Chapter 8

Gus was going to see Shawn today. He had given him his space and plenty of time to sulk and now he needed to face the world. Even if it meant Gus grabbing an ax and physically chopping the door down.

At the moment, Gus was at the grocery store. He was planning on picking up some food to take with him when he broke into Shawn's house, because he was seriously worried that his friend hadn't eaten anything in the time of his absence.

Gus was just leaving the canned soup isle, and planning on going over to the produce section to get pineapple, when he saw someone that he hadn't expected to see.

"Shawn," Gus gasped quietly as he looked at his friend.

At first Gus was over joyed. Shawn was out of his house. He was interacting with the world. He wasn't dead!

But then Gus was suddenly angry. Shawn was alive and appeared to not be hurt or impaired in anyway and he hadn't called Gus. He hadn't tried to call Gus. He hadn't even texted Gus. He didn't seem to be food deprived (in fact Shawn had never looked better) and the worst of it was that it looked like Shawn held no intentions of calling him.

Gus was furious.

"Shawn," Gus shouted and, abandoning his shopping cart, stomped over to his friend, "why haven't you called me? I've been worried sick."

Shawn looked away from the shelf that he had been staring at and, smiling pleasantly, said, "Oh hi Gus. What a pleasant surprise. What are you doing here?"

"Don't change the subject Shawn. I want an answer."

"An answer to what?" Shawn asked, sounding genuinely confused.

Gus ground his teeth. "To why you didn't call me. To why you ignored all of my messages. To, what are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry," Shawn said, sounding like he meant it, which threw Gus a little and caused his anger to lessen, "I didn't know that you had been trying to reach me."

"How could you not know?" Gus demanded, surprised when Shawn flinched at his tone, "I've called you at least sixty times in the past two weeks, and I've left well over twenty messages."

"I'm sorry," Shawn said again. "I lost my phone. I...I haven't been in contact with anybody."

Gus could only stare at his friend incredulously. He seriously doubted that Shawn had lost his phone, and it was childish of him to lie about it.

"There are other ways of getting in touch with people," Gus said, trying to control his tone.

"I know," Shawn said, sounding guilty, "I was going to find you after work. I swear I was."

"Work.?"

"Yeah," Shawn said, pride in his voice, "I'm the new grocer here. Or stock boy. I'm not really sure. Right now they're just having me do whatever it is that needs to get done."

"Grocer?"

Now that Gus's attention had been drawn to it, he realized that Shawn was wearing a maroon apron that bore the store's name and logo.

"You work here?" Gus asked, shock the only emotion that could find its way into his voice. "Since when?"

"Since today," Shawn said, smiling happily. "I applied yesterday," he explained, "but they needed help so badly, that they hired me right away and let me begin today. Isn't that great?"

Shawn then turned to a large brown box that was at his feet and pulled a couple of boxes of animal crackers out of it and started to stack them on the shelf.

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with my friend?" Gus asked.

"Gus what are you talking about?" Shaw asked, slightly bemused.

"You had a summer job working at a grocery store in our junior year. Actually it wasn't even a summer job. You worked there for two weeks, collected your paycheck and never went back. You said that it was the most oppressive job that you had ever worked, and that you'd never work at a grocery store again."

"Gus, I was sixteen. I didn't know any better and that was a long time ago. I can't be held to something that I said so long ago."

"But what about Psych?" Gus asked, trying to figure out what was going on in his friend's head.

Shawn's eyes hardened slightly.

"Shawn, did you hear me?"

"I'm sorry Gus, but I really think that you need to go," Shawn said suddenly, not bothering to even look at Gus as he said it. "I don't want to get in trouble on my first day of work, and I don't think my boss would appreciate me talking while I'm clocked in."

Gus could only stare at Shawn for a moment. What was he talking about? He had never cared about that type of thing before.

"But Shawn–"

"Goodbye Gus," Shawn's tone was firm and left no room for discussion.

"Fine," Gus said. And he started to walk away, but he wasn't paying attention so he ran into someone who was leaving one of the isles.

"Sorry," Gus started to mumble, but he stopped when he saw that he knew who it was. "Lassie?" he exclaimed in shock, but then he remembered himself, "I mean, Lassiter. Detective Lassiter. What are you doing here?"

Lassiter closed his eyes and appeared to be counting to ten. And when he opened his eyes he said, "why do you think I'm here? For what other purpose could I be here? I am shopping. I am buying groceries so that I have food at my house so I can eat. Why are you here?" the sarcasm was thick in his voice.

"I was..." Gus wasn't even sure anymore so he just pointed behind him at his friend, who was still stacking boxes of crackers. Totally unaware of anything else going on around him.

"What's Spencer doing here?" Lassiter asked, but the usual edge in his voice was missing. "I thought that he had locked himself up in his house."

"He's working," Gus said, "he got a job and now he works here. Please talk to him. See if you can find out what the heck is going on."

"Why would I talk to him? You're his friend."

"Because I can't talk to him right now. He's acting too weird. Please, just try."

Lassiter rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but be pulled in by Gus's pleading tone. Besides, he couldn't help but be a little curious.

"Fine," he growled, "fine I'll talk to him."

"Thank you," Gus said and he stepped aside so that Lassiter could pass him.

"Mr. Spencer," Lassiter said, approaching the psychic, "...hello."

"Well hello Detective Lassiter," Shawn said, sounding pleasantly surprised, though Lassiter could detect a hint of wariness in his tone. "What brings you here today? Are you having troubles finding anything?"

For a moment Lassiter was completely thrown by Shawn's manner. This surely couldn't be the same Shawn that had made his life so miserable.

"No...no troubles. So... I haven't seen you around the station in a while."

Shawn gave Lassiter a funny look, before answering, "why would I be at the station? I'm a civilian."

"But you're also a psychic consultant," Lassiter said, giving Shawn a look of his own.

"Psychic? Really? Detective Lassiter are you feeling okay?"

"Of course I am," Lassiter snapped, sounding ticked.

"Hey, don't snap at me," Shawn said, holding his hand's up defensively. "I was just wondering. I mean psychic? Come on, I haven't believed in psychics since I was six."

If Lassiter had been thrown before, that was nothing compared to now.

"But you're psychic. Remember? Shawn Spencer, Head Psychic for the SBPD," Lassiter said, using the title that Shawn had given himself.

"Uh, no. Shawn Spencer, grocer for the Wallman's Convenience store," Shawn said, pointing at his name tag.

"Wait, so what exactly is it that you're trying to tell me?" Could Shawn really be saying what Lassiter thought he was?

Shawn heaved a deep sigh and looked directly at Lassiter. "Carlton," he said, "I am not psychic."

At first Lassiter was overjoyed. He admitted it! He admitted it! Spencer had finally said that he wasn't psychic. But then he realized something that Shawn had said.

"'Carlton'?" he asked. Had Spencer really just called him by his first name? "Did you just call me 'Carlton'?"

"Yeah," Shawn said, "that's your name isn't it?"

"I...um...excuse me," Lassiter said, and he quickly turned away from Shawn and rushed over to a very shocked looking Gus.

"Is he on drugs?" Lassiter demanded.

"No," Gus said, "no, that would actually make sense. But...but Detective Lassiter, about what Shawn had just said, about not being...he didn't mean it. He is. He's just..." Gus trailed off because, really, what could he say?

"When did he start acting like this?" Lassiter asked after the silence had stretched a bit.

"I don't know," Gus answered, "I guess it, I mean it must have, started with our last case."

"The one with Jamison?" Lassiter asked, wanting to be sure that they were on the same page.

"Yeah. That one."

"Spencer did act weird before he left," Lassiter admitted, more to himself than to Gus, then he turned to the confused and concerned friend and asked, "what exactly happened at the mansion anyway? What could have caused... this?" and Lassiter gestured at Shawn, who had almost completed the pyramid of animal cracker boxes.

"Well, Shawn never actually told me what happened. He did say, 'they made me watch' but nothing else. I... I guess that the spirits made him watch the murder."

Gus could have sworn that some color left Lassiter's face, before it flushed red in anger. Then Lassiter pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes.

"Um...Lassiter, are you okay?" Gus asked when Lassiter didn't say anything.

"Mr. Guster..." Lassiter seemed to be struggling with what he should say, "that murder..." he took a deep breath, let his hand drop from his face, and looked Gus directly in the eyes, "most of the bodies weren't even fully intact when we found them. And the extent of damage inflicted on the victims didn't stop there. And Jamison..." Lassiter took another deep breath, "he used to work for...he..." Lassiter sighed, "he was able to keep those girls alive until the very end."

Gus felt like he was going to faint. It had been that bad? So bad that the girls hadn't even stayed in one piece? And Shawn had watched? Gus was going to be sick.

"I don't believe that Spencer is psychic," Lassiter said, "but if there is some way that he had actually witnessed the murders, then I truly feel sorry for him."

Boy did Lassiter feel sorry for him. The Chief had only been able to make herself enter three of the rooms, where the murders had been committed. O'Hara had left the first room immediately, emptying the contents of her stomach into a trash can. And the forensics guys and crime scene photographers were still complaining of nightmares, brought on by the case. Even Lassiter himself had only been able to stay in the rooms for the most minimal amount of time.

"But whether Spencer saw anything or not," Lassiter said, with a quick glance at said person, "I think that you need to get him some help, and soon." With those words, Lassiter left. He would go shopping at another store.

Once Lassiter was gone, Gus looked back at Shawn and tried to let what he had just heard sink in. He was now seeing Shawn in a whole different light. And he was wishing that he had gotten to Shawn sooner. He had to find someway to get through to Shawn. To get him to open up. It wouldn't be good to let Shawn stew anymore on whatever it was that he was stewing on. What Gus needed was someone who could get to Shawn. Someone who could stir up his emotions so that his false persona would be dropped. Someone who had control over him. What Gus needed was Henry. So that's who Gus got. He called up Shawn's dad. Told him there was an emergency and to met him at the store. Gus had made sure to stay vague enough that so that Henry would be curious, but also give enough so that he knew Shawn needed his help.

It took Henry about twenty minutes to get to the store and meet up with Gus in front of the canned food isle.

"Okay, so what's the emergency? Where's Shawn? And what's broken," Henry asked, getting straight to the point.

"Mr. Spencer, thank you for coming. Um, Shawn's here. Nothing's broken, per sé. And the emergency isn't...it's...Shawn's acting weird."

Henry stared Gus down for a minute before saying, "you called me here, when I was in the middle of retiling my roof, so that I could talk to my son, who is acting weird?"

"Yes," Gus said carefully, Henry's calm, demanding tone was making him nervous.

"And let me ask you this: when had Shawn ever not been 'weird'?"

"Well this is different," Gus said defensively. "I've never seen Shawn like this. I mean, he's working here. He's acting like his fifteen day disappearing act is no big deal. And, he's refusing to acknowledge his work as a psychic."

"Well maybe he's finally decided to grow up," Henry said.

"If he has, then he's done so for the wrong reasons. Please Mr. Spencer, just talk with him. You'll see what I mean."

Henry thought for a moment. "Where is he?" he finally asked.

Gus smiled and pointed down the canned food isle, where they saw Shawn restocking canned vegetables. Henry arced an eyebrow and gave Gus a sidelong glance, before approaching his son.

"Hello Shawn," Henry said.

Shawn looked up from his work and gave his father a polite smile.

"Hello Dad," Shawn returned, before turning back to his work. "How are you today?" he asked.

"Well I'm fine. But Gus seems to think that you're not," Henry was watching Shawn closely, wanting to gauge his reaction.

"Well that's sweet of Gus to worry, but I am fine," Shawn said, his tone even.

"Then maybe you should tell that to Gus, because he seems to think that something's wrong. Is something wrong?"

"Nope," Shawn replied.

"Are you sure? Because Gus did say something about you not 'acknowledging' your work as a psychic."

"You know what," Shawn said, still focusing his eyes on his work, "I just, really need to concentrate on what I'm doing right now. So maybe we could talk later."

"Why can't we talk now?" Henry asked, "work has never stopped you from doing what you wanted to do before."

"Well you know, I kind of actually want to keep my job. And that's not going to happen when I'm talking instead of working."

"Well why do you want to keep this job. There are other ones out there."

"No Dad. No there really aren't. With my level of schooling this is probably the best that I can get. And I've got bills to pay, and a future to think about. I have absolutely no savings and nothing put towards retirement. And if I don't start working all of that out now, then I am in deep trouble when I get older and can't work anymore."

"Well that's very well thought out," Henry said after a short moment of silence.

"Thank you."

"You seem to have finally grown up."

"Can't stay a kid forever."

"No you can't. So what are you going to do about your bike?"

"I'm going to trade it in. See what type of car I can get. I need something more reliable than a motorcycle."

"Very true. Well it was nice talking to you. I'll see you around."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

When Henry got back to Gus, he pulled him into the next isle over.

"Okay, I see what you mean," Henry said, folding his arms.

"I know. Didn't I tell you? He's just acting so–"

"Normal," Henry interjected.

"What?" Gus asked confusedly. That hadn't been anywhere near normal.

"Normal," Henry explained, "he's acting normal. He is acting as any normal twenty-nine year old man would. Unfortunately Shawn isn't any normal twenty-nine year old man. He's Shawn. And Shawn's version of normal, doesn't match up with the world's version."

"Normal," Gus whispered, trying the word out for himself. As strange as it seems, that word made sense. Shawn was acting normal, and that's what was weird.

"So what can we do?" Gus asked, Henry.

"I don't know. Maybe you should tell me what happened to Shawn, to make him act this way," even though Henry's voice was even and calm, there was a slight edge to it.

"Well, um..." Gus wasn't sure what to do. Should he tell Henry the truth and hope that he didn't think that they're crazy and help Shawn. Or lie and still hope that Henry could help him. Each choice had its ups and downs, but in the end Gus knew what he had to do.

"Okay," Gus said, "I'll tell you what happened, but first you need to know that we are not crazy."

"Well that's a very convincing way to start an argument," Henry said dryly.

Gus sighed. Yeah that probably hadn't been the best way to start, but there was nothing that he could do now, so he might as well continue. So speaking quickly, because he knew that he couldn't afford to have Henry interrupt, he said, "okay so almost two months ago Shawn hit his head and got psychic powers and that's why he was able to solve all of those cases so quickly and then he found out another power that he had and he liked it a lot but I didn't like it so when that big serial murder case came up I made Shawn go but the ghosts made him watch what happened and that was too much for him so he disappeared for fifteen days and I still don't know what happened during that time but now Shawn is here and is totally denying that he was ever psychic and I know this sounds crazy but its true and I can prove it because Shawn told me about his dinner with you and how he could read your mind and how he kept accidentally answering to your thoughts and if you think real hard you'll remember and know that what I've just told you is true."

Gus was gasping for breath when he was finally done talking. That had to have been a world record for most words spoken in one breath.

"Are you serious?" Henry asked, and Gus knew from his tone that he was in trouble.

"I, well...yes."

With his jaw clenched shut and his mouth in a grim line, Henry took a deep breath through his nose.

"Well Gus," he said in a controlled voice, "if you're planning on sticking with that story, then I don't think that I have anymore business here. You can call me when you're ready to tell me the truth," and with that Henry left, taking Gus's hope with him.

Gus didn't move for a minute. He didn't know what to do. With Henry no longer on his side, how was he supposed to get Shawn to listen to him? It's not even like Shawn listened to him before all of this happened.

Gus could always try talking to Shawn again, but he had already made it clear that he didn't want to talk to him during work, and Gus was afraid that if he made another effort right now, that it would come off as aggressive instead of as a concerned friend.

So now Gus needed someone else to talk to Shawn. Someone who stood a chance of gaining Shawn's attention. Someone who Shawn liked.

It came to Gus in a flash of inspiration. Juliet. Gus could get Juliet to talk to Shawn. It was a long shot. But the only other choice Gus had.

JULIETJULIETJULIETJULIETJULIETJULIETJULIETJULIETJULIETJULIETJULIETJULIETJULIETJULIETJULIETJULIETJULIET

"Okay so let me get this straight," Juliet said, "you want me to go to the store and lure Shawn away by asking him out on a date?"

"Well it doesn't have to be a real date," Gus defended, "I just want to get him out of the store."

"Because he's acting weird?"

Gus sighed. He had known that getting Juliet to help him would be a long shot, but he hadn't expected so much resistance.

"Listen Gus," Juliet said, "I would love to help you, really I would. But I have so much work to do right now that I just can't get away."

"O'Hara," Chief Vick snapped from the doorway of her office, "I thought I told you to go home. I have nothing for you today."

Gus gave the blushing Juliet a pointed look.

"Ah Mr. Guster," the Chief said, upon spotting Gus, "I haven't seen you or Mr. Spencer around here in a while. Wait," she said scanning the room, her brow furrowing in confusion, "where is Mr. Spencer? Is he still away?" That was worrisome, especially seeing as Shawn hadn't even pick his check up yet.

"No," Gus said with a sigh, "but he's acting weird. He took a job at a grocery store and is refusing to come back to work."

"Really?" the Chief asked, not able to fully mask the concern in her voice. "Why's that?"

"I don't know," Gus said, his tone frustrated, "he won't talk to me and..." an idea occurred to Gus, "and that's why I came here. I was hoping that Juliet would come and try to get Shawn to come back."

Karen Vick looked from Mr. Guster, mischief playing lightly across his face, over to her glaring detective, then to the case file that she was currently holding in her hands. She couldn't lose Spencer. He had been such a big help to the SBPD and, in all truthfulness, she missed the rambunctious psychic that she had grown so used to.

"Detective O'Hara," Chief Vick said, making a split-second decision, "since you are so keen about working today, I have an assignment for you."

Juliet groaned. She knew what was coming.

"I want you to go with Mr. Guster and find out what is going on with our psychic. And I expect you to report back to me with some results." The Chief then pulled back into her office and closed the door.

For a moment there was silence.

"Fine, I'll come," Juliet said, sounding very displeased with her newest 'assignment', "but if I find out that this is all some hoax of Shawn's, to get me to ask him out, then you are also going to regret it. Got it?"

"Yes," Gus said, actually amused by Juliet's threatening tone.

"Okay, let's go."

The drive to the store was silent, except for the brief conversation where Gus told Juliet that the best course of action for her to take, when luring Shawn away, would be to invite him out for pineapple smoothies. Something that, in years spent with Shawn, Gus learned he couldn't resist.

It wasn't long until the two reached the store and found Shawn at the cashier, bagging the customer's purchases. Gus nudged Juliet forward, but stayed back himself.

"Hello Shawn," Juliet said coming up to him.

"Hello Detective O'Hara," Shawn said, turning to Juliet and giving her a brief smile before turning back to his work.

"'O'Hara'?" Juliet asked, a twinge of annoyance making it's way into her confused voice. "Since when do you call me that?"

"Sorry...Juliet," Shawn said, keeping his eyes focused on bagging the large amount of groceries that was currently being purchased. "So what brings you here today. Do you need help finding anything?"

"Uh, no. I just came here because I was wondering if you...you know, wanted to go and get some pineapple smoothies...with me."

"I'm sorry, I can't."

Juliet stared at Shawn in shock.

"Excuse me?" She asked.

"I can't. I have work," Shawn explained.

Juliet suddenly understood the feeling of anxiousness that Gus had, because she was feeling it too. This was not Shawn-like behavior. She needed to get him away.

"Well, what about your lunch break?" She tried.

"Already took it."

"How about after work?"

"I'm busy."

"With what?"

Shawn shrugged.

"Shawn why did you disappear? What happened?"

"Excuse me Miss," Shawn said, completely ignoring Juliet and addressing the old woman that had bought the large quantity of groceries, "do you need help?"

The old woman nodded, so Shawn grabbed her grocery laden cart and, with a curt farewell nod to Juliet, left.

Juliet quickly made her way back to Gus, who didn't look happy that Shawn wasn't with her.

"What happened?" Gus asked. "Where's Shawn?"

"Working."

"Well I... why... how...what happened? I thought you were going to ask him out for pineapple smoothies?"

"I did."

"You did?"

"Yeah. And he said no."

Gus's whole world collapsed.

"I'm going to go back to the station and talk to the Chief. Maybe she'll be able to figure out what we should do," Juliet said, and then she left.

Gus couldn't believe it. Shawn didn't turn down smoothies. He didn't refuse anything pineapple related. He didn't take jobs at grocery stores. He didn't turn down dates. He didn't...he just didn't.

Gus had to break down Shawn's defenses. Or at the very least, get close enough to the fortress to assess the damage. But how? Maybe, if Gus brought the smoothie to him, Shawn wouldn't be able to resist. At the moment Gus was grasping at straws. Anything that could maybe possibly have an affect, would be worth a shot. So Gus ran out to his car and, as quickly as the law would allow, he went to get a pineapple smoothie and went back to the store.

After spending about thirty minutes looking for his friend, and coming up with nothing, Gus found the manager and asked him.

"Well he's gone home," the manager informed Gus, "his shift ended about ten minutes ago."

In too much of a hurry to thank the manager, Gus left.

By the time that Gus had reached his friend's house, the pineapple slushy was all but melted. And Gus, after getting out of his car, sprinted up to Shawn's front door and pounded on it three times. Then he waited.

As Gus waited, he heard a strange noise coming from behind the closed front door, but he couldn't place what it was. And then, just before the door opened, the noise stopped.

"Gus," Shawn said surprised, when he opened the front door, "what are you doing here?"

"I thought that you might enjoy a pineapple smoothie," Gus informed him, holding the cup of liquid out to his friend.

Shawn looked at the cup's contents, made a face, and then shook his head.

"No thank you," he said. Then he started to close the door.

"Wait," Gus said, putting his foot in the doorway, "come on, let's talk. We used to talk. Please Shawn."

"I can't right now," Shawn told him.

"Why not?"

"I'm cleaning."

"You're what?"

"Cleaning," Shawn repeated and he opened his door all of the way, revealing a plugged in vacuum that was sitting in the middle of his living room.

"Since when do you clean?" Gus asked.

Shawn sighed. "Since my home got dirty," he said.

"Well take a break," Gus said, taking advantage of the situation and walking into his friend's home, "I'm pretty sure that you could use one after working all day."

"Not really. I'm fine," Shawn said, still standing by the door, holding it wide open in an obvious attempt to politely let Gus know that he should go.

"Oh come on. I'm sure..." Gus trailed off when he saw Shawn's cell phone sitting on top of the coffee table.

"I thought that you said that you lost it," Gus said quietly. It didn't matter that Gus hadn't believed Shawn, when he had told him that he had lost his phone. He still couldn't help but feel a little betrayed.

"I just found it," Shawn said, and Gus, unfortunately, wasn't looking at Shawn so he missed any expressions that Shawn's face might have revealed, "I told you, I've been cleaning."

"You don't clean," Gus snapped, instantly regretting that he hadn't kept his anger in check.

"Yes I do," Shawn said, visibly annoyed, "and you're interrupting that, so if you could just leave," Shawn opened the door a little wider.

"Do you really expect me to believe that you've been cleaning?" Gus asked, "you're lights aren't even turned on."

Gus went over to the wall and flipped the light switch up.

Nothing happened.

Confused, Gus flipped the light switch up and down a few times, but still nothing happened.

"You're light's burnt out," Gus said, stating the obvious.

"I know," was Shawn's reply.

"Well why don't you change it?"

"Are you kidding me?" Shawn yelled, his eyes widening.

"What?" Gus asked. Then it dawned on him: Shawn had gotten his powers when changing a lightbulb.

"Well," Gus said, "if you want, I could change it."

"No!" Shawn shouted, causing Gus to jump a little. "No, no, no, no!"

"But I cou–"

"No," Shawn interrupted him, and then Gus didn't have a chance to say anything else, because Shawn grabbed his arm and pushed him out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

Gus turned around to go right back in, but he heard the click of a lock and he knew that he didn't have any chance of getting back inside today. So he left.

A/N: Buwahahahaha. Okay, so I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and you will find out what happened with Shawn when he was missing for those two weeks, but you'll find out later. Also, school has now officially started, so I will have difficulties updating between homework, and after-school activities and other stuff like that. And as usual, reviews are appreciated. :D