---------

Francine paced back and forth in Amanda's living room.  She had been waiting for three hours for Amanda to show up from who knows where.  'Come on, Amanda.  Where are you?' Francine thought.  She knew that Amanda needed this time alone to "remember and reflect" as Amanda told her once, but this was important.  Billy told her about how he let Amanda use Agency contacts to search for Lee because of a gut feeling.  Now it looked like Amanda's feeling was right after all.  Francine stopped pacing when she heard Amanda's car pull to a stop in front of the house.  'Finally," she thought as she headed to the front door.

Amanda got out of the jeep hoping that she could handle what Francine had to tell or show her.

"Amanda!  Do you know how long I've been waiting for you?" Francine said as she exploded out of the front door.

"Hello, Francine.  I'm fine, thank you for asking, " Amanda said.

"I'm sorry, Amanda. It's just that I have some news about Lee."

"Lee?" Amanda said weakly.  She nearly dropped her laptop at the mention of Lee's name.  Francine hurried over to Amanda assuming that she was about to faint or something and grabbed the laptop.  After making sure that Amanda was steady on her feet, Francine guided her into the house.

"Billy told me when I took over for him, that he was allowing you to search for Lee on your own time.  Since then I've had one agent looking into his disappearance, but until now I've doubted your," Francine paused.  "Your gut feeling."

Amanda was glad that she was sitting when Francine told her this.  To know that someone else was looking for Lee shocked her.  She thought that she was the only one who could be bothered to look for Lee.  "You have?"  Amanda paused briefly, "What... Francine, what did your man discover?"

Francine took a deep breath, "A small boat was found docked next to the Mata Hari early this morning.  The security guard reported seeing a man that matches Lee's description hanging around the ships that night. Amanda, this is important, do you know of any place that he could have gone to?  Anything would help us."

Amanda thought for a moment.  "I assume you've got people at my old place and at Lee's apartment?"  Francine nodded.  "Right, well, he might have gone to the park across from the reflecting pool or to the Memorial."

"Which memorial?"

"Uh... the Jefferson Memorial.  We often took walks near it."

"Thanks, Amanda.  Oh, Amanda, I really hope this is Lee, for all our sakes.  I'll see myself out and if I find anything, I'll call."  Francine stood up.  Despite her calm exterior, Francine was extremely worried about Amanda.  During the entire time that she had known Amanda since Lee's disappearance there had been something missing in her eyes that she couldn't identify, now she knew what it was.  It was hope and love.  Francine gave a silent prayer that Lee would be found soon; she didn't know if Amanda could handle losing Lee again.

"Francine?" Francine paused at the door and looked at Amanda.  "How did you confirm that the man the security guard was Lee?"

"The boat had a few partial prints and in one of the lockers was a red hat and some straw."

Amanda smiled slightly and looked at the red hat on her mantle.  "Thank you, Francine."  Francine nodded and left Amanda alone with her thoughts. ***** Back at Jerry's cabin.

Lee saw the fear in Amanda's eyes when he looked back at her. He knew what she was thinking; it was the same thing he was: is this the last time we'll be together? Then he saw the look of determination to face Francine and lie to her if it meant that he would still be at Jerry's. Lee followed Jerry to his cabin. 'May be I can get a shower and a shave' he thought stroking his long beard.

When they arrived at the cabin, Jerry set Lee down at the dinning room table.  The cabin was somewhat bigger than Lee expected it to be.  The entered through the front door and Lee had noticed the living room to his right.  To his left there was a couple of steps that went to the dinning room.  Off the dinning room was a normal sized kitchen.  Next to the living room was a pocket door that led into what Lee assumed to be a den.  Across from the den were two doors.  One door was closed and the other one was slightly ajar revealing a staircase.  Jerry returned with a plate of food and something to drink.

"I thought you might like something to nibble on, while waiting for Mrs. King."  Lee smiled his thanks.  After a few minutes, Lee asked, "Could I use your shower?  I haven't had much time to, uh," Lee paused.  Jerry smiled at Lee's discomfort.  Lee looked a lot like the older version of the man in some of the pictures Amanda had around the house when he stopped in to make sure everything was fine.

"Sure.  The bathroom is down the hall and the first door to the left.  I'll get you some fresh clothes, a razor, and some towels."  Jerry got up and headed for his bedroom leaving Lee stunned.

A half hour passed and there still wasn't any sign of Amanda.  A clean and freshly shaven Lee paced Jerry's living room, wondering what Francine had to tell Amanda.  Jerry had gone out on patrol ten minutes earlier satisfied that Lee wouldn't doing anything rash.

Lee was nervous and with Amanda taking her time, he worried even more. Suddenly he stopped and looked out the front window. 'Where are you Amanda?' he asked himself as he noticed movement and a glance of something white moving through the trees.  Lee looked around the room for something to defend himself with just in case.

Suddenly there was a soft knock at the door.  Lee grabbed the poker from the fire place at the far end of the room and cautiously made his way over to the front door.  His grip on the poker loosened when he saw Amanda's face and he opened the door.

"Hi." He said as he looked at his wife.

"Hi" She returned as she walked by Lee and into the foyer of the cabin. Lee guided her into the living room and she  looked at him and a small smile started at her lips making its way across her face as Lee put the poker back where it belonged.

"I missed you." He said as he made his way towards her side and gently rested a shaking hand on her waist.  Amanda looked up into his eyes; "I missed you too, Lee, so very much." She finished in barely a whisper and leaned her forehead against him.

Lee moved his hands up her back in lazy circles, trying to make her relax and calm down. This was very hard on both of them being away for so long; Lee knew he couldn't just walk back in where they left off, everything was so different.  After a few moments Lee spoke, "Hey, Amanda."

"Yeah?"

Lee looked down and she hadn't moved, so he gently lifted her chin with his finger to make her look at him, "I love you."

Amanda smiled and held him even tighter, "I love you too."

"We need to talk about... about everything."

"I know we do, let's go back to the house and we can." Amanda said as she reached down for his hand and intertwined her fingers with his.

*********

7:00 PM Amanda's house.
Back at the house, Lee made his way to the living room and started a fire as Amanda went to get dinner for them both.

Lee sat in the living room in front of the fire, just resting and thinking of how the last years of his life had gone. He had done nothing but think of ways to escape, ways to come back to his Amanda, back to his life. She was the only thing that really kept him alive through those years. Lee sighed and leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

Amanda walked into the living room, tray in hand, and noticed Lee sitting on the floor in front of the fire. The sight warmed her heart, she loved him so much, and she was so happy to have him back here with her.

Slowly Amanda set down the tray and walked over to Lee. As she knelt down next to him and brushed a few stray hairs off his forehead and leaned down to kiss him there. "I love you, Lee." She whispered.  Lee stirred under her and he reached for her. Amanda moved closer to him, inhaling his scent, craving his touch. Suddenly he moved a bit and was able to lean up and kiss her.  They both gave in to the physical need at that moment; the only thing that mattered was to know that the other was there, physically.

When they came up for air Amanda spoke first, "I have something to eat, then we can talk."

Lee nodded in acceptance, "As long as you don't leave me. I don't want to be away from you for the rest of my life."

Amanda turned her head so that he wouldn't see the blush the rose to her cheeks.  It had been a long time since she heard something that romantic from any man. When she turned around, she handed Lee a hot plate of mashed potatoes, gravy and shaved turkey.  She then got up and went to the study.  She returned with the bottle of wine that she had bought for her solo celebration, a small tape recorder, and a package of tapes.  Lee looked at her questioningly.

"I want to get as much of the Agency business done with before this day is over," Amanda said opening the bottle of wine and pouring each of them a glass.  Lee took a deep breath, not sure of how he should begin.  Amanda saw him hesitate and placed her hand on his arm.  She knew it wouldn't be easy for him to tell her what happened to him, but she needed to know, both as his wife and his boss.  "We don't have to start right now, Lee."  Lee nodded his thanks and started to eat.  They sat in front of the fire and ate, occasionally adding a log to the fire when it started to die down.  Half a hour later, they had finished eating.  Lee pulled Amanda closer to him so that he could hold her and try to summon the same courage to tell Amanda about his abduction that she had when she finally told him what happened during her captivity by Adi Birol so many years ago.

Amanda knew that soon she would have to become a professional while she debriefed Lee, but for now she was content to be in his arms on their anniversary. She heard Lee make a sigh, signaling her that he was ready to tell her what happened. She put a tape into the recorder and looked up at Lee.

Lee felt rather than heard her get the tape recorder ready.  He only hoped that he could make it through the debriefing without breaking down, not that anyone wouldn't understand it if he did.  "All right, I'm ready."

Amanda pressed the record button and spoke into it, "February 13, 2008.  Debriefing of Agent Lee Stetson; codename: Scarecrow."  She paused briefly and in her best 'Section Chief' voice asked Lee to describe the events of his capture nine years ago.

"Billy called me on February 12, 1999 and told me that I had to go to Italy to investigate the disappearance of Agent Danny Weatherspoone," Lee started, throwing his mind back to the events of nine years ago.  "When I was changing planes in Barcelona, I felt a prick in my neck.  I didn't think anything of it until about four minutes later, I started to get dizzy.  I then started to black out, but not before three men grabbed and dragged me to the nearest exit.  I recognized two of the men as henchmen from Adi Birol's gang, Sadid Abada and Angel Domini.  The other man was about six feet, two inches tall, weighed about 160 pounds, had dark hair, skin, and eyes, and had a scar that ran from just below his left eye to his jaw."  Lee had his eyes close so he didn't see Amanda's startled look at the description of the third man.  He had just described Adi Birol's nephew, Safar Birol.  "They tossed me into a dark van.  After that, I was unconscious.  When I woke up, we had stopped.  One of the men blindfolded me and then forced me out of the van.  We waited for ten minutes before someone met us.

"We were told to follow him.  We arrived at a tent and my blindfold was removed."

"How did you know it was a tent?" Amanda interrupted. She fought hard to control her voice and sound professional. Lee opened his eyes and looked at her. He could tell that she was having a difficult time hearing his story.

"I could the tent flaps moving in the distance and about twenty men shouting," he answered evenly.  Had it been anyone other than Amanda asking him the question, he would have delayed his answer a bit, but he couldn't do that to her.  Lee continued with his story, "The tent housed a military strategy room.  At the far end of the tent was another man.  When he turned around, I was shocked to find a very young version of Adi Birol.  Apparently he had a son before we, that is, before Amanda and I took him into custody."  Lee continued to tell Amanda of the torture that has inflicted upon him at the hands of Safar and Adi, Jr and of the moves of location.  Lee had also given Amanda all the information that he could gather in between beatings about Birol's operation and how he strived to avenge his father.  When he got to the events that surrounded his escape, Lee paused.

"I had heard through the prison grapevine that the Chinese were about to kill the enemy agent they had.  I assumed that it was me and waited until dark before I made my escape attempt.  When the guard came in to give me my evening meal of rice and water, I jumped him and took his gun.  I then tied the guard up using strips of cloth from my cot and locked him in my place.

"I knew that there was a ship yard about a ten miles away and I headed that way, thinking I could find a boat or maybe a seaplane."

"How did you know that there was a ship yard?" Amanda asked, interrupting him for the fifth time since he started talking.  She wanted to make sure that she had all the details before giving his testimony to Dr Symth.

"The last month or so, I and a few of my prison mates were brought to the ship yard to help with the loading and unloading of shipments," Lee replied.  "When I got to the ship yard, I stowed away on one of the large freighters that was headed to Seattle.  From Seattle, I hitched a few rides into Quebec.  I arrived in Quebec two nights ago.  Yesterday afternoon I found a small boat with a motor and a sail at a public dock and took it down to Annapolis.  I docked the boat near the Mata Hari last night and left a few clues as to who I was, but only what a few people would know about.  After leaving the boat and ship yard, I found a homeless man who had died recently and took his coat to disguise myself.  I took the first bus to DC that I came across.

"I, uh, stole a car from the bus station and drove to Amanda King's house in Arlington."

"Why did you go to my house first?"

Lee thought for a moment trying to phrase an answer to her question without jeopardizing their secret, "I... I needed to let her know that I was alive before I turned myself into the Agency.  Amanda's house was deserted so I tried to think of other places that she might have gone to.  I eventually ran into you at the train station where we had first met."  It was nearly eleven o'clock by the time Lee finished his account of the last nine years.  He had tried his best to give his report in impersonal way, especially where it concerned Amanda, but he was getting tired.

Amanda stopped the tape recorder and wrapped her arms around Lee as if she could take away the pain of the memories that still gripped him.  She knew it would take a long time for Lee to live with what had happened and she would be there to help him as he was for her on numerous occasions.

************

February 14, 2008
4:00 AM

The shrill of the telephone woke Amanda up from a sound sleep.  She had been having a wonderful dream that Lee had come back to her.  As she reached for the phone, she realized that she hadn't dreamt Lee's return; he had really come back and was holding her in his arms in her living room.  The answering machine picked up the phone call and she heard Francine say that they had found something and were going to check it out later that day.  Amanda stared at Lee, tracing the lines the contours of his face with her eyes.  After Lee finished his debriefing, Amanda made a mental note to call Francine to pick up the fifteen cassettes that held the account of Lee's last nine years.  They spent the rest of the night rediscovering each other, and talking about anything not related to the Agency.

Amanda's mind was still astounded that he had survived the last nine years as well as he did, but her heart had known that he would come back and that everything would be alright.  In his sleep, Lee looked more at peace than she could remember him being since she first met him.  Timidly, Amanda leaned forward and lightly touched her lips to his, almost afraid to kiss him, should he wake.

Lee opened one eye when Amanda kissed him.  'God, I've missed her kisses,' he thought as he responded, surprising Amanda.  They broke the kiss and huddled close to each other.  Lee decided to break the silence, "I guess we fell asleep, huh?"

"Yeah.  Uhm... I know it's a bit early, but do you want breakfast?" Amanda asked as she got up and stretched the kinks out of her back.  This simple act brought back memories of years past when she would get up in the middle of the night to make a snack after they had made love to Lee.

"Sure.  Uh... do you have something I can change into?"

The question startled Amanda back into reality.  She had forgotten that he hadn't been living here and didn't know where everything was.  She simply nodded and took his hand to help him up off the floor.

Lee was given the grand tour of the house.  He was surprised to see that all his clothes were hanging in the closet of the master bedroom.  He didn't know what to say when he saw the study where Amanda's search for him was very evident so he hugged her and kissed the top of her head.  Amanda understood his gesture as a thank you and smiled.  It may have been nine years, but the last seventeen hours of being in his presence had seemed like he had never left despite the awkwardness she had felt less than twelve hours ago.  When they finished the tour, Amanda suggested that they take a shower and insisted that he go first.

When Lee got into the shower, Amanda went back into the living room and picked up their dishes and the tapes and set them on the counter.  She got everything mixed together for pancakes and eggs, then found a small box to put the tapes into.  When she was satisfied that everything was ready, she called Francine at her office.

"Desmond, here."

"Good morning, Francine."

"Amanda!  Where were you this morning?  I called to let you know we got a lead as to where Lee might be."

"I know, Francine.  I was a little groggy when you called, so I let the machine pick up," Amanda lied.  "But I didn't call in about that.  I need you to come out and pick something up from the house."

"Amanda, I can't.  I'm swamped with reports and getting everything ready for today’s tracking job..."

"Francine, please?  I'll make you breakfast.   Complete with chocolate chip pancakes."  To Francine Amanda sounded desperate, very desperate if she was resorting to a chocolate bribe.

"All right.  I'll be there in forty five minutes."  They hung up and Amanda got the chocolate chips out of the pantry.  All of a sudden, Amanda was grabbed from behind by a freshly showered Lee.

"Lee!  I wish you wouldn't do that to me."  'Even after all these years, he hasn't lost his ability to sneak up on me,' Amanda thought as she turned to face him.  Before she could open her mouth to speak again, Lee kissed her passionately.  A minute later they broke the kiss, breathless.

"I love you," they said at the same time.  Lee chuckled and Amanda smiled.  It was like they had never been apart.  Lee looked around the kitchen and same the fixings for breakfast.

"So, when are we going to eat?" he asked.

"In forty five minutes."  Amanda heard his stomach growl in protest.  "We have to wait for Francine.  Now, you be good while I take my shower."  Lee gave her a mischievous grin and started to follow her into the bathroom.

"No, Lee.  Not this time.  You get dressed," Amanda ordered.  More than anything she wanted Lee to join her, but now wasn't the time.  Lee was disappointed, but understood that she needed some time to get used to having him around again, so he didn't push it.  Just the fact that she had said 'not this time' gave him hope that soon they would.  Amanda was still taking her shower when Lee finished getting dressed.  He looked at the clock on the dresser, it was now 5:45.  Francine would be at the house in fifteen minutes.  'Better hurry Amanda up,' Lee thought smiling at the prospect of surprising Amanda again.  Unfortunately he didn't get to surprise her; instead, Amanda had managed to get out of the shower and put her robe on before sneaking up and giving him a hug.

"What!" Lee jumped off the bed in shock and turned to see his attacker.  "Where did you learn how to do that, Amanda?"

"Oh, I picked it up somewhere."

"Oh?  Where exactly did you pick it up?"

"Can't tell you, it's classified," Amanda teased.  Secretly she was ecstatic that she had managed to sneak up on the infamous and original Scarecrow.

"Classified?  Come now, Mrs. Stetson.  You know nothing is classified between us."  Lee was happy that they had found their feet and could tease each other.

"Yep."  Amanda gave him a light kiss.  "But I'm your boss, remember."

"Ah, that's right.  Tell me, 'boss', is there any way that I can gain the security clearance needed to learn that secret?"  Lee gave her a kiss.  A few moments later they heard the door bell.  Amanda broke the kiss and hurried to get dressed.  Amanda told Lee to start cooking breakfast while she answered the door.

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