Again, thanks to sfchemist for her ideas and BuJyo for listening to me whine. The finished product is un-beta'd, so all mistakes are my fault. This just seemed like the place to end this chapter, but even with an extra chapter, we should finish up in time for the premiere. 48 hours to go!

Ch. 7: A Family Portrait

They arrived in San Bernardino at 6:30pm. Being exhausted, emotionally and physically, didn't stop Marshall from setting a course for Lauren's. As he parked across the street from her building and killed the engine, he took a moment to observe Mary. It was obvious to him that she had lost ground in her recovery and he hoped this trip didn't set her back even further.

Turning his attention to the dusk colored sky, he watched in silence as it grew darker and waited for a sign from his partner that she was ready. Despite the increasing heaviness of his lids, he forced his eyes to focus and surveyed the surrounding area until her movement caught his attention. Following her lead, he climbed out of the truck and they met on the street. The conviction was evident on her face and he knew she was ready as she turned and faced the apartment complex.

"You sure you want me tagging along?" Marshall asked, despite the fact that he didn't like the idea of Mary going inside on her own. It bothered him that she would feel like she was alone in this when she wasn't; he was right there and would be as long as she let him.

"Yeah, like you're not dying to check out my sister," Mary said, missing the mark of sarcasm as she braced herself for the confrontation with her half-sister, but she continued anyway, adding, "I've see the way you look at Brandi, you perv."

Marshall just raised an eyebrow in response and shook his head. The truth was that there was only one sister Marshall would ever seriously check out and she was standing right next to him, but even in jest, he would never attempt such a retort.

"C'mon, I think we've been out here long enough, might as well get this over with," Mary said, as she took a deep breath and headed toward the building across the street.

She stopped in front of the apartment and hesitated before knocking. The idea that she was so close to getting some answers about her father seemed surreal and scary. While she knew she couldn't go back now, a part of her wondered if she wasn't better off holding onto the dream instead of facing the reality. Unfortunately, the dream had already been shot to hell, so she may as well face the truth in the hopes that it would help her move on.

After a minute, she raised her hand and rapped on the door, then stood shifting her weight from foot to foot while waiting for a response. When none came, she knocked again, louder this time, blowing the air out of her lungs in frustration. Another moment of silence and she looked at her partner in frustration, but unable to hide from him the flash of relief in her eyes. Without a word, she nodded in the direction of the street as she moved past him.

"Mary?"

They both stopped dead in their tracks as they looked down the path toward the source of the surprised voice.

"Oh my God, Mary! What are you doing here?" Lauren said as she moved to hug her.

"Lauren...hi," Mary responded, Lauren's embrace making her uncomfortable.

Marshall watched the exchange, unable to find his usual amusement in Mary's social ineptness, as he was dumbstruck by the physical similarities of the two women in front of him. He didn't know what he had expected. Honestly, he hadn't really thought about it, but any doubts he may have had regarding Lauren being Mary's sister were now quickly banished.

"Lauren," Mary said, remembering Marshall's presence, "this is my par...friend, Marshall."

"Hi," Lauren said with a smile as she held out a hand to Marshall. She wondered what Mary had been about to say before she corrected herself and introduced the man as a friend. Remembering Mary's laundry-bearing boyfriend she'd met in Albuquerque, the relationship of the couple in front of her piqued her interest even more.

"Nice to meet you, Lauren." He accepted her hand, matching her smile with one of his own and glancing at Mary, knowing the glare she wore was meant for him. She had obviously seen him staring at Lauren and he made a mental note to clarify his reasons later, maybe.

"What are you doing in California?" Lauren asked, reiterating her earlier question now that an introduction had been made.

"Look," Mary began, "I know you're not my mother's cousin's friend's daughter." She glanced at Marshall and saw him raise an eyebrow at her statement. She knew he was filing it away for future reference.

"Um, maybe we should go inside," Lauren responded as she passed between Mary and Marshall in order to reach her door and the partners each noted the furrowed brow as she walked by.

Once in the apartment, Lauren deposited her bag and laptop case on a table near the door and motioned for them to come in.

"Please, sit down, can I get you anything? Something to drink?"

Mary was busy taking in her surroundings. As she made her way to the couch, she cataloged the photographs framed on the walls, landscapes next to cityscapes, and wondered if the occupant had taken them. The place was eclectically furnished and not to Mary's tastes, but it was relatively clean and from the little she knew of Lauren, she felt it suited her.

"No, thank you. We're fine," Marshall responded, knowing that Mary was taking inventory. He was able to catch her eye when Lauren turned away briefly and motioned for her to sit down.

"So?" Lauren said with questioning eyes as she sat down in a chair across from them, one leg pulled up to her chest, foot dangling by it's heel off the edge of the seat. Wrapping her arms around her leg, she waited for a response.

"I read the letter you gave my mother. She told me Daddy was in an accident and then went missing," Unable to resist, Mary added sarcastically, "again."

Lauren nodded, but didn't say anything.

"Did he come back?"

Shaking her head no, Lauren thought about Mary's presence after all this time. She had genuinely liked Mary when she met her in Albuquerque, even though their meeting had been brief. It was obvious that the secret of them sharing the same father was out, yet should could tell that forming a sisterly bond was not the reason behind the sudden visit. Lauren decided she needed to tread carefully until she had more information.

Mary shifted uncomfortably at Lauren's silent responses and the idea of her not being cooperative. She wasn't in the mood to have to pry information out of the woman. She thought back to the day that Lauren left her house and the odd connection she had felt at the time. Not understanding it, she had blocked it out. Now, she realized that a small part of her had been hoping that connection was still there.

"Have you heard from him at all since he disappeared?" Mary's voice growing more impatient. "A phone call? Email? Anything?"

Marshall noticed Mary did not ask about a letter, but he let it go as he eyed Lauren carefully for any change in expression or body language. When there was no immediate reaction to the questions, he knew she was hiding something and wondered if Mary picked up on it as well.

"No, nothing," she eventually responded, a little too defensively as she stood up. Staring at Mary with her hands on her hips, she asked, "Have you?"

"If I had," Mary replied, looking to Marshall to help steady her temper, "then I wouldn't be here. I'm just trying to find out what happened to him." She took a deep breath and continued. "Please, Lauren, I'd appreciate it if you could tell me everything you remember about his accident and the time surrounding it."

The room was quiet and tension filled the gap between them as Lauren sat back down and contemplated what to do. They could almost see the wheels turning in her head and Mary's impatience grew, the seconds feeling like minutes. She was about to push her harder when she felt Marshall's soft touch on her arm. It both distracted and calmed her; and looking in his direction she saw him shake his head, almost imperceptibly, as he met her gaze. Understanding, she sat back on couch reluctantly.

"Lauren," Marshall spoke just loud enough to get her attention. "We're not the enemy. I promise you. The last thing we want is for anyone to get hurt and we'll do our best to keep that from happening. All we want to do is find out what happened to James. Anything you can tell us, even the smallest detail that you may think insignificant, may help."

As Lauren studied Marshall, she remembered Brandi making a comment about Mary carrying a gun. Knowing that Mary hadn't been made aware of who she was, it was a detail she'd dismissed until now. Her half-sister was obviously in law enforcement and from the way the pair in front of her interacted, she presumed they were partners.

It was possible that the woman just wanted to find their father, maybe have a chance to talk to him after all these years, but there was also another possibility. Lauren's trip to find Jinx Shannon had revealed that her father was a fugitive, a fact she still struggled to accept, and Mary was a cop. If Mary's own mother and sister felt it necessary to keep the information about James a secret, why should she say anything? What if Mary held a grudge and wanted to see their father pay for leaving her all those years ago?

"I honestly don't know how much help I can be," Lauren uttered, deciding to give Mary the benefit of the doubt, for now. She would choose her words carefully in answering questions and not volunteer anything else until she could be sure of Mary's motives. "But I'll try to answer any questions you may have."

While not thrilled by the apprehension still present in Lauren's voice, Mary accepted the bone she was throwing their way. "The best thing would probably be to start with accident. Had he been acting odd before that?"

"No, not that I know of, but I was also doing a lot of traveling at the time and was only home for very brief visits."

Mary, understanding she was going to have to work for the information, hunkered down and diligently ran through the list of questions in head, while she let Marshall observe Lauren's body language and make mental notes of her answers.

Lauren answered the barrage of inquiries, one by one, and slowly began to let her guard down as her respect for Mary and the original connection she had felt to her blossomed and restored her confidence in the woman's objective. She didn't believe that Mary was out for revenge against their father for walking out on her, an idea that still seemed so far fetched to Lauren when she thought about the man that had raised her.

When Mary finished her inquiries, Marshall checked his phone and pointed out to her just how much time had passed. It was approaching 9pm and they had been there for almost 2 hours. As they got up to leave, Mary was trying to think of what to say when Lauren spoke first.

"Wait. I'll be right back."

After watching Lauren disappear down the short hallway, Mary and Marshall exchanged a look as they waited for her return.

"What do you think she's doing?" Mary whispered.

Marshall just shrugged before asking, "More importantly, how are you doing?" His concern ever present in his eyes and she was grateful for his presence.

"To be honest, I haven't really stopped long enough to think about it yet." She answered honestly as she threw him a tired smile.

"Well, when you're ready…"

"I know," Mary responded before he could finish. She knew he was there, would be there, when she was ready to talk.

Lauren appeared again holding something in her hand. "I haven't lived here very long and most of my stuff is stored at my parent's house, but I do have this," she said as she held what they now realized was a photo out to Mary.

Mary tentatively moved to take it, the slight shaking of her hand evident only to Marshall and he instinctively took a small step closer to her as she closed her fingers around the item.

Marshall's behavior had not escaped Lauren's notice and it distracted her briefly as she wondered if all law enforcement partnerships were similar to Mary's and Marshall's. It was obvious they were close and she assumed that reading each other's thoughts was an important part of the job. Her musings were cut short as she was drawn back to the present.

"Daddy." The word escaped her lips in a sob before she could stop it and Mary berated herself.

"Mare?"

"I'm fine, Marshall,' she said, choking back the tears and regaining control of her emotions as best she could. "Lauren, doesn't your family live in the area?"

"Yes, but..."

"I understand they don't know about me," she said, holding up the family portrait in her hand, "and that you want it to stay that way. Honestly, I have no desire to be the one to tell them about our father's colorful past. It's just that we're only in town for a couple of days and it may be my only chance to meet them, to see what my father's life has been like all these years. Couldn't you just say I'm an old friend that's passing through and wanted to say hi?"

"It's just my sister's away at school and I never know what my brother's up to..." Lauren paused as she focused on Mary. She regarded her struggle to contain her emotions and saw the almost pleading look in her eye. She couldn't imagine what Mary had gone through after their father had left and it wasn't fair to deny this simple request. "I'll call them and see what I can do. Can I get in touch with you later?'

"Sure. You can reach me at this number," Mary said, handing Lauren her card. "We haven't found a motel yet, so I don't have that number."

"If you head south on the main road there are a bunch of places to stay. Most of them are decent and you'll know the ones that aren't," Lauren joked as she took the card and put it in her pocket, trying to ignore the title of United States Marshal she had seen embossed there.

"Okay, thanks," Mary said as she handed the photo of smiling faces back to Lauren.

"Oh, you can keep it...if you want."

"You don't mind?" Mary asked, surprised by the gesture.

"No, it's fine," Lauren assured her. "I can get another copy."

***

When Marshall walked in with the pizza and six pack of beer, he found Mary sitting on the bed, leaning against the headboard and staring at the picture of the Heffermans. He knew everyone had varying degrees of issues when it came to their parents, but Mary's were more traumatic than most, consuming her life from a very young age and his heart ached for her.

Setting the items down, he made his way over to her. She looked up as he sat down next to her on the edge of the bed and all he could see was a scared, little girl. Reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ear, he realized the contact probably soothed him more than it did her.

"Pictures are just a snapshot in time, Mare," he whispered as he gently extracted the photo from her hand and placed it on the night table. "Just because things look perfect in that moment, doesn't mean that they always are."

She held his gaze for a moment before looking away and wiping the wetness from her eyes.

"So, what's for dinner?" she asked, sliding past him to get up from the bed. An evening of pizza, beer, bad movies and Marshall suddenly seeming like the best medicine in the world.

He caught her arm as she stood up and slid his hand down it to take hers. She stopped, but didn't turn to face him. She didn't have to, she knew what he wanted, but she wasn't ready to talk. She just wanted to forget, at least for a little while.

"Can we just forget about all of it and just be us?" she paused, then looked at him over shoulder and added, "For tonight, anyway."

"Yeah," he said, smiling up at her, "I'd like that."

Mary finally confronted Lauren and Marshall was well, Marshall. What did you think?