Is you Is or is you Ain't?
Sequel to "Canary on a Landmine" - It had been a long week for Marshals Shannon and Mann and from the looks of things they were going to be dealing with the fallout for months to come. Story includes Marshall with an OC (the series will end being M/M but that is a ways down the line.)
Disclaimer time: I do not own, nor pretend to own the characters of In Plain Sight. This work is not intended to contest said ownership and no profit is being made from the telling of this tale. (I'm just having too much fun to stop)
Isn't/Fake Is/Emergency backup Is/Agent Elder on the other hand is mine, and ... it's complicated.
I hope you enjoyed Canary and I hope you will enjoy the telling of this tale as well.
I'm still working on a posting schedule but... I'm also addicted to posting... and so we come to the second entry.
Mary was on her third cup of coffee by the time Charlie ushered Isabelle into the conference room. She smiled and gestured to the seat across the table from her. "Go ahead and have a seat... I'll get your copy of the MOU and we can get started.
As Isabelle took the proffered seat she gave Mary a worried look.
"Are you feeling all right Inspector Shepherd?"
Mary smiled at the concern in the younger woman's expression.
"Yeah Is, I'm fine... just a little tired and ... as you can see... we have a lot of paperwork to go through."
Is took one look at the MOU and winced. "A person could get hurt just carrying that thing around."
Mary had thought the same thing on more than one occasion, but Marshall had always been there to help redirect her energies to a more productive end, now it was up to her.
She took a deep breath and began. "Ms. Manning, this is our Memorandum of Understanding…"
Marshall stared at the case file he'd been handed. If anything, he was more perplexed than he had been before. Marlin and Green had been working to the same end but aside from the text messages there seemed to be no connection.
As part of his plea agreement, Marlin had admitted to feeding Green information, but other than his word, there had been nothing to tie the two men together.
A throwaway phone with Marlin's message had been found in front of the courthouse, but with the number of people who'd been there, there was no way to tie it directly to Green. There had been no finger prints on the phone or the battery. They were still processing it for DNA evidence, but Marshall wasn't hopeful that they'd find any.
Green had been a consummate professional. He had no ID, no hotel keys, nothing that could identify him or explain why he had been there. Eyewitness accounts and the detonator were the only things currently keeping his case from being purely circumstantial and he knew it.
Marlin on the other hand had been sloppy. While he'd had enough sense to keep his financial records clean they had found the artifacts and pictures of Leigh, not Isn't, but Leigh.
He shook his head as he studied one of the pictures that seemed older than the others. It had been taken in the desert.
It could have been Albuquerque, Death Valley or Mongolia for all he knew, but judging by the way her companion was dressed, he was guessing Iraq or Afghanistan. It had taken a second look to realize the woman in the picture was actually Leigh. It wasn't that she looked that much different than she had as Isn't, but the smile on her face was one of pure joy that seemed to light up the entire area.
Next to her, with his arms wrapped around her was a soldier in desert camo.
He paused, noticing the name on the soldier's uniform: Elder. One look at the pair and he knew they weren't family, they were in love.
He felt a slight pang of sorrow as he studied the picture and compared it to the Leigh he'd met.
The man was gone, out of her life, she'd lost him somehow he knew that much. The hints had been there, her taking the assignment in the first place; her concern for his and Mary's well being and very little for her own; the fact that she never once tried to contact anyone. He wondered if there was anyone other than her partner to contact.
O'Conner looked at the picture and pulled out his notes.
"Corporal Richard Elder… killed in Fallujah… four years ago," he said filling in the details they had. "Late husband of Agent Leigh Elder…"
Marshall listened as O'Conner read off the facts in a dry tone. These few words told him so much, and made him wonder what they'd stepped in the middle of.
"So, Marlin has stolen artifacts from Mesopotamian, which is now Iraq; the picture of an Army Corporal with his wife, a Corporal who was killed in Iraq and Marlin just tried to help kill his widow."
"Pretty much."
Marshall stared at the picture for a moment then tilted his head. "How did Corporal Elder die?"
O'Conner checked his notes and shook his head. "IED… "
"So… he was killed in the line of duty… and, if Green had succeeded, Agent Elder would have also been killed in the line of duty… "
O'Conner's eyes narrowed as he studied his notes and the information Marshall and gleaned. "It fits…"
"It's a theory… nothing more… yet, but I'd like to talk to Agent Elder about this... and what happened."
O'Conner focused on Marshall, studying him for a moment before answering. "… And you don't want me there…"
"Our investigations have very different purposes now and I don't want those purposes to get confused."
O'Conner nodded. "If you find anything that will help my investigation…"
"I'll let you know," Marshall confirmed.
Marshall stood as an orderly pushed a wheel chair towards the door, his focus on the chair's blue haired occupant. Any concern he had for her safety had ended the moment he stepped into the hospital and asked to speak with her.
He had been quickly escorted to a private waiting area where his weapon was confiscated and his id was checked repeatedly. More than once he found his self control tested as he forced himself not to react to being patted down and manhandled. He was eternally grateful that Mary was safe in Albuquerque since he doubted she would have restrained herself in the slightest, not after the week they'd had.
As it was he was tired, and his usually cool demeanor had been replaced by something more akin to that of a caged lion. Fortunately it was over with fairly quickly and he was led to yet another private room where he was told to wait.
While he waited he noticed the positioning of several of the guards and realized they were now guarding him as well. Watching them he realized that every member of the security detail was focused on protecting Leigh personally. This wasn't just a job for them: she was family.
As he stood he saw the slight bulge in the orderly's scrubs and realized that he too was part of the protection detail. When he saw the expression on Leigh's face he had to suppress a laugh. She was not enjoying the attention in the slightest and was making no effort hide her distain.
He gave her a hopeful smile. He wasn't entirely sure how to deal with Leigh in general and the idea of a surly Leigh was somehow scarier than a surly Isn't. When she ducked her head shyly and muttered. "I'll behave," he had to smile.
"I'll refrain from asking stupid questions," he promised as he wheeled her further into the room.
"It would be appreciated," she answered truthfully.
"I do need to ask you some questions and … some of them are going to be a bit personal," he warned.
"Isabelle wasn't the target was she?"
Marshall shook his head, relieved that she had put at least that much together. He knew she wasn't going to like the rest, but he hoped their experience together would help him broach the subject.
"No, as near as we can tell—it was always you…" he let his breath out slowly as he tried to figure out the best place to begin.
"Shoot from the hip, it's easier than skirting around the subject and I'm so tired of people talking around whatever's going on... just... talk to me."
Marshall looked at her and did just that.
As Mary finished reading the last page of the MOU with Isabelle she studied the younger woman and realized another difference between Isabelle and Leigh's performance as Isabelle: Isabelle was having a hard time dealing with the concept of leaving everything and everyone behind.
She wondered if that was part of what had bothered her. Then again, it's easy to move on when someone's shooting at you, you don't have time to think of what you're giving up because the possibility of having it all taken from you is all too real.
"No contact at all?"
"No," Mary answered. "No... direct contact. You can still communicate with them, but it has to be done through us. We have to make sure, nothing you say or do will lead people to you."
Isabelle sat stock still for a moment as she took it all in. Mary could imagine being told she could never see Jinx or Brandi again. She quickly suppressed the smile, forcing herself to think of people she'd actually miss: Stan...Marshall...
She let her breath out slowly as she thought of never being able to work as a marshal again, to never see Marshall again. Unlike Jinx or Brandi, the thought of having to leave her partner behind was... unbearable.
She nodded sympathetically. "It's a very hard thing to do, but you and your family are much safer this way."
"I know," Isabelle answered softly. "It's just..."
"It's a lot," Mary agreed. "But you can make it and Marshall and I will be there to help you."
Isabelle nodded then looked around. "Where is Marshal Miller?"
"Marshall's following up with the FBI to make sure your security hasn't been compromised by what happened."
She paused and noticed Isabelle was still trying to come to terms with the turn her life had taken.
"It gets easier," she assured the witness. "It gets easier."
