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Wow. I put out a couple of harder challenges and you all still nailed it. I can't believe that this story now has 100 reviews! The support you've given me has been incredible; I couldn't ask for better readers. The two challenges presently up for a new chapter before Friday are: 110 reviews or 50 follows.

This chapter was also hard to write… I'm not liking this. Unfortunately, I have all of my chapters planned out and I don't feel like I can change anything without messing up my other chapters, so I just had to keep thinking and taking breaks and trying to make it all work out. I hope this doesn't disappoint you guys.

Thanks to all of you that have read, reviewed, favorited, followed, or shown support for my story in any way. I appreciate each and every one of you very much and I hope that you continue to enjoy.

Happy Reading!

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Chapter Seventeen: A Desperate Plan

Allie

The time began to pass and at first, it was hard, but it soon became the new normal. Steve and I danced around each other at the office and out in the field. Anything that he needed to tell only me, he typically sent me a text message or an e-mail. We never rode together and never ate lunch in the same place. It soon became habit to avoid him.

I was certain that the rest of the team had figured it out, but they hadn't said anything to me. If they were bothering Steve about it, he gave no indication. Life just went on in its new normal. After work, I took it upon myself to try new things. I started learning how to surf and found out that I was actually quite good at it. I bought some new power yoga DVDs and did those at home. I started reading some books from the NY Times Bestseller list. Anything to keep me preoccupied and my mind steered away from Steve McGarrett.

I had everyone fooled that I was doing just fine, but there was one person that I would never be able to fool.

"Kol," I answered when he called me one Thursday night. "How's it going?"

"I'm at the Venetian Macao. You should join me."

I wrinkled my nose in distaste. "You know I'm not crazy about China. Mandarin isn't my language."

"You speak it better than the rest of us."

"Languages always were my thing. What are you doing in China, anyway?"

"Wanted to go gambling," he said simply. For Kol, it really was that simple. Sometimes I envied him, and then I remembered that he wasn't exactly involved in a stable lifestyle. He moved around all of the time. "It's one of the nicest casinos in the world."

"Yes, I'm aware." I'd been raised to know such things. "But why now?"

"Because I felt like it." He laughed. "You could do it too, you know. Quit your job and be like me. Fly all over the world pulling jobs for people. Trust me, the private sector is where the money is. And with your skill set, people would pay big. No more punching a time card."

"I don't punch a time card," I reminded him.

"No, but you're on call." Distaste colored his voice. "You don't have a choice when it comes to which cases to work. But you could in the private sector."

"This isn't the first time that you've tried to talk me into this, and my answer is still no. I like working on the official radar."

"Except in the case of the CIA."

"That was a one-time thing." I stared out the window and into the night as sadness overtook me. "And it was a mistake."

"So you keep saying, without any kind of explanation. But it's okay… one of these days, you'll tell me what happened."

"Doubtful," I said and moved away from the window to sit on my bed. "Did you only call to tell me that you're living the dream in China?"

"I can't just want to hear my twin's voice?"

I sighed and laid back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. "I suppose you can."

There was a pause and then his voice grew serious. "Okay, what's up?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know damn well what I mean. Something's off. What happened?"

"Nothing happened," I lied.

He scoffed. "Right, of course. You think I don't know when you're lying? I was there when you told your very first lie."

"I lied to try to take some of the blame off of you," I reminded him. "Because Dad said that if you threw one more ball in the house and broke something, he was going to leave you with Nana while the rest of us went to Italy. And I knew that you didn't want to miss that trip."

"Yes, I recall," he said, a hint of amusement in his voice. "But you were a terrible liar, I got in trouble anyway, and I stayed with Nana in South Dakota while the rest of you went to Italy."

"Nana lived in Nebraska."

"Whatever. At least your lying has improved a little bit. Now, tell me what happened."

"Nothing happened."

"You're upset. And lying about it. Do I need to fly to Hawaii and kick someone's ass?"

I smiled at the image. "Don't you mean pay someone to kick someone's ass? You don't like to get your hands dirty. Never have, in fact. You cried when someone stuck your hand into your first birthday cake."

"This is off topic," he said, but I knew that he was really just embarrassed about the memory. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

Well… Steve McGarrett and I kissed… like all night long. And then when we woke up the next morning, he regretted it and we've been avoiding each other ever since. "No."

He sighed in frustration. "You've always been difficult."

"You're one to talk."

"I… can't honestly object to that," he said. "Hold that thought, okay?" There was a clicking sound and a few moments later, he said, "I'm back."

"Are you on surveillance right now?" The clicking sound could have easily been from a camera. And cameras in Kol's line of work typically indicated surveillance. Which could be dangerous.

"Yeah," he said. "But don't worry, this is my last day of it. Then, I'm going back to the casino to win even more money, and then I'll head back home."

"Which home?" He owned four.

"Haven't decided yet. Probably New York. What are we doing for our birthday this year?"

"Absolutely nothing," I said, the warning clear in my voice. For the last several years, Kol had always managed to rope me into some big birthday trip – skiing in the Alps, climbing Everest, African safaris… "We're getting older and can't keep going on those crazy trips."

"They're fun!" he defended.

I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn't see me. "I haven't racked up that many vacation days."

"Then I'll come to Hawaii," he said. "We can do something cool there. You start looking into it, okay?"

If I agreed, he would shut up about it. "Okay. I'll look into it."

"Swimming with dolphins," he suggested. "That would be cool. I've always wanted to swim with dolphins. Do they do that in Hawaii?"

"I think so. I'll look into it."

"Great." He sighed and grew serious again. "Are you sure you don't want to tell me what's bothering you? I'm great with life advice."

"No, you're not."

"Well… fine, I'm not. But I am great with you advice, because I've known you all my life. I have literally never existed without you."

"You say that all the time. But I'm not telling you just because you play the twin card."

"Damn," he sighed. "It's my best card. Just promise that you'll tell me if you need anything."

"I promise."

"Great," he said. "I have to go and finish this job. I miss you and I'll try to make it back to the island soon."

"Miss you too," I told him. "Be safe."

"You too." He hung up and I tossed the phone aside with a sigh.

Even though I had done my best to fill my evenings with activities, it had been a long few weeks. I felt like I was constantly trying to push away thoughts of Steve McGarrett, and it was beyond frustrating. It's not like I was a middle school girl that had just had her first kiss – I'd kissed plenty of guys before. Hell, I'd even had sex before, but it hadn't messed with my mind. Steve and I hadn't even had sex, but I couldn't stop thinking about him.

"It's some kind of sorcery," I groaned when I heard Gideon come into the room. "Why couldn't you have… I don't know… bitten him or something?"

He growled a protest.

"I know, I know. You only bite bad guys. But bad can cover a wide variety of sins. Like doing things to someone's brain. That's a bad thing. Kissing someone so thoroughly that they feel like their head is swimming. That's a bad thing. Well… not too bad, but… bad enough." I sighed and sat up, looking to my dog. "Am I crazy?"

The fact that he turned and trotted out of the room wasn't very comforting.

"Fine!" I called after him. "Be that way! You're not much of a friend!"

There was no response, of course.

After a few moments, I climbed off of my bed and opened the bottom drawer of the bedside table. Inside was a puzzle box, and I easily opened it and took out the photo inside. I'd done it many, many times throughout the years to remind me that nothing lasted forever.

Even if things had worked out between me and Steve, it couldn't have lasted.

Nothing ever did.

Once I'd felt the effects of the contents of the box, I closed it back up and put it away. Everything wasn't magically better, but I planned to keep reminding myself that things didn't always go the way that we thought they should. Maybe it just hadn't been meant to be.

I guess the real problem was that I just felt so stupid for letting myself get caught up in the moment. For allowing myself to start to fall for him before I was certain of his feelings for me. It had been stupid, and it wasn't going to happen again.

"Gideon!" I called as I walked down the stairs. "I'm going for another run. Do you want to come?"

He hopped up from his bed and ran to the back door, a definite yes. I laughed and clipped on his leash before we walked out the back door together.

And as my feet pounded against the sand, I allowed myself to remember, and also to forget.

Steve

Yeah, I hadn't exactly handled it well. I'd been shocked, really, when Allie had so casually said that we'd just gotten a little crazy and she knew that the night had meant nothing. It wasn't at all what I'd been trying to tell her that morning, but she hadn't exactly given me a chance to talk before she'd rushed out the door to go on her morning run.

I should have chased her down the stairs and insisted that she let me talk, even if I had to go on the run with her. I should have grabbed her arm and prevented her from leaving the room, even if she tried to fight me back. I should have insisted that she ride with me to the bomb scene. I should have insisted that we needed to talk after she had disarmed the bomb. I should have forced her to talk to me in the weeks following.

So many things that I could have done differently, but I hadn't. My silence had made everything worse, even though I had only tried to justify it to myself by insisting that it was what Allie wanted. She didn't want to talk to me, so I sent texts and e-mails when I needed to tell her something. She never came out to lunch with the rest of us, so I stopped inviting her to go with us.

I hadn't told the team what had happened, but I knew that they suspected that something was going on. Danny had told me as much – several times – but I refused to tell him what had happened beyond that I had apologized for suspending her and things had gotten heated. He'd pushed for more, like he always did, but I'd held fast. He didn't need to know about the night we'd spent together.

But… I did need his help for the plan that I had finally hatched after weeks on end of being miserable and blaming myself and feeling sorry for myself.

"I need a favor," I told him as we were getting ready to head out.

He groaned. "Come on, Steve. It's a Friday night. I'm about to go pick up Grace."

"Luckily, I have no plans to disrupt your time with your daughter," I told him. "In fact, the favor is to not answer the phone if I call."

His eyes widened in surprise, just as I had suspected they would. "You're serious?"

"I'm serious," I said. "And that goes for Allie, too. Don't answer if she calls you."

The surprise was replaced with suspicion. "What are you planning?"

"I just want to get back in her good graces."

"And your plan somehow involves me not answering the phone?"

"Please?"

He deliberated for a moment and then nodded. "Okay, fine. But mostly so that I don't have to talk to you over the weekend."

"Good. Thank you." Luckily for me, getting Chin and Kono to agree was a little bit easier. But I did need a little something extra from Chin.

"I called my uncle," he told me when he called me about an hour later. "He said you're welcome to take his boat out, but you'd better not get it jacked again. You're lucky; this took a lot of convincing."

I was relieved. "Thank you so much."

"He's waiting for you on the docks. Are you going to tell me what you have planned?"

"Nope."

"Okay." Unlike Danny, he didn't press. "Guess I'll see you Monday, then."

Chin's uncle met me at the boat and gave me a stern look to rival Joe's. "You keep my boat safe this time, you hear me, Commander McGarrett?"

"It was returned in one piece last time," I said defensively, but he only narrowed his eyes at me. "Look." I patted the gun attached to my hip. "I have this on hand this time. If anyone tries to climb aboard and jack the boat, I'll shoot them."

He nodded his approval and handed me the keys. "But if that happens, you have to clean up the blood."

Of course. "Understood, sir. Thank you so much."

He left and I did all of the checks that I always did before I took a boat out. When I was satisfied that everything was in good condition and would run correctly, I set out for the open water, a destination already in mind.

It took me fifteen minutes to reach it and, once I had, I turned the boat off and pulled out my phone. And, praying that she didn't know much about boats, I dialed Allie's number.

Allie

Steve had called me four times in five minutes.

I didn't want to answer, but with that many calls… it could be a case.

When he called for the fifth time, I picked up and didn't bother with pleasantries. "Do we have a case?"

"Deep sea operation," he said and as I moved to put on my shoes, he said, "I, uh… I ran out of gas."

I froze in the middle of slipping on one of my shoes. "What do you mean, you ran out of gas?"

"Chin's uncle owns a boat and he lets me use it to go fishing. I was headed out to my favorite spot and I'd just reached it when I ran out of gas. I won't be able to get back. I tried to call Danny, but it's his night with Grace and he's ignoring me. Chin and Kono didn't answer, either."

"Maybe you're just in a bad spot," I said. "Let me try them."

"I doubt that's going to work," he said, "but go ahead. Keep me on the other line, though. I don't want to end up unable to call you back."

"Fine." But no one answered when I tried to call them, even though I tried twice. "They're not answering."

"Like I said," he told me. "So? Can you help me out?"

I hated to admit it, but… "I don't know anything about boats."

"What do you mean?"

I let out a frustrated sigh. "I don't know anything about boats. I don't like them. I mean, I've been in boats a few times before, but I'm no naval officer."

"Don't worry about it," he told me. "I'll send you my coordinates and you can put it into your boat's GPS and it should guide you right to me."

"I don't have a boat."

"Kamekona does." He was being quite the problem solver. "Just go to his shrimp truck and tell him that I ran out of gas and I'm in trouble. He'll give you the keys to his boat and tell you how to get to it. You just turn it on, kind of like a car, and steer it. It's all pretty simple."

I made a mental note to Google directions, once Kamekona told me what kind of boat it was. The last thing that I wanted was to be shipwrecked when no one knew where I was except a guy that was stranded in the middle of the ocean and couldn't reach anyone but me.

"We're both going to die," I grumbled as I grabbed my keys and headed for the door.

He laughed. Actually laughed. "No, we're not. You'll get the hang of it. You seem very capable."

"I'm serious when I say that I don't do much with the water," I warned him. "I've taken up surfing recently, but that's really my only water activity that I've taken up since moving to Hawaii. I've SCUBA dived before, but that was required for the CIA."

"No one is asking you to SCUBA dive," he reminded me. "I'm not even asking you to swim. Just to bring Kamekona's boat out here to rescue me."

"This is insane," I growled and started my car. "Do I need to stop and get gas on the way? What kind of gas does a boat even use?" I cursed how little I knew about boats and the water, in general. I hadn't really been exposed to those kinds of things during my youth, nor during any of my previous jobs. Maybe I should have taken the time to learn at some point.

"You don't need to stop and get gas." That, at least, was a relief. "When you get here, I'll use some rope to connect our boats and then you can tow me back to the docks. But you should get here as fast as you can. It's going to be dark soon and that'll slow down our progress because I don't think Kamekona's boat has lights."

"Why did you have to go fishing today?" I groaned.

He was defensive. "I just wanted to go fishing. It's been a long day. You know… boring. No cases. Hardly anything to consult on. I just wanted to get out here and get some excitement. It's a good spot to fish for tuna."

I felt myself making a face. "Do you eat the tuna that you catch?"

"Of course I do. Why wouldn't I?''

Because that sounds disgusting? "I don't know… I mean… I've eaten tuna out of a can and everything but… the thought of catching one and then eating it…"

"It's not like I eat it raw."

"I know you don't, but still. It just sounds weird. Do you gut it yourself and everything?"

"And take out the bones and grill it."

"Gross." I made a right turn and sped up. "I'm already headed for Kamekona's truck. Once I get there, I'll get the keys and head your way. Didn't you say that you were going to send me some coordinates to follow or something?"

"Yes," he said. "I sent them to you in a text. You do know about coordinates, right?"

I felt affronted. "Coordinates aren't only used at sea, Commander. Of course I know how coordinates work. Just because I can't steer a boat… I'm not an idiot."

"I never said you were!" he said defensively. "I was just making sure that you knew what you were doing."

"Aside from not being able to drive the boat that I'm coming to pick you up in… yeah, I know what I'm doing."

He sighed. "I guess I don't really have a choice. Call me if you have any trouble." And then he hung up the phone.

"Son of a bitch," I muttered angrily and depressed the gas pedal.