A/N: Super long chapter for you guys and

-Thanks to ShadowSpade: I hope this meets your expectations!

-Thank you masquerade04 for your review!

-Death4bearuty: Aww, I'm glad I was able to deliver this for you lol. The heat will build some more before they get together and I should have some more out soon!

-NicoleR85: Thank you for your review!

It means a lot to me And thank you to everyone that favorited/followed my stories.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Charlie.

-{}-

Glad to have the day off from work, Charlie walked down the sidewalk with her two best friends, chowing down on a mixture of Pork Fried Rice and Sweet and Sour Pork from a takeout container, humming happily with every bite since it was rare for her to eat such a delicacy. Plus, there was the fact that Gus had bought her lunch for her and who could say no to a free lunch?

"Explain to me again why we couldn't sit in a restaurant and eat like civilized people?" Gus complained for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, but Charlie let it slide with only a roll of her eyes, since he had bought her food and all.

"Because it's overrated," Charlie said with a grin before diving back into her food.

"And, moving is good, Gus, it helps the digestion," Shawn said. "Plus, you, me, and Charlie never do this anymore."

"What? Eat and jog?"' Gus asked sarcastically.

"No, talk," Shawn said as Charlie nearly snorted some rice out of her nose, coughing and hacking instead while Shawn pounded on her back. "Just talk. Check in with each other, as men and lady, of course. I wanna know how you two are. I wanna know how Gus and Charlie are."

"Yeah, so not gonna be a part of this conversation," Charlie, getting her breathing under control, walked ahead of them, spotting a coffee shop and went inside to order a Salted Caramel Mocha. When she came back out, Shawn and Gus were waiting just outside for her, still talking.

"…cases nonstop for a month," Gus was saying, as if nervous to tell Shawn what was on his mind. "To be honest, I'm burnt. I just want to take a nap."

The trio kept on walking down the street, Charlie sipping on her free coffee (she had picked Gus' pocket before when he had got her lunch).

"I couldn't agree with you more, buddy," Shawn said, patting Gus on the back. "I think we should lay low for a bit. No more cases."

"Oh, I'm so glad to hear you say that," Gus sighed in relief as Charlie juggled her coffee to her elbow crease in order to eat some more on her pork. "I was kind of worried about telling you."

"I could kinda use a break, too," Charlie said around a mouthful of food. "It's exhausting to work two jobs and solve cases, but then you'd never know, Shawn, because you don't actually have a job."

"Oh, ouch," Shawn exclaimed dramatically, grabbing his chest, as if in pain. "And don't be a silly goose, Gus. Now, we've had a good talk, I think we all felt it, and look at this. Here we are."

Charlie let out a groan as they stopped at the police tape of a crime scene and knew that Lassiter was around somewhere and wasn't looking forward to seeing him after what had happened the previous week.

"What is this?" Gus hissed out, eyeing the crime scene tape.

"Okay, here's the thing," Shawn said, as if trying to disarm Gus before he exploded. "The police may have found a body, which I may have picked up on my police scanner, which I may have brought with me."

"Seriously?" Charlie asked with a growl as Shawn pulled the police scanner from his back pocket.

"Yup," Shawn said with a bright grin.

"No cases, Shawn," Gus hissed out. Knowing that Charlie wouldn't step foot in any building that Lassiter was in (he may not be actually psychic, but he knew that something was going on between the detective and his best female friend), Shawn linked arms with Charlie, dragging her towards the building the crime scene was in, despite her screeching and threatening bodily harm. Gus reluctantly followed, but he was mildly amused and amazed at Shawn's courage to manhandle Charlie like he was.

"No cases," Shawn agreed. "We go in, we see. We say hello. And we leave."

"And I kick you in the balls if you don't let go of my arm," Charlie snarled at her friend and Shawn finally let go of her arm with a whimper.

"Sorry," Shawn said with a smile, patting her on the back, discreetly pushing her forward slightly.

"Say hello?" Gus said with disbelief, completely ignoring his two friends in favor of complaining some more. "This is a crime scene. You can't just walk in there."

"McNab," Shawn called out, seeing Officer Buzz McNab standing guard. "Nabby! Buzz," he told Gus and Charlie just shook her head, once more wondering why she was friends with these two idjits (thank you, Supernatural and Bobby Singer, she thought to herself, looking forward to a new episode later that week).

"Buzz? Seriously?" Gus asked in disbelief.

"That's his first name," Shawn said, raising an eyebrow. "Don't you ever talk to him?"

"Why would I talk to anybody named Buzz?" Gus asked incredulously.

"Um, because he's nice," Charlie said sarcastically, smacking him on the arm.

"Shawn! My man! Hey, Charlie," Buzz greeted them with a bright smile. He shook Shawn's hand and then did some weird handshake thing of pointing at each other, bumping elbows, and then Buzz bumped hips with Shawn. He then stepped forward and gave an awkward hug to Charlie, who left her hands trapped to her sides, highly uncomfortable. She had to appreciate Buzz, though, since every time she saw him, he was bubbly and happy and didn't try whatsoever to hit on her like a lot of other guys did; he was only interested in being friends with her.

"Thanks for teaching Francie how to bake cookies," Buzz said with a grin to Charlie, who had spent an afternoon teaching Buzz's fiancé the basics to baking.

"Yeah, no problem," Charlie said with a smile, actually liking his fiancé, thinking she might have another female friend, besides Juliet.

"You look trim," Shawn commented, also looking uncomfortable from the hip bump. "Somebody made their wedding weight."

"Five more pounds," Buzz said with a goofy grin. "I'm close. But I still have a month. That is, unless Bonnie makes more cookies."

"Hey, you asked for me to help her," Charlie said with a smile, taking a chug of her coffee, loving the sweetness that hit her tongue.

"You'll get there," Shawn reassured Buzz. "You remember mine and Charlie's partner?"

"Sure, yeah," Buzz said, looking to Gus. "Matt, right?"

"Gus," he corrected, while Charlie snickered to herself, trying not to spew coffee out of her nose.

"Right," Buzz nodded awkwardly, nodding.

"So, what do you got going on up there?" Shawn asked, changing the subject and indicating to the building. "Don't hold out on me now."

"Looks like a suicide," Buzz said, looking around to make sure no one (Charlie was sure he was looking for Lassiter) was around to hear him tell them about the case. "A guy from the phone company found the victim in his apartment. Been up there for a few days already."

"Few days?" Shawn asked and Charlie could see the intrigue lighting up Shawn's eyes. "You mind if we head up, take a look, poke around a little?"

"Oh, I don't know," Buzz said, shifting a little. "Lassiter's up there and he's in a mood."

Charlie groaned, knowing that if he saw her, Lassie would probably flip his shit and be a holy horror.

"Yeah, we just, uh, got his coffee," Shawn said, snatching Charlie's coffee from her hands without thinking, causing her to snarl at him, sending Shawn, Gus, and Buzz all back a step with fear on their faces. "Uh, wanted to bring it by, make it right."

Shawn cautiously handed Charlie her coffee back, as if he were dismantling a bomb and quickly took Gus' coffee from him. Gus was angry for a moment before realizing that taking his coffee was a much safer option than taking Charlie's; nobody would die from taking his coffee.

"Oh, that's nice of you," McNab said, trying to figure out what had just happened before realizing he didn't actually want to know. "He asked me to get it, but this is perfect."

Charlie kept her Salted Caramel Mocha close to her chest, determined to protect it from Shawn, who took a sip of Gus'/Lassiter's coffee to taste it.

McNab gasped and asked, "Hey, did you just sip that?"

"You don't taste Lassiter's coffee before you give it to him?" Shawn asked, thinking on the spot and talking out of his ass, which caused Charlie to roll her eyes, mostly just glad that it wasn't her coffee that Shawn had taken a drink of. "That surprises me, Buzz. He's so particular. No cream, no sugar…."

"It's three cream, four sugars," Buzz corrected Shawn with a frown and Charlie wrinkled her nose at the sound of the sickeningly sweet coffee; even her Mocha wasn't that sweet.

"Yeah, it is," Shawn agreed.

"Shawn was testing you," Charlie said, raising her eyebrow, playing along with Shawn's fuck-up and Buzz chuckled, thinking that it made sense.

"Yup, I was," Shawn said with a grin. "Sharp as a tack."

"You!" McNab said, blushing, but looking pleased with himself and if she could, Charlie would have smacked herself in the face and exclaimed, "Men!" if she wanted to draw attention to herself, which she didn't.

"And fit!" Shawn flattered Buzz further as they entered the crime scene. McNab turned around and Charlie could see the large, goofy smile on his face and while he wasn't looking, Shawn threw the coffee in the trash.

"I would have killed you if you had done that to my coffee," Charlie hissed to him under her breath and Shawn actually shuddered in fear before rearranging his features as the trio, following Buzz, approached the crime scene. The smell hit her first and Charlie wrinkled her nose in disgust, lifting her coffee up to her nose to mask the smell as well as she could.

Charlie took a sip of her lukewarm coffee before examining the crime scene in front of her. An old man, still in his robe (and Charlie was sure just his underwear under it; why did men feel the need to just sit around in their underwear?), lying dead on the couch with a small orange bottle of pills next her him. Charlie inched her way into the room, discreetly passing by Lassie and Juliet, Shawn and Gus following her.

"We found a note," Juliet explained to Lassiter, while the trio of friends eavesdropped. "The body's been here at least three days. Maybe more. All signs point to an 11-44."

"Three 11-44's in four months?" Lassiter asked incredulously. "There must be something in the water."

"Uh-huh," Juliet commented and Charlie furrowed her eyebrows, thinking that sounded a little funky to her.

"All right, ladies and gentlemen, listen up," Lassiter barked, looking around the room, just missing Charlie, Shawn, and Gus. "You know the procedure. I want this done right. I do not want any mistakes." Charlie let out a silent snort as one of the idiotic officers blew inside a plastic evidence bag, letting his DNA coat the inside of it, before placing the orange bottle of pills in it. Amateur, Charlie scowled.

"Hey, blowie," Lassiter snarled at the officer looked up at the gruff detective, wide-eyed and startled. "I know you're new, but next time you want to get your spit all over the evidence, why don't you must lick it?"

Charlie smirked in Lassiter's direction; he sure knew how to put someone in their place and look good doing it.

"Clearly he doesn't need any more coffee," Shawn quipped, watching Lassiter and the idiotic officer.

"Okay, there is the dead guy," Gus said, looking sick. "Can we go now?"

"Relax," Shawn soothed. "We just got here. Have some Mee Krob." He offered Gus his Chinese food and Charlie, forgetting that she was still holding her food, quickly took a large bite of a mixture of pork and rice, humming in happiness at her delicious food.

"How do you two just eat when there's a dead guy laying there?" Gus asked in disgust.

"Well, once you get past the smell…" Charlie teased after she swallowed her food and Gus looked positively sick.

"That is a good point," Shawn pointed out with a grin. "What, is that rude?" he asked at Gus' glare. "Are we supposed to share?"

"Yeah, I'm not sharing," Charlie scowled, struggling not to squeeze and spill her coffee that she was holding in the crease of her elbow as she took another bite. She eyed the forensic guy that walked past the trio and entered the kitchen.

"Forensics," Gus pointed out the obvious (Charlie rolled her eyes) as the friends followed the guy into the kitchen. "Act natural."

The forensics guy opened a cabinet and Shawn gasped suddenly, exclaiming, "That's it!"

"What?" Gus asked. "What do you see?"

"Red pepper flakes," Shawn answered and Charlie was ready to blow her top, especially since Lassiter could walk in at any minute, knowing what Shawn suddenly wanted the pepper flakes for. She started cursing under her breath, calling Shawn every colorful name she could think of and Gus took a step back from his violent friend before asking, "Is that a clue for something?"

"No, it's a delicious spice, and it's exactly what my Mee Krob needs," Shawn said brightly, totally ignoring Charlie, though he bravely patted her on the back. "I told you this."

"Oh my fucking crap," Charlie breathed out as Shawn walked over to the cupboard and took the bottle of red pepper flakes down, examining it. "I'm gonna murder you."

"I'll help you," Gus growled out before hissing to Shawn, "What are you doing? This is a crime scene. You can't touch stuff."

"Yeah, d'you want to be a suspect, even if it's a suicide?" Charlie asked, raising an eyebrow at her moronic friend as a forensics guy opened the fridge. Charlie thought for a second before moving to the microwave, sticking her coffee in it and setting the time for a minute, watching her cup spin around, heating up, thinking, What the hell? If Shawn could get away with using objects from the kitchen, she wasn't gonna let a perfectly good microwave go to waste as her coffee cooled.

Gus would have stared at her, wondering what the hell she was doing, but he was preoccupied by Shawn noticing something in the fridge.

"What?" Gus asked, noticing Shawn's 'I've found something interesting' face.

"Seriously, check this out," Shawn said, opening the fridge back up after the forensic agent left the room. Shawn and Gus leaned in to the fridge, jumping out of their skins suddenly when the microwave dinged, indicating that Charlie's coffee was done.

"Problem, boys?" Charlie asked with a smirk, noticing Shawn and Gus hop back from the fridge in fright as she retrieved her coffee.

"No," Gus scowled at his friend, leaning back to see what Shawn had seen, Charlie peering over his shoulder.

"What are we supposed to be looking at?" Charlie asked, looking at Shawn out of the corner of her eyes.

"A marinating steak?" Shawn said, like it should be totally obvious to Charlie and Gus.

"What, you want to eat that, too?" Gus snarked, crossing his arms over his chest, backing up from the fridge, wrinkling his nose at smell of the raw meat.

"No, but don't you find that a little odd?" Shawn asked, looking at Charlie, wondering why she wasn't catching on to what he was getting at. Charlie wasn't watching Gus and Shawn; she was too busy finishing up her Chinese food after hoping up on the kitchen counter. She hung on to the empty container when she was finished, not wanting to throw away the container and chop sticks with her saliva all over them in the trash of an active crime scene.

"That a man would eat a steak?" Gus asked incredulously.

"That a man who was ready to kill himself would take the time to marinate a steak for a future meal? Dude. This was not suicide. This was murder," Shawn summarized and Charlie widened her eyes, realizing what Shawn was getting at and wondered why she could be so stupid to not see it sooner. She followed Shawn and Gus to the living room, where Shawn walked over to the front door, examining the door chain.

"The door latch is still intact," Shawn commented. "Now, I ask you. If you were gonna kill yourself, wouldn't you want the door to be locked so that on one could barge in on you right in the middle?"

"Unless it was murder and he knew the person, actually let them in his home and they killed him," Charlie said and Shawn beamed at her, pointing and said, "Bingo!"

Charlie rolled her eyes before she noticed Gus acting weird, doing something with his eyes to her and Shawn.

"What the fuck are you doing, Gus?" Charlie asked before she froze, feeling a breath on her neck and the presence of someone standing behind her. She slowly turned around as Shawn stuttered out, "What? I don't…What is it? I don't…"

Charlie scowled as she found Lassie behind her, glaring darkly at the trio.

"What in the name of sweet justice are you three doing in my crime scene?" Lassiter growled out and Charlie grit her teeth to avoid starting anything but then an idea popped into her head. She turned back around, leaning back into Lassiter's chest. She tilted her head back and looked at the scowling detective and said in a seductive voice, "You know, I can help you get that stick out of your ass, Detective."

"Your crime scene?" Shawn asked in amusement, taking the opportunity to ask as Lassiter sputtered and Charlie cackled. "That's funny. I didn't see your name on it anywhere."

"Ha ha!" Lassiter said sarcastically shoving the redhead away from him, willing the blood not to rush south from the warmth of the little witches body against his. "Get out!"

"We are," Shawn said, raising an eyebrow while Charlie sent Lassiter a smirk before turning her back, biting her lip to keep from bursting out laughing again and refrained from flipping Lassie off with both hands if only they weren't full of her coffee and her empty Chinese takeout box. "Just thought you might wanna know that this thing here, not a suicide."

"Great," Lassiter barked out, losing his patience entirely. "Thanks for that. Really. And thanks for bringing a snack to the crime scene."

Charlie whirled around to see Lassiter glaring at the takeout container in her hands and scoffed at him, tucking her empty container in the crease of her elbow to flip him off, regardless.

"We all gotta eat, jackass," Charlie hissed before gritting her teeth together audibly.

"Oh, boy! Oh!" Shawn exclaimed suddenly, falling to his knees, holding his chest tightly. "I'm sensing a…I'm sensing there was someone here. Someone here in the room with the victim when he died." Charlie let out a rare actually giggle as Shawn grabbed Lassiter's leg, tugging on it. "Someone with a sliver of grease on his or her shoe." Charlie took a step back as Lassie kicked Shawn, who fell backwards right where she had been standing, before he sat back up on his heels again. "Ah! No, I'm not sensing a struggle. No struggle. The door. Did you have to break down the door when you got here?"

"No, it was open. Why?" Juliet question curiously from behind Charlie, who jumped, as the redhead had forgotten that her only female friend had been there.

"No, no, no," Lassiter said in panic. "Don't encourage him." He grabbed Shawn by the arm. "Get up!"

"Let go of him," Charlie fumed, getting an inch from Lassiter's face, ready to pry his hand off of Shawn. Lassiter sent a death glare at her before releasing Shawn, only to bark over his shoulder, "McNab! I want you to escort these two men and this bitch out of here now!"

"Excuse me?!" Charlie seethed, absolutely done with the fucking asshat detective in front of her. She dropped her empty Chinese container and pulled her arm back and punched him right across the jaw. Lassiter was stunned for a second before grabbing both of Charlie's arms, causing her to drop her coffee, spilling it all over her shoes, slamming her into the nearest wall, pulling out his handcuffs.

"Charlotte Matthews, you are under arrest for assaulting an officer," Lassiter barked almost too gleefully. He also couldn't resist pressing himself against her back to hiss in her ear and felt a primal joy at feeling her shudder from the warmth of his breath. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you. McNab! Take her to my car. I'm gonna process her myself."

"Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Shawn exclaimed, holding up his hands, trying to process what had just happened.

"It's fine, Shawn," Charlie said more calmly than she actually felt. Adrenaline was coursing through her veins and her fingers were starting to go numb from how tightly Lassiter had put the cuffs on her. McNab walked towards her with an apologetic look on his face, as well as awe, as he took her handcuffed hands gently from Lassiter's rough hands and escorted her outside while Charlie shouted, "Fight the fairies, Shawn! Fight the fairies!"

Shawn chuckled at the reference, pretty much the only show/movie that both him and Charlie agreed on and watched together. Charlie didn't bother to struggle against Buzz, knowing that it was no use and that she totally deserved it for hitting Lassiter like that; she shouldn't have lost her cool, even if the fucking prick pissed her off to no end.

The ride back to the station was silent, Lassiter staring straight ahead; it was only broken by Charlie shifting around every once in a while, trying to get comfortable in her handcuffs, which was nearly impossible. An idea suddenly entered her mind and she reached into her back pocket, finding a bobby pin, which she always carried, just in case, and stretched it open, starting to pick her handcuffs.

Lassiter growled deeply when his police scanner went off, dispatch informing that there was another body on the other side of Santa Barbara. He flipped a U-ey in the street and Charlie was nearly flung into the floorboard of the backseat, grabbing onto the back of the seat with one free hand last minute to save herself.

"Watch it!" she snarked at Lassiter, quickly putting her free hand behind her back again when he sent her a death glare in the rearview mirror. Charlie was pleased to see that his jaw was slightly swollen and a light bruising had started to form. "Asshat," she muttered.

After Lassiter picked Juliet up from the previous crime scene (thank fuck Shawn and Gus were gone already), who sent her apologetic looks in the mirror, thinking that her partner had deserved what he had gotten.

Lassiter had to stop and get coffee on the way and Juliet was nice enough to buy a cup for Charlie, holding it until the now handcuff-free woman could drink it. When Lassiter pulled up at the new crime scene, Juliet got out and opened the back door for Charlie.

"What are you doing?" Lassiter barked at Juliet, turning around over the seat to look at them. Charlie only raised an eyebrow at him, one arm folded over her stomach and the other holding out the handcuffs with one finger. "How did you get those off?"

"That's for me to know and you to never find out," Charlie quipped with a wicked smirk. "Besides, I don't do handcuffs unless you buy me dinner first."

Charlie hopped out of the car, completely disregarding Lassiter's sputtering to join Juliet, who was trying to hide a smile, knowing that if Lassiter saw her grin, he would go completely over the edge.

"Thanks, Jules," Charlie said with a friendly smile, taking the coffee that Juliet offered her. Charlie tossed the handcuffs inside the car, smirking at Lassiter. "By the way, I'm not under arrest. If you do decide to press the issue, I'm going to file a harassment charge against you, okay, pumpkin?"

She turned around without sparing Lassiter so much as a look and strode over to where Shawn and Gus were, Shawn strangely holding a cat.

"Freedom!" she shouted, lifting her arms in the air, causing Shawn to burst out laughing and Gus to actually crack a smile. In a very rare moment, she threw her arms around Shawn and Gus, completely ignoring the cat, which let out a hiss and jumped down from Shawn's arms. When she let go, she smirked at them.

"How'd you get out?" Shawn asked.

"Aren't you supposed to be psychic?" Charlie asked sarcastically. "I picked the handcuffs with a bobby pin and threatened Lassie with a harassment lawsuit."

"Nice," Shawn laughed, picking the cat back up.

"So, what's with the cat?" Charlie asked, eyeing the orange tabby as Juliet joined them.

"Detective O'Hara," Shawn greeted with a grin, ignoring Charlie's question in favor of addressing the beautiful blonde that had walked up. "What? You're here all by yourself?" Shawn asked, knowing full and well that Lassiter was there, he just wanted to talk to Juliet.

Juliet pointed at the car that her and Charlie had just left, to indicate to a very pissed off Lassiter getting out of the car, storming over to the crime scene. Charlie suddenly burst into laughter as Lassiter spilled his coffee all over himself, feeling more cheerful than usual.

"Damn it all!" Lassiter spat out, approaching the four as Charlie's hard laughter turned into giggles and his glare turned to her.

"Could have happened to anybody," Shawn said with a chuckle and Lassie's 'I'm gonna kill you' eyes moved to the psychic.

"Talk to me," Lassiter said to Juliet, ignoring Shawn and Charlie with what seemed to be a permanent scowl on his face.

"Well, victim is a female in her late twenties, Gloria Starks," Juliet informed him. "We're waiting for forensics to confirm, but appears to be a suicide. Carbon monoxide poisoning. Asphyxiation."

"Oh, I'm afraid the cat doesn't think so," Shawn said, lifting one of the cat's paws in the air, like the cat was waving.

"Turn around and walk away," Lassiter hissed and Charlie stepped in front of Shawn glaring at Lassiter.

"I'll give you a matching bruise," she spat out, putting her hands on her hips. Something strange flashed in Lassiter's eyes and Charlie furrowed her eyebrows before Lassie's eyes steeled over, turning back to Shawn, shaking the thought that she looking fucking sexy when she was pissed off out of his head immediately.

"This cat can tell us if the killer has been here," Shawn said. "All I need is thirty seconds. Watch this. You ready boy? Huh? You ready? What? Over here? Where? Wait." The cat meowed and Charlie wrinkled her nose at the cat. She couldn't believe that she had hugged Shawn and Gus while Shawn had been holding the disgusting animal. "That is…that is very thoughtful. I'll tell him. He says the fact that you take three creamers and four sugars in your coffee, dangerous."

"And nasty," Charlie commented after calming herself down, her comment being ignored by Lassiter.

"It that true?" Juliet asked in shock. "Do you really take three creams and four sugars?"

"So what?" Lassiter scowled.

"So what?" Shawn cried out dramatically. "Carly, that is a heart attack waiting to happen. You're still a young man."

"That was amazing," Juliet said, turning to Shawn in astonishment. "How did you do that?"

"It was a lucky guess," Lassiter fumed, totally done with the psychic detective and his friends, especially the red-head, who was the bane of his existence.

"Don't you get tired of saying that?" Shawn asked, knowing that Lassie wouldn't actually answer. "Now, with your permission. I'd like the little boy cat to sniff out the car."

"Absolutely not," Lassiter growled, but Shawn ignored him, giving a dramatic gasp and acted like he was tripping, throwing the cat in the backseat of the car.

"Oops!" Shawn cried out, feigning looking apologetic and Charlie smirked, taking a large gulp of her coffee, forgetting how hot it was, burning her mouth, hissing in pain. Gus, ever the worrywart, put his hand on her shoulder, making sure she was okay. Charlie only growled at him, shrugging his hand off, not one for pity, though she knew she would pay for drinking her coffee too fast the next few days when her mouth was going to be nearly too painful to eat.

"What did I just say?" Lassiter sighed in exasperation after sparring the red-head a glance, concern flooding him when he heard her hiss of pain, though he tried to shake it off and appear indifferent.

"Just relax and let him do his job," Shawn tried to sooth Lassie, holding his hands up in defense. "He might find something."

Charlie turned her attention from her coffee and already painful mouth to Shawn, who inched closer to the windshield of the car and she knew that he had found something. Squinting her eyes because of the distance, she could see some sort of writing on the windshield, but couldn't make out what it said.

"He's peeing," Lassiter snarked out, ready to shoot the psychic, his friends, the cat, and anyone else who annoyed the shit out of him that day. Charlie let out a chuckle as she observed the cat peeing on the suit in the backseat before wrinkling her nose as the smell hit her and she gagged. Cats disgusted her; But at least I'm not deathly scared of cats like I am dogs, she thought to herself, backing up to be in the fresh air so she didn't ruin a crime scene with vomit.

"No, he's drawing your attention to the evidence in the backseat," Shawn argued, trying to pass it off as a psychic vibe.

"By peeing on it," Lassiter pointed out sarcastically. "Nice." Charlie snorted as Lassie halfway climbed into the car, calling, "Come here, kitty, kitty, kitty."

Charlie was hoping the cat would at least scratch Lassiter as he grabbed it and pulled it out of the car, handing it back to Shawn, but no such luck. She snorted again at the next words that came out of Shawn's mouth, wondering sometimes if her friend needed a psych evaluation to determine him mental status.

"Yes, did you make good pee-pee?" Shawn cooed at the cat, stroking the cat. "Did you make good pee-pee? Yes, you did. What?" The cat meowed and Shawn laughed as Charlie exchanged a raised eyebrow and a concerned look with Gus, who was thinking the same thing Charlie had been. "What? That's a…that's a little inappropriate," Shawn said as he laughed again. "I'm sorry. That's, that's rude. He was just saying that he would have done the same thing if he'd killed himself. He would have swung by the dry cleaners and grabbed the pantsuit first."

"Maybe she picked up the dry-cleaning days ago," Lassiter argued, not wanting Shawn to be right about it. "Did the cat ever think of that?"

"What are you doing?" Gus asked Juliet, watching the forensics guy sticking a carbon monoxide tester in the tailpipe of the car. Charlie shook her head, disappointed in Gus' lack of knowledge, despite the fact that she had tried to give him the basics of the car so he wouldn't ever be screwed if he ended up on his own in the middle of nowhere.

"He is measuring the amount of carbon monoxide emitted," Juliet said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and Gus should have known that.

"Uh-huh," Gus said, nodding his head rapidly. "Uh-huh. Okay. I knew that." He turned to Shawn and Charlie and said, "I knew that."

"Yeah, you did," Shawn said, not very convincingly.

"You so didn't know that, Gus," Charlie said, raising an eyebrow at her friend, who glared at her. "I think it's time for another course in mechanics."

Gus looked absolutely terrified at that, remembering the last time Charlie had tried to teach him basic mechanics. Charlie suddenly jumped, startled, as one of the officers turned on the car, only to blare heavy metal rock from the stereo speakers. She clapped her hands over her ears and screeched out, "What the fuck?!" at the same time Shawn exclaimed, "Whoa!"

Charlie breathed a sigh of relief, rubbing her abused ears, muttering something about, "terrible taste in music" as the same police officer quickly turned off the radio, leaving the car running.

"Now, does she strike you as the type that would go for heavy metal?" Shawn asked, raising an eyebrow at Lassiter.

"Any number of people could have changed her radio station," Lassiter growled, coming up with any reason not to agree with Shawn.

"Don't judge a book by its cover, Shawn," Charlie warned him, her friend knowing that on top of the Classic Rock that she liked, Charlie was also fond of Classical music and old Jazz, though she didn't look it at all.

"Mr. Spencer, if you and your new partner are finished urinating on things, I believe your work here is done," Lassiter barked out, wanting the cat, and especially Shawn, to leave him in peace. He turned his back on Shawn, Gus, and Charlie, whispering to Juliet, though Charlie couldn't make out what he had said; she was betting it was about the dry cleaning, though.

Free to leave the crime scene without handcuffs on, Charlie kicked the stupid cat to the backseat with Gus, tired of riding in the backseat for the day. Gus was also pouting about the comment that Lassie had made about the cat being Shawn's new partner, though Charlie wasn't sweating it, planning on dumping the cat at the first animal shelter they came across.

"Look, I don't care what Lassiter says," Shawn said, trying to sooth Gus, who was sitting cramped in the backseat, trying to keep his distance from the feline. "The cat is not my new partner, Gus. Don't be ridiculous."

"Then tell me again why the cat was going to ride shotgun before Charlie kicked it back here with me?" Gus asked scathingly with his arms folded over his chest.

"He gets carsick, and you know this," Shawn said, looking at his friend in the rearview mirror while Charlie smirked. "I'm guessing you want him to throw up again back there?" he asked, turning to Charlie. "Is that what you want?"

"Not my car," Charlie said with a shrug, sticking her arm out the window.

"It's not funny, Charlie, Shawn," Gus said with a glare to his friends as he went about laying newspapers down all over the backseat, making sure the cat was sitting on it.

"He's doing fine, aren't you?" Shawn said, addressing the cat with a coo and Charlie rolled her eyes. She never really saw the point of pets, other than the odd cat to keep mice away and dogs just terrified the fuck outta her.

"This is a company car, Shawn," Gus seethed. "That means I have to return it in like-new condition. Which means putting down newspapers and keeping damn cats out of my car!"

As he ranted, Gus waved the newspaper around, which Shawn caught in the rearview mirror and reached his hand around and snatched it right out of Gus' hand.

"Whoa, whoa!" Shawn exclaimed, glancing down at the paper while mostly keeping his eyes on the road. "Look at this!"

He handed Charlie the paper and she read the headline, 'Struggling Actress Lands Big Break in Santa Barbara Play' and saw underneath the article, there was a photo of the victim they had just seen sitting in her car.

"Huh," she commented, handing the paper back to Gus, now knowing that the suicides were actually murder. Who would get their big break like that and then kill themselves?

"Seventy percent off storm doors and window panes?" Gus asked incredulously. "Everything must go."

"Gus, flip it over," Shawn sighed in exasperation. "It's her."

Charlie didn't bother to turn around in her seat, always one to get carsick herself, but she heard the newspaper rattle as Gus flipped it over.

"'Struggling Actress Lands Big Break in Santa Barbara Play'," Gus read the same title Charlie had.

"And then she kills herself?" Shawn asked sarcastically. "I don't think so."

"Okay, you might be onto something," Gus admitted.

"He's definitely onto something, Gus," Charlie scolded her friend. "He was since the beginning."

"Yeah," Shawn said with a smug look, grinning at Charlie.

"The play is called Dazzle and Stretch?" Gus asked and Charlie raised an eyebrow at the title.

"Dazzle and Stretch?" Shawn repeated in disbelief as he drove towards the station to inform the Chief of Shawn's latest 'psychic' find. Skirting around Lassiter's desk in the bullpen or else likely to throw another punch his way, Charlie entered the Chief's office, making herself comfortable in one of the armchairs the Chief had decorating the space, kicking her feet up on the matching coffee table before the Chief sent her a glare and she sheepishly pulled them down, not wanting to piss off a pregnant woman.

Charlie had to hold in a snicker at the scowl Gus had on his face as Shawn and the cat were sitting in the chairs in front of the Chief's desk, but he stood behind Shawn's chair, looking like he was ready to strangle his best friend.

"So, what you are trying to tell me is now it's the cat that's convinced these weren't suicides?" the Chief asked skeptically, an eyebrow raised.

"Yes," Shawn answered simply, a pleasant smile on his face while Charlie managed not to snort at how ridiculous her life had gotten in the past couple months.

"Do you really think I'm going to open a bunch of closed cases just because a cat tell me to?" the Chief asked sarcastically and Charlie noticed the Chief was starting to get irritated. She wrinkled her nose at the cat smell that was slowly invading her nostrils as the dumb thing meowed.

"This is it," Shawn said, looking excited as he leaned closer to the cat, which continued to meow, which Shawn returned; Charlie didn't know what to think of her friend at that point. "Yes, this is it. The girl that was found in her car, Gloria Starks, she's here. She's here with us."

"Ho-ly fuck," Charlie hissed to herself, exchanging bewildered looks with Gus as Shawn stood up suddenly, staggering around before walking around seductively, pretending to be possessed by Gloria Starks and he spoke in a high-pitched voice.

"Oh, despair!" Shawn voice wobbled slightly as he tried to keep the high pitch and Charlie just shook her head at the ridiculousness of it all. "I fear that you will leave me. What choice do I have?"

"Oh, good lord," Charlie uttered as Shawn then proceeded to sing and dance around the room, trying to involve Charlie at one point, but she just sent him a nasty glare.

"I dazzle, and I stretch," Shawn sang, trying to keep the tune as Charlie grimaced at the truly awfulness of his voice. "I dazzle, and I stretch."

"What the hell is going on here?" Lassiter said, entering the office after seeing the commotion through the windows in the Chief's office. Charlie can only offer the Detective a simple shrug as the Chief shushed him, not really too sure herself as to what she was seeing and hearing; maybe Shawn had finally gone off the deep end.

"Mr. Spencer, this is telling me nothing," the Chief said, suddenly looking tired.

"He can't hear you right now 'cause see, he's channeling the cat who's channeling Gloria," Gus supplied to the Chief, who looked at Charlie for conformation, who only nodded, not able to form actual words.

"I dazzle," Shawn sang again and Charlie had to fight the urge to throw her hands over her ears; it sounded like a dying cat, no offense to the actual cat in the room.

"Well, then what are we looking at?" the Chief asked in bewilderment.

"Bad acting," Lassie growled and Charlie nearly snorted in laughter, grudgingly inclined to agree with the Head Detective for once.

"And stretch," Shawn continued, ignoring everyone's comments as he pulled the newspaper out of Gus' suit and started dancing his way around Lassie to face the Detective.

"I think she wants you to see something in the paper," Gus said, being way too obvious about it and Charlie shook her head before leaning her head back on the armchair, staring up at the ceiling. "Gloria's trying to tell you something," Gus continued, giving Charlie a 'c'mon, get with the program' look as Shawn shook the newspaper in front of Lassie's face.

"Something very important," Charlie added after clearing her throat.

"Dazzle, and stretch," Shawn sang out again and Charlie had to roll her eyes at the lengths he went to-to make it seem like he was psychic.

"'Seventy percent off on storm doors and window panes. Everything must go'," Lassiter read in an incredulous tone before scowling at Shawn, who quickly turned the paper over. Lassie snatched the paper out of Shawn's hands to read it without the idiot waving the stupid newspaper around. "'Struggling actress lands big break in Santa Barbara play.' So what?"

"So what?" Gus asked, getting slightly upset that Lassiter wasn't taking it seriously. "Does that sound like a woman who would kill herself?"

"Please, all actresses are crazies," Lassiter scoffed and Charlie merely raised an eyebrow at him, wondering how he was so cynical all the time. "I know, I dated one in college once; she had a nose ring."

"Really, now?" Charlie asked with a grin, wanting to get under his skin, and not in the good way. Lassie just shot her a dark glare (not missed by the Chief, who noticed Lassiter's spreading bruise on his jaw) as Shawn stretched and groaned, finally speaking in his normal voice.

"Good work, little buddy," Shawn cooed, sitting down on Lassiter's lap and Charlie snorted loudly, commenting on how she didn't think Lassie swung that way as the detective looked shocked and then repulsed.

"I don't know," the Chief said, reading through the newspaper. "This is something."

"Something?" Shawn asked, still in Lassiter's lap. "Oh, come one. That's the biggest thing that ever happened for that girl. Now, you need to stop waiting around for another suicide, and start looking for a serial killer."

"Spencer, get off my lap," Lassiter hissed through his teeth before dumping Shawn onto the floor. Charlie chuckled as she stood up and helped her friend up off the ground before sitting on Lassie's lap herself, loping her arms around his neck.

"Aww, Shawn didn't mean anything by it, Lassie," Charlie said with a smirk as she felt something digging into her thigh. "Besides, I don't think he's your type."

With a wink, she hopped off his lap, leaving him to flush darkly and leave the Chief's office as fast as he could, leaving Charlie to wonder if he was off to take a cold shower in the locker room.

"C'mon, boys, things to do, murders to solve," Charlie said to Shawn and Gus, starting to leave the office.

"Miss Matthews, a moment please?" Chief Vick asked and Charlie wrinkled her nose and scowled before turning around with a pleasant look on her face, knowing she had to play nice if she wanted to keep her job there.

"Oh course, Chief," she answered as Shawn and Gus passed her, Shawn hissing, "Ooh, getting sent to the principal's office!" under his breath as we went by.

"Moron," she growled before taking a seat in the chair Lassiter had just occupied moments before. "What can I do for you, Chief?"

"You can stop hitting my officers, for one, Miss Matthews," the Chief scowled, but Charlie could also see some amusement in her eyes. "Even if it was deserved."

"Yes, ma'am," Charlie sighed, standing up to meet Shawn and Gus at the car. "I'll make sure it doesn't happen again, no matter how much he pisses me off."

"Thank you, Miss Matthews," the Chief said with a nod. "You may leave now."

Charlie stuffed her hands in her pants pockets, leaving the Chief's office with a scowl on her face, only plastering on a smirk when she passed Lassiter's desk, teasing him his her best 'fuck me' eyes as she waltzed on by, heading outside to slide herself in the backseat of the Blueberry, the scowl resuming its place on her face.

She threw herself in her favorite armchair when they got back to Psych, throwing her legs over the arm of the chair, wishing she had more coffee for the shit day she had had so far. She groaned, arching her back, sighing in relief when she heard several pops emit from her spine, much to Gus' disgust, who hated the sound of popping joints. She closed her eyes and relaxed her head on the back of the armchair, listening to Shawn digging around in his desk drawer for a white board marker to write on his transparent board he had bought.

"Wrong marker," Charlie told her friend without opening her eyes, knowing that he had grabbed the Sharpie by mistake; he always did. "Dry erase markers are in the top drawer of my desk."

"Thanks, Charles, that helps me a bunch," Shawn drawled sarcastically, grabbing the bunch of markers and stowed them in his desk, making them much easier for him to find in the future. Charlie grit her teeth at the squeaking sound of the markers on the board, the noise slowly driving her to insanity and a migraine.

"What does hit mean?" Gus asked, watching Shawn fill out the board with all the information they had learned so far.

"I have no idea, but I've seen it on Numb3rs all the time, and it seems to work for them," Shawn said, furrowing his eyebrows.

"That's because it's a fictional show," Charlie scoffed from her seat, opening her eyes to look at the jumbled mess Shawn had filled out on the board as said friend flipped her off, much to her amusement.

"You ready to give up?" Gus asked, knowing a bit of reverse psychology might work on Shawn; then again, the pseudo-psychic may pick up on it.

"Well, walk us through it," Charlie input, wishing, once again, they kept coffee in the office. I may just have to pick Gus' pocket again, she thought to herself. "Maybe you'll see something you missed before."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Gus said, looking at Charlie gratefully, who only shrugged.

"Four separate suicides, two of which occurred before we came on the case, and I don't see a pattern of any kind," Shawn huffed in frustration, which was rare for him; usually he was a big ball of happiness and silver linings, which got on Charlie's nerves a lot. "Different ages, different sexes."

"Different socio-economic levels," Gus pointed out.

"Different methods of death," Shawn contemplated, staring at his board as if it would suddenly give him the answers he sought out. "No duplicate weapons, locations. Man, what have we got? First, we have a jumper; second, an oven; third, pills; fourth, carbon monoxide. They all have to be connected somehow, and what I see is a whole lot of nothing."

"Nothing," Gus scoffed in agreement, also looking at the board. Charlie threw her legs back down to the floor in front of her, leaning forward to look through all the pictures, seeing if she could see a connection, but she couldn't see anything and frowned. A moment later, she could practically see the light bulb go off over Shawn's head as he muttered, "Wait a minute," and took the picture of the jumper and put it on top, beside the picture of the old man that overdosed.

"What are you doing?" Gus asked and Charlie furrowed her eyebrows, also trying to make sense of what Shawn was up to.

"Turning things upside down in order to make them right side up," Shawn answered cryptically as he stood back to look at the changes he made to the board. "And there is the prize."

"I don't get it," Charlie said, eyeing the board in confusion.

"I'll explain it on the way," Shawn said, suddenly jumping into action, rushing out the door before calling over his shoulder, "Let's go!"

Charlie looked at Gus for a moment before yelling out, "Shotgun!" sprinting outside, sliding in the front seat, giving Gus a victorious smirk. Charlie made Shawn stop for coffee and made Gus pay for it for all the times that she fed them when they crashed at her apartment like they were strays.

Charlie let out a frustrated growl as Shawn really didn't explain his idea on the way to where ever it was they were heading, the pseudo psychic preferring the element of surprise; he wouldn't prefer it for much longer, after Charlie punched him in the nose. Her and Gus found out where they were headed as Shawn barrowed Charlie's phone to call a man, asking about an apartment and if it was alright if he came by to look at it.

"This is the prize?" Gus asked skeptically as they stood outside of the apartment of the first dead guy. "Going to the first dead guy's place and what? Talk to a dead guy?"

"No, we talk to the dead guy's brother," Shawn cleared up for them.

"The dead guy's brother lives at the dead guy's place?" Gus asked, looking slightly grossed out.

"A, that's a bit creepy, and B, I'm sure the dead guy has—had—a name, Gus," Charlie scolded her friends for calling the man 'dead guy.'

"Yeah, so what's his name, Charlie?" Gus questioned her.

"I have no idea," Charlie scowled at her friend. "I never claimed to know it; I only said he had one."

"Anyways," Shawn said, rolling his eyes, wondering if this was what Charlie put up with, with himself and Gus. He reached out and buzzed the correct apartment, waiting. "They were roommates, but that's the point. He's getting rid of the apartment, and we're here to rent it."

Charlie snorted to herself, thinking she could have some fun with this as they climbed the stairs to the apartment, Shawn knocking on the door.

"Why can't we, for once, just talk to somebody as us?" Gus asked with a huff, tired of lying to people.

"Because, Gus, I don't want him to be on guard," Shawn said, as if explaining it to a child. "If he thinks we're investigating something, he'll clam up." Shawn turned his attention back to the door as it opened. "Wes Hiltonblock?" Shawn asked the man on the other side, putting a pleasant smile on his face.

"Yeah?" the man asked, looking a little wary.

"Hey, uh, Shawn Spencer," Shawn introduced himself. "I talked to you on the phone about the, uh, the apartment. And this is Gus and Charlie. It would actually be for all three of us."

"Yeah," Wes said with a nod, clearly not put off by their odd relationship. "Okay, uh, come on in."

"Thanks, man," Shawn said with a grin and Charlie followed her friends and Wes into the apartment and Charlie held in a snicker as she said cheerfully, "Oh, don't mind me; I'm just a friend that came to help my Besties find their first apartment. It's so special and magical."

Shawn only grinned at his friend, appreciating her humor while it took Gus a moment to process what she had said, and once he got it, he started sputtering like crazy and Wes looked at him like he was having a seizure, going so far as to offer him a glass of water and a place to sit.

Getting past Gus' weirdness, Wes continued, turning to Shawn to say, "Just so you guys know, the utilities are included, um, but I would require first and last month and a sizeable security deposit."

"Oh, that's not a problem," Shawn assured the man, Gus now glowering at Charlie, offended by his friend's implication that he and Shawn were a gay couple. "You take cats?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess so," Wes stuttered, looking slightly shifty-eyed to Charlie, who carefully observed the man. "You two guys have a cat?"

"We do, actually," Shawn said, rolling with Charlie's joke of him and Gus being together; Gus moved his death glare from Charlie to Shawn in that moment. "He's sort of like our child."

"I see. How do you guys know each other?" Wes asked, his curiosity getting the best of him of needing to find out if the two men in front of him were really together, together.

"We're partners," Gus supplied, speaking without thinking and Charlie nearly lost it then, her face turning red to keep from bursting out laughing at Gus' expense.

"Got you," Wes said with a nod, getting the answer he was looking for.

"Oh, no, no, no," Gus said quickly, realizing him mistake as a snort escaped Charlie.

"No, it's fine," Wes assured Gus, thinking that he was embarrassed that he had admitted it, rather than horrified that anyone would think that about him and Shawn. "Really, I'm totally fine."

"No, we're partners in a private—" Gus started, but Shawn cut in to keep Gus from spilling the beans about investigating Wes' brother and Charlie discreetly elbowed Gus in the side, shutting him up.

"—Relationship," Shawn finished for Gus. "Believe it. It's been a while. We finish each other's sentences. So, tell me, Wes, uh, why would you want to give up such a handsome apartment? Do you…do you not like it anymore?"

As he's speaking, Shawn wanders off in the apartment, coming back after a moment, pocketing something, before declaring, "Ooh, Gus, good news, shower for two."

"There's a lot of fun you could have in that," Charlie commented and Gus actually growled at her, which she thought was adorable. "Especially after a long, stressful day."

Suddenly remembering that she was single and going through a painfully dry spell, Charlie wondered if she should go to a bar that night and take someone home with her…maybe she could run into a certain lanky detective…Fuck! she yelled at herself, mentally shaking her head to stop that train wreck of a thought in its tracks.

"Uh, actually, I just have some bad memories here," Wes said sadly and Charlie steeled herself to her traitorous thoughts to look at the man in rapt attention. "I used to…I used to live here with my brother, but he passed away."

"Oh, my god, that's awful!" Charlie exclaimed, in character. She reached forward, pulling the man into a hug. "You poor man!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, man," Shawn said, taken aback by Charlie's acting skills. "Was he sick, or…?"

"He killed himself," Wes said, looking crushed and Charlie hugged him tighter, fighting her panic to let go and run away, hating this sort of touchy-feely crap.

"I'm so sorry," Shawn said sincerely as Charlie finally let go of Wes, stepping back to have room to breathe.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," Gus said almost too late.

"Yeah, me, too," Wes said with his head hung low, taking in a deep breath. "We were real close, you know."

"God, was he depressed?" Shawn asked, trying as hard as he could to not seem insensitive, else he fear Charlie's wrath. "I mean, were there signs? Did you…what am I—I'm sorry, you don't have to answer those questions."

"No, actually, I had no idea anything was wrong, you know? I mean, he had so much to live for," Wes said, looking like he was trying not to cry. "He was a great guy, you know. Smarter than me, more talented. He was a great singer. He was really going places. So look, are you guys…you guys interested in the place, or…?"

"What d'you think, honey?" Shawn asked, turning to Gus with a mock-dreamy look on his face when looking at his best friend. "I think it's great. I think it's perfect."

"All right, then," Wes said with a nod, brushing his tears away. "Well, I got another couple coming by a little later so, uh, but I'll let you guys know either way."

"You guys so aren't getting that apartment," Charlie teased as they walked back to the car, Charlie actually sliding in the backseat. "The whole, 'I'll let you know.' That always means, 'I'm gonna pass you over for another person.' Happened to me once, at a job I applied to."

"Yeah, well, you're….you," Gus said, gesturing with his hand.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Charlie demanded. If she had the room, her hands would be on her hips, but she gave Gus her best death glare.

"Uh, nothing, Charlie, I promise," Gus said, swallowing, his eyes betraying his fear.

"Sure, whatever you say, Burton," Charlie seethed, knowing exactly what he meant; she was just too different. She put people off at first sight with her appearance and then her personality when she opened her mouth.

"I'll owe you some coffee," Gus offered to her.

"And pizza for dinner," Charlie said, letting a smile slip through, which in turn caused Gus to smile before it dropped.

Driving, Gus asked, "Shower for two?" directing his question scathingly at Shawn.

"That was so I could see your face when I said it," Shawn said and Charlie burst out laughing in the backseat, finally losing her shit.

"You know, you two enjoy these things more than you should," Gus growled, glaring at both of his friends. "I suffered through that for no reason. We learned nothing."

"Actually, we learned that his brother was an up and coming singer, just like that actress," Charlie said, getting her giggles under control.

"That's true," Shawn said, nodding. "Also, I grabbed this while we were up there." Charlie snorted as Shawn pulled an envelope out of his pocket, showing her and Gus.

"You took his mail?" Gus asked incredulously.

"It's not like I took his Sports Illustrated. Dude, it's just a phone bill," Shawn said with a snort and Charlie chuckled.

"I'd love to hear you say those words to Lassie," Charlie said with a grin, ignoring Shawn's narrowed eyes as he turned around to glare at her.

"You can't open someone else's mail, Shawn," Gus argued. "It's a federal offense."

"Gus does have a point," Charlie input, not wanting to go to a federal prison for the rest of her life.

"Gus, Charlie, he's dead," Shawn said in his dramatically soothing voice.

"So what?" Gus growled.

"Well, maybe I'll hold it on my head and read it psychically," Shawn said sarcastically, actually holding the envelope on his forehead.

"Hurry up, Shawn," Gus said, looking around nervously to see if anyone was watching them.

"Gus, who's gonna see us?" Shawn asked in disbelief and Charlie snorted; they were in a moving car and there weren't many people out and about on the sidewalks.

"Hurry up," Gus still insisted.

"Pussy," Charlie muttered, smirking when Gus glared at her in the rearview mirror as Shawn opened the envelope, pulling out the phone bill, reading it.

"Wait, there's like…there's like sixteen calls here to some 1-800 stress line including the last call he made," Shawn read it to Gus and Charlie.

"Ugh, is that that very annoying TV commercial telling people to call them to 'karate chop stress'?" Charlie asked, wrinkling her nose. "I hate that commercial."

"Yeah, it is annoying," Gus agreed with his friend before turning to Shawn. "So what? A depressed guy calls a stress line, and I get you a hungry guy who calls a pizza place. That doesn't tell us anything."

"Yeah, but it might give us a link," Shawn said. "I'm gonna run the other victims' phone records."

"With what?" Gus asked incredulously. "Your do-it-yourself phone record running kit?"

"The next best thing," Shawn said mysteriously before directing Gus to the police station.

"I think that sentence got away from you, Gus Gus," Charlie chuckled, teasing her friend.

At the police station, Charlie sat on Lassiter's desk, which was mercifully empty, reclined on the palms of her hands, crossing one leg over the other as Shawn had a 'psychic vision' whilst talking to Juliet.

"The answer is in the phone bills," Shawn predicted. "I need you to run the victims' phone records."

"What? No cat this time?" Juliet asked rather sarcastically and Charlie had to raise an eyebrow at her friend, wondering if she was usually this sassy.

"Julie, I'm very serious about this," Shawn urged. "I have a strong sense about a stress line, and I know the link is in the phone records."

"I don't know why you would think I would do something like this for you," Juliet said, looking very unsure.

"I think you've been drinking too much of Lassiter's Kool Aid," Charlie commented with a smirk, saying it loud enough when she noticed said detective walking up behind Shawn. Juliet only scowled at her friend, not getting the chance to say anything as Shawn commented, "No Charles, that's not it. Some have said it's the hair."

"Really?" Lassiter growled sassily from behind Shawn and Charlie had to grin at the look of betrayal that Shawn sent her for not alerting him to Lassie's presence. "Who says that? Oh, guess what? We already ran the phone record, and checked out the dry-cleaning. Turns out the pantsuits were picked up over a week ago. What kind of dog and pony show do you think we run here?"

"Gus, you wanna take this one?" Shawn asked.

"No," Gus replied immediately.

"Charlie?" Shawn turned to the woman that was still perched on Lassiter's desk.

"I really don't think poor Lassie wants me to answer that question, Shawn," Charlie said, give a very fake and exaggerated yawn.

"Let me put an end to this non-case right now, okay?" Lassiter snarled. "Yes, all the victims called the 1-800 stress line. Not just once. Many times over. And get off my desk."

"Yeah, not gonna happen; I'm too comfortable," Charlie commented, wiggling her ass on the desk, proving just how comfy it was and she smirked at Lassiter as she fantasized just all the trouble she could get into on the desk.

"Detective Lassiter and I have combed everything," Juliet continued on, not noticing the tension that was happening between Lassiter, though Shawn defiantly noticed. "We've gone to the bone on these."

"All the way to the bone?" Shawn asked, being a smartass and Charlie sent a kick to his shin for being a jerk to Juliet like that.

"I know this is hard for you to grasp, but these people did have something in common," Juliet said softly, as if addressing a small child. "They were troubled, and they were depressed, and as sad as that is, they all committed suicide. Case closed."

"We've clearly wasted your time," Shawn said in disappointment. Lassiter helped Charlie off his desk, or nearly shoved her off, depending on who you asked; she scowled at him before smirking and running her fingers down his chest, grinning as he shuddered under her touch.

"See ya later, Jules," Charlie said, also a bit disappointed in her friend's lack of faith and then waggled her fingers at Lassiter and said in a sultry voice, "I'll see you later, Detective," before cackling as she walked away after Shawn and Gus.

"It's not over, is it?" Gus asked Shawn as they headed out of the station to the parking lot.

"Of course not," Shawn replied in a tone that suggested that Gus didn't know him at all. "They all called the same help line and then killed themselves? Come on!"

"Shawn, that's what stressed people do," Gus tried to stress to his friend.

"No, Shawn in right," Charlie said. "This it too much of a coincidence to ignore."

Waiting and watching Lassiter and Juliet leave, Shawn replied to Gus, "'Cause she was stressed about an audition. You call a help line and they find you dead? That's not very helpful. What if someone there is killing the callers and making it look like suicide? Gus, we go tot the stress line, I think we solve the case. Come on, guys."

Charlie took over driving, not getting many opportunities to do so, going where Shawn directed her to, parking outside of a tall business building downtown.

"Wow, I am so underdressed," Charlie observed, looking down at her pretty much grunge style and then up to the swanky building.

"We all are, except for Gus, who always dressed like a snob," Shawn said in a teasing voice when Gus glared at him and Charlie chuckled. Shawn led them inside and in the elevator, going up. Charlie, who wasn't paying much attention, wasn't sure what floor they got off on, just following Shawn and Gus to a door with a sign that read 'Dial-A-Psychic'.

"Ta-da!" Shawn exclaimed, indicating to the sign with flourish.

"What the hell?" Charlie said. "I thought we were going to question the employees of the stress line."

"Yeah, what is this?" Gus asked, agreeing with Charlie, which was rare.

"You're looking at our new business. Mozel tov," Shawn said with a grin, ignoring the stunned look and then the death glare Charlie sent his way.

"Are you out of your mind?" Gus hissed at his friend. "You rented office space for this?"

"Yeah and with whose money, Shawn Spencer? None of my money had better be in this crap business," Charlie seethed, mentally going over her list of bills versus the amount her pay checks should add up to and there was hardly any room for groceries, never mind a damn office space.

"Gus, don't be a crazy hooligan, and Charlie, take a chill pill and mellow out," Shawn tried to sooth both of his friends tempers. "I rented a sign." He opened the door to show them that their office space was actually a storage room/janitor closet.

"Of course it's a fucking closet," Charlie grumbled, not really that fond of tight spaces; she wasn't claustrophobic or anything, it just made her uncomfortable.

"Now, let's go say hello to our new neighbors," Shawn said cheerfully, ignoring both Gus and Charlie's less-than-pleased looks on their faces as he produced a pineapple seemingly out of thin air.

The 1-800 stress line (Karate chop stress!) was located just down the hall from them, almost too conspicuous in Charlie's opinion and she was so bored and not wanting to be in the swanky (to her) office building that she thought about ditching and getting groceries to take home.

"Hello, everyone!" Shawn announced loudly, grating on Charlie's nerves; her emotional rollercoaster had been relaxed and had just taken a sharp right turn to so fucking done and she was ready to punch Shawn. Maybe her period was getting close….

"Who wants pineapple?" Shawn continued on. "Be honest. Nah, you guys can slice it up, fight over it later."

"I'm sorry, gentlemen, lady, may I help you?" a man asked, walking up to them and Charlie let out a growl in her throat, already disliking the man for some reason. "I'm Terrence. I run the line here."

Terrence shook both Shawn and Gus' hands but when he made to do the same with Charlie, Charlie kept her arms crossed firmly over her chest, glaring at the man until he backed away. Yup, definitely close to her period, if her mood swings were anything to go by; she would probably be sobbing her eyes out to some stupid movie later that night.

"Terrence, hello," Shawn greeted the man after sparing Charlie a quick side glance, observing her violent mood. "I'm Shawn Spencer; these are my partners Gus 'Silly Pants' Jackson and Charlie 'I'm Gonna Hit Someone' Matthews. Just came by to say hello. We've opened up our own little 1-800 thingy down the hall. Not as big as you guys. More of a closet, really, much to Charlie's annoyance."

"Your own 1-800 thingy, huh?" Terrence asked suspiciously, as if he was scared they were going to pounce on their business and topple it.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's called Dial-A-Psychic," Shawn clarified, trying not to off-put the man too much; they still needed to snoop around the place and investigate. "Maybe you recognize us. I am the lead psychic for the Santa Barbara police department."

Charlie had to let out a snort as the room was silent, nobody calling out, "Hey, yeah! I've heard of you!"

"McCallum murders? Edmond robberies?" Shawn tried to spark someone's recollections of the pseudo-psychic. "Over there, you? Nothing? Nothing? Wow, really. What, do you guys live in this room?"

Charlie snorted in annoyance as everyone else in the room laughed.

"So, you can know stuff about me just by looking at me?" one guy asked.

"Yeah, pretty much," Shawn said with a shrug.

"Do it," another employee challenged.

"Go ahead," the first employee said with determination. "Show us."

"Looking for a little demo," Shawn said, looking over at Charlie and Gus with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, for one, they don't like pineapple," Gus commented and everyone laughed again.

"Pineapple is nasty," Charlie grumbled, really not wanting to be there and was seriously considering leaving.

"I don't know, guys," Shawn said, ignoring Charlie, which was taking a risk. "I don't think Big T wants us to take up any more—"

"Oh, no, no, no," Terrence interrupted Shawn, shaking his head. "Go right ahead. Uh, you know, half the lines are down, phones are being worked on right now. We have time for your little trick."

"Oh, yeah?" Shawn asked, while Charlie's interest was peaked by the information of the phones being down. Shawn handed Terrence the pineapple to hold and walked over to the first employee, Rory, who looked Goth. "Loose flowing stanzas, Bobby Frost. Are you a poet by chance?"

"Yeah! Yeah, I am!" Rory exclaimed with his eyes wide as the rest of the office gasped. Charlie couldn't even muster a mock-surprised look, she was just so done; she felt like her chest was tightening, almost like a panic attack. "Wow. How did you know that?"

"I guess you could say I'm a bit of a psychic poet," Shawn said as everyone applauded. "Oh, please, stop."

"'Cause I'm like, I'm freaking out here!" Rory said, surprise and glee all over his face.

"Do you use eyeliner?" Gus asked, kissing ass.

"The guy could be the drummer for The Cure," Shawn said, also brown nosing. Not long after that, the trio left the office and Charlie immediately veered away from Shawn and Gus and to the elevator, not giving them one word as she left them behind.

She got out on the sidewalk and wanted to scream out, not understanding why she was feeling like this. She wanted ice cream and chocolate and a good cuddling partner, in that order. She suddenly realized that she should probably get to the nearest drug store or bathroom, or even head back to her apartment.

After getting home and discovering that yes, she had started her period that was why she felt so shitty, she cuddled under three blankets with two different candy bars and a tub of Oreo ice cream, crying as she watched Sleepless in Seattle. She was never this person….unless she was on her period.

That evening, Shawn and Gus let themselves into her apartment while she was lying in misery on the couch still, torn between wanting a burger and fries and wanting to go throw up, her cramps making her so sick. She was now watching 27 Dresses, sobbing her eyes out, though it wasn't even that sad; her hormones were just out of whack. Each friend took an end of the couch, Shawn presenting her with chicken strips and an Oreo strawberry milkshake, becoming her favorite person.

"I love you guys, so much," Charlie sobbed, hugging them both tightly. "And I know I act like such a bitch all the time, but I just don't know how to…show my emotions. And if you tell anyone I said this, I'll kill you."

Shawn and Gus both chuckled at how non-threatening that sounded while she was sobbing and they both patted her shoulder and heads, respectively.

Charlie woke up the next morning cuddled on the couch with Shawn and Gus and feeling marginally better. She shoved both of her friends off of her, getting up to get some Midol and a mug of coffee, and going about with fixing breakfast for her friends that had stayed with her all night.

She actually left that morning with Shawn and Gus, feeling happier and not as panicked as she had the previous day. Shawn and Gus stopped on the way back to the office building and bought Charlie an extra large Salted Caramel Mocha and ten Cookies and Cream candy bars, which they stored in her shoulder bag to have at a later time; she burst into tears again, exclaiming how awesome they were.

She followed them to the elevator and back up to their storage closet, where she stayed with Gus while Shawn went up to the 1-800 stress line office. Gus gave Shawn about thirty minutes before he called the stress line, sweltering in the heat of the storage closet; Charlie had cranked it up since she was suffering from chills (she was wearing several layers that morning).

"Put it on speaker," Charlie hissed, sipping away at her coffee, wishing she had a heating pad, which in her opinion, was the best invention ever.

Gus only sighed before he dialed the number, pressing the button to put it on speaker to please Charlie.

"Hello, Stresssline. The extra S is for extra stress and where you can karate chop stress. This is Rory."

"Uh, hi, my name is…Chuck," Gus said slowly. "I've had some, uh, stress."

"Uh-huh," Rory said, almost sounding distracted. "Right, so you're experiencing some stress. Career and personal?"

"Well, yeah, I suppose," Gus said. "I mean, my career's not exactly where I would like it to be."

"How about a girlfriend?" Rory asked.

"No. No, I don't have a girlfriend right now. It's been a while."

"Right," Rory said. In Charlie's opinion, the guy sounded like he could really care less. "Right, that's not good. Um, does it make you have dark thoughts?"

'What?' Charlie mouthed to Gus, bewildered at the turn the conversation had taken. Gus was also in shocked disbelief as he asked, "Like how dark are you talking? Like 'wanna be dead' dark?"

"Okay, easy, I just wanna say this, like, right off the bat, suicide is not the answer," Rory tried to sooth Gus, but was doing a terrible job at it.

'I think we have our killer,' Charlie mouthed to Gus, but he didn't see because he started freaking out at Rory, nearly screeching, "Who said anything about suicide? I just said maybe I should find a new hobby, like coin collecting or something at the beach. I like water activities."

"Like drowning?" Rory asked and Charlie's jaw dropped completely, wondering how messed up the guy really was.

"What? Downing? I don't want to drown!" Gus exclaimed and Charlie had to put a hand on his shoulder to signal him to calm down so they wouldn't be discovered.

"No, no. Of course you don't. That's awful, okay? But I don't care what you say about suicide in the lake being poetic, you know, like, your body floating to the top of the pristine, serene waters, and your final breaths rippling out in the ever-widening circle, you know, like the circle of life. But you have to stop that kind of thinking. You have so much to live for," Rory said and Charlie just shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose; this guy should not be doing this job, whatsoever.

"You're damn straight," Gus seethed. "I have a lot to live for."

"Of course you do," Rory said with a grin in his voice. "You see, I can tell, this phone call is helping you already."

"Okay, well I have to go now," Gus said, looking thrilled to get off the phone with the crazy guy.

"Okay, and just remember, suicide isn't the answer!" Rory said cheerfully before hanging up.

"Well, that phone call was one hell of a roller coaster," Charlie said before slumping in her seat, wishing that she was home and curled up in bed.

"Dude, what the hell was that?" Shawn asked as soon as he returned to their little janitor closest from hell.

"Was he trying to help me?" Gus asked with a slightly dazed look in his eyes. "Cause I feel really creeped out right now."

"Super terrifying," Charlie admitted with a shudder and both of her friends looked at her; she would never admit that under normal circumstances.

"Dude, he put you on the creepy train headed for Creep Island where the natives drink creep nectar our of creepy coconut shells—"

"I think we get the picture, Shawn," Charlie said, feeling a flicker of annoyance.

"Shawn, it's horrible," Gus said, shuddering.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," Shawn said, patting Gus' shoulder, while Charlie actually hugged him, much to his total disbelief; now he knew that hell had frozen over.

"He's nuts, Shawn," Gus said after Charlie had let go.

"Nearly psycho," Charlie said with a thoughtful look on her face. "I mean, he has to be to kill all those people.

"Yes!" Shawn exclaimed, looking excited.

"And worst of all he actually made some good points!" Gus said as Charlie tried to tell him that no, Rory didn't make good points while trying not to cry again. "I mean pharmaceutical sales, not sexy. You two are my only non-work friends. There's got to be something wrong with that."

"Well, I don't have any friends other than you two," Charlie said, narrowing her eyes at Gus, her mood shifting very quickly. "And I have two jobs that aren't sexy, despite what some men might think. Are you saying that there's something wrong with me?"

"No!" Gus said quickly, trying to cover up his blunder and not poke the very grumpy bear named Charlie. "Hell no!"

"Okay, okay, calm down," Shawn soothed Charlie, pulling a candy bar out of his pocket, handing it to her, which she immediately tore into, humming happily. "What is this?" he asked Gus.

"What?" Gus asked gloomily and Shawn pointed at the very depressing poster of a cat hanging from a tree branch with a caption that said 'Hang in there'.

"Hang in there," Shawn said, trying to talk Gus out of whatever funk he was in.

"He's right," Gus said. "I need to start taking some more risks."

"Does that mean we can go cliff diving in Zihuatenejo?" Shawn asked, looking slightly hopeful and Charlie snorted around a mouthful of chocolate.

"No," Gus said immediately. "I'm being serious, Shawn!"

"Look, would it make you feel any better if I told you Hiltonbock called?" Shawn asked. "We got the apartment!"

"What would make me feel better is if we called the police!" Gus exclaimed in frustration. "This guy is dangerous, Shawn. Let's call Vick."

"Yeah, except she doesn't believe us," Charlie commented and Gus finally had enough, grabbing his coat.

"Well, we have to try, Charlie!" Gus ranted and Charlie only raised an eyebrow at him and he backed down, muttering, "Maybe get him arrested."

"Gus! Gus!" Shawn said, trying to distract him from leaving in a huff.

"What?" Gus nearly snarled, not wanting to spend another minute in a building with a serial killer.

"The only thing this guy is guilty of right now is being a bad poet," Shawn said in his suave, soothing voice, which Charlie hated to admit sometimes calmed her down. "You know how this game works. We cannot just pick up a phone and beg the police to come and save us. Look, just…just stay away from the water for now. Final decision. We wait."

The second he finished speaking, the elevator door dinged and hearing Lassiter's voice, Charlie poked her head out the door of the janitor closet, at that point in her period where she just wanted to take him, anywhere and anyway she could.

"Now, was that so hard?" Shawn asked Gus before following after Lassiter, Juliet, and the Chief to the Stresssline office, Charlie tailing behind him, in a lust haze.

"Maybe you'd care to explain this," Lassiter growled at Rory, holding up an eyeliner pencil as Charlie stood there, staring at Lassie, wishing those big, strong hands were all over her. She didn't even have enough sense to shake herself out of her thoughts as she practically stood there, eye-fucking Lassiter.

She was spaced out until she heard Lassiter start ripping into Rory, after sparing her and Shawn a glance.

"Funny how Gloria Starks' suicide note was scrawled across her windshield in black eyeliner," Lassiter sneered and Charlie shook herself out of her funk (her mood taking another one eighty) as she glared at Lassiter. "Yet no eyeliner was found at the crime scene. You, my friend, is looking at Exhibit A. Bag it, O'Hara."

Charlie snorted while Juliet pulled open an evidence bag, Lassiter dropping the eyeliner pencil inside, while continuing, "You like music, don't you, Rory?"

"Yeah, I do," Rory said proudly. "It's my inspiration."

"I bet," Lassiter said, being stereotypically judgmental and Charlie didn't like it at all; just because Rory was Goth, didn't mean that he only listened to heavy metal. "I bet it inspires you to kill. That's why you couldn't resist playing your big-haired, drug-induced death metal on Mortimer Tilden's stereo, while your forced him to swallow all those pills or on Gloria Starks' car radio while she slipped into unconsciousness, and even now. Let's have a little listen, shall we?"

Lassiter pulled Rory's headphones out of his computer, causing the music to blare out in the office, playing Up, Up, and Away, a showtune and completely the opposite from the heavy metal that Lassiter was expecting.

"Okay, you got me," Charlie said, stepping towards Lassie furiously, shaking off both Shawn and Gus' attempts to hold her back. "Maybe you just arrest me now."

"Miss Matthews?" Chief Vick asked slowly, looking at her like she had grown a third head.

"Just arrest me, assbutt," Charlie said angrily, ignoring Chief Vick. "I mean, I own black eyeliner and occasionally listen to heavy metal. Oh, and I work in this building now, did I mention? Yeah, Shawn opened a small 1-800 business from the janitor closet. That must mean that I did it!"

Lassiter sputtered for a second before hissing out, "Oh, shut it, you harpy."

Charlie grit her teeth, backing away from him, tears actually gathering in the corners of her eyes from hurt and anger, pissing her off even further. Lassiter looked surprised by the tears for a second before his eyes hardened and he turned back to Rory, growling, "What, you think you can pull a fast one on me switching out your head-thrashing crap for this noise?"

"This crap is all I listen to," Rory said, looking scared. "I hate metal music. I use the details that I get from callers to write better poems! I am not a killer!"

"Yeah, I know," Lassiter probed further. "You're a poet, but you're also an assaulter, aren't you? Who do you think arrested you on that assault charge?"

"I didn't kill anybody!" Rory insisted, looking like he was near tears which made Charlie want to break down in tears; damn period hormones!

"Get him out of my sight," Lassiter ordered one of the officers that had come in with him, who then proceeded to arrest Rory, while the rest of the office murmured. Lassiter then whirled on the boss, Terrence, and snarled, "What? You're not taking notes?"

"How could you let him do that?" Gus hissed to Shawn, who stood there silently. "Now, Lassiter gets credit for solving the crime and we don't get paid."

"It isn't about the money, Gus," Charlie seethed to her friend, upset that an innocent man had been arrested, even if he was really creepy.

"And we're gonna get paid," Shawn declared with determination.

"How do you figure?" Gus asked in genuine curiosity, while Shawn handed Charlie another candy bar causing her mood to shift to a bit happier mood.

"Lassiter didn't solve the crime," Shawn explained. "Rory is innocent. He didn't do it."

"He didn't?" Gus asked is disbelief.

"No, he didn't," Charlie said, her hands on her hips, her candy bar devoured already.

"Then who did?" Gus asked, now confused.

"I have an idea about that," Shawn said. "I'll tell you on the way."

On the way out the office building with Gus and Charlie in tow, Shawn told them how he had noticed the man on the telephone pole, seeing the same man in the elevator, McNab telling him how a guy from the phone company had found the victim, and finally, the phone schedule he had seen.

Charlie stood on the ground, watching as Gus attempted to climb the telephone pole on his own, Shawn beside her, thinking he was helping Gus by giving him directions. Shawn had also been nice enough to let Charlie stay on the ground due to PMS, even though she was the best climber out of the three of them, always climbing the highest in the trees when they were kids.

"Just grip the spike with your little foot and climb!" Shawn directed, rather unhelpfully, in Charlie's opinion, who also wished she had a hot coffee in her hands and a heating pad on her lap; she was miserable with the cramps. "Come on! Come on!"

"Why do I gotta go first?" Gus questioned, glancing down at his friends before continuing to try and climb.

"Well, Charlie is suffering from a severe case of PMS and 'cause you're a climbing machine, Gus," Shawn said, sweet-talking Gus. "Just, you know, be careful. Grip the spike with your foot. Okay, oh, okay, okay."

"You know, Gus, you should really rethink your footwear," Charlie commented as the slick sole of Gus' shoe threatened to slide out from under him.

"I got this," Gus grunted back, focusing on climbing on not his PMSing friend while Shawn stood by Charlie, muttering to himself.

"C'mon, reach, Gus!" Charlie teased with a grin. "My grandma could climb that. You know, if I had one."

"Shut up, Charlie," Gus growled out, sweating through his shirt, which Charlie could visibly see from the ground, causing her to chuckle.

"Dudes, dudes!" Shawn suddenly exclaimed, getting excited and acting like a kid at Christmas. "Dudes, I know who the killer is!"

"Can I come down then?" Gus asked, sounding very hopeful.

"Aw, scared of a little height, Gus Gus?" Charlie teased, which he hissed at, but ignored.

Shawn laughed, but quit when Gus threw a glare down at him and then said, "No, no, stay up there. I have to figure out where he's headed."

"Who is it?" Gus asked, hanging on tightly.

"Well, put it this way," Shawn said. "I don't think taking the apartment is such a good idea unless you think it's cool that our would-be landlord is a serial killer."

"Hiltonbock?!" Gus exclaimed.

"Oh, my god! I hugged him!" Charlie hissed out, rubbing at her arms. "I have serial killer germs all over me! I could turn at any moment!"

"Charlie, Charlie, you're fine," Shawn said, hugging her. "There, now you've got Shawn germs instead."

"Thanks," Charlie said sheepishly, wondering if it were possible to die of mortification.

"You're welcome, Charles," Shawn said, smiling fondly at his friend before addressing the case again. "There was a pattern. See, all the murders coincides with dates that Hiltonbock was servicing the phone lines. That's when he had access."

"With this?" Gus asked, pulling down the telephone receiver on the pole, showing it to Charlie and Shawn.

"Yes! Yeah, yeah. Send that down," Shawn practically demanded, Charlie chiding him on manners and him replying with she didn't have any herself so she couldn't preach to him about it, leading Charlie to more tears and hating herself and her period even more as Gus dropped the receiver into Shawn's waiting hands.

"Perfect!" Shawn said. "See, this device stores all the incoming and outgoing calls. My guess is that whatever number he dialed last, that's where Hiltonbock is headed. Whoever that is, is probably his next victim."

Borrowing Charlie's phone because he had once again managed to destroy another phone, this time from dropping it in the toilet, Shawn called the last number, putting it on speaker phone so at least Charlie would be able to hear it.

"Hello, you've reached Buzz McNab. I'm not in right now, but please do leave a message, and I will get back to you when I get in," was the recorded message that Shawn and Charlie heard and Charlie gave an audible gasp, putting her hands over her mouth.

"Oh, shit," she breathed out, ready to sprint for the car at a moment's notice as Shawn dialed again, getting the same result.

"Who are you calling?" Gus asked as Shawn dialed another number, ignoring Gus for the moment.

"Hello, Chief?" Shawn said, trying not to sound as panicked as he felt. "Hey, Shawn Spencer here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Look, I'm getting a vibe right now as big as a Buick!"

It took a little convincing, but the Chief seemed to believe Shawn, since it involved one of her own, and the trio (after Gus had finally climbed down) rushed for the Blueberry, taking off to McNab's apartment.

They had managed to beat the police to the building, Charlie noticed as she jumped out of the car, leaving Shawn and Gus behind, pressing the doorbell as quickly as she could. She felt like a moron when Shawn came up and just opened the door, finding it unlocked. She cursed to herself, pulling her beloved Glock out of her satchel, clicking the safety off, following Shawn and Gus into the house.

She found McNab standing on top of a chair in just in underwear while Wes Hiltonbock pointed a gun at him.

"Hey, McNab, so this is the place, huh?" Shawn said, keeping the air as calm as he could with two people in the room with guns. Charlie had her gun on Wes, glaring at the fucker, mentally daring him to make a move so she could shoot him. "It's nice. It's really nice."

"Go ahead, make my day," Charlie dared Wes, quoting Clint Eastwood, just as Lassiter arrived. Charlie could make out lust in his eyes as he looked at her holding her gun, as well as hearing her quote his favorite actor to a criminal before turning serious.

"Drop it!" Lassiter growled deeply at Wes, looking furious. "Don't come any closer. Put it down or I will drop you!"

"I swear, I'm gonna shoot him," Wes said, pointing his gun at Buzz.

"Drop it!" Lassiter shouted again.

"You shoot my friend, I will shoot you," Charlie threatened. "Jail be damned."

"Everyone breathe," Shawn said, trying to create a soothing atmosphere. "Just breathe!"

"Get out of here," Lassiter hissed out, but Shawn ignored him and continued talking.

"Well, the other ones must have gone a lot smoother than this, huh, Hiltonbock?" Shawn asked and Charlie inched closer to Lassie as the stupid cat wandered into the room, walking right by her leg; she didn't want cat hair on her pristine black pants.H "Though, comparatively, it was probably pretty easy to get Mortimer Tilden to swallow those pills. Because you are not really a coldblooded serial killer. Are you?"

"No, but he threw his own brother off a building!" Lassiter scowled, making things worse.

"I didn't push him off the roof," Hiltonbock defended himself, faltering slightly.

"No, no, no," Shawn tried to sooth again. "No, you didn't. You didn't do that. But you were there. You saw it. You saw the whole thing. You saw him jump off the balcony of the apartment that you shared."

"He was weak," Wes sniffed, sounding to Charlie like he thought he was superior.

"There's a lot of weak people out there, Hiltonbock," Shawn said gently, not wanting anyone to get shot. "Are you gonna track them all down, huh, one at a time? Punish them for their weakness? You wanna get back at your brother so badly, you don't even care who these people were, just that they called the line. And look, you're gonna kill McNab here just because he had a few pre-wedding jitters."

"I—I was just looking for a little advice," Buzz stammered, looking at Lassiter, who just rolled his eyes. "Nobody else would talk to me."

"It's okay, Buzz," Shawn said with a smile. "We all have stress. All of us. Right here in this room. I mean, take a good look, Hiltonbock. We all have problems. Who else deserves to get shot or hung? Maybe it's Gus."

"That's enough, Spencer," Lassiter warned.

"No. Shoot him," Shawn said, trying to push Wes further.

"What? What are you doing?" Gus asked, alarmed and Charlie moved to stand in front of her friend, sending Shawn a quick glare when Wes pointed the gun pointed the gun at Gus, though it was actually aimed at her.

"Yeah, maybe I should," Wes sneered.

"Whoa!" Shawn exclaimed.

"What did you think was going to happen, Shawn?" Charlie hissed out of the corner of her mouth.

"Don't listen to him," Gus pleaded with Wes, moving closer behind Charlie, peeking over her shoulder, terrified. "He's a crazy person. He's crazy."

"That's right, I am crazy," Shawn said, jutting his chin out slightly. "So maybe you should shoot me."

"Okay," Wes agreed, aiming his gun at Shawn.

"Shawn!" Charlie growled, edging in front of Shawn, Gus moving away from the pair and away from the gun.

"Here's the best part," Shawn continued, ignoring Charlie, but peeking over her shoulder much like Gus had. "It doesn't matter what I think, because you have a problem that's a lot bigger than me." Shawn pointed at Lassiter with a, "This guy," and Wes aimed his gun at Lassie, Charlie not relaxing at all but kept her gun on Wes. "The man with his gun trained on you is not only a fine human being, with a strong Irish hairline; he is an exemplary public servant, and arguably the finest detective mind in the lower western Santa Barbara County area over the age of thirty-five. And right now, while I'm speaking, he is devising a swift and stealth-like tactic that is going to disarm you, and blow your freaking mind!"

Charlie's muscles froze even more in preparation to lunge at Wes, who looked confused and nervous and started charging towards Lassiter.

"Anytime you're ready," Shawn said quickly. "All right, we gotta make the move."

Charlie had never been gladder to see the little boy cat in her life as it jumped off a top shelf and onto Wes, resulting in Wes becoming distracted enough for Lassiter to tackle him to the ground. Charlie gave a sigh of relief, lowering her weapon as Buzz got off the chair, bending over to pick up Wes' gun, putting his butt right in Lassiter's face, causing Charlie to giggle. Actually giggle, which was uncharacteristic for her.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Lassiter exclaimed, snapping his eyes shut before turning to Shawn saying, "That was adequate, Spencer."

"Don't thank me," Shawn said with a grin. "Thank the little boy cat."

"Come on," Lassiter growled, pulling Wes up off the floor, the man groaning, "Ow! Ow!" from the force of Lassie's tackle.

"There you are," Shawn cooed, picking up the cat to hold him close and stroke him. "There's my big guy. You are a hero. You are a hero today. Yes. Speaking of heroes, McNab, I was gonna get you something off the registry online, but it turns out the Chief already got you the asparagus steamer."

"Shawn," Charlie groaned, the man not being able to keep any secrets. Buzz's face went from worried to lighting up the room brightly.

"So, instead I—I give you this little guy," Shawn said, handing the cat over to Buzz. "Yeah. If you, uh, take him in the car, he likes to ride up front, shotgun."

Charlie just shook her head at Shawn, leaving the room to head back to the Blueberry, ready to head home and curl up with a steaming mug of peppermint tea. She cuddled on the couch again with Shawn and Gus that night, watching a new episode of Supernatural, ignoring Gus' many, many questions.

They camped out on the couch and then next morning, she was too grumble-y to fix them breakfast so she pulled down boxes of cereal and smacked them down on the table for her friends, fixing herself a cup of coffee, her mood improving slightly with ever sip.

"You know, there's something beautiful about the color Fruity Puffs turns the milk," Gus commented after he had gotten a bowl of cereal.

"I think it's the most beautiful thing in the whole world," Shawn agreed and Charlie groaned at their stupidity.

"You know, I've been thinking," Gus started and Charlie knew that it was never a good thing when Gus started thinking like that. "You're not the only one who lives a charmed life, Shawn. I got it pretty good, too."

"Yes, you do, and it makes me glad to hear you say so," Shawn said and it got Charlie to thinking about how she had it better than most.

"I mean, the other day at work, this dermatologist, Katie Finestatt, commented how I looked handsome carrying my sample case into her office," Gus said and Charlie had to snort around a mouthful of coffee, covering it up as just choking on a drink.

"Finestatt said that?" Shawn asked, trying to mask the surprise in his voice, knowing that Gus needed the confidence.

"Yes, she did, and she is fine!" Gus said with a dreamy smile on his face. "So, it got me thinking. Maybe pharmaceutical sales can be sort of sexy."

"There are times when I have to stand a few feet away, because you're literally sizzling," Shawn said and this time Charlie couldn't mask the snort that escaped her mouth that time, Gus giving her a death glare.

"Sorry, Gus," Charlie said.

"Whatever, Charlie," Gus said before turning back to Shawn. "You see what I'm saying? I mean, you two may by my only non-work friends, but you're both my best friends. And how many best friends does one guy need, really?" Shawn held up one finger before Charlie smacked him upside the head and he added another finger with a sheepish smile. "That's my point," Gus said, grinning at his friends.

"It's all in the attitude, Gus," Shawn said, also smiling.

"Exactly," Gus said and Charlie took pity on her friends and started breakfast, putting the cereal away with Shawn and Gus protesting it until they saw what she was up to. "Not sweating the small stuff.

"Life it too short," Shawn said, leaning back in his chair, putting his hands behind is head.

"Too short," Gus agreed, watching hungrily as Charlie fried bacon and started some French toast. "Changing my attitude, Shawn."

Gus grabbed the box of cereal, emptying out the rest of the cereal into his bowl just to get the prize that was in the bottom, but nothing came out.

"Where the hell is my prize?" Gus exclaimed loudly and Charlie started to rethink breakfast as she groaned. "Where's my ring, Shawn?"

"Easy now," Shawn said, using his soothing voice.

"No, no, I've timed the bowls out perfectly, Shawn. Me, then you, then me, then you, then I get the prize!" Gus started yelling, getting worked up as he broke open the bottom of the box, finding nothing.

"What happened to 'Not sweating the small stuff? Life's too short', all that?" Shawn asked.

"Did you open the bottom of the box?" Gus asked Shawn, referring to what Shawn did when they were kids.

Shawn held up his hand, revealing the mood ring on his finger and asked, "Now, why would I do something like that?"

"That's my ring!" Gus cried out and Charlie knew that she would have to step in soon. "You know I would kill for that ring, don't you?"

"Uh, you're upsetting me," Shawn said in mock despair. "You just changed my mood from an orangey-yellow to a muddy brown. You need to say something sweet. Quick."

Gus didn't respond; he put his finger in Shawn's bowl of milk before trying to get up and walk away.

"Gus! Sit down!" Charlie scolded and Gus immediately sat back down at the table, cowering in the fear of Charlie's PMS. "Shawn, give me the stupid ring. It's just a cheap trinket and neither of you deserve it. Gus, stop throwing a temper tantrum. You guys are grown ass men and need to stop acting like children!"

Shawn decided to open his mouth then and say the single most stupid thing of his life:

"What about how you act around Lassie, then?"