I do not own IPS or anything associated with it; save for the first two seasons on DVD. This is my first crack at an IPS fanfic so please be gentle. Anyway, I hope ya'll enjoy it!

Ch. 1: Squish in the Wind

"Morning, Squish." A certain blonde Marshal muttered her usual morning greeting to her baby sister as she strode into the kitchen and straight to the fridge. She was completely dysfunctional in the morning without some sort of food and coffee to fuel her brain. Opening the refrigerator, she found that the milk was almost empty and there was little else among the edible food still in the fridge.

"Oh, man. We're running low on supplies." She stated as she grabbed the near empty carton of milk and poured it onto the cereal that Brandi had already poured. Brandi casually flipped a page in her notebook before answering Mary's earlier statement. "I know. We were all too busy to go grocery shopping yesterday. Remember?"

Mary smirked in response as she chewed on a mouthful of cereal. "You were on a date Squish. I think re-stocking the kitchen would be just a little more important than…" she trailed off, making an odd face as she sniffed the air.

"What?" Brandi asked. Sometimes Mary could be really weird, she thought.

"Does it smell weird to you?"

"Define weird." Brandi continued to stare at her sister with an odd look until the older sibling dismissed the odor as a mere figment of her imagination.

"Never mind," Mary said as she shook her head and stood up from the counter, "I gotta get to work." She lifted her satchel onto her shoulder and headed for the door, calling over her shoulder as she went.

"Later, Squish."

Brandi merely waved a hand in a noncommittal farewell at Mary's back as she continued to study her notes for her afternoon class.

As she got into her beat-up excuse for a car, Mary still had the feeling that something was not right. She didn't know why the smell in the house was so familiar to her, but she knew it was a smell that she had only come across once before and she couldn't recall when. "Get a hold of yourself." She sighed, finally managing to start her car and put her mind at ease. After all, there was no cause for her to worry at the moment…right?

"Did you know that James and the Giant Peach was originally called James and the Giant Cherry?" Marshall asked, just for the sake of breaking the silence that had settled over the office. Working with Mary for several years had trained him to work with noise and he found it difficult to work in complete silence.

In response to his question, Eleanor lapsed into a fit of hysterical laughing while Mary let out a small chuckle.

"No, but I understand the reason for the title change." She answered, laughing again.

"I don't follow." A confused expression fell upon Marshall's handsome features

"Think about it: A giant cherry flies to New York City and ultimately lands on the needle of the Empire State Building. I'm not Sigmund Freud, but…"

Marshall nodded awkwardly. "Only you would have a mind that dirty." He quipped

"If I'm the only one then why is Eleanor still laughing, numb nuts?" Mary smirked

Eleanor seemed to sober up instantly at the mention of her name. "What?" She stuttered, "I'm not laughing at that. I'm-"

"You really are too easy, Eleanor." Mary shook her head smiling as her office phone began to ring.

"Peaches and Herb law offices, you've reached Peaches."

"Peaches my ass." Marshall muttered, but then noticed that Mary's light mood was quickly dissipating. Marshall could only guess at who was on the other end of that phone call, but he knew that posture and facial expression. Something was horribly wrong. Eleanor sensed it too, but chose to at least busy herself with paperwork while she listened.

"Dershowitz, you better not be shitting me." Mary's tone was low and shaky. Marshall had ascertained over the years that she only used this tone when she knew that Brandi, Jinx, and he were in danger. He suspected that could've been the case with Raph as well, but he was a straight arrow as far as Marshall knew. That meant that something had either happened to Brandi or Jinx, Marshall reasoned to himself as he waited for Mary to finish the phone call.

"Okay, I'll meet you there Bobby…bye." Mary hung up the phone and turned to Marshall with an odd expression on her face. It was a mix of several strong emotions: anger, fear, and worry among others. For the first time in their partnership, including her kidnapping, Marshall felt like he was looking at a lost and scared little care. He found it unnerving to say the least.

"What is it?" Marshall asked, genuinely afraid of the answer.

"Brandi's been kidnapped."

Well, that's chapter one. I know it was a short one and I hope to make them longer. Anyway, please Read and Review!!