The Winds of Change
Fandom: Hawaii Five-O
Ship: McRoll
Characters: Steve McGarrett, Catherine Rollins
Chapter 9: ōleloʻo ia
(Talking it out)
~Flashback~
Waikiki Beach
"I'm not interrupting am I Catherine?", Catherine turned at the voice, and smiled softly noticing one of Steve's new team members Tani Rey standing beside her, the five-o badge shining in the late afternoon's sunset, her gun holstered right near the badge.. She was surprised to see Tani, she hadn't really had an opportunity to speak with Tani or Junior apart from when they were with the rest of the group having dinner which Catherine dutifully paid for. "No, not at all Tani, is there anything I can help you with?"
The young woman had seemed a little nervous and Catherine sensed that so she patted the sand beside her, inviting the young officer to sit beside her. As Tani sat, she breathed in deep, looking over at her, feeling a little nervous.. She and Junior had seen Catherine's photographs which were still all over Steve's desk in his office and once Steve and Catherine had left Kamakona's to talk in private, the rest of them, Adam, Lou, Jerry and even Kamakona all filled Tani and Junior in on just who Catherine was and why there was still so much sexual tension in the air.
"Alright out with it", Catherine's voice was playful but she could feel the tension in the air, it was so thick you could cut a knife through it.. Looking a little surprised, "I um, I don't know what you are talking about Catherine". Tani stumbled over her words a little, feeling more nervous about this then she had when she had decided to talk to Catherine.. Since she had met Steve, she could sense there was something missing, something that he wasn't sharing with her, and now she realized exactly what it was.. He didn't talk about her but then again, he didn't really talk about his love life at all with Tani.
Raising her eyebrows, Catherine chuckled and turned her eyes to meet Tani's, "I think you know exactly what I am talking about.. Did Steve put you up to this by any chance?", Being here with Steve and five-o, it had made her miss what she had with Steve.. Did she ever want to leave, hell no, she had wanted to remain on the island with her man and seeing Kono and Adam getting married, she had thought about her own happy ending and wanting to settle down with Steve and get married.. Though the CIA had other thoughts on what she should be doing with her life and had forced her to lie to Steve about where she ws going and what she was doing.
Holding up her hands, she shook her head quickly, "Noooo, No Steve didn't put me up to anything.. Why do you think I am up to anything anyway?", was her response waving her arms at the same time as saying no. She wanted to ask her why she left, she wasn't sure if she would get an answer to that, but she also wanted to know if she still loved Steve because judging by the way he spoke and looked at Catherine at dinner when he thought everyone else was preoccupied with eating and other conversation, he clearly still had feelings for her.
"You think the Navy didn't train me to be observant? To know what is being said when there are no words being spoken at all?", her words were playful once more but the undertone of her words were serious. She was well trained in reading people and though Tani was only a young officer, she too would one day have the experience to be able to do exactly as Catherine just did.. "Look, whatever you want to say to me, just please say it.. Don't feel you need to beat around the bush for my or your own sake Tani".
Taking a breath in and nodding her head, she knew that she needed to get this off her chest, Steve had seemed so much happier just in the couple of days that Catherine had been here, in fact she had never seen him this happy from the time she first came in contact with Steve.. "Alright, here it is.. I want to know Catherine.. I know you probably won't tell McGarrett because you don't want to 'ruin' anything, but honestly.. How do you feel about him? Do you still love him?" Her questions were serious though she wasn't asking in an accusing manner, she just wanted to know where she stood in relation to McGarrett and if she thought things could be fixed.
Looking back at towards the water, Catherine sighed.. So it seemed that Tani was much like Danny, the mother hen, always worrying about him and looking out for him. She seemed to recall a similar moment with Danny after Kono's wedding and thought at the time she spoke to Danny about it, she hadn't lied, she also knew she had upset Danny with not being able to deliever on her promise. If she was honest with herself, she liked that Steve had a group of people around him that cared enough to get involved. He was a tough Sailor but he still had feelings even if he didn't open up to many people.
She could never not be honest when ever anyone asked her that question lately, Doris had asked, her own parents had asked, and now it was Tani's time to ask the question.. Without moving her gaze away from the calming small waves of the ocean, she answered her truthfully, "Yes Tani, I still love him.. I'm still very much in love with him, but when I left, he told me he couldn't wait for me again and he seems to have moved on and found someone else, so please.. he can't know we talked about this". Shaking her head, Tani knew that the woman would say that..
Both her and McGarrett were just as stubborn as each other, which is why they were perfectly suited for each other "You do know he still loves you right.. He might be with another woman for now, but that is just for now.. If you want my opinion, I don't think he has ever or will ever allow himself to move on". Nodding her head, Catherine sighed, not saying another word. She could sense in the way he held her and looked into her eyes when he was giving her a boost up, how serious he was when he said he was going to really propose, they way they had both tried to hide the pain they were in by joking around about being friends again and how getting involved romantically was a mistake for their friendship.
~End flashback~
Author Notes:
This chapter is an add on from the last chapter, I have done flash back's in stories before, and so I really hope you enjoy my first flash back scene of Tani and Catherine have a chat. There will be more to come of different moments over the course of the story. Right now I don't really have an end period in mind, so I hope you are all willing to just keep riding it out with me.
Shoutouts:
SteveMcGarrettLover:
Thank you so much, lol. I contemplated going back and changing it, but then I decided to just leave it be, and perhaps they are just taking cae of the horses for Graham Dexter and his fourth wife.
St:
Thank you so much, I hope you enjoy this one as well.
Pilarmnavas:
You got your wish, I actually wrote this one up on the same day, but decided to prolong posting for a couple of days. I hope you enjoy this one.
Karen:
Thank you Karen.. I have three Hawaii 5-0 stories I am currently writing, so I am trying for at least once a week on them all, but depending on where my muse is highest, it will depend. So far I have been updating mainly more then just once a week.