Take Two: Chapter 7 – "Laying Ghosts Down to Rest"

Lee has some ghosts he needs to put behind them. This focuses on the episode "Lost and Found." Since I have changed up the relationship between Lee and Amanda, I wanted that to be reflected here, along with his need to put his past relationships behind him.

Dottie turned to head up the stairs and then looked back at her daughter. "Amanda, just remember one thing, darling. Life is short. If I were you, I would tell Lee exactly how I feel."

If only it were that simple. After getting to know Lee over the last few months, she worried that if she mentioned to him how she really felt about him, he would rebuild the walls she had been painstakingly breaking down.

Little did she know that the next two days would be a test of their new relationship.

Billy looked into the conference room with Amanda at Angelo Spinelli. "Several years ago, Lee went undercover as a graduate student to listen to Angelo Spinelli's seminars on the tactical use of ESP. There, he met a young woman who was Angelo's assistant and her name was Eva. Both Lee and Angelo dated her, and I think Lee actually fell in love with her. However, in the end she chose and married Angelo." Through the window, he saw Lee's shoulders tense then slump. Billy sighed when he realized Lee received the unfortunate news. "She was killed shortly Angelo's arrest."

Amanda gasped, and a sadness for Lee swept through her. She stood with Billy watching Lee for a few moments before Billy turned to look at Amanda. "Give him a few days. But stay close. He needs you more now than ever."

Amanda nodded and focused on Lee's body language. That alone told her all she needed to know.

Learning that Eva was not dead, not only threw Lee into a tailspin, but also caused some confusion for Amanda. There were just some things that didn't add up about Eva's interaction with her husband, nor the way she interacted with Lee. She decided to bring this up with Lee after dinner was over and they were the only ones in the kitchen.

"There's something about her that bothers me," Amanda commented as they wrapped up the cleaning of the kitchen.

Lee paused in mopping the floor and looked up at her. "What do you mean?

Amanda shrugged. "Well, I don't really know." She looked thoughtful, then continued. "It's probably something that only another woman would pick up on." She paused. "Um, I'm not sure that she loves him?" Lee looked at her incredulously. "What? There is something about the way she looks at him. There's just no magic."

"Magic? Lee repeated. Amanda nodded her head. "Yeah, magic." She turned and leaned the broom up against the wall, then stuffed her hands into the pockets of her pants. "Lee, it is over between you and Eva, right? When something's over, it's over. Shouldn't bother you at all. Because it is over." She hesitated. "Isn't it? Because, I've been watching her, and I don't think she knows that it is over."

Lee walked over to Amanda and gathered her in his arms. "Amanda, if there is one thing I need you hear from me tonight, it is to remember that you are the packaged deal, we're exclusive, remember?" He felt her nod. "Yes, I have several ghosts from my past that I need to put behind me. This particular ghost I need to put to rest once and for all, and I guess that means that sometime soon I need to have a conversation with her." He tipped her head back. "But I promised you, that we are in this together. And I will not disappoint you."

Amanda could only nod her head and tucked it back under his chin. She only hoped that answer was the same once this assignment was over.

Lee heard some indistinct murmurings coming from the spare bedroom. Getting up and with a hand on his gun, he opened the door to see that Eva was on the phone speaking Italian.

Lee walked back into the living room once Eva had shooed him from the bedroom and closed the door. She had taken the time to call Angelo's doctor, at 3am? He started to pace. With her being so near to him, he couldn't sit still. He finally realized that she was talking.

"The truth is, Lee, I have made a mistake." Eva began. Lee paused in his pacing. What was she saying?

"I admire Angelo, I respect Angelo and in that sense, I do love him. But if I am to stay with him, it would only be out of -"

Lee was confused. "If you were to stay with him?

Eva shrugged. "Well, I would never leave him until I saw him safe and happy. I may never leave him. But I want you to know, in case it is never to be said, that I have loved you for all of those two years since I last saw you." Lee shook his head, turned his back to her. No, this couldn't be happening. "Did you ever love me? If you had told me then, things might be so different now." Lee turned back to her. "How do you feel?"

Lee sighed. He thought back to his conversation with Amanda earlier that evening.

When something's over, it's over.

Shouldn't bother you at all.

Because it is over.

Isn't it?

He turned back to her. "Eva, if we had this conversation two years ago, the answer would have been yes, I loved you." He took a step back from her, putting distance between them to emphasis his next statement. "The thing is, I've moved on – I'm involved with someone else."

"And I'm married!" Eva stressed. "But that shouldn't stop our true feelings. Lee, surely you still feel something for me – "

Um, I'm not sure that she loves him?

What? Something about the way she looks at him.

There's just no magic.

Magic?

Yeah, magic.

"Eva, no, there is no more magic between us." Lee stepped even further back from her. "I think you should go back to your husband. Because the truth is –"

At that moment, the door slammed open and Lee was faced with three armed intruders.

After the Russians had left, and Lee and Eva had begun their searched for Angelo, Lee felt his suspicions begin to rise. When he finally recognized that Eva had led them around by the nose all afternoon, he began to realize he really should have listened to Amanda the night before. They got to the car lot just in time for Eva to pull a gun on him, and he finally heard the last of the truths. Luckily, Amanda had taken the bullets out of the gun when she had found it.

The cavalry arrived, and the Russians were rounded up along with Eva. Lee watched as Eva was led to the Agency Car; however, he knew he needed to tie up one last loose string. "Hey, Dick, could you give us a few minutes?" The agent nodded and stepped away to give them a semblance of privacy. Lee looked at Eva and knew the exact question he needed to ask. "You were with them even then, weren't you? And marrying him was just an assignment."

"Yes," she quietly confessed.

He plowed on. "And you were never in love with me." Silence was his answer, so he started to step away.

"Lee?" He turned back around. "Of course I was in love with you."

There was nothing he had left to say to her, so he turned around and headed in the direction of the one he had been learning to call home.

She saw him coming to her, and seeing something in his face caused her to give him an encouraging smile and hold her hand out to him. Lee took it and slowly walked them away from the agency cars back to his own. "Amanda, I know these last few days haven't been easy for you." He could see she was about to respond so held his hand up. "Let me finish. While we have been seeing each other, and been exclusive, I knew there would be some ghosts that would come up from time to time. I just never expected it to be this one."

They walked on in silence for a few moments. "I've been thinking a lot about what you said the other night when I was trying to put this ghost behind me, and last night it came to me."

"Oh, what was it I said?" she asked staring straight ahead.

Lee stopped and turned her to face him. "Remember when you said that, uh, when it's really over I'll know when it's over? Guess what."

"What?" she asked breathlessly, not sure if she would like the answer.

Lee tightened his grip on her hands pulling her to him. "That ghost - it's over! My future right now is with you – packaged deal, remember?"

Amanda's smile brightened. "I remember. Packaged deal." She also remembered something her mother said just two days ago.

Life is short. If I were you, I would tell Lee exactly how I feel.

"Lee? This is not the most ideal place, and I know that you may not be ready to say the same," Amanda began to ramble, "But, I realized with this case that life is short. And I cannot keep moving on without letting you know how I feel, how I feel about you."

She felt his arms tightened around her. She smiled encouragingly, lifted her hands to cup his face. "Lee, I don't want another day to go by without letting you know that I think I am falling in love with you."

"You are?" he smiled, taking a deep breath. He leaned closer to her. "Because, I have to tell you, I think I am, too."

And on that note, Lee pulled her to him in a tight hug, letting her know in his quiet way that he had no plans of ever letting go.