Screen Captures Courtesy of Swoopes For personal use and select distribution only © March 2002 by Amber Stockton Saved by the Bells - tagalogueWritten by Joel Steiger & Stu Krisman (excerpts from the episode belong to them)
Amanda stepped into the hall and beckoned Pretzel the Clown to follow. "I thought you were sick," she whispered. "Nah, just a little burned out," he replied, then gave her a serious look. "Boy, you have some connections. This guy calls me up, says he's with the federal government, says he has friends with the IRS, and they're going to audit me all the way back to sixty-seven if I don't show up. Boy, you don't mess around, do you, lady?" Amanda couldn't help but smile and shrug her shoulders a little. "Well, you know, I just..." She left off the rest of her sentence as she thought of just who it was that called Pretzel and used such leverage. "To tell you the truth, I've never been sick a day in my life," he admitted, then gestured over his shoulder into the living room. "Where's the rest of the party?" "Had to cancel it." "Why's that?" "Jamie's got the chicken pox." Weakly, Pretzel looked back into the living room where Jamie and Philip sat stuffing their faces with cake and ice cream. "Pretzel, Pretzel!" he heard Jamie call. He looked at Amanda and sighed, then assumed his clown voice as he skipped into the room to join the boys, entertaining them with a tale about having the chicken pox once. Amanda stayed out in the hall and shook her head. She heard how much fun her boys were having, so she took a few steps to stand in the doorway and watch them. She really did owe someone a lot of thanks for pulling off this special birthday treat. She smiled. It was a good thing she knew exactly who to thank. * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * "I think this is the last of it," Amanda announced as she closed and tied the trash bag that contained the remnants of the party. "Thanks, Mom. That was the best birthday ever!" Jamie announced and gave Amanda a bear hug. She turned to face Jamie, who looked very tired, but happy. "You deserved it, sweetheart. I'll just put this outside, and then we can pick out a book to read." She reached out to lift his chin and smiled with motherly love as she continued, "You look like you could use a good night's rest," then placed a kiss on the top of his head and patted his back. "Go on, both of you," she instructed to Philip and Jamie, "I'll be up in a few minutes." She paused then added as an afterthought. "And don't scratch!" When the two boys had disappeared up the stairs, Amanda lifted the trash bag and went to step outside to the garbage can. She dropped the bag into the can and lowered the lid, then turned to go back inside. "So, how'd the birthday party go?" His voice nearly caused her to jump a foot into the air. Instead, she turned to face him and put her hands on her hips. "Don't you have anything better to do than hang around my house and spy? Do you ever go off duty?" Momentarily taken back at her tone of voice, Lee recovered and smiled. "Sure. Just call this visit a checkup to make sure Bozo the Clown followed orders," he explained and gestured with his thumb through the window at the living room. "Pretzel," Amanda corrected and lowered her arms. "What?" "Pretzel. It's Pretzel the Clown, and thank you for doing that. It wasn't necessary, but you sure made Jamie's birthday extra special." "I owed ya one." He shrugged his shoulders and brushed it off as unimportant. Amanda wasn't about to let this slide, though. "No, you didn't. You're the one who saved my life by disobeying an executive order to get me back." She looked away and shook her head. "I still can't believe you did that," she muttered. "We saved each other, remember? If it weren't for you, we'd have never found that house where they took you, and we sure wouldn't have gotten away from Zinoviev at the end." He paused and waited for her to look at him again, then smiled, a twinkle in his eyes. "Besides, it's the least I can do for the 'Scarecrow.'" She smiled and ducked her head in embarrassment. "I still don't understand why they didn't believe me. I showed them my ID's, my pictures, a poem from Jamie about me. They just thought it was a cover." "What did you expect? That's what the Agency does," Lee replied simply. "Remember how we did the scenario for Victoria Grenich?" She nodded. "They just assumed we did the same thing for your identity as Amanda King." "Yes, but wouldn't they have had a picture or something of you to prove I wasn't you?" "Maybe. Then again maybe not." He paused and looked off into space. "I'd still like to know how they found the address to my apartment," he muttered to himself. "So, how'd they get you back here? It must have been several hours before they contacted the Agency with word that they had you, or who they thought was you," she quickly amended. Lee released a mocking chuckle. "It wasn't pleasant, believe me. I was yanked off the plane while it was on the runway and dragged back to the Agency. When we realized it wasn't me they had, but you..." He pinned her with a serious gaze and came to stand on the other side of the garbage can. "Amanda, they weren't gonna make the trade. They were just gonna let you die in my place. I couldn't believe them!" He smacked the top of the can and made Amanda jump in surprise, but he didn't notice as he turned away and took a few steps away from her. "I couldn't believe they could be so cold. Billy even told me I needed to remain objective and not take it personal. You dying instead of me? That's as personal as it gets! There was no way I was gonna live with that." Realizing he may have said too much, he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, then just stood there and stared out into the night. Amanda was too moved by his words to say anything, so she just watched him. Here was a man who constantly reminded her to stay professional, to keep her feelings separate from the assignment, to not get involved. Yet, here he was, having risked his job and his life to bring her back safely, even when he was ordered to do otherwise. His actions said more than he could ever say with words, and she wasn't comfortable with the feelings they evoked. She'd never been faced with a situation like this before, and she wasn't sure if what she felt was because of these new circumstances or something else. Either way, she wasn't ready to face them, so she forced herself to file them away. Like he said, she had to maintain her distance. Steeling her features to remove all traces of her inner struggle and personal thoughts, she moved to stand next to him and lightly touched his sleeve. "Lee?" she implored softly. He slowly turned his head to face her, and for a brief moment, something flashed in his hazel eyes then just as quickly disappeared as he expertly schooled his features. "Aw, Amanda, I'm sorry. I didn't come here to throw a wet blanket on the party mood." "You haven't, so don't worry about it." She looked him directly in the eyes, summoning every bit of strength she had not to lose her resolve. "Look, I know this thing with Rostov really got to you, but we're partners, and you did what any agent would and should do for his partner. You saved my life, and I'm really grateful." He chuckled. "Yeah, partners....even going so far as to assume each other's identities," he teased. She caught the glint in his eyes and the teasing note to his voice and returned his grin. "Yeah, well...you do what you gotta do to get the job done," she replied. "Where'd you get all that from, anyway? Telling Zinoviev the place was surrounded, yelling out that they'd be history if they tried anything. What got into you?" he asked with a laugh. "I had to say something, didn't I? I figured as long as they still thought I was you, I'd be able to get away with it." "That was quite a risk," he said, shaking his head. "It worked, didn't it?" she retorted and put her hands on her hips. "Yeah, it worked." He laughed. "Frisking and everything," he said with raised eyebrows and a smile. She blushed at the reminder of what she'd said, then shifted from one foot to the other, a little uncomfortably. "Well, I'd better get inside and put the boys to bed. Jamie's got the chicken pox..." "Oh, no." "Which reminds me, have you had them?" "Yeah, when I was a kid, why?" he answered. "Well, I've been around him all evening, and I don't want to give them to you." "It's a little late now." He laughed, but seeing her slightly worried expression, he sobered. "Oh, well, not to worry." He paused and cleared his throat. "So, Jamie enjoyed himself?" "Yes, he really did have a great time tonight." "Good." "So, I guess I'll be seeing you..." She left the remark hanging, not really knowing what to say. "Yeah, I'll, uh, be in touch," he said awkwardly. He started to reach for her hand, then stopped and released a small sigh. "Goodnight, Amanda." "Goodnight, Lee." He turned and headed for the gate, but paused before he reached it. "Oh, I think this belongs to you," he said as he turned around again. "Oh? What's that?" "Catch!" She watched him toss something in the air and saw the light from the outside lamp glint off the surface of the object before she caught it. As she looked down at the small, silver bullet she now held, she couldn't help but grin and roll her eyes slightly at Lee. His only reply was a wink as he turned again to leave. She turned back towards the house and lightly tossed the memento from their case in her hand, shaking her head as she thought about Lee. Yes, just as she determined on their case with the princess last week, working with him certainly was interesting. (THE END) |
