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Author: Anonymous7

Rating: G

Summary: A view of Lee’s feelings towards Amanda through the years.

Disclaimer: All characters are the property of Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions.

This story, however, is mine. Please don't archive it without my permission.

Feedback: All is welcome.

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Lee looked around the room uncomfortably while he waited for Harry to return with tea. Once a year, Harry invited him for lunch. Harry liked to check up on the agents he recruited, and he was one of the closest things Lee had to family. Still, the last few years Harry had been getting more and more ... domesticated. And domestication was not something that Lee Stetson was comfortable with.

Harry returned with a tray of tea. Lee looked on in horror. "A tea set?" he questioned.

Harry smiled, trying to stifle his laugh. He knew this was not something that the cocky agent was used to. "Yes, Lee. A tea set."

Lee went about pouring his tea and tried to quiet the thoughts in his head. His old friend was going soft.

"So, I hear you have a new partner." Harry started.

"Partner?" Lee questioned. What was Harry talking about? He worked solo, Harry knew that.

"Well, rumor has it you’re working with someone now. A housewife?"

Lee nearly choked on his tea. "Amanda?" he asked, stunned. "Amanda is NOT my partner. She’s a civilian. Billy has her help me out once in a while, but she is NOT my partner. The woman has the most amazing penchant for getting herself into trouble, she never follows orders. She’s simply unbearable!"

Harry watched Lee’s little monologue in silence. Quietly, he replied, "I heard that she saved your life. And I heard that she saved Billy’s."

"Billy’s?" Lee thought. When had Amanda saved Billy’s life?

"Yes. I heard you were going to kill him and Amanda stopped you."

Lee suddenly remembered. He remembered the look in Amanda’s eyes as she tried to convince him that Billy was his friend. The way she banged the stuffed duck on the table trying to get it talk. The way he had felt sitting there, hearing the voice of that stuffed duck telling him to kill Billy. He was almost certain that was what he was supposed to do. Until he looked at Amanda. He had felt like she was looking directly into his soul and somehow felt that he should trust her over the voices in his head. As soon as he had had that thought, her voice came through loud and clear, telling him Billy was his friend. Yes, he supposed Harry was right. She did save Billy’s life.

"I also heard that you risked treason for her." Harry added, looking away to hide his smile.

Again, Lee could remember things clearly - how helpless he felt when he realized she had been taken from his apartment. He knew he couldn’t let anything happen to her. And the way she had shaken while he held her in the golf cart later. She felt so small and fragile in his arms. He couldn’t help but feel that he was supposed to take care of her.

Shaking his head to quell such thoughts, he said, "She’s a mother of two boys. I couldn’t let her get killed because of me. But Amanda King is NOT my partner."

"Okay, okay." Harry said. "Sorry I brought it up."

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Lee looked around Harry’s place. It was definitely getting more homey. The place had a settled in feeling now. It still gave Lee the creeps, but he had to admit, it seemed to suit his friend.

Placing lunch down on the table, Harry said, "So, how are things going with your partner?"

Lee looked up sharply. "Amanda? Amanda King is NOT my partner. I mean sure, Billy has us work together a lot, and sure sometimes she sees something that no one else would see, but Amanda is NOT my partner. I don’t work with a partner, remember?"

"Yes," Harry said, trying to stop himself from smiling at Lee’s little outburst. "I remember. I guess I was under the impression you and Amanda work together more than you actually do. And I have heard good things about her." Harry refrained from pointing out that despite his protests, Lee knew precisely who he was talking about when he said partner.

"Amanda? Well, like I said, she has insight that others don’t have. I guess it’s the different background. And we do work together a lot. But she just gets into trouble so easily and she never listens to orders. Well, I guess the thing is, working with Amanda can be downright frustrating." Lee thought back over recent times he had worked with Amanda. He could still feel that pit in the bottom of his stomach at the thought of her being bought as some sort of concubine. He shook the thought off — it made him feel slightly nauseous. But then his mind raced to how her lips had felt beneath his during their fake wedding ceremony. Shaking his head again, he thought, ‘She is VERY annoying.’

"Well, I’m sorry to hear that. I’m sure if you talk to Billy, you could work with her less." Harry’s words brought Lee back to the present.

"Yeah, I’m not so sure. He seems to really like her." Lee said, thinking that he wasn’t really sure he wanted to ask anyway.

Harry nodded absently. He had known that. Billy spoke wonderfully about the King woman and particularly cited that she was good for Lee. She made him more careful. Harry wasn’t sure, but despite Lee’s little outburst, he thought Lee may actually like her, too.

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Lee smiled as he helped Harry bring things to the table. Harry’s place had a real comfortable feel. He wondered what it was and how he could get his apartment to feel like that. It must be a gift some people had, he thought. Amanda’s home, too, felt very comfortable, very lived in, while his apartment felt like a hotel room. ‘What was it he was missing?’, he wondered.

As Harry headed back to the kitchen to get some water, he asked, "How are things with your partner?" and then mimed along with Lee, "Amanda is NOT my partner." He was almost back at the table when he realized that Lee hadn’t said that.

"Amanda’s doing well. She’s really starting to catch on. One day she may even make a good agent."

"Really?" Harry replied, surprised at the change.

"Yeah, she has amazing instincts. I don’t even know how she does it." Lee smiled thinking over recent cases with Amanda. He felt himself think about how well she dealt with the Alan Chamerlain case, but forced himself not to dwell on how it felt to realize he was alone in her bedroom with her, or the feeling he had when he had turned to see her kissing Alan goodbye.

"Good instincts?"

"Really good. I’d follow her blind through a blizzard at midnight." Lee proclaimed.

"Blind through a blizzard at midnight, eh? Just what is going on between you two," Harry laughed in amazement. ‘Blind through a blizzard at midnight! What had happened to Lee Stetson,’ he had to wonder.

Lee looked up from his lunch, suddenly flustered. "Nothing is going on between us. We’re friends. I mean Amanda is my best friend, but there’s nothing going on between us. Sure, Amanda’s pretty, but there’s nothing between us."

"She’s pretty?" Harry parroted back. He couldn’t help but egg Lee on while biting his tongue so as not to point out that Lee was protesting a little too much.

Without thinking, Lee continued to ramble, "Well, yeah. Sort of. She has these amazing eyes. You can get lost in them — they’re just so ... well, she has these amazing brown, beautiful eyes. And her smile can light up a room." Lee suddenly sat up straight. "But there is nothing between us. We’re friends. That’s it."

"Okay." Harry smiled as he got up to clear the plates.

Lee sat there staring straight ahead for a second. She did have beautiful eyes and a smile that could light up a room. And great legs, he added. No, he couldn’t think that way. He and Amanda were friends. Just friends. It was better this way and he knew it.

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Lee looked around the living room longingly. He wanted a living room. He was tired of living in apartments. Even thought his new place was much better than his previous places, Amanda had done a great job helping him to decorate, it still didn’t feel permanent like Harry’s place did, like Amanda’s home did. He was tired of looking in from the window. He was ready to come inside.

As Harry and Lee started to eat, Lee said, "So, Amanda is doing well. She said to say hello."

Harry smiled in the other room. How things had progressed! Now Lee was mentioning Amanda all on his own!

"How is her training going?" he asked.

Lee practically beamed with pride, "She’s at the top of the class. Of course, Beaman finds the whole thing tremendously annoying. I think he finds Amanda’s innate ability to get into trouble a little frustrating, but it always ends up for the better of the agency. It’s amazing how often her training exercises turn into full Agency investigations."

Harry stifled a laugh. Wasn’t it Lee himself complaining about Amanda’s ability to get into trouble a few years ago?

"Actually, in a few months I think she’ll be finished with her training and we’ll be able to officially name her my partner." Lee smiled at that himself. How fitting it would be, to call Amanda his partner and have it acknowledged by the Agency. Even if no one would do that right now, while they were partners in the truest sense of the word.

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Harry moved about quickly, trying to get everything ready. He had been surprised when Lee had asked if Amanda could join them for lunch. Not that he minded, he wanted to check up on her, too, but it was unusual. Billy had mentioned that they were good friends, had even hinted that he suspected more between them, but still Harry was surprised.

Hearing the knock on the door, he went to open the door and ushered the pair inside. Seeing their entwined hands, he had to agree with Billy’s suspicions.

"Good afternoon, Lee. Amanda."

The couple smiled at him, before Lee cleared his throat and said, "Actually, Harry, I wanted to ..." he faltered, glancing at Amanda who smiled at him encouragingly, "I wanted to introduce you to ..." he paused again and Harry wondered what was up. Was there someone outside he had failed to see, "...my wife, Amanda Stetson."

Harry reached behind him for a chair and sat down heavily. Amanda was at his side in an instant. "Sir, are you okay? Oh my gosh. We didn’t mean to startle you so much."

Harry reached over to grab her hand, only then noticing the wedding band. "I’m surprised, that’s all. But very happy." Still holding Amanda’s hand, he stood up and gave them both a hug in congratulations.

"I just need to bring things in and you two can tell me all about this." Harry said as he headed for the kitchen.

"Let me help." Amanda moved to join him, but he placed a hand on her shoulder. "No, Amanda, please relax. I’ll only be a moment."

As he finished up lunch preparations he couldn’t help but shake his head. Lee Stetson married. Whoever would have believed it! But, if he had to pick a wife for his friend, he doubted he could have found someone better. And the look in Lee’s eyes told him that Lee knew just how lucky he was. He laughed a bit — from the look in Amanda’s eyes the feeling was mutual.

He had always thought that Lee was a confirmed bachelor and had to admit to being a bit surprised that his instincts were off. But he’d never been happier to be proven wrong.

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