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To The End Of The World

The Story

Marshall shared a look with Mary before turning his attention to his daughter. "Angel, how about Mommy takes you back to bed to read you a story?"

"No." Her grip tightened around his neck. "I want you."

Marshall sighed and turned to Mary again, ever since she found out Mary was having a baby she had become very clingy with him.

"Go." Mary said softly, not in the mood to deal with a tantrum.

"Will you be okay?"

"Of course she will be." Jinx cut in. "We're her family."

Mary glanced at her before turning to Marshall and nodded.

He hesitated for a second. "I'll be right back…Come on, little miss…Its way past your bedtime."

Mary watched them leave the room and wanted nothing more than to follow them. Her hands were clenched together tightly and she took a deep breath.

"I can't believe you have a kid…" Brandi stated. "And you're pregnant."

"A lot can happen in four years…" She turned back around to face them.

"Obviously…" Raph muttered.

Mary looked to him, wanting to say sorry but she wasn't…Not really anyway. Marrying Marshall instead of Raph was the best decision she had ever made.

"I'll get some drinks…I think we have some snacks somewhere…" Mary said, snatching the paper bag with the ice cream Marshall had brought home and made a quick retreat to the kitchen.

Both Brandi and Jinx went to follower her but Peter blocked their path. "Just give her a minute…She's surprised to see us."

"It's been four years." Brandi folded her arms. "I want to know what happened."

"And I'm sure they'll tell us but just give her a bit of space." He advised.

Brandi sighed loudly and dropped down onto the couch. "Fine."

Marshall reappeared before Mary but when he noticed she was no longer in the room, he excused himself again to go find her.

"Hey…" He said softly, making sure he closed the kitchen door behind him when he saw her leaning both hands against the counter with her head down.

"They have never committed themselves to anything for longer than a week before…Yet they'll spend four years tracking me down…" She said bitterly.

He squeezed her shoulder. "It'll be okay, Mare…"

"Here" She slid a glass tumbler across at the counter to him.

"Scotch?" He questioned, picking it up.

"It's a double…" She commented. "You've got to drink for both of us now."

He smiled a little but sat it back down. He then turned her and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"We were happy." She mumbled, her fingers gripping his t-shirt and buried her face into his chest.

"I know…" He whispered, running a hand up and down her back. "But nothing is going to change."

"But…" She started and pulled back slightly to look up at him.

"But nothing…" He cut in, cupping her cheek. "We have each other and we have our children…No one is going to change any of that."

She pushed herself up onto her toes to give him a small kiss. "You're right."

"We have to go back out there." He brushed her hair out of her face. "What do you want to tell them?"

"We tell them the story, I guess." She shrugged.

"You sure?"

"Yeah…We probably should get it over with." She grabbed the tray she had already filled with drinks and snacks. "Let's just tell them, get rid of them and go to bed."

"Sounds like a plan." He took the tray from her and gestured for her to go first. When they re-entered the room, they saw everyone was sat down except Raphael, who was staring a photograph of Mary and Marshall on their wedding day.

"Sorry to keep you waiting…" Marshall said, setting the tray down on the coffee table. "Help yourself."

"We didn't come for refreshments." Jinx stated. "We came for answers."

"And we'll try and give them to you." Marshall replied calmly, sitting on the arm of the chair Mary had chosen, his arm going around her shoulders.

"So, you have a daughter?" His mother queried. "I have a granddaughter?"

"Her name is Hannah." Mary supplied, thinking back to when they first found out they were having a girl. Marshall had told her how his mom always wanted a little girl of her own but ended up with three boys and then his brothers each had two sons.

"She just turned two last month." Marshall added.

"I can't believe I've had another grandchild all this time and never knew." She replied. "I've missed birthdays…Christmases…first words, steps…"

"Mom…" Marshall cut in softly, already feeling guilty for cutting her out of his life. Before Mary, his mom had been the closer person to him. He had missed her more than he thought he would during the last four years.

"I can't stand here anymore and listen to this…" Raph said suddenly, throwing his hands in the air. "What happened, Mary? Why did you leave?"

"Things happened quickly…" She answered with a sigh. "We had to leave."

"Why?"

"I was engaged to one man but in love with my best friend…" She told him but she was looking at Marshall.

"I don't believe you." Raph shook his head.

Mary turned to him. "What?"

"I don't believe you would run away from everything…from your family and your job just because you made a mistake agreeing to marry me." He stated. "I may not have known a lot about you, Mary but I did know some things."

"It was complicated." Mary added. "We decided the only way we could led a normally life was if we started over again, somewhere where no one knew us."

"So, what you really mean is you left because you didn't want us in your life anymore." Jinx said.

"I was putting myself first for once." Mary told her. "I was doing what I wanted."

"We thought something happened to you…" Brandi joined in, sounding tearfully. "We thought you had been abducted again."

"I am sorry…I didn't know you would think." Mary turned to her.

"It was horrible." Her younger sister shook her head. "We found bloody clothes… when you didn't come home that night and we couldn't get hold of you on your cell, we called the police…that cop you knew came over and he didn't know where you were…"

Four years later.

"It'll be okay…This is Mary." Raph stated as he paced up and down the kitchen. Although he was trying to reassure Jinx and Brandi, he seemed more agitated then the both of them. "I bet she's just working…"

"Then why are all the police here?" Brandi asked, gesturing to the officers from Albuquerque PD searching the house for some kind of clue.

"It's just procedure." Peter came up behind her, placing both his hands on her shoulder, squeezing gently. "You've reported her missing and with the clothes you found…"

"You think she's been hurt?" She turned to look at him.

"How many times has she come home banged up and with blood on her clothes…its part of her job." Peter reminded her. "I bet she came home, changed her clothes and headed back to work."

"It's been over 24 hours and she always finds a way to let us know she's okay…"

"I'm sure it's going to be fine."

Bobby Dorshowitz joined them with a notebook in his hand. "So, you say none of you have seen Mary since yesterday morning, when she went to work?"

"She got a call and left without breakfast." Raph answered.

"And no one was home when she returned?" Bobby glanced down at the notebook. "You think she changed her clothes and then left again?"

"I got home about 5:40pm and saw the bloody clothes on the floor of our bedroom…" Raph nodded. "I didn't think much of it because it's happened before but now can't get hold of her…"

"What about her belongings?" Bobby asked. "Is there anything missing?"

"A few clothes and a sports bag but sometimes she keeps stuff in her car in case she has to go away for work."

"What makes you think this is different?" Bobby questioned.

"It's normally pretty unlikely that she doesn't let us know if she won't be home." Jinx supplied. "We also tried to call Marshall but got no answer."

"Okay, well I've contacted her office and Chief McQueen is on his way over here." Bobby told them. "Maybe he'll know more."

"Oh god." Brandi sat down heavily. "Sometime has happened to her…I mean if she was working then he would know…He would have said…He wouldn't be coming over."

"Let's just see what he says." Bobby said gently, turning at the sound of the front door being open and closed. "Here he is now."

Stan slowly made his way towards them, his hands in his pocket with a sullen look on his face.

"Detective…" Stan greeted. "What's the story?"

"Well, Mary left home early yesterday morning but we believe she came home at some point…There were some clothes which were stained with some blood." Bobby told him. "One sports bag is missing along with some clothes…no other personal effects."

Stan nodded. "Okay you can go Bobby…There's not a case here."

"What?" Raph asked. "You know where she is?"

"Is she at work?" Brandi stood up again.

"What's going on, Chief?" Bobby frowned a little.

"They're gone." He told them. "They left last night."

"They?"

"Mary and Marshall." He confirmed. "They handed in their badges and guns…They have decided to leave the Marshal Service."

"That can't be right." Brandi insisted. "Mary would never do that."

Stan shrugged. "I was surprised as you but they both wanted to a change."

"I don't understand…Why would she leave without telling us?" Jinx questioned.

Stan sighed. "From what I can gather, they made the decision fairly quickly."

"But….Why would they go?" Raph asked. "Mary and I are engaged…"

"Raphael, I'm sorry…" Stan looked at him. "I wish I didn't have to tell you this and there is no easy way to do it but I get the impression that the reason they've gone is so they can be together."

"Together?" He repeated, looking at Brandi and Peter quickly before back to him. "Together, together? They've been having an affair?"

Stan shrugged. "I don't know the details, all I know is that they've been close for a long time and things haven't been the same since Mary accepted your proposal."

"Why now?" Jinx asked.

"There was an incident at work yesterday…Mary was hurt, her injuries are not at all serious but that's why there was blood on her clothes….At times like that, it makes you think about the people who you love and you start wondering if you're living your life how you truly want."

"And she decided that she loves Marshall and she wants to be with him more than her family and doing her job?" Raph asked bitterly.

"I'm sorry." Stan said again. "I don't know what was going through their minds…They never talked to me about their plans but that would be my guess…"

"No, I don't believe it…" Brandi shook her head. "I don't believe Mary would do that."

"She left this behind." Stan continued, handing Raphael an envelope with his name on.

Raph hesitated before opening it but when he did, he didn't find a note but instead Mary's engagement ring.

"None of this makes sense." Raph claimed. "We were happy."

"I'm sorry." Stan added. "Look, I have to get back to work."

"You must know something…" Jinx followed him to the door, along with Bobby. "You must know where they've gone."

"I wish I did but they've disappeared…They were good at their jobs…If they don't want to be found, then you won't find them." Stan told her.

"This doesn't feel right." Brandi said as all the police officers filed out. "What if Mary is in trouble?"

"I'm sure she'll be in touch in a few days." Peter tried to reassure her. "I bet this is just a big misunderstanding."

"But you never called…never got in touch." Brandi finished telling her their version of the events of what happened after they left.

"I don't know what you want me to say…" Mary said. "You may think we were being selfish and maybe we were but there is nothing we can do about it now…"

"Why did you quit your jobs?" Seth asked suddenly, looking at Marshall. "Since you were a little boy, you always wanted to be a Marshal…even after all our attempts to stop you…Why did you throw that all away?"

"Because it wasn't who I was anymore." Marshall answered, honestly. "I didn't want to spend all my time working and worrying I could get shot dead any minute when I had a family at home waiting for me."

"I managed to do the job and have a family too…Does that make me a bad father?"

"You know I didn't mean that." Marshall glared at him slightly.

"This doesn't add up."

"Look, we're getting nowhere tonight...Are you all booked into a hotel?"

"Yeah, we're staying at a place about 10 minutes away." Peter supplied.

"Why don't we meet for breakfast after we've all had time to think and get some sleep?" Marshall suggested.

"That might be a good idea." Peter looked around at the others we who begrudgingly agreed and started to stand up.

Marshall grabbed the tray of drinks and excused himself to the kitchen, wanting to give Mary a minute with her family but he didn't notice his father following him.

"You know if you're in trouble, you can tell me."

Marshall jumped and spun around to face Seth. "Dad, don't do that."

"What happened, Marshall?"

"I told you…"

"If that was all true, you wouldn't have cut us out of your life." Seth interrupted. "I get Mary not wanting to face her boyfriend and I've seen the file on her family so understand if she wanted a fresh start from them but what I don't get is why you didn't want to see us."

"Dad…"

"You are my son, Marshall…You know I would do anything for you, your brothers and your mother."

"Even if it meant abandoning everyone and everything you know to be with the woman you love?" Marshall questioned and when his dad didn't reply, he cleared his throat and continued. "Let's finish this tomorrow."

"Why do I have a feeling you won't be here when we come back tomorrow?" Seth asked quietly.

"Dad…Please, just let it go."

Marshall didn't give him chance to say anymore and left the kitchen. When he rejoined the others, he found Brandi, Jinx, Raph and Peter waiting at the door, while Mary spoke with his mom. He could see their wedding picture in her hand along with a photograph of Hannah when she was just an hour old.

"Coleen…" Seth put his arm around his wife's waist. "We should get going I'm sure Mary wants to get to bed."

"Oh right, of course." She handed the pictures back to Mary. "But tomorrow I want to see more photos, okay?"

"You got it." Mary smiled sadly, taking a step backwards so she was beside Marshall.

"Marshall...hug your mother." Seth told him.

Marshall looked at him briefly but didn't say anything and instead did as he was told.

"I have missed you so much." Coleen whispered in his ear as she hugged him tightly. "I'm so happy to see you."

"I love you, Mom…" Marshall replied quietly.

When they pulled apart, Marshall stretched out a hand to his dad but was surprised when Seth hugged him too.

"Take care, son."

Marshall fought back the tears as he watched them heading for the door, not listening to Mary's family as they said good night to her.

"Do you think they believed us?" Mary asked him when they were alone.

"I don't know about your family…" He ran a hand over his eyes. "But my dad didn't…He knows."

Mary looked up at him for a second before putting her arms around him and laying her head on his chest.

"It'll be okay…" He whispered, rubbing her back gently. "We'll work it out."

TBC

So, yeah I'm sure most of you guessed there is more to Mary/Marshall decision to leave New Mexico. Let me know what you're thinking! Please review!