A/N: The Dark Psychic fic is up and running, I'll be updating it weekly along with this one. I've been looking forward to posting this chapter!

A loud murmur rose up from the crowd as the meeting ended and Gus quickly made his way to the door and out into the room beyond. He breathed out a sigh as the pressure in his head decreased slightly. He started heading for the back door before Shawn caught his arm, "Woah, Vick said she needed to talk to us, remember?"

Gus groaned and allowed himself to be pulled back towards the people filing out of the door, their sensations pushing against his shield again. Shawn rolled his eyes and shifted his hand so he was grabbing Gus' wrist. As soon as their skin touched Shawn's thoughts grew louder, adding to the shield. He gave Gus an annoyed look, "Stop being so stubborn."

Gus tried to ignore how much easier it was to think with Shawn helping him as he grumbled out, "You. Are telling me to not be stubborn?"

"Yes, I am." Shawn replied back stubbornly as they entered Vick's office. "Because you're being stupid stubborn, not proper stubborn."

"You must be my example of stupid stubborn then." Gus snapped back, not completely sure why he was so annoyed at Shawn.

"Sometimes, but not this time." Shawn kept his hand in place even though they weren't moving anymore. "Don't be Cheryl from Miss Congeniality. Let me take the crown off so your head doesn't explode."

Gus knew Shawn had a point. He sighed and forced down his frustration at needing help as he tried to think of an appropriate response. He suddenly smirked when he realized the opening Shawn had given him, "So you agree that I'd win the pageant and you'd be the runner up."

Shawn looked taken aback for a moment before giving it real thought, "You know what, yes. You can clearly pull off a dress better than I can."

He sent a broadcast with a cheeky grin: Gus and Shawn on a stage in long glittering gowns, both wearing wigs and full makeup.

"You'd be in glitter. I'd go silk." Gus informed him with a straight face.

"Gloves?"

"One glove, like the king."

"Naturally." Shawn closed his eyes to send another broadcast when Vick walked into her office and closed the door behind her. Gus quickly pulled his hand away from Shawn's, not wanting to deal with even more rumors of them being together. The outside thoughts were muffled by the office walls and were much less intrusive than they had been a few minutes ago.

"Thank you two for coming back, please take a seat."

Gus traded looks with Shawn, those words rarely meant good news. They both stayed standing.

Shawn watched Vick carefully as he asked, "So, Chief, is this our little pow wow where you tell us how we're going to help with Korshunov?"

"Novikov." Gus corrected.

"I've heard it both ways."

Vick held up a hand, stopping Gus before he could answer back, "No. You did good work, but things are going to get very dangerous from here on out. We cannot have civilians in the middle of this operation. We will call you if your services are needed and you'll have to deal with talking to the spirits through photos instead of crime scenes."

Shawn made an indignant noise and the chief talked over him, "This isn't up for discussion, and I will lock you up if I need to. You are not getting caught up in this. But that's not why I called you to talk. Please, Sit. Down."

The words were phrased like a request, but they could both hear the order behind it. Gus glanced at Shawn before gingerly lowering himself into the chair, clasping his hands in front of him. Shawn's thoughts clicked in aggravation as he sat on the edge of the other chair, his legs bouncing with excess energy.

"Thank you." Vick looked at both of them before sighing and sitting up straight, getting right to the point. "I received a phone call this morning from an anonymous tipster and I want to hear your side of it. This person informed me that you, Shawn, are not actually a psychic."

Gus mentally cursed Rhianna for following through on her threat as he tried to school his face into a slightly surprised look. Shawn sighed and answered, "Chief, you know there are a lot of people who doubt my powers. This can't be the first call you've gotten about it."

Vick tilted her head in slight concession, "No, it's not. But this is the first one who has claimed to have proof that you aren't real. They also had a very… unique explanation for why your visions have been especially accurate since you came back."

Gus internally jolted even as he kept his outward expression the same. He wasn't sure why it hadn't occurred to him that Rhianna would out him in the same call. Shawn spread his hands wide and shrugged, "I mean, they can say whatever they want. Unless they have a video of me saying 'I'm not… you know.'" He waved his hands in the air, letting Vick mentally finish the sentence. "Which I can promise, they don't. Then I don't see the problem here."

"The problem, Mr. Spencer, is that you were charged with being fake just three months ago. The agent in charge of that case-" Shawn scoffed loudly. Vick gave him a pointed look and continued, "The agent in charge of that case already thought he had enough on you to make an arrest. I am aware that he dropped the charges, but the evidence remains. Now there's someone else offering proof on top of that…"

Shawn leaned his elbows into his knees as he sat forward, eyes squinting as he looked over Vick, "You're not going to act on it though."

Gus felt the knife on his arm turn slightly so it was gliding smoother against his skin as she replied evenly, "I see no reason to pursue these allegations at this time, no. I wanted to make you aware of it though. All of my calls are recorded and logged, so if someone else was to go looking for evidence against you, it may be something you have to deal with. However…" Her eyes flicked to Gus and seemed to pin him in his chair, "If your visions continue to be as accurate and useful as they've been recently… I'm sure it would be much harder to build a case against you."

The knife suddenly sharpened with smug amusement as Vick gave him a ghost of a smirk before looking back at Shawn. Gus knew he wasn't completely successful in hiding the shock he was feeling as he realized, without a shadow of a doubt, that Vick knew.

He wondered if she had known before Rhianna called. He hoped she had.

Shawn cocked his head to the side as he looked the chief over, "I don't think the spirits are planning on leaving me anytime soon, so I guess we don't have anything to worry about."

"Good. I don't like having extra things to worry about. And it would be a shame to lose my best consultant team." Vick hesitated so slightly that Gus wondered if he'd imagined it, "While we're on the subject, there is one more thing to… make you aware of."

Gus traded another look with Shawn before asking for clarification, "While we're on the subject of Shawn being a psychic?"

Vick winced as though she realized she had said more than she'd meant to, "Not quite. The tipster's logic was rooted in your abduction by Dr. Dahmer."

Gus tensed at the name and he could feel Shawn's thoughts pong faster as he tried to guess what the chief was going to say next.

"As you know, the notebooks and journal we found at those crime scenes have been tied to several unsolved murders and cold cases. The last one was just closed a few weeks ago. All of the pertinent pages have been scanned into a digital evidence log, which leaves us the question of what to do with the physical copies."

"Burn them." Shawn said immediately.

"All of them." Gus agreed just as quickly.

"Normally, yes, for evidence of this nature we would eventually destroy them. However, we've recently received an offer from the local university's department of neurology. They want to buy the books from us, for a rather sizable amount of money."

Shawn gave Gus a side look, "Department of Neurology…"

"Yeah." Gus bit out, thinking about the return address on all of Rhianna's letters.

Vick inclined her head towards them, "Yes, I am aware that Dr. Millers works in that department, and I'm sure that is how they know about these notebooks. I am also aware of your feelings towards her and, as the only survivor of these… experiments, you should have a say in what happens."

"Don't give them to her." Gus answered quickly.

Vick sighed and nodded, "That's what I thought you'd say. Unfortunately, the mayor is aware of the large 'donation' that is being offered and is pressuring us to take the money. I have informed all parties involved that it's procedure to hold onto evidence for several months after a case is closed, on the off chance it needs re-examined. Once that timeframe is up… I'll do what I can to make sure the notebooks are disposed of properly, but I can't promise anything. I'm sorry."

Gus sighed and wondered why nothing could ever be simple. He supposed stalling for a few more months was better than nothing and he appreciated Vick being on their side.

"Now that all of that's out of the way…" Vick gave Shawn a knowing look, "Please, don't try to get involved with Novikov; there are plenty of other charges I can use to hold you for several days if I needed to. And I expect you to give that file back to Detective Lassiter before you leave this station. Finally…" Shawn groaned and slouched back, clearly expecting more bad news. Vick smirked, "You two did good. Keep up the excellent work. Dismissed."

Gus stood up quickly and turned towards the door when the smell of the cinnamon rolls grew and surrounded him. A series of images curled into his mind: Binoculars, Shawn, a safety vest. Binoculars, Gus, A clock with its hands pointing towards the six.

Gus looked back in surprise and Vick shot him a quick puppy dog stare, the look conveying just as much worry and care as her broadcast did. She quickly looked back down at her files and pretended to ignore them as they left her office.

Gus shook his head and followed Shawn mindlessly, too busy trying to sort out all of his feelings of appreciation, frustration and anger to worry about where they were going. Vick knew and would try to protect them in her own way. Rhianna wasn't bluffing, she was willing to mess with his life and, even worse, she was willing to put Shawn in danger to do it. Gus was pretty sure he hated people using Shawn as leverage just as much as Shawn hated being the leverage.

"Hey, Lassie!" Shawn's voice pulled Gus out of his grumpy thoughts. "I found this and I think it belongs to you. You should keep better track of your stuff, man."

Gus rolled his eyes and waited for Lassiter to pick up the fight that Shawn was clearly looking for.

"I was wondering where that went. Thanks, Shawn." Lassiter took the file and promptly walked off, heading towards the conference room where Agent Cassidy was talking animatedly with Buzz.

Shawn's jaw dropped, "He didn't yell…"

Gus matched his shock, everything else temporarily forgotten, "He said 'Thanks'..."

Juliet came up next to them, staring at her partner, "He called you Shawn…"

Gus turned to look at his best friend, "How did you break Lassie?!"

"I didn't think he saw me…" Shawn answered faintly.

Gus and Juliet looked at each other before glaring at Shawn. Juliet snapped at him, "You said you were with Gus!"

"He was probably crossing his fingers." Gus informed her. "You always have to check that."

"I was on the phone, how am I supposed to check that?!"

"You just have to assume his fingers are crossed then. It's what I always do."

"I knew you knew I was lying." Shawn said with a faint smile while he continued to watch Lassiter talk to Cassidy.

"Gus!" Juliet snapped in betrayal.

"It was after I could have done anything!" Gus defended himself before turning back to Shawn, "What did you do?"

Shawn turned so he could see both of them, "I'll admit, at first I was planning on some good ol' fashioned shenanigans. I was all decked out in my Soup Can Sam disguise, I followed Lassie and Marlowe, I was going to crash the party after they sat down… I'll be honest, I didn't really have a plan after that."

"Of course you didn't." Gus rolled his eyes. "Judging by the fact that Lassie isn't trying to kill you, I'm guessing things didn't go as 'planned'?"

Shawn sighed and rubbed the back of his head, "Lassie's mother didn't even let him sit down before she started laying into him. All sorts of shit about being a disappointment and being the reason his marriage didn't work. And he just took it. Lassie! Just took it! It was wrong." He made a face of disgust, his thoughts glowing a faint red, "Then she called Marlowe a 'harlot' and Lassie tried to stand up to her. She just ignored him and went to the table. It was obvious she didn't want to get to know Marlowe or anything, she just wanted to yell at them and make them pay for the privilege. So… some eye drops may have made their way into her food."

"Why did you have eye drops on you?" Juliet asked.

"Really? That's what you got out of all of that?!" Shawn asked her in bewilderment.

"I mean- Yes, his mother sounds terrible." Juliet tried to defend herself, "But… Is that where my prescription eye drops went?! I've been looking for them for a month!"

Shawn shrugged, "Sometimes it can be useful to be able to puke on command."

Gus crossed his arms, suddenly feeling uncomfortable without really understanding why. "You do know that eye drops can be considered a poison depending on the prescription… right?"

"Guys!" Shawn tried to get them back on track, "If anyone deserves to be slightly poisoned, it was her! She got to spend the rest of the dinner spewing her poison into the toilet instead of in Lassie's ears." He looked away from them and quickly added, "AndIPaidForTheirDinner."

Gus sighed, "Let me guess. I paid for their dinner."

"No, actually. I paid for their dinner with-"

Gus cut him off, "If you say you used the company card, I will smack you, Shawn."

"I paid for it with my card." Shawn finished with an annoyed look.

"You have a card?" Juliet and Gus asked at the same time.

Shawn rolled his eyes, "Of course I have a card. How do you think I fill up my bike?!"

"Honestly?" Gus answered, "I figured you siphoned it from the Blueberry…"

"You'd be ok with that?" Shawn asked excitedly.

"No!" Gus quickly backtracked, "Don't you dare."

Cassidy saved him from having to continue the conversation as he walked up with Lassiter, "Hello again! I was hoping I'd be able to catch you two after the meeting. Detective Lassiter and I were just exchanging information on the case."

Gus saw that the two men had exchanged files, the one in Lassiter's hands clearly had more pages in it.

Shawn leaned over to whisper to him, "Dude, Cassidy's is bigger…"

Gus whispered back, "Look at him, everything's bigger."

Lassiter looked at both of them and growled, "You realize we're right here and can hear every word you're saying, right?"

Shawn looked like a deer caught in the headlights as he whispered again, "Did you know they could hear us?"

"Of course I knew they could hear us; they're standing right there." Gus whispered back, lying through his teeth.

"You're both idiots…" Lassiter said with an almost fond eye roll as he handed the folder to Shawn.

Shawn looked at it in suspicion and reached out slowly to take it. Gus could feel the gunpowder spiking in amusement even as Lassiter watched with a straight face.

Cassidy watched the silent exchange and the metal wall pressed into Gus' back with unbridled curiosity. Gus was suddenly made aware of all of the sensations in the station that were still pressing into his shield. With a jolt he realized he'd been doing exactly what Henry had coached him through, but using his banter with Shawn as his focus. He wondered how long he'd been using that coping mechanism without even realizing it.

The agent spoke to Shawn, indicating the file. "This is information on the past cases that Novikov was involved in. I was hoping it might help you… have a vision? Is that how it works?"

Gus sighed quietly and accepted that it was going to be a while before he got a mental break from everything around him.

"Yeah, just call me Phoebe…" Shawn muttered distractedly as he flipped through the file. He looked up to the confused look on Cassidy's face and rolled his eyes before whining, "Guuuuus…"

"Translate yourself." Gus replied grumpily.

Shawn's eyebrows furrowed and he looked Gus over before letting out a sigh. "Phoebe touches things to get visions. But right now, I'm not going to be getting anything because my psychic synapses are blocked when I get the munchies."

"Really?" Cassidy asked in interest.

"Yep. I can't do this…" He held his hand up to his head, "Without a whole lot of that." He dropped his hand to sketch a circle around his stomach. "Smoothie time Gus, you're buying!"

"I'm always buying!" Gus complained, grateful for the excuse to get out of the station for a while.

"Well, that's what you get for having a boring job and being the adult out of the two of us." Shawn replied back cheerfully as he steered Gus towards the door.

"Shawn!" Juliet caught up to them with a knowing look as she held out her hand expectantly.

Shawn looked down at his hand and seemed surprised to see it still holding the thick file. "Oh, would you look at that? I think Fold-o wanted to go for a walk."

Juliet rolled her eyes and beckoned with her hand, Shawn sighed and handed the folder over before turning back to the door.

"So… I take it he's always like that?" Gus could hear Cassidy asking the room at large.

"Are you kidding?" Lassiter asked, "That was practically mature for Spencer."

"It's true." Juliet confirmed, "It's ok. You get used to it."

Gus sighed in relief as they left the station and all of the thought sensations faded away. Shawn clapped him on the shoulder, "See? Nothing to worry about, I told you we'd be fine."

Gus grunted at the reminder, frustration rising back up as he thought about the call Rhianna had made. "That bitch."

"Yup. Now let's go get some smoothies!" Shawn bounced to their car and Gus couldn't help but smile as he followed. Shawn always knew the right food for the occasion.

Though he did have to admit to himself that smoothies were pretty much always the right food, no matter what occasion.

"I can't believe that Vick knows now…" Gus said once they were safely in the Blueberry.

"Eh, Vick's known what was up from the very beginning," Shawn shrugged off Gus' concern. "She doesn't care as long as the job gets done."

Gus couldn't help but ask, "Do you think she knew before this morning?"

"I'm pretty sure she at least guessed. That lady's scary." Shawn tilted his head in thought, "Maybe she's psychic…"

Gus shook his head, thinking about Jade's thought sensations, "Nah, psychics feel different."

"You've met a grand total of one psychic so far…" Shawn pointed out.

"Yeah, and she felt different." Gus replied back confidently. "Most people's sensations are two different things. Hers was two different senses of the same thing. And she was 'louder', I could clearly sense her… through the… walls…" Gus trailed off as he realized her thoughts weren't actually the only ones he knew that followed that pattern.

Shawn pointed excitedly, his thoughts bouncing and ponging faster. "You just did the 'I found a clue' face! You're totally right, it's so obvious. What did you just figure out?!"

"Nothing." Gus answered quickly, knowing the lie was painfully obvious. "Just drop it, it's nothing."

"You never let me get away with that." Shawn told him wryly, "why do you think I'll let you do it?"

"Please drop it?" Gus begged, knowing how his friend would react to his realization.

Shawn narrowed his eyes and Gus watched as all of his thoughts started to build on each other and turn into a cresting wave. A wave that Gus could both see and hear. "You figured out someone else is psychic, didn't you? Who is it?!"

Gus groaned, "You have to promise not to freak out."

"You know I can't promise that. Is it Lorenzo from the hotdog cart? Is that how he always knows what I'm going to order?"

Gus sidestepped the question, "I've been reading that book Jade gave me."

"Nerd." Shawn crossed his arms stubbornly, "I'm assuming this has something to do with the conversation?"

"I'm getting there," Gus snapped back. "Apparently psychics can have different levels of talent. Like some are barely psychic, some are really strong in just one area…"

"Different abilities, different potencies..." Shawn muttered in distaste. Gus made a face, he hated when Dahmer was right about something.

"Yeah. But one of the things the book said was that sometimes people don't even know they're psychic, especially if they just barely have the sense." Gus swallowed nervously and continued, "Usually these people are seen as having really good intuition, being able to read people well or just being able to see a bit more than everyone else…"

Shawn stilled, "Gus… Tell me you're not saying what I think you're saying."

"I could be wrong, but…" Gus forced himself to finish what he'd started, "Good poker players can tell what kind of a hand their opponent has by their tells; you know their exact cards. Good investigators will see a small clue and know a handful of reasons for it to be there; you know exactly what it means, no matter how unlikely that reason is. And you can't tell me Shawn-luck isn't real. Like you calling Lassie at the exact moment a sniper was lining up a shot? The probability of that happening is insane."

"I can do what I do because my mom gave me freaky memory and my dad didn't let me be a kid," Shawn answered back tensely, his thoughts flaring a faint red. "I paid for my skill with the hours and days I spent listening to my dad run lessons and going through his tests and getting locked in trunks and watching everyone else get to be normal."

"I know, I know." Gus answered quickly, "And you're crazy smart, and you make associations really fast, and you can improvise your ass off… that's all you."

Shawn nodded quickly, "Right. So, I obviously don't need a sixth sense to do any of that. That's your schtick, not mine."

"And it's only been my schtick for a few months, I'm probably wrong about all sorts of things." Gus agreed.

Shawn pointed at him, "Exactly. So, clearly, this is just one of those times."

"Clearly."

"Good."

The car grew silent and Gus turned to look out the window. He closed his eyes and thought as loud as he could about how messed up Pluto being declassified as a planet was.

"Oh my god, you're trying to broadcast a thought at me, aren't you?!" Shawn exclaimed.

Gus opened his eyes and turned to look at Shawn, "Did you hear it?"

"No! You turned away so I wouldn't see you close your eyes and you forgot about the reflection." Shawn sniped back, crossing his arms defensively. "You probably thought something really lame too, something about drugs or Pluto."

Gus smirked and Shawn rolled his eyes, "Don't even. I know you. It doesn't mean anything if I got it right. It's like when you knew I'd be thinking about the Matrix even before I thought it at you."

"Yeah, but I am psychic." Gus pointed out with a grin, knowing they'd passed the dangerous part of the conversation.

"Gus! Not helping!" Shawn pouted.

Gus turned the car on and pulled away from the station, "Want hotdogs with the smoothies?"

"Of course I do. You know, that vendor's clearly a psychic."

"Clearly," Gus agreed good-naturedly, content to let the conversation drop. He didn't know for sure if he was right and, really, it didn't matter. Either way Shawn was still lying to the police and either way Gus would still be impressed by what he could do.

Not that he'd ever say that out loud. Shawn's ego was big enough as it was.

Gus leaned against a tree, using it to help balance him as he brushed off the dirt sticking to the bottom of his sock. "I can't believe you told Lorenzo he could try on my shoes..."

"I can't believe you let him try on your shoes." Shawn said with a smirk as he held their food and watched Gus' struggles.

"He was holding my hotdog! You don't say no to people who are holding your food!" Gus snapped back as he started to pull one of his shoes back on.

"Really? Can I have a hundred dollars?"

"No! Why would I give you…" Gus trailed off as Shawn lifted up the food he was holding. "Not funny Shawn. Don't mess with my food."

"Wouldn't dream of it buddy." Shawn grinned as Gus lifted his other foot and started to brush it off.

"These socks are ruined. You're buying me new socks." Gus told his friend.

"Nope. No can do. I don't buy other people's underwear or socks. I'd take a bullet for you, but I won't do that." Shawn informed him seriously.

"You have terrible priorities." Gus informed him back as he started trying to pick out a particularly stubborn pebble from the sock.

"Yeah, you're not the first to say that…" Shawn trailed off and Gus barely noticed as the rock came away, leaving a large hole in its wake.

"Shawn! Look at this! This is your fault!" Gus looked up to make sure his friend hadn't run off while he'd been preoccupied.

Shawn was standing still, looking into the distance as his eyes moved rapidly and his thoughts crested loudly. Gus focused on the sound and quickly became overwhelmed by the fast flood of images showing the victims and their bare feet. He pulled his focus back and shook away a small dizzy spell.

"Why wash something unless there's something to hide?" Shawn asked quickly, apparently not expecting an answer as he turned to Gus and shot off another question, "The room in your dream, big or small?"

"Wait, what?" Gus was usually able to follow Shawn's leaps of logic, but this was too fast even for him.

"Your dream. You always tell me how vivid they are, so did the room feel big or small?"

"I don't…" Gus forced himself to think, "Bigger than a closet, I don't know past that."

"Fine, that's fine…" Gus could feel the moment everything finished clicking into place. Shawn breathed out to himself, "Bruises were all the way around the neck, not just the front. Feet cleaned, no wounds. Clothes replaced after death, no blood splatter…"

He suddenly turned and ran towards the car, food and drinks clutched precariously in his hands, "Let's go! Vision!"

Gus scrambled to follow, hopping on one foot as he tried to pull his other shoe on. He quickly lost his balance and found himself sprawled on the ground. "Damnit Shawn!"