Disclaimer: Still don't own Psych and unless I can go back in time and marry Steve Franks I don't even think I'll get to meet the incredible actors and until I finish my time machine I will be happy playing with the characters.

Carlton was a mess, Shawn had been gone for going on two weeks now and there were no signs of him that Carlton could find. Over the last two weeks Carlton had stayed after his shift into the wee hours of the night running semi-legal BOLO's on the man in every town Shawn had told him that he stayed in during his days of travelling so far nothing had come back.

"Carlton I think you need to go home."

He looked up bleary eyed at his partner who looked extremely worried and sympathetic at the same time. "I need to check one more thing O'Hara you can go without me."

His partner just placed her hands on her hips and gave him a death glare. "Carlton Lassiter you are a liar. I know what you have been doing here and it's not healthy Carlton."

Carlton pinched the bridge of his nose. "I-I need to find him O'Hara. I can't live without him."

She leaned over his desk and grabbed his chin with one hand so he was forced to meet her gaze. "Carlton you haven't shaved in days, you're hair looks like a bird should fly from it, your suit is wrinkled and well, you have a smell about you." Carlton sniffed the air and the smell of old sweat and fast food reached his nostrils he grimaced.

"I can't be in the apartment too long."

Juliet nodded knowingly. "I understand what do you say I come with you. We'll grabbed what you need and you come over to my place."

Carlton normally wouldn't agree to this but every night he was greeted with a silent apartment and a cold bed. He had taken to sleeping in his car because the silence was deafening. "Ok partner."

She stood and waited patiently as he shut down his computer and grabbed his keys which she promptly took from him. "Do you really think I am going to let you drive? You would just lose me in traffic and go god knows where and do god knows what."

Juliet saw the rejected look on his face but ignored it thoroughly. "I care about you partner and you are just going to have to deal."

OOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOO

Gus and Henry had torn the Psych office apart looking for some sort of clue as to where the missing man had gone. "What about your credit cards?"

"I already check those twice, today. There's nothing he is either paying everything with cash or he has already gotten to where he was going."

"Have you frozen his accounts?"

The young man was shocked by the sentence if Shawn was out travelling he didn't want him to be without a means especially if he was sick.

"No I have not. We can't leave him without a way to have a roof over his head and something to eat. Besides I checked those already he took out one thousand dollars the day he left and from that day the account has gone untouched."

Henry looked genuinely apologetic. "I'm sorry Gus it's just that I want him home as badly as you do. It's been two weeks the last time he was gone this long he was gone for ten years and that was after I arrested him. This time he could be sick, dying. The only way we know he could be sick is because he told you where he was going that day. Damn doctors and their rules."

The visit to Shawn's oncologist had been fruitless the receptionist couldn't even tell them if Shawn was a patient there let alone if he had an appointment that day or if they could discuss any test results with the doctor.

Gus scrubbed his face to try and wake himself up a bit and looked at the older man in the office who was just standing amongst the strewn papers looking lost. "It's all my fault isn't it?"

Gus was thoroughly confused. "What's your fault Mr. Spencer?"

"Him running. I'm the reason he did it the first time and I haven't been any easier on him since he came back, it was only a matter of time before he ran again. I bet he felt like I was going to blame him for getting cancer that somehow something he had done was to blame. You know we fought the day before he left."

Gus just stood silent to let the older man vent his worries. "Yeah he was late coming to dinner and didn't eat it all I just berated him for wasting food and made him go clean the grill. I should've noticed he was sick. After all I taught him I should've seen that he had lost weight and was pale but all I could see was a slacker who was late to dinner and then wasted the homemade dinner I specifically made for him." Henry's voice cracked a bit. "Gus he could already be dead."

Gus gasped at the realization with every account being untouched and for three weeks it was the most probable explanation. He quickly pushed the thought out of his head. "No Shawn is still out there we just need to find him." He walked over to the older man and put a hand on his shoulder. "And trust me he didn't run because of you. You guys fight all the time and about more important stuff than food and he stays. It. Is. Not. Your. Fault." Gus ignored the bright shine in the man's eyes and thanked god that he quickly changed the focus.

"Have you asked Detective Lassiter or O'Hara if they could look for him for us? I know he isn't technically missing but they can look through their database and see if they get any hits on Shawn's name."

Gus rubbed the back of his neck. "No I haven't Mr. Spencer."

"And why not?"

"Well the thing is…" he started to shift his weight from foot to foot. "I think Detective Lassiter is the reason Shawn left." The words came out rushed and mumbled but Henry heard them. Gus watched as the man's complexion turned several colors before settling on a nice beet color.

"Why is that Gus." His voice betrayed no anger but Gus knew when Henry was that calm the fury was only a gnat's hide under the surface and a person should answer his questions quickly and precisely.

"Because something happened between them."

"And. What. Was. That?"

Gus could see the anger coming off the man in waves. "Now what I am about to tell you cannot leave here Mr. Spencer. I pretty sure that Shawn didn't even want you to know which is why you didn't go to Lassiter in the first place. I'll need you calm down before I tell you though because I don't want to become collateral damage." Gus watched as the man relaxed a little. He sighed. "Shawn told him something very important and Detective Lassiter didn't say anything back."

"Gus I feel like I'm only getting half the story here. What could he have said to possibly cause him to run?"

Gus prepared for the fall out. "Well Detective Lassiter and Shawn have been dating for the past few months and Shawn told him that he loved him."

"But Carlton didn't say it back did he?"

Gus just shook his head in the negative. Henry kicked the desk he was standing next to. "Dammit!" He quickly grabbed his coat and keys.

"Mr. Spencer?"

"I am going to find the son of a bitch that broke my son's heart and make him wish he was dead."

Gus followed the older man out the office and hopped into the truck he was going to help confront the detective and maybe he would even help Henry hide the body.

OOooOOooOOooOOooOO

Juliet and Carlton pulled up outside his apartment building and Juliet could sense the apprehension of her partner. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I can come with."

At the small nod of his head she followed the defeated form of her partner up the stairs to what was his and Shawn's apartment. She noted the pineapple shaped door knocker as he unlocked and swung open the door. The smell assaulted her nostrils first it was a mixture of garbage and rotten fruit. Her breath was taken away by the state of living space clothes and paper were strewn about along with old take out containers and most notably a rotten pineapple was perched on the counter.

Carlton looked embarrassed by the condition of his apartment but Juliet understood what it was like to have someone leave you abruptly but the difference was when it happened to her friends were there to catch her Carlton had no one else. Except me. Juliet felt awful that she hadn't acted sooner when she saw how much her partner was suffering.

"Sorry 'bout the mess Shawn's the one who cleans up."

That was something Juliet wasn't expecting she thought with Carlton's military like attitude he would be the one who cleaned not the other way around. "It's OK partner how about you go get some clean clothes and things like your toothbrush." When Carlton was in the bedroom gathering his things Juliet set about throwing all the food containers and picking up the clothes. She froze at the pineapple just trying to figure out how to clean it finally she grabbed the trashcan and placed it next to the counter using a plate she scooted it toward the waiting can.

"DON'T!"

The outburst made her jump and the pineapple missed its target landing with a sickening splat sound on the tile. She spun and saw an upset Carlton who looked near tears. He quickly went to the splattered pineapple and tried to get it back in one piece. "This needs to be here when he gets back. He bought it and it needs to be here when he gets back."

Juliet didn't know what to do. "Carlton we will buy him a new one this one is no good ok. We'll buy him a fresh one first thing in the morning."

Carlton nodded and together they cleaned up the rotten fruit. Juliet opened all the windows a slight crack to let some fresh air in and grabbed the bag of trash as they left. She was throwing the bag into the dumpster when she thought she saw Gus' car in the parking lot across the street. She looked up again and studied the lot when she didn't see the car she played it up to her imagination and left.

OOooOOooOOooOOooOO

Gus convinced Henry to take the his car because it had a working air conditioner but more importantly so Carlton wouldn't be able to hear them coming as he would the old truck. As they pulled into the apartment complex Gus quickly spotted Juliet's green VW and felt his heart sink.

"Isn't that Juliet car?" Gus just nodded at the question afraid if he spoke then Mr. Spencer would know how it was affecting him. Henry just clasped a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure she wouldn't cheat on you Gus. She is a kind-hearted person and she probably thinks she is helping her partner through a rough patch. If she knew what went on between them I seriously doubt she would be there."

Gus was taken aback by the man just fifteen minutes ago Gus was comforting him and now he was the one receiving the comfort. Not to mention he was completely and entirely shocked that he knew about his and Juliet's relationship. "H-how do you do that?"

Henry just smiled. "I taught Shawn remember?" His smile turned sad at the mention of his name. "Instead of parking here let's go across the street and watch what they are doing."

Gus complied and quietly they watched the apartment building. About ten minutes after they parked they watched as Carlton and Juliet left the apartment. Carlton was carrying an overnight bag and even from the distance they were at they could see that he looked like hell.

"Jeez."

"I see him too Gus. Maybe he is taking this hard."

When Juliet was dumping the full bag into the dumpster they saw her look in their direction. Quickly Gus pulled out of his spot and hide the little car behind an oversized pick up. Both men breathed a sigh of relief when she looked again and just shrugged her shoulders as if she saw nothing. After she got in her car and pulled away Gus gave pursuit.

"Gus. What are you doing?"

Gus gave Henry a sidelong glance. "Well obviously Juliet knows what's going on so I figure two birds one stone."

Henry just nodded and grabbed the overhead handle as Gus did some maneuvering through traffic that reminded him of the violent video game Shawn likes to play. Grand Theft Auto I think. He knew Gus knew where they were going but he was trying to keep from being seen which is a lot harder when you are following two detectives.

"What are we going to say to them Mr. Spencer?"

Henry hadn't given it much thought. "Well I thought I would start with the hitting and you could think of what to say."

Gus gave a small chuckle. "All I can think about is how are we going to fit his body in the trunk."

"Told you we should have taken the truck."

The laugh, this time, was genuine and after a few seconds both men felt a little better but was quickly reminded of what was at hand when they followed Juliet's VW into her driveway. Both Juliet and Carlton got out of the little car looking confused but confusion turned to shocked realization when Henry jumped out of Gus' car and tackled the tall man.

"You son of a bitch! You broke his heart!"

OOooOOooOOooOOooOO

Shawn was laying and the tile floor of the bathroom counting all the little cracks he could see from his vantage point. The sound of the front door slamming open and quick approaching footsteps made him sigh in relief.

"SHAWN!"

Small but strong hands picked him up by his armpits and he was placed into a sitting position. The very worried face of Addy filled his vision. "Are you in any pain?"

He just shook his head. "No I just didn't trust myself being able to stand up."

A cool washcloth was placed on his head and she set about checking his pulse and blood pressure. "Blood pressure is a little low probably why you felt so weak. Have you eaten anything today."

Shawn nodded. "But it all ended up in the toilet."

Addy gave him a small sad smile. "Shawn you know we can end-"

"NO!" Addy jumped at the outburst. "I can't"

Addy sighed and slowly helped Shawn stand and took him to the bed. "Shawn I am worried about you. You are not getting any better only worse and you are so dehydrated I am going to have to start an IV so you won't end up in the hospital for weeks on end."

"Do what you need to but I am not ending anything. I am going to be ok."

"You're doing this for him aren't you?"

Shawn gave a small nod. "I'm doing it all for him. I love him with all my heart."

"Then why am I the one picking you out of the floor and not him?" She felt her heart break at the look on Shawn's face. "I am a good friend, yes, but Shawn you need a better support group than me."

He just stared forward. "I know."

"I give you one week Shawn Spencer. One week you either call him and have him here or I am going to call for you." Shawn saw the serious look in his friend's eyes so he nodded.

Addy rummaged around in her bag and removed a few things. "Now that IV."

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