Lori should've stayed on Five-0 and Catherine should've stayed away.
Warnings: violence, abuse and mild course language
Chapter One
Steven J. McGarrett was a complex man…everyone knew that. He was a hard person to crack. Take it from Lorelai Weston - as a profiler, she tried to find out more about her boss, but it was just too hard. She spent a couple months with Five-0 team and she loved it. She made a silly mistake admitting her feelings, only to get a response of 'I'll miss you' and an awkward hug. Her bags were outside her office while she finished packing the remains left in the office.
'It's for the best'. Lori knew she should never had let her feelings interfere with her job, but she had never felt this way about any man, let alone to a Navy SEAL like Steve. The team were slightly hesitant with trusting her, but slowly they welcomed her – first it was Danny, then Chin and Kono before Steve finally accepted her after the North Korea incident. She worked closely with Kono and Chin to help improve her skills and strength. She was a surprise to the team when she told them she had training in jujitsu and kickboxing. She didn't want to leave, but when Governor Denning asked her whether she was working for the Government of Hawaii or Five-0 and she responded with both, the Governor said wrong answer.
A week later, the Governor offered her a choice - to stay with the Five-0 team or leave for Washington D.C instead of heading east, she chose to leave. She heard the team walking into the building and ran her hand through her hair – it was time to face the music. She walked out her office for the last time cradling a box on her hip.
"Woah, what is all this?" Danny pointed at her bags. Kono looked at her with furrowed brows – she had gotten really close with Lori over the past few months, even called her sister. They confided in each other, and Kono was the only one that knew Lori was secretly an amazing surfer so they spent a lot of their free time surfing together.
"I'm leaving Hawaii and moving to Washington DC." She said quietly. 'Cue the silence'. She sighed and put the box that she cradled on her hip down and looked at her team, avoiding looking at Steve.
"Why?" Chin broke the silence. She smiled at them.
"Governor Denning told me NCIS requested me in Washington DC and how could I refuse working with Agent Gibbs?" She wasn't entirely lying about NCIS but she had a choice rather than being forced to leave.
"Wow. Th-that's a huge gig." Danny said with surprise and his arms folded across his chest.
"Congratulations kid." Chin smiled and gave her a firm hug.
"When did you find out about the transfer?" Kono asked. Danny glared at Steve – he was secretly blaming him for Lori leaving.
"About a week ago."
"I don't get it. Why didn't you tell us?" Danny threw his hands up in annoyance.
"I wasn't even sure till about two nights ago. That's why I requested to take two days off for personal reasons."
"Have you told anyone else about leaving?" Steve remained tense standing in between Chin and Danny.
"I did tell Max and Malia first. I would've told Kamekona, except I wouldn't trust him to keep a secret."
"Woah. Hold up." Danny stood directly in front of her with his hands up before pointing at her. "You told Max and Chin's wife first but you didn't tell us? Your team, who you spend every waking moment with." Lori looked at Danny – he was hurt by her secrecy. They got along great since she first arrived and he was a great, trustworthy friend. Lori placed both her hands on top of Danny's shoulders firmly and looked at him straight in the eye.
"Danno, I have my reasons." She said vaguely. Chin pulled out his phone and saw Malia's caller ID. He looked at them and picked up.
"Hey…yes she did. Sounds good. We'll be there in twenty minutes. Alright, bye." Chin looked at the team with a smile on his face.
"That was Malia. She's organised drinks and a barbeque down at the beach for Lori's final night on the island. She told us all to get down there in twenty minutes." Kono's eyes instantly lit up.
"Alright! We've got time to get one last surf in, sister." The men looked at the two women in surprise. Lori grinned and fist-bumped with Kono.
"I need to put my bags in the truck first."
"Don't worry about it. Danny and I will get it for you. We'll wait for you." Chin backslapped Danny's pec and immediately helped Lori with her bags, with Kono following behind with the box. Lori walked towards the door, only to be stopped Steve's grasp on her arm and pulled him into his office.
"Why didn't you tell me about NCIS when you told me you were leaving, Lori? I'm your boss." Steve said angrily. Lori's fists clenched by her side. She spun around and looked straight at him.
"No, you WERE my boss, but you're not anymore. After I told you about my feelings for, I was expecting more from you and it was beginning to affect my job." Steve was confused. He thought they had departed on good terms, but judging by the look on Lori's face, he was wrong.
"What are you talking about? You're telling me that you had feelings for me didn't affect your job performance."
"Well, it did and it will continue to. Especially after I saw you and that pretty brunette at the fundraiser awfully close." Steve looked at her sad eyes. She was rarely emotional, but in that moment, she couldn't hide it. Steve opened his mouth to say something, but Lori put her hand up. "It's fine Steve. Danny told me about Catherine. I'm not surprised you wanted to rekindle your romance, but next time... you shouldn't string along someone when you don't have feelings for them." Steve was stunned – Lori actually had feelings for him. The hug after he was rescued from North Korea wasn't just a friendly thing, it meant more to Lori.
"I did not string you along." He said defensively.
"Yes, you did," Lori snapped. "You were flirty with me, sneaking me these looks. I know when you were watching me. Then I found out from Danny you were going to spend a week with Catherine…" Lori sighed, "I spent the week away packing up my life in Hawaii and that meant trying to bury my feelings from you but it's hard." She shook her head and walked out of his office and Five-0 HQ for the very last time.
Danno walked into Steve's office. He clapped his hands together and sighed as he walked up to Steve.
"What a day. First, solving our case and now Lori leaving." He turned to look at a sullen-looking Steve and immediately stopped talking, taking into account his stiff body language.
"What did you tell her about Catherine?" He asked tensely. Danny pursed his lips.
"I told her what you told me – long time on-and-off girlfriend, both your jobs make the relationship way too hard yadda yadda" Steve turned around and looked at Danny. It took him a couple seconds before Danny finally figured it out.
"So, it's because of you she's leaving. She told you how she felt, you said nothing then you went off on Valentine's Day with Catherine for a week." Danno clapped Steve's shoulders whilst shaking his head before walking away from him.
"You missed your chance McGarrett and now she's leaving. You better hurry if you don't want to miss her hot body surfing with Kono." Steve sighed and let Danny led the way.
Four Years Later (Two months post-Season Six)
Lori jogged along the beach relishing the warm heat burning into her skin. She stopped and looked at her surroundings – the warm yellow sand, bright blue waters and the sound of crashing waves. It was just as she remembered when she left four years ago. Working with NCIS in Washington DC was fun and fulfilling yet extremely demanding. Living in Washington was such a bore – she made some friends but she missed Hawaii and the relaxing vibe. She also missed surfing and getting cheap food by the beach. She often took holidays every couple month to surf in another country and staying in places with the beach close by and enjoyed the smell of the fresh ocean.
She kept in close contact with Kono for the past four years, and the occasional calls from Danno and Chin but not Steve. She texted him once about a week after arriving in DC to let him know that she was safe and settled but she never heard back from him, leaving Lori feeling rejected and bitter. Of course, she still had feelings for Steve that she couldn't get over however she has moved on now. She shed her clothes, grabbed her surfboard and ran into the water with a bright smile on her face.
Steve woke up feeling a warm body against his back. He gently removed her arm from around his waist and sat on the bed quietly. His phone began vibrating on the bedside table.
"McGarrett." He answered quietly.
"Meet me downstairs" Instinctively, he knew it was another murder case of some sort, so he gently shook the woman awake.
"Catherine…" He whispered in his ear and kissed her cheek softly, "you need to get up." Chin waited downstairs hoping that Steve came alone, but considering that Catherine was his girlfriend, it was highly unlikely. Danno told Chin and Kono that he believes Steve has unresolved feelings for Lori, and being with Catherine was quite possibly just something familiar that he had gotten used to.
"Hey Steve! Catherine! Over here." Chin waved them over, internally grimacing at the two holding hands. The Five-0 team had no issues with Catherine, but it was hard to work with her when she often interferes with Steve and Danno's partnership as well as occasionally acting unprofessional at work. The couple got in the car with Chin and drove out of his place.
"Why the hell am I here at this horrible hour?" Danny complained walking on the sand beside Kono wearing board shorts and a loose-fitting t-shirt. Kono laughed and began undressing down to a simple red bikini.
"It's not even that early Danno. Suck it up."
"Woah, what are you even doing? I thought we had a murder." Danno looked at her unamused.
"Come on Danny, let's go play some beach volleyball. Look, even Kamekona is excited." She pointed at the large man walking towards them with a beach volleyball.
"I'm a guy from Jersey. I can't play." He followed Kono who was standing on the other side of the net.
"You ready boy? Prepared to get smashed." Danny groaned.
"Well look at this, Danny in shorts and t-shirt playing beach volleyball. Better than Jersey, right?" Steve called out to them as he walked down the towards them holding hands with Catherine. Danny and Kono looked at each other before looking back at them. Kono knows that whatever Steve has with Catherine, it didn't seem as strong or as real as what Steve and Lori would've had.
"Well, I'll have you know that I haven't gotten hit on the head yet and I am not entirely embarrassing myself. Why do you guy two look like you're going to arrest someone?" He pointed at Steve and Catherine's clothing.
"Chin sounded serious on the phone, so we thought there was another murder or something. But as I see, everything is just fine. What are we even doing here?" Steve gestured at everyone's appearance. He quickly turned his eyes to the water remembering Lori's final day. She said her goodbye and although he said goodbye, it didn't feel right. He could still remember the feeling of her lingering touch.
"I thought we could do some bonding. We haven't done that lately because someone is always having date night." Kono glared at Steve, making him and Catherine feel a little guilty.
Lori sat on her board looking out at the open water and smiled. 'It's good to be back.' She concluded that moving back to Hawaii was the right decision. Whether she'll be working with the Five-0 team, HPD or just simply relax and live life, Hawaii was it. NCIS was took a toll on her life with some cases taking months to complete. Washington DC was full of people and way too pact with all the buildings and skyscrapers. Lori got off her board and began walking towards the sand.
Danno spiked the ball over the net and as he turned around to give Kono a high five, his eyes caught a glimpse of someone. He blinked hard about three times and immediately his eyes widened to the size of golf balls when the person he was looking at was Lori.
"Holy shit! That's Lori Weston!" He said pointing at the woman walking out of the water. Instantly, the game came to a halt and everyone was by Danno's side looking at Lori. It was like the slow-motion movie scene where the woman walking out of the beach in a bikini and her hair pulled back by the water, except this was Lori Weston. Special Agent Lori Weston was that woman. She was wear a very strappy bikini – the cross over strapping push-up bikini top and a thin strappy Brazilian brief. If Danno and Steve thought she was hot in her Sandy from Grease costume, this was out of this world. All the men looked at her with eyes wide open and jaws dropped. Kono smiled and ran over to Lori and hugged her into the sand. Danno quickly followed with Chin and Steve walking behind.
"You're really here! I thought you were lying on the phone! Do you need a place to stay? I mean, I have room if you want to move in with me." Kono babbled.
"Why would I lie to you about moving back to Hawaii? I bought a house near the beach actually. It's pretty big and got an awesome kitchen." Lori smiled as Kono wrapped her arms around Lori's shoulders.
"Lori! When did you get here?" Chin smiled and hugged Lori.
"I actually flew in yesterday. I spent all of last night and this morning unpacking. I needed a break and now I'm here." Lori was well aware that Kono and Chin were looking up and down her body because of her scars and tattoos.
"Sweetheart!" Danno opened his arms open. Lori laughed and walked into his arms embracing him.
"So how long are you back for? Governor need you to come back and work with the Five-0 team?"
"I resigned from NCIS and decided that I missed the heat and surf too much so I decided to move back to Hawaii. As for my job, I'm not too sure." Lori looked at her surroundings and smiled before look at her former team members. "The governor says that whatever I choose to do, he can help make it happen, but I think I'm going to wait a while. I'm still recovering from my last job with NCIS – could be up to six months before I decide to come back."
"What happened?" Kono looked at her with concern. Lori waved her hand in dismissal.
"Just an incident gone wrong. I got hurt, let's just leave it that." Everyone knew not to push her, so they let it slide but they all knew that something went really wrong.
"Lori, it's good to see you again." Steve broke the tension and hugged Lori. He could feel her stiffened body as she returned the hug.
"It's good to see you too McGarrett. Hope these guys haven't given you too much grief." Steve's eyes narrowed – Lori never called her McGarrett and he didn't like the sound of it coming out of her mouth.
"Well…"
Catherine stood from a far with Kamekona beside her. Catherine immediately felt a sense of jealousy towards this unknown woman.
"Who's that?" Out of the blue, Max appeared by Catherine's side.
"That is Special Agent Lori Weston. She was assigned to help the Five-0 team four years ago. She spent six months with the team before leaving to Washington DC after being requested by NCIS."
"Was she a good agent? I mean she did get recruited by NCIS." Max looked at Lori with admiration – although he was not in love with woman, she was a great friend to him.
"She was great. She built a great friendship with Kono as you can tell and she was close with everyone. She was a profiler with Homeland Security before Five-0 but she was trained very well. She is trained in jujitsu and kickboxing. She was also very close with Malia before she passed." Catherine hummed in acknowledgement before shedding off her clothes leaving her in her underwear. She looked at how close that whole team were and felt uneasy, because the team had never been that close with her.
Steve looked at the woman standing in front of him – silently analysing the changes to her. She looked like she put on some muscles as her abs were softly defined and looked at the scars on her body. There was a scar around her right thigh, a scar along her left collarbone and a faint scar on her arm.
"Woah, what is with all these tattoos?" Danno pointed at the tattoos that were stamped on certain places of Lori's body.
"Hi! Lieutenant Catherine Rollins." Everyone turned and looked at her in surprise – she was in her underwear. Steve looked at Catherine with surprise while everyone looked at her with their eyebrows raised. Lori looked at the woman, internally wincing with her presence. She looked at Catherine's hand in front of her then held it and gave her a firm handshake.
"Special Agent Lori Weston." The tension was thick, only to be broken by the sound of Steve's phone.
"McGarrett." Lori bent down to retrieve her board, showing her friends several scar lines. Danny quietly bent down and reached out to touch what he can assume resembled whip lashes on her back. Lori immediately turned and grabbed his wrist twisting it tightly.
"Mercy! Mercy!" Danno shouted in pain and immediately Lori let go. Danno shook his hand to shake off the pain.
"I'm sorry Danny. Please don't." She winced, but Danno could see her pained eyes as everyone looked at Lori with concern and curiosity.
"We got a body." McGarrett announced as finished his phone call. Everyone nodded and began to walk away.
"Good to see you sister. Up for drinks tonight?" Kono asked over her shoulder as Lori quickly packed her things and grabbed her board, following the group closely. Lori stood up as she saw Catherine reach out to hold Steve's hand and her heart clenched seeing Steve hold onto Catherine's hand.
"Can't – busy unpacking and settling into life on the island. How about next week? You get off work, you call me." Kono responded with a loud okay and walked off.
"Hey Chin!" Lori shouted and ran to catch up to her friend. He looked at her with a smile and continued to walk up to the car with him.
"I'm sorry for not being able to make it to Malia's funeral. I – "
"It's alright Lori. You don't need to explain yourself. Thank you for the beautiful flowers though. They were Malia's favourite." Chin said gracefully.
"Still, she was one of my best friends on the island, your wife. I still should've been here." Chin halt his movement and Lori walked into his back. Chin turned around with a serious expression on his face.
"Stop Lori. Malia would've understand and she told me the day you left that you were one of her best friends as well. She loved you just as much as Kono does. You sent flowers immediately and called Kono to check up on us. That's more than what some people do." Lori nodded and gave him a kiss on the cheek before walking to her car.
"So, Lori got hotter." Danny casually said as he drove with Steve towards the crime scene.
"Did she look strange to you?" Steve looked at Danny who kept his face straight.
"Oh no, you don't." Danny looked at his partner with disapproval. "I saw the way you were eying her. You are not allowed to question what happened to her in DC. We all saw her body that had scars – but don't we all? I mean we fight bad guys. It gets bloody. Our body get scars." Danny trailed off.
"I know, but she's our friend. She comes back after four years without any contact and is not coming back to work. Doesn't that tell you that she's hiding something?"
"What are you talking about? I talked her to like once a month. Kono calls her all the time with the occasional chat with Chin and Malia. Kono told Lori about Adam and aside from us, Lori helped Kono move on. She sent Chin flowers after Malia died, and called to check up on Chin. And I think you mean by our friend, she's everyone's friend but yours?" Steve rolled his eyes.
"If she was so close with you all, then why didn't she come to Adam and Kono's wedding, huh? Where was she when we had Malia's funeral?" Steve was more pissed with the fact that Lori kept in contact with his team but not him. He thought that after everything they went through, she would at least have called occasionally or texted him.
"Gee I don't know, Steve," Danno wildly gestured his hand, "maybe it's because she works for NCIS and they are crazy over there. Or maybe it's the fact that she doesn't want to see a certain person who strung her along for months but she told him her feelings, she got a simple I miss you and a hug goodbye. Maybe she still had feelings for you and didn't want to be reminded of his rejection."
That immediately shut Steve up. Danno smirked at his verbal victory.
One step at a time there's no need to rush
It's like learning to fly or falling in love
It's gonna happen when it's supposed to happen
That we find the reasons why, one step at a time
-One Step at a Time by Jordin Sparks
The past six and a half months had been longest that Lori had ever spent not working and it felt good. She opened a women's only gym and hired women to run gym classes and personal training sessions – a new initiative that she came up with to allow women to train in a private, safe and comfortable place. She herself taught self-defence classes and personal training sessions. She had lots of women signing up for memberships within the first week. Lori herself was a black belt in Krav Maga and when she had moved to DC, she trained so hard – improving her fighting skills, artillery skills and language skills. Agent Gibbs often joked that she should've signed up to be in the CIA or a spy but she told her that she much preferred to be in one place. Lori managed to easily pick up Spanish, Italian and French. Over the past three months, she established a routine in Hawaii – where she went jogging and surfing in the mornings before spending the day in her gym running classes or doing paperwork.
Money was never really an issue with Lori Weston. She earned enough as a Special Agent for her to survive on her own. She worked long hours and saved up over her time in the job. However, since her parents and older brother James died in a plane crash, everything was automatically in Lori's ownership – the house, the car and the money. Her father was a well-off business man and her mother was a nurse. The Weston family grew up in Pennsylvania on a large farm with cattle, chickens and horses. Lori Weston may love clothes and shoes but she was a tough farm girl who loved to ride horses at heart. Her brother James worked alongside their father as he was expected to carry on the business. He was a University of Texas football quarterback, smart and attractive therefore attracted all the girls. He was only three years older than Lori.
When she finished her life in DC, she was determined to find out more about her family and that was when she found her father's parents. Antonio and Rosa Morelli were in their 80s living in upstate New York also on a farm since they had retired. It turned out that Lori's father was running the family business as a silent partner that begun with his grandfather. The family were property developers and were extremely successful. When she contacted them for the first time, there was an overwhelming wave of emotions full of tears, apologies and love. She always wondered why her grandparents weren't around, and it was to protect the family – Antonio Moretti had many enemies who made threats and it was the only way. So, Antonio sent Lori's father away to another state and changed his last name to Weston, where he anonymously worked for the family company. However, once Antonio retired, they thought it was too late to try and find Lori.
Lori immediately flew to New York to meet her grandparents, and to her surprise, she also met her father's younger brothers and sister and their families and immediately was welcomed into the family. Lori clearly told her family that she had no interest in running the company which Antonio was alright with, but asked her to consider attending the company's annual Christmas Dinner next year to reveal herself as a member of the family. Lori promised that she will do it realising that she wasn't young anymore and that she shouldn't wait for missed opportunities. Her nonno also told her that when her parents died in her college Sophomore year, her grandfather had a trust fund set up. Now being in her late 30s, she was a multi-millionaire, however she barely touched it. After being reunited with her grandparents, she flew out to Hawaii and here she was.
Slowly Steve and Lori rebuilt their friendship slowly since she had returned to Hawaii, but continued to remain distant from him. When asked to join in the team for drinks or dinner, she politely rejected to avoid seeing Catherine. Over the past three months, she floated in and out of Five-0 headquarters occasionally giving some insight or to catch up with Kono. Danno signed Gabby up at Lori's gym for one-on-one self-defence classes as a birthday present and the two of them bonded remarkably well.
Steve broke up with Catherine five months since Lori returned after coming to realisation that their relationship would never be stable considering Steve was going to propose to Catherine two years ago, but she left him heartbroken, choosing her job over him. Much to everyone's dismay, they rekindled their relationship when she returned to the island several months later thus continuing their on-and-off relationship again. Of course, this last break up took a toll on Steve – just wanted to find someone and have a stable relationship. Chin and Danny reassured him to give it time and maybe Lori's return is fate, and she maybe his second chance at love. Lori met Lou and his family and Jerry at one of the Governor's function and immediately got along with the latest members of the Five-0 task force. It may have taken Lori some time, but she realised that missed fighting crime so, she told the Governor that she wanted to join Five-0 and he approved.
"Well, isn't this a sight for sore eyes…" Lori sang walking in with two coffees in her hand. Everyone standing at the touch screen table turned around. Lori handed over Kono's coffee and gave her Chin a kiss on the cheek. Steve immediately spotted her badge and gun holster on the side of her waistband.
"What are you doing here?" Danno walked over to hug Lori with a big smile on his face.
"I heard you guys have had a hell of day, but you still need to catch the ringleader, so I told the governor that I wanted to re-join the Five-0 taskforce, and he approved. I am now all yours." She grinned. Everyone gave her congratulatory hugs and welcomes – including Steve who gave her a heartfelt hug that made Lori's heart flutter and Steve filled with surprising warmth.
"We need to get back to work." Lou announced. Immediately, the team returned their attention to the screens.
"We're dealing with a sex trafficking ring. The ringleader and his assistants flew into Honolulu airport ten hours ago on a private plane. They're holding their auction in Waikiki where many rich men try and bid for the best girl. They use them not only for sex, but to be their slaves. Many of these men are single but there's always the married ones involved. The victims are mostly young girls or women under thirty that are hidden in these shipping containers. The containers are located at the back, and brought in one-by-one by a guard using the backdoor. These auctions can go for days. They kidnap girls and women from across the USA and have been for the past four years. This is some full-on sex trafficking ring." Lori squeezed her eyes tightly as the memories began flooding back. Kono sensed her best friend's body language change – it was tense and Kono could feel the fear reeking off her.
"W-what's the ringmaster's name?" She stuttered out. This was her worse nightmare – first day back on the job and she's met with something horrible.
"Carter Ivanov." Lori opened her eye and met face to face with the image of the man who haunted her mind of months. Chin saw how Lori reacted upon hearing the name and seeing his face on the screen and was immediately concerned.
"Lori, do you know him?" Lori nodded weakly.
"Carter is well known for finding certain women appealing and keep them in rooms to pamper them then try to and sell them to the highest bidder, but he is also cruel. If women disobey him and his men, then they will punish – these women are given only one warning, and one warning only." Steve glanced at Lori, noticing how tensed she looked.
"So, what do we do?" Danno looked at Steve. Steve turned around and looked at his team.
"We need to go undercover and try and gather as much intel as we can. While we're undercover, we break take out the guards and break into the auction room and take out those involved. Two of us need to lead this assault, another two need to roam the rooms and break the women out of their room and get them to safety. Have paramedics a couple blocks away so they can take a look at the victims in particular those girls who are potentially being physically harmed by Carter's men. Once we get these victims out, we find Carter. Based on the suspects we've brought in; Carter has never been in in the auction room – he is either in the rooms with the pampered women or involved in the physical punishment of misbehaved victims. So, Carter will definitely be in the vicinity."
"I'll go undercover." Lori said. Everyone looked at her, but Kono was very concerned for her girl.
"Are you sure, Lori? Going undercover after being out for so long is really intense." Steve asked.
"I'll be fine. What a first day though." She weakly laughed.
"Lori, it's dangerous… I'll go in instead." Kono looked at her with great concern.
"I need to do it." She shouted with her fist slamming on the table, shocking everyone around her.
"Alright then, let's get ready." Chin said. Everyone left the room leaving Steve and a slouched Lori alone.
"Talk to me Lori." Steve commanded. Lori shook her head and looked up at Steve with narrowed eyes. Steve immediately softened and walked over to her side. He put her hands on her shoulder and looked down at her.
"Did something happen in Washington that I need to know about?"
"No. It's just, I've done something similar like this before and it's horrible. These poor girls are as young as twelve and I can't even imagine what these men do to them once they've bought these girls." Steve sighed and pulled Lori into a hug. Since Lori and Steve rebuilt their friendship, both individuals' feelings for each other resurfaced but they refused to give into it. Lori pulled away and looked at Steve.
"Based on these photos," Lori pointed at the images on the screen, "the rooms are soundproof and all concealed – no windows and sealed doors. There are two guards standing at the front doors watching who comes in and out. You will need to bust in from the sides to take the guards. Once you take out the two guards, I can sneak through the front door and find the information that you need."
"You sure you're ready for this?" Lori looked at Steve and gave him a firm nod. 'Let the nightmare begin.'
"Everyone in position?" Lori put in her earpiece and attached a microphone above her cleavage. Kono looked at her with a huge smirk on her face.
"You know he's going to change his mind about letting you go in dressed the way you are right?" Kono whispered quietly. In the van, Kono was with Steve and Lou waiting for the front door to clear for Lori to enter.
"Oh please, like he can stop me. Lou might because of his fatherly instincts, but Steve can't do anything about it. Steve is a professional." Lori giggled as she slipped on her black suede Louboutin platform heels.
"Front door is clear. Sweetheart, you're up." Danno's voice sounded through their earpieces. Lori stood up and undid her trench, taking it off slowly knowing that Steve was watching her every move. Steve choke on his own saliva at the sight of Lori. She was wearing a lace cut-out teddy lingerie with a deep plunge neckline and a thong bottom.
"You are not going in there dressed like that young lady." Lou scolded Lori in his best father tone. Lori giggled and bent down to give Kono a kiss on the cheek giving Steve a good view of her piece of ass. Steve coughed and shook the embedded image of Lori in lingerie out of his mind and tried to refocus on the job at hand.
"You sure you can take down the guards roaming around the hallways without any weapons?" Lori looked at Steve offended.
"I'm a black belt in Krav Maga. What do you think? And please don't send back up. Focus on breaking into the surveillance feed while I'm surveying the area." She left the truck and walked towards the building looking around her perimeter. She caught Danno and Chin's eyes and gave them a flirty wink before quietly entering the vicinity. She carefully walked into the building looking left and right for guards.
"What do you see Lori?" Lori approached the corner and silently counted the number of doors in the hallway before quickly backed away when she spotted a guard walking towards her.
"There's seven doors – three on the right and four on the left. Definitely no windows." She quietly answered. The guard was creeping closer around the corner and immediately Lori's ears perked up.
"It is a dead end at the end of the hallway, but there is – "The guard came into her view and her fist immediately shot out and punched across the face. She stamped her feet onto his foot as Lori covered his mouth and grabbed a hold of his right arm swinging him around the corner, kneeing him to the ground and punched him out cold.
"See, I don't need back up. Anyways…" Lori slowly proceeded towards the end of the hallway. She leaned against the wall and saw a guard standing in front of the door.
"There are two doors – one on each side. I managed to take a knife from a guy that I just took down. These doors are potentially the doors leading to the auction room. Standby." Lori reported.
"Oh, I wish I could see our girl in action." Danno sighed dramatically.
"You can now. The surveillance is now for your eyes to see." Lori could feel Kono grinning. All the men turned their eyes to their screen. Lori gripped onto her knife tightly and focused her vision on the guard opposite her. She threw the knife and bullseye – got him in the chest. The other guard quickly walked over towards the dead guard when Lori quietly stepped behind the guard and kicked him in the lower back bringing the guard to his knee. She jumped onto his back and used her foot to push the back of his head into the concrete floor.
"Welcome back sister." Chin said and Lori smiled.
"Clear."
Then suddenly, she felt a throbbing in the back of head and was met with darkness.
"Boss! She's gone offline!" Kona shouted.
"We need to move now. Danno swap with Lou. We need to rescue the girls in the room and rescue Lori now! Let's move!" Steve commanded his team and Danny could hear the slight panic in his voice. Everyone burst out of their vehicles and got into position. Steve stood by the front door and waited for Danny to swap with Lou.
"Calm down Steve. Focus on one thing at a time. We'll get Lori out." Steve nodded at his partner and kicked the door open and entered the building with their guns raised and on alert, but all Steve could think about was getting to that woman that haunted her mind and needed to make sure she was safe and make her his before she could leave again.
I've become so numb, I can't feel you there
Become so tired, so much more aware
By becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you
-Numb by Linkin Park
Lori was awoken by the ice cold water thrown on her face. Her vision quickly became clearer and she immediately looked around – she was in a basement-like room with her arms tied up to the ceiling above head and her ankles locked to a wood block.
"Well, if it isn't Lori Weston again." She looked at the man standing in front of her. He wore a sneering expression on his face…that same one that gave her nightmares for months.
"Let me go Carter!" She shouted trying to break out of her restraint. He walked up to her and slapped her hard across the face. He gripped her face and squeezed her cheeks harshly
"You know the rules, my dear. If you're in this room, that means you're being punished." Lori spat out blood into his face. Carter let go of her face pulled out a handkerchief from his suit pocket and wiped his face. He grinned at her before throwing his fist into her stomach.
"Now tell me, where are your cops? Where is this team of yours that you've gone undercover for?" He asked in a sinister tone.
"I don't know! They only told me to go undercover but I don't know where they are." She cried out in pain with tears sliding down her face. Carter looked at her with disbelief and walked up to her reaching out to touch her nearly-naked body. Lori immediately shifted her body back away from her hand, but she couldn't avoid his sickening touch.
"Oh, look at these scars. Do you remember what I did to you when you disobeyed me?" His thumb and fingers ran across the scars on her body including the ones she tattooed over. He bent down to unlock her ankles out of her restraints and looked at her with a death glare.
"If you kick me, the consequences will be severe," Carter walked closer to her until his lips touched her ear, "I've always wondered how you would feel around me… so tight and wet for me." He leered. Lori looked away from Carter as she regained feeling in her stiff legs. Her wrists continued to rub against the rope of her restraint – immediately she could feel it starting to loosen around her wrist, but she stopped moving, trying to play her roll.
"Now tell me my dear, who are you working for this time? Where are they hiding?" Carter shouted the last question at her.
"I told you! I don't know!" Lori sobbed. She was determined to keep her team safe, even if it meant sacrificing herself to protect them and making sure these victims were rescued. Carter let out a deep side and rubbed his temple. He turned around and walked to the table closest to the wall opposite Lori.
"Then I guess we'll have to do this the hard way." Carter spun around showing a small knife underneath the dim light. Lori's eyes widened. "You do remember what happened the last time we were in this predicament, don't we?"
Lori's worse nightmare was coming back to life, and no one was going to save her this time. She was as good as dead.
Lori was tired, and her eyes were drooping, and her sense were weakened. Her body was aching and she was in so much pain. She could hear footsteps above her and a small tinge of hope rose inside. She began wriggling her wrists and the rope was expanding loosening its hold on her wrist.
"Shut your mouth and don't think about moving. One wrong move and you die." Carter warned her menacingly as he pulled his pistol out of its gun holster and hide in the dark by the staircase.
Steve and Danno broke the final victim out of the room when he heard noises under his feet.
"Brah, all victims are safe – mostly just dehydrated with some small cuts but should all be fine in the next few weeks. Any news on Lori yet?" Steve was relieved to hear Chin's report on the victims.
"Not yet, but she's in here somewhere." Steve reported back.
"Steve, come over here." Steve ran down the stairs and Danno standing in front of the closed door.
"This is a basement. Carter must be in here with Lori." Danno whispered. Steve nodded and kicked the door open. Danny groaned – Steve was playing SuperSEAL again rescuing a damsel-in-distress, why was he even surprised anymore? Danno followed Steve behind closely as they descended the stairs when Steve halted his step. His gaze turned to Lori – she was battered and bleeding. Then everything happened quickly.
Lori winced through the pain from the bones breaking as she pulled her hands out of the restraint when she saw Carter step out from the side of the stairwell and used all her energy she had left and leapt onto his shoulder. She used her thigh muscles with all the strength she could muster to flip him onto his back which caught him off-guard and lost his grip on the gun. Steve and Danno had never seen Lori ever like this – she had murderous eyes and although she was bleeding herself dry, she still fought her way to bring down Carter. Lori straddled Carter's waist and instinctively took hold of the pistol and pointed the barrel at this forehead.
"This is for ruining my life, you sick motherfucker." She spat at him and pulled the trigger. Her nightmare was over – he couldn't ruin her life anymore. She stood up slowly looking at Steve and Danno with relief before falling to her knees. Steve and Danno put their guns away and raced over to Lori and put her arms around their shoulders.
"We need paramedics on site now. Lori's in bad shape – she is bleeding out badly." Steve ordered as they dragged her out of that hellhole.
"Got it boss." Kona answered. Steve looked at the woman in their arms – there was blood running down each of her tattoos that she had on her body, she had bruising around her neck and a bruised cheek.
The Five-0 gathered outside the front of the building with the paramedic. As Steve and Danny emerged from the building surrounded by cops, the rest of the team and paramedics ran over to help Lori. Danny and Steve lifted Lori and placed her on the stretcher.
"My back!" Lori wailed out loud.
"Roll her onto her stomach now." The paramedics instructed, so they immediately rolled her over.
"My ribs!" Lori cried out again. The paramedics settled and rolled her onto the side where there were no bruised or broken ribs. Everyone around them saw the horrible sight of women – she had fresh lashes on her back that thankfully weren't too deep, however would still leave scarring. Kono was crying in Chin's embrace and Steve's fist was clenching in anger and frustration. Kono pulled out of Chin's embrace and held onto Lori's hand. She looked at her team.
"I'm going with her. Meet me at the hospital after you've all showered and changed. Chin, can you bring me a change of clothes when you come to the hospital." Chin nodded as the paramedics put Lori in the van and Kono sat beside her best friend.
"Make sure you update us when you get news." Danny said as the doors closed. Steve bowed his head down with his hands on his hips. Danny walked over to his partner and squeezed his shoulder.
"Come on babe. Better do with Kono says before she berates us at the hospital." Steve nodded and let Danno led him over to the car.
Made me learn a little bit faster
Made my skin a little bit thicker
Makes me that much smarter
So thanks for making me a fighter
-Stronger by Christina Aguilera
Time went by ever so slowly. Every hour, they would ask the nurse desk for news, but there was nothing. Lori was still in surgery after being admitted to hospital four hours ago and everyone was on edge. If they thought losing Malia or Adam was bad, losing Lori would be worse. Steve could go on a rampage and kill everyone associated with Carter Ivanov, and they couldn't lose their Commander to a revenge murder spree.
"Are you all here for Ms Weston?" Steve, Danny, Chin and Kono stood up and walked towards the surgeon.
"Yes, we are. Can you please tell us what's happening?" Kono pleaded.
"I'm Doctor Lewis. The surgery was a success. Ms Weston had to get many stitches done considering the amount of knife wounds she had encountered. Luckily, there were no major organs or bones badly damaged. Her thumbs are sprained however will be fully healed over the next few days if she doesn't do any further damage to it. She has a bruised cheekbone and a few scratches on her face that should heal in a few days. Ms Weston has tattoos that cover up old scars – they had to be restitched, but once the stitches are removed, they cannot be seen as the tattoos cover it. She had two lower broken ribs and some bruising ribs. Her back took some time to repair. The wounds on her back look to have come from whip lashes resembling the scars that were already on there, so we had to do a skin graft taking some skin from her arm where there was no major damage done to any of the bones or muscles. However, most of the scars on her back, Ms Weston will have to live with for the rest of her life. We did a rape test on her, and she was clear from any signs of rape." Everyone looked at the surgeon with relief as they tried to digest all the information.
"When will she wake up?" Steve asked in a hoarse voice.
"It's hard to say. She went through a tremendous ordeal and she lost a lot of blood. The amount of blood lost caused her to flat line twice but thankfully the hospital's blood bank had enough for us to bring her back and resume surgery. As long as she remains asleep, her body will continue to produce blood. Her body will need to recover for a few months before she can return to the field. Judging by her the previous markings on her body, and her medical records that was transferred to us from Washington DC, she may not wake up for a couple weeks. It's up to her."
"Can we go and see her?" Kono asked wobbly.
"She's being transferred to ICU now. I'll take you there." They followed the surgeon to Lori's bed and froze at the sight of her. The nurse had yet pull the blanket over her yet.
"Normally, the hospital would not allow this many people in here, but I have made sure that Ms Weston can have as many visitors at one time as she would like." Kono slowly walked over to Lori's bedside and grasped her hand tightly.
"Ms Weston may suffer from breathing normally when she wakes up because she coughed up a lot of blood causing some damage to her lungs but it should heal quickly." The surgeon looked at the people in the room with small smile.
"I know she looks terrible in all the white bandages and scars but Ms Weston is extremely lucky to be alive. Please be patient with her waking up. It is not every day our hospital sees something as terrible as this, but we are confident that she will make a full recovery."
"Thank you, Doctor. For everything." Steve shook hands firmly with the surgeon. The nurse finished hooking the IV into Lori and looked at the Five-0 team with a sad smile.
"Such a horrible thing for a beautiful young woman to go through. She's lucky to have you around – I'm sure she'll be happy when she wakes up to see all your faces. I'll bring over some chairs for you guys. Make sure you look after yourselves too."
Stronger, than yesterday
Now it's nothing but my way
My loneliness ain't killing me no more
I, I'm stronger
-Stronger by Britney Spears
Days turned into weeks. Steve was getting agitated around the Five-0 headquarters. It had been three weeks since Lori was out of surgery and she still wasn't waking up. Every day, he would visit Lori and occasionally spent the night when Danno had Grace or Kono needed a break from being in the hospital. The Five-0 team visited her every day and sat around Lori's beside eating dinner together and exchanging life stories. The nurses changed her bandages four days' post-surgery before removing them completely as well as the stitches a few days ago. The scars had completely healed and slowly, they were beginning to fade. A week after surgery, the nurse removed the tube from her mouth and replaced it with an oxygen mask as her lungs were healing up well. One night, he looked closely at her tattoos but did not understand Lori's reasoning for choosing these tattoos – a question he was dreading to ask.
He sat in his chair in his office looking out the window. The door swung open and he spun around to see Catherine standing in front of him.
"Catherine, what are you doing here?" Steve stood up in surprise.
"I thought I would come and see how you were going. I'm spending a few nights here in Honolulu before shipping off again."
"Oh, that's good." Was all that Steve could muster out. It was awkward. Since Catherine left and Lori has been back, Steve's mind has just been in a loop but the only person besides his team that he could think about was Lori. He dreamt about her luscious blonde hair, big beautiful green eyes and her body was just perfect in every way. He dreamt about waking up to see her beautiful big smile in his ocean-side home, watching her make them breakfast and laughing at their small jokes.
"So, how are things? Is everyone at Five-0 doing well?" Steve sat at the edge of his table with his arms and ankles crossed and gave a strained smile.
"Things are really good here. No doubt there's tons work for us to do but it keeps us busy. The team is doing well some better than others." He said vaguely not wanting to tell Catherine about Lori's return to the team or her current condition.
"That's good then. I guess you're not really missing me then." She gave Steve a weak smile. She took a deep breath. "Anyways, I was wondering if you were free? I was thinking that we should get a bite to eat at Lulu's then taking a walk along the beach?" Steve looked at Catherine – why was she talking to him like they were still dating? Before Steve could respond, the door burst open.
"Steven!" Danno walked through with a big smile before stopping his movement when he saw Catherine and Steve together. "Oh…Catherine. I didn't know you were in town." He spoke slowly and looked at Steve with raised eyebrows. Steve rolled his eyes and glared at Danny.
"What do you want Danno?"
"Kona just called. She's awake." Danny said carefully, assuming Catherine does not know anything about Lori returning to Five-0 or even what happened to her.
"I'll be there once I finish up here."
"Take your time. I'll go pick up some dinner, so we can eat with her." Danno waved Catherine goodbye and left the building. Steve watched him leave before returning his eyes to Catherine who looked confused.
"Catherine, I have to go."
"But – "Steve put his hand up to stop her.
"Catherine, whatever you're doing, it needs to stop. We broke up for a reason and we keep breaking up for the same reason. You need to move on. I'm trying to but you keep coming back. It's best for everyone that we keep our relationship as friends and strictly professional." Steve stood up and picked up his phone and wallet and looked straight at her, "I'm sorry Catherine, but I have to go." Steve hustled out of the room feeling the weight off his shoulders.
Steve ran from the hospital car park into the hospital and spotted Chin standing outside Lori's room.
"Hey brah," Chin greeted as Steve came to stand up next to him watching Lori and Kono talk, "she woke up about twenty minutes ago. Where's Danno?"
"He went to pick up dinner for us. How's she doing?"
"The doctor said she's on track for a full recovery." The nurse came in to check up on the bandages and help her shower after dinner. Kono got me to bring Lori a change of clothes." Danny walked towards the men standing outside with food in his hand.
"Why are we standing out here?" He broke the silence causing Chin and Steve to jump.
"Jesus Danno." Steve glared at his partner. Danny observed to the two women in the room – Kono was holding on to Lori's hand tightly and they were both crying.
"Wow…" Danny whispered, "I've never seen these two so upset before. I mean, Kono looks worse than when Adam and Malia were gone."
"Kono and Lori has an unbreakable bond. A sisterly friendship that neither women has ever had. It's good that they have each other especially since they have both lost so much. Lori's family are all gone. She only has us now." Chin said sadly, before opening the door to enter Lori's room.
"Hey there sunshine! It's about time you woke up. SuperSEAL been going crazy around us." Danny grinned as he put the food down on the table. Kono stood up to help Danno as Chin and Steve helped Lori to sit up on the bed.
"How are you feeling Lori?" Steve pulled the chair behind him and sat down by her side. Kono distribute out the food before sitting on Lori's bed by her feet.
"Just tired, other that I'm fine." She smiled. They sat down together eating their dinner and updating Lori on what she had missed over the past two weeks.
"Did the doctor tell you about your condition?"
"Yeah…" Lori said grimly, "nothing new." Everyone in the room looked at her in surprise – she was almost killed at she spoke so casually about what happened to her.
"Lori, what are you talking about?" Lori was about to respond but the doctor walked in and interrupted,
"Sorry to interrupt, but I got to check on my patient." The doctor approached Lori and examined her vitals and her injuries.
"Any pain?" Lori looked at the doctor and shook her head.
"Only my back but the IV helps. I'm just tired is all, but I can't sleep."
"Well, it looks like you're on the way to recovery. Ms Weston, being asleep for two weeks has helped your body to heal without interruption. Your thumbs were sprained but has fully healed. The bruising on your face and ribs has all gone down. The stitches have been taken out but some of your wounds will leave scars. We had to take a skin graft on your arm to try and repair the skin on your back as much as we can, unfortunately your back will still have scars. Many of your old wounds that have been tattooed over were reopened but they have healed and they remain hidden behind the tattoos under the naked eye."
"Thank you doctor. Have you been able to contact Doctor Harrison back in DC?"
"Yes, he was able to contact one of his connections that lived in Waikiki. The name is Doctor Linda Martin will be able see you once you've been discharged." Lori nodded.
"Will she be able to see me as often as I saw Doctor Harrison?"
"Yes, she will. And, the Governor will be footing your bill. No questions asked." On that note, the doctor left a very shocked Lori with a smile. Danny turned his head and looked at Lori with confusion.
"Wait… wait wait…." Danno put his hands up and clapped them together looking pointedly at Lori. "Can someone please explain to me what the hell is going on?" Lori sighed. 'It's time to tell them the truth...it's bound to come out one day.'
"When I was in DC with NCIS, there was a case that was the exact same one as we operated it on here. It was run by Carter Ivanov." The room was silent and everyone looked at Lori intently.
"Agent Gibbs ordered me to go undercover to try and find Carter. It was the same sex trafficking auction with the same type of girls and the same type of buyers. So, I went in and managed to play the weak girl that one of the guards had found on the side of the road. I remember when the guards brought me to Carter, he took a distinct liking to me, so he would hold me around the waist and show me off the room full of men. He assumed that I had been in a situation like this before, however when he told me to perform a sexual action on his best buyer, I refused and that was when I learnt about his punishment."
"You said that he warned the new girls about disobeying their orders – why didn't he warn you?" Steve asked – he could feel his temper rising as his brain processed Lori's words.
"Like I said, he assumed I had already been in this situation before – sold through a sex trafficking ring before. He manhandled me into a room – it was dark and concealed. No windows, no mirrors or doors. I remembered him tying my arms up to the ceiling and that was when the physical punishment came. He told me how if I had been an obedient girl, I would've been in one of those rooms where they pamper the girls for auction. The 'special girls', Carter would call it. To be honest, I thought he was just going to starve me, but I was wrong. One of the auctioneers had tipped off Carter that there were cops in the area and he noticed my change in body language and knew that I was an undercover agent. He tried to get me to confess who I worked for and what I was doing undercover, but I wouldn't break so he would use a knife. He called it 'his special knife' only used for very special girls – the ones who like to be disobedient. So, he would use his knife to give me either stab wounds or pierce my skin open. He said that it would act as a reminder." Lori's tears were falling heavily from her eyes.
"A reminder for what?" Kono asked quietly holding onto her feet.
"A reminder of my worst nightmare." She whispered. The room was quiet and the only thing that could be heard was Lori's sobs. Steve stood up and sat on the bed next to Lori. She moved across to allow him more room to sit comfortably and pulled her into an embrace, allowing her to cry on his shoulder.
"So what happened after? How did you get out?" Danno sat down in Steve's chair with his head in her hands and resting his elbows on his knees.
"He asked me again who I was working for and when I didn't respond, he pulled out a whip and lashed me about five times. It turns out he was a sadistic dominant and was turned on by my pain. He dropped the whip and tore my bra and underwear off. I was half conscious and he freed my hands and took me into his arms, and was about to penetrate me, but stopped when he heard unusual noises from the ceiling above. The building was not soundproof and he could hear the shouts of NCIS, so he dropped me and fled the room. Agent Gibbs and Agent Bishop found me crouched in a corner, naked and badly beaten. The next thing I remembered was waking up in hospital to see happy faces around my bed. The doctor had to give me a blood transfusion and said I was lucky that NCIS raided the place on time to prevent him from raping me."
"Who is Doctor Harrison?" Chin asked rubbing his temple.
"He was my therapist. The Director at NCIS put me on medical leave – I did physiotherapy, rehabilitation and in between sessions I would go see a therapist. I wasn't sleeping – his face would haunt me at night. It wasn't the almost raping incident that ruined my life, it was the physical and mental abuse. He would say the most disturbing things – that he was going to ruin me, he was going to kill everyone I know, and just other horrible things. I saw my therapist three times a week. By the end of my third month, I decided to resign from NCIS. It turns out Agent Gibbs had been speaking with the Governor of Hawaii giving updates about my progress. He tracked me in hope that I would return to Hawaii to either work for HPD or back with the Five-0 taskforce. I told the Director of NCIS that I needed time to recuperate and heal, so I bought a house here, but spent a month on the Marine base where they helped me recover and trained me like a Marine – improving in my combat and artillery skills. In my downtime, I earnt my black belt in Krav Maga. By the time I flew into Hawaii, I had been recovering for almost six months already, and the Governor was getting on my case about return to work but I wasn't ready."
"Why didn't you tell me sister? We tell each other everything, but you dealt with all that on your own?" Kono wiped away her tears.
"It's my burden to carry. What could you have done? We were too far away from each other. No one was, but I had my team, my therapist and my doctors."
"So that's why you shot him in the face and said it was for ruining your life." Steve concluded. He felt her nodded against his neck.
"We're here for you now, alright sweetheart? No more running away, no more hiding. We're going to be with you every step of the way." Danno told her sternly. Lori looked at them and nodded with a smile on her face.
Over the next two weeks, Lori woke up feeling stronger. Since she told her team about what had happened to her in DC with Carter, she felt all her burden rise. Doctor Martin came in one morning to meet Lori and it was great. It started off well until Doctor Martin talked to her about her file that she received from her therapist in DC. It was intense and emotional, but Doctor Martin reassured Lori that therapy was the best kind of mental medicine for her.
Every day, the Five-0 team would visit. Kono and Chin often had lunch with her while Danno and Steve would spend their evenings with her having dinner and watching football. Steve would spend his night with Lori giving her comfort when she was having nightmares – they would stay awake for a few hours talking about their childhoods or their interests till they fell asleep. Every morning, the nurse would come in to check on Lori and leave with a smile on her face – she loved the sight of seeing the two of them sleeping in bed together in peace.
"So, Grace told me that you're her favourite. She thinks you're so brave and pretty." Danno said with fake disgust.
"It seems Danno is a little jealous." Steve smirked. Kono, Chin and Lori laughed at the two best friends arguing back and forth again. Suddenly the door swung open drawing the attention of everyone in the room.
"Nonno!" Lori cried in shock, "what are you doing here?" Steve looked at Lori with confusion…well everyone did because they weren't sure who these people were that just burst into the room.
"What am I doing here?" Antonio shouted, "my granddaughter is in hospital after some bastardo malato almost killed her and you ask me what I am doing here?"
"Nonno…" Lori sighed, "I was meant to call you but – "
"No buts young lady!" Coming up from behind Antonio, was Lori's nonna who looked as equally pissed off as her husband. Lori also saw her zio Stefano and zia Piper behind them. Lori groaned.
"Do you know how long it took your i tuoi zii to track you down and find out what the hell has been happening with you? Can you imagine my surprise when we found out you worked for NCIS in Washington DC only to resign for what that psychopath did to you?" Antonio continued to rant.
"Nonno!" Lori shouted exasperated, causing him to be silent, "can we please do this later?"
"No. We are doing this now. Who are these people?" He asked pointing at the Five-0 team.
"These are my friends and colleagues at Five-0." Immediately they all introduced each other, and Lori's eyes narrowed when she saw the quick change from anger to excitement when her grandparents met Chin, Kono, Steve and Danno.
"Stefano, go find the doctor and tell him to come over so he can explain what happened with mia nipote." Rose commanded. Stefano nodded obediently and left the room.
"Well, we better get going. It seems this conversation is for family only." Danno said looking at Steve, Chin and Kono. Chin and Kono nodded before saying their farewells. Steve looked down at Lori, 'You'll be alright?' and Lori nodded. Steve bent down and kissed her cheek before leaving with Danny. Lori's grandparents came around the bed and sat beside her bed. Rose sighed and held Lori's hand.
"Do you know how worried we were when we hadn't heard for you in months?" Lori shook her head.
"I'm sorry nonna. I'm not used to having a family that cared for me this much. I forgot what it was like." Rose's eyes softened when she saw her granddaughter had tears welling her eyes.
"Lori, your nonno and I want you to know that you are loved and cared for by all of us. You are our granddaughter. We've already missed out on most your life, we are not losing you again." Lori sniffed and nodded her head smiling.
"When we contacted your therapist, he told us a briefing of what happened to you and when we found out that he had been contacted because of the same incident occurring here in Hawaii, your zio Stefano immediately booked us a flight over. Stefano and Piper flew with us and left the kids at home to accompany us."
"Thank you so much nonno. I've missed you guys you know? Hawaii has been fun and reconnecting with my old team and friends helped, but you guys were always at the back of my mind."
"Well, we are not leaving you anytime soon. Besides, the kids all wants us to bring presents from Hawaii back home."
"I'm going to go check on Stefano. He's been gone a while." Antonio stood up and left Lori alone with her grandmother who was running her hands all over the tattoos and scars. She looked at her granddaughter with sad eyes.
"It's alright nonna. I'm a resilient woman. I'm not going to let some scars ruin my life. I love you." Rose stood up and kissed Lori on the forehead.
"I love you too, my dear." Rose smiled softly, "now tell me about your friends."
"Well, I was with the Five-0 team four years ago when the Governor assigned me to be his eyes and ears. I was with them for six weeks and we became very close. Kono is my best friend – we surfed together, dinner together and fought side-by-side each other. Even when I left, we kept in contact for all these years but I never told her about Carter Ivanov. She's an amazing person but she has her low points. Chin is Kono's cousin. He's such a wise, humble guy and such a good person. He's so selfless and wears his heart on his sleeve. I'm sure you don't need me to describe Danno but he's a great detective despite his lively personality but he's a good man who makes his daughter proud. And Steve, he's a Navy SEAL Commander and overall a really great guy. He's a risk-taker but he is very dedicated to right the wrongs. He's a very good friend as well. He and Danno are like an old married couple, believe me." Lori laughed. Rose looked at her granddaughter noticing that her eyes lit up when she talked about Steve, so she decided to find out more.
"Tell me more about Steve? I assume there's more between you and him." Lori coughed nervously.
"I left Five-0 because I had feelings for him and it would've interfered with my work. I told him about my feelings but he left me high and dry and he was the only one that I lost contact with. When I came back to Hawaii, we were on shaky terms but we've rebuilt our relationship and we're back to being great friends."
"And what about your feelings?" Lori sighed and shook her head.
"They were stronger than I realised nonna, but I'm not ready yet, not after everything that has happened." Rose sighed. She stood up and sat on the bed beside Lori, allowing her to lean her head on her shoulder and ran her hand through her hair softly like a little child.
"Mia Caro, you need to tell the man how you feel. Even though you told him how you felt four years ago and he didn't reciprocate it, you still could've stayed instead of letting that Governor force you out. You moved back to Hawaii to have a fresh start remember? That means allowing yourself to fall in love. If the person you love is Steve then, your return to Hawaii is fate. Tell him before you really lose him forever."
I hope you enjoyed this :) I'm open to one-shot requests - just shoot me a DM or leave a comment below ! I would love to hear your thoughts.
xox Caz