9

Later that next morning, Steve waited anxiously at the terminal gate for Mary. It had been a couple of months since he'd seen his younger sister, and he always enjoyed seeing her. He was glad she'd finally gotten her life together. Since their mother's "death" and her shipment back to the States, she'd been a troubled child, constantly wanting to run wild and do crazy things. In her teen years, she'd turned to drugs. Steve wasn't around for most of this and didn't discover the seriousness of her problems until she'd missed their father's funeral. He'd been angry with her about that at first, but as they'd reconnected, he'd begun to understand her thinking. Now, she was completely sober and had a steady job as a flight attendant. He couldn't be happier for her.

Mary strolled into the terminal casually. She looked great, with her face slightly fuller than the last time he'd seen her and her hair less stringy. For a change, she actually looked happy and healthy. He hoped she would stay that way. Although he had no firsthand experience with addicts, he knew it wasn't easy to stay sober, especially with the life Mary had lived.

Mary's smile glimmered as she noticed Steve waiting for her. Breaking into a run, she jumped into her older brother's arms the instant she reached him. Even though it hadn't really been that long since she'd seen him, it felt like forever.

Mary whispered, "It's good to see you, big brother."

Steve pulled her in closer and kissed the top of her head. "It's good to see you, too."

Reluctantly, they extricated themselves from each other's arms. Mary grabbed her suitcase from the baggage claim and they were off.

Several minutes later, as Steve and Mary were riding back to the house in his truck, Steve informed, "I want to give you a little heads-up about Mom, Mary. She's nothing like she was when you knew her before. Chrissy and I have already had a lot of issues with her and it's only day two."

Mary inquired, "What kinds of issues?"

Steve sighed, gripping his steering wheel a little tighter, "She doesn't like Chrissy. Not only that, but she doesn't like Danny, either. Mom told me she wanted them to back off for a while and I told her no. I know Chrissy took dinner up to her last night, but I'm not sure what happened there. Neither one of them said anything about it, but knowing Mom, Chrissy was probably the victim of her wrath."

Mary exploded, "That's so stupid! Mom has no right to treat Chrissy that way. I know I've only met her once, but I can tell she's really nice. Mom's just…being a pain."

"Oh, yeah. A royal pain in the ass."

"She's not going to get away with it, Steve. I know Chrissy's probably too polite to say anything to Mom, but I'm not. This has to stop. You're in love with Chrissy. I could see it when I saw the two of you together and I can see it now. You of all people deserve to be happy, and if Mom tries to stand in the way of that, she'll have to get through me first."

While Steve was out, Danny decided to stop by and see how Chrissy was doing with the Wicked Witch of the West, as he lovingly referred to Doris. Even from his own brief contact with Steve's mother, he could tell the woman was majorly overbearing and wasn't about to let Chrissy have any of Steve's attention. This wasn't fair to Chirssy, especially after all she and Steve had been through together. Doris needed to be straightened out, and Danny was more than willing to volunteer for the job.

Danny didn't even bother knocking. He simply walked into the house Steve and Chrissy shared. Neither of them would care; it wasn't like he would walk in with an ax. Well, at least not for the purpose of harming Steve, Chrissy, or Sarah.

Chrissy called out, "Is that you, Danny?"

Danny laughed, "Have the Super SEAL's super senses rubbed off on you?"

Chrissy responded, "It's completely possible, Danno."

Danny sighed, "Steve won't be getting away with much, then. Between a woman's sense and Super SEAL sense, you'll know if he's up to something right away."

Stepping into the kitchen, Danny saw Chrissy sitting at the small table, a cup of coffee in front of her. It was past nine o'clock, so she'd sent Sarah off to school well over an hour ago. He suspected dealing with her autistic daughter was much easier for Chrissy than handling Doris McGarrett. He could see it in her face. The beginnings of dark circles under her eyes signified the stress she was under. Danny felt sorry for her. She was being treated like crap by Steve's mother, and it was likely killing her self-esteem. He hoped that, as soon as she was up to it, Steve moved Doris relatively far away so that she couldn't hurt Chrissy anymore. Even though he was of no relation to Chrissy, Danny felt it was his duty as a co-worker and as a friend to make sure she was comfortable and safe. Of course, it was more Steve's job, but because he was Steve's best friend, he felt it was his obligation as well.

Chrissy inquired, "Would you like some coffee?"

Danny shrugged. "Thanks. That would be great."

Chrissy got up from her chair and walked over to the counter, reaching into the cupboards for a cup. As she poured, he asked, "How is Doris doing?"

Chrissy turned around and handed the cup to Danny. "In my opinion, she's doing just fine. I mean, she had enough energy to call me a slut when I brought her dinner last night."

Danny shook his head. "That's really nice, considering you even bothered to make dinner for her. You didn't have to do that."

"I know. I was just trying to be nice. Steve means the world to me, and I don't want to make his life even more difficult than it already is by having a rocky relationship with his mother."

"That's not your fault, though, Chrissy. Doris is determined to ensure you have a difficult relationship with her so that you will walk away."

"Don't worry. I already figured that out, and I told her last night. I don't think she took me very seriously, but that doesn't matter. I'm not going anywhere."

"Good girl. You shouldn't, anyway. That would be punishing everyone except Doris."

"Exactly. That's why I'm staying, besides the fact that I love Steve and really want to make this work."

"Maybe Mary being here will take Doris's attention off of you."

"True, hopefully."

"Not only that, but Mary really liked you, from what I can gather. If Steve tells her what's been going on with Doris, it's likely you'll have a powerful ally in her."

"I hope so."

"You will. Mary is a McGarrett. She has the same blood running through her veins as Steve. She'll do anything to protect those she considers family, even if the attacks are from within her own clan."