Usual disclaimer still applies. I don't own In Plain Sight or the characters therein. These tale is meant to fill the void between seasons and I promise to leave them pretty much where I found them... maybe a little worse for wear...

This work is not meant to contest ownership, and as always, no money is made from the writing of this tale.

Our heros take one last breath before heading back into the line of fire... and the plot thickens.

"So," Marshall said as he sat down next to Isn't. "Nazgul..."

Isn't looked up from the computer and waited expectantly.

"When this is over… do you think…" He stopped, realizing that what he wanted to ask, what he really wanted to talk about would be asking Isn't to forget Is and be herself—something she'd already pointed out was not in their best interest especially if they wanted her to maintain the role she was currently playing.

'Isn't' looked up, her eyes meeting his quickly shying away, "I think I'd like that."

He nodded. The woman who quoted Monty Python, who liked Star Wars and word games… who named her computer based on the imaginings of J.R.R. Tolkien, would have to wait until they'd played this assignment through to the end.

It was something to look forward to.

Mary paused in the doorway before slipping back into the kitchen. She thought about what she'd just witnessed and shook her head. She had never seen Marshall quite so… interested except maybe when he'd given her his historical 'messy' speech. This was more than finding himself attracted to someone he'd known, or finding someone he was attracted to…

This was… she wasn't sure what it was, but it was interesting.

'Geek love,' she muttered to herself as she took a bite of her sandwich. She wasn't quite sure why it seemed to lodge in her stomach, but dismissed the feeling as stress over their current situation.

Eleanor was surprised when Stan avoided talking shop until they had finished lunch and were lingering over coffee and dessert.

She'd taken him to a quiet café she knew where they could talk business if he wanted, but he'd insisted on eating and spending time with her before they did anything else.

It was one of the things she missed about working with the Marshal Service. There were times, like today, she regretted taking the job as an analyst, but as she thought about it—it was better this way.

The distance hadn't changed her feelings towards Stan, just as time hadn't changed the way she felt about her husband. If anything the distance had made their time together that much more precious, and if they did end up together, there would be no need to worry about impropriety.

Still, she missed moments like the quiet meal they'd just shared.

"Alright Stan, this was nice but…" She paused: they had work to do and people who were still in danger no matter how much they wished otherwise.

"Next week," Stan promised. "After this is over…"

She smiled and held her hand out expectantly. "What have the troublemakers uncovered?"

Stan shook his head. "It's not them—for once I think they have a very good handle on what's going on around them… there's just…"

"Just what?"

"There's something here that doesn't add up. I don't know what it is—but it's just wrong."

Eleanor nodded encouragingly.

"There's just too much going on," he finally stated. "If that makes any kind of sense. There's Green, or whatever his name is trying to kill the witness. Then there's the leak… even the investigation doesn't make sense."

"Why don't you start from the beginning?"

They spent the next few hours trying to relax and prepare themselves for tomorrow's trial as best they could.

They couldn't afford to take too much of a break, but they all knew they needed to take some time now to recharge so they would be at their best when the need arose.

Marshall found it interesting that Isn't spent most of her time playing mindless computer games, achieving an almost zen-like state as she fired marbles at increasingly faster moving chains of colored balls trying eliminate the chain before it ended its circuit around the screen.

Mary seemed to find her release in trying to distract Isn't long enough for one chain to get through and it had become one of the most heated computer games he'd ever witnessed.

Marshall for his part focused on the remains of a memo pad that now resembled a menagerie of origami animals rather than scratch paper.

Once they'd eaten a simple dinner they began breaking camp and preparing for the drive to the Colorado line.

As much as they all loved the 'cabin', they'd agreed it was better that they break the remaining 10 hour drive up, arriving at the courthouse a bit fresher than they would if they had driven straight through.

Stan mulled over the facts as he'd presented them to Eleanor.

Telling her what had happened had forced him to put things in order and look at what they had and more importantly what they didn't have. When he finished he realized that the piece that didn't fit in the whole puzzle was the investigation into the leak.

It involved a real witness and an undercover agent who didn't just pose as the witness: she took over for the real witness. She matched the witness' general build and went the step further of studying her.

Why?

With how quickly they'd found the leak… why did they need that detailed an agent? It just didn't add up unless Marlin was expecting something far bigger than a simple leak.

'A conspiracy?' He wondered

He shook his head and placed another call to Allison Pearson's office. He was surprised when his call was answered directly.

"Chief Inspector McQueen, I'm sorry for not getting back to you sooner. Things have been a little chaotic here. How can I help you?"

Stan took a deep breath as he decided on the tact to take.

"Did you know that someone from the Justice Department has been investigating a potential leak at the Marshall Service?"

"No," she answered, obviously as surprised as he'd been. "And isn't that thfe sort of thing that OPR would handle?"

"Normally yes… It's the sort of thing I'd expect you to know about."

"Well I don't, so please tell me everything."

Stan took a deep breath, again thankful he'd gone over all of this with Eleanor after lunch. By the time he finished Allison was irritated and suspicious. She'd been in budget meetings and this had been the first break she'd had all week.

While it was possible that Marlin had taken things into his own hands since he wasn't able to get a hold of the Director—it had begun long before the budget hearings.

The timing, again, was wrong.

"What do you want from me?" Allison asked.

"I need you to get OPR in on this, and I need a full run down on Marlin. This whole thing stinks to high heaven."

"I'll start the ball rolling, and thank you."

"For what?"

"For asking me instead of assuming I'd do something that would endanger you or your inspectors."

Stan hung up, refraining from telling her that the thought had crossed his mind.

Mary stood watch over Isn't while Marshall made a sweep of the room.

She knew that tomorrow, Isn't's part in this routine would be over, but if everything went according to plan, she and Marshall would still have their hands full protecting the real Isabelle Manning.

It was strange, knowing that the real work that lay ahead of them actually made her feel better. Thinking about it Mary realized she was comfortable with it because it was the danger she knew and understood.

This whole cloak and dagger work was driving her up the wall.

As they settled in for the night Mary returned Isn't pistol to her. "You're going to need this" she said before adding. "You have first watch. Try not to shoot yourself… or us."

Isn't rolled her eyes as she checked her pistol and finally nodded. After the ambush she was down to 5 rounds in the clip.

"I'm guessing you don't have any .357 rounds…"

"Sorry… I'm fresh out," Mary said with a big fake smile and a shrug that seemed to say 'It's not my fault you guys use incompatible ammo.'