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Stepping through the doors of the Georgetown foyer, Lee looked over at Mrs. Marston. She peered at him over her glasses as she stared at him. "Good morning Mrs. Marston. I hope you are feeling well today." He said with a tense smile on his face that didn't go all the way to his eyes.
"I am doing well, Mr. Stetson. Will Mrs. King be in today?" She asked but Lee felt she already knew the answer.
"Yes, she will be here later today." He adjusted his tie.
"I have her new badge in my desk when she gets here. She should be proud her efforts all these years have paid off."
Lee took his badge from her, staring at it for a few moments before pinning it on his lapel, "Yes, Mrs. Marston, she should be very proud. Thank you."
Lee stepped into the awaiting elevator to head for the bullpen. He had a morning meeting with Billy as well as Dr. Pfaff. Amanda had hers that afternoon plus all she had to prepare for by beginning her freshman classes with Beaman next week.
Lee stepped off the elevator and the first person he seen walking out of the bullpen was the last person he wanted to see at that moment.
"Oh, Lee, how are you today?" Francine asked smiling up at her friend. She had to admit though the look on his face wasn't looking very friendly to her.
"Hi." He answered back in an extremely clipped tone.
Taking a defensive stance she curled her face up and said, "My, my, my, what did Amanda do now to put you in such a foul mood?"
Looking at her out of the corner of his eye, Lee said, "Francine, I think the best thing right now would be for you to just stay away from me. I have a meeting to get to or I'll be late." Lee stormed off away from her leaving her with a bewildered look on her face.
"What was that all about?" She asked but no one was there to answer her.
Lee made his way toward Billy's office, knocked and waited to be told to come in. He was granted access then went to lean on the window sill. Billy saw that something was unsettled about Lee that morning. He seemed fine the night before when he left telling him that he was going to go tell Amanda the good news about her job status.
"Good morning, Lee. How are you?" Billy hoped his secretive agent would be open and forthcoming with him.
"Billy, did you ever fully believe that Amanda and I were traitors?"
Billy looked over at Lee and then pointed to the chair. He waited until Lee sat down before saying, "You know in this job, my position, I cannot let the feelings I have for you as a friend interrupt how I am as your boss. Lee, I can sit here and tell you that looking at the situation from an agent point of you, you looked damn guilty; you both did. As the head of this department, I tried to control as much as I could to give you time to get me your proof. I was hoping when we met that you would have more, never did I think Smyth was following me. I would never lead you into a viper pit."
"Billy, I had a D1 on my head. If I was out there alone I wouldn't have cared. I would have still tried to clear my name I'm sure it would have taken longer without TP and Amanda, but I could have handled it. Amanda was with me, I don't see how anyone could ever mistake her for anything than what she is, an open and honest person. I could handle it if I died before this got sorted out, I signed on for this Amanda didn't."
Billy nodded now completely understanding the anger he seemed to radiate from head to toe. "I see."
Lee looked at Billy and said, "Oh, yeah, what do you see?"
"I see you think this was personal. It wasn't, I was given orders and I followed them, unlike you who will thwart the rules when it suits your nature. The last time I checked three years ago, Amanda did sign up for this when you handed her that package."
"I only bend the rules, I don't break them." Lee defended half heartily.
Laughing at Lee, Billy said, "Yes you do, especially where Amanda is concerned. Do you remember a little thing about breaking into the post office? How about where you traded her back for a man we were specifically told not to trade. I can list about a dozen or so more examples if you would like. Is there anything you want to let me know about you two?"
Lee stared at one of his oldest friends and said, "Nope, nothing we can't handle."
"I hope so, she is good for you." Billy said smiling.
"Would you really have killed me?" Lee asked somberly.
"Lee, you have to look at it from my position. Look at the facts. We had all this evidence against you, you were refusing to come in and talk to us about it. You were acting like a guilty man. I didn't want to believe it, but what else were you giving me? Amanda was in here explaining that first night, Quidd using his best tactics on her, I am sure it took some toll on her, but I put a stop to it. Francine hurled accusations at her and she fought back. It was her actions that made me want to help you all the more but you ran from me. My hands were tied."
At the mention of Francine's name Billy noticed how Lee, who had been starting to relax some became stiff and tense again. "Lee, are you going to have a problem with Francine? She helped to save you too."
Standing Lee said, "Yeah, sure. I have to get to Pfaff, Smyth's orders. I will be by afterwards."
Billy watched as Lee past Francine without looking at her as he left the bullpen. Francine got up and came to his office and Billy said, "Enter" before she had a chance to ask for permission to come in.
"What is his problem? I helped clear his ass and he is acting like I am Queen of the Damned. What the hell did I do?"
"He is having a little trouble wrapping his head around coming back to work where people that just three days ago had a shoot to kill on sight order to follow. He doesn't have many friends and the ones he trusted the most were the top two hunting him. How would you feel?"
"Billy, it wasn't personal, it was our job. What would he have done?" Francine asked flopping into the seat in front of his desk.
"The Lee three years ago would have followed the orders, under protest. The Lee from now would have fought the order and fought for us, no questions asked." He said tapping his fingers on a stack of files.
"Do you really believe that Billy?" Francine asked doubtfully.
"Yes, yes I do. I know he will work like he always does with us, but I think our friendships may take a little longer to get back to. Lee isn't one to hold a grudge but he has never had his friends not back him up. He is feeling a little betrayed by us. He knows the job, but in a way we let him down."
"Billy he cannot walk around here like some spoiled child. He has to just pick up and get back into it whether he wants to or not." Francine couldn't believe what Billy was saying.
"I just said he will do his job, but his trust in us, you and I, will take some time."
Standing she said "Well, he can just have little Ms. Amanda stroke his ego, I am not going to be bothered with his bad attitude because a few people was ordered to shoot him. A lot of people want to shoot him and that doesn't seem to bother him."
"That is true, but most of those people aren't close friends and ex-lovers."
Smirking at Billy Francine said, "I bet I could name a handful of ex-lovers that want to shoot Lee Stetson."
"Are you including yourself in that category? I thought it was great that your little tryst with Lee never interfered with you two here at work and that you were able to maintain a good friendship."
Francine shook her head and said, "No, not really. I couldn't very well let it interfere with my job here and what I felt like I was accomplishing at the time." Francine didn't want to talk about her past with Lee at that time. It was a sticky thing for her.
"I think if you let him come to you, you'll see it should be fine. Just give it some time Francine."
"This is insane Billy, I refuse to be treated like I was the one that did anything wrong by doing my job and I am going to tell him just that the next time I see him." Storming out of his office and back to her desk, Billy wondered how bad it was going to get before it got better with them.
"Are just going to pace or are you actually going to talk with me like you are supposed to be doing, Stetson?" Dr. Pfaff asked as he liked a grape Popsicle.
"I think better when I pace. Beside, Doc, I don't know where to begin. I am not use to this feeling I am having." Lee knew what the cause of the feeling was; he just couldn't understand the why behind it.
"What feeling is that? Could it be betrayal from your co-workers?"
"No just one co-worker I am feeling the most betrayal from. I just don't understand why though. She was doing her job, following her orders, just doing what she does every day that makes me admire her so much." Lee really couldn't get a handle on his being upset with Francine so much.
"How is she different? Have you lost your admiration for what she does?"
"Are you kidding me, she is not like any woman I have known. She has this raw need and hunger to be better than any man that steps in her path. She is a kick ass agent; she knows her stuff that is for sure. I am just having a hard time believing that she didn't trust in me after everything we had been through together and shared."
Sitting up from the couch Pfaff inquired, "What all have you shared?"
"We share a love of this job, but yes, we were involved and that is what is confusing me. She actually thought I was capable of those things and I never would of her. I know her too well. I thought she knew me."
"Maybe she knows you better than you think. Maybe she thought by staying on top of the investigation and 'man' hunt that she may find something that could clear you before you were, how do you say, taken out?"
"I want to believe that but from what Amanda said while we were hiding out, that wasn't the feeling she was getting from Francine. Look Doc, I came, I talked, and now I am out of here."
Lee found Francine in the Q Bureau after returning from his required session with the sugar shrink.
"Oh, what are you doing here?" Lee asked.
"I am returning some files and getting some new ones that may have new leads." Francine responded.
"I thought I was in charge of looking into the new leads on these files and deciding if they were worth reopening."
"You are but I didn't know how long you were…"
"…Stop Francine. I want to talk to you and not about files."
Rolling her blue eyes at him she said, "If this is about your bruised ego because I wasn't on your side that whole time, then just asked your own personal cheerleader to grant you your confidence. I am sure Amanda would just love that."
"What is your damn problem? This isn't about my damn ego, it is about what I thought was a very good friendship. I know where Amanda is concerned in this business you don't think very highly of her, but I do wish you would give her a chance. She is becoming a very good agent. I want to know why you thought I was capable of just throwing my life away to the Russians so easily."
"I know now that you were being set up, but Lee at the time it was just so compelling that you were giving in to Sonja. She is young, intelligent, not to mention beautiful and brunette; just your style. I know most people think you love blondes, but I know you better than that." She said smiling at him.
Wishing he could smile back he said, "That is exactly my point, you know me better than that. Amanda told me everything that went on after that night, Quidd, the intense questioning, you spouting off about my lover to her."
"Are you telling me that in all those nights alone with her, you never once thought about taking her to bed?"
Shaking his head Lee leaned forward and said, "I was never alone with her, I had Amanda with me and I would never do that to Amanda."
"Do what to her?"
"Humiliate her by having her to listen to me in bed with another woman. I never did that with any woman I dated and worked with and I won't start now."
"Are you saying that you and Amanda are dating?" Francine's eyebrows raised in mock surprise, as Lee's vague admission of what she had already figured out about with his relationship with Amanda.
"Francine, all I am going to say on that is that you followed Rostov and you spoke with the bartender at Emilio's. Do you really think I would do that to my partner? Did I ever do that to you?"
Looking at the file in her hand she whispered, "No, you never did. What you did to me was much worse Lee."
"What did I do that was worse?" Lee felt his temper rising and that isn't how he wanted this conversation to go.
"You just dumped me when she came around. You would never admit it but you preferred working with her over me. I was fully trained and wouldn't have made nearly as many mistakes and would have followed orders, but no, you and Billy just overlooked what I could do and sent her in."
"Can you not even say her name? She has saved your hide a few times if memory serves me. I also seemed to think that after that time in the Marvelous Marvin freezer together, the two of you have been getting along better, until this case. How did this get turned around? I didn't want to talk about Amanda."
"Yes, we have been getting along better since then, no we are never going to be best friends, I thought I already had that slot filled but since you brought it up, I know that isn't the case any longer. I guess she has taken that over as well."
Francine threw the file in her hand at him, "Damn you! You sit there and spout at how we are great friends but when was the last time you took an interest in what was happening in my life? When was the last time you cared if a date of mine went well or up in flames?"
Looking at her, Lee ran his hands through his hair before calmly telling her, "Why would I ask an ex-lover about a new lover? Why would I want to hear about that? If they hurt you then yes, I would go kick their ass, but I don't need the down and dirty details. Hell, I don't even ask Amanda about her ex now that he is back."
"Lee, you not asking Amanda about her ex proves my point that she is not just your partner."
Lee had the decorum not to respond to Francine's statement. For a few minutes they both sat in silence before Lee said, "Are we ever going to be okay again? I want to know that I can still count you as one of my best friends. I want to know that I can trust you."
"I guess that depends on if you believe me when I tell you none of that was personal and as soon as I had more facts to go on, I was…"
"You needed facts before you could believe in me? Okay, I guess that sums it all up." Lee looked down at the files and began looking through them. Picking a file, Lee began to read the first one.
"Lee, are you saying that this conversation is over because you want it over?"
"No, I am saying that it is over because you want it to be over. You want me to get my ego in check and I plan on doing just that, but as you can see I have a few weeks of work to sift through and I am sure you have more important things to do then talk with me about my ego."
Francine knew that Lee was at a point where he was done talking and she knew she wasn't. He opened this topic and she planned to close it when she was ready. Standing and placing her hands on his desk she yelled, "Enough! I will never apologize for upholding my oath to protect and serve this country. Okay, so you were innocent I get that. I never lost faith in you, but you were running, but the man and agent I know doesn't run from anything; anything except love."
"I ran to something, not from it. I get Billy, I get the other agents, but you, it is still you I don't get. You may not have always agreed with how I handled a case, but you were always there to back me up and help me. You just turned away from this one and went with everyone else. There were no benefits of doubt, no way that what Amanda was telling you could remotely be right. It was I was guilty, end of story, nothing more to do but bring me in and shut the case file for you. I never thought you would do that."
Sitting back down she finally got what Lee was saying. "I didn't give up hope. I had to be a certain way here in front of Billy and Dr. Smyth. I went home every night and prayed for your safety. I thanked God that Amanda was with you; I knew you were being taken care of. She would never let anything or anyone hurt you out there. I was scared for you, for you both. Lee, neither one of us has that many friends in this business and even with our past we were able to keep that friendship. I don't want this to be the reason we lose it."
Lee stood and walked around his desk and reached for her hands. Helping her to stand he pulled her in his arms and said, "I don't want it to be either. I don't want to lose you from my life, it doesn't always show but you are still important to me." He placed a featherlike kiss on her cheek and wrapped his arms around her.
A moment later, Amanda walked into the office to find them in their embrace. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything. I can come back."
Stepping from each other Lee wiped the tears from Francine's face and said in his own rough voice, "No, you didn't interrupt anything. Everything is fine here, isn't Francine?"
Looking into his hazel eyes with her own blue ones shining she said, "As far as I am concerned everything is fine here. Amanda, congratulations on your new position; just don't go thinking that I am going to make it easier on you now that you are a full time agent. I expect more form agents, even freshman agents, than I do from civilians that don't know any better. Is that understood?"
Smiling Amanda said, "I wouldn't have it any other way Francine. Thank you."
Francine nodded, took her files, looked at Lee and said, "Are we done?"
Lee smiled that deep dimpled grin and said, "We are better than done, we are back to us."