Shawn was disappointed to say the least. He watched the girl walk away, talking to her soon to be fiancé. She was supposed to be his distraction; something he desperately needed with everything that's going on.

Shawn was exhausted. The past couple months had been full of nonstop cases and while that was great, having to deal with Lassie on the daily was taking its toll. Shawn was honestly fed up with their constant fighting. He always came out of it feeling worse than when it started, even if he got the last word. He cared for Lassie, a lot, and attacking him just left him feeling empty inside.

Add to that the fact that someone broke into his apartment a few days ago, and Shawn was drained. That's why he'd agreed to go out with the girl in the first place; he needed to get his mind off his life. So much for that.

Shawn grabbed his drink and headed off towards the bar. He paused when he noticed the last person he wanted to see right now. He almost ignored him, but Carlton looked drunk and miserable; he had to make sure he was okay.

"Lassie?"

Carlton looked up from the table and smiled. "Spencer! Why am I surprised?"

Shawn glanced over his ex. His sleeves were rolled up, his tie loosened, and there was a slight edge to his voice that suggested he'd had a little too much to drink. "Why are you wasted?" He walked over to Carlton's table.

"Hey, you like scotch, right? Miss!" Carlton turned and ordered two more scotches from the waitress. Shawn motioned to her that they didn't need any more, Carlton had had plenty to drink. "Listen, there is something I have got to get off my chest."

"Is it your shirt? Please say yes."

"You…astound me."

Shawn tensed, Carlton wouldn't compliment him sober, and he didn't feel comfortable being complimented when Carlton wouldn't remember it the next day; it wasn't real. "Come again?"

"It's beyond astounding. It is some of the most impressive reasoning I've ever seen."

"Is there a punch line coming? Let's get to it."

"I don't know how you do it. I mean, it's not psychic-ness, we both know that's a crock of crap. But you, sir, are unstoppable, guaranteed arrest." Carlton downed the rest of his drink.

"What's happening here?"

"Can I tell you a secret?"

"I wouldn't recommend it, no."

Carlton moved around the table and sat on the stool closest to Shawn. "I can't let myself love you again."

"What?" That was not what Shawn was expecting.

"I really want to, you're everything I want, but you left me." A vulnerable tone took over his voice.

"I didn't-."

"I needed you and you weren't there…Victoria was, and she's left me too."

Shawn's heart broke a little at the tone in his voice. He hadn't left Carlton, Carlton left him, but with the sincerity in his voice, Shawn almost wanted to believe him. Maybe he did leave Carlton.

"You know how everyone thinks my wife and I have been separated for nine months?"

Shawn left his thoughts and rejoined the conversation. "Yes."

"Two years. Two years tonight. And I'm the one who keeps trying to fix the thing. I mean-." Carlton leaned back in his seat and Shawn had to quickly reach out and grab the man before he fell. "-counseling, therapy, acupuncture, you name it. I have tried to try to try it."

Shawn had no idea they'd been apart for so long. And to think that Carlton thought people kept abandoning him, it hurt Shawn to see Carlton this way. He deserved better, better than this Victoria.

"You know, I used to be a good cop. Seriously. Stunning arrest record. It was one of the best in the department. I caught the Back Bay Killer."

Used to be? Carlton was still an amazing cop. "Yes, you did. I remember it well."

"Although I had a tip."

Shawn nodded. "The blue sedan."

"Yeah." Carlton paused and then looked at Shawn in shock. His voice shrunk. "That was you?"

Shit. "…It might have been."

"See what I mean?" Carlton turned away from Shawn and faced the table.

"Come on, you still had to put it all together, right?" Shawn walked around and sat down across from Lassie.

"Spencer, the blue sedan was the key to the whole thing. It was the murderer's car."

"Yeah, but who had to run the plates? And all those numbers and letters could have confused many a cop."

"Spencer, stop, okay? I am done. Here." Carlton reached into his pocket and pulled out his handcuffs. "I want you to have these. I don't need them. I am over." He placed them onto the table.

This was ridiculous. "All right, just stop this. This is nonsense. You're not over. Look, you're a striking man with strong features, eyes that I-women want to do cannonballs into. You're intelligent and amazing-."

Carlton shook his head. "No, I have officially hit rock bottom. A month ago, I got this case, right? A healthy 42-year-old astronomer dies. Doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, spends all day in an ergonomically designed chair, charting the night sky. Natural causes, that's what the coroner comes back with. Does a full autopsy. No red flags. Nothing. I know he was murdered. I just can't..."

"Prove it?"

"Prove it! The department won't even let me pursue it."

"Come on, you'll figure it out."

"No, I won't. I can't. And I've accepted that."

"All right, look, Lassie, Carlton. I believe in you. I really do. You just gotta trust your instincts."

Shrieking interrupted his next words and the girl from earlier comes running over. Seriously bad timing.

"I just got engaged!"

Shawn hid his frustration at being interrupted and faked excitement. "Oh my god."

"Thank you, thank you." The girl ran off again.

"I'll never ever see you again. Bye."

Shawn heard a thump and turned around to see Lassie on the ground, passed out. Shawn sighed. He couldn't just leave him there. Shawn pocketed the handcuffs before he sat on the ground next to Carlton and spent the next 20 minutes trying to wake the guy enough so he could help him to his car. He and Carlton stumbled out to the detective's Crown Vic and Shawn helped the man into the back seat. He found the keys in Carlton's front pocket and climbed in the driver's seat. He drove towards the detective's home.

The whole ride he gave some thought to what Carlton said. The man had lost hope and Shawn was determined to help the man find it again, even if it meant working alongside the man. He still cared deeply for Carlton, more so than he expected to ever care about him again. He realized that he'd do anything to help Carly if the man needed it, even at his own expense.

Carlton thought he'd been abandoned by Shawn, something Shawn didn't see. If anyone abandoned the other, Carlton abandoned him when he got engaged. But Carlton said he'd needed Shawn and he wasn't there. Did something happen during those six months he was gone? Was six months an unreasonable time to expect someone to wait for you? Was Shawn in the wrong this whole time? He needed to find out why Carly thought he'd abandoned him.

He reached Carlton's house and parked the car out front. He gently woke Carlton back up and helped the drunk man into his home. He plopped Carlton on his bed and headed to the kitchen. Shawn wrote the man a quick note before heading out of the home.

He sat on the front steps of the house and called his best friend for a ride.

Shawn and Gus headed into the police station in the morning, though Gus wasn't quite sure why they're there.

"Shawn, what are we doing here?"

Shawn scanned the station until he spotted Lassie heading up the stairs. "I'll be right back." He walked off, leaving his best friend by the entrance. He immediately knew when Carlton noticed him because the man's demeanor went from relaxed to frustrated in a matter of moments. He caught up to the head detective and walked alongside him. "How are you doing, Lassie?"

"What do you want, Spencer?"

"I just want to make sure you're alright, after last night."

Carlton stopped walking and faced Shawn. "Look, last night didn't happen, alright? Just forget it."

"I know you were having a rough night. Everyone has a drink too many on occasion, it's nothing to be embarrassed about."

"I'm not embarrassed, Spencer, I just don't want to talk about it. Now get lost." He turned to head to his desk.

"I know last night was a rough anniversary for you."

Carlton tensed and turned back to Shawn, furious. "What did I tell you last night?"

"Nothing, just about your separation. I'm really sorry, Carly."

"I don't need your pity, Spencer. Now leave." He turned and walked away.

Shawn regretted saying anything at all. He wanted to fix things with Lassie, not make them worse. And after last night, he thought there might be a chance they could be together again, he just had to figure out how. But the first step, solve the case for Carly.

He headed back over to Gus. "We have to solve that case."

"What case?"

"The one I told you about last night. The one Lassiter can't solve."

"He's gonna hire us for a case?"

Don't be ridiculous, Gus. "Oh, god, no. He'd never do that."

"So, we won't get paid?"

"Exactly."

"And we're just doing it for the glory?"

"Nope. We give Lassiter all the credit. In fact, I don't even think he can know we're helping him."

"Dude, that's a good idea, Shawn. I ditch out of work on the day we release three new products to spend time on an unsolvable case in which we won't get paid and someone else gets all the credit. That, quite honestly, is some of the best nut-shelling I've ever heard." It sounded like a good idea to Shawn. "We made a deal. Yesterday. We're equal partners. That means we collectively decide which appointments to make, which cases to take. We have to live by that, at least for a day, especially today."

"You're right."

"Thank you."

"It's gonna be a problem, though."

"Why?"

"'Cause we've already got a meeting with the dead guy's widow."

"When?"

"Ten minutes."

"Ten minutes?"

"Look, don't worry. I'm gonna do it in the Chief's office. Just need you to stand guard at the door, make sure no one catches us in there. It's gonna double the excitement. Maybe triple it. Now, come on, who's in?" Shawn held out his fist for a fist-bump. Gus looked at him in disbelief. "Don't fool around. You know I can't hold my hand like this for very long."

Gus turned and headed out of the station.

"Gus, I get very poor circulation to the limbic regions. And now my pinky's going numb."

Shawn interviewed the widow by himself, finding out that things started to change for the dead guy about two weeks into last summer when he started working really long hours. At one point the widow assumed her husband was cheating on her, but Shawn doubted it.

Afterwards he ran into Juliet, explained what he was doing, and she agreed to help. The only problem was that Shawn was surprised when she didn't ask him why he was helping Lassiter. It was a logical thing to ask after they've been arguing so much, and Gus was sure to ask. So why didn't Juliet?

Shawn headed back to the office and laid the case out on their glass board. He used the case to distract himself from thinking about what Carly had said last night. But a nagging feeling that he was missing something stuck with him. Carlton thought he left him, but Shawn never did, so why did he feel abandoned?

Shawn had to forcibly remove himself from his thoughts and focus on the case. He called his dad to ask him a few questions and was shocked when he didn't answer after two rings like he always did. Where was Henry and why wasn't he at home? Gus chose that moment to head into the office.

"My dad is not answering his phone."

"So?"

"So, he's always home, and he always answers his phone after two rings. This is actually somewhat troubling."

"Why?"

"Why? Fish derby is on."

Gus noticed the board. "What is this?"

It was clearly the case. What else would he be working on. "It's the Bryant Vallery case."

"The one from this morning?" Gus walked over and glanced over the board.

"And the rest of the week. I predict we will solve it Friday at 10:01 p.m. And then maybe watch some cable."

"Sounds great." Gus walked over to Shawn's desk. "And did you find a partner that's willing to do this with you?"

"Jules is in. My dad is clearly missing, or something. Dude, that leaves you! Gus, you get to step up in a big fat way.

"You have one job. I have two jobs, Shawn. I have presentations to memorize on three new drugs. And while you were out drinking last night, with Lassiter of all people, and taking on free cases, I was up half the night dreaming about whether the gel caps are more effective than the tablets. Why are you so set on taking this case? You and Lassiter have been at each other's throats for weeks! And now you want to help him? It makes no sense."

"First of all, tablets. Always tablets, that's a given. Secondly, it's not like I hate Lassie and he's having a rough time. I felt like he could use some help, just this once."

"Does this have something to do with you two having history? I thought that was all over. Do you still have feelings for him?"

When did his best friend get so observant? "No Gus, don't be the broken crayon in the brand new box. Of course not."

Gus stared at him a moment. "You're lying."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes you are. You have feelings for Lassiter! When were you going to tell me? I thought with all the arguing that you'd gotten over him."

Shawn sighed. "It's complicated, man."

"Then uncomplicate it." Gus leaned against his desk and waited.

"Fine. We hooked up a couple of times, I told him I wanted more and he walked out. End of story."

"That explains the arguing. Why are we helping Lassiter?"

Shawn honestly hated talking about his feelings. This was torture. "Carly told me last night that basically he wanted to love me again, but couldn't."

"Why can't he?"

"He said it was because I left him, which I didn't. Not really. I was just gone a few months, which I told him about ahead of time. But I think something happened while I was gone to make him feel like I really left."

"So you want to do this case to get back into Lassiter's good graces."

Shawn shrugged. "He's had a rough week, I just want to help him solve this case."

Gus nodded.

"But if that doesn't convince you to help me with this case, I guarantee you that after you hear this reason, you definitely will."

"I doubt it but give it a shot."

"The victim was an astronomer."

"Yeah."

"The guy died while he was working the night sky at the observatory."

Gus chuckled nervously and headed over to his desk. "What would make you think that would matter?"

"Oh, come on! I know you go down to the Space Center."

"That's preposterous, Shawn."

"Thursdays." Shawn stood and walked over to Gus.

"I'm never down-."

"In the afternoon, usually around 2:00."

"Have you been following me?"

"Maybe. Sometimes. To sharpen and refine my tailing skills, yes."

"We both know your tailing skills are perfectly fine." Gus rounded the desk and confronted Shawn. "This is exactly the sort of thing I was talking about, Shawn."

"Okay, I apologize, Gus, I do. But it's all good. So you like astronomy. I accept that." Though Shawn definitely suspected there was a girl involved, no way Gus liked astronomy that much.

"This conversation is over." Gus started going through stuff on his desk.

"Okay, don't go all Vincent Gallo on me. We're just getting started, man. Look, some guy dies at a Space Center that you frequently sneak off to. We gotta get down there and we gotta do some serious space digging."

"No, we don't. As a matter of fact, now that I know that you're tailing me while I'm at work, get ready to get lost in my dust."

Shawn scoffed. "Okay. Dust? What, are you going off-roading?"

"I'm gonna be un-catchable, like a jackal."

"Like a jackal? We both know you can't lose me. How about I just tail you to the observatory?"

"Consider me stealth, Shawn." Gus started bobbing his head.

"That's weird. It's like you're a bobble head."

While Gus went off back to work, Shawn decided the best way to investigate discreetly was to head down to the observatory and work there. With his long list of work history, they hired him easily. He had already been trained on the basics of the job by the time he spotted Gus trying to sneak about outside. He turned his back as soon as Gus reached the door and waited.

"Excuse me, I have an annual pass and-."

Shawn turned around. "Oh, I'm sorry, sir. Didn't see you standing there, you know, being so stealth-like." He picked up the phone and called over the intercom. "The jackal has arrived."

Gus didn't seem to see the humor in the situation. They walked away from the front desk and headed into the observatory.

"What are you doing, Shawn?"

"What are we doing. Dude, we're undercover."

"We are not undercover."

"Sure, we are. I'm the employee, you're the customer."

"Employee? You've never worked a job in your life Shawn, you're not qualified for this job."

"My background would beg to differ, thank you very much. I've worked tons of jobs, like in a wiener mobile, at a movie store, and a Starbucks."

"Sure you have. I'm not involved with this case."

"I only need you for a minute. Like when Kenickie needed Danny Zuko. And you get to be Travolta in the analogy."

"Look, I'm only here for a few minutes, anyway."

"That's all I need. Look, there's this creepy janitor that lurks about. I want you to distract him while I grill your crush." Shawn had seen everyone who worked there, and she was definitely Gus' type.

"You are not grilling Jessica. She's just interning here until she gets her college units."

"I knew you were crushing on someone."

"How did you-."

"I'm not an idiot, we both know that. There was no way you were suddenly so interested in the stars after all these years that'd you come weekly. The only logical solution would be that a girl was involved."

"You know, your observational skills really get annoying."

"Thanks, Gus, that means a lot. New plan, you grill Jessica."

"Look, she's been through a lot lately. She just-."

"Broke up with her boyfriend."

"How'd you know that?"

"It's my curse, apparently."

"Well, since she's just off a break-up, I got to move gradually."

"Just go over there and ask her out. Get her digits."

"Shawn, this is a quality girl. That means I got to put in quality time, okay?"

"Oh, here she comes. Act natural." Shawn leaned against the wall, relaxed while Gus stood stiffly, definitely looking unnatural.

Shawn stopped the girl as she passed. "Hey, Jessie, do you know Gus?"

She smiled. "Yes. Gus is a regular."

"That's right."

Shawn decided to have a little fun. "You know, I went to high school with him. Of course, I didn't hang out with cool kids like Gus in high school. He was a C.I.F. wrestling champion back then."

"Really?" She sounded impressed.

"True as toast. And in college, he was a Heisman candidate till he blew his knee out." Gus shot him an unbelievable look. "Don't act all surprised. We were all following you in the newspapers, man."

"You're kidding."

"Well, he is, actually-,"

Shawn cut Gus off. "I don't kid, ever. I idolize this guy. The coolest dude I have ever known." He watched as she took everything in, and knew she was sold. Perfect.

"Wow, Gus, it seems there's a lot I don't know about you."

"Well, there is-."

"Hey, you guys should totally talk, you know? Share stuff and whatnot. But don't let this guy grill you too much." Shawn and Gus shared a fake laugh.

Jessica didn't seem to notice. "Yeah, well, I'd love to, but I have to start the planetarium show."

"Yes, she has a planetarium show to start."

No problem, Shawn had seen a show once on a date, he could easily do that. "Oh, can I do that?"

"Have you been trained on the show?"

"Oh, yeah, Jess, I just did the checklist, like, an hour ago. Perfect score. Uh... question 18 has a typo."

"Okay, great! Go ahead then."

"Are you serious? Oh, this is great! Great. All right, I got it. No worries. No worries. I got it." Shawn ran off to do the show, purposely running with pep in his step.

"Thanks, Shawn."

Gus couldn't believe what just happened. "That guy. You heard about Pluto? It's messed up, right?"

"Mhm."

Shawn did the planetarium show in 4 minutes with no trouble, though the janitor guy was watching him like a hawk the whole time. When he was finished he headed out to the lobby to wait for Gus. While he was waiting he got a text from Juliet saying Lassie was back on board and was reinvestigating the case. Perfect.

The janitor finally left the show room and Shawn glanced around before stealthily following him. He watched as the guy stole a water bottle, flashlight and some deodorant from an employee's locker. When the janitor left, Shawn slipped into the telescope room. He was surprised to find that it's not empty.

"Hey." Shawn startled as a guy spoke up. "You work here?"

Shawn headed into the room. "No, I just happen to own my own Space Suit."

"A smart-ass. I like that. Get over here, kid. Do me a favor. Keep your finger on the space bar while I adjust this."

Shawn walked over and did as he was asked. "Like this?"

"Uh-huh."

"You're gonna trust me with this?"

"I don't have a lot of other options, do I, Space man?" The astronomer walked off to the telescope.

Shawn scanned the desk and noticed the corner of a piece of paper sticking out of one of the log books, almost like it was bent or ripped. "I gotta be honest. This seems like a job for two, no?"

"Sometimes it is. But once the scope is in place, all you got to do is watch the monitor, hoping to catch things that nobody else has. You know, if you got a partner, you can switch off, you know, rest your eyes, maybe make calculations on what you've seen, or just break up the silence of staring into the unknown."

"So, where's your partner?"

"Yeah, well that's the bad part of it. He passed away not too long ago. You know, the Buddhists have this saying about moving on, honoring the work... but I don't remember it. What I do know is that I realize I'm too old to be doing this stuff all alone." He walked back and took over, relieving Shawn of the space bar.

Shawn walked over to the telescope. "So, you're continuing the work, huh?" He considered looking in the telescope, but he knew how precise this had to be. He knew better than to touch it.

"Bryant would return from the grave if I didn't. You know, we petitioned for five years for use of this scope. And we got lucky. I mean, once you get in here, you gotta find what you're looking for, fast. We had eight months. Bryant saw six."

"Eight months seems like a good chunk of time."

"Not in astronomy. See, once you find it, you gotta track it. Okay? And then it's not a discovery until you chart it and then it goes around again and then you prove it."

"Must get lonely."

"I let you in here, didn't I? Look, I just talk. You know? I've got the gift of gab. Jeez, I'll talk to anybody, I suppose." The astronomer sat down at the monitor.

"So, you still haven't found what you're looking for, huh?"

"No, but when I do, you'll read about it, believe me. You'll read about it."

Shawn headed out of the room a few minutes later. He hadn't found out anything useful. He'd have to go back in when the astronomer was gone, get a better look around. He headed back to the main lobby and decided it wouldn't hurt to do his actual job. He headed to the main desk and checked people in while he waited for Gus.

His thoughts quickly wandered to Carly, as the work didn't require much attention. He had so many mixed feelings about Carlton, and he didn't know which ones were the strongest. He knew that the idea of getting back together with Lassie brought him joy and butterflies, but he knew thinking about the past that Lassiter leaving him for Victoria had hurt worse than a gunshot. He felt that he'd be able to move on if they just talked about it. But then there was the fact that Carlton somehow thought Shawn was the one who left that brought a new problem into the mix. What he was talking about, Shawn had no clue, but as soon as this case was over, he was going to find out.

Gus and Jessica returned 20 minutes later and Shawn walked Gus out to his car. Gus got Jessica's digits and Shawn had heard from Juliet, they were to meet her after Shawn got off work. So at five o'clock, the two of them drove down to the station.

They were hoping for some good news but quickly found out that Jessica might have been the one having the potential affair with Bryant, the dead guy.

2000

A taxi pulled up outside the house and Shawn gingerly climbed out. He grabbed his bag from the trunk before carefully heading up the steps to the front door. He knocked and waited. The door opened to reveal one of his favorite people.

"Carly!"

Carlton smiled. "Do you ever think to call and let me know you're coming?"

"Now where's the fun in that?" Carlton stepped aside to let Shawn in. "Speaking of fun, you know what's not fun? Getting shot."

It took a second for Carlton to process what he just said. "Oh my god, Shawn, were you shot?" Carlton quickly noticed Shawn's gentle steps and grabbed the man's bag. He ushered Shawn to the couch.

"It was just a deep graze to the side, but if anyone asks, I bravely took two to the gut and barely made it out alive." He grinned up at Lassie, happy to be back with him. "I was given a few weeks to heal up, so I decided to come visit."

"Please tell me you didn't ride your bike down here with a bullet wound." Carlton sat next to Shawn on the couch, wrapping his arm around the smaller man.

"Nah, I flew. Even I have my limits." Shawn leaned into Carlton's side. It felt like he never left.

They spent the next few weeks doing a bit of everything. Carlton still had to work, but they spent his free evenings catching up and watching reruns of Cops. On the weekends they went on dates to the beach, to dinner, and even to an arcade much to Shawn's delight.

Shawn made sure to visit Gus a few times while he was in town, but most of his time he spent with Lassie by his side. Days with Carly almost made him consider leaving the army, just so he'd have more time with the man. But he knew he couldn't do it, not now at least. Maybe someday.

The next morning Shawn and Gus went back to the observatory, early enough that the astronomer wouldn't be there yet. They bickered about whether or not Jessica was the killer. Gus was adamant that she likely was, while Shawn didn't see a motive. There was no reason for her to do so, even if they'd recently broken up. It didn't add up.

Shawn used his stolen security pass to get them into the back room, but it didn't let them into the locked observatory room. He was about to pull out his multi-tool when the nosy janitor showed up.

"That's not right."

"What? I'm sorry. I just…I...I left my pogo stick in there and I just..."

"No, I mean you're not doing it right. You gotta move upward if you wanna get the latch to disengage. Let me do it." The janitor pulled out a knife and moved over to help them break in.

"Uh... don't you have a key for this room?"

"No. Big bad Bryant took it away a few weeks after they got here."

"Why?"

"A few small items go missing and suddenly everyone gets suspicious."

"Items such as?" Shawn was not surprised at all, the guy had a serious problem.

"A watch. A comb. Some mail."

"Whose mail?"

"The dead guy, Bryant."

"Did you read it?" Gus asked.

"Well, of course I did. You know, he became quite a jerk. I don't know if Hugo knows this or not, but he was dissolving the partnership. Apparently, he had some big plans for himself. I don't know. Correspondence for jobs he didn't seem qualified for. Like heading university departments, NASA..."

He was dissolving the partnership? Interesting, that gave Hugo motive. "NASA?"

The janitor got the lock to disengage and opened the door. "Now. Who are you guys again?"

"We think something bad went down in there," Gus responded.

"Yes, something bad did go down in here." The janitor opened the door for them, and they headed inside.

"Did you see anything?" Shawn asked.

"No. But you know, the dead guy, he changed. They were friends at the beginning. Hugo was always being nice to him, you know? In fact, Hugo's the only one around here who's nice to me. Brings me coffee in the mornings, although he brings it for everybody. All four of us. Three of us."

Shawn headed over to the log books he saw yesterday. "Stallings, I'll be nice to you, just do me a favor. Stop stealing the gum out of my locker. Okay?"

The janitor, Stallings, chuckled nervously. "You spotted that?"

"Sure did."

Gus looked around at the telescope, fascinated.

"Hey, do you know how these books work?" Shawn flipped through one of them.

"Oh, they switch up every couple of hours. One looks, one writes. Yeah, they do it from dark till dusk all the time." Stallings glanced at his watch. "Hugo's here."

"How do you know that?"

"He gets here at the same time every day. You could set your clock to it. Hey, you should hurry. You don't have long."

"Thanks, dude."

"Uh-huh." Stallings glanced around before quickly leaving the room.

"Gus, come check this out." Shawn opened the book where he saw the ripped page.

"What?"

"Look, there's a page missing from this logbook. I noticed it the first time I was here. Look. June 21st."

"What does the book track?"

"It's like Stallings said. It's like, every manual adjustment they make, who does it, which guy was on the scope. See, it looks like they switch shifts about every two hours. Right? So, why remove this page? It goes from 8:39 with Hugo to 10:42 with Bryant. So the question is, what happened between 8:39 and 10:42 on June 21st?"

"Some bad juju."

Shawn closed the book and put it back. "We gotta get out of here."

"Why?"

"Why? Gus, if someone finds me in here, I could get fired." He jogged off.

"Why do you keep running like that?"

As they were heading outside, they ran into Jessica. Gus tried to slyly slip out of their date obligations, but Jessica and Shawn would not have it, much to Gus' chagrin. The three of them head outside to greet Hugo.

Shawn and Gus noticed that Hugo kept a bunch of paperwork locked up in a hard covered brief case; odd for mere paperwork. Hugo headed inside and Shawn had an idea. If Hugo was at the observatory, that meant he wasn't at his house.

The two of them drove to the man's house and had a look around. Shawn tried a window but it was locked. He could have easily broken in, but didn't find it necessary. They headed around back and Shawn noticed strange purple flowers growing in a vegetable garden. He pulled out his multi-tool and snipped a could of stems. His dad would definitely know what it was. He needed to know what this was before Lassiter decided to come on his own.

They then headed to Henry's house, hoping he'd be able to identify the flowers for them. Shawn was shocked to find out his dad had a woman over. He knew his dad had dated since his mom, he wasn't stupid, but he honestly rather not think about it at all. He left the stems of flower on the porch and they left rather quickly.

Shawn called Jules on the drive and updated her on what they found, informing her about the missing page in the logbook. He was thrilled to hear that Lassie was "on fire" with the case. His plan was working.

Shawn followed Gus on his date with Jessica. He knew she likely wasn't the killer, but just in case, he wanted to make sure his best friend was safe. He listened in on their conversations, tucked under a blanket on a nearby bench. He heard that Hugo called a press conference and may have discovered a planet. If that was true, it gave Hugo motive to kill Bryant if he wanted all the credit. Especially if he found out Bryant was going to dissolve the partnership, likely taking the credit with him, then Hugo definitely had motive to kill.

Shawn considered jumping out of his hiding spot, informing them Jessica wasn't a suspect anymore, but for once Shawn thought before he acted. That'd likely ruin the rest of the date for Gus, and wouldn't be fair for Shawn to do. He waited until they walked on, before slipping out of his hiding spot and heading back to his bike. He called Jules and updated her on what he found out before heading home. Now all he needed was a murder weapon.

2000

Shawn and Carlton walked down the beach, hand in hand. Carlton wasn't a huge fan of public displays of affection, but with Shawn, he didn't mind. They walked, watched the sunset, and talked about their days; Carlton had worked, and Shawn had gone to visit Gus.

After awhile they walked in silence, enjoying each other's company, when Shawn broke it.

"Where do you see yourself in the future?" Shawn wasn't sure what kind of answer he was expecting, but the question popped into his head and was spoken seconds later.

Carlton thought about it for a minute. "I see myself as the Chief of the SBPD, maybe married with a kid or two." He doesn't mention that lately he pictured Shawn as his future husband. That was likely too much for their relationship right now.

Shawn nodded and contemplated his own answer. "I see myself as a Master Sergeant in the army, with Don't Ask Don't Tell repealed and my boyfriend by my side for the world to see." He squeezed Carlton's hand. He immediately regretted saying boyfriend, as they never labeled what they were, but when Carlton squeezed back, he knew there was no reason to worry.

It seemed they were both picturing similar futures. Together.

The next morning, Shawn and Gus headed up to the observatory to listen to the press conference. While they were listening, Shawn got a call from his father complaining about the foxglove he left on his porch. Gus then explained to him that for people without heart conditions, that could be fatal. It all quickly fell into place. Hugo brought coffee for everyone in the morning, that'd be the perfect time to slip a little foxglove into Bryant's drink, and it would never show up on a regular autopsy report. His thoughts were interrupted by Carly and Jules walking over.

Carlton knew as soon as he saw Spencer and Guster, that they'd been helping O'Hara with the case. Yes, he knew O'Hara was helping him, he wasn't an idiot. He knew she'd given him hints, like the affair, June 21st, and now the motive. He was actually grateful for the help, though he'd likely never admit to it. He was surprised, however, to see Spencer and Guster helping out. Especially with how much arguing had been happening between Spencer and himself. What had him wanting to help him all of a sudden? …Did he say something at the bar a few nights ago?

Spencer interrupted his thoughts. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"We just got our motive for murder, Spencer." Which he likely already knew. "Hugo found out that Vallery was going to take all the credit for their discovery himself. Cut him out of it entirely."

"Because he was on the scope when they made the find?"

"Yes. Maybe." If they were all going to help him out, he guessed he could play along with their antics. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, we heard you had the motive, so we rushed down here to volunteer our services."

"Thanks, but I'll take this one myself."

"Okay, well at least tell me about the poison."

He had been considering poison. What did Shawn know that he didn't? "What poison? I didn't say anything about poison."

"You most certainly did."

"I heard it," Jules piped in.

"Clear as day," Guster added.

They really thought he wouldn't notice what they're doing? Maybe he should feel insulted. "Must have slipped out. I have been thinking about poison as a method, but I can't figure out how."

"Would you like me to read your innermost thoughts? Like deep, deep, deep ones."

The last thing Carlton wanted on such a good day was Spencer's bullshit psychic crap, but if it got the case solved, why not. He'd at least know what Spencer knows and isn't telling him outright. "Knock yourself out."

"Okay, I just want you to relax." Spencer grabbed his wrists and held them; Carlton had to stop himself from pulling away. "Breathe normally. Close your eyes." Carlton did as asked, though he did suspiciously glance at Spencer before closing his eyes. "Can you feel it? Can... can..." Spencer squished Carlton's face with his hands. Carlton was not pleased. "You want to check the house, Hugo's house."

Carlton's response was muffled. "I am in the process of getting a warrant."

Spencer turned to O'Hara. "What did he say?"

"He's in the process of getting a warrant now."

Spencer looked back at Carlton. "The garden, check the garden."

So Spencer had already been to the house. Without a warrant, great. "It's buried there?"

"Something's growing. Oh, I'm getting something. I'm getting... I'm getting... oh, oh, oh... Prince! No. The artist formerly known as prince. Oh! Shawn! Wrong again. It's prince after he was known as "the artist formerly known as prince."

Seriously? He couldn't just come out and say there was a purple plant growing there. "It's purple."

"Yes! Yes! That's it! You're amazing. Oh, the caverns of knowledge in that thing."

Carlton barely held back an eyeroll. He was a little shocked by how easy it was to get Spencer to spew his thoughts. "Here's the problem. We ran the toxicology report. There's no trace of poisoning."

"Of course. Thank you, detective. So what you're saying is, he would've had to administer it very, very slowly."

"Sure. That's exactly what I'm saying. How do you poison someone slowly?"

"Coffee."

"No, I'm good."

"Tea!" Guster interjected.

"Well, if you're going." Why were they bringing up beverages? Oh! He could have poisoned Bryant Vallery's tea!

"It had to be the tea. The leaves wouldn't stand out in the tea."

"Hugo poisoned his tea."

"Every day for six months," Spencer added.

"Digitalis would cause arrhythmia in a healthy heart."

"Which would disappear as soon as someone died." It was the perfect murder weapon. He needed to run a new toxicology report.

"Solved it!" Guster got very excited.

"No, you didn't," Shawn said.

"Yes, I did. Yes, I did." Guster continued to jump around in excitement.

"No, you didn't," O'Hara pointed out.

"Oh, that's right. You did." He motioned to Carlton.

He really didn't. But a little help never hurt if it meant a killer was behind bars, he supposed. "O'Hara, call the coroner. Tell him to check for even the slightest traces of digitalis. And get me a new pair of handcuffs." Carlton walked up to the stage where Hugo was giving his press conference. He whispered in his ear that he was under arrest and led the man from the room.

Now Carlton just had to figure out why they were so adamant on giving him the credit, and he had a gut feeling Spencer was behind it.

Shawn and Gus headed to the station following the arrest, after Shawn quit his job of course. The two of them watched as Carly got congratulations on his arrest. Shawn decided he liked seeing that smile on the detective's face. He'd do anything to keep it there.

"Spencer, a moment of your precious time." Carly grabbed his arm and dragged him into the Chief's office.

"Are you sure we should be in here?"

"That night in the bar, I mentioned my wife, didn't I?"

Shawn considered lying for a moment. "Yes."

"Crap. What did I say, exactly?"

"That you've been separated for two years."

Carly nodded. "What else did I tell you that night?" He seemed suspicious.

Shawn thought about all that Carly told him. "Nothing, just that."

Carly didn't look like he believed him. "What made you want to help me on this case?"

"What are you talking about? You solved this case all on your own."

"Then you all must think I'm as dumb as a bag of rocks. I know O'Hara was helping me, and I have a pretty good idea that you and Guster were helping her. So why?"

Shawn was surprised Carly caught on, but he also knew how intelligent the detective was. He should have expected him to catch on. "…I wanted to put an end to our differences. I'm sick of the fighting between us."

Carly seemed to consider the answer for a minute. "You lie to this department every day. Until that stops, I don't know if I can move past it."

That answer almost stopped Shawn's heart. He hated lying to Lassie, but he didn't know how to tell him the truth. Did he even really deserve the truth? After all they've been through?

O'Hara walked in. "The press is asking for you outside."

"Tell them I will be right there."

Carly broke through Shawn's thoughts. "But if you maybe cool down the antics…I can consider keeping my comments to myself." He fixed his tie. "How's the knot?"

"Tight."

"Great." Carly left the office and headed outside to speak to the press.

That wasn't at all the conversation Shawn had expected.

Friday night, Shawn headed down to Tom Blair's Pub, and was shocked to see his dad there after all. They had a couple drink before going their separate ways. With a few drinks in his system, Shawn decided he needed to get to the bottom of why Lassie held a grudge about their relationship. He headed to the Psych office to do some research.

Now something had happened to make Lassie think he'd been abandoned. Something that had led him to Victoria, since he'd said she'd been there for him. What would cause Lassie to reach out when he knew Shawn wouldn't answer? He remembered coming back from tour with 50 plus missed calls from Lassie, but no messages. He'd only reached out one other time while he knew Shawn was gone, and that had been when an officer got injured on his watch. It had really shook him up. Maybe something similar had happened?

Shawn started to research all police happenings in Santa Barbara during the six months he'd been gone. He had articles pulled up on his laptop and tablet and quickly skimmed through them. It took him two hours and a can of Red Bull to find something.

"Cop Killed in House Raid" was the title of the article, and it seemed to have happened about a month into his tour. Shawn skimmed the article and found Carly's name in it. "Head Detective Carlton Lassiter was unavailable for comments." He assumed Carly had been involved in the incident. If someone had been killed on his watch, he knew Carly would have been devastated. Shawn hadn't been there to answer the phone, to talk to him…no wonder he felt abandoned, at least in his distressed mind. It made total sense.

Carly had mentioned that Victoria had been there for him. He must have met her while he was dealing with all of that. Maybe Carly left Shawn, not because he didn't want him, but because in his time of grief there was someone else who was around. At the time he needed someone, and Shawn couldn't provide.

It still hurt to be left like he was, but at least Shawn now understood a little about why he was left. Now he just needed to talk to Lassie about it.

2001

"Carly's the one, Coop, I can feel it." Shawn and Coop sat in their tent, resting while they waited for it to get dark. The team was scattered around, doing different things, and Shawn was reminiscing about home. They were four months into their short tour and would get to go home in two months if everything worked out.

"You're thinking the One like marriage, kids, the whole nine yards?"

"Yeah, one day, I think that'd be perfect with Lassie."

"We talking about Spencer's special someone again?" Andrew "Reads" Harris entered the tent followed by the rest of the team.

"If they're so special, when are we going to get to meet 'em?" Cards took a seat on Shawn's other side. "It's not serious until they meet the team."

The other men made sounds of agreement.

Shawn smiled. "Well if it's so important, I'll bring Carly by when we get home. I'm sure I could get 'em to take off work for a bit." He was thrilled his team was interested in meeting his boyfriend, even though they never really labeled their relationship.

Their conversations shifted to other topics. Shawn leaned back and looked around at his team, his family. He was proud to be a member of this team, and their acceptance of him and Carly warmed his heart. Now they just needed to meet him, and everything would be perfect.