BURN OUT
[I should probably acknowledge the episode writer, too, as I�ve tried to steal all her best lines � episode written by Lisa Seidman]
It is late in the Capital city
In the alleys there Lee looks a wreck
When Francine drives up with her headlights so bright
Lee grimaces, thinks �What the heck?�
�I�m your back-up� Fran says, �Billy sent me�
�I don�t need you� says Lee, �For Pete�s sake!�
It is just a low level assignment�
�Let�s get on then� says Fran, �Piece of cake�
As Fran watches the drop from the alley
And Lee makes his way round to the back
When the guy grabs the stuff Lee is careless
He has muffed it � has he lost the knack?
Baddy legs it so Francine she follows
In response Lee goes round and inside
Francine�s lost him � no, there in the shadows
This is it, now there�s no place to hide
But it�s Lee! And he nearly shot Francine
Is he losing his touch? I don�t know
But the bad guy�s no longer around here
So there�s only one place now to go
At the Agency, Georgetown, next morning
Billy�s angry, �How many now? Three?�
Operations that Lee has screwed up� he asks Fran
�Is he losing it? Level with me�
Francine�s torn but when Billy he asks her
�Is Lee burned out? Well, what do you think?�
�I don�t know� is her answer, but one thing she knows
His success rate is starting to sink
Lee arrives he�s dishevelled this morning
Billy orders him into his room
He is angry so Lee gets defensive
�So I look bad, is that cause for gloom?�
Lee�s betrayed because nobody trusts him
�I�m not doing my job right, they say�
�If you blow just one more operation�
You�ll be riding a desk come what may�
�You can�t do that� � and that�s when Lee grabs him
�I�m the best, you all know that you see�
But Billy stays calm at Lees anger
�I will take you off active duty�
Lee suddenly sees what he�s doing
As he threatens his boss in the �pen
Billy calmly tells Lee he must get to his desk
Lee storms out, Billy�s counting to ten
As Lee passes Amanda she noticed
Lee ignored her and that�s something new
She�s confused as she saw he was angry
�Lee has burn out� Fran says �What to do?�
At the house she is studying burn out
And ignoring her mother�s reports
�I�ve a friend, who is sick, it�s a him and he�s shy�
and just now he is right out of sorts�
�You should bring him to dinner to cheer him�
Cause you never bring friends to meet me�
�Perhaps he needs someone to talk to?�
Then Amanda goes off after Lee
Lee�s at Neds and he�s drinking � he�s wasted
�They can stick it� says Lee, he�s so mad
�I told my ex-boss where to put it�
and in hindsight it wasn�t so bad�
�I�m Jack Harris� Lee replies, �Have a drink�
It�s these desk jockeys, that�s who get me�
�What is it you do?� Harris asks Lee
�I�m a filmmaker � document�ry�
�IFF, that�s the place� Lee continues
Jack agrees with him, that in his view
�It�s the little guy who�s always messed with�
But there�s new things out there just for you�
Then Amanda arrives at Nedlindgers
�Billy�s looking for you� she tells Lee
As Harris he hastily exits, Lee says
�I don�t care if Billy�s mad at me�
While he�s drinking Amanda is worried
�There�s no need, I�m on top of the world�
�Well perhaps you should take a vacation?�
Down his throat some more whisky is hurled.
�A shirley temple for the lady�
And I�ll have another� says Lee
Amanda�s concern, it is clear on her face
�I think you have had enough, gee�
�You�re too right I have had enough, lady�
What with Billy and Francine, now you�
Saying I�m not as good as I once was�
As my social worker, you are through�
�But I just want to talk� says Amanda
And Lee sighs as he ruffles his hair
Then he stands, �Well let us get this done with�
And he acts like he just doesn�t care
�You look terrible, Lee� says Amanda
�If you�re going, then go looking good�
�That�s the pocket, Amanda� Lee�s growling
Getting angrier � that is if he could
Then she fixes his tie in a windsor
It�s the only knot that she can do
But he�s fed up she�s messing around him
�If you like it so much, it�s for you�
So he gives her the tie and he walks off
To see Billy, �Who cares what he thinks?�
�See ya, Ned� and he waves and he trips up the stairs
As she watches Amanda�s heart sinks
�In my office� says Billy to Stetson
�No detention or essay to write?�
Francine tells her that this won�t be pretty
They�re expecting another huge fight
In the office, with Lee, Billy closes
All the blinds so the staff cannot see
What is happening inside the office
When he turns round he�s smiling at Lee
�You�re doing one hell of a job, Lee�
Lee just smiles then he laughs with Billy
�I thought I�d be older when I hit the skids�
�Do they buy it?� �Oh, absolutely�
�There are rumors all over the office�
Scarecrow�s losing it, that�s what they say�
And the phony bust witnessed by Francine�
He�s so burned out he really can�t stay�
�And Amanda, what�s been her reaction?�
�Oh, the poor thing, she�s all over me�
She�ll be checking me into a rest home
Or a detox centre, wait and see�
�I just don�t think he�s burned out, though� Francine
�But you�ve seen all the signs, haven�t you?�
And he�s drinking� �But he might recover?�
�All the agents that I�ve seen they�re through�
For two weeks Lee�s been playing at washed up
Three agents from desks have been poached
In Munich and Mexico City, DC
For their info, they�ve each been approached
The DC agent�s body�s turned up
But the other two they�re MIA
When they�re no longer useful they kill them
Billy says that he wants them to pay
Lee is hopeful that he has made contact
With the bad guys and it would appear
Undercover as though he is losing
His self respect and his career
�Lee come back here, if you don�t you�re finished�
Melrose shouted, �And I�ll tell you this�
You will be on report from this moment�
Lee just turned round and blew him a kiss
Back at Neds Jack is calling his colleague
When Lee stumbles back into the bar
Jack sits down and he makes Lee an offer
Import-export, and Lee could go far
When Amanda finds Lee he is with Jack
Introductions are made. She says, �I�m�
Sure the report must be written by now�
He replies, �I�ve got plenty of time�
As they�re talking Lee suddenly slaps her
She is stunned, Lee is horrified too
�You can release my arm� she then tells him
Then she leaves, doesn�t know what to do
�God, Amanda, I hit you, how could I?�
I don�t know how I did such a thing�
�That�s all right, there�s no pain� she assured him
But her eyes they had started to sting
�Stay away, you can see I am poison�
And you know what I�ve been going through�
�I was just trying to help,� says Amanda
Angry, �Just stop helping me, please will you?�
Later, at Brackin�s, Jack�s giving
The lowdown about Mrs King
�She�s an agent,� says Brackin, �A watchdog�
We�ll need to arrange a killing�
Billy�s office and here comes Amanda
Lee�s reports for him and right on time
Billy wonders if Lee really did them
Of work ethic in Lee there�s no sign
�Well they�re done, aren�t they Sir?� is her answer
�While I�m here, about Lee, don�t forget�
He is dedicated and is a good man�
And he�ll come out of this, don�t you fret�
Now she�s going to Reston for flowers
On the way there Jack blows out her tire
What a shot! With one hand from the window!
Jack pulls over to help � what a liar
As he pulls out his gun on Amanda
She�s amazingly calm, no surprise
She suspected as much when she saw him
No more panic, instead she just sighs
As Jack stands there he�s about to shoot her
He�s distracted, a noise from behind
So she picks up a branch and she hits him
It�s the best weapon that she can find
Jack�s unconscious, so she picks up his gun
�Good shot� says a voice she knows well
Lee tells her he�ll put the spare tire on her car
Then he�ll meet her down at Chez Nouvelle
At the rest�rant, Lee sits with Amanda
He�s impressed, but she says, �It was fear�
Lee was following Jack when he saw them
By hitting Jack, she�d made his year
�So why was he trying to kill me?�
And why were you following him?�
�Jack�s a contact,� he answered, �But small fry�
So I need him out there on that limb�
�So then why did I become a target?�
�I suspect he knows I�m Agency�
I can only assume he connects you�
Through your association with me�
�But why would they kill me?� she asked Lee
�I�m not sure why, I really can�t say�
You�ve been very protective, Amanda
P�r�aps they thought you would get in the way�
Then she smiled, �You seem back to your old self�
So Lee started to say how things were
�That�s okay, you do not have to tell me�
I understand it�s a cover�
�No one knows, only Billy and I do�
�Well I won�t tell a soul� she replies
Lee just smiles then his face becomes sterner
As he speaks he looks into her eyes
�Amanda, I must tell you something�
�It�s all right Lee, I do understand�
�What I did back at Neds, well I�m sorry�
�Lee it�s okay� He touches her hand
Jack�s explaining to Brackin what happened
Now they know she�s an agent, for sure
Back at Lees, Brackin�s already waiting
And waving a shot glass �You pour�
Lee is not that surprised to see Brackin
And he kicks into burn out mode fast
Brackin talks of old times as an agent
When he offers a job, Lee�s aghast
�I don�t like you� says Lee, �Are you kidding?�
�But I�m offering you half a mil�
I�m telling you, you won�t regret it�
Lee is tempted, thinks �maybe I will�
At the Agency, Lee�s meeting Billy
Brackin�s outfit hires gunmen, you see
But there�s more to it, he�s been in Munich
And was seen in Mexico City
�Well that proves it, it�s Brackin who�s guilty�
�So we�ll catch him � you must wear a wire�
�I can�t do that Billy, he would know it�
I�m no burn out though, I�ll never tire�
When Amanda gets up there�s a message
An address she�s to go there this morn
�It�s from a Mr Melrose� says Dotty
Little does she know, she�s a pawn
Lee arrives at Brackin�s and they search him
But there�s nothing to find on his bod
�I want you to kill someone for me � a test�
Here�s your victim right now� Well, that�s odd
It�s Amanda, �I want you to kill her�
Then you�ll prove to me that I can trust�
What you say when you�re wanting to join me�
I�ll know because she�s eating dust�
In the middle of nowhere they take her
And their eyes meet to communicate
He knows that he really must kill her
And she�s thinking �I hope he shoots straight�
They�re convinced now that Lee�s on the level
And Amanda can hear what they say
So she knows in advance what the plan is
Although Lee is the one who will pay
There�s a special funds shipment in DC
And Lee knows the team they must hit
Meanwhile Amanda�s trying to hitchhike
But she�s having no luck, not a bit
With a smoke bomb, Lee stops the guards leaving
Then they switch clothes with them, to a man
But Amanda�s still walking � a truck comes
And it seems that the driver�s a fan
Brackin, Jack and Lee get all the money
Then Harris takes away Lee�s gun
In the truck we all meet with Travis Lane
But there�s no phones nearby on this run
�There�s the CB� says Trav, �We could try it�
�Can you contact the FBI?�
It�s a matter of nat�nal security�
�I don�t know, we can give it a try�
�There are pinko subversives out here then?�
�Well not really, well sort of, you know�
They are at some reservoir down there at Mill Creek�
With his music, Trav�s ready to go
�But I can�t find my seatbelt� she yells out
It�s too late, though, �cause Trav�s on his way
�Just grab on to anything, darling�
For today�s going to be a good day�
At the reservoir the van�s arriving
And the truck�s on it�s way to the dam
There�s no backup, but Trav likes excitement
�Strike first, strike hard�s the motto from �Nam�
Now at gunpoint Lee does the unloading
Of the money he�s just helped them steal
As they load up the getaway car they can hear
Some loud music, a truck, it�s unreal
It is Trav and Amanda, she sees them
Brackin�s worried and Lee throws a punch
As the truck arrives through a small shack there
We�ve just evened the odds, I�ve a hunch
Trav jumps out of his truck and he grabs Lee
�I just hate subversives� he called
But before he can hit Lee, she stops him
�He�s the good guy� At least he�s not mauled
Trav then goes after Jack with a vengeance
And Lee follows Brackin, under fire
Trav is playing with Jack as he hits him
And it is Jack who is soon in the mire
Meanwhile Amanda turns on the water
And that flushes out Brackin for Lee
As Trav picks up an unconcious Harris
Lee has Brackin in his custody
There�s a plaque, it�s for valor, Amanda
And the President signed it, you see
It�s for service above and beyond the call
She says �I don�t deserve it, not me�
�Yes you do� insists Lee, �Yes, I mean it�
You got shot, then got help and saved me�
As everyone leaves they shake her hand
Meanwhile Francine goes in to Billy
She�s not pleased that this time no one told her
What was going on, what was the plan
As a full time agent, I�m sure the need to know �
�Just can it, Francine� He�s the man!
Lee�s so proud of her plaque and her actions
As she managed to save him, again
But the problem, she�s nowhere to hang it
It can�t really go up in the den
�How you faked getting shot, that�s amazing�
I had to make sure I did wing ya�
�Will the Agency buy me a sweater?�
Then he planted a kiss on her finger
images courtesy of Swoopes