Disclaimer: Mary and Marshall belong to David Maples. If they hadn't been misused by others I wouldn't be writing this.
Provoked Too – Chapter 12 – Lucas v. Marshall
Six o'clock came and went as Lucas sat in the Halfway Bar sipping his second watery beer. He studies the label so he'd never make the mistake of ordering it again. Grim looking men filter into the bar getting their usual poison. Lucas surveys the room looking for former military. None of the young ones appear to have served, but there is a middle-aged man who wears the haunted look of a combat veteran. Just as Lucas decides to approach him the door opens and Mary's former partner, former friend? strides in.
Lucas leaves his seat and stands next to Marshall at the bar. "Took you long enough."
Marshall frowns. "We don't exactly keep banker's hours." Marshall asks the bartender what's on tap, but Lucas uses his foot to tap Marshall's boot and shakes his head. Marshall takes the hint and orders a bottled brew. While waiting for his drink he takes a minute to look at the man. The only sign of his injuries is a pink line on his scalp, not unusual in this crowd.
"Look I don't want to start off on the wrong foot. First of all, I want to apologize." Of all the things Marshall expected to hear from the former JAG lawyer, this wasn't it.
"General Halsted demands loyalty and he gives it in spades. I called him about the mess with Mary and Michael. I didn't expect him to stick his nose in quite so deep. I also didn't know he plays squash with your Director," he admits chagrined. "I can't take the blame for the ATF report though. Those guys had nothing but praise for Mary. She provided the distraction they needed to take down the entire gang. They think the whole thing had been arranged by Michael. For all I know, it was. I'm sorry about the blowback. I had no idea how your Director would react."
"React? His reaction was a commendation for Mary and condemnation for me!"
"Oh come on. It's not that bad. Hers is in writing, yours isn't." Lucas raises his beer and takes a sip giving Marshall a moment to think about that. "I'm not saying you didn't deserve it for trying to hang her out to dry. I'm just saying it's not permanent. It's not on your record."
"I didn't try to 'hang her out to dry!" Marshall protests.
Lucas blinks then stares. "C'mon let's sit." Marshall reluctantly follows him to a table facing the door with a clear line of sight to the bathroom and back door.
"You may not have framed her but your fiancée tried. Why in the hell would she do that?"
Marshall sits and takes a minute to survey the room. "I had no idea Abigail was going to arrest Mary," he mutters hoarsely. "She had intel that implicated me so she couldn't tell me. After all the work related stuff I keep from her, she probably felt justified. And if she really believed I was involved she would have been right."
The lawyer assesses Marshall and decides he's telling the truth. "She thought you were involved in large scale gun smuggling? How long has she known you?"
Marshall hangs his head and sighs. He's wondering the same thing, only in reverse. Does he really know Abigail?
When he doesn't respond, Lucas asks, "Where did the intel come from?"
Marshall decides Lucas deserves the whole story, and as a 'Provisional Marshal' there's no reason not to tell him. "According to her chief, it came from a marshal Mary worked with a while ago. They didn't get along."
Lucas snorts. "You mean he screwed up, she called him on it and raked him over the coals probably with an audience." Lucas fills in the blanks.
"You seem to know Mary well," Marshall looks sidelong at the man who seems more than her friend. Did Mary tell Lucas? When Lucas doesn't bite he admits, "That's pretty much what happened. He was embarrassed, but she was right. He almost got a…" Marshall hesitates "someone killed. Mary took it personally."
"Sounds like Mary. So this asswipe got his feelings hurt and decides to frame Mary."
Marshall nods. "That's what the AUSA thinks. You know about that, don't you?"
Lucas mouth is a grim line. He barely nods.
Who is this man who has insinuated himself into Mary and Norah's lives? Without trying he managed to turn Marshall's career upside down. Why has he been given carte blanche to meddle in WITSEC? He's glad Mary had someone to watch her back in that warehouse, but it should have been him.
"That Provisional Marshal crap." Lucas interrupts his ruminations. "That was uncalled for. Don't worry about it. It doesn't mean anything and I can't imagine every invoking it."
"Even if Mary's in danger?" Marshall asks pointedly.
Lucas looked at him sharply. "Watching her back is her partners job, and yours. You do your job and I won't have to."
"Is that a threat?" Marshall growls.
"Only if you take it that way," Lucas retorts. Then he rotates his shoulders to relieve the tension. "That's not what I want to talk to you about." Lucas puts both hands on the table, pushing his beer bottle to the center. "I want to talk to you about Mary."
Still feeling defensive and guilty Marshal bristles. "I don't talk about the personal lives of my Inspectors."
"Nor do I want you to. I want you to listen." He takes a deep breath. "The first time I met Mary I was intrigued. She's a damn enigma."
Marshall sighs. "Her ex-fiancé once asked how she could burn so hot and be so cold." Does Lucas know she was engaged? Does he know she'd been married? How much has Mary shared with this man?
She must have shared that because Lucas isn't surprised. "Fire and ice, that's part of her allure. But not all of it. She's strong and fragile at the same time. Mary is the reason I'm in Albuquerque. I want to see if we have a future, but I'm not kidding myself. It isn't going to happen overnight, and with you still in the picture it may never happen."
"What do you mean 'in the picture?' Mary and I were partners. We used to be friends. Now we're just Chief and Inspector," he spits out. "Last Saturday was the first time I'd seen Norah in months! Do you have any idea how quickly babies change?"
"Yes, I do. Did you know that was the first time I met Norah?"
"Really? She took to you like an old friend." Marshall bitterly recalls his own tepid reception. "Mary is an expert at sabotaging her relationships. It's always push pull with her."
"I can see that," Lucas agrees. "Raph, you, that FBI douche. . . ."
"She told you about that?" Marshall knew Mary was embarrassed about Faber.
"Yeah," Lucas shakes his head ruefully. "Did you know she got him and his wife back together? They're still married and he's living with his wife and son. Because of her, he has a family."
Marshall stops, his beer halfway to his mouth. "I had no idea they kept in touch." They sit in silence and drink.
Lucas enunciates slowly, clearly. "You've got to let Mary go."
"You mean like she let me go? She took a knife and cut me out of her life, out of Norah's life." Marshall protests bitterly.
"That's not the way she tells it. She says you asked her to butt out. And that she realized 'how much crap' she had dumped on you over the years. She's determined to keep you out of her family's 'complications,' and," he nods wryly, "that includes Norah." He brings the bottle to his lips. "She's not into accepting help from anyone."
"You got that right." Marshall grimaces after tasting his own brew. "She always insists on doing everything alone. Even after we became partners, I was still working alone. It was months before she'd actually work with me."
"You mean she'd only tell you the things that most directly affected a witness?" Just like now, Marshall thinks. They'd come such a long way only to be back where they started.
Marshall gives Lucas a dirty look and cranes his neck to see if anyone heard. Lucas is unabashed and harrumphs, "I'm a lawyer. I deal with witnesses all the time."
Marshall concedes he's probably being paranoid and gets back to his real concern. "Why do you think I can come between you and Mary."
"Not between Mary and I, more like between Mary and herself. She's not confident that she can be a mom. She's learning how to work with a partner who isn't you. Those are major adjustments. And from what she's told me, she's not sure it's worth the effort." He coughs. "Not the mom part. She's committed to Norah heart and soul."
Marshall always knew Mary would be a good mother. It was Mary who needs to be convinced.
"Marshall," Lucas leans across the table. "You've got to let her go, let her find her own way, develop a new comfort zone, accept her competence as a mother as well as an Inspector."
"And exactly how do you propose I let her go? We work together."
"Let her transfer." Marshall had just taken a draught and nearly choked.
"Transfer? She wants to leave?" He hadn't seen any sign of that and he'd been paying attention. He knew Mary should be looking for a safer job, one with regular hours. Mary's good at her job. Now she even does the bits he used to do. She doesn't need him anymore. She never did.
"Marshall?" Lucas tries to jog him out of his glum reaction. "You should be asking yourself why you feel that way about Mary transferring. She's one of many Inspectors under your command. Employees move all the time. Why would Mary's leaving be any different?"
Marshall chokes, and finally spits out. "Mary has the experience. There's no one in the office with her experience."
Lucas rebuts logically. "And when she leaves others will get that experience."
"She can be tough. So many of our," Marshall stumbles over the word not used to using it outside the office, "witnesses respond to that."
"So, someone else can be tough. I'm sure you can coach them." His inflection taunts Marshall, doubting his ability.
Marshall bristles then head droops and whines, "But there's no one like Mary."
"Of course not. But you've learned to live without her in your personal life. You can live without her in your professional life. You're happy now, right? You're engaged, planning a wedding. You've got to give her the chance to get past losing you and stop moping."
"Moping!?" Marshall cries. "Mary doesn't mope."
"Yeah well call it what you will but I've only seen that sparkle in her eyes, that mischief, around you and Norah. She tolerates me, maybe even finds me acceptable, but her heart still belongs to you, even if she doesn't know it."
Now Marshall looks at Lucas as if he's totally out of his mind. "Mary never loved me."
"No, you're wrong. Mary never knew she loved you. She never acknowledged it," Lucas seems certain. "But that doesn't mean she doesn't love you. Or that she doesn't know it now."
Marshall looks out from under his hair. "Why are you doing this? If she transfers, what happens to your law practice?"
Lucas shrugs. "If she'll have me, I'll follow her. There are veterans everywhere."
Marshall inhales stunned to hear his conclusions about Lucas confirmed by the man himself. His voice trembles, "I don't know if I can let her go."
"I know," Lucas finishes his beer and stands. "You need to think about what that means. Thanks for coming." Lucas looks around the room. "Be careful. Once they've had a few drinks these guys are happy to take their troubles out on someone else."
"I know," Marshall answers. Tonight he's one of them.