Right here waiting

Pairing: McRoll

Based on Season 9, episode 12.

Chapter fourteen

Walking through the door of Danny's house, Steve couldn't help but smile when little Charlie ran right over to Catherine and held his hands up and before she did anything else, she stood to attention and saluted Charlie with a smile on her face "Lieutenant Rollins and Lieutenant Commander McGarrett at your service Sir", Steve smiling wider as he watched Charlie salute back and then she easily lifted him up into her arms and nestled him onto her hip. Adam, Tani, Junior, Lou, Mary, Joan and the rest of the team as well as Tani's brother Koa, and of course Flippa and Kamekona were there to lend a helping hand.

"So what would you like us to do Charlie?, she addressed the boy in her arms before he wriggled a little to be let down and she obliged, letting him down into his feet and smiled, "Maybe you and Uncle Steve could blow up some balloons, Uncle Adam is helping me with the banner for Grace, and Aunty Tani and Aunty Noelani are setting up Grace's room so she can move around a bit easier, and then Uncle Kami and Uncle Flippa are making the food for the party". Steve came over and smiled, patting the little boy on his back, "Sounds good to me.. Let's get to work, Danny sent me a text saying they should be here in about an hour or so, they are just stopping in to visit with Katie who is still in hospital and thankfully is on her way to recovery as well".

With that they began dividing up tasks and getting things done, Steve and Catherine had brought her Grace a get well soon recovery basket with all kinds of fun things, magazines, crossword puzzles, dvds, books, chocolate and some flowers along with some necessities like some bath bombs and bubble bath so she could have a nice relaxing bath when everyone had gone home. They set that up in her room, and most everyone else had brought her a gift too.. Most of them brought her a gift at the hospital but they also didn't want her to get bored at home either so had brought another gift or two to keep her occupied while she was recovery as well.

"So, Steve told me what you and he did for Grace, finding the guy who was harassing her and Katie", addressing Lou while they had a minute alone outside tying on the patio tying balloons together. She knew that though Steve and Lou had a rough start, they had become really close and when she got wind of Steve's accident where he nearly died when he was shot in that plane, it was Lou that had found her and contacted her about it.. She also knew he was a mess as well.. "Yeah, well.. I feel like she is family after knowing Danny for so long and her and Will have been dating a while now.. I also know what it's like to have a daughter and have that fear of not knowing where she is".

Nodding her head, she didn't understand being a parent as she wasn't one but at the same time, she knew what it was like to be an Aunty.. She felt close to Grace and Joan as the girls had grown up through the years, and wanted the same relationship with Charlie too, "You know Lou.. I wanna thank you for being there for Steve when I couldn't.. I really appreciate it.. I know both you and Danny are protective of him, and are wary about me coming in and out of his life like this all the time, but I want to assure you Lou", she stopped what she was doing for a moment and looked at him, taking a breath in.. "I love Steve, and I plan on doing right by him.. I have another year on this contract and then I'm out for good".

Sighing softly, he nodded his own head, taking in her words, and resting his hand on her arm for a moment.. "I know you think Danny and I have something against you, but just so you know.. We just want to see you both happy.. We love both of you and just want to see this work out between you both.. When I met Steve, he was willing to take out the SWAT team including myself to get you back and I think as pissed off as I was about that, I knew for a man to take that kind of risk, he must love you and that to me said a lot about who he is as a man and I respect him for that".

She smiled as she recalled how fired up he was about it the night he wrote up that formal complaint against Grover, and now she watched the two of them, Danny and Steve would always be like brother's but she was glad that Steve had Lou in his corner now as well.. "I remember both of you being pretty pissed off about how that all went down.. He was so fired up when he wrote that offical letter of complaint to the Governor, but look at you both now.. You both got through it, and I remember the night you called me when Steve and Danny were in surgery, and you were in tears.. I never thought I would have heard the moment you cried over the thought of losing him". She teared up a little again herself recalling the memory. "That's how I knew it was serious.. Hearing you cry and I knew in that moment that I had to get back to Hawaii as soon as possible".

"Look Catherine, I don't pretend to be upset over the fact that my man was in a lot of pain when you left just after Kono and Adam's wedding..I mean hell we all thought the next wedding we would go to would be the two of you, I also know there was more to it then what met the eye and you have my wife to thank for that.. She showed me that there was two sides to the story, and that I shouldn't be so quick to judge you for leaving". She smiled and reached for his hand, squeezing, "Thank you so much Lou, There is a lot more to it then meets the eye and there is a reason why I joined up with an agency I knew Steve hated, and that is a much longer story and when I am ready to tell it, I want Steve to be the first one to hear it".

As Steve was helping Adam and Charlie put the sign up, he caught a glimpse of Lou and Catherine talking and he smiled, he knew they had some issues to work out, mainly on Lou's end.. Both he and Danny were angry on Steve's behalf that Catherine had left him again, but seeing them sitting together and talking, it made him feel happier.. Apart from Danny, Lynn never really interacted with any of the rest of the team and the reason for that was Steve didn't feel comfortable introducing her to anyone else.. Danny and Amber and Steve and Lynn only went on double dates or that double holiday because Amber and Lynn had grown close and had set it all up for them.. Catherine was apart of the team, she knew them all apart from Junior and Tani and she seemed to get on well with them the first time they had met as well.

Lou nodded in understanding, "Well, I'll certainly be around when you are ready to talk to the team about it all.. You know Catherine.. if you ever need to talk, or anything.. Renee and I are only a phone call away, and I'm sure Rachel as well, and even Tani.. We're all here for you too.. We're all friends.. and I think that's why we were all upset as well.. It wasn't just Steve you left.. It was all of us..". That was something she hadn't considered before, and it tugged at her heart strings when Lou said it wasn't just Steve you left, it was all of us.. She didn't have many close friends and she automatically thought if her and Steve broke up, none of them would want to be in her life anymore because they were Steve's friends, but now she was beginning to realise they were her friends as well.. It was why she had attended Kono's wedding, Kono was the only one she really kept in touch with as when she first met Steve's team not long after he was given the taskforce, Kono was the only woman on the team and her and Catherine really bonded being the only women surrounded by men.

Before anymore conversations could be had, Steve spoke up, "Hold up everyone.. We just about done? Danny just sent me a text, they are leaving the hospital now which means they will only be about another twenty minutes or so". The whole party nodded that they were nearly done and got to work finishing the rest setting up the house.. Lou stood up to help with getting the food done but before he left Catherine where she was, he patted her on the shoulder to know they were good.. As painful as it was for her to make that realisation, she knew she had to make things right with everyone else.. and keep in touch with them all.. Before she left again, she would make sure she had all their contact numbers, social medial profiles and emails so she could keep in contact with her friends..

After reading them out a five minute warning text, Steve came over to Catherine and put his arm around her shoulder, "You okay?", he asked seeing her looking a little glum all of a sudden.. Smiling reassuring him, she nodded her head, before leaning her head on his shoulder, "I'm good.. Just something Lou mentioned, made me realise I didn't just hurt you by leaving, so I just gotta start making things right with my friends I left behind", he leaned in and kissed her softly, "They all love you Cath, I promise they do.. Now.. let's just enjoy welcoming home Gracie and then tonight we can spend one more night together before you have to head off", her body shivering softly at the way he whispered those words into her ear.. "Make sure you give me a good proper send off Sailor.. I want to feel you for days and remember it for weeks and months".

He chuckled softly, "Ohh I will be Lieutenant, don't you worry about that", he whispered back, and then the whole party went quiet as they heard Danny, Rachel and Grace pull up in the car, his heart filled with happiness knowing that Grace was going to be okay and that he had his girl back, he might not have her back for much longer but he could wait a year, it was just a year and he could do it.. They had gone longer than that apart before.. and then she would be back to him.

Author's Notes.

This story was meant to be just a short little thing where Steve called Catherine during a crisis and she came but now it is so much more, and I love it.. It has taken so much time to get here to chapter fourteen but it's been an amazing ride so far.. During this chapter, I revealed how in my version Lou rang Catherine when Steve was in real serious danger of dying if he didn't get a new liver.. I always hated how Catherine wasn't there, or even the end where they were reading the get well cards, they didn't read one from her, so I think at some point, I will go back, watch that episode and then do a version that goes along as a companion with my other Winds of change/one for sorrow versions and write where she came back because there was too much between them for not anyone to find a way to get in touch with her even if it was through Joe White who was alive at the time still. I also think his mother, sister, niece and Joe would have found a way to be there as well, so I will include them as well.

I know that Kono and Chin were still there and one of them could have rang her but I felt that after season 8 where Catherine comes back in episode twenty where she tracks down a Uranium deposit and Steve and Lou were making those faces at each other as Catherine briefed them that Lou had an issue with Catherine and not that he hated her but that he was being protective of Steve and also the fact that he was upset that he and the rest of the team were basically ghosted as well.. She said goodbye to Steve but to no one else, and I think that hurt them all a lot and I just think that despite that, out of all of them, Lou would've been the one to think about Catherine at that moment knowing that if it was him, he would want one of his team mates to find his wife and family and inform them of what was going on.

Thank you for all your support and love.. It's you guys that make me want to keep going on these when I don't feel up to it.. I may take breaks from time to time, but I genuinely love getting these chapters up and feeling a lot of pride and fulfilment when a chapter is done or a story is near completion. I was going to end this once it got to the end of the episode where Grace comes home but who knows.. I might keep going with it for a while, and have her keep in contact with the team and her Ohana in Hawaii. The next chapter will be from the moment Grace, Danny and Rachel walk in the door.

SteveMcGarrettLover:

Thank you, I am so glad you liked it, and I am sorry it's taken so long to update this one, but I hope you really like it.

Aloha50:

Thank you so much, I am sorry it's taken a while to get this update done, I have been battling with writers block and just being busy in general, so I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.