Disclaimer: "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" is the property of Warner Bros and Shoot the Moon Productions. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's note: This story is an AU addition to the ending of "Bad Timing" I believe Lee and Amanda moved past his brush with death too easily in that episode.
Lee wearily unlocked the door of his apartment, flipped the light switch, and allowed Amanda to walk in before him.
"Don't think that I don't know why you insisted on coming up with me," he admonished her.
"You do?" She chewed her lower lip as she watched him try to stifle a yawn.
"Yes, I do, you want to see me swallow all the pills that Dr. McJohn said that I need to take tonight. This is one time when I plan to follow his instructions to the letter."
"I'm glad to hear that, but that isn't why I'm here," she replied solemnly. "If I'd come back here with you the other night, when you asked me to maybe-"
"A-man-da, don't do this to yourself, if they hadn't grabbed me that night, then it would have been the next day. You couldn't have prevented this…besides it's over and I'm going to be fine." He offered her a reassuring smile as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm exhausted; let me walk you down to your car so that I can take a shower and then hit the sack."
"I'm not going home…I'm staying with you tonight." She took off her jacket, and placed it on the back of the sofa.
"I'm grateful for your concern, hell I'd be dead, if you hadn't dragged me to the doctor but you don't have to play nurse." She closed the distance between them, and reached out to stroke his cheek.
"I wasn't planning to play nurse…I want to be with you…I need you to make love to me tonight. She initiated a passionate kiss and pressed her body tightly against his. He returned her hungry kiss and felt his body responding to her closeness despite his exhaustion. When oxygen deprivation caused them to break apart, Amanda tried to lead him towards the bedroom but he remained stationary.
"Are you sure about this? Your mother is going to be expecting you to be home in a little while; won't she be worried?"
"She knows I'm with you; she'll be glad that I stayed."
"In that case, why don't you join me in the shower and then we'll go to bed." She reached out her hand to him, and this time he took it and followed her to the bedroom.
Hours later, she was snuggled against his side as he slept peacefully. She tried to focus on the sensations she'd felt as they had satisfied each other, but she couldn't shake off her thoughts of how close she'd come to losing him. When had he gone from being simply a part of her life to being so important to her that she didn't want to live without him? He'd just proven that he was very much alive, but she couldn't stop herself from crying. The combination of her trembling against him and her quiet hiccups woke him up.
"Shh, I'm okay, everything is fine now," he attempted to reassure her, as he gathered her more tightly in his arms.
"Everything is not fine; I almost lost you and nobody would have known how much I'd lost." She pulled herself from his arms and turned her back on him. "I can't live this way," she sniffled. "I thought that I could handle a secret marriage, but I was wrong, I can't go through with it."
"Amanda," he choked out, "you're upset right now, take some time to calm down, and don't make any rash decisions. I know a mystery marriage isn't an ideal situation, but I can't imagine not being married to you." She turned around and the unimaginable sadness in his eyes took her breath away. She smoothed his sleep tousled hair off his forehead.
"I'm not refusing to marry you…I simply won't do it in secret. I don't want to hide or minimize my love for you; I want us to be able to live a full life. We shouldn't settle for stolen moments here and there."
"We don't have any choice; we can't allow the family to become human targets as a result of what we do for a living."
"Think about what you just said." The expression on his face told her that he didn't understand the implications of what he'd said unthinkingly.
"Lee, you said that you don't want them to be targeted because of what WE do. I've been making enemies right along with you for the past few years…it isn't only your enemies that we have to be concerned about. Life is a mixed bag, I realize now that whatever the future holds for us, I'd like us to face it together. I don't want to be your life insurance beneficiary without ever having people know that I was your wife. Does that make sense to you?"
"Yes, I guess I've been so focused on protecting all of you that I lost sight of the fact that I was denying us the chance to truly be a family. Life is a series of moments, and I'd like for us to be able to share the good and the bad for the rest of our lives."
They snuggled together as they were overtaken by physical and emotional exhaustion, drifting to sleep in the comfort of each others' arms.