Several hours later found Shawn standing in front of the bathroom mirror with his father yelling in the background. “Shawn! Hurry up! You need to help me set the damn table!”
“Hold on, Dad! I’ll be there in a minute!” The younger Spencer shouted back.
Henry shook his head saying to himself, “You said that five minutes ago, kid. You’re already dating the guy. You don’t have to freak out…”
Meanwhile, Shawn was freaking out. He forgot to get his extra clothes that he had prepared for tonight so he had to use some clothes that he’d left here a couple times. Tonight’s outfit was composed of a green, short-sleeved polo and a pair of dark blue jeans. It was a simple outfit yet he felt it wasn’t fitting for tonight. His and Lassiter’s relationship was anything but simple. Shawn smirked. Irony was a specialty of his. I look simple enough but I’ve got enough baggage to last three people their whole lives. He thought melancholically.
Ten minutes later Gus came into the bathroom. He was on the phone. “Yeah, don’t worry. I’ll tell him.” Pause. “Yes Detective Lassiter.” Smirk, then pause. “Okay.” Exasperated pause. “See you in a second.”
Shawn’s eyes widened almost comically. “Lassie’s already here?”
“Yeah.” The other man said. “He said that he’s here and too not take too long in front of the damn mirror.”
Shawn whined. “But Gus! This is important! What if Dad doesn’t like him? What if you don’t like him?”
Gus glared. “We already talked about this. First off, you already know we like him. We’re just… double checking. Now stop acting like you a twelve year old girl and get your ass downstairs.”
In an almost comical chain of events, Shawn put his hands on his hips and stomped his foot while saying, “I am not twelve!”
Gus stifled a laugh. “Okay, you deny that you’re twelve, but you don’t deny the girl comment?”
Shawn smirked. Bingo. He thought devilishly. Time to gross you out Gusterpants. “It depends on what position Lassie has me in whether I’m the girl. If we’re in a bedroom scenario I rather enjoy being the girl.”
If blatantly obvious sexual comments could kill, Gus would be dead if Shawn judged by his best friend’s facial expression.
When Gus finally came out of his ‘my best friend just made a really gross comment’ space-out, Shawn was already ready running out of the bathroom, but Gus was right on his tail. “Shawn! Get back here!”
“Catch me if you can!” Shawn shouted, narrowly missing Henry and avoiding a dangerous collision. Laughing, he continued his running.
“Dammit Shawn, Gus!” Henry scolded. “How many times have I told you? No running in the house!”
Shawn turned his head so he could hear what his father was saying. However, he was still running and didn’t notice when he collided with something.
Or someone. Shawn thought as he fell to the ground with none other than Lassiter, whose face was covered with shock and confusion. Shawn’s, however, was plastered with a smile yet his expression showed concern. “Are you okay, Lassie?”
Lassiter, who gained his bearings at the sound of Shawn’s obvious concern, countered with, “Are you?”
“You’re the one who fell on the ground. I just landed on top of your oxymoronic hardened, fluffy chest. Though I’d rather have this position reversed, maybe we can wait until we’re out of my father’s house. I really don’t want to desecrate the place of the good part of my childhood.”
Lassiter smirked. Quickly growing serious, the detective asked, “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Shawn furrowed his brow in mock-thought. “If I’m not, will you kiss it and make it better?” He said in an overly childish voice. Lassiter smiled and nodded.
Shawn thought about what ‘hurt.’ He came up with a few explicit thoughts, but one thought stuck out to him. He pointed to his lips. Lassiter then pulled Shawn down closer and captured his lips in a soft kiss. It was quick, but it was still full of meaning. Shawn’s cheeks were red when he pulled away. “Much better.” He smiled.
Henry, who was attempting to look away from the scene out of respect for his son and failing miserably, watched with a fond eye. That head detective sure knows how to rake in the points. He seems to be treating him good. He thought.
Several minutes later Shawn, Lassiter, Henry, and Gus were seated at the dinner table eating. “Detective Lassiter, would you mind stepping out with me for a minute?” Henry asked when everyone was almost done with their meal.
Shawn looked about to protest, but Lassiter looked at him with a face that somehow said, ‘I can do this. Let it go.’
Lassiter nodded and the two men walked outside to sit on the front porch. “Detective, you know how I work. You know I like to get straight to the point, so you already know what I’m gonna ask, but I’ll ask it anyways. I know you’re a good detective, but I have to know this. What makes you think you’re a good enough man to take care of my son?”
Every time Lassiter has ever been asked this question, he always faltered and stumbled over his words. Every time his words came out wrong and were lies. There was no getting a lie through Henry’s infallible lie-detecting abilities, not that he would want to lie in this case. This time, however, his words came out as if he’d rehearsed this a thousand times. “To be honest, Henry, I really don’t think I’m a good man. I don’t feel like I’m good enough for Shawn. I’m so scared that one day he will realize this and find somebody else, somebody more fitting for him.
“But the crazy thing is, he’s with me. Out of everything I’ve ever said and done to him, he’s here with me, probably watching through the window behind us with Gus listening to everything I’m saying.” Henry turned slightly and out of the corner of his eye, sure enough, Shawn was looking through the screen with Gus right below him. “If you say I’m selfish for saying this then so be it, but I truly hope Shawn never realizes that there’s probably somebody better out there than me. I want to be with Shawn. I know we’re probably not the perfect pair, but I don’t care what others think about our relationship with the exception of the select few that Shawn has let into his life. To be completely honest, Henry, I don’t care what you have to say about this relationship. My decisions are based entirely on what is good for Shawn. However, if you do not approve of me and he does want to leave me then I will let him go, but if he wants to stay with me then I will fight for him because like I said, I’m selfish.
“Every day I stay with Shawn the easier it is for me to realize I love him. Do I love him? I’m honestly not sure, but am I capable of loving him? Will I love him one day if given the time? Yes is too soft a word. There is no doubt in my mind that I can love Shawn and I hope one day he’ll love me too. He’s had such a hard life that I can’t even begin to understand how he’s even capable of loving anyone.” Lassiter laughed affectionately. “Of course, Shawn is always spontaneous. He keeps me on my toes.
“Anyways, every day I stay with Shawn the easier it is for me to love him. However, every day he stays with me it gets harder and harder for me to fathom the idea of ever letting him go. But, if he wants to go, he will be allowed to go. I will not keep him on a leash. I just hope he knows that I will always be faithful to him and I will stay with him for as long as he’ll have me.”
Henry didn’t talk for a long time. When he did he offered Lassiter a beer and said, “You got balls, I’ll give you that. Saying what you did had to be hard on your pride.”
Lassiter shook his head. “Shawn is my pride. Not me.”
Henry nodded. “It better stay that way. Cop or not, if you hurt Shawn I will kill you.” Henry said.
“If I hurt him, make it a slow death.”
And with that, the two men walked back inside.
As soon as Lassiter stepped through the door he was bombarded with all one-hundred sixty-five pounds of Shawn Spencer hanging from his neck. Lassiter stumbled for a second but quickly gained his footing, his hands falling to Shawn’s waist. “What’s wrong, Shawn?”
“Thank you for everything you said for me, for us, but don’t ever think you’re not good enough. We may not be perfect to others, but we’re perfect to me. You’re perfect to me.”
Lassiter kissed the top of Shawn’s head. “Remember when I told you I cared about you more than any other human being in my life?” Shawn nodded. “I wasn’t kidding, you know. You mean the world to me.”
Shawn pulled away long enough to look Lassiter in his eyes. There was genuine happiness sparkling in Shawn’s, Lassiter noticed, as if the flecks of green in his hazel eyes were radiating joy. It was infectious, Shawn’s happiness. The detective found himself smiling as well. However, Lassiter pushed his lips to Shawn’s, wiping away the smile, but not the infectious happiness.
The rest of the night was spent peacefully. Well, as peacefully as it could be, considering the two hard-headed Spencers were in one room together playing a board game. Lassiter and Gus were sitting on the sidelines, watching the father and son play Sorry! in the living room.
Gus leaned over to Lassiter while Henry and Shawn were bickering again. “Who do you think will win?” He whispered.
Lassiter had a pretty good idea. “Henry.”
Gus glared at the head detective. “You don’t support your own boyfriend?”
Lassiter glared right back. “Of course I do. I’m not saying I know Shawn better than you or his father, but I’m pretty sure Shawn’s getting desperate.”
“How do you know?”
“Shawn’s trying to cheat.”
Lassiter knew what his boyfriend was up to. He was trying to use his psychic ability of telekinesis to move Henry’s pieces back a certain amount of places. Henry didn’t seem to notice because Shawn was getting away with it. However, even by cheating Lassiter knew Shawn was still way out of his league with the elder Spencer’s eerie patience with board games. Even his banter is strategic. Lassiter thought.
Sure enough, Henry won the game. Shawn looked a little put out when Henry said, “Even your psychic powers and eidetic memory can’t help you in a simple game of strategy, Shawn. You need to think ahead. You can’t just run in and hope everything will come out fine. You need to think sometimes.”
Though Shawn didn’t look like it, he was taking in everything Henry was saying. He knew his father wasn’t talking about the game anymore. “I know, Dad. I”-
Shawn blinked. One second he was staring at Henry, and now he was looking at himself? What kind of vision is this?
The scene looked as if frozen in time, as if a movie were on pause. Shawn laughed. I guess my explanation of visions to Lassie wasn’t that far off.
Then the scene continued to play. “Understand.” Scene Shawn said.
“Good.” Henry nodded.
Shawn watched as everyone interacted with each other and watched closely for whatever he was supposed to be looking for. He watched in horror as he saw the small red dot right in the middle of Gus’ head. By then it was too late. Gus dropped to the floor as both Scene Shawn and Real Shawn screamed.
Shawn was still screaming when he came back to his timeline. “GET DOWN!” He shouted. On instinct everyone did. He watched Gus intently, making sure his best friend was safe. The bullet went right passed him right as he ducked.
“Gus!” Shawn cried. “Are you okay.”
Gus, a little shaken up, said, “Yeah. I’ll be fine. I’m uninjured.”
Shawn heard in the background that Lassiter was calling in the shots fired. The gypsy got up and placed himself so he could see outside the window. Surprisingly, he saw the shooter. Looking at this hooded figure he felt anger boil inside him. Hands balled into fists, the psychic walked outside to face the sniper.
Henry watched in horror. “Shawn! Stop.”
Shawn ignored him. Once outside he stared straight at the gunman. “Fire at me you sick son of a bitch! Let’s see if you’re fast enough.” He shouted.
Shawn heard the gun go off and heard Gus shout, “Shawn, no!” But Shawn didn’t drop. He didn’t move, as if the bullet hadn’t hit him. Miraculously, it hadn’t. It was suspended in midair, right before it hit Shawn between the eyes. Shawn closed his eyes, a smirk growing on his features. He turned the bullet and, with a lightning speed, hit the branch right next to the shooter. Shawn could sense that whoever was shooting at him was starting to get scared. “Try again!” He shouted in an eerily calm voice. He hadn’t once moved from his standing position. “The next time you fire will be the last time. I was trained to fire a gun by Henry Spencer. Don’t you even dare think I missed the first shot. Trust me. It was planned.
“When you get out of that tree and Detective Lassiter doesn’t somehow catch you, tell Luke this: you can fire guns at me. You can torture me and go after me, but I will not tolerate anyone going after my friends, my family. If you so much as attempt to try this again, I will make sure your death is as painful as possible.”
Shawn heard the shuffling of the unknown attacker getting down and running. Lassiter was much faster. He tackled the shooter to the ground, disarmed, and handcuffed him. When he turned him around, Lassiter was surprised, to put it lightly. This ‘he’ was a ‘she.’ To be specific, it was the girlfriend of the dead man they found just a few hours earlier.
Shawn didn’t understand why Lassiter looked so shocked. Then he looked at the shooter’s face. He practically sprinted to Lassiter. “Why would you do this?”
The woman was crying. “I-I can’t help it! I-I can’t st-stop! He’s controlling m-me. I-I-I…” She screamed then. “KILL ME! PLEASE!” She begged. “I can’t do this anymore! I killed the love of my life! I don’t even know who you are and I tried to kill you!” She sobbed. “Make him stop! PLEASE!”
Shawn cupped her face. “I’ll make it stop. Okay. Just let me in.”
She nodded in understanding. Then, within seconds, Shawn was flooded with the woman’s memories of her kidnapping. It was hard to watch and see everything that went on, but he knew that if he found the moment that forced her connection to Luke, he could sever the connection.
When he found the link, he urged it towards himself. He watched as the black line ran like ropes against her body and towards an unknown location. Curious, he touched the link, felt along and saw where it took him.
When he opened his eyes that he hadn’t realized he’d closed, he looked in horror as he realized he was looking at Luke.
His biological father obviously couldn’t see him. He was sitting in a high-society restaurant somewhere in Santa Barbara. He looked beyond livid. “Dammit, Shawn! Why must you ruin everything?”
Shawn smirked. For once they had beaten Luke.
“You think you’re so special, don’t you, Shawn? You think you’re any different than me? My blood runs through your veins.” A cold chill ran right through him at that. The chill increased as Luke stared into out at nothing in his perspective, but to Shawn it looked as if Luke was staring right at him. “I’ll make sure you come to me. You will obey me, willingly or not.”
Shawn stood up then, glaring daggers at his biological father. He leaned close to his father and, using his gypsy abilities, made his voice able to be heard. “I will never obey you. I will always be better than you.”
Shawn had already returned to Lassiter and the others before Luke could even show his look of honest shock. As he went back, he cut the tie the woman had to Luke.
Shawn collapsed along with the woman. He had been mentally beaten from using his gypsy abilities to such an extent. It was taking a toll on his body and mind. This might be why I’ve been having physical reactions like nose bleeds and seizures. He thought, bringing his fingers to his nose absentmindedly. Sure enough, there was blood. I should of thought of this sooner. I’m not thinking right because I’m too panicked. I need to cool down for a minute.
Of course, there usually never was a cool-down moment for Shawn Spencer.
Shawn wiped the blood off with the inside of his shirt. Silently praying that he didn’t miss any blood, he turned to stand back up and face the group.
They were all looking at the woman who was crying profusely. When Shawn turned to her, she embraced him. “Thank you! My mind is pure again! I owe you my life!”
Shawn could feel Lassiter glaring at this woman. He turned to glare back, silently saying that this was completely platonic. Lassiter looked almost sheepish and mouthed, “Sorry.”
Suddenly, Shawn heard in the distance police sirens. “Who called the police?” Shawn asked.
Lassiter shrugged. “Probably the neighbors. I would call too if I lived next to you Spencers and heard gunshots.”
It was at that moment that Lassiter wondered how they weren’t blood related because Shawn and Henry’s glowering looks were exactly the same. “Where did you find this one, Shawn?” Henry asked with venom.
“He’s a cop. You’re a cop. You should know him better.” Shawn said.
“You’re the one sleeping with him.”
Gus proceeded to gag as Shawn shouted, “Oh come on, Dad! We’re around Gus! You know how he gets when very obvious sexual comments are made!”
Lassiter rolled his eyes as he watched the Spencers argue. If this was the family he was getting himself into… Who am I kidding? I wouldn’t have it any other way. Lassiter smiled affectionately at Shawn. The gypsy was strong. He’s stronger than me. There’s no way I could deal with everything he has and still be as sane as he is.
The next few hours were spent with each of them giving their statements to the police officers that responded to the shooting. After the interrogations, one of the officers asked Henry, “Well do you want to file a case against this woman? This technically happened on your property. If so, we will have to notify the gypsy community since this falls under their jurisdiction.”
Henry shook his head. “It wasn’t the woman who committed this crime. She had no control.”
The policeman nodded and left with his partner shortly after. After the last squad car left, the four men were left to their own devices.
Shawn walked over to Gus. “Hey, are you alright, buddy?”
“You know, you’d think getting shot at would be something to be upset about, but it’s happened so many times I don’t think it can phase me anymore.”
Shawn put on a smile, knowing his best friend was lying. He didn’t have superior observation skills for nothing. “Take it easy, Gus. Go home and get some rest, okay?”
“Alright, and Shawn?”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself. Worry about yourself.”
Shawn laughed. “Oh, Gussy! That’s what Lassiepants is for!”
Lassiter, hearing one of his many nicknames, asked, “What am I for? And stop calling me that, Shawn!”
Shawn walked over into Lassiter’s personal space and said, “You worry about me so much that I don’t have to worry about me! I can worry about other people like Gus here!”
Lassiter, feigning shock, asked, “You don’t want to worry about me? I’m hurt.”
Shawn, who apparently didn’t catch Lassiter’s sarcastic and joking tone, was quickly panicking. “No! I mean yes! I’ll worry about you too! Well, I can’t worry about two people, but I can try! I’m sorry Lassie! I didn’t mean it that way! I’m really so”-
Lassiter pushed his lips to Shawn’s, giving his ‘apology accepted.’ “Relax, Shawn. I’m kidding.”
Shawn blanched for a second. “Did you just tell a joke?” He went over to Gus, who looked just as shocked. “Gus, did Carlton Lassiter, the one with the ever-present stick up his very nice ass, tell a joke?”
Gus nodded. “I think he did. Man, Shawn. You really have an effect on people, don’t you?”
Lassiter rolled his eyes. “You know, I can tell a joke from time to time. I’d like to think I’m pretty humorous!”
Shawn smiled. “Okay, Lassie. Whatever boats your float.”
“It’s floats your boat, Shawn.”
“I’ve heard it both ways.”
The last moments of the night were spent saying their goodbyes and goodnights. Shawn went with Lassiter to his apartment. Shawn had said he didn’t want to spend the night alone so they stopped at Shawn’s to get his things. Once they arrived at Lassiter’s, Shawn set his things down and proceeded to embrace Lassiter for all he was worth.
When Lassiter felt his shirt getting wet, he quickly asked, “Shawn? Are you okay?” That’s when the sobs came freely. Lassiter could only hold Shawn and wait as patiently as he could for the smaller man to calm down.
It was a while before that happened, but eventually, Shawn spoke, “I almost lost Gus, Carlton. I can’t lose him. I can’t lose anyone. I just… I just can’t!”
“Shawn…”
“You don’t understand. It’s one thing when some random person is targeting the people you love, the people you care about. It makes it easier to handle, like with the Yin and Yang cases. But this is my father! My biological father. He’s supposed to support me and care about me, not use me for his stupid… whatever he’s doing. And wait. There’s more! I’m his kid! What makes me any different from him if his blood runs through my veins?”
“Choices.”
Shawn looked up at Lassiter. “What?”
“The choices you make. Just because he’s your father does not mean you’re predestined to be like him. He chose to be a dick. You didn’t. It’s as simple as that.
“You are nothing like him, Shawn. You are more than he will ever be. You will always be that way and have always been that way. Don’t you ever think you are like him, because you’re not.” Lassiter tried to keep calm, but it angered him that Shawn was thinking this way. How could he think so little of himself? He’s amazing – albeit strange – but he’s… he’s Shawn.
Lassiter wiped the tears from Shawn’s cheeks. “Now no more crying. We should be happy that we’ve spent a couple days around each other and haven’t tried to kill each other.”
Shawn smiled slightly. “You’re right.” Shawn lightly kissed Lassiter. “We should celebrate after I get rid of this headache.”
“Do you need pain medicine?”
Shawn laughed. “No. I can’t take pain medicine. It messes with the psychic flow of things in my brain. I’ll end up screaming for six hours and I highly doubt you want that.”
Lassiter was genuinely surprised. “Are you serious? From pain meds?”
“Yep. Hurts a lot worse than a migraine, to be honest.” Shawn stood up and stretched. His head had just recently started hurting. Probably from stress. He thought. “Well, I’m gonna get ready for bed, Lassie. I’ll see you in the room?”
“Yeah.” Lassiter stood up, pulled Shawn close, and kissed him with a sincerity that had Shawn breathless. “Goodnight, Shawn.”
Shawn smiled, his face red. “G’Night Lassie.”
Shawn went into the bathroom to shower, his headache increasing in intensity. He ignored it, however, because he had to dispose of his shirt. How to do that in a cop’s house, Shawn wasn’t sure. I’ll just put it in my suitcase or something. Say I must’ve cut myself when I fell.
So, Shawn showered and went to bed, falling asleep as quickly as he could with the ever-increasing pain of his headache. He didn’t even feel it when Lassiter crawled into bed next to him later that night.
-
Lassiter awoke with a start. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt panicked about something. He looked at the clock. Time for work. He thought. Shawn didn’t have to be up for a while so he decided to let him sleep until he had to leave for work. So, Lassiter went about his morning routine, getting everything ready – including the coffee – for when he woke Shawn up.
Preparing himself, he gently pushed Shawn’s bare shoulder, which was awfully cold. “Shawn? You have to wake up now. You’ve got a job too and Guster wouldn’t be too happy if you didn’t show up today.”
No response.
Lassiter narrowed his eyes. It was stupid, but he checked Shawn’s vitals. Even for sleeping, they seemed awfully low. “Shawn? Wake up.”
Still no response.
Panic quickly rising, he tried one last time. “Listen Shawn, if this is some kind of joke then it isn’t funny. Wake up.”
Nothing.
Frantic, he practically shook Shawn. “Dammit! You said you can’t lose anyone, well I can’t lose you! Wake up!”
Something was wrong, Lassiter could tell, and he had a feeling the paramedics couldn’t help in this case. “Dammit, Shawn, I cannot lose you!” He said through gritted teeth, dialing the number of the only person he knew that could help in this situation.
