A/N: So, I know that I'm in the minority here but - I liked the finale. The writers had taken M&M to a place where they obviously wouldn't have ended up together on the show - despite what the promos led you to believe. So they have their ending and we as fan fic writers will have ours. Enjoy!

"I wanna hold you like I used to
I wanna feel you in my blood
I wonder why I do confess this
To myself all the time
I know the time is working against us
But I'll long for you the rest of my whole life
Like a prisoner of hope."

~Ace of Base: 'My Déjà vu'

Present Day (June 1st)

Hotel Albuquerque in Old Town

Rehearsal Dinner

"Let me get this straight, Son. Your wedding is in two days and you still don't have a best man?"

Silence fell over the table as all eyes fell on me, including Abigail's. I swallowed nervously, as I played with the stem of my wineglass. "Well, you see, I asked Mike but then Peggy had the baby two weeks early." I shrugged my shoulders. "He can't really leave her alone with a newborn and a toddler."

Abigail reached over and took my free hand. "What about your other brother – Tom?"

I made a slight grimace as Dad snorted. "Tom and Marshall haven't been on speaking terms for a number of years now – ever since they both fell for the same girl back in college. What was her name? Mindy – Cindy – Brandy-"

"Dad, stop," I pleaded as I turned to look at Abigail. "Tom and I have just never been close – and I hope that I'm not still holding a grudge about something that happened twenty years ago with Mandy-"

"That was her name!" Dad snapped his fingers.

I rolled my eyes and suddenly wished I had something stronger than red wine to drink. If only Mary was here. She would have smuggled in some of the good stuff.

"Why isn't Mary your best man?" Dad asked.

I felt Abigail stiffen beside me and I fought back the sigh. It had been a month since my "talk" with Mary. Since then, Stan had moved to Washington D.C. and I had taken over as the head of the ABQ Witsec office. I could blame the chilly relations between Mary and myself on office politics and all the changes that had occurred but it would be a lie. Abigail had essentially given me an ultimatum: scale back my friendship with Mary or the wedding was off.

I chose Abigail. I love Abigail. I was going to marry Abigail in two days. I was getting my happy ending and it wasn't like I had lost Mary since I still saw her every day.

But she wasn't my best friend. She wasn't my partner. What was she?

We didn't talk anymore over coffee about Brandi and her being pregnant or about how crazy Jinx was making her now that everyone was back under one roof again. I hadn't seen Norah since Stan's good-bye dinner.

I'd told her that I'd always come when she called and once a long time ago, that I would never leave, and now-

"Marshall?" Abigail broke into my thoughts, placing her hand on my shoulder. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," I smiled reassuringly. "Dad, Mary's out of town for work. I don't even know if she'll be back in time for the wedding."

Dad glanced between me and Abigail, not fully satisfied with my answer but he didn't question me further. Abigail frowned at me, and was about to say something when my phone rang.

I glanced at the ID. "I've got to take this. It's Delia," I whispered, dropping a kiss on her temple as I stood and walked towards the exit. "This is Marshall."

"Hey Chief, it's Delia."

"How's it going? Are you and Mary on the way back already?"

There was a pause and some breaking up before I heard Delia say, "-an incident."

I pushed the exit door and stepped outside into the early evening air as my heart beat picked up. "I didn't get that – say it again."

"There was an incident at the house, Chief. Our witness is dead."

I ran a hand through my hair. "What the hell happened?"

"Drive by shooting, one of the warring gang members. Our witness had been fighting with his mom when he stormed out of the house. That's when it happened."

I sighed. "Are you and Mary all right?"

"Mary ran after Juan and tried to provide cover. She's been shot, Chief."

I gripped the phone tight against my ear as the eerie feeling of déjà vu swept over me. This cannot be happening again. Not again – not when she has Norah. My vision grew blurry and I fought to keep my voice steady as I said, "How bad?"

"I don't know. She was shot in the lower back, below the vest. They've already taken her to surgery but on the way she was delirious and babbling about Norah and asking for you."

My chest tightened as I recalled my words from a month ago.

"If you call, I'll come – every time. That's why I need you to release me."

"I'm on my way. I'll call you when I'm on the ground in Atlanta." I snapped my phone shut and turned to see Abigail standing behind me, her arms crossed.

"Atlanta?" she asked, her voice full of unanswered questions.

I nodded. "I'm sorry, Abs, I have to go – it's work."

She shook her head, making her dark curls dance. "No, it's Mary – it's always Mary. She calls, you go."

"It's not what you think-"

"No, it's exactly what I think." She paused to take a deep breath. "You told me you'd talked to her. That you'd told her that you couldn't be at her beckon call now that we were getting married – and foolish me wanted to believe that that would be the end of it. I'm surprised it lasted a month! What you call loyalty, I call codependency. The two of you have a very unhealthy relationship, Marshall, and I just hope that one day-"

"Mary's been shot."

The words brought Abigail up short. "What?"

I dashed a hand across my eyes, trying to hide the moisture that had gathered in the corners. "I have to go, Abigail. She's in surgery right now, possibly fighting for her life and she's-"

"Asking for you," Abigail finished, shaking her head again. "That's exactly my point. We're supposed to get married in two days, Marshall. Will you be back in time for the ceremony?"

"I don't know – I think we should postpone to be on the safe side."

Abigail smiled sadly. "Who's to say that something won't come up then too?"

I fidgeted from one foot to the other. "I'm sorry but I've got to go – we can talk about this more when I get back."

Abigail pulled off her engagement ring and held it out to me. "I don't think I have anything left to say."

Atlanta Medical Center

I sat in the slightly uncomfortable chair by her bedside and watched Mary's chest rise and fall in sleep. This time there was no tube down her throat to help her breathe, and for that I was relieved. Delia reassured me that she had never coded and I kept reminding myself of that fact, reminding myself that I wasn't reliving the past as I kept a silent vigil over her.

My eyes flicked every once and awhile to her heart monitors to see her heart rate, oxygen stats, and blood pressure – also to reassure myself that they were within normal parameters. The nurse said she had come around briefly in the post op room but had quickly gone back under. So now it was just a matter of waiting for her to wake up naturally.

I watched her eyes moving back and forth under her eyelids and wondered what she was dreaming about. I hoped they were pleasant dreams. She had been through so much in the last couple of months, what with her father coming back, arresting him, being under suspicion for being in league with a wanted felon, only to then ultimately lose him for good.

And then to add insult to injury, the one man who promised to never leave and stand by her no matter what had asked for his freedom because he was getting married. Never mind the fact that I wouldn't have needed to ask for my freedom in the first place if I hadn't been in love with my partner.

I leaned forward and gently picked up Mary's hand, the one that didn't have an IV in it. Pressing a kiss to the back of it, I whispered against her skin, "I'm so sorry, Mer."

"For what?" she croaked.

My head shot up to see her green eyes resting on me in confusion.

She licked her lips. "Marshall, what are you doing here?"

I looked at her in disbelief. "You got shot."

"So?"

My mouth fell open. "You're kidding, right? One of my inspectors gets shot and I'm just supposed to stay at the home office?"

Mary withdrew her hand from mine and dropped her eyes. "I'm fine, Chief."

I swallowed heavily, knowing that I needed to do some damage control from that statement. "I didn't mean – you were calling for me, Mer."

"I was?"

I nodded. "Delia said they were wheeling you into surgery and you were talking about Norah and asking for me."

Mary flushed. "Well, I can't be held accountable for what I say under the influence of pain killers and whatever other crap they pumped into me. I just wanted to make sure if anything happened to me that you would look after Norah."

"Mary-" I sighed, my heart in my throat.

"Look, I was going to ask you and Nancy Drew to be her guardians but then she got that bug up her ass about our relationship and you asked for your freedom and-"

"Mary-" I said a little more firmly as I watched her heart rate increase. "Stop for a minute and breathe." I waited for the beeping of her monitors to slow before I continued. "I would be honored to be Norah's guardian."

"Thank you." Her eyes fluttered shut and I knew that this conversation had probably taxed her energy reserves. "What about Abigail? Aren't you supposed to be getting married on Sunday?"

"Don't worry about that right now," I whispered as I brushed some hair off her forehead. "Just rest."

Her eyes snapped open and focused on mine as we had one of our conversations without words. After a minute or two she sighed. "You know, I lied before."

"About what?"

"I never liked her." Her eyes drifted shut once again.

I chuckled. "I guess that makes us even then."

"How so?"

"I didn't want you to set me free."

"Oh?" she murmured, her breaths evening out.

I leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Sweet dreams," I whispered.

Mary grabbed my hand. "Don't go," she whispered. "Stay."

"I'm here," I whispered, pulling the chair as close as possible. I ran my fingers through her hair, and watched as she fell back asleep. When I thought it was safe, I leaned down and pressed a feather light kiss against her lips.

"I love you, Mer."

She smiled and opened sleepy eyes to look at me. "I love you too."

So what did you think? Does this "Fix" the writers finale guffah? Reviews are L-O-V-E!