DISCLAIMER:
This story is based on characters copyrighted by Warner Brothers and Shoot the
Moon Productions. This story is meant for enjoyment purposes only and cannot be
redistributed without permission from the author. I retain the rights to the
plot, not the characters. No infringement is intended.
AUTHOR:
Kate
TIMELINE:
Second season.
SYNOPSIS: Filler for episode, "You Only Die
Twice." Lee goes over the police
files and reads about Amanda's 'death'.
MISTAKEN IDENTITY
Lee
Stetson entered the foyer of the Agency's building and smiled at the older
woman who was seated behind a large desk.
"Good morning, Mrs. Marsten," he greeted amiably.
"Good
morning, Mr. Stetson," she replied coolly, her own features remaining
impassive under the young agent's obvious charm. "Password, please."
"Turnscrew,"
he supplied with another smile. Mrs.
Marsten merely nodded then looked back down at her work effectively dismissing
him.
Lee
took the hint and opened the door to the closet cum secret elevator and
entered, moving the jackets out of the way first. Once he shut the door, he pressed the button that would take him
to hub of the Agency and the elevator began its smooth and silent descent.
Upon
reaching its destination, the doors slid open and Lee stepped out into the
white, clinical looking corridor.
Returning greetings to a few of his fellow agents that passed by him, he
headed to the bullpen with his first mission of the day clearly set in his
mind…get a large, strong cup of coffee.
The
guards opened the doors and Lee entered the busy office only to be approached
almost immediately by his co-worker and close friend, Francine Desmond, who was
carrying a good dozen Agency files.
"Lee,
I need your reports for the Newnam and Blacklaw cases in an hour; Billy wants
an update on the Stanfield assignment and today's police files are on your
desk," she told him without preamble.
"Well,
good morning to you too, Francine," he retorted sarcastically as he turned
away and headed over to the coffee station.
"If
you'd had to sit in on the budget meeting earlier with Henley from Accounts you
wouldn't think so," she informed him dryly as she followed him over and
helped herself to a cup of coffee as well.
Lee
pulled a face. "That bad,
huh?"
"Worse,"
Francine clarified with a pained expression.
"I swear he even makes Fred Fielder seem interesting."
Lee
chuckled. "Now that I seriously doubt," he
commented sardonically, then grinned as he spied said
agent heading their way and added succinctly, "But you can always compare,
Francine, just to be sure. Fred's on
his way over here and from the way he's patting down his hair, it's not me he
wants to talk to."
A
look of dread formed on the blonde agent's features as Lee's words sunk in and
she darted a quick glance over her shoulder to confirm the truth. Turning back to Lee, she flashed him a quick
smile, picked up her coffee then bade a hasty farewell before exiting the
bullpen.
Fielder
walked up to coffee station and stared after the blonde walking rapidly away
down the corridor. Turning to speak to
Lee, he frowned when he saw that, he too, had walked off. If he didn't know better, he'd swear that
they were avoiding him.
Lee
reached his desk and placed his coffee to one side then sat down with a
sigh. Surreptitiously, he glanced up
and saw the other agent carry a steaming drink over to his own desk and
relaxed. Last thing he needed today was
to get caught up in a conversation with Fred Fielder. The man could out-talk his housewife par…helper, Amanda King…and that was definitely saying something
considering the amount of words she somehow managed to utter without stopping
for breath.
Sorting
through the files that were piled haphazardly on the table in front of him, Lee
located the Newnam and Blacklaw cases then stood up and took them over to
Francine's desk which was neat a pin.
Lee
smiled to himself and shook his head slightly before looking over at Billy's
office and internally debating whether now would be a good time to knock on his
superior's door. His answer came when
said door flew open and a very harassed agent hurried out followed by a stern
looking William Melrose. His boss
glared holes into the back of the leaving man then glanced around the bullpen.
"Johnson! In here…Now!" he barked out before
turning around and entering his office once more.
Lee
looked over at the young agent in question and grimaced slightly. He recognised the look of dread Johnson
sported having been in the position to have worn the very same look many times
in the past…and present.
Heading
back to his own desk, Lee sat down again then leaned back in his chair with a
sigh as he eyed his current workload with distaste. He really needed to get some of this under control. Maybe he'd give Amanda a ring later and see
if she could come in for a few hours and help type up a couple of urgent
reports.
That
decided, he pushed a few files out of the way then picked up the printout of
the day before's police reports and began to read. As his eyes drifted down over the many names and lists of
offences that accompanied each, he exhaled slowly then glanced up briefly and
reached out pick up his mug of coffee.
Bringing it to his lips, he'd just taken a mouthful as he turned the
page over. Almost immediately his eyes
locked onto a familiar name about halfway down the page and he found himself
almost choking on the warm liquid as he automatically swallowed hard.
Eyes
watering slightly from the momentary loss of breath, he blinked rapidly to
clear his vision then put his mug down with a thump as he gripped the printout
with two hands and brought it closer to his face in disbelief.
"Amanda?"
he muttered aloud in shock as he re-read the details on the sheet once
more. Looking up, he stared blankly ahead
of him as the unwelcome information refused to sink into his brain.
This
couldn't be happening.
Standing
up, his grip tightened on the printout causing the folded paper to crumple
under the added pressure as he quickly walked over to his superior's
office. After the most cursory of
knocks, he opened the door and went in.
Billy
abruptly broke off speaking and looked up in annoyance at the sudden
interruption. The words of censure that
he was about to utter died on his lips as he took one look at the grim
expression and wan face of his best agent.
"We'll
finish this later, Johnson," Billy curtly dismissed the young man seated
in front of him.
The
agent stood up and glanced over at Lee's taut face before nodding at Billy and
leaving the office with more than a little relief evident on his features.
"What's
wrong?" Billy asked without preamble as soon as the door closed.
Lee
walked over to the older man's desk and slapped the wrinkled paper down in
front of him. "Read this," he
ordered gruffly then turned and walked over to the window that looked out over
the bullpen.
Billy
picked up the printout with a frown and skimmed down the page until he found
the reason for Lee's intrusion. There,
in harsh black print, was a brief account of the death of a woman found on top
of a van with a gunshot wound to her back.
A woman that had been carrying cards identifying her as Scarecrow's
unofficial civilian partner…Amanda King.
Billy
drew in a sharp breath and looked up, stunned.
"Lee, this must be some kind of mistake," he said with a
slight shake of his head.
"It
says they've I.D.'d her, Billy," Lee replied in a voice devoid of all
emotion as he resolutely continued his surveillance of the hectic bullpen.
"And
have you checked it out?" Billy asked.
Lee
sighed, the rigidness of his stance easing slightly as the shaken agent ran his
hand through his hair and turned to look at his superior. "Not yet," he admitted. "I know I should to go down there to
confirm, but if the police have made a positive identification then they must
be certain that the bod…" he paused and swallowed hard, looking back out
through the window before finishing quietly, "…that it's…Amanda."
Billy
stared at Lee's taut profile and found himself wondering, not for the first
time, at the relationship between his best agent and lovely partner. If they had been closer than he'd thought,
then this situation could have more ramifications than just the obvious.
Standing
up, the older man walked over to Lee then reached up and rested his hand on the
taller man's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. "Why don't you go back to your desk," he suggested
kindly. "I'll go to the morgue
and…"
"No!"
Lee cut in sharply as he turned to his boss, a pained look briefly marring his
features before he quickly schooled them to their usual outwardly unperturbed
facade. "I want…have to go, Billy. I need to see…" He broke off and stared at his superior in
mute appeal, this time not bothering the hide the pained look that was back in
his eyes.
Although
he had reservations, Billy decided to let them slide. He understood Lee's desire to see Amanda's body, to gain some
closure, and so nodded his assent.
"Alright, if you're sure."
"I
am," Lee replied firmly.
Billy
turned away then went back to his desk and retrieved his jacket from the back
of his chair. Putting it on, he walked
over to the door and opened it up before looking over at Lee. “You ready?”
Lee
gave a nod then followed his boss out across the bullpen and over to the
elevator that would take them up to the main foyer. Once they'd exited the building they got into Billy's sedan and
headed off to the city morgue each dreading the unhappy task that lay ahead.
**************************
The
drive to the morgue was made in silence, Lee's calm exterior belying the extent
to which his emotions were surging up and down within him. Although he'd read the report with his own
eyes, his head was still determinedly rejecting the idea that his…that Amanda…was gone.
They
pulled into the parking lot and Billy drove into an empty space then turned off
the engine.
"Are
you sure you still want to do this?" the older man asked quietly.
"No,"
Lee answered truthfully. "But I
will."
Billy
nodded then both men got out the car and approached the morgue's entrance. They went through the door and were greeted
by a rather rotund lady who was far too jovial for Lee’s liking considering the
surroundings. Billy flashed his I.D. and
the woman waved them through with a nod.
They
headed down a clean, well-lit corridor.
Each step closer to the morgue, Lee could feel his feet grow more and
more heavy until he could swear he was dragging them.
They
stopped in front of the door and Billy shot his agent a concerned look before
reaching out and turning the handle.
Opening the door, he entered the room and looked around for the person
in charge.
Lee
stood in the doorway not wanting to cross the threshold. On the opposite wall he could see rows of
drawers and wondered which one held Amanda’s lifeless body.
“Lee,
are you ready?” Billy asked, quietly cutting into his thoughts.
Lee
turned his head and suddenly noticed that a man was standing next to his
superior. He was of average height,
average weight, hell, average everything, Lee thought to himself grimly. Realising he was simply staring, the agent
gave himself a mental shake and turned his attention back to his boss.
With
a curt nod, he took a determined step into the room and slowly followed the
other two men along the row of drawers.
They
were almost at the end when the man stopped and looked down at the clipboard he
was holding. “Ah, here it is,” he said,
his voice monotone, “H3…Amanda King.
She came in late last night.” He
grabbed the handle and with a tug the drawer slid silently open.
Lee
swallowed hard as he gazed down upon the sheet covered body that lay
there. It didn’t seem right that she be
so still. She’d always been so full
of…life. A multitude of emotions washed
over him in rapid succession as he steeled himself to see Amanda one last
time.
The
unpleasant queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach grew as the morgue
attendant prepared to pull the cover back.
Lee hadn’t felt this sick since he’d watched his first partner take a bullet for him.
The
man slowly pulled the sheet and Lee caught a glimpse of dark, curly hair before
shutting his eyes as it hit him that it was really Amanda laying there. He’d hoped…wished that it wasn’t true but…
“My
God…Sylvia!”
Hearing
Billy’s shocked tone, Lee’s eyes flew open.
Gazing down at the corpse, his superior’s words sunk in and a huge wave
of relief crashed over him as he realised it wasn’t Amanda.
“I knew
those damn reports were wrong!” Lee exclaimed, a huge grin lighting his
features as he looked up at Billy triumphantly.
His
elation was short-lived however, when he saw the pained expression on his
friend’s face. “I’m sorry, Billy,” he
said contritely, “I didn’t mean…”
“I
know, Scarecrow,” the older man cut in frown.
“And I’m pleased it isn’t Amanda too, but this also means that we now
have a dead agent on our hands. We have
to get back to the Agency and let Dunbar know.”
Lee
nodded, knowing that Billy was taking Sylvia’s death hard but doing his best
not to show it. “I’ll just go and let
the guy know we’ve finished,” Lee informed him, allowing him a couple of
minutes alone.
He
spoke to the attendant then waited by the door for Billy to join him. Together they left the morgue and went back
to the Agency.
Entering
the bullpen, Billy called Francine and headed for his office while Lee went
over to his desk. He eyed the un-typed
files that lay there and smiled slightly.
A warm, happy, caring sensation spread through him at still being able
to ask Amanda’s help on those files after all and he gave a relieved chuckle.
It was a good feeling and for once in his life where Amanda was concerned, he wasn’t about to push it away.
THE END
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