Title: Send in the Clowns (False Start 3)
Author: Ann (geisterschloss )
Date written: February 2012
Synopsis: A retelling of the first season episode "Saved By the Bells", set in the "False Start" universe.
Rating: PG 13
Disclaimer: Scarecrow and Mrs. King is copyrighted to Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Production Company. The story, however, is copyrighted to the author. This story is for entertainment purposes only and cannot be redistributed, reproduced, archived, reposted, or forwarded without the permission of the author.
Situations and some dialogue have been used from the episode "Saved By the Bells" (written by Joel Steiger and Stu Kreisman) and several lines directly quoted from other episodes. No infringement of copyright is intended.
Author's Notes:
Many thanks to my beta team, especially those with a black belt in nagging (you know who you are). Without you this story not only wouldn't be the story it is, it wouldn't even be finished.
This is the third story in my False Start universe. In this AU setup, Amanda and Lee start dating much earlier than in the actual series. You can read this new story on its own, but it will make more sense if you've read "False Start" and "The Next Step". Both of these stories are available on
.net/u/5026/Ann
To give you a brief synopsis of this universe, after a visit to Lee's apartment the day after they met results in them consummating their physical relationship, both Lee and Amanda pull back, fearing that the other thinks of what happened as simply a one night stand. Lee heads off to Europe for a brief time while Billy hires Amanda and she now works in the Agency bullpen. When Lee returns to the States he invites Amanda out for lunch, and they both discover how wrong their assumptions were. They decide to continue their relationship but at a much slower pace. At the end of "The Next Step" Amanda has invited Lee to join her family for Thanksgiving dinner. Which leads us to . . .
Send in the Clowns (False Start 3)
"Amanda, can I ask you something?"
She nodded, looking up from the slip of paper she was perusing. Ginger, cinnamon ...
"I thought you said this was going to be a small dinner with just your family."
"It is," she replied absently, trying to recall which ingredient for pumpkin pie she'd forgotten to include on her shopping list. Nutmeg, brown sugar, molasses ...
Lee gestured at the sizeable amount of food in the shopping cart he was pushing. "Then do you have seven or eight other children you haven't told me about yet?" His attempt to steer the cart with one hand immediately caused it to veer off to the side.
"Careful," Amanda cautioned, reaching out to prevent a collision with a towering stack of Crunchy Crawlers cereal. "This thing doesn't exactly corner like your Porsche."
"You can say that again." He kicked at the closest wheel, trying in vain to get it to face the same direction as the other three. "What kind of sadist designed these things anyway?"
"The same one who invented one size fits all pantyhose, I imagine," she answered, tucking the list back into her purse. "Getting back to your original question, it's just going be the five of us. But we always have a traditional Thanksgiving feast. When I said turkey dinner with all the trimmings, I meant exactly that. Besides, this way we'll have enough leftovers so Mother and I don't need to cook for a few days."
"You mean a few weeks." He shook his head as she added a box of seasoned bread crumbs to the pile. "You've got more food here than I've had in my apartment the last six months."
"Don't complain; you're the one who said you wanted to spend the day with me," she reminded him.
"That was before you suggested we go on a grocery shopping expedition that somehow turned into a forced march. You do realize that right now I could be on a Bermuda bound 747." Lee closed his eyes briefly, as if envisioning himself in a tropical paradise. "Sand . . . sun . . . "
"Without me? I don't think so, buster." Amanda shook her head. "Just because Mr. Melrose gave you a few days off doesn't mean I get the same treatment. Since I wasn't involved in Rostov's capture, I was lucky to even get one day and I need it to get ready for the holiday."
"Wait a minute; what's this?" Lee pushed aside the sweet potatoes and dug into the pile of groceries. He pulled out a bottle and inspected the label. "Sparkling Muskatel?" he read in a tone of contempt. "When exactly did you sneak this into the cart?"
"I didn't sneak it in," she protested. "You were busy interrogating the manager about why they don't stock the Enoki mushrooms you wanted for the stuffing. It is customary to have wine with a special dinner, you know."
"You mean, you were, actually, really, going to drink this?" He gave an exaggerated shudder. "Amanda, this is a lot of things, but believe me, it is not wine. A substitute for turpentine, maybe, but not wine."
She reached for the bottle, but Lee held it just out of her grasp, and continued to read the label mockingly. "One of the finest vintages of Idaho. Ooh, and it's fresh too."
"Oh, shut up," she said, her teasing tone offsetting the harshness of her words.
"Okay, Amanda, but I'm putting my foot down." He stubbornly refused to relinquish the bottle. "Since you and your mother are doing all the cooking, how about you let me bring something more suitable to drink?"
"Fine," she gave in. "If you're that determined, then you go put it back on the shelf, while I wait in line to pay for all of this."
"Gladly. Which aisle do they keep the 'swill' in again?"
Amanda rolled her eyes. "The *wine* is in aisle six." Suddenly realizing what item she'd forgotten, she added, "Oh, and I need two cans of pumpkin puree."
As Lee headed towards the back of the store, she took over the cart and pushed it into place at the end of a long line of customers. Of course, the next queue over immediately seemed to speed up. Amanda watched in frustration as the customer her cashier was currently waiting on dug through an enormous handbag. Apparently she had spent the last five years hoarding every bit of loose change she could find and today was the day she'd chosen to cash it all in.
She sighed and switched her focus to the nearby display of tabloids. Honestly, who thought of those articles - "I Was Hypnotised By My Stuffed Bird", "Scientists Investigate The Sensual Impact of Feet", "Secret KGB Consortium Controls Shopping Malls". Did anyone really believe any of them?
"Hello, Amanda."
She looked up, startled at first to hear her name, then even more when she recognized the person approaching her. "Dean," she greeted him without enthusiasm.
"So . . . um, how have you been?" he asked haltingly.
"Fine." The customer in front of her moved up at last and she followed, pushing her cart a few feet closer to the checkout.
"And your mother and Phillip and Jamie?" Dean awkwardly shifted the carton of milk he was carrying from one hand to the other.
"They're all fine too." She was puzzled for a moment, wondering why her ex-boyfriend seemed so short before it occurred to her that she'd already become accustomed to looking up at Lee, rather than across at Dean.
He took a step closer to her. "You know, I miss being part of your family. But most of all, I miss you." When she didn't respond, he added, "Amanda, I still care about you."
"Well, you have a funny way of showing it." Idly she realized that any feelings she had ever had towards him – whether positive or negative – seemed to have vanished completely. It was as if their relationship hadn't involved her at all or was much further in her past than just a few months. And yet she knew there had been a time when Dean had been someone very special to her. It was odd, looking at him now and feeling nothing.
"What happened was a huge mistake, one I'll always regret." Dean reached out and put his hand on her arm.
"Really? That must explain why you didn't even call to apologize," Amanda pointed out, immediately shrugging away from his touch.
"I wasn't sure you wanted me to call. I figured you'd just hang up on me. So when I saw you here, I thought it might be fate, giving us another chance." He looked at her hopefully.
"I don't think so, Dean."
"Please, Amanda, just say you'll think this over," he pleaded earnestly. "You have to believe me, I'm so sorry you were hurt by our misunderstanding."
"It wasn't just a 'misunderstanding'," Amanda retorted, discovering that she did in fact have some remnants of anger towards him left. "You were cheating on me." Catching curious glances from several shoppers in the next line, she lowered her voice. "Dean, I don't think a grocery store is exactly the right place for this discussion."
"Then can we get a coffee somewhere and talk?" he persisted. "I really have missed you, Amanda. Just tell me what you want – "
"Right now, I think she wants pumpkin puree."
Amanda turned to see Lee approaching them, several tins in hand. He walked up to her, remarking nonchalantly, "I hope I picked the right kind. I find it hard to believe that there actually is a place in today's consumer market for five different brands of pumpkin puree. Hasn't anyone heard of a bakery?" Depositing the cans into the shopping cart, he straightened up and casually put an arm around Amanda's shoulder. "So, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"
"Lee, this is Dean McGuire. Dean, Lee Stetson." She gestured to each of them in turn.
Lee started to extend his hand but abruptly drew it back. "Dean?" he repeated, looking at the other man with narrowed eyes.
Dean's gaze hardened as his glance flicked between the two of them. "I see you haven't wasted any time," he said spitefully. "At least now I know why you didn't miss me." His scowl deepened as he added, "So is this something new, or did you start seeing him before we broke up?"
An expression of anger flashed across Lee's face as he lunged forward. Dean quickly stepped to the side, keeping the shopping cart between them.
Amanda reached out and put a restraining hand on Lee's arm. "Lee, don't. He's not worth it." She gazed at her ex-boyfriend steadily. "I don't think we have anything left to say. Good bye, Dean."
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"You want me to what?"
"Wait in the car. And I didn't say I wanted you to, I said you could if you wanted to." Amanda stopped the station wagon at a red light and turned to look at Lee. "Earlier you seemed a bit nervous about this whole idea. I'm sure that most of your dates don't take you home to meet their mothers."
The thought of Katyia and Katrina, a mother-daughter act from the Moscow circus briefly flitted through Lee's mind, but he quickly concluded that wasn't the same thing at all. "Amanda, I am not going to hide in the car from your mother. If I can handle tackling a Russian spy disguised as a nun, I think I'm up for this challenge too. I said I wanted to meet your family and I meant it."
"Okay, but be prepared to answer a lot of questions. Mother really grilled me the other night when I was getting ready to go out to dinner with you."
"So what you're saying is that Rostov's going to have an easier time today with the Agency interrogators?" Lee grinned over at her.
"Not quite." Amanda laughed. The light changed and she turned off the main road into her neighbourhood.
"But close." Lee watched as they passed a school, a playground and a skate park in quick succession. "Well, after what happened with the last guy you went out with, I can't say I blame her for feeling protective. That jerk Dan really is a piece of work. I can't believe he actually thought the two of you would get back together."
"You know darn well his name is Dean," Amanda said as she checked her watch. "Less than ten minutes. I think you broke your previous record."
"What are you talking about?" He glanced at her before turning his attention back out the window.
"Lee, it's okay," she reassured him. "I happen to think you're cute when you're jealous."
"Jealous?" he sputtered. "I'm not jealous. I'm just surprised he even had the nerve to speak to you again." He paused then added, "I suppose I could have been nicer to him though. In fact now that I think of it, I should have thanked him. If he hadn't been such a monumental idiot, I wouldn't be with you right now."
"Hmm . . . when you put it like that, maybe I'm the one who should thank him." Amanda leaned across the seat and briefly put her hand on his before returning to the ten and two positions on the steering wheel.
Clearing his throat, Lee said, "You know, I was wondering . . . that night in my apartment, if you and I hadn't . . . if we'd never . . . you know . . . gotten together, how do you think you'd feel about running into Dean again? Do you think there would've been any chance you'd take him back?"
To his relief, Amanda immediately shook her head. "I really don't think that ever would have happened. He actually referred to his cheating on me as a 'misunderstanding'. Unbelievable."
"Good," Lee said emphatically. Catching an amused look in her eyes, he added, "I mean, I just don't see the two of you together. Even if I wasn't in the picture. Which I most definitely am."
"And I'm really glad you are." The expression in her eyes dissolved to one of such affection, he felt his pulse jump.
As they continued towards her house, Amanda said, "Now it's my turn to ask a what if. What if I hadn't gone to your apartment that night, do you think we would still have ended up dating?"
"Of course," Lee said without hesitation, even as a small frisson of doubt ran through his mind.
"You know, I'm not so certain about that at all." Amanda shook her head. "In fact, I think you might not have asked me out ever."
"Sure, I would have," he protested. "Maybe not right away, but sooner or later."
Amanda eased on the brakes as they approached a cross street then made the turn onto Maplewood Dr. "Sooner or later," she echoed skeptically. "Considering your track record, I think it would have taken you at least a couple of years to even notice me, much less ask me out on a date."
"This is so unfair," he objected. "You've been listening to the office gossip mill again, haven't you?" He turned to glare at her.
"You know, you're cute when you're indignant, too." Amanda said as she pulled into her driveway and turned off the engine. They got out of the car, opened the back hatch and started to unload.
"Okay, this is it," Amanda warned him. "Last chance to run."
"I'm ready." Lee lifted two of bags of groceries, straightened his shoulders and said with a protracted sigh, "Take me to your mother."
TBC