Chapter 1: Off to Santa Barbara

John Watson was sitting peacefully on the couch at 21 Baker Street, finishing his blog about his and Sherlock's most recent escapade, when said flatmate rushed into the room with a manic look in his eye.

"Where are they?" he asked hurriedly.

John sighed. Not this again.

"Sherlock, do we really need to go through this every time you don't have a case?"

"That depends. Where. Are. My. Cigarettes."

"I threw them out," John said without looking up from the laptop.

"Your lying," Sherlock said with triumph. "You hid them somewhere new, I already checked the mantlepiece, and they weren't there."

"I'm not telling you where they are," affirmed John.

Sherlock paced around the flat, his hand over his mouth.

"Do we have a new case yet?"

"No."

Sherlock groaned. "I'm so bored."

"Why don't you do something productive like go to the park or read?" John suggested.

"The park?" Sherlock scoffed. "What does the park have to offer? Too calm, nothing happens. Unless a kidnapping has occured there. Has a kidnapping occured at the park?

"No."

Sherlock groaned again. Just then, Mrs. Hudson, the landlady, came through the door.

"Sherlock, your brother Mycroft is here."

"Oh joy," Sherlock said sarcastically. "He's probably going to ask us to investigate some bureaucratic nonsense."

Just as he said that, Mycroft came through the door and nodded at Mrs. Hudson, who took that as her cue to leave.

"Hello, brother. John," Mycroft greeted.

"Mycroft," John greeted.

Sherlock ignored his brother and walked over to the window. He picked up his violin and started plucking the strings.

"We're not interested in investigating a political scandal Mycroft, so I suggest you go have your daily tea party at Buckingham Palace." Sherlock dismissed as he started to play the violin.

Mycroft gave a forced smile. "Oh, I believe you'll find this case quite interesting, brother. You see, a prominent British buisness mogul named Robert Anderson went to a meeting in Santa Barbara, California-"

"I don't believe this has anything to do with your job, so why the interest?" Sherlock interupted.

"I was getting to that," Mycroft continued. "Anyway, Mr. Anderson's company is supposed to be involved in a joint project with the American SecuriCorp to come up with an advanced defense system for British and American bases set up in the Middle East."

"I remember hearing about something like that while in Afghanistan," John said, looking up from the laptop. "They're finally getting around to that?"

"They were, until Robert Anderson went missing a day ago."

Sherlock continued to play the violin.

"Are the local police doing anything about it?" asked John.

"Yes, but so far they have no leads as to where he is, even after they brought aboard their so-called psychic," Mycroft replied, placing emphasis on the last word.

Sherlock abruptly stopped playing his instrument and immediately turned to his brother.

"Psychic?" he asked curiously.

"Yes, the Santa Barbara Police Department frequently employ a self proclaimed 'psychic detective' to help them solve crimes."

"What's the man's name?" asked John while typing on his laptop.

"I believe it's Shawn Spencer," Mycroft answered. "Why?"

"Because someone sent us a link about five days ago to a Santa Barbara newspaper detailing a case he solved," John said while turning the laptop for the Holmes brothers to see. "They thought we would find it interesting."

Sherlock let his hand hover over the mouse pad as he read the headline:

Psychic Recovers Stolen Diamond

The picture below the headline depicted a spiky haired man holding a giant diamond in a over the top fashion, while a bald black man simply stared at him in disbelief.

"The funny thing is that his methods sound quite similar to your own," said John.

As Sherlock continued to read the article, his mouth formed into a mischevious smile.

"Fascinating," he breathed. "I must simply meet this fellow!"

Sherlock jumped up abruptly and practically skipped to his room.

"Pack your things, John!" he shouted. "We're off to California!"

"So you'll be taking the case?" Mycroft called.

"Of course, dear brother! This is more exciting than that triple homicide we solved a week ago!"

John looked up at Mycroft. "You might want to grant him diplomatic immunity just to be safe."

Mycroft sighed. "I could never agree with you more, dear boy."

A/N: I decided to set this fic before The Reinenbach Fall and in the middle of Psych season 6. I know there are Psych/Sherlock crossovers out there, but I haven't found one that features a rivalry between Shawn and Sherlock, which is what this fic will primarily focus on. If this chapter gets good reviews, I'll try to focus on it as much as Don't Knock It Till You Try It, my Kingdom Hearts fic (which I hope you look up and read as well, the more the merrier) :)

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