A/N: It always seemed odd to me that the last few episodes of Season 3 show these little flashes of physicality between Lee and Amanda and then we get an episode where they're barely together for most of it. So I have reordered for my own nefarious purposes and brought the events of "Three Little Spies" forward. (Also, the last story of mine was a bit tough and I wanted to lighten up this time.)
"Okay, so you understand everything here right?"
Amanda surveyed the bank of computer equipment in front of her, down at her notes, and then back at Francine, nodding decisively. "Yep. Or at least, I know what everything is, but I don't have enough clearance to use all of it. You know that, right?"
"That's okay. It shouldn't come to that and if it's something that big, it'll be Lee needing it – he'll just need you to help him run it. He's good with basic computer work, but you're still better at the actual typing and whatnot. And if it really comes down to that, no one is going to care who has clearance to do what as long they get those detonators back." Francine looked over her shoulder to make sure they were still alone. "Alright, we've got a few minutes before the rest of them get here and we need to talk about your real job. There's a few things you need to know before they get here."
"About the mission?"
"Sort of. About the two agents that are coming, Isaac Petrovich and Chien Chang. You'll need to tread carefully around them."
"Ohhhh," Amanda nodded. "You mean, keeping them away from all this?" she said, gesturing to the computers.
"No," said Francine. "Keeping Lee from starting World War III." She allowed herself a small smile at Amanda's look of confusion. "The three of them have history and it's not friendly. Lee would be wound up tighter than a drum at the thought of even being in the same room with one of them – and now he's stuck with both of them, by Presidential order no less."
"What do you mean 'not friendly'?" asked Amanda. "We've had to deal with foreign agents before and you've never given me a warning speech like this."
"Well, I can't give you details – those are need to know." Francine gave an apologetic shrug and Amanda nodded in understanding. "But none of the three of them have any love lost between them – so if it comes to two against one, the only thing we've got going for us is that the Soviets and Chinese hate each other way more then they hate us."
"Great," murmured Amanda. "So I'm supposed to play peacekeeper all by myself?"
"Oh I'm betting you won't be all by yourself," answered Francine. "There's no way the other side hasn't seen the same loophole we did – so they'll have supposed civilians along with them too or I'll eat my hat."
"Supposed civilians?" repeated Amanda with raised eyebrows. "You think they'll send agents and lie about it?"
"Oh absolutely," Francine nodded emphatically.
"Well then, why am I here? Shouldn't the Agency be sending a fake agent too?"
"Believe me, we'd like to. I mean, no insult intended here, Amanda, but this is really swimming in the shark-infested deep end as far as intelligence work goes and way beyond what you should be dealing with."
Amanda waved aside the apology buried in there. "And yet, here I am. So what are you not telling me?"
"You're here because I suggested it and Billy knows a great idea when he hears one – if I can't be here to provide intelligence backup, then you're the next best thing because you'll keep Lee's head in the game. Lee has to be here because the President insisted on it, but it's likely to create a whole other set of problems if the three of them get along the way they usually do. It would be bad enough if it was just one of them, but both?" Francine paused and shuddered theatrically.
"Oh I see. So I'm really here to keep tabs on Lee? I don't think I'm comfortable with spying on him like that, Francine. I'm supposed to be supporting him, not keeping him on a leash."
"Oh no, it's support you'll be providing – we can't send in anyone else without pissing off the Soviets or the Chinese but they know you'll be liaising with folks back home, just like they will."
"Okay," said Amanda doubtfully. "So no matter what we tell them, they'll assume I'm an agent?"
"Probably, but that's ok because we're assuming the same about them, right? Don't worry, Amanda, you haven't lasted this long around Lee without understanding what to do. Just keep your eyes and ears open on our visitors and let Lee look after the case."
"Alright, that makes sense," answered Amanda, nodding. "That I can do."
"Good. So here's what you need to know. Petrovich is old school Soviet. Sneaky, dangerous and not smart enough to use finesse when he thinks force will do. He's like the anti-Gregory - he never has a plan, he just bulldozes his way through operations." Both women were silent for a moment thinking how Gregory had very nearly out-finessed them last time. "Anyway, with any luck, whatever agent they send along with him is experienced in keeping him in hand or he and Lee will end up butting heads – or fists."
"That bad?"
"That bad. Petrovich isn't personally linked to the mission that got Andy killed, but it was his branch of the KGB so Lee won't be cutting him any slack."
"Oh my gosh." Amanda could see very clearly all of a sudden how this could go very wrong. "What about the Chinese agent? What did you say his name was?"
"Chien Chang. He's China's answer to Lee Stetson, right down to the matinee idol good looks. Now, unlike Petrovich, he's smart, really smart and he's very likely to zero in on you as a weak link."
"Well, thank you so much."
Francine's face lit up with a smile at Amanda's habitual rejoinder. "Hey, I didn't say you were a weak link – I said he'll think you're one. So keep your eye on him – watch what he's up to if he's engaging with you instead of Lee. He's very smart, he's very charming and he's very, very sneaky. If he strikes up a conversation, it's because he wants something so be careful what you say. Try and just stick to pleasantries and don't tell him anything personal. And watch for him leaving anything around – he loves a good bug. If he leaves so much as a crumb on his plate, you assume it's listening to you."
"Oh my gosh, Francine – is it really a good idea for me to be here?"
"Absolutely," said Francine in a firm tone. "There needs to be at least one person on this job with common sense and zero testosterone. You'll see what I mean when you see them all together."
"Amanda?" Lee's voice came from somewhere at the front of the plane.
Francine gave her a quick look. "Don't tell Lee I told you any of that. Just be yourself and do that thing you do when he's being all, you know…"
"Himself?" Amanda supplied. "Oh boy." She picked up her notepad and raised her voice to answer Lee. "We're back here!" she called and then turned back to Francine and began rambling as Lee walked in. "Okay, we have scrambler phones on red-apple sequence, satellite hook ups for audio and video on 12 megahertz, computer inputs, chemical and data analysis lab…and intelligence library patch codes. I think I got it, Francine."
Francine looked up and gave her a small grin of approval as Billy joined them, looking tense.
"Our guests are arriving. Francine, would you?"
"Yeah, excuse me," she responded, getting to her feet with a jerk of her head toward Lee and a raised eyebrow only Amanda could see.
Amanda turned to Lee and Billy, seeing instantly what Francine meant. Lee was scowling and although he wasn't pacing yet, he had his hands jammed in his pockets in a way that suggested he was forcing himself to stand still and his cheek muscle was already in overdrive. She watched silently as he vented to Billy; Francine was right – there was much more to this than the usual natural distrust Lee had for agents on the other side.
Just as she was wondering how on earth she was supposed to keep a rein on him when he was this frazzled, Francine returned, leading the foreign agents in to greet them. She glanced at Francine as she introduced them, pressing her lips together to keep from laughing when the blonde waggled her eyebrows at her after introducing Chang. She could see what Francine had meant – he was very handsome and standing beside Petrovich who was dressed in the typical ill-fitting suit that seemed to be the hallmark of the KGB, Chang looked even more suave, like something out of a Bond movie.
Does he watch those for tips on how to be debonair? she wondered before stepping forward to introduce herself, looking over the female companions who seemed to be lingering shyly behind their male counterparts. All four heads swivelled to stare at her and for the briefest second she felt like an animal in a zoo before Petrovich turned to the woman behind him and gruffly introduced her as Nadine.
"She doesn't speak English," he added with a grunt as Amanda greeted her.
And doesn't have a last name either? thought Amanda. How rude. That thought was followed immediately by, What doesn't he want us to know about her that he's giving us so little information about her?
She didn't know a lot about Russians, but she did know from her Russian literature course at college that they usually referred to each other by their full names and to only mention Nadine's first name was either intentionally misleading or incredibly rude.
She didn't know if that reaction had shown on her face, but Chang immediately introduced his companion, Jin Sung, positively purring as he extolled her linguistic accomplishments in a smug tone. Amanda nodded in greeting and chanced a quick look at Francine who was standing slightly behind the foursome, lips pressed together to keep from laughing. The accompanying eyeroll told her Francine was thinking exactly what she was: what kind of civilian helper speaks four languages fluently?
Oh yes, six little spies indeed.
She had to admit – it had almost been kind of funny when Billy had approached her with the exact same warning about Lee. Honestly, did they think she had some kind of magic trick to getting Lee to keep a lid on his temper? Not that she was sure she'd have any effect anyway watching him pace around the plane trying to keep an eye on everyone at the same time, but once he'd managed to get the best of both Chang and Petrovich within a few minutes of each other, his nerves seemed to have settled enough for him to come and flop beside her on the couch. Or at least she'd thought so until he suddenly turned and asked, "Billy's worried about me, isn't he?" and smiling slightly when she demurred. "Come on, he wants you to keep an eye on me to make sure I don't singlehandedly destroy détente." He lifted an eyebrow and looked at her as if he expected her to agree.
She didn't want to admit it straight out though, even though it was obvious that he'd seen right through her denial, and settled for "Oh come on, don't be silly," as if they weren't both remembering Billy putting her "in charge" of his recovery just a few weeks ago for exactly the same reason – his tendency to let his emotions get in the way of his rationality.
Lee recognized the strain on her face that said she was struggling internally with not wanting to lie to him and felt ashamed. He'd walked over here without dropping the attitude he'd been aiming at Petrovich and Chang and of all people, Amanda didn't deserve that. Of course Billy had sent her to keep him on an even keel, but he knew better than most that she was bringing more than that to this case.
He reached out and picked up her hand, relieved when she instantly wrapped her other hand on top of his and gave it a comforting squeeze, although she was still studying him with a wary, concerned expression.
"I'm glad you're here," he sighed with heartfelt honesty, thrilled when her face lit up from the unexpected comment. "Friendly face makes a difference."
"Oh, thank you so much," she whispered back, dancing dimples telling him she knew he'd recognize the teasing embedded in that phrase. He found himself grinning back at her, a weight lifting off him that he wasn't fighting on all these fronts alone.
She's the calm in this storm, he told himself. You need safe harbor, she's right here.
Amanda looked around carefully to see where Nadine was before she called the Agency to check-in. Jin Sung had excused herself a few minutes ago, but Amanda was certain she wouldn't be long. The Russian 'civilian' was working away quietly at a desk just far enough away that Amanda could be somewhat assured she couldn't eavesdrop too easily. She'd discussed it with Lee who said it was unlikely that she really couldn't speak English, but then again, as Amanda had pointed out, he was there with a partner who couldn't speak any other language if you didn't count nonsense about the state of health in Russian pigs, so who knew?
"Petrovich would never walk into a situation like this without every tool at his disposal." Lee was still watching the other agents and their 'helpers' carefully. "Chang is so cocky, he practically announced he had a ringer with him; Petrovich's little friend must have something up her sleeve."
"Mmm, maybe," Amanda had agreed, ducking her head to hide a smile. She'd been watching the tiny brunette ever since takeoff and she had her own sneaking suspicion about her. Jin Sung had been quietly observing all the interactions between the three men, but Nadine had kept her eye mostly on Petrovich, even standing up once to touch his arm lightly to get his attention and distract him from a conversation with Chang that had looked like it was getting heated. It had remained tense for a moment as he whirled to glare at her, but then, although she hadn't said a word, he'd dropped the angry posture and, after a final curt comment to Chang, he'd followed her back to her desk to continue the conversation. Amanda had hidden her smile at how much like Lee he was, that same truculent expression when he knew he was letting his temper get the best of him. Men everywhere could be remarkably similar - and so could the women who had to put up with them.
"Desmond." Francine's usual brusque phone greeting sounded in her ear.
"Francine, it's Amanda."
"Amanda! How's it going? Everyone still in one piece?" The tone reserved for strangers vanished instantly, replaced with a much friendlier tone.
"Fine so far, don't worry. I'm just checking in."
"Good. Billy's got something for you but he's on the phone so you need to hang on for a few minutes. Which means you can tell me everything you're not going to tell him." She could almost hear Francine settling back in her chair to hear all the gossip. "Okay spill. How's it going with Boris and Natasha? Dudley Do-Right still behaving?"
Amanda grinned as she snuck another quick look at Nadine. She was staring studiously at her own screen and appeared to be in her own little world.
"Well Moose won't be pulling rabbits out of a hat anytime soon, but Squirrel thinks he's stable for now."
"Glad to hear it. And how about Chairman Wow? Has he tried adding your name to his collection of Little Red Books yet?"
Amanda dropped her head into her hand to muffle her laughter. Francine had been somewhat subdued in the last few weeks since they'd rescued her from Gregory and it was a relief to see the signs of recovery emerging. Francine's unerring ability to zero on the perfect epithet never failed to entertain even when she was the target, but this had been one of her best. "You weren't kidding about him in the hubba-hubba department were you? He's only turned those baby browns on me twice and I'm half ready to defect."
"Well, just remember what I said about his entomology habit," warned Francine.
"Don't worry. Lee's apartment may be messy but his housekeeping habits here are world class. This plane is cleaner than his car."
"Well, that's something you don't see every day," Francine replied.
"Yeah, Snidely's not getting very far with so many eyes on him."
Francine gave a snort of laughter. "Okay, hang on - Billy's off the phone. I'll transfer you in - but I want to hear all the good stuff later!"
"Amanda! How's it going out there?" Billy's deep voice suddenly came down the line, before she could even answer Francine's comment.
"So far so good, sir," she replied. "A lot of insults being tossed over the parapet but no bloodshed."
"Glad to hear it, because the news at this end just got a whole lot worse."
As Billy sketched out everything the President had told him, Amanda was taking notes, mentally sorting and discarding what parts of it were just for Lee's ears and what needed to be shared. It was probable that the other teams were being briefed as well on this Pakistan situation; she wondered if that was what had sent Jin hightailing out of the room. An India-Pakistan conflict was bad for everyone but geographic proximity must make it even tenser for the Chinese. Either way they'd be sharing that information with everyone - maybe truly seeing what was at stake would tone down the male posturing.
"And Amanda? Tell Lee good luck. If Skylar makes as much sense in person as he does in his lyrics, he's going to need it."
Amanda gave a quiet gurgle of laughter. "I'll be sure to pass that along, Sir."
Billy's deep laugh boomed down the line. "Now that's everything I've got for you but based on the hand motions, Francine needs to talk to you again, so stay on the line, Amanda."
"Yes Sir, good-bye Sir."
Two clicking sounds later, Francine was back. "Okay, what seems to be the deal with the sidekicks?" she asked without any preamble.
Amanda glanced at Nadine. "Not sure yet. I'm beginning to think we all have similar reasons for being here."
"Oh really?" Francine sounded intrigued. "Took them long enough to figure out they need to send women to get anything done."
Amanda was still remembering that comment later as she watched the other agents who had come to take Pam Jentry into formal custody. Amanda and Nadine found themselves alone and despite knowing they could actually have a conversation, it took a few minutes before Nadine tentatively broke the ice.
"I am sorry, Mrs. King, that I had to pretend until now not to be able to speak to you. Isaac Petrovich thought it would be better but I am thinking he was wrong."
"Oh please, call me Amanda. And well, no harm done really," she smiled. "You spoke when you needed to. And we didn't need words for you to knock down Pam."
"Yes, that is true," said Nadine, that shy smile breaking out again. "It is surprising that someone like her would underestimate other women, no?"
"Oh, I think people like her think everyone else is stupid. It's always their ego that brings them down. "
"Well I am glad we got to stop her. The men will get all the credit, but we know better, da?" Nadine was beaming now, recalling Pam's capture. "And it is better she face her crimes than to just be eliminated." Nadine took a deep breath and turned to look at Amanda. "I also am sorry about the bomb in her office. I did not know Isaac Petrovich had done this. I would have told him no but when he is losing his temper, he gets…" She spread her hands apologetically
"Carried away?" finished Amanda. "Lee is the same sometimes. Fists first, questions later."
The two women smiled at each other in amused agreement.
"I'm glad we finally get to talk to each other," Amanda said impulsively. "It's nice to know men are the same all over. Knowing we have something in common makes détente easier, doesn't it?"
Nadine nodded happily. "Yes. And it is nice to practice my English also. "
"Well your English is very good," Amanda told her sincerely. "My Russian is non-existent!"
Nadine ducked her head, embarrassed by the compliment. "Thank you, but it is not always so good. Sometimes I hear words and when I ask Isaac Petrovich what they mean, he tells me this is nonsense word and I must have not been listening correctly." She glanced at Amanda. "But I think I am listening very well. I think maybe it is just not knowing, da?"
"Probably," agreed Amanda. "We use a lot of slang in America."
"Yes, that is what I am thinking also," said Nadine. She paused and then asked shyly, "For instance, what is 'hooboobaba'?"
Amanda turned to look at her in confusion. "Hooboobaba?" she repeated carefully.
Nadine flushed scarlet. "Maybe I do have this one wrong. When you were on the phone with Ms. Desmond and I was pretending not to listen," she shot Amanda an apologetic look, "You said she had not underestimated someone's department of hooboobaba'?"
Amanda wracked her brain trying to remember what she'd been talking to Francine about, and then it hit her. "Oh! Hubba-hubba!"
Nadine nodded vehemently in agreement. "Yes! That is word! What does it mean?"
Amanda couldn't help herself, she began to laugh helplessly, pulling herself together only when she saw the embarrassment on Nadine's face. "Well, it is slang, it means someone is very handsome. "
Nadine wrinkled her brow with confusion. "Is that not a longer way to say handsome?"
Amanda beamed at her. "Well, yes but it means much more than handsome, it means, well, kind of sexy and charming and, well…" she made a clawing motion with her hand and made a growling noise, then went on in a deeper voice, "Hubba hubba."
Nadine stared for a moment, then her face lit up and she began to laugh. "Oh! That is excellent word!" she said with satisfaction. Her smile turned impish. "Were you describing Mr. Chang or Mr. Stetson?"
Amanda choked, then gave a gasping laugh. "Chang," she admitted.
Nadine nodded, then sighed theatrically, fanning herself with her hand. "Yes, he is very… hubba hubba."
"Mmmm," replied Amanda. "Pity he knows it." She glanced sideway at Nadine, who met her gaze with her own sidelong look, and then they both began to laugh again.
"You think his boss has also noticed this?" Nadine went on with a smirk.
"Well, that's hard to say," Amanda answered, pretending to think about it. "As his superior officer, she would certainly be aware of his looks being an asset in the field. But as a woman?"
"I am thinking she has forced herself to study his technique very up close," remarked Nadine in a deceptively innocent tone.
Amanda nodded and answered in the same tone. "Well, you'd have to, wouldn't you? For your country, I mean. You couldn't send him into the field without confirming his abilities, could you?"
"It would be difficult, but it would have to be done, da."
"Such a sacrifice."
There was a beat of silence and then both of them began to giggle again.
Détente really would be a lot simpler, thought Amanda, if the women were in charge of it.
"Your partner – you are lucky to have her. She is much smarter than you, Scarecrow," growled Petrovich.
"Amanda is not my partner," Lee began reflexively. "She's just -"
"Civilian auxiliary," finished Isaac, waving his hand with a sneer. "Yes, yes we know she is not agent, but we have never been able to figure out why."
"We?" asked Lee, trying to ignore the slight knot forming in his stomach.
"KGB," grunted Isaac. "Mrs. King's presence wherever you show up has not gone unnoticed, Scarecrow. We are not stupid."
"Amanda is not my partner," Lee repeated, hating that he had to lie about it. "She is just an Agency helper and is of no interest to the KGB, you hear me?"
Isaac rolled his eyes mockingly. "And the Agency sent such an unimportant helper with their best agent on a job involving secrets at this level? Oh yes, I am sure she is just helper." He snorted with laughter. "I am thinking she is helping you more behind closed doors, da? She is more like… Rabochaya zhena. "
Lee had no trouble grasping the innuendo intended behind calling Amanda his 'work wife' and squared up angrily in front of Petrovich. "Hey Comrade – you can just wipe that nasty little smirk off your face right now. Amanda is a civilian employee, nothing more, but she is also my friend and you don't talk about her that way, you hear me? She has done more to help us out on this than your little mysh or Chang's for that matter."
Isaac studied him for a moment before nodding. "Well, my little mouse just helped capture our enemy but you are right - we could not have done this without your mouse either." He stared out across the airfield for a moment at the swarming agents dealing with the aftermath and at Nadine and Amanda who were standing together, laughing quietly at something Jin Sung had just said. "Your mouse – she has – how you say – a cute nose."
Lee, who had been braced for the next insult to come, swivelled to stare at Isaac in confusion. "She what?"
"She has a cute nose," repeated Isaac gruffly, tapping his own. "She is smart, sees things we did not. She has talent to put her nose in places we did not see, da?" He stared back at Lee's baffled look. "Would be very good spy. Smarter than you. But Nadine likes her - so she will not be in my report." He bared his teeth in his best approximation of a smile and walked off to join the women, leaving Lee shaking his head and following more slowly in his wake.
What the hell does being smart and being cute have to do with each other? Even if he's right on both counts.
Lee rolled that one around in his head, imagining how he was going to share Petrovich's comments with Amanda later to make her laugh.
"Zo, you haff beeg Russian fan, Mrs Kingski," he muttered out loud, imitating Petrovich's broken English. "Ernst Blofeld theenks you are excellent spy lady and haff cute nose."
A cute nose. He paused and replayed that sentence in his head in Isaac's voice and for the first time, realized what the Russian had been trying to say. He hadn't said"she has a cute nose", he'd said "she has acute nose"… She is smart…smarter than you…
His burst of laughter at realizing his mistake was loud enough that Amanda turned her head to look at him quizzically as he joined them.
"Tell ya later," he said quietly and Amanda nodded, just happy to see the grin on his face and the strain gone from his eyes.
The flight back to DC was blessedly uneventful. Lee still guarded the war room, more from habit now, watching to make sure the friendly enemy agents left nothing behind that would compromise security. He knew the Agency mechanics would go over it with a fine tooth comb once they were home, but it was too much of his nature to be vigilant for him to relax anyway. And then Isaac had disappeared just after they'd landed and re-appeared brandishing a large bottle of vodka, insisting they drink a toast before their handlers arrived from their respective embassies to collect them.
Lee has been suspicious immediately, until Amanda had given him one of her patented reprimanding looks and gone to join the Russians at the bar. When his eyes had followed her and he saw the embarrassed smile on Nadine's face that told him she'd seen what he was thinking, he'd flushed with shame and followed his partner, carefully placing himself beside Nadine with what he hoped was a friendly smile. He wasn't even sure anymore, so used to distrusting Petrovich and acting the tough guy, but he could tell Amanda and Nadine had really connected.
Her instincts are good, he repeated to himself. And it's only for another hour or so.
He watched Amanda carefully as Isaac poured out the vodka, momentarily reliving that horrifying night in his apartment when he'd unwittingly handed her that glass of schnapps. She shot him a look under her lashes that told him she knew what he was worried about, her quick smile and light wink easing the tight feeling in his chest. He watched out of the corner of his eye as everyone downed their shots; Amanda carefully mimicking doing the same, then dropping the glass below the table height for the briefest of moments to pour the contents out before putting the empty glass back on the table with everyone else's. He returned her earlier wink and turned to respond to Chang and Isaac's parting comments.
The two other couples made their way across the cabin to sit on couches on opposite sides of the plane. Lee moved the shot glasses to make room to lean on the tall table and breathed a deep sigh of relief that they'd managed to get through this without him losing his temper too badly. That was down to Amanda, he knew and he had just opened his mouth to tell her so when he stopped, struck by the fond smile on her face as she observed the other couples. He turned his head to see what she was looking at and watched in amazement as all four of them dropped their facades and settled into quiet conversations of whispers and light touches. Isaac Petrovich was actually smiling and laughing and looking at Nadine like she'd hung the moon and she was beaming back at him exactly the same way. His eyes drifted to the other couple only to find that Chang was whispering something into his superior officer's ear while their hands were laced together in a way that left no one in doubt about the true nature of their relationship.
He swivelled to look at Amanda who was looking back at him, almost succeeding at keeping from laughing at his expression. If she'd actually said "I could have told you that" out loud, it couldn't have been clearer. She obviously wasn't at all surprised by this new development – he looked at the other couples and mentally corrected himself. This was no new development, these were long-term relationships and Amanda had to have figured it out long before this. He shook his head, laughing inwardly – Isaac was right, Amanda was so much smarter than he was at this type of thing, so much sharper, so much more acute at seeing the nuances behind gestures and expressions.
"She is smarter than you," Petrovich had told him. God, he's right – I'm obtuse and she's acute. He gave off a quiet snort of laughter and turned to finally share that story with Amanda. She must have heard it because she'd already turned to look at him. "What?"
"Nothing," he answered, trying to keep a straight face.
"No, really – what?"
"Nothing," he knew he was the one failing at not laughing now when her gaze sharpened.
"What?"
"You've got acute nose," he said out loud but without Petrovich's accent this time and watched her blink slowly in confusion, much like he must have done when Petrovich had said it to him.
"What?"
"Can you say anything but 'what'?" he asked, absurdly pleased that he'd managed to throw her so far off kilter.
Amanda looked around at the other two couples carefully as if she was trying to decide if they could be overheard. "Lee, you really don't have to…" she trailed off, eyes shifting between him and the other occupants of the plane.
"Have to what?"
She lowered her voice and leaned in closer. "They're not paying any attention to us and we're not playing a cover. You don't have to pretend to flirt with me just to try and fit in with whatever's going on over there. I'm sure they've done enough profiles of you to know I'm not your type anyway."
Lee felt his jaw drop as he tried to process all the things wrong in that sentence.
"What?" he said, then realized he'd fallen into the same pattern Amanda had. He watched with a sinking feeling as Amanda's expression changed to half-panic, half apology.
"Oh, I don't mean they know everything – just that I'm not-"
"My type?" he finished in a flat tone.
Amanda turned to look at him more fully. "Yeah," she nodded, her face clearing that he'd understood so quickly.
"And what exactly do you think my type is?" he asked with real curiosity. "And why do you think you're not it?"
Amanda started to look nervous, not sure about the turn the conversation had taken. "Well, you know… your type is, um… well, the ones I've met… were all blonde… and um, curvy, and-"
"From my black books," he interrupted before she could say anything worse.
She paused, trying to read his expression. "Yeah, I guess so."
"The books I shredded? The books I already told you were full of girls I dated as covers? The girls who fit Scarecrow's reputation?"
She was looking even more wary now, obviously uncertain what point he was making and her eyes kept darting to where the other couples were sitting as if she was worried they might overhear what was beginning to sound like an argument.
"Well, fine then," she hissed back. "Scarecrow has a type."
He leaned in and said quietly, "But why do you think he and I have the same type?"
Amanda stared at him, completely bewildered by the turn the conversation had taken. "I don't know. Maybe because that's all I've really seen?"
"That's not true. You met Eva. You've seen pictures of Dorothy and Andy. I mean, hell, Amanda, Andy really doesn't fit that type!"
"Well no," agreed Amanda, flustered. "But what about Francine?"
"Well, physically she might, but she's hardly a bimbo!"
"Of course she isn't! And I never said the other girls were either!"
"No, but you were headed there weren't you? So why are you so certain I have a type?"
Amanda threw up her hands in defeat. "Fine, you don't have a type!"
Lee glanced across the room at the other couples who were still in their own little worlds and not paying any attention to them - yet. He took Amanda's arm and steered her toward the ops center at the back of the plane. He knew what the others would think, but he was past caring.
"Of course I have a type!" he snapped when they finally had some privacy.
Amanda opened her mouth, then closed it again, and shrugged, wondering why this whole topic seemed to have set Lee off. "Okay then, what's your type?"
"Smart. Sexy. Beautiful." He took a breath and asked quietly. "So why would you think you're not my type? You're all those things."
Her eyes went wide and she made a kind of squeaky gasping noise of astonishment, before pulling herself together. "Well, thank you-"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence! You always do that!"
"Do what?"
"You always treat compliments like you think I don't mean them, or that I only say them if I want other people to hear them! Why is it so hard to believe I think of you that way?"
"Oh, gee, I don't know! Maybe because that's when I hear most of them!" she answered, her irritable tone rising in volume to match his now. "When I'm dressed up as Victoria Greenwich or pretending to marry you in San Angelo, or being told how great I looked in a dress because you wanted to buy it for another woman!"
Lee's heart plummeted in his chest as Amanda stepped back abruptly, that telltale flash of panic rising in her face because she'd said something she hadn't meant to. He went very still, remembering suddenly the last time they'd had a fight about his 'type' - that had been over Leslie too and he prayed she hadn't made the same connection. Amanda had at least stopped moving away from him but her hand was curled up to toy with her necklace the way she always did when she needed to calm down.
Not always – most times she reaches for you.
Realizing that, he slowly stepped closer to close that distance again and reached out to run his hands down her upper arms until his hands were cupping her elbows. She didn't move away, but he felt like it was still a possibility. Say the wrong thing and it's game over, Skip.
"Fair enough," he acknowledged, ducking his head to make sure she could see his eyes. "But most of those times were years ago. Isn't that like me saying all those times you've told me how great I am at my job, I should have assumed you were just saying it for show?"
"Of course not!" She sounded appalled and Lee pressed on to capitalize on that.
"Alright then, so why is it so hard to accept I might mean the things I say? Unless…" he looked at her uncertainly. "Unless I'm not your type and you're being evasive just to be polite."
"Of course you're my type!" she answered immediately, then blushed. "I mean, why wouldn't you be? You're smart, brave, handsome…"
"Well, look at that, we're just a regular mutual admiration society," he remarked. "Was that so hard?"
"Lee, why you mad at me?" she asked quietly. "I wasn't trying to insult you. All I said was that you didn't have to flirt and play a cover in front of the others when it wasn't necessary."
"Because I wasn't playing a cover!" He was the one to step back this time, raking his hand through his hair in frustration.
"Oh." Her lips parted in a moue of astonishment as she took in what he'd said.
Lee flushed, irritated with himself that she could be this surprised. How can she have no idea how I feel about her? "I wasn't even flirting with you! I was just getting ready to tell you something Petrovich said earlier and then you went all weird on me!"
"Petrovich thinks I have a cute nose?" The nose in question wrinkled in confusion.
"No, he meant acute - he thinks you're smart," Lee admitted. "Although I thought the same thing when he said it."
"So then why are you mad at me?" she asked in a huffy tone. "If you thought the same thing?"
"Because I was at least willing to believe it and for some reason, you're not! And now I'm wondering why you think I'm such a jerk that you can't take a compliment from me seriously!"
Amanda's mouth dropped open. "Oh! Of course I don't think that!" she stammered. "I just don't think of you… I mean you don't think… we're just friends not…" she stopped as Lee crossed his arms and glared.
"Amanda King, you are the most frustrating person I have ever known! Being friends is exactly why you should believe me! And what's more-" He stopped to glare at her, aware that her mood had suddenly shifted. "Why are you laughing? I'm trying to be serious here!"
Amanda had indeed covered her mouth to try and hide her smile. "I'm not laughing! Okay, I am," she rushed on when he huffed. "I just realized you go all Russian when you're angry."
"I what?" Lee could feel the moral high ground shifting out from under his feet.
"The way you call me by my full name when you're trying to make a point," she explained. "I hadn't noticed before but spending all this time with Nadine Petrovna…"
"Petrovna? They're married?"
"Well I certainly hope they're not brother and sister!" Amanda snorted. "That would be creepy!"
"So she is an agent?"
"Oh no, she's a self defense instructor at the KGB training school, although I guess that kind of makes her an agent, just not a field agent. We had such an interesting talk today - once we could talk, I mean. I was going to tell you all about it later so we could decide if that has to go in the report, because she was really only here to help Isaac and not to spy on anything. She's really sweet and she and Isaac have a little girl, three years old, Valentina who is just adorable, or least she looks adorable in the pictures Nadine showed-"
"Amanda!" Lee's voice cut through her description, making her jump.
"What?"
Lee was trying to glare at her, but finally gave up, slumping back against one of the console desks and shaking his head with a wry grin. "How do you do that? I'm trying to have a perfectly reasonable argument with you and somehow you manage to go off onto a tangent about the domestic life of the KGB!"
Amanda was relieved that whatever odd mood Lee had been in a few moments before seemed to have vanished. "Oh I don't know. I must get practice distracting Mother, I guess." She paused for a moment, and then added quietly, "But I still don't know what I did that made you want to argue with me anyway."
"You didn't do anything," Lee admitted with a sigh. "I just wish you'd…"
She waited for him to finish the sentence, but instead he just let it lapse, staring at her thoughtfully.
"You wish I'd what?" she prompted.
For a second she thought he wasn't going to answer and then, when he did, it wasn't what she was expecting at all.
"Can we start over?" he asked.
"The argument?" she asked. "That would be great because maybe then I could figure out what we're even arguing about!"
"No, everything. I mean, not like from the train station or anything, but just kind of a clean slate?"
"I'm not sure what you mean," she answered carefully. "Do we need a clean slate?"
When Lee ran his hand along the back of his head again while he tried to figure out how to explain what he wanted to say, Amanda had to bite her lip so that he wouldn't see her amusement at how he'd gone from perfectly coiffed to punk rocker in just the last fifteen minutes.
"No, I just mean…" Lee took a deep breath and burst out with, "God, this is exactly how I started out with Andy too – wasting time arguing when we could have been…"
Amanda felt her heart stop at the implication of that sentence, but before she could even react, Lee was rushing on.
"Okay, look - can we sort of forget the first part of when we met and I was a jerk who told you that you didn't belong here and tried everything I could think of to get you to quit and just skip to the part where we're friends and you don't get suspicious that I have an ulterior motive when I'm nice to you? Because I really don't think I could do any of this without you anymore. And I don't want to do this without you anymore."
"Oh!" Amanda stared at him, suddenly breathless at such an honest admission from Lee. He looked so wistful as she tried to respond and she felt a little prick of tears as she realized how carefully she had to answer him. "Of course we can, if that's what you want. But I kinda thought we were already there."
"Really? Because you just told me not ten minutes ago that I don't have to pretend to like you for appearances' sake," he reminded her.
Amanda felt a pang of shame that she had in fact done exactly that. "You're right. It was reflex, I guess. It just seemed like you'd pulled a really lame compliment out of thin air like you had to compete with the other two on everything, even love-" She stopped abruptly, wishing she could pull that back, then watched as her slip seemed to make Lee actually relax, even starting to smile a little.
"Well, if there's one thing I've learned from you Amanda Carlovna Kingski," he teased, eyes twinkling, "it's that that is not a competition, that is a question of time and patience." He reached out for her hand and lifted it to kiss her fingers gently in what had become their own personal token of apology. "But it looks like our friends in the next room have figured out how to get there a lot quicker than I have."
"So are we not fighting anymore?" Amanda's dimples deepened in response to his. "Although to be fair, I was never fighting anyway. You were doing that all on your own."
"Yeah, well maybe I'm tired of doing things all on my own," Lee admitted. "I'd rather know that at the end of the day, I have someone I can just be with, the way our friends out there are doing – someone who gets it, who gets me…"
Amanda studied him, heart racing a little bit as she tried to decipher his tone. It sounded like... No, she decided he couldn't possibly mean that the way it sounded. Lee was studying her back, the corner of his mouth quirked up in a slight smile. There was something more though, something that seemed like he was trying to provoke her into that reaction… Okay, so maybe he does. She decided to test that theory and respond with her own challenge.
"Well I'm looking for work," she teased him. "I can type 90 words a minute and I'm awfully dependable if you're looking a new partner or something."
"Or something?" Lee echoed instantly, eyes twinkling, then lobbed it right back at her, his voice dropping deeper. "What kind of something are you up for?"
Amanda's heart skipped a beat at the smile Lee was giving her. Oh my gosh.
She stared at him, hopeful but still uncertain and watched the dimples deepen as he watched her processing the question.
"Well," she said slowly. "I'm kind of tired of doing things all on my own too, so -" She paused purposefully and watched as he leaned toward her unconsciously, obviously waiting to hear the rest. "How about we figure out what kind of 'something' together?"
Lee straightened back up, obviously pleased. "Now that sounds like a plan. Want to start tonight? Over dinner?"
"Hmmm, I didn't tell Mother what time I'd be home tonight so I am free," she pretended to consider it in a thoughtful tone, then broke into a smile in response to his.
"So dinner and take it from there?" he teased.
"Yes," she answered. "Who knows? Maybe we've only just started to find out the things we do well together."
"What are you laughing about now?"
"Turns out Jin Sung caught my little maneuver with the shot glass this afternoon," Amanda grinned at him across the top of the Corvette as they dropped their bags in the space behind the seats. "She may claim to be a military officer and not an agent but her observation skills are really very good."
"So if you didn't fool her, why do you look so pleased?"
"She congratulated me." Her dark eyes were sparkling with a glee he couldn't quite decipher.
"On your drink evasion skills?" He swung the car door open and prepared to slide in as Amanda did the same.
"No – on my pregnancy."
Lee was so startled, his foot slipped and he banged his head against the door frame, then almost fell into the driver's seat. "You're pregnant?"
"Lee!" Amanda hooted with laughter, reaching over to help him rub his head where he'd hit it. "Of course I'm not! She just thinks that because she saw I wasn't drinking!" She looked over at him and laughed harder at the look of consternation that he was still wearing. "Honestly, how could I be? Immaculate conception?"
"Oh. Right," he said with embarrassment. "Well, how would I know that for sure? I don't spend every minute of the day with you."
"You as good as do and you know it," she teased him. "And you know why I didn't drink that vodka!"
"So what did you say?" he asked. "After she congratulated you, I mean?"
"Well, I didn't say anything," she laughed. "I was too surprised and then she said she was sure you and I would have a lovely baby and walked away."
"Oh my God." Lee dropped his head and began rhythmically banging his head on the steering gently. "She's going to spread that all over the international intelligence community, you know that right? It's only going to be a few days before that gets back to Washington and the whole Agency is watching to see if it's true"
"Oh I wouldn't worry about that, Lee," said Amanda.
"No?"
"Oh no. It's not going to take nearly that long," she went on cheerfully. "Fred heard the whole thing!"