Pehea wau i ʻike ai i kou makuahine
Based on the characters and stories of Hawaii Five-0.
Hawaii Five-0 is owned by CBS and their respective creators.
Journal #14
Bitterroot Valley, Montana
Thirty days. It's been thirty days since Joe died. Three weeks since I showed up with Thomsen. Steve is starting to crack. I think we both are. I can feel it.
I think we've hit a wall with Thomsen. There's only so many times that you can bring a man to the edge of death and let him hang there before he realizes that you're not going to kill him. Sure, he'll suffer, but as long as he keeps his mouth shut, we have no choice but to keep him alive.
The longer we stay out here with Thomsen, the longer Greer and Hassan have to disappear. Thirty days is too long. I've been looking into Hassan and Greer outside of the breadcrumbs Thomsen has dropped, but between rendition with Steve and trying to keep up with the team in Saudi Arabia, I'm running on very little sleep and very little patience.
Steve and I have been getting along fine. I think the last week has really gotten to us. It's like we've both locked our feelings for each other away and just need to get the motherfucking job done.
"Get in the house." Steve barked. One of the trail cameras that surveilled the ranch had sent an alert to his phone when a vehicle had crossed the property line. He shoved Catherine towards the barn door. They had been working together to put Thomsen through a little good, old fashioned waterboarding, hoping that he would finally give up some useful intel when the alert came through. "Grab something from the armory and take overwatch."
"Yes, Sir" Escaped her mouth before she could stop it. She didn't care. It was the core of who she was. Catherine was an officer. An agent. She knew when to fall in line and take orders without question. Her waterlogged shoes squished and squeaked as she sprinted into the house and scurried up to the front window.
There was a good chance that it was just one of the neighboring farmers cutting through the fields. Then again, he wasn't too keen on taking chances these days. Steve took the metal pail out to the water trough and filled it for Thomsen's next round of questioning.
Tires crunched through the field sending a rush of adrenaline through his system. He knelt down behind the trough and pulled his pistol out of the leather holster. He wouldn't need it. Catherine would have made it up to the second floor already and with her nimble fingers making quick work of assembling a rifle, she'd be ready to take out whoever had the nerve to show up.
Danny.
Danny Williams had the nerve to show up. After Danny had admitted to giving Catherine an ultimatum, Steve knew there was the possibility she'd shoot just close enough to scare him just to get even.
"'Ay." Steve grunted as he stood up from the water trough.
Danny sauntered towards him as he took in Steve's condition. "Hay is, uh, for horses…" He joked dryly, motioning to the thoroughbreds in the pasture.
"You didn't need to come out here." Steve replied grimly.
Danny smiled in disbelief. "Oh, no. No, I did, you see? Because, uh, that's what family does."
Steve was growing irritated at their conversation. He thought back to the pile of bloody pulp sitting in a chair in a barn just a few yards away. He needed to resume rendition. "That's, uh, that's some real wisdom, Danny."
"Well, I got that from you, you know? When my brother died you wouldn't leave me alone… Big pain in the ass...so…" Danny's voice trailed off as he sensed Steve's indignation.
Steve sighed. He knew he was being an ass. "Well, I'm glad to see you." He reached out and pulled his partner in for a hug.
"So." Danny said as he patted him on the back, "It's been a, uh, month. You ready to come home now, or what?" Danny's inquiry was interrupted by the creaking of the barn door, "Aha." He muttered sarcastically.
Catherine stepped out onto the porch and waved at Danny. "Hey." She called out.
Steve turned to go back into the barn with Danny on his heels. "Hey, I, uh, you know, I didn't mean to interrupt."
Catherine paused for a moment as she leaned against one of the posts on the porch and crossed her arms. "What exactly did you, uh, think you were interrupting?" She watched as Steve walked past her as Danny stopped beside her.
"Oh, I don't know. The, uh, the grieving process?" Danny joked with his signature dry humor.
Steve's eyes were set on the barn door, "That's not what this is." He pulled the creaky door open and stepped inside the barn. Catherine gave Danny a sharp look of warning, but didn't deter him from following them inside.
Danny paused as he stepped foot in the drafty room. He wasn't quite sure if the thing tied to the chair was a person or not, but given Steve's demeanor, he guessed 'it' was still alive. Danny tried to hide his obvious discomfort as he joked, "Well, I liked it better when I thought you two were playing house." He watched as the man in the chair slowly cut his eyes over to assess whether or not he was going to be an accomplice in his torture. "Who's that?"
"This is Gregers Thomsen. He's Omar Hassan's lawyer." Catherine said without any apparent signs of disgust regarding the man's condition.
Danny narrowed his eyes as Thomsen. "Huh. If you say so, I mean, it looks to me like his own mother couldn't recognize him."
Steve's voice was gruff as he turned from the work table where he had laid out an assortment of tools. "It was Greer who gave up the names of the SEALs on the mission that killed Hassan's father in '02." He tossed a knife down on the bench before picking up another tool to clean it of the blood that was no doubt Thomsen's. "But it was Gregers here, who executed Hassan's plan. Isn't that right, Gregers?"
The look on Danny's face of horror and confusion remained unchanged as Catherine began to explain while Steve turned to fiddle with the car battery sitting on the table behind Thomsen. "He hired the hitters who murdered the team… Including Joe."
"You're just in time, Danny." While Steve's voice was hoarse, there was something chilling about his calm demeanor. "Gregers, was, uh, just about to tell us Hassan's location." He patted the bloodied man on the shoulder, no doubt causing extreme pain given his current condition. "Isn't that right?"
Danny watched as Thomsen spit blood from his mouth and cringed in disgust, "Yeah, doesn't.. Doesn't seem to me like he's gonna talk."
A twisted smile flickered on Steve's face. His voice was almost encouraging. That's what made it all the more scary. "That's okay." He coaxed as he hovered over Thomsen. "I'm not done with him yet." He drew a dagger from his belt and enjoyed the sight of Thomsen shifting in fear. Steve glanced over to them. "Catherine." He didn't say anything beside her name. He was giving orders. Catherine knew what her place was in all this. She motioned for Danny to leave the barn, and thankfully, he didn't protest. Catherine closed the door behind her and led the detective into the house.
"You, uh, you want a beer or something? Water?" Catherine offered.
Danny nodded. "Beer. A beer would be good." He admitted as he followed her into the kitchen and sat down at the table.
Catherine pulled out two bottles from the fridge and popped the tops off, handing him one. "Cheers." She mumbled as she sat down across the table from him.
Danny stared into the glass bottle but didn't take a sip. "Why you?" His eyes cut over to her. "Why'd he call you and not me?"
"Danny…" Catherine began.
"No." Danny snapped. "Why'd he call you? Huh? Did you convince him to take you back? Did you prey on his grief? Is that it? Because YOU walked out on him, leaving US to clean up your mess -so, so why the hell did he call you instead of the people who actually care about him?"
Catherine's soft demeanor turned stern. "Steve knew Thomsen was in Europe and needed help finding him and backchanneling him into the States." She stated as if she was debriefing her CIA team. She wasn't the kindhearted, playful Catherine that his best friend had fallen head over heels for - she was a government operative. "He asked me to stay to help question him."
Danny pointed to the open bedroom door, "Oh, so if this is just business then why are you two shacking up? Huh?" He chided with a sarcastic laugh.
"Steve and I are grown adults and that's not your concern." Catherine answered coldly.
Danny's knuckles were white from gripping the bottle so hard, "It is my concern when you're just gonna disappear again, leaving him to exist as a shell of a man… You can't keep doing this. You can't keep popping in and out of his life whenever you need a favor!"
Catherine took a long drink from her bottle of beer. "You wanna know the reason he didn't want you here?" She paused to let him hear the blood-curdling screams coming from the barn. "That's why."
Danny cringed as he shook his head, "How long… how long has, uh… How long has he been treatin' this place like it's Guantanamo?"
"Three weeks." She stated. "I brought Thomsen in a week after it happened. We let him sit for a few days before we began working."
Danny laughed in disbelief, "Working?" He shook his head, "You say these things like this is normal behavior! This isn't normal, Catherine! This is repulsive!"
"This is justice!" She shouted. "Sometimes justice is repulsive! Steve and I… the things we've done in our lives are the dirty, little secrets of the U.S. government." Catherine had never once raised her voice with Danny, but he was obviously oblivious to the bigger picture. "And it's fucking twisted. And it's disgusting. But it's what we do." She set her beer aside, folded her hands together, and leaned her elbows on the table. "You didn't know Steve when he was in the SEALs." Her words were like ice. "Your idea of what he did is what you see in movies or the little shreds of unorthodox combat you have with Five-0. This is not a game." Her jaw clenched, "He told me you saw his name on a classified file named 'Operation Strawberry Fields', but do you know what that op was?" She paused as Danny looked down and sighed before looking back at her, "S.F. is in Guantanamo Bay." She stated. "You people throw around 'Guantanamo' like it's a joke, but the horror of it, is that it's very real, and frankly, Strawberry Fields makes Guantanamo look like a fucking cake walk."
"So, what. You're saying he interrogated prisoners at Guantanamo?" Danny questioned.
Catherine shook her head and sighed. "The only reason I'm gonna tell you this is because I trust you. You don't like me right now, and I get that, but someday you're gonna have to learn to trust me too." Her eyebrows raised, waiting for Danny to acknowledge her statement. Once he nodded, she continued. "Strawberry Fields was a separate detention center built near GITMO. It housed high-value targets under CIA custody." She cleared her throat, "These were ghost detainees, Danny. There was no record of who came into their custody. The methods of acquiring information were a hundred times worse than the waterboarding scandals at Guantanamo."
"And you're saying Steve did that?" Danny asked.
Catherine nodded.
Danny shook his head, "I don't get it… If Strawberry Fields was under CIA jurisdiction, how'd he end up...uh… interrogating prisoners there?"
She sighed, "When you have certain affinities in the military you can….."
"I know, I know." Danny interrupted. "He worked 'the other side'.. He was a sniper, I know that."
Catherine rolled her eyes but didn't bother to correct him, "Guantanamo Bay prison is part of Camp Delta which is under the Navy, so when Steve's SEAL team would bring in the targets that they had acquired, they would already be shaking in their boots and no one could figure out why... You have to understand, these men were bred to be terrorists since they were in diapers. They were more than willing to die for their cause. No one could understand why they were so scared of one Navy SEAL." She glanced over her shoulder as another round of screams echoed through the valley. "Steve had a way of getting in their heads… a, uh, "gift" as the folks there used to call it… He was somewhat legendary to the people who were stationed at Gitmo and Strawberry Fields, so whenever they had a detainee that was particularly… stubborn… Steve would get sent to Cuba to retrieve whatever intelligence they needed. He was always successful."
Danny sat in silence as the realization that his best friend was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde set in.
"Danny, this is war." Her voice had softened into its typical kind tone, "It's messy, and it's gruesome, and the memories of what you've done in the name of God and Country haunt you."
Danny sipped his beer, "Are you… are you, uh, speaking from personal experience?"
Catherine nodded. Before she could say anything else, Steve swung the door open and trudged through the house, back to the bedroom. "You're up." He muttered as he passed Catherine and entered the bedroom.
Catherine looked over at Danny. He watched as her demeanor shifted from one that had just been having a heartfelt conversation with a friend to one that could kill. "Be back in a bit." She said as she walked out the door towards the barn.
Danny slid back from the kitchen table and walked into the bedroom to find Steve opening a bottle of pills, pulling one out, and tossing it back into his mouth. "Headache from all the screaming that guy's been doing?" He joked.
"Not exactly." Steve mumbled as he stepped into the bathroom to wash his hands and face.
Danny picked up the pill bottle he had left on the bed. "Peroxetine?" He held it up as Steve exited the bathroom. "You, uh, you sick or something? What is this?"
"It's for PTSD." He grumbled as he snatched the bottle out of Danny's hand and threw it back in the bag. "I've been on it for years. Nothing new." He explained, trying to put his friend's mind at ease.
"You never told me about it…" Danny said as he crossed his arms and followed Steve into the living room.
Steve sighed as he sat down on the couch, "Yeah, well, not something I really like to talk about."
Danny sat down in the chair across from him. "Okay." He nodded. They sat in silence before screams filled the property again. They were quickly followed by pleads to make the pain stop. Danny swallowed and grimaced at the sound. He glanced over to Steve, to find him stretched out on the couch with his eyes closed. "Seriously? You're gonna take a combat nap while your girlfriend tortures some guy?!"
Steve's eyes blinked open and cut across the room to him, "Yes, Danny."
"And you're okay with that?" He asked in disgust.
Steve groaned in annoyance and sat up, "It's her job."
Danny rolled his eyes, "She was a Naval intelligence officer… Catherine, she, uh, she sat behind a computer. She did not torture people in Guantanamo because she had a 'gift'!" He shouted.
Steve ignored the fact that Danny and Catherine had obviously discussed the details of his previous life. "She's a CIA agent and she's good at her job. The details of what I've done in my life or what she does now are none of your business."
Danny shook his head in disgust, "I can't tell if you two are a match made in heaven or a bond forged in the fires of hell."
Steve watched through the window as Catherine exited the barn. "Neither can I…" He mumbled.
Catherine stepped into the house. Her shirt was stained with blood and she was drenched in sweat. "He's asking for you." She stated as if she were giving an update to her commanding officer. Steve nodded and hopped off the couch. He left the house and walked into the barn without another word. Catherine looked at Danny and motioned back to the bathroom, "I'm gonna clean up real quick." The way she said it made it seem like she had just been outside gardening and had gotten a little dirt on her pants; not that she was covered in someone else's blood and had no doubt brought them within an inch of their life.
The screams and cries for mercy that had been ringing through the mountains for the last few hours had finally stopped. Danny wasn't sure whether it was because Thomsen was dead or because Steve had finally gotten the information he wanted. He got up and walked outside, taking a seat on top of a picnic table outside the barn. If what was happening wasn't so damn horrifying, he thought it'd be the perfect place to relax.
Catherine stepped out of the house in a pair of clean clothes and joined him at the table. "Has he come back out yet?"
Danny shook his head, "No. But it's been pretty quiet for a minute or two."
"Look, uh.. What we talked about earlier…" She hesitated.
"I won't bring it up." Danny promised. "Steve, uh… Steve told me you're, uh, you're good at your job." He pointed at the barn door.
Catherine chewed on her lip. "Not really sure if that should be taken as a compliment." She admitted.
Danny shrugged, "I know we've got a ways to go, you and I… But, uh.. But I'm glad you're here for him.." He sighed, "I've been here like five minutes and I think I'm gonna have nightmares. I just don't get it, you see, because a while back we worked this case, and uh, Steve, he, got called up to go talk to a prisoner at Guantanamo, Naser Salaam… He uh, he tipped us off about a terrorist attack on O'ahu. He passed the information along to Steve because he had been kind to him, you know, feeding him, giving him water, letting him use a prayer mat… that sort of thing when he was supposed to be interrogating him…" Danny sighed, "Steve told me that he just felt the need to treat him like a human being, you know, because they were both men. He and Naser… He said that they both came into this world the same way and in us-versus-them situations like that, how it's easy to forget that. That Steve, or I, or you could've very easily been born in a place where you're bred to hate a whole group of people from the day you take your first breath. The roles could've so easily been reversed." He rubbed his face with the palms of his hands. "I just.. I don't get how the same person can be both ways. "
Catherine cracked a smile, "You know you mean the world to Steve. He really didn't want you to have to see this side of him. That's why he called me and not you. I've seen this before. I've done this before." She reached out and squeezed Danny's hand. "He's still gentle and honest and kind…. The guy you know in Hawaii? He's still in there too." She retracted her hand and crossed her arms as a gust of wind blew across the field. "We, uh… in this line of work we're taught very quickly how to compartmentalize and cope with the things we've done." She looked over at the door as she heard the sounds of Steve packing up his tools. "I was with him when he started coming to terms with what he did for a living and it wasn't pretty. I hate to break it to you, but he is both guys. I've known that for a long time. He knows that. He just didn't want you all to look at him differently. Steve needs you to look at him normally and to joke with him, and treat him like you always have."
Danny nodded. They sat in silence until the barn door creaked open and Steve walked out with a pail of water. "You, uh… you done? With that? Because uh, taking in this fresh mountain air is a little difficult with the screaming and crying."
Steve washed the blood off of his hands and stood up, turning to face them, "Hassan's in Vientiane, Laos." The look he leveled Catherine told him that their work had been a success.
"Nice, uh, nice work. So y-you just tell somebody at the CIA, and then, then they do what they gotta do, and problem solved. Right?" Danny rambled.
Catherine looked up and shook her head at him.
Danny groaned, "Oh, what? What...are you- you wanna go to Laos? We- you want me to go to Laos? Is that what that is?"
"We are going to Laos." Catherine confirmed.
Journal #15
Vientiane, Laos
If Harry Langford ever leaves the clandestine community, he has a very promising future as a personal shopper. Yes, I'm keeping the dress.
Caroline would be proud of my networking skills. It's always good to have an MI6 agent in your professional circles. I don't even want to think about what happens when we're done here, but I know it's coming.
I still have the ring. It's stupid and childish, I know, but I couldn't get rid of it and Harry didn't ask for it back. Those damn butterflies just about killed me when I heard Steve mumble "I do". Just one more reminder of everything I'll never have.
The rest of the team is celebrating with drinks in the living room, but I told them I needed to catch up on some Agency stuff. Not totally a lie, I just didn't feel like celebrating. I should be happy. We got Hassan, the rest of the team will stay here for a few days to make sure the custody exchange goes off without a hitch while Steve and I cross the border into China to hunt down Greer.
We got her general location. Well, Steve beat her general location out of Hassan. But without a little more intel, it's a needle in a haystack situation.
"Hey, you." Catherine leaned back against the headboard, propping her elbow up on the wood slats as she pressed the phone to her ear and closed her eyes, "Sorry to wake you up but I could use some help."
Jude groaned, "Whatcha need, Princess? Everything alright?"
She sighed, "I'm hitting a dead end with hunting down Greer… We've narrowed it down to China. Fujian Province. But that's-"
"Too broad of an area to cover in person without being made."
"Exactly." She rubbed the tiredness from her eyes. "And I just needed to talk to you. How are you?"
"Tired." He cleared his throat, "You sure you're okay, Princess? You sound like you did when you came back from Morocco."
Catherine looked through the half closed door to where Steve was brooding while the rest of the team played a rousing game of baccarat. "It's been a lot... Been a long month."
Understatement of the century.
She could hear Jude shuffling around and booting up his laptop, "Well, let's find that bitch and then get some sleep."
For a while, they worked in silence. Just the simple reassurance that the other person was still on the line was enough.
"Hey, Jude?"
He chuckled at the Beatles reference, "Whatcha got for me?"
"Greer wasn't part of the Pacific Rim operations until we took over the Saudi op, right? We got put on it because she was getting moved."
"Yeah?"
Catherine chewed on her lip. There was something that just didn't quite add up. "So how'd she get to China so fast? I mean, she would've had to have been there within the last couple years to have a contingency plan in place if this ever happened."
Jude groaned, "I mean, didn't Charming say she was working for the Chinese MSS? They probably squirreled her away somewhere."
"No." Catherine shook her head, "She's a high ranking American intelligence operative- they're not going to risk going to war over her. They'd cut her loose as soon as she became a liability."
He sighed, "So she's in China hiding out from both the U.S. and the Chinese. If she's had years to plan her emergency protocols we're not gonna find her."
"What if we've already seen her?" A knowing smile curled up on her lips as the puzzle pieces began to click. "Hear me out. Occam's razor: when you hear hoofbeats-"
"Think horses, not zebras." He finished.
Catherine's fingers flew across the keys, "Do you believe in coincidences?"
Jude chuckled, "About as much as I believe in Santa Claus and the tooth fairy."
"Then what are the odds that when I first joined the house in Kabul, I saw her in the background of The Amazing Race when we were playing Spot the Operative during team bonding night?"
"That episode was filmed in China." There was a renewed sense of energy in his voice as he caught on to her train of thought. "Shit, Catherine- you're a fucking genius. I'll pull the show footage, you tap into local cameras?"
"Copy that." She grinned. They worked quietly. Jude occasionally giving her local landmarks that Greer passed and Catherine zeroing in. Finally, she said those three words they had been waiting to hear. "I found her."
Catherine sent him a copy of the footage from the local surveillance cameras and waited for his confirmation. "It has to be her." He agreed. "She passes through on a regular schedule. Always wearing a mask to cover her face. The way she moves- it's cautious and trained. That's not how a local walks when they're going out. That's an operative trying not to get made."
"Holy shit, Jude." She laughed, "We fucking got her."
"You found Greer?"
Catherine looked up and saw Steve standing in the doorway. His jaw was tense and the grip he had on the door handle looked so tight that she thought he might just crush it in his hand. She nodded, "Yeah." A faint smile of victory flickered at the corner of her mouth as she breathed a sigh of relief, "We got her."
Steve looked as though he didn't know quite how to process the positive ID.
"Give me access to the cameras closest to her cottage and I'll be your eyes as soon as you're on the ground." Jude said.
"Copy that." Catherine pinched the phone between her ear and her shoulder and worked quickly to send him the codes, "We're flying to Taiwan first thing in the morning and then taking a local fishing boat to the mainland."
Jude hesitated, "Are you going to fulfill the kill or the capture part of the order?"
Catherine looked up at Steve, "I don't know. We'll prepare for all outcomes."
"Copy that. Stay safe, Princess."
"See you soon." She hung up her phone and patted the empty side of the bed, urging Steve to join her. "Hey, Sailor."
Steve sat down on the edge of the bed and looked over at her screen, "It's, uh, it's really her."
Catherine nodded.
"Look, Cath. There's… there's something else." Steve had already admitted to hooking up with Greer, but the other half of the story had been eating away at him. He scrubbed his face with his hands and stared into the bedding, "Back, uh… back when you were in Kabul… Your third tour, I think. When Billy and I came in hot during that ambush outside the base-"
"The time you bit my head off during debrief and Billy had to step in?"
A flush of embarrassment painted his face, "Yeah… then."
"I remember."
Steve continued, "We broke up after that. I called you from Camp Delta and ended things."
"Yeah?"
He stared down at his hands, "Greer was the one who sent you that text. The one where I said we needed to talk. A, uh, a bunch of us- we all went out and got drunk and Greer convinced me it was in both of our best interests that I… that I end it with you. She sent that text and then told me I had. And, uh… and I was too plastered to realize what she had done and just went with it and, uh, and called you."
Catherine could see the guilt written all over his face. He had been carrying that burden for decades, "Why didn't you just call me the next day and tell me? I would've understood."
"I, uh, I didn't want you to think I had cheated on you." He confessed. "I messed up a lot… with us… but I never… I would never…"
She reached over and placed her hand on top of his and gave it a reassuring squeeze, "I know." Catherine shook her head, "Why have you been holding on to this for so long?"
"Pride." He admitted. "Guilt too. A little of both, I guess. I just never forgave myself for it."
Catherine thought back to what Doris had told her about a short memory being a necessity in life. Already forgotten, she decided. She laughed quietly, "You know, if we're sharing things we hate about Greer before we go hunt her down, then I think mine tops yours."
His eyebrows raised in curiosity, "What'd she do to you? Besides getting into your, uh, your head at the Pentagon."
"She's the one who flagged me when I got caught in Afghanistan. She was the one behind the blackmail."
Steve balled his hand into a fist, "When did you find out?" He hissed.
Catherine leaned back on the headboard and sighed, "Recently. When my team was at Langley getting briefed for our last assignment."
He had never been at such a complete loss. For decades, this woman had systematically ripped his life apart. What kind of sociopath does that?
"Steve, you should know- the CIA has a kill or capture order on her head."
He nodded in contemplative silence. "I, uh, I guess we'll see what happens." For a while, they sat side by side and didn't say a word. Eventually, Steve got up and closed the door. Catherine closed her laptop and stowed it in her bag. "Cath, you, uh… You looked nice the other night. In that dress. I shoulda told you earlier, but you looked beautiful. Always do."
She blushed softly as she pulled the covers back, "I know everyone's right out there, but… You could stay. Sleep in here if you want to."
Steve paused. It was gonna hurt like hell and he knew it. "I'll stay."
Journal #14
Vientiane, Laos
Sienna Greer will pay.
For what she did to Steve.
For what she did to Jude's friend.
For what she did to Joe and the Marrakesh team.
For what she did to my country.
For what she did to me.
Justice will be served.
The flight to Taiwan. The boat ride to mainland China. The ride to the little town where Greer had holed up. Steve and Catherine rarely spoke a word.
The tension was evident and the mission was clear.
End her.
Catherine waited outside the stairwell. Her fingers buzzed with electricity. Her hands ached to be put to use. She watched as Greer walked in the front door of the cottage and held her breath. Ten seconds later, Steve approached the house and went inside.
Sienna Greer sucked in a sharp breath as Steve walked into the kitchen. His languid steps showed no nerves, no anxiety. Today, he'd look the devil in the eye. "It's good to see you're hydrating." He nodded towards the jug of drinkable water she had carried in. That smooth, calm voice of his- Catherine knew it well. She had been listening to it for the last month as he tortured the information he wanted out of Thomsen. "This, uh, this heat. It really takes it out of you, huh?"
Greer made a swift move for the handgun stashed in the waistband of her pants. Not today, Satan. "I wouldn't do that." Catherine snapped, stepping out onto the landing.
Slowly, she turned her head and glared at Catherine, "Finally. We're all back together again."
"Mmm. Yeah." Catherine soothed, "But not for long."
"And after all the good advice I gave you."
"Why don't you explain something to me." Steve began, "Help me understand. You turn against your country. You give up the names of men and women that you've served with, knowing full well they would die. What amount of money could have possibly made that worth it?"
The wheels began to church in Greer's mind. "Maybe it wasn't just about the money, Steve." She was the opportunist. She was the outcome engineer. If she could just keep him talking long enough, she'd be able to take them both out. "Maybe… there were other factors..."
Steve saw her index finger flinch. "Don't do it."
Catherine didn't hesitate a damn second. She squeezed off a round before Greer could even aim. She was done listening to the bullshit spew out of that woman's mouth. One shot. Center mass. One shot and Greer was dead before she hit the ground. Today, justice came in the form of a nine millimeter jacketed hollow point bullet.
And it felt good.
Steve dropped to one knee and stared at the body. Catherine leaned on the railing of the stairs and gave him a quiet moment. He wasn't grieving her death. She didn't deserve that. He was grieving all the damage that she had done. The lives that had been lost. He heard Catherine step outside and make a call.
A minute later, she walked back inside and snapped a photo of Greer's body. Her phone clicked as she took another photo of Greer's gun in her hand. As if she were handling a putrid corpse, Catherine used the toe of her boot to roll Greer onto her back. One last photo of her face to confirm the kill.
"We need to go." She urged him. "There's a team in the area that's gonna come collect the body. We can't be here."
"Wha? What are you talking about?" Steve shook his head. He didn't quite understand.
It was a good thing Catherine hadn't hesitated to pull the trigger. Greer would have kept feeding him lines until he was back in her web. "Steve, I can't be here. I'm not supposed to be in this country. The CIA doesn't know I'm not on my op in Saudi Arabia."
"Alright, uh… Let's… Let's go, then."
Journal #14
China
This is it.
We completed the mission. I should feel great. I should feel like popping a fucking bottle of champage, but I don't.
Steve and I are going to say goodbye and it's going to kill me all over again. I know what I'm facing when I go back to work. They're not going to see me as the woman who killed a traitor. They're going to see me as the agent who went AWOL and abandoned her mission. And I'm going to have to pay for that.
The rest of the team is flying into Taiwan today and then we'll fly back to Montana. After that for me? Back to the Sandbox and then who knows after that. Hopefully, I'll stay out of the brig.
I don't even care what the CIA has to say about all this. About the choice I made or what I did. I'd do it again a hundred times over. That's what we do for the ones we love.
Steve stood on the edge of the private airstrip in Taiwan as he and Catherine waited for Danny, Junior, and Gutch to arrive. Catherine had saved his life… again. He was a damn good shot. An expert sniper. A Navy SEAL. And he couldn't pull the trigger on Greer.
But Catherine had. She'd been watching his six as usual. Reliable like the morning sun.
Catherine stood beside him, bag in hand. She would never be able to forget Steve McGarrett. Montana was permanently etched in her soul. She would turn into a blubbering mess every time she smelled hay and sunshine.
Memories of Steve McGarrett would haunt her forever.
"Thanks… for, uh, for everything." He muttered as he scuffed the toe of his boot against the asphalt.
The corner of her mouth quivered and she wanted to kick herself for it. If he wanted to do this the stone cold, emotionless way, who was she to make a scene?
Oh, fuck it all.
"Damn it, Steve!" She exclaimed as tears welled up in her eyes, "Ask me to stay!" She ran a hand back through her hair and grimaced. "Just fucking ask."
The tic in his jaw flared at her demand. "I can't do that, Cath." He stared daggers into the leather point of his boots.
"Just ask." She pleaded. No matter how much she tried to hold them back, the tears ran down her cheeks.
"You know why I can't." He snapped as he turned and hovered over her. "You have to go back. You have a job to do. A life that doesn't include me. I can't ask you to stay."
She hated herself for begging. Hated herself for wanting him to offer a solution, "Please, Steve… Just ask." She sobbed.
One strong arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her against him. The other hand cradled her cheek, his fingers tangling in her hair, holding her forehead against his. Steve kissed her. Deep and passionate and wanton. "Stay." He whispered. "Just fucking stay."
It was all she needed to hear. Once upon a time, she had told him that she had to go where she was needed. Now, she just needed to be wanted. "I have to go." She whimpered.
"I know." His calloused thumb stroked her cheek. Steve pulled her in for another long kiss. "I know you have to go, but that doesn't change how much I want you to stay."
Catherine rested her forehead on his shoulder as he wrapped her in his arms. "My contract will be up soon."
He tucked his head down against hers and kissed her temple, "Will you come back? When you're done?"
She nodded. "Tell me you want me to stay… then. And I'll stay."
Tears pricked at the back of his eyes, but he held them back, "We don't make promises we can't keep, remember?" He choked out.
Catherine nudged his head back and looked up at him, "If you still want me… I promise you. I promise I'll be there."
"I've never not wanted you."
She rested against his chest and wiped at her tear stained cheeks, "February 1st, 2020. I'll stay.
"Meet me at our spot on Magic Island at sunset." He decided.
Catherine reached up and pressed her hand against his cheek, "Don't waste your life, okay? Go out on dates. See what's out there. Just go with it. But when I'm out, the next time you see me- I'll be there waiting. And if you want me to stay then, I'll stay." On a whim, Steve dipped her backwards and kissed her hard on the mouth. As he brought her back up, she giggled, "What was that for, Sailor?"
He shrugged and offered a dopey, lopsided smirk, "Life? Love?" He kissed her again and whispered against her lips, "Just go with it."
Journal #14
En Route from Montana to Saudi Arabia
Until next time, I told him.
Next time.
Thirteen months. Twelve until I'm out. Thirteen until I'm with him.
I can't believe it's over. I can't believe Joe's gone. And what Steve told me on the tarmac in Montana? About Joe bringing me into his life? Steve asking me out because of a promise he made? I'll never forget that. I'll never forget Joe.
The time at the bar in Coronado when Steve threw darts to get my number. When Joe gave Steve his official code name. When I called Joe from the Enterprise when Steve was in prison. Joe and Doris keeping Steve safe through the Columbia debacle. Joe getting him out of North Korea.
I know when I walk back into my job, things aren't going to be the same. I chose to go after Gregers Thomsen. I chose to stay in Montana. I chose to go to Laos and to China. The CIA won't look at it the same way I do. I'll probably get a letter acknowledging that I was the one who killed Sienna Greer, but the rest? I know I'll have to pay for what I did.
But for Steve? For Steve, everything's worth it because he's everything to me.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Wear a mask like you're Agent Greer going incognito in China.
Thank you thank you for all the sweet reviews and messages yesterday! 400k was a big milestone for me! It was so good to hear from you ghost readers! I love getting to know you guys!
This chapter was originally going to be two separate chapters, but when I finished where I planned on ending the first one, it just seemed too abrupt. I decided to keep writing and just make it extra long. (So today is kind of a double chapter day in a way! This chapter is the length of two full chapters.) Don't worry, we'll catch up with "real time" Steve and Catherine and crew in the next chapter. I didn't want to take away from the weight of this one by switching back and forth.
I love you guys to pieces! Be kind, spread joy, put out what you want to see in the world.
XO,
-Mags-
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