A/N: Thank you for all the favorites, follows and reviews! I do love seeing that people are enjoying the story. This is a mega chapter with tons of backstory. It sets up a lot but doesn't reveal everything. Let me know what you think!

Previously: As Steve drew her into a fierce hug, he whispered, "so now you listen to me, huh." and pulled her up and closer into a kiss. Their bodies in perfect alignment as they sank into each other as if they had finally been reunited with their other half.

A cough finally drew them out of the kiss. A yelp of 'WHAT!' finally broke them apart to see the rest of the room.

"Embry, nice to see you again." Steve greeted as he shook Embry's hand.

"Ah, no. You are not going to ignore the rest of us in the room after you drop that bomb. How did we not know you are married? How is it possible I, your partner of years, did not know you were married?!" Danny shrieked.

Steve had yet to let go of Isabella. He looked back at his team and tried to answer Danny's question. From their reactions he could tell, Chin had known, maybe not who but definitely that Steve was married. He hadn't hid it from his father and so John must have passed along the information. Kono and Danny both had expressions of dismay on their face.

"It wasn't something I was trying to purposely hide from you." Steve tried to explain. "We got married five years ago, but due to her touring and my deployments we have never really been able to be in the same place. It wasn't safe for her or me for her to tell anyone she was married to me. A select group of our friends knew, and my father." At this both Kono and Danny swung their gazes to Chin and realized he had known something.

Seeing their expressions, he clarified "I knew Steve had gotten married. I gave John a ride to the airport when he flew out for it and he was so excited to be invited. I didn't know who Steve was married to or even if he still was since he hasn't mentioned it since he's been home."

"What about Cath?" Danny questioned. He could understand Steve's point but thought they had come a lot further in their relationship than they obviously had. Steve knew everything about Grace, but couldn't seem to share something as significant as a wife.

"I told you she wasn't my girlfriend. She is a friend. She was there when Is and I got married actually." Steve spelled out. "She was the one that organized for Is to do a concert at Pearl this month. Which reminds me, she was at my meeting and needs one of your people to call her about some details."

"I will call her. I want to catch up and this will be a great excuse to do it. Oh, that reminds me," Isabella answered and turned to Danny "I need to know how many tickets Gracie needs for the concert Friday."

"Woah, Woah. How do you know about my daughter and why do you think she wants to go to the concert?" Danny asked waving his hands.

"Steve talks about Gracie all the time. I can't wait to meet her in person. From everything he has said she sounds like an amazing person. I just hope she isn't too disappointed in Steve" Isabella responded glancing up at Steve as she ended. "My past has made me a really private person and the fame that came along with my singing didn't help that. After meeting Steve, with his job, it just made sense that for his protection and to keep him mine I don't talk about him. As for going to the concert, Steve told me she listened to my music. I figured when it was announced she would want to go."

"Well, you are right. It was the first thing she said to me when I picked her up from school yesterday. She and her friends were talking about having a sleepover and going to the concert. Since I was going to have to work, one of her friends was going to hold the sleepover and my ex-wife is speaking to the other parents tonight about the logistics of going to the concert. So I will let you know what is decided." Danny agreed

"I want to know how you two met!" Kono exclaimed.

Since it seemed they were moving into story time, Steve moved to the conference table and pulled Isabella down into the seat next to him. Embry re-took his seat as well.

Steve and Isabella looked at each other. They seemed to have a whole conversation without a word spoken.

Isabella turned to the group and started, "I had just finished my degree and my third album within months of each other and the record company was pressuring me to start touring. I had been really lucky when I signed my original contract, one of my business professors referred me to a friend of his, a lawyer, who really went to bat and made sure I was protected. It was written into my contract that I was not obliged to tour or do any promotion until my degree was finished. As long as I continued to produce material and earn my degree I was free to focus on my music and studies. Then all of a sudden, I had my degree. I went back to Seattle for commencement and it was great. All my friends from home came. I was back to being regular me, Bella Swan"

Embry snorted, "Yeah, regular, that would be the word I would use for you Bells. Normal even, right?"

"Shut up Em. You know what I mean. There wasn't anyone from home in LA. They called me Isabella all the time!" Isabella whined. "It was good, because I was super focused and got of lot work done, but I missed home."

"OK. Yes, you are right. We weren't able to visit as often as we thought once you had moved down there. It worked out but we did miss you too" Embry softened.

"Anyway, I knew the reprieve was going to come to an end and they would start demanding more from me. I talked it over with my godfather while I was home and he helped me realize if I took control like I had done at the beginning I would be able to do the things that I felt comfortable with while still fulfilling my obligations to the record company and ultimately my fans." Isabella continue.

"OK, I am going to stop you here, because I have to ask. How do you prefer to be addressed? You are ohana and going to be around, so we want to make sure you are comfortable" Kono asked caringly.

Isabella leaned more into Steve and whispered, "you were right. We'll talk more tonight." Then turned back to Kono, "Thank you, Kono. You don't know how good it feels to be accepted like that especially in light of how I have been sprung on you.."

"Too be fair, I was going to tell them before you got here, but you decided to show up here unexpectedly." Steve interjected.

"Yes dear, I am sure you would have. But now you don't have to handle the interrogation alone!" Isabella agreed with a smile. "When I am working I prefer Isabella, even with my friends. For me Isabella is a bit of a persona I put on so it helps me keep it in place when working. It also helps to even the playing field because I do have a lot of my friends working around me. I don't want some people to feel alienated for some imagined slight because they call me something different. It also helps with the safety issue. Everyone calls me Isabella, so no one is targeted as being close to me. Saying all that, I prefer Bella. As you heard Embry, there are derivations of that friends call me but it is what I prefer. Steve is the only one that calls me Is or Isa. I hope that works for everyone." She concluded pensively.

"No problem sistah. Despite what Danny might think, we can act professional and we will respect what you need!" Kono finished teasingly and stuck her tongue out to Danny.

"I never said you couldn't act professional. I said Steve wouldn't know professional if it walked up and shook his hand" Danny teased back.

"Well, thank you. I appreciate it. I am going to be around a lot more now and I would love to get to know you all better. Anyway, so after my graduation and getting my head straight with my family, I flew back down to LA and called my agent to set up a meeting with him to talk about renewing my contract. The night before the meeting I had headed down to the beach on Coronado to get my head together. I wanted to make sure I had all my negotiation points straight so that we could get through as much as possible during the meeting. So I am sitting on the beach with my notebook and pen writing furiously when a football lands in my lap. I hadn't been paying attention and while I wasn't looking a group of SEALS had invaded my beach playing football and generally letting off steam." Isabella continued with a smile. "So here I am with this football in my lap. If you knew me better you would understand the irony in that because I am probably the most accident prone person you have ever met and do not do sports especially contact sports."

"Seriously, you make non-contact sports contact when you pull everyone down when you fall!" Embry chortled.

"Hush you!" Bella laughed "Now, the guys are yelling at me to throw it back to them. I must have the biggest deer in the headlights expression on my face because one of them jogged over to me to pick it up. He asked if I knew how to throw a football at all. When I replied that I didn't he offered to teach me with this smirk on his face." Isabella looked at Steve, "That one!" She said as she pointed to his face.

"I told him I didn't want to be the reason his military career ended prematurely. Of course that just made him laugh, but he threw the ball back to his team mates and sat down with me and started asking me why I was wasting a gorgeous day at the beach so focused on a notebook." Bella continued.

"I'll take over from here!" Steve interrupted. "We had just finished BUD/S and were just waiting for graduation and our orders to come down so my classmates and I decided to go down to the beach to, as Is said, blow off some steam and hang out. We could finally relax after the previous weeks of hell and what was most likely going to be coming hell. As we got to the beach, everyone decided to do their own thing. Freddie and I" Steve's voice caught for a second at the mention of his best friend. Bella grabbed his hand and squeezed, bringing his hand up to kiss the back. "Right" Steve continued, "so Freddie and I decided to throw the football around for a bit. I had seen this gorgeous girl on the beach but hadn't decided what my approach should be and then Freddie threw this lame pass that landed in her lap. She's right, her face was priceless. I didn't even know eyes could get that big, but it was the perfect opportunity. Freddie stuck by his claim that he did it on purpose because he could see how I looked at her, but I swear that was a lucky pass - for me" Steve smiled at Bella. " I had to know what was so engrossing that she was so oblivious to what was going on around her. It was a beautiful day, a beautiful beach and there was no reason to be stuck writing in a notebook."

"So I explained that I had a really important meeting the next day and it was imperative that I be as prepared as possible because it would determine how my future moved forward. I think he was most impressed that I knew what imperative meant!" Bella ended on a shriek as Steve reached over to tickle her.

"So we sat there talking the rest of the afternoon. I explained that I just finished BUD/S and was waiting for orders after the graduation ceremony the following week. She told me about her meeting with her agent and taking charge of how her career was going to move forward. I played devil's advocate as she argued her different points until she felt completely prepared for the following day. When it started to get dark my classmates decided to head to the bar and I invited her along. I wasn't ready to give up talking to her. But she wanted to get home and it was a bit of a drive back to LA at that hour, so I told her no matter how the meeting went she had to meet me at the bar the following night. It would either be a commiserating or celebrating party, but no matter what I wanted to see her. We exchanged numbers and I went to the bar where I proceeded to get ragged on for the rest of the night while she made her way home."

"She made her way home, but called and gushed to Leah the whole time she was driving back to LA." Embry threw in with a laugh.

"I couldn't help it! I had to talk to someone about the great guy I had just met! At that point I still really sucked at talking to people I didn't know especially men. My dating history was atrocious and I don't have many close female friends." Isabella added as an aside. "It always seems like I am surrounded by guys, so Leah was my go to person for this. Ang would have tattled to Jake who would have shown up on my door before I even got home!" Bella answered.

"I hear you girl! I am constantly surrounded by guys and sometimes they just don't get it. Of course, I do have female cousins but they are super girly and, I swear, they were put on this earth to try my patience." Kono agreed.

"See! So, I talked to Leah on my way home and spent most of the night having weird dreams. The next day I spent most of it with my agent. I explained what I wanted and how I wanted to continue protecting myself and asked what he thought and if he thought I could get the record company to agree. We went back and forth about a couple of points, interviews and publicity being the main point of contention. He thought I should be doing more promotion and he thought the record company would push for it. It is the one thing that I stood firm on even when the record company tried to push back like he said they would. My agent is great and gets me, so he works for me how I need him to. The concession that I did make was that I would start touring almost immediately. I was bummed because I was hoping to be able to get back to Forks before everything hit the fan and explain what I was going to do, but it wasn't going to happen. After I left the meeting I called a family meeting back home and Skyped with them so my family knew what was going on and how my life was going to change. After the meeting was over, I got Leah to stay on and help me pick out an outfit to wear to meet Steve and his friends. I was super nervous but determined to go!" Bella continued.

"I didn't think you had much family." Chin questioned "Sorry, but we already started on the background check, as you saw."

"No problem. I get it, trust me. Well, officially no, I don't have much family left. I have my mother and step-father, but after my father's funeral I cut ties with them. But, my godfather, Billy, was my dad's best friend and I was always close to his kids especially his son, Jake. When I moved back to Forks in high school, I was adopted by Jake and his friends" Bella explained with a pat on Embry's arm.

"Billy is the chief of the Quileute and has always had a soft spot for Bells. She has basically been adopted as Quileute now. Jake, his son, was in love with her for the longest time, but he is thankfully past that now." Embry clarified. "A little while after she moved back to Forks she started hanging around the rez again and just became part of our family. When her dad died, we helped to take care of her and just tried to be around to make sure she was staying safe. It's what Billy wanted and what Charlie would have too. Once she started touring, she needed security and people around to help facilitate things, so we rotate as her head of security for different portions of the tour. This is my leg. I won a bet!" Embry finished with smirk.

"So you decided to keep your promise and meet the new SEAL!" Kono jumped in. "What did you end up wearing? God, I sound like such a girl"

"Oh yeah. I wasn't going to pass up a chance to see him again. There was just something about him that made me want to see more. I swear it was like heroin, addicted on my first exposure." Bella agreed with a weird laugh.

Steve pulled a face next to her that Danny couldn't figure out. 'It seems there are a whole new set of faces I am going to have to learn' he thought.

As if she could see it, despite not looking at him, Bella patted his arm. Quietly she whispered, "if I can laugh about that now, so can you." She continued the story, "I decided to keep in casual but dressy. So I actually wore something similar to what I am wearing now. But no heels! I hadn't learned to walk in heels yet. I actually had Leah come down to help me after my first concert and put me through a heels boot camp! I can now successfully walk in them" Bella said with a fist pump.

"I think it is my turn now," Steve took over "so I convinced the guys that we needed to go out again the next night. I had told Freddie that Is was going to meet us and hang out. I gave him a little bit of info, but not much, said she had an important meeting and either it was going to go really well or really bad, but she promised to come either way. So there we are, me killing time before she gets there playing pool with Freddie and a couple of others, when she walks in looking like this" he said with a wave in her direction. "I had thankfully thought ahead and invited some of the women we knew either through the Navy or girlfriends. Since it was a limbo period for us and some people had family flying in for the graduation, there was a mix of people to help camouflage the meet up…

"After that night, we were pretty much as inseparable as we could be given that she still had commitments in LA and I was stuck in limbo. But we saw each other as much as possible. She came out for my graduation from the SEALs. It was actually the first time I had someone there for one of my graduations" Steve said with a quick turn of his lips, not quite a frown but not the smile that had been across his face for most of the afternoon.

"I had to go back to LA to nail down my touring schedule. Since they wanted me to start right away there were a lot of people burning the midnight oil getting that arranged. I had to sign off on a lot of that as well as work with people to get staging and planning done of the actual concerts. At that time, I was a lot more low key so there weren't elaborate stages that had to be constructed or anything but still there was a lot of planning." Bella put in.

"I'm guessing that your first concert being on the base in San Diego wasn't so much of a coincidence as careful planning." Danny questioned 'It was the idea that hadn't gelled until Steve and Isabella had started their story. Her first concert being at the base in San Diego.'

"No, that was a carefully coordinated effort of my team and Cath actually. I first had to sell it to the record company who were actually a lot more on board with it than I thought they would be. Then I had to work with the Navy to make it happen. For security reasons, it couldn't be in the base on Coronado so I worked with Cath to hold it in San Diego. It worked out for the best since that is the primary Naval installation there. The SEAL graduates were told that they were also invited to a charity concert in San Diego so they would show up before shipping out. It was Steve's surprise graduation present. He thought my first concert was going to be in Seattle. I had Cath work with Freddie to get video of his face when he was pulled from the security line and escorted backstage. Funniest video ever!" Bella crowed.

"I bet there was aneurysm face!" Danny joined in.

"What?" Bella asked

"Look!" Danny pointed at Steve's face. Steve was in fact pulling his 'aneurysm face'.

"Oh, yeah that is exactly the face he pulled! He had no idea what was going on or why he was being pulled out of line. I think it started to sink in when they brought him backstage rather than kick him out." Bella agreed.

"I am also thinking that if we track a lot of your concerts at the bases, we would be able to track where Steve was on missions." Danny said with a smirk.

"I can neither confirm nor deny how my schedule may reflect Steve's movements" Bella replied with a smile. She had heard all about how the classified nature of Steve's work in the Navy drove Danny crazy. He had set her up perfectly!

"Oh God. Not you too!" Danny moaned.

Bella just laughed along with the rest of the team.

"Well, since we have wasted more than a couple of hours with story time, why don't we wrap up and head home for the night" Steve decided. "I don't know about you all but after this last case, I would like an early night home."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's it. It has nothing to do with the fact that your wife has just flown in after how many months apart?" Kono laughed. "But I won't look a gift horse in the mouth. Bella it was great to finally meet you even though I didn't know you existed. We should get together sometime for lunch or something since it sounds like you don't surf."

"Ha, surf! Please, if you do go out, please, let me watch!" Embry interjected.

"Hush you. You know I have gotten so much better with my coordination. Kono, I would love to get together. And if you promise to take it easy on me, I may even agree to some surfing." Bella agreed and stuck her tongue out at Embry.

"Is you can always start on our beach. Since it is private there shouldn't be anyone else around, I know that is your main concern, collateral damage." Steve said with a smile. "You know I could teach you, but if you prefer Kono she could always come over this weekend."

"Perfect! We can plan on Saturday then. Oh, here is my personal number so you can contact me too." Bella settled.

"OK. Wrap up whatever is left of the paperwork and we will meet back here in the morning to get started on preliminary security arrangements. Given most of this will be liaising with Pearl-Hickam and HPD for Memorial weekend it was decided at the meeting to give us the rest of this week to focus on getting things set up. We will be on call for any major crimes for the following two weeks and then focusing back on security the week before the concert." Steve informed the team. "Cath will be coming in for the meeting in the morning to hammer some things out."

"Great. We were able to finish the paperwork while you were at the meeting, and had started doing background on our protectee just before she interrupted. Since we are finishing early, it means I will be able to catch the last ½ hour of Grace's practise. Is...Bella, I will let you know tomorrow about the tickets. Thank you." Danny added. "I will see the rest of you tomorrow. Steve, maybe we can talk about letting Grace know, huh?"

"Oh, from what Steve tells me you guys cook out a lot on weekends. Why don't we plan that for Saturday? Kono will already be there for surfing. Chin would that work for you? Obviously, Adam and Malia are invited as well. Danny, does that work? I don't think a lot of people should be invited, just because I am trying to keep a low profile until the concert week. But they are ohana, so should be safe. Maybe I should check with my security?" Bella planned and laughed as she turned to Embry while the team looked a little shocked at how much she knew about them.

"You know we take a back seat when you are with Steve, he knows you and what you need, so whatever you decide I am sure it will be fine. Let me know when I have to be there!" Embry deferred. "I am here purely for image, you know that. This is my vacation" he finished with a laugh.

"Just ohana. It should be fine. You guys don't mind explaining to Adam and Malia about the security concerns, right?" Steve agreed. Danny, obviously you are going to have to tell Rachel too."

"Let's focus on Grace. And yes, I will be informing Rachel tonight since I will probably see her at the practise. She was going to coordinate with some of the parents tonight for the night of the concert. Logistics and everything. I will just tell the other parents that as a perk of working the concert night that I was given tickets for Grace and her friends. I won't say anything to them about you. Grace will get the same message, if she asks, until this weekend." Danny decided as he made his way to exit HQ.

"OK. Goodnight everyone. See you tomorrow. Em you have a car to get back to the hotel, right?" Steve asked.

"Yeah man, no worries. You know I never stay with you guys. I will be hanging out at the hotel." Embry said.

"Goodnight everyone. It was great to meet you all especially after hearing such great things!" Bella waved good night as Steve dragged her from the conference room and HQ.

"You stay in a hotel when you visit?" Chin asked as he turned to Embry. Embry said they were family, ohana meant putting family up when they took the time to visit.

"Would you want to stay with them while they reconnected after months of being apart?" Embry asked with a laugh. "No, we all learned our lesson the first time around. It was one of Steve's first longer missions and Bells had coordinated with the USO and the Navy to give a concert at the base he would be returning to. We were all, and when I say ALL, I mean her security as well as his team and half that base, surprised either of them could walk and she didn't turn up pregnant." Embry told the team. "So now, whenever, wherever, her security stay in a hotel as far away as possible. You have to remember, most of her security is made of guys that think of her as their sister. This will be a bit different since usually we are closer but when she is with Steve she is perfectly safe, so we take a backseat for the time being."

"OK. I really don't know how to respond except to say you must have stories!" Chin replied a little taken aback by the answer, but also embarrassed of his question. It made perfect sense if he had thought about it a bit more.

"Ha, you have no idea. I am sure stories will be told over the next month now that Bells is around." Embry agreed.