Disclaimer: I don't own IPS. I'm just so, so mean to the characters! Sorry about that!
Author's Note: I'd apologize for yesterday's cliffie, but really, wouldn't you rather have the resolution to that than an apology? Here's the next chapter, as promised! =P
Fish Out of Water
Chapter 19
The precinct was a sea of chaos; officers and detectives bustled around desks and filled out paperwork and hauled perps into booking and down to holding. There were drunks and scumbags and more than a few kids in prom dresses and tuxes like themselves, though unlike themselves those others were either under arrest or waiting to be collected by a parent with a stern warning, depending on the infraction, which likely ranged from drinking underage to driving drunk or recklessly to public indecency to who-knew-what. Marshall took all this in at a glance as they headed toward the desk to which they'd been directed; he was following one of the uniforms who'd brought them in, and was guiding Mary in turn. He doubted she was comprehending much of anything, as the sheer terror she felt at the possibility of losing her sister rolled off of her almost palpably in waves.
"Mary!" a shrill, frightened voice instantly recognizable as Brandi's cried out from the crowded room. Mary's head snapped up as if she'd come awake suddenly, her eyes wild and searching.
"Brandi?" she called desperately, searching for her sister in the mess of officers and people giving statements, too many faces to sort through at once.
"There," Marshall pointed out as he spotted the girl's blonde head bouncing up and down frantically by a desk, his height giving him the advantage.
"Oh God, Squish," Mary cried as she ran to her sister, sweeping her up in her arms; the girl latched on to her older sister and wrapped her legs around her sister's waist like a child much smaller, confused and terrified by whatever had happened.
The sight of Mary, in tears and a strawberry red prom dress, holding her sister who was much too big to hold and whom she had recently believed might be dead, stopped Marshall in his tracks and made his heart feel like it was collapsing in on itself. He tried to choke back the wave of emotion that swept over him, but before he knew it he was at their side, three long strides bringing him close enough to pull both girls into his arms as the tears started to fall. He cried silently against Mary's hair, unable to hold back the torrent of feelings that he'd been bottling up since he'd first thought Brandi had been taken from them forever. The younger girl buried her face in Mary's shoulder and cried too; they still hadn't been told what had happened to her, but the strain of the evening was clearly showing itself.
"Excuse me," a harsh female voice interrupted them. "What are you doing?"
The three looked up to see an imposing and rather angry-looking woman approaching the desk.
"We were at prom when two officers came to get Mary," Marshall spoke first, shakily brushing his tears away and struggling to compose himself. "They couldn't tell us whether or not Brandi was okay, just that there was some kind of accident. They told us someone died but they didn't know who. We thought... We were afraid it was her."
"And who are you, exactly?"
"I'm her sister," Mary spoke up. "When can I take her home?"
"I don't think that would be a very good idea, seeing as your mother saw fit to drive drunk with her in the car," the woman replied sharply. Marshall's eyes widened at her words; he felt Mary flinch next to him.
"I'm eighteen. I can take care of her," Mary said firmly, hiding the desperation in her voice from all present, save for Marshall.
"I'm sorry, but I can't take your word for that. The child will have to remain in the care of social services until appropriate guardianship can be established."
Brandi clung to her sister a little more tightly.
"Please don't," Mary pleaded. "Please don't take her."
"I'm afraid I have no choice," the social worker responded. "Your mother hit a man with her car and killed him, and endangered your sister in the process. Now don't make this harder for Brandi than it has to be; set her down so I can take her to the group home for the rest of the night. A temporary foster care placement can be arranged on Monday until the hearing to determine guardianship."
"Excuse me," Marshall butted in. "Then why were we brought in?"
"We asked her if there were any other children living in the home and she told us she had a sister. We needed to confirm that her sister was also safe. But as Mary is no longer a minor, she is not under the jurisdiction of child welfare."
"Don't you usually try to place children with a capable relative before you turn to foster care?" he asked, shifting tactics.
"What about an eighteen year old who has not yet graduated high school, let alone received a secondary education, and who has no form of income, sounds capable to you?"
"Mary has raised Brandi since she was an infant," he answered, his tone taking on a hard edge. "Taking care of her sister and her worthless drunk of a mother has been a full-time job for Mary since she was seven years old."
"If she had been any kind of responsible caregiver, she would have called social services long ago," the woman replied grimly.
"I've done everything for my sister," Mary growled.
"Everything?" the social worker replied. "It seems to me that you've done everything but give your sister and yourself a chance at a proper home. Now please, release the child into my custody, before I have you arrested along with your mother."
"I think you have to, Mare," Marshall murmured in her ear, his hand gripping her shoulder as he turned his gaze on the social worker. "But this isn't over."
"She'll have her say at the custody hearing," she replied evenly.
Mary swallowed and squeezed her eyes shut, nodding slowly. She lowered her sister to the floor. Brandi clung to her still; Mary removed the corsage Marshall had given her and pinned it to Brandi's shirt.
"It's okay, Squish," Mary told her sister, her voice shaking. "This lady will take you somewhere to stay for the night, and things will get straightened out soon, I promise."
It wasn't exactly a lie; things would get straightened out sooner or later, though not necessarily in Mary's favor. She didn't think her sister could handle the whole truth right now, though, not on top of everything else that had happened. Her sister was physically unhurt, and for now, Mary had to accept that as enough.
"Will I see you tomorrow?" Brandi asked suspiciously. Mary glanced up to see the social worker shaking her head.
"Probably not," she admitted.
"Then I don't want to go. I want to stay with you and Marshall."
"I know you do, but what Mom did was really, really bad, and because of that, they don't want to leave you with me."
"You're not like Mom, Mary," Brandi whimpered.
"Thank you, Squish," Mary replied, hugging her sister. "We just have to hope they decide that's true."
Mary watched as the woman from social services ushered Brandi from the room; only when the girl was out of her sight did she allow herself to break down. She sank into a chair and pressed her hands to her face, sobbing outright in a way that made Marshall's heart break for her. She seemed utterly broken, sadly beautiful in her prom dress in the middle of a police station, even in tears.
One of the officers who had brought them in gave Marshall a sympathetic look and offered them a ride home in the patrol car; Marshall could only nod, for the lump in his throat prevented him from speaking just then, and he gathered Mary up and led her after the officer into the damp night air.
Once outside, Mary tucked under his arm, Marshall made his way for the car the officer had indicated, only to stop short. A familiar silver pickup truck waited in the parking lot, and leaning against it was the all-too-recognizable form of Seth Mann. Shit, he thought; of all times for his dad to get involved… someone at the police station must have recognized his name when they'd been brought in, and called his father.
"Mary," he turned to her, speaking softly as he draped his coat over her shoulders, "I have to handle something. I'm so, so sorry."
She glanced in the direction he'd just been looking, and recognized the truck. "Your dad?"
"Yeah. I'm going to see what he wants. Go home, sleep, and I'll come check on you as soon as I can." He leaned forward, kissed her forehead as he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Don't worry. We'll find a way out of this."
She didn't really believe him, but she nodded numbly and allowed the uniformed officer to lead her to his car. Marshall watched until the patrol car was out of sight, then turned to face his father.
Seth Mann was tense, angry; he gestured wordlessly for Marshall to get in the truck, and they rode home in silence.
"Vehicular manslaughter?" Seth glared at his son. "These are the people with whom you've chosen to associate?"
"Dad…" Marshall growled, forcing himself to remain calm. "Mary's mother is a nightmare. Mary's been living with this for a long time. I can assure you, however, that Mary does not deserve to be judged for her mother's mistakes."
"She's a good girl, is that what you're saying? I suppose that's why your mother and I have never met her," Seth replied, eyeing his son as though sizing him up. "A man is dead, Marshall."
Once they'd gotten home, Seth had sat him down in the kitchen, and Marshall had told him everything. Well, not quite everything; he'd left out the part about Mary's kidnapping and near-rape, the gunplay and arson that had followed, and the fact that they'd subsequently made love, though he had a feeling his father suspected the last part. Everything else was on the table, though; Jinx's abuses, both in terms of neglect and physical harm, Mary's constant struggles to keep Brandi safe and to pay the bills, and his involvement in her life. He'd even lightly skated across the subject of his growing reluctance to go away to college without her, but that was a subject best held over for another day.
"A regrettable fact, but nonetheless, one that has nothing to do with Mary," Marshall said evenly. "You seem to like Brandi well enough."
"Brandi is a child!" Seth barked angrily.
"And so was Mary, when this all started. She's done her best with a situation most people couldn't handle at all."
Seth heaved a sigh. "When Al called me from the station, telling me you'd been brought in with a young woman, I didn't expect anything like this."
"Truthfully, Dad, had I known I was going to be sitting at the kitchen table being lectured by you at one in the morning on prom night, I would have expected it to be for completely different reasons."
Seth glared at his son for a moment before looking away and uttering a soft scoffing sound which Marshall recognized as a jaded laugh; in his father's line of work, one had to develop a sense of humor that was a bit unconventional.
"Don't let your mother hear you talking like that," his father commented wryly. "She still thinks you're her baby boy, getting ready for your first day of kindergarten."
"I had noticed that, actually," Marshall replied, pursing his lips.
"I'm just glad she's not here. This situation is tangled up enough without her in the mix. I think we both know what would happen then."
"She wouldn't want me to see Mary anymore," Marshall said quietly. He glanced up at his father. "And you?"
"Marshall…" Seth sighed. "Her family is clearly a train wreck. Your mother's right to be uncomfortable with never having met her, in any case. That said… when I went down to the precinct to get you tonight, I expected to find a boy waiting for me, one who'd gotten himself in some kind of trouble or other. It happens; I know you're brighter than your brothers, but nothing made me think you were incapable of doing something stupid."
Marshall looked to the floor as a sense of shame washed over him.
"But that boy is not what I found. Instead, I found a man, willing and able to look after those he cares about, protecting what's his."
Marshall looked up at his father questioningly.
"When I saw that, I realized that at some point along the way, you grew up. I must not have been looking when it happened…"
You have no idea, Marshall thought, silent as he waited for his father to continue.
"…but seeing that now… I'm proud of you."
"Dad…" Marshall choked out, emotional and surprised all at once.
"The girl's being put into foster care until Mary can prove she can care for her?" Seth asked, cutting him off.
"Yes," Marshall replied.
"And if Mary gets custody, this is something you're willing to take on with her, caring for this child?"
Marshall met his father's assessing stare and nodded.
"You're an adult now, Marshall. Whether this is the course you want to take, whether you want to continue seeing Mary… these are your decisions now."
"What about Mom?"
"Just bring me a blanket when she makes me sleep in the doghouse."
"We don't have a dog," Marshall smiled faintly.
"Then I guess I'm really screwed, but it's no concern of yours," Seth assured him. "Your mother will come around as soon as I can convince her to see what I see in you. It'll help if you still manage to go to college," he added pointedly
Marshall nodded as he replied. "Dad, I'm sorry. For all of this. For not introducing you to her. She was…"
"She thought we wouldn't like her," Seth replied. "And she wouldn't have been wrong, son. I would have judged her for her family just like she thought, until I saw the man you've become for her."
Marshall closed his eyes, trying to calm the emotional turmoil he was holding in. He'd been prepared for anything from his father, a stern dressing down, being grounded for life, an order to never see Mary again… anything but words of praise. A rasping sound on the table caught his attention and he opened his eyes; his father had pushed the truck keys across to him.
"Go be with your friend, Marshall," his dad said quietly. "She has nothing left right now, and she needs you."
"Thank you," he murmured as he took the keys, not quite able to believe it was happening.
"I'll need it in the morning, so bring it back by then."
"I can just walk," Marshall offered.
"In the middle of the night, in the dark? I don't think so." With that, Seth waved him out the door.
Marshall cut the engine and sat outside Mary's house for a moment. His thoughts were a jumbled torrent of chaos, refusing to be organized no matter how hard he tried to focus. Mary's world was falling apart and the matter of Jinx was clearly beyond all possibility of repair; so, too, might be the situation with Brandi, and that was unacceptable. Without Brandi, Mary would be unable to move on, and Marshall knew Mary would feel she had failed her sister. God forbid Mary be allowed one night, he thought bitterly, one night without Jinx losing control.
There remained the fact that his father was now aware of certain elements of his relationship with Mary. He clearly knew what Mary meant to Marshall. How could he not? Marshall had worn his heart on his sleeve, and Seth Mann was neither blind nor an idiot. By extension, his mother would soon know as well, and he felt it was unlikely she would take the news quite as well. However, those were concerns for another day; right now, there were only Mary and Brandi to be concerned with, and one of them had already been taken away. Mary remained, the only person he could help, and he knew she needed him desperately.
He left the truck and made his way to the front door. A knock brought no answer; he tried the knob and found it unlocked, so he let himself in as he cautiously called her name. Closing the door and locking it behind him, he made his way to the bedroom.
Mary lay on her bed, staring at the empty bed across the room from her. She didn't seem to register his presence at all until he spoke.
"The door was unlocked. That isn't safe, Mare."
"Doesn't matter," she replied, her tone wooden and dead. "There's nothing left in this house worth protecting. It's all my fault."
He settled on the edge of the bed, pushing the skirt of the dress she still wore out of the way.
"Don't say that," he murmured as he leaned forward to push her hair back from her face. Her eyelids were swollen from crying but her tears had dried up; she had cried until she had nothing left. He rested his forehead against her temple and closed his eyes. "We will get through this, somehow."
"How?" she asked, her voice breaking hopelessly.
"I don't know, yet, but we'll find a way. There just isn't any other option."
Mary stirred and he sat back, giving her room to move; she sat up as well, staring at him as though finally deciding he was really there.
"I'm sorry, Marshall," she said softly, her voice catching in her throat.
"For what?"
"For always pushing you away," she whispered, reaching for his hand. "For pretending I don't need you when I… when I don't know what I'll do when you're gone."
His hands were cupping her face before she finished speaking, and he pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead.
"Don't be sorry. You've been trying to protect yourself and I never promised you I'd stay," he murmured in understanding, "but I'm promising you now."
A/N: It's been pretty bumpy lately, and there are still a few more bumps in store, as well as a few more chapters. I hope you'll all hang in there for the rest!
Let me know what you thought of this chapter, and I'll see you next time! I've got some hurt/comfort cooking up for the next chapter... emphasis on comfort... ;)