Chapter 33 - Your shit is my shit
Summary: Trying to piece their life's together after a trauma ain't easy. Especially when they get constantly interrupted by cases and retired FBI profilers
Warnings: violence, the aftermath of trauma, panic attacks
Episode: Season 7 - Episode 5 & 6
Hello, lovelies,
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Please enjoy the next slice of Romy & Steve. I promise we'll leave somber times behind soon. Your feedback means the world to me!
Enjoy xx
—xx—xx—
"Steve!" Kono poked her head out of an exam room. She closed the doors behind her when she saw her boss running over to her. With a stony expression, she turned to face her boss.
"You need to take a breath, Steve!" She pushed him back slightly, away from the door.
Steve was breathing heavily, his nostrils were flaring, almost vibrating with unreleased energy still coursing through his body. "You do know I'm your boss."
Abby hovered behind him with bated breath. She would have not dared to stand in the way of a raging Steve McGarrett. She was waiting for an outburst similar to the one at the E.D. reception. She had not anticipated Kono though, the woman looked Steve up and down, her arms crossed over her chest defiantly. "Yes and that's my friend in there. She's scared and not with it. And you barging in, being all aneurysm face and Rambo mode" Kono made up sweeping gesture over his appearance, still in tac gear and his rifle slung over his chest, two handguns holstered "ain't gonna help her calm down. I'm serious. You need to be in control of yourself before I let you in this room." Kono stared him down.
For a second Abby thought Steve was going to ignore Kono and charge right past her. He drew himself up in front of her, Abby stepped forward just in case. She didn't need to worry, the next second Steve deflated right in front of them.
"Please..." he whispered, he needed to see her, he didn't think his heart was able to beat one more time if he wasn't able to put his eyes on her. He started grabbing at his vest, his weapons, trying to get them off him. They wouldn't budge like they were glued to his body. He needed them gone, he couldn't go see Romy until he shed them. He was getting desperate, clawing at his body. Why weren't they getting off?
"Let me." A clear voice, cutting through his jumbled thoughts. He looked up, Abby stood in front of him, holding out her hands, offering her help. Steve nodded, allowing her to step closer, helping him remove the gear he was wearing.
"There you go," Abby said as she snapped his vest loose, the last piece of weaponry finally of him. "I'll bring it to the palace."
Steve nodded, his eyes trained to the door. Inhale. Exhale. His hand reached the doorknob, no longer guarded by Kono. He turned to her sharply "Nahele." He breathed out. How could he have forgotten his son? Who must be going out of his mind with worry?
"He's with Renee. We got him." Kono assured him.
Steve nodded jerkily.
Good.
Good.
He could do this.
The sight inside the room took his breath away. Romy in a hospital gown stood next to the window, her feet bare as she leaned heavily on the IV pole next to her. Her hair was a mess of matted curls, her exhaustion billowed around the room. She turned around when the door closed behind him with a thud. The dark bruise had stretched down her cheek, the side of her face red with swelling. Only worse than seeing her beaten face was the defeated look in her eyes, like she wasn't quite sure what had happened, almost as if the drugs still had a hold on her. Steve stood completely still, stared at her for a heartbeat or ten. He had thought he'd lost her. But here she was.
Alive.
Romy slowly followed his movements, watching him take one step then another, closer to her. She held his gaze, willing him to speed up, that she needed to be his arms. Even if she could not say it aloud, her mouth not able to form the words. Finally, he reached her, his hand grazed her shoulder moving slowly up her neck, cradling her jaw. Romy let out a shuttered breath, her eyes sliding close at his caress. Steve knew he should go slow, be tentative with his movements, but when Romy's breath hitched again, he couldn't help himself. He crushed her to him, her face finding a home in the crook of his neck. He could feel her heart beating against his chest, her fingers clenching into his t-shirt.
"Don't let go." She whimpered, tears forming a small wet patch on his shoulder.
"Never." Steve's hand moved from her hip to the back of her head, his fingers in her hair. "Never letting go."
The sob wracking through Romy tore at them both. Steve tightened his hold on her "I'm right here. I found you." His hand on her face, pushing back a little staring into Romy's eyes. Willing her to believe every word he said. Her eyes were full of tears. Seeing her like this, broke him. "We're okay." He pressed a kiss to her forehead, hoping that this was ok. He didn't need to worry, Romy's entire body lost its rigid tension at his gesture, collapsing into him. Steve nudged her nose with his, keeping a soft hold of her cheeks he slanted his lips over Romy's, sinking into a deep kiss.
A little while later a nurse interrupted their moment, bustling Romy back into bed. An argument broke out when she tried to inject something into her IV. "Please, please don't. Please." Romy begged.
In all their time together he had never heard her that desperate. Hearing her beg like this, tore at the wound in his heart, that had just started to scab over when he had her in his arms. "Does she really need it?" Steve perched on Romy's bed, holding her to him.
"It's nothing bad, just to make you sleep, Hunny. You went through some big trauma. Your body needs to heal." The nurse tried to empathise. "Sleeping means healing."
Steve's eyes jumped from the nurse to Romy and back again. Unsure of what to do. Romy's pleas broke his heart all over again, but he wanted her to heal. To wake up again, to feel better. He grasped her hand in his "I'm here. I stay right here while you sleep."
Her bottom lip quivered "You promise?"
"I promise." He pressed his lips to her knuckles. "I will not let go the entire time."
The nurses injected the pain killers and squeezed his shoulders in thanks before leaving the room. "The Doctor will come by in a bit."
—xx—xx—
The next time Romy woke up with a gasp. It was dark again around her. Did she only dream, that Steve found her? No, she was laying on something soft, no longer a cold metal floor. She felt a movement next to her, she squinted slightly, her glasses still nowhere to be found. Steve sat in an armchair, pulled right next to her bed, his hand still holding hers.
He had not let go.
"Hey." Romy a little tremble accompanying her whisper. Steve's eyes shot open instantly, a relieved smile stretched over his face "Hey."
Romy pulled at their hands, pressing a kiss to his sweaty palm, proof that he never let go of her. "What are you doing in that chair?" She murmured against his hand.
Steve smiled at her pout, he leaned forward brushing her hair back "You have no space in your bed."
Romy frowned, she wasn't that much of a bed hog was she? Steve's soft chuckle made her frown even more. "Take a look, gorgeous."
"Huh?"
Steve guided her head to the other side, she was still not quite with it, he realised. The drugs given to her by Madison Gray, plus whatever they had injected into her IV earlier on were still active in her system. The back of his fingers stroked down the side of her face as her eyes filled with tears again.
"Oh, my baby," Romy whispered.
Shuffled on the edge of her bed lied Nahele, his arm slung over Romy's waist and his face pressed against her arm, she could feel his breath puffing out against her bare skin.
"He refused to go home." Steve perched now on the other side of her bed, his hand never leaving her face. "I tried really. How did you do it, when I was shot?"
"It's ok." Her voice was still a bit raw. "I don't know. Maybe they just felt sorry for me."
"Oh, believe me, I was much more pathetic than you could ever be," Steve said. "Hey, hey, hey. Slow down there." He interjected when Romy struggled to sit up. "Let me help you." Steve slid his arms behind her and helped her sit up, careful not to tangle the IV line and other cables connecting Romy to the monitors around them.
Nahele slid from her arm to her stomach, buried himself closer to her. "Unbelievable." Steve marvelled at his sons' ability to sleep through everything.
"Better?" He turned back to Romy.
"Yeah," she tangled their fingers together, her other hand finding Nahele's hair. "I've got my men here. The only thing that would make things even better, is getting out of here."
Steve watched her trying to bat her eyelashes at him, her swollen eye not cooperating with her at all. Seeing her struggle, left him furious once more, furious at Madison Gray, at Alicia, at himself. "You're staying here for as long as the doctor deems it necessary."
"What?" Romy looked up in shock, this was not the answer she expected. Usually, it was him wanting to get out of a hospital within seconds of stepping foot in it, didn't matter what kind of injuries he had.
"You have a fractured eye socket. They want to do another X-ray to see if they need to operate."
"Wunderbar." Romy rolled her eyes.
"You're getting that x-ray. Please don't argue with me." Steve pleaded if she did argue, he'd cave a like a house of cards.
"Ok, ok." She played with his fingers. "How are you?"
"I'm fine." Steve tried to misdirect.
Romy shot him a look "You had a knife sticking out of your back and were knocked out with a fucking meat tenderiser."
Now he rolled his eyes at her "Well we need to give Madison Gray something, she really didn't intend to hurt or kill me."
Romy blew him a raspberry, making Steve chuckle at her childishness. "You know behaving like a toddler isn't going to get you out of here any quicker." That earned him a poked out tongue.
"I love you." Steve kissed her forehead.
"I love you too."
"So you gonna stay for that x-ray?"
Romy slumped back into her pillows. "If I must." She lamented.
—xx—xx—
Lucky for Romy her eye socket did not need surgery and she was able to leave the hospital the next day. After settling in at home, Romy seriously considered packing it in and going back to the hospital. Both Nahele and Steve had mutated to a cross between a nurse and a prison guard. On Day two of her recuperation, Romy managed to negotiate some alone bathroom time.
"You need to get me out of here." She whispered urgently.
"What?" Kono frowned on the other end.
"I'm a prisoner in my own home. You need to get me out of here."
Kono giggled "Is Steve driving you crazy?"
"It's not Steve."
"What?"
"It's Nahele. He hasn't let me out of his sight since Sunday. Steve allowed him to take three days off school."
"Wow you really have no way out, do you?"
Before Romy could answer, a knock could be heard in the bathroom "Mama? Are you ok?"
"I'm right out, kiddo." She called out and could hear Kono's chuckle while her friend hung up the phone. With a sigh, Romy pushed herself off the floor and opened the door. Nahele was pacing the length of the bed, clearly agitated, he hadn't noticed Romy stepping back into the room. She leaned against the door jamb, watching him for a second. She hated how hard he was taking the whole situation.
"Hele." She grabbed his hand when he wouldn't look up. "I'm here. What's going on?"
"You weren't downstairs...there was no note...I couldn't find you...and Dad isn't here..." Jumbled out of his mouth. Romy closed her eyes, one day, one fucking day and her whole family was in shambles. She tugged at his hand, forcing Nahele to sit down with her on the bed.
"Dad is with Lou, I think they found his truck." She forced his eyes to meet hers. "And I'm here. Steve found me."
Tears were swimming in Nahele's eyes, unable to hide how scary that day was for him, how scary it still is. "I thought you'd never come home again."
"I'll always come home to you." Romy brushed the tears away, that made their way down his cheeks.
"You can't promise that." Nahele pursed his mouth "I'm not a baby. You and Dad get hurt constantly. What am I going to do if one day you are not coming home?"
"We're not getting hurt constantly." She rebutted, eliciting a scoff from Nahele.
"C'mon Mama. Dad got shot and there's rarely a week he doesn't get in a fight you don't need to patch him up from. And you were in a car accident and now this."
Romy pressed her lips together trying hard not to smile at her son's indignation. "Kiddo, I was just at the wrong time at the wrong place. And do you really think that your Navy Seal Dad and German Mom haven't planned for any and every eventuality?"
Nahele shook his head, Romy and Steve were nothing if not planners. "I don't want Plan B."
"Me neither" Romy squeezed his cheek "but it's there should we ever need it. Now, how about we get some shave ice?"
"Awesome!" Nahele shot off the bed. "And don't think about driving, Mom!" He hollered back at her.
"Yeah. Yeah." Romy grumbled following him down the stairs.
—xx—xx—
Romy sat up with a start, suddenly she couldn't breathe anymore. Her breaths stuck somewhere in her lungs, she was getting dizzy, the bed underneath moving. Her chest getting tight, she tried to grab the bedspread, anything to anchor herself, to not lose herself in the spinning around her.
A touch to her back startled her. Startled her so much it allowed her to breathe again. Oxygen filling her lungs, filling it too quickly, the rush in her head all-consuming. Her vision tunnelled. She tried to concentrate on Steve's face in front of her, his voice "Breathe with me." His voice sounded so much slower than normal. He pressed his hand against her chest, trying to get Romy to copy his inhales and exhales "Gorgeous. Come on breathe with me. In and out. In and out."
He took her hand to press it against his chest when Romy couldn't get into the rhythm. Steve was scared, seeing her like this. Woken up by a nightmare, unable to breathe, because of him, this was not how their life was supposed to be. Romy could not tell for how long they sat together like this, her trying to copy Steve's breathing pattern, slowing down her raging heart and pulsing brain.
They laid back down, Steve held her close to his chest. "I think you should see someone."
"See someone?" Romy tipped up her head. "I thought being married meant I'm seeing you?"
"I mean someone professional to help with the nightmares." He mumbled against her temple.
"You want me to go to a therapist?" Romy cried out, trying to push him back.
Steve held onto her, not ready to let go of her "Yes."
"After everything the last shrink did to us? To me?" She pleaded with him. He couldn't mean it, he wouldn't make her do that.
"Gorgeous, please. For me." He cradled her back to him, carding his hands through her hair.
—xx—xx—
Romy got out of the cab at Kamekona's, spying the Five-0 team sitting already at one of the tables. "Hey, guys!" She greeted them with a smile bounding up to the guest of honour and enveloped Adam in a big hug. "It's so good to see you."
"Good to see you too!" He kissed her cheek in greeting.
Kono started to read out the text messages she got including one from Sang Min, prompting Danny to roll his eyes "Classy." At the informants' suggestive message. Romy watched Steve and Chin step away from the table for a moment, she frowned, the last time the two of them were all secretive was when Gabriel tried to sow mistrust between Chin and Adam.
What was going on?
The two men returned to the others the moment, Flippa started serenading Kono and Adam. Romy leaned back against Steve, closing her eyes when Steve started swaying with her softly. Flippa really had a wonderful voice.
Her little bubble burst when she felt something vibrate against her hip. Steve sighed heavily, kissing her cheek and got up to take the call. "Copy that. We're right on our way."
"Sorry to break up the party. We gotta go." Steve leaned down to kiss Romy goodbye. "I'll see you tonight."
"So sorry babe. I'll be back as soon as I'm done." Kono couldn't believe it, today of all days, they got a case.
She didn't realise how Romy elbowed Steve in the stomach, causing him to double forward catching himself on her shoulder. He must have gotten the hint so, he masked his groan of pain into a "Nuhu." He rightened back up "No, no, no. You're not going anywhere. It's your day. Take the day. Good to see you." he smiled at Adam.
Kono smiled hesitantly "You sure?"
"Did you not just hear the man serenade to you?" Lou nodded to Flippa. "He didn't sing 'Come with us'. We call you when we need you."
"Enjoy your quality time," Danny added. All of them got up and left the couple at the table on their own.
"Romy, even you?" Kono shouted after her friend.
"Sorry, hun! Not really into threesomes." Romy shouted back with a laugh.
"You better not!" Steve growled beside them and lifted her up, planting her in front of him, eliciting a giggle from his wife. Romy looped her arm around his neck and pulled him down to her. Her other hand shielding them from Danny, Lou and Chin, as she kissed him thoroughly. Romy relished his silly side since their run-in with Madison Gray, all of his touches had been light and careful, this was refreshing.
"How are you getting home?" Steve asked.
"The same way I got here. I'll take a cab to the hotel."
He did not look pleased with her answer at all. He hated that she was back at work already, it hadn't even been a week yet. She still isn't sleeping properly. He just wanted to wrap her bubble wrap and keep her at home. Safe.
"Don't start with me, Steve." Romy pleaded. "You don't have a leg to stand on." She poked his chest.
"Ok. Ok." Steve relented "Only 4 hours though. I will track your phone."
Romy raised her eyebrows at that. "Just say ok," Steve begged.
"Ok." She relented. "I'll see you at home."
—xx—xx—
Steve knew that the little reprieve he had at Kamekona's was too good to be true. Romy was in a way too good mood after the night they had and now they were trying to apprehend a man who fought the war against guns with guns.
He couldn't believe Danny, a magnet to suck up all the guns. He would be facepalming if he wasn't driving at the moment.
"How about if we just don't let the bad guys have any guns? Then the good guys won't need any guns, and nobody needs any guns, how about that?" Danny baited him once more.
"And you know what else? While we're at it, we can eliminate discrimination, war, hatred, violence, all that kind of stuff." Steve rose to the bait. "We'll all live happily ever after, and we can, uh, you know, ride our unicorns to work every day." He continued to rant.
Danny snorted at that. How could Romy argue with this man regularly? "And you'd probably commandeer my unicorn, and drive it to work every day."
"And guess what? If you had a gun, you could stop me." Steve tried to finish the argument. He really couldn't argue with Danny too. "Stop it, would you? I don't need attitude from you right now."
Danny frowned "I thought we're arguing, a back and forth. I ain't giving you attitude."
"I get enough attitude at home." Steve breathed out, it was the first time he'd admitted that something wasn't quite right.
"What's going on?" Danny switched gears immediately, it wasn't often that Steve opened up like that. "Everything alright with Romy?"
"It's been difficult."
Danny watched his friend carefully "You guys went through something traumatic. I don't believe anyone would expect that you get over this within days."
Steve shook his head "It's not that…we agreed to see someone."
"She's got you to agree to see a shrink?" Danny was impressed.
"That was her condition, if she got to see one, then I got to see one too."
"Clever girl." Danny complimented, earning himself a scoff from Steve.
"If she were so clever, she wouldn't have the stupid notion that Alicia Brown has the hots for me." Steve blurted out, taking his eyes off the road swiftly to see Danny's reaction. His partner tilted his head from side to side but didn't say anything. "What?"
Danny shrugged "She is kinda right."
"What do you mean?" Steve was astonished, Danny was supposed to be on his side. Alicia being into him, was such a ridiculous idea.
"The first time we met her, she blatantly checked you out, despite you telling her you had a girlfriend. She played coy with you. then she only ever calls you, never me or anyone else on the team if she had details." Danny shrugged "And you never did anything to dissuade her."
"Did you check your answers with Romy on guns and Alicia?" Steve asked frustrated.
Danny shrugged again "So two people you trust the most tell you the same thing and you still question it?"
"You talking about gun laws or Alicia?"
Danny sighed, shaking his head in despair "I take the one where you can do something about. Alicia."
"I talk to Romy again."
"No!"
"What? Isn't that what you want?"
"You do not need to talk to Romy. You need to talk to Alicia." Danny implored. "She needs to know that she doesn't have a shot with you. That you are in love with a woman and you're not interested in her."
"You think?"
"Yes!" Danny wanted to slam his head against the dashboard of his car. "And then you tell Romy the same thing. Jeez!"
—xx—xx—
Steve had tried to reach Alicia on his way home several times. Maybe he hadn't wanted to see the signs, maybe he had seen them and ignored them. He hadn't looked at anyone with a second glance since Romy stepped into his life. Alicia wasn't picking up her phone though and he did not want to leave a voicemail.
The house was bright with light, then got out of his new truck, he could see Romy moving around inside. He stood in front of the door, his hand frozen over the door handle. He could hear Romy laughing, she was laughing, laughing at something Nahele said. It had been over a week since he last heard that sweet, sweet sound.
Later in the evening, after a wonderful dinner prepared by Nahele, he developed a knack for cooking, Steve sat with Romy on the lanai. They talked about their days. Her first day back at the office, his day with Marvin and how Danny saved the day. Steve swallowed when he sketched out his and Danny's latest cargument to Romy, trying to find the right words.
"I shouldn't have disparaged your feelings about Alicia. I tried to call her today to tell her that I'm not interested, she didn't pick up. But I'm telling you." he held her hand in his, moving Romy closer, so that she sat between his legs, her back pressed to his chest. Steve smoothed her hair behind her ear, pressing kisses on her shoulder, up her neck, when he reached her ear, he stopped whispering "I love you. I'm not and was not interested in Alicia. I'm sorry, for making you feel like you were imagining things. I love you."
"Thank you. I love you too." Romy leaned her head back against his shoulder, kissing the corner of Steve's mouth.
—xx—xx—
Life had almost returned to normal once Halloween rolled around. It was the first evening on their own for quite a while. They had needed to convince Nahele to go to a Halloween party at Joel's house, but in the end, his desire to spend an evening with Madison and his friends won out over another evening at home with his parents. Steve had plans, he had wonderful plans. They had popcorn for them, candy for the trick or treaters, and plenty of horror movies queued on Netflix, which meant Romy was going to spend the entire evening cuddled in his lap trying not to look. It came all crashing down around him when Alicia finally returned his phone call.
"Thank you for calling me back." He squeezed his phone between shoulder and ear. "Do you have a second for me, Alicia? There's something I need to talk to you about."
Romy stood up taller when she heard Alicia's name and she froze completely when she heard Steve say "Meeting up with you? Well...I...yes I do want to talk to you." He poured the popcorn into a bowl. "Ok, I'll see you tomorrow for coffee." He hung up and turned around.
Romy stared at him, mouth open. "Did you just agree to go on a date with Alicia Brown?"
"It's not a date, it's coffee to tell her I'm not interested." Steve sighed.
"Which you couldn't have done over the phone right now?" She asked sceptically. "Do you want to have coffee with her?"
Steve let out a breath, he was getting tired of this. "Why is Alicia such a big red flag for you? You were never like that with Catherine or any other women who made a pass at me."
Finally, he was admitting it "So she did make a pass at you?"
"Romy!" Steve exclaimed.
"You told me that you didn't have feelings for Catherine and you told Catherine the same. You don't need to take other women out to coffee when you tell them you are not interested, I was there a couple of times, remember." Romy shook her head at Steve. "But with Alicia Brown, you haven't done either. So I'm sorry for worrying about this. Especially after everything that happened."
"What do you mean?" Steve tried to grasp her hand, but Romy took a step back. "Are you blaming Alicia for what happened? You cannot be serious."
"Can't I?" How dare he. "If she wouldn't have broken into Dr Gray's house. Going completely against what you guys agreed on. You rushing to her aid instead of calling HPD. You wouldn't have been hurt and pushed in a cave to drown and I wouldn't have been drugged and sat bound in a container waiting to be shipped to a puppy mill for women. So yes, I am sorry but, I am blaming her. And you just agreed to have a coffee date with her."
"That's unfair, Romy." Steve crossed his arms over his chest.
"Oh, I'm sorry. We get abducted, drugged and hurt. Our son asking me what's going to happen to him, should we die. But I'm unfair when I tell you how I feel about Alicia? Fuck you, Steve." Romy pushed off the kitchen counter.
Steve did not have a chance to respond when his phone interrupted them. "I'm on my way." He rubbed his forehead tiredly, looking over to Romy. "We just caught a case."
"Sure." Romy nodded. "I gotta make sure you've got a shirt ironed for your date tomorrow."
"Romy." Steve breathed out, grasping her hand as she tried to make her way past him. "You mad enough to divorce me over this?"
Despite her current mood, she needed to chuckle at his question. "No, but I'm not happy."
"I get that. We argue later?" Steve rested his forehead against Romy's.
"Sure." She leaned up to kiss him. "Go."
—xx—xx—
A pleasant surprise was waiting for him and Danny at the murder scene. "Hey, Max!"
"You back in the building." Danny greeted him.
"How was the sabbatical?" Steve wanted to know.
"Well not to oversell it, it was the single greatest experience of my lifetime." Max smiled widely.
Steve and Danny listened to their friend, how his time with the MSF had completely transformed his life.
"Not only your life but your style too," Danny commented.
Steve nodded fat that "The beard, long hair. It suits you."
"Actually the beard and hair are part of my Halloween costume. I'm the titular character of the movie John Wick, which is the latest tribute to the film legacy of Keanu Reeves."
"I've seen this one," Danny announced proudly. "And I like the attention to detail with the wedding ring and everything."
Max smiled conspiratorially "You are correct, that John Wick wore one in the movie, despite his wife passing. This, however, I'm wearing it because I married Sabrina." He announced proudly.
Steve watched how Danny and Chin congratulated Max on his nuptials. He played with his ring for a second, how come no one had noticed his ring in all these months? Danny had spied Max's ring in seconds, why not his? He fiddled with these thoughts and his ring, all the way through the crime scene and Max's first findings, announcing that the victim had been scared to death.
How fitting for a haunted house.
He only got pulled out of his thoughts about announcing their marriage and his fight with Romy, when Danny was on the phone with Grace.
"No, you are not under house arrest. You are free to go trick or treating with your little brother."
"This is a cruel and unusual punishment," Grace complained again.
Danny rolled his eyes "Well don't do the crime if you can't do the time." They were interrupted by the doorbell ringing. "Doorbell. Sounds like the babysitter is there."
"Is it at least Aunt Romy?" grace asked hopefully.
Steve popped his head into the video "Nope. Aunt Romy is on Trick or Treat duty at our house." Maybe Grace would get the subtle hint and head over to theirs, it would definitely lift Romy's mood.
"Oh, man!"
"Gotta go. I see you later. Love you." Danny hung up quickly before Grace discovered who was their actual babysitter for tonight.
—xx—xx—
Romy hated it when she fought with Steve before he went out on a call. It kept her even more on edge, hoping their fight wasn't the last conversation the two of them would have. It was almost 9 pm and he hadn't checked in yet with her. Hopefully, that meant he would be home soon, and this wasn't an overnight call.
The doorbell rang again, she got up with a sigh and grabbed the Candy bowl.
The "Trick or Treat!" shout greeted her, the moment she opened the door.
"Oh my! Don't you two look amazing."
"Mahalo, Aunt Romy." Charlie smiled brightly as Romy filled his pumpkin bucket with loads of sweets.
"You guys want to come in? Keep me some company until Steve and Danno come home?" Romy looked up from the kids to Jerry. "Someone needs to help me eat all the candy." She shrugged, stepping out of the way of a cheering Charlie. She grinned when she heard Grace whisper to her little brother "Told you I knew the house with the best candy."
—xx—xx—
"Sorry, I'm so late," Steve said quietly, trying not to disturb a snoring Jerry and a sleeping Charlie in Romy's lap and Grace on her shoulder. He perched on the arm of the couch, kissing her softly in greeting.
"It's ok. What happened?" She scooted to the side, making space for him on the sofa. Steve stroked Charlie's back and Grace's head, making sure they were properly asleep. "A killed Medium in a haunted house."
"Fitting." Romy nodded.
"Killed by her PA, who tried to revenge her dead father, cause the medium told him she died, but she just runs away." Steve shook his head. "She blamed the victim and for her Dad's death."
"Wow."
"Yeah, and Kono and Adam got abducted by a death cult." He added casually.
"What?!" Romy whipped her head around to him. "Are they ok?"
"Oh yes. They had already escaped and engaged in a firefight by the time we came."
"Kono never needed to be rescued." Not like myself, Romy left unspoken.
"She and Adam were lucky they were kept together, allowed them to escape." Steve knew exactly where she was going with this and he would not stand for it. "Where is our son actually? I only see kids who don't live here."
Romy suppressed a yawn. "He's upstairs in bed, came home only 10 minutes after curfew."
"We got a good kid." Steve smiled.
"How much sugar did you give my kids?" Danny came from the kitchen, rifling through the wrapper filled candy bowl.
"Not enough, if they are asleep," Romy replied cheekily.
—xx—xx—
Last nights conversation with Romy did not leave Steve's mind while he paced in front of the shop front. They had sent the Williams clan and Jerry home safely when he asked her
"You don't think I worry too?"
He could see that Romy didn't know what to do with the question, especially when she answered it with a scoff "What have you got to worry about?"
"That someday, you have enough." His voice broke. "That you no longer want to deal with this shit. With my shit. With me. Those serial killers breaking into our house, you getting drugged, me getting shot - that one day you turn around and say to me 'I can't do this anymore. I'm leaving.'"
"Never!" Romy's answer was fierce and instantly
"You can't promise that."
"The only time I will tell you that I cannot do this anymore," She grabbed his hand, pressing a kiss to his knuckles "is when you no longer take me and my feelings seriously. Until then your shit is my shit."
Steve made up his mind and entered the shop behind him.
"Commander McGarrett. Nice to see you again." The woman behind the counter greeted him. "What can I do for you today? Maybe a matching necklace to the bracelet we designed?"
Steve swallowed, he really shouldn't be that nervous. He was married for goodness sake. "I'm looking for a ring."