Love Remains
Disclaimers: I am not now nor have I ever been . . . an owner of Scarecrow and Mrs. King. They still belong to the brilliant people at Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. I am playing around with them strictly for my entertainment, all I get from this is the smile on my face from a job well done. Anyway, suing me will do little good as I am perpetually broke anyway, you'll likely pay the lawyers more than is in my pockets to give.
Also, I have no claims to the song Love Remains (That was a River) by Collin Raye.
Premise: Love sings, doubts arise. Amanda and Lee have some singing of their own to do. Just a little piece of 'could-have-happened' relationship fluff.
Time line: Ah . . . well, sometime in early fourth season, after Stemwinder but before Nightcrawler.
Feedback: Yeah, sure. All constructive criticism and gushing praise are readily accepted. Flames? I know where all the marshmallows are hidden ;-)
Author's Note: This story was one of many short songfics that I wrote back around 2002 or so. I've since found them, hidden in the vault, and decided to release them. I don't believe I ever sent this one to be beta read, so any mistakes are entirely my own (and that counts my occasional propensity for odd tense shifts. I *think* I got rid of them, but ... those things like to hound me!) Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
Spencer's
Tuesday, 7:30 PM
"Lee Stetson, as I live and breathe!" The svelte brunette exclaimed as she made her way to the table.
Lee Stetson wished the floor would swallow him up as he saw the look on the face of the beautiful woman across the table from him.
"Um, hello, Leslie," he finally stuttered.
"After all this time, I can't believe we've run into each other!" Leslie continued as she turned to Lee's dinner partner. "And Amanda, it has been ages."
Amanda King sat wide-eyed for a moment before finding her tongue, and remembering how nice this woman had been the last time she had seen her. "Yes, it has been a long time." Her eyes darted back to Lee, taking in his embarrassed look, and then returned her attention to the other woman. "Would you like to join us, Leslie?"
"Oh, no, I'm afraid I'm meeting someone tonight."
"Well," Lee croaked out, "Maybe some other time then."
"Yes, the three of us never did get a chance to get together, did we?" Leslie mused before seeing her date for the evening arrive at the door. "Well, it was nice running into you both again. I'm in town for the next week, maybe we can all get together sometime before I leave."
"Yes," Amanda answered, slightly uncomfortable, "we should."
"I'll give your office a ring before I leave. I hope you have a wonderful evening!"
"You too, Leslie," Amanda and Lee answered in unison as Leslie left the table.
They sat in silence for several terse moments, neither knowing exactly what to say to the other, before Lee reached across the table for Amanda's hand.
Amanda looked up to meet Lee's gaze, and during the moment that their eyes locked, all her insecurities came to the fore.
Lee didn't have a chance to reassure her before they were interrupted once again, this time by a masculine voice calling out, "Amanda!"
Both heads snapped up to see Joe King coming near their table. Amanda muttered under her breath, knowing that this night could not get much worse. "Joe, what a nice surprise!"
"Amanda, Lee, you two are the last people I expected to see tonight!"
"I could say the same," Amanda came back. "What brings you here tonight?"
"I'm meeting my parents here, it's Mother's birthday," Joe replied. "What about yourselves?"
"Oh, well, um . . ." Amanda stammered.
"Business meeting," Lee cut in.
Amanda looked toward Lee to send him a quiet thank you, when she saw the look on his face, a look she knew she was wearing not more than a few minutes ago when Leslie had arrived at their table.
"Well, then I'll leave you two to your . . . meeting," Joe said, effectively breaking the moment.
"Oh Joe, tell your mother I said happy birthday," Amanda called as her ex-husband made his way towards a table near the back.
Joe turned back to the couple at the table, and nodded to Amanda before heading back toward the waiting table.
Lee watched quietly as Amanda's gaze followed Joe to the other table, and when Amanda turned back toward him, he averted his gaze to the table where they sat.
Outside Lee's apartment
8:30 PM
"Dinner was lovely, Lee," Amanda complimented quietly, not wanting to broach the subject of either Leslie or Joe.
"Amanda, is everything okay. You've been quiet most of the evening," Lee asked, taking her hands in his.
"Yes, everything is fine, and I'm not the only one who has been quiet, you know."
Lee ducked his head for a moment before bringing his eyes to meet Amanda's. "I know. I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry," Amanda said at the same time he did, and they both laughed, the tension easing between them.
Lee looked deep into the eyes of the woman before him, the woman he still could not believe would want to be here, with him. Even after everything they had been through, he knew how much more the Joe Kings of the world had to offer her . . . a relationship without secrecy. But here she was, with him tonight. How long would it be before she realized that there were other men out there who could give her a nice, safe life?
Amanda looked deep into the hazel eyes of the man before her, the man she still could not believe would want to be here, with her tonight, when he could have had any woman he wanted. The man she had dreamed of being with just like this. The man who had stolen her heart. How long would it be before the Leslie's of the world dazzled him once again, and he forgot about the simple housewife before him now?
Lee ducked his head, allowing his lips to meet with hers in a tender showing of all the insecurities that lay inside both of them.
IFF Q Bureau
Wednesday, 10 AM
"Good morning, Mrs. Marsten, the password is Enlightenment," Amanda proclaimed as she nodded to the Agency gatekeeper.
"And how are you this morning, Mrs. King?" Mrs. Marsten asked as she handed a badge to Amanda.
"Well, you know what they say, another day, another dollar," Amanda smiled, and breezed past the desk to make her way to the Q Bureau.
She entered to find it empty, her partner nowhere in sight. Figuring he was downstairs, she headed for his desk first and placed the envelope on the computer keyboard, then went to her own desk to place her handbag on the back of her chair. As she sat down, she saw the envelope on her own desk, with her name written on it in a familiar hand.
"Lee," she smiled as she started to read aloud.
"I've seen that look before,
here comes that doubt again.
You think that girl we saw,
was more than just a friend.
Yes, there was a time
I thought she had it all.
She meant the world to me,
back when the world was small.
That was a river,
this is the ocean.
That never carried this much emotion.
Nothing compares to
this deep devotion.
That was a river,
this is the ocean."
Her smile brightened as she thought of the letter in the envelope she had just placed on Lee's desk.
Q Bureau
2 PM
He had been in meetings all day, and was happy to finally make it up to the relative quiet of the Q. Even though he knew she wouldn't be there now, he had glimpsed her making her way down the hallway to her Freshman Agent classes.
But when Lee entered the Q, he felt her presence just as surely as if she was still in the room, and hoped that the surprise he had planned for tonight would make up for all the interruptions they had had recently.
But, if he wanted to get out of here on time, he had to finish some paperwork. Usually a thing he dreaded, today he was eager to finish. He knew the sooner he finished, the sooner he could get underway with his other plans for the evening.
He reached around to the back of the computer to turn it on, and that was when he saw the envelope on the keyboard, his name written in a fine, slanting hand. A handwriting that had become as familiar to him over the past three and a half years as his own. He picked up the envelope and gently tore it open, eager to read the contents.
"The loves we had before
can never change this one.
We're not imprisoned by
the past we've brought along.
It's just you and me,
one ship in the night.
There are no boundaries,
there is no end in sight.
That was a river,
this is the ocean.
That never carried this much emotion.
Nothing compares to
this deep devotion.
That was a river,
this is the ocean."
He thought of the note he had left on her desk just that morning for her to find, and wondered when she'd written this note, one that seemed almost a mirror to his own. But one that lightened his fears, fears that he knew that Amanda was having as well in this still new relationship.
His thoughts were interrupted as Francine burst into the Q Bureau, her arms laden with files and a tape on top.
"Billy wants you to go though these before you leave, Lee."
"What, no hello Lee, how are you doing Lee?"
"You sound just like Amanda, do you know that?"
"Maybe that's because she's finally pounded greetings into my head, Francine."
"Well, hello, is that better?"
Lee grinned, "Yes, it's better Francine."
"Good, because I have other things to do than sit up here and exchange pleasantries, so if you'll excuse me . . ." Francine grumbled as she closed the door to the Q behind her.
Lee shook his head at his friend and started on the pile before him. The files he understood, but what did the tape have to do with anything?
Not knowing for sure, he took it into the vault and popped it into the video player that was back there. He saw the comings and goings of all the Agency, entering and leaving the Georgetown Foyer. Noting the date stamp in the right hand corner, he realized that this was today's surveillance tape.
Then, Amanda came onto the screen, and his face brightened. He watched as she interacted with Mrs. Marsten, and as he switched the small white envelope in her hand to reach for the badge . . . the small white envelope! She had brought that note with her!
"Lee," Francine's voice called from out in the office, "Are you still here, I seem to have lost a tape that I was supposed to bring back to Ernie!"
Lee ejected the tape from the recorder, and exited the vault. "You left it here, Francine."
"You watched it?"
"I wasn't sure why it was on this pile of folders, so yeah, I did, at least for a few moments."
"Pretty boring stuff, it's just the surveillance tapes from the Foyer this morning."
"I know," Lee smiled as he handed Francine the video.
"I will never figure that man out," Francine grumbled as she exited the Q once again.
Lee's Apartment
7:00 PM
"Just think, you, me, the phone off the hook, and no interruptions," Lee smiled as he poured two glasses of champagne and set them side by side on the coffee table.
"Sounds perfect to me," Amanda smiled back. "Lee?"
"Yes?"
"I just wanted to thank you for the little note on my desk this morning."
Lee sat down next to Amanda on the couch and drew her into his arms. "I should be thanking you."
"Maybe we should be thanking each other."
"I think you are right there," Lee responded huskily as he lowered his lips to capture hers in a kiss that had the power to make the oceans rise.
Love Remains (That was a river)
~ Collin Raye ~
I've seen that look before,
here comes that doubt again.
You think that girl we saw,
was more than just a friend.
Yes, there was a time
I thought she had it all.
She meant the world to me,
back when the world was small.
That was a river, this is the ocean.
That never carried this much emotion.
Nothing compares to this deep devotion.
That was a river,
this is the ocean.
The love we had before
can never change this one.
We're not imprisoned by
the past we've brought along.
It's just you and me,
one ship in the night.
There are no boundaries,
there is no end in sight.
That was a river, this is the ocean.
That never carried this much emotion.
Nothing compares to this deep devotion.
That was a river, this is the ocean.
Nothing compares to this deep devotion.
That was a river, this is the ocean.
That was a river,
this is the ocean.