A/N: Thank you for all the reviews and alerts.

Escaping the Insanity

Monday morning, Marshall was sitting at his desk, his intention to wait for Mary, to talk. The look on her face, after he walked away was eating away at him all weekend. He honestly didn't know why he blew her off in that moment; except for maybe hurt at the fact that it was the first time she had bothered with him in months. It was almost ten, when he heard laughter from the conference room. He got up and walked in. "Stan?" He looked at Stan surprised, and then noticed the other occupant in the room. "Bobby?" Marshall smiled. "Hey man, what are you doing here?"

"Marshall, good to see you..." Bobby stayed seated, unsure of how much Marshall knew or didn't know.

Stan stood up, bracing himself for Marshall's reaction to his next words. "Bobby has joined the Marshal Service. He is going to be working with us."

Marshall looked surprised. "That's great. Welcome aboard." He laughed. "Mary is going to flip. Be prepared."

Bobby looked away and Stan kept his gaze on Marshall. "Bobby is your new partner."

Marshall felt his heart stop. "What?" He looked over to Mary's desk and noted the items missing from her desk. "No, Mary is my partner. No offense to Bobby..." His gaze still locked on Mary's desk.

"Marshall. Marshall?" Marshall to look at Stan. "Mary is gone. Her last day here was Friday."

"No, not possible she loves the job. She would not have left without telling me." His voice trailed off, knowing Friday she was trying to talk to him.

Bobby finally spoke. "Mary actually recruited me. She wanted me to watch your back."

Marshall gasped, the reality hitting him full force and he could feel his eyes water. He didn't say anything; he turned and walked out of the conference room to his desk. He sat down heavily in his chair, unable to believe she was gone. He was about to leave, head to her house to find her, talk to her. When he pulled open his desk drawer to grab his keys, beneath it was an envelope addressed to him. He hesitantly picked up the envelope, staring at the familiar scrawl of his name across the front. His heart hammering in his chest, as he gingerly lifted the flap and pulled the letter from the envelope.

Marshall,

If you are reading this, then I never got to talk to you before I left. I'm sorry. For whatever I did, I am sorry. I have missed you, hell I still miss you. The decision to leave wasn't easy, it took me months to come to this decision. Stan tried to talk me out of it, so leave him alone. Honestly at this point, I don't think this will be a surprise to you. You have been ignoring my calls and barely acknowledging my presence the last seven months. You blew off the party and that really surprised me.

I guess I can't blame you. You have put up with a lot from me the past seven years. Looks like you finally gave up and decided to move on. With everything we have been through, I truly just want you to be happy. I need that too, which is why I left.

With all my heart, I wish you a happy life. You were/are probably the best friend I will ever have. Keep an eye on Stan for me and let Bobby watch your back.

Yours always,
Mary

Marshall was gripping the letter, his eyes filled and now very confused. He read the letter over and over, coming back to the same few questions. What calls? What party? Where is she?

Stan walked out, leaving Bobby in the conference room to familiarize himself with the witsec manual. He didn't say anything to Marshall, he went to his office. Marshall immediately followed. "Stan, you ok here? I need to go talk to her."

Stan frowned. "Marshall, she is gone. House is sold. She left town." Stan saw the paper gripped in Marshall's hand, he knew then Mary said her goodbye.

Marshall had tears streaming down his face. "She said I had been ignoring her calls and a party." Marshall was looking at Stan thoroughly confused. "I never ignored her calls, she never called me. What party?"

Recognition instantly hit Stan, he could tell from Marshall's face, he honestly didn't know. Anger settled into him, realizing only one person could be the cause and Marshall would flip. "Mary left you a bunch of messages."

"I never got them..." Marshall stared at him, deep in thought.

Stan looked at him serious, waiting for Marshall to connect the dots. "She left them, I heard her leave a few of them." Stan could see anger take over Marshall's features and the confusion fade away.

"I need to take a personal day." Marshall's voice was level but had an angry edge to it.

Stan stood. "Calmly handle this Marshall. We don't need you in jail." Marshall just gave Stan a nod, turned and sat at his desk. "Heaven help us."

Marshall immediately ran luds for his phone. As he poured over the records from the last seven months, he saw calls from Mary's phone. All of which were too long to be hang ups, meaning she left voicemails. He grabbed the printout and was out the door to his place. As soon as he got into the car, he dialed Abby. "Abby, I need you to meet me home now." She cracked a joke about it being the middle of the day, but he heard none of it. "I'm serious, now." Then he hung up. Pulling into the house, he went inside and starting digging around for any mail she might have hid from him. He was furious. He was packing his things when she walked in.

"Hey, what's going on? You alright?" Abby chipper voice hit him like knives. "You have to go out of town."

Marshall turned from his packing. His look spoke volumes to her. "What were you thinking?"

"I'm sorry what?" Abby was genuinely confused.

Marshall grabbed the printout of phone records and threw it at her feet. "What were you thinking, tampering with a US Marshal's phone!"

Abby sobered quickly at his words. "I didn't..."

"Don't! Do not lie to me." He stood in front of her. "Months! Months of phone calls that I never received, all of which were too long for them to be hang ups. They had to be voicemail and one was too long for that. Which means SOMEONE else answered my phone. I ask you again, what were you thinking?" Abby didn't say anything, she sat there frozen. "What about mail? Where is the mail you hid from me?"

Her eyes widened. "I didn't..."

"Stop lying to me!" Marshall was seething. "You tamped with a federal marshal's phone, voicemail and mail. Just tell me why?"

Abby laughed. "You have to ask. She was always there. Always!" Abby stood pacing. "You were ready to go in the delivery room with her. She was always interfering so you couldn't move on."

Marshall hadn't moved, his fists clenched and jaw tight. "I didn't, did I. You gave me enough grief that day, where I didn't go in with her, because you said Mark should be with her so I backed off."

Abby laughed. "Yes, but if you knew he wasn't there you would have gone." As soon as she said it, she knew she said too much.

"What?" Marshall's voice, nothing but a hoarse whisper.

"It doesn't matter now." Abby moved away from him.

Marshall grabbed her arm. "It matters a great deal. She is gone, left without a word." Abby couldn't hide the small smile and relief, which caused Marshall to tighten his grip on her arm. "Smile all you want, we. This...right here, is over. I am packing my stuff and I am leaving tonight. Don't contact me, don't call me, don't stop in my office. Finished!" He released her and went back to packing.

Abby gasped. "She is gone, why would you throw away what we have if she isn't even here!"

Marshall turned and looked at her. "Because, it was built on a lie. I did everything to make you happy and none of that was manipulation. You manipulated me, her, us. I can't trust you and what you did, you, disgust me." Abby started crying and Marshall just proceeded to packing.

A few hours later, he had everything from the house he wanted packed into his pickup truck and was out the door.