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.