It hadn't had any of the usual adrenaline rush, none of the heightened awareness, none of that hair-on-the-neck-prickling feeling that always came when they were in danger. Far from it, it had been a gloriously quiet morning, sun sparkling off the water, Lee's long fingers linked with hers, his thumb running over the band of gold on her ring finger.

"You want to tell him we're married, don't you?" she'd teased and Lee had turned that huge grin on her, blushing slightly that she'd seen through him so easily but with such a look of anticipation. He had looked like a kid in a candy store – no, more like a kid who'd been given a candy store for Christmas.

"He doesn't know anybody we know except my uncle, and he won't say a word if we tell him not to. What do you think?"

She hadn't been able to keep herself from smiling back. "I think I'll burst if I don't tell someone," she answered conspiratorially.

Lee's smile had brightened, if that was even possible and his look of pure glee had made her laugh out loud.

They'd pulled up in the marina and stepped out of the car. She looked around, meeting Lee's grin over the top of the car and as his eyes had moved past her, fixing on something or someone behind her on the docks, she had glanced up to see a figure up the hill above them. It took her a moment to realize what was wrong with what she was seeing and then everything had gone into slow motion.

"Amanda! Get back in the car!"

She'd already been moving instinctively for cover. Her mind had recognized and reacted to the shape of that sniper rifle aimed their way and then the odd buzz of bullets had had her moving even before she'd consciously recognized what it was. She'd heard Lee shouting, the sound of splintering glass and then - silence.

That silence had seemed to last a lifetime, although it could only have been a few seconds. And then the anguished cry that sounded like it was coming from a million miles away.

"Oh my God! Nooooo!"

She didn't remember getting out of the car. It had been like an out of body experience standing there, feeling like someone had just punched her in the solar plexus. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't move, she couldn't think. Lee was flat on the pavement, his normal pallor now an ashen grey, and that wonderful smile gone and then the older man who was kneeling beside him had shifted and she'd seen the rapidly spreading red stain on her husband's chest.

She fell to her knees, reaching to try and stem the flow of blood but knowing it was impossible. She could hear the faint sounds of him struggling for breath and knew that was a good sign – he was still alive – but the blood – the blood was everywhere.

"Gus – get an ambulance!" she'd heard the man growl and somehow dimly realized this must be Barney.

Their eyes met over Lee's chest. "Don't you worry," he said. "We'll get him to hospital and he'll be fine."

"He can't go like this. Not now. Not here," she answered hoarsely.

Barney reached to rest his hand on top of both of hers where they were crossed, pressing down on the pulsing wound. "He won't. We won't let him."

Amanda nodded, reassured by his certainty. Of course, Lee wouldn't leave her, he'd made a vow.

They'd let her ride in the ambulance, the siren giving voice to the screams of pain she was keeping inside. She hadn't even been able to touch him as they drove to the hospital; the team had been working to keep him alive and all she could do was watch. She had managed to squeeze his hand and kiss him before they had taken him to surgery, but his lips had been cold and unresponsive.

"I don't understand. What even happened?" she asked Barney, when he finally caught up to them in the waiting room. Her voice broke as she tried not to sob. "Who did this? Why were they shooting at us?"

"They weren't shooting at you, Honey," said Barney in his gruff voice. "They were shooting at me and Gus. I'm so sorry you got in the way. I'd give anything to be the one in there instead of Lee."

She could tell he meant that, but it still didn't help her understand. "But why?" she asked again.

"It's the damn gold," he said, looking across the waiting room at his friend. Amanda vaguely remembered Lee saying his name was Gus. "Are you happy now? Look what your damn foolishness has caused!"

"I never meant it to go like this; you know that," said Gus, pleading. "Nobody should have gotten hurt, least of all your boy in there." He turned his gaze on Amanda. "It's all to do with the gold on La Bodega… gold that shouldn't be there."

Amanda stared at him numbly; she couldn't make any sense of what he was saying. Movement in the corner of her eye distracted her and she turned to see a figure in surgical scrubs emerging through the swinging doors. She leapt to her feet and ran forward as the doctor paused, leaning back against the wall in exhaustion.

"Doctor Neely? How is he? How's Lee?"

Dr. Neely sighed and straightened up. "We've stabilized him but he's still in surgery. I'm not going to lie to you, Mrs. Stetson, we've still got a long way to go." Amanda felt Barney stiffen beside her on hearing the doctor call her that, but she was past caring who knew what – she just wanted to hear about Lee.

'He's going to be all right, though... isn't he?"

Neely took a deep breath, measuring out his words carefully. "The next forty-eight hours will be critical. It's a miracle he's alive. The bullet passed through his chest. If it had been a fraction of an inch in either direction, he wouldn't have had a chance."

Amanda stumbled back as the force of the words hit her, and felt Barney steadying her. "When can I see him?"

"He'll be in post-op for a few hours after we finish in the operating room and then he'll be moved to ICU, but that won't be for several hours and we'll be keeping him sedated until at least tomorrow morning. You should go home and get some rest. It's going to be a long recovery and you'll need your strength."

Barney wrapped his arm around her and gave her a light squeeze. "The doctor's right, Amanda. You come home with me and get something to eat and a rest. My apartment is only a few minutes from here – we can be back just as quickly from there."

Amanda searched the doctor's face, seeing nothing but sympathy there and nodded. "You'll call me if there's any change?"

"Of course," he nodded.

Barney turned to guide her away but they had only gone a few steps when she stopped abruptly.

"The Colonel," she said, hollowly. "I have to call him. He should know… he should be here. I- I… I can't remember if I have his number in my address book…"

"I've got his number at home," said Barney. "You can call him from there. Come on."

"Oh," she sighed. "And Billy. Our boss," she clarified off Barney's inquisitive look. "I need to call him too. He'll need to know." She looked despairingly back at the doors that led to the surgical area.

"Well, my phone can call Washington too," he replied. He moved in front of her and squeezed her hands. "Amanda? Come on, Honey. Lee's in the best possible hands and you wearing yourself out won't help him any."

"I should stay with him," she whispered. "The sun's going down soon and he doesn't like the dark. And he hates hospitals, he just hates them. He can't stand the noises and the nurses waking him up and the food and the poking and the prodding…" Her voice had started to rise along with her panic at the idea of being separated from him and then broke. "He tries to hide it but he doesn't like to be alone," she finished in a hoarse whisper.

"He's not alone," Barney consoled her. "And it's never dark in a hospital room. Lee knows that better than anyone, and you do too, I bet."

Amanda nodded, acknowledging Barney's attempt to comfort her, and forced a small smile on her lips. "He does seem to spend a lot of time in them."

"Well, there you go," Barney smiled back. "Now we can't do a lot for him right now, but we can go make those phone calls, right?"

"Right." With one last longing glance behind her, Amanda followed Barney out into the warm California evening.