Author's Note: As you guys have probably noticed by now, something about the season three finale has evidently stuck with me because the last couple stories I've written (or am planning to write) have all been post-eps for 3x24. The thing is, I enjoy writing them too much to call that a problem, so here we are with yet another one. It's a little different from the others, though, in that it's my first time including Doris as a significant character in a piece. So hopefully you guys enjoy that bit, along with the hint of something more between Kono and Steve at the very end of this piece. (I make no promises; but who am I kidding, I love them together.) Happy reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any of its characters.

"Why are you doing this?"

Doris McGarrett looked up at her son with a sad smile on her face. His insistent query hadn't caught her by surprise; rather, she had been expecting it. "I get to help people you care about," she said simply. "It's the least I could do."

But Steve was already shaking his head. "That's not what I'm talking about, okay? Listen to me," he implored, his hand reaching out for her arm – as if he would somehow be able to hold her back, to keep her from leaving again. "You don't have to go with them, all right? You make a phone call, get them squared away. You don't have to get on the boat."

Her expression softened. "Yeah, but a phone call isn't gonna make people disappear," she pointed out, and God, Steve really wished she wasn't so right all the time. "Besides," Doris continued, "my sources will only deal with me. As soon as I get them situated, I'll be back. Okay?" There it was again, that smile of hers. An olive branch of sorts. "To be continued."

"Yeah," Steve grumbled, defeated. "To be continued."

There was a pause before Doris chose to speak once more. "It's like she said: it isn't forever." With the eyes of a mother, not a spy, she saw it instantly, the way he flinched and tensed even though she hadn't even mentioned her name. "What's wrong, Steve?"

"Nothing," Steve deflected, but he gave in with a sigh mere seconds later. "It's just...I wasn't prepared for the news that Kono would be going away with Adam. It's going to different at Headquarters without her."

This time, it was Doris reaching out to hold onto her son. "Just at Headquarters?" she asked carefully.

"What do you mean?" But Steve was biting his lip; he knew just what she meant, no matter how much or how hard he tried to deny it.

Doris gave his shoulder a squeeze. "I don't think this is just about work," she said perceptively.

His response was immediate, too much so. "You're wrong."

"I'm your mother, Steven," she reminded. "I can feel these things; I've been able to since you first had a crush on Kailani Reeves in the fifth grade."

"I'm not nine years old anymore, Mom." Doris could hear the glower in Steve's voice, but it didn't faze her; after all, she knew he was just in denial, trying to act the part of the stoic Navy SEAL whose job it was to run his task force and not become emotionally attached even though he had done just that. Steve's next words – quieter this time, as if to himself – only further proved Doris's theory. "And Kono is not Kailani Reeves."

No, she most certainly isn't.

The saddest part wasn't his retort, but rather the way he glanced over at Kono right afterward, drinking her in like he wanted to memorize every inch of her...just in case he never saw her again. It was a morbid thought, but he couldn't help it.

"I can tell." Doris ran a hand through her hair, casting a glance of her own back at the boat she would soon be boarding before turning back to her son – her sweet, precious son. "You know how I said I want to help people you care about?" His silence was her answer. "You care about her in a different way."

It wasn't a curious question, it was a definite statement, and Steve no longer had any fight left in him to deny it. "Yeah. Yeah, I do." A bitter lump of jealousy formed in the back of his throat as he watched her snuggle into Adam's side, as he watched the man's arm curl reassuringly around her waist. Steve hadn't cried in a very long time, and he really didn't want to break that record now, where all of his ohana could see – but it was just so hard. He heaved out a sigh, not for the first time that night or even that hour. "But Adam makes her happy. And that's all I want."

Doris could feel her heart breaking; and how was she supposed to leave his side now? "I'm sorry, Steve," she murmured, at a loss for words. It hadn't ever been something she was good at, expressing herself eloquently, and perhaps Danny or Chin or even Kono herself would have said that the trait was one that was evidently genetic. But they would have been wrong, because suddenly, Steve couldn't find enough words.

"You know, I never even got the chance to tell her how I really feel," he said, his chest burning, his vision blurring. "I've always stopped myself from pulling her aside and trying to explain, because I know it would change things irrevocably, whether for better or for worse. I've always been to scared to take that risk – because I didn't want to ruin the friendship we have now." Steve was more than aware that he was rambling, and that this, his first real heart-to-heart with his mother, couldn't have come at a worse time, but he couldn't bring himself to care. "And there's this tiny part of me that just wants to run over to her and hold her back and keep her here, but...it's not right. I just want her to be happy," he repeated, his voice cracking, "and Adam, to his credit, does that for her." Fuck, he really didn't want to cry right now. "He's a good man."

"You're a good man, Steve," Doris countered, pulling her son into a hug, even as he protested – though he didn't for long. She could tell he was tired; she could feel it in the corded muscles of his back, the ones that slackened as he rested his weight against her. "It takes a lot out of a person to make that choice; to accept the fact that sometimes, when you really love someone, you have to let them go." She saw the way he reacted to the word – that word that took so much out of a person but simultaneously gave so much to a person – and it tugged painfully at her heart. Her smile was watery when their gazes met. "I couldn't be more proud of you, sweetheart."

Steve averted his gaze for a long moment. And then, in a voice that sounded like he was a little boy again: "I wish you didn't have to go."

"It's not forever," Doris repeated, kissing his cheeks and grasping his hands. It was time to go; she had hoped in vain for a clean break, and it was time for her to take it. "I'll see you soon," she promised – and so help her, she would see to it that she kept that promise, no matter what. "I love you, Steven."

"I love you, too, Mom." In steely silence, Steve watched as she boarded the boat, followed shortly by Kono and Adam. They were leaving, too, and Steve was considered ducking away before things became embarrassing; but then, he was sharing a significant trusting glance with Adam, and Kono was breaking away from the group one last time, walking determinedly right toward him.

"I could hear you thinking, from all the way over there."

Steve afforded her a small smile, but it didn't meet his eyes; and neither did hers. "Yeah, you've always been good at that."

Though they were stealing from what had already been borrowed time, they didn't say anything to each other for a while, simply memorizing how it felt to be in such close proximity to one another. Finally, Kono's bottom lip quivered and she drew in a long, steadying breath; she knew it was time. "Make me a promise?" she asked on her exhale.

Steve's response was immediate, painfully earnest. "Anything, Kono."

Her budding smile faltered at that, and for the life of him, Steve wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been staring at her so intently. "Take me out to dinner when I get back," she said sweetly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Somehow, I just know we'll have a lot to talk about."

"I promise," he vowed, his voice is low and hoarse against the skin of her cheek.

"Good." Gently, Kono returned his kiss to her cheek with one of her own, and tried her hardest not to read too much into the way his fingers came up to his cheek to touch the place her lips had just been. She shivered, and it had nothing to do with the suddenly cool wind. "Goodbye, Steve."

"Goodbye, Kono." In a bout of strength he hadn't known he had, Steve was able to remain rooted to the ground, watching as the boat left the dock and disappeared into the night. But the moment he could no longer see her, he turned away – away from his broken team, away from Danny's inquisitive gaze, and away from Kono and Adam just as a tear slipped down his cheek.

THE END.

Author's Note: To no one's surprise, yes, there will be a companion piece to this. I don't really want to call it a sequel, because I'm not yet sure where it'll take me (but it's basically a sequel). So I hope you guys stay tuned for that one, and that you hopefully enjoyed this little gem! I'd absolutely love to know what you thought, so please don't hesitate to drop me a line! Mahalo.