Authors Note: Marshall's turn. I really need to stop writing late at night. Oh well. Not bettaed, all mistakes are mine.

Step Back Part 2

Marshall watched as Mary drove like a bat out of hell. He wasn't sure quiet what had happened, but knew that something odd was going on. He was about to go back in the house when he saw Abby's car pulling onto the street. He watched as she pulled into the drive way and smiled at her, genuinely pleased to see her. He frowned though when he saw her carefully easing her way out of the car. Apparently Mary really had beaten her up.

"I thought Mary was exaggerating." Marshall said, walking to Abby's car and helping her out.

"Did she call?" Abby asked as Marshall put an arm around her waist and guided her into the house.

"She stopped by. What the hell happened?" the walked towards the bathroom and Marshall settled Abby onto the toilet seat, turning on the hot water tap in the bathtub.

"I thought it was just going to be a friendly sparing match. I ran into her as she was getting off the treadmill. The next thing I know she had gone crazy and it seemed like she was getting some sort of pleasure form slamming me into the mat."

Marshall frowned at the water as he added bubble bath and watched them foam up. "Did she say anything to you?" He helped her out of her shirt, frowning at the bruises on her arms and back.

"No, I knew she could be tough, but I didn't think it would be like that." Marshall didn't say anything as he helped Abby settle into the tub.

Mary was worrying him. First was her conversation form earlier, and now what Abby had said…

He was about to ask again what had happened when his phone rang. He groaned, he didn't need witness drama right now, but that was life. A quick glance at the caller ID and he had even less desire to answer the phone than he had before.

"It's Brandi." Marshall said, looking at Abby. She simply shrugged, not really caring as she slid further into the hot foamy water.

"Hello?" Marshall answered the phone.

"Hi, Marshall."

"Brandi, how's married life treating you?" While Brandi had been able to keep out of trouble since she married Peter with the way that Mary had been acting today there was no guarantee that she didn't have a suitcase full of meth and a drunken mother hiding in the closet.

"I'm ok, is there any chance we can talk?"

Marshall covered the mouth piece of his phone "I'm just going to take this in the other room," he said quietly to Abby.

He walked into the living room before speaking again. "What's going on Brandi? Is something wrong with Peter?"

"No, he's fine. There were two things really."

"OK." Marshall waited, he knew Brandi could beat around the bush for a while and he wanted to see what she had to say. Maybe she would be able to explain Mary's bizarre behavior. He knew that he was still going to have to talk to Abby more, but that could wait until after she'd given her sore muscles a soak.

"First thing, Peter and I are having a party this weekend and we wanted to know if you and Abby would like to come."

"Of course we would. I always enjoy the chance to spend time with you and Peter."

"That's great, great." Brandi fell silent. Marshall waited.

"Was there something else?"

"Have you talked to Mary today?"

"She was just here." Marshall didn't want to reveal too much, he wanted to see what was going on first.

"Did she say anything to you?"

"Anything about what?" He settled onto the couch, he had a feeling he was going to want to sit down for this.

"I talked to Mary a little while ago and she…she seemed to be contemplating telling you something that I've known for years, but that she seems to have just realized and I was worried that she hadn't gone through with it, or that she had and was now regretting it."

Yup, that's what he thought. "She started to, but never finished. Not really."

"I knew she would chicken out."

"I'm happy right now Brandi, I really am. I think she realized that."

"She likes you Marshall and I've known you for too long not to know how you feel about her."

"I can't do it anymore Brandi, I just can't. I'm happy now. Mary is just a friend and will always be just a friend. She doesn't feel that way about me." He knew that was true, knew it had to be true. For the world to be the way it had to be Mary could only ever like him as a friend.

There was silence on the line as the both thought.

"I get it Marshall. Make sure you guys come this weekend."

They hung up and Marshall just sat on the couch, phone in his hand. He thought about what Mary had said, why she had basically attacked Abby in the ring today. Because she had perky boobs and a tight ass and because Abby loved him. And Mary missed him. Had he been further away than normal? He didn't think so. Maybe he'd changed and not noticed it. He had been spending more time with Abby, but that was to be expected. They'd moved in together, they were buying a house. Part of him still worried about that, but he pushed it down, pushed it into the back of his brain. That hadn't been a mistake. He loved Abby, she loved him.

"Why the long face, Cowboy?" her voice startled him and he jumped.

"What? Oh, sorry. Just thinking. Brandi's worried about Mary. I guess she's been acting odd with her too. I hadn't noticed. Oh, and Brandi invited us over this weekend. Her and Peter are having a party."

"That sounds like a blast. Just remind me not to challenge Mary to a wrestling match; I don't think I'd survive."

She settled down next to Marshall and snuggled in next to him. "Feeling better?" He asked, placing his arm around her.

"It's amazing what a hot bath and a handful of painkiller will do."

They settled in to watch TV and Marshall thought some more. He didn't know if he wanted to think about Mary, but he did. There was just something about her. He'd been lusting after her for so long he didn't know what to do about it. Other than try to quit cold turkey, but that didn't seem to be an option.

He couldn't have told anyone what he and Abby were watching on TV, but he was staring at the screen. He kept playing Mary's words back over and over. She'd beaten up Abby because her boobs were perky and her ass was tight. Obviously Mary was having some post baby body issues. He wish there was a way to tell her that he still thought she was the sexist woman, or one of the sexiest women, or, hell, she was hot. There was something magical about the transformation that a woman's body went through when she had a baby. When it was over, when the baby had been delivered, the body didn't go back the way it was before. Mary would never have the pin up body, at least not without massive amounts of plastic surgery and no job and a personal trainer, but she was still smoking hot.

Marshall shook his head. He was cradling the woman he loved; this was not the time to be thinking about how hot Mary was. And that made him think of the other part of what Mary had said. She'd beaten up Abby because Abby loved Marshall, and because Mary missed him.

Why would Mary care that another woman loved him? He had always assumed that any relationship he had was simply an opportunity for Mary to poke fun at him and ask if his boyfriend carried if he was seeing women. But gay jokes aside, when had Mary started caring who he was dating? The barbs about Abby being too young, too perky, too Texan had started early on, as they had for his brief relationship with Dr. Finkle and his old professor, but there was a different quality to these jokes than the others. There was something.

Holy Crap. Mary was starting to develop feelings for him.