"I wish every assignment was this easy."
Amanda directs him a look, half amused and half worried, the kind of look you'd give someone you think is a little... peculiar. "Easy? You call that easy?"
They are standing next to the 'Vette, parked on the curb outside her house, looking at the damage their last mission cost the car. The driver's window is completely shattered, and Lee knows he'd be finding little shards of glass on his seat for the rest of the car's life.
"All right, not easy. Straightforward, how about that?"
This time she nods. They had been investigating a suspected arms dealer, just a bit of surveillance, which was usually accompanied by unending hours of detective work trying to link him to the crime, when the suspect had seen them - careless, but in their defense, the guy had been methodically looking around every ten seconds - and instead of running away, as Lee suspected he would, he had turned a gun towards the car. They had ducked, and he had shot the window to kingdom come - bringing a rain of shards towards Lee in the process - but hadn't hurt neither him nor Amanda seriously. Lee had exited the car and turned his gun towards the suspect, and after a warning shot, the guy had stopped and been arrested with minimal resistance. He looked shaky, and Lee knew the Agency would have him spilling the beans about his crimes before the day was over. He was no longer their responsibility, and Billy had given them the rest of the day off, so he had driven Amanda back to her house.
Lee is lost in thought, and he jumps back when he feels Amanda's touch at his temple. He has a nasty cut over his left eye, but he has definitely had worse.
"Amanda, it's fine."
"No, it's not. It's going to get infected and you'll end up looking like Rocky Balboa."
Lee has time to imagine Amanda watching a movie about boxing - and be completely bewildered by the concept- before she's grabbing his hand and pulling him towards her house. Her mother and kids are out - it's the middle of the morning, after all - and he fusses a bit, just for the sake of being a bad patient more than anything else, but eventually follows her inside the house. He barely complains when she sits him down in the kitchen and goes to fetch the first aid kit. He knows she just wants to mother him a little, that it'll make her feel better, and he will never refuse the chance to spend some time alone with Amanda. All in all, it seems like a win-win situation.
That is until she tries to disinfect the wound.
"Ow! Amanda, that stings!" She gives him a look that tells him she finds him completely adorable, and just a little bit annoying, and puts the cotton ball soaked in disinfectant to his wound again, and Lee jumps, pulling back.
"Lee!" Her voice is more tired than it is angry, and he looks up at her and sighs. He knows he's being childish, but he happens to like being childish from time to time. She places her other hand on the nape of his neck, which holds his head in place, but also distracts him enough for her to resume her work with minimal complaining this time. He closes his eyes, partly because of the sting, but mostly because her fingers are scratching softly at the skin on the back of his neck, and it feels far too good.
She needs both her hands to put a band-aid on his wound though, and Lee silently mourns the loss of that little touch.
"All done," she says, and leans in to press a gentle kiss to his forehead.
Lee smiles up at her before putting on his best fake hurt look, clutching his jaw.
"Hm, you know, I think the guy must have elbowed me during the arrest. Does my lip look broken?"
She quirks an eyebrow, and leans a little bit so they are face to face, placing a hand on his jaw.
"Looks all right to me."
He grins, and he knows she's onto his game by the way her lips curve into an unwilling, but nonetheless inviting, smile.
"Bruised?"
"Uh-uh."
But her thumb is caressing the dimple his grin has left, and occasionally moving over the corner of his mouth. He moves his face an inch closer to hers.
"Chapped?"
She's grinning at this point, and he feels her breath on his chin when she lets out a little laugh.
"You know, they do look a little chapped."
They're so close, probably closer than they've ever been, so he's not even surprised when he hears the front door open.
They both jump apart, and Lee thanks all his years of training for the fact that his reflex is to drop to the ground, putting the kitchen island between himself and the front door. He hears the unmistakable voices of Amanda's kids, and he tenses in response. Of course, school must have finished a while ago. Amanda had told him they always walked home when the weather was warm enough.
"Hey, Mom!"
"Hello, fellas." There's a tense few seconds of silence, and Lee can feel the kids entering the kitchen before Amanda speaks up again. "Go wash your hands."
"But Mom—"
"I saw the Ferguson's dog out by the yard again, I know you stopped and petted him, so go wash your hands."
There's that silence again, and it stretches for what feels like hours before Lee can hear Phillip sighing, and Jamie's voice sounds as if they're walking away.
"I told you she'd know."
Amanda waits for a moment before grabbing his arm and pulling him up, rushing him towards the backdoor.
He's already outside before he turns around, giving Amanda a wide grin.
"You know, you're getting good at the whole lying and sneaking."
Amanda just scrunches up her nose at him and closes the door.