"I still think this is a horrible idea Shawn. Trout is definitely going to murder you. He has no sense of humor remember?" Gus tried to reason with his friend. He really wanted to get back at the guy too, but he worried that this may just push the snarky a-hole over the edge.
Shawn rolled his eyes and put the finishing touch on his plans. "Gus, don't be a red white and blue rocket shaped Popsicle. You know as well as I do he deserves every bit of this." Apparently a lot of the other officers thought so too, as the few left in the station during the holiday were playing look-out and covering for them.
Speaking of the other officers, Officer Dobson stuck his head in and exclaimed, "They're back!"
Shawn and Gus carefully scrambled out of the office and very carefully shut the door. "It's all set." Shawn grinned maniacally and he and Gus hid behind one of the many pillars in the station to watch the fun.
The other officers and Trout, the current and not well liked, interim police chief all came through the door. They'd been at the annual Santa Barbara Fourth of July parade, riding in cop cars, entertaining the kiddies, and for Trout, flaunting his new position.
Detective Juliet O'Hara, Shawn's girlfriend, didn't look very happy and Shawn and Gus already knew the state that former Head Detective Carlton Lassiter would be in after having to be Trout's driver for the parade. It was one more nail in the coffin of his pride that he had to be literally paraded around in his beat cop uniform, and the glower he was currently giving Trout could curdle milk.
Trout turned to Carlton, oblivious to how close he was to death and threw him his car keys. "Make sure to wash the car. I don't want any smudges on it from little grubby fingers. Lord knows how many children at that parade touched it."
"Yes sir." Carlton grumbled through clenched teeth.
Juliet cast a sympathetic glance at her former partner and sat down at her desk. Gus and Shawn watched in excited anticipation as she reached for her desk drawer and pulled. A loud POP echoed through the station and more than one wary officer pulled their side arm looking for the source of the noise before their eyes landed on Juliet. She was completely covered in head to toe with red, white and blue streamers from the ten confetti poppers that were rigged to her desk.
"What the-?" Juliet looked down at herself and noticed that amid the colored streamers, there were glittery red hearts and she knew who had set this up. Trying to hide her smile at her boyfriend's cleverness, she looked around at the other officers who were just getting to their desks. If she knew Shawn... this was going to be good.
Shawn and Gus both had hands over each other's mouths, covering their laughter as the bedlam started. As officers sat in their chairs, loud bangs from pull string fire crackers went off and confetti seemed to come from everywhere. No one was spared, especially the officers that helped Shawn and Gus set up their revenge. Everyone had to be above scrutiny to avoid blame and the former consultants didn't want any of the officers getting in trouble for their shenanigans.
Trout's face turned a brilliant shade of angry red as he watched his station fall into chaos. He rushed to his office and as he opened the door a giant American flag practically fell on him, blocking his view of the office.
"Son of a..." Trout ripped the flag out of his way and stomped into the room. He gasped at the destruction and screamed "NO!!!"
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Juliet, Carlton, Shawn and Gus stood outside the covered windows with their arms crossed as Trout swore and raged. All of the shades were strategically drawn in Trout's office so no one knew quite what was going on in there. It had also meant that Shawn and Gus could come out of hiding without fear of Trout noticing them.
Juliet leaned in and whispered to Shawn, "What did you do?"
Shawn smiled slyly. "We wrapped his entire office in red, white, and blue streamers and rigged smoke bombs to go off when he picked up his phone."
"Oh dear lord." Carlton's eyes widened.
Gus took out his phone and began recording as Shawn crooned, "Wait for iiiiiiiitttt...."
One moment later, the yelling segued into sputtering, coughing and screaming. Juliet covered her mouth with her hand and Carlton let out a barking laugh.
"Chief Vick is gonna love this." Gus smiled and continued recording.
"I've always liked me a little smoked Trout." Shawn was practically bouncing in joy that his plan was working.
Dobson strolled up behind them and smirked. Buzz had been one of his best friends and when Shawn had recruited him for the revenge he was now dishing out, it didn't even take Dobson a second to say yes. "So Shawn, how much did this all cost you?" He looked around at the mess in the bull pen.
"The last check we got from the station." Shawn stated nonchalantly.
"The whole check?" Juliet asked wondering how some smoke bombs and confetti throwers would cost over a thousand dollars.
Gus put his phone away. "Uh Shawn, we might want to get out of here before he comes out."
"Good thinking buddy." Shawn leaned over and planted a quick kiss on Juliet's cheek. "See you at home babe." He gave a little finger wave while he and Gus ran out of the station just as Trout stumbled through the office door coughing out a lung.
Carlton watched the smoke billow out and sighed. "Don't tell me that Spencer forgot about the smoke detectors and sprinklers." He already knew the answer to that, but he hoped he was wrong.
Juliet knew as well that Shawn hadn't thought about it, "Sssshhh..." She chided. "Just enjoy the moment." For once Carlton listened and watched in amusement as Trout started ordering officers to open the doors to outside and disburse the smoke before...
The hiss and the clunk of the sprinklers descending was followed by a cascade of water in the hallway that thankfully missed any major electronics, outside of Trout's office anyway. "Get those sprinklers turned off!" Trout shouted. The soaked and laughing officers did their best to comply.
Two seconds later, Juliet found out why this little prank had cost Shawn and Gus so much money. The station began to shake as mortar rounds started going off outside and brilliant lights lit up the Santa Barbara sky, despite it being mid afternoon.
The station emptied out to watch and bystanders stopped on the street to point up at the firework display being launched from the roof of the SBPD. No one saw the two silhouettes climbing down the fire escape and fist bumping in victory.
"I've got to hand it to you Shawn." Gus "This was a pretty sweet idea."
Shawn shrugged. "What can I say. I'm a patriot." They'd both had time to come to terms with the fact that they were going to have it pretty hard without the jobs coming from the police station, but were resigned that the money they had gotten from their last case was tainted by Trout and wanted nothing to do with it, so they'd decided to put it to good use.
Another boom and a flash cast bright green light across their faces. "So worth it." Shawn turned to his best friend.
"You know that's right." Gus agreed and both out of work consultants watched the fruits of their labor literally go up in smoke, but neither of them minded, not at all.