"Catherine? You there?" He asked, confused.
"Steve," she said in a quiet, sad tone. "My duty was extended. I can't leave for another two weeks." She swallowed hard before delivering the final bomb. "Minimum."
"What..." He trailed off, the words he was looking for just not there.
"I'm SO sorry," she continued, before he had the chance to. "I requested to be taken off the mission as soon as I got wind it might go long, and I tried submitting for early R and R, but-"
"It's okay." He interrupted. "I'll see you .." It wasn't until then that what she had said fully sank in. "...later." He finished and hung up. As soon as he did it, he felt bad. He stared at the phone for a minute, asking himself if he should try calling her back. He wasn't angry at her because he knew it wasn't her fault. So she didn't deserve that coldness from him.
It was himself that Steve was angry at. Throughout his adult life, and especially in recent times, Steve had learned the only person he could really count on was himself. And here he'd let himself rely so much on Catherine, only to now feel as though his heart was going to explode. But he'd made that choice, to let her in. His life choice. And now he was living his own repercussions. Ultimately, he decided against calling back because he was afraid to say something he didn't truly mean. He knew he needed to burn off some energy, and maybe clear his head so Steve decided to go for a run. He felt better afterwards, but still sleep evaded him. It became a constant over the next few weeks. Feel angry at the world, run, lay there for hours before finally getting a couple hours of sleep, and repeat.
After two weeks, he started checking his phone almost constantly. He didn't realize what he was doing until it was brought to his attention the day he'd gone to visit the mother involved in the shooting one last time in the hospital.
"Commander McGarrett, is everything okay?" She asked as she was packing up her things.
"Hmm?" He replied, still distracted.
"You've been checking your phone every minute since you got here. Is there somewhere else you need to be?" She winced a little as she bent over to pick up her shoes from the floor.
"Uh, no." He said quickly as he jumped in and grabbed them for her. "Here," he guided her to sit on the bed, and then handed them to her.
"Thank you." She nodded. "It's very nice of you to offer to take me home, but I'll be okay. My sister can pick me up." Steve wasn't sure what to say, so he stayed silent until she continued. "I recognize a hurting heart when I see one, Commander."
Steve was taken aback by her comment, prompting her to explain.
" I know more kinds of emotional pain than anyone should in their lifetime, and what this ordeal has taught me is that you must love yourself as much as others truly do."
He thought about what she said, and how much it applied to him. He replayed his last two conversation with Catherine go through his mind. She loves me, through all of it, he thought. She's my sky, he reminded himself.
"So, are you sure there isn't somewhere else you should be?" She asked again, with a very slight grin. It was the first time through all of this that he had seen her smile.
He hugged and thanked the young mother for her advice, wished her a speedy recovery at home, and headed for his truck.
He tried calling Catherine almost non stop the entire way back to the house, but her phone went to voicemail every time. He kept trying most of the evening, and still nothing. By the time eleven o'clock rolled around, his emotions went from discouraged to concerned. He knew there was no point in even trying to sleep, so he geared up for a run.
It was raining, but Steve didn't care.
He decided to hit the running trail he went to almost everyday as a kid. It was the place he ran to after his father told him the news about his mother over twenty years before, and it just felt right to go there that night.
He didn't realize how much the trail had changed since then, though. It was raining pretty hard by the time Steve finally stopped to take a break at a bench on the northern part of the trail. While his heart rate was slowing down, his mind couldn't race any faster. He didn't even notice how wet his phone was getting every time he pulled it out of his pocket, hoping for that message or call. Each time he was met with disappointment, he had to convince himself even more that she was okay. Just away from her phone. For most of the day. No. She is fine. When he realized how little he believed himself, Steve decided it was time to run again. He didn't realize however, that he took a different path than the one that brought him to that spot. A mile or so later, he got himself out of his own head long enough to realize none of his surroundings were familiar. He chalked it up to a new section of trail being built since he'd last been there twenty years before. He assumed it would connect back to the main path at some point, and kept running. After another mile though, Steve was getting slightly worried. He found another bench up ahead and decided to take another rest to figure out his way back. It was raining so hard that it almost hurt hitting his face, but Steve didn't care. He kept checking his phone, still to no avail.
He had been sitting there less than five minutes when he first heard it. There's no way, he thought. I'm cold, soaking wet, and probably dehydrated. It was dark save for the occasional lamp. At midnight after very little sleep he had to be hearing things. Until he heard it again, and it was closer this time.
"Steve!" She called again, unsure whether or not he could hear her.
She could see just enough of his silhouette to tell it was him from the other section of the trail a few hundred yards from him. As fast as her brain registered it was him, she began running up the winding road towards him. "Steve!" She called once more.
That time it made him stand up, as if he would be able to see the person attached to the voice even though there was barely enough light near him to see fifteen feet away. It was enough, though. He saw the small frame running up the winding trail towards him.
"Catherine..." He hesitated, almost afraid to call her name out loud in case he was going to be disappointed. He didn't have to worry about that for long, however. As soon as the first flicker of light from the lamp near him hit her, Steve ran like he'd never ran before. Their hands were the first thing to reach for each other right before their lips. "Catherine!" He said with a mix of relief and confidence this time. "When did you.. I would've.." He trailed off, as the rain continued to soak both of them.
"We had to come in dark." She shook her head. I couldn't call you until I was on the ground, and your phone isn't working." She explained, as water droplets pelted their faces.
Steve didn't even have words to say at that moment, his mind was consumed with relief, joy, and love. He just smiled, shook his head, and took her face in his hands to kiss her some more. After a few more rain drenched kisses, they separated enough that Steve could reach into his pocket. He shook his head again as he realized he'd had no signal the entire time he'd been waiting for her call up on the mountain.
"Cath, I'm sorry, I-"
"Shh," she put her finger up to his lips. "No apology needed." She moved her finger and grabbed his hands again. "Nothing you ever say, and nothing you could ever do, is going to change the way I'll always be loving you, Steve. And I really mean that."
He smiled, completely forgetting how drenched and cold they were. "Me too." He kissed her some more, as if their environment was anything but perfect. It wasn't long before a cold chill took over his body and he started to shiver a bit.
"How long have you been out here?" Catherine asked once they parted again.
"Uhh," Steve shrugged, having lost all concept of time after she found him. "A while, I guess." His eyes couldn't leave hers as they stood there, still as entranced as when they first met up. "How did you find me here?" He asked, although that was unimportant now.
"I remembered you talking about coming here when you were a kid, and after your mom..."
"You remembered that?" He smiled.
"Yeah," she nodded. "So when you said you were having a hard time with this case, and that it involved a mother losing her son, I thought of here."
He didn't say a word before wrapping his hands around her face and kissing her again. She reciprocated with her hand on his face also.
She smiled as they parted. "I love you."
He pulled her close once again.
"I love that you love me, mommy issues and all." He replied, earning a small chuckle from Catherine. "We may not be able to see each other all of the time, and we may have dark moments, but we always find each other again."
"Like the sky." He replied, feeling her shake a little now. "No matter where you are, you know the light will always come."
"Unconditional." She said, smiling even though the rain had made her face so cold and wet she could hardly feel her lips.
"You're my sky, Cath." He couldn't help but beam from ear to ear having professed that to her.
He kissed her once again, before another round of shivers hit them both.
She smiled as they parted. "Let's go home." She motioned towards the base of the trail where his truck was parked.
"Yeah." He agreed, stepping forward. They started down the way she'd come up, but less than a minute later Steve stopped. "Wait, one more thing." He let go of his arm around her, and wiped some water from his face even though it was pointless with how fast and hard it was still coming down.
"Steve, what did you stop..?" She asked, but trailed off when she realized the answer was in front of her.
There was an audible squishing sound when his knee hit the saturated grass. "Catherine, I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love someone. You came here tonight to find me, to be my sky. And I want to do anything I can to make you feel the same way."
Catherine didn't care how the salty rain water tasted in her mouth, she still stood there with her jaw open.
"I want you to run to me. To know that I will always be the hand you can hold when you're lonely, or cold. I will warm you. I adore you, and no matter where you are, you're always in my heart. You've shown me that I need love, and it doesn't get better than yours. I don't have a ring, but if you accept, I will spend the rest of my life being here. So that when you need the kind if love you give me every day, you can run to me."
Catherine's mouth was still open when he finished speaking. It wasn't that she didn't know what to say. The idea of being married to Steve had entered her mind a few times over the last year or so. This was so sudden though, she needed a minute to take it in.
And she wasn't the only one. Proposing marriage was the last thing Steve thought he'd be doing that night, but it just felt so right in that moment. He came out of his moment and looked up at her.
"Cath?" He asked as the rain ran down his face.
"Yeah." She instantly snapped back into the moment too. Yes, my answer is yes. I accept!" She laughed a little. Still on one knee, he gently pulled her towards him until he felt the soft touch of her arms around his neck. Looking up at her, Steve noticed there was more than just the rain droplets falling from her face.
Feeling a surge of energy, he picked her up as he stood back up and lowered her enough so that they were level faced. "My sky, my soft place to fall." He smiled and kissed her again. "Unconditional." She nodded, happy to reciprocate his affections. Steve lowered her so her feet touched the ground once again. "Let's go warm up." He grinned, knowing she'd agree.
"You want to run back?" She asked, jokingly.
Steve knew she was kidding and wanted to milk every second of it. He grinned the devilish smile she'd come to know and love so much, and then was gone down the winding part of the trail. "Steve!" She yelled, running quickly after him. "Steve!" She yelled again, although she was laughing this time. Hearing that made him laugh too. He didn't stop though. "What, you afraid you're going to lose, lieutenant?" She laughed even more as she caught up to him and joined him hand and hand as they made their way back to their vehicles, and to their house, and ultimately, the rest of their lives together.