Diclaimer: I still own nothing.
Chapter Nine
Gus was at his wit's end. It had been nearly three weeks since Shawn started acting weird, and things had only gotten worse.Shawn was still working at that blasted grocery store; he was deemed 'employee of the month'; he was now wearing dress shirts to work; and he was combing his hair back and was using gel to keep it smooth and flat against his head.
The Shawn that Gus used to know was literally deteriorating in front of his eyes. And what was worse, was that Gus had no idea of what he could do to set everything right. Shawn wasn't even listening to him anymore. He would just wave Gus off with a flick of his hand and if he didn't leave Shawn alone, the manager would come out and ask Gus to leave. Sad to say, but Gus was now officially banned from that grocery store for 'hindering the work of the employees' and 'obstruction of peace'. That last one was totally ridiculous, because Gus had only yelled once...twice...okay three times, but that was all.
Juliet had tried talking to Shawn a few more times and even Chief Vick tried to talk with him, after Gus fully explained the situation, but to no avail. As far as Gus knew neither Lassiter or Henry had tried talking with Shawn again. Lassiter not talking with him wasn't anything weird or unexpected. But Gus had thought that Henry would at least try something. Even if he didn't believe Gus's explanation you'd at least think that he would want his son to get help, when he so obviously needed it.
It had been nearly three weeks since Shawn started acting weird and for the first time, Gus started to lose hope. Nothing he, or anyone else, did had any effect on Shawn, and Gus was starting to, reluctantly, believe that they had reached a point where there was not much else that they could do. Shawn was too far gone.
"You're partially correct Mr. Guster," Chief Vick said, when Gus voiced his thoughts.
At the moment Gus, Chief Vick, Juliet and Lassiter, were all inside the Chief's office. Karen Vick had called this small meeting, because she had an idea of what to do with Shawn.
She had seen this type of behavior before, granted not to this extreme, and she was pretty sure of what they could do to snap Shawn out of it.
"What do you mean?" Gus asked.
"Well," Chief Vick continued to explain, "there really isn't much else that we can do. We've all let Shawn know that we care about him and are worried for him, but the rest is up to him. He has to make the effort now."
"Do I really have to be here for this?" Lassiter asked, he was swamped with work and really just wanted to get back to it.
Chief Vick gave her Head Detective a hard glare before answering, "Yes."
Sighing, Lassiter gave Karen his full attention.
"Listen," Chief Vick commanded, looking at each of the room's occupants in turn, "I've had officers who, after witnessing something particularly gruesome, have not been able to come back to work for sometime, because it's too hard. I have found that when it becomes hard to do, the best course of action to take, is to get them right back into the game. They never get better if they don't completely re-immerse themselves in their work."
"Well how are we supposed to get Shawn back to work when he's completely denying that he ever was psychic?" Gus asked, voicing his biggest concern.
"He is?" Chief Vick asked, surprised.
"Well...yeah," Gus said, looking from the chief to Lassiter, in confusion. He had never told the chief that little detail, because he had been sure that Lassiter had come to her with it, the moment that he had found out.
Following Gus's eyes, Karen also looked at Lassiter, who was looking at the top right corner of the office and not meeting anyone's eyes.
"Then we'll have to get him to readmit it," Chief Vick said, returning to the business at hand.
"How?" Gus asked, finally looking away from Lassiter.
"I just received this case," Chief Vick said, holding up a manilla folder, then opening it up she said, "five year old girl, blond hair, blue eyes, disappeared from her back yard, missing for two days."
"Are you sure that a kidnaping is the best way to go?" Gus asked. He knew the types of things that happened to little children who were taken. Gus didn't see how that would help his friend, if Shawn was going to see what happened.
"Yes," Chief said, giving a curt nod and closing the folder, "if we're going to get Mr. Spencer back, then the best way to go about it will be with a small girl who, at this point, could still be alive. Than with a murder case, where the person is already dead."
"Okay," Gus said, nodding his head, "I'll talk with him first."
Silently Chief Vick handed Gus the folder and then he left. Lassiter followed closely behind.
Once Gus was gone Karen turned to her remaining detective. "Is Henry still not answering his phone?" she asked.
"No he's not," Juliet answered.
Karen repress a growl. She was going to have a long talk with that man.
"Dismissed O'hara," she snapped.
A/N: okay first: I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to update. Two: sorry that the chapter is short, but it was either this or nothing. Three: Review pleeeeaaaaase. Four: I wasn't begging, I was imploring.