Lee re-read his statement on the Grant case one last time before scrawling his signature across the bottom and pushing it away across the desk. It was amazing he'd even been able to dredge up any memories of what had happened that day at the McMaster estate, when it was everything that happened after it that completely filled his mind. Fortunately Amanda had made copious notes on everything before they'd left to meet the art fence that day, and Francine had left him with the rest of the file so he could fill in the gaps.

He glanced at the stack of notes with Amanda's neat handwriting on them and felt the pang of missing her. It had only been 14 hours since he'd kissed her goodbye at the hospital on his way to the airport and already he was regretting the decision to come home. They'd agreed he should since no one at home knew he had any reason to stay but as soon as he'd talked to Billy and Francine, he'd realized neither of them were fooled anyway. He sighed again wishing he could tell them the whole truth but he and Amanda agreed it was something they should do together when the time came. He was just checking his watch, wondering if it was late enough in California to call her when Francine walked back into the Q Bureau.

"Are you done?" she asked brightly. "Ready for lunch?"

"Yes and yes," he replied, standing up and stretching. An overnight flight and a morning in an office chair had left him feeling stiff and achy. "Where do you want to go?"

"There's a great old-style diner that's just opened up over near the university, but you have to promise not to tell anyone here that you saw me eating a hamburger."

"It's a deal."

The diner, hidden on a side street a few blocks away from the Georgetown campus, looked like something out of Lee's childhood, right down to the black and white tile floor and the red banquette booths. Even the music playing on the jukebox reminded him of high school. "I'm pretty sure I fell in love for the first time to this song," he laughed as 'Hey, Hey Paula' came out of the speaker at their table.

"In love, hey? How old were you? Did it last?"

"Thirteen and nope, it was 'my party and I'll cry if I want to' before the end of the school year. How about you? What's your song?"

Francine thought for a moment. "I frightened off my sixth grade boyfriend by buying him a forty-five of 'Chapel of Love'.

"Nice one – that's a classic" grinned Lee.

"When I spent the week in my room crying over it, my father decided it was time I start going to an all-girls school," added Francine dryly. "That put a cramp in my style for a few years. I had to make do with magazine articles about the Beatles instead of real boys."

"Well, you got the last laugh," said Lee. "And like I've said before, you still got it." He toasted her with his glass of water as they both laughed, remembering the last time he'd said that to her.

"I may still have it, but I'm starting to forget what to do with it," she responded.

"It'll all come back to you when you meet the right person. That makes all the difference," said Lee unthinkingly as he studied the menu.

"It does, does it?" Francine looked at him, watching the flush rise on his neck as he realized he'd given himself away again but quickly looked back down at her menu as he looked up. "I've changed my mind. The chili-cheese fries sound too good," she said finally, letting him off the hook.

"Compared to the hospital cafeteria and the airplane food, this all looks good to me. Thank God for Barney – he set himself up as a one-man catering unit, keeping me and Dotty fed. Amanda starting making us leave the room to eat because she was still on bland food and clear liquids and it was making her crazy seeing what he was bringing in." He caught the waitress' eye and waved her down.

"She sounds like she's feeling a lot better if she's got the strength to kick you all the way out of California," remarked Francine once the waitress left. "How much longer did you say she'll be in hospital?"

"They said two weeks in hospital and three weeks until she can come home, but it wouldn't surprise me if she stages a jail break before that. She's better behaved than me but she hates hospitals even more than I do. All the noise drives her crazy." He laughed as 'Hello Mary Lou' started to play on the juke box. "Ricky Nelson was Amanda's girlhood crush."

"How do you even know that?"

Lee shrugged. "A lot of time sitting on stakeouts talking about nothing and listening to the radio, I guess. But I think it came up at the high school reunion last year."

"You went to her high school reunion?" Francine asked in an amazed tone.

Lee looked back at her, equally astonished. "You told me to go – don't you remember?"

"What are you talking about?"

Lee leaned back against the banquette. "It was after you got shot at the Cumberland that night. I came to check on you at the hospital and to let you know Amanda was alright. You really don't remember?"

Francine shook her head. "Not a thing, but I was pretty high on morphine at the time. What did I say?"

"You told me all about how you'd had this whole conversation about the reunion and how you'd sent her to that store with the sixties stuff because she told you she wasn't going to it and you thought she'd regret not going and then you told me I should go with her so I talked her into it."

"I have zero memory of that," admitted Francine. "So was I right? Did she have a good time?"

"No, turns out it was a terrible idea." Lee started to laugh again. "She spent the whole evening trying to avoid questions about what she was doing these days in a roomful of people whose only topic of conversation was what people were doing now. It was like every conversation with her mother about what ridiculous film we're working on now but repeated over and over and over again. And since it was February, the whole thing was Valentine's themed so if it wasn't avoiding questions about that, it was trying to explain what on earth I was doing there. She was a basket case by an hour in with all the lying. And then -"Lee stopped talking abruptly, and gave a choke of laughter with a faraway look in his eyes as he remembered the rest of that evening.

"And then – what?" prompted Francine.

"And then after we'd made nice for a while, we went out for a bite to eat and I took her home in time for midnight curfew," answered Lee, promptly.

Francine looked at him through narrowed eyes. She could tell there was something more to the story but she knew from the suddenly bland expression on Lee's face that he wasn't about to divulge anything else. Just at that moment the food arrived and Lee took the opportunity to change the subject, asking her about what had been going on in Washington while he'd been away. For a moment she debated pressing him for more, but decided it would keep for another time and began to tell him all the bullpen gossip.

As she talked, Lee's mind drifted back to that reunion night.

They had just escaped yet another conversation with what had to be the hundredth woman who'd been a cheerleader with Amanda by heading to the dance floor. At first, it had been normal, dancing in a high school gym to songs they both remembered from their teenage years like the Beach Boys, but then the music had slowed down and as 'Let it Be' began to play, they had drifted into each other's arms. It had taken a moment for him to realize that she was shaking. Not trembling but actually shaking. He had stepped back to look at her, shocked to see tears on her cheeks.

"Amanda, what's wrong?" He was still holding her upper arms, bending down to try and look at her as she stared at the floor.

"I need to get out of here." That was all she said before turning away from him and bolting for the door. He'd been too surprised to follow her for a moment but had finally chased after her, aware as he did so that heads were turning all over the room. He'd caught up with her as she reached the hallway and spun her around.

"Amanda, talk to me! What's wrong?"

She'd leaned back against the row of lockers, still shaking. "I'm sorry, it was just that song on top of everything else this week."

"You're having an anxiety attack over 'Let it Be'? Why?"

"Lee, do you remember where you were in May 1970?"

He'd thought for a moment and finally answered, "I would have been in the middle of final exams, I guess. Why?"

"I was in the middle of exams too, and that song was playing on the radio all the time that week. I can remember it so clearly; I was in the Student Union building and people started rushing in, all yelling about Kent State and everyone was running around trying to find radios to get the news but nobody really knew anything except that there were students had been killed and they didn't know how many or who it was and the rumours kept getting crazier and crazier and all I could think about was that Jamie was there."

Lee stared at her in confusion. "What do you mean Jamie was there?"

"Not my Jamie, my cousin Jamie – my Jamie's named after him. He was at Kent that year and it was hours before we found out he was safe. But all I can remember from that day was that in between news bulletins, the radio just kept playing that song over and over. He died in a car crash a year later while he was working with the Peace Corps and I haven't thought about it in so long but I guess with this week and those people killing Lance and trying to kill me and telling themselves they were protecting our way of life, well, when that song came on and I remembered how I felt then – it just all hit me at once and all of a sudden I couldn't breathe." Her eyes had filled up with tears again and she'd put her hands over her face as if trying to block out the memories.

He'd taken her back into his arms and stood there for a moment, rubbing a hand across her back, trying to soothe her. "Hey, hey, it's fine. It's a perfectly normal reaction. It's been a weird week – maybe coming here wasn't such a good idea after all." She was leaning into him, sniffling quietly.

"I thought it would be good to see some old friends and try and be normal for a while but being here just reminds me how not normal my life is now."

"Wait a minute – don't go getting not normal on me now. You were just starting to bring me around to the idea." He was relieved when she started to laugh at that. He'd let go of her and began searching his pockets for a handkerchief for her but when he'd reached into the pocket of the fringed jacket he'd picked up at Sixties R Us, he found himself pulling out a small plastic bag that he certainly hadn't put in there. He stared at it for a moment, trying to figure out what it was before it hit him.

"Lee? What on earth are you doing with those?" Amanda was staring with amazement at the baggie and the two perfectly rolled joints it contained.

"I have no idea," he'd replied honestly before groaning, "Oh no! This is what he meant!"

"This is what who meant? What did he mean?"

"That hippie clerk at the sixties clothes store. When I went back to get something to wear for this, he kept going on and on about how grateful he was that I'd rescued him and his customers from Jepard and how he wanted to give me something to thank me and when I bought the jacket, he must have slipped these in the pocket. How the hell am I going to get rid of them?" He looked up to see Amanda grinning at him, with the same look of mischief she'd had the day she's blackmailed him with the Christmas party photo. "What are you smiling at?"

"Well, it seems a shame to waste them, and I could use something to calm me down right about now."

"Amanda!" He'd been stunned at the suggestion, especially from her. "You can't be serious! I'm a federal agent! And you're practically one! We're supposed to be stopping people from selling this stuff, not using it!"

"Oh give me a break, Lee. You grew up in the sixties – you can't tell me you never indulged."

"Well, of course I did, but that was then, this is now. And the now problem is what the hell I'm going to do with them."

Amanda was outright giggling now. "Well, it's obvious isn't it? We destroy the evidence before anyone catches you with them. I suggest arson."

"Arson?" He started to laugh as he understood what she was suggesting. "Who are you and what have you done with Amanda King?"

"Come on, I bet all the old stoners are out under the bleachers like the old days – we can borrow a lighter."

She'd grabbed the bag out of his hand and headed for the exit determinedly and somehow he'd found himself following her out into the freezing February night. She'd been right about the old time stoners – there had been a group of four or five aging hippies, who looked exactly like the clerk at the store, and who all greeted Amanda by name.

"You were a stoner in high school?" he'd whispered at her in amazement.

"No, but I was class president so everybody remembers me. I was a good girl until I went away to college and Joe corrupted me."

"Joe corrupted you? Mr. Straight Arrow law student taught you how to smoke up?" Lee was overwhelmed by all the information that was coming at him tonight.

"The law students were the worst because they were so stressed all the time. Why do you think the boarding house was called Mrs. McDragon's?" Amanda had asked impishly. By now, she'd clambered up the bleachers and was perched staring out over the field. As he watched, she'd expertly taken a long drag on the joint she'd lit and then held it out to him. "So? You joining me or not?"

There was something so irresistible about the way she'd smiled at that moment that he'd almost taken her up on the dare, but he'd stopped himself, straddling the bench beside her instead and shaking his head. "Nope. You go ahead, I'll just sit here and keep an eye out for Officer Krupke."

"Chicken?" she'd teased him.

"No, but I'm going to have to drive you home later and I shouldn't be buzzed for that."

"Yeah, that's true. One of these days though, we're both going to be buzzed at the same time and then watch out."

"Watch out for what?"

Amanda was already starting to giggle as the effects of her first few drags hit. "Fireworks, Scarecrow. Boom! Just like New Year's Eve!"

"I'll look forward to that." He'd reached over and carefully removed the bag with the second joint in it from her hand, slipping it into his back pocket. He'd flush it down the toilet later, a solution he should have thought of before Amanda has somehow hijacked the situation. He noticed she had goose pimples on her arms from coming outside without a coat so he slipped out of his and draped it over her shoulders, then leaned back again to watch her, like he'd done at the Cumberland a few nights before. He wondered what she'd meant by the comment about fireworks – they'd fallen into a pattern of flirting while they worked, but he still wasn't sure how much she meant by it. She had always been the first one to tease him about his overactive love life but he wondered if she'd noticed how much that had changed since they'd first met. There had never been a woman who affected him the way she did, wanting to strangle her one minute and kiss her senseless the next, but he just couldn't figure out how to break down that last barrier between them without losing the best friend he had in the world. He needed another Amanda who could give him advice on what to do with this one.

'What a thought,' he said to himself, smiling at the thought. 'Can you imagine there being two of them?'

He couldn't help grinning watching her staring up at the stars with a contented expression, taking slow drags occasionally and giggling quietly at nothing. He knew he should have put a stop to this right at the start, but he didn't seem to be able to think straight around her sometimes, and he had to admit, stoned Amanda was a damn sight more comfortable to be around than crying Amanda. The more he thought about that, the more he'd realized how many different Amandas there were. When he'd first met her it had been easy for him to dismiss her easily as just a housewife and mom, but it had taken him years to fully appreciate the humour, the intuition, the razor-sharp mind and the courage she hid under that sweet exterior. The courage especially – the way she'd faced down so many situations and so rarely let him see the emotional upheaval that had followed. He knew cases got to her; he'd been there when some of them had gotten overwhelming for her but somehow she'd always managed to let it all out and then pick herself back up and come back for more, sunny optimism unimpaired. And now there was Crazy College Amanda – he'd never seen that one coming.

When he saw the glow of the lit joint was getting too close to her fingers pinched around the end, he'd reached over again and carefully taken it away from her, dropping it and methodically destroying it under his shoe. He'd looked back at Amanda who was now staring at him, eyes even darker than normal with her dilated pupils. "Feel better now?" he'd asked. He'd taken her arm and started to guide her back down the metal steps.

"Much better. We should do this more often." She'd beamed at him happily.

Lee grimaced at the thought. "Let's go back inside where it's warm okay? We can grab your stuff and get out of here." He'd pointed her in the direction of the school and given her a little push to set her in motion.

"Okay." She'd started back towards the gym obediently, reaching back to take his hand like she had the other night in the elevator.

They'd gone back inside and he'd started to guide her towards their table to find her purse. The DJ had shifted to playing more recent songs and they were halfway across the gym when he put on a slow song Lee remembered playing on the car radio just after Joe King had come back from Estoccia. It reminded him painfully of that week when he had worried that with Amanda might go back to her ex-husband, just as he'd begun to realize his own feelings for her. "One last dance before we go?" he'd asked abruptly, wanting to exorcise his own musical demons.

"That's be nice." Amanda had stepped into his embrace without hesitation, completely relaxed this time. They had swayed gently around the floor and he realized that Amanda was crooning along with the song.

'What did you think I would say at this moment, when I'm faced with the knowledge that you just don't love me…'

He had tightened his arms around her, suddenly reckless with the desire to tell her he was, in fact, falling in love with her. "Amanda…" he began to say.

She looked up at him and before he could say anything else, blurted out "I'm hungry."

Lee couldn't help laughing at her impeccable timing. "I should have known that was coming," he sighed. "You're a lightweight, Amanda King."

"You should know. You've carried me."

"Yes I have, but that's not what I meant. Okay, let's go get your purse and coat and then I'll take you out to eat. What do you want?"

"A double Wham-O burger with double cheese, pickles and mustard, jumbo onion rings and a Choco-Blocko shake" said Amanda promptly.

"Marvin's? Seriously? You almost were a double Wham-O burger once, don't you remember?"

"Oh yeah," she'd shivered at the memory. For a moment, he'd felt terrible for saying that when she looked sad but then she'd started to grin idiotically again. "Okay. Just the onion rings and the Choco-Blocko shake then."

"You're a goofball, you know that?"

"Don't call your brother a goofball," she'd scolded him in the same tone she used on the boys, making him laugh out loud.

"Yes, Mom. Now come on, your chariot to the drive-thru awaits."

.

"Did I tell you somebody left me a mix tape on my desk for Valentine's Day?"

Lee's attention snapped back to Francine as he realized she'd asked him a question. "They left you a what?"

"A mix tape – didn't you ever make one for a girl or were you too much of a love-'em-and-leave-'em guy even then?"

"I wasn't actually but I didn't usually live anywhere long enough to properly date anyone. But yes, I believe I may have made a few sappy mix tapes in my long-lost youth. Who was yours from?"

"Efraim, of course, although he hasn't admitted it. I'm impressed though – it must have required a long period of being sober enough to put it together and he usually only remembers his undying love for me when he's been drinking. It's a good tape though; I've been listening to it on my Walkman at my desk when I want to zone out all the noise in the bullpen." She looked up at Lee and noticed the dark shadows that were becoming more noticeable under his eyes. "You done? You look like you're about to fall asleep." He nodded and she signaled for the bill.

.

They drove back to Lee's apartment in the companionable silence of old friends, but after Francine had pulled up in front of his building and he'd unloaded his bags, he leaned back in the car window. "Thanks for everything. Not just for lunch and the ride home, but for everything else."

"No problem. Like the song on my mix tape says, that's what friends are for. Go get some sleep and we'll see you tomorrow, ok? And I hate to tell you this but Billy needs you to write up something for the files on how you got involved with that whole gold scam."

He groaned in acknowledgement and started to turn away but turned back when Francine called his name again. "And Lee? Say hi from me when you call Amanda five minutes after you get in the door."

He didn't even try to deny that was his plan. "Sure will"

It was longer than five minutes though as he decided to shower and crawl into bed before picking up the phone. "Hey, Beautiful," he said when she picked up the phone.

There was a beat and then to his embarrassment he heard Dotty reply dryly, "Thank you Lee, but I'm sure you meant that for Amanda."

"Not at all, Mrs. West," he'd scrambled to answer. "But is she there? It's not time for her therapy session yet, is it?"

"Now, Lee, you know it's not – you know her schedule even better than the nurses around here. And she's giving me a dirty look for not giving her the phone, so I'll talk to you later. Goodbye, Lee, Dear."

He could hear Amanda still chuckling as she came on the line. "I don't know what you said, but you made her day."

"Nothing that isn't true. How are you?"

"Tired. Hospitals are so darn noisy. I'm looking forward to getting home to the peace and quiet of the boys fighting. How's Washington?"

"Cold. Lonely. Actually I shouldn't say that – Francine just took me out for lunch to make sure I ate something. She says hi. Billy's going to try and keep me out of the field all week so I'll be free to come back next weekend."

"You don't need to, you know."

"Yes I do."

"Yeah you do. So are you in the office now?"

"Nope, Billy threw me out of there too, so I'm at home in bed. Wish you were here."

"Me too." They sighed down the phone line simultaneously. He could heard Dotty asking Amanda something in the background and her answering before she came back. "Mother says if you're coming back soon, could you go by the house and pick up more clothes for her? She's gone off to call Joe and ask him to have a suitcase ready."

"Of course, no problem. Let me know if there's anything you want either." He paused uncertainly. "Amanda, do you think I should tell Joe? About us being married, I mean? After everything that happened… shouldn't he know I'm his sons' step-father?"

"Oh no, don't do that. I'll talk to him when I'm home again. You're right but it should come from me." She groaned as the sound of another PA announcement drifted into her room. "Maybe you could bring me earplugs when you come back so I can get some quiet. Oh, and here's Denise to change my dressings now. You can add shrieks of pain to the list of hospital noises I'm not going to miss." She chuckled so he'd know she wasn't serious.

"I'll call you later then. I love you."

He'd dozed off almost instantly after she'd hung up, but woke up to that half-light which could be either dusk or dawn. The clock said six o'clock which didn't narrow it down so finally he'd gotten up and padded to the window to stare at the light in the sky before deciding it was dusk and he'd only been asleep a few hours. He was strangely energized though and he knew there was something chasing around his brain – something Francine had said. When he finally realized what it was, he gave a crow of triumph and grabbed a pad of paper to start writing.

.

Wednesday morning, Amanda woke up to find her mother already sitting in her room. "Hi Momma" she mumbled sleepily. "Is it even visiting hours yet?"

Dotty smiled at the way Amanda had just reverted back to her childhood name for her. She wondered briefly when her daughter had stopped using it and started calling her Mother instead. It must have been a teen rebellion that stuck she decided, not that it mattered now. She was just glad she still had her daughter here to call her anything.

"No, I'm early, but the nurses looked the other way when I said I had something for you from Lee."

Amanda smiled, "More flowers?"

"Not this time." She gestured to the package on the table by the bed. "It came by courier last night."

"He sent something by courier? What couldn't wait until the weekend?" Amanda tried to sit up and caught her breath sharply, remembering too late that she should have used the button to raise the bed, while Dotty rushed forward to help her, scolding as she put her arm around her and helped her adjust the bed and pillows to be comfortable.

"Well, we won't know until you open it, will we?" Dotty picked up the parcel and put it on Amanda's lap, watching as Amanda carefully pulled the brown paper off and lifted the lid on the box inside.

"Well, everything on top is for you, Mother." Amanda pulled out a stack of paperbacks, all mystery and romance novels by Dotty's favourite writers and even a hardback of the latest Danielle Steele with a note attached from Lee hoping the books would keep her and Amanda amused without him there to tease.

Dotty had known Lee Stetson was an eleven, but even so, she felt the tears welling up at the thoughtfulness of his book selection. "Lee's a keeper, Amanda. I hope you know that."

"Oh I do, Mother." Amanda was reaching into the box again and pulled out an envelope. Slipping the note out of it, she glanced through it to make sure it was safe before reading an edited version out loud to her mother. "I heard a song that reminded me of high school and thought maybe this would be more useful than earplugs for getting rid of the hospital noise. Here's to our next reunion." She reached in again and pulled out two cassette tapes and a brand new Walkman. The first cassette was marked "Family Soundtrack" and the second "High School Reunion". She flipped open the cases to see if he'd written song lists inside but they were both blank.

"He's a genius. Why didn't I think of this before?" said Amanda in a wondering tone. "He even put in spare batteries."

"Definitely an eleven," confirmed Dotty. She could see Amanda was itching to play the tapes so she picked up one of the books and headed back to the chair across the room. She settled herself in and pretended to be reading while she watched her daughter slip on the headphones and put in one of the tapes, settling back on the pillows with her eyes closed. Dotty glanced back down to start her novel but was almost immediately distracted by the shriek of laughter coming from the bed. She raised her eyebrows inquiringly, but Amanda just waved her off with a grin.

"Just a private joke, Mother, go back to your book."

Amanda watched her mother shrug her shoulders and look back down at her book before resettling herself and closing her eyes again as the Walkman played the first song, blocking out all the hospital noises. After all, she could come up with something later to explain to her mother why the first song on the "Reunion" tape was 'Puff the Magic Dragon", couldn't she?