Legal stuff - Don't own these characters just thought I'd take them out of the Shoot the Moon production company toy box and play with them.
Takes place between the 3rd and 4th season.
This is my first attempt at fanfiction - hopefully I'll improve but it was fun to type out the ideas in my head.
Fixed the formatting - hopefully it's easier to read.
Exhausted Amanda and Lee entered his apartment. The case they had been on put them in the familiar position of playing husband and wife one they had grown somewhat comfortable with. This case had gone pretty well until the last day when Lee had been caught sneaking through the lead suspects desk. Luckily he had a pretty smart partner and Amanda had been able to rescue. With the rounding up of the bad guys and the debriefings over it had been close to 48 hours since either one of the had gotten any sleep.
Amanda sunk down onto the sofa and leaned her head back and closed her eyes. With Joe back she had been letting the boys spend more time with him so they could reconnect and her Mother decided to take a trip to visit friends which made her house a bit lonely and was happy when Lee invited her to his place for dinner.
Lee just watched her he knew she was falling asleep and almost felt bad about what he was about to do but it had been nagging him ever since he asked her about her divorce in the Q Bureau and this was probably his best chance - he hoped anyway.
"Amanda?"
"hmm" came her response. She wasn't really awake but not really asleep somewhere in that in between state of drifting off.
"You know we're getting pretty good at playing husband and wife."
"Yep" came her very sleepy response.
"Do ever think about being married again for real someday?"
Small alarm bells started to sound in Amanda's head. 'Why is he asking this?' if she had been more awake maybe she could have countered this "interrogation" a bit better but her mind just didn't seem to be cooperating.
Taking a big breath "Yea, sometimes but it would have to be different." came her reply in a whisper.
Lee just looked over to her wondering what she meant. "Different - how?" he asked hoping she would continue.
"Just - well" she started to listen a bit more to the alarm bells in her head. She could just tell him what she wanted but she was pretty guarded when it came to questions about marriage. It kept her safe and away from heartbreak.
"Just well what?" hoping she wasn't going to shut down. Changing tactics a little he thought about what he could ask to keep her going. "What would you look for in a husband?"
Amanda thought about this for a bit 'Stop he doesn't need to know ... It will just lead to heart ache right?'
"Amanda?" he looked at her hoping he hadn't blown it 'Why can't she open up to me about this.' "Sorry" she whispered wishing she was brave enough to answer.
Lee sighed "It's ok let me go order something for dinner - is Chinese alright?"
"Yeah, that's fine."
Amanda sat there trying not to think about what she wanted in a husband 'why is this so hard to talk to him about he's my best friend maybe ..."
Quietly Amanda began to answer so quietly Lee almost didn't hear her but when he heard her he stepped closer.
"He has to love and accept me for who I am. He has to place my needs before his job." "He would love my boys be there for them when they needed him." Tears started form but Amanda was determined not to cry.
Lee waited patiently for her to continue.
"He would never make me feel dumb or like my ideas don't matter. He would let me make my own decisions about working - he'd let me work if I wanted to. He wouldn't lie to me or make promises he has no intentions of keeping." The tears she was fighting started to fall but she refused to open her eyes and look at him afraid of what she would see.
Lee's heart was starting to break for her and he wanted to just hold her but he knew she wasn't done yet and so again he waited.
Taking another deep breath Amanda whispered "He wouldn't abandon me and continue to tell me he loves me. If you love someone you don't leave them." Letting out a sigh she wiped away her tears.
Lee reached for and held her. "You deserve all of that and much more."
Kissing her forehead and continuing to hold her he now had his answer about what went wrong in her marriage and he was determined to be what she needed. He also realized it wouldn't be easy you don't get over that much hurt easily but he knew what she needed and he was willing to go at her pace. He also knew it was past due for Amanda to come first. He always knew she would be there when he needed her but it was time for him to be there for her. He also knew he loved her he just wasn't ready to say it loud - soon though very soon.