Disclaimer: The characters from Scarecrow and Mrs. King are the property of Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. We have borrowed the characters without the consent or knowledge of Warner Brothers or Shoot the Moon. This story, however, is copyrighted to the mentioned authors. This story is for entertainment purposes ONLY. If you would like to add it to an archive, please just let us know.

Summary: This is a story about jealousy, trust and love. What happens when Amanda is assigned to do a Peacock Dance?

Timeframe: This story takes place a year and a half, after the series has ended. The marriage is still a secret, which also means, their jobs are too.

Author's Notes: For those who do not speak French the title translates to: Love, Always love.

This story came about as a direct result to a challenge by b5alleycat over on the Wicky site. The challenge was to write a story where Lee sends Amanda a note asking her to meet him for a date. Unfortunately Dotty ends up with the note, and since there is no name on it and she thinks it's for her from her current boyfriend, Dotty goes to the Restaurant or wherever Lee has arranged for the date to take place and runs into Lee. Chaos ensues. The story you're about to read is actually a combination of a story idea that popped into our heads and the challenge. Hope you enjoy what our creative minds and muses came up with.

Rated: R

L'Amour, Toujours l'Amour

By The Yank and The Brit

Chapter 1

Outside the second floor window of a non-descript brick Georgetown building, a bright red cardinal sat perched on his tree branch, singing to his beautiful female companion. The female cardinal moved closer to her suitor, unaware that inside the room on the other side of the window, another male was contemplating how to woo his mate.

Lee Stetson sat at his desk, trying desperately to think of anything but his lovely wife. She was sitting there, so perfect, so inviting as she chewed on her pencil, deeply engrossed in the file she was reading, and it was driving him crazy. Did she have any idea the things he wanted to do to her, and how long it had been since he'd done them? Way too long in his opinion. Between their current caseload, the security classes Amanda had been teaching in Beaman's absence and the boys' activities, it had been three weeks, four days and fifteen hours since they had had any real time alone. Glancing down at his appointment book, he turned to today's page. As of yesterday, they had completed a very high profile case, and were now wrapping up the more mundane assignments, ones that could, if necessary, be pushed to the back burner. Scanning the calendar, he saw that Amanda had no classes today, and other than a meet with one of his family at three, their schedule was clear for the rest of the day. Closing the book, he looked back up at his wife with a devilish grin on his face.

Sensing her husband's eyes on her, Amanda looked up at him with a slightly suspicious expression. "What's going through that mind of yours, Stetson?"

"Just thinking how beautiful you are." Lee smiled admiringly at his wife.

A slow pink hue began to creep onto Amanda's cheeks, and she looked back down at the file in her hand. "Why do I have a feeling you have more on your mind than just my beauty?"

Lee shrugged. "Do you realize how long it's been since we spent the night alone?"

Amanda looked back up at her husband and caught him waggling his eyebrows at her. "Too long, if you ask me."

Lee nodded and, pushing his chair back from his desk, he rose from his seat and walked over to his wife's desk. Sitting down on the edge, he gently removed the pencil from her hand. "Well, I think that's something we should rectify immediately, don't you?"

Amanda gazed up at him with an expression of shock mixed with anticipation. "Lee! We're at work."

With a look that almost made her toes curl, Lee leaned down to place a kiss on her nose. "Yes, but our calendar is free until three when we're supposed to meet up with Lana." He rose from his position on the desk and moved to stand behind his wife. Placing his hands on her shoulders briefly, he slowly slid them down her arms. Leaning down, he placed featherlight kisses just below her ear. "We could take a long lunch." He whispered suggestively into her ear.

Amanda tried to keep her emotions under control. Even if they did have a clear calendar, she still had a huge stack of files that needed her attention sitting in her inbox. "It's too early for lunch. Besides, I'm not hungry." A shiver ran down her spine as her husband found a particularly sensitive spot.

Lee removed his hands from her arms, and stepping back, spun her chair around so that he was looking her directly in the eyes. "Neither am I." He grinned devilishly. "At least not for food. Come on, let's get out of here and head over to the apartment before someone decides that Scarecrow and Mrs. King are just the people they need for some urgent assignment."

Amanda glanced over at the stack of files, and then back up at her husband. Grinning, she turned and opened her bottom drawer. Pulling out her purse, she began to stand up. "You know what I think…I think a long lunch is beginning to sound like exactly what I need." She reached out and took her husband's hand in hers. As she began to lead him towards the door, the phone began ringing.

"Damn!" Lee glanced briefly towards the infernal contraption. "You know what, let it ring. I'm tired of being at everyone's beck and call. I want to spend some time with my wife."

"Lee, what if it's Mr. Melrose. He can just as easily check with Mrs. Marston to find out if we're here or not." Amanda started moving to answer the phone.

Lee stepped between her and the desk. "Leave it. If we run, we can be outside and heading towards my car before Billy has a chance to dial her number."

"But…"

"Amanda…didn't you ever play hooky when you were in school?" Lee looked at her seriously. "Besides, it's not like this is the first time you and I have ditched work."

Amanda nodded at the truth of his statement. Grabbing his hand, she pulled him towards the door. Swinging it open, she yanked him out into the hallway.

Lee took the keys to the Q-Bureau out of his pocket and quickly locked the door. He then chased after his wife towards the stairs. After rushing through the exterior door, he raced after her down the steps. Halfway down, Amanda had slowed her pace and he did the same. Although Mrs. Marston's back was to the stairs, it would look a tad bit suspicious if they were to be caught running through the halls, so to speak, by the Agency hall monitor. After descending the remainder of the stairs, they casually pulled off their badges, and passed them to Mrs. Marston. Then, with quiet dignity, he followed Amanda to the front door. Reaching his hand around her, he opened the door for his wife, and then followed her outside.

Lee quickly shut the door behind him and then, taking his wife's hand in his, he began racing towards his car. He wasn't taking any chances that Billy was the one calling looking for them, and if he had seen them on the monitors in his office walking through the foyer, he probably wouldn't hesitate to send the MPs out after them.

SMK SMK SMK

Amanda let out a small sound, halfway between a sigh and a giggle, as she leaned her head against the headrest of the Corvette and turned to look at her husband. "As much as I enjoyed that Lee, I don't think we should do it too often during the work week. It hardly puts me in the right frame of mind for work." She rubbed her stomach when it let out growl. "And now I'm hungry, really hungry, and we don't have time to stop for something to eat."

"Yeah, I know what you mean, we've seen to one appetite," Lee grinned at her slyly and winked, before turning his attention back to the road, "but never bothered to think about the other one. Oh well, it's not the first time we've skipped lunch. Maybe we can find a way to grab an early dinner."

"As wonderful as that sounds, I doubt Mr. Melrose is going to let us get away with leaving early, after we just took," Amanda glanced down at her watch, "a three hour lunch. Besides, we promised the boys we'd try and make it home in time for dinner." She reached over and rubbed her husband's arm affectionately. "It has been a while since we were able to have a real family dinner, especially since Joe had the boys this past weekend."

Lee sighed. "You're right, it has been about a week since I've spent any real time with them. We've been getting back to the house so late that your mother's already herding them upstairs to bed."

Amanda glanced out the window at the passing scenery. "I don't think I asked you where we were meeting Lana."

"She asked us to meet her near the Washington Monument. Less conspicuous if we act like tourists." Lee began scanning the area for a parking spot. Finding one not far from their destination, he quickly pulled the 'Vette into the spot and put the vehicle in park. "Even with our very enjoyable lunch, we still made it here with a few minutes to spare," he smiled as he glanced at his watch, "enough time to casually stroll to the meet, and still maintain our cover."

Amanda rolled her eyes and laughed. As she started to open her car door, she stopped and looked back at her husband with a curious glance. "Other than taking a stroll, how are we going to look the part of tourists, I don't suppose you have a camera in your hatch?"

Lee smiled again and nodded. "A good agent is always prepared." He climbed out of the driver's seat and, after closing his door, walked around to the back of the 'Vette and opened the hatch. Leaning in, he quickly pulled out a black leather case.

Amanda walked over to her husband shaking her head in amusement. "When will I learn to stop doubting you?" She smiled as she watched Lee pull out his camera and hang it around his neck.

Lee closed the hatch and wrapped his arm around his wife. "Ready to do some sightseeing my love?"

Amanda nodded and, tightening her coat around her to ward off the cold, began walking in the direction of the Washington Monument. She smiled when she felt the familiar sensation of her husband's arm wrap around her waist. "You know, it may be cold, but there's something about Washington in winter that just gives it a really festive look."

Lee pulled his wife closer to him. "I have to admit that until I met you, I never really spent that much time admiring the scenery or enjoying the holidays for that matter." He turned his head and placed a kiss in her hair.

"I'm glad I'm the one who opened your eyes." Amanda smiled to herself as she thought about the many different implications of that one statement.

"In more ways then one." Lee gave a lighthearted laugh as he scanned the area looking for Lana. It didn't take him long to find the blonde sitting on a bench along the walkway. "I see her, just ahead. I think the best way to play this is to get a few pictures of each other standing in front of the Monument and then we can approach her and ask her to take one of the two of us."

Amanda smiled. "I like that idea, and it would actually be nice to have a real picture of you and I, that we can actually display."

"You know, I like the sound of that. Since it'll be a work-related photo, we'll be able to put it up in the Q Bureau without raising suspicion" Lee guided Amanda past Lana's position, and subtly nodded at the blonde. He then walked a little further and then stopped. "Honey, I think right here would be the perfect spot." His wife nodded and smiled, as he backed up and removed the camera from around his neck. Taking the lens cap off, he made the pretense of taking Amanda's picture.

Amanda smiled for the picture and then, as Lee lowered the camera, she looked beyond him towards Lana. "Excuse me, miss," she waited till the blonde looked in her direction. "Would you mind taking a picture of the two of us?"

Lana rose from her seat and smiled. "Not at all." She answered in a voice thick with accent as she approached Lee. "Nice cover story."

"Hey, I like to improvise." Lee began making a show of telling Lana how to work the camera. "Take the picture and then we'll talk." He handed her the camera and started walking over to his wife.

Lana nodded and waited for Lee to reach Amanda's side. She watched as Lee put his arm around the brunette, and it suddenly struck her how well the couple fit together. She wondered if they even knew how perfect a fit they were. Realizing that it was really none of her business, especially since she was only a part of Lee Stetson's unofficial family, she brought the camera up to her eyes. She then focused the lens and snapped the picture. "Would you like me to take another one, just to be safe?" She asked as she lowered the camera and smiled at the couple.

Lee shook his head as he led Amanda towards the blonde. "Thank you, but one is plenty. We want to save room on the roll for more of the sights." He reached out and took the camera back from Lana and, in a quieter voice, he added, "so, what's so important that we're meeting out here on a cold day in January?"

"Lee, stop being so rude. At least say hi to Lana before you pounce on her for information. She's not Augie you know." Amanda gave him a stern glare before turning her attention to the blonde. "Nice to see you again, Lana."
"It's nice to see you again, too Amanda, and I've given up all hopes of ever seeing an ounce of manners from this guy." Lana chuckled softly as she pointed in Lee's direction.

Lee groaned and rolled his eyes. "Can we just get down to business, please? I don't feel like freezing my ass off all day."

Lana exchanged a knowing smile with Amanda and then looked over at Lee. "You've heard of Anton Stoev, the Bulgarian Cultural Attaché, right?"

Lee nodded. "Yeah I know of him. He's the KGB's representative at the Bulgarian Embassy." He looked over at his wife, and watched her nod in recognition of the name as well.

"Well he came in for his weekly massage yesterday and has this bad habit of talking on the phone while I work. Usually he's talking to some lady friend so I try not to listen. However, every now and then he does talk a little business, usually small inconsequential things." Lana leaned in a little closer towards the couple. "Well, yesterday he was setting up a meet with someone who sounded like a member of the Secret Service."

Lee looked at the blonde curiously. "How did you know he was talking to a Secret Service agent?"

Lana gave a small sigh of frustration. "Because, Anton kept asking the person on the other end if he was sure he'd be guarding Bush. I'm guessing that he meant President-Elect Bush."

"That would be a logical connection." Amanda nodded. "Do you think Mr. Stoev could be planning something against President-Elect Bush?"

"I think so, because he also said something about 'our North African friends' to the person on the other end of the phone." Lana gave a quick glance around, making sure that no one was watching them.

Lee did his own quick scan and then looked back at Lana. "You mean the Libyans?"

Lana shrugged. "He never said anything like that, just North African friends."

"You said something about Mr. Stoev arranging a meet with this Secret Service agent," Amanda pulled her coat tighter around her, as a small gust of cold air blew, "I don't suppose you heard where and when they would be meeting, did you?"

Lana smiled. "Actually, I did. It's one of the reasons I suggested we meet here." Noticing a few people walking in their direction, she spoke a little louder, to give them and anyone else who might have been watching the idea that she was just advising the tourists on good places to see. "You know I've heard the Tidal Basin is a wonderful place to walk around, especially at this time of year. Without leaves on the trees you can see all the different buildings of D.C." Then in a lower voice, she added. "They're planning on meeting at the end of the Tidal Basin where you can stare across the water right at the Jefferson Memorial. Anton mentioned something about four o'clock."

Lee glanced down at his watch. "That only gives us about half an hour to get over there. It's only few blocks from here so we could walk, but we'd be frozen by the time we got there, so I think we're going to have to drive." He glanced over at his wife. "And with traffic, we should probably head over there now. Maybe we can find a hot dog vendor and grab a bite to eat."

Amanda nodded. "Thank you, Lana. Take care of yourself, and thanks for taking our picture." She smiled and then turned to head back towards Lee's car.

"Yes, thanks Lana. Keep in touch if you hear anything else." Lee turned and put his hand at the small of Amanda's back as he began to lead her towards the 'Vette. "Guess this means dinner with the boys is off."

Amanda sighed. "Yeah. I was really looking forward to it too. But you're right, depending on what we find out at this meeting, we're going to have to head straight back to the Agency and give Mr. Melrose the information. I have a feeling it's going to be a long night." She sighed again. "Phillip and Jamie are going to forget what we look like soon, if we don't start catching a break."

Lee moved his hand from her lower back and, wrapping his arm around her waist, pulled her closer to him. "We'll just have to make it up to them this weekend. Do something really special, something where we get to spend an entire day with them preferably something indoors if this weather keeps up."

Amanda put her arm around him and moved a little closer to her husband, trying to gain some warmth from his body as they walked briskly back towards the car. "We'll figure something out. But for now, I guess we need to concentrate on keeping our nation safe, yet again."

Reaching the 'Vette, Lee opened the passenger door for his wife. "Well when duty calls…" He smiled as he watched Amanda climb into the car. "But as long as I have you by my side, duty can call anytime it wants."

Amanda laughed and raised her eyebrows mockingly. "Anytime?"

"Well maybe not anytime. But you know what I mean." Watching her nod, Lee closed the door and then walked around to the driver's side, anxious to get over to the Tidal Basin.

SMK SMK SMK

Lee took a bite of his hotdog as he strolled down the walkway with Amanda by his side. "Not the most nutritious meal, but at least it satisfies our grumbling stomachs."

Amanda nodded as she finished chewing the last bit of her hotdog. She wiped her mouth with a napkin, and had just started tossing it into a nearby trashcan when she spotted a nervous looking gentlemen pacing back and forth in front of a tree a few yards ahead of them. "Lee, do you see that man over there." She motioned with her head, not wanting to point and look obvious.

Lee nodded as he threw his own wrapper away and placed his arm around her waist. Pulling her close to him, he nuzzled her hair. "Yes, I do, and look, isn't it convenient that there's a bench at the edge of the walk. A perfect place to snap some pictures."

Amanda eyed him skeptically. "Lee, I don't think we're going to be able to covertly snap pictures with the camera around your neck."

"Not to worry my love, I happen to have my little mini camera on me." Lee guided her over to the bench and sat down, pulling her down with him. "I never turned it back in after our little break and enter yesterday."

Amanda smiled as she put her legs over her husband's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Well I must say that we're definitely well prepared for an impromptu surveillance then, aren't we?" She was about to make a further comment, when she spotted a stocky, dark haired man approaching the nervous man by the tree. She recognized him instantly as Anton Stoev. "Looks like we got here just in time." She looked closer at the man who she assumed was a member of the Secret Service. He wasn't bad looking, most likely in his mid-thirties, with short sandy blond hair. She did note, however, that the young man couldn't control his nervousness. He kept glancing around as if he was afraid he was going to get caught. Fortunately, he only glanced in their direction once, and didn't seem to be too worried about them, as he turned his focus back on the approaching Bulgarian.

Lee placed a kiss on his wife's neck as he discreetly glanced at the tree behind them. "Too bad we couldn't get closer. I'd love to be able to hear what they're saying. At least at this range, however, we should at least get some decent enough pictures. Even if the images are small, our guys in the lab can blow up the pictures enough so we can identify the guy Stoev's meeting with." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the mini camera. He then inconspicuously passed it to his wife.

Amanda brought the camera up to her eye, making sure to keep it hidden behind Lee's face. She hoped that anyone looking at them would just mistake them for a couple in love, necking on a park bench. "I hope the cops don't stop us for improper conduct."

Lee chuckled and nibbled gently on his wife's ear. "Well, I guess while you're working, I might as well make this look convincing."

Amanda squirmed slightly when Lee's breath tickled the sensitive spot at the base of her neck. "Lee," she whispered, her voice husky, "try and remember we are working. You don't want to start something that we can't finish, at least not here. Or not only will our two suspects notice us, but we'll most definitely get arrested for indecent exposure."

Lee grinned before placing another kiss on her neck. "Can I help it if you're so hard to resist."

Amanda rolled her eyes as she snapped another picture. "How about we discuss what we're going to do with the boys this weekend." Watching the two men deep in conversation, she couldn't help but notice that in addition to being nervous, the blond man seemed very tense and rigid as he talked to Stoev, almost as if he would rather be anyplace but here.

"How about we talk about how we want to spend our two-year anniversary, instead." Lee blew seductively into her ear.

Amanda clenched her teeth trying to fight off the feelings her husband was invoking in her. "Lee, you keep that up and not only will we get arrested, but I doubt we'll have jobs to go back to because Mr. Melrose will figure out the real reason we left the office this morning." She wiggled slightly in his grasp. "Now, about what we're going to do with Phillip and Jamie this weekend…"

"You really do know how to spoil the mood." Lee groaned and then tried to stifle a yelp when he felt his wife's knee in his stomach. "Okay, okay. How about we take the boys to the Air and Space Museum, then we can go for pizza and maybe even a movie if it's not too late?"

"That could work." Amanda replied as she snapped another picture of the two men. "Just as long as we don't bump into any of your old girlfriends, you know the ones who think you're really an astronaut."

Lee let out a small grunt. "Ha, ha. I wouldn't worry about that. I hate to admit it, but the women I told I was an astronaut, wouldn't have known what a museum was, let alone that there was one dedicated to air and space here in D.C."
Amanda giggled. "Yeah, you did date a few airheads didn't you?"

Lee pulled back slightly and looked at his wife, careful not to disturb her activities. "And how would you know? I don't remember introducing that many of my old girlfriends to you."

Amanda palmed the camera and glanced at her husband. "Don't you remember when Serdyech came back, Francine and I had to track down all the women in your four little black books?"

Lee closed his eyes and nodded. He didn't like to remember that particular case. "Okay, point well taken."

Amanda placed a gentle kiss on her husband's cheek. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up a sore subject." She brought the camera back up and snapped another picture. "But, seriously, Lee, what are we going to do if one day we're out with the boys and we bump into an old girlfriend or worse a colleague?"

Lee sighed and placed a kiss in his wife's hair. "Well, other than one of our fellow agents getting suspicious as to why I'm hanging around with you and the boys, they know enough to be discreet. No mention of the Agency would come up. As for ex-girlfriends, I really don't know, Amanda. I guess we'll just have to cross that bridge when and if we get to it." He heard his wife's barely audible groan. "I know that's a bit cliché, but it's the truth. We can't plan ahead for every scenario. Being in this business for the last five years, you should know that by now."

Amanda let out a sigh. "I know. I just worry about the future." She leaned forward and placed a kiss next to his ear. "I love you and I love the work we do, but I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. I know that we can't go on living like this forever, you've said it yourself before that sometimes our marriage is like working for the fire department. We don't get enough time to be husband and wife, and I don't just mean in the bedroom either. And there's another thing we need to think about, even though we're not publicly married, I've helped put away enough bad guys that my name isn't exactly unknown in certain circles, anymore. I think we need to discuss ways to protect mother and the boys better. Which brings me to one last point, maybe it's time to have a serious talk about going public with our marriage."

"Amanda…" Lee let out a long sigh. "As much as I agree with you, I don't think now is the right time for this discussion. I think…"

"Wait," Amanda interrupted her husband, "it looks like the meeting is over, they're both walking off in different directions." She palmed the camera again and slipped it into her jacket pocket. Then, reluctantly, she broke their embrace and removed her legs off of her husband's lap. "I guess we should get these back to the Agency." She patted the pocket the camera was in.

"Yeah, and check in with Billy. I'm sure he's not going to be happy with us for leaving at eleven this morning and only strolling back in around," Lee glanced at his watch, "five o'clock."

Amanda nodded and rose from the bench. She reached out her hand and smiled when her husband linked his fingers through hers. "I'm sure Francine has the tongues wagging about why we disappeared, too."

"Let them talk." Lee grinned as they walked hand in hand back towards his car. "I'm off the market for good and one day we'll be able to give the office gossips some real ammunition, not just speculation."

Amanda squeezed her husband's hand affectionately. "I look forward to that day." She sighed. She really was looking forward to the day that they could tell their family and friends, and the world for that matter, just how much they loved each other. But her husband was right, that was a topic for another day, right now they had a possible attempt on the newly elected President's life to stop. Discussions about their marriage woes would just have to wait.

SMK SMK SMK

Lee let Amanda enter the bullpen ahead of him. He then placed his hand at the small of her back and began leading her over to the daily log table. He knew they needed to account for the time they had spent away from the Agency and it was vital that they report the meeting with his contact and then the surveillance. Upon reaching the table, he watched his wife pick up the pen and begin writing in the book.

"Stetson! King! My office, NOW!" Billy's voice thundered through the bullpen. He then turned and headed back into his office, leaving the door open for his two wayward agents. He had told them that their relationship was fine with him, but he hoped they hadn't abused Agency time for a very long secret rendezvous.

Amanda's back stiffened at the tone of her boss' voice and quickly finished writing in the logbook. She then exchanged an 'uh oh we're in big trouble' glance with her husband as they both hastened towards their section chief's office. Glancing down at her watch, she saw that it was already a little after six and she knew they were going to get a pretty good lecture from Mr. Melrose. It wasn't their fault that they had hit rush hour traffic and it took them close to an hour to get back to the office.

Lee let his wife enter the office ahead of him, and as he followed her in, he closed the door behind them. "You bellowed," he joked as he watched his wife take a seat in front of Billy's desk and then moved over to stand by the window.

Billy glared at him. "I'm in no mood for your impertinence, Scarecrow." He glanced at his watch and then back up at the agent. "Where the devil have you two been?" He let his gaze fall on the usually more sensible of the pair. "I've been looking for you since eleven o'clock this morning. I happen to know that you deliberately ignored my phone call. What was so important that you had to leave and not take a moment to answer the phone in the Q-Bureau? Let alone the fact that you didn't seem to be answering your car phone either."

Amanda cleared her throat. "Sir, we…er… well with nothing on our schedule this morning, we decided to take an early lunch. And then we had to meet with one of Lee's family."

Billy folded his arms across his chest. "A meet that took seven hours? Where was this meet, Richmond?" He glared back in Lee's direction. "Because if it wasn't then the information you got had better be worth you disappearing off the grid for so long without once checking in."

Lee casually strolled over and sat in the vacant seat next to his wife. "Oh, believe me Billy, it was." He kept his gaze on his boss, not daring to look over at Amanda. He hadn't thought about the double meaning to his comment until after it was already out of his mouth. Clearing his throat, he leaned forward. "One of my family overheard Anton Stoev talking to someone about a possible assassination plot against President-Elect Bush."

Billy relaxed his posture and stared intently at his agent. "I gather you spent the remaining time confirming this information? Because I can't go to Dr. Smyth with a possibility, it has to be something concrete."

Amanda nodded. "We realize that, sir. Lee's contact said that she overheard Mr. Stoev planning a meet for this afternoon. So we set up some minor surveillance," she reached into her coat pocket and pulled out the mini camera, "and got some pictures of Mr. Stoev talking to a young man. From what Lana told us, the young man he was talking to, is very likely a member of the Secret Service."

Billy let out a slow whistle and then reached into his desk drawer. Pulling out the bottle of Tums, he popped a few into his mouth. "We'll have to wait until the pictures are developed to verify that the man you saw Stoev with is Secret Service or not. But this could be bad, very, very bad. Do you think the Stoev is working alone, or do you think he has the support of the KGB too?"

Lee shrugged. "Somehow I don't think he's doing this on behalf of the KGB, I have a hunch the Libyans might be involved."

Billy's eyes grew wide. "The Libyans? Are you sure?"

"No, I'm not entirely sure." Lee shook his head. "Lana said that she overheard Stoev mention something about 'North African friends' which, in reality, could mean any number of our enemies. But think about it Billy," he stood up and began pacing, "it makes sense. I don't think they've forgiven us for instantly accusing them for the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing last month, even though it turned out they were the ones behind it. This would be just like them to do something very drastic in retaliation. What better way to get back at us than to assassinate the President as he's being sworn in?"

Amanda turned and looked at her husband. "I don't remember Lana mentioning anything about the assassination happening during the Inauguration, and I was there the whole time she was talking to us."

Lee stopped pacing and glanced at his wife. "She didn't, but it makes the most sense. We're only four days away from the twentieth, and what better time to kill Bush then when he's taking the oath of office."

"You're right, and if the man at the park talking to Stoev is with the Secret Service, he could hit him right then with no one the wiser until it was too late." Amanda nodded in agreement.

"Exactly." Lee glanced up at his boss. "So what's our next step?"

Billy glanced down at his watch. "Well, since we have to wait for the pictures to be developed, which won't be done till tomorrow," he looked back up in Amanda's direction, "I want you to take the camera down to photo processing," he looked over at Lee, "and then you can start pulling any files we have on Stoev, maybe see if you can find a connection between him and the Libyans. Once you've done that, go home and we'll meet back here at say, ten-thirty tomorrow morning. I'm going to have to fill Dr. Smyth in before then, so please try and be on time, because I won't have the tolerance level to deal with any of your shenanigans." He looked pointedly at Lee.

Amanda rose from her seat and nodded. "We will, sir." She began walking towards the office door. "I'll make sure we're here on time, that is." She then turned towards her husband. "I'll meet you in the Q-Bureau as soon as I drop this off at the lab."

Lee nodded and held the door open for her. He was just about to step out into the bullpen, when Billy's voice stopped him.

"Scarecrow, please try and remember to check in every now and then. The next time you two are off the radar, and it's not an assigned time off, you two will be getting an unpaid suspension." Billy glared at his agent. "You have no idea the scenarios that run through my head when my agents are unaccounted for during business hours. For all I knew you two could have been kidnapped or worse."

Lee tried to hide the guilt from showing on his face. "I hear you, loud and clear, Billy." He then turned and rushed to catch up with his wife. Maybe if they got their research done early enough, they could make it home in time to spend a little time with the boys. Suddenly a wicked grin spread across his face when he realized that if the research took too long, maybe they could have a repeat of their long lunch instead. He slowed his pace as the second option started looking more and more appealing. It wasn't that he didn't want to spend time with his stepsons, he did, but he knew he'd enjoy spending some quality time with his wife more. All sorts of erotic thoughts began to run through his mind as he thought of new ways to pleasure his wife. He sure hoped they'd find a lot of information on Stoev so that he could convince Amanda to come back to the apartment with him for a late dinner and some dessert of the sensual kind.

To Be Continued…