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Screen Captures Courtesy of Swoopes
For personal use and select distribution only © February 2002 by Amber Stockton
Night Crawler - tagalogue
Written by George Geiger (excerpts from the episode belong to him)
Amanda pulled out her chair and sat at her desk in the Q-Bureau. She rested her arms on the edge of the desk and looked around. That was when she saw it. A small blue box from Tiffany's in New York, artfully wrapped with a wide white ribbon and tied on top in a bow, sat in the middle of her desktop. Her breath caught in her throat and her heartbeat increased. Nervously, she pulled the ends of the ribbon and untied the bow, then lifted the lid off the box and dumped its contents into her hand. Hardly daring to breathe, she slowly lifted the lid of the jeweler's box and gasped at the tiny solitaire diamond nestled inside the box, winking back at her.
It seemed more like a dream than reality as she removed the ring from its cushion and turned in her seat. She held the ring up to catch the glimmer of sunlight filtering through the window behind Lee's desk. Halfway expecting him to be sitting there as she gazed at the small token of his love for her, a token that spoke volumes, she smiled as she remembered his words a few days ago. When he had proposed to her in the room where Birol held them both captive, she had immediately agreed. Since that moment, she had wondered if he really had proposed or if it was just a figment of her imagination, conjured as a result of her sleep deprivation. There was even the concern that it was a result of his fears of losing her that prompted him to speak instead of his heart. Now, as she held the ring in her hand, her doubts left her and floated on the air like a cool spring breeze.
The door to the Q-Bureau opened, and Amanda looked up. She didn't have to turn around to know it was Lee, so she waited with bated breath for him to come into her line of vision. When he did, she shifted her eyes to watch him approach and casually sit on the corner of her desk. Words were a complete loss to her. They also weren't necessary. She silently watched him remove the ring from her fingers, lift her left hand from the desk and slide the ring onto her third finger, then tenderly hold her left hand in his.
Slowly, she raised her eyes to meet his gaze. They shared a special smile that said more than any words could. All of the love she felt for him was reflected in the hazel pools of his eyes, compelling her to get lost in their depths. Drawn, as if by force, she raised her lips to him as he leaned toward her. Her eyelids fluttered closed as his lips touched hers, and she felt herself get lost in the sweetness of his kiss.
After several long and precious moments, Lee broke the kiss, only to pull her to him in a warm and loving embrace. She felt a little awkward, half sitting in her chair and half standing, so she stood and mirrored his position on the edge of her desk without breaking their embrace. Content to simply remain in his arms, she looked over his shoulder at her left hand and the diamond solitaire on the thin band which surrounded her third finger. She turned her hand to the left and right and watched the sunlight shimmer off the many facets of the stone. A lone tear escaped her eye and slid down her cheek, followed by a couple more. She sniffed, then felt Lee remove his arms from around her and pull back, so she dropped her head in an attempt to hide her tears as her hands came to rest on his shoulders.
He noticed them though, and gently encouraged her to look at him, his hands on either side of her face. With his thumbs, he tenderly wiped away the tears from her cheeks. "Hey." His voice was a soft whisper. "Is the thought of marrying me that bad?" Lee teased with a loving smile.
She chuckled and smiled through her tears. "No," she rasped, barely able to overcome her emotions to speak. "I'm just so happy. I never thought I could be this happy."
"Well, that goes double for me," Lee replied. "I meant what I said, Amanda. I told you nothing would keep us apart. You are the bravest, smartest, most beautiful woman I know, and I love you." He gave her a peck on her lips with each descriptive word to punctuate his declaration.
"I love you, too," she echoed. "When I first saw you in that room, I couldn't believe it was you. I had seen you in my mind so many times, I didn't want to raise my hopes only to be disappointed again." When he opened his mouth to speak, she placed a finger over his lips. "Then, I realized you really were there, and despite the circumstances, I knew I couldn't be happier, because I was with you."
"When I first saw you lying on that bench, I was so scared Birol had done something to you. The only thing I wanted to do was hold you in my arms. When I finally had you, you thought I wasn't really there." He slid his hands down her cheeks to her neck and across her shoulders, then down her arms before resting them at her waist. "I had to do something to make you see I was really there." Lee shrugged. "Kissing you was the first thing that came to mind."
"Well, marks to you for acting on your instincts and devising a plan that worked." Amanda grinned. "I'll admit the reality was far better than the hallucinations I had in that room where I was held."
A look of concern crossed Lee's face. "Yeah, you mentioned that when I first arrived. I know we went over the details of what happened in our reports and the debriefing over the past few days, but you never mentioned the details of your hallucinations."
Amanda grinned. "That's because I didn't think it was necessary for anyone else to know about them."
"And why's that?"
She leaned forward and placed her lips next to his ear and whispered. "Because my thoughts were only of you, of being held in your arms, of being kissed by you." She leaned back and saw the grin on Lee's lips, then ducked her head. "Of wondering how much longer I was going to last without being with you."
Lee lifted her chin with one of his fingers and forced her gaze to meet his. "I know exactly how you felt. I was feeling the same thing. It's why I went to your house and spoke to your mother. Somehow, it made me feel closer to you. As soon as I stepped into the den, I felt your presence. You were there. With the boys. Doing laundry. Cooking dinner. Rushing around trying to get everyone where they needed to be." He smiled at this remark, then resumed his intent gaze. "Everywhere I looked, I saw you. Then, you were there, talking to me, telling me that you were okay. I knew then that everything would work out. I knew I would find you and bring you back to me."
Amanda slid up her hands to lock behind his neck. "And you did. I don't know when it was, but I imagined you there in the room with me dressed in a tux, holding a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of wine. You told me you had a very important question to ask me." She leaned her head against his, but maintained eye contact and grinned. "Now, I know what that question was."
"Nothing made me happier than when you realized it really was me." He paused and smiled. "Except when you agreed to marry me."
Amanda slid her hands to the lapels of his suit jacket and smiled back at him. "How could I not? You aren't exactly the easiest person to resist."
"Oh, really? I can remember quite a few times when you didn't seem to have any trouble," he teased.
"Well, that's what I wanted you to think!" she retorted with a saucy grin. Narrowing her eyes a little, she sobered. "You know, for the past three years of our lives, I've actually been quite proud of my ability to resist you. You made it easy when you kept insisting that everything that happened between us was just business. That we were just playing our covers or working." She rushed to continue when he opened his mouth to speak. "But, when you finally started seriously pursuing me, I knew it was a lost cause." Amanda grinned. "Still," she began and pecked his lips, "I can resist you ... when I choose to do so."
Lee moved his hands to her back and drew her closer to him. "And is this one of those times when you don't want to?"
"Excellent deduction, Stetson," she whispered.
Their lips met in an electrifying kiss that jolted them both clear to their souls. When Lee pulled back, Amanda immediately felt the loss of his touch.
"So," he whispered and leaned his forehead against hers, "how about we celebrate?"
"Celebrate?" she croaked, not quite fully able to find her voice. "With what?"
Lee smiled. "Well, I stashed something a little special for the occasion."
He moved away from her to walk over to his desk. She watched him lean down and retrieve something from the floor, but he immediately placed his hands behind his back and returned to where she still perched. A flash of color and the crinkle of cellophane had her thinking he held flowers behind his back, but she wasn't certain.
Amanda smiled at his antics and rested her hands on the desk. "Am I supposed to pick a hand?"
"Yep."
"Hmm, do I just get what's in the hand, or do I get the hand too?"
Lee's eyes widened at her words, but he quickly adapted and went along with it. "Oh, the hand definitely comes with it!"
"Gosh, you make it so hard to choose. Okay, show me the right one."
He grinned and brought his right hand from around his back to reveal two wine glasses and a bottle of their favorite wine. She took one glass and held it as she waited for him to show her what he had in his other hand. He brought it around front to display the bouquet she thought she had seen a moment ago.
"These are for you."
"The flowers and the wine I saw in my mind! How did you..."
"Just another sign telling us we're meant to be together," Lee answered before she had a chance to ask the full question.
Amanda took the flowers and placed them in the vase on her desk. The rose that had previously occupied it had been removed just the other day. Now, a beautiful arrangement of red, yellow, white and pink roses, mixed with some greens and baby's breath added a splash of color to her desk and invited what felt like a breath of spring into the office, despite the rapidly cooling temperatures outside.
Setting down his glass on the desk, Lee popped the cork on the wine bottle and immediately poured some into his glass, then moved to fill hers as well. After he set down the bottle, he lifted his arm and smiled.
"To us!" he toasted. "And to me finally realizing that everything I ever wanted and needed is found in you."
"Here, here!"
She clinked her glass to his, then took a sip, watching as he did the same. He lowered his glass, and she watched his expression change.
"You know," he said and paused, "since we're talking about confessions and what we've both been through to get to this point, I guess I should be honest, too."
"You? Honest?" she teased, but realized he was serious, so she matched his gaze with an intent one of her own. "About what?"
"Well, you've mentioned that you spent some time waiting for me to finally realize how I felt about you."
She nodded, and he continued.
"I spent so much of that time taking it for granted that you would be around, then pushing you away when things got too close for comfort. I know we've joked about your loyalty, but I see now it's more than that, at least where we're concerned. What you feel for me is a love to obviously last a lifetime. I've wasted so much time being scared of getting involved for fear of that commitment."
She started to reply, but stopped when he held up his hand to stop her.
"Let me finish," he requested softly, then sighed. "I ridiculed and pointed out all of the idiosyncrasies in the men you dated. You sat back and remained silent about my string of women, refraining from telling me how you really felt about them ... at least until recently," he added with a grin. "Now, that I look back on it all, I realize that the reason I did that was because I wanted to keep you all to myself. It was selfish, I know, but it's the truth. The only problem was that I wouldn't allow myself to have you. I set up my own boundaries. You were on the other side, untouchable because I was determined to keep our relationship strictly professional.
"Somehow, you broke through every barrier and wall I set up between us. Somehow, you managed to destroy every one of my defenses and find a permanent place in my heart." He paused and stepped closer to her. "And, I'm sure glad you did," he whispered, his voice gruff and husky.
Amanda knew Lee needed to get everything off his chest just as much as she needed to hear what he had to say. When he finished, she sighed, then slowly smiled to show him how much his words meant to her.
"So, Stetson, just how long have you been thinking about this?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you've obviously had time enough to think about everything you did to avoid me and how it was one of your biggest mistakes..."
He grimaced. "Gee, thanks."
"But, when did you start making plans to ask me to marry you?"
Lee leaned back a little on the desk and shrugged, gesturing with the hand that held his glass. "Ohh, I don't know. I guess I knew two weeks ago after we closed the case on Carmine, and Sally told you they were going to get married."
Amanda grinned. "Good thing I told you about that phone call, huh?"
He chuckled. "Yeah."
"I sort of figured that was about the time."
"Oh? How?"
"Well, when Mrs. D'Angelo came up here with your pension report and calculations based on a two-salary hike, I knew she wasn't talking about you and any other woman. You had obviously been thinking about this for a little while to have the time to ask her to put together that packet. Then, the way you replied with the same words I said to Sally on the phone sort of tipped me off."
"Excellent conclusion, Mrs. King!" Lee grinned, then sighed and ran his free hand through his hair, making a few strands stand on end. "I just wish I had been able to ask you under better circumstances."
Amanda reached out to comb her fingers through his hair and put it back into place, then smiled and lowered her hand to his shoulder. "Are you kidding? Suffering from sleep deprivation and being held by an international terrorist while being rendered stiff with zap gas are the best circumstances in which to receive a proposal of marriage!"
Lee glanced at her in surprise, then slowly smiled and shook his head. "Have I told you how much I love you?"
"Not in the last few minutes!"
"Well, I do, you know. This whole thing with Night Crawler and Birol made me realize just how much I needed you and how lost I am without you. I'd be a fool not to want to spend the rest of my life with you."
"Yeah." She leaned forward to give him a quick, but tender kiss.
"You know, there's something else that's been on my mind..."
"Other than asking me to marry you? I'm shocked!"
He smiled. "Well, it's related to that. Billy had a little talk with me a couple of days ago about a job opening at SDBIR."
"The State Department?"
"Yeah, told me that promotions are frozen at the Agency, and if I wanted to get married and raise a family, I'd have to be at management level. Pay is GG17, and that's an impressive hike."
"Mr. Melrose knows?"
"No, I don't think he knows everything, but I'm sure he suspects." Lee held up a hand. "Don't worry. He didn't seem too concerned about it. Just giving me advice as a friend."
Amanda almost shook her head at how well he knew her to know that was exactly the concern on her mind. "Are you considering it?"
"Maybe. We've still got a lot to talk about before I start thinking about a career move though. Why don't we ... uh ... take it one step at a time, huh?"
"I think that's a wonderful idea!"
Lee leaned forward and touched his lips to hers. "In the meantime," he murmured against her lips and reached down to lift her left hand between them, "why don't we enjoy the moment and my mother's engagement ring."
Amanda stiffened and widened her eyes at his words. "Your mother's?" She set down her wine and glanced down at the ring that now circled the third finger of her left hand and gasped. "But how..."
"It was one of the handful of things they were able to pull from what was left of the car after..." he took a deep breath, "after the crash."
"When I first saw it in the box, I thought there was something oddly unique about it. Now, I know it's not only that, but something special as well." She sighed and placed her right hand against his cheek. "Oh, Lee! This means so much more to me that you've given me this treasured part of your mother."
Lee turned his head and pressed a kiss into her palm. "You deserve it. I know she would have loved you just as much as I do, and she would have more than welcomed you as a daughter-in-law. I feel it's only right that you wear her ring as well."
"Thank you, Lee," Amanda whispered. She reached down and lifted her glass into her hand again and took another sip.
Another quick kiss, and Lee pulled her into his warm embrace. Mindful of her wine, she held it aloft just over his shoulder, but wrapped her other arm securely around him and nestled her chin into the hollow of his shoulder. Lee placed a soft kiss at the tip of her ear, and she sighed with pleasure.
"Got any more of that zap gas?" she murmured against his neck.
He pulled back to gaze longingly into her eyes, then took one last swallow from his glass, emptying the contents. She mirrored his action.
As soon as she lowered her arm, he leaned forward and touched his lips to hers. The taste of the wine blended with the sweetness of his kiss. His hand slipped around her waist as he deepened the kiss. Amanda knew there was nowhere else she'd rather be at that moment. In his arms was where she wanted to spend the rest of her life.
(THE END)