THROWING DARTS
Based on the Hawaii Five-0 Series Finale Season 10 Episode 22: Aloha
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CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN
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IOLANI PALACE - AUGUST 12, 2020 - 1900 HOURS
Catherine froze in her steps as her eyes focused on the mugshot that was on the screen. Her hand gripped tightly around Steve's. She didn't even turn when Tani and Quinn walked into HQ and joined the growing group. "Oh my god." She whispered.
Steve looked down as he saw terror written all over her face. "Catherine… you know this guy?"
Catherine nodded and exhaled a shaky breath, "It's him."
The team exchanged a wide array of glances, but no one dared to speak. Steve turned to Catherine. His voice dropped into a low whisper. "Are you sure?" He silently studied her face. Catherine's usual glowing disposition had changed to one of a worn soldier.
Catherine nodded. "It's him."
"Okay." Steve nodded as he began formulating a plan.
Danny and Steve exchanged looks before Danny cleared his throat, "Cath, why don't you, uh, why don't you go sit and relax in my office.
Catherine shot Danny a look that told him if he tried to get her out of the room, she'd kill him. Danny put his hands up defensively and backed off.
"Alright, somebody's gotta fill the rest of us in. What are we missing?" Grover spoke up on behalf of the clueless bunch.
Catherine sighed and stepped up. "When Coen held me in the safehouse in Spain, Saritova was the first person who came into the rendition room. He didn't introduce himself, he didn't hurt me.. Nothing. He brought me a sandwich and a bottle of water, and once I had eaten, he took it away and I never saw him again."
"But you saw his face." Adam confirmed.
Catherine nodded. "He looked me in the eyes and basically signed my death certificate with a smile."
Steve paced a few feet away from the table. He was coming unraveled at how calm Catherine was in spite of their latest revelations. His mind was racing and there was only one thing that kept nagging at him, "Okay, but none of this is a coincidence, right? I mean, Coen didn't just have him at the house to be his butler. So why was he there?"
"The same reason he's here." Catherine looked over her shoulder at her worried husband. "For me." She stepped in front of the surface table and took charge, typing furiously. Steve stood behind her and watched as she logged into the CIA server.
Steve shook his head, "How do you still have access to that?"
Catherine grinned, "Doris. She, uh, she convinced an I.T. guy to create a fake agent profile and assign it a log-in so that if something were to ever happen to her like a suspension or termination, she'd still have access to the server." She smirked as she pulled up a case file, "And she happened to share that log-in with me."
Tani looked absolutely marveled. "You, uh, you wanna share that password with us?" She smiled.
"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." Catherine laughed. "Okay. Three years ago I was part of an assignment in Chechnya. Coen was my handler and Igor Basayev was our mark. Obviously, we never got him because Coen was dirty and was actually helping him out. BUT, what we didn't know is who Basayev was answering to." She opened a file of photos and watched as they splayed out across the screen. "These were the best shots we could get of the person Basayev was working for. He's good. He can spot a tail a mile away and always manages to evade security cameras." She pushed in on one frame that caught the side of the man's face and arranged it so that it was side by side with the photo from Interpol.
"That's our guy." Tani mumbled, confirming what everyone else was thinking.
Steve nodded, "So Gustav Bastyr, Andrew Coen, Igor Basayev - they were all working for this guy: Artem Saritova."
Catherine nodded. "Bastyr was found dead in the Vltava River in Prague the same night that I was abducted. That had to have been Saritova. If you guys hadn't've taken out Coen and Basayev when you raided the house, they would've been killed by their boss."
Danny cleared his throat, "It wasn't Coen going after the files that Doris left. It was Saritova."
Quinn nodded in agreement, "And now he's here to finish the job."
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Junior and Cole had returned from the field to help with the plan of attack. Quinn, Tani, and Adam were busy checking cameras for where Saritova might be. Catherine and Steve had taken up Danny on his offer to sit in his office, and that's where they were when Grover knocked on the glass door and let himself in. "Here y'go, hon." He mumbled as he handed Catherine a glass of water.
"Thanks, Lou." She smiled softly as she sipped the water and tried to calm her nerves. Steve sat on the couch beside her with his arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders and his hand resting on her belly.
Danny sighed as he leaned back in his desk chair, "I'm, uh, I'm just gonna go ahead and make the assumption that you're gonna want a vest and you're gonna want her far away, right?"
Steve nodded. "Yep."
Catherine made a disgusted face and looked between them, "You don't honestly think I'm gonna sit this one out, do you?"
"They don't make maternity kevlar for a reason." Steve joked in complete disbelief. How could she possibly think that going back in the field was a good idea?!
"Steve, he's my mark." She stated defiantly.
His eyes narrowed as he studied her face, "And you're retired."
"So are you." She cut back.
Danny waved his hand, "Alright, Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Look. Steve can go in with us, but Catherine, you're not even done with physical therapy. Even if I was okay with putting a pregnant lady in harm's way, you're not one-hundred percent. That's that."
Catherine scowled as Steve chuckled, "Didn't think I'd live to see the day when Danno pulled rank." He smirked.
"So, what? Am I just supposed to sit here all night?" Catherine's eyes darted between Steve, Danny, and Grover.
Steve shook his head, "No. The Palace has too many entry and exit points. Even if we all stayed here, we couldn't cover 'em all."
Grover nodded in agreement. "He's right. You should go stay at Tani or Quinn's. Don't go home. That's the first place I'd look if I were Saritova."
"Junior and Tani will stay with you at their place. The rest of us will play offense tonight." Steve stated as Danny and Grover agreed. He pulled a nine millimeter handgun from his waistband and handed it to her. "Don't miss."
"The fact that you question my accuracy is hurtful, Commander." She nudged him playfully as she remembered their time on Kaho'olawe. Catherine checked to see if there was a round in the chamber before stashing the firearm in her purse. "Why were you packing tonight?"
Steve shrugged, "I'm always packing." He chuckled.
A knock on the door alerted them to the more urgent matter at hand. Adam popped his head in, "We got eyes on Saritova. He's staying at the Royal Grove Hotel. Room 236."
Danny stood up and led them out of the office as the rest followed. He unlocked the weapons cage and tossed Steve a kevlar vest. "Good to have you back, Commander." He whistled sharply, "Quinn, Cole, Adam - tac up. You're going with me, Grover, and McGarrett. Junior, you and Tani get Catherine back to your place. Take Tani's car. Leave the Marquis here. If Saritova's done his homework, he knows it's Steve's."
Steve grinned like a kid in a candy store as he fastened the velcro of the bulletproof vest around his chest and grabbed his trusty AR-15 from the cage before strapping a side arm into his thigh strap. He walked over and pulled Catherine in for a kiss. "I love you."
Catherine looked up into his eyes and trailed her fingertips down his jaw line. "I love you too. Be safe." She kissed him once more. "Don't have too much fun without me!" She called back as Junior and Tani escorted her out of headquarters.
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ROYAL GROVE HOTEL - AUGUST 12, 2020 - 2100 HOURS
"What's the plan, McGarrett? This is your op - just tell us what you need, babe." Danny stated as the team gathered around the Camaro.
"Alright." Steve cleared his throat. "Cole, you're on me. Danny and Quinn, you take the south side, Grover and Adam, you're on the north. Let's go say hello."
The team dispersed and dipped into the shadows as they surrounded the building. Steve and Cole silently made their way up the fire escape and across the connecting balconies. Steve gripped the railing and flung his body across onto the middle balcony and stood to the side of the sliding door. He waited for Cole to cross over the railing before putting his hand on the sliding door and nodding a silent countdown.
THREE.
TWO.
ONE.
McGarrett and Cole snuck into the hotel room and flipped on the lights. Nothing. They cleared the bedroom and bathroom. The room was completely untouched. Lincoln's eyes darted across the neat space. "Did we get the wrong room number?"
Steve's blood turned to ice as he picked up a black and white photo from the nightstand. "He was here."
"What's that?" Cole stepped closer to see what was in Steve's hand.
"That's my girl." His finger brushed over the ultrasound photo. Catherine's name and due date were printed neatly on the top edge.
Something glinted in the corner of Lincoln's eye and his reflexes immediately went into overdrive. "GET DOWN!" He yelled as he tackled McGarrett. Lincoln was a second too late. The shot from the sniper's nest across the street had already been fired and cut through Steve's body. "MCGARRETT'S DOWN. I REPEAT. MCGARRETT'S DOWN. SNIPER ON THE ROOFTOP ACROSS THE STREET." He pulled himself off of Steve and ripped off his vest to see an oozing hole in his ribs. "PARAMEDICS. CALL IT IN." The sniper's bullet had expertly hit the gap in the sleeve of the kevlar vest.
Steve coughed as he tried to catch his breath, "Catherine."
Cole kept a steady pressure on the entry wound. "She's fine. She's with Reigns and Tani. They've got her. She's good." Steve tried to sit up, but Lincoln pushed him back down. "Not today, McGarrett. You don't have to try to be the hero. You got a baby girl comin' soon and she needs her daddy. Ambulance is almost here." Steve laid back on the floor and closed his eyes as he heard the dull sound of the paramedic's boots thundering through the hallway.
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REY-REIGNS HOUSE - AUGUST 12, 2020 - 2200 HOURS
"Hey, what's up?" Tani froze as Danny relayed what had happened at the hotel to her. She exchanged a nervous glance with Junior and motioned for him to follow her into the back room. She hung up her phone and began to pace back and forth. "Steve's been shot."
The color immediately drained out of Junior's face. "How bad is it?"
Tani shrugged, "They're on their way to Tripler. It was a through and through. He's stable, but he can't go back out and go after Saritova."
"So, do we tell her?" Junior rubbed his palms against his face.
"Tell her what?" Catherine appeared in the doorway, obvious to the tension in the room.
Tani took a deep breath and sighed, "Steve's been shot. He's stable. They're taking him to Tripler now."
Catherine was oddly calm as she looked between the two of them, "Well what are we still doing here?"
"Steve wants you to stay put." Tani stated matter-of-factly.
Catherine laughed sarcastically, "Ha! Like hell I am. Now either you can come with me or I'll just catch a cab."
"Catherine, it was a sniper's shot. If Saritova wanted him dead, he'd be dead. He's trying to draw you out and he knows the best way to do that is to take down Steve." Junior tried to reason with her, but even he knew that it was a lost cause.
"Then maybe it's about time I officially go introduce myself to Saritova." Catherine snapped as she headed for the door.
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TRIPLER ARMY MEDICAL CENTER - AUGUST 12, 2020 - 2300 HOURS
"Catherine, what are you doing here?!" Steve snapped as she barged in the room.
She laughed sarcastically, "What am I doing here? Steve, you got shot! That's what I'm doing here!"
"I get shot at all the time! Someone's bound to get lucky once in a while!" He snapped back at her. "It's not a big deal, but you leaving Tani's place when I specifically ordered you to stay put IS."
"EXCUSE ME? You ordered me? I am your wife, not your subordinate. You don't get to order me to do anything." Catherine yelled.
Catherine and Steve continued going at it, regardless of the fact that the entire Five-0 task force was also in the room. Quinn leaned over to Grover and whispered, "They are literally carbon copies of each other, aren't they."
Danny smirked, "You shoulda been here when Catherine got kidnapped. He went on a warpath."
"And that was just my first day." Grover chuckled.
Their attention was quickly diverted back to Steve and Catherine. "You are NOT going to be bait! Over my dead body!" He yelled.
"You know it's the best play. You're just too stubborn to admit it. Make Saritova come to us instead of trying to track him down." She hissed.
Steve shook his head, "You're not being reasonable, Cath."
"I'm not being reasonable?" She laughed, "Steve, you're in a hospital bed because you couldn't sit this one out. When you're around me you don't calculate with a clear mind. You're distracted and you worry about my safety instead of yours. You forget that I'm really fucking good at my job."
He shook his head and began to protest, "Catherine, I love you-"
"Not out there." She cut him off. "You know damn well that in the field you have to put your feelings aside and do the job. You know that out there feelings are a liability and that's why we both stepped back from our jobs."
Steve exhaled slowly. He knew that she was right. "Cath… That's not fair. You know I can't send you out into the field like this…."
She shook her head, "If I was Tani or Quinn you wouldn't think twice about this."
"I'm not in love with them. I'm in love with you. I'm not letting you put yourself in harm's way again!" He stated sincerely before glancing over at the peanut gallery, "No offense." He smirked.
Tani and Quinn burst into a fit of laughter and waved their hands dismissively. Once they had all calmed down, Catherine decided not to push the topic any further and sat on the edge of the hospital bed. "How bad is it?"
Steve shook his head. "Just barely hit my ribs. I'll be good as new in no time." He gave her a reassuring smile. "Nothing was hit. He must've been waiting for me to pick up the photo and took the only shot he could with the body armor I had on."
"Photo?" Catherine's brow furrowed, "What photo?"
"One of your ultrasound photos was on the nightstand in the hotel room. Your name and birthdate and doctor's name was printed on it and everything." Cole piped up.
Catherine shook her head as she dug around in her purse. "That's impossible. I have them all right here. The only one that's missing is the one you have in your wallet." Panic danced through her eyes as reality came crashing down on her. "The only other ones are in my chart...here at the hospital." Steve's gaze met hers as she uttered the two words that were on a flashing billboard in her mind. "He's here. He's been here before. He got into my records."
Quinn smiled as she looked around at her teammates. "I think I have an idea."
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TRIPLER ARMY MEDICAL CENTER, LABOR AND DELIVERY WARD - AUGUST 12, 2020 - 2400 HOURS
Tani was busy helping Catherine tie the hospital gown as Quinn quickly walked back in the room. "Alright. They've cleared this wing for us. Catherine, you'll be in the bed. Steve you're in the chair beside her." She tossed Tani a pair of scrubs. "Tani, today you're a nurse. Scrub up. Cole and Junior are gonna be hiding in the bathroom. Danny and Grover are in the waiting room. Adam's in the lobby. This is the only delivery room without windows, so he's either coming in through the door or the air vent." She cracked a smile. "God, I hope he comes in through the air vent. That'd be fun."
"You got it, doc!" Tani joked as she pulled the blue scrubs on over her kevlar.
The team members settled into their positions. Steve winced as he sat down in the chair beside the hospital bed. "You okay, Sailor?" Catherine asked as she adjusted the bulletproof vest that was hidden under her hospital gown.
Steve nodded. "I'm good." He forced a nervous smile, "Just thinking that the next time we'll be in here is when Shelby's being born."
Cole, Junior, Tani, and Quinn all exchanged a hidden smile, "Shelby?" Junior finally asked.
Steve grinned, "I, uh, I guess I forgot to tell you guys… We picked out a name. Shelby Jo."
"Awww! I love it!" Tani exclaimed as Catherine beamed with pride.
Catherine laughed, "Hopefully when I'm actually in labor, there won't be so many people in here… or this many bulletproof vests."
Everyone settled into a comfortable silence and waited as the minutes ticked by. "Are we even sure he's gonna show tonight?" Tani asked.
Catherine nodded. "He'll show. Saritova never stays anywhere for long and he's already shown his hand. He's not sticking around and risking getting caught."
Quinn nodded in agreement. "My guess is that he hacked into the hospital's patient files and printed out the ultrasound photo from your chart himself. Working off that theory, I had one of the nurses admit you to the hospital in their computer system, saying that you were in premature labor, which would be reasonable considering your husband just got shot and it stressed you out. So, if everything goes as planned, Saritova will know exactly where to find you."
"And theoretically this should, uh, be the easiest take-down ever." Steve added in. "Which is good, because I'm pretty sure I shouldn't be in close quarter combat after being stitched up an hour ago." He chuckled.
Adam's voice came crackling over their comms, "I've got eyes on our target. Just walked in the main entrance."
Tani and Quinn looked at each other. "It's go time."
Steve turned his back to the door and held Catherine's hand. Tani hovered at Catherine's side as if she were an attentive nurse. Quinn slipped the white coat over her shoulders and sat down on a stool at the end of the bed.
"Man, if we're here waitin' on this baby to be born any longer, I'ma need some coffee." Lou grumbled over their comms.
Everyone in the room held their breath. That was Grover's signal that Saritova passed by the waiting room. Electricity and nerves pulsed through the air as they heard footsteps carrying down the empty corridor.
"Catherine Rollins." A heavy Chechen accent mixed with a sickeningly pleasant tone drifted into the room as the door creaked open. "I hear you're in labor. Congratulations." Saritova's twisted smile never wavered, much like the gun he had trained on her. "Agent Coen always told me how smart you are, so I assume you know how this will end for everyone in the room if you don't give me exactly what I want this instant."
Catherine laughed quietly, "You'd have to be crazy to think that I'm just going to hand over the files without a fight."
Artem Saritova chuckled darkly, "Some of us are a little closer to a straight jacket than we'd like to admit."
Catherine nodded. "Probably. But your five minutes are up. And like I told Basayev. It's McGarrett."
Saritova's index finger flinched over the trigger as Junior and Cole came barrelling out of the bathroom towards him. He was fast, but Catherine was faster.
Two shots left the barrel of the gun that she had been holding under the bed sheet, and just like that, Artem Saritova crumpled to the ground.
"CATHERINE!" Steve jumped up from his seat beside the bed as Saritova's bullet slammed into her chest. Catherine's body hit the bed as the force from the gunshot knocked her back. She gasped for air as Steve ripped the hospital gown in two in order to get to her.
She took a deep breath and tugged at the bulletproof vest. "Hit the kevlar." She choked out as she tried to get oxygen to return to her lungs, "I'm good." She tugged the bullet that had buried itself in her vest out and dropped it in Steve's hand. "Don't lose that. It's evidence." She laughed as the rest of the team followed by HPD flooded into the room.
Quinn looked in awe of the woman that sat in the bed. Steve rested his forehead on Catherine's as he whispered reassuring words to her,his hand resting securely on her belly.
"Alright, McGarretts. Let's get you home." Danny tossed his keys to Steve. "I'm assuming you'll wanna drive." He chuckled.
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