Disclaimer: The characters of SMK and the premise of the episode "The Wrong Way Home" don't belong to me. I'm grateful for the chance to borrow them for entertainment purposes.

Feeling chilled to the bone, Lee Stetson let himself into his apartment and shivered involuntarily. He shrugged out of his leather bomber jacket and casually tossed it over the arm of his sofa. He'd spent the previous five hours in a nondescript compact car from the Agency motor pool that lacked a working heater. Billy had insisted that he not use his own car because it would "stick out like a sore thumb" in the parking lot of the middle class suburban shopping center where he would be conducting surveillance on a suspected KGB drop site.

The Agency had received a tip that the KGB had recently obtained an interest in a small Arlington bakery so that the location could be used as a place where their operatives and tipsters could meet and exchange information outside of D.C. Their theory being that their American adversaries wouldn't expect to find spies in suburbia. Ironically, they had literally setup shop in Amanda's favorite strip mall but to Lee's consternation his partner wasn't available to assist him with this stakeout.

Three nights earlier he'd watched her dancing with her ex-husband. His heart sank as he watched them wrapped in each other's arms at Dooley's, their former hangout, but then her eyes met his across the length of the crowded bar. He'd been reassured that the intense albeit unlikely bond between them remained intact. Believing that Joe King's unexpected return wouldn't affect their burgeoning relationship-although he wasn't entirely sure how to characterize what exactly they were to one another-Lee arrived at work early the next morning eager to see Amanda. Rather than being greeted by the beautiful brunette he found a note from Billy stating that she'd asked for and been granted a week off to deal with her "new family situation".

Convinced that he was going to lose her, he was hurting and he believed that he had no one but himself to blame. When had he allowed her to slip past the barrier he'd built around his heart? He'd grudgingly accepted her as a helper and a casual friend despite their living vastly different lives. But somewhere along the line she'd become the woman that he loved, although he was determined to take that secret to his grave.

The agony that he was already feeling was deepened by having spent the last several hours in a shopping center that was completely decorated for the holiday season that he dreaded each year. As a young teen he'd concluded that some people were meant to live idyllic family lives and others were meant to be alone. He fell into the latter category and he was determined to be okay with that fate. Her happiness had become more important to him than his own.

She was obviously more troubled by her divorce than I ever considered. Normal family life is so important to her and now she has the chance to give the boys a two parent home again. Surely, Joe realizes that he was a fool to have left his family behind. He seems like a good man. With him, Amanda can have the life that she always wanted…I have to try to be happy for her.

His musings were interrupted by a tentative knock on his door. Who could that be? And why knock when there's nothing wrong with the doorbell. He was in no mood for an uninvited guest, yet his curiosity led him to peer through the peephole in time to see Amanda's retreating form. Leaning his forehead against the door, he was relieved that he wouldn't have to face her so soon, but then something that he'd observed passively registered with his conscious mind. He hurriedly yanked the door open and ran after his partner, reaching her as her hand shakily pressed the elevator call button.

"Amanda, don't go." He placed a hand on each of her shoulders and turned her towards him. His breath caught in his throat as he took in her ghostly pallor. "What's wrong? Tell me what happened to you," he demanded urgently.

"Ummm," she replied, momentarily closing her eyes and taking solace in his steadying presence. As he wrapped his arms around her, she sagged against his larger form and made no further effort to respond to his query. After several minutes of her uncharacteristic silence his desire to know what had caused her to be in such a state led him to once again question her.

"Amanda, please try to tell me what happened to you?"

"Happened to me?" She slowly drew back from him. "Nothing happened to me... I'm okay," she asserted in a tone that lacked conviction.

He stared at her incredulously, and then he slowly and deliberately stated, "You are NOT okay. It's twenty-something degrees out there and you aren't wearing a coat."

She looked down at herself and then back up at his visibly concerned countenance. "Oh my gosh, I was in such a rush to get away that I must have forgotten to grab it. They had me outnumbered and they kept asking me questions that I didn't have any good answers to. I had to get out of there, but I shouldn't have come here…you can't help me."

"I think that you're wrong, but even if you're right, I've got the full resources of the Agency to fall back on. We'll deal with whoever they are and I promise you that they'll never hurt you again," he vowed.

"You and the Agency can't protect me from my own family," she replied despondently.

To be continued…