Disclaimer: "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" is copyrighted to Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. The plot is mine, but not the characters. This story is meant for enjoyment purposes only. No infringement is intended.

Author's Note: This fic was inspired by the one I wrote just yesterday titled "Atomic Number 79" which was all Amanda's thoughts just after her shooting. I wanted to write something describing Lee's as well and the challenge by Khell seemed the way to go. Excluding the disclaimer and my note here, the story meets the 700 word requirement.

Ring of Lies

The difference is, I lie for a reason, Lee thought glumly as he stared down at the gold band on his finger then up at his comatose bride's pale face and reflected on all the times they'd had it out over the years regarding the necessary lies of the job they did.

He reached out and lightly stroked her hand, but at seeing her so unresponsive, quickly let it go. He hung his head and buried his face in his hands feeling silent tears stinging his eyes again. How could this have happened after everything they'd already endured? They'd just been through hell a week ago to keep him alive so they'd make it to their wedding day and now...now it may have been for nothing.

He lifted his head and gazed back at her for a moment reflecting on that long ago day when he'd told her he was a loner. God, what a crock that was...which of course, she'd seen right through...but what if...? What if this was fate's way of telling him that he really was supposed to be a loner? He'd already had nearly every person that he'd ever been close to taken from him...was she next?

He glanced back down at his left hand, slipped the ring from it, held it in his right and stared at it, pondering its significance while idly rubbing the bare ring finger with his left thumb thinking how naked he already felt without it even though he'd only worn it for a couple of days. His gaze turned back to his wife for a moment; this time not to her face, but to the opposite side of the bed where her left arm lay motionless...that hand equally bare as the doctors had removed all of her jewelry when prepping her for emergency surgery. He had it all in a plastic bag in his coat pocket now...except for her rings...those he had carefully separated out knowing that Dotty would be arriving soon and he'd have to turn over Amanda's personal effects to her.

He rose slightly from his perch...just enough to reach into the pocket of his pants and extract her rings from it. He then laid them in his right palm alongside his own...now staring all three together and pondering their meaning. A wedding ring was supposed to be a never-ending circle...a symbol of their never-ending love...of the promises they made to one another...

"For all the days of our lives." he whispered the last words of their wedding vows. That, too, was a crock. How was that going to be true it they weren't really going to be together? Two days of marriage and already their marriage was a lie. Maybe when Dotty arrived he should just tell her the truth...that he and Amanda had come here for their honeymoon. Why had he ever been stupid enough to think it would be a good idea to keep it a secret in the first place?

The kids, he reminded himself with a firm nod. Phillip and Jamie, those amazing boys who were now his stepchildren. Your stepchildren who might soon be motherless, a cold voice in his head taunted him. That was exactly the scenario they'd tried to avoid in their secrecy. Their safety had to come before his own selfish desires. As much as he loved Amanda and would like nothing better than to shout from the heavens that she was his wife...he knew that he couldn't.

He hastily shoved all three rings into his pocket and once again, buried his face in his hands silently mourning the loss of his dreams for a real life with the woman he loved while praying for her to be able to keep her life altogether, deciding that would be enough for him...just for her to live.

He was pulled out of his reverie by a gasp of "Oh my God!" behind him and turned to find his mother-in-law standing in the doorway in open-mouthed shock. He wordlessly approached her preparing to tell her whatever lies were necessary to keep her and the boys safe.