Disclaimer: Scarecrow and Mrs. King is the property of Warner Bros. and Shoot the Moon Productions. I'm borrowing their characters for entertainment purposes only.
Author's note: My thanks go out to Lanie Sullivan and Janet Hill for all their help with this story.
Two weeks ago, she'd been wondering what it would be what like to share the rest of her life with him, but as she knew all too well, a lot could change in a short period of time. Jonathan ran off because he couldn't handle the idea of being married to an agent. I should have seen it coming, but I didn't. But Lee, he loves this life too…and he respects my abilities…why did he end things between us? Last week, she'd told him to, 'go to hell' and now she was locked in a small, dark room with him because she couldn't stand by and do nothing when she saw him being attacked by two thugs outside of Nedlingers. While attempting to loosen the ropes that bound her hands behind her back, she watched him lying motionless on the floor several feet away from her.
The darkness prevented her from seeing him clearly, but she could make out dark bruises on his handsome face and dried blood along his sandy brown hairline. She'd seen him beaten up in the past, but the fact that he hadn't moved at all in the hours since they'd become captives was beginning to unnerve her.
"Scarecrow," she whispered urgently, wanting to rouse her former lover without drawing their captors' attention. Receiving no response, she grew more desperate to bring him around in order to assess the extent of his injuries. Using her left foot, she eased the back of her right stiletto-heeled shoe loose and kicked it directly at him with all her strength. The shoe hit its intended target in the chest with more force than was necessary. He moaned and opened his eyes in an attempt to determine the source of the current assault on him.
"Damn, Francine, are you trying to kill me?" he grumbled loudly, as his vision cleared enough to allow him to recognize her.
"Keep your voice down, somebody clearly wants you dead, but it isn't me. What are you working on?"
"Nothing important, I'm catching up on my paperwork, Billy refuses to give me a new case until my reports are up to date," he griped. "The girls in steno aren't being of much help…they feel that I've been ignoring them. They're jealous of you."
"Didn't you tell them that you dumped me?" The bitterness that she felt towards him returned as her concern about his physical condition diminished.
"I didn't 'dump' you."
"You did!" She eyed him coldly, daring him to deny it. At least he dumped me face to face, unlike Jonathan.
"I did not! I explained to you why we shouldn't continue-"
"Our relationship, you unceremoniously ended-"
"You're wrong…I don't have relationships…they always end badly." If she could have seen him more clearly, she'd have observed a haunted look in his hazel eyes that he rarely allowed others to see. "I date, no strings, no emotional attachments…it's better for everyone concerned that way."
"Who are you trying to convince? Me or yourself?" The sound of muffled Russian accented voices and the door to their temporary prison being unlocked silenced the pair's argument. Two men in their twenties entered the makeshift cell; the burly one closed the door behind them and placed his back against it, while the other one approached Lee. He glanced at him quickly and then turned back to face his partner, Andrei.
"He looks like hell, but he's conscious, I was afraid that the little slut you hired might have accidentally given him too much of the drug. They're not going to pay us for a dead agent…they'll want to get as much out of him as possible before they kill him themselves." He roughly pulled Lee into a sitting position. The agent found he was unable to offer any resistance, he had the sensation that the room was beginning to spin and he slumped over. His captor dragged him over to the wall and propped him up against it. "Try to look like the tough guy you're supposed to be," he snarled disdainfully. Withdrawing a small camera from his jacket pocket, he proceeded to photograph his newly acquired merchandise.
"Nic, don't waste all the film on him," his compatriot demanded. "I want a few shots of our blonde bonus, so I can remember what she looked like before I have some fun with her."
"Leave her alone," Lee yelled, as some of his Scarecrow bearing returned. I have to get her out of this; she wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for me.
"Your girlfriend should have minded her own business-"
"I'm not his girlfriend," anymore, Francine interjected. I'm not going to let them argue over me as if I'm not even here. "I'm an agent, too," she huffed. Nic spun around and eyed her speculatively.
"Get real, Francine, your father is just humoring you by letting you play agent," Lee countered quickly.
"What does my father have to do with this," a visibly confused Francine demanded.
"Not the man that raised you, your real father, Austin Smyth. He can't publicly acknowledge you, but his whole world revolves around you."
"Your Agency director has a…ah…"
"Love child is the phrase you're looking for," the blonde filled in as she began to understand where Lee's ploy was headed. "He spoils me rotten. Do you think I could afford to dress this way on a rookie agent's salary?" Andrei walked over to her, reached down and stroked her cheek with lust in his eyes.
"A couple of hours with me will bring you down a few notches," he threatened, as she recoiled from his touch.
"Leave her alone, Andrei. The Americans might pay more for them than our KGB comrades would. We're in this for the money. We don't owe our countrymen any loyalty; they turned us away when we tried to join them. Maybe, we should find out how much Smyth will part with to get his daughter and her super-spy boyfriend back?" They retreated from the room, leaving the two agents alone.
"You're either crazy or a genius," Francine whispered.
"I'm both…that's part of my charm," he replied with a smile.
"That combination may be your downfall," she countered saucily. I'll give his ploy a chance, but I intend to come up with my own backup plan.
