Stan was already there when the partners walked into the office; his door open and the sweet smell of percolating coffee wafting through the air.

"You made the good stuff." Mary practically ran to the coffee maker to pour herself a cup.

"Good morning, Inspectors," he greeted them with his usual morning cheer. Stan had sensed the tension between his inspectors over the past couple weeks. Today, it seemed as is the weight they carried on their shoulders was significantly lighter. "How is everything," he cast a knowing glance towards his senior inspector.

Mary poured two cups of coffee, passing one to Marshall before turning to look at Stan. Marshall rested a hand on her shoulder to give her the strength she needed to ask Stan for help. "Can we?" She gestured with her coffee mug towards his office.

"Sure," he held his arm out as an indication that she should lead the way.

Marshall stayed silent as he followed Mary into Stan's office; it was her father, so she should be the one to ask for help.

Mary took a chair in Stan's office and then thought better of it, rising and pacing the room until Marshall once again came to Stan behind her, giving her something to lean on.

"What's on your mind, Mary?" Stan sat behind his desk and turned to face her.

"I want to find my father," Mary dove right off the deep end.

"Way to be blunt there, Mary," Marshall smirked behind her.

She elbowed him in the stomach, but some of the anxiety was gone.

Marshall subconsciously rested a hand on her hip.

Mary locked her fingers with his, holding on to the support he offered as tightly as she could while she waited for Stan's response.

Stan resisted the urge to raise his eyebrow as he observed the behavior of his Inspectors. "How do you propose you're going to accomplish that?" Stan leaned forward on his elbows.

Mary let out the breath she'd been holding, "The FBI think they can find him based on a few old letters, but I know more about him than they ever will." She shrugged, "I think it's time."

"You deserve answers, I'll grant you that," Stan stood up and began pacing.

"I just thought you should know."

"Sit down, Inspectors."

Exchanging confused glances the pair took seats before Stan's desk.

"I'm going to tell you something that isn't to leave this office," Stan looked them both in the eyes, "You know about WITSEC policy; how we're not to discuss any of our previous cases, right?"

Mary's entire body tensed as she nodded her understanding. If any organization knew how to keep its secrets, it was WITSEC.

"You are not to interrupt me, no matter what I say. I don't care if you have objections, I don't care if you feel you have something important to say; you will not interrupt me until I am finished because I'm only going to say this once."

Mary reached for Marshall's hand, meeting it halfway between them. "Ok," She said at half volume.

Stan took a deep breath as he began his story.

"It was my first witness transport that dealt with the Witness Protection Program. I was recruited up a lot like you were, Mary. The Inspectors assigned to the case saw potential in me and offered me a position in WITSEC. The assignment was to transport a prisoner who had pertinent information on a bank robbery that resulted in the deaths of five law enforcement officials and ten civilians," he paused as Mary's breath hitched.

After a few seconds, he continued. "We brought him to St. Louis where he was able to live by the rules for quite some time; or so we thought. We caught him sending letters to his family back home and we were forced to transfer him to Miami. I was the marshal on that transport; me and Robbie," Stan adopted a nostalgic look as he was swept up in the memories of his earlier days.

"I asked him why he would risk his security like that," Stan stumbled a bit before finishing, "He told me that it was his little girl. His little girl was his entire world." Stan paused to allow Mary to take in all of this new information. He looked to Marshall for assurance that he should continue. A nod from the senior Marshal pushed him forward.

"James Shannon wanted to protect you from that life, Mary. He was ashamed of how he let you down and couldn't bring you to see the things he had done," Stan rose and moved to kneel in front of her, "your father was a noble, albeit misguided, man. He felt he was protecting you. That's why you weren't brought into the program; and I'm deeply sorry that I had to keep this from you."

With that, Stan rose to his feet and left the office; leaving his Marshals to absorb all the information that he had just thrown their way.

Mary sat in her chair catatonically. She didn't acknowledge Marshall as he moved to crouch down in front of her. "Mare," he waved a hand in front of her face, "you in there?" Deep down, he was worried; it was rare for him to see her like this.

The last time had involved five rapid-fire shots of Bacardi 151, a small cactus and a very confused llama. A few minutes passed before she acknowledged his presence. She blinked and clarity was restored to her eyes; instantly they met his as silent tears welled up within them.

Marshall moved to embrace her. "Come on, let's get out of here," he held her by the elbow as he helped her to her feet and out of the office, "let's get some pie."

The partners sat in the closest diner they could find; in a booth that was the farthest away from everything. Mary ordered chocolate pie with extra whipped cream and glared threateningly at the waitress. They waited until the waitress brought their order before they began to speak. Rather, Marshall waited for Mary to speak.

Mary shook her head, unable to force her brain around the story Stan had told. "I-" She trailed off for a moment, at a loss for words. "I can't believe... all this time." She let her head fall forward against the table with a bang. "He knew."

Marshall reached across the table to hold her hand.

She squeezed it, but didn't raise her head. "How could he know and not tell me?"

"Mare," he said gently, "You know the policy."

"Fuck policy," her head came up with a snap." this isn't some witness he fucked or her boyfriend he beat up... this is my dad!"

"Mare, that's one of the burdens of this job, we can't discuss these things, and it would have compromised James' security."

Mary groaned. "I know; I just… I can't believe he knew all this time and I had no idea."

"I'm shocked too, love," he squeezed her hand with one hand and held out a forkful of peach cobbler to her with the other, "eat your pie, pie makes everything better."

Mary chased the peach cobbler with an enormous bite of chocolate, whipped cream heaven; but for once even the double dose of pie didn't help.