Chapter 4

Notes: My apologies for not getting this out as quickly as I had intended, I must confess, the previous three chapters I had in my computer already finished, I just … got busy with RL, and I never got around to uploading it. I am also very sorry for the added delay, for some reason, the fanfiction website wouldn't let me upload my chapters to my doc manager : /

Also, I know I said they would be in cannon and I will still try to keep them that way, but this might get rather hard since this story is likely going to turn out a lot darker, and more serious than what we would normally see on SMK. I apologize for this, it's just ... when I write, I just let the story take me where it will.

Okay, enough blah blah, onto the story (thanks everyone for getting through all of that, lol).


"Take a left at the next stoplight." The voice of her captor said from behind her, the gun still pressed against the back of her head.

Amanda did as she was told, but inwardly her mind was already working on how she was going to get out of this mess. Lee wasn't going to burst in on his white horse to save her … this time she was on her own.

The man's voice behind her broke her from her thoughts. "Pull into the garage of the big house at the end of the cul-de-sac." Amanda did what she was told. He exited the back seat of her car, opened hers for her.

"You first, Mrs. King." He ordered as he gestured to the door that led to the rest of the house. "But first, I'll need your keys." He said as he held out his hand, and Amanda reluctantly dug them out of her pocket and handed them over.

They walked through a short hallway into a grand entry with a stunning double spiral staircase, lighting their way was a crystal chandelier that probably cost more money than Amanda would ever see in her lifetime. They walked around the grand staircase to the sitting room, which Amanda found to be surprisingly quaint, quite a contrast to the grandeur of the main entryway.

A man stood respectively as she entered, he was very handsome, tall with dark hair and dark eyes. His complexion was flawless, Amanda figured someone who could afford a house like this could probably also afford the best skin products money could buy.

"Ahhh Mrs. King, welcome to my home. I am sure you are wondering why you were brought here. My name is George Nukem, you see, that partner of yours … well … he has proven to be quite the thorn in my side these past six years." Nukem said as he sauntered up to Amanda with his hands clasped casually behind his back.

"If you think I'm going to help you, you're …. You're wasting your time, because I won't." Amanda said, she tried to hide it, but Nukem caught the waver in her declaration.

"Oh no, Mrs. King, you are mistaken; you will help us. You see, we're going to hang you out there like bait, and when Stetson comes a-running … and he will. He'll run right into our arms." Nukem said as a sinister smile spread across his handsome face, making him look vaguely reminiscent of the Grinch.

Amanda's mind was racing, she had to warn Lee … somehow.


Lee drove around until the first glimmers of the rising sun started to break through the darkness of night. He realized that he couldn't avoid Amanda forever, like it or not, if she had found happiness with this guy then he had no other choice but to swallow his pride, be the bigger man, and be happy for her.

His heart sank as he didn't see her car in the drive with he approached the house, he felt his temper and his jealousy boil up again at the thought of Amanda spending the night with another man. He exited his car and crept around to the back door, only to find it locked. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his lock picking kit, and in no time, he was in. He felt … almost dirty for doing it, but he had to know.

"Amanda?" He called, no answer. He went room, to room, finally ending upstairs in the room he had stayed in. He felt a sharp stab of guilt as he saw that she had made his bed, and there were fresh towels in the linen closet; she must've done it after he stormed off in a huff after their fight.

Lee blew out a huge sigh, he had really screwed up big this time. This wasn't like any of their other fights, and he had basically pushed her into the arms of another man. He ran his hand over his face as he trudged back downstairs into the kitchen to make some coffee.

It was then the panic started to hit him, what the hell was wrong with him? This was Amanda he was talking about, and he knew her strong sense of morals and values wouldn't allow her to spend the night with a man after only one date with him. He rushed out to his car, shrugging into his jacket as he went. He jammed the key into the ignition, shoved the gearshift into drive and peeled out.


Billy and Francine jumped as Lee blasted into Billy's office with such force that the door bounced off the bookcase behind it and Lee had to catch it on the rebound.

"Scarecrow …! What the hell… ?!" Billy said indignantly.

"Amanda… she … she never came home last night." Lee seemed to choke on the words as they came out.

"What?! Well where the hell were you?!" Billy demanded.

Lee opened his mouth, and closed it a few times and stole a glance at Francine, and Billy seemed to read his mind.

"Francine, will you excuse us please?" Billy said as he opened the door for her. Francine looked slightly put off, but she complied.

"Now, care to fill me in on just what the hell happened?!" Billy said as he came to stand behind his desk.

Lee paced back and forth in front of Billy's desk as he recounted the events of the past couple of days, of course he chose to leave out the little detail of their fight … and what it was about.

"George Nukem's back countryside." Billy said abruptly, Lee ceased his pacing and looked at Billy in horror.

"And you're just now getting around to telling me this?!" Lee argued, his temper flaring, it seemed to be doing a lot of that lately.

"I didn't tell you because I knew you'd go charging after him, hell bent on collaring him, and get yourself killed in the process! In case you've forgotten, you're still on mandatory medical leave, Scarecrow. You aren't even supposed to be here, let alone out in the field!" Billy countered as he stood.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"What is it!" Billy snapped.

"Uh … this just came in the mail, it's addressed to you, Sir." Francine said as she handed Billy the package, Billy opened it and pulled out a video tape. He pushed a button under his desk and the picture on the wall slid back to reveal a TV, he put the tape into the VCR slot and pushed play.

Dread washed over Lee as Amanda's face appeared on screen, blindfolded and by the looks of it, tied up. A man wearing a werewolf Halloween mask was standing behind her, holding a gun on her. His heart clinched painfully as he thought about how frightened she must be.

A growl escaped Lee's throat as Nukem stepped into frame and came to stand to Amanda's left.

"Hello, Mr. Melrose, you and your Agency have been quite a thorn in my side these last six years, because of you, I can't even return to my own country without fearing prosecution. But … all that is about to change; I am assuming you recognize Mrs. King, as you can see, no harm has come to her, and no harm will … as long as you do as I say." Nukem said as he stroked Amanda's cheek.

"Get your filthy hands off of her, you son of a bitch!" Lee growled under his breath, his fists were clinched so tightly that his nails were digging into his palms.

"Now, Mrs. King, as promised, you can now deliver a message to your friends or family, you have one minute, time starts now." Nukem said as he backed out of frame.

Amanda cleared her throat. "Please, tell my mother that I …. I'm not going to be home tonight, and that she is going to have to stop by and check on the neighbor's dogs, Delta, and Charlie by four, and make sure you tell her to be careful when she opens the door, because they like to just dash out into the street and they've almost been killed by a car once already. Oh, and tell her to make sure she disarms the security system before she unlocks the door, or else the silent alarm will go off."

The screen suddenly went black.

Lee pushed past them.

"Scarecrow, wait!" Billy said as he followed Lee out of his office, into the bullpen. If Lee heard him (which he was sure he had) he made no indication of stopping.

"SCARECROW!" Billy bellowed so loudly that the bullpen went quiet. Lee whirled around to face Billy as he caught up with him at the elevators, grimacing as the still healing bullet wound in his chest protested such a sudden, aggressive motion.

"Lee, look at yourself, you look like hell! You can barely stand, and Smyth is never going to let you …" Lee turned back and pounded the up button on the elevator with his fist.

"I can't sit this out, Billy, that asshole Nukem has Amanda." Lee ground out, he felt physically sick as he thought about what he could be doing to her while they sat around with their thumbs up their asses.

Billy nodded tragically as he put a hand on the younger agent's shoulder. "Lee, you're too close to this … much too close. Let us handle this, you rushing in there on a crusade is just going to get both you and Amanda killed."

Lee's logical side, and his years of field experience told him that Billy was right, suddenly, realization washed over him, along with cautious hope.

"I have to look at that tape again!" He said as they rushed back to Billy's office.


Billy, Francine, and Lee sat around the monitor as Lee replayed Amanda's message over and over again.

"Please, tell my mother that I …. I'm not going to be home tonight, and that she is going to have to stop by and check on the neighbor's dogs, Delta, and Charlie by four, and make sure you tell her to be careful when she opens the door, because they like to just dash out into the street, and they've almost been killed by a car once already. Oh, and tell her to make sure she disarms the security system before she tries to unlock the door, or else the silent alarm will go off."

Despite the graveness of the situation, Lee couldn't stop a grin from spreading across his face.

"Billy It's … it's code! She's saying that it's a trap, Nukem didn't grab her by accident, he's using her to flush me out like a fox from his hole." He said.

"She couldn't possibly …" Francine began, but Lee cut her off as he replayed her message again, frame by frame.

"… check on the neighbor's dogs, Delta, and Charlie by four …"

"There! Right there! That's 4-Delta-Charlie!" Lee exclaimed.

"Your field call letters!" Billy said, the ghost of a smile playing about his mouth, Lee nodded excitedly.

"…tell her to be careful when she opens the door, because they like to just dash out into the street and they've almost been killed by a car once already."

"There! Right there! She's saying that that whole deal about making a deal with the Agency is a ruse! It's me Nukem wants." Lee said, his tone urgent as he played the last of her message.

"… tell her to make sure she disarms the security system before she tries to unlock the door, or else the silent alarm will go off."

"She's warning us about a security system!" Billy said.

"Oh come on! This is Amanda we're talking about here! She doesn't have the training and field experience to get a coded message past the likes of Nukem!" Francine interjected.

"Well, get ready to saddle up, Francine, because that's exactly what she did." Billy said proudly as he turned to Lee.

"I'll get a team together and we'll go get our girl." He added determinedly.


sorry guys, I had to end it here, or else it would have been waaaay too long, and I didn't want to rush the next part! ^_^