A/N: I know! I couldn't believe I was updating this early either! I decided to post this a few days earlier than I would have, because posting on Christmas Day made me happy. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it and Happy Holidays to everyone!


Gus' mother had always said he was too weak for haunted houses. She hadn't necessarily used those exact words, but the meaning had been clear. Today, he'd proven her wrong. He'd stayed at ScareFest all day and had done several things that she would have disapproved of. He hadn't run away.

He'd screamed several times -manly screams- but he hadn't run away. That meant something.

His good mood added a pep to his step as he started climbing the stairs to their room.

"So, what's for movie night?" Shawn asked with a small smile tugging at his lips for some reason.

"I don't know," Gus answered as he thought through the question. He was proud of himself… but his ego couldn't take another scream today. "Something scary but not too scary. Any suggestions?"

"...Not Psycho."

The request was light enough, but when Gus reached the hallway door and looked back, he saw a quick look of vulnerability flash across Shawn's face. Which actually made sense now that he thought about it. It probably wasn't just a whip that had made all of those scars. "The shower scene?"

"Actually, the rocking chair scene." Shawn shrugged with a lopsided smile. "I don't know why, but it creeps me out."

It no longer made sense, but Gus knew a thing or two about being creeped out. "Mine's the Tell-tale Heart."

Shawn's grin became more even. "Really? A story we had to read in Junior High?"

"It's a movie too," Gus defended himself. "...An animated movie, but it's still creepy."

They passed by Rowan's door and Gus looked over, expecting to see green hair as they added a creepy movie of their own. The door didn't move, which was just as weird as Rowan not going to a party today. But it wasn't his problem; it really wasn't. He and Shawn were having a good day, and they were going to make sure it had a good ending too.

Gus looked back to ask, "You want popcorn tonight?"

"Popcorn sounds good," Shawn answered in satisfaction.

Gus double checked Rowan's door before looking forward again. He'd actually started to enjoy their small conversations as they waited outside the janitor's room. But it was fine; it wasn't his problem. He didn't need to add more people to think about…

"You want to invite them?"

Damnit, he did. "We don't have to. It's been a long day."

Shawn looked back, tilting his head as he stared at the door. "Can Penny come too?"

He worked with Penny, maybe they'd gotten to know each other. Without Gus setting up 'playdates'. "Yeah, of course. If Rowan agrees."

Shawn nodded slowly. "Ok." He sighed and added, "I'd like to watch a movie with… both of them."

It didn't take a genius to know what he wanted to say. He didn't want to watch a movie with Rowan, but it was the only way to get Penny involved. "You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

That was all Gus needed to hear. He went back to the door and knocked. It didn't take long for the door to crack open as Rowan peeked out. "Gus?"

"Hey." Why weren't they opening the door the rest of the way? "We… I mean I… We were wondering if you and Penny would want to watch a movie with us."

Rowan blinked in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah. It's fine if you don't want to, but we're making popcorn..."

"...I like popcorn." Rowan looked back into their room before making their decision. "Yeah, that sounds fun. I don't have any snacks, but I can bring drinks."

Gus raised an eyebrow and waited. Rowan huffed a laugh and opened their door the rest of the way. "Don't worry; they're the dorm-approved kind of drinks." Their smile fell along with their gaze. "They're, uh, the kind of drinks that don't get things slipped into them."

They turned around quickly as Gus' mind sprinted to catch up. That explained why they weren't partying. "Jesus. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, nothing happened. My roommate helped me get home." They walked to their desk where Penny was kneeling and started rummaging through the drawers. "It's not that big of a deal."

Why did everyone around him keep saying that?

Rowan kept talking, their usual smile stretching across their face as they turned around. "I've got alcohol-free hard lemonade -don't ask- and Mountain Dew. I can't help you if you don't like either of those."

He was also surrounded by people who wielded topic changes like cavemen wielded clubs. Still, it'd be rude to not follow their lead.

"I'll take a lemonade." Gus glanced back to check with Shawn, who quickly shook his head. Which was fine; they could grab his water bottle when they made popcorn. "Any movie requests?"

"I don't actually watch movies that often. They're like books; I've always had better things to do." Rowan held out a lanyard and Penny stood up without any prompting to take it. "By the way, good call with the lanyard; I saw Shawn with his. Way better than clipping the tag to their collars."

"Yeah." The conversation was getting too confusing for Gus' emotions. It was best to retreat before he started overthinking. "We'll get the popcorn ready. Meet you in the lounge in five minutes?"

"Sounds good."

Rowan bent down to open their mini fridge and Gus noticed their shirt for the first time. White bones sprawled across a black background, leading to a mouth that grinned with dangerous-looking teeth. Gus grinned back as an idea came to him. It even matched his criteria of scary but not too scary. "How would you like to watch a dinosaur movie?"


Shawn couldn't help but smile when Abigail's sign of greeting the next morning was cut off by a large yawn.

"Good morning, Abigail. What did you think of the movie?"

"It was… interesting." She thought for a split second before adding, "Good interesting."

"Any favorite parts."

"Malcolm."

"Yeah, he gets all of the best lines." Shawn gestured with his hands, like he was spreading the quote on the air. "Life finds a way."

Abigail gave him a small smirk and tapped her chest before miming taking off a coat. Her shirt slipped off of her shoulder and she carefully pulled it back up, clearly not trying to draw attention to it.

Shawn forced himself to focus on what she said instead of marching straight to Gus to ask him to buy her better clothes. It wasn't his place. "I can't argue with that; he definitely pulled off the ripped shirt vibe. Was it too scary?"

She'd definitely jumped a few times, but he hadn't seen any signs of real panic.

"No…" She shrugged and the oversized t-shirt slid down again. This time she left it there. "The raptors and the arm just… surprised me."

"Pretty sure that's the point of a jump scare." Jump scares weren't as funny against a slave as it had been against his master.

Abigail drummed her fingers on the tote hanging from her elbow before she made a decision. Her face scrunched into an exaggerated disapproving expression as she mimed putting something on her hand and it dripping away.

Which was an interesting part of the movie to bring up. "What, you're not a fan of chaos theory?"

"It's… water's not people. Water can go anywhere, you can't predict it. But people…" She cut off right before the collar would have beeped.

Four months ago, he probably would have agreed with her. "You know, even before I was collared, I was taught to know what someone was going to do. Or what they'd already done. I was usually right, but even now people sometimes surprise me."

Abigail shook her head as she made a new sign before pointing at herself. The meaning was easy enough to guess; they never surprised her.

She didn't have a Gus in her life. "Yeah, that's fair."

She nodded back and walked past him in their well-established routine.


The janitor continued escalating over the next few days. He'd find any reason he could to have Abigail walk by him or work nearby where he could casually touch her. Shawn continued compiling what little he knew about the man: He had a wife at home, he wasn't happy in his marriage, he took it out on the slaves at work, he never pushed things far enough to be written up… Which was completely useless.

But there wasn't anything else Shawn could learn while he was stuck scrubbing a floor on his hands and knees. He needed a way to look through the janitor's paperwork, or his car, or his home. He needed more information.

There had to be a way he could help.


Gus rubbed his eyes as he stared at the workbook he was filling out. He only had one more page to go… Until tomorrow when he went through the marathon of Thursday classes that would give him yet another mountain of never-ending homework. But that was college. There wasn't anything else to do besides grit his teeth and get the work done. A knock rapped on the door, saving him from finishing the page. Shawn's head snapped up from where he'd been reading a newspaper, and he made an aborted motion, like he was getting ready to jump to his feet before stopping himself.

"Remember, our room," Gus reminded him as he walked to the door. "You don't have to worry about slave expectations."

It was the first time the boundary had really been tested, and it was obviously costing Shawn a lot to stay sitting on the bed as Gus cracked the door open. Rowan stared back from the other side, their hands buried in their pockets.

"Uh, hi," Gus said as he shifted to take up more of the space between the door and the wall. Shawn didn't need to hear any Opinions about him staying on the bed. "What's up?"

"I know this is kind of weird, but could we talk in private?" Their shoulders hunched up, making them look like a turtle getting ready to hide in its shell. "I need advice."

What could they need advice from him about? Gus glanced back into the room. Shawn's shoulders were almost as high as Rowan's, his hands crushing the newspaper as he stayed on the bed. That wouldn't do. "Give me a minute."

Gus closed the door and quickly reassured him, "You don't have to be involved. We can talk in their room or the lounge."

Shawn gave the question real thought before shaking his head. "I w-want to watch."

"Ok. Do what you're comfortable with, then. Don't worry about anyone else, even me."

A strangled laugh escaped Shawn before he stood up and walked to his corner. He hesitated before sitting down and crossing his legs. Gus smiled as he reached for the door handle; it was progress. Cloth shuffled behind him right as the door swung open, and he looked back to see Shawn on his knees with a guilty look. He'd been so close…

Gus forced himself to nod in understanding before telling Rowan, "Sorry about that, just figuring something out. Come on in. You can sit on the bed."

It was the furthest from Shawn while still giving him a good view. Gus sat in his desk chair and waited for Rowan to awkwardly sit on the edge of the mattress. "So, what's going on?"

Rowan sighed before explaining, "I know we're not really friends or anything, but you're the closest thing I have to an expert. I need to know how you got Shawn to be the way he is."

That was really not what Gus had been expecting. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean… he's not scared, right? And he just… seems comfortable." Rowan studied Gus like he was a textbook with all of the answers. "I want to know how."

"Why?" Gus couldn't help but ask.

"Because I want Penny to be like that." They sighed and their shoulders slumped back down to normal. "I've looked up all of the blogs, I've read the collar manual cover to cover, I've even messaged the controller gurus which didn't go anywhere good…" Their hands flew in the air. "No matter what I do, she never relaxes around me and she always, always freezes when we're close. I've never even used the collar, why would she think I'd hurt her?"

Gus noticed a small movement out of the corner of his eye as Shawn looked up, and he carefully kept his gaze locked on Rowan as he asked, "Why do you want her to act that way? Most owners wouldn't care."

"Because he seems happier." Rowan's hands clasped together as their thumbs drummed against each other. "She belonged to my parents at first, ok? But they weren't good owners. They'd just shove her around or snap out orders and didn't care if they told her things that'd get her shocked. I want- I need to do better than them."

Which wasn't quite the answer Gus had been hoping for… "So, what. This is just to show your parents up?"

"No. Maybe? Whatever, it doesn't matter." They set their jaw and spoke with conviction. "What matters is that good owners make sure their slaves are taken care of. Basic needs, socialization, all of that. Her still being scared means I'm not taking care of her right. Shawn isn't scared, so I need to know how you do it."

Gus sat back in his chair as his mind raced. He wanted to change people's minds, but whenever he'd imagined it, it was him arguing against the rest of the world. Him giving passionate speeches that tore down prejudices or him spitting out rebuttals until the bad guys had to cede defeat. Somehow, he'd never actually imagined the quieter version of someone just asking for advice.

How did he politely tell Rowan that he had absolutely no idea what he was doing?

Though… Who else were they going to ask?

"Honestly?" Gus started with absolutely no idea what he was going to say next. "Shawn did a lot of the work. I just… let him."

Well, that wasn't too terrible. Though the small huff from the corner let him know the person doing all of the work found it amusing.

Rowan looked between them in confusion. "How on earth does that even work? Do you have any idea how long it took me to train her out of calling me "master" anytime she answered me?"

Shawn had been like that too, but Gus had learned how to be better by talking to him. "Have you tried asking her why she's scared?"

"Gus," Shawn said quietly, immediately earning Gus' complete and undivided attention. "Remember how I was when you bought me."

He was talking. In front of Rowan. Without having to be angry. Holy crap, that was so much better than being able to sit in the corner.

"What does that mean?" Rowan asked Gus, pulling him back to the conversation he'd forgot they were having.

"Uh…" Gus listened to Shawn's advice and thought back to their first few days. Shawn wouldn't have been able to answer a question like that; it would have been cruel to make him try. "He means that's a bad idea. Shawn was like that at first, too. I tried to get him to make his own choices, but that's… an ongoing thing still."

Shawn's laugh this time was a bit louder, which sparked an idea. It was always good to practice what he preached. "You don't have to answer, Shawn, but it would help if you wanted to add anything that helped you not be scared."

He could feel Rowan giving him a look, but would Shawn answer? Gus watched him closely, several assurances on the tip of his tongue if he saw any evidence that he needed to back off.

Surprisingly, it didn't take Shawn long to answer. "You made sure I wasn't hungry." He looked like he was about to say more before he ducked his head with his eyebrows furrowed in thought. Gus gave him another few seconds and was just about to jump in when Shawn quietly added, "I used to have a master who let me serve my own food, but he also got angry if I took too much. It was better to stay a little hungry."

Gus' jaw dropped as he stared in shock. Not only was Shawn talking in front of someone else… he was talking about a previous master. In front of someone else. What had he been about to say that made that the safer bet?

"But I don't do that to Penny," Rowan cut in, clearly not seeing how monumental of an occasion it was. "I bring her plenty of snacks from the dining hall and I buy the highest rated slave treats for the rest of the time…" Gus looked over just in time to see their smirk. "I tasted them too; the chicken's pretty good. I'd eat it."

"For every meal?" Shawn asked back before flinching and quickly adding, "Sorry, sorry."

Apparently talking directly to another person was still too much, but it had been a good question. Gus asked Rowan, "You'd be happy eating them every meal?"

Their smirk fell as they answered slowly, "No…? I'm not a slave… They do better when things stay constant." They looked like they were questioning the decision to come over as they added, "She never hesitates to eat the treats like she does for the snacks."

There was so much to unpack there, and it was way too much for one night. It was best to focus on the part that Rowan might actually rethink. And, luckily, it was the part that Gus was pretty sure he knew what was going on. "What happens to the snacks from the dining hall that she doesn't eat?"

"I eat them." Rowan frowned, clearly rerunning the equation in their head and coming up with the same answer they always did. "What else am I supposed to do with them?"

Gus didn't answer right away, instead looking at Shawn and raising his eyebrows in a question. They were getting closer to personal information; it didn't feel right to talk about it without permission.

Shawn frowned at the look before his face cleared and he glanced over at his snack basket. Gus nodded in confirmation, and Shawn's look turned bemused even as he nodded back in agreement.

Gus ignored Rowan's obvious confusion and explained, "When I first got Shawn, he had a really hard time eating food without explicit permission. Like he thought any food I bought for both of us was actually just for me. I had to tell him directly that it was for him and he was allowed to eat it." He gestured in the direction of Rowan's room. "You eat the snacks she doesn't, so she probably thinks that she isn't allowed to eat more. Do you give her permission to eat everything?"

Rowan's face grew conflicted, and Gus saw the very moment when a new variable was added to the equation that was now wrong. "I… didn't realize I needed to."

Gus sympathized with the feeling. "I didn't- I don't want Shawn to be hungry. So I gave him a blanket permission to eat anything in my room at any time. That basket of snacks is just for him; I don't eat out of it. He knows he doesn't have to be hungry, I know he's actually going to eat when he's hungry... it's a win-win."

Rowan stared at the basket, clearly getting overwhelmed. "And… and that made him trust you?"

Shawn was the one who answered. "It was the first step." He glanced up with a small smirk. "He gave me pineapple that first night."

"Yeah, while you had sores all over your mouth…"

"Worth it."

Rowan shook their head. "You two are so weird…"

"It's not exactly like you do things normally either," Gus pointed out as he glanced at their bright green hair. "And if you want Penny to be more comfortable, you'll have to be ok with her being a bit weird too."

"Yeah, I guess so." They looked lost in thought as they stood up and nodded at Gus. "Thanks for the advice." They hesitated before glancing at Shawn. "Thanks… to both of you."

"You're welcome," Gus answered for both of them. He waited until Rowan retreated and the door was fully closed before turning to Shawn. He smiled as he said, "You did good. I'm proud of you."

Shawn froze in the middle of shifting back to sitting and Gus turned back to his homework to give him room to process. He'd meant every word.

A minute later, Shawn quietly answered, "You d-did good too."

He was just full of surprises today… Gus kept his eyes on his homework so he wouldn't ruin the moment. "Thanks."

He couldn't stop the small smile that stuck with him for the rest of the night.


Shawn waited for Abigail in the bathroom on Saturday, spinning a protein bar in his hand. She hadn't mentioned anything in the last couple of days about Rowan, and it didn't seem right to ask. Would she be grateful if she knew he'd said something? Or would she be mad that he'd talked to her master without her knowing? It definitely wasn't his place…

He didn't regret it, but it was better if she didn't know about the talk.

The door opened and Abigail walked through, right on time. She gave him a small smile and her hands flowed through three signs. A friendly greeting, all's well, what's your condition?

Shawn slipped the protein bar in his pocket so he could slowly sign back. You're a welcome sight, all's well, it's safe here.

Abigail's smile grew and he couldn't help but smile back. "So, how terrible is my accent?"

"I've seen worse."

"... You're just saying that to be nice, aren't you?"

"I've seen one slave who was worse," she clarified lightly. "Most slaves where I was raised were slave-bred."

What was it like to grow up around fellow slaves? "Were there many of you?"

"Usually four in the house. A new one was bought a year before I was sold." Her hands continued the story, signing several things before making a familiar sign in one hand and a slightly different version in the other. Her hands moved together and both signs changed until they were the same with traits from both originals.

"Really?" Shawn asked once he realized what she was saying. "You didn't make them learn your versions of the signs?"

"Mother said it's better to adapt. Learn from each other." She shrugged and added, slave sign language, similar, all around.

"Huh." He'd never really noticed signs changing between places, just assuming that they were all the same. But slaves were isolated from each other. It made sense that variations on the signs would pop up and that they'd have to adapt to new versions to keep the language as consistent as possible. "They taught you like you're teaching me."

She nodded before holding up the sign for 'Don't be afraid'. Her other hand came up to make a slightly different version before changing to the one he used. She gestured towards him, clasped her hands together, then pointed at herself.

Surprising warmth spread through Shawn's chest, a feeling he'd thought was reserved for Gus. He was part of something. She'd changed part of how she communicated because of him. Because of Declan and whoever had taught him and whoever had taught them. A giant web connecting them all together.

It was too much. Shawn cleared his throat, banishing the rush of emotions as he held out the protein bar. "Uh, here. We've probably talked enough today."

Her expression turned disquiet as she took the food.

"Are you ok?"

"Yes. Just…" She shook her head and tucked the food into her shower tote instead of eating it. "Thank you, Shawn."

Shawn answered sincerely, "Thank you, Abigail."

She met his eyes and smiled as they shared the moment. And then the bathroom door opened behind them.


Loud pounding woke Gus from a deep sleep.

His brain struggled to start up even as his feet stumbled towards the loud door. "What, what, what?!" He pulled open the door and a damp body careened into him. "Shit!"

Gus stumbled back, frantically trying to keep them both balanced as someone yelled in the hallway. The words were indistinct as he managed to finally pull back enough to take in the person who'd run into him.

Shawn stared back with frantic eyes, one of them swelling shut with a growing bruise. The yelling at the door grew angrier, and Gus immediately shifted so Shawn was behind him. A letterman-jacket-clad arm gestured aggressively as the smell of booze wafted through the slurred words. "...keep it under control or someone else will!"

The world snapped into focus as Gus finally woke up and understood the situation. He barely took in the other student's larger size as he took a step forward and snapped out, "What did you do to him?"

"What did I do to it? You should be asking what it did to me!" The buff boy's face flushed in anger as he pointed behind Gus. "It ran into me, didn't apologize, and then it insulted me!"

How fucking dare he? "And you hit him for that?"

"It's clear that you're not willing to discipline it, so someone had to." The boy sneered and puffed up his chest. "I bet it won't forget its place anytime soon."

Gus saw red, and it was only the fact that he had to stay between Shawn and the bully that kept him from throwing himself forward with both fists swinging. "Did he tell you that you're a cement-head with no future who's such a loser that he's still drunk at six in the morning? Because to me, that looks like he was just telling the truth."

"Hey! What's going on out here?" Crystal's voice barked from across the hall.

The boy spun around, stumbling slightly as he tried to stand straight. "I want to report an unruly slave that caused a disturbance."

"He's not the one causing a disturbance," Gus snapped back.

"Enough!" Crystal came into view, her hair tucked behind her ears as she eyed both of them up. Her gaze slid behind Gus before focusing on the bully. "Start at the beginning."

"I went to the bathroom, his slave was there, I was just minding my own business, and then it started mouthing off at me."

Gus bared his teeth at the blatant lie; there was no way in hell that was the whole story.

The boy's hands balled into fists. "I taught it some manners and then brought it back here for its master to deal with."

"Taught him some manners…?" That sounded like more than one punch. "What did you do to him?"

Crystal held out a hand to stop the answer, her face completely blank. "Did the slave threaten you or harm you?"

The boy scoffed. "What, of course not. It wouldn't have been able to if it tried."

Gus seriously doubted that. Maybe he could start leaving forks in the shower totes…

"So, you damaged another student's property for no reason and then caused a disturbance in the hall," Crystal deadpanned, her eyes never leaving the bully. "You sure you want to file that report?"

"What- He lets his slave run around without any restrictions" –the boy took a threatening step towards her– "and you're taking his side?"

Crystal stood her ground. "You hit me, you get the cops called. Go cool off before I write my own report for suspected underage drinking."

For a second, it looked like the boy was going to throw a punch anyway. Instead, he pointed behind Gus. "If he won't keep it under control, then I want it gagged."

"Noted." Crystal stared at him dispassionately until he growled and stalked away. She turned her stare to a cracked open door where another student was shamelessly watching the drama. The girl blushed when she realized she'd been caught and the door closed quickly. Crystal sighed before turning back to Gus. "I'll have to file the noise complaint, but it's a first offense, so you only need a warning. Consider this your warning."

"Are you kidding me?" Gus glared at her. Crystal had seemed like a decent sort, but this was unreasonable. "He beats up Shawn… and Shawn's the one that gets a writeup?"

"It's the rules. If Shawn needs to get checked out, you can file your own report for compensation up to the cost of the doctor bill." Her eyes narrowed in a rare show of emotion. "I doubt he'll try to push for anything, considering this is the second time I've caught him drunk and making a scene, but you should really make sure it doesn't happen again. The university is quick to dismiss slaves that cause problems."

"That's not fair," Gus complained.

"Nope," Crystal agreed. She nodded behind him. "You can write to the board if you want to argue the rules, but right now you've got a slave to take care of."

Damn this whole situation, but she was right. It didn't stop Gus from glaring at her as he closed the door in her face. He took a second to quiet all of the questions and curses swirling in his mind before turning around. He needed to help Shawn.

But the questions wouldn't stop as he saw the way Shawn was standing at attention with his shoulders raised defensively. What had his life been like for his first instinct to still be to expect a punishment. The questions grew louder, pushing with a visceral need as he struggled to keep them from leaving his lips. Shawn was freaking out, so he needed to be calm. "You're not in trouble, I know what he said was bullshit."

Why did the boy hit Shawn? What did Shawn do? Did he seriously think Gus would hurt him?

"I'd like to know what happened, but you don't have to tell me right now."

How could he make sure it didn't happen again? Why had Shawn drawn the boy's attention? What if he actually did need a doctor?

"Are you bleeding?"

"No, sir."

Why did Shawn have to be a slave? Why did Gus have to be a master? Why did the world have to be so messed up?

"Is anything broken?"

"No, sir."

Why couldn't anything be simple? Why couldn't anything be fair? Why?

"I'm trusting you here, but I need you to tell me if anything starts to hurt worse. Hits or… or kicks to the stomach can cause internal bleeding."

That one managed to make Shawn glance up, his eyes radiating guilt. "I… I will." He swallowed nervously and added, "But doctors… they're not good."

"I kind of figured." He couldn't just stand there anymore, he had to do something to help. The questions became more manageable as he walked to his desk, telegraphing his moves as he opened a drawer and pulled out their first-aid kit. He'd bought a big one. Honestly, it was surprising that they'd made it to November before having to use it. "But bleeding out internally would be worse."

He focused only on the moment, pulling out a cold pack and squeezing it to activate the chemicals. He added a packet of pain pills to his offering and walked back over to Shawn. "Not to be a dick or anything, but I will order you to take these if you don't do it on your own."

Shawn made a face at the declaration, and Gus internally sighed in relief as he handed the first-aid over. Shawn would never have let his feelings show if he was in full slave-mode.

Gus was just handing over Shawn's water bottle when the door started pounding again. Shawn flinched back before freezing and Gus swore as he put the bottle down on the mini fridge instead. "What now?"

Shawn was shut back down, his hands clutching the medicine and cold pack protectively. Gus stalked to the door, ready to give whoever was on the other side a piece of his mind. He cracked the door open, saw who it was, and immediately snapped out, "Rowan, not now."

"Wait, wait, wait! Don't punish him!" Rowan said quickly as the door closed.

Gus paused as he comprehended their words. He opened the door again. "What?"

"I know what happened. Don't punish him."

How did they know what had happened? Gus glanced back to see that Shawn still hadn't moved from his frozen position. He really didn't need another person in the room… but Rowan had answers. The girl across the hallway made his decision for him as she cracked open her door and peeked through, clearly hoping to see more drama. "Come on in."

Rowan started talking immediately as they walked in and Gus closed the door behind them. "Ok, so I don't know exactly what happened, but I heard what went down in the hallway and Penny was there in the bathroom and she's all freaked out now. She didn't even take her shower. But she said that the jerk saw them in the bathroom and she was scared of him. And I figure Shawn got weird about her the last time she was around drunk people, he probably got weird again. And if he was protecting her then…" They let out a low whistle as they saw Shawn. "Damn that's a nasty shiner."

Gus looked between the two of them as the pieces fell into place. Penny being there made so much sense; Shawn had already shown that he was willing to do risky things for her. It also eased a knot of anxiety in his stomach. Shawn wasn't just looking for fights to keep him in his slave-place. "Yeah, the other guy really wasn't pulling his punches. Was Penny hurt?"

"No. Just freaked out. And I think that's because of him, so he really shouldn't be more punished than he already is, because he probably wouldn't have spoken out of turn if it wasn't for-"

"Rowan," Gus stopped them before they could say anything that would piss him off again. Their intent was in the right place at least. He pointed at the items in Shawn's hands and waited for them to connect the dots.

Which, to their credit, they did fairly quickly. "Oh… You're not punishing him."

"Nope. I appreciate you letting me know what happened, though."

"Yeah…"

It was clear they were fighting a question as they turned back to Gus. He sighed, because Shawn probably had the same question. But he only owed an answer to one of them, and Shawn wasn't going to be able to relax until Rowan was out of the room. "Thanks again, but I think we need to be alone right now."

"Right. I should probably get back to Penny…" Their fingers drummed on their leg before they looked at Shawn. "And if I'm right… thanks."

Shawn jerked a tiny nod, the first movement he'd done since Rowan had come into the room. He waited until Rowan safely behind the closed door before quietly asking, "Why aren't you punishing me?"

Gus sighed. It was going to be a long day.


A/N: I kinda feel bad that this is the chapter y'all come back to, haha. Updates will be back to their regular Wednesday schedule with the next one being January 4th.