Thanks to Kathi-Ann for being my beta for the story.

Spoilers for Season 2

Disclaimer: The characters are not owned by me. Just borrowing for entertainment purposes.

Bruised Not Broken

Raph was at a local sports bar meeting with his old teammate and best friend Wayne Rogers. Raph's frustration with Mary's attitude towards their wedding was getting to him and he needed to vent. She was back at work after her gunshot and was spending more time there or with Marshall than she was at home making wedding arrangements or spending time with him. Everything he tried to get her to be reasonable had led them into an argument.

"How's Mary these days?" Wayne had met the blonde, her family, and her friends at a small gathering after her shooting to celebrate the engagement.

"Working again." Raph was unable to leave the bite out of his comment.

"That's bad because?" Wayne figured it was good for her to be working, that meant she was doing well after her injury.

"She's never home." Raph stated to his friend.

"How much time can she spend at the courthouse? Have her ask for a transfer to something with more regular hours?" Wayne knew she was a U.S. Marshal, though like most people he thought she worked guarding judges and transporting criminals.

Looking around the area to make sure it was empty, Raph decided to explain her job. "Mary doesn't work the courthouse she does witness protection. Most of her time is spent between witnesses and her partner, Marshall Mann. He was the tall skinny one at the party." Raph clarified for Wayne. "They're always together and lately I think she prefers to spend time with him."

Wayne thought about what he said. "So is the problem the job or the partner?"

"All of the above. I don't like the job or the amount of time she spends with Marshall. The overnight trips alone give me heartburn." Raph fumed.

"So tell her for the sake of your relationship to get another job, partner or spend less time with her current partner. Make her choose." Wayne shrugged.

"You don't make Mary choose anything. Besides, I'm not sure her choice would be me." Raph questioned her commitment to him many times since the shooting.

"Then why marry her?" Wayne noticed the look of disbelief he got. "Let me think on it and maybe I'll come up with a way for you to resolve this."

A thought was forming in the back of Wayne's mind on how he could help his friend. If he could trade information on Mary's partner for his gambling debt, both his and Raph's problems could be solved.

Wayne walked out of the bar with Raph before heading in the other direction to his car. Once inside he called his bookie. "Joey, how much would information on a U.S. Marshal be worth?" He waited for an answer. "One in Witness Protection." He waited again for a response. "Get back to me on that and I'll let you know." Smiling he hung up and waited for Joey to get back to him. His cell rang again.

"The marshal's name is Marshall Mann and he's close by. That's right, Marshal Marshall Mann." Wayne didn't want to tip his hand to much by giving the exact location.

Half hour went by before his cell rang again. "Alright Joey, there's one catch. Whatever you do to him, you can't touch his partner. She's to be left out of it." He listened to the reply. "I'll get his address and let you know."

It was a slow day in the Sunshine Building and Marshall was busy trying to avoid getting hit by spitballs his partner was currently shooting in his direction. "Don't you at least have witnesses to check on, paperwork to do, or something that would actually resemble work to keep you busy?"

"No." Mary stated plainly just before sending another spitball in his direction. "On the other hand, if you stop moving so much I might be able to form a nice spitball smiley face."

"Stan, Mary needs something to do!" Marshall yelled towards their boss's office.

"Hey!" Mary glared at him as Stan came out and tried to find out what was going on.

Marshall smirked at her as he answered his cell phone. Looking at the caller id he smiled. "Hi Mom!"

Mary perked up and came over to his desk. He fought her hands to keep her from pushing the speaker button. Stan glared at Mary for hassling Marshall and more importantly the spitballs.

"You're where?" Marshall's voice was up a pitch. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming? No it's fine. You're always welcome. Is Dad with you? I'll see you soon."

Mary was staring at him in amusement. "Mom's in town?" He nodded. "When do I get to meet her?"

Mary's eagerness had Marshall concerned. "When hell freezes over would work for me. Stan, can I leave she's at the train station."

Stan nodded. "Take the day off and spend it with her. If anything comes up we can give you a call. Mary will be more than happy to handle the rest."

Mary stared at Stan shocked. "But Stan I wanted to meet Mom."

"Stop whining. You can torment Marshall later. Marshall I strongly suggest taking your mother and hiding her." Stan smiled at Marshall.

Mary glared at the two of them; grateful Eleanor wasn't here to add her remarks. "I'll be by after work. If you're not home, I'll find you."

Marshall cringed at the warning and left. He could hear Mary laughing at him while the elevator doors closed. "Great. Just great." He muttered to himself.

Elizabeth Mann waited patiently for her son to arrive. He'd sounded surprised but happy to hear that she was in Albuquerque. She was visiting some friends in Santa Fe. She couldn't skip a chance to see her boy. As Marshall strode towards her, Elizabeth's breath caught. It never ceased to amaze her how much he looked like his father. Marshall was the exact image of Ryder at that age.

"It's so good to see you." She said before hugging him.

Marshall smiled. He adored his mother. The five foot three inch blond was the most caring person in the world who had a gentleness about her that warmed your heart and fierceness at protecting those she held dear. "Why didn't you tell me that you were coming?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise."

Leaving the train station, Marshall took her to lunch and then the grocery store since she insisted on baking supper tonight. He warned her of Mary stopping by and his mother had been thrilled. "Mom please try and contain the embarrassing stories of my childhood to a minimum. I'd like to be able to go into work without the constant torment of my partner."

Elizabeth laughed. "I'll do my best to behave. " She promised. They spent the rest of the day catching up on the family.

It had been a week since Wayne had made the phone call to Joey. The information he had for one Marshall Mann of the U.S. Marshal Service turned out to be extremely valuable to Joey. The bookie had been trying to find an in with a man from Houston that had wanted the marshal dead for killing his son in a bust years ago.

Wayne called Joey with Marshall's address once he had found the location. "Joey just remember the blond partner isn't to be touched... Fine I'll drop the payment and give the instructions to the people you hired" After getting the confirmation again he sat back and smiled. "Raph, our problems should be over soon." He said to the vacant room.