PART 5

Lee Stetson lay sound asleep in his bed, having the most wonderful dream about Amanda, when the phone intruded on his slumber.

"Stetson!" He growled into the phone.

"Scarecrow! We have to talk!" Paul Barnes had finally caught up with Lee. Lee had been dodging his friend's calls for days. "About Amanda!"

"Later, Paul, I don't want to talk now. It's the middle of the night!" Lee retorted.

"Why not? Aren't you alone?" Paul shouted.

"Of course, I'm alone!" Lee fired back, sitting up in bed.

"Then we'll talk now, Lee!" Paul replied angrily. "Why are you doing this?"

Lee shook himself awake. He was not ready to have this conversation with his friend. "What? Seeing Amanda? There's nothing wrong with that!" Lee said firmly.

"There is, if you're just using her to fill in the empty spaces in your social calendar!" Paul yelled into the handset. He was pacing around his apartment, carrying the phone. "Amanda isn't like the rest of your women. You'll hurt her, again." Paul added, harshly.

"I have no intention of hurting her. Not that it's your business, anyway." Lee snapped.

"It is my business. You kept her on the back burner for two years, while you pursued every other opportunity that presented itself, until it became perfectly clear to her that YOU WERE NOT INTERESTED!" Paul spoke slowly and sharply, as though to jab Lee with each word. "Your last adventure didn't pan out, and now, you're trying to get Amanda hooked, again!"

"NO!" Lee denied it, harshly.

"Amanda's gone on with her life, Lee. Let her go." Paul cajoled.

"I can't do that. It's not what you think." Lee responded sharply.

"It's like it always is with you, Lee." Paul said, disgusted. "You're interested in Amanda, now, but for how long? In a few weeks, maybe a month, you'll turn your attention to someone else. Amanda deserves better than that."

"Like you, perhaps?" Lee sneered.

"Yes, me. What's wrong with that?" Paul barked as he continued pacing with the phone.

"I won't have you treating Amanda like a tramp!" Lee snarled.

"I did no such thing! What are you talking about?" Paul retorted quickly.

"She said she was with you in London! She wouldn't lie to me." Lee said.

"What did she say?" Paul asked seriously.

Lee quoted Amanda's words from their dinner date. Lee became infuriated when he heard Paul's ringing laughter through the phone.

"Amanda wouldn't lie to you, but she'll pull your chain as fast as I will!" Paul laughed. "She meant that the details of her personal life are…personal. You jumped to a conclusion based on how you live your life, and she let you think whatever you wanted to. It never happened, Lee. Don't give her grief over something that was totally innocent. If it's so important for you to know, she slept in the bed and I slept on the sofa." Paul continued seriously. "I don't want to play the old games anymore, Lee. If you won't do the right thing for Amanda's sake, then do it for me. I didn't interfere when you met Dorothy. I gave you a clear path. I think I deserve the same consideration." Paul added quietly.

Lee was silent for a moment, while the meaning of his friend's words settled in his brain. He had underestimated Paul's feelings for Amanda, assuming Paul had taken advantage of her vulnerability just to have a good time. While Lee was relieved to know that Amanda's honor was unblemished, he worried that Paul wouldn't let Amanda go easily. Finally, Lee replied, seriously. "I'm not playing any games, either. I'm sorry, Paul, but I can't do what you're asking."

"Pardon me, if I'm skeptical, Scarecrow," Paul said sarcastically. He drew a deep breath and let it out sharply before continuing. "Look, she's happy that you want to see her. I've wished her well. I'm not going to rain on her parade. But, I'll be around… when the inevitable happens," Paul sighed with resignation, ending the conversation.

********************************

Lee approached the front door of 4247 Maplewood, carrying a bouquet of flowers. Amanda had invited him for a casual dinner with her family, the second in as many days. Later, Lee would take her to the airport. Amanda answered the door, greeting him with a smile and a kiss. Knowing that dinner was in the capable hands of Amanda's mother, Lee motioned toward the back door. He needed to talk to her, and wouldn't enjoy his meal if he couldn't get this off his chest, first.

"Amanda," Lee began slowly, taking her hand. "I want to apologize, again, for the things I said the other night at the restaurant."

"Don't give it another thought," Amanda said, shaking her head slowly. "We finished that topic, it's over!"

"Except that I've found out that I was all wrong about the stuff I told you, and I'm not going to feel right about things until I set you straight." Lee rambled uncharacteristically, unsure of how to say this, or even whether it was a good idea. "Paul called me."

Amanda raised an eyebrow, curiously.

"He cleared up a couple things for me." Lee drew a deep breath before continuing. "First, let me say that I never meant to question your honor. You're a wonderful woman, a top-notch mother, and nothing like the women Paul usually dates. It was his honor I was questioning. I never should have stuck my nose into your personal affairs." Lee cringed at his own words. "Bad choice of words. Sorry."

Amanda couldn't help laughing at his obvious discomfort.

"Secondly," Lee continued, staring at the ground, "Paul's a lot more serious about you than I realized. He said you were `his Dorothy,' and asked me to get out of his way. He only let you go so easily because he thinks I'm a cad and that I'll drop you in a few weeks. If he knew how serious I am about you, he'd be here, now, fighting for you."

Amanda stroked Lee's arm and asked softly, "Why are you telling me this?"

"So you won't ever have any questions in your mind. I don't want any `what if's' or `why didn't I's' to cloud our future." Lee looked hesitantly into Amanda's eyes. "If we have a future, that is."

Amanda leaned against his tall body and replied, "I hope we have a future together. I love you. I have for a long time."

"But you care about Paul, too?" Lee's words were both a statement and a question.

"Yes, I care for Paul, too," Amanda said reproachfully, "but I love you more than Paul. I told him that. That's why he isn't here…`fighting for me.'" Wrapping her arms around his waist, she giggled at the way Lee used such a violent term for a romantic situation.

"But everyone who knows me must think the same thing Paul does," Lee said, hopelessly. "That you're a brief fling, someone temporary and unimportant in my life. And nothing could be further from the truth!"

Amanda smiled, resting her head against his chest. "Well, what you and I know is the only thing that's important. In time, people will get the idea."

"Amanda!" Lee said seriously, holding both her arms and gazing into her eyes. "Marry me! Please! I want the whole world to know what you mean to me!"

Amanda bit her lip to suppress a smile. His eagerness had a puppy-like quality to it, and she hesitated to say what needed saying. "We're not ready for that," she said softly.

"No?" Lee gasped, thinking she had turned down his proposal.

Seeing the sadness that came over his face, Amanda added quickly, "I'm not saying, no. I'm saying, not yet. You don't need to propose to me to keep me from running off with another man! We can take our time; I'm not going anywhere." Amanda paused, remembering her job. "Well, other than Madrid, Lisbon, Paris and Stockholm, this week!" she added laughing.

Lee embraced her in his strong arms, sighing deeply, wondering if he would ever understand women and relationships. They were interrupted by Dotty's voice, "Amanda! Lee! Dinner's ready!"

`Good.' Lee thought. `I'm starving!'

*****************************

Dotty had gone to visit Aunt Lillian, and Lee and Amanda were fixing the last bits of food in the refrigerator into a quick `leftover surprise' for the boys. Two months had passed, and Lee was a regular diner at the King home, often invited by Dotty, even when Amanda was away. Dotty had taken pity on him because of his emaciated appearance, and pushed home cooked food on him at every opportunity.

Lee, who had hardly been able to keep a thing on his stomach from the time he became involved with Leslie, until he began dating Amanda, was feeling much better. Now that he and Amanda were working things out, Lee ate everything that didn't move. Lee's appetite was the subject of much good-natured teasing from Phillip and Jamie, who assumed that he was incapable of feeding himself at home, alone.

The phone rang just as they were sitting down to eat.

"Hello?" Amanda answered sweetly, despite her annoyance at the interruption. "No, I can't. I'm not scheduled to travel until the end of the week. My mother is out of town for a few days, and I have no one to stay with my boys. I'm sorry, but I can't trade shifts with you."

Amanda looked up to see Lee nodding his head and pointing to himself, with a big grin on his face.

"Wait a minute, my fairy godmother may have just arrived!" Amanda spoke into the phone. Turning to Lee, she asked skeptically, "They want me to leave tonight and return Friday. Are you sure you want to do this?"

Lee continued nodding his head.

"All right, I'll be there in two hours." Amanda hung up the phone and ran upstairs to pack.

"Hey!" Lee called up the stairs after her. "Aren't you going to eat?"

Hearing her negative reply, Lee reached for her plate and pulled it toward himself.

**********************************

The next two days were the most frantic Lee had ever known. When he had volunteered to watch the boys, he had hoped that Amanda would find his ability to handle things on the 'home front' impressive.

Instead, it had been quite a shock for him. First, the trip to the supermarket had been a nightmare. The boys, sensing his inexperience, talked him into buying a cart full of junk food that set him back more than he'd ever spent on his own groceries in a month! They were back in the kitchen, unpacking the bags, before he realized he had nothing to feed the kids but soda, candy, chips, and cake!

Of course, after a long night of continuous junk food, the next morning, Jamie had gotten sick at school and Lee had received a call to come pick him up and take him home. A thoroughly harried Lee had to leave a staff meeting to retrieve him. He briefly considered taking the boy back to the Agency for the afternoon, but quickly dismissed the idea after consulting Billy.

Resigned to spending the afternoon away from the office, Lee began to worry about how to care for Jamie. Lee was unsure whether to take him to his regular doctor, directly to the emergency room, or to any doctor at all. He called Dr. McJohn at the Agency for help. As a favor to Lee, McJohn stopped at the house, on his way home, to check on both Lee and the young patient. At first, Lee was relieved when McJohn confirmed that Jamie was suffering from a mere stomachache caused by too much junk food. Then, Lee felt guilty for the boy's sickness. The child had missed a day of school and been miserably sick to his stomach, all because Lee had tried to score points with him by allowing him to shovel his face full of junk food all evening. McJohn, for his part, was thoroughly amused by the incident, and assured Lee that nothing would be said to anyone at the Agency, in exchange for tickets to a future football game. Later in the evening, Lee, on McJohn's orders, brought Jamie a glass of flat Coke and some crackers.

"How's it going, Sport?" Lee asked, sitting gingerly on the side of the bed.

"I've had better days." Jamie forced a smile, embarrassed about being sick. "You're not going to tell mom about this… are you?" He added.

"I don't see any reason not to. She'll be mad at me, not at you," Lee said sheepishly. "I should have fed you boys a real dinner, instead of all of us porking out on junky snacks. It's my fault you got sick." Lee paused and sighed before continuing. "You know, the first time your mom left me in charge, I was hoping things would go more smoothly than this. I got you sick, the house is a disaster, and your mom's going to kill me. I'll never talk her into marrying me at this rate!" The last sentence slipped out before Lee realized what he was saying.

"You want to marry my mom?" Jamie sat up in bed, aghast. Philip was passing in the hallway, and hearing this, he popped into the room immediately.

"Well, yes, I was hoping that if things went smoothly while she was away, she might take me more seriously," Lee confessed nervously. "What would you think of that?" he added hesitantly.

"That would be great!" Phillip exclaimed, grinning broadly, visions of a lifetime of pizza and sodas for dinner dancing in his head.

"I was asking Jamie." Lee interrupted gently, without taking his eyes off the younger boy.

"It would be ok, I guess. I mean, you did come get me at school and take good care of me, and everything," Jamie said thoughtfully, adding after another moment's reflection, "Yeah, it would be ok."

"Well, in that case, I could really use your help if I'm going to stay in your mom's good graces. She's coming home tomorrow evening, so we have less than twenty-four hours to fix this place up," Lee said.

"I can stay home again tomorrow and help clean up," Jamie suggested brightly.

"Nice try, Sport, but forget it!" Lee laughed, tousling the boy's hair. "Phillip and I will clean up tonight. I'll pick you both up after school; we'll get a nice dinner ready for your mom, and collect her from the airport. How's that sound?"

When Lee dragged himself to work late the following morning, he found the water-cooler crowd having a field day. He looked every bit as

bad as if he had been on a wild late night date. In addition, even the promise of football tickets had been insufficient to prevent Dr. McJohn from spilling all he knew about Lee's adventure to the rapt audience. By the time Lee arrived at work, half the office thought he was living with Amanda. The other half were laughing at the thought of Lee attempting to baby-sit two young boys. After spending half the night vacuuming up potato chip crumbs and scrubbing the kitchen, Lee was in no mood to set the record straight. He fell into his chair in the Q-bureau, and dropped his head on the desk.

Maybe the office gossips were right. Maybe the idea of 'The Scarecrow' having a family life was nothing more than a cruel joke. He already loved the boys, but how did Amanda manage to do all the work at home, handle the myriad day to day family crises, and still arrive at work with a smile on her face? Lee closed his eyes for a moment, and fell into a light, fitful sleep.

The ringing telephone woke Lee with a start. Billy needed to see him in his office, immediately. Lee roused himself with great difficulty, and dragged himself toward the door. Another day another dollar!

As he entered the Bullpen, the normal activity and chatter suddenly ground to a halt, and Lee was greeted with awkward silence and concerned, sideways glances. Billy flipped off the television news as Lee entered.

"Sit down, Lee." Billy said seriously, gesturing toward a chair.

Lee flopped into the chair. "Where's the fire, Billy?" he asked, exhaustion showing in his voice.

"Do you have Amanda's flight schedule handy?" Billy asked, hoping Amanda was sitting safely in some airport waiting room.

"Yeah, right here." Lee pulled Amanda's itinerary from his inside coat pocket. "What's wrong?" he asked, slowly.

Billy scanned the dates and flight numbers, and breathed a huge sigh of relief, realizing that Amanda was indeed safe. "Thank Heaven!" he said, folding the page and handing it back to Lee. "Amanda's flying out of Stockholm today. There's a problem on a flight out of Rome. Some European news agency intercepted their radio transmissions."

Lee's face suddenly became pale. Billy flipped the television back on. Just as Amanda had predicted months before, the bad news was on every channel. There had been no news release from the airline, only radio transmissions from the cockpit, which confirmed that shots had been fired and that there were deaths on board. Lee shuddered to think how easily it could have been Amanda shot to death on an overseas flight.

Lee sighed deeply, raking his fingers through his hair, silently thanking God that Amanda was safe. In all his nightmares, when Amanda was hurt or killed, he was always there to rush to her aid, or at least try to. He suddenly realized that she could have been in desperate trouble, and he would be powerless to assist her. He breathed deeply, trying to calm his nerves, reminding himself that she was safely on another flight. The thought of how easily he could lose her frightened him, and he pushed it to the back of his mind.

***************

Later that evening, Amanda safely home, Dotty could tell they needed some alone time. Amanda had been uncharacteristically quiet during dinner and Lee was fidgeting nervously. "No reason you two need to sit in the living room all evening. Go out for a while, relax and talk…or whatever." Dotty said, urging them toward the door. "And you needn't hurry back, I won't wait up," she added with a knowing look.

They took her at her word, and headed off to Lee's apartment. Settling into the living room, Amanda sighed deeply and removed her blazer, revealing a snug turtleneck sweater and a shoulder harness. Lee turned and gasped, suddenly excited. He had never seen her wearing a shoulder holster before as she would usually take it off and lock up her gun as soon as she would arrive home. Her feelings about guns in the house had not changed. Lee shook his head. She was definitely not the simple suburban housewife he had recruited at the train station. She wasn't even the same partner who had walked out the door of the Q-bureau months before. Amanda moved toward the bathroom to freshen up, but Lee intercepted her, enveloping her in his arms.

"You're gorgeous." Lee murmured, kissing her hair.

"I'm a mess!" Amanda replied, laughing.

"Let me be the judge of that." Lee said, running his hands across her back and shoulders, paying particular attention to the places where the leather of her shoulder harness met her soft body. He paused, saying, "I was worried about you. That hijacked plane could just as easily been yours. Something could happen anytime, on any flight."

"But nothing happened on my flight, and probably never will. That's the part of the job that's hard. Oh, I know, it's hard to wait around, worrying. I've been there, remember?" Amanda said, wrapping her arms around his neck, placing little kisses near the top button of his shirt.

"Go home, Amanda! Wait in the car, Amanda! Don't draw a deep breath, Amanda!" Lee mocked himself for the things he had said to her while they worked together. "How did you stand working with me?" he added softly.

"It's not like it was terrible or anything," Amanda laughed. "After all, I fell for you while we were working together." She reached up to place a gentle kiss upon his lips before continuing. "I really miss working with you, working at the Agency."

"You do?" Lee asked, surprised. "You miss working with me?"

"Well, not the `wait in the car' part, and not the digs from Francine." Amanda ran her hands across Lee's chest. "My teammates at the airline treat me as an equal, a valuable part of the team. It's a refreshing change, but I'd rather be chasing down KGB agents with you, than flying endlessly across the ocean. I don't really feel like I'm accomplishing anything. At the Agency, I definitely knew I was accomplishing something important." Amanda shrugged her shoulders and rested her head against Lee's chest.

Lee stroked her hair for a few moments "I know, the work had nothing to do with why you left the Agency in the first place. I'm sorry about that. If I had recognized what I had in front of me, you would never have gone." He held her tighter and kissed her hair. He deeply regretted the circumstances of Amanda's departure from the Agency. If he hadn't wasted months pursuing an `Amanda substitute,' the real Amanda would still be with him every day at work.

"You know, the boys and I had quite a time while you were away," Lee said, changing the subject. "We had a chance to talk, too," Lee continued.

Amanda looked up at Lee, puzzled and unsure where he was going with this. "The three of you were plotting against me, huh?" she said with a slight smile.

"Uh huh," Lee replied, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a ring. He slipped it on her finger as he said, "I know it's still pretty early for this, and that you might not be ready to marry me for a good long while, but I love you, and I really wish you would wear this, in the meantime. Please, Amanda, we can have as long of an engagement as you want."

"Oh, Lee! It's beautiful! Yes, I'll marry you!" Amanda exclaimed, with all the love she felt for Lee shining in her eyes.

"This was my mother's ring." Lee continued, "And for the record, never, for a moment, did I ever consider giving this ring to any other woman."

"That makes it all the more special," Amanda smiled. "I love you, too. But I don't want a long engagement. Life is too short. I've known that for a long time, but today, I finally realized how ridiculous it is to wait, when you know what you want. After all, we've known each other over two years."

"Wonderful!" Lee gazed deeply into her eyes. "How soon can we get married?"

"How about tonight?" Amanda said in a perfectly serious voice.

"And exactly how would we accomplish this, if I may ask, since it's already after eight PM?" Lee inquired, laughing.

"Las Vegas," Amanda responded very seriously, "if I can get us on a late flight. It's three hours earlier there, and the marriage license bureau is open 24 hour on weekends. We could be husband and wife before sunrise."

"How do you know that?" Lee asked, stunned.

"I heard the flight attendants talking about it," Amanda replied. "One of the guys took his girlfriend to Las Vegas last month intending just to play the slot machines and see a show. They came back married. He said it was simple, no residency requirements, no blood tests and, seriously, the license bureau is open 24 hours on weekends and holidays!"

"What about your family? What would your mother say?" Lee pressed, his eye shining, intrigued by the possibility.

"I don't think she would care, she already did one wedding for me, remember?" Amanda said, cringing slightly at the memory of her first wedding. "A fancy wedding isn't a guarantee of a happy marriage. And as for the boys, I have to drag them by their hair to get them to church occasionally. They hate dressing up, and they hate special occasions. I think they would be just as happy not to be there."

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Lee said, jumping off the sofa and tossing the phone toward Amanda as he ran to pack a bag. "Make the reservations. We can stop at your house and clear it with your mom and the boys. If they approve, we'll get your stuff and go. If they hate the idea, we can plan something else for later," Lee called from the other room.

**********************************

Lee smiled at his sleeping Amanda. As soon as the flight to Las Vegas had left the ground, she had pushed back her seat and closed her eyes, her head resting comfortably on his shoulder. Amanda had been right about her family's reaction. Dotty thought it was a fine idea, and the boys didn't want any part of a big wedding. Amanda had gotten them both on the flight for free, and a friend of hers had upgraded their seats to first class. Another friend of hers, a gate agent, had given them a pocket full of free drink coupons, in case they couldn't get into first class on the return flight. Now, the flight attendants who knew her were taking special care, making sure the couple was comfortable. It was very clear to Lee, that these were Amanda's friends. They were expressing a genuine affection for her with this special attention, not flirting with him.

Lee loved how Amanda made friends everywhere she went. He had little to show for his personal life, except for four books with the names of contacts inside, many of them intimate contacts. Sadly, he could count on the fingers of one hand the number of true friends he had.

He thought of them now: Harry Thornton, Billy Melrose, Francine Desmond, Paul Barnes, and Amanda King. Lee shook his head in amazement. He was really doing what she had said so many months ago. He was going to marry his best friend! What had seemed truly absurd then, seemed like the most natural thing in the world, now.

Lee caught the flight attendant's attention. "Could I please have a couple more packs of peanuts? I'm feeling awfully hungry all of a sudden."

He took his sixth step back from the brink.