Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me. They are the property of Shoot the Moon Enterprises. I'm very grateful for the chance to enjoy these characters, and I hope I put them back in the proper condition to go on to their next episode.

Many thanks to my beta readers for their patience, and assistance. Special thanks to Janet for letting me lean on her interpretation of Vigilante Mothers. (see her story, We could go to dinner). All mistakes are my own.

This follows shortly after my previous stories The Question and The Dance. It starts with a filler scene for One Bear Dances, then continues immediately after the tag of that episode.

Chapter 1 Needful Things

A smile spread across Lee's face as he watched his partner approach. He told himself it was ridiculous to feel that bubble of joy at the sight of her, she was just checking in, after all, before continuing across the street to greet Dr. Zernov. Better to attribute the feeling to the brown paper bag in her arms, or at least that would be his story if anyone called him out on it. Of course Amanda would bring groceries.

Why was it that setting up in a suburban house made him forget the cardinal rule of preparing for a stakeout? Bring food and coffee. He'd made the same mistake when he'd spent several days in a rental in this very neighborhood the previous spring. That occasion hadn't been a stakeout, more a matter of establishing a cover and setting up opportunities to interact with his target, so leaving to go shopping, or pick up items from his apartment, had simply lent him authenticity.

Still, he remembered his surprise while he'd been settling in. He'd assumed the scenario team would set the house up to appear as normal and suburban as Amanda's. He wasn't sure what he'd expected when he took a break from studying his case files, but a completely empty pantry and fridge had not been it.

Visions of Amanda's abundant kitchen only a block away had sprung unbidden to his mind, but like a fool, he'd squelched that thought. He'd still been smarting over the delayed realization that she'd been laughing at him with that wide-eyed proclamation, 'We could go to dinner.' It had only been recently that he'd begun to recognize the spark of devilry in her eyes preceding that remark which should have warned him. No, at the time he'd been determined to show her this was all business, and off to the market he'd gone. Only an hour later the joke had been on him once again when she'd stopped by to find him frantic. He had a lovely salmon steak on the grill but couldn't find any utensil suitable for turning it. She'd whisked out the door, to return in the nick of time proffering a pair of tongs.

Returning his gaze to her brown bag, his mind went farther back, to the house at Betsy Ross estates. The house where he and Amanda had worked their first official assignment together. Their first evening at that house, a bevy of neighbors had descended to welcome them. Amanda had taken the helm, directing the impromptu house-warming party as if it were second nature. Lee hadn't even questioned the well stocked kitchen, nor the fact that whatever Amanda wanted to serve their guests, it was there. If he'd thought about it at all, he'd assumed that foodstuffs were included in a "suburban grouping" and that Amanda had taken inventory of supplies while she was organizing the kitchen.

It was only now, seeing her coming up the walk, grocery bag in her arms, that the true story became clear. Amanda had had everything she needed to entertain that night because she'd anticipated it and had stocked that kitchen herself. He laughed at the thought that he'd felt he was so ahead of things when he'd noticed the depleted state of that fridge and offered to pick up more groceries.

As she stepped into the room, he realized he was very curious to see what she'd decided to bring, so much so, that he had no response ready when Francine made that snide remark about protecting Amanda from the big bad wolf. When Amanda offered the bag, he'd reached for it eagerly, "Oh good!" and began exploring its contents with focused delight.

No one had been surprised when Francine quickly dismissed the bag after the barest glance inside. "Oh, isn't that sweet, but you know when we're on stakeout we usually send out for meals."

What's the matter, didn't see any chocolate? Lee thought, but his taunt was silenced by the cheery confidence in Amanda's rebuttal.

"Well, I thought you might get a little tired of pizza."

He looked from one woman to the other as they squared off over the issue of ordering in from The Blue Fox. Something was different. It was a small shift, but there nonetheless. While their exchange was spirited, each woman firmly asserting her point, their remarks lacked that biting edge they usually had. And why was Francine the one who looked flustered?

Moments later, he and Francine were watching as Amanda hurried across the street to intercept her mother who was introducing herself to Dr. Zernov.

"Well! Isn't this cute." Francine muttered disdainfully. "Just when I was starting to think..."

"Francine! It's just her mother welcoming a new neighbor. This is-"

"I'm not talking about Mrs. 'Welcome to the Neighborhood' over there." Francine cut off his interruption. "I mean this!" she snapped, gesturing to the brown paper bag with disgust.

"What?" he peered again into the bag, then back at Francine, perplexed.

"I am a trained, a highly trained, agent! I am an expert at hand to hand combat. Small arms weaponry. I can hold my own with dignitaries in over a dozen languages.

I have better things to do with my life than to cook dinner for you!"

"Francine! No one expects you to cook."

"Oh really! Amanda does. Or is that bag supposed to be some kind of joke?"

"Amanda does not expect you to cook dinner for me." He paused for effect, then continued as Francine drew breath for another outburst. "She expects me to cook dinner for you," he stated with smug satisfaction.

Francine's eyes widened as she fell back a half step. "She's trying to poison me."