Author's Note: Chapter 20 at long last! School got away from me, and so did the flu, a broken wrist, and every other catastrophe you could imagine. Still sick (flu again, round 3). Wrist is mostly healed (still working on weight bearing, but that did make typing difficult). School is easier when you're not running a ridiculously high fever. I hope you like this one! There should be an epilogue coming, but I'll be a little busy for the next few weeks, so it'll be a few before I can get it out.

The airport was packed, and Marshall's height was an advantage. He had somehow managed to lose Mary in the crowd, and was scanning over the heads of most people to find her. A few blond heads had turned out to not be his partner, and he was getting desperate as he watched the minutes tick by on his watch. They had to get to their gate. They would be getting into town late as it was with all the layovers, and he wanted to prepare for the next week's workload. A few steps toward a patch of blonde hair were thwarted as he failed to recognize his partner's figure from behind. It could pick out her figure in the dark; he'd spent plenty of time staring at it. Not in a creepy, psycho-stalker sort of way; more appreciative. Almost worshipful. Grateful, recently, that she was there in person for him to look at since her shooting.

"Doofus!" He voice carried over the din. "Yo! Marshall!"

Swirling around on his heel, he made his way toward the source of the voice. "Turn your phone on." Mary greeted him all-business as she grabbed her carry-on and dragged him toward the gate. "It's easier to receive messages and phone calls if you actually turn the contraption ON!" Marshall swallowed as she retrieved his cell phone from his pocket and pressed the "power on" button. The screen lit up and showed three missed calls and several missed texts all from his partner.

"See?" She held up the gadget in front of him. "Turn phone on. Receive message. Find partner. Get to plane on time." He grinned at her smirk, then his expression tightened when she slid his phone back in his pocket herself.

Mary walked ahead a ways, then paused and turned around when she realized that Marshal was not with her. "You coming?" She shot him a look that clearly said "hurry up," so he shuffled toward her and tried to look nonchalant.

Marshall slept on the plane part of the way, but kept his eyes closed. He didn't want to think about what would happen when they returned to New Mexico. Things would, no doubt, change. Mary would go back to her house. Back to her room. They would go back to just being partners and friends. And he would return to spending his nights alone. It wasn't that he hadn't tried dating since he met Mary. There had been some ladies; some he even really cared for, but it wasn't fair to them. It was unfair to misrepresent himself as a man unattached when another woman held his heart and attentions. None of the relationships went very far, and aside from a few rolls in the hay with some of the ladies that lasted longer, he'd been very alone for quite some time. Would it ever change?

Mary couldn't sleep. She banged her head against the seat back and closed her eyes, and tried to forget. She tried to forget her own body's reaction to Marshall. The way he smelled. The tender way he held her at night when he was sleeping. She had awakened early that morning to find her leg flung across Marshall's long limbs; her knee and hip flexed comfortably. Her face had been buried in his neck, and she'd inhaled his scent while her brain took a moment to take stock of all the anatomy. Her partner had one arm around her back, hand gently resting on her rib cage, and the other was somewhere else altogether. Marshall's other hand was resting on her thigh; sneaky long fingers creeping under her shorts with fingertips millimeters from the edge of her panties. And she hadn't minded at all. Was that a problem?

A deep sigh roused Marshall, and he turned his head without lifting it to eye her carefully. "You okay, Mare?"

"Yeah." She sighed. "I'm good." It wouldn't be long now, and she'd be back in her own home. She made a mental note to call her cousin and set things right between them when she got back. Fighting with Katie always set her on edge; had her listing slightly off-kilter like a top about to cease spinning. There were some people, Mary admitted, that just grounded her. Kept her even. Katie. Marshall. Her support system consisted only of those two individuals, but they were very important to her. Without moving her head Mary snuck a glance at her partner. Asleep; or feigning convincingly more like. He was relaxed. Eyes loose. The edges of his mouth curled up ever so slightly like he was laughing at his own private joke.

"He probably is." Mary muttered under her breath.

"Who is what?" Marshall's head lolled over to face her and her eyes met blue.

"Nothing." Covering ungracefully for the momentary lapse. "Nothing's anything."

"What?"

Maybe he had been sleeping. "Go back to sleep, Marshall. Sorry I woke you."

"Something's bothering you." It wasn't a question. He knew her well enough to tell without questioning.

Shoulders shrugged in response.

"Call her." Marshall urged quietly, bravely closing his hand around hers on the armrest between them. "You two will work things out."

"Mmmhmmm." Why did he always know what she was thinking? That room he was renting was getting a little cramped. Perhaps he should consider moving out of her head and taking up residence somewhere…more scenic. Less eventful. Less populated with her own brand of family drama.

The rest of the flight passed in relative peace, and Mary even managed to grab a few minutes of sleep despite her nerves. The fact that Marshall had draped his jacket over her torso once she'd dozed off was not lost on her, nor was the fact that he continued hogging the airline blanket. In truth, his jacket was warmer, and most likely cleaner. Also the fact that it smelled charmingly like him encouraged her to maintain possession of the garment until the plane had landed and the ban on cellular phones was lifted.

They found Marshall's truck with no problem, a fact that lent credence to Mary's theory that her partner was, in fact, hatched, and most likely part machine. The familiar cadence of his voice calmed her frazzled nerves as they fell into their well-practiced rhythms while he drove. Brandi's car was in the driveway, a fact that made Mary sigh. That meant drama. Marshall would have pulled in and parked beside Brandi, but there was an unfamiliar vehicle blocking him from doing so. Mary inspected the car from the passenger seat of Marshall's truck as he parallel parked and grabbed her bags.

"I can get those, Doofus." She managed to wrench one from his grasp, but was distracted by the sight on her front porch. A familiar figure stood up and waited.

"Katie." She breathed, and Marshall's head turned to follow her gaze.

The look on her cousin's face was unreadable, and Marshall flashed a questioning look at his new friend. No response was granted as the women's eyes remained locked on each other's.

"You got this?" Marshall slipped her other bag over her shoulder and nodded his goodbye to the young woman on the porch before hurrying to his truck. Those two had some talking to do, and the last thing he wanted to do was get in the way of it. Hopefully this would mean that he could have his partner back – at the very least. "That's not all you want." That nagging voice in the back of his head reminded him.

"Mary." Katie started once her cousin was close enough to hear. "I just wanted to…"

She never got a chance to complete the thought, though, because her cousin swallowed her in a giant bear hug.

"I'm sorry." Mary murmured quietly, a tad embarrassed once they separated.

"Me, too." The smile on Katie's face was all Mary needed to know that they were truly okay. "You went on a business trip?" She nodded toward the luggage.

"Um, yeah. For a few days."

"Have a good time?"

Mary was relieved to have one relative that understood not to pry. "I did, actually. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

They stood awkwardly, each nearly bursting with what needed to be said before Brandi stuck her head out the front door.

"Are you two going to stare at each other all night, or should I order in dinner for three?"

"Hang on a second." Katie was pulling Mary into the house by her forearm. "I have something I want to show you."

"Hold on!" Mary paused and pointed back outside. "That car is yours?"

"It is!" She countered, daring Mary to say anything further.

"Okay." Mary drew out as Brandi ushered them indoors. "What's for dinner?"

"First things first." Brandi insisted uncharacteristically. "Katie has some sort of secret, and she wouldn't tell me without you being here. Surprise, surprise." The end of her sentence trailed off in sarcasm that she did not even attempt to hide. She had long been jealous of the connection her sister seemed to have with their cousin. A childhood of inside jokes and two-sided secrets that never seemed to include her had left her wary of the shorter woman. Or perhaps merely jealous, she reasoned. Katie had always been nice enough to her.

"Okay, first you two need to sit down." Katie pointed to the sofa, and moved to stand in front of the coffee table. "Sit!" She motioned impatiently for them to take seats.

Once her cousins were seated, she took a deep breath to steady her nerves. "Okay, two things." Mary was getting impatient as well, and the look on her face was enough to send the words flying out of her mouth. "One, I was accepted to work on a project at school. It's huge! We're testing the equivalence principle in collaboration with this group at Stanford! We have to modify at least one of the laws of relativity to figure this thing out! This research could be life-changing! The biggest, most important discovery of this century! And I get to be a part of it!"

Mary could clearly see that her friend was excited, but she had no earthly idea what she was talking about. "That's great, Kay!" Enthusiasm was attempted, but it fell flat. Brandi's response, thankfully, took the heat off of Mary.

"Does that mean we're like, not related or something? Or are you just trying to figure out…wait, what are you doing?"

"No, relativity." Katie said with finality, as if that cleared matters up for Brandi.

"Einstein, Squish." Mary tried to help as much as she could. "E equals M C squared."

"What?"

"Major research in theoretical and astrophysics." Katie tried a different angle.

"Oh. What's that got to do with relatives?"

"I'll have Marshall explain it to her later." Mary promised, as she ushered her to continue. "What's this second news?"

"Oh, even bigger." It had to be good. The girl was practically levitating off the floor from the effort of containing it.

"Get on with it!" Brandi caught her cousin's enthusiasm.

"Um." She hadn't planned on being nervous. "I'm engaged." Her face was radiant. "Jason proposed."

"I don't understand." Mary's query was nearly drowned out by the sound of Brandi congratulating her. "I thought he was on deployment."

"He is." She extracted a disk from her purse. "He sent friends."

"We have to watch it!" Brandi was gushing. "We have to watch it! This is so romantic!"

"Well, we should celebrate." Mary stated as she hugged her congratulations. "What should we order?"

"Oh!" Katie's eyes lit up. "I know! That new pizza place at Alameda and Rio Grande is phenomenal! Do they deliver here?"

"Hang on." Brandi was already on it. "Let me check." One phone call later, the women were disappointed to discover that they lived too far from the restaurant for delivery.

"We could go out." Katie suggested.

"Then we can't drink." Mary was always the voice of reason. Well, sort of. Sometimes.

"You two can. I'll drive."

"It's your party." Brandi laughed. "I'll drive."

"We don't want to die, Squish. I'll drive." She paused. "Wait! Even better! Marshall!"

"Marshall's driving?"

"No." She was already on the phone. "Hey, are you home yet?"

Marshall was driving slowly towards his house contemplating his dinner options. There wasn't much in the way of food at his house at the moment. He'd cleaned out his fridge before the trip to Virginia. There was little he hated more than coming home to a refrigerator full of fuzzy science experiments. He had some frozen food, but nothing that piqued his interests. Maybe he could try that new Malaysian place he'd been reading about. The review were promising, and he felt like changing things up a bit after the letdown of coming back to New Mexico. He had an odd sensation of loss when he dropped off his partner. He'd miss falling asleep with her in his arms. Waking up to her blonde hair tickling his nose and breathing in her unique scent. Feeling that close to her had been a dream come true, and while he knew that the dream would end eventually, but he was unprepared for how difficult this proved to be.

His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he fished it out of his pocket and smiled.

"Marshall!" The voice on the other end of the line made his smile widen. He hadn't anticipated the phone call tonight.

Katie and Brandi craned to hear the other side of the conversation.

"Can you do me a favor? What's the name of the place?" She looked at Brandi and Katie.

"Pizza Palace."

"Can you drop buy Pizza Palace and bring back, what, three pizzas?" Nods of assent all around. "Three." She paused again. "And beer."

"Fine, yes. I'll pay you back." Directions were given, and Marshall was shocked to hear the merriment in the background. As much as he did not relish the idea of playing delivery boy to Mary, perhaps one of them would invite him to stay. As much as spending a night alone appealed to him, spending it with company and companionship seemed even better. Even with chaperones.

"Thank god! Took long enough!" Mary grabbed the pizzas from him, and walked away leaving Marshall standing in the foyer holding beer. "You coming in?" She called over her shoulder. "I hope you got enough for four!"

The merriment in the Shannon household was palpable, but he had yet to ferret out the cause. Brandi was prancing around the kitchen grabbing plates and napkins. Katie was setting something up in the DVD player, and even Mary seemed downright chipper.

"Katie." He nodded, and added a verbal greeting this time. "Good to see you again." He gave in eventually, remembering his vow to thank her, and hugged her warmly.

"Likewise." She smiled at him as he released her, and he noticed how her eyes were glittering with joy. "How've you been?"

"Can't complain." He smiled secretively, remembering the recent nights with Mary.

"Nobody's listening anyway." She joked. "There's really no point."

The joke was old, but Marshall smiled anyway. He appreciated antiquated humor, especially when the source left his partner smiling and happy.

"You ladies having a party?" He inquired.

"Of sorts." Katie started.

"Did you tell him?" Brandi bounded into the living room with a bowl of chips and two liters of soda. "Does he know?"

"Shhh." Mary scolded as she breezed in behind her sister carrying plates and napkins. "It's Katie's news. Let her tell him."

"Somebody tell me something." He hadn't spent time with the three of them before. It was pretty cute.

"Katie!" Brandi was about to lose it, and they could all tell. Her ability for keeping secrets wasn't as much legendary as it was infamous.

"Marshall, Jason proposed, and I accepted."

He was momentarily stunned. He hadn't anticipated this.

"And I get to work on a really cool research project." He chuckled when she looked even more excited about the research than the engagement.

"Which you need to explain to Brandi." Mary quipped. "I tried. It didn't work."

"Well best wishes on the engagement, and congratulations on the research!" He bent over and hugged her again. Good news was good news, and it deserved a celebration. No wonder the women were ecstatic. This was cause for festivities.

"Well, ladies, let the party begin!" With that, Marshall marched into the kitchen and extracted Mary's bottle opener, opening four frosty beverages and handing one in turn to each person present while Katie dished out pizza onto plates. Mary popped microwave popcorn, and Brandi chattered about wedding dresses and bachelorette parties as she tossed salads together. When the meal was ready, such as it was, the foursome moved back into the living room and gathered around the coffee table. Brandi curled up like a cat on the floor in front of the chair while the other three shared the sofa.

"Tell us how it happened!" Brandi gushed. "I thought he was still in Iraq with the Army."

"He's in Afghanistan." Mary corrected. "And he's in the Marines."

"There's a difference?" Brandi wrinkled her nose, and Marshall wondered for the umpteenth time how she could be related to Mary…and Katie, for that matter. "It's all the same war, right. Does it matter?"

Katie answered with grace that only she could possess. "They are separate countries, that do share certain linguistic and cultural similarities, and you could make an argument that it is the same war. As for the other thing, the Army and the Marine Corps are separate branches of the Armed Forces that do, at times, have certain overlapping and similar functions."

"Oh." Brandi looked deflated.

"But you're right." Katie went on quickly. "He's overseas fighting." That seemed to perk Brandi up a tad.

Marshall jumped in and changed the subject before Brandi could get too much more deflated. "So, he's overseas. How did he propose?"

Katie smiled wistfully before telling them. "Two of his buddies just got sent home, and they came to visit me with a DVD, and a check."

"A check?" Mary quizzed.

"For the ring." Katie continued. "So I can pick one out that I like." She paused. "Just watch the damn DVD."

Brandi insisted that they watch the movie over and over again, and each time they did, Mary grew quieter. Marshall noticed, however, that with each viewing she moved closer to him. By the end of the fifth her back was flush against his chest and his arm was tantalizingly close to wrapping all the way around her. The girls were all starting to yawn, Mary included, and Marshall caught himself dozing off somewhere in the middle of Brandi's third rendition of the wedding. So far she'd picked colors, flowers, dress designs, and reception menus.

Katie dozed off while Brandi was planning, but woke up and hugged her younger cousin affectionately. "Sweetie, you can plan this for me tomorrow, but right now I need to go to sleep."

"Sure, Kay." Brandi nodded.

"Katie, you can stay in Jinx's old room." Mary rose, and Marshall felt the immediately loss of her proximity. "I'll get you some stuff."

Mary rummaged around for a spare toothbrush and some pajamas, then knocked quietly.

"Come on in." Katie giggled as Mary poked her head inside.

"Want some pjs?"

"Sure." She slipped into the bathroom to change and wash up for bed.

"Mare?" She was surprised to find her still there. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." Mary was sitting cross-legged on the bed. "But I need to talk to you."

"Okay." Katie flopped down and mirrored the stance. "Talk. I'm listening."

This was going to be hard, and Mary knew it. Talking was not something that she did well; not this kind of talking anyway. But this was Katie, and she could trust her to keep her secrets.

"I went on a business trip with Marshall." Katie nodded. "We had to go to this conference."

"Was this conference in a swanky resort?"

Mary remembered cold nights on the floor of Marshall's dorm room. "Not exactly."

Point taken. Katie let it go. "Okay. Continue."

"I…" She started, then hesitated once more. Admitting this out loud would be difficult, and she wasn't certain how she could actually get this out.

"Spit it out, Shannon." Katie gently teased her. "It's me. Just say it."

"I slept with Marshall." Mary grimaced as soon as the words came out, but it was too late.

"You SLEPT with Marshall!" Katie whispered as loudly as possible, mindful of the guest in the other room.

"No, not like that. I mean I actually just slept with him. You know, sleep? That thing you do at night."

"Oh." Katie shrugged. "Okay?"

"Katie." Mary sighed. How was she ever going to explain this?

"So you're worried that you slept beside Marshall, and you kind of liked it, right?" Katie made it easier for her. God bless the girl. She was good at that.

Mary nodded, then asked the question she'd been burning to ask. Well. Sort of. "He likes to cuddle." She couldn't stop the sneer.

This did not surprise Katie. She figured him for an affectionate man. "You don't like to cuddle." She observed.

"Not as a rule, no." Her voice was higher pitched than usual.

"But you like it when it's Marshall doing the cuddling."

"Katie, I…he…I don't know."

"But you didn't hate it." This would be easier for her to admit than actually liking it.

"Maybe." A shrugged shoulder and evasive glance.

"And now you're wondering if that's something you could have all the time?" Mary nodded reluctantly.

"And you're thinking that Marshall's a great guy, and a good friend, and you'd like to have a guy like that around for a while, am I right?"

"Yes." Mary croaked. God, she sounded pathetic.

"Well you don't have to sound so glum about it." Katie teased her. "It's not a terrible thing to figure out that you love a great guy."

"I never said that!" Mary protested.

"Mary?"

"Katie?" Mary parroted back in a sing-song voice.

"Let me explain something to you." She knelt in front of her friend and took her face between her hands. "Mary, you're my cousin, and my very best friend. I love you like you're my own sister, but you seriously have issues."

Mary had to laugh. Katie always did have a way of putting things simply.

"Mare, let me give it to you straight. That man loves you. He's a good man, a good friend to you, and he loves you. It's not the worst thing in the world to discover that you're in love with a guy like that."

"Katie, I can't." Mary croaked, holding back tears.

"Why?" She countered. "Because you're dad walked out on you? Because you have a metric butt ton of baggage? Because you have issues with commitment and trust?"

"Those all sound good." Mary said quietly. "But he's my friend."

"And that's a bad thing because?"

"Because I'll screw it up."

"Maybe he won't let you?"

"Trust me, Kay." Mary fell back against the bed. "I can screw anything up."

"Trust me, Mare." Katie moved to lie beside her. "He won't let anything screw this up if you just go out there and tell him what you feel."

"Uh huh." Mary was unconvinced, and the look on her face said it plainly.

This was a look Katie was used to, though, and she had years of practice. There were times that being Mary's friend was difficult, but seeing how deeply she'd been hurt was even harder. Knowing how alone she'd been her whole life, how she'd felt when her father abandoned her. The way she held everyone else away from her to save herself from that kind of pain again.

"Mary, has Marshall ever hurt you?"

A petulant shake was her only response.

"Do you think he ever would?"

An eye roll accompanied the shake this time.

"So, what's the hold up?" Was she seriously going to let this man slip through her fingers? Not if Katie had anything to say about it. "You've got a beautiful man out there who loves you and just wants to be with you. He wants to love you. Wants you to let him love you. Just…go let him."

"It's not that simple." Mary protested. "There are other issues here that have to be dealt with."

"Sure, like the whole you two aren't supposed to work together and date. I get that, but he doesn't seem to have too much hang up with that. Why do you? Or is it just an excuse?"

"God, you're even more annoying than I remembered." Mary teased. "And yeah, there's that. But there's also the whole "I come with more problems than an algebra book" issue, too."

"You think he doesn't know that?" They'd been partnered for how long? "He knows you. He knows your family. Your crazy drunk mom…"

"Hey, she's actually sober now. Well, for now anyway, but it's been a while, and she has a real job. It could stick this time."

"And he knows Brandi, and her propensity to date drug dealers and gang bangers and the like." Katie continued without missing a beat.

"Brandi actually has a real boyfriend. And he has a legit job and money and everything." Damn it if she wasn't a little proud of her baby sister's latest choice in men.

"So they're all doing well, and you're the only one who's lonely and unfulfilled?"

"I'm not lonely!" Mary protested. "And I'm not unfulfilled. I just live alone."

"Sure. But you could be living with him."

Mary's mind drifted off to an image of she and Marshall alone. In his house. Living together. Happily. Could she actually have this? Katie was one of the smartest people she knew, but even she had been known to be wrong at times.

"Earth to Mary." She snapped her fingers in front of her cousin's face. "So I just have one question for you."

"Okay."

"What the hell are you doing in here with me?" Katie shoved her off the bed. "You could be out there with gorgeous guy who loves you!"

"I…" Mary started, but Katie cut her off before she could continue on her self-flagellation and doubt.

"Go, go!" Feet shoved Mary off the bed with a laugh. "Get your man. You both deserve it."

"But…" Mary floundered with the mere idea of "getting her man." Could she do that? Could she just go out there and do what her cousin was pushing her to do? Or would she just end up failing and losing him altogether. That was a thought she could hardly bear. Could Katie be right about this? Was it worth risking her friendship with her partner for some romance that probably wouldn't work out? Could it work out?

"Just promise me one thing." Katie sat up and looked at her solemnly.

"What?"

"You'll be good to him. Marshall's not like most of your men." This was a potential minefield, but for her new friend's sake, Katie knew she had to go there. "He's not a one night stand kind of guy. He's for keeps. You don't just sleep with a man like him and walk away afterward. He's in this for the long haul if you're going to get in this at all."

"Katie…"

"Mary, I love you, and I like him. You two have something special, and you could make it even more amazing. Just be gentle with him. Be ready to be serious about this relationship. He's a serious guy."

"I know that." Mary responded quietly, but she was thinking about her cousin's words.

"I know you do. I just wanted to make sure it got said out loud."

Mary leaned down and kissed her cousin on the cheek. "Thanks for the advice. And congratulations on everything."

Katie stood and hugged Mary warmly. "Any time, thank you, and go get him!" She shoved her taller relative out the bedroom door.

Mary padded down the hallway to find Marshall dozing on the sofa. He looked relaxed, and she took a moment to stand and watch him. Memories of the previous week drifted through her mind. Gentle caresses. Tender kisses. Warm arms encircling her while she slept. God, this could be catastrophic.

Glancing behind her down the hallway, she turned back to her partner resolved. Moving over to the sofa, Mary dropped down beside the slumbering man.

"Huh?" Marshall awoke a bit disoriented.

"It's time for bed." She patted his knee as she stood.

"Okay." His face said it all. Disappointment. Loss. Longing.

"You've got your bags in the car still, right?"

Bags? "Um, yeah?"

"Go get it." She stood and pulled him up beside her.

Confusion and hope flashed across his face, but he did as he was told. Ambling back in from his truck with is bag, he tried to not get his hopes up. He'd sleep on the sofa like always. Nothing had really changed between them. Had it?

Mary was nowhere to be found, so Marshall dropped his bag off beside the sofa and moved to the hall closet to grab blankets and pillows.

"What are you doing?" Mary peered around the door jamb of her bedroom.

"Getting some linens." He shrugged, uncertain of what else to say. The moment was long and awkward as they stood staring at each other. Mary finally shook her head and pushed past him on the way to the living room.

"What are you doing?" He questioned when she returned with his suitcase.

"You'll figure it out." She grabbed his arm and pulled him into her bedroom with her.

"Mary?"

Mary turned and faced him openly. "Why don't you sleep in here tonight?"

A/N: Sorry it took so long. I didn't forget about it! Thank you so much if you're still reading. Please feel free to review if you are so inclined!