Rings – A sequel to A Morning After

Fourth Season

Thank you to Cheryl and Jennifer for once again doing a great beta job.

Also, many thanks to the Jennifer, Sue, Lynda and Cheryl in chat for helping break up the creative log jam.

Usual Disclaimers about ownership and the joy of writing for these characters.

A companionable conversation filled the car as Lee and Amanda Stetson drove to work. Their lives were so occupied everyday with international espionage and counterintelligence that a normal conversation between a husband and a wife was a rarity in their marriage. When they had the time and the ability to talk of the little things in their lives, like Dotty’s garden or the boys’ upcoming baseball games, they relished the moments and hoarded them close to their hearts.

          “So we have three more days to play Mr. and Mrs. Stetson, right?” Lee asked Amanda as she dug around in her purse. “What are you looking for?”

          “Uh-huh, I think I left my wallet at the apartment. When my purse fell over last night, we must not have put it back in.”

          “Don’t worry. I can buy lunch today.”

          “At least my ID is in here. What’s on the schedule other than the meeting,” she checked her watch, “in five minutes?”

          “Nothing much. I think Billy wants us to meet a contact later.”

          Lee maneuvered the Corvette expertly into a spot in front of IFF. “Let’s go. I’ll get the door.” Always the gentleman, Lee walked around the car to open the door for his wife and to give her a hand out.

          She looked around and not seeing anyone squeezed his hand. “Thank you, Sweetheart.”

Lee opened the door to the Georgetown and escorted Amanda into the reception area for the Agency. Amanda dug in her purse looking for her Q Bureau keys. “Lee, I think I left my keys on the front ta….oh no, here they are.” She pulled her hand out and dangled the key ring from her finger.

“Good morning, Mrs. Marston,” Lee said politely. “The word today is ‘alliance.’”

Mrs. Marston raised an eyebrow and quirked her lips when she placed their IDs in his left hand. “Good morning, Mr. Stetson, Mrs….King. Mr. Melrose asked that you go to the conference room in the bullpen for the morning staff meeting as soon as you arrived.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Marston.” Amanda looked at the Agency gatekeeper with a slightly questioning expression. She had never stumbled over her name before. She clipped her ID on and felt the guiding pressure of Lee’s hand on her back as she moved to the closet to head to the bullpen.

Amanda waited until the closet door closed. “Did you see the look she gave us?” She asked trying to reason out what had just happened. “I don’t have food in my teeth or something, do I?”

“Not that I see.” Lee looked at her teeth, smiled and moved in for a quick kiss.

Lee’s hand absently caressed her back during the short trip in the elevator. As they walked into the bullpen, Amanda headed toward the desks rather than the conference room and Lee followed her with a questioning look. “Go on. I’m going to leave my purse on Francine’s desk rather than take it in. Save me a seat next to the handsomest agent there.”

He leaned in and whispered. “Now, who would that be?”

She smiled and whispered back, “Matt Duffy.” 

“Very funny.” He replied out of the corner of his mouth as he turned to walk into the conference room. Amanda paused for a moment at Francine’s desk.  There was something bothering her, but she just couldn’t put her finger on it. She drummed her fingers on the desk but just couldn’t bring her misgivings to the front of her mind. Mrs. Marston’s looks and words still gave her reason for concern.  Maybe the formidable Agency gatekeeper wasn’t feeling well today. She would have to ask her later.

As she walked towards the conference room, she shook her head and released her apprehensiveness about Mrs. Marston’s actions.

The only seat left at the table was between Lee and Matt Duffy. A ladylike snort and a roll of her eyes was all the satisfaction she was going to give to Lee for the location of their seats. They needed to be close to the front because he was giving a status report on a potential arms sale. A folder was passed to each of them and they became engrossed in reading. Billy and Dr. Smyth joined the agents to start the meeting.

“Okay, people. Let’s start with…” Billy’s voice dropped off. Amanda looked up and saw a strange expression cross his face. Billy cleared his throat and continued, “Scarecrow’s report.”

Lee stood up and looked down the table. He placed his hands on the back of the chair and began. “Carlos Santiago has been trying to orchestrate an arms buy for a group of revolutionaries trying to gain independence for a small province in Panama. They don’t really stand a chance of breaking off but they are willing to fight and kill to make their point.”

Amanda saw Lee take a breath and look over at her. He began his briefing and she watched him intently, loving how he could command the room. A quick look at the files they had taken home the night before to prepare for the briefing allowed her ascertain if there was anything special he needed to say. As she concentrated on the files, she absently twirled her ring around her finger with her thumb. Suddenly her earlier concerns bloomed to the forefront of her mind and she paused and went back over her last thought. She suddenly looked up at Lee and felt the blood drain from her face. Her eyes grew wide and she could feel her pupils dilate as a fight or flight feeling took over her.

Her sudden movement must have caught Lee’s attention because he looked at her with a concerned expression. A quick look at the glint of gold on his left hand confirmed her suspicions. They had left the apartment in such a rush this morning that they had forgotten to take off their wedding rings. Lee was up there giving a briefing with his ring visible. Normally, seeing his ring on his finger was a treat, now it was terrifying.  She covered her left hand and tapped her ring finger. Her diamond ring was briefly visible before she covered it up again. She hid her hand under the table and tried to remove the wedding band and engagement ring.

How could they have forgotten? What was she going to do with them? The skirt she was wearing had no pockets and her purse was on Francine’s desk. Lee was almost done with his briefing and she would just have to hand her rings over to him to hold until they got back to the apartment.  She pulled on the ring furtively, still trying to have a look of attention on her face. She bit her lip and pulled again. Of all the days for this to happen, her engagement ring wouldn’t come off. She heard Lee’s voice answering questions, but couldn’t make out the words. She tugged again, this time jiggling the ring like she did the blue wire on the dishwasher.  Finally, she felt the ring begin to slip off her finger and slip through her hand and onto the floor.

Her eyes went wide when she realized the ring had fallen. She met Lee’s gaze and looked down at the table. He didn’t seem to get what she was trying to say so she had no rescue from him. His hand was off the chair and in his pocket for the moment.

The ring had to be picked up before someone else saw it. An idea struck her.  She picked up her pen and placed it at the edge of the table. When she leaned forward to look at a paper in the file, her elbow was on the pen. A quick movement backward and the pen hit the floor. A little push with her foot put the pen under the table.

“I dropped my pen.” Amanda whispered to Matt Duffy.

“I’ll get it for you.” Matt offered.

“Thank you, Matt but don’t bother. You may…” she thought furiously, “wrinkle your suit.” Did she just say that? She pushed her chair back and eased under the table. She sighed inaudibly when she spotted the ring just within arm’s reach. She could breathe again once the ring was safely in her hand. She picked up her pen and sat back in her chair. Francine was looking at her speculatively across the table and Mr. Melrose had a slight quirk to his lips. She showed her pen and shrugged her shoulders sheepishly.

A sudden realization hit her and her breath caught in her throat. Mrs. Marston strange look when Lee took their IDs in his left hand and Mr. Melrose’s stumbling over his words when he looked over at both of them meant only one thing. They must have seen the rings. She put her elbow on the table and covered her eyes with her hand and gently shook her head. Lee had said he was ready to take the step to tell everyone that they were married, just not today. That choice may have been taken away. What were they going to do?

Lee’s voice was suddenly in her ear low and quick. “Did you get it?”

She passed her rings over to him under the table. She pulled the folder between them and pointed to the paper and whispered back. “It slipped out of my hand. What are we going to do?”

“Nothing for the moment. Let’s just pay attention to the rest of the meeting.”

“Lee.” Her voice was stressed.

“Not now.” He said out of the corner of his mouth. When he looked around the room, her gaze followed and spotted a curious look on Francine’s face and a speculative one on Dr. Smyth’s.

She nodded that she understood and felt him grab her hand under the table for support. She had to bring herself under control. She took a breath and allowed the agent mask she wore at work pass over her face. She focused on what Mr. Melrose was saying.

…we’ll send in Lee and Amanda as the newly married couple.” Amanda’s head came up suddenly.

Francine spoke up. “I thought you wanted me to go in with Matt.”

“No, not this time. I think Lee and Amanda will be better suited for this. Come to my office after the meeting for the briefing.”

Amanda’s heart sank a little. She knew what he meant. He had seen. He was going to give them an opportunity to come clean. Plastering a smile on her face she nodded and said, “Yes, Sir.”

Mercifully, the meeting was soon over. Lee and Amanda dawdled over their folders, speaking to whoever stayed behind and waited until the room emptied. They looked out the conference room windows and saw Billy looking at them from his office.

“Shall we?” Lee picked up his briefing folder.

Amanda looked at Billy then returned her gaze to him. “Do we have to?”

“C’mon, before he bellows for us. Besides, we don’t know that he saw anything.”

She tilted her head and plastered a look of disbelief on her face. “Do you really think Mr. Melrose, our section chief, didn’t notice a gold band on your finger?”

“No.”

“Well then.”

“Let’s go and see what he wants.”

He gestured for her to precede him and he placed his hand firmly on her back. She looked back at him over her shoulder. “Stop pushing me,” she whispered.

“I’m not pushing you. I’m guiding you.”

“Right. You just want me there to take the first barrage.”

“Very funny. Let’s just play this by ear.”

Billy’s blinds were closed as they finally approached his office. The door was open.  As they walked in, Amanda noticed a small vein jumping in Billy’s forehead. She heard the door close behind them.

“You wanted to see us, Billy?” Lee asked, helping Amanda to a seat.

“What kind of game are you two playing?” Billy inquired tightly.

“Playing, Sir?” Amanda hoped she didn’t sound too guilty.

“We don’t know what you are talking about, Billy.”

“I think you do, Lee. I think the phrase goes, the jig is up.”

“Honestly, Billy. I have no idea what you mean.” Lee replied.

Anger rolled off of her boss like waves and Amanda knew it was only going to damage them to continue with this line of defense. She placed a hand on Lee’s arm and ran her hand down to his interlocking their fingers. She could feel his stare as she took a deep breath.

“Sir, we haven’t been playing a game. We were married nine months ago.”

Billy stared at them for a long moment. Amanda could almost see him making the calculations in his head. “California?”

Lee took up Amanda’s thread. “We were on our honeymoon when Amanda was…shot.” He looked at her with haunted eyes and put his hand on hers. He never liked thinking about how close he came to losing her.

“I see and why the big secret? I told you that whatever your relationship was fine with me.”

Lee began. “You did. We appreciated the support and confidence, but Dr. Smyth would not be as accepting and we didn’t want to be split up. We work better as partners than apart.  This way we have proven we can continue to work without personal issues getting in the way.”

Amanda took up the thread. “Sir, we were also afraid for our family. When Khai’s son was kidnapped last year, all we could think about was that it could’ve been Phillip or Jamie. We didn’t want to take that risk. So, we decided to keep our marriage secret.”

Billy visibly relaxed, leaned forward and tented his fingers. “You know your logic is faulty in a couple of spots. Firstly, you two are together all the time. I know that if you are not at your apartment, Scarecrow, you’re at Amanda’s house. It would seem that anyone watching you would recognize a relationship exists. Secondly, Lee you are up for a full security review in two months. How were you planning to hide this? You know not disclosing something like this could reduce your security clearance. Amanda, you would have one more review before being granted full agent status in three months. That could have affected your status. Thirdly, there is a support system for agents with families, especially agents as active as you two. We have classes for agent’s families on safety and security, home alarms which ring into the police and the Agency. You both know that we provide extra watchers for your home and family when you are on a particularly dangerous assignment. Lee, do you imagine Amanda and her family are safer with you across town, especially with Amanda’s reluctance to use her gun.” Billy stopped and took a deep breath. “Fourthly, I am your friend. I’d hoped that Amanda’s stability would rub off on you, Lee and that some of Lee’s daring would rub off on you, Amanda.  I couldn’t be happier for both of you, but I’m disappointed that you felt you couldn’t come to me with this.”

The silence weighed down on Amanda’s heart. Why hadn’t they talked through this more or talked to Billy about their situation? Being married to Lee and keeping the family safe had been her main considerations. Their solution was a compromise of their two worlds. Amanda’s fingers tightened around Lee’s hand. Resolve and guilt battled for a few minutes until she looked at Billy. “You’re right, Sir. We should’ve come to you first.”

 “Would you believe that we just talked this morning about coming clean?” Lee chimed in. “We’re sick of being apart.”

“I understand. There have been times that I wouldn’t have made it if I didn’t have Jeannie at home. She may not be an agent, but she is a good listener.”

Billy continued. “Lee, there was a time that you would have died before you admitted that you needed a partner. I’m glad Amanda came to you at a time when you were ready to be with someone. Despite what you believed about yourself, you needed someone to rely on.” Billy stood up and walked around his desk. “Don’t worry about Dr. Smyth. You’ll have some support from other quarters when you tell him. Or do you want me to tell him? I could file it in my daily report.” Billy took Amanda by the hand and pulled her up in an embrace. “Congratulations, Amanda!” Lee rose and took Billy’s outstretched hand. “Congratulations, Lee! You both deserve all the happiness in the world!”

A knock at Billy’s door broke the happy moment. “Enter,” Billy called out.

“Billy, here is the rest of the briefing for the...” Francine paused and looked around the room at the smiles on everyone’s faces. “Okay, what did I miss?”

Billy looked at Lee and Amanda. A small nod of the head at them both put the responsibility of telling or not telling Francine the news squarely on their shoulders. Lee’s hazel eyes locked with Amanda’s brown eyes. He asked the question and she answered with a raise of her eyebrow and a slight quirk of the lips.

Francine looked between Lee and Amanda. “I hate it when you two do that.”

Amanda smiled. “Do what?”

“Talk without saying a word. It’s disconcerting.”

Lee’s voice broke through Amanda’s contemplation of her ability to communicate with her husband. “Francine, have a seat, please.”

Francine looked at each of them and with apprehension evident on her face sat down on the couch. Lee pulled around one of the chairs and sat across from her.

 “We’ve been friends for a long time. You were there for me when I needed you.”

“You’ve been there for me as well. Through the Jonathon mess and every other time.” Amanda watched as Francine’s face softened.

Amanda saw Lee take a deep breath. “I wanted you to be one of the first to know that Amanda and I got married.”

Relief flooded Francine’s face. “Oh thank God. I thought you were going to tell me you were dying again.” Then her face lost its softness as a look of disbelief crossed her face. “Mmmmarried? You? You always said you would never get married. How could you do that and not tell me?” She turned on Amanda and accused. “I thought you were my friend. You lied to me about breaking up with him.”

Lee bristled under her denunciation. “Francine,…” A hand on his shoulder stopped what he was going to say.

Amanda pulled up a chair and sat down facing Francine her hands clasped tightly in her lap. “You’re right. I did lie. Lee and I weren’t married although we were engaged at the time. We didn’t want anyone to know that we were seeing each other. It has been harder to keep you in the dark as we have grown closer. But Francine, no one knew. Billy just found out a few minutes ago because Lee and I were careless and left our wedding rings on.”

Francine brightened slightly. “I thought I saw something on your finger, Amanda. Then I looked again and it was gone.”

Lee took Francine’s hand. “We are slowly sharing our news with everyone. Amanda’s family doesn’t even know yet. They’re next. Please, keep this to yourself for right now. I’m sorry if I…we hurt you. That was not our intention.”

Francine looked down at her hands seemingly lost in thought. “Are you happy, Lee?”

“More than I could’ve ever imagined.” Lee replied covering Amanda’s hand with his own.

“Then I am happy for you. Both of you.” She smiled. “You know it looks like a strain has been taken off of you both.”

Amanda looked over to Lee. The secrecy had been a strain on them. There was the constant fear that someone would find out, the fear that the few stolen moments they could take may be public, as well as the fear that they would lose the trust of the people they cared about when the secret was out.

A gleam appeared in Francine’s eye. “I’ll forgive you if you let me be the one to tell everyone in the steno pool. I can’t wait to see their reactions to this news, Scarecrow married.” She shook her head and gently kissed Lee on the cheek. “I wish you all the best.” She looked at Amanda. “Take care of my friend or you’ll have me to answer to.”

“I will, Francine. I’ll take very good care of him.” “And you,” she turned to Lee, “you be worthy of her. Although I’ll deny it if you repeat it, Amanda has been good for you.”

Lee and Amanda smiled at each other unable to contain their relief and happiness.

 “Okay,” Francine rubbed her hands on her skirt as she stood. “The briefing folder is on your desk for the assignment. Do you need anything else?” Billy shook his head. “Now if you will excuse me, I think there is a DeVerona Chocolate box out there with my name on it.”

Grateful that their friends had taken the news with equanimity, Lee and Amanda turned their attention to the business of espionage.

 “There is a new resort spa outside Washington which we suspect is trafficking in information gained during treatments at the spa. People who are relaxed tend to talk to each other and ignore the employees. We believe that the employees are administering drugs to loosen tongues and get people talking.  Some of the information that has been passed is secret. You will have to observe and stop the responsible party. Since I just moved you to this assignment, your covers are still being fabricated. They should be ready this afternoon.  This weekend is for couples only at the resort and so you are the perfect team to go in now.” Billy handed them the files. “Go study up and I’ll call you when everything is ready. Lee and Amanda stood and headed to the door. Billy’s voice stopped them. “Have you decided how you are going to tell the family?”

Amanda stood still as the implications began to sink in. “Mother,” was all she could say. “How in the world are we going to tell her?”

Lee took her hand. “It’s going to be difficult. We still have several days to decide what to say and when.”

Billy smiled. “I know your mother-in-law is quite formidable. I don’t envy you that discussion. My conversations with her have always been entertaining. How do you think she is going to take it?”

Lee looked slightly daunted. “I don’t know, Billy. I really don’t know. We may need a couple of days off to talk to her with all the questions she’ll have. We’ll let you know about Dr. Smyth and the agent’s family classes.”

Billy tried to look sympathetic. “Perhaps that can be your penance for leaving everyone in the dark.” As they walked out, all they could hear as they closed the door was Billy’s laughter following them out of the bullpen.