A/N: Sorry this took so long guys…you can kind of gauge why by the chapter length but I also had some issues on writing this. Don't worry, chapter four will be posted, I know it will probably be later rather than sooner. I guess that's what I get for trying to do a multi-shot right before tax season starts. Anyway, I hope the wait was worth it. Chapter Four should not contain the writing problems I was having with this one. Jules is a tricky character to nail…but I think I did her justice. Hope you guys enjoy this! Also, major Kudos and virtual pineapples to anyone who can catch the two references surrounding Jules' cat (I also know it's not canon but it worked for my purposes).
Chapter Three
Juliet O'Hara groaned as the alarm blared, jarring her from a mind-numbing sleep. Mumbling incoherently, she reached out and blindly smacked the thing off. She stretched in her bed, groaning as muscles stretched and began to waken. Groaning, Juliet snuggled back under the covers, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep and snuggle with her boyfriend than to face her day at the SBPD. Rolling over, Juliet was momentarily surprised to find the other side of the bed empty. A moment of confusion came over her as her eyes blinked blearily open. She couldn't even remember falling asleep the night before.
Sitting up and blinking into the darkness of her bedroom, Juliet listened for any signs of movement in the apartment. Usually on date-nights, Shawn spent the night, or vice-versa. It was odd that he wasn't there; especially since Shawn was not an early riser. As the fog of a bad nights sleep gave way, memories of the previous night came rushing back, reminding her why Shawn wasn't in her bed this morning.
Hands scrubbing her face, Juliet collapsed backwards onto the bed. She still did not know how to feel about Shawn's confession. When he first showed up at the door, and saw the serious look on his face, she remembered her heart plummeting to her feet. She was certain that this was it; that Shawn was going to break up with her. She never believed in a million years he would confess he wasn't a psychic. She didn't believe him, not at first. She kept waiting for him to drop the act, grin at her with that 'gotcha' grin of his and they'd laugh it off and enjoy the rest of their night together.
She still couldn't wrap her mind around his confession. It still seemed so…unreal.
Juliet shook her head, shoving the thoughts of Shawn away. She needed to get ready for work. As much as she wanted to call in with some lame excuse, those reports were not going to write themselves and she would lose that bet with Carlton over who would get all their reports done (completely, correctly and on the clock) first.
Shoving her blankets back, she slipped out of bed and moved into the bathroom. Completing her morning routine on autopilot, she moved into the kitchen to get some of the coffee she had turned on while blow-drying her hair and brushing her teeth. She reached into the cupboard and grabbed her favorite coffee mug and pulled it out of the cupboard. Before she could set it down on the counter, she her hand started to shake.
"Jules, I'm not who you think I am,"
Before she could correct her grip, the mug fell from her hand and shattered on the floor. Juliet jumped with a gasp, and a sob.
"Damn it!" She yelled as Shawn's words from the night before echoed in her head.
"Jules, I'm not who you think I am,"
Tears filling her eyes, Juliet bent down, and began picking up the larger pieces of the shattered glass, taking precautions to make sure she didn't accidentally cut herself and keeping an eye out for her cats. She did not need one of her pets to injure themselves by walking on the broken glass.
"Shawn, what are you talking about?"
"Just…promise me you'll listen, ok? Just…let me get this out and you can say anything you want but I need to do this before I lose my nerve, ok?"
Tears burned her eyes as she scooped up the glass and made her way to the trash can on the opposite side of the room. Opening a utility cupboard, she pulled out the broom and dust pan and cleaned up the rest of the glass, unshed tears beginning to cloud her vision. Blinking rapidly, she focused on cleaning the glass, trying to go back to that numb state she had this morning. She wasn't sure if she could make it through the day if she didn't achieve that state again.
"I'm not a psychic."
Throwing away the rest of the glass, Juliet couldn't stop the tears that escaped her control. Sniffling and wiping at her eyes, she tried to hold back the tears, knowing if she started crying now, she'd probably never stop.
She wasn't even sure why she was crying. She should have expected something like this. It seemed her whole life, she was the brunt of one gigantic joke. Her dad was a con-man, her brother was on the run from an attempted murder charge (she was supposed to be the one who arrested him), and her boyfriend had been lying to her for six years, and if that wasn't enough, he had also defrauded the police department by his psychic claim. She would, again, be in a position where she needed to arrest a loved one.
Another sob escaped her throat as tears blurred her vision and began to escape her eyes. She was angry she was crying. She didn't want to cry over this (again), she could deal with this like an adult. She didn't need to curl up in bed and cry her eyes out like a teenager, because damn it, she was an adult and she was a damn good detective and for just once, she'd like things to go right for a change.
The inner mantra did not help. If anything, it only made her cry harder. She didn't feel like an adult anymore. She felt like she was ten years old, and her Daddy disappointed her again.
"Mrow,"
A little voice startled Juliet out of her downward spiral of thoughts, rubbing himself against her leg, purring lightly. Smiling slightly through her tears, she picked up the little brown cat and scratched behind his ears. He purred louder in response. Nuzzling the ball of fluff in her arms, Juliet sat down on her couch and continued to pet her cat.
The irony of which cat came to her rescue was not lost on her. It was the kitten Shawn had given her on her last birthday. Technically, the kitten was a gift from Buzz McNabb. His cat apparently had kittens, and since Shawn was the one who had given McNabb the fluffy brown tabby in the first place, Buzz thought it was only appropriate Shawn have one of the kittens. Shawn, not knowing what else to do with a kitten, brought it over to her and announced "Jules, we just had a kitten!"
Smiling slightly at the memory, she continued scratching the cat's ears, wincing slightly as she remembered Shawn's other great idea. He had wanted to name the kitten Fluffer McKitty. Juliet had put her foot down and they had finally agreed on Jake, apparently the name of a cat in a late 70's movie, though Juliet had heard Shawn affectionately calling the cat Fluffer when he thought she wasn't close enough to hear.
Even when she was crying over him, the thought of Shawn brought a smile to her face and warmed her heart. And that was the problem; she loved him, but right now she didn't know if she could trust him, and that had never been a problem for them. That was what was breaking her heart. What she tossed and turned all night over was what to do with the information. She was a police officer and she had sworn an oath to uphold the law. She knew if this were anyone except Shawn, she would be reporting the fraud to the Chief and internal affairs, and the whole mess would eventually settle itself through lawyers, attorneys, and a messy courtroom. But it was Shawn and that tiny voice wouldn't leave her alone.
"What am I going to do, Jakers?" Juliet murmured as she scratched the cat.
Jake offered no response but to continue purring contentedly in her arms. With a heavy sigh, she stopped petting the cat. Jake looked up at her indignantly.
"Sorry boy, but I've got to go to work," She muttered, feeling slightly better. She wasn't about to burst into tears, but she wasn't happy either, but she knew she could get through her day at the police department, and right now, that was all that mattered.
When Head Detective Carlton Lassiter got out of bed this morning, he knew it was going to be a good day. He left his house with a spring in his step and a smile on his face. He drove his Ford Fusion to work without incident, traffic was unusually light, and was the first to get a cup of the good coffee made by the generous new secretary who actually could make a decent pot. He was also pleased to note that a certain "Psychic" hadn't messed with his favorite mug or desk. Murmuring his appreciation as he sipped at the coffee, Lassiter made his way back to his desk and logged into his computer.
Deleting irrelevant messages from his inbox, Lassiter began the tedious task of finishing up his backlog of reports; he'd be damned if O'Hara got another free lunch out of him. He smiled smugly at her empty desk and got to work, smug satisfaction of knowing he only had five reports to finish and O'Hara had yet to make an appearance, a free lunch was definitely in his favor.
Settling in, Lassiter ignored the buzzing of the station around him and got to work. He was almost had the first report completed when he noticed O'Hara sit down across from him. He was momentarily surprised at her lack of a cheerful greeting, but he ignored the impulse to look away from his work and get wrapped up in whatever female drama his partner was currently experiencing.
From the corner of his eye, he could see O'Hara staring blankly at her monitor. He ignored the couple of sniffles he heard from her direction as well. So she has a cold. She's an adult, she could take care of herself. She didn't need him to baby her and she could take it like a man and stop sulking; He was not going to put up with a whiny partner just because she had the sniffles.
"Carlton?"
"If you're not feeling well, O'Hara, don't go whining to me." He stated as he moved to the last paragraph. Almost done…
"I'm not sick..." She muttered with a sigh.
Lassiter resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"Look, O'Hara, if this is one of your touchy-feely-girly things, forget it," He snapped, not looking away from his monitor as he typed the remaining sentence of his report.
"Carl-ton..."
The way she said his name, he couldn't ignore. Her tone was weak, whiny, and reminiscent of a small child and he hadn't heard his partner talk that way since the night on the clock tower. He felt his blood run cold at that tone, shoving aside memories he'd rather not think about, he sighed and finished his thought, saved his progress, and looked over at his partner.
To say she looked like crap would be an understatement. Her eyes were slightly blood shot, her face was blank and her clothes were still rumpled and the colors didn't quite match; it wasn't an obvious thing, but if you took in her appearance, it was enough that your mind knew something didn't quite work.
Concern reared its ugly head and he quickly stomped on emotion and shoved it aside. They were at work and they were reputable detectives and he would not have his partner acting like a sullen teenager because of some personal problems; personal problems were just that, personal, and they did not belong in the workplace.
"Just...oh forget it." She stated, sounding frustrated and looking more broken than she had when she first looked at him.
"O'Hara..."
"I'm fine, Carlton...I'm..." She took a deep breath, "I'm fine." She restated, as if to convince herself.
He knew he was going to regret what he said next later, but the words were out before he could stop them.
"Did Spencer do something to you?"
Anger flared through him at the thought. He would kill the psychic. He would kill him and he would be certain that it was long, painful, and no one would find the body (or what was left of it). He would make Shawn Spencer regret the day he even laid eyes on Juliet O'Hara by the time he was through with him.
The look of panic that flashed through Juliet's eyes did not go unnoticed by the head detective and he wondered what caused it.
"What makes you think"
"Your eyes are bloodshot, so that indicates a bad night sleep; your clothes are sloppy so that indicates a rush to get out of the house or a lack of care, and it's been almost three hours since I got in and I haven't seen or heard from the nuisance and you mentioned something yesterday about meeting up with him after work and that's just the tip of the iceberg. So, O'Hara, what did Spencer do?"
O'Hara dropped her gaze, staring at something on her desk. He noted the way she chewed on her lip, as if she was worried about something or unsure of what to say.
"I...just..." She sighed, frustration evident in the way she did it. She waved her hands and shook her head as she finished her thought "forget it."
"O'Hara"
"Carlton, just...it's fine, ok. Just...I know you don't want to talk about this, it's okay."
"O'Hara, if Spencer hurt you, I have an obligation as your partner to"
"That's sweet, Carlton."
"It's not sweet!"
She smiled, but the smile didn't quite meet her eyes.
"Thanks, Carlton," She said, sounding sincere as she turned her attention back to her computer.
He couldn't stop the frown that appeared on his face or the need to watch her a moment, to make sure she was ok. Suspicion raised, but knowing his partner wasn't about to disclose anymore, he huffed and turned back to his work, making a note that he may need to clean up his new gun - its first use may give him some great pleasure in the near-distant future.
The next two days were slow at the SBPD and Juliet couldn't remove the rock that seemed to have settled in her stomach. Every time a phone call came to the Chief's office, she felt panic; if it was a case, she'd be happy to get her mind off of it, but if it was a big one...Vick may feel the need to call Shawn and she wasn't sure she was ready to face him yet. Every time the Chief called her into her office, Juliet struggled with what to say and what not to say. She knew she should tell the older woman what she knew; that their major consultant was a fraud.
She couldn't count the number of times she opened her mouth to tell the Chief those very words but something stopped her each time and she knew she couldn't do this much longer and she still had no more of a clue about what to do today than she did three nights ago.
She was angry at Shawn; angry that he put her in this position, angry that he lied to her, the Chief, his clients, and all of Santa Barbara. She was upset he didn't tell her sooner, that he didn't think he could trust her. She was upset she was supposed to arrest him and she couldn't bring herself to do it. She was angry with Gus for letting Shawn go along with this crazy idea and she was mad that her partner was onto her. She was upset that her belief and trust in one man had been shattered in less than a minute. She was angry, she was upset, she felt like she could throw up at any moment, and it didn't seem like it was going to get better.
She didn't know what to do.
Juliet was pulled from her thoughts as her partner came back to his desk. He pulled open his desk drawer and pulled out his keys, casefile tucked under an arm.
"We got a case?"
"No, I got a case."
"What?"
Lassiter just shrugged and closed his desk drawer, turning to leave the station. Confused and annoyed by the brush off, Juliet followed him.
"Carlton!"
"I have to go, O'Hara. If you're unhappy, go talk to the Chief." Lassiter snapped as he lengthened his stride and left her standing in the middle of the station alone.
"O'Hara! My Office!" The Chief yelled and Juliet couldn't help but wince at the call.
Taking one last glance at the doors her partner disappeared through, Juliet turned around and headed into the Chief's office with a sigh.
"Take a seat, O'Hara," The Chief stated and Juliet did as she was told, feeling confusion wash over her. First Shawn, now her partner on a case without her, now the impromptu meeting with the chief...what was going on?
"Is there something you need to tell me, Detective?" The Chief asked, her tone harsh but also soft, as if telling her to spit it out but also to let her know if something was bothering her, she could talk to the older woman.
Other than your lead consultant is a fraud? Juliet opened her mouth to say something, anything, but nothing came out. Silence filled the office for a moment while Juliet struggled to say anything.
"O'Hara, you are a great detective, and even better woman, and when you and Mr. Spencer got together, I put aside department policy about your relationship, and I'm starting to wonder if that was a wise decision on my part."
"Chief"
"Do you remember why, O'Hara, I was alright with your relationship?"
Juliet could feel tears stinging her eyes. She felt like she was five years old and being scolded by her mother. She felt like she was that little girl, covering for her brother while her mother's eyes burned through her, knowing the truth behind her words. She hated the feeling. She hated Shawn for making her feel this way.
"We..." Her voice broke slightly and she cleared her throat, removing the sudden lump that formed and began again. "We agreed it wouldn't affect our work." She whispered.
"O'Hara...Juliet," The Chief held up a report, one Juliet recognized as one she submitted yesterday. "This is your third botched report in two days. If this has to deal with your relationship with Mr. Spencer, I may have to reevaluate my position on your relationship and I don't think any of us want that," She paused a moment before continuing. "If you need someone to talk to, I can assign a department psychologist and you can work with them. O'Hara, you are a damn good detective, and I would hate to see personal emotions or the beginnings of a burn out ruin your career."
Silence stretched between them and filled the office. Juliet couldn't help but wince at the words and all she wanted was to bolt from the office. The walls felt like they were closing in and her chest felt tight. She couldn't talk about this; not with anyone in the department; not before she knew what to do; what she felt.
"O'Hara, I want you to take the rest of the day off," The Chief raised her arm to signal no protests. "You are to clear your head, take care of whatever personal problems you may have, and come back tomorrow, redo this report, and be the detective I know you are."
"Chief, I don't"
"This isn't negotiable, Detective."
"What about the new case?"
"I think Detective Lassiter can handle it himself for now."
Juliet nodded her acknowledgement, not knowing what else to do or say. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She was going to do this; she had to do this.
"Chief, I think I need to"
"O'Hara, take the day. If you still need to discuss something with me, we can discuss it then."
"But"
"O'Hara, if it doesn't affect how the job is done...I don't need to know about it."
Juliet lowered her gaze, staring at the floor, blood roaring in her ears, tears burning her eyes. She just needed to get this out, she had to talk to someone.
"If you don't have anything else to discuss, you're dismissed." Vick said, her voice soft but firm.
Juliet nodded her acknowledgement and got up from her chair and left the office, her whole body feeling shaky. She closed the door to the Chief's office behind her and took a deep breath to steady herself. She shaky feeling didn't go away, but she felt like she could stay standing. She crossed to her desk and, on autopilot, grabbed her purse and keys and left the station. She got into her car and started it and that's when she couldn't autopilot anymore.
Where would she go?
Home to an empty apartment (her cats would not be pleased by that statement)? She couldn't see Shawn, not yet. She couldn't talk to Gus because he would talk to Shawn. Her partner was out of the question. She didn't know if she wanted to explain herself to someone in the family and she had no other really close friends living in the area she could hash this out with. She needed to talk to someone, someone who knew what was going on; someone who could offer her advice, someone who understood what her job was and why this was such a huge dilemma.
As she pondered the situation, something inside her clicked. She nodded to herself; determination set on her face and shoved any nervousness or reservations aside.
She knew who she could talk to. She wasn't sure it would be easy, but she had to do it. He had the answers she was looking for and that someone was Henry Spencer.
Final A/N: Can anyone say "dun dun dun!" Ok so the Henry convo was originally planned to be in chapter four...but then I got the idea to do the Lassie part and it really ties in nicely for someone in chapter four (that was probably a big glaring spoiler) but it just worked...so we get to see Henry and Jules talk in chapter four and we also get Shawn again :) I plan to wrap this all up in chapter four but we'll see if it gets away from me again. :) Hope you enjoyed and come back for more! Reviews also get me motivated to write...also, for curiosity...did you catch the cat references (without the help from Google, Bing, Wikipedia, or any other source except your noggin?)?