It was a long night, and something told Marshall it was going to be an even longer day, as he pulled up in front of Mary's house. He eyed the license plate of the blue Camaro in the driveway, and wondered if it was one of Peter's as he grabbed the bag of bagels in the passenger seat and hopped out of the car. Habit made him eye the street, and he spotted the protection detail at the end of the road; probably Stan's idea, just in case Mary's reporter friend found her home address.

He walked up to the house slowly, as he mentally rehearsed his excuses. They sounded more and more flimsy with every step. "Hey, Jinx," he muttered, under his breath, "What am I doing here? Oh, just popping in to collect some stuff for Mary. Why didn't she ask you instead? Oh, it's Marshal stuff, you know how it is…"

Of course, they didn't have a clue how it was - with the exception of Raph…

As if on cue, Raph opened the door before he even knocked. "Is Mary alright?"

Marshall blinked, and then realised it what it might have looked like, with him turning up at the door first thing in the morning. "Mary's fine," he said. "She just wanted me to drop by and collect some things."

Raph frowned. "What kind of things?" he asked.

"Oh, you know…work things," Marshall said.

"Huh," Raph said.

Marshall took a breath. "Look, Mary asked me to come 'round and check if everything is alright, I agreed because you know as well as I that neither of us will get any peace until she feels she has got her own way; so why don't you let me inside and I'll collect her stuff, and then I can tell her truthfully, that I came around, and checked the house out, and Jinx and Brandi haven't burned it down…yet."

"Raph's lips twitched. "Are those bagels?" he asked.

"With cream cheese," Marshall said, lifting the bag. "Open sesame?" He had a key, but it only seemed polite to ask – even if it made his teeth ache.

Raph took the bag, and let the door fall open. "Actually, you're not our first guest, this morning. Jinx's cousin's friend's daughter, Lauren, is here too."

Marshall came to a shuddering halt, halfway through the doorway. "Lauren?" he asked.

"You've never heard of her, either, huh?" Raph said, with a small smile. "Apparently, she just got into town after being away for a while…or something like that."

"Apparently being the operative word," Marshall drawled, ignoring the puzzled look on Raph's face as he made a beeline for the voices in the kitchen. At least he now knew why Brandi and Jinx were acting so skittish.

"Marshall," Jinx said, jumping to her feet. "Well, this is a surprise…"

"I'll just bet it is," Marshall said flatly, before turning his attention to the extra addition at the table. Blonde hair, athletic build…oh crap, she really was Mary's sister.

"Hi, I'm Lauren, I'm the daughter of—" she started

Marshall cut her off "Don't even go there. I know who you are," he said, "Which is why I'm giving you five minutes to get out of here before I take out my badge and make it official."

"Marshall, what are you doing?" Jinx said.

"No - what are you doing, Jinx?" Marshal asked, rounding on her. "You know, as well as I, that not only does Lauren know the whereabouts of a known fugitive, she also bugged the house of Federal Marshall. That kind of thing is sort of frowned upon under this state's legislature."

"I just wanted to know if she was okay, that's all," Lauren said, her face blanching.

"I'm sure you did," Marshall said. "And that's why I'm giving you enough time to get going. You'd better take it."

"Would someone tell me what the hell is going on here?" Raph asked quietly.

"You didn't tell him?" Marshall asked Jinx sharply.

"Well, it seemed best not to say anything," Jinx said. "You know…just in case."

"Say what?" Raph said. "Would someone please tell me what this is about?"

"Lauren isn't a family friend, Raph," Brandi said, hesitantly. "She's my half sister…Mary's too."

Raph slowly sat down on a stool. "I see," he said, quietly. "And when were you going to tell me this?"

"Oh, Raph, honey," Jinx said. "We didn't want to drag you into it, especially after all the nastiness the last time she was here."

"Which reminds me," Marshall said, as he pulled out his phone. "We need to make sure this place is clean of surveillance devices."

"I wouldn't do that," Lauren said stiffly.

"I think the correct phrasing is, I wouldn't do that again," Marshall said abruptly, "And you'll excuse me if I don't take your word for it."

"Well, really," Jinx said. "There's no need to be like this."

Marshall ignored her and waited for Stan to pick up. "Marshall, anything up?"

"After a matter of speaking," he said. "Although, not what you might think." He eyed Lauren as she picked up her coat, and silently walked to the front door. Jinx and Brandi trailed after her. "I need one of the tech guys to come down and do another sweep of the house."

"You think the FBI have paid another visit?"

"I think somebody has," Marshall prevaricated.

"Okay, I'll get somebody on it – any news on the Butler situation?"

"No, I left them about an hour ago with their protection detail. No new developments. Any news at your end?"

He heard the sigh down the phone. "We checked the hospital's CCTV. His face never turned towards the cameras and his head was always down; we could 't get one single clear shot of his face - even in the car park, it was a wash; he used public transport."

"That isn't good," Marshall said.

"Yeah, it's looking more and more like this guy is a pro."

"How's the security at the hospital?" he asked.

"Dismal," Stan said flatly. "We have a detail covering the main exits and entrances, and a guy at Mary's door, but you know as well as I that if he really wants to get to her…"

"We should look into moving her," Marshall said. Giving Mary her gun was beginning to sound like a better idea with every passing moment.

Stan snorted. "Yeah, good luck with that; keep me posted. "

"And I though you were supposed to be the big bad boss," Marshall said, as he eyed Raph, who was staring at him. "Gotta go, Stan," he said.

"You knew about Lauren," Raph said, the moment he closed the phone.

"It came up," Marshall admitted. "In the process of our inquiries."

"And what kind of inquiries were those?"

"The kind that gets Brandi locked up in prison, and Mary searching for bugs in the living room," he said.

"She said nothing to me about it."

Marshal gave him a long look. "This isn't a conversation you should be having with me."

"You're her partner, I'm her fiancé."

"Yes, I'm glad we cleared that up, because for a moment there, I wasn't quite sure." From the second the words left his mouth, he regretted them. "Sorry, forget I said that," he said. "Let's just pretend this conversation didn't happen."

"You're as bad as her, you know," Raph said. "You never want to talk about anything real."

"Well I could, but then I'd have to kill you," Marshall deadpanned.

"See? That's it, right there. That sums up both your and Mary's attitude to people."

"Actually, I think that sums up the Official Secrets Act," Marshall countered. "A line we both know Mary has already crossed."

"And you're pissed about that," Raph realised.

"It's against regulations for a reason," Marshall said slowly. "It's my life on the line, too, Raph, not just Mary's - and let's drop this subject before Brandi and Jinx get back." He stalked into Mary's room, and opened her wardrobe, dragging out her gun safe. He needed to get out of this house before he blew a fuse.

"You seem to know your way around here," Raph observed softly, following him.

"I know where she keeps her guns and her scotch," Marshall answered, as he opened the safe and took out her 27, and a box of ammunition. "It's hardly intimate knowledge."

"That depends on the person," Raph said.

"Is this conversation going somewhere?" Marshall asked, with a sigh.

"No, I suppose not," Raph said, before pulling a face. "It's just the last couple of weeks have been a real eye opener for me, you know. I think I've spent more time with Mary in the last two weeks, than in the six months before that. After all, she's always busy, and with all the stuff with family, and her work, she never sits still…and I used to complain about that. I thought we never communicated properly because we didn't take the time to; but the last two weeks have taught me that that isn't really our problem….and I'm trying to find out what is."

"I see" Marshall said slowly standing up. "Well, what can I say? Mary is a riddle, wrapped up in a hedgehog, and embroiled in an enigma."

"So," Raph said slowly, after a moment. "You're saying Mary is…Russia?"

"More like a very prickly part of Siberia," Marshall admitted. "And I'm not really sure where this analogy is going, so I'm going to stop right now, while I still can." He grabbed a small carry all from the back of the wardrobe and deposited Mary's gun case and ammunition in it.

"You're going to see Mary now?" Raph asked quietly.

"I can't, security reasons," he said "I'm just going to pass this along."

"Oh, right," Raph said. Was it Marshall's imagination, or was there a slight lift in his voice? He supposed he couldn't blame the guy.

Jinx and Brandi were already in the living area again when he came out of the bedroom, and Marshall shrugged the bag onto his shoulder. "I'll see you soon," he said.

"Don't you count on it, Marshall Mann," Jinx said stiffly,

"Mom, stop being such a pain," Brandi said. "She doesn't mean it, Marshall."

"Oh yes I do!"

"And that would be my cue to go," Marshall said, before pausing at the door. "Anything else you two want to add to the events of this morning? Anything Mary should know?" He watched them exchange a look.

"You're not going tell Mary Lauren was here, are you?" Brandi asked quietly.

"I think it's best that I leave, now," Marshall said. He stepped out onto the porch, and let the door close behind him. "Free at last," he muttered under his breath, before pulling out his phone. He needed a favour.

"Marshall?"

"Hey, Bobby D," he said, I need you to do me a favour. I have to get Mary's gun to her, but I'm not able to visit her at the hospital, at the moment—"

"And you need somebody else with a badge to run the gun through security for you," Bobby finished for him. "Why not Stan?"

Because that's not the only favour I need to ask," Marshall said. "I also want you to run the license plate of a blue Camaro for me…"

TBC