A/N: This was actually finished a while ago, but it's taken me this long to get around to editing it. But now I have and I'm now posting it. Can't promise when I'll update it again, though! So, enjoy!

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Chapter 1 – Burn, Baby, Burn

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It was the Spirits' fault that he was in this mess, although some of the blame could be placed on his own actions. Still, he liked to blame the Spirits for almost everything, as it usually was their faults in one way or another. He had been minding his own business when the fire spirit first showed up. Lurking around the police station and spying on Lassie was his business after all; how else would he get his cases without doing so?

Lassie really hadn't been doing anything interesting from what Shawn could tell from his pressed up position against the wall. The lead detective was just doing paperwork, which was why it was quite the surprise to see Lassie exit the bathroom with a fire spirit following after him. There were a number of factors involved, but Shawn wasn't surprised when Lassie was called into the Chief's office soon afterwards. Shawn gave the detective one second before he followed after him.

While Shawn had mostly been spying on Lassie and Jules while talking to Buzz about latest episode of Ghost Hunters, he had paid attention to the goings on of the station. He had taken note of the two strangers the moment they entered the station, the demons attached to the two made it impossible to ignore them. His curiosity had been aroused when the two entered into the Chief's office, his Spidey senses were telling him that a big case was on the horizon, but Lassie had gotten up to use the bathroom and Buzz brought up a particularly interesting part of the show and Shawn had gotten distracted until the Chief called for Lassie.

Shawn entered the Chief's office seconds after Lassie, ignoring all of the disgruntled looks that everyone was giving him. "The Spirits were calling me, telling me that I need to be on this case."

"Really?" Chief Vick stressed, "And what are these spirits telling you about this case."

"I sense something about fire." Shawn raised his hand to his temple and wiggled his fingers. He sent a quick look over to the fire spirit, but it wasn't paying attention to him. He switched his gaze over to the two strangers who were staring at him in confusion. He had paid attention when they came in and now that he was actually standing in front of them, he could tell more about them. They didn't look like they were standard police, but their haircuts were too regulations for them to be anything but law enforcement – not to mention that they were in the Chief's office. That left a number of Alphabet Soup guys, but that coupled with the fire spirit could only mean one group. "These guys are ATF and they need our help on a case."

"How did you know?" one of the guys asked, staring at Shawn with wide eyes.

"I'm a psychic, it's what I do." Shawn struck a slight pose and sent the guy his charming smile.

Lassiter snorted in disgust. "That's all you got, Spencer?"

"Well, I do know that this isn't because of an ordinary house fire and these men came here specifically for you, Lassie." The first fact was obvious and the one about Lassie only slightly less so. AFT dealt with more dangerous things than just household fires and Chief Vick had called for Lassiter only, even though Juliet was in the bullpen at the time. There was also the fire spirit in the room, which communicated all of those things with just his presence. This was a strong spirit, which meant it got its strength from more than ordinary house fires and the fact that it was following Lassiter around meant that Lassie was going to be smack dab in the middle of things.

"You're absolutely right. We're dealing with a group of thieves that use bombs as both a distraction and a calling card when they are pulling off their heists. Detective Lassiter is the lead detective here in Santa Barbra and he is familiar with one of the thieves," the younger ATF agent said.

"What?" Lassiter asked, looking at the two agents in shock.

"It's really not that shocking, Lassie," Shawn counseled the man, "I mean, you memorize the World's Most Wanted list and so on."

"The man we're dealing with is Manuel Kinan, from what I can tell you arrested him once five years ago. It was a pretty big case," the Youngest ATF Agent informed them.

"Not one of my biggest, but still pretty high." Lassiter nodded in acknowledgement. "Kinan went to prison for quite a long time, why is he back out on the streets?"

"He got out on parole, but he slipped his parole officer's custody and headed back into his life of crime. He's pretty high in command in this group, which is why we want your input," the youngest ATF agent replied.

"Not to mention that they are planning a job here in Santa Barbra," the older ATF agent added.

"We'll take the case," Shawn said before Lassie could say anything. He grinned as the detective growled at him.

"I'll take the case, of course, Chief, but tell me that I don't have to work with Spencer," Lassiter came close to pleading.

"I won't tell you, Detective, but" Chief Vick continued before Lassiter could let loose a sigh of relief, "I'm afraid that it is up to Agents Wilbur August and Courtney Pinion as to whether or not Mr. Spencer is on the case."

"We'd be glad to have a psychic on our team," the youngest ATF agent said before anyone could say anything else.

"Great, what do you say we all go bond over smoothies? The Smoothie shop is trying a new blend, pineapples and blueberries." Shawn slung his arm around Lassie's shoulders. "I'm interested in what that tastes like, how about you?"

"Get off of me, Spencer, and shut up unless you have something relevant to add." Lassiter shrugged off Shawn's hold.

"I don't think that Pineapple and Strawberry really goes together, but I'm willing to give it a try next week," Shawn rambled on before Lassie could shut him up.

"Relevant to the case, Spencer," Lassiter ground out.

"Watch out for the fire," Shawn said, his eyes sliding over to where the fire spirit was staring out the window.

"I think I could have figured that out for myself." Lassiter gave Shawn one last glare before heading over to talk to the two agents.

Shawn kept half an ear on what they were talking about; glancing over the files that they were holding as he passed by, but he focused most of his attention on the fire spirit. The fire spirit didn't acknowledge Shawn, but he could sense that the fire spirit knew that he was there. Spirits always seemed to be aware of him, even when he carried garlic around to ward them off. Of course, they were Spirits and not vampires. Still, it was only when Gus refused to be within ten feet of him that Shawn stopped that attempt.

Shawn kept his body angled toward the window so that it looked like he was staring out of it, but his gaze was focused solely on the fire Spirit next to him.

"What are you here for?" Shawn muttered under his breath. The fire Spirit didn't answer, but he could swear that he could feel a sense of smugness radiating from the creature.