Chapter three! I know that it took a couple of days but I had to work all weekend. It didn't leave a lot of time for updating. I want to thank everyone for their reviews (and story alerts, author alerts, favoriting my story and favoriting me as an author.) This chapter actually has one of my favorite lines so far.

Also, I have about one chapter of beta'd material left (if that. I might not even have that much) so my updates are going to be a little less frequent because I have to wait for them to come back from my ever wonderful beta, Lady_mars.

Also, it occurred to me, I haven't placed a disclaimer on this story at any point. So, just in case you didn't already know, I don't own In Plain Sight or anything associated with it. I DO own Sarah though, so please be respectful and don't steal her (though, I don't know why you would WANT to. She's kind of a pain in the ass.)


Sarah had been there three times that week to have lunch with Marshall and Mary still hadn't seen the ring on her finger. Mary had found it two weeks ago and was starting to wonder when Marshall was going to pop the question. Maybe he was waiting for some kind of anniversary. They were going on seven months, nothing too spectacular to be celebrated unless Sarah was the kind of person that liked to celebrate every month they were together.

Mary didn't think she was that kind of girl, though she seemed shallow enough to expect something of that nature. Unfortunately, she was the kind of girl prone to public displays of affection. Mary had to watch every sickening kiss, hug and mushy pet name that the girl could think up. There were times Mary had to keep herself from physically gagging into the trash can.

"But sweetheart, I hate that diner. I don't understand your attraction to it." Sarah sat on the edge of his desk. Her skirt was still at a modest length but Mary wouldn't have put it past her to hike it up just for the hell of it. Marshall's eyes flitted towards Mary, so fast that Sarah didn't notice. If Mary hadn't been looking straight at him, she would have missed it too.

"I just do, honey," he answered. "How about the café that's on 5th?"

"Oh, I love that place!" She leaned down, kissing him full on the mouth. Mary had to turn away.

"Then I'll see you at twelve-thirty?"

"Sounds great." She eased herself off his desk, slinging her purse over her arm. She left, bestowing him with one final kiss.

"I think that was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen in my life," Mary told him the second Sarah was down the elevator.

"So you're talking to me now?"

"Only to ask you to limit the public displays of affection when in the office. It's grossing us out."

"Actually," Eleanor butted in, "I think it's kind of cute."
"You would."

"Just because you can't handle letting other people know you feel actual emotions, doesn't mean the rest of us are going to follow suite," Marshall told her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Pooky, did I hurt your feelings?" Mary mocked. "Did you want me to give you a kissy-wissy to make you feel better?" She puckered her lips, making obnoxious kissing sounds. "Or maybe you'd just like take another shot at my love life." She stood up and put some files away, shutting the file cabinet harder than usual. Marshall sighed internally. She was still angry at him, not that he was surprised. Though, to Mary's credit, it was the longest that she had ever held a grudge. Two weeks and she hadn't said a word that wasn't work related until today. He had tried talking to her, but she wouldn't listen until she wanted to.

Marshall just wished he had some idea as to when that was going to be. Sarah seemed to be pushing all of Mary's buttons, making her even more angry which in turn made their working relationship that much harder. Things weren't easy any more. Of course, they weren't exactly peachy to begin with, nothing with Mary was ever particularly easy, but it was comfortable. Yes, she was a handful, but she was his handful and he liked it that way. He watched her stalk out to the balcony. When she wasn't looking, he snuck out behind her, blocking her escape.

"You have to talk to me eventually," he said to her. She jumped slightly but didn't turn around. "Mary, I'm sorry for what I said. It just… slipped out."

"Funny how it didn't seem to slip out until you started dating her."

"You had to know that, eventually, you were going to provoke me into saying something mean. Law of averages."

"Whatever. I wasn't even that mean. You should learn to suck it up by now."

"And you should learn the world isn't your punching bag. Looks like we're both still getting schooled," he practically yelled at her. There was long silence, both partners stewing in their anger.

"How did you even know?" she finally asked.

Marshall shrugged then realized that she couldn't see him. "I didn't really. I just know you. I didn't think Raph had been the one to end it. I figured you had gotten cold feet. Maybe it wasn't even cold feet. Maybe it was just that it had taken you that long to figure out that you weren't really in love with him."

Mary wrapped her arms around herself. When she turned to look at Marshall his heart almost broke. He had never seen her look so completely sad, so incredibly lost. He came over, standing close and nudging her with his shoulder.

"I tried," she told him. "I really wanted it to work but the closer we got to the wedding date, the bigger the feeling was that I wasn't doing the right thing." He didn't answer her, knowing that she didn't really want to hear anything. She had just finally decided that he could know.


"I'm coming!" Marshall yelled as he walked towards the door. Only one person would ring the doorbell and then knock, or rather pound, less than thirty seconds later.

"I'm not even in the house and already you're getting off? Little quick on the trigger there, Marshall?" Mary grinned at him from the other side of the doorway. Marshall stood aside to let her in.

"What are you doing here?" he asked as he grabbed a beer out of the fridge and handed it to her. She took it and sat on one of the barstools at the counter. Popping off the top, she flung it at the back of his head. He ducked without even turning around and the metal cap plinked into the sink.

"My mother is driving me absolutely crazy. Brandi is getting married. I don't understand why she can't go live with Peter until then."

"You were fighting with your mother about what your sister is going to do?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Nothing," he said, shaking his head. "That sounds about right for your family."

"Shut up. Are you done with my sandwich yet?"

In fact, he was almost done, cutting it down the middle. Making Mary food when she walked in the door was so second nature to him he almost hadn't noticed that he was doing it while they talked. He put it on a plate and handed it to her, watching her take a bite and then wash it down with beer. She took her plate and headed into his den, plopping herself on the couch. Marshall followed her, sitting down with a little more grace. They left the TV off knowing that they weren't going to watch it anyways.

"And then of course the conversation went into why can't my mom get her own place to which I got the typical, 'I'm a recovering alcoholic and it's not good for me to be living by myself.' It's been two years since she quit drinking and she can't live by herself and resist temptation by now?"

"You're such a supportive daughter."

"I let her live in my house rent free for years. I'm an awesome daughter."

Marshall tried choking back a laugh but it didn't work. Mary hit him, though not with her usual force. "I'm sorry, Mare, but the word awesome is not the word I'd use to describe you in relation to your mother."

"I don't completely suck as a daughter," Mary grumbled.

"No, you don't. It's very noble of you to allow your mother to live with you for so long." There was only a trace of teasing in his voice. Mary didn't join him. Her face was drawn and sullen and actually seemed to be upset about the events that had occurred at home. "What really happened tonight at your house?"

"What are you talking about? I told you what happened."

"Your mom getting on your case about where she and Brandi should live doesn't make you this depressed. That's practically a daily conversation in your house." He nudged her with his shoulder. "What's really bothering you?"

Mary was silent for awhile and Marshall had to refrain from bugging her about it more. He knew that, when she was ready, she would tell him. It was always that way with her. It was one of the first things he had learned being her friend. Finally she took a deep breath and spoke. "Jinx blamed me for it."

"For what?"

"Raph. Her drinking. Everything bad that's ever happened to our family."

He wished she were kidding. He wished, more than anything, that she were exaggerating. But he knew that she wasn't. The Mary that was sitting next to him right now was a Mary that he was fairly certain that was one that was only shown to him. Mary didn't like to be vulnerable, didn't like to show anyone that maybe, just maybe, she wasn't invincible.

So he did something that Mary very rarely let anyone do. He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her as she leaned against him. "Don't let her get to you. It's not your fault. Jinx just doesn't know where else to place the blame for her problems. And now that she can't drown herself in a bottle, she has to let that frustration out somewhere else. In fact, it's a common occurrence in recovering alcoholics. Statistics show-"

"Marshall."

"Sorry." They just sat there for a minute, Marshall's arm around her shoulders and Mary using his shoulder as a pillow.

"Hey, Marshall! I- oh, hello, Mary," a voice called into the house.

The pair looked up from the couch and saw Sarah standing behind them. Mary sat up and took a sip of her beer. Marshall leaned back on the arm of the couch, putting some distance between Mary and him.

"Hey, Sarah," Mary answered, raising her beer in salute. "How are you doing?"

"Fine." Sarah barely inclined her head towards the blonde and her mouth turned down at the corners. "Marshall, I thought that we were going to have dinner tonight?" She tilted her head slightly towards the bag of groceries in her arms. Marshall stood up so fast he almost tripped over himself trying to get to her. He took the bag from her hands, kissed her hello and started unloading groceries. Mary took it as her cue. She finished the last of the beer and stood, pulling on her coat.

"I'm going to head out, Marshall," she called to him.

"I'll see you at work tomorrow," he called back.

"What was that all about?" Sarah asked when she heard the door close. Marshall looked at her, eyes wide in confusion.

"What was… what all about?" he asked slowly. He started chopping up vegetables, throwing them into a pot of water she had put on to boil. Sarah crossed her arms over her chest.

"You and Mary cuddling on the couch," she clarified. Marshall burst out laughing until he realized she was serious.

"We weren't cuddling. Mary just needed a friend."

"That's what it looked like, what with your arm around her." Her foot started tapping and Marshall knew that he was in trouble, he just couldn't figure out why.

"Mary has a lot of problems with her family. They're… not the best people. Sometimes, she just needs someone to vent to." He shrugged and went back to his vegetables. "I'm her friend. I'm not going to turn her away when she needs one the most."

Sarah unfolded her arms and leaned against the counter. "That looked like more than just friendship. The two of you looked like a couple."

Marshall used all of his effort not to laugh. The last word he would ever have used to describe Mary and he was "couple." He walked around the island, stepping close to Sarah. "Mary is like family. Our relationship is professional, friendly and familial. But, believe me, we are not a couple. You and I, we, are a couple."

Sarah looked at her feet, trying to put on an angry face but Marshall knew she wasn't mad anymore. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to accuse you; I just don't understand your relationship with Mary."

Marshall laughed, kissing her then turning his attention back to the pot on the stove. "It's alright. Not a lot of people do."


"Marshall, have you called the hotel in DC yet? We're supposed to be flying out there this weekend."

"I asked Eleanor to do it for me," Marshall answered, neck deep in paper work. Mary was having her own troubles getting things together. They were expected to be in DC for at least a week, and, with Stan also out, Eleanor was going to have to hold down the fort with two Marshals that were helping out for the week. There was a lot of work to be done before the two left for DC with their witness.

"I booked you at a Holiday Inn in downtown DC," Eleanor said as she dropped the travel plans onto Mary's desk. "It's in a pretty busy part of town so it will be easy to lose a tail-"

"You've obviously never driven in DC during rush hour," Mary interrupted. Eleanor continued as if Mary hadn't said a word.

"And I made sure you were put in a room with few windows and in the middle of a hallway so that it will be hard to pick out."

"It's almost like you listen to us when we talk to you," Mary said, glancing over the papers.

"Don't get used to it. I only did it because Marshall threatened me."

Both women turned their heads towards the oblivious man. Marshall looked up, saw them looking at him and gave them a confused expression. "What?"

"And you believed him?" Mary mumbled.

"He bribed me."

"I'm sitting right here," Marshall interjected.

"What could he have possible bribed you with?"

Eleanor gave a dramatic sigh. "He promised he would wear those tight jeans that I like so much."

"The ones that make his ass look so good?" Mary asked, raising her eyebrows. "I'd take that bribe."

"I'm going to lunch," Marshall announced.

"Bye, honey cakes," they both called after him.

"Oh, and pick me up a Big Mac!" Mary added as the elevator door closed. "Do you think he heard me?"

Eleanor shrugged before she walked back to her desk. Marshall returned about a half hour later and plopped a Big Mac, fries and a drink on her desk. "I'm glad that you heard me," Mary said as she took a sip of her drink. "I wasn't sure that you had."

"Heard you do what?"

"I asked you for a Big Mac before you left."

"I didn't hear you."

"Then why did you buy me one?"

"Because you always want one," Marshall said, his tone of voice indicating it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Mary took a bite of her sandwich. "It's like I'm a kept woman."

"Minus the whole woman part."

Mary threw a pickle slice at him. "And minus the part where you always forget to ask them to leave off the pickles."

"Maybe I just leave them on there because I know it annoys you."

"I knew you've been conspiring against me."

"What are the travel plans for transporting Nancy?" Marshall asked her, taking the hotel reservations off her desk. "Or have you fallen into your usual methods of procrastination?"

"Ye of little faith." She pulled tickets out of her side drawer and placed them next to Marshall. "We leave here, connect in Chicago and once again in Boston. And if we haven't completely confused someone by then, we're going to check into our flight into Regan, but really rent a car and drive from Boston to DC."

"I award you ten ninja points."

"Thank you. I'll need all the points I can get for this trip."

Marshall sighed, placing their hotel reservations on top of the plane tickets. "Yeah, it's not going to be an easy trip. I wish it didn't have to be somewhere so populated." The trip had them both a little worried. There was a reason that Nancy was in witness protection. Jason, a mob boss that she was testifying against, had a lot of men at his disposal. They would have to be careful when they went to DC. There would be more people than the two marshals liked and more than enough of them would be controlled by Jason.

Mary closed down her computer and threw a few things into a bag. She had a lot to get done and very little time to finish it. "Can you handle things around here? I have to deal with some stuff before I go. I have a few witnesses to visit before I'm out of reach for a week."

"Yeah, I can handle it. If anything comes up, I'll call you."

"Thanks, Marshall."


When Marshall walked into his apartment, the smell of spiced meat hit his senses immediately. It smelled wonderful, especially after the long day he had. He was happy for the surprise of not having to cook himself a meal tonight. He walked into the kitchen and Sarah was standing over the stove, tasting some sauce out of the pot. She dropped the spoon back in when she was finished and stirred in a little bit of salt. Her ability to cook was one of the first things that Marshall had learned about her after they had started dating and he was more than happy to hand his kitchen over to her.

"Ewww, cooties," he joked, reaching for the spoon. She slapped his hand softly, knowing that he was going in for his own taste.

"No sampling. And if my cooties haven't done anything to you by now, I don't think putting any in the sauce is going to change that. Welcome home." Marshall leaned down, kissing her briefly.

"Mmmm, I love me some sauce tainted cooties."

"You're so odd sometimes, Marshall."

"So, what inspired this impromptu dinner date?" He leaned over the sauce and dipped his finger in, snatching a taste when she wasn't looking.

Sarah rinsed some dishes off in the sink before turning back around. Marshall had erased all evidence that he had sampled the food. Somehow she knew anyway and shook her head at him. "I have to admit, it's kind of a bribe."

"You can bribe me anytime if this is the result." He tried going back for a second taste but she stopped him.

"There isn't going to be any left for the food if you keep eating it."

"I don't take that much," he protested. Sarah just looked at him in disbelief. "So, why are you bribing me again?"

"Well, my parents are going to be in town this weekend. I was really hoping that we could all have dinner so they could meet you." She stepped close to him, wrapping her arms slowly around his waist. She wasn't wearing heels, making it so the top of her head barely brushed his chin.

"Sweetheart, I have to work this weekend."

"You can't get someone to cover for you?" She gently bit his collar bone.

"It's not the type of thing that someone else can do for me."

"Please, honey? Can't you just get away for a few hours?" Her lips travelled from his collar bone to his neck.

Marshall sighed internally, realizing that he was going to have to tell her more than he had planned on. "I'm not even going to be in town this weekend."

All petting immediately stopped and Sarah pulled back, looking at him shocked. "Excuse me?"

"I'm… going on a business trip."

"And exactly when were you planning on telling me you were going on this trip?"

Marshall may not have had a ton of successful relationships in his life, but even he was smart enough to know that "never" wasn't the right answer here. Unfortunately, any answers he did have were just going to lead to more questions, most of which he knew he wasn't going to be able to answer. It was time for Sarah and him to sit down and talk about what he really did for a living. Or rather, tell her that he never could. That he was a Marshal and worked in Law Enforcement just wasn't going to cut it anymore.

"I think we need to talk." He gestured to the living room and Sarah went, angered looked on her face the entire time. She sat down on the couch, legs and arms crossed. Marshall ran a hand through his hair and sat down next to her. "Sarah… I'm not a exactly in the brand of Law Enforcement that you think I am."

"I know; you're a Marshal. As in those people who carry guns on planes so terrorists don't take over."

"No, that's an Air Marshal."

"So what does the regular kind do? I'm still not understanding."

"That's just it. I can't tell you what I do past the fact that I'm a Marshal."

Sarah laughed, actually laughed until she, very quickly, realized that he wasn't kidding. "You're shitting me."

"No, I'm actually completely serious. I'm going on a trip out of town with Mary this weekend but I can't give you a location or a time frame or a reason. I might be gone a week. I might be gone two days. To be honest, I'm not even completely sure how long but even if I did, I couldn't tell you that either."

"I don't believe this. You are feeding me this and you actually expect me to believe that you can't tell me anything about what you do? Seconds after I find out you're going on a trip with your female partner?"

"Think about it, Sarah. How many times have you actually heard me talk about my job? In detail? In eight months, name me one time that I told you something more than the fact that I was a Marshal."

She wanted to name him a million because she didn't think it was possible that he hadn't talked about it all this time and she hadn't noticed. She didn't want to know that she was that unobservant, but she couldn't think of a single time that he had mentioned anything. It had taken him about three months to tell her about his partner. She didn't know who his boss was, what he did during his day and she needed security clearance to get into his building.

"You weren't going to tell me that you would be out of town, were you?" She didn't look at him, just kept her eyes on her hands.

"I figured, the longer you didn't have to know about my job, the better things would be. It's not exactly a conversation starter. 'Hey, my name is Marshall and I work for a secret part of the government and can't tell you anything about my job.'"

Sarah couldn't keep from laughing. She leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. "Yeah, I probably wouldn't have dated you."

Marshall hugged her and kissed the top of her head. "I know it's difficult but you have to trust me."

"This is one of those things that's not going to change, is it? This is something you love that I'll never be able to convince you to leave."

"Yeah, I can't really see myself doing anything else."

She turned so she could kiss him. "If you love it, then I'm ok with it. It's a little unconventional to be sure but as long as your happy…" she shrugged. "I either take you with your quirks or I don't take you at all. Right now, I like you more than I care about what you do for a living. Or who you do it with, for that matter."

"Thanks for being so understanding, Sarah."

She got to her feet, taking Marshall's hand and pulling him up in the process. "Let's eat before everything burns and we have to order that awful take out that you like so much."

"That Chinese restaurant is amazing."

"As long as you don't mind food poisoning."

"I told you not to touch the Lo Mein."