Shawn walked into the police station, Gus right behind him. He immediately looked around for his favorite detective and her grumpy partner. He hadn't seen much of either detective in the past week, despite the fact he was living with one of them. He let out a disappointed sigh when it was clear they were absent once again. He stood there for a moment, contemplating his next move.

“You better be right, Shawn,” Gus grumbled, looking at Shawn skeptically. “I'm missing work for this.”

“Of course I'm right,” Shawn replied. “Something big is going on and we need to find out what it is.” He headed over to Lassiter's desk. After a quick glance around to see if anyone was watching him, he started riffling through the files on his desk.

“Explain again how you know this?” Gus asked, reluctantly taking up the role of lookout.

Not finding anything in the files, Shawn sat and started going through the desk. “First, Jules has barely been home all week. Twice she left in the middle of the night after getting a call from the chief. All she would tell me was it was about a case but she wouldn't tell me what.”

Digging around in the back of a drawer, he pulled out a hideous blue and fuchsia striped tie. “Dude, I think my eyes are burning,” he said, holding up the tie for Gus to see. Shaking his head, he put the tie in his back pocket.

“He's going to notice it's missing,” Gus said. “Put it back.”

“I can't Gus,” Shawn said seriously. “That tie is a monstrosity. For the good of the human race I am honor bound to confiscate it and see it is properly destroyed. I think burning it and scattering the ashes in a cemetery at midnight should do the trick.”

Gus rolled his eyes as Shawn continued searching the detective's desk. “What does that have to do with the case?”

“Nothing,” Shawn said. “Unless it was a crime of fashion, in which case we definitely know who the guilty party is.”

“Well, I don't think Juliet working on a case without you automatically means something big is going on,” Gus said, addressing the original topic of conversation.

“It's not just Jules,” Shawn said. “Lassie's been acting strange too. He's been completely ignoring my insults all week. He only does that when he's in a good mood. Unless something's changed drastically between him and Marlowe, that means it's work related. Add in Jules ditching me and it means the two of them are working on some kind of top secret case.” Closing the last drawer with a sigh, he turned the chair to face Gus.

“Just because they're working on a case without you doesn't mean it's top secret,” Gus pointed out.

“Which brings us to our third point,” Shawn said. “The FBI are in town. If that doesn't scream big, top secret case, I don't know what does.” Leaning back in the chair, he propped his feet on Lassiter's desk, hands folded over his stomach.

“Wait, what makes you think the FBI are in town?” Gus asked.

Shawn rolled his eyes. “Dude, the big black SUV parked outside with government plates from Arizona? Could they be anymore conspicuous?” Looking over Gus's shoulder, he nodded. “Speaking of which. . .”

Gus turned as Lassiter and Juliet entered the building, followed by two men wearing black suits.

Shawn took a moment to study them. The closer man was tall and lanky, topping Lassiter by a couple of inches. He was clean-shaven with blonde hair and appeared to be a few years younger than Shawn. The other man was shorter, with broad shoulders and dark hair. Shawn wasn't able to see his face but something about the man seemed familiar.

Turning his attention back to the detectives, Shawn could tell the moment Lassiter spotted him. He stiffened, then turned and said something quietly to Juliet. She looked over at them and rolled her eyes. Looking at her partner, Shawn saw her mouth the words “be nice” before leading the agents towards Vick's office. Lassiter separated from the group and headed towards them.

“Hey Lassie. What's up?” Shawn said, smirking up at the detective.

Lassiter glared at him. “Get out of my chair.” He winced as Shawn swung his feet off the desk, coming perilously close to knocking over his coffee mug. “I know why you're here and you can forget it.”

“Hear that Gus,” Shawn said, bouncing out of the chair to stand in front of the detective. “Lassie thinks he's the psychic now. Quick, what am I thinking?” He scrunched his face up, as if he was thinking hard about something.

Lassiter ignored the taunts. “We don't need you on this case,” he said.

“And what case would that be?” Shawn pondered. “The mysterious one you and Jules have been working on all week without telling anyone? The one the FBI agents in Vick's office are here to discuss?” Lassiter's eyes narrowed and Shawn knew his guess had been correct. He gave Gus an 'I told you so' look before continuing. “It must be something big if the feds are involved. So what is it? Are you trying to track down a group of magicians after they mysteriously robbed a bank during a show?”

“That's the plot to Now You See Me, Shawn,” Gus said.

“Oh yeah,” Shawn said. “You know, I never really got the end of that movie.”

“This case doesn't concern you,” Lassiter said, cutting through their chatter. “Go home. Now.”

“Ooo, Gus, he's using his stern voice,” Shawn said excitedly. “That must mean it's a really big case.” He could see that Lassiter was grinding his teeth, a sure sign he was pissed off. Finally. Usually the detective was easier to rile up. Any longer and he was going to think he was losing his touch. “Come on Lassie. Just a little, teensy hint? You know I'm going to find out eventually.” He fluttered his eyelashes, looking pleading up at the detective.

“Spencer,” Lassiter growled.

Whatever he was about to say was cut off by the chief. “Detective?” she called, standing in the doorway to her office. “Any time now.”

Lassiter took a deep breath, glaring at the two of them, before turning to the chief. “I'll be right there.” He took another deep breath as he turned back to them. Some of the anger had faded but Lassiter was still watching them carefully.

“You two,” Lassiter said, making eye contact to be sure he had their attention, “stay out of this. Trust me, you don't want to be part of this case.” Shawn raised his eyebrows at Lassiter's grim tone, exchanging a surprised look with Gus. That didn't sound so much like a threat as a warning. Like Lassiter was trying to protect them from something. Of course, this only made Shawn more determined to find out what the case was about.

Before he could ask anything else, Lassiter turned and walked over to the chief. They both entered her office, closing the door behind them. Soon after, the blinds were closed on the windows, blocking all view of the mysterious meeting.

“Maybe we should listen to him,” Gus said uneasily.

“Nah,” Shawn said. “He just doesn't want to share all the glory.” He walked over to the office, trying to peer through the blinds at what was going on inside. “We need to get into that meeting.”

“How?” Gus asked. “It's not like Vick is suddenly going to change her mind and let us in. And we can't see anything with the blinds closed.”

Shawn stood thinking for a minute. He had broken into plenty of meetings before. He just needed to select a plan that would match this situation. Remembering a meeting in a hotel about a stolen ring, a slow smile slid across his face. Shawn turned to a suddenly nervous looking Gus.

“I have an idea.”

There were no convenient large air vent openings over the chief's office. However, the station did have a drop ceiling, with enough space for the two men to crawl through. They found a supply closet near the office and, after some jostling and swearing, they managed to get up into the ceiling. Keeping to the support beams, they moved carefully until they were over the office. Signaling to Gus to keep quiet, Shawn carefully made a small hole in one of the ceiling tiles. Carefully putting a foot on a nearby ceiling tile to keep his balance, he leaned down to look through the hole.

The chief was sitting at her desk. The two FBI agents were standing in front of her desk to the right. Lassiter and Juliet were standing to the left. Shawn was situated almost directly over the agents, leaving him unable to see their faces. But judging by the looks of everyone else in the room, things weren't going well. Lassiter was always tense, but Juliet appeared equally uncomfortable with the meeting. From what he could see the two FBI agents were displaying the same signs of discomfort. The two groups were also making sure to keep a safe distance between them.

“We'll need all the files you have on Frank Cisco,” the lanky agent said. For simplicities sake, Shawn decided to refer to him as Stretch.

“I believe Cisco is our lead,” Lassiter said pointedly.

“And we thank you for your effort, detective,” Stretch said haughtily. “But we can take it from here.”

“If you think you can just come in here and take over – “ Lassiter said, getting heated.

“Gentlemen, enough,” Vick said, cutting him off. She threw Lassiter a hard look before turning to the agents. “I'm sure we can reach a compromise. After all, this is a joint effort.” She arched an eyebrow, waiting for the agents to respond.

“I have no problem with the detectives sitting in on the interview,” the heavy-set agent said. Shawn frowned thoughtfully. His voice sounded familiar.

“What's going on?” Gus whispered, interrupting his thoughts.

“The FBI are trying to take over the case,” Shawn said quietly, looking over at Gus. “Lassie's not happy about it.”

“I bet,” Gus muttered. “Let me see.” He shifted forward, causing Shawn to lean more on the flimsy ceiling tile to keep his balance. It started to crack underneath him.

“Dude, be careful,” Shawn hissed. “These tiles won't hold much weight.”

“Then move over,” Gus said hissed back.

Shawn tried to shift out of the way, inadvertently putting more weight on the stressed tile. It gave a loud crack.

Both men froze. Shawn gave Gus a worried look before carefully leaning down and peering into the room again. The occupants had looked up at the sound, trying to find out where it came from. “What was that?” Vick asked.

“I think it came from the ceiling,” Juliet said, moving to stand directly underneath Shawn and Gus. She looked up and pointed towards them. “One of the tiles is cracked.”

Vick stood up as Lassiter and the two agents came over to stand next to Juliet. They all peered up where she was pointing. This gave Shawn his first look at the face of the heavy-set agent.

Crap.

“We have to move,” Shawn whispered urgently to Gus.

“No,” Gus argued. “They're already suspicious. We should stay put and keep quiet. Besides, they don't know anyone's up here.”

“Yeah, cause ceiling tiles mysteriously break all the time,” Shawn said, rolling his eyes. “Gus, trust me, we have to go.” He waved down at the room. “He's going to figure out what's going on any second now.”

“He who?” Gus asked, confused.

“There's someone up there,” the heavy-set agent said.

“See?” Shawn said, getting anxious. “We have to leave. Now.” He tried to edge around Gus and head back to the supply closet.

“Shawn, watch it!” Gus hissed as he was forced to lean on a tile. It started to bend precariously under his weight.

“No time,” Shawn said. Gus pushed at him, trying to maintain his balance. Unfortunately, this caused Shawn to lose his own balance.

The tile held for a second, before giving way with a loud crack. The people in the room had just enough time to jump out of the way before the tile, and Shawn, fell to the floor.

He landed on his back, hitting his head hard against the floor. He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth against the pain shooting along his spine and into his skull. The fall had knocked the wind out of him and it took him a few seconds to remember how to breath. When he did he immediately when into a coughing fit as he breathed in all the dust in the air. Coughing just increased the throbbing in his head and he struggled to catch his breath.

He felt someone kneel down next to him, grabbing his hand. “Deep breaths,” said a soft, female voice. Juliet. She kept her voice steady but Shawn could feel her concern in the tight grip she had on his hand. “Come on, in,” he heard her take a deep breath in, “then out.” She let her breath out slowly. “Work with me Shawn.” Following her lead, they were able to get his breathing under control.

Shawn lay there with his eyes closed a few extra seconds, taking inventory. The pain had receded slightly in his back and head, allowing all the other aches to come through. He didn't think anything was broken, but he bet he would have some spectacular bruises.

“Is he alright?” an unfamilar voice asked. It took Shawn a moment to place it as the voice of the lanky FBI agent, Stretch. He stifled a groan. Right, he had just landed in the middle of the chief's secret meeting. He was in so much trouble. He considered just continuing to lay there playing dead, but he didn't want to worry Juliet. Figuring it was time to face the music, he opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was Juliet's worried face looking down at him. Behind her he could see the other occupants of the room. Lassiter and Stretch looked angry. Vick's face showed a mix of equal parts anger and concern. The heavy-set agent just looked amused. McKenna, Shawn thought, remembering the agent's name.

He looked again at Juliet and tried to give her a smile, but it turned into more of a grimace as pain shot through his skull. “Shawn?” she asked quietly.

He needed to say something witty, something to reassure her. “Ow.”

“Are you ok?” she asked, worry clouding her features.

“No,” he groaned. “Kiss it and make it better?” This time he was able to give her a small smile. He could see her relief at his teasing. “Maybe later,” she said quietly.

He heard a snort from up above him. Looking at the ceiling, he saw Gus peering down through the broken tile. “Traitor,” he muttered.

Vick came to stand next to Shawn, looking up at the ceiling as well. “Mr. Guster,” she said, seeming unsurprised to see him there, “can you make it down safely?”

“I think so, Chief,” Gus said uncertainly.

“Good,” Vick said curtly. “Then I expect to see you shortly.”

Gus swallowed and nodded. He started to make his way carefully across the ceiling as the group turned their attention back to Shawn.

“Can you get up?” Juliet asked.

“I think so,” Shawn said. She stood up and helped pull him to his feet. The room spun sickeningly for a moment, then settled.

Lassiter wasted no time in laying into him. “What the hell were you doing up there Spencer?” he yelled the moment Shawn was steady on his feet.

“I think it's obvious, detective,” interrupted McKenna. He looked at Shawn with a grin. “He wanted to know what we were discussing, so he found a way to spy on us. It wouldn't be the first time.” He sighed, shaking his head. “Of all the ways I thought I would see you again, falling through the ceiling did not cross my mind.”

Shawn shrugged uncomfortably. “You know how I like to make an entrance.” He could see the curious glances Lassiter, Juliet, and the chief were giving him. He needed to change the topic, distract everyone, before they started asking too many questions.

Lassiter looked suspiciously between Shawn and the agent. “Do you know him?”

“Don't look so surprised Lassie,” Shawn jumped in before the agent could answer. “I met loads of people while traveling the country. I was bound to run into one of them again someday.” He shot McKenna a look, trying to tell him to keep quiet.

Apparently he didn't get the hint. “Spencer and I used to work together at the bureau.”

Lassiter crossed his arms. “What, he sold his fake psychic schtick to you too?”

Panicking, Shawn jumped in between them. The room spun again at the quick movement and he closed his eyes momentarily against the dizziness. He probably imagined the flash of concern he saw on Lassiter's face. “It doesn't matter what I did then,” he scoffed, trying to keep his tone light. “Shouldn't we be discussing the fact I just fell into your super secret meeting?”

Juliet raised an eyebrow. He could see her concern turning to suspicion. “Shawn, what's going on?” she asked.

Shawn avoided her gaze, looking around the room. The chief and Lassiter were looking at him suspiciously. Apparently they weren't buying his act either. McKenna was looking back and forth between the cops and Shawn in confusion. As for Stretch. . .

“You're the Fox,” he said suddenly. The three cops turned to look at him. “I thought I recognized you. I took one of your seminars at Quantico.”

Their eyes swung back to Shawn. “Summer gig. I needed the money,” he explained unconvincingly. Lassiter and Juliet were giving him identical narrow eyed looks, which was incredibly creepy. However, he could see the truth dawning in the chief's eyes. He looked away, hoping desperately they would drop it there.

“You let a psychic teach at Quantico?” Lassiter asked mockingly. As if said psychic didn't solve a case for him at least once a week.

McKenna snorted. “Psychic? He's no psychic. Just a damn good investigator.”

Lassiter and Vick shared a quick look. The detective seemed almost pleased. He had been waiting for this day for seven years, after all. Shawn didn't care. Judging by the look on Vick's face, an even bigger secret was about to be revealed.

“What exactly was Shawn's position at the bureau?” Vick asked, the one topic he had been desperately hoping to avoid. He saw Lassiter and Juliet looking attentively at McKenna waiting for his answer. His stomach dropped as he realized there was no avoiding this now.

McKenna looked at Shawn in confusion. “He didn't tell you?” he asked in surprised. Turning to Vick, he uttered the words that would change Shawn's life forever.

“Spencer was an FBI agent.”