Lee skirted his way through the crowd in the bullpen to his desk. His eyes narrowed as he spotted the sprig of mistletoe that someone had hung from the ceiling directly over his chair and as he walked behind his desk, he yanked it down and dropped it in his garbage can in one fluid motion, ignoring the faint gasps of feminine disappointment from the milling crowd behind him.

He sat down and glared at the small decorated tree that had appeared on the corner of his desk and reached for it to give it the same treatment. A hand snapped out and grabbed his wrist, stopping him from moving it away from its spot.

"Oh no you don't," Francine hissed.

"Why not?" he growled at her, trying to shake his hand loose which only made her grip his wrist harder. "You know I don't put up with this nonsense."

"Oh believe me, we all know! But Amanda doesn't know – and that's from her," she shot back quietly.

"Wait – you mean…" His eyes shifted to the garbage can and its new contents.

That couldn't be her, could it? I mean, I know we've been closer since that whole concussion thing… and that kiss was pretty unforgettable… He winced as he remembered that he had actually forgotten it – even if it was only for a few days.

Francine's gaze followed his and misinterpreting his wince, she bit back a laugh. "Oh lord, no. That's the steno pool bimbos as usual, but this-" She tugged his wrist while her other hand grabbed the pot. "- Is from Amanda and she's just trying to be nice. You should try it some time, Mr. Grinch."

Lee let go of the tree with a grunt, his expression still dark. "Fine. But take it to your desk, will ya? I don't like stuff cluttering the place up."

There was a beat while both of them dropped their eyes to study the stacks of paperwork that covered Lee's desk.

"Uh-huh," said Francine sarcastically. "This would be such a problem."

"I don't like unnecessary things in my line of vision," he grumbled. "It's distracting."

"Fine," she responded. "I'll just put it back here where it won't bother you." She stepped behind him and plunked the small tree on his file cabinet. "Out of sight, out of mind."

Lee glared at her but had no ready argument for actually getting rid of the damn thing. "Fine," he growled. "But that is the only thing that's allowed to stay, got it? No lights, no tchotchkes, and absolutely no tinsel!"

"Afraid you'll get tinsel-it is?" Francine teased him, carefully straightening one of the tiny decorations.

"Har dee har har," he groused. "Just make sure I don't get stuck with anything else."

"Why do I have to be the bad guy? Why don't you just tell Amanda yourself that Christmas isn't your thing?"

Lee's expression turned pained and he gave off a frustrated sigh. "Because she's so… enthusiastic," he finally decided on. "It would be like kicking one of Santa's reindeer."

"Oh really?" laughed Francine. "And which one would she be? Cupid? Oh I know – the suburban exterior hides a red-blooded Vixen!"

Lee had just opened his mouth to respond when Billy's door flew open and his voice boomed across the bullpen. "Scarecrow! Get down to Freeman's Department Store! Amanda just called and said someone just blew up a telephone booth on the sidewalk while she was Christmas shopping. She's fine!" he went on quickly seeing Lee go pale, "But if it's what I think it is, I was in the middle of talking to the intended victim! Go get her and bring her back here asap!"

Lee scrambled to his feet, barely stopping to grab his coat and keys before he was running out of the room. As he got to the elevator, he realized Francine was at his elbow, and without a word, they both stepped through the opening door.

As he tapped his hand on his thigh impatiently, willing it to go faster, he heard Francine give off a small snort and turned to look at her inquiringly.

"Well, at least we know one thing for certain now," she commented, glancing up and giving him an encouraging grin. "She's definitely Blitzen."