Steele Dreaming

by Tanya Reed

Disclaimer: I do not own Remington Steele, and I am not making any profit from this story.

------------------------

Laurie Piper's eyes were big and bright as she entered the office of Remington Steele Investigations, following closely on the heels of her Aunt Laura. She grinned at the two women in the receptionist area. One was an elderly, portly lady close to retirement from both of her duties at the office. The younger was someone they had hired to be her assistant so that she would be free to perform detective duties as well as receptionist duties.

"Hello, Mildred. Hello, Delilah."

"Morning, Laurie," Delilah grinned.

Mildred Krebs had a serious look on her face as she said, "Good morning, Miss Piper."

Laurie's grin grew bigger. Miss Piper-it sounded so…professional. It was amazing, so amazing that Laurie almost burst with pride. She could hardly believe that yesterday she had been just an ordinary person and today she had an apprenticeship with the best detective agency in LA. She was now a detective. A detective!--well close anyway.

"Where's Uncle Remington?" she asked.

"I don't know." Laura shrugged, leading her towards a door on the far right. "This will be your office. It used to belong to Murphy Michaels. It hasn't been used in over fifteen years."

Inwardly, Laurie grimaced. She saw herself cleaning out an office filled with dust and stored stuff. Cleaning was not her favorite thing. She guessed that the next thing she'd have to ask her aunt was the direction of the cleaning supplies.

"It's your office. Do you want to go first?" Laura asked, moving out of Laurie's way.

At her words, the smile came back to Laurie's face. Without replying, she moved forward and put her hand on the doorknob. This is it, she thought. My own office. Life really starts now. She hesitated a moment before turning the knob and opening the door just to preserve the anticipation a little longer.

As Laurie opened the door, a look of astonishment went over her face. The room she had expected to be dusty and filled with old junk was spotlessly clean. Someone had newly scrubbed each and every inch, putting up new curtains along with everything else. The desk caught Laurie's attention, and the man sitting behind it threw Laura a grin over the top of Laurie's head. Sitting on the desk were a new datebook, two pens, and a nameplate proudly displaying, 'Laurie Piper'.

"Oh, Aunt Laura!"

"Don't thank me; this was all your uncle's doing. You should have seen him in here yesterday scrubbing and cleaning. He looked positively domesticated."

"Anything for my niece, eh?"

"Don't forget associate," Laura added.

"This is amazing!" Laurie exclaimed.

"I'm glad you think so," Remington told her, getting up. "Now, would you like to try out your new chair?"

"I'd be delighted."

Laurie walked around the desk and sat in the chair her uncle had just left. To Laura, she looked as if she were on top of the world. She watched her niece for a few seconds, then got an idea.

"I'll be right back."

Remington curiously watched her go out of the room and into her office. He turned to Laurie and raised an eyebrow. She shrugged and shook her head, as mystified as he was. Understanding flooded both of their faces as Laura came back in with a gray felt hat in her hands.

"What's a detective without a hat?" she asked, walking over to the desk and holding the hat out to Laurie.

Laurie's brown eyes filled with tears. "Thank-you, Aunt Laura…and thank-you for the nameplate and cleaning Uncle Remington."

Remington wrapped his arm around his wife and said simply, "You're family."

Laura nodded her head in agreement, squeezing her husband to show that she approved of his simple sentiment. He had come a long way from the sensitive man who was afraid to love, and she was so proud of him.