Three Faces of Emily - tagalogue

Written by Shell Willens (excerpts from the episode belong to him)

Lee froze when the back door opened and held the large painting in front of him. When he saw it was Amanda, he lowered the painting. She shooed him out of the back yard, but he paused and just looked at her. She shooed him again, but he didn't move. Call it hesitation. Call it procrastination. He just didn't want to leave yet and was rewarded when she stepped down and closed the door behind her.

"What?" she asked, her eyebrows drawn in confusion.

He tried to come up with a reason why he hadn't left, then turned to carefully set down the picture as he stalled for a few extra seconds and gathered his thoughts. For a moment, he focused his attention on straightening the picture and didn't even look up when he heard her approach.

"Lee?"

"Hmh?"

"Is there a reason why you're not in any hurry to leave?"

"Did the men get everything out of the dining room and the house back to normal?" he asked, avoiding her question. He glanced up to see her smile, which proved she knew he was being evasive.

"Yes. They're not too keen on the dark gray walls, though," she teased.

At the mention of the walls, he stood up straight and his face registered his apology. "Oh, no! Amanda, I'm sorry. We were just in such a rush to get things back to..."

"Lee, it's all right," she interrupted and held up her hand. "Since Mother knew I was going to be painting while she and the boys were gone, I just told her that the color on the walls wasn't what I thought it would be, and that I was going to redo it."

He smiled and was very relieved. "That's good." He didn't know what to say next, so he just stood there and shifted his weight from foot to foot, feeling foolish for not leaving when she had gestured for him to go. Thankfully, she jumped in and relieved some of the awkwardness.

"So, do you want to tell me why you're still hanging around my back yard?"

He glanced up and saw the smile in her eyes and returned a sheepish grin, then ran his hand through his hair. "To be honest, I don't know. I guess it just felt weird being rushed out of the house like that without having a chance to really wrap up the case, you know, talk about it." He absently waved his hand in the air.

She nodded and took a step to lean casually against the lattice fence, crossing her arms. "All right, so what do you want to talk about?"

"Well, I don't know if I said it to you or not, but you really were a big help with this case. There was no way we could have done it without you and your willingness to work with those two men." He sighed and hoped he didn't sound like he was stalling or struggling to find a reason to hang around.

"Those two men!" Amanda repeated, pushing herself away from the fence and uncrossing her arms. "Boy, I was sure glad you and Emily arrived when you did. I was about to do something drastic, like kick that one guy in the shin or something!" she exclaimed, and kicked forward with her right food in demonstration. Lee just chuckled at what she considered "drastic," and smiled.

"Well, then I'm glad we arrived when we did, too. I would hate for that guy to have suffered from a bruised shin," he teased.

"So, is everything finished...with the case, I mean?"

"Yeah, Falcon Wing is safe, Whitsit is being held for treason, and the two goons you met with were bagged at the pool hall." He paused and shifted his weight, then glanced at the house briefly before meeting her gaze once again. The moonlight cast a very soft glow about her, and his mind drifted back to the embassy party when he had first made contact with Emily. She had looked absolutely stunning, and had been extremely helpful in proceeding with their plan against Whitsit. He couldn't help but admire her tenacity and resolve, even when their interference in her life upset so much of what she had planned. Determined to maintain his focus and not allow his mind to drift any further, he smiled. "So, what did that one guy say or do that caused you to get so upset?"

"He called me 'sweet cheeks' and started blowing in my ear!" she replied, shuttering with revulsion at the memory.

Lee didn't understand why, but he suddenly felt a twinge of anger at that man for treating Amanda so disrespectfully and a little bit of jealousy. If anyone should be acting that way, it should be.... All right, he really needed to refocus his thoughts, and was grateful when Amanda continued.

"So, how did you finally get Whitsit to agree to give you the codeword so that I could meet with those two men?"

"Oh, Emily shot me," Lee replied and shrugged his shoulders.

"She what?" Amanda asked, her eyes wide and her eyebrows raised in shock.

"Oh, she didn't really shoot me," he assured her. "She just made it look like she had." He knew she wasn't understanding, so he continued to explain. "See, we knew when Whitsit was being so close-mouthed about everything, we needed something drastic to break him. So, Emily had the two agents who were acting as Russian security guards escort me into the room like they had intercepted me. Since Whitsit had made contact with me at the embassy party, it made it look like he couldn't do his job. I was less than cordial towards her, and she had one of the guards shoot me."

"But, wouldn't there have to be a wound somewhere?" Amanda pointed out.

"Well, I had this sack of red dye taped inside my shirt, and I broke it when the gun was fired, so it looked like I was shot," he explained, proud that he and Emily had devised such a plan.

"Wow! The two of you really do make quite a team! First, you come up with the brilliant plan to get Whitsit and the plans to Falcon Wing, and then you figure out what you needed to do to get Whitsit to tell you everything. Very nice job!"

"Thank you." He nodded with a grin. "You know, you weren't exactly an innocent bystander in all of this yourself," he added. "You're the one who made it possible for us to bag Whitsit and those guys, so I'd say all three of us..."

"Make a great team," she finished for him, nodding her head.

"Yeah." He smiled.

All of a sudden, the light in the kitchen came on and startled them both. Amanda turned to look at it, and Lee realized that she was probably being missed inside. As if she had read his mind, she spoke. "You know, I really should get back inside. I left Emily with Mother and the boys talking in the living room, and they're all probably wondering where I am. You're not going to have any trouble getting everything out of here, are you?" she asked, looking at the picture as well as gesturing towards the area outside the fence.

"No, we've got it all under control," he assured her.

"Good!" She turned. "Well, thank you for letting me help with this case and for asking me to the party. It's been just wonderful seeing Emily again!" she exclaimed.

"You're more than welcome. She actually suggested that I invite you, since she was looking forward to seeing you as well," he informed her.

"You know, I'm still amazed that she's from California. I never would have guessed!"

"That's why she makes such a good agent," he retorted with a smile.

"I should say so!" she agreed, then turned and headed for the back door. Lee watched her progress, and as soon as she reached the door, she stopped and turned around. "Oh, by the way..." she paused as if she was thinking of how to phrase what she wanted to say. "I definitely prefer the suit and clean-shaven face to the bum-look," she teased and disappeared inside the house.

For a moment, Lee just stood there, but then a grin crossed his face and turned into a full smile. He shook his head and bent to pick up the picture again as he started to leave the yard. With a final glance back at the house, he thought about Amanda's involvement with this case and had to hand it to her. Despite all of the interruptions in her house and her plans, she was very resilient in how she reacted. With each new assignment, she was becoming more and more helpful, and although he hated to admit it, he had begun to look forward to ways he could involve her.

Just like how he asked her to help on this one. He'd never forget the look on her face when she came down the stairs that morning to find him rooting through her refrigerator looking for creamer for his coffee. At least she hadn't screamed when she saw him; on the contrary, she had just calmly asked him what he was doing at her house that early in the morning. No scolding. No harsh reactions. Just a simple question, and she was satisfied. Amanda King certainly was a trooper, and he was glad he had trusted his instinct that first day to ask for her help. It had certainly proven to be a good move on his part, and he could only imagine what the future would hold.

(THE END)

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