Disclaimer – still don't own Hawaii Five -0 - just toying with their lives for a while. And my lawyer and psychiatrist both agree that I still don't own Steve. Dammit.

I have no idea why, but I absolutely obsessed with the idea that Joe White has a daughter. And it would stand to reason, as close as Steve and Joe are/were, that Steve would have some sort of relationship with the daughter. And quite honestly, I'm in a "punish Steve" mood after he discounted his relationship with Catherine as "a thing". That's pretty well at the top of his "douchebag moments" list. And, I'm in a weird place with Nightmare, so here's my brain changing course for a bit.

Steve stalked into the Palace, taking the stairs two at a time, his most recent argument with Catherine about his mother fresh in his mind. He threw open the main door to the 5-0 headquarters and grunted at Kono when she rushed to greet him. He skidded to a stop just outside his office. "There's a woman in my office," he grumbled.

"Um, yeah, that's what I was going to tell you when you growled at me," Kono replied quietly.

"I didn't growl at you!" Steve argued impatiently. "Who's the woman?"

Before Kono could answer, the blonde in Steve's office turned slightly to examine one of the plaques hanging on his wall. His heart dropped into his stomach. "You've got to be kidding me," he snarled. He heaved the closed door open and stepped inside, his back up and set for a fight. "Why are you in my office?" he demanded.

The blonde pointed to the plaque. "You've been doing a lot of great work here, Steve."

He narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. She glanced over at him and smiled softly. "I'm not surprised, though," she continued. "You've always been your father's son."

"You come all this way for small talk?" he asked angrily.

"No," she sighed. She leaned against his desk and mirrored his defensive position. "I need your help, Steve."

He laughed bitterly. "You need my help? In what alternate universe do you really think I would want to help you?"

"I'm not enjoying this any more than you are," she explained with a scoff. "But it is what it is."

Steve rolled his eyes. "So, let's have it, Christine. Why do you need my help?"

She reached into the pocket of her navy dress slacks and pulled out her cell phone. She tapped the screen several times and suddenly Joe White's voice could be heard over the speaker. "Sweetheart," Joe's voice was trembling, laced with a level of fear Steve had never heard from the older man before. "I love you… so much. This may be it, kiddo. Steve will be able to help you figure out how I… Anyway, I love you. And tell Doris that I…."

The line suddenly went dead and Steve looked back at Christine to find tears clouding her blue eyes. "That was two days ago," she said quietly. "The caller ID showed "unknown", not even an actual telephone number, so I didn't answer it. Let it ring to voicemail. Probably the last time I'll ever hear his voice and I let it ring to voicemail."

Steve was stunned into silence. "What the hell is going on, Steve? And what message am I supposed to give your dead mother?" she demanded.

Christine brushed a tear from her cheek with the back of her hand and stared at Steve expectantly. He coughed uncomfortably and scratched at the side of his face; then took a deep breath and ran his teeth over his bottom lip before answering. "My mother isn't dead."

Christine's eyes went wide, her brow furrowing in confusion. "I was there, Steve. At the funeral…we, we buried your mother."

"I don't know yet who we actually buried, but my mother is alive and somewhere on this island," he explained carefully.

"She's alive?" the blonde asked incredulously.

"Yeah."

"And Dad knew?"

Steve shifted his weight awkwardly and tried to formulate an answer to give Joe's only child. "STEVE?" she demanded, throwing her arms open wide.

"He, uh…" Steve coughed again and ran a hand through his hair. "He helped Mom fake her death. And he's been hiding her ever since."

The color immediately drained from Christine's face. Her eyes darted from side to side as she processed the information he'd just given her. She swallowed once, hard, before launching herself from Steve's desk and wrenching the door open to flee from his office.

He groaned before running after her. "Boss?" Kono questioned as he strode quickly past her. Christine was down the stairs and making her way out into the parking lot before Steve caught her. He grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. She instinctively raised a hand and he braced for the inevitable slap.

His winced at the sting as her small hand connected with his cheek. She covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes wide with shock. "Ohmygod, I'm sorry," she stammered, backing away from him. He reached for her again; surprised she didn't fight him. Taking her elbow, he hauled her off the sidewalk to the side of the Palace building.

Away from prying eyes, he pinned her against the marble block with an arm on either side of her head. "You're violating my personal space," she griped, attempting to duck out from under him.

"You just violated my face!" he countered.

A ghost of a smirk flitted across her face before she cocked an eyebrow at him. "You deserved it."

"I deserve…how the hell did I 'deserve' it?" he bellowed. "I didn't fake my mother's death or hide her for 20 frikkin' years! That's all on your last name, babe."

The anger behind her blue eyes quickly lit into a full flame. "You are the same condescending, infuriating…"

"Pot, meet kettle," he sneered.

"Neanderthal ASS you've always been!" she continued over his interruption.

Steve opened his mouth to answer before a female voice behind him said, "Wow, I can't say I'm inclined to disagree with that assessment."

He looked over his shoulder to find Catherine standing on the sidewalk glaring at him. He had the decency to look guilty as he backed away from Christine and turned to address Catherine. "This is not what it looks like," he said by way of explanation.

"And what does it look like, Steve?" she asked curiously.

"Uh…." He stammered. Christine ducked around him and offered her hand to the brunette. "You must be Catherine," she said with a gentle smile. "Mary's told me a lot about you. I'm Christine White."

"White?" Catherine said, surprised as she shook Christine's hand. "You're related to Joe?"

"His daughter, yeah," she acknowledged with a nod.

"Is he okay?" Catherine questioned.

The blonde shook her head. "No, as a matter of fact. That's why I came to talk to Steve. Dad left me a voicemail indicating that he might be able to help, so here I am."

"Needing the Neanderthal ass's help?" Catherine answered with a grin. She turned to Steve. "You're going to help her, right?"

"Wasn't planning on it," Steve muttered under his breath.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Catherine demanded, offering him a sickly sweet smile in return.

He groaned and ran a hand down his face before turning two, finding both women with their arms crossed over their chests, eyeing him expectantly. "Yes. I said yes, I will help her."

TBC…