" Well, here we are ".

Reaching the end of the red and gold carpeted, tan drywalled halway, Steve came to a stop, outside a hardwood apartment door, marked ' 117 '.

The hallway, and the building in general, had impressed him with its cleanliness, and its modern-chic style ( which, he maintained, beat out old school wooden architecture any day of the week ). It sat comfortably in the boundary between " ordinary ", and " expensive ", which put it roughly in the region of " upscale ". It was a great example of how enjoyable it could be to live in the city, with its lobby pool tables, free coffee and water bar in the lobby, and potted actual plants- Hopbushes, to be exact.

And folks preferred living in the mountains ? They'd miss out all this.

Let them, Steve decided. They could have the lonesome, quiet mountains with nothing like this in them. He had one reason to stay quite cheerfully right here, in Honolulu, Hawaii, job as the commander of its Anti-Crime Task Force aside.

Which would be, the beautiful woman walking with him.

Catherine Rollins lived here. Steve, being the upstanding gentlemen that he was, had offered to escort her home after their first-

Well, he didn't want to call it a " date ". That didn't sound right. Too shallow, and meaningless. Steve, if he was honest with himself, didn't want to ' date ' Catherine. He wasn't into ' flings ', ' stands ', or other trite nonsense like that. He was interested in Catherine, because of real, tangible feelings he had for her. That's why he wanted to leave a good first impression for the first time they were together in a romantic setting- ie, taking her somewhere nicer than a Chick Fill A ( Which, technically, was good food, but still fast ), and of course, getting her home personally afterwards.

His old man had raised him right. Or, so Steve wanted to think.

" How sad. It was all going so well, wasn't it ", Catherine sighed, only half meaning it.

She'd done that slight head canting, looking-at-you-an-angle thing as she spoke to Steve that he found so appealing. And, even better, she said it with just enough playfulness put a easy sitting smile on Steve's face.

Well, actually,she did that anyway. As the most beautiful woman Steve'd ever had his attention grabbed by, Catherine could have him smiling if she was wearing torn clothes and sitting in mud.

Not that she'd be too upset by that, being a Navy lady who'd been outside the wire before. Still-

" It was, wasn't it ? All things considered-

" NBC ! "

The ease with which she slipped that joke in just had them both chuckling with even more mirth. Affinity for humor really was a integral piece of military life, especially in the Navy.

Eventually, Steve managed to keep going.

" heh. All things considered, I enjoyed myself tonight. I certainly did. "

" With you, is why. ", he quickly, and empathically added.

He subtly took a step forward, feeling a curious wave of warmth seep through him as he said it.

That could only be because he really did care for her. Steve was confident of that.

Catherine righted her head, looked him in the eyes for a moment.

And smiled.

"You're better company than most gung-ho commandos, I'll give you that ", she admitted.

They'd been talking like this pretty much all night. Conversation had flowed easily, filled with this kind of instinctive, easygoing wittiness, with an undeniable intimate undertone. A night like this, or times like this period, weren't the place to talk shop, after all. They were out to have fun, get away from it all, and let those feelings they had for each other flourish.

Which they had, if Catherine's relatively close proximity to Steve at the moment said anything, or that enthusiastic glint in her eyes.

That same look, which had appeared while they were out tonight, which Steve was riveted by. It was true, that someone's eye told you a lot of what they were thinking or feeling, and from the ones in those lovely ones of Catherine, she was, by all Steve knew of women ( which had been hard to acquire; women are notoriously complicated ), said she wanted to be around him.

Were the hall lights always turned this low ? It wasn't deliberate mood setting, was it ?

Suddenly feeling flustered, and a bit nervous over what to do next, Steve dipped his head, and put his hands in his pockets.

" Well, I, I'd hate to keep you from a full stretch of sleep, chatting with me outside your own door ", he remarked, looking up at her again. " Goodbye, Catherine. "

He raised one arm, and moved forward, closing the already short distance between them to give her a quick, but firm and proper hug. It was mildly tempting to draw it out, and just hold onto her, but that wouldn't be right. This was early in what he very much wished to be a relationship, and he wanted to do it right.

Catherine was worth that, and then some.

Speaking of her, what she did next caught Steve off guard.

Instead of moving to receive, or hug him back, Catherine responded by also closing in, and promptly kissed him on the mouth.

!

And put a hand gently against his chest. Not holding or pressing, but the touch was enough.

The kiss was short, but, as Steve had found out tonight, that didn't matter with Catherine. A short kiss from her was memorable.

Perfect.

She stepped back, smiling again, in all likelihood at the slightly mouth-agape expression on Steve's face.

Turning to unlock and open her door, she glanced over her shoulder to offer a final departing shot to the speechless SEAL who so chivalrously brought her home.

Still with that magnificent smile.

" Goodbye, sailor "

Goodbye, sailor

Those were the last words she'd spoken to him that night.

They'd filled Steve's ears, and lingered there, as the sensation of Catherine's kiss was on his lips. It was impossible to be sure, which had Steve's mood soaring, and frankly, he didn't care.

Because, right then and there, he was more cheerful than he'd even been, more than anything else in life. He'd walked down and out of that hallway, and the building, with a smile and a spring in his step.

Catherine Rollins was into him. It all looked uphill from there.

That had also, however, been years ago.

Years.

Didn't matter. Still seemed like yesterday, but it hadn't actually been, of course, and so much had happened in those years. That wasn't even referring to all the innumerable cases and ops that the 5-0 Task Force had taken and run during that time, and all the ripples and effects they'd left and caused.

No, what stuck with Steve more than any of that, was how much Catherine was to him.

Things had taken off between them after that first night, like a steadily climbing airliner ( amazing way to travel, gets you there faster than driving ). They'd spent a lot more time together, just the two of them being alone, off the clock. They'd had BBQs on the beach, ridden all over the island in Steve's truck to see its most scenic vistas ( though, 7, 10 and even XP are much better ), and shared more dinners together, including ones that Catherine had cooked herself ( the knowledge that she could do so was a surprise to Steve, but a welcome one ) !

It'd felt good, and real, to be with her. Because, it was. Through all the stresses and exertions of his career, having Catherine in his life, being able to love her ( and most crucially, her loving him back ) was a strong calming element.

Well, actually, Steve could've been a accountant, and he still would've been crazy for her. There was no doubt of that.

She'd been at the center of Steve's life.

Been, at the center of it.

With all of himself, Steve still wished she was. But, he was alone.

At this moment in time, Steve was forward stroking his way through the temperate waters of the Pacific Ocean, lapping the the sands of the beach of his backyard.

It was good to get in a swim every now and then. He was a SEAL, after all. They were all at home in the water, and treasured how adept they were at moving in it. So many SEAL missions, began and ended in the water, and they all got a certain level of relaxation

It was a perfect day for a swim, to boot; the clouds were scattered, the air was just at the right temperature, a light breeze was up, and the waves weren't remotely choppy. The water itself wasn't even cold.

It was the kind of swim Catherine would've joined him on. Stroking through the water right at his side, lithe, fit form carving the water alongside, before they both reached the shore at nearly the same time ( she was a quicker swimmer than she looked ), and would have a playful bickering over who'd gotten there first.

Would've, if she'd been here. In town, or even on the island. But, she wasn't. She was over 6,000 miles away, far from the the jungles and cities of Hawaii, in the deserts and mountains ( Mountains ? ) of Afghanistan.

On a mission, of her own choosing.

It was a good one, morally. Catherine was searching there for a Afghan boy whose family had harbored her when she was stranded and wounded in the depths of the Afghan hinterlands, years before she and Steve had met, and embarked on their shared path. It was something Steve could get behind, and so he'd gone to the 'Stan with his girl, determined to help accomplish what she'd set out to do.

But, things hadn't gone to plan.

Steve had been wounded in the course of their search, and captured by some exceptionally hostile Taliban, who proceeded to work him over quite thoroughly. They pulled him over the coals, so to speak, but through all that pain and anguish, Steve didn't ever give up.

Not on himself, or Catherine. Even if he'd given on himself, he wouldn't ever gibe on her.

Local American forces had finally rescued Steve, though they were quite furious to find he had no authorization from anyone to undertake any kind of operation there. After being patched up, he'd been booted right back home, and bluntly told to stay in lane, basically.

Catherine didn't accompany him.

Her role in the whole Op was still secret. She aimed to capitalize on it, and not leave the 'Stan, without that boy. Catherine was committed, all the way.

She'd told Steve of this, once the latter had reached Hawaii. Of course, he said he would return, but she wouldn't have it. The brass wouldn't either, she pleaded with him to understand, and she didn't want him to torpedo his career by rushing back into the sandbox. She had to do this herself, no matter how much she wanted him with her.

The worse thing about being in a relationship, is being able to tell when your SO is on their own path, and you have to let them be on their own. Steve recognized it, though he hated it with all of himself. Hated it so much, he'd actually had to fight tears, when he admitted to Catherine he understood.

He wished her well, and told her he loved her.

Catherine's own voice was trembling, when she said she loved him too, and then signed off.

And, the long vigil began.

Srsssh, srsssh.

The Pacific sloshed around Steve' shins, as he waded out onto the beach.

Dripping water, he blinked it out of his eyes, letting the salt breeze sweep around him. It ruffled the palm fonds hanging over the sand.

Catherine would like a cold drink right about now. It was just warm enough for that right now.

Steve didn't bother fighting that lingering feeling. It was all he had left of her now.

' Just dry myself off, and go get one for myself- '

Wait.

Steve stopped.

His towel was missing.

He'd left it flopped over the back of the wooden lawn chair sitting on the beach, on the gentle sloping ridge that led down to the water. It was a blue one ( of course; he was Navy ).

But, now it was gone ! What had happened to it ?!

Blinking, Steve glanced around, peering at the sand. There was nothing blue.

Nothing at all. Towels don't just vanish.

" What the- "

" Looking for this ? "

A woman called out to him, from off to the left.

But, not just any woman.

Of all the millions and millions of women on Earth, the one who had called his name, just now, was one who he could recognize and know who she was beyond instantaneously. The 3 words, spoken by her, sped Steve at once down memory lane, lined with well lodged ( obviously ) memories of what he and that woman had been through together.

How much he loved her.

But, she wasn't here, was she ?

Was she ?

Slowly, disbeliving, Steve turned his head in that direction.

To find a gorgeous brunette, standing beneath the palm tree.

Holding his towel, almost shyly in her hands.

And with a smile on her lovely face.

" Hello, sailor ", greeted Catherine Rollins