Disclaimer: Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions are the rightful owners of Scarecrow and Mrs. King, its characters, and its premise. The plot for this story and any original characters remain property of the author. No copyright infringement is intended; this work is written solely for the pleasure of the author and the readers, and no profit is being made. This story, however, does belong to its author, and any reproduction or distribution is prohibited without authorization of said author.

Shadows Fall

Chapter One                                                                                        Thursday, October 12, 1989 noon

Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.                                                                                          - Maori Proverb 

Amanda and Lee sat quietly at their desks in the Q Bureau, sorting through files of recent cases. They had just wrapped up a protracted security detail for a series of White House dinners and were ready for a quiet weekend at home. For once, the boys didn’t have school or sports activities scheduled and everyone was looking forward to some much needed downtime.  As Amanda stood to take some files to the vault, the phone rang. Lee looked up and grumbled, “That better not be Billy with a new case! I’m not giving up our weekend!”

 Amanda chuckled.  It still amazed her sometimes how much Lee had changed over the years. The Lee she had met 6 years ago would definitely not be excited about a weekend spent throwing a baseball with teenagers and playing with a teething 7-month-old. She grabbed the handset and answered, “Q Bureau. Oh, hello, Joe,” she smiled as she greeted her ex-husband. She glanced over at Lee and saw him give a visible sigh of relief. She resumed her conversation, “How’re you doing? How’re Carrie and Sarah?” She nodded as she listened. “Today? Sure…no, we don’t have any plans…sure, we’ll see you then…bye.”

“I take it that was Joe?” Lee questioned. “What’s up?”

“He wants to meet us for lunch. He said he has a favor to ask,” Amanda answered. “I think it has to do with their anniversary tomorrow.”

“So…I guess we’ll have Sarah for a visit. Sounds good to me,” Lee chuckled. Sarah was only 7 months older than their daughter, Katie, and a frequent guest at the Stetson-King house. The boys doted on their sisters and Dotty relished being a surrogate grandmother to Joe and Carrie’s daughter. Joe’s parents had died when Phillip and Jamie were small and Carrie had lost hers in a car accident while in law school, so they, in turn, appreciated the many offers of babysitting the Stetsons gave and the love everyone felt for Sarah.  “What time are we meeting him?”

“12:30 at Christie’s. Is that OK?”

 “Sure…as long as we don’t get a new case between now and tomorrow, I don’t care what we do!” Lee grinned as Amanda gave him a pointed look and walked into the vault.

SMK SMK

Lee and Amanda entered Christie’s a few minutes late and spotted Joe at a table near the back. Joe smiled a welcome to them and waved. As they were seated, Joe said, “I’m so glad you could join me today. It’s been awhile since we were able to have lunch together.”

“No problem, Joe. Amanda tells me you need a favor,” Lee responded.

“Yeah, I hope you guys don’t mind. Tomorrow is Carrie’s and my anniversary. Can you believe we’ve been married two years? Sometimes it just doesn’t seem like it’s been that long… Anyway, I was hoping to take her out for a nice dinner and maybe some dancing…a real night out on the town. I’ve been real busy lately with this new position at the EAO, and I don’t want her to feel…neglected,” Joe shared, feeling a little embarrassed about the last remark. He knew he hadn’t been the best of husbands to Amanda, and had resolved not to make the same mistakes with Carrie.

“So you want us to watch Sarah? Joe, you know that’s not a problem at all. You certainly don’t have to take us out to lunch for us to watch her. We love having her,” Amanda responded, placing her hand over Joe’s. She looked over at Lee and he nodded.

“Yeah, Joe, we love having Sarah. She’s a great kid and we have a lot of fun with her. You’ve got a standing invitation to drop her off anytime,” Lee added. “Now, I know you aren’t asking for advice, but why don’t we just plan on her spending the night? That way you and Carrie can do whatever you want and you don’t have to worry about picking her up. We don’t have any plans, other than staying at home. You can sleep in and get her anytime…really.”

Amanda smiled at her husband. It amazed her how he could be so welcoming to her ex-husband and his family. Sure, it was a little difficult at first when Joe had realized that she worked for the Agency as Lee’s partner, and later when Lee had openly become a member of the household, but he and Joe had eventually formed a good friendship.

“You guys are great! I knew I could count on you!” Joe gushed with a grin. “So, would 6:00 be OK for us to drop Sarah off?”

“Sure, Joe, we should be home by then. If not, you know Mother and the boys will be there,” Amanda responded. “So, what shall we order? I’m starved!”

SMK SMK

The afternoon flew by. Fortunately, no new cases had cropped up, and Billy had been good enough to tell them that, barring a national emergency, he wouldn’t be assigning them anything until the next week at the earliest.“Have a good weekend…you deserve the rest,” Billy said as he lounged on the Q Bureau’s couch.

“If you don’t mind then, Billy, I would like to take the opportunity to reorganize some of the files tomorrow. The vault is getting a little out of control,” Amanda said. Billy smiled as the idea of the vault being out of control was ridiculous with Amanda now in charge. He also loved that she no longer called him “sir”. Once she and Lee had come clean about their “mystery marriage”, he’d finally convinced her to call him Billy.

 “I think that’s an excellent idea. So, any plans for the weekend?” Billy inquired.

“Absolutely none,” Lee responded with glee. “Well, except for Sarah coming over tomorrow. But that’s nothing…she’s part of the family.”

Billy laughed. “I don’t know, Lee, two baby girls…you might have to play with dollies!” He burst out laughing and Amanda joined in. Lee just shook his head.

Billy got up and waved at both of them, saying, “I’ll see you two tomorrow. Have a good evening!”

“Bye, Billy,” Lee called out with another shake of his head. As Billy left, Francine walked in, looking decidedly worse for wear.

“Hey, Francine, you look exhausted. What’s going on?” Amanda asked as she stacked some papers on her desk.

“Oh, I don’t know. This week has just stressed me out! If I have to go to one more State Dinner, I think I’ll scream!” Francine had also been a part of the security detail but, as a single agent and Billy’s personal liaison, she’d been required to attend several of the dinners.

“Wow, Francine, I never thought I’d see the day that you wouldn’t enjoy a chance to show off your designer originals,” Lee scoffed. Amanda glared at him and he held up his hands and continued, “OK, I can tell when I’m not wanted…‘Manda, I’m going to take these background checks to Beaman and then I’ll be ready to go. Meet you downstairs in 20 minutes?”

“Sure,” Amanda responded, waving him out. She turned to Francine who had slumped onto the couch. “What’s up, Francine?”

“Oh, Amanda, I don’t know. Lee’s right- normally, I love these kinds of things. But, lately, it just seems like…I don’t know. I’m just tired of everything.”

Amanda looked at her friend. Since July, she’d thrown herself more and more into her work with less and less satisfaction. Amanda had hoped that Francine would open herself up to the idea that Beaman could be the right guy for her, but instead she’d pushed him away and accepted every assignment she could on top of her other responsibilities as Billy’s assistant.

“I think, Amanda, that I’m ready for a change. Do you think I should talk to Billy about maybe getting into the field more?” Francine whispered.

“What do you mean? By yourself? No, Francine, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I think you’re a great assistant to Billy,” Amanda responded. Amanda remembered how Lee had been when he was a “lone wolf”, reckless and uncaring about his own well-being. Looking at Francine, she was afraid that her friend was headed down the same path.Francine sighed.

“You’re right. I know you’re right. But, then, why do I feel so…dissatisfied?”

“I don’t know, Francine. Tell you what- why don’t you go home and have a nice bubble bath. Then, tomorrow night, why don’t you come hang out with us at the house? We’re not doing anything special, but we’ll have Sarah with us, and we can watch a movie or something. Please say yes,” Amanda pleaded with a gleam in her eye.

“Amanda, when have I ever been able to turn you down?” Francine laughed.

“Never…we’ll see you around 7. Now, go home!” Amanda smiled and hugged her friend. Francine had become her dearest friend at the Agency next to Lee, and she wanted her to be happy.

SMK SMK

Lee sat in Beaman’s tiny office next to the Agency’s classrooms. He couldn’t see how his fellow agent could stand being cooped up in this box every day, all alone. He’d go crazy! Beaman sat at his desk, thumbing through the background checks Lee had brought to him on prospective recruits. Finally, he stopped and sighed. Lee looked at him and realized that he had seen a similar look on Francine’s face not ten minutes earlier.

“What’s up, Beaman? Something wrong with the files?” he asked.

“No, Stetson, not that I can tell,” Beaman responded listlessly.

“OK, then…what’s going on?”

“Ugh! I don’t know, Lee, I just don’t know. I am just so sick of going through files like these! I can’t tell you how many classes of agent recruits I’ve evaluated, and most of them wash out. The only bright spot I ever had was Amanda, and I didn’t even recognize that while she was in the program! I want…I want…” Beaman took a deep breath. “You know what I want? I want to be in the field. I want to feel like I’m actually making a difference. I want to feel successful in some part of my life, since…”

Lee nodded his head. He knew Beaman wanted to date Francine, but she wasn’t budging an inch. Sure, in the past few months, she’d thawed considerably, but no more. They seemed destined to be friends, nothing more. It bothered Lee, because he knew Beaman could be really good for Francine, as Amanda had for him.

“You know what, Ephraim?” Lee had a sudden inspiration. “Sounds like you need a good home-cooked meal and some downtime. How about you join us for dinner tomorrow night? It’s been awhile since you came by, and we’ve got nothing special planned. I’m sure Dotty would love to add another plate to the table- you know how much she loves feeding you.”

Ephraim smiled. Dotty always made a big fuss over him, and he enjoyed it, especially since his parents were living in a retirement center in Los Angeles and he barely saw them. He thought about it, then nodded, “You know, that sounds really nice, Lee. I’d love to come, if you don’t think Amanda would mind?”

“She’ll love it! We’re going to have Sarah with us, so she’ll be occupied with the girls. It’ll be fun to have a guy over to watch a game or something, maybe shoot some hoops with the boys. See you around 7?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Ephraim responded.

Lee stood up and waved goodbye to his friend. ‘Well,’ he thought to himself, ‘I think I’m going to talk to Billy about putting Ephraim in the field, maybe as part of the Q Bureau expansion we’ve been discussing. I won’t say anything to him yet, but I think he’d be a great part of our team. Wonder who we could partner with him?’

Lee whistled happily to himself as he headed to the Georgetown Foyer to meet up with his wife. Tomorrow night was shaping up to be a great night.