"What are you talking about?" she asked.

He opened the bottom desk drawer again and pulled out a stack of blank legal pads, then reached back into the drawer and pulled out two passports, which he tossed onto the desk.

She walked slowly toward the desk, looking at the passports like they might attack her. "I think I'd prefer it if you had a porn stash."

"I've never felt safe unless I know there's a way out. I've had too many close calls, too many reasons to run on a moment's notice. I know how fast fortunes can turn. So I sleep better at night knowing I have these. I normally keep them in my apartment, of course. I brought them here yesterday not knowing how the situation with Immigration was going to play out. Being deported was a possibility, but there was also the possibility of criminal charges if they found out that Remington Steele isn't really Remington Steele. So this was plan B."

She didn't move.

"Aren't you going to look at them?"

After a deep, shaky breath, she said, "Why should I? I know what they are."

He tossed the top one to her. "Open it."

For a long moment, she looked at him. Finally, she opened the passport. "Joseph Barrett? I don't think I know that one."

"Tokyo Joe..."

"...Warner Brothers, 1949," she finished quietly as she closed the passport.

She stared at the cover of the passport in her hands. "I wouldn't have even known what name to look for. At least when you left last time, I knew what aliases you would use." After a minute, she gestured at the one still on the desk. "So, what movie is that one from?"

"Also Tokyo Joe."

"You mean you got a passport in the name of a character not played by Humphrey Bogart? That's not like you."

He tossed her the second passport, and after hesitating for a moment, she opened it. Her picture was inside.

"Katrina Barrett?" Taking another step closer to the desk, she asked, "When did you get these?"

"Shortly after we got back from England. From the same source as the five I had when I met you."

"But...why?"

"Laura, I think that's pretty clear. I needed to know that if things went badly...if a case got too dangerous, or if my past caught up with me...I could get away without leaving a trail. And...well, I know it's a lot to assume, but I needed to know that you could go, too, if it came to that. If you chose to. Because, you see, I realized that no matter how uncomfortable things got here, I wasn't going to leave you unless you asked me to. So the single passport wouldn't be of much use. And...I sleep better this way."

Holding a passport in each hand, she moved over to one of the chairs in front of the desk and dropped into it. For a long time, she looked at the blue covers. Finally she said, "You realize that I could have stumbled across these in that drawer? You didn't hide them very well."

"No, I didn't. I think part of me wanted you to find them. It would have forced me to tell you everything. Everything that I've been too much of a bloody coward to tell you on my own." He cleared his throat. "I'm in love with you, Laura, and I have been for a long time now. I'm not going anywhere without you if I can help it."

Rising, she placed the passports on the desk and moved slowly around it to stand in front of him, not speaking.

"Are you angry? I know it's presumptuous of me, and it's yet another illegality that I've dragged you into..."

She shook her head as she ran her thumb across his lips, then said softly, "I'm not angry. In fact, I'd say as commitments go, this beats the hell out of bridesmaids and flowers and sugar-coated almonds." She moved closer to press against him. He put one arm around her waist and moved his other hand into her hair, cradling her head against his chest. They stood and held each other for several minutes.

He started kissing her face--her forehead, eyelids, cheeks. She let out a single dry sob and clutched at him, kissing him hard. Open-mouthed, they kissed as if they couldn't get enough of each other's taste. He ground his hips into her and she pushed back, her fingers digging into his waist. She moved her mouth to his earlobe and bit down. He groaned and said, "Laura, unless you want to help me christen this desk, I suggest we get out of here." He held her hands together, and pulled away a few inches. They looked at each other, both breathing hard.

She smiled, and as their breathing slowed a bit, she said, "So let's go." She started to lead him toward the door, but Steele stopped suddenly and stepped back to the desk. "Ah-- don't want to forget these." He tucked the passports in his jacket pocket and picked up the rings.

"The Peppler rings? I'd forgotten about those."

"Yes, well, I thought they would do for the moment. I have something a bit more distinctive in mind, but that will take some time. In fact, there's a jeweler friend of mine near Limerick who is quite an artist, and I'd like to pay him a visit while we're in the neighborhood."

He turned back to her, took her left hand, and held the woman's ring at the tip of her finger. "Yes?"

She nodded, and he slid the ring onto her finger before kissing her hand.

She took the man's ring from him and, in the same fashion, paused and asked, "Yes?"

As he nodded, she placed it on his finger, then kissed his hand as he had hers.

They held hands and looked at each other for a long moment, then smiled.

He cleared his throat. "At the risk of sounding trite...your place or mine?"

"Would you mind staying at the loft tonight?"

"I was actually hoping you'd say that. I've a few fantasies involving that place that I'd like to..." He hesitated. "I don't mean that we have to do anything tonight...you don't have to feel obligated..."

She placed her hand firmly on his chest. "Okay...you may not know this about me, but I don't actually have any trouble saying 'no.'"

He grinned.

Grinning back at him, she continued, "If I'm not in the mood, or if I don't enjoy something, I'll tell you, and you should do likewise. You can't suddenly stop making lewd suggestions now that I might actually agree. That's just not fair."

He nodded with mock seriousness. "True enough."

She took his hand and once again began leading him toward the door. "Now, after we take care of your plans for the loft, I have a few ideas about what we can do in the Auburn...."

Author's note: Some ideas in this story are taken from various other fanfiction stories-- I know I read the "how many shoes" question somewhere, and also the "Laura's fake passport" idea somewhere else. I read these long before I had any intention of writing fanfiction myself, and I really can't remember where I saw them. So, whoever the originators of these ideas are, I thank you. Also, the Barretts of Tokyo Joe did not have a particularly happy marriage, but I liked the names and wanted the passport names to be those of a husband and wife in a Bogart movie.