A Moment Too Late (Part 3 of 6)

[musicalluna]

Title: A Moment Too Late
Fandom: Psych
Author: MusicalLuna
Rating: T
Characters/Pairings: Shawn/Juliet
Genre: Angst, Drama, Romance
Warnings: Character Death
Complete: Yes
Summary: Juliet leaves for a week-long conference on the East Coast and Shawn hates to see her go. But when she fails to call him after her scheduled arrival, Shawn’s gloom gives way to fear.
A/N: O'Spencerness, guyzos. :)
Disclaimer: They're not mine. Probably better they aren't.

“You’re wrong!” Shawn snapped at Lassiter, pacing sharply back and forth across the living room floor a half an hour later. He had the phone receiver pressed to his ear, on hold with the airport.

Lassiter ran his fingers through his hair, his frustration obvious. “Spencer, I know how you feel but it was her connecting flight. The plane was obliterated.”

“Shut up,” Shawn said fiercely, the knuckles of the hand clutching the phone going white. “You don’t know that she made that flight. And they could have gotten the number wrong. What about that? They could have told you the wrong flight number. Or maybe you misunderstood. Jules is not dead.”

Gus could see the strain the argument was putting on the detective. He was clearly trying to be understanding, but the wound was just as raw for him and having Shawn challenging what he had clearly already accepted was not making it any easier. “Shawn,” he said cautiously, “I really don’t think—”

“I don’t care what you think, Gus,” Shawn said and his eyes unfocused as the voice on the other end of the line spoke up again. “Yes. I want to know the flight number of the plane that crashed tonight. No. That’s wrong. Check again.”

Lassiter eased onto the couch, pressing his palms to his eyes. Gus edged toward Shawn, repeating cautiously, “Shawn.”

Shawn ignored him, barking, “You’re wrong! Check again!”

“Shawn,” Gus said again, more forcefully. Nothing. “Shawn.” He grabbed the phone, yanking it out of Shawn’s grasp and caught his friend by the arm when he made a furious noise in the back of his throat, reaching after it. “Shawn you know as well as I do that there was no mistake! It was a plane crash, Shawn.”

“Juliet is not dead!” he shouted, his voice cracking.

“Spencer, please,” Lassiter said quietly, his voice directed at the floor. “Stop. Just…stop.”

Shawn stared at him for a moment, his arm still caught in Gus grip, hand extended for the phone. “Lassie…” he pled. “No. No…she…”

“She’s gone,” Lassiter said wearily. “Her plane went down. There’s nothing… She’s gone.”

Shawn’s eyes closed, his face crumpling slowly. He didn’t say another word, simply slipped out of Gus grip and turned, sliding down the wall. He pulled his knees against his chest, put his forehead to his knees and wrapped his arms around his around them.

Gus sank onto the couch beside Lassiter and the three men sat in silence for a long, long time.
 

Part 1   Part 2   Part 4   Part 5   Part 6