Chapter 18

"Uncovering"

The Commander of Five-0 faced the steel door that led into a small room at the Halawa Correctional Facility. It wasn't his habit to put his hands in his pockets because his military training prohibited that. However, for the next undetermined amount of time he would make an exception. Placing his right hand in his pocket, he opened the door, and stepped inside.

The room was bathed in gray light, which cast a ghostly shadow on the man seated in a lone chair. His left eye was swollen shut, but he still managed to glare at the newcomer.

Steve closed the door behind him. "Heard you had an accident, Quinn."

Jonathan Quinn snorted in reply.

"Did you get a look at the guy who did this to you?"

Quinn looked away.

"How 'bout that," Steve said. "Another guy got the drop on you and you can't remember what he looks like. You're slipping."

There was a knock on the door and seconds later Danny and Chin entered. They positioned themselves on either side of Steve.

"Hey, buddy," Danny greeted the prisoner. "You don't look as good as the last time we had a little chat. Did you fall down a flight of stairs or something?" He held his hand up. "No, wait. I just got a call about this. What was it?" His voice rose in volume. "Oh, yeah, someone tried to kill you. Any thoughts who that someone might be?"

Quinn said nothing, but watched out of the corner of his eye as Chin moved behind him.

Steve turned to Danny. "I have an idea." He faced Quinn once more. "Maybe it was your old friend, Paul Keller."

Quinn sneered. "It wasn't Keller."

"You sure about that?" Danny questioned. "Because if I were Keller," he placed a hand on his chest, "and I were footloose and fancy free, I might be a little concerned that you would shoot your mouth off to get back at me for leaving you in this hell hole."

Quinn narrowed his good eye. "You don't know what you're talking about."

Danny tapped Steve's arm. "I guess we're done here. Oh, but we didn't tell him about the two guys who were arrested with him at the warehouse. Sad story."

Steve grimaced and shook his head. "Strangled in their cells this morning."

Quinn shifted in his chair as if to stretch his muscles. "What do you want?" He noticed the man that had been standing behind him reappear.

Chin's face held no emotion as he spoke. "We want Keller before he gets you."

* * * * * * H50 * * * * * *

Steve closed the door to the room that held Jonathan Quinn. They had acquired the necessary information, the possible whereabouts of Paul Keller. Chin called HPD to ready a S.W.A.T. team, and Danny found Steve some ice for his right hand.

"Here, Steve." Danny handed him a bag of ice. "Do you think it's broken?"

"No." Steve flexed his bruised hand. "But it hurts like hell."

"Well, next time you go to swing at a guy in a dark room, actually hit him and not the wall behind him."

"Thanks, Danny, I'll try and remember that. Next time we have a plan that requires attacking someone, you're going in."

"Well, this was Kono's idea. How 'bout we let her do it next time."

Steve grinned and shook his head. "Let's go find Keller."

* * * * * * H50 * * * * * *

Nate glanced in his rear view mirror. The dark blue Charger that had been tailing him was just visible behind several cars. He knew it was the two police officers that Steve had assigned to protect him. It would be necessary to shake them at some point and unfortunately, they would report that to Steve. Nate shook his head as he stopped at a traffic light. He remembered his conversation with his brother the previous night and how concerned he had been.

"I'm putting a police detail on you because Keller threatened to come after you," Steve told him.

"Is that really necessary?" Nate asked.

"Necessary? It's mandatory. Look, I know you think I'm being overprotective here, but I'm not. Keller is dangerous and he wouldn't hesitate to hurt you." Steve paused. "If anything ever happened to you…" He looked away for a moment. "Nate, can you just do this for me?"

It had been that simple. Nate had been assigned a police detail, whether he had wanted one or not. And now he faced the dilemma of whether to drive around as the little brother who needed to be protected or the man Steve didn't know exsited.

"Well," Nate said aloud, looking in his rearview mirror once again, "let's see if you guys have improved since last time."

* * * * * * H50 * * * * * *

"Okay, everybody listen up," Steve ordered. Five-0 and HPD were down the street from the location Quinn had given them and were preparing to make entry. "Thermal imaging shows one heat signature in the house." He held up a picture. "This is our target, Paul Keller. He's ex-CIA, so don't underestimate him. He's already killed two cops during his stay in Hawaii and he won't hesitate to kill more. Watch yourselves. Let's move."

S.W.A.T. led the way with the three Five-0 members following behind. The pounding of the boots on the pavement matched the rhythm of Steve's heart as they closed in on the entrance to the house. He realized there was a possibility that the heat signature they picked up was not Keller. Steve clenched his jaw and shook off that possibility. He needed Keller to be there.

Seconds later they were at the door. Steve gave a quick hand signal. The sound of splintering wood announced their arrival as the door burst open from the force of the battering ram. Meeting with no resistance they moved throughout the house, clearing each room as they went. Steve checked the last room on the first floor, but found nothing.

"We've got someone upstairs," Steve heard Danny say in his ear piece, "It's not Keller. And I don't think it's one of his faithful few either."

"Damn it," Steve muttered. "Bring him down."

Steve waited at the bottom of the stairs as Danny and a S.W.A.T. officer escorted a ragged looking man toward him.

Danny pointed at the man. "He says he was just looking for a place to sleep. He crawled in through a back window."

"What's your name?" Steve asked.

The man looked dazed. "Martin," he croaked.

"How long have you been here?"

"I…I don't know…maybe a couple hours." He cowered under Steve's gaze. "I didn't take nothin' 'cept, some muffins. I…I was hungry." His mouth hung open as if to say something more, but he remained silent.

"Did you see anyone coming or going from this house?"

Martin tapped his forehead with his fingers. "Uh…um…" He was struggling to understand what the man in charge was asking him."

"So what," Danny said, "you just crawl into people's houses and hope they're not home or won't be back for a while?"

Martin squeezed his head between his hands. "There's this guy…"

"What guy?" Steve demanded.

"The guy who knows this neighborhood. Who's here, who's gone, which places are best to camp out in. He told me they left and didn't think they'd be back."

"You said "they". There was more than one person?"

"I…I don't know. You'd have to ask, Surfer."

"Surfer?" Steve questioned.

"Yeah, yeah, that's the guy who knows the houses."

"Boss," Chin said over the radio, "you might want to come upstairs and see what I found."

"Danny, get him out of here," Steve said, nodding toward Martin. "And then find this Surfer guy and ask him what he knows about this place."

Steve raced up the stairs, taking two at a time. He saw Chin in the hallway outside one of the rooms; his usual composed expression betrayed a hint of apprehension. Steve didn't ask the reason for the look on his co-workers face; he peered into the room and saw the reason for himself.

Chin observed the affect the sight had on his boss. Steve's body stiffened and Chin wasn't sure if he was breathing. The room was painted a sunny yellow. Against the far wall sat a white bookcase filled with books. There was a wooden doll house and a bed covered with a brightly colored quilt and pillows. Chin noticed Steve's eyes were transfixed on a light blue pillow with a name embroidered on the front. Natalie.

Steve's words were barely audible. "He was going to bring her here."

Chin opened his mouth to reply, but before he could Steve turned and disappeared down the stairs.

* * * * * * H50 * * * * * *

Kono had to admit she enjoyed being in the company of children. She sat in the school cafeteria listening to four eight year old girls talk about various subjects while they ate lunch. But the hottest topic of the hour was Natalie's Uncle Nate.

"He took me to the park and then he bought me ice cream," Natalie said.

"And he played in the sand with us," Grace added.

"Ooh, he sounds like fun," Lizzie said. "Can you bring him to school?"

Kono rolled her eyes.

"Maybe for current events," Tia suggested.

"Does he count as a current event?" Grace wondered.

Natalie shrugged. "I don't know, but he's really busy with important car stuff."

Lizzie's green eyes lit up. "Wow. Is he a race car driver?"

"Who cares," Tia said. "Is he cute?"

"No, he's handsome." Natalie turned to look at Kono. "Don't you think so, Miss K?"

Kono wondered what Natalie was up to, but she smiled at the girls who looked at her expectantly. She shrugged. "Yeah…I guess he's handsome."

A delighted giggle rose up from the quartet. Kono shook her head, letting her gaze drift over the room. A man entering the cafeteria caught her attention. "I'll be right back girls," Kono said. She walked toward the man, and upon seeing her, recognition crossed his face. "Hey, Boss, everything okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine," Steve replied.

Kono raised an eyebrow. "So, why are you here?"

"Do I need a reason to stop by and see my little girl at school?"

Kono's eyes narrowed as she tilted her head to the side. Somehow she knew he was lying. Maybe it was the way his eyes kept shifting around the room as if he was expecting something to happen. "Well, I find that kind of odd because you usually have a reason for everything you do."

A look that Steve reserved for Danny flashed across his face. "Just stopping by on my lunch break."

Kono put a hand on her hip. "Since when do you take a lunch break?"

"Since when do you question your boss?"

"Should I call Danny?"

Steve looked to his left for a moment. "He's not my babysitter."

Kono tried not to smile. "Well, you're not telling me what's going on."

He ran a hand over his face. "There was this house and a girl's room and… I need to get Natalie out of here," he blurted out.

Kono's eyes widened as she tried to take it all in. "Wait, slow down. Do you mean the place Quinn gave you?"

Steve rubbed his eyes. "Yeah. And I think Natty should come with me."

Kono stole a glance to where Natalie was sitting with her friends. "I don't want to tell you what to do, boss, but if you go over there and tell her she has to leave in the middle of the school day, you're gonna worry her. How can you do your job and keep an eye on her at the same time? Natty can't sit in the office all day and color. There's only so much coloring a little girl can do. You need to focus on finding Keller and let me take care of Natty."

Steve looked over at Natalie, his lips pressed together in concentration. Kono could see the struggle on his face as he battled with what she had just said. Before he made his decision, they heard Natalie calling, "Daddy!" Seconds later she slammed into Steve with a hug. "What are you doing here?"

He looked at Kono. "I just stopped by to see if you were behaving yourself."

Natalie smiled up at him. "I am. Do you want to meet my friends?"

Steve looked to where Natalie pointed. "Ah…I think-"

"Of course he does," Kono smiled.

Steve frowned at his co-worker, but allowed Natalie to lead him to the table.

Kono watched as Natalie's introduction of her Daddy caused an excited commotion, not only at her table, but the surrounding tables as well. If Steve McGarrett had ever blushed in his life this was the moment.

* * * * * * H50 * * * * * *

After a short visit with Natalie, Steve made his way back to headquarters. Danny had just called and filled him in on what information they were able to obtain from the man known as Surfer. He had given Danny a description of a car that had left the house earlier that morning, but he only remembered the three numbers on the license plate. HPD was now searching for the vehicle in question.

That was the good news. The bad news was yet to come. A few minutes later, Steve received a phone call from Officer Ano, one of the two officers providing protection for Nate. He reported they had lost visual contact about five minutes earlier and were wondering how they should proceed.

He told the officer to make a general sweep of the area and wait to hear back from him. He ended the call and immediately selected his brother's number.

"Hello," Nate answered.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Is everything alright?"

Steve breathed out in relief. "Yeah." Now that he knew Nate was okay he wasn't sure what to say next. "So, how's your day goin'?"

"Fine. How's yours?"

"Could be better. Where are you?"

"I'm out…running a few errands. What are you up to?"

"Did you eat lunch? I thought maybe we could grab something. Where are you?"

"Actually, I already ate. I'll be home later, we can have dinner together. Natty mentioned having a game night."

"Okay." Steve noticed Nate redirected the conversation every time he asked where he was. He didn't think his brother was in any danger, but there was something he was trying to hide. "Anything you need to tell me, Nate?"

"Like what?"

Steve looked out his side window, "Maybe the reason why I just got a call from the officers assigned to protect you."

"Really? What'd they say?"

Steve's irritation seeped into his voice. "They can't seem to find you. Do you know why that is?"

Nate didn't need to see his brother's face to know he was scowling. He could hear it. "Um…"

"I don't want to hear excuses, Nate. You agreed to this last night. What's the problem?"

"There's no problem. They just…can't keep up, I guess."

Steve didn't like his brother's tone. It was flecked with sarcasm. "Well, if your car's the problem, I can fix it so it goes from zero to sixty in five minutes, or maybe, you could do what you agreed to and we won't need to discuss this again."

Nate clenched his jaw and swallowed his frustration. "Yes…sir."

Steve felt the sting in Nate's response. That "sir" was Nate's way of letting him know he had crossed the line again and was acting like their father. Steve didn't care. He was doing what was necessary to keep his brother safe. "Good. I'm assuming you can find your way back to your detail?"

"Yeah, sure."

"I'll see you later."

Steve tossed his phone on the seat next to him. He was beginning to understand more and more why their dad had sent them away all those years ago.

* * * * * * H50 * * * * * *

Alex sunk her teeth into a crispy egg roll. She and two of her sisters had spent the afternoon packing and were now in her kitchen enjoying Chinese food and some laughs.

"I still can't believe you laughed when Steve proposed to you," Abby said.

"Oh, come on, Abby, this is Alex we're talking about," Emma laughed. Emma was the second oldest Reilly sister and always enjoyed a humorous story. "I would've loved to have seen his face."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "He was a little upset with me, but he got over it."

Abby sighed. "That poor man. If I had laughed at Peter when he asked me to marry him I'm not sure what he would've done."

"He would've been extremely offended," Emma answered. "Then he would've done his little military turn thing and walked away. He's such a bore."

Abby glared at her. "He is not."

Emma wrinkled her nose. "I bet I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen that husband of yours smile."

"He's a lot of fun."

Emma snorted. "Have you looked up the word fun in the dictionary?"

Abby stuck out her tongue "Well, Michael would have pouted."

"Yes, and then he would've said something sarcastic and left me to my fit of laughter."

Alex shook her head and smiled at her sisters. She would miss them. Closing her eyes for a moment, she imprinted this scene in her memory. "What will I do without my sisters?"

"Probably nothing," Abby replied, taking a bite of her lo mein.

"Are you kidding!" Emma exclaimed. "With that man? She probably won't be able to come up for air!"

Abby gasped, placing a hand on her chest. "Emma Lee!"

"What?" She threw her hands in the air. "We're sisters. We can talk about stuff like that."

Alex smiled. "I'm sure I'll find something to do."

Someone cleared their throat. The three sisters turned to see a tall man with brown hair, shaking his head.

"Hello, Michael," they sputtered. The three women looked as if they had swallowed the last of the forbidden cookies from mother's cookie jar.

Michael Adams had heard enough of the ladies' discussion to know who they were talking about. The way his wife and sisters-in-law were carrying on was reserved for one person. And that person was Steve McGarrett. He groaned. It made him slightly jealous.

"Okay, I've officially been knocked off my pedestal as best looking son-in-law," he complained.

"She's not married yet," Emma corrected him.

"It doesn't matter, it's going to happen." He winked at Alex. "Let me see the ring." He frowned as she held her hand out. "Nice, job Steve, you had to outdo me there too."

"Oh, you poor baby," Emma consoled him. "Come here, Mikey." She held out her arms to him. He dramatically hung his head and walked into her embrace.

"For a doctor, you have a very delicate ego," Abby pointed out.

He smirked. "You'd be surprised what I have to do to compete for attention with two children under the age of seven." He patted Emma's belly. "And with Michael Jr. on the way-"

Emma slapped his shoulder. "I've told you already that one Michael is enough. Besides, I think this one might be a Steve."

"Steve can have his own Steves," Michael whined. "I'm sure Alex will be nice enough to help him out with that." He noticed the empty take out containers. "I see you ladies left me nothing to eat." He frowned. "Typical."

Michael continued speaking, filling the sisters in on his day at the hospital. So enthralled with his story-telling, he failed to see the expression on Alex's face. However, her two siblings noticed and glanced at each other with concern.

"I'll be right back." Alex walked from the room.

"Mikey, I need some ice cream," Emma said.

"What? I haven't had dinner yet," he replied. "And I didn't finish my story."

"Tell me in the car." Emma grabbed her husband's hand and pulled him toward the door. "Bye, Abby. Bye, Alex. See you tomorrow." With the slightest tilt of her head she signaled Abby to find out what had upset Alex.

"Bye, Abs," Michael winked, knowing Abby didn't like that nickname. "See you later, Alex," he called. "Tell Steve thanks for dethroning me, but he still owes me a steak. He'll know what I mean." Michael felt his wife squeeze his hand. "I'm coming, Em."

After the door banged closed, Abby slipped out of her chair and walked into the living room. She saw Alex leaning against the wall staring out the window. Abby couldn't remember the last time she had seen her sister with such a pained expression. She wondered if Alex's eyes were misty or if it was just a reflection. It distressed Abby because it wasn't like Alex to cry and she couldn't imagine what had caused her to react this way.

"What do you think I do?" Alex asked.

"What do you mean?"

"My job."

Abby shrugged. "You're a writer…at least that's what you told me."

Alex turned to her right allowing her back to rest against the wall. "Yeah, a writer." She laughed. A laugh devoid of any humor.

Abby stepped forward. "What's wrong?"

Alex bit her bottom lip, trying to keep her voice from cracking. "Steve having his own Steves."

"What?" Abby smiled. "You don't need to name your children Steve if you don't want to."

Alex put a hand over her eyes. "That's not it."

"Oh, wait. Are you saying Steve doesn't want kids?"

Alex crossed her arms. "It's not him."

"You? You don't want kids? What does this have to do with your job? Alex, I don't understand what you're trying to tell me?"

"It's not that I don't want kids…" Alex had wanted to tell her sister for so long and the need for her to explain pushed its way to the surface. But reliving the details choked back the words she wanted to say. She closed her eyes, pretending she was alone and no one would hear the words she needed to say. "…I just can't."

"What do you mean you can't?" Abby watched as her sister lifted her shirt revealing the top of a large scar that disappeared below the waistband of her jeans. "Alex…?" Her mind searched for a possible explanation as to what had caused such a scar and why she hadn't known about it. But explanations would need to wait. Her little sister was crying.

A/N: Sorry for the long wait again. I intended to post much sooner, but pneumonia and the holidays said otherwise. Thanks for taking the time to read and share your thoughts on the story with me. It really means a lot.

Caseofmistakenid – I always enjoy reading your reviews. They are really encouraging. I wish you and your friend had an account so I could respond to them sooner, but I'll just keep thanking you this way. :D