Disclaimers: Scarecrow and Mrs. King is copyrighted to Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Production Company. This story, however, is copyrighted to the mentioned authors. This story is for entertainment purposes ONLY. If you would like to add it to an archive, please just let us know.
Summary: This story takes place after the series has ended. It's a "sequel" of sorts to our story "More Than Meets the Eye." A man from Lee's past turns Amanda's family life upside down.
Author's Notes: We did extensive research surrounding the Vietnam War and events that took place during that time. Some scenarios mentioned really did occur; we just added the wonderful world of SMK to them. Any airplane scenes mentioned we checked with a flight expert to handle any reality issues as we wrote. A very special thank you to Tammy for beta reading and being a true part of helping us write this story.
Timeframe: Thanksgiving the year they were married.
Rating: R (some suggestive situations and language)
Giving Thanks for What We Have
By Diane & Amy (Two Phantoms)
Chapter 19
Tompkins carrying Phillip, and Fire supporting Amanda, had just crossed the threshold of the main level and stepped out into the open air when the bomb exploded. The blast shook the ground beneath them, reaching through the door and slamming them into a heap before the shaking had stopped.
Richard glanced back at the horrid sight behind him as he instinctively used his body to protect Amanda. A hand of fire seemingly reached up to touch the pale blue sky as the explosives ripped the raw material of the warehouse into oblivion.
As the sounds of the debris falling around them began to subside, Amanda pushed against the weight that shielded her. "Phillip!"
Tompkins slowly moved back from the young body he had safeguarded. Phillip was moving and moaning, which brought a smile to the agent's lips. "He's gonna be all right!"
Amanda breathed a sigh of relief as she realized her son was safe from the madman they had left behind. Feeling her own protector move his body away from her, she began to ease herself out from underneath his weight. Suddenly focusing on the muscular build above her, panic overtook her momentary happiness when she realized it didn't belong to the man she had grown accustomed to protecting her over the years.
Her heart fell as she realized he had been on the other side of warehouse, hunting for Weasel. "Oh my god! Lee!" No longer caring about the debris still falling around them, she shoved Richard the rest of the way off of her, and scrambled to her feet.
Richard grunted as she took him by surprise with her strength, and rolled him to the ground. Quickly realizing her intent, he stood and reached for her. "Amanda, you can't go in there!"
Amanda refused to look at the man whose voice held a tone of little hope. "I have to find Lee!"
Richard tone was soft as he spoke her name. He knew that the chances of Lee making it out alive were practically none. "Amanda—"
"No!" she looked at him with determination in her eyes, "He made it out…I know he did." Pulling her arm out of his grasp, she ignored the pain shooting through her body from injuries old and new, and raced towards the building, to search for some sign of her husband.
Richard turned his attention to Tompkins and Phillip. Helping Tompkins up, he assisted him in getting Phillip out of the line of threatening burnt timbers. Once they were at a safe distance from the building, Richard headed after Amanda to assist her in her search for Lee.
As Amanda neared the building, the heat of the blazing fire licked at her skin, causing sweat pour down her face. Wiping her face with her hand, she continued to carefully pick her way through the burning debris.
"Lee! LEE!!! Answer me! If you can hear me, answer me!" Fear now gripped her heart. Had he still been in the building when the bomb had gone off? "Please, God! Please don't let him have been inside." Suddenly, she caught sight of a hand buried underneath some sort of large panel. "Please, be Lee. Please, let it be Lee," she prayed as she rushed to the motionless figure.
As she got closer, she realized she was looking at a man's left hand. Stopping, the first thought that came to mind was that Lee always wore his watch on his right hand. Her second thought was that it definitely wasn't her husband's hand. Not wanting to stop her search for her husband, she mentally shook herself back into temporary sanity and started to walk away. Suddenly she stopped. She knew that she couldn't let a man die when she could have helped, whether he was friend or foe.
Turning back, she called out as she dropped to her knees. "Can you hear me?" She began to fling the blackened plaster that covered the man's features to the side. And then she recognized him. "Agent down! I need medical assistance!" Touching her fingers to his neck through the blood that flowed from his shoulder, she sighed in relief to find a pulse. "Lewis, can you hear me? Hold on." She gently touched his hair, careful not to move him. "We have help coming. Just hold on." Standing, she looked back over her shoulder. "Richard!"
Lewis' eyes fluttered then squinted against the smoke and light that filled them. "Scarecrow…Weasel inside…top…with me."
Amanda's heart stopped as his raspy words penetrated her mind. "Where, Lewis? Where is Lee!?!?" Lewis closed his eyes again as the pain and loss of blood took over. Grasping his left hand with hers, she continued to plead with him. "Come on, Lewis! Don't you give up on me! I need to know. Where is he?"
Richard was at her side by the time they heard the first of the fire truck sirens approaching. "Damn!" Waving his arms towards the emergency personnel beginning to push through the burning rubble and dense smoke, he yelled to get their attention. "Agent down over here!"
Looking up at Richard, she felt the monster of defeat slipping into her soul. Her body began to shake uncontrollably as the tears came. "Lee…still… There's no way… he could have made it…"
Richard pulled her to her feet as the first wave of firemen rushed to extinguish the inferno before them. "Weren't you the one trying to convince me that he made it out not minutes ago?"
Struggling to regain a semblance of composure, Amanda gripped Richard's arm, took a breath, and nodded, slowly at first, and then with more conviction. She gave him a tight smile of thanks for renewing her hope as they quickly moved away from Lewis when the paramedics had reached them.
Two bodies later, and still no sign of Lee, Amanda felt her resolve giving way again. Wrapping her arms tightly around herself, she tried to keep the feeling of hope from being replaced by emptiness. As she closed her eyes to the stinging of the thickening black smoke, she felt something pulling at her mind to open her eyes. "LEE! LEE, ANSWER ME!"
Richard turned his head at the desperate quality of her cry then spun his body around to the left at the creaking and groaning of weakened timber and concrete starting to buckle under its own weight. "We've got to get out of here, Amanda! That wall's is going to give any minute!"
Refusing to give up, she continued her frantic search as she called her husband's name. As the seconds ticked by, she could hear the warning shouts of the firemen as they fled from the crumbling building. Smoke threatened to choke her as she began to re-search the area near the building where they had located Lewis. Her breath caught in her throat as her eyes picked up the glare of something next to the wall through the haze. Without hesitation, she started running. "Richard! He's over here!" Within seconds, she was standing over Lee.
Richard was at her side in the blink of an eye, and he immediately recognized the still form beneath the rubble. "Scarecrow!"
Dropping to her knees beside her love, Amanda grasped his left wrist in her hands. Relief flooded through her as she felt his wrist for a pulse, strong and steady, and tears of joy cascaded down her face as she raced to remove the debris from his body. Jerking the board that covered his face away, she looked at the large timber that lay on his chest. "We've got to move it!"
Richard tried to lift the timber, but only managed to shift it fractionally. "Amanda, we've got to get help with this."
Amanda eyes scanned the area around them to find that it was deserted of other people. The eerie crackling sounds coming from the wall filled her ears as she looked up and locked eyes with Richard. Shaking her head, she protested. "No time! We have to do this, now!"
Richard nodded, seeing the resolve in the woman's eyes. "Come around here, Amanda," he said, and then positioned her at the end of the beam. "On my count, push this up and hold it. I'll help you." He put his hands next to hers on the blackened wood and tried to brace his feet on the concrete floor.
Suddenly, the wall shifted heavily, and the pair found themselves pelted with fine sand. Richard leaned over to cover Amanda's head with his hand, terrified that the wall was about to crash down on their heads then and there. "We have to go, Amanda. I'm sorry."
Adrenaline rushed through Amanda's veins as she heard the first bits of concrete hit the ground behind them. "No! Richard! Pull him out! Now!"
Richard started to protest, then he noticed that she was leaning into the beam, foot braced against a piece of concrete that had obviously fallen a short time before. As he watched, the timber lying across Lee shifted and began to move. "Damn," he said softly.
Amanda's eyes remained focused on Lee as she leaned even harder into the wood. "On three…Richard." Both her voice and her body shook, but still the beam moved.
Richard positioned himself at Lee's shoulders, locking his hands under his arms. "One. . . two. . . three!"
Closing her eyes as she counted silently with Richard, Amanda found a reserve of strength and pushed with all she had as the number "three" echoed through her mind. A burning fire ripped through her foot and up the outside of her leg, as her previous injuries demanded she stop. Shoving the agony to the back of her mind, she screamed, "GET HIM OUT!"
Keeping his eyes focused on the injured man, Richard jerked the limp body out of harm's way at her words. "Amanda! I've got him!"
Amanda dropped the timber at his words, barely catching herself from crashing to the ground with it. After a brief moment to collect her wits, she rushed to Lee's side. "Lee! Lee! Wake up, sweetheart!"
A momentary wave of shock hit Richard as he realized the physical strength Amanda King held. He had read about mothers possessing unbelievable strength to save their child, or a husband lifting a vehicle to rescue his wife, but he had never truly believed it until now. Hearing a loud crack behind him, he knelt back beside Lee grabbing one of his arms. "We've gotta move him, now! This walls gonna go any second!"
Amanda placed her husband's left arm around her shoulder, and with Richard on his other side, they dragged him away from the building. No sooner had they cleared the area than the loud crash of the wall behind them sent the three diving to the ground for protection.
Once the thundering sound had cleared and the noise of rescue personnel could be heard again, Richard pushed himself up and looked over at Amanda. "You two must have more lives than ten cats put together! I hope to God you never run out of them."
Amanda gave him a half smile and then turned her attention to the sounds emanating from her husband. "Lee?"
Lee moaned as he brought his hands to his head. "Amanda!" Blinking in the brightness of the day, he scanned the area quickly, then turned a worried look back to his wife. "Where's Phillip!"
Amanda gently stroked his face with her trembling left hand as she placed her right hand softly on his shoulder. "He's with Tompkins." She glanced up at Richard, who nodded.
"He's fine, Lee."
Placing his hands on the pavement, he tried to push his way up into a sitting position. "Shit," he hissed as he grimaced then sucked in a shallow breath.
Amanda gingerly touched his ribs where the timber had fallen. "You got knocked down," she said, touching his face with her fingers. "I'm afraid you may have a cracked rib or two."
Taking her hands in his, he coaxed her to help him sit up. "I think you're right about the ribs," he grumbled, taking a careful breath, "but you'd think I'd be used to broken body parts by now." Stopping to brush the hair from her soot-covered face, he smiled at the warmth he found in her eyes. "We did it."
An unsettling laughter filled the bitter nip of the morning air, as Amanda's emotional state began to collapse at the sight of life in her husband's loving eyes. Her husband was alive, her son returned to her; her family was whole again. Releasing her husband's hands and turning away from him, she placed her hands behind her on the cold pavement and used her arms for support. Tilting her head back to look up at the slowly clearing sky, she felt free again.
Richard extended his hand to help his friend to his feet. "Damn, man! You gave us a scare."
Shaking his head to recall exactly what had taken place, Lee felt the all-too-familiar burning in his side. As he tried not to wince at the pain every movement caused, he looked over to his wife once more, absorbing her physical state for the first time. Her face was pale, the bandage around her head had been loosened, and a small trickle of blood made its way down the right side of her face. Though she looked like someone who belonged in the hospital instead of sitting in the street, he saw a peace there he hadn't seen in what seemed like years. "Amanda, is Phillip really all right?"
Amanda titled her head over to look into his hazel eyes. "He was moving before I came to find you, and I'm sure Tompkins has him with the paramedics now. I looked him over when I was undoing his ropes before you got there. He has some nasty bruising on his arm…" She stopped as the thought of her son being in the clutches of that mad man made her shiver in disgust.
Lee went to stand before his wife, locking eyes with her. "Amanda?"
Amanda smiled softly as she continued, "He was coming around, too, and that's a good sign. It means that the drug Weasel gave him is wearing off. I don't think that he's suffering from anything that a loving mother and father can't heal with a little T.L.C."
Richard looked over at the now-demolished building. "I wonder where the hell that little Weasel is, anyway?"
A rueful smile graced Lee's shinning eyes as he winked at his wife. "I don't know where Weasel is." Lee turned to look at Fire. "The last I saw of him, he was behind me when this place blew all to hell. He had a detonator." Holding his right side tightly with his left arm, he knelt beside his wife. "I wasn't sure if you'd made it out in time."
Amanda pushed herself up from her resting position and sat before him. Taking his right hand in hers, she brushed her lips across his. "I tried not to give up hope that you hadn't made it out, either. I just kept telling myself that you had."
Suddenly, they heard a loud rustling a few feet from them. They looked up to see the back-up team combing the area, looking for other survivors. All three agents' heads jerked to the right at the hate-filled sounds of Weasel's voice echoing in the air. The sight of Weasel being dragged out from underneath a small pile of rubble just to the side of the building reaffirmed Lee's fear that Weasel was too damn lucky.
However, the sight and sound of the handcuffs being slapped on the evil man sent a wave of satisfaction through him, one that Lee had thought he'd never feel a few hours ago. His family was safe, and now Weasel was in custody. 'I'm gonna make damn sure that he never gets out!' Turning his gaze away from the enemy, he pulled his wife into a tight embrace.
Richard watched the two lovers before him with a bit of sadness. His job with that family was soon to end. They had captured the villain, saved the damsel in distress, and united a family that had been apart for too many years. He was happy for the family he'd spent the last ten years with, but he would miss them. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he started to head back towards the sound of roaring sirens. He needed to help put some type of order in the madness up ahead. Sighing at the fact that his job was never done, he began to yell out orders to his agents.
Lee tightened his arms around Amanda as he watched the slumped shoulders of the older man heading back to the waiting vehicles. He knew that there was much left to be done— debriefings, court appearances, and tons of paperwork— but after that, he doubted Fire would be in their lives much more. The man had protected his family for so many years, and without a word being said, he would soon be getting on with is own life again.
Amanda touched his face with her cold fingers, bringing him back to the present. When he pulled her weak body closer to his, she smiled as he kissed her forehead just above the re-opened wound. "Lee, we need to go see our son, and get you to the ambulance."
Shifting his grip, he reassured himself that she was once again safe in his arms. As he felt her pulling back from him, he released her. "Let's go see our boy."
Placing his left arm snuggly around his injured rib cage, he pushed himself up with his right arm. As he turned to extend his hand to help Amanda up, he saw the flash of pain in her eyes as she tried to stand. "Amanda?"
Her adrenaline gone, her emotions drained, Amanda closed her eyes as her body finally won the battle over her determination. "Lee…"
Lee took a step forward and caught her swaying body in his arms. "Amanda!"
Amanda looked up into his frightened eyes. "I think maybe I'm gonna need some help."
Staggering with her weight against his injuries and gasping at the new pain that shot through his torso, Lee looked up to see the quickly-approaching paramedic. "Over here!" Looking back down at his wife's closed eyes, another wave of hate hit him. "Damn you, Weasel."
Amanda eyes fluttered open at his strained voice. "I'm all right, Lee. I just need to rest my ankle a bit."
A low growl rumbled in Lee's chest as he felt a firm hand on his back. Looking up from his wife, his eyes softened. "I need to get her to the ambulance."
Richard nodded as he placed his right arm around Amanda's shoulders. "Phillip is in an ambulance that's getting ready to leave. Let me have her." He bent, sliding his left hand under her knees, then, pulling her snugly into his arms, straightened.
Amanda felt the familiar hands begin to lift her as she opened her eyes once more. "You know, Fire, folks are gonna to start to talking if you keep carrying me around like this."
Richard glanced back at the scowling face behind him. "I don't think your partner likes somebody else doing his job."
Despite the sudden tiredness that overtook her, she smiled shyly up at the new addition to her knights in shining armor. "He'll be okay."
Lee stepped closer behind them after he shooed away the paramedic trying to assist him. "I heard that." Looking at her leg as it swayed with Richard's pace, he realized that she had worsened her injury. Her pant leg was inched up above her ace bandage by the tug at her jeans where Richard held her in the bend of her knees. Angry scratches and the redness of new swelling screamed at Lee's eyes. "How in the hell did she do that?"
Richard looked over at the wrinkled brow of his friend. "It's a long story that I'll have to tell you someday over a bottle of scotch…but to sum it up, she did it saving your ass."
Amanda grimaced at the exchange, hearing the worry in her husband's voice. "It's nothing a little RICE won't cure."
Richard looked down at her with puzzlement, while Lee began to laugh. "Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation, Richard."
~~~~~ ~~~~~
As the exhausted threesome reached the back of the first ambulance, Richard placed her on a gurney that sat at the rear of the vehicle. "I'll check on you later."
Lee placed his left hand on Richard's shoulder, trying to think of the words that would describe how he felt about the man. Richard turned to look at him with a rueful smile. "You're welcome, Scarecrow."
Watching the man walk away from them momentarily, Lee turned and looked down at his wife, who was now surrounded by paramedics. "Thank you, for saving my life."
"I always said I'd watch your rear. For better or worse, I don't plan on letting you die on my watch," she laughed.
Following the paramedics as they pushed her towards an empty ambulance behind them they could hear the frustrated cries of their son. "I'm fine. I want out of here. I want to go find my mom."
A shared glance between husband and wife brought a burst of laughter. Lee leaned down to place a soft kiss to her cheek after he stopped the progression of her movement. "Just like his mother."
Phillip heard the laughter of his mother and strained against the paramedic who held him. "Mom! Lee!"
Amanda looked up at the paramedic who seemed to already be quite agitated with her husband. "I think maybe we should go to that ambulance."
Rolling his eyes, the paramedic moved the gurney back towards the first ambulance. Amanda tried not to laugh at the man's expression as she looked up at her husband with a scoffing look and whispered, "More like his stepfather."
Lee gripped his side as the pain worsened with his laughter. "Maybe."
As the gurney was lifted into the ambulance, Amanda smiled with relief at the sight of her very anxious son who all but launched himself off his own resting spot. As the gurney was wedged firmly in place, she sat up and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close. "I love you, sweetheart."
Phillip returned his mother's hug with all his strength. His resolve began to break as he felt her gentle arms rock him back and forth. "I'm so sorry, Mom."
Amanda felt his body begin to tremble as his words faded. "It's not your fault, sweetheart. We've got a lot to tell you, but first you need to let the paramedic finish taking care of you. Then Lee and I will take you home where you belong."
Phillip wiped the tears from his face as he looked up at his mother's injured figure then over at the tall man who was leaning against the ambulance door. "Mom, are you okay?"
Amanda gently ran her fingers through her son's tangled hair as she glanced at her husband. "I'm fine, sweetheart. Just need a hot shower and a little rest."
Phillip's creased forehead smoothed as he felt his mother's familiar touch and looked into her loving eyes. "I knew you'd come." Lifting his eyes to the man who had quickly become an important part of his family, he smiled widely at his bedraggled appearance. "Did Mom drag you along?"
Lee smiled brightly at the young man before him. "Well, I couldn't let her play John Wayne all by herself, now could I?"
Shaking his head slightly, Phillip watched as his mother's eyes brightened at Lee's teasing words. Phillip's face again grew concerned as he saw a flash of pain cross Lee's face as he tried to climb into the ambulance. "Lee, are you okay?"
Deciding to lean against the door a few more minutes, Lee swallowed back the nausea that struck him and placed a smile on his lips. "Nothing some of your Mother's home cooking and a little T.L.C. won't cure."
Amanda pulled Phillip close, once again, reassuring herself, as well as her son, that everything had turned out fine. Phillip pulled slightly back and locked eyes with Lee. "If I had just stayed home like you told me to. If I hadn't gone over to that van… I'm sorry."
Lee watched as the hell of the past few days tormented the boy's soul again. He saw fear, anger, hurt, but most of all regret, in the boy's eyes. Lee reached out to him, placing his hand on the boy's shaking knee. "We'll work through this together, Phillip. We're a family now."
Amanda continued to whisper soothing words in her son's ear as she pulled him back close to her body.
Phillip tensed slightly, turning blank eyes back towards Lee. "How did you find me?"
Amanda brushed her lips against his forehead before pulling back to allow the paramedic access to him. Nodding towards her husband, pride beamed from her. "Lee pulled in a few favors, and well…we'll explain it all to you as soon as you feel better."
Lee's eyes never wavered from his stepson's. His thoughts turned to his own childhood experiences with violence and death. He wasn't sure what Phillip had endured, but he knew that it would take more than just himself and Amanda to help him recover fully. And he sure as hell wasn't going to stand around and watch Phillip throw up brick walls around his fears.
Momentarily glancing at his wife's teary eyes, he realized that not many men were as lucky as he was to find a woman like Amanda to help him recover. Making a mental note to be sure Dr. Phaff, the Agency psychiatrist, was present during Phillip's debriefing, he decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to arrange a few family visits to help them all recover from the effects that the past few days had caused. He thought about the irony of that idea; he'd never ever thought he'd see the day that he would willingly see a doctor, let alone a shrink.
Placing his hand on the metal handle at the back of the ambulance, Lee set his teeth and, in one fluid movement, pulled himself into the back. "Mind if I join ya'll?"
Lee looked smugly at the paramedic who rolled his eyes towards the top of the ambulance. Shrugging his shoulders, he slid over for Lee to enter. "If I don't let you in, we're never going to get this boy to the hospital." Pausing to look at the disheveled family that filled his ambulance, he looked back to Lee. "I think you all need medical attention." Seeing a fireman cross behind he yelled to get his attention, "Hey, buddy! Mind buttoning us up."
The smoke-covered fireman smiled at the family inside and gave the doors a good shove closed. With a final double-slap to the vehicle, he turned and walked back into the thick of the action at the warehouse.
Lee gently touched his sore ribs as he flashed his famous Stetson smile towards Phillip. "A trip to the old hospital couldn't hurt, could it, Sport?"
Phillip pulled from his mom's embrace, turning his attention to Lee. "You do look like shi--."
"Phillip!" Amanda placed a firm hand on her son's knee.
Smiling shyly, he gave his mother a guilty look. "You don't look much better, Mom."
Rolling her eyes at the antics of her two men, she took a deep breath as she laid back down on the gurney. "Thanks." Closing her eyes, she let her mind and body drift with the sway and sound of the moving vehicle. Filled with the knowledge that her family was safe, she welcomed the oblivion of sleep.
Phillip looked over at his mom, quickly drifting into slumber, then to Lee. He wrinkled his nose as he tried to maintain a macho image as the paramedic lifted Lee's shirt to inspect the damage done. "Lee?"
Lee looked up at the worry, once again, in Phillip's eyes. "It's just a bruise or two. Maybe, even a cracked rib, but I'll be all right."
Phillip swallowed the lump in his throat at the realization that Lee had come to save him.
"Lee, you risked your life for me and my mom."
Lee gently smiled over the pain the paramedic was causing with his poking and prodding. "It wasn't just me. Your mom was pretty remarkable."
Phillip looked at his mother then back to Lee. After a moment he found his voice again. "Thank you."
Lee leaned forward and placed his hand on Phillip's knee, giving it a quick squeeze."I'd do it again, Chief. Your family means everything to me."
A smile briefly crossed the boy's face, and then as he shut his eyes, he realized he didn't quite feel safe…not just yet. Opening them wide, he asked, "Lee?"
Lee looked into the boy's frightened eyes. Raising his eyebrows, he replied, "Yes Phillip?"
"What…" He gulped, afraid that he wouldn't like the answer. "What happened to that Weasel man?"
Removing the probing paramedic's hand from his side, and ignoring the frustrated sigh of the young man, Lee moved to sit beside Phillip on his gurney. Placing his hand on the boy's arm, he said reassuringly, "Don't you worry about him, son. He's going away…far, far away, where he can never get out and do harm to this family," he looked over at the sleeping form of his wife, "or any other family, again."
Phillip smiled and sighed happily. Before Lee moved back to the attentions of the paramedic, he positioned himself on the gurney to face Amanda. Reaching out tentatively, he caressed her cheek with the tips of his fingers. 'How close I came to loosing all of you, I don't want to know. I love you, Amanda Stetson.'
Phillip saw the love in Lee's eyes as he touched his mother's skin. He had never seen his father look at his mother with such intensity. "Lee."
Lee quickly shook his thoughts from his mind. "Yeah?"
Suddenly embarrassed by the affection Lee had shown, Phillip looked sheepishly up at him. "You really love Mom, don't you?"
Lee turned back to sit beside Phillip. "Yes, I do. I love all of you. More than I ever thought I could love anyone."
Phillip reached for Lee and wrapped his arms around his waist. "Thank you, Lee. I love you, too."
Lee closed his eyes against the pain, and took comfort in the affections of his stepson. Resting his chin on the top of Phillip's head. "I'm the one that is thankful, Phillip. I'm truly thankful." His gaze fell back to the woman resting only a few inches away. 'Thank you for accepting that package.'
To be concluded…