Though Stan spent several days on the phone with various people within the marshal service, trying to make a case for allowing Mary and Marshall to stay together, he was overruled. Within the week, two new marshals had been sent to Albuquerque. It was Wednesday morning when they arrived, having come from Virginia on the same flight. Mary was sitting at her desk, back to the door, looking up at Marshall, who was facing her. They had been doing their best to keep each other's spirits up, trying not to think about their new partners.

The ding of the elevator stopped the conversation that Mary and Marshall had been in the middle of having. Mary's eyes went to Marshall's face, but his eyes were locked on the security door. Mary didn't turn around until she heard the unfamiliar voice.

"Good morning, hi, do you think you could buzz us in?" The shorter of the two men spoke, looking at the pair with a hopeful eye.

Before Marshall could respond, Mary stood and stepped around him. She gave both men the once over, assessing them from across the room. Already knowing that there was no way either of these men were capable enough to be partnered with Marshall, or patient enough to be partnered with her, she shrugged her shoulders, "We could." Rather than move to let them in, she walked over to refill her coffee mug.

Marshall couldn't help the smirk. There were times when Mary's lack of tact got them in trouble and made things difficult, but there were also times when she was downright entertaining. However, despite the smirk, he crossed the office, sticking his head in to alert Stan as he went, and opened the door for the two new marshals. "Welcome to Albuquerque, gentlemen. Please come in."

The two men walked to the center of the room where Stan was waiting, standing just outside his office door. Mary came to stand reluctantly on his left, facing the newcomers, who stood on his right. Marshall joined his partner. "Hello men, my name is Stan McQueen, I'm in charge here. This here is Mary Shannon, and this is Marshall Mann." He held his hand out to shake their hands, and then gestured to his marshals as he introduced them. Marshall willingly held out his hand, and after an elbow from her boyfriend, Mary did the same.

The shorter man reached for Stan's hand first, shaking it briefly before moving to Marshall, "My name is Teddy Daniels." Teddy was lean, with short, blond hair, and a goatee. Though he proudly displayed his marshal badge at his hip, Mary would have cast him as an airline pilot or a limo driver, not a law enforcement officer. Unfortunately, he looked like Brandi could take him in a fight.

The other man was taller than Teddy and Stan, but shorter than Marshall. He had a handsome face and a crisp suit. He had wavy brown hair slightly longer than Marshall's. The sunglasses in his hand and the tie around his neck both screamed money. He filled out his suit perfectly, which allowed Mary to get a hint of his build. She reckoned that he could take care of himself in a fight, but wouldn't believe it till she'd had a few rounds with him in the ring. When he held out his hand, he went right for Mary's, looking her up and down as he did, "Name's John Royce, little lady, sure is fine to meet you."

Marshall tried to hide the snigger, ignoring the obvious leering, knowing that Mary would be more of a deterrent for future ogling, but Mary made no attempt to cover her displeasure at being addressed as such. She applied pressure to the hand she was still holding. "Listen, Royce, unless you want to be singing soprano for the rest of your days, I suggest you knock the 'little lady' crap off. Got it, Jackass." She didn't bother to shake Teddy's hand, already fed up with the new arrivals. She turned and walked away, headed into the conference room.

As John and Teddy watched Mary huff away, and Marshall simply stood there smiling, Stan shook his head. Pointing to the two empty desks that had been delivered earlier in the week, Stan ushered the men further into the office. "Don't mind Inspector Shannon, she's not good with new people."

"She's not good with any people, actually, she prefers guns." Marshall offered helpfully, earning a glare from Stan which he simply shrugged off. He did his time earning his bones from Mary, it was the new guys' turn now. Neither he nor Mary would accept them till they'd proven themselves. That was the way the service worked. When you're life was in someone else's hands, you needed to know they were at least as capable as you.

It was Royce who responded. "Well, then, I'll have to show her mine. I love a woman who knows how to handle a man's weapon."

He was smart enough to keep his volume down, so that only Marshall heard the remark. Marshall held out a hand to stop the man's progress, letting Stan and Teddy continue toward the coffee pot and the new desks. "You're new here, so I'm gonna let that one slide. But consider this your first and only warning. She's off limits. Don't hit on her, don't leer at her, and if you want to keep your balls, I suggest you make that the last innuendo you ever utter about her." He and Mary had decided not to advertise their relationship to the newcomers right away, but there was no way Marshall was gonna sit back and listen to some ass disrespect her.

Royce looked the tall marshal up and down, underestimating Marshall as many an opponent had before. "Look, cowboy, she's not my partner, which makes her fair game. Don't think for a second your chivalrous nature's gonna stop me from tapping that." He reached forward and patted his hand twice on Marshall's chest.

The reaction was pure instinct. He grabbed Royce's hand and twisted, bringing the new inspector to his knees. Luckily, Stan and Teddy had moved into the conference room to talk to Mary. There was no one to see Marshall's actions. "It's not my chivalrous nature you should be worried about. It's the glock she carries, and knows full well how to use. And if that doesn't scare you consider this, we may not be partners anymore, but that woman in there is my best friend. You so much as look at her in a way she doesn't appreciate, and you'll have my glock to be worried about as well." Marshall released the other man's arm and stepped back, letting him stand, "Understood?"

Royce narrowed his eyes, rubbing his wrist. "I got it. Now, if you'll excuse me."

Marshall let him walk away, watching as he made his way into the conference room. Stan had set up a number of files for the new agents to look over. Today would be all about familiarizing the two new partners with some of Marshall and Mary's older cases. They wouldn't be assigned their own witnesses for at least three months, giving them a chance to get settled in and giving Mary and Marshall a chance to become comfortable with them. Until then, they would be acting merely as back up, taking on the roll Marshall usually played when dealing with Mary's witnesses, and Mary's roll when dealing with one of Marshall's.

Marshall knew that almost breaking his new partner's wrist had been a mistake, but there was no way he was going to let that guy talk about 'tapping' his girlfriend. And while he knew firsthand how amazingly beautiful she was, he didn't take kindly to other men ogling her, especially with him standing right there. Now that the message had been delivered loud and clear, they'd be able to put it behind them and move on. Of course, there was always the chance that Royce ignored his warning and said something like that directly to Mary's face. In which case, Marshall wouldn't have to worry about anything, because Mary would strangle him with his own tongue.

As if thoughts of her were like a beacon, Mary stuck her head out of the conference room. "Are you gonna stand out there and daydream all day, princess, or are you going to join the rest of the class. Some of us would like to get out of here before the sun goes down."

Marshall smiled. "Coming, darling," his words dripped sarcasm. But he picked his mug up off of her desk and made his way into the conference room.