I figured angsty Shules would get reviews going again. Glad I was right.

This chapter is dedicated to everyone who is reading this to avoid studying for Finals. (avoid studying even longer by leaving a review!)

Juliet played with the edge of the sheet, balling it tightly into her fist and twisting it around her fingers as she stared at the double doors of the bunk room. She glanced at the clock. It was 3 in the morning and Shawn still hadn't come back to the room.

Lassiter shifted on the bunk below hers. Juliet had learned many new things about her partner this weekend; for one, he snored.

Loudly.

Gus was on the top bunk next to her, adding only a slight, breathy snore to the cacophony. She was beginning to suspect snoring was a department mandate. She rolled her eyes, even if she wasn't trying to keep an eye out for Shawn she doubted she would be able to sleep with all the noise. She had been surprised when Gus had climbed up onto the top bunk; Gus didn't strike her as the type to enjoy climbing up into bed, (She didn't either, but apparently the bottom bunk was a 'Head Detective' Privilege). Gus had seen the odd look on her face and had explained that while at summer camp one year Shawn had taken the top bunk only to fall out of it and break his arm. And he had then proceed to do the same thing to his other arm the very next night. Gus remained convinced that Shawn had broken the other one because he'd wanted his arms to match.

Juliet sighed and shifted in the bed, turning away from the door. This was ridiculous. If Shawn wanted to hide then fine. She needed to get some sleep before she was forced to do more absurd trust activities. She shut her eyes tightly, trying, unsuccessfully, to focus on her own breathing. Slowly, she opened one eye, chancing a glance at the clock. It was 3:02. Juliet stifled a groan a turning back towards the door. At this point, what difference would waiting ten more minutes do?

Meanwhile: Lodge Bar:

Shawn ran a tired hand through his hair in exhaustion, trying to resist the urge to fall asleep on the table in front of him. He blinked his eyes, trying to fight the intense wave of exhaustion that hit him. He took a sip of the hot coco in front of him, casting a longing look back down the hall towards the detectives bunk room. After running away from Jules it had only taken Shawn about a half second to remember that all of his pineapple smoothies were sequestered in a cooler inside the room. And he certainly couldn't go in there now. Not only would he have to face Jules, something he didn't think he could do even if she was unconscious, but he would be much too tempt to dive into bed and never get out again.

Shawn rubbed his eyes again. These hours were the hardest to get through. He'd stumbled upon his Yin/Yang nightmare avoidance strategy by accident really. Gus had, per the paramedics orders, made him stay awake for 24 hours to make sure he wasn't concussed after the fire and then he'd stayed up all night working a 'is the boyfriend cheating' stake out because Gus wanted to impress the girlfriend, only to be dragged into a full day of chores by his dad as 'payback back for being stupid enough to get caught in that fire' as his dad had put it. So when Shawn's head finally hit his pillow, he got his first nightmare free sleep in nearly a month. Twelve whole hours free of Yin and Yang. So he'd tried it again. Two nights up, then on the third day he'd sleep for twelve hours. And it had worked then too. So here he was, struggling to make it though the second sleepless night in his cycle; without even a pineapple smoothie to keep him company.

He glanced around the completely empty bar before checking his watch; only 3:45. Not too much longer, according to the schedule he'd seen Edwin toting, the detectives' wakeup call was at 7.

After 7:

Juliet rubbed her eye groggily. There was no amount of caffeine in the world that would truly be able to wake her up. And even if Edwin was friendly, his voice was more than a little shrill to hear at this hour. Edwin made a Real Genius reference, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Carlton's hand twitch instinctively for his gun. Rolling her eyes, she caught sight of Shawn and Gus, smoothies in hand, a few feet away.

"Alright everyone, after the…trust fall…incident," Edwin's eyes briefly darted to Carlton, whose lip curled in dislike-Juliet smirked- "we've decided to shake things up for today's festivities!" There was a murmur of discontent amongst the detectives; surprises weren't something this group was too fond of. "We are switching partners! So, everyone, if you would find someone you don't usually work with…"

"Dude this sucks worse than those movies about the glittery vampires," Shawn whispered, genuinely disappointed, "We were gonna wipe the floor with these guys," he took an angry sip from his smoothie, his teeth grinding on the straw, cursing his horrible timing. A few weeks ago this would have been a gift from the Pineapple gods, a golden opportunity and excuse to spend time with Juliet but now…well that was out of the picture.

His face lit up suddenly as he glanced in her direction as a brilliant alternative hit him.

He couldn't go with Juliet which meant he was more than available to participate in his second favorite activity; annoying Lassiter until the older man threatened bodily harm.

Shawn's face lit up, "Gus, come on," he motioned for his friend to follow him. "Lassie!" Shawn yelled as he made his way towards the older detective.

Lassiter froze. "Oh sweet Justice no," he murmured quietly. Juliet smirked, deciding to enjoy her partners discomfort instead of focusing on Shawn's rather blatant snub. "O'Hara, you can't do this to me," her partner hissed quietly, his voice rising a pitch in what sounded like a whine. Juliet bit her lip, trying to keep from laughing.

"Carlton, don't you find it at all fitting that you're going to get stuck with Shawn?" he stared at her blankly. She sighed, trying reign in her exasperation, "You dropped me yesterday during trust falls. Twice," she grit her teeth. Her back still hurt damnit.

"You startled me," Carlton whined. Juliet shook her head, she wasn't letting him off that easy, "Please O'Hara," he shot a desperate glance in the direction of the fast approaching psychic, his mouth opening and closing as he struggled for words. She raised an eyebrow and her partner sighed, "If you do this for me you can pull lead on any case you want."

Juliet bit back a smile; that was an apology she could get behind.

Almost.

"3 cases, and I don't have to sit on a towel when I ride in your car anymore."

Damn she drove hard bargain, Carlton grit his teeth.

"You are blackmailing an officer of the law O'Hara," he growled, trying to sound threatening. O'Hara merely cocked an eyebrow at him. She had been immune to his 'scary voice' for years now.

"You started it Carlton," she reminded him, laughter in her voice as she tried not to smile too smugly.

Shawn was feet away, reaching out towards him, "Two, and I will think about the towel."

"The towel is non-negotiable," O'Hara folded her arms across her chest. Shawn was so close.

Damn him.

Damn her.

"Fine," he winced, closing his eyes angrily.

Juliet grinned, resisting the urge to do a fist pump. Any two cases she wanted; that could be diamond smugglers or a government conspiracy or elephant theft. Anything.

"Lassie, Jules," Shawn nodded at them, a large grin on his lips. Juliet surreptitiously took a step forward, blocking the psychic from the head detective as her partner swung around her, grabbing Gus's arm.

"I've got Guster!" Lassiter declared triumphantly as he yanked a stunned Gus away from Shawn. Shawn's eyes shot open wide in panic.

"What? Lassie, you can't just 'call' Gus. The shotgun rule doesn't apply to people," Shawn sounded appalled.

"I can Spencer and I just did," Lassiter's expression was somewhere between a toothy grin and a territorial growl.

Gus managed to leverage his arm free of Lassiter's vice grip and rubbed in gingerly. "Don't I have a say in this?" Gus huffed indignantly.

"No," Lassiter growled, not taking his eye off of Shawn.

"Gus, don't be Pocahontas from Disney's Aladdin," Shawn scoffed, staring at Lassiter.

"Shawn Pocahontas is from Disney's Pocahontas," Gus sounded genuinely appalled.

Frowning, Shawn turned towards his best friend. "What? Then who's the one with the tiger?"

Juliet frowned, forcing down her grogginess as she took in Shawn's appearance; the bags under Shawn's eyes seemed deeper and darker than ever.

"The Princess from Aladdin is Jasmine Shawn," Gus explained with a role of his eyes.

Shawn shook his head, there was no reason his best friend, a full grown man, should know the Disney Princesses by heart, "You know what, I can't do this with you right now." He ran a hand over his face; he was so damn tired he couldn't even make a proper pop culture reference. Negative side effect of his Yin/Yang nightmare avoidance policy duly noted.

"Do what? It's already done," Gus replied snippily. Shawn pursed his lips. "Besides, maybe I want to partner with Lassiter," Gus crossed his arms definitely.

Shawn's eyebrows shot up, "You…You want to…" Shawn laughed, "Gus, come on wha-"

"Would you two just stop it," Lassiter finally hissed, pinching the bridge of his nose, desperately wishing he'd been allowed to bring just one his gun with him. He'd tried, but Vick and O'Hara had personally searched his person, his luggage, and his car before they'd left the precinct. They had been disturbingly thorough, and they had found all six of the guns he'd tried to smuggle past them.

Shawn and Gus were instantly quiet, but Shawn was glaring daggers at his best friend.

"Gus," Shawn said, his voice unusually sharp, "Sidebar." Gus bristled but followed Shawn to a spot a few feet away. "Dude what is the matter with you," Shawn hissed, "Last night you left me alone with Jules and now again you're being all…," Shawn shifted irritably, realizing how crazy he sounded. Gus didn't say anything; he just cocked an eyebrow knowingly, more than willing to let Shawn dig his own grave.

Edwin came up to them then, a large oblivious grin on his face, "Shawn, you and Gus need to partner up! Oh," He noticed Juliet and Lassiter, "So do Detectives Lassiter and O'Hara," he waved them over, "Hmm, since height will probably be a factor in this first activity let's do this: Detective Lassiter, you go with Gus, and Shawn, you go with Detective O'Hara," Edwin smiled brightly. Shawn frowned; Edwin should have had a massive hangover. There was no way it was humanly possible for him to be that perky this early. "Here you guys go," he handed them both large black Velcro straps.

Lassiter stared at it in horror, "Look Getty, I don't know what sort of sick, kinky, perverted thing you think I'm gonna do with Guster-"

"Woah," Shawn's eyebrows shot up as his overactive imagination subjected him to a myriad of unwanted mental pictures.

Edwin looked absolutely mortified, "Detective…it's for a three legged race," he explained his face beat red.

"Oh," Carlton said quietly. Juliet smirked, vacation did not agree with her partner one bit.

Shawn and Gus on the other hand were grinning like idiots, "Dude, a three legged race!" Gus grinned slyly. The duo jumped up and down excitedly. "We are gonna kick more butt then Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker did in all 3 Rush Hour's!" Shawn raised his fist.

Gus frowned, but moved to fist bump his friend anyway, "Not that that's hard," Gus scoffed. They froze; their fists millimeters apart.

"We aren't partners," Shawn remembered suddenly, his voice laced with disappointment, lowering his fist as his lips pursed out in a pout. The other detectives had started to line up, awkwardly pulling on the Velcro strap and discussing strategy.

"Guster!" Lassiter yelled, standing at the starting line, the black strap in his hands. Juliet moved towards the pair, arms folded impatiently.

"I've gotta go," Gus moved towards Lassiter, "I'll see you after we win."

"Wait, what?" Shawn asked, crossing his arms. Shawn laughed, "After who wins?" He took a step towards his best friend, his brow furrowed seriously.

Juliet rolled her eyes; this race was never going to get started.

Gus grinned suavely, thumbing his finger across his nose, "Shawn, we both know who carried our partnership at those Police Department Picnics," Gus explained.

Shawn blinked, "Yes, Gus, we do. I did," Shawn said emphatically.

Gus and Shawn were inches apart now, eyes blazing. "Shawn I practically dragged you across the finish line."

"I remember it differently," Shawn challenged, huffing.

"Shawn, I am a jackal. And a jackal is not just a master of stealth."

Gus's and Shawn's face were inches from each other, their eyes icy, "Oh, it's on," Shawn declared quietly.

"Oh it is definitely on," Gus said, smirking confidently, before he turned and headed back towards Lassiter.

"It's on like a Southwest commercial!" Shawn yelled as he watched Gus retreat. Juliet came to stand next to him, her arms folded across her chest. She was trying very hard not to smile, their shenanigans and Tom-foolery were holding up the entire race after all. "Man can you believe him?" Shawn scoffed, turning to her, sniffing slightly as he ran a hand across his mouth.

Juliet cocked an eyebrow, biting her lip to keep her face from splitting into a large grin, "You finished?" she was pleased her voice came out so professional. Shawn deflated slightly.

"Yeah," he muttered disgruntlely, following after her like a small child as they took their place at the starting line.

Shawn secured the strap tightly between their legs, staring intently down the starting line at Gus, who was staring back at him with equal intensity. "Shared leg first," Shawn said seriously, narrowing his eyes at his best friend.

"Ok," Juliet frowned, amused and disturbed by how seriously he was taking this. She was grateful however; the fact that Shawn's eyes were so focused on his best friend helped keep any distracting thoughts from popping into her head as he wrapped his arm tightly around her waist.

She heard Edwin blow the small whistle that signified the start of the race and they were off, shared leg first.

Shawn's eyes stayed fixed on Gus as they ran. Despite Shawn's apparent lack of focus on the race, they were rapidly pulling out in front. The only other partnership keeping up was Lassiter and Gus, who were maybe a half step behind them. Shawn's grip on her hip tightened and his lip curled. He tried to up the pace, but it took them out of sync and they stumbled.

Gus grinned and gave the smallest wave of his hand as he and Lassiter passed them. Shawn growled, and the next thing Juliet knew, both of her feet were off the ground, and Shawn was literally carrying her towards the finish line; her half of their 'shared' leg millimeters off the ground. The scary thing was, it was actually working and they were gaining ground.

Gus turned and looked at them, a look of horror spreading across his face, "Shawn! You can't do that!" He yelled at his incorrigible best friend, "You'll be disqualified!"

"Gus, don't be a-"Shawn's quip was lost to a wheeze.

"Shawn put me down!" Juliet growled. Shawn ignored her.

They were neck and neck now. Gus reached out his free arm to shove Shawn. Shawn retaliated, thumping Gus hard on the arm.

"What…the hell…are you two…doing?" Lassiter wheezed.

They were all so caught up in the race that none of them noticed the giant divot in the ground until it was too late. In fact, Shawn didn't notice it at all-or if he did he didn't let it affect him at all.

He just kept running, carrying Juliet, even as Gus and Lassiter went down with a cry of pain.

"My coccyx!" Gus screamed as he writhed on the ground.

I haveta say, this was one of the funnest chapters to write! I hope you all enjoyed it. Writing Jules and Lassie together was surprisingly fun.

There's just so much to be excited about right now!

1) 2 back to back all new episodes this week! Holy cow! 2) The Yin/Yang conclusion in jsut over a week!( ok, that also makes me panic, cause I have a LOT of my own Yin/Yang case to write and I want to have that started before the actual episode airs and all speculation just becomes silly and comparatively lame) 3) After I finish the Yin/Yang case and Act 3 of this story I have another fic idea that has taken seed in my brain and won't get out and I'm super excited to start that over the hiatus! Assuming people are interested I will reveal the story summary in an upcomign authors note.

4) The next few chapters are super amazing.

I get lots of reviews and I can give you all another chapter super soon!

Enjoy and Review!