Author: Kim C.
Disclaimer: 'Scarecrow and
Mrs. King' belong to Warner Brothers and Shoot
the Moon Productions. I am
simply borrowing them, with due respect to their
creators, for a short
duration. I am making no profit from this story.
Rating: PG
Timeline: Third season, I'm
thinkin' before "Sour Grapes".
Genre: Short story; answer
to the smkfanfic alphabet challenge.
Summary: A visiting
operative from MI5 causes a stir at the Agency.
Author's Note: Many thanks
to Miriam for her excellent beta services.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>o<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
'H' is for Hunk
Lee Stetson stepped off the
elevator and strode briskly toward Billy Melrose's office. Midway through the
bullpen, he slowed to a stop and looked around. An unusually large number of
female field agents, secretaries, and other women employees from various
departments of the Agency were standing around, many of them whispering
together. He wondered
if the human resources department had scheduled some special meeting, as
they did from time to time.
"Coping in a Man's World of Espionage" and "If
a Man Can Spy, So Can I"
were two of the more popular seminars.
He casually glanced over at
Amanda's desk, prepared to avert his gaze disinterestedly if she should catch
him looking. Sure enough, she was there, industriously typing, and was
apparently the only woman focused on
her job. He was slightly
put out that she hadn't seen him yet. Still,
maybe she could fill him in
on what was happening. Sauntering over to her,
he felt even more annoyed
when she still didn't acknowledge his presence.
"Hey," he greeted her,
leaning against the corner of her desk and giving her
a smile.
"Oh! Good morning, Lee,"
she said, finally looking up at him. "How are you
today?"
He regarded her closely.
She looked different -- distracted. Her face was
flushed becomingly, and her
brown eyes were shades darker than normal,
giving her a look that was
. . . what were the words Billy had used that
time? Exotic. Mysterious.
At the time, Lee had scoffed at his boss.
Lately, he found his
opinion on that score changing dramatically.
"What's going on this
morning?" he casually inquired, gesturing toward the
collected female
contingent. She
followed his movement, and then her eyes darted toward Billy's closed
door.
"Oh. Well . . . we have an agent here on a temporary assignment from MI5." She glanced back up at Lee, and he swore she looked carnivorous.
"His name's Hank Granger,"
she added, her voice a mere raspy whisper.
"Yeah, I heard he was
coming over." Frowning slightly at her uncharacteristic demeanor, he shrugged
dismissively. "So? What's the big
deal about that?"
The sound of clicking heels
announced Francine's imminent presence.
"Did you get a good look at him?" she asked Amanda, her voice low and conspiratorial.
"Someone told me that he spoke to you. What did
he say? I
mean, not that I view you
as serious competition or anything." She smirked.
"So?" Lee watched as Amanda's features transformed into an indignant expression of disgust.
"Not serious competition? What's that supposed to mean?" she asked rhetorically.
"Yes, I did get a good look at him. He was very
friendly and polite, and he
said he hopes he gets a chance to work with me!"
Francine's smirk grew to
new proportions. "Yeah, right. Obviously, meaningless charm is second nature to
him. I wouldn't read too much into it,
if I were you. He probably
flattered Mrs. Marsten, too, when he checked in.
But never mind all that --
what does he *look* like?"
Amanda lifted one slim
shoulder, giving Francine a chilly look. "He's very
handsome," she answered
offhandedly. Her pen poised, she looked back down
at the report she'd been
reading.
"Handsome? Handsome!"
Francine placed her manicured hands on her hips. "I
hear 'handsome' is
laughably inadequate where he's concerned. Sort of like
saying Adonis wasn't bad
looking. The girls in steno say he's a drop-dead
gorgeous HUNK!"
Lee scowled and rolled his
eyes. "Oh, please . . . "
"Well, sure . . . I guess
'hunk' is a good way to describe him." Amanda nodded, narrowing her eyes.
As if Francine's earlier barbs had been
forgotten at the mere
thought of the visiting agent, a small smile lifted
the corners of her mouth.
"Yeah . . . you're right there; he's *definitely*
a hunk."
A pang of startlingly
potent jealousy shot through Lee. Before he could stop himself, he hotly
retorted with undisguised contempt, "A hunk. Look at
you two -- you're both
practically drooling. Give me a break!"
Francine raised her
eyebrows calculatingly and looked from Lee to Amanda.
"What's the matter, Lee," she purred. "All
stressed out and no one to
choke?" Her teeth gleamed in a feline smile. "Watch out," she whispered to
Amanda in a stage whisper.
"He's got an attitude, and he knows how to use
it." Without another word,
she turned on her heel and strolled away.
Lee shook his head, staring
after Francine's retreating figure, and then
returned his glare to his
partner.
"What?" Amanda asked
defensively, frowning at Lee and twitching the pen between her fingers.
"Nothing," he replied,
shrugging and abandoning the subject.
It would do no good to irritate her. Instead, he dropped his voice to a husky whisper, his eyes meeting hers intimately.
"Listen, are you free for lunch?"
Clearly taken aback, she
arched one eyebrow and drawled, "Well, I don't know. Let me see." She reached
into her drawer for her calendar and made
an exaggerated show of
perusing its contents. "Yes, it looks like I do
happen to be free for
lunch. Why?"
He couldn't help the smile
that sprang to his lips. She really was adorable
when she was trying to play
it cool. He leaned forward and flashed both
dimples.
"Because I'm taking you to lunch. My treat. That
is, if you want
to go with me."
She considered his offer,
tapping her ballpoint against her chin. Her lips
were pursed invitingly, and
he felt a powerful urge to kiss her. When had
they started this flirty
aspect of their friendship? He hardly remembered;
it had come on so gradually
and naturally. True, he habitually flirted with
women he knew, but Amanda
had always been different. Or rather, he realized
with sudden clarity, he had
always been different with Amanda.
Before he could explain
away this enlightened thought, she nodded. "Sure.
Looks like I'm free."
"Good." He winked at her,
secretly relieved. Now, if Agent Lothario had any designs on Amanda and was
planning on asking her out to lunch, she already had plans.
As though she could see
right through him, she rolled her eyes and shook her
head, then smiled in
obvious amusement. He'd never felt so transparent in
his life, but at least he'd
gotten his way.
The door to the section
chief's office opened, and Billy beckoned Lee from
across the room.
"Scarecrow."
Lee smiled and winked at
Amanda. "I'll see you in a little while, then. I'm looking forward to it."
"Me, too." She smiled back
and waved him away. "Now, go on, before Mr. Melrose yells at you."
Grinning, he strode toward
the office, anxious to get a look at the visiting
'hunk'. So he'd been
talking with Amanda, had he? He hoped to get a chance
to work with her? Maybe
this hunky Brit should think again.
Billy's frown indicated
that he had been waiting impatiently. . As Lee entered his office, he said
sarcastically, "Glad you could finally join us.
Lee, I want you to meet
Hank Granger, from MI5. Hank, this is Lee Stetson."
The other man reached out
to shake Lee's hand. "Glad to know you," he said
in a friendly tone, his
voice a deep baritone with perfect upper-class
British inflection.
"Nice to meet you, Hunk,"
Lee replied. Realizing his embarrassing mistake,
he feigned a fit of
coughing. "Hank. I meant Hank." He gestured in an
exaggerated fashion at his
throat. "Sorry. I've had a bit of a cold."
'Smooth move, Stetson,' he
cursed himself silently.
"Since when have you had a
cold?" Billy demanded, his brows knitting together in apparent confusion.
"Oh," Lee stammered,
clearing his throat. "You know. Off and on."
"So," Hank smoothly changed
the subject. "Your partner is Amanda King, right?"
"Yes," Lee affirmed
guardedly. "*Mrs.* Amanda King," he added emphatically.
Billy shook his head,
waving his hand. "Mrs. King is actually a part-time
civilian, not really a --"
he began.
"Yes." Lee nodded firmly,
overriding Billy's explanation. "Yes, she is my
partner. She's
indispensable. I really can't get by without her."
His boss was gawking at him
as if he'd grown two horns and a third eye.
"Lee, I was going to assign Amanda to show Agent
Granger around town and
brief him on some basic
information. I didn't think you would mind. After
all, just last week, you
were saying you wished you didn't have to --"
Clearing his throat loudly,
Lee stubbornly shook his head. He couldn't believe Billy was bringing that up.
It had been an isolated problem, and the first time he'd complained about Amanda
in months!
"No way, Billy. I
can't possibly spare
Amanda. I have a heavy caseload right now, and she's
already booked with helping
me catch up on all my paperwork and filing."
Billy, still clearly
baffled, cocked his head and seemed on the verge of
saying something further.
He never even had a chance.
Hank held up a placating
hand.
"No matter. I don't want to take away your
partner," he assured Lee,
an amused gleam in his eye. "I'm sure there's
someone else who can assist
me."
Nodding, Billy agreed. "Oh,
of course."
Still staring at Lee in amazement, he licked his
lips. "Lee, why don't you check with Francine Desmond? I
don't think she has
anything pressing right now."
"Thanks, Billy," Lee
replied, unable to keep the relief out of his voice.
"I'm sure Francine's
available."
His boss gave him a crooked
smile. "Fine, fine. Now, introduce Hank around, would you, Scarecrow? I have
some phone calls to make."
Stepping out of the office,
the two men faced each other. Lee was pleased
with himself for thwarting
the other man's plans. How dare this outsider
try to make some claim on
Amanda! The nerve! As if Amanda was some brief,
enticing amusement for his
visit to the States. Well, fortunately Lee had
been there to protect her
from this aspiring James Bond.
"I get the impression that
Mrs. King means quite a lot to you," Granger remarked, keeping his voice low.
Lee shrugged, shoving his
hands in his pockets and glancing around the bullpen with studied nonchalance.
"Well, yeah. I mean, we work together.
We're friends."
"Ah." Granger paused, and
then narrowed his intensely blue eyes. "I guess
I got the wrong idea back
there," he went on, indicating Billy's office.
"I'm rather glad. Because
if you two aren't . . . "
"Aren't what?" Lee asked
abruptly, jutting out his chin. His confrontational tone surprised even himself.
"Well," Granger hedged,
shifting his eyes away from Lee's face. Looking down at the ground, he
elucidated, "You know . . . involved."
Lee raised an eyebrow,
suddenly wary, and regarded his companion appraisingly. No, they weren't
'involved,' but that didn’t mean he wanted
her involved with someone
else.
"I guess that depends on what you'd call
'involved,' now wouldn't
it? We're going out to lunch together today, like
we usually do. Later
tonight, after her mother and sons are asleep, I'll
probably . . . swing by her
house." He drew himself up to his full height
and coolly held the British
agent's gaze in an unspoken challenge.
"Oh. I see." Granger seemed
to be struggling for words, no longer the cocky, self-assured man Lee had met
just moments ago. "Well, then. I definitely am misreading things, aren't I?
Basically, it's like this: You're not really involved with her yourself . . . at
least, not yet. On the
other hand, if I were to ask her out, you would rip my arm out of its
socket and beat me to a
bloody pulp. Am I anywhere close to the truth?"
Lee clenched his jaw. "I
don't think my relationship with Amanda is any of
your business. But I
promise you -- if you don't stay away from her, you
*will* regret it."
"Got it." Granger paused,
and then went on warily. "You're right; it is none of my business. I'm going to
give you some advice anyway. If you have
feelings for this woman,
you'd better act on them soon. I was in a situation like that once, with my own
partner. I never told her how I felt."
Unable to stop himself, Lee
asked, "What happened?"
"She's married to someone
else and has two children," Hank admitted, the
sting he felt evident in
his eyes.
Lee assimilated this
revelation, nodding slowly. He might, indeed, lose Amanda due to his own
reticence. She was an attractive woman, after all.
Quite a few men had
expressed interest in her over the years. Probably many
agents would have done so
if he hadn't been warning them off with dirty
looks, proprietary body
language, and obvious hostility. He knew he'd have
to make a move if he wanted
her, and soon.
Mercifully, the other man changed the subject.
"So, tell me, where's this
Francine Desmond? Is *she*
. . . involved with anyone?"
Lee grinned and slapped the
other man on the back as the two started walking
across the crowded bullpen.
He might end up liking this Granger guy after
all.
"No, Francine's not seeing anyone. Let me
introduce you. I know
she'd love to meet you.
She's the very attractive blonde over there . . ."
The End