Dante showered and changed before lying down on Marshall's bed. He needed rest and then time to figure out how to handle his mistake. If he couldn't repair the damage done today he'd have to get rid of Marshall. All trails of what happened here need to be erased.
Staring at the ceiling Dante let his mind wander to possible scenarios. If he embarrassed Marshall's good name then he wouldn't be able to go meet his parents. They should have never stopped looking for him. His anger level increased as he went through the house looking for where Marshall stored photos. He had to have them somewhere in this house.
Walking into Marshall's office room he found what he was looking for. Grabbing the photo album he looked at the way his parents stared at Marshall like he was the greatest thing that ever lived. If he couldn't get to them he'd take Marshall from them they'd suffer like he did.
Mary stormed into the office and right to Stan. "We have a huge problem."
Stan looked at Mary and then behind her. "What is it and where's your partner?"
"Marshall would be the problem and I dropped him off at home since he isn't fit for duty." Mary knew the last statement would catch Stan's attention.
"What happened?" Stan demanded.
"He froze; Marshall froze. He doesn't freeze Stan. Dershowitz witnessed it to. He got into cover and was shaking something fierce; he couldn't leave the cover. He was frozen in place. You need to get Shelly Finkle in here to talk to him. He's not my Marshall; he looks like him, dresses like him but doesn't act like him. Maybe he did injure something on the way to Colorado." Mary stated pacing back and forth in front of Stan's desk.
"Is the attitude still there?" Stan questioned.
"Yes, it was before the shooting; Dershowitz noticed it too." Mary confirmed. "It's almost as if he's been replaced. Maybe I should take him to the gym or firing range like Dershowitz suggested. The gym sounds better though with what happened today."
"Mary, whatever is wrong with him you can't beat it out of him." Stan warned.
"Give me a break; I wouldn't hurt him besides I'm just talking about using the fitness machines." Mary shrugged.
"Okay." Stan agreed hoping it would help. "I'll call Shelly and see what we can do; in the meantime he's on desk duty."
"Stan we have to fix this." Mary told him; she didn't want another partner.
"We'll do everything possible for him Mary; I'm not going to just give up on him." Stan was fond of both his inspectors; if he was honest with himself they were as close to having children as he'd come.
Dante slept for several hours before calling a cab to pick him up and take him to the shop for the truck. Once it was retrieved he headed out to the manufacturing building. He needed answers before the months of studying and planning to take over Marshall's life was ruined.
Walking towards the back of the building he found Marshall. "You're not looking so good there Marshall. How's the leg?"
"Like you care. What do you want now?" Marshall was tired, hungry, hurting and thirsty and not in the mood for Dante's crap. "You shouldn't be back already; what did you mess up this time?" Marshall may not have a watch but he was pretty sure that a full day hadn't gone by.
Enraged by the fact he'd figured it out; Dante walked over and backhanded Marshall. "Shut up!"
"What's the matter too much truth for you?" Marshall continued to bait him.
Dante punched Marshall in the stomach before answering. "You think you're so smart. You won't be feeling that way when I'm through with you."
"You're assuming you'll still be around." Marshall laughed antagonizing him more.
"No one will rescue you; they don't even know you're missing. I see you need to be taught a lesson; but will get to that after you explain what happens after you freeze up in a shootout." Dante smiled when he saw Marshall's eyes filled with concern.
"What did you do?" Marshall demanded.
"What's the matter worried about your partner or detective friend?" Dante taunted. "They took care of the problem but have serious concerns about your job performance after you froze up in the middle of an assignment."
"You idiot; you could've gotten them or someone else killed!" Marshall was furious.
"How do you handle it without freezing up?" Dante questioned.
"It's instinctual; you put the other people first and know that if you don't do your job someone could get killed." Marshall didn't know how else to explain it.
Dante thought about it. "I'll have to give it a try next time. How long before they start whatever process needs to be done and what will they do?"
"Mary probably already talked to Stan and he'll be making arrangements for you to see the departmental psychologist; but how soon depends on the psychiatrist's schedule. You'll be removed from any field work and stuck on desk duty." Marshall answered.
"What will the shrink ask?" Dante demanded.
"I don't know; I've never frozen up before." Marshall bit back.
Dante's anger spiked at the reminder of that fact that he'd failed in the field. "It's time you learned a lesson about how to treat your elders." He threw the first punch to Marshall's gut, then next to his side and continued to beat on him until his rage subsided. "You're not looking so tough now are you Marshall?"
Marshall spit out some of the blood from his lip and glared at Dante. "Easy to say when you're hitting someone that can't fight back. Not man enough to fight me on equal terms?"
Dante threw a punch into Marshall's face rendering him unconscious. "You never learn."
Mary wrote up her reports for the bank incident and reluctantly handed them in. Stan looked on her with sympathy for having to put in Marshall's reaction.
"Do you care if we come in late tomorrow? I want to see if I can get Marshall to work off some of his frustrations." Mary needed to find a way to help.
Stan nodded in agreement. "Just bring him back in one piece."
"He'll be intact I promise." Mary stated before heading out.
She drove towards Marshall's and once again found the place vacant. "Where've you been going lately Doofus?" Her voice was hollow in the empty car before heading home.
Walking into her house she grabbed her phone and dialed Marshall waiting for him to pick up.
"What?" Dante snapped into the phone.
"Be ready for the gym by seven tomorrow morning. I'm picking you up." Mary stated.
"Why?" Dante demanded.
"It's a good way to vent off frustration and neither of us has been to the gym in awhile." Mary informed.
"Whatever but I'm picking you up or meeting you there." Dante rolled his eyes in disgust.
"Okay, pick me up." Mary bit out before shutting her cell phone and heading to bed frustrated at Marshall's continual pissy behavior.