Send in the Clowns – Part 5 of 5

"Amanda, glad to see that you're back and still in one piece," Billy Melrose called to her as she entered the bullpen.

"Thank you, sir." She walked over to the coffee station where he was adding sugar to his drink. "I was looking for Lee. I thought he'd be done his debriefing by now."

"Oh he is. He just went to put some clothes on."

Amanda smiled. "I expected him to do that before his debriefing not after."

"I'm sure he wanted to. But Agent Corington insisted that the debriefing take priority." He frowned at his coffee. "This is my sixth cup today. Jeanie would have my head but it's just been that kind of day."

"Oh." Amanda's thoughts weren't on Billy's coffee consumption but rather on the previous week when Agent Corington had just happened to drop a pile of folders she was carrying right in front of Lee's desk. And the week before that when she had tripped in the hallway, once again conveniently in Lee's vicinity.

"So how did your debriefing go?" Billy's interrupted her reflections.

"Just fine. It's a lot easier talking about everything that happened now that it's all turned out okay."

"Well you did an outstanding job today." He headed for his office.

"Thank you, sir. I have to admit though that I've never been so scared in all my life. Maybe I'm not really cut out for field work."

He shook his head. "It's not whether you are afraid or not. It's what you do when you're afraid that counts. Some people's natural reaction is to just freeze right up. Lee said you kept a level head, created a distraction when it was needed and helped take down the bad guys."

"Oh, she created a distraction alright." Amanda turned around to see Lee walking up behind her. "Amanda, if you're ready to go, I was hoping you could give me a lift home."

"Sure, if there's nothing else I need to do here." She turned to Billy.

"No, go on home. And Amanda, since your day off wasn't exactly a day off, we'll work something out next week."

"Thank you, sir."

Lee hung back for a moment. "Billy, I was wondering, how did the team know which house to go to anyway? The Russians' van was in the garage when we came out."

"The helicopter pilot spotted the Lincoln so we knew your general location. And then the police got a call from an ice cream truck driver about some weirdo peeping tom he saw lurking around a house on his route."

"Weirdo?" Lee looked affronted.

"Hey, his words not mine." Billy walked into his office and closed the door. Lee and Amanda headed out of the bullpen into the hallway.

"Everything go okay dropping off the car on the way here?" Lee asked.

"Oh sure. Mrs. Lovell was really glad to get it back. And she says she wants to have a chat with you when you get home."

"I'll bet she does," Lee said ruefully.

"Well at least this time when you talk to her you'll be wearing clothes." Amanda pushed the button for the elevator and kept her eyes straight ahead as she added, "Although I hear Agent Corington really liked your previous outfit."

"Kimberly? I guess so."

"Oh," Amanda said shortly. She reached out and jabbed the button again, this time more forcefully.

"You know something?" Lee asked. "I happen to think that you're cute when you're jealous too." He reached out and took her hand in his. "And speaking of my previous outfit, did you really need to be quite that extreme with your diversion back there with the Russians?"

"After everything I went through today I just figured it was time I took matters into my own hands," Amanda replied.

"Not to mention my towel." Lee shook his head as the elevator doors opened. He pushed back the row of coats with one hand and held them aside for Amanda.

"What are you complaining about?" she asked as they got on the elevator. "My diversion worked, didn't it?"

"Oh, it worked alright."

"Well what were you going to do?"

"I was going to tell them that there was no way Scarecrow would be taken alive and that you had a cyanide capsule clenched between your teeth," he explained. "Then you could have pretended to collapse giving me the chance to get the jump on them."

Amanda shook her head. "Sounds way too complicated. My diversion was much simpler. I saw an opportunity and seized it."

"Not to mention my towel." "Not to mention your towel," they said simultaneously.

"Besides I wanted to prove that Zinoviev was right about you."

"Right about me what? That Scarecrow is a top agent, ruthless and not someone the Russians should mess around with?"

The elevator opened and they walked out into the Georgetown foyer.

"No, not that." Amanda had an impish gleam in her eyes. "Come on, big fella, let's get you home."

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"Okay, that's enough football for one day. You fellas scoot upstairs and get into bed." Amanda turned off the television. "It's already way past your bedtime."

"I still can't believe the Steelers lost this afternoon," Philip grumbled.

"They didn't lose; they were annihilated," Jamie pointed out helpfully. "The score was 45 to 3!"

Amanda broke in before their bickering could escalate. "Well you can't expect your team to win every game. Besides, the announcer said it was the first time the Lions beat them in more than twenty years. Now say goodnight to Grandma and Lee, then it's up to bed."

"Night," the boys mumbled in chorus before heading up the stairs.

"Billy Bartlett is going to be a total dweeb at school next week." They could hear Philip continue to complain. "He's such a big Lions fan just because his grandpa lives in Detroit."

"I think we've still got another bottle of wine left," Amanda said to Lee as she got up and headed after the boys. "Why don't you pour us a glass while I get them tucked in?"

Dotty followed Lee into the kitchen. "I'll have some, too. The wine you brought is so much better than the stuff Amanda usually brings home from the supermarket."

"Well it was the least I could do to repay you and Amanda for cooking dinner. It was absolutely delicious." Lee uncorked the wine with practiced ease.

Dotty reached into a cupboard and took out three wine glasses. "Plus you gave me that beautiful gift basket. You really didn't need to do that."

Lee filled their glasses and handed one to Dotty. "That's okay. One of my neighbours works for Lovely Lady and I owed her a favour. She was more than happy to take my order."

"That must have been some favour you owed her - I think she sold you every item in their Floral Fantasies line."

"You have no idea." He shook his head.

"So how long have you worked for IFF?" Dotty asked.

Apparently with Amanda out of the room, it was time for the interrogation to start.

"Just over ten years – part of it doing background research around the globe, the last while as a director." Lee used his standard cover story.

"You know I never pictured Amanda getting involved in film work," she said thoughtfully. "Despite a minor in photo-journalism in college, she always manages to cut off everyone's heads when she takes pictures."

Lee laughed. "Well, we'll be sure to keep her out from behind the camera then."

"And you grew up here in the DC area?"

"Umm… originally. But we moved around a lot most of the time." Lee didn't want to go into the details of his childhood, knowing that the phrase "My parents were killed when I was five" was a surefire way to put a damper on any conversation.

"When I went to college out in California I got interested in vineyards and wines. A friend of mine's parents owned a vineyard and his dad taught me about pairing wines with food. Most people prefer a white wine with turkey, but I've always been partial to reds, like this Merlot." He took another sip from his glass.

Apparently Dotty could take a hint as she followed his change of subject. "Would you like some more dessert with your wine? Maybe some pie?"

"Thanks, but I'm still stuffed from dinner," Lee said as Amanda came back down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Are you sure? There's an entire pumpkin pie left over." Dotty paused then added slyly, "We seem to be running a bit short on whipped cream though."

"Mother!" Amanda protested while Lee choked on his wine.

"All right, all right." Dotty laughed. "I'm taking my wine upstairs to enjoy with my new Moonlight and Magnolias bubble bath, so I'll leave the two of you alone."

"Goodnight, Mother." "Goodnight, Dotty."

"Goodnight." She laughed at the uncomfortable looks on their faces as she headed up the stairs.

Lee groaned as he and Amanda picked up their wine glasses and went into the den. "I'm not going to live that down any time soon, am I?"

"I'm afraid not," Amanda laughed. "So are you okay? Today wasn't too much for you? Not too much scary normal family stuff?"

He sat on the couch and pulled her down next to him. "As I told you before, if I can handle a bunch of Russian agents, I can handle the suburbs."

"Yeah but those Russians didn't submit you to a solid half hour of 'grosser than gross' jokes."

"Good point." Lee took her wine glass and set it with his on the coffee table. "So how are you going to make it up to me?"

Amanda tucked her legs up onto the couch, snuggling against him. "Hmm…I'll need to work on that."

"Let me know if you come up with anything." He slipped his arm around her, running his fingers along her shoulder.

Amanda reached up to stroke his cheek. "Nothing comes to mind at the moment." She slowly kissed her way up his neck, flicking her tongue out when she reached his earlobe.

"Now that's a real shame." Lee's voice was raw and husky. "Maybe I can help." He moved her hand from his cheek to his lips, pressing soft kisses against her palm.

"Speaking of helping, you'll never guess who called me earlier," Amanda said.

"No idea." He shrugged his shoulders. "It wasn't that idiot Dan, was it?"

"No, not *Dan*." She rolled her eyes.

"Don? Dave?"

Amanda grabbed a throw pillow and swatted him with it.

"Daryl? Dillon? Dwayne? Drew?" Lee held up his hands to ward off the series of blows she continued to rain down on him. "Donnie? Derek? Drake?" By then he was laughing so hard he could barely get out any more names.

"Stop! Stop! I give!" he finally gasped out.

Amanda held the pillow over his head threateningly. "Are you quite finished?"

"Yes, I'm done; I promise."

"Okay." She lowered her weapon.

"Darren?"

"That's it." She stood up. "I'm getting the whipped cream."

"Okay, okay," he reached out and drew her back down beside him. "If it wasn't *Dean*, who was it?"

"Pretzel the Clown." She turned slightly to watch his reaction.

"Really?" he asked in apparent surprise. He reached out and stroked a finger down along her neck.

"Really."

"Must have been important for him to call you on Thanksgiving." Lee didn't meet her gaze, evidently intent on pushing aside her shirt collar.

"It was. He's going to do Jamie's party after all."

"That's great." He nuzzled against the hollow at the base of her neck.

She arched her neck, encouraging his caresses. "Know why he changed his mind?"

"No idea." Lee pushed her shirt back a bit further, then pressed a kiss against her collarbone.

"Really. It seems that someone had a friend who works at the IRS call and threaten him with an audit back to 1965 if he didn't do the party." There was a breathy quality to her voice as if she was having difficulty keeping her mind on the topic at hand.

"Imagine that. I didn't know you had friends in the IRS." He brushed his lips along her neck.

"Lee." She put her hands against his chest and drew away slightly.

He moved just far enough back to look her in the eye. "What?"

"Thank you."

He shrugged. "It wasn't that big a deal."

"Yes it was. I was so angry at Dean and you, mmm . . ."

He covered her mouth with his, cutting off whatever else she was going to say. Slowly he moved his lips against hers, taking control of the kiss and relinquishing it, demonstrating his desire and accepting the passion she offered in return. Amanda moaned and shifted in his arms, insistently pushing him down onto the couch. He slid his left hand into her hair, cradling her to him as they deepened the kiss.

As their lips finally parted, he straightened up, both of them breathless and a little shaky. He moved his arms to her waist, snugging her close to him again.

"It really was a nice thing for you to do, Lee," she said after a few minutes. "I still hadn't figured out how to fix this whole birthday party mess Dean created."

"Well, it's hardly your fault if Dean took one look at your new boyfriend and was consumed by jealousy. And you can't blame him for that. I mean, that guy you're seeing now is very charming." He dipped his head and kissed the tip of her nose. "Not to mention incredibly handsome." He moved his lips to her cheek and tightened his hold around her. "And an all-around great catch."

Amanda rolled her eyes. "He's modest too."

"Well, yeah," he grinned.

"But you know the best part?" She leaned down and brushed her lips against his ear.

"What?"

"I've still got him right where I want him."

The End (for now)