Shawn shifted uncomfortably in his seat next to Clara.  They were already on the small jet that would take them to LAX.  His eidetic memory flashed to the letter he’d left behind with Lassie and Gus.

            Agent Shawn Spencer

            Badge # 1132495

            Status: Re-Instated

You have been reinstated as an agent in the Central Intelligence Agency effective immediately.  Agent Clara Sanders will escort you back to Washington D.C. to be debriefed on the reasons for your recall.   Your status has been reactivated as Top Secret Security Clearance Level 1.  Your presence in D.C. is MANDATORY!

            President Harold

Short and to the point, but hardly a letter he was used to getting.  ‘Of course,’ he thought bitterly as the plane took off, ‘Seamus usually wrote my letters.  At least he had a way with words.’

Clara looked over at Shawn, silently questioning why he left the CIA in the first place.  It was never in his file about his reasons.  She was certainly curious about it. 

“Spence?” she asked.

Shawn turned to her, not exactly wanting to speak, “Yes?”

“Why’d you leave the CIA?”

He froze.  That was a question he was not prepared for.  So, instead of stumbling through the reason, he sighed and turned his attention back out the window.

‘Okay, never mind,’ she thought and began to text her immediate supervisor about their departure.

Meanwhile, back at the Psych office, Gus had opened the top, locked drawer of Shawn’s desk as he’d been instructed to do so on just such an occasion.

Shawn had been sure that he was no longer part of the CIA, but had already told Gus what to do just in case something like this happened. 

Inside the drawer was a key; One of those old skeleton keys.  Gus picked it up and grabbed it tight.  Shawn had been pulled away, unceremoniously dragged back to the CIA, and Gus had a plan on what to do.

Out behind the Psych building was a broken piece of siding that Shawn refused to get fixed before his double life had been exposed.  Now, Gus knew why.  He moved the piece of siding carefully, making sure no one was around to see what he was about to do.  There, behind the piece of vinyl, was a keyhole.  Gus slid the key in and turned it around three times exactly. 

He heard a click, indicating he’d done it correctly.  Looking around, Gus saw no one nearby.  He pulled the key, which had become a handle and a panel opened. 

It opened just wide enough for Gus to squeeze through. ‘Why is this tighter than last time?’ he thought as he pushed his way in.  He made a mental note to see if the hinge was stuck, but later.  He had a mission to accomplish.

Shutting the panel, Gus felt around for the light switch.  He felt the nub and flipped it up, revealing a room full of computers and equipment.  He’d seen it before, just once, a couple of years ago, after Shawn had come back and settled back into their normal routine. 

‘Some of these computers may need an update, but I’ll have to work with what we have,’ Gus thought as he started turning them on. 

He bustled around for a few minutes, typing in password after password to get through the security Shawn had set up.  Gus was the only other person that knew the codes.  Sure, they would’ve been pretty simple for anyone that knew Shawn (how many ways could you change the word pineapple, anyway) but since no one but Gus and Shawn knew about the secret lair, it didn’t exactly matter.

Lassiter, meanwhile, had already contacted Karen and Juliet up in San Francisco.  He didn’t tell them why, but he did say that it was urgent that they get down to Santa Barbara ASAP.  He’d already looked around his office and found the bugs the CIA had planted before calling, but he figured they might still be listening in on his phone.

‘That’s what irks me the most about those higher ups in the CIA.  No matter your record, they don’t trust you,’ he thought as he waited in the office.  He knew it would be a while before Karen and Juliet would arrive, so he grabbed a finished case file and began to look over the reports.

That’s when two men walked in, not even knocking on Lassie’s doors.  The chief looked up and instantly recognized them.

“Agent Sky and Agent Samson.  You already missed Spencer and Agent Sanders.  They left about twenty minutes ago,” Lassiter said angrily.  Of all the interruptions…

“What do you mean by that?  We came for Spence,” Agent Sky said.

“Agent Sanders left with Spencer after someone delivered a letter from the President of the United States.  I’ll admit, I read it, and it clearly states that Agent Sanders is to escort Spencer to Washington, D.C. immediately,” Lassiter said, now looking up at the two agents.

“What letter?” Agent Sky asked.

Lassiter couldn’t help but notice the urgency in the agent’s voice.  He opened his drawer and took out the piece of paper, handing it to Agent Samson, who was closer to his desk.

After a moment of looking it over, the two agents looked at Lassiter with wide eyes.  Agent Sky spoke first.

“Chief Lassiter, this isn’t a letter from the CIA.  The President, while head of the main offices, does not send orders to us.  The head of our department does.  Agent Samson, here, is the new head of our department.  We were in the area to see if Spence wanted to go get something to eat,” he said.

Lassiter stared at the agent in disbelief, “You mean he hasn’t been called back?”

“No.  Spence made it perfectly clear he didn’t want to be an agent anymore.  We wouldn’t call him back for any reason unless he specified he wanted to return,” Agent Samson said.

“So, if you didn’t call him back, and the President didn’t re-instate Spencer, then who did he just leave with?” Lassiter asked.