A/N: I'm terribly sorry about the long wait for this chapter. RL has given me no time to write. Thanks to all who've reviewed! You're all awesome! :)
Shawn's gaze lingered on the trees. The leaves that had previously rested in the undergrowth moved off the ground a few inches when a light breeze touched them, only to resettle moments later as Shawn tried to catch sight of what he'd seen moments before.
"I don't see anything, Shawn," Gus said, an edge of panic to his voice that suggested that though he couldn't see what Shawn had seen, he still trusted his friend, even though he would have rather had that he was wrong in this moment of time.
"I saw something, I swear I did," Shawn answered, his voice growing quieter as he spoke.
"Where?" Gus questioned as he stood up, but he put a hand on Shawn's shoulder when he too tried to get up.
"Straight ahead," Shawn said, raising a hand to point towards the trees, "just by the tree that has roots that's just trying to trip you up."
Gus ignored Shawn's last comment and continued to scan the line of trees.
"I still don't see anything," he finally said, though the fact that he couldn't see anything did nothing to calm his nerves. Shawn could see a light sheen of sweat gathering on his friend's temple and his forehead was set in a constant frown of anxiety. "Are you absolutely sure you saw something?"
Shawn merely looked up at him and Gus finally looked down when he didn't answer. Shawn gave him a pointed look which told Gus clearly what he thought of his friend's question.
"Right," Gus finally said, sounding slightly less panicked than before but instead he was now shuffling from one foot to the other, "I'm calling Lassiter."
Shawn gave a brief nod of approval before returning his attention to the line of trees, scanning them quickly in an attempt to catch another glimpse of the something – no, someone, that he'd seen. There was not an inkling of doubt in his mind that he'd seen a flash of someone clad in dark. Clearly this person was a walking cliché. Why else would they be clad only in black and not something akin to his dad's Hawaiian shirts? While Gus was distracted by the call to Lassiter, Shawn used the wall behind him to push himself up on his feet. Once he was standing he leaned heavily against the wall and closed his eyes for a few moments as he tried to will his heart to stop trying to hammer its way through his chest.
"They're on their way," Gus relayed as he slipped his phone back in his pocket and turned to look at Shawn. He clearly had not realised that Shawn had stood up as his gaze was fixed firmly on the ground for the first second before he looked up. "Shawn," he scolded, sounding far from pleased that Shawn had taken matters into his own hands, regardless of whether Gus wanted him to keep sitting or not.
"Really?" Shawn said with a questionable frown on his forehead as he looked in Gus's direction. "You just call them and then they turn up? Usually I have to –"
"I didn't annoy them before getting to the point," Gus said, cutting Shawn off quickly.
Shawn rolled his eyes, annoyed to find that that small action was enough to aggravate his headache at the moment. Desperate to find something to focus on instead of everything that was hurting, aching or annoying him, he returned his gaze to the woodland
"Do you still want me to call your dad?" Gus asked, breaking the little bit of concentration Shawn had mustered.
"No," Shawn said quickly, making sure to not avert his eyes from the trees.
Gus was saying something again but Shawn wasn't listening as he instead narrowed his eyes in an effort to look closer. He'd seen something. Again.
"I think they're watching us," Shawn said quietly, partly to himself but of course Gus heard him.
"What?" Gus squealed, taking half a step closer to Shawn who thought it would be cruel to choose now to point out that he probably wasn't the best bodyguard at the moment.
Shawn took a step forward, his eyes never leaving the area where he'd seen something move. He'd been sure he'd seen it this time. It was just a flash of a dark coat but it was enough for his mind to register it even when he was feeling far from his normal self.
"Shawn, where are you going?" Gus whispered frantically as he grabbed a hold of Shawn's arm to force him back against the building.
"I'm just going to have a look," Shawn answered distractedly as he started shuffling towards the woodland again only to be yanked back a second later.
"No way," Gus positioned himself in front of Shawn, successfully blocking Shawn's vision of the woodland no matter how hard he tried to twist and turn to look around his friend. "Lassiter and Juliet are on their way. Let's just wait for them."
Shawn narrowed his eyes at Gus, clearly seeing the panic that was practically coming off his friend in waves. In a weak attempt to reassure his friend Shawn reached up and patted Gus lightly on the arm, at the same time peering behind him to see if he could catch a quick glimpse of their mystery person again.
"It might be nobody," Shawn said quietly as he brought his gaze back to Gus, having been unable to locate anything other than trees in the woodland.
"It might be a serial killer," Gus countered, throwing a quick glance over his shoulder as though expecting the bogey man to come running at him. "Who else would come here, Shawn?"
"We're here," Shawn said slowly.
"Investigating a double homicide," Gus snapped as he took a small step closer to Shawn as though expecting him to try to dart around him. Gus knew him too well.
"You were planning on leaving me here a minute ago," Shawn argued. He wasn't quite sure what he was trying to achieve as he knew that under normal circumstances he would quite happily go and locate a killer, but he really didn't think it was a good idea at the moment.
A guilty look crossed Gus's face at Shawn's words, but it was quickly replaced by the same panicked expression as before, this time tinged with a bit of frustration which leaked into his voice as he spoke, "That was before I knew anybody else was out here."
That was a very valid point. Even Shawn had to admit that.
"Fair enough," Shawn relented as he took a deep breath, feeling the air grating against his throat almost painfully.
Gus looked almost apologetic as he took a step back from Shawn, instead turning to stand next to him with his back against the building. They both cast a fleeting glance at each other before Shawn returned his attention to the woodland. He squeezed his eyes shut when he felt them start to water only to return his attention to the exact spot where he'd left off. His vision kept blurring and he growled in irritation when he had to resort to squeezing the bridge of his nose to try and refocus. He wasn't even aware that Gus was partly keeping anxious watch over the edge of the woodland as well as the deserted parking lot, but also keeping watch over Shawn, having already seen the strain he was now under.
"I don't like this," Gus said needlessly after a few minutes of tense silence.
"That makes two of us," Shawn commented, willing to agree wholeheartedly that this was shaping out to be a really bad idea. "At least we found something," he added in the hopes that it would lighten the situation somewhat.
Gus didn't answer but he hadn't expected him to.
It was extraordinary how long just a single minute was when you're the damsel in distress awaiting rescue. Not that either he or Gus were damsels, but it made for such a nice comparison. Every time Shawn thought he saw something, he was disappointed a moment later when the branch he had been sure was an arm or a leg moved ever so slightly in the wind to reveal its true nature.
Except…
That was not a branch.
"Gus!" Shawn hissed excitedly as he slapped Gus's arm repeatedly, sadly lacking the energy to jump up and down.
Gus slapped his hand away with a frustrated yelp. Shawn hurriedly shushed him and gave a swift nod towards the woodland. Gus's eyes immediately widened as realisation hit home.
"You see him again?" He sounded far from pleased. His tone was leading more towards the my-name-is-Fearless-Guster-but-I'm-still-terrified and, like Shawn, his eyes were now stuck on the woodland.
"Sure do," Shawn said quietly, not entirely sure why he felt the sudden urge to be quiet as whoever was watching them had most likely already caught on to the fact that they had noticed him.
"I want to go home," Gus said without any false bravado.
"In a minute, buddy," Shawn said distractedly as he looked at the leg he'd seen move slightly to his right. "Let's go."
Again Gus was quick to grab Shawn's arm and almost forcefully haul him back.
"No, Shawn, you're not doing this," Gus said determinedly, having found a smidgen of confidence in his efforts to keep his friend alive.
"Gus," Shawn whined, and apparently whining was actually improved by a sore throat making him sound even more pathetic. "We don't know if it's the killer."
"I don't care, Shawn," Gus snapped, his grip almost painfully tight on Shawn's arm to keep him rooted to the ground, "you are not going over there. Lassiter and Juliet are on their way. Let them handle it."
Gus was almost pleading with him by now and Shawn reluctantly broke his gaze from the woodland to look at the ground, catching sight of his hands in the process. They were shaking. Not much, but definitely visibly shaking. Gus was right. He was definitely not in the condition to chase after possible murderers.
"What if it's the killer?" Shawn asked quietly, his tone laced with anxiety instead of the adrenaline induced excitement from before. Gus turned his head and was clearly about to repeat his earlier sentiment but Shawn cut him off, "Why is he here?"
"How should I know?" Gus glanced back towards the woodland, a slight note of panic creeping back into his voice.
They both suddenly jumped into the air eliciting a high pitched scream at the sight of a car pulling into the parking lot. Screaming proved a bad idea when one's lungs already think it a good idea to attempt to jump up one's throat. Shawn doubled over again, heaving for air once the coughs had run their course.
He looked up, noticing both that his vision was strangely blurry and that Gus was practically keeping him upright.
"Spencer!"
He knew that loving tone.
"Shawn, are you okay?" Juliet sounded somewhat worried but also incredibly frustrated. Perhaps she didn't approve any more of his outdoor activities than his dad would.
Shawn blinked.
He somewhat just compared Jules to his dad. It was official. This day couldn't suck any worse.
Being momentarily stuck in a moment of pure horror, Shawn stared blankly at the two detectives before Gus nudged him in the ribs. He was surprisingly less forceful than normal.
"Oh yeah," Shawn breathed as he remembered what was going on. "Possible suspect in the woods, and probable crime scene slash murder scene up that way."
Both detectives stared vacantly at him for a moment and Juliet was the first to process what he'd just said, Lassiter getting there shortly after to bark orders at the uniformed officers who'd also arrived on the scene. Shawn didn't doubt that their suspect had taken off as soon as the cops arrived but he still hoped that Buzz at least would be able to catch up with him. After all, he couldn't have gone that far.
The activity around him turned into a blur and with a groan he felt his legs suddenly give out completely and apparently Gus was so surprised because he definitely hit the ground quite hard.
"You're an idiot, Spencer," Lassiter was saying and when Shawn opened his eyes he could see the detective was looking down at him looking slightly less grouchy than when he normally looked at him.
"I'm just going to sit here for bit," Shawn informed them, not all that surprised to find his voice a little strengthless. No, that wasn't a word but he adamantly refused to use the word, weak, to describe his current condition. Shawn gazed hazily up at Lassiter with a confused frown. "Shouldn't you be chasing possible criminals?"
"I've got a team on it," Lassiter said and Shawn almost made a comment about the detective being incredibly good at whipping people into shape but decided against it as it would undoubtedly sound really, really wrong. Lassiter looked behind him and when he returned to look down at Shawn he wore a slight smirk that Shawn knew meant nothing good for him. "Anyway, he's here."
"Who's here?" Shawn asked desperately, his voice coming out a little too quiet and hoarse.
"Shawn!"
"You called him?" Shawn demanded, throwing an accusing glare at Gus who was standing behind him a little too close, but Shawn guessed that maybe his friend was preventing him from falling all the way to the ground.
"No, I didn't call him," Gus shot back. "When should I have called him? In between you finding blood stained bottles and creepy dudes watching us in the woods I've been a little pre-occupied."
"Dude," Shawn corrected. "I only saw one guy. Not two."
Gus raised a hand to slap Shawn around the back of the head but stopped just before it was too late and instead pretended to be swatting flies.
"I called him," Lassiter said, effectively putting an end to the argument.
"Remind me to steal your mug," Shawn said with an annoyed pout.
"Shawn, get off the ground," Henry said in a tone Shawn recognised all too well having heard it at least since the beginning of his teenage years. "We're going. Now."
His dad really didn't look happy.
"But what about the…" Shawn's voice trailed off and he gestured to the area behind him where several units had already moved over along with Juliet.
"Shawn," the warning tone in his dad's voice was unmistakeable. Shawn didn't even have to look at him to know his face was turning red.
"And Gus's car," Shawn argued distractedly, even looking up at Gus for support but his friend was too afraid of the wrath of Henry to respond.
"Shawn. Get in the truck."
There was no doubt in Shawn's mind that with that tone, dear old Henry was turning purple. With a reluctant sigh he let Gus help him up and he was rather pleased with himself when he didn't do a faceplant back down. Henry's patience having run its course, he reached out and took a little too firm a hold on the collar of Shawn's jacket.
"But…the car," Shawn insisted, looking at Gus a little desperately as Henry started leading slash dragging him away towards the truck.
"What about the car?" Lassiter asked, his curiosity obviously getting the better of him.
"It's up on the hill," Gus supplied, saving Shawn from having to go through that explanation as well. He was nearing the point where he would kill for a glass of water. Why did he have to be stupid enough to leave the bottle in the car?
"Why?" Henry asked, sounding nearly evil enough for Shawn to be ready to cast him as the villain in whatever new comic book movie adaptation. At least he'd stopped walking to listen to what Gus was saying.
"We parked near the crime scenes, and…" Gus's voice faltered a bit as he tried to look anywhere but at Henry.
"And?" Henry prompted.
"Walked down," Gus said quietly as though awaiting Henry to start breathing flames. It wasn't too far off as Shawn was almost certain he saw smoke coming out of his father's mouth, nose and ears, thus completing the look for a perfect evil comic book character. He would have to run the idea by Gus at some point. Preferably when his dad wasn't anywhere in sight.
"You can't go there now," Lassiter said rather needlessly as both Shawn and Gus had gathered that ever since seeing that somebody in the woods.
"Gus, you can ride in the truck," Henry said before Lassiter had a chance to continue.
"Shotgun," Shawn said immediately only to be levelled with one of the best glares he'd ever seen from Henry.
"I'm not leaving here without my car," Gus said, his tone bridging no arguments.
Shawn sighed and hung his head. This argument was getting them nowhere and even though he really didn't want to be trapped alone with his dad right now, the necessity to sit down was becoming rather urgent, so he had to end this one way or another.
"It's alright, buddy," he said, trying to sound less croaky, "you stay here and wait for your car."
"I was going to work today," Gus said with an exasperated sigh. He didn't look particular happy with the knowledge that in order to get his car – his company car – he would have to get the all clear from the police. It could easily be a couple of hours before someone could take him up that hill. Shawn actually had the decency to feel a little guilty.
"Anything else you need to tell us, Spencer?" Lassiter asked, glanced back at Shawn and Henry with a faint smirk of amusement.
Shawn did his best to glare at the detective as he mumbled a negative, which, unsurprisingly, only made Lassiter look close to being halfway towards being in a good mood.
"How long until he can get the car?" Shawn asked the question he knew Gus was suppressing.
"I'll send a unit up that way shortly to make sure everything's clear," Lassiter promised, looking slightly less happy now that making-Shawn-feel-miserable time was over.
Before Shawn had time to utter another word he felt a sharp tuck on the collar of his jacket as Henry resumed his walk back to the truck and Shawn made a few futile attempts to dislodge his dad's death grip as his pride was being immensely hurt. Henry didn't let go off him until they reached the truck where Shawn straightened his jacket defiantly and grudgingly climbed into the vehicle. His father pulling his door shut momentarily rocked the truck and Shawn refused to look in his direction and instead pulled his jacket a little tighter around himself before fastening the seat belt.
Even though his father remained silent as he started the engine, Shawn could almost hear him grinding his teeth together and he briefly thought about giving him the same advice he'd given Lassiter on the topic but decided against it. Henry looked positively furious and even Shawn knew that it was not always a good idea to push his father to the limits and through them. Not that he hadn't done it multiple times before but he supposed that now was not the best time to start a grand argument. Mostly because there wasn't much doubt in Shawn's mind that he would most likely loose the argument seeing as his throat felt awfully parched and he was feeling tired again.
They made it a whole three minutes before Shawn broke the silence.
"Hey, do you have any water?"
"You didn't bring water with you either," Henry said, his tone strangely more of a statement than a question. "Of course you didn't."
"We did," Shawn countered, unwilling to back down so early in this little argument.
"Oh, you did?" Henry questioned, sounding more patronizing than interested.
"Yes," Shawn answered in a clipped tone which didn't sound nearly as deadly as he'd wanted it to. "But we left it in the car."
"See that makes more sense," his dad said, his eyes still glued to the road ahead, his gaze not once straying in Shawn's direction.
"I did ask Gus if we could stop for ice cream on the way, but he said no," Shawn rambled quickly, growing increasingly annoyed at his father's determination to not look at him.
Henry chuckled humourlessly, a clear indicator that Shawn was stepping dangerously close the red line.
"So how long has it been since you last drank anything?" The question in itself was innocent enough but his father's tone made him feel like he was being interrogated.
"Since I was in Gus's car," Shawn said shortly, turning his head a little too quickly to stare out the window. The fast moving objects weren't doing his headache any favours so he quickly closed his eyes and leant his forehead against the cool glass.
"Don't be a smartass," Henry scolded causing Shawn to snap his eyes open again. "That wasn't what I asked and you know it."
"An hour," Shawn guessed, "maybe two."
"Two's definitely closer to it."
"If you already knew the answer, why did you ask?" Shawn said, noticing that even though his voice was hoarse it still contained quite a bit of contempt.
Shawn could almost hear his father's blood boiling but was surprised when he merely leant over while keeping his eyes on the road and opened the glove compartment. Immediately seeing the water bottle, Shawn quickly seized it, barely noticing that the seal had yet to be broken.
He must have fallen asleep not long after that because he didn't remember much after drinking the water which, frustratingly, had not brought him nearly as much relief as he'd hoped. He'd woken feeling close to worse than he'd felt before falling asleep which, in Shawn's opinion, was extremely unfair, and looking blearily at his dad's house. Maybe he should have stayed awake in the hope to deter his father from his determination to bring him here rather than his own apartment.
He opened the door in defeat and stumbled out, catching himself on the door before he fell over. Note to self: going on long hill treks when you're running a high fever is a bad idea. He slowly closed the door, having learnt a long time ago not to slam the doors on his dad's truck. That was a lesson that stuck.
Henry was right behind him as he made his way to the house, growing increasingly frustrated by his own slow pace. He gritted his teeth and did his best to ignore any dizziness and sped up a little bit, causing his momentum keep him going a little longer than planned. Who knew that walking into a door could aggravate an already present headache? Shawn stepped aside, rubbing the new ache on his forehead while his dad stepped forward with an exasperated sigh to unlock the door.
"Stay in the kitchen and sit down before you fall down," Henry said in a tone eerily similar to an order once they were inside.
Shawn had been heading for the living room, the couch looking extremely inviting, when his dad had spoken. His shoulders slumped and he reluctantly changed direction to go and sit at the kitchen table.
"What?" Shawn asked dejectedly when Henry merely leant back against the kitchen counter with his arms crossed at stared at Shawn. When his dad didn't immediately answer Shawn looked down at the kitchen table wondering if he could use it as a pillow again, "You're mad."
It didn't take a scientist to see that his father was fuming though he did look calmer than he'd been at the crime scene.
"Yeah, Shawn," Henry verified unnecessarily, "I'm pretty mad. I'm mad that you just took off. I'm mad that you didn't let Gus answer his phone, and I'm mad that my son is this much of an idiot."
Shawn kept his gaze averted from his father, pushing his tongue against his teeth in sheer effort to not retaliate. He put it down to the fever that his vision was feeling humiliatingly blurry again.
"I was trying to solve a case," Shawn countered, trying desperately to keep his voice and temper in check, "and, just so you know, we found some pretty valuable evidence."
"That's great, Shawn; really," Henry said sarcastically as he walked towards the table. "I also heard that there might have been someone else out there."
Shawn looked up briefly at his father, quickly seeing that flicker of worry in his eyes.
"Nothing happened," Shawn said but he didn't really want to go into detail about how both he and Gus had been beyond worried in the time they were waiting for the cops to arrive.
"What if you'd collapsed?" Henry questioned and even though his tone still had a slight edge to it Shawn saw through it and heard that touch of anxiety.
"Dad, I'm fine," Shawn promised, making sure to look his father in the eye as he spoke in the hope that this would help end this slight disagreement quicker.
Henry drew in a deep breath and looked down at the floor for a moment before looking back up at his son.
"I don't suppose you've eaten anything," he finally said, his voice lacking the heat from before.
"Unless you count the wild elderberries."
"Elderberries are poisonous, Shawn."
"Really?"
"In an un-ripened state, yes."
"I knew that."
In the next chapter I will bring you Shawn whump...*cue another round of evil cackle*