Why didn't you kill Wo Fat?
The clicking of the heels on the wooden floor of 5-O headquarters was deafening. Her dress uniform was crisp, her hair tightly in a bun, as she walked briskly down the hallway. Her focus was on the office that lay straight ahead. As she passed the team member's offices, they each looked up and followed her with their eyes. Danny laughed to himself and thought "ooh, someone's in big trouble. This ought to be good"
Steve was sitting behind his desk and Jenna Kaye was leaning over him. As she explained the contents of the files, he could smell the fragrance of her perfume. There were files, postcards, and a tape recorder sprawled all over the desk. He could feel her breath on his neck. He couldn't decide if he liked the fact that she was so close or if it was just making him feel uncomfortable. They had been working very closely over the past few days and were getting to learn more about each other. Their common interest in capturing Wo Fat had formed a bond between them that few could understand. He turned to look at her and suddenly the office door flew open and a photo was dropped right in front of him. It was an 8 x 10 photo of him and Wo Fat sitting across a table from one another.
Catherine had seen what she had seen, but this wasn't the time to address it. She was here on business.
Jenna jumped up and stepped back.
"Have you completely lost your mind?" She scolded him.
"You didn't say that last night?" He said with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. He could always think quickly on his feet.
"Do I look like I am kidding?" She paused, and with a slight tilt of her head she replied, "Though… last night was fun." For a split second she forgot why she was there. She smiled.
"Ehem! Did you forget that I was in the room?" said agent Kaye with a bit of sarcasm.
"Oh yeh" said Steve. He and Catherine looked at each other and blushed.
"Lieutenant Catherine Rollins this is agent Jenna Kaye, CIA."
"CIA?" Catherine looked confused
"Well, sort of, but not really" agent Kaye responded "I was a CIA analyst, but I am on leave for now" She was chewing gum in the way that a child chews gum.
Catherine gave her a stern look from head to toe. If she wasn't working for the CIA, why did Steve introduce her that way? Was he hiding something? Who was she really? Why did they seem so intimate? Should she be jealous?
Steve stood up from behind his desk, walked around to the front, and leaned on the edge.
'Ok, we need to back up and you need to tell me what it is that has your panties in a bunch." Steve tried to appear serious but couldn't resist picking on her. After all, he knew that she was an easy target and easily gave into his charm.
"Besides you?" She smiled, and then quickly changed to a serious expression. "Why did you meet with Wo Fat?"
Steve had never talked to her about the situation with Hess and Wo Fat. Sure she knew that he spent the last 5 years in the Navy chasing down Hess, and she knew that Hess had killed his father, but she had no idea how personal this had become. His relationship with Catherine was easy and casual. They were good together, but neither one of them talked about their work. Her assignments were usually classified and his usually involved imminent danger and armed conflict. He didn't feel the need to burden her about it. Their time together was just that, time-alone-together.
"Why were you meeting with Wo Fat? And what do you know about him?" Asked Catherine
Agent Kaye responded with a tremor in her voice. "He killed my fiancé."
Though Catherine was annoyed at the mere presence of her, she tried to appear sympathetic. "I am sorry to hear that; agent Kaye was it? But this is a lot bigger than just your fiancé.
Steve felt the need to chime in. "He's also responsible for the death of my parents."
Catherine paused and walked to the other side of the room. She needed a second to collect her thoughts and process the information that she just received. Steve slowly approached her, and put his arms around her from behind.
She whispered to him "Why is this the first time that I am hearing about this? How long have you been investigating him and why were you meeting with him, Steven? She was genuinely shaken but she was also getting annoyed about the fact that he wasn't answering her questions. He released her from his arms and turned with his back to her. He paused and turned around to face her.
"You know that I have been chasing Hess and his brother for 5 years, well that has led me to Wo Fat. Wait a minute, how do you know about Wo Fat?
"Since I got transferred off the Enterprise, I was assigned to take over this case. This morning my CO calls me into his office to tell me that your ID has appeared on several priority one clearance requests involving Wo Fat and his known contacts. Naval Intelligence has been following you over the last few days. This surveillance footage of you and Wo Fat was taken two days ago. Officers were ready to move in, but by the time backup was called, he was gone. Since he simply vanished, again, they didn't feel the need to blow their cover. We need to know why you met, what he said, and most importantly, why didn't you apprehend him? We all know that you are more than capable of doing so. Steven, if you don't cooperate, they're going to have to take measures to shut down, not only your investigation, but your entire operation. You and I both know that they can. You can't just let someone like Wo Fat walk away without so much as a fight"
Apparently agent Kaye was listening to their conversation from across the room.
"No Way. I have been after this guy for 3 years. I am not letting some Navy floozy tell me that we can't investigate him and try to get him." Agent Kaye sounded very upset.
"Floozy?" Catherine did not appreciate the way she was being spoken to. "Who do you think you are calling a floozy? I have more experience in my little finger than you have in your entire body and judging by the way you're dressed and chew gum, more class too." Catherine was very upset.
Steve watched. He was always intrigued by the way women fought for their territory. He was trying to decide whether or not he should break up this little exchange, but truth be told, it kind of turned him on. Unfortunately, he knew that with Catherine's training, she could easily kick Jenna's ass. He decided that he had no choice but to put an end to this before it got out of hand.
"Ladies, please stop. Catherine, we are not giving up this case." Steve was adamant about this and she knew it.
"This guy is more dangerous than you think he is. He is wanted in 12 countries. He's an arms dealer, drug trafficker, human trafficker, and a political terrorist. He's organized attacks against military installations. Not to mention a murderer. Your little investigation could be interfering in not only catching him but also in shutting down his operation. You don't know what you're getting yourselves into. Everyone is looking for this guy. He's on everyone's radar." Catherine sounded almost like she was pleading with them.
"If he is so bad, then I'm not sure I want you on this case either" Steve sounded concerned.
"Well, fortunately for me, you are no longer my commanding officer, therefore, you don't have the power to take me off this case. I earned this case and I am going bring this guy to justice if it's the last thing that I do. This is the case that can advance my career." She said defensively
"So now you know how we feel" Steve responded with some degree of sensitivity
She paused, looked at Steve, then turned and looked at Jenna. At that moment Catherine had realized that Steve and Jenna wanted this guy, definitely more than she did, and she wanted him pretty bad. This would be the case that would earn her the respect that was so difficult to get in the man's world that she lived in. Now that she knew that he was responsible for the death of Steve's parents, it just made it personal for her too.
"Fine, I get it. You still haven't answered any of my questions. What were you doing meeting with Wo Fat in a restaurant?"
He looked her straight in the eyes "I wasn't meeting him, I was meeting Jenna."
Catherine couldn't believe it, but she was actually getting jealous. Why would he be meeting her for dinner? Is this what he was doing while she was out fighting a war? She was a secure confident woman, she never got jealous. That wasn't her style. She collected herself and did everything in her power to keep it professional. She was not about to let either of them know how she was feeling. Besides, she's the one that was with him last night. She tried, but couldn't shake the thought that something was going on.
Their eyes were locked on each other's, never even blinking.
"OK, so how did you end up with him?" Her tone was changing. She was becoming more submissive in her questioning.
"He just showed up and implied that if I tried to kill or capture him, Jenna would be dead." He said sadly
"So based on a threat, you let a known terrorist, escape?" she attacked
"It's not that simple". He attacked back never losing focus on her
"Yes, it is!" Her tone was flaring "What else did he say?"
"He said that he wanted to know the person who wanted to know him." Steve said with his hands making the form of quotation marks.
"That's it?" she attacked again
"Yes, that's it!" He was annoyed and felt as if he was being interrogated. Actually, he was being interrogated.
Steve didn't feel the need to tell her about the remainder of the conversation. She didn't need to know about the implications made about his father. Jenna just stared at Steve with no expression on her face. She didn't know about the threat that Wo Fat had made against her and almost wished that Steve would have taken the chance and killed him anyway.
"Listen, I realize that I am not going to be able to stop you, but at least I need to know that you will cooperate. Both of you. I am working closely with all divisions of the armed forces on this. We have feelers out everywhere. We will find him, but we all have a better chance if we work together." Catherine walked out of the office and started down the hallway. Her focus was getting out the building without breaking down.
"Cat, wait up." Catherine kept walking "Danny, someone, stop her!" he shouted. Before anyone could react, she turned around. "What? I have nothing else to say" She was extremely annoyed at this point. There were too many emotions that she just couldn't process.
"Don't be mad, we'll talk about it later, ok?" Steve tried to hold her hand but she pulled it away.
"I'll call you later" she said. And walked out.
Steve knew that she was not going to call. You see, that was usually his line.