Lee and Amanda sat at their desks in the Q Bureau working quietly. It
had been a long hard week. Their latest assignment took more time and
man power than previously thought and everyone was exhausted. Neither of
them spoke as they tried their best to finish the reports. Billy had
promised them a three-day weekend once the reports were turned in.
Amanda gathered up all her paperwork and neatly stacked them in the
folder. She looked over at Lee who looked as if he was trying to solve
the New York Times crossword puzzle rather than completing his report.
He appeared frazzled (and frankly, ticked off), but seemed determined to
finish it on his own.
"I'm all finished. Would you like any help finishing your report?"
"No, no, I'll do it," he insisted.
Amanda knew how much Lee hated doing the reports. He thought it was
tedious and time consuming. She knew he liked it better when she wasn't
a full time agent and would do his reports for him, but now she had her
own to take care of.
"I'm missing a page!" Lee growled as he tossed papers all over the desk.
"How the hell can I be missing a page?"
Amanda rose from her desk and walked over to behind Lee's desk. She
placed a hand on each of Lee's shoulders and leaned her head down beside
his.
"Just calm down. You're not going to get anything accomplished by
throwing papers all over the place," she said while massaging his
shoulders. "Let me take a look here and see if I can find it."
Lee slid out from his chair and turned to face the window. Taking a deep
breath and letting it out, Lee said, "I'm sorry Amanda. This week has
been a real bear. We worked more overtime this week, than we have in the
past month. We barely spent anytime alone with each other, and neither
of us has had a good nights sleep in over a week."
"Found it," said Amanda as she started arranging all his papers in
order. "I know Lee, it was a very long week and I feel the same way you
do. At least we have this weekend off."
"Yeah, thanks to Billy. Good thing too, because I don't know how much
longer I could go without spending time alone with you."
Lee leaned down and grabbed Amanda by the waist pulling her upright out
of the chair. His arms snaked around her waist bringing her body next to
his.
"Any chance of us having time alone together this weekend?" He asked,
placing a gentle kiss on her lips.
"Now that you mention it, Mother is going away with a few of her friends
to Atlantic City, and the boys are with Joe this weekend. So…."
"So, we have to entire house to ourselves," he said with a devilish
grin.
"Mmmhmmm," was all she said with the same devilish grin.
The piercing ring of the phone abruptly interrupted their moment.
Lee looked at Amanda, "don't answer that."
"We have to. It's probably Billy."
"He'll just think that we already left. Don't pick it up."
"Lee, he knows we didn't leave, we haven't handed in our reports yet."
Amanda picked the phone up and held it to her ear, "hello, Film Library,
Amanda speaking."
Lee stood behind her, brushing her hair away from her neck, he started
placing kisses along the back of her neck. She squirmed under his touch,
but he put his arm around her waist so she couldn't move. Giving up to
him almost immediately she cocked her head towards the receiver giving
him better access.
"Yes, ok sir, I understand, we'll be right down," said Amanda right
before she hung up the phone.
Reaching up behind her, she ran her fingers through Lee's hair. "Billy
wants us down in his office right away."
Lee let out a sigh and dropped his head onto her shoulder. "No, he can't
do this to us. You realize this is going to mean no three day weekend
don't you?"
"You don't know that. Come on let's get down there and see what he
wants," she said as she gathered up their reports and headed for the
door.
"Ok, but unfortunately I'm going to be able to say I told you so."
The trip to Billy's office was a long one. Lee walked slower than a
death row inmate taking his final walk to the chamber. Amanda kept
trying to hurry him along, but he was too busy sulking to care.
"Lee, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can start our
weekend," she assured him.
"Uh huh, Billy has another assignment for us Amanda. I can feel it."
Billy saw the two of them walking through the bullpen and waved them
into his office.
"Lee, Amanda, have a seat," said Billy.
"Here are the reports, sir," Amanda said as she handed Billy the files.
"Great work you two. This was a tough case, I know. That's why I put my
best agents on it. I knew you would get the job done, and I appreciate
all your hard work."
"So why are we here?" Lee questioned his superior.
"Well, I have something I need the two of you to take care of for me,"
Billy said as he sat down at his desk.
"Billy, you gave us this weekend off, remember?" Whined Lee.
"I know, and I'm sorry, but something has come up and I need you to get
on this right away," replied Billy.
Amanda sat there listening to the two of them. 'Lee was right. We're not
getting our weekend. I hate it when he's right.' She thought to herself.
"What do you need us to do, sir?" Amanda asked looking at Lee then
Billy.
"We have received word that a death threat was sent to a senator today.
We aren't sure exactly which senator it was meant for though," Billy
told his agents.
"What do you mean, you don't know which senator it's for?" Lee asked
slapping his leg with his hand.
"The letter stated that while the senator is on vacation he was going to
be killed. The problem is, there are two senators taking vacation at the
same time. Also, they are vacationing at the same place. So we don't
know which one is the target and in danger."
"What are the odds of both senators vacationing at the same place at the
same time?" Amanda stated.
"Well it appears that the wife of Senator Specter and the wife of
Senator Bradley are friends. They planned their vacations together
without their husbands' knowledge. We need to send in agents to watch
over them while they are on vacation."
"Why not just cancel the trips?" Amanda queried.
"Yeah Billy, wouldn't that be the easiest thing to do?" Lee replied. He
knew it wasn't, but was hoping to get out of this assignment.
"No. We decided they should proceed with their trip. The senators know
nothing about the death threat. The note was sent to the cruise line,
and their staff notified the authorities. We feel we have a better
chance at catching whomever is responsible this way," explained Billy.
"Cruise line!" Both Lee and Amanda exclaimed in unison.
"Oh yeah, didn't I mention that? The senators will be vacationing on a
cruise ship sailing the southern Caribbean," Billy told them with a
smile.
Lee and Amanda just looked at each other and smiled. "When do we leave?"
They both asked.
"You will need to have your bags packed and be at the airport tomorrow
morning at seven. We will be sending two other agents along with you.
The job will be too much for just the two of you to handle so I am
sending Francine and Beaman, also."
Amanda tried to hide her smirking, "does Francine know that Beaman is
going, too?"
"Yes, I have already briefed them both. All of you will need to keep a
close eye on the senators and their wives. It will have to be 24-hour
surveillance. The four of you can figure out a schedule when you get
there. We have arranged for all of you to have dinner seating at the
same time. That way you will be able to keep an eye on the senators."
"No problem Billy. We can handle it. So, do we have adjoining suites or
what?" Asked Lee.
"Not exactly. We had some trouble booking enough rooms for the four of
you at the last minute. So Amanda and Francine will be rooming together,
and…."
"Don't even say it Billy! I am not rooming with Beaman!" Shouted Lee.
"Lee, I'm sorry. That's the best we could do. The cruise was fully
booked. The only reason we were able to get these rooms was because
someone canceled at the last second. None of you will be spending that
much time in your rooms anyway," said Billy.
Amanda wasn't thrilled at the idea of sharing a room with Francine, but
she loved the thought of spending time with Lee on a cruise ship. Even
though spending the weekend alone at her house would have been nice,
this was even better. Working or not working, she knew she was in for
some fun times this next week.
"Well, the two of you go home and get some rest. You'll need it. I'll
talk to you again when you make your first check in. Remember, you have
a job to do. This isn't a vacation for the two of you. Try not to get
too distracted," said Billy with a smile as he handed them there
boarding passes.
"Don't worry sir, we won't let you down," said Amanda.
"Yeah Billy, this won't be any trouble at all," Lee added.
Francine stopped Amanda and Lee as they left the bullpen and headed for
the elevator.
"Hey you two, can you believe our luck? A whole week in the southern
Caribbean with all that sun, great food, and all the gorgeous men I can
handle. I can't wait," Francine said with a big grin.
"We are working Francine, this isn't a vacation," snapped Lee.
"I know, I know, but we will have some free time to ourselves.
Personally, I plan on making the most of mine," replied Francine to Lee.
"So how about it roomie, ready to scope out some fine, rich men with me
on this cruise? She asked Amanda.
"I don't think so Francine," She said while glancing quickly at Lee. "I
really don't think we are going to have much time to socialize."
"Suit yourself, all the more men for me to pick from," answered Francine
as she turned her back and headed into the bullpen.
Lee and Amanda stepped into the elevator. They both knew it was going to
be a very long week. The idea of sharing their rooms with someone other
than each other was less than thrilling to them, but they knew they
would have plenty of opportunities to spend time together when the
weren't on duty. There were a lot of places on board ship where a couple
could get away to spend time alone. As they made their way out of IFF
and towards the parking garage, they discussed the agenda for tomorrow.
"As much as I'd like to go to your place tonight. I think we really
should go to our own places, pack, and get a good night sleep. Don't you
agree Amanda?"
"I agree. Neither of us would get much sleep if you came over," she said
with a smile.
"Ok, how about I pick you up at six-thirty tomorrow morning."
"Sounds good. I'll see you then."
Lee gave her a quick kiss on the lips and stood watching as she pulled
away in her car.
Lee pulled the Corvette up the front of Amanda's house around
six-fifteen the next morning. He walked up to the front door and rang
the bell.
Amanda opened the door, "Good morning, it's a beautiful day for a cruise
don't you think?" She asked as she invited him inside.
"Are you ready to go?"
"Almost. I can't find my sunscreen."
"Don't worry about it Amanda. We can pick some up on board ship," he
said as he began to pick up her suitcases to carry then out to the car.
"You're right. We better get a move on it if we are going to get to the
airport on time."
They arrived at the airport in record time, checked their luggage in,
and made their way to the departure gate. Surprisingly the flight was on
time. As the four of them waited to board the plane, Francine noticed
Amanda's first class ticket.
"How did you manage to get first class seating on this flight, Amanda?
Beaman and I are stuck in coach."
"I have no idea Francine. These are the tickets Mr. Melrose handed Lee
and I. I didn't even notice where I was sitting on the flight," replied
Amanda.
Despite her best efforts, the airline didn't give into Francine's
demands on being moved up to first class where she felt she belonged. As
the agents boarded the airplane, Lee and Amanda found their seats first
and made themselves comfortable. Francine and Beaman continued walking
towards the back of the plane into coach. The flight was going to be
short. They were to fly into San Juan, then board the cruise ship there.
The two of them discussed plans on their surveillance, and decided they
would fill Francine and Beaman in after they boarded ship.
Once they retrieved their luggage the four of them took a taxi to the
ship. As they walked along up the ramp to board Amanda gasped. "Oh,
isn't it beautiful! It always amazes me how huge these ships are up
close." Lee just smiled at her. She was right the ship was enormous.
Much larger then the last one they had gone on.
"Let's go get checked in and find our rooms. Then we'll need to find out
what rooms the senators are staying in and watch for their arrival,"
said Lee.
TBC
Story Notes:
Disclaimer: Scarecrow and Mrs. King and its characters are property of Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. We promise to play nice with them and return them when we are finished.
Timeframe: Early to mid-fourth season. Lee and Amanda are engaged.
Timeframe: Early to mid-fourth season. Lee and Amanda are engaged.