A New War

Chapter 27

Amanda Simons was that girl in all of her classes whose hand always shot up when the teacher asked if there were any questions. She'd quickly learned to ignore the chorus of groans that it always seemed to elicit. She always had questions.

Now, most of the time, her teacher hadn't really cleared up anything. However, she very clearly remembered her question about hostage situations and more specifically: what was going to happen if you found yourself as a hostage. Her instructor at the agency very simply answered: expect to be shot.

This could be either by the person holding you as their hostage, or another agent who believed that shooting the hostage would distract the person holding the hostage.

All of these things were running through her mind as Vince Sr. held the gun to the back of her skull. None of the agents down on the tarmac would have a clear shot to take out Caputo. But they could try to shoot her, just a non-fatal would that would make it impossible to take her with him. She could hear "shoot the hostage" in Keanu Reeves' voice as she stood there.

It felt like forever as she stood there. Like time had frozen. But she saw Tuck giving orders. Time wasn't frozen.

"What do you want, Mr. Caputo?" she asked.

"What?" he asked.

"What exactly is your goal here?" she asked. "I'm just trying to figure you out. Honestly, as much as I don't want to end up dead, it wouldn't matter much to the Agency. They like me, but shit, one less person on the payroll…" she said.

"What is this brave shit you're trying to pull? I don't believe it for one flippin' second, lady. Your little boyfriend down there wouldn't be telling them not to shoot if you weren't sort of important. They wouldn't have put you undercover if you weren't important," Vince said. "You think I'm just some dumbass like my son. By the way, what'd you do to him?"

"Oh, Vinny? He's in CIA custody. He came after me last night, but…"

"What?"

"He was going to try to prove something to his dear ol' dad. However, he was totally drunk. Easy to knock out."

"Geez, shit," he said in a disappointed tone. "Useless."

"No points for effort?" She suggested.

"If he weren't so fat."

"He's not fat, really. Just…disproportionate."

"His head is kinda too small for his body," Vince told her.

She nodded.

"Wait! Don't distract me! I'm not going to fall for any more of your distractions or reverse psychology bull shit, lady," he told her firmly.

"Fine," Amanda said firmly. "You want to know what I'm really thinking?"

"No."

"Well, you're going to listen anyway because we seem to have some time."

"I could just shoot you right now," he said.

Amanda ignored him. "I'm pissed as hell that after all of my training and all of my experience in the field, here I am, unable to do anything to prevent myself from being shot. I'm not some helpless female with a sad past and lots of mysterious circumstances. But I did grew up being taught that I could do anything I wanted to do and you're crushing my self-esteem."

"Oh, geez. Not your self-esteem," he said sarcastically. "This isn't Oprah and I don't give a shit."

"I know it won't stop you from using me as your human shield, but I just wanted to get that off my chest before I died. Damn, it feels better being honest," Amanda said.

"Good for you. Now move!" he said, elbowing her in the shoulder blade to shove her forward.

"Where are you going?"

"I can't tell you that," he said.

"You're making this up as you go, aren't you? Admit it, we surprised the hell outta you, didn't we?" she said as she took a slow step down the stairs.

A second later, it was all over.

Sort of.

She barely had time to think as she heard a gunshot and suddenly something heavy was bearing down on her and knocking her down the stairs. Realizing that it was Vince, she tried to roll as best as she could down the stairs from the plane that would do the least amount of damage to herself. At this point, she didn't give a shit about Vince. However, rolling safely down a flight of stairs was virtually impossible now that a 175 pound unconscious man was falling any which was he felt like.

She counted all 12 stairs down to the bottom and then finally lost consciousness. Amanda had hit her head too hard on the tarmac.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Amanda blinked hard into the bright light above her. They were of the horrible fluorescent kind and it hurt her head.

"You look like hell," FDR told her as he smiled at her from the chair at the end of the bed.

Amanda swallowed. Her throat felt dry, as if it were full of cotton.

"My head hurts like hell," she said. "What happened?"

"You lost consciousness for a minute. Doc said no concussion, though."

"Oooh, fantastic," she said. "Wait, what are you doing here?"

"It's nice to see you, too," he laughed.

"You already told me I looked like hell. My skirt didn't go over my head in the fall, did it?"

FDR laughed, a loud belly laugh, and Amanda tried to follow suit, but it hurt too much.

"No, but I'm glad to see where your priorities lie. Especially since you were undercover as a stripper. I hear you were in a lot less at some points…"

"Don't you have a wife?"

"That I love very much. However, I'm not blind…"

"You're so funny. But what really happened?" she asked. "And Tuck and Danny?"

"McCoy headed back to Vegas. His fiancé is in labor. And Tuck is baby-sitting Mr. Caputo while he's in surgery. What's the last thing you remember?" he asked.

"Vince was pushing me to walk down the stairs. And then there was a gunshot and we fell. Who shot him?"

"I did."

"You saved my life?" she asked incredulously. "Great."

"Hey now!" he laughed.

"How?"

"Tuck didn't know I was there, either. I told Collins that I had to be there for the takedown and she actually let me come. And so did Lauren. I was set up as a sniper. I was in a treestand."

"Where'd ya get him?" Amanda asked.

"Shoulder."

"Nice shot."

"I was aiming for his head," FDR said.

"You weren't," she said, calling him out on his BS.

"Maybe I was aiming for your horrible extensions."

"That might be true," she smiled. "I'll go switch with Tuck. He'll want to see you. Will you be okay?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine," she said.

FDR squeezed her hand and smiled at her before exiting the hospital room.

Amanda knew she had to be a disaster. She was sore and her head screamed in pain when she moved it. But she hadn't been shot, so, she was counting her blessings.

She was up and out of the bed attempting to locate a mirror. She finally resigned herself to checking her reflection in the hand towel dispenser. Even though it was distorted, she could tell she had a huge bruise on her forehead.

The door opened behind her and she whirled around.

"It got a big dodgy here in the middle, huh?"

"I haven't had a lot of experience with undercover jobs, but the ones I was part of didn't get like this," she replied.

"Well…" Tuck said. "You should be taking advantage of this. Get some rest."

"The shitty bed I had at my apartment in Vegas was more comfortable than this one. I just want to go home," she said.

"I think you should be pleased that you took down one of the most-wanted sex traffickers in the world."

"I don't want any more focus on me. Besides, without you, Danny and FDR, I wouldn't have done this. It all moved so much faster once you became involved. Thank you."

"Just doing my job, ma'am," Tuck told her.

He leaned down to kiss her, but she backed away.

"What? Don't I get my reward?" he asked.

"What reward do you think you deserve?" she asked.

"I was going to start with a kiss and go from there…"

"So, what do you think FDR will want since he took the shot?" she asked, a smile on her face.

"He gets nothing because I thought you'd been hit," Tuck said. "I was…"

They were face to face now. Nose to nose.

"You were what?" she asked, egging him on.

"I was worried that you were dead, Amanda. I don't want to lose you. I just found you."

"What are you saying?" she asked.

"Will you...move in with me?" he asked.

"Oh gosh yes!" she said.

Amanda threw her hands around him and she hugged him tightly.

"Thank you for not asking me to marry you…"

"Well, I think it's a bit early for that and I…well, I'm just…"

"Shut up and kiss me," Amanda told him.

\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

EPILOGUE

It had been six months since the Las Vegas undercover mission. Things had essentially gone back to the way they had been, with the exception of Amanda now being in permanent resident at Tuck's place. Her mail was now even going there.

It was the second Wednesday of the month, and as usual, the gang: Amanda, Tuck, Joe, Cameron, Alex and Sophie, along with FDR, Lauren and their son, Jacob and Bob and Trish and their children headed out for dinner.

After they were all seated, Tuck was whispering to Joe, who was seated in between him and Amanda. When he was finished, Joe looked at Amanda and smiled.

"What?" Amanda asked him. "What's so funny?"

He motioned for Amanda to bend down so he could whisper in her ear.

Once he was finished, Amanda looked at Tuck with a shocked expression on her face.

"Really?" she asked.

He nodded and smiled. "So?"

"Yes!" she shouted.

"What the heck is going on?" Trish asked. "I feel like I've missed something."

The entire table stared at both Tuck and Amanda.

"I think Amanda has agreed to marry me," he smiled.

The table cheered, the baby started to cry and Tuck moved to Amanda.

"Will you marry me?" he asked her.

"Of course!"

He presented her with a simple tear-shaped diamond and she held out her left hand so he could slip it on her finger.

"You sure you're okay with me marrying your dad?" she asked Joe.

He nodded and smiled. "You'll be a great stepmom!"

"Oh!" Trish moaned. "I hate you all," she said as she dabbed her eyes.

"Are you crying?" FDR asked her.

"I am a human. I have feelings," she shouted.

"Could've fooled me!" FDR laughed.

"Mandy, can we help pick out your wedding dress?" Sophie asked.

"Yeah, I think we should get final say," Cameron said.

"I think it should be pink and…" Alex started.

"Maybe elope?" Amanda said to Tuck over the girls who were all hugging her.

"No!" the entire crowd shouted at her.

/..\

The End.

….

Author's note: Let me know what you thought! Big thanks to all my readers!