TPWP ch2 Title: The Price We Pay

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. Generous references to the past and the events of the 4th season… I don't make any money off of this – my only reward is my personal satisfaction at having written a decent story (and the story is all mine). Oh, and any new characters that you meet along the way - those are creations from my own twisted imagination, so hands off, unless you ask for permission to play with them.

See Chapter 1 for more information on timing and all that other good stuff...

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Rebecca Dobson, codename Boo, walked through the corridors of The Agency noting that in her absence almost nothing had changed. The carpets were the same, the offices were the same, and somehow, she was almost positive that some of the same guards were posted in front of the same doors as they had when she had last been in the non-descript IFF building. '5 years. It's been a long time,' she thought to herself with a small smile playing about the corners of her mouth, 'but nothing's changed. That's the government for you.' She chucked softly, which gained her escort's attention.

"Share the laughter, Becca, I could use some this morning." Francine Desmond was not a happy camper this morning. The duty rosters all had to be re-arranged due to the recent activities of Dr. Smyth, and she was being hit from all angles for information on what had really happened to Scarecrow and Mrs. King.

"Oh, Francine, nothing's changed. That's just like the government for you. The guards are still the same types of men in the same places, and the offices haven't been redecorated since this place was built. I bet that Billy Melrose still sucks down TUMS and doughnuts in equal quantities and Dr. Smyth still speaks in riddles." She turned to look at Francine while matching her quick stride down the hallways that would lead to the bullpen.

"You're instincts were always good. Yes, Smyth is still a jerk, and we're still trying to figure out what Billy is really addicted to. Fielder's still a coward when it comes to bombs, and the Q-Bureau is still overflowing with work to be done."

"And I bet Crawford's up to his neck, and doing nothing about it, right?"

"Becca, you *have* been out of the loop too long. They walked Crawford over two years ago. He was in with the Russians. There's so much to catch up on – I keep forgetting you haven't been in town for 5 years. And contact zero for most of that time. I bet your debriefing was fun." Francine shuddered at the thought of catching up with 4 years worth of materials.

"Don't even bring up that debriefing. And no, I hadn't heard. Who's the poor sucker who ended up with the Q?"

"Suckers. Our very own Scarecrow, and his part-."

"Lee Stetson? Managing the Q? Upstairs? You have got to be kidding." Becca had stopped just outside the doors to the bullpen. She looked almost shocked to hear this news.

"Becca, a lot has changed around here. Come on, we've re-arranged the bullpen a couple of times since you've been gone."

"Still looks the same. Now don't change the subject. Lee's handling the Q-Bureau? Well, his job may have changed, but I bet he's still the same ol' Lee Stetson. Black books full of women, obsessed with his car, and his clothes. And always has a day of the week free for me." She smiled playfully at Francine, who was shaking her head at Becca's comments.

"Same old Becca. Not the same old Lee, though. He's got a partner, they run the Q-Bureau-"

"Partner? Did you say partner? Lee-"

It was Francine's turn to interrupt as they walked into the bullpen and headed for Francine's desk. "Yes, I said partner. I did try to warn of about that once before, but you seemed a little more occupied with interrupting me. Things have changed, Becca. More than you know." Francine dropped into a serious tone of voice with the last statement, but the fellow agent missed it.

"Ok. What about Lee's partner? Cute, single?" Becca had had a reputation for trying out all the new agents, and usually was the origin of most of the rumors about the male agents.

"Lives in Arlington, two kids, newly married, and as for looks, I suppose she's all right. She makes the most divine Christmas cookie. I've got her recipe, but I just can't get it to come out right."

"She? A mom? Things *have* changed around here. How'd Lee end up with her? Billy force her down his throat?" Becca got a mischievous grin on her face as she noticed the opportunity to needle her longtime friend. "Francine, you'll never get those cookies right. I may have been in another hemisphere, but I certainly heard about you and those cooking lessons of yours a few years ago."

"Speaking of those cooking lessons, do you remember that Lee passed a package on to a civilian in that case?"

"Yeah, some housewife from Arlington… you don't mean…? *She* is Lee's partner. A civilian?"

"Well, she's picked up some training along the way, and yes, there were a few times that Billy insisted that they work together. She became a freshman candidate last year, and together they're a fantastic team. The Q Bureau has never run any better."

"Well, when can I meet her?" Becca immediately thought that this would be the best way to get back to seeing Lee Stetson, but the biggest bomb was about to drop on her and she didn't even know it.

"I don't know. She's been fired. I have to adjust all these duty rosters because of her and Scarecrow's absence, and help Billy find a way to get her back in." Francine lowered her voice at this last statement.

"Fired? What she'd do? And Lee's gone?"

"Yup." Francine smiled at her friend. "She's fired, and he's only on suspension because he's the senior agent, but I think Smyth's going to officially cut him loose sometime this week."

"Why? What did they do? Mis-use their clearances? Bully a suspect?"

"Nope. Worse."

"What could be worse than that?" Becca couldn't fathom anything worse that would only have them suspended and not in holding cells awaiting trial for treason.

"They got married."

"So, what's the capital crime in that?"

"No crime, other than they married each other." Francine looked up just in time to see Becca's mouth drop open and Billy's door open. "Close your mouth, Becca. It's very unattractive and rude." With that, Francine turned towards her terminal. "And Billy's standing right behind you and he doesn't look happy."

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Part of the reason that Billy Melrose didn't look happy was the same reason that in a white house on Maplewood Drive in Arlington, Virginia, the phone was running for what had to be the 24th time. Philip answered the phone, and immediately called out "Mom! It's for you again!" He put the phone down on the counter and walked back into the living room. He and his brother had been back home for a few days, but it wasn't until today that everyone seemed to be calling to congratulate his mom and Lee about their marriage. Philip guessed that they didn't bother telling anyone else for a while to have some privacy and that's why the phone was ringing so constantly now. He wondered briefly if all the phone calls might have had something to do with why Lee rushed out of here earlier.

Amanda went to pick up the phone, and immediately regretted it. This time, it was one of the girls from the steno pool who, though congratulating her on her "catch" of the infamous Lee Stetson, also questioned what she would do if he went back to his wandering ways. Amanda let the woman know that she wasn't really worried about that, and quickly ended the conversation. As she put down the receiver, she sighed and leaned against the counter. There had to be something good about that call, but Amanda was having a hard time putting her finger on what it could be.

After a minute, she realized that this was one of the few calls that didn't drop the news that Lee's suspension was over. Unbeknownst to Amanda, Francine's earlier prediction that Lee would be cut loose by Smyth was correct – it was just sooner than anyone had expected. He had terminated the agent via a forced resignation. Billy had broken the news in a phone call, which had come shortly after Philip had grabbed that first phone call of the morning, and that had caused Lee to run out of the place. If it wasn't one thing, Amanda thought, it was another. Francine was still in shock over the news of their marriage, and just when it seemed like she was coming to grips with it, Smyth had to go and make his initial decision permanent. After hearing the news, and hanging up on Billy, Lee had gotten slightly agitated – which was putting it mildly - and had started storming around the house stating that Smyth was treating them as if they had committed treason. It had taken quite a few minutes to convince Lee to quiet down – the boys didn't know what they really did for a living, and they might forgive a statement as the heat of anger, but if Lee kept it up, he might let something critical slip.

Shortly after Amanda had managed to get him to calm down, Lee called Billy back and had agreed to meet him. They were both hoping that Billy had some information on how to get their jobs back. Their record was the best in The Agency, even if most of it was with Amanda having civilian status; their backgrounds checks came up consistently clean (with the minor exception of their hidden marriage, notwithstanding); there had been suspensions of both agents, but mostly due to misunderstandings or a frame-up, and they had both been able to clear their names. Lee had a record that was exemplary, despite the two D-1 manhunts that were against his name. They had both received commendations from the President of the United States, medals from royalty around the world, from heads of other governments. Even a pair of Presidential pardons after the Stemwinder incident almost a year earlier. They had also been personally involved for well over a year, and no one had questioned their work since then – Amanda had become a full-time agent in training without any questioning their competence as a team. Their fellow agents had to admit that they were the best there was.

Amanda broke out of her reverie by the sound of phone ringing yet again. She looked at the phone warily, not wanting to deal with another woman trying to convince her that Lee would leave her when he got bored with domestic life. If… *when* they were re-instated, Amanda corrected herself, they would have to face that kind of innuendo at The Agency. Might as well pick up the phone. Amanda answered on the third ring.

"Hiya, beautiful." It was Lee. "Everything going ok at home?" He smiled to himself. Home. Such a wonderful word that he had never really known about. Now he had a wonderful teacher. Teachers. Dotty and the boys would help him learn.

"Everything's fine. The phone's been ringing off the hook since you left. Everyone's calling, from field agents, training, even the steno pool." Amanda couldn't keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

Lee laughed through the phone. "Yeah, I'm sure they've been calling. I'm over at the apartment and the answering machine's run out of tape. Some of the calls are from co-workers, but there are quite a few from the steno pool too, offering to help me get over the boredom when I can't stand taking out the garbage anymore. I can't believe I actually used to date some of those women. Is Dotty back yet?"

"No. Philip said she called earlier to ask if everything's ok. He said that everything was fine, didn't give her any details, and told me that she'd be back by dinnertime."

"Good."

Amanda quickly looked around her to be sure that there weren't any extra ears. Philip and Jaime were both at friends' houses. "Lee, did you make any headway with Billy?"

"No, not really. He doesn't have any other idea other than to continue to appeal Smyth's decision further up in the ranks. I suspect that Billy will be taking his own walks up Pennsylvania Avenue sometime in the next couple of weeks about this one."

"Well, then, that leaves a pretty open schedule for awhile. What's next on the agenda?"

"I'm closing up the place, and I'll be home soon. Then we can explain everything and be done with all the secrets." He still sounded mad.

"All?"

"Ok, maybe just the ones about our jobs."

"I can think of a couple others, Stetson."

"Like what?" Amanda heard that cocky, arrogant, teasing tone in his voice – the one that he always had before she threw him a curve ball.

"Like those two cans of whipped cream that disappeared after Easter, or the brand new bottle of maraschino cherries and the chocolate syrup last month, or-"

"Ok. You made your point. We won't be done with all the secrets. Just the ones that have been keeping us apart."

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An hour later, the front door slammed. "Lee! You're as bad as the – Mother!"

"That man. I just can't stand it. He's so infuriating!"

"Who, Lee?"

"Amanda, don't ever get involved with someone who has a military past. Any time start talking about past relationships, and venture into theirs all you get is a 'need to know' answer. And he'll tell you that you don't 'need to know.' Oh, Amanda, please tell me that Lee never worked for the government."

"Mother, you know as well as I do that we both work for the government, and that we have access to some private information. We both know about 'need to know'." She deftly avoided the question, and wondered what Kurt had done to get her mother so upset.

"Oh, I suppose you're right, darling. I didn't mean to slam the door. Did you and Lee get everything straightened out? Speaking of, where is he?"

"Yes, Mother. Everything's fine. We're fine. It was all a misunderstanding." Amanda had followed Dotty into the kitchen where she was pouring herself a glass of milk. "And he went over to his apartment to pick up a few more things. He's almost all moved in."

"Oh, good. You know, he told me it was just a misunderstanding. He just-" Dotty was immediately cut off by her daughter's questioning.

"When did he tell you that it was a misunderstanding?"

"When he walked me out to the car the other night. Oh, I'm sure you had other things on your mind that night than to keep track of where Lee was every second after Philip accused him of cheating on you." Dotty started to reach for the cabinet where the Galliano was, and then thought better of it. "So, who was the other woman?"

"Mother, I am not going to answer that. Lee said he wanted to be the one to tell you, and I promised that I wouldn't go over it without him in case you had questions that I couldn't possibly hope to answer and we didn't want your imagination to start to run wild before he got here, so could we just not talk about it until he gets here?"

"I know when he gets here he's just going to try and distract me and we're never going to talk about it." Dotty took a long sip of her milk.

"Some things are 'need to know', Dotty, and this is something you need to know." Lee was leaning into the doorway of the kitchen, and chuckled as his mother-in-law almost choked on her milk.

"Lee Stetson, how many times do I have to tell you to not do that? Why do you do that?" Amanda asked this question multiple times in the past, but usually received a change of subject. This time she was asking with a witness, but she didn't expect anything different.

"Because I like to keep you on your toes." His green eyes twinkled as if they were laughing as he finally gave her an answer to her question. "Dotty, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

"Forgiven. Now will you tell me what this is all about? What was the little misunderstanding that you alluded to the other night? *Who* is the other woman that you've been seeing?" Dotty was like a bulldog with a bone – she wasn't going to let go of this one. Lee and Amanda knew this.

"The other woman I've been seeing in my apartment is… a therapist."

"Therapy? Lee, darling, whatever for?" Dotty looked to her daughter for confirmation, but found that she was walking out of the room. Amanda thought that Lee would be better off explaining this to her mother by himself, and she didn't want to intrude on this moment that would be important in establishing their relationship.

"Dotty, where do I start? With my parents who were murdered when I was 5? Then I lost my grandmother a couple of years later. I had an uncle who didn't allow me to cry about any of it. I lost a couple of good friends who… died too young. Then Amanda got shot a few months back in California. I've lost too many people close to me in my life. I've spent a lot of my life just getting involved with superficial people for superficial reasons – if it wasn't important, if *they* weren't important, then I wouldn't have to worry about losing them." With that, Lee reached for the nearest coffee cup and poured a fresh cup for himself.

"Superficial people? I don't understand; you're not superficial in the least. If you were, I would think that Amanda would have had more sense to not get involved with you."

"You'd think so."

"Pardon me?"

"Dotty, when Amanda first met me, I was the most self-absorbed, selfish, superficial, playboy type of guy you could ever hope to never meet in a bar. I was always with the most beautiful women, at the most prominent society parties. I had the best-tailored suits, well-furnished apartments. Forgive me, but initially I thought your daughter was one of the most accident-prone, incompetent people I had ever met. I got to know her – how nice she is, how kind, dedicated, how much she loves you and the boys. She became my best friend – and I didn't have any close friends to speak of. Then I fell in love with her, and I was scared to death that something was going to happen and take her away from me, like everyone else who had been taken away from me, but I couldn't be without her. You can't have any idea what it was like for me to know that she loved me – that she would marry me." Lee paused to take a long sip of coffee and Dotty waited for him to continue. "Then California happened, and after a few weeks, I couldn't handle it anymore. I had to talk to someone who was removed from the situation. Yes, she was an old girlfriend," at this Dotty stiffened slightly, "but she's a very pregnant, very married old girlfriend, who's an incredible therapist. To tell you the truth, though, Amanda provided much better therapy than I could ever imagine: just by being part of my life."

For a moment, Dotty looked her son-in-law over as he drank his coffee. She noticed that he deliberately kept his eyes focused on the dark liquid in his cup so as to not make eye contact with her. "Lee… thank you for marrying my daughter. You are a wonderful man." Dotty smiled at Lee, with tears just at the edges of her eyes, as he looked slightly surprised at her statement. She reached over to hug her son-in-law.

"Yes, Mother, he is." Amanda had appeared from around the corner where she had been listening to lean against the wall and smile at her mother and her husband. And all seemed right with the world.