(A/N): Oh, thank you so much for all your kind reviews, favourites and follows! It means the world to me! Okay, this chapter is shorter than the first, but I had to end it here. I know it seems Norah is the chatterbox and the kid with the most backbone and opinions, especially with Marshall, but I promise the other two will come more into themselves as this fic goes on. No Mary this chapter, but that will be part of next chapter. I like focusing on Marshall and the kids, if I'm honest.

I don't own In Plain Sight or its characters, but I do own the ones I've made up.

Let me know what you think!

HeavenSkye x

No Matter What

Chapter 2

Marshall gripped the steering wheel tightly as he turned another corner in complete silence. Out of Bobby's sight, the kids immediately became quiet and wary, clearly not trusting him, despite Norah knowing him, or at least knowing that she used to know him. If anything, it simply increased the wariness the three had for him. He glanced a little to his right, where Norah sat in the passenger seat, Kelly and Tommy in the back with the three bags around their feet. Tommy was listening to music and reading simultaneously whilst Kelly was sleeping, her head resting against the window. It was about ten at night for them, after all. Only Norah still looked alert, watching her surroundings as they whizzed past, Marshall aiming for an out of the way motel he knew about, about two hours away from the precinct.

"So, Norah, how are you?" He tried, hating the way he sounded so timid. Christ, he was only talking to a sixteen year old girl! He'd faced down far scarier people in far more dangerous settings, for crying out loud!

Norah turned to look at him, thinking of all her mom and Bobby had talked about over the years, mainly whilst drunk. Finding one particular subject, she narrowed her eyes at him, reading him. "Fine. How's Abigail?"

Marshall flinched. He honestly hadn't expected that question, Norah having barely even met his ex-wife before she'd been taken to New York. He observed Norah from the corner of his eye. He figured she'd gotten her dark hair from Mark, and her eyes from Mary, but most of her mannerisms and actions reminded him of Mary. Clearly, she'd spent most of her time around her mother, and not her father. "Fine, I guess. We're… no longer together. How's your dad?" Marshall couldn't help but shoot back, guilt flooding in as he saw Norah flinch in return, grief covering her features for a second.

"Dead." She responded, swallowing a little. It was always hard thinking about her dad. She'd been with him when he'd died, having gone with him for a day out when he'd unexpectedly keeled over, dead as he hit the ground. Norah had tried to wake him up, revive him, as she called 911, but it'd been too late. She was labelled as brave for trying to save him, but the lingering doubts and guilt still plagued Norah occasionally. "Heart attack."

"Oh god, I'm sorry, Norah." Marshall told her as he pulled into the parking lot of the dingy motel. Norah took one look at the place and grinned, turning in her seat to pull Tommy's earphones out of his iPod. The blasting music woke Kelly up, and caught Tommy's attention.

"Hey guys, we're here." Norah said, trying not to smile. Kelly and Tommy looked out of the windows before smiling.

"Really?" Kelly asked Marshall, a smile firmly stuck to her face. "Here?"

"Uh yeah, why?" Marshall asked, feeling like he was missing something.

"You'll figure it out soon enough." Tommy told him, wrapping up his headphones and sticking his iPod in his pocket after turning it off. All three grabbed their bags, grinning as they did. Marshall looked between the three before shaking his head. The kids were weird, but then again, what did he expect? They were all Mary Shannon's kids after all. If they were normal, he'd be even more concerned.

The four approached the motel, the three kids sharing more glances that left Marshall a little confused. The last time he'd come to this particular motel was about seventeen years ago, with Mary herself.

"Seriously, Doofus? Why are we here?" Mary complained as she followed him into the dimly lit reception area. "I thought we'd be well on our way home by now."

"You, Mary Shannon, want to get back home?" Marshall teased, raising an eyebrow. "So eager to get back to your mom and sister?"

"Fine, you might have a point." Mary grumbled. "Alright then, we'll go by your mother humping plan." She glared at Marshall as she caught his smug expression. "Don't let it get to your head. It won't last."

"What won't last?" Marshall asked, feigning innocence as he hit the small bell on the desk. Mary rolled her eyes.

"Just shut up and get us a couple of rooms, Marshall."

Marshall brought himself out of his memories just as they entered the reception area. It hadn't changed much, he mused, maybe a lick of paint to brighten it up, but there was still all the seventies décor and dim lightbulbs. He began to walk over to the desk when a squeal caught his attention.

"Kids!"

Marshall span round to see an elderly woman rushing towards the three teenagers. All three dropped their bags and began fighting to get to the woman first. Tommy got to the woman first by pulling on his sisters' long hair, causing them to cry out and stop in order to clutch at their heads. The woman laughed as she embraced Tommy, only for Norah and Kelly to share a glance before moving to either side of Tommy. The woman dropped her arms and moved away as the girls jumped on their brother from either side, tickling his sides relentlessly.

Marshall stood there, at a loss of what to do. The woman stepped forward and whistled loudly, causing the three siblings to look up from where they fought on the floor. She grinned, opening her arms. "Come here, kids. I missed you guys!"

Norah and Kelly immediately sprang up to hug her, Tommy following suit a second later. The woman hugged all three tightly. Norah pulled back first, gesturing at Marshall. "Betty, this is Marshall Mann. Marshall, this is Betty, the owner of this place and brilliant maker of pies." All three kids immediately produced dreamy expressions.

"Pie makes everything better." They cried in unison. Betty laughed.

"Your mom has you guys brainwashed." She told them. "And Marshall Mann? Isn't that your mom's old friend?"

Norah nodded. "I see your memory's as sharp as ever, Betty. So, is there any pie?"

All three looked hopeful, causing Betty to laugh again. "I may have just taken an apple pie out of the oven not five minutes ago." She mentioned. A moment later, Betty and Marshall had to step out of the way as three whirlwinds rushed past them towards the kitchen, leaving their bags on the floor behind them.

Betty turned to Marshall with a smile. "So, you need some rooms, I take it?"

…

Marshall watched as the three teenagers fought. Over everything. They fought over who was getting what room in the four bedroom suite, they fought over who would get the first shower, they fought over what they wanted for supper, despite it being eleven at night, and were currently fighting over the television remote. Tommy eventually emerged from the tangled pile of limbs on the sofa, the victor of the fight as he held the remote above his head and quickly changed the channel to mindless cartoons before opening up the back of the remote and removing the batteries. Once they knew they were beaten, his sisters shot him a glare that Marshall swore was pure Mary, before all three untangled themselves and all sat happily, watching the screen. Marshall rubbed at his temples, feeling a headache coming on. The kids were a lot to handle by himself. Not that they even addressed him unless they had to. Oh no, it was like he didn't even exist until they had to acknowledge him for one reason or another.

Marshall produced his cell phone from his pocket, dialling the number of the only person he knew that could have some advice for him. "Bobby, its Marshall."

"Let me guess. You don't know how to handle three teenagers."

"They fight. Over everything. It's like I'm not even here." Marshall complained. "How did I even get stuck on babysitting duty for the brats anyway? Where's their mom? Or maybe one of their dads?" He asked, feeling a little guilty over his conversation with Norah earlier. He hadn't meant to upset the sixteen year old.

"Marshall… Are you in the same room as them?"

"Yeah… So?"

"If they can hear you, you'll be dead in about five seconds. They may fight with Mary and each other, but no-one else is allowed to say anything. Mary… Mary's missing. Kidnapped. We don't know who's taken her, and even now, Mary still thinks you're best to look after her kids, especially if something happened to her. This is the first time that Stan's allowed you to come babysit.

"As for the fighting; you'll get used to it. It's rarely about something serious. Just keep them alive for the next 48 hours or so, and I'll see if I can relieve you, or at least visit and take some of the weight from you, okay?"

"Okay. See ya, Bobby D."

"Yeah, see ya. Oh, and Marshall?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't underestimate them."

Marshall hung up as soon as he heard the dial tone from the other end, glancing up only to find his three charges staring at him, the television on mute. How they'd managed that when there weren't any batteries in the remote was beyond him, but he was more concerned with the way they stared at him. Tommy's face was a mixture of amusement and anger, as was Kelly's. Norah's seemed angry, suspicious and hurt all in one, no trace of the amusement that her siblings felt showing on her face.

"You called Bobby?" Tommy asked with a laugh. "C'mon, man, we don't fight that much."

"Yeah, we only fight when your ego swells your head." Kelly taunted her brother, ducking as Tommy threw a pillow at her face.

"Just as well we don't fight when you make dumb comments, or we'd never stop fighting." Tommy retorted, sticking his tongue out childishly. Kelly did the same in return before they both burst out laughing. Norah smiled half-heartedly at her siblings before returning her gaze to Marshall.

"Mr Mann, a word?" She asked, motioning to the small balcony. Marshall shook his head.

"It's not safe out there, bug." He said without thinking. Norah glared at him as Kelly and Tommy instantly became silent, watching their sister and Marshall intently.

"Don't. Call. Me. Bug." Norah ground out through gritted teeth.

"Only mom can call her bug." Kelly added helpfully, knowing Norah's temper when she was riled up, something Marshall seemed to be good at causing.

"Mr Mann, we may not be perfect, but at the end of the day, we love each other, and we love our mom. My dad is dead, and we've never met the other two, but we don't care. Bobby is a good father figure, at any rate. We're a family, and no-one can take that away from us. We're only here because we have no other choice. We like it even less than you do, believe me." Norah shook her head in disgust as she walked into the room she'd claimed as her own, slamming the door shut behind her.

Kelly and Tommy exchanged glances before turning back to the television. Marshall made to follow Norah, but was stopped by the sound of Tommy's voice.

"I wouldn't go after her. She'll probably kill you if you do. She needs time to calm down, and then we'll probably send Betty in to talk to her."

"Is she always like this?" Marshall asked, frustrated as he ran a hand haphazardly through his hair. Tommy shrugged, turning to face him again.

"Nope. At least, not usually. You must be special, 'cause I've never seen her explode so easily before. And believe me, I've tried."

…

Norah sat curled into the corner of the room, tucked between the nightstand and the wall dividing her room from Kelly's. She wiped at her eyes, ashamed of the way she'd acted to Marshall. She hadn't meant to, but just knowing that he was the cause of all the sad and sullen looks her mother had displayed over the years had gotten to her, especially knowing that he had broken her heart. Norah knew she had already been on thin ice with her temper when she'd heard him try to foist them off on dads that weren't even there. She knew full well that Mary and Bobby had found Peter, Kelly's dad, about ten years ago. He'd married a girl called Georgia and they'd moved to Ohio and had three kids. She also knew that they hadn't told Kelly they'd found him, and they hadn't told Peter that he had another kid. As for Tommy's dad, she'd never really known who his dad was until she'd seen Marshall earlier, with Bobby's cryptic confirmation of her suspicion. So, really, they were with one of the dads. Tommy's dad. Norah wiped the last of her tears and dialled a number, smiling weakly as the call was picked up.

"Norah?"

"Sam. Yeah, it's me. Did Bobby tell you?"

"Yeah, he did, sweetie. How you holding up?"

"Not well." Norah admitted with a shaky laugh. "I lost my temper. A few times."

"Norah Shannon lose her temper? Never!"

Norah laughed again at Samantha's sarcastic tone. "Sam, I don't know what to do."

"That's easy, Nor. Do what you've always done. Protect your brother and sister with your life. But you better make it back in one piece, or else I'll be coming to hunt your ass down."

"Thanks, Sam. I needed that."

"No problem, Norah. Now then, why don't you go and apologise insincerely, and get your act together?"

"Okay. Hope to see you soon, Sam."

"Yeah, I hope so too. See ya, Norah."

"Bye Sam."

…

Marshall looked up from his book as Norah walked into the main room at about one in the morning. Kelly and Tommy had gone to their respective rooms about an hour before, sending looks at each other that Marshall assumed were concerning their sister's absence. Norah sat on the opposite end of the couch, facing him. Marshall set his book down immediately.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" Norah said quickly before he could start. Marshall simply nodded. Norah took a deep breath, making sure the lid for her temper was kept very tightly closed. "I'm upset that I don't know where mom is, and my brother and sister don't know as much as I do, so I'm a little on edge, so I took it out on you."

"Okay." Marshall pushed the chair opposite him out, gesturing for her to sit. After a moment's hesitation, Norah sat down on the edge of the seat. "Look, I'm sorry for what I said to Bobby D. as well, alright? You guys are… a lot to handle by myself."

"Mom says the same thing." Norah admitted with a little shrug. Marshall smiled at the mention of Mary, no matter how long it had been since he'd seen her. "We do fight a lot, but we all have tempers."

"A Shannon with a temper? I never would have guessed." Marshall teased, producing a small grin from the teenage girl opposite him. "I know this isn't ideal for you either, Norah, any of you. Is there anything you guys like that might make it easier?"

"Kelly likes buying new clothes and stuff, and Tommy will want a new book before the end of the day tomorrow. So, I guess we might need to go to the nearest mall soon, if that's okay."

"I'm sure I can arrange something." Marshall assured her with a smile as Norah stood up and yawned.

"Thanks. I'm gonna go to bed now. See you in the morning, Marshall." She'd reached the door when Marshall's voice stopped her.

"What do you guys eat for breakfast?"

Norah grinned tiredly at him. "Usually, I have cereal, Tommy has pancakes, and Kelly has toast and a pastry. Don't worry about it. Betty will figure something out for us."

Marshall nodded as Norah moved into her room and shut the door. He hadn't expected the apology, but he had to admit, Norah was much more open about when she was wrong than her mother had ever been. Not that he'd disliked that about Mary. He ran a hand through his messy hair. Great. It had been thirteen years and he was still hung up on his ex-partner, even when he was babysitting her kids and she could be fighting for her life. As Mary would put it, what a crapfest.

…

Marshall woke to the welcome smell of bacon and pancakes. Wandering out of his room in his tee-shirt and aeroplane pyjama pants, he found the three kids dishing out each other's food, passing pieces of food round and laughing with each other, a stark contrast to the fighting of the night before. Norah wore grey sweatpants and a navy tank top, much like Mary had done on overnight trips and Kelly wore a white tank top and baby blue shorts, whilst Tommy wore sweat pants like Norah's, but had a black tee-shirt on. All nondescript, all clothes they could walk out onto the street in and not get any unwanted attention.

Kelly was the first to notice him, and automatically starting choking with laughter at the sight of his pyjama pants. "How-old-are-you?" She managed between choking laughs. "Five?"

The other two looked up, both bursting into laughter as they spotted his pyjamas too. Marshall rolled his eyes. "I'll have you know, they are very comfy." He tried to defend himself, only for the three kids to burst into more giggles.

Tommy was the first to get a hold on his laughter. "What do you want to eat, Marshall?" He gestured to the various plates littering the floor. "There's not enough room at the table for all of this." He added, seeing Marshall's incredulous look. "Not with all four of us anyway."

"Uh, just some toast will do, thanks Tommy." He told the boy, who nodded and threw four pieces onto a plate and handed it up to Marshall, who sat down on the carpeted floor between Norah and Kelly, Tommy opposite him.

Kelly smiled, though it was a little forced. "What's on the agenda today?"

Marshall swallowed his bite of bread and glanced at Norah, who was focused on eating her pancake. "I was thinking the mall, if we can be discreet about it. Like Bobby said, this isn't exactly a normal babysitting gig." He told the blonde girl, whose smile became a little more genuine.

"Cool. Thanks, Marshall." She took another bite of her pastry, grinning as she automatically spilled crumbs down the front of her tank top.

TBC…