In Limbo

Chapter 26

As the plane touched down in the Washington Dulles airport, Lee looked down at Amanda, her head resting on his shoulder, and nudging her gently, whispered, "Sweetie? C'mon...We're home now...Time to get up..."

Amanda moaned softly, and stretching a bit, yawned, and stated, "Wh-What time is it?"

Lee, looking at his watch, answered, "Almost 5 AM...Remember? We were late for that flight that left at 3?"

Amanda nodded replying quietly, "Well, you should have at least called me to give me a heads up into what you were planning-"

Lee sighed, querying playfully, " C'mon! And ruin the element of surprise? What's the fun in that?"

-SMK-

Finally, a few moments later, the plane passengers were disembarking, and Lee and Amanda soon followed the crowd into Dulles, and Amanda, with her two bags, asked, "Now what?"

Lee, with his two bags as well, commented, "We take the escalator down, and we catch a cab to the Agency...If the rest of my hunch plays out...C'mon..."

As the two came out of the airport, Lee saw an available cab pull up, and he signaled the driver, to alert him that he and Amanda were getting in.

It was nearly 6 AM as the cab pulled up to the Agency address, and Lee, getting out first, helped Amanda out, and paying the driver, stated, "Thanks,"and the cab pulled away.

Lee, taking in the scenery, sighed as he answered to Amanda, "I-I can't believe we're back...C'mon. Let's see if everything's back to normal around here..."

But Amanda remarked, "Hmm...Normal...I'm beginning to not know what defines normal any more."

When Lee gave her a strange look at her statement, she shrugged, stating with a gesture, "But then, I've lost some sleep, so forget I said anything, huh? Let's go..."

-SMK-

When they came into the Agency lobby, Lee smiled at the woman seated at the desk, and responded, "Mrs. Marston...It's truly wonderful to see you again!"

Mrs. Marston, rising from her desk, went to give Lee and Amanda warm hugs, answering, "The same here, Mr. Stetson...Mrs. King? How are you?"

Amanda yawned, replying as she returned the hug, "A bit sleep deprived at the moment..."

Then looking at Lee, Amanda asked, "Well, what name do I use now? I mean, am I Amanda King, or Beth Blake still?"

Mrs. Marston responded with a shake of her head, "Billy is waiting for you both in the Bullpen area, so no need for passwords yet. We're still trying to reorganize everything, so just head on up..."

Lee commented, "Thank you."

Then gesturing towards the elevator, he said to Amanda, "After you..."

As Amanda nodded and entered the elevator, Lee followed, and once the elevator closed, Lee, pushing the floor he needed, tilted his head at Amanda, and asked carefully, "Hey...You okay?"

Amanda shrugged and queried, "What do you mean? Don't I look okay?"

Lee remarked slowly, "Y-Yeah, but you're just...different right now, that's all...N-Not in a bad way, but-"

Amanda asked defensively, "Different? Compared to what?"

-SMK-

Lee was about to respond when the elevator doors opened to the Bullpen area, and Billy Melrose came over to greet Lee and Amanda, and as they exited the elevator, he clasped both of their hands answered warmly, "It's good to see you both again...C'mon, let's grab some coffee and catch up in my office, and we can stratergize getting my unit back together starting with the two of you..."

And as they all walked to Billy's office, Lee, looking around at the Steno Pool area, queried, "Uh, where is everyone? And Francine? She's here in the building, too, right?"

Billy ushered them in, and getting on his phone, stated, "No calls," and hanging up, he gestured to Lee and Amanda, "Have a seat, you two...There will be some changes here which I hope you'll like. Francine is moving back into her old apartment, which means-"

Lee shook his head knowingly, answering, "Of course...She'll be gone the rest of the day."

Billy smiled, commenting, "Right...Now, Amanda, as for you-"

But Amanda, putting up a hand, responded as she rose from the chair, and immediately went to lay on the couch, " Wait, Sir...I-I don't feel so good right now...Give me a minute, will you, please?"

Lee got up and quickly got her some bottled water, and bringing it over, helped her sit up, and putting an arm around her as he noticed her ashen face, asked gently, "Hey...What is it?"

Amanda, taking the water from Lee, took a sip, and swallowing, breathed deeply in and out for a few minutes until she felt a bit better, and asked in a ramble to Lee,"What is it? What's not it?! Three years ago, you, in a waiter's suit, meet me in a train station, begging me for help, so I help you...Then all of a sudden, I'm ensconced in this espionage world, where I continually have to make up all kinds of ridiculous stories to my family about what I'm doing, and where I'm going at all hours of the day and night, and I eventually adjust...But then, two months ago, someone infiltrates this place, and we all have to relocate, and change our names, and somehow, some way, you wind up back in my life again when I thought we weren't ever supposed to see each other again... So, let me just take a wild guess now..."

Then looking at Billy, she queried carefully, "Sir? Is one of the changes you're going to tell us about involve me moving back to my Arlington home?"

Billy smiling, responded, "Yes, which also means everyone, including your family, can go back to your original legal names, and your lives for good..."

Lee stated with a sigh of relief, "That's great to hear, Billy! Do you know who was behind all this crap we just went through?"

Billy answered, "It was none other than Rackam-"

Lee baffled, queried, "From the San Angelo case? How?"

Billy stated simply, "He had a network of cronies working outside while he was still in jail, but we've dismanteled it, so everyone's safe-"

Amanda scoffed, commenting, "Sure, for now..."

Billy and Lee looked at each other, and then worriedly at Amanda, wondering what was troubling her...

TBC