Chapter 68
Steve was in trouble, the interrogation had been brutal - his usual default setting of, "I can neither confirm nor deny," not getting him the results he wanted. The man regretted being surrounded by such sharp minds. Danny especially had an uncanny ability to ferret out the truth, but Kono was shaping up to be an expert interrogator as well.
By this point Steve had developed a very pronounced aneurysm-face and then his body posture slumped, shoulders visibly dropping and at that exact moment they knew that they had him. He made one desperate last-ditch attempt to save himself by forcefully pronouncing that Five-0 wasn't a democracy, it was actually a benevolent dictatorship - but that didn't work either. Sure enough the doomed man gave it up with a put-upon sigh, "Yes, okay . . . I took Mia, um Dr. Shaw, with me to the Brown's party. She was my date. We had a very nice evening together."
Kono just arched an eyebrow and looked pointedly at her boss, waiting for more. Steve cracked. God, these people were relentless, "And yes, we have seen each other since. We went paddle boarding last Sunday and we're going hiking to the waterfalls this weekend if the weather holds . . . shit, I think we're officially dating." The SEAL's jaw dropped as Danny made a triumphant noise and money changed hands. Danny explained,
"Joe gave us the heads up about you and the good doctor. We've had a pool going ever since about when you'd finally admit it." Steve huffed indignantly and crossed his arms defensively across his chest,
"I'm glad the current status of my love life is providing you with amusement and the means to line your own pockets. Christ, you're all worse than a group of aunties in a sewing circle." Kono immediately jumped in to defend herself,
"Huh, you can talk. You were all over me and Charlie and what about Chin and Laura?" Steve's expression turned thoughtful as he pondered on that. He turned to face the man in question,
"Yeah, Chin – what about you and Laura?" Kono settled back with a vindicated expression on her face as it was Chin's turn in the 'dating' spotlight,
"Well, seeing as you ask – I've asked Laura to move in with me and she agreed," he paused a beat, "apparently I'm going shopping for cushions and throws at the weekend." Kono gave a squeal of delight,
"Cushions and throws? That's it, Cuz – your fate is sealed!" Chin looked at Danny, mystified,
"They're just soft furnishings, right?" Danny shook his head wisely while clasping his hands in front of him, looking uncannily like Yoda himself,
"No, Chin. They most certainly are not. Just remember to invite us to the wedding."
Their very un-task force-like conversation was interrupted by Steve's cell and he answered it with his usual abrupt greeting. He listened to the caller and then disconnected the call, "We've got a case – body found down at the marina, the Governor has requested Five-0 take point. Gear up, we're moving out . . ."
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Their latest case was straightforward and it gave Steve time to meet up with his CIA contacts, Kendricks and Douglas. He found himself back in the creepy parking garage for another clandestine meeting, although he was rather starting to like the whole cliché of it - imagining himself as the protagonist of a convoluted spy thriller. He was brought back to the present when the agents started to speak. They had news of his mother, or Shelburne as he had taken to thinking of her. Anna updated him, "The psychologist uncovered deep-seated paranoia and a number of signs that suggest that she has had some form of psychotic break. He has recommended that she be admitted to a secure facility for further observation and treatment before any charges be brought against her. I understand that she is facing over 10 years in prison for your abduction and forced imprisonment."
Steve nodded, "Yeah, even if I choose not to press charges personally, the Governor is pushing for a prosecution on my behalf. He has taken this criminal act against the head of his Task Force very personally . . . I could tell that something was very wrong in the cabin," he gave a deep sigh and rubbed his forehead, "I just want her to get the help that she needs." Kendricks chipped in,
"The agency recognizes it was complicit in this goat rope, Commander. We'll do all we can to provide the necessary support to Shelburne, we have a duty to all of our agents." Steve nodded in thanks,
"Um, did you get anywhere with my other request for information?" Agent Douglas passed over a file,
"We were authorized to share this with you, on the condition that it goes no further." Steve fully understood their position,
"Yes, of course. Thank you both, I appreciate this. I'll destroy the file as soon as I have reviewed the contents." They exchanged quick handshakes and went their separate ways. Steve waited until he was home that night to look through the file. It detailed the current progress of Jenna Kaye and Josh Hirsch following the first few months of rehab and counselling that they had been undergoing, both of them now at treatment facilities on the mainland.
It was both good and bad news. Agent Hirsch had made better than expected progress, responding well to a healthy diet and carefully-graded exercise to regain his muscle mass and general fitness. With a few more months of intensive rehab it was predicted that he would most likely be at the level of fitness required for fieldwork. However, the man had already indicated that he wished to return to a purely desk-based role at Langley, where his extensive operational experience would be invaluable in the planning phase of special ops. He had also responded well in his sessions with the psychologist, being very willing to engage in the sessions and was generally dealing with the aftermath of his extended imprisonment admirably. However, the psychologist knew that his patient had lost a lot of confidence as well as his sense of 'self' and was beginning the painstaking work to build that back up. The psychological trauma had been significant and he wanted his patient to be truly able to move on and not just be good at pretending that everything was okay.
Steve was pleased to read of his progress, having been very impressed with the man's actions in the North Korean bunker; it was Josh who had uncovered the hidden code and given them a perfect excuse to be taken out of the bunker straight into the waiting arms of the SEAL Team. Tucked in with the medical notes was a single piece of paper detailing the outcome of a visit that Josh had made to Jenna just before she was discharged from the Red Cross hospital in Osaka. It had been a supervised visit and the attending agent had discretely taken notes.
Steve scanned through the hand-written notes and shook his head sadly. Josh had not been able to forgive his fiancée for betraying Five-0 and Steve when she was working under their protection. The thought that she so easily brokered a deal that condemned another man to be tortured in exactly the same way as he had been was just too much for him to process. Whilst he fully understood the reasons why, he just couldn't condone the way she had gone about trying to secure his release. He had also admitted that he was not the same confident CIA special activities team leader that he used to be and needed time to work on restoring his own sense of self-belief before he had the emotional capacity to deal with a relationship and the needs of someone else. At the end of his visit, he had broken off their engagement and returned home to Langley to continue his physical therapy and counselling sessions.
Steve moved onto the documents containing Jenna's progress and found himself deeply affected by the high-price that she had paid for her part in all of this. Jenna had suffered lasting brain damage from the near-fatal shooting. She had partial paralysis of her left side, needing a cane to support herself as she walked. The rehab team were confident that she would slowly regain increased function in her left side, but that it would take many more months of relentless rehabilitation. Jenna's speech was improving after intensive sessions with a speech therapist; the healthcare professional was hopeful that in time it would return to almost normal, teaching Jenna little tricks to overcome her difficulty with certain words and sounds. Her cognitive functions were all within an acceptable range, but they doubted that she would ever be able to process large quantities of data and piece them together like she had when working as a CIA analyst. Wo Fat had taken so much from the young woman; her health, her abilities, her career and now her fiancé.
They were both unrecognizable from that happy newly-engaged couple from 4 years ago, when they were busy making plans for a lifetime together and completely unaware of the extreme misfortune laying in wait for them. The legacy of one man's evil empire continued to cast a long dark shadow . . . Steve couldn't help but wonder just how much of Wo Fat's character had been influenced by the tragic events that took place all those years ago and how much was due to some sort of inherent evil in the man. Saying that, he had 'lost' his own family too and hadn't gone on a murderous rampage, instead choosing to protect the innocent and vulnerable. Wo Fat might have believed them to be half-brothers who 'shared' the same mother, but Steve knew differently. He whispered to himself, "You're not my brother . . ." as he re-lived the moment that he killed the other man in North Korea. Steve had taken many lives in the course of his career but felt the weight of every death, no matter how well deserved. However, he could admit to himself that he was glad that his nemesis was dead - too many people had suffered and it never would have ended had he still been alive. Wo Fat had both the wealth and connections to get him out of any prison, no matter how secure it appeared.
Even before knowing what he did now about Jenna's disabilities, Steve had already requested that the Company treat the woman kindly explaining that she had been formally deputized onto Five-0 at the time and had asked Governor Denning to intervene. On the back of this, Jenna's employer was going to provide her with a pension on the grounds that she had acquired a workplace disability. Her parents were still both alive and well and had made the necessary adaptations to their house to cater to their daughter's needs and were looking forward to having her home when she was released from the rehab center.
Steve resolved to visit Jenna when she was settled, to let her know that he understood her actions and that he was sorry that things had turned out the way they had. His initial anger at her betrayal had subsided, leaving him open to considering all of the facts in a rational manner – he realized that the guilt that he himself felt for not being able to prevent his father's death was exactly the same for Jenna. When she had been presented with an opportunity to reverse the mistakes from the past she had taken it, Wo Fat knowing exactly how to manipulate the vulnerable CIA analyst for his own benefit.
He would use his trip to catch up with Tom Hennessy at the same time. The man had resigned from the CIA and decided to stop in DC, taking Steve up on his offer to hook him up with his ex-SEAL buddies. Tom had fitted right in and was proving invaluable to their private security firm. They had a date in the summer pencilled in for Steve to come over and visit for a few days; Steve was not keen on the bitter east coast winters and so had chosen a time of year to suit him.
Steve had a standing invitation to have lunch with Director Thompson whenever he was in town as well. He would take the lady up on her offer, it would be nice to meet and talk about something other than highly classified missions from the past. He knew that Margaret had personally ensured that Doris McGarrett was receiving the best care possible and was very grateful to the CIA Director for her compassion.