Amanda snuck back into the hospital around nine that night, after putting the boys to bed. It was remarkably easy to convince her mother that a film studio had crazy hours where they needed help with things. She hadn't even questioned Amanda disappearing back to the office so late at night with only the vaguest promise of when she'd be home again.

Offense seemed like the best defense, so Amanda strolled onto the floor and greeted the nurses openly. "I'm sorry, Anna, I know it's past visiting hours, but I left my book in Mr. Beaman's room when I was here earlier and I'm just going to be in and out in two seconds."

"No problem, Amanda," the nurse on duty glanced up and smiled at her. "Must be quite the book if you had to come all the way back down here for it."

"Well, I was passing by on my way home from something else and I had just gotten to the bit where she finds out she was married to the hero in a past life – or at least it's her past life, but he's a time traveller so he's the same guy and he's been waiting for her to be reborn," Amanda said brightly, moving quickly past the desk.

"Wow – that sounds amazing. You'll have to loan it to me when you're done," answered Anna.

"Sure will!" said Amanda. Right after I write it she thought as she slipped into Efraim's room.

"No problems getting away?" he asked.

"No, but I am getting way too good at lying to people. I never used to lie and now I have to do it all the time." She flopped in the chair by his bed and sighed. "On the upside, I may have a future as a romance novelist."

"Not spy novels?"

"Maybe romantic spy novels. Adventures of a time-travelling housewife spy from space – who wouldn't want to read that?"

"Any red-blooded male?"

Amanda gave a choke of laughter. "Fair enough. How have the check-ins being going?"

"Every hour, regular as clockwork. This is a very efficient hospital."

"Not so efficient that they don't let you get kidnapped nightly. Have you been able to figure anything else out?"

"Not from the charts, but I've been thinking back to everything since I got here. There's the sinking feeling thing, but I also had a really strange physical reaction to Billy walking in here today. It was like I was angry with him, and I really wanted to hurt him, and then in a split second, it was gone. I've never felt anything like it in my life – it was completely irrational. And you said Stetson was talking about precision and success and I can remember something like that, but here's the thing – I'm not remembering it."

"You've lost me."

Efraim paused, searching for a good way to explain it. "The memories aren't right. There are things I remember clearly even if they're not important, like what you were wearing your first day, but these memories aren't like that, they're like – they're like photos of memories."

Amanda thought she understood. "So, like when you think you can remember stuff from when you were a kid but really it's because you've seen the pictures of it so much, you just think you do?"

"Yes! Well, I think so, but since I do remember stuff from my childhood, I'll take your word for it." He grinned at her eye roll. "Anyway, I'm getting really strange flashes of things like explosions that aren't right. And there's a voice – it's not a human voice, it's like a cartoon voice and it talks about precision and success and -."

"Details?" asked Amanda.

"Yes."

"Details are important," they both said it at the same time. Amanda stared at him wide-eyed.

"What are we in the middle of?" she whispered

"Somebody in this hospital is up to something bad and I'd bet my next paycheque Dr. Glaser has something to do with it." He checked his watch. "You need to go hide in the bathroom – Anna should be doing her rounds any minute now."

As she stood in the small bathroom, ear pressed to the slightly open door, Amanda couldn't help seeing the funny side of this serious situation. Now I really feel like I'm having a thing she thought. All we need now is for Francine to show up and find me hiding in here.

She listened as Anna joked quietly with Efraim before moving on to the next room. When she was sure she was gone, Amanda moved back out into the room and leaned against the window sill. "Now what Boss?"

"Now we wait."

She didn't realize she'd dozed off, curled up in the dark corner of the room where the nurses wouldn't notice her, until she heard Efraim calling her softly. "Whassup?" she asked sleepily.

"They're taking Stetson somewhere," he motioned to the door.

"Already?" she looked at her watch. "It's only 11 o'clock!"

"They're getting cocky, I think. Or speeding up whatever they have planned." He watched her move quietly to the door and open it slightly, peeking out to see what was going on.

"You're right," she whispered to him. "That was Glaser's assistant Dr. Chrysler." She peeked out again. "They're going to the service elevator." As Dr. Chrysler and the gurney with Lee on it disappeared from view, she crept out of the room and moved down the hall. "They've gone to the basement," she told Efraim when she returned a few seconds later.

"That explains the sinking feeling," he said with a grimace. "We need to find out what's down there."

"To heck with this, I'm following them," said Amanda. "And don't even bother telling me no. You can't go – you'll miss bed check."

"I'm not going to tell you no but don't do anything heroic. Just find out where they're going and come straight back here."

She walked quickly down the hallway and pressed the elevator button, praying that its noisy movement wouldn't attract any attention. The nurses must have been used to the noise though because they never even looked up when she opened the metal gate and stepped inside. The doors opened downstairs to a blast of heat and humidity and she realized she was on the same floor of the laundry, and more of what Lee and Efraim had been saying began to make sense. She tiptoed down the hall, diving to flatten herself against the wall in the dark hallway when Dr. Chrysler appeared out of a doorway and strode down the hall in the opposite direction. When she saw him pick up the handset of the phone on the wall, she moved quickly down the hall, her footsteps silenced by the noise of the heavy duty laundry machines. She slipped into the room and found Lee strapped into a chair, head lolling to one side. His eyes were open but when she ran forward to take his face in her hands, there was no recognition in them.

"Oh Lee," she murmured, trying not to cry. "What have they done to you?" She looked around wildly looking for a way to free him and then realized she could do nothing with Chrysler in the hallway. She went to the door, realizing just in time that he was walking back towards the room they were in. Spinning in place, she saw the supply closet in the corner and ran for it, praying he wouldn't find her in there. She pulled the door almost completely closed, then slid to the floor, wrapping her arms around her knees to try and keep from moving.

"He's ready to go?" She hadn't heard Glaser arrive but she recognized his voice immediately.

"Yes Sir, he's got enough serum in him for at least five hours."

"We shouldn't need it – he's more susceptible than Agent Beaman, although that loyalty to Billy Melrose is proving difficult to overcome." Amanda's head shot up at his next words. "And what the hell is Sundance? Is that his mantra word or something? Every time he gets over-agitated, he starts muttering how Sundance should be helping him."

"He used to have a partner, didn't he? Could that have been his code name?"

"That's possible," answered Glaser thoughtfully. "I wonder if we could use that. If we could persuade him that someone he trusts wants him to murder Melrose, he'd be putty in our hands."

Amanda closed her eyes, horrified by what she was hearing. It was taking everything she had not to jump out and try and stop them, but she knew she was horribly outnumbered, so she forced herself to sit still and listen.

"Pity Agent Beaman was such a washout as a test subject. I don't know how he can manage to shake off everything so easily. I thought his eidetic memory would make it easier but it actually appears to be an impediment."

"So you don't want me to bring him down next?"

"There's no point. We'll just use Stetson – after all, it's not like we can kill Melrose twice."

"And now that we've narrowed down what went wrong with Kimball, we can pinpoint his pressure points."

"Indeed we can. Let's get started."

Amanda stayed curled up in the closet, and tried not to cry as she listened to the nightmare unfold outside the door.

Efraim waited until midnight before he allowed himself to panic. She'd been gone too long – she was only supposed to see where they were going and come back. It was possible she'd stayed to spy on them, but she must have known he expected her back sooner than this. The night nurse had been surprised to find him still awake; she offered him a sleeping pill and he'd pretended to take it since he had no idea who was involved in whatever was going on. By 1 am, he had been trying to decide whether to go look for her himself or call for reinforcements, but when he unthinkingly rolled onto his bad elbow trying to get out of bed and almost passed out, the decision was made – he was in no shape to take on anyone.

Francine had answered on the second ring and despite the fact that she must have been sound asleep, she had instantly grasped everything he'd said and come without question. Now it was closer to 2 am and Francine, who had simply strode by the nurses waving her badge officiously to deter questions, was standing by his bed, getting him to repeat the strange story.

"So they've been gone almost three hours?"

"Since just after eleven. She told me the elevator with Stetson in it had gone to the basement. She followed a few minutes later and neither of them have come back."

"And you think Glaser and Chrysler are involved?"

"We know it was Chrysler who took Lee, so yeah."

"And you thought it was a good idea to let a civilian pursue someone who you suspected was capable of terrorizing trained agents?"

He winced – she was right and he knew it. "I know, I know! But she was here and it all happened so fast and…" he met Francine's grim look with shame. "No, it was a terrible idea and I should have called you sooner."

She didn't bother to answer him; she simply pulled out her service revolver, checked it quickly and tucked into the back of her jeans before walking towards the door. The instant she pulled it open, they both heard it – the sound of the service elevator gate being opened. She stepped back into the shadow of his room, holding the door slightly ajar to see who was coming.

"It's Lee," she whispered over her shoulder.

"No Amanda?"

"Nope. Is Chrysler the one with the glasses and the curly hair?"

"Yeah, that's Nurse Ratched. So what are you waiting for?"

"I'm waiting to see if he comes for you next. I can't just go arrest him – it's hardly a crime for a doctor to be moving a patient around a hospital, is it?" Francine could hear him moving and went on without turning her head. "Get back in bed, Efraim. You're no good to anyone with that concussion."

He didn't answer her – the wave of vertigo when he'd sat up too quickly had already convinced him not to move further.

"He's leaving." She stepped back, ready to hide behind the door but still watching through the small window. "And he's gone. If I'm not back in fifteen minutes, call the cavalry." She slipped out the door and down the hall.

The service elevator car had already disappeared but she could see from the moving cables in the shaft that it was returning. She moved to one side, waiting to see who was inside, then gasped with relief when Amanda stumbled out, clutching file folders and began staggering down the hall toward Efraim's room. She ran forward to grab her, worried Amanda was actually going to collapse before she got there. At the sound of her footsteps, Amanda whirled and pressed herself against the wall, sheer terror written all over her face.

"Francine!" she gasped. "Oh thank God! When did you get here?" Amanda practically fell into her arms and Francine guided her down the hall, half-carrying her until she could deposit her into a chair in Efraim's room.

Efraim had been relieved when he'd seen them reappear but now looking at Amanda, the guilt of having let her go after Lee was overwhelming. She was pale and shaking, clutching the folders she was still carrying. Francine had crouched down in front of her and was slowly peeling her fingers off them, talking to her in soothing tones.

"What happened? Are you ok? Efraim says you've been gone for three hours."

Amanda looked up at that and answered in a shaky voice, "Only three? It felt longer."

"So where were you? And what have you got there?"

Amanda sounded as if she was trying to gulp in air desperately. "Glaser's files on Walt and Efraim. I stole them. I would have taken Lee's but they said they weren't done with him and I thought they'd notice if it was gone but they don't want Efraim anymore and Walt is dead and they wouldn't need them so I thought they wouldn't notice." Even for Amanda, it was a pretty incoherent ramble.

Francine took the files from her and laid them on Efraim's bed before going back to Amanda again, still speaking in a soft voice. "Okay, that was good thinking. So where have you been? Where did they take Lee?"

Amanda was very obviously trying not to cry by this time. "They have a room on the basement. I got stuck. I was trying to get Lee out of there and they came back and I had to hide in the closet and then I knew I couldn't come out or they'd know I was there and maybe they'd do it to me too."

"What were they doing?"

Amanda swallowed hard. "They'd drugged him and they were playing him these films and these tapes kept repeating and it was telling him that Billy was the enemy and at first he was fighting it but then…" she trailed off, eyes closed.

"What happened, Amanda?" Francine's voice was still soft but firmer now – she knew she needed to keep her talking.

"When he started to fight it, they started telling him I wanted him to do it. I mean, not me, but Sundance – they thought when he kept asking for Sundance to help him that it must be Eric's old code name – so they kept telling him Sundance wanted him to kill Billy because he could only save his partner from the rats if he killed Billy. It was so awful - he was so frightened and I couldn't do anything." All of a sudden, Amanda was on her feet, bolting for the bathroom, where they could hear her retching uncontrollably.

Francine turned to look at Efraim, and he knew the horrified look on her face was on his too before she followed Amanda into the small ensuite. He began flipping through the files, his own bile rising as he looked over the clinical notes of what they had done to Walt Kimball and tried to do to him. It was almost a relief to see that he wasn't actually crazy, that it wasn't the concussion that had been affecting him over the past few days and that there was an explanation for his reaction to Billy that afternoon.

He looked up as Francine led Amanda back out and into the chair. She motioned for him to keep an eye on her before leaving to check on Lee.

"He's out cold," she announced on her return. "Whatever they gave him, I can't wake him up." After a quick glance at Amanda, who was rocking gently in her chair, head in her hands, she came to see what was in the files.

"You need to take these to Billy asap," said Efraim, quietly. "This whole thing is a targeted attack on the Agency and specifically him. It looks like Glaser is trying to prove the validity of his old theories by targeting the people who got him tossed."

"I thought you couldn't hypnotize somebody to do something they don't want to do?"

"This isn't hypnotism though, it's more like he's trying to rewire our brains. There's stuff in here about a trigger phrase – no pun intended – I think that's the weird voice I keep hearing in my head."

"At least we know that with Lee in the hospital, he can't actually act on any of the stuff Amanda says they were doing to him," answered Francine, quickly scanning the pages Efraim was pointing out. "Poor Walt – it looks like he never stood a chance. He was set to self-destruct." She reached for the other file, tugging it out of Efraim's reluctant grip. "Give me a break, you know I'm going to read it anyway." She sped-read her way through the notes, looking up at the end with a grimace. "Must be nice to know your steel trap mind has good taste in what it retains. Nice for Billy too – we'd never have figured this out otherwise."

"It was Amanda mostly – if she hadn't known something was wrong with Stetson, I would have just put it all down to bad dreams."

"Well, this is definitely a nightmare." She leaned against the side of the bed, watching Amanda thoughtfully for a moment. "Okay, I'm going to take her home and then get all this back to the Agency so I can have it all ready to brief Billy in the morning. We know Lee can't go anywhere, so I don't think there's a safety issue in not dealing with it until tomorrow."

She walked over and crouched in front of Amanda again. "I'm going to drive you home to get some sleep, Amanda, okay?"

"No, I can't leave! What if they come for him again?" Francine could hear the panic rising in her voice.

"It's fine. They're gone for tonight and he's sleeping. You need to go home because your family is expecting you, right?" Amanda nodded unwillingly. "But we'll need you back at the office in the morning because Billy will want to talk to you. Can you do that?" She waited for another nod then helped her to her feet. She glanced back at Efraim as they walked to the door.

"And McMurphy, you stay out of trouble until I can come back, okay?"

He gave her a grim smile. "Oh, I'm not going anywhere, Martini. I always prefer to get in trouble with you anyway." At least he'd managed to make her laugh a little bit in the middle of all this.