FIC: Quarter Life Crisis (19/24) - Carlton/Shawn - PG-13 - Psych
Title: Quarter Life Crisis (19/24)
author: PookaSeraph
pairing: Carlton/Shawn
rating: PG-13
disclaimer: Not mine, Never will be
summary: Karen has a dreaded conversation with Lassiter.
Previous Parts:
[One] | [Two] | [Three] | [Four] | [Five] | [Six] | [Seven] | [Eight]
[Nine] | [Ten] | [Eleven] | [Twelve] | [Thirteen] | [Fourteen] | [Fifteen] | [Sixteen]
[Seventeen] | [Eighteen]
Current Part:
Chapter 19:
Karen Vick was going over what she was going to say to Detective Lassiter in her head. She hoped she had planned for every contingency, every bad response and every possible protest. Carlton Lassiter was not an unreasonable man, but when it came to the man's personal life it seemed things needed to be handled with kid gloves.
She walked over to the door of the office and looked out over the bullpen. Lassiter sat at his desk, O'Hara, Guster, and Spencer were crowded around as well, eating what appeared to be italian for lunch, and making quite a bit of noise from their conversation. Spencer had brought the food in celebration of another successfully completed case. The kid was good, Karen had to admit that much.
Guster and Spencer had become a more frequent fixture in the office, mostly because Guster was now dating O'Hara and tried to spend lunch at the station at least two or three times a week.
"Carlton."
The detective looked up from his desk and Karen waved him into her office. Karen was surprised when a slightly worried look crossed his face. He shared a quick glance with Spencer as well and the rest of the table quieted down from their commotion. Lassiter headed towards the office looking quite a bit like a kid heading to the principal's office and Karen wondered if he was already bracing himself for their conversation.
Carlton came into the office and Karen shut the door. Carlton took a chair and sat uncomfortably.
"Carlton." The detective snapped up in his chair. "I know you've put a lot of time and effort into making Head Detective, and in that vein there are certain behaviors that even though I can't demand I certainly would like to suggest."
"Like what?" Carlton gritted the question out through his teeth, sounding quite irritated. Karen was surprised, she hadn't expected this level of resistance from him.
"Well, the Fourth of July picnic will be in a few weeks, and as Head Detective I think it's important you make an effort to attend."
"That's it?" His voice had the quality of a man who had just avoided a hanging. In fact he was acting quite guilty, now that Karen thought about it.
"What did you think this was about?"
"My paperwork ...?" Carlton trailed off, uncertain.
"Is it new? I don't have any new paperwork. This isn't about Mr Spencer is it?"
"Actually, yes it is I --" Karen felt she had to interrupt.
"I thought you and Mr Spencer were working together much better."
Carlton surprised Karen by actually smiling, which worked its way into a chuckle and then a full out laugh. After a few moments he collected himself and was just grinning.
"I'm confused, Detective."
"I thought everyone would know by now, but I have once again overestimated the speed of paperwork."
"What paperwork did you file then?"
"Change in my pension beneficiary, next of kin, emergency contact." Karen was sure her confusion was played across her face. Most of that would have happened by default with Lassiter's divorce. "To Shawn."
"What?" Karen tried to think of some reason why Lassiter would make Spencer his beneficiary. "Why?"
Carlton threaded his fingers together and looked at them for a moment. "Every time a cop tells me he's making that move into a serious relationship I tell him that he needs to change his benefits, that he needs to make sure she's taken care of if something unfortunate happens. And I'm the worst sort of hypocrite any time I say that now if I don't --"
Karen wasn't entirely sure what on Earth Lassiter was talking about unless --
"You're in a serious relationship with Mr Spencer?" That's certainly what Lassiter had just implied.
Lassiter didn't answer instantly and for a moment Karen was terrified that she'd read too much into what he had said.
"Yes, almost eight months in to one actually."
Karen tried to process the new information about found that now that Lassiter had confirmed a relationship she wasn't exactly sure how to file it. Mr Spencer always seemed to do his worst to irritate Lassiter at every turn at work. Lassiter did nothing but complain about Mr Spencer's interference in investigations.
Karen couldn't think of any moments she'd ever thought that the relationship between the two was anything but an unprofessional dislike.
"And I'm getting sick of Henry harassing me to make an honest man of his son."
Karen sputtered slightly from the idea of Henry saying anything like that. Lassiter was actually smirking slightly, at what exactly she could not be sure.
"You and Shawn are actually --" Karen wasn't even sure exactly what she was asking, and she was positive she didn't really want to know the answer. "I thought you were after my job, Carlton. This is the end of your career. You do know that, right?"
"Of course."
"And you still want to --"
"It's not a matter of 'want'. I've wanted to be Police Chief since I was a kid." Carlton glanced out into the cage and Karen followed his gaze catching Spencer watching them through the open blinds. O'Hara and Guster were also watching discretely while pretending to eat. Lassiter turned back towards Karen. "There's something more important to me than that now."
Spencer grinned at the back of Lassiter's head, as though he knew exactly what had been said.
Karen wasn't certain how to respond. She hadn't been in Santa Barbara for the death throes of Carlton's marriage or the start of his relationship with Berry. Even without being there she heard enough of the gossip to know how many anniversaries Lassiter had missed, how many times he worked double shifts on a tough case when he was expected back home. Lassiter did all of those things that made him the perfect candidate for Chief when he was older and had a few more years on the force. Karen didn't care who Lassiter spent his time with in his off hours, but he was throwing away any chance of ever advancing again.
Karen felt a little embarrassed that she wondered if Spen- Shawn was worth it.
"This is the same man you were quite insistent needed to be cut loose a little over a year ago."
"I don't enjoy discussing my personal life, and I don't think it's appropriate for us to continue this conversation." Lassiter's demeanor had become chilly and Karen wasn't sure if she should try to continue. Shawn seemed a strange choice for anyone to throw a career out for.
"Lassiter, Carlton, you helped deliver my baby, say whatever you think needs to be said, I'm just trying to understand here. From my perspective this is quite sudden."
"I --" Carlton paused. "I've already thought this through, Karen, quite a bit."
"Have you really? Carlton, I don't want you to throw away your career for ..." Karen wasn't exactly sure how she was supposed to finish the sentence. Most of the words she could think of were not very polite. Shawn had been working for the Department off and on for over a year and he was not someone she would think would ever work in a serious relationship.
"For someone like Shawn?" Carlton sounded angry, and Karen could hardly blame him, the thought sounded quite mean-spirited when Carlton had said it out loud.
"He doesn't seem like the kind of person you would --" Karen was now certain she shouldn't have even started this conversation. She couldn't shake the feeling that Carlton was throwing his career away for some bizarre midlife crisis. She couldn't deny that Shawn was the type of man that would make you feel young again.
"Karen, I'm already dreading the moment I need to tell my Irish Catholic mother that her beloved son is queer and dating someone who presents like an unemployed delinquent. I have to tell her I'm throwing away my career for him. And I am ready to face that."
Karen knew Brigid Lassiter, she was formidable, scary, and so Catholic it hurt. It certainly said quite a bit about Carlton's commitment. That was when Karen realized exactly what was bothering her. If it had really been eight months of a relationship, Karen saw no reason to believe that Shawn was committed to Carlton. He flirted shamelessly with almost any female he ran across. He was the sort of incorrigible playboy your mother and your girlfriends warned you about.
"Mr Spencer doesn't exactly have a history of stability."
"I have a spectacularly failed marriage to my name, Karen."
"I just want to make sure this is something you are both serious about."
"I wouldn't be here today if I weren't already incredibly serious. And if Shawn were a girl, we wouldn't be having this conversation. You'd have wished me well and asked about the picnic again and I'd be back to lunch. I know this because I got to hear all about your two minute conversation with O'Hara about Gus."
Karen wanted very badly for Spencer to be as serious as Lassiter obviously was.
"And regarding the Fourth of July barbecue picnic, Shawn and I will be there, and I am pretty sure he's making these sweet and tangy meatball things that he still wont tell me the recipe for. He says I wont eat them if I knew what was in them."
Karen nodded and dismissed Lassiter with a nod.
She watched him return to his desk and slide into his chair, looking slightly defeated. Shawn reached across to Carlton and squeezed his hand. Carlton brightened considerably.
Karen sat back in her chair, wondering when this mystical paperwork would arrive and tried to decide how Carlton and Shawn had ever started dating in the first place. After less than a minute's reflection she realized she didn't actually want to know.
author: PookaSeraph
pairing: Carlton/Shawn
rating: PG-13
disclaimer: Not mine, Never will be
summary: Karen has a dreaded conversation with Lassiter.
Previous Parts:
[One] | [Two] | [Three] | [Four] | [Five] | [Six] | [Seven] | [Eight]
[Nine] | [Ten] | [Eleven] | [Twelve] | [Thirteen] | [Fourteen] | [Fifteen] | [Sixteen]
[Seventeen] | [Eighteen]
Current Part:
Chapter 19:
Karen Vick was going over what she was going to say to Detective Lassiter in her head. She hoped she had planned for every contingency, every bad response and every possible protest. Carlton Lassiter was not an unreasonable man, but when it came to the man's personal life it seemed things needed to be handled with kid gloves.
She walked over to the door of the office and looked out over the bullpen. Lassiter sat at his desk, O'Hara, Guster, and Spencer were crowded around as well, eating what appeared to be italian for lunch, and making quite a bit of noise from their conversation. Spencer had brought the food in celebration of another successfully completed case. The kid was good, Karen had to admit that much.
Guster and Spencer had become a more frequent fixture in the office, mostly because Guster was now dating O'Hara and tried to spend lunch at the station at least two or three times a week.
"Carlton."
The detective looked up from his desk and Karen waved him into her office. Karen was surprised when a slightly worried look crossed his face. He shared a quick glance with Spencer as well and the rest of the table quieted down from their commotion. Lassiter headed towards the office looking quite a bit like a kid heading to the principal's office and Karen wondered if he was already bracing himself for their conversation.
Carlton came into the office and Karen shut the door. Carlton took a chair and sat uncomfortably.
"Carlton." The detective snapped up in his chair. "I know you've put a lot of time and effort into making Head Detective, and in that vein there are certain behaviors that even though I can't demand I certainly would like to suggest."
"Like what?" Carlton gritted the question out through his teeth, sounding quite irritated. Karen was surprised, she hadn't expected this level of resistance from him.
"Well, the Fourth of July picnic will be in a few weeks, and as Head Detective I think it's important you make an effort to attend."
"That's it?" His voice had the quality of a man who had just avoided a hanging. In fact he was acting quite guilty, now that Karen thought about it.
"What did you think this was about?"
"My paperwork ...?" Carlton trailed off, uncertain.
"Is it new? I don't have any new paperwork. This isn't about Mr Spencer is it?"
"Actually, yes it is I --" Karen felt she had to interrupt.
"I thought you and Mr Spencer were working together much better."
Carlton surprised Karen by actually smiling, which worked its way into a chuckle and then a full out laugh. After a few moments he collected himself and was just grinning.
"I'm confused, Detective."
"I thought everyone would know by now, but I have once again overestimated the speed of paperwork."
"What paperwork did you file then?"
"Change in my pension beneficiary, next of kin, emergency contact." Karen was sure her confusion was played across her face. Most of that would have happened by default with Lassiter's divorce. "To Shawn."
"What?" Karen tried to think of some reason why Lassiter would make Spencer his beneficiary. "Why?"
Carlton threaded his fingers together and looked at them for a moment. "Every time a cop tells me he's making that move into a serious relationship I tell him that he needs to change his benefits, that he needs to make sure she's taken care of if something unfortunate happens. And I'm the worst sort of hypocrite any time I say that now if I don't --"
Karen wasn't entirely sure what on Earth Lassiter was talking about unless --
"You're in a serious relationship with Mr Spencer?" That's certainly what Lassiter had just implied.
Lassiter didn't answer instantly and for a moment Karen was terrified that she'd read too much into what he had said.
"Yes, almost eight months in to one actually."
Karen tried to process the new information about found that now that Lassiter had confirmed a relationship she wasn't exactly sure how to file it. Mr Spencer always seemed to do his worst to irritate Lassiter at every turn at work. Lassiter did nothing but complain about Mr Spencer's interference in investigations.
Karen couldn't think of any moments she'd ever thought that the relationship between the two was anything but an unprofessional dislike.
"And I'm getting sick of Henry harassing me to make an honest man of his son."
Karen sputtered slightly from the idea of Henry saying anything like that. Lassiter was actually smirking slightly, at what exactly she could not be sure.
"You and Shawn are actually --" Karen wasn't even sure exactly what she was asking, and she was positive she didn't really want to know the answer. "I thought you were after my job, Carlton. This is the end of your career. You do know that, right?"
"Of course."
"And you still want to --"
"It's not a matter of 'want'. I've wanted to be Police Chief since I was a kid." Carlton glanced out into the cage and Karen followed his gaze catching Spencer watching them through the open blinds. O'Hara and Guster were also watching discretely while pretending to eat. Lassiter turned back towards Karen. "There's something more important to me than that now."
Spencer grinned at the back of Lassiter's head, as though he knew exactly what had been said.
Karen wasn't certain how to respond. She hadn't been in Santa Barbara for the death throes of Carlton's marriage or the start of his relationship with Berry. Even without being there she heard enough of the gossip to know how many anniversaries Lassiter had missed, how many times he worked double shifts on a tough case when he was expected back home. Lassiter did all of those things that made him the perfect candidate for Chief when he was older and had a few more years on the force. Karen didn't care who Lassiter spent his time with in his off hours, but he was throwing away any chance of ever advancing again.
Karen felt a little embarrassed that she wondered if Spen- Shawn was worth it.
"This is the same man you were quite insistent needed to be cut loose a little over a year ago."
"I don't enjoy discussing my personal life, and I don't think it's appropriate for us to continue this conversation." Lassiter's demeanor had become chilly and Karen wasn't sure if she should try to continue. Shawn seemed a strange choice for anyone to throw a career out for.
"Lassiter, Carlton, you helped deliver my baby, say whatever you think needs to be said, I'm just trying to understand here. From my perspective this is quite sudden."
"I --" Carlton paused. "I've already thought this through, Karen, quite a bit."
"Have you really? Carlton, I don't want you to throw away your career for ..." Karen wasn't exactly sure how she was supposed to finish the sentence. Most of the words she could think of were not very polite. Shawn had been working for the Department off and on for over a year and he was not someone she would think would ever work in a serious relationship.
"For someone like Shawn?" Carlton sounded angry, and Karen could hardly blame him, the thought sounded quite mean-spirited when Carlton had said it out loud.
"He doesn't seem like the kind of person you would --" Karen was now certain she shouldn't have even started this conversation. She couldn't shake the feeling that Carlton was throwing his career away for some bizarre midlife crisis. She couldn't deny that Shawn was the type of man that would make you feel young again.
"Karen, I'm already dreading the moment I need to tell my Irish Catholic mother that her beloved son is queer and dating someone who presents like an unemployed delinquent. I have to tell her I'm throwing away my career for him. And I am ready to face that."
Karen knew Brigid Lassiter, she was formidable, scary, and so Catholic it hurt. It certainly said quite a bit about Carlton's commitment. That was when Karen realized exactly what was bothering her. If it had really been eight months of a relationship, Karen saw no reason to believe that Shawn was committed to Carlton. He flirted shamelessly with almost any female he ran across. He was the sort of incorrigible playboy your mother and your girlfriends warned you about.
"Mr Spencer doesn't exactly have a history of stability."
"I have a spectacularly failed marriage to my name, Karen."
"I just want to make sure this is something you are both serious about."
"I wouldn't be here today if I weren't already incredibly serious. And if Shawn were a girl, we wouldn't be having this conversation. You'd have wished me well and asked about the picnic again and I'd be back to lunch. I know this because I got to hear all about your two minute conversation with O'Hara about Gus."
Karen wanted very badly for Spencer to be as serious as Lassiter obviously was.
"And regarding the Fourth of July barbecue picnic, Shawn and I will be there, and I am pretty sure he's making these sweet and tangy meatball things that he still wont tell me the recipe for. He says I wont eat them if I knew what was in them."
Karen nodded and dismissed Lassiter with a nod.
She watched him return to his desk and slide into his chair, looking slightly defeated. Shawn reached across to Carlton and squeezed his hand. Carlton brightened considerably.
Karen sat back in her chair, wondering when this mystical paperwork would arrive and tried to decide how Carlton and Shawn had ever started dating in the first place. After less than a minute's reflection she realized she didn't actually want to know.