Sidekick No More

Gus looked around his surroundings.  The nighttime air was warm and humid; not unusual for a Santa Barbara summer night.   Wiping his brow, Gus moved swiftly and silently over the rooftops of downtown Santa Barbara. 

‘If Shawn knew what I was doing, he’d be shocked,’ Gus thought as he jumped over a gap between buildings.

Over the last few months, Gus had been leading a life that no one would believe.  During the day, he still worked his regular job, and for Psych, but at night, he took to the streets. 

He supposed it was because he felt like he was usually second banana to Shawn and his eidetic memory.  With the silly names Shawn created for him, the way Shawn would ‘divine’ the location of the murder weapon or finger the culprit with help from the ‘spirit world’, sometimes Gus would feel like the sidekick.

Lately, a gang of thieves and cutthroats were causing chaos within the city.  Even Shawn was having trouble pinning them down, since they hardly left any trace of evidence. 

Gus felt it was time to take manners into his own hands.  Especially since the thieves had targeted Gus’ girlfriend Rachel’s apartment and his own.  Nobody messed with his stuff except Shawn. 

So, one day when he was off his full time job, and Psych was in between cases, Gus grabbed his old wetsuit from the time he dated the thrill seeking woman and transformed it into a costume.  With a mask from an old Halloween costume and a Escrima stick, he went out into the night two weeks after the robberies. 

Within a month, the media had a name for the mysterious vigilante:  The Gray Spirit.  Gus felt it was fitting, since his wetsuit was gray and he hid after stopping crimes, although he was sure he could’ve come up with something a little…cooler. 

He stopped thinking about the past when he saw a small group of thieves moving toward an electronic store on the South East side of Santa Barbara.  Another hit.  Gus readied himself to attack . 

“Come on, let’s hurry this up!  I don’t like this part of town at night,” said one of the thieves. 

Gus smiled, knowing full well that the young kid meant The Gray Spirit would show up. 

“How right you are, young man,” Gus called, disguising his voice. 

The six young teens looked up at the sound.  They saw nothing, but none moved.  Gus walked into the light from the shadows and stood tall. 

“It’s him!  The Gray Spirit!” one teen said. 

“So what?  We can take him.  It’s six against one,” said a young boy about fifteen. 

“You really think you can, huh?  I doubt it,” Gus said with confidence.

“Get him,” the boy said.

Over an hour later, the SBPD was processing the scene.  Lassie and Juliet were among the others, searching for clues.

“They said they ran into the Gray Spirit.  That no good vigilante is showing us up, O’Hara!” Lassie said angrily.

“Carlton, The Gray Spirit is helping us.  He’s taken down three groups in the last week and a half alone,” Juliet said defensively. 

Lassie stopped for a beat to look at Juliet with a glare, then continued on his rant about the vigilante.  He had turned toward Buzz to continue on.

Juliet looked up and saw Shawn and Gus walking toward them.  She smiled wide at her boyfriend, the ‘pseudo-psychic’ that had solved so many crimes and his sidekick, who had helped with so much.

“Shawn, Gus.  I’m guessing the chief called you,” Juliet said.

“Indeed she has, Jules.  That and you leaving the bed earlier,” Shawn whispered in her ear.

Juliet blushed, then cleared her throat and began to go over the scene with Shawn.  Gus stayed back, observing the scene like he always had.  He smiled at the memories of earlier and the fight that led to the arrest of all six teens.

“It’s his calling card.  The Gray Spirit was definitely here,” Lassie said, holding a small card with the vigilante’s name printed on it.  Shawn took it, pretending to sense the identity of the wannabe hero.