New chapter! :D

"Well? Mr Spencer?"

"I..."

"Mr Spencer, do you have any explanation? You and your 'partner'," and the way he said the word partner, as though it was a dirty thing, made Shawn cringe, "have a long history of fraudulently representing yourselves."

"We work as police consultants. As private detectives. It's not always amenable for us to introduce ourselves to suspects or witnesses as ourselves."

"You don't have a license as a Private Detective, do you?"

"Psychics are exempt."

"Yes. I'm sure they are." He sniffed.

"Mr Dawkins..." the Judge warned.

"Withdrawn." He let his gaze wander over Shawn, and shook his head, as though the psychic had been found wanting. "So, you're telling me freely that you make a habit of lying?"

"I give fake names occasionally. It isn't good to tell the criminals up front that you're an investigator investigating them. Not if you want the truth."

"I'm sure the truth was the last thing on your mind."

"Objection!"

"Withdrawn. No further questions."

"Would the prosecution like to readdress this witness?"

"Yes, Your Honour." Stone got up and came to stand by Shawn. He couldn't stop the glare when he and Dawkins paths crossed. "Mr Spencer, you've willingly slept with men?"

"Yes."

"Can you detail one of these relationships for us?"

"I..." He looked down. He really didn't want to talk about this. "I fail to see how my personal life has anything to do with this. It's been years since I've been with a man."

He did see of course. How could he fail to? But, he didn't want to sully his relationships by talking about them in this place. the place where he'd had to detail his attack.

"Mr Spencer, the defence is suggesting that you were willingly involved in some sort of abusive relationship, and that's how you received these injuries. Your past lovers are completely relevant. Answer the question."

"Fine." He sighed. "The first man I was with-" willingly at any rate "-was David."

*Flashback*

Shawn had made his decision. He needed to explore this side of him. He needed to stop being afraid. He could do this. He could.

He stood outside the club for almost hour with his arms wrapped around his chest.

"You going in, or just thinking about it?"

He started badly at the voice, and hated himself for hunching away from the speaker. He forced himself to stand up straight, and meet the man's eyes.

"Haven't decided yet."

The man was tall and well muscled, with small round glasses obscuring his blue eyes. His hair was a dark brown, with reddish highlights. Shawn spent a moment trying to figure out if they were natural or not.

"I'm David." He held out his hand.

"Shawn." He shook. Shawn was disconcerted. David's eyes were piercing and gave the impression of seeing everything.

"Nice to meet you Shawn." His thumb caressed the back of the younger man's hand, and Shawn pulled away. David nodded as though that proved something. He lit a cigarette. "You want to go someplace quieter?"

"I'm not that kind of boy."

"Funny. I meant, it's loud and packed in there. Lots of body contact. Very little chat. There's a nice bar a few blocks away. It's quiet, but still sociable, you know?"

Shawn considered for a long moment before nodding. Something told him he could trust this guy.

*End Flashback."

"David was a wonderful man, good and kind. And I loved him." He said it almost defiantly.

The defence lawyer snorted as though such a thing wasn't possible. Prosecutor Stone turned around and glared at him, before turning back to Shawn.

Shaw wasn't sure whether he wished his friends were here for this or not.

"My relationships with other men are the same as my relationships with women. Based on attraction, respect, and above all love. I've never been in an abusive relationship. I've never been into the BDSM scene either. I won't even let my partners tie me up." He shuddered. In fact, Lassiter was the only man who'd ever tied him up without a malicious purpose.

*flashback*

"Lassie, I didn't know you felt that way!" Shawn protested as he was dragged into the spare room and cuffed to the bed.

"Don't do that! You go on about how you hate hiding, but you're still doing it!" Lassiter ran a hand through his hair. "We are going to have this conversation out, whether you like it or not. We both have the week off, so no one will wonder where we are. We need to discuss this."

"What's there to discuss?"

"Well, you were crying into a bottle of whisky last night. You go on about what a fraud you are. You think I hate you." Lassiter listed. "Something is wrong and I don't know what."

"What does that have to do with me being chained to the bed? If you want to come out, the closet's over there."

"I'm not stupid. If I let you out of my sight, you'd run away, give up. Because that's what you do."

"Fine. Can I have some more water?"

Lassiter left the room to get the glass, and refill it. Shaw allowed himself a single moment of pure crystalline fear. He could feel it, icy shards piercing his soul. Then, he took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He was holding onto his control by a thread.

This isn't like then. He told himself. This is Lassiter. He won't hurt me. He's a good cop.

But that was only the small rational part of his mind. The majority was panicking, and slowly getting louder.

Get them off. Get them off! GET THEM OFF! GET THEM OFF!

He pulled a pin from the waistband of his jeans, and quickly twisted it into a key. His hands were shaking when he got them free.

He literally leaped away from the bed. He couldn't... he didn't... he was on the edge of a panic attack. He dropped down to the floor, and hugged his knees. He was on the far side of the bed, and invisible from the doorway. He was safe. He was.

*End flashback.*

"So, have you ever allowed a sex partner to spank you, or otherwise engage in physical violence, even in play?" Stone wanted this to be clear. He didn't want the defence to have a leg to stand on.

"It's not my thing. I did have one girlfriend when I was maybe nineteen, who was into that. We played around a bit. I've not done anything like that since."

Of course he hadn't. The girl had been in the town he'd been in before the first time he was attacked.

"Do you have any understanding of how BDSM relationships work?"

"Well, I know it's based on trust, and that extreme violence such as that experienced by myself at the hands of the defendants would be looked on as abusive. Also, such relationships usually are one way. A dom and a sub."

"You seem to know a lot."

"No. That's the result of a few minutes googling several years ago when I was with the girl I mentioned. Like I said, it isn't my thing."

"And putting aside the BDSM aspect of the defence's claims for a moment, if your significant other ever hit you, or otherwise abused you, how would you react?"

"I'd fight back."

"As the defence claims you did with Detective Lassiter?"

"I guess. But I wouldn't cover for anyone who hurt me."

"Prosecution rests."

"Readdress Your Honour?" the defence asked, getting to his feet.

"Go ahead."

"Mr Spencer, you just told my esteemed colleague that you would never cover for someone who hurt you, correct?"

"Yes. You just heard me say it."

"But didn't you cover up the alleged attacks on you prior to your kidnapping? Did it not take, according to you, Detective Lassiter noticing bruises and telling the Chief for this to come into the open?"

"I... Yes, but..."

"No further questions."

Shawn closed his eyes. Damn it. Now he looked guilty.

What do you think? This was originally going to be a little bit longer, but I didn't like how it ended.