Hey, thank you all so much for the reviews! Please keep them coming!

Enjoy!

To The End of the Earth

Nice Hotels:

"You know she has her own bed, right?" Mary commented as she entered the bedroom in the hotel suite they were renting in Birmingham, Alabama. They had been spending a couple of nights in Alabama, giving Nathan time to do some digging to find out if there was anyone still watching out for him.

"I know but I love this feeling." He kept his voice low, rubbing small circles on Hannah's back as she slept peacefully on his bare chest. "When she is all clean, warm and snuggly in her pajamas."

She climbed onto the bed beside him. "Don't say snuggly."

He smirked a little but didn't say anymore and stretched an arm out to put around her.

"Did Nathan get back to you?" She settled against his shoulder.

"He had nothing new to tell me." He replied. "But I'll give him another call tomorrow…Then we can decide our next move for definite."

"Then we need to work out where we're going after that." She added. "I'm already getting sick of hotels."

"At least this is one of the nicer ones we've stayed in."

"That one in Rockford is by far the worst…" She mumbled, remembering treating his bullet wound and sat watching him sleeping for two days, scared out of her mind he wouldn't wake up.

"The one in Cleveland was pretty nice." He knew what she was thinking about and tightened his arm around her.

"That's because you wanted to splash the cash on something fancy." She poked him in the ribs teasingly.

"We had a hard couple of days and both needed some rest…" He claimed. "And I didn't hear you complaining at the time…"

They had left Rockford after one more night, despite Mary's protests. She wanted to stay longer, to allow Marshall to get some more rest but he insisted he was up to the six and a half hour drive from Illinois through Michigan to Detroit. Their first stop once they got there was the Fed-Ex office and as promised there was a package waiting for them. They were both on edge, waiting for someone to turn up but fortunately, no one ever did. They didn't hang around for long and they spent another three hours on the road, this time stopping in Cleveland.

As promised, Nathan had sent some antibiotics, stronger painkillers, a couple of burn phones and some more IDs. What surprised them both was the money. Nathan had included 50,000 dollars in cash and they just stared at it in disbelief when they reached Cleveland and had gone through the bag.

"Why would he do this?" Mary questioned.

"I admit, I was expecting this much money but he knows what we're doing and how hard it would be to do on a shoe string." Marshall stuffed everything into their backpack. "We can get a new car, one that will last us longer and we can start staying in one place to regroup."

"I meant why would he go to this much trouble?"

"I told you, he's my friend…"

"With this and the 10 grand we started with, that makes 60,000 dollars…I don't know if I would just give a friend that kind of money."

Marshall sighed. "I've helped him in the past…"

"You earned a 60,000 dollar favor?"

"It's not that simple…" He rolled his eyes. "We help each other out when we need it… There's a lot about him that I don't even know but I do know he's not short on money…this is nothing to him."

"I still don't trust him."

Marshall shrugged. "I know, its okay… I'm not completely sure I trust anyone either at the moment."

"Yeah…" She glanced across at him. "Except you."

"Hmmm?"

"I don't trust anyone…except you." She needed him to know.

He smiled. "Going to stop trying to ditch me then?"

"That depends, if you get shot again, you're on your own." She started up the car engine. "We should find somewhere to stop for the night."

"Let's go to a proper hotel…somewhere with a nice soft bed…a bathtub and a huge room service menu."

"That'll be expensive."

"We got some money…might as well use it." He answered. "Beside, those kind of places have security…We'll be a little safer than a rat infested motel where the lock doesn't even work properly."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, we both can do with a little bit of comfort right now." He reasoned. "We'll spend a couple of nights…map out where we want to go next."

"Okay but I'm warning you now…I'm getting steak for dinner."

Marshall smiled a little; it was nice to see her acting more like herself again.

"Okay, I'll admit that it was a nice hotel." Mary agreed. "Even if all you did was sleep."

"I was recovering." He argued, carefully getting up and crossing the room. He gently led Hannah down on the single bed. She whimpered quietly at the loss of contact but he knelt on the floor beside her, covering her up and stroking her head gently until she settled back down again.

Mary watched him kiss her forehead before he rejoined her on the bed.

"Are you worried?" She asked, returning her head to his shoulder when he leaned back against the headboard.

"About returning to New Mexico?" He questioned. "Nathan's got our back; he would tell us if there was a risk."

"No about Hannah and the baby."

"Ah."

"Yeah…I mean, I haven't had much experience with kids but is her reaction normal?"

"I don't know, Mare…" He sighed. "I guess we just have to make sure she doesn't feel left out."

"She doesn't want to share you…that's the problem." She predicted. "She's Daddy's little princess…"

"She's just young…She doesn't understand." Marshall continued. "She'll grow out of it."

"It's going to be you that'll suffer every time she throws a jealous fit whenever you go near him."

"Her." He corrected. "And it'll be fine…It won't get that bad…I bet as soon as she sees her, she'll love her."

"I hope you're right." She sighed.

He smiled and kissed her softly. "I am."

She sank into his arms, contently. "Do you have any suggestions where we settle down?"

"I guess it depends on how things go at home…" Marshall replied. "It's possible that we'll have to move further away…"

"Home?" She repeated.

"What?"

"You still consider Albuquerque as home?"

He sighed. "I don't know, I guess it will always be home just like Phoenix will be."

"I wish…" She started and then stopped.

"You wish what?"

"Just that we could live wherever we like…"

"Well, things are different now." He replied. "Once we've decided where we went to go, we'll discuss it with Nathan…See what he thinks."

"What about Phoenix?" She suggested. "Closer to your family?"

"You want to live in Phoenix?" He asked in surprise.

"Yeah, it's a good place as any and if things have settled down, your family will be around if we need them."

"Well, I guess it's something to think about." Marshall kissed her forehead. "But you're not just saying this because you think it's what I want, are you?"

"Don't you want it?"

"You know I miss my family but as long as I got you and the kids, then that's all I need." He insisted. "Our safely comes first and I know my family would understand that and want it that way."

"I just hate all this moving around…Trying to work out where the best place to go."

"I know."

"Remember when we left Cleveland?" She sat up to look at him. "When we decided to head for Connecticut…I thought we would be there for a while…get our feet back underneath us…but we barely lasted a week."

"I remember..." He replied, wincing a little in memory. "Probably not our greatest idea to go somewhere so close to New Jersey…"

"We should find you a doctor…" Mary commented; apply a fresh bandage to Marshall's wound. It had been a little over a week since he had been shot and although, it seemed to be healing well, Mary was worried about the limited movement he had.

"And what do I tell him?" He asked. "It'll be a red flag and we can't have people asking too many questions."

"Fine but don't come running to me when your arm drops off."

"Its fine…Those antibiotics have kept an infection at bay…I just need to rest it when I can."

"You're just trying to get out of making dinner, aren't you?"

He laughed. "I can pick up a phone and order pizza."

"Sounds like a plan." She agreed, standing up and handing him his t-shirt once she was finished. He pulled it on and Mary knew he was biting back a groan in pain as he did. She then helped him put the sling on before handing him the phone.

They had been in Bridgeport in Connecticut for three days now. Once they arrived, they found a small condo that they rented out. They both were ready for a break from the road and thought they could spend a few weeks there laying low.

"Why don't we go out?" Marshall suddenly said.

"For pizza?"

"For anything…All we've eaten is takeaways and from crappy diners…Let's get some proper food and have a night out."

"You think that's a good idea?"

"People are going to talk if stay locked up in here all the time."

"I guess it might be fun to get out for a bit."

He smiled. "It's a date then."

"I'm sorry? What?"

"What?" He frowned a little in confusion.

"What you just said then…" She waved a hand at him. "About it being a date…"

"It's a figure of speech, Mare."

"Uh-huh…if you say so."

"Go get changed." He rolled his eyes, knowing she was just teasing him. "I want to go somewhere nice and I don't think you'll fit in with sweats on."

"So now you're asking me to dress up…"

"Oh god." He stood up and walked out the bathroom. "Should have just ordered a pizza…."

Two hours later, they were sat in a small Italian restaurant and after the first course, they both started to relax. It felt like any other time they had gone out and Mary finally began to think that they might just be able to make this whole thing work. It only lasted a few hours, after leaving the restaurant and deciding to walk back to their apartment, her name was called. They both froze for a second before a man appeared in front of them.

"Mary?" He grinned at her. "Oh, wow…It's been years since I last saw you…."

"I uh…" She shot a look towards Marshall. "Mark….Hi."

"What are you up these days?" He continued, oblivious to the couple tension and nervousness. "I heard a wild rumor that you joined the Marshal Service."

"Well yeah…"

"That's crazy." He laughed. "Seriously?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt…but Mare, we should go." Marshall placed his uninjured hand on the base of spin, ready to guide her away.

"Oh I'm sorry…" Mark stuck his hand out towards Marshall. "Mark Stuber."

"Marshall Thomson…" He replied, deciding to use a name on one of the IDs Nathan had given them.

"So, what you doing in Bridgeport?" He asked. "Last time I spoke to Brandi, she said you moved out west."

"I did." Mary nodded. "Brandi and my mom eventually joined me…It's why we're here actually…Trying to escape them."

Mark laughed again. "That doesn't surprise me…How long you here for?"

"Not long." Marshall supplied. "We're going to New York tonight before flying to Europe tomorrow."

"Europe?" He repeated.

"Paris."

"Marshall!" Mary glared at him. She knew what he was doing. She knew that if Mark spoke to anyone, he would throw them off course and she knew the role she needed to play in the double act.

"What? You think they'll follow us to France?" He asked.

"You're going to the city of love?" Mark smirked at Mary. "I didn't think that was your kind of thing."

"It's not." She answered before looking back to Marshall. "I told you, I'm not living somewhere, where they don't talk my language."

Marshall rolled his eyes. "They speak English there and you would pick up the French eventually…"

"Marshall!"

"What made you choose France?" Mark questioned, amused at Mary's reaction.

"I have some…contacts there." Marshall said cryptically.

"Well, it doesn't matter, we won't be stay there long…It's bad enough you're making me go to Europe…you are not going to make me stay in foreign speaking country…" Mary claimed.

"It's not foreign when it's their country, Mare." Marshall sighed.

"I don't care…"

Mark just laughed again, shaking his head. "Well, if I'm ever over that way, I'll look you guys up."

"You do that." Mary gave him another smile before reaching out and catching Marshall's hand, tugging him away with her.

"Nice to meet you." Marshall said before following her.

"Oh god…" Mary breathed once they crossed the street.

"Just keep walking…" Marshall replied. "We should leave tonight…Change cars again."

"I shouldn't have let my guard down…" She stated. "I have been looking…"

"Who is he anyway?"

"My ex-husband." She said without thinking and she was a few paces in front when she realized Marshall wasn't beside her. "Marshall?"

"I'm sorry…you're what?"

"You really want to get into that now?!" She asked frustrated.

"Right…" He shook his head a little. "We can discuss it later…"

"I'll look forward to it."

After getting back to their apartment, they packed everything up and jumped into the car. Mary was surprised when he told her to go to New York like they had told Mark and questioned his sanity when he told her to head for JFK airport. Once they got there, she stayed in the car while he went in and brought two airline tickets to France using a credit card Nathan had given him with the name he had given Mark. If Mark did speak to anyone about seeing them and they checked out their story then hopefully it would keep them off their radar for a while.

"You're insane, you know that?" Mary complained when he got back into the car and watched him rip up the tickets. "I can't believe you wasted 3000 dollars on plane tickets we're not even using."

"Sorry, did you want to go to France?"

"You know that even if your little plan did work, they'll find out we didn't actually get on the plane."

"I'll give Nathan a call…He should be able to make it look like we did."

"What the hell does this guy do, exactly?"

"Would you believe if I told you I had no idea?"

"No."

"Well, I don't…I think it's probably best if I don't."

Mary sighed and turned her attention back to the road. "So, where are we going now?"

"Got any ex-husband hidden in New Hampshire?"

"You don't want to go further away?" She ignored his comment.

"They probably wouldn't think we'd stick close by." He shrugged. "Plus, there are a lot of remote areas around there."

"Okay, if you say so…"

"Do you think Mark ever spoke to anyone?" Mary questioned.

"Probably not." Marshall shrugged. "But at least we covered our tracks."

"Maybe we should have gotten on that plane…"

"You living in France?" He laughed. "That I would have loved to have seen!"

She poked him in the ribs. "Oh and you would have coped fine, I suppose."

"Oui." He grinned at her.

She rolled her eyes and settled back against his chest. "I guess New Hampshire wasn't too bad."

"We had some good times there." Marshall smiled, tightening his hold on her.

"I loved that house we had."

"Me too." He agreed. "I liked the fact that we didn't see people for days unless we went into the town."

"It was the safest I felt for weeks." She admitted. "Where I finally begin to relax."

"Things were a lot easier when we weren't always looking over our shoulder." He replied. "And started to have some fun."

She grinned. "Oh…I liked the fun."

"I remember…" He smirked, leaning down to kiss her.

Just as she settled her body across his, they heard Hannah stir. They both froze but were thankfully she didn't wake fully.

"We really need to find somewhere, where she can have own room." Mary complained.

Marshall smiled and brushed her hair off her face before kissing her forehead. "We should probably get some sleep anyway….Long drive tomorrow."

"I guess you're right."

He reached over and turned the lamp on the bedside table off before pulling her back to him.

"Marshall?"

"Hmmm?"

"It's going to be okay, going back to Albuquerque, isn't it?"

"Of course…We'll have each other's back."

"And if someone comes after us?"

"We go back to our old plan…"

"Shot and then run like hell?" She couldn't help but smile a little.

"Exactly." He kissed her once more. "It'll be fine."

"Okay…" She sighed contently and settled back down. "Good night."

"Night." He whispered and closed his eyes but he was pretty sure he wouldn't be sleeping at all that night.

TBC

So, they're on their way home! Who remembers that's Stan is meant to be meeting with the Shannons and the Manns? That's coming up in the next chapter!