7:48 a.m. Thursday, August 21, 1986

Amanda opened their office door hesitantly, hoping beyond hope that her partner had finally returned from wherever he had been for the past few days. Sadly, his desk still appeared abandoned. She had driven over to his apartment every night that week and found he hadn't been home. She hadn't gotten him to really talk to her since his blow up on Monday. Either this was an elaborate scheme to avoid her or . . . she picked up the phone and dialed the extension to the one man that could tell her what was going on.

"Good morning, Sir. I was wondering if you knew where Lee was? He's been gone for two days and I –" She listened as Mr. Melrose rushed to assure her that Lee was fine. "Of course, Sir. I know he can handle himself. I just –" She nodded. "You're probably right, Sir. Time away right now may help to calm him down." Tangling the phone cord around her fingers absently, she listened to her boss and nodded. She sat up straighter when he abruptly changed the subject. "Yes, I'm enjoying the agent-candidate classes so far, Sir. Uh, yes. That's later this morning with Mr. Leatherneck on the range." She listened intently as he gave her last minute tips for her final firearms test. "Well, I'm as prepared as I can be, Mr. Melrose. I appreciate the help." She nodded again, and continued, "Yes, I'll be sure to let you know, Sir. I better get to my codes and cyphers class now. Uh huh, goodbye, Sir." She grunted when she realized the phone cord was still wrapped snuggly around her index finger and lifted the phone back up to unwind its cord before returning it to its cradle.

She sighed at the reminder of her final firearms test later that morning. There was no way out of it. It wasn't a lie she really was as prepared as she could be. Leatherneck had been working with her all week on her target practice and she'd even taken home the study sheets for the other components of the exam. Glancing at her watch, she realized she had no time to fret over the impending exam; she had to get to her "dirty tricks" class.

Later that morning . . .

In the darkness, she could feel the muscles in her neck and shoulders begin to tense as she stood behind the table hovering over the unassembled weapon. Before she had a chance to overthink what she was about to do, Leatherneck's voice intruded on her thoughts when she heard him say "Ready, set, go!" and then the tight click of the stopwatch reverberated in the small room. Her hands searched for the cold metal pieces in front of her, careful not to drop any. With the blindfold covering her eyes, she'd have a heck of a time trying to find them on the floor.

Taking a deep breath in, Amanda touched each piece in front of her to determine what she was expected to put together. She quickly determined it was a Glock handgun and searched for the end of the barrel and simultaneously picked up the frame. Carefully, she pushed the barrel in and slid it all the way back until she heard it click. She then fumbled for the recoil spring, nearly dropping it onto the floor. Once she adjusted the piece in her hand, she put the front in first and compressed it slightly until it fit into the groove on the barrel. Then she attached the slide to the frame and pulled the slide back to the lock position and then pressed the slide lock. Her hand patted the table in front of her searching for the last piece. Finally, she felt the small magazine and popped it into place before placing the gun in front of her and whipping off the blindfold. "Done!"

"Excellent job, Mrs. K. You did it in 27 seconds!" He smiled proudly and walked over to the shooting range simulation machine and flipped on the switch. "One last part and you'll be on your way to full agent status."

Amanda groaned and followed him over. She picked up the tethered handgun and reacquainted herself with it. Once again surprised at how real it felt, sans the cord coming from the bottom of it. She gave him a worried look and then sighed.

"You've got this, Mrs. King!"

She nodded and took her stance in front of the large screen. In the darkened room, she could almost see herself there in the desert. Watching carefully as the shoppers moved about the cramped market, paying close attention to their body language. The man who used his wife to block his gun was no match for Amanda's quickness. Next came the little boy that appeared to be about the age of Phillip, carrying an Uzi. The ease in which he carried the gun made her cringe, but she remained focused on the job at hand. She may not like guns, but they were a necessary part of the job. One day she may need to use a gun to save her or her partner's life. Her partner . . . she wondered once again where he was.

Petersburg Federal Correction Complex, Hopewell, Virginia

Lee sat on the crowded metal bench next to a woman and her three young children as he waited for the guard to return. He'd shown his Agency identification in the hopes of moving the process along with no such luck. He felt a tug at his sleeve and looked over to find a young boy who appeared to Lee to be around four-years old. The two of them stared at one another, both unsure of the other until Lee remembered a trick that Barney had used on him when he had first arrived on base to stay with his uncle, the Colonel. Lee held up his left hand and pointed out his thumb with his right index finger. The little boy continued to stare as Lee covered his thumb and made a show of 'pulling' it off his hand. The boy's eyes grew wide in awe as Lee's thumb magically disappeared from his hand.

They were both startled by the gruff voice of the returning guard, "Stetson?"

"Uh, yeah? Right here," Lee jumped up from the bench and stood expectantly in front of the glass partition.

"The prisoner is ready for you." He shoved a clipboard at him and pointed to the bottom of the form attached to it. "Sign here."

Lee did as he was told and then followed the much larger man toward the hallway. He stopped and quickly slipped back into the waiting area and as if his new friend had sensed him, the young boy turned immediately toward him. Lee held up his hands, his left thumb tucked behind his palm, and hit his hands together, seemingly returning his thumb to its rightful place. The little boy laughed and clapped, getting the attention of his distracted mother. Lee smiled and winked at the little boy before rushing back to the hallway, just catching the door to the visitation room before it latched.

"Sit down in front of number three," the guard called out brusquely and nodded to the row of chairs lined up in front of the Plexiglass wall that each held a telephone on either side of the glass. "They're bringing him down now."

"Thanks," Lee replied as he held out his hand to his escort, but the younger man just stared at the agent's outstretched hand and left the room.

Before Lee had a chance to contemplate the other man's actions, he heard chains dragging on the concrete floor. He looked toward the glassed-off wall in time to see a much older, larger man than he had expected based on the photos he'd seen in the file being brought in. He'd apparently lived a lifetime behind the walls of this prison and it was obvious he had spent his time working out. Once the guards had attached the prisoner's chains to the table in front of him, Lee walked over and sat down in front of the glass and picked up the handset of the phone, indicating to the other man that he should do the same.

"Who the hell are you and what do you want?" He spat out before the guards had even left the room.

"My name is Stetson. I'm a federal agent and you're going tell me all about The Weathermen."