It was a slow day for the Five-0 team. They'd wrapped up a case over the weekend which meant a day of paperwork unless a new case came their way. Steve was contemplating his lunch choices when someone knocked on his door. Looking up he saw a uniform officer standing next to a young woman.
"Commander, this young lady has requested a meeting with you. Is now a good time?" the office asked.
"Sure. As good as time as any. Come on in," Steve replied.
The uni waved the young woman into the office then stepped out and left the offices.
Steve gestured to one of the chairs in front of his desk as he hastily tidied the papers on the surface. "Please sit down. What can I do for you?"
When the girl didn't respond, Steve looked up from his task, "Would you like to sit?" he repeated, a little annoyed she hadn't answered.
The young girl smiled and took the offered seat. As she settled herself, she flipped her hair over her shoulder and it was then Steve noticed her hearing aides.
"Thank you for seeing me on short notice. I need to tell you a couple of things. First, my name is Arianna. Second, I'm deaf. I read lips, but I need to ask you to look directly at me and to enunciate," she told him as she spoke and signed at the same time.
Steve coughed to cover his embarrassment. "Of course. Sorry," he said as he sat down.
"Nothing to be sorry about. You didn't know," she told him, giving him a shy smile, which Steve found familiar, but couldn't place. "Mr. McGarret, I don't want to take much of your time, but I'm hoping you can answer a question for me."
Steve was intrigued. "I will if I can, but you should know I have a whole team that can help you if you're in trouble."
"This is actually a personal matter, Sir," Arianna replied.
"Personal? I'm not sure if I understand," Steve said perplexed.
Arianna sighed, "This isn't easy, but here's the whole story. My mother was Jenny Feldman. She passed away two months ago. I was going through her legal documents and I came across these." Reaching into her bag, she pulled out three pieces of paper easily recognizable as Hawaiian birth certificates.
Steve couldn't help the question that came out, "Why do you have three birth certificates? Most places need just a copy for their files."
Arianna gave him a sardonic look. "That's the thousand dollar question. More troubling is that they're not identical." Handing him the first one, she continued, "These all have my name on them, but that one has a Craig Duncan listed as my father. The man in question says it's impossible as he has never been with a woman and wasn't that more information than I needed. This one," she paused, giving him the second one, "has father listed as unknown. The third one," she passed that to him as well, "has you listed as my father. Now I've always went by Arianna McGarrett but with this new information, I'm beginning to wonder."
Steve stared at the papers and the Washington driver's license she'd placed in his hand. He looked up to the young woman and back down at the certificates again. He vaguely wondered if this is what an alternate universe would feel like. He looked up again to study the her more closely. Her voice pulled him out of his perusal.
"Mr. McGarrett, are you okay?" Arianna asked, concerned she'd broken the man; he looked liked he was about ready to pass out.
"Um, yeah. I just, uh," Steve managed to get out. Noting the birth date listed on all three documents was the same, he did some quick calculations. February conception. Ah, hell. Jenny's birthday. "Uh, you don't mind if I uh," he broke off waving at the computer in a manner Danny would've been proud of.
The tilt of her head told him he wasn't communicating effectively so he tried again, "I would like to check, see if…" Damn maybe he was as bad at mammal to mammal communications as Danny thought. He couldn't seem to get the words out either from embarrassment, ingrained lack of trust or nerves he wasn't positive. None of his training had even come close to preparing him for this type of situation.
Arianna smiled and it took his breath away, it was his dad's smile. Was he seeing what he wanted to see?
"I would encourage you to check my story. That's why I handed you my license." Reaching into her bag again, she pulled out another card. "Here's Mom's last license if you want it, Mr. McGarrett."
He took the proffered card, staring down at the picture. The photo, typically bad, showed an older version of the Jenny he remembered. Not everyone remembers their first love, but Steve did. Out of everything that happened in those twelve months, Steve remembered the look on Jenny's face as they became each other's first. Bringing himself back to the present with a shake, he figured he was probably worrying Arianna again, so he typed the necessary codes into the computer to pull up the information he needed and quickly set it to search.
Arianna sat quietly, waiting for him to finish. He liked that, no idle chit chat. A minute later, the information was filling the screen. He read it twice before directing his attention back to the girl in front of him. Running his hand across his chin, he took a deep breath, "Well, considering the circumstances, you should probably call me Steve."
"Um, wow. Not the answer I was expecting," Arianna said, obviously shocked.
"What answer were you expecting?" he asked jokingly, trying to cover the sudden onset of nerves.
"Well, given the track record, I figured you'd flat out deny it and I'd be back at square one," she stated, shrugging. "I don't know what to do now. What circumstances are you referring to?"
Steve couldn't help but smile. The girl was honest and direct. He took a moment to study the young lady again. She was tall, easily 5' 10" or more by the way she'd towered over the escorting officer. She was thin, but not skinny. If she weighed one twenty-five, he'd be surprised but she had good muscular development. Her long hair was a bit darker than his, more of the color of Jenny's if he remembered correctly. Her chin and brow reminded him of Doris's. Her eyes, though, they were the clincher. They were the exact same ones that stared back at him from the bathroom mirror. He couldn't help but widen his grin when he realized she'd been studying him just as intently.
"Well, the timing is right and let's just say you have some distinctive McGarrett features. If we want to be sure, we'll need a DNA test," Steve told her.
"That makes sense, if we want to pursue this," Arianna agreed.
Steve cocked his head, "You don't want to know for sure?"
Arianna hesitated. "To be honest, this is a bit much."
"Fair enough," Steve nodded. "I know someone who will keep this discreet if that's an issue."
Arianna looked relieved. "I can't say I'm comfortable having strangers knowing about my personal life. Besides, if we are, you know, related, how do we know we'll… I guess what I'm trying to say is I'd like to keep this between us until we know for sure and if we are, until we're more comfortable with each other. That is if you want to even try….if you even… "
Steve cut her off, "Arianna, I do want to know for sure if I'm your father, but regardless of the out come, I want to get to know you. Your mother was special to me and I'd still like to get to know her daughter."
"Okay. I'd like that too. Where do we go from here?" she responded, smiling again.
"Well, let me make a phone call and we should be able to get the testing started today. It'll take a couple of days for the results," Steve told her. He waited until she nodded her consent before he picked up his phone to call Max.
Making the arrangements, Steve hung up, turning back to Arianna. "Max can take us right now. How 'bout we go get that done and I'll buy you some lunch?"
"I'd like that," she said, her nervousness showing in her smile.
"It'll be fine, no matter what," Steve assured her as he stood up to escort her out of his office.
Catching Chin and Catherine's eyes as he guided Arianna towards the outer doors, he informed them, "Hey, I've got a couple of errands and then I'm going to grab lunch. Should be back in a couple of hours. Call if you need me." Not giving them a chance to reply he quickly showed Arianna the way out.
The whole team had noticed the young woman being escorted to Steve's office. Kono, Chin and Catherine had been going over some old crime scene photos at the tech table when Steve's visitor arrived. Catherine made an abortive move towards the boss's office, stopping when the door was firmly shut at the HPD officer's departure.
"Who's that?" she asked her two colleagues.
"Not a clue," Chin said. Kono shrugged.
"Steve'll introduce us if necessary, right?" Catherine said sounding unsure. Her teammates shot her concerned looks at the jealousy in the woman's tone, but didn't acknowledge her statement. The girl was obviously too young for Steve and they knew Steve would never cheat on her so the jealousy was unfounded.
Danny had watched the whole incident from his office. Even from where he sat, he could read Catherine's unease at Steve's unexpected visitor. He was continuously amazed at the woman's contradictory vibes and actions. Directing his attention back to Steve's office, he took note of the action and since the man hadn't closed the blinds, he had a fairly decent view of it's occupants. He found himself stunned as the visitor started using sign language. He was a bit rusty with interpretation, but he unashamedly followed the conversation from the young woman's perspective. He only felt a smidgen of guilt when the conversation turned personal. Trust his partner to get himself in trouble sitting in his office. Danny raised a hand in acknowledgement of Steve's pronouncement, knowing full well the big guy would eventually tell him all that was going on.
They rode in silence to the M.E.'s office, not necessarily because any conversation would have been difficult, but more because both of them were wrapped up in their own thoughts.
The first time Steve had thought about Jenny in years was ironically last Halloween. He'd been defending his seduction techniques to Catherine. When he'd mentioned that Jenny had fallen for his tricks, Cath had called her a slut. Man, what would Cath say now when she finds out about Arianna. He was strangely okay with the girl's request to keep things between them for the time being. He had enough upheaval going on with the rest of his family. He didn't need to add the revelation of a long lost daughter to the mix.
Pulling up in front of the M.E. office building, Steve cut the engine and tapped Arianna on the shoulder to get her attention. "I should warn you. Max is a bit, eccentric, for lack of a better word."
"Duly noted," came the reply.
Working their way to Max's office, they found the quirky man sitting behind his desk doing paperwork.
"Max, this is Arianna, Arianna, this is Max," Steve introduced them.
"I hope this is not going to become a habit for you Commander," Max said pointedly.
"A habit, Max?" Steve questioned, confused.
"This continued search for relatives you seem to be on," Max replied, "but given the physical similarities, this one has a higher probability of coming back positive." Turning to some instruments on a nearby tray, he picked up a sterile packaged swab. Facing the pair again, he continued, "Are we looking for a sibling connection again?"
Airanna sure hoped Steve knew what the man was talking about because she didn't have a clue.
"No, Max, this time it's a parental connection," Steve said. When all he got from Max was a baffled expression he kept going, "We want to know if Arianna is my daughter."
"Oh, well in that case, who wants to go first?," Max asked.
Steve glanced at the young woman standing next to him. "Are you ready for this?"
"Yes. Let's find out," she affirmed.
The whole process lasted less than five minutes.
"So how long before we'll know, Max?" Steve inquired.
"I'll submit the samples immediately. You should have the results in three to five days," Max declared.
Steve clapped the shorter man on the the shoulder. "Mahalo, Max."
"Yes, thank you, Dr. Bergman," Arianna added.
"My pleasure," Max claimed. "I'll call you when the results come in."
Steve couldn't help but notice the shudder from his companion as they exited the building. He grabbed ahold of her arm, turning her to face him. "You okay?"
"Yeah. I'm still getting use to the warmth. I spent the last six years on the mainland, Seattle mostly. I like the way the sun sinks into your bones," she assured him.
Steve couldn't help putting an arm around her shoulders to give her a brief squeeze. "Let's get some lunch. Where would you like to go?"
Arianna thought for a moment. "Anything sounds good, except for peanuts. I'm allergic."
"So was your mother," Steve whispered.
"Yeah, she was," she affirmed.
Gathering himself, Steve grinned, "How do you feel about loco moco?"
They walked to a nearby diner that he promised her would have the best loco moco she'd ever had. He waited until they'd been served before asking all the questions he had swirling around in his head.
Arianna watched as the man in front of her squirmed in his seat. She'd bet her right arm this was the first time the former SEAL had ever been uncomfortable. Yes, she'd done her homework before going to see the man. She'd wanted to know about the man that might be her father. She knew he had questions, but she had questions of her own so she decided to let him off the hook hoping for reciprocity. "Go ahead, ask away. No holds bar."
Steve didn't bother to squelch the swell of pride he felt at her insight. In his mind there was no doubt about their blood relationship. He took on her challenge. "So, your mom. What happened?"
"Tough questions first, huh. There was an accident on the shooting range. The guy next to her was from Rigby, Idaho. He'd never fired an assault rifle before. They warned him the F2000 had a big kick and would pull up. He couldn't control the kick. The bullet ricocheted off the over hang and hit her in the head."
Steve's disbelief flashed across his face. If Danny'd been there, he was sure there'd be a new name for this face. "Oh, man. I'm sorry."
"It's okay. It was instantaneous and unusual. Something she would've grooved on."
Steve chuckled, "She did like the odd. Maybe that's why she liked me. What about your grandparents?"
"They've been gone since I was fourteen. That's when we moved to Seattle. Mom kept the house here, rented it out with a caretaker. I can get into it on Friday."
Surprised, Steve blurted, "So you're moving to Hawaii?"
"Wow, do you ever have expressional faces! Yeah, I've moved to Hawaii," she told him.
"Are you going to school, working…." Steve started to ask and then trailed off.
Arianna couldn't help but grin at the man. "I graduated early from Gallaudet University with a major in secondary education. I have a job at Hawai'i School for the Deaf and Blind that starts in a month or so, depending on when the departing teacher decides to start her maternity leave. I'll be teaching English, creative writing and English literature."
"Wow! That's amazing," Steve exclaimed. "Sounds like you've got everything settled for your future."
He nearly choked on his mouthful when she responded with, "Mom said I got my tenaciousness and drive from my dad."
Her delighted laugh at his reaction made Steve smile again. His face was going to ache by the end of the day. Clearing his throat, he said, "Well, that's all I got for now. Your turn."
Having the grace to look sheepish, she admitted, "I did do some research about you before I went to your office so I have the basics, Navy SEAL, head of the governor's task force which is strangely called Five-0, born here in Hawaii and left for the mainland when you were young. So, I guess I'll start with why you moved to the reserves?"
"I'm impressed. You did do your homework. I transferred to the reserves when Governor Jameson offered the task force so I could hunt down my father's killer," Steve answered curtly.
"It's my turn to say sorry," Arianna said quietly.
"It's okay," Steve assured her.
"Did you get the guy?" she asked.
"Yeah, we did. What's next?" Steve encouraged.
"I almost hate to ask, is there any more family?" Arianna questioned hesitantly.
Steve took a deep breath. "That's a loaded question. Are you sure you want the details?" At her nod, he continued, "My dad sent my sister, Mary, and me to the mainland after my mother supposedly died in a car accident. Mary currently flits between L.A. and here and has recently adopted a baby girl she named Joan. My mother, it turns out, faked her death, reappeared in our lives almost a year ago and has since disappeared again. You have a great aunt Deb, but she is sick and you'll probably never get to meet her."
Arianna sat in silence for a minute, digesting the information. "Mom talked about a boy from high school who'd lost his mom. I realize now, she was talking about you. I'm really sorry."
"As I said, it's okay. You need to learn about your family and I'd rather you have the facts then what the rumor mill spreads," Steve assured her again. "Any more questions?"
"Maybe a few, but I think I'll reserve the right to ask at a later date. You seem to be sure that we're related, so it follows I should have time to satisfy my curiosity," Arianna stated, not quite ready to say father/daughter. Suddenly looking very tired, she continued, "We should get going. I'm beat. I was up early to catch my flight and I'd really like a nap. Besides that, I'm keeping you from work."
Steve looked guiltily at his watch. "Yeah, I should be getting back. I can drop you off at your hotel if you want and yes, I'm sure of those results."
"Sorry I don't have your confidence. Burned once, twice shy and all that. I gladly accept the offer of a ride. I know I lived here, but so many things have changed that I'm not sure I could find my way around," she accepted. "I'm staying at the Maile Sky Court." Reaching for her purse, she started to pull her wallet out.
"Put that back. I got this one," Steve instructed.
She started to protest but shut her mouth when she saw the look on his face. She made a mental note to start a tab. She hated being indebted to anyone.
It didn't take them long to reach the hotel. After parking, Steve turned to the young woman he was already considering his daughter. "Do you have plans for dinner?"
When she didn't answer, Steve could have slapped himself. She was looking for her key card and couldn't see his lips. Touching her arm to get her attention, he asked again.
"I plan on staying in. I am really tired," she reiterated.
"Oh, okay." Steve tried to hide his disappointment, not cognizant of the fact that Arianna could already read his faces as well as Danny.
"How about tomorrow night," she offered in consolation.
Steve threw her a goofy grin. "I'll take that. Put your number in and I'll text you with a time," he instructed, handing her the phone. She did as he insisted, but passed him her's giving him a look that told him she expected him to input his. Yep, he thought, definitely mine.
Steve waited until Arianna walked into the lobby before putting the truck in gear to head back to the Palace. He hoped the drive was long enough for him to come up with a plausible explanation for everyone, especially Catherine. He respected that Arianna wanted to keep the situation between them. Being honest with himself, he did too, but he didn't want to lie to the team. All too soon he was pulling into his parking space at HQ. Slowly blowing out the breath he'd been holding, Steve got out of the truck, ready to rip the band aide off, so to speak.