"Look, Billy." Lee began, "I just think that Amanda's a special case." Billy rolled his eyes. "Beaman does fine with the standard run of candidates but Amanda's special."

"Amanda's very special." Billy agreed. Beaman had already complained a dozen times about Lee's interference and Billy had agreed to consider possible solutions. Part of the problem was that Amanda truly was different from every other agent anyone had ever trained. Normally, a new agent would gradually be given more challenging cases but from day one, Amanda had been working with Lee on the toughest cases in the Agency's docket. Beaman was a decent agent, but he couldn't teach what he didn't know and he simply did not have Lee's experience or aptitude.

Amanda's unconventional recruitment and subsequent pairing with Scarecrow had exposed her from day one to the most challenging cases in the Agency's docket. Looking out for her had forced Lee to be more careful and methodical in many ways, just as Billy had hoped all those years ago. In many respects, she was now a very senior member of the team. Conversely, Lee had always been quite protective of her – a problem that had been exacerbated first by the Nightcrawler case and then when Amanda was shot in California. As far as Billy could tell, Lee was effectively trying to chain her to a desk and that was a ridiculous waste of talent. Amanda needed to develop her skills and Lee needed help accepting that she could take care of herself. Lee had no experience at all training others, but he was the world authority on Amanda Stetson.

"I'll tell you what, you've convinced me. I am making you personally responsible for overseeing Amanda's training." Billy wasn't surprised to see Lee puff up with satisfaction at this announcement. "But!" Billy warned. "I still want her up to level on every standard measure. She needs to be able to take care of herself in the field – even if you aren't with her. That means hand-to-hand combat and firearms. She also needs to finish the normal candidate coursework. You'll need to play nice with Ephraim. How you get her levelled up is up to you – but you can probably start by having a chat with Leatherneck. Shooting does not seem to be one of Amanda's strengths."

"Alright, I'll do that. You won't regret this, Billy."

"I better not." Billy muttered as Lee reached for the doorknob. "And Scarecrow, I better not hear a complaint from Amanda about this."

"No sir."

Knowing Amanda had a shooting lesson, Lee hurried down to see how she was doing. The score on the screen was at a new low, even for her.

"Lee!" Leatherneck greeted with relief.

"How's it going?" Lee asked, even though the combination of score and the expressions on Amanda and Leatherneck's faces told him everything he needed.

"It's gonna be a lot of hard work, buddy. A lot of hard work."

"I hate shooting." Amanda said in a small voice. Lee nodded.

"I know." Smiling at his wife, Lee decided this was the perfect time to tell her and Leatherneck the news. "I have some news that might help. Billy's made getting you fully trained up my responsibility - officially."

"No more shooting?" Amanda asked hopefully.

"More shooting." Lee corrected with a warning glower. "But now, I can actually spend work time figuring out how to help you." Amanda's face was a study in conflicted emotion. On the one hand, she was obviously delighted to have more time with him, on the other, she knew from experience what a slave-driver Lee could be when he wanted her to do something for her own good. Clearly, she hadn't yet decided if having him as her official supervisor was a good thing or not.

Leaning back against the wall, he nodded to Leatherneck. "Start it up again, Leatherneck. Amanda, focus." Rolling her eyes at him, she turned to the screen and was promptly gunned down by a nun. "Again."

"Lee –"

"Again, Amanda." Lee bit back a smile at the low growl he heard. Amanda was not enjoying this one bit. Lee was. Amanda was adorable when she was grumpy.

Lee put her through three more rounds before he decided on a plan.

"I think I know what might help." He announced, straightening away from the wall. "Amanda, you stand here." He shifted her a few feet and took her place behind the marker where she had been.

"What difference does that make?" She and Leatherneck asked.

"Well, if you don't shoot fast enough – I'm the one who'll be shot. So either you fire first, or I die." Leatherneck grinned at that but a look of horror flitted across Amanda's face.

"That might just work."

"I don't want to even imagine seeing you shot!" She gasped.

"You've seen it before." Lee pointed out cheerfully. "But this time, if I get shot, it's your fault." He worried that that might have been a step too far but Amanda turned back to face the screen – and promptly gunned down everything that moved on the screen.

"Wow. Well, I guess that clears up if you have the reflexes for this kind of thing." Leatherneck remarked. "That's just carnage." Amanda glared at Lee and put the pistol down. "I'm done for today." Storming out, she left the two men bemused.

"You've got your work cut out for you, Lee." Leatherneck said. "I've never seen your missus that mad before. Who knew she had it in her?" Lee rolled his eyes.

"I did." Why anyone would think that he could have fallen in love with someone who was all sweetness and light was beyond him. Leatherneck laughed. "Listen, Leatherneck, I better go after her. But could you get a kit together for me? I want to get Amanda outdoors and shooting with some real equipment instead of just an electronic pistol. I'll take her out to Dodge City this weekend."

"Sure thing, Lee. I'll get something together for you and bring it up to the Q-bureau later."

"Thanks."

Lee could hear Amanda muttering and pacing from the top of the stairs. Smiling, he listened for a few moments before opening the door and catching her around the waist. "I love you and I'm going to teach you to protect yourself – even if it makes you want to shoot me." He told her, kissing her neck.

Amanda stayed rigid for a moment and then relaxed against him. "I can't believe you'd make me imagine you being shot." Urging her to turn around, Lee looked at her seriously.

"Amanda, all I can tell you is this: I will never, ever forget the moment I realised that you'd been shot. No matter how awful your imagination is, it'll never be as awful as it was for me when I realised you'd been shot." Amanda pulled him into a hug. "Do you know what the worse part was?"

"No."

"It was that after all the times when I told you to stay in the car where it's safe, you were shot doing exactly that. It was my fault."

"Oh Lee!" Amanda pulled back and looked up at him in horror. "It was not your fault! Please, don't ever think that!"

"Are you kidding? I think about that every single time we're out in the field. I don't want to tell you to stay in the car any more but I'm terrified to have you out of the car too." Lee pulled her back into his arms. "Amanda, I love you more than I'll ever be able to say with words. I am terrified, every day, that you'll get hurt again. If I could, I'd pack you in cotton balls and keep you safe every day. But I also know that being in the field is good for you. So we need to find a way to keep you in the field without me going insane. The way to do that is for both of us to be really confident that you have the skills to take care of yourself no matter how hot things get. I'll still watch out for you until the day I die – but we're both going to know that I'm doing it for my peace of mind, not because you need to be babied." Amanda kissed his jaw.

"I love you too and if it's that important to you, I'll do it."

"Good. This weekend, we'll go up to Dodge City and I'll help you practice with real weapons. And I promise that I'll find a way to make it bearable for you." Turning his head, he kissed Amanda. "I love you, and I want you to be comfortable with all of this. I know it'll never be your favourite part of the job."

"Well, the best part of this job will always be you." Amanda told him, delighted to see his ears pinken with pleasure.