"Good morning, Amanda. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, sir," she said, a smile in her voice. She juggled the items around and handed him a package, "This is for you."

"Thank you, Amanda. Here, let me help you with those." He took a few of the plates and walked with her to the refreshment table.

"Where's Lee?" Amanda asked as she set the plates of cookies down.

"Late."

"As usual," Francine said as she joined them, "Well, if it isn't Mrs. Claus."

"Merry Christmas, Francine," she ignored the jibe, "this one's for you." She handed her a package.

"Oh, thank you."

"Is your family ready for Christmas?" Billy asked.

Amanda nodded, "Pretty close."

"Here comes the scarf king now," commented Francine.

Amanda had to stifle a giggle as Lee joined them. "Merry Christmas, Lee." She handed him the last present she held.

"Thanks. I've got presents for the three of you upstairs."

Amanda, Francine and Billy exchanged glances and choked down their laughter. Billy coughed and Francine cleared her throat.

"Well," Amanda said to Lee, "Any plans for Christmas this year?"

He shrugged, "Oh, you know, finishing up some work here, then going home and watching whatever game is on."

"Scarecrow," an agent called across the room, "phone call."

He turned, "Who is it?"

When he heard the name of one of his snitches, he turned and glanced at Billy, who nodded, then strode toward Billy's office, "I'll take it in here."

Amanda heard Francine groan under her breath and looked in the direction the other woman was to see Ephraim Beaman enter the room.

"Looks like it's time for my annual practice of avoidance tactics. If you'll excuse me," and with that, she melted into the crowd.

"I ought to be going," Amanda said, "I still have some last minute shopping to do."

"Here," Billy said, reaching across the table, "Don't forget one of Jeannie's fruitcakes."

"Thank you, sir," she said as she took it, "See you later." She waved as she walked out of the bullpen.

"She had some shopping to finish up."

He nodded, his eyes not really seeing the man in front of him.

"What's wrong, Lee? You look like the ghost of Christmas future's coming to pay a visit."

"He just might be," Lee lowered his voice, "There may be a bomb in the DC area set to go off Christmas Eve. Big enough to destroy most of DC."

"That is bad news. What kind of teams are you going to need on this one?"

He shook his head, "I don't know yet." He looked around the room, "And I don't want to disrupt everyone's fun."

"Lee-"

"Look, there's not much to go on yet. This lead could end up being a washout. Give me twenty-four hours. If I don't come up with anything, then we'll turn every federal agent in DC loose on it."

"Okay. Twenty-four hours."

"Great. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a case to work on."

It had taken her quite a long time to find parking. She knew that since it was December 22nd that the mall would be crazy. Although she should have known because it had taken her so long to find parking, she was still quite surprised at the crowd inside the mall.

Opening her purse, she took out the list and stared at it. It seemed as if the list went on forever. Did she really still have this much to buy? She sighed and figured she'd better get a move on, or she wouldn't be able to finish everything that needed to be done for Christmas.

She looked down at her list and saw that candy was the first item she needed to get. She knew there was a huge candy store on the second level of the mall. She walked over to the escalators and took the one going up to the second floor. She then walked over to the candy store and went inside.

The store was brightly colored. It was almost like walking into a rainbow. Every type of candy that one could ever imagine was inside the store. There were large, plastic, clear containers hanging on one wall, filled with jellybeans. Amanda couldn't believe that there were actually that many flavors of jellybeans. Large lollipops loomed over small ones on another wall. In the center of the store was a large shelf unit, with an assortment of different candies on every shelf, ranging from chocolate candy bars to gummy bears.

She began walking around the store, wondering just what type of candy she wanted to fill the boys' stocking with. She saw some chocolate Santas and made her way over to them. She was staring intently at them, trying to figure out just which ones to get, when she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. Startled, she jumped and turned around, coming face to face with beautiful hazel eyes.

"You've got to stop sneaking up on me like that," Amanda said in a low voice.

"Sorry," Lee said sheepishly.

"You would think after almost three years, you would know better than that," Amanda paused, the realization sinking in that he was there. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Can we get out of this store and then I'll tell you?" Lee asked.

"Sure," she said, walking through the crowd that had formed in the store.

Once they were outside of the store Amanda said, "How did you find me anyway?"

"Amanda, you know we have our ways," he said grinning. Amanda laughed.

"When Billy said you had gone to finish your Christmas shopping, I figured you'd come here. When I came in, I saw you and just followed you."

Amanda just laughed again. "So, what's up?"

Lee led her to a bench that was near by. They sat down and he began, "I got a lead that there might be a bomb in DC, set to go off on Christmas Eve."

"A bomb on Christmas Eve? Who would do something like that?"

"I don't know, Amanda. That's what we need to find out," Lee said.

"We?" she said, looking at him with one of her eyebrows raised.

"Amanda, I know you need to finish your Christmas shopping, and all your other Christmassy stuff, but we need to find out if this is a real threat or not."

"Yeah, you're right. This is more important than doing my Christmas shopping. I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt on Christmas Eve. I just wanted to finish my shopping, that's all."

"I understand that. Hey, if this lead is a washout, then you'll be back here before you know it. Even if it's not, this shouldn't take us too long."

Amanda gave Lee one of her 'That's what you always say� looks.

Lee laughed, got up and took Amanda's hand to help her up. "Come on, let's get going so we can get this finished and get you back to your Christmas shopping."

Together, they walked hand and hand out of the mall.

�My snitch says that Peterson, the man he thinks is going to plant a bomb, has been hanging out around the Botanic Garden an awful lot during the last week or so.�

�Snitch? Not Augie?� she said as she reached over her shoulder for her seat belt.

Lee laughed. �No,� he assured her, leaning against the Corvette, one arm atop the car, while watching Amanda buckle her seatbelt. �Not Augie.�

�Good.�

He shook his head in amusement. He caught sight of a mildly annoyed motorist, who obviously wanted his prime-parking place, so he closed her door and rounded the car to his side.

�Oh,� Amanda exclaimed suddenly as he was pulling out.

He hit the brakes and the waiting car honked its horn. �What?�

�My car.�

�Oh, yeah.� It had become such a habit for them to be traveling in the same car that the fact that she had driven here on her own had completely escaped him. �I�ll call in and have someone pick it up and drive it back to the Agency.� Not wanting the other motorist to become any more irritated with them than he already was, Lee resumed his course and drove out of the parking lot.

One of Amanda�s bare hands hid in her pocket, while the other kept warm in the clasp of Lee�s equally ungloved hand. The duo made their way casually through the series of Victorian-style cast-iron and glass greenhouses and surrounding fountains and gardens, keeping a keen eye on all that was going on around them.

She glanced up at the Capitol building, just above the gardens, and smiled at it. She had seen the building many times before and had been in DC many times before that fateful day at the train station, but somehow, the town seemed different now that she was working here. In some ways, she was fonder of her nation�s capitol. Aside from the job, she loved being located here, a dear friend lived in this city, as well as other friends living here. And despite seeing many of the famous buildings and monuments everyday, she still found them beautiful. She gave a happy, contented sigh.

�What?�

�Hm?� Lee�s voice brought her out of her reverie and she tried to get back to the topic at hand. �Oh, nothing. So, what does Peterson look like?�

�According to my snitch, he�s around six feet tall, slender build, dark hair cut fairly short.�

�In other words, fairly average looking?�

He nodded, �I�m afraid so. Just keep an eye out for anyone suspicious looking. I asked Francine to do a check and to see if she could come up with a picture of the guy. If nothing pans out here, she should hopefully have found something by the time we get back to the Agency.�

�We�ve been walking around here for twenty minutes, Lee. Not that I�m not enjoying it, but if we�re going to find this man, don�t you think it�d be more helpful to know what he looks like?�

He conceded her point. �Okay, back to the Agency.�

�Thank you,� Amanda said automatically as she took it and pinned it on the sweater beneath her coat.

After he had put his own badge on, Lee helped Amanda out of her coat and draped it over his arm. �Why don�t you go on down and see if Francine�s dug anything up yet. I�ll head upstairs and try getting in contact with my snitch. He might have more information.�

She nodded her agreement and went to the closest elevator.

�More or less,� Amanda handed him two photos.

�I found two men named Robert Peterson in our files,� Francine explained. �Just don�t ask me which one you�re after.�

Lee leaned against the edge of the desk as he examined the pictures. Both men had dark hair, one black, and the other deep brown. One�s hair brushed his shoulders, but he could have easily cut it between the time the picture was taken and now. Both men could pass as having a slender build, although one was a bit huskier than the other.

�This one,� Francine pointed to the one with the black hair, �Has more of a record, including extortion, smuggling, attempted kidnapping, you name it, he�s done it. This other guy was convicted for embezzling money from a company that was a client to the company he worked for.�

He glanced up at Amanda, �Have you looked at these yet?�

�Yes,� she nodded.

�Good. Francine,� he handed the pictures back to her, �see what else you can dig up about both of these guys.�

�Right.�

Lee stood. �Amanda.�

They walked out of the bullpen, Lee, out of habit, with his hand on Amanda�s back.

�Cold?� he asked.

She nodded and he put his arm around her, pulling her closer to him. To any passerby, they would simply look like a couple in love whispering to each other. No one would guess that instead of whispering sweet nothings, their conversation had to do with the fates of hundreds of people.

Amanda glanced at her watch, �Lee, we�ve been here for four hours. I�m freezing.�

He rubbed her shoulder with his hand, �I know. I don�t think waiting around here is going to do us much good. My snitch said that Peterson is supposed to meet someone here, though.�

�What exactly did he say?�

�They�re meeting at morning�s flame either today or tomorrow.�

�Well, it�s past noon. Maybe we missed them when we were at the Agency.�

He sighed, �Probably.�

�Why don�t we go to the house for some lunch?� Amanda suggested. �I think food will do us both good. And mother and the boys are supposed to be out for a few hours.�

He nodded and stood. Amanda stood with him, his arm still around her shoulders. She leaned into the comfortable embrace as they walked back to the car, telling herself that it was just to maintain their cover, but couldn�t convince herself that it was merely for appearance�s sake.

"Lunch was a good idea," Lee said as he took a bit out of a carrot stick.

She nodded, "I figured eating would do both of us good."

A tumult of feet and voices came from the direction of the front door. Lee and Amanda froze, Amanda with a carrot halfway to her mouth, and stared at each other.

"Oh, no," Lee said.

"They're back early!" she sprang into action, pushing Lee towards the back door. "Go, go, go."

"No, wait, Amanda, my-" He tried to turn and reach for something.

"Go," she shoved him outside and quietly closed the door. With quick, practiced movements, she put Lee's lunch by the sink, behind the cookie jar, partly hidden from view. She started toward the front of the house and spotted Lee's jacket draped over the back of the couch, next to hers. She grabbed it and stuffed it under the couch, then went to greet her family.

He heard the window opening and looked up, only to have something dropped on his face. He pulled his jacket off his head and gratefully put it on.

"Lee," he heard Amanda whisper loudly a few minutes later.

He stood and came face to face with her in the window, "Thanks for my jacket."

"Sorry about that." She glanced behind her, then back to Lee. "Here," she handed him his lunch, which he took, "I'll join you in a minute."

She turned away from the window and he ducked back down.

He was cradling the steaming beverage near his face when he heard the back door open and quietly went over, knowing he'd be closer than she'd expect.

"Lee?" she called in a whisper.

"Yes?"

She started, the hot chocolate in the mug she held sloshing dangerously close to the rim. "Don't do that!"

He grinned, "Sorry."

She tried to give him an irritated look, but failed and ended up smiling with him. �Come on.�

He followed her around to the covered bench. They sat down, each putting their lunch and beverages in the space between them.

�Sorry about that. Mother�s friend that she was supposed to meet didn�t show up and she decided to pick the boys up from the arcade and come home. She�s on the phone now. It sounds like there was a mix-up as to the meeting place.�

�Don�t apologize, Amanda, I think I�m used to them popping up, besides, it�s nice out here, too.�

�You haven�t told me what Francine said when you called her earlier,� she picked up her mug and sipped the warm liquid from it.

�Nothing much. She�s come up with both Petersons� last known addresses. So we can check those out in while.�

�Anything else?�

�Not really. Beaman�s keeping her pretty busy,� he grinned.

She couldn�t help the giggle that burst out.

�Amanda?� They heard Dotty�s voice calling.

Amanda immediately stopped her laughter and stood abruptly. Lee caught her plate of food just before it fell off the bench.

�Where are you?� The voice was coming closer.

�I�m coming, Mother,� she answered, quickly walking toward her mother�s voice.

Ready to disappear at a moment�s notice, Lee listened to the conversation.

�Phyllis and I are going to meet over at her place. Are you going to be here long? Or do you want me to make sure the boys are going to stay out of mischief?�

�I have to head back to IFF pretty soon, Mother. Phillip sounded upset that they had to leave the arcade early anyway; maybe you can drop them by there for an hour or so. It�s not too far from Phyllis�s, is it?�

�That�s fine with me. Oh, Amanda?�

�Yes, Mother?�

�Where�s the car?�

Lee couldn�t help smiling, he could just picture Amanda�s eyes widening as she realized that the station wagon wasn�t where it should be.

�Oh, the car. It�s at work, Mother, I had a friend drop me by here so I could get some lunch and he�s picking me back up a little later.�

�He?�

�Yes, he.�

He could hear the resignation in her voice; she was probably wishing she�d said something else.

�What kind of a he friend is this, Amanda?�

�*Mother, * he�s just a friend.�

�Whatever you say, dear. You and your he friend have a nice time at work, now.�

�Oh,� he could hear the exasperation in her voice. When she appeared a moment later, he tried to act as though he hadn�t just heard the entire conversation. She sat back down, eyes closed and shaking her head. When she looked at him again, she smiled weakly. �Mother,� she shrugged.

Lee bit into the last of his sandwich, trying not to smile. �Well,� he swallowed the food, �what do you say we check out these places Francine came up with?�

�Sounds good. We�d better wait for Mother and the boys to leave first.�

He nodded. �If we can figure out which Robert Peterson we�re after, that�ll make things easier.�

�The first fellow, the one with the long record, sure seems like a likely candidate to be doing something like this.�

He nodded his agreement.

�But the other man seems such an unlikely suspect, that I can�t help wondering if it�s him.�

He nodded again; he knew her instincts were good. Draining the last bit of cocoa from his mug, he stood, �Let�s go.�

"What exactly are we going to do, Lee? Are we just going to go up, ring the doorbell and talk to this man?"

"Well, I figure first we can do a surveillance, and if that doesn't work, then yeah, we'll figure out some way to go talk to him."

"All right," Amanda said.

Lee pulled up to the curb across the street and about four houses down. The neighborhood seemed rather normal and nice. It didn't seem as if somebody who had a record as long as Peterson's could live in a neighborhood like this. It almost scared Amanda. The neighborhood was a lot like hers. Lee brought Amanda out of her reverie.

"For now, let's just watch the house and make sure nothing out of the ordinary happens."

"Okay, nothing out of the ordinary," Amanda reiterated.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's go see if he's even home. We can say we're trying to collect donations for charity, since it is almost Christmas."

"Okay, that sounds good," Amanda said.

They walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. There was no answer. Just to make sure, Lee rang the doorbell again.

He pulled a lock pick out of his pocket. "Amanda, cover me."

Amanda looked to see what he was talking about. "Breaking and entering in broad daylight, Lee?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, Amanda, that is why I asked you to cover to me. Now, will you please just do it? We need to find out something, and this is the only alternative right now."

"All right," Amanda said in a resigned voice.

Lee unlocked the door with the lock pick and slowly opened the door. Amanda was right behind him.

They walked in slowly. The house was nice and neat. Everything was in its place. All the colors were in earthy tones and the furniture blended in with its surroundings. They stood in the living room.

"Okay, we need to look through all of the rooms, Amanda.�

"What exactly are we looking for?"

"We'll know it when we find it."

"Well, that doesn't help very much."

"Just look for anything incriminating, okay?"

"Okay."

They headed off in different directions.

"Find anything?" Lee asked.

�I didn't find one piece of incriminating evidence," Amanda said.

"Yeah, neither did I," he sighed. "Okay, well, you ready to go hit the other Peterson's house?"

Amanda sighed. "Yeah, let's go."

Together they walked out of the house.

"Okay," Lee started, "we�re going to do a surveillance again for a while. If nothing happens, then we�ll do the same as before. We can also use the same cover we were going to use before, okay?"

"Sounds good," Amanda said.

"Okay, well, again, just look for anything out of the ordinary."

"Will do," Amanda said.

"Lee, look," Amanda said as she pointed to the man. "He fits the description your snitch gave you."

"Yeah, I see him. I think we'll just follow our friend here and see what he�s up to."

The man got in his car, started it and pulled out of the driveway. After he had passed Lee and Amanda, Lee started the �Vette, turned around and followed him at safe distance, so that Peterson wouldn�t know he was being tailed.

"Interesting," Lee said. "This may not mean anything, but since he is one of the men that we suspect of planting the bomb, being at a hardware store could be incriminating."

"Should we go in?" Amanda asked.

"No, let's just stay out here and wait to see what he comes out with."

"Okay," Amanda said.

"Well, whatever he has in that bag is making him nervous," Lee observed. "Let's follow him and see where he goes now, shall we?"

"We shall," Amanda said smiling.

Lee laughed as he started the 'Vette. Again, they followed Peterson at a safe distance. Farther ahead, Lee saw Peterson turn onto a side street. When Lee got to the side street, he turned onto it as well. Peterson's car was nowhere in sight. Lee slowed down and looked around. "Where could he have gone?" he asked. He turned down the next side street. Still Peterson's car was nowhere to be found. "He couldn't have just vanished into thin air," Lee said in a semi-angry tone.

"Maybe he knew we were following him," she said.

"I don't know. Maybe," Lee said in a frustrated tone, "but how could he have gotten away so fast? We weren't that far behind him."

"No, we weren't," Amanda agreed, "but if he knew he was being followed, he could have turned down the side street and quickly turned down the next one before we even got to the side street. From there it would have been easy to lose us."

"When did you become so good at these types of things?" he asked picking up speed a bit.

"I learned from the best," Amanda said.

Lee turned and looked at her for a second, smiling. He looked back at the road again, and got back to business. "Okay, we need to get back to the Agency and see if we can find any more leads," he said, turning back out onto the main street.

They drove back to the Agency in a comfortable silence.

�Now what?� Amanda said some time later as she sat down on the little couch at the far end of the room.

Lee dropped into his chair, looking bleakly down at the files and papers scattered on his desk and rubbed his face. �I don�t know.� He glanced out the window to where the stars were dancing in the night sky. �It�s him. I know it is. Now we�ve just got to catch up with him again. Want to head back to his house?�

�Not really. Do you really think that will do us any good?�

�Probably not,� he admitted. �But there�s still a chance.�

�Oh, all right,� she said, getting up from the couch. �Let�s go.�

The two grabbed their coats from the coat rack and headed out the door.

�Maybe he�s not staying in the house anymore,� Lee speculated as they drove back toward the Agency, �Could be that he was just picking something up and is really operating out of another place. Maybe...� Lee stopped mid sentence and glanced over at the woman in the passenger seat. He smiled at her eyelids drooping closed.

"You haven't heard a word I've said, have you?"

"Hm? Oh, yes. You were wondering if Peterson was having his operation somewhere else instead of at home, which is good if he is. You really should have operations at the hospital.�

He grinned and looked at the digital clock on the dashboard: 10 PM. And they'd been running all day. No wonder she was drifting off. "Listen, why don't I drop you off at home."

She blinked her eyes open, rubbing them. "I thought we were heading back to the Agency to work on the case."

"I think we should knock off for the night and pick it up tomorrow morning."

Yawning, she nodded. "That's fine with me."

Following the sound, she found her mother curled up on the couch, one of her sons stretched over an easy chair and the other stretched out on the floor in front of the couch. All three of them were asleep while "White Christmas" played on the television. She smiled at the sight.

Amanda put her coat and purse away and took some blankets into the living room. She straightened Phillip out the best she could, hoping he wouldn't be too kinked up in the morning. She put blankets on each of them, and then turned off the TV and lights then went upstairs to bed.

He ran a hand over his face, and then looked at his watch. It was nearly midnight. He knew he wasn't going to get anymore done tonight, especially without Amanda's help. He might as well go home and get some rest. He turned off the lights and locked up the Q-bureau.

"Hello?" he said groggily.

"Did I wake you up? Well, of course I did. It's 6:30 in the morning."

"Amanda, is that you? Do you know what time it is? Do you have any idea what time I got to bed last night?" Lee asked in a harsh tone of voice. Before she could answer he said, "I hope this is worth it."

"Look, I'm sorry to wake you up. I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep. I was just lying here, thinking about nothing in particular, when suddenly, it just came to me. I don't know where it came from, it just did," Amanda said breathlessly.

Lee couldn't help but laugh; he always wondered how Amanda could get those long sentences out all in one breath. "What just came to you, Amanda?"

"Oh, well, I have an idea about the case we're working on and I thought you'd want to know it right away, which is why I called you so early in the morning."

"And what would that idea be?" Lee asked.

"I got to thinking about what your snitch said, about morning's flame. Well, what if it's not a time of day? It's something completely different. What about a flower? After all, it is a garden. Then I remembered when Mother wanted to put some azaleas along the driveway last year, but then we decided not to because the boys would probably run them over with their bikes," she rambled on as Lee tried to work through the morning cobwebs in his brain enough to follow her line of thinking, " And we went to all these different garden shops and found out about a lot of different kinds of azaleas. Anyway, there's a type called the �Flame� azalea. And there are a lot of azaleas at the Botanical Garden. So, what if that�s what he meant?�

"What about it being morning's flame? If you're right, maybe they were going to meet at the azaleas in the morning."

"Exactly."

"Good thinking, Amanda. Give me a few minutes to get ready, and then I'll come pick you up."

"Okay," Amanda said.

Lee hung up the phone and grabbed his clothes, in a hurry to get to Amanda's.

Amanda opened the door. "Just give me a minute. I need to write a quick note for mother and the boys, so they don't worry that I'm not here when they wake up."

"Okay," Lee said, as Amanda closed the door. He walked over to the bench and sat down to wait for her. He rubbed his eyes, still trying to wake up. Although he was very tired, he was still happy that Amanda had called him with her idea. It sounded quite logical. Lee wasn't surprised though. Her instincts were great, and he knew it.

"Lee?" he heard Amanda whisper.

"Over here on the bench," he said quietly.

Amanda walked over to the bench and Lee stood up to join her.

"Ready?" she said.

"Sure am," Lee said, grabbing her hand. They walked silently to the car.

�Where�s Peterson?� the first man said.

�He had important things to do; I�m here in his place.�

�So what�s next?� the other said, sounding a bit put out.

�You know the plan-�

A couple of early morning strollers walked past Lee and Amanda, heading in the direction of the men.

�Uh oh,� Amanda murmured. Sure enough, the couple walked right by the two men.

�It�s too busy here,� the second man said in a quieter voice, �Meet me in the alley behind Duncan�s in four hours.�

Amanda quickly turned and buried her face against Lee�s shoulder as one of the men came walking by them. She could feel Lee�s face in her hair, but was certain his eyes were keenly watching the man walk away.

�Great, just great,� he bit out, not moving.

Amanda looked over his shoulder and watched the man until he disappeared. Reluctantly, she pulled away from Lee and sat up. �Now what?�

�Now we go to Duncan�s,� he answered, �Any idea where that is?�

�Oh, yes. It�s a wonderful little bakery. Mother and I love to...�

�Not now, Amanda, let�s just get in the car and go.�

He stood and started back to the car while Amanda followed.

�It hasn�t been twenty-four hours yet,� he replied to the person on the other end. Amanda guessed it was Billy. �No. We�ve got a good lead, Billy. We�re following it right now. Yes, I think so. Yes, I know what tomorrow is. Look, if we sic the entire Agency on him, he�s going to know it. We can�t afford to have him get away and if even if we did get him, he might not tell us where he planted the bomb. Just let me do this my way. Fine.� He hung up and looked at Amanda. �Security�s being heightened throughout DC.�

She nodded, �That�s good. What else did Mr. Melrose say?�

�To hurry up and stop Peterson.�

�Oh,� she looked back to the road as they made their way through town.

He heard the man who seemed to be Peterson�s proxy in this meeting to get his job done and head back to the hideout, which appeared to be an old abandoned building in Roseport. *Roseport,* Lee thought grimly, *that�s almost an hour away.* From the way they were talking, it sounded as though no one would be at the hideout for several hours, which was perfect for Lee and Amanda. He started toward the door.

�Aren�t we going to listen to the rest of the conversation?� she whispered in a confused tone.

He shook his head and continued on his way. He heard her hurry after him. He strode out of the store and down the street without saying a word.

She heard a cheerful Christmas bell ringing and soon saw its source. She stopped to drop some coins into a bucket before a bell ringing Santa Claus.

"Come on, Amanda," Lee said as he passed her.

"Just a minute," she responded as she dug around in her purse.

"You can do that later, let's go."

She hurriedly pulled out some change, almost dropping her purse, and put the coins into the red hanging bucket.

"Thank you. Merry Christmas," the Santa said.

She merely smiled, then hurried to catch up with Lee, "Wait up."

He stopped and gave an exasperated sigh. "We're in a bit of a hurry here." He started walking again when she joined him. "Do you have to stop at every charity vendor you see?"

"It's Christmas."

"Your point being what?"

"My, someone's a Scrooge today."

"No, I'm not," he stopped and turned toward her.

"I know you think it's just another day," she was saying at the same time, "but..."

"I never said that people shouldn't celebrate it. That�s their own business," he interrupted, "And I'm certainly not saying charities aren't good. Just stop giving money to every Santa on the street."

"Christmas only comes once a year."

"Yeah, well, if we don't hurry, it won't be coming next year."

His words had a sobering affect on her mood. Her shoulders slumped slightly and she nodded, her gaze traveling to the ground for a moment. Her eyes came back up, paying attention to the direction they were going.

Lee sighed, "Look, Amanda, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just-"

"No, you're right," she interrupted him, "It may be Christmas, but we've got a job to do." She looked at him and put a smile that she didn't feel on her face, trying to show him everything was fine. "We've got a job to do."

"I'll be home for Christmas, you can plan on me," Perry Como sang out.

"Not funny," he heard Amanda mutter as she firmly switched off the radio.

"Amanda," Lee began.

"Lee," she was shaking her head, "please don't start. We have a job to do. Can we please just do it?"

"That doesn't mean we can't talk."

"Were you planning to just go up and ring the bell?"

"What?" He turned his attention back to driving and saw that they were nearing their destination. He took care to park several blocks away, then got out and went over to the passenger side to open the door for Amanda.

There were times that they started to become so close. It was almost like they were one, when the intensity almost scared her and she wanted to hide. Then there were times like this when some unknown, unspoken word or action seemed to slide a door between them that never fully closed. She didn�t think she�d ever understand it. For the moment, she decided to simply try to put it out of her mind and focus on the task at hand.

�Coast is clear, you can come out, Amanda.�

She came out from behind the crates and sneezed.

�Bless you,� he responded automatically.

She sneezed again. �Must be all this dust.� She patted a nearby burlap bag full of something. A cloud of dust flew up and she coughed, waving her hand in front of her face to clear it away.

Lee laughed, �I suggest not doing that again.�

She glared at him in exasperation.

�Let�s get to work,� he said.

�Right.� She followed him to an area that seemed remarkably clean compared to where they had just come in. There were three chairs and a couple crates located by a table upon which lay the apparent remnants of a meal. There were four bedrolls nearby and a large cleared area on the floor.

�I want to check out that little room,� Lee said. Amanda followed him as he went over to it and turned the knob. �Locked.� He pulled out his lock pick and went to work on it. He could tell Amanda was tense and probably on close lookout for anyone who might return. �Got it.� He swung the door open and they entered.

�Oh, my gosh,� she breathed.

Inside were several papers laid out on crates, electronic devices and other items. Lee picked up one of the papers, looked it over, put it down and picked up another. �This is definitely the guy, Amanda. These are blueprints for a bomb and the layout for the Supreme Court building and the surrounding grounds.� He looked up from the papers, his eyes meeting her wide eyes. He pulled a small camera out of his jacket pocket and handed it to her. �Take pictures of every one of these papers.� While she did that, he glanced through the rest of the room.

�Done,� she announced, handing the camera back to him.

�Let�s check out the loft.� He locked and closed the door behind them as they left the room. �Stay here,� he told her when they reached the foot of the stairs. He ran up the stairs and gave it a cursory look; it looked like no one had been up there in years. He went back down, �Nothing.� Clutching the miniature camera, Lee turned and started toward the door, �We�ve got what we need, let�s go, Amanda.�

A noise came from ahead of him and he stopped dead in his tracks. Amanda crashed into his back. He waved her to silence before she could say anything and moved to get out of sight, trusting her to copy his movements. He glanced at her and motioned toward the stairs with his head. They clambered silently back up the narrow covered staircase into the loft. Amanda sat down against the wall and he crouched beside her.

�Now what?� she whispered.

He shrugged and moved to look over the solid wooden railing.

Five men had entered the building and it looked like they didn�t intend to go anywhere anytime soon. He turned back to Amanda, holding up a finger to hold off her inevitable questions, and mouthed �I�ll be back� to her. She frowned as he turned and left, crouching as he walked.

In just a few minutes, he had made his way back to Amanda and sat down facing her. He didn�t look forward to telling her anything that he had just learned and was trying to decide just how much to edit out.

�Lee?�

He knew he couldn�t lie to her; they were too good of friends and partners for that.

�It looks like we�re stuck here for the night, Amanda.�

�No,� she complained, �It�s the day before Christmas Eve. We can�t be stuck here.�

�There are five men down there, including our Mr. Peterson,� he continued, �From what I could gather, they�re planning to stay the night here, at the least.�

�Can�t we just sneak out? We�ve done it before. That�s how we got in here in the first place.�

He shook his head; �There are three ways out of here. The two doors and the way we came in. They�re too close to the doors and there�s no way to get to our entrance without being caught.�

�What about the windows up here?�

He glanced at one of the windows. �Amanda, they�re probably painted closed and even if we can get them open, that�s an awfully long drop. How to do you expect to...�

�But maybe...�

�Fine, fine. I�ll check the window.� He went over and tried to force it open. It wouldn�t budge. He made a �See, I told you so� gesture and crawled back over to her.

�Probably.�

She tried to fight down the panic rising in her chest. �We can�t be stuck here,� she repeated, �Not right before Christmas.� All her frustration from earlier with Lee was quickly channeling itself to her fear and worry. �We�ve been in worse situations,� she told herself, �and we�ve gotten out of them just fine.� They�d even been in worse situations on Christmas Eve, on what was supposed to be one of the most peaceful days of the year.

They sat silently in the dingy building, both ignoring the clatter from below. She looked down at her feet, trying not to show her feelings to Lee.

Amanda couldn�t believe this was happening again. Why did it always seem things like this happened right before Christmas? She sighed.

"Don't, Lee. It�s not your fault that we're caught in this mess," she looked at him.

"I know, but still..." his words faded.

They sat silently for a while longer.

"Lee tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I usually let the boys open their presents on Christmas Eve. What if I'm not there to see them unwrap those presents? I don't want to miss that. It's important to them. And Mother will kill me if I'm not home in time to go to church. We go to church every Christmas Eve. It�s a tradition. I don't want to miss out on that tradition. Especially after the past couple of years."

"I know, Amanda. I really am sorry," Lee said putting his hand on her arm.

"I'm really not trying to make you feel guilty. It's just all so frustrating."

"I know," Lee said sympathetically.

"You know, I haven't even finished my shopping for the boys yet. I don't mean to sound so pessimistic, but what if I don't get to finish shopping for them on time? Opening presents on Christmas Eve has always been a big deal for them. I don't want to dampen their Christmas spirit. I have this whole list of things I still need to buy them," Amanda said. She opened her purse and took out the list to show Lee, as if he needed proof that the list existed. �Look at all the things that I still have buy.

Amanda put the list back in her purse before Lee could actually get a look at it and put her head in her hands.

He scooted over to sit beside her.

�We just can�t be caught here, Lee,� she looked him square in the eye. �Why is this happening again?�

He desperately wished he could magically whisk her home, and keep her safe from all the dangers and pitfalls of this job.

�We have to get out of here. I don�t want to disappoint the boys. It�s Christmas. We can�t stay here, we just can�t.� Her voice was rising precariously in volume.

�Hey, hey, hey,� he said gently, trying to get her to lower her voice so they wouldn�t be caught, �Everything will be fine.� He put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. �We just have to spend the night here, we can get out of here when they fall asleep, it won�t be long.�

She looked up at him with her big, brown eyes. He knew she felt badly about being scared and that she trusted in him to get them out of this mess. He didn�t think he�d ever understand how she could have such faith in him. She knew perfectly well that he was just a person. He couldn�t protect her from everything, as much as he�d like to, but she still trusted that he could keep them both safe from ultimate danger.

�We�ll be fine,� he whispered, holding her tighter and resting his cheek against the top of her head.

Sometime later, he released her and checked his watch. It was almost Eleven and she had begun to drift off before he moved his arm. �Why don�t you get some rest?� he suggested, �You�ve been up all day.�

�So have you,� she responded.

�I�ll take the first watch and you can take the second,� he said, though he had little intention of waking her up.

�You sure?�

�Of course I am. This corner seems to be pretty secluded.� He moved so that she could attempt to get in a semi-comfortable sleeping position. She took off her coat and used it to pillow her head. She curled up against the wall. Lee could see that she was cold, so he took of his own jacket and put it over her, covering her the best he could.

�Thank you,� she murmured, already drifting off to sleep.

He stayed there, a hand on her shoulder, until he was sure she was asleep. Then he moved to better listen to and watch the men below.

Their voices flowed freely and unchecked, not having any inkling that a federal agent was taking in the whole scene.

Peterson had disappeared from view, and apparently from the main room. The others were complaining about the lack of pay so far.

�You�ll be paid,� the loyalist told them, �after the job is done.�

�I�d better be,� the burliest of them said, �I ain�t doin� this for peanuts. And I�m not gonna take the rap for this if it blows up in our faces.�

�Bad choice of words,� Lee thought.

�And where does Peterson get off ordering us around like he was the king of the world or something?�

The loyalist, who had been pacing the floor most of the night, stopped suddenly in front of the man, quickly drawing a knife. �You listen well, my friend. This is his operation. You were simply hired for the muscle. If you really want out of this, I�m sure I can arrange that.�

The two gazed at each other challengingly for a moment.

�No, I�m a man of my word,� the burly man said.

�What�s going on?� a sharp voice filled the building.

The two men jumped away from each other and the knife disappeared from view.

Lee heard Amanda stir slightly at the loud utterance and glanced over at her. She didn�t wake up. She just huddled deeper under the jacket over her shoulders.

�We were, uh, just talkin� about the plans for tomorrow,� the smallest of the men said.

Peterson nodded, clearly not quite believing the other man.

Lee already knew the plans, set off the bomb by the Supreme Court building and then hightail it out of the country. Without the hired hands, he was sure. Peterson certainly held a very deep, very large grudge against the entire judicial system. Lee largely ignored the continuing conversation and perused the loft some more. He found one window that he was able to open up an inch or so. Maybe he could force it open more, but would that do them any good? He looked out of the window to the ground far below. This window was located near the back of the building, where they had sneaked in. It was doubtful anyone would notice them leaving this way. If he could find a rope or something..... He searched the loft thoroughly, sifting through all the clutter accumulated there. He managed to find an old, frayed rope, not nearly long enough to reach the ground. He took it back to the window and got to work.

�Is it Christmas morning already?� she murmured sleepily.

�Amanda.�

Suddenly, she remembered where she was and woke with a start to find Lee leaning over her.

�It�s all right, it�s just me. We�re getting out of here.�

She sat up, �They�re gone?�

�No, but they finally went to sleep.�

She blinked, trying to get the sleepiness out of her eyes. She noticed the sunlight streaming in the windows. �What time is it?�

�Eleven forty-five.�

�In the morning? You were supposed to wake me up for my shift.�

�I was busy.�

She looked at him and saw the weariness that was evidence of him staying up all night. �What�s your plan?�

�Come on,� he grabbed her hand and she barely had enough time to grab the coats as he took her to a window that was partially open.

�You managed to open the window.�

�Yeah, at least a little bit, anyway. This is as much as it�d go. Think you can fit through it?�

She eyed it, �I guess so.� It looked just big enough for a person as slight as Amanda to fit through. �Why?� She had a sinking feeling in her stomach as she noticed an old rope tied to the windowsill.

�Just wait here a minute.� He grabbed his coat and was gone.

�Amanda.�

He could see her face in the open window.

�How�d you get out there?�

�Snuck past our hosts. Now, carefully climb out of the window, there�s a rope-�

�Are you crazy? I just barely fit through this window and that rope looks like it was used on the Mayflower. Besides, it only goes down halfway. Why don�t I just get out the way you did?�

�Amanda, will you just do what I say for once?�

�I certainly will not.� She started to move away from the window.

�Amanda King, you get back here right now.�

Her face reappeared in the window.

�I barely made it out as it is, I�m not risking you getting caught. Just climb down the rope.�

�And what, pray tell, do you suggest I do once I get to the end of the rope? Have you seen the distance of this drop?�

�Yes, I...�

�Well, you should see it from this angle.�

�Amanda, would you just listen to me? Climb down the rope and jump.�

She looked at him skeptically, her eyes wide. �Are you serious? I can�t...�

�Yes, I�m serious,� he snapped, becoming exasperated. �Come on, we don�t have much time and I�m not leaving you alone here while I go to stop that bomb. I�ll catch you.�

�Catch me?�

�Yes.� He held out his arms, trying to convince her to take this way out.

She sighed and closed her eyes tightly. �Oh, I don�t believe I�m doing this,� she said as she lifted a leg over the windowsill.

Lee watched her closely as she clung to the rope slowly descending. He was sure her knuckles were probably turning white from grasping the rope so tightly. �You�re doing fine,� he encouraged her. �Get ready to drop.�

At the end of the rope she paused, �Are you ready?�

�Come on down.�

She let go of the rope, and though she was obviously trying to remain silent, a small noise escaped her lips as she plummeted. Lee staggered back a step as he caught her sudden weight in his arms. He grinned at her while she opened her eyes.

�Told you I�d catch you.�

�I knew you would,� she smiled back, �but don�t you ever make me do that again!�

He set her gently on the ground, �I�ve already blocked our entrance, but I think we should block the other two doors, too. We can�t afford to have them slip away.�

Together, they secured the doors; there was no way for the men to get out.

�Let�s go,� he grabbed her hand and they ran to the car.

�We�re cutting it pretty close,� he said.

�We�ll make it. We have to.�

�Get Billy on the horn and have him...�

�Already on it.�

He looked over to see that she had already picked up the car phone and was asking for their boss.

�Hello, sir, it�s Amanda. Yes, we�re fine. It�s a long story. We found Peterson and his accomplices. They�ll need to be picked up.� She rattled off the address and then was silent for a moment. �Yes, I think so. Yes, sir. We will.�

�What�d he say?� Lee queried as she put the phone down.

�He�ll send agents out to pick them up. He also said to hurry and to be careful.�

Lee glanced at her, �You sure you want to go there with me?�

�Yes. Besides, we don�t have time to stop.�

�If I can�t stop that bomb....�

�You�ll stop it, I know you will.�

He smiled, wishing he had her confidence as he pushed the Corvette to its limit.

Lee jumped out of the car. Amanda followed suit. They ran across the building�s grounds.

Lee and Amanda separated and searched the premises quickly, trying to find the bomb before it was too late.

"Lee, over here," Amanda yelled.

Lee quickly ran over to where she was. Sitting there, hidden in the bushes, was the bomb. There was a gray steel box that was fairly large. It was connected to an enormous explosive device by colorful wires of red, white and yellow. It looked big enough to blow up half of Washington, DC.

"Oh, my gosh," Amanda said.

"I know. I didn't realize it was this big."

"No, not that. The timer. Oh, my gosh, Lee."

Lee looked down at the timer. According to the timer, the bomb was set to blow in two and a half minutes.

"Okay, don't panic, Amanda. We can do this," Lee said, trying to reassure her.

"I trust you, Lee. I know we can," Amanda said, sounding like she was trying to be more confident that she felt.

Lee felt less confident than he appeared to be on the outside. He had only told Amanda not to panic to reassure her. On the inside he was panicking. He only hoped he wouldn't let Amanda down. Her boys just could not lose their mother like he had lost his parents.

Knowing how good her instincts were he asked her, "Which color wire should I pull, Amanda?"

"You want me to choose? Why are you asking me? What if I choose the wrong one? Oh, my gosh," she finished. Lee knew she was rambling because of her nervousness.

"We don't have all day, Amanda, just a minute and a half."

"Don't rush me, Lee. I can't think when you do this to me."

"Amanda, I have to rush you. This bomb is going to go off in less than a minute and a half."

"Okay, okay. Well, normally I would pick the blue wire. It's always the blue wire. But there is no blue wire. I don't know. What do you think?"

"I don't know, that's why I asked you," Lee said in an exasperated tone. "I wouldn't bet on the yellow wire though. I don't know why, I just have this feeling."

"Okay. Well it's almost Christmas. White isn't a Christmassy color, but red is. Since red is a Christmassy color, then it has to be red," Amanda said nervously.

Lee looked at her incredulously. "That's what you're basing this on?"

"Yes. Look, Lee, one more minute. We have to do something. My instincts are telling me that it's the red wire."

They were both standing. Lee looked at Amanda, then down at the timer. Fifty more seconds. He had to do something. He had to trust Amanda's instincts. He leaned down and looked at the wires closely. All he needed to do was disconnect the steel box from the explosive device by pulling one of the wires.

"Okay, Amanda, move back."

Amanda did as she was told.

Lee carefully placed his hand on the red wire where the explosive device was. He carefully tugged on the wire. It didn't budge. He swore. The timer had thirty seconds left on it.

"It's okay, Lee. I know you can do this," Amanda said trying to encourage him. He looked up at her and smiled, her confidence in him spurring him on. Twenty seconds. Lee grabbed the red wire, closed his eyes and pulled with all of his might.

"It feels like the wire is going to give, get down, Amanda," Lee yelled.

Amanda crouched down where she was. Lee opened his eyes for a split second and turned to look at her, to make sure she had gotten down.

He closed his eyes again, continuing to pull the red wire. He felt the wire give. He opened his eyes and looked up to see that he had pulled the wire free. He quickly looked at the timer. It had stopped with fifteen seconds to spare. He gave a sigh of relief.

"We did it, Amanda! We did it! Are you all right?"

"I am now," Amanda said, getting up from her crouching position. Lee could see that her hands were shaking.

He closed the short distance between them and hugged her. She hugged him back, happy that she would get to spend Christmas with her family this year.

They parted and happily walked together away from the deactivated bomb.

Just as they were walking away from the bomb, many emergency vehicles pulled up to the curb. Lee saw that it was the bomb squad. Under his breath he muttered, "Nice of you guys to show up."

"What?" Amanda said.

"Nothing," Lee said, "just thinking out loud."

One of the men from the bomb squad came up and stopped them. Lee took out his ID and showed it to the man. "Are you guys all right?" the man asked.

"Yes," Lee said. "We disarmed the bomb, everything's all right."

"Okay," the man said as he walked back to the rest of his crew to tell them what was going on.

"Come on, Amanda, let's get out of here," Lee said.

"Yes, let's do," Amanda said.

Together they walked back to the Corvette.

Lee looked at his watch. It was already late afternoon. Lee knew that Amanda probably had a lot to take care of before Christmas Day. He knew she hadn't even had a chance to finish up her Christmas shopping.

"Look, Amanda, why don't you get out of here, I can finish this up."

"Well, I don't want to leave you with all of this work to do by yourself."

"I know you have tons of stuff that you still need to do before Christmas Day. It's okay, really. There isn't that much left to do anyway, so go ahead and go before I change my mind," Lee said smiling.

"Okay, if you say so," Amanda said. She walked over and grabbed her purse from the coat rack. She walked over to Lee�s desk, put her purse down and opened it, hunting for her keys. A little sheet of folded paper fell out of her purse and slid to the ground. Neither Lee nor Amanda noticed it. "Okay, well, I'll see you later," Amanda said.

"Okay. And Amanda?"

"Yeah?" she said.

"Merry Christmas." He noticed the way her face lit up at those simple little words, and it made him smile.

"Merry Christmas to you, too, Lee," Amanda said. With that, she turned around and walked happily out of the Q-bureau.

Lee checked his watch. It was already 4 PM. He realized that for Amanda, this was kind of late to be doing Christmas shopping. He figured she had to clean the house for any family that might be coming for Christmas and also fix a Christmas dinner. He guessed that some of her family was already at her house for the Christmas holiday.

He looked back at the list. An idea suddenly came to him. It was an even better notion than bringing her the list. He picked up the report off of his desk, smiled and walked out the Q-bureau door, satisfied with his idea.

�I�m home,� she called out.

�Amanda,� her mother came rushing from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. �Where have you been? I�ve been worried sick.�

�We had a deadline to meet at work, Mother,� she said, taking off her coat, �I�m sorry I didn�t have enough time to call.�

�I know you filmmakers keep strange hours, but really. It�s Christmas, Amanda.�

�I know. I�m home now.�

�Just in time, too. Lillian�s in the kitchen trying to figure out what went wrong with the yams. The goose is in the oven, the pies are cooling on the counter and your sons have been chasing each other around with tape or garland or something all day, constantly underfoot. Church is in just a few hours and I don�t think they�re going to be ready. Right now they�re holed up in one of their bedrooms and I don�t think I want to know what they�re up to.�

Amanda reached out and took her mother�s hand. �I�ll get them settled down, Mother, don�t worry about it, everything will be fine. Let me worry about the boys and you and Aunt Lillian worry about dinner.� She climbed the stairs toward her room. She could hear commotion coming from Jamie�s room.

�That�s not how you do it,� came Phillip�s voice.

�Shut up, I�m it doing right.�

�You couldn�t wrap a present to save your life, Doofus.�

Amanda rolled her eyes and knocked on the door, �Hey, fellas.�

The door cracked open and her youngest son�s head poked out. His face broke into a smile when he saw his mother standing there. �Mom, you�re home.�

�Yes, sweetheart, I�m home.�

�Hi, Mom,� Phillip�s voice came from within.

�Hello, Phillip. Are you two behaving?� she asked them.

�Yes,� they replied in unison.

�Church is in a little bit, I want you two to be ready.�

�We will be.�

The door closed and she could hear them immediately begin to argue again. With a sigh, she went to her own bedroom.

She wondered if she�d have enough time to get her shopping done. Maybe she should only do part of the list. Or she could simply skip the church services, although her mother certainly wouldn�t be pleased with that. She closed her door and opened her purse. She frowned; her shopping list wasn�t on top where she expected it to be. She dug through the purse to no avail. She then checked the pockets of her coat, which was lying on the bed. Nothing. She looked in the purse again. Still nothing.

Scowling, Amanda dropped her purse onto the bed and looked around the room critically. Well, it wasn't as if she had time to finish her Christmas shopping anyway, she conceded. But she would still have liked to know where the list had gone. The boys would simply have to accept nearly empty stockings and a few less presents this year. She felt horrible for thinking that as soon as the thought started to pass through her mind. It wasn�t their fault she couldn�t get her shopping done earlier. But what could she do?

She was putting her purse back in its place when she heard a knock on her bedroom window. She hurried over and opened it.

"Lee, what are you doing on my trellis? It's freezing out there."

"Playing Santa Claus. What else?" he smiled.

She grabbed his arm, "Get in here before someone sees you."

"I can't stay very long," he said as he obliged, bringing a sack up with him, "I just came by to drop this off."

"What is it?"

"Delivery from the North Pole," he paused self consciously for a moment, "Well, I'd better be going. The boys will be wanting you to join them pretty soon, I suspect, and I've got to get back to the Agency anyway." He left the way he had come before she could say a word.

Curious, she opened the bag to find candy, small toys and a few festive packages. On top of the pile was the elusive list.

Amanda's gaze shifted back to the window and she smiled, "Merry Christmas, Lee."