AN: In the episode Amanda mentions Phillip having a birthday party, but in Saved by the Bells, it's Jamie's birthday party, so m'just gonna pretend that it's Jamie's party that she mentioned in this AU. Just to keep things tidy. Phillip's birthday is in Fearless Dotty, anyway.

/

"...Pokazaty de raky zymuyutʹ..."

"Polka… zatee…"

When Amanda first took that package on a train platform, she didn't picture herself trying to transcribe KGB communications a couple of months later. She sounded out the vowels as she typed, stumbled her thumb on a key, and ended up writing a bunch of question marks. She fast-forwarded to the next set of English on the tape.

Mr. Melrose would understand. Ukrainian was more up Translation's and Crypto's alleys, and he'd told her as much beforehand. "Just do your best. We don't have enough hands around here as it is."

Amanda could relate to needing more hands. Today had her stretched thin, drained, and stressed to a breaking point. She was preoccupied with planning Jamie's birthday party and the upcoming Thanksgiving play. On top of that, her stomach was empty and screaming. She hadn't been able to keep breakfast down and her packed lunch wasn't faring much better. Even nibbling on a bagel made her green.

Her ankle was worse as well. At first everything seemed fine. She rested it often, soaked it each night and forgot all about the accident. Until the injury started to bulge and turn weird colours. It was too early to blame on her pregnancy, although that part probably wasn't helping matters.

Wonderful. Over two months in and she was already dealing with unrelated swelling.

Halfway through a paragraph she began to fret over Lee. She took her fingers off the typewriter, rubbing her eyelids and battling the dread building in her chest. It was like Joe all over again—delaying confrontations until they could not be overlooked. Only this time, there was a biological clock attached.

Either way, regardless of what or when she told him, Lee would not be happy.

For four full hours Amanda lost herself in mundane, office minutiae. She was determined to forget all about this pregnancy business, if for but a day. It wasn't easy. Every aspect of her body seemed hell-bent on reminding her. She tried to ignore the nausea curling in her gut, or the ache drumming under her skull, or the weight of her eyelids.

Or the tall man making his way to her desk.

In her rush to look away, she bumped her cast on the desk. The resulting pain almost made her lose her lunch—what little there was. Lee was at her side in an instant.

"What's wrong?" Before Amanda could answer, she felt him take her hand in his. The lie she had been preparing fell all to pieces in her mind.

"Nothing is wrong," she said, perhaps a tad too hastily.

"Wow. For someone working in espionage, that was embarrassing."

Against her will, Amanda's cheeks began to lift. "Give me a break. You'd be rusty too if you were chained to a desk and had an ankle the size of a lemon."

"Ankle? What the hell happened to your ankle?" Lee asked, already ducking under the desk. Amanda went cherry red.

"Lee- stop- you're making a scene. I told you it's nothing."

"Care to explain this cast then?" Lee's voice was muffled and Amanda felt him gingerly poke the plaster.

Some of her fellow typists angled their ears discreetly in her direction, masking their interest behind typos and shuffled papers. Amanda wished she could burrow her head six feet underground.

"Get out of there," she said, pushing on his shoulders. "I was teaching my Little Leaguers how to hook slide and I slid a little funny, that's all. It's not serious."

Lee's eyes gave her a desultory sweep as he rose. Seemingly satisfied, he reached over her desk and switched off the tape. He perched on the edge of the wood, toying with the hole of her half-eaten bagel.

"Billy keeping you busy?"

"Obviously." Amanda huffed, snatching back the bagel. Not because she was particularly hungry, but out of principle. "Was there something you wanted or can I go back to work?"

Lee made a face. Reluctance rolled off him in waves. "I'm actually here on Billy's behalf. He wants to know if you're up for a job."

"If it's today I can't do it. I have an appointment at four and a Thanksgiving costume to finish before bed."

"What kind of appointment?"

As always, Lee had a talent for honing in on the most inconvenient details.

"Doctor's," she answered evasively.

"Doctor's?" Lee jerked into alertness. "Why, ya sick?"

"No, no nothing like that. I was just due for a checkup. Routine stuff, really." Technically it wasn't a lie.

"Well I hope this 'routine stuff' includes a look at your foot. The assignment is for tomorrow, and it involves a lot of walking. The royal couple of Zakir is coming for a visit, and the Princess requested a tour of one of our schools. She wants a PTA member to conduct the tour. 'Something about 'authenticity'."

"A princess?" Once again, Amanda was brought to the cusp of throwing up. "Gosh, Lee, I don't think I'm qualified."

"You are the exact person for the job. No one else could do it better."

"Really?"

"You're the only one with the proper security clearance who's a real PTA parent. It's the perfect plant."

"...Oh..." Amanda said, sagging in her seat.

"It's a simple assignment, no spying involved, completely safe. All you have to do is act like yourself. There'll be guards sticking to the Princess like glue. Not to mention me. I'm heading up security during her and the Prince's stay."

Amanda heard the assurances but held back from accepting them. She switched paper sheets, pounded out a random sentence under the pretense of testing the ink, then slid back the platen with a mite more force than necessary. The memory of the muscarine was still fresh in her mind.

"'Completely safe', he says. Didn't you say that last time? And the time before that? Oh, and what about that incident with the Death RV? Or the Russian child-" She released a breath. "Look, what I'm getting at is… Shouldn't I at least know how to punch? Shouldn't I have certain skills like self-defence, maybe know a few codes…"

"Amanda, you're a civilian. That's what makes you unique and that's what makes you useful to this agency. There are enough agents running around this town already. If you were a known operative, you'd just be in even more danger."

She dipped her chin to her chest and drummed her nails on the desktop. Lee probably didn't mean to sound callous, but it hit her that way just the same. Straightening her back, she fastened him with a fierce lour.

"I don't think that staying alive would compromise my usefulness too much, wouldn't you say?"

For a while they were locked in a standoff. Lee's "Scarecrow" face was firmly set and Amanda was in full mom-mode. Gradually, he shrank back from the fire in her eyes.

"Alright, alright. I'll bring it up to Billy. I'm sure he'll agree to a couple basic courses. After the tour."

"And you'll be there the whole time?"

"Absolutely."

A meek smile slithered up Amanda's mouth. She pressed 'play' on the cassette player but Lee plucked the headphones from her ears, twirling the cord around his finger. In a lower register, he said, "You'll do fine. For this you don't have to know how to punch."

"Oh, please." She shooed him back with a coy scoff. "Don't you have some ritzy skirts to chase? A blonde nob, perhaps?"

"I think I'm acquiring a taste for brunettes," he said, stroking back a wisp of her hair. He reclaimed his hand, scratching his chin then snapping his fingers. "What was the name of that new programmer from Baltimore? Cheryl?"

Amanda slapped the air in front of his stomach. "Scram, Scarecrow."

Chuckling, Lee pulled away from her carrel. He wandered through swathes of desks to Billy's office, leaving a cloud of admiring giggles in his wake. Amanda caught one or two scowls from the corners of the room.

From scorned lovers, no doubt.

The thought opened a pit in her gurgling stomach. She quickly rewound the tape and resumed typing. A shadow fell across her desk and she looked up, expecting to see Lee again. Instead, she saw two blue eyes and a face framed by blond hair.

"Well, well," the woman drawled. "Mrs. Suburbia gets to hobnob it up with Zakirian royalty."

Amanda sighed. "Hello, Francine."

Francine cast a long glance that covered the length of the bullpen, starting at Billy's office and ending where Amanda sat. Her lips twitched into a sardonic sort of smile.

"Take it from someone who's been there. Lee Stetson will chew you up and spit you out." She pivoted, paused, and pinned her with a pitying moue. "Also, in case you hadn't noticed, this is no business for a dewy-eyed Mommy. I'd get out while you still can."

With that, she strutted from the steno pool with her nose in the air.

/

AN: Hmm did not enjoy this chapter but also couldn't skip it. Francine makes her first belated appearance. Sorry, love, Lee and Amanda's drama keeps stealing the spotlight.

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