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Billy’s Case Files part 8

by Ermintrude

See part one for disclaimers

Before Savior February 27, 1984
Billy and Lee were meeting in Billy’s office, with the blinds drawn.

“You understand everyone will have to believe you quit to work for Edson Ballon. No exceptions.”

“Yeah Billy, I do this for a living—I know what’s required.” Lee sounded a bit exasperated as he reviewed the file on Ballon. “Not even Francine—It’ll be good pulling one over on her!”

“It’s not Francine I’m worried about, Scarecrow.” Billy’s tone was dark.

“What? You think I’d tell Amanda about all this? Please! The woman is a walking magnet for disaster. I’ll make sure she stays far away from this.”

“How?”

Lee shrugged. “I just won’t tell her. As long as she’s not called in, she won’t know anything. She’s not plugged in. She has to get info from someone here, and as long as she has no contact—no problem.” He was dismissive.

Billy thought about it—Scarecrow was right. As long as Amanda King had no contact from anyone at the Agency—she was in the dark. He nodded. “All right. Stay away from her, and hopefully you can have this wrapped up by the time she’s needed again.”

“Yeah, well maybe she won’t be needed again.” Lee looked hopefully at his boss.

“We use our people as they are needed. Mrs. King’s skills have come in very handy since last fall. For you, and this unit. On many occasions. She’s a whiz as transcriptions and your reports and expenses have been in order since she started. Quite a change from previously.” Billy looked smug.

“Fine, I’ll concede she’s a whiz at the paperwork. And it makes my life easier to let her do it for me…” He trailed off, realizing he was getting in a bit deep. “But she’s caused a few problems also.”

“Yes, I distinctly recall her kidnapping caused one of my best agents to commit treason to rescue her—against direct orders.” Billy was still disgruntled about that one.

“Hey! Dirk is a soulless paper-pusher. His orders hardly count when it comes to my experience in the field. And we cleared that one up—we recaptured Rostov AND three other Soviet agents as well.”

Billy just gave Lee a look that said ‘Gotcha!’

Lee shifted uncomfortably. Then he gathered the papers in the file and deposited it on Billy’s desk. “You ready to start this?”

“No time like the present.” Billy accepted his victory with quiet aplomb.

They prepared themselves to stage Lee’s resignation, in a way that the whole unit would find entirely believable.


After Savior February 27, 1984
Billy read over the letter of reprimand he was placing in Fred Fielder’s file. He was sadly disappointed in the man. He was no whiz at the job, but Billy expected better of a team leader than to cut and run when he discovered Savior was armed and live. And when he ran, the rest of his team followed him. That was the worst part of it. Well, Fred Fielder would ride a desk for a couple of months to reinforce the reprimand. Billy had no patience with gross cowardice.

He turned to the next letter—a letter of praise for Amanda King’s file. Once again the housewife-turned-spy had come through when other agents had cut and run. That’s what made Billy’s disappointment in Fred Fielder all the more acute. This women—a ‘mere’ Civilian Auxiliary had stayed and supplied the means to neutralize the missile. The “Go Bombers” pin had looked incongruous atop the missile—but whatever it took, Billy was fine with it.

Once again Billy was grateful to whatever Guardian Angel looked over the Agency for providing them all with Amanda King. Sure, it seemed like a coincidence that Scarecrow had picked her out of the crowd that October day—but time and again he came to understand it was more like fate that had brought her to their little group. And she was an integral part—he couldn’t imagine his field unit without her cheerful presence. Hopefully she’d stay for a long time. And it was up to him to help keep her there.



After The Artful Dodger March 5, 1984
It was late, and Billy was finishing up his report on the capture of The Artful Dodger. He had tried to divert attention from Mrs. King’s part in the near-disaster, but he couldn’t do it. It was her connection with Scarecrow that had provided the Dodger with an in to the plans of the Agency. And that ring!

He shook his head and rubbed his eyes tiredly. Lee was right—an experienced agent would have immediately spotted his ‘accident’ at the store as a setup. She had been impressed by his good manners and fancy car. Billy had forgotten she didn’t have the training the rest of his field agents had. Hell, she wasn’t a field agent at all—just a civilian auxiliary. He had authorized low-level training for her: training tapes and a few general classes that all Agency employees took. But she needed more.

He had finally managed to get Amanda a ‘job’ with IFF—the Agency’s cover business. So at least she had that as an excuse for her mother when she was called out on a case. And with that ‘official’ job came some additional basic training. But she was well beyond that, now. She had been operating as Scarecrow’s partner for almost 6 months. They had a great solve rate, and neither had been killed or seriously injured. It was just that while she had amazing instincts and learned quickly, there were some rather dangerous gaps in her education. As Scarecrow and Francine had rather emphatically pointed out to her. They had been harsh—but maybe she needed that. One thing was for sure—she had certainly learned the lesson about setups and looking past good manners and elegant trappings. It was too bad she had to do so in such a humiliating manner. Billy thought philosophically—maybe that would help reinforce the lesson. Her contrition and eagerness to remedy her mistake had been sincere—with little resentment. That was one of the things that endeared Mrs. King to him. She had so little resentment or personal defenses after making mistakes. She calmly and rationally admitted her mistakes—when it was finally explained to her in a calm and adult manner—which was something Scarecrow had to work on. Oh well—it could have been worse. Now it was up to him to help insure that it didn’t happen again—because in their business—mistakes could be—and sometimes were—fatal.

Once again Billy pulled out the forms for additional training, and proceeded to fill in Amanda King’s name. She was certainly enthusiastic, and took whatever training he managed with cheerful gratitude. As long as it helped keep her—and her partner—alive and operating effectively—it was well worth it.



During Filming Raul March 19, 1984
Billy and Lee were in Billy’s office, and Francine was downstairs in wardrobe, dressing down as a ‘typical’ housewife.

“Not this time, Scarecrow. I need a full agent in there—we don’t know what will happen. And she’s been involved enough. Francine will deliver the tape to the kidnappers. That’s my final word.” Billy was emphatic but not unkind. “Have Amanda exchange jackets with Francine or something. In case they’ve been monitoring her movements.”

Lee shrugged. “I figured that’s what you’d say. Are you going to call her and explain it?”

“No, that’s your job. She’s your partner.”

“Awww Billy, she’s NOT my partner.”

“Well, whatever she is, she is YOUR responsibility. So it’s up to you to explain it to her.”

“RHIP, rank hath it’s privileges, Huh?”

Billy smiled at his top agent. “Something like that. Blame it on me—tell her it was my decision.”

“Because it was.”

“Yes it was, but I didn’t hear you complaining or trying to make me change my mind about it.”

Lee smiled disarmingly. “I don’t often disagree with your decisions.”

Billy snorted. “Just the ones that have you working closely with Mrs. King.”

Lee shrugged again. “Not even all of those. Just the ones that might get her in trouble.”

Billy gave Lee a ‘look’. “Be that as it may, this time Francine will impersonate her, and she will stay behind with you. Where it’s hopefully safe.”

After Lee had left Billy mused over his conversation with his top agent. ‘He seems to be more accepting of using Mrs. King in his cases. He has been less resistant when I suggest we use her. Could he be finally accepting her as his partner? Well—maybe not that—but it’s easier these days, and I—for one—am grateful for it. Now if they could just stop arguing with each other so much…’
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