Authors' Note:

OK, we did it. Really, we finished. I know that many of you really find that hard to believe, but it is here! Yes, we have had bumps in the road; the road block when we learned Catherine was leaving, we both had parents with accidents and injuries and then… well I know that *I* was brain dead for a while. Thank you so much for sticking with this story and for your "gentle" prodding to finish it. We never doubted that we would finish, but we certainly didn't realize it will be this long! I do hope you can pick it back up and enjoy this last chapter. We have even given you a teaser from the last chapter!

Thanks to my writing buddy for this great idea!... Cokie

Well, I can only add that I never had any doubt this last chapter would be posted; it was just a matter of time. No matter how much one want to finish it, sometimes RL just takes precedence.

I like to thank all our readers who took the time to write a comment; we greatly appreciate your input. To all the readers who never write a comment, well, the polite thing would be to thank you too. Guess I don't want to be polite today.

Many readers may not know, but all writers get statistics on the number of people who read their stories. Cokie and I are really happy to see just how many people DO read what we write. But what would really make us happy is that if you like something, let us know. I don't expect people to comment on every chapter of a long story (I don't do that myself), but it would be nice to hear from a reader at least once…

Without being told what did or didn't work, how can one become a better writer? So, in the end everyone would benefit from your comments.

And I can tell you nothing encourages one to write more than learning that people appreciate your effort. And yes, if you didn't like something, we would like to know that, too.

Now… off the soapbox and on to the story!

Sam


- - - H50 - - -

Previously in Stairway to Heaven…

"I got a question," Danny asked, staring at Steve.

Here it comes, Steve thought. "What, Danny?"

"Why did you lie when you said you hadn't been on the mountain? Because I'm pretty sure you've been there."

Steve paused a moment to arrange his thoughts. "You asked if I had ever been 'on top' of the stairs. And I hadn't, so I didn't lie to you."

They heard a voice from the beach and everyone turned that direction.

"Mind if I join you?" a man wearing a flight uniform asked. He came closer and Steve got a good look at him, then smiled in recognition.

"Skip! I haven't seen you for years. Guys, this is Skip Cromer; he grew up a couple houses down. His parents still live down there." He held out his hand to shake the newcomer's hand. "Skip joined the Coast Guard and I really had a bad case of hero worship."

"Sorry to barge in like this, but I wanted to check on you," he said. "Wanted to see if you were trying to earn frequent flyer miles?"

Steve shook his head, not understanding Skip's question. "Huh?"

"I was the pilot of the chopper yesterday," Skip explained. "Didn't know it was you until we had landed and I signed off on the report. But, as I recall, that was the second time we met on that mountain."

"Oh, the plot thickens," Danny said in delight. "We were just beginning to discuss the fact that this wasn't Steve's first visit to the stairway."

"From the looks of you, the trip ended about the same," Skip said.

"OK, you don't have to rub it in," Steve complained.

"So, tell us," Danny continued. "What kind of trouble did you get him out of the first time?"

- - - H50 - - -

Stairway Chapter 7

Skip took a seat and accepted the beer that Chin offered. "You ask what kind of trouble?" he said with a grin. Shaking his head, he replied with a chuckle, "I would call it a shit-load... I was a scared kid myself, making my first solo drop in a real-life emergency situation and had no clue what I was landing into. But I got a lot of the low-down from John while visiting 'little Stevie' in the hospital."

The team grinned at the name and Steve groaned. "All right, knock it off, Skip. We've had that discussion before… many times!"

Skip remembered Steve's aversion to that nickname and had always loved to torment the younger boy with it and couldn't keep from bringing it up. "OK, to the best of my recollection, here's what happened…"

Haiku Stairway - 1989

John McGarrett heard the screaming before he saw Kami frantically waving about a hundred feet ahead of their little group. He was yelling for help, and it was clear that the boy was frightened to death about something.

"Kami, stay where you are," John called to the hysterical young boy who almost slipped off the stairs in his haste to come down.

"Please hurry, you have to help Steve," Kami called from above and motioned for them to hurry.

John McGarrett and his two friends doubled their effort to reach the boy after hearing his desperate plea.

"Kami, calm down. Are you hurt?" John asked when they reached Steve's friend.

"No, Sir. But Steve…" Kami trailed off and looked with huge scared eyes at his best friend's father.

"It will be OK, Kami we're here to get you all to safety. Tell me where Steve is," John tried to stay calm so not to frighten the boy even more. He was anything but calm, but due to his training was able to push down on his worry for his son and his two friends.

Although his outer calmness got some cracks when he laid eyes on his son.

- - - H50 - - -

Steve felt like he was pinned down by a harpoon or something like that. It felt like the spear went right through his shoulder and into the ground beneath him. That brought on a thought about the time his dad walked in on him playing around with the fishing gear. He had always hoped his dad would take him out one day but he was always told that he was too young to handle a spear gun. But his dad had promised to show him how to use the hand spear.

Of course, his curiosity had gotten the better of him, so Steve had sneaked into the garage to take a close look at the different fishing spears. Until his dad came home early and found Steve 'manhandling' the fishing gear. The following lecture had not been pretty.

Steve groaned again when he moved to get up. His belly also hurt a lot more than last night. He tried to see where Kami had gone, but cried out when the movement jarred his shoulder. The pain was almost overwhelming, and he knew that it was a really bad injury. But the only thing on Steve's mind at the moment was how glad he was that he didn't hurt his right shoulder. He was just getting really good at football, and with a busted shoulder his career would be over before he even played his first real game.

With the single focused mind of a twelve-year-old Steve didn't realize that his injury could very well kill him.

He looked down at his chest and saw that his tee shirt and the gauze his friends had covered the wound with was soaked red. The former white now only had spots of its original color. The rest of it was either soaked in blood, shredded or dirty beyond recognition. But the dominant color was a bright red.

If Steve wouldn't have felt sick from the pain and the concussion already, he for sure would be from the overwhelming coppery smell of all the blood still oozing out from where the bone had penetrated his skin.

"Steve?"

He heard Cale calling out to him, but when he turned in his direction, was only able to look past him when he saw his dad appear on the steps above them. Suddenly Steve was overwhelmed with relief; he leaned back and gave in to the tears again streaming down his cheeks. His dad was here. Everything would be OK now. His dad always knew what to do.

- - - H50 - - -

John McGarrett looked down at his son who lay on the ground with a bloodstained tee shirt and a horrible looking injury. He looked at the tears rolling down Steve's face, and was blown away by the trust he saw in his son's pain filled eyes.

"Dad." John almost lost it hearing his son croaking out his name while in obvious pain.

"I've got you, Steve. Everything will be OK," John assured his eldest while he gently placed his hand on Steve's cheek. "You'll be fine, Son."

" 'K."

John watched as Steve closed his eyes and slipped back into unconsciousness. He then turned to Ben. "We need a chopper."

- - - H50 - - -

Skip Cromer looked down at the scene about 30 feet below. He could see a few people in Army and HPD uniforms, two civilians and also two kids. Two of the Army personnel were tending to a boy who lay on one of the larger platforms of the stairs. Skip could see that they had an IV in, and an oxygen mask covered the young boy's face. Even from up in the helicopter he could see that their actions portrayed an urgency he only saw from professionals when a young life was threatened. Without even knowing the details he knew the boy was in trouble.

"Rescue 105 to Search 16," he heard the pilot's voice in his headgear.

Skip saw one of the Army guys raise his mic to his lips and heard him talk at the same time. "Rescue 105, good to see you guys. Our patient is critical, we can't keep his BP up, it's dropping rapidly; internal injuries are most likely; head trauma; broken ankle; compound fractured collarbone with a probable nicked artery. Relay to the hospital STAT to prepare an OR."

Skip listened to the injury list and prepared to winch down with the basket to get the young patient to the hospital as soon as possible. He almost gasped in shock and surprise when he reached the stairs and realized who the injured boy was.

- - - H50 - - -

"Skip. Thank God you guys are here. We need to get Steve to a hospital," John said as soon as his neighbor's son touched down.

"John, Sir, are you alright? The other kids?" Skip asked as he clicked out of the safety harness and left the basket to the two Army medics who moved to secure Steve in it.

"They are good, but we need another transport for them," John answered without taking his eyes off his son.

"We'll take good care of Steve, don't worry. You can come with him, if you like," Skip said over the noise of the helicopter.

"Yeah, thanks."

John turned to his two friends who were keeping Kami and Cale close by. "Can you take care of the boys? Make sure they get to the hospital to be checked out?"

"Of course, John. Go with Steve, we can take care of the rest," Ben said. He had to yell to be heard over the howling wind the helicopter caused. "We'll see you in a bit at the hospital."

"Thank you." John hoped they both knew he meant a lot more than just a thank you for taking care of the two boys.

When he turned back to Skip he saw that Steve was ready for transport. He took the handed harness and a moment later latched onto the winch to be pulled up with Skip and his critically injured son.

John had gotten worried when the medics who arrived shortly after Steve passed out couldn't establish a satisfying blood pressure. They had determined that Steve must be bleeding internally because the blood he was losing from the open fracture would not cause such drastic dropping in blood pressure.

Steve was in shock and if they didn't get him more than field medical help soon he would die. The medics had been able to stabilize Steve somewhat, but they were still not happy with his vitals. It was clear that he was still losing blood. His abdomen had been rigid and when the medic had pressed on it Steve had groaned even while unconscious.

- - - H50 - - -

It only took ten minutes before John jumped out of the helicopter onto the helipad to help unload his son who was still completely unresponsive. He watched as Steve was transferred from the rescue stretcher to the gurney and wheeled into the clinic in a hurry. With John hot on their heels.

He was stopped by a nurse from entering the actual trauma bay in the ER. Thankfully they had flown to Kapi' Olani which had a pediatric emergency room. John was sure Steve would get the best care possible here, but he still wanted to be at his side.

"Officer McGarrett, Sir, you can't go in there," the nurse who blocked his way told him.

"I… he's my son."

"I know, Sir," nurse Kaina Mueller gently told him. "I need you to come with me and give me some details about your son," Kaina said and led him away from the trauma bay. "Maybe you need to call someone?"

"Oh, God. Yeah, I… I need to make a few calls. I'll be with you in a minute, OK?"

"Sure. Come find me at the desk."

John watched the nurse walk behind the counter and went over to the bank of phones. He needed to call Kami and Cale's parents, telling them what their kids had done. And he needed to call his wife who would not be happy to learn about this after the fact.

Resigned to the task at hand he picked up the receiver, all the while keeping an eye on the door his son had disappeared through.

- - - H50 - - -

Danny was hanging on Skip's every word. When he paused in his tale, Danny turned to Steve. "So, on the same stairs, pretty much in the same place, you fell… not once, but twice… and broke your collarbone… twice? Isn't that like… cosmic or something?"

Steve started to shrug his shoulders but caught himself before he regretted the action. "I can't believe it, either," he admitted. "But at least, this time, I made it to the top!"

"Oh yeah," Kono said, grinning at him. "And we all have the photo to prove it."

"So, Skip, do you have any more to tell us?" Cath asked, smiling at Steve's look of displeasure.

"That isn't enough?" Steve shot back.

"For another beer, I could continue," the Coast Guard medic assured them.

"Give the man a beer," Danny said. "And spill all you can on—"

"Don't say it, Danno—"

"Little Stevie."

- - - H50 - - -

Trauma room 4 at Kapi' Olani

"Oh damn, that's a lot of blood," Ken Wheeler, the pediatric ER intern said as he looked at the ultrasound he did on his young patient. "That must have bled for a long while."

"The OR said they are ready when we are."

"That's good. How's the BP now?"

"102 over 58."

"Good. Let's get him to surgery, he's stable for now," Wheeler said and watched the nurse hang another bag of blood on the stand.

- - - H50 - - -

Young Steve's hospital room

The voices had stopped arguing. The quiet was only interrupted by a low beeping sound that came from somewhere behind him. Steve thought it was rather annoying. Maybe I could call someone to turn it off? But that would mean he had to open his eyes. And he was so very tired.

He felt so heavy and wasn't even sure if he could open his eyes even if he wanted to. Steve only became very slowly aware that he was lying in a bed, and that there were various tubes stuck into him. There was a tube coming out of his belly and something was stuck in his arm. Speaking of arms, where the heck was his arm? He couldn't feel or see his left one.

All he could see after he finally opened his eyes were bandages wrapped around his upper body and a huge, thick patch on his belly.

He couldn't remember hurting his belly. He did remember something sticking out of his body near his shoulder, but his belly hadn't been cut. It had hurt pretty badly in the morning, but there had been no blood.

Steve looked further down his body that was only covered with a sheet that barely reached from very low on his belly to his mid thighs, the rest was exposed. His right leg was elevated and was resting in some kind of sling with his foot immobilized by a splint and lots of bandages up to his knee. His left leg was also elevated but only rested on pillows and had a few patches of white on it.

Steve checked under the thin blanket and was glad that he didn't find a tube there. But was not happy that he was practically naked. Why the heck wasn't he wearing any clothes? That thought made him look around and he saw that he was not actually lying in a room. At least not in any room he had ever seen before.

There were no real walls, only curtains separating the patients. But most curtains were open and Steve could see a lot of other kids lying in those big strange looking beds. He wondered if his bed looked like that.

Steve was now a little more alert and looked over to the nurses' station where he could make out his mom and dad talking to a guy in what looked like blue pajamas. Steve was pretty sure he was a doctor. His mom looked pretty distressed, or maybe she was angry. Steve was sure she was still angry at him.

His dad seemed to be calmly listening to what the doctor was telling him. He nodded at something the doctor said and turned his head at Steve and broke out into a smile. Steve watched as the other two heads turned his way and was glad that his mom also lost all anger on her face but looked with such love at him that he couldn't help but call out for her.

- - - H50 - - -

"So, I guess your mom wasn't mad at you after all?" Danny interrupted again and looked at Steve.

"Not when I woke up in the ICU, no…" Steve still remembered how she didn't say a word about his hike up the stairs for over a week. "But when I was getting better, well, let's just say I got an earful."

"Oh, I can imagine. If Grace ever pulled a stunt like that…"

"It was not our fault, we had it all planned out," Steve defended his bulletproof plan for their hike.

"Oh, yeah?" Skip chimed in. "You ending up in the hospital was part of the plan then?" He asked with a grin.

"Very funny," Steve grumbled.

"Let me tell you when I came to see how you were doing there was nothing funny about it."

- - - H50 - - -

"Hi, John. I wanted to see how Steve's doing. Is this a bad time?" Skip asked when he reached John McGarrett standing outside of Steve's hospital room.

"Skip, good to see you again," John greeted the young man. "Thanks again for all your help the other day."

"Just doing my job," Skip assured him. "Never figured my first drop would be to help someone I knew."

"Doris and I were really glad you were there," John told him. "Steve's not here right now, they took him down to finally cast his ankle."

"It's been almost a week now," Skip wondered.

"Yeah, the swelling didn't go down as fast as they hoped it would."

"How's his arm?" Cromer asked as they went into the empty hospital room.

"Good, he's getting PT already. He's complaining about the sling he has to wear, but he's doing good at physical therapy. Doctor said he should get back to normal."

"That's great. It looked pretty horrible at the time. He was very lucky."

"Yes, he was. But the first two days were not easy. He had a pretty bad infection, and they were worried when his temperature wouldn't go down. Spending the night out in the open like that didn't help matters. But now he seems to be bouncing right back," John told Skip.

"I guess kids are pretty resilient."

"Yeah, thank God for that," John answered with a smile. "Here he comes. Uh, he doesn't look too happy."

"Skip," Steve called out when he saw him standing next to his dad.

"Hi Steve, how are you?"

"They won't let me walk," Steve complained with a pout.

John only smiled at his son and gently lifted him out of the wheelchair up into his hospital bed. Steve's doctor had told them that Steve wouldn't get a walking cast for at least another ten days. A fact no one had told little Stevie who was sure he would walk out of the hospital as soon as his foot was in a cast.

"I know. Your ankle needs a little time to heal first before you can walk on it."

"But dad," Steve whined. "I can't use crutches. How am I supposed to get around?"

"You're not," was the simple answer.

"Huh?"

"You are confined to your bed. When you want to go somewhere, say the bathroom, you have to call someone," John told his son and laughed at the shocked look his son gave him.

"But, but…"

"No but. That foot won't touch the ground for the next ten days. You got that?"

"Yes, Sir," Steve meekly answered.

"That might give you time to think about what you have done. And when you are done thinking you will tell us what your punishment should be," John told his still pouting son.

"Yes, Sir," Steve softly said to the amusement of the two men in the room.

"So, how long does he have to stay here?" Skip wanted to know.

"A couple of days, he should be home by Monday. By the way, Marty will come by this afternoon. In a way he saved your life, Steven."

"Marty is kind of OK, I don't know why he hangs around with Dorian and his friends."

"Good, glad you think that. I told him you will help him with his homework."

"What?"

"Marty made a mistake, but he was brave enough to face the consequences and he came through for you. Try to help him a little, I think you will both benefit from it."

"Hmpf."

It was clear that young Steve McGarrett was not thrilled to tutor Marty.

- - - H50 - - -

"Your dad had been right all along. You two got along great. You became good friends, didn't you?" Skip asked Steve.

"Yeah. Marty's a fun guy to be around," Steve agreed.

"Have you heard from him lately?"

"Yeah, he's still with the Sheriff's department in a small town outside Phoenix. I promised to visit him last time we talked. That's actually a good idea, now that I will be off duty for a couple of weeks," Steve told them. "Cath, what do you think about a trip to Arizona?"

"I'm game," she told him. "That is… if my boss will give me the time off," she added with a grin.

"You're going to have to take off, Cath," Danny told her. "If you don't, we'd probably come over to find SuperNut over here up on the roof replacing the shingles."

They all laughed and Marty added, "So you haven't changed much, huh?"

"I do what needs to be done," Steve sheepishly admitted. He glared at his foot in the boot and added, "but I might stay off the roof."

"Definitely off the roof," Cath told him.

"I've got a question," Chin said, grinning at Steve. "This was a little before my time working with your dad, but I seem to remember rumblings about it. What was your punishment?"

Steve groaned and leaned his head back on the chair, remembering his awful summer. "Well, Dad had said I had to figure out my own punishment and that was tough. The day I got home from the hospital he carried me to my bedroom, put me in the bed and gave me a week to figure out what I thought was a reasonable punishment. He walked out of the room and I thought he was just going to leave me in there for the whole week!"

"So, no food or water for the week?" Danny asked.

Steve grinned. "Nah, Mom came up a few minutes later and brought Mary. Mary hadn't been able to come to the hospital so she didn't understand all that was going on. At first, Mom teared up, but then she started in on me, saying how we had to learn how to make good choices, and who's idea this was in the first place—"

"And I can guess who's idea it was," Danny pointed out.

"Well, yeah," Steve admitted. "But I didn't tell her that."

"What kind of punishment did you come up with?" Kono asked.

"First off, Marty had to go to summer school that year and it started the week I got home. I had to tutor him in both math and history, so he came over every day. But he was really scared of my mom so at first, he just came for his lessons and then bolted out the door. We didn't really become friends until the end of summer. He was the only one I could talk to because Cale and Kami were both grounded forever."

"I tried to tell Dad my punishment should be being confined to the yard for two weeks and he laughed."

"Nice try, Sherlock," Chin chuckled. "Anyone who knew your dad knew that wouldn't fly."

"I had to try," Steve said, laughing with him. "But one night I overheard Mom and Dad talking and Mom had been asked to be president of the garden club—don't laugh, I swear she was into all that kind of stuff back then. But she told them she was going to turn down the position because she didn't have anyone to watch Mary after school because the meetings were held every Wednesday. So, I decided that would be my 'penance' – to watch Mar every Wednesday for a year. That was the only day of the week we didn't have football practice, so it worked out during football season. I guess they liked the idea, because Dad told Mom she had to take the position. And Mom told me to quit eavesdropping," he added.

"What happened to Dorian and those other guys?" Catherine asked.

"All four of them had to do community service," Steve replied. "My dad, Duke, Ben and Troy took them in down at the station. They ended up painting the precinct, doing some yard work and odd jobs. Marty really liked it and continued to work there when he was off school. Max and Keanu did OK. I think they both went to college on the mainland and both have good jobs."

"And Dorian?" Danny asked.

"He was still a thug," Steve admitted. "They tried to help him but he ended up in Juvie when he was sixteen for trying to steal a car. He's had run-ins with the law off and on since then."

"I do remember that kid," Chin added. "Your dad sat him down and talked to him… even tried to scare him straight with a few hours in lockup, but Dorian just didn't care. He ended up with a rap sheet a mile long. Wonder where he is now?"

"Haven't heard anything on him since I've been back," Steve said.

Danny stood and stretched. "Well, I for one am disappointed," he told them.

"Why?" Steve asked when the rest got up to begin the clean up from their meal.

"The other night on the mountain," he began. "One of the things you were mumbling when you thought Cath and I were really Kami and Cale was that 'your parents were going to ground you until you were forty'. I'm guessing if Doris knew that the trip was all your idea, she could still ground you for a few years." He smirked and winked at his partner.

"OK, hold it, everybody," Steve said, raising his hand in the air for attention. "Listen up, if Doris ever hears a word about this latest trip on the stairs, the guilty party gets an automatic pink slip. You might as well just pack a box of your things and walk out of headquarters. Understood?"

Kono laughed. "Strong feelings on this, Boss?"

"I think that summer is still a sore spot," Chin added.

"One of the worst of my life," Steve admitted. "Thanks guys, for coming over." He started to stand up and realized Catherine had once again hidden his crutch. She really was making sure he stayed put unless she was hovering. "Help me up, Chin," he said, holding out his arm for Chin to help hoist him out of the chair.

"Sure that's all right with your keeper?" Chin whispered.

"I heard that," Cath said from helping Kono clear the table. "Here you go," she reached for the crutch and passed it to him.

"Thanks for the case update," Steve told Chin. "You guys be careful while I'm off duty."

"Will do. You take care."

"Behave, Steven," Danny reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah." Steve turned to Skip and held out his hand. "Thanks for coming by. And for the rescue… again."

"Let's try and meet the next time somewhere on level land, OK?"

"Sounds good," Steve replied with a chuckle. "Tell your parents I said 'hi'."

"Will do."

Steve stood looking longingly toward the water and heard Catherine come back out of the house after the others had left.

"Don't even think it," she reminded him.

He turned around and grinned. "I'm not," he told her. "But since I can't get in the water… or do much of anything, how about we do take a trip? I'd like for you to meet Marty. He's a pretty cool guy."

Catherine nodded. "Yeah, it might be good in a couple of days when your shoulder is better healed. And if the doctor says you're OK to fly. But…" she added, both hands on her hips. "You have to promise me you won't do anything stupid while we're gone," she warned.

"Ah, come on, have a little faith." He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "We would be there in the middle of the desert. What could possibly go wrong?"

- - - H50 - - -