Hey everyone! Here's a new chapter for you! Sorry it's short, but I wanted to get something out for you. Next up: From Earth to Starbucks.

Carlton drove home with a lot on his mind. The last thing he had expected to happen when he went to Spencer's was that he would want to talk. They had a good thing going with their sex only encounters. Carlton didn't see the need to ruin that with their past.

When he got home, Carlton forewent his usual whiskey and headed straight to bed. He hoped to fall asleep quickly and avoid thinking about the situation entirely. However, luck wasn't on his side, and he laid in bed for hours with just his thoughts to keep him company.

He honestly could not figure out how he felt about Spencer. There was a ton of history there that made everything immensely complicated. When he looked back on their relationship, he felt passion and lust that he still felt today, but also a lot of pain and disappointment. When he had desperately needed Spencer's comfort, Spencer hadn't been there. This had led him to Victoria and that added more complications.

Carlton loved Victoria. Even now that they were separated, he still loved her. It wasn't as strong as when they first got married and was fading a little every day they were apart, but it was still there. She was his wife, his everything, for 3 and a half years; it was going to take time to truly move on.

He wasn't completely over Victoria just yet, and Spencer wanted to have a real relationship? Carlton did not think he could really commit to someone like Spencer right now. Especially not with all the lying and secrets Spencer was keeping. For some reason, Spencer wasn't active in the military at the moment, and now he was suddenly a psychic, something he never claimed to be before. Carlton couldn't trust him; and he definitely couldn't let himself fall for him again, not when lying was against his moral code.

He couldn't give Spencer what he wanted, and he couldn't get the sex that he had wanted. Now he just hoped Spencer would up and leave again, something he was very good at.

Carlton got very little sleep over the next several days, plagued by his thoughts, leaving him bitter and irritable at work. After awhile of this, even Juliet was avoiding him at the station. When they were given the case of the missing wedding ring, he almost decided to take one of his many available sick days and let Juliet handle it. The last thing he needed on no sleep and with the thoughts of his exes plaguing him, was a wedding to deal with.

He blamed his bad theories on his lack of sleep. With a more rational mind, he knew the idea of a scaled replica of the vault would be unlikely. Throughout the case he was followed by thoughts of his own wedding to Victoria, how they met, and the memories of their years together. He was almost thankful for the small reprieve he got from thinking about Spencer. But thoughts of Spencer quickly returned when Spencer got involved in the case.

By the day of the wedding, Carlton was absolutely exhausted. He hadn't even had time to use the hotel room he had booked to get some much needed sleep. Then he found out that someone matching Spencer's description had racked up bills on his room and he was furious. He dragged Juliet to the wedding, and they waited in the back for it to end.

Carlton couldn't believe Spencer would accumulate charges like that for him to pay. It was childish, stupid, rude…and totally something Spencer would do. It was his way at getting back at Carlton for walking out, he was sure of it. He was going to make Spencer pay, literally.

All thoughts of payback disappeared when Spencer stood up to disrupt the wedding. Spencer was looking quite dashing in his suit. Carlton's thoughts drifted and all he wanted to do was drag Spencer up to that hotel room and remove that suit as quickly as possible. He was knocked back to reality when the Chief entered the room.

The rest of the day passed in a blur and Carlton was still furious by the time he got home late that night. He had a long day of paperwork and he still had to pay that $1600 bill that Spencer had racked up for him.

He knew for sure that he couldn't be with Spencer, not now, probably not ever again. Not when the man acted like a child. Not when the man was prone to leaving, and especially not when the man was lying every day and interfering in Carlton's life.

2001

"-Leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

Carlton hung up his phone and slipped it into his pocket. That was the sixth time he'd called Shawn, and the sixth time he'd gotten his voicemail. He waved down the bartender for another whiskey. Today had been rough and all he wanted to do was hear Shawn's voice, maybe ask him to come home so he could feel him safe and sound in his arms.

It had been a 10-54, possible dead body. Someone had called it in to dispatch, and Carlton and his partner were first on scene, followed by a couple rookie officers. They entered the seemingly empty house, Carlton first, followed by a rookie, then his partner, and so on. They followed Carlton's lead and entered guns drawn. Carlton entered first, did a quick eye sweep of the room then turned right. That's when time slowed.

Carlton saw from the corner of his eye a man stepping out from a far room down the hall, gun drawn and a shot rang off before Carlton could blink. It hit the rookie in the throat. His partner got a shot off, taking down the shooter, but it was too late. The damage had been done. They had an officer down.

Carlton was immediately on his knees and putting pressure on the wound; it looked like it hit the carotid artery. The rookie was dead within minutes.

Carlton could still feel the blood on his fingers as he drank his whiskey. He pulled out his phone again, sighed at the blank screen then pocketed it once more.

A woman sat down next to Carlton in the busy bar. They barely acknowledged each other as Carlton downed the last of his whiskey and laid a few bills on the counter. He then left the bar.

Carlton did the same thing every day for a week. He went to the bar after work, had a couple drinks, then went home. Every day he called Shawn and every day he got his voicemail. Every day the same woman sat next to him, and every day they barely acknowledged each other. Neither of them were looking for company, instead just looking to not be alone in their apartments during difficult times.

It was on the 7th day in a row that Carlton was finally recovering from the stupor he'd been in for days. He finally took in his surroundings, and finally noticed the simple, yet beautiful woman he'd been sitting next to for several evenings. That evening he bought her a drink. They didn't say much, merely acknowledged each other's presence.

The next day, she bought him a drink.

This continued for a few a couple more days before finally they exchanged names. Her name was Victoria.

Juliet knew something was going on between Shawn and Carlton, she just didn't know exactly what. Ever since the case of the missing wedding ring, things had been extremely tense between them. Carlton still despised Shawn working on their cases, but there seemed to be extra heat behind all his comments. When it came to Shawn, his usual blasé responses to Carlton were gone, and instead there was anger and frustration behind his conversations with the Head Detective. Something had happened, and Juliet was determined to find out what was going on.

The two of them argued about everything. They argued about Shawn giving Carlton credit, about Shawn's visions; they even argued about how Carlton took his coffee. Arguing about everything wasn't unusual for them, except now it seemed like their words were meant to truly hurt the other.

Shawn's visions became more restrained. Less flopping around and more to the point. Juliet even noticed Shawn refrain from groping Carlton like he'd done in the past. It was nice for Shawn to get to the point instead of beating around the bush, but it also seemed wrong. Shawn was playful and extravagant, that was who he was, and it was weird to seem him restraining himself.

It wasn't until the Civil War reenactment case that Juliet caught on to something she hadn't known before. She was standing next to Shawn while Carlton was speaking to the reenactors, still wearing his fake facial hair, when he made a comment.

"I always told Carly he'd look weird with a goatee." Shawn then walked off to talk to Sally Reynolds, the female reenactor.

Juliet's eyes widened and it all fell into place. The two of them had history. A lot more history than Juliet had thought. She thought they'd met the month before she joined the team, but the way Shawn said "always" implied that there was a longer relationship there. It all made sense. They had known each other a long time and something had happened in their past. Had they been acquaintances? Friends? What had happened between them to cause such hatred and tension?

It wasn't until after Chief had her baby that Juliet felt she and her partner were close enough for her to ask. Over the past two months they'd been slowly getting to know each other and feel each other out. She knew enough about Carlton now that he'd want her to confront him if his attitude was affecting their work. She had a feeling that if this bickering, borderline fighting, didn't stop soon, it'd start affecting the quality of work on the cases themselves.

She approached Carlton after they successfully closed the case involving Captain Connors. She was finished with her paperwork and no one was really around to listen to their conversation. She headed over to Carlton's desk and waited for him to acknowledge her.

He glanced up from his work. "What is it, O'Hara?"

"We need to talk about you and Shawn." She watched her partner tense up, a guarded look on his face.

"There's nothing about Spencer and me to talk about."

"Yes there is. The fighting is getting worse between you two and soon it's going to start affecting your work."

He quickly became defensive. "I would never let anything affect my work."

"Maybe not intentionally. But if it keeps escalating like it's been doing, soon you'll both be so focused on hurting each other, that the case will take the back burner. I don't want that to happen." He stared at her. She paused. "Is there a history between you and Shawn? Did you know him before he started working for the SBPD?"

Several looks fell over her partner's face before it returned to defensive. "That's none of your business."

"It is my business if your attention is more on Shawn than it is our cases. I'm your partner, I need to know what's going on. I can't keep mediating your petty arguments if I don't know why they're happening."

"I don't believe he's a psychic. That's all."

Juliet trusted in her detective skills. She knew that wasn't the full truth. "Partner's don't lie to each other, Carlton. Don't start lying to me now. There's too much anger and tension there to just be a disagreement like that. There's more to the story."

Carlton observed her for awhile, watching as she didn't back down when he didn't respond. He slowly relaxed and leaned back in his chair, defeated. "Spencer and I used to be…friends. Years ago, before I married Victoria."

Juliet took his hesitation as reluctance to talk about the subject. "What happened between you two?"

"He took off. Left to work one of his many jobs, never looked back. It was his specialty."

"And now?"

"And now he's back and interfering with police investigations that he has no business being involved in."

Juliet decided not to push the topic of why they are not friends anymore. She knew she wouldn't get a straight answer tonight. "How could you have been friends and not believe that he's psychic?"

"He wasn't psychic then." Carlton then continued his work, effectively ending the conversation.

Juliet headed back to her desk with a thousand new questions. Shawn claimed to have the gift his whole life, so why wouldn't he tell Carlton if they were friends? Or was Shawn lying? Was Carlton lying? What else happened when Shawn left to make their interactions now so bitter? Why did they seem to despise each other now?

Maybe she'd have to talk to Shawn.

1998

"Coop, I met someone." Shawn dropped his bag in his cage, before heading over to Cooper's and sitting next to said guy.

Cooper "Coop" Wilson looked up from digging through his bag to look at his friend, his brother. The tall brunette took in the look of awe on his friend's face and knew this someone wasn't just a onetime thing. "Tell me about them."

Shawn's mind quickly recalled every second Carlton and he spent together. "They have eyes like the ocean, blue as can be. And their smile, though rare, could light up a room. Oh and their body-."

"Okay, I don't need those kinds of details. I meant more of what are they like, what do they do, how'd you meet."

Shawn returned to the present moment and smiled. "Right. We met at a bar, and damn can I pick 'em."

Shawn parked his motorcycle in its usual spot and headed inside his apartment building. He headed up to the 3rd floor and down the hall to his apartment. He froze when he noticed his door ajar. He reached for a gun that he no longer carried and cursed in frustration. He slowly approached his apartment and quietly pushed the door open, far enough for him to slip through. He quickly scanned what he could see before reaching into the plant by the front door and pulling out a handgun.

Shawn quickly and methodically searched and cleared his apartment for any intruders. There was no one in sight and he noticed nothing had been taken. He searched his apartment a second time before he lowered his weapon. He found nothing out of place.

He returned his gun to the plant then closed and locked his front door. He pulled out his cell phone and sent out a text.