Disclaimer: I don't own the situations or characters portrayed herein. I'm just playing with them for a while.

Spiderweb

They had come back from a honeymoon cruise not two weeks ago, after sharing an amazing kiss and working together better than they ever had.

And then she went on a date.

A date.

With a tall, dark and handsome man who Francine said was obviously kinky. Ick.

Bryce Topping.

What was Amanda doing, going out with a man whose name sounded like an ingredient in a ice cream sundae?

And yes, he had better things to worry about, like a dead Romanian defector, but the thing that really got to him was the fact that

Amanda

had gone on a

date

with a MAN

(that Francine knew of, which was never a good thing)

who played polo

and was named

Bryce.

Topping.

Clearly, to her, Lee Stetson was a business partner and that was all.

Well, he'd show her. There was a girl who had been making eyes at him recently at Nedlinger's. What was her name? Toni? Wendy? Brandy? Whatever her name was, he made up his mind that the next time she flirted with him, he'd flirt back.

Now. Back to business.

They had to find and stop a leak for this Spiderweb problem, and that could take days or weeks - time that they did not have.

How could Mitch Larner accuse Amanda of being a double agent?

She was - she was Amanda! She was above suspicion. Even Francine thought it was nonsense.

"Accidents can be arranged," Larner had said, but Lee couldn't see how his meeting with her all those long months ago could have been arranged.

She'd saved his life more times than he could count. She'd been only a force for good in his life. She couldn't possibly be a double agent.

This was Amanda, for crying out loud.

But she'd gone to the Czech embassy. She'd picked up electronic parts for a radio. She'd been at the restaurant with a well-connected Washington attorney.

This wasn't right. The Amanda he knew didn't lie. His Amanda was honest to a fault.

It had broken his heart to send her home in the middle of the day, with no explanation or possibility of defending herself.

It was even worse now, having to search her home. It was a betrayal. It was an insult.

It was a radio. On her counter. His heart almost stopped when he saw it.

Just keep looking, Stetson. Keep a level head.

He threw back his head and laughed. It was all a school project. She'd gone to the Czech embassy for Phillip's school project. Jamie was making a radio transmitter for a school project.

But he had to tell her.

"Amanda, you're in trouble."

"I'm what?"

"You're in trouble at the Agency. That's why I was searching your house."

Her face just crumpled.

"Searching my house?!"

Oof - he hadn't meant to tell her like that. He'd meant to coddle her a little, cushion the blow a little, but —

"Yeah."

"What for?! Why were you searching my house?!"

He reached for her, taking her shoulders in his hands and almost forcibly sitting her down on the arm of the couch.

"Amanda, sit down please."

She looked up at him, her eyes confused. He still saw trust there - and he was going to go and screw it up. He knew that, just as certain as he knew his name was Lee Stetson.

No sense in prolonging the inevitable.

"Alright. Now... Where were you between November of '82 and mid-January of '83?"

Amanda leaned forward, her eyebrows flying up. "Are you Perry Mason?" she asked, unimpressed. "Am I supposed to crack under the pressure or something?"

He couldn't take the jokes. This is important.

"Amanda, please." He could hear the pleading in his voice, knew he was begging, didn't care. "Where were you?"

"I was here."

"You were here?"

He could hear it as plain as day. Where else would I have been? I hadn't met you yet.

"I was here. I was right here!"

He could only repeat it back while his brain caught up with the relief that had swooped into his lungs. "You were here."

"I was right here!"

"Alright." He believed her. Where else would she have been? It wasn't like Dan had taken her anywhere exciting. Was the guy's name Dan? Lee couldn't remember - he'd been so uninteresting.

"Alright, what about the 10,000 deposit in your bank account in February of '83. Do you remember where you got that money?"

"Yes, I remember where I got that money."

"Yeah. Where?" His tone was far more gentle than it usually was for interrogations, but it still made Amanda bristle.

Had it been Dave? No, it was definitely more like Dan than Dave.

She let out a two-syllable "Lee!" of frustration. "There was an electrical fire in the kitchen. You know that! The insurance company paid me 10,000! Now look - You said I was in trouble..."

Dean! That was the guy's name. Stupid man, to let Amanda go.

Speaking of stupid men…

"Just one more thing."

"Yes."

"What were you and that polo player doing at the Chez Tayir the other night? And, where the hell did you meet him, anyway?"

He'd tried hard to keep the unaccountable jealousy out of his words, and he knew full well that he had failed spectacularly.

"You're talking about Bryce Topping?" Her voice was unbelieving.

"Yes. Bryce Topping." Still not doing a good job of keeping the contempt out of his voice.

She started in on a lecture. "Lee! Bryce has a little boy in Jamie's class. I met him at the PTA. He asked me to go to the movies. I said yes. When we came out of the movie, a guy handed me a flyer. It was advertising Chez Tayir. Bryce had been there before; he said, 'why don't we go and have a cup of coffee?'"

Amazing, really, what she could say in one breath.

Wait - "Flyers?"

"Yes, flyers! Flyers. You know, flyers!"

"Flyers! That's it. That's it! They hand them out, hoping that you'll bite. If you do, you show up at the murder scene, and that is more ammunition against you. Man, they are smart!"

"Who are they?"

"The people that are trying to set you up!" He'd gone about this all wrong. He'd started at the end, and he hadn't told her the beginning. "There's been a major security breach at the agency."

Her voice was so soft, and so small, and so sad. "Ohhh, Lee. Oh, you don't think that it was me?"

He couldn't let her ever think he had been persuaded into thinking her a traitor. "No, I never thought that."

"Then why did you break in my house and why were you searching it?" She nodded, and her eyes glazed a little with unshed tears. His heart broke all over again to hear the pain in her voice.

He bent a little to look into her eyes. "I never believed it for a moment, Amanda. I was ordered to search your house."

He'd never heard her make such a wounded noise. "By Mr. Melrose?"

He was trying to be gentle, but — "Yes."

She closed her eyes tightly and let out a sound somewhere between a groan and a long, drawn out sob.

"But, he was ordered, too."

"Ohhhhh!"

That sound tugged on all his heartstrings. It was the cry of a confused little girl who had been betrayed by a friend.

"Look, let's not get bogged down in hurt feelings. Huh?"

Her eyes were still shut tight. "It's all right. My feelings are not hurt."

But they clearly were hurt, and he couldn't undo that. He could only do damage control, and get her to Billy to plead her case as quickly as he could.