This chapter sees the court case coming to an end for Catherine and Steve; Justice is finally served.
McGarrett's Residence
Thursday 0600 hrs.
"BEEP…BEEP…BEEP." Drifted through the room as Steve flung his arm out of the bed in search of the alarm clock. Finding the annoying item; he hit the off button with a slap of the hand. He turned his head to look at Catherine still curled up on his shoulder, sleeping soundly. Gently slipping his arm from underneath her head he pushed his own pillow under her as he slipped from the bed.
He stood by the bed a moment to watch her sleep. The t-shirt she had pulled on last night after their shower had ridden up to expose her bottom and stomach. Steve smiled tenderly as he saw how even in sleep Catherine had her hand protectively covering their baby. Resisting the urge to climb back in bed with her he headed towards the en-suite.
After a quick visit to the bathroom, he pulled on a pair of shorts and a running top before he grabbed his trainers from the closet and headed down stairs. Letting himself out of the house he quickly warmed up before he headed off on his morning run. Starting off at a gentle pace for the first mile before picking up the pace and pushing himself for the next four miles.
By the time he returned from his run Catherine was already awake and was just making her way down the stairs. She was still wearing just his t-shirt. Moving towards her at the foot of the stairs, he pulled her into his embrace kissing her passionately on the lips before nuzzling down her neck. Sliding his hands under the hem of the t-shirt to cup her bottom, he pulled her more fully against him. Catherine moaned into his mouth as her hands gripped at his shoulders.
"Steve, you need a shower." Catherine told him, as she pulled her mouth from his, pushing at his shoulders. "You stink." She told him, giggling at his indignant look.
"You going to join me?" He asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
"No. The shower's all yours, Sailor." She told him with a swat on his behind as she headed towards the kitchen to start on breakfast for them both.
"I'm going for a swim first." He called after her as he moved towards the foot of the stairs, sprinting up them to grab a towel from the bathroom. He was just leaving the bathroom, towel in hand when his cell phone rang. Fishing it out of the pocket of his shorts, he sighed as he checked the caller id.
"McGarrett." He said as he answered the call. He listened for a few minutes as the person on the other end relayed all the information. "I'm on my way." He told the caller looking up as he heard Catherine enter their bedroom.
"Case?" She asked as she crossed to her dresser and began pulling out underwear and a t-shirt.
"Yeah. That was Duke, a couple of hiker's found a woman's body up at Makapu, u point." He said as he headed into the bathroom to quickly shower.
Makapu, u point lighthouse.
0730 hrs.
Steve and Catherine climbed out of the police helicopter as the pilot set down long enough for them to exit and move away from the craft before he took off again heading back towards the parking area to collect his next passengers.
"Duke, what do we know?" Steve called out to the older Hawaiian man as he moved towards them.
"Steve," He acknowledged. "A couple of hiker's found her this morning. She's been badly beaten, and was unconscious when they found her. She wasn't carrying any id on her." He explained as he walked down the trail that would take them to the victim.
"She's alive?" Steve asked.
"Yes, she is. EMT's are getting her stablished for transport." He explained, as they came to the spot where a petite red headed woman was being treated by two paramedics. She was wearing a pair of black jeans with a pale lemon jumper, and although her clothing was torn and bloody nothing looked as if it had been removed.
"Commander." One of the paramedics greeted as Steve and Catherine came to a stop by their side. He'd treated various members of the Five-0 task force during the past six years, the Commander being the worst patient.
"Hoskins." Steve said with a nod of his head. "What's her condition?"
"Stable for now. She's taken extensive bruising to the head and torso, I'd hesitate a guess that she has either cracked or broken ribs and judging by the amount of bruising to her stomach I'd suspect possible internal bleeding. We're transporting her to Queens, they'll probably want to do a Cat scan on her." Hoskins told the Commander as he began strapping the patient into the stretcher that she would be airlifted to Queens in. "We had to cut the tape of her wrists but we bagged it for you. She also has skin under her finger nails, I've bagged her hand for CSU to do their samples." He indicated the plastic bag on one of the victim's hands.
"Mahalo. You mind holding off on transporting her for a couple of minutes while we print and photograph her?" Steve asked, as Catherine stepped forward with the finger print scanner she'd pulled from the back of the truck before the chopper had picked them up.
"I don't have a problem with that. We're having to wait for the coast guard boys to come and pick us up." Hoskins told them watching the sky as the coast guard's search and rescue chopper came into view. Hoskins leaned forward shielding his patient with his own body as the down wash of the rota's kicked up the gravel from the trail.
Steve copied his actions as Catherine quickly snapped photos of the woman's face and visual injuries before using the finger print scanner on her unwrapped hand. He watched as Catherine reached her hand out to brush the hair from the woman's face, gently tucking the loose strands around her face behind her ears.
"Catherine?" He shouted over the sound of the chopper as it hovered a few feet above the ground while a crew man came down with the winch to safely lift the stretcher on board.
She shook her head, shrugging her shoulders." I can't help but think I've seen her somewhere before." She said watching as the two paramedics were winched into the coast guard chopper before the crew man on the ground was winched on to the chopper with the patient. Catherine turned her face away from the chopper as it lifted of and made its way towards Queens Medical centre.
Looking down at the finger print reader they got the woman's name. 'Caitlin O'Donolon.' A look of recognition crossed Catherine's face at the name. "She's a stunt pilot, I read an article in some magazine a while back. She flew for the Texas highway Patrol before moving to L.A to fly movie stunts." Catherine explained to him.
Steve shook his head. "Question is; Why was she in Hawaii and who beat her up?"
Queens Medical Centre
0900 hrs.
Steve and Catherine walked into the hospital's ICU ward heading towards the reception desk where Danny was already stood waiting for them. "She's still unconscious, but her boss and colleague have just arrived." Danny informed them as they followed him down the corridor towards Caitlin O'Donolon's room.
"Her boss Nikolas Donatelli filed a missing person's report this morning when she failed to show up for breakfast and wasn't in her room." Catherine told Danny. Once she had run her prints through the system, a missing person's report had shown up. "When I spoke to him on the phone, I got the impression that he was more concerned about her wellbeing than the fact she was late for work."
"And you would be right." Someone called from outside her room.
They looked up to see an older man stood outside her room wiping tears from his eyes. The man was wearing an old battered looking leather flight jacket, with a blue ball cap with the initials N.D embroidered on the front. He gave them a gap toothed grin as he held his hand out towards Steve to shake. "Nikolas Donatelli." He introduced himself.
"Steve McGarrett, Catherine Rollins and Danny Williams." Steve introduced his team, before asking. "How's Miss O'Donolon?"
"The Doctor says we just have to wait for her to wake up. She's got broken ribs and a couple of chipped teeth, but thankfully the cat scan and ultrasound came back clear. That girls a fighter, that's what Mike and me are clinging too." He told them with a deep sigh.
"Mr Donatelli, do you have any idea who would want to harm Miss O'Donolon?" Catherine asked him with a gentle smile.
"Call me Nik." He told them. "Cait's a real sweetheart, always sees the good in people. Sure she has a temper, she's a red head after all but she just doesn't go around making enemies." He declared.
"What about work, has there been any threats towards your business?" Steve asked him, wondering if the connection could be to do with a contract.
"No. Sure it's a cut throat business, but none of our competitors would stoop that low. We get a lot of our work simply because we're one of only three businesses in the U.S that has a female stunt pilot. Cait's one of the best in the business." Nik said with a proud grin.
"Do you have any idea where she went yesterday evening, was she with someone?" Catherine suggested to him.
"The three of us had dinner at the hotel, I headed up to my room about 10 pm. You need an early night when you get to my age." He said with a chuckle. "Cait was in the bar with Mike when I left, and he'd have made sure she was safe. No way would he have let anything happen to that girl of ours."
"I walked her to her room about 1 am, I made sure she locked the door after she went in." Mike Vincent said as he moved to join the group of people outside Caitlin's room.
"That's the way I raised you kid." Nikolas announced proudly.
"I'm sorry, he's your son?" Danny asked.
Both men chuckled at that. "I lost my parents in a boating accident when I was twelve, Uncle Nik raised me after that." Mike explained, smiling fondly at the older man.
"I always told your dad I'd look out for you if anything happened." Nik said slapping the younger man on his back. "I grew up with his dad, went through school, basic training and we served together for three tours in Vietnam. No way was I letting the kid go into care." He told them.
Steve was just about to ask another question when a loud groan came from the room. He watched as the two men sprinted into the room, grasping a hand each as they waited for their friend to open her eyes.
"Come on Cait, time to wake up." Mike urged her as he gave her hand a squeeze. Smiling down at her as he saw her eye lashes flickered. "You'll have Nik trying to dock your pay for sleeping on the job." He teased.
"Mike." She got out quietly, as her eyes fluttered trying to clear the fog from her mind. "Where?" She asked in confusion.
"You're in the hospital sweetheart, do you remember anything." Nik asked her gently.
She screwed her eyes shut, thinking; but nothing came to her. Shaking her head as she opened her eyes to look at Mike. "All I remember is you walking me to the door, I don't remember anything after that." She sobbed.
"Shh…. It's alright, try to get some rest." Nik soothed her; leaning down to place a gentle kiss on her cheek.
Pearl Hickman Joint base
1100 hrs.
The state versus Barrow day 4.
Slipping quietly into the court room, Steve and Catherine moved to the front row where they slid into seats just behind Commander Rabb. Nodding a greeting towards Sam as they sat back to watch Callen on the witness stand.
"The state rests." Colonel Mackenzie said as she returned to her seat after Agent Callen, the last of her witness's had left the stand.
"Defence calls Commander Derick Barrow to the stand." Volkovic stated as he waited for his client to walk towards the witness stand to be sworn in by Commander Rabb.
Barrow stepped up onto the stand, his back ramrod straight as he raised his hand to be sworn in.
"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god?" Harm asked Commander Barrow.
"I do." Barrow replied.
"Would you give your name, rank and service for the court?" Harm requested.
"Commander Derick Barrow, Naval Intelligence." Barrow introduced himself just before he took his seat.
"Commander did you tell the Lieutenant to have an abortion?" Volkovic asked as he turned to look at the Lieutenant seated behind Commander Rabb.
Barrow looked across at Lieutenant Rollins and Lieutenant Commander McGarrett and took a deep steadying breath as he prepared himself for what he was about to do. His conscious had been weighing heavily on him for the past few weeks, and after the testimony yesterday from Detective Williams he had decided on his course of action.
"Commander, would you answer the question." Volkovic urged his client.
"I would like to address the court." Barrow stated confidently to the judge, rising to his feet before continuing with his speech. "I have made many mistakes over the past few years, none of which can be excused. My wife requested my help in bringing Justice to the man responsible for the death of my step son's father. At that time; I had no idea what the request was about. I foolishly believed her request for justice would be a legal course of action. Before I really knew what I had agreed to, I was starting to smuggle weapons and munitions from the shipments we were sending stateside during our gradual with drawl from Afghanistan."
"Elizabeth insisted that I brought in Lieutenant Rollins, Lieutenant Jamerson and Ensign Cooper on the mission to find and track the weapons we were taking from the shipments. She explained that the man responsible would come out of the background at that point and she would be able to get justice. By the time the last shipment left for Hawaii I was in too deep to get out. I was aware of Lieutenant Rollins connection to Lieutenant Commander McGarrett, I'd purposely read the files of each of the three officers. Once I'd discovered that the Lieutenant was living with Commander McGarrett I made a point of reading his file as well."
"It saddens me to admit I did tell Lieutenant Rollins to have an abortion, and I did tell my wife about the baby. She was almost ecstatic over the news. I wasn't there during the torture of those three officers, but I'm disgusted with myself for knowing about it and for allowing it to happen. I'm disgraced and disgusted with myself over the actions and decisions I have made. I have disgraced the uniform of my country and I deserve to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. All I seek now is forgiveness from God for my actions. Thank you." Barrow finished, lowering his head to stare at the floor by his feet.
Volkovic stood routed to the spot unable to form any words after his client's little speech. He'd known from the start the case would be difficult to defend, but he had not anticipated the Commander making a full confession on the witness stand.
"No further questions for my client." Volkovic said as he returned to his seat in stunned disbelief.
"The state has no questions for this witness." Mac stated as she glanced towards Harm beside her, who was wearing an equally surprised look as herself. The confession from the Commander had come as a total shock for all involved. He had refused the plea bargain that Mac and Harm had offered him, preferring to take his fight to court.
"We'll recess for lunch. Court will reconvene at 1400 hrs. Council will give their closing statements at that time." The judge stated as he rose from his seat.
Everyone rose from their seats as the Judge left the court room. The jury were just about to be ushered out of the room as the Master at arms came to escort the Commander back to the Brig. Commander Barrows turned towards Colonel Mackenzie and Commander Rabb who were gathering their files together as they spoke to Lieutenant Rollins and Commander McGarrett.
Derick quickly side stepped the Master at arms and addressed Lieutenant Rollins directly. "Lieutenant, I would like to apologise for my actions." He got out, before McGarrett stepped in front of her.
"You think any of what you've just said excuses the fact you knowingly let three of your subordinates get beaten and tortured. Two of those men died because of you, they both had wives and children waiting for them at home. My wife could have lost our unborn child because of your actions." Steve ground out quietly.
Catherine placed her hand on Steve's arm as she stepped around him. "Steve," She said in a soothing tone.
He took a deep breath allowing her presence to calm him as he nodded his head in agreement to allow her to deal with Barrow herself. He took note of the presence of Danny behind them silently offering his support.
"Your apology will never be accepted, Commander. You allowed your wives blood feud to fuel your actions, you could have put a stop to it at any time. You chose to sell out your country and your subordinates, no one else." Catherine told him, before she turned her back on him.
Iolani Palace.
1310 hrs.
Chin was stood by the smart table going through Caitlin O'Donolon's background. He hadn't come across anything out of the ordinary that would indicate she would be a target for anyone. She had flown for the Texas Highway Patrol for several years before moving to California four years ago to fly for Donatelli Air. Her Police service record was extremely unassuming; she'd never participated in any high profile cases and her former supervisor had nothing but praise for the woman.
"Hey cuz, you find anything?" Kono asked as she moved to join him by the smart table.
"No. Not counting the fact she does stunt flying for a living her whole life is pretty boring. I spoke to a few of her former colleagues and her supervisor for THP and they all say what a lovely, caring woman she is." Chin told her with a deep sigh of frustration.
"I've just spoke to Lou; he says she woke up again but dropped off again extremely quickly. Eric's still running her clothing and the skin samples we took from her finger nail's. He'll call as soon as he has anything." Kono told him just as Chin's phone rang.
"It's Steve." He told her as he saw the caller id. "Hey Steve, I have you on speaker."
"Great. Have you learned anything else about the victim?" He asked Chin.
"Not really. She flew for THP for five years. She was a model officer, extremely well liked by everyone she worked with. She has a black belt in Karate and volunteered at a woman's shelter in Texas. She started a non-profit self-defence class for women a couple of years ago. She runs that out of one of the hangers at Donatelli Air. Nothing stands out with her financials." Chin ran through a brief summary of her history for Steve.
"Lou called to say she's woken up and gone back to sleep, but didn't say anything. Eric's still running the samples. I'm still waiting for the hotel to send me all the camera feed, Duke has an officer collecting it for us." Kono said, bringing Steve up to date with her own findings.
"Let me know when you have something." He ordered, trusting his team to do their jobs without his presence.
"How are things going over there?" Chin enquired softly.
"Barrow just made a complete voluntary confession on the witness stand. He also tried to apologise to Catherine for his actions, as if it excuses what he did." Steve growled out angrily. "They'll be doing closing statements when we go back in."
Pearl- Hickman joint base
1400 hrs.
Colonel Mackenzie rose from her seat; moving to stand in front of the jury as she began her closing statement.
"We cannot ignore the fact the Commander committed several offences, he ordered the Lieutenant to kill her unborn child, then failed to follow correct military protocol by not sending her stateside for the remainder of her pregnancy. He committed treason by stealing weapons and munitions to sell for his own gain. He knowingly armed terrorists and gave detailed information on the location of the three officers under his Command. He knowingly aloud three Sailors to be tortured, two of them were murdered as a result of his actions."
"By his own admission, he has already declared his guilt. His council will attempt to have you believe he was as much as a victim as the Lieutenant and her two fellow officers. But I put to you the fact, he acted on his own free will on each and every one of the charges that have been brought against him."
"It's your duty to find Commander Barrow guilty of the charges and allow the families of Lieutenant Jamerson and Ensign Cooper the sense that justice has been served." Mac finished as she turned from the jury and returned to her seat beside Harm.
Volkovic rose from his seat and moved to stand before the jurors. "You've heard all the testimony of the witnesses, claiming the Commander was responsible for the deaths of two Sailors under his command. I put to you the fact he did not raise a hand towards them, he did not inflict actual harm on Lieutenant Jamerson or Ensign Cooper. He is guilty of in action only. He has admitted his miss guided reasons for his actions and sought forgiveness for them. I ask that you find forgiveness for his actions and be lenient with his punishment." Volkovic finished as he returned to his seat. He knew after the Commander's speech earlier in the day about his guilt, he couldn't ask for them to find him innocent. His only hope was a lenient sentence.
Queens Medical centre
1500 hrs.
Lou shifted in the hard plastic chair, attempting to ease the ache in his back as he waited for Caitlin O'Donolon to wake up again. Her two colleagues were still sat by her side, each of them holding her hand as they watched for signs of her waking up again. Nikolas Donatelli had been really chatty all morning, telling Lou stories about different films and T.V programs that the three of them had worked on. Mike Vincent had been very quiet and reserved, not really adding much to Nik's dialogue. Lou had the impression that the younger man was sizing him up for some reason; the question was; did he feel guilty over something. Mike Vincent had been one of the last people to see Caitlin O'Donolon before she had been found this morning on the trail.
"I'm going to get us all some coffee." Nik announced as he rose from his chair, stretching the kinks out of his back. He leaned over to brush a kiss across Caitlin's forehead. "I'll be back in a little while, sweetheart."
"Can you make sure it's actual coffee and not that jet fuel you usually drink." Mike commented dryly as Nik moved towards the door.
"Ain't nothing wrong with a cup of good strong coffee. Caitlin never belly aches like you do." He complained glancing at the woman lying in the bed.
"That's only because she doesn't like hurting your feelings, isn't that right Cait? He said with a grin as he glanced towards the bed to see if she would wake up to react. He shook his head at Nik's expectant look.
Sighing the older man left the room in search of coffee. Lou watched as Mike reached his hand out gently stroking the back of her hand.
"Her Doctor didn't tell us and I didn't want to ask in front of Nik. Did the bastard do anything else?" He asked quietly not looking at Lou.
"The Doctor didn't find any indication that she'd sex at all." Lou watched as the man turned towards him, the sheen of unshed tears in his eyes.
"Thank god for something." He said as he swiped the tears from his eyes.
Iolani Palace
1600 hrs.
Kono was sat in her office going through the camera feed from the hotel. Knowing that the victim had returned to her room with Michael Vincent at approximately 1am had saved her going through excessive amounts of non-essential footage. She had confirmed Vincent's story about him escorting her to her room.
Kono had watched as the two friends had left the lift and walked down the corridor that lead towards her room. Catlin had linked her arm through that of her friend as they had talked and laughed together. As they had reached her door, she'd wrapped her arms around his waist in a hug and leaned up on tip toes to kiss him on the cheek.
He'd returned the hug before pulling back and grabbing the key card out of her hand and sliding it in to the door lock. He'd held the door open for her to slip inside, holding her room key out towards her to take back. Kono watched as the woman laughed at Vincent grabbing the key from his hand and playfully pushing him out of the room as she giggled at him. They had said a few more words just before she'd closed the door, Vincent waiting a few minutes outside the room before he'd headed further down the corridor towards his own room.
A few minutes after Vincent had left another man appeared in the corridor after leaving the stairwell. He walked with his head looking down towards the floor so Kono couldn't get a clear view of his face. He stopped outside Caitlin's room and rapped on the door firmly, a few seconds later Caitlin opened the door. She laughed as she said something; freezing when she saw the person at the door.
Caitlin stepped back quickly trying to slam the door in his face, but the man was too quick; placing his foot inside the open door way and pushing against the door forcing his way inside. The door was closed behind him, and Kono watched the feed till he appeared ten minutes later dragging a struggling Caitlin with him. Her hands had been fastened with a scarf and her mouth gaged to prevent her calling for help as he'd dragged her down the corridor towards the service elevator at the end of the hallway.
Kono took notice of the time from the camera feed and began searching for footage of them elsewhere in the hotel. Finding them on a camera as they left the hotel through the service entrance, Kono finally got a good luck at the perp.
"Gotcha." She said out loud as she stood and exited her office, heading towards the smart table where Chin was going through the schedules that Nik Donatelli had sent over for them to look through.
Pearl- Hickman Joint base.
1700 hrs.
Steve was sat nursing the coffee that Catherine had brought back with her after her trip to the bathroom. He shifted in his seat glancing across at Catherine in the seat beside him as they waited for the jury to finish revaluating the evidence on Barrow. Not for the first time he wished that the bastard had put up a fight when they had arrested him, so he would have been justified in burying a bullet in his head.
He sensed Danny shift in his seat beside him as he leaned forward to speak to Catherine. "Grace was wondering if you'd take her to the Mall over the weekend."
"Of course." Catherine readily agreed, always willing to spend time with the teenager. "I take it she wants some girls stuff and doesn't want her dad to go with her." She teased him.
"Yes. I am apparently embarrassing now when she wants to shop for under ware." Danny informed her with a grin. "Normally Rachael would take her, but she'll be on the mainland with Stan."
"It's fine Danny, I need a few things myself. We can go straight after the paddle out, if that works for you?" She told him.
"That would be brilliant, Thank you." Danny said with a smile.
"Your welcome. You know I think I'll ask Kono if she wants to join us." She decided just as Steve's cell rang.
Fishing his phone out of his pocket he checked the caller id. "Hey Chin, I'm putting you on speaker." He told the man as he answered the call.
"Kono's found our guy. He abducted her from her hotel room ten minutes after Mike Vincent left her. He used the service elevator and exited the building via the staff entrance in the basement. His name is James Nugent, he's a New York business man who grew up on the Island. I'm sending you the information now." He told them.
Steve's phone beeped at the incoming email, and he quickly opened it to see the face of James Nugent peering at him. "I'm sure I know him." Steve declared as he studied the photo.
"I had the same feeling so I did a little digging. James went to Kuliki high and was on the football team for a while." Chin explained as Steve swore.
"Shit, Chicken Nugget." Steve said as he finally made the connection.
"He a friend of yours?" Danny asked as Catherine shifted in her seat to look at Steve.
"Not really. We both played quarter back for the team, he was an okay player but nothing stood out with his game. He was an asshole and a trouble maker so didn't get picked often, he came close to getting kicked of the team a time or two for bullying. His dad was a major contributor for the school, so he got away with a smack on the hand. I don't know what happened to him after dad sent me to the mainland." He told them all.
"He took your spot for a while, until Roger Staretti tried out." Chin informed him.
"I've found a couple of arrests for assault charges but he's never been charged with anything. The victims dropped the charges so HPD were forced to drop the cases." Kono explained.
"Sounds like he either threatened or bought of his victims. Have you found any connection to the victim?" Steve asked them.
"Not yet. I've sent Lou the photo to show to Caitlin, hopefully she can id him as her attacker and tell us why he went after her." Chin answered.
"Have we got an address for him?" Danny asked Chin.
"No, we're still trying to find out when he arrived and exactly where he's staying. It's possible he still has family or friends somewhere on the Island that he could be staying with." Chin pointed out.
"Okay. Looks like the jury are back, so hopefully we won't be too much longer here." Steve commented as Commander Rabb headed in their direction.
"Aloha." Chin said as he disconnected the call.
"The jury are back." Harm told them as he came to a stop in front of the trio.
Queens Medical Centre.
Nik Donatelli and Mike Vincent both shook their heads as Lou showed them the photo of James Nugent. The two men had taken a good look at the photo, and Lou had watched both of them to gauge their reaction's.
"Is this the bastard that hurt Cait?" Mike demanded as he looked up from the image and stared Lou out.
"We believe so. Have you ever seen him before?" Lou pushed again. "He's called James Nugent, maybe Catlin has mentioned his name before." Lou could see the tic of muscles in the younger man as he attempted to keep a check on his emotions.
"No, I've never seen him." Nik stated as he glanced at the photo of the man responsible for hurting the woman he considered as a daughter.
"Cait's never mentioned anyone by that name. She always tells me about her dates, we share tips on the best restaurant's." Mike explained at Lou's surprised look. He smiled softly as he remembered teasing her about her last date taking her to some big fancy restaurant and ordering the most expensive thing on the menu. Cait had been less than impressed by the show of money and the poor guy hadn't received a second date for his efforts.
"You should just visit them restaurants together, start working on those grand babies for me." Nik suggested cheekily.
"Will you give that a rest." Mike said with a slightly annoyed tone. "Cait and I are just friends and you dam well know that."
"Nothing wrong with being friends and lovers." Nik huffed. "I ain't getting any younger, I'd like to be bouncing a couple of babies on my knee while the old ticker is still working." He sighed loudly in frustration, why that idiot boy of his couldn't see what was in front of his own nose, he'd never know. The two of them would be great together, he just had to make them both see it for themselves.
"We'll don't look at me to provide the kids any time soon." Mike told him in frustration, crossing his arms across his chest.
Lou chuckled at the two of them. He'd been watching Mike Vincent closely for the past few hours and he'd come to the conclusion that he was in love with the petite woman. It seemed that Nik Donatelli had already come to the same conclusion. "Hopefully once Caitlin has woken, she'll be able to explain who he is." Lou pointed out to the two men.
"Yeah." Mike agreed, glancing over at the bed towards a sleeping Cait.
Pearl Hickman Joint base
1800 hrs.
"We find the Defendant guilty of all Charges." The lead juror announced to the court in a crisp clear voice.
"Is this the decision of all of you?" The judge asked.
"Yes, your honour." The Lieutenant declared.
"Thank you." He said before turning towards the Defendant. "Commander Barrows, your actions knowingly caused the deaths of two officers under your Command and resulted in severe injuries and trauma to a third. You ordered a female officer under your command to abort her unborn child and when she refused, you failed to follow correct military protocol by sending her stateside.
You knowingly stole weapons and munitions which you sold to terrorist's intent on attacking and killing innocent civilians; Terrorists which were responsible for high-jacking a vessel carrying school children. Your actions have brought shame on your service to your country.
You will be stripped of your rank, and transported to Leavenworth where you will serve a minimum of thirty years before you are dishonourably discharged from the Navy for your actions. Your actions have brought shame on your country; you are a disgrace to the Navy and all branches of our armed forces. You will be held in the brig till transportation can be arranged. Master at Arms please remove Seaman Barrows from the court." The Judge finished detailing Seaman Derik Barrows punishment.
Catherine let out the sigh of relief as the sentence was handed down to him. Steve reached over to give her hand a squeeze and Catherine turned her hand palm up so she could entwine her fingers with his. Catherine watched as the Master at Arms stepped forward and escorted Barrow from the court room. He briefly turned to look at her, but thankfully this time didn't speak to her.
"Breath Cath." Steve urged beside her, and she realised she'd been holding her breath.
"It's over." She stated as she turned to look at him, a soft smile on her face.
"Yeah." He agreed returning her smile.
"You know this calls for a celebration." Danny exclaimed excitedly from Steve's other side. "Side street?"
Steve shared a look with Catherine, both readily agreeing with each other. "We're in." Steve accepted for the two of them. "Sam, you in?" He asked the NCIS team.
"Definitely count us in." Sam stated after glancing to his team for their affirming nods.
"Colonel, Commander your welcome to join us." Steve offered to them.
"Mac, what do you say?" Harm asked expectantly.
"That sounds like a great idea. Thank you Commander." Mac quickly agreed, thanking the Commander for asking.
"That's settled, Side street at 1930 hrs."
Queens Medical centre
1830 hrs.
Lou smiled at the petite red headed woman as he took the chair beside her bedside. He handed her his phone, watching her as she stared down at the man on the screen. The tears began to flow as the memories came flooding back to her. She pushed the phone back into his hands, covering her face and sobbing into her hands.
Mike moved towards the bed, sitting on the edge and pulling her into his arms as she sobbed. He was rubbing soothing circles on her back as she cried into his shoulder. "He's my ex-husband." She whispered against Mike's shoulder.
"We didn't find a marriage in your name." Lou exclaimed in confusion as he switched his phone to record the conversation.
"O'Donolon is my Mother's maiden name, I changed it after we divorced; I didn't want him trying to find me." Caitlin exclaimed as she pulled away from Mike to look at the Police officer. "My maiden name is Dixon."
"You were scared of him finding you?" Lou asked as she nodded her head in agreement.
"Yes. I met James while I was studying in New York, he was very charming. He seemed really nice, we'd been dating for several months when he proposed. I foolishly thought he loved me as much as I thought I loved him. I accepted and everything was fine, he planned a big lavish wedding and we got married. It was two days into our honeymoon when he hit me for the first time, he'd lost a lot of money in the casino and took it out on me."
"He apologised and promised me it would never happen again, I very naively believed and forgave him, again, and again, and again. It took him breaking my cheek bone to get me to realise he was never going to stop hurting me. As soon as the hospital released me, I packed up as much as I could and left him. I filed for divorce, and the court put out a restraining order to prevent him from coming anywhere near me."
"I spent the better part of six months hiding from him till the divorce came through and I moved back home to Texas to start my new life. I wanted to make a difference and help other women who were going through similar experiences that I had. I changed my name and joined the Police, when a position came up to fly I took it. My dad had taught me to fly when I was a teenager, and it was something that always made me feel totally free." She said as she finished her story.
"What happened last night?" Lou asked her gently.
"A few minutes after Mike had left there was a knock on my door. I thought it was Mike coming back to tell me something, I just opened the door without checking. James was stood in the door way, I tried to close the door in his face but he pushed inside and closed the door behind him. He grabbed hold of me and punched me before I could do anything more than scratch his arm. He pinned me down on the floor and tied me up, before dragging me to my feet and out of the door. I think it was the service elevator that we used; he pushed me into the trunk of his car and drove me somewhere."
"I don't think we drove very far, probably twenty to thirty minutes before we stopped in a small carpark and he dragged me out of the trunk. There was a trail of some sort and he dragged me along by my hair, he punched me a few times when I tripped or tried to resist him. He just kept repeating how if he couldn't have me no one could."
"He'd seen me with Mike in the bar and assumed we were dating, He just kept hitting and punching me until he knocked me to the floor that's when he kicked me several times in the chest and stomach. I remember hearing and feeling something crack before I passed out. I don't remember anything else till I woke up here." Caitlin finished for the officer.
"Do you have any idea where he might be staying?" Lou prompted her.
"No. I had no idea he'd even be on the Island. I knew he was originally from Hawaii, but he once said he hadn't been back in years." Caitlin told him. "I really wish I could help you find him, I will be pressing charges Captain Grover, don't doubt that." She told him with a fierceness that made Lou smile.
"We'll find him; we have him on all our watch lists, he won't get of the Island." Lou reassured her. "If you think of anything else please just let us know."
Side street
1925 hrs
Slipping his arm around Catherine's shoulders as they entered Side street, he steered her towards the back of the bar where he could already see the NCIS team with Chin and Kono who were already seated at five-0's usual table with Grace and Charlie. Glancing around the room he spotted Danny stood at the bar with Lou attempting to get the attention of the bar tender.
"Uncle Steve." Cried Charlie as he spotted his favourite uncle and quickly ran towards him.
"Hey Charlie." Steve said as he lifted his partner's son into the air.
"Guess what? Danno said we can go to the Zoo on Saturday while Grace goes shopping with Auntie Cath." The little boy told him excitedly.
"That sounds like you'll have lots of fun with daddy." Steve agreed with a warm smile for the boy's enthusiasm. He was also really touched that Charlie had taken to Catherine as quickly as he had.
"Yeah." Charlie declared before launching himself at Catherine. "Hi, Auntie Catherine."
"Hey there little guy." Catherine said as she took the squirming child from Steve so he could give her a hug. "Hey sweetie," She called out to Grace who was busy giving Steve a hug of his own.
"Hi, Aunt Cath. Thank you for taking me shopping on Saturday." The teenager thanked her.
"Your welcome." Catherine said after lowering Charlie onto his seat just as Danny and Lou returned with a tray of drinks for everyone. "Kono you want to help us spend Danny's money for him?" Catherine asked the other woman with a grin.
"I'm in sistah." Kono agreed, laughing at Danny's indignant look as he passed drinks around the table to everyone.
Glancing up towards the entrance Catherine saw Commander Rabb and Colonel Mackenzie entering the bar with Lieutenant Roberts. It didn't take long for them to spot the Five-0 and NCIS teams already seated at the table. The three Naval officers quickly made their way over and after a round of hello's and introductions for Grace and Charlie's benefit, Harm had moved off to get them a round of drinks.
Talk had turned lively as the three teams had shared stories, the atmosphere relaxed as they had laughed and joked with each other. Ranks had been dropped for the evening as the large group just enjoyed each other's company. Danny was the first to leave with Grace and Charlie who he needed to get home to bed.
"Come on Mrs McGarrett, let's get you home." Steve suggested as he slipped his arm around the back of Catherine's chair to speak into her ear. He grinned as he saw the light shudder as his breath fanned her neck.
"I think that's the other way round, seeing as you're the one who's been drinking." She teased him lightly as she slipped her hand into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out his keys. Dropping a quick kiss on his lips before she stood up. "Come on Sailor."