Hello. I know I can't really apologize adequately for how long this took. So I'm not going to try. Here it is, though. Wrote most of it during school, while recovering from a mild concussion, so I don't know how great it's going to be. Also I know It's short, but it was this or nothing, for reasons I'll explain at the bottom. Enjoy, then, I guess.

Ch.6

Detective Carlton Lassiter stood frozen in shock, staring at the blank eyes of his partner.

"Dammit!" The black suited man behind him cursed. "She was going to be useful." Hearing him speak about Juliet as though she were no more than a means to reach his goal, the detective snapped. The men holding his arms caught him before he could bash the smirk off his face, although he got close enough to scare him a bit.

"Boys, would you please put Mr. Lassiter away for a while?" The officer felt himself led over to and pushed into the cell beside Spencer's. Completely ignoring the psychic's attempts to get his attention, he turned his eyes towards Juliet. He searched for signs of life. He squinted, making sure he wasn't imagining it. No. He definitely saw it. Although it was very, very subtle, the junior detective's chest was steadily rising and falling as she breathed.

"Lassie!" the detective finally turned, giving spencer a slightly confused, but still irritated, look. The only thing he got in return was a small shake of the head. Don't say anything. He was stopped from questioning the younger man by his captor giving orders in an exasperated tone.

"Benoni, go and see if there's any salvageable life signs in the girl. Maybe we can still manage to get some information from her before she dies. If she hasn't already, I mean." Beside him, Shawn's breath sped up from what sounded like nervousness. Nervous, not worried? What had he missed while in that room?

Earlier that day

"Shawn." Hazel eyes instantly snapped their gaze from where it rested on the camera to the blonde woman in the cell across from them. Juliet was slowly pulling herself into an upright position, eyes fixed on Shawn.

"Jules, you're awake! Are you ok?"

"Define ok. I don't feel like I'm dying anymore, if that's what you mean. Although," she added, wincing as she flexed her fingers, "I'm not entirely sure how much I would mind if I was."

Shawn chose to ignore the twisting sensation in his gut the last comment caused him. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart. As soon as we're out of here, you can lie in bed all day while I feed you cookies and aspirin."

She grinned weakly in return before responding. "I'll hold you to it. But first we have to get out. Any ideas?"

The psychic sat silently for a few moments. Then- " hey, Jules… how good are you at playing dead?"

The man called Benoni, a tall, muscular man in a dark red V-neck, knelt by Juliet. He frowned in annoyance as the bandages wrapped around her neck and wrists prevented him from taking her pulse, and looked up at his boss in askance. Really? Was the responding look.

Juliet struggled with the needle as she tried to sew the bandages on to her right wrist in place. Anything, however small, that might help this insane plan go successfully was being done. No matter how small the chances of success were, they were better than if they sat around and did nothing, and there was no way she was going down without a fight.

Without a knife and unable to pull the tiny stitches out with his fingers, the man was getting irritated. And for one shining moment, Shawn thought his plan might succeed. But of course his luck would never let that happen.

"For the love of god!" The second man, this one in a navy blue hoodie, shoved his co-worker to the side and crouched beside the unconscious cop himself. "There is one thing ", he said as he grasped Juliet's broken left arm, "That the human body will react to as long as there is life in it."

And with that he jerked her arm, twisting it as far as it would go. Cracked bones snapped, and the hallway's occupants could almost hear the sound of the edges grating together, scraping and tearing muscle and tendon as it moved in a way no human arm should ever move.

Until now, Juliet had managed to stay completely silent and still, even when her injured arm had been roughly grabbed. But no one, no matter how strong, could suffer that much pain silently. Her scream of anguish echoed through the cellblock, shaking the hearts of all present. The two hired men winced at the subhuman sound, while their employer grinned in a way that was far too self satisfied. Behind the bars, Shawn closed his eyes to block out the sight of his girlfriend's tortured expression, of their last hope of escape demolished by one simple movement. Lassiter just stared, eyes wide with horror.

He had seen people in this much pain before, of course. It came with the job. But never someone he knew, someone he cared about.

When the scream had subsided into frantic, sobbing gasps, the man in charge walked over to where she lay and looked down at her trembling form.

"Well, well, well. Ms. Juliet. I hope that teaches you a little something about lying to your superiors in the future." Her only response was to whimper. "I really, really, don't like it when a pet begins to think they can outsmart their master. And, I'm sorry, but you are going to pay dearly for trying." He turned to his men. "Boys, you have full access to the supply closet, torture her until she tells us everything we want to know. I'm tired of playing."

Shawn didn't know what the supply closet was, but he could make a pretty good guess, and there was no way he was going to let anyone do this to Juliet.

"No, stop it! It wasn't her idea." The words spilled out, and all eyes in the room turned to him.

"Shawn, no…" Juliet managed to choke out before a thick hand clamped itself over her mouth.

"Shut up, bitch." Her eyes continued to plead with him, though, and it took all of his willpower to ignore them and keep speaking.

"Yeah. I made her do it. This wasn't her fault." The eyebrows of the imposing man went up.

"Weeeeeell… the thing about that, dear, is that she was the one lying on the ground trying to play dead. No one could have forced her to do that. But," he continued with a sigh, " now that I know you had a part I can't really let you get off Scott free." He pretended to think. "I know! How about, since your plan was to sit and watch as she put herself in the line of fire, I'll give you a front row seat as she takes the fall for it. Sound fair?"

"Wha- No!" the psychic stammered, as the blue hoodie wearing man pulled open the door to his cell. He struggled, but he was no match for his muscular opponent and soon found himself pulled out and pinned to the bars. Handcuffs clinked, holding him tightly in place with his arms spread to either side. In front of him, Juliet was roughly forced to her knees, a hand in her hair keeping her chin up and her back straight. Red shirt had mysteriously vanished while Shawn had been occupied, but he now appeared carrying a simple wooden box.

It was placed on the ground and pried open to reveal a variety of strange wooden and metal appliances resting on velvet-covered shelves, folded in like a jewelry box. The leader walked over with his hands in his pockets, gazing fondly at the cruel looking devices. "My third best set. Won 'em in a game against a duke about fifteen years back. Good times…"

Shawn's voice broke through his reverie. "Don't you TOUCH HER with those!" But the man with the cruel smile just sauntered over and whispered,

"Keep you eyes wide open, now. Things are just about to get interesting, and I don't want you to miss out on the fun"

So. Yes.

I'm not actually a cruel person who lives off the pain of withheld plots, as much as it may seem like it. But this past month I've been going through some stuff, and recently I've been feeling really, really, unmotivated. Not just to write, which is bad enough, but to do anything. In fact, I probably would have just laid on the couch for the rest of my life, staring at the ceiling, if it weren't for the fantastic LyssLovesTiva33. Without you, this chapter would still be no more than a vacant idea. You gave me enough motivation to get through this chapter, as well as the basis for the plot. Thank you so much.

Unfortunately, the urge to be completely useless hit me hard friday. All I needed to do was type this up and edit, but I just couldn't. Clearly I eventually forced myself to, but another thousand words that should be here were lost to my psychological issues. They will still come, in the form of chapter seven, but I really do need help getting there. Every review gives me another reason to keep writing, so please try to take a few moments and type something up. It really means the world to me.

Also, anyone with words of inspiration or motivation would be deeply appreciated.

Thank you all for sticking with me.

StarsInTheRiver