I had the idea, and the idea had to be written. Enjoy, hopefully.

"Good morning, Doofus." Mary said brightly as she walked to her desk.

Marshall raised a suspicious brow, able to see through her faux-cheerfulness. Glancing at his watch he replied "Morning? It's practically noon. You're later than usual, what happened?"

Mary sighed. "Well, first my car broke down. And-"

"Why didn't you call? I would've come to get you." He was almost hurt.

"Well, I was going to, but guess what I left here last night?" Mary held up her cell phone as she spoke.

"Oh. Nice one."

"I know. So, because no one was nice enough to help me, I had to wait till it started again, and then I dropped it off at the shop. Again. And then I took the bus to work. Again." Mary dropped into her seat with a huff.

"I'm driving you home then, I assume?" he asked, dropping some files onto her desk.

"Yeah, unless they release my car early."

"Why do you even keep that metal death trap?" he asked, amused.

"Hey! I love that death trap! Don't you-"

"Would you two please act your age for one day? Just one?" Stan snapped, more pissy than usual. The two Marshals hadn't even realized he was there.

"Sure… What's wrong Stan?" Marshal asked, looking at his boss quizzically.

"A guy two floors below, I think you know him, Charlie? Well, apparently he was killed last night, along with his witnesses. Nice couple. A really well-placed bomb took them all out. He… he was a good guy. A real riot. Anyway, I'm just not in the mood for your bickering. So knock it off." Finished, Stan walked back into his office, shutting the door behind him.

Marshall was silent, partially out of shock. He had known the man Stan spoke of. Not very well, but he had never had a negative word with the man. He looked over at Mary, who looked equally surprised.

"Hey, it's practically noon. Early lunch?" he suggested.

She nodded, and they got their things and left. They decided to walk, and give Stan some space as well as enjoy the fair weather. They didn't talk about Charlie, or Stan's mood. They didn't bicker, either. They simply acted like two best friends going to lunch, something they didn't usually get the chance to do.

It was nice, Mary thought. Even if that gay waiter did give Marshall "the look". Marshall enjoyed it too, though he had a little trouble ignoring the glances Mary kept unknowingly getting from a guy at the next table.

They walked back to WITSEC slowly, not wanting to piss Stan off, and not wanting their peaceful lunch hour to be over yet.

They walked silently, just enjoying each other's company until Marshall suddenly said "You do realize that one of these days, that could be one of us? It probably will be, considering our track records."

Mary didn't have to ask to know what he was referring to. "I know."

"How do you think we'd handle it? If one of us…" Marshall didn't finish.

"I really don't know. Therapy can only do so much…" she joked lightly, looking down at her feet.

"Yeah…" he muttered thoughtfully.

"Okay, this is either gonna make me sound all sentimental and crap, or make me sound completely stupid. But I'm telling you right now… If you go down, I'm gonna be trying my hardest to go down with you." she said seriously, looking him right in the eye.

He smiled grimly and replied "As much as I hope it never comes to that… I'll be doing the same thing."

She smiled back, and they continued to walk in comfortable silence, caught up in their own thoughts.

Marshall stealthily slipped her hand in his, and kept walking as if nothing happened. Mary smiled, and linked their fingers together.

She knew that this small moment between them wouldn't last, and that they wouldn't talk about it later, but she also knew that it was going to be seared into both of their memories forever, until the time came to make good with their little pact.

Hopefully that wouldn't be for a long time, but when it did they'd face it together. They were a unit, damn it, and if they fell, they'd fall together.

That's just what partners do.

Okay! The next thing I write is either going to be another multi-chapter thing, or an NCIS fic. I feel like such a bad fan, because NCIS is my #1 favorite show, and I haven't posted anything for it. It'll probably be a McAbby fic, because they are just too good. =]