April, Come She Will

By: Aubrie1234

As Shawn checked the phone messages, Alex sat at Gus' desk, bored out of his mind. He wasn't exactly comfortable where he was, so he didn't allow himself to nod off or even close his eyes for a moment, just glance around the room. He took in all the various things scattered about the office that apparently made it feel like home and wished he could become a part of this, but that was impossible. He would always clash with Shawn, Juliet, and their group because he wasn't made for living, being a normal person. All he was was Death walking.

"Here we go." Alex glanced over as Shawn accessed the voicemail. The man looked through the machine for a few moments before pressing a button and a shaking voice filled the air.

"Hey, if this is the Psych office, I could really use some help. M-my name's Otto and I'll be over at three, okay? Please, pick up..." The voicemail ended and Shawn stopped it before it could move on to the next voicemail. He sat back in his chair with a sigh.

"Man, now I feel sorry for the guy. Sounded scared out of his wits."

"Wasn't that the same day when we met?" Alex asked.

"I think so. Gus and I were here before we came to check on you, so maybe he called after we left. We didn't come back until yesterday." Shawn fiddled with the controls a little more to check the time of the voicemail. Alex looked away, frowning. He hated knowing that he was likely the cause of the man's death in some way. Feeling Shawn's stare on him, Alex glanced back.

"What?"

"Don't feel like it's your fault. Trust me." Shawn got up, "The call came from Cheezy Chaucer's, probably where Otto worked. Not exactly a name worthy of a pizza joint, but it's what we've got to work on. Now, let's go get Gus."

"Why?"

"Gus and I, we stick together like Bill and Ted. Without him, we probably won't be getting anywhere. His supersmeller will help us solve the case, I'm sure." Alex rolled his eyes.

"Fine." Alex got up and followed Shawn outside.

"I hate you so much right now." Gus grumbled.

"Hey, we're getting food. You love food."

"Not during my work hours!" Alex listened to the conversation with his eyes closed, a smile playing at his lips. Listening to the two bicker was surprisingly calming. Gus went on, "And I am not stepping inside a possibly haunted building!"

"It's not haunted."

"It's based on a game with haunted animatronics!"

"Would you step inside if it only had haunted food?"

"Shawn!"

"You two are hilarious, by the way." Alex spoke up, opening one eye as he felt the car cruise to a stop. Shawn and Gus looked back at him.

"Well, that's kinda what we do." Shawn said.

"No, it's not." argued Gus. Alex got out of the car and looked up at the building. They were in the parking lot of Cheezy Chaucer's and Alex was a little nervous at what they would find.

"Have you even called Juliet yet to ask if they followed this lead?" Gus went on.

"No, but I'm sure there's something they missed." Shawn strode forward, taking the lead. Gus was behind him and Alex trailed last. When they were inside, he looked around, raising an eyebrow.

"Looks like it's straight out of the Canterbury Tales." Alex commented on the medieval design.

"Well, the name is Cheezy Chaucer's. Chaucer was the author of the Canterbury Tales." Gus said.

"Great, now I have two smart people on my tail." Shawn groaned. They strode up the the register as Alex continued to look around. He could smell the kitchen from here and there were no animatronics. There were posters on the walls that depicted some of the characters from the Tales and there was a stage, where a live band was playing in costume. He had to turn back around as Shawn spoke to the cashier, a dark-haired man with blue eyes that were dulled with boredom.

"Hello, my name is Chris Parker, and these are my friends Brad Anderson and Daryl Coppersmith." Alex and Gus gave Shawn looks for dragging them into this name charade, "Brad and I are babysitting Daryl-" Alex's glare grew in intensity, "-and we wanted to spend the day here for his birthday." Alex rolled his eyes. The man raised an eyebrow.

"A little old for Chaucer's, isn't he?"

"He absolutely loves the place, don't you, Daryl?" Shawn put an arm around Alex and the blond smiled brightly.

"Sure do!" he chirped. Gus did a double-take. He knew Alex was acting but it was still surprising to see such a somber boy so happy.

"Alright. Find yourselves a seat and someone will be with you shortly. Would you like a birthday special?"

"Of course!" Alex gave Shawn a panicked look. As Shawn went with basically all the bells and whistles, Alex went to Gus' side, tugging on his sleeve to get his attention.

"What is he doing?"

"Probably a distraction."

"Then why does it have to involve me?"

"Don't like parties?"

"I don't like attention." Alex said. Gus nodded.

"It shouldn't take too long, whatever he's planning."

"I hope so." Soon enough Shawn was leading them over to a table and had the two sit as he stood. He steepled his fingers and began speaking, "So, you two are the decoys. Keep the employees busy and I'm gonna check out the manager's old office."

"Aren't you supposed to be keeping an eye on me?" Alex demanded.

"That's why Gus is here." Shawn pat Gus' shoulder, "Once they're over here, I'll escape in the chaos." Shawn crouched to Alex's level, "I promise this isn't gonna take long, just trust me and stay close to Gus."

"...Fine." Alex crossed his arms. Shawn nodded. Soon the employees were coming over to celebrate 'Daryl's' birthday and Alex put on a smile again. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Shawn escaped while they were singing 'Happy Birthday' and knew that his 'father' so owed him. Gus gave him a reassuring smile to help him out, but Alex didn't feel all that well with the attention. At least, once the singing was done, the employees left them alone for the most part. There were balloons and cake along with other goodies. Alex licked his lips at the sight of the food.

"Would it be bad if we ate some of this even though we have no idea who's paying?"

"If Shawn won't pay, then I guess it's being put on my card." Gus sighed, "Go ahead." Immediately Alex cut off part of the cake and began munching on it. Maybe there was some good to this idea after all.

"So, you wanna play some of these games?" Alex gestured around.

"Only if you think you can win against me." Alex narrowed his eyes.

"I can kick your arse anytime." Gus was pretty sure that was the English version of 'ass,' but he still smiled back.

"Bring it." They got up from their table and went over to the Donkey Kong arcade game. It was best 7-out-of-12 and Alex was beating Gus at games he should've been good at, since he used to play them as a kid. They had unlimited chances on the games because of the birthday party deal and Alex yipped in joy when he won, pumping a fist. Gus shook his head, "You're good."

"I guess." Alex was genuinely grinning, "I've never played any of these before. It feels nice to be normal for once."

"Wait, you've never been to a place like this before?" Gus asked as they went back to their table.

"No." Alex's smile faded, "Mostly I didn't do much at home except play football and maybe a few video games, not to mention Snooker."

"Snooker?"

"I think it's kinda like Pool?" Alex shrugged, "Ever wanna play and I'll be happy to teach you."

"Alright." They went back to eating cake until Shawn returned, a triumphant look on his face.

"I have found some juicy details that I think will make or break this case." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder, "Let's go." Alex dropped his eyes.

"Fun while it lasted..." Shawn glanced at Gus but the darker man gave him a look to leave it alone for now. They went back to the cash register to pay for the party and left. Once in the Blueberry, Alex asked, "So, what did you find out?"

"So, our old friend Otto has been replaced by an interim manager, but he did leave a few things behind. Most importantly, a few notes on profits not being what they should, and that someone's been making a few bucks out of it."

"So someone's skimming money from the business?" Gus asked.

"Exactimundo!" Shawn nodded.

"Wouldn't the police have checked this place out already?" Alex asked.

"Maybe so, but I believe there's another angle to this that they haven't thought of."

"And whoever was taking money might've been the one who shot Otto."

"No, we are not getting in the line of fire, especially not with you here!" Gus pointed at Alex. The blond frowned.

"I'll be fine. Wasn't I the one who saved your best friend's arse?"

"Not the point! Look, Alex, it's Shawn's job to keep an eye on you, as well as mine. You get hurt, Juliet's gonna skin both of us."

"Dude, it's gonna be fine. He is not gonna get into any scrapes with us." Shawn assured.

"And why not?" Alex glared at them both.

"No." said the adults.

"Alex, you are my son right now, and I can't let you get into trouble with us. Thank you for saving my life, but no." Shawn said. Alex's eyes darkened yet he said nothing more. Shawn suppressed a shiver and turned to Gus. For some reason, the look terrified him. Alex was quiet for the rest of the time as Shawn and Gus argued over the case, listening and thinking. When they finally came to a decision on going to the station to see if anything new had cropped up, Alex made no comment. He made no sound as he went inside with them and this seemed to worry Shawn, for the man was about to speak up but Alex cut him off with a glare. He was in no mood to talk right now. Yes, he disliked what he'd gone through, what he'd accomplished, but it was because of his experience that he could take care of himself and so he wished that the adults would give him a little more credit. He followed Gus and Shawn over to Juliet's desk, where she gave them suspicious looks.

"Don't tell me you were trying to solve the case with Alex." she said.

"We followed up a lead, but Alex actually helped out!" Shawn said. Juliet looked to Alex, who could only nod. If it wasn't for him, they'd probably have had an even harder time getting into Chaucer's. Juliet sighed.

"Okay, fine, but don't let him get into any more situations, got it?"

"Right." Shawn saluted.

"Juliet, we wanna know some of the leads on the case." Gus said.

"Well, from what we've gathered, Otto used to be the manager, but then was killed for an unknown reason. We checked out his place of work and found that someone had been taking money from the business."

"Us too, but he called Psych before he was killed and we think he found out someone was skimming money from the inside but was killed when he tried to squeal." Shawn said, "I have no idea who'd wanna kill just to keep something like that a secret, but we've heard worse."

"Did you get a 'sense' on the employees about who it might be?" Juliet winked. Gus rolled his eyes as Shawn smiled.

"A little. I think someone at Chaucer's has something to do with it but I need to figure out a few more things first."

"Well, you might wanna hurry up. Carlton is interrogating the interim manager and the security guards right now."

"Think we could sit in on those? Might help me get a read on who knows what."

"You know where it is." Juliet said. Shawn kissed her.

"You're the best, Jules." And with a spring in his step, he headed towards the interrogation rooms, Gus following behind. Before Alex could do the same, Juliet pulled him aside, a worried look on her face.

"If something happens, you stay safe, got it? I don't like that you're tagging along with Shawn but I can understand why."

"I know, but I'll be fine." Alex said, "Have faith in me."

"I do, but a mother can't stop worrying." Alex frowned.

"Only in writing." He pulled away from her and ran to catch up with Shawn and Gus. Juliet couldn't deny that the reply stung but it was true. She was only his mom in writing. Alex needed more than that, but she couldn't give him what he wanted. No one could.

Notes:

The fake names Shawn uses are from Adventures in Babysitting.

I hope you guys like this chapter! I've had most of it done for a while but I finally finished it just now. Now, please read & review!