Steele Untitled pt 3/?
Date: Tuesday, February 12, 2002
Sinead O'Byrne <SteeleaScarecrow@hotmail.com>

OK, finished this part sooner than expected! Since all of you felt sorry for our favorite blue-eyed, ebony-haired hero and the relationship problem he
just experienced, here's the road to recovery, aka the road not traveled by!
ENJOY!
Sinead

************
Permission to archive

Rated M-15 for strong language.

I gasped. Loudly. He was crying now, not all-out sobbing, but there were
tears running down his cheeks. "Harry, easy man, take a seat. " I said,
watching as his shoulders gave a small shudder as he paced the room. He took
my advice, at sat down, a small sob raking his body. "Now, I want you to go
into that bedroom, and try crying yourself to sleep. It has two good things.
One, you can get a good bit of sleep. Two, you always feel better after a
good cry." I said getting up.

"Wh-where are you going?" He asked me, sounding rather much like a small
child.

"To talk to Laura." He composed himself to give me a look.

"You're-you're not going to do anything to her." He said. It wasn't a
question, but an order.

"Relax, Harry. I'm not going to do anything but talk to her."

"If anything happens-"

"Relax Harry. Best advice, sit and cry, and sleep. Now follow it!"

"OK, just don't do anything you or I'd regret."

"OK, now I'll be back, if it isn't too late when I finish with Laura." I
grabbed my purse and walked out the door.
As I sped across LA, the only thing I wanted to do was tear Laura limb from
limb for hurting Harry. But I'd promised him I wouldn't hurt her, and it
would take something big for me to break that promise. I pulled up in front
of the apartment building, and double checked the address. This was it. I
quickly ascended the stairs, taking them two at a time. I could see why
Harry hated them so much. They were rather steep. But I was too upset over
the sight I'd seen at Harry's house to think about that. I pounded on the
door.

"Go away." I heard a muffled voice reply.

"No. I'm gonna stand her pounding on the door and waiting for an
explanation. All night if I have to." I said, making sure to get my point
across. I heard footsteps across the floor, then the sound of the latch on
the door being pulled back until I was face-to-face with Laura.

"What are you doing here?" She asked me, matter of factly.

"I'm here to ask you a question."

"He sent you, didn't he?"

"If by *he* you mean Harry, no. I came here because I want to know one
thing."

"What?" She asked curtly.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why'd you turn him down?" She paused for a minute, hesitant.

"I'm not ready for that kind of commitment."

"I'm Not ready for that kind of commitment." I mimicked. "You, who NEEDED a
commitment from Harry are now saying that you're not ready for it!"

"Now I'm not so sure that that's what I wanted."

"Let me tell you something Miss Holt. Harry once told me that the thing you
fear most is waking up and finding him gone. Well, you've just given him
absolutely no reason whatsoever to stay. I wouldn't be surprised if he was
packing his bags right now."

"He wouldn't" I could tell it was more to reassure himself than to prove me
wrong.

"He did once, why wouldn't he again?"

"He went to find his past to offer me it, and besides he came back didn't
he?"

"What if you didn't follow him, hmm? He'd probably still be in England, back
to staying with Daniel, running cons. I know Harry better than you do. If he
sets out to find something, he'd rather run than come back empty-handed. But
even if he is running, he'll still try and get it. They'll be throwing
snowballs in hell before he gives something up! He still is looking for who
he is, just not that actively. He's using his connections back in London and
Ireland."

"He wouldn't leave again, otherwise he'd be searching himself."

"The only reason why he isn't out there now is because you don't WANT him to
go out someplace again. Take one look at him. Beyond the damn fancy suits,
the bloody Auburn, behind the fucking facade that he built up as Remington
Steele. You know what you'll find? A man deeply in love with you. That love
is the only thing that bloody keeps him here. You showed him just now that
his love is not returned. He's not gonna fucking stay here, not after
tonight. Maybe, just maybe, if he'll take my advice, he'll at least stick
the hell around until tomorrow morning. But I don't know about that." I all
but shouted at her, fighting a losing battle to keep my voice at a
reasonable decibel level. I looked at Laura, she was stunned speechless at
my tirade. "Tell me, Miss Holt, how the hell did you feel when Wilson left
you?" She gave me a look like 'how did you know about that?' but still after
a second or two of thought, she answered.

"I-it felt like my heart had been torn into a million tiny pieces, and if I
ever saw the bastard again, I'd kill him."

"You didn't kill him when you saw him again, though did you?"

"No, you're right, I didn't. The urge to throttle him had waned slightly.
OK, maybe more than slightly. Waned almost completely away."

"Now, try and imagine the feeling of your heart breaking into a billion tiny
pieces. That you were hurt so badly that if you saw him again, instead of
killing him, you'd kill yourself to stop yourself from facing rejection.
That's probably how Harry feels. You've cut him deeper than any damn knife
could. You've cut right through his heart, minced it, then stuck it in
again. If he isn't packing, or even if he is, he's crying. HE'S FUCKING
CRYING! I have only seen Harry cry once before, and that was because I had
just beaten him shitless because I found him reading my diary. And he told
me that he cried but one other bloody time. And you know why he was crying?
Because he thought you were fucking dead with that whole bullet-proof blazer
thing. You've affected him more than anyone else. You've affected him more
than Daniel even! He might cry if something happened to Daniel, well, more
than might, probably. But he'd move on, knowing that no matter what he did,
he damn well wouldn't be able to bring Daniel back. If something happened to
you, he'd be beside himself with grief. Now, it's 11 at night on a Friday. I
suggest that you hope that he doesn't leave, airports can be VERY bloody
busy on weekends." I said, ending my speech just as strongly as I had
started it. I turned on my heel and left, with Laura standing in the middle
of her living room, pale and speechless. I heard her collapse onto a chair
as I closed the large metal door behind me.

I drove back to Harry's apartment, and found a bottle of Jack Daniel's out
on his table. "Harry, looking at your problems through the bottom of a glass
only magnifies them. But I suppose once wouldn't hurt." I said softly, as a
walked into the bedroom. I found him passed out on top of the blanket. I
rummaged through the dresser drawer where I had seen pajama's, until I came
across a pair. I hoisted him up enough to change him out of the suit that
was growing smaller around the middle. "Haven't been to the gym recently,
have you?" I muttered to him with a small smile as I laid his
still-unconscious form back onto the bed, and covered him with the blanket,
like I'd done more times than I'd care to remember when I found him passed
out at a pub. Daniel still doesn't know how much Harry can drink. I looked
at my watch. Just barely 11:30. "Well then, he did say that Friday was
bowling night, hopefully she's still up." I said, walking out to my car
again, this time heading for the address that I knew was Mildred's.

I pulled up in front of the very nice ranch house, gathered my courage, and
rang the doorbell. "Who is it?" I heard her ask.

"Tabitha Blaine." Might as well tell the truth. I waited as she flung the
door open, still in her Dragon Ladies uniform.

"What're you doing here this time of night?" She asked me, then her gaze
softened as she looked at me. "You look pretty much worse for the wear, take
a seat." She said, gesturing to the couch.

"Thanks a lot. It's been a rough night. Which is exactly why I'm here."

"Why not go to Mr. Steele?"

"Because it's his problem." I said, easing back into the couch.

"You lost me. If it's his problem, why is it so rough on you?"

"How much do you know about the romance between those two?"

"Mr. Steele and Miss Holt? Only that those two are smitten with each other
and refuse to admit it."

"You mean Laura refuses to admit it."

"Well, Mr. Steele can be a little hesitant about their relationship, but
you're right, Miss Holt is a lot more reserved about it than he is."

"Mildred, tell me, would you say that Laura loves Harry?" I noticed her
hesitation immediately. I wished I had my tape recorder with me.

"Well, yes, but she just has a funny way of showing it. You can see it when
Mr. Steele is around her, how much she loves to be with him, and when Mr.
Steele attempts to make her jealous, he almost always succeeds, but she also
is very afraid of what might happen next, and doesn't trust him too much."

"Mildred, have you spoken to Harry or Laura recently, like as in the past 6
hours?"

"No? Why? Are they in some kind of trouble?" She asked, suddenly attentive.

"In a way, they're both in trouble, but not really. The thing that IS in
trouble is their relationship."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Remember how yesterday at lunch I mentioned that I had a question for
Harry?"

"Yes, but you said you forgot it."

"I lied. And that question was the only reason I let Harry behind the wheel
of that Porsche. You see, the day I arrived, Harry let me stay at his
condo."

"I remember, he had me book you a hotel."

"Yes, well, I went to see if I could still search a place the way I used to
be able to, and came across something very interesting in his nightable." I
said, making sure to stop at key points, trying to probe as much information
out of Mildred Krebs, ex-IRS, as possible.

"What?" She asked, eager to hear what I found.

"A ring. An engagement ring."

"Well, what happened?"

"Well, that was my question to Harry, when was he going to give it to her."

"And, when IS he going to give it to her?"

"He was supposed to give it to her tonight."

"And you can't get a hold of him?" She asked, hoping for the best.

"No, you see, that's the problem. I COULD get a hold of him."

"And why is that the problem?"

"She said no." She gasped. Loudly. "I had the same reaction when Harry told
me."

"So why are you here?"

"To make sure a certain peroxide piranha named Felicia didn't have anything
to do with her saying no."

"Felicia knows?"

"Well, she was eavesdropping on my conversation with Danny."

"Danny-as in Daniel Chalmers?"

"One and the same. But Felicia didn't sound too happy that Harry was in love
with someone other than herself. I warned her, but I don't how much of it
actually got through that thick skull of hers. Or if she has enough of a
brain to process what I said. The only reason I'm even somewhat friendly
with her is for Harry, and because she's a damn good tool for finding things
about people. Her ONLY good point is that she's got a body the rest of us
girls would kill for. Too bad it was wasted on her." Mildred seemed to like
me even more, now that I disclosed the fact that I hated Felicia.

"I hate to say it, but I don't think that Felicia had anything to do with
it."

"I was hoping that the blonde bimbo that puts the æass' in massive DID have
something to do with it. I guess Laura's lucky that Harry is currently
passed-out, and doesn't like to fly hung-over."

"He's drunk?" Mildred asked, showing some concern.

"Beyond drunk. I told him I'd stop by his place again after I had a little
chat with Miss Holt, but I walked in to find a bottle of JD out, completely
empty, and him completely wasted. At least he managed to pass out on his
bed. Saved me the effort of lugging him there." This was apparently
something new to Mildred. "You look shocked at this." I pointed out.

"Well, I know the boss has some champagne every now and then, and wine, but
he's never gotten flat-out drunk, much less to the point of passing out, let
alone on Jack Daniel's"

"Ohhhh, you should have seen him back in his youth. You name it, he drank
it. I had my own phone line for a while, because Daniel said I always hogged
the phone. Well you don't wanna know how many times that line rang at
midnight, if it wasn't Harry himself, it was one of his friends, telling me
to come pick him up. Daniel made his point about drinking clear to Harry
from the start. Daniel had this thing about being on the bottle. I'm
guessing he had been on it once, and didn't want anything to happen to
Harry. Or me. Or anyone around him for that matter." I remembered fondly.
Mildred gave a small chuckle.

"It's a shame though. He really does love Miss Holt."

"I know he does. Whenever he called or wrote to me OR Danny, it was Laura
this, Laura that. Do you know what a good detective Laura is? Do you know
what a good detective Laura's taught me to be? He mentions you too. Thinks
of you like a mother. Always there with advice. Always ready to help him
pick himself up, and dust himself off. Though I doubt even YOU can help him
out this time." I could swear Mildred was starting to blush.

"He'll be all right. I know it." Mildred said. Like Laura had done just a
short while ago, it was more to reassure herself than to play psychic and
guess what was going to happen.

"I hate to burst your bubble Miss Krebs, but I know Harry, and he ain't
gonna recover from this. Not fully. No matter what Laura does for him now,
he's not going to trust her completely for a while. Like she didn't trust
him. She's getting it all thrown right back in her face. I wouldn't be
surprised if, and that's IF he stays around, that he and Miss Holt will
have absolutely no extra-office things together. No more dates, no more him
cooking up one of his gourmet creations, no more parties, I doubt if they'll
even go to charity functions together. None of that. For at least a while.
The thing that I really hope doesn't happen is that Harry goes to ground. He
did that once before, NO one could find him for a year, not even Daniel and
I. And even after that, the only way we knew he was alive was because after
a year, he called us." I said almost tearfully.

"You really care about him too, don't you?" She asked.

"Yeah, much as I act like he's an asshole, he and Daniel are the next best
thing to family that I have. And I love them for it. I want what's best for
him, and I think that Laura's the best he could ever have. And, even though
I don't really know Laura, I can tell that she loves him to, weather she
wants to admit it or not, she does." I glanced down at my watch again.
"Holy cow! It's almost 1am! Sorry I've kept you up Miss Krebs, but since
it's obvious that you care about those two, I decided that you should be one
of the first to know. Now there's what, nine hours between here and London?
That would be a decent time in the morning, I have to call Daniel, so I
might as well leave."

"It's all right. Goodbye." She said, escorting me to the door. I drove the
Porsche back to Harry's apartment, to see if he had woken up, and was sober
enough to talk things out. I found him still unconscious, and looked for a
scrap of paper to write down my infamous hangover relief mix. I found one,
and sat down on the couch to write it down. As I sat down, I realized just
how tough of a night I'd had. Deciding that I might as well call Daniel
now, I found the phone on the cocktail table, and dialed the number.
"Daniel?" I asked when he picked up.

"Tabby?"

"Yeah, have you seen Felicia at all over the past day or so, since I last
called."

"Yes, she's sat around, moping. I don't think that she's moved from that
couch."

"You sure?"

"Yes, why?"

"Damn! Mildred was right. Daniel, I need you to do me a favor."

"What was Mildred right about, and what is the favor?"

"If you see Harry, I want you to call me, and, tie him down if you have to,
but ship him back here."

"Why would I have to do that?"

"She turned him down, Danny. That's why."

"SHE WHAT?!" he shouted.

"Turned him down. Flat-out said no. Not even an æI'll think about it.' Just
plain no."

"And you're afraid Harry's going to run."

"He's got nothing keeping him here."

"Where is he now?"

"Passed out on his bed. But, wait-.." I said, an idea forming in my mind.

"What?"

"You said Felicia was there?"

"Yes."

"Put her on for a minute."

"Why?"

"Just do it." I waited for Felicia to pick up the phone.

"What do you want, Tabitha?" She asked me irritatedly.

"I need your help, I'll pay you quite well for it."

"It depends on what you want me to do."

"Help me to get Harry and Laura together." I said. I knew what she was going
to say.

"No!"

"How much do you want? I'll pay you a couple thou to do this."

"What do you want me to do?" The money had caught her attention.

"Very simple. Kidnap harry and say you're going to kill him. That's it."

"And this is going to work how?"

"Because Laura will realize how much Harry means to her. And if it doesn't
work, then you get a free couple thousand bucks." I listened to the silence
on the other end of the line. I could tell that she was struggling to make
up her mind. I didn't blame her, though. After all, she did once love him.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, she responded.

"Why me? Can't you call up one of your old friends and have them kidnap
Harry. After all, you just want the threat of his death overshadowing
things, right?"

"Yes, but that threat seems all the more real if it's someone like you, and
old, jealous lover."

"I'll think about it, but if I do go along, I want at least 15 grand."

"Fifteen! I'll look at other options first."

"Fine by me, but Tabby-"

"Yes?"

"Was he really crying over her?" I could feel the pain in her voice.

"Yes. I almost didn't believe it myself. If I hadn't seen it with my own two
eyes I would've said I was lying, but, there he was, Mr. Macho, sobbing is
eyes out. Until of course he drank himself into a stupor."

"Leave it to Harry to try and wash away his problems with a bottle of Gin."

"Actually, it was Jack Daniel's."

"Whatever. But I'll think about it. But if I were you, I'd start looking for
someone else."

"Oh well, bye." I hung up, shocked. Felicia had actually been civil! I
sighed, and picked up a piece of paper to write my famous hangover relief
recipe down for Harry, then leaned back on the couch. "Just so that I don't
fall asleep driving." I mumbled, before falling asleep.

End Part 3
To Part 4

BACK