Gus walked back to the table, deep in thought and only barely registering the conversation still in progress.

"Oh my gosh, I've been wanting to check out that bakery!"

"You would have loved it. It was like Central Perk, except way smaller and with bread instead of coffee. And there was a guy with a gun. Which, you would have figured would have come up at least once since it was set in New York…"

Juliet shook her head, "Nah. My training officer worked there before going down to Miami, he said it was actually pretty nice. Every city has a different criminal flavor; New York has white collar crime, Miami has explosions, and apparently Santa Barbara has murders."

Shawn perked up in interest, "Wait, Miami has explosions?"

"Oh yeah," Juliet said fondly, "Word around the precinct was that it was mostly just one guy and a group of his friends, but if that's true… I have no idea how he still hasn't been caught. It was almost a weekly thing for a while."

"Gus! Can we go to Miami?!"

"No," Gus answered immediately. "I have a hard enough time getting you to not blow yourself up here."

Juliet laughed slightly too loud before stifling it with a drink from her glass. She misjudged and started to cough, her hand covering her mouth so she wouldn't spit water back out. Shawn looked over at her in concern before looking at Gus with a question in his eyes. Gus gave him a small nod as Juliet recovered.

"Uh… sorry about that. And, um, sorry about… you know, freaking you out and everything. I… You know I'm terrible at lying and I really don't like keeping things from you. So, I thought I could just… not. But then you were in danger a-and I couldn't help, and I didn't want… Sorry." Juliet stuttered out, her face still red from her coughing fit.

Shawn's thoughts tinged with guilt even as he smiled, "It's ok. What are a few secrets between friends?"

Juliet shook her head firmly, "Trust is important. I don't do secrets. Well, except secret birthday parties, but we all know how my last one turned out…"

Gus snorted as he remembered Lassiter pointing a gun wildly at all of the ex-convicts Juliet had invited to his house. He watched her as she suppressed her thoughts again and wondered how she could be so bad at lying to her friends and still so good at going undercover. Almost too good.

Apparently good enough for the feds to work with her.

Juliet sighed, "I promise I'll tell you everything as soon as I can. I won't be able to talk or text much in the next few days, so just… don't freak out."

"Jules…" Shawn said in mild offense, "I am the king of not freaking out!"

"Liar," Juliet accused with a grin.

"Guilty as charged," Shawn agreed, "and look, neither of us blew up."

Juliet rolled her eyes and leaned over to kiss him. Gus wondered if it would be too obvious for him to 'go to the bathroom' again to give them some space.

The front door opened and Juliet pulled away from Shawn to reach into her purse. Henry's voice called out from the other room, "It's just me, I'm back for babysitting duty."

"Man…" Shawn crossed his arms and slouched in his chair, "He has the worst timing."

"I guess it just skipped a generation," Juliet said with a smile as she gave him another peck on the lips. "I have to get going anyways. You'll stay safe, right?"

"I'm always safe," Shawn replied.

Juliet looked at him before turning to Gus, "You'll make sure you guys stay safe, right?"

"I've got this," Gus reassured her as Shawn grumbled in the background. Juliet smiled at him before standing up and leaving the room. Shawn hurried to follow, and Gus was quite content staying at the table to finish up the last churro.

Henry walked into the kitchen and jerked his thumb over his shoulder, "So, I guess they figured their stuff out?"

"Yup," Gus answered, steadfastly ignoring the thoughts in the other room.

Henry smirked as he dropped off a bag of leftovers on the counter. He circled his finger around, indicating the whole house, "Any activity while I was gone?"

Gus shook his head, "Nope, and I haven't sensed anyone else around either."

"Good, keep an ear out," Henry said as they heard the front door close.

Shawn slunk back into the kitchen with his hands shoved in his pockets, "So… I'm about 82% sure that she's not breaking up with me anymore."

"Shawn!" Gus threw his hands in the air in exasperation, "We are not doing that again!"

Shawn smirked and straightened back up, "I know, I just wanted to see your reaction."

"Oh, that's how you want to play it? Really?" Gus stood up, ready to throw down the gauntlet.

"Boys! Clean up first, then you can bitch at each other," Henry called over his shoulder as he rummaged around in his fridge.

"We were bitching?" Shawn asked.

"I didn't think we were bitching," Gus answered.

They both looked over at Henry who had just pulled out a bottle of beer. He rolled his eyes at them, "Fine. You were 'bickering like grown men'. Now will you clean up?"

Shawn thought before looking back at Gus, "Sweep the table."

"No," Gus immediately argued back, "That always makes more of a mess than it cleans."

"But it's so much more satisfying!"

"What's sweep the table?" Henry asked tentatively.

"Something we're not doing," Gus answered as he glared at Shawn.

"Fine… We'll be boring," Shawn sighed and quickly started stacking boxes. He sent a worried broadcast: Juliet, Henry, the bedroom.

Gus nodded as he grabbed their dirty plates; they needed to talk alone. Between the two of them, the table was cleaned off in record time. Shawn waved to his dad, "There you go, spick and spam. Now, we need to go bitch-"

"You missed a spot," Henry interrupted, pointing at a nearly invisible grease drip. Shawn rolled his eyes and wiped up the spot with his shirt sleeve, crossing his arms in a challenge once he was done. Henry glared and deadpanned, "Your maturity astounds me."

"You astoundability astounds me," Shawn retorted. "We good now?"

"Fine, whatever," Henry waved towards the stairs, dismissing them.

Shawn immediately spun around and jogged up the stairs, Gus followed at a slower pace. He wondered whether it was the right choice to tell his friend what Juliet was doing. Shawn never reacted well to his girlfriend putting herself in danger.

Gus could hear waves cresting as he entered the bedroom and the second he closed the door Shawn asked, "So what did you get?"

Gus turned around and studied his friend, taking in his tight posture and intense eyes. He sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to fool Shawn even if he did try to lie. He answered truthfully, "She's doing an undercover job in one of the gangs."

Shawn froze and his thoughts crested louder as he absorbed the new information. Gus could almost see the pieces clicking into place as Shawn fit everything together.

"That's why she was making sure she wasn't followed…" Shawn said, thinking out loud, "and why she didn't have her badge in her purse. She should get a different gun, they'd peg her as a cop by her piece alone… Oh my god, if they find out-"

"Shawn, she's good at this. How many times has she actually been found out?" Gus tried to cut in.

"It only takes one time, Gus!" Shawn's eyes widened in horror, "And she might not be the one to tip them off…"

Gus frowned, trying to follow Shawn's logic, "What do you mean?"

Shawn's thoughts were lining up, bouncing loudly in unison as he answered distractedly, "Mole. They don't even have to know about the op, they just have to see her…"

He suddenly threw himself forward, landing on his knees as he pulled out their box of spare clothes. He dug through it and tossed a black shirt at Gus, "We need to warn her."

"Shawn, no!" Gus hissed as he threw the shirt on the bed, "We don't even know if there is a mole. But we do know that someone's out to get you! Call her if you have to, but you're not leaving this house!"

Shawn sat back on his heels and glared as he listed off his reasoning, "Can't call her, she turned her phone off. Can't call Vick, she won't listen unless we have a name. Can't wait, everyone is going to be at that drug bust tonight; the mole will definitely notice Jules is missing and connect the dots."

"What if you're wrong and there isn't a dirty cop?" Gus challenged.

"Then we still stop Jules from going into a dangerous situation, seems like a win-win to me." Shawn pulled his shirt off over his head and grabbed another dark bundle from the box.

Gus sighed and went for the low blow, "And how is getting yourself kidnapped again going to help Juliet?"

Shawn paused before pulling on a dark long-sleeve t-shirt, "Were you not listening? Everyone's going to be at that bust. If I wanted to take over a town, I'd make damn sure I'd win the first fight. And that means not keeping people back to watch a couple of civilian consultants who are hiding at their dad's house."

"I could tell Henry," Gus said, not liking his chances at talking Shawn out of his reckless idea.

"By the time you explain the situation, I'll already be gone. And if you seriously think I can't lose my dad in the dark, then you don't know me as well as you think you do," Shawn answered as he stood up, his face set in determination. He maintained eye contact and asked evenly, "Are you coming to watch my back or am I on my own?"

Gus stared back, realizing this was what he'd asked for. Shawn was giving him his choice. It wasn't really any choice at all.

"Damnit," Gus muttered as he started to quickly unbutton his shirt. Shawn grinned, his thoughts turning blue as he turned to unlatch the window. Gus changed shirts quickly as he asked, "So what's the actual plan? How do we catch up with her?"

"Well, that depends," Shawn eased the window open, "where was she going?"

"You didn't even know where to go?!" Gus complained, making sure to stay quiet so Henry wouldn't hear them.

"I would've figured something out," Shawn said, unconcerned, "but this is way easier. Where was she going?"

Gus sighed and closed his eyes, thinking back to Juliet's bubbles, "An old car. She's swapping cars before going back."

"Do you know where?"

Gus shook his head as he reopened his eyes, "A car garage, I don't know which one."

Shawn nodded and slung his foot out of the window, "Ok, so probably the one near her place. She's got at least a ten-minute head start… We need wheels."

Gus watched as Shawn climbed out of the room, "And how exactly are you going to do that? We don't know how to hotwire a car."

"Oh come on, a car is just a safe on wheels!" Shawn whispered through the window as he gestured for Gus to follow him.

Gus rolled his eyes and made his way onto the roof, "There are so many things wrong with that one sentence. I'm not even touching it. What's your plan, really?"

"We're going to steal Dad's truck," Shawn answered easily as he walked towards the corner of the roof.

"...We're going to what now?" Gus wondered if it was too late to climb back into the bedroom.

"Dad's truck. Steal. We're going to," Shawn unhelpfully reiterated as he sat down and swung his legs over the edge, "Now get over here already."

Gus sighed and sat down, scooting quickly after his friend. Shawn rolled his eyes, "Dude, it's flat…"

"It spreads my weight better so I don't fall through!" Gus argued as he made his way over.

Shawn sighed before rolling over to lay on his belly and scoot backwards, letting more of his body hang over the edge. He grinned and slipped out of sight. Gus kept moving, making sure to stay stealthy while also grumbling to himself about how they hadn't done this since they were kids and clearly rooftop adventures were for people who weren't fully grown yet and why on earth did he think this was a good idea…

Gus reached the corner of the roof and peeked down to make sure Shawn had safely climbed the trellis without breaking it before he could convince himself to slide over the edge. The openings on the plant support were smaller than he remembered, but he managed to find a spot to wedge his toes in and he carefully made his way down, being sure to stare straight ahead the whole time. He stumbled slightly when he reached the ground and had to take a second to convince himself that it was safe to let go. Heights could suck it.

Shawn clasped his shoulder in silent celebration of their great escape before bending down and sneaking past the front of the house, keeping himself under the porch and out of sight from the windows. Gus followed him to the driveway, still wondering how they were going to steal the truck.

Shawn answered his question by digging into his pockets and bringing out a small key ring, complete with a truck key. He grinned at Gus' shocked face and whispered, "Swiped them after Jules went out. I figured I'd screw with Dad, but this is so much better."

"You two have issues," Gus informed his friend as he held out a hand, "Give them to me, I'm the better driver and you know it."

Shawn kept the keys as he unlocked the car and let himself into the driver's seat, "I need you to keep an ear out for bad guys. I got this."

Gus clicked his tongue, but the answer made sense and he quickly made his way to the passenger seat. Shawn silently counted down from three and they both closed their doors in unison as he jammed the key into the ignition and started the truck.

"Go go go go!" Gus exclaimed as he saw Henry burst out of the front door.

"I'm going, I'm going!"

The truck roared to life and Shawn quickly backed out of the driveway before slamming the gear stick into drive and tearing down the street, wheels squealing. Gus looked back and saw Henry standing in his driveway, yelling and gesturing angrily.

"Wooh! I feel alive!" Shawn whooped as he skidded into a turn and sped out of the neighborhood.

"Yeah, yeah, you're Vin Diesel, now would you please slow down!" Gus asked as he looked for something to cling on to.

"I can't! We gotta catch Jules!" Shawn answered excitedly, still grinning madly from the adrenaline rush.

Gus snapped back, "You won't catch Jules if you get pulled over for reckless driving!"

Shawn reached over and pushed a few buttons on the dash before pointing to a small box nestled below, "Police scanner, we can avoid them."

"Your dad's gonna call the cops on you-" Gus' phone started to vibrate and he pulled it out to check the screen, "Actually, he's calling me."

Shawn reached over to pluck the phone from his hands before answering it, "Hey Dad, gotta save Jules, Gus is keeping me safe, don't try to follow us, oh wait you can't, ok bye!"

He turned the phone off and threw it behind him, "There we go, that takes care of that."

"Shawn! That was my phone!" Gus looked back and tried to find the phone that was rattling under the backseat.

"We're fugitives, we don't need phones! We're on the lam!"

"We escaped from our own safe house, that's not-" Gus was interrupted by his ankle vibrating. He pulled out his second phone and stared at it, "How does your dad know my work number?"

"Wrong question. Why are you double-packing phones when you're safehousing?" Shawn asked in exasperation.

"A client might call, Shawn! I have to be ready." Shawn reached for the phone and Gus quickly pulled it back, "Oh no, you are not throwing this one too. It stays with me. You don't touch my work phone, not since the radio incident."

"That was years ago!" Shawn gestured as the phone started to vibrate again, "Are you at least going to answer it?"

"And use up my minutes? No." Gus declined the call, deciding the guilt was better than having Henry yell at him. He slid the phone back into his ankle holster and resolutely ignored it as it started to buzz again.

"You're ruining the moment," Shawn grumbled as he pushed the truck to go even faster, "Now let's go save Jules."

Eventually, Shawn did have to slow down to less-noticeable speeds. His fingers drummed the steering wheel and his thoughts crested whenever a new car pulled in behind them. Gus kept his eyes closed, both to avoid worrying about Shawn's driving and to keep a mental 'ear' out for any repeat sensations.

"Alright, we're here," Shawn announced as he looked behind them again, "I don't think anyone's following. You getting anything?"

Gus focused and tried to sense even further out; he shook his head, "I'm not feeling anything suspicious."

Shawn nodded and pulled into the parking garage, "Alright, keep an ear out. What kind of car am I looking for?"

"Old, rusty blue, dent on the side," Gus listed off.

Shawn gave him a look, "Really? You can't give me a make or model?"

"Henry didn't train me," Gus pointed out. "I know a lot of stuff, I don't know cars."

"Crap. It doesn't matter…" Shawn put the truck in park and pointed in resignation at Juliet's red car.

"She's already gone," Gus realized.

"Damnit!" Shawn smacked the steering wheel, "Did you get anything else? Do you know where she would have gone?"

Gus shook his head, "No, sorry."

Shawn gripped the steering wheel and his eyes moved rapidly as his thoughts ponged deafeningly loud. His face suddenly blanked and his thoughts quieted. He spoke in a calm, even voice, "Gus, get out of the car."

"Excuse me?!" Gus snapped out, trying to hear what Shawn was hiding.

"You heard me, get out. You can call for a ride, I need the truck," Shawn said, setting his jaw and staring straight ahead.

"You must be out of you damn-"

"DO I NEED TO SAY IT AGAIN?!" Shawn yelled as he snapped his head over to glare at Gus.

Gus met his glare with one of his own as he crossed his arms, "You can say it as many times as you want, I'm not leaving this car until you tell me what's going on!"

"What's going on is that I WON'T watch someone I care about get hurt again when there was something I-" Shawn cut himself off. He continued in a low voice, "I'm not putting you in danger again. Get out."

Gus raised an eyebrow, "Leaving me by myself in a parking garage when there's someone out to get us seems pretty dangerous." He waved off Shawn's argument before it could begin, "Yeah, yeah, psychic. Not the point. You're trying to watch out for me, I get it. But someone's gotta watch out for you too. So, unless you think you can physically force me out of here…"

Shawn looked like he was seriously considering it before his thoughts suddenly bounced back into existence, the sound almost overwhelming in its intensity. Several thoughts threw themselves at Gus as Shawn broadcasted his plan: Guns, police seizing drugs, a man with a mole on his face, binoculars, a pair of handcuffs, Juliet safe.

It took a few seconds for Gus to piece together the message, and it took a few more for him to decide what to do with it. He looked over at his best friend and saw Shawn staring back defensively, his jaw clenched as he prepared for a fight.

Gus sighed and asked calmly, "If you're going to sniff out a mole, don't you think you should bring the actual psychic with you?"

Shawn's face blanked again and his thoughts stuttered before realigning themselves. Gus smirked; it was nice to know he could still surprise his friend. He pointed out the windshield, "Shouldn't we get going? The drug bust is halfway across town."

Shawn blinked and shook himself out of his stupor. He shifted the truck into drive before pausing, "You… do realize-"

"That this is incredibly dangerous and we're probably going to get shot or arrested? Yes," Gus confirmed. "And I can promise you, when that happens, I'll be yelling at you about how terrible of an idea this was. But I'm not letting you do it alone."

Shawn smiled slightly and his thoughts tinged blue as he drove the truck out of the parking garage.

They were driving through the back streets near the docks when Gus finally asked, "So, what is the plan anyway?"

"We go where all of the cops are, we scan them and see if any of them are dirty, we rat the bad guy out before they can rat Jules out, we all go over the rainbow happily ever after," Shawn explained as he parked the truck.

"Ok... I knew that part," Gus rolled his eyes, "I meant more the little details like how we're going to find the cops, how we're going to get close enough to scan them without being close enough to get arrested or shot, and how we're going to rat them out without… you know, getting arrested or shot."

"Simple," Shawn turned to him with a reckless grin, "We improvise."

Gus groaned, "That's what I was afraid you'd say…"

"You could always stay in the truck," Shawn offered as he opened the door and climbed out.

"Great idea," Gus snapped out as he opened his own door, "I'll just sit here and get kidnapped because someone recognized your dad's truck. Or you'll get shot because you forgot to flip the Jackal switch. Or you'll get kidnapped because you don't have eyes in the back of your head. Or-"

"Dude, Jackals are usually quieter," Shawn pointed out mildly.

Gus crossed his arms and glared, "Do you even know which way to go?"

A burst of gunfire sounded out and they both crouched down in the shadows. Shawn pointed in its direction, "Yep, I'm pretty sure."

"Terrible idea. Absolutely terrible," Gus hissed out as they started to creep towards the noise.

"Keep an eye out for a way to get to a roof," Shawn whispered back as he peeked around a corner before sprinting to the next safe pool of darkness.

Gus followed him and began to feel thoughts at the edge of his senses. He tapped Shawn's shoulder and made the psychic gesture when his friend looked back. Shawn pinged a question as he pointed towards another burst of gunfire; Gus nodded, confirming that was the only direction he was sensing people. Shawn nodded in understanding before creeping to the next corner, grinning in triumph at what he saw and disappearing into the small alley. Gus wondered, again, if insanity really was contagious when he followed, ducking behind one of the dumpsters lined up along the building.

Shawn made his way to the front of the building and peeked around the edge before quickly ducking back. He waved Gus over and raised his hand to his head. Gus pointed at Shawn and told him with hand gestures to keep watch. Shawn nodded and Gus closed his eyes, lifting his hand to his head to help focus on the psychic sensations. He sorted out several different people quickly and made a mental note to thank Henry for the lesson before he listened to the thoughts.

He shook his head when he opened his eyes, that group of cops were clean. A voice suddenly rang out of the darkness, "SBPD! Get your hands up!"

There was a flurry of movement outside of their hiding area and Gus could feel a wave of thoughts converging on the area as more gunfire cut through the air. Shawn made a movement to follow and Gus grabbed him, keeping him down as he whisper-yelled over the sounds of fighting, "This is me keeping you from getting shot!"

Shawn looked at him in exasperation before pointing back down the alley; Gus nodded in agreement, but made sure Shawn went first before he followed. He knew his friend well enough to not trust him to make good choices right now.

They made it three more buildings closer to the fighting when Gus grabbed Shawn and pulled him out of sight as several people ran past, shooting scattered bullets behind them. Once they were alone again, Shawn leaned over to talk directly into Gus' ear, "We need to get off ground-level."

Gus nodded in agreement, too preoccupied tracking all of the thoughts pressing in around him to be able to form a complete sentence. Shawn took the lead again, stopping at the next alley and pointing to the end. Gus peeked past him and saw a small group of cops crouched behind cover as bullets hit the ground around them. He shook his head; he couldn't believe that he'd let Shawn talk him into this.

He ignored the fact that Shawn had tried to talk him out of it as he noticed Bates was one of the cops peeking up to shoot back at the gang members. He sat back and double checked their surroundings before closing his eyes again, thinking past the ringing in his ears as he scanned the group's thoughts.

He opened his eyes and looked over to tell Shawn that there was still no mole, and maybe they should go back. His eyes suddenly widened and he stared at the dart that was sticking out of his best friend's shoulder. Shawn winced and grabbed at his arm, his fingers quickly finding the projectile and pulling it out. He stared at it in confusion for a second before his face cleared in fearful realization, "Oh shit. Run!"

Gus grabbed Shawn's arm and pulled him along as they ran back the way they came. His only goal was to get Shawn back to the truck before whatever was in the dart took effect, but that was proving difficult as Shawn started to trip and stagger more and more. Gus slowed down with him and pulled Shawn's arm over his shoulders as he ignored the memories from the last time they'd been in that position.

"Gus, ya gotta go…" Shawn slurred out as his legs collapsed and all of his weight pulled down on Gus.

"Nope," Gus grunted out as he continued to pull Shawn along. Like hell was he going to leave his friend behind. It was getting harder to keep his feet moving in a straight line.

"But th'r gonna…" Shawn fought to keep his eyes open.

"I think they already did," Gus realized as his knees buckled, sending them both to the ground. He felt around his back and found the dart, pulling it out without really feeling it. Adrenaline was a helluva of a drug.

"Shi…" Shawn's eyes closed and his head lolled as unconscious took him. Gus' heart raced as he sat next to his friend; this was exactly what he had come here to prevent. What was the point of these abilities if he couldn't even use them properly to keep his best friend safe.

Darkness edged his vision as he heard voices growing closer, speaking in Russian. He reached down to grab Shawn's arm; they needed to stay together. Last time they'd survived because they'd been together.

Gravity tilted sideways and he spent his last few seconds of consciousness praying desperately that it wouldn't be like last time. The darkness blanketed his vision and Gus fell into the void.