April, Come She Will
By: Aubrie1234
By the time Shawn and Gus arrived in front of Lassiter's house, a police presence had been established. And from the car Shawn could see marks on the door, indicating a break-in. But who would dare to break-in to Lassiter's house? Especially since Marlowe could handle herself. Shawn frowned. No wonder Lassiter had gotten so scared so quickly. And yet, Shawn knew there was more to this than what he could observe. Gesturing to Gus to follow, he climbed out of the Blueberry. No one stopped them, knowing that they were friends of Lassiter and allowed inside the crime scene. Though he had only been in Lassiter's house a handful of times, he could tell something was off. Nothing was stolen but the place did look a little trashed. Shawn moved to the living room, finding Lassiter on the couch with Marlowe, icing several bruises that could be seen on her arms. She was holding an ice pack to her head. They were arguing about something as the crime scene moved on around them.
"-and we need to go after them!" Marlowe was saying.
"I know, I want to too, but we need to figure everything out first." For once, Lassiter was being the cool-headed of the two. Shawn didn't want to interrupt but he had to get some answers.
"Lassiter? What's going on?" He decided to leave the nickname behind for now. No need to stress the older man out more than he already was.
"Someone broke into the house and kidnapped Lily." Shawn and Gus' eyes widened. This was big.
"I tried to fight them off, but I couldn't." Marlowe looked like a wreck, "I think they were professionals. I hope Lily's okay…"
"She's fine." said Lassiter, though there was no way he had to have believed it himself, "She's a Lassiter. We're tough." As Carlton tried to reassure his wife, Shawn and Gus moved to a different room.
"Who in the world would kidnap a police officer's daughter?" asked Gus.
"Either someone who's crazy or doesn't have much to lose." Shawn said. Though he didn't know the house well it didn't take long for him to find the nursery. While it was filled with investigators, Shawn tried to piece together things from what he could see. There was one of those cards that you put up for bullets sitting on top of the corner of the dresser with a little blood on it and Shawn wondered if it had hurt one of the kidnappers or Marlowe. The window was smashed and the room was the messiest of the ones that they'd passed through. He thought about what had happened from what he'd gathered and wondered if the kidnappers might've been people Marlowe knew or if they just charged in. Shawn knew Marlowe was not an easy person to take down, so some tactics to get inside may have been involved. It was also just as likely it had been someone Marlowe knew, but Shawn doubted that. They moved away and headed back to the Blueberry.
"You're not gonna ask around?" Gus questioned.
"I'm sure Lassie's handling that. This is his case and we'll help out as much as we can." Shawn explained, "From fake haunted animatronics to high-profile kidnappings, this day's just getting better and better."
After stopping by the station and sharing the details with Juliet, Shawn stayed with her for the rest of the day. This was a serious case and there were few jokes to be made, even if just to ease the tension. Eventually Gus had to head home and so the husband-wife team went to pick up Alex from Henry's.
"He really tried to take a ride by hiding in the trunk?" Juliet asked as she drove.
"He didn't make it easy, I'll tell you that." Shawn nodded, "But now with the kidnapping, we might have to put punishments on hold. He'll probably be coming over here again, so we don't have to worry about him getting into too much trouble."
"Let's try not to talk about the kidnapping around him. He was worked up about this as it was." Juliet added, "I feel so sorry for Lassiter. Who in the world would wanna kidnap Lily?"
"Could be one of the guys he's put away over the years. Remember that time you invited all his repeat offenders to his house?" Shawn couldn't help but crack a smile at the memory. It dropped as he went on, "But there's something about the whole scene at the house that didn't sit right with me. Marlowe's not someone you can just take down. She's tough as nails, like Lassie. Who would be tough enough to fight her and have motive to kidnap her daughter, even as a team? None of the people Lassie's put away fit that picture."
"You're right, there's no motive for why they would do that. But until we can figure out all the details or find something new, we're stuck in a dead end."
"Don't you guys have an amber alert or something out on Lily?" Shawn asked.
"Of course we do, but there's a big chance it won't help. The kidnappers'll make sure to keep her out of sight." said Juliet, "Hopefully Marlowe can describe who attacked her and give us a lead."
"Yeah…" Shawn wondered if that would be difficult. Marlowe had hit her head during the scuffle and she might've not even gotten a good look at the kidnappers, like if they were wearing masks or something. They then pulled up to Henry's house. Shawn had a key and took little time to use it, making his way into the house with ease as Juliet trailed behind. Alex and Henry were in the kitchen when they came in. While the elder greeted them, all Alex did was smile.
"How did it go?" asked Henry.
"Good. No shots went off, at least. And the guy got a high heel stuck through his foot." Juliet said, "Kinda deserved it."
"Would've thought someone would've gotten shot in the arm, at least." Alex said, "Don't things like that tend to end badly?"
"Not always." said the woman. As she began to tell Alex of some of the cases that had ended better than she'd hoped, Henry pulled Shawn aside.
"What? What'd I do? What'd Alex do?" Shawn didn't remember if he'd done anything to upset his father. And, if it hadn't been him, it would've definitely been Alex. Maybe.
"Nothing. We're just happy you're safe. Even if Alex doesn't wanna show it." said Henry.
"He was worried?" Shawn asked.
"Of course he was. Think about it, Shawn. He may not like being your kid but that doesn't mean he wants you hurt. That's why he tried to hide in the trunk. He's stubborn like you, but he's also got a good heart."
"I can just see that he's gonna turn out like me and I don't think I like that." Shawn said.
"I think you're giving yourself less credit than you should. You turned out alright and so should he."
"I guess." Shawn's hand strayed to his pocket when his phone began to ring, "I wonder if it's Lassie." He answered, "Shawn Spencer here, psychic detective extraordinaire."
"Spencer, I think we've got a lead." It was Carlton, "A patch of cloth was found with a silver scorpion on it. Mean anything to you?"
"No?"
"Didn't think so, but we're going over it right now. It'll lead us to Lily, I'm sure of it."
"I'm sure too." Hearing Lassiter hopeful for the first time since he got the news made Shawn crack a smile, "Keep at it, Lassiter. I know we'll find her."
"Good night, Spencer." It was an interesting development, now that they finally had something to go on. But Shawn had never heard of any clothing line that used a silver scorpion as their logo. What else could it mean? Was it just a random design they found or a representation of something more? Henry gave him a look.
"You finally got a lead?"
"We think so." Shawn put his phone away, "Do you know of any organization that uses a silver scorpion for their symbol?"
"Not that I know of." Henry shook his head.
"Then let's hope it doesn't mean much." Shawn said, "Hearing about it gave me sudden chills."
"Hmm." was all Henry said.
After they got home, Shawn set about fixing supper. Alex had hidden back in his room, oddly quiet the whole way home, and so Shawn was able to explain the phone call to Juliet.
"I've never heard of anyone using a silver scorpion. Maybe my brother would know, though." she said.
"Isn't he out in the world under mysterious circumstances?"
"Yeah, but he wouldn't mind answering a call or two, I'm sure." She took out her phone, "Give me a few minutes."
"Gonna take more than a few minutes to fix breakfast for dinner, anyway." said Shawn. He wasn't much of a cook, but that was one of the few things he could make. As Juliet called Ewan, Shawn kept an eye on her face. He wanted to see what her reactions were ahead of time, just to give himself an idea of what might be going on. Out of anyone he knew, if Henry didn't know what the symbol met, then it was likely Ewan did. Shawn hated that. He hoped that Ewan didn't know and it was just an obscure group of engineers or something, but his instincts told him the silver scorpion was bad news. Like Yin-level of bad news and that wasn't something he thought he'd ever have to deal with again.
"Hey, it's me." she began, "Look, I know you're busy, but I need to ask you about something. Do you know anything about a symbol shaped like a silver scorpion?" Juliet paused to hear Ewan answer. While he couldn't understand the other end of the line, Shawn could hear it. At first there was a long pause, punctuated by Juliet asking if he was still there, and then Ewan burst out in an uncharacteristic flurry of questions. Juliet said, "Calm down! I can't keep up!" It took about a minute before she calmed him to the point she could understand his questions. It made Shawn frown. He listened and watched as Juliet said, "Involved? No, this just showed up for a case- What do you mean 'stay out of it?' Someone's in danger and if you know anything- Ewan? Ewan!"
"He hung up on you?" Shawn asked.
"Yeah." She gave a frustrated sigh, "He sounded really panicked after I told him. He knows what the silver scorpion means and if it scares him so badly, then it's really scaring me too."
"I'm sure it's nothing." But Shawn didn't believe his own words. His instincts were right in saying the symbol was bad news, but how? What did it mean if it managed to scare Ewan, likely ex-Black Ops or something, into such a panicked state? It was scaring Shawn now too. They heard Alex's door open and gave each other a look. Tonight they'd just be a family with Alex and wouldn't bring up anything. Well, except maybe the case they'd just solved, since Alex was so helpful in helping them solve it.
"So what happened?" was the boy's first question after dinner had been served.
"You're not even gonna let us eat first, huh?" Shawn mused.
"I'm also kinda curious about what went down." Juliet added, "He had a gun and the worst injury any of you got was the bad guy getting a high heel stabbed through the foot."
"Well, I managed to keep him talking and he didn't give up the act until St. Ceceila turned on him, so I guess we have Gus' new girlfriend to thank for that."
"Saint Ceceila? Is this another movie reference?" Alex groaned.
"Nope, song reference this time." Juliet corrected, "Right?"
"Yep." Shawn nodded. They continued to talk about the case before Alex asked when it had finished up.
"You said you wrapped it up a little after you left me at Henry's. Why didn't you come back until later?" Alex shifted in his seat as his face dropped, likely thinking of the worst.
"We had a new case that came in at the end." Juliet said, "We didn't leave you behind." She wanted to give him a hug but didn't know if he wanted it, so she laid a hand on his shoulder instead.
"We may have been mad at you, but we didn't leave you at my dad's on purpose. I'm not that cruel!" Shawn said.
"Then what's the new case about?" They couldn't tell him the truth or he'd try to get involved. Both of them knew that. But what could they say that would be believable? Shawn was the first to recover in the few seconds' pause.
"Oh, you know, just the usual robbery case." Shawn said, "Someone stole all this money at night but there's nothing on the cameras to tell us who they are or where they went." Alex frowned.
"Doesn't sound like much." he said.
"Well, it's more difficult than it looks." Juliet added. They continued to discuss details of the fake case to make it more believable while adding some points that they would be staying at the office longer to deal with it. Which meant Alex would be staying with Henry again and the face the boy made showed he didn't like the thought of having to stay with his 'grandpa' any longer than he had to. Shawn felt bad for Alex but he knew it was for the best. Alex wasn't going to hide in the trunk again if he didn't know what was going on. Dinner continued in a similar vein until, eventually, it was time for Alex to go to bed. He may have been a teenager but he still had a bedtime he needed to adhere to so they could at least know he was in bed. Juliet took care of shooing Alex to bed while Shawn started on the dishes. It was astonishing how much a fifteen-year-old could put away.
"What are we supposed to do now?" Juliet asked after she returned. As Shawn scrubbed the dishes, Juliet took a small towel and began drying them, "What's the silver scorpion mean?"
"Whatever it is, it's not good." Shawn shook his head, "It's the thing we need to keep away from Alex the most. With his luck, it's likely he knows what it means and he'll want to deal with it. We can't let that happen."
"You don't have to tell me, I know that. But if we don't figure out what the silver scorpion represents, then we might not find Lily."
"Did- did you say silver scorpion?" Both adults jumped. They turned to Alex, who was standing in the doorway to the bedrooms. They were shocked to see the traces of fear on his face. He had never been afraid once around them, not even after the explosion or both shootings. He had been sad enough to cry, angry, even happy, but they had never seen him scared (though his panic attack was something to debate). He should've been in his bedroom. What was he doing here? Juliet gave Shawn a look before she stepped forward.
"Yeah, do you know anything about this?" She asked. Instantly they saw the boy's face become closed off as he shook his head.
"No, nothing. 'Night." He quickly fled. A short pause filled the air.
"He knows something." said Shawn, "But how? How did he get mixed up in all this?"
"How did he have two people shooting at him in less than a week?" Juliet shot back, "As much as I hate to say this, Shawn, if we don't find out more about Alex, I think he's gonna end up dead."
"I think you should take him tomorrow, just in case these scorpion guys try to do something about him. Maybe see if you can get him to talk about them. He knows them and I'm afraid they'll try to target him next." Juliet nodded.
"Good idea. A few others from the station can help me keep an eye on him." She glanced at the hallway that led to Alex's room, "...Shawn, I'm scared."
"For him?" Juliet nodded. He took her into a hug, "Yeah, me too. But we can't make him tell us anything. Officially he may be our 'kid' but that doesn't mean he's gonna tell us everything about himself."
"I just hope his secrets don't get him killed."
Alex leaned against the door to his room, pale. They'd found him again. Of course they would. He'd destroyed them and their remains were out to make sure he got no more happiness. And now they had Lily. He wasn't close to her at all but they decided to take her anyway. It wasn't fair, just like his sorry excuse for a life. He knew all this because Henry still kept a walkie talkie tuned in to police frequencies, which Alex had gotten into when the ex-police officer wasn't looking. Shawn and Juliet had lied to him to keep him out of this, but there was no way Alex could leave it alone.
If it's gotten this bad, it's time I stopped running away. he thought. If he could save Lily, then it would all be worth it. He only hoped they would talk to him. Alex moved to the window, then paused. He couldn't leave without a note, right? And Shawn and Juliet would come in to give him a 'Goodnight.' After that happened, he could leave them a note and leave. He should've left a long time ago, so they wouldn't have gotten dragged into this mess. And it was through them that Lily was now in danger, just by association. Alex only hoped they wouldn't be too angry at him for this. Already he'd forced them to punish him once this week. They'd get onto him for sure for this. If they ever found him. Alex wasn't sure he'd make it out alive, but his own life wasn't his concern. It was his fault Lily had been kidnapped so it was his job to rescue her. He just hoped Scorpia would listen.
'I'm sorry, but the ones with the silver scorpion logo? They're after me. I had to leave, or Lily wouldn't be the only casualty. I know you lied to me to keep me out of her case, to keep me safe, but if I don't do something, she'll be just like the Lindberg Baby. I'm hoping to find them and get her out alive. Don't look or you'll get hurt too.
'-Alex'
Shawn couldn't stop pacing. He felt as bad and stressed as he had when Henry had been shot, if not worse. Alex was convinced the kidnapping was his fault and that the scorpion guys were after him. He'd ran away because he was so sure that would keep them safe! Shawn was sure that that wasn't the best decision Alex ever made. It was probably the worst one. As it was, after waking up and finding Alex gone, finding the letter he'd left behind, Shawn went with Juliet to the station. There was no point going elsewhere because he knew Alex would avoid all the known places that he knew of. Alex had left through the window to who knows where, so they had even less of a lead on finding him than Carlton did to Lily. His blatant disappearance and sense of martyrdom had blindsided everyone. Out of the corner of his eye, Shawn could see Juliet breaking down and building up her gun as she waited for the computer to finish searching. It was a stress exercise she'd mentioned before, but Shawn knew for a fact she hadn't done it in years. That helped cement how bad this was. But even though Shawn and Juliet knew Alex had left, they couldn't file a missing persons report until 24 hours after the disappearance, despite the note. It was frustrating, but at least Shawn wasn't the only one that found the rule stupid.
"If I could, Mr. Spencer, I would have someone taking that case." Chief Vick had said, after Juliet and Shawn had explained everything, "But you know the rules. They're idiotic sometimes but we have to follow them. There's nothing I can do at the moment. For all we know, he ran away and left the note as a fake, to send us on a wild goose chase."
"But Chief-!"
"But nothing, Mr. Spencer." She gave him a pitying look, "For the time being, try to focus on Lassiter's kidnapping. If anything turns up at all, I'll make sure you and Juliet will be the first to know about it." And that had been that. But how could Shawn hope to focus on Lily when his own child was missing? Carlton was taking this whole thing a lot better than he was. But at least Lassiter knew how to keep Juliet's mind off things. She was looking up some of Lassiter's old enemies in case one might've been in town and tried to exact revenge. But what could Shawn do? Gus was at work and while Psych was involved with Lily's kidnapping, there was no way Shawn could hope to focus on it. He needed to calm down.
"Jules." He put a hand on her shoulder, gentle enough not to startle. She looked up and he could see the same fear in her eyes reflected in his own. He cleared his throat a little, "I'm going down to see Woody. I'll be there if you need anything."
"Right." She gave him a jerky nod. As much as he wanted to comfort her, there was nothing Shawn could do and he hated it. Reminded him way too much of the time Gus got stuck in the middle of a bank robbery, thank you very much. Leaving Juliet alone, Shawn went downstairs to the coroner's office. While he didn't care much for watching dead bodies come through the morgue, Woody was the only person available for Shawn to turn to. And besides, what if Alex happened to die and come through the morgue? Shawn shook his head. Thinking things like that wasn't going to help him calm down. When he came to the morgue, he found Woody at work, like always. The fake psychic pushed open one of the swinging doors and knocked on the frame. Woody looked up and shot Shawn a smile.
"Shawn! How have you been? I haven't seen you in a while! Oh, how's Alex? Is he doing well?"
"Except for the fact he's gone missing, everything's just peachy." Shawn said. He slunk into the room and glanced at the body on the table. If he hadn't been stressed out of his mind, he might've been bothered by the fact that Woody was going through the dead man's chest. As it was, he only gave a small wince.
"Missing? What happened?" Woody, while still in touch with the conversation, continued his work on the body.
"He left home, convinced that these guys with a scorpion logo are after him. And with Lily kidnapped yesterday, he could be in serious danger." Shawn rubbed his face, "And I haven't told my Dad, have I?" He shook his head. He'd tell Henry later, when he was in a better state.
"That sounds terrible!" said Woody, "Poor Lily. And poor Alex! Is there any progress in finding them?"
"No. We can't even put out a missing persons case on Alex until he's been missing for 24 hours. As for Lily, all we have is that scorpion logo I told you about."
"And you said Alex was convinced the guys with the scorpion logo were after him? Why?"
"How should I know?!" Shawn threw his hands in the air, "Alex is being a complete idiot! He could get hurt or worse and nobody knows where he is!" It felt good to vent like this.
"But he's a very resourceful boy, right?" Woody pointed out, "He has more common sense than most people I know!"
"Apparently not enough." Shawn collapsed into Woody's chair and let the momentum spin him around for a moment, "Thanks for hearing me out."
"No trouble, Shawn." Woody reached for something on the platter that held his tools, then frowned, "Looks like I'm missing a scalpel. I'll be right back!" The coroner trotted out of the room, leaving the psychic alone with the body. Shawn glanced at it for a second and imagined it was Alex. He turned away. The longer Alex was missing, the greater chance it would be him resting on that table eventually. Just the thought of seeing Alex in the morgue made his stomach churn. He'd really gotten attached. Usually he kept himself at a safe distance to not get hurt, covering himself with jokes and impressions. But Alex was a kid, and kids could always get to him easier.
"I thought I might find you here." Shawn looked up, confused by the voice. His eyes widened.
"Despereaux?!" he gasped.
"The one and only." The man shot him a comforting smile. Said smile dropped when he saw the body, but it quickly reappeared as Despereaux refocused on Shawn. The fake psychic got out of his seat.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, mind moving on reasons of why the spy/thief was here and if it had something to do with Alex. They still didn't have much of an idea of how or why Alex was forced to become his and Juliet's son, but he was beginning to suspect that there was far more to that than he could see at the moment and Despereaux might have something to do with it.
"International business, I'm afraid." Despereaux glanced at the body again. He was clearly uncomfortable. Shawn stepped out of the room for the other man's sake. Despereaux asked, "How have you been?"
"Not too good." Shawn studied the other's face as he said, "Juliet and I adopted a kid."
"Really?" Despereaux smiled wider, "Congratulations. But how is that not good?"
"He's gone missing."
"What?" Despereaux's eyes widened. So far all his reactions had been genuine. And yet this one wasn't just genuine. There was something under the surface of Despereaux's expression, but he was one of the hardest people for Shawn to read.
"Yeah." Shawn decided to play it cool, raising a hand to cart through his hair, "He ran away last night."
"May I ask why?" He was an international agent, after all. Maybe Despereaux could tell him more about the silver scorpion and why it had everyone so panicked. Shawn took a deep breath.
"What do you know about an organization with a silver scorpion logo?"
Despereaux tried not to let his fear show, even as it grew like ice under his skin. Scorpia had Alex. This wasn't good. He'd had inklings of it when he'd been sent on this mission, but actually getting a confirmation made him worry for Alex even more.
"I'm sorry, did you say silver scorpion?" When Shawn nodded, Despereaux knew he needed to let someone know who would be able to deal with this before things got worse, "Ah, please excuse me for a moment, Shawn. I'll be right back." Ignoring Shawn's suspicious look, Despereaux darted down the hall and took out his phone. As soon as he was connected to the CIA, he began asking for Joe Byrne and he didn't have to wait long.
"Joe Byrne, this is INTERPOL agent Pierre Despereaux. There's a serious situation happening in Santa Barbara. Alex Rider is in danger and you need to shut down the city immediately!"
"Already have." said the CIA director, "I've had agents on him ever since he came to America. My men are advising everyone to stay indoors because of a large gas leak and no one's left the city."
"But sir, what if Alex was already taken out before the lockdown?"
"He won't be."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Despereaux, if there's anything I know for sure about Alex, it's that he'll always be in the right place at the right time, regardless of circumstances. You know that as well as I do, since you know who he is." Byrne had a point. Alex had an uncanny knack for turning up and foiling plans. But Despereaux didn't feel convinced.
"Sir, it's Scorpia. If they can't take him out of the city, they'll kill him where he stands. How can you know if he'll be okay?"
"I don't, but I trust Alex. He's been through worse. Now get out and find him." Byrne ended the call. Despereaux glanced at his phone then at Shawn. As much as he hated to admit it, the psychic had grown on him, and Alex had become his child as a means to protect the boy. Shawn had every right to know what was going on, as did Juliet. But would it be the best course of action? If they learned the truth, they wouldn't treat Alex like a normal boy, but neither would they cast him out. Alex wanted to be a normal boy and they could give that to him, in a way. But would Alex accept it? Likely not. He'd hate it if they knew his past, what he'd gone through and what he'd done. So would Despereaux take the moral high ground and tell Shawn, or would he respect Alex's wishes and not say a word? He looked at the psychic again, at the intensely worried look Shawn had, and knew that he couldn't leave Shawn in the dark. Besides, the psychic would probably figure it out eventually. It was what Shawn did, as did Alex. Despereaux just hoped they would find Alex alive.
I'm sorry this took so long, but writer's block was kicking my ass and I've recently been getting deep into Stranger Things. So yeah. But here's the next chapter! Hope you guys like it, and please Read & Review!