Just Trust Me
By Jestress
Disclaimer: The characters of Amanda King, Lee Stetson, and Billy Melrose are from the tv show Scarecrow and Mrs. King and do not belong to me. The dialog in italics is also from the tv show and doesn't belong to me (included here for purposes of explanation). The rest of the writing does belong to me, but I don't make any money off of it, and if you don't like it, we can just pretend this never happened. In fact, when you think about it, it really didn't. Looks around innocently and then hides behind her computer again.
Explanation: In the Scarecrow and Mrs. King episode I am Not Now, Nor Have I Ever Been . . . A Spy from the first season of the series, Amanda loses her memories of Lee and the Agency for awhile. She was in a car accident while escaping from some terrorists who had kidnapped her, and she got a concussion which gave her amnesia. For most the episode, Lee is trying to help her regain her memory. When he first visits her at the hospital after her accident, she doesn't know who he is and has him thrown out, thinking that he's just some weird stranger. After Lee gets back to the Agency and explains the situation to Billy, Lee says that they may have to kidnap Amanda to get her back to the Agency since she doesn't know them and won't come willingly. Later, Lee is able to convince Amanda to come with him anyway, so the kidnapping doesn't happen. This little story is meant to be filler for the episode between the time when Lee tells Billy about Amanda's amnesia and when Lee brings Amanda back to the Agency after visiting her at her house. This is my idea for how Lee and Billy may have planned to kidnap Amanda if it became necessary and why Lee tries so hard to talk Amanda into trusting him instead of trying to force her to come with him. The sections of dialogue that I took from the original episode are in italics. I wrote everything else myself.
Lee was steeling himself for another encounter with Amanda. There was a tightness in his chest as he thought about the way she had looked at him when he'd gone to see her at the hospital. There was no trace of recognition in her face. None! Wasn't it only this morning that he'd been fondly kidding her about her boyfriend, what's-his-name, and she'd seemed so disappointed that their assignment for the day was over? He'd been hoping to spend a little more time with her, chatting over their chili dogs, and in spite of Amanda's lunch date with what's-his-name's mother, he suspected that Amanda felt the same way.
After she'd been kidnapped, he was terrified that her abductors may have simply killed her. He'd been so relieved to learn that she was alive in the hospital with what seemed like minor injuries from a car accident. Exactly how that had happened was still a mystery. But then, he'd found out about the concussion and her amnesia. Amanda had looked at him like he was a complete stranger. She'd even seemed afraid of him, and that really hurt. He'd worked with her and done his best to protect her from harm, and now she didn't even know his name.
According to the medical reports, the amnesia would probably be temporary, but time was of the essence. Amanda was very likely the only person who had any idea what the terrorists were planning . . . if they could only get her to remember. At least, he had to make sure that she was safe. The men who'd grabbed her could still be after her. In fact, Lee was almost certain that they would be if they knew that she was still alive. In spite of her amnesia, they wouldn't want to take the chance that Amanda would remember something useful and tell the Agency.
Lee was about to leave the Agency and head to Amanda's house when Billy stopped him and asked to speak with him in his office.
"Scarecrow, I've been thinking about what you said about the possibility of kidnapping Amanda. I agree that if she refuses to come with you back to the Agency, you'll have to. We need to have her here to find out what she remembers, and I think she'll be safer here than she would be anywhere else."
Lee swallowed hard. He'd made the suggestion of kidnapping Amanda out of frustration, shortly after Amanda had him escorted out of her hospital room. Really, Lee didn't want to abduct Amanda by force. Of course, Billy had a point. One way or another, they needed to get Amanda back to the Agency.
"I'd still like to try to talk to her again," Lee said. "Maybe if I had a little more time to talk to her at her house, where she'll feel more comfortable, it will make a difference. Maybe she's even started to remember a few things by now."
"Maybe," Billy said dubiously. "In any case, I talked to the guys in the lab, and they gave me this for you."
Billy handed Lee a small box about the size of a sunglasses case. When Lee opened it, he was stunned to see that it contained a small hypodermic needle.
"What is this?" Lee demanded.
Billy sighed. "It's the Agency's newest knockout drug. I promise that it won't hurt her, Scarecrow. She'll be unconscious within five seconds and will stay asleep for about an hour. The boys in the lab swear that there are no side effects . . ."
"You want me to use this on Amanda?" Lee asked in disbelief.
It was an Agency-wide joke that Scarecrow hated needles, and that was one of the reasons why he liked to avoid physicals as much as possible. He was actually capable of giving himself injections when necessary, but he couldn't believe that Billy was suggesting that he drug Amanda with this . . .
"I know. I don't like the idea, either," Billy said. "But we've got to get her back here. If you can get her to listen to you and come with you, fine. If not, you'll have to give her the injection. An hour should be more than enough time for you to get her here."
Lee pictured carrying an unconscious Amanda to his car and driving her back to the Agency. The feeling it gave him was all too similar to the way he felt when he'd carried her out of a party after she'd been poisoned. He would gladly do the same again to save her life, but the image still made him uneasy.
Billy was still talking. "Like I said, there are no side effects. When she wakes up, she will feel just like she took a short nap on her own couch."
No, she wouldn't, Lee thought. Amanda would know that he'd knocked her out, that she'd passed out in his arms after he'd given her the injection. Although Lee accepted the needle case from Billy, he privately resolved to do whatever he could to avoid using it to drug Amanda. More than anything, he wanted Amanda to trust him again, and if he knocked her out and abducted her, he was afraid that she never would.
At first, Lee's meeting with Amanda didn't go too well. She still didn't remember him, and although he tried to be patient and reassuring, she still seemed a little afraid of him. But, at least she was listening as he talked to her. Trying to remain hopeful, Lee kept talking.
"I want you to just trust me," Lee said, taking a step closer to Amanda. Amanda started backing away from him. "Just trust me and come back with me to the office. Maybe the surroundings, the other people will jog your memory."
She kept backing away from him, keeping him at arm's length.
"Trust you?" she asked skeptically, pausing for a moment.
"Mmm hmm," Lee said, nodding. He could feel the case Billy had given him resting in his pocket and thought, "Please don't make me use it, Amanda."
"That's funny," Amanda said.
"What? What's funny?" Lee asked.
"I seem to remember your asking me to trust you once before," Amanda said.
"Yeah, yeah," Lee said expectantly. For the first time since that morning, he smiled. Maybe she was finally remembering.
"And I did," Amanda continued.
"Yeah, come on!" Lee said encouragingly. "Come on!"
"Yeah! Yeah, so I ended up in the hospital with amnesia because I stole somebody's car and wrecked it!" Amanda complained irritably.
"Just get your coat. Hmm?" Lee asked pleadingly. Slowly, he reached inside his pocket and touched the case. But, amazingly enough, he didn't need it.
Amanda gave him one last searching look before saying, "Okay."
Then, she grabbed her coat and asked, "Where are we going again?"
"The office," Lee said. "At the Agency."
"Right," Amanda said, nodding slowly.
From the expression on her face, Lee could tell that she still didn't know what he was talking about and probably wouldn't believe him if he tried to explain any further. She insisted on leaving a note for her mother to tell her that she was fine and would be back soon, and Lee told her that was okay. He was just thankful that she was finally agreeing to come with him.
As they walked out to the car, Lee wondered what had suddenly made Amanda change her mind. From the strange glances she was giving him, he decided that it must be curiosity. That was always one of her main characteristics. She was always curious about everything, and now there were gaps in her memory, gaps that he had promised to fill in. In spite of the fear and distrust, she couldn't resist the opportunity to find out what he had to tell her and whether any of the stuff he'd said about being a spy was true. Lee shook his head. He should've known.
Amanda was still nervous as they got into the car. As Lee shut his car door, he noticed a suspicious vehicle driving up in front of Amanda's house.
"Get down," he said to her.
She looked at him questioningly.
"Just get down!" he said desperately. If the men in that car were who Lee thought they were, he had to get Amanda out of there fast, hopefully without them realizing it.
Without another word, Amanda ducked down in her seat, and Lee started the car. Lee kept driving, but he glanced back to see whether the men had noticed them. They hadn't. No one was following them. Lee gave a sigh of relief.
In the seat next to him, Amanda was still keeping her head down, waiting for Lee to tell her that it was safe to get up. Lee glanced down at her mop of curly brown hair and smiled a little. She'd followed his orders. On some level, she must still trust him, at least a little. As long as she could trust him, there was hope.