Here they were, on board a 5 hour flight about to travel 2,600 miles east. Away from the island he called home for the past ten years, with the woman he thought of as his home for the past eighteen years.

Steve was content. He had never stopped holding her hand, not even two hours into this flight. Eventually they interlaced their fingers to be more comfortable, thumbs brushing over and caressing the other's hands every now and then, neither of them wanting to break the silence and risking saying something that would stop their hand holding.

Catherine had felt the exhaustion of the past 24 hours creep in and she wasn't sure for how much longer she could keep her eyes open. Being right there next to him enabled her to relax like she hadn't done in God knows how long. She tried her hardest to stay awake for him, to cherish this time, to hold his hand again and to be so close.

When Steve saw her head go down and up again, from falling asleep to immediately waking up again a couple minutes later, he couldn't keep his laugh in anymore. "You look like hell" he said as politely as possible with a smile on his face. He let go of her and used his right hand to lift the center armrest that kept them at a distance. "Come here" he said, palm open and the hand that was just interlaced with hers in a position that was inviting her to scoot closer and lean in to him. She did not have to think twice about her next move.

She smiled at him for a moment before leaning in to his embrace, his strong arm resting over her shoulder, on the side of her tired body, holding her close as she turned slightly to come closer.

There it was. This all too familiar feeling of being close to him. His cologne was still the same and had never changed in the last decade. She smiled calmly to herself, as she closed her eyes, the tiredness taking over as her body finally felt as peace in his strong arms.

It didn't take much longer for Steve to fall asleep as well, breathing in the smell of her hair and feeling her so close to him like he hasn't in way too much time.

Catherine was woken up by her ears hurting from the plane lowering its altitude, just like she had been on the flight that took her to Oahu. This felt like a déjà vu to her, and for a few seconds before opening her eyes she wasn't sure if it was all just a sick trick her mind played on her. As she felt him slowly waking up and stretching a bit, irritated and unsure of where he was, she hugged him a little tighter, making sure he really was there, right next to her.

"Good Morning Commander" she said, eyes still closed and a genuine, for once a happy and content smile on her face.

"Mhhhhhhh" he exhaled, looking slightly confused on his whereabouts "Good Morning to you too, Lieutenant" he smirked, "what time is it?"

"Almost 2:30 am Hawaii time, 5:30 am in California" she replied after checking her wrist for the time "We're landing in like ten minutes" she continued as she sat up a little, stretching her arms.

"Well, we must have both been tired then" he smiled at her "I don't think I've ever slept this long on a plane before"

They both buckled their seat belts as the captain announced that they would be landing in T-minus fifteen minutes and that if anyone wanted to use the bathroom, it needed to be now, as they were expecting a rough landing due to northern winds right above LAX.

"ugh…" she rolled her eyes as soon as the Captain finished his announcement "great. Just what I need at the end of a smooth flight" she said, annoyed at what's about to come. "Still not a fan of flying?" he asked with a low voice, glad that at least some things never change "Nope" she confirmed "It's not the flying, it's the turbulence that always gets me nervous and wish that I never boarded this flight" she realized what she had just said as she was done saying it "I…I didn't… Steve…" she was fumbling for her words, when he gave her a kind smile, knowing she did not mean for it to be directed at him "I know you didn't, Cath – I don't like the turbulences either".

Catherine held on the armrest on her right side as the turbulences slowly but surely started. It began with a few annoying bumps that just reminded her of driving a truck through the bumpy roads in Afghanistan and that was nothing she couldn't handle. She was proud of herself for a minute to be so calm as she felt Steve looking at her, making sure she was okay.

"I'm fine Steve, you don't have to look at me like that" she tried to force a smile but failed at the next shake of the airplane. "You don't look like it" he announced "just try to not puke all over me, okay? This is a fairly new shirt." He said as he tried to lighten the mood a bit, knowing how sick she can get from the motion from all the flights they had taken before. Catherine tried to laugh at his joke and the fact that he really thought she hadn't noticed his shirt and the way it brought up the blue in his eyes. She wanted to give him a snarky comment back but ended up squeaking as the plane abruptly dropped about 30 feet due to an air hole.

Catherine found herself holding on for dear life to Steve's arm. She hadn't even noticed that her first instinct in the face of fear was to grab him tightly. Steve smiled at knowing that his independent, strong, ambitious and persistent girl was human after all, scared of a few minor turbulences.

Steve took the hand that was desperately holding his arm through every bump with his left and intertwined her finger with his right.

"You'll be fine, Catherine. I'm right here" he whispered as he leaned over to her side of the chair, kissing her hair ever so lightly. "We're almost there" he reassured and with that, the plane touched down in Los Angeles, California.