Chapter 2:

Catherine woke up straddled in her seat after being woken by her ears hurting from the plane lowering its altitude. She checked her watch: 18:25 hours. 15 Minutes till landing. She smiled to herself once the all too familiar feeling of getting back to the island creeped in. She was excited with a mix of concern, a feeling she had not felt very often and did not quite know how to handle.

"That's it Ladies and gentlemen, everyone on behalf of Hawaiian Airlines would like to welcome you to Honolulu, Hawaii. We wish you a pleasant stay and hope to see you again on board one of our flights" she heard the flight attendant say soon after as people around her started unbuckling their seatbelts.

Here she was, in the middle of Honolulus international airport. Where she had been so many times before, that she could not even count them. People were greeted by loved ones or happily leaving to get a taxi to their hotel of choice. Catherine found herself absentmindedly looking around the hall for a familiar face. Once she realized what she was doing, she shook her head and laughed a little at what she had just done. "You got this" she mumbled, trying to convince herself that she was doing the right thing. She turned her phone off of flight mode and was ready to dial Lincolns number, letting him know she was here after all and ready to ask him how it went, ready to know where Steve was.

She didn't just want to show up at his house again, unannounced, as there probably would have been people around or he would not have even been there. She wanted to be sure this time. For all the things that went wrong with her coming and leaving in the past, this was the one time she wanted to do it right.

Her phone buzzed two times, three times. Lincoln. "We got it. You cracked it. Heading to the coordinates now." The first text said. The time stamp on the second text implied that it came about two hours after "Mission went quite a bit south. All safe and sound now tho. Thank you, Cath! Couldn't have done this without you" She smiled a little in victory, knowing she helped her friends out at last. She pressed the call button and heard her phone dial Lincoln's number "Hello?" he answered after what felt like an eternity, with a hint of sadness in his voice that Catherine did not expect after just having successfully completed a mission. "Lincoln, Hey, it's me. Where are you?" She asked a little concerned, cutting right to the point, hoping for him to announce his location was also where her sailor was after all. "Um, we're at Steve's house – the team and I, we're having a couple drinks. No one really wants to be alone right now. We already miss him to much" he laughed a little, sadness still very obvious in his tone.

Catherine felt a knot form in her stomach at his words. Unable to answer right away. "Cath? You there?" Lincoln asked, checking his phone if they were still connected.

"Yeah… Yeah.. I um, I'm here. What do you mean miss him already?" She asked, unsure of wanting to hear the answer, heart racing at a hundred miles an hour.

"Oh" Lincoln plainly answered, just now realizing how what he said might have made her feel without context "no, no, no" he reassured her quickly "it's not like that" he laughed a little, trying to make her feel at ease "everything is great, don't worry – Steve left about an hour ago to the airport. He said he needed some time for himself, wanted to clear his head somewhere that is not this island"

Airport she thought, immediately searching for his face among the crowds around her. "Where to?" she asked, already on her way from baggage claim and arrivals up to departures, unsure where her body was taking her but ready to tackle what would come next. "Um not sure honestly, he did not say much. Why?" "Listen Linc, I don't really have the time to explain right now, I will talk to you later. Let me know if any of the others know where he's headed" she explained with a calm voice, ending the call right after, not waiting for him to stop her or say his goodbyes.

She found herself walking up the escalator, not patient enough to wait for it to go up by itself. She did not know how much time she had, if she even had any to begin with, so waiting for the escalator was not a chance she was willing to take right now.

She looked at the departing flights

Los Angeles, CA: 08:30 pm

Houston, TX: 08:45 pm

Atlanta, GA: 08:55 pm

She was now cleanly aware of the fact that there was a one in three chance she was going to catch Steve before he boarded the flight. California. She thought. Steve was never the one that was a fan of long haul flights, which is why he barely ever took them for leisure. He always made sure to take the quickest route possible if it wasn't for the Navy making that decision for him.

Catherine thought of reasons for him to go to Texas or Georgia but could not find anything in her mind that would like him to that part of the United States.

United Airlines Flight 752, boarding from Gate A12 at 08:00 pm

She read from the baggage drop sign right above the United Airlines Help Desk. She walked up to the lady that was about to close the service desk, unsure of this was the right call to make. For all she knew, she could possibly be spending hundreds of dollars on a flight to California by herself, while Steve was on his way to Atlanta.

"Do you have any seats left on the flight to L.A.?" She asked straight, not wanting to waste time on greetings or formalities. "Um.." the flight attendant answered, strattled by the approach. "Let me check that real quick for you – you're a little late there, boarding starts in 20 minutes. If you have a bag we can't…" "I don't" she interrupted a little louder and annoyed than she planned. Even if she had a bag to check, God knows she would leave it there.

"You're lucky, it looks like it is not a full flight." Catherine didn't have to think twice about pulling her Amex and handing it to the lady, not giving a damn about the price right now.

Five Minutes later she found herself rushing to Terminal A, making her way through security.