A/N: All right, everybody, back to the 'A' plot - this chapter is buildup, but the action is coming!
Italian words: Gattina - little cat; Capisi - understand; Ti amo - I love you
Marshall watched Mary as she pulled on her wrinkled clothes and he could feel that she was in a much better place emotionally this morning. Though he knew one night wasn't enough time to repair a lifetime of anger, grief, and pain – he hoped that the healing process had begun and would continue. As much as he wanted to give her more time, spend a few days just the two of them, it was a luxury they couldn't afford right now.
"Where's my sling, Doofus?"
Her words brought him out of his thoughts and he grinned at the sight of her peering under the bed. "It's by the door, Mer – remember? You attacked me as soon as we got in the room last night."
She sat back on her heels and grinned up at him from the floor. "The only thing I remember is you holding me at arms' length for hours before finally giving in to my charms."
He laughed as he pulled his wife beater over his head. "It wasn't hours-" he protested as he turned to pick up his dress shirt, freezing as he felt her hands slip around his lean hips to the front of jeans. He captured her fingers before she could undo the button and spun around to tangle his own in her hair. "We don't have time for another round – we have to get home," he sighed as he leaned his forehead against hers.
"I know," she whispered the words before capturing his mouth briefly. "I just – I need you to know –" she paused and swallowed.
"What?" he encouraged her, wrapping his arms around her. "Tell me."
"Thank you for last night."
He grinned and waggled his eyebrows. "You're welcome, Sunshine."
She slapped his chest. "I'm not talking about that! You – we're always good with that. I mean, thank you for letting me cry and scream – basically have an emotional meltdown." She swallowed again and looked deep into his eyes. "I've never felt safe enough in a relationship before to let anyone see me that vulnerable – I guess I was afraid that if someone saw all my broken pieces, he'd run-" she shrugged and looked away.
"Mary, listen to me," Marshall tightened his hold and waited for her to raise her eyes back to his. "I love you – I've loved you practically from the moment we met. There was no place I'd rather be than by your side, even if it was only backing you up in the field and annoying you in the office. The happiest day of my life was the day you turned up on my doorstep and said you couldn't stop thinking about the look on my face when I gave you my messy speech, remember?" He waited for her nod before he continued. "I didn't run then and I'm sure as hell not running now – I'm not perfect, Mer, you know that. I have my own issues and I can be a selfish bastard-"
"You're my selfish bastard," Mary leaned up to breathe against his lips.
He grinned. "Damn straight." He pecked her lips before continuing. "But at the end of day, I'm afraid you're stuck with me. I told you I wanted a lifetime and we're only six years into that contract."
She dropped a kiss to the pulse on his neck. "Let's go home to our kids, Marshall – I mean it this time," she added with a grin.
He tried to stay relaxed but she felt him stiffen in her arms and she pulled away to see his eyes. "Marshall? What is it?"
He sighed. "We need to talk."
She narrowed her eyes. "Those are the four worst words in the English language."
"Let's sit down."
She shook her head. "No – just tell me."
He ran a hand through his hair. "Eleanor called while you were in Ireland to let me know that Carmen received an anonymous letter – a threatening one."
Mary's eyes moved back and forth as she processed this info. "But – why now? And who could have sent it?"
"Carmen thinks it's from Tony."
"I see." This time, Mary did walk over to the bed as her legs grew wobbly and she sat down before they collapsed under her. "Does she have any proof?"
Marshall looked at his partner in disbelief. "You believe her?"
"You don't?"
"I was there – I saw Tony die-"
Mary shook her head. "No- you saw his body sprawled on the defense table, but you didn't take his pulse, did you? And you weren't there when the paramedics came, were you?"
Marshall began pacing. "This is crazy! You honestly think Tony Jr faked his own death?"
"You did."
Her words brought him up short and Marshall came over to the bed, dropping down to a crouch in front of Mary. "That was an entirely different set of circumstances! US Marshals arranged for that SUV to blow up after it looked like I had gotten inside. But dozens of witnesses saw Carmen shoot Tony in a federal courthouse!"
"But did they actually see him die?"
"Semantics!"
"Why are you so closed minded about this? Who else could possibly be threatening Carmen?"
Marshall rocked to his feet. "Because if it is Tony Jr – it means that this nightmare isn't over. Carmen isn't safe – but even more important, it means our daughter isn't safe!"
"Marshall-"
"I won't do it, Mary. I won't give her up – give her back - not until I know this monster is really, truly dead and she's safe."
Mary took a deep breath as she got to her feet and crossed the distance between them. "That isn't what I was going to say." She longed to reach out and touch him, to reassure him physically, but he was still so wound up that she hesitated. Instead she focused on keeping her posture relaxed and her words soft. "I was going to remind you that we've beaten these monsters once before and we'll do it again."
He broke. Just like she had last night and so long ago on a rooftop in Albuquerque, she watched as his shoulders shook and his body tried to contain the sobs. Her heart ached for this man who had been so strong for her, for Sadie, for their children. She stepped into his personal space and opened her arms.
"Come here, lover," she whispered.
She braced herself as he fell into her arms, his face nuzzling her neck, and she felt his tears against her skin as she brushed his hair back. It was a long time before he spoke again and then it was just a faint whisper on her skin.
"I love you."
She smiled. "I know."
The intercom on the desk buzzed and Eleanor pressed it without looking away from her computer. "Yes, Stephanie?"
"Leo Anderson is here to see you."
"Send him in – oh, and Stephanie? Please tell Miles that I'm in conference and not to be disturbed."
Stephanie's sigh came over the intercom. "I'll do my best – but you know that man is impossible."
Eleanor laughed as her office door opened and a thirty-something man sporting a deep tan walked in. She hurried around her desk, holding out her hands. "Leo! I didn't think you'd get back to me so soon! I was told you were out of the country-"
Leo grinned, his teeth white in his tanned face. "I was – just flew in this morning on the redeye."
She winced. "You should be home sleeping then-"
He shook his head as Stephanie bustled in with a coffee tray."Nonsense, you always take top priority, Els, you know that."
"Thank you, Stephanie, that will be all," Eleanor nodded at her faithful assistant and Stephanie left, closing the door behind her. She frowned at Leo, noticing the deep circles under his eyes and the five o'clock shadow on his chin. "I really could have waited twenty four hours, Leo."
He shrugged. "I had to debrief and I'm still too keyed up to sleep so I thought I'd just pop over and see what you needed before I hit the sack."
"You're too good to me," Eleanor shook her head. "I don't suppose you want coffee?"
"I'd love some – don't worry, it won't keep me awake."
She poured him a cup and passed it to him, knowing from their years of friendship that he preferred it black. After fixing her own cup with cream and two sugars, she sat back in her chair and smiled at him. "I'm glad to see you're safely back from – wherever the agency sent you."
Leo grinned again and swung a leg over the arm of his chair. "See, why can't I find a nice girl like you, Els? One who doesn't ask me a hundred questions that I can't answer and will just fawn all over me when I come home?"
She shook her head at him. "You're still young – I'm sure you'll find someone."
"You're the lucky one – you found love not once, but twice. How's Stan?" Leo gestured towards the wedding picture on the bookshelf with his coffee mug.
"He's fine – in fact, the reason I called you here has to do with one of his previous witnesses. Do you remember Tony Forelli?"
Leo wrinkled his forehead in thought. "I remember the Forelli family, of course. Mafia family based in New York City - they launder money throughout the east coast – what specifically are you asking?"
"About six years ago, Tony Forelli Jr was on trial and his wife, Angela, shot him-"
"Oh yes, I remember now. Papa Tony was quite broken up about it since Jr was his only heir – well, until it came to light that the old man had some illegitimate children. I guess that helped to ease his pain somewhat since there would be someone to carry on the family business," Leo chuckled. "Whatever happened to the wife? I assume she's doing time?"
Eleanor nodded. "Yes, her sentence is just about up. But she got an anonymous letter last week, saying she would never be safe. She thinks it's from her dead husband."
"So you called me."
She shrugged. "Well, hunting down ghosts and criminals who 'die' and recreate themselves is your area of expertise."
"Hmm, yes. So, you want to know if Tony Forelli Jr is still alive."
"Yes. Do you think it's possible? Or do you share everyone else's view that I'm crazy?"
Leo grinned lazily. "You're asking the wrong person given my line of work, Els. After all, when my partner, your first husband, died I was determined to find his killer. I had no idea that vow would lead me on a new career path."
"I can't thank you enough for finding John's killer, Leo. Knowing that man won't hurt anyone else is a great comfort to me."
Leo swallowed his last sip of coffee. "Well, I'm just glad things have turned out so well for you. I never thought I'd see you so happy, Els. You are positively glowing these days and I know it's all due to your new husband."
Eleanor glanced at her wedding photo and smiled. "Yes, Stanley is wonderful." She cleared her throat. "But back to business. Can you help me?"
Leo sighed. "I suppose you need to find this guy yesterday?"
She nodded.
"Well, my next assignment starts in seventy-two hours but I'll do what I can. I'm going to need all the information you can pull together on the case from six years ago-"
Eleanor held out a thumb drive. "It's all on here. Email me if something's missing."
"Wow – you do want this done fast, huh? Okay, Els, I'm on it."
"I'm going to pull Emmy from ballet camp."
"Now, Alison, let's not overreact."
She whirled on Stan, her eyes blazing. "Overreact? You come back from a nice, relaxing weekend with your wife and drop this bombshell on me and expect me not to overreact? Tell me, Stan, how am I supposed to react?"
Stan rubbed his temples. "We've sent the note for analysis, so there isn't much we can do until the report comes back, all right? In the meantime, why don't we all try and remain calm."
Alison stilled. "How did you get the note?"
He sighed. "I went to Riker's and saw Carmen-"
"YOU saw my daughter – without telling me, without asking me?"
"Alison, she doesn't trust anyone right now-"
"She trusts her mother – she would have given me the note."
"You were here in Albuquerque – I was in DC. I was closer – it was easier for me to go, all right?"
Alison's shoulders slumped as she collapsed into one of his office chairs. "How is she?"
He let out a deep breath. "Scared – worried about her girls."
"Emmy's fine – did you tell her that?"
"Yes, I told her – I told her that we're all focused on keeping Emmy safe."
Alison nodded. "That's why I'm going to pull her-"
"Alison," Stan spoke firmly. "Emmy needs to do something with her friends this summer. The dance camp is only one hour a day. If it makes you feel better, we can rotate our schedules so that one of us can take her and wait outside until she's done."
"I think that would be a good idea."
"I'll make it happen then." Stan moved to his calendar, already rearranging the week in his mind.
"What about Sadie? Is she still safe?"
Stan looked up to see Alison staring through the glass at Charlie and Emmy. As he watched the pair morphed into Marshall and Sadie in his mind and he had to shake his head to clear the image. It had been more than six years since Marshall's death and he still missed him, still blamed himself for what happened. He wished he could talk to Mary, find out how she was doing, if she and Sadie were really doing all right-
"Stan?"
Alison's voice brought him out of his brown study. "Sadie is with Mary in a secure location, Alison, she's fine."
"And you don't know where they are?"
He shook his head. "No."
"All these years, your wife has never told you?"
He pressed his lips together. "No."
She tipped her head to the side. "How odd. I didn't think married people kept secrets from each other."
Stan grinned. "And how many times have you been married, Alison?"
It was impossible to sneak up on their kids. Mary and Marshall had turned it into a game over the years – they used their Marshal training to creep up on them but one of the kids would always sense them and turn around. More often than not it was Sadie – Mary claimed it was because she was the oldest and the designated leader of their tribe. Marshall preferred to think of it that way instead of the simple fact that their daughter was jumpy and never quite at ease, even though it had been six years since her life had been threatened.
As they approached their house, Sadie ran around the side, laughing, with Cole in hot pursuit. She stopped in her tracks when she saw them and Cole ran smack into her, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"I got you! You're it!"
"Mom," Sadie whispered.
Mary stepped up to them, reaching out her good arm. "Hey kiddos, having fun?"
"MOM!" Cole yelled, throwing his arms around her waist. "Where have you been?"
Mary laughed. "Your dad and I stayed in town last night – where is everybody?"
"In the back – hey Dad!" Cole left her side and ran to Marshall.
He swung his son up into his arms. "Have you been good for Aunt Jenna?"
Cole nodded eagerly but Marshall looked at Sadie for confirmation. At her nod, he said, "OK, why don't we go find them?" He shifted Cole to his back for a ride and skipped around the side of the house, leaving his girls alone.
Mary held out her hand and Sadie ran to her, snuggling into her side. "I'm sorry we left so abruptly last night, kiddo. It couldn't be helped."
Sadie sighed against her hip. "I know, work."
Mary cleared her throat. "Actually, I had to go see my father."
Sadie pulled away and looked up at Mary. "Your father? I thought he left when you were a little girl?"
"He did. Come sit down." She led Sadie over to the big porch swing and sat down. Sadie was careful to snuggle into the side that didn't have a sling. "That's what this trip to Ireland was about – I went to find him – to arrest him."
Sadie was quiet for a minute before she whispered. "Your father's a bad man – like mine?"
"Oh honey, no, not like that. He robbed banks and he left me alone to raise my little sister but not-" she bit her lip and stopped, not knowing how to finish that sentence.
"I thought you had a mom-"
Mary sighed. "I did – but she was sick a lot."
"Oh. Why are you telling me this?"
"I don't know. I guess I just wanted you to understand that I wouldn't have left you except to find my father."
Sadie bit her lip. "But you got hurt – you could have-"
Mary squeezed her tighter. "I'm fine, honey. Just a scratch."
"When you didn't come home last night, I thought maybe daddy had taken you back to the hospital."
"Oh Sadie-" Mary breathed softly. "I should have called you, I'm so sorry. I – my father wanted to talk to me, and afterwards I was tired and upset. I needed some time to pull myself together."
Sadie looked up at her. "Are you feeling better now?"
Mary dropped a kiss onto Sadie's dark head. "I'm feeling much better now. So, do you want to talk about your birthday party?"
Sadie shook her head. "I don't want a party, Mom. I just want supper and cake and all of us together. Please?"
Mary frowned. "No friends from school? I thought maybe you'd like to have a sleepover or-"
"No, I want it to be just us. If this is going to be my last- I want just us and Aunt Jenna, Jacen, and the girls, ok?"
Mary's eyes teared up as she dropped another kiss on her daughter's head. "We can do that, honey."
"But that doesn't mean I don't want presents."
When Marshall came around the corner of the house a couple of minutes later, he found his girls snuggled up together in the porch swing, giggling and whispering. His heart constricted as he took a mental picture to remember after Sadie was gone. This was the girl that had opened Mary's heart to the idea of loving children and no matter where in the world she resided, she would always be their oldest.
"DADDY! Cam broke my Barbie!" Bee wailed.
Marshall rolled his eyes even as he grinned. Duty calls.
The ringing of her cell woke her from a sound sleep and Rosie groped for the offending object blindly, her eyes remaining firmly shut. "Hello," she croaked.
"Sorry to wake you, Gattina."
Hearing his voice on the line brought her to a sitting position in bed as she adjusted the sheets around her, and glanced anxiously at her slumbering fiancé. "What is it?"
"You're not alone?"
"No," she whispered as she slipped from the bed and headed for the bathroom on the balls of her feet. Once she had shut the bathroom door, she hissed into the phone. "I thought I wasn't going to hear from you until afterwards."
"We're moving the timetable up."
"Why? Has something happened?"
"Don't get your tail in a knot, Gattina. They're starting to sniff around, but I expected that."
Rosie leaned her head against the bathroom door. "Are they closing in?"
He chuckled. "Of course not. Now listen, your package will arrive by FedEx tomorrow. I need you to act within the next forty-eight hours. Is that going to be a problem?"
Rosie's eyes moved over Charlie's bathroom as she processed this order, smiling faintly. "No, it's not a problem at all."
"Good, Do whatever you need to do to ensure a clean getaway, capisi?"
"Yes."
"I'll see you in about a week then. Ti Amo."
Rosie longed to say the words back to him but she could hear Charlie moving around in the bedroom. "Ciao." She hung up the phone just as the bathroom door opened and a sleep tousled and confused Charlie met her gaze.
"Rosie? Who was on the phone?"
"My aunt."
His frown deepened. "I thought she lived in a care facility."
Rosie rolled her eyes. "She does – but sometimes she sneaks out of her room to call me in the middle of the night to complain about this, that, and the other. It's SO annoying. Come on, let's go back to bed, sweetheart."
Charlie covered a yawn with his hand as she led him to the bed and they climbed beneath the covers. As she settled her head under his chin, he whispered, "And here I was afraid you were going to tell me it was your agent, calling you away for another photo shoot."
Rosie smiled as she kissed the underside of his chin. "Nope, I'm afraid you're stuck with me for awhile."
Charlie grinned as he rolled her beneath him. "Good."
A/N: Oh, Charlie - major heart break ahead. I wonder what's in Rosie's package? Reviews are LOVE!