Two days later, Steve and Catherine are headed for China, after having obtained Greer's location from Hassan. Once Steve had told him that she was the real culprit for his father's death, he'd been more than willing to share the location of her hideout with his apparent enemy, with the promise that she would either be captured or killed. As it turns out, killed it was, at the hands of Catherine, as Steve wouldn't have been able to pull the trigger. He feels a gigantic weight being lifted out of him, at the sight of Greer lying on the floor, dead. Now he has truly avenged Joe's death and the death of his SEAL Morocco team. However, he also feels sad that it all had to come to this. The loss of a life is never a motive for joy and he did have feelings for Greer, at some point in the past. How sad that a death had to be claimed to settle another death. Or a few. He's glad he put a stop to the never ending cycle his SEAL team had started, when they had captured Hassan's father.
Back at the Military airbase, in Montana, the group disbands after saying their goodbyes. Wade Gutches gets on his bike to get back to his retirement, not before gifting Steve with wise words of "finding a good woman and settling down", and how proud he is of him, much like Joe had, in the past. Steve thanks him for his help and support throughout the mission. Junior and Danny busy themselves with transferring all their gear to the car that'll take them to the plane headed for Hawai'i, all the while giving Steve and Catherine some privacy to say their goodbyes. Danny knows Steve is suffering with her impending departure; he's seen it in his brother's eyes and it pains him that this woman still has this much power over him. His consolation is that soon, Catherine will be nothing more than a memory, again; fond for Steve, regrettable for Danny. He really resents her for everything that happened in the past and hates that she keeps showing up in his brother's life, to unbalance him. He watches from afar, as Steve turns to Catherine, a look of sadness suddenly assaulting his features.
"Hey." He knows this is it, but he doesn't want it to be. He so wishes she was coming home with him. That she wasn't about to get into a car and disappear again, in a puff of smoke, from his life. But he says nothing, because he can't forget that she was the one who left.
"Hey." She prepares for her goodbyes, made so much more difficult by the time they spent together, rekindling their friendship and remembering the life they had together. She so wishes that he would ask her to go back home, with him. But she knows that wish is mere sea foam, bound to disintegrate with the next wave and that he has a girlfriend at home, waiting for him.
"So, what's next for you?" He goes on, as if he doesn't know. But he really wants to delay this moment forever.
"Uh, back to the grind, you know… protecting the homeland, chasing bad guys, yadayadayada…." There's no point in sugarcoating it. You get to go home, to your Ohana, I get to go chase criminals around the world.
"Thank you so much, Catherine. We couldn't have pulled this off without you." She knows. She wishes he was thanking her for coming as soon as she heard, for making him dinner, for reassuring him after a nightmare, for holding his hand at Joe's funeral. But all those small things will forever remain buried in their collective memory, not meant to be spoken of again. They will stay behind, in Montana.
"He was a great man, Steve. We both owe him a lot." Save face, Catherine.
"You still don't know, huh?" Steve thinks he may as well tell her how important Joe was in bringing the two of them together.
"What do you mean?" 'What is there to know'?
"Joe wasn't just my mentor. A father figure. He brought you into my life, Catherine."
As he explains, Catherine can clearly remember receiving that phone call. She loves the small story about Joe and silently thanks him for his hand in how events had turned out. Getting emotional, sad for how they are no longer together, at present, tears spring to her eyes, as Steve pulls her into a hug.
"I'm really glad you took his advice."
"I am, too."
"You take care of yourself, okay?"
"You, too, kid."
"Hey. Till next time."
As he contemplates her retreating figure, he really wishes she wasn't getting into that car and driving away. Steve's expression is one of sorrow and regret; he now knows, better than ever before, that Catherine is the right woman. But he can't bring himself to tell her that.
Still sad, Catherine gets in the car and dries her tears, before looking back at Steve, waving. She puts the car in gear and does a U-turn, quickly driving out of the airport and into the main road. Two miles ahead, no longer able to control the flow of tears, Catherine pulls over and breaks down crying. She's only now starting to feel the real weight of the roller coaster of emotions she went through, during the month she spent with Steve. She wonders how she'll be able to get back to her sterile life and not miss everything about her time in Montana. Suddenly, her job has lost a lot of its appeal.
But, as life often is, surprising, his phone call had come out of the blue, and the past 3 weeks had been eye opening. And left her heart completely exposed, daring her to have thoughts, fantasies and desires that had long been buried so deep, she couldn't even remember where they were coming from, a surprise. The fact that, out of everyone in his Ohana, he had chosen her, and her alone, to be here, spoke volumes. She understood and rationalized the former friend/Navy connection to Joe, but she also knew there was a lot more to it, and it had almost nothing to do with her logistical and combat skills and connections. She wondered if she wasn't the only one who could fully understand what he was going through, and represented a different kind of comfort – the kind you don't need to attach words to, and mitigates pain by a mere look or hug.