musicalluna

Title: You Have the Right to Remain...Dead? Part 2
Fandom: Psych
Author: MusicalLuna
Rating: T
Characters/Pairings: All the regulars/None
Genre: Gen, Mystery, Suspense
Warnings: Little tiny bit of gore.
Complete: Yes
Summary: When an officer is murdered late one night while on duty, Karen forbids Shawn from getting involved, afraid he won't take the case as seriously as he should. But since when has a little thing like being banned from a case stopped Shawn Spencer?
A/N: I've been working on this story for over three months now. Up until three weeks ago, however, it was coming out really rather crappy. That was when I met my Psych fanfiction soul-mate centipede. She helped me work out all the kinks in my story and helped me realize the full-potential of this story. Thanks to her, this story is the best it can be. She was my encouragement, my grammar-nazi, and my holy-crap-I-have-to-do-that-because-that-idea-is-brilliant girl.

Thanks so much for rocking my Psych world!
Disclaimer: Psych and all related characters are unfortunately not even marginally owned by me. How tragic is that?
 

~ * Present Day * ~
 

"Go on, Gus. I’ve got your back," Shawn said encouragingly.

"Oh, like you had my back in tenth grade when Richard Bruin gave me a black eye because he couldn’t find you? Or is this like when you ‘had my back’ at the Bee? Or—"

"Gus! I’m disappointed that you have so little faith in me!" Shawn exclaimed, pretending to be wounded.

Gus rolled his eyes. "It’s not about faith, Shawn. It’s about history."

"What about in sixth grade when Billy beat me up for standing up for you? Doesn’t that count?" Shawn protested.

Gus considered. "One out of three isn’t very good, Shawn. Why am I doing this anyway? It’s your pay!"

Shawn frowned. "Gus, you get half. And you’re more professional." Gus snorted, knowing that if there was an understatement of the year, he had just heard it. "Besides, aren’t you the one who was whining about the budget?"Gus’s expression transformed into a frown. "Only because you waste money!" he exclaimed, exasperated.

Shawn waved a hand. "Ah, details, details. Gus, you’ve got to see the big picture…"

"I’ve got to see the big picture? Shawn, the ‘big picture’ is that you spend almost double our budget on things like RC cars, a television for the bathroom, and that stupid shirt you’re wearing right now!" he ranted, waving the three fingers he’d held up for emphasis in Shawn’s face.

Shawn sighed and pushed his hand aside. "Okay…so maybe I could cut down on a few things. But you’ve still gotta ask the Chief for a raise. I can’t do it. One glare and I’ll crumble. You know this, Gus." He stuck out his lower lip and turned large, pleading eyes on his friend.

Gus scowled, unimpressed, but turned and marched up to the chief’s door, knocking loudly in spite of his own feelings on the whole subject. Following his lead, Shawn pumped a fist victoriously.

Karen Vick turned toward the door and eyed the two men suspiciously through the glass as she continued her telephone conversation. After a moment of scrutiny, she rolled her eyes and waved them in, gesturing for them to be quiet. They slipped inside and sat down, Shawn grinning like a madman and mimicking Vick’s gestures. She glared at him and then turned away from them. "…all right, that sounds great. Send two guys out there and let’s get this over with, shall we? Good. Okay. I’ll talk to you later. Bye."

She set the phone in the cradle and turned to face them, looking wary. "What can I do for you boys?"

Gus straightened, trying to look his most serious and important. "Shawn and I wanted to discuss our fee." His words were punctuated by a deep and very grave nod from Shawn.

"Mmmhmm…" Vick said, nodding slowly. "What about it?"

Shawn and Gus exchanged a look before Gus continued, "Uh…well, Chief, Shawn and I think we may be entitled to a small raise—"

"No."

Gus paused, eyebrows up. "No?"

"No," Karen confirmed.

Gus frowned, opening and then closed his mouth bewilderedly. "You won’t even consider…?"

"Oh, no, Mr. Guster. I have considered. You and Mr. Spencer have only been with us for a few months. My officers don’t even get raises until after their first year. You two are not getting anything any sooner than they do."

"Aw, but Chief," Shawn protested.

"No. No raise. Honestly, Mr. Spencer, how much money can it take to run a small psychic detective’s agency?"

"Well there are all sorts of things we need—"

"Then raise your customer fees, Mr. Spencer. End of discussion. Now is there anything else?" she asked.

Another look was exchanged. "Do you—"

"No cases. Sorry. We are in a fortunate crime drought right now, gentlemen. Even Detective Lassiter took a night off earlier this week." She didn’t mention that she had had to browbeat him into taking it.

Shawn stared. "Seriously? The guy who hasn’t vacationed in like, thirty years, took a night off? Things really must be slow."

"Yes, Mr. Spencer. Now I have paperwork to fill out if you don’t mind…" she said, her tone indicating that it was time for them to leave.

Gus nodded and said, "Uh, well, nice talking to you Chief."

She smiled. "You too Mr. Guster. Goodbye."

Shawn pouted as they stepped outside. "Man, we were just shut down."

Gus said, "She has a point, Shawn. You spend too much."

"Aw, Gus. Come on. We need those things."

"No, Shawn, we really don’t."

"You’re a party pooper." He paused and then completely changed tracks. "Let’s go get smoothies!"

Gus sighed and rolled his eyes. Some things would never change.


Part 1  Part 3  Part 4  Part 5  Part 6  Part 7  Part 8  Part 9  Part 10  Part 11  Part 12  Part 13  Part 14  Part 15  Part 16