Disclaimer: This story is based on Characters copyrighted by Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. This story is meant for enjoyment purposes only and cannot be redistributed without permission from the author. I retain the rights to the plot, not the characters. No infringement is intended.

Author's note: This story takes place 25 years after the story Ready Or Not.

Chapter 1

January 2013: Somewhere in the Middle East

The terrorist training camp and its soldiers were preparing for their latest mission to attack the United States. The men were talking very excitedly to each other regarding their leader's idea of working loosely with some other cell groups inside the US. For the last four months, they had been forming a plan to try to attack the Pentagon. Among the discussions was that one way would be to attack the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Since September 11, 2001 security was very tight in the United States and it would be especially hard to penetrate and attack the Pentagon. If they could cause some damage to the mightiest military power in the world, what a great victory it would be for them! It would also bring special honor to their group and each individual's family. There had been a lot of coded messages exchanged between groups on social media, phone relays, and secret meetings during this time. After surveillance and research had been done, plans were approved for the second in command, Jaza Bukhari, a member of one of the Al-Qaeda splinter groups, to be given the authority to gather a team to accomplish their goal.

February 2013:

For the last 7 years, Lee and Amanda Stetson had been heading up the recruiting and training department of the Agency. Their skills as field agents and partners had earned them great respect within the agency, and Lee's persistence and passion to find and train agents had given him a renewed sense of purpose in his job. When his section chief Billy Melrose retired, because of his reputation, Scarecrow was asked to replace him. At first, he was hesitant to accept the job because he just didn't think he was cut out for a desk job. But Amanda had encouraged him to try it since the physical aspects of the job were putting a strain on his body. Lee had both a hip and a knee replacement and soon he would have the other knee replaced. The mighty Scarecrow was finding it hard to accept the process of aging. Amanda had urged him to slow down and with her help, they were making the necessary changes inside the Agency. But after a year as section chief, he couldn't stomach it anymore-too much bureaucracy and politics from the top. So Francine Desmond took over. She had not been happy when she was passed over for promotion, but when Lee resigned as section leader the Agency heads decided that it was time to endorse a woman for the position. The natural good looks of Lee's youth were still evident—those looks that always caused women to do double-takes in public and go out of their way to meet him. His hair was still thick and full but there were now large streaks of gray in the once brown hair. His face showed the normal wear of aging that had crows' feet outlining the eyes of his chiseled face.

Francine Desmond was disturbed over the reports she had been hearing from the different intelligence communities. She'd been informed there were a few small Al-Qaeda splinter groups with sleeper cells in the US. She was directed by the Agency heads that a top priority was to be given in apprehending these cell groups and so she called a meeting of all the field agents in the Agency. They were crowded into the small auditorium which was usually reserved for inter-agency conferences. As a section chief, Francine loved to be the center of attention, so she made sure she wore her best outfit that day for what she thought was one of the most important directives she would give in her career. Her signature blonde hair which covered her natural gray color was swept up into a loose bun. She wore her power red skirt and jacket with the black Louis Vuitton heels. As she stepped up to the microphone, she looked across at the vast sea of agents, took a deep breath, and spoke.

"Thank you all for your cooperation in attending this meeting. I was asked by the President's office, the State Department, and our Agency board to have you all personally attend this important meeting to hear this directive. We believe there could be some type of terrorist attack on the Pentagon and the Joint Chiefs sometime in the next four or five months. All federal security agencies will be on alert along with the military. All agents will be focused on finding the terrorists, and any cases or assignments you are working on now are to be put on hold. Francine paused to take a breath.

"I have asked Scarecrow to be a consultant in this operation. As you know, he and his wife Amanda head up our Recruitment and Training Division of agents. Even though he is no longer an active agent out in

the field, he has a lot of experience in terrorist activity, so we will be coordinating together. You are to consult either him or me. Now, he has some things to add. Scarecrow, please come up."

As Lee walked to the podium, the audience of agents gave warm applause, and the younger operatives suddenly sat a little straighter in their chairs at rapt attention because they had heard stories of the legendary agent and they believed this was a unique opportunity to hear from him. The renowned agent began to address them.

"Thank you, Francine. Now from our reports from various networks and chatter, it is thought that these are Al-Qaeda splinter cells that have no more than four to six people in each one. In addition, there are maybe three or four of these cells loosely working together. I would like to emphasize everyone needs to contact their sources if they have heard anything. Check out any minute detail. This is a major breach in our security that allowed these splinter groups to get through major security checkpoints. You are to make reports of your actions and findings and send them to Francine's desk no later than every Thursday. If you have questions or need help with any leads, I am available 24/7. I can't emphasize enough that we need to find these groups ASAP. We are not the only intelligence agency to be working on this. The FBI, CIA, Homeland Security, and the National Security Agency have every available agent working on this problem. I know with everyone's effort we will be successful. Inside the folders that were on your chairs are some pictures and bios of known terrorists that could be involved in addition to a "No Fly" List. Show these pictures to your contacts. Thank you."