AUTHOR'S NOTES: Whew, this one was a toughie. A lot of emotional stuff coming to a head in this chapter.

Chapter 16- Putting the Animal Down

"NO!" Shawn screamed as he struggled and fought back against the hands holding him down after he felt the newest mind link to his own. Carlton, meanwhile, had grit his teeth and tensed up at the same time. Carlos had fallen to his knees where he stood with Beth pointing a silver bullet laden gun at him. Even the staked Zack had reacted, if you can call a gurgle reacting.

Carlton knew right away what the feeling was. Someone else was turned by Shawn… "What the hell!?"

Juliet, seizing the moment, got away from Henry and knelt by Shawn, stroking his forehead. He'd flinched away momentarily until he realized she wasn't going to hurt him. "It's okay." Once she saw Shawn relax to her touch she turned to her partner, looking between him and Mick for some kind of answer. "What's going on?" She asked. Mick shrugged helplessly and looked to Carlton, who had since recovered and was frowning at his stubborn partner for jumping into danger again.

"The hell if I know, but I think I know who does…Despereaux! Get your ass back here!" Carlton hollered.

Pierre came back down the hallway seconds later. "Gents, I think we may have a problem."

"Problem my ass!" Carlton growled at him.

"Where's Adam?" Mick asked.

"You see, that's the problem..." Pierre trailed off as the large man came around the corner.

Adam was almost as covered in blood as Shawn was, most of it originating at his neck and trailing down his clothes. "You've got to be kidding me." Carlton gaped. "Shawn turned him?"

Adam shook his head with a pained expression. "I-I didn't know what else to do." The young man was shaking as he looked around. His eyes caught on the headless Ben, the staked Zack, and the kneeling Carlos. "Oh God..."

Pierre stepped in, explaining. "According to him, Shawn took one whiff of your scents on him and thought you all were dead. Apparently this Ben character had threatened your lives, on multiple occasions." The thief looked to Adam for confirmation and he nodded. "Anyway you can pretty much guess what happened then. He was already turning when I walked in. Shawn left a lot of blood behind and young Adam here seized the moment."

"ADAM!" Carlos called to him, still pinned down with Beth's gun. "What the hell are you doing!? Help us!"

Everyone was surprised when Adam broke away and charged over to Carlos, tackling him to the ground, his size helped him as a vampire as much as it did when he was human. "I warned you." He grabbed Carlos' neck. "You used me, broke a decent man, and screwed with shit you shouldn't have. You guys screwed yourselves." Pierre ran up and pulled the raging baby vamp off.

"Okay, we all need to calm down and figure out how to get everyone out of here." Pierre reasoned, keeping between Adam and Carlos. "I don't know about you, but I think we need to get this young man some blood, soon. Same with Shawn." He shared a look with Mick. Getting him blood wouldn't guarantee that Shawn would be okay.

Both were conflicted about what to do with Shawn. They'd discussed earlier, away from prying ears, what they'd have to do if he couldn't be brought back. Even though Shawn was their friend, they couldn't keep a feral vampire around with the chance he would escape and risk exposing their entire race. If Shawn couldn't control himself anymore, he'd have to be put down.

Carlton took charge, reluctantly admitting to himself that Pierre was right, they had to get out of there, and soon. He handed Pierre a stake, "Get Eugene over there so we can get them out of here." The use of his proper name caused Carlos to growl at him. Ignoring the display, Carlton turned to Adam "You gonna come quietly or do we have to do the same to you?"

Looking to the floor, Adam said, "I'll come quietly."

Nodding, Carlton addressed Gus and Henry, "Go to the car and call the chief, tell her we got him." It was one way to get Gus out of there, who had been practically paralyzed at the sight of all the blood.

Shawn bucked and growled weakly as Carlos was staked by Pierre. He'd lost almost all the fight he'd had minutes before. It was both good and bad in Carlton's opinion. It meant they wouldn't have to struggle so much to get him into a vehicle, but it also meant he was really weak from blood loss.

Carlton and Mick, carried Shawn out the front door. They were followed closely by Pierre and Adam. The plan was once they had gotten Adam and Shawn some blood, they'd call the cleaners and go back for Zack and Carlos. They'd barely gotten out of the door when they spotted Gus and Henry standing close to the building.

"What the hell Spencer! I told you to go call the chief!" Carlton complained.

Henry pointed. "Someone's coming up the road, they're between us and the car."

Mick followed the men's gazes to two black SUVs currently pulling up the dirt road to the building. "Oh no. How the hell did they know we were out here?" Mick looked around frantically for some place to run, or hide Shawn.

"What is it?" Carlton asked, squinting into the setting sun. He didn't recognize the vehicles.

"It's the cleaners." Pierre explained, "This isn't good." He looked at Adam and dragged the young man behind the building to hide.

Understanding the situation, Carlton turned to Shawn and desperately tried to get some sentience back into him. Cleaners were ruthless when it came to putting down rogues and they hadn't had a chance to give Shawn blood yet. "Spencer! Damn it, look at us!" Shawn snapped his teeth at Carlton weakly and his head dropped forward. He was too far out of it. "What do we do?"

As the cleaners opened the doors to their vehicles Mick saw, much to his disappointment, it was the head cleaner who responded. She'd been the one to personally warn Shawn during his training at Josef's house months before and there was no chance she'd go easy on him now. "There's nothing we can do." Mick cast Carlton an apologetic look, "They're gonna take him."

"Like hell." Carlton got in between the cleaners and Shawn, leaving Mick to grip Shawn by himself. He held up his hand to stop the woman clad in black leather.

She had long brown hair up in a neat bun, and an air of authority about her that Carlton swore he could almost touch. "Well, who is this?" Her scrutinizing gaze trailed over the detective.

"Head detective Carlton Lassiter." He flashed his badge. "How did you know we were here. None of us called you yet."

She raised an eyebrow, as if intrigued by his brashness. "We were alerted to a situation in town. A vampire had gone into the middle of a crowded mall and killed three people. Your Chief informed us where you were and we have people containing the problem." It wasn't much of a surprise to Carlton that they knew to talk to the chief. Mick had told him he'd notified some higher ups about who knew and who didn't in case an emergency arose.

"Oh no." Beth, covered her mouth. She and Juliet had been watching from the doorway, Ben had said he left to get a snack, they should have known what the psychopath meant.

"You don't have to worry." Mick told her. "The vampire that did it has been killed and their accomplices staked. They just need to be picked up."

The cleaner nodded in the direction of the building and two more women and three men entered the building. Juliet and Beth moved quickly to let them in. Her gaze finally landed on Shawn. "I see you were able to rescue Mr. Spencer." She moved closer and Shawn noticed her, his eyes flashing with hatred.

"He's fine." Carlton said simply.

Smiling and backing up a few steps, the cleaner motioned to Mick, "If he's alright, then let him go."

Shawn was already growling after recognizing the cleaner. The last time he'd seen her she had threatened to kill Carlton and make him watch if he ever screwed up. Mick and Carlton looked at each other, they couldn't safely let him go, and the cleaner knew it. She'd called their bluff.

"We can't. He needs blood, there are too many humans around." Mick confessed.

The cleaner nodded in understanding before motioning towards Shawn and two men stepped forward to grab him. Instantly, Carlton, Gus, Juliet, and Henry were getting in the way, yelling and screaming for them to get away from Shawn. Things were about to get very physical when Pierre suddenly made an appearance from around the corner, where he'd hidden Adam.

The cleaner caught sight of him and whistled loudly, the men stopped trying to get at Shawn and stood obediently.

Pierre smiled suavely. "Hello Hester."

Mick blinked. He'd never found out the cleaners real name, now he knew why. "Hester?"

The cleaner, Hester, glared at Pierre but ignored Mick's surprised use of her name. "Pierre."

Carlton, who was currently covering Juliet and been keeping her away from the two advancing vampires, questioned, "You two know each other?"

"I've seen her around." Pierre shrugged and moved closer. "Hester, surely we can come to some kind of understanding. Shawn's been through quite a lot already and there must be something we can do to make it up to you."

The cleaner seemed to melt a bit, obviously there was something between the two at one time. "I can promise him a trial, but that's it. You know the laws."

"Sadly, yes I do." Pierre sighed.

"MA'AM!" A voice from behind them called. One of the cleaners who had gone into the building after Zack and Carlos came around the corner pushing Adam. They'd apparently exited out the back and found him hiding.

"And who's this?!" The cleaner demanded, once again the authority back in her voice.

Mick opened his mouth to say something, but Pierre quickly blurted out, "He's mine."

Everyone looked at Pierre surprised he'd put his neck out for the young man so quickly. Mick, however, knew that Adam would be in big trouble if the cleaners knew he was Shawn's. He'd probably get the same treatment as the other two if Pierre hadn't stepped in.

"Yours…?" The cleaner asked skeptically.

"He helped us find the nest here but was injured in the process, so I turned him." Pierre shrugged like it was no big deal.

Suspiciously glaring, she walked up and examined Adam. "I've never known your line to be quite that generous Pierre." Pierre and Josef's line had problems with turns going bad, so they naturally didn't try to turn people often.

"It was a special circumstance."

"Hmmm." The cleaner walked away from Adam and turned back to Mick, who was still gripping Shawn. "We still have to take him St. John."

Having had enough, Henry stepped forward. "No one here is taking my son!"

The cleaner cocked her head. "What would you do with him if he's feral? Keep him chained up for the rest of your life, then pass him onto someone else like some kind of eternal secret? What if he gets loose? Do you think your son would have wanted that Mr. Spencer?"

Henry's face fell in realization. Shawn would never have wanted that. Imprisonment itself would kill him, but if his son got free, he knew Ben's murders at the mall would be nothing compared to the havoc Shawn could cause.

Gus grabbed him and moved over by Juliet and Beth, letting the vampires have it out. "He'll be fine. It will be okay. You'll see." Henry nodded, defeated realizing that even though they'd gotten him back, he could still be losing his son… if he wasn't already lost.

Five hours later:

Shawn sighed wearily, the chains around him tinkled with the motion, higher pitched and almost musically. Definitely silver. He was bored, so he rattled them again. The second time wasn't as enjoyable, because he morbidly pictured the chains dropping to the ground, charred and making that same tinkling noise as he was reduced to nothing but ash.

He tried not to make them move anymore.

They'd given him a little blood. Shawn's head started to clear, but it only served to make him stronger, and angrier at what he'd been put through. Most of the people responsible were still living, which hadn't been in the plan when he'd vowed in his delirium to destroy them all. It might happen anyway, he doubted they would pass whatever test the cleaners had cooked up for them any more than he would.

The head cleaner had a pretty enjoyable time taunting him. He'd also had an enjoyable time, when he'd broken from her cronies' grip and slashed the smile right off her face. Even though it healed almost instantly, he felt some kind of vindication. He laughed briefly, but that caused the chains to move again so he stopped.

Shawn started a bit when a voice broke through his musings. He hadn't even heard anyone approach.

"Jeezus Spencer."

Shawn glanced up into the eyes of his fledgling. He frowned and turned away as much as he could, hoping he would go away like the others had.

Mick had visited him, tried to talk to him, but Shawn didn't want to talk. Talking made things worse. Made them real, made him remember what he'd done. Part of him reveled in the fact that he'd been free for the past ... however long he'd been locked up. Over the days his inner monologue had almost taken on a life of its own.

God, it had been delicious. Skin, breaking under his teeth−

Shawn silenced the thought with a growl which had the added effect of causing Carlton to back up. Bonus.

Getting his wits back, Carlton pointed a finger at him and rumbled, "Spencer, you need to snap out of this."

He frowned. Right, snap out of it. Just like he could make everything disappear and be bubblegum and smoothies again. None of them had any idea. None. Who were they to demand anything from him?

"Your father and Guster are here. They won't let them in, but they tried. Your mother's been asking about you too."

Shawn snorted. Like they'd even give a crap once they realized what he was. A monster, a murderer, a big fat kil

"O'Hara is here too."

His thoughts froze and he picked up his head to look Carlton in the eyes. A memory flashed through his mind of an upset Juliet admonishing him for playing the girlfriend card to get in on a case. "I'm sure your girlfriend appreciates being uses as a tactic..."

"Shut up. Go away." Shawn almost wondered if that was his voice. He never realized how much of his timbre came from how happy he was. He'd finally managed to get some semblance of normal, then he'd screwed it up with a dumb move and he'd proved himself to be anything, but invincible.

Carlton couldn't believe he was looking at Shawn Spencer. During the fight in the power station, he really hadn't had the time to see how much Shawn had changed. He hadn't wanted to. Even after being fed, there was something darker about his sire. Carlton could almost feel it too, like a bad taste in his mouth. Shawn isn't the same. His mind kept screaming it at him, but he refused to believe it. The guy was stubborn, too stubborn to let his beat him, but the chained figure in front of him was definitely beat.

Blood still covered him, and he smelled horrible. It wasn't like the cleaners would let someone they were potentially about to execute have a bath or anything. The blood had been a huge favor from one of the cleaners Mick knew well. They'd waited to see if there was any change, but there was very little. His eyes cleared, he became more aware, but then he'd tried to rip off the face of the head cleaner who had gotten too close. Truth be told she'd probably deserved it. She really shouldn't have said anything about Shawn's sire being right about him continuing his tradition.

It didn't help his cause any though, and they'd chained him tightly to the wall, replacing the makeshift collar with a well fashioned silver one.

Mick had come to Carlton shaking his head saying he was sorry, but they'd gotten to Shawn too late. Carlton resisted the urge to punch the other vampire in the face and stormed into the room that held his sire. After saying a couple of things that should have gotten some kind of reaction out of Shawn, he'd finally mentioned Juliet.

That seemed to spark something, but all that came out was a gravely, "Shut up. Go away."

His jaw had almost dropped. Was Shawn such an idiot that he didn't realize what they'd all been through to get him? How much pain he'd seen and felt his partner go through the last week? However, he could only imagine between snippets of what Adam had admitted and how horrible Shawn looked, what he'd had to do to survive himself. But, it looked like he'd survived just to give up at the last minute.

As Carlton stared, realization hit him and Shawn's actions suddenly made sense. He was feeling guilty, ashamed of himself. The wildness was still in his eyes, and Carlton didn't doubt for a second that if they let him go now, he might just take off someone's head within the first five minutes of being free, probably that damn cleaner's head, but he'd feel guilty about it. That was at least something.

Maybe getting him angry will work. He'd been a detective for a long time and he knew that sometimes, to get someone to break down emotionally, you first had to get them good and pissed off. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He taunted, "Is trying to get through this too much for the great Shawn Spencer?"

That seemed to do something, Shawn's eyes rose to his and turned white in an instant. The low growl his sire let out was a clear warning to back off, but Carlton had to get through to him... he had to, because no one else could. "Damn it Spencer, look at yourself. You're sitting her wallowing in self pity when you should be fighting for the people that care about you."

Shawn started fighting at the chains, trying to get at him, or get away, Carlton wasn't sure, but it was more than the apathetic stare everyone else had been getting. "Leave me alone!" He hollered in Carlton's face. His wrists had started to bleed and he cried out in pain as the silver touched his wounds.

I'm getting to him, I have to keep going. "The Spencer I know wouldn't give up this easy." Carlton got closer, his own face had changed in his anger. "For the love of God, if you are stubborn enough to feel guilty for what you've done, Shawn, then you've got to be stubborn enough to get through this and come back to us!"

Shawn suddenly stopped struggling, and Carlton knew and dreaded what was coming next. Shawn took a deep breath and screeched, making the detective finally back up to the opposite wall in cowed instinct. Shawn had only done that to him once before, and only to save his and Juliet's life in the SBPD explosion.

When Carlton caught his breath, he looked up into Shawn's face. He saw nothing more of the snarky fake he once knew. He saw a caged, intelligent animal that would tear him apart if he could. Carlton had tried, but it seemed Mick was right, Shawn wouldn't be coming back. He trudged to the door, defeated. With one last glance back he said, "I'll do you one last favor Spencer, I'll send O'Hara your regards, she doesn't deserve to see you like this."

He then turned around and walked out without another word.

The trials for Zack and Carlos went pretty fast in Pierre's opinion. The cleaners, in an unusual gesture of compassion, had at least given the two men a chance and put them through the same test they were going to give Shawn. The problem was, the pair didn't know it was a test. They'd apparently thought that they were being fed.

The two men were stuck in a large concrete area with a sound proof observation room where the viewers could watch. On the opposite wall a person would be chained and bleeding, just enough to get the scent in the air. Usually the vampires were hungry when they were given the test as well. Both Carlos and Zack had been staked so they were definitely hungry when they entered the room.

They'd barely gotten the human away from them before they'd killed her. They'd attacked her that quickly, having learned no control of their instincts. It was one really unlucky freshie, but she'd known what she'd signed up for.

Carlton had refused to come for their trial, and the thief couldn't blame him. He'd apparently gone to talk some sense into Shawn instead. Pierre had some hope, but doubted it would work. Shawn was smart, resourceful and stubborn, but there was only so much one vampire could take.

Adam was by his side the whole time. Watching in horror as his friends tried to devour a helpless woman. He'd gripped the cross necklace and excused himself to the hallway as the cleaners restrained the two young men. Pierre watched him go, he'd seen a spark in the young man, and truly hoped he'd be one of the good ones. Like Shawn was. He thought sadly to himself.

The executions of Zack and Carlos would wait until after Shawn's own trial, which would be happening in minutes. After Pierre had explained to the Head Cleaner, Hester, the depth of the connection Shawn had with his fledglings, she'd agreed, not wanting the pain of their deaths to affect Shawn's own test.

A couple minutes later, Carlton came into the observation room and stood next to him. The detective's face was a mask, but Pierre could smell the anger. The meeting with Shawn had obviously not gone well. "You sure you want to be here for this detective?" Pierre raised an eyebrow.

"No." Carlton answered honestly, "But I think I need to see this." Pierre nodded, understanding. The detective probably didn't want to make the same mistakes as Shawn. "How do they not know this is a trap? It's obviously not normal for the cleaners to just hand over a human, especially since Spencer knows he's going to be tested somehow."

"Well," Pierre considered, "This isn't normal by any means, but most of them think it's some kind of feat of strength, and they need to be fed before they do it. Others are too far gone to think of humans as anything but food. They don't know it's a test of their control, or humanity. Vampires need one or the other, hopefully both, to blend in and survive. There are true killers among our kind, but as long as they keep hidden. They aren't considered a danger." Carlton got a worried look in his eyes and Pierre sighed, "Detective, they know how much Shawn has gone through and we are lucky they're giving Shawn this chance. Plus, I honestly think Hester is sweet on him."

Carlton looked at him in disbelief, "That's her being sweet on him?"

"It's a tough love."

"Obviously."

Things between them were silent for a while, until Mick and Josef walked in to stand next to them.

Mick snorted, "I half expected to see Henry in here."

"He tried." Both Pierre and Carlton said at the same time. It hadn't been pretty. Henry had tried to get past the cleaners, but it was Gus who stopped the elder man and dragged him away to where Juliet and Beth were waiting. The humans were most likely currently comforting themselves in some way, trying to come to terms with what was happening, just like the vampires in the room were doing now.

The men jumped as the door shot open unexpectedly and Morgan Grimes, sweating and out of breath stumbled into the room. "Did I miss it?" The blue eyed man asked nervously.

"No man," Mick shook his hand, obviously happy to see he'd made it. "The party is just getting started.

"Grimes." Carlton greeted and shook Morgan's hand.

Morgan looked at the troubled looks each of the other vampires in the room wore. "They didn't tell me much... he'll be okay though? Shawn's not too bad off right?" The silence in the room told him everything he needed to know and his eyes dropped to the floor sadly.

"Um, not to be the party pooper here, but..." Josef pointed to the door that Shawn was currently coming out of.

They watched as Shawn carefully walked into the room and looked around as if expecting an attack from somewhere. His movements were hesitant and controlled. He was sniffing and listening for anything that could be considered a threat. It reminded Pierre of some kind of large predatory cat. He'd seen a lot of rogues and vampires gone feral and it amazed him each time how close they each were to becoming nothing more than another animal.

Carlton's breath caught in his throat as Shawn noticed the woman they'd placed in the room for him. He stood where he was for a moment, obviously wondering what was going on. They could tell the instant he caught the scent of the blood. His stance became more rigid and his eyes almost glowed white.

"No way." Morgan exclaimed. "That can't be happening..."

"What?" Mick asked, his brow furrowing.

"They can't have him do this. He has to get out of there!" Morgan was starting to panic and headed towards the door. The others caught him and Carlton demanded he tell them what the hell was going on. With a guilty look, Morgan explained, "When we were at training, Shawn woke up screaming. I finally got him to tell me that he'd been having nightmares of Aaron putting him in a freezer with a chained woman, and him killing her."

"Good God..." Carlton looked in the room. "Grimes are you telling me they're putting Spencer through his worst nightmare? After all this?!"

Morgan nodded frantically. "The test isn't going to work. He's going to kill the girl!"

"Gentlemen, we're too late." Pierre got their attention and pointed. Shawn was already on top of the woman, and had his fangs out, ready to bite.

Shawn hadn't realized why they'd let him go and stuffed him in another room. After Carlton had left him, he'd never expected to get out of those chains. He turned in circles, checking out the space he'd been put in. He'd taken a few tentative sniffs as well. It smelled like Zack and Carlos. They'd been here recently, which could only mean he was the last to be tested and this was it.

For someone getting tested, there isn't all that much testing going on. He thought, until he caught sight of the girl, chained fast to the floor.

Images flashed through his head of a cold room and a whimpering girl, beautiful and appetizing. The imagined rush of warm blood flooding over his tongue. He didn't have to imagine the feeling anymore, he'd had that... and knew what he was craving.

He crouched lower and studied her, she wasn't exactly scared, until she'd realized he was staring at her. Then the rush of fear hit him like ambrosia.

Take her, take her now!

Shawn knew it was a test... he knew he shouldn't.

She's right there. They won't be able to stop you... she smells good.

He was almost on top of her before he realized it, fangs out, growling. He felt something akin to fear shoot through him, most likely from one of his fledglings, he'd never gotten around to figuring out how to tell which one... just that it was coming from them and not himself.

Shawn touched her lightly on her wrist, her skin was soft. He remembered Juliet's soft skin and he paused before he shook off the memory violently. He didn't want to think about Juliet right now. He couldn't.

Hungry...

Then, the last thing Carlton said hit him like an anvil, "I'll do you one last favor Spencer, I'll send O'Hara your regards, she doesn't deserve to see you like this."

Jules would never see him again... he'd never see his dad, Gus, his mom... no one. This time it wouldn't be Ben's fault or anyone else's fault but his own that he'd be taken away from them.

"I'll never see my baby." He mumbled and looked up into the terrified eyes of the woman cowering in front of him. He looked at his hand wrapped around her wrist, holding her close enough to feed. His claws were out and he could only imagine his eyes were white and his teeth, he flicked his tongue, pointed.

His eyes flew back and forth, trying to remember everything he'd be giving up if he gave in and bit the woman. Everything. Carlton wasn't lying, or trying to make him angry. Shawn realized he'd truly be giving up EVERYTHING.

Remember the dream. His inner voice purred. You can give in. They won't accept you back anyway.

Gritting his teeth he silenced the voice once and for all as he moved his hand from her wrist, to the shackles. He dug his fingers around the metal and pulled, hard. The cuff hit the ground with a metallic clang, followed by the other one a moment later. The woman tried to scurry back away from him but he caught her by the shoulder before she could get too far away.

Shawn took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Don't run. Walk, slowly, but get the hell away from me."

He felt what could only be a nod and she very slowly moved out of his grip and walked just as slowly towards the door. Once she was out of his reach, he collapsed onto his side and curled into a ball, gripping himself tight so he wouldn't change his mind and get up. "Jules..." He whispered over and over before the whispering became sobbing. Even if he'd failed and had to die, he hoped this action had redeemed him enough so he could at least die as a man, and could see his baby and Juliet, one last time.

END NOTES: Really happy with how this turned out. Seems to be a good thing I guess. :D

Should only be one more chapter for this story guys. It's been a blast writing it!