Chapter 2

Amanda strolled down the hall and nodded a greeting to the two MP guards standing outside the bullpen doors. She smiled at the young man who graciously opened the door for her and then stepped inside the bustling operations center of the Agency.

"Good morning, Amanda, and where's Lee? I hope he's not planning on skipping this meeting. I just spent the morning with Dr. Smyth, and if Lee is AWOL again, I'm giving you fair warning that he'll be spending the next two weeks somewhere that's very cold, dark and isolated." Billy finished pouring himself a cup of coffee and turned to look at the brunette, expectantly awaiting an answer.

Amanda smiled pleasantly at her boss as she started walking toward his office. "I promise you that he has a very good reason for not being here, sir. He got a call from another one of his family members. Since we're not a hundred percent sure about what's going down, and that it would be in our best interest to pursue every possible lead, we decided it made the most sense for Lee to go meet this contact alone, and I would come to the meeting with you. He said he'd get here as soon as he could."

Billy let out a sigh as he opened his office door and allowed his agent to precede him into the room. "I guess I can't argue with that one, especially since we want to make sure we have as much to go on as possible." He walked past the chair Amanda had just seated herself in and walked around his desk. Sitting down in his chair, he picked up his phone and punched in a few numbers on the base. "Francine, can you please join us in my office, now?" Receiving an affirmative response from his assistant, he placed the receiver down and then picked up a folder from his desk. "I must say, even though you and Lee couldn't get closer, the pictures you took were very clear. The photo lab blew a few of them up and, with Ernie the camera's help, we were able to identify the young man talking to Stoev."

"I thought Lee was going to be here." Francine commented as she entered. "Or did he figure out a way to get you to attend meetings for him, too?" She glanced at Amanda as she sat down in the empty chair in front of her boss' desk.

"He's out double checking another lead, Francine." Billy interjected before a verbal battle began and got them off track. "Now, as I was saying," he opened the folder and passed one of the pictures to Francine and another to Amanda, "the man talking to Anton Stoev is definitely a member of the Secret Service. His name is Steven Richmond, and according to his personnel file, he's been with the Secret Service for almost ten years. Right now he's assigned to the close personal detail of the President-Elect."

"Sir, if he's been a loyal agent for so many years, what could Stoev possibly offer him that would make him want to commit treason?" Amanda glanced at her boss briefly before looking down at the picture of the young man she now held in her hand. Although she had commented to herself yesterday that he was handsome, seeing his face even closer, she was struck by just how good looking he really was. He had the most intense ice-blue eyes and, if she wasn't already married, she had to admit that she wouldn't mind going out on a date or two with Steven Richmond.

"I don't know, but that's what we need to find out." Billy answered and then turned towards his assistant. "We've already set up a light surveillance on Richmond hoping to get some idea of what his habits and haunts are. Francine, I want you to cozy up to Richmond. We'll use the basic rules for the Peacock Dance. No need to get fancy, yet."

Francine looked up at her boss and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Billy, but I can't do it."

Billy leaned forward and glared at the blonde. "And why not?"

"I know that I've never refused a Peacock Dance assignment before," Francine sighed, "and I'm not saying I can't because I have a hot date, which I'm sure is running through your mind at the moment," she looked at her boss seriously, "but in this case, I can't because I know Richmond. I dated his brother a while back and met Steven at a family gathering. So, I wouldn't be able to use my wiles on him to seduce any information out of him. Donald, Steven's brother, did say, however, that Steven was a real player and had a thing for brunettes."

"Well, then, it looks like the little housewife gets to strut her peacock feathers instead." Dr. Smyth glanced directly at Amanda as all eyes in the room turned to look in his direction. "I see I'm just in time. I came down to tell you that the current President wants us to make this our number one priority. He's not even telling his own Secret Service about this, in case we risk tipping our hand. That means we will do whatever it takes to ensure that no one assassinates the President-Elect on my watch, got it kiddies?"

"I'm sorry, Dr. Smyth, but why me? I'm sure there are quite a few female, brunette agents who would be better qualified to seduce Steven Richmond." Amanda reached up and nervously began playing with her necklace. Although on one hand, she wouldn't mind proving to her fellow agents that she could do the job, on the other, she was a married woman, even if no one in the room knew that. From what she knew of Agency regulations, married agents did not have to take assignments that would force them to break their marriage vows.

"Because," Dr. Smyth ignored Amanda and looked directly at Billy, "I think it's time the little housewife got off the bench, don't you? She's the perfect candidate, no one would suspect little miss 'sugar and spice' of being anything but honest in her intentions." He glanced over at the brunette, "Of course, Mrs. King, if you feel you're not up to the task of protecting the life of the man who will soon be signing your paychecks, then I'd say you don't belong in the field." He glared intently at Amanda. "Do this, or find yourself chained to a desk, permanently." Without missing a beat, he glanced back towards Billy. "I want a copy of the final arrangements on my desk before the end of the day today." He then turned and walked out of Billy's office.

Amanda turned to look pleadingly at her boss as she continued to clutch her necklace. "Sir, I don't suppose there's any way out of this. It's not that I don't want to do everything I can to protect the President-Elect, but I think I'd be better doing the research end, and…well…"

Billy had a feeling that Amanda was extremely hesitant because of her partner. He knew how jealous Lee could get and he was pretty sure the brunette was dubious about being able to do what needed to be done and still keep Scarecrow from beating the man senseless. He knew Lee was a good agent, but when it came to Amanda King, his best agent seemed to forget how to do his job, especially since, no matter how hard he tried to hide it from everyone around him, Lee Stetson was very much in love with his partner. "Amanda, I think I know what you're worried about and since it seems we have no choice in this matter, I'll assign Francine to be your backup."

Francine looked at Billy and then Amanda. "And exactly who's going to tell Lee?"

"Tell me what?"

Francine and Amanda exchanged a worried glance with each other, and then, instead of looking at the man who had just entered, they both looked back at their section chief.

Billy nodded at the agent. "Ah Scarecrow, good of you to join us. Did you find out anything from your source?"

"Yes, there's definitely a plot against the President-Elect but he couldn't confirm one way or another that the Libyans were involved. All he could tell me was that there was a rumor that they were, nothing concrete though." Lee walked over to the window and leaned against it. He then folded his arms and looked from his wife, who was avoiding looking him in the eye, to his boss. "Now, would someone like to tell me what it is that no one seems to want to tell me?"

Billy took a deep breath. "We were just discussing the fact that we have an ID on the Secret Service agent. His name is Steven Richmond and it's been decided that we're going to have to do a Peacock Dance to get the information we need." He turned his attention back to Amanda. "Do you think that Richmond would recognize you?"

Amanda shook her head. "No, sir. Both Lee and I were pretty well bundled and…well, we kept our faces well hidden." Suddenly it was a little warmer in the room, and she hoped she wasn't blushing noticeably as she focused on a stack of files on her boss' desk, purposely avoiding eye contact with her husband or anyone else in the room.

Lee looked at his boss curiously. "Why do we care if this Richmond guy would recognize Amanda? It's not like she's going to be doing the…" He stopped and his eyes grew wide as he looked over at his very silent wife. "Wait just a minute, Billy," He glared at his boss, "you don't mean to tell me that you're assigning Amanda to do the Peacock Dance."

Billy nodded. "I am, and before you start to protest…"

"Billy, Amanda cannot do the Peacock Dance with this Richmond guy." Lee pushed away from the window and, walking over to his boss' desk, placed his hands on the wooden surface, daring his boss to argue with him.

Billy stood and crossed his arms across his chest. Glancing briefly at Amanda, he looked back towards Lee. "And why can't she? She's passed all her Agency classes with extremely high marks and she's proven herself time and time again that she's capable of anything. Not to mention the fact that she's ideal for the assignment. Richmond likes brunettes and, unless I'm suddenly colorblind, Amanda is a brunette, and a very attractive one at that. She's already seen him, and has been on this case from the beginning."

Amanda took a deep breath and stood. "If everyone is done talking about me like I'm not in the room…" She turned and looked at her boss. "Thank you for the high praise and compliments, sir," she then glanced in her husband's direction. "Lee, the assignments have already been given out and as far as I can tell there's no more room for discussion."

Lee looked at his wife. "Amanda, you can't seriously be saying that you're taking this assignment?"

"It's already been decided, Lee, I'm taking the assignment and this discussion is over." Amanda glared at her husband, daring him to tell their section chief exactly why she couldn't take the assignment.

"She's right, Scarecrow, it's not open for debate." Billy looked at Lee intently.

Lee ran a hand through his hair and looked from Amanda and then to his boss. "Billy, Amanda cannot take this assignment because…" he looked back at his wife, who was still looking him, daring him to spill the beans about their marriage, "because she just can't - she's my partner..."

Francine had been watching the entire exchange with extreme interest. Although she had warned her friend not to pursue a relationship with Lee, and Amanda had told her that they had broken things off, anyone watching the intensity of the emotions running across each of the partners' faces, could tell that there was more to their relationship than just a working partnership. "Lee, you don't have to worry about 'your partner' on this one, she'll be just fine. Besides I'll be working backup, I'll make sure nothing happens to her."

"What do you mean you'll be working backup!" Lee glared first at Francine and then at his boss. "Billy, I'm Amanda's partner, you have no right to take me off of this case. She and I have been working this from the start, in fact it was my family who put us onto this little plot in the first place."

Billy shook his head. "I'm not taking you off the case, Scarecrow, but you won't be working backup, you'll be handling research. Do you really think you could effectively listen to Amanda seduce Richmond and still remain objective? I for one don't think you can. There's too much at stake for us to allow anything to go wrong on this one, Lee. We have to catch this guy before we have an international incident on our hands and nothing, I mean, nothing can interfere with that."

Lee looked up towards the ceiling and took a deep breath before looking back at his section chief. "Billy, I know how to do my job, and I can separate my emotions from my job when I have to."

"Ha! That's a good one Lee. You let your emotions rule your actions more often than not lately." Amanda stood up and put her hands on her hips. "I bet you don't think I can do this assignment because you think that I won't be able to keep my emotions from interfering with my job?" The expression on her husband's face seemed to fuel her anger even more. It was the look he seemed to have lately when he thought something was too dangerous or something she couldn't handle and she was tired of it. All the regrets she'd been having about taking this assignment were quickly wiped away by her husband's stubbornness. "Oh sure, it's perfectly okay for you to seduce someone in the line of duty while I sit in the car and listen, but when the shoe's on the other foot, you think that you have a right to say what I can and cannot do…" She took a deep breath to keep herself from saying something she might regret later and turned her attention back to her boss. "Sir, if there's nothing else, I believe there's work to be done and I'd like to get a head start on pulling any files we have on the Secret Service."

Billy had sensed that things were quickly getting out of hand and was thankful that Amanda had taken the initiative to end it before things got way out of control. He had been avoiding telling Lee that it was really Dr. Smyth who had ordered Amanda to do the Peacock Dance because it would have only added more fuel to the already raging fire, and if Amanda hadn't changed tactics when she did, he would have had no other choice than to do just that. "I think we've covered about as much as we can for now. I was able to get in touch with a friend who works in the Office of the Secret Service and he sent me some information on Richmond and a few others that have been assigned to the President-Elect's detail. I didn't want to raise any suspicions over there and told him we were just doing a favor for the current President, double checking security. The files should've been dropped off with Mrs. Marston by now and are addressed to the Film Library. You can stop and get them from her on your way up to the Q-bureau." He glanced down at his watch and then back at his assistant. "Francine, since you have a past history with Richmond, I want you and Amanda to get together and figure out the best way to approach him. We'll reconvene here at three o'clock and go over any scenarios that the two of you have come up with."

Francine looked at Amanda. "How about we meet in about an hour, we can go grab some lunch?"

Amanda nodded. "That should give me plenty of time to review the files Mr. Melrose had sent over from the Secret Service." She glanced over at her boss. "Thank you, sir." She then turned and, without looking at her husband, headed out of the office and into the bullpen.

"Scarecrow, I want you to stay behind and tell me what exactly you found out from your family." Billy looked directly at his best agent.

Lee shook his head. "Not now, Billy." He quickly left the office and raced to catch up to his wife. He wanted to find out exactly why she had accepted this assignment.

Amanda tapped her foot and stared at the elevator doors, willing them to open. She had a feeling that Lee wasn't going to just let her walk away mad, and as she glanced back down the hallway she saw her husband angrily entering the hallway. She turned her head and glared at the doors in front of her. 'Come on, come on.'

"Amanda, you can't seriously tell me that you're taking this assignment." Lee said through clenched teeth when he'd reached his wife. "Aside from the fact that you don't have the right kind of experience, there's the little matter of," he glanced up and down the hallway and then leaned in and whispered, "you know, your marital status."

Amanda turned and glared at her husband. "Lee, right now I'm so angry that if I even respond to that statement right here and now, I'm going to say something I'll regret later." The elevator dinged, signaling its arrival and she turned and watched the doors open. "We'll continue this conversation in the Q-Bureau where there aren't as many ears." She angrily pushed aside the coats hanging in the elevator and entered the small enclosure.

Lee was about to make a comment as he moved towards the elevator, but paused when his boss' voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Scarecrow my office, NOW!"

Amanda looked intently at her husband. "You better go, he's having a bad Dr. Smyth day, and you really don't want to cross him."

Lee took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes at his wife. "Fine, but this conversation is far from over."

Amanda watched Lee turn and head back towards the bullpen, muttering to herself as the doors closed, "Oh, you can bet this conversation isn't over. In fact we're only just getting started." She stared at the now closed doors. "Who does he think he his, trying to tell Mr. Melrose what I can and cannot do." The elevator dinged again, signaling that she had reached the main level. Stepping out of the elevator she took a deep breath and pushed her anger aside as she walked towards Mrs. Marston. "Mr. Melrose said that some files addressed to the Film Library should've been dropped off by messenger."

Mrs. Marston nodded as she handed a white envelope marked classified to Mrs. King. "Just arrived five minutes ago."

"Thank you, Mrs. Marston." Amanda accepted the parcel and turned back towards the stairs. She took the steps two at a time, anxious to get up to the solitude of her office, hoping to have a few minutes of peace before her husband arrived. Her repressed anger reared its head once more at the mere thought of Lee. 'Did he think that I didn't consider the fact that we're married when I was told I had to take this assignment? It's not like I really had a choice in the matter.' She reached the top of the stairs and opened the door that led to the upstairs offices. 'I am so tired of waiting in the car and listening to everyone else play out scenarios with the suspects. So what if I'm married, it's not like we've told anyone. No, we decided to keep it a big old secret.'

Stepping into the hallway, Amanda briskly made her way to her office door. Digging out her keys, she opened the door and stepped into the office. "I don't know if Mr. Melrose calling Lee back was a good thing or not," she remarked out loud as she slammed the door shut. "I am so angry right now I just want to shake my husband till some amount of sense makes its way into that feeble, arrogant, male mind of his." She made her way over to her desk and sat down with a thud. Opening the envelope marked 'Confidential' that she had collected from Mrs. Marston, she took a deep breath and tried to get her emotions under control. She had a job to do and she needed to get started on finding out everything she could on Steven Richmond before she met Francine for lunch.

Amanda pulled ten personnel files from the envelope, and quickly scanned through the names until she came upon the file marked Richmond, Steven. Opening it, she saw his ID picture and once again thought what a handsome man Steven was. 'I can do this, I know I can. He may not really be my type, but I can definitely pretend to be attracted to him, what woman in her right mind wouldn't be.' She looked into the ice-blue eyes that stared back at her. "What would make someone like you want to assassinate the person you're supposed to be protecting?" She let out a small sigh. "I guess that's what I have to find out." She started reading the information contained in his folder and a small grin crossed her features when she came across one of his supervisor's notes: 'Has great instincts, and loves the ladies.' Just like someone else she knew, and suddenly her grin turned to a frown and she threw the folder down on the desk.

"Yes, just like someone else I know." Amanda glanced over at her husband's desk. 'Maybe I'm over-reacting. He doesn't like surprises, and since he came in at the end of the meeting, he had no idea that Dr. Smyth all but ordered me to take the assignment. Then again, he probably would have acted exactly the same way. Always trying to protect me, shelter me, keep me out of harm's way just because I'm his wife.' She pushed her chair away from her desk. "Arghhh. I just know that his biggest issue isn't the fact that we're married. It's the fact that I'm the one who's going to be taking the risks. He's just going to use our marriage as an excuse to justify his behavior." Amanda stood up from the desk and started pacing the room. "I bet he thinks I can't do it. I bet he's thinking that I'm too much of a goody-two shoes, always playing by the rules, that I can't get another man to come on to me. I'll show him just how wrong he is…" Her rant was interrupted when she heard the doorknob of the Q Bureau being turned and as she stopped in front of her desk she watched as her husband entered, sporting a very pained expression.

Lee closed the door behind him and locked it. He didn't want any unexpected interruptions to the conversation he was about to have with his wife. Despite the fact that he didn't need Billy to remind him that Amanda was a full-time agent and perfectly capable of handling herself in any situation, it didn't change the fact that she was his wife. If they didn't have to hide that fact, then they wouldn't be having this discussion in the first place. Taking a deep breath, he had decided, before entering, that he would appeal to her sense of reasoning, and would calmly try and make her see his side of this. Moving over to where she stood, he put a gentle hand on her arm. "Amanda, you've got to see that you can't do this. It's not just that you're my wife, this guy is a member of the Secret Service. That means he probably knows all kinds of defensive and offensive moves. He could overpower you and you could find yourself way out of your league very fast. It's not as easy for a female agent to keep control of a situation like that, as it is for a male."

"Of all the chauvinistic…" Amanda shrugged his hand off of her arm and, letting out a long frustrated sigh, turned to glare at her husband. "I am perfectly capable of protecting myself, thank you, I did pass Dr. Pain's class, with flying colors I might add." She took two steps back from her husband. "And yes, I am your wife, but after that display downstairs, even if I had wanted to turn down this assignment, your behavior in front of Mr. Melrose and Francine forced my hand. I now want to prove to them and to you, that I am capable of getting the information and doing my part to stop the assassination attempt."

Any attempt at being reasonable had quickly gone out the window at his wife's cavalier attitude. "Do you want to sleep with this guy?" Lee asked as he glared at her.

Amanda looked towards the ceiling. "No, of course I don't want to sleep with him. I can't believe you'd even suggest such a thing." She looked back at her husband. "I'm going to do everything in my power not to let it get that far."

"What do you mean, 'you'll do everything in your power'?" Lee balled his hands into fists. "You're going to make damn sure that you don't have the opportunity to even let it get that far. There's no way you're even going to make it back to that guy's apartment."

"I am going to do whatever it takes to get the information." Amanda pointed towards the files on her desk. "If Steven Richmond is planning on assassinating anyone we need to find out exactly how and why and if that means that I have to go back to his apartment with him and give him some sort of knock out drug then that's exactly what I plan on doing." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Why was he being so stubborn about this? "Besides, it's not like Dr. Smyth gave me much of a choice in the matter. It was either accept the job or find myself chained to a desk, permanently. I couldn't very well say 'sorry Dr. Smyth, but I can't take the assignment because I'm married and just neglected to tell you or anyone else here at the Agency'." She eyed her husband suspiciously. "Is that what you want, me chained to a desk?"

"Of course I don't. I want you by my side." Lee let his voice soften. "But don't you see, you being married to me is exactly why you can't do this." He moved closer to his wife and tentatively reached out to take her hand in his. "Amanda, I don't want you to do this. Billy was right, I don't think I have the stomach to think about another guy touching you, kissing you. Do you have any idea how hard it is to do the Peacock Dance with someone, especially when someone you love is listening, and if you even have an inkling as to how hard that is, than you have to realize that it's twice as hard to listen to them romancing another person?"

"Yes, Lee, I know exactly how hard it is to listen to the man I love seducing another woman. Need I remind you of the little dance you did with Sonja two years ago?" Amanda watched her husband shake his head. "Which is exactly why Mr. Melrose wisely decided that you wouldn't be my backup on this one." She squeezed his hand affectionately and led him over to the couch. "I know it's not going to be easy, but I can do this. I can turn the charm on and flirt, heck, I probably won't even have to." Sitting down, she patted the seat next to her and waited till her husband was seated beside her. "You're always saying that you can't leave me alone in a room anymore, because the minute your back is turned some guy has come up to me and started a conversation. Besides, it's not the first time one of us has had to do something we didn't want to. What about Elisa Danton, or did you forget that we were married when you had to cozy up to her?"

"Amanda, that was different, you know that." Lee looked at his wife as he ran a hand through his hair. "Besides nothing happened, I've told you that a million times, she came on to me and from what you told me of your conversation in her hospital room, she confirmed that."

"That's my point, sometimes we're put into situations where we have to do something we don't want to do, but I trust you," Amanda reached out and lovingly caressed his cheek, "and I love you. I know you would never do anything to betray that trust. Now you have to trust me. I'm not going to let anything go too far."

Lee turned his head and placed a gentle kiss on her palm before reaching up and taking her hand in his. "I do trust you. It's just that we don't know much about this guy, if he's willing to take another man's life, who's to say he won't hesitate in trying to hurt you." He looked lovingly into his wife's eyes. "I just don't understand why you even want to do this in the first place. Please help me understand why, you, someone who wanted us to wait until we were married before making love for the first time, would willingly throw herself at another man, no matter what the reason."

Amanda let out another deep sigh. "I guess you weren't paying attention before when I told you that I didn't have a choice. I had to take this assignment, because if I turned it down, Dr. Smyth said he'd chain me to a desk permanently."

"Did he have Billy tell you this, or did he tell you in person." Lee took a few deep breaths to keep his anger under control.

Amanda shook her head. "No, it wasn't Mr. Melrose's idea at all. Dr. Smyth showed up right around the time Francine mentioned that she couldn't take the assignment because she has a history with Steven Richmond's brother. He basically ordered me to take the assignment and then left, in typical Dr. Smyth fashion. You missed the whole exchange by about five minutes."

Lee gritted his teeth and pounded his fist into his hand as he sprung up from the couch. "Dr. Smyth has gone too far this time, Amanda. What right does he have to order you to do something that you don't want to do? Regardless of whether or not you're married, an agent has a right to refuse any assignment. I'm going up to his office right now and I'm going to give the old man a piece of my mind."

Amanda quickly rose from her seat and placed a gentle hand on his arm. "Lee, what are you going to tell him? Are you going to come right out and say that you don't want your wife participating in a Peacock Dance? Do you have any idea what'll happen if you do? You'll do the same thing that I was trying to avoid doing. We're not ready to let that cat out of the bag just yet."

Lee glared at his wife. "Fine, since I obviously don't have a say in this anymore, I'm going out to get some air." He then stormed over to the door, flicked the lock and slammed the door open.

Amanda stared at the now empty doorway and sank back down onto the couch. She knew this wasn't easy on her husband, and hopefully he'd come around, and then maybe she could find a way to calmly let him know that this whole situation wasn't easy for her, either. She was feeling a bit determined to prove to everyone she could do this, but at the same time, she knew, that no matter how it played out, she'd feel like she was cheating on her husband and that wasn't something she was at all comfortable doing. Taking a deep breath, she rose from the couch and headed over to her desk. She still had a lot of research to do, and Francine would be up here soon to discuss Steven Richmond. Sitting down at her desk, she reopened the file and tried to focus her attention on her soon-to-be Peacock partner instead of her pigheaded husband.

To Be Continued…