Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it! And happy Yuletide to those who don't!
Spencer and Spencer have a chat- Psych soft crossover with Criminal Minds
Finding out that the Santa Barbara police had gone and asked for outside help that didn't come from Psych felt like a betrayal. Now logically Shawn knew it wasn't and that there could be any number of reasons why they would want to hire some other group. The case could involve trauma victims, one of the victims or their family could be religious and have something against the idea of using psychics, or who knew what else. Still, the fake mystic felt a little slighted and jealous.
Guess he'll just have to show these newcomers up and reaffirm his awesomeness in the eyes of the SBPD.
"Greetings friends, co-workers, Lassiter, the spirits have told me that despite your insistence you will be in need of my assistance!" He greeted the department loudly and with his trademark dramatic flair. It was part of his charm, and it helped get people to think of him as either larger than life or just 'not normal' enough to better accept his 'psychic' readings.
Normally when he barged in like this he would get a small laugh from Buzz or a sigh of irritation from Chief Vic, but today he was treated to a more unique experience. "Doctor Spencer?"
Stopping short the fake psychic almost felt like his stomach had turned to ice. Sure his doctorate wasn't exactly a secret, if you googled him it would come up and he had the document framed in his apartment, but he didn't want people to know about it! People treated those with doctorates differently, held them to different standards, and he was currently making a living by scamming people into thinking he was something he very much wasn't. Who the hell had Chief Vic called in that not only knew who Shawn was, but could recognize him on sight and knew about his degree?!
Turning to face the voice that had just exposed him Shawn put his substantial acting abilities to good use and faked a jubilant smile, "Depends on who's asking," he told the grad student looking man standing next to Lassiter and a corkboard clearly being used to help with evidence visualization. With a bit of luck, he'd be able to pass this off as a mistake and his ruse won't get any more difficult to maintain.
The grad student-looking man held out his hand, "Doctor Spencer Reed, I'm a profiler for the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit," he introduced himself, "I read your paper on environmentally induced personality shifts and how it can affect recollection of different events. Your theories on using psychological triggers and hypnosis in particular were fascinating."
Damn, this guy definitely knew who he was, there was no way he could bluff his way into keeping his identity secret from him. Shawn clearly remembered the paper this guy, Spencer Reed, mentioned. He had written it after helping that guy with Dissociative Identity Disorder and having to basically force a personality swap to figure out what was going on. It wasn't his usual field of study, normally he dealt with psychological conditioning and training to induce heightened physical ability like how he used his dad's training on sensory focus to become a skilled sharpshooter despite Shawn never actually being given a single lesson in how to use a gun from his dad or anyone else. Still, even if it wasn't the best time or place it was kinda nice to hear people read his papers.
His fake smile fading into something slightly more genuine Shawn grasped the other man's hand, "Thanks. Kinda surprised a profiler would be interested in something like that though, I wrote that for use on witness questioning and official debriefings."
"We occasionally conduct our own interviews of witnesses to make sure our profiles are as accurate as possible," the other Spencer told him. "What was that earlier about spirits?"
Unable to keep quiet anymore and clearly wanting some answers of his own Lassiter all but stalked over to the two doctors and cut in before Shawn could even begin to come up with a response, "He claims to be some kinda psychic," he told the visiting federal agent, "What I'm more interested in is this whole 'doctor' thing."
Yeah, Shawn saw that coming. "I have a doctorate in forensic psychology," he admitted, "After my parents' divorce, I felt a bit guilty about siding with my mom but was still mad at my dad so I distract myself from the… issues I was having with the whole thing and try and find some kinda middle ground between them I wrote up a psych paper for police use using stuff they taught me growing up. My mom found it, sent it to some friends of hers, and next thing I knew I had a Ph.D. in my mailbox."
The detective had a look of triumph in his eyes, "I knew you were hiding something!" he said almost happily, "I knew you weren't a psychic!"
Shawn rolled his eyes, "Yes Lassy, I have solved all of our cases with nothing but psychology. Even the one where the only witnesses were us after a night of being drugged to the point of blacking out."
Lassiter raised a finger like he was going to gloat again, only to pause. When it was put like that it didn't really make sense. "...This isn't over Spencer," he promised, turning away to go back to the corkboard and the other agents still standing around it.
Smiling at the detective's back Shawn turned back to the profiler, "So, as one Ph.D. holding consultant to another, think I can get in on this case? I'm paid through commission."
Reed narrowed his eyes at him, clearly noticing that he was ignoring the allegations of claiming to be a psychic and Shawn's mentions of spirits. He was curious, that much was obvious, but he didn't seem to feel the need to press on the matter quiet yet, probably wanting to construct a profile for Shawn before asking any questions so he could get some more honest answers. "Sure," he finally decided, "I'd like to see how you apply some of your theories in the field. Do you have any presentable evidence for your ideas of, what did you call it, un-enhanced super-combatants?"
"Lassy and the Chief don't like me carrying a gun when working for the department, but I think my shooting average can work as some soft evidence," Shawn bragged, "but first, work. Then, enchiladas. Guns can come later."
A bit short, and not a lot of Criminal Minds elements, unfortunately, but I wanted to give you all a Christmas Present! Also wanted to beg for more prompts or reviews in general. Gotta get those endorphins! Till next time! And keep an eye open for the two-shot I'm working on to get those sweet Dec 31 and Jan 1 time stamps!