This little story below is one of many that I will present to you as I try my best to figure out the relationships that our favorite IPS characters have. All of them will be inspired by some song I have on my Ipod with the lyrics that inspired me the most posted before the fic. When you press that REVIEW button the most helpful thing for me would be to tell my if I have the relationship(s) right.

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Home By: Daughtry

I'm staring out into the night,
Trying to hide the pain.
I'm going to the place where love
And feeling good don't ever cost a thing.
And the pain you feel's a different kind of pain.

Well I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from.
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old,
So I'm going home.
Well I'm going home.

The anger was apparent in her stride by the way her heels clanked against the hardwood floor which served as a warning to anyone left in the house not to mess with her. As Mary grabbed her keys and walked out to her car, praying silently that it would work, she worked hard to keep the emotions she felt at bay. She could hear Raph's yelling behind her, telling her how sorry he was "It'll never happen again, I promise."

Those last words sent a shiver of anger down her spine and she paused, slipping the ring off her finger and throwing it at him. He caught it before staring open mouthed at the ring in his hand and up at Mary as she started the car. As she backed out of the drive way he tried to catch her but it was a desperate, heartless attempt so he just stood in the street watching as the car turned left and disappeared into the darkness.

Inside the car Mary's hands gripped the steering wheel so hard her knuckles were white and the tears rolling down her face reflected the green lights she drove through. Her mind swirled with the memories of the argument but it didn't matter to her all she could picture was what she had seen.

Mary had come home earlier than normal and was excited just to be able to rest with Raph and 'hang out' as he liked to call it. Setting her keys down on the kitchen counter she started to walk towards their bedroom when she heard a noise coming from it.

It took her a second to realize what it was but when that part of her brain clicked she walked furiously towards the door. As she got closer the low moaning increased in volume along with the steady thud of the headboard hitting the wall.

Her stomach twisted and the tears began to rush to her eyes but she fought them off and reached out to open the door. The door swung open and she froze, her outline framed in the doorway.

Both of the figures stopped what they were doing and jumped apart "Mary I-"Ralph spluttered

Brandi on the other hand let out a squeal of terror and jumped out of the bed taking the sheet with her, trying to cover herself up.

Mary's heart plummeted and she turned away from them both forcing herself to remain as clam as she could. She took one calming breath and walked into the room and reached under her bed and grabbed the bag she kept packed for emergency calls from witnesses.

Raph reached out to grab her arm but she stepped away glaring at him "Don't touch me." She said icily "I do still have a weapon." She indicated to the gun holstered at her hip

He sat there stunned and watched as Mary walked out of the room and all the while Brandi stood, naked in the corner not daring to say a word. He got up and tried to speak but the words got stuck in his throat. He ran to the door with only a pillow to cover him and yelled "It won't happen again, I promise!"

The tears rolled freely down her face as she drove and before she knew it she was parked outside of Marshall's apartment. She sat there, in her car, sobbing but couldn't bring herself to open the door and walk inside. Even in this state she hated the thought of Marshall seeing her like this, so….weak, defenseless even.

She reached for her phone and dialed his number, doing her best to sound like she was not crying. He answered on the third ring "Hey Mare." He said

She couldn't say anything, she couldn't do it. He would know instantly that something was wrong, so she hung up. Seconds later her phone buzzed in her hands and the ID read RAPH she pressed ignore and replayed the events of the past hour over in her head.

Each time she replayed Brandi shrieking and jumping off of Raph she fought the urge to vomit, how could she do this to her? Sure, Brandi never made the best decisions but she would never cross that line, or so Mary had thought.

A slight knocking on her car window jolted her out of her thoughts and she was surprised to see Marshall's concerned face staring at her from outside. She opened her door and she looked at him momentarily before closing the door and walking towards his apartment.

He followed knowing that she would tell him what was going on but judging by the lack of a ring of her finger this was serious. He closed the door behind him and watched as Mary looked at her phone before hitting ignore and throwing it into the couch. He picked it up and put it on the coffee table knowing she would want it in case a witness called.

It was the hardest thing for him to do, just stand there and watch as the tears rolled down her face and not know why she was hurting so badly. Finally she whispered "I can't go back."

"Why?" Marshall asked, probing slightly but not too much so that she would retreat back into her shell

"I just can't." she said not wanting to divulge the information that had drove her here, both literally and figuratively.

"Mare, I can't help you if I don't know what's going on." He said softly and took a step towards her

"They were having sex." She said blatantly "Brandi and Raph…In my bed." She said her volume rising from anger.

Marshall swallowed the anger that rose in his chest and wrapped his arms around her "I'm so sorry." He said

Mary was surprised, initially, by Marshall's presence but didn't fight it. Instead she found it oddly comforting and couldn't help but reply "Unless you know about it, you have nothing to be sorry for."

Marshall smiled sadly "I'm sorry that they hurt you like this." He whispered into her ear

The tears flowed freely once again and through the tears she said "I can't go back there. It only rips my heart out. First-first my father now this, I'm going to spontaneously combust if it happens again."

"I'll never hurt you." Marshall whispered before he could help himself

"I know." She said into his chest

It was only the next, after Marshall had walked her into his guest room and sat with her as she cried again and finally fell asleep, that Mary realized she was home. This place, this room, felt more like home than her house ever had.

Marshall was always there for her, in her darkest moments he would wait for her to tell him what was wrong. He never asked more than he had to; leaving it up to her to tell him what she wanted him to know. It was for that reason and many more that she knew this place was home.


There you go, just a little bit of inspired work from me.

Reviews make me happy

Happy=Healthy

Healthy=GOOD