Sorry about the super long wait! You have no IDEA how busy it's been (I know, excuses, excuses .)

I'll try and upload more frequently, but my muse has been shifting over to White Collar frequently, so please bear with me…

Oh, and I don't own Mary, Marshall, Stan, In Plain Site, M/M or anything but the random miscellaneous characters in this fic. Unfortunately.

IPS – Turnabout's Fair Play – Part II

"C'mon, hurry up. How long can it possibly take you to take a turn?" Mary ranted as she sat shotgun in the company Kia.

"This is exactly why I'm driving. Our witness is in capable hands, he's safe. Your driving would just get us a speeding ticket, which-" He continued over the start of a protest, "which, would only serve to delay us further. Speed limits are limits for a reason."

"Yeah, but breaking just such limits is one of the perks of being law enforcement."

Marshall turned his head and gave her a look.

"Please?"

Turning back to the road, Marshall pressed the gas a little bit, making the speedometer jump exactly 1 mph.

Mary rolled her eyes and leaned her head against the headrest, glaring defeatedly out the window. "You irk me."

"I live to irk."

"You live to something, alright."

Marshall grinned at his victory and drove on.

In a matter of minutes the Kia pulled up to the warehouse. "Oh come on..." Mary complained, "Does this not scream 'Here's the witness' to anyone else but me?"

The warehouse itself was fine, but it was easy to see what had made Mary so upset. Posted at each door were two guards, all wearing USMS bullet proof vests and caps. The side door was much more heavily guarded, four guards as well as two company vehicles parked -defensively, of course- near-by.

"If so," Marshall said, cutting the power and stepping out of the car, "it apparently falls on deaf ears."

The Marshals began walking forward and were stopped by a guard a few feet from the door. "Identify yourselves."

Marshall held his badge up to the nearest Marshal "Inspectors Shannon and Mann, we're here about or witness."
The guard waved them in in a very official fashion, closing the door behind them.
Mary rolled her eyes and walked past another guard posted just past the threshold "Bang up job guys, way to be inconspicuous."

"Inspectors, if you will." The Marshal at the door said, ignoring Mary's comment and gesturing into the room. "He's this way." He stopped outside another door, which appeared to be locked "Have you read the file?"

Mary held up the file and smiled an exasperated, sarcastic smile.

"Good, so you're up to speed."

"Wouldn't be here if we weren't, Tom."

"It's Joseph, ma'am."

"I like Tom."

"I'd go with Tom, if I were you." Marshall chimed in, giving him a 'just so we can get on with it', apologetic shrug.

Joseph looked flustered for a second, then unlocked the door. "Here we go," he said, not noticing the surprised look on either of the Marshals' faces as the door opened. "One Alvin Kerowich. He's been instructed to stay here for the time being but if you-"

"Damn it." Mary said, recovered from her surprise. She turned on her heel and marched back out of the room, whipping out her cell.

"What just happened?" Joseph asked, confused and a bit offended.

Marshall grabbed a photo out of his back pocket and held it out to Joseph. "This," he said, waving the photo in front of the Marshal, "is Alvin Kerowich." The photo showed a mugshot of a man with short, post-shaven dark hair and a hole from a piercing above his left eye. The man sitting in the room had same length, maybe a little longer blond hair, and with no easily recognizable piercing marks.

The suited-up Marshal jolted back in surprise, looking back and forth between the picture and he stranger in the room. "No, that's impossible, our files have a photo with-"

"Yeah, okay, then clearly your files are wrong." Mary said as she stomped back to the gathering, clipping her phone into its holder. She sighed heavily and rubbed her forehead, "Alright," she said, opening her file, "let's backtrack, see where you guys screwed up." She glared up at the Marshal.

"What she means," Marshall interjected before the other Marshal could retort, "Is that we should backtrack through the timeline, see who may have had access to the system, see where the file could have been changed, how many times and were it changed hands..."

"No" the Marshal said, "No, the only time it was left alone was when Kerowich drove up to the gas... station..." He trailed off, the realization dawning on him.

"Wait. You mean the file, the primary file, was in the car with a witness, with a known criminal?" Mary accused more than asked, "When did you receive these files?"

"Just as the witness came under our watch but-"

"You were just given the files after the two Marshals transporting the witness had been knocked out, the two reciprocating Marshals were shot, and your witness drove himself to the meeting location, and your flunkies didn't even consider that this might not even be the right freakin' person? God, how is it we ever manage to get any of our witnesses like this?" She asked rhetorically, turning a ticked-off look to Marshall, hoping for confirmation.

Marshall, however, had his eagle eyes laser focused on the file another Marshal had just brought them. "Look at this" he commented to Mary. The file was nearly identical- the names of the Marshals, the handwriting- everything but the photo and personal description were dead-on-course with the file in Mary's hand.

Joseph looked nervously from one file to the other, and to the Inspectors in front of him. "What's happened? What's this mean?"

Mary rolled her eyes and jumped in head first, "It means, Joseph, that my witness is back on the street, on his way back to his drug lord and the organization he works for to go tell them exactly what's happened, and let's face it, chances are good that even though he hasn't testified yet, his boss knows that at least a statement was given to make him even be eligible for WITSEC, which means he probably won't take him back anyway. And if that's not the case, then he's been kidnapped and taken against his will, and is either dead, waiting to be killed, or is- at the very least- vulnerable." Mary leaned back into the file, glancing up only to glare.

"I'll go call the FBI and the local PD." The upset and now rather uncomfortable Marshal decided. "It's best they're up to date on the new development."

"You think? God..."

"Hey," Marshall started as Mary simmered, "We still have this guy," He gestured to the man in the lone chair beyond the threshold with his thumb. "and if he's somehow Kerowich's replacement, it's likely he'll know a thing or two about what's going on."

Mary straightened herself and sighed heavily, her blonde hair moving with the current. "Alright, I already notified Stan, and he says he backs whatever we decide to do."

"You realise, of course, that doesn't mean you can torture him."

Mary laid her hand on the door, "I think we should leave it up to interpretation. Hey, asswipe." She burst through the door with a semi-reluctant Marshall on her heels. The man in the chair jumped and started to speak, but Mary cut him off. "Before we get started let me explain something to you. Usually in situations like these... Well, let's face it, this situation just doesn't come around that often, so here's how this is going to work: I'm going to say 'Hello, I'm Inspector Marshal Mary Shepard' and you, are going to answer with an equally polite response who you are. Let's give it a try, shall we?"

Marshall smirked at the "witness'" confused and startled face.

"Hello, I am Inspector Marshal Mary Shepard, and who, may I ask, are you?"

The man stirred in his seat, visibly sweating at his temples. "What is this about? Are you my Inspectors?"

"Now, the lady asked you a question, my friend, and if you want to avoid a bullet penetrating the thin bone layer of your skull, I suggest you give her a brief and respectful answer." Marshall said, a hint of condescension in his voice.

"I'm... Alvin Kerowich" The man replied quickly, nervously eying the gun in Mary's holster.

"Aant. Wrong answer." Mary slapped the file down on the arm of the chair. "So here's the deal. I'm going to say 'You're not Alvin, are you?' And you'll say...?"

"I-I'm... Kyle Adama..."

"Good boy! Now for the next part of our quiz," Mary turned to Marshall, who didn't miss a beat.

"Where is the real Alvin Kerowich?"

"I don't know, man. I think he's still in Vegas..."

Marshall shot Mary a quizzicle look. "Vegas?"

"I thought he was in state when the FBI picked him up?" Mary looked at the file again and confirmed it. Pensive, Mary asked Marshall for the photo he had and showed it to Kyle. "Have you seen this man before?"

Unsure of what might be the right answer, Kyle nodded his head. "Y-yeah, of course."

Mary's shoulders visibly relaxed, but the man continued on. "That's Arthur Stevens. He's one of the lowers in the organization."

The Marshals exchanged a look, and both were up and out of the room in an instant.

Part II End

Reviews make me smile :)