A.N.: all dialogue in the flashback is from season 5 episode 12. I do not own the rights to this or any of the Hawaii 5-0 characters. Any quotes from the show I do not own, I make nothing off of this fanfic.

Steve's POV

Steve was just returning to the palace from a case that he was working on. Due to the nature of the case, he was very well caught up in his emotions and dealing with the grief this case brought to him. Each photo that he had seen, each victim that he saw as he flipped through the photo rings at the predator's house, each face brought on a new wave of tears and strong emotions. Emotions he was not used to feeling. Things like love, sadness, disgust, and frustration. All those kids that went missing and no one did anything about it. It took the father of the predator to attempt to put his own son down and incidentally Steve ended up putting him down for good. But that didn't absolve steve of what he was feeling for each victim. He was glad he was the only member of the team to come across this monster and his work, but that didn't mean he wouldn't need help notifying all of the families of these children that had been killed. Steve picked up his phone and pressed 2 for speed dial.

"Hey, Babe. What's...?" Danny answered on the second ring.

"Danny, I can't believe this, how could HPD not bring a case to our attention when they couldn't solve it?" Steve started out talking before Danny could even finish his greeting.

"Slow down Babe, what are you talking about?" Danny asked as he sat down on his couch.

"Danny, today has been a day from hell, I got shot at, locked in a barber shop, dealt with the Armenian mob, almost got killed again, then find out the victim I'm trying to keep alive today was a predator, he kidnapped and killed kids Danny. I even went to his secret hideout to verify it and I found his photobooks, he recorded each murder." Steve let the damn break and by the time he was done explaining to Danny, his voice had broken.

Danny sat there taking everything in and listening to his partner. He knew that it was bad if his partner was being this vulnerable. Danny could hear it in Steve's voice, his partner was suffering, and he had been hurt.

"Why did you do that without me? Without even telling me? Huh?" Danny automatically went on the defense and asked his partner, he was mad that his partner was trying to do this without him, his partner was hurting because he thought he had to do this horrible thing alone.

Steve didn't have an answer to his questions at the moment he just let himself be vulnerable to the one person he trusted with his life.

"Hey Babe, come over to the house, or I'll come to yours, your choice and we can talk about this or just have a few beers." Danny offered, knowing that he would meet Steve wherever and be there for his friend at that moment.

"My place, please if you don't mind. Bring a go bag too?" Steve hated asking him to do that because he knew that with the nightmares that would probably plague him tonight he would need the company.

"No problem babe, be there soon," Danny said as he hung up the phone and went to grab his gear. He knew what this could mean so he packed for a few days.

Steve was packing his belongings into his bag when he grabbed his phone from the desk, noticing that he had a voicemail. Not realizing he missed a call, he checked his call log and saw a number from the mainland. He then called his voicemail to listen.

"Good Evening, I mean Good Morning, My name is Sage Scott, and I'm a social worker with the Department of Child and Family Services. I'm looking to speak with Commander Steve McGarrett. Please call me back as soon as possible." They left their number and then hung up.

"A social worker? Why would a social worker be contacting me? He thought to himself as he listened to the voicemail again.

After a moment of contemplation, he called Sage back.

Sage looked at her clock at home reading it saying 9 pm but noticed the number was private. She had been waiting for a call from a family member for one of her cases. She picked up the phone.

"Hello?" she answered, she never gave away too much information until she knew who she was talking with.

"Yes, is this Ms. Scott?" Steve cleared his throat after hearing that it was hoarse.

"Yes, this is may I ask who it is I am speaking to?" Sage asked professionally.

"Steve McGarrett, Leader of Five-O." Steve pauses for a moment. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

"Hello Mr. McGarrett, My name is Sage Scott and I work with DCFS. Do you know of someone by the name of Heather McGarrett?" she asked patiently.

"My Half Sister. Yes, I'm aware. What's the issue?"

"Well I'm sorry to have to relay this information but your half-sister passed away 9 months ago." Sage broke the news to him, as gently as possible.

Silence. What seems like a moment of silence stretches into infinity, as the voice of Sage becomes muffled.

"She's dead? And why am I finding out now?" "What happened? How? When? Where?" all these questions started surrounding him. He sat back down in his chair at his desk.

Sage gave Steve a few minutes to let this information sink in before she began her explanation of things.

"I do apologize for the ill response and timing of everything, but it wasn't until recently that we were made aware that Heather had any family. We had no one to ask, and when we asked the neighbors, they didn't know of any. She passed from liver failure. She has a 12-year-old daughter. It wasn't until her daughter was going through her things at her house that we found a yellow envelope with your information in it. It instructed us to call you if something ever happened to her. Her daughter is named Saraya McGarrett, she is a child on my caseload who was placed into emergency foster care after being removed from her father's care for abuse and neglect."

Again Sage's voice was muffled as she continued explaining things, so many questions were floating through Steve's head that he had to force himself to actively pull himself away from the emotions and just listen to the woman on the phone, he could deal with all of this later.

"While we were going through Heather's things we found your name and number and a message that if anything had happened we were to contact you. Again I do apologize that it has taken this long. I want to speak to you about possibly taking in your niece Saraya. Her current foster placement isn't the best and we are running out of options outside of a lockdown type of group home for her soon if this does not work out." Sage spoke leaving no tone to be argued with and all business now.

Steve comes to his senses as she explains Saraya and her current predicament.

"So, you need me to take care of her?" Steve asks for clarification.

"If you don't feel like you can or you won't we will have no other choice than to move her to a more secure facility. She has endured very much in the last 9 months and from what I am being told it also happened when she was a younger girl as well. It is my professional opinion that when we see cases like this that if the child can be placed with a loving family, things will turn around and look up for the child, and there are fewer behavior issues and run-ins with other unsavory types of people. The child also heals better as well. So would you be willing to consider it?" Sage asked hopefully for the young girl's recovery. She had high hopes for Saraya and didn't want her to end up in the system for long.

"I would need some assistance, I have no idea how to parent a child." He admits as he started feeling a familiar pull. One that brought back memories.

Flashback:

Steve walked into his office, he was in a hurry because Duke had called and said they had caught the person who stole his car that morning while he was running with Grace. When he walked into his office he observed a person hunched over in one of the chairs in front of his desk. Steve chose to stay standing and perched himself up on the corner of his desk facing the perp. He took in the frame and dirty clothes of the young person in front of him.

"What's your name?" Steve asked sternly.

"Nahele Huikala, sir" The young man looks up crying silently. He is dressed in tethered clothes and is covered in sand and dirt.

"Well, I'm going to have to call your parents now," Steve says as he gets up off the desk and heads to the phone.

"My mom's dead and my dad's in prison," Nahele says as he continues to cry quietly.

Steve puts the phone down. "When is the last time you had something to eat?" he asks with a concerning look on his face, one that he notices that Duke is also sharing.

"I don't know sir," Nahele says quietly.

Steve walks over to Duke and hands him some money. "Go get him something to eat and some clean clothes, once he's eaten see that he gets cleaned up."

"Well do Commander," Duke says as he pockets the money.

Nahele apologizes, "I'm sorry, I've never stolen anything, I needed money I was hungry."

"Slow down it's ok, calm down, I'm gonna help you," Steve says quietly as he puts a hand on Nahele's shoulder as he sits down in the chair next to him.

"How long have you lived on the streets?" Steve questioned with a less stern voice.

"A few months, after my mother died, the state tried to put me in a foster home, I couldn't stay there so I ran away," Nahele answered as honestly as he could.

"Well, you can stay with me for a while at least while we fix the car you stole from me," Steve said again firmly.

"Yes sir," Nahele spoke quietly, at least he wasn't going to juvie.

End Flashback

Steve again came back to the present time and had to focus on listening to the woman on the phone.

"Well there are many resources that we can offer help with, I am sure that wouldn't be a problem. I would also think a man with your reputation would have a support system that you might be able to lean on." Sage spoke as if she could see Steve right now.

" Is there anything you would like to know about the ward you are considering taking in?" Sage asked as she signed, she thought to herself, maybe this wasn't the right person for the girl as she had hoped this would be great for her, but his man seemed a bit aloof.

"Yes absolutely, please tell me all that you know. I need to know as much as I can." Steve started typing on his computer as Sage started out telling him about his niece.

"Her name is Saraya Leilani McGarrett, born August 17, 2010. Her mother was Heather, there was no father listed on the birth certificate but through DNA testing we found her father to be Dexter Mclaughlin. She is 12 years old. She is fluent in multiple fighting styles, hence the reasoning for the possible protective care facility. She is smart, she will start the 7th grade in August or September. She loves to read, do community service, work on automobiles and hang with her friends. What else would you like to know? Sage asked.

"What about her history? Do you know what she's dealt with?"

"When she came into the foster care system it was because she was taken into the hospital by a teacher. There were abuse allegations against her father that seemed to have been proven. Thus how she ended up in foster care. Before the allegations were made, and before her mother's untimely death, she lived with her and said she was there when her mother passed away. From what I can tell, she has had quite the hard life in the last year." Sage explained.

Steve finished typing up the last bit of information that was given to him. He had felt the same pull he was feeling now when he had decided to take in Nahele. Without a doubt, he knew that he would be agreeing to take in his niece. Steve hit the print button.

"When would this all take place if I were to agree?" Steve asked so that he could start making arrangements, he wanted this done as fast as possible even if he himself would have to pull a few strings.

"You would need to become a registered foster parent in Hawaii, you would need to pass all the pre-requisite things, background checks, home placement checks, all things that I see no issue with. Then you would need to come over to the mainland and meet Saraya and see if you all are going to be compatible. There will be a few court hearings, and then we could get her over to you on the island, all in all, if everything goes smoothly you could have her there on the island in 90-120days. " Sage explained to him.

Steve again started typing on his computer and found the information he was needing, "I will do whatever it takes to bring her to her family. Please tell her she isn't alone and that I will be there as soon as I can" Steve said hoping that he could expedite the process at least from this side of things.

"Thank you, Commander McGarrett. I will let her know as soon as you have been cleared. Have a good night." Sage spoke happily knowing that this young girl was going to be placed with her family. She had been writing down her own notes so that she could help speed up the process as well. Both she and Steve exchanged email addresses before the phone call ended. Steve sat back in his chair again trying to process all of this information. He called Danny and let him know that he was heading home and that he had a whole new issue to talk with him about other than the events from today.