AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is one of my favorite chapters so far. :D You'll see why.

Chapter 7- Getting Shook Up from a Shakedown

Earlier that afternoon:

Lance carefully sifted through the charred debris. His good eye searching back and forth desperately trying to find what he had spent the last two days and nights looking for. His shorter silent companion, also searching, was coming up with nothing as well.

"This is so much easier at night." Lance stated as he adjusted his sunglasses. His companion gave a single nod in agreement. "Cynthia you always were a problem..." He grumbled and turned to the other man. "She knew what we came for and had to have taken or hidden it."

Lance was having second thoughts about killing Cynthia. Not for any sentimental reasons but for the fact that it would have been easier to force an answer out of someone who wasn't currently a pile of ash. In his mind she was a traitor and a thief, just like his sister. Just like all of them.

"Sir, we need to get out of the sun. What do you want to do?" Lance's usually silent associate asked.

"We have to find where the cure could have ended up. She was in that charlatan's business when we put the bomb on her car, so they may know something there..." Lance looked thoughtful, "Or the police could have picked it up so we should have someone check there too. It would be too dangerous for us to show up just in case they know anything. Get a hold of our contacts and see if they can get any information."

The pair started walking back towards their black Mercedes. Lance would personally take care of the Psych Agency. Doubtless he was some kind of con-man but if Cynthia mentioned anything to him he would be a liability to be disposed of, or depending on how the meeting went, he could be another asset to be used as he wished. Either way, Lance was interested in meeting the man who claimed to be a psychic detective.

Present:

"Look man," Shawn raised his hands in a placating gesture, "I can't tell you too much. She came in, stunk the place up with her cheap perfume, went crazy and ran to her car before it blew up. She never even really hired us." Shawn tried, he really tried not to stare at Lance's eye while he talked. Unfortunately the more he thought about not staring the more he stared.

Lance gave Shawn a scrutinizing glare. "Is there a problem?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"No, noooooo... No problem. I just had something catch my eye... MY ATTENTION... it caught my attention that you might know a good obstriction."

Giving an annoyed glare Lance corrected him, "It is obstetrician."

Shawn shrugged trying to look disinterested, "I've heard it both ways." He really hadn't heard that one both ways but anything to keep the scary guy in front of him from killing him was a good thing.

Movement outside caught all three men's attention. Gus' blue echo had just pulled into the parking lot.

Shawn's eyes widened. "What do I do, what do I do!?" Shawn thought frantically. If anyone was going to freak out as soon as he realized that Lance was here it was Gus. He would freak out, Lance would smell it and probably rip them both to shreds. He had to do something to get Gus out of here, but he couldn't alert Lance either.

Lance was staring out the window. "Who is that?"

"He's uh..." Shawn tried to think quickly. "He's my partner..." As Shawn the words left his mouth an unbelievable idea came to his panicked mind. It was insane, crazy, zany and absolutely brilliant.

Gus was jogging up to the office now. No doubt he had noticed the extra car outside.

Shawn went by the pair of vampires to meet him at the door. "Excuse me for a second gentlemen."

Gus and Shawn met at the door at the same time. Gus was able to give Shawn a puzzled look and say "Shawn? Who is..." Before Shawn grabbed him and kissed him.

Right on the lips.

Gus panicked and started to struggle, trying to push Shawn away. Shawn was not enjoying it any more than Gus was. Both were thinking the same word. "MOUTHWASH"

Not breaking character, Shawn asked a sputtering Gus, "How was your day honey buns?"

Gus started wiping frantically at his mouth. "Oh my GOD Shawn! What is wrong with you?!"

Shawn faked a look of hurt. "Oh, don't be that way pineapple lips! I know you don't like kissing in public but I missed you." Sure enough Shawn's plan was working. Gus was so surprised and angry that he didn't even notice the two men standing right there.

"Have you lost your damn mind Shawn? That is going too far!" Gus threw his hands up in exasperation. "You know what, I have had enough for today. You have a nice night alone..." Gus realized what he had said when Shawn's smile got even wider. "YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN SHAWN!" Gus yelled at his insane friend before storming off back to his car.

Shawn hung out the door and made half hearted attempts to get him to come back. "But you promised me a night out!" Giving a heavy sigh he walked back into the office and was met by shocked stares. "Oh, he will be back. He is just shy." Shawn explained and sat sprawling on the couch. "Did you guys need anything else?"

Lance's cocky smirk was gone but that only served to make him even more intimidating. He stepped towards the sitting Shawn and sneered. "You are hiding something psychic, if you really are a psychic." Shawn kept on smiling. Lance thought it was a confirmation that he was hiding something but Shawn was just remembering what he told Gus about vampires all being skeptics.

"It would be in your best interest..." Lance continued, "to make sure you aren't holding anything out on us."

"You know, you guys are probably the most cultured gangsters I have ever seen. Do you serve tea during your shakedowns because I prefer Earl Gray." Shawn was unable to finish because Lance got right into his face. Shawn could not stop his heart from jumping to his throat.

Lances features remained stoic, but Shawn could literally feel the anger coming off him like a heat. Then Shawn saw it. He saw what made Lance so incredibly dangerous and why other vampires were so frightened of him. Complete madness. Lance was as Mick described him, a psychopath. Human emotions or connections were of no importance to this man, everything was a means to an end and if you got in his way or hindered him, you would be tossed aside... or blown up in your car. Shawn finally understood why Cynthia had been on the brink of a breakdown when she came to the office.

"What. Did. She. Tell. You." Lance spoke to Shawn as if talking to a toddler who didn't understand what he was saying.

Shawn was practically shaking, but he would be damned if he gave into this bullying, pompous, heartless, arsonurderer. He could tell Lance was listening to his heart to see if he was lying. Doing his best to keep his breathing and heartbeat steady Shawn glared at Lance and said evenly and in the same condescending voice used on him, "She came in. She said someone was after her. She freaked out. She left. She blew up." Then Shawn prepared himself for the inevitable beating he was about to receive.

Lance took a step back, seeming bored with the whole situation. "Well if you can think, or divine anything else later on here is my card, and if you would take a shower before contacting me it would be a big favor." He put the card on the desk rather than hand it to Shawn. Lance knew he could kill Shawn if he wanted but to put it mildly, Lance didn't want to burn any bridges with one of the only people who may or may not have access to the cure. Plus the psychic's...partner... knew they had been here. If he killed him it would put too much heat on them. He made that mistake with Cynthia earlier. Putting his sunglasses back on Lance walked out the door with his associate.

Shawn didn't move for at least five minutes after Lance left, just to be sure he was gone. He got up and walked over to the desk and picked up the card. It had just a cell phone number on it. Shawn felt incredibly lucky to be alive. He plopped down in Gus' desk chair and took deep breaths. Something from his back pocket was bugging him and he pulled out the vial with the small needle, having almost forgotten what he had just found.

Shawn moved the vial so he could watch the liquid inside slosh back and forth. There was so much going through his mind right then. He had to call Mick because he had found the cure, he had to call Gus and apologize for the kissing, he had to call Carlton because now there was no doubt in his mind that Lance was responsible for all the other fires... so many people he had to call, but only one he wanted to call. He began dialing Juliet's number. When she answered he immediately asked, "Where are you?"

Juliet walked up to her partner's desk carrying a stack of papers in her good arm. She set them on the desk and pushed others out of the way to make room. Carlton was too busy reading through the other files to notice. It was almost 8pm and both had been working on figuring out the connection between the fires all afternoon, since the information was faxed over, and had come up with very little. Official documents tended to not have information on whether or not the owners of the burned down houses were vampires. Fortunately they were finding other similarities. Carlton spotted it first and it seemed to told true for most of the victims. Some were chemists, doctors, botanists, and herbalists. There were also reports of a black Mercedes at some of the crime scenes. It was a start but not all the proof they needed.

Juliet's phone started to ring. She looked and saw it was Shawn. She nudged Carlton. "It's Shawn, he might have something."

She answered the phone but before she was able to say anything Shawn shaky voice asked, "Where are you?"

"I'm at the station with Carlton, what's wrong?" Carlton looked up at his partner's concerned question. He could smell Juliet was suddenly afraid. Carlton was still learning to identify some of the different scents he now had to deal with but he knew fear. He decided to listen in on the conversation.

"I'll be right there. Don't go anywhere." Shawn hung up.

Juliet looked at the phone in disbelief but it was Carlton who voiced both their concerns. "Since when is Spencer that to the point?"

"There must really be something wrong." Juliet chewed the bottom of her lip nervously before walking over to the pile on Carlton's desk. Without another word both continued to look through the information until ten minutes later when a crash came from the front doors.

Half the station jumped at the noise as Shawn burst through the heavy station doors. Surprisingly the glass did not break as the door bounced off the wall with a lot more force than he had intended. Noticing Juliet moving to the hallway to see what the commotion was Shawn rushed to her.

Juliet grunted as Shawn grabbed her in a firm hug and lifted her off her feet. He put his head on her neck and sniffed deeply still holding her off her feet. Juliet was concerned at first but noticing her boyfriend was obviously upset about something she didn't say anything, only hugged him back. Even if he did stink a bit. Juliet's phone started to ring but she ignored it as this was the most intimate contact she had with Shawn since the whole ordeal started almost two weeks ago, she didn't even mind that it was in the middle of the station... and people were starting to stare.

Carlton's nose wrinkled. As soon as Shawn came close he got a whiff of something that smelled like a foul animal. "Spencer what the hell, you smell like crap." Shawn and Juliet both ignored him, too caught up in the moment to notice the annoyed detective. When his phone rang he answered it right away, anything to get him away from the sickeningly romantic sight in front of him. "Lassiter." He answered.

"Lassie, it's Gus. Where is Juliet? She isn't answering her phone and I have to talk to her about Shawn. He is acting weird."

Carlton snorted, "You're telling me? He just ran into the station and grabbed my partner."

"What are you talking about? He is at the station?"

"That's what I said Guster. He called wondering where she was then when he got here he came in and started... hugging O'Hara." Carlton didn't want to think about Shawn and his partner in an intimate way at all.

"Oh no, I will be right there..."

Carlton was starting to get angry at being kept in the dark. "Wait a second Guster, are you going to tell me what is going on here?"

"He is freaking out. Just don't upset him more. I should have known something was wrong." Guster chastised himself then hung up.

Carlton's attention snapped to Shawn, he knew he was going to be sorry but he sniffed deeply. There was that gross animal smell... but under that there was something else. Something Carlton had not thought Shawn was capable of feeling. Fear. "Something big had to have happened." Carlton reasoned.

He stepped forward and tried to get Shawn's attention. He knew the display of affection couldn't go on much longer without arousing suspicion. "Spencer, lets go. You can't do this right here." He wasn't expecting Shawn's white eyes to shoot open and a terrifying growl to be aimed in his direction. Carlton stepped back as if slapped. "What was that?" Carlton wondered.

Juliet was the one to diffuse the situation. "Shawn, lets go downstairs so you can talk with us." Shawn let her go, looked her in the eyes and nodded. Juliet put her good hand on Shawn's back and led him down the stairs.

Carlton stared at Shawn as he left wondering what could have caused that reaction out of the usually unreadable man. Gus was there less than a minute later so Carlton didn't have much time to muse.

"Where's Shawn?" Gus asked, out of breath.

Carlton pointed down the stairs. "You may want to hang back a bit Guster. He is really bad off. How did you know he was so upset? Did you do this?" Giving the younger man an accusing glare.

"Don't look at me!" Gus looked indignant. "I got back to the office after we went out to Cynthia's house and Shawn met me at the doorway and... acted weird. Anyway, I left and after I calmed down I tried calling Juliet."

"Why was he acting weird? Was there anyone else there with him?" The detective in Carlton smelled something fishy.

Gus thought about it and realized, yes. There had been other people there. "Yeah, two guys in a black Mercedes. I remember thinking the car was nice."

"Sweet holy justice!" Carlton's eyes widened and he sped down to the interrogation room with a confused Gus on his heels.

Shawn and Juliet got to the interrogation room and just settled into adjoining chairs when Carlton came in the room followed by Gus. Gus was surprised at the ashen look on his friend's face and it confirmed his suspicions that something was very wrong.

Shawn looked up and saw Gus. A small smile formed on his lips, he was glad his friend was here and not hating him forever for what he had to do. "Hey buddy."

Carlton and Gus took the chairs on the other side of the table. Leaning forward on the counter Carlton tentatively asked Shawn, "What did Lance say to you?"

Shawn was a bit impressed that Carlton figured it out without him having to say anything but both Gus and Juliet were struck speechless. "You know, he said the usual. What do you know, if you don't tell me bad things will happen."

Gus, finding his voice, looked at Carlton. "How did you know he saw Lance?"

"One of the patterns in the witness statements mentioned a black Mercedes. When you said that one was parked at Psych I put two and two together." Carlton admitted. Juliet, getting it now nodded.

"Good one Lassie, I always knew you could do math, no matter what everyone else says." Shawn was starting to sound more like his old self even if he was still leaning towards Juliet for emotional support.

Carlton growled at the jab. "Can the sarcasm Spencer, what did Lance want to know?"

Frowning, Shawn knew he couldn't tell Carlton about the cure right away, he might over react. He was even thinking about not telling Juliet but one more lie that big between them could completely wreck any chance he had with her. "They thought that Cynthia had said something to us about the cure and where she hid it. He said she stole something from him and he wanted to know where it was to get it back. I told him I didn't know anything about it."

"Right, I am supposed to believe you got a lie that big off in front of a three century old vampire." Carlton scoffed disbelievingly. "He could have told you were lying from a mile away."

Shawn looked at Carlton seriously. He took a deep breath and said, "It wasn't Gus and I that kept crank calling you about free cruises and wicker furniture a few years ago."

Carlton knew for sure that it was them that did that. Shawn had already admitted it and his heartbeat should have given away that he was lying... but it wasn't. Carlton's jaw dropped in realization. "Spencer, you cheated on that lie detector?!"

"There is no proof of that Lassie." Shawn said matter of factly before turning to Juliet. "What else did you find out about the people in the fires?"

"A lot of them were in scientific professions. Herbalists, botanists..." Juliet saw Shawn was nodding as if coming to some kind of conclusion.

It wasn't a pleasant thought but Shawn told them what he was thinking. "Lance is killing everyone who knew about or helped develop the cure."

"How are we going to stop him?" Gus asked aloud to no one in particular.

Carlton, still upset over Shawn getting the better of him, again. Said something he knew he would probably regret. "Stop him? He had Spencer here almost blubbering within five minutes. I have been trying to get to him for over six years..."

Shawn got up and walked out the door in a huff.

"Carlton!" Juliet yelled and swatted at her partner. Gus just glared at him and went to go catch Shawn.

"What?!" Carlton said in an indignant whine.

Gus fell into step next to Shawn as he ascended the stairs. "What else happened Shawn? There was more to it than what you said in there. If there wasn't you wouldn't be so upset."

Sighing, Shawn reached in his back pocket and pulled out the vial of cure. "She put it in the couch of all places. I found it just before Lance arrived." Shawn explained.

"Is that what I think it is?" Gus asked in awe.

Shawn nodded. "I think it is. I just want to be sure about it before I start broadcasting it." He handed the small object to Gus. "I need you to keep it safe for me."

Gus gave his friend a confused stare, "What?"

Giving Gus his sad puppy look he squirmed a bit. "Think of it as a sorry for what happened at the office. I was just trying to protect you. I do trust you and I don't want you to think I drove you away because I didn't trust you buddy."

Gus took the cure from Shawn and gave him a brotherly hug. "You ever kiss me again Shawn and I really will kill you."

Juliet chose that moment to walk up to the hugging pair. Seeing she was watching they broke apart quickly and did a small fist bump instead. "Is there something I should know Shawn?" Juliet smirked. She knew how close Shawn and Gus were and it amused her that they were constantly embarrassed to show it.

"Nothing important Jules." He leaned forward, took her hand, and gave her a small kiss. "Sorry I got all grippy and everything back there."

"Shawn that is what I am here for." She gave his hand a squeeze. Remembering the reason he left the room she tried to explain away her partner's stupidity. "Shawn, about what Carlton said..."

Shawn held up a hand to stop her. "He is right. The dude is scary, scary in general and scary strong. Lassie and me have been vampires a week. He is over three hundred." Shawn rubbed his lip. "Is there a way I could take a look at some of the files. I might be able to find something."

Juliet nodded and motioned them up the rest of the stairs to the detective desks. There were two piles of papers. "This is one that we have looked through and I just got these other ones faxed to me."

Shawn however, had stopped listening. He cocked his head and squinted as he noticed a paper on top of the old pile. It was a condensed victim's list that said who owned the house and how many fatalities there were. The name near the middle is the one that caught his attention. The fire was from almost a month before.

Owner: Dr. Aaron Lonsdale (Deceased)

-Suspected victim number 6. Unable to identify bodies due to advanced incineration.

Licking his lips nervously Shawn tried to find his voice, which was becoming a problem lately. "Juliet, Gus... I think we may have a bit of a problem." He saw the shocked expressions on their faces as he pointed to the name of his sire.