Title: All Good Things…
Disclosure:
Warner Brothers Television Distribution and Shoot The Moon Productions owns
these characters, as well as to the writers, and actors who created and
portrayed them. I'll put them back when
I'm done playing…
Summary/timing/etc:
this is simply a response to the challenge on fanfiction.net for a no dialogue
story… Yes, it's more of a narrative than a speaking with body language type of
story, but I think I did it justice with what I wanted to say.
This is what I would have done with the last 15 minutes of a "goodbye" show for the series, had it ever been done.
Author: WhizGidget :D
Written: March 7-15, 2001
Rating: G
Archive: at
fanfiction.net, and I'd be honored to be elsewhere, just email me and let me
know where (astolzman@yahoo.com)
My ego loves
praise. The realist in me needs
truthful comments (good and bad). I'll
take flames too – I haven't had a good kabob in a while…
Amanda looked up
from the kitchen sink at hearing the light tapping on the back door, and saw a
familiar face light up with a smile. So many years of tapping at the back window at odd hours, and it was all
about to come to an end. Nothing could
have made her happier. Everyone else
in the house was asleep, so she would not have to come up with an excuse as to
why she was leaving at such a late hour. She looked back behind her, out of long-cultivated habit, and headed out
the door.
As she softly
shut the door behind her, she placed her finger to her lips, and Lee
acknowledged with a small nod. It was
late at night, and it wouldn't do either of them any good to wake up the
neighbors or draw any more attention to them than necessary. He was thrilled to be so close to the end of
the sneaking around and so close to a really normal life.
Their hands were
interlaced as they snuck through a couple of backyards to get down to the
corner where Lee's car was parked. He
helped her into the car, as was habit, and then went around to his side. He paused for a minute before folding his
tall form into the small car. No more
parking around the corner in the middle of the night – he would be able to park
his car in the driveway or in front of the house, and keep it there all night.
They rode
together in a companionable silence, each occupied with their own thoughts,
looking out at the dark streets. One
was thinking about how the lies would finally stop, the other wondering, after
everything that had happened, if they could ever really have a normal life. The car passed in front of the simple
building where they had spent so much time together. They drove silently down the street a little ways and then
parked. They looked at each other, and
Amanda smiled sadly before dipping her head down, and getting out of the car
without waiting for Lee to help her. They snuck down a couple of side streets to the parking lot behind the
building they had passed just minutes earlier.
The couple headed
into the building quietly, so as not to be noticed by anyone, taking the stairs
in lieu of the elevator. They had
grasped each other's hands as they had many times in the past, sometimes not
thinking about the importance of the gesture even early on in their
relationship.
Lee opened the
door with his keys, and they both entered and looked around the quiet
room. So much time had been spent here
– they had planned and talked strategy here, eaten lunch and dinner here,
talked, laughed, slept and even danced. It was going to be hard to leave such a memory-laden room behind, but it
was time. Amanda took note of the look
on Lee's face, and she nodded, her mouth set in a solemn line. She dipped her head down, knowing that if
she said anything she would immediately start to cry. She took a deep breath, and walked back out, leaving Lee
momentarily, while she pulled herself together.
Lee closed the
door slowly, watching as the room shrunk in the crack of the door until he shut
it with a light click and locked it behind him. Amanda had startled slightly at the sound of the click, and
started for the stairs but he placed his hand at the small of her back and
steered her towards the elevator. The
ride was quick and quiet, except for the sound off Lee dropping the keys into
an envelope and sealing it.
They reached the
darkened main office to find the door slightly ajar. Lee peeked in, noting that no one was there, and laid the bulky
envelope on the desk. There was no
going back now.
They headed back
out of the building, knowing that the secrets in that little room would stay
that way: secret. And that they could
move forward with their lives and whatever the future held. They headed back to the little white house
on Maplewood Avenue in Arlington, where the lies would be over and they could
be normal together.
Lee and Amanda
Stetson headed for home.
The next morning,
Billy Melrose entered his office balancing a doughnut on top of his coffee cup,
and trying to get a handle on the Monday morning news. He noticed the envelope on his desk, noted
the bulk, and closed his eyes hoping that it wouldn't explode. After a heartbeat that seemed to last
minutes he opened his eyes and noticed the familiar handwriting on the
front. He set his load down carefully,
and reached over, knowing what was inside without needing to open it. He did so anyway.
The set of keys
had been the last thing to be placed in the envelope – it accompanied a gun,
two ID's and a matched set of letters. They both basically said the same thing – these were the resignations of
best team The Agency had. They had been
married for almost a year. They were
tired of sneaking around in the middle of the night. They were tired of lying to Amanda's family, and to themselves,
about what they did for a living and they wanted to be able to leave their work
at work. They were so close to a
normal life, married, living in Arlington together with Amanda's mother and her
two sons, if it weren't for The Agency.
Billy could
understand their needs. To be safe
together. For Lee to be a regular dad.
When she went home to check in on the boys, neither of them wanted to have Lee
tapping on the back door anymore as the recognition signal that they had to
work. And it was a rare night that the
two agents could sleep through the night without a phone call to come in and
handle something delicate. With a
heavy heart, and a deep sigh, Billy knew he couldn't fight it this time as he
had in all the other face-to-face conversations they'd had before.
Sometimes, he
realized, all good things must come to an end.
The End.