Takes place a few weeks after the events of my story, "A Matter of Life and Death". This one is not as "off canon" as much as others because, well, just because.

Lee stepped out of the elevator and headed toward the bullpen, not quite sure of his reception. He felt a little bit like Amanda's overture to forgive him had been terrible timing. Not that he was upset that she'd made it, just that he hadn't been able to stay and cement it.

He hadn't even had time to tell anyone he was back. He'd wrapped up the case in Colombo and without even a pause to get a decent night's sleep, he'd booked his flight home. He wasn't superstitious and he didn't believe in that whole Mercury-in-retrograde nonsense that Francine had been known to spout, but he'd been restless the whole time he was away. That never happened to him – when he was on a case it had his full attention, and although this one had been no different, he'd been unable to shake the uneasy feeling that haunted him.

His steps slowed as he saw Francine ahead of him and the smile spread across his face as she turned. He liked coming home to his apartment after a long trip, but he'd realized as the years went by that what he really liked was coming home to friendly faces. Which is why his smile froze, then faltered, as she caught sight of him and her face went blank.

"Lee." He could see her lips moving, saying his name, but she didn't smile – she looked almost like she'd seen a ghost.

Is she still mad at me? was the first thought that crossed his mind, but she didn't look angry, just stunned. He walked up, watching as she attempted to cover up her initial reaction. "Is everything ok? What's happened that put that look on your face?"

"Everything's fine, just fine," she reassured him. "Honestly, I just wasn't expecting to see you today. Or this week really. Last time I checked you were a million miles away."

"Not quite a million, but I'll admit to not being quite sure what time zone I'm in right now," he smiled warmly at her.

"I bet," Francine answered. She glanced back down the hall, at what he wasn't sure. "Are you on your way to see Billy?"

"Yeah, I'm not on the clock, but I wanted to check in and let him know I'm back," Lee replied as they turned to walk through the bullpen doors together. He let his gaze sweep the room. "So, is Amanda in today?"

"Yeah, she's, um, she's helping us with a resettlement thing. Putting her people skills to use."

"Oh yeah, Billy mentioned that before I left."

Francine's head swivelled to look up at him, eyes wide. "You know about it?"

"Not much," shrugged Lee. "He didn't have a lot of details back then. Just that it was some scientist or something."

"Oh, I see."

Francine tapped on Billy's door then stepped in almost immediately even before Billy's barked order to enter. His back was to them as he flipped through a file drawer.

"Billy," Francine started to speak, but was interrupted by a frustrated growl from her boss.

"Francine, do you have any idea where we put the rental agreement for the Spinelli house? Amanda wanted to check it to see if it-"

"Spinelli? Angelo Spinelli?" Lee croaked out and watched Billy spin around to face them.

"Scarecrow! I thought you were still in Sri Lanka! When did you get back?"

Lee could tell from Billy's expression that he'd been hoping that he was still in Sri Lanka. "Last night. So is it? Angelo Spinelli?"

Billy and Francine exchanged a look and Lee gritted his teeth. One of the downsides of having been friends with them for so long was that they knew more about him than most people, even about stuff he would never normally have shared.

"Yes," said Billy, finally. "Our operatives in Estonia helped smuggle him out of Russia a few weeks ago. They put him on a North Sea freighter and sent him here. He arrived two days ago." He gave Lee an apologetic look. "I didn't know who it was until he got here."

"And that's who Amanda supposed to help?" When Billy nodded, he looked back and forth between him and Francine, who was now wearing a look of sympathy that set him on edge. "Where are they now?"

For just an instant, he could tell they weren't going to answer him and then Francine reluctantly did.

"Briefing Room 3."

Lee spun on his heel and stalked back across the bullpen, yanking open the glass door and striding down the corridor. He could see them through the blinds on the briefing room window, sitting together, Angelo and Eva, side by side, two dark heads studying some papers on the table. His heart seized just a little bit at the sight, the pang of that moment when Eva had told him she was marrying Angelo still a fresh pain, even after all this time. He stopped for a moment, took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Oh Lee, hello! It is good to see you!" It was Angelo who was first on his feet holding out his hand with a friendly smile, and Lee was reminded all over again how much he'd liked this kind, open-hearted man, despite everything that had happened.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Eva rise to her feet more slowly, and plastering on his best friendly smile, he turned to look at the woman who'd broken his heart. And felt his heart seize up for another reason entirely, as instead of dark blue eyes, his gaze met dark brown ones. "Amanda?"

"Welcome home, Lee." Amanda's voice was soft and tentative and he wondered what she'd read on his face in that instant before he realized his mistake. "I didn't know you were back."

He stared at her for an uncomfortably long beat, speechless with confusion as his brain scrambled to catch up to reality from expectation, before finally managing to say "I, uh… I got here last night." He shook himself and smiled at her – she wasn't who he'd expected in that moment, but he felt an unexpected rush of relief at seeing her. ""I'm sorry I didn't see you there – I guess I'm more jetlagged than I thought. And thanks, it's good to be back."

Amanda had visibly relaxed at the sight of his smile and beamed back at him. "And we're glad to see you home safe and sound," she answered. "At least, I assume…"

"Not even a scratch," Lee rushed to reassure her. "Just a few cramps in my back after airport- hopping my way home for the last few days."

Angelo chuckled. "That sounds like the height of luxury. If you can avoid crossing the Atlantic in a crate, do so."

Lee dragged his attention off Amanda and back to Angelo, frowning slightly as he took in Angelo's implication. "Yeah, I will keep that in mind. But you made it out okay? The Agency's been helping you?"

"Oh, yes, everyone has been very kind and very helpful," Angelo nodded. "Especially Mrs. King – she has been trying to explain regular American life to me, but I'm afraid I am not a good student – not like you, hmm?" he finished, lightly teasing. "You were always in the front row at my seminars, weren't you?"

Lee nodded, forcing a smile back to his face.

"I'm just… well, I've just been helping Mr. Spinelli with the details of his new identity," Amanda entered the conversation. "But I gather you two know each other?"

Her obvious surprise and curiosity made it clear to Lee that neither Billy nor Francine had filled her in on that bit of his history. "Ah, well, yes…" he started.

"Lee was in love with my wife," Angelo joked. "Although in his defense, that was before we married – and he was not the only one. I'm not even sure he was the only spy taking my seminar that year."

Amanda turned to look at Lee, unable to hide her shock at Angelo's comment.

"Eva was the toast of Venice," Lee joked desperately. "I think you beat a lot of us to the punch when you proposed to her. Although perhaps she would not have liked being my wife if she'd been expected to keep secrets… She told you about me?"

"We did not have many secrets between us," said Angelo. "She admitted to me that she had liked you very much."

Lee was uncomfortably aware that Amanda was listening avidly to the entire exchange. He could almost hear it all clicking into place in her head, everything he'd admitted that night when he'd let her quiz him about his past.

"So where is she?"

Angelo looked at him with obvious confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Eva," Lee replied, trying desperately to sound nonchalant. "Didn't she come with you?"

Angelo's look of confusion turned to one of sympathy. "Oh, Lee, surely you knew."

Lee knew from the tiny gasp that Amanda had just given off that he'd waded into deep waters. It certainly didn't take ESP to know that something terrible had happened. "Knew what?" he still asked hoarsely, dreading the answer.

"Eva is dead," answered Angelo quietly. "She died in Lubyanka prison just a few months ago."