Sammy and Ilna, I'm running out of ways to say how amazing you are and how proud I am of what we've created here. Your talent, kindness and strength are an inspiration.

REAL McRollers, thank you for the undying support of the REAL World and your love and respect for Steve and Catherine. We promise, they'll ALWAYS be safe with us.

Not a Hair

Steve and Catherine listened as Joan explained, in great detail, about her visit to the library.

"'Punzel booful hair. Me eat cheese, Unca Teeve. BINK milk, Ann Caf!"

Mary laughed, "That translates to 'we read Rapunzel and the snack was Strawberry milk and string cheese.'"

When Joan waved at the Skype screen and blew kisses, Catherine smiled and 'caught' them, blowing a kiss in return. "Kisses, Sweetie."

"Tiss, Ann Caf. Tiss, Unca Teeve."

When Steve leaned over to kiss Catherine's cheek, Joan clapped and laughed. "Tiss!" She wrapped her little arms around Mary's neck and kissed her. "Tiss, Mama!"

Catherine's phone vibrated on the coffee table, and she glanced at Steve. It was the second call from Grace in as many minutes. "I'm just gonna see what Grace wants. Excuse me, Mary."

"GWACE!" Joan squealed at hearing the name. "See Gwace!"

As Steve said, "Gracie's not here, she's home in her house, Joanie. Gracie called Auntie Cath on the phone ..." Catherine stepped away to take the call.

"Grace? Is something wrong?"

"Auntie Cath, thank God!" Grace let out a breath. "We need your help with something."

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm okay. It's ..." Catherine heard a second voice say, 'Who are you telling?' and Grace answer, "My Auntie Catherine. She'll know what to do!"

"Grace?" she prodded. She could tell by her niece's tone that whatever the situation was, it wasn't dangerous. But she needed to determine what was going on that Grace thought she could fix.

"Oh, sorry, we have a ... hair emergency."

Catherine relaxed. "What happened?"

"Linda dyed her hair with Kool Aid and it's supposed to wash out with toothpaste but it's not, and we used two whole tubes and there's the dress code and Grandma Josie is gonna be upset and ..." Grace took a breath. "Can you come over?"

"Okay, first, let's take a deep breath. Are you at Linda's?"

"No, she's at my house. Grandma Josie went on an overnight trip with the church. Can you come?"

"Text me a picture, and I'll be there in half an hour. Don't do anything else to her hair until I get there."

"Okay." Catherine heard the tension dissipate a bit. "We won't. Auntie Cath?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. See you in a little while."

She ended the call and checked the texted image from Grace. Linda's natural red hair was purple from below her shoulders to where it fell to her waist.

Returning to her seat beside Steve, Catherine leaned into the Skype frame. "Mary, I need to run to Danny's so I'm gonna say good night."

"What? What's wrong with Gracie?" Steve's posture stiffened.

"She's fine. She and Linda are having a hair situation." Catherine held her phone up so Mary and then Steve could see the image.

"Kool Aid?" Mary grinned, and Catherine nodded.

"Kool Aid? How did she get that much Kool Aid in her hair?" Steve glanced between Catherine and his sister's face on the screen. "Wait, she did it on purpose?"

Mary laughed, "Yes, on purpose. You're talking to the queen of Kool Aid dye jobs, big brother. Once I did a rainbow thing." She looked at Joan, who was slumped against her, about to nod off. "I gotta get Sleeping Beauty tucked in."

The little girl's eyes popped open when her mother shifted.

"See Ann Caf Unca Teeve, Mama."

Catherine waved. "Here we are, Sweetie."

"They're right there." Mary pointed to the laptop. "Say bye bye."

"No." Joan shook her head. "Ann Caf. Unca Teeve. Come me house."

"Not tonight, pumpkin." Mary kissed her daughter's cheek. "We'll visit again soon, but right now it's time for little girls to go to sleep."

"Unca Teeve? Come me house? Ann Caf?"

Catherine saw Steve's eyes soften. "We'll come as soon as we can, okay, Joanie? We love you."

"Now?" Joan said sleepily as Mary stood and said, "Not now, Baby," and the adults said goodbye.

"Good luck with the hair, Cath," Mary added. "Love you guys."

Catherine and Steve exchanged a look when Joan murmured, "Love ooh Unca Teeve, Ann Caf."

Catherine stood. "I gotta go help the girls."

"Cath?"

Her hand lingered on his cheek after she kissed him goodbye, and she nodded. "Look into flights while I'm gone."

Steve's smile was contagious as he said, "On it. Call me when you get a minute, let me know Gracie's okay?"

Danny and Grace Williams' Home

Grace flung open the door before Catherine could ring the bell. "Hurry!" She grabbed her hand and started for her room.

"Wait, Grace, wait. Sweetie, where's your dad?"

"He's next door, he'll be right back." Grace looked guilty.

"What's he doing next door?"

"Borrowing more toothpaste. We kinda used all of ours on Linda's hair."

"Ahh." She knew Danny wouldn't leave Grace and Linda for long, especially if the girls were upset. "Alright. Lead the way, let's see what we can do."

Entering Grace's room, Catherine saw Linda with her head wrapped in a large towel. "Hey Linda."

"Hi, Lieutenant Rollins, thanks for coming to help." The girl's voice was almost despondent. "Granny's gonna kill me."

"No, she's not." Catherine smiled encouragingly. "Maybe a little grounding?"

"I really thought it would come out. That's what Nikki and Ululani said."

"So what did we learn, girls?"

"Don't believe everything you hear." Grace said and Linda nodded.

"Exactly. So, you tried toothpaste?"

"Lots of it. It got lighter but look." She unwound the towel.

"Yeah. That's … purple." Catherine turned at the familiar voice calling her name.

"Catherine?" Danny entered the room holding a tube of Crest toothpaste. "Thanks, Cath. Think you can get that out?"

Catherine smiled. "No problem, and we're gonna try right now. Kitchen, ladies." She pointed and the girls followed like new recruits with Grace's dog bringing up the rear.

"What's in the bag?" Grace seemed to notice the CVS bag In her aunt's hand for the first time.

Catherine explained as she unpacked each item. "Prell." She removed a bottle of dishwasher-liquid green shampoo. "It's mostly detergent." Next she took out olive oil, "Because you washed your hair with toothpaste and that's really drying and oil removes makeup and wax, so we're gonna give this a shot." She turned towards Danny. "Can I have an old pot, and a big bowl please?"

"You can have anything you need. Grace, get Auntie Catherine whatever she wants."

Grace pulled out a large pot and a bowl as instructed and set them on the kitchen table. "What are we gonna do?"

"We're going to warm up the oil, mix it with a little water and have Linda soak her hair. I looked up the chemical composition of Kool Aid, the oil should adhere to the molecules and lift it out. Okay, Hon?"

Linda nodded, and minutes later she was sitting in a kitchen chair while Catherine applied the oil to her hair and set the ends to soak in the bowl. Both girls startled slightly when Catherine's phone buzzed. "Oh, I thought it was mine and it was my Grandma. I wanna tell her it came out before I tell her I did it, ya know?" She looked sheepish, and Catherine grinned.

"I get it. C'mon, let's do this. "Danny, grab my phone?" Her hands were covered in oil.

"Williams' hair salon, hairdresser Rollins' assistant," Danny joked to make the girls smile. It worked on Catherine.

"Danny? How's Gracie? Is she still upset?" Steve's voice came over the line, and his partner put him on speaker.

"It's Uncle Steve making sure you're okay."

"I'm okay, Uncle Steve. Auntie Cath is soaking Linda in oil. Well, soaking her hair."

"Hey," Catherine called in the general direction of the phone. "We just started."

"The dye's only from her shoulders down, right?"

"Yeah." Grace confirmed.

"So if it doesn't come out, you can cut it?"

Linda gasped, and Catherine and Grace said "Steve!" and "Uncle Steve!" simultaneously.

"What? It'll be longer than plebe cuts." He referenced the mandatory hair length of females at the Academy.

"Steve. No." Catherine shook her head in amusement. He was genuinely trying to offer what he thought was the most logical solution. "We're gonna fix this."

"Auntie Cath will fix it," Grace said knowingly to Linda. "I know it."

Steve agreed. "I have every confidence she will.

"Okay, I'm going back to work now," Catherine said. "We'll call you when we're done. Did you look into flights?"

"I did. Talk to you later. Bye, Danny, Bye girls."

A chorus of "byes" accompanied the end of the call. And Danny said he'd go wait in the living room with the dog to get out of the way.

"You can stay, Danno." Grace grinned.

"Nah, us guys will give you room to work. C'mon, Scout."

Forty-five minutes and two shampoos later, Linda was towel drying her hair. "It's lots better, Linda," Grace announced.

"Yeah, but it's not totally my real color. Think I can hide it in a braid?" She looked at Catherine with pleading eyes.

"We're not done yet, ladies. I have a last trick up my sleeve." Catherine grinned. "Run grab the bag off my passenger seat," she told Grace, who took off at a trot.

Linda sat back down in the chair until Grace returned.

Catherine pulled a box of semi permanent dye of of the bag. Then another, then two more.

"Wow."

"We wanna match it as close as possible," she explained. "So I bought what I thought were the closest shades."

"I'll give you money for all the stuff, Lieutenant …"

"Shhh, I'll return what we don't use. C'mon. Let's do a strand test." She held up a box. "I think this is the best match. We'll use semi permanent so as it washes out in six to twelve shampoos. So will the rest of the Kool Aid."

Linda looked at Catherine. "You're really, really smart."

"Thanks, Hon. Don't look so worried."

"You've done this before?" Grace looked on curiously.

"I never told you about the time Carrie dyed her hair, and we had to dye it back?" Catherine tore open the box and began to mix the dye. "A month before graduation."

"No!" the girls gasped together.

"Yes." Catherine smiled. "She was going for subtle strawberry blonde." She winked. "You know who Lucille Ball is? From I Love Lucy?"

Linda's hands flew to her mouth. "Oh my God! Yes. I watch with Grandma. Her hair was really red, right?"

"Right." Catherine laughed. "We were first years at the Naval Academy. That means we were seniors."

Grace explained, "The years are backwards there, Linda. Fourth years are freshmen, right Auntie Cath?"

"Right." Catherine grinned thinking Steve would be so proud Grace could rattle that off. "So, I came in from physical training in hand-to-hand combat and I think I've lost it and am in the wrong room, because there's a strange girl standing with her back to me. But it's not a stranger. It's Carrie, with bright red, bordering on orange, hair."

Flashback

Bancroft Hall

US Naval Academy

Catherine's hand covered her mouth as she gasped her best friend's name, "Carrie!"

"Catherine!" Carrie turned and her eyes were huge. "Look at this mess!" She held up a chin-length strand of bright red hair. "What the hell am I gonna do? I'm … this color … shit … I'm screwed."

"No. No, we'll fix it." Catherine tossed her duffel in the general direction of her bunk. "What the hell, Car, why didn't you wait for me?"

"I figured it was easy. The box said subtle color, wash and go."

Catherine checked her watch. "I have time to get to town and back before lights out. How much cash do we have? I have about forty dollars."

"I have fifty-two. Carrie grabbed bills from her drawer and thrust them at Catherine. "Go. I love you. Thanks, Cath."

"We'll fix it before reveille." Catherine dashed out the door.

Present

"Oh no! Did you make it to the store?" Grace's eyes were huge.

"Just about. Carrie couldn't go outside, her hair color was against regs ... regulations ... so I ran and got something called color correct and some blonde dye."

"Then what happened?" Linda breathed. "Did it work?"

Flashback

Bancroft Hall

Catherine was panting when she returned. "Caught last ... bus ... back."

Carrie hugged her. "I called my mom. She said we need to strip the color first ..."

Catherine nodded, "That's what the lady at the drugstore said. I got these." She pulled the packages from the bag.

"Let's do this. Make me look less like a clown, please."

An hour later, Carrie was once again sporting regulation-approved hair and smiling at Catherine as she toweled it dry. "You are the awesomest awesome that ever awesomed."

Catherine took a little bow. "Why thank you. It's a little more gold than your natural color, but it won't show as it grows out."

"It's great. It's regulation. I'm not dismissed before commissioning ... " She looked at the clock. "And we have twenty three minutes till lights out."

"Car?" Catherine climbed into her bunk, pad in hand to write a letter to Steve.

"Yeah?"

"Salon next time, okay?"

Carrie held up a hand, "Salon. Promise." She nodded at the pad. "Tell McGarrett I said hi."

Present

"Remind me next time you're at our house," Catherine said. "I definitely have a picture somewhere."

"But your friend Carrie has really pretty hair. Why'd she wanna dye it?" Linda asked.

"Because everyone wants what they don't have, Honey. Just like everyone thinks your hair is gorgeous."

Linda smiled, "Thank you. Thanks for helping, too."

Catherine checked her watch. "Okay, That's twenty minutes. Let's wash and see how it looks."

"I have the cleanest hair in the world," Linda mumbled from under the faucet as Catherine added conditioner.

"Hey, how's it going in here?" Danny poked his head in.

"Done!" Grace said as Catherine helped Linda towel dry her hair.

"Ohhhh Linda, it's gone!" Grace clapped and bounced in place.

"Really?!" Linda squealed. "Lemme see!" Both girls ran for Grace's room. "It's gone!" She twirled in front of the mirror and pulled her hair over her shoulder to check.

When Catherine and Danny entered, Linda rushed to hug her. "Thank you! Thank you!" she chanted. "Thanks for helping, Detective Williams. And for all the toothpaste and not freaking."

"Hey, I know when to call for backup." He looked from Linda to Catherine and back. "I grew up with two sisters."

"Linda, Hon, don't wash it for a couple of days. Stay out of the water till the color really sets, too, okay?"

"Okay, I'll be careful. Thanks again, so much." She caught Catherine in another hug and turned to Grace. "Remember when I first met your aunt and uncle? You said she was super smart and your family could fix anything."

Grace grinned proudly. "It's true."

"Totally."

"Ladies?" Danny smiled, "It's getting late. Make sure the kitchen is reasonably clean and get ready for bed. I'll take Scout outside."

"Okay." Grace nodded.

"I'm gonna get home," Catherine said. "Get some sleep, girls. Danny, I'll let myself out."

"Night, Auntie Cath, love you." Grace hugged her. "You're the best."

Catherine dropped a kiss on her head. "No more playing around with color without talking to an adult, please?"

"Got it." Grace nodded.

"Totally got it." Linda agreed.

"Cmon Cath, Scout and I will walk you to the car." Danny pointed to the girls. "Kitchen and bed. I'll be back in ten."

Catherine unlocked the door and greeted Cammie with a hug. "C'mon, baby, upstairs."

Entering the bedroom, she didn't turn on the lights. Walking softly as she deposited her purse on the dresser, she smiled when she heard Steve roll in her direction.

"Hey." He switched on the bedside lamp.

Catherine approached the bed. "You were half asleep when I called."

"Heard Cammie get up. Crisis averted? Gracie sounded happy."

She undressed and tossed her clothes in the hamper. "All systems go. Linda's hair will pass muster for dress code." She leaned over to kiss him hello and her next words whooshed out in a laugh when Steve snatched her close and rolled her over his body so she landed on her side of the bed, nose to nose with him.

"Thought you were tired." She pecked his lips. "And I need to get up. The gloves leaked, I gotta wash the dye off real quick."

"Not that tired." He full on kissed her before loosening his hold.

"Good." She kissed him back soundly. "Hold that thought, I'll be five minutes." She patted his cheek before sliding off the bed and disappearing into the bathroom.

When Catherine returned and crawled in beside Steve she tugged him close and picked up exactly where they left off.

Later, Catherine smiled sleepily as she gently ran her fingers through the hair at Steve's temple. "Ya know ..." She breathed.

"Hmmmm?"

"I'm pretty good with dye."

"What?" His eyes drifted open.

"I could get rid of these greys, just sayin'" she bit back a smirk as Steve became more alert and caught her hand in his own.

"You don't like my distinguished look, Rollins?" He kissed her palm before shifting them so she was tucked into his side and their hands rested on his stomach. "'Cause ... no."

"Love you." She chucked. "I wouldn't change a hair."

"Good. Ditto." He leaned in to kiss the top of her head where it rested against his collarbone. "Not a hair."

End. Thanks for reading

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