Author's Note: So for this one, I decide to expand the scene when Amanda and Lee are locked in their cell when she's telling him that she's scared. After all, they were already on the floor. Thanks to Sheila for the idea of using the "Brady Bunch" reference.

Chapter 51-Seeking a Little Warmth

"Utopia Now"

Amanda glanced at her watch and said, "You know, Mother's gonna' be awfully worried if I'm not home tonight."

Lee looked up from the map and said, "Hey," as he reached for her hand. "Is that your way of telling me that you're scared?"

"Yes," she said as they made eye contact and she felt slightly comforted by his hand in hers.

"I don't blame you," Lee replied as he squeezed her hand reassuringly. "I'm a little worried myself." As he made a move to get up, Amanda stopped him by using her free hand to grasp at his shoulder and pressed her lips firmly to his, needing the warmth of his presence to ease her fear. Lee responded instantly by reaching for the back of her head to deepen the kiss. Amanda pushed on his shoulders until he was lying on his back, her atop him, never breaking their kiss as they moaned into each other's mouths. Amanda reached for his belt, opening it quickly followed by his pants. "Amanda, wait," Lee said as he pulled back from her.

"Lee, I need-"

He pressed a finger to her lips to silence her. "I know. Me too, but this isn't going to work like this." He nodded toward their booted feet.

"Oh, right," Amanda said in realization as she sat up and made quick work of untying her boots while Lee did the same. Then they were in each other's arms again, tugging at each other's clothing, kissing feverishly in the desperate need they felt to have at least one last time together in the event that they didn't make it out. "Oh," Amanda gasped as Lee's hand made it inside her panties, his touch only increasing her need for him. She nipped at his neck while she moved back to working on his jeans, soon finding her target and eliciting a similar gasp from him, making her heart soar at his response to her. She shifted enough to allow Lee to slide her own jeans down her legs along with her panties and them moved back to free him from his boxers as she took him firmly in her hand and began stroking him in earnest.

"God, Amanda," Lee groaned at the feeling of her hand wrapped around him, closing his eyes against the sensation, but they didn't stay closed for long once he felt Amanda remove her hand and sink down onto him, encasing his shaft in her warmth. "OH," he moaned at the feeling of being inside her as he grasped her hips and pushed his own upward to deepen their connection.

"Lee," she hissed as she began to buck against him hard and fast, needing to feel all of him inside her, needing the completion that only he could give her.

"Amanda," Lee growled, as he used his grip on her hips to slow her movements, knowing that if he didn't, he'd get there before she did. Amanda shook her head as she pushed his hands from her hips. At being deterred, Lee slid his hand between her legs caressing the swollen nub there, smiling at the sighs that escaped her lips at the contact. "Yes, Amanda," he whispered.

"Lee," she cried softly, mindful of the group outside and not wanting to alert them."Oh, Lee."

"Manda," Lee returned at feeling her tightening around him in the throes of her release as hers bought on his own and he emptied himself within her. For a long moment, the only sound in the room was the sound of their heavy breathing until voices from outside coming closer startled both of them. They quickly pulled apart, Amanda scrambling for her discarded underwear and jeans, pulling them back on as quickly as she could. The voices soon faded. Lee breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Just passing by, I think," as he fastened his belt.

"Good," Amanda replied, breathing her own sigh of relief as she yanked up on her jeans and fastened them.

"I just don't think we can trust Hollis for anything," Lee told her.

Having righted her clothing, Amanda began to neatly fold the map they'd had out and put it back in her backpack. "Well, you know, if we're gonna' get out of this, we gotta' do it ourselves."

"You got it," Lee walked to the window reaching his arm through the gap under the mesh and fiddled with the padlock on the door. "You know, Amanda, I think we could pick this lock if we could just get to that knife."

After finishing with the map, Amanda walked to the window to see what he was looking at. They exchanged a brief look while Lee turned to retrieve his discarded boots.

While Lee was tying the laces on his boots, Amanda picked up one of her own and gazed at it for a moment. She then looked through the grated window to her Swiss army knife on the table. She then let her boot drop, holding it by just its laces, testing the weight of it in her hands.

Lee stood after finishing his task. When he saw that she was still in her stocking feet, he looked at her quizzically and said, "What?"

"Lee, did you ever see that episode of The Brady Bunch when they're in the ghost town on their way to the Grand Canyon?"

"Huh?" He looked at her, more confused than ever.

"The Brady Bunch..." At seeing his bewildered expression, she explained, "Phillip and Jamie love watching the old reruns of the show. They show it at five and five-thirty every weekday on channel 6 so I've seen all the episodes. So, anyway, in this episode, the family is taking a road trip to the Grand Canyon and on the way there, they decide to stop in this ghost town and they get locked in this old jail cell by this crazy man who thinks they're there to jump his claim when they're really just there sightseeing-"

Lee shook his head at her ramble. "Uh...Amanda, as entertaining as this story is, does it have a point?"

"Yes, it has a point. Since they were in a ghost town, there was no one around to help them get out so they tied their belts together to use as a makeshift lasso to get to the key on the other side of the room and when that didn't work, they threw their shoes at the key to knock it off the wall. Then they tied all their socks together with Carol's purse tied on the end of it to use as a weight to drag the key closer to them so they could get out." She gestured to the door."Look, there's a gap under this door that is big enough that if we could do the same with my knife over there, we could pick the lock, like you suggested."

"Okay, good idea, but one problem. There were nine of them and there are only two of us. I don't think tying our socks together is going to make a long enough "lasso," you don't have your purse with you and your backpack over there doesn't have enough weight in it to work."

"No, I know the socks won't work, but the laces in our boots are longer than normal shoelaces. If we tie them together, we could use one of the boots as the weight." She then gestured to the gap below the meshed window. "I think we might have just enough space here to make it work."

"I don't know about this," Lee said skeptically.

"Well, what's your idea for getting us out of here?" She smiled sweetly at him, but her voice was dripping with sarcasm. "I mean, you're the trained professional as you like to keep reminding me. I'm sure that you must have some brilliant plan brewing to get to my knife. It was your idea to start with, you know."

Lee sighed and gave her an exasperated look, "Okay, I admit it. I don't have a better plan."

"Then what's the worst that could happen? If it doesn't work, then we're no worse off than we are now."

"But-" He sighed again when he realized that he didn't have an argument for her logic. "Okay, fine." He bent to untie the boots he'd just tied, shaking his head the whole time, while Amanda bit down on her lower lip to keep from laughing at him.

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"Buck, I am really worried. I mean, we haven't heard a word. She is never gone this long without leaving some kind of a message," Dotty ranted worriedly as she paced around the den.

"Easy," Buck said with a nonchalant wave of his hand. "I know how it is after a hard day. Hit the first bar for a little happy hour, maybe meet somebody, get lucky..."

Dotty halted in her pacing and gave her neighbor a stern look. "Buck, that may be you. That's not my daughter." However, she couldn't help wondering if her sudden disappearance had something to do with her mystery lover. As Buck continued to ramble about woman running off, her fears only became worse. She made a move to call the police, but was stopped by Buck's negativity.

"You want my opinion, Dot, I still think she just met someone and decided to have a little fun," Buck stated bluntly.

"Speaking of which, I've been meaning to have a word with you about your behavior last week. I mean, I know it was a party and all, but really, you should have known better than to make a pass at my daughter."

"What are you talking about? I never made a pass at Amanda. I mean, she's cute and all, but not my type. Too many responsibilities. I like my women a little freer, unencumbered, you know?"

"Oh, come on, Buck. Don't try to deny it. Amanda told me all about it. You, Amanda, a little too much booze, right out there on the patio," she said with a gesture to the French doors. When Buck looked at her blankly, she tried again. "Does the WC Fields mask ring a bell?"

"Oh, that," Buck said. "That wasn't me. I was bobbing for apples in the hot tub when some guy asked me if he could borrow it." He shrugged and added, "I figured what the hell, it was a party, right?"

"Some guy?" Dotty questioned.

"Yeah, the guy with that hot little sports car, the one she works with who's always hanging around your back yard." At Dotty's knowing look, he said, "A-Ha!. See? You know I'm right. She probably just took off with that guy somewhere. You know my bedroom window overlooks your back yard. I could tell you some stories..."

"You could," Dotty replied curtly as she sat on the arm of the couch with another stern look his direction. "And you're going to...and I mean every single detail."

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That night, cold and scared, wrapped in Lee's arms, Amanda looked at him feeling that it was now or never. Knowing they might not make it out of this, she knew she had to let him know how she felt. "Lee.." she began hesitantly.

"Hmmm?" he replied as he patted her arm affectionately.

"If we don't make it..."

"Hey..." He started as he turned to face her.

"Wait," Amanda said, cutting him off. She made eye contact with him and continued, "If we don't...I just want you to know that I..."

Lee's breath caught in his throat as seeing the look in her eyes knowing that this was it, the turning point. Looking deeply into her warm brown eyes, he remained silently holding his breath waiting for her to say the words he longed to hear.

At seeing the intense look in Lee's eyes illuminated by the fire's glow, Amanda tore her gaze from his, staring instead at his chest. "...I really am glad to have known you," but then mentally cursed herself for chickening out.

He smiled at her, but inside he was screaming for her to spit out the words that he knew she had wanted to. "Well, the same goes here," he said as he patted her shoulder affectionately, hoping she got his true meaning and that she'd continue the thought that she'd begun. When she just laid her head on his shoulder, he began rambling as she often did about how much he'd learned from her and contradicting her when she said that she thought of herself as a burden. He wanted so badly to tell her that he loved her in the hopes that she'd reciprocate. He didn't quite have the courage so instead, he pulled the typical playboy move, faking a cramp to pull her closer.

They stared into one another's eyes for a long moment, Lee thinking that maybe if he kissed her, just kissed her, not a passionate kiss like the ones they'd shared so many times in the throes of passion, but one of devotion, she'd get it and she wouldn't be so stubborn about sharing her own feelings. He was almost there when they heard the sound of shouting in the dark, startling both of them, the moment gone.

Lee groaned in frustration after their fight about their sleeping positions and it occurred to him that as many times as they'd slept together, they'd never actually slept together, so that's something he'd never known about her, that she liked to sleep on her left side. If he weren't so annoyed with her for being such a chicken-shit about owning up to her feelings, he'd have suggested that they switch sides allowing them both to be comfortable and fall asleep in each other's arms. Instead, he rigidly stayed in place, silently fuming until he fell into an uncomfortable sleep.

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Once Sacker and his men were rounded up and they were back at the agency, they chatted, lightly bantering about their "picnic" until they reached the corridor outside the bullpen and Amanda with a much more serious look on her face began, "About last night..." wanting another chance to find her courage to try again to express her feelings.

"I know, I know," Lee said nodding his head, knowing what was coming next.

"It was two people...Just..."

"Just two people seeking a little warmth," Lee interjected, his voice overlapping hers, figuring that she was going to try to back out of owning up the near-intimate moment they'd shared in the swamp.

"Not exactly," Amanda said with a sly grin as she headed to the elevator.

Lee looked after her a bemused look on his face wondering what the hell had just happened.