Chapter Thirteen: The Stand-Off

"Alia!"

Michael's answer was cut off by a shout. Alia turned toward the voice and her jaw dropped. What was Leon doing here? And why was he running toward this dangerous situation? He didn't belong here. He shouldn't even know where here was. This didn't make any sense, unless… No, that couldn't be. But as she looked at Leon's concerned face, she knew that there was no other probable explanation. Five-O was here. Her father was here. And for the first time in a long time, that news didn't fill her with dread.

Just like McGarrett had sent in Koa all those weeks ago to feel out the situation, it appeared that he had sent Leon in first to find her, unsure of how'd she react. But she wondered if McGarrett realized that Michael and Koa were here. She doubted it, considering that the plane hid them quite well from the trees and bushes across the yard where she suspected that Five-O was hiding.

"Halt!" Michael ordered as he turned and drew his gun. "Why aren't you in jail?"

Leon froze and held out his hands. "The cops aren't stupid. Just because you dumped a body in my yard, that doesn't make me guilty."

Koa gasped. It appeared that he had not signed up for this.

Leon took a step forward. "Let her go and nobody has to get hurt."

Michael switched off the safety. "Not a chance."

All her fear and worry came rushing back as Alia backed up against the plane. What was Leon doing? He was going to get himself killed!

"Someone who truly loves another person would be willing to take a bullet for that person."

Leon was prepared to die to save her.

"I told a lot of girls that I loved them but there wasn't a single girl that I would have been willing to die for."

Somehow, for some inexplicable reason, Leon had fallen in love with her.

Alia couldn't let him die too.

Suddenly, Rono's plane gave her an idea. She might not be able to save her own life, but she was going to save Leon's. No one else was ever going to die for her.

With courage that she never knew she possessed, she swiftly turned and opened the plane door, climbing into pilot's seat before anyone could react.

Once she was seated, a hand grabbed her wrist and Michael said, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Getting us out of this mess," she declared with more confidence than she felt.

Raising his gun, her adversary growled, "Trying to run, more like it."

"I'd put that away if I were you."

"Give me one good reason why I should do what you say."

Alia smiled, she was in control. She had to be; the instant she lost control she would be dead and Leon too. "How do think Leon got here? He had help, most likely from my father. And I know my father, he's here and he brought Five-O with him."

"She's right," Leon said. "They're here."

Koa cursed while Michael ducked behind the open plane door, his eyes scanning the beach. It didn't take long before he spotted someone prowling around the tree line.

"You can fly this thing?"

Alia looked her adversary straight in the eye and said, "Yes. And I will fly all of us to the mainland, but on one condition: you let me walk away. Your life for mine."

Michael looked skeptical, but Koa was convinced. "Rono must have taught her."

Not waiting for an answer, she reached over and flipped several switches. With a sputter and a whir, the engines roared to life, causing Michael to shout, "Hey, I didn't say yes, yet!"

Alia shrugged. "This plane isn't going anywhere until the engines power up, so decide quickly. Because, when it's ready, I'm leaving."

Then turning her head so that her eyes met Leon's, she ordered in a cold voice, "Leave, Leon, you never should have come."

The hurt on Leon's face was evident, but he turned and jogged toward where she could just catch the glimpse of someone hiding. She felt a twinge of guilt for hurting her friend, but she needed him gone if she was going to get both of them out of this alive.

Turning her attention back to the instruments in front of her, she took a deep breath. She had watched Rono fly this plane countless times, but the truth was she barely knew what she was doing. But she didn't have to. She wasn't going to sit back and wait for her father or for Leon to save her. It might not work, but it was time that she started taking charge of her own destiny.

So as soon as she saw Michael holster his gun and put his hand on the plane to climb up, she made her move.

Diving to the right, she opened the passenger door and rolled out onto other side of the runway. As soon as her feet hit the pavement, she bolted. She sprinted as fast as she could toward the beach. She wanted as much distance possible between her and that plane when Five-O moved in.

The crack of a gunshot made her fling herself down on the sand. She buried her head in her arms, trying to block out the shouts and sounds of the fight behind her. She tried not to think about who was winning, losing and dying – all because of her.

The noises finally began to fade and Alia slowly raised her head and spotted a well-worn and scuffed pair of dress shoes walking towards her. She knew those shoes. They stopped and a hand appeared. She knew every line, callus and scar that belonged to that hand.

Her running days were over. Placing her smaller hand in the larger one, Alia let her father pull her to her feet.

"Are you hurt?"

Her father's voice sounded stiff, formal and careful. He was trying so hard to keep it together but his eyes betrayed the pain, the hurt and his relief at seeing her there.

"I'm fine." Her voice was just as stiff as her father's. She nodded her head toward the plane and the cops that swarmed around it. "And them?"

"Forrest's fine. Koa surrendered. The man with him took a hit in the shoulder but he'll live. No one else was injured."

That was good. She was glad no one else was wounded or killed on her account. But she had now run out of safe things to say. And the silence from her father told her that he was in the same boat. It appeared that they no longer knew how to talk to one another. She started fiddling with her hands, trying to figure where to go from here.

Her father's eyes flickered down to the movement. "You aren't wearing the ring."

Of course her father noticed. How could he not? He must be hoping that this was a sign that she was ready to move on. And the truth was that she wanted it to be. Alia was ready to move on, but her father deserved the truth. "I still love him, Daddy."

"I know."

"But Rono never was the man I thought he was. So why do I still love him?"

"Alia," Chin said, his voice gentle and full of love, "when you love someone with all your heart, it doesn't matter what they do or how far away from you they go; you never stop loving them."

Alia met her father's eyes and realized that he was no longer talking about Rono but about her.

Falling into her father's arms, she finally let the bottled up tears flow. "Oh, Daddy!"

She was safe. And maybe, just maybe, she was finally ready to go home.