A/N: I hope I didn't make some of you nervous when I didn't update yesterday - this chapter gave me some problems - stopped and started and erased and started again - but I'm finally happy with it! And since it was a 3-day weekend, you guys still get a chapter!
"Hello, Sir."
Lee took my hand in his, leaned over and brushed a kiss across my temple. I frowned at him, sending a silent message with my eyes for him not to distract me while I was on the phone with our boss.
"Hello, Amanda – I hear from your mother that congratulations are in order."
"Well," I licked my lips, as I stalled for time and finally just took the plunge, saying the first thing that popped into my head. "You did tell Lee that whatever our personal relationship was, you were fine with it."
Mr. Melrose's deep chuckle came over the line. "I'm more than fine with it! I'm tickled pink! I've seen this day coming for a long time – I had a hunch when I put the two of you together that you'd be the last partner Scarecrow would ever have-"
I gasped. "You expected this to happen?"
"Expect is the wrong word – I 'hoped' you would be the one to stay and work with him. No one else had been able to take his outbursts of temper – not until you came along and handled him with such grace, and somehow, could soothe him with a few words or a touch of your hand. Before you came to the Agency, I had trained agents who refused to work with Lee because of his bad attitude – but you never shied away from him."
My eyes filled with tears and Lee was instantly concerned, leaning in to ask me if I was all right. I nodded, too overcome with emotion to speak. The words that Mr. Melrose had just spoken reminded me of the early days when I had been tempted to walk away from Lee, all the times that he had in fact, hurt me deeply – but then he had sincerely apologized, and I had stayed. As he rubbed his finger over my wedding band, I smiled as a tear slipped down my cheek. If I'd given up on Lee, I would have missed out on so much-
"Amanda – are you there?"
I cleared my throat. "Sorry, Sir – I was lost in thought. Lee and I have both come so far – and neither of us wants to split up now. Is there a way we can still be partners?"
"I'm not about to split up my best team."
"But what about Dr. Smyth?"
"I'll handle him. That's why I get paid big bucks. Now, I don't know much about this assignment he has in mind for you – I just know that he has called a meeting for eight o'clock sharp – and has demanded your presence since you have been cleared for field duty."
"But I still have to qualify-"
"Dr. Smyth doesn't much care for the qualification tests – especially since he makes the rules. I'm sure that there will be time in the morning for you to do your tests in the lab with Leatherneck after the mission briefing – put Lee back on the phone, will you? Oh, and Amanda?"
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry I can't send you with him – I would have if Dr. Smyth hadn't requested you personally-"
I frowned. "And you have no idea what it's all about?"
"I'm as much in the dark as you are."
"Good night, Sir. I'll see you in the morning."
I handed the phone back to Lee, mouthing the word 'shower' to him as I stood up and went into the bathroom, too wide awake now to even attempt to get more sleep. I turned the water on, adjusted the temperature and stepped under the spray, letting the hot water warm my cool skin.
I had so many thoughts running through my head that I felt slightly dizzy. I was a bit nervous about requalifying with my weapon in the morning – I'd always had a love/hate relationship with firearms. I didn't like them in my house. Lee and I had had more than a few heated discussions about when we combined our households that he would need to store his weapon outside of our house. He insisted that if his gun was in the garage, for example, how was he going to protect his family from danger? The only logical solution in his mind was to have a gun safe in our bedroom – but there would still be a loaded gun in the house, and I wasn't comfortable with that since two teenage boys were sleeping just down the hall. Lee said we could solve this problem by educating them about guns – but I shied away from that idea as it would open up a whole can of questions such as: 'why does my stepfather have a gun in the house?'
Another train of thought running through my head was what possible assignment Dr. Smyth could have handpicked me for – the man had never been my biggest fan, taking every opportunity to belittle me, point out my lack of training and skills, suggesting instead that I should stay home and bake cookies since that is the job to which I was most suited.
And lastly, I was worried about Lee going on assignment without me watching his tail. We hadn't been apart for any length of time since just after the Stemwinder case wrapped up– and that had been torture since we had just declared our love for each other and wanted to spend nearly every waking hour in each other's company.
Instead, Dr. Smyth had sent Lee to England to work with Scotland Yard to apprehend one of our agents who had been caught spying for the Russians.
October 18, 1986
Lee has been away on assignment for three weeks – the longest three weeks of my life. Sure, we have been separated for longer – back when we had barely known each other for a year, he had spent nearly the entire summer in Europe with almost no contact.
But that was before.
Before we started dating.
Before we went on the run together and I spent nights wrapped in his arms, exchanging sweet kisses, and whispering to him in the dark as I fell asleep.
Before he told me he loved me.
I have loved Lee for years – but I hardly dared to dream that he could ever feel the same way about me. It still seemed like a beautiful dream when he finally said those three little words to me in my bedroom.
What followed after was a nightmare as we were chased by the agency that branded us as traitors before we had a chance to explain ourselves. In the end, Lee and I proved our innocence and we returned to our normal lives, now openly in love with each other, only to have Dr. Smyth rip us apart again as Lee was sent away on assignment.
Lee has called me as often as he could – even if it was in the middle of the night. But his absence left a physical ache this time and it took everything in me to put up the front that everything was fine. Our conversations were brief and contained little more than shop talk, though he did manage to slip in a term of endearment or two. But it wasn't enough to keep my insecurities at bay as the dream of our expressed feelings slipped away with each passing day. Was he having second thoughts? Did he really love me or had I dreamed the whole thing?
Now, here I am, standing in the airport outside the customs area, on my tiptoes, straining for a first look at the man I haven't laid eyes on in three weeks. Suddenly the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I spun around, my blue skirt flaring out as my hands came up to catch Lee's forearms.
A shocked look crossed his face as his arms locked around mine.
"How did you know-"
I laughed as I threw my arms around his neck, burying my face in his shoulder. "I don't think you can sneak up on me anymore, Scarecrow!"
He chuckled and drew me in tighter. "I missed you."
Looking up, I spied a security camera over his shoulder. I took his hand and pulled him into an alcove behind a large potted plant.
"Amanda-"
I shoved him back into the wall and covered his lips with mine, moaning in satisfaction as I felt his hands on my hips, and his tongue parted my lips. When we drew apart, Lee's dimples were out, and I grinned back at him.
"I guess you missed me too."
I traced a finger down his cheek, resting it in his dimple. "That is a big understatement. Sweetheart, everything was just falling into place when you left –" I shuddered.
Lee lifted his hands and cupped my face. "Darling, what's wrong?"
I sighed. "I used to hate it when you called me that."
He started. "What – 'darling'?"
I nodded.
"Why?"
"Because you only call me 'darling' when we play our covers – I know you don't really mean it. These last few weeks when we were apart and you called me 'darling' over the phone, I guess, my old insecurities came back. How do I know you mean it for real this time?"
"How do you know?" His eyes widened as his hands dropped from my face. "You know that I love you!"
I shook my head slowly. "You didn't say those words to me the entire time you were gone-"
"A-man-da, I was working – it was an open line. I had to be careful in case someone was listening in – that's why I couldn't just say the words. I called you 'darling' and 'sweetheart', hoping it would be enough until I got back and could tell you in person."
I shrugged as he drew me back into his arms. "Tell me what?" I whispered; my gaze locked on the third button of his dress shirt.
"Amanda King, look at me." He waited until I raised my eyes before pressing his lips to mine in a series of short, sweet kisses. "I'm sorry that I made you wait so long to hear the words again, but I truly have felt this way about you for a very long time. Sweetheart, I love you so much-"
I pressed a kiss to his lips, pulling back to smile at him, my heart beating wildly at the contact, my fears melting away at being back in his arms.
"I love you too."
I re-entered our bedroom to see Lee stuffing clothes into a duffel bag, not bothering to stack them neatly. Crossing to his side, I took the pile out of his hands with a chuckle.
"Let me do that, please. Your clothes will need to be pressed when you arrive at wherever it is you're going if I let you continue to pack-" I dumped the clothes on the bed and picked up a pair of dress pants to fold.
Lee snatched the pants and threw them on the bed, grabbed my hands and pulled me into his body, burying his face in the nape of my neck. For several minutes, neither of us spoke; I simply held him as he trembled in my arms. I knew that he was trying to gain control of his emotions. It was rare now that my husband lost his temper and verbally exploded. Whenever he was feeling extremely frustrated or agitated, he would grab my hand and the two of us would go for a walk and talk it out together.
But it was hard to go for a walk at three o'clock in the morning – especially when he had a flight to catch.
After several minutes, I felt him sigh against my shoulder and his tight hold eased. I pulled back as he lifted his head and captured my lips, pouring the remainder of his pent-up emotion into the contact.
"Lee-" I gasped into his mouth as his fingers loosened the knot holding my robe closed. "Do we have time-"
My robe fell open and he began to ease it from my shoulders.
"Billy is sending a car for me at five-" His lips began a journey from my ear down my neck. "We have time for this and for you to help me pack – later-"
I grabbed his head and forced him to make eye contact with me before he distracted me too much to say what I needed to say.
"Lee, I'll be okay. I know you don't want to leave me here alone-"
His eyes grew hard. "It's not that – I know you can take care of yourself, Amanda – you're a great agent. It's not knowing what Dr. Smyth has in mind that's driving me crazy – and knowing I won't be here to back you up – and Francine won't be either! Who's going to watch your tail?"
I stroked his cheek with my thumb. "Mr. Melrose will have my back – he won't let anything happen to me. I need you to focus on your case – wrap it up quickly and get back here – maybe you'll be in time to help me finish mine."
Lee grunted.
I leaned in and kissed him softly. "We do work best as a team – but we can work apart, Scarecrow, when we have to."
"I don't like it-"
I shrugged. "I don't either – but we don't much choice, do we?"
"I guess not."
"Now that we have that settled, should we pack your things now or later?"
Lee wrapped his arms around me and fell sideways, dropping both of us on the bed. I laughed as he rolled me under him and continued to rain kisses on my skin, the activity that I had previously interrupted with my serious discussion.
"I guess you vote for 'later'," I sighed the words into the mattress.
Lee hummed in my ear.
"Just one more thing and I promise I'll stop talking-"
Lee raised his head and stared at me, the look on his face equal parts exasperation and amusement.
"Don't forget you have a family now, Lee Stetson," I ordered, lifting our hands and showing him our wedding bands. "Come home to us."
He grinned. "Count on it."
I wasn't surprised to see my mother curled up asleep on the couch when I snuck into the house at five-forty-five. She had made a habit of waiting up for me way back in my high school years when I started dating. My parents had always given me a lot of leeway with curfews as long as I called and let them know where I was, what I was doing, and who I was with. I never abused their trust in me and on school nights I made sure to be home by midnight. Daddy never waited up, but Mother was often sitting up in the den reading a book – or rather, dozing off over one when I came home.
Seeing her now, curled up under a light blanket with a dictionary under her arm, brought those memories back home to me and I smiled.
I leaned over and brushed a soft kiss on her cheek, jumping back as she stirred. "I'm sorry, Mother. I didn't mean to wake you-"
Dotty yawned and sat up. "That's all right, Love. What time is it?"
"Early – it's not even six o'clock yet. Lee got called away on assignment – he had to catch on early flight – so I just came on home."
"The boys will be disappointed that he got called out of town." Dotty rubbed some sleep from her eyes and then studied my face for a moment. "You didn't go with him?"
I shook my head and moved into the kitchen to put the kettle on for tea. "No, I have an early meeting this morning – I'm being given a different assignment."
"But you and Lee are partners- I thought you only worked with him." Dotty came into the kitchen and pulled out two mugs from the cupboard, along with two tea bags.
"I've been doing more things on my own over the past two months because of the injury from my shooting – more office work and Lee's been partnered with other people-"
"Really?" Dotty's eyebrows rose in surprise. "How do you feel about that?"
I shrugged. "It's not like we haven't worked with other people before – especially Lee. I was a trainee agent for so long that I couldn't be considered his full-time partner, so it was only natural for him to work with other agents but now- why are you looking at me like that?"
Dotty smirked. "I was just thinking that after all this time, it's nice to finally be talking to you about what you really do-"
I smiled. "It is, isn't it? I never wanted to lie to you, Mother. I hated that part – the lying and the sneaking. And even though you haven't said anything, I know you must be upset with me that I've been lying to you all these years-"
Dotty held her hand up. "Amanda, listen to me. When I realized the truth, that my daughter was – what did you and Lee call it – an intelligence operative?"
I nodded.
"When I first figured it out and I realized you had been lying and sneaking and putting yourself in all kinds of danger – I was angry – and hurt that you didn't confide in me."
"I wanted to-"
"I know. And I do understand why you couldn't – your silence is to protect me and the boys and – oh my gosh, Joe! Does he know?"
I felt my face flush as the tea kettle whistled and I turned away to take it off the heat and fill our mugs with hot water. I played with the string of my tea bag as I stalled for time, knowing that this answer would hurt her as well.
"Yes, Joe knows. When he came home from Africa, he was in trouble – the kind that Lee and I could help him get out of. We pretended not to know each other so Joe wouldn't find out the truth about my job, but he figured it out anyway."
Dotty blew a breath across her mug and took a cautious sip of her hot tea. "You are a great one for secrets, Amanda King."
"Oh Mother," I sighed as I reached across the table and took her free hand. "Now that you know the truth, I'm afraid that you need to become a great one for secrets too."
"What do you mean?"
"No one can know about our jobs – not your friends, or Reverend Mills – or even the boys."
Dotty's mouth fell open. "You aren't going to tell Philip and Jamie?"
I shook my head. "Not yet – perhaps in a couple of years when they're older-"
"Amanda, I know it's none of my business, but don't you think they can handle it? And what if they figure it out like I did? They're going to be upset you didn't tell them yourself – and you know how much Philip idolizes Lee-"
"Mother – please," I cautioned as my eyes darted to the stairs. "It's hard enough to ask you to keep our secret but can you imagine what it will do to them, asking them to not tell their friends that their mother and soon-to-be stepfather are sp-"
The doorbell interrupted my speech and I jumped to my feet as my mother grabbed my arm.
"Who on earth can that be at this hour of the morning?"
"I have no idea – why don't you go wake the boys and I'll go see who-"
"Wait! What if it's-"
I turned and looked at her over my shoulder. "I'll be careful – it could just be someone from work-"
"I thought they used the back door-"
I smiled as I realized we really hadn't been fooling her all these years. "Only Lee does that."
I waited until she disappeared up the stairs before I crossed the small foyer to the front door and looked in the peephole Lee had insisted on installing a couple of years ago for security purposes. I gasped at the visitor standing outside lit by my porch light and threw open my door.
"Emily! What are you – where – how-" I sputtered as the older lady laughed and wrapped me up in her arms.
"Oh Amanda! I've been so worried about you!"
Pulling back a bit, I frowned. "You have – why?"
"I've only just heard about you getting shot in California – and how close you came to dying. I've been on a safari in Africa – quite in communicado, as they say. Anyway, when I got back to the home office and Inspector Keating filled me in, I caught the first flight here. Quite blew him and his assignment for me right off-"
"Emily!" I gasped as I took her arm and led her inside, closing the door behind us. "You can do that?"
"Pish posh, of course I can. I've been in this business for so long that I can pick and choose my assignments. Keating will find someone else- Amanda!" Emily stopped and grabbed my left hand, staring with wide eyes at my engagement ring. "Does this mean what I think it means? Have you finally convinced our boy to make an honest woman out of you?"
I laughed and nodded, as I threw my arms around the American/British agent. "Oh Emily, I have so much to tell you!"
A/N: I adored Jean Stapleton as 'Emily Farnsworth' - and was bummed that she only appeared in S2. I think she would have loved to see Lee and Amanda together - she was such a mentor to both of them.
Up next: Emily and Amanda catch up and then head into the Agency for Dr. Smyth's meeting/assignment. Want it? Drop me a line in reviews!
