I'm back! Sorry for the delay...life was crazier than expected. Thanks so much for your patience and words of encouragement.

I had originally planned to have this chapter be an interrogation chapter as Harper briefed the 5-0 team on what had happened to her. But since I didn't post for so long, I thought that an emotional chapter should mark my triumphant return instead. So the chapter that I cut out has Harper telling the gang and her family about Jack (and most of them not believing her) and how she escaped, etc. That's all you missed, but you know it all anyway. It's one of those times it pays to have the readers know more than the characters!

So, I hope this chapter is worth the wait...

Chapter Twenty Seven

"Spend all your time waiting for that second chance, for the break that will make it ok. There's always some reason to feel "not good enough" and it's hard at the end of the day. I need some distraction, oh beautiful release as memories seep from my veins. They may be empty and weightless, and maybe I'll find some peace tonight…

In the arms of the Angels, fly away from here. From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear. You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie You're in the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort here."

~Sarah McLachlan

Honolulu Medical Center, a few hours later…

Harper struggled to pull the sticky-with-sweat hospital gown over her head, but the sodden cotton clung to her skin, its reluctance to leave her person lasting until the last fiber was torn from her body. She dropped the wadded fabric to the tiled floor where it landed with a soggy 'plop'. Leaving the gown where it had fallen, she pulled back the curtain of the hospital bathroom shower where she intended to stand under the spray until her skin fell off. Stepping gingerly on her not-yet-fully-healed ankle, the detective all but collapsed into the huge shower, turning the water on as hot as her bruised skin could stand it.

The scorching water hit her body mercilessly and she was thankful for it. It was damn near scalding, but she was past caring. She wanted it to burn. She wanted it to hurt.

Bracing her arms against the shower walls and locking her elbows, the detective allowed her head to drop forward on her neck and the steaming water seared down her naked back. Hissing through her teeth as various cuts and tender flesh were aggravated by the heat, she reached for the shower gel and lathered a week's worth of sweat and grime from her body.

If only washing Wo Fat away were going to be so easy…

Or Jack.

"Be quiet. Be quiet, or he'll kill you!"

"I'm John McGarrett, Vietnam War vet and detective with the Honolulu PD. Husband of Anna, father of Steven and Mary Ann…"

"I remember your wedding day. I was there. It was on the beach in Mexico. Just you and Steve, the priest, a handful of friends, Mary and me. You wore a simple white dress, no shoes, and had an orchid in your hair. It was the reddest hair I had ever seen…"

"He hides behind the walls. He watches all the time. I don't think he ever sleeps."

"I would only be a burden to you. Go without me!"

"You can do it, Harper! I know you can do it! Now, run! Go!"

The first of her sobs felt like a release. All the ones after that felt like guilt and failure. But Harper couldn't seem to stop. At first she made no sound, but soon her weeping grew in intensity, until she started to shake, taking in great gasps of air.

She had left Jack behind.

With a killer.

A killer that she had angered by escaping.

Sobs wracked her bruised and beaten body as she felt her former father-in-law's sorrow, his grief. She experienced his pain as if a knife had been plunged into her back. Her breath came in ragged gasps. Her heart felt like it was going to rip out of her chest. Her world disappeared into a shroud of blackness as Harper helplessly slid down the tiled wall and settled on the shower floor. She wept with her knees drawn up and her arms wrapped around them.

She sat curled up under the stream of water for what seemed like hours, her bare back against the cold tile wall. She didn't care. She lay her head on her knees and shook slightly as she continued to cry. For the loss of innocence and the breaking of her own heart.

"Harper, Danny wants to ask you some questions when you're-…"

She didn't hear Steve enter her hospital room and she certainly didn't hear the panic in his voice when he realized she wasn't there and called out for her again.

"Jimmy?"

Within seconds, he was in the small adjoining bathroom pulling back the shower curtain. And there he found her…pitifully curled in a sobbing ball on the floor of the shower. But she didn't care. It was her lowest moment and even her tall, handsome ex-husband couldn't take it from her.

And he didn't even try.

Not bothering to look up at him, she tried to explain quietly, "I tried so hard not cry in that horrible place…"

"Cry now," he told her through the emotional lump lodge in his throat and then whispered, "I promise not to tell."

Without saying another word, Steve turned off the spray of water and stepped into the shower, fully clothed, as he settled himself down next to her…easing himself beside her to murmur quiet nothings of comfort into her ear. The Commander pulled her closer to his strong body and wrapped her in his embrace. She laid her head on his chest and tried to calm her sobs. But it was no use. They were sobs of pure grief and would not be calmed by his intimate embrace or the force of her strong will.

He held her for a few more moments and then she felt his hand on her chin, forcing her head up. Steve McGarrett's handsome face was so close to hers and his hand remained under her chin, warming her skin.

"Jimmy, it's okay," he said softly. She did not respond immediately and so he repeated. "It's okay. You're safe now. It's all over..."

Slowly, Harper grew calmer as she looked into his bright blue eyes. She had a focus; something to distract her from the grief that seemed to be overwhelming her. Her sobs ceased, and her breathing returned to normal.

At that point, Steve stood up and in one fluid motion picked up the wet and disheveled woman in his strong and capable arms. He had done it so many times before…gallantly carrying her over the threshold on their wedding night and on so many nights afterward, teasingly swooping her up while playing on the beach in San Diego, and even angrily lifting her off her feet once in the middle of an argument.

But this time was different. This time she was vulnerable and he had to exercise extreme caution.

Steve was as soaked as she was, but he didn't care. Carrying her out to the hospital bed, he laid her gently on the clean, white sheets and then returned to the bathroom to get some towels and a clean gown. Harper sat up, never saying a word, and allowed him to tenderly dress her as he pretended not to notice the angry bruises that covered her soft and supple skin. Once she was dressed, he carefully towel dried her hair and she didn't protest.

But she watched him the entire time. She never took her green eyes off of him.

Finally, she whispered quietly, "I'm sorry, Steve."

"For what?"

"I left him behind," Harper answered softly, "I left your dad behind…"

"Jimmy…" he whispered, his voice trailing when he realized she wasn't even listening to him.

"I tried to find him," she continued, staring up at him with those eyes. But they weren't flashing fire at him anymore…they were blank, void of any emotion at all. "But it was dark and I couldn't see. I called out for him, but Wo Fat broke his legs. He told me to go on without him and to bring back help. But I didn't know where I was. I can't tell you where to find him because I don't know where I was…"

She paused to let out a sob, deep and overwhelming and completely unexpected. He realized at that moment that she absolutely believed everything that she was saying. The emotion in her voice startled him…she was actually trying to get him to forgive her for not saving a man who had died over a year ago.

"I left him behind," Harper cried, allowing the tears to splash onto her newly dried cheeks, "I didn't think. He just told me to run, so I did. It was all so green and I didn't know where I was…the drugs. The drugs made me dizzy, so I ran and ran and I heard Wo Fat shouting behind me and…I left Jack behind!"

She had worked herself into another frenzy of emotions. But that wasn't what Steve was worried about. Because in the midst of her tirade, Steve had heard something else. Something far worse than the confused ramblings of a woman who had just traveled to the pits of Hell and back.

He heard defeat in her voice.

Wo Fat had beaten her.

And Steve wasn't about to let that happen.

If Steve McGarrett knew anything at all about his ex-wife, it was that she had always been unconscious of the feelings she inspired in those around her. One of the things he noticed right away was that he had never seen any one person inspire such loyalty in those that cared about her...from her family to her friends to her partner to her squad of detectives. Hell, even his team was treating her like one of the family from day one. But he also knew that Harper Elizabeth James had no desire to have windows made into her soul, and fled from those who would try. After the many battles of the heart she had fought over the years, she had learned to fear those who could see into the hearts of others. She feared their sight almost as much as she feared their protection.

But that wasn't going to stop him from offering her some comfort.

"Look at me, Jimmy."

His tone was like the one her father always used when he was about to teach her a lesson and the redheaded detective instinctively knew to obey that voice.

"You're the best damn cop I've ever met…"

"Don't patronize me," she interrupted, stubbornly. "Your father is alive and I left him behind. Why are you so calm about this?"

"Jimmy, I…"

"You don't believe me," Harper whispered suddenly, her eyes widening in horror. "The team is not out there looking for him…"

She was on the verge of getting hysterical again and Steve knew this was not the time to argue with her. So he took both of her cold, shaking hands in his and told her, "We're canvassing the area. Danny, Chin, and Kono are going to find him."

"But I…"

He suddenly had enough. She was so damn hard headed…which was exactly what made her such a good cop. But she was going to obsess about this hallucination of his father until it drove them both insane. So Steve changed the conversation…

"You won, Jimmy! You won!" He told her forcefully, looking her straight in the eye and daring her to look away from him, "Don't you see that? Wo Fat sent his goons into your room and took you when you were at your most vulnerable. He locked you in a cage! But you won! You called out even though he warned you not to. You escaped even though he tried to chase you. You survived even though he tried to kill you. You remembered…everything…even though your pysche tried to block it all out. You won, Jimmy! You won! Don't let him take that away from you. Ever."

"But your dad…"

She was holding onto that story so tightly…like a lifeline. Why wouldn't she let it go?

"We will find him," he repeated urgently, playing along for both of their sakes, "I promise."

Harper nodded slowly and he watched the truth of his words begin to seep in. Without thinking twice, Steve climbed onto the hospital bed with her and pulled her close again. The detective surprised herself by sliding into the warmth of her ex-husband's embrace. They lay there in each other's arms for a few moments in the dark and Harper began to replay the horrifying events in her mind again. Her feelings overwhelmed her and she found her voice suddenly betray her heart, as she whispered into the darkness, "He locked me in a cage."

Steve's arms involuntarily tightened his embrace around her as she continued softly, "He was using me to get to you. And then he was going to kill me."

"I know."

"He took me from my room and locked me in a cage," she whispered, unknowingly breaking his already frazzled heart into a million more pieces. Steve waited patiently for her to continue, knowing that there were still words left unspoken.

And soon he was rewarded.

"He came into my hotel room and there wasn't a thing I could do about it. For my entire career, I have been able to outrun, outshoot, outwit and outmaneuver everyone who stood in my way. But this time…when it really mattered…I couldn't even protect myself." Looking up at him she asked, "Would you still trust me to have your back out in the field?"

"Yes."

His sudden and simple answer unnerved her. He didn't even have to think about it.

The room lapsed into silence again before Steve told her quietly, "Deep down, everyone wants to believe they can be hardcore. But being hardcore isn't just about being tough - it's about acceptance. Sometimes you have to give yourself permission to not be hardcore for once. You don't have to be tough every minute of every day. It's okay to let down your guard. In fact, there are moments when it's the best thing you can possibly do - as long as you choose your moments wisely."

"Is this one of those moments?"

She sounded like a little girl, so unsure of herself. This was a side that not many people got to see of Harper James. A side of her that she had kept hidden from him for so long, to the point that it contributed to the breakup of their marriage. But now she was giving him complete access. To her weakest moment. She trusted him with it. She trusted him not to take advantage of it or exploit it. She simply trusted him…period.

And Steve was unable to resist.

His face came ever closer and soon the warmth of his lips met the cold, wetness of her own. The heat generated from his kiss consumed her and was hotter than any fire she had ever been near. She melted deeper into him, his arms wrapping around her slight frame and pulling her closer. Her arms found their way around his neck and her fingers were lost in the darkness of his hair. A low moan escaped his lips as they ravaged hers.

Harper could feel herself slipping, into what she did not know. She knew all too well that Commander Steven John McGarrett was a man who would end up breaking her heart, and her heart could not contain another wound. But he had been binding her to him since they had reunited…with every kind word, every piercing glance…and she felt herself sinking. She did not know how much further she could sink without harm. But still, she could not pull away from his embrace and the warmth it brought to her frozen body and spirit.

Harper didn't know what might have happened next, for it was Steve who pulled away from their embrace. It was a move that surprised them both. She looked up into his eyes, which were dark with desire as he said, "Not here. Not like this. You've been through too much…"

The beautiful redhead regarded him with tired eyes and a newfound respect. She knew how much resolve it must have taken for him to pull away from her kiss, yet allow her to remain in his arms.

"Thank you, Steven." she whispered.

It was the first time in a long time when she hadn't used his first name sarcastically or out of anger.

"For what?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her more firmly into his embrace. He gently kissed her temple as she answered quietly.

"For being here." Harper whispered, her eyelids fluttering closed as she began to drift off to sleep.

It didn't take long for his Jimmy-girl to drift off to sleep, but now it was Steve who was wide awake. The intimate embrace they shared that night was going to lead them back to a dangerous place. A place ruled by emotions...a place they had basically destroyed all those years ago.

"I should have let her grieve in peace. Alone in silence, as she wished. But to have left her on that shower floor, heartbroken and vulnerable, was impossible."

The Commander tried to shake that nagging thought out of his head, concentrating only on trying not to enjoy the feeling of his ex-wife sleeping in his arms. It transported him back to another time…an easier, happier time.

He hadn't had any words to comfort her, just reminders of the harsh truth of their profession. But she hadn't needed words, just him, and what he could provide. He had wanted to be strong for her. But the truth was that her tears had broken his heart and he had only held himself together because he knew she needed him to.

Harper Elizabeth James was a woman who made it clear that she didn't need anyone. But that night, she needed him. And nothing in either of their lives was ever going to be the same again.