Disclaimer: I do not own of these characters; they are the property of Shoot the Moon Enterprises and Warner Bros. Television. I acknowledge gratefully the hard work of the creators of the series who brought to life characters we like so much we can't let them go.
Author's Notes: This should make sense on its own although there is a running gag about a French girl Lee may or may not have dated that may not make sense without reading my previous stories.
Titian Temptation
The two men leaned back in the cafe chairs on the Brussels sidewalk and sipped their beers appreciatively. They had managed to snag two seats against the window of the brasserie and under the awning which put them slightly in the shadows, a place men in their line of work preferred to be. The two of them looked disreputable, both with a few days growth of beard and jeans, t-shirts and leather jackets that were looking worse for wear.
"There may not be a lot of famous Belgians," remarked Lee, "but they sure make a helluva good beer."
Efraim just groaned in agreement as the lager slipped down his parched throat. They had been in pursuit of Anton Yavny for two days, from Ukraine to West Germany and now Belgium before they had finally managed to nail him a few hours ago. Having handed him off to their Agency counterparts in Den Haag, they were back in Brussels, tickets on the night train to Berlin booked so they could debrief the next day. Lee knew they'd be stuck there at least another week wrapping up loose ends as Efraim finished up following the financial paper trail that had got them this far. He had to admit Efraim was a stellar information analyst and a surprisingly good field agent when it had come down to the physical pursuit. If they played their cards right, that trail and any info they got out of Yavny would mean they could scoop up the other members of his network in the following days.
The waiter returned and plunked down a plate of patates frites between them. Lee scooped up a handful and dunked them into the mayonnaise at the side of the plate. Efraim made a face at him. "Fries with mayonnaise? That is so weird"
"And so good" remarked Lee around a mouthful of fries. "You should try it."
They sat in exhausted silence, picking at their plates and watching the evening crowd passing back and forth on the plaza in front of them. It was a warm evening and the crowd was festive. Lee found himself watching young couples wandering past them, arms around each other, heads close together, and wished it was Amanda here with him. It had been three weeks since he'd left Washington and being in Soviet territory had meant no contact with home. He knew Billy would tell her he'd checked in but he also knew they were both counting the days until he got back. He promised himself he'd call the minute he got a spare second in Berlin tomorrow.
It was probably because he had Amanda on his mind that he noticed the slim redhead with a similar build walking up to the cafe and taking a seat at one of the front tables. She pushed her long hair back from her neck as he watched and draped it down the front of one shoulder, leaving the nape of her neck exposed to the cool breeze that had sprung up. It reminded him of the last night he had spent with Amanda before he'd left, the walk they'd taken along the Tidal Basin and holding her in his arms, lips pressed against the nape of her neck, and then trailing kisses along her shoulder as she leaned back against him. As if he was affecting her with his thoughts, the woman in front of him raised her hand and rubbed a finger along the back of her neck and Lee felt his groin tighten. He quickly drained his beer and tried to look anywhere but at the woman.
A sudden movement caught his eye however and he glanced back in time to see a man get up from a nearby table and move towards the sidewalk. As he passed the redhead's table, he bumped against it, knocking her purse to the ground.
"Pardon madame" he murmured, leaning down to pick it up and hand it to her. As he did so, Lee saw him slide something into the bag.
"C'est rien" answered the woman, lightly touching his forearm, and as she slid her hand down his arm, she tucked something small into his palm. The man moved off again down the street without a backward glance. The woman finished her drink and stood up, tossing coins on the table before swiftly walking off in the opposite direction. Lee looked over at Efraim who was watching her walk away.
"Beautiful" murmured Efraim.
"The woman?" Lee couldn't resist asking.
"The drop," answered Efraim dreamily. "I wish I could have recorded that for my trainees. If we weren't us, we could have watched that whole thing and never noticed a damn thing about it. Your Mrs. King is the only one lately who's been able to grasp how to do it and she's only just started classes."
"Well, she has had a few more years in the field than your average trainee" grinned Lee. They were still watching the woman walk away up the street which is why they both saw the pair of men break away from the crowd and begin to follow her out of the square. "What do you think?"
"Follow them" said Efraim without hesitation. "If she's a good guy she'll need help and if she's not, we might still score some intel out of it."
"My thoughts exactly" said Lee reaching into his pocket for cash to leave for their order.
The two men swung out onto the sidewalk, both of them so tall that their long strides made it easy to catch up to a reasonable following distance within a few moments. The woman was headed up to the next boulevard but the street she was taking to get there was darker than the brightly lit plaza behind them. The distance between her and the men following was getting shorter and they began calling out to her, making crude sexual jokes. She never turned but her pace quickened, but she was hampered by the heels she was wearing and the uneven cobblestone sidewalk.
"They're not after the drop," murmured Lee to Efraim, "they're just not very nice guys. Shall we play white knights?"
"Oh yeah," said Efraim. "She's not going to make it much further up this street otherwise."
"Get ahead of her and get in that alley up the block. You get the girl and I'll take care of the goons."
"Ok, but I'm putting that on my tombstone: "Scarecrow told me you get the girl."
Lee chuckled as Efraim took off at a jog, trying to look like a man simply out for a run. He increased his own pace until he was almost immediately behind the two men, although caught up in their pursuit, the two men never noticed he was there.
As he came up behind her, Efraim leaned out and snaked his arm around the woman's waist and pulled her into the safety of the alley, quickly placing his hand over her mouth to muffle the inevitable scream. He could hear the beginnings of the fight that told him Stetson had caught up to her pursuers. He realized she was lifting a heeled foot, getting ready to stomp on his instep and quickly lifted her right off the ground. "Oh no you don't! I not only know those tricks, I teach those tricks!" The woman stopped struggling even as he realized he'd said all that in English and that she probably wouldn't understand.
The woman was still fighting to get out of his arms but not as violently. She was also saying something, muffled by his hand across her mouth. "Ok, my partner is taking care of the guys who were following you out there. If I let you go, will you promise not to scream and embarrass me in front of my friend?" He prayed she understood enough English to follow that. She obviously did because she nodded forcefully. He slowly released the hand over her mouth but not the one around her waist, in case she ran. He did drop her however when the first thing she whispered was "Efraim, is that you?"
As soon as her feet touched the ground, she spun around to stare at him and they simultaneously gasped out "what are you doing here?" followed immediately by "working!" before they both started to laugh and she threw her arms around him in relief. "I am so glad to see you right now! Your timing is impeccable!"
The sounds of the fight had now stopped and Lee walked into the alley, still rubbing his sore knuckles in time to see Efraim still being hugged tightly by the redhead. "Jeez Beaman" he laughed, "I didn't think you were going to take 'get the girl' so literally!" His jaw dropped as the woman pulled out of Efraim's arms and whirled to look at him. It was the last thing he expected.
"Lee?"
"Amanda?" He couldn't even make sense of what he was looking at as she ran across the alley into his arms. "What are you doing here?"
Efraim and Amanda both began to laugh. "We covered that one already Scarecrow" answered Efraim.
"But what are you doing here?" asked Amanda. "I mean here, here - I thought you were in Russia!"
"We had to chase our guy halfway across Europe. What are you doing here?"
"We got a request to meet for a drop so Billy sent us over. I was just coming from there now when those guys started following me. Thank goodness you showed up!"
"Lucky for you we were sitting behind you at the cafe and watched the whole thing" said Efraim. "It was a thing of beauty by the way. And then Stetson here couldn't resist playing guardian angel when we saw you being followed."
"Wait, you saw me and didn't say anything?" asked Amanda
"We didn't know it was you" answered Lee, "not with this on." He gestured to the wig she was wearing, although in retrospect he wondered if maybe his subconscious had recognized what his eyes hadn't. It would explain a lot about the physical reaction he'd had to her at the cafe, a reaction no other woman had brought out in him for some time.
"Did you say 'Billy sent us'?" asked Efraim suddenly.
"Yes, me and... oh my gosh!" Amanda pulled out of Lee's embrace and started to run towards the street. Lee grabbed her arm as she started to dart past him, "Wait! Where are you going?"
"Anywhere she wants" snarled a voice from the end of the alley as they all froze at the sound of a pistol being cocked.
"It's fine! I'm fine!" Amanda blurted out.
The two men started to laugh as Francine stepped further into the alley and peered at them suspiciously. "You two! Get into the light where I can see you!"
"Why Frannie, I know I'm not always your favourite person but it's never involved firearms before" quipped Efraim as they stepped out from behind Amanda.
Francine looked stunned and then groaned looking from Lee's grinning countenance to Amanda's. "Oh for God's sake! How do you two DO that?"
"Maybe it's not them, maybe it's us," said Efraim. "Maybe we're like those penguins who find each other in a crowd of a million identical penguins!"
Francine pretended to busy re-holstering her gun in an effort to hide her twitching lips, and then leaned forward to give Lee a hug before turning to Beaman. "Efraim, I thought we'd talked about you not following me around?" Her face was stern but the laughter in her tone was clear.
"I think we were here first, Frannie" he smiled at her.
The four friends turned and walked out of the alley and up the street, quickly swapping notes on what had brought them all there, Lee with his arm draped across Amanda's shoulders, Efraim walking as close to Francine as he thought she'd tolerate although the couple waking behind them noticed she appeared willing to tolerate quite close proximity. They exchanged laughing glances and Lee quickly pulled her close to drop a kiss on her temple while Francine couldn't see them.
"How long are you here for?" he asked her quietly as they walked.
"We leave tomorrow morning. How about you?"
"We have to be on the midnight train back to Berlin to get our case wrapped up," he groaned. "And we're probably stuck here another week rounding up Yavny's cronies."
She sighed and leaned closer into him. "Well at least we can spend the evening together."
Francine and Efraim had obviously come to the same conclusion and turned to walk immediately into the hotel restaurant as they walked into the lobby where the women were staying. Once they'd given their orders and drinks had arrived, Lee lifted his beer in a toast. "Here's to saving the world, one tiny coincidence at a time."
Amanda put down her drink and grabbed his hand, turning the top of it towards her. "Lee! Look what you've done to your hand, fighting those guys!"
"A-man-da! I'm fine, don't worry about it."
"Don't 'I'm fine' me Buster. I've got a first aid kit upstairs in the room and we've got at least twenty minutes until the food gets here anyway." She looked up from her examination of his hand and smiled, her eyes dancing. Lee realized she was pointing out that could be twenty minutes alone with her.
"Okay, okay! If it'll stop you nagging!" he said in a fake complaining tone. "Beaman, don't drink too much while we're gone. I don't want you coming on to me on the train later." Efraim looked pained but Francine laughed.
"You're so mean to him" murmured Amanda as they walked as quickly as they could towards the elevator.
"Just a distraction tactic" chuckled Lee. "They'll be so busy bickering, they won't think about where we are." The elevator door opened, and as they stepped inside and out of view of the restaurant, they fell into each other's'' arms, kissing until they were both out of breath. The door opened on her floor and Amanda practically dragged him down the hall to her door, unlocking it and pulling him inside in one motion. He pulled her into his arms again and as they tried to make up for the time apart in their kisses, he realized Amanda was trying to pull his t-shirt off, alternating with trying to undo his belt. "Amanda, we only have fifteen minutes tops before they start wondering where we are" he laughed trying to grab her roaming hands.
"It's been three weeks. Do you think we'll need fifteen minutes?" Her dark eyes twinkled with a mix of laughter and desire.
"I've never pictured you as much of a girl for a quickie" he started to say before Amanda reached up and put a hand over his mouth.
"Lee, you know how I feel about you right?" She waited for him to nod. "So don't take this the wrong way but we only have a very short time alone together. Can we send Lee out of here for a second and just let Scarecrow take over? You know, a little less conversation, a little more action?"
He started to laugh against her palm and then with one fluid movement, his hands went up under her skirt and yanked her panties down her knees.
"Thank God" she moaned, kicking them off the rest of the way as she finally managed to get his belt undone and made quick work of his jeans button and fly. The next few seconds flew by as his hands worked busily undoing the buttons on her blouse and pulling the cups of her brassiere down to take one already hardened nipple in his mouth while his fingers rolled and pinched the other. She groaned into his hair and ground against him. "Lee, I have missed you so much!"
He straightened up and moved her backwards until her back was against the wall, then hiked her skirt up to her waist. He watched her eyes widen and darken as she realized his intention. He cocked his head and looked at her with a sideways grin, watching the flush of desire he could spreading on her skin. "So I get to be Lee again?"
"You're never not Lee" she said huskily. She wriggled against him, driven to distraction by the warm length of him throbbing against her pelvis. "You just needed a kick in the ass to get here. And now we only have ten minutes."
He gave her one tender kiss on the lips before driving himself into her wet core without stopping. She gasped and he paused for a second, before he heard her moan "Fast please, Lee. Hard and fast."
"Anything you want" he managed to blurt out as he began to slide in and out of her forcefully, watching her arch off the wall to try and take him in even further as her legs wrapped around his waist, her moans turning to yelps as she neared her peak. One hand under her buttocks, lifting her towards him, he ran a finger lightly down her belly and slipped it in between them to flick her pulsing nub and that was all it took to send her crashing into orgasm. Her inner spasms clenched around him, holding him in her body as she screamed his name, and he emptied himself into her.
Before he lost all strength he carried her to the bed and lay her down, laying down on top of her with his hands on either side of her and kissed her before starting to laugh. She opened her eyes and smiled at him lazily. "Pretty pleased with yourself, aren't ya, big fella?"
"Yup, but really it's just that I just didn't think I'd ever get to sleep with a redhead again" smiled Lee, gesturing to the wig which had miraculously stayed on throughout.
Amanda chuckled. "Apparently it brought out the Marie in me. You know, all that 'voulez-vous couchez avec moi' stuff."
Lee scooped her up in his arms. "Oh Morticia, you know it drives me crazy when you speak French, but I think our time is up."
They dressed quickly, grabbing a Band-Aid for Lee's hand for their cover story. Amanda pulled off the wig, tied her hair back in a ponytail and reapplied her makeup, trying to cover the redness left by Lee's scruffy facial hair. "Hope you're shaved next time I see you" she joked. "Those secret agent fantasies never included whisker burn."
"That'll teach you to plan your quickies better" Lee smiled and took her in his arms.
They stood for a moment just inside the door, simply holding each other, knowing there wouldn't be a chance to say goodbye properly later in front of their friends. Finally with a sigh, they shared a kiss and stepped out of the room and back into their secretive lives.
.
Three days later, Amanda was working in her kitchen when the doorbell rang. She was surprised to find a Fed Ex delivery man on the doorstep, with a package that had Lee's distinctive chicken scratch handwriting and a waybill showing it had come from Germany. She opened it to find a cassette tape and a note that read:
"Morticia, this is cued up. Walk with you soon, Skip."
Curious, she moved over to the stereo and slipped the tape into the player and hit play. Suddenly Elvis Presley's voice rumbled out of the speakers, already halfway through a song.
"Come on baby I'm tired of talking
Grab your coat and let's start walking…"
She began to laugh as she realized which song it was, before she cranked up the volume and began to dance around the kitchen.
A little less conversation, a little more action please
All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me
A little more bite and a little less bark
A little less fight and a little more spark
Close your mouth and open up your heart and baby satisfy me
Satisfy me baby