Thanks to Lynn for the idea of a story telling why Lee continues to take on ONI missions and suggestions.

Thanks also to Christy for her time and suggestions.

The Reason Why

By JSRobertson

Admiral Nelson arrived at the office early having an important meeting with Edward Ballor, the financial manager, regarding next year's the budget to run Seaview. He had all his information ready but still needed the input from the budget sheets Lee and Chip had been working on to have a complete picture. He wanted to look them over before his meeting so he made a detour and dropped by Lee's and then Chip's offices and found them out. Wondering where his command crew could be, he headed to Janet's office to see if she knew where they were.

"Good morning Janet, Where are Lee and Chip?" the admiral asked.

"Good morning sir. They went down to Seaview first thing to check on the sonar installation. They should be here shortly."

"As soon as they come in, I'm going to need the budget sheets they've been working on. I've got a meeting with Edward this morning and he wants to see how much were going to need to operate Seaview for the next year."

"Sir, I have those sheets. They finished them on Friday and I typed them up yesterday," she answered as she went to Lee's office where she put the file and took it off his desk and then handed it to the admiral.

"Thank you," he replied and poured himself a cup of coffee while he looked over the budget sheets Lee and Chip had prepared. He broke out in a smile, closed the folder and walked into his office.

((()))

Edward arrived at the admiral's office at 0900 hours. The admiral and Angie had been meeting with Edward for over two hours. So far no shouting had come out of the office as in previous years. Janet knew it cost a lot of money to operate the submarine and that most of it was paid for by the missions and various jobs that were contracted but some of the unscheduled emergency ones like going to rescue Lee from ONI missions or the admiral on his adventures weren't covered and had to come out of the institute's operating budget. Lee and Chip returned from the sub pen after checking out the installation which took longer than expected. They both knew the admiral had the meeting and stopped in the waiting area listening for shouting and were surprised not to hear any.

"So far it's been quiet," Janet told them as they walked back to her office letting her know they were back for the day.

"That's a little scary," Chip remarked.

Lee looked at Janet, "Did you give them the budget sheets for Seaview?" he asked raising his eyebrows.

"Yes, Lee. He even looked at them and smiled," Janet quipped.

"Okay, that's even scarier. I was surprised at how much it cost us to run her last year and this year's a little more than that figure," Lee commented.

"Well, maybe he's got some irons in the fire we don't know about," Chip said as he got a cup of coffee and went into his office.

Lee also grabbed a cup of coffee and went into his office shutting the door so he could tackle the mound paperwork on his desk.

It was late afternoon when the phone rang on the number assigned to Lee. "Commander Crane's office," Janet answered pleasantly, "Janet Crane speaking, how can I help you."

"Hello, Janet," Admiral Johnson replied, "is Lee available?"

"Just a minute, sir," Janet replied with a frown when she recognized his voice.

She pressed the button to Lee's office, "Lee, Admiral Johnson is on the phone and would like to talk to you. Are you available?" she asked.

Smiling knowing she would be hoping he would say no said, "Yes, I'm available so you can put him through and please don't be upset that's he's calling."

"Yes, Lee." Janet took the call off hold, "Just a minute Admiral, Lee will speak with you." She hung up after putting the call through to Lee. Damn, she thought. It's been so nice not having him on any missions but that luxury maybe over.

((()))

"Hello Admiral," Lee said when he answered the phone.

"Lee," Johnson replied. "I have a mission I need you to undertake."

"Yes sir," Lee answered. "What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to go to Venenzia," Admiral Johnson told him waiting for his reply.

Exhaling deeply Lee replied, "Admiral isn't there anybody else that can go there? You know I never want to go back to that country. Get Jason Weldon or Troy Andres."

"I don't have anyone else. Jason and Troy are so deeply undercover I can't reach them. You still work for ONI so you don't have any choice," Johnson reminded him.

"Yes sir. What is the mission?"

"The People's Republic has somehow managed to get into the ONI's computers and gained access to highly classified information. We're not the only country whose intelligence agency has been breached but we've been asked to head up the mission."

"Admiral, they could've stayed in their own country and done their damage why set it up in Venenzia?"

"Lee, you know as well as I do that country has no army…a small police force…they're close to the PR's border so they just marched in there and set themselves up. It took us awhile to track down where the breach was centered. Venenzia probably doesn't ever know they're there."

"How did we discover it really was them?"

"It took Joey Calder, ONI's head computer tech, almost a week to track the string. They have such a tight security system in place Joey can't penetrate it remotely so the only way to get rid of it is to destroy the hard drives and the whole center."

Lee smiled when Johnson mentioned Joey's name, "Well if anyone could track it down, it would be Joey. Lee knew Joey from his time at Annapolis and he was a computer whiz back then. "When do I need to leave?" Lee asked.

"There's a transport going to Germany tomorrow morning. I'll have them stop at the Santa Barbara airport and pick you up on the way. A chopper will take you to Venenzia from there. Sorry Lee but I don't have any choice."

"Yes sir," Lee answered rubbing his hand on his forehead. He hung up the phone and turned around in his chair staring at the wall behind his desk when there was a knock on his door. "Come in," he said softly.

Janet entered the office and noticed his back to the door, "I have some letters for you to sign. I would like to get them out today if possible," she told him.

"Just leave them there and I'll get to them in a few minutes," he responded not turning around.

"Okay, thanks," Janet answered, "Lee…"

"I'll get to them," he said curtly. "Please leave me alone," he added quietly.

"Yes sir," Janet replied putting the letters on his desk shutting the door behind her as she walked out of the office. Chip came out of his office and saw Janet standing by Lee's door with a perplexed look on her face.

"Everything okay?" he asked cautiously.

"I'm not sure," Janet replied and told him about the call from Admiral Johnson and what had just taken place in Lee's office.

"Maybe something has happened on a mission that he needed to know about and the news wasn't good. You know there are some missions so highly classified he can't talk about them. Even the admiral with his high security clearance doesn't know everything that has taken place on some of his missions," Chip reminded her.

"I know, Chip," Janet sighed. "I'll see you later." She walked back to her office and returned to work.

Chip was going to talk to Lee about their next mission scheduled for next week to Bali but decided it could wait. He filled his mug with coffee, took a look at Lee's door and went back into his office.

((()))

Lee sat there for a few minutes. He had to tell Janet, the admiral and Chip that he had to leave on a mission. He turned his chair around and saw the letters on his desk. Sighing deeply he knew he should apologize to his wife for being so rude to her. He signed the letters, opened the door to his office and went to Janet's. She didn't see him come in as her back was to the door. She got up to give Chip a letter she had printed out and nearly tripped over a box she forgot she put by her desk. Lee saw her starting to fall and caught her before she hit the floor.

Startled that Lee was there, she managed to catch herself with his help. "I forgot I put that there," she said sheepishly.

Lee shook his head and managed to smile back. "You're such a klutz," he teased. Still holding on to her, "I'm sorry for the way I treated you before."

"It's okay Lee."

"No, I was rude and it was uncalled for. Please forgive me?" he pleaded.

"Of course but what else is on your mind?" she asked looking into his amber eyes and sensed he had something to tell her and it more than likely had to do with the phone call from Admiral Johnson.

"I have to leave on a mission to Venenzia," Lee explained.

"I figured that when Admiral Johnson called. When do you have to leave?" Janet asked worriedly. "Have you told the admiral and Chip?"

"Not yet, I wanted to tell you first but I better let them know," Lee answered. "Care to come along with me?" Janet nodded and followed her husband out the door and down the hall to Angie's office.

"Is the admiral's meeting over with Edward?" Lee inquired.

"Yes," Angie replied with a smile. "They didn't yell once...Edward looked at the figures and approved them too."

Stunned that the budget was approved with no issues, Lee replied, "That's good hear. Angie, I need to talk to him could you please let him know?"

"Sure Lee," Angie responded as she rang the admiral's phone. Chip walked into the admiral's office to find out how the meeting went and saw Lee and Janet there. After his conversation with Janet a little while ago he knew that Lee probably had to leave on an ONI mission.

"Chip, you may as well stay and hear what I have to tell the admiral," Lee said to him.

"You can go in," Angie told the three of them.

Lee knocked on the door, "Come in." The admiral looked up from the papers he was reading and knew something was up when the three of them walked in. Sitting back in his chair, he motioned them to sit down. Chip and Janet took the chairs while Lee sat on the corner of his desk.

"I need to leave for an ONI mission to the country of Venenzia immediately," Lee told them as he explained what the mission entailed. "I'm not sure how long I'll be gone," he said softly.

Knowing he couldn't stop Lee from going, the admiral stood up and patted Lee on the back, "Please be careful," he stated.

"Yes sir," Lee replied quietly as the three of them got up to leave.

"Chip, could I talk to you a moment?" the admiral asked.

"Yes, sir," he replied as Lee and Janet walked out of the office.

The admiral sat back down at his desk and was watching Lee as he left his office. Something didn't seem right. "Chip, does Lee seem...I'm not quite sure how to say it...more subdued...more worried than usual?"

"You noticed it too. There's something else about this mission that he isn't telling us," Chip remarked.

"Uh huh," the admiral said. "I hope he isn't too distracted by what's bothering him." Chip nodded in agreement then headed out the door and back down the hall to his office wondering what else was on Lee's mind.

((()))

As Chip was getting ready to leave for the day, he went into Lee's office. "Do you want to go out to dinner with Julie and me?"

"No thanks, Chip, not this time. I need to pack and be ready to leave early in the morning," Lee said distractedly as he went to the closet and pulled out his duffle bag. He then moved to the chest behind his desk and took the gun out of the drawer along with some ammunition and put them in his briefcase.

Chip started to walk out of Lee's office but turned around, "Lee, you okay with this mission? I've never seen you so apprehensive about going."

Looking at his best friend Lee reassured him, "Yeah Chip, everything is fine...it's just been awhile and I need to get back into spy mode. I'll be out shortly."

"Okay, Lee." Chip walked out of Lee's office and almost ran Janet over. She had heard the conversation between Lee and Chip. She took his arm and dragged him to her office. "You noticed he seems apprehensive too?" she asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Yes, but he said it's because he hasn't been on a mission in awhile. You believe that?"

"No Chip," Janet stressed, "There's more to this mission than he's letting on. I think there's something more personal."

Lee put on his jacket, threw his duffle bag over his shoulder and grabbed his briefcase and cover. As he left his office, he saw Chip and Janet in her office and went to her door. "Anything I need to know about before I leave?" he asked seeing them huddled together.

"No I was just telling Chip about the updated inventory sheets and a couple of reports I just finished," Janet lied as she got her purse out of the drawer and put her jacket on. She took Lee's briefcase and cover from him. The three of them walked to the elevator and went to their cars after saying goodnight to Howard, the security guard.

"Bye Chip," Lee said as he opened the door for Janet who got in the car. Lee shut the door and looked at Chip. Chip nodded his head acknowledging he knew Lee wanted him to look after Janet while he was gone.

Chip opened his car door, "Lee, be careful."

"I will," Lee replied as Chip got in his car and drove away. Lee stood by the door of the car for a few minutes before getting in.

"Everything okay?" Janet asked after Lee got in the car.

"Just fine," he replied as he started the car and drove home in total silence.

((()))

Once Lee and Janet got home, he took his duffle bag out of the car while Janet took his briefcase and cover. He opened the door and waited for Janet to go in. She set his briefcase down by the closet door. She took off her jacket, hung it in the closet and put her purse on the shelf along with Lee's cover. She took his jacket from him and hung it up.

"Hungry?" Janet asked watching Lee carefully.

"A little," Lee replied as he picked up the briefcase and waited by the stairs.

"I'll make something quick while you pack," Janet said going to the kitchen while Lee went upstairs with his duffle bag and briefcase.