Chapter Text
Harry popped into the Steele household later that afternoon. “Hi sis,” he greeted his younger sister Olivia with a peck on the cheek as he came into the large kitchen where she sat reading and munching on an apple.
“Oh hi Harry –welcome to the fun house,” she replied dryly as she rolled her eyes. In reply to his questioning look she said “Dad & Mickey just had a huge fight. I thought Mom and I were supposed to be the hormonal ones,” she explained wryly.
A concerned look crossed her older brother’s face. “What were they fighting about?” he asked. “Mom & Dad just got a call from our school principal to say Mickey’s been suspended for fighting. And the report card he brought home last week wasn’t the best either. I guess it just snowballed,” she told him.
“Where are they?” Harry inquired. With that his step mother Laura came into the kitchen rubbing her forehead in consternation.
”Your father took off in the Auburn to go for a drive to cool down a bit & Mickey’s gone for a surf to cool down as well I guess. I’ve just tried calling your father but he’s not answering his phone. I know he’s really angry when he storms off like that to cool down” Laura shook her head, remembering another time years ago, when she and Remington had had a huge fight and he’d stormed out of the office. ”They butt heads sometimes those two guys of mine – too alike I think,” she said ruefully as Harry nodded in agreement. As much as he was like their father, he knew his younger brother was even more so. “I don’t know what’s got into Mickey lately though,” she sighed a little despairingly.
“He’s sixteen Laura – I remember myself at that age. You’ve got a lot going on at sixteen and I suppose sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming,” Harry stated perceptively. At 34 he was not too old to remember his own teenage years and couldn’t quite believe how quick the years had gone by since then. He was now a married father of two young children and a successful detective, having joined the ‘family business’ almost ten years before. “Do you want me to try & talk to him?” he offered.
Laura nodded gratefully. “If you could, that would be wonderful Harry. Maybe he’ll listen to his big brother more than he’ll listen to his Dad or me.” Harry nodded and gave his stepmother a peck on the cheek.
“I can’t guarantee he will but I’ll give it a try. “
He found his younger brother sitting on the beach behind the house, his surfboard next to him, staring out at the ocean, a frown clouding his features that apart from the eye colour were so similar to his own. By his wet hair he could tell he’d been in the water already. “Catch any good waves Mick?” he asked as he came & sat down next to him. Mickey momentarily glanced at his older brother then focused his gaze back on the water. “A couple,” he replied non-committedly. He wasn’t really in the mood for talking. Harry waited patiently, not pressing him, but when his younger brother remained silent Harry decided to bite the bullet. “Ah.. Liv said you & Dad had a fight.”
At this Mickey blew out a frustrated breath and shook his head ruefully. ”So do you want to have a ‘talk’ to me too now?” he threw at him angrily. “See if you can fix the Steele family screwup?” he added. “I don’t need a lecture if that’s why you’re here Harry – I’ve already had one from Dad thanks.”
At this Harry looked at him, a little shocked. “I’m not here to give you a lecture Mickey. And you’re not a screwup – why would you say that mate?”
Mickey laughed ruefully. “Dad thinks I am. Why can’t you be more like your brother and sister?” he said a little bitterly, repeating his father’s earlier words to him, said in the heat of the moment.
“Mickey I’m sure he doesn’t think that..” Harry went to argue but his brother cut him off angrily.
“What would you know Mr Harvard Law? How can I live up to that? Or Liv, the ‘musical genius’?” he exploded. Harry bit back his own heated retort, knowing his younger brother didn’t really mean that and he was just blowing off steam and unfortunately Harry was in the firing line. Instead he just stared at him.
Mickey instantly regretted his harsh words. ”Sorry bro you didn’t deserve that,” he muttered in shame.
“It’s okay. Look I know you’re upset, but you don’t have to live up to anyone Mickey,” Harry replied.
At this Mickey shook his head and picked up a handful of sand and threw it in frustration. “Sometimes it sucks to have the ‘great Remington Steele’ for a father – he’s so bloody perfect. That’s a hell of a shadow to try and get out from under,” he stated.
Harry smiled ruefully. “Try having two famous parents,” he retorted, referring not only to their father but also his mother, Kate Kelly, who was a famous rock star. “I mean I know your Mum is pretty well known in her own right these days too but I’ve had to live with two pretty big shadows most of my life, so I hear you little brother. But Dad is far from perfect Mick and he’d be the first to admit it. Tell me, how much do you know about Dad’s past, I mean before he met your Mum?”
At this Mickey turned and looked at his older brother. “Not a lot – bits & pieces mostly. I know he wasn’t always a detective,” he replied.
“No he wasn’t,” Harry stated with a wry smile. “I don’t know the full story myself, only he can tell you that, but I know a bit. I know before he met your Mum he well.. how shall we say, didn’t exactly tread the straight and narrow.”
At this, Mickey looked shocked. “You mean.. Dad was a criminal?”
Harry hesitated for a moment. “In a manner of speaking, yes. But I don’t think he had a lot of choice really. See he didn’t have the easiest start to life and that’s putting it mildly. I remember when I first met him and he told me he was my Dad – I was a few years younger than you are now. He told me a story about his life, not all of it things he was proud of. Maybe you should ask him to tell you that story too,” Harry suggested gently. “I think that’s why he’s so big on us all getting a good education because he never got the chance to have one himself. But I guess at the end of the day little brother you’ve got to figure out what you want to do with your life.”
“So what did you get into a fight about at school anyway?” Harry asked him.
“It doesn’t matter,” Mickey replied hurriedly as he focused his gaze on the sand.
“Yes it does Mickey – c’mon you can tell me,” Harry coaxed him.
“Okay, okay. I was in the boys’ locker room after baseball practice and I heard this guy who’s in Olivia’s grade mouthing off about her. I think he’d asked her out but the guy’s a jerk so she turned him down so he was spreading rumours about her. I guess I saw red – no one talks about my sister like that!” Mickey stated loyally. “So I confronted him and told him to shut his mouth. He said ‘make me’ ..so I did,” he added matter-of-factly.
Harry smiled at him and patted him on the back. “Well good on you little brother - I would have done the same thing,” he said to him. Harry was also very protective of his little sister. “In fact the guy’s probably lucky Liv didn’t hear what he said about her - I think she would have popped him one too,” Harry laughed as did Mickey, both of them knowing full well of the temper their sister possessed.
“So did you tell Dad that was why you were fighting?” Harry then asked.
Mickey shook his head. “I did try to but he was too busy yelling at me,” he replied.
“Well maybe you should try again once he’s calmed down a bit – somehow I think he’ll understand.”
“Hey thanks Harry - I appreciate it. You really get me you know?” Mickey said to his older brother.
“Well we do have half our DNA in common squirt,” Harry replied as he affectionately ruffled his younger brother’s hair.
“Hey who you calling squirt? I’m as tall as you are now. And I’m still growing,” Mickey replied with a cheeky grin that was so reminiscent of his brother’s & father’s as his brother laughed and grinned back at him.