Shawn crossed his arms and frowned stubbornly. He kept his eyes firmly on the road in front of him and muttered under his breath occasionally.

"You can stop that now," Henry said from the driver's seat, rolling his eyes at his son's theatrics "Whining and moaning isn't going to get you out of this."

"But why do I have to go?"

"It's a reunion of all my old cop buddies," Henry reminded the twenty nine year old. "Don't you want to meet them?"

"Not really" Shawn mumbled as he slouched further into his seat.

"What was that?" Henry asked.

Shawn sighed. "Nothing," he replied.

"Is spending the day with your old man and his friends so bad? Huh?"

"I'm getting some serious flashbacks here," Shawn replied, ignoring his dad's question.

"What?"

Shawn sighed, "Nothing Dad."

Henry frowned. "Don't forget your manners when we get there Shawn, I want you treat all the officers with the respect they deserve."

"Yes Dad."

"Don't forget your please and thank you's." Shawn rolled his eyes. "And wipe that frown off your face, at least act like you're enjoying yourself," Henry added.

Shawn put on his fakest smile. "Better?" He asked through a toothy smile.

"Just don't embarrass me." Shawn gritted his teeth at the comment but said nothing The pair stayed silent until the truck pulled into the police station parking lot. "Come on kid," Henry spoke before climbing out of the truck. Shawn sighed loudly before unbuckling himself and following his dad across the asphalt towards the social club.

He stopped in the doorway and took in the room. His dad had already began greeting old friends, a rare smile on his face as he slapped a guy on the back while simultaneously shaking another man's hand. Most of the men in the room were Henry's age or older, and Shawn swore he had more hair on his head than all of them combined. Several guys his age and a few younger were mingling, all seeming perfectly happy to be listening to what it was like in the good ol' days. It was obvious to Shawn that they were all cops and he suddenly felt like the odd one out.

"Shawn, are you going to stand in the doorway all day?" Shawn looked up at his father.

"Huh?"

"Get over here kid." Shawn made his way over to Henry. "Shawn, you remember Jack Pope, don't you?"

"Of course," Shawn plastered on a grin. "Worked at the Precinct from '89 to '93 before moving to Dallas. You were partnered up with Harkness." And I used to kick your ass at poker Shawn added silently.

Jack chuckled, "Still as sharp as ever I see."

"How've you been Sir?" See? He could be polite.

"Not bad kid, retired a couple of years ago, what about you? Enjoying the force?"

Shawn frowned, "I um-"

"Shawn's not a cop," Henry answered for him.

"What?" Jack asked in shock, "I thought for sure you were going to follow in your father's footsteps."

"So was I," Henry said under his breath, just loud enough for Shawn to hear.

"Just wasn't for me," Shawn answered.

Jack snorted, "That's ridiculous, you were born to be a cop, and just because I was in Dallas didn't mean I didn't hear about you passing the detectives exam at fifteen."

Shawn gritted his teeth as a couple of the younger cops turned towards them. "We couldn't help but over hear," one of them said.

"Did you really pass the detectives exam at fifteen?" Another asked.

Jack dropped a hand down on Shawn's shoulder, "Passed with 100 as I heard it."

"It's really no big deal," Shawn answered with a shrug

"Which precinct are you with?" The first guy asked.

"I'm not.."

"Shawn's not a cop," Henry repeated.

"Shame, sounds like we could use you."

You do use me! Shawn's mind screamed I've solved every single goddamn case thrown at me without breaking a sweat!

He looked up at meet his dad's eyes and he knew Henry knew exactly what he was thinking. Henry raised an eyebrow that said don't even think about embarrassing me with the psychic crap

"So what are you doing with yourself Shawn?" Jack asked.

He tore his eyes away from his father's."Oh, you know, this and that, just taking it easy."

Jack nodded in understanding although Shawn knew he had no idea what Shawn was talking about.

"If you'll excuse me," Shawn said, eyeing up the bar at the bar of the room. ( I thought they were in the police station. I don't think there would be a bar at the police station.) He brushed past the group and manoeuvred through the groups of people until he reached he bar. He sagged down onto a stool and leant heavily on the wood. The bartender looked at him expectantly. "Beer." The barman nodded and a second later a bottle was placed in front of Shawn.

Shawn took the bottle and took a couple of big gulps, feeling a lot better as the alcohol entered his system. He pulled his phone from his pocket and texted Gus - save me.

A minute later a beeping signalled Gus' reply - Not a chance, suck it up.

"Some friend you are," Shawn mumbled as he shoved the phone back in his pocket. He glanced over to where he'd left his father and watched as he laughed at something Jack had said. Shawn's not a cop. It looked like Shawn had been forgotten about already, his father was too busy regaling old stories of life on the Santa Barbara streets, the young cops listening intently.

Shawn rolled his eyes, he'd heard the stories a hundred times before, most of them as bedtime stories as a kid. The more violent ones had been saved until Henry had decided to scare him out of ever drink driving. He must have been the only kid whose movie nights consisted of America's Bloody Highways and Drinking and Driving: The End of the Road

He took another gulp of his beer. Coming had been a mistake, he'd only arrived fifteen minutes ago and he was already wishing he was anywhere else, even locked in an interrogation room with Lassie sounded better. Shawn raised an eyebrow at the crowd in front of him. More than one person was glancing in his direction and Shawn guessed his non-cop status was interesting gossip.

He could practically hear them. He's not a cop? What's he doing here? Shawn hadn't felt this out of place since the time he decided to join Gus at biology club. That was number 6 on his ten biggest mistakes. Today was moving up the list fairly rapidly. Shawn's not a cop. Shawn lifted the beer bottle to his lips and down the rest of the bottle. Time to make a stealthy exit. He pulled out the right amount of money and slid it across the bar before sliding off the stool. He glanced over in Henry's direction to make sure he was still distracted before scanning for another exit. He grinned as he spotted a door on his right. He moved quickly towards the door and slid out the exit with barely a sound.

He stepped out into a small courtyard and sucked in a deep breath, the smell of old spice and old men too much for his poor nose. He could still hear the chatter from inside the building as he began to walk away.

He didn't know how long he'd been walking but when he stopped and realized he was standing outside the psych office he realized it had probably been a while. The blue car in the corner of his eye told Shawn that Gus was definitely around. He stepped up to the building and burst through the front door.

Gus looked up from his laptop and frowned, "I thought you were at that thing with your dad?"

Shawn nodded. "I was. I left," he answered as he dropped down into his chair.

"You just left?"

"Yup." Shawn's hand reached out for his squeezy frog from its home on Shawn's desk.

"Does you dad know you left?"

Shawn glanced at the clock on the wall. "I'm sure he does by now." Gus glanced at Shawn with a worried look. He could sense a Spencer argument a mile off and this one had been brewing for a while. Shawn rolled his eyes at his friend, he opened his mouth to speak but the office door flinging open and banging against the wall stopped him.

Shawn looked towards the door as an angry looking Henry stepped into the room. His face was dark and his whole body was tense with angry, his hands pulled into tight fists.

"Gus, I need a moment with my son," Henry spoke.

Gus gulped audibly. "Sure." He pushed his laptop shut and grabbed his wallet and keys before making a swift exit.

"What's wrong Dad?"

Henry looked at his son incredulously "What's wrong?" He repeated. "What's wrong? You embarrassed me in front of all my friends, that's what's wrong," Henry's voice rose until he was shouting. "Do you know what it's like to feel so stupid searching the crowd for a son that couldn't even be bothered to stay for fifteen minutes! I asked one thing from you Shawn and you couldn't even do that!"

"Dad…"

"No Shawn, it's my turn to speak," Henry quickly cut off his son. "What's wrong with you? Do you hate my profession so much that you can't even stand to be in a room with them? Today was important to me and you ruined it, why would you so such a thing"

Shawn launched up from his seat into Henry's personal space. "You wanna know why?" Shawn asked. "Shawn's not a cop, Shawn's not a cop, Shawn's not a goddamn cop. Did you invite me just to throw it in my face? Telling me how much of a disappointment I am wasn't good enough for you? Was this just some sick game to make me feel like crap Dad? Cos it worked."

"That's what you think this is? A sick game?"

Shawn ignored the question. "It's never going to stop is it? The digs and the comments and the looks." He shook his head, "What do I have to do Dad? What do I have to do?"

"Become a cop!" Henry shouted before he could stop himself.

Shawn took a step back."Wow" His eyes fell to the floor. "You know I thought that if I tried hard enough, I could get you to see me for what I am, not what you thought I should have been. I have tried…" Shawn pushed the lump in his throat away. "…So hard."

Henry snorted, "You've never put effort into anything in your entire life. It's always the easy way out with you."

"You have no idea what it's like, no idea whatsoever what it's like to be me. To see everything, to remember everything…" He closed his eyes before continuing. "I'm disappointed, Shawn. You broke your promise to behave yourself, you made me the laughing stock of the entire police station with the little stunt you pulled, and now you're trying to twist things so that I'm suddenly at fault for your disobedience. I won't stand for that, Shawn. It's about time you sucked it up and admitted that you made a mistake." He repeated word for word. It was a conversation that had stuck with him for years, unable to get his father's words out of his head no matter how many times he tried.

"Every word dad, I remember every word you said that day……bet you don't remember a single thing I said, do you?"

"Shawn-"

"I just wanted to be happy, I was fourteen Dad! But you never gave me the chance, never. I wanted to be me, not a copy of you. But what I wanted never mattered to you…and it seems nothings changed. I just want to be happy Dad, and I'm happy here. I'm happy with what I'm doing. And then you come along and suddenly I'm that fourteen year old again, crying in the locker room. Difference now is that I don't have to put up with it any longer," Shawn brushed past Henry. "Don't call me, just….just leave me alone," he said, a sleeve wiping away the wetness at his eyes as he disappeared out the door.