"I'll have you know, Scarecrow, that I was up until three o'clock this morning. This had better be good! Today is my day off!" Francine snapped as she walked into Billy's office.
Billy turned to look at Lee. He had been drumming his finger the entire time as they waited for the fourth member of their meeting to arrive. His eyebrows were knotted into a scowl. Doctor Smyth being a snit was not unusual, but it was always unpleasant. Lee opened his mouth to begin, but Amanda reached out to hold his hand, stopping him. It was her story to tell; most of it anyway. The marriage was theirs.
"On the day you met Aunt Katherine--" Amanda sighed heavily. Taking a deep breath, she began to quickly spit out her story. "Well, I had just learned the day before that she was a spy."
Francine tried to interrupt. "Amanda, that's not all that unusual--"
Amanda kept talking, too afraid to stop. "After lunch, I innocently opened up a photo album. I had found some photos of my parent's wedding the month before. Someone had been ripped out of each one Mother's copies, but Aunt Katherine had the same photos in her album. Whole. The man Mother had ripped out of the photos was who I was interested in, so I glanced at that photo, never expecting to see someone I know. Well, to make a long story, short--"
"Too late," Francine muttered.
"The man standing next to my father in the wedding party photo, his best man--" Amanda forced herself to breath. "My father's best man was Doctor Smyth. A very young, smiling Doctor Smyth, but Doctor Smyth."
Billy looked as if he were waiting for the punch line of a long joke, and Amanda did not dare to look at Francine. Amanda looked at her feet as she waited for her revelation to sink in--the smallest, most normal revelation she had for today.
"What?"
Not caring who asked the question, Amanda continued to tell her story. She did not have the courage to look up, and told the tale to her shoes instead of her friends. "Well, Mother was furious that I knew who he was--I said his name when I saw who it was, I mean I was shocked, I never expected to see him in my parents' wedding photos! She immediately demanded to know if I was a spy--I mean, I really wasn't ready for that question! I never expected my mother to even know Doctor Smyth let alone know he was the head of the Agency. I didn't even expect her to know anything about the Agency. Back when Stemwinder happened--She thinks you were CIA, Sir."
Amanda looked up to find Billy watching her. His eyes were full of questions, but he waited patiently for her to finish her report. "Aunt Katherine told me that they were best friends--Doctor Smyth and my father, Sir--but she refused to tell me anything else. I went home, but Mother wouldn't even look at me, so I went up to get in my cleaning clothes--we were supposed to be spring-cleaning--remember, I told you, Sir. Anyway," she took a deep breath. "When I came downstairs, I heard yelling. It was Doctor Smyth and Mother. I'd never heard Doctor Smyth yell before, Sir."
Billy said nothing, taking a moment to digest what she said. Francine waited no time to ask her question. "Your mother knows Doctor Smyth? He was your father's best friend? That's how she knows him?"
Amanda shook her head. "No, that's how Mother met my father. Doctor Smyth brought him, his college friend, home for the weekend."
Francine walked to stand beside Billy. She looked at her boss and then at Amana. "I'm confused. How would Dotty have known Doctor Smyth?"
Amanda started when she realized she had left out the most important revelation. Lee squeezed her hand, and gave her a smile of encouragement. "I forgot to say, didn't I? Well, Doctor Smyth is--Well, he's her brother."
"What?" Billy shot up from his chair.
Lee stepped in, giving Amanda a break. "Yes, it's true. Amanda here is the top dog's niece. Doubt it will get us any brownie points with him," he joked.
Amanda smiled at her husband, thanking him for diffusing the tension with a joke. Or trying to. "I doubt it will either."
Billy sank down in his chair, and Francine leaned against the back wall for support. "I don't believe it," she muttered under her breath.
Their supervisor shook his head. "I don't know what to say."
Amanda smiled. It was weak, but it was a smile. "There really isn't anything to say, Sir. I know. It's caused friction at home. Mother's even moved out for now."
Francine winced at the news. Amanda knew the other woman envied her easy relationship with Dotty. Francine loved her own mother, but they were not close. In fact, Amanda had heard her friend say more than once that she would almost rather walk through a field full of land minds than try to talk to her mother.
Billy's eyes let Amanda know of his sympathy. "Why did Doctor Smyth call this meeting? He wanted us to know of his relationship with you?"
Her eyes went to Lee's, looking for the support she knew she would find there. She saw a willingness to take over the task there, but she shook her head. She wanted--she needed--to be the one to tell them. "My mother was so upset to learn about me being a spy because my father died in the line of duty."
She could tell that Billy understood. A pain that she had fortunately only seen a few times before crossed his face. His shoulders drooped in defeat. All agents hated to hear about one of their own dying. However, those that had been placed in charge of them were especially sensitive. They took each death personally, as if they had failed.
Francine stood up from the wall, shaking her head. "Killed in--What duty?" she demanded.
Lee did not even give Amanda the chance to say. She wanted to stop him, to insist that she be the one to say it, but she understood her husband's desire to protect her, too. He knew the whole story, knew how devastated Amanda felt about Carl West's death. "Amanda's father worked with Harry before there even was an Agency, back in the days when it was nothing more than a secret department of the CIA."
Francine ability to answer anything with a quip left her. "I don't believe this," was all she said.
"I'm sorry, Amanda," Billy said. His voice reminded Amanda of cotton candy. Sweet and soft.
She nodded, struggling to keep the tears in her eyes from falling. "Thank you, Sir. I am, too. Anyway, my mother used to help out my father and his friends sometimes as a civilian. She had a lot of contacts left in the business, like her old friend Julia Marshall." Francine grunted, sounding as if someone had punched her in the stomach.
"Which brings us to the reason why we are all here today. Dotty had Julia run a full background check on both of us," Lee informed them.
Billy's eyebrows shot up. "There was something there?"
"Both of you went through intense checks this past year," Francine protested. "There could not have been anything in there that would have gotten Doctor Smyth upset; he should have already known."
Lee's gaze rested on his wife as he answered Francine. "It isn't anything bad, Francine. Not in our opinion." Wearing a goofy grin, he looked at his friends. "Just a marriage certificate that hadn't been there before."
Billy's face was blank in astonishment, but Francine's showed everything from shock, to hurt, to anger. Without saying a word, she walked out the door and quietly closed it behind her. Amanda wished she had slammed it. She looked at Lee, and he nodded to let her know that he agreed. She went after Francine, leaving Lee alone to talk to their boss.
***
"Amanda, I really don't want to discuss it right now," Francine snapped, holding up her hand. She sat down at her desk where a large stack of folders awaited her. Amanda often wondered how her friend could do so much paper work so quickly. It was one of Francine's strengths. She was made for management, even though she wanted to be one of the great field agents.
Amanda did not bother to reminder her that it was her day off; if she could help it, she would prefer not to track after Francine all over DC. She leaned against the corner of the blonde's desk, struggling to look relaxed. "Oh, I know. I'm just letting Billy and Lee have some time to talk alone."
She waited patiently as Francine worked her way through two file folders. Amanda watched as she angrily tossed one into her outbox. She knew it was a sign; Francine was ready to talk. "You must have been really laughing that day I warned you about Lee Stetson. You knew that you were hors d'oeuvres, main course, and dessert to the man."
"No, I didn't, Francine," she admitted. "I found it incredibly nice that you cared."
Tossing down her pen, Francine swung her chair around so that she would be facing Amanda. She opened her mouth to make a cutting remark--Amanda could see it in her eyes--but she stopped herself. "I didn't want you to get hurt; you aren't like me, Amanda. You don't realize how they can be." She shook her head. "You still believe in fairy tales."
Amanda did not say that she believed a part of Francine wanted to believe in fairy tales. They did not have that type of friendship, and Francine's natural wall of protection would be impossible to get through if she started down that path.
She had her own kind of proof; she had seen the hope on Francine's face the first few times that she had went out with Jonathan again. Unfortunately, the same old problems had reappeared, and they had agreed to break it off before they became too involved. Francine had been devastated--not that she allowed it to show, but, after working closely with her for four years, Amanda had seen it.
Amanda glanced back towards Billy's office, wishing she had X-Ray vision so she could see through the pulled shades. She trusted Lee to handle Billy, and her job was to help heal the breach between them and Francine. "Fair tales do happen, Francine," she said without thought.
The blonde laughed and turned back to her desk. Shaking her head, she picked up another folder. "Well, maybe they do for you, Amanda Ki--I'm sorry, Amanda Stetson--but they don't happen for the rest of us."
Amanda winced. She understood Francine's bitterness, had for a long time. Francine worked hard to get where she was in the Agency. Julia Marshall believed it was easier on women today, but Amanda was not so sure. The intelligence field was very much a boys' club. Today, many of the women operatives were there for window decoration and lures. Too many of the men on both sides enjoyed pillow talk too much.
In Francine's eyes, Amanda managed to get where she was by simply being at a train station at the right time. It had not been that simple, but Francine's experiences had been worse Amanda knew. While her main problem had been getting Lee's trust, Francine had faced challenges from every angle. Also, she had the instincts that Francine lacked. Training for Amanda smoothed out a few rough edges. Francine's strengths lay elsewhere.
However, Francine had another reason to be jealous of Amanda. Besides being partnered with one of the best and most active agents in the field, she had a life outside the Agency, too. Try as she might, Francine never managed to have one. If Amanda had to guess, she would say that Francine wondered about children, but there was no great yearning there. Instead, she wished for a husband, a partner, to come home to, who would care that she was late. Amanda had two wonderful sons and a mother, whereas Francine's mother lived in California, living it up with her high-class friends, and occasionally remembering to call her daughter. Now, Amanda had Lee, too. She understood Francine's bitterness, but she did not have to accept it.
Amanda walked in front of the desk and placed her hands flat on its top. "I'll let you in on a secret that they didn't share with me when I was a little girl, Francine: Fairy tales take a lot of hard work to make them happen."
Francine looked down at the pen in her hand. "I know that, Amanda. I just--"
"I know," she said. She really did understand Francine.
"You, Amanda, are the only person who can say that and make me believe that you mean it." Francine's anger had abated.
Amanda reached into her purse, pulling out a package that had been bought with Francine's birthday in mind. She laid the box of very rich, very fattening, very expensive box of Swiss Milk Chocolate in front of Francine. Her friend shook her head, smiling. "You are bad."
Amanda laughed, pushing the box closer to Francine. "I know. We have a few minutes before 'Uncle Austin' is supposed to arrive. Why don't we devour them?" They both laughed at the idea of Doctor Smyth being an Uncle Austin.
A few minutes later, moaning as the chocolate melted on her tongue, Amanda remembered something else that she wanted to share with Francine. "Did I mention that Julia Marshall used to have your job?"
Francine stopped in mid-chew. "What?"
"She told us yesterday," Amanda said as she sipped her coffee. "She started out as the Section Chief's assistant, back when Doctor Smyth had Billy's job. You know, people say she's more powerful than him now." A spark of interested lighted in Francine's eyes. Watch out Julia Marshall, Amanda thought.
***