Five minutes later, they were on the far side of the airport by the corporate jet hangars, with a security guard waving them to a stop. Lee pulled out his badge to pass it to the young officer.

"Lee Stetson and Amanda King. We're here to meet the Dynamica Industries jet coming in from Portland?"

The guard nodded. "Yes, we were told to expect you. The jet should still be about half an hour out, if you want to come in and grab a coffee while you wait." He gestured to the building behind him. "Snacks too – Mr. Cassidy always looks after the people who have to work on Christmas for him."

At his words, Amanda suddenly realized how ravenously hungry she was. "Gosh, you know, I haven't eaten since this morning! It's been such a crazy day!"

Lee pulled into a parking spot and got out to walk around and open the door for her. "Well, that's my fault, I'm sure. Come on, let's get in out of this cold."

"Oh Lee, how could that be your fault?" she chided him as he ushered her inside.

"Well, Billy's too," he replied. "We've all been running around all day trying to pull this off and I never thought to ask how you were doing. Did you even get that leg checked out?"

"I got a Band-aid from the Agency dispensary," she nodded. "It was just a little scrape."

The guard hadn't been exaggerating – there was a plate of sandwiches and another of Christmas cookies on the table, as well as a small fridge full of drinks. Amanda seized a chicken salad sandwich and bit into it gratefully.

"My favourite," she said happily after swallowing the first bite. "I don't think I could ever get sick of chicken salad." She picked up a sandwich and held it out to him. "Try them – they're really good. Extra mayo, just the way you like them."

Lee shook his head in wonder, as he took it from her and began to eat. "I think you must be part cat, Amanda King, you and your nine lives. An explosion goes off right in front of you and you manage to get away with just a cut on the leg and not a hair out of place."

"Oh, no," she answered. "Cats always land on their feet and if you'd seen me go down like a ton of bricks when Mr. Rudolph pushed me down, you'd know there was no cat-like grace to it. I probably have bruises everywhere."

Lee's gaze sharpened. "Are you really sure you're alright? When I got knocked down the other week, I lost a day's worth of memories…" They both flushed at the sudden recollection of exactly what he'd forgotten, then again as they both flashed back to their camouflage act in the main terminal half an hour before.

"You got run over by a cab and then tried to tackle a hulking professional football player," said Amanda in a bright tone. "I don't think my tumble was anywhere in the same league as yours."

"You'd tell me though, right?" Lee pressed her. "You wouldn't just put on a brave face and tell me everything was fine?"

Amanda tilted her head and studied him. He was much too serious about what had been a truly minor injury. "If I was seriously injured, of course I would," she said. "Why wouldn't I?"

"People lie about stuff like that," he said, far too darkly. "They pretend nothing's wrong when it is."

"Like you do," she pointed out. She picked up an iced cookie and began nibbling at it. "Every time you're in hospital, you do nothing but complain about how you don't need to be there."

"I don't-" he began, then stopped when she cocked an eyebrow at him.

"It's what people do," Amanda shrugged. "You don't want people to worry so you tell them everything is fine. We all do it, it's normal." She reached for the coffee pot and began to mix them both a cup, carefully adding exactly the right amount of cream to Lee's, just the way he liked it, and setting it down in front of him.

Finished with the sandwich, Lee picked up a cookie and stared at it before lowering his hand and tapping it absent-mindedly on the tabletop. "Amanda?"

She turned to look at him, hearing something in his voice that suggested he was more serious than usual. "Lee?"

"Can you do something for me?" He paused, looking for the words. "Can you not be normal around me?"

"Can I not be…?" she repeated. "What-"

"Just for that one thing," he rushed on, seeing her confusion. "If you're ever not alright, will you promise me you won't lie about it because you think that then I won't worry? Because I will anyway."

Amanda's concern increased; she put down her coffee cup and turned to face him fully. "I think I can promise that, but I'd like to know why it's so important to you."

"It's not important!" he blustered immediately, then stopped dead at the expression on her face. "My grandmother… she was looking after me the night my parents had their accident. And she kept telling me not to worry, that everything would be fine." He saw Amanda's eyes crinkle in confusion. "They didn't die right away in the accident – they were taken to hospital with their injuries and my grandmother, well, she just kept telling me I shouldn't worry because they'd be fine."

Amanda's heart seized a little as she took in what he was saying. "I didn't realize your grandmother had looked after you too," she said. "I thought it was just your uncle."

"No, it was my grandmother at first." Lee began to pace around the room, finally stopping and staring out the large window that looked out onto the tarmac. It was dark outside which meant Amanda could see his reflection clearly and the dull pain on his face. "And then one day, she wasn't feeling well and she called a neighbor over to watch over me while she went to the doctor - but she said I shouldn't worry, she'd be just fine. But she wasn't."

"Oh Lee, I'm so sorry." She walked over to stand beside him, hand on his arm while he continued to stare out the window. "So many people to lose so quickly."

"I didn't lose her," he said quickly. "At least, not then, but she was sick enough that she couldn't look after me alone and that's when my uncle took over."

"He took you away?" Amanda couldn't help the appalled tone in her voice.

"Oh no," Lee reassured her. "He got a compassionate transfer to D.C. and we all lived together until she died a year or so later." He grimaced slightly. "That was probably the beginning of all the reasons the Colonel missed so many promotions over the years. He should have been a general by now, but he kept having to step aside for other people to move up while he was stuck with diaper duty."

"I'm sure he didn't mind," ventured Amanda. "You were his family and he was yours."

"Oh yes, I'm sure he'd say it was all just fine," said Lee in a voice dripping with sarcasm. "But I know better. He resented me his whole life, just like I resented him for not being my parents."

Amanda was silent for a moment, still rubbing his arm gently. "Okay," she said finally. "I will never tell you I'm alright unless I really am." She lifted her eyes to look at him steadily. "But you have to promise me the same thing."

Lee blanched. Hiding behind bravado was his thing – he couldn't just give that up, could he? Especially not around Amanda who worried about every little thing and blew everything up out of proportion. Except, he realized, she probably did that because she never knew when he was lying or not.

Amanda could see the emotional struggle going on in his eyes and continued to watch him unwaveringly until to her relief, she saw him give in.

"Fine," he said grudgingly, then caught his breath at the smile that lit up Amanda's face at his unconscious word choice.

She lifted her hand from his arm, and held it out. "It's a deal?"

Lee shook it solemnly. "It's a deal," he agreed.

The external door opened and the security guard poked his head in. "They must have picked up a tail wind – they're landing now," he told them. "You need to stay in here – better not to have too many people out on the tarmac, especially in the dark."

"But they'll need help with the children," Amanda began to object until the guard held up a hand.

"Ma'am? They'll have all the help they need. You just stay put in here where it's safe, okay?"

Amanda heard the small snort of laughter Lee tried to tamp down and reined in her instinctive reaction. "Yes, of course," she said. "You won't want a civilian getting in your way, would you?"

"No, ma'am," said the guard. "Thanks for understanding."

There was a beat of silence after he left, and then Lee cleared his throat. "Amanda," he said. "You don't think that I think you're just a civilian who gets in my way, do you?"

Amanda turned to grin at him. "Oh, I know I am," she said cheerfully. "But I like to think I make up for it most of the time."

Lee beamed back and had just started to answer when the doors to the tarmac opened again and Karen Rudolph and her family arrived.

First through the doors was Karen herself, carrying a baby in her arms and her eyes sweeping the tiny room instantly. A look of disappointment went across her face and Amanda stepped forward holding out her hand.

"Karen? Mrs. Alberts? I'm Amanda King – we spoke on the phone?"

Karen's face lit up with a small smile. "Oh yes! Mrs. King! Thank you so much for organizing all of this. When I got your first call, it was all I could do to stop myself from driving straight to the airport and getting on a plane, but it's so wonderful that you managed to get us all this!"

"It was my pleasure – and also Mister… I mean, my friend at Dynamica, he was happy to help" Amanda said soothingly. "I could just imagine how painful it would have been to leave your family behind today of all days. Especially this little one! She's adorable!" She beamed at the baby and held out her hands. "Can I hold her?"

Karen only briefly hesitated before handing Amanda the baby. "Thank you – there's so much to keep track of, with having rushed to get here."

Amanda cuddled the baby close, running a finger over her little pink cheeks with a smile, before answering.

"Well don't worry too much. I made arrangements for the house where you'll be staying to be outfitted with a crib and diapers and other supplies, and there will be someone assigned to help you out with any kind of shopping you need for things you might have forgotten. And we couldn't get the place decorated in such a short time but I did get someone to take over a small artificial tree and some ornaments that I had in my garage and set it up. It's not decorated yet– I thought that was something your children might want to do with their grandfather. Oh, and there's also enough groceries to get you through the holiday – there's even those slice and bake sugar cookies and some icing mix– since children enjoy a nice messy thing to do."

Lee's jaw dropped. It was the first he'd heard of any of this – when had she found time to do any of that? And yet it seemed a perfectly reasonable thing to have expected her to do – all the little extras that were going to make the safe house feel like a home – that had Amanda written all over it.

"You've been so kind," Karen's voice broke slightly and she scanned the room again with a hopeful expression. "But I thought maybe my father…?"

"Oh, I should have explained," Amanda leapt in again, taking the lead. "He wasn't in Washington yet either when we spoke. But he'll probably be there by now." She looked inquiringly at Lee, who nodded.

"Yes, in fact I was just about to call my boss and make sure everything was going okay at that end."

Amanda's mouth formed a small "oh" of surprise as she realized that they had not, in fact, ever called Billy to tell them they'd been followed or that there was a good chance Francine and Efraim had been too. "Oh my gosh! Well, you go do that while I help the Alberts get organized."

Karen's husband had arrived at this point, a dozing toddler in one arm with her head on his shoulder and a small five-year old boy, holding onto his other hand. He had the harried look of a man who really had no idea what he'd been swept up in. "I've got these two but our bags…" he looked around helplessly. "I'm used to just going to a carousel to collect them."

"Not a problem," said a voice behind him as the guard rolled a cart in after him laden with suitcases. "You don't worry about a thing. Where should I put these?" he asked Lee.

"In the station wagon outside," answered Amanda, waving him toward the door that led to the parking lot.

The guard headed out and was barely out the door before Karen said, "Oh! Jason! The kids' coats are in the blue suitcase!"

"Oh damn, I forgot" he answered. "Um, could you take her please? It'll be faster if I go since I know exactly where they are," he asked Lee in a harried voice, thrusting the sleeping child at him.

Lee instinctively held out his hands and found himself with an armful of deadweight boneless child. "I… wait," he said, but Jason was already out the door. "I don't know how to hold a baby," he muttered to the empty air. He looked down at the child as if it was a live bomb, afraid that any move he made might wake it up.

"Just don't drop her," said a solemn voice in front of him. Lee's gaze dropped to meet the eyes of the other child who was studying him, suspiciously. "That's what Mom says to me every time I hold the baby."

"It's, um, good advice," Lee offered. For babies and bombs, he thought irreverently.

"Easier if you sit down," added his new friend.

"Also a good idea," said Lee, sinking onto a small bench seat, and discovering with relief that it did feel safer that way.

"I'm Tom. I rode here on a plane," commented the boy.

"I'm Lee and I know," said Lee, solemnly. "Your first time flying?"

"Yep. Mom told us to watch out the window and see if we could see Santa's sleigh, but we didn't."

"That's too bad," commiserated Lee.

"Are you one of his elves?" Tom asked, seriously.

"Am I what?"

"An elf. You're big but you're dressed like an elf."

For the first time, Lee realized he was still wearing the Santa hat he'd grabbed inside the airport terminal as part of their camouflage. "Oh! No, I'm not an elf, but I guess I'm kind of a deputy Santa helper tonight. Sorry, Chief."

"He's prob'ly busy anyway," answered Tom. "It's good he has helpers."

"And I'm sure he'll find you here." Lee winced as the words left his mouth, suddenly realizing it was very unlikely the Alberts had remembered to bring anything like that.

"Doesn't matter," shrugged Tom. "He's bringing us a new grandpa, so that's the good part." He frowned slightly and looked around. "But I thought Mom said our Grandpa would be here."

"Well, we're going to go meet him next," explained Lee.

"Okay. Can I have a sandwich?"

"You bet. Help yourself."

Lee smiled to himself as Tom turned and devoted all his attention to the plates of goodies. Shifting slightly to move the sleeping child to the crook of his arm without waking her, he reached out with his free hand, picked up the phone on the table beside him and dialed Billy.

"Hey, it's me," he whispered when his boss answered.

"Why are you whispering?" Billy asked immediately. "Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine," Lee answered. "Karen and her family just arrived and we're sorting out the kids before we head back."

"So why are you whispering?" asked Billy again.

"Because I have an armful of sleeping kid and I don't want it to wake up. It's bad enough it's drooling down my shirt."

Billy's warm chuckle came down the line. "I wish I could get a picture of that."

"Well, you're out of luck – it's a once in a lifetime occurrence." Lee shifted to get more comfortable. "Say, listen, Billy – we had a tail up here. We ditched them in the crowd at the airport but it's likely Francine got followed too."

"She did and she lost hers too. She just called in to say they have Rudolph and they're on their way back here."

"Good," said Lee with relief. "We'll be on our way in five minutes."

"Ten," corrected Amanda from where she'd come to stand beside him. "We need to make sure everyone uses the restroom before we go."

Billy heard her comment and chuckled again. "There's the mom for you – and she's absolutely right. We'll see you at the safe house later, Scarecrow."

"Yeah, okay. Bye Billy."

Amanda took the receiver from him and hung it up, then continued to sway in front of him, gently rocking the infant in her arms. "Bet you never pictured having a Christmas Eve like this," she teased.

Lee leaned back and gazed up at her. The light behind her made her look even more angelic than usual and the doting smile on her face as she looked down at the baby made him smile in turn. "Can't say that I did," he agreed. Can't say that I mind either.

"Starlit night, a baby, finding a room at the inn… we just need three wise men," she chuckled.

"Billy, Efraim and I don't count?" he retorted.

"In other circumstances maybe," she countered. "But tonight…" She looked around at the harried parents. "Tonight, we're more like shepherds, I think."

"Good point," he answered, easing himself to his feet. "Let's collect this little flock and get you all home to your families."