A/N: All right, there's one more chapter after this one. Please enjoy, and don't forget to review.

Disclaimer: I don't own Psych.

Chapter 6

"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done;…"

Chief Vick took over the scene pretty quickly. After Henry called her, they all met at the road where the target house was. Vick was barking orders to each of her teams, stressing how important it was to look before they shot.

"Now, remember, the main goal here is to get Detective Lassiter out of there, arresting his captors is secondary," Vick said, "but only barely secondary. You have a chance to get the bastards, you get them."

Shawn had drifted away from the crowd to try and call Gus, but the other man's phone just kept going to voicemail. Shawn sighed and returned to listening to Vick's instructions.

.-.-.-.

Carlton stared ahead of him, not blinking and, he was sure, not breathing. He tried to force his eyelids down, tried to make his head tilt to look away, but his body refused to listen to his mind. He could only stare at Gus's limp body slumped in the chair he was tied to.

"Yer turn, lovie," Caleb said, but Carlton could barely hear him, he was too busy staring at Gus's chest and praying that the other man was breathing. The pipe collided with his head and his vision faded, but it returned in a moment and he was back to staring, this time through tear fogged eyes.

Again and again the pipe hit his body, and he fought the pain as hard as he could. All he let himself think of was Gus and making sure that the young man was all right. But still, the pain got a hold of him and his head fell to his chest and all thoughts were gone. Soon, his posture matched Gus's, and no one was left to pray if they were breathing.

.-.-.-.

"What the hell is that?" Kasey growled when Caleb returned from using Carlton and Gus for batting practice.

"What?" Caleb asked, tossing the pipe noisily aside. Kasey glared at him and held a finger to his lips. A faint jingle rose up in the room.

"Get their cell phones," Kasey said, Caleb obliged. Kasey grabbed the one that was wringing and flipped open. "Hello?" he asked, making his voice higher and exaggerating his accent.

"Where's Gus?" the voice on the other end asked, and Kasey suppressed a laugh as he responded.

"Dead," he said, and hung up. He threw the phone down and ground his heel into it, his face breaking into a wide grin.

"But I didn't kill anyone," Caleb protested, Kasey's grin disappeared and he grabbed Caleb by the collar and slammed him against the wall.

"Shut. Up." Kasey growled, Caleb only nodded.

.-.-.-.

Shawn stared at his phone for a minute after the other man, who was most definitely not Gus, had hung up before rushing over to the crowd of police. He struggled to get through the mass to the chief, but found himself pushed further out of the circle. Finally, he gave up the fight and sent himself flailing into the nearest officer. That got their attention.

"Spencer, what is it?" Vick asked, pushing towards him.

"It's… they've got Gus," Shawn said, straightening up. Vick raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure?" she asked. Shawn quickly slipped his hands, one still holding his cell phone, into his pockets and nodded solemnly.

"The spirits don't lie," he said, and for the first time he hated himself for what he had become. In the back of his mind he could hear a small voice asking why he hadn't become a police officer in the first place.

At least then he wouldn't have to sit on the outside while the real cops barged in on the criminals.

And barge in they did.

Caleb had been sitting down to a nice feast of cheerios and Kasey had been checking the news when the door of the house broke down and a rather large group of armed cops surrounded them. Caleb grabbed for his pipe, but his hand was barely around it when a shot rang out and he fell to the ground clutching his shoulder in pain.

Kasey was slightly more successful, he got his arm around a cop's throat and a gun to his head before a well aimed shot found his exposed foot. As the cop he'd held captive turned, though, Kasey lifted his gun to his own head and pulled the trigger.

When Shawn was allowed in, they were still trying to get Caleb to tell them where Lassiter was. Shawn ignored the interrogation and surveyed the room they had entered. It was the Kitchen, and it was almost completely spotless. The only sign of any sort of comings and goings was a small trail of brown drops that he could barely see against the linoleum leading to a door at the far end of the room. Shawn glanced at the crowd of cops, but shook his head and followed the trail on his own.

He opened the door and found a set of steps leading down. He again glanced behind him, and again proceeded alone, descending the steps slowly. He was ready to run at the slightest sound. The first body that came into view was Gus's, and he paused long enough to shout up the stairs that he had found them before rushing to his friend's side.

Gus looked up at him, blood trailing down in his eyes, and then looked over Shawn's shoulder. Shawn glanced behind him and found his eyes catching those of Carlton Lassiter. He glanced back at Gus who gave him a small nod and then turned and moved to Carlton's side.

Neither of them said anything and Shawn didn't do anything, they just waited and watched as the Paramedics and Policemen moved around. And as they loaded Carlton into the Ambulance, Shawn climbed in next to him.

"What about Gus?" Carlton whispered as the drugs the paramedics had given him began to lull him to sleep.

"My dad's with him," Shawn replied, and he slipped his hand into Carlton's and held it tightly for the entire ride.