Disclaimer: I don't own the situations or characters portrayed herein. I'm just playing with them for a while.
A Class Act
He loved Amanda dearly - he really did. As a person and as a friend.
Not as a new agency recruit, and certainly not at Station One or Dodge City.
She was disastrous enough as a civilian auxiliary. He dreaded the mayhem she would cause as an agent.
Imagine an agent who was easily hypnotized (though Dr. Quidd said it only worked if Lee was in the room), who didn't know how to shoot, and who hated lying. It was a recipe for disaster not unlike those of Mrs. Welch.
Besides, a little nagging voice in the back of his mind kept repeating, if she doesn't make it through training she'll have to be reassigned. It was just clinical, procedural protocol, and he hated it.
Everyone else was clustered around Peggy, who was still shaken from her ordeal, but he went for Amanda, separating her from the group and pulling her out of the crowd.
"Amanda, that was - that was not bad." He grinned a little at remembering his first assessment of her work with the Vigilant, and his pride at her unexpected skills.
She understood. "Thank you," she beamed, mirroring his smile. "Thank you so much."
"It's Amanda you're after? You think she's our top agent?"
"Was. I would suspect it's too late to help her now."
He had Vardosk by the collar, had him right where he wanted him after ten years of pursuit, and he was willing to throw it all away to just get to Amanda in time.
"You dirty - " he gasped, flinging the man headfirst into the opposite wall.
As Vardosk fell, Lee ran - ran back to the saloon where he had left Amanda, thinking she would be safe.
As he neared the door, he heard clattering and scuffling, and one heartstopping thud of a body hitting the floor.
He leaped down the stairs and found Amanda getting to her feet, Peggy Marlowe sprawled on the ground in front of her.
A wave of heady relief swept through him, and he almost dropped his gun.
No, it hadn't been a successful Station One, especially with having to cut it short due to a Russian infiltrator. But, on the other hand —
Amanda had an incomplete in the course, not a failing grade.
She didn't have to be reassigned.