***disclaimer*** these characters are not mine, but they are fun to play with.
Gunpowder and Lead – Miranda Lambert
That was it. She was done. No one, absolutely no one, put their hands on her in anger and walked away from it without damage. Raph was now in a world of hurt. The jackass had actually grabbed her and slapped her across the face when she'd walked away instead of fighting with him. It had been her first full day back after being shot and she'd been so happy. Until she got home and he wanted to be a little bitch because she wouldn't choose him over her job. She didn't even give a shit that he was drunk off his ass. You reap what you sow and all that bull.
Knee to the groin then to the nose. Yep, she still had it. Taking the ring out of her pocket, she shoved it onto his pinkie finger before cuffing him and reaching for her phone to call Bobby D.
No one hit Marshal Mary Shannon. On second thought, she called Marshall. Bobby D would be too gentle.
Beer For My Horses – Toby Keith & Willie Nelson
Equilibrium had been reestablished in Stan's world. Mary was back full time, which took the workload off the rest of his marshals. And Marshall was finally functioning normally again. Those two were simply better together than apart.
So, Stan broke precedence and treated his subordinates to a few beers at the marshals' favorite watering hole. Some brought their significant others, as they'd been encouraged to do. Mary showed up with Marshall in tow and no one else. Stan wondered at how telling that was. It was even more telling when an hour later, Mary jumped up on the bar and raised her glass in true Mary form. However, the heartfelt, heartwarming toast was something no one had ever expected to hear from her.
Knowing it had been difficult for her to do that, he had a pair of shots of whiskey sent to where his favorite marshals were sitting, observing their fellows. Mary may have been the one to say the words, but Stan knew they were from Marshall too.
I'm a Believer – Neil Diamond / The Monkees
So it had taken a little time – okay a lot of time – for Mary to see what was right in front of her. She knew it was primarily fear. If it was real, true, actual love it could be taken away and she'd be hurt. And that night in the desert performing triage, she was proven right. The idea of losing him hurt. So, she kept it at arm's length and walked into something that wouldn't hurt.
Except that it still hurt. It hurt to wake up next to a too heavy body. It hurt to come home to a clingy fiancé who wanted to take her away from him. Who was always touching her even when she didn't want to be touched.
And it hurt to wake up after being shot to see the pain in his eyes. To know that losing her was just as painful to him as losing him was to her.
And now the fear was gone. Because it didn't hurt to wake up next to long, lean muscle and drive home with a fiancé who knew when not to push, when not to touch. And when and how and where to touch.
Jingle Bombs – Jeff Dunham
"You dragged me to a puppet show?" Mary demanded once they'd arrived at the theater. "You said comedian!"
"Patience," Marshall said with a chuckle. "I promise you'll enjoy this."
"Your nuts better hope so," Mary grumbled and ungraciously stomped to their seats. Somehow, she'd let her partner talk her into staying in Vegas for an extra few days after their witness transfer. And somehow, she'd gotten talked into a special 'holiday' performance by some comedian she'd never heard of. Well, better puppets than Barry Manilow.
An hour later Mary was laughing like a loon. Who knew puppets could be this funny? Or this perverse? Apparently, her geeky partner. She calmed down a moment to see the comedian bring out a skeleton in a turban. After she recovered from laughing from the first 'I keeell you' Marshall leaned over and whispered in her ear, "My nuts are glad you're enjoying this."
Have You Ever Loved a Woman – Bryan Adams
Brandi had brought in one of those stupid games as an attempt to get everyone past the awkward silences that seemed to permeate the silence that was omnipresent when Raph and Marshall were visiting at the same time. Mary never minded Marshall spending hours with her. She wasn't so sure about Raph.
Unfortunately, this game was a 'how well do you know each other' type of game. Mary hated those. Also unfortunate was that Brandi said it was Mary's job to ask the questions and their jobs to answer them – about Mary. Meddling little shit was trying to start something but Mary couldn't seem to care. As long as Squish and Raph left so she could relax.
"Let's start simple boys and girl," she sighed as she pulled out the first card. "What is my favorite dessert?"
"Anything chocolate," Brandi answered.
"Strawberry cheesecake," Raph said with a triumphant grin.
Marshall snorted. "She's allergic to strawberries. Her favorite is flourless chocolate torte with caramel and pralines."
"Someone give the gold star to Marshall," Mary grinned. They continued to play with Marshall nailing every question and Brandi getting a few too. Raph answered one right. Poor guy.
Hurt – written by Trent Reznor, sung by Johnny Cash
Nothing felt right anymore. She was numb to everything and everyone. Most nights she couldn't sleep, so she'd come and visit him here. It was cold for Albuquerque tonight as she leaned against his tombstone and stared into the sky. She knew it was cold, but it didn't register.
She understood why he'd done it. She would have done the same thing for him. That didn't change the fact that Marshall was gone and he wasn't coming back. He'd promised that he wouldn't leave but she'd known he wouldn't be able to keep it. She always thought he would eventually just get sick of her like everyone else. She'd never imagined having to hold him as he bled out from a bullet meant for her.
She punched the tombstone and heard the bones in her hand crack. And felt the pain.
She wasn't numb anymore. She didn't rage, she didn't curse. She sat on her partner's grave and grieved.
Irreplaceable – Beyonce
He'd already cheated once so she wasn't exactly surprised. It still stung. Her inner voice, which sounded strangely like Eleanor, pointed out that her heart wasn't breaking; it was her pride that was bruised. She internally conceded to that point even as she dragged more of his crap outside. She'd handcuffed him to her bed under the pretense of a little fun and the proceeded to throw the evidence at him. It was just ironic that the woman happened to be Marshall's witness and Marshall was currently on vacation so she'd done the check in for him. And the witness had showed Mary a picture of her and her new boyfriend. Mary had borrowed the picture to 'run a background check'.
She got outside to see Bobby D and Stan pulling up. Apparently one of the neighbors had called. Maybe it was due to Raph yelling his head off inside.
"Prepping for a bonfire there Shannon?" Bobby D asked with a grin.
"Just taking out the trash," she shot back and dumped the last of his crap on the lawn. "Stan, would you go an uncuff him? I'm likely to shoot him if I look at him again."
Her boss went to do just that and a few minutes later was following Raph out, hand on his sidearm. And to make the moment perfect, her mother was in tears, distraught not that Raph had cheated but that Mary was throwing him out. Brandi had offered to help Mary cut off Raph's nuts, so that was a plus.
Jaded – Aerosmith
Mary watched her sister enviously. There was a lightness to Brandi that Mary was never going to have. She didn't always see the worst in people, didn't look over her shoulder because there might be someone out to hurt her. Raph believed it was the job that jaded Mary. It was the job that drove them apart so maybe it was easiest for him to blame there. It would have taken him getting to know her better, for her to not be so jaded that she could actually trust him.
The fact was Mary Shannon had been jaded since the age of seven. It wasn't a job that had done it. It was her father leaving her, charging her with caring for an alcoholic mother who doted solely on her baby sister that had done that. He had proved you can't trust anyone.
My Vietnam – Pink
The irony that it was the United States Federal Government that had caused the chaos in destruction in her home. The home paid for by her job with the United States Federal Government. Everyone bemoaned inter-agency cooperation because, at some point, they always turned into a dick-measuring contest and the people who had put in the legwork had their hard work shat on and then taken away. All so some pencil-pushing prick could take credit.
Well, FBI Agent Dickwad had certainly declared war on her but neither of them were going to walk away unscathed. She'd make sure of that. She would be subtle and blatant. She would undermine and deceive. She would not be beaten. And the schmuck would be cleaning up the mess he made of her house or she'd return the favor.
Silent Night – Josef Mohr
Mary had never been big on Christmas. Christmas normally meant annoying happy people, amazingly cranky people and a whole lot of disappointments. Like always, Marshall turned her opinion around. It may have had something to do with the enjoyment she got from watching him fuss over every little detail, knowing that he was doing it to make her happy. Or it could have been that he was taking care of all the things that would frustrate her.
But she knew it was neither of those things.
It was the wonder on their ten-month old son's face as he stared at the lit Christmas tree for the first time. It was his squeal of joy when presented a teddy bear with a marshal's badge. It was the fact that Marshall gave her this small miracle and was there every day to experience it with her.
And it was also the amusement she got from watching him unwrap the framed sonogram image that let him know they were having another miracle, rendering her verbose husband speechless.
