Title: The Price We Pay

Disclosure: Warner Brothers Television Distribution and Shoot The Moon Productions owns these characters, as well as to the writers, and actors who created and portrayed them. Generous references to the past and the events of the 4th season... I don't make any money off of this - my only reward is my personal satisfaction at having written a decent story (and the story is all mine). Oh, and any new characters that you meet along the way - those are creations from my own twisted imagination, so hands off, unless you ask for permission to play with them.

See Chapter 1 for more information on timing and all that other good stuff...

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45 minutes after leaving the Arlington neighborhood that had become his home, Lee finally walked into the Georgetown foyer. "Good Morning, Mrs. Marston. Denouement." Lee smiled at the older woman, hoping that she was in a good mood.

"Good Morning, Scarecrow. Francine is looking for you." She handed him his badge, wondering if she was ever going to get a word that Lee Stetson wasn't going to be able to say one day, and have him be stuck at the entrance until an escort arrived. 'Stranger things have happened,' she thought to herself, 'after all, look how he recruited his own wife.' The older woman mused on this for just a second as she watched the handsome, but slightly distracted, agent clip the badge to his jacket lapel, and made a mental note to ask Amanda if she had any suggestions for stumpers.

"That's nice. Francine can just keep looking for me. Is Billy around?" Before she could answer, Francine came barreling down the stairs from the Q Bureau with a printout at least a couple of inches thick; a couple of pages were escaping her grasp as she headed down the stairs and straight for him.

"Thank goodness you're here. There are a couple of international bulletins you need to review." To Lee's recollection, there weren't many times that he had ever seen Francine stressed out, and this was one of them. Despite that, Lee didn't have time to be sympathetic to her plight. "The morning news is the biggest I've seen-"

Lee cut her off. "Francine, I don't have time. I need to talk with Billy. It's about Amanda and this whole harassment thing." He turned towards the closet in the foyer, but Francine was too quick for him and moved to block his way.

"Sorry, Scarecrow. You're not going to be able to get any time with him this morning. Smyth's on the rampage, and we've got a couple of scrambles that are muy caliente." Francine arched an eyebrow at him.

"Francine, cut the bad impression of Smyth. I've got to talk to Billy. I'll wait in his office if I have to. And besides, how come I didn't hear about this earlier?" He moved to slide past the blonde, but again, she blocked his way. Francine smirked at the look of exasperated frustration that was beginning to cross her long-time friend's features.

"Billy took off for a meeting on Pennsylvania Avenue early this morning, Lee. I didn't know anything until I got here about 20 minutes ago myself. And as for talking with Billy, you're just going to have to wait like the rest of us. Come on. Let's go back up to the Q and I can get you up to date with what's going on." With that Francine turned and headed back up towards the Q. As she climbed the stairs, she continued to speak, "I know this harassment thing with Amanda is important, but even Billy would agree that it would take a back seat to what's going on today."

Lee looked over at Mrs. Marston, who just shrugged at him. He sighed, and made his way up the stairs. "Time out, Francine. Give me a minute to call Amanda, at least. We agreed that I'd be gone long enough to tell Billy. If I'm going to be here awhile, I want to let her know." He had almost reached the top of the stairs when he noticed Francine slowed her pace, and turned to look over her shoulder down at him from her spot on the landing.

"Look at you. Gone the Lee Stetson we all knew and tolerated. And wrapped around Amanda King's finger, no less." She continued towards the Q Bureau door, as Lee made his way onto the landing and towards the office as well.

"You're in fine form this morning, Francine. What bug landed in your oatmeal?"

"Just wondering how someone with such panache could become so domestic so very quickly." Francine sat down on the office couch, knowing that she'd never hear the end of it, if she sat down at Amanda's desk. The flowers on the desk were wilting anyway, as the occupants of the office hadn't been around much to keep them from neglect.

Lee picked up the phone. "Just lucky, I guess, Francine." He smiled and winked at her as he started to dial the phone. The phone rang 5 times and then the machine picked up. "Amanda, are you there? If you're listening in, I'm going to be delayed a little. Francine grabbed me as I came in, Billy's walking Pennsylvania, and there's an international situation brewing. Don't come in, and I'll be home soon." He hung up the phone and turned to find Francine studying him. "What?"

"No 'I love you' at the end of the message, Scarecrow," Francine teased. Seeing a slight reddening around his collar, and not knowing if it was pure irritation or embarrassment, she changed her tactic. "Amanda's not home?"

"She didn't pick up. I asked her to take it easy today, so she could be taking a nap, or a long bath. She did have some gardening she wanted to do, so maybe she's in the backyard," Lee continued the sentence in his mind, 'where I should be, at home with her.'

"I'm sure she's just fine, Lee. Now come on, the Romanians are threatening diplomatic sanctions against us, and..." Francine started giving him the rundown on how the international political situation had changed overnight. After one fleeting thought about where his wife could be, Lee turned his mind to the matter at hand, and didn't think about Amanda for the next hour.

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Just a few minutes after watching Jack and Russell drive off, Becca relaxed in the driver's seat of the rental car she was driving.

'Every agent makes a critical mistake, at least once in their careers. Jack, you just made yours. Just as Cabral did when he opened his apartment door this morning. Finding Lindsey there with him was just a bonus.' She'd caught the partners together in a compromising position, and it had only added to her pleasure when she discovered that Lindsey was already tied up. 'Sarah Lindsey and Patrick Cabral - I just never would have figured.'

She smiled at herself, knowing that she had made her career critical mistake listening to Smyth all those years ago, and taking the long-term foreign assignment so as to not derail the path that Scarecrow had taken. She still, at times, couldn't believe the respect that Smyth had for the man - the only agent to ever command his respect - though he would never show it. 'Not even on his deathbed, I bet," Becca thought.

She knew that she'd been shipped off because she was becoming a distraction to Stetson and the other agents in the bullpen. She'd ruined the career of one before she'd been ordered to leave. And Austin Smyth was fit to be tied if he was going to watch one of the more promising agents in The Agency go down to tubes because of her. She was still surprised that he had pulled her back stateside just for the purpose of distracting Stetson and hoping that a sabotaged marriage would be just what the agent needed to sharpen his mind on the international arena again. Becca had been warned that any silently sanctioned actions could end her career, but the chance of rekindling any sort of relationship with Lee Stetson had been too much to resist.

Becca's mind wandered briefly to her mother. The reason she had been brought into The Agency initially was because of her mother and her relationship with Austin Smyth. A relationship that she still didn't know the true origins of, and was probably better off not knowing. She knew that they had met on the polo field, and ran in some of the same society circles, but beyond that, the relationship was beyond anyone's guess. Despite her attempts in Smyth's office to unsuccessfully try and gain the upper hand by relying on her physical assets, she wondered if Smyth and her mother had had a more intimate relationship. 'Not likely,' Becca thought to herself, as a wry smile twisted her lips, 'that man probably hasn't had sex since the Truman years.'

The sound of a car horn down the street broke through her consciousness, and she became aware that over a half-hour had passed. She had to be at The Agency shortly, and her daydreaming had left her little time to do what she needed to. She got out of the car and stretched.

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After straightening up the living room, and making some bread dough that she had just set to rise, Amanda headed upstairs to straighten up the bedrooms. She walked into her and Lee's bedroom, leaned against the doorjamb and sighed. Since he'd moved in, the bed just never seemed to get made in the mornings. It wasn't a matter of not trying to straighten it out, it just seemed that every time she reached for the covers to straighten them after getting up she just ended tangled up in them again with her husband. 'Not that I'm complaining," Amanda thought to herself as she smiled and moved into the room to straighten the sheets.

As she moved up to the bed, her foot struck something hard and heavy almost concealed under the bed. Moving the blankets aside, she found the dictionary that Lee had taken with him after losing that last game with Jaime. As she picked it up, she found a dog-eared corner in the "Q" section and chuckled. "Interesting letter to be studying, Lee." She set the book on Lee's bedside table, and set about straightening the covers. Just as she was about to go around and straighten the other side of the bed, the doorbell rang. Once, then twice more.

'Am I ever going to break this streak of bad timing?' Amanda asked herself as she grabbed the dictionary and headed down the stairs. The doorbell rang a third time as she reached the bottom of the stairs. "Just a minute!" she called towards the door, as she went in the opposite direction to place the dictionary on the edge of the kitchen counter.

Not expecting anyone, she glanced at the living room quickly as she made her way to the front door. She opened the door, with her usual smile, which weakened slightly as she saw who was there.

"Good Morning, Amanda. Jack asked me to drop this off for him." Becca smiled cheerfully as she held up the thermos into Amanda's line of sight.

"Oh, Becca. I wasn't expecting you. Actually, I wasn't expecting anyone to tell you the truth, and Lee isn't here if you're looking for him." Chastising herself silently for running off at the mouth, Amanda took a slow and silent breath. "Becca, I thought Jack was supposed to be off earlier this morning?" She tried to peer around Becca, but the other agent moved with her to block her line of sight.

"He was. When I picked up the next shift, he handed off the thermos to me."

"You're on this shift?" Amanda's eyes widened slightly at this piece of information and she stiffened slightly.

Becca noticed the change in Amanda's stance and facial expression. Smiling at having made the other woman nervous, she answered in a purr. "Yes, I pulled watchdog duty today. I owed a favor to Cabral and Lindsey and Billy thought I'd be perfect."

Amanda's eyes narrowed and her face took on a serious expression. "Mr. Melrose thought you'd be perfect? OK. Listen, Becca, I'm not planning on leaving the house today, and I have a few things I need to get done, so if you'd excuse me-" She started to close the door, when the other agent pushed her hand and her foot forward to prevent any further movement. "Becca?"

"Sorry, Amanda. I need to use your restroom. I'm rather desperate, else I wouldn't ask. Do you think it would be all right?"

Amanda watched as she saw Becca's face take on a pained expression. Not being able to turn away a person in need, even one that she didn't like very much, she opened the door slightly to allow Becca into the house. "Sure. Come in." Amanda moved back to be able to close the door without hitting Becca with the door, and pointed the way down the hall.

"Thanks Amanda. I really appreciate it." Becca turned down the hall towards the back of the house where the bathroom was located.

Amanda followed her, keeping her distance, thinking about how it was easier to keep one's enemies in sight so as to know all about their activities. 'And as soon as you're out of the house, I'm going to be sneaking out myself to make a phone call, Becca.' Amanda knew that The Agency was monitoring their phone line due to the harassing phone calls and the woman in her bathroom would definitely overhear Amanda making a call to Billy to confirm Becca's assignment. And that was something that she didn't want happening. She turned back towards the kitchen counter where the bread dough was threatening to rise its way out of the pan she'd set it in, when she heard a whisper of a sound behind her. 'I'm just a little on edge,' Amanda thought to herself, turning to find the source of the sound when her head exploded with sudden pain and her world went black.

Becca watched the woman crumple to the floor, and smiled as she tucked her gun back into place in the belt holster under her sweater. After making sure it was strapped back into place, she nudged Amanda's body with her foot as the phone began to ring, and receiving no response from the stilled agent, she started to laugh triumphantly.

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A half-hour later, Becca was on her way to work, whistling a little tune. Her morning errand out of the way, she was now free to continue pursuing Lee, and working her way up the ladder into the Q Bureau and up through the ranks of the Field Section.

She reached The Agency in almost record time, and entered the parking structure in time to see Billy Melrose get out of his car. She honked her horn to get Billy's attention and quickly pulled into a parking space. As she got out of the car, she noticed that Billy seemed a bit distracted and had already headed into The Agency.

She followed the same path that her boss had taken and made her way into the bullpen. Though conservatively dressed as compared to what she wore normally, she still drew everyone's attention as she crossed through the bullpen. Everyone's attention, that was, except for that of three people who were deep in conversation in Billy's office. She approached the office with a sunny smile, and poked her head in the door. "Good morning!"

Billy waved her in. "Shut the door, Becca. We need to talk."

"What's up, Billy?" Becca widened her eyes slightly, taking on an innocent look just for a moment, when Francine looked at her suspiciously. Becca immediately sobered up and took on an inquisitive look. She glanced around and noticed Lee had started pacing the room, much like a caged tiger. 'Some things never change,' she thought to herself.

"Boo, I don't beat around the bush, and I expect a straight answer from you. Are you the agent who is sending these harassing letters to Amanda?" He looked sternly at her, while Francine moved closer to Lee, presumably to keep him in place in case Becca admitted that she was.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Billy, and I'm insulted you would think that. Of course not. Why would I do something like that?" She looked properly indignant at the accusation. A movement out of the corner of her eye had her turning towards Lee and Francine. The blond agent had moved to stand in front of Lee, blocking him from getting in Becca's face.

"Why? I'll give you a few reasons why? Because you've made it no secret that you don't like my wife! Because you've tried to seduce me every chance you get! Because you-"

"Quiet, Scarecrow." Billy issued the order in a calm and quiet tone of voice. It stilled the agent immediately. "Just settle down."

"Settle down? I can't get hold of Amanda, she hasn't left any messages for me here, and our prime suspect is right here in this office! And you want me to-"

"ENOUGH!" Billy bellowed the order and startled more than a few people in the bullpen who had heard the Field Section leader despite the thick glass on his window and the door being closed. "I will not have this happen in my office. And I expect better from you, Lee. This thing with Amanda is getting to you, and you're not objective enough to handle it properly. You're on leave. Starting now."

"But Bi-" Lee was cut off by Becca opening her mouth.

"Wait. I have something to say." Becca took a deep breath before continuing. "I didn't have anything to do with the letters, but I have been stepping in where I shouldn't."

"What are you talking about, Rebecca?" Francine stepped away from Lee and moved towards her old friend.

"There's a specific reason I was brought back in from the international field, and in my defense, I was only acting under orders." Becca looked at her feet.

"What did you do, Boo?" Lee growled at her. "And whose orders? What *are* you talking about."

"Smyth ordered me in from the field. He knew about our relationship from years ago, Lee, and he wanted me to come back in to distract -"

"Distract me? Why? Does he really think that I would fall for you and get distracted enough for him to fire me?" Lee advanced a step on the agent, who stepped back and bumped into the corner of Billy's desk with the top of her thigh. Wincing slightly, she shifted so as to be able to move to the side of the desk, in case Lee tried to lunge at her.

"He suggested that it might be a good idea to see if you and Amanda would break up. He needs an agent with a good head for the international political situation, and since you married Amanda, you haven't been game for that." Becca looked up at Lee. "I jumped at the chance-"

"I bet you did," Francine countered. "Just another conquest for Becca-Boo, isn't it?"

"No." Becca shook her head. "No, not that at all. *I* wanted the international coordinator position, but Smyth already had Lee in mind." She looked to Billy, but realized that she wasn't going to get any help from him, and continued. "I was only acting under orders." Lee was grumbling something under his breath from his spot on the couch where he had only just sat down a couple minutes earlier.

"Fine. Becca, you stay here. We're going to go see the good doctor." Billy stood up from his chair and pushed back from the desk. "Francine." The blond agent straightened up and headed for the door. Lee stood up as well. "No, Lee. You stay here. I don't care if you stay in the office, or head back up to the Q, but I'm not letting you within shouting distance of Smyth. There's been enough trouble now, and I'm going to be the one doing the yelling at Smyth. And the last thing that Amanda needs is to find that you're in an Agency holding cell for assaulting Smyth." With that, Billy strode out of the office with Francine trailing behind him.

Becca looked over at Lee, helplessly, and spread her hands out in an uncomfortable 'I don't know' type of gesture. "Well, alone again."

Lee rose from the couch and headed for the door. As he strode out, he commented one last time, coldly, to Becca: "Yes ma'am, you are."

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Meanwhile, somewhere in Washington D.C., in a perfectly pitch-black area, Amanda Stetson came back to the conscious world. She winced, and tried to move, realizing that she was tightly bound at her wrists and her feet, with no give in the rope.

From the pain emanating from the back of her head, she knew that she had a terrible knot there, but couldn't massage it to ascertain the true amount of damage or to discover if it was bleeding. And she realized that she was still woozy - if she had a concussion, the worst thing would be for her to fall unconscious again, but sleep could easily overtake her in a dark room without any outside stimulus to keep her awake and alert.

So she did the two things that she knew she *could* do in the dark with her hands tied behind her back: try and figure a way out, and try to recall how she got there in the first place.