Amanda took her seat in the Monday morning staff meeting and frowned. Surely Lee wasn't so mad at her that he wasn't showing up for work? They'd had a big argument on Thursday night when Lee had backed out of coming camping with them. He'd been grumpy all day and his letting the boys down like this had really upset her. Furious, she'd nevertheless managed to come up with a likely excuse for him and headed off on the outing, expecting him to turn up at some point. All day Friday, she'd hoped that he'd come around. She was sure that on Saturday, he'd show up looking a bit sheepish but willing to let it go. They'd packed up earlier than planned yesterday, the boys somewhat despondent at Lee's continued absence. It seemed that fun in the King household required Lee now.

Certain he would show up after the family was in bed, Amanda had settled in the family room with a book. At midnight, she'd given up and gone to bed, more disappointed in Lee than she could ever remember being.

"Alright people, listen up." Billy said as he came into the meeting room. "We have plenty going on this week. The Dalai Lama is in town and that brings out every Tibetan rebel and every Chinese sympathiser. Francine, I want you and Fielder on that one. The royal family of Cap-de-Far is here too –" Frowning, Billy looked around. "Amanda, where's Lee?"

"I don't know, sir."

"I'm here." Lee said tiredly as he came in. The left side of his face was so swollen that he looked like he was trying to hide a tennis ball in his cheek. He obviously hadn't been able to shave and combined with his mussed hair and the dark circles under his eyes, he looked terrible.

"What happened to you?" Francine asked.

"Toothache. I'm sure it'll be better soon."

"How?" Amanda asked.

"How what?"

"How will it get better? Did the dentist give you antibiotics?"

"I haven't been to the dentist. I hate dentists." Amanda met Billy's look and nodded. "Okay, I'll deal with Eddie Spencer then. Amanda, can you take Lee to the dentist please?"

"Billy, I don't need to go to the dentist! It's just a little toothache!"

"Lee." Amanda's voice held the unmistakable tone of a furious mother with a recalcitrant child. Despite having few memories of his mother, Lee understood that this was not a tone to be challenged and subsided under her glare. Billy grinned, knowing that Scarecrow was in the best of hands.

"Alright folks, that's a wrap for today." Meeting Amanda's gaze across the table, Lee made a last effort to escape.

"Hold it right there, Stetson." She barked, coming around the table.

"Amanda…" As the door shut behind Billy, Amanda met her husband's conciliatory gaze. "Did you have a nice trip?" He asked.

"Oooh!" Amanda growled, barely keeping from screaming. "How dare you?" Lee blinked.

"Are you mad at me?" He asked, bewildered.

"What gave it away?" Amanda answered. "Never mind. Let's get you down to the infirmary. Once you feel better, I may strangle you."

"But why?" Amanda counted to ten, then twenty. At thirty she realised it wasn't helping at all.

"Tell me this, Lee. Was your tooth hurting on Thursday?" She saw the truth in his eyes before his mouth could form the lies. "That's what I thought. You picked a fight so that we would still go on our trip when you knew full well that you needed someone to look after you."

"I didn't want to ruin everyone's weekend. It wouldn't have been fair to the boys." He admitted quietly.

"Lee Stetson, you are an idiot." Amanda told him, regaining her calm. "I love you, but when it comes to family, you are an absolute idiot."

"What do you mean? I was trying to be a good step-father." He told her. "There was no reason for them to miss out on a camping trip because of my sore tooth." Amanda shook her head. He could barely talk and yet he was still trying to be a hero.

"Tell me this, Lee; do you really believe that me, mother, Phillip, or Jamie is so selfish that we wouldn't happily give up a weekend camping trip to take care of you?" Amanda asked. "You're family! Even if they don't know it yet, they'd be very upset if they knew that you thought we were so selfish that we'd just abandon you when you were in this condition. We all love you, Lee. And it's not acceptable for you to just decide that that doesn't matter and you're going to leave us out of something like this."

"I'm sorry, Amanda." Lee sighed. "I guess, I'm still getting the hang of this family stuff."

"I know that. But you still owe mother and the boys an apology – when you're feeling better. Right now, let's get you down to the infirmary – you look terrible, sweetheart."

Doc McJohn flashed a light into Lee's mouth and frowned. "I'm no dentist, but I'd say that wisdom tooth will need to come out." Lee's eyes widened and he looked at Amanda in horror. With his mouth wide open he could do nothing more than grunt a protest. "Let me ask Fronan. I think he did a dentistry rotation back in the day."

"Fronan?!" Lee yelped as McJohn stepped back.

"What's wrong with Dr. Fronan? I thought he was very nice when I met him." Amanda said. She'd only met Dr. Fronan that one time that she'd eaten a toxin-laced sandwich meant for Lee. The first thing she knew after she woke up was that a very nice man was asking her if she was feeling better. He was very sweet.

Lee looked as if he'd prefer Hannibal Lector as a dentist.

"Lee, you need to get that tooth taken out, now. Either Dr. Fronan does it, or we'll need to drive out to Bethesda so that you can be seen by a cleared dentist."

"Alright." Lee sighed.

Fronan was duly called and also examined the tooth. "Yes, it needs to come out. But looking at your medical history, you can't take the standard anaesthetics. We'll need to use some methal-chloral-anhydrate. It'll knock you out for a few hours, but by the time you wake up, the swelling should have come down and you'll be feeling much better.

"A few hours!" Lee bellowed.

"Lee!" Amanda interrupted. "If it was me instead of you in pain, would you still think it was a problem." Glowering, Lee relented.

"Alright, do it." Lee agreed. "But I want it on record, Amanda, that I'm only doing this to make you happy."

"Noted." Amanda told him, wishing she could kiss him right there.

The procedure was very quick. They gave Lee the injection and a few minutes later, the offending tooth was out. Another shot of antibiotics and Fronan and the young technician who had assisted started cleaning up the area. Amanda sat beside Lee, holding his hand. Even if he wasn't aware of him, she always needed to be very close to him when he was incapacitated. Down here on Level 7, there was virtually no risk to him but if he couldn't take care of himself, she was going to do it.

"Uh, Dr. Fronan?" The technician called hesitantly. "I think there's been a little mistake." Lifting the vial they'd taken Lee's drugs from, the technician pointed to a part of the label. Fronan looked at it carefully.

"Oh, this isn't good."

"What do you mean, this isn't good?" Amanda demanded.

"Well, I thought it was methal-chloral-anhydrate but it looks like it was actually Trimethal-chloral-ahydrate. The tri- part of the label was covered with something."

"What's the difference?"

"Well, uh. Do you remember when you brought Rupert Simpson in and he had been drugged? That was Trimethal-chloral-ahydrate."

"Are you telling me that Lee will be incoherent for the next week?" Amanda gasped.

"Y-yes. When he wakes up he will be incapacitated for a week."

"I need to speak with Mr. Melrose before he wakes up." Amanda decided. "He's in no danger, right?"

"None. I'm really sorry about this, Mrs. King."

"Not yet, but you will be." Amanda muttered. "Stay with him. I'll be right back." Because it was eleven o'clock, Amanda knew that she'd catch Billy at the coffee machine if she hurried. As it was, she found him talking to Francine.

"Sir!"

"Amanda, is everything alright? How is Lee doing?"

"He's out cold at the moment, sir. But there's been a mistake. Lee's been given Trimethal-chloral-ahydrate. That's the same drug that was given to Rupert Simpson in the Pyramid case."

"That's just great." Francine said, rolling her eyes.

"WIFE! Where are you?" Lee's bellow came down hall. Everyone turned to look at Amanda who groaned. "AMANDA! AMANDA!" A moment later, Lee came skipping into the bullpen, swept Amanda in his arms and planted a kiss on her lips. "You know what, let's tell everyone about our wedding." Humming Here Comes the Bride, Lee waltzed her around the bullpen. Her feet were barely touching the floor. Coming to a halt in front of Billy and Francine, he announced he had a secret and proceeded to bounce up and down excitedly until Billy asked him what it was. "I love Amanda!"

"We can see that, Scarecrow."

"And you know what else?"

"Lee!" Amanda interrupted. "Lee, please, please be quiet!"

"But –" Desperate to keep him from making any more grand revelations, Amanda clapped a hand over his mouth. Lee immediately began kissing her hand.

"Let's move this into my office." Billy suggested. Amanda nodded.

"Lee, let's go into Billy's office."

"Not until you kiss me!" Lee argued unreasonably. A moment later he swept her into his arms and announced, "Hey, I never did get to carry you across the threshold!" Stunned, Amanda found herself being carried into Billy's office.

"Lee, put me down."

"Nope. You're mine." Billy and Francine joined them in the office while the bullpen erupted in howls of laughter. Amanda crossed her arms, then quickly wrapped them around Lee's neck as he began dancing erratically with her in his arms.

"Well, we certainly can't let him loose in this condition." Billy remarked.

"He seems happy enough as long as he's embarrassing Amanda." Francine quipped. It was difficult for Amanda to follow the conversation but she was fairly certain that they were so far past embarrassment that there wasn't even a word for how she felt. Lee was going to be mortified when he was once again aware of what he was doing.

"Amanda, Amanda, Amanda…" Lee was starting to singsong as he turned in circles. "Amanda, you know what?"

"Lee, please. Can you just sit down?" Amanda begged. She was getting dizzy and he was getting unsteady. She hoped this wouldn't get any worse, but then it did.

"Okay. But Amanda, I want to make a baby. Let's start working on one now."

"No!" Amanda had a horrible premonition that he'd immediately try making love to her right there in Billy's office. Desperate, she smiled at Lee and stroked his hair back. "Sweetheart, close your eyes." Happy to do as she asked, Lee closed his eyes and relaxed. "Lee, can you pretend to sleep for me please? Show me how a superspy can play dead, ok?" He nodded and finally let her go. Billy, Francine, and Amanda shared a meaningful look as they moved as far as they could from Lee.

"Congratulations?" Billy offered.

"Thanks." Amanda looked over at her sleeping husband. "This is not how we wanted people to find out."

"No, I guess not." Francine said, for once too shocked to make a mean comment. Amanda supposed that, when it came down to it, Lee was a good friend to her too.

"So what do we do?"

"Sir, I think maybe I should go back to Mrs. McMurtrey's. I can handle Lee when he's being… affectionate. But if his mood suddenly shifts, or if he thinks he's on a mission, he could actually be a danger to people. We can't predict how delusional he's going to be."

"I think you're right, Amanda. On the plus side, we know how long it will last, and we know he'll recover fully. But yes, while he's in this state, we can't possibly let him wander around. He knows too many national secrets."

"Alright sir, I'll call my mother and tell her something to explain why we'll be away for a week."

"AMANDA!" Lee jerked up-right, looking around frantically. Seeing her, he hurried over and wrapped her in a hug. "Isn't she wonderful?" He asked Billy. "My Amanda." Lee sighed, dropping kisses on her neck.

"I'll make the arrangements immediately, if you want to take him to the carpool."

"Thank you sir."

Once at Mrs. McMurtrey's, Lee was given another shot and finally fell asleep, giving Amanda a break. She couldn't believe what an unmitigated disaster today had been. She could not believe that their careful secret had now been thoroughly revealed. There was no choice: she would need to tell mother and the boys. She debated with herself whether she should wait until Lee was recovered or should just do it now. There was always the risk that he'd get to a phone and call the house, or escape and go to her house. The risk seemed minimal as long as Amanda stayed near him. He seemed content as long as he could touch her. She lay on the bed beside him, thinking of the last time they'd been here – when Doneck had tried to kill Lee with PD-2. That time, Lee had been able to act. Now, he was as helpless as an infant: a very dangerous infant who knew how to use automatic weapons.

"My Amanda." Lee murmured, pulling her close.

"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" Lee gave her his sweetest smile. As Fronan had predicted, the swelling had already started to subside and he was looking more like himself, if slightly scruffy with a four day growth of beard.

"I feel great. Amanda, can we make a baby?"

"Lee, I promise, when you are back to being yourself, we can think about it."

"You're the best mother, Amanda. And I'll be a good dad, Amanda. I promise. I'll take care of our baby and you and the boys and your mom and…" Looking confused, Lee flopped back onto the bed.

"Sweetheart, I know you'll be a great dad. I'd love to have a baby with you but we need to wait a little while until you're back to yourself, okay?"

"Okay. Why are we here? I'm not sick." Amanda looked at Lee. No matter how impaired his judgement was, she was sure that the core of the man she loved was still there. It might be easier if she appealed to his deepest characteristics.

"I am. Someone gave me a drug and now I'm a little bit confused." She told him.

"Like when Redzig drugged you?" Lee frowned fiercely. "You scared me that day, Amanda. Don't scare me again. I don't like that!" Amanda almost asked him how she'd scared him but decided it wasn't fair to take advantage of his state.

"Yes Lee. So you have to take care of me, okay?"

"I'll guard you!" Climbing out of bed, he started pacing at the foot as if he was a Beefeater at the Tower of London. Rolling her eyes, Amanda got comfortable as she watched him.