Author's notes: This one was SOOOO hard to write and took longer than I thought it would but as you know perfection takes time. ;)

Chapter 12- Tears and Fears

"Carmichael Industries…" Carlton said skeptically. "The Carmichael Industries? Bull."

Shawn shook his head as he drove, "Yes Lassie, for the fifteenth time. Morgan is co-owner of Carmichael industries. Why is that so hard to believe?" They were speeding back to Carlton's apartment, then to Shawn's. After checking the GPS on Carlton's phone they realized Lance was not bluffing. The phone was in the hospital. Their first instinct was to rush there and find out for sure but both needed to get out of their bloody clothes and Carlton needed his car. However, the only thing the detective had been stuck on since overhearing how Morgan had answered the phone is the company name he answered with.

"Spencer, Carmichael Industries is one of the leading private defense organizations in the country and you were able to get them to come with a phone call." If Shawn didn't know better he would have thought Carlton was jealous.

Shawn shrugged. "It wasn't a huge feat or anything. Morgan is in on this too. If Lance ever found out about him he would be next on the hit list." Understanding finally came to Carlton's eyes and he nodded. "Besides, he is my blood brother and your…what is it? Blood uncle? Uncle Morgan kinda has a nice ring to it don't you think?"

Gritting his teeth Carlton snapped, "I am not referring to you or anyone else who is related to me because of vampirism as my family Spencer. At most you are my colleague, at the least, you are a constant annoyance." Taking a deep breath and shaking his head he asked, "How can you even be joking at a time like this? Lance has O'Hara and you are acting like nothing is wrong Spencer."

Carlton almost flew forward into the windshield as the car slammed to a halt. He was almost afraid to look but he turned his head anyway. Intense hazel eyes met his and Carlton felt instantly sorry for the comment. He knew how much Juliet meant to him but sometimes he just wished Shawn would stop the games. "Lassiter, I am barely holding it together here. I really don't think you should be pushing the giant red button that says 'Do not push unless you want a homicidal psychic vampire running around.' Got it?" Carlton nodded and Shawn put the car back into gear and pulled back onto the street.

They were both silent until they got to Carlton's apartment. Shawn's phone ringing broke through the awkwardness. "It's Mick. Should I answer it?"

"He has a right to know Spencer. This is his "family" we are dealing with." Hopping out of the car he stated, "I won't be long." Before he turned and jogged inside.

Grimacing Shawn tentatively answered. "Hello?"

"Shawn! Are you guys alright? Beth heard about what happened to the station!" Shawn was touched at his new friend's concern.

"Lassie and I are fine but… there is something I need to tell you." Shawn proceeded to spill out a shortened but highly dramatic version of the story for Mick. Saying Mick would be unhappy was an understatement. Mick was pissed. He had a huge chip on his shoulder about the whole cure business, which is why Shawn had been reluctant to call him, but with Jules in trouble he needed all the help he could get, again. It was just over a week ago when he was put in almost this same situation. "There can't be that many crazy old vampires out there. Eventually they will stop kidnapping my girlfriend." He thought bitterly.

"You have the cure? You seriously have THE CURE?" Mick was angry but there was excitement in his voice.

"I have what I think is the cure but yeah, now I just have to figure out if Lance will actually trade me Jules back for it." Shawn knew there was no guarantee that he insane vampire would keep his end of the bargain. After what Lance did though, Shawn wondered if he even wanted to bargain anymore.

"Coralline traded herself and the temporary cure for my safety and Lance kept his promise, but it might have been because we are technically family so there is no telling for sure." Shawn heard Mick talking to Beth in the background. "I will be there as soon as I can."

"Thanks man. We are meeting at my dad's house. See you there." Shawn hung up but stared at the phone. He squeezed it in his hand, he felt like crushing it. He felt like screaming at the top of his lungs…he was getting tired of having to play the responsible one. Looking back Shawn realized he had probably been more mature in the last two weeks than he had during his whole life. It got him wondering if it was a vampire thing or if he was just putting on another mask. He was Shawn Spencer. He couldn't actually be acting like an actual adult… could he?

Carlton shouting "Spencer!" made Shawn jump and look up as he leaned in the passenger's side window of the car. "I'm heading to the hospital. I'll see if I can find the Chief. And be sure to step on it would you? I don't want to have to explain everything myself." When Shawn told Carlton that Karen had seen him with fangs he wasn't happy.

"Can do Lassie. Mick is on his way but we still have an hour to check things out before everyone gets here. I'll call Gus and see if he is at the hospital or helping out at the precinct."

At the mention of the SBPD Carlton's eyes hardened. "We are so going to nail that son of a bitch!"

Shawn glanced over with a raised eyebrow, "Bad choice of words Lassie."

After getting changed, Shawn called his friend and had spent the whole way to the hospital telling Gus that he and Carlton were ok. He made sure to leave out the part about Lance having Juliet until he was able to tell Gus in person. As it was, Gus was driving back to the hospital to meet up with Henry after helping out in a volunteer firefighter capacity at the ruined station. Apparently his father had been helping the Chief out with checking on the injured officers. Shawn had tried calling him too but his phone must be off because he was in the hospital.

Gus ended up pulling into the hospital parking lot right after Shawn. He could see Carlton's Fusion was already parked and empty. Both stepped out of their vehicles and gave each other a fist bump greeting. "Gus, I have something to tell you and I need your help because I don't know how much longer I can hold it together." Shawn took a deep breath and continued, "Lance took Jules, as far as I know she is ok but I..." Shawn's face scrunched as he tried to hold back his emotions.

Gus didn't even have to think about what his friend needed. He needed a hug. Shawn let out a small "oof" as Gus put his arm around his shoulder and comforted him. After a moment Shawn backed up and nodded, letting Gus know that he was good now. "Thanks buddy."

"No problem, but what are we going to do about Juliet and where is Lassiter?"

Clearing his throat from being emotional, Shawn pointed towards the hospital. "Lassie is inside finding the Chief and I already called in some people to help with getting Jules back. Morgan is on his way, so is Mick. I don't know what I am going to do about the Chief though, when I pulled her out of the building she saw me... at my worst if you get my meaning."

"Oh man." Gus knew Karen. She would want an explanation about that as soon as she saw him. "What are you going to tell her? You must be out of your damn mind if you are thinking about telling her the truth!"

Shawn started walking towards the building and Gus fell into step beside him. "I dunno man. If I still want to work for them and not avoid her for the rest of her life I am going to have to tell her something at least close to the truth. I'll leave it to Lassie to tell her about himself though."

"I'd like to be the fly on the wall for that conversation." Gus nudged Shawn and gave a small grin. Gus knew he had to keep Shawn's mood light so he could keep thinking clearly. He had done it a few times since the Yang case and it seemed to work for the most part.

Stepping up to the desk, Shawn asked, "Have you seen Chief Karen Vick around anywhere? Or if you could tell us some of the rooms where the injured from the SBPD have been taken?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Are you two reporters? Why can't you just leave those poor officers alone?"

Gus was luckily carrying his consultant ID and handed it to her. "We are consultants for the SBPD. We were there when the explosion happened and the Chief needs to see us."

Instantly blushing the nurse apologized and directed them to the second floor. "Isn't that the ICU?" Gus asked and the nurse nodded sadly. The two friends looked at each other and gulped. This was not good at all.

Thanking the nurse they got in the elevator and rode to it to the next floor. The ride was silent and both friends stood awkwardly, wondering how many more of their friends and co-workers would survive the night.

Stepping out, the pair saw doctors and nurses rushing though the hallway back and forth between multiple rooms. Even through the chaos they noticed Karen immediately. She was staring in one of the rooms with a worried look on her face. Carlton was no where to be seen but so they figured he was probably in one of the rooms visiting.

As soon as Shawn stepped out of the elevator his resolve broke. Spinning around he tried to get back in but found Gus had blocked his way. "How about we come back next week." Shawn pleaded with his friend. "Tuesday is a good day for me... OW!"

His babbling was cut off by a hard punch to the arm. "Go over there and talk to her." Gus hissed quietly at Shawn and pointed at Karen.

"I don't want to go over there and talk to her." Shawn hissed back.

"You will if you want to work for her again."

"We can take private cases."

"I will kill you Shawn!"

"Good luck with that!"

"Ahem." Karen cleared her voice right behind Shawn. The triumphant look on Gus' face told Shawn that his friend had been stalling while Karen had snuck up on him.

Shawn closed his eyes and huffed out a breath before turning around to face his boss. Besides her eyes being a bit puffy from crying, her demeanor was her normal, in control self. Her scent told a different story though. Anger, fear and something else Shawn couldn't decipher hung around her like a cloud. She was a volatile, emotional wreck about to go off at any moment.

Clearing her throat and finding her nerve Karen spoke, "Mr. Guster... Mr. Spencer."

Shawn rubbed his lip. "Hey Chief, we stopped by to see how everyone was doing and to talk to you."

Karen pursed her lips. She had a lot to deal with already but this was something she needed to talk to Shawn about. "Come with me. Mr. Guster, can you stay here a moment?"

Nodding, Gus looked around to find a seat as Karen led Shawn into one of the empty rooms. It was a full minute before she was able to speak, during which Shawn shifted from foot to foot nervously wondering how she was going to take this. "Mr. Spencer. I wanted to thank you for saving my life, but I had a couple questions about how you did what you did at the station."

"Chief I can tell you, but you have to promise not to do anything..." Shawn tried to find the right word, "...rash."

Karen narrowed her eyes, "What do you mean by rash?"

"Well, you could not shoot me for one."

Karen chuckled nervously, "I'm not going to shoot you Mr. Spencer."

"Lassie should take some info from your book." Shawn grumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. But, just saying that, hypothetically of course, if there were vampires out there..." Shawn looked sheepishly at Karen. "...what would you think about it?"

Karen could not believe what she was hearing. She was in the middle of a huge crisis and Shawn was asking her about vampires. "I would think that my head psychic finally went crazy and is running around with vampire make up on. That is what I would think about it!" Karen gave Shawn a hard look. "I wasn't going to bring that part up but since you brought it out in the open, I have begun to think you tricked the psychologist into thinking that you were actually fit for duty when you are still obviously mentally ill from your ordeal. Not to mention that you LIED to me about it."

Knowing he would need some physical proof, Shawn reached in his pocket and pulled out his Swiss army knife. As he flicked it open Karen took a step back, still questioning Shawn's mental state. He shot her a hurt look. "I just saved your life, I won't hurt you." Shaking his head he tried to figure out where he wanted to do this. Just because he was a vampire didn't mean he lost his distaste for pointy things. In fact it may have gotten worse since all he had been stuck with was pointy things since he became a vampire. Settling on his palm he winced and brought the blade to his skin.

"Shawn what are you doing?!" Self harm was a new one for Shawn but Karen wasn't about to let him hurt himself to prove he was a vampire. "Don't even think about it." She reached for the knife and Shawn backed up holding it above his head as she tried to grab it. "Give it to me Shawn!"

She attempted to jump for it and both ended up toppling onto the hospital bed with Karen on top of Shawn clawing for the knife in his hand. "Chief stop! I know what I'm doing! Wait! OW!" After a bit more reaching, Shawn let the knife go. He didn't want to end up hurting Karen or her baby.

Karen stood up quickly, getting out of the awkward position as fast as she could, "Mr. Spencer I am going to have you committed!" She brandished the knife at him as she shouted.

Thinking it was a bit backwards to take the knife away from him then threaten him with it Shawn raised his hands and stayed sprawled on the bed. "Chief, I need you to trust me. C'mon! You have known me for six years! You have seen me at my worst. I may be a bit eccentric but would I really lie about this? Especially now?"

"You are asking me to trust that you are a vampire?" Tears started to form in Karen's eyes. "I can't take this right now Shawn. I already lost a detective and an officer. I have two other detectives that won't make it through the night. I can't have you going crazy on me... especially since that is all I feel like doing right now, and it wouldn't be fair if I couldn't."

Shawn stood up and patted Karen on the back. That was all she needed for the tears to become a water fall. As Karen turned and gripped his shirt burying her face in his chest Shawn realized what the other smell clinging to her that he couldn't identify was. Sorrow.

Carlton stood at the bedside of one of his fellow detectives. He had come in here after grabbing his phone from Juliet's room. He had not worked with Moses Johnson much because he was a narcotics detective, but he was a good cop and didn't deserve to be dying in a hospital because of a crazed vampire.

"I am not good at this whole, emotion thing." Carlton said to the still body. "But you need to hang in there, don't let that scumbag win." He stood watching him for a few more minutes before raised voices caught his attention.

Cocking his head towards the sound he heard what sounded like Karen yell, "Mr. Spencer I am going to have you committed!"

"Damn it Spencer!" Carlton growled and ran down the hallway, dodging nurses, doctors and Gus... "GUSTER?" Carlton spotted the black man sitting in the hallway. "What are you doing here?"

"Shawn and I ran into the Chief. They are having "the talk" right now." Gus was obviously nervous for Shawn.

Giving him a disbelieving look Carlton sneered. "And you didn't think of going in there to help when she started yelling?"

"I can't hear a damn thing they are saying. So don't blame me just because I can't hear as well as you!"

Carlton paused and listened again. He heard sobbing. "Great. Lets get in there before he does something else to upset her." Both Gus and Carlton entered the room and saw Karen crying and hugging Shawn. Shawn himself was blinking the mist out of his eyes and Carlton heard sniffling coming from beside him. "For the love of God Guster!"

"*Sniff* I'm sorry I can't help it." Gus started to cry and walked over to give Karen a hug. She turned and latched on to Gus and they both let the tears flow.

Finally free, Shawn walked over to stand by Carlton. "Have you told her yet?" The detective whispered to Shawn.

"Didn't get a chance to convince her I was anything but crazy." Shawn shrugged.

"Aw hell. Let me try." He started to walk to Karen when Shawn stopped him.

"Don't tell her about Jules." Shawn warned and Carlton nodded in agreement.

Walking over he tapped Karen on the shoulder and opened his mouth to speak. All he got was an arm full of Police Chief when she hugged him too. He stood there awkwardly as Karen finally realized who she was hugging.

Looking up and seeing Carlton, Karen straightened and fixed her hair, doing her best to compose herself for the detective. "Detective Lassiter." She greeted him curtly. Embarrassed at the emotional display.

"Chief Vick. Spencer told me he tried to tell you what was going on. We have to meet some people in an hour that are going to help us catch the man responsible for this and I need you to listen to us ok?" Carlton put his hands on Karen's shoulders and looked her in the eyes. Concentrating, Carlton let his face change. "During the case last week something happened to us and this is the result."

Karen's eyes widened and she whirled around to look at Shawn who had taken his cue from Carlton and stood there with white eyes to help convince the Chief. "Sorry for freaking you out."

She turned her head the other way to look at Gus who looked totally normal, "Don't look at me, I'm still human." he smirked proudly, earning him a glare from both Shawn and Carlton.

"This is impossible. Vampires don't exist!" The Chief tried to protest.

Shawn shook his head and said sadly, "Not only do they exist Chief, the guy we are going after is one too. We can't tell you everything right now but just so you know, we aren't monsters...bad ones anyway." Carlton nodded in agreement.

"The week vacation..." Karen whispered. She was in awe that she had not noticed the change before. The little things she had seen from them the last few days started to add up. Shawn being able to tell she was pregnant, Carlton being a bit more grouchy towards Shawn. It was because he had already spent a week straight with him. It all made sense. "How many people know about this?"

Carlton pointed to himself and Shawn, "If you are talking about us, it is just the people in this room, along with O'Hara and Henry. Oh, and Marlowe." Carlton said his girlfriend's name with a smile.

Shawn remembered his father. They had to tell him about Juliet. "Where is my dad? He was supposed to be here and he is not answering his phone."

"He might have gone back to the station to help. Last time I saw him that is what he was going to do." Karen was still looking back and forth at the detectives, trying to process everything.

Shawn patted her on the shoulder. "Believe me, I know it is a lot to take in but you need to go back and do your Chiefly duties by taking care of your officers. We will explain everything later but believe us when we say that it will be taken care of." Shawn gestured his head towards the door and the rest took it as their cue to head out.

"If you need anything call us or Henry." Gus gave her a sympathetic look and followed Shawn out the door.

Carlton stayed behind a minute to talk to Karen alone. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you but under the circumstances I hope you can understand."

"It's ok detective. We will talk later. Just get the bastard that did this and I will sleep easy tonight." The determined stare Karen gave her detective was all the permission he needed.

Carlton gave a sly smile. "You got it Chief."

END NOTES: This chapter was incredibly hard because of trying to figure out Vick's reaction to everything. I wrote it serious, I wrote it funny and figured a nice mixture of sarcasm and crying would do. lol