Wow. You guys do enjoy your cliffhangers. I am going to keep that in mind. ;) But because all of the reviews were so nice and quick I thought I'd reward you all with a very speedy update. This chapter thanks you-it was very tired of me sitting on it.

Shawn was sure he had blacked out. But only for a second. When he opened his eyes, he coughed loudly as Gus continued to holler his name. Other voices had added to the mix. Cries of "Jeffery" and a familiar high pitched voice shrieked "Shut up" as Gus said something else that Shawn couldn't quite make out.

Seeing the heels of a pair of shoes inches from his face, Shawn got up silently and started to circle around, putting himself between Gus and the fire arm wielding father who was screaming at his best friend. Rain water trickled from Shawn's hair into his face, obscuring his vision. Moving his hand to his head he felt a sticky substance on his skull. Great, assuming he lived through the next ten minutes, he'd need stitches.

"Jeffery," Shawn said, glad his voice was coming out significantly calmer then he felt. Quickly surveying their worsening situation Shawn's face turned grim; the fire was getting too close and the smoke was getting way too thick. He coughed.

"No don't move Shawn!" Jeffery yelled, shaking his rifle angrily, "You sold me out!" Shawn shook his head, trying to protest, "You sold me out!" the man repeated in a blind fury.

Shawn glanced back Gus; who was doing the best he could to curl the girl in his arms into a smaller target.

"Look Jeffery, we need to get down the hill. The fire is going to kill all of us if we don't leave here. Right. Now." Shawn was glad to see Gus was slowly inching his way back towards the ravine; they needed to move quickly because the fire was beginning to circle around the lake. Soon, it would cut off even their ravine edge escape route.

"No, you and I are gonna stay right here Shawn," Jeffery yelled again, gesturing to their current position with the butt of his rifle; on which, Shawn noticed grimly, Jeffery had turned the safety off.

"Jeffery!" Shawn hollered, needing to yell over the roar of the flames. He coughed, "Millie is out here! If you love her, you'll let Gus get her out of here."

"You tricked me! You turned me into the cops! I'll never get to be a father now!" Jeffery snarled cruelly, aiming his gun at the psychic, not seeming to hear Shawn's pleas.

Shawn put his hands over his head. "Look, do what you want to me, but Millie is your daughter. You said all you wanted was for her to be safe. Is that true?" Lightning flashed in the sky, illuminating the drops of water as they ripped through the sky. The rain picked up, making it even harder to see.

"Don't you call me a liar!" They were both screaming fiercely now, just to be heard over the roar of nature around them.

"I'm not! Just think Jeffery. Think about what you told me that today!" Shawn felt a tremor of fear course through him; he needed to get Millie to safety. He needed to get his idiot best friend who had trusted him to safety too. "Think," he felt his voice waiver and crack, "You said you would do anything to keep her safe." He let out a ragged breathe, feeling the smoke clog his lungs, "Millie needs help. She needs to get out of here Jeffery, or you really will never have a chance to be her father."

Jeffery paused, and then slowly lowered his rifle, "He can take her back, but you and I are staying right here!"

Shawn nodded, "Ok, that's fine. Gus, go."

"What! Shawn, I'm not leaving you wi-"

"Gus!" Shawn yelled sharply, glancing back at his best friend. That little girl had to make it out. Shawn nodded, hoping he looked more confident about the situation then he felt, "It'll be ok buddy."

Gus swallowed and turned his back on his best friend, uttering a silent prayer for him to be careful before he took off, carrying Millie back towards the path along the ravine.

Jeffery watched his daughter leave before allowing his fury towards the fake psychic to explode again. He raised the gun and pointed it straight at Shawn's chest. Shawn blinked, a sudden flash of memory played across his eyes; Garth Longmore, a loud bang, then pain, and the ground. He shivered.

"You tricked me," Jeffery said again, "You made me bring you up here and then you played with Millie and then you turned me in." Jeffery hissed, "I trusted you!"

Shawn let out a ragged pained breathe as his lungs filled with smoke. "Jeffery," he coughed, realizing he needed a plan fast, "You practically confessed. Flying into a rage like that at the station raised more than a few warnings with the cops." Shawn had just confirmed their suspicions with his 'vision'. Jeffery had taken Millie and now Millie was in danger and Shawn's vision had simply given the SBPD the location they so desperately needed.

"NO! You wanted to keep her from me!"

"No," Shawn coughed again, moving, against his better judgment, towards the barrel of the gun. He just needed to keep Jeffery talking a little longer, "I was always supportive of you and Millie. You are a great dad. Terrific really. I think the "Dad of the Year" Mugs creator was thinking of you when he made that slogan, I swear," Shawn was only a step away when his lungs betrayed him, launching him into a fit of violent spasms. The world tilted suddenly, and Shawn stood still until he stopped seeing three barrels pointed at his face. "Jeffery," he wheezed, taking the one last half step he needed slowly, "I promise-"

With that he lunged wildly to the left as the sound of the gun firing was lost in the fury of the flames. Shawn hit the man in the side as hard as he could mange, causing Jeffery to slip and grunt as he fell to his knees, mud splashing all over both men. The gun fell from his hands and Shawn wildly kicked at it, sending it flying into the lake.

The two men looked at each other silently for a long second; rage and terror dancing across their faces in the light of the flames.

Jeffery lunged from his knees at Shawn's, tackling Shawn football style and taking him down to the ground with him. Shawn gasped as air was painfully pulled from his lungs as his back connected with a large rock. Still in a crazed rage Jeffery grabbed Shawn, taking a fistful of his shirt and his hair and dragging him to the lake. He pushed Shawn's face into the water, not letting go of his vice grip on Shawn's head.

Shawn flailed wildly. He hadn't managed to draw a breath between have it knocked out of him and being plunged under the water. On top of that the water felt like it was about to boil. Feeling his consciousness start to slip away Shawn vaguely remembered the gun. He ran his hands futilely along the lakebed beneath him until he felt his fingers curl around the rifle. Using the last of his strength Shawn brought the gun up behind him, smacking Jeffery hard in the stomach.

Jeffery's grip released instantly as his hands curled around his throbbing stomach. Shawn propelled himself forward, further into the water and away from Jeffery. He gasped, trying desperately to fill his lungs with air. Smoke filled them instead and soon he too was doubled over, hacking violently.

Jeffery pulled himself back to his feet slowly, not breaking eye contact with Shawn. Shawn's eyes darted towards the ravine, he could make it. He winced; the water was getting uncomfortably hot, like that horrible scalding temperature on the shower head nobody in their right mind ever used.

Jeffery took a staggered step towards him. Now the butler was coughing too. Shawn turned and ran parallel to the shore, each step causing water to spray wildly as he trudged through the knee deep water as quickly as he could. Adrenaline alone was holding him up, pumping through him, pounding in his ears louder than even the roar of the forest fire around him. There was no air in his lungs, only smoke.

When Shawn finally hit the shoreline he took off as fast as he could towards the ravine. He heard Jeffery give an angry shriek and he knew that the unhinged man wasn't far behind him.

Meanwhile:

"Lassiter! Juliet!" Gus yelled as he burst past the barricade in a panic; the now conscious Millie in his arms.

"Oh thank God," Lassiter muttered, hailing a medic for the duo. Juliet however was staring over Gus's shoulder into the smoky haze. She couldn't see more than twenty feet ahead.

"Gus…where's Shawn?" Juliet asked, screaming at the man next to her so she could be heard over the downpour. Gus shook away an offered oxygen mask.

"Jeffery," he coughed, "Gun. Hit Shawn. Blood. At Lake," he wheezed unintelligibly.

Lassiter paled, "The nearest lake is…completely engulfed in flames by now Guster." Lassiter's eyebrows shot up as he realized what that meant, "You went further into the forest. Damnit," Lassiter slammed his fist against the hood of a squad car, "This was no time for Spencer or his ego," he fumed.

Juliet felt her knees quiver, and suppressing a scream, she turned to her partner, praying her voice was steady, "He must have had a good reason Carlton." She paused, willing her voice to remain professional, "It's Shawn. He'll have a way out. He always does."

Gus shook his head slowly. "The path we took was almost too thick with smoke. I almost…" he swallowed, "I almost fell a couple of times. Shawn has good vision, but he could fall right off…And with the rain and the mud," his voice broke.

"The ravine gets really skinny in some parts," a quiet voice whispered from Gus's arms.

All faces turned instantly to the small girl, whose successful location should have been a much more joyous occasion. "Really skinny. I've seen people jump across it in some spots before."

Juliet felt her pulse pounding in her ears. Not just anyone was out there. "Honey, do you remember where specifically?" Her voice came out much less professional and more panicked then she would have liked.

Millie closed her eyes tightly, and Juliet felt her nails dig deeply into her palms. In the background she could hear Carlton head towards the congregation of emergency officials, hollering for someone to find him a map.

Millie shook her head. "It's all fuzzy. I can't…I don't…" she paused suddenly, and lifted her hand to her head, imitating the psychic they were looking for. Juliet's face shot up to Gus's in confusion. "I can see it now," Millie grinned, her eyes still shut tight. "I can take you there."

"No, no you can't," Juliet whispered, feeling her insides plummet. They couldn't take a little girl back into the middle of a raging forest fire just because she wanted Shawn Spencer back. They couldn't no matter how much she needed Shawn Spencer back.

Lassiter sprinted back with a map. "We are here," he pointed to a dot on the map. "The nearest lake is…here." he pointed to the small blue speck.

Juliet turned to Gus in horror, "Gus that's at least a half mile past the cabin."

Gus ignored her, "Millie, can you tell from the map where the ravine is skinniest?"

Millie nodded and pointed to two separate points on the jagged line that divided the hilltop.

"This side of the ravine hasn't been hit by the fire. And as long as the wind stays how it is, it should be relatively safe," Gus stated excitedly. Now that they had a plan to find Shawn Gus was sparking to life, ready to go.

"There are two spots he could cross. We split up," Lassiter announced.

Juliet nodded. That would work, it was a long shot that they would find him in the chaos of the fire and downpour, but it was also their only shot, "Ok. Ok, lets go." Handing the little girl off to the medics, the trio started running right alongside the inferno.

Meanwhile:

Shawn coughed again, staggering. It was so hot. So unbearably hot. Why was the rain not cooling him down? In the smoke he had lost Jeffery. He felt a pang of guilt; he should have done more. Somehow, somewhere along the way, he should have done more for Jeffery. He should have been able to keep all of this from happening. He wiped the mix of sweat, blood, and rain out of his eyes and took another staggered step. One foot in front of the other. That was the only way he was going to get out of this. But the mud around his shoes was getting stickier, making each foot feel like it was full of lead; or at the very least, like he was wearing Mary's ankle weights. He coughed. His vision swam again causing him to pause and put his hands on his knees. It was getting harder to breathe. God it was hard to breathe.

For once in his life, Shawn Spencer had absolutely no plan. He closed his eyes painfully. This was it. And it was all his own fault.

Another cough.

An odd smile began twisting its way onto his face. Gus and Millie had gotten out of the fire; he knew they had had time to get out of the forest safely. And Lassie was safe. So was Jules. Jules…he grinned. She was safe. Not just from this fire, but from Yin. With him gone there would be no reason to go after her again. There was no reason for Yin to target anyone he cared about. Shawn's laugh of relief mixed with a cough. Shawn had beaten Yin. In some strange way, he had won.

Suddenly his father's voice rang in his ears, 'Typical kid. You've never finished anything. That's not a victory it's a forfeit.' Shawn groaned. He so did not need this now. Why couldn't some pineapple fairy, or better yet, Tinkerbell, come to him in his final minutes?

He was on the ground now.

A grin spread across his face, or even better, Jules dressed like Tinkerbell. Shawn sighed. He was probably taking his Peter Pan syndrome a bit far. His father's voice again rudely interrupted his thoughts. 'You are going to die a disappointment kid,' his father scoffed disdainfully. Shawn shook his head and abandoned his attempts at keeping his body upright; falling with a 'smack' into the mud. His father's attempts at reverse psychology wouldn't work on him today.

Tasting the mud on his lips, he slurred, "Go away, "watching the edges of his vision start to get hazy.

'Get up' Shawn shook his head slightly. The voice sounded different. 'Get up.' It repeated angrily. 'Shawn Spencer, get your ass up off the ground this instant,' the distinctly feminine voice ordered.

"Jules?" he whispered, his voice almost completely gone as the smoke surrounded him. He slowly pushed off his elbows and frowned. He was completely alone.

'Get. Up.' Juliet's voice said though gritted teeth.

"Jules, don't be mad," Shawn slurred, fighting his body as he dragged himself to his knees. He felt a strong need to explain his behavior to the Junior Detective.

'That's better,' Juliet coaxed. 'Now, one foot in front of the other. Come on Shawn.'

Shawn nodded numbly and staggered to his feet only to fall again.

'It's ok. It's ok,' her voice soothed. Shawn laughed. He was officially losing his mind too. 'Just crawl then Shawn. Come on. Just don't stop moving.'

Shawn nodded agreeably, "I can do that," he slurred, unsure if the words had even come out, the smoke was so thick it was coating his mouth, causing every breath to burn. But where was he going?

His father's voice returns, 'You know how to get out of this kid. Just think.' Groaning he closed his eyes and focused. Everything was hazy. He tried to remember everything he knew about the layout of the land but all he kept getting was static. He winced. It hurt so much to think. Jerkily Shawn moved his hand to the side of his head and tried unsuccessfully to emulate the breathing techniques he was always mocking Gus for; but they weren't helping to keep the pain away. Images swirled vaguely in front of him, bending and shifting in unnatural ways. What was happening? It was too hard. 'Focus Kid', his father snarled at him. He tried again, willing the images and memories to stay still, to focus so he could make them out. The ravine. He grinned; there were some really skinny patches where a person could jump across. He'd noticed them on his way up to the lake the first time.

He crawled away from the smoke as best he could; hoping it was the right direction. There was a light up ahead. He frowned; a light but no tunnel? Odd.

"Jules?" he whispered faintly. All he heard were the flames. He tried again, "Jules!" he croaked, his voice cracking painfully.

"Shawn!" "Shawn!" He heard voices vaguely again. It was Gus and Juliet. Juliet sounded different. Much less calm then she had before. In fact, she sounded terrified.

Shawn kept crawling until his hand slipped over the edge of the ravine. He winced as he felt the flesh on his wrist peel away, and in the flicker of firelight he saw lose rocks tumble into the jaggy abyss below him. Well, at least he'd gone in the right direction. Glancing up he saw that the opposite edge of the ravine was just out of arms reach and a few feet lower than it was on his side. If he could just get himself to stand up, gravity would practically make the jump for him. Standing hadn't work so well last time he'd tried though.

"Shawn!" Juliet screamed, as her flashlight finally found him. The gap across was skinny, only two feet. She swore. The side she and Gus were on was about 3 feet lower than Shawn's; it would be easy to cross from his side, not so much from theirs. But Shawn didn't look like he could even sit, let alone stand.

She saw Shawn mouth something that looked like her name. He was covered in soot and blood. He mouthed something again and she watched him struggle to try and sit up.

"Shawn!" Gus screamed, "Get over here!" he ordered angrily, adding a foot stomp for good measure. Juliet saw a ghost of a smile cross Shawn's sickly face as he struggled to comply with his friends order.

"Come on Shawn," Juliet added in a whisper, feeling her throat constrict in a way she couldn't blame on the smoke. Slowly the young fake psychic pulled himself to his feet and surveyed the jump in front of him. With a feeble cough he staggered back, giving himself as much of a running jump as he could.

Juliet held her breathe. As he jumped a cloud of smoke kicked up, and they lost him in the dark night. Juliet froze; unable to hear his body hit solid ground over the roar of the flames.

Fearing the worse, Juliet darted her flashlight over the ground near where Shawn should have landed. "Shawn?" Oh God no. Trembling she didn't even hear the whimpering sob that escaped her lips, "SHAWN!" He hadn't made the jump. He wasn't there. He…

Gus darted his flashlight along the edge frantically, calling his friends name. There was no sign of him. He frowned as his flashlight caught of a flicker of movement. Returning his flashlight to the spot, Gus let out a cry of victory. Shawn, drenched in mud and black as night, was staggering to pull himself up from the ground where he had landed gracelessly. But he'd made it. Gus laughed. Of course he had.

"There!" Gus yelled, letting out a relieved wheeze/laugh, "I see him!"

This was an insanely long chapter. 6 pages! Most chapters are like 4. I thought about splitting it up on you guys to be mean, but I decided against it. There is plenty of mean coming :D