gotten attached. But this time," his voice cracked and tears slid out of the corners of his eyes. "This time, hurts too badly."

"Carl. Carlton, look at me." Lauren grabbed his chin and forced him to look her in the eyes. "You can't think like that. Shawn needs you to think he's going to pull through this. He needs you to know that he'll be coming home. You can't be thinking he's gone already when he needs you the most right now. Why aren't you at the hospital?"

"His dad's there. Won't let me in the room since I'm not family. Not his fault, really it's hospital procedure."

Lauren squeezed his hand. Lassiter couldn't remember the last time he had felt so vulnerable in front of his baby sister and he hated the feeling. But there wasn't anything he could do about it.

He heard her clear her throat and fidget in the seat next to him.

"So. You and Shawn? Never saw that happening."

He chuckled. "Yeah, I don't think many people would have. Hell, I can't believe it sometimes, but yeah. Me and Shawn. I just need him to pull through this."

"Well, let's have a drink and you can tell me all about him and you. Our positive thoughts and energies can do nothing but help him at this moment."

Lassiter rolled his eyes and stood to go to the kitchen. His sister was always talking about souls, auras, energies and what-not. He didn't believe in all of that, or any of it really, but he didn't think it could hurt to enjoy the subject of Shawn Spencer with his sister while he could do nothing but wait for Henry's call.

About two hours into talking with Lauren, she brought up the subject of kids.

Lassiter sighed, leaned further into the couch and stared at his drink.

"I guess I'll just have to stay 'Uncle Carlton', LuLu. Shawn says he wants a few kids, but with the way adoption laws work and with two of us being, you know, two men... I'm not as young as I wish I were to wait. Even if Shawn does recover from this accident."

Lauren smacked him in the shoulder.

"You promised not to question whether he would get better." He could see her expression change as if she was thinking about something.

"Sorry. Guess I've crossed the line from drinking my sorrows to sorrowly drinking." He put the glass down and rubbed his temples.

"I think I can help you and Shawn."

"With what?" Maybe he had really had too much to drink.

"With having kids."

"Huh? How? You aren't suggesting that you and Shawn..."

"No! Oh, no. No. Whoa, not like that."

"Good. Because that would be too weird, even for us Lassiters."

"I agree. No, in my Junior year of college, a friend of mine had convinced me that, since I was on the focused track of my studies, I was going to be too old to have kids at the rate I was going. Anyway, I freaked out and had several of my eggs taken and frozen."

Lassiter couldn't help but make a face, which he was then smacked for.

"You and Shawn would just need to find a surrogate, but you could have legit little Lassiter-Spencer children running around."

"And you would do this for us?"

"You're my big bro. I certainly would do that for you. And it would make me giggle every time I thought that you were the 'mother' of the kiddo in question."

"Funny, LuLu. Ha. Thank you. You have at least given us an option we never saw before. Thank you."

Lassiter smiled as he thought about being a parent, now he just needed Shawn to wake up.

It took two days for Shawn to wake up. When he did, both Henry and Carlton were in the room. Shawn thought he had died by the way the two of them were grumbling over him. They seemed to be arguing about medical stuff, but his mind was so fuzzy, he couldn't tell what they were talking about. When he coughed, they finally turned their attention to him and within minutes Carlton had escorted a doctor into his room. He smiled at how anxious his boyfriend was and he loved how his hand was held the entire time; just as he had done for Carlton when their roles were reversed.

The stupid hospital was going to make Shawn stay for another four days; a length of time too long for Shawn's non-existent health insurance to cover. By the second day, he found himself signing papers for Lassie to add him onto his insurance from the police force. When he finished the last signature, he turned to see his boyfriend beaming from ear to ear, which freaked him out a little.

"What's got you so happy? Did I just sign something that donated my body to the SBPD?"

"No. But if you had actually read the papers you signed, you would have seen that one of them was a Domestic Partner agreement. In order to get you on the insurance, we had to draft one up."

"So, you and I... I just signed, what?!"

Shawn felt himself turn red from the flush in his cheeks. Did he just sign himself as Lassie's wife? He didn't have much time to figure out any kind of a response before Lassie was on bended knee on the floor of his hospital room.

"Shawn Spencer. This is not just because you got bonked on the head while not having insurance. Although it was a catalyst for a decision I had been debating for a little while... we don't have to do this right away and if you change your mind later, I would fully understand. I mean, this doesn't have to be done at all if you don't want."

"Oh my God, Lassiter. I already know how much of a cynic you are, and I love you anyway. Get on with the question before you get stuck on the floor in that position."

"Okay. Sorry. Shawn Spencer, will you do me the honor of marrying me?" Lassie opened a blue jewelry box and Shawn couldn't believe what was being offered to him. The ring looked amazingly vintage and intricately cut. The silver band seemed to be made out of a single piece of metal and Shawn loved it at first sight.

Shawn realized he may have hesitated in answering a little longer than expected when Lassie stood up and handed him the box.

"If the style isn't what you like, we can always get a different one. I mean, it was my grandmother's and the jeweler didn't know if he would be able to get it the right size for you to begin with, so..."

Shawn reached out and covered Carlton's mouth to stop the man from speaking. He loved his awkwardness most times, but sometimes it was downright depressing how Lassie second-guessed himself so much.

"It's great. I love it. I love that you had this done for me." Shawn lifted his eyes from the ring to meet Carlton's. "I love you." He pulled the ring from the box and handed it to his boyfriend. "Will you put it on?"

"You bet!" Carlton gently slid the ring onto his finger and then held his hand while they kissed. They were interrupted by their friends clapping around them.

Carlton had finally been granted permission to stay in Shawn's room that night and when everyone had left for the day, Shawn finally got around to asking Carlton the question he'd been wanting to ask for hours after the proposal. He leaned against Carlton's chest as they smushed together in the bed.

"Carly, what about kids? Weren't you really wanting them?"

"Of course I do. And so do you, right?"

"Well, yes. But neither one of us has the right 'equipment' for that sort of thing." Shawn pulled back the covers and groped on his boyfriend through his pants. Carlton let out a moan and Shawn smugly smiled at the reaction he received. "Unless there's something you're not telling me?"

Carlton covered Shawn's hand with his own and pressed his erection harder into his palm.

"Everything's good downtown, Shawn. But there is an option..."

OK, loyal/faithful readers... it has frustrated and angered me to realize it has taken me 2 YEARS to complete this story! So, there is 1 more chapter left and I PROMISE it will be posted by the end of May. How is it shaping up? Anything you'd like to say? Please leave a Review or send a PM. Thanks for stopping by and reading. :)