Amanda awoke alone in Lee's bed. As she sat up she glanced at the clock, it was a few minutes before eight. She must have fallen back asleep after her nightmare. Lee had been so understanding as she had replayed the events of her real life nightmare. He really was a good friend, and more; if the kisses they had shared the night before were any indication of their future relationship. She was pulled from her reverie when she heard the front door open and close.

She pulled herself from the bed and into the bathroom. She was surprised to see the swelling had gone down and her coloring had started to return. It was still a mosaic of blues and purples, but it was lighter and the telltale healing color of yellow was now joining the mix. She felt better than she had in the past two days, but the achy-feeling was still in the foreground. With a spring in her step, she made her way to the living room in search of her partner.

"Good morning, sleepy head." Lee's voice was deep and soothing to her ears.

"Morning, Lee." She watched him pull delicious looking pastries from a brown paper bag and place them on two small plates. Grabbing a couple of mugs, she waited for the coffee maker to finishing sputtering before pouring them both a cup. She added cream to his cup and sugar to hers.

"I ran down to the bakery around the corner for some breakfast. I also picked up something else . . . for you." At her raised brow, he handed her a tube of lip balm. "Medicated. For your lips."

"Oh, Lee. That was so thoughtful. Thank you." She popped the cap off and carefully applied the balm before placing the cap back on.

He gave her a tender kiss on her newly moistened lips. "Mmmmh. See, I told you, much better." He murmured before picking up the plates holding the pastries and led her into the dining room.

"Those look delicious, Lee. Thanks for going." She handed him his mug as she joined him at the table.

"Thanks. So, after breakfast I figured we could stop by your place so you can change and maybe pack a bag for the rest of the week before we head to the Agency to figure out how to catch this bastard." He glanced up and looked into her eyes expectantly.

"Are you sure you want me to stay here? I mean I can go back to my house tonight. My family won't be back until later this week." She secretly hoped he would refuse to let her leave, not wanting to stay at the house alone.

"Until we get McGuinnis into Agency custody, I don't think it's smart for you to be alone. He already tried to kill you once, let's not give him another shot, huh?"

The look in his eyes made her suck in her breath. How could one look convey so much . . . love? Did he love her like she knew she loved him? With every ounce of her being she knew she loved him.

"Amanda? Hello, are you with me?"

He was waving his hand a few inches from her face. Startled, she quickly replied. "What? Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, it sounds like a good plan, Lee. Maybe, if we have time I could call Mother and the boys?" She looked hopeful.

He nodded. "Of course. I'm sure it would do you some good to check in with them."

"Just give me a minute to put the scrubs back on that they gave me at the Agency clinic last night and then we can head over to my place."

He nodded and finished the last few bites of his pastry before picking up the plates and carrying them toward the kitchen. She stopped abruptly when she reached the bedroom door and turned to face Lee's retreating form. "Lee?" When he turned back toward her, his eyebrows quirked up. "Thanks." She knew it wasn't enough, but she hoped the one word would convey to him how much she appreciated his support and understanding. What would she have done if he hadn't come home early? She shivered at the thought of having to go through this alone, or more specifically, without Lee.

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"Amanda, how are you feeling?" Billy Melrose all but ignored Lee when they walked in, his concern for the housewife-turned-spy evident on his face.

"I'm fine, sir. Thank you." She moved to one of the open seats and sat down.

Lee seemed to be the only one in the room to notice that she was winded from the short walk they made from the elevator to the conference room. He grabbed a glass from the center of the table and poured a glass of water before placing it in front of her along with one of her pain pills.

She gave him a small smile as a 'thank you' and then swallowed down the pill.

Lee pulled his vision from his partner in time to see Francine precede Beaman into the room and then close the door behind them.

Billy nodded to the group as they sat looking up to him expectantly. "Okay, so we had a bit of a break yesterday. Francine, why don't you fill Lee and Amanda in?"

"I checked with my sources and one them heard through the grapevine that McGuinnis was out shopping his list around."

"We expected that!" Lee interrupted, a bit frustrated.

"Hang on, Scarecrow!" Billy warned. "Francine?" Billy indicated for her to continue.

"Like I was saying, my source says that McGuinnis was shopping the list Amanda found in his hotel room around town and thinks he found his source; some guy with a limousine service on the outskirts of Virginia. I'm just waiting for a confirmation on his location."

Lee and Amanda shared a look before Lee sighed and responded. "No need, Francine. I should have known he'd be involved."

"Isn't that list a bit too high-level for Augie, Lee?" Amanda questioned.

"He's been trying to elevate his side business over the past year and it looks like he's succeeded. Sounds like we'll be giving him a visit after we're through here, Amanda."

She nodded in agreement.

"So what else do we have, people?" Billy questioned the group.

"Sir, have we determined how Pat . . . uh McGuinnis figured out I was with the Agency?" Amanda asked hesitantly.

Lee knew she blamed herself and worried something the other agents pieced together would confirm her assumption.

"Actually, yes, Amanda. It seems McGuinnis used one of our analysts to sniff you out." Billy nodded to Francine and she passed around a 5"x7" photo of an attractive, young woman with brown hair and green eyes to the group.

Francine spoke robotically as she recited the analyst's stats. "Sarah Nobles, 28 years-old, started with the Agency nearly three years ago right out of Stanford. She was being fast-tracked for bigger and better things here."

"Was?" Amanda quietly interrupted.

"Yes, that's how we determined she was the leak to your true identity, Amanda." Beaman replied. "She missed work on Thursday and again on Friday. When her supervisor called her roommate things just weren't adding up. It wasn't until the police report for a car bombing in Virginia came through that we put two and two together."

Francine continued where Agent Beaman left off. "After looking through some mug shots, the roommate confirmed Ms. Nobles had started dating McGuinnis shortly after the time you connected with him, Amanda."

Lee pulled Amanda's hand into his and gave it a gentle squeeze. Not for the first time he thought about how easily that could have been Amanda's fate.

Amanda looked up from the table when he took her hand and he could see she was fighting back tears. She took a big sigh and swallowed. Seconds later, she sat up straighter and had a determined look on her face. There was his partner. She was able to compartmentalize when needed. They would get through this together.

"It was late Wednesday or early Thursday." Amanda mumbled.

"What, Amanda?" The room stared at her in confusion.

"He must have gotten my identity out of her late Wednesday or early Thursday."

"How do you know that?" Lee queried.

"He was normal . . . as normal as he could be when we were together on Wednesday night. When he found me in the embassy parking lot on Thursday evening, he was . . . different. He knew then who I really was and he was angry."

He squeezed her hand to bring her back to the present and she sent him a look, conveying to him that she was okay.

"Sir, did anyone look into what Agent Nobles was working on?"

"Yes, we had a team combing through her computer and any files she had recently pulled. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary."

"What about her apartment, sir?"

"They struck out there as well." Francine interjected. "There wasn't much. The team brought back a small box of papers and journals, but Crypto found nothing."

"Hmmm." She murmured.

Lee knew that sound. He knew she wasn't satisfied with the answer Francine had given. He was certain they would be stopping by Cryptology to check out the analyst's belongings so she could check them out for herself.

"Okay, Amanda and I will find Augie and see how much McGuinnis was able to pull together in the short amount of time. Francine and Beaman, why don't you get over to the Embassy and flash his picture around, see if anyone has seen him hanging around." They both nodded and headed toward the door.

"Uh, Beaman? Can you hold up a minute?" Lee asked and Agent Beaman held back. Lee looked to Amanda and nodded toward the bullpen. "Can you give us a minute?"

"Sure, I'll grab us some coffee to go. That pill is making me a little sleepy." She smiled and nodded toward Beaman.

"What's up, Scarecrow?" Beaman questioned nervously.

"I just wanted to uh, I mean, Amanda told me how you helped her when she was . . . uh with McGuinnis. Thanks for looking out for her . . . well, when I couldn't." Lee stuck his hand out to shake the other agent's hand and noticed the other man flinched, as if he expected Lee to hit him.

Beaman looked wide-eyed at Lee and then visibly relaxed before shaking his hand in return. "Of course, I couldn't stand by and have him –"

"Yeah, well thanks." Lee cut the other agent off and ushered him out of the conference room. He didn't need to hear the rest of that sentence. The thought of that Irish bastard touching his Amanda made his blood boil. He put his agent face back in place and met up with his partner who was patiently holding two Styrofoam cups of coffee near the entrance to the bullpen. They had to see a man about a bomb . . . that is after they stopped by Crypto.