YAY! I'm back! Hello again! So, a new H50 story for you! This is the sequel to 'Time to Sink or Swim,' but it doesn't really matter if you haven't read that story, it just might help you understand the characters. So, if this story is awful, I'm sorry! I'm not 100% sure of the ideas behind it, but I felt bad for not getting out a story when I promised you one, so here it is. I hope you like it :)

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Steve looked at the woman in front of him, and struggled to keep the disdain off his face. It wasn't that he had anything against her personally, just the fact that the governor had ordered him to visit her every week. As if he needed to. The one comfort that the ex SEAL could draw on was that his partner was also being subjected to the same torture he was: therapy.

Maria Fellows was in her late twenties, and loved her job. To anyone else, it might sound strange, but Maria found a certain comfort in worming her way into people's thoughts. It was a challenge that was different for every one of her clients. As soon as Steve McGarrett's file had landed on her desk, she knew that he would be the most difficult challenge yet, and the thought thrilled her. Now though, over half way through their second session, and all she had been able to discern about the ex Navy SEAL was that he was fiercely loyal and that he really didn't like psychiatry. It was irritating to say the least.

The SEAL in question just sat back in his chair and examined his shrink. Maria wasn't what he would have called 'beautiful,' her features were in fact quite plain. There was something about her face though that drew the eye and held it, and Steve had spent the better part of an hour trying to work out what it was. He hadn't had any luck.

"So Steven, why don't you tell me about your work in the Navy," she offered. He quirked an eyebrow at her; they both knew that almost everything he had done for the past 12 years was confidential. Finding himself unable to produce a decent response, he remained silent.

"No? Well, what about your family? I know that you have a sister, but you have lost both of your parents," Maria didn't miss the way Steve tensed at those words. "That must have been hard."

"Life is hard. We just have to work around that." Steve stated, no emotion in his tone whatsoever. He knew that she would try to understand him by analysing his emotional response to certain topics, and there was no way he was going to make it easier for her.

"That is a bleak view of the world," Maria shot back. Steve simply inclined his head in acceptance of that statement. He did truly believe in what he had just said, however, he also saw the joys of the world. He simply hadn't said so. "Why don't you tell me about your sister? There is very little about her on file."

"She lives in LA. I rarely see her." It was obvious from the way Maria leaned forward in her seat that she had gleaned information from those two sentences.

"You miss her. You wish you saw her more often." This time she didn't ask. Steve felt the need to answer anyway.

"I've rarely seen her since I was sixteen, being apart now isn't any different. How do you miss what you've never had?"

"You lived with her for fourteen years did you not?"

"And we have lived apart for almost twenty. That's a long enough time for habits and longings to fade." Steve had fully expected her to tear into that statement as well, but instead she just wrote something down on her clipboard before returning to watch him intently. The ex SEAL had to fight the urge to fidget under her gaze. Instead he focussed his eyes on a small mark on her otherwise spotless desk. Let her read into that what she would.

It was almost five minutes before anything further was said. It would seem that Maria had worked out his appreciation for silence, or maybe she just had nothing left to say. The stillness of the air was shattered as his phone erupted into music. Thankful for the interruption, he yanked his iPhone out of his pocket, only to see his partner's face grinning at him. For half a second he considered hanging up on him – he wasn't in the mood to share therapy stories.

"You know that I ask all my patients to switch off their phones, Steven." Maria said sternly, glaring at the mobile in his hand as if it were a grenade. That alone made him want to answer the call out of spite.

"I work for the governor, I need to be connected," he shot back before hitting answer and holding the phone to his ear.

"Hey, are you at therapy?"

"Yeah," was his simple response.

"Then you owe me big time. We have a case; you need to get down here." Steve was already out of his seat, and heading to the door, taking only one glance back to see Maria's outraged face. He winked at her.

"Where is here? And you're right, next time we go out, the drinks are on me." He heard Danny bark out a laugh at this comment.

"Sure they are. You know, in the months that I've known you, I still haven't seen your wallet." This was possibly true. "The beach at Hakalau."

"I'll be there in ten," Steve informed him, pulling himself into his truck. The movement suddenly pulled at the stitches in his chest and he gasped as pain flared through his torso.

"Steve? You alright?" Danny's voice was higher slightly with panic.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just stubbed my toe," he lied, wishing that his partner didn't know him so well.

"Sure you did Rambo. What did the doctor tell you about being careful when you still have stitches holding you together?" Steve had to fight the urge to laugh.

"I'll be there soon." He replied, then hung up before Danny could get another word in. Steve could practically hear his partner cursing him, and he chuckled quietly to himself. The Jersey native fussed over the SEAL like a mother hen, and though he wouldn't admit it, Steve found it slightly endearing. He was unused to people actually giving a damn about his health, and the novelty of it had yet to wear off.

Shrugging off the idea, Steve started the truck, and felt the reassuring power of the engine. He considered putting on the lights, but decided against it. Doctor's orders were to avoid 'excitement' at all costs. Yeah, right. If Five-0 had a case then the 'excitement' that his doctor seemed to despise was almost certainly headed his way. Still, putting on the lights was just asking for trouble.

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So, what do you people think? Is it worth continuing? I hope you liked the chapter, and as with my other stories, later chapters will probably be longer. Steve was a little OOC, but I really have no idea what he would be like if faced with psychoanalysis. I did my best. Reviews anyone?