A/N: Inspiration struck me hard this week and I've been writing a ton… for a dark AU of the Pharmaceutical Psychic, lol. Don't worry, I'm finishing this story, that's not in question. I have plans… But if anyone's interested in what would happen if the boys weren't rescued when they were, let me know in the comments. I'm planning on holding off on posting that story until this one is done, but if there's enough interest, I'll post both of them at the same time.

Gus sat on his couch, new book in hand, re-reading the chapter on psychic dreaming. It seemed to be an ambiguous subject among psychics; some said that they could control their dreams, others could consciously choose to dream walk with other people, and still others claimed to have never been able to dream at all. The only thing that most of the stories seemed to have in common was that a psychic's ability was increased while in the dream-state.

Of course, there couldn't be any easy cure for bad psychic dreams. Repetitive, vivid dreams in the community were almost exclusively tied to the foresight side of the 'gift', and they only went away once the future event was done. Gus found that utterly unhelpful considering all of his dreams were tied to the past.

He sighed and closed the book, tossing it back on his side table as he resigned himself to figuring it out on his own. His bracelet caught his eye and he smiled; at least he didn't have to figure it out completely on his own. As if summoned, his phone dinged with a notification.

Gus looked down at his phone and was surprised to see it was past six in the morning, his research had lasted longer than he'd thought. He opened up the text message and rolled his eyes at Shawn's reply: "Oh dear lord, you're not trying to pick me up, right?"

He scrolled up and smiled in pride at the message he had sent two hours ago: "Fun Fact, Pluto has an atmosphere, but only when its orbit brings it closer to the sun."

He thought for a second and responded to Shawn's text: "Of course not, you've already heard about Pluto. I win since you don't have a fact."

Shawn's reply was so fast, Gus was pretty sure he'd been typing it before the last message had sent: "and I don't need a fact, you lose, no one cares about a not-planet."

Gus clicked his tongue and put his phone away. Shawn clearly needed to wake up more before he could have a civil conversation.

He was halfway through his bowl of Fruit Loops when another text came in: "Fun Fact, Pluto has a heart."

Gus smiled at the apology and texted back: "We got plans today?"

"Station, see if there's anything new. No other leads."

Gus nodded; it was what he'd been expecting. If there had been other leads, Shawn wouldn't have stuck with texting. "I'll meet you at Psych."

"See ya."

Gus quickly finished his breakfast and found his things. It was time to start another day.

"You're shitting me."

"I promise you, I'm not." Gus replied confidently as he started typing on his computer to find video proof.

Shawn shook his head in bewilderment as he leaned against his desk, "Why on earth would anyone make a musical about a spelling bee?!"

"There's musicals about everything… Adult-themed muppets, menopause, Stephen King, a town without toilets…"

"There's a Stephen King musical?" Shawn perked up in interest.

"Yeah, don't get your hopes up. Apparently, it was terrible."

"But at least the subject matter's decent. It has to be better than spelling… What do they even sing about? The ABCs?"

Gus smirked and turned his laptop around, pressing play. A man could be heard singing through the speakers, "My unfortunate protuberance seems to have its own exuberance."

Gus pressed pause and raised an eyebrow. Shawn's jaw dropped, "You're shitting me."

"An entire song." Gus answered smugly. "My unfortunate… distraction. For the PG crowd."

Shawn pointed at the computer, "That didn't sound very PG…"

"It really isn't." Gus shrugged, "but you know how small towns are."

"Yeah, they ban dancing…" Shawn lit up and he pushed himself off of his desk, "Dude, we should make a musical! A musical about a dashing psychic detective solving a series of grisly murders… Part thriller, part comedy. Thrilledy."

Gus raised an eyebrow, "You don't know the first thing about making a musical."

"I've lived with an interpretive dance group; how different can it be? I can already see it…" Shawn gestured grandly, as though setting a scene, "A tale of life and death, quirky characters and inside jokes, special effects…" He snapped his fingers, "Different parts of the stage could light up with re-enactments for my visions, we could have glitter to give it extra magic!"

"Do you hate your stage crew?" Gus asked sincerely.

"I could rap my wrap up… Get it?" Shawn grinned proudly.

Gus snorted and turned his computer back around, ready to end the conversation, "I've heard you rap. Or… try to rap. Please don't make anyone else have to listen to that."

"I have a black best friend, how could I possibly be bad at rapping?" Shawn quickly waved off the criticism, "Speaking of the best friend… Who would the psychic detective be without his trusty partner by his side? You know you want in on this…"

Gus chewed his lip and stared at his laptop before giving in and looking up, "Can I be Jamaican?"

"I mean, sure. If you want…" Shawn answered back with a puzzled head shake. "Let's be honest, you'd probably be the star of the show, you can already sing and dance…"

"And keep an eye on Lance…" Gus sang under his breath. He took in Shawn's confused expression and quickly moved on, "I get a tap solo, right?"

"That's a given." Shawn replied immediately, his thoughts bouncing faster as he built on his imagination. "We could get the whole station in on it… I bet Woody would sing a love song to a corpse."

Gus leaned back in his chair, getting lost in their fantasy, "Vick could totally pull off a patter song about how she's the only sane person in the whole city…"

"Vick's not a mouse!" Shawn replied, indignant on the chief's behalf.

"Patter song, Shawn. It's a fast song with rhythmic patterns that are staccato in nature, with each syllable of the lyric corresponding to a note."

"...Why do you do this to me?"

Gus grinned in victory, "Because it's fun. Think Abbott and Costello, but sung."

"Huh… Yeah, I could see it." Shawn nodded in agreement, "I wonder if we could get my dad in it…"

They both paused, tilting their heads in thought before meeting each other's eyes.

"Nope." Gus answered.

"Yeah, no. Definitely not." Shawn agreed before moving on, "We know Jules can dance, I wonder if Lassie can sing…"

A burst of music suddenly played out, proudly proclaiming, "Man, I feel like a woman."

Shawn dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone, clasping it between his hands as he looked up and prayed, "Please rhyme, please rhyme…" He answered the call and brought it up to his ear, "Hey Chief, what's the beef?"

He deflated as he listened to her response. He covered the bottom of the phone and whispered sadly to Gus, "She's not singing…"

Gus rolled his eyes and pointed at the phone, a silent order to pay attention.

Shawn stuck his tongue out before answering Vick, "Got it, so where's the crime scene?" His eyebrows raised at her response, "Chief, you know I work better on-scene instead of with photos… Ok fine, but why the back entrance?... I'm hurt, when have I ever not been discreet?!"

Gus started to smirk when Shawn's following silence stretched into the minute mark, "She's actually listing off examples, isn't she?"

Shawn covered the phone again, "I'm not sure if she's taken a breath yet…"

"You need to stop asking questions like that."

"Nah, this is clearly good for her." Shawn responded confidently, "I've given her a safe place to vent her frustration. This is a community service."

"You do remember she's the one who signs our paychecks, right?" Gus asked.

"Hmm, good point." Shawn uncovered the phone, "Chief, Chief, I get it… Back door, don't talk to reporters, be discreet. Got it." He frowned at the response and held the phone out, "She doesn't trust me. She wants you to say it."

Gus snorted and took the phone, "Don't worry Chief, I heard enough. If he tries to talk to any reporters, I'll mess up his hair."

"Thank you, Mr. Guster." Vick replied with a relieved sigh as Shawn squawked indignantly, "There's going to be a precinct-wide briefing in forty-five minutes, I expect you two to be there."

"We're on our way now." Gus replied as he stood up. Vick hung up and he handed the phone back to Shawn, "Don't give me that look, I didn't have to read your mind to know you were going to try to get interviewed."

"Spoilsport." Shawn grumbled as he put his phone away and they walked to the door, "So. Third body and you woke up early…?"

Gus shook his head, "It was the normal stuff, no chains or electricity."

"Huh." Shawn shrugged, "I guess we gotta learn about it at the same time as everyone else then."

"Mr. Spencer, Mr. Guster, I'd like to introduce you to Agent Steve Cassidy, he's a federal agent who's been assigned to work with us on the Caminos case." Vick introduced them after they walked into her office.

Shawn leaned over to whisper to Gus, "Dude, I think he's even taller than McNab…"

"I didn't think that was possible." Gus whispered back in agreement.

"Right?!"

Gus looked up at the federal agent, taking in his short wispy brown hair, thick rimmed glasses, and boyish features that contrasted with his sharp black suit. He focused on the clopping of horse hooves and the feeling of a hard metal wall pressing into his back: Steady focus, A list of known associates, a checklist for the upcoming briefing, tentative optimism.

Vick cleared her throat and gave them a look that clearly told them to behave before turning to the tall agent, "This is Shawn Spencer, our resident psychic, and his partner, Burton Guster. They're civilian consultants who are helping us on this case as well."

Agent Cassidy smiled easily as he held out his hand at the introduction, "You're the ones who figured out the glass shipments, right? Nice work."

"Thanks…" Shawn answered as he shook the offered hand, his thoughts clicking in suspicion. He turned to Vick mid-shake, "So why do we need a fed?"

"The information we uncovered at the shipment yard ties into a case Agent Cassidy has been working on. He'll be briefing everyone on it at the meeting." Vick said, giving Shawn another warning look as Gus felt her knife sharpen uncomfortably on his arm.

Cassidy shook Gus' hand as he added reassuringly, "Don't worry, I'm not here to step on anyone's toes. I know I'm the visitor here."

Gus didn't feel any animosity from the agent and decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, "Don't mind him. We just… haven't had the best of experiences with federal agents in the past."

"Ah, that reminds me…" Cassidy spoke to Shawn, "A fellow agent pulled me aside when I went through the LA office… An Agent Wright? He said to let you know that he hasn't forgotten you and to give you his regards…" He raised an eyebrow and quirked a smile, "I don't think he meant it in a good way."

"Aww, he remembers us!" Shawn said with a large grin, seemingly deciding the tall agent couldn't be too bad if he was smiling at Wright's annoyance, "He was the Kittridge to our Hunt. The Jameson to our Parker. Rooney to our Bueler."

Cassidy frowned in confusion at the list, "Are those names I should know?"

Shawn's smile faltered, "What about Gerard to Kimble?" The agent shook his head and Shawn continued, his agitation growing, "Oh come on, you're law enforcement. Isn't the Fugitive like required watching? You know, Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones, 'I didn't kill my wife.'"

"I don't care." Gus answered the quote, both of them quickly pointing a finger at each other with matching smirks.

"Oh, they're movies!" Cassidy smiled at solving the mystery, "Sorry, I don't watch movies. Or, really, any TV."

Shawn and Gus both dropped their arms and stared at the agent in shock. He looked between them and shrugged, "I didn't have a chance to watch TV when I was a kid, now that I'm an adult I don't really see the point." He turned to Chief Vick, who was trying to hide a smile, "I have some slides for the presentation, can you show me where to get that set up?"

"Of course, right this way." Vick ushered Cassidy through her door, pausing to take in Shawn's horrified face as she asked, "Is he going to be ok?"

"I think his brain broke…" Gus waved his hand in front of Shawn's face, noticing half of his bouncing thoughts had almost completely stopped as he tried to process what they'd just heard. "Don't worry, I've got it."

The smell of cinnamon spiked in amusement as Vick informed him, "The briefing is in ten minutes, I need to talk to you two afterwards."

Gus nodded and waited until the chief left before lightly slapping Shawn's cheeks, "You still with me?"

Shawn blinked, still looking into the distance as he replied faintly, "He's a serial killer. He has to be."

"Because he doesn't watch TV?"

"He doesn't 'see the point'. The point! Human existence and he doesn't see the point!"

Gus patted him on the shoulder, leaving his hand there in comfort, "Just let it all out."

"It's unnatural!" Shawn finally looked at Gus, "Who hasn't seen at least some movies? Even the people in Dual Spires watched Everwood…"

"How is it natural to sit still and watch a screen with blinking lights for hours on end?" Gus asked with a smirk.

Shawn pouted at the argument, "You're unnatural…" His eyes suddenly widened as he realized what he'd said, "Wait, no. Sorry. You're not. Unnatural. I mean-"

Gus squeezed Shawn's shoulder again, cutting off the stuttering apology, "I know."

"You realize you're going to have to translate for me, right? I have no idea how to talk without movie references…"

Gus shrugged, "So, business as usual."

"Fair." Shawn nodded towards the door, "Let's go before all the good spots are taken."

Gus shook his head, and patted Shawn's shoulder before dropping his hand. "Go ahead, I'm staying in the back."

Shawn thought for a moment before his face cleared, "Ah, everyone in the station in one room…"

"No walls to muffle them, yeah." Gus finished the thought as he rubbed his bracelet. He had gotten better at keeping his shield up, but being around that many people was still really uncomfortable. If it became too much, he wanted to be able to leave easily without attracting too much attention.

Shawn chewed his lip in thought before grinning, "When we were in school, do you know what the best part of being in the back of the class was?"

"Being able to stare at Kimmy Parks without her knowing?"

"Yes. And, whenever I did something really cool, I got to watch everyone turn around all awkward just to watch me.

Gus gave him a light glare, "You're the reason I'm going to have a bad back when I'm forty."

Shawn scoffed, "Please, have you seen the giant metal case you lug around everywhere?"

"I roll around everywhere, Shawn. It's more ergonomic."

"I thought I was the one who was supposed to be all self-centered." Shawn pointed out, his eyes sparkling.

Gus hid a grin even as he snapped back, "I said 'ergonomic', not egomaniac."

"Oh, the 'helloooooo nurse' siblings."

"No, that's the Animaniacs."

"They were robots?"

"That's animatronic."

"The really sour alcohol drink my dad gets?"

"That's gin and tonic."

"That's nasty."

"Agreed."

Shawn pointed towards the door, "Let's go check out that meeting… damnit!"

Gus smirked, "You just sounded like an adult."

"I know… it was gross." Shawn made an unhappy face as they walked out of the chief's office.

Gus leaned against the back wall of the large meeting room, mentally bracing his shield against the thought sensations surrounding him. The room wasn't even half full yet, but it was already setting his teeth on edge. He could feel an ache growing behind his temples.

The last time he'd seen this room used was when they were trying to take down Yin; it took a large threat for a department-wide meeting to be called. He wondered if it had been used when the police had been coordinating the search for him and Shawn when they were taken by the mad scientist serial killer.

Gus frowned and corrected himself. When they were taken by Dahmer. His skin crawled at the name, but he was determined to stop giving the dead man any more power over him.

A flood of sensations pressed harder against his shield with a spike of pain and Gus quickly realized it wasn't the right time to be facing his personal demons. He needed all of his concentration just to keep his thoughts separate from everyone else's.

Henry walked over from the chair he'd already claimed near the front, "Should I be worried that Shawn's not with you?"

Gus shook his head, forcing everyone's thoughts further back so he could reply, "He said he had to grab something. He wouldn't bail on this… At least, I don't think he'd bail on this."

"Is he still in the building?"

Gus was easily able to hear the ponging sounds, even over all of the other sensations, "Yeah, he's still here."

"You're fine then." Henry said with certainty, "When that boy runs, he really runs…"

Gus huffed in agreement and leaned further into the wall. Several more people entered the room and he rolled his shoulders uncomfortably, trying to focus on the feeling of the wall at his back instead of the mental feelings crawling over his skin.

Several puzzle pieces clicked together at the movement and Henry looked over at the growing crowd, "Do I need to worry about you passing out?"

Gus sighed, "Nah, I'll leave before it gets that bad. It's just really uncomfortable."

"Too much information." Henry said, making the question sound like a statement. He chewed his lip in thought and looked over at Gus before nodding to himself. "Close your eyes."

"Wait, what?" Gus looked around, wondering if Shawn had come into the room and he hadn't noticed.

"You heard me, close your eyes." Henry said in his no-nonsense tone.

Gus looked at him suspiciously, "Why?"

Henry sighed like it was obvious. Gus quickly hid a smirk, thinking about how the older man sounded exactly like Shawn. Henry explained himself, "When you're investigating, one of the worst things to deal with is too much information. The lead you need is lost in the mountain of junk. It's almost as bad as no information at all. What you have to do is learn to focus and tease out what's important and leave the rest in the background."

"No offense Mr. Spencer, but this isn't just a stack of files that needs sorted through…" Gus pointed out, trying to not flinch away from the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard as an officer walked past.

"I know, but the lesson carries over." Henry scanned the crowd and lowered his voice, "Let's say there's someone who never forgets anything they see. If that person went untrained, they'd be lost under all of the information of their memories, it would just be a constant static of colors and shapes and sounds. So, they have to learn to focus and prioritize what matters versus what can stay in the background."

"How many hats." Gus said in realization, finally understanding why Henry had played that game for so long.

Henry's lips twitched into a faint smile, "Close your eyes."

Gus closed his eyes.

"You said it feels like your senses, right? Try to focus on just one feeling without actually… Reading it." Henry said, clearly being careful in his wording in case they were overheard.

"That's the same thing." Gus pointed out. "That's literally how I read them."

"Damn…" A few puzzle pieces shifted around, "Ok, we'll do counting then. Focus, separate, categorize. How many smells?"

Gus focused and sorted through all of the inputs pressing in on his shield. He took a deep breath and cycled through all of the smells coming from the surrounding thoughts. "Eight. No wait, nine."

"Good, which one's the sweetest?"

"Vick." Gus answered immediately as the smell of cinnamon rolls stayed steady in the front of the room.

"I didn't ask who, I asked which one." Gus could feel the fishing line vibrate in curiosity.

Gus smirked as he answered, "The baking cinnamon rolls."

"Really?" Henry asked in surprise before catching himself, "Wait, no. Ignore that. Keep focusing, any dangerous ones?"

"Gunpowder," Gus answered with another smirk, thinking that Lassiter would enjoy the fact that one of his sensations could be categorized as 'dangerous'. "And a car that just peeled out."

"Alright, now what do you actually smell?"

"Sweat, papers, ink, donuts, coffee, perfumes, colognes… Want me to list individual ingredients?"

"Show off…" Henry grumbled. Gus grinned, keeping his eyes closed. Henry continued, "Ok, open your eyes. How's the headache?"

Gus opened his eyes in surprise, "It's better."

"Well, there you go." Henry said, not showing the faint satisfaction running through the fishing line. "You just need to focus."

"Of course, it's just that simple…" Gus replied wryly as more people entered the room and he could feel the pressure growing in his head again. "You know, I can't exactly focus and count and pay attention to what's going on around me."

Henry shrugged, "The idea is that you practice until you can do it without thinking about it. Which means actually putting yourself in situations where you need to do it…"

Gus made a face, knowing Henry had a point. Maybe it was time to stop eating lunches in the car.

"From my mind to your face." Shawn said cheerfully as he approached them, taking in Gus' facial expression. "Hi Dad, have you taken any candy from a kid yet today?"

"Hi Shawn, have you gotten shot for stealing files from detective's desks yet today?" Henry retorted immediately.

Shawn spread his arms out, the offending file clutched in his hand, and looked down, "Well I'm not in the hospital, so obviously not. Besides, if he didn't want me to steal it, he shouldn't have put it in the drawer he knows I can pick open."

Henry just stared at his son before shaking his head and walking back to his chair without another word.

"You broke into Lassiter's desk?" Gus asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Weren't you just listening? Lassie gave me the file... indirectly and without his knowledge." Shawn answered back with a grin. "Besides, Vick was gonna make him share anyway, I'm just speeding up the process. So, what were you and dad chatting about? Was it me? Tell me it was me."

"It was me, for your information. He was trying to help with the crowd."

"And?" Shawn asked in genuine curiosity.

"And apparently I just need to 'focus'." Gus replied with a smirk, knowing what his friend's reaction would be.

"Ugh, that's his answer to everything. He told you to close your eyes, didn't he?"

"Yeah," Gus said with a small laugh, "Though it did help. Apparently, I need to practice more…"

Shawn leaned on the wall next to him, their shoulders almost touching. He offered his hand, palm up, "Need help?"

Gus hesitated, almost taking him up on the offer of mental shielding, "Thanks, but not yet. I need to be able to do this on my own."

"Alright, offer's still open if you change your mind. Lots of people would pay for the chance to hold my hand." Shawn smirked and moved his hand back to the file, opening it up and quickly flipping through the pages

Gus couldn't help but look over his shoulder as Shawn studied the crime scene photos of an older bald man with electrical burns on his neck and a bullet hole in his head. "It looks like the other two… anything weird?"

Shawn shook his head, "Not really, but they dumped him at the memorial gardens…"

"Downtown?!" Gus asked in surprise.

"Yeah, hence the news crew. They got there before the police did."

Gus was about to ask another question when Vick stood up in front of the crowd, "Alright everyone, quiet down." It only took a moment for every eye to be on her. "Thank you. As you all know by now, we have a string of murders that seem to be tied to gang violence. Specifically, against the Caminos Drug Syndicate."

She clicked her remote and several pictures of the recent corpses showed on the screen, including the 'C" tattoo on their wrists.

"We've had three deaths in three days, and very few leads to work with. Sergeant Bates, who has been investigating the Caminos, has been able to give us information on the first two victims. He's also confirmed that the Caminos are aware of the attacks and are making their own preparations. He's been able to provide the time and place of their next drug transaction, which will be going down in three days. We expect there to be a confrontation and we will be there to try and reduce casualties as well as make arrests. This will be an all-boots-on-the-ground operation. Your assignments will be given to you shortly"

Vick clicked the remote again and a picture of the shipping manifest showed on the overhead along with pictures of drugs, glass panes and the shipping yard. "Thanks to the fine work of our detectives and consultants…" She nodded to Shawn, "We now know where the Caminos have been getting the bulk of their drugs, which gives us a new lead to try and dismantle their group. Agent Cassidy has more information on this as well as the rival gang."

She handed the remote over and sat down as the tall agent took her spot, "Thank you. Hello all, I'm Agent Cassidy, I work with the FBI, tracking and apprehending dangerous persons of interest."

He clicked the remote and the shipping manifest zoomed in on the name of the Russian company that shipped the drug-laced glass. "This company is a known front business of one Cole Novikov. He has businesses both in the US and Russia; if it's illegal, he probably makes money off of it."

A series of mug shots took up the screen showing a surprisingly small man with intelligent dark eyes and shortly cropped dark hair. Gus thought he wouldn't look out of place wearing a three-piece suit while sitting in a boardroom.

"Novikov has managed to stay off of our radar and out of reach for several years by hiding abroad. Russian Intelligence has been… less than helpful in our attempts to cooperatively bring him down."

The screen was filled with a series of dead bodies, all looking like they had been bitten by a shark.

"Besides being an underground businessman, Novikov is a specialist of sorts at taking down gangs and setting up his own in their place. These are from a takeover in Chicago several years ago, right before he fled the states. Gang members kept showing up dead, seemingly killed by a great white shark. In Illinois."

Gus leaned over to whisper to Shawn, "I guess compared to that, electrocution through a chain is kind of crude…" Shawn nodded in agreement, staring in fascination at the photos, waves cresting loudly.

"The old gang was overthrown within two months and the gang that replaced them are still a major force to this day. This pattern has happened several times in different cities, both US and Russian. Gang members are killed in a distinctive way and left as a message, eventually the higher-ranking members start to show up dead, an offer is made to the workers to switch sides, and then the leader is taken out and the new gang takes its place. We believe Santa Barbara is his newest target, possibly due to the recent disruptions the Caminos have had in their distribution of his product."

Cassidy clicked the projector off and stood front and center, "Novikov is the highest priority here. We know he does his business in person, so this is the first time he's been on American soil in almost a decade. If we can take him alive, then we have a chance to gain serious intel from him. Not to mention removing a very dangerous man from our streets. We need to find where he is and how to get to him. This will be a multi-pronged process, starting with catching key players during the drug bust in three days. You will have the resources of my department behind you and we will be coordinating with your Chief to make sure they are used in the best way possible."

He nodded to Vick and sat back down. She stood up to end the meeting, "Alright, one last thing. As I'm sure you all noticed, the reporters have caught wind of the murders. I shouldn't have to tell you, this operation is on a need-to-know basis. If I hear about anyone saying something other than 'no comment' to a news reporter in the following few days, then there will be serious repercussions."

An officer in the middle of the room raised his hand. Vick waved at him to put his hand down, "Yes Johnson, you can still talk to your wife. Just not about this…" She rolled her eyes and continued, "We have a dangerous man and a dangerous situation in our city, we are going to do our damndest to keep everyone safe. Stay alert and stay ready. Dismissed."