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Hello, everyone! Thank you so much for coming back to the story! I'm glad that you're enjoying it, and I hope that your enjoyment continues. I tried to upload this yesterday, but I was having some trouble, for unknown reasons. Also, a big thanks to those of you that have reviewed, favorited, followed, and private messaged. Your encouragement means the world to me. Keep it up!

My plan is to have the story finished by the time that season 10 premiers, which is supposed to be on September 27. That will mean that I will have to put up two chapters a week in addition to the one chapter a week of my other story, and I think that I can do it. Especially with encouragement from you all in the form of reviews, favorites, and follows! I also welcome private messages – I love communicating with my readers.

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own the Hawaii Five-O characters, though I certainly wish that I did. All of the OCs are of my own creation. And, similarly to my last Hawaii Five-O story, I will not be following the timeline of the show, nor will I use every single plot that they've introduced. I really only use the characters and a few of the storylines. So, if you're reading something and you think, "no, that can't be right because Steve had already met Catherine" or "but that doesn't make sense because Danny said this in season two…" just know that it does make sense in my own little Hawaii Five-O universe.

Also, in the first chapter, there were some people that complained that I said that Steve killed Hassan when he did not. This is true, and that's not what I meant. It was meant to be a metaphorical "death" due to the nature of this story, but I realize that might have been a bit premature as it was in the very first chapter. I will be rewriting it so that it makes more sense.

Happy Reading!

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Chapter Two: The In-Between

I woke with a start, shooting upright and instinctively raising my hand to shield my eyes from the intense sunlight. The air around me was warm, but pleasant, and it smelled faintly of the sea. Yes… it had to be the sea, because I could hear the waves rolling.

Slowly, I lowered my hand and took in my surroundings.

I was on Kauna 'oa beach, nestled on the soft sand. A gentle breeze ruffled the white button-up shirt that I was wearing – a shirt that held not a single trace of blood. A quick examination revealed that both my khaki shorts and brown shoes were also clean. Cautiously, I lifted the hem of the shirt, discovering that the bullet wound was gone.

No, not gone.

There was no scar.

It was like it had never happened.

"What in the world…" I muttered and rose to my feet, stunned that I didn't feel a single twinge of pain.

I remembered being shot by Azra. I remembered Danny begging me to hold on, the ride in the ambulance, the pain… But now, it was like it had never happened. Suddenly, I was on my favorite beach on the island, safe and sound.

And alone…

Stunned, I looked around and found that I was all alone on the beach. Though Kauna 'oa was never as crowded as some of the other beaches, it always drew at least a few people, no matter the time of day. The fact that it was empty was as bizarre as the missing bullet wound.

My hands went into the pockets of my khakis, searching for my cell phone. Unfortunately, it was nowhere to be found. In fact, I didn't have any of my possessions with me – keys, wallet, pocket knife…

"What in the world is going on?" I muttered and pushed my hands roughly through my hair, stressed.

A moment later, it hit me.

"Of course," I mumbled, a bit relieved. "They had to put me under to do the surgery to take the bullet out. I'm just having a crazy dream."

I could recall the same thing happening after I had been shot in the abdomen while flying a plane undercover.

But my relief was short-lived, because I quickly realized that I was not alone.

Out in the water, gliding smoothly on a surfboard, was a woman. She was quite a distance away, so I couldn't get a good look at her, but I didn't feel like I knew her.

Odd.

Almost as if pushed by an invisible hand, I began to move forward, closer to the water. The woman seemed completely comfortable on the board, arms outstretched, blond hair streaming out behind her with the force of the wind. She laughed, and the sound struck me in an odd way, almost as if my heart was a xylophone and her laughter the mallet that brought it to life.

Shaking the odd poetry out of my head, I watched in surprise as the wave suddenly shifted (as waves often did), and the woman went flying off of her board and into the water.

I kicked off my shoes and was in the water before I could have a second thought about it. The water seemed to embrace me as an old friend as I kicked hard and sent myself deeper, swinging my arms as quickly as I could.

By the time that I had reached her, the woman was floating with her head above the water, trying to recover her board. As she did, I gently took her arm and began to reassure her that everything was fine.

"You're going to be fine," I told her. "I'll help you get to shore."

The look of incredulity that she gave me made her blue eyes blaze. "Help me get to shore?"

"That's… what I said."

She rolled her eyes. "Come on, man. I don't have time for this today."

"That's an odd way to say thank you."

Again, she rolled her eyes. "Thank you for what?"

Growing slightly annoyed, I retorted, "For saving you."

Her laughter struck me again in that same way, though I adamantly pushed the strange feeling aside to focus on my annoyance with her ungratefulness.

"Save me from what?" She continued laughing. "Death?"

"Uh, yes?"

I was seriously beginning to wonder if she was on some type of drug. She didn't seem to be afraid at all of what could have happened.

Suddenly, her expression grew serious… and maybe a bit… sad?

"Ah," she said sagely. "You must be new here."

Confused, I shook my head. "No. This is my favorite beach on the island, actually. I grew up here."

Her smile was full of mirth, as though she knew something that I did not and thought that I was rather dumb for having not figured it out yet.

"Not new to Hawaii. New to here. This. The in-between."

Yeah, definitely some drugs going on.

But just to indulge her, I asked, "The in-between?"

"That's what I said," she returned, almost mockingly. Then, she nodded her head to the shore. "Come on. I'll tell you all about it on dry land."

She began to swim back to shore and I watched her for a moment before deciding to follow. After all, I was only dreaming. What could it possibly hurt?

But if you're dreaming, how have you never seen this woman before?

I had read somewhere that you only dreamed about people that you had seen before, and I definitely didn't recognize the woman. But I shrugged the thought off immediately. Perhaps I had seen her passing by on the street or sitting in a restaurant that I was visiting.

Once she had reached the shore, the woman gracefully marched out of the water and then turned to face me, a pink and white striped towel suddenly in her hands. As she used it to pat her face dry, I looked on in shock.

"How did you do that?"

"Do what?" She began to squeeze the water out of her hair with the towel, seemingly unaware of the magic that she had just performed.

"That," I said, and pointed at the towel in her hands. "There was no towel waiting here on the beach, but you… you… suddenly, you just had it."

When she gave me that same piteous smile, my annoyance flared once more. "Sorry. I keep forgetting that you don't get it yet."

"Don't get what?"

I was growing more and more frustrated by the moment, wishing that she would just tell me what the hell was going on.

"In the in-between, anything is possible."

To demonstrate, she snapped her fingers and her neon blue bikini was replaced with jean shorts, sparkly sandals, and a light pink tank top. Her hair was now completely dry and wavy, her face accented by makeup. She looked ready to walk onto a movie set to shoot, even though she'd just come out of the water one minute before.

Still stunned, I managed to get out, "So… you just… snap your fingers and you can have whatever you want?"

"You don't really have to snap," she admitted. "I do it for dramatic flair."

"Very effective," I mumbled.

"The in-between is just that… the space between life and death. Our souls rest here while our bodies take their time to recover. Here, anything is possible." As if to demonstrate, she stared at my wet clothes until they were suddenly dry. Not just dry, but as if they'd never been wet in the first place. Not a wrinkle or stain in sight.

So odd.

"Why does it look so much like Hawaii?" As I spoke, I scanned the area, searching for any obvious differences.

I didn't find any.

"It is Hawaii," she explained. "You can go anywhere that you've been before, or even a place that you've seen enough pictures of to know. People usually wake up in a place where they feel completely safe, calm, and secure. Obviously, this beach is that place for you."

I didn't see why it wouldn't have been my house or my office, but I pushed that question aside because there were far more important things to ask.

"And this beach is that place for you, too?"

Her smile grew a bit sad, and she turned slightly so that she could look out over the water. I got the feeling that I had touched a nerve; I just didn't know how.

"No. When I first woke up, I was at my old instructor's house in Rome. No one was there. I had to wander through the city for days before someone finally discovered me and told me what was going on. I've been here for two weeks now. It's been several years since I've been to Hawaii, but this beach was my favorite when I was here, and I always wanted to learn how to surf. I've been teaching myself."

I pushed away the panic that wondered if I would be here for that long. I didn't have the time to freak out about that. I just needed to figure out how to get out of here and go back to my life. There were people that needed me.

"How do I get home?"

She turned back to face me, and I couldn't read the expression on her face. With a sigh, she began to walk and I instinctively fell into step with her, ready to hang on her every word to find the answers that I needed.

"Our souls reside here in the in-between while our bodies attempt to recover. The best thing that you can do for your healing is to try to relax and enjoy your time here. It's completely safe in the in-between – you can't die, can't be injured, and you can have almost anything that you want. You can even visit your body, though I think there are limitations on how long and how much."

That gave me some hope. "How do you visit your body?"

"It's hard to describe." She seemed to be searching for the right words, and I struggled to remain patient. "You can't visit any old time that you want; your body has to be ready for you. I can't describe what that feels like, but you'll know it when it happens. You can stay for as long as it will allow you, but you'll get kicked back here in time. Thankfully, while you're there, you won't feel any pain."

I thought of the gunshot wound in my body and was thankful for that small miracle, at least. But… "All of this is a lot to swallow."

She nodded. "You're not sure if you believe it. You think it's just a dream." Before I could ask, she answered, "That's what I thought at first, too. You'll just have to experience it for yourself before you can believe it."

"I didn't even ask you for your name."

"You didn't." She laughed and turned to face me, holding out her hand. A comedic glint shone in her eyes. "My name is Rose."

"Steve." I shook her soft hand. "So, what… happened to you? You know… to put you here?"

"That's not usually a question that you want to ask people." She resumed walking, and I did the same. "Luckily, I don't care too much. There was a man… Evan Reese."

"A boyfriend?" I guessed.

She shook her head, her voice grim. "A stalker."

This woman hadn't ceased to keep stunning me since we'd met. "Wow. He… attacked you?"

"He did." She sighed, staring straight ahead as if to steel herself to tell the story. "I was sixteen when I started getting letters from him. I did everything that I was supposed to do – told the police, took out a restraining order, moved away to make it harder for him… But it was like none of that mattered. Everywhere I went, he wasn't far behind."

She stopped walking and looked out at the water once more. When she spoke, her voice was soft and full of just barely contained emotion. "He finally caught up."

My stomach lurched, and I felt the anger course through my body. "I'm so sorry, Rose."

"Thanks." She cleared her throat and looked to me, forcing a smile. "What about you?"

"I'm a member of Five-O." At her confused expression, I explained, "Hawaiian government task force. Kind of like the police, but without so much red tape. Anyway, a woman came into my office with her son to put the past behind us. At least… that's what she told me. On the way out of my office, she shot me."

Rose winced. "Brutal."

I snorted in agreement. "That's one word for it."

"Well, you might as well make the best of it now." She held her arms out to her sides and spun in a slow circle. "Take advantage of true paradise. Think of it like a much-deserved vacation."

"But what happens next?" I asked her. "People don't stay here forever, right?"

"No." Suddenly, she was serious again. "The time will come when you'll have to choose whether you'll live or die."

Incredulous, I said, "But that's an easy one. Of course I want to live. There, choice made."

She smiled sadly at me. "It's not that easy."

I felt my brows furrow in my confusion. "What do you mean?"

She turned slightly and began to continue her trek down the shore.

"You'll see."