Michael used his fingertips to gently rub the side of his face that Francine had just slapped. He wasn't sure what stung more; her slap or Lee's words. I swore to myself that I'd never give another woman the chance to hurt me the way Liza did; yet here I am… blindsided again. Could I have been so wrong about her? There's only one way to find out.

"Francine." She tensed at the sound of his voice, but didn't turn around to face him. "That was quite a slap." She looked over her shoulder at him, but didn't say a word. "Maybe, I deserved it?' She whirled around to face him.

"Maybe," she questioned with an arched eyebrow. "What kind of woman do you think I am?"

"I…I…I'm not sure. This morning, when I asked you why you left my place in the middle of the night, you said you needed space to think. Now, I hear that you went straight to your old lover…because you both suspected that I'm guilty of-"

"I never believed that you were guilty."

"Is that why you were following me today?"

"I wasn't following you-"

"Now, who's lying repeatedly? You wouldn't know that I left my office if you hadn't been following me."

"I was working the case; I wanted to prove that you hadn't done anything wrong. I was following up on a lead and there you were coming out of the building that I was going into. I didn't want to believe the worst…that's why I called you over here. I wanted to give you a chance to explain why you were there."

"So, you'd be grilling me now if…HE hadn't called to try and stop you. Did the two of you stay up all night strategizing?"

"No, we weren't discussing the case." It was Michael's turn to raise an eyebrow at a hard to believe statement."

"What were you talking about at three in the morning?"

"I was thrown by what you told me about Liza and your daughter. I want to be there for you, but I was confused and scared, so I went to Lee because-"

"You and he are two of a kind. Why don't I find that thought reassuring? This whole situation is getting stranger and stranger." He looked uncomfortable and she choked back a laugh.

"The night got even more bizarre; Amanda arrived while Lee and I were arguing."

"His girlfriend? What happened then?"

"She tried to play referee and calm us down; we were overtired so her attempts failed. She gave up and suggested that we all turn in and get some sleep."

"She invited you to stay," Michael questioned incredulously.

"Yes, they didn't want me to drive because I was exhausted and had too much to drink. They went into his bedroom and I sacked out on the sofa. You need to stop dwelling on my past with Lee; it was a long time ago. I already told you we didn't love each other then… but we do now…as friends. Amanda is okay with it; she realized how much Lee loves her before the rest of us did…maybe, before he admitted it to himself?"

"I think I can accept your friendship with Lee, but that's just a side issue; it's not the real problem here." He sank down onto the sofa and she seated herself at the far end. "Even if I believe that you've come to care for me; I started out being nothing more than a suspect that you were investigating."

"That's not true!"

"Francine, I'm not a fool, we met at a State Department dinner that you were working…our meeting was arranged by your superiors."

"Think about what you're saying; if I'd been assigned to investigate you back then the Agency wouldn't have told you that I'm an agent…I would have appeared to meet you by accident."

"Okay, I can accept that your initial interest in me was personal, but I need to know when I became a suspect. By the way, what was I suspected of doing?" She lowered her gaze to her lap, as she considered her response she could feel his intense blue eyes watching her closely.

"I wish I could answer your questions, but-"

"Don't go there, Francine, I know all about classified and need to know…I have a very high security clearance myself." She remained silent, so he stood up and shook his head sadly. "I'm not asking you to share the minute details of your case."

"Good, because I can't, but I will tell you what specific crime we were investigating. Did you read anything in the newspaper about Senator Roberts in the past couple of days?" He let out a low whistle and slowly sat back down.

"I was a suspect in a car bombing?"

"Not exactly," she equivocated, "you're taking this too personally. Billy, my boss, wanted me to get a sense of the internal politics of your unit. I don't think he suspected you specifically, but since we'd already met he thought that I could…" Her voice trailed off and she looked away from him. "Billy didn't know that we began seeing each other after the State Department dinner; he wanted me to…I need a drink. Can I get you anything?" She stood up and he grabbed her hand as she tried to walk past him.

"Forget the drinks, please, talk to me. I've never seen you so…distressed…I thought that you loved what you do."

"I thought that I did; I've taken a hard look at myself recently and I don't like who I've become."

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Author's note: I'd like to express my thanks to Lanie Sullivan for always being there for me. This story wouldn't be what it is without your beta work and encouragement.