Chapter 7

The three of them made their way into the elevator and through the bull pen, Amanda stopping to talk to Francine along the way. Lee did a double take at his old friend but he didn't have time to have a conversation with her. Lee followed Billy through to his office.

"I need to talk to you," Lee said shutting the door to Billy's office quickly behind him.

Billy held up a hand to stop him, "If you're going to give me some excuse about why you two were late this morning, don't," Billy said with a smirk, "you're not my problem anymore. You can explain yourself to the Evans at State Department from here on out," Billy chuckled, showing he wasn't really angry.

"No, Billy," Lee took a deep breath, "I….this is not my life," the words exploded out of his mouth. Billy furrowed his brows at him, "last week I was in Bamberg working to bring down an arms dealer," he turned and noticed the confused look on Billy's face, he leaned over Billy's desk, "it's like…this is a…a different dimension or something. A parallel universe," Lee said, "I don't belong here," he said desperately, "I am NOT a family man."

"Stetson," Billy said clearing his throat, "last week you and Amanda took down Ivan Petrov...here...in DC," Billy took a deep breath and stood up slowly, "Scarecrow," he said heavily, "where have you been the last twenty four hours?" Billy eyed him closely.

Lee immediately realized his mistake. He needed to calm down, he shook his head, "no, it's not like that," he started to say, "uhm..."

"Lee," Billy said, "if there is even the remotest chance you've been compr-"

"I haven't been compromised, Billy," Lee said smiling slightly, he hoped he didn't look as manic and he felt, "This...is not my life," he said adamantly.

"Burn out is-"

"I'm not burnt out," he sighed agitatedly, "you're not listening to me. This is not my life," he started pacing, "I am not married to Amanda King," he scoffed, "I'm not married to anyone."

"Have you talked to Amanda about-"

"No!" he said, "I can't talk to Amanda about this…she wouldn't understand this," he said absently.

"I'm not sure I do either. Look," Billy said slowly trying to choose his words carefully, "if you need a break before you start your new job at the Pentagon, I can arrange for you to talk to someone here," Billy told him. Lee was already shaking his head no before Billy finished speaking.

"No Billy, I'm not crazy," Lee said passionately, he spoke confidently, "this is some bazaar science fiction movie or something. A bad dream. I don't work for you anymore. I work for the foreign office. You called me in a couple of days ago for a favor, I was investigating a leak for you and Amanda was suspected to be that leak. I hadn't even see Amanda King in something like…ten years…I got hit over the head," he remembered slowly, "and went I woke up…I was in bed with her this morning," he was lost in thought.

"You were investigating a leak...for me?" Billy clarified his tone calm but his eyes were calculating.

"Yes, on an operation called 'Spider web'-"

Billy's brows rose high on his forehead, "'Spider web'," he parroted, "uh….we did have an operation called 'Spider web' several years ago. Amanda was a…." his voice trailed off. He was trying to figure out what was going on with Lee, "Lee, you must remember? You worked on this operation for about two years."

"Amanda was a what?" Lee said urgently.

Billy, sighed and cleared his throat, "uh….the operation was falling apart, Amanda was suspected of being a leak and tanking it, but," Billy said firmly, pointing a finger at Lee, "you helped her prove she was innocent of the charges. Together you and her brought the person responsible for the leak to justice," Billy looked at him oddly for a moment. Hesitated before he spoke, "Lee, maybe…maybe a break-"

It was almost the exact same scenario, he furrowed his brow and shook his head.

"I don't need a break, Billy," he said harshly, "I need to understand what is going on," he started to pace as he rubbed a hand over his eyes and took a deep breath, "I had a penthouse on Pennsylvania avenue….I had an apartment in France….women, clothes, Champagne, caviar…." He sighed heavily, "and I woke up to diapers, Billy….and no privacy! I-I-I I don't even know what to do…" his voice trailed off as he looked at Billy in a panic.

"Maybe the first thing you should do…is calm down," Billy told him with a forced smile, "this sounds like quite a dream you had-"

"Not a dream," Lee muttered despondently as he continued to pace.

"All I know Scarecrow is that ten years ago you involved Amanda in a case. You spent two years mostly fighting her involvement in this agency, then suddenly you welcomed her help until such time you were both accused of treason. After you fought those charges together, Amanda was promoted to a full agent, completed her training," Billy took a breath before continuing on, "at some point the two of you eloped and only came clean when Amanda fell pregnant for the first time. Now you are both moving on with your careers. As you should, for the sake of your family," Billy paused, "have I missed anything?" He continued when Lee seemed lost in thought.

"I'm worried about you," Billy said composing himself, "maybe the best thing you can do right now is…I don't know…perhaps you should just relax into this," Lee was sure Billy didn't believe him. "Look, Lee," Billy hesitated, "Dreams can seem so real sometimes. It's Friday, get through the day today…have a nice weekend at home with your wife and your children and I am sure things will look much better on Monday morning, huh?"

Lee sighed realizing that his story was just too unbelievable. He wasn't going to be able to convince Billy it was real, "Ah, you're probably right," he shrugged as he started to back pedal, the last thing he needed was for Billy to throw him into the psych ward. He needed to figure this out, "like you said...dreams...they can be so real…I'll just…" he pointed to Billy's door before making his way across the room and leaving.