Thanks to Mary for betaing this for me. I appreciate it.

Disclaimer: Don't own the characters never have never will.

Family Connections

Marshall groaned as he lowered himself onto his sofa. It had been a long week, and it was only Wednesday. He had gotten into yet another shouting match with Mary at the office. They hadn't been able to get their footing back since her trip to Mexico and his former relationship with Abby. Stan was getting frustrated with both of them and he wasn't the only one. He had to admit that he was getting fed up with the situation himself, but for once he wasn't going to give in to Mary. She needed to be the one to make the first move. It wasn't going to be him this time. Grabbing for the beer on the table he brought it to his lips, when his phone starting ringing.

"Please, no more today, Mare," Marshall said, to the empty room. Rolling his eyes he picked up the phone surprised to see the name on it. "Dad?"

"Marshall, I need you to listen to me and do exactly what I tell you," Seth replied, urgently. "Your brother and his wife were attacked tonight. Drae witnessed the attack from her closet, and she got a real good look at the attackers. We're not sure if the two perps saw her or not. I need you to meet me in Phoenix and keep her moving around until we can find out what's going on and the suspects. Gavin and Carina are guarded at the hospital, and will be relocated shortly. Kyler and Jamie are taking your mother and going into hiding for now. I'll be joining them as soon as I pass Drae off to you. Gavin said they threatened all of us and he thinks they are part of the mob that his team was trying to take down. No one is safe that is close to us right now. I need you to quit work tomorrow and meet me in Phoenix. I'll have a badge and gun for you. My boss knows the situation, and has agreed to make sure your position in Albuquerque is still secure when this is over. I know you'd rather tell Mary and Stan, but you need to keep them out of the loop for now. You might need their help later, but it's better for now if you don't include them."

"Are Gavin and Carina okay?" Marshall asked, concerned.

"Carina's pretty shaken up over the whole thing. Cuts and bruises mostly. Gavin has some bruised ribs and a concussion. They were interrupted by a neighbor knocking on the door and escaped out the back. I'll see you tomorrow night. I'll bring some burn phones for you to use in case you need to contact me."

"I'll meet you there," Marshall replied.

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Marshall parked his truck and leaned his head back against the headrest. He had purposefully come in late without a phone call and a reason. He had ignored the phone calls from both Stan and Mary. Mary would be giving him and earful which he knew that he could escalate into a shouting match. From there it would be the domino effect. Stan would try to soothe things over, but would ultimately take Mary's side. She was barely speaking to him anyways and usually when she did it was less than civil. Not looking forward to what he was about to do, but knowing it played in well with what needed to be done, Marshall stepped out of the truck and headed into the office. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/

"Where the hell is he Stan?" Mary asked, worried. "You know Marshall's always on time. If he's going to be late he calls. He's not answering his cell or home phone."

"I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation as to where he is. Nice to see you showing concern for your partner for a change," Stan said. He had been worried about Mary and Marshall lately. All they ever seemed to do anymore is fight.

"I sure as hell don't need to be pulling his weight along with mine," Mary snapped.

"Does that mean you'll actually be doing your own paperwork? It sure would be a nice change. Oh wait, hell hasn't frozen over so that would be me doing your job. You'd be lucky to remember how to fill out half of the forms anyways," Marshall said, walking towards his desk.

"You're late," Stan said, hoping to stop the situation from escalating into another shouting match between the two partners.

"Yeah," Marshall shrugged, and booted up his computer.

"We called and you never bothered to pick up your phone diptwit. You forget how to use it?" Mary asked, irritated by Marshall's casual attitude.

"Oddly enough, I'm very adept at calling people and answering phones. I was assuming you were calling to nag or have me bring you coffee and breakfast because you're too cheap to do it yourself," Marshall said, before looking back at his computer.

"What the hell is your problem?" Mary asked.

"Maybe I'm just tired of you," Marshall snapped.

"That's enough!" Stan yelled, trying to figure out what was wrong with Marshall.

"Of course it is. Heaven forbid someone put Mary in her place, because you sure as hell aren't going to," Marshall said, glaring at Stan while trying to ignore the ever growing pit in his stomach. This was necessary and he had to continue in order to bide himself enough time to leave before they figured out something was wrong.

"Marshall, I don't know what your problem is today, but it needs to stop now. Better yet, why don't you go home and stay there until you can behave professionally," Stan replied, trying not to lose his temper. He wasn't used to Marshall being the insubordinate one.

'You know what Stan, I'm sick of this crap. Mary can behave as unprofessional as she wants to and you do nothing but wait for me to calm Hurricane Mary down. Why doesn't she have to go home until she can behave in a professional manner? Is it because you know she'll never be allowed back?" Marshall asked.

"Go home, Marshall. We'll see you tomorrow," Stan said, barely containing his anger.

Marshall stood up, pulled his gun out of his holster and took out his badge. Walking over to Stan he shoved them both at him.

"No, you won't. I quit," Marshall replied, heading towards the elevator while leaving a very stunned Stan and Mary in his wake.

Marshall called his Dad as he hurried to his truck.

"It's done. I'm on my way. Did you get the tracking device for my truck and phone disabled?"

"Yes, your phone has been deactivated and your house phone is turned off. I also have a different truck for you. You can give me your cell and truck and I'll have them stored until this is over," Seth replied. "For what it's worth I'm sorry you had to do that to your friends." Seth knew his son was hurting by the tone in his voice.

"How's Dracen?" Marshall asked, not wanting to talk about what happened at the office.

"She's a Mann, she's tough. Gavin and I explained to her that she's being moved away from them as an extra precaution. I explained to her while we have guards to protect without knowing who the leak was it would be easy to snatch her up if she stayed at the hospital with her parents until they could be moved," Seth replied.

"She's a teenager who witnessed her parents being attacked, Dad. She's tough all right, but she's still a kid," Marshall said.

"Drae is strong and doing as well as can be expected. You can talk to her when you get here," Seth said, supplying Marshall with the address.

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Mary and Stan hadn't moved since Marshall announced he quit. They were both staring at the elevator too stunned. Mary finally jerked into action and refusing to wait for the elevator, ran down the stairs. Running into the parking lot she looked for Marshall's truck. Grabbing her cell she hit speed dial one.

"The number you dialed is no longer in service," the recorded voice came through the phone.

"What the hell?" Mary asked out loud. She quickly headed back to the office.

"Did you find him?" Stan asked.

"His truck is already gone. Dial his cell phone," Mary said, and watched as Stan's face scrunched in confusion.

"How can it be no longer in service? Stan asked.

"Something is going on here," Mary said.

"Yeah, but what?" Stan asked, heading into his office.

"What are you doing?" Mary said.

"I'm calling his parents to see if something happened that is causing Marshall to act out. That was not our Marshall," Stan replied waiting for someone to pick up at Marshall's parents. Not getting a reply he left a message. "Seth, this is Stan McQueen. Could you please give me a call? I'm worried about Marshall and was hoping that you or your wife might know if something upset him recently. He's unusually moody and quit the Marshal Service today. Mary and I are really worried. Please call us back as soon as possible."

"I'm going to drive over to Marshall's house," Mary said, heading towards the elevator.

"Mary, don't push him too hard. I don't think he's going to put up with much. Let me know what you find out," Stan said.

"I'll call,"

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Marshall pulled into the hotel in Phoenix. He knocked on the door and stepped into the room after Seth opened the door. His niece Dracen, or as they call her Drae; was asleep on one of the beds. Marshall moved over towards Drae and gently pulled the blanket up a little tighter around her.

"So what's the rest of the plan?" Marshall asked, softly not wanting to wake his niece

"You do what you do best: take Drae and hide in plain sight. Your new identifications are Emma and Joseph Martin. She's your only child and her mother died in an automobile accident when she was four. You'll drive to Denver in the rental truck that's sitting outside while I ditch your truck. From Denver you'll take the Amtrak into Sacramento; where there will be a car waiting for you to use. You will start work on Monday as a computer tech for the city. Emma Martin is officially enrolled in Grant Union High School. Here's the address of the place you'll be staying and the rest of the details including where the car is. Don't contact me unless it's an emergency. I'll call you as soon as something changes or if I have any news. Your boss and partner are already trying to find you. They called the house shortly after you left the office," Seth cautioned.

"You seem surprised by this," Marshall replied.

"I didn't think it would be easy to keep them from looking for you, but I figured they'd give you a day or two to cool off," Seth said.

"Mary's not known for her patience. We'll stay hidden. They won't give up, but I'll keep my tracks covered.".

"Stay safe. These people will stop at nothing to hurt either of you," Seth warned.

"We'll be fine." Marshall reassured his Dad before giving him the keys to his truck. He watched his Dad leave before turning his attention to his sleeping niece. /\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Mary went back to Marshall's house after work. Using her key she entered the house for the second time that day. The last time she was just looking for her partner, this time she was looking for answers.

"Marshall?" she called out to no avail. Walking through the house she made her way towards his bedroom. Opening the closet door, she saw that a portion of his clothes were missing and so were two of his suitcases. She picked up his home phone and looked through the call list. Not seeing anything there she checked the garage for his truck. It was also gone, she called Stan.

"McQueen."

Mary could hear the exhaustion in Stan's voice. Mary informed him of what she found. "Do me a favor and track his cell phone. Get a list of incoming and outgoing calls before it was disconnected.

"What are you thinking?" Stan asked.

"I'm thinking he's protecting someone on his own and going off the grid to keep us out of it. I know we haven't been getting along and I'll even admit a huge part of that is my fault, but he escalated the fight instead of trying to be rational about it. He's doing everything we normally do to hide a witness," Mary replied.

"I'll run the phone and truck. By tomorrow morning it should be here," Stan said.

"Thanks," Mary replied looking around the empty house. "What are you up to Marshall?".

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"Uncle Marshall, where are we going?" Drae asked, shortly after they left the hotel.

"I'll let you know when we get there. You need to remember to call me Dad. I know it's odd, but it's for your own protection," Marshall replied.

"Why did Grandpa pick Emma for me?" Drae asked, knowing there was a reason for it.

"Grandma wanted a little girl. She was going to name her Emma if she ever had one. Instead she got three boys and no Emma. I think it was his way of making up to Mom for not giving her a daughter," Marshall replied.

"Why are you Joseph?"

"Grandpa's idea of a practical joke," Marshall muttered, softly.

Drae noticed the tension enter her uncle's posture at her question and decided to drop it. Somehow she had a feeling her Grandpa got a dig in on her Uncle. She never understood what Grandpa Seth's problem was with Uncle Marshall. The two struggled to find any common ground. They had been that way for as long as she could remember. She'd have to ask Uncle Marshall when she got a chance.

"Do I get home schooled? You would be a great teacher," Drae said, hopeful.

"I have to work in order to pay the bills. You are enrolled in one of the best high schools in the city. I thought Grandpa went over this with you," Marshall replied.

"He did, but you're better at talking to us then Grandpa is, and I don't want to start over at a new high school. I won't have any friends," Drae said, honestly.

"Making friends has never been a problem for you. I promise by the end of the first week, you'll have a friend." It was the one thing Marshall was sure of. Drae had a personality that drew people to her.

"I'm glad Grandpa turned me over to you. At least you're fun," Drae mumbled. Grandpa Seth didn't let her do much of anything at all the last few days except watch TV in a hotel room.

"Well you're not going to be thrilled with me either. For your safety, there are going to be a lot of rules that you need to follow. I need you to do what I tell you to, when I tell you to do it and not question me on it," Marshall warned.

"I'm not going to able to go anywhere, am I?" Drae asked. She knew it shouldn't be a top concern, but she was a teenager and wanted to be able to do some fun things instead of constantly worrying about the people after her or how her parents were.

"You're not in prison Drae, but I need to know where you are at all times and if anything looks suspicious you need to call me. We have to be able to move on short notice," Marshall said.

"Okay." Drae could tell her uncle meant and knowing her uncle; there was a reason for it.