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Two hours later, Steve looked through the phone records Ron
had brought. When he'd come back in from the beach, he was
surprised to see the file lying on the floor. In all the
commotion, he had forgotten about it.
It seemed to be very little help. The extension the calls had
been transferred to were used by more than two dozen agents, Ron
among them. Then a name caught his eye, and Steve wondered why he
hadn't seen the possibility before. He had been on the case
originally, and had shown a great deal of interest in the
evidence Steve had brought to the Federal Building today.
Special Agent Gary Shelton.
***
"So that's why you broke it off? Because of him?"
Ron's voice was filled with contempt as he stood in the doorway
of her office.
Amanda removed her glasses with a sigh. "Ron, I know you're
hurting, but please. I gave you my reasons. Frankly, I'm tired of
you thinking you know more about what's best for me than I do.
This is my life, and I've made my decision."
He walked towards her until he was only inches away. For the
first time since she'd known him, she actually felt a little
intimidated by him. She resisted the urge to stand as well, and
put some distance between them.
"How long have you two been sleeping together behind my
back?"
Her eyes widened and then she did stand, slapping him soundly
across the face as she did so. "You bastard," she
hissed. "How dare you?"
He gazed at her through eyes narrowed with rage. He grabbed her
roughly by the shoulders and snarled, "This isn't over by a
long shot, Amanda."
She struggled to break free, but his grip was too strong.
"Yes, it is Ron. It's over!" She was nearly shouting.
Finally he let her go and she leapt away from him. They stood
there, staring at each other. When the phone rang, Amanda nearly
jumped out of her skin. Glad for the reprieve, she snatched up
the receiver.
"Dr. Bentley," she answered. "Steve!" She
quickly looked up at Ron as she spoke without thinking. He was
clearly furious at the coincidence that his rival would be
calling now. However, Steve's words finally got her attention and
she ignored the FBI agent as she began jotting notes on a memo
pad. "318 South 82nd, apartment E. First floor? Okay. How
many bodies do you have? All right, I'm on my way." She hung
up the phone and brushed past Ron. "I've got to get to a
crime scene," she said. She stopped at the door, turning to
face him. "I'm sorry it turned out this way, Ron. I really
am. But we both have to accept that it's over."
He watched her walk out of the office, searching for the right
words to say, something… anything, if it would bring her
back. He could only stand there in silence.
***
"--Like he's been dead for maybe two or three hours,
probably died before the woman. I'll have to do a full autopsy
to--"
"Amanda--"
She ignored Steve's attempts to talk to her about anything other
than the corpse at her feet, just as she had his earlier attempts
when she'd arrived at the crime scene. "The woman is an
interesting case though. The markings on her abdomen
indicate--"
Finally, he took her hand. "I know. You told me
already."
She looked up at him, meeting his eyes for the first time since
she'd arrived. "I did?" she asked, abashed.
He nodded. "Twice." He looked around. "Look,
there's nothing more we can do here, why don't we go talk?"
"I don't think--"
He began pulling her towards his truck. "You see, I think we
should talk. I've got this friend, she's always telling me
not to bottle things up. She says I never show my feelings. So
I'm trying to take her advice." He grinned at her. "You
do think it's good advice, don't you?"
She scowled at him, knowing he was mocking her own words.
"You know, I hate it when you do that."
He only grinned wider, and opened the truck door for her. He
pulled out of the parking lot, a blue Isuzu pickup pulling out
close behind. After they were on the road, his smile slowly
faded, and silence fell between them.
"Well?" She prompted.
He glanced over at her. "Last night was…"
He trailed off, and she waited anxiously for him to continue.
Last night was what? A mistake? Did he regret what had happened--
had almost happened between them? Did she?
He slowed the truck to a halt at a stoplight. He looked over at
her, his eyes seeming impossibly blue in the sunlight glinting
through the windshield.
"We've been friends for a long time, Amanda. You probably
know me as well as anyone." He sighed. "This isn't easy
for me--"
The blaring of a car horn interrupted. The looked forward to see
the light was green and the man in the car behind them was
shouting obscenities. Steve managed to curb his temper for once
and drove on, still neither of them aware of the danger that was
following.
"Steve, I--" Amanda broke off in horror as the back
window shattered in an explosion of glass. She heard Steve
shouting something she couldn't hear past the ringing in her
ears. He was pushing her down against the seat, trying to give
her some of the protection afforded by the metal cab of the
truck. Shots continued to ring out as the other truck pulled up
beside them, the driver leveling a .45 at Steve.
Steve swerved sharply, sending his truck careening into the
other. The driver lost control of his vehicle and came to a
sudden stop as he hit a light post.
Steve slammed on the brakes and looked anxiously at Amanda.
"Are you all right?" He held her face in his hands
gently as he visually examined her for injuries.
She nodded slowly. "I think so."
He stared at her for a moment longer, assuring himself that she
was indeed unhurt, then drew his gun and leapt out of the truck.
Amanda quickly followed.
By the time she caught up with him, Steve had dragged the other
man, bleeding profusely from a gash on his forehead, out of the
demolished Isuzu.
"Who sent you?" He shouted.
The man shook his head, still stunned. He was young, and clearly
terrified. Steve shoved his gun under the man's chin.
"You've got exactly three seconds to tell me who hired
you." His eyes were cold. "One… two…"
Amanda picked up the man's cell phone. "Steve, wait!"
She called. He looked over at her halting his count for the
moment. The man he still held tightly in his grasp nearly fainted
with relief. "Remember the 'callback' feature?"
He walked towards her, dragging the man along with him.
"Where we can find out who called him last?"
She nodded as she punched the button. Placing the phone to her
ear, she listed for a moment, while Steve waited impatiently. The
man looked even more nervous, if such a thing was possible.
Amanda looked up at Steve. "It's my office…" she
said, confused. "Why would his boss be calling from my
office?" She shook her head. "No one was there but me
and Ron…" Her eyes widened as understanding dawned.
"No, it can't be…" she whispered. She and Steve
stared at each other in shock.
A patrol car pulled up and Steve quickly identified himself to
the officer, who was understandably distressed by the scene
before him. In only minutes, the suspect was in the back of the
officer's car, and Steve was heading back to his truck. Amanda
caught up to him as he was wrenching open the battered door.
"Where are you going?"
He turned and looked down at her. His eyes burned with anger,
betrayal, and pain. "I have to find him. I have to know the
truth."
"I'm coming with you," she said, her tone brooking no
argument.
He shook his head. "Forget it, Amanda. I want you to go with
Officer Hale back to the station. He'll have someone take you
home."
"I'm not going home." She lifted her chin stubbornly.
"I'm going with you."
He climbed into the truck without another word and turned the
ignition. Ignoring her protests, he drove away.
***
Steve gripped the wheel in his hands and cursed under his
breath. How could Ron betray them like this? He grabbed his cell
phone and dialed a number.
"Federal Bureau of Investigation, how may I direct your
call?"
"Special Agent Ron Wagner," he requested, his voice
tight.
"One moment." Silence filled the line as Steve pushed
his truck faster. "I'm sorry, Agent Wagner has left for the
day. May I put you through to his voice mail?"
"No thanks." He hung up abruptly. Ron must have gone
home. Wherever he had gone, Steve intended to find him.
***
Amanda watched the taxi drive away, wondering if she had done
the right thing by returning home. She wished Steve had let her
go with him, she was certain he shouldn't be dealing with this
situation on his own. She reached into her purse for her keys,
her hands shaking as she unlocked the door. She still couldn't
believe it. She knew Ron. He was a self-centered egotist, but she
couldn't believe he would have had Steve killed.
Her house was dark and quiet. Nervously, she flipped on the hall
light, then the living room lights as she passed through. By the
time she reached the bedroom, nearly all the lights in the house
were on. She felt silly, but made no move to turn them off.
When she walked into the bathroom, she inhaled the familiar
scents of raspberry and vanilla. Turning on the bathtub, she
undressed quickly, anticipating the warm water relaxing her sore
muscles. She sighed deeply as she stepped into the bath.
"You look beautiful."
Amanda gasped as she turned and tried to cover herself. Ron stood
in the doorway, a smile on his face and a gun in his hand.
***
Steve slammed his fist on the steering wheel. "Damn it,
where could he be?" He stared out the front window, not
really seeing the landscape before him. He had checked everywhere
he could think of: Ron's apartment, his health club, even BBQ
Bob's. He was nowhere to be found. The Bureau had no idea where
he was. He'd tried his cell phone numerous times.
He started the truck, and headed for Amanda's house. Maybe she
would have a better idea of where he may have gone. Besides, he
thought a bit ashamedly, he needed to apologize for his earlier
behavior. He should never have left her like he did.
When he pulled into Amanda's drive, he was relieved to see the
soft glow of lights through the curtains. Officer Hale must have
seen her home. He walked slowly up to the door, not relishing the
idea of admitting he was wrong. He could already hear the "I
told you so," in her voice. He knocked tentatively on the
front door, smiling when he heard her call for him to enter. She
was expecting him.
He crossed the hall to the living room. She was sitting on the
couch in a bathrobe. Her hands were folded in her lap, her face
pensive.
"Amanda, I'm sorry about earlier--" He broke off as he
felt a presence behind him. He whirled, his left hand already
reaching for his gun.
"I wouldn't." Ron's voice was deadly, and his gun was
pointed at Steve's head. He froze. "Carefully… drop it
on the floor and kick it over here."
Steve followed the instructions, his face tight with anger.
"Let Amanda go, Wagner. This is between us."
"It should have been. But you had to drag her into this,
didn't you?" He shook his head. "I knew you'd come back
here. To your lover." He spat the last contemptuously.
"Ron… Don't do this, please," Amanda pleaded.
Steve glanced back to see her slowly rise to her feet.
"Please, we can talk about this…"
Ron snorted. "Yeah, right. We can all just walk away and
forget this ever happened, right? I don't think Sloan sees it the
same way, do you Sloan?" He sneered at Steve. "No,
you're just like your father, always the hero, can't see how a
man might have to make some difficult choices."
"You violated your oath, Ron. You kill a man, nearly cost an
innocent woman her life, had me tortured-- and for what?
Money?"
He nodded. "You better believe it. I give them eleven years
of my life, and when I finally get the assignment I wanted, they
pull me off it before I've even had a chance to prove myself.
Accuse me of not being suitable for the job. That's bullshit.
That assignment in London was my ticket to an Assistant Director
position, and they took it away from me." His voice was
bitter. "My career was finished. I had to do
something."
Steve raised his chin. "So you betray your country *and*
your friends. Great choice."
Ron took another step towards him, his expression livid. His
finger tightened on the trigger. "Shut up! You don't know
what it's like! You have no idea what I've gone through!"
"Ron, please don't…" Amanda pleaded.
He shifted his weapon to her chest, his face contorted with rage
as he shouted at her. "Don't!? What right do you have to ask
for anything from me, you adulterous bitch!"
Steve grabbed for the gun, pulling the muzzle down towards the
floor. With his free hand, he punched Ron in the jaw, sending him
stumbling. He heard Amanda scream as they both tumbled to the
floor, smacking the hard wood.
The gun clattered across the floor as Steve struck out again. Ron
wrenched himself away and scrambled to his feet, even as Steve's
left hand shot out and seized his ankle. He expected him to fall
but he didn't. He twisted in his grasp and his other foot
impacted with the side of Steve's face.
Pain exploded behind his eyes and he tasted blood. He could feel
the blood streaming out of his mouth and nose as he lay there,
trying to order his numb body to move. Every instinct screamed at
him to do something, anything. He struggled to his knees and
shook his head to clear it.
Ron kicked out again, this time catching him in the ribs. Steve
groaned as he fell back and rolled to avoid another assault. But,
instead of rolling away, he turned towards Ron, driving against
the other man's knees and knocking him down.
Steve wrenched the agent's arms up behind his back and snapped on
his handcuffs. Ron continued to struggle, shouting incoherently.
Steve pulled away, panting for breath, and staring at the man he
had once considered a friend.
Amanda approached him and reached out gingerly to his cheek,
wincing with him at her light touch. Ron fell silent, sullen eyes
staring back at them both. Amanda studiously kept her gaze from
him, and looked up at Steve. "Are you okay?" She asked
softly, her voice shaking with emotion.
He just nodded and put his arms around her trembling shoulders.
"It's over, Amanda. This time it's really over."
***
"Mind if I sit down?"
Steve looked up to see Jesse standing by his table. "Hey
Jess. Sure, have a seat." He waved his beer bottle in the
general direction of the chair across from him. "What brings
you down here? I didn't think this was your kind of place."
Jesse looked around a little nervously. "Well, it's not
really. I came looking for you. Your dad told me I might find you
here."
"Uh-huh." He took a long drink of his beer and waved at
the waitress. "Two more, please."
She smiled at him and headed for the bar. Jesse smiled
tentatively. "So, uh… Florida was nice," he
ventured.
"Glad to hear it."
He looked around. "Uh, Mark told me what happened." He
smiled up at the waitress as she brought them the beers. Steve
just stared at the table while she picked up the money he'd set
there and walked away. Jesse watched him down nearly half the
bottle. "You okay?" he asked hesitantly.
"I'm fine, Jess."
He cleared his throat. "No offense Steve, but you don't look
fine. I know I wouldn't be fine if I were you. I mean, Ron tried
to kill you! You-- we, we trusted that guy. And Amanda... Well,
she has to be devastated."
Steve looked up then. It was clear he'd had several beers before
the young doctor had arrived. The walls were down, and his eyes
were full of pain and loneliness. Jesse shook his head as he
pushed his own bottle aside. "I mean, well, I'm sure Amanda
just needs some time, that's all. She really cares about you, you
know. I'll bet that if she just takes some time to think about
what she really wants, and has some time to get over Ron and what
happened… You two will work things out."
Steve sighed. "I'm just tired, Jess. I'm really tired."
Jesse reached out and placed a hand on his friend's arm. "I
know, Steve. I know you love her." Steve looked at him.
"She loves you too, you know. Give her some time. In the
meantime, you're still friends," he added helpfully.
"I won't risk our friendship, it's too important to
me."
"Neither will she. It'll all work out in the end." He
grinned. "Trust me." He stood and reached out a hand.
"Come on, let me drive you home."
Steve stood, keeping one hand braced on the table for support.
"Thanks Jess. For being here for me."
"Hey, what are friends for?"
Author's Note: I know that Steve and Amanda as a possible
couple is not going to appeal to everyone. But after I saw the
way he looked at her in Never Say Die when she was shot, I
started noticing other touching scenes between them. I remembered
that when the show first started, I felt that Steve had feelings
for Amanda. I chose not to keep them together for now, especially
while the show's still on the air. As far as Ron being the
villian, well, I never liked him anyway. ;) I always thought he
was condecending, arrogant, and overbearing. With all that said,
please let me know what you thought of it!
© 2000 The characters mentioned in this story
are the property of CBS and Viacom. The characters who have
appeared in the Diagnosis Murder series, together with the names,
titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of CBS and
Viacom. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those
rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters,
the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the
author.
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