Lassiter's car slammed to a stop in front of a familiar house. His pulse was pounding frantically, as the sound of blood ran through his ears. His hand twitched over his gun, before he stepped out of the car. Detective Larson stood idly beside the car, glaring at the house before looking at Lassiter.

"Should we wait for backup?"

Lassiter glared at his new found partner for a moment. Everything in him screamed to wait for backup. It was protocol, it was the right thing to do. Yet, the protective part of himself screamed that his pregnant partner was being held in there with a psychopath. Removing his gun from its holster, Lassiter nodded at Larson. "Let's do this."

Larson nodded, before pulling his own service weapon. They both crept forward toward the house, Lassiter on the right and Larson on the left. They halted at the door, as Lassiter counted to three before kicking in the door. They cleared the living room and kitchen with ease, before they heard an all too familiar sound.

"That was a gunshot." Larson's face turned white, as Lassiter shook his head.

The shot came from the basement. Without throwing even a backward glance toward Larson, Lassiter took off running for the door that led to the basement. Throwing it open quickly, Lassiter took the stairs two at a time until he reached the bottom. After a quick look to his left came up empty, Lassiter spun to his right, gun drawn, finger twitching over the trigger. Juliet's eyes stared at him, as tears spilled down her cheeks. After a second to recover from actually locating his partner, Lassiter jumped into detective mode and ran over to Juliet.

"He's dead. Shawn's dead."

Lassiter's eyes followed Juliet's and found two people sprawled out on the floor. A large puddle of blood spilled between the two of them. A scowl formed on his face, as he used his foot to turn over Garrett Marshall ready to put a life-ending bullet between his eyes. A gasp escaped his mouth as he stared into Garrett's glassy eyes. A bullet hole gaped in his upper torso. After staring at the lifeless body of Garrett Marshall for a moment, Lassiter quickly turned Shawn over. Though he was drenched in blood, there was no actual spot that was leaking the red substance. Kneeling over Shawn's lifeless body, Lassiter pressed two fingers to his pulse point and waited.

"He has a pulse. It's a little fast, but it's there."

He heard an audible sigh of relief before a sob tore out of Juliet's mouth.

Juliet lay in a hospital bed, though she had no actual injuries and they had already given her an ultrasound to ensure that nothing was wrong with her baby, they had explained that they had wanted to keep her overnight for observation. Juliet had thrown a fit, begging to be allowed to leave. She had to see Shawn, she had to see for herself that he was okay. That he was going to be fine. It was Gus that had eventually talked her into staying.

She had been so angry with him at first. His words upsetting her to the point that she had screamed for him to leave. She blamed it on the hormones when in reality it was more that she didn't want anyone speaking for Shawn. Even if everything that Gus had said made perfect sense, she wanted to hear Shawn say it. Juliet just needed to hear Shawn speak, see his smiling face, so that she would know for sure that he was indeed alright.

"Hey beautiful."

Juliet hadn't even realized that the door to her room had opened, she had been so deep in thought, though the voice that spoke out jarred her to the bone. Turning her head, she smiled at the sight of Shawn sitting idly by as Gus finished pushing up to the bed.

"Shawn." Her nose wrinkled at how her voice cracked on his name. Sighing, Juliet reached a hand out to grab for the water she had yet to touch.

Gus smiled softly, as he handed it to her. "I'm just gonna wait out here. The doctor's given him five minutes."

Juliet nodded, as she lifted the cup of water to her lips and took a generous sip of the cool liquid. "You should be in bed."

Shawn smiled softly as he reached out his hand to grab hers. "You're probably right, but I hear that you gave Gussy out there a hard time when he told you to listen to the doctors." His eyebrow raised questionably.

"Technically, I would still be in the hospital. I just-" She sighed.

"I know. Gus told me, but I'm fine. I swear. The doctor said that when I hit my head, it did cause the swelling to increase, but since I haven't lost consciousness since I woke up in the ambulance, that I should make a full recovery. He's just keeping me a couple of days to observe the swelling to make sure it doesn't get worse."

Juliet just nodded as she chewed on her lip. "I should have came to you. I'm not even injured!"

Shawn sighed softly. "Well, they are a little worried because of your blood pressure, babe. They're afraid if it stays up that you could become aclampic."

"You mean pre-eclampsia?"

"Technically, I've heard it both ways, but sure."

Juliet laughed lightly. "Alright. I'll stay."

Shawn nodded. "That's my girl! If they ask you to stay longer, what will you do?"

"Shawn..." Her tone was warning.

"I am not budging on this, Juliet. That's our baby and you're my wife. I will not gamble with your lives."

The sudden seriousness coming from Shawn threw her off. She had only seen this side of him a handful of times, and every-time it sent her heart sailing. "Fine."

"That's what I thought." He smiled lightly. "I better get going before I'm put on lock-down. I love you so much, Juliet."

Juliet smiled brightly. "I love you too, Shawn."

Three Months Later

"What about Jason? Jason Lucas?" Juliet asked lightly as she plucked another chip from her rapidly growing stomach.

"Jason Lucas? No. Definitely not. How about Alexander?"

Juliet's eyebrow lifted. That was actually a name on her list, but it peaked her interest that Shawn liked it. "Alexander? It's on my list, but I didn't think you'd like it."

Shawn smiled. "It makes him sound smart."

Juliet shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Alright, so Alexander is a maybe. How about Austin?"

"God no! I knew an Austin in school. Horrible kid. Horrible. No. Brandon Alexander—That's perfect!"

Juliet smiled. Alexander was a name they both liked, and Brandon was a cute name. "I like it."

Shawn nodded. "So—girl names." He sighed. "What do you think the chances are that little peanut in there is a girl?"

"I'm gonna say fifty-fifty, Shawn, and let me tell you. The baby is anything but little. Look at me."

Shawn smiled, his hand placed lightly against Juliet's bulging abdomen. A sinking sadness hit him suddenly as he realized that his father wouldn't even be able to meet his grandson. "Before we move onto girl names. Can we add a Henry on there?"

Juliet nodded. "Brandon Alexander Henry Spencer. It's a perfect name."

Shawn nodded. "So girl names—how about Jules?"

"No. Shawn. Just—no. I was thinking Madeleine Rose."

Shawn thought for a moment. He hadn't thought of naming his children after his parents, but somehow it just fit. "I love it."

"Good. I wasn't going to budge on that one." She smiled. "God! I'm already hungry again."

Shawn tried to not gape at her. "You just ate a whole bag of chips." He wanted to smack himself in the head for that one.

"Gee thanks, Shawn. Like I don't already feel like a big, fat, bloated cow, you just had to go pointing out how much I eat!"

Shawn backed up off the couch. "It's fine. Babe, it's perfectly natural. What do you want? I'll run out and get you whatever you want."

He heard her sigh. "I want a spicy meatball sub with mayo and ketchup and oh god! Pickles. Loads of pickles."

Shawn fought the urge to gag. "Got it. I'll just run out and grab it. You sit right there, alright?"

"I want to go, Shawn."

Shawn shook his head. "Blood pressure, babe."

"Shawn, my blood pressure is fine!" Juliet huffed, her arms hefted against her chest.

"Doctor's orders, babe. Besides it's my job to do the, you know, weird craving stuff. I totally got a laugh out of the looks I got from Jim at that Italian place down the street last week. Apparently it's not normal to want pickles on your spaghetti. I even think a woman behind me gagged when I picked up the order. Hilarious!"

"Shawn..." Juliet's voice turned whiny. "I have been stuck in this house for weeks now. I feel fine."

Shawn sighed, as the fear he was feeling showed on his face. "Yeah, Jules. You feel fine, until you don't. I can't lose you or the baby. I know that it might come down to the choice, but until then, I am completely content with having both of you. So let me do this. Besides, Jules. Someone is coming to look at my bike tomorrow. I wanna get one more good ride out of her before I give her up."

Juliet frowned. "Since when are you selling the Norton?"

Shawn laughed. "Since we're having a baby. Last time I checked, a car seat doesn't fit on the back of a motorcycle, and I'm fairly certain that it's frowned upon. It's just more economical for us to have bigger vehicle. I was looking at some minivans—stuff like that, the other day. Got some pretty weird looks." Shawn shrugged. "It's not a big deal. I'm fairly certain that getting rid of the Norton was in the deal when I got you."

Juliet laughed lightly at the memory. "I believe you said, I've been thinking of getting a car. Nowhere in there did it say, I am definitely getting a car."

Shawn smiled. "It's fine, Jules. No big deal."

"Look, I'll just trade in my car."

Shawn shook his head. "Not happening, my beautiful pumpkin doodle."

Juliet growled. "Shawn Spencer..."

"Lookie there! That's my cue. So, spicy meatball sub with-" Shawn paused, trying to hide the disgusted look on his face. "mayo and ketchup"

Juliet sighed, throwing her arms in defeat. It wasn't like she could chase him. Four months pregnant and she was already bigger than any of her sister-in-laws when they were pregnant. "Don't forget the pickles. Shawn! The pickles."

Shawn peaked around the door-frame at her, his helmet hanging loosely in his hand. "Yeah, yeah. Pickles. I got it." Pulling the door shut behind him, he grumbled for a moment. "God, that's so gross!" He smiled as Juliet yelled that she could hear him.

Shawn walked out of the sub shop, meatball sandwich in one hand and his helmet clenched in the other. A wave of dizziness hit him and he staggered for a moment. The doctor had told him that he could have some after-effects for a while. A year was passed around, as they waited for the swelling to go down. It was nearly nonexistent now, but the remaining swelling could cause him the occasional problem. Shutting his eyes against the dizziness, Shawn took a few deep breaths before peeking out through one slit eyelid. Nothing was Topsy-turvy now. Smiling triumphantly, Shawn shoved his helmet on his head and slid the handle of the sandwich bag onto his handlebars.

Straddling his bike, Shawn kick-started it. Looking behind him, Shawn took off down the road. He smiled as the wind beat against his body. It was a feeling that was hard to get used to, but once you do you never want to lose it. He let his mind roam freely as he drove down a road he had traveled many times before. He preferred the nearly deserted back roads over the traffic of the highways.

His thoughts went to his father. Shawn still didn't remember what happened in his father's house. How Garrett had gotten inside or how he had been able to get a shot off on his father. None of it really made sense, and it made him uncomfortable. More so, because he couldn't remember it. He could recall every other aspect of his life perfectly, except that.

A week after he was out of the hospital, he had called his mother. He cried while he told her that Henry was dead. How the police had thought it was him, and all about Garrett. After they both had cried for a while, Shawn told his mother that Juliet was pregnant. She had promised to come down soon, and she had arrived in Santa Barbara a week ago. Promising to help them take care of the baby, Madeleine Spencer had taken a sabbatical from work and rented a month to month apartment in the northern suburbs of Santa Barbara.

Shawn felt his eyes going glassy, and at first he thought he was crying again. Until he blinked twice and his vision didn't become any better. The road in front of him was blurry. Shawn reached for his brake, not taking in his current speed, and hit it hard. A curse escaped his lips as he was thrown over the handlebars. His head smacked the concrete with heavy force. His vision darkened before the darkness overtook him completely. Shawn Spencer's body went slack.

Juliet heard the knock on her door and grumbled. "Shawn, I told you to get what you can carry. You're riding that damn bike for god sakes!" Juliet clambered to her feet and padded toward the front door. Her mouth slack ready to yell at Shawn for taking so long with getting her food, but she stopped in her tracks. "Oh, God. Madeleine. I am so sorry-"

Madeleine held up a hand. "It's fine, dear. I was pregnant once upon a time. Hormones do horrible things to the body, if I remember correctly."

Juliet blushed. "Please come in."

Madeleine smiled brightly at her. "Thank you, dear. I'm going to guess from that outburst that my son isn't home?"

Juliet shook her head. "No. He ran out to get me some food." Juliet looked up at the clock. "He should be getting back though. Then again, I'm fairly certain I scared him off. He might pitter-patter around for a bit before he comes back."

Madeleine laughed at that. "He's not the biggest fan of confrontation—unless it involved his father." Madeleine's face dropped slightly. "I miss him so much." She sighed. Madeleine was supposed to be the strong one. The one that others came to when they were having problems. Yet, she couldn't fight off the feeling that her heart was broken. It didn't matter that they weren't married any longer, she still loved that stubborn, bull headed man with everything in her.

"I think that's allowed. You were married to him, you have a child together. It's fair that you miss him, he was a big part of your life. I feel like there is a void in my life, and I didn't even know him that well. Henry was just one of those guys that filled up your life with so much happiness-" Juliet sighed as her eyes filled with tears. "It breaks my heart to see what it's doing to Shawn. God, I feel like it's my fault. I knew he didn't do it, that he didn't kill Henry. Not only is Shawn incapable of that amount of violence, but even if he was, Shawn would have never hurt Henry. They might not have been on speaking terms at the time, but Shawn loved his father." Tears slipped down her cheeks. "I think that's what hurts him the most. The fact that he believes his father died thinking that Shawn hated him. It bothers him so bad, and it doesn't help that he still can't recall what happened in that house. It's so weird, with all the hits his head took, and with the swelling, that is the only thing that he still can't remember."

Madeleine nodded her head, as she sat down next to Juliet. "Have you spoken to Shawn about this? It appears to be bothering you just as badly as it is him. I will tell you now, Juliet. Communication is the single most important thing in a marriage. When you lose that, you're on the fast track to a place you don't want to be."

Juliet nodded, as her tears slowly started to dry up. "I'm afraid. If I'm being completely honest, I'm afraid that if we talk about it and he really sees the situation, that he'll realize that it all comes back to being my fault."

Madeleine shook her head. "No matter what you think, it is not your fault. That Garrett fellow, he would have found his opportunity to harm Shawn. If it wasn't that day, it would have been a different day."

Juliet sighed. "What really bothers me, Madeline. Is that Garrett said he knew people. Which is creepy by itself, but then you have to think. How did he know that Henry and Shawn would be alone in that house? How did he know that Shawn had seen the video he had sent to Carlton's computer? None of it makes sense—unless he had help."

Madeleine had to admit that it was very unnerving. "Well, you do have a point, dear. How about we worry about that later though. Shawn tells me that you're on bed rest-"

"Urgh. I hate it. My blood pressure has been perfect for a week, and still he watches me like a hawk. It doesn't help that the doctor hasn't cleared him to work yet, since he's still having headaches and dizzy spells."

Madeline nodded her head, her eyes finding the clock as Juliet's words truly sunk in. "How long has he been gone?"

Juliet eyed the clock. "Nearly a half hour."

Suddenly both of their eyes grew wide, as Juliet reached out for her phone. Hitting the correct speed dial, she pulled the phone to her ear. "Carlton, it's Juliet. Shawn's in trouble."

Lassiter grumbled as the radio sitting on his passenger side seat crackled to life. Guster spat out random words as he was slowly losing his connection. Growling, Lassiter eyed the offending contraption. "Stupid piece of junk."

Juliet had called both, having them rush over to her house. She clambered up off the couch and waddled their way. She explained that Shawn had been gone a half hour when he had went on a sandwich run. The worst part was that Shawn had taken that death trap on wheels, knowing he was still suffering from dizzy spells.

As Lassiter continued down the road he kept his eyes peeled to both sides of the road. Juliet had explained that there were two routes he could have taken, so Gus took one and Lassiter took the other. This was exactly how he had planned on spending his evening. Groaning, Lassiter watched as his headlights flashed against something in the road. Speeding up only slightly, Lassiter saw the slack, lifeless body before he spotted the dented up motorcycle. Slamming on his brakes, Lassiter threw his car into gear and jumped out.

Running up to Shawn, Lassiter slid down to his knees and examined Shawn. The first thing he spotted sent a curse flying out his mouth. Shawn's helmet was cracked and there was some blood pooling underneath his helmet. Lassiter knew this was the worst case scenario that involved Shawn still being alive. Yanking out his phone, Lassiter called for an ambulance, before phoning Juliet.

"I found him. He wrecked his bike. It doesn't look good, Juliet. He hit his head."

Juliet paced the hallway of the hospital. She couldn't take these long waits in the cold dingy hospital waiting room anymore. This was far too many times in the last four months. She sighed and jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Juliet. You should sit down." Juliet nodded, as she followed Gus back to the chair she had been sitting in moments earlier. Two hours should be long enough to know how he is. An update, that was all she needed. A damn update, and yet here she sat, twiddling her fingers while her husband lay unconscious in some unfamiliar hospital room.

Gus poked her shoulder with his finger and nodded toward the door. A doctor was walking toward them. "Family of Shawn Spencer."

With some help from Gus, Juliet stood up and waddled up toward the doctor. "I'm his wife."

The doctor nodded. "I am going to be blunt with you, Mrs. Spencer." The doctor sighed, a sadness filled his eyes. "Shawn has experienced numerous head traumas over the past three months. One of which he was still recovering from. The blunt of the force from the accident landed directly on his head. I was told that his helmet cracked, and if that is indeed the case, you must know that it takes a lot of force to crack a motorcycle helmet..."

Juliet groaned. "Please. Just—how is he."

The doctor looked down, before looking back up. "I am sorry to inform you, but as of eleven forty-five this evening, Shawn Spencer fell into a coma. As of right now, it's unknown if or when he'll come out of it."

Juliet stared at the doctor as he apologized again, before disappearing. Surrounding noise grew dim as Juliet's vision started to gray around the edges. Her knees buckled and Juliet fell toward the floor in a large pregnant heap. Lassiter sprang forward and caught her before she hit the floor and laid her down carefully. The news of Shawn and Juliet fainting settled in as everyone started to cry, even Lassiter stared on with tears in his eyes.

No killing the author. That is all.