Ch: 6: In the Still of the Night

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews. I felt good about the character dialogue and I'm glad to see that many of you agreed.

Eleanor had used her time alone at the safe house to make a few phone calls. She had seen Marshall's personnel file, as well as those of Mary and Stan, before she decided to take the job in Albuquerque. While she may have made what she considered a quick decision to transfer, she certainly didn't make it blind. She made sure to read the employment histories of the people she would be working with, and also talked to several of her contacts about what was not kept in the files. That is why she had purposely rearranged the office on her first day. She knew Mary wouldn't take well to her presence and wanted to do something to throw her off balance. The unfortunate part was that in her haste to move to Albuquerque, she was out of touch for a few days and was unaware of the Inspector having been kidnapped or she may have done things differently. In the end though, she was slowly making her place and was holding her own as far as Mary was concerned.

Her calls today were to a friend in Washington that she knew had access to the background checks of all government employees, even those at the highest levels. She did not ask for classified information, but simply said there was a situation of a personal nature and requested information for U.S. Marshal Marshall R. Mann and that of his father, Retired Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert M. Mann. She was genuinely concerned about Marshall and hoped the request would not come to bite her in ass later on. After being told the information would be waiting for her when she returned to the office tomorrow, she went back to enjoying her last day with Matty.

It was after 8:00pm when Marshall walked into the house to wonderful smells from the kitchen that made him realize just how hungry he was. "Wow, I didn't realize I was bunking with Julia Child," he said as he saw Eleanor, apron and all, taking a large baking dish out of the oven.

"Oh, stop teasing," she responded with a large grin on her face.

"I'm not, Eleanor, not if it tastes as good as it smells," he said returning her smile as he watched her checking the pots on the stove. "I'm not used to coming home to such a meal and I guess I shouldn't get used to it since your leaving in the morning."

"Well, you'll have Mar..." she stopped as she realized what she was about to say and gave him an apologetic look.

"Exactly," he said laughing. "I believe I'm the cook in that partnership. Which is why I appreciate your effort all the more." He walked over and gave her a kiss on the cheek before heading to his room to change.

Eleanor blushed and called after him, "Hurry up because it will be on the table in five minutes."

Marshall washed up and changed into more comfortable clothes. Despite the rocky start in the office, he genuinely liked Eleanor. And while he was glad that the situation between her and Mary seemed to be improving, he appreciated having another person to take the brunt of Mary's aggression. He stopped in Matty's room to check on him before heading back to the kitchen.

He and Eleanor sat at the table for almost 2 hours as he enjoyed a full meal, including dessert, and the conversation. They talked about nothing and everything, and she never once interrupted him when he went off on one of his tangents. When they were finished, he insisted that she let him do the dishes. She tried to refuse, but there was no arguing with him once he had made up his mind.

"Very well then," she said finally relenting, "I guess I'll just go pack then. Good night."

"Good night, Eleanor. Thank you for the great meal and the wonderful company."

"You're welcome Marshall. It was my pleasure."

He heard her stop at Matty's room before making her way to her own. He then turned his attention to the task at hand. He worked systematically. First he did the dishes, then the pots and pans. He then wiped down all the counters and the stove before sweeping the floor. Living alone for many years, he was used to taking care of household chores and he didn't want Eleanor to wake up to a mess after taking the time to make him such a nice meal.

It was almost 11:00pm by the time he finished, so he changed into his pajamas and sat down in the den to watch the local news. He settled into the big, comfortable recliner and grabbed the remote leaving his glock in its place. As he listened to the newscaster's summary of the day's events, his eyelids became heavy and he nestled even further into the chair as sleep overtook him.

***

Mary had left her house several hours ago and after driving aimlessly around the city, she had ended up at the office. Maybe it was Raph's last words to her, but for some reason she stopped herself from going directly to the safe house, to Marshall. The more she thought about it though, the angrier she became. Marshall was not only her partner, but also her best friend. Everyone knew that. Raph knew that. 'He's such an asshole, sometimes,' she thought to herself, 'I mean, I don't have a lot of experience, but I kinda thought that was what the whole best friend thing was about, being there for each other.'

She sat for awhile trying not to think about her situation, which only made her mind go into overdrive. "Screw this," she said grabbing her coat and keys. What she needed was some food and sleep. As she made her way out of the Sunshine Building, she knew that she could get everything she needed at the safe house and it was really the only place she wanted to be anyway.

After parking her car and having a quick conversation with the security detail, she made her way toward the house. She assumed everyone was sleeping, so she tried to be as quiet as possible as she entered. Walking back toward the kitchen, she heard the sound of the TV and redirected herself to the den.

***

Marshall's eyes flew open as he reached instinctively for his gun. In that millisecond, he registered that the TV was on and realized that he must have fallen asleep. Shaking his head, he thought to himself, 'Way to be jumpy, Mann. It's just the TV.' He started to reach for the remote to turn it off, when he heard the creak of the floorboards just outside the den. 'Or maybe not.' Not wanting to make any noise, he stayed still in the recliner with gun drawn and his eyes fixed on the doorway.

There was another creak as a body appeared from around the corner. He could tell by the clothing that it was not Eleanor and his body tensed readying itself to react, when he saw the familiar shade of golden hair.

"Jesus, Mary. Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"Relax doofus, I come in peace," she said sarcastically. "Besides your not that good a shot anyway."

"What the hell are you doing sneaking around at this hour?' he said ignoring her comment. "I didn't think you'd be here until morning. Seriously, why the hell didn't you call to tell me you were coming?"

"I sent you a text about a half hour ago."

Marshall started searching his clothes.

"Um, I don't think your Captain America pjs have a pocket you moron," she said laughing. "Cute, by the way."

"Damn I must have left my phone on the dresser when I changed. So why are you here anyway?"

"Do you really have to ask?"

"It went that well tonight then, huh?"

"Peachy!" she answered in a tone that conveyed just the opposite. "So you got anything to eat around here?"

"Well you are in luck Milady, Eleanor made an amazing dinner tonight and I believe the leftovers are in the fridge." Marshall smiled and made a grand gesture with his hand toward the kitchen.

Mary laughed and said, "You really are such a dork."

"Yes, but you love me anyway."

"Good thing for you or I would have shot you a long time ago. You know that right?"

"I do. Now are you hungry or not?"

"Definitely hungry. Lead the way Captain," Mary said snickering.

Marshall rolled his eyes and headed toward the kitchen.

"You honestly didn't think I was just going to let that go, did you?"

He just shook his head as he opened the fridge and gathered the various containers. He opened each one, spooning the contents onto a plate and then placed it in the microwave for a couple of minutes. While it was heating he gathered utensils and a napkin, setting them on the table. Then he poured a tall glass of milk and placed it in front of her.

Mary watched him as he busied himself and for the first time all night felt at ease. There was something so comforting about being with someone that knew exactly what you needed. She heard the ding of the microwave and smiled as the plate was placed in front of her. "Wow, Eleanor really cooked all of this."

"Yes. We had a very lovely meal this evening."

"Oh my god, so good." Her mouth was so full she could barely get the words out.

Marshall started to laugh, when they both jumped up.

"What the fuck was that?" Mary said as Marshall held up a hand indicating for her to stand down.

"It's okay. It's just Matthew," he replied as he headed down the hallway.

"And it's okay?" she questioned as she followed him. "Cause it didn't sound okay to me."

Eleanor appeared and was about to enter Matty's room. "Oh Mary, I didn't know you were here."

"And hello to you too."

"It's okay Eleanor, I'll get him," Marshall said entering the nursery, "you have to go to the office in the morning."

"I don't mind, really," she said eyeing Mary, "I don't want to interrupt anything."

Mary gave Eleanor a what's your problem look and was about to open her mouth when Marshall said, "Nothing to interrupt. Mary was just having some leftovers. I'll take care of this. You get some sleep."

"Okay," Eleanor responded as she returned Mary's gaze. "I'll see you in the morning then."

Marshall was already picking up Matthew from the crib, when Mary entered the room.

"Is he sick? What's wrong with him?"

"He's not sick, we had him checked out. He does this every night about the same time and Eleanor is convinced it's nightmares." He turned his attention to the baby, "Shh, big guy. It's okay. Shh."

Mary watched in amazement as her badass partner with the dorky exterior cradled the baby in his arms, instantly chasing away the demons and calming him down. Then she thought to herself, 'I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. He's been taking care of me like that for years.' She didn't realize that she now had a goofy smile on her face as she stared at the scene in front of her.

"What?" Marshall asked self-consciously when he noticed Mary smiling at him oddly.

"Huh, nothing," she said returning to reality. "I just…well, you're very good with him. So, what now? Is there anything I can do?"

"No, I think I got it. Actually, you might as well finish eating and get some sleep. Take my room, back down the hall and to the right."

"Are you sure? Aren't you planning on sleeping tonight?"

"Don't worry about us. We'll be fine."

"Um, okay. I'll see you two boys in the morning," Mary said unconvinced but not wanting to get into it with Marshall at this point. "Night."

"Night Mare," he said with a warm and genuine smile.

I really struggled with this chapter because Mary wouldn't shut up. I had half of the chapter written before I realized that I had gone off on a tangent and it was not what I wanted for the story. So, getting back on track was tough. I really didn't want to stop at this point, but continuing would have made the chapter way too long. Let me know what you think.