Mary was planning something. She needed to figure out the best way to do this. She sighed. It was an ungodly hour in the morning. Around five thirty. She questioned her sanity and wondered why she couldn't give him a normal birthday gift, and then she squished that thought. It had to be special. She was sitting inside the glass doors of her building and inhaling coffee. Suddenly the door opened. It was Lisa-the-receptionist. The door almost whacked her on the head and she jumped up, cursing the air blue.

Taking a deep breath, she attempted to calm Lisa. At the moment, all Lisa seemed to want to do was get away from Mary. She gripped Lisa's arm and she whimpered, "Please don't hurt me," and Mary couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Listen, it's Marshall's birthday. If you wish him, I will kill you. He'll probably have forgotten. I'm planning something."

"Can I come?" she asked, meek yet excited. She didn't meet Mary's eye.

"No. Wish him tomorrow. I'm warning you though. The smallest hint and I'll shred you."

"Yes ma'am," she whimpered. Mary smiled.

"Now, run along. Spread the word, but be secret!"

So, Mary did this to every person until Marshall came along. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Good Morning, Mar'. What's up."

"Up?" Mary asked, innocently. "Nothing's up. Why would you ask such a thing?"

"Because you're sitting at the doors a solid," he checked his watch, "two hours before you normally turn up…"

"Really," said Mary, trying to sound natural. She nodded. He scrutinized her. "It's such a wonderful day!" she beamed and jumped up and hugged him.

He stiffened, and she pulled away. He squinted out the door and said, "It's raining. And it looks like a thunder storm."

"It's still a brilliant day to be alive!" and skipped (yes, skipped) off towards the elevator.

He stared after her. "Dear god, what's she got up her sleeve? I think she's drunk," he mentioned to Lisa, who nodded emphatically, looking as if she was trying desperately to not laugh. He shook his head. Must be something about women.

But it wasn't only women. It was everyone. Not only did they keep a good five meter radius from him, but looked half scared and half amused. Unknown to him, there was a piece of paper stuck to his back, with a note childishly scrawled on it;

Dear all,

It's Marshall's birthday today. If you wish him, I will beat you up,

Sincerely yours,

Mary

And the queerest one of all was Mary. She stuck to him like glue. He suspected she probably wasn't good at stalking people, because she sucked at being discreet. She must be more of the jump-on-and-beat-the-shit-out-of-people kind of person. She was unnaturally nice to him, and he wondered if someone had taken his Mary away and replaced her with some random woman.

Even Stan stayed away from him, and that scared him.

"Stan! Talk to me!" he said, desperate, but Stan only shook his head.

He came close to finding out something, at least, when some eager-to-suck-up rookie bounded up to him and said, "Marshall! It's brilliant to see you today! Ha—" but Mary tripped over something (nothing, actually) and splattered her coffee on him.

"Aw shi—OW!!" he yelled and Marshall looked down and saw Mary's black, pointy heel crushing his toes. He was going purple in the face, and Mary smiled apologetically and walked away.

"What were you saying?" Marshall whispered desperately. He needed to know.

"Nothing. It's just an awesome day," the rookie squeezed out, and limped away.

Marshall sighed. He knew better than to confront Mary. And so the day passed.

It was nearing six in the afternoon when Mary piped up, "Come on Marshall. We have a new case!" and she had never sounded so excited about a new case before. He sighed. He was sick of not knowing what was going on.

"Mary, come on. Tell me what's going on. Please." He was almost begging. It killed him to not know, for once. She just smiled and walked towards the lift. He turned to Stan, who looked just as surprised about the so called 'new case' as he did. Marshall knew it was a cover-up. Stan shrugged and told him to follow Mary. What choice did he have?

Mary sat in his cars driver street, and told him to get in. He just stared mutinously at her, and she rolled her eyes. "Don't make me come out there," she threatened. He ignored her. She got out, opened his door and tried to push him in. She failed miserably. He just stared at her, amused. It had been worth the whole day's weirdness, just to see that. Suddenly she straightened and he lost balance. She took the chance and shoved him in the car, smiling victoriously. He scowled. He wasn't talking to her.

She tried to talk to him, and slowed down after her attempts failed. He shot a glance at her, expecting an angry face, only to see a cheerful one in its stead.

She was driving somewhere. He didn't know, and he didn't care. He just trusted her to not get him killed.

She stopped the car and he broke off the study of his shoes, to look out. They were in the middle of the city, next to a tall building. The tallest in Albuquerque, as a matter of fact. She looked at him pleadingly and he got out. She flashed her badge at security guard, who stood at attention and saluted them. He couldn't help but be amused. "Someday, that badge won't get you out of trouble, you know."

"I wait for that day. Then I can try out my new punch. I've been dying to try it out." She smiled. She looked beautiful in the moonlight, and he was stunned by depth the whirling emotion in his stomach. He would give an arm and a leg to kiss her, just once, right there. He stilled that thought.

They got into an elevator and she hit the button all the way at the top, before glancing at her watch.

"What are you up to?" Marshall asked, unable to bear it.

She just held a finger to her lips. She looked like a child about to reveal her master-plan. They reached to roof, and to his surprise, it was nothing like he expected. It was clear, for one thing. In the centre were two lawn chairs, with a small refrigerator in between.

She came up to him as he took in the scene and took his hand. "Look," she said, gesturing out over the edge. He was shocked. He could see all the way to the furthest reaches of the city, from here. All the way to the desert. It was breathtaking. Everything was dappled in silver, from the full moon.

"It's beautiful, Mar'," he whispered, taken aback. He didn't think she had this side to her. She grinned.

Suddenly, there was a loud whistling sound from the edge of the city, and he jumped. Something shot up, and exploded in the sky; fireworks. He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Several more fireworks exploded in the sky above the desert, in different colours. It was beautiful. "Happy Birthday," she whispered.

He sighed and smacked his palm to his forehead in exasperation. "So that's what it is!" and they laughed. He had totally forgotten.

She dragged him off to the lawn chairs and sat him down before pulling out two cans of beer. She passed one to him, and he grinned.

"You rock, Mar'."

"Thanks."

"I've never had such an awesome party before. Not since my mum took me to Disneyland when I turned seven. It's brilliant."

She beamed. "It's the first time I planned a birthday surprise. I'm glad you liked it. Oh!" she said, suddenly, bending over and taking out a covered dish from the fridge. She moved it towards him and he took off the lid. It was a monster pie, slightly bigger than a steering wheel. It smelled like… like apple cinnamon. He looked up and she grinned. She'd remembered his favourite.

For this whole time, it had been unreal. Like she was his first girlfriend. He had never known she could be so sweet. So sincere. She didn't even look like the Mary he knew. He honestly couldn't believe she'd done this for him. It was so strangely out of character.

There was a comfortable silence as they looked at the clear night sky. He suddenly got up and pushed the fridge away and pushed his chair towards hers. She just watched. He lay down and held her hand. She sat up. He still didn't let her hand go.

"Marshall, let go." Her voice was scared, suddenly.

"Aw come on, Mar'."

"Marshall, I can't cross this line. Not right now. I can't. I don't know what I'll do if it goes wrong." He knew what she was talking about. Exactly.

He sighed and let go of her hand. He sat up too. He leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips. There was a deafening silence.

"I know," he whispered. "But I'll wait. Forever, if I have to."

She sighed. "Happy Birthday, Marshall."

Well? What says the reader?

Love,

Lady Merlin