Round Robin: The Dangers of Knowing Too Much, Chapter 18
Title: The Dangers of Knowing Too Much 18/?
Author: bend_dontbreak
Pairings: Mary and Marshall
Rating: Ha! I did good. It's clean...surprisingly.
Summary: I'm not telling...*giggle*
A/N: Thank you, RL, for deciding that I will be inundated with CRAP this week. Today was my only free day. At least I knew what I wanted to talk about my chapter. It's short, but I like it. If anyone catches errors, let me know and I'll fix. I feel like I'm being fairly kind to bithablu, but that all depends on interpretation. It's pretty wide open.
Chapter One // Chapter Two // Chapter Three // Chapter Four // Chapter Five // Chapter Six // Chapter Seven // Chapter Eight // Chapter Nine // Chapter Ten // Chapter Eleven // Chapter Twelve // Chapter Thirteen // Chapter Fourteen // Chapter Fifteen // Chapter Sixteen // Chapter Seventeen
When we last saw Mary & Marshall...
Another moment of silence. Then, without turning from looking out the window, Mary said, “I’m done. I’m free now."
And Marshall just replied, “Yes.”
But she wasn’t really free. Not yet. She couldn’t be free until she let Marshall in. Her daddy knew that. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t physically present in her life since that cold day in February of 1978; her daddy still knew her better than anyone save one person. And that one person was lying in the hospital bed a few feet away.
Marshall knew Mary well enough to know there was something else there. There was something she was still holding, no, clinging on to. He heard the line of the letter that said, “Think about what I said about Marshall.” So he did what no one else had the patience to do when it came to Mary. He sat, silent, still avoiding the pictures because it wasn’t his story to look in to. At least not yet.
“There’s one more letter from my dad I never told you about, Marshall,” Mary said, not moving from her position at the window. Her words were slowed and measured, no emotion seeping through. It was more than calm and controlled; it was resolute. And it was enough to worry Marshall. “I got it two years into our partnership. That was the last letter from my father. I already trusted you at that point with my life, and I knew the accusations in the first letter were not the person I knew.” At this point, Mary moved away from the window to the bag she had brought. She pulled out came one last envelope, rather thin, that had obviously been reread as much, if not more, than any other letter from the bunch. “I kept this one separate because it was different than the others, and I didn’t know what to do about it then.” Her monotonous speech gave way to an almost frantic pleading at this point, “I need you to read it, Marshall, and I need you to read it away from me.”
“Are you sure, Mare?” Marshall asked as she placed the letter in his hand. As much as her monotone speech had disturbed him, the pleading had been far worse. There was something in that letter than scared Mary. Whether it was the actual contents or it was what the contents would lead to, Marshall didn’t know, but he knew he had to know this is what Mary wanted.
“Are you seriously asking me that?” Mary said, finally coming out of her package-induced haze. “I just saw an uncle I never knew about get blown up right in front of me. My dad has been taking pictures of me ever since he left, and now he’s sent them all to me. Everything I’ve been holding on to for 26 years has gone up in smoke, and I’m free…sorta. So no, I’m not sure I want you to read this. But I know I have to let you read this. And I’m leaving before I can think this through and realize what I’m doing is the stupidest thing ever.” Without a glance back, Mary walked out of the room and straight to her car. She left a bewildered Marshall sitting in his hospital bed holding a letter he was probably never meant to see.
Marshall knew he needed to take his time with this letter. He knew the next move in the complicated tango that was their relationship over the past three months was up to him. How one person's actions could complicate so many lives in so short a period? Marshall thought to himself as he opened the letter. The question was quickly forgotten as the contents of the short letter shook Marshall to the core.
Mary -
I don’t regret sending you the file on your partner, Marshall. I do what I need to protect my little girl, and you’re still my little girl. But I can see that wasn’t the whole story. Our pasts are just that, our pasts. From what I can see, your Marshall is nothing like what was alleged in that report. Maybe he was before he met you, but I doubt it. The way he is around you leads me to believe he could not have done those things.
I call him your Marshall because he is, Princess. I know you don’t see it, but deep in your heart you know it’s true.
It makes me happy to know there's someone watching out for you when I can't do so. Someone who's there for you day in and day out. Every dad fears the day he has to give the guardian role away to another man, but I know that day has come. You'll always be my little girl, Mary, and the center of my world. But you've become the center of the universe for someone else as well, and I think he's the only man that will ever truly deserve you.
I see someone who can be everything you need. I see someone who has revived your trust and faith in people, not just men. I see someone who has taught you the life lessons I should have been a man enough to teach you.
He loves you, Mary Elizabeth Shannon. He loves you so much that he has put you in front of his own needs. He is the only person in your life that has ever put you first, and I know you don’t know how to deal with that.
Let your Marshall take care of you. Let him in, Mare-Bear. You might be surprised. I know we haven’t been the best examples of what happens when you let people in, sweetie, but I know that he’s not like me or your mom or Brandi.
I love you, Princess.
Dad
***
Ta-da!
Okay so yeah. I hope you enjoyed it. Have fun...
Author: bend_dontbreak
Pairings: Mary and Marshall
Rating: Ha! I did good. It's clean...surprisingly.
Summary: I'm not telling...*giggle*
A/N: Thank you, RL, for deciding that I will be inundated with CRAP this week. Today was my only free day. At least I knew what I wanted to talk about my chapter. It's short, but I like it. If anyone catches errors, let me know and I'll fix. I feel like I'm being fairly kind to bithablu, but that all depends on interpretation. It's pretty wide open.
Chapter One // Chapter Two // Chapter Three // Chapter Four // Chapter Five // Chapter Six // Chapter Seven // Chapter Eight // Chapter Nine // Chapter Ten // Chapter Eleven // Chapter Twelve // Chapter Thirteen // Chapter Fourteen // Chapter Fifteen // Chapter Sixteen // Chapter Seventeen
When we last saw Mary & Marshall...
Another moment of silence. Then, without turning from looking out the window, Mary said, “I’m done. I’m free now."
And Marshall just replied, “Yes.”
But she wasn’t really free. Not yet. She couldn’t be free until she let Marshall in. Her daddy knew that. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t physically present in her life since that cold day in February of 1978; her daddy still knew her better than anyone save one person. And that one person was lying in the hospital bed a few feet away.
Marshall knew Mary well enough to know there was something else there. There was something she was still holding, no, clinging on to. He heard the line of the letter that said, “Think about what I said about Marshall.” So he did what no one else had the patience to do when it came to Mary. He sat, silent, still avoiding the pictures because it wasn’t his story to look in to. At least not yet.
“There’s one more letter from my dad I never told you about, Marshall,” Mary said, not moving from her position at the window. Her words were slowed and measured, no emotion seeping through. It was more than calm and controlled; it was resolute. And it was enough to worry Marshall. “I got it two years into our partnership. That was the last letter from my father. I already trusted you at that point with my life, and I knew the accusations in the first letter were not the person I knew.” At this point, Mary moved away from the window to the bag she had brought. She pulled out came one last envelope, rather thin, that had obviously been reread as much, if not more, than any other letter from the bunch. “I kept this one separate because it was different than the others, and I didn’t know what to do about it then.” Her monotonous speech gave way to an almost frantic pleading at this point, “I need you to read it, Marshall, and I need you to read it away from me.”
“Are you sure, Mare?” Marshall asked as she placed the letter in his hand. As much as her monotone speech had disturbed him, the pleading had been far worse. There was something in that letter than scared Mary. Whether it was the actual contents or it was what the contents would lead to, Marshall didn’t know, but he knew he had to know this is what Mary wanted.
“Are you seriously asking me that?” Mary said, finally coming out of her package-induced haze. “I just saw an uncle I never knew about get blown up right in front of me. My dad has been taking pictures of me ever since he left, and now he’s sent them all to me. Everything I’ve been holding on to for 26 years has gone up in smoke, and I’m free…sorta. So no, I’m not sure I want you to read this. But I know I have to let you read this. And I’m leaving before I can think this through and realize what I’m doing is the stupidest thing ever.” Without a glance back, Mary walked out of the room and straight to her car. She left a bewildered Marshall sitting in his hospital bed holding a letter he was probably never meant to see.
Marshall knew he needed to take his time with this letter. He knew the next move in the complicated tango that was their relationship over the past three months was up to him. How one person's actions could complicate so many lives in so short a period? Marshall thought to himself as he opened the letter. The question was quickly forgotten as the contents of the short letter shook Marshall to the core.
Mary -
I don’t regret sending you the file on your partner, Marshall. I do what I need to protect my little girl, and you’re still my little girl. But I can see that wasn’t the whole story. Our pasts are just that, our pasts. From what I can see, your Marshall is nothing like what was alleged in that report. Maybe he was before he met you, but I doubt it. The way he is around you leads me to believe he could not have done those things.
I call him your Marshall because he is, Princess. I know you don’t see it, but deep in your heart you know it’s true.
It makes me happy to know there's someone watching out for you when I can't do so. Someone who's there for you day in and day out. Every dad fears the day he has to give the guardian role away to another man, but I know that day has come. You'll always be my little girl, Mary, and the center of my world. But you've become the center of the universe for someone else as well, and I think he's the only man that will ever truly deserve you.
I see someone who can be everything you need. I see someone who has revived your trust and faith in people, not just men. I see someone who has taught you the life lessons I should have been a man enough to teach you.
He loves you, Mary Elizabeth Shannon. He loves you so much that he has put you in front of his own needs. He is the only person in your life that has ever put you first, and I know you don’t know how to deal with that.
Let your Marshall take care of you. Let him in, Mare-Bear. You might be surprised. I know we haven’t been the best examples of what happens when you let people in, sweetie, but I know that he’s not like me or your mom or Brandi.
I love you, Princess.
Dad
***
Ta-da!
Okay so yeah. I hope you enjoyed it. Have fun...