The Hero
I don't own these characters; I just like to spend time with them. No other profit to be had than that.
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(Set sometime in Season 2)
"Amanda?" Billy walked into the hospital room, followed by Francine, to see Amanda sitting beside Lee, holding tightly to his hand. Her hair and clothes were disheveled and she had a bruise on her chin. The top two buttons of her blouse were missing.
Amanda looked up from her vigil at Lee's bedside to see Billy and Francine coming in. "Hello, sir, Francine." She offered them a wan smile.
"How is he?" Francine asked, looking down on a badly bruised and beaten Lee Stetson.
"The doctor said he's probably going to be alright." Amanda told her, her eyes never leaving Lee's face. "But he hasn't come to yet and they won't know for sure until he does."
"What exactly happened?" Billy asked. "The last I saw of Lee, he was just going to a drop. I didn't even know you were supposed to be with him."
"I wasn't." Amanda swallowed the lump in her throat as she remembered what had happened to put Lee in a hospital bed. "I was headed home at the same time he was headed out and we ran into each other in the parking lot." She said softly. "My car wouldn't start though and Lee offered to give me a ride home, if I didn't mind taking a small detour so he could make his drop."
"Did he seem concerned about this?" Billy moved over and grabbed a chair, setting it beside Amanda and settling down into it. Francine moved over to the small couch in the room and sat down, pulling a pad and pencil from her purse to take notes.
Amanda shook her head. "No, sir. He said it was just a routine drop. And it was. What happened didn't have anything to do with the Agency." She dropped her head then, trying valiantly not to cry, as she continued to recall the events of the day.
Billy and Francine exchanged uneasy glances. "What did it have to do with then?" Billy asked gently. He could sense Amanda's distress.
"Me," Amanda said simply, heartbreakingly. "I was sitting in the car while Lee got out, to make his contact. It wasn't a nice part of town and Lee told me to stay in the car and I did for once. You know I'm not really good at that, but well I just…" She forced herself to stop and regroup. "Anyway, four men approached the car and started talking to me. I… I tried to…" Her voice hitched and she stopped again to regain control before continuing. "I asked them to go away but they wouldn't. One of them opened my car door and another started pulling me from the car. I kicked and screamed at them but they ignored me and kept pulling me from the car. I swear Mr. Melrose I didn't ask those men to come near me. I mean, I didn't even look at them, well I looked at them but not until they looked at me first and then I tried… I tried…"
"Was no one else around?" Francine asked.
Amanda shook her head. "No. There wasn't anyone. Lee was inside the building and there wasn't anyone else around and I screamed but no one came. I was alone out there and I…"
Billy reached over and clasped Amanda's free hand between both of his own. "Amanda, if you'd rather wait to finish this, I'll understand."
Sniffing back a tear, Amanda shook her head and looked up at Billy for a second. "No, sir." Her voice was quiet, solemn. "I need to finish."
Billy nodded and released her hand, watching as she clutched Lee's hand even tighter, as though it was a lifeline to keep her from falling completely to pieces.
"Any way, once they got me out of the car, they started dragging me towards an alley beside the building; we were parked in front of. I screamed for Lee and started kicking and hitting at the men but well… they were bigger than I am and there were four of them and only one of me and you know I'm not as strong as Lee..." Once again she stopped to regain her composure. She concentrated on Lee's face in order to gain the strength she needed to go on and finish her story.
"When they got me into the alley, one of them grabbed me from behind and held my arms while another… man… he started…" Her face turned a beet red as she recalled his lips on hers and his hands moving her clothes and trying to touch places only Joe had ever touched.
"It's alright, Amanda." Billy stopped her. "I think I know what they were doing. Did they…?"
"NO!" Amanda blinked hard and looked over at him. "The one in front of me kissed me and he was going to… well, he touched me. But he didn't… No." She visibly shuddered. "Anyway, I remember calling for Lee again and all of a sudden he was there. He just threw himself into the middle and started pulling them off of me. When I got my arms free, I grabbed a pipe that was laying on the ground and hit one of them. When he turned back to me, I hit him again and then starting screaming for help. I don't know why no one heard me before but they did this time and I saw two men yelling and coming towards us. There were three men beating Lee up when those men approached and they didn't stop until they heard the sirens. The two men that came to help us were army veterans and they called the police before they came down the alley. There… there was so much blood. Lee was so hurt."
She dropped her head again and this time let the tears fall. "He saved me, Mr. Melrose." She said in a small quiet voice.
"We saved each other." A weak sounding, yet very much alive, Lee Stetson tugged at Amanda's hand as he tried to sit up.
"Lee?" Her voice was suddenly stronger, happier as she saw him awake and smiling at her. "Oh my, gosh! Lee! You're awake!" She forgot Billy and Francine were in the room as she practically threw herself into his arms.
"Hey." He grunted as she impacted with one of his very sore ribs. "Take it easy, okay."
"Oh my, gosh." She exclaimed again. "I'm so sorry, Lee. I didn't mean to hurt you, I wouldn't hurt you for all the world, I mean after all you're already hurt trying to help me and I don't want you hurt any more than you already are and I wouldn't do anything to make it worse and I…"
"Amanda." Lee tugged at her hand again. "It's okay. Calm down. I'm okay, or at least I will be." His smile disappeared as the noticed the bruise on her chin and the torn blouse she still wore. "How about you?"
Amanda shrugged. "I'm fine. Now. They examined me, when we first came in, and I just have a couple of bruises. I'm more worried about you."
Lee's smile returned, gentler this time. "I've got a headache and my ribs are sore, but I'm going to be fine, Amanda. I don't you to worry. Do you hear me?"
Amanda ducked her head and sniffled. "Yes." She whispered.
Just then Dr. Scardelli from the NEST team came into the room. "I'm sorry but you all are going to have to leave now. I need to examine my patient now that he's awake. And there's a policeman outside wanting to talk to you Mrs. King."
Billy was the first to his feet, followed by Francine. Reaching down, he gently tapped Amanda on the shoulder. "Come on, Amanda. Let's get out of here."
Unwillingly, Amanda let go of Lee's hand. "I'll go talk to the policeman and then I'll wait outside until I can come back in." She told him.
But Lee shook his head. "No you won't, Amanda King. You're going to go home and get some rest. Billy can take care of that cop for you. You just go home. I'm alright and I'll be out of here in a couple of hours."
Billy looked over at the doctor who merely shook her head. They both knew how stubborn Lee was, and how much he hated hospitals, but Lee had been hurt pretty badly, and if they had to tie him to a bed, he wasn't leaving until the doctor gave the go ahead.
"Come on, Amanda." Billy said again. "Lee will be alright and he's right in that you need to go home. I'll take care of the police officer."
Reluctantly, Amanda finally nodded. "Alright." She said. "But I'm going to call and check on you later." She warned.
"That's a deal." Lee grinned at her, as she followed Billy to the door.
Pausing at the threshold, she looked back at him one more time. "Lee?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you for saving me." She said almost shyly before she walked out of the room. "You really were my hero today."
Lee smiled. "And you were mine." He told her retreating form.
The End.