DISCLAIMER: The characters are owned by Warner Bros. and
Shoot The Moon Productions. I am only borrowing them a
while to have some fun.

RATING: NC-17

SUMMARY: Third Season, midway. Strictly AU. A "what if"
short story on Lee's feelings for Amanda. To help vent
his growing feelings, he writes her a letter to be
placed in safe keeping for her to see at a later time.
Extension of the original.

I give my permission for this story to be posted at
chelfriends archive.

PART I

Q BUREAU-ONE NIGHT

The Anderson case had left Lee exhausted. Amanda was a
big help, as usual. Her insight into the details of
the identity of one of the perpetrators brought the case
to its conclusion. She was invaluable to Lee.

His heart kept up the battle with his head over revealing
his affections to her. He had been scared of commitment
because of his past. As time progressed, the intensity
of his feelings toward her was becoming very hard to
control in her presence.

His mind drifted as he took a moment's respite. His
face bore a slight smile as he pictured her in his
thoughts. When he looked into those beautiful, chocolate
eyes, he lost all sense of reality and only warmth and
joy spread through his being. He needed to express these
emotions somehow. He decided to write Amanda a letter
conveying his affectations to her in detail. Later, he
would place his effort in safe storage to be presented
to her at a later date.

My Love,

Here I am in the Q Bureau writing a letter to you. It's
late and I am exhausted. The Anderson case was long and
tedious. There you were again saving the day when you
identified Elaine Ross.

Amanda, I'm at wits end. I can't hold these emotions
inside me anymore. I see you across the room each day
and I want to rush over to you. It takes all the will
power I possess inside me not to crush you in my arms
and kiss you to oblivion.

I love you, Amanda King, with all my heart. There, I've
said it. They are the three little words I have been
trying to muster the courage to convey to you. You
are my best friend, my soulmate, my everything.

Ever since I saw you that first day at the train
station, I haven't been the same man. I knew deep down
inside of me that you were the one for me, but at that
time I didn't have the courage to pursue that belief.
I was scared to death.

Amanda, today my love for you far outweighs the
hesitation, but I still can't seem to say the words.

I remember the first year of our acquaintence. I wanted
nothing to do with you. Good ol' Billy kept forcing us
to work together. I treated you badly at times and for
those actions, I am profoundly sorry.

If Billy were to ask me today how I like having you for
a partner, I would reply, "Don't even think about
separating us."

You hve made me a better man, my Amanda. I want you to
be mine forever. I want to share everything with you.
I love your caring for others before yourself, your
wonderful smile and your beautiful eyes.

I love your family, you must know that. I consider
Phillip and Jamie as my own. I can't wait to call
Dotty "Mom" someday. Okay, so maybe I'm jumping the
gun there a little.

I want to marry you, Amanda King, the sooner the
better. I want to wake up with you in my arms every
morning for all the days of our lives.

I ache to hold you, my love. This feeling overpowers me
at times.

My darling, if you only knew.

All my love always,
Lee

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lee's eyes were misty as he placed the pen on his desk.
He just finished placing the letter in its envelope
and scribbling Amanda's name on it, when the phone rang
loudly.

'It's Billy, I'll bet,' he thought to himself. 'We
hadn't dompletely finished the debriefing.'

Billy wanted to finish up for the night. Lee hurried
down to his office to wrap up loose ends. He completely
forgot about placing the letter in a safe place. No
one would be visiting this time of night anyway.

MEANWHILE

Amanda reprimanded herself for having forgotten some
important insurance papers. It's a good thing one of
the exiting agents knew her identity and let her reenter
the building just as he was leaving. She ran upstairs
to the Q Bureau to retrieve the material she needed.

'No Lee,' she observed. 'He must be downstairs in
Billy's office,' she thought. She noticed a white
envelope on his desk with her name on it.

'Should I read it,' she wondered. 'Why not, it's
addressed to me?'

Amanda opened the letter and began reading the message.
She got so absorbed in the content, she didn't hear
Lee's footsteps,

TBC