Hey, here's the next chapter! It's not perfect, but we're moving on, and we got some action. Enjoy!


When they caught their breath, they were both more relaxed than they had been in days.

"What now?" Shawn asked.

"Now? Now, we go down to the station. First, we'll have a word with the Chief about those bastards who thought it would be a good idea to beat up our psychic." Shawn smiled at the possessive lilt.

"And then?"

"I have to tell her. I'm in an untenable position." Lassiter needed Shawn to understand.

"I get it. I do. Really."

"Look, we can word it in such a way that it's hypothetical."

"What?"

"She needs to know. Just in case the shit hits the fan. But, we can say something like... 'What if a guy came up to you and pretended to be psychic, but really he had an eidetic memory? What would you do?' Something like that."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I'm sure." He smiled, reassuringly.


Henry burst into the Chief's office. He was worried. It had been a couple of days since he'd gotten a call from Lassiter, and he'd been suspicious, and worried, ever since.

"Karen!"

"Henry? To what do we owe this pleasure. And knock next time."

"Shawn doesn't get sick."

"Excuse me?"

"Shawn doesn't get sick. Lassiter called me a couple of days ago and told me Shawn had the 'flu. It was suspicious enough that Shawn was sick in the first place. He doesn't get sick. But Lassiter? Why would he call and tell me my kid was sick? I thought the kid just needed time to get over the last case, but he's not answering his cell phone. And if it was something like that, if he was having trouble, Gus wouldn't have left him to go on that stupid trip. I went by his apartment and the place was a tip. Something's wrong."

"I'm sure Shawn is fine. And Lassiter wouldn't lie. He never takes time off, even when he is sick, so it must be a bad 'flu. And Shawn was fine. He was making jokes as usual."

"If you think that then you aren't as smart as I gave you credit for."

"Excuse me?"

"Shawn jokes as a coping mechanism. He's a very good liar, and excellent at concealing his feelings."

"You know, I think that's the first time I've heard you compliment your son. At least, since he's grown up." She smiled wryly.

"Well, you know how he is."

"Yes. I do. I'm sure he's ill."

"I know my kid, Karen. And something stinks."

She opened her mouth to respond, but he cut her off.

"Gus isn't here to rein him in. If he is up to something, then we might be in trouble. Or he might be. What I don't understand is what your detective is doing helping him."

"Oh dear lord." Vick said, thinking back over all the mischief Shawn got into with Gus. Without that stable influence... she really didn't want to go there. "I'm sure that Detective Lassiter wouldn't be involved in anything...improper."

"Karen. You know how persuasive Shawn can be." He chided gently.

There was a knock at the door.

"Chief, I... Oh, Mr Spencer. I didn't see you there."

"Detective O'Hara." Karen nodded. "What is it?"

"Is everything alright? Has Shawn gotten worse?" Juliet asked, looking back and forth between them.

"Have you seen Mr Spencer since he's been off ill? Henry went over to his apartment..."

"Oh, he didn't tell you?" Juliet smiled. "He showed up at Lassiter's delirious and Carlton couldn't just let him wander around like that, and by this point, he'd already given Carlton the 'flu, so Carlton let him crash in his spare room."

"That doesn't sound like Detective Lassiter." Vick frowned.

"I told you. Shawn is up to something." Henry folded his arms and sat back, smiling smugly.

"I'll call Lassiter. O'Hara, was there something you wanted?"

"Oh, just to drop off my report." Juliet quickly handed the folder over and got out of there. Henry watched as Vick dialled.

"Detective Lassiter... Hello... Yes, I just wanted to check up on you and Mr Spencer. It is so unusual for either of you to get ill...Yes, I'm sure. Detective O'Hara mentioned that he was staying with you?...You are? Okay. Well, I guess I'll see you soon then." She hung up, looking confused. "That was odd."

"What did he say?"

"He said they were just about to leave to come here."


Lassiter walked into the bullpen. He had his right hand around Shawn's upper arm, and was gently pulling the 'psychic' along. He glared at anyone who came near them. As for Shawn, he was staring at the ground two inches in front of him, and ignoring his surroundings. Unheard of for him. Lassiter looked at the younger man with almost gentle concern.

"Carlton! Shawn!" Juliet cried. She approached them quickly, but stopped a few feet away. "Are you alright?"

"O'Hara..."

"We're just fine, Jules." Shawn replied, finally looking up, with a small smile.

"Okay..." She didn't look satisfied, but as she watched, Lassiter actually growled at Buzz as he went over to say hello, so she backed off.

The two men headed straight for Vick's office, but then Lassiter stopped suddenly, pulling Shawn to a halt beside him.

"Spencer, your father is in there."

"Wonderful. My humiliation is complete." Shawn muttered. Trust his impeccable timing. I swear the man has a Shawn-sense. He only shows up when it will totally embarrass me."

"We can leave and do this later." Carlton suggested. Shawn considered the idea, but as he looked around, he realised that everyone was staring at them and trying not to look like they were staring at them.

"No, if we leave now, we'll just add grist the rumour mill." Shawn squared his shoulders and nodded. "Let's do this thing."

They knocked, well, Lassiter did.

"Enter." Vick called.

"Shawn, what the hell have you gotten yourself into now?"

"Gee, Dad, thanks. I'm fine by the way. How are you?"

"Shawn..."

"Dad...."

"Mr Spencer. Henry." The Chief said, chidingly.

"Chief Vick!" Shawn grinned, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Lassiter!" Carlton exclaimed, getting weird looks from everybody.

"Dude!" Shawn grinned and offered a fist to bump. "First Toy Story and now you reference Shrek! I'm so proud." He wiped a fake tear away.

"Oh my goodness. It's contagious." The Chief said, stating the first thought that came into her head.

"Oh, Chief Vick. Don't be a smelly plate of cabbage!"

"Not your best." Lassiter muttered.

"I know. Sorry." Shawn replied.

"Mr Spencer! What have you done to my detective?"

"Lassie-face? Nothing!"

"Then why is he acting like... well, you?"

"We have just spent about three days together in Lassie's little apartment."

"What have you been doing? And how did you manage not to kill each other?" Henry asked. The boys exchanged a glance.

"Erm..."Lassiter said, doing his impression of a deer right before the car hits.

"What have we been doing? Having a Die Hard Marathon, and experimenting in bondage." Shawn answered glibly. Lassiter spluttered. Henry focussed in on his son's wrists noticing the skin there was red and inflamed.

"Shawn! What happened? These look like cuff marks, and don't make another off colour remark." He gently took Shawn's wrist in his hand.

"Erm..." Shawn's turn to splutter.

"He was annoying me, so I cuffed him." Lassiter came to his rescue. He took a breath. "Chief, could we maybe talk to you in private?"

"It won't work. He won't leave, and even if he did walk out of the office, he'd just listen at the door." Shawn sighed. "Lassie, do we have to do this? I told you, I can handle it."

"No, you can't. And I want the chance to arrest those bastards." The tone was more venomous than normal.

"Detective, Mr Spencer. Would one of you care to fill me and Henry in on the rest of this conversation?"

They exchanged a glance. Lassiter made and 'after you' motion.

"It's really not a big deal. Lassie's blown it all out of proportion."

"Not a big deal, my ass!" Lassiter was suddenly angry. More angry than he had been this entire time. He released the grip he had kept on Shawn's upper arm and quickly pulled up the other man's shirt, revealing several day old bruises. Some fading to green, but a lot still a deep blackish purple. "They could have fucking killed you Spencer. And you said this wasn't the first time."


"Shawn!" Henry had gone pale at the sight of his son's torso. "What the hell happened!?"

"Dad, I'm fine, really." He pushed Lassie's hand away, pulling down his shirt. He looked at the floor.

"Karen," Carlton said, invoking the Chief in a way that he rarely dared. "This happened here. Cops did this."

"What?" She looked between the two younger men. "Mr Spencer is this true?" He shrugged, then nodded.

"What did you do? Did you do anything to provoke them?" Henry asked, leaning forward in his chair, towards Shawn.

Lassiter's hands became fists. He wasn't sure why he was so angry. If Shawn had come in and just told him some cops had beat him up, he'd probably have had the same reaction. But having seen the man at his worst, he felt a sort of... kinship with him, as much as it pained him to admit.

"Dad, I... I didn't do anything. I just solved cases they couldn't."

"It wasn't his fault, Mr Spencer. The men in question aren't entirely stable. One worked in the gang unit under Drimmer and took his word as gospel. One seems to be suffering from some kind of religious psychosis and I have no idea how he passed the psych. And the third is actually an okay cop, but he is jealous of Shawn's abilities." Carlton said quickly.

Vick frowned. She had seen everything. Detective Lassiter was supporting Shawn Spencer. And he didn't roll his eyes or act sarcastic when he mentioned Shawn's powers.

"Mr Spencer, how long has this been going on?"

"A few weeks." He answered reluctantly. "But I can handle it."

"Shawn. You tell Karen exactly what happened and how long it's been going on. Okay, kid?"

"Henry, please. I am handling it. You know perhaps Detective Lassiter is right. Maybe you should wait outside."

"That's my kid there Karen!"

"I know that, Henry. But..."

"But nothing! I have a right to know what's going on with my own son!"

"Urgh!" Shawn shuddered. "Bad divorce flashback." He explained. Lassiter stifled a smile.


"Mr Spencer, who did this to you?"

"Chief, it's really nothing...you aren't going to let this go, are you?"

"No. Shawn, please. Why didn't you come to me in the first place?"

Because you don't care. You use me to solve cases, but you don't like or respect me. You ignore me when it suits your needs. You put up with me because I'm useful, but when Lassie tells you about his hypothetical fake psychic, you're going to chase me away because I'm not worth it.

That's what Shawn thought. But in reality, he just stood there, mouth flapping. Then he shrugged, looking again to the floor.

"It was Officers Randolf, Ellis, and Truman." Lassiter inserted.

"I'll kill them. I'll kill them!" Henry exclaimed, standing and heading towards the door. he went back up in Lassiter's estimations.

"Dad, no! Please. If you go out there and rough them up, you'll just make it worse. It's bad enough that they think I'm in here crying to Mommy! There's no proof but my word. They're cops." He shrugged again. He seemed to be doing that a lot today.

"Did you think I wouldn't believe you?" Vick asked, with sudden insight.

"No offence? But yeah, that's what I thought. Me against a bunch of cops? I'm just a consultant and half the time you don't even have time for me."

"Mr Spencer, Shawn, you may be a consultant, but you're a very good one. I can't think of a time when you were wrong. If you had come to me with this, then I would have dealt with it."

"Yeah. I'm sure. But these guys are cops. Their friends are cops. They were careful and I have no evidence. I have some bruises, which I could have got anywhere. So, it's my word a 'psychic'," he said that with a sarcastic venom she hadn't heard from him before. "Against three upstanding members of the police department. Who do you think would win?"

"I accept that there are some issues, but we could have made sure you were safe here. We could have investigated."

"And now?" Shawn asked, and his father nodded, raising an eyebrow.

"Now, we're still going to do all that. The only difference is that you had to suffer in silence. You should have come to me before they hurt you." Vick grinned. She was going to enjoy fixing this. It had obviously been going on too long. "Lassiter, get O'Hara in here."


I hope you liked it! I rushed it a bit, especially the ending. The next chapter is on the way soon. Hope the Chief was ok, and Henry, I did try and be nicer to him this chapter!!! Please review, if you liked it or loathed it.