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Story Notes:
Originally written for Redwolffclaw for the 2014 Secret Santa Fic Exchange!
Author's Chapter Notes:
"Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." Hebrews 13:2
Juliet O'Hara loved the feeling of being in love. She loved so many things: the beach, the sky, her job, her boss, her boss' boss, her boyfriend, her friends, her family, her cats... Need she go on? She loved the world, and she loved it that the world loved her back.

One morning, she felt so full of joy that she decided to go into work early to leave a cupcake on her partner's desk. And of course, she put it in a pink polka-dot Chinese takeout box with his name on it. And of course, she made an extra one for Shawn, too. She knew her partner would be unhappy with the packaging, and she knew that her boyfriend couldn't care less, but that didn't matter, because the boxes were happy little boxes. The little wire handles felt happy in her hands as she dropped one on Lassiter's desk and kept Shawn's on her desk, waiting for them to arrive.

She heard her cell phone ring in her pocket and answered it, not bothering to look at the caller ID. "O'Hara!"
"Juliet," came a soft, soothing voice. "Juliet, don't stay at work today."
Juliet frowned. "Who is this?"
"Juliet, go home. Everything will be okay. You have nothing to worry about. Just trust me, and go home. I'll keep you safe," the velvety voice answered. Then the line went dead.

Juliet checked the list of calls on her phone to see who the caller was or where the number came from, but her search provided her with no answers. Her phone showed no record of a call coming in that morning. "How is that possible?" she asked herself. "I got a call, but it's not showing up. Could it be a glitch?"
But she dismissed that notion, because what were the odds that someone unknown would call her and leave a warning at the same time that her dependable phone caught its first glitch?

She took a moment to think about the voice. Her caller was male, beyond a doubt. But the voice wasn't one she recognized. In fact, it wasn't the kind of voice that she'd ever heard before. It wasn't quite human, but it also wasn't the electric sound of a voice changer or the halting, mechanical noise of a robo-call. It was almost...musical. The voice seemed to have an extra dimension to it, an overtone, like it contained an entire orchestra instead of being just one instrument. The speaker also sounded familiar to her, but she couldn't place it. She had heard the voice before...but then again, she hadn't.

All it took to snap her out of the mystery was the sound of her partner snapping at Officer Allen as he walked in. All she could do was shake her head as she waited for Lassiter to notice the cute box she'd left on his desk.

"What's this?" he said after he dropped his coat in his chair.
"It's for you!" she answered, trying to be cheerful to counteract his black mood.
Lassiter poked the box with a pencil. "If this is one of those practical jokes where something jumps out at me, I'm not interested, O'Hara. Spencer got me with one of those yesterday."
"No, Carlton. It's nothing like that."
"It doesn't explode or blow confetti?"
"No."
"It's not glitter?"
"Carlton, just open the box!"

The glare he gave her would have made a lesser woman flinch, but Juliet wasn't afraid of him and wasn't going to back down.

Lassiter sighed and unfolded the top. "Fine. I'll open your stupid--- Oh." He reached in and pulled the cupcake. "This looks delicious."
"It's lemon. Your favorite." Juliet smiled.
Lassiter's face took on that completely childish grin he got when he forgot that other people were looking. "Stonewall Jackson's favorite. Thank you, O'Hara."
"You're welcome, Carlton."
Lassiter set the cupcake back in the box and scrutinized her for a second. "O'Hara, I thought you were taking a personal day today."
Juliet frowned. "What made you think that?"
"Yesterday, you said you were."
"No, I didn't."
"Yes, you did. If you don't believe me, ask the Chief."

Juliet's mind raced as the mystery grew deeper. Her partner didn't play jokes. He had to be telling the truth. But she hadn't even considered taking a personal day in months. Yet this morning, she'd gotten a strange warning to stay home, and then she'd been told that she had requested a day off, but she didn't remember it.

What was happening?

"Carlton," she said. "What would you say if I told you that I think someone may be trying to keep me away from work today?"
Lassiter frowned and thought for a moment. "...I would say go home, O'Hara."
"Really? That---that's the opposite of what I expected you to say."
Lassiter just shrugged and started looking over case files, leaving Juliet with no explanation.

Juliet shook her head, hoping to clear it. "Carlton. Why do you think I should go home?"
Lassiter shrugged again and replied, "I don't know. It just might do you some good to have a day at home and some time away from---" He turned his head away to glare at the door as he continued, "away from everything."

Then Shawn walked in.

Suddenly, Juliet was struck with an intense, irrational fear. "Carlton... Maybe this is just me being paranoid because of all the things going on this morning, but...did you know that Shawn was going to come in?"
Lassiter scoffed. "How could I possibly know that?" And just like that, his head was buried back in the case files, as if nothing ever happened.

And Juliet wasn't sure what scared her most: the possibility that she was losing her mind, or the possibility that she wasn't.

Shawn made a beeline for her, grinning as usual. "What's on our plate today, Jules? Robbery? Kidnapping? Dare I say it---murder?"
"I don't know. I haven't looked at my files yet," Juliet replied with a smile. "This is for you!" She held up the happy polka dot box and he took it from her hands.
"For me?" he asked in mock surprise, grin growing wider as he opened it. "Jules, this is sublime!"
Lassiter snorted. "Where did you get a big word like that, Spencer? From Guster's crossword?"
"FYI, Lassie, a lemon is clearly beneath lime status, which is why they call it a sub-lime. That being said, I can't think of any sub-limes I'd rather eat than yours, Jules."
"Leave her alone, Spencer. O'Hara's taking a personal day," Lassiter said.

Juliet frowned. "Carlton, I'm not going home."
"You said yesterday that you were. The Chief already has the paperwork," Lassiter replied, not bothering to look up at her.
"Shawn," Juliet said, "did I really say I was going to take a personal day yesterday?"
"No," Shawn said.
"Are you calling me a liar?" Lassiter asked, rising from his seat.
"I'm just saying you're mistaken, Lassie," Shawn replied, face twisting with an expression of mock innocence.

Lassiter took a swing at him, but his fist didn't connect with the nose he was aiming for because a quick shove from Juliet redirected his arm.
"Both of you, stop it!" she cried, horrified. "Carlton, what's gotten into you?"
"This isn't over, Spencer," Lassiter said, giving Shawn a cold glare.
Shawn stared back. "I know it isn't, Lassie. I know it isn't."

Gus walked in, several minutes too late. "Hey, everyone. What's going on?"
"Nothing," Lassiter said.
Shawn didn't take his eyes off Lassiter. "Nothing at all."
Juliet frowned. "The both of you are acting so strange. What's going on?"
"I told you, nothing," said Lassiter. "Come on, O'Hara. We've got a case to solve."
"Not if I solve it first!" Shawn called as Lassiter headed to the door like a bullet from a gun, dragging Juliet with him.
Lassiter did not stop pulling her along by the arm until they reached his car, when he finally set her free.

"Carlton, what are you doing?" Juliet said. "I have to go back and get the files! I don't even have my jacket!"
"It's not cold. You won't need it. Get in," Lassiter said.
"But the file!"
"You won't need it. We're not working on the case today."
"Carlton! Have you lost your mind?"
"Just trust me, O'Hara!" Lassiter shouted. As soon as the words left his mouth, he cringed. "Sorry, O'Hara. I didn't mean to yell. Please get in the car."

Somehow, the sound of her partner saying "please" in a calm voice scared her more than the rest of his odd behavior. She got in the car.
"Carlton," she said as he began fo drive, "what's going on?"
"I can't tell you that, O'Hara."
"Carlton, please!"
Lassiter glanced at her sideways and sighed. "All right, O'Hara, I'll tell you what I can. There are some things in this world that you can't see or explain, and sometimes there are people in it who just matter. Special people. And these special people have to be--"

He never finished his sentence because his phone began to play its customary "Bad Boys" ringtone.

"Check that for me, will you?" he asked. There was a pause before Juliet answered, a tiny quiet lasting only a second, but filled with a sensation only describable as ominous.
"Sure," she said, and froze when she saw the screen. "It's a text message. It says it's from Shawn."
"What does it say?"
"It---it says 'You can't protect her soul forever.' Carlton, what does that mean? Why would Shawn say that?"
Lassiter sighed. "O'Hara. It means that... Look. Most people can go through life without ever being bothered, but some people are just...valuable. And you're a valuable person."
"So, what? What does this mean? I don't understand, Carlton! What are you trying to s---"

Without warning, a dark, blurry shadow passed across the windshield. Lassiter shouted out a curse and drove the car off the road, parking it in a ditch and tearing off his seatbelt.
"Stay here!" He ordered, getting out of the car and jumping in front of the passenger side door.

Juliet unbuckled her seat belt and looked around, trying to figure out what was going on. Almost as soon as she had, every window in the car shattered, spraying rectangular shards of safety glass into her lap and hair. She gasped in surprise and pried open her door. "Carlton!"
"Stay back, O'Hara!" Lassiter spread his arms open wide as if to shield her, as if to pin her between his body and the side of the Crown Victoria.

The blurry shadow reappeared in the middle of the road, coming into focus with each step as it approached the two of them.

Juliet gasped when she saw the face of the figure clearly. "Shawn? How did you get here so quickly? What---"
"You can't protect her, Michael!" Shawn shouted. "She's mine!" It was then that Juliet noticed that Shawn's eyes, from pupils to whites, were pitch black and hollow.
Lassiter said, "You'll never be able to take her, and you know this. You run a fool's errand. You chose the wrong soul!"
"I chose nothing!" Shawn said, and then spat at Lassiter. "I was sent here! This is my quest!"
"Your quest is death for you. This is your last chance to redeem yourself and rejoin Paradise." Lassiter's voice was even and calm.
"Redemption?" Shawn scoffed. "What redemption? Your Paradise is slavery!"

"Shawn, what are you talking about?" Juliet cried.
Shawn laughed. "I'm talking about you, Juliet." He took a step closer.
"Get back, demon!" Lassiter said.
"Shawn, what is he talking about?" Juliet said.
"Your soul!" Shawn snarled and lunged at Juliet.

She wasn't quite sure what happened next; all she really saw was a flash of bright light. After the fact, when she thought about it, she could almost see the shape of a sword in her memory. A flaming sword in Lassiter's hands. It cut through Shawn's midsection with enough force to chop a year-old sapling in half. She heard a scream. She wasn't sure if it was Shawn's or her own. Everything went black after that. In the darkness, she heard a voice, like in a dream. The same voice she'd heard on the phone that morning.

"But who are you?" she murmured.
"Don't you know who I am? You've known me all along," said the voice.
"Carlton?"
"Yes, Juliet. This is me."

She opened her eyes and found herself lying on the couch in her living room. She sat up and looked around. "What happened?"
"Not much," said Lassiter. He had pulled up a kitchen chair and was sitting beside her.
She was disappointed that his voice was not the celestial one she'd heard before. "Carlton, am I going crazy? Did I hit my head? Or was I just dreaming?"
Lassiter smiled. "I'd like to give you any one of those answers, but that would be a lie."
Juliet gasped. "Shawn!"
"He's not dead. Possession has a fairly simple cure." Lassiter cleared his throat.
"So it really did happen. So... Shawn did those things because...he was possessed...?"
"By a demon."
"And you're...?"
"I'm...?" Lassiter's smile grew larger.
Juliet frowned. "I can't say it, or I'll sound crazy."
"Well, don't make me say what you already know. That's a waste of time."
"But why me?"
"You're a special soul, O'Hara. The best ones always are." He touched her shoulder. "The souls who protect the living will always get protection of their own." He leaned back in the chair and put his hands behind his head. "Of course, that comes with danger, too, from criminals of all types, looking to get rid of good and justice. It's just a cop's life."
"So... You're my guardian angel."

Lassiter smiled. "You said it."
"You don't look like a guardian angel."
"Not right now."
Juliet raised an eyebrow. "You're way too grumpy to be a guardian angel."
Lassiter scowled. "Come on. It's not easy to act human when you have a flaming sword ready to be used at any moment."
"I knew it! I knew that's what I saw! But wait. Shawn's okay? Where is he? What about your car? What about---"
"Covered up. Don't worry about it. And don't worry about Spencer." Lassiter smiled again. "He's coming to see you."
"Carlton, what do I do now? How can I pretend that I don't know what you really are?"
Lassiter sighed. "You'll figure something out." He stood up, and suddenly his form shimmered, and all Juliet could see was a bright, distorted light and a pair of shiny white wings.

She covered her eyes to protect them from the burning gold light, and the last thing she heard before the light---and her partner---vanished was a beautiful heavenly voice saying, "See you in the morning, Juliet."
Chapter End Notes:
Side note: Lassiter is referred to as "Michael" in this story because the archangel Michael is credited as being the patron saint of policemen.


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