Wow, I'm on a roll! Thanks to all of you who are still reading. I really appreciate it. I will finish this story; I just hit a dry spell for a while there. I know how it ends, just not how to get from point A to point B to point C... et cetera. So, any thoughts for what you want to see in this story are welcome. For instance, I'm not sure where Jenna and Eric are going, so I'd love to know what you guys think.

Chapter Six "Exactly What You Want"

"A am everything you're not, and it's exactly what you wanted. We both know, you can't plan something as real as this. It takes more than plans to feel like this."~Ivoryline

Steve woke to something pulling at his eyelids. He blinked several times to see the smiling face of his now one-year-old. As his mind out together the pieces he sat up suddenly.

"How did you get out of bed?" he said.

Lucy only tilted her head and grinned. Before she could run off again, Steve pulled her up onto the bed.

"Am I going to have to modify your crib?" he asked.

Lucy giggled and rolled over between Steve and McKenzie who was still asleep. Fearing that all her wiggling would wake McKenzie, Steve laid back down and moved Lucy onto his stomach. She sat still for a moment, her big blue eyes seeming to search Steve's for something.

"Happy birthday, Lucy," he whispered. He knew she probably didn't know what that meant. It didn't matter.

She laughed and snuggled into Steve's chest. He could just about wrap one hand around her tiny body. He rested his other hand on her head, stroking the fine hair behind her ears.

"Ready for breakfast, baby?" Steve whispered.

Lucy perked up. She knew the word breakfast. She had her mother's affection for all things edible.

Steve got out of bed and carried Lucy downstairs. As he held her in one arm while fixing breakfast with the other, he thought about everything that had happened a year ago today.

He wondered what he would tell Lucy about the night she was born. Nothing about the circumstances had been normal. He had a few more years to worry about that anyway.

Years. It sometimes scared him to think of where he would be in another year or two or three. It had been one already since he came to Chicago, or would be in a week. Steve wondered if this was the way he would live for the foreseeable future. Always afraid of when someone might catch up to him and try, again, to take away everyone he loved.

So far, there had been no cause for alarm. Victor Hesse hadn't made contact in several months. His last update was to say that they were fine, and Wo Fat was nowhere near finding them, too busy with staving off Five-0.

Danny, Chin, Kono and the rest probably had no idea how much they were doing to keep Steve and his family safe. But the next time he saw them, he would be sure to let them know.

Of course, Steve always wondered when he would see his extended family again. His sister was living in his house, his partner was running his task force, and the rest were doing their best to make his home safe again.

He knew it wasn't just for him, but for McKenzie and Lucy too, but sometimes he felt like the whole world moved because he needed it to. Danny had often compared him to a force of nature.

H-5-O

Jenna knew it was a bad idea. To get attached. To get involved. Eric was irresistible in a lot of ways. He was sweet and naïve sometimes, but he know when to be straight with her and call her on her obsession.

There was the problem. She wasn't just obsessed; she was consumed. There was no room in her life for anyone else. Only Josh and Wo Fat.

But here she was in the parking lot of their favorite bar, pressed so hard against his body that she couldn't breathe. His lips tasted like coconut and alcohol. His arms around her reminded her that she was not the only human being on Earth. He reminded her of life.

She was going to ask him to come home with her. She was going to make a huge mistake and regret it the next day.

But he didn't let her.

"Jenna," Eric said, catching his breath.

"Huh?" she replied.

"I like you. I always have. But I don't want to ruin this."

She looked into his warm brown eyes. Then she made a different mistake. "There is no this," she said, and she walked away.

She got into her car and drove home and cried herself to sleep. Cried for Josh, that she lost him. And for Eric, that she would never have him.

Work the next day was tense. For about a week Eric seemed to tiptoe around her. He didn't ask about that night. He didn't try to make her explain herself.

Finally the week came to an end. They'd caught three cases and closed them all in those five days. None had anything to do with Wo Fat.

As she sat at her desk, going over all her files one more time, Jenna heard a knock at the door. Eric stood there, just looking at her for a moment.

"You want to go for drinks?" he offered.

Jenna looked down at her desk. "I... uh, can't," she said.

"Just friends," Eric said. "I get it, okay?"

"Get what?" Jenna looked at him again.

"You're still not over him. I get it. So, we can just go back to the way things were."

"You mean me pretending to hate you?"

"Yeah. If you want."

Jenna shook her head, smiling in spite of herself. He was cute. That was the problem. She wouldn't keep resisting him, and she had a job to do. There just wasn't room for him in her life.

She knew she was missing out. She knew she should let him in. But in her heart, she felt it would be unjust to Josh not to hunt down his killer and bring him to justice. She didn't really have a choice.

Shaking her head again, Jenna stood up. "I think I'm just going to go home," she said. "I'm really tired."

Eric nodded. "Okay then. I'll see you Monday."

He left, and as the door closed behind him, Jenna sunk into her chair again. Resting her head in her hands, she bit her lip and willed herself not to go after him.

H-5-O

Jenna didn't show up to the Williams' barbeque on Saturday. Secretly, Eric blamed himself.

It wasn't so much of a secret since Danny and Chin assumed he had something to do with it from the way he had been so quiet all week.

"Should I go talk to him?" Chin wondered as he and Danny were standing beside the picnic table.

"He does look pretty miserable," Danny said. "What do you think happened?"

Chin shrugged. "Who knows. Hey, where's Grace today?"

Danny sighed dramatically. "Rachel is having parental insecurities."

"What's that supposed to mean, brah?"

"It's her weekend, and even though Grace wanted to come, she wouldn't allow it."

"Didn't you invite them too?"

"Yes. But Rachel doesn't accept those invitations anymore if you hadn't noticed."

"I had. I was waiting for you to say something about it."

"I'm not sure what it was, you know. I thought maybe she didn't like that I got married, but she seems fine with Kono. The only thing it could be is Karl."

"She's mad at you for having another kid?"

Danny shrugged. "I don't know. But this all started after he was born."

Chin shook his head. "Glad I'm not you."

"Just wait."

Danny was teasing of course. He thought Malia and Chin were perfect together. Their ceremony had been small with Danny and Kono as their wedding party. Chin confessed to Danny that he had really wanted Steve to be his best man. They had all hoped to have the Wo Fat situation sorted out by then.

Chin set his drink on the table and slapped Danny's shoulder. "Hang in there, brah," he said as he started walking toward Eric.

The younger man was standing off away from the group, holding a red Dixie cup, but not drinking out of it.

"Everything okay?" Chin asked as he approached.

Eric shrugged. "Yeah."

Chin smiled. "And you expect me to believe that?"

"What?"

"Come on. We all see how quiet you've been all week. What happened? Something with Jenna?"

"Why do you assume that?"

"Because the two of you hardly spoke all week, and you kept staring at her every time she wasn't looking. What happened?"

"I... don't know. I guess I sort of made a mess of things."

"How, exactly?"

"I pushed too hard, I suppose. I thought she was opening up, but... I don't know. And when I tried to make things right, she just sort of brushed it off and didn't show up today. I don't know what to do."

"You ever think maybe there's nothing you can do?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, Jenna has to decide to get passed this. She has to move on; you can't do it for her."

Eric nodded. "I know. I just..."

"Want to help," Chin finished. He smiled again. "And you should never stop trying to help, even when it seems hopeless. Maybe she'll come around. But either way, you're not responsible."

"Thanks, Chin. I... sometimes get too caught up in other people's problems."

Chin tried not to laugh. "I know exactly what you mean."

H-5-O

Steve felt her presence before her hands touched his shoulders. He knew he'd disturbed her with his tossing and turning.

It was one A.M. He had work in the morning. But there he sat on the couch facing out the front window at the early spring slush reflecting in the orange streetlights.

"You okay?" McKenzie asked, working her fingers into his muscles.

"Yeah. You should go back to bed," Steve replied.

"Something's bothering you."

"Same old stuff."

"Why do I not believe you?"

"Maybe because I'm lying." Steve turned his head to see McKenzie's face half obscured by the darkness of the house. She looked pensive.

"Why?" she finally said.

"I don't want you to worry."

"I know that. I do anyway, so you might as well tell me."

She moved around the couch and came to sit next to Steve. He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. He wasn't sure how to explain this to McKenzie.

"You remember when I told you about those dreams I had while I was in hiding?"

McKenzie paused, she took Steve's hand and rubbed her thumb along the outside of it. "The ones about me and Lucy?" she asked.

Steve nodded. "I never wanted to tell you about that, but it was too much to keep in. This is... like that."

McKenzie leaned against Steve's shoulder, resting her head against his neck. "Who is it this time?" she asked.

Steve cleared his throat. "Everyone," he said.

"What?"

"Everyone I love. Even our parents are in it."

"How long?"

"McKenzie—"

"How long, Steve?"

He sighed. "Since Lucy's birthday," he said.

"That was almost a month ago."

Steve nodded. "It builds."

"How did you get it to stop before?"

"It didn't stop. I mean, not all at once. Danny was there, and he made me talk about it, and then it started to get better."

"And you didn't think you should talk about it with me?"

Steve leaned back against the couch, pulling McKenzie with him. "Like I said, I don't want you to worry."

McKenzie wrapped her arm around Steve's waist and buried her face in his chest. "We don't all have to be strong all the time," she said. "Let me protect you from something once in a while."

Steve wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. "I love you," he whispered.

McKenzie tilted her head up, and her lips brushed his neck. "I love you too."