A/N: First off. My MS Word got all screwy with me today, so the spacing is off. I wasn't completely convinced would fix it – so if it doesn't, I'm sorry some of the lines are really far away!

Secondly, yaaay chapter 4! This chapter isn't too Shassie-rific, but fear not. I've got a truck load of Shassie content planned for chapter 5 so just be patient with me! They still have a case to solve, and some old scars to sew before the fic is over.

Thirdly, I'm SO sorry. I try so hard to make sure that all my OC's are fairly trivial characters who don't do much. I'm in constant fear that my OC's will cross over to 'Mary Sue' territory and am in even more fear of the rejection Mary Sue's receive. However - it should be noted, that I consider Psych to be a 'cop dramady' and thus if this story is going to have any meat to it – it NEEDS OC's. With that in mind – please feel free to message me at any time and tell me if you think my OC's need to be promptly shot and buried.

Okay now onward!

The Mailman

Shawn wasn't surprised when Marcus closed the door in his face. Clearly not wanting to speak to or see Shawn – but Shawn had somewhat of a personal vendetta and was insistent on knocking on the door repeatedly until Marcus finally gave up and flung the door open.

"Why are you here?"

"I asked you a question first." Shawn stood his ground, but Marcus didn't seem to notice.

"A stupid question." Marcus pointed out. "Now why are you really here?"
"Dead serious." Shawn said. "Fess up Mark, why'd you do it? Did seeing him bring back some uncomfortable memories? Did he make the mistake of saying hi to you?"
"Shawn….what the hell…" Marcus was looking at Shawn like he had grown a second head, and he clearly wasn't impressed with the way Shawn seemed to keep pushing him. "I didn't kill anybody."
"The body at the morgue begs to differ." Shawn mused. "The police don't have an I.D yet, but we have the murder weapon. Lose anything lately?"
"You're a cop now?" That seemed to be the only part of the last statement Marcus heard. "I thought you hated cops."
Shawn sighed, he wasn't getting anywhere with Marcus at all. "Look, I'm not playing around okay? Let me in so we can talk."
Marcus seemed to think about it, but reluctantly he obliged and let Shawn in. "A dead body huh?" Marcus shook his head. "Sounds heavy."
"Pretty heavy." Shawn sat down, and watched as Marcus sat across from him. "I need to know what you were doing the night of the 7th."
"I was here." Marcus said.
"Can anybody vouch for you?" Shawn asked.
"The pizza guy."
"What happened the night after I left Marcus?" Shawn needed to know. "I mean – you punched me in the face, and then didn't come after me when I ran out of here..."
"That was years ago Shawn." Marcus pointed out. "I was young and stupid, I am sorry for that – but what does this have to do with what you're asking me right now?"
Shawn debated his answer; he couldn't exactly spill too many details. Telling Marcus anymore and he risked Lassie having him for dinner.….and not in a good way.
"Classified." Shawn said then – he had to grin, Lassie would be so proud. "Hey – one detail?" Shawn asked then. "The letter opener I gave you-"
"Threw it out." Marcus explained. "I hated you. Didn't want to think about you, as soon as you were gone I trashed it."
Shawn sighed. "You're serious?"
"Yes I'm serious." Marcus said. "I'm sorry I can't be of more help."
"It's fine." Shawn commented, and he stood."Thanks for letting me in though." Shawn said.
"Hey wait up." Marcus said suddenly, and Shawn stopped and turned around to face him. Marcus looked like he was struggling with what he wanted to say and Shawn idly wondered if maybe the other man was about to confess – and Marcus did confess…sort of. "Look at me Shawn; I'm in my late 30's, No wife, no kids – not even close to that type of life. A man my age should have some sort of foundation for himself, a lifestyle he's comfortable and happy with."
"You're a preacher now." Shawn really had no idea where this was going – nor did he necessarily care, it might've been years ago but Marcus Tuly lost all credibility with Shawn the second he balled his hand into a fist.
"I'm trying to say that you were right." Marcus went on. "I didn't want to admit it, because really who does? Shawn I'm gay."
Shawn scratched the back of his head – okay so Marcus was being honest, finally. However it was a little late and even though Shawn didn't want to be mean he wasn't exactly throwing Marcus a parade either. He decided to hit middle ground. "Thank you." Shawn finished.
"What?" Marcus looked like that wasn't the reaction he was looking for. "Did you just say thank you?"
"Yeah." Shawn said. "Thank you – followed by; I knew it all along, I told you so, better late than never, the early bird gets the worm, you made your bed now lie in, eat your green veggies, don't eat the yellow snow…."
"Shawn!" Marcus cut him off. "You were rambling."
"I do that." Shawn defended. "Point is – maybe if you had been honest with yourself years ago we wouldn't be standing here right now."
"You're right." Marcus mused. "As always."
"I am right." Shawn said. "I'm also leaving now."
He didn't let Marcus stop him then, Shawn was out and back on his bike returning to his apartment – it was late and he was too tired to bug Lassie anymore tonight. Or so he thought, when he pulled up to his apartment he was surprised to see Lassie's cruiser parked right outside. Shawn quirked a brow and parking his bike he wandered up to Lassie's car, pressing his hand to the engine he felt that it was cooler. Lassie had been hanging around for a few minutes now- but where?
"Lassie!" Shawn called out thinking maybe Lassiter was just walking around his building or something, but when Lassie didn't show his face Shawn made a confused face – was Lassie in his apartment?
Shawn moved over to his door and pulled out his keys to let himself in, but before he even got the key in the lock his door was swinging open and Lassiter was standing in his threshold – he looked worried.
"Where were you?" Lassiter said, he didn't look happy.
"Around." Shawn promised. "…..Why are you in my apartment?"
"We got an I.D on the body." Lassiter responded.
"That's great!" Shawn said ….."why are you in my apartment?"
"Oh." Lassiter stopped. "I came over to tell you, but you weren't here. You had left the station in such a hurry that I thought maybe you had seen something."
"The phone?" Shawn tried.
"I wasn't really thinking." Lassiter admitted, and Shawn suppressed the urge to grin – Lassie was worried about him. Shawn pushed passed Lassiter to enter his apartment and didn't bother asking Lassiter to leave.
"You're probably exhausted." Shawn tried. "Let me make you some coffee."
"Coffee?" Lassiter said.
"Yes coffee, caffeine, that stuff you drink when you know red bull is going to stop your heart. Now.." By this time Lassiter had followed Shawn to the kitchen and Shawn had grabbed two coffee cups. "The body – who was he?"
"Derek Atkinson – he was in Santa Barbara site seeing with his sister."
"How do you know this?" Shawn asked.
"His sister called." Lassiter explained. "According to her, on their last day here Derek met a few party goers and decided to join them. He promised his sister he'd catch a later flight. He didn't give her an exact time, and she finally decided 4 days was long enough. When he didn't answer his phone she called the station."
Shawn was in the process of pouring coffee grinds into the filter. "That doesn't necessarily mean he's our body."
"Maybe not." Lassiter admitted. "I asked for a description, near perfect match. She's flying in to meet me tomorrow and give a proper identification."
"Sad." Shawn commented. "Poor girl must be a wreck. Having to fly out here just to see if her brother's dead…" It was really sad. Shawn went on with making the coffee. "What's the sister's name?"
"Kayla." Lassiter answered. The aroma of fresh coffee was filling the small kitchen. Had it not been for the talk of dead bodies it would've been a serene little scene. Shawn poured the coffee as soon as the coffee maker turned itself off and handed Lassiter a steaming cup. They drank in silence for a short while until Shawn remembered that Lassie hadn't exactly been invited.
"So after looking around my apartment what made you decide to break in?" Shawn asked. "Were you that worried?"
"I don't know." Lassiter again shook his head. "You left, near panicked. I wasn't going to follow you but then Kayla called as soon as you were gone. I maybe wondered if you had seen something. I guess I was making sure you weren't getting yourself into a messy situation."
"That's what Gus is for." Shawn joked and drank more of his coffee. "Your sentiment is appreciated though."
"Thanks." Lassiter admitted. "So – where did you go?"
Shawn stopped then, he wasn't comfortable talking about Marcus. Hell only Gus kind of knew what the nature of their relationship was, but even Gus didn't know of Marcus until Shawn had shown up at Gus' window with a black eye. Shawn remembered it like it was yesterday...

"Shawn what the hell happened to you? !" Having your best friend show up in your bedroom window clearly injured was obviously not fun for the other teen.
"He hit me." Shawn cursed. "He freaking hit me Gus! I was just trying to help him."
"Calm down." Gus told him, and he moved aside to let Shawn slide into his room, still holding onto his eye. "What happened?"
"I was arguing with Marcus, he lost it on me, used his fist not his words."
"Wait…" Gus stopped. "Marcus – your mail man?"
"Yes the mail man." Shawn said.
"Isn't it a little late for Marcus to be delivering mail?"
"He wasn't delivering mail, I was at his house."
"You were at the mail man's house?" Gus had to think about that one. "Why were you…." It clicked in Gus' mind then. "How come you didn't tell me?"
"I'm 17." Shawn answered. "He's 27 – I didn't tell anybody. I didn't want him to go to jail."
"Fair enough." Gus said – right then he wasn't concerned that Shawn kept a secret from him, he was more concerned that his friend was hurt. "Only you're changing your mind now and we're totally going to your dad now right?"
Shawn didn't answer him.
"Shawn?"
"Nah Gus its fine." Shawn said quietly. "We'll just forget about it. From now on Marcus never existed, and if my dad asks I got a little too smart with one of the football players at school." Truthfully? Up until Marcus hit him, he had been great. Part of Shawn felt like he'd never stop loving him, and only a small part of him was really aware of how damaging that could be.

The memory faded and Shawn was in his kitchen still with Lassiter. "I asked a question." Lassiter said.
"To a friends." Shawn answered. "I saw that they were upset, I couldn't stay away. I'm sorry I freaked on you."
Why did he feel the need to lie still after so many years? Shawn supposed it was a force of habit. Aside from Gus he was sure no one else knew about him and Marcus – say for Marcus, and say for Gus he was sure no one else knew that he wasn't a psychic – say for his dad. Shawn thought that was funny, two major lies in his life and they involved him, Gus, and a third party.
Lassiter frowned, he didn't believe Shawn one bit, it was annoying. He watched as the psychic finished his coffee and gestured to Lassiter's cup. "How's the Joe?" Shawn asked.
"Perfectly fine." Lassiter said. "But, it's late. I have work I have to do tomorrow." Lassiter was up. He looked to Shawn again and nearly winced – why was Shawn looking at him like that? Right at that second Shawn's face looked as if he was sad to see the detective go.
"Okay." Shawn said, and he walked Lassiter to the door. "Now Lassie." Shawn was back in regular form – damn that caffeine worked fast. "It's fine if you're a little curious about me. Honestly? Who isn't, but breaking and entering is never the answer." Shawn was grinning. "The next time you want to slip into my apartment you need only ask."
"What?" Lassiter blinked.
"You heard me." Shawn said. The way Shawn was talking right then made it impossible for Lassiter to look away. Was Spencer hitting on him?
Why yes, Shawn was indeed hitting on him. He was a hot blooded male after all. "Be honest with me Lassie. You liked it that we kissed."
Lassiter wasn't admitting to shit. The detective frowned. "It happened." He said. "Do you want me to write it on a bunch of post it notes and paste them all around the station?"
"Maybe." Shawn teased. "What I really want to know though – is why did it happen?"
"You stole my folder."
"What are you 12?" Shawn said. "Come on Lassie, little deeper than that."
"I'm going home now Shawn."
Lassiter left then, quicker then Shawn gave him credit for. Shawn was certain Lassiter wasn't playing around. He hated to think that what happened between them was a fleeting moment but maybe it was? Shawn dropped it then and thought of the case. Trying to get the detective to admit to being at least Bi was not nearly as important as the case. Derek Atkinson had been killed and Shawn felt like he owed it to him to figure out who.

Shawn met up with Gus the next morning; the two were ready to head over to the police station to see if Derek Atkinson was indeed the body found in the warehouse.
"What's the game plan?" Gus asked. "I mean, normally we're a good step ahead but now we're right on the same page as the police."
"I'll figure it out." Shawn promised. "No worries man."
"No worries at all." Gus said lightly, of course he wasn't completely sure he believed that. Coming to the station, Shawn and Gus entered in their usual fashion. Shawn was in the process of making a beeline straight for Lassiter's desk with Gus at his side but before he could get too far McNabb had stopped him.
"Shawn!" The young cop looked happy to see him, and he hurried over to greet them. "You have awesome timing!"
"I do?" Shawn quirked his head, "Uh – yeah, of course I do! I knew I had to be early today so I'm here early. What's up?"
"There's an old man here to see you." McNabb said. "Very insistent fellow."
Shawn and Gus exchanged a confused glance. Shawn could only hope it wasn't Marcus. He told Gus to sit tight while he followed McNabb to another room. The man waiting for him was not Marcus, he was older then Marcus by at least 2 decades. As soon as Shawn came into the room he was on his feet.
"Mr. Spencer." The man greeted.
"Ew – no." Shawn happily cut him off. "Not Mr. Spencer, Mr. Spencer is my dad. Just Shawn will do."

"Shawn." The man repeated. "Alright Shawn, let's get down to it." He extended his hand in greeting. "Davis Tuly."

"Tuly.." Red lights were now going off in Shawn's head. "Mr. Tuly, what brings you here?"

"I was just here to thank you."

"Thank me?"

"Yes, thank you." Mr. Tuly said. "Thank you for setting my son's therapy back a good 13 years."
"You're Marcus' dad?" Shawn couldn't believe it.

"Yes, I'm Marcus' dad." and suddenly Mr. Tuly looked pissed. "Now listen here you little fairy! My son has worked too long, and too hard to be put back under your dark magic. I don't want to see you near his house anymore. I don't know what voodoo shit you used to get in his pants before but it shant be happening again!" By the time Mr. Tuly was done he had raised his voice, but Shawn only felt a little intimidated.

"Black magic?" Shawn raised a brow. "Sir are you drunk – what are you going on about?"

"Stay away from my son devil!" Mr. Tuly left it at that, and before Shawn had time to react the old man was leaving. He exited the room, and only offerred McNabb a small nod of acknowledgement before being on his way. McNabb came into the room looking concerned.
"I heard that man yelling." McNabb said. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Shawn promised, though truthfully he was a little concerned – who else had Marcus told about their past relationship? Oh well, on the bright side Shawn had a second suspect. Sort of.

"Confidential." Shawn said then. "Nothing on you, it's a Psych thing."

"Oh." McNabb said. "Well alright then."

"Oh and McNabb?" Shawn asked. "Could you not mention the yelling to anybody? It was just trivial – you know? Just an older chap from a different time convinced he's right and all that."

"Um..." suddenly McNabb didn't look sure. "Alright." None the less he agreed. Shawn felt bad but he smiled. "Thanks Buzz." Shawn went back over to Gus who by now was talking with Juliet about the case.

"Derek Atkinson." Shawn heard Juliet say. "His sister isn't in town quite yet, but we're more than positive its him."

"Did anybody ask the sister exactly who he went off with after their trip?"

"She just said party goers." Juliet said. "Pretty vague, we're asking her more questions when she gets here."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Did anybody ask where they were the night Derek split?" Shawn spoke up, and Juliet shook her head.

"Not that I know of." Juliet answered. "Lassiter was the one who took the call. I'm just told to expect the sister before tonight."

"Noted." Shawn said. He turned to search out Lassiter's desk, only to note he wasn't there.

"Where is Lassie anyhow?"

"Coffee run." Juliet said. "He'll be back soon if you wanted to go meet him."

"Maybe I will." Shawn knocked on the desk, and headed out of the station. Only to run into Marcus who was heading into the station.

"Shawn!" Marcus called up to him.

"Er – Marcus...hi."

"Who?" Shawn and Marcus both turned to see Lassiter who was coming up the steps with coffee.

"Lassie!" Shawn greeted. "I was just coming to find you."

"Oh." Said Lassiter "Well I'm here – who is this?"

"Marcus Tuly." Marcus said. "I'm just here to talk to Shawn for a minute."

"Okay I guess..." Like Shawn Lassiter didn't know what to say.

"What's going on Marcus?" Shawn was on him then, and grabbing Marcus' arm started leading him away from the station.

"My dad." Marcus said. "I feel bad. I drove him here because he said someone turned in his wallet – I didn't know until you saw your bike that you were here. I can only imagine what he said to you."

"It's fine." Shawn said. "Your dad though, he doesn't take any prisoners does he?"

Marcus chuckled. "Nope. When my mom died last year I've been hanging around, making sure he's been staying medicated and all that."

"Noble." Shawn tried. "But why would he want to come all the way up here just to yell at me?"

"No idea." Marcus insisted. "I really don't know."

"Okay." Shawn stepped back. "What did he mean when he said I just set your therapy back 13 years?"

"I had some problems." Marcus said. "I'm gay, and back then I didn't like it. I started going to therapy to maybe get the 'gay' taken out of me. Obviously it didn't work – but my dad's from a different time, I couldn't tell him that."

"Well." Shawn said. "Just keep your dad away from the station." Shawn wasn't playing around, and Marcus could see that right away.

"You're dead serious." Marcus said. "You look like you might kill me if I don't do as you say."

"Problem?" Shawn asked, and to his utter surprise – Marcus smiled.

"No problem at all." Marcus insisted. "In the past you were always the funny guy, and this new face I'm seeing? Dead sexy. You should rock it more often."

"I'm going inside now." Shawn was done. "Bye Marcus."

He left then and returned to the station, seeing that Lassiter was already at his desk going over a few things – Shawn personally wanted to talk to Marcus' dad about where he was the night of the 7th but he decided to wait and see where exactly Lassie and Jules were first.

"When is the sister due to arrive?" Shawn asked the question as soon as he reached Lassiter's desk, Lassiter looked up and gave a shrug.

"After 4."

"Okay…" Shawn said. "But until then?"

"Nothing." Lassiter said. "Until we have a proper I.D on him we can't do anything."

"Oh." Shawn said. "Then waiting around it is." He sat across from Lassiter and looked him over; Lassiter looked like he was thinking, before finally –

"So –Marcus?"

"Yup!" Shawn commented. "That's Marcus."

"Have you been friends with Marcus for very long?" Lassiter asked. Shawn saw the awkward way Lassiter was holding onto his pen like he wasn't sure if he wanted an honest answer– and immediately, Shawn thought it was adorable.

"We were never friends." Shawn told Lassiter. "I knew him when I was young; he's just showing his face again now."

"Odd timing." Lassiter commented. "What with our current case – what kind of relationship did you and Marcus have?"

"Are you interrogating me?" Shawn asked then – and had to hide the grin, this was kind of hot.

"Answer the question."

"On what grounds?" Shawn demanded lightly. "Is this part of the case?"

Shawn honestly couldn't tell Lassie that it very well could be, not because Shawn wanted to lie but because Shawn wasn't entirely sure himself. Yes – Marcus was a temperamental asshole who had some troubles. Does that mean he killed a guy? There was no sure way to tell, other than the letter opener he said he trashed more than 10 years prior. Shawn knew he was going to have to do more digging if he wanted straight answers – he was after all in a way, a perfectionist. If the facts don't match up to his 'visions' then it was game over for him and Gus. He was walking on egg shells – something he did normally, but this time around it seemed a little harder. Probably because he really wanted to get into Lassie's pants and he doubted that detective was really into dating crooks.

"What's going on over here?" Gus had finished talking with Jules and was now standing at Lassiter's desk.

"Asking Shawn a couple questions." Lassiter shrugged it off – something that Shawn was secretly thankful for.

"Questions regarding?" Gus was curious, and Shawn winced. Oh he saw the catastrophe coming from a mile away – it was agonizing. Time seemed to stop as Lassiter's mouth moved along with his next answer.

"Questions about his friend Marcus."

That did it. Gus froze in his feet; he turned to Shawn and gave him a hard look. Tension between the two friends got really thick and Lassiter could see right away he had said something wrong.

"Marcus?" Gus repeated, and he looked down to Shawn. "Marcus The Mailman?"

"The Mailman?" Lassiter blinked. He knew Shawn was lying to him, but he didn't think it was a lie that would have such an effect on Gus. "Tell me more about Marcus the Mailman Guster."

"Gus please…" Shawn felt sick.

"No. Not this time Shawn." Gus sounded apologetic – but none the less. "I kept my mouth shut when we were teenagers because I didn't want to get you into trouble, but now that we're both adults and there's a dead body on our hands. I can't. I'm not going to risk my best friend getting killed, or hurt – again."

Shawn was up then, and making his leave. "Fine. I hear you, and I understand, but I refuse to stick around. You guys have fun." At that moment Shawn bolted for the door.

"Spencer wait!" Lassiter called after him but Shawn didn't listen. Lassiter sighed and turned to Gus. "Again?" He asked. He really didn't like the sound of that.

"Yes again." Gus explained.

"Alright." Lassiter was up. "Let's go into the interrogation room, more privacy. If it helps with the case – I want to know everything you know about 'Marcus The Mailman' spare no detail."