Mary was already sitting at her desk running through suspects when Stan stepped out of the elevator. He looked up at the sound of her typing, surprised to find her there first. "Morning, Mary, what seems to be the situation?"

Not bothering to look away from the screen, she filled him in on what had happened. "Two thugs broke into Marshall's place about two hours ago. When I came into the living room, they were going through his book case. I'm not sure if they were looking for first editions, or information. Bobby's got them at the precinct right now, he said he'd let me know if he found anything out. I'm running suspects, trying to find if there are any connections between these two and any of our major players." She had spent her first twenty minutes compiling lists of Marshall's witnesses, dividing the people looking for them into categories to try and speed up the process. The system was currently running the names of the thugs against any case files linked to the mob.

Stan nodded, impressed with Mary's initiative. While she was one of the best marshal's available, she often left paperwork to her more than willing partner, and very rarely did she get to work so fast without Marshall around to keep her on task. Mary was the kind of woman who needed to be tied to a chair, because her style of operation was much more active. She preferred to do the leg work, where Marshall would do the research. It made them a force to be reckoned with. Sure, they could operate separately, but they were so much more effective together. "Good work, let me know if you get any hits." Stan turned, about to go into his office, ready to make the phone calls that might be needed once Mary had an answer. But then he froze.

Mary had allowed herself a brief moment of hope, thinking Stan might not ask how she had come to be at Marshall's at three in the morning. And then he stopped. She braced herself, taking a deep breath in preparation of the coming conversation.

Spinning on his heel, Stan came back to stand in front of Mary's desk. "Uh, Inspector, just what were you doing at Marshall's house this morning, that you happened to catch these men in the act?"

Inhaling again, to keep her voice steady, Mary met his gaze, "I was sleeping, Stan. That's what most sane people are doing at 3 AM."

"Yes, but why were you sleeping at Marshall's? Don't you have a perfectly good bed of your own?" Stan knew his inspectors well, he could tell that Mary was skirting around something.

She could drag this out for hours, offering just enough with each answer that Marshall might actually be here by the time Stan got the truth out of her. But that wasn't her style. She didn't dance around the issues, she faced life head on, consequences be damned. She just made sure to say a silent prayer that the consequences didn't damn her. "Stan, there's something that I need to tell you, that Marshall and I probably should have told you ages ago. We're seeing each other, have been seeing each other. With him away, I couldn't sleep, I went to his house tonight to try and get some."

Stan was silent for a moment, trying to make sense of what the blonde in front of him had said. "You and Marshall are dating, as in going out on dates, together?"

Mary resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She knew that the leap from partnership to dating was hard for some to comprehend, it had taken her and Marshall seven years to make the switch. She could give her boss a few minutes. "Yea, Stan. Marshall is my boyfriend. I am Marshall's girlfriend. Put us together and we make a couple." She watched Stan go from not comprehending to shocked, and straight through to pissed.

"How long exactly has that been going on? You two can't just screw around, you know. There are rules to this job."

Mary immediately went on the defensive, "We're not screwing around." She stopped herself there, remembering Marshall's words of warning. "We've been together for almost a year Stan, since I got shot. We both know there are rules, but our relationship hasn't gotten in the way of our job in the least. In fact, tonight, it helped us do our job. If this was a direct targeting of a WitSec inspector for information, than my being there potentially saved not only my partner's life, but the lives of his witnesses as well." Mary hoped that Stan would accept that and just let it go, but she had a bad feeling that wouldn't be the case.

"Don't try and sugar coat this, Mary. Dating your partner is in direct violation of rule 12, section A. And you both damn well know that. What is the matter with you? I know that you tend to ignore the rules, but what about your damn partner? He's had the marshal's book memorized since he was 14, what the hell was he thinking? What the hell were either of you thinking? You know what this means, right?" Stan didn't bother trying to reign in his anger, for once not worrying that he was yelling at his usually hot headed inspector with her partner nowhere around to hold her back.

"Yes, Stan, it's against the rules, but it's not like this is some wishy-washy teenage affair. I love him, Stan, and he loves me. And we were thinking that how we felt hadn't stopped us from doing our jobs in the past, so why should it be any different now? A year, Stan, and no one knew. We've never been anything less than professional, in the office or on the road. And we've never let the relationship get in the way of doing the job." Doing her best to channel Marshall, Mary kept her calm as she tried to cool Stan down.

Unfortunately, he was having none of it; "Love? Mary, I don't care if you two are Ozzie and freaking Harriet. It's against the rules, and it ends now."

Her handle on calm completely lost, Mary stood slowly. "What?"

"You heard me, Inspector. Either you end the relationship, or you end the partnership. You can't have it both ways." Stan delivered the ultimatum without really thinking what he was saying. But he saw it the moment his words penetrated Mary's mind.

She pulled in a ragged breath, her biggest fear being realized. She was going to have to choose between marshal Mann, the best partner she'd ever had, and Marshall Mann, the best thing that had ever happened to her. And as a single tear fell, she knew that it wasn't even a decision. "Then I guess you should call Arlington and have them send you over a couple of new marshals."

Stan was stunned. Her words were beginning to catch up with him. Mary and Marshall were in love. And he had just ordered her to choose between being with Marshall or having him as a partner. Though he'd honestly never thought she would choose a new partner, he was even more surprised to find that she hadn't hesitated in the slightest before choosing to stay with Marshall. Now that the words had been said, he couldn't take them back, not that it mattered, because HQ would insist the same anyway. "And you're sure Marshall will answer the same?" He saw anger flash in her eyes. It occurred to him that even if Marshall did, for some ridiculous reason, choose to end the relationship, the partnership would be over anyway.

He took a moment to study his inspector, as she glared at him. Mary was standing, yes, but she was exhausted. He noticed for the first time the butterfly closure on her forehead, and the long cut underneath it. It hadn't occurred to him that she might have been injured while protecting her partner's house. Her shoulders, while squared, were weighed down with both the events of earlier and this conversation. Already on edge from having her partner on the road without her, and from having to deal with a high maintenance new witness, a break in slash security breach was the last thing she needed, except of course having her boss, and supposed friend, throw the most important relationship in her life to the garbage. A year ago, Mary Shannon would have long ago stormed from this office, probably after socking him in the face, a blow he knew he more than deserved. But instead she was standing here willing to take her consequences, however unfair. He knew that the change was attributable to Marshall. He also knew that splitting the two of them up would be the worst decision this agency could ever make. He loved the two of them as if they were family, and had often pictured them getting together. How could he punish them? And yet, he knew that he had no choice but to follow protocols. He would call his superior and file the report, but the whole time he would be batting for them, trying to convince the higher ups that their relationship would not interfere.

He let out a long breath, releasing the anger he had held a moment ago. "Jesus, Mary, you two never can do things the easy way, can you?"

The change in Stan's demeanor calmed Mary as well. She was still mad, but she was no longer contemplating murder. "Nothing worth having is easy to obtain." Marshall had said that to her once, years ago. She had long since known it to be true.

"You know I don't want to split you up, right? You're the best marshals I've got, the best team I've seen in years. If it was up to me…I'll try my hardest to make them let you stay together."

Mary nodded, her anger gone. She'd known it was coming; from the beginning, she and Marshall had both known it was a possibility, a probability. "Just, don't let them transfer one of us. Please, Stan, Albuquerque is the only place I've ever felt at home, and this job has been my life for almost a decade. And if you transfer me, he'll leave the marshal service to stay with me. He can't do that, he's a fifth generation marshal."

"I know, I know. I'll do what I can. Meanwhile, you work on the threat assessment." He watched her fall back into her seat before moving to his office.

She waited until his door had closed before picking up the phone. It was quarter after six, Marshall would be awake and already on the road. While this wasn't a conversation she wanted to have via cell, she desperately needed to hear his voice. She dialed his number and held the phone to her ear.

He answered before the first ring had ended. He had been waiting for it. "How bad was it?" He heard her breath hitch slightly, and knew that it had not gone well. "Mare, it's going to be okay." He kept his voice low, trying to soothe her.

"Stan's calling Arlington right now, to request new partners for both of us. If we're lucky, they'll agree and let us stay in the office. But Stan can't promise that they won't transfer one of us." Mary left out the details of the conversation she and Stan had just had. Marshall didn't need to know. All that really mattered was the outcome, the coming change.

Marshall's eyes closed for a moment, the two of them just couldn't catch a break sometimes. "We knew this was a possibility, it's nothing we weren't prepared for. I told you, I'm not going to let anyone come between us." He knew that he didn't need to say it, Mary knew how he felt. But he also knew that she was probably freaking out at the prospect of so much change.

"I know, Marshall, but this means we won't be partners anymore. It means that when you go out in the field, I'm not the one covering your back. I just, I hate the thought of you having to rely on someone else." Her voice was soft, distant, a million scenarios running through her head, all of them ending with Marshall collapsing on the desert ground, blood seeping into his shirt, a horrible flashback.

Unfortunately, Marshall knew exactly what she was talking about and where her mind was going. In his own mind, he saw doctors pushing a gurney down a hallway, Mary unresponsive, blood seeping from her abdomen. He didn't like the idea of sending her out there with some stranger any more than she did him. "We've had other partners before, we've survived."

It was true, she knew, but that didn't make her like it anymore, "Barely." She forced the joke, knowing that neither one of them wanted to think about new partners. "You should focus on driving; I've got to get back to the threat assessment. I'll see you later tonight."

Marshall knew Mary needed to focus on something else. He let her change the topic. "I'll grab food and meet you at my place?"

"Ok, but just a warning, I didn't really have time to straighten up the mess before I came in." She felt it best to warn him.

"As if you would have if you'd had time," he was teasing her. She was a surprisingly good housekeeper, and an even better cook. But she had a lot on her mind and he wanted to save her what trouble he could. "I'll see you in a few hours. Make sure you have something to eat before I come home, please."

She resisted the eye roll, knowing that he was genuinely worried for her. "I promise. Drive carefully, I'll see you later." She disconnected the call and went back to work.