All throughout the day, Fionna glanced at Marshall, still acting robotic. As soon as work ended, she hurried away, ducking into the nearest alleyway. She had no idea that she was being followed.

Instead of waiting to get home to Skype Cake, she called her.
"What happened?" Cake asked immediately.
"The guy I work with had his head messed with for some reason. He's become a robot, and I'm pretty sure Penelope had something to do with it."

"What happened?" Cake asked.
"I don't know! He just disappeared for a week --I told you, Creepy Brendan replaced him-- and when he came back, he was not... not normal. He wasn't Marshall. He was someone else entirely, and I don't think he can remember being Marshall."

The person following her came up behind her quietly, before grabbing her phone and crushing it in his hand.
Fionna stared, before glaring at him. "What the heck was that for?!"
"I am normal." He said. "I told you, I am Marshall, so I act like--"

"No, you don't! This is not how you usually act!" Fionna replied. "And I'm fairly certain that Penelope had something to do with it!"
He scowled. "Ms. Rosser has been nothing but helpful after my accident."
"You're changing your story... wait, how long have you been eavesdropping on me?" Fionna demanded.
Marshall looked away. "Ms. Rosser briefed me on it after her meeting with you. She said she didn't want me to be triggered by anything... and that I should stay away from you, outside of work."

"Why did you follow me then?" Fionna demanded.
"Because-because... you think that something is going on with my head, and you're probably right because I can't remember anything, and you're the only one who noticed! And Ms. Rosser said it's all been the accident but I'm scared that something else is going on, and you seem important to me!"

"That doesn't excuse the fact that you were following me."
"I just wanted to talk. I just... please? Please, you have to help me."
"I don't know how." Fionna admitted.
He scowled. "You have to know."

She backed away, her hands curling into fists. "I don't! I can listen to you, and tell you what I think happened, and who I think you were, but even I don't know how much of that is true!"
He squared his jaw. "Oh, really? So, you slandered Ms. Rosser, and you don't even have any knowledge for me! You-you... you're just trying to mess with my head!"
"I'm not!" Fionna said, before diving out of the way as he aimed a punch at her.

He stared at his hand for a second as if he was relying more on muscle memory than knowing what he was doing, before she slammed into him, knocking his head against the ground.
With a growl, he flipped her over onto her back, and she kicked him off, moving towards a garbage can and picking up the lid.

He watched her warily, before picking up a large stick in the alleyway. Swinging it like an ax, he charged her. She deflected it with her makeshift shield, before pushing him back with it and hitting his jaw hard, forcing his head up.

He spat out some blood before he started to circle her. "Nice trick."
"If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't be here." She answered. "But you're stronger than I thought."
He nodded once. "Thanks, I guess."

She charged him while he was caught off-guard, slamming him against the exterior wall of the coffee shop. His head knocked back against it, and she shifted her weight against him. "Give up yet? I'm a trained assassin. If I want you dead, you will die."
He growled at her. "So do it."
"I won't. I don't want to kill you unless it's absolutely necessary." She sighed, still keeping her full weight against him. "You're not evil. You're just confused."

"Noble." He muttered. "That's... that's a good quality."
"Yeah, I guess."

"Can I get up now? I promise I won't attack you."
She warily moved backwards, still holding the lid as a shield.
"I promised, didn't I?" He snapped.

She looked at him for a second, before tossing the shield away. "Let me see your bruises."
"I'm fine."
"I slammed your head a couple of times."
"I slammed your head against the ground really hard. I think we're both pretty banged up." Marshall pointed out.

"Stop fussing." Fionna ordered. "It's not like I'm cutting your hair."
He shot her a wary look. "Don't touch my hair."
"Why?"
"I don't know. I just don't like it when people touch my hair."
"Well, fine. But let me see your head."

Begrudgingly, he turned around. "Okay, you're not bleeding." Fionna noted. "Hey, follow my finger, okay? I need to see if your eyes are focused or not."
After he passed that test, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, good. I didn't accidentally give you a concussion."
"So what now?" He asked.

"...you can come back to my house." She said quietly.
He stared at her. "Is this... a normal thing for you? Do you often beat up men in alleyways, then invite them back for--"
"Not that!" Fionna said hurriedly. "I need to make sure that you don't accidentally die during the night. And maybe that you don't drink your awful coffee. But your personality seems to..." She trailed off, scrutinizing him, before shrugging. "It's better, anyway."

"Wow, okay. Rude." He muttered, before taking her hand. "And I am sorry that I went nuts on you."
"Yeah. Me too."