"His Salvation"

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Title: "His Salvation"

Author: Michelle Heath

Rating: MA for adult language and situations

Summary: He saved her. Will she be his salvation?

Date Written: December 12, 2010

Disclaimer: I so do not own Hawaii Five-0; unfortunately!

A/N: Sorry, folks, thought I was over my "little bout" of stomach flu, but apparently not. Three trips to the doctor and a few of bags of i.v. fluids later, and I'm still not quite "up to snuff". However, I'm taking my medicine like a good girl and slowly but surely downing gallon upon gallon of chicken broth. Sorry for the length of this chapter, but my brain has gone into "shut down" mode along with the rest of my body. I did want to post an update, though. Hopefully, I'll be up and running again soon. Please excuse the delay! Thanks for all the reviews and the pm's of encouragement and support. They always mean a lot but especially when I'm not feeling well. I truly do appreciate each and every one of you! Michelle

(Although it's very late, Steve cannot sleep; his body still humming with small tremors from their lovemaking. Sam is lying as close to him as she possibly can and her head and one hand are resting on his chest. Her breathing finally evens out and becomes slow and deep as she falls asleep and her muscles lose their tenseness. Gently brushing hair away from her face, Steve picks up her hand and softly kisses her palm before pressing it back to his chest; a sudden, strong rush of emotion welling in his heart. Carefully sliding out of the bed without waking Sam, Steve walks over to the window and turns to look back at Sam's sleeping form bathed in the moonlight that is flooding the room. A lot of different thoughts and emotions are running through him; not the least of which are a fierce love for Sam and an almost equally fierce desire to tear Dimitri Kasavich apart with his bare hands. The very thought of Sam being within a hundred feet of Kasavich makes Steve's skin crawl, but he knows that Sam's going to have to get a lot closer than that if their plan is going to work. Turning back toward the window, he closes his eyes and says a silent prayer that, this time, they will be able to get Kasavich out of their lives once and for all. . . .

As promised, everyone is back at Steve's house bright and early the next morning. The first thing Sam does is log on to a computer and check for any messages from Kasavich or any of her contacts – nothing. It's only been a few hours since she sent her message, however, and she really isn't surprised that he has not yet responded. As the large group is eating breakfast, Sam goes over more of her ideas and everyone contributes to smoothing out the rough edges. They are all finally satisfied that they're as ready as their every going to be and all that is left to do is wait for Kasavich to make contact. Waiting is the hardest part, and the longer they wait, the edgier everyone gets. Sam, however, is the epitome of calm, as is Steve, and Danny is in honest to goodness awe of them both. He watches them closely and sees the looks and touches they exchange throughout the day and begins to feel optimistic about the op they've put into play. Caroline picks up on the change in Danny and sends little smiles his way. By mid-afternoon, the general atmosphere at Steve's house is upbeat, and Caroline catches Danny alone out on the deck. She walks up to stand beside him as he gazes out at the ocean and his arm automatically slides around her waist and pulls her close to his side.)

"So, you're good with this?"

"Yeah, I am now. I've been watching Sam and Steve all day, and it's like they just . . know this is going to work. Like they can see into the future or something."

"Maybe they can; their future, anyway. They're both convinced that they are going to have a future together, so they're going to do whatever they have to do to make it happen. They love each other that much."

"Yeah. . . Caroline, I know this thing with us has happened pretty fast, and I don't want you to feel like I'm, you know, pushing you or anything. I don't want to scare you away,"

"You couldn't if you tried, Danny. I dated the jerk I was engaged to for almost four years before I agreed to marry him and I would have never dreamed he was the perverted bastard he turned out to be. I don't believe there's a set time limit for knowing what kind of person someone is or for falling in love. When the person you were meant to spend the rest of you life with comes along, you just know."

"You thought you were supposed to spend the rest of your life with the pervert, remember?"

"No. I only thought he was the one. I had convinced myself that he was who I was supposed to marry because I got caught up in the idea of marriage. Most of my friends were either married or engaged, and I didn't want to be 'left behind'. I realize now that was a very immature way to make a decision that would affect the rest of my life. When I look back, it was an extremely foolish reason to get married and it almost cost me my sanity."

"And now?"

"Now, I know better. . . I also know that you're a good man; an honest, decent man. You stick to your convictions, and everything you do has a reason; a purpose. You always put everyone else first without hesitation, and you'd do anything you could for people you care about if you thought they needed your help. And I know that I love you like I've never loved anyone in my entire life."

"Wow. . . So, about that talk your Mom wants us to have . . ."