I AM NOT NOW, NOR HAVE I EVER BEEN…A SPY

San Cardenzan exiles, led by a man called El Lagarto, are in the U.S. planning to kill their President, Polo de Gregorio, while he makes a trip to America to improve diplomatic relations. They intend to place a canister of stolen nerve gas onto a plane that de Gregorio wants to buy. Knowing that he will want to fly the plane himself before buying, they decide to set the canister to open as he goes into a bank - unfortunately, the flight path will lead him over a small place called Arlington and everyone there will be killed…

The Agency are waiting to hear from a source called, Martinez. He has important information reagarding Polo de Gregorio and Lee has been visiting drops all over D.C. in the hopes of receiving the info. At Milo's Daffy Dog, Amanda is waiting for Lee. When he eventually turns up, she hands him a note that she'd got from one of Lee's sources as he'd asked her. It doesn't contain anything. Lee asks Amanda if she wants something to eat but she declines because Dotty has arranged for Dean's mother to come over their house for lunch so that Amanda can get to know her a little better.

Lee orders a couple of chili dogs anyway and the leaves her at the stand while he goes to a nearby payphone to check in with Billy. While on the phone, Amanda pays for the food but doesn't realise that Milo has slipped a note into one of the serviettes…unknowingly, she's at another drop and this one isn't safe!

Sitting on a stool near Amanda is Ramone - he's El lagarto's right hand man. He waits until Amanda has paid for the chili dogs and then gestures to a man in a car. The car moves slowly forward along the kerb then Ramone suddenly grabs Amanda and bundles her into it.

Lee sees this and drops the phone before running over to try and save Amanda. The car speeds away from the kerb and Lee jumps on the bonnet, hanging desperately onto the wipers. He eventually gets thrown off and he's left in a pile of rubbish as the car drives off with Amanda.

Back at the Agency, Lee can't give a good description of the men that abducted Amanda. Francine tells them that the car is stolen so there's no leads. Lee feels guilty about what happened as it was supposed to be a safe drop. Billy says that they must assume that Martinez was followed to the drop and then they waited to see who the pick-up was. Lee adds that if there was a message, it's with the chili dogs which means the bad guys now have it. He also realises that they'd expect Amanda to be able to decipher it and when she can't…they'll kill her.

In a house somewhere, Amanda is being grilled by El Lagarto on what the note means. She reads it - "SLYMPH XLGF ZBN" - but can't help them so they decide that she must die.

Meanwhile, Dean's mother has arrived for lunch and Dotty is desperately trying to cover for her wayward daughter.

Back at the exiles HQ, Amanda manages to slip her guard and make her escape. She gets in the car that she was abducted in, and drives off as they shoot after her. She ducks down to avoid being hit and then runs straight into another car while trying to avoid a truck that is reversing into her path. When people gather around the car, Amanda is laying across the seat, unconscious. Seeing that people are already at the scene of the accident, the guys shooting at her go back into their HQ thinking that she's dead.

Amanda is taken to hospital and treated as a Jane Doe because there is no ID on her and police have informed them that the car she was in was stolen. They decide to treat her for concussion.

At the Agency, Lee is getting more and more upset over Amanda's kidnapping and Billy tries to offer some comfort and good old-fashioned common sense assuring him that it was't his fault and that since they've heard nothing then there's every reason to believe she's alive. Lee leaves the office somewhat placated but as soons as the door closes, Billy calls Francince and asks her to check the police and hospitals for women matching Amanda's description.

At the exiles HQ, El Largarto isn't happy and tells Ramone and his colleague to find out exactly what happened to Amanda and if she isn't already dead then they must kill her.

At the hospital, Amanda wakes up and the doctor tells her she's suffering from a mild concussion and some bruising. Amanda tells him that she can't remember what happened and the doctor explains that it's not unusual for a person to lose their memory about a certain job or a person after a knock like she's had. He adds that generally the memory is fully restored after a while. As Amanda digests what she's been told, the doctor also informs her that the police want to talk to her as the car she was in was stolen. Amanda is shocked at this information and when her mother turns up she immediately let sher know about her partial amnesia and the car. Dotty is horrified and asks if she remembers about Dean's mother, but Amanda can't even remember, Dean!

Lee arrives at the hospital and gets permission to see Amanda. He passes Dotty who has now left the room and is talking with a doctor. When he goes into Amanda's room, she looks at him in fear and bewilderment as he apologises and then starts talking about Martinez and the case. He soon gets a shock when she informs him that she doesn't know him and that he should leave.

Lee goes back to the Agency and tells Billy about Amanda's condition and that she even called a nurse and had him thrown out. Billy realises that she may have seen the note and decides that that have to get her out of the hospital no matter what - even if it means kidnapping her themselves. Francine then arrives and tells them that she's heard that Amanda has been discharged and left with her mother.

At Alabam Aircraft, the terrorists have also found out that Amanda survived and they have her address.

Amanda arrives home and tries to remember things but without much success. She mentions Lee to her mother who thinks that she's imagining things due to her condition. She tells her to lie down while she goes shopping. Outside, Lee sees Dotty leave and enters Amanda's house the usual way, surprising Amanda. She tells him to leave but he tells her that she knows him and that he's a spy and so is she! He eventually persuades her to go with him to the Agency. They get into Lee's car and he tells her to duck when he sees the two men who abducted her, pull up outside her house. Lee then drives away.

Meanwhile Polo de Gregorio has arrived in DC and it's reported that part of his itinerary is personal. Lee takes Amanda to the Agency where even meeting Billy and Francine doesn’t help her memory. Billy takes Lee into his office where Lee tells his superior about the two terrorists turning up at Amanda's - they know she's not dead. Billy then decides that she can't go home because it's not safe. Just then, Francine enters with Amanda who's remembered something - it's chili dogs! She asks to go home, then receives another flash of memory which turns out to be napkins - then she remembers a note inside the napkins.

Francine, Billy, Lee and Amanda sit around a computer as Francine scrolls through a list of code words hoping to jog Amanda's memory. She spots one she thinks she recognises - SLYMPH. It decodes into the word 'Alabam' which puzzles them even more.

Lee takes Amanda to his apartment for safety while Billy and Francine try to figure out what the cypher meant. He asks Amanda again if she's sure she doesn't recognise him and Amanda tells him that the doctor told her that she may forget anything emotionally complicated…so, she can't understand why she should forget him. There's a pause as she stares oddly at him and Lee then points out that they have worked closely together in the past. Amanda asks if they were ever involved but he denies it.

Another awkward pause follows and then Amanda starts to remember another word. It doesn't happen however and she gets upset. Lee comforts her and suggests she go lie down on his bed to rest. After a hesitation over Lee's possible dishonorable intentions, Amanda eventually agrees. A while later, Lee is on the phone to Billy discussing the case and new leads. They've found out that Alabam is a manufacturer of luxury aircraft but Lee questions the reliability of Amanda memory.

In the bedroom, Amanda wakes up and picks up the receiver to call home. As she listens, she catches the next part of their conversation and totally misconstrues it. Billy suggests that they might have to terminate her as in her condition she of no use to them. In shock, Amanda replaces the receiver and makes her escape out fo the bedroom window. Still on the phone, Lee tells Billy that he thinks firing her is a bit extreme and suggests retraining her much to Billy's surprise. They finish their call and Lee goes to wake Amanda only to find she's gone.

Back at home, Dotty is going mental phoning the doctor for advice as she desperately tries to find Amanda. She looks out of the window and sees her daughter at the front gate but by the time Dotty reaches the door, Ramone and his colleague have sped up and abducted her again, leaving Dotty calling out to no-one when she opens the door.

Polo de Gregorio and his aide, Cesar Varga arrive at Alabam Aircraft ready to try out the plane. Varga goes to sign the papers for purchase and asks de Greorio not to fly the plane alone.

Ramone has brought Amanda to Alabam where he tells her about their plot to murder Arlington with nerve gas.

Lee has also turned up at Alabam and inadvertantly describes Amanda to El Lagarto asking if he's seen her. El Lagarto produces a gun and takes Lee hostage into the same hanger as Amanda. They hear the sound of a plane engine firing up and Lee uses the distraction to his advantage by hitting El Lagarto and pushing him into Ramone. Amanda, in the meantime, runs out of the door and over to the plane de Gregorio is revving up and climbs inside.

Lee gets involved in a shooting match and is pinned down as the plane starts to move down the runway preparing for take off.

In the plane, Amanda, tries to get de Gregorio to stop but he doesn't believe her. He then confides that his license has been revoked because he passes out sometimes when he's excited. Amanda pleads with him not to do so as there's nerve gas aboard…this of course, cause him to faint! She eventually wakes him up just as the plane reaches the end of the runway and de Gregorio brings it to a stop.

In the hanger, Lee has now defeated El Lagarto and Ramone.

Back at the Agency, Amanda tells Lee and Billy that by the end of the runway, she had regained all of her memory. Billy leaves and Lee walks with her to the elevator. She asks how he found her and Lee explains he phoned her mother which cause her to worry about what to tell her…not to worry though, Lee has the perfect solution.

SCENE'S TO WATCH OUT FOR

Lee and Amanda at the chilli dog stand discussing Dean.

Lee back at the Agency after, Amanda has been kidnapped and his talk with Billy.

Lee going to Amanda's house and telling her she's a spy.

The touching hug and conversation on the couch at Lee's apartment.

Lee's phone call to Billy saying that they can retrain her.

Tag scene.

ROMANCE

Well, once again, Lee's concern for Amanda is there in abundance for everyone to see…even those at the Agency! OK, it's not 'actual' romance but showing you care is a major start!

His chat with Amanda at the chilli dog stand shows, to me, that he's jealous of Dean. He seems to be faking that unconcerned air and his propensity of getting her boyfriends name wrong, absolutely shouts out at it's being on purpose.

When he talks to Billy after Amanda has been kidnapped, his anguish seems to be partly guilt for letting it happen under his very nose - he wasn't there for her when she needed him and he can't forgive himself - and the rest of it is probably his safely tucked away feelings about her, coming to the surface. Let's face it, he never showed that much emotion over anyone else he knew that something happened to, did he? I mean, they all knew it was a part of 'the job'.

When he first sees her again after the accident, he's naturally quite hurt that she doesn't remember him and is willing, however begrudgingly said, to have her retrained so that she can stay at the Agency. Odd that, considering he's spent the last few months trying to get rid of her…you'd think he'd see the opening and grab it with both hands. Seems like his feelings run deeper than he'd like to admit.

The way he handled to whole, "are we involved", thing with Amanda, also shows how much he cares. It was a touching scene and he even hesitated slightly before admitting they'd never been together romantically - I wonder if it crossed his mind to maybe say something else…

QUOTES

AMANDA: I can't have a chilli dog. I'm having lunch with Dean's mother.

LEE: You still seeing that guy?

AMANDA: I guess so.

LEE: Why?

AMANDA: Well, I don't -- Why are you asking?

LEE: I don't see you two together.

AMANDA: What are you talking about? You've never even seen him.

LEE: Amanda, I have instincts, OK?

BILLY: Lee, these things happen.

LEE: I blew it, didn't I, Billy?

BILLY: What do you mean?

LEE: You think she's still alive?

BILLY: I haven't heard any differently, have you?

LEE: No.

BILLY: Lee, that drop has always been safe. There was no way you could have known.

AMANDA: You know, it's the funniest feeling, it's like trying to remember a dream when you know that you dreamt something, but you just can't quite put your hand on it, you know?

DOTTY: Honey, don't worry about it. I mean, I have spent many a New Year's Day feeling just like that.

AMANDA: What are you, a salesman?

LEE: No! Amanda, you know me, you just can't remember. You have amnesia.

AMANDA: How do you know I have amnesia?

LEE: I know a lot of things about you.

AMANDA: Are you telling me that you're a spy?

LEE: I've never cared for that word, really.

AMANDA: Oh, my gosh.

LEE: Now, please. Just relax and sit down?

AMANDA: You're a spy!

LEE: Guess what.

AMANDA: What?

LEE: You are, too.

BILLY: Why do they call him Polo?

FRANCINE: Because he rides horses and hits tiny balls with a mallet.

BILLY: You mean if he wore short pants and dribbled a basketball, they would call him Basketball De Gregorio?

FRANCINE: Yeah.

LEE: Are you absolutely sure you don't remember anything about me?

AMANDA: Yes. The doctor said that I might forget certain things that were emotionally complicated.

LEE: Well, we have worked fairly closely together, you know.

AMANDA: How closely?

LEE: Well, we've worked hours together, days together…

AMANDA: And?

LEE: And what?

AMANDA: Well, did we have…are we…uh, have…are we in…involved in any way?

LEE: You mean did we ever…

AMANDA: Yes, that's what I mean.

LEE: No. We never…

AMANDA: Never did. We never did.

LEE: Maybe we could re-train her.

BILLY: Lee, I'm surprised to hear you talk like this. Usually you're complaining because you have to work with her.

LEE: I can adapt to almost anything.

BILLY: The Agency appreciates your sacrifice.

AMANDA: All I know is that when that plane started down the runway, I saw the last two days of my life flash before my eyes, and then when we started toward the end of the runway, I saw my entire life flash before my eyes.

AMANDA: How did you know where to find me?

LEE: Well, I took a chance that you knew what you were talking about with that code word. I phoned your house, and your mother in a rather loud way told me she hadn't seen you.

AMANDA: Oh, my mother! What am I going to tell my mother?

LEE: Ah, this is a tough one.

AMANDA: I just disappeared in the middle of the afternoon, she never got my note, this is the worst!

LEE: What if you told her that you suddenly remembered an appointment?

AMANDA: I had amnesia!

LEE: An impromptu college reunion?

AMANDA: I used that one.

LEE: Your club.

AMANDA: No, no, she doesn't believe that anymore.

LEE: A sick German shepherd!

AMANDA: That was last week!

LEE: Dan!

AMANDA: Dean! He works weekdays.

LEE: I got it! I got it!

AMANDA: What?

LEE: You're standing in your kitchen…

AMANDA: Yeah.

LEE: And you hear a noise and there is an incredibly handsome man, just standing there, and one thing led to another…

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