The disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me; they belong to Shoot the Moon Enterprises and Warner Bros to whom I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to take them out for a spin and bit of light humour.
This is the story to fill in the missing evening in "Zero Contact". You don't need to have read that story, but it might help understand some details in this one.
"Candles or no candles?" Amanda debated with herself, chewing her bottom lip thoughtfully.
This was definitely a new situation for her, wondering how romantic she should make her dinner with Lee this evening. It had been an odd spring and summer with Lee gone for most of it on a zero contact mission.
"Zero contact, indeed" she chuckled to herself, glancing at the postcards propped up at the back of her kitchen counter. Lee had brought them the night before, little souvenirs of everywhere he'd ended up on this last mission to Europe. Over the years he'd developed a habit of sending them to her as he travelled but with no direct contact allowed this time, he'd saved these ones up for his return. However, he had skirted the rules with some indirect contact, a series of funny newspaper ads he'd put in the Post and then Le Monde, just to let her know he was thinking of her. Little had he realized the uproar those tiny ads had been causing back home when Francine had spotted them and interpreted them as coded messages from Chinese Intelligence and then spent weeks chasing down their source. Luckily for Lee, she'd been unsuccessful, but her efforts had provided Amanda with much needed amusement. She smiled thinking about how hard Lee had laughed when she'd told him all about it last night and then again at the thought that he had come straight to her house when he got home. Maybe absence really did make the heart grow fonder?
The timing of that mission really couldn't have been worse, thought Amanda to herself. Lee had finally opened up to her about wanting to take their relationship further and then within 48 hours, he'd been on a plane out of the country. She rested her fingers on her lips, smiling as she remembered that first proper kiss they'd exchanged in the office almost two months ago. To this day, she had no idea what had prompted him to suddenly declare himself there and then – it's not like their office was the most romantic place in the world. But then again, she thought, maybe it was. The Q Bureau was like their own little cocoon away from the rest of the Agency, mostly safe from prying eyes and ears and definitely safe from interruptions from her mother.
Amanda rolled her eyes as she moved around the kitchen preparing for the evening, thinking of just how many times her mother had managed to interrupt a promising moment with Lee. For some reason, he had chosen to treat those like Fate intervening – always taking a step backwards immediately afterwards and retreating to the safety of friendship, however temporarily. That last time had been different though – they'd both heard Billy coming down the hallway and she'd been the one to step backwards, preparing for the inevitable. She'd honestly been surprised to watch him walk towards the door and lock it before turning back to her with that look in his eye. "No, not this time," he'd muttered before stalking back towards her. And then his expression had melted a little bit like he was about to lose his nerve again and she'd had to put her hands out to touch him and let him know he should go on.
As kisses went, it had been a revelation. They'd kissed before for covers and Lee had even managed a few almost platonic pecks on the lips but that first real kiss, with both of them on the same page – that kiss had been like fireworks. When they'd finally broken apart, it hadn't really stopped, Lee had just continued to drop little kisses along her jaw and by her ear while she did the same with whatever she could reach.
"Now what?" she'd thought to herself, realizing too late she'd actually said that out loud.
"Now, Amanda King, I court you properly," Lee had answered immediately.
"Court me? What does that mean? Are you going to take me to the cotillion?" she'd asked laughing. She should have known Lee would suddenly become old-fashioned and revert to his air force upbringing.
"Courting – like normal people," replied Lee, one eye brow raised and dimples peeking out ever so slightly. "Dinners, movies, home in time for curfew." His beautiful eyes were sparkling at her as he watched her process that image.
"Are you going to ask my mother's permission for all this courting?" she couldn't resist asking and giggled when she'd watched him pale slightly at the thought and run a finger unthinkingly along his collar.
"Do you want me to?" he'd asked slightly panicked.
"Well, I was kidding, but now I'm thinking it might be kind of fun to watch you try and escape her KGB-level interrogation techniques." She'd reached out and straightened the tie he'd just knocked sideways and, for some reason, that had calmed him down.
She hadn't been sure what to make of his determination to take things slowly. It made her happy that she obviously wasn't in the same league in his mind with the Randy-babies but part of her couldn't help wondering if he wanted to go slowly so that if he changed his mind, they wouldn't have gone too far down the road. If that was his thinking, she was doomed because she'd been head over heels in love with Lee for months. She'd always had a bit of a crush on him, she acknowledged to herself, but at some point in the last year she'd found herself falling in love with him almost without even realizing it or at least not until it was too late.
'When had it become too late?' she wondered. When Leslie O'Connor walked out of Lee's kitchen that night? That night in Sacker's compound when she thought it might be their last night together? When Joe had come back DC and she'd suddenly seen those two different sides of herself in stark contrast? She couldn't even tell anymore, it had been so gradual.
So he'd wanted to take it slowly, but neither of them of them could have foreseen it would be this slowly. They had snuck out of the Q Bureau that afternoon to go for the world's longest dinner and then the next morning, Lee had been called into Billy's office and given his travel orders. He'd come back upstairs in a state of shock.
"I wouldn't have said anything if I'd known I was going to get sent away," he'd groaned.
"Well, thank you so much," Amanda had answered in mock annoyance. "Don't let having kissed me get in the way of any little mission romances."
"Amanda! I don't mean it that way. It's just this… well, this sucks," he'd sighed.
She'd taken pity on him immediately, not wanting there to be any doubt in his mind while he was away. "I can't disagree with you there, Skippy. I was looking forward to the courting based on the previews." Then of course, she'd been unable to resist that imp on her shoulder who prompted her to add "Tell you what – you promise to stay safe and I'll try not to start dating any criminals while you're gone."
He'd stared at her for a beat and then dropped his head in his hands. "Oh my God, don't even joke about it. I should tell Billy to keep you cuffed to a desk for the next three weeks."
"So you'll only be gone three weeks? That doesn't sound too bad."
"That's the plan but you're not supposed to know that and I'm not allowed to tell you where I'm going or have any contact with anyone while I'm away. No calls, no postcards, no anything."
She'd slumped a little bit at that piece of news. "Oh. Okay."
He'd gotten up and walked across to take her in his arms. "But I promise to keep myself safe as I can now that I have a good reason to come back."
"You always had a good reason to come back, Lee." He hadn't answered, he'd just dipped his head to kiss her again.
Three weeks had stretched out into seven in the end and by the fourth week, he'd resorted to those classified ads to let her know he was thinking of her. She winced thinking how close she'd come to never knowing about them. If Fate, in the guise of Francine, hadn't intervened, she might never have seen them, but Francine had seen her, metaphorically cuffed to her desk and co-opted her to help with what should have been a dull job, scanning the newspapers for coded messages.
"Just walk with me." She wished she could have seen her own face when Francine had read that one out loud. "Missing our Leesburg rambles" it had gone on and her heart had almost leapt out of her chest she was so happy to know he was safe. She'd answered his ad with one of her own and they'd stayed in touch that way for the next month.
And then last night, like a miracle, he'd appeared in her family room, rumpled, exhausted, with that killer smile and looking like a million bucks, even with the new scar across his temple. And what had she done in response? Had she kissed him? Oh no, she had not. First she'd tried to attack him with a baseball bat, then she'd cried on him and then she'd offered him a sandwich. She groaned out loud thinking about it – a sandwich? What had she been thinking? No, she thought, that wasn't even the worst part. That had come when she'd tucked him up in a blanket for a nap on her couch and done his laundry. How could he possibly have any romantic feelings for someone who treated him the same way she did her twelve-year old son? She would have to up her romance game tonight if she wanted him to consider her that way again, that was for sure.
"Candles" she said out loud decisively.
"Definitely candles" said a laughing voice behind her. "These filet mignons deserve nothing less."
Even after all this time, he still had the ability to make her jump out of her skin by sneaking up behind her. She whirled around to find him no more than a few steps away, smiling broadly and looking, well, looking just amazing in jeans and a leaf-green polo shirt that brought out the colour of his eyes.
"Lee!" she couldn't help sounding annoyed. "You know I hate it when you do that!"
He laughed at the flush rising on her face. "Can I help it if you didn't hear me knock? What were you so deep in thought about anyway?"
She scrambled to think of something plausible, grateful he hadn't been able to read her thoughts. "Just candles. I knew I was missing something and I couldn't think what it was."
Lee had moved into the kitchen and placed the grocery bag he was carrying on the counter before turning back to look at her as he began to unpack the contents. "And here I was hoping it was me you were missing," he said in mock sorrow before giving her a bashful smile as if he wasn't actually certain.
Her breath stopped at the look in his eye and she stepped forward involuntarily. "That too," she'd found herself saying. Then he stepped toward her and suddenly she was in his arms. They stopped for a beat, staring into each other's eyes before he lowered his face to hers and then, unbelievably, the phone began to ring.
She closed her eyes and gave a quiet desperate groan as Lee began to shake with laughter. "Let the machine pick up," he said into her ear.
"The machine's broken," she answered with a sigh. "And let's face it, at this time of night on a Saturday it's either my mother or Billy, either of whom might send someone looking for me." She turned with a shake of her head and picked up the phone.
"Oh, hello, Mother, what's the matter?" she said as Dotty began a long story about something that was going on with the boys. She could see Lee out of her peripheral vision begin to putter around the kitchen and prepare the steaks. She had to stifle a giggle when she realized he was singing something that sounded suspiciously like "Hello, Dolly" except that he had replaced "Dolly" with "Dotty". She couldn't make out any of his other improvised lyrics but she knew enough of his sense of humour to know she was better off not hearing them at this particular moment.
"No, Mother, that's just the radio playing. It's Broadway night on NPR." Lee's choke of laughter almost set her off again, but she controlled herself and managed to ask in an almost normal voice, "So did you explain to Phillip why that was a bad idea or do you think barely escaping being in a cast for the next six weeks will be enough of a lesson? Do you need me to talk to him?" Lee had turned and looked at her inquiringly at the mention of the word "cast", looking relieved when she mouthed "He's fine" at him.
"Hello, Sweetheart, would you like to tell me exactly how you ended up in the emergency room?" She settled onto a stool, phone wedged on her shoulder and reached over to pull the salad fixings towards her, and starting to tear lettuce, taking out her frustration on the innocent leaves while Lee continued to hum to himself as he headed outside to grill the steaks. She took a moment to smile how easily he found his way around her kitchen even after months away before tuning back into Phillip's tale of derring-do gone wrong.
By the time she got off the phone, Lee had come back inside with the steaks and was pulling the foil-wrapped potatoes out of the oven. "I'm sorry, Lee, I invite you for dinner and then you end doing all the work."
"You were working. And it sounds like you're going to have the best dinner conversation starter ever, from the parts of it I could hear." He finished pouring out two glasses of wine, handed them to her and then picked up the loaded plates. "Dinner is served."
Dinner had flown by, starting with her story about how Phillip had apparently set up some kind of bike ramp on the sand dunes by Aunt Lillian's cottage in Maine and then dared Jamie to try and do an Evel Knievel-jump him, only to discover for himself the laws of physics when brother and bike had both tumbled out of the sky landing on top of him. Lee began telling her stories of his childhood and all the things he'd done to turn his uncle's hair grey early and before they knew it, the wine bottle was nearly empty and they were both holding their sides from laughing so hard.
As they got up to carry the plates to the sink, Amanda pointed him towards the cupboard and said "You get the plates and I'll slice us some cake."
"Chocolate cake?" said Lee in a hopeful tone.
"Of course, although I did debate making something else since we also have those chocolates you brought me."
Lee's eyes widened at her words. "Holy cow, I almost forgot your present."
"I thought the chocolates were my present. You brought me another present?" Amanda was absurdly pleased at that thought.
"Of course I did," said Lee as he began to dig through his pockets before finally pulling a small cloth bag out and handing it to her almost shyly. "I hope you like it."
"I'm sure I will," she answered happily, untying the string and carefully extricating a bracelet from inside. "A charm bracelet? Oh Lee, it's beautiful!" She beamed up at him, watching his face light up at her genuine pleasure before she began examining the charms he'd attached. "A train... not a hat?" She glanced at him meeting his smile. "What's the flower?"
"It's edelweiss," explained Lee, leaning forward and pointing to each charm in turn. "And the knight is one of the figurines from the Glockenspiel in Munich."
"And Tower Bridge!" exclaimed Amanda. "And a ketch! Oh, that's a panda - Lee, this is amazing – how did you find all these?"
"I just seemed to keep ending up in cities we'd been to together so I started picking them up as souvenirs as I went along and then I started thinking about other things I could add to it." He looked a little bit embarrassed as he asked "So you don't think it's hokey?"
"You know me, Lee – I'm all about the hokey stuff," she leaned over and kissed his cheek, then caught her breath as he slid his hands around her waist to keep her from moving back again. Somehow her hands found their way to his waist, almost of their own accord.
There was a long pause while they stared at each other until Lee gave her a slow smile and broke the silence.
"Hello again," he said, reaching up to run one finger along her cheek.
"Hi," she answered him breathlessly. "Have I said welcome home yet?"
"Not properly." His smile had broadened. "Unless baseball bats are a new tradition I don't know about. Or have you been beating them off with sticks since I've been gone?" He'd leaned in and begun kissing her along her jaw, following the line his fingers had just traced.
"Oh yeah" she answered, swaying slightly as she tried to concentrate on what he was saying. "Turns out the bullpen is full of guys who wanted to date me once you were out of the way. I'm kidding!" she added quickly as Lee paused in what he was doing to her neck.
"Hmmm," was all the response she got. She began to shiver with anticipation as his lips traced their way back up along her jaw and cheek, and then, as she closed her eyes and waited for him to reach her lips, he suddenly stopped. She could feel his breath on her cheek and knew he was hovering just out of reach.
"Lee?" she whispered uncertainly.
"I'm waiting for the phone to ring," he breathed out huskily. Her eyes flew open to meet his laughing down at her, and she couldn't help the giggle that bubbled up. "But there's something wrong with this."
"There's something wrong with this?" she repeated, mortified. "What's wrong with this?"
"Just one thing. Stay there a second." He let her go and strode out of the kitchen and out the front door. She slumped against the counter, wondering what was so wrong that he'd just run out of her house. Her head was spinning with the mixed messages she was getting and she took a deep breath to try and calm down, dropping the charm bracelet onto the counter. Just then, she heard a familiar tapping noise and turned her head to see Lee standing outside the kitchen window, grinning idiotically at her and motioning for her to come outside. She could feel the laughter of mixed relief and joy bursting out as she headed for the back door and out into the garden. She paused for a moment, unable to see where he'd gone in the dark when she felt his hand slide around her waist and draw her close.
"We needed to be in the right place and this is our spot," he murmured. "And best of all, no chance of interruptions out here."
Her hand snaked around the back of his head, drawing him down until his lips met hers and then… fireworks.