a RS/SMK/B5 crossover

DISCLAIMER, et al...see Part 1

 "Lee, who's Delana?"  Laura leaned against the counter, crossing her arms.  He
had never mentioned anyone with that name and Lee usually told her everything about whomever
he happened to be seeing at a given time.  Since this Delana had obviously meant alot to him
and since Lee told her everything, Laura was slightly hurt, but the anguish on his face
stopped up her own feelings.
 "Who is she?"
 Lee let out a short, pained sigh.  "She was everything.  She--she was the most
beautiful woman I have ever seen."
 Laura hopped on the counter, listening intently.  "But you've never mentioned her."
 "Hurt too much."  Lee shrugged.  "Remember when I left the country for a few months
last year?"
 Laura nodded.
 Running a hand through his hair, Lee continued.  "Well, I was on a mission in
Eastern Europe.  My contact was supposed to be this gypsy woman.  Laura, I was expecting
some old woman wearing a babushka for a contact."  Lee's voice gained a hoarse longing Laura
had never heard before.  "Instead, I met this tiny, fragile-looking thing with the most
incredible green eyes."
 Laura smiled.  Rarely had she seen Lee so open with his emotions.  "So she was pretty?"
 He shook his head slowly.  "Pretty doesn't even cover it.  She--I've---got a picture
right here."  Lee slowly pulled out his wallet, an unsteady grip on a glossy photograph.
Laura gave a gasp.  Obviously the photo had been taken during the mission;  and there was
Lee, his arms wrapped around the most striking woman Laura had ever seen.  She took the photo
from him.  "Delana?"
 Lee nodded, his eyes strangely glassy.  Laura stared at the photo once more.  Delana
was---ethereal.  It was the only word Laura could think of to describe the woman.  Creamy
skin and long, dark hair.  A gentle smile.  Laura could see she was small and delicate,
fairie-like.  Her eyes /were/ beautiful.  Large and green, the color of an ocean.  Her
gaze seemed to pierce through to Laura's heart.  "She has the most soulful eyes."
 Lee smiled, taking the photo back with an almost reverent air.  "Funny you should
say that.  Delana was spiritual.  Y'know?  Believing there's a reason for everything."
 Laura nodded, intrigued by the story and the woman behind it.  Lee sat down, rubbing
his eyes wearily, willing away the burning pain in his gut.  "It's funny Laura.  The first
time I met Delana, it was like---"  He stared in wonder, remembering.  "Like I knew her; like
I'd always known her."
 Laura raised her eyebrow slightly at that one.  Lee believed in God and all that,
but that was about as far as his belief in the unknown went.  Destiny and all that, Lee
didn't believe in any of it.  <Does he?>
 Lee was lost in his grief.  "I told her that after our first night together."  He
looked up at Laura.  She was stunned into amazement.  He was actually crying!
 "Delana laughed and said it was because we were soulmates, something about our
souls knowing each other over many lifetimes."
 She sat next to him, suddenly wanting to meet the woman who had managed to touch
Lee so deeply.  Few people ever made it into his heart, save for herself and a few others.
 "What did you say?"
 Lee shook his head, laughing softly.  "What could I say?  I wanted to laugh, but she
was so serious, and I guess," he suddenly looked sheepish.  "I guess I wanted to believe her."
 "Lee!  C'mon!  That's just alot of superstitions and ghost stories."
 He shook his head.  "Maybe.  But I could almost feel her soul."
 "How did she die?  What does St. John have to do with it?"
 Lee's voice grew hard.  "The government's been after him for three years.  They
finally let us get a crack at him last year.  Delana and I had put together a plan to do
a run off with him."
 "You mean have Delana play the double agent."
 "Yeah.  It would have been the perfect set-up.  He didn't know who she was."  He
shuddered, willing away Delana's screams of terror.
 Laura put a steadying hand on his shoulder.  "Lee, what happened?"
 He took a deep breath, trying to focus, trying to calm himself with some of the
meditative exercises Delana had taught him.  "Caleb St. John had never met Delana, so she
acted as the runner, convincing him she could get information and knew an American agent
who wanted out and needed cash."
 Laura eyed him.  "Meaning you."
 "The one and only."
 "Sounds simple enough to pull off.  What happened?"
 "Well, Delana and I had a contact between us and St. John.  Some sneak named Calano."
 "American?"
 "Yep.  Hired by the Agency.  Anyway, Delana did the whole routine, telling St. John
prices for information, setting up the place for transaction, you name it."
 Saying nothing, Laura listened intently.  Lee continued.
 "Well, Calano, we didn't know it at the time, but he was a plant.  St. John had paid
him to be a contact."
 Something clicked in the back of Laura's mind.  "Do you realize what you're saying?
The Agency sets up contact.  You told me that.  If the Agency set up Calano as a contact and
this guy St. John was paying him to spy on you and Delana, St. John is working with a leak in
the Agency."
 Lee nodded, choking on his own tears, the guilt he had kept hidden for so long finally
breaking through the walls in a tidal surge.  "I didn't know.  They didn't tell me---St. John
was an ex-agent.  He knew who I was---"
 He was fighting to keep control of the anger and pain he had bottled up for the good
part of a year.  This was the Lee only Laura knew about, the one who could and did love deeply,
and the man who had loved and lost too often in his life...first his parents, then a partner
he had only called Dorothy, and this woman, whose death seemed to take a part of his soul.
For a second, Laura almost believed in soulmates.
 She probed a little deeper, forcing him to clean out the wound.  "Who was the leak, Lee?"
 He shrugged, his hazel eyes bright with unshed tears.  "Someone named Markel.  Real
high up.  Turns out he was also the one who dropped the tip about St. John."
 "St. John was paying Markel to keep him informed about our activities, including our
foreign operatives."
 "Lee, if he dropped the tip about St. John and he still let him know you were coming---
that doesn't make any sense."  A flash of insight hit Laura.  "Unless Markel was playing the
Agency and Caleb St. John off each other."
 Lee's head snapped up, the anger and pain ripping through his voice.  "St. John
apparently found out Markel had tipped the Agency off about him.  He had the bastard killed
a day later, but not before Markel told him about my mission.  The sonofabitch knew about
my meeting with Delana before it even happened!"
 Laura was starting to get the picture.  "Markel got greedy and St. John found out
about it."
 Nodding, Lee continued.  "St. John found out everything.  He set us up by inisiting
on the transaction drop off point and had Delana meet him in an abandoned warehouse.  I
followed."
 The television was blaring.  Instant replays were moving all over the screen.  Lee
stared without seeing any of it.  His voice was so low, Laura had to strain to hear.
 "St. John came walking out.  It looked like everything had gone down fine.  Delana
was just about to walk out when he yelled my name and hit his watch.  The warehouse went
skyhigh.  My God Laura, I heard her screams and I could do nothing!"  His head was buried
in his hands.  What he had heard was one thing, but Laura couldn't even begin to imagine
the images Lee was seeing every time he closed his eyes.
 "Lee, I am so sorry."  She hugged him, wishing she could do anything to stop the
horrible pain of one of her best friends.  She remebered St. John's eyes.  Cold and lifeless.
Shark's eyes.  This guy had killed an innocent woman and, more importantly, hurt Lee Stetson.
 Lee pulled away from her, standing up and grabbing the phone.
 "What are you doing?"
 He stared at her.  "I'm placing a call into Billy.  So help me, I'm taking St. John
down.  It ends here."
 "Let me help."
 He slammed the phone down on its receiver.  "Not a chance in hell!"
 "Lee!"
 "This guy's dangerous Laura!  He murdered Delana, I will not let him near you!"
 "Lee, I know this area.  Please, let me help you.  Consider it payback for helping
lock Descoine up the first time."
 Lee stared at the young woman.  Remington Steele would never know what he was missing
if he kept letting jealousy get to him.  Laura wasn't Delana, no one ever would be; but she
had the smartest head on her shoulders of anyone he had ever known.  Squelching his doubts,
he nodded.  "Alright, but we do it my way; and no one can know."  Something occurred to him.
"What about Steele?"
 Laura's brown eyes bored straight into his, her anger at Steele's distrust rekindling.
"What about him?"
 Lee smiled recklessly, nodding in agreement.

     ***

 Remington once again marched up those stairs.  Damn the witch, she was going to give
him answers, right here, right now.  If he had to shake Laura to tell him what was between
her and Stetson, he would.  He raised his hand to knock, before he heard yelling.  Stetson
was yelling something about not letting him near Laura.  He raised an eyebrow, putting his
ear against the door.  His jaw hardened as he heard the next part of the conversation.
    /What about Steele?/
    /What about him?/
 He closed his eyes, pushing the pain behind the anger.  Suddenly, he hated Laura.
Hated her coldness and her damn games.  Never would he have thought she would play two men
against each other.  Daniel's words echoed in his ears.  /My boy, you always have a place
here./
 Remington smirked dangerously.  He would take Daniel up on that offer...but not
before he found out what his sweet pretty Laura was hiding about Lee Stetson...and what she
was hiding from him.
 

heheheheheh.....TBC!

     ***

 Remington walked into the office.  Mildred was there already, working furiously over
her computer and drinking her coffee with relish.  Laura's door was shut.  That meant she
wasn't here.  Remington didn't know if that was good or bad.  "Morning, Mildred."
 The portly old woman looked up from her screen.  "Mornin' Boss."
 He titled his head towards Laura's office.  "Rather odd that Miss Holt isn't here
yet, wouldn't you say?"
 Mildred didn't miss the underlying anger in his voice.  She wasn't sure he was going
to like her next bit of news either.  "Uhhh...Boss, Laura called about fifteen minutes ago.
She's not coming in today.  Something about her and that Stetson guy have plans."
 His blue eyes narrowed.  /Plans, indeed.  What sort of plans would those be that you
can't tell me, eh Laura?/
 "Well, that's Miss Holt's business then.  Have you found the information I asked for,
luv?"
 She handed him the file.  "Boss, there really isn't too much in there.  Name's Lee
Stetson.  He has one living relative, a colonel in the Army.  He works in D.C. for International
Federal Films, a documentary film company.  Born May 15, 1950.  Other than that, there's not
too much to tell.  Sorry."
 "Hmmm..."  Remington looked over her work.  "Thank you Mildred.  I'll be in my office."
 He turned to walk off.  Mildred looked at him in uneasy curiousity.  Something was
rotten in Denmark, that's for sure; and she'd bet her bottom dollar that it involved Lee
Stetson and Laura.
 A tall, well-dressed gentlemen walked in.  "Hello, I'm here to see Remington Steele."
 Mildred looked at the appointment book.  No one was scheduled this morning.  Still...
She tapped her intercom.  "Boss, there's a gentleman here to see you.  A Mister--"
 "Dearborn."
 "Dearborn."
 Mr. Steele's voice came through the intercom.  "Send him in Mildred."
 Mildred walked around her desk, leading Mr. Dearborn to Mr. Steele's office.  "Here
you are, sir."
 Remington stood up.  "Tyler.  A pleasure, as always."
 Tyler Dearborn shook his offered hand.  "Same here."
 Mildred closed the door behind her.  She hadn't seen this much intrigue even in the
IRS fraud squaud.

     ***

 "Make yourself comfortable Tyler."  Remington poured them both tumblers of scotch.
"Thanks for doing this for me."
 "I owe you, mate."  Tyler's Australian accent now came out loud and clear.  "You a
detective.  Mate, I've heard of new identities, but this beats all."
 Remington chuckled.  "We do what we must, or need I remind you of Mr. Hart, the
princepal of the Murran School?"
 "I was merely hiding low for a while, thank you."
 They both burst into laughter at that one.  Remington finally got to the heart of the
matter.  "Did you find out anything?"
 Tyler stared at him.  "What did your secretary find out?"
 Steele told him what little Mildred had managed to dig up.  Dearborn shook his head.
 "All a pack of lies, though no fault of your secretary's."
 "Why?"
 The conman sat back in his chair.  "Mate, your lady friend has quite a few secrets
of her own."
 "Concerning Stetson?"
 Tyler nodded.
 "Spill it."
 "There is a Lee Stetson.  That is his real name; but he doesn't work for a film
company.  IFF is just a coverup for the Agency.  They're the US governement's favorite
group to do covert operations.  He works under the codename Scarecrow."
 Steele almost sent his scotch across the room.  "Do you mean to tell me Laura could
possibly be unknowingly involved with a spy?"
 Dearborn shot him a look.  "Irish, if she is involved with Lee Stetson, there's no
unknowingly about it.  Trust me, your little lady friend knows exactly what he is."
 "How do they know each other?"
 "She wasn't lying when she said they're pratically family.  See, I did some checking
into her background too, given what you told me."
 Remington was more than a bit intrigued.  Laura tended to be as unwilling to talk
about her life as he was, so this could prove to be a bit interesting.  "Go on."
 Tyler leaned forward.  "Turns out Laura Holt's father was Captain John Lee Holt
 of the United States Army.  He was a career military officer, so your little
girlfriend is a bonafide army brat."
 That didn't jibe with what Laura had told him.  "But she says she grew up in Los
Angeles."
 Dearborn nodded.  "She did.  Seems the mum wasn't too keen on having to move around
all the time, so they stayed here while he went off on assignments."
 Remington sat back.  "You say Laura's father was named John Lee Holt.  Would Lee
Stetson be named after him?"
 "The same.  See, turns out Holt, Stetson's father, and his uncle were all part of
the same platoon during World War II.  Holt was also Stetson's godfather."
 Steele suddenly felt horrible.  Laura hadn't been leading him on a merry dance.  She
and Lee Stetson were practically family.  "And?"
 His friend suddenly looked uncomfortable.  "Kinda sad really.  Stetson's parents
were killed when he was six, so he went to live with his uncle as an army brat.  See, his
parents were involved in the same type of covert operations he does now."  Tyler shrugged.
 "From what I know, apparently his parents would visit the Holts every summer.  After
they were killed, the uncle would send him out here for the entire summer.  So Laura's not
lying when she says they grew up together."
 Remington stared at him.  Tyler didn't look away.  "Would you like to hear the rest?
Rather an interesting story."
 He nodded.  Tyler shook his head in wonderment.  "Well, Holt went through World War
II and Korea.  Apparently he saw some bad things there, because from what I could find out,
the Vet doctors have a file on him this thick," he held up two fingers, "on nightmares he
had been having."
 Steele was held in rapt attention.  Laura had never wanted to talk about her father's
abrupt departure, so it was odd to finally hear it from a third party.  Tyler went on.
 "Well, the Army sent Holt to Vietnam in 1967.  Laura Holt was eleven.  From what
the Army knows, he was captured by the Vietcong and held in the Hanoi Hilton, tortured and
starved."
 Remington's eyes widened in disgust and sympathy for Laura's father and Laura.
Tyler's eyes mirrored his own as he continued.  "He managed to escape and work his way back
to the U.S. side.  They shipped him home.  The Army retired him after that.  From what
various sources say, he started drinking and leaving home for various lengths of time.
Finally, in 1972, he took off for good.  Nobody's seen him since."
 Remington didn't know quite what to say to that.  He had always wondered what the
story was, but had felt it was not his place to question Laura, particularly when he had no
desire to blurt out his own past.  He tried to veer back on track.  "What does this have
to do with Lee Stetson?"
 Tyler took another sip of his scotch.  "From what my source said, he's helped Laura
out a few times and she helped him out once or twice.  I've also found out they keep in
contact frequently, calling each other for major holidays and such."  At Remington's look,
he grinned.  "I checked phone records."
 Remington chuckled at his friend's knack for leaving no stone unturned.  "What else?"
 Dearborn suddenly became serious.  "I found this out.  Lee Stetson was on a mission
last year to bring in an arms dealer by the name of Caleb St. John.  The United States has
been trying to get him for about ten years but can never pin anything on him.  Anyway, last
year, Stetson almost got him with the help of an Eastern European contact, a woman.  Apparently
she and Stetson became involved, though that's also speculation.  Anyway, St. John tricked
them and she was killed.  Stetson watched the whole thing."
 His head was spinning.  "Tyler, what the bloody hell does this have to do with Lee
Stetson and Laura?"
 Tyler's mouth hardened.  "Caleb St. John is in town, Irish.  He knows Stetson's here,
he knows where he's staying, and he knows who Stetson is hanging around with.  Irish, this
guy wants Stetson dead, and he's not going to worry about possibly taking out an innocent
woman."
 Remington's stomach twisted in pain.  "Oh God, Laura."

       ***