Setting: Early Season 3

Rating: PG-13 for mild cursing and some violence

Genre: Drama

Author: Dragonfly32403 (Some of you know me as Osprey at Pax and AllYourTV)

Disclaimer: The characters belong to Shoot the Moon Productions and Warner Brothers. Only the storyline and the bad guys are mine.

Archive: Anywhere, just ask first.

Thanks to my awesome betas at AllYourTV. CanItFrancine and UKMary, I promise I'll finish these. I know it's a crime to leave them unfinished. And thank you to everyone at Pax.TV who beta-ed to: ScarecrowLover, JB, Laura, and Neenay, and anyone else I may be forgetting.

( italics) signals a flashback

Floating in and out of consciousness, Lee could feel Amanda's fingers in his hair. She spoke softly to him, murmuring reassuring and comforting words that washed over him like a warm spring rain. He was in pain, and the closer he came to consciousness the worse it became. He wanted to tell her to get out of here, leave him. It was way too dangerous for her to stay. But still she caressed his hot skin, and when his eyes fluttered open, she called his name with relief he could feel. And his need to get her out of here was replaced by his stronger need to have her near him.

"Manda?"

"Yeah, I'm here Lee. You had me awfully scared; I didn't think you'd wake up. I'm glad you did though." She paused, "Lee?"

Struggling to sit up he answered her, "Hmm?" It was really all he could manage right now.

She sighed, "We're in trouble again aren't we?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah, Amanda. We are."

He groaned as he pulled himself up against the wall. He let out a sharp breath and winced. He touched his ribs and pulled away quickly.

"It's just a flesh wound Lee. I'm more worried about your head."

She reached gently for the gash above his left temple. It was an angry red and purple, but at least it had stopped bleeding. He jerked his head away from her probing fingers. He impatiently pushed her hands aside.

"Amanda! I'm okay. We need to find a way out of here."

Lee looked around the room they were sitting in. He couldn't make out much in the dim light that filtered in through the high, tinted windows. He guessed that the windows were less than 20 feet from where he was and there was no second story between them. He thought it could be a warehouse, but then he really couldn't be sure. Hell in this country, it could be anything.

"What time is it? How long have I been out?"

"It's after midnight Lee. You were out almost 2 hours."

"Uh, Amanda?"

"Yeah Lee?"

"What are we doing here?"

Her dark eyes widened in surprise. "You don't remember?"

He shook his head, and groaned a little. She eased herself back down onto the floor next to him and began.

He remembered something about a bust, but that was pretty much it. And if he was unconscious on a floor, it must have gone very badly.

"Well, Lee it all started back at the meet. The leader of the MSA…"

"Jean Christophe"

She nodded and went back to her tale

() Jean Christophe was a tall thin man, with dark, thinning hair, and a French accent as thick as his bushy beard. His piercing blue eyes were the shade of a January morning. He was fidgety and made Lee's skin crawl. But, maybe most importantly, he was also a mercenary and a terrorist. There was definitely something wrong with this man. Amanda didn't like the looks of him either. Of course, his being a terrorist didn't really help matters or her opinion of him.

Christophe walked over to the so-called "smart" bombs. These specially made, satellite guided, surface-to-surface missiles were exactly what he needed. They could be modified to be dropped from a small plane. He had paid a small fortune for the six dull gray cylinders. But it would be worth the money to end the hold of the whining fools in the Mareki Parliament. He caressed the weapons with a lover's touch. They were the answers to the prayers of the Mareki Soldiers of Allah. The MSA used the name of the deity in their work, but there was nothing holy about them. With these bombs, the MSA would free Mareki from the heretical parliament and return it to strict control of the MSA.

Those morons had turned a once strong African nation into the slaves of European and American imperialists. Becoming the lap dogs of the foreigners had made the people rich. The Mareki were wealthy now, oh yes, they had physical riches but their souls were poor. The parliament was the cause of all this. They had turned their backs on Allah, and for that indiscretion, they would be punished.

He turned his attention back to the two Federal Agents that stood close together on the other side of the drab green crate. He smiled at them ingratiatingly. Fools. They still thought their cover was intact. To think they thought he'd fall for their elaborate game. He had to admit though; their stories were good, at first. Two American expatriates looking to make some quick money with their military connections on the black market. There were some tells though. First, why would Americans want to get involved in the civil war of a small African country? Secondly, even well connected military, wouldn't be able to sneak bombs off of base, at least he didn't think so. And these were real. He'd been a mercenary long enough to know the difference between a dummy and a real bomb. But what really gave it away was his source. People were so easily bought. He laughed aloud. Frowning, Amanda cocked an eyebrow at Christophe, people didn't usually laugh out loud for no reason. He would use "his" agents however, for whatever he could get out of them. Then their pay would be a bullet.

"Then he walked back over to us and told you where he'd have the bombs sent. I was waiting for him to get the money I never guessed what would happen next."

Christophe turned to Amanda and leered. She suppressed a shiver. He told them where he would be taking his treasure. He made sure that their back up would be there before changing his plans. Grinning he decided that he'd have some fun with the woman first, then kill them both. Putting on his best show, he walked over to the two agents. 'My,' he thought, 'they're awfully cozy.' And he knew how to use that. He fingered Amanda's dark hair and she cringed. Lee tensed. Christophe grinned inwardly. These two were closer than he thought. That would work well for him. Christophe eased himself behind Amanda and put his hands on her shoulders. He looked directly into the hazel eyes of her partner. He watched as Lee fought for control.

The one called Stephenson, who he knew was Stetson, spoke first. "So you have what you want. How about what we want?" He needed to see the money in order for this to be legal. Christophe stepped away from Amanda and back towards the bombs. He had his back turned to the agents. And suddenly the hair on Lee's neck stood on end. Every nerve in him was screaming that something was wrong. Christophe turned quickly and he and Lee reached for their sidearms at the same time, but Lee was a split second quicker. Breathing a sigh of relief, but never relaxing, Lee demanded,

"Drop it Christophe! It's over."

Amanda's gasp caught his attention. A second man had come out of the shadows and encircling her waist with is muscular arm, pressed a pistol to her temple.

"Lee," her voice was barely a whisper.

"Drop it Stetson," the unknown man spoke, "or she dies."

It took a minute for Lee to realize that the man had called him Stetson. As he turned Christophe fired, grazing Lee's ribs and dropping him to his knees.

"Lee!" Amanda called fighting against the man holding her. He held up a hand to quiet her as his right hand pressed against his chest.

"Jesus," Lee whispered as his gun clattered to the hard floor.

He knew that voice. Frank Sullivan, Nairobi office. So, he was Christophe's source. No wonder the MSA was so powerful in Africa and always one step ahead of the government. American Intelligence was supplying weapons and information and making a fortune doing it.

"Come on Sullivan? The MSA? Couldn't you pick real terrorists to help?"

Lee hid his nerves behind his wall of sarcasm. Not that was necessarily his best course of action.

Christophe's pistol slammed into the side of Lee's head and he fell to the floor.

"And then they blind folded me, picked you up, put us in a truck, and here we are."

Lee turned to his partner, "Damn. Damn! I should have known this was going too easily. Amanda, I'm sorry I got you into this…"

"Shh, Lee don't. You couldn't have known. I made the choice to come here. I knew the risks."

Lee managed a smile, "No guts, no glory right?"

"Right." She smiled back. "Now we need to figure out how to get out of here. Wherever here is. I definitely don't want to be here when Christophe and Sullivan get back."

"They're gone?"

She nodded, but he could barely make out the movement in the dusky room.

"Yeah. They went to load the bombs into a plane; from there they were taking them to an airfield. I'm sorry, Lee. I couldn't make out anything else they were saying. They left one guy for muscle."

"Just one?" He forced himself to his feet, ignoring the pain in his side and Amanda's protests to just sit still. "Amanda I can't just sit still. Look, we have to find a way out of here. I don't think Christophe is just going to let us go when he's done with us!"

"I know that, Lee." She crossed her arms, and turned away from him. Sometimes she wished he'd at least pretend he thought she knew what she was doing.

He sighed, "Amanda, look, I'm sorry, okay." He put his hands on her upper arms and gently turned her back towards him.

He wanted to say he didn't like how Christophe looked at her. He wanted to say that he cared about her and the thought of her getting hurt was killing him. Instead, he quickly dropped his hands and cleared his throat. He flinched as he raked a hand through his hair. His head throbbed and the muscles in his chest screamed their protest at the movement.

"Okay. Do you have any idea what kind of building this is? Did you get a look at it at all?"

"No. I'm sorry Lee. It was dark when they brought us here and I was blindfolded. But, it can't be that big or empty."

He cocked an eyebrow, "now just what makes you think that?"

"Well, you know how when you're in a big room and there's not a lot of furniture or other stuff in it you're voice kind of echoes. You know, the room just sounds big or empty. We're not exactly whispering and I don't hear an echo, do you?"

Secretly impressed he said, "It could just be sound proofed you know."

"No. It couldn't."

"What? Why not?"

"Feel the walls Lee. They're cement to about 3 feet. Above that they're some kind of metal."

For emphasis, she gently tapped her fingernail on the building. The hollow metallic sound proved her point.

"If it was sound proofed, these walls would be covered in foam, or rubber or something." Now doubting herself, she added, "Wouldn't they?"

"Actually, yeah, they would. Good work Amanda."

She smiled down at the floor and shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans. Then sobering, she wondered exactly what it mattered what kind of room they were in. It was black as pitch in here, she could barely make out Lee's shape in the almost non-existent ambient light and he was only a couple feet from her. She didn't think Christophe and Sullivan were stupid enough to leave them an out. If they weren't tied up, which they hadn't been, then there was nothing in here that would help them.

It didn't matter anyway. A door slammed open and a flashlight shone directly into their eyes. Lee grimaced and looked away, trying to take in some of his surroundings in the garish light. Amanda was right about the room. It was actually just a tall Quonset type hut about 20 feet high and 35 feet long. The floor was dirt and the room was completely empty except for an old stripped out Piper Cub single engine plane. The door that the flashlight wielding man had come in was next to a larger door that had probably been used to get the plane in here.

"Alright, Stetson, let's go."

"Now why would I want to do that?"

"Cuz if you don't, the woman's gonna buy it. Got it?"

Amanda was clutching his arm. He could feel her short nails through the thin material of his shirt. He felt her grip tighten as the unseen man ordered him out of the room. He hesitated for a second then gently but firmly removed Amanda's hand from his arm.

"Lee, don't, please." Amanda's voice was a harsh whisper.

"Now Stetson. Move it." Slowly, Lee walked towards the man. He held his hands out to his sides indicating that he didn't have any type of weapon. The man grabbed Lee by the shirt and pulled him roughly out the door. He took two quick steps and stopped. The man behind him pressed a pistol into his side and shoved him along.

"Look, why don't you let the woman go? She's no threat to you. She doesn't know anything."

"Shut up. Christophe has plans for both of you. You're lady friend won't be going anywhere any too soon."

Inwardly, Lee cringed at the thought of the creepy Frenchman touching Amanda. If that bastard touched his Amanda, he'd kill him.

Lee was led to another building much like the first and shoved into near total darkness again. This time though, the darkness didn't last long. A single bulb snapped to life and filled the room with deep shadows. A single wooden chair sat in the middle of the room. Lee's stomach lurched a bit when he saw the leather straps on the armrests and legs. He hated interrogations that went this way. A tall man walked up behind him and shoved him down into the chair. Aiming the pistol at Lee's stomach, the man bent to tighten the leg straps.

The man looked down to find the buckle and Lee acted. Lee pistoned his legs forward squarely into the man's jaw. With a grunt, he dropped to the floor in a boneless heap. Jumping up from the chair, Lee quickly disarmed the mercenary. Lee lifted the man and dropped him into the interrogation chair. He made sure all the buckles were tight and then ran out into the darkness.

Meanwhile:

Amanda stood in the again darkened room as the sound of the slamming door filled the building. As soon as the two men left, she began to search the walls for the switch she had seen. She just hoped turning on the light wouldn't get the wrong person's attention. Then again, with Lee gone, the only attention she could get was the wrong person's.

"Think Amanda." She spoke to herself out loud. Hearing her own voice was reassuring, to a point. She moved her hands swiftly along the warm metal walls. Just as she reached the light switch, the door opened again.

"Mrs. King, please come with me."

"Oh no." Amanda whispered. She hesitated but Christophe's next words motivated her to give in to his request.

"Mrs. King, we have your partner. If you don't do as we say, we will kill him. And believe me Amanda; may I call you that, Amanda?" He didn't wait for her answer, "It will not be a quick death."

Straightening her shoulders, Amanda went to Christophe. He followed her out the door. Amanda glanced at her surroundings. There was absolutely nothing to see, just endless sand and decrepit buildings. Her heart skipped a beat as she and Christophe passed a second hut and she heard the sounds of a struggle. She didn't want to think about what they were probably doing to Lee. She shuddered slightly.

"Surely you aren't cold Amanda. None the less, we can take care of that."

When she hesitated at the door of the squat building they had been in earlier that day, Christophe shoved her inside. He led her to a second door and none too gently escorted her into the room.

This new room, though sparsely furnished, was obviously a living quarters. A small cot like bed with a rough OD Green woolen blanket, thin pillow, and striped sheets was against the far wall. A badly mistreated blonde maple desk sat against the left wall underneath the room's only window. To the right of the desk, at the foot of the bed was a black metal filing cabinet. The right hand wall was painted the same institutional grey as the rest of the room, but unlike those bare walls, this wall bore maps of Mareki and the neighboring nations of Estoccia, Eritrea, and Sudan. Different areas were marked in blue, red, green, and black marker on each nation.

Amanda tried to take in as much of the information on the map as the she could. It gave her something to think about other than what was in store for her here. Luckily, she was familiar enough with Estoccia to quickly determine what the marked targets there were. Unfortunately, her knowledge of Mareki and the other nations wasn't quite so vast. The highest concentration of red marks, however were around the capitol city of Vakesh in Mareki. That much she could make out in the short time she was able to look at the map.

Keeping his gun trained on Amanda, Christophe locked the door behind himself. The sound of the metal bar sliding home caused Amanda's stomach to drop.

She felt Christophe behind her before she felt his hands on her shoulders. Amanda closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She had to stay calm, she had to figure out a way to get out of here and rescue Lee.

Lee ran across the dark desert to the hut he'd just left. Checking the gun and chambering a round, Lee threw the door open. He flipped the switch he knew would be next to the door and whispered Amanda's name. As bright light flooded the building, he thought better of it and again sank the building into darkness. He didn't know who was out there or how many of them there were. The guy who'd taken him out just minutes before wasn't Sullivan or Christophe.

Again, Lee called to Amanda. "Hey, it's me. Amanda?"

As realization that she was no longer here dawned, Lee's heart fell into his stomach. There were a good number of buildings on this compound. Lee had noticed them when they came in with the bombs.

"Dammit." Lee swore aloud.

He had to get the bombs back from these crazies and get Amanda from wherever she was, and not necessarily in that order. He knew what his number one priority was supposed to be, but he didn't really give a damn at that moment. His personal number one priority was Amanda and getting them out of here.

Lee dropped the magazine out of the gun, unchambered the round that was in it, and forced that round back into the magazine. He certainly didn't want to take the chance of accidentally shooting himself or Amanda. He slid the magazine back into the gun and slipped the gun between his hip and his jeans. As silently as the breeze, Lee slipped back into the Mareki night.

Staying close to the building, Lee allowed his eyes to become accustomed to the near perfect darkness of the desert night. A waning, but nearly full moon was beginning to rise over the horizon in the east. The light would soon brighten the compound enough for Lee to search more easily. He knew though, that that light would also allow him to be seen more easily. Lee scanned the buildings on his side of the hut and made a mental note of those that had lights shining in their high windows. Most of these buildings were like the hangar that he and Amanda had been kept in earlier. There were also long, squat, mud-brick buildings that Lee had to assume were barracks. He wished he knew where Christophe stayed. He had a sinking feeling that that's where he'd find Amanda. He figured he could rule out the main barracks, Christophe didn't seem the type to share quarters with his men. Deciding he'd begin his search at the warehouse they'd been in earlier, Lee slipped out of the shadow of the building and sprinted across the desert sand.

Amanda tried to will herself away as Christophe caressed her face and hair.

"You are a beautiful woman Amanda. Far too beautiful for this line of work. Don't you know that beautiful women shouldn't be in Godforsaken places like this? A woman like you should be in a palace Amanda, not a warehouse surrounded by mercenaries and filled with rats."

He leaned towards her until she could feel his hot breath on her face and whispered, "I can make you my queen Amanda. Tell me what you know. Tell me what your partner knows. Tell me you will join me in my quest to free Mareki, Amanda, and I will make you my queen."

"What have you done with Lee?" Amanda squeaked.

"If I were you Amanda, I would worry more about what I was going to do with you and forget about him." Christophe hissed and turned away from her.

Lee slipped around the warehouse and slid along the wall, staying in the shadows. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw one of the doors across the narrow dirt path open and a man step out into the light. He pressed himself flatter against the wall and drew the pistol. He slid the chamber back slowly and flinched when the slide clicked home. Breathing a sigh of relief when the man didn't step out of the building but instead turned to the building and relieved himself, Lee continued towards the front of the warehouse.

Wishing desperately that he hadn't gotten Amanda involved in this, Lee headed towards the warehouse they'd been in when they'd handed over the smart bombs. Lee knew that his first priority was supposed to be getting those bombs back and stopping these madmen. However, he could worry about that after he rescued Amanda. It wasn't as if he had never danced with treason, or disaster, before.

He listened in the deep silence of the desert night for any sound that would give away Christophe's location, but all he could hear were the soft whuffles of the horses and camels that were kept by Christophe's Bedouin guides, and the rapid, excited conversation of the traders. Lee tried to follow the snippets of conversation that blew by him on the cool desert wind. The only words that stuck with him were Vakesh and Mnebe, but they were cities, probably targets. He'd been almost sure of that when all this started. He had to keep moving.

The heat of the sub-Saharan day had almost completely bled out of the night. The air that moved softly around him, ruffling his hair was cool on his nerve-heated skin. The sand however, was still warm under his military issue boots. The blue jeans and light, short-sleeved shirt he wore offered him little protection from the rapidly dropping temperature of the desert night.

Another two minutes brought him to the outside of the first hangar they were in. Lee scanned the side of the building, his heart dropping as he saw a faint yellow light near the steeply sloped tin roof. He had already ruled out the roof as a way of getting in. Just as he was about to circle the building a deep and frighteningly familiar voice called out across the desert.

"Stetson got away. He's gone!"

"Shit," Lee swore under his breath and searched for somewhere to hide. Suddenly he made his decision and sprinted around the building.

Amanda sat down hard on the cot, not exactly of her own free will. She closed her eyes as Christophe's mouth descended towards hers. She tried to will herself away but it didn't really work. She heard noise from outside the high window but couldn't make out the sounds. She winced as his scrubby beard scraped against her soft cheek and his lips claimed hers. His tongue pressed against her closed mouth, first gently, then more urgently.

He stepped back from her, apparently savoring the kiss. Amanda had to fight the urge to wipe her mouth and spit. She succeeded, barely. His breath tasted of cigar and spices. He smelled of stale sweat, cigar smoke, and cooking fire. She stared at him, clutching the mattress, and dreading his return to her. She could barely stand the taste of him; she knew she wouldn't be able to stand it if it went any farther than a kiss.

As Christophe leaned in to taste her mouth again, someone knocked on the door. He backed off with a growl. "Go away! I'm busy in here."

The incessant pounding didn't stop, but instead grew more urgent. He swore a string of oaths as he turned from Amanda, "Don't go away."

He grabbed the door knob and pulled the door open, "Unless we're being inva…," he was cut off by a sharp left hook.

"Invade this, you son of a b…"

"Lee!" Amanda called to him, cutting him off mid-curse. She jumped up from the cot and ran to him. As relief washed over her she threw her arms around Lee's neck. He held her to him then peeled her off of himself.

"Did he hurt you?" Lee held onto her arms as he looked at the terrorist sprawled on the floor. He reluctantly let her go as she shook her head. Pulling the sheets off the cot, Lee made a makeshift hog-tie for Christophe. Lee pulled the pillowcase off the thin pillow and put it over Christophe's head. Lee then used the man's belt as a makeshift gag.

As Lee finished with Christophe, Amanda began pulling maps off the walls. "These have some places labeled. I think they're the MSA targets. Uh, Vakesh and M…Muhneebee?" She sounded out the second word.

Lee smiled slightly and re-pronounced the second city. "Em Nay Bee. And I know Amanda; I heard the Bedouin's talking about it earlier. We need to get out of here before our friend here gets loose. They already know I'm free. Come on." He took her hand and pulled her out of the room.

She stopped short and he frowned at her, "A-man-da!" She pulled her hand from his and went back over to Christophe. She bent down and reached for the sprawled terrorist.

"What are you doing? We need to get out of …" he was cut off as she pulled Christophe's pistol from his holster and checked it for ammunition. He couldn't help but smile as she reached for his hand and followed him out of the room.