The knock at the door came shortly before six o'clock in the morning, or moaning as the boys called it whenever Lee had to get up earlier than planned. Pulling on a pair of boxers as his only concession to modesty, he staggered to the door, desperate to keep the unwelcome visitor from waking up the rest of the family. With classic Stetson luck, the person standing on the other side of the door was the First Lady. Even though she was dressed rather casually in a pink velvet outfit, it wasn't enough to make Lee's minimalist wardrobe adequate to the situation.
"My apologies for the early hour, Mr. Stetson. My husband needs to see you immediately."
"Of course ma'am. If you'll give me a minute to put some more clothes on?" He requested. He could see her amusement but it was too early to take that in stride.
"By all means." Lee almost groaned as he realised the predicament he now faced: shutting the door in her face was unthinkable as was inviting her into the small suite where the remains of the night before were a testament to the adolescent character of the family. Amanda would kill him if he let anyone see the imperfect housekeeping.
The First Lady had been an actress in her younger days and was obviously well able to handle the indelicate situation. "I'll wait here." Smiling gratefully, Lee compromised by only closing the door part way and returning to the bedroom.
"What's that about?" Amanda asked, sitting up in bed.
"Go back to sleep, Amanda." Lee ordered, quickly pulling on the suit he'd worn the day before. Once more, Amanda's tidiness was going to save him: his suit had been carefully hung and there was a fresh ironed shirt waiting in the closet.
"I'm coming with you."
"Not until the White House physician clears you." Lee answered cheerfully as he chose a tie from the three that had somehow materialised on the dresser. "Where did all this stuff come from, anyway?"
"Oh, you know. I asked one of the Secret Service guards to drive me over to the house yesterday so I could collect a few changes of clothes for everyone."
"You can't just walk into a crime scene." Lee protested.
"You can when you go with a letter from the president asking that you be permitted to collect a few personal effects, as a personal favour." Amanda answered with a shrug. Chuckling, Lee bent down and kissed her before hurrying back to the First Lady. His attempt to apologise was cut off as soon as he opened his mouth.
"I hope you will forgive me, Mr. Stetson. This case of yours is exceptional enough to have kept my husband up through most of the night. When I checked on him earlier he mentioned that he was waiting for a staffer to arrive to summon you. I offered to do it instead."
"It's no bother, ma'am. My biggest challenge at the moment is keeping my wife out of active field duty until she is medically cleared."
"Ah yes. I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Stetson yesterday. I must say, I rarely meet any wives who are as determined as I am to look out for my husband's well-being. Your wife was very persuasive when she spoke to my Ronnie yesterday."
"I'm sure she was." Lee said wryly. He was sure that it was no accident that none of this had made it into Amanda's account of the day last night.
Despite her petite size, he would have had trouble keeping up with the First Lady if he wasn't so tall. As they walked, she confirmed the public perception: she was the President's closest confidant.
"Ronnie is beside himself about this case of yours, Mr. Stetson."
"I'm not too happy about it either, ma'am." Lee admitted.
"I understand that this is to be your last field case."
"I hope so."
"Try to remember, Mr. Stetson. The office of the president depends on the strength and integrity of the offices supporting it. The role of Blue Leader is one that has profound implications for the nation and for the success of any presidency. Although your new role is not a political one, it is necessarily one that will be profoundly affected by the politics of the nation." Reaching the open door of the Oval Office, she led Lee right in. The president was pacing in front of his desk with a sheaf of papers in his hands.
"Darling, Mr. Stetson is here." She announced before making her way out. Lee bit back a smile as he saw her hand briefly squeeze her husband's forearm in passing. He might not support the politics or views of the couple, but he recognised the gentle affection that ran between them. It was something that he and Amanda shared; a deep love and care of each other.
"Thank you, dear. I'll be back upstairs shortly." The president promised, watching fondly as his wife left them alone. Plucking a stack of papers off of his desk, the president handed them to Lee.
"The search warrants have all been granted. Your contact at the FBI will coordinate the searches at the Harris law office and SunChild HQ. Your team will head over to the Congressional Archives Office and seize the document boxes that the Agency identified as pertaining to this case." Lee nodded. "Mr. Stetson, I'm sure I do not need to remind you that with the election less than two weeks away, no one needs the disruption or media circus that will come with members of the legislative branch of this government being implicated in crimes of this scale. Everyone involved in this investigation must not forget that they are bound by oath to keeping these events secret." Lee felt his blood pressure start to rise. Here they were, with a massive conspiracy on their hands, and he was being explicitly told that the main concern was how the public reaction might affect the political careers of people who, if not involved, had not prevented it. For the first time in his career, Lee wondered if he was making the right decision for him and his family. If he became Blue Leader and something like this happened on his watch, he'd struggle to find meaning for his years of service.
"No, no need." Lee finally said, eager to end this audience.
"Very well, I'll leave this in your hands and expect you to act with the highest degree of discretion." The president said.
"Of course, sir." Knowing he had just been dismissed, Lee returned to the suite he and Amanda had been assigned. He was almost glad that there was no time to get back into bed. He thought he might just have been politically defiled. Nevertheless, he couldn't just leave without telling her what was going on. She was the lead investigator and if he wanted her to take today to recover, then he needed to tell her what was going on. Telling her to stay in the car had never worked and he certainly didn't think that telling her to stay in the White House would either.
Thinking of Amanda instantly improved Lee's mood. Politics were going to be part and parcel of the commitment he'd accepted when he'd agreed to become the next Blue Leader. Although the office was deliberately distanced from the vagaries of day to day political haggling, he would need to develop a thicker, and more diplomatic, skin. It wasn't like he had much choice, anyways. Either he stayed a field agent which meant Amanda would too, or he moved to the private sector and became no better than Brackin or Ballon, or he accepted the opportunity to become Blue Leader where he might be able to exert some influence on how the government ran things on the ground.
They'd made the right choice for all of them.
"What did the president say?" Amanda asked as he entered the bedroom.
"The warrants are ready. Hotchner will cover the law offices and charity. I'm leading a team to seize the congressional records. Once this is all over, I think we should nominate Agnes for a presidential letter of commendation. She's really helped us break this case wide open."
"So I was right? That note was a list of congressional records?" Amanda said, reminding Lee that he'd been so busy making love to her and talking about Emily that he'd never gotten around to telling her that part. Quickly bringing her up to speed, he leaned down for a kiss.
"You know, I'm starting to really sympathise with the Fred Fielders of this world. They spend years working hard and being trained and you still put them all to shame from a hospital bed. I'm just lucky you let me come along for the ride." Laughing, Amanda reached up and straightened his tie.
"Just make sure everything's ready for me tomorrow, will you Scarecrow? I'll want to hit the floor running." Lee chuckled and straightened, reaching for his leather jacket. "And Lee, did you ever figure out who the nurse was who slipped me the note?"
"No, but we've got people digging. Whoever she is, she will need protection and fast."
"Go on." Amanda urged, nodding towards the door. "I need to get dressed and make sure the boys are ready for school."
"Okay. What are you going to do today?"
"This and that. I need to run a few errands." Amanda said. "Once I'm back at work tomorrow, who knows when I'll have time?"
"Alright, but don't overdo it." With that, Lee headed out.
