Lee walked over to the open cargo door and slid back down onto the tarmac, turning and reaching up to lift her down as well. They stood blinking in the sunshine, watching the police cars and fire engines circle around them. Francine launched herself out of an unmarked car and ran towards them. "Amanda?" she said in disbelief. "How on earth did you end up here? You need to get out of here! There's a bomb somewhere!"

"We know. And it's a long story about why I'm here," Amanda smiled at her. "You can read all about it in my report."

"But first, make sure none of these guys touch the plane!" Lee interrupted. "I got the trigger mechanism out so there's no danger from the plane but there are canisters of nerve gas in the hold that'll need to be secured."

Francine stared at him slack-jawed for a split second, then hightailed it over to the police officer in charge who began waving the emergency services back.

Within a few moments, a truck rolled up with a set of stairs that allowed the president and Dean to join them on the ground. President De Gregorio was immediately whisked off in an ambulance to be checked after his latest episode, but he cheerfully waved to Dean to accompany him.

"You know Dean's going to write that story so it looks like he helped get the plane down after Polo fainted, don't you?" asked Lee.

"Oh, yes, I know," said Amanda cheerfully. "But it won't really do any harm and it will keep the real story under wraps."

"I still don't know what you ever saw in him," grumbled Lee.

"Like I said, I can't remember now," laughed Amanda.

Lee turned to her, serious now, and took her hand. "I don't care that you can't remember that, but I wish I could help you remember everything else about your life – Phillip and Jamie, your work at the Agency… I wasn't kidding before. You're pretty amazing."

"And you thought you could just kiss me into remembering?" she teased him. "Like Sleeping Beauty?"

Lee shifted from foot to foot, looking uncomfortable. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. That was probably a bad idea. I was desperate and I thought it might help."

"Because you're just that good?" she asked, openly amused now. "One kiss and it would all just come flooding back?"

"Hey, it couldn't hurt," he offered in return.

"Well, it didn't help," she said.

"Not even a little?" Lee asked, disappointment audible in his voice.

"Well, not with my memory," she said. Her smile turned impish as she reached out to rest her hand on his chest again. "Tell me something though - why do you always threaten people with the IRS when you're trying to scare them?"

"Oh that's easy," he said, promptly. "People like Dean who are basically honest don't really take threats of prison seriously because they don't think they'll ever end up there. But everyone lies a little on their tax returns and they're always afraid of getting caught. I can't actually get the IRS to do anything, but guys like him don't know that."

Amanda's usual gurgle of laughter bubbled out of her at his response, and Lee stiffened with a sudden realization.

"Wait a second - what do you mean 'I always threaten people with the IRS'?"

"Well, you used it on Dean," she said, all demure now, "And you used it on that guy at Honeycutt Typewriters. I thought it must be something you do a lot."

"You remember that guy?" he asked, excitement rising. "And hang on – did you start to remember Francine just now? Have you started to remember other stuff? What else? What else do you remember?"

"Everything," she said simply. "It all came back."

Lee gaped at her, stunned. "You remember everything? Since when?"

"While I was trying to get the president to stop the plane," she replied. "I was trying to get through to him and tell him who you were and how we knew about the gas and then Dean started yelling at me about how I helped you the day we met and it just suddenly all came back to me!"

"And you didn't say anything?" he asked plaintively.

Amanda's grin got broader and she couldn't hide the laughter in her voice as she answered. "I was trying to, but you kept interrupting me and then the next thing I knew, you were kissing me."

There was a beat as he continued to stare at her. "You kissed me back," he said finally.

"Well, who wouldn't?" she teased. "You're a very good kisser. As you've proved more than once. I definitely remember that."

Lee began to smile. "But just now you said you couldn't remember Dean," he pointed out.

She huffed out a quiet laugh. "No, I said I couldn't remember what I ever saw in him and that's certainly true. I guess I'd never had an opportunity to really see how self-centered he is before we broke up."

"Why did you break up?" Lee asked, curiously. "He was with you the day we met and then I never saw him again."

"Well, that was your fault," she said, sounding very cheerful about it.

"My fault?"

"We had a huge fight about me helping you that day," she explained. "He thought I was crazy for getting involved and I thought he was a jerk for not getting involved."

"You were both right," Lee couldn't resist saying.

"I know," she agreed, laughing.

"And of all the things you could have remembered, you remembered him? Lee shook his head in disbelief.

"Well, the doctor at the hospital did say that amnesia is often associated with something emotionally complicated," Amanda said with a thoughtful look. "And you have to admit, you can't get much less emotionally complicated than Dean." She maintained the serious look for a beat before finally giving into a gurgle of laughter, eyes twinkling at him.

Lee slid his hand to the small of her back, and started to laugh as well as he moved them toward the phalanx of emergency vehicle. "Come on," he said. "Time to get you home."

"Oh my gosh!" she replied, turning to stare at him. "My mother! She must be frantic!"

"Don't worry, we took care of that," said Lee.

"You did? Of course you did. What did you tell her?"

"That you were delayed on a film shoot."

Amanda nodded, but before he could continue, there was a screech of tires as a truck pulled up and Cal jumped out, pacing toward them with a grin and a slight limp. "You two okay?" he asked. "How was your flight?"

"Unexpected," answered Lee, holding out his hand and shaking Cal's. "It's nice to be back on the ground."

"It was a little bumpy," said Amanda. "But that wasn't the plane's fault. I'm sure your plane is lovely when it's not being hijacked by terrorists. But how are you? Did you hurt yourself getting down from the roof?"

"Oh I'm fine," Cal brushed off her concern. "Landed a little funny that's all. Nothing serious."

"You did a great job getting help," said Lee. "Pity we got airborne before they could get there."

"Looks like you brought some people to the party as well," grinned Cal, waving around at the crowd surrounding the plane.

"Did anybody detain our rebel friends?" asked Lee.

"They sure did," cackled Cal. "Hope they enjoy those orange jumpsuits because they'll be in them for a while." He looked around at all the activity. "Is it true what they said? They were going to drop a bomb or something?"

Lee nodded, grim faced. "It's true – but we need you to keep that to yourself. This is all going to be a bit of a diplomatic nightmare."

"I can see that," Cal nodded. "And believe me, it won't do me any good if it comes out I was involved, even if it was as a victim." He spat on the tarmac. "Thank God you two showed up when you did."

"Well, I wasn't even supposed to be here," admitted Amanda.

"But you were, and this all would have ended pretty badly without you," said Lee, unexpectedly. "Whatever crazy thing got you here, your instincts were right."

"I do have a knack of being in the wrong place at the right time, I guess," she agreed with an embarrassed expression.

"I'd like to hear that story," grinned Cal. "But it's probably better if I don't, right?" He gave her a quick wink and reached to shake her hand. "I gotta go help them get this baby off the runway, but any time you want to come on a training flight or something, you just holler, okay? I owe you, big time."

Someone yelled in the distance. "I'm coming, hold yer horses!" Cal yelled back. "I mean it – any time you need anything, you come find me."

Lee and Amanda turned to watch him walk to the plane. The box with the nerve gas canisters had been loaded into an armored van and was being driven away by this time and most of the emergency vehicles were starting to pull away to head back to their stations.

"You know, I think it's more than a knack," commented Lee as they began to walk toward the Agency cars. "The way you ended up here was pretty odd, but I wasn't kidding when I said your instinct to follow Dean out here was right on the money."

"I can't believe I thought Dean Maguire was a spy!" she sighed with mortification. "All he wanted was a better job and I had him committing treason! I blame those painkillers they gave me at the hospital – the nurse said they might make me loopy but I still can't believe I was acting so crazy!"

Lee couldn't contain the snort of laughter. "We'll have to find out what they gave you and put that on your file in big red letters: susceptible to hallucinations."

"I wasn't hallucinating! I was just misinterpreting a few things!" said Amanda hotly. "It all made perfect sense in my head!"

"Well, whatever you were doing, I'm glad you were here to do it," said Lee, wrapping his hand around hers and giving it a quick squeeze. "And I'm very glad you're back to your old self."

"Mrs. King, Scarecrow – glad to see you both in one piece," said Billy, stepping out from the throng. "How are you, Amanda?" He paused, eyebrows twitching together in a slight frown. "I'm sorry – you might not know me, I'm -"

"Mr. Melrose," she completed it for him. "Yes Sir, I know, Sir – my memory came back, thank goodness."

"I am very glad to hear it," said Billy, with a broad grin. "You had a lot of people worried with your little disappearing act this morning. Where on earth did you go? And how did you end up here?"

Amanda opened her mouth to tell him, but Lee suddenly gave her hand a sharp squeeze. She turned to look at him and he gave a shake of his head.

"I…well, I…" she stammered. "Well, you see, I saw Dean on the television in my room and I saw the sign for Alabam in the background and it jiggled a memory and I just came out here to see if I could remember more! It was silly of me, I know – I should have called Lee or you right away but I guess with the bump on my head, I just wasn't thinking clearly…"

Lee relaxed as her ramble went on without her explaining her fantasy scenario that would have had her downstairs on Pfaff's couch in no time. He interrupted her before she could add too much detail to her fabrication. "And then I found her when I got here, and she pretty much saved the day as usual. It'll be in my report, Billy."

"Well, I'll look forward to getting the details," Billy answered, beaming. "Have it on my desk by the end of the day, Scarecrow, but first – take Mrs. King back to the Agency and have her call home, please? Mrs. West has been calling and we're running out of excuses about why she hasn't been in touch."

"Sure thing, Billy."

"Oh that's right! You were just about to tell me what you'd told my mother!"

"Well, like I said, we told her you were helping at a film shoot."

Lee steered Amanda around Billy and headed to the car where Francine was just turning away from a group of agents. Her face lit up as she saw them and she hurried forward before Lee could finish. "Amanda! Are you alright? I mean, do you know who I am?"

"I do," Amanda twinkled at her. "You were simply too unforgettable. I guess."

"So I've always been told," Francine answered, tossing her head dramatically. "But really? You're okay?" she went on, searching her face.

"I'm still a bit bruised but my memory is back," Amanda confirmed.

"Why did you leave the hospital?" Francine scolded her. "You scared us half to death!"

Amanda glanced uncertainly at Lee, who lowered his voice to answer.

"How about you drive Amanda back to the Agency?" Francine nodded and he went on. "She can tell you the whole story in the car; I'll follow you in the Porsche."

"I can?" Amanda asked. "The whole story?"

Lee nodded. "It's too funny for me to keep that to myself – but we'll need to coordinate the stories before I have to write that report for Billy this afternoon!"

"Coordinate your stories? What on earth did you do?" Francine looked from one to the other.

Amanda linked her arm through hers and began to walk. "Well, you know how I told you once that I used to have fantasies about secret agents?" She looked back over her shoulder and smiled as Lee began to laugh. "Well, those were nothing on what happened today…"

"Are you sure you're okay to drive the rest of the way?"

Lee had insisted on driving Amanda's car home for her but had stopped a few blocks away. Efraim had followed in another car to take him back to the Agency and was waiting as Lee helped Amanda out of the passenger side and walked with her to the driver's side door. She had just given off an enormous yawn and he was looking at her with concern.

She tossed her hands in the air. "Lee Stetson, not two hours ago, you were sending me up to a cockpit of a plane to stop a terrorist attack and now you think I can't drive a quarter of a mile in my own neighborhood?"

"Two hours ago, I had no other choice. Right now, I have the luxury of worrying about the state of your head again," he teased.

"Well, I'm fine – really," she answered. "I'm just tired that's all."

Lee instantly looked worried. "Maybe you're concussed. Maybe you should be under supervision. I don't think that doctor at the Agency clinic checked you carefully enough."

"Or maybe I just didn't get any sleep last night in the hospital last night and then ran around an airport all morning," she laughed, then stopped when she saw how worried he looked. "Lee," she said, resting a hand on his chest, "You know Dr. Kelford ran through all the concussion tests and said I was fine. I just need a day or two to take it easy. I'll be back to normal in a few days, okay?"

"Okay," Lee replied, unwillingly.

"But thank you for being worried and looking after me," she added.

"I should have looked after you better in the first place," he muttered. "And I shouldn't have left you alone at the hospital-"

"If you hadn't, you would never have stopped the gas attack this morning," she finished.

"You mean we wouldn't have," he corrected her. "I don't know what I would have done without you there."

"Well, thank you," Amanda answered, looking embarrassed at the praise.

"I mean, that's true a lot of the time, but you were really amazing today – calm, collected…"

"Crazy," she interrupted.

"Maybe a little," he conceded with a smile. "But I don't know many people who could have talked Polo De Gregorio into landing that plane again." He took her hands in his and stared at them for a moment before looking up, meeting her gaze. "I really am sorry about yesterday and overreacting to you talking about training. You really do have skills we can use, and I guess I just worry about you."

"Well, you have reason for that, given our history," she conceded. "But I worry about you too, you know." She reached up and lightly brushed a fingertip over the new bruise on his temple. "How hard did that guy hit in the plane? Maybe your brain got rattled too – you were crazy enough to send me up to try and stop the president from taking off, after all."

Lee tapped his head. "Scarecrow – no brains, remember? Nothing to rattle."

Amanda shook her head with a tsk-ing sound. "The scarecrow had brains all along – why do people always get that part wrong?"

"Doesn't matter," Lee laughed. "Anyway, this little bump is nothing."

"Yeah, you probably just need to find a pretty girl to kiss it better," said Amanda.

There was a moment of silence as her words hung in the air and they surveyed each other, both blushing.

"I'm, uh… sorry about that too," Lee offered finally. "I don't know what I was thinking. I mean, it worked for hiccups but- "

"Don't be sorry," she answered quickly. "Who knows? It might have worked and it was…"

Lee lifted an eyebrow as she paused.

"Nice," she said, finally. "Very nice," she amended when his other eyebrow went up as well. "Thank you," she added.

He couldn't help but grin at her and her never failing politeness. "You're welcome," he said softly. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Her sense of humor had begun to surface again and she slapped him lightly on the chest before turning to get into the car, scarlet-faced.

"We'll follow you home," he said before she closed the door. "You know what they say about accidents happening close to home."

She nodded and pulled the door shut, but then suddenly recalled their unfinished conversations and rolled her window down. "Lee, wait!" she called to him, bringing him back to lean down, one hand resting on the door frame. "You never told me what you told my mother about where I was all night."

"Oh right." He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "Well, we said you were helping on a film shoot."

"Yes, you told me that part."

"And then you were delayed getting home…"

"Yes?"

"By a tall handsome stranger who knocked you off your feet…"

"Mostly true," she grinned.

"And then he whisked you away for a torrid weekend," he added. "She was thrilled," he finished.

"Lee!" she poked him in the chest as he began to laugh, joining in as the full humor of it hit her.

"Okay, okay. We really did just say you were delayed and got stuck out there overnight. We didn't want to worry her until we knew if you were going to be okay."

"Oh," said Amanda. "Thank you. Thank you for not worrying her, and thank you for looking after me too," she went on gratefully.

Lee leaned in closer and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Well, thank you too." He smiled at her look of confusion. "Thank you for coming back to me, Kid."