Francine got held up at the office briefly with some questions.  Amanda had her worried.  When she left yesterday evening, Amanda had been almost devastated and now on the phone she almost sounded normal.  The sudden change in moods had caused Francine to worry more about her friend and she sped as quickly as she could to Amanda's ranch.

Francine arrived right on time, but it took Amanda five minutes to answer the door and usher her in.

"Ok, I'm here.  What is so important that you couldn't have had a courier come by to pick up?" Francine asked smelling the delicious aroma of chocolate chip pancakes wafting out of the kitchen.

Amanda went into the kitchen to get the box of tapes and stole a kiss from Lee as she went by.  When she returned she gave Francine the box and her instructions, "I need these to be transcribed ASAP.  I'll have the official report done next week.  Now, why don't you take off your jacket and sit down at the table for breakfast."

Amanda turned to head back into the kitchen leaving Francine's jaw hanging in shock.  This was not the Amanda King that Francine had left last night.  Something was up and Amanda knew what it was, but Francine couldn't figure out what it in the world that it could be.

Francine followed Amanda into the dinning room and saw that the table had been set for three people for the first time in many years.  For a couple of years after Lee disappeared, Francine would drop in to check up on her partner and usually found that Amanda had set out enough placing for two people.  Slowly, though, Amanda had gotten used to eating alone and the dinning room was set for one person on a regular basis.

"Amanda?"

Amanda turned to face Francine, "Yes, Francine?"

"Why is there three plates out?  Are you expecting someone else for breakfast?"

"As a matter of fact, she is."  Lee's voice came out of the kitchen shortly followed by him carrying a platter of pancakes and syrup.  Francine didn't know what to say or do so she just stood there watching Lee place the food on the table and ask if everyone wanted some juice.  Amanda answered for Francine and when Lee went back into the kitchen, she led Francine to the table.

"Amanda, tell me that I'm hallucinating," Francine said quietly after she sat down.

"No, Francine, you are not seeing things.  That was really Lee," Amanda said as calmly as she could.

"How long has he been here?" Francine asked regaining her composure and voice.

"He came home with me yesterday."  Amanda paused briefly  and continued before Francine could say anything.  "He approached me at the train station yesterday afternoon.  I was going to tell you, but I wanted some time with him before the Agency got involved."

As Amanda told Francine everything, well almost everything, that had happened the previous day, Lee stood in the doorway watching.  Everything was almost like a dream to him, a dream come true.  He was still alive, his wife was there to welcome him with open arms, and she could still talk the ear off a donkey.  Things had changed in many ways as well: she no longer lived at the house in Arlington; his apartment had been leased at least a dozen times since he left; Amanda was essentially his boss, but only if he came back to the Agency.

Lee noticed that Francine was starting to get annoyed with Amanda now that the shock of seeing him had worn off.  The skeptic in her was about to come out, so he decided that it would be a good time to bring in the rest of breakfast, including his special potato cakes that he made as a surprise for Amanda.

"I don't know about you, ladies, but I, for one, am famished," he said entering the room.

"Yes, let's eat," Amanda agreed quickly, thankful for Lee's timing.  "Francine, how many pancakes do you want?"  It took Francine a few moments to realize that Amanda had asked her a question.  Francine didn't know what to make of the rapid developments in Lee's case, but she hoped that it would, for Amanda's sake, continue to go quickly and everything turned out right.  Amanda didn't get to the package that she had given her, but Francine reasoned that it could be the tapes of Lee's debriefing that needed to be transcribed.

Breakfast went smoothly between the three of them.  Lee promised that he would report to the Agency as soon as he had physically recovered from his escape after being badgered by both Francine and Amanda.  A couple of hours later, Francine left satisfied that the man claiming to be Lee Stetson was indeed the one and only Scarecrow.

When Francine drove off, Amanda asked, "Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"No, it wasn't," Lee answered amazed that after all this time Amanda could still read him like a book.  Putting the Agency and everything else that happened to him he asked, "What ever shall we do with ourselves, Mrs. Stetson?"  Amanda smiled.

The week went by quickly with only minimal interruptions from Francine who was checking up on him until Amanda returned to work.

"Are you sure you want to come in with me, Lee?" Amanda asked as she got dressed for work.

"Yes, Amanda.  I really want to come in with you.  I got bored with watching television yesterday and the doctor said that I was cleared to go back to 'whatever it is that I do at IFF.'"

"Ok, but you better be ready for some hard work."  Amanda smiled.  It would be nice to have Lee back at the Agency.  His desk had been getting a bit dusty of late and cluttered with stuff that she was putting off to later.

Forty-five minutes later, Lee and Amanda walked through the doors of IFF and was greeted by Dr. Symth.

"Ah, Mrs. King, Scarecrow.  So nice of you to finally join us."

That's all I got... hope you liked it. (don't kill me, yet... I promise to write a sequel)

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