Shawn Spencer leaned carefully back in his chair, his legs carefully propped up on the desk. His head was tilted as far back as possible without toppling over his comfy chair. He crossed his eyes and watched the yellow sliver teeter precariously on the bridge of his nose. He spread out his arms as if he were flying and began to hum.

“Shawn!”

The sudden bellow of his best friend sent Shawn careening backwards. His chair rolled out from under him, his feet sailed over his head, and his perfectly balanced pencil flew backwards. Shawn grunted as he landed on his back, his yellow pencil landing with a tiny thump beside his head. He stared straight up at the ceiling with a blank expression until Gus’s head appeared in his field of vision.

“Shawn, you okay?” Gus asked without the least bit of concern.

“Gus, do you know what the world record is for balancing a pencil on your nose?” Shawn asked in a flat voice.

“No.” Gus said.

“It’s fourteen hours, twenty-eight minutes, and thirteen seconds.” Shawn said.

“Were you trying to beat it?” Gus asked incredulously, “How long had you been balancing it?”

“Two minutes.” Shawn said.

Gus rolled his eyes and straightened. He started sifting through the letters he’d retrieved from the mail. Shawn raised his arm straight in the air.

“I only had fourteen hours, twenty-six minutes, and ten seconds left.” He said loudly.

Gus shook his head. Shawn sprang to his feet and pulled back his chair. Gus picked out a white envelope and opened it quickly. As he read the paper inside, a deep scowl masked his face.

“Shawn look at this!” He shouted.

“What? Is it that Tupperware catalog you’ve been waiting for?” Shawn asked without looking.

Gus gave his friend an indignant look, “No. It’s our bank statement.”

“Ooh.” Shawn said slumping into his chair, “How much money do we have? Did we get a bonus for being such good customers? Is it big?”

“It isn’t a bonus, Shawn.” Gus said, growing irritated. “Our account is near being over drawn.”

“What‘s that mean? Did their artists do a bad job?” Shawn asked. He picked up a pencil and moved it rapidly up and down, “Hey, look Gus. It’s a rubber pencil.”

“Shawn.” Gus said, snatching the pencil, “Focus. We are spending too much. Our account is at two hundred dollars.”

“What’s your point?” Shawn asked finding yet another pencil in the litter on his desk.

“My point,” Gus said enunciating every word, “Is that you’ve been spending way too much. We don‘t need all of these things, so stop buying them.”

“So let me get this straight,” Shawn pointed at Gus with his pencil as he spoke, “You want me to stop spending the money that we earned from cases on silly things like bean bag chairs and smoothies and start watching the budget.”

“Yes.” Gus said swiping the pencil from Shawn’s hand.

“Okay.” Shawn said.

Gus raised his eyebrows in confusion, “That’s it? You’re going to stop?”

“Yep.” Shawn said opening the desk drawer and pulling out not one, but two pencils.

“You aren’t going to argue or goof off about this?” Gus asked.

“Nope.” Shawn said intently examining his pencils.

Gus smiled, “Wow, I’m impressed. Thanks, Shawn.”

“No problem.” Shawn said and then promptly put both pencils under his upper lip like two fangs.

Gus’s smile faded and he glared at his friend. Shawn looked at him innocently and cocked his head to the side.

In a muffled voice, he said, “It’s still green. They headed north two hours ago.”

“Shawn. Stop quoting Ice Age.” Gus said pulling out the pencils and tossing them onto the desk with a disgusted grimace.

Shawn watched the pencils roll onto the floor. He looked back at Gus and smirked. He reached behind his back and pulled out another pencil.

“Where are you getting all of these pencils?” Gus asked.

Shawn looked up. Gus followed his gaze and let his shoulders slump.

“That’s great, Shawn.” He said.

He watched as a pencil fell from the dozens lodged in the ceiling and landed in front of his shoes.

“Just great.”

“Excuse me?”

Shawn turned his head. He tapped his pencil against his hand as he looked at the young girl standing in his door way. He guessed her age to be around nineteen. Her hair color was natural brunette unlike most girls these days and her eyes were a hazel green. She wasn’t concerned much with fashion. Her jeans were old and frayed and her t-shirt was stained with paint and coffee. She didn’t wear much make-up and her hair was pulled back with a barrette. She looked like a normal teenager, but as Shawn knew all too well, looks could be deceiving.

“Can we help you miss?” Gus asked.

Shawn rolled his eyes. His partner always had to so polite, such a stuck up.

“I’m here to hire you.” She said.

Gus smiled, “I’m sorry, miss, but we can’t help minors. If you have a problem maybe you should go to the police.”

“Gus, stop being a crummy snicker doodle.” Shawn said, “Of course we can help her. It’s what we do.”

“She can’t be more than sixteen.” Gus protested.

“Nineteen.” Shawn and the girl said in unison.

The girl knitted her eyebrows together, “How did you know that?”

“I’m psychic.” Shawn said, obviously.

He looked behind the girl at the reflection in the window. On the back of the girls stained and painted t-shirt which was a state playoffs shirt for wrestling were notes scribbled in permanent marker. In the reflection he could see clearly the name the notes were addressed to. He smiled up at the girl.

“Now, how can we help you Mychal?” Shawn asked.

Gus snorted, “Mychal. That’s a guy’s name, Shawn.”

“Actually, it’s a girl’s name too.” Mychal said indignantly, “In the Bible, one of David’s wives is named Mical. It’s just spelled different than mine.”

Shawn smirked at Gus. Gus resisted the urge to stick out his tongue at his friend.

“So.” Shawn said, “What can we do for you?”

“Shouldn’t you already know?” Mychal asked, “You are psychic.”

“I can only get certain things, vibes if you will. I don’t know everything and I don’t think I like your tone, young lady.” Shawn said quickly.

“Sorry.” Mychal apologized with little enthusiasm. “I need you to find someone for me.”

“And who would that be?” Gus asked.

“My brother.” Mychal said.

“Do you know where he last was?” Shawn asked.

Mychal shrugged, “Somewhere in the Santa Barbara area.”

“Well, that’s helpful.” Shawn said, “Does he have any friends that might know where he is?”

“I don’t know his friends. I don’t even know if he has friends.” Mychal admitted.

Shawn and Gus shared a look. Gus turned back to Mychal.

“Do you know anything about him?” He asked.

Mychal shook her head, “I don’t know much. I know he likes pineapple.”

“That narrows it down.” Shawn said, “Do you have a picture? Maybe I can get a vibe off of it.”

Mychal shook her head, “I don’t know what he looks like.”

“Say what?” Gus asked.

“What do you mean?” Shawn asked, his curiosity instantly peaked.

Mychal gave a small smile, “I’ve never actually met my brother.”

Shawn crossed his arms, “Well, I guess that cuts down on sibling rivalry.”

Gus glared at Shawn. Shawn shrugged at his partner with an innocent look. At that moment, another pencil fell from the ceiling and hit Gus in the head. It took all Gus had not to reach across the desk and strangle his best friend. It took all Shawn had not to laugh out loud. He did let himself chuckle which earned him a pencil torpedo destined for his head.

“So if you’ve never met your brother how are you even sure you have one?” Shawn asked as he sat opposite of Mychal. Gus sat on the back of the couch behind Shawn with his arms crossed.

“My parents told me.” Mychal said with a shrug.

“You aren’t very giving when it comes to information, are you?” Gus asked.

“Gus, don’t be rude.” Shawn reprimanded, “But you do make a valid point.” He turned back to Mychal, “If you want us to help you, you need to give us the full story.”

Mychal sighed and rolled her eyes, “Fine. My parents weren’t really my parents.”

“You were adopted?” Gus asked.

Mychal scrunched up her face, “Not really.”

“What do you mean not really? How can you not really be adopted?” Shawn asked.

“I was kind of kidnapped.” Mychal said.

“Kidnapped.” Gus repeated, “You were kidnapped and your kidnappers just let you walk into a detective agency?”

“I wasn’t kidnapped last night.” Mychal said, indignantly, “It happened right after I was born. Someone wanted to get at my biological father for something, and before you ask, I don’t know what.”

“Okay.” Shawn said slowly, “Why didn’t you leave when you found out you were kidnapped?”

“Because I just found out two days ago.” Mychal said simply, “My ‘father,’ if you will, died three years ago in a car accident. My so called ‘mother’ couldn’t take living a lie anymore, I guess. Although it didn’t seem to bother her for the past nineteen years.”

“Okay, so how did your kidnappers know you had a brother?” Gus asked.

“I wasn’t supposed to be kidnapped.” Mychal said.

“Okay, now you’re just confusing me.” Gus said, raising his hands in defeat.

“My brother was supposed to be with our mom. Apparently, my real parents split right before my mom found out she was pregnant. My brother was supposed to be with her and the kidnapper was supposed to get him.” Mychal said slowly.

“So why’d they get you?” Shawn asked.

“He wasn’t there.” Mychal shrugged, “For some reason he didn’t show up and the kidnapper was afraid to fail so he took me.”

“What do you mean afraid to fail?” Shawn asked even as the answer came to him, “He was working for someone else.”

Mychal nodded.

“Now, I’m really confused.” Gus said.

“But who was he working for?” Shawn continued.

Mychal shrugged, “I don’t know. The kidnapper was supposed to take my brother to my ‘adoptive’ parents and they were supposed to take care of him until the head honcho got whatever he wanted. But when my brother didn’t show up, they got me instead.”

“So why didn’t you ever go back?” Shawn asked.

“I was never supposed to go back.” Mychal said, “After everything had happened I was supposed to be killed, but my ‘parents’ fell in love with me. They left the state to live in Florida and keep me safe.”

“So why exactly do you want to find your brother?” Gus asked, still trying to figure the story out.

“Because I want to know what happened. I want to know my real family, the family I never got to meet.” Mychal said, “I feel like my whole life was a lie, like I’m still living a lie. You can’t possibly know what that feels like.”

Gus scoffed and mumbled, “You’d be surprised.”

“While this is a fascinating and confusing story, how exactly do you expect us to find your brother?” Shawn asked, “We have no name, no picture. We don’t even know if he’s still living or not.”

Mychal shrugged, “I told you he likes pineapple.”

“Yes, and that makes this so much easier because we can often search for people in the phone book by what kind of delicious fruit they like.” Shawn said.

“You’re psychic.” Mychal said with very little patience, “That’s why I came to you. You’re supposed to be able to do what the regular police can’t. And for the record, pineapple isn’t that great.”

“I’m not a magician.” Shawn protested, “I can’t just make people appear. And, yes, pineapple is that great. How do you even know that he likes pineapple?”

“They were expecting my brother so they tried to prepare things that he liked. He liked pineapple so they stocked the fridge with it. When they got a two month old baby instead, they had no choice but to eat it all. They hated pineapple.” Mychal explained.

“Did they spoil you as a child?” Shawn asked, “Because I’m getting the impression that they did.”

“And I’m getting the impression that you aren’t going to help me.” Mychal said standing.

“I didn’t say that.” Shawn said also rising to his feet.

Gus, who had been forgotten, looked between the two and stood. He tried to look supportive of Shawn, but the truth was he didn’t have the slightest clue as to what they were arguing about.

“Then you will help me?” Mychal asked.

“I’ll find your brother.” Shawn said, “If you agree that pineapple is the most bestest tasting fruit you have ever had.”

Gus shook his head, “Bestest isn’t a word, Shawn.”

“Then what is it? The most better tasting fruit. That doesn’t sound right.” Shawn said.

“It’s the best.” Mychal said with a long suffering sigh.

“What is?” Shawn asked.

“Pineapple is the best tasting fruit.” Mychal said.

Shawn grinned, “So you admit it.”

“No, I was correcting your-”

“Nope, you admitted it. Pineapple rocks.” Shawn exclaimed, “Now, we go find your brother.”

Shawn headed towards the door with Gus behind him. Mychal started after them. Shawn abruptly turned around making Gus run into him. Hw ignored his friend and turned back to Mychal.

“When I saw ‘we’ I mean Gus and me.” He said, pointing at Gus and himself, “No you.” He pointed to Mychal.

“It’s my brother and my money.” Mychal said, tersely, “I’m going.”

“You’re staying.” Shawn protested.

“Going.”

“Staying.”

“Going.”

“Stay-”

Gus slapped Shawn’s arm, “Shawn, let her come.”

“Why would I do that?” Shawn asked.

“Because one, she’s right. And two I’m tired of listening to you two argue.” Gus said.

“Fine.” Shawn said in a defeated tone, “She can come. But-”

Shawn held up a finger at Mychal and paused dramatically.

“I get shot gun!” He shouted and spun around, running out the door.

“Hey!” Mychal cried indignantly. She dashed after him.

Gus rolled his eyes and looked at the ceiling. He sent a silent plea for pity to the powers above and shook his head in disbelief. A pencil fell from the ceiling and hit him between the eyes. He was going to kill Shawn and he would use the pencil to do it.

“Why are we sneaking around the police station?” Mychal whispered as she knelt between Shawn and Gus in the stairwell of the Santa Barbara police department.

“Shh!” Shawn hissed with a finger to his lips. He looked around the corner warily. He smirked when he saw no one in the hall leading to the records room. He motioned for Mychal and Gus to follow him.

“I ask again.” Mychal whispered stopping in the hall, “Why are we sneaking around?”

Shawn spun around and grabbed her arm, pulling her behind him as he rushed to the door. Gus looked behind him before hurrying after his friend and client. Shawn pulled out a paper clip and straightened it.

“If you aren’t going to answer my question, then I’m going to go ask one of the cops upstairs.” Mychal hissed, growing frustrated with Shawn.

“You want to find your brother, right?” Shawn asked, “To do that, we need to find who your parents are. Your mother would have called in your kidnapping and it would have been put on file. Hence, why we are sneaking around the police department, whispering to each other, and breaking and entering into a room below Santa Barbara’s finest.”

“Could you hurry it up, Shawn.” Gus whispered, “Someone could come down here at any minute.”

“Just about,” Shawn twisted the paper clip, “got it.”

“Took you long enough.” Mychal muttered as she followed Shawn into the room. Gus shut the door quietly behind them.

“You have a very bad attitude.” Shawn said pointing at Mychal.

“Whatever. Could you just find what ever it is you’re looking for in here.” Mychal said annoyed, “I’m paying you by the hour.”

“I thought you wanted to find your brother.” Gus said.

“I do, but a nineteen year old girl only has so much money from tips.” Mychal said. She looked at Shawn, “What exactly are you looking for?”

“The files of kidnappings.” Shawn said looking at the dates on the boxes on the shelves, “What month were you born in?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Mychal asked.

“What do tree frogs have to do with purple balloons?” Shawn asked, “What does it matter? Just answer the question.”

Mychal sneered at him, “July. Happy?”

“As a clam.” Shawn said pulling off a box. “If you were two months old when you were kidnapped then that would put the kidnapping in September.”

“So?” Mychal asked.

“So.” Shawn said slowly, “This is the box of crimes that happened in September of 1987. We find your file, we find your parents which leads us to your brother.”

“Why didn’t you just say that?” Mychal asked.

“Because it’s funner to annoy you.” Shawn said as he sat on the ground with the box opened in front of him.

“More fun.” Mychal said, “It’s more fun to annoy you.”

“It don’t make no difference.” Shawn said, sifting through the files.

“It doesn’t make any difference.” Mychal hissed, “You can’t use two negatives in a sentence.”

“Yes, I can.” Shawn looked up, “Two negatives make a positive, so therefore I can say ‘it don’t make no difference’ and really what I am saying is it does make a difference. But then I wouldn’t be saying what I really meant because what I really meant was that it didn’t make a difference.”

“What?” Mychal asked shaking her head, “What on Earth did you just say?”

“I don’t know.” Shawn shrugged and went back to searching through the box.

Mychal looked at Gus, “How can you deal with this on a daily basis?”

“By counting to ten and carrying a large bottle of Advil.” Gus said.

Mychal turned back to Shawn and watched him pull out a file and glance through it, “Why did I even hire you?”

“I was under the impression that it was to find your long lost sibling.” Shawn said.

“No. I mean, why did I hire you if all I had to do was search through a box?” Mychal sighed, “It would have saved me lots of money and a killer head ache.”

“Ah, cheer up, Michelangelo.” Shawn said, “Life ain’t that bad.”

Mychal glared at Shawn, “Okay, one do not call me that EVER again. And two ‘ain’t’ isn’t a word.”

“Sure it is. It’s in the dictionary.” Shawn smirked, “Do you know the best way to entertain yourself is?”

“Watch sports.” Gus prompted.

“Watch you fall from a tree.” Mychal said.

“Nope.” Shawn smirked and looked up at Mychal, “It’s driving a grammar-Nazi crazy on purpose.”

Mychal sneered at Shawn, “I still like my idea better.”

“Actually, I believe the correct term would be best since you aren’t comparing two things but three.” Shawn said.

Mychal barely suppressed a growl from escaping past her lips. Gus shook his head, half in annoyance that Shawn and Mychal bantered so much and half in amusement.

“Please tell me you’ve found something.” Mychal pleaded looking to the ceiling.

“Yep.” Shawn grinned, “There were two filed kidnappings of two month old baby girls in September of 1987.”

“Great.” Gus said, “Now we have to visit two families and interrupt their lives.”

“No, just one.” Shawn put the top back on the box.

“How do you know which one it is?” Mychal asked.

“The spirits tell me. They have directed me to the correct file.” Shawn said.

“Bologna.” Mychal scoffed, “I didn’t hire you because you’re psychic. I don’t believe in psychics, and if I did, I wouldn’t believe you are one.”

“I am psychic and if you don’t believe me then why did you hire us?” Shawn asked.

“I asked the police for help when I first got here.” Mychal explained, “They said they couldn’t do anything to help me, but a detective gave me your number. Said you had a good track record and you’d probably be able to help.”

“Male or female?” Shawn asked.

“Female.” Mychal said, “It doesn’t really matter. How do you know which file is mine?”

“Fine, since you don’t believe the spirits told me, I’ll tell you.” Shawn said, “The kidnappings were reported a week and a half apart. Fortunately, for us one of the babies was Chinese. And you don’t look Chinese to me.”

“Brilliant deduction.” Mychal smirked.

“Are you two done?” Gus asked, “We’re lucky no one has found us yet. Get the file and let’s leave.”

“Don’t get so snippy, Gus.” Shawn said opening the door, “And for the record, I am psychic.”

“No you’re not.” Mychal whispered following him.

“Yes I am.”

“Are not.”

“Are too.”

“Not.”

“Too.”

“Not times infinity.”

“No fair!”

Gus shut the door behind him and followed the two down the hall as they continued to argue. He was glad that he’d put that roll of duct tape in his trunk just in case Shawn got be too much to handle. By the way Shawn and Mychal continued to argue to the car, Gus was sure he was going to need it.

“Give me the file!”

“No!”

“Shawn!”

“Don’t growl at me, Mychal. I broke into the police department and I took the file so I get to read it first.”

“I hired you. I am paying you and it’s my brother so I get to read the file first.”

Mychal reached for the file again, or rather jumped. It was difficult for a girl standing at five feet five inches to reach a file that was held above the head of a guy who was a good five inches above her while said guy stood on top of his desk. She jumped again and didn’t come close to even touching it. She put her hands on her hips and growled at Shawn. Shawn stuck his tongue out at her.

“Give me the file, Shawn!”

“No!”

“Give her the dumb file, Shawn.“ Gus ordered his friend.

Shawn gave Gus a betrayed look, “You’re taking her side?”

“No, I just don’t have enough Advil to kill the headache you two are giving me.” Gus said.

“I don’t believe this.” Shawn dropped the arm that held the file, “You are betraying your best friend for some teenaged grammar-Nazi.”

Mychal jumped and snatched the file from Shawn’s hand. Shawn looked startled and then jumped from the top of his desk sending Chinese food cartons and half finished paper airplanes flying. Mychal grinned and ran around the other side of the desk.

“This teenaged grammar-Nazi just won.” She said cockily.

“No fair. I was distracted by a traitorous teammate.” Shawn pouted.

“Too bad. I win.” Mychal stuck out her tongue.

“That is so childish.” Shawn reprimanded.

“I learned from the best.” Mychal smirked and opened the file.

“You did just do that, Shawn.” Gus said.

“See! You are a traitor! You took her side again!” Shawn exclaimed.

“No, I was merely pointing out that you can’t scold someone for doing something that you just did not ten seconds ago.” Gus said.

“Ever heard the saying ‘Do as I say, not as I do’?” Shawn rhetorically asked.

Gus rolled his eyes. Shawn turned his attention back to Mychal as she scanned through the file.

“So, what’s the verdict?” He asked anxiously.

“I can’t make out my father’s name.” Mychal said squinting, “I can only read my mother’s.”

“So?” Shawn asked rapidly losing patience, “What is it?”

“Claire Douglas.” Mychal said. She squinted harder as she brought the file closer to her face. “I can’t make out the words. The typewriter must have smudged here. Wait, I think I’ve got it. It says-”

“Henry Spencer.”

Mychal snapped her head up to look at Shawn. His voice was uncharacteristically quiet and his face was blank. He was staring at the file in Mychal’s hands. Mychal lowered the file.

“How’d you know that?” Mychal asked. A little voice in the back of her mind asked And why is his last name the same as yours?

Shawn slowly brought his eyes up to meet Mychal’s. He swallowed, “Because Claire Douglas is my mother.”

“Holy crap.” Gus muttered behind Shawn. He switched his gaze between Shawn and Mychal, wondering who would move first. Or who would return to the breathing process first.

“You?” Mychal asked in a low voice, “You are my brother?”

For once Shawn had nothing to say.

Mychal’s green eyes suddenly flashed, “What kind of detective are you? Did you just conveniently forget that you had a little sister that was kidnapped when you were six?”

“Hey I didn’t even know I had a sister. Why are you yelling at me?” Shawn asked angrily. It was easier for him to feel anger than to feel lost and confused even if Mychal didn’t deserve to be the receiver of his anger.

“Oh, right.” Mychal scoffed throwing the file onto the littered desk, “I’m supposed to believe that you didn’t know that our mother was pregnant for nine months and the two months before I was taken?”

“She left Santa Barbara!” Shawn said, “She was off on some trip to rediscover herself or something after she and Dad split. She didn’t move back ‘til the end of August and after that she…”

“She what?” Mychal demanded, her anger still flaring.

Shawn felt his anger dissolve as his memories of that time era came back to him, “She and Dad were settling things in court. I was supposed to go over to her house for the first time in September, but she had a business meeting that lasted all night. The next morning she came over in tears. After that, Dad spent almost all his time at the department, but he wouldn’t tell me why.”

Mychal watched as Shawn told the story. She sighed and closed her eyes.

“She must have told him about the pregnancy then.” Shawn realized. “They were trying to find you. But they never told me.”

Mychal took a deep breath and looked back at Shawn, “You’re telling the truth? You never knew about me?”

Shawn shook his head, “They never said.”

“Why didn’t they tell you?” Mychal asked raising her hands, “Didn’t they think it was important for you to know something like this?”

“I don’t know.” Shawn shrugged, “But I’m going to find out.”

He walked briskly past Mychal to the door. Mychal spun around.

“Where are you going?” She demanded.

“To talk to our father.” Shawn said. He looked back at Mychal, “Want to come?”

“To meet our father?” Mychal repeated, “I don’t know if I can. I mean, I’m still adjusting to having you as a brother. I don’t know if I’m ready-”

“You’re coming.” Shawn announced and pulled her by the arm out the door.

Gus sat forgotten in his chair behind his neat and organized desk. It didn’t really shock him that Shawn had gone from anger at Mychal to acceptance of her as his sister. That was just the way Shawn was and he suspected that it was a genetic gene because Mychal had done the same thing. Still he sat shell shocked behind his desk at the discovery that his best friend had a little sister…and that Shawn had totally forgotten him.

“Gus. Are you coming?” Shawn called.

Gus grinned and jumped out of his chair. Maybe not totally forgotten.

Gus parked the car in front of Henry Spencer’s house. He turned to his best friend and waited. Shawn looked at him.

“What are you staring at?” Shawn asked.

“I’m just waiting for you and Mychal to start arguing.” Gus said reasonably.

“Arguing?” Shawn repeated, “We never argue. How can we? We just met this morning.”

Gus raised his eyebrows, “Never argue? Are you crazy? You haven’t stopped arguing since you met.”

“Okay, Gus. If we are going to argue what will it be about?” Shawn asked.

“I don’t know.” Gus shrugged, “Whether or not she should go in, if she should tell Henry is or if you should, whether green is better than orange. Take your pick.”

“Green is so better than orange.” Shawn said.

“No way. Orange rocks.” Mychal said from the back seat.

“How is orange better than green?” Shawn asked her, “Green is the color of Christmas.”

“Orange is the color of Halloween.” Mychal countered.

“Green means life. It signifies growth and renewal. What does orange signify?” Shawn said smugly.

“It means warmth and energy and indicates autumn.”

“Green is the color of Ireland.”

“Orange has its own fruit and juice. Beat that.”

“Are you two done?” Gus asked loudly cutting off whatever Shawn was about to say. They looked at him innocently, “And you say you never argue.”

“We don’t.” Shawn said.

Gus rolled his eyes and looked out the window.

“Okay, here’s the plan.” Shawn said rubbing his hands together, “I’m going to go in there and talk to Dad. A minute after I go in I want you and Gus to come into the living room. Got it?”

“Why can’t we all just walk in there?” Mychal asked.

“Because that would be to easy.” Shawn said.

“Right. Why do the easy thing?” Mychal said sarcastically, “What was I thinking?”

“You are a very rude girl.” Shawn said narrowing his eyes.

“You are a very annoy guy.” Mychal retorted.

“Grammar-Nazi.”

“Phony Psychic.”

“I’m leaving now.”

“Finally.” Gus and Mychal said at the same time.

Shawn opened the door and climbed out. He leaned in through the window and glared at Mychal.

“Just so you know, you and Dad will probably get along just fine.” Shawn pushed himself off of the car door and walked up the steps. Mychal looked at Gus.

“What did he mean by that?” Mychal asked.

“Mr. Spencer is always criticizing or correcting Shawn.” Gus said.

“I don’t criticize him.” Mychal protested.

Gus looked at her through the rearview mirror.

“And I don’t correct him.” She insisted.

Gus raised an eyebrow. Mychal’s set face slowly collapsed and she shrugged one shoulder.

“Alright, so maybe I do just a little bit.” She admitted, “But just on his grammar.”

Gus chuckled. At the door, Shawn stood rocking back and forth on his heels with his hands in his pockets. An eternity later, his father answered the door.

“Shawn.” Henry said, “What a surprise.”

“Hey, Dad.” Shawn said, “Mind if I come in?”

“You’re asking to come in?” Henry said, “That’s strange. Usually you just barge in without an invitation.”

“Don’t sound so shocked, Dad.” Shawn said pushing past Henry and into the house, “There are such things as manners.”

“Yes, but you don’t posses them.” Henry retorted as he followed his son into the kitchen, “What are you doing here, Shawn?”

“What? Can’t a son just drop by to visit his father without an ulterior motive?” Shawn asked as he got himself a glass of water.

“Fine.” Henry said, “I’ll play your little game and believe that you just came over to chat. What’s new with you?”

“Oh, you know the usual.” Shawn said sipping from his glass. Henry went to the fridge and pulled out a carton of orange juice, “Gus has been lecturing me about the bills again. We got a new case this morning. And, oh yeah, I found out about the sister I never knew I had.”

Henry froze, the orange juice carton hanging in mid air ready to be poured. Slowly, Henry turned his head towards Shawn. His face was the same blank expression Shawn had worn not twenty minutes before. He stared at his son.

“When were you going to tell me about her?” Shawn asked.

Henry put the carton down and turned around to fully face his son. Slowly, his blank expression changed to one of skepticism.

“Is this some kind of joke?” Henry asked.

“No. I know about my sister and I know that she was kidnapped when she was two months old. What I don’t know is why I was never informed of this vital information.”

“How did you find out about her?” Henry asked.

“You aren’t answering my question, Dad.”

“Shawn. I’m not playing games with you here. I want to know how you found out about her. Did your mother tell you?”

“No.”

“Then how?”

“I’ll tell you when you answer my question.”

“We didn’t want to hurt you.” Henry said slowly, barely containing his building anger at his stubborn son. “After everything had happened, it was hard enough for us to deal with it. We didn’t want to explain it to you and make you deal with it.”

“Were you ever going to tell me?” Shawn asked.

“No. I had never intended to tell you. It seemed pointless when almost twenty years had passed.” Henry admitted.

“Oh, well that makes sense.” Shawn said sarcastically.

“I answered your questions, now you answer mine.” Henry said. “How did you find out about her?”

“Oh, that.” Shawn said, “She told me.”

“Who’s she?”

“My sister.” Shawn took a drink from his glass.

All color seemed to drain from Henry’s face.

“You-your sister told you.” He stuttered.

Shawn nodded as he finished his water.

“You want to meet her?”

Henry stared at his son.

“Meet her?”

“Yeah. She’s in the living room.” Shawn said, “Come on.”

“Wait, Shawn-”

But Shawn wouldn’t let him finish as he pulled his Dad by the arm into the living room. Gus was sitting in an arm chair and Mychal was nervously fidgeting on the couch. As Shawn and Henry entered the room, she bolted to her feet and suddenly felt like a thousand butterflies were dancing in her stomach. Shawn stopped in front of her and pulled his Dad beside him.

“Dad, this is Mychal.” Shawn said, “Mychal, meet Dad.”

Mychal tried to smile, but her body seemed to be cut off from her brain. She could only stand there in front of her father. Henry swallowed and slowly regained his composure.

“Um, well, hi.” He said.

“Hi.” Mychal said, “This is a little awkward.”

“Yeah. Yeah it is.” Henry readily agreed. He looked at his daughter and a small smile formed on his face, “You look just like your mother.”

Mychal’s head snapped up from where it had been intently focused on her shoes. She smiled at Henry.

“Really? I look like her?” She asked.

Henry nodded, “You’re just as beautiful.”

Mychal smiled brightly at him. Gus grinned at the happy family reunion.

“Ain’t this great?” Shawn asked spreading his arms, “We’re just like one big, happy family.”

Mychal growled, “’Ain’t’ isn’t a word.”

Shawn glared at her, “Way to ruin the moment, grammar freak.”

“Phony psychic.”

Gus fell heavily back into the chair, “Here we go again.”

"Shawn." Gus said, "What are you doing?"

"I"m trying to find the perfect place to start eating this sandwich." Shawn said, examining the top of the sandwich.

"Here’s an idea." Gus said,"Why don’t you take a bite."

"Gus, I’m ashamed of you." Shawn said, "You cannot simply eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You must savor it with every bite and every bite must be perfect."

Gus glared at his friend as he took a giant bite.

"Thad ow you ead a sandich." Gus said in a muffled voice.

"And you think I am disgusting." Shawn said. He turned the sandwich again so that the corner was facing him, "There it is. The perfect spot to begin eating my sandwich."

Gus rolled his eyes as he took another bite. Shawn ignored him and took his perfect bite. He sighed.

"Thad is da perpect bide." He said.

Gus swallowed, "I god peanud budder sduck in my moud."

Shawn grinned, "Thad whad you ged."

Gus glared at him, "Shud up, Shawn."

Mychal watched with an appalled expression. She turned slowly to Henry.

"Do they always do this?" She asked, hoping that the answer would be no.

Henry sighed, "Unfortunately, yes."

Mychal looked back at her brother and his friend and could only shake her head at them.

"So, Dad." Shawn said washing down his sandwich with a drink of milk, "I think that you have a lot of explaining to do."

Henry sighed and put the jelly back in the fridge. He went back to the table and sat down across from Mychal.

"Alright." He said, "Where do you want me to start?"

"Well, I would like to know why Mychal was kidnapped." Shawn turned to Mychal, "Wouldn’t you?"

"That sounds like a great place to start." Mychal agreed.

Henry sighed again, "That’s going to take a while."

"We aren’t going anywhere." Shawn shrugged.

"Fine." Henry said, "Twenty years ago I was on a case. A man was smuggling drugs out of the state in boxes of oranges. For months we couldn’t pin anything on him, but I finally broke the case when I snapped pictures of him watching his employees load the drugs into the boxes and onto the trucks. He got cocky."

"What was his name?" Gus asked.

"Brandon Gram." Henry said, "Anyway, after he was arrested his trial took months to organize and he made bail. He was walking free but I never thought that he would blame me for his arrest. I should have known."

"Blaming yourself isn’t going to do any good now." Mychal said, "What happened?"

"Your mother and I had split right before I took the case. She never told me that she was pregnant. She said later that she didn’t want to because she wanted to keep you for herself. She realized later that she never would have been able to pull it off because she wouldn’t be able to keep you from Shawn. The night that you were taken Shawn had gotten sick. I had him stay home from your mother’s and she had a business meeting to go to anyway. That night I got a call from a man. He said that if I ever wanted to see my baby girl again I had to meet him down at the docks at the Lindermann Warehouses. I thought it was some prank because to my knowledge I didn’t have a daughter. The next morning your mother came to me in tears and confessed everything. And I thought that I had killed my daughter."

"Was it Gram?" Shawn asked.

"I know it was." Henry said, "But Gram had skipped the country the following day. He escaped the charges and I never found out if he’d kidnapped Mychal."

"How long did you look for me?" Mychal asked.

"Two years." Henry said, "We didn’t want to stop looking, but we decided that it was time to face facts. We thought you were dead."

"Well, obviously I’m not." Mychal said.

"Cool the attitude, Michelangelo." Shawn said, "They searched for two years."

Mychal sent a death glare towards Shawn, "Stop calling me that."

"Hey, I was just kidding." Shawn protested, startled by the venom in his sister’s voice, "Take a pill and chill."

"Well I’m not kidding. My entire life has been a lie and you act like it’s just some game." Mychal exclaimed jumping to her feet. "You act like this is your comedy hour."

"I don’t think that." Shawn protested rising to his feet, "What is wrong with you?"

"My whole life is changed." Mychal shouted, "My parents aren’t really my parents. Some crazy idiot took me from my real family which I am beginning to wonder if I should thank him for it because now I know that he’s a psychic want-to-be freak."

"Maybe you never should have tried to find me if you hate me so much." Shawn shouted, his anger rising.

"Maybe I’ll just go back home!"

"Maybe you should!"

"I will!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Mychal ran out the back sliding doors. Shawn pushed passed Gus and headed to the door. He stopped and spun around. He went back to the table and grabbed his sandwich. He continued his rampage out the door. Gus watched him slam the door. Henry watched Mychal slam the back door and sit on the patio edge. He looked at Gus.

"Now what?" He asked.

Gus shrugged, "I don’t know. You’re the dad. Aren’t you supposed to play mediator or something?"

Henry shrugged, "I never had to deal with two before except with you and Shawn. And you always fought physically. Never like that."

Outside an engine revved and then tires squealed as it took off down the road. Gus looked startled and ran to the door, flinging it open. He threw his arms up in the air and turned back to Henry.

"Shawn, stole my car!" He exclaimed.

"Seriously?" Henry asked.

"I can’t believe this!" Gus said, "That’s a company car!"

Henry turned his back pretending to look at Mychal, but he was trying to hide his smirk. He sighed as he watched his daughter pick at the grass.

"I guess it’s time for some damage control." He said as he walked to the back door.

Gus looked back at the road in the direction Shawn had gone.

"I am going to kill him." He growled.

Mychal followed the van out of town to the docks. She backed off as it went through a gate that led to a long row of abandoned warehouses. She watched it stop in front of the third warehouse. She shut off the bike and crept along the wire fence until she was behind the warehouses. She looked up at the eight-foot fence and sighed.

"Brothers are such a pain." She muttered as she reached for the wire and started climbing up.

Her shirt snagged on the wire and ripped as she jumped from the top to the ground. She held up the fabric and stuck her hand through the hole the fence had made. She sighed heavily.

"He so owes me a new shirt." She growled as she stomped to the warehouse.

Behind the warehouse wall abandoned crates were stacked to a small window near the roof. Mychal suppressed the urge to yell in frustration and began climbing to the window. She made it to the top without damaging her wardrobe again and looked through the screen less window. The room was empty but for a few boxes of trash and a single light bulb that hung overhead. In the middle was Shawn sitting on a chair with his wrists handcuffed to the arms of his seat. In front of him was the man that had taken him. Mychal hid behind the wall and tried to hold her breath so she could their conversation.

"So you're the famous psychic." The man said, "Henry must be so proud. Tell me, psychic. Who am I?"

"Are you that old that I have to remind you who you are, Graham Cracker?" Shawn asked.

Mychal cringed as Gram punched Shawn. It was never smart to tick off your kidnapper. Even she knew that.

"You're lucky I still need you." Gram said as he pulled off his ski mask, "I don't normally tolerate that kind of talk from vermin like you."

Mychal held her breath as Gram lingered by the doorway. After an eternity, he turned the knob of the door and stepped out. Mychal sent a silent plea that Shawn would keep his mouth shut for just a few more seconds.

"Glad I could be of service, Graham Cracker." Shawn said.

Mychal tightened her grip on the windowsill. Shawn just had to make a comment. Gram spun around and glared at Shawn. He tightened his hand into a fist and stomped towards his captive. Mychal turned away. She could see the driveway from where she was and felt a mix of joy and fear as she saw Henry's truck pull up in front of the gate. She looked back at Gram who was about to punch her brother again. The blare of the truck's horn filled the night and stopped Gram in mid action. He smirked.

"Well, I guess you can live for a few more minutes. I have to go greet an old friend of mine and give him a little present." Gram said with an evil smile. He walked out of the room and slammed the door.

Mychal scrambled over the window and dropped down. Shawn craned his neck backwards.

"Who's there?" He demanded.

"Your guardian angel." Mychal said examining another rip in the sleeve of her shirt, "You owe me big for this."

"Mychal?" Shawn asked in disbelief, "What are you doing here?"

"Saving you." Mychal said, "If you rather I didn't I could always just leave."

"Are you crazy?" Shawn asked, "Of course I want to be saved."

Mychal walked towards him.

"I'm just not so sure I want to be saved by a girl." He added.

Mychal rolled her eyes, "I'm going to ignore that comment."

She walked in front of him and examined the handcuffs. She looked up at his face.

"Great. You have a split lip. Didn't Henry ever tell you not to anger the people who kidnap you?" She asked as she messed with the handcuffs.

"Actually that never came up in our many discussions about the particulars of kidnappings." Shawn said thoughtfully, "But you have to admit. It was pretty fun to call him Graham Cracker."

Mychal gave up on the handcuffs and stood, "It isn't very funny when you get punched for it."

"You think about consequences too much. You've got to learn to live for the moment."

"You don't think about consequences enough." Mychal retorted as she dug through a box of trash in an effort to find something useful. “You need to learn to think before you act.”

"Life is too short to be cautious." Shawn said, "What are you looking for?"

"Something to cut the handcuffs with or saw off the chair’s arms. Anything." Mychal said. She threw the tin can she'd found in the box violently to the ground.

"You have severe anger issues." Shawn said.

Mychal put her hands over her face and pushed the strands of her brown hair back. Shawn watched her and noticed the twitch in left eye.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

Mychal looked back at him.

"Come on." Shawn urged, "I can be serious. Something is bugging you and, call me blind, but I don't see anyone else here for you to talk to."

"You're making jokes again." Mychal said.

"Fine, no more jokes. I've gone straight. Now, please. Tell me what's bothering you." Shawn said.

Mychal sighed, "I never should have come here."

"What are you talking about? Of course, you should have." Shawn said.

"Right." Mychal said sarcastically, "Because it's a good thing that you are now tied to a chair in an abandoned warehouse with your kidnapper just outside talking to our father."

"And you point is?" Shawn asked.

"My point," Mychal said, her voicing rising in frustration, "is that if I had never have come here, we wouldn't be in this situation." She sighed and turned back to her box, "Maybe some secrets are better off untold."

"Maybe,” Shawn agreed, “but some secrets need to be shared." Mychal looked at him, "Come on, think about it. If you hadn't of come I would be in the same situation only without a guardian angel trying to free me." He paused, "And failing miserably."

Mychal smirked, "I thought you said no more jokes."

"I lied." Shawn said simply. "I'd die without making jokes."

Mychal looked back at the box and kicked it, “This is pointless!”

“Hey! What’d that box ever do to you? You should apologize to it.” Shawn said.

Mychal raised an eyebrow, “Are you serious?”

“I’m always serious.” Shawn said, “Now are you going to get me out of here or am I going to have to sprout wings and fly away?”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Gus stood next to Henry in front of the headlights of the truck. A man was slowly making his way down the inclined driveway towards the gate. Gus swallowed and looked at Henry.

“Do you really think Shawn and Mychal are in there?” He asked.

“I’m positive.” Henry said, staring straight ahead at the man coming towards them.

“How can you be so sure?” Gus asked.

“Because that’s Gram.” Henry said in a low voice.

Gus turned back to the gate in time to see the man walk through it. He took a step backwards and hit the grill of the truck. He looked back at Henry. Henry hadn’t flinched when he saw Gram. His face remained blank and hard as the slightly younger man approached them in the gleam of the headlights. Gram grinned wickedly.

“Good evening, Henry. It’s been a long time.” Gram said and chuckled, “Almost twenty years.”

“Cut the crap, Gram.” Henry ground out, “Where’s my son?”

“Funny you should ask, Henry.” Gram snickered, “I was just about to tell you.” He pointed behind him, “Do you see that third warehouse?” He turned back to Henry, “He’s in there all safe and sound.”

“What do you want, Gram?” Henry demanded, ready for this game to end.

“You ruined my life twenty years ago, Henry.” Gram said the evil smile gone from his face, “I think it’s only fair I do something to ruin yours.”

Henry felt his heart race. He knew Gram was a nutcase, but so fair he’d done nothing but stage a kidnapping. He was hoping beyond all the deductive logic running through his mind that kidnapping was all Gram would do.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

“You’re hurting me!”

“Stop being such a baby.”

“You are causing me pain! And I am not a baby!”

“I’m barely touching you.”

“You’re practically tearing off my arm!’

“Do you want to get free?”

“I’d like to keep all of my limbs attached if that isn’t too much to ask.”

Mychal dropped the pipe she was using to pry off the chair’s arm. She looked up at Shawn from her position on her knees.

“Okay, cry baby.” She said, “Do you have any better ideas?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.” Shawn said.

Mychal raised her arms impatiently, “Well?”

“Do you have your cell phone?”

Mychal dropped her arms and her face slowly turned pink. She smiled sheepishly.

“Oops.”

“You just wanted to try and maim me.” Shawn accused, “I’ve only known you for a few hours but I didn’t think I was that bad of a brother.”

“Shut up.” Mychal ordered and flipped open her cell phone. She groaned, “There’s no reception in here.”

“So go outside.”

“And leave you alone in here?”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Shawn raised his hands as far as the cuffs would allow him, “Go on. Gram is up talking to Dad so no one is outside. Just step out that door, find a signal, and call the cops.”

Mychal stuck her tongue out at him.

“What?” Shawn asked as his sister left through the door. He shouted after her, “Can I help it if you’re blond at heart?”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Henry took a step forward, “What are you doing, Gram?”

Gram’s evil smile returned. He pulled his hand from his pocket. In it was a small remote with a red button on it.

“I hope you told your son goodbye, Henry.” He said.

Gram pressed the button.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Shawn waited impatiently in his chair. He tapped his fingers on the edges of the arms and looked around the warehouse. He was definitely bored. He spun to one side and then to the other. He stopped abruptly and looked down at his feet. The wheels of the chair looked mockingly up at him. Shawn looked up.

“Maybe I’m the one who’s blond at heart.” He said thoughtfully. “Nah.”

He used his feet to pull himself forward to the door.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Mychal held the phone above her head. She had gone at least two hundred yards from the warehouse and down the drive way, but she still hadn’t found a signal. She looked back at the warehouse.

“Great plan, Shawn.” She said and turned back around.

A second later, a deafening explosion knocked her forward. She landed hard on the dirt, her cell phone flying from her hand. Hot ashes and pieces of debris fell around her. Slowly as the blast died down, Mychal climbed to her feet. Afraid of what she would find, Mychal hesitantly turned.

The warehouse was gone and was replaced by a wall of fire. She watched the flames dance in front of her eyes in shock before she put her hands to her head and screamed.

She dropped to her knees and buried her face in her hands. Shawn was gone.

Henry watched in horror as the building exploded. It seemed surreal and Gram’s words hadn’t registered in his mind. His son had been in that warehouse. Slowly, the words began to sink in and Henry’s heart began to sink in his chest. Beside him, Gus was caught between running to the fire and standing there in grief. He settled for pacing fervently between Henry and the truck. Just as the events hit full force at Henry, a scream pierced the night air. Henry looked below the flames to see his daughter sink to her knees.

He ignored Gram and pushed through the gate. Gus followed unsure of what was happening. Henry ran to the kneeling form of Mychal and shakily knelt beside her. Tentatively, he touched her arm. Mychal looked at him with a blank expression.

“Mychal?” Henry said quietly.

Mychal stared at Henry without any recognition. She turned back to the flames. As she watched the fire and heard its roar and crackle, she heard her brother’s voice from only minutes before.

“I only knew him for a couple hours.” She said to the fire. She looked at Henry and she said in a choked voice, “I never should have left him.”

Her face crumbled and a sob caught in her throat. Henry hesitantly pulled her close to him. Mychal fell against his chest and let the sob escape her. Gus watched them with his own unshed tears. The ominous sound of clapping echoed behind them. Gus turned on his heel to see Gram walking slowly up to them. Henry’s shocked and grief ridden face broke into a scowl and mask of anger. He rose to his feet and brought Mychal up with him.

“Isn’t this touching?” Gram sneered, “I didn’t think I’d get this reaction, but I like it better than what I had in mind.”

Henry clenched his fists and took a threatening step forward, “You-”

“Ah, Henry.” Gram said warningly, pulling a gun from his coat, “You should set a good example and control your temper.”

Henry stopped and glared at him. Gram ignored him and stepped closer to Mychal.

“You must be the baby.” He said, “You’ve grown since I last saw you. Tell me. Did you say goodbye to your brother?”

Mychal ignored her father’s better example and landed a hard punch across Gram’s cheek bone. Gram stumbled backward, startled by the attack and the force behind the punch. He raised his gun as he touched mark she’d left. Henry pulled his daughter back to keep her from getting hurt although he’d rather she’d beat him to a pulp.

Gram lost his cocky tone and smile, “You are going to regret that.”

“What’s your plan, Gram?” Henry asked, “Are you going to kill all of us and walk away?”

“No.” Gram said, “I’m going to let you live knowing that you couldn’t save your son.” He scowled at Mychal and aimed his gun at her, “Or your daughter.”

Henry stepped in front of Mychal and raised his hands.

“You’ve done enough, Gram.” He said, “Just leave.”

“What’s the matter, Henry?” Gram chuckled, “Are you afraid I’ll take your daughter away from you just like I took your son?”

“It doesn’t have to be this way, Gram.” Gus said hesitantly, “You can walk away.”

Gram chuckled wickedly and shook his head, “No. No, I’m going to end this like I had planned twenty years ago.” Gram took careful aim. “Move, Henry.”

“That isn’t going to happen.” Henry said firmly.

“I can shoot though you, Henry. Now, move.” Gram ordered.

Henry didn’t budge. Mychal looked from Gus to the back of Henry. Gram tightened the pressure on the trigger.

“Tally-Ho!”

Gram whipped his head to the side. To his surprise, Shawn Spencer, still handcuffed to the chair, was rolling down the inclined driveway straight for him. He swung his arm around, but it was already too late. With a whoop of glee, Shawn plowed into him and sent Gram crashing to the ground. Shawn tipped precariously to one side but managed to keep his balance. He continued at full speed down the driveway.

“Gus!” He yelled, “Help!”

Gus snapped from his shock and ran after his friend. Gram reached for his gun. A boot suddenly stepped on top of the nine millimeter. He looked up into the furious face of Henry Spencer. Henry reached down and pulled Gram to his feet.

“Hello, Gram.” Henry mocked him, “Have a nice nap.”

He punched the man hard on the temple and let him slump to the ground unconscious. He picked up the gun and rummaged through Gram’s pockets as Gus came back pushing Shawn’s chair.

“I’m telling you, man. I thought you were gone for good.” Gus said with a wide smile.

“Well don’t sound so happy about it, Gus.” Shawn said, “As you can very well see, I am very much alive,” He pulled his arms up to the barrier of the cuffs, “And still cuffed to this stupid chair, I might add.”

Henry smiled as he walked over to his son with the hand cuff keys. He was still smiling as he unlocked the cuffs and Shawn stood up.

“What are you so happy about?” Shawn asked.

Henry laughed and grabbed his son in a hug. He let go and grinned.

“Okay, who are you and what have you done with my father?” Shawn asked, “Why are you smiling? You never smile unless you’re drunk.”

“Nothing,” Henry said, the smile never wavering from his face, “I’m just happy.”

“Happy.” Shawn repeated, “You’re never happy either.”

“Shawn.” Henry said warningly.

“I’m done.” Shawn said. He looked to his side. Mychal still stood in the same spot. She stared at Shawn.

“There’s my sister!” Shawn cried happily walking to her, “You were scared were you?”

Mychal’s blank expression turned into anger. She hit Shawn’s arm.

“Hey! What did you do that for?” He cried holding his arm. He gestured to the still burning warehouse, “I was almost barbequed, remember?”

“I know and if you ever scare me like that again I will personally roast you over an open flame. Understand?” Mychal cried.

Shawn nodded, “No scaring Mychal. Got it.”

“Good.” Mychal sighed. She wrapped her arms around his neck in a fierce hug, “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Shawn grinned, “Thanks.”

Mychal pulled away and wiped at a stray tear, “What? No jokes?”

“Me? Make jokes? Never. When have I ever done something like that?” Shawn asked, feigning innocence.

“Every day of my life.” Gus said.

Shawn grinned at him, “You’d miss it and you know it.”

“Maybe just a little.” Gus admitted.

“If you guys are done with your bickering what do you say we get out of here?” Henry asked, coming up behind Shawn and Mychal and putting his hands on their shoulders. Shawn looked back at Gram who was lying on his stomach with his hands and ankles cuffed.

“What about him?” He asked.

“The police can pick him up.” Henry said, “Personally I don’t want to stay here. Any objections?”

“Not from me.” Mychal said.

“I’m good.” Gus said already headed for the truck.

“I can honestly say I would rather be anywhere else right now.” Shawn said as he walked with his father and sister to the gate, “How’d you guys find me anyway?”

“We followed Mychal.” Henry said.

Shawn looked at her, “How’d you get here?”

“Your bike.” Mychal smirked, “By the way the clutch sticks.”

“M-my bike?” Shawn stuttered, “You rode my-Dad you let her ride my bike?”

“I didn’t let her do anything.”

“Oh so it has begun already. Your playing the favorites. You love her more than me. I see how it is.”

“Shawn, I do not love her more than you.”

“Every parent says that.” Shawn huffed and sped up his pace to the car.

“You’re just angry because I can ride it better than you.” Mychal said.

Shawn walked backwards to face his sister, “Ride it better than me? Are you kidding? I’m surprised you can even figure out how to start it.”

“I’m surprised it doesn’t have training wheels on it.”

“That was low, even for you. At least I don’t have a little basket attached to my handle bars.”

“I never had a basket on my bike!”

Henry smiled as he followed his bickering children to the truck, silently thanking God that things were back to normal. Sort of, anyway.

"So is she gone?" Gus asked as he walked beside Shawn towards the office.

Shawn kicked a rock down the sidewalk, "I guess. I didn't see her last night. Her flight was supposed to be this morning."

"You mean she just left? That doesn't sound like Mychal.” Gus said, “She left with out saying good bye?"

"No, she said 'See you around.' I guess that is some form of good bye." Shawn shrugged.

"So she shows up one day, saves your life, and then just disappears." Gus said.

"Okay, she did not save my life." Shawn said, "She tried and failed. / rolled my self out of the warehouse. And for the record, I saved her when I ran over Graham Cracker."

"You're never going to let that go, are you?" Gus asked.

"Nope." Shawn smirked as he entered the office.

"So are you ever going to see her again?" Gus asked.

"I don't know. I don't get down to Florida very often." Shawn said thoughtfully, "but I've always wanted to visit."

"Visit where?"

Shawn looked up. Mychal was sitting on his desk eating from a white cup. She smiled at them.

"Mychal?" Gus said, confused, "What are you doing here?"

"Eating a smoothie." Mychal answered, "What are you doing ?"

"Wondering why you aren't on your way to Florida." Shawn said.

"Florida? Why would I go to Florida?"

"Because that's where you live." Shawn said, "You are supposed to be on a plane headed there, not on my desk eating a frozen dairy product."

"I don't live in Florida, not anymore anyway." Mychal grinned putting down her cup and picking up two others beside her, "Here, I got you guys smoothies, too."

Shawn took the cup uncertainly. Gus took his and sipped out of it. Shawn looked appalled and shocked.

"Gus! What are you doing ?" He cried, "That could be laced with poison or some kind of drug!"

Gus glared at him and continued to sip the fruit smoothie.

"Shawn, why would I save you and then kill you later?" Mychal asked.

"So you could watch," Shawn said, "And you didn't save me. I saved you."

"Whatever," Mychal cried.

"Hey! Before you start arguing again could you please tell me why you aren't living in Florida anymore?" Gus interrupted.

"I'm living with Henry." Mychal said smugly and turned back to her smoothie.

"You're what?!" Shawn exclaimed.

"That's right. Henry invited me to live with him and I accepted. I said I wanted to know the family I never got to meet and this is the perfect solution."

"You're staying with my father?" Shawn clarified.

"What does your Mom have to say about this?" Gus asked.

"She doesn't have much choice." Mychal shrugged, "I'm legally an adult so I can do whatever I want and I still haven't forgiven her for not telling me the truth."

"Hey, cut her some slack. She did have to deal with you for the past nineteen years." Shawn said.

"Shut up and drink your smoothie." Mychal ordered.

"You did put something in it, didn't you?" Shawn said suspiciously. He looked down at the smoothie as if he expected something to crawl out of it. "What is it?"

“Try it and find out." Mychal said.

Shawn looked down at the cup.

Gus rolled his eyes, "Shawn, just drink it."

Shawn hesitantly sipped the smoothie and grinned. He looked up at Mychal.

"You got me my favorite!" He cried, "You do love me!"

"I wouldn't go that far." Mychal said, "But I have to admit, you are growing on me."

Shawn held out his arms, "Come give your big brother a hug."

"Shawn," Mychal said warningly, jumping off the desk and backing away, "I don't do hugs."

"You didn't mind at the warehouse. Come on, just one little hug." Shawn stepped towards her.

" That was under extreme circumstances. I mean it, Shawn." Mychal said holding her smoothie in front of her, "No hugs."

"Come on."

"I'm warning you. I have a smoothie and I am not afraid to use it." Mychal said raising the smoothie.

"What are you going to do? Throw it at me?" Shawn asked, stopping a few feet in front of her.

"I don't want to if I don't have to." Mychal said.

Shawn rolled his eyes and stepped closer to her, "You won't do it. Now, give me a hug."

Mychal squeezed her cup too hard. The strawberry and banana smoothie flew forward and landed on Shawn's green polo shirt. He looked down at his stomach. Mychal's mouth dropped and let out a half laugh half gasp. Gus leaned against his desk and didn't even try to hold back his laughter. Shawn looked up at Mychal.

"I guess you would." He said.

"I did not mean to do that." Mychal said even as she continued to laugh.

"I'm sure you didn't." Shawn said, "But, of course, you must know, that this means war."

Shawn raised his arm above her head. Mychal looked up to see the smoothie slowly tipping down ward. She looked back at Shawn.

"You wouldn't." She said, knowing full well that he would.

Shawn smiled and turned his hand. The pineapple smoothie tumbled down on top of Mychal's head and she let out a startled scream. She wiped the smoothie out of her eyes. Gus was in fits of laughter by his desk.

"That was freezing." Mychal cried. She looked at her hands, "And now I smell like pineapple." She glared at Shawn and tossed some of the smoothie into his face, “I hate pineapple.” Shawn used his finger to wipe some of it off and ate it.

"Delicious." He said.

Mychal glared through the smoothie on her face, "Cry baby."

"Grammar-Nazi."

Gus was almost falling over with laughter beside them. Mychal looked at Shawn and tilted her head. Shawn looked thoughtful and then nodded. They turned to Gus. Gus stopped laughing and looked from Shawn to Mychal.

"Oh no." He said horrified. He tried to back away but he was already up against the desk. "You two smoothie monsters stay away from me."

Shawn opened his arms wide, “Someone is giving me a hug today.”

“Shawn! Don’t you-” Gus cringed as his so called best friend gave him a hug. Shawn pulled away and grinned at the smoothie stain he’d left on his friend’s shirt. Gus glared daggers at him.

“I just had this dry cleaned, Shawn!” He cried.

“Well, you’ll just have to have it cleaned again.” Mychal said innocently as she took Gus’s smoothie and dumped it over his head.

Gus gasped at the cold and shuddered as it dripped down his back and into his face. Shawn looked proudly at Mychal.

“That was fun.” He said, “Let’s do it again.”

“I think that this may be the start of a beautiful friendship.” Mychal smiled.

Gus looked horrified, “I have to deal with two of you now? Oh, no. No, no, no, no!” Gus shook his head in denial.

“Just think of all of the fun we’ll have.” Shawn said pulling his friend under one arm, “Me and Mychal fighting and then turning on you when ever we get the chance. Sounds like paradise.”

“You are so not doing that to me!” Gus cried and ran to his car. Shawn and Mychal watched as he drove off down the street.

“Do you think he remembers that his car is a company car and he just got smoothie all over it?” Mychal asked.

“He will in a few seconds.” Shawn smirked, “And we don’t want to be around when he does.”

“Right.” Mychal nodded. After a few seconds of silence she said, “I saved you.”

“You did not!” Shawn cried, “I totally saved you!”

“We wouldn’t have been there if I hadn’t followed the van!”

“You would have found me! Graham Cracker would have shot you if I hadn’t ran him over while doing a wonderful imitation of Teddy Roosevelt.”

“You wouldn’t have gotten out of the warehouse if I hadn’t shown up!”

“You didn’t even get me free of the handcuffs. And you failed to notice the wheels on the bottom of the chair!”

“So did you!”

“I had just experienced a horrifying ordeal. You ain’t got an excuse!”

“Don’t. I don’t have an excuse!”

“You admit it!”

“Phony psychic!”

“Grammar-Nazi!”

Mychal crossed her arms and glared at her brother. Shawn glared back. Seconds passed without either of them saying a word.

“Want to get a snow-cone?” Shawn asked.

“Do you have ADD?” Mychal asked even as she followed him out the door.

“Probably. But notice that you aren’t protesting.” Shawn grinned as he made his way to the bike.

Mychal rolled her eyes, but got on the bike behind her brother. Shawn started the engine and put on his helmet. He handed an extra one back to Mychal.

“Don’t get smoothie in my helmet.” He ordered.

“I can’t help it.” Mychal said, “Some idiot poured a smoothie over my head.”

Shawn grinned and sped off down the road. He headed towards the park with a fountain in it. After all, Mychal needed to get cleaned up anyway, and there would be plenty of open space to run from her after he threw her in.