Prompt: College!Mary, College!Marshall: at a College competition ( on different teams) , "This is not _"

Mary Shannon looked at the competition as they entered the basketball court. It wasn't the game they were supposed to be playing, but because of the weather in a couple of states they couldn't play the basketball team they were supposed to.

She once again looked over to size up the competition and decided that her Rutgers Scarlet Knights team could easily handle the University of New Mexico's Lobos. As she watched them warm up she noticed the tall lanky guy walk out onto the court. She guesses he is a student learning to be a coach or something.

Her team begins to go through their warm ups and she lost all thought about the Lobos. The Louis Brown Athletic Stadium was packed. Most of the students had bets on who would win, but Mary knew that many wondered if they could beat a male basketball team. If she were honest she didn't know either. They were a good team she reluctantly admitted having done some research. She didn't have enough time to find out who was who on the team, but they had an impressive record. One of their star players was some Marshall Mann.

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Marshall had walked out onto the court after most of his team. He had spent the night before researching the opponents. His teammates seemed to think that this would be a cakewalk victory. As team captain he found it his responsibility to make sure they were ready for the game.

After pulling the grumbling team together, he made them watch the videos of the Scarlet Knights. Needless to say they had been a little impressed. Their center was a Mary Shannon and she seemed to have a take no prisoner's attitude. She would make the game interesting for him. The advantage he had was one look at him and they all thought he was some geek helping out on the basketball team or a charity case taken into the fold.

It worked to his advantage. Once they realized he was more than he appeared the tactics of the other team usually changed. He was sure things were about to get interesting as he moved to center court for tip off.

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Mary couldn't help feel a bit of glee inside as she saw the tall dork take his place at center court. Oh yeah, this was going to be fun.

Marshall noted the gleam in her eyes and knew exactly what she was thinking. A part of him wanted to roll his eyes at her. He let himself relax as the ref began to go over the rules and emphasized the contact acceptable. Then the ref looked at this Mary girl.

"This is not a full contact sport either and that kind of behavior will not be tolerated."

Mary rolled her eyes and noted with amusement her opponent's smirk at her expression. It was the last thing she saw before the game began.

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The students watched in amusement as the usual strategies of Mary Shannon were met with an unmovable object in the Lobo's center. She pushed and he pushed back. For every shift of the elbow and blow she attempted to discreetly land on his person he countered and didn't put up with it. They were a show within the game. All four quarters the two were making the other work hard for any points scored and it was an incredible sight to watch. They were complete opposites in styles and yet they complimented each others styles.

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Mary was getting irritated. She had never been pushed so hard or far by someone before. It was as if he could read her mind with the way he responded to her moves. Her point average was down and she had a feeling it wasn't going to be coming up unless he was taken out of the game. It made her feel something inside that she hadn't felt since well a long time.

This tall geek was giving as well as she gave and standing his ground and to be honest was doing better than her. It wasn't something that would be admitted anywhere but her mind. The weird part was she was enjoying the competition between the two. They would make a great team with the combined skills they had.

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Marshall found himself enjoying the game more than he thought he would. He hadn't intended on it being this physical. Girl or not he wasn't going to let this center get the best of him.

When the coach called a time out he couldn't help, but let his attention wander to the blonde who seemed intent to prove to the world that she was tough and good at what she did. She intrigued him in a way no other had before. He decided it must be the fact that it was like trying to solve a puzzle. There was something different about her and yet he sensed a vulnerable side was hidden behind the tough surface that showed.

Shaking his head he listened to the coach. They only had a few minutes left so they were just going to stall the clock as long as possible. They were winning by a good twenty points, but the coach insisted it stay that way unless more points could be scored.

While his coach wasn't a bad person he knew full well he didn't want them to be beat by a girl's team.

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Mary was frustrated at this point. She knew they were going to lose, but the fact that the Lobos were just killing time was pissing her off and she was about to let the current person irritating her know it.

"Look numbnuts, play the game or go home. We both know I can't reach the ball if you keep it extended above your head like that."

"Did you know that the average American man is 5' 10" tall and the average American woman is 5' 4.6"?"

"No, and I didn't care to. Why do you know this?" Mary asked, hoping to distract as she moved to plow into him

Marshall saw her eyes flick to the game clock and had a feeling she was up to something and managed to pass the ball to his forward before she charged him. He felt her impact him just before they both fell to the floor and the buzzer went off announcing the end of the game.

Mary was surprised at how quickly he responded and that he caught her on the way down to stop them from colliding hard. She punched him in the arm as she broke free of his gentle grasp and pushed herself up on her feet.

"Ow," Marshall said, rubbing his arm as he got up and hit her back hard enough to sting, but not to inflict injury.

"You're not supposed to hit girls," Mary said, glaring at him while making sure she didn't rub her arm in his presence.

"You're no girl," Marshall said, smirking before turning to walk away. "Nice, game Ms. Shannon."

Mary stared at him and couldn't stop the small smile that lit up her face at the comment. It was then she realized he knew her name. She went to ask him who he was, but he was already across the court and on his way into the locker room.

"Who is he? Your center," Mary asked grabbing the arm of one of his teammates.

"That is Marshall Mann, our team's captain."

Mary made a mental note to remember that name. She would have to look him up and find out more about this Marshall Mann.