THROWING DARTS
Based on the Hawaii Five-0 Series Finale | Season 10 Episode 22: Aloha
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CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
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BARCELONA, SPAIN - JULY 6, 2020 - 1900 HOURS
"Gustav Bastyr is a known associate of Dzimitry Kanavalau and Vlad Kavalyou. They were responsible for the Minsk Metro Bombing in Belarus in 2011. Fifteen people were killed and over two hundred more were injured." Steve had begun filling Catherine in on the details of his phone call with Harry Langford as soon as they arrived at their hotel in Barcelona. "Harry doesn't know why he would be interested in us in particular. All he got was a name."
Catherine had sat in on the call, but had to quickly excuse herself when another bout of nausea overcame her. All throughout the night she had been running back and forth to the bathroom. Steve wanted to delay their trip to Spain, but Catherine insisted that she would be fine.
"So that explains why I couldn't find anything when I ran the name he used on the email with our engagement photos." Catherine stated as she tracked with him.
Steve nodded. "Right. Bastyr runs in a lot of unsavory circles. Harry said he's got contacts with former KGB agents, the IRA, even the Chinese MSS. He's a, uh, criminal concierge of sorts. He has no allegiance to any one cause or political group. He's motivated by money and doesn't care where it comes from or what he has to do to get it, which is why it's gonna be hard to trace who he was working for." He watched as Catherine paced back and forth in their suite. She kept mumbling the old man's name over and over again as she nervously fiddled with her engagement ring.
"Gustav Bastyr.. I've met him before." She chewed on her lip for a moment before she spoke up again. "I think I might have an idea." She finally said as she reached for her phone. She dialed a number before putting it on speaker. "No more secrets, right?" She winked and smiled before the call connected. Steve chuckled quietly as he listened to the operator on the other end of the line.
"Agent Code"
"Romeo, October, Lima, Seven, Three, Niner."
"Origin?"
"Spain, Unsecured."
"Status?"
"Retired." She smiled as Steve as the words escaped her lips.
"Call Destination?"
"Charlie, October, Echo, Seven, One, Three."
"The destination code you entered is currently suspended. Do you wish to continue?"
Steve caught a look of confusion on Catherine's face. "Yes." She confirmed.
"Securing the line and transferring."
Steve and Catherine heard the phone click as the call connected. "Rollins. Didn't expect to hear from you again." The voice on the other end chuckled sarcastically.
Catherine rolled her eyes, "That makes two of us, Coen." She glanced at Steve and mouthed the words "asshole got suspended" before smirking. Steve covered his mouth to keep from laughing. "I need an intel dossier on a man I tailed when we were in Kiev. Gustav Bastyr. He's a Czech national."
"And why would I do that for you, Catherine?" He hissed. "You called through the operator. You know I'm suspended until my hearing." Coen snapped.
"Because you owe me." Catherine gritted her teeth, "Or are you forgetting about what happened in Syria?" Her words weren't a threat - they were a promise. "I covered for you. Do this for me. You're suspended, not fired, so quit stalling and get me the dossier on Bastyr." The line was silent for a long time. Catherine was sure he had hung up, but the call was still connected. "Coen?"
"Give me seventy-two hours." He grumbled. "And tell your husband I'll send him my medical bills for when he choked me at the airstrip in D.C." The line clicked as Coen hung up on them.
As soon as the call ended, Catherine darted into the bathroom and slammed the door. Steve sat back on the bed and relished the memory of choking Agent Coen. If that weasly little man hadn't interfered with Doris's operation in Mexico and sent him to extract her, she likely would have been alive right now. He hated that man with every fiber of his being, and given the fact that Catherine also hated him, Steve felt pretty justified in his unwavering abhorrence. Nothing made him happier than hearing that Coen was suspended for some sort of infraction. He glanced up to see Catherine exiting the bathroom. "You still can't keep anything down?" He mumbled as he stood up and gently brushed her hair away from her face. He felt her forehead with the back of his hand, "You don't have a fever…." He sighed, "You sure you don't wanna go get checked out at the hospital?" He frowned when she shook her head, "It's been a couple days since the accident, your concussion symptoms should've eased up by now…"
"You should sit down." Her voice wavered with a hint of worry.
Steve did as he was told before a question crossed his mind, "How does Coen know we're married?"
Catherine shrugged, "I don't know… he's a spook for a living. Look, I-"
Steve wasn't letting it go. "Yeah, but how would he have found out unless-"
"Steve, I'm trying to tell you something." She was growing irritated.
He shook his head, "I know, but just listen for a sec-"
"Steve, I'm pregnant!" She shouted in exasperation.
Steve sat frozen on the bed with his mouth gaping open as her words rang over and over in his mind. "What?" He asked as he felt adrenaline coursing through his veins.
Catherine smiled as tears welled up in her eyes, "I'm pregnant." She whispered.
Steve jumped off the bed and pulled her into his arms. "Oh my god, Cath." He whispered in shock as he cradled her head against his chest.
Catherine began laughing as tears streamed down her cheeks, "I-I'm pregnant….We're gonna have a baby!"
He couldn't contain the smile on his face as he planted a kiss on her lips, "I take it back…. I take it all back…" He chuckled.
"Take what back?" Catherine giggled as she pecked his lips.
"All those lies I said about promising to not hover and promising to stop being overprotective and overbearing." He grinned. "You better get used to being waited on hand and foot."
Catherine laughed, " I can't believe it!" Steve wrapped his arms around her waist and spun her around, "Whoa, Sailor." She giggled, "Still nauseous over here."
Steve grinned and set her back on her feet, "Y-you're sure? Like, completely sure?"
"Five tests in three days all say yes." Catherine giggled as she wiped the tears off of her cheeks. Steve laced his fingers behind her head and kissed her passionately. "I-I mean, i'm probably just a couple weeks along, and anything could happen, but….." She was shaking in excitement, causing her voice to tremble.
Steve laughed and pulled her into his arms. He held onto her tightly, praying that he could protect her from whatever lay ahead for them. "We're gonna have a baby." He whispered.
"I love you, you know." She grinned as she rested her forehead on his.
Steve was beaming from ear to ear, "I love you too."
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BARCELONA, SPAIN - JULY 7, 2020 - 0300 HOURS
After hours of snuggling, hugging, crying, and a few panicked trips to the bathroom when her nausea flared up, Catherine was sound asleep, tucked away safely in Steve's arms. The steady rhythm of his breathing soothed her as she rested. Her eyes fluttered open as she felt Steve begin to toss and turn. She listened as he incoherently mumbled and grimaced. She felt him flail and thrash under the covers. Catherine reached over and grabbed his hands firmly, "Steve, wake up." She calmly asked. When he continued to twist and turn, murmuring things about Mexico, she shook him awake, "Steve, wake up, it's just a bad dream."
Steve's eyes blinked open and adjusted to the blackness of the room, "W-what's wrong? Are you okay? I-Is it the baby?"
"Everything's okay, Sailor."She smiled, "You were just having a bad dream. Go back to sleep."
Steve nodded groggily, pulled her back into his arms, and drifted back off into a peaceful sleep. Nightmares were nothing out of the ordinary for them. Both Steve and Catherine dealt with being haunted by their pasts, and both took on the responsibility of making sure the other could sleep as soundly as possible. Catherine settled back against his chest as she closed her eyes. Her mind went back to the first time they had slept together at the ranch in Montana.
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Steve heard the squeak of the shower as the water turned off as he rinsed his dishes in the kitchen sink, dried his hands, and sauntered into the living room. A few minutes later, Catherine emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her hair. She looked around the house until she found him stretched out on the couch.
"I washed the sheets and blankets on the bed this morning." She motioned back to the adjacent room, "Why don't you crash back there? You'll be more comfortable." She smiled softly, "Probably get better sleep."
"You take it." He offered. "I can sleep out here."
"Steve, you need to rest. You've been running on fumes for almost three weeks." She scolded.
He sat up and paused, "We can share it, you know…. The bed."
Catherine grinned, "You'd like that wouldn't you." She winked playfully, trying to lighten the mood.
Steve chuckled as he stood up, "But what would your boyfriend think?"
"Boyfriend?" Catherine was utterly confused.
"You're the one who told me you were dating a little bit. You know- when we were on Kaho'olawe?" He smirked.
"I lied." She cringed.
"Oh, really." He stated sarcastically.
"What was I supposed to say! "I'm lonely and thought about getting a cat, but the CIA has a strict 'no pets' in the safehouse policy"?" She laughed. "I didn't want you feeling sorry for me."
"I know you lied, Cath." He chuckled, "Your poker face hasn't changed in twenty years."
Catherine rolled her eyes.
"Come to bed with me." Steve asked. "We'll both sleep better."
She hesitated. Steve was in a vulnerable place and she didn't want to make that harder by jeopardizing their mission with emotions - she remembered how much that had complicated things in Morocco. Although they had spent the better part of two days cleaning up Joe's farmhouse: sweeping up the shattered glass and picking up shell casings, the house was still a wreck. Moonlight leaked in through the bullet holes in the walls and ceiling, and the spot where the RPG had struck was covered with a tarp, causing the house to be a frigid temperature. January in Montana was no joke.
"I don't wanna be alone." He admitted.
Catherine nodded, "Okay." She timidly followed him to the bedroom and pulled back the covers on the bed. She watched as he slowly tugged his shirt over his head, folded it neatly, and set it back in his bag. It was as if everything was happening in slow motion and her world was spinning.
Joe was dead.
Steve was ten feet away from her.
Joe was dead.
She felt the tension in the air as his eyes locked with hers.
Joe was dead.
Steve was five feet away from her.
"I should've died, Cath…" His voice was low and hoarse.
He was getting closer and closer. Catherine could feel the heat from his body as he stood in front of her.
"I feel dead inside." His whisper drifted off into the night air. "I need to feel something."
Catherine was scared to touch him.
"I need to feel alive." He admitted as his eyes roamed her body.
Catherine was scared to touch him and feel a spark, because if she did, the whole world might burn. Her mind drifted back to when she was a little girl. A baby bird had fallen out of a tree in her backyard and she had run into the house to get her dad to help her put it back in the tree. Her dad had warned her not to touch it. His deep voice floated back into her mind, "Catherine, dear, there are some wild things that you just aren't supposed to touch."
Steve's hands slid onto her hips as he stood pressed against her body. "You make me feel alive." He whispered as fire shot through her body.
And then the world began to burn.
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Catherine woke up the next morning curled up in Steve's arms. She shivered as a cold breeze blew through the drafty house. Her eyes wandered across his scarred face. His untamed beard hid most of his wounds, but the sight of his raw state made her father's admonition creep back into her mind.
"Hey." His gruff voice startled her out of her thoughts.
"Hi." She replied softly.
Steve blinked and rubbed his eyes to rid them of sleep. Catherine immediately felt a chill wrap around her body and craved his warmth. "How long was I out?" He mumbled.
"All night." Catherine snuggled deeper into the blankets to keep the cold away.
Steve let out a scoffing laugh, "That's probably the best sleep i've had in a long time."
Catherine smiled kindly, "The, uh, 'workout' before you crashed probably helped."
"Cath, I'm sorry." He sighed. "I, uh… I shouldn't've come onto you like that."
She shook her head, "Don't be." She chewed on her lip for a moment before continuing, "I think we both needed to feel alive.
The warning resounded in her mind again, "Catherine, dear - there are some wild things that you just aren't supposed to touch." And then she remembered her childhood response, "But what if I'm wild too?"
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AUTHOR'S NOTE
SURPRISE! I know I said I wasn't writing today, but I managed to find the time and scrounge up a pretty good chapter for you lovely folks! I know I've left you all with a lot of cliff hangers, so I hope this chapter eased up some of those loose ends! I can't wait to see what you thought!
Thank you so much for taking your time to read each chapter and leave me feedback in the reviews! I love seeing your thoughts and comments and really take them all to heart when I write!
I hope that wherever you are in the world that you are safe and healthy and know that you are loved!
Have a wonderful week, loves!
XO,
-Mags-
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