OVER-ENTHUSED – by AlaskanFan
Francine Desmond was feeling successful. The day had started with a stylish hairdo (nicely fluffed on top then sculpted around her head with just a hint of curl near her collar) and a new blouse by one of her favorite designers (cream and black – very classy). Then, she missed the worst of Spring Cleaning by picking through the folders handed to her and passing the craziest ones to Amanda. "Cosmic Cabal" - no way. "Celestial Celibacy" - she shuddered, and plucked it from her stack. She had learned that any group dabbling in "the other world" was better avoided. It was good to avoid fanatics, too, and she had recognized the "Save Our Bay" folder just in time to dump it on Amanda. Last week when she provided security detail for a cabinet luncheon, she had overheard Hamilton Rawlings telling bizarre stories about the tactics of that group. The professional agent was smart enough to let Amanda deal with the crusaders.
Her morning also included a juicy conversation needling Scarecrow about his colorful reputation. Adding icing to the cake, Amanda was present for the entire exchange. That woman had such stars in her eyes over the "great Scarecrow" that she really got on Francine's nerves. Honestly, you'd think the housewife expected Stetson to ride to the rescue on his white stallion every time she got into trouble. Of course, he always did rescue her, time after time. It felt great this morning to tarnish his shining image. Amanda should appreciate hearing the truth about him, but she probably didn't. No, no one appreciated Francine's insights nearly as much as they should.
She had culled her Spring Cleaning assignment nicely, and finished eight interviews in record time. To cap off an almost perfect morning, she was returning various stacks of data to their original departments and clearing her desk. Efficiency was a great feeling and she was enjoying the staccato "click, click" of her heels tapping on the tile floors. It sounded like someone important was coming and everyone better "look sharp" when she arrived.
She had just stepped into Communications to leave a stack of phone logs and was out of the room in fewer than three seconds. In that amount of time, she had heard the words "bomb" and "Hamilton Rawlings" and "Save Our Bay" over the police radio that was constantly monitored in the room. She was five steps outside the door before the words formed a suspicion in her head. She paused for half an instant considering whether to turn back towards Communications or return to the bullpen. The pause was hardly noticeable as she quickly decided that she would be able to access the data she needed from her desk faster than trying to convince anyone else about the validity of her suspicion.
She took the internal elevator back to the bullpen level and saw Scarecrow exiting the elevator from the Georgetown foyer. "Isn't Amanda with you?" she asked intensely. Seeing the handsome agent without his suburban sidekick fueled her hypothesis.
"No. I went to her first appointment with her and made sure she knew what she was supposed to do, and then let her finish the assignment by herself. Isn't she back yet? That was a couple of hours ago." True, Billy had urged him to take care of Amanda, but Lee had been confident that she would be fine alone. He certainly had no need to justify himself to Francine. He moved to go around her, but she stepped into his way with one finger raised to stop him.
"Did you go with her to the Save Our Bay office?" Francine's concern was evident in her raised eyebrows and narrowed blue eyes.
The questions were getting annoying. He put both hands in his pockets and cocked his head, mildly belligerent. He leaned a shoulder against the hallway wall as other agents hurried past. "No. I had to sit through 30 minutes of nonsense with a bunch of old ladies at a rock and roll seance. Why the third-degree?" Lee had spent nearly two hours finding, buying, and arranging delivery of an evening gown, then had stopped for lunch. He was pretty sure that Amanda was upset with him, and it had been easier to just not think about her for a while. He was beginning to think maybe that had been a mistake.
"I just heard about a bomb at a Save Our Bay rally and I know that was on her list of groups." The hunch was forming into a certainty and Francine rolled her eyes in exasperation as she realized that the determined little housewife probably needed rescuing again. Amanda was loyal, gutsy and resilient, but she wasn't a professional agent. She knew just enough to be dangerous.
"Oh, no," Lee groaned. He gritted his teeth, causing the muscles in his jaw to twitch. He brushed a hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck. Billy was right; Amanda did get "enthused" about her assignments. If those old ladies had offered her a chair, he was sure she would have joined that ridiculous seance. If she went to the Save Our Bay office and discovered that everyone was at a rally, she would have gone to the rally as part of her research.
"'Oh, no,' is right. One thing about Amanda is that she's a lightning rod for trouble. Either she was injured by the bomb, or the bomber asked her out for dinner tonight," she smirked and wrinkled her nose. The blonde's quick wit couldn't be repressed. She always got a little snarky as a way of defusing the situation when her emotions became too intense. Amanda might be annoying, but Francine didn't want anything bad to happen to her.
"Can you hold the commentary? We need to find out where she is. Maybe she didn't go to the rally." Despite his irritation at Francine's snide remark, he couldn't disagree with it. His anxiety shifted into overdrive.
"I was heading back to my desk to access the master list of Spring Cleaning organizations. I think I remember all of the files I passed to her this morning, and you can help me with that. Once we have a list, we can track her from the seance to the Save Our Bay office and maybe we can find her. You're right – there's a chance she didn't go to the rally." The blonde had determined a logical and efficient response to the problem of the missing housewife.
"I can't stand around looking at a computer screen." He scoffed, dismissing her plan before she stopped speaking. His hand sliced the air, cutting off her flow of placating words. "I'm going straight to the rally. You check the other locations, just in case she got delayed somewhere else. I'm leaving now." One of his worst nightmares was Amanda being injured by a bomb, or worse. He absolutely refused to consider "or worse."
He jabbed the button several times to recall the elevator. "Come on. Come on," he muttered at the elevator doors. Turning back to Francine, he asked, "Where is this rally, anyway?"
During that frantic ride, Lee's mind kept replaying Francine's flippant comment. Like hearing an antiphonal choir, the phrase "injured by the bomb" alternated with "the bomber asked her out." The only way he could silence the mocking chorus was to lash out in anger. "She never stays put. She never follows instructions. I never know what she'll get into next." His worry for Amanda was too intense to sustain the anger for long, and the chorus resumed its torment.
His stomach was churning as he pulled up behind the emergency vehicles and first saw the wreckage. The acrid odors filled his nostrils as he opened his car door – a combination of spent explosives, burnt flesh, and scorched metal. Steeling himself to not panic, he scanned the area rapidly and then forced himself to survey the scene more carefully. He hoped he wouldn't have to question the emergency medical crews. The muscles in his cheek bulged as he clenched his teeth in frustration. A flutter of red caught his eye and his head whipped around to look again. Hope surged in his heart as he recognized her in a white blouse and red skirt on a nearby hill. Not injured. He inhaled deeply in relief. Not injured. Not dead! Thank God. He began to run.
THE END
Author's Note: In the episode, Lee tells Amanda "When I heard that you were here..." Some have speculated that Amanda called the Agency to tell them what happened, but she would surely have told them that she was okay, if she had called. The expression on Lee's face as he is looking for her suggests to me that he did not know that she was okay. He isn't merely looking for a friend who needs a ride back to the office; he seems to be looking for someone who may have been injured or even killed. Thus, I elected to believe that "I heard you were here" actually meant "We suspected that you were probably here..." If you don't agree with my interpretation, you can consider this story to be slightly AU.