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Enjoy!

To the End of the Earth

Vacations and Motels:

Mary stood with her pants rolled up to her knees and water lapping at her ankles, watching Marshall and Hannah playing further out in the ocean. From where she was stood she would hear her daughter's giggles and squeals every time a wave hit them but despite how much she seemed to be enjoying it, Mary could see the tight grip she had around Marshall's neck. She shielded her eyes from the sun with one hand while rubbing her sore back with the other. She loved watching them together, remembering when she was a little girl how her own father was her world. The difference was, Hannah loved Marshall because he played with on the beach, told the best bedtime stories and was there for every day, no matter what. All Mary could remember of the time she spent with her Dad was picking up tickets at the race track and sat outside banks. She thought about all the conversations they had about partners and how you should never trust them. She went through most of her life believing that…Thinking that only person she could trust was herself. Until she met Marshall and one day she found that she had begun to trust him more then she had never trusted anyone, even herself. After everything they had been through together, she was eternally gratefully that he had been her partner or her life could have turned out completely different.

She smiled and waved when she saw them making their back towards her. Once they reached the swallow water, Marshall tried to set Hannah down so she could walk but she refused to let go of him and led her head on his shoulder.

"Think it's time we head back to the house…Someone's getting tired." Marshall said when they reached her.

"Ice cream!" Hannah suddenly sat up and looked at him with pleading eyes.

"Yeah, Dad, you did promise us ice creams." Mary added.

"Fine…We can stay for ice creams." He rolled his eyes but smiled when they both cheered.

"I'll get them." Mary offered when they reached the spot where they had set their belongings. "You two dry off."

When she returned a few minutes later with two ice creams cones, knowing Marshall would share with Hannah she found her daughter wrapped in a huge towel, sat on Marshall's lap.

"Chocolate or strawberry?" Mary offered, holding one of each out to them.

"Strawberry." Hannah exclaimed, reaching out for it.

Marshall grabbed hold of it before she had change to, taking a bite off the top so it was easier for Hannah to hold. She gripped onto it tightly with both hands and Marshall reached his free hand to up to support Mary as she lowered herself down to the sand.

She sat down with a groan and leaned against his shoulder.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Sore back?" He guessed.

She shrugged. "No more than normal."

"Does that mean I'm on massage duty tonight?"

"Unless you want me tossing and turning all night then yes."

"It's a date." He leaned over and kissed the top of her head.

They sat in silence, just enjoying the ice cream and the warm sun. When Marshall looked down at Hannah he couldn't help but laugh when he saw her face was covered in ice cream.

"Looks like we've got an ice cream monster here." He teased, reaching for a spare towel to clean her up.

"We should probably head back." She started to gather up their belongings.

"Been a good day though." Marshall added. "I'm going to miss it here."

The next day, they were leaving South Carolina and traveling down to Florida, taking a couple of days and stopping in Georgia a few times on the way. They planned to stay in Tampa and if nothing came up and they liked it, that was where they planned to stay.

"Well, Tampa has beaches…" Mary replied, grabbing one of the smaller bags and reaching down to take Hannah's hand.

"I know but this is different." He took Hannah's other hand as they walked back to the small two bedroom house they had been renting. "Feels like it's been one big vacation."

"You're such a sap." She rolled her eyes but actually was she relieved that he had managed to relax enough to enjoying himself.

XxXxX

When Mary entered their bedroom after putting Hannah to bed that night, she found Marshall talking on a cell phone that she guessed was a disposable. He glanced up at her when she lowered herself to the bed and he laid a hand on top of hers as he wrapped up the conversation.

"Nathan?" She questioned once he had hung up.

"Yeah." He nodded, moving to lean against the headboard and pulled her to sit in front of him before gently starting to massage her back. "He hasn't heard anything, except the flights our families took to Maine was checked."

Mary tensed. "By who?"

He leaned forward, placing a light kiss on the curve of her neck and she could feel a smile on his lips. "He wasn't sure but he traced the call back to the Sunshine building in New Mexico, Albuquerque."

"Stan?" She questioned.

"Mm-hmm." He replied, giving her another kiss.

She moaned quietly at the feel of his lips and hands, leaning her head back to rest against his chest.

"After all this time, he's still looking out for us." She sighed quietly. "I miss him."

He ran his hands from her back to her stomach, placing his chin on her shoulder. "Me too."

"What else did Nathan say?" She put her hands on top of his.

"Just that he'll keep a watch out and will let us know if anything comes up but he doesn't think we have to worry."

"So, we could go back to Maine?" She turned her head a little to look at him. "Or stay here."

He looked at her in surprise. "We can do...If you want."

"I want you to be happy." She squeezed his hands. "And you like it here."

He laughed a little. "I do but because it feels like the vacations my family took when I was a kid…I probably wouldn't enjoy it as much if we lived here."

"You went on family vacations to the beach?" She turned to face forward again, leaning fully back against him. "We used to go camping…and that was only because Mom had no money for rent or a motel."

"Well, we can start a tradition for our family." He tightened his arms around. "At least one vacation a year."

"To the beach?"

He shrugged. "I don't think we'll need to travel to the beach since there are plenty in Florida but sure, if you want."

She fell silent and he was beginning to wonder if she had fallen asleep when she spoke again. "Tell me about your family vacations?"

He was surprised but smiled a little as he talked. "Dad worked a lot so it was nice to spend time with him without him having to leave at a drop of a hat…sometimes my grandparents used to come too…"

She listened to him talking and her mind drifted back to the one time she had gone away with James and Jinx before Brandi was born. She couldn't even remember where they had gone, she just remembered being kicked out the motel and stood in the cold during the middle of the night while her parents argued over whose fault it was. She had never cared about taking a vacation after that. Even years later, when she travelled with the Marshal Service and had to stay low budget, grubby motels she always remembered that night stood in the parking lot when she was five and realized it could be worse. For 30 years, it had remained her worst travel experience by far until that night four years ago when they were Illinois and Marshall had a bullet in his arm.

They got into a cab after walking about 10 minutes from the airport and asked to be taken to the nearest Wal-Mart. Marshall had insisted that Mary stay outside and out of view, just in case someone recognized her but she refused, not allowing him to go inside alone when he could collapse from blood loss at any minute. Eventually, they agreed that they both would go in but not together and that Mary would try and stay out the way as much as possible, which was easy considering it, was past midnight.

Marshall went straight to where the first aid kits were kept, grabbing a couple of packs of thick gauze pads and some rolls of gauze along with some latex gloves and a couple pairs of scissors.

He had to stop for a minute and leaned against the shelf, taking a deep breath and willed the world to stop spinning. Within seconds, Mary appeared and he tried to tell her not to stop but she ignored his look.

"You should find somewhere to sit down." She told him, gripping his good arm to make sure he stayed on his feet.

"I just needed a minute." He looked around and was relieved that there was no one else around. "If you want to get this done quicker, go and find some sewing thread, the thicker the better, some regular sewing needles and curved ones too."

She looked at him as if he lost his mind. "You want to take up needle work now?!"

He would have rolled his eyes if he didn't think it would have made him even dizzier. "It's for my arm…You're going to have to stitch it up."

"I am going to have to what?!"

"Mary…" He hissed when she raised her voice.

"You're out of your mind…"

"You stuck a tube from the car into my chest not so long ago…this will be nothing."

She glared at him. "I'm telling you, the next time you get shot, you better be near a hospital because I'm not going to always be your doctor!"

"Just go get the thread …"

She sighed. "Anything else?"

"I can get the rest from here." He gestured the shelf in front of him.

She turned and walked away, muttering to herself and Marshall took another deep breath before continuing to fill his basket.

She was at the checkout before him and kept a watchful eye on him when he went to till beside the one she was at. She pretended that she had forgotten something and rushed off to grab it so she wouldn't have to explain why she was hanging around after she had paid and her stuff had been bagged. The checkout girl rolled her eyes but didn't complain since there was no one else waiting to pay. She returned a few minutes later with a couple of magazine, bottled water and some candy.

"You a doctor or something?" The guy serving Marshall commented.

"Or something." Marshall answered, trying to act normal. "My wife broke a glass and cut her hand."

"Why don't you just take her to the hospital?"

"She has a fear of them…" He answered smoothly. "Plus, we're here in vacation….We drove down from Ohio and haven't found a hotel yet…She doesn't want to spend all night at the emergency room then waste tomorrow sleeping."

"You haven't got a hotel yet?" He raised an eyebrow. "Dude, there some kind of orchestra thing on…Most hotels are booked up."

Marshall stopped packing and looked at him. "Do you know anywhere I could go?"

"The Rockpool motel always has rooms available."

"Great…How far is that from here?"

"It's about 10 minutes' walk...take a left out of here and walk straight down, you can't miss it."

"Martin, shut up." The cashier serving Mary cut in. "Don't tell him to go to that dump."

Marshall looked over at her in surprise and saw Mary trying to act like she wasn't listening. He knew for a fact, any other time she would be getting annoyed that this girl wasn't going any faster.

"Sir, there is a reason that place always has rooms…no one goes there." She looked at Marshall. "And if you're here for a romantic time away with your wife, I suggest you go somewhere else."

"Well, if there is nowhere else…"

"Try the Premier Palace…It's about a 20 minutes cab ride but its far enough out that it's probably not booked up." She advised.

He smiled at her. "Great…thank you."

"No problem." She said before turning her attention back to Mary.

Mary was out of the store before Marshall and as soon as he joined her, she took the two plastic bags he was carrying.

"Jesus, what did you buy?"

"Enough to last us a couple of days." He leaned against the wall. "I need a few minutes then we can go."

She reached into one of the bags and took out a bottle of water. "I'm guessing we're not going to the nice hotel…"

"Too risky." He took the bottle after she had opened it and held it out to him. "If anyone tracks us to here, they will tell them they told us to go to the other hotel…by the time they figure out we didn't, we'll be long gone."

"This staying one step ahead is getting exhausting and we've only just started."

"In a few days, we'll be able to stop in one place for a while." He assured her. "Until we're sure we've lost that tail and Nathan can get us some help, it's not a good idea to stay in one place too long."

"I know." She sighed and gave him a chocolate bar. "Eat this."

He took one bite before rewrapping it when he made him feel sick. He pushed himself away from the wall. "Come on, let's go."

Mary followed without a word and the ten minutes' walk the guy from Wal-Mart told them actually turned out to be 30 minutes since they had to stop and rest a few times. She was growing more and more concerned and prayed whatever Marshall had brought would help him.

Thankfully, like they had been told, the Rockpool motel had plenty of room free and Mary had to check them in while Marshall leaned against the counter. The guy at the desk had been rude, unwelcoming and barely took his eyes away from the small portable TV beside him….Mary had never been more grateful to receive such bad customer service.

She rushed ahead to their room, dumping their bags before going back and helping Marshall who was slowing making his way. She put an arm around him and practically dragged him along with her.

"Wait." He stopped her from pushing him down onto the bed. "There's some waterproof pads in the bag…put that on the bed first."

She rolled her eyes. "I can help you to the bathroom when you need to go…."

He glared at her. "It's to stop getting blood over the bed."

"Oh….Good idea." She reached for the bags, dumping the contents on the floor and grabbed the pads.

"You're going to need to soak the needles and scissors in some rubbing alcohol." He advised as she helped him lay down. "There should be some plastic bowls there you can use."

She stared at him for a few seconds. "I don't think I can do this…"

"You have to."

"Marshall, I don't know what I'm doing." She told him and he was surprised to see tears in her eyes. "You need a doctor."

"I'll talk you through it…" He promised.

"That's going to make it worse…You're going to be in pain and you'll have to tell me what to do."

"We don't have a choice." He answered.

She sighed and a rubbed her eyes then mentally told herself to get a grip. Marshall was the one with a gunshot wound…she should be the calm one, not him.

She filled up bowl of the bowls with rubbing alcohol, half watching Marshall trying to get his jacket off. After putting the needles and scissors into the bowl like he suggested, she saw he had his jacket off but was struggling to remove his shirt. She undid his buttons before eyeing the wound, knowing the cotton was stuck to his arm with dried blood and removing his shirt would probably hurt him.

"Just pull it…" He told her, knowing what she was thinking.

"I've got an idea." She grabbed a water bottle and poured over his arm, washing away some of the blood. When the water touched his arm, he winced and gritted his teeth but it worked. She carefully removed the shirt, shoving it in an empty plastic bag, knowing they would have to dump it.

"I did a field medic training course a while back…" Mary told him, as she laid out the rest of the stuff Marshall brought, not sure what it was all for. "We were shown how to do stitches…I think I can remember a bit of it."

"Good…" He nodded. "I can still talk you through it…might help you remember."

"How do I get the bullet out?" She asked, putting on a pair of latex gloves.

"Can you see it?"

She knelt on the floor next to the bed and gently took hold of his arm. He groaned in pain when she pulled the wound open a little. "Yeah, I think so…"

"You can either use the scissors to try and grabbed it or leave it in there."

"Oh hell…." She muttered, closing her eyes.

"Mary?" He looked at her in concern. "You're not going to be sick, are you?"

"I might be…" She took a couple of deep breaths.

"Just leave it in…." He told her. "It'll be fine…"

"No." She shook her head. "I stuck a tube into your chest and attached you to a water bottle…I can do this."

He looked a little unsure. "Okay…"

"Okay." She repeated, picking up the scissors and he could see her hand shaking.

"Have a gauze pad ready…It'll probably start bleeding heavier." He told her. "Just go slow…"

"Right."

She was as gentle has possible and just when she was about to give up, she hit something hard. She prayed it was the bullet and not bone as tugged on it, trying to ignore his groans in pain. Eventually, she pulled it out and like he said, blood started to pour his arm.

"Oh crap." She grabbed the gauze pad and pressed it against the wound, wincing when he cried out. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay…" He said through his gritted teeth.

"What's next?"

"Nothing…I can't…" He shook his head.

"Marshall…" She used her free hand to stroke his cheek gently. "I need to stop the bleeding."

He covered his eyes with his uninjured arm. "Fine."

She knew that he was trying to hide the tears in his eyes and any other day, any other time she probably would have mocked him about it but this time she pretended not to notice.

She carefully removed the gauze and saw it was still bleeding quite a lot. She looked down at what he had brought and realized she had no idea what to do next.

"What do I do next?" She asked softly. "Do I stitch it up now?"

"You've got to clean it…" He told her, letting out a shaky breath. "There should be some liquid betadine there…pour it over the wound…After put betadine on some gauze pads and rub them lightly over the wound to get rid of any dirt in it."

"That's going to hurt like hell." She commented.

"I know." He replied. "Do it…I'll be okay."

She did as she was told, trying to be as quick as possible. She could see his other fist clenched tightly together and his whole was tense.

"Done." She finally said, applying pressure to the wound again.

He reached down with a shaky and placed his hand on the pad. "Change your gloves before doing to the stitching."

"Okay…" She kept watching the whole time as she stripped off the bloody gloves, shaving them in the bag with his shirt and then as she put on a clean pair.

He had gone a deathly pale and she could see sweat on his forehead, even though he was shivering. She thought back a few hours when he told her they had no choice but to stay together and that he needed her to be the Mary he knew. He had been right; there was no way around it. If she left him here or took him to the hospital, then whoever was after them would certainly catch up with him but now she worried how he was going to handle being on the run. The bullet hadn't gone too deep but he had lost a lot of blood. Then there was the risk of infection which could make his condition much worse. He was going to need plenty on rest but she just didn't think they had the time.

"You need to dip the thread into the rubbing alcohol…" Marshall broke her train of thoughts. "You don't need to soak them for too long."

"Right…" She nodded. "Okay, I think I can remember how to do this."

"Just take your time…" He told her. "Don't rush."

"Maybe I could stitch it into a pattern." She smirked, trying to lighten the mood and was glad when he smiled a little.

"As long as you stop the bleeding, I don't care what you do."

"Oh, you're going to wish you never told me that, buddy."

She fell silent as she worked, trying her hardest to remember her training. She pretended that she was working on a doll and not her best friend but every time he moaned in pain, she winced in sympathy. She did single stitches, using a new piece of thread for each one; she knew that it would take longer but it was the only way she knew and wasn't going to risk making a mistake.

"Okay, I think I'm done." She sat back twenty minutes and 16 stitches later.

"Has the bleeding stopped?" He questioned in a shaky voice.

"There's still a little at the end…"

"That's okay…" He assured her. "Now just pour some more betadine over it before you bandage it."

She also cleaned off the blood from his arm as best she could before applying a fresh dressing over the wound then wrapping a bandage around it.

"Thanks…" He murmured when she was done.

"Here." She held a bottle of water and some Advil to his lips and he swallowed them with some help from her. "Now go to sleep."

"Got to clean up…." He shook his head a little.

"It's okay, I got it." She told him, reaching down and brushing his hair back off his forehead, taking note of a slight temperature. "Just rest."

"Okay…" He sighed softly as she covered him with a blanket. "Wake me if you need me."

She sat with for a few minutes until she was sure that he was asleep before getting started on cleaning up. She noticed that he had brought a sling to limit the movement of his arm and enough painkillers and clean dressings to last them a few days.

Once she was done tidying and putting everything away, climbed onto the other side of the bed and drew her knees up to her chest, hugging them tightly. Marshall mumbled and moaned in his sleep but never woke and Mary knew that she wouldn't be sleeping that night.

She watched him and wondered why he would agree to this willing. She didn't have a choice. If she hadn't of left, then she would be killed but he chose to follow her. He didn't have to but if she was truly honest with herself, she knew she would do the same if the position were reversed.

She rested her chin on top of her knees and started to sob. She had been good at one thing, her job and she had to give that up. Not only had Marshall did too but he was now going to see the real her. The one that couldn't hide behind the badge. The girl that grow up with nothing and had no future…He deserved so much more and she feared that one day he was going to regret putting so much faith in her.

"I'm so sorry…" She whispered, reaching one hand out to stroke his cheek. "But I promise to try to make it up to you…I promise, I'll be here for you from now on…no matter what."

"Mare?"

She snapped back to the present, shaking her head a little to clear it.

"Where did you go?" He questioned. "You okay?"

"Sorry…just thinking."

"What about?"

"Your vacations…" She answered. "They sound nice."

"They were."

"You miss them." She sighed, rubbing her eyes.

"The vacations?"

"Your family." She corrected. "Seeing you parents the other day has reminded you how much you miss them."

"Well, of course I do." He said honestly. "I know you miss your mom and sister."

"I never said…"

"Mary…" He cut her protest off. "I know they drove you crazy most of the time but I also know it killed you to leave them and not to be there for them."

"I can't wish that things were different because if this hadn't have happened then we wouldn't have ran and we might not be married or have Hannah."

"There is no point in thinking about 'what ifs'…What happened, happened…The main thing is we're together." He told her. "And who knows, once we get settled in Tampa, maybe we can get a message to them all…Nathan might be able to help us set up something to keep us all safe."

"Yeah, I guess…"

"It's late." He kissed the side of her head. "We should get some sleep."

She nodded and crawled under the covers before laying her head down on his shoulder. "Love you."

He looked down at her and pulled her a little closer. "Love you too."

XxXxX

Marshall had driven for six hours straight from Myrtle Beach to Monroe in Georgia when Mary had taken over the driving. She was meant to drive for two hours until they reach Warner Robins where they were planning on stopping for the night. He had sat in the back with Hannah, trying to get her to take her nap and Mary was amused to see him falling asleep as well as their daughter. She was actually happy to have some time to herself so she could think.

She looked at the clock when she heard Marshall groan as he woke up and saw that she had been driving for almost three and half hours.

"I wasn't meant to fall asleep…" He mumbled, stretching his arms out in front of him the best he could in the small space.

She smirked. "It was Hannah that was meant to take the nap."

"Hey, she's asleep, isn't she?" He replied, leaning forward a little but then frowned when he saw a road sign. "Wait…Where are we?"

"Don't worry…" She told him. "It's okay…"

"Gadsden?" He questioned. "We're in Alabama? Did you get lost?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course not…"

"Why aren't we going to Florida?" he asked. "What happened?"

"Nothing, I just thought we could go somewhere else."

"Where?"

She caught his eye in the rearview mirror and saw he looked both concerned and confused.

"Albuquerque…." She answered, quickly and held her breath as she waited for his reaction.

TBC

Dunn, dunn, daaaa….. What do you think Marshall's reaction is going to be?

Also, I'm no doctor and never been shot and had to remove the bullet myself, so sorry for any mistakes.