Chapter 65

Steve slowly came to as she was being bumped around in the back of an old pickup truck. He had been rolled up in a blanket like a hot dog, but it was open just near his head and so wasn't suffocating him. He couldn't move though, his limbs felt weak and his feeble struggling couldn't get him untangled from the blanket. He groaned as the truck lurched over a particularly large pothole, but the blanket cushioned him and kept him wedged in the bed of the truck. His brain was a bit slow catching up but he recalled his last coherent thought on his beach, "Jesus Christ, it was his own mother who had taken him by force. What the hell?" He couldn't really make any sense of it, his thoughts were all jumbled up and he let his eyes slide shut again.

He was vaguely aware of the vehicle coming to a halt and the sound of the tailgate being dropped down. He felt himself sliding across the metal and then dropping into something, but it didn't hurt as the blanket had cushioned his fall. The squeak of a wheel turning made him think he was in some sort of cart or trolley and he felt himself moving slowly. The person pushing the trolley was grunting from the exertion and let out a sigh of relief as they stopped. He was pulled out of the cart, still wrapped in the blanket. He groaned again when the blanket was unrolled, the world spinning as he rolled out onto the floor.

His hands and feet were immediately secured with what felt like rubber restraints, they were soft and didn't cut into his skin. He slowly opened his eyes and tried to steady his vision, but the world was still quite blurry. He was in some sort of rustic log cabin, but beyond that he couldn't have told you where he was being held. He shut his eyes again and was aware of laying there for a little while until a jug of water was splashed onto his face and that brought everything into focus with a jolt. He just looked at the person who had abducted him from his own back yard, a yard they knew all too well themselves. He tried to speak but couldn't quite form the words and slumped back on the floor in exhaustion.

Doris McGarrett observed her son and when she was satisfied that he was coherent and able to understand, she started to speak, "I had to talk to you and since you wouldn't see me, I was forced to improvise," she paused and glanced at Steve but he chose to stay quiet, "no one will give me the chance to explain my actions, I did what I had to do to protect my family. Why does no one understand? I gave up everything to keep you safe." She grabbed a water bottle and carefully tipped it up for Steve to take a drink. Steve gratefully swallowed the liquid and then found himself able to choke out a reply, his voice still very rough,

"Safe? That's what you're calling it? How safe was Dad when a bullet was ripping through his brain because his investigation into your so-called death got too close for comfort? How safe was Mary when she was thrown into the trunk of a car to be taken to her certain death after the Yazuka had done interrogating her? How safe was I when Wo Fat had me chained up in a bunker in North Korea?" The effort of speaking had taken its toll and he closed his eyes. Doris stalked over to him and slapped him on his face to get his focus back on her,

"None of that was meant to happen. Why couldn't you all just leave it alone? If you had done that then you would have been safe. None of this is my fault." Steve stared at her incredulously. He was finding it easier to think clearly as the drug was wearing off and he let rip, years of built up anger and resentment coming out unchecked. He would have shouted if he could, but he couldn't make his voice go louder than a pained croak,

"This is all on you. The choices you made that we had no control over. Dad died a lonely old man, haunted for years by the thought that it was his investigation into the Yakuza had got his wife killed. He sent us away and effectively orphaned us because he was so scared. Can you imagine the level of fear he must have felt to make him give up his own children? Mary was so messed up, she's only now getting her life back on track. Poor Aunt Deb was all set to get a recording contract and was forced to put her life on hold to look after your daughter. I was all alone in a shitty boarding school at my most vulnerable and the other kids bullied me for months – it was a living hell. I cut Dad out of my life to spite him because I thought he didn't love me – we never had a proper relationship again."

Doris sniffed back her tears, "I didn't ever expect John to send you both away, by the time I found out you already had new lives on the mainland and I thought it would be more disruptive to try and get you back to Oahu. What was I supposed to do? I knew that my past was coming back to haunt me and you could have all been killed." Steve snorted derisively,

"Oh, and that was your only option? You weren't some helpless soccer mom, you had the resources of the CIA to fall back on. You could have made us all 'disappear'. Yeah, we would've had to leave our home but at least we could've still been a family – started again somewhere new, in another country even!" Steve breathed heavily as he tried to keep his composure, "You know what I think, Mom," he drawled the last word out in a mocking tone, "I think you got bored of your mundane suburban life with your 2.4 kids and white picket fence and this threat gave you an excuse to leave it all behind and tell yourself that you were being virtuous, just looking out for the safety of your family. Win-win, huh?"

Doris shook her head violently, this wasn't going how it was meant to at all. She should be having a joyous reunion with her children, full of wonder at getting their mother back after all these years of thinking she was dead. She grabbed hold of Steve's arms and shook him, desperately trying to get him to see things her way, "No, no, no!" she shrieked in his face, "you've got it all wrong, why can't you see it from my point of view. I've given up everything for this family and this is the thanks I get for my sacrifice?"

Steve didn't answer, he had nothing left to say to this stranger in front of him. This wasn't the loving mother he remembered from his childhood. He started to wonder if she had suffered from some sort of psychotic break from reality. After all, she had been turned into a killer of an innocent young mother when she was still in her early twenties. What else had she been asked to do as a clandestine CIA agent? He had wanted to confront her about the dangerous 'leverage' that she had stashed under the floorboards of their family home but decided to keep quiet about that. He honestly had no idea how she would react if she found out that it was now in the hands of the CIA Director.

Doris had run crying from the room, leaving Steve bound on the floor. He tested his restraints, but he had no strength in his limbs. His bindings were completely secure and he couldn't get them to loosen at all. He was starting to worry about his safety, this person who had him at their mercy was not his Mom anymore. He made the decision to not antagonize her further and try and work on getting her to let him go.

As he looked around, he caught a glimpse of a face at the dirty little window of the log cabin and felt an overwhelming sense of relief. Joe caught his eye and gave the hand signal for Steve to hold his breath. Steve nodded his understanding and started to draw in deep breaths, as if he was about to go freediving. About 30 seconds later, he heard the sound of glass breaking and the clatter of smoke grenades as they bounced off the floor of the cabin. That was his cue to start holding his breath, his eyes squeezed tightly shut against the irritating smoke. Moments later, the front and back doors of the cabin were kicked open and his team swarmed in wearing gas masks. Joe swiftly made his way over to Steve and used his knife to slice open his bindings. Steve was not able to stand unaided and his mentor supported him as they stumbled out from the cabin. His mother was already outside, her eyes streaming from the smoke, being held face-down on the ground by Chin and Kono as they secured her hands with zip ties.

Steve didn't look at her, he kept his eyes resolutely fixed dead ahead. Danny had run back to vehicles which had been left out of sight further down the trail and manoeuvred the blue Silverado right next to the two men. The drugged man let Joe help him onto the back seat of his truck, he couldn't coordinate his movements at all. Joe didn't need to ask the SEAL if he was okay, it was clear that he wasn't. Steve found that he couldn't properly hold himself up in the seat and so let himself lean against the other man. He shook his head in disbelief, "I can't believe she did this. All she cares about is everything that she had to give up – that person is not my mother."

Joe glared over at the woman on the ground, beyond angry at her actions. Although he could just about understand her motivation, wanting to have the opportunity to talk to her son, he was truly astounded at the way she had gone about it. Danny had turned around from his place in the driver's seat, wanting confirmation that his partner was alright. He leaned over and rested his hand on Steve's arm, "Hey, Babe. You okay? Are there any injuries we should know about?"

Steve managed to shake his head, but all his emotions started to bubble up and he was beginning to have some trouble with his breathing. Joe gestured for the detective to give him some room and immediately steadied Steve and talked him through the comfortingly familiar SEAL combat breathing exercises. He gave a tiny shake of his head as Steve's anxious Five-0 team came closer to see what was happening. "I've got this," he mouthed at them and they stood down, trusting him to look after their boss and friend.