Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the USAnetwork or Psych! Although a shirt or half-consumed latte would be lovely :)

AN - Alright!! This should be fun! This is actually the first Psych fic I ever wrote. However, there was one I was able to post before this one XD I had to finish this one first. I broke it up into separate chapters for easier reading... I hope!

Anyway! I hope yall enjoy the story! And thanks in advance for reading!

Summary: Spencer men aren't really known for opening up to eachother, at least not when it concerns their true feelings. When Shawn takes a new case that could put him in a potentially dangerous situation, Henry is less than thrilled. Could there be a way for the them to talk without fighting?

Special thanks to Smalltown for Beta testing the story for me! She's the awesome!

Feel Outside the Box

By Tippy

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Henry Spencer let the back door slide shut a little to hard; the resounding bang sending a shiver through the deck boards. Bypassing one of the chairs, he took up a spot on the end of the porch and stared out at the beach front. He didn't miss the faint sound of a motorcycle revving or the fading growl of the engine as it sped away.

There were only a few things in this world that could push him into overwhelming frustration and anger, and his son happened to be one of them. It was almost routine, now. Shawn would come over with stories of new schemes to get the police on the right track, usually involving situations that could get him hurt or killed, and almost every visit would end in heated words, slammed doors and silent brooding. Today was no different, and Henry shook his head as he recalled the bruising around his son's jaw.

"It's nothing, dad! And it's not like I've never been hit before!" Shawn had thrown his bike helmet onto the sofa before shooting out his arms and waving them in frustration.

"That's not the point, Shawn. You deliberately put yourself in harm's way going after those guys." The elder Spencer stood on the other side of the living room, arms crossed and a hard glare aimed at his son. "What do you think would have happened if you hadn't been able to bluff your way out of there?"

"But it didn't happen! And I found enough evidence to at least get the police to check the place out!" Shawn returned his father's glare, determined to get his point across. "It's a win situation! Why can't you just accept that? Maybe say 'Hey, Shawn! Way to get the bad guys!' No! If it's not done your way, it's wrong!"

At this point, the argument had continued to escalate, finally ending in a stalemate, angered huffs and slamming doors.

Henry finally took a seat on the steps leading into his backyard, letting his head fall into his hands as he tried to alleviate the renewed anger that resurfaced with the memory. It took him a little longer than he liked, and the growing headache wasn't helping.

A short time passed before he finally lifted his head to stare out at the ocean again, only to find a young girl standing in his line of sight. In an instant, he figured her to be about eleven or twelve years old, her shoulder-length, blond hair too light to not be natural and her department-store-cute clothes betraying a parent's style. Nothing odd to be found about her appearance, except possibly the fact that she was staring at him.

The two shared locked gazes in silence for a short moment before Henry decided to intervene. "Hi there..." He lifted a hand to wave, and even as his actions registered in his own mind, the girl was already stepping away. She was gone before he made it to his feet.

Henry stood for a moment, confused and a bit weirded out by the short interaction. He tried to recall the children he'd seen in the neighborhood before, but her face wasn't one he recognized. Probably a tourist's kid, he decided after some thought.

Letting out a dismissive sigh, he turned and headed back into the house. He let his thoughts drift back to his son as he passed through the living room, gritting his teeth at the realization that his frustration had not lessened. Understanding his son's motives for being so reckless was like trying to hook a shark with a paper clip; frustrating and pointless. Why couldn't his son be more like fishing? A silly concept maybe, but Henry knew fishing; knew what baits to use to get what he wanted, not to mention how relaxing the sport could be.

His musings were soon interrupted as a slight knock sounded at the sliding glass door. Surprise evident on his face, he turned to see who was there. The girl from before stood outside patiently, a smile on her face and a small, paper-towel-wrapped package in her hand. Pulling himself out of his stupor, Henry casually moved to the door and slid it open.

"Hello again," he greeted, giving her an awkward smile. "What can I do for you?"

Her smile widened and she held up the package to him. "Mom said I could give this to you."

Hesitantly, he reached down and took the gift, still watching the girl. "Thank you." He tried to sound cheerful as he unfolded the paper towel to reveal three small, chocolate chip cookies. "My goodness, these look delicious! May I ask what they're for?"

A rosy blush brightened her cheeks at his question, making her look much younger than his earlier guess. Her eyes dropped to the floor as she squeaked out, "You were scared... and I brought you cookies," she looked up at him, her smile broadening, "'cause they always cheer me up!"

Henry was about to agree with the child, but stopped as her words registered. Scared? Where did that come from? He thought quickly. Yeah, I was angry... slammed the door hard enough for everyone to figure that out...

"What's your name?" he finally asked.

An odd expression crossed her face as she looked up at him. "Jenna McGillie..."

McGillie? Right, the couple that moved into the house a couple blocks down... He had forgotten about their daughter. He pulled the door open farther and motioned for her to step back as he moved outside. "Why don't we have a seat?" He moved towards the steps and she quickly sat down next to him. "Have a cookie."

She eagerly took one, smiling. "Thanks!"

"You're welcome." He took one himself, taking a small bite. "So, Miss Jenna, what makes you think I was scared?"

She stopped mid-chew and hesitantly turned to look at the older man beside her. "Weren't you?"

Henry was about to protest when a woman's voice called from the end of the walkway.

"Jenna!" The woman, who looked to be in her mid-thirties, stood with a smile, waving to Henry as she approached. "Mr. Spencer, how are you? I hope my daughter's been behaving herself?" She gave the girl a soft pat on the head.

Pushing away the thoughts concerning the girl's query, he stood, plastering a smile on his face. "Mrs. McGillie! Yes, we were enjoying those cookies! Seems your little girl here knew just what I needed."

"Ah yes, she's pretty good at reading people." She gave Jenna's shoulder a soft squeeze. "Well, I hate to take her away, but she's got some homework to get done."

At that, Jenna let out a pathetic whimper, pouting up at her mother.

Henry smiled, his thoughts back on Shawn, only more reminiscent of earlier years when homework was a battle. It was at this moment that he realized something bizarre. His son, the boy he'd helped raise, was in a job that could get him killed and that thought... scared him. Yeah, he'd wanted his son to become a cop, and yeah that was a dangerous job too, but at least he would have had backup and a gun. As a 'psychic', his detective work left him unarmed and with Gus as his only extra line of defense; a scary thought in and of itself. Of course he was scared! What father wouldn't be?

A small hand slipped into his and he blinked away the clouds of concern, looking down to see Jenna, a soft frown on her face. She knew... He couldn't understand how... but he wanted to find out.

Some quick thinking gave him an idea. "Hey, I'm having a barbeque later tonight. I'd love for you and your family to come... get to know each other, let you meet my son?" If he'll answer his phone...

Jenna's face lit up, her gaze turning to her mother. "Please can we? Please please please?"

The woman was hesitant for a moment before speaking. "I think that would be alright, but only if we can bring the dessert," she stated with a smile to Henry.

"Deal! 5:30?"

"We'll be here." She offered one last smile before turning to leave, her daughter in tow.

"Bye, Mr. Spencer!" Jenna called back with a wave.

He returned the gesture, moving towards the door to make a phone call. It hadn't been all that long since the fight, but he was hopeful that his son would have cooled down by now.

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"Guess who got a lead on the case!" An overexcited Shawn bounced into the room, stretching his arms out in a look-at-me manner. He let his bike helmet drop lightly onto his desk.

"Shawn!" Gus almost growled. "Where have you been? I spent half the night trying to get away from a group of college girls in a bowling alley who thought I was-" He stopped his tirade, noticing the discoloration and slight swelling on the left side of his friends jaw. "What happened to your face?"

The pseudo-psychic let out an exasperated sigh as Gus stood from his desk and walked over. "Nothing a smoothie wouldn't fix, and hey! Did I tell you I found a clue?"

Gus frowned, letting the injury slide for the moment. "Okay, so you found something, like what?"

"Oh, like the fact that there's a door behind said bowling alley that a large number of people frequent in and out of, most of which happen to be older, wealthy men-"

"- Who might just be looking for some illegal fighting entertainment-"

"- Probably involving our missing teens-"

"- And that guy they found murdered! Shawn!" Gus's eyes were wide as the links came together. "We need to tell the Chief!"

At this, Shawn pursed his lips, raising a finger to calm his friend.

"What? Shawn, you know where they're holding these fights... you need to tell the police." Gus sobered, trying to understand why the man across from him would disagree.

"Problem... I know something's going on..."

"But?" Gus pressed.

"But I wasn't able to get in to be sure. For all we know, it could just be a bunch of guys the bowling alley owner knows and they're just having cocktail parties."

"Cocktail parties? Come on!"

"Okay, maybe not a cocktail party, but we don't know for sure and I can't do my thing," he waved his fingers over his temple, "if I'm not... pretty sure it's the place."

There was silence for a moment, long enough for a nervousness to grow in the pit of Gus's stomach. "You want to sneak in there, don't you?"

A wide grin shot across Shawn's face.

"No, Shawn!" Gus shot back, firmly. "It's way too dangerous. And if I had to guess, which I don't, I'd say you got hit trying to get in there last night. No way, Shawn! You're gonna have to find a way to get Chief Vick to have the place checked out!"

Shawn was about to continue the argument when the high pitched bree of his cell phone sounded. He kept his eyes on Gus as he pulled the device from the pocket of his jacket, flipped it open and gave a firm 'hello'. He was slightly surprised to hear his dad's voice on the other end.

"Dad? Wow, that's gotta be a record... or something, you know... being that you usually take like... a couple hours to call-"

"Shawn, be quiet for a minute." Henry paused, hoping that would quiet his son.

"- Usually it's my home phone, answering machine, but not my cell... and this soon-"

"Shawn! I'm not calling about the argument," he clarified, realizing shortly after he'd been telling a half truth. There was a connection to their fight, but not pertaining to his son.

"Ah, so this is just a social call then? How's the weather and all that?" Shawn asked flippantly.

"Actually, I called to invite you and Gus to dinner." Henry replied flatly, leaving the impression that the invitation might be taken back.

"Dinner? Why?" Gus was giving him a questioning look. "It's not poisoned is it?"

"N-... Shawn, no it's not poisoned." There was a short pause, as if the other man was trying to calm down. "I invited one of the neighbors over and I wanted you to meet her."

Shawn's brow wrinkled at that and he had to keep himself from stammering. "Her?... Like you met some woman and now you wanna show her your son? Eww, dad, no!"

There was a short snort of laughter through the phone, "Trust me, she's far too young to be dating me. She's coming over at 5:30, so I expect the two of you before then. I mean it, Shawn. You need to meet her." There was an audible click as his father hung up.

Shawn pulled the phone away from his ear, and the two friends stared at it for a moment before the pseudo-psychic spoke. "That was weird..."

"So..." Gus started, "We going to your dad's for dinner?"

He had to think for a moment, trying to figure what his dad might be planning. Finally, he caved, figuring he could at least get some free food out of the experience. "Yeah... but first, we'll stop by the station, give them something vague enough that they'll check the bowling alley out."

Gus's eyes brightened as he grinned. "I told you!"

"Gus, it's only for the chance to check the place out. Besides, no one's going to be there during the day. I'm pretty certain we can find something... unless these people have some insane ability to clean up all evidence. The best we'll be able to do is point the police in a semi-right direction." He moved to the mini-fridge, pulling out a soda. "We'll still have to check it out on our own."

Gus frowned, understanding some of his friend's logic, but still in disagreement. "I don't think so... I am not letting you drag me into another life threatening situation!" Of course, deep down, he knew better. Even as he watched the grin spread on Shawn's face after taking a sip of the soft drink, he knew he'd be following the man through that back door.

Tbc...

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Yay! Chapter one! So the story is actually finished as previously mentioned... sorta... I split it up into 5 chapters so itll be an easier read D It might be 1 or 2 days before i post the next chapter! Hope yall enjoyed the start!

Thanks for reading and Lots o' love!!

Tippy