Amanda juggled precariously with the three overloaded groceries
bags, tried to open the door of her husband's apartment.

After two attempts, the doorknob didn't move so she gave a heroic
kick at the door and the reality struck, Lee wasn't at home.

OK, she put the bags down, and tried to get the key from
the .......Where was her purse? Think Amanda, think,..you grabbed
the bags, kick close the door, and ... of course the purse was IN
THE CAR!

Well, the last resource-her lockpick was in the collar, she took it
and without looking around tried to open the door, when a steel
voice asked her.

"Lady, can you tell me what are you doing?"

Gasping, Amanda turned around and saw a police officer, gun, badge and
all beside her.

"Officer, I can explain..." see I'm trying to enter my
husband's apartment and see I forgot the purse in my car, you see
these bags are full and of course I thought that Lee was at home,
and that make me think again, where he is, at that hour he should
have been here, and I couldn't wait for him to come home, the meat
and all the veggies will get bad and I couldn't cook dinner and....

"Lady, STOP! what is your name?"

"Amanda St.. uh King."

"Lady on the door the name is Lee Stetson, so something don't
match, you said this is your husband's apartment?"

At this moment, the elevator doors opened letting out a rumpeled,
dirty and tired Lee. Seeing and hearing his wife's voice he speed
and asked the officer at his turn.

"What happened here?"

"Who are you sir?"

"My name is Lee Stetson, and this is my house, and the lady is my
wife"

"Can I see some ID?" asked the officer not very convinced by the mans
looks.

Unfortunately, Lee had with him only the ID with LEE STEADMAN
alias, since he worked undercover till today, and at the policeman
curious glance he start.

"Officer, I can explain..." but all in vane, both Lee and Amanda
were escorted at the station.

There Lee, called Billy to help. Who took them out explaining who
they were and where they worked.
At the door he turn toward his best team and said with a smiling
grin.

"Ok now I want to know everything about the 'husband and
wife' matter the officer mentioned.

Robin Hood


"Officer, I can explain..."

"No Sir, I don't think you can. We have gotten calls to this neighborhood before and usually it is nothing, we were beginning to think that the lady that calls in was crazy, but honestly I think you are. You are going to need to come with me and explain this to my Chief."

"But really Officer if you just let me get my ID and explain."

"Sir, you are dressed up like Robin Hood, and it is not halloween, and running around the neighborhood in the middle of the night. I don't want the be the only one who listens to your explanation. Personally my boss won't believe me when I tell him this, so you are coming with me."

As soon as the officer got Billy into the patrol car. Lee and Amanda pulled up.

"Officer what is going on here?" Lee asks while showing him his ID.

"Do you know this person?" The officer pointed at Billy in the car.

"Yes, that man happens to be my boss! Why do you have him in handcuffs?!" Amanda could tell that Lee was now about to blow his top.

"Officer, Did you not check his ID and find out who he was?" She interrupted before Lee could unleash his anger.

"Ummm, no ma'am we have been getting a lot of strange phone calls and I didn't think anyone would believe me if I told them Robin Hood was running around the neighborhood."

"Well Officer I think you better let him out of there before you lose your job. Next time check his ID." Amanda turns to Lee "We need to get going if we are going to get Mr. Melrose to his wife's surprise party on time."

Billy joins them at Amanda's wagoneer, "This is the last time I ever try to honor my wife wishes. Who is their right mind would want Robin Hood at their birthday party.
Stupid costume has no pockets and I locked the keys in the house. That is why I was running around. Nosy neighbors."

He just kept mumbling as he got in the car. "Everything will be alright Sir." Amanda tried to reassure him as she helped him into the car.

"Maybe she only wanted him to wear it at home, for later." Lee said under his breath so only Amanda could hear. Amanda shut the car door. "Maybe we should borrow the suit for later." he winked suggestively. As Lee was helping her into the passenger side, Amanda started to say, "Lee really you can be so..." but Amanda couldn't finish the thought, she started thinking about Lee in the costume and what might happen later.

He shut the door on the driver's side and started the car, he looked over at Amanda and could tell she was thinking about his suggestion. `Of all the odd situations we have been in over the years this woman still amazes me and turns me on I can't wait till we get home.'

Lee had no idea how this happened. One moment he was sitting on a bar stool
waiting to meet his contact and the next he was being shoved against the
wall. "Officer, I can explain," he said to no avail. For whatever reason, the
intrepid undercover cop couldn't care less what his reasons were.

"Save it for the Judge," she barked at him. Grabbing his wrist, she twisted
his right arm around his back, pulling it up between his shoulder blades. He
winced in pain as the metal cuff cut into his wrist. Next, the bully, shackled
his left wrist in the other cuff and frog-marched him out the door.

He was unceremoniously dumped in the back of the squad car and driven to the
local police station where he was finger printed, photographed, locked up in
a holding cell, and promptly forgotten about.

He called out until his voice was horse for his one phone call, but that
fell on deaf ears.

Finally, after the morning shift-change, he was escorted to a bank of
telephones. He placed a call to Billy and explained that the meet never occurred
and that he needed some help getting out of a sticky situation. The woman who he
thought was his contact turned out to be an undercover detective with the
Vice squad, and she promptly arrested him when he gave her the code phrase "I
want to hold you."

Billy laughed so hard that Lee had to wait ten minutes for it to subside.
Billy assured him he'd take care of the problem and Lee would be released
shortly.

It took another two hours for all the charges to be dropped and for Lee to
be released.

He made his way back to the Agency, and just as he was making his way up the
stairs to the Q-Bureau, the door in the Georgetown Foyer swung open and a
furious Amanda stormed through complaining about his forgetting to pick her up.

He hated to disappoint her, and promised to co-sign on an Agency loan for
her. She smiled at him. The smile that said he was her hero and it brightened
his whole day.

Of course, if he ever found out which nit-wit came up with the code phrase,
he was going to kick some serious ass.


End

One night in 1986, Lee Stetson was hit with something with such force that
he pulled the Vette to the shoulder of Highway 1. Surely this revelation
deserved bombs bursting in air or fireworks. Lee settled for the normalcy of
watching the holding patterns of the planes waiting to land at National. The
luminous glass structures of Crystal City surely compared in comparison to the
smile of his handsome face. Thanks to years of training, the revelry of his
heartbeat was contrasted by the quiet and calm countenance that was Scarecrow.
When suddenly a rap on the window distracted him from these thoughts, he
lowered the barrier.

"Officer, I can explain. . . ."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disclaimer: Characters mentioned in this fanfic from the TV show
Scarecrow and Mrs. King do not belong to me, but to Shoot the Moon
and Warner Brothers et als. I am just borrowing them for some fun.
I do not intend to profit in anyway from this story.

Timeline: Soon after the Nightcrawler episode/the engagement
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lee pulled the `Vette up to the curb several houses down from
Amanda's Cape Cod. He jumped from the driver's seat and hurried up
the block to Amanda's place. He couldn't wait to see her beautiful
smile. It had been a couple of days since they'd been able to spend
any time alone, and he was really looking forward to having a
romantic dinner with his fiancé.

Lee made his way around to the back of the house and took his usual
place at the kitchen window. Now that we're engaged, he thought,
maybe I won't have to peek into her kitchen window much longer.
Someday I hope I'll be able to just use the front door like a "normal
person" when I come over, he mused.

As he peered into the kitchen, he didn't see any signs of Amanda or
her family, but he knew Amanda would be down soon to greet him. He
smiled in anticipation thinking, I only have to wait a few more
minutes to see her.

Suddenly, a loud voice boomed from behind him, "FREEZE! Put your
hands in the air and back up slowly towards me."

Lee glanced behind him and saw one of Arlington's finest pointing his
weapon right at him. "Is there a problem, officer?"

"Yeah. You. Dispatch got a 911 call from one of Mrs. King's
neighbors about a peeping tom in her back yard. I'll be damned, I
finally caught you! We've been getting reports about a PT in this
neighborhood for the past couple of years."

"Officer, I can explain…," Lee began. "May I show you my I.D.? My
name is Lee Stetson, and I am a federal agent."

"Slowly and carefully, sir. No sudden moves."

Lee reached into his jacket pocket where he normally kept his Agency
I.D. "Damn it, I must have left it in the car, officer."

"Yeah, right, and I'm Ronnie Reagan. Back on up here so we can get
these cuffs on you and take you downtown for booking. I am going to
be the talk of the precinct for finally solving this case," the
officer bragged as he began to slip the cuffs on Lee's wrists.

"Sir, you don't understand, I work with Mrs. King…with Amanda, and I
was just waiting on her to come down so we can go out for a nice
dinner," Lee explained.

"Haven't you ever heard of using the front door? Now, enough of this
nonsense, C,mon let's get going," the officer said as he began to
drag Lee away from the patio.

"Officer, please just get Mrs. King down here. She will verify that
I am here to take her dinner," Lee pleaded.

"You had better be telling me the truth, sir. I am going to tack on
more charges if you are lying to me," he said as he knocked on
Amanda's back door.

After what seemed like an eternity to Lee, Amanda finally appeared at
the door and opened it. She was stunned to see Lee cuffed and in the
custody of an Arlington Police officer.

"What in the world is going on here? Officer, is there a problem?"
Amanda asked.

"We received a call about a peeping tom, and I caught this wacko red-
handed standing right there at your kitchen window."

"A-man-da, tell Barney Fife here that you and I work together at the
Agency and that I am here to take you dinner," Lee said becoming more
and more irritated by the minute.

Amanda hesitated and looked at Lee as if contemplating telling the
officer she had never seen him before in her life, but then she
thought better of playing that little joke on him and said, "He's
telling you the truth, officer, Lee is a federal agent and he really
is here to take me to dinner. He was just waiting on me to come
down."

"Well, ok then, sorry to bother you two. I am very sorry, sir, for
the mix-up," the officer told an angry Lee. He removed the handcuffs
and made a hasty exit from the backyard before Lee could say anything
further.

"Can you believe that guy? I mean he called me a wacko and accused
ME of being a peeping tom. Unbelievable. I should report him!" Lee
exclaimed.

"I'm really sorry, sweetheart. This is all my fault. I should have
let you know that you could just come in the front door tonight.
Mother is out playing bridge and the boys are over at their father's
house. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"Hmmm, that sounds nice. But it's going to take a lot to make me
forget what you put me through tonight," Lee said in a sultry voice
as he took Amanda into his arms and captured her lips for a long kiss.

Eye Witness

"Officer, I can explain."

"Tell it to the judge."

"But officer I … Lee trailed off, what could he say, really? The
officer had just seen him point a gun at Amanda and pull the trigger.
If he pulled his Federal ID and showed the officer, then he'd blow his
cover. He knew he couldn't do that. The agency had too much riding on
his mark believing that he was burned out and looking to make some
money as an illegal arms dealer. So he reasoned in his mind that it
was a good thing the policeman arrived, since he wasn't completely
sure he had missed. At this very moment he was worried that Amanda was
lying at the bottom of that hill hurt and/or
bleeding.

Here is my second challenge response for the week. For this one, I
revived another of my previous challenge responses (the "What a pile
of..." challenge) and expanded it to incorporate this week's
challenge line. I really hope you all enjoy it!

Julie T

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disclaimer: Characters mentioned in this fanfic from the TV show
Scarecrow and Mrs. King do not belong to me, but to Shoot the Moon
and Warner Brothers et als. I am just borrowing them for some fun.
I do not intend to profit in anyway from this story.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lee and Amanda were speeding down the beltway when traffic suddenly
began coming to a stop. "Leeeeee, I told you NOT to take the
beltway!!!" Amanda admonished.

"Honey, I thought it would be the fastest way--I'm sorry!" Lee
replied. "Damn it, what a pile of cars ahead of us...," Lee lamented
seeing car upon car stacked in front of them in the stop and go,
mostly stop, traffic.

Amanda exclaimed, "Lee this baby is coming--hurry up!!!!"

"NOOOOO, Amanda NOT in the 'Vette!!" Lee said forcefully. To which
Amanda sarcastically replied, "Well, Lee, I can't very well stop it,
so what do you want me to do? Get out and have her in the middle of
the road???"

Lee seemed to contemplate that idea for a moment, and Amanda scolded
him for it, "Now really, Lee, you don't want your daughter born in
the middle of the beltway do you?"

Lee stared at her like a deer in headlights, then jerked the 'Vette
over onto the shoulder of the beltway and floored it. "Hold on,
Amanda, we'll make it. I know we will--we HAVE to!" Lee yelled as he
sped towards the next exit.

They flew up the shoulder of the beltway as fast as Lee dared to go.
He had to watch that someone else didn't pull over in front of him.

That's all we need—to get in an accident with Amanda in labor, he
contemplated. Suddenly, a loud wailing siren broke his train of
thought. He looked in the rearview mirror and noticed a police car
right on his tail with its blue lights flashing.

"Damn it, what else is going to happen?" he asked as he began to slow
down.

"Lee, why are you slowing down? We have to get to the hospital—NOW!"
Amanda exclaimed.

"I am being pulled over by a cop, Amanda," he said in an irritated
tone as the officer approached the driver's side of the `Vette. "I
guess he didn't take too kindly to my use of the shoulder of the
road." Lee rolled his window down as soon as the officer appeared.

"Sir, I have pulled you over for using the shoulder of the road in an
unlawful and reckless manner. May I see you driver's license and
registration, please?"

"Officer, I can explain…," Lee began as Amanda yelped in pain from
the passenger seat. Lee patted her arm and told her, "Hold on,
Manda."

The officer ducked down to see what was going on with the passenger
and was surprised to see a very pregnant woman who looked to be in a
lot of pain. "Is she ok, sir?"

"My wife is about to give birth to our first child, and I am trying
to get her to the hospital as quickly as possible. With this stop
and go traffic, I decided that using the shoulder of the road was our
only option if we are going to make it in time," Lee quickly
explained.

"Oh, I see, sir. I'll pull my cruiser in front of your vehicle and
give you an escort to the hospital so that you and your wife get
there in one piece!" the officer shouted over his shoulder as he
hurried back to his cruiser.

About an hour later at Galilee General Hospital, Amanda and Lee
became the proud parents of a beautiful, healthy baby girl.

Officer I can explain.

I am sure you can Mr. President. You'll have plenty of time to do
that while you talk to the doctors.

I don't want to talk to anymore doctors. Dr. Franklin has already
cleared me physically to leave Medlab.

I understand that sir, but Captain Lochley has ordered a mental
evaluation after you shot your self in the head with a PPG.

I DON'T NEED A DOCTOR! It was an accident. I told Captain Lockley
that… besides she can't have me committed. I OUTRANK HER!

Sheridan's words seemed to fall on deaf ears as the three
attendants wrestled him into the restraints. Oh boy if he didn't
have enough problems, ISN was going to have a field day if the got
vid of this. Damn Lockley, the evil witch. This had to be her
revenge for him telling Garibaldi about the time she… Sheridan's
thoughts were cut off as the sedative that he had just been injected
with took effect.

All the usual disclaimers stand, not ours, just borrowing, thanks
Warner Bros. & Shoot the Moon...

A Little Mix-Up
(by the Yank and the Brit)


Dotty entered the kitchen ahead of her daughter, placed her
purse on the counter, and flopped down onto one of the
stools. "Amanda, my feet hurt so much I don't think I'll ever walk
again."

Amanda looked at her mother sympathetically and gave a tired
laugh, as she placed her own purse beside her mother's. "I think
you're exaggerating, just a bit, Mother, but I do understand what
you're saying."

Pulling off one of her shoes, Dotty started massaging her
foot. "Well, perhaps I am stretching the truth a bit, but it's only
because I feel like we walked for miles and miles today."

Amanda smiled. "You say that every time we go to one of these
mall-wide sales." Walking over to the cupboard, she opened a door
and pulled out the hot cocoa. "Why don't you go and run yourself a
hot bath, and I'll bring up a cup of hot chocolate for you to drink
while you soak."

Dotty stretched her neck from side to side. "Mmmm… that
sounds like a wonderful idea." She slowly eased off the stool and
turned to grab her purse. "Amanda, which one of these is mine. They
look so similar, I can't tell the difference."

Amanda finished filling the kettle with water and walked over
to the stove. Glancing over her shoulder, she looked at her
mother. "Yours is the one with the tiny gilt buckle on the side."

"Oh that's right." Dotty inspected the two purses. She had a
feeling that this was going to be a constant issue. "Maybe we should
have gone with different colors."

"Oh darn." Disappointed, Amanda closed the cupboard where
she'd hidden the marshmallows. "We're out of marshmallows. I must
have used the last of them up and forgot to write them on the store
list."

"Hot chocolate just isn't the same without them, is it?"
Dotty replied a bit sadly.

Amanda turned off the stove. "No it's not. Why don't you go
take your bath and I'll run to the store for more."

"Are you sure, I can live without them you know." Dotty gazed
at her daughter.

Amanda nodded. "Yes, besides, we're low on milk, so I can
pick that up too." She turned to grab her purse, just as the phone
rang. Letting out a sigh, she reached over and picked up the
receiver. "Hello? … oh, hi."

Dotty knew who the caller was the minute her daughter's face
had lit up. Why her daughter and Lee Stetson didn't make their
relationship more official was beyond her. If Lee wasn't with her at
work, he was at the house, or calling every hour. Knowing that the
call was going to take a while, she slipped her shoe back on her
foot, grabbed her purse and headed for the door. "I'm gonna go get
the marshmallows," she called as she opened the door and slipped
outside before her daughter could object.

Clutching her purse, Dotty quickly made her way to Amanda's
Wagoneer and groaned as her feet began to protest. Maybe she should
rethink going to the store, after all, they didn't really need the
marshmallows that bad, but then again they were out of milk. "Oh,
be quiet." She mumbled to her feet. "We can do this. It'll be a
quick trip to the store and back and then you'll have all the time in
the world to soak." Ignoring the ache in her feet, she climbed into
the vehicle and closed the door.

Turning the key in the ignition, Dotty put the Jeep in
reverse and began to slowly back out of the driveway. As she pulled
away from the house, she glanced briefly towards the windows and
shook her head wistfully. She loved Amanda, but her daughter and Lee
were really trying her patience. Anyone with eyes could tell how
very much in love they were. She didn't understand what they were
waiting for. The boys enjoyed having Lee around, and Jamie had
finally accepted the new man in his mother's life. Everyone would be
much better off if Lee would just pop the question and move into the
house, permanently.

Dotty sighed as she made a right out of the neighborhood and
onto the main road. She was sure of one thing, the moment Lee moved
in, she would definitely get to see a lot more of her daughter, and
so would Phillip and Jamie. Not that Amanda wasn't a good mother,
but between the film company, the boys' activities, and Lee, her
daughter's time was definitely split in one too many directions.

Dotty's thoughts were broken by the sound of a siren behind
her. Glancing in her rearview mirror, she noticed flashing blue and
red lights. She quickly looked down at her speedometer, and clearly
not speeding, she couldn't understand what she could have done to
warrant being pulled over. Letting out another sigh, she put on her
blinker and maneuvered the vehicle over to the shoulder.

As soon as the Jeep was in park, Dotty reached over and
opened the glove box. Taking out the registration, she then picked
up her purse from the passenger seat. She hadn't been pulled over
more than once before, but she had seen people being pulled over on
TV enough times to know the procedure. With everything within easy
reach, she rolled down the window and waited for the police officer
to approach.

"Afternoon ma'am." Officer McDonald nodded politely, when he
reached the open vehicle window. "Do you know why I pulled you over?"

"No, Officer, I'm afraid I don't." Dotty shook her head with
honest bewilderment. "I'm pretty sure I was going the speed limit,
and I know the vehicle's registration is up-to-date… "

"I pulled you over because you apparently didn't see the stop
sign back at Magnolia." Officer McDonald pointed back in the
direction Dotty had come.

Dotty's hand instantly went to her face, her expression
clearly showing her embarrassment. "I can't believe I missed that.
I've lived here for almost fifteen years, and I've never missed that
stop sign."

"Be that as it may, you did miss it, and thankfully traffic
is light at this time of day, or you could have had a serious
accident." Officer McDonald shrugged compassionately. "Suffice it to
say, I am going to have to write you a ticket. License and
registration please."

Dotty handed the Officer the registration she'd already dug
out, and began routing through her purse for her wallet. The first
thing she noticed, as she opened the bag, was that something seemed
off with the contents. "Officer, I think I may have grabbed my
daughter's purse… " her explanation trailed off as her fingers felt
something cold and hard. Wrapping her hand around the item, she
began to pull it out, and then as the sight of it came into view, her
eyes grew wide, and she quickly let go of the item. She prayed that
the officer didn't catch sight of it at all.

"Excuse me ma'am, may I please see your hand bag?" Officer
McDonald asked, his friendly tone now serious.

Dotty nodded and closed her eyes as she passed the purse
through the window. Apparently her prayers had gone unanswered, and
Officer McDonald had clearly seen the…, no it couldn't have been. She
didn't dare even think the word. What would Amanda be doing with a…

"Do you have a permit for this gun?" Officer McDonald fixed
Dotty with a cold-hard stare.

"Officer, I can I explain… " Dotty swallowed hard. She
wasn't sure she really could explain.

Officer McDonald nodded in understanding. "I'll take that as
a no."

"No, I mean, well, see, as I started saying before, I grabbed
my daughter's purse… " Dotty took a deep breath and continued, "and
see we were just at the mall, you know for the mall-wide sale, and we
both bought new purses. I don't know what possessed us to choose
bags that were almost identical, but we both liked them, and we
decided to start using them right away. Then when we got home, and
they were on the kitchen counter… and we were out of marshmallows,
and the phone rang, and it was my daughter's boyfriend, and I knew
they were going to be talking forever, so I decided to go to the
store, and… well obviously I grabbed her purse instead of mine."

Having found a wallet and ID in the purse, Officer McDonald
stared in amazement at this woman. He had heard her take one breath,
and that was all. No one could possibly say that much in one
breath. It was obviously a stall tactic. The registration, Federal
ID with photo and driver's license all had the same name on them,
Amanda King. However the picture on the ID and the woman behind the
drivers' seat were definitely not the same woman. "I'm afraid I'm
going to have to take you down to the station house."

Dotty's mouth fell open. "Honestly, officer, this is my
daughter's car. My name is Dorothea West, and I live with my
daughter, Amanda King. I have two grandsons, and we all reside at
4247 Maplewood Drive."

"You're obviously good at creating confusion, ma'am, but I'm
not that easily suckered." Officer McDonald put the purse under one
arm, and placed his free hand on the hilt of his gun. "You could very
easily have read the information on this woman's ID and come up with
a cover story. Now we can do this the easy way, or the hard way, but
either way, you will be coming with me to the station."

Dotty closed her eyes and fought back tears. "I don't want to
make trouble. I'll come willingly." She turned the car off and
pulled the keys out of the ignition. "What'll happen to my daughter's
car?"

"I'll call ahead and have a tow truck come and get it."
Officer McDonald opened the Jeep's door and assisted Dotty out of the
vehicle. He walked her to his squad car, helped her into the back
and then closed the door. He then wrote out a note on the back of a
ticket, and walked back to the Wagoneer. He placed the note on the
windshield, so that any other squad cars passing would know this
vehicle was already being taken care of.

Walking back to his own car, Officer McDonald shook his
head. He hated arresting nice older women, but he'd learned that
even the nicest face could easily be used to distract others from
more nefarious wrong doings.


***** *****


Amanda rushed into the station house with Lee right behind
her. Only her mother could turn a simple trip to the store into a
matter of national security. The police station had called not only
her to report her missing hand bag and vehicle, but had also called
the Agency, to let them know that a civilian was walking around
pretending to be a government agent.

Fortunately, however, Mr. Melrose was the one who had
received the call, and though he wasn't happy about it, he did
understand, to a point, having met Dotty on several occasions, and
knowing that Dotty was Amanda's mother, which was explanation
enough. But, understanding or not, he had issued an order that Lee
go with Amanda to the station, just to ensure that everything was
taken care of properly. After all, with two agents along to verify
Dotty's story, well it would be a lot easier to clear up all
misunderstandings.

Amanda, with Lee beside her, anxiously approached the front
desk. "I'm looking for my mother, Dorothea West."

The desk officer looked up from her paperwork. "Your name,
please?"

"Amanda King. I believe you have my ID and license, which if
you look at the photo, will verify that I am who I say I am." Amanda
pointed to her purse sitting on the edge of the desk. "Which will
then allow me to vouch for the woman you're holding."

Lee took out his own ID, "I'm also a federal agent, and can
back up Mrs. King's story."

The desk officer picked up the ID from beside the purse,
looked at the photo, then at Amanda, and back again. "All right, it
does appear that you match the photo." She snapped her fingers and
motioned towards the officer standing beside the door behind
her. "Please go get Mrs. West from holding room two." She then
turned back towards Amanda and Lee. "I'll just need you to sign for
your things."

Amanda nodded and accepted the clipboard from the officer.
She quickly signed her name, and handed the board back to the
officer.

The desk officer handed Amanda her IDs and purse, just as the
door opened.

"Oh, Amanda, thank goodness… and Lee? She didn't need to
drag you down here." Dotty walked briskly towards the partition
door. "But then, I guess she did need a ride since I had the Jeep,
and well that's now in the impound lot, and I mean who else would
Amanda have called…"

Lee smiled with amusement as he opened the half-door for
Dotty, who immediately rushed into his wife's arms.

"Oh, Mother, are you all right?" Amanda pulled back to look
at her mother more closely.

"Yes, I suppose. Though I have a mind to write to someone."
Dotty eyed the officers behind the desk. "I mean what kind of world
do we live in when an honest citizen's words aren't worth anything
anymore?"

Amanda glanced over her mother's head and shared a knowing
look with her husband. If her mother only knew. "Come on, let's get
you home."

"I can tell you, I'm definitely taking a long hot bath now."
Dotty nodded as she stepped out of her daughter's embrace and turned
towards the front door. "Oh, this whole ordeal has been so
upsetting. I mean I tried to explain that I took your purse by
mistake…" She turned towards her daughter as they reached the front
doors, "which, by the way, I'm not the only one with something to
explain. I believe you and I are going to have a long talk about why
you have a gun in your purse, missy."

Amanda glanced briefly at her husband, and letting out a deep
sigh, followed her mother out of the station house.


End

"Officer, I can explain." Lee said as he handed over his license and
registration.

"Uh huh. Go ahead, Mr. Stetson. Explain to me what is going on.
Ma'am, I'll be needing your identification, also." The cop was all
business under the brim of his hat.

"You see, well . . . she's my wife. . . " Lee squirmed, why wasn't
Amanda helping him? Normally, if he said to let him do the talking
she just nosed in, anyway.

The officer referenced their I.D.s "Yea, I got one of those, too.
Different name on the license, here."

"Well, we're newlyweds. Yea, so, you understand." The breeze was
getting to Lee's naked chest. At least his pants were up and
zipped. He couldn't vouch for Amanda's state of dress... he didn't
have the guts to so much as give her a sideways glance, at the moment.

"So, that gives you the right to have sex in your car in the middle
of a state park? Buddy, if every newlywed in DC, Maryland and
Virginia had that attitude I would be writing a ticket every minute."

"T-ticket?" Lee stammered. He still didn't look, but thought he
heard a giggle out of Amanda.

"Sir, I'll be right back, I'll ask you not to move."

"Of course not."

Finally, Lee turned to Amanda. She had their little blanket across
her lap and was holding her top to her chest. Her discarded bra was
stil on the floorboard on her side of the 'Vette. She giggled.

"What? By the way, thanks for the help, there."

"Aww, honey," Amanda sounded sympathetic, "You asked me to let you
handle this, as your husband. I am not about to step on your marital
rights. Besides, I think you're doing a," giggle, "fantastic job!"

Lee sighed and awaited his fate. Ticket or not, Amanda was worth
it. Their romantic moment had been quite interrupted, but, that
didn't mean she was going straight home when Sgt. Fury was done with
them!

The end