Chapter 7

Remington made it up the stairs to Laura's loft painfully slow, lacking the usual bounce in his steps. He'd managed to stop the bleeding from the head-wound, although aside from that he still looked disheveled. Which wasn't the main reason he was getting more and more worked up with each flight of stairs.

The fact that Quinby had gotten the drop on him and subsequently disappearing wasn't even the reason behind his current annoyance. When finally reaching the door to Laura's loft, he leaned into the buzzer until she abruptly opened the door with a irritated look on her face.

"All right already!" she exclaimed, stopping dead in her tracks when she noticed the dried blood and swelling on Remington's temple. "Good Lord! What happened to you?"

"Oh, I just had a little run-in with our dear Mr. Quinby," Remington muttered as Laura stepped aside to let him in.

He slowly made his way over to the couch, lowering himself onto it with a loud grunt. Laura pulled the door shut, making sure to lock it before turning around to face Remington.

"What?"

"Yes, the whole thing involved a chase into a dark alley, some witty banter back and forth before the man socked me in the head with a pipe!"

"Well, you certainly had a far more eventful day than I did," Laura said as she headed into the bathroom, hurrying back with supplies to clean up the wound.

"Speaking of which," Remington said as Laura sat down on the couch next to him and started gently cleaning his wound. "After I regained consciousness, I called your office by you didn't answer. Which then led me to swing by the agency and apparently you'd gone home for the day."

"Yeah, there really wasn't much to do so I decided to head home early," Laura murmured as she focused on cleaning the wound, a sympathetic look in her eyes.

"Right. Which is why I called the loft. Several times."

"Oh, I decided to go for a run," Laura said. "I guess I forgot to check the machine when I got back."

"I thought we decided on meeting up at the agency before heading back together?"

"Since I didn't know when you'd be back, I didn't see any harm in leaving by myself."

"Except that there's a deranged man out to kill us, which means we should really stick together."

"Need I remind you that I'm a grown woman perfectly capable of taking care of herself?"

"Right, because God forbid you'd actually accept help from someone who is concerned for your safety."

"If you got something to say, then out with it," Laura said as she stopped what she was doing.

"Gladly! The things is, that despite the circumstances, you're still hell-bent on doing everything your way. Damn be the consequences!" Remington exclaimed, no longer able to keep his temper in check. Laura was briefly taken aback by his sudden outburst before her own anger flared up.

"Oh, you're one to talk! Not only did you leave the country when things got tough, but it's because of you that Quinby is after the both of us! I was finally perfectly fine on my own, doing things my way, until you decided to come back and mess everything up!" she shouted and quickly got up off the couch.

"Just how long do you plan on holding that over my head, Laura? Trust me, I know just how badly I mucked things up when I left! Did you ever consider that one of the reasons I left was because you forgot that I wasn't actually Remington Steele and therefore never would live up to your expectations?"

"So you're saying it was my fault that you left? I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since you always did blame me for your own shortcomings!"

"Shortcomings that you always were eager to point out! The main one being that I didn't live up to the image of Remington Steele you've created in your head! Meaning that any man will always fall short, no matter how hard they try!"

"Don't make what happened my fault just because I know what I want in a man!"

"That's just it, Laura, you don't! You've never been able to decide between your Remington Steele and me, which means I've never really known your true feelings because you're always holding back."

"Really? So after all these years, you're still questioning how I feel about you?"

"It would seem that we're both questioning one's feelings for the other."

"So where does that leave us?"

"I wish I knew."

They both stared at each other in silence before Laura finally exhaled heavily and sat back down on the couch next to Remington, resuming cleaning of the wound.

"I suppose there's no point in dwelling on the past," she murmured after a while. "What's done is done. Arguing about it won't change anything. We might as well accept it and move on, for both our sakes."

"Move on from the past or from each other?" Remington asked in a gentle tone of voice as he turned his head to look at Laura.

She momentarily stopped what she was doing and the silence stretched on as they gazed into each other's eyes, but this time it didn't give off a sense of unease.

"Honestly? I'm not entirely sure. What I do know is that I'm tired of being angry all the time."

"Speaking from experience, anger can be all-consuming and doesn't do anybody any good in the end. In fact, it has a tendency to be a distraction."

"Distraction from what?"

"From what you're really feeling."

"I guess you're right," Laura said as she finished off cleaning the wound before covering it with a Band-Aid. "But it's easier said than done to let go of all that anger."

"True. And considering everything I've put you through, along with our current predicament, I certainly don't blame you. But if that anger is keeping you from living your life, I think it's in your best interest to let go and move on," Remington said and slowly reached out to gently tuck a strand of hair behind Laura's ear, his hand lingering momentarily which made Laura's insides tingle.

She'd never realized how much she'd missed his touch until that moment and for the first time in a long time, everything felt right.

"Once Quinby has been apprehended, how about we take some time to ourselves, hmm?" Remington asked with a tentative smile.

Just as Laura opened her mouth to reply, they were interrupted by a loud knock at the door.

"Hold that thought," Laura said as she reluctantly got up off the couch and headed for the door with a smile tugging at her lips.

The smile and newfound feeling of relief however quickly dissipated when Laura opened the door, involuntarily gasping when finding herself staring down the barrel of a gun.

During all her years working as a private investigator, Laura had surely had more than her fair share of life-and-death experiences. She'd even lost track at how many times someone had pointed a loaded gun at her, but that didn't mean that each time wasn't equally terrifying.

As Jonathan Quinby's menacing face slowly came into focus, Laura realized this could very well be the most terrifying moment yet in her life.

"I must say, Miss Holt, you have indeed given me a run for my money. Literally. You do enjoy going on those runs of yours. And how clever of you to suddenly change your route, just in case," Quinby said with a smirk, momentarily glancing over at Remington still seated on the couch. "And here I thought we would have some time together alone before your knight in shining armor came to the rescue. Oh well, the important thing is that we're all here now."

Quinby gestured for Laura to back up as he slowly stepped inside the loft, closing the door behind him without lowering the gun.

"Please, have a seat, Miss Holt," Quinby said and Laura walked back over to the couch, slowly sitting down next to Remington again.

She maintained steady eye contact with Quinby the entire time, making sure she focused on him rather than the gun.

"So what's the plan, Quinby? Whatever it is, you honestly think the police won't put two and two together considering you've already been identified as our stalker?" Remington said, barely resisting the urge to beat Quinby senseless. "Not to mention the involvement in your wife's murder."

"If the police were any good at their job, I would've been apprehended years ago. You see, Steele, I wasn't completely honest with dear Elizabeth about my real identity and she didn't take to the news kindly," Quinby said matter of factly as he took a seat in one of the chairs across from the couch.

"So I'm guessing her friendship with Mr. Steele wasn't what got her killed?" Laura asked.

"Not in the way you think, Miss Holt," Quinby said, leaning back in the chair. "Truth be told, I'm not really the jealous type and I didn't actually care for Elizabeth as much as I did her money. But her friendship with Steele did pose a problem, since she made his acquaintance after learning of my secret. So, in order to cover my tracks, I had to get rid of both Elizabeth and Steele."

"But I left the country before you managed to carry out your plan," Remington confirmed.

"Which I naturally took as a sign that you knew the truth about me and so I had no other choice than to follow. And that eventually led me straight to the lovely Miss Holt here," Quinby said with a smirk. "After doing a little research, I found out about her occupation and former connection to you, Steele. It seems that you used to be a somewhat famous private detective and I can't have the likes of you two walking around with the possible information that could land me behind bars."

"Whatever it is you think Elizabeth told me, you're wrong. She was obviously unhappy in her marriage but never mentioned anything about any secret identities. I honestly barely knew her, so there's really no reason to do what you're about to do," Remington said, glancing sideways at Laura. "Or at the very least, let Miss Holt go. She plays no part in any of this."

"How chivalrous of you, Steele, but I'm afraid it's a little late for that," Quinby said. "Apart from the police, I'm pretty certain you haven't discussed me with anyone else, so once I've gotten rid of you two I should be in the clear. Free to disappear as I've done in the past and become somebody else entirely. Which I have a feeling you know a little something about, Steele."

"What are you talking about?" Remington asked, managing to appear dumbfounded by Quinby's allegation while Laura tensed up.

Nobody had raised any questions regarding Remington Steele's past in years and the last thing they needed was for someone like Jonathan Quinby to uncover the truth.

"Oh, I just find it very interesting that your past appears to be as obscure as mine, Steele. I mean, when you befriended Elizabeth you went by another name than Remington Steele. Which got me wondering why you would use an alias unless you got something to hide," Quinby said.

"Look, Quinby, you do realize that you'll be a wanted man by both British and American authorities if you go through with, right?" Laura blurted out, hoping to distract Quinby. "Which means that you'll always looking over your shoulder and never knowing whom to trust or when your luck runs out."

"Miss Holt, do you honestly think you'll be able to convince me to give up and turn myself in? I've been a highly wanted man for years at this point and none of the agencies have even gotten to close to capturing me, so why in God's name would I suddenly surrender now?" Quinby said with a chuckle. "I might be a sucker for a pretty face but I'm not stupid. So I'm just gonna go ahead and stick to my original plan, with a few minor adjustments."

Remington and Laura glanced at each other, both realizing that there was no reasoning with Quinby and that they needed to act fast before he could carry out whatever he had planned.

"You're awfully quiet, Steele," Quinby said, gesturing with the gun as he spoke. "No quip remark this time? I do so enjoy some witty banter, especially at times such as this."

"Give me a minute and I'll gladly come up with one," Remington said as he carefully leaned forward until he was on the edge of his seat, stealing a quick glance at the things strewn across the coffee table.

"Actually, I do have a question," Laura said, earning herself Quinby's attention and that was all the distraction Remington needed to make his move.

He threw some magazines up in the air towards Quinby, hindering his line of sight and providing Remington with an opening to overpower him. He knocked the gun out of Quinby's hand and managed to throw the first punch before Quinby reacted.

The chair tumbled backwards as the two of them proceeded to engage in a heated fistfight. Laura scrambled to pick up the gun and turned back to find Quinby lying unconscious on the floor with Steele on top of him, catching his breath as he struggled to get back on his feet.

"Are you okay?" Laura asked worriedly as she gave Remington a quick once-over to check for any obvious injuries.

"Oh, I'm fine, nothing a little–"

Before he could finish the sentence, Laura abruptly threw her arms around him in a tight hug. Remington was slightly taken aback at first before wrapping his arms around her, savoring the moment.

"Does this mean I'm forgiven?" Remington murmured jokingly.

"It means I'm happy you're alive," Laura whispered.

"Well then, that makes two of us."

Following Jonathan Quinby's arrest by the police, Laura and Remington spent several hours at the station giving their statements before finally able to go back to the loft and clean up the mess left behind by the altercation with Quinby.

Despite the excitement of the previous night, Laura still decided to head into work the next morning while Remington remained at the apartment.

Trying to keep himself occupied while waiting for Laura proved even harder than he'd thought, especially since he wasn't sure what the next step would be.

The main reason for Remington's return was redemption and he still wasn't sure if he'd redeemed himself yet, since they'd been sidetracked by a deranged stalker who wanted them both dead. With that situation resolved, it was time to settle things with Laura once and for all.

"I see you've had a busy day," Laura said jokingly as she entered the loft, closing the door behind her.

"Well, you know me," Remington said as he turned a page in the newspaper. "Always with the need to stay busy and up to date with the happenings."

"Dog shows?" Laura asked with a curious look as she stole a quick glance at the newspaper before putting down a cardboard box on the counter and taking off her blazer.

"Oh, you'd be surprised at what takes place at these events. They're apparently quite cut-throat."

"Here I thought nothing could surprise me anymore."

"I was thinking the same thing," Remington said and looked up from the newspaper, noticing the box. "Am I to assume things didn't go as planned with Mr. Sterling?"

"Actually, it did. He was very understanding and impressed with how we both handled the whole Quinby situation. He was also pretty sad to see us both go, seeing as how you apparently turned down his generous offer, but he accepted my resignation nonetheless."

"Resignation?" Remington repeated, unable to hide the look of bewilderment on his face.

"It's something I've considered for quite some time now and with everything that's transpired this past week, I realized there's no time like the present," Laura said with a shrug and Remington slowly folded up the newspaper, leaning slightly forward on the stool as he studied her in silence for a moment.

"Does this mean you're no longer a private detective?" he finally asked.

"It does not. But after running my own agency, being employed just wasn't the same and the assigned cases didn't exactly pose any real challenge. This week showed me a lot of things, one of them being that I missed the excitement of solving cases that actually matter."

"And was that all that you missed?"

"Amongst other things," Laura said with a teasing smile. "Anyways, I'd say we've earned ourselves a celebratory drink, don't you?"

"Ah, excellent suggestion!" Remington exclaimed and practically bounced off of the stool. "Might I suggest scotch?"

"You've certainly developed a sudden fondness for it," Laura said as she watched Remington put out the bottle and two glasses on the counter in front of her.

"Well, recent events led me to discover a new-found appreciation," he said with excitement as he handed Laura a glass of whiskey. "And like you said, we've earned it."

"Can't argue with that," Laura said as she accepted the glass and they both maintained eye contact with each other while taking simultaneous sips of the whiskey.

"I must say, this stuff is starting to really grow on me," Remington said with a quick glance at the bottle on the counter before he moved closer to Laura. "Now, you never did answer my question."

"Ah, you noticed that, didn't you?" Laura said, her voice down to almost a whisper as they inched closer. "Well, I guess I didn't think you needed me to state the obvious. Which is that what I've missed the most... is you. Whether I've realized it or not, you've been the missing piece that makes everything feel right again after all this time."

"I couldn't have said it better myself," Remington said in a tender voice, momentarily caught off guard when Laura suddenly leaned in and kissed him.

"So... does this mean I'm forgiven?" Remington asked tentatively as Laura slowly pulled away.

"It means we're getting there," she smiled. "That is, if you're up to the challenge?"

"Always," Remington murmured, returning her smile.

"Excellent. And who knows what else the future might hold?"

"Whatever it may be, I have a feeling we'll have a grand time finding out, Miss Holt."

"My thoughts exactly, Mr. Steele."

- THE END -