Author's Note: Special thanks to JMS529, JJ2008, Jayne Leigh (I'm not much for Marshall cheating either, but that's what the muse wanted. LOL!), and BrittanyLS for the reviews. I've hit over 100 reviews so thank you guys so much! Shout-out to my sister, Erica, on prompt #068. She's a huge Whovian.
QUOTE PROMPT #067 – MARY/ABIGAIL
"If you ever, in your life, presume to judge me again, so help me God, I will beat the ugly right out of you."
"Are you happy?" Abigail demanded.
Mary froze on the sidewalk, where she had been pushing her daughter and niece in a stroller when Abigail came out of nowhere, yelling. "Wha- what are you talking about?"
Abigail scoffed. "Don't play dumb. You know exactly what I'm talking about!"
"First of all, you need to back off," Mary told her in a low growl. "I have my kids here. Secondly, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about and I really don't care."
"Exactly!" Abigail countered as Mary tried to pass. "You don't care. You don't care, but you keep Marshall hanging on by a leash."
Mary paused, anger rushing to her face. "I haven't talked to Marshall outside of work since my father died. By your request."
Abigail shook her head. "Why couldn't you have just slept with him? If you had just done that and tossed him aside like you do to all men, he would have gotten you out of his system. Instead, he's been mooning over you for years! He can't see what a colossal bitch you really are!"
"That's enough!" Mary stepped forward, keeping one hand on the stroller. She could hear the kids starting to fuss at the tone of the voices around them and forced herself to keep her voice low. "I'm sorry if there are issues in your relationship, but that has nothing to do with me. You knew the relationship that Marshall and I had before you started dating him."
"I didn't know how much of a user you really are. You just take and take from him and you don't care what it costs him! Well, congratulations, Mary! Because you cost him his chance at happiness!" Abigail grinded her teeth. "I hope you're happy. I hope you watch as he withers up into nothing, all because he can't let you go."
Mary opened her mouth to respond, but Abigail flounced away, apparently having made her point. Mary bit her bottom lip. She would be lying if she hadn't thought about herself the same things that Abigail had just said to her. The friendship between her and Marshall had always been terribly lopsided. She had done everything she could to push him away, yet panicked every time he pulled away. She wasn't happy for his relationship, but she rebuked all of his attempts to move their friendship into something different.
Not anymore, she decided. She would be the friend that Marshall deserved, that he had been to her. And if that turned into something deeper, she would resist her urge to flee and fight for them.
Mary pulled out her phone. "Marshall? It's me. I just ran into Abigail and I want to make sure that you're okay. Would you like to come hang out with me and the kids?"
QUOTE PROMPT #068 – MARY/MARSHALL
"Most of all, I'm looking for the real thing and you're nothing but a little boy who's not used to being told 'no'. So there's a bunch of reasons. Pick your favorite."
"No."
"Come on, Mary," Marshall pleaded.
Mary shook her head. "I'm not doing it."
He pouted. "Why not?"
"Because it's ridiculous! I don't want to do it," she told him.
"But, it'll make Norah so happy. It'll make me so happy," Marshall continued.
Mary's frown grew deeper. "What's in it for me?"
Marshall stepped closer to her. He ran his hands up her arms to her shoulders, kneading them gently. She purred, in spite of herself. "I think I can make it worth your while."
"Fine!" Mary huffed, leaning into Marshall's touch. "I'll be the stupid blue telephone."
"Tardis."
"Whatever."
Marshall grinned. "Norah is going to look so cute as a dalek!" He hurried down the hall towards Norah's room. "Bug! Your mom agreed to the costumes!"
Mary sighed as she listened to the excited chatter between her husband and daughter. "I can't believe I married a man-child."
QUOTE PROMPT #069 – CRIMINAL MINDS CROSSOVER – MARY/MARSHALL/JJ/HOTCH
"I don't know how you survived all these years without me."
"Where is she?" Marshall demanded.
"Marshal Mann?" Jennifer Jareau asked, stepping out from a hospital room to the left of the nurses' station.
Marshall whipped his head around to face her. "Yes?"
JJ took a deep breath, stepping forward. "I'm Agent Jennifer Jareau with the BAU. I was with your marshal when she was injured."
"Do you know where she is now?" he asked, fearfully.
"She's fine," JJ assured him. "She's talking to my boss right now. She has a broken ankle, a separated shoulder, and a concussion. She was very lucky."
Marshall breathed a huge sigh of relief. "What happened?"
JJ grimaced. "From what we were able to tell, the marshal that Mary was partnered up with didn't stay with her like he was suppose to, but instead splintered off, allowing the unsub to rush her. She fell down two flights of stairs."
Marshall swallowed hard to stop the tears he could feel welling up. "I should have been there."
"She was asking for you," JJ told him. "She said that she loved you, but that she never told you. She said that you loved her, too, but wouldn't tell her directly." JJ chuckled at the surprise on his face. "She was a little loopy from the concussion."
"I should get in there," Marshall said. He squeezed JJ's shoulder. "Thank you."
JJ remained outside the room, waiting for Hotch to emerge. When she stayed just outside of the doorway after he came out, Hotch gave her a questioning look. She placed her finger to her lips and dragged him behind her, cocking her head to be able to listen to the two occupants inside.
"What am I going to do with you, Mary?" Marshall asked, trying and failing to keep his voice light.
"I'm fine, Marshall," she replied. "I'll be up and terrorizing witnesses in no time."
Marshall sat down on the edge of her bed, taking her hand in his. "I'm sure you will, but you'll do it with me at your side. I'm stepping down as chief."
Mary looked at him sharply. "No, you can't do that. You worked too hard for it."
"I'm not really happy doing it," he admitted. "Too much paperwork. Besides, I love you and it would be inappropriate to marry you while being your boss. I miss being in the field, too."
"Whoa!" Mary nearly shouted. "Back it on up. You love me? You want to marry me?"
Marshall nodded, his calm nod hiding his racing heart. "And I'm pretty sure that you love me, too."
Mary opened her mouth to deny it, but closed it again. "I do." She looked away. "But marriage?"
He lifted her chin to face him. "Yes. As soon as you get out of here."
"Okay," Mary agreed, softly. Marshall grinned before capturing her lips in a heated kiss.
In the hallway, Hotch wrapped his arms around his wife. "Well, Jayje, that was some nice matchmaking work there. Almost as good as what Garcia did to us."
