April, Come She Will

By: Aubrie1234

"Seen it." Flick. "Seen it." Flick. "Seen it." Flick.

"Shawn, stop changing the channel, I'm trying to watch this!" Gus took the remote and changed the TV to Animal Planet.

"Why are you even watching this?" Shawn complained, "All it is is a zoo taking care of animals. Which is awesome, by the way, but not when it's being sad."

"But it shows that not everything goes well in a zoo and that it happens." Gus argued, "Now let me watch it."

"Fine." Shawn left his best friend to watch Secrets of the Zoo and tried to think about how much it would cost to get them more channels. He could just go home to watch TV, but he wasn't in the mood to leave the office at the moment. Suddenly, his phone began to ring, and he pulled it out of his pocket, smiling when he saw it was from Juliet.

"Hey Jules." he greeted, "Aren't you still at work?"

"Yeah, and I didn't call you to flirt." she said, but her voice seemed to be shaking a little, "Have you seen the news?"

"No, but I'm watching Gus cry over an arctic fox, why?"

"Shawn!" said Gus. The fake psychic ignored him.

"There's been a house explosion." she spoke, where Shawn gestured to Gus and mouthed for him to turn it to the news. As much as he hated to skip the rest of the episode, the darker man did so as Juliet continued, "A family was inside, all except a boy, and I was hoping you'd come out here and keep an eye on him." As the lady on the news talked about 3 dead, 1 injured in the explosion, Shawn knew what Juliet was getting at.

"Sure, I'll be there for him, Gus too. Should we go to the hospital or-?"

"He hasn't been transferred to the hospital because his injuries aren't severe, so you can come to the scene. It's-"

"560 Marina Drive." It scrawled across the bottom of the screen, "I know. Give us a few."

"Thanks, Shawn. I would've been there for him, but-"

"You've got your job, I know. See you soon, Jules. Love you."

"You too." They ended the call.

"Don't tell me have a case dealing with this." Gus groaned.

"No, just a favor." Shawn muttered, "You know how to get there?"

"Of course." Gus took his keys out of his pocket as they got off the couch and headed to the door, "But if it's not a case..?"

"Juliet wanted us to stay with the surviving kid, make sure he's okay." Gus nodded.

"I can understand that."

"Also..."

"Shawn, no." Gus could tell what was on his best friend's mind, "It was just a gas leak."

"You never know." Shawn shrugged. They climbed into the Blueberry and set out for the address. As they got closer to the scene, they could tell that the explosion had affected more than just the house where it had originated. At least a power line or two had been knocked down and a few houses had existential damage, even at a block away. Even though they'd seen it on the news, it was still a shock to see only rubble where a house once stood.

"The kid's lucky to have been out of the house when that happened." Gus whispered in awe.

"Yeah, except for his family." Shawn said, eyes scanning the area, where he pointed, "There's Jules and Lassie, over by the ambulance!" Gus pulled the car over and as soon as it was parked, Shawn shot out and began striding over to the two detectives. Jules was sitting in the back of the ambulance, beside a teenager, while Lassiter was trying to get answers to questions. Emphasis on 'trying,' as the boy didn't seem to be responding to either adult. He was just sitting there, clutching the trauma blanket around himself, staring in front of him. He was obviously in shock. Shawn had to lighten the mood, maybe cheer up the kid.

"Hello, everyone!" he greeted warmly, "My name is Inigo Montoya and this is my partner Prince Humperdinck." He gestured to Gus, who'd just caught up, "Now, what seems to be the problem?"

"Actually, these are Shawn Spencer and Burton Guster." Lassiter rolled his eyes, "They like to joke around a lot." The boy didn't respond. He had blond hair, brown eyes, and seemed a bit boyish for his age, whatever it was. What caught Shawn's attention were his eyes, however. They were a cop's eyes, eyes that had seen all too much, and reminded him of how Juliet had been after the incident with Yin. It made him shiver, but he told it off as just being chilly. Made sense, seeing as it was beginning to become Fall around the area. He didn't want anyone to see how spooked he was about the kid.

"So," Shawn bent over to be the same height as the kid, "what's your name?"

"His name's Alex." Juliet said, "Alex Rider. He was adopted by the Pleasures but never took the last name. He also hasn't been talking since we found him."

"Well, Alex, it's nice to meet you." Shawn held out a hand. He got a reaction in the form of Alex glancing down at his hand, but the blond ignored it and went back to staring. Shawn dropped his hand, "Okay then." He stood up, as did Juliet, "I guess you guys can go now."

"Thanks for doing this, Shawn." Juliet gave him a smile and began walking away.

"Be careful with him, Spencer." Lassiter gave the fake psychic and Gus a look before following Juliet. Shawn took his wife's place beside Alex as Gus shifted nervously, not sure what to do.

"Now that the scary detectives are gone," Shawn said, "things should be okay, right?" He gave the boy a smile. Alex didn't even look at him. Shawn's smile dropped.

"Shawn, I don't think anything's gonna work."

"Dude, shut up." He gave Gus a glare, then turned back to Alex, "You answer any questions Lassie asked?" Alex glanced at him, a little confused, his eyebrows furrowing. It was more of a reaction than last time, at least. Shawn smiled, "Lassie's the nickname I gave Lassiter. He doesn't like it but it's stuck." Slowly, Alex nodded and his lips twitched, as if to smile. Shawn then got an idea and stood up, stretching a little, "You know what you need, kid? Something to get you moving, like churros!"

"Shawn, no!" Gus protested, "You know as well as I do that we can't take him from the scene!" Shawn pulled Gus over to the side and they began whispering.

"Yes, but does he look like he's gonna get any better otherwise?" They glanced back at Alex, who seemed to slowly be coming back to life, "We'll stop by the office, see the churro guy, and be back before anyone knows we're gone."

"Shawn-"

"Please?" He brought out the puppy eyes, something he didn't do often. When Gus began to break down, Shawn became serious again, "Trust me, it's what Alex needs. I can just feel it."

"Like how you could 'feel' that we needed to go to a restaurant and eat all night on our last case?"

"That was different. I'm serious this time." Gus gave a sigh.

"Fine, we'll go. But if we get in trouble, you're taking all the blame, got it?"

"Got it." Shawn nodded and they turned back to the ambulance. They stopped.

"...Where'd the kid go?"

"Crap. Jules is gonna kill me." Suddenly there were small bangs, as if someone was knocking on metal, where they looked back to see Alex leaning on the Blueberry, having knocked on it to get their attention. One hand kept the trauma blanket hanging on his shoulders as he stared at them, as if wondering if they'd return to the car. It seemed he didn't care what the police would do if they were caught, either.

"We can't do this, Shawn."

"It doesn't look like he's giving us a choice." Reluctantly, the men went over to the car, where Alex climbed into the backseat upon seeing their approach. It a way, it felt like they were playing into his hands. He also wasn't alarmed when he got into the car with them. This was a little suspicious, but with the circumstances, the guys didn't know whether to ask him about it or not.

"So, the churro place is near our office. You'll be safe with us, no need to worry!" Shawn flashed Alex a smile. Alex smiled back. Maybe they were getting to him after all. With a reluctant sigh that said he was very much against this, Gus started the car and drove them back to the Psych office. Alex gazed out the window as they drove, just watching where they went as the smile dropped from his face. Shawn noticed this but said nothing, knowing something was on the boy's mind, possibly something he shouldn't bother with. Alex continued to be utterly silent as they got back to the office and then got out for churros. Even though the guy wasn't around at the moment, Gus was able to sniff him out and they bought a whole bunch of churros for the three of them. Quickly, whist eating them, the three returned to the scene with no one the wiser. Suddenly, Lassiter and Juliet returned to the ambulance.

"Until the bomb squad can get in there and identify it, we're in the dark." Lassiter said, "And are those churros? Spencer, you know that leaving the scene with a witness is against protocol!"

"A vendor was passing by, selling 'em!" Shawn protested, "We couldn't let good, fresh churros go to waste! Besides," He jerked his head at Alex, "doesn't he look happier?" They had to admit, he had a point. Alex certain did look better now that he was munching on food.

"Do you think you could answer a few questions for us now?" Juliet asked. Alex looked at her, then nodded. She went on, "I know you weren't in the house when it happened, but do you have any idea of what happened?"

"Revenge." he said quietly, voice just above a whisper. He had a British accent. The adults shared a look.

"And what does that mean?" asked Lassiter. Alex seemed to fold in on himself and so they decided to move away from that angle and go with something else. He asked, "Well, what about enemies? Did your family have enemies?"

"You already asked this."

"Any specifics this time?" Alex closed his eyes, as if pretending to go to sleep, but answered anyway.

"Not really." He swung his feet, "Being a journalist, Edward had a lot of enemies."

"I see." said Lassiter. Juliet was writing it all down so that they would have an idea of what to look for later, "Did you know it was going to happen?" Alex shook his head.

"Had no idea. Just went out to play some football and then..." He shook his head again, "It was all over."

"It's a wonder how you weren't too badly hurt." Juliet added.

"I wish I was." Tears came to Alex's eyes.

Uh oh. Shawn thought, Survivor's Guilt.They'd all experienced it at least once. It was not pleasant.

"Hey now." Shawn got Alex's attention, "Don't think about that. You're safe, and you've got your life ahead of you." Much to their surprise, the easy-going Alex gave the fake psychic a dark glare.

"I know that, but it doesn't make this any better." he grumbled.

"Shawn, can we talk for a sec?" Gus pulled him aside.

"What?" he asked, "You think I did something wrong? I was just tryin' to make the kid feel better!"

"I know that, but maybe not the right way." Shawn glanced back at Alex, who now seemed to be less cooperative after his comment.

"But I didn't..." Shawn sighed, "Damn it."

"Why don't you try doing your psychic thing? Maybe that'll cheer him up really good." Gus suggested.

"Probably. Give me some room, then." Shawn did a quick look around for whatever he could use his 'psychic' powers on before putting his hands to his head.

"I am sensing something peculiar about this entire thing!" he announced, opening one eye to glance at his audience. Whilst Juliet and Lassiter were giving him amused and annoyed looks, Alex was confused and a little scared, maybe? Shawn tried to ignore it as he went on, "I sense that the Pleasures were British!"

"Does 'Pleasure' even sound American?" Alex quipped, "But yeah, they used to live in the UK, like me. Sabina was friends with me, and after what happened, they took me in." He began closing in on himself again, "It was a rented house, just for a vacation..."

"Rented, huh?" Lassiter mused, "O'Hara?"

"I'll get right on it when we get back to the station." Juliet assured.

"Anything else you wanna know?" Alex asked quietly.

"Just one: Is there anyone you can stay with?" Gus asked. Alex shook his head.

"All I had were the Pleasures. Just me now."

"If there's nowhere you can go-"

"No, Shawn." said Juliet.

"But-"

"For one thing, Spencer, you can't just take him in." said Lassiter, "Until we're certain about what happened, Rider is a witness. He's also an orphan and you don't have any rights to take in a orphan. I'm not saying this because I like proving you wrong, which I do, but because it's the truth." Lassie gave Shawn a look, "I mean it, Spencer."

"Yeah yeah, I get it." Shawn glanced at Alex. The boy didn't seem to notice them anymore. He was tucked into the blanket and just stared into the space. The kid needed help. Shawn knew he had to do something to help Alex, but how? At the moment, he couldn't think of anything, and so he had no choice but to concede defeat, "Why don't Gus and I take him down to the station for you?"

"Spencer-"

"I promise I won't try anything. Just to help you guys focus on the investigation, y'know?" Lassiter narrowed his eyes as Juliet thought about it.

"I think he really means it this time." Juliet gave him a stern look, "Right, Shawn?"

"I do." he affirmed, "Cross my heart!"

"And Gus? Do you promise?" Shawn had to jab his best friend in the side to get him to agree. It wasn't like Gus would've done something like that anyway, but sometimes, Shawn could convince him into helping his schemes. Juliet had to make sure. Once both had agreed, they turned to the ambulance, only to find that Alex had disappeared. They were just about to panic when the boy yelled from elsewhere.

"Well? Are we going or not?" He'd already somehow gotten into the Blueberry and had rolled down the back window to shout at them. He smiled at their surprised faces, as did Lassiter.

"Now that's an interesting kid." he mused.

"Will you please stop doing that?!" Gus cried.

"Yeah, no." Shawn and Gus then joined Alex in the car and they left for the police station. As they left, Juliet stood beside Lassiter, quiet.

"Is it a bad thing that I'm worried about keeping those three together?"

"No, it's not a bad thing, but it's probably worse for those two being with Rider than it is for us." Juliet nodded.

"I guess."

After arriving at the station, Shawn and Gus went inside with Alex and stayed on a bench near the front desk, mostly just waiting for Juliet and Lassiter to finish for the moment. Even as they sat, Shawn kept an eye on Alex and watched how he observed everything around him, just as the fake psychic would, and it made Shawn frown. Sure, anybody could be observant, but Shawn got his skills from his father and a lot of practice. It seemed like Alex was in a similar position to himself, perhaps, and that wasn't good. Maybe if he could get the kid talking-

"Oh no." Shawn heard Alex's whisper as the bond tensed and looked down the hallway. Shawn followed his gaze to see two people trotting down the hall. One was a woman, much more dressed up that the police force around her as she sucked on some peppermints, and the second was a man in a suit with a face that you could easily forget, even for Shawn. Alex curled in on himself more at the sight of them and Shawn couldn't help but feel a surge of protectiveness, even though he didn't quite know what was going on. It was obvious Alex knew these people and he was afraid of them in some way. Shawn couldn't let anything happen to him, but until he knew what was going on, he had to wait.

"Hello, Alex." said the woman, once she was close enough, "It's nice to see you again." Like the boy, she also had a British accent.

"Mrs. Jones." Alex's tone was bitter, "Why are you here? Isn't your job more important than coming to check up on me?"

"I didn't come here to check on you." she said.

"If you want me to go back to England, then you've got another thing coming." Alex crossed his arms and leaned back into the two men that surrounded him, as if he was trying to use them as a protective shield. Mrs. Jones popped another peppermint into her mouth.

"As much as I'd like to do that, that's also not the reason. Crawley?" The man stepped forward and gave Alex a smile. In one hand was a suitcase.

"Nice to see you, Alex, even under these circumstances." He turned to Shawn and Gus, "You must be Mr. Spencer and Mr. Guster. Here." He handed the suitcase to Gus, "You'll need this later."

"Thank you..?" Gus said, unsure.

"What's the catch?" asked Alex.

"There's no catch." Mrs. Jones told him, "I only want you to be careful." She sucked on another peppermint, "Except there are certain people who still want revenge on you."

"There it is." Alex sighed angrily, "And it had to cost my family their lives before you decided to tell me?" Mrs. Jones shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Alex. We didn't know until this morning about what was going to happen and so we didn't have any time to do anything."

"I'm the only survivor."

"I know, and I'm glad you're safe." Alex snorted.

"I'm not. Now could you just leave me alone?" She nodded.

"Alright. And if you ever need us, you'll know what to do." And with that, she turned on her heel and walked away, Crawley not far behind. Shawn opened his mouth to ask what had just happened but was stopped when Alex leaned into his side and buried his face into Shawn's shoulder. Shawn put an arm around Alex and help him close, unsure of what to do in this kind of situation, and stiffened a little when he felt Alex's silent tears through his shirt, but he didn't pull away. He just tried to comfort Alex to best he could with Gus giving any reassurance he could.

I stayed up all night writing this. I have no idea if I will continue it. This is my first time writing Psych and I don't know if I got their personalities right. I'm so tired it's not funny. Please read & review.

Full chapter title: Gary Busey Had Nothing To Do With This Story

EDIT: The football Alex mentions is actually English football, aka Soccer for those of you who don't know. He's not been in the States long and still refers to Soccer that way. If he mentions the football America has, then it'll be called American Football. Just to clarify.