At his desk in the Q Bureau, Lee awoke with a start at the feel of a hand on the back of his neck. He sat up abruptly, shaking off the dream he'd just been having and looked up to find Amanda hovering over him. He couldn't help smiling at seeing her bright, cheery face as she said, "You been here all night?"
Lee leapt from his seat and hugged her tightly saying, "Oh, Amanda, I'm so happy to see you."
"I'm happy to see you too," Amanda replied as she pulled back from him a little a bit of a concerned look crossing her face. "Are you okay?"
"Perfect," Lee said with a smile. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"I don't know. You...uh...you're just not usually that excited to see me, especially since we worked so late last night. Speaking of which, I thought you said that you were gonna' go home after I left. I can't believe you stayed here all night. You must be half-dead."
"No, Amanda," Lee corrected her at thinking of how in his dream, he had just been fully dead and added, "No, in fact, I feel more alive than I ever have before." He pulled her to him again and without wasting another second, locked his lips with hers, trying to convey in that moment everything he felt for her.
At feeling Lee finally kissing her for real, Amanda linked her hands behind his neck pulling him in for a deeper kiss, her mouth opening beneath his as she moaned against him.
Lee took her response as encouragement and slid his tongue into her mouth, as he tasted her morning coffee with just a hint of peppermint. He tightened his arms around her as he grasped at her bottom pulling her as close to him as he could delighting in her enthusiastic response as he remembered vestiges of his dream and how at his gravesite, she'd confessed out just two weeks ago, she'd wanted him to make love to her. That thought just excited him more as he moaned into her mouth, until he remembered something very important about that confession; she'd wanted to hear that he felt the same way about her that she did about him first. He pulled back; his breath ragged from their heated kisses.
"Wow," Amanda gasped also breathing heavily, her heart pounding. "You really are happy to see me," then realizing how that sounded, blushed slightly and attempted to slip out of his grasp.
"Mm-mm," Lee said. "You're not going anywhere. Not yet. I have something to say to you. Something that I should have said a very, very long time ago." He then planted a soft kiss to her lips and said, "Amanda, I love you."
Seeing the intense look in his sparking hazel eyes, she knew without a doubt that he was sincere and her heart leapt at hearing the words that she'd waited for. She couldn't help the glowing smile that crept over her face as she replied, "I love you too," and tugged on the back of his neck to pull him in for another kiss. They kissed fervently for another long few minutes before both needing to breathe again.
"So, is that invitation to dinner still open?" Lee said his arms still locked around her.
"Does that mean you changed you mind about coming?" Amanda blushed again. Why was everything that came out of her mouth sounding so wrong to her. "To...uh...dinner, I mean.
Lee couldn't help but laugh at her embarrassment and responded with a soft chuckle, "Yeah, and I think it's long past time that your family met me. I mean, after all, we've been dating for a couple of months now, haven't we?"
"Yes, yes, we have," Amanda said. She'd been hoping that that's what all his dinner invitations to her had been about, but she wasn't really sure that she felt the same way about it, especially since things had been so weird between them since Joe came back. "So, I...uh...I didn't mistake your intentions all those times you asked me out?" she asked hopefully.
"No, Amanda, you didn't," He answered as he locked his eyes with hers to make certain that she knew that he was being truthful. "And if the invitation still stands, I'd love to come to dinner with the family tonight."
"Of course, I want you to be there. I just don't want you to feel uncomfortable with Joe being there."
"No, I mean, of course he'd be there. He's only been back in town for a couple of weeks and he hasn't spent a Christmas with the boys in years, right? Besides, I heard someone say once that he makes a mean rum punch, something I'd just bet I'll get a big kick out of."
"I'm sure you will," Amanda said as she planted one more quick kiss to his lips, before extracting herself from his arms and looked at the files piled on his desk, gave them a quick nod and inquired, "So, is this still the weapons smuggling case?"
"Yeah, that's how I lost track of time and ending up sleeping here. I'm so close to nailing down who's behind it. The answer's right here and I just know I'm missing something in all these surveillance photos and background checks."
Amanda gently pushed him toward his chair and said, "Here, why don't you let me help you,"
Lee sank down in his chair and said, "No, Amanda, it's not your problem, it's mine. You're not even supposed to be here today. It's Christmas Eve. You should be decking the halls." Lee felt an eerie sense of Déjà vu come over him as he said those words.
Amanda laughed and said, "The halls are already decked. I just came in to spread a little Christmas cheer." She nodded toward the stack of Christmas cookie-filled plates that she'd set on her desk after she'd found Lee asleep at his. "Besides, you're my partner. That means your problems are my problems."
Lee felt an ominous chill shoot down his spine and the déjà vu continued. It struck him that this was part of his dream too. He recalled Andy's warning to him, Get it right this time. "You know, on second thought, I could use a little help, Partner," as he pulled her into his lap causing her to squeal.
"You know, I don't think this is the agency-approved way of researching together," she teased. Lee laughed as he slid one arm around her waist and starting going through the files with the other. "Hold it," Amanda said as she stopped him and pulled a photo out of the pile then climbed out of his lap.
"You spot something?"Lee said as he rose from his seat and watched as she walked to the vault.
"Maybe," Amanda called from the vault. She soon returned with another file. "Here, you recognize this guy?"
"Gavriil Megalos, the Greek shipping magnate. Yeah, we've been keeping an eye on him for a couple of years now, mainly because he has some kind of...shady...acquaintances, but we've never really caught the guy himself doing anything shady. You think he has something to do with this case?"
"Yeah, look," she showed him the surveillance photo of the hooded figures in it. "You see this tattoo?"
Lee glanced at the photo and the Ouroboros tattoo on the back of the hooded man's hand sent another shiver down his spine as another flash from his dream crossed his mind. "Yeah, it's an Ouroboros. A symbol of things cycling or coming full circle," He replied with a noncommittal shrug. "What about it?'
"Well, it struck me that it's weird place for a tattoo and that one is rather unique with the color combination used in it and that's when I remembered this," She plucked another photo out of the file she'd just removed from the vault. "Look at this photo of Megalos, how he's got one hand crossed over the other.
"It's the same tattoo," Lee said beginning to wonder if his dream hadn't been a dream, after all, but an ominous warning.
"Come on, we've got plenty of time before dinner. We should check it out," Amanda said as she dropped the files on Lee's desk and grabbed him by the hand.
Two hours, later, Megalos and his cronies captured and in the hands of the agency, Lee and Amanda had returned to the agency to deliver Amanda's Christmas cookies, and then had adjourned to her house. Lee paused as they stepped onto the porch and said, "Hey, thanks, for saving my hide out there."
Amanda blushed and said, "I...uh...I really didn't do so much."
"No, you did," Lee insisted fully convinced now that his dream had not been a dream. "If you hadn't been there and knocked over that stack of crates when you did, Megalos would have gotten the jump on me and I'd be dead now."
"Well, I'm very glad you're not," she said as she linked her hand with his and opened the front door calling as they entered, "Hey, everyone! Merry Christmas."
There was a flurry of activity as Amanda introduced everyone to Lee, all the while still holding his hand while he smiled nervously and greeted the family and found himself immensely grateful for Amanda's tight, reassuring grip on his hand. Phillip seemed to take to him right away; however, Jamie eyed him warily.
"There's a big bowl of rum punch in the kitchen," Joe said with a smile as he sipped at his own.
"Oh, the famous rum punch," Lee said with a nod. "I think I'll have to give it a try."
"I guarantee you'll love it," Amanda gushed as she tugged on his hand and guided him into the kitchen where Dotty had returned to her dinner preparations. Lee glanced up for a moment at the mistletoe hanging right where he expected it to be and grinned slightly.
"Well, I must say, Mr. Steadman, it is so nice to finally put a face with a voice," Dotty said noticing with a smile that her daughter's hand had never left his since they'd entered.
"The feeling is mutual, Mrs. West," Lee replied, "And it's Stetson."
"Stetson? Hmm, I could have sworn when I talked to you on the phone that you said your name was Steadman."
"No, it's Stetson, Mother," Amanda said as she released Lee's hand to pour them each a cup of punch. "Here you go." She gave Lee a warm smile as she handed him one.
Lee stepped forward to take it and replied, "Thanks," with a giddy grin of his own
"Oh, would you look at that," Dotty said pointing upward toward the ceiling, "Mistletoe. You know what that means." She smiled at the two of them. "I think I should go make sure the boys aren't getting into the presents yet. You know how they get this time of year." Dotty quickly scurried out of the kitchen and into the den, leaving the pair alone.
Amanda laughed heartily and said sarcastically, "Well, that was subtle."
"Well, it is Christmas tradition," Lee crooned as he slid his hands to Amanda's waist and brushed his lips against her softly. He delighted in feeling her sliding her hands up to his chest only instead of pushing him away as she had with Joe in his dream, her hands travelled further to the back of his neck to deepen their kiss.
When their kiss ended, Amanda joked, "Since when are you all about following Christmas tradition?"
"This," he said with another soft kiss to her lips, "...is one Christmas tradition that I don't mind following." He kissed her one more time. "Merry Christmas, Amanda."
"Merry Christmas, Lee," she responded as she tugged at his neck to pull him in for one more long, lingering kiss.