Sorry about the delay, dear readers! I was having computer issues. And life issues. But both seem to be cleared up now, so we're back to fanfiction! I have realized just how dark this fic got, so I have included another flashback to lighten the mood a little and get us back to why we fell for Steve and Harper in the first place. I hope this chapter was worth waiting for...

Chapter 26 – Back to Reality

"Feelings are not supposed to be logical. Dangerous is the man who has rationalized his emotions."

~David Borenstein

Cancun, Mexico, ten years earlier…

Steve McGarrett loved to watch his wife sleep. She was so beautiful and serene. Her beautiful, sun-kissed skin was so tan against the white sheets of the bed and a thousand times softer. Harper's beautiful red hair fell softly on the pillow between them, tickling his nose as he nuzzled in closer. He inhaled that beautiful fragrance of hers that he had become so accustomed to over the last few months. Sweet and flowery...and so sexy. He shifted ever so slightly, trying hard not to wake her, and bent his elbow so that he could prop his head on his hand. She didn't even stir, so content in her sleep. He could watch her this way forever. Against his better judgment, his thoughts turned to the fact that they didn't have forever. They only had a precious few days left on their honeymoon before they had to return to the real world...

Steve shook all thoughts of their impending move to San Diego out of his head as he looked down at her again and just couldn't resist the invitingly soft skin of her shoulder that peeked out over the sheet. He gently began to kiss the freckles that had appeared on her skin as a result of her recent hours in the Mexican sunshine.

Harper stirred lazily in her sleep and a satisfied smile came to her lips. She loved the feel of his early morning stubble against her bare skin. Followed by the heat of his breath and the whisper kiss of his soft lips. She opened her eyes and turned to face him, allowing her lips to experience the same pleasure that her shoulder had just encountered.

"Did I wake you?" he teased, as their lips parted after a long, sexy kiss. She murmured something unintelligible and then buried her face in his neck, softly kissing her way down until she came to rest on his strong, broad chest. She happily laid her head against that chest and he stroked the long strands of her hair. Oh the things she did to every one of his senses.

"I can't believe that I'm actually Mrs. Steven John McGarrett and that we are on our honeymoon together. In paradise." Harper finally said, smoothing her cheek against his skin. "This place is so beautiful..." She traced small circles along the muscular frame of his chest as he mimicked her movements with the hand that had come to rest on the small of her back. "So, what do you want to do today?"

"I'm doing it right now," He murmured, leaning down and kissing the top of her head.

"Sounds good to me," Harper murmured in reply, lifting her head so that their lips met in another passionate kiss. When they broke apart, the redhead whispered with a smile, "But after last night's marathon workout, I'm going to need a little sustenance."

"Your wish is my command," Steve answered with a grin, reluctantly rolling away from her and lifting his naked form off the bed. Harper sat up, pulling the sheet over her exposed breasts and admired the view of her husband from behind as he moved across the room to lift a covered tray off of the table near the door. Turning back to her, he said, "Breakfast is served."

"I thought we were going to the buffet by the pool?"

Steve smirked as he came back to sit next to her on the bed. "Well, I didn't know if you were ever going to wake up this morning, so I took the liberty of making sure the buffet came to us." He lifted the lid off the silver and glass tray to reveal a beautifully put together assortment of tropical fruits. Strawberries, melons, papayas, kiwi, star fruit, and banana all surrounded a small cup of chocolate sauce in the middle of the colorful arrangement. But instead of being thrilled by his breakfast selections, Harper looked a bit strange.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She replied, biting her lip to keep from hiding her disappointment.

"Liar."

He knew her too well. So she simply said, "It's fruit."

Steve chuckled and replied, "Well, it's good to know that all that lovemaking from last night didn't have an effect on your powers of observation," and then quickly ducked out of the way before she smacked him as he reminded her, "You like fruit."

"I know," she said with a shrug.

"Fruit is very good for you," her husband continued with a teasing tone to his lecture. "And we are in paradise. This is where they do fruit best."

"I am a big fan of fruit," Harper said, glancing at the tray again.

"But...?" he prodded, trying to hide his grin.

"We're on vacation, Steven! You don't eat fruit on vacation," Harper finally exclaimed in exasperation. "You do things you wouldn't normally do. And if you do eat fruit, you eat it on top of something...like a stack of pancakes. Or stuffed inside a crepe."

"Trust me," he answered, smiling at her and pushing a stray lock of her hair off her forehead, "fruit is the best choice."

"Why?" she challenged him.

"Because you can't do this with a pancake." He told her matter of factly as he lifted a strawberry to her lips and encouraged her to take a bite. She did and the juices from the sweet fruit filled her mouth.

Savoring the taste on her tongue, she smiled and teased, "You can't feed me pancakes?"

"Shhhh," he whispered seductively and Harper smiled as she waited for another sweet taste. But instead of offering her a second enticing bite, he took the strawberry and it's exposed juices and ran it down her neck. Juices flowed freely from the red berry and trailed along her skin, followed closely by her husband's tongue as he lapped up the sticky sweetness the strawberry left in its wake. Harper moaned softly and Steve smiled into her neck.

"Trust me now?" he asked against her skin, as his warm breath tickled her already heightened senses.

"More." Was all that Harper could say as she tried to recover from the assault of sweet kisses he was lavishing on her neck.

The S.E.A.L. grinned wickedly as he picked up another strawberry and swirled it in chocolate sauce before he brought it slowly over to her lips. She eagerly bit off a taste, savoring the heavenly combination of chocolate and strawberry, before he brushed it down the other side of her neck, creating a deliciously sticky mess of chocolate and strawberry juice. His lips finally made contact with her flushed skin and he gently twirled his tongue around in the sweet concoction until Harper felt as if she were going to explode with desire.

She dragged Steve's head up until her lips collided with his chocolate covered ones...lapping, licking, and sucking up the essence of chocolate and strawberry. He plunged his tongue through her sweet and eager lips as he lavished powerful, seductive kisses upon them.

"My turn," Harper whispered, dragging her mouth away from his and reaching for a strawberry of her own. She repeated Steve's actions from only a moment ago, but instead of running the strawberry along his neck she chose to run it over the taut muscles of his chest. She leaned toward him again, watching very carefully for signs of dissuasion, and found none. Her tongue darted out playfully, cleaning the sticky, red juice away from his warm and spicy skin.

"Jimmy," he breathed before taking what was left of the strawberry from her fingers and attaching his mouth to hers. Steve licked the juice off of his wife's lips, as if asking for entry, and she eagerly opened her mouth and felt a jolt of pleasure run through her body when his tongue lightly caressed her own. He traced over every inch of her mouth, drawing her into a fiery and hungry kiss, tasting the sweetness of strawberries and his Jimmy-girl. She circled her arms around his neck, wanting him as near as possible. Close just didn't seem to be enough. Ever so slowly, Steve moved away from her lips and went up to her ear, nibbled it a bit, and traced his fingers down her neckline, making her shiver. Her own hands stroked his angular face and she could still sense the smell of his aftershave. By the time oxygen had become a problem, he pulled back, pressing his forehead against hers and giving her a simple smirk, his eyes twinkling.

"Tease," Steve whispered, his chest heaving up and down as he tried to regain control of his breathing.

Harper smiled and whispered seductively, "There's no teasing going on here, Lieutenant McGarrett. It's only teasing if you don't follow through." She dropped a slow but sexy kiss on his swollen lips before she finished, "And I intend to follow through..."

Steve's head dropped off to the left side, causing him to awaken with a start. Shaking the sleepiness out of his head, the S.E.A.L. looked around and tried to get a firm hold on his surroundings and all of his senses. They weren't in a resort on the Mexican Riviera…they were in a hospital room in Hawaii.

He looked down at Harper and took a few moments to gaze at her lovely face. Even though her skin was pale and drawn from the coma and her features were badly bruised from Wo Fat's beatings, she was still so beautiful. He lifted her hand up to his lips and kissed the back of it, letting his lips linger on the warmth of her skin. At least she wasn't cold and lifeless anymore, so there was still hope.

As she had done so many times before when anyone had touched her, Harper suddenly thrashed her head about and moaned. Realizing that she was responding to his touch, Steve carefully squeezed her hand and tried to control her tremors as he began to whisper soothingly, "It's all right, Jimmy-girl. It's all right. You're safe now. We've got you. You're safe."

But this time when Harper spoke, it wasn't in terror. And she wasn't speaking to Wo Fat.

"Steve?"

The Commander blinked a few times in disbelief, not sure he had actually just heard her murmur his name.

"Jimmy?" he asked cautiously, reaching up to stroke her hair. "Jimmy, can you hear me?"

Her head fell to the side and she gradually opened her eyes. As her vibrant green eyes adjusted to the harsh light of the hospital room, she slowly began to focus on his familiar face.

"I…know…you." she whispered, looking at him carefully.

"My name is Commander Steven McGarrett of the Hawaii Five-0 Task Force…"

"Steve?" she repeated, gaining her focus as she looked at him. "Is that really you?"

"It's really me," he replied in great relief. It was as if the world had been lifted from his shoulders. Leaning closer and clutching her hand once again, he explained quickly, "You are at the Honolulu Medical Center. You escaped from Wo Fat and have been in a state of unconsciousness for the past few days."

"Honolulu?" she repeated, looking around in confusion.

"You're safe now," he told her, finally letting go of her hand. Standing up, he said, "Your dad just went to get himself some coffee, but he has been here the entire time. And your brothers, too. I'll go get them. And your doctor…"

"No," she protested weakly, reaching out and grabbing his arm as he turned to go, "Wait. I was given a drug. I think it was a nervous system…"

Always the cop, Steve thought with a smirk. Catching her small hand between his two larger ones, he reassured her, "It was something called Bromazepam...but the doctors flushed it out of you. Let me go get you some help. I'll be right back…I promise."

"No," she told him again, strengthening her hold on his hand and weakly pulling him back towards her, "I have to tell you…"

"Just let me get your dad…"

"Jack…" she murmured, licking her lips as she realized how dry her mouth was, "I talked to Jack."

"Jack who?" Steve asked gently, returning to her bedside as he lifted her head gently with one strong arm and brought a cup of water to her lips with the other.

After swallowing her first sip of water, Harper shook her head and refused the second sip he was offering before telling him, "Jack McGarrett…"

Her words stung and he had to push down the emotions that were welling up as he soothed her, "You were very close to death, Jimmy. Sometimes we see those who have gone before us…"

But she was shaking her head again and pushing the cup away. Grabbing his wrist with all of the strength she had in her, she said in a stronger voice, "He's not dead, Steve. I…"

"Jimmy, you were given a powerful drug that causes hallucinations," Steve told her gently, lowering her back onto the bed, "Let me get your doctor and she'll explain it to you. We've been so worried about you…"

"Steven," Harper whispered fiercely, meeting his gaze with a clear, powerful stare, "it wasn't a hallucination. Your father is alive."