- Steele Working
It Out
- Part 1
by Kristen McNeil
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters and I am not
getting any sort of profit for this story. I am just borrowing
them for a short time and promise to return them when I am finished
with minimal damage done he he he!
Author's Notes: This is set right after Laura finds Steele's
apartment empty in the episode "Steele of Approval".
I have taken liberties and changed what happened after that to
suit my own psychotic needs. This is yet again, my happy-ever-after
obsession showing through so bear with me. Feedback is desired,
wanted and appreciated as long as it's tactful criticism. (My
ego is fragile don't ya know!) You can email me at saracat71@hotmail.com
OK, on with the show!
The red seat belt sign began to flash; indicating the plane was
about to land. Sighing, the man fastened his belt and glanced
out the window of the plane as the clouds began to dissipate
and the view became visible. London, England was only minutes
away, but to the man, it seemed like forever.
It wasn't that he wasn't happy to be there, it was just that
he didn't have the time to enjoy the sights. He was there for
a reason and once he'd accomplished his mission, he'd be heading
home.
Home. He never thought he'd have one of those in his life. Sure,
he'd had places before, flats, apartments, hotels, and even houses
during his short, but tumultuous life. A home however was something-different
altogether. It wasn't an actual building, it was a feeling. It
was something you couldn't feel in any other place but that one.
LA was his home, he realized that now and it wasn't because of
the apartment he had lived in in LA, that he could take or leave.
It was because of her.
She had made him feel as if he belonged there, even though he
knew he didn't. So many things and people had gotten in their
way to try to keep them apart but neither of them had stopped
trying. Sometimes though, he wondered whether he had been trying
harder than she had. After all, it had been she who had broken
it off; it had been she who was so afraid to take things one
step further. That wasn't entirely her fault either to her credit.
It wasn't as if he hadn't given her ample reason to mistrust
him or his intentions.
That was the purpose of this trip. His only regret was not telling
her that he'd gone. It was her greatest fear that he would just
up and disappear and here he went and did exactly that. But what
was he thinking? Here he was feeling guilty when she was probably
in Mexico living it up with that other guy.... What was his name?
Oh, it didn't matter. What mattered was getting off this plane
and getting to work. As it was, he already feared he might have
lost her.
No, he wouldn't think like that. Losing her was not something
he was ready to contemplate. He'd had, and lost many women before,
but this time it was different. If he lost her now, he'd be losing
someone incredibly important. He'd be losing someone he loved.
That was a funny word, love. It was also one he never thought
he'd use. He had always thought himself immune to that particular
emotion...too much of a loner to ever commit himself that seriously
to one woman. She made it easy though. She made it possible for
him to love. He wasn't even sure how she'd done it. Somehow,
she'd gotten into his heart and caused him to care more deeply
than he ever had for anyone before.
Sometimes he felt he should regret succumbing to her. He couldn't
though. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't for the
life of him manage to regret falling in love. There were too
many good feelings that came with it. Sure, he'd become more
vulnerable with his heart than he'd ever allowed himself before
but it was a risk he was more than willing to take. He was sick
of waiting for her to tell him she was ready. He wasn't even
sure she ever would be ready until she knew what she needed to
know from him. Maybe even he wouldn't be ready until he knew
either. Hence the unannounced trip.
He sighed again and jumped slightly when the flight attendant
tapped him softly on the arm. Turning, he saw her smile flirtatiously
at him causing him to force a rather fake smile in return.
"We've landed." She informed him. He then thanked her
as he reached up to the overhead compartment to grab his carry-on.
The flight attendant stood there, watching as he did so.
"Would you like something?" He finally asked her, too
weary from the flight and the emotional exhaustion to be his
usual charming self.
"Oh no, I just wanted to thank you for flying with us Mr.-"
"Pierson." He informed her, figuring that if he was
going to start over again, he might as well go full circle to
the name it all started with. "Ben Pierson and it was a
wonderful flight."
She stood there for a few minutes, obviously hoping for some
more encouragement in her attempts at flirting with the mysterious
stranger. When he said no more, she smiled and moved out of his
way as he stepped off the flight.
"OK Laura," he murmured softly to himself. "It's
time to find out who I am."
****
"What do you mean he's gone?" Mildred exclaimed incredulously.
"The head of the agency just can't up and leave Ms. Holt,
what are we going to do?"
Laura sighed and ran a hand through her somewhat unkempt hair.
Telling Mildred that Mr. Steele had taken off hadn't been easy.
As it was, she'd been up the entire previous night, alternating
between fits of tears and red-hot anger towards him. She just
couldn't seem to decide whether she was angry with him for leaving-
or just plain heartbroken. At the moment, she was exhausted and
really not up to explanations. However, Mildred was a valuable
part of the agency and in Laura's opinion it was high time she
knew who was the real brains of the operation.
"We're not going to do anything Mildred." Laura replied
calmly. "The plan is simply to carry on without him."
"Have you lost your marbles completely?" Mildred exclaimed.
"Miss Holt, I know you must be upset, but I have a feeling
there's something you're not telling me...there has to be! We
can't continue working for Remington Steele Investigations without
a Remington Steele it just wouldn't..."
"I'm Remington Steele Mildred." Laura interrupted impatiently.
"Well, sort of." Mildred blinked slightly not comprehending
what Laura was attempting to say, which was understandable.
"Alright, I'll bite." Mildred said with a sigh, as
she sat down at her desk. "What are you talking about? The
last time I checked, you were Laura Holt and our missing boss
was Remington Steele."
"Our 'missing boss' is nothing more than a con-man Mildred.
Remington Steele is a fabrication. I created him."
"I'm still not following Miss Holt."
Laura sighed.
"OK Mildred, bear with me. I always loved excitement, so
I studied and apprenticed and put my name on an office, but absolutely
no one knocked down my door. A female private investigator seemed
so...feminine. So I invented a superior. A decidedly masculine
superior. I got the name Remington from a typewriter and Steele
from the Pittsburgh Steelers...and it worked Mildred! As soon
as I created a male figure head, clients came out of the woodwork!"
"So how does he fit in?" Mildred interrupted. "Better
yet, who is he?"
"I'm getting to that." Laura replied with a grim smile
on her face. "It all started with a really important client
wanting to actually meet Remington Steele. At the time, the agency
consisted of me, my partner Murphy and our secretary Bernice.
Usually we just passed up any clients who insisted on meeting
the man, but the Royal Lavulite case was simply too good for
publicity. Then, a man claiming to be a special agent introduced
himself as Ben Pierson. In case you're wondering Mildred, that
would be our illustrious Mr. Steele. He's a thief Mildred. He's
used a hundred different names and committed who knows how many
felonies! He found out the agency's secret and before I knew
it, he had assumed Remington Steele's identity."
"So let me get this strait." Mildred said, looking
slightly shocked. "You're saying he's not really Remington
Steele, but a common thief?"
"Oh not common Mildred." Laura replied, recalling one
of the first things he'd said to her when she had first accused
him of being a thief. "He's an artist."
"Artist or not, who the hell is he?" Mildred exclaimed,
getting upset.
"To be perfectly honest, I don't know." Laura admitted
with a defeated sigh. "I'm not even sure he does. Anyway,
when the agency lost its license, I told him that maybe we needed
some time apart. When I went to his apartment last night, he'd
cleared out all his clothes and personal belongings. He's gone,
and I don't think he'll be coming back."
"Well then we have to find him!" Mildred cried, suddenly
re-energized. "You can't just let him go like that!"
"Why not?" Laura exclaimed in return. "It seems
like what he wants. If he doesn't want to stay, I'm sure as hell
not going to force him. I've done it before without him and I'll
do it again."
"How?" Mildred questioned. "In case you haven't
realized Miss Holt, he's become a regular fixture around these
parts."
"I don't know." Laura replied, getting more and more
agitated by the moment. All she wanted was to stop thinking about
how empty her life would be without him. Why did she always have
to be the one to pull away? "I'll think of something."
"You can't just give up on him honey." Mildred said,
a little softer this time. "Fraud or not, whoever he is,
he cares about you."
"Yea right." Was Laura's sarcastic reply. "Cares
so much he up and leaves the minute things get a little rough."
"You told him to!" Mildred countered.
"But I didn't expect him to listen!" Laura yelled back,
on the verge of tears. "Look, I can't deal with this right
now, OK? If Mr. Steele wants to return, then he will. I'm sure
as hell not going to chase him all over the world though. I don't
need him that much."
"Who are you trying to fool Miss Holt?" Mildred questioned
gently. "Me, or yourself?" Laura turned away from Mildred
and towards the door in an attempt to hide the solitary tear
that slid down her cheek. Damn him for doing this to her! Damn
herself for reacting this way! Not even Wilson's departure had
been this painful.
Suddenly, Laura found herself being pulled into a warm embrace,
by a pair of arms that seemed very familiar, yet foreign at the
same time. When she pulled away, the man spoke.
"He left didn't he?"
"Murphy!" Laura exclaimed in surprise. "What are
you doing here?"
"Well, I stopped by your house and found it wasn't there.
What happened?"
"Job related mishap." Was Laura's swift reply. "I
live in a loft close by now. I meant what are you doing in the
city?"
"I'm on a case here in LA and I thought I'd drop by. You
look upset." Tipping her chin up to meet his eyes, Murphy
spoke gently. "He's gone isn't he?"
Laura turned to Mildred, ignoring his question.
"Mildred, this is Murphy Micheals, my former partner."
"Pleased to meet you." Mildred said politely, curious
as to how this was going to unfold.
"Likewise." He returned brusquely. "Now Laura,
don't change the subject. Did he leave you or not?"
Laura's gaze traveled down to the floor then up to meet Murphy's
concerned gaze.
"Yes." She admitted softly.
"When?" He questioned.
"Last night." Laura replied. "How could you possibly
know?"
"Lucky guess?"
"Try again." She countered. Murphy sighed.
"OK, after seeing your house was gone, I thought...well,
I assumed..." he trailed off, looking slightly embarrassed.
"Well I thought that you two had maybe gotten married or
moved in together or something. I then went to his apartment
and snuck in. I opened the door just a crack to the bedroom and
when I saw you crying and the closets and drawers empty, well
let's just say I could guess the rest. I knew you were upset,
so I let myself out and decided to visit you today."
"Thanks Murph." Laura told him gratefully. "But
I'm OK. Mildred and I are both OK."
"The hell you are!" Murphy burst out. Laura looked
at him in surprise. "Sorry, I know it's none of my business
now, but without him you're in serious trouble and I don't want
to see you lose everything you've worked for. You have to ask
yourself seriously now Laura. What are you going to do next?"
Looking at Murphy, the full weight of the situation closed down
on her. Lowering her head into her hands, her response was a
muffled whisper.
"I don't know Murph. I just don't know."
To Be Continued...
(Feedback appreciated!)
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