a/n: First thanks to those of you who never gave up on this story. I needed those emails to kick me in the butt and finally finish this fic.

It's hard to believe it's been over six years since I wrote Vengeance & Valor (my first fanfiction), and I have to say my writing has changed greatly. It was extremely difficult to pick this up again and finish it. I wanted to go back and fix the previous chapters. I did my best, and reread both fics as they are, hopefully this ending with be what you all expected it to be!

Now, you've waited long enough…

The Aftermath Making Things Right

Part II

Amanda awoke once again in a hospital room. She blinked her eyes rapidly, trying to focus. She was finally able to focus on the florescent light, when Lee's face suddenly interrupted her view.

"Hey," he quietly spoke.

Her throat was sore, she reached up to touch his cheek. "You need to shave," she finally whispered.

Chuckling softly, he nodded as he took her hand as it lingered on his cheek. He kissed her palm softly. "I wasn't trying to impress anyone," he told her, looking into her eyes with love.

Amanda squeezed his hand, "Well I'm awake now, so find a razor."

"Yes ma'am," he answered as seriously as he could. Looking at his watch he glanced back at his wife. "Your mother and the boys will be here in about twenty minutes. I'll run home then, shower, and come back a new man."

Closing her eyes, she finally allowed herself to relax. "I like the current man, just with less scruff."

Lee watched as she drifted back to sleep, and was once again reminded how luck they had been. He leaned back and closed his eyes.

Dotty walked into the room, followed by a wave of noise that was Phillip and Jamie. As soon as she saw the two sleeping forms, she wrapped her hand around Jamie's mouth and whispered harshly," Shhh."

Walking up to Lee, she saw his neck cocked in an odd angle and she was torn between letting him sleep, and waking him up so he could move to a more comfortable spot. She finally placed a hand on his shoulder.

Lee jumped at the touch, but was relieved to see it was his mother-in-law. That very thought made him realize there was still one more piece to Amanda's secret life they hadn't revealed to everyone.

Dotty saw the look of fear cross Lee's face, and she swallowed hard. "What's wrong Lee?" she asked as she began to turn to tell the boys to leave.

Lee took her hand to stop her. "Nothing. You just caught me off guard," he tried to reassure her.

"Cool grandma, you snuck up on a spy," Phillip exclaimed.

Lee glanced up, waiting to see a disapproving stare from the older woman, but was surprised to see a small smile.

"Of course dear, where do you think Amanda got her talent from," she answered.

Returning the small, Lee understood that Dotty was taking the first step in moving on. Standing he looked over at Amanda. "She woke up about thirty minutes ago, but fell back to sleep."

"Why don't you go home and get some rest. You must be exhausted," she offered.

"Yeah, I promised Amanda I would shave," he explained. "When she wakes up, let her know I'll be back soon."

Reaching up, she drew him into a hug, and then placed a kiss on his cheek, "Thanks for taking care of her."

The words were so loaded for Lee, he instantly felt a wave of emotions. He had failed greatly at taking care of Amanda, but he was touched by the actions of the woman in front of him. "Thanks," he told her simply, and then looked at the boys, who had remained uncharacteristically silent during the exchange. "Take care of your mom and grandma while I'm gone."

They nodded as he slipped out.

Two weeks later

Annoyed, Amanda waiting in her wheelchair for Lee to pull his car around; her nurse hovered over her.

Suddenly a huge grey vehicle blocked her view. Her annoyance grew. No she couldn't even look for her husband.

She felt the wheelchair moving, and craned her neck to see who was behind her. "Lee! Where did you come from?"

Nodding to the huge grey vehicle. "From the Land Rover. Like it?" he asked as he helped her slowly settle into the passenger seat.

"Where did it come from?" she asked surprised.

He handed off the wheelchair to the nurse, closed her door, and ran around the front of the SUV and slid into the driver seat. "I thought it would be more comfortable for you then those bucket seats."

"So you rented a Land Rover to make sure I was comfortable on our ten minute drive to my house—"

"—bought," he corrected as he pulled out of the parking lot.

"—because that's just ridiculous. I feel better, I can handle ten minutes, did you say bought? You bought a Land Rover? Do you have any idea how much a Land Rover is?"

Lee merely listened to her tirade, "I have an idea."

"Your Corvette—"

"—is safely parked in my parking garage," he answered.

"Oh," was all she could think to say.

He took her hand in his, "'Oh?' That's it? Are you speechless Amanda King?"

"No. I just ran out of questions," she explained and he winked at her. Silence filled the SUV, and Amanda watched the trees and house pass her window. She felt her stomach flip at the thought of returning home. Everyone had been more concerned about her mental and physical well being no one had really processed how life was about to change.

Beside her, Lee cleared his throat. "You know Amanda. There's one thing your family still doesn't know?"

She closed her eyes, and took in a deep breathe, instantly regretting the action. Wincing at the pain that shot from her healing ribs, she squeezed her eyes tightly.

Glancing at his wife he noticed her reactions. "Amanda are you alright? Should we go back to the hospital?" Her silence was making him more concerned. "I didn't mean to push you—"

"Lee. I'm ok. Let's just get through this homecoming and we'll go from there," she told him without emotion.

Pulling into the driveway, Lee was extremely concerned and confused. In ten minutes Lee had gone from thinking that they were back to normal with the easy banter, and run-on sentence, to wondering if the once a day sessions with Dr. Pfaff was enough for Amanda's recovery.

Before he could say another word, Phillip and Jamie were running from the backyard to help their mom into the house.

Lee ran ahead, and opened the door for them. Amanda was greeted with a large welcome home banner, balloons and home made cards.

Dotty pulled off her oven mitts, and rushed to help her daughter into the living room. The entire process was filled with constant chatter from the brothers.

"—I cleaned my whole bedroom from top to bottom—"

"—made you one card for everyday you were gone—"

"—your favorite cookies—"

Lee stood back and watched the scene. If it were any other day he would find the humor in the situation, but his concern for his wife had him on edge, and hyper-aware of her every movement and reaction.

Amanda was clearly trying to keep up with the conversations going on around her, but was loosing the battle. "That's nice Phillip…that's really sweet Jamie, I'll read them later…I'm not really up for cookies right now…"

"Hey boys, how about you go outside, and finish raking the leaves, and I'll come out later and play some ball with you?" Lee finally intervened.

They reluctantly agreed, and both kissed their mom before leaving the house.

Dotty could sense the tension. "I'll go check on the batch of cookies I have in the oven."

Amanda leaned her head back against the couch, but pain shooting from her shoulder made her lean forward quickly, place a strain on her back.

Watching helplessly, he checked his watch. "I think it's time for some painkillers."

"No, I just need to find a comfortable position, and get some sleep," she told him clearly frustrated. "Can you help me upstairs?"

"You bet," he answered, and took her good arm gently in is hand.

Making there way up her bedroom, she looked around the room. It had been close to four weeks since she had been there, and nothing had changed. She vaguely remembered tossing her robe onto the bed on her way out the door, completely clueless how her life was about to change.

Lee enveloped her in a hug as her body racked with sobs.

She hadn't even noticed she was crying.

"Shh, it's alright now. You're safe. It's ok," he tried to comfort her.

She gripped his lapel, "Is it?"

"What?" he asked her, leaning back to look in her eyes.

"Is it going to be ok?"

He lead her to her bed, helped lie down and lied next to her, "Yes."

"Promise?" she asked shifting slightly.

"Yes," he answered, kissing her forehead.

Lee entered the kitchen, running his hand through his hair, and was greeted with a cup of coffee. "Thanks Dotty."

"Is she sleeping?" she asked returning to her dishes.

Nodding he sat on a stool across from her, "Yeah, she needed to get comfortable."

"Good," was her simple reply as she busied herself on an unsuspecting plate.

Lee stood, walked up to her, and took the plate from her hand.

Surprised, she looked at him.

"Innocent bystander," he explained grabbing a towel.

"You're right. I over cleaned when I get stressed," she explained.

"I think we should have a big group talk when Amanda wakes up," he broached the subject.

Dotty remained silent while she scrubbed at the counter.

"I think those lines are supposed to be there," he informed her.

Setting the sponge down she looked at him, "I don't know that I'm ready to hear about your stakeouts, gun battles, and high speed chases."

Pinching the bridge of his nose he started to pace. "That's exactly why we need to talk. You need to understand exactly what we do, because I don't think it will ever be as bad or dangerous as it is in your mind."

"Dangerous! Have you seen the state my daughter is in? Lord knows what else has happened to her in the past four years!" she began shouting.

Lee remained silent not wanting to make the situation worse.

"I mean let's just go over the danger I do know about—terrorists, torture, broken bones, bullets! She was shot Lee! Less than a year ago! So please tell me how it can't be worse than I imagine it," her voice finally trailed off.

"Mother," Amanda's voice broke the silence.

Dotty looked in her direction, "Amanda, darling. I'm sorry I woke you."

She walked stiffly into the kitchen looking between her husband and mother. "What's going on?"

"Nothing you need to worry about," Lee began.

"Everyone needs to stop treating me like I'm about to break," she reprimanded. "This family needs to deal with some serious questions, and the longer we wait the worse it will get."

Silence and tension hung in the air.

"Lee, can you please go find the boys?" Amanda asked as she settled into a chair at the table.

Lee reluctantly walked outside leaving the two women alone.

Amanda placed her head in her hands, and turned to look at her mother. She saw fear, concern, anger, and exhaustion. She never meant for her life to cause so much pain. She hadn't really thought about how the truth would play out, but she did know this wasn't what she thought was going to happen.

Phillip and Jamie walked through the door followed by Lee, "Take a seat at the table," he instructed them.

Dotty followed suit, and Lee turned to leave.

"Oh no you don't buster. You handed me the package, you're staying right here," Amanda told him.

"I thought you may want it to be just the family," he explained taking a seat.

"That includes you," Amanda returned and settled in. "This is going to take a while, and I think it will work best for me to explain everything from the beginning, and then you can ask all the questions you want. And while we're being honest, there's one more thing we'll need to tell you."

Allowing her words to sink in, she looked to Lee for approval.

He took her hand under the table and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Do you remember the morning I took dean to the train station in my night gown…"

The End