Christmas Wishes (Season 5?)

I don't own these characters. I just like to spend time with them. No other profit to be had.

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Amanda awoke Christmas morning with her usual exuberance and more than just a touch of unease. Though Christmas was a happy time of year for her normally, it was overlaid this year with worry for a certain tall agent who had swept into her world and changed it irrevocably.

Lee had been called out into the field just two days prior and all indications were that he wouldn't get back until after New Year's if then. Though the details of his mission were completely confidential, Lee had managed to slip her a note to let her know that he expected to be gone for at least 3 weeks.

She hated that but she'd long ago accepted that as part of the job, his and hers, and could do nothing about it but keep him in her thoughts and prayers and patiently wait for his return. Trying to lighten her own mood, she allowed herself a smile as she thought of one of the Christmas presents she planned on giving him when he returned.

Difficult though it was, she'd managed to arrange for three whole days off for both her and Lee with no interruptions, no family and no job. She planned for that time to be solely about the two of them and nothing else. But even with that thought, her smile soon faded as she realized the danger Lee could even then be in and that he might not make it back to share that time with her.

"Amanda?"

Dotty's voice thankfully broke her from her melancholy thoughts and she forcefully pushed them to the back of her mind, determined not to think that way or even consider the possibility of his not returning to her. She was going to be happy today, she decided, because she now had a lot to be happy about.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxO

Christmas morning, Lee sat pensively in his cheap motel room, constantly looking out of the window. His contact should've been there 45 minutes ago but so far he'd not shown and Lee had no way to reach him to find out why. Although, logically, he knew there could be many innocent reasons as to the man's lateness, Lee's instincts told him otherwise. Something was wrong and he was seriously beginning to think he was in trouble.

Trying to distract himself from that, he instead focused on Amanda. From the moment he'd met her, she'd torn his world apart and rebuilt it stronger and better and happier than he could've ever expected. She'd proved to be the woman that he'd thought, most of his life, didn't exist. The woman who was perfect for him.

Smiling, he thought of the boys who were growing into strong young men in front of his eyes. It had taken some time before they'd accepted him as part of their mother's life as well as theirs but finally, he had found a place in their affections that didn't intrude on their father's place or usurp his authority, a place all his own.

Dotty had proven to be a little easier in that regard. She'd been upset when she discovered that Lee and Amanda had married secretly and even more upset that they'd kept and still kept secrets from her regarding their jobs. But she'd confessed to them both that she knew they were perfect for each other and no matter how they came together and no matter what they did for a living, she felt confident they would be fine as long as they stayed together. Their marriage was completely approved by her. Their jobs… Well, that would take some more time.

Hearing a slamming door outside of his room, Lee quickly moved back to the window and cautiously peered outside. Two men were exiting a brown four door sedan, the bulge in their jackets giving away the secret of the guns they carried.

Thoughts of Amanda and his family were violently pushed aside as he considered his options. The only entrance to the room was the door that the men were rapidly approaching. The bathroom had a small window that did not open – the bed was on a platform attached to the floor with no way to get under it or in it. He had no place to hide and right then he wished hard that he could see his wife one more time before he died.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxO

Back in Arlington, Amanda sat watching her boys open their presents as she had every year since they were old enough to do so. The sight, as always, filled her with happiness but it didn't touch the one part of her that sorely ached and worried about Lee. She had no reason to suspect that he wasn't perfectly fine but still she worried.

"Amanda? Are you alright?"

"Huh?" Amanda jerked her head up to the concerned expression on her mother's face. "I'm sorry, Mother, what did you ask?"

"I asked if you were okay. You've been sitting for there for a half hour not moving and not opening your gifts." When Amanda dropped her head, Dotty quickly took a place on the couch beside her. "Honey, I know you're worried about Lee but you know he's quite capable of taking care of himself."

"I know, Mother." Amanda accepted the hug her mother offered and rested her head on her shoulder for a moment, as she had so many times in her life. "I… I just can't help but wish that…"

"Your Christmas wish." Dotty whispered.

"Huh?" Amanda sat up and looked at her mother strangely. "What are you talking about?"

"When you were a little girl, you used to think that anything you wished especially hard for on Christmas day you would get, no matter how outlandish it was or impossible, you believed you would get it. Do you remember that?"

Amanda thought back to her child hood for a minute, a recollection of wishing for a pony came to mind and she remembered her father renting one for her for a weekend to fulfill the wish. "I remember." She nodded with a smile at the memory.

"Just because you're grown, doesn't mean it doesn't still work." Dotty arched a brow with a smile.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxO

The two blonde, burly men approached the motel door cautiously, their hands resting on their guns inside their jackets, their eyes darting everywhere at once. Their informant had told them that the famous Scarecrow was in that room and they were going to have him. To fail in that meant certain, swift and very unpleasant punishment from their superiors.

The rougher looking of the two men, took a long look around the nearly empty parking lot to make sure they were unobserved and nodded to his partner. Together the two raised their massive legs and kicked the door open, rushing in with their guns now in their hands and raised.

The room was empty.

The unmade bed and empty Chinese food container on the nightstand gave proof to the fact that someone had been there but he wasn't there now. At least not in the main room. With a jerk of his crew cut head towards the bathroom, the leader moved silently to the bathroom door and much like the entry door, kicked it open.

The bathroom was empty too.

"Vere is he?" The older brute demanded in a thick Russian accent.

"Right here." Lee answered from behind them with a smirk and his gun pointed directly at their hearts.

XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxO

The night outside of her kitchen window was dark and though Lee had long since stopped coming there to see her, seeing as he now lived there, she couldn't quite stop herself from looking out, hoping to see a dimpled grin looking back in at her.

"I'm not out there, Amanda." Lee spoke softly from behind her but his unexpected voice in a silent house startled her and if not for Lee's quick reflexes she'd have dropped the plate she was drying. "Be careful." He grinned as he put the plate on the counter and pulled his wife into his arms. "I know I'm late but is there any pie left?"

"Oh, Lee!" She cried in joy, hugging the man who held her heart for dear life. "Where did you come from? What happened? I thought you weren't supposed to be back until after New Year's. Oh, Lee, I was so worried about you. I missed you so much. I…"

"I know, honey." He chuckled lightly as he rocked her in his arms and silenced her questions with his kisses. "I'll tell you all about it later. But right now, just let me hold my wife. Okay?"

"Yes, sir." She happily agreed.

Late that night, as the two very sated lovers lie in each other's arms, Lee recounted for Amanda just exactly how he'd come to be home at least a week early and had managed to bring in two of the Russian's best agents and net the Agency a lot of classified information to boot.

"It actually was a lot easier than I imagined it could be." Lee shook his head. "I mean there I was, in a room with no way out and two men intent on either killing me or capturing me for the Russians and then I saw it. Right over the door, was a transom window and a ledge. It looked like they'd probably had an air conditioner up there but right then it was just empty. So I used the chair to scramble up there and waited for the two to come in. When they did and they moved far enough from the front door, I jumped down and got the drop on them. I tell you, I've never had anything work that easily or smoothly. After I got those two tied up and called Billy, I went out and checked their car. They had a briefcase in the back seat that contained all kinds of information we sorely needed to put the case to bed."

"I'm so glad, Lee." Amanda sighed as she hugged him tighter for a moment. "I was so worried about you and I didn't know what was going on or where you were and…" She raised her head and looked at him quizzically. "Where were you, by the way; that you could get home so quickly?"

Lee chuckled. "I was in DC. I didn't know at first where I was going, I thought maybe I was being sent overseas, but as it turned out, I didn't have to go any further than the edge of town."

Amanda rested her again on his chest, chuckling lightly.

"What?" Lee inquired. "What's funny?"

"Oh, not really funny." Amanda sighed. "Just… well, I guess the word I'm looking for is… Oh, I don't know it's just that this morning, while Mother and I were watching the boys open their presents, Mother reminded me of when I was a little girl and used to believe that any wish made on Christmas morning would come true, no matter how unlikely. So, this morning, I wished that you'd be safe and home by tonight and here you are."

Lee said nothing, for a moment as his hand rubbed up and down her arm and he considered what she'd said. He'd never heard that superstition before and yet he felt in his heart it had to be true, because he had wished practically the same thing that morning. Only it was her and his family's safety that he wanted in addition to being home with them. Well, that and one other thing.

"Lee?" Amanda pulled away and turned to face him, soft brown eyes studying his hazel ones intently. "There's something more I wished for this morning and I want it more than anything else."

"What?" Lee saw the seriousness of her expression and silently vowed to get it for her no matter what it was she wanted or what he had to do to obtain it.

"I want you to be happy with something." Amanda answered. "I'm happy with it and I want it more than anything but I want you to feel the same. That means a lot to me."

"Happy with what?" Lee sat up, concerned with the tone of her voice. "Amanda, what…"

"I'm pregnant." Amanda said quickly, before he could finish his question and she could chicken out of telling him.

For several seconds, Lee didn't move, didn't speak and his expression remained frozen as he looked at her. Suddenly, he reached over and again enfolded her in his arms, kissing her joyfully before casting a grateful smile skyward. He'd just gotten all of his Christmas wishes granted.

END