Three Weeks Later:

Friday Night

"Congratulations, Amanda," Billy raised his glass toward the woman of the hour. "I thank the stars above every day that you've been able to put up with this guy," he rolled his eyes toward Lee, interrupting the agent's protests, "Now that you're a full-fledged agent, he's officially yours! No givebacks," he added in a rush.

"Hey!" Lee complained.

"No one ever told me there was a return policy," Amanda teased and patted her partner's leg when his mouth formed into a pout.

When the two of them had arrived earlier, they had wordlessly found the corner booth in the small private room that had been reserved to celebrate Amanda's graduation to field agent at the Agency. They had quietly discussed their plans for the weekend, the private celebration they'd be sharing later in the evening and the afternoon they'd planned to spend with her family on Sunday once the boys returned from their father's place. Lee had been over for dinner a few times since she'd been released from the hospital and the boys seemed to be warming to him. Her mother had fallen victim of his charms within moments of their official introductions. A fact that Amanda was not surprised by in the least.

Their whispers of an afternoon picnic in the park had fallen silent as the others had filed into the room. Once word had gotten out at the office, the room had filled to capacity. It was a rare occasion when they all got together socially, except for more somber events, like commiserating on a case gone bad or funerals of colleagues; joyous occasions rarely happened.

"In all seriousness, Amanda," Billy continued, "You've worked hard and performed at the highest level, under some very tough circumstances, I might add. I'm very proud to call you one of my agents."

The small group clinked their glasses together and cheered their friend and colleague.

Amanda smiled enigmatically at her boss and friend before kissing his cheek, "Thank you, Sir."

"You know, Amanda, if I had known you were an agent when we were sparring, I wouldn't have taken it easy on you during your final exam," Francine chided.

Lee bumped shoulders with the blonde and goaded her, "That was some shiner you had, Desmond. It was awfully nice of you to sacrifice yourself for Amanda."

"L-e-e!" Amanda growled on the other side of him. Francine was finally talking to her again, she didn't need him rattling her cage. His only response was to wink at her.

"I was trying to help her pass the class, Scarecrow. I can certainly handle a housewife," she chastised.

"Then you're better than I, Francine . . . You're better than I," he laughed heartily and took a sip of his beer.

"Oh, come on. I'm not that bad, am I?"

Lee smiled and patted the back of her hand reassuringly. "Not at all, Partner." He sat back and watched his colleagues talk animatedly, some offering their congratulations to his partner, who seemed to be finding the attention a bit overwhelming. 'Service in the shadows, indeed,' he thought and smirked.

"Were you feeling nostalgic when you picked this place, Scarecrow? We haven't been here in ages," Francine commented as she looked around the familiar room.

"Actually, Amanda insisted that we come here for drinks tonight," Lee nodded toward his partner who was now chatting with another agent. "She said that now that she was a 'real' agent, she wanted to come back to Monk's and see if she felt any different," he shrugged at Francine's surprised expression.

Once Amanda had finished her conversation, she took the opportunity to get an update on the case. "Sir, what's the latest on the cases against the Weathermen group?" She took a sip of her wine and waited.

Billy glanced to Lee and he nodded imperceptibly, letting their supervisor know that she was in a good place. "Ms. Martin cut a deal with the U.S. Attorney's office in exchange for her testimony against Caputo and Friedman. She'll still see a few years in prison."

Amanda grimaced. "I was afraid of that."

"She nearly got you killed, Amanda!" Lee snarled. "She got off easy if you ask me."

"Lee, she was a troubled young woman back in college and with Tony controlling her life from prison, things only got worse for her, I'm sure."

Lee shook his head in disbelief. 'Only his partner would feel sorry for the bad guy-er girl.' He thought in disbelief.

"What happens to the other two? Will I have to testify?" Amanda inquired.

"Well, Friedman is taking a plea deal, so there won't be a trial, but he'll still do many years in prison."

"And Tony?" Lee could hear the slight tremor in her voice and squeezed her shoulder in reassurance.

"He wants to go to trial," their supervisor responded solemnly. "The case is open and shut, Amanda. Your testimony and that of his co-conspirators will be enough to convict him. He won't see the outside of prison ever again."

Amanda nodded in understanding before taking a sip of her wine.

"More than that bastard deserves!" Lee snapped.

"Your glass is almost empty, Amanda! Can't have that," Francine poured the remaining contents of the bottle into the glass.

"Oh, no," she attempted to cover her glass with little success. "I'm good, Francine. I've got to get going soon. I've got an early morning."

Lee frowned and raised a brow. "I thought we were going to –" he began to whisper when she interrupted him.

"We are. Why do you think I need to be up early?" she murmured and then gave him one of her dirtiest laughs and he couldn't help the deep groan that rose from his throat.

"Can I have everyone's attention?" Lee called out to the room after he'd recovered. He cleared his throat, "I would like to propose a toast," he turned to his left and stared into the eyes of the woman that had seemingly overnight, become his world. "To Amanda, the woman that helped the Scarecrow find his brain and Lee, the man, to find his heart."

The room stilled at Scarecrow's rare show of emotions. Billy was the first to respond, "Here! Here!" and then the sound of glasses clinking filled the room.

Amanda dabbed at the tears welling up in her eyes before gulping the last of her wine down. Lee wasn't sure if the rush of color to her cheeks was out of embarrassment from his uncharacteristic speech or from the wine. Either way, it was good to see her looking and feeling better.

"What do you say, Partner? Should I take you home?" He smirked at his choice of words, seemingly innocent, but oh so devious.

He saw the hint of a smile appear at the corners of her mouth, but she simply nodded in agreement before sliding out of the booth and taking his hand.

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Later that evening . . .

Amanda stood staring out the window of Lee's apartment, memories of their first time, just over six weeks ago flooding her senses. It felt more like six months to her now. While it had been painful to go through, through is what they had done. They were through all of the lies, through with hiding their feelings, and through playing games.

Lee's arm wrapped around her waist from behind and his other arm came around to place a chilled glass of champagne in front of her and she accepted it with a sigh. "I'd like to make a toast," he declared.

"You already made a beautiful toast earlier in front of all our friends and colleagues." she reminded him.

"This. One. Is. Just. For. You," he whispered near her ear, punctuating each word with a tiny kiss to her neck before sucking in the lobe and she groaned in response. He pulled back and inhaled deeply as she turned to look him in the eyes, "To a very special agent, whom I love very much." He tapped her glass with his own and took a quick sip.

She watched him with wonder. If her life really was something out of spy movie, she sure was enjoying these last few scenes and hoped they only got better. 'How did we ever get so lucky as to find one another?' she wondered dreamily. "I love you, Lee," she kissed him passionately, nearly dropping her champagne in the process, laughing with pure joy and appreciation for everything that had brought them to this point.

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