Coping Mechanisms

Three months had gone by since Brandi and Jinx had gone into Witness Protection. In Albuquerque, Mary sat in the kitchen enjoying the silence of the house. She’d been able to set the house up the way she’d originally intended, minus the bullet room. She glanced over the front page of the paper as she waited for the coffee to finish brewing. Mary had to admit, she did miss her mother and sister every now and then. The house was awfully large for one person. She was so focused on the paper that she didn’t hear the front door open.

“Mary?”

She looked up at the sound of her name being called. “Raph…what are you doing here?”

Things had been strange between them since Brandi’s departure. Mary hadn’t told him what had happened but she got the feeling he knew something.

“I just want to stop by and see how you were. Maybe we could go out…to dinner sometime?”

Mary couldn’t hide a smile. She took the few steps to close the distance between them and laid a hand on his shoulder. “I’d like that. How about tonight…pick me up at seven?”

He looked surprised at her response but it quickly dissolved into a contented smile. “I’ll pick you up at seven.” He leaned down and kissed her.

She returned the gesture, wrapping her arms around his neck. They stood together, wrapped in each others’ arms, enjoying the moment until a loud gurgling sound caught Raphael’s attention. He pulled out of the kiss and looked over her shoulder.

“Uh…Mary?”

“What?”

“I think your coffee is going to…explode.”

She spun around to see the pot rattling in the coffee maker, threatening to spill the contents. Mary rushed forward and grabbed the pot, shutting the machine off. She pulled the pot out and took a sniff, wrinkling her nose.

“Great….it’s ruined.”

“I buy you a cup of coffee. Come on.”

She dumped the contents into the sink and grabbed her keys and jacket. It couldn’t hurt to just get a cup of coffee before work with him. She could drop him off back at his place before she headed to the office.

“So…where do you want me to drop you off?” she asked as they pulled up to a stop sign.

“My place is fine.”

She nodded. “So where were you thinking of going tonight?”

“Wherever you want to go.”

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye via the rearview mirror. “You pick. I hate picking.”

“Ok…it will be a surprise.”

A short time later, Mary had gotten her necessary morning dose of caffeine and dropped Raph at his place. She pulled into her parking spot just as her phone began to ring. She picked it up and climbed from the driver side.

“Hello?”

“Hey, you here yet?” Marshall asked on the other end.

“Yeah…just got out of my car. Why? We have somewhere to be I don’t know about?”

“No…I was just going to ask if you could pick up some donuts.”

She rolled her eyes. “Screw you.” Minutes later she walked into the office and gave her partner a dark look.

Marshall just gave her a smirk and went back to browsing the files on his desk. He couldn’t help messing with her every now and then. Now that she didn’t have to worry about her family at home, she found fewer problems to bitch about.

Mary sat down at her desk and looked through the files waiting for her. As she flipped through the contents, she couldn’t help but feel the curiosity building in the back of her mind. Where were Brandi and Jinx? What were they doing? Had they adjusted to their new lives? Were they following the rules? Myriad questions whirred through her brain at light speed until she finally turned to her computer. She pulled the search page for the Bureau and was about to type in Brandi’s name when Marshall leaned over her shoulder.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing…”

“Doesn’t look like nothing.”

“I was just…curious.”

“Curious? About what?”

“What do you think?”

“Mary…you can’t.”

Mary rolled her eyes again and motioned for him to move closer. There was no need for Stan to overhear their conversation. Marshall wheeled his chair as close as he could get without encroaching too much on her space.

“I know I can’t but…I just…I’m worried. They could barely hold themselves together when I was paying for the house, for everything.” A pause. “You and I both know the Bureau only provides for witnesses for a certain length of time.”

“I know you want to know how they’re doing but it is out of our hands.”

“God….this is what they feel isn’t it.”

“What who feels?”

“The families…the people left behind.” She wore a stunned expression. It had taken three months to really set in. She’d lost her family and she wasn’t going to see them again.