The Center Cannot Hold…

A/N: Yes, I know I'm supposed to be working on at least one, most likely two, other stories for you guys, but I got this idea from the finale and it was absolutely demanding to be written. One shot, maybe two shot at absolute most, then back to the other stories that desperately need my attention. By the way, I love all of you reviewers for "Face Down" you guys are absolutely making my day. :)

Anyway, this is going to be about what happens to the two sisters when the strange order of things that has been happening in the past season comes crashing down and everyone goes back to the way they were… Spoilers for all significant, non-witness related events in season 4, and possibly for other seasons.

BRANDI POV:

I don't know specifically what changed my mind about marrying Peter, I really don't. Was it the moment when Jinx told me how proud she was of me for changing? Was it the moment that I stared into the mirror and realized that no matter how different I looked, I was still the same person I've always been inside? Was it the fact that Mary wasn't there? Or did it go even further back than that, even to the moment when Abigail arrested me in front of Peter's parents so many months ago? I don't know, but by the time we got to the wedding chapel I knew it was academic anyway. I couldn't marry Peter. I didn't deserve him. He needed a woman who actually was the person I had been pretending to be for so long- stable, confident, and put together. I was none of those things. The real me was the person I'd been with Chuck- unreliable, flighty, and needy. It is hard to realize such things about yourself, but I'm just glad I managed to come to terms with that before saying "I do."

Which is why, even though I knew Peter would be hurt, everyone else would be shocked, and my mom would be beside herself with disappointment, I snuck out of the wedding chapel, running away in the grand tradition of the Shannon family. Daddy would be proud.

I didn't expect to run into Mary though. However, what I expected even less was for her to accept my decision, and promise to be the one person who wasn't mad at me. I didn't think of it at the time, but it was so un-Mary-like that something else must have been going on. I don't know what happened after I left for an extended vacation to New Jersey to reconnect with some old friends and escape everything in Albuquerque for a while, but I have a feeling that she was on the verge of a major decision, which is why she understood mine so well.

As I look back on it, everything in the past nine months had been so strangely different than ever before. My life had gotten in order, and Mary's had fallen more apart than I'd ever seen it before. Ever since Marshall got involved with Abigail, in fact, ever since Mary had come back from Cancun she seemed…different somehow. She seemed subdued, which was unusual for her, and almost…broken. And then she got pregnant, and she changed even more.

All I know right now is that I tried to call her after being on the road for a few hours to thank her for loaning me her car, and to let her know where I was going and stuff since she was basically the only person who I was sure didn't hate me and someone needed to know that I wasn't in the wind…but I couldn't get a hold of her, which never happened with Mary. She always had to have her phone with her in case work called, so she was almost always reachable. I wanted to turn around and see if she was alright, but frankly, it was just too soon to face everyone again. I figured I'd get a call if something was seriously wrong anyway.

MARY POV:

I watched my little sister drive away in my car, and realized that for once I wasn't angry at her for running away. Not because I'd expected it, because I honestly hadn't. Not because I thought she was making the right choice, because I didn't, but because I honestly understood why she was doing it. She had realized, mere moments before it was too late, that she was on a path she didn't want to be on anymore, and decided to change it before she got trapped semi-permanently in a situation that there wasn't any going back from.

I didn't, however, realize why I understood it, until I was sitting next to Marshall on the whatever the hell he called it. Oh fuck it, it's an alter. "I could stay…" my partner offered, knowing that I was dealing with some sort of turmoil. Little did he know that it had to do with him. Why was it that I had to see him happy with someone else before I realized how much I loved him?

"No, I'm okay. Go." I wasn't okay, and the last thing I wanted was for him to go, but if I said anything else, I would have to explain, and I refused to stand in the way of my partner's happiness. He had offered himself to me so many times, whether I realized it or not, and I had pushed him away. As much as it hurt, I had my chance, and I blew it.

"At least let me give you a ride, I don't want to leave you literally at the alter." Of course he chose that moment to make a joke like that.

"Nah, Mark's around here…somewhere…" I tried not to make it clear how much Mark seemed like a second best, in all ways.

Marshall nodded and turned towards Abigail who was waiting somewhat somberly in the background. Of course, she was still hurt that Marshall had thrown himself on top of me instead of her. Even without saying a word I was fucking up his relationship. Damn, the Shannon family was in rare form today.

Then I tried to stand up, and felt a surge of pain through my abdomen the likes of which I hadn't felt since being shot a couple years before. In fact, my first instinct was that it actually WAS a bullet. "Marshall!" I called out, trying to rationalize that by saying that he was the closest one to me.

He was by my side in an instant. "Something's wrong" I gasped out through the pain. "It's too soon."

He grabbed my hand as I looked wildly around at the group of people gathered around me at this point. I recognized the western twang of Abigail's voice as she spoke quickly to what I assumed was emergency services, my mom's panicky voice, Stan's commanding tone as he asked questions, and saw Peter's form in the background. "Mary, look at me." Marshall's voice, full of absolute authority, pierced through the fog, and I obeyed without even thinking about it. "People deliver at 32 weeks every day. It's going to be fine, okay?"

I shook my head "I'm not ready!"

He put his hand on the side of my face, turning my head towards him once again. "Yes, you are. And I will be with you every step of the way, okay?"

"Okay…" It wasn't okay, and we both knew it, I shouldn't be in labor this early, and the father of the baby was somehow not there, and I had blown off the Templetons, knowing that they weren't right for my child, and the only thing that somehow mattered was that Marshall was next to me. There was so much fundamentally wrong with this situation that there was no way it could be okay, but he was there, and for whatever reason, that's what mattered to me.

MARSHALL POV:

I can count on one hand the number of times I've been as absolutely terrified as I was twice today. The first being when the bullets started flying in the conference room and I thought Mary was going to get shot again. The second was when I heard the pain in her voice when she called me as I walked away, somewhat reluctantly, towards Abigail.

I can also count on one hand the number of times I've felt the amount of pain I felt when I saw the terror in her eyes, a foreign emotion to Mary, and heard the agony in her voice. My heart tore itself into tiny little pieces observing the woman in front of me. That's when I knew that there was no way I could go back to being with Abigail. It had begun to become clear when she and I discussed why I threw myself on top of Mary, but at that moment it hit me with stunning clarity- I would never be in love with any woman the way I was with Mary, and I could never have a life with anyone besides her. It wouldn't be fair to Abigail or anyone else.

When the ambulance arrived and they put Mary on the stretcher, I ran alongside the paramedics and joined Mary in the ambulance without looking back. I would deal with Abigail later. I had a feeling that at this point she already knew what I was going to have to tell her, but it could wait.

I held on to Mary's hand throughout the ride, trying to comfort her as much as possible while listening to what the paramedics were saying. Words like "elevated blood pressure" and "racing pulse" were reported tersely into a radio, and made my own heart race in fear for the woman in front of me.

We got to the hospital and they took her away from me again, reminding me all too much of the time she was shot. She has to be okay… I told myself over and over again. 32 weeks isn't that premature, there's no reason that she OR the baby should have complications. But then why was her blood pressure and pulse so high? And the pain she was experiencing seemed more severe even than labor pain… What if there WAS a complication? What if when she was running around playing cops and robbers when she should've taken cover like I told her to the baby somehow got hurt? I knew I should've stayed with her… Damnit, but then I couldn't have warned Stan… But what if I lose her?

"Marshall!" Stan's voice brought me out of my thoughts. "How is she?"

I shook my head "I don't know. They brought her into surgery, I think they're going to give her a C-Section because of her elevated blood pressure. I don't even know what happened." My voice broke a little bit towards the end, but I refused to cry. I needed to be strong, for Mary.

"Marshall." Stan put his hand on my shoulder. "She's going to be fine, and the baby's going to be fine. She's a fighter, and any child of hers is going to be the same way."

"I promised I would stay with her, but I couldn't…"

Stan looked at me carefully, as if trying to figure something out. "I'll see how much weight I can pull with the higher-ups, see if I can get you in there, okay?"

I nodded, and sat down in the nearest chair, waiting. Within moments Jinx, Peter, Abigail, and Mark arrived. Of course, NOW the ex-husband shows up ready to play daddy. I looked around for Stan, and when I didn't see him anywhere, I stood up and started walking towards a somewhat private corner of the waiting room, gesturing for Abigail to follow.

"Abigail…" I began, trying to find the nicest way to phrase what I was about to say. I did like her, and didn't want to hurt her more than necessary.

She put one finger over my lips. "Marshall, it's okay. I know. I think I've known for a while, but didn't want to admit it, same as you. You two belong together, and if today was any indication, she's finally realized it too."

"Are you…are we…okay?" I asked gently.

She smiled sadly. "Yeah, this was meant to be I think. I don't see any reason why we can't be friends, though, do you?"

I shook my head "Absolutely. I'd like that. You're a great woman Abigail, and will make a wonderful match for someone. It just isn't fair to you to keep this up."

"It isn't fair to you or Mary to keep you two apart either. Like I said, this was meant to be Marshall. But if you don't mind, I'm gonna stick around until we know Mary and the baby are okay. I've actually come to like her, in my own way, and I want to be sure everything's okay."

I hugged her gently, a hug of friendship rather than passion, and realized that that's how I'd felt about her for a long time. "Whatever you want to do is fine with me."

Then Stan returned. "Marshall, she's in room number three. You can go in if you want. I pulled some strings and made them understand the necessity of you being there."

I honestly could've kissed the man. "Thank you Stan." I breathed a sigh of relief and practically ran towards the room. That is, until I ran into a brick wall named Mark.

"Wait a second. Why the fuck do you get to go in? I'm the baby's FATHER."

Stan intercepted, and gave me a look that clearly said I'll handle this. I ignored the angry man and kept walking until I hit the surgery room. I was told to put on all sorts of different gowns and gloves and other such things, and did so mindlessly, thinking only of getting to Mary.

I got into the room just as the C-section was beginning. Mary was still wide awake, and I stood beside her the entire time, explaining in detail the benefits that many people found came along with a c-section. She seemed unable to fully focus on anything, but she still managed to roll her eyes at me from time to time. I took that as a good sign. That is, until her monitors began blaring and all of a sudden she fell unconscious. One of the doctors pulled me away from her and told me to wait against the wall where I wouldn't be in the way.

I watched, horrorstruck, as the doctors raced around her, doing things that made absolutely no sense to me. I didn't even want to look, but I had to. Some time later, a doctor came up to me, and led me outside.

"What happened?" I asked, almost frantically.

"Did your wife fall recently, within the past twenty-four hours?" the doctor asked.

I gasped silently before answering. "Yes, she's a US Marshall and we came under fire about four hours ago, and we all had to dive for the floor to avoid the bullets. What happened to her?" I didn't even bother to correct his assumption, it would have taken too much time.

"There was a relatively small tear in her abdominal wall from the fall and impact, that probably got intensified when she tried to stand earlier. It caused a relatively significant bleed, which in turn put the baby in distress. We located the sight of the bleed, but when we removed the baby it disturbed the clot, causing her to crash. She is stable now, but sedated. The baby is on a ventilator for the time being and will be in the NICU for a while until she is able to breathe entirely on her own and has gained at least two pounds. She was born four pounds, seven ounces, and her lung function seemed a little bit weak, but otherwise appeared healthy. Assuming there are no complications in the next 24 hours I think your wife and child will both be alright."

I breathed a sigh of relief. It was going to be a bumpy road, but they would be okay. "Thank you so much Doctor. I can't tell you how much they both mean to me. Can I see Mary? And the baby?"

He shook his head "Not yet, they're both being cleaned up. Once I get them settled though it will be fine for them to have visitors. That'll probably take an hour, so why don't you get some food and tell the rest of your family what's going on, and by then they'll be ready?"

I nodded. "Okay."

I walked out to the waiting area again, noticing that Mark was conspicuous in his absence. I'll deal with that later. I relayed the news to everyone who was there, leaving out the circumstances under which she originally injured, saying she simply fell. Stan and Abigail of course knew what really happened, but Jinx and Peter didn't really need to, and besides, I couldn't reveal details of the job to civilians.

Once I had answered everyone's questions, I got a cup of horrible hospital coffee, and sat down to wait. As I sat, I couldn't help but wonder…What's going to happen next?

A/N: Okay, I know that was an awful ending for this chapter but I couldn't figure out a better one. There's definitely going to be at least one more chapter, maybe even two. Anyway, I do see this as a very real possibility for what happens in the season 5 premiere, so aside from a few OOC moments, I'm going to try to keep it as true to the story as possible while still making it Mary/ Marshall. Anyway, please review!