AUTHOR'S NOTES: Lots of feels in this one too but the action is starting to ramp up! Enjoy!

Chapter 3- Untangling the Web

Thirty minutes earlier:

Carlton sipped on a glass of blood as he poured over the case file in front of him. He took out the picture of the slain man, looking closely for any sort of clue that was left behind. The bastards even took the bullets. It frustrated the hell out of the detective that he wasn't able to solve the robberies before they turned deadly and he could only hope the Chief's prediction of more bodies would be wrong.

Each crime had been the same up till that point. It wasn't a smash and grab operation, no… these people came in swift and quiet and took everything they could get their hands on; cash, clothes, jewelry, anything of value gone. They were good, and Carlton knew to catch them, he'd have to be better.

A knock on the door made him jump. Looking at the clock he wondered if one of his neighbors, hopefully not Rosemary and her demon spawn, AKA Four month old wailing baby, were going to ask him to squish a bug or something. Most of the people in the complex were either women, or old so he'd gotten accustomed to the random requests of helping with groceries or extermination of small vermin. Especially since they hadn't gotten another care-taker yet after the last one ended up dead in a clothes dryer.

Going to the door and peeking out the view hole, Carlton groaned when he saw who was there. It was a very haggard and miserable looking Shawn. He'd over-heard Juliet talking about going to dinner with Shawn's mom and telling her the truth. Apparently it hadn't gone well if his presence was any indicator. Carlton swung open the door and, with a heavy sigh, stepped out of the way in a wordless invitation for Shawn to come in.

"Thanks Lass." Shawn gave him a small smirk and entered the condo.

It was nicer than Shawn remembered and better decorated. He figured Carlton was probably getting ready to have a lady in the house and it made him smile. He'd done the same thing to his apartment when he'd asked Juliet to move in with him a couple months ago. "Love what you've done with the place. It's like Guns and Ammo meets Better Homes and Gardens." The burst of anxiety from Carlton wasn't helping his own mood any, but he tried to keep his tone light.

Carlton rolled his eyes. "What are you doing here Spencer, shouldn't you be at your dad's?"

Shawn paced the room a bit ignoring the question. He absentmindedly paused to play with the leaves of one of the Head Detective's plants. "So… I told my mom."

"And?" Carlton wished Shawn would get to the point. It was awkward enough that Shawn had chosen him to talk to when he was clearly upset.

Finally letting some of his anger out Shawn whirled on his fledgling, his teeth bared, "What do you think Lassie? You think she said 'Oh Shawn I love you. You will always be my son.' Huh?"

Carlton flinched away, he wasn't expecting that kind of reaction. "Geez Spencer I just asked!"

Shawn cursed himself for letting his control slip but damn it he was pissed. Calming himself down with a deep breath, he continued, "She hates me alright. I showed her what I was and she hates me." Shawn snorted. "For all I know everyone else only tolerates me because they're scared of me." He didn't blame them. He did cut off someone's head in a fit of vampire rage. It was still all a bit hazy and the guy had helpedkidnap his girlfriend and assault his dad, but Shawn felt if he was capable of that level of violence, he was capable of anything.

Carlton didn't want to stand there and take Shawn's pity party in silence. He strode right up to Shawn and grabbed him, and pushed him down on the couch so he was sitting. "Now listen here Spencer. Instead of whining and wondering how much they're sticking around because they're scared, think of how much they must give a crap about you if they're willing to even be in your presence with all the shit they got put through because of this."

Shawn bowed his head and pouted. He never thought of it that way. "I never shoulda told her man. I don't see her all that often anyway. At least she still would've talked to me on the phone."

Carlton sat down across from Shawn. To tell the truth, he had been having the same thoughts for months, wondering if it was better to let his mom and sister go, or tell them and have to deal with the rejection that Shawn was feeling right now. If it was bad enough that the psychic had come to him for comfort, he was definitely considering the latter. Spencer probably just needs to talk it out, then he'll be out of my hair. Carlton tried to convince himself that he was just doing it to get Shawn to leave, but he was technically something of a friend so listening would be the right thing to do at this point."Okay Spencer, what happened?"

Shawn proceeded to tell Carlton about how the evening went. How happy his mom was that she was going to be a grandma and the look of pure terror when she found out what he was.

"So did she run away?" Carlton asked.

Shawn shook his head. "No, I did. She's probably still at my dad's. He took her luggage in the house right away so she couldn't really run if she wanted to." Shawn had shared a knowing look with him at the time. I guess my dad is a smart guy after all.

"So does O'Hara know where you are?"

"Nope. I just kind of ended up here. Cliché I know, walking around town and ending up at your doorstep." Shawn could feel that Carlton was actually listening to him and God forbid, he actually seemed to care.

The last few months had started out awkward at best since Carlton had found out that Shawn was his sire. Shawn had been planning on keeping that information secret but things happened and the secret came out. Since then there had been an unspoken agreement to never ever acknowledge their connection and Carlton got really defensive whenever Shawn brought up the fact he could feel things from him. He saw it as an invasion of privacy but it wasn't like Shawn could shut it off if he wanted to.

"Couldn't you have gone to Guster? He seems to be your usual shoulder to cry on." Carlton wondered.

Shawn leaned back into the couch and crossed his legs on the coffee table. "No can do, he's on a non-date with Coraline tonight."

Ignoring the blatant disregard for his furniture, Carlton stated, "She seems like trouble to me."

Shawn nodded contemplatively, "I agree, but you know the kind of women Gus falls for; Beautiful, smart… serial killers. The usual."

Carlton actually laughed at that. "Seems like not too long ago that was your type too."

"That is so two years ago." Shawn made a dismissive gesture. His eyes caught on the open case file for the same thefts that Juliet had given him. Carlton must have been reading them. "Jules gave me the case file for the spider guys too. Weird huh? Usually thieves don't want you to know when they robbed somewhere. Leaving no evidence behind then tagging the crime scene is kind of counterproductive don't you think?"

Carlton agreed. The whole thing was very mysterious and to him, mysterious was frustrating. He liked the facts, and with the case so far, the facts were few and far between.

While Carlton thought about Shawn's words, Shawn had taken his phone out and checked it. No messages. She's probably still dealing with the fall-out. It must be bad if she hasn't called by now.

Catching the worried look Shawn gave his phone, Carlton pointed at the kitchen. "Spencer, go grab some blood, then head back to the house. I'm sure they are at least somewhat worried about you." He figured the stress had probably made it so Shawn needed to feed.

Shawn set down his phone on the coffee table and got up. "Yeah, I should have something, be right back… and thanks."

A moment after Shawn went into the kitchen his phone started to make buzzing sounds from the table. Reaching over Carlton saw it was his partner, finally calling to check up on her fiancé.

"Spencer's phone." He said simply, knowing she'd know who it really was.

"Carlton?"

"No, it's the Mad Hatter." He said sarcastically, "You've reached Wonderland, please leave a message after the…"

"Carlton! Is Shawn okay?"

He sighed, "He's fine, he just stopped over for some blood, and he'll be back soon."

"Is that Jules?!" Shawn yelled from the kitchen.

Carlton ignored him, "Is everything okay over there?"

"Yeah, his mom is pretty shook up, but Henry says she'll be alright."

"Good, having him show up at my door once in an eternity is all I'm going to be able to take." Carlton grumbled.

Shawn bounded into the room with a half empty glass of blood and presented his hand.

"Don't get that on my carpet." Carlton nodded towards the glass and handed him his phone.

"Heyyyy, Jules."

"We talked to your mother, she needs a bit of space right now but she said she'd speak to you more tomorrow."

Shawn nodded, even though he knew Juliet wouldn't be able to see it. "I figured as much. Um, I'll be over in a few minutes okay?"

Carlton tuned out the ensuing kissy noises the couple made and watched Shawn hang up the phone. "Everything alright?

"Yeah, she's just worried. Thanks for the blood, I'll see you tomorrow Lassie." Shawn gave a half-hearted wave and walked out with Carlton bolting the door behind him.

After Shawn finally left, Carlton was able to get back to what he'd been doing before he was awkwardly interrupted. Something that Shawn had said kept coming back to him.

"Leaving no evidence behind then tagging the crime scene is kind of counterproductive don't you think?"

"Very counterproductive…" Carlton mumbled. He'd have to let the chief know to look more into who was committing the crimes. Las Arañas could be a Red Herring for the department to follow, or maybe, just maybe… they didn't care if the police knew who they were, because they were cocky enough to think they couldn't get caught. Either way, Carlton would have to do more research in the morning. He was tired and it had been a long day of fighting crime.

Going to his back room, he climbed in his freezer and stared at his picture of Marlowe that sat on the nearby table. "Two more weeks baby. Two more weeks."

Shawn waited for Juliet and his father to come outside to meet him. He didn't feel like invading his mother's space right then, plus he was tired and wanted the day to be over. Juliet came up and hugged him, which did a lot to improve his mood. His dad came over next and gave him a sad look. "Sorry kid. She just needs some time."

Shawn pursed his lips and nodded. "Kay, just- let me know when she wants to see me again."

Henry put a hand on Shawn's shoulder and gave it a squeeze, "I will kid. Go get some rest."

Juliet and Shawn went to go to their respective vehicles as they had driven to the house separately. He gave her a peck on the cheek. "I'll see you at home babe." She gave him a smile and headed to her light olive Bug.

Later that evening, well after midnight, Shawn was still lying in bed with Juliet. She had fallen asleep almost an hour ago, and Shawn would have usually crawled into his freezer by now, but he hadn't. He spent the last hour with his hand on Juliet's stomach, feeling the baby and listening to its heartbeat. He'd gotten into the habit after Juliet had rushed into the Psych office one afternoon last month exclaiming that the baby had kicked and wanted him to touch her belly.

It was a weird sensation, feeling something moving around in her stomach, but he found it oddly comforting and endlessly entertaining for Juliet when he sang to it. Both of them knew they'd never have this again. Vampires couldn't have babies and it was by some miracle they'd conceived one before he'd been turned. He wondered if the baby would be smart with great hair like him and beautiful like its mother. The perfect little Spencer.

Juliet groaned a bit when Shawn switched positions and his cold hand brushed lightly across her stomach. "Shawn that tickles." She mumbled before falling back asleep.

He gave an amused smirk before he decided he really should get some sleep. He was planning on doing some research before dragging Gus to the murder scene when he got up. Juliet would already be at work, but she had a habit of opening his freezer and giving him a kiss before she left. He loved that.

"Goodnight Jules…" He whispered and kissed her forehead before he left to get some shut eye himself.

Shawn got to the Psych office around 11am. As he'd thought, Gus was already there. Business had been slow as usual for private cases, maybe one or two a month, mostly from under age kids and people so desperate they figured a psychic could help them. They'd gotten some cases from the Chief but with the city forking out the funding to build a new SBPD, their consultations had been cut down for cost saving.

Taking off his sunglasses, Shawn entered the main office and smiled at the framed plaque that held their private investigator's license. The chief had made getting one part of her ultimatum for keeping him employed. As much as Shawn had weaseled out of getting one before, he kinda liked it now. It was very eye catching and gave them a bit more legitimacy with any private clients that came knocking.

"Hey buddy!" Shawn walked up to Gus' desk and slapped the file down right over his keyboard. "This just in."

Gus turned his head up and gave him a surprised sideways glance. "That better be what I think it is."

"Yep a case! Jules brought it over last night. Robberies and muuuurder." Shawn raised his eyebrows.

Gus opened the file and started looking through the contents. "Thank God. You know I've almost had to start dipping into my savings to keep this place running Shawn." After flipping through a few more pages he looked up. "Is this the case that Lassiter and Juliet have been working on?"

"Uh huh." Shawn sat in his own chair and got comfortable. "Night before last that poor bastard walked in on the thieves and was gunned down. The Chief is calling all hands on deck for this one."

Gus flipped to the picture of the skull spider. "Creepy."

"You're telling me." Shawn had never been a fan of spiders and Gus knew it. "What is the big draw about those things anyway? Beady little eyes, hairy…" He gave an involuntary shudder, trying not to picture one crawling on him…too late. "Ew."

Gus shook his head and continued to read the file as Shawn typed furiously on his laptop, researching the symbol. He didn't get much. No large or at least well publicized gangs had a spider as their symbol, at least not in America. "Man, the only thing I got for a spider gang symbol is from Hati! None are even close to the same design though."

Shrugging Gus suggested, "Gangs migrate. Maybe they are just trying to carve out new territory."

Shawn leaned back in his chair thinking, "That would explain a few things, like why they would leave nothing but that symbol behind. Probably a big, 'look at us, aren't we cool' thing."

"Maybe we should head to the crime scene. You might be able to get something from it."

Nodding, Shawn rubbed his face a bit and tried to organize his thoughts. He was still reeling from his mom's reaction and didn't quite feel top of his game.

Gus didn't miss the gesture and remembered why his friend might be stressed. "How did things go at your dad's last night?"

Putting on his happy face Shawn nodded. "Things went great. Mom was really excited about the baby." He really didn't want to talk about the other reaction so he changed the subject. "I'm going to grab something to drink then we'll head out okay?" Apparently his distraction worked and Gus started gathering up the case file without any more pushing on the subject.

After a pretty routine but busy morning at the station, Juliet and Carlton headed to the Cottage Hospital morgue to examine the body of the victim. Juliet had been bursting to know what Carlton and Shawn had talked about but for obvious reasons, she hadn't been able to ask him in a crowded station.

Finally in the privacy of Carlton's Ford Fusion she gave into her curiosity. "So, thanks for getting Shawn to come back to the house. He's been kind of flighty lately."

"Not a problem." He said simply, desperately trying to avoid the conversation he knew was coming.

"What did you talk about?" Juliet tried to insert the question nonchalantly but it came out more blurty than she'd intended.

Carlton hated being the middle man in their relationship but if she was ever going to stop bugging him he had to tell her. "He's worried you're all scared of him O'Hara. I told him he was being an idiot. End of story."

"Oh," She said quietly and stared out the window.

Carlton glanced at his partner out of the corner of his eye. Her heart had sped up, meaning she was touching on a very difficult subject for her. His eyes fell to her stomach in both concern and envy. He'd never be able to have a child with Marlowe and that killed him inside every time he acknowledged the fact that Juliet was pregnant with Shawn's baby, but he was concerned that the stress she was under wasn't good for her. It wasn't exactly Shawn's fault and it would kill him to find out just how much pressure he was putting her under, but Carlton was going to have to tell him to simmer it down a couple notches, if not for Juliet, then for the baby.

"Look O'Hara, if I've learned anything about Spencer the last few months it's that he's trying and he cares. He'll come around."

Juliet smiled, grateful for the reassurance, "Thanks partner."

Woody was eating a plate of what looked like Henry's left over fish when Juliet and Carlton arrived at the morgue. Noticing them coming, he quickly gobbled down the rest of the piece he had and dusted his hands off on his lab coat. Woody was tickled pink to see them. Having been relocated to the hospital due to the Sheriff's office not having their own morgue meant barely seeing Juliet at all, and Carlton only when he needed blood. He considered them his friends and had been getting lonely. "Detectives! Welcome!" His eyes landed on Juliet's swollen stomach. "Wow detective, been hitting the junk food a bit?"

Juliet turned red out of embarrassment and Carlton glared at the tactless coroner, "Woody, I'm pregnant."

"Ohhhh," Woody's eyes widened, "Well, that explains a lot." He nodded as if coming to a conclusion and remembered the corpse sitting in front of him. "So, I take it you're here to see the body?" He chirped excitedly.

They both nodded and he uncovered the store owner's upper torso with a flourish. The three center mass bullet wounds, if they could still be called that after the bullets were unceremoniously carved out of his flesh, were glaringly apparent and ugly looking. Carlton shook his head and grabbed the report out of Woody's outstretched hands as his partner examined the body.

"So how's Shawn?" Woody asked Juliet unexpectedly. "Henry stopped by for some blood refills and mentioned he had to break the big news to his mom."

So that's how the fish got here. Juliet reasoned. Henry did restock on blood every once and a while just in case Shawn needed it. Both Spencers seemed overly cautious when it came to Shawn's feeding habits and apparently it had been time to restock. "He's doing okay I guess. It's been tough for him."

Woody have an understanding nod. "I know how he feels." Carlton glanced up from the report with a raised eyebrow. "I remember how it was when I had to tell my mom I was going to become a coroner and not a brain surgeon." He laughed at the memory and shook his head, "It wasn't pretty I'll tell you that much."

Before Carlton could punch the coroner in the pie hole for making such an uneven comparison to what Shawn was having to go through, Juliet interrupted. "So, what did you find out about the body?"

"Oh right right, the body. Well as you can see he was shot three times in the chest and all the bullets were dug out." Woody pantomimed a twisting and scooping action over the bullet wounds.

"What kind of knife did this?" Carlton asked.

Woody shrugged, that detail was not important. "Standard pocket knife. They really had to dig in the body to get the bullets out. It left some metal shavings from both the bullets and the knife in the wound but I doubt we'll be able to match much up from it."

Juliet and Carlton shared a look. They were really hoping there was something to be found on the body since it was their only lead. "Is there anything else you can tell us?"

"Sorry detective, the rest of him is clean as a whistle." Woody started eyeing the rest of the plate of fish. He hadn't had anything to eat that day but some licorice sticks while examining the last body and some blue Gatorade. Henry is a damn fine cook.

"Go ahead Strode, sorry to interrupt your lunch with actual police work." Carlton grumbled. Not getting the sarcasm the coroner gratefully went back to eating the fish.

Approaching the body, Carlton bent over and sniffed it. There was a faint smell of something but after the body had been handled so much it was hard to discern the different scents.

"You getting anything?"

Carlton turned to Juliet and shook his head. "Just some lingering fear. It could be the victim's but I doubt it. The guy was dead before he hit the ground with those wounds."

Juliet looked at the body, "Then who's could it be?"

"My guess is the guy who dug the bullets out. That at least gives us some kind of guess about motive." He pointed to the bullet wounds. "Those were made with precision, the shooter knew what he was doing. The cuts though, and the fear don't match up with that. There had to have been someone else there, who wasn't as happy with the fact that they had murdered someone."

"Well, we could use that. If they weren't happy then they could come forward if they get scared enough." Juliet looked at her watch. Shawn mentioned heading to the crime scene today. He and Gus should have been there by now. Carlton wasn't able to get anything from there either but Shawn had always been able to stir up something, "I sure hope Shawn and Gus came up with more than we did."

Carlton nodded his agreement. He was more than a little pissed off they kept coming up empty handed but if there was something to be found, Shawn had a knack for seeing it. He knew the man wasn't psychic since his admission after the incident with Lance, but the guy did have a gift and hopefully it served him well enough to get them something to go on. "Let's head back to the station. The Chief will want to see the report." Juliet nodded and followed her partner out with a small goodbye wave to Woody.

"Say hi to Shawn for me!" Woody called after them.

END NOTES: I make no apologies for adding Woody to my stories. Cannot get enough of the dude and he adds so much humor.