olivia_sutton | FICTION: Accusations and Ramifications (Reply)

Psych Fanfic
Title: Accusations and Ramification
Author: Olivia Sutton
Warnings: Implied violence (against a child)
Rating: PG-13/Teen
Spoilers: None.
Season: Not specific, but yes, it could be considered second season. However, I have not seen all of Psych yet, especially first season-- I'm a late-comer to this fandom, so conflicts with canon are all on me and you can call this AU if you want.
Feedback: Yes, please.
Archive: Fanfic Net, Psychfic, otherwise please ask.

Summary: Lassiter would never use his position to invade Shawn's privacy. Or would he?

Disclaimer: I don't own Psych, and I'm not making any profit from this. This is for the enjoyment of other fans.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

AN: Just a little scene that popped in my head while watching Untold Stories of the E/R on Discovery Health Channel. That show was about Munchausen's by Proxy, but a previous one had dealt with an E/R doctor's unfounded accusation of child abuse. Between the two, I somehow came up with this. Besides, I'm stuck on my other Psych fic. Oh, and I don't know who Henry's old chief of police would have been. If someone can enlighten me, I'll update the story and correct the rather vague opening. And I like Henry--REALLY--but this just popped in my head, so I went with it. And Lassiter rocks! Sorry for the lack of Gus guys!

AN Mark II: And this is a quick update to fix a couple of errors I noticed (including the name of DHC's real med program-- I got mixed up with TLC's, which I also watch) after I posted last night. Why do I always notice the mistakes AFTER I hit "post"?

SPECIAL AN FOR LIVEJOURNAL: I've never posted fic to a live journal before, hopefully this will work. I have posted to fanficnet though. Also, I'm posting this to Shawn_Lassiter too, but it's not necessarily slash, it just really features those two characters.

ADDENDUM FOR LIVEJOURNAL: OK-- I do owe everyone on both communities an apology. I suppose, from the comments filling up my e-mail inbox that I really screwed-up posting this. So, I'm sorry. Sincerely. But, come on-- you think that at least one person would explain how to properly post the fic? Telling me the "code" doesn't do me any good because I don't know HTML programming and I don't know what you're talking about. (I only know UNIX/Linux programming and I'm a beginner at that; I also know database, security, and networking). Anyway, I'm going to try posting this just as a journal entry and hopefully someone will actually explain how to do the links? Thanks, guys.

Accusations and Ramifications
by Olivia Sutton

Date: 1982

Officer Henry Spencer rushed into his chief's office at the Santa Barbara Police Department.

His chief sat behind his desk with a serious expression on his face, "Henry?"

"What's happened? Dispatch said I was to come straight in, that it involved Shawn, what happened?" said an anxious Henry.

"The hospital called, Shawn's there..."

Henry looked at his chief, "Which hospital?" he asked as he started toward the door.

"There's more, Henry, your wife..."

Henry reached for a chair and sat down, "What? What happened? Was there a traffic accident? Listen, I need to be with my family! Just tell me!"

"Henry," said the chief, looking at the other man with sympathy, "You know about the new domestic violence hotline we've set up. You volunteered to train the staff at local hospitals to spot domestic violence and child abuse."

Henry looked at the chief in shock, then said, "Yeah so?" The penny dropped as Henry looked at the expression on his chief's face, "I have never hit my wife! Or Shawn! Never! And if someone said I did, well, they're lying."

"I believe you. But the hospital has clear evidence that someone's abusing Shawn. He's covered in bruises, Henry."

Henry paled, and looked at his chief in shock.

"The E/R doctor who called suspects your wife. Apparently, she was acting suspiciously, and Shawn was pulling away from her at the E/R. The call came through the domestic violence hotline, and there will be an investigation."

Henry nodded, he'd been on the force long enough to be familiar with the ins and outs of domestic violence investigations. "Can I see Shawn? I don't mind if I'm supervised, but can I see my son? I want to know... Please, this morning he looked just fine to me. I can't imagine that he's in a hospital room right now while we're talking. Please!"

The chief nodded, "I called you in here, because I thought you needed to be told in person that Shawn was in the hospital. With the accusation, well, the department can't be seen to be protecting one of it's own at the price of a child's health. You're suspended, I'll need your badge and gun, and as I mentioned there will be a full investigation. But you can go to the hospital to see Shawn, with an investigating officer."

Henry nodded, stood, took his badge off his shirt, then pulled his gun from it's holster on his hip, he strode forward and laid both on his chief's desk. "Thanks for being honest with me about everything. I swear, I absolutely swear," he said, the palm of his hand on his badge on the desk, "that I have never hurt Shawn, not ever. I also never saw any signs that my wife was abusing my boy, but in truth, I'm not home much. Thank you for letting me go see him." He took his palm from his badge, spun on his heel, then headed towards the waiting officers.

****

CONTEMPORARY SANTA BARBARA

Lassiter paced up and down in the E/R waiting area.

"Why don't you sit down, you're giving me a headache," said Juliet as she watched her partner pacing back and forth.

"It was my fault," said Carlton.

"Why would you think that?"

"I've never thought Spencer was in any danger. I consider him a liability, like always, and I simply wasn't paying attention. I should have noticed the car..." Lassiter stopped talking, and began to get up.

Juliet reached over and put a hand on Lassiter's arm.

Lassiter closed his eyes, leaned back against the wall behind the chairs, then opened his eyes again, "Did you get a hold of Henry?"

Juliet nodded, "Finally. Chief Vick sent some uniforms to the docks. They found him when he came in from fishing off his boat. He should be here any moment."

"And Gus?" asked Lassiter, rubbing his face with a hand.

"Still working on that one. He's not answering his cell. Apparently, he's at a pharmacy convention for work, in Las Vegas. We got the name of the hotel from his work, and called, but he wasn't in his room and the convention center is so large that they wouldn't do an emergency page. We've left messages."

Lassiter nodded.

A doctor came from the E/R treatment area, "The family of Shawn Spencer?"

Lassiter and Juliet stood, and moved towards the doctor.

"For now, we're the only ones here," said Lassiter.

The doctor nodded, "Shawn is a lucky young man. Just a few scrapes and bruises, no serious damage."

"Thank god," muttered Lassiter. Then he looked at the doctor and said, "Not to tell you your job or anything. But if he's not hurt, and I'm happy about that, by the way, why was he in there," he pointed at the treatment area, "so long?"

"It took awhile to clear his x-rays. With all the old breaks, the films kept coming back positive because of calcification. We finally had to get a specialist from orthopedics to look him over and make sure he didn't have any broken bones."

Lassiter looked at the doctor in shock, "Old breaks?"

The doctor nodded, but said nothing.

"Can we see him?" asked Juliet.

"I don't see why not. And I'll send a nurse in soon with his release papers."

Lassiter nodded, then proceeded towards the curtained off emergency treatment area, followed closely by Juliet.

They entered. Shawn sat on the bed, his legs hanging off the side of the bed. He looked a little pale, had a black eye, and some red marks on his right arm, which Lassiter could tell had been treated with clear liquid bandage.

Shawn looked up, "Hey guys."

"You all right?" asked Juliet, as she moved near him.

Shawn fluttered his eyes at her shamelessly, "I am now that you're here," he said.

Lassiter groaned, "Come on, Spencer, we'll give you a ride home."

Juliet looked at her frowning partner, "Don't let him fool you, Shawn, he was very worried."

Shawn simply nodded, then said, "Hey, can you find my shoes anywhere?"

Lassiter checked a nearby locker, then handed Shawn his shoes. When Shawn winced as he bent to put them on, Lassiter simply slipped the tennis shoes onto Shawn's feet, and tied the laces.

"Thanks," said Shawn, sincerely.

"Don't get used to it," said Lassiter, then he straightened up.

A nurse entered with a stack of papers, "Here you go, Mr. Spencer. Sign these then take them to admitting and you can leave."

Shawn nodded, and grabbed the papers from her.

Lassiter gave Shawn a hand as he hopped off the bed, then led him and Juliet to admitting.

At admitting they saw an anxious Henry Spencer asking about Shawn.

"Hi, Dad," said Shawn quietly.

Lassiter looked at Henry, then at Shawn, then at Henry again, "Mr. Spencer," he said.

Henry went to Shawn, "What happened? You're all right, aren't you? The officers were waiting for my boat, they said you'd been hit by a car?"

"I'll tell you later, Dad," said Shawn, as he laid the papers on the admittance desk, and signed them.

Henry looked at Lassiter and Juliet, "What happened?"

"He's fine. We had a bit of a scare, but he's fine," said Lassiter.

Henry nodded, "Well, I'll take him home then."

Lassiter reached forward, grabbed Henry's wrist, and said, "I can do that."

Henry raised an eyebrow, and looked at Lassiter, then said, "No, Detective, I'll take Shawn home."

Shawn looked at Lassiter, then at his father, then stepped over to Henry, "Dad can take me home, Lassie. I should tell him what happened, anyway."

Lassiter looked at Shawn, looking deeply into the young man's eyes. He didn't see any fear there, so he nodded, and said, "I'll..."

Juliet cleared her throat.

"We'll head back to the station."

Shawn and Henry turned to leave the admittance area. As Shawn passed him, Lassiter lightly grabbed Shawn's arm, "You sure you're all right, Shawn?"

Shawn nodded, again, his eyes showing confusion, "Yeah, you have something you want to tell me, Lassie?"

Lassiter shook his head, "Get out of here."

Shawn nodded again, then caught up with Henry and left the hospital.

Juliet looked at Lassiter, "What?"

"Nothing," said Lassiter, "I was just thinking about how the doctor mentioned Shawn's old breaks, that's all."

Juliet looked in the direction where Shawn and Henry had left, "Surely, you don't think?" she left off.

"Wouldn't be the first time a cop took the pressure out on his family, Juliet," Lassiter said tightly.

Juliet looked at Lassiter in shock, "He wouldn't. Henry's too good a cop for that."

Lassiter simply shook his head, then led her out of the hospital.

*****

Carlton entered his office at SBPD headquarters. He'd convinced Juliet that she should try to contact Gus and let him know Shawn was all right. He closed the door and locked it, then closed all the blinds in the room. He went to his desk and turned on the computer, then opened the department's computerized case search program.

Then he sat back in his chair and thought for a moment. Carlton Lassiter was a good cop, he'd never abused his position or power or his ability to access information. He told himself that Shawn had become a friend, and this was different. He was helping, not interfering. He turned back to the computer, and typed 'SHAWN SPENCER' into the waiting prompt box on the computer screen.

Carlton sat back and waited while the computerized database did it's work. After a few minutes it beeped. Carlton clicked on the link and opened the file, then began reading.

Several minutes later, Carlton closed the program. Tears rolled down his face, and he mumbled Shawn's name. He swallowed several times, then picked up his desk phone and dialed the number of the Psych detective agency.

Shawn answered after a few rings.

"Shawn?" said Lassiter, quietly.

"Lassie?" asked Shawn, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Can I see you? I mean, I half expected to get your answering machine, but since you're there?"

"Sure. Listen, Lassie, what happened today wasn't your fault, and I'm fine, there's no reason for you to..."

"I'll be there in ten," interrupted Lassiter.

*****

Shawn looked at the phone in his hand, and listened to the dial tone for a full thirty seconds before hanging up. Lassiter was acting strange, and he was at a loss to explain it.

Ten minutes later, Lassiter arrived, he let himself in, and closed the door behind himself, then made his way from the entry area to stand before Shawn's desk.

Shawn looked up from where he sat at his desk. Lassiter was still wearing his customary dark sunglasses, even though he was now inside. Then Shawn noticed the older man's nose was red. For a second, he thought Lassiter had been drinking, but he didn't smell any booze. Shawn stood up and walked closer to Lassiter. Nope, no booze, he thought. Then he grabbed Lassiter's sunglasses off his nose, saying, "Lassie, you really shouldn't..." but the quip died on his lips, "Have you been crying?"

Lassiter looked at Shawn, holding his sunglasses. Normally, he would have been angry, but after reading Shawn's file, he instead said, "No. Well, maybe a little bit."

"What? The divorce? Hey, I know it's rough but..." Shawn waved a hand.

Lassiter just stared at Shawn, then grabbed the young man and whispered in his ear, "I know, Shawn."

Shawn paled and stepped back, "You know what, exactly?" he asked, thinking that somehow Lassiter had finally figured out he wasn't psychic.

Lassiter ran his hands across Shawn's shoulders, then pulled them back, "About the abuse, Shawn. I know."

"What?" Shawn yelled at the older man, turning around and moving behind his desk. Then he turned and faced Lassiter. He began to shake, slightly, then he took a deep calming breath and said, "Those records are supposed to be sealed! I was a minor!"

"You were a child. A five-year-old child!" Lassiter yelled back. Then he took a deep, calming breath of his own, and fought the instinct to step closer to the young man in front of him. "No five-year-old should go through that. Your mother..."

"Leave my mother out of this!" Snapped Shawn.

"She was the one that hit you!"

"And my father was the one who should have stopped her! Not some E/R doctor. How did you find out about this, anyhow?"

Lassiter's heart broke and he stepped closer to Shawn, despite his training. "Today, at the E/R, the doctor said they couldn't clear your x-rays because of old breaks. I know I shouldn't have, that it was private, but I checked the police records. Shawn..." he put his hands out towards the young man.

Shawn moved around the desk to Lassiter. "He should have noticed. He should have done something. I... I was in foster care for months until he was cleared by an official investigation."

Lassiter nodded, and reached out towards the younger man. Shawn fell into his arms, crying, mumbling, "He should have done something..."

Lassiter patted Shawn's back, and held him tightly.

Shawn pulled back, then dried his tears with his hand.

"You all right?" asked Lassiter.

Shawn nodded, "You won't tell Jules? Or Chief Vick. Or... or Gus, will you?"

"Gus doesn't know?" asked Lassiter.

"It happened before we met. About a year before we met. As far as Gus knows, my parents split when I was five, and I don't talk about it."

Lassiter nodded. "I won't tell anyone. But if you ever want to talk... Need a shoulder to cry on?"

"I'm not usually like this. It's the shock..." He looked at Lassiter. "Honestly, it's not something I normally think about. It's forgotten, for the most part. I live in the present, Lassie."

Lassiter nodded, "Right. Well, just remember, I'm here."

Shawn nodded. Then he looked at Lassiter, critically, "Wait... you looked up police reports, because an E/R doctor told you I had old breaks? What led you to the conclusion..." Shawn's eyes widened, "You were acting strange at the hospital, especially when you saw my dad."

Lassiter sighed. "You've never asked me why I became a cop, Shawn."

"So, why'd you become a cop, Lassie?"

"To protect people, Spencer, to protect children, to protect women, to protect people in harm's way. And to get the bastards who hurt helpless people. It's all I've ever wanted to do," then he spun on his heel and walked toward the door leading outside.

Shawn stared at Lassiter's retreating back in shock. After a moment, he walked to the door himself, but Lassiter was gone.

THE END