The disclaimer: none of these characters belong to me; they belong to Shoot the Moon Enterprises and Warner Bros to whom I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to take them out for a spin and bit of light humour.

Author's Note: maybe I should have listed this as a cross over but I only stole the barest premise from the film to make this very silly AU story so I will leave this as a "regular" SMK tale.

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"My gosh, T.P., this warehouse is like something out of the ending of Raiders of the Lost Ark!"

T.P. Aquinas smiled amiably at Amanda's enthusiasm. "It is pretty incredible isn't it? Actually, the movie – although completely inaccurate, of course, in almost every way about the ways of archeology - isn't far wrong about using somewhere like the Smithsonian Archives as a place to lose something permanently. They like to claim that everything is catalogued down to the last item, but in actual fact, it's more like its nickname, the National Attic. Lots of things have ended up stuffed in the back of drawers or got incorrectly catalogued and been lost forever in storage."

Lee cut through T.P.'s discourse. He knew if he let the two of them start rambling together, they could be here all day. "But do you think you'll be able to find us the amulet?"

They had been sent over by Billy to collect the Amulet of Aker, a piece of Egyptian jewellery that had ended up in the Smithsonian collection 60 years before as a gift to the President from the Earl of Carnarvon, one of the men responsible for finding King Tut's tomb. The current president of Egypt was coming to visit the U.S. in a few weeks, and the White House had decided that as a gesture of goodwill, they would return it to the Egyptian government. Lee had questioned why it couldn't simply be taken to the White House by the Museum, but Billy had explained that apparently, the President had developed some form of paranoia about security that meant he had specifically asked for them to deliver the item undercover. It made no sense to Lee, but it wasn't his job to question the Commander in Chief.

"Oh yes, that one will pose no difficulty at all" said T.P. comfortably in response to his question. "Those King Tut pieces were wildly popular as exhibits from the moment that tomb was opened, so they were catalogued with great precision. They already have it waiting for us over at Acquisitions. Now, do you have the transfer paperwork?"

"Of course" said Amanda, reaching into her purse.

T.P. led them through the maze of floor-to-ceiling shelving, pointing out interesting pieces from American and world history as he went. Lee was somewhat amused by Amanda's oohs and ahs but had to admit, it was a fascinating place. He made a mental note to ask T.P. if he could bring them back sometime for a proper tour.

Finally they reached the desk at the back of the sub-basement and exchanged the paperwork for the amulet from a very depressed Smithsonian staffer.

"Don't pay him any attention" said T.P. after Amanda commented on his demeanour. "Collectors never want to let go of any piece of their collections, even when they don't own them. Now, before you wander away, let me tell you about this piece because it really has a fantastic history behind it."

Amanda sneaked a peek at Lee but he had resigned himself the minute he'd seen Amanda's face light up at T.P.'s offer. He managed to successfully put on his best stern agent face. "Ok, but try to keep it to the abbreviated version, will ya? We have to get this over to the White House before we go home tonight." Fortunately Amanda had turned away before the stern face cracked when he'd had to smile at her obvious glee as she leaned in close to T.P. to look as he pulled the amulet out of its box.

"Now this is Aker, that's who this piece is named for. He pointed at the odd shape in the centre. "You see, he's actually made up of two lions sitting back to back with a single body. This one is named Duaj meaning 'yesterday' and the other one is Sefer meaning 'tomorrow' and so Aker was thus often called "He who's looking forward and behind"."

"So he's sort of a two-headed God, like Janus" said Amanda, glancing up at Lee. "We knew someone who had that code name because he was a double agent, well triple agent, I guess." Lee gave her a small smile, remembering that Christmas Eve they'd spent together in the woods.

"Yes and no" answered T.P. "He was considered a guardian god – he protected the king or the other gods. He was actually more like the two of you – protector and fighter together."

"Eyes in every direction to keep watch on the other's tail" laughed Amanda, pleased by T.P.'s analogy.

"Except he doesn't have any tails" said Lee.

"No, but he does have male and female characteristics. He gave birth to the god Khepri in the Underworld and as an Underworld god, he had many magic powers not given to other gods. There are some that say this piece has many of the mystical powers of the Pharaoh's Curse associated with King Tut's tomb, you know."

"Oh come on, T.P., don't tell me you believe in magic curses" scoffed Lee.

"Of course not, my boy, but it is fascinating to study the legends that grow up around pieces like this."

"Well, you'll have to tell them to us another day because we're due at Pennsylvania Avenue in an hour. Amanda, you look after the amulet."

"Ok. In my purse or in my pocket?"

"Pocket" Lee answered. "We already know your purse is not a safe place to store anything valuable." He could have kicked himself the second the words were out of his mouth when he saw the memory of their terrible fight over that stupid microdot pass over her face. He watched her button it carefully into the chest pocket of the vest she was wearing, then held his hand out to take hers and gave it a slight squeeze. "So partner, ever been to the White House before?"

She gave his hand a squeeze back, as much in appreciation for the 'partner' as the implied apology. "Nope, first time for me." They began to walk back towards the exit. "We're not going to meet the President are we? Because if we are, I am hideously under-dressed." He laughed at the reference to their first mission and knew he was forgiven.

He had been aware of the forklifts busily working their way up and down the aisles of shelving, but unfamiliar with the regular noises of a busy warehouse, he didn't realize the danger of the last loud noise until Amanda glanced up above his head and saw the shelving swaying from being bumped by a forklift on the far side.

"Lee! Look out!" she screamed and pushed him out of the way, just as a large box tumbled off the top shelf and landed with a sickening thud on her head, knocking her to the floor.

Everything after that was a blur to Lee. Scrambling to get back up, only to fall to his knees beside his unconscious partner. Hearing T.P. yelling down the warehouse for someone to get medical help, checking Amanda in a panic and the relief at finding a pulse, watching the ambulance crew running towards them down the long warehouse and placing her in a cervical collar before loading her onto a gurney and racing back outside. Once again, he found himself in an ambulance with an unconscious Amanda, praying for her to open her eyes and look at him. He knelt beside her, one hand on her ribcage as if he'd feel better if he could feel the rise and fall of her breath, the other holding her hand which lay so limply in his grasp.

"I'm so sorry" he kept repeating to her. "It should have been me, it should have been me, it should have been me." He never noticed the feeling of warmth under his hand as it rested on the vest pocket over her heart.

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"Lee? Lee? Please be in there. Please wake up."

Lee could hear a man's voice calling him back, apparently from the end of a long tunnel. He fought to wake up, knowing the voice but unable to place it. He knew he was exhausted and even with his eyes closed he could tell from the horribly familiar beeps and muffled sounds that he was in a hospital. As he fought to come awake, the memories began flooding back of arriving with Amanda at the hospital and fighting with the staff to stay with her while she was being treated. He'd won that argument he remembered with some satisfaction, and he'd been allowed to stay in her room overnight as well. At some point, he'd remembered to ask Francine to track down Dotty at her sister Lillian's to let her know about the accident – she and the boys were probably already on their way back from New England.

"Lee? Lee! Wake up! Please wake up!" The man was becoming insistent and Lee was doing his best to answer him but his head was killing him and he had to fight to get his eyes open. When he finally managed it, he found himself not in the chair beside Amanda's bed, but flat on his back, looking up into hazel eyes identical to his own.

"Dad?" he croaked, even as he knew that was impossible.

"Not exactly" said the man with a mixture of relief and panic. "It's me!"