Limitless
Pairing: McRoll
Briefly mentioned: Steve/Lynn
Based on Season 6, episode 25
Chapter one
Catherine Rollins's hotel room
Los Angles, California
It was around three in the afternoon and having been awake for 72 hours straight with very little sleep, all Catherine wanted to do when she walked into her hotel room was sleep, walking into her bedroom all bleary eyed, she laid down on the bed not even bothering to remove her shoes and fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. It had been a massive three days and she had just gotten back on home soil again after having been away for a few months overseas working a joint case with the CIA and the Los Angeles division of NCIS special projects team and she was now on leave for a couple of months which suited her fine.
Her body ached and she was coming down with something and so it was the perfect timing for her to take break and just let herself rest and heal.. It had been around seven months since she left Hawaii to work for the CIA and to say her heart was still broken after having left Steve was an understatement. The CIA hadn't given her a choice, they were gunning for Steve and anyone that got in their way which included the whole five-o team so when they offered this to her as a way of keeping Steve safe and out of harms way, she couldn't not take it..
There was nothing she wouldn't do for the man she loved, the only man she had ever loved, and while it was heartbreaking to hear those words from him that he couldn't wait anymore, she couldn't risk putting him in harms way if she backed out of the agreement she had made with the CIA.
It was a no brainer to her.. Give the CIA five years of service and then if she wanted to leave, she could leave with a promise that Steve, herself and the entire five-o taskforce was never to be bothered again. She broke the agreement and left or went UA at all during the five years and she would be reprimanded and the deal about keeping Steve and five-o safe was off the table..
This was why she couldn't tell Steve about it because she knew if he knew, he would have done anything and everything he could to get her out of it, and five years of her life for having Steve safe was worth it to her even if it meant she had to break both their hearts at the same time. Hopefully she would be able to turn things around later and find a way back into his heart.
One thing she hadn't counted on was a call only about a half an hour later which woke her from her slumber. She nearly didn't take the call except when she opened her eyes a tiny bit to look at her phone display, it was from Mary, Steve's sister. She and Mary had talked a few times since she left Steve, and though Mary wasn't happy with her and they had argued a bit to begin with, they were slowly getting back to a friendship and while part of her wanted to just sleep, she knew she didn't want to ignore Mary either.
Answering the call and putting the phone to her ear, "Hey Mare", her voice was sleepy and groggy at best and she blinked a few times to try to keep her eyes open. When Mary didn't answer her back, she called out to her, "Mare? You there?", at first she thought maybe Mary had butt dialled her by accident or maybe it was Joan but then she heard the crying as Mary tried to speak.. This got Catherine's attention and she bolted upright to a sitting position, "Mary, come on, talk to me, what's going on?"
Gulping back tears, Mary whispered in a low husky voice, filled with emotion, "Cath, You need to get to Hawaii.. It's Steve", Mary was already at the airport waiting with Joan for their flight to Hawaii, Kono had been the one to call Mary to let her know what had happened, and at first she wasn't too worried because Steve got himself into these predicaments all the time, it wasn't till Kono told her just how serious it was and how touch and go it was that she became anxious and scared.
It was like time stopped for a moment.. Her heart raced in her chest and while part of her wanted to believe that Mary was just being the emotional over cautious worrying sister, and worrying about nothing, the other part of her could sense straight away how serious it was. "Mary, what's going on.. what's happened to Steve?" Her mind was going into overdrive, was he dead? Or just injured, sick? She had a million thoughts in her mind, none of which were comforting thoughts at this moment.. "I don't know a lot.. I just know he was shot, and it's bad Cath, really bad.. Joan and I are on our way there now, we're at the airport.. You should get there as soon as you can".
When Mary had been told about Steve, they didn't know much at all, and so she couldn't tell Catherine about his liver being too damaged or Danny giving him half his liver because she didn't know any of that yet either. Her heart felt like it was about to stop, and she clung to her duvet with her free hand, "I've just got back stateside , I haven't even unpacked so I'll head straight to the airport now… Mary.. He will be fine, he is a survivor and he's strong".
She felt as much as she was saying that to Mary, she was trying to convince herself as well.. They said their goodbyes and she hung up the phone, standing up, she felt weak and dizzy and she was fighting to keep her breakfast and lunch that she had on the flight down, but a moment later, she ran into the bathroom and promptly threw up the entire contents of her stomach, the tears stinging her eyes as she struggled too breath knowing a panic attack was coming on, so once she flushed the toilet and washed her face, she stood at the sink, holding both sides of it with her hands as she took deep long breathes, till her breathing evened out once more.
Knowing that she might not have a lot of time, she decided she would unravel later on when she was in Hawaii but for now, she had a mission and that mission was to get back to Steve.. She knew through Mary that he had met someone but Mary had stressed it was casual and that she hadn't even met her yet, but right now, she wasn't thinking about this other woman. She just knew the love of her life was in trouble and she needed to be here with him..
Picking up her bags, and her keys and wallet, she walked out of her house and locked it up, getting into her car and driving as fast as she could to LAX where she was hoping she could get an immediate flight to Hawaii, even if she had to pay for first class, she didn't care.. She just needed to be home right now and there for Steve when he woke up.
