Lee stared at Amanda's retreating form. `Not exactly.' What
the hell had she meant by that? Not only that, but he hated being
left hanging. He needed answers. Shaking himself out of his stunned
state, he made his way quickly down the hallway after her. As soon
as he reached her, he gently tapped her on the shoulder. "And where
do you think you're going?"

Amanda pushed the elevator button and then turned to look at
Lee with a very innocent expression her face. She knew why he had
come after her, but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.
It was her turn to leave him guessing. "I'm going home, after all I
have a lot of explaining to do."

Lee nodded. "You're darn right you do. What did you mean
back there?" He motioned back in the general direction of the bull
pen.

"I meant I had some explaining to do to Mother," Amanda
raised the picnic basket up slightly. "Do you know how hard it's
going to be for me to explain why I have a picnic basket with me and
I was gone for twenty-four hours. She's going to give me the third
degree and want to know who I was with, and she's going to assume it
was with a man, which of course it was, and she's going to want
details. Believe me this is going to be very hard to explain.
Although I did leave a note, which she said she never got, so now I
have to talk to Phillip and Jamie."

Lee put up his hand. "Stop. Don't think that you're going to
ramble your way out of this one…" Just then the elevator dinged, the
doors opened and Francine stepped out.

Francine took one look at Lee's face and smiled. "Aww,
trouble in paradise again?"

Amanda smiled sweetly. "Nope, Francine, no trouble at all."
She stepped on to the now empty elevator and then turned back to look
at Lee. "You're a spy Lee, so I'll just let you figure the answer out
on your own."

Before Lee could respond, the door closed, and he was left
with his mouth hanging open.

"Better close that Lee, before some steno clerk decides to
come along and close it for you." Francine chuckled as she walked
away, heading towards the bullpen.

Lee closed his mouth and thought about replying that he
wasn't interested in the steno pool anymore. Suddenly realizing how
true that was, he focused his attention on the closed elevator doors
instead with a small amount of longing. He was only interested in
one woman right now, and normally that idea would send him running
for the hills. But this was different, and right now the only thing
he was feeling was disappointment mixed with a dose of
dissatisfaction.

Were his mixed feelings because Amanda had gotten the last
word, or the fact that a small part of him had hoped she'd clarify
her comment. Then again, if she had, what would he have wanted her
to say? I mean they had almost kissed, and for the first time he
hadn't really believed it himself when he told her that it was two
people trying to stay warm. Could it be possible that he was
starting to develop feelings for Amanda, feelings that were more than
friendship? And was it also possible that she might feel the same
way?

"Scarecrow!" Billy's voice echoed back down the hallway.

Lee turned away from the doors and made his way towards the
bullpen. He'd have to shelve his thoughts for now, but he had a
feeling Amanda King would be back in them soon enough, causing him
many a sleepless night. He chuckled to himself. Amanda had been
causing him sleepless nights for the past two and a half years, only
before it was because of her annoying habit of getting in the way.
Now, however, he had a feeling that she'd be entering his thoughts in
a different, and hopefully, more enjoyable way and he found that he
really didn't mind that idea at all. But one thing was for sure, one
day very soon, he was going to get a direct answer to her `not
exactly.'

End

"I have to find out what's that, and I will find out. I'm Francine
Desmond, one of the best agents around here, and no one can keep
something important from me."

The elegant blond agent mumbled for herself. I have to find the
reason for the almost nauseous sweet expression on Lee's face. It
wasn't new, if I'm right, two weeks ago I noticed it for the first
time.

She poked and prodded without resting but all she got was "Need to
know Francine" and him hightailing to the Q Bureau or any other place
lightning speed.

"Francine, call Lee, down here now," Billy's voice startled her.

God! If I see this look again I'm going to be sick, she mumbled
watching her colleague approaching the bullpen.

"Francine, Lee I want you two to watch the warehouse on Bond Street
tonight, we got rumors of a KGB secret meeting there."

"Me, Billy? What about Amanda? After all she is Scarecrow's
partner. I can't, I have a date tonight, he is a prince, the
prince of... Well this is ‘need to know for now,’ he invited me at
one superfancy party, and I already bought a designer gown, silver
in color with....."

"Francine!!! STOP ! what's that? Amanda stopped her ramblings and you
picked up from where she left them?
For your information, Amanda has a parents meeting tonight, and
then a found raising party, the school needs new computers," said
Billy looking at Lee who was nodding in approval.

Francine was fuming next to her car waiting for Lee to pick her up.
Her gown remained unused, her prince sounded upset when she called and
cancelled the date and the remark SHE was rambling like that annoying
housewife just grated her brain.
Catching a glimpse of the silver vette, she made her mind: tonight
she will find out all about Lee's new appearance.

Yes her mind was set up, but the gods weren’t good with her, the
seasoned agent knew all her tricks, so the dreaming look was still
on Lee's face now with an matching almost, silly grin, and she
didn't know more then in the morning about the reason why he wore it.

It was almost midnight when Billy called the stakeout off, the
rumors were right but the location was wrong, and he had already a
team near by who can check. So they were free.

Francine wasn't a woman who gave up easily. Her night was ruined
and she didn't have any scruples to ruin anyone's else, so the only
thought on her mind was to bait Lee to take her to eat or maybe a
drink, something late hour or not, she was determined not to let him
off the hook, she NEED TO KNOW!

Her plans were crushed once again when Lee after driving to the
Agency garage, helped her out of the vette and walked her to the red
Mustang and turned away with a "Good night Francine."

"And where do you think you're going? What do you say, maybe we can
eat something or a drink, come on Lee the night is young!"

"Sorry Francine, I'm expected to made an appearance at a party
tonight and I have to go home and dress up"

"A party!!! Can I go too? You know I have a new gown."

"I don't think a school party would made your gown shine like it
should, and you too...."

"A school party? Don't tell me you are going to Amanda's party? Lee
this isn't you...

But Lee didn't answer, her question got lost in the vette's engine
roar.

Here's a little bitty continuation of Monica's story:

Francine was so in shock at what Lee Stetson, Scarecrow the loner had said
that all thoughts were lost in the roar of the silver corvette. She watched
it zoom off in disbelief. 'A school party,' she thought. 'Why on Earth
would Lee go to a SCHOOL party?' Then as the realization dawned on her she
had to go to see it for herself. She was off to the local middle school.
With little thought she whipped out of the Agency parking spot she was in
almost running over Leatherneck.

"And where do you think you're going? Watch where you’re going, Francine!"

"Sorry, but I'm a woman on a mission," she yelled back pulling out in front
of a car and speeding off to her distination.

Amanda tossed and turned in bed. She couldn't stop thinking about Lee. He'd
been hurt--shot in the arm. Even though he said he didn't need any help, the
fact that he was hurt and alone tugged at her heart.

She peeked at the clock. It was late--after two in the morning--but she
didn't care. Tossing the blankets off, she dashed into the bathroom for a quick
shower. She pulled on an old pair of sweat-pants and her pink Georgetown
sweat-shirt.

Carrying her shoes, she tip-toed down the stairs avoiding the squeaky step.
She slipped them on and got about half-way out the back door when the lights
flipped on bathing the room in bright light.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"Oh, Mother, you frightened me."

"Well, missy, answer my question. Where are you going in the middle of the
night?"

"I . . . well . . . I just remembered we're out of milk and I promised the
boys I'd make them waffles for breakfast. So, I thought I'd run to the market
and pick up some. I'll be back in just a few minutes. Bye."

She closed the door behind her in a hurry, not waiting for her mother to
protest. Hoping she'd fare better with Lee, she pulled out of the driveway and
sped to Lee's apartment.

End

Phillip and Jamie were in the front yard passing a football. Phillip
drew his arm back getting ready to toss it back to Jamie. When
Phillip released the ball it landed on the windshield of the Vette
shattering the glass into a million pieces. Phillip looked over at
Jamie with fear in his eyes. Jamie started running toward the house.
Phillip ran after him and said. "And where do you think you're
going? You're just as in much trouble as I am."

Jamie said while running to the back door. "To tell Lee that you
threw the football and it shattered the window of his baby. He's
going to kill you when he finds out."

"Oh yeah, he's going to kill you, too."

Phillip stopped Jamie before he got to the back door. They both
heard the back door open when they saw Lee coming out of the house.

Amanda called out after him. "And where do you think you're going,
Lee?"

Lee said "I just remembered an important meeting and I'm running
late." When he got to the driveway he took one look at his
baby. "What the hell happened to my baby?" He turned around and saw
Phillip and Jamie run out from the side of the house and to the back
door. "Uh, and where do you think you're going? I think somebody
has some explaining to do. Do you know what happened to my car?"

Phillip spoke up and said. "Lee, I'm sorry it was my fault. I threw
the football too hard."

Lee said. "Well I'm late for an important meeting. We will talk
about this when I get back home. Oh, and tell your mother the reason
why I had to take her car." Both boys slowly went back inside the
house. He got in the Jeep and drove off.

Thirteen-year old Lee Stetson stomped up the stairs to his room and slammed
the door hard enough to rattle the window. He plopped down on the bed,
crossed his arms across is chest, and glared at his reflection in the mirror over
his dresser.

Well, he might as well get comfortable. This room was going to be his prison
for the next two-weeks. That stupid teacher just had to call his Uncle. It
really wasn't his fault that he got into another fight. But, did his Uncle
believe him? Oh no, he didn't. No matter how many times he tried to explain that
he had no choice, The Colonel said he didn't want to hear any excuse.

He didn't care what the Colonel thought. Lee knew he'd done the right thing.
Poor Sally James, those three bullies were picking on her. Tossing her books
in the trash, and pulling her hair. Backing her into the corner. He just
couldn't stand by and do nothing.

So he jumped on the back of the biggest one, wrapped his arm around his
shoulders and pulled him to the floor, punching him in the eye once Lee got him
to the ground. The other two jumped in to try and help the big guy but, a
quick left jab to the nose of one guy sent him crying to the nurse.

The third guy wrapped his arms around Lee from behind, effectively stopping
Lee from punching any more so he did the only thing he could. A nice kick to
the groin had the bruiser doubled over in pain. It was a sneaky tactic but it
was the only option Lee had.

Sally showed her gratitude with a sweet kiss on his cheek and agreeing to go
to the dance with him on Saturday night. Then, Mr. Frawley hauled him into
the principal's office and called his uncle.

And instead of a 'Atta boy' or 'nice job, Skip,' all his Uncle had to say
was that he was confined to quarters for the next fourteen days. Now, he was
going to miss the dance. Life really sucked.

~~~

For the next three days, Lee's life consisted of going to school and coming
directly home to sit in his room until dinner, then it was back into his cell.
Tonight, however, things changed. While they were eating dinner, the Colonel
told him he had to go on maneuvers this weekend, but Barney would be staying
there with him instead of Lee going to Barney's home.

Barney's a softie. He wouldn't keep Lee locked up. But just incase he did,
Lee started to hatch a plan of escape. There was no way he was going to miss
going to the dance with Sally.

~~~

Saturday evening, Barney called him down to dinner. Lee stuck his head out
the door and told Barney he wasn't feeling well. He thought he may be getting
the cold that was going around his class. So, he was just going to bed to get
some rest.

He closed his door and listened for the creaky step. Once he heard that he
knew Barney would be back downstairs. Lee turned on his stereo, blasting the
music to cover any noise he made.

He changed his clothes and made a pillow-person, just incase Barney came up
to check on him. Then he slid the window open and climbed down the tree.

Reaching the ground, he exhaled deeply and brushed off the bark that was
stuck to his pants.

"And where do you think you're going?"

He jumped at the voice and slowly turned around to face his jailer. "Barney,
I . . . ah . . . I"

"Well, young man, I'm waiting for an answer."

"I'm going . . . back to my room I guess." He hung his head and started for
the front door.

"Are you just going to stand you date up?"

Confused, Lee turned back to face Barney. "Sir?"

"I thought you were taking little Sally James to the dance. You're going to
need a ride to her place."

Lee smiled and raced to the car.

End

After a night of great marital wedding honeymoon bliss
shy Amanda Stetson wouldn’t let Lee get out of bed,
"And where do you think you’re going, mister. I ain't done
with you yet."

Lee laughed. "I ain't never again going to under
estimate the power of the average housewife."

The black B.M.W. sedan pulled deftly over to the side of the small
country road on the outskirts of Berlin. Two occupants quickly
exited the vehicle and met in front of the car.

"I am hoping that this is the break we have been waiting for in this
case. The cottage where my contact is supposed to be waiting is just
around the bend on the left-hand side of the road. It shouldn't take
long for Klaus to give me the floppy disk he said he had obtained
with the list of German agents who may have infiltrated our European
network," Lee informed Amanda.

"Ok, so let's get going then so we can get back to Berlin and make
that 7 p.m. flight to D.C.," Amanda said as she began walking in the
direction of the cottage.

"And where do you think you're going?" Lee called out to her as she
hurried towards the cottage. "I need you to stay in the car, Amanda,
where you'll be safe. I don't know Klaus very well at all, and this
meet could be a trap."

Amanda turned and put her hands on her hips. "Lee, I don't want to
wait in the car! I would feel safer if you were nearby. I can just
wait outside the cottage while you meet with Klaus."

A—man—da, I want you to wait here with the car incase we need a quick
getaway. Please, just do what I ask. I don't have time to argue
with you about it. If I am late, Klaus may get spooked and split
taking the floppy with him."

Amanda walked slowly back towards Lee and the car. "Please be
careful!" She told him she passed him and he began walking down the
side of the road.

"Amanda, you get in the driver's seat, and be ready to get out of
here quickly," Lee called out over his shoulder as he hurried towards
the cottage.

Not thinking, Amanda got in on the left-hand side of the car and
reached for the steering wheel to steady herself in the seat. As she
reached out, all her hands found were air and the dashboard. "Darn
it!" she shouted aloud feeling rather foolish, as she remembered it
was a right-hand drive car. She hoped Lee wouldn't look back and see
her heading around to the opposite side of the car. She already felt
foolish enough and didn't need to be ribbed by Lee about it later.

Amanda settled into the driver's seat of the B.M.W. and wondered if
Lee had made it to the cottage yet. She hoped he wouldn't be gone
too long, and that things would go as planned with the meet. Waiting
in the car had never been her strong suit, especially when Lee could
be in danger.

Lee crept around the side of the cottage, scoping it out to make sure
there were no traps set for him. Finally assured that Klaus was the
only occupant of the cabin, he tapped the appropriate number of times
on the rear door as Klaus had instructed him to do. A short, blond
haired man came opened it. To Lee, he looked quite nervous.

"Scarecrow?" he asked as his eyes darted over Lee's left shoulder to
make sure no one else was in the backyard.

"Yes. Klaus, I take it?" Lee replied as he stepped into the kitchen
area of the cottage. "Did you bring the floppy disk?"

Klaus paced nervously around the kitchen as if stalling for time.
Finally, he said in broken English, "Ya, have it in zee briefcase in
zee other room. For you, I'll get it now." He hurried into the
other room.

While he was waiting for Klaus to return, Lee looked out the window
to make sure no one was watching from the bushes in the side yard of
the cottage.

Suddenly, Lee heard the front door slam. He pulled his pistol out of
the holster hidden beneath his jacket. Carefully, he exited the
kitchen and headed into the room where Klaus had just disappeared.

And disappeared was right, Klaus was no where to be found.
Apparently, this was either a trap or Klaus had been spooked for some
reason. He could only hope that the latter was the case. No sooner
than that thought entered his mind, he heard a gunshot outside the
cottage. Immediately, he felt a searing pain in his shoulder. Damn,
I'm hit, he thought, as he fired off a couple of shots out the
window.

Lee decided that the best thing to do was to make a run for it out
the front door. He figured he could make it the few feet over to the
wooded area for cover and then hightail it back to the B.M.W. where
Amanda was waiting on him. He wondered if she had heard the shots
ring out.

He fired off another couple of shots and raced out the front door.
He did a zig zag pattern all the way over to the wooded area where he
took cover in the trees. As he ran away from the cottage, he ran
squarely into Amanda who was hiding in the wooded area.

"I heard the shots! Are you ok?" she whispered, not caring that he
had nearly knocked her off her feet.

"Amanda! I thought I told you to wait in the car!" Lee whispered
back.

"Oh my gosh, Lee, you're bleeding!" she exclaimed in a low
tone. "We've got to get you outta here."

"It's nothing, Amanda, just a scratch." Lee told her as they began to
make their way quickly back towards the B.M.W.

After what seemed like an eternity to Amanda, they finally were back
at the car. Lee checked the area to make sure no one was lying in
wait for them. The coast seemed to be clear.

"Amanda, you'll have to drive." Lee informed her. "I'm not sure what
is going on here, but I doubt they'll follow us. They obviously
weren't shooting to kill back there. Just a scare tactic I guess.
And I'm not sure if Klaus set me up or if he saw the shooter and
spooked. Damn it! Guess this wasn't the break I was hoping for."

"Where are we going? You need a doctor." Amanda told him as she put
the B.M.W. into drive and headed back towards Berlin.

"No, we can't take a chance on that until we know what their game
plan is. Let's find a small hotel to hole up in where I can get this
shoulder bandaged up and figure out what is going on."

Amanda had warned her mother that she would be going to work earlier,
as usual her mother went through the 20 questions, none of which
Amanda could answer truthfully. Amanda told a white lie saying she
was having an early morning meeting with her colleague and wanted to
get there in time to prepare for it.

By the time Amanda arrived at work it was 7.50am and she was looking
forward to her coffee and bagels with Lee. She went into her office
and found it empty, so she wondered down to the bullpen to see if he
was there and saw a few night crew getting ready to go home and the
cleaners sorting out the rubbish and mopping floors. She decided to
go back upstairs and was caught by Francine. "And where do you think
you are going?" She asked in that rather annoying nosey tone of voice.

'Oh here we go.' Amanda couldn't really complain she had missed
Francine even though she was so annoying. She turned to Francine and
smiled."I was just going out to get some food I didn't have any
breakfast and I am famished. Oh how was your holiday?" She added as
an afterthought knowing Francine would run away rather than talk about
personal life.

"Oh I had a wonderful time." She looked at her watch. "Oh look at the
time I need to dash, speak to you later." Francine left rather
hastily leaving Amanda grinning at her inner triumph. "Gotcha again."
Amanda whispered.

Back upstairs in the office Amanda sat clearing up some papers while
waiting for Lee. The lack of food made her emotions go into
overload. She started to feel disappointed, it was 8.20 am and she
had been looking forward to this breakfast meeting since Lee had
mentioned it last night. Even though they were still friends she felt
excited about it. If they were just friends, she wouldn't be sat here
getting excited like a teenage girl pining after the handsome boy in
her class who would never date her. Why was she even thinking of
dating this was so silly. Amanda put her head in her hands trying to
clear her head and to make sense of her thoughts. Coffee was the key,
no talking to Lee was the key, no coffee is not the key eating would
be better that way she would not get so nervous and start to ramble on
like she normally does.

Amanda had just stared clearing things up again in a vain attempt to
distract herself when Lee walked in. "Sorry I am late there was a
crash and I had to take a detour." Lee noticed Amanda was looking
nervous he knew her well enough now to know her emotional state but
chose not to comment. He was not the worlds best at dealing with
women and their emotions and he felt that this time it was more
complicated and probably had something to do with him. "You look like
a woman in need of bagels and strong coffee." Lee said in a calming
manner. He smiled and offered her his hand to help her get up. "Lets
get out of here, I can take you to a nice little place over in George
Town then we can go on that small mission I mentioned last night."

"Wonderful." Amanda took his hand and grabbed her notebook and
followed him. As soon as he was not looking at her she smiled, that
feeling of excitement was back and making her heart race. She finally
knew where she wanted to go in life, this was what she loved to do and
being Lee's partner felt so right to her. Being here right now with
Lee was the what made her life complete. The only thing now was to
figure out if he felt the same way.

The End

Lee was sitting on the couch watching TV. Lee and Amanda's son
Matthew was crawling around on the floor. Lee wasn't paying
attention to where his son was going. Amanda told him to keep an eye
on his son while she was in the kitchen fixing dinner. Matthew made
his way into the kitchen where his mommy was. As he was headed
toward the steps leading into the hallway, Amanda picked him up and
said. "And where do you think you're going little one. Daddy isn't
doing a good job by keeping you in the other room with him." She
picked Matthew up and carried him in the other room where Lee was
laying across the couch on his side watching TV. Amanda sat Matthew
on top of Lee's hip. Amanda started to head back into the kitchen.

Lee looked up at Amanda with a surprised look on his face. "And where
do you think you're going?"

Amanda crossed her arms and looked at Lee. "I can't fix dinner and
keep an eye on our son now, can I. He's going to have to stay in
here with you until dinner is ready." She went back into the kitchen
leaving Lee standing there with his mouth open to protest.

Lee sat up with his son on his lap. Matthew tried to squirm out of
Lee's arms. "And where do you think you're going, young man? Mommy
will kill me if I let you out of my sight again?"