AN: Check it OUT! New chapter! It's a little lame, cuz I'm trying to get back into the swing of Shassie. But yes. I wanted to get back in, so here we are.


When he saw Lassiter, the detective acted as if nothing had happened. That was fine with Shawn…except for the small part where he didn't want there to be nothing. Lassiter's kiss had sent sparks Juliet's never did. He loved Jules—he did…. But now? Now he was all confused. All he wanted was to move on. He was good at that. But it wasn't working out too well.

Time to call in reinforcements.

Shawn slipped his phone out of his pocket and leaned back in his chair, propping his feet on his desk. Took a short scroll to "Allybear" and waited. After a few rings, a female voice, occupying its lower range, answered.

"Hey. What's up, babybear?"

"Did I wake you?" he asked, eyes flicking to the clock. It was one in the afternoon.

"It's my weekend," his cousin replied. "I always sleep the first day."

"Oh, sorry. I can call back—"

"Whatchu need, Shawnie?"

"Um…" Shawn sighed, fidgeting with one of his pens. "Okay. So I'm dating this girl, right? I thought I loved her, but then me and her partner had this intense makeout session, like tonsils were dislodged, and it was hot, Alex. Fucking surface of the sun, but he's acting like nothing happened, so I'm trying to get over it and move on and all that classic rock, but I can't and I don't know what to do."

There was silence on the other end of the line for a long moment. "You said he, yes?"

"Yes," Shawn groaned.

"I thought you weren't into guys."

"I'm not. Which you'd think would make this easier, but it doesn't. I want to just forget about it. I should just forget about it. But I can't."

"This is gonna take more than a phone call. I'll take a few days off and we'll try and get this figured out, okay?"

"Who's gonna keep the streets of LA safe?"

"Reno's capable of acting on his own. They'll be fine. Besides, I'm due for a vacation. Talk to ya later, Shawniebear. Love you."

"Love you, too, Allybear." He waited for her to hang up before putting his phone away.

Xxxxx

Shawn was playing waste basket basketball, the orange light of the sunset slanting through the window, when he heard a motorcycle pull up in the parking lot. He grinned, lurching to his feet and half ran to the door. Alex entered and was immediately caught in a hug.

"Hey, easy!" she laughed, voice muffled behind her riding helmet. Shawn took a step back, allowing Alex the space she needed to get her helmet off. His smile dropped and he looked at her hair, confused. "What?" she asked, raking her fingers through her short hair.

"You cut it." It used to be long. Like Pocahontas long. Now it was like…Peter Pan short.

"Yeah. It became a liability, so off it went."

"Hm." Shawn cocked his head, evaluating. "Looks good, I guess. Not as good as mine, but…."

Alex snorted and punched him in the arm. Shawn reacted with a yelp, but grinned. "All right," she said, slipping an arm around his waist. "Enough playing around. I'd like to meet the players."

Xxxxx

It was a slow day for crime at the Santa Barbara Police Department. Which meant catching up on paperwork. Of which there was a lot. Lassiter closed the folder and added it to the stack of completed files before grapping another from the ever present to do stack.

"Carlton," Juliet have admonished.

"What?" he growled, not looking at her.

"You can't stay here all night and work."

"You can leave. Nothing is keeping you here. Besides, don't you have a date with Spencer?" he spat, putting the appropriate amount of disgust in the psychic's name.

He heard Julie sigh and could feel her eyes on him. Lassiter did his best not to squirm or look at her should it cause certain things to come to light. Finally, though, she replied. "No. he had to cancel tonight. His cousin came up from LA so they're spending some time together."

Lassiter grunted in response, since he didn't have much of anything else.

"He's been distant," Juliet said after a few minutes. "I don't understand it."

"I don't think anyone understands him," Lassiter replied off handedly. "Not even sure he understands himself."

Lassiter frowned, eyes flicking p when Juliet sat in the chair in front of his desk. "I'm worried he's keeping secrets from me," she said. "Or maybe he's not ready for a relationship. I don't know what to do."

"O'Hara, my marriage failed. DO you really want advice from me?"

"Well, you're my partner."

A guilty twinge went through him, but Juliet had looked away and didn't see his expression. He scrambled for something to say, but fortunately, there was a distraction. Unfortunately, the distraction was the topic of discussion. Shawn was talking to another person as they entered the station, motorcycle helmets under their arms, and leather jackets half hanging off their shoulders. Juliet rose to meet them halfway and Lassiter watched the meeting of the stranger for a moment before returning to his work.

Well…tried to.

"Lassie! I'd like you to meet my cousi—"

"We've met," the stranger replied.

Lassiter frowned, searching his memory for the face to match. The hair was throwing him off.

"The police convention in San Diego about nine years back."

"Alex Spencer," Lassiter said, the woman's nod confirming it. "You had longer hair back then."

"So did you. I believe we still have a bet to settle."

"Who's the sharper shooter."

"I'm in town for the next few days. How about we settle it?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Perfect. Detectives, it's been a pleasure."

Shawn frowned as Alex shook their hands. "That's it?"

"Oui, mon cher," she replied, and Lassiter was pretty sure that was perfect French. "There is more to see and little time to do it in! Besides, I want to meet this Buzz of yours."

Shawn was quiet, tapping his finger against his chin. "Yeah, okay. Sure we can find him somewhere. I don't think he ever goes home." The psychic led his cousin away and Lassiter looked to Juliet.

"See? He's fine."

"Mmm. I suppose you're right," she said, watching them leave.


AN: Also I had an idea...feel free to shoot me...but...if i wrote an Alex/Jules fic would anyone be interested in reading it?