Screen Captures Courtesy of Swoopes For personal use and select distribution only © April 2002 by Amber Stockton Ship of Spies - tagalogueWritten by Robert Bielak (excerpts from the episode belong to him)
"Sir? There's just one thing." Billy smiled and raised his eyes inquisitively. She sat forward in her chair and lowered her voice slightly when she asked, "What about the annulment?" Lee began to look uncomfortable, and a very serious look crossed Billy's face as he glanced down at his desk, then looked to Francine, who jumped in to explain. "Oh, that won't be necessary. The marriage was technically invalid." Amanda glanced between Francine and Lee. "Technically invalid?" "Yeah," Francine replied. Lee placed his hands in his pockets, and Francine looked at Lee, then Billy, then back at Lee, who explained, "Yeah, Amanda. I put down a false name. Stetsman instead of Stetson." Amanda felt a mixture of surprise and confusion at Lee's answer, and she wasn't certain what to say. Billy gestured with the palms of his hands spaced about six inches apart as he gestured in a downward motion. "An agent has to think on his feet." Amanda nodded, but was still a little uneasy about everything. She glanced at Billy, then back at Lee. "I also put down a phony birthdate, birthplace, address, the whole works." "Well….then we were never really married." She emphasized that last word with a forced smile as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat and tilted her head in an obvious attempt to brush aside the awkwardness of the situation. "Uh…" Lee faltered. "Well, not according to the laws of San Angelo," Francine immediately supplied. Amanda closed her eyes momentarily, nodded and smiled, but when she opened them, she glanced at Francine and saw a hint of question in her eyes. It was almost as if Francine was silently challenging her and Lee about the vows they had spoken, regardless of the fact that it was all part of the assignment. It was as if Francine was asking them how they really felt when they spoke those words to each other in front of an ordained minister. Lee's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Which reminds me...um, could I speak to you for a minute alone?" She fidgeted with her purse for a moment. "Oh, sure." Lee pulled the sides of his jacket together, then patted his left leg before walking to the door of Billy's office that led out into the bullpen. Amanda stood and looked at Billy. "Sir." She then turned and cleared her throat. "Francine," she added and slipped her purse strap over her right shoulder as she turned to leave. Lee cleared his throat as he left the section chief's office, and out of the corner of her eye, Amanda watched Francine move closer to stand next to Billy, who was still seated behind his desk. They both watched her leave and Francine smiled. "Bye." The door closed behind them, and Amanda was certain that Mr. Melrose and Francine were looking at each other, as well as her and Lee's movement through the bullpen. She knew that Francine had raised her eyebrows and had that familiar smirk on her face. The guard held open the door as Lee and Amanda walked out into the corridor and headed for the outside elevator. Amanda watched Lee, whose eyes were downcast as he appeared determined to keep his focus forward and not look at her. "Um, Amanda, some…." When he didn't continued, she realized he might need a little encouragement. "Yeah?" "Some strange things happened on that assignment," he continued. They stopped walking and faced each other in the middle of the hallway, Amanda on Lee's left, as people continued to walk around and behind them. It was obvious that Lee struggled to come up with a way to explain things to her, but she received a small amount of satisfaction at his discomfort and wasn't about to help him at this point. "And um…" he licked his lips, "well, what I'm…" he paused and glanced down the hallway, "what I'm really trying to say is that….uh, you know…" He stopped and appeared to collect his thoughts. Amanda watched him, amused. "Well, what I'm saying is that…..whatever happened was….well, it was all part of the job," he managed to say. His face was very serious, and she watched him school his expression with practiced ease. Amanda grinned and nodded, then locked gazes with him, keeping her own expression unreadable. "I know, it was all part of the job." He nodded a little in agreement. "Yeah, and we were just, you know, playing our covers." The grin still hadn't left her face. "I know, we were playing our covers." "Right, and nothing more to it." He gestured with his left hand and stabbed his index finger down to make his point. Amanda closed her eyes and shook her head as she continued to grin. "Nothing more to it," she repeated. They spoke at the same time. "So can I have my ring back?" "Let me give you your..." Lee held out his hand, palm up, and Amanda reached down to retrieve the ring. They both laughed, then smiled, as Amanda took the ring and held onto his right pinky with her left hand. Her thumb and index finger kept a hold of his pinky as she slid the ring on with her right. The ring would only go to his knuckle, and Lee crooked his pinky down in a reflexive action that captured her left index finger. They both looked down at the ring and smiled. "Yeah," she says and looked back up at Lee. "Oh...uh..." His eyes were still on the ring and their hands. She wasn't sure what else there was to say, but she did feel that neither one of them wanted to walk away yet. A lot had happened on that assignment, and she wasn't certain she wanted to deal with the feelings connected with the case. To do that would mean facing the realities of feeling something more than the simple playing out of her cover, and that meant she was getting more involved than she should. However, remembering that kiss caused her lips to tingle, even now, and there was no way she could simply forget it, no matter how hard she tried. It was obvious that Lee wanted to put this entire assignment behind them, and a part of her agreed with him. It would be far easier to do that than it would be to admit that either one of them had felt anything different than normal while working together. She had lost count of the number of times he had reminded her that they were just business partners. After what had happened on this case, she could see the intelligence in maintaining that aloof distance. Emotions only complicated things, and in a business where your life may depend on having a clear head, there was no place for them. Amanda's eyes fell back to where her finger was still caught with his, and she felt the heat rise to her face. It was the same type of hold he had on her finger just after they had gotten "married" and were discussing the case. For someone who wanted nothing more than to put this case behind him, Lee certainly was acting very strange. He hadn't said a word for several moments, and it appeared as if his mind was elsewhere. Suddenly, he released her finger and pulled back his hand as if he had touched a hot stove. Amanda looked up and saw several emotions play across his face at once. Their eyes met and held for a moment, and in those brief seconds, she felt a connection to him. It was obvious he had realized again where they were, but something else lay just beneath the surface of his carefully concealed expression. Instead of pursuing it, she decided to slip back into the comfortable safety zone of their friendship. "You know, maybe you're right," she finally said, breaking the silence. For a second, he looked at her, obviously confused. Then, he shook his head slightly. "About what?" "That there was nothing more to this assignment than us playing out our covers. That it was all part of the job." "Well, it was." "Yes, I know. I'm agreeing with you." "Then, why did you say 'maybe'?" "Did I?" She feigned ignorance. "Oh, well, that's not important. What's important is that we've settled this. Miles, Jillian, Rackham and Gretz were apprehended, Orlando was found, you have your ring back, and we're done." She nodded once to emphasize her words. He crossed his arms. "Then, why do I get the feeling that this isn't over?" A trace of suspicion laced his words, and he narrowed his eyes. She shrugged. "I don't know, Stetson, why do you?" The corners of her mouth turned up a little in her attempt to conceal a grin. Her attempt to bring him out of this thoughts had worked, and he had easily picked up on her teasing banter. "Oh no! You're not gonna turn this around on me!" He raised his hand to point a finger in her direction. "You're the one who started all of this by saying that maybe I was right." "And you're the one who has to insist on everything being part of the job!" she retorted. "So, what's wrong with that?" He was getting mildly irritated, but Amanda could tell he didn't fully understand why, and she fought to control the smile that tugged at her lips. "Well, let's see. One thing might be that you refuse to acknowledge any feelings associated with your work. Instead, you lock yourself up inside and refuse to let anyone know that you're affected. Maybe that's a result of the work you do, but it certainly can't be healthy. I always tell my boys that it's better to talk things out than it is to hold it all inside. If they keep it bottled up, one of these days, it's going to explode, and there's no telling what will happen when it does." She paused and wagged the index finger of her right hand in his direction. "You're just like them, and one of these days you're going to run out of room inside to store your emotions." "So, now you're analyzing me?" She was amazed that he wasn't showing any signs of anger at her, only mild frustration and confusion. "Maybe." "Well, I'll have you know that I do let it all out, when I feel like it, and not before." His voice rose a little too much, and he stopped when he noticed several people turn to look at him. He looked to the left and right then returned to look directly at her. For a moment, he paused and sighed, then ran his hand through his hair and softened his expression. "Look, Amanda, I'm sorry. It's just not easy for me to deal with things like this. You're right, it is a result of my work, but in this business, you have to be careful about letting down your guard. I did once and it got my partner killed. I don't have any desire to repeat that again." He paused and watched her face, then a teasing gleam stole into his eyes. "Besides, you're no expert on Feelings 101!" Finally, the grin that had tugged at her lips appeared and she stuck a finger in the middle of his chest. "I learn from the best!" She delivered her retort and turned to walk the remainder of the way to the elevator. As she pressed the button, she heard him continue. "Don't think you're getting away that easy!" he warned. The elevator doors opened, and Amanda stepped aside for the agent who exited, then entered after him. Just before the doors closed, she stuck her head out and smiled at him. "With you, Stetson, nothing's easy!" The doors closed in front of her. Once in the safety of the elevator, she shook her head and laughed, imagining the look on Lee's face at her parting shot. (THE END) |
