*** I tried!! But the zest moved itself to subsequent chapters...sigh. Gotta set up some plot and have Mary deal with a few things. Stay tuned though...the zestiness becomes downright mouthwatering! ***

She wouldn't have heard it if it wasn't for the dream.

She was standing in a puddle in the middle of a field and there was no one to be seen in any direction. She held a weapon in each hand, but didn't know why and called out, "Hello?" Suddenly, she heard the roar of the tornado and whipped around. Coming straight at her was the rapist from the basement, leaping through the air, and she raised both guns and fired. He disappeared in a puff of smoke, but she heard more roaring behind her and spun again. One of the men from the motel now sprang from the tall grass and she poured bullets into him. Again and again they came at her…all those she had killed, or almost killed, over the years. She was crying and turned again to confront the next danger, firing as she whirled. She saw his face too late and yelled, "No!" The man didn't disintegrate, but landed at her feet…her father. She threw herself on him, wracked with grief. A hand touched her shoulder and she tensed, ready to shoot again, but it was Marshall's voice she heard. "It's okay, Mare. You have me now." Mary stared at him as he faded away and she was left sitting next to her father's body with the sound of crickets in the air.

Mary awoke suddenly and sat up as the dream was stripped away. Her face was wet with tears and she wiped at them, realizing she was still dressed in her t-shirt and jeans. Marshall must've covered her with a blanket at some point as it was gathered at her feet due to her nocturnal struggles. She shook her head slightly because she could still hear the crickets…wait. Sitting very still and holding her breath she tried to identify the scratching sound as something real. Her eyes were drawn to the door and she carefully and silently snuck closer to investigate. Someone was on the other side quietly and meticulously doing something to the lock. These were card lock doors and she narrowed her eyes to wonder if you could even pick that kind of lock. Thinking quickly, she slowly moved the bar lock over to an open position so if the purpose of the outside activity was to gain access it would be granted. "Welcome to my parlor…" she thought.

Trotting over to grab her gun, she slipped through the adjoining door and over to Marshall's bed. Knowing she was going to end up on the business end of his gun for it and hoping he wasn't too quick on the trigger, she leaned down and whispered in his ear.

"Marshall, wake up."

Within moments, Mary had Marshall's gun pressed into her abdomen as his other hand grabbed her forearm. She hissed, "It's me, you idiot. Quiet…someone's tampering with the lock on my door. C'mon."

He was instantly awake with her whisper and reflexively moved to neutralize the threat. His brain snapped, "Mary" at nearly the same time, and he released her immediately while his heart pounded. He was up as soon as her words penetrated and he followed her over to the adjoining door.

Leaning into her, he whispered, "Don't do that! I have an itchy trigger finger when I'm on watch."

"You wouldn't have shot me. You knew it was me before you knew it was me."

"What?" he was running that sentence around in his mind.

"Shhh! Listen."

He could hear the scratching noise, then a sudden pop, and signaled her to stay and watch Manny while he crept over to stand behind the door as it began to open centimeter by centimeter. Mary kept out of sight in the shadows of the door to Manny's room and watched as a dark, silent figure moved into her room. She shuddered as she saw him move to the bed and place a small folder on her pillow. Marshall loomed silently behind him, and as the man turned to leave was brought up short by a gun pressed to his forehead.

"Can I help you?" the tall man asked menacingly, and as Mary appeared with her weapon drawn to flank him, their captive slowly raised his hands out to his sides to indicate surrender.

Mary moved around behind the man and snapped on the light.

"I'm just the delivery boy, man." The intruder spoke slowly, very aware of his precarious position.

"A very talented delivery boy. Picking electronic locks isn't something you learn on the street." Mary was suspicious. Marshall had the man pinned down, so she holstered her weapon and retrieved her cuffs. She secured the man's hands and sat him on the bed while her partner relaxed slightly, still with weapon at ready.

The delivery boy was all of mid twenties and slight in stature. He looked like a professional thief based on his attire and the items attached to his belt. He also looked scared out of his mind.

"Who sent you?" asked Marshall.

"I don't know"

He received a slap upside the head from Mary as she sneered, "Wrong answer."

"Christ! I really don't know!" the man pleaded, "I advertise on the internet and the money and job are dropped off at a pre-determined location. I was supposed to deliver this folder into the room. Nobody told me you were a cop!"

"Too bad for you." drawled Marshall.

Mary picked up the folder gingerly and dumped the contents onto the bed, sucking in her breath as she did so. More photos of her and Marshall, this time taken while they were in Quinter. Marshall standing near the burnt out barn at the Campbell ranch, a number of both of them at the crime scene and entering or exiting their hotel room and one of Mary getting out of the pool. In addition, there was a typed note.

"You didn't even know I was there. Leave Manny and go home…before you regret it."

Marshall was chilled and enraged at the same time. He considered himself a skilled Marshal, observant and attentive. The fact that someone had been following them for this long and intruding into their lives without him sensing it or spotting it stuck in his craw. He could tell Mary was thinking along similar lines by the set of her jaw and narrowing of her eyes.

Not only was Mary furious about the same thing as Marshall, she was now intensely worried about her family back home. The person responsible for these photos could've followed her to her house and that meant they would know Brandi and Jinx lived there. She needed to take immediate action.

"I have to make a call." she announced to Marshall as she moved towards the bathroom.

Her partner looked slightly confused, but turned his attention back to the man on the bed and picked up the room phone to call hotel security. Claiming a break in, he requested they send up an officer to detain the man and watched the thief slump in defeat. Marshall gathered up the photos while waiting for the security detail and could hear bits and pieces of Mary's conversation. She was on the phone to Stan, and he could tell she was getting agitated.

"Damn it, Stan, I don't care what excuse you have to use! Just get them out of there for a few days until we solve the problem." She was pacing and couldn't believe Stan was giving her a hard time about this. She listened to her boss talk about procedure and department policy with half an ear and cut him off mid-stream.

"Stan. Listen to me. If you can't help me then I'm going to call Bobby. I don't think you want him wrapped up in this mess." It was a threat she knew he'd take seriously. Drawing the APD's attention to the situation would just complicate matters.

"For Chrissake, Mary…I can't be using manpower on Brandi and Jinx unless they're in the program, and I don't think we need to resort to that. We don't even know if they're actually in any danger. Use your head." Stan was exasperated too.

Mary knew he was right and squeezed her eyes shut to think while she paced. "Where to put them…where to put them?" She suddenly snapped her fingers. "Stan, my mom has a friend she visits in Jersey every year. Can you at least help me make arrangements to send them out there for a week or two? Have Eleanor use my credit card to book the flights and hotel…what? Of course she knows the number…she's practically a damn spy!" Mary snarled at the phone before speaking again, "Just make sure they get on the plane. Believe me, you have to watch them actually board the goddamn thing. I'll call them and make something up…they won a trip or I have frequent flyer miles or something." She was waving her hand in the air as she thought.

Marshall hadn't actually thought of the implied threat to Mary's mother and sister as of yet and he felt somehow neglectful in that matter. That should've occurred to him sooner, but between the stress of the last few days and the fact that he didn't actually like Mary's family, it slipped his mind. The security detail arrived and Marshall gave his statement then retrieved Mary's cuffs as the intruder was given over to the new arrivals.

Mary hung up with Stan assured he would get her family on a flight the next morning. She was drained and had a headache and really wished this trip was about ten thousand times less exciting. Leaning against the wall near the adjoining door, she rested her head back, closed her eyes and sighed.

He saw the toll the situation was taking on his partner and really looked at her for the first time since they left Quinter. Her temple was sporting a colorful bruise that extended down to her jaw and slightly onto her cheekbone, the offending bruise on her left arm retained a colorful palette and was joined by smaller scrapes and bruises along her arms from landing in a pile of chairs at the Sheriff's, and finally, her hands and forearms were covered with small nicks and cuts from the bullet storm today. She had really taken the physical brunt of the damage on this trip and it was all due to his witness. Now, she had to worry about her family too and would just keep going until she dropped.

Marshall came over to her and gently rubbed her upper arms as she looked up at him with irritated eyes. "Come on. We're putting you to bed and letting you sleep. Get your pajamas on."

"I'm fine, Marshall," Mary had suddenly gotten angry and pushed him away from her. "I'm so sick of dealing with men who either need to wave their dick around to prove a point, or make our lives miserable because they can't keep it in their pants."

"I certainly hope you're not lumping me into either of those categories." Marshall warned.

"What? No! I'm talking about that asswipe in there and the gorilla back in Quinter." Mary began to slowly pace as her stress level again climbed. "Jesus, Marshall, you're the only man in my life I actually value." She tossed the comment out there casually and Marshall caught it to tuck away and smile at many times later.

Mary suddenly whirled around with a gleam in her eye, tapping her lips with her index finger.

"Uh oh." thought Marshall, alarmed. He knew that look, and the things that happened afterwards usually ended in balls of flame, twisted metal, blood and other unsavory events.

"They want Manny, right?" she was building an idea made with erector sets of razor wire.

"Yeah…"

"They keep following us…"

"Where are you going, Mare?"

"So, why don't we take Manny and hightail it back to a place where there's not many places to hide. Limited cover and we'd be looking for them this time. They couldn't help but follow us…they'd have to because we have the prize." She was looking at him with anticipation. Waiting to see what he thought.

It was a good plan, and she was right. Only one problem, "Stan will never go for this, Mare. He'll want us to get Manny to his next city ASAP. We won't be allowed to put a witness in danger."

"We'd only need forty eight hours at the maximum. Alongi and Bowman would help…shit, even Tucker might be of use." She was mentally urging him to agree and cajoled, "You know it would work. I know you want to do it."

"Your Jedi mind tricks won't work on me, woman." he said in a falsely strange voice.

"Wha…?" she looked utterly confused.

"Sorry…random segue. I agree. Draw them in and then smoke them out. Quinter would be ideal. We now know the local force and they trust us. We know the layout of the ranch and the town. It would probably be the most exciting bust they've had in years.

Mary was getting excited now. "He doesn't have a destination yet, and no one says we have to stay here. We can tell Stan we're keeping him on the move because we suspect we're under surveillance. With this last break in, I really don't think Stan'll squawk too loudly."

"The only wild card is Manny. He still thinks he's bound for heaven with forty two virgins if he makes this drug run." Marshall was sucked into the idea and ticking off problem points in his head.

"I really think Manny has given up all control of his destiny at this point, don't you?" She gave him a look that dared him to disagree.

As if on cue, they both heard the distinctive sound of a deadbolt being thrown in the other room and Marshall was in motion immediately. He charged into Manny's room and grabbed the witness as he tried to make a very undignified attempt at escape. Mary was hot on his heels and they wrestled a flailing, cursing man back to the bed. Marshall took an elbow to the gut and Mary a knee to the forehead, but sheer irritation won and Manny ended up flat on his back with his wrists handcuffed to the bed. They both figured Manny must've been listening at the door while they planned their covert trip back to Quinter.

"Jesus…he had a little more spark in him than I thought!" Mary chuckled wryly as she caught her breath.

"That's what happens when you're denied your virgins…pure sexual frustration whipped into fighting strength." Marshall dryly replied with a wink.

"I know how that goes." Mary was smiling wickedly at Marshall and he shook his head as he chuckled.

She got down on her hands and knees to retrieve Marshall's cell phone that had been thrown off the table and landed under the bed, and when she stood back up triumphantly the floor tilted out from under her feet and her vision grayed around the edges. "Oh!" she said sharply as her legs buckled and she grabbed at the bedspread as she went down to the floor between the beds.

She just laid there for a minute as her fingers and legs tingled weirdly and sounds seemed to fade out. Mary had never fainted in her entire life, so the sensation was completely unfamiliar. Her face was fiery hot while her chest was cold and she felt clammy. There were black spots behind her eyelids that floated around and made her dizzy. She became aware that Marshall was now kneeling next to her and talking while taking her pulse and patting her cheek.

"Mare…Mare. Hey…come on back, babe. Mary, open your eyes."

Marshall had seen her color fade when she stood back up and just knew she was going down. He couldn't get to the other side of the bed fast enough to catch her, but she had grabbed the covers which slowed her fall and he didn't think she had hit the ground too hard. Kneeling next to her, he was slightly worried by her pallor and could see the faint freckles sprinkled across her nose when she was this pale. She started to regain color fairly quickly once she had lain on the ground for a minute or two, and he was relieved to see her eyelids flutter as he called her.

Mary slowly opened her eyes and could still feel the buzzing in her fingers. She blinked a few times and looked over at Marshall. "Whoa…that was fucking weird. What the hell happened?"

"Haven't you ever passed out before?"

"Not without alcohol involved…and it didn't feel like that." She moved everything experimentally, "I feel really disconnected…like I got short circuited or something."

"Yep, that's how it feels. Kind of like a reboot."

She shot him a look, "God, you're such a geek. Help me up."

"Slowly. You try to get up too fast right now and you'll end right back up on the floor. Your body has to recover from the sudden change in blood pressure that caused you to pass out. It probably happened when you had your head down to find the phone then stood up too fast. The blood literally drained out of your brain too quickly, causing you to faint. It's called orthostatic hypotension and is typically seen while recovering from a head…"

"Blah, blah, blah, Dr. Gonzo," she interrupted, "I don't want to lay here on this skanky floor so let's move it."

"Your wish is my command." He bowed and then stood by to assist lightly as she basically oozed onto the bed, sitting on the side with her elbows on her knees.

"If you tell anyone I passed out, you know I'll shoot you, right?"

"These lips are sealed. Never saw a thing." He headed to the bathroom to get her a glass of water.

"So, the swooning thing," Mary's voice was hesitant, "that's not a sign of brain damage or anything is it? From that slobber knocker yesterday?"

"You know, some would say 'brain damage' is redundant for you." He just couldn't resist when she handed them to him on a platter.

"Some should sleep lightly lest they wake up as eunuchs." She smiled tightly.

"Ha! That was a good one." piped in Manny from the next bed. Both Marshals turned to glare daggers at him and he went back to staring at the ceiling silently.

Marshall could tell she was actually concerned and offered, "The fact that you passed out doesn't surprise me at all. Your body has been severely stressed in the last thirty six hours. It has decided it's done."

She huffed, "You never pass out."

"I've gone down once or twice. Remember Horst? I fell right over after the shootout and was definitely fading in and out the rest of the time."

"That was legitimate."

"So is this! It's not a sign of weakness, Mare. It's an autonomic nervous system response to stress overload…physical, emotional and mental. Your body can't maintain its own status quo, a sure sign you need to rest." The damn woman would not admit to herself that she had reached her limits. "I do think the blow to the head has compounded everything. You didn't really get a chance to recover from that before we were off and running again."

"Well I feel fine now." She was lying through her teeth. Her head hurt, she was still woozy and her limbs felt like lead, but there was no way she was going to let her partner see her as a weak creature. Strength was a part of her identity that she clung to rabidly. No one needed to take care of her, and she definitely did not tolerate coddling. Marshall was the only person who she allowed to see her when she was sick or hurt, but even his access was limited. "I'm going to pack my things and we can get rolling out of here soon."

Standing up, Mary pretty quickly realized she was not going anywhere but back to the floor if she didn't sit down again. "What the fuck?" she berated herself. Her body was just saying "no" at this point. She sat back down and put her head between her knees.

Marshall had watched her announce her intention to go pack with one eyebrow raised. He had a feeling she wouldn't make it to the door, much less all the way to her room. She looked like crap, but he knew she'd have to figure it out for herself. As she again sat with her head hanging down he had to comment sarcastically.

"That was impressive. I see you jumping right up to get things done."

"Shut up, asshole."

"Here's a plan. It's 1:30 am, why don't you sleep for a couple of hours while I keep watch and then you can drive first while I sleep? I'll grab your stuff and bring it in here because I no longer trust the lock on that other door, and two guns are better than one if someone decides to visit us in this room."

Mary sighed as she gave in reluctantly, "Fine, but I have to call Jinx and Brandi and convince them to go to Jersey in the morning. I suspect it'll be a long conversation."

"I'll call them. They won't argue with me."

Mary had to smile, "They'll fall over themselves to do what you tell them. They're still a little afraid of you after that incident with Raph."

Marshall winced a bit at that memory. Raphael had crossed the line one night while arguing with Mary and Marshall had snapped. It wasn't pretty, and he wasn't proud of it, but it had gotten the job done.

Manny spoke quietly, not wanting to upset the two, "What about me? Can you at least take these cuffs off? I can't sleep like this."

Marshall walked over and uncuffed one wrist. "The other one stays on. You earned it."

"But I can't get comfortable like…" the witness' whine was cut short by Marshall's curt tone.

"Figure it out. Now shut up."

Manny glared at both of them while he tried to find a way to sleep with one arm restrained.

Mary lay down on the bed and watched Marshall ferry her things into his room, studying the way he moved and his expressions as he was lost in thought. She had grown accustomed to this man in her life and the ease at which they coexisted was almost frightening. A smile touched her face as she saw him take her pajamas out of her bag and set them on the dresser, in case she wanted to change into them later, she supposed. Little acts of kindness and consideration. She wondered when she had done the same for him recently and her brow furrowed in distress as she realized it had probably been a long time. "Maybe that's just how we work." she wondered.

"What's wrong?" Marshall asked as he noticed the pained look on her face.

She looked at him and voiced her thoughts, "I should be nicer to you."

He grinned and replied, "Actually, that would scare me somewhat. Why the sudden attack of conscience?"

A drowsy Mary was an honest Mary. "I've gotten attached to you, idiot. Hate to see you run for the hills at this point."

Her partner came over to crouch down next to the bed, which placed his face about a foot in front of hers, and he rested his chin on his folded forearms. "I'm a bit attached to you, too." He stated quietly, pitching his voice just for her, "I'm not going anywhere." Leaning forward slightly, he placed a soft and lingering kiss on her lips, then one on her forehead before he stood again. "Get some sleep."

Mary decided to listen to him for once.

*** Back to Kansas, Dorothy!! I wonder what Marshall did to Raph? I figured I had beat Mary up enough and she needed a little rest before the next round with Marshall...she'll need it ;) Loving, loving, loving the reviews!!! Please keep them coming to help me keep the story interesting ***