Ah! I'm back in the Psych fandom. Hehe :) The recent movie got a little of my muse back. I might have another oneshot in the works as well! (and if you haven't seen the recent movie yet, do it! It totally had the good ol' vibe the show had in the first few seasons.) :)
This is an idea I had that might have something to do with a multichapter I am working on (but will be quite a while before it's done), but it can also be a standalone. It's a flashback (I guessed on the year lol, so 1985 might not be realistic, but I'm too lazy to do the math). I'm not sure if Henry and Vick were partners in the SBPD or if they just worked together, but I like to think they were partners, so in my headcanon, they used to be partners haha.
Hope you like it, and I will probably see you soon!
~cosette141
1985
Officer Henry Spencer parked his squad car along the side of the road outside the local middle school. Kids were dispersing as the school let out, and Henry smiled at one very red-faced kid, running straight for his car. No sooner was the back door ripped open, the kid throwing himself in, shutting the door and yelling, "Drive!"
Henry turned around with a lifted brow. "Shawn," he said. "I'd like you to meet my new partner." He gestured to the passenger seat. "This is Officer Vick."
Karen Vick gave Shawn a smile, but the eleven-year-old kid was busy trying to hide himself from the window. "Hi," he said quickly. "Now, please, drive!"
Henry turned around but put the car into gear. "What's the big deal, Shawn?"
"If you're gonna pick me up from school," said Shawn, still hiding himself from the window, "can you not do it in a squad car? You have no idea how embarrassing it is! Even Gus wouldn't be seen next to me! And he still carries around a lunch box."
Henry pulled into traffic. "I don't see how that could be embarrassing, Shawn. I'm sure your little friends think it's really cool that your dad is a cop," he said, puffing his chest out just a little bit.
Karen Vick has been Henry Spencer's partner for all of a few weeks now. She's heard plenty about Henry's only son, Shawn. He's bragged to everyone at the station about his prodigy in the making, but this was the first time Karen's met him. He was already different from what she pictured.
So far, Karen's learned quite a bit about her partner, one of which was a trait she and he shared; they were both very strong individuals. No one got anything past Karen Vick, and they'd die trying to get one past Henry Spencer. Karen often wondered what he would be like as a father. Was he the my-way-or-the-highway she often saw, or did that part of him switch off when he hung up the uniform, and he became an old softie at home?
She and Henry had a rocky start, butting heads quite often, but they eventually found themselves a rhythm, and she often depended on that blunt way about him. He didn't write anything between the lines and that could be quite refreshing. Other times it drove her absolutely insane, but she wasn't about to say she didn't have her own fuse.
All in all, they were developing a partnership she was beginning to truly rely on. But if there had been one thing she wished to know more about, it was the son Henry always spoke so highly of.
So, Karen found herself peeking in the rearview mirror at the child in question.
Away from the school now, Shawn checked the coast, and finding it clear, pulled himself up normally in the seat. "Yeah," said Shawn dully in response to how "cool" he obviously didn't think his father was. "Well, the last time you picked me up in a squad car, I had to hear a million jokes about being arrested by my own dad for weeks afterward," he muttered.
Henry laughed. "Well that's a little far-fetched, don't you think?"
Shawn just stared out the window. "Why do we have to do this today?" asked Shawn, keeping his eyes on the buildings speeding by.
"What do you mean 'have to'?" asked Henry, flicking a look back at him through the rearview mirror. "This is fun! You get to come on a ride-along for real. Just like you're an officer already!"
That made Karen turn to look at Shawn. "Your father tells me you want to be an officer just like him." She smiled.
Shawn met her eyes through the mirror's reflection, choosing his words as he said, "Yeah, he says that."
"He's intelligent as all hell," bragged Henry to Vick, Shawn's intention flying right over his thinning hair. "His IQ's almost higher than mine and Maddie's put together. Been training him in deductive reasoning since he learned to blink." He smiled proudly - whether of himself or Shawn, it wasn't clear - and came to a stop at a red light. "He's going to be the best detective of his generation. He's still a little rough around the edges, but maturity will come with age."
"Can you drop me off at the arcade?" asked Shawn in a bored voice.
"Shawn," sighed Henry, then seemed to think better of it. "All right, we'll make this ride-along a little more fun."
"Can't I decide what's fun on my own birthday?" muttered Shawn.
"It's your birthday?" said Karen with surprise. She looked at her partner, lifting her brow in a look that said this-is-what-your-idea-of-a-party-is? "Happy birthday, Shawn."
"Thank you," said Shawn politely, staring out the window, looking like his birthday was anything but 'happy'.
Henry sighed, obviously disappointed in Shawn's lack of exuberance. "Officer Vick and I have an hour more on our shift and then we're off duty. Then we can go home and you can have your present."
That made Shawn perk up in his seat. "Cool!"
"Once you find where I hid it, of course," added Henry with a smirk. "I made up a file of clues for you to follow that you'll find on the kitchen table."
And just as quickly, Shawn deflated. A little hope in him, he asked, "Is Mom gonna be home later?"
Henry hesitated, then, "Sorry, kid. She's still in Denver for work. She couldn't get out of it."
Karen didn't think a child could look as miserable as Shawn did just then.
"But here's the fun part, Shawn." said Henry quickly. He pulled into an empty parking lot and stopped the car. "Close your eyes."
A long groan from the back seat.
"Come on, Shawn. Detectives have to work on their birthdays, too."
Shawn groaned again, but closed his eyes.
"All right, keep track of where you are as we go. You never know when you'll be blindfolded in a car, needing to keep track of where your captors are taking you."
Another groan, even with his eyes closed. "Can't you ever just say if instead of when?"
Karen blinked at the exchange.
Henry drove in two circles in the parking lot, obviously to try to throw his son off, and got back into traffic, quizzing him every few minutes on their location. Shawn was right every time, even when Henry pulled into a few random driveways and parking lots.
Karen watched the young boy in the back seat, thinking to herself that he would certainly grow up to be the best detective she's ever seen...
...who will completely, utterly hate his job.
