Allergies
(Mary Mapes x Fem!Reader) ✼
Whumptober Day 20: Symptomatic/"That's new."
Summary: You and Mary tackle a money laundering scheme in a tourist town. The only problem is that her ‘allergies’ are not improving.
Warnings/Notes: Sickness/cold. I don’t even know if the plot makes sense but it’s okay
Word Count: 1830
“Y/n, come on, let’s head out before the traff–” sneeze, “--before the traffic starts up. I do not want to be in a car for–” sneeze. Mary pressed the sleeve of her cardigan to her nose and took a careful breath. “Ugh. I do not want to be stuck in a car for two hours in the middle of New York City,” she finished quickly before sneezing again.
“I’m not sure I want to be stuck in a car with you, even if it's not for two hours.” You scanned the other woman worriedly. Then offered her a tissue. “No offense.”
Mary blew her nose. “Stuff it up your ass; I’m fine. Just dust allergies.”
“I don’t see a lot of dust.”
“Just because you can’t see it doesn’t know it's there.” Mary raised a finger to jab you in the arm but then thought better of it. That alone was enough for you to rule her sick, even if she hadn’t accepted it yet.
You just sighed. “Alright. Just grab a box of tissues and we’ll leave. I don’t want your snot in my car.”
Mary shot you a glare but did as ordered, snatching about half of a box worth of tissues and stuffing them into her pocket. She grabbed her coat before following you to your car.
“Mind telling me what this story is?” You pulled out onto the main road. “All your email said was money laundering and something about brisket.”
“A big money laundering scheme a few towns over, we think. Well, I think. If I’m right, there's a few shady popup restaurants who are jazzy with the mayor.” Mary combed her fingers through her hair and looked at herself in the mirror under the sun visor. “I was reading their tax history. What I could find of it, I guess. You know why? Because there's next to nothing.”
That certainly wasn’t what you expected.
Mary was known for hunting the bigger stories. She was like a blood hound, sniffing them out beneath layers of snow before mercilessly sinking her teeth in. She pounced on stories nobody else would take; big stories full of weeks worth of potentially damaging information, to large people, or even herself if necessary.
But a little money laundering scheme in a nearby tourist town? Wasn’t every tourist town a money laundering scheme?
“How long have you been looking into this?" You frowned. You weren’t going to complain, this would be a simple, quick thing. Hopefully not another long month of pouring over gory photos and staying up for 3 sunrises.
“Found out about it last night.” Mary replied. She sneezed again, then shot you a warning look as she pulled out a tissue. “It started with a tip from an old friend of mine who saw things he shouldn’t have.” Her glare softened into a frown. “Why do you look so confused?”
“I’m not. I’m just surprised. This isn’t the usual Mary vs the entire state of Texas or the military or something.” You shrugged. “It’s not a bad thing.”
Mary went quiet for a moment. Then she shook her head. “Sometimes little bullies need to be taken down too.” She pressed her head into the window. “Besides, if you must know, I’m just not feeling up for another 2-monther.”
So, she was sick.
Her sneezing again only proved your point.
Luckily the traffic wasn’t that bad and you arrived at the town about half an hour later. It was just a normal small town but you could pick out the tourist shops from the real ones pretty easily.
“Park anywhere you can,” Mary checked her watch. “We’ve got three restaurants to stop in. I’ll interview the staff, if I can. I want you to look around and see what other information you can find, you’re good at that sort of thing.”
“Yes ma’am,” you saluted her as you pulled into a parking spot. “Look, a pharmacy. Sure you don’t want any medicine?”
“I’m not working while groggy,” Mary muttered. She climbed out of the car, grabbed her bag, and shut the door before you could protest.
You got out while she was dumping a pile of used tissues into a trash can. “We should stop and grab lunch too.”
“We’re not here to be tourists, we’re trying to figure out how they con the tourists.”
“They’ll probably like us better if we give them money.”
Mary ran her bottom lip between her teeth for a moment. Then she heaved a sigh. “Fine. If we stop at one of these places and they serve anything that actually looks appetizing, feel free to spend your money on it.” She placed a hand over her stomach, shuddered, and then started to walk.
The first restaurant was an easy run. It wasn’t the most glorious of places. If anything, it looked more like a shitty fast food joint that lacked janitors. Mary chatted up some of the kitchen staff and you did some investigating.
There were some very real plaques on the wall and history of the restaurant too. No mention of the other two suspected ones, though. And aside from the two of you, the place was practically empty. You wondered if they even served food.
Mary ended up grabbing your arm and dragging you out. Before you could reply, she scoffed. “They kicked me out because I sneezed. I doubt they even serve real food here and they still had the audacity to kick me out.”
“Was there any food in the kitchen?”
“I mean, yes, there was, but still,” Mary wiped her nose with another tissue and then tossed it away. “I’m a reporter, not a five year old with sticky snot hands.”
You laughed at that.
You were both on your way over to the second restaurant when Mary suddenly burst into a coughing fit. And not just the raggedy, throat tickle cough. These were full, deep chested coughs that made your throat hurt just thinking about it.
By the time she stopped, she’d nearly fallen over and you were holding her arm.
“That doesn’t sound like allergies,” you frowned. “There’s nothing wrong with coming back tomorrow, or another day when you feel better.”
Mary pulled out of your grip. “I’m fine.” She wheezed for a moment. “Just congested. I’ll pick up some mucinex or something on the way out of town.” Her hand rubbed over her chest for a moment and then she started walking again.
Luckily, Mary did agree that maybe she wasn’t the best person to be talking in the kitchen with her hacking cough so you went in instead. The staff wasn’t particularly welcoming, but they did have real food on the counter.
This restaurant itself was a little nicer. There was one other person sitting by the window and munching on a salad, but that was it. The walls were adorned in similar plaques and trophies as if to say ‘look at me! I’m a real restaurant!’
You annoyed the staff until they politely asked you to leave. But they hadn’t really answered many of your questions.
Mary met you outside, she’d gone out to have another coughing fit. Was she paler than the last time you saw her? Definitely. Her eyes had grown a little red from all the tear-jerking sneezes and she was wheezing a little again.
“We’re almost done,” Mary held her hand up in protest when you pointed in the direction of the car. “We’ll go back after this, you can pour all the cold medicine down my throat that you want.”
“That’s how I know you’re sick. You would never let me do that,” you sighed and helped her up. “One more. Then we’re going home.”
“I already–” cough “--agreed.”
You and Mary went into the last restaurant. This one was more of a sub place with a counter at the front where you could order sandwiches and a smaller kitchen in the back for other things.
Mary went into the back while you chatted up the worker and also ordered a sandwich. You offered to get one for Mary but she turned green when you mentioned it so you tossed that idea out.
You were just about to pay when Mary came out of the back, a concerned expression on her face. She came over and tapped your shoulder.
“Yeah, hang on, I’m almost done,” you pulled a wad of cash out.
Mary tugged your sleeve this time.
“Mary, hang on.” You groaned. When had your partner been replaced with the snot covered five year old she promised to never be?
Mary smacked your shoulder this time. You whirled to face her, about to snap at her when she laid her hands over her neck.
Did she want you to choke her? You were considering it. But then you realized what she was trying to tell you. She lost her voice.
The cashier handed you your sandwich. You took it, and then Mary practically dragged you out of the building like luggage.
The second you got outside she coughed again and had to lean against the building. “Fuck…” she wheezed hoarsely, rubbing her throat. “Y/n…”
“No, hey, don’t talk. You’ll only make it worse,” you sighed, laying your hand on her arm. “Did you find anything?”
Mary nodded. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it with a frown. She started trying to speak in gestures but you cut her off with a solemn expression.
“Mary, I respect you too much to suffer a game of charades with you.”
She crossed her arms in a pout. Then she sat down on a nearby bench and pulled her phone out. After furiously typing, she held her phone up.
You read the quick essay and frowned. “Oh. That’s new.”
You made a call back to the office while standing in line at the pharmacy. Mary got pretty woozy on the walk back to the car and practically collapsed in the passenger's seat so you took over the cold medicine run.
While Mary had hacked up a storm in the kitchen that sent the staff panicking, she snuck into the office and maybe took some pictures of some papers that were lacking a significant amount of information that every other restaurant had filled out. It wasn’t quite enough to publish just yet but it was a good lead.
You got the medicine and found Mary cuddling another pile of tissues. You tossed a new box at her, as well as a bottle of the strongest cold medicine you could find.
“This should knock you out till we’re free of traffic,” you sighed. “You need the rest anyway.”
Mary glared at you, though she smiled a few seconds afterwards and nodded. She downed the medicine and then promptly passed out beside you.
You couldn’t help but roll your eyes. At least one problem would be taken care of. With Mary asleep, you started the drive back to the city.
