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.

A/N: This is a response to a challenge issue a while back by Whitefeather1965 to change one thing in an episode that changes the course of the episode and potentially the rest of the series. For mine I went with using the un-filmed scene from the script of "A Lovely Little Affair" with Amanda in Alan's hotel room and ask the question, "what if she didn't leave?" NOTE: Assumes the first five episodes of Season 3 are in order as follows: Welcome to America, Mr. Brand

Over the Limit

Tail of the Dancing Weasel

We're Off to See the Wizard

A Lovely Little Affair

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Amanda ran into Lee in the bullpen and stammered awkwardly," Oh. Hi...I...uh...I came by to drop the film off."

He smiled at her. "Amanda, I was just going to call you. About dinner. Are we still on?"

She shifted nervously and questioned, "Did we have a date? Gee, I've made plans. Business plans. Maybe tomorrow. Got to run. See you." She exited the bullpen quickly with Francine a step behind her.

While waiting for the elevator, Francine asked her, "How's life in the fast lane Amanda?"

Amanda paused for a beat before answering, "Interesting."

"Interesting," Francine repeated with an arched eyebrow. "Amanda, Alan Chamberlain is a delicious hunk of masculinity who personifies the very soul of the Italian art experience! You might as well call fettuccine Alfredo, 'yummy." Francine started to leave, but was stopped by Amanda's voice behind her.

"Francine, if you're through correcting my grammar, I do have a serious question."

Francine turned. "Professional?"

"Personal, too." Amanda bit down on her lower lip thoughtfully for a moment before continuing. "What do you do when you're on a case and you're not sure where the case ends and your own life begins?"

Francine looked at Amanda, a little surprised. "Go with the flow." Realization then dawned on her as she got Amanda's meaning. "You and Alan...? Amanda!"

"It's nothing ... yet. It's just confusing. I didn't plan any of this...we just sort of met, totally by accident..." She paused again and took a deep breath. "Anyway, he asked me to dinner."

"You don't need my advice," Francine replied with a wave of her hand.

"It's all part of my cover. It might have looked funny to refuse."

Francine nodded and gave her a serious look. 'It's a judgment call. You probably did the right thing, but be careful. Don't get in the water if you don't know how to swim."

Amanda rolled her eyes. "I know all about swimming."

"Not in this end of the pool..."

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That night in Alan Chamberlain's hotel room which is a lovely suite, including a desk crowded with stationery and a small briefcase that's sitting open. Its contents consist of several small vials of colored ink, a sketch pad, and a full set of ink pens used in calligraphy lettering. A small sunlamp, is clamped to the side of the desk. Chamberlain and Amanda enter the room. She's not sure she's made the right decision coming this far, and her nervousness nearly betrays her. Chamberlain comes up behind and tries to slip his arms around her body, but she quickly manages to elude him and moves to the desk.

"What is all this used for?" she asked trying to sound genuinely interested.

"My work," He answered. "The pens are specially designed for calligraphy."

"Like the writing on the card you sent with my corsage?" She asked with a warm smile as she glanced down at it.

"Exactly." He stood behind her, placed his hands on her shoulders and began to nuzzle her earlobe.

Trying not to be averted, Amanda queried, "And the colored ink?"

"Some of the older manuscripts were written in different shades. He released Amanda, went to the desk and carefully closed the briefcase. "Amanda, I didn't bring you here to see my etchings. And I don't think that's why you came." He kissed her once, then again. As he became more involved, Amanda's became more uncomfortable. She broke the kiss and turned away.

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

"No, no, don't be. It's just that..." Just that what, Amanda? she asked herself.

"Is there someone else?' She turned to him as she thought, such a good question. She thought back to that afternoon when she couldn't get a straight answer from Lee as to whether their dinner plans were a date or not and with her decision made, she stepped back into Alan's embrace, this time returning his kisses with equal fervor. She ran her hands up his chest to rest on his shoulders and allowed him to pull her closer, letting out a long, slow sigh as his sweet, sensual kisses began to stir something in her that she hadn't felt in a long time.

Pulling back from the kiss for a moment, she looked into his eyes and what she saw in them killed any last inkling of hesitation, the desire, longing and what she had seen too often lately when she looked in the mirror...desperate loneliness. Tugging on his lapels, she urged him toward the bed with her. Once there, she stepped out of her shoes and reached for him again, saying his name softly, "Alan."

Sliding his hands to her waist and searching her eyes for any sign of hesitation, he questioned, "Amanda, are you sure?"

She wrapped her arms around him and nodded. "I'm sure," she replied as she pulled on his neck to bring him in for another kiss and they tumbled to the bed together.

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Much later that night, Amanda shifted nervously in her own bed while Lee questioned her about what had happened with Alan and she gave him the "textbook" answer.

Lee gazed at her curiously as if not quite certain that she was telling the whole truth. Her answer seemed just too...rehearsed. Placing his hands on his hips in his interrogator mode, he responded, "Hmm...anything unusual happen?"

Unconsciously, Amanda ran her fingers along her lips as she reflected back on the heated kisses she'd shared with Alan just hours before, and how he'd pleaded with her to stay, but she'd reminded him that she was expected back, however, had promised to meet him for breakfast. Her whole body gave an involuntary shudder as the memories of how the rest of the night had gone washed over her. "No, nothing worth mentioning," she answered, hoping that Lee had not seen her visible reaction to his question the way she knew she would see through him in an instant. In the next moment, she was sure he had when he told her to have nothing more to do with Alan and thought that maybe...just maybe Lee was finally ready to own up to his real feelings about her, but then her heart sank as he started showing the surveillance photos she'd taken of Alan. It's about the damn job again, she thought in disgust, but then a wave of guilt came crashing over her. She'd only approached Alan because of the job, so she was just as guilty as Lee, wasn't she? And wasn't there some part of her tonight who'd been with Alan just to prove that she was still a live, flesh-and-blood woman with needs and desires of her own; needs that were currently not being met.

After arguing back and forth for a moment, Lee finally conceded and agreed to allow Amanda to continue with her breakfast meeting with Chamberlain, but what he couldn't quite figure out was her behavior. Why was she defending him? Why was she acting so nervous? When he'd reached to shake her hand, she'd become even more so and had hurriedly covered her throat and tugged on her nightgown, then had hustled him back out her bedroom window. What was going on with her?

After Lee had left, Amanda had slipped into her bathroom and let out a deep sigh of relief as she snapped on the light. She tugged aside the collar of her nightgown and grimaced at the love bite left behind from her time spent in Alan's passionate embrace. Had Lee seen it, she knew that he'd never have allowed her to complete her assignment and the job was important to her. The Agency was finally beginning to treat her with some respect; she was finally being allowed to work a bit on her own, not just under Lee's shadow and it felt good.

But is that really all it is, she asked herself. She had to admit that she did like Alan and while her attraction to him wasn't the fiery, electric one that she had with Lee, there was definitely a spark there. More importantly, HE was acting on it, where Lee was not, but now she felt incredibly guilty because she wasn't being honest with him. He didn't even know who she really was. Shaking her head, she snapped off the light in disgust, then flung herself back into her bed, her tortured thoughts keeping her awake the rest of the night.

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The next day, after Necci had been apprehended and Amanda had been given a moment alone with Alan, his first response was a raised eyebrow and a questioning, "Tourist?"

"No, I'm not," she confessed guiltily. "I'm sorry, Alan. I didn't mean to trick you." She blinked back tears that had begun to form in her eyes and continued, "I think you're very special and you made me feel very special too."

"You are very special, Amanda," Alan replied softly.

His kind words only made Amanda feel worse so she felt the need to reiterate her thoughts, "I really didn't mean to trick you, you understand?"

He nodded. "I understand." He approached her slowly, placing his hands on her shoulder and repeated, "I understand," as he tenderly brushed his lips against hers. In that moment both knew this was a goodbye kiss. "Ciao, Amanda." He released her, then walked away leaving her staring sadly after him.

An hour later Amanda exited the observation room and entered the adjoining interrogation room after Alan and his sister had been properly questioned.

Upon seeing her, Francine crowed with a smirk, "Well, congratulations, Amanda. It seems you're finally one of us."

"I beg your pardon?" Amanda questioned staring at her blankly.

"It's no wonder you didn't want to take part in his debriefing," Francine added with a grin. "You've already debriefed him."

"Francine, what the hell are you talking about," Lee asked obtusely.

"Oh, come on, Lee, it's obvious from the way he talked about her and the way he was looking at her before we even brought him in that Amanda took the term 'undercover' quite literally." She then turned to Amanda, patted her on the shoulder, nodded and said, "Glad you decided to take my advice.

"What advice?" Lee's jaw tensed as he glanced from Amanda to Francine and back again, unable to believe what he was hearing, but at seeing the guilty look on Amanda's face, he knew in that moment that it was true.

"I-I-" Amanda stammered.

"Oh, Amanda was just concerned with how far she should take things with Alan," Francine chimed in when Amanda seemed lost for an answer.

Finding her voice, Amanda cut in sternly, "Francine, I can handle this."

"So what are you upset about? You're done that kind of thing many times. So have I. What's the big deal? it's only sex."

"Francine, I said, I can handle this," Amanda stated more vehemently.

"YOU told her to do this?" Lee questioned hotly giving Francine a murderous look.

"Nobody TOLD me to do anything. I'm an adult!" Amanda snapped, getting perturbed that the pair were treating her as if she were invisible. "I am perfectly capable of making my own decisions!"

"Oh, is that right? Well, you made a winner of a decision on this one!" He shook his head as it began to hit him just how many of the signs he'd missed. When he'd been in Amanda's room last night...how she'd shied away from his touch and had tried to cover herself up as if she were trying to hide from him. How she'd acted nervous earlier today when they'd been in Chamberlain's room and had kept stealing glances at the bed. It was no wonder when she'd- He cringed at the thought of what she'd done in that bed with him.

Now, he was also remembering digging through Chamberlain's trash and having spotted a condom wrapper, but he hadn't thought much of it at the time because it wasn't relevant to the case and a world traveler like him was bound to have a girl in every port like a sailor. Now though...a wave of revulsion swept over him as he thought of his Amanda being one of those girls. But is she still yours, a morose voice in his head taunted him. Was she ever yours to begin with? Do you even still want her to be now that you know the truth about her?

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Francine snapped, also snapping Lee out of his thoughts. "You're acting more like a jealous lover than her partner!" At seeing the sheepish looks on both their faces, a look of triumph crossed hers. "So, you two are-"

Lee and Amanda simultaneously shouted, "NO!" and Amanda made a hasty escape before it could escalate any further.

Francine at seeing Lee staring forlornly after Amanda, a combination of anger and kicked-puppy look on his face, she put in, "So, that's it! You're mad that he got a home run and you're still stranded on second base, aren't you?"

"We've never even gotten to second base," he responded quietly.

Francine grinned. "Hmm. She's got more brains that I thought then."

Lee whipped around to face her with a loud, "Hey!"

Still grinning Francine countered, "Maybe you're just losing your touch," then sauntered off and Lee stormed out of the room and barreled out of the agency not stopping to talk to anyone on his way out.