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.

Author's Note: This is my first two-chapter installment of this series, primarily because I couldn't decide which episode I wanted to do more, but I was convinced by a friend to do both. So thank you, Khell for the encouragement and thank you also to Janet for the outstanding beta job.

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"Why do I keep putting up with this," Francine grumbled as she sat at her desk in the bullpen reliving her time with Lee, Amanda...and Ernie. She was fuming over the crack he'd made when she'd been left alone with him after he'd ID'd Maria Von Klausen.

"Thanks, Ernie," she said as she opened the door to the conference room and then added, "Lee's right. That is a special skill you have."

"No, thank you. I hear you used your own special skills to gather enough information to get us this far," he teased.

"Well, not all of us spend our whole work day holed up with pictures and videos. Some of us like to get out and stretch our legs a bit," she retorted in an affronted tone and stormed out.

As she walked toward her desk, she heard Fred making a lewd comment about "stretching her legs" being the wrong phrase. She instantly snapped, "If you don't want broken legs, I'd suggest you cool it with that kind of talk," and flounced to her desk.

Now, here she was, working on her report from the night before while shooting daggers at anyone who so much as looked in her direction. She took out her frustrations on her keyboard, typing furiously until a tentative, "Francine?" caught her attention and caused her to look up again.

"What!" she snapped as she saw Amanda cautiously approaching her.

"Maybe this is a bad time," Amanda apologetically stated as she began to back away. She'd learned in her three years at The Agency not to mess with Francine when she was in a foul mood.

Letting out a sigh, Francine shook her head and replied, "No, Amanda, it's fine. Sorry...I'm just a little...on edge." That was certainly an understatement. She was on the edge of her patience with a few of her co-workers and ready to take matters into her own hands.

Amanda nodded. "Yeah...I...um...I heard. You know, that wasn't very nice of Fred."

"Fred's not nice. Shocker," the blonde parried in mock horror.

"Okay, okay. I just...I wanted to return these." She indicated the surveillance photos in her hand. "You know...to go in the file."

"Oh...right." Francine reached for them and unceremoniously dropped them onto her desk. She then turned back to her computer and was about to begin typing again when she realized that Amanda was still there...and staring at her. "What? Was there something else?"

"No, no, nothing else." Amanda held up her hands in surrender and began to back away again, but seeing the disturbed look on the other woman's face, she thought better of it. After all, it wasn't as if she were the one Francine was really upset with. "Well, yes. Yes, there is, but not about the case." She now wore a look of steely resolve, determined to help Francine if she could. "What I really wanted was to ask if you were okay."

Francine looked at her sideways, scrutinizing her and trying to figure out if she were being sincere. So few people were. She wanted to ask, but wasn't yet sure if she could fully trust Amanda so instead, she tapped the stack of photos and questioned, "So, these were just an excuse to come over here?"

Amanda nodded guiltily. "Yeah, they were. I know it's none of my business, but you just seemed...I don't know...a little upset."

"Upset?" She shook her head. "No, Amanda, I'm not upset." She glowered in Fred's direction. "I'm pissed off!" she snarled loudly enough to make sure the whole of the bullpen heard her.

"I can understand why," Amanda responded consolingly.

"I highly doubt that," Francine snorted.

"You know what? Forget I said anything," she barked back at her as she turned on her heel. "I was only trying to help, but I forgot you're too good to need anything from anyone." She was about to make her way out of the bullpen when she was stopped by Francine's voice.

"Amanda, wait..." When the other woman turned back to face her again, she took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry. It's not you. I know you're just trying to be your normal helpful self. It's not your fault that I've got this image as the happy hooker that won't go away and that some..." she glared at Fred again. "...people around here can't seem to separate the cover from the agent."

"Gee, that's too bad."

"Too bad?" She turned back to Amanda questioningly. "Too bad? Well, let me ask you this? How do you feel about the fact that no one around here can seem to separate you from Lee? Do you even know that they call you 'Mrs. Scarecrow' behind your back? They even make jokes about how many times you've cleaned up that toxic waste dump that Lee calls an apartment, calling you The Happy Homemaker." Upon seeing Amanda furrowed brow, she hastily shut up, kicking herself for saying anything at all because it occurred to her that maybe Amanda didn't know.

"Yes, Francine, I know." She shrugged. "I just don't let it bother me...and you shouldn't either. That's what I always tell my boys when they get into squabbles with their classmates...that name-calling is just...childish. You know, sticks and stones may-"

Francine interrupted with, "So help me, Amanda if you finish that, I'm going to start looking for some sticks and stones to throw at you."

"Hey, I'm on your side, remember? And I know...I know from our talk in the freezer a while back that you don't care if anyone's on your side or not, but I am and I think the things people say about you around here are just...awful."

"Don't you mean, awful true?"

"No, Francine, I don't," Amanda replied honestly. "I mean just plain awful, just like the stuff they say about me."

"I thought you didn't let it bother you," Francine reminded her.

"Okay, maybe it bothers me a little," she admitted. "It is a bit hurtful to have people stereotype you, especially as a woman because these days even with as far as we've come, it still seems like we fall into just a couple of categories...the homemaker type...or the career woman type...or the-" She flushed slightly as she thought of the reason Francine was angry.

"The happy hooker type?" Francine supplied with an arched eyebrow.

"I guess you could put it that way, but here's the thing, I also think just like with the way people exaggerate stuff about Lee...or me...or Lee and me...or Lee and...well...anybody...I think the stories about you are exaggerated too and I don't believe most of what I hear around here unless I hear it from the source."

Francine nodded and gave her a half smile. "Well, thank you for that."

"You're welcome." Amanda smiled back at her. "Anyway, the point I was making is that as women, we have to fight much harder than men do to be taken seriously."

"You're damn right we do. Especially in this business."

Amanda beamed at Francine's acknowledgement that while they may differ on a great many things, this was one thing they had in common. That gave her hope for the future of her tentative friendship with the seemingly prickly agent. "Maybe we could...you know, talk some more another time. I mean, I'd love to continue this, but tonight's opening night and I...I can't miss it."

"Opening night, is it?" Francine gave her a grin to remind her of the crack she'd made in the Q when she'd caught the brunette in a clinch with Lee. She still wondered if there was just flirting going on or if Amanda were seriously considering getting involved with Lee on a personal level.

Amanda rolled her eyes. "Not that kind of opening night." She turned again, this time to leave the office, but couldn't help laughing as Francine got the last word in.

Amanda turned back for just a moment to see Francine grinning as she bawdily called after her. "Gee, that's too bad. Not all of Lee's reputation is exaggerated."