Changing Times.
Steele took a bite from Estelle's perfect Victoria sponge and smiled at the happy memories it brought back. The tea tasted better in the Royal Doulton china that Daniel had given her fifteen years before.
"Do you really have to go back tomorrow?" said Estelle.
He nodded. "Yes. Laura expects me back at work on Monday."
"I'll thank you not to use that four-letter word in front of me." said Daniel, "Does she know where you are?"
"Yes, I saw no reason not to tell her. It's not like I'm doing anything wrong."
"Should you want to, I have a few irons in the fire. I mean, you don't want to let those skills get rusty. You'll need them again when this Steele thing is over." said Daniel.
"You'll notice that Laura hasn't called. Before I left, she didn't ask for details. She allows me these little side trips, as she calls them, because she trusts me. She knows I won't mar the impeccable reputation of Remington Steele."
"She does sound like a lovely girl." said Estelle.
"I can't wait for you to meet her, Estelle. You'll love her."
"As you do?" said Daniel.
"Don't be absurd! We're friends. We're good friends. Buddies. Amigos. Partners."
"Partners in crime?" said Daniel.
"Laura's honest."
"Laura who invented Remington Steele?"
"You want me to turn her to the dark side?" said Steele.
"I'd love you to turn her to the dark side. It would be infinitely preferable to losing you to her side of the law."
"Only you would see him getting an honest profession as a disaster." said Estelle.
Daniel leant forward and said quietly, "Harry, you're not Remington Steele."
"No, I'm not." said Steele.
"Sooner or later, you need to come home and be Harry again."
"Daniel," he said gently, "I'm not Harry either. I don't exist. No name, no parents, no real me. I am whatever I pretend to be and I like pretending to be Steele."
"Why be Steele when you can be Harry Chalmers? Is our association ending?"
Steele frowned. "Is that what will happen if I give up our old ways? You always said I could stop any time I wanted."
"Is it what you want?" said Daniel, "Or is it what she wants?"
Estelle patted Daniel's hand and smiled at Steele. "One day, you two will learn to just say, 'I love you.' Stop scaring each other. You've been friends too long for this to threaten it."
Steele looked into Daniel's eyes. "Daniel, I've tended to travel light. There's very little I won't give up without a thought. Right at the top of the list of things I never want to lose is a certain disreputable rogue who taught me everything I know."
"The worst possible companion for the oh-so-honest Mr Steele." said Daniel.
"You fake honest better than any man I know." said Steele, "I know you hate my present profession, but I hope it won't mean we can't be friends. If playing Steele means I can't be Harry anymore, I don't know what I'll do, because since the day we met, you've never let me down and I would never do anything to hurt you. I'm not here to say goodbye. I never want to say goodbye."
Daniel smiled. "Harry, times change and life changes and sometimes a dazzling smile and beautiful eyes can turn any man's life upside down. Whatever you are and whoever you become and whatever unwise entanglements you choose, the promise I made the day we met still stands, and it is not dependent on anything you do or say, or indeed, fail to do or say. I confess, I'm afraid whenever something seems to be leading you away from what we've always known, but honest or sane, single or hobbled, you'll always be Harry to me and we will always be friends."
"He means, 'I love you, Harry.'" said Estelle, "He has a mortal fear of plain speaking."
"So do I," said Steele, "Or I'd tell him what he's meant to me all these years."
"The good Lord preserve us from truth, the law and honest women." said Daniel.
"Amen!" said Steele with a grin.