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Hi, everyone! Welcome back to another chapter of my story! Thank you all so much for sticking with me. It's been a rough year, but writing this has really helped me out. Hopefully, I'm back to a regular upload schedule. As always, feel free to give me a nudge if I'm falling behind.

Thanks so much to all of you that have read, reviewed, favorited, followed, and private messaged. I really appreciate all of the support that I've received. It really keeps me going, even when I have the worst writer's block of my life (like with this chapter).

Also, someone asked me what I don't like about the newest season. That's such a hard question… I miss Kono and Chin very much, obviously, and now Adam is gone as well and that's a bit much for me. (But he has to come back eventually because of the gun thing, right? Right?) And as much as I hate to say it, McGarrett is getting older and he just seems different to me. I still enjoy the show, don't get me wrong, just not quite as much as I did when I first got into it. Let me know what you like and dislike about the newer seasons! I love hearing all of your opinions!

Happy Reading!

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Chapter Nine: Old Friends

Steve

I woke to a pounding on my bedroom door.

In my groggy state, I rolled over and expected to find Allie there, only to come fully awake when I realized that she wasn't there. I was in France – the City of Love, even – without her, and it made me ache. Every morning, I went through the same thing without her.

Again, there was pounding on my door.

"Hold on," I called out in a gruff voice. "I'm coming."

I swung my feet over the side of the bed and approached the door, opening it to see Kol standing on the other side, the air around him nearly crackling with excitement.

"What time is it?" I asked him.

"Three in the morning. Can I come in?" His words were rushed. Something was definitely up.

Allie.

"Sure." I stepped aside and then closed the door behind him. "What was so important that you had to wake me up at three in the morning?"

"I think that I have a plan." He immediately began to pace, and it reminded me so much of Allie when she had an idea that it made my heart ache. "And if we can pull it off, we'll be able to communicate with Allie."

My aching heart skipped a few beats. "Are you sure?"

"No, I'm not a hundred percent sure," he said. "That's why I said if we can pull it off. But I think we can do it."

Any chance was better than none at all. I nodded eagerly and gestured for him to continue. "Well, let's hear it."

"Did Allie ever tell you that one of our brothers is incredible with machinery and technology? He was such a boring kid – always just sat there wanting to know how everything worked." He gave a small laugh. "There was this one time in Prague that he-"

I snapped my fingers to get his attention. It was clear that he'd been up all night and was probably operating on ten cups of coffee, but I needed him to focus nonetheless. "Kol. Your idea?"

"Right." He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. "Max had a job not too long ago that involved a cell phone. I'm a little fuzzy on the details because I'm not a total nerd, but essentially, he created this special SIM card for a phone. Put it into Allie's phone, and we can communicate with her."

It was like a lightbulb went off above my head, even though it had been Kol's idea. "And we'll be able to see her messages to Nicolas."

Kol's frown wasn't what I wanted to see. "Actually, no, we won't. The SIM card was so brilliant because it doesn't give any indication that anything in the phone has changed. No doubt, Medici will be tracing and tracking at all times. The card just allows the user to essentially unlock a whole different side of the phone that's walled off from the other side."

I just stared at him, lost.

"Think of it as two phones in one," he explained. "Allie will have access to both sides, but we'll only be able to see our side and Medici will only be able to see his."

"Genius," I admitted, but still frowned. "Except that we won't be allowed within a hundred yards of Allie, much less close enough to hand her whatever tech we'd need to. Not if we want Trent to remain alive, which I'm assuming is still the plan."

Kol rolled his eyes. "Of course it is, and do you honestly believe that I wouldn't think of that? That's why we need someone on the outside."

"Like a stranger?"

"No." He shook his head adamantly. "We'll have to give instructions to whoever it is, so it needs to be someone that we can trust. Obviously, Medici knows all of our people, and I'm not sure that we'd want to risk a disguise."

"Anyone from Five-O would come," I began, but Kol shook his head.

"It can't be them, either. Medici would have looked them up because they're friends and co-workers of Allie's. It needs to be someone unattached to her, which makes it difficult."

"Not really." I didn't know why I hadn't thought of it at first. "My friend Catherine."

Kol raised an eyebrow. "The woman that you dated before Allie? The one that you were almost engaged to?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Are we really going to get into that right now? It's ancient history."

"Fine, fine." He raised his hands in surrender. "How soon can you get her here?"

I walked to the bed and picked up my cell phone, unlocking it with a few slides. "I'll call her right now and ask her to leave on the next flight out."

"We'll have to sneak her in just in case Medici has people watching this place, so let me know when she's to arrive." He walked to the door. "I'll talk to Max and get him working on the card."

"How will we know what kind of phone she has?"

"There's plenty of footage of her in and around the museum," he answered as he pulled the door open. "We'll find something." Moments later, he was gone.

I took a deep breath and then dialed her number, holding my breath until she answered with a soft, "Steve?"

"Catherine," I said, heart racing. "I need your help."

When she spoke again, her voice was stronger, determined. "Of course. Whatever you need. You know that."

"It's about Allie. We – her brother and I – think that we have a plan to get into contact with her, but we need someone that Medici doesn't know."

"Me," she realized without missing a beat. "Of course. Just tell me when and where to fly in."

I rattled off the name of the airport. "If you could be on the next flight out, that would be great."

The rustling coming over the line told me that she was already packing. "No problem. I'll look into flights as soon as I have a bag packed. If I have to, I can sweet talk my way onto a helo; I'm already in Europe."

Even better.

"Great. Just let me know what time you're going to land so that I can tell Kol. We'll have to sneak you into the house in case Medici is watching."

"Got it," she said. "I'll text you as soon as I know."

"Great. And Cat? Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me."

"I think I do." Through the line, I could sense her smile. "Be there soon." And then she hung up.

Knowing that I wouldn't be able to sleep after such an adrenaline rush, I showered and put on some clean clothes. After I'd shaved, I went down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Kol sat at the small table with Max, both of them staring at a computer screen.

"Steve." Kol waved me over. "Come see this."

"Get yourself some coffee first," Max said, though not rudely. "You look dead on your feet."

"Haven't been sleeping well," I explained and moved to do just that. Once I had a mug full of fresh coffee, I joined them at the table.

Max moved the laptop so that we could all see the image of Allie on the screen. "We found a picture of the phone that she's using. It's an iPhone, and luckily, the SIMs for those are fairly simplistic. I'll get started making one right away."

"How long will it take?" Kol asked before I could.

"No more than twelve hours, if I get started right now."

"Do that," I said.

He nodded and stood. "I will. You two should try to get some sleep."

"Not a chance."

"No way."

He shrugged and scooped up his laptop. "Suit yourselves. I'm going to start the card and then get some more sleep. Fill the others in on the plan when they wake up, will you?"

"No problem," Kol said.

Max disappeared, and Kol and I were left to sip our coffee. There was nothing to do until the SIM card was ready and Catherine had arrived, but we were both too wired to go back to sleep. I hadn't been sleeping well anyway, as Max had noticed.

"Catherine is on the first flight out," I told him, just for something to say. "She's going to text as soon as she knows what time she'll be arriving. Do you have a plan for that?"

"I do," he said. "She can take a car to the nearby park and then walk down the alley just behind us and come through the gate. I'll go out and leave a key close to her arrival. No one should notice."

"She's good at remaining undetected." We'd been on many missions together, and her stealth had always been top notch.

"That'll come in handy. The next order of business in this plan is to come up with a way to get Catherine and Allie alone together. Or, at least, alone enough that Medici's men won't know what's going on."

"Medici's men," I realized.

"That's what I just said." He sounded put out. "Were you not listening to me?"

"No, I was," I assured him. "But you said Medici's men. Does he ever hire women?"

"Oh, no," Kol scoffed. "Men are much better for security, or so he claims."

"Then there's one place they can't follow her."

It took him a minute, but then his eyes lit up. "Of course. We just have to get Allie to go to the bathroom and then Catherine can follow her inside. But Allie will have to come up with a reason for her phone going dark for a minute or so. Max said that the SIM transfer takes about thirty seconds, and then there's the business of taking the SIM out and putting it back in."

"Do you think he'd even notice that?"

Kol nodded. "I'm sure he has people watching it around the clock."

"She could always just drop it," I suggested. "Preferably without the cover on. Maybe right outside the bathroom door as she's going in?"

"We'll have to put that on a note," he said. "Can Catherine discreetly pass a note?"

I nodded with confidence. "Absolutely."

"Good. Then that'll be our plan, unless someone can come up with a better one."

"I doubt that they can."

Kol narrowed his eyes at me. "Cocky much?"

"Confident."

He scoffed but then waved at his father, who had just walked into the room. "Hey, we have a plan to get in touch with Allie."

Surprised, he walked over and took a seat. "Let's have it."

Kol did most of the explaining; I only chimed in to answer questions when it was necessary. Towards the end, Edward came in and we had to start all over with the plan. But, when we had finished and they'd both had their questions answered, Edward smiled.

"A good plan," he approved, and I felt incredibly proud (even though most of the plan had been Kol's). "One that Medici will not see coming."

"We should get some breakfast," Kol said and stood. "I'll go and ask Melba to-"

But Melba was already walking into the room, dressed for the day and ready to start breakfast. She was surprised to see us all there and started to apologize, but Edward told her that it wasn't her fault that we'd been up early and she shouldn't rush.

As others joined us at the breakfast table, we rehashed the plan over and over again. By the sixth time that I'd heard Kol tell it, I could have recited it in my sleep. But that's what we wanted, so I remained silent and just listened.

Until I received a text message from Catherine.

Landing in Paris at one. I'll be looking for your text on how to proceed once I'm there.

"Catherine is on her way," I announced. "She's landing at one."

"I'll get things in place," Kol said and drained his glass of milk, setting it down on the table with a loud tap. "I just have a few calls to make and then I'll let you know what to tell her."

"Thanks," I said, but Kol was already darting out of the room and up the stairs. I shook my head and fought a smile. "He's slightly overcaffeinated."

"Slightly?" Max entered the room and held up a small chip. "All done. And the transfer device is waiting, too. Do we know when this is going down?"

"Today," I said.

But… "Tomorrow," Allie's father said firmly.

I looked at him and opened my mouth to argue.

Edward spoke before I could. "Steve, we want to be able to talk to her as much as you do, but we can't rush this. We only have one chance, and it has to be perfect. I have no doubt that Catherine is as good as you say she is, but we'll need time to go over the plan with her, let her rest after her flight, have her practice the hand-offs, and get familiar with the layout of the museum."

Everything that he said made sense, but I didn't like it. Every minute that I had to go without communication with Allie was torture, and I just wanted it to be over. "And that all makes sense. But…"

"I know."

With a sigh, I stood. There was nothing else to be done for several hours, and I knew that I should try to rest. "I should go upstairs and try to get some more sleep before Catherine gets here."

No one argued.

Once in my room, lying on my bed and staring up at the ceiling, I didn't think that I would actually be able to fall asleep. But only a few minutes later, I was drifting off into a pleasant dream of Allie.

Hours later, I woke to loud rapping on my door.

I groaned, rolled over, and asked who was there.

"Kol," was the reply. "Catherine is almost here and I thought you might want to be there when she arrives."

"Yeah," I called back and sat up, still a bit groggy. "Just give me a few minutes."

"Sure thing." I heard his footsteps retreat down the hall and then he was gone.

I freshened up with a change of clothes and a spray of cologne, and then I followed. And when I stepped into the kitchen, I saw that Catherine had already arrived and was introducing herself to the gathered team. While she was distracted, I took a moment to study the woman that had almost been my fiancée.

Her dark hair was shorter, barely skimming the tops of her shoulders. She was tan, too, having obviously been out in the sun quite a bit recently. Not much about her face had changed, and she was still very toned and graceful. But where before there had been attraction and love, there was now only a friendly affection. Allie had stolen my heart, including whatever part of it Catherine had owned.

Feeling my eyes on her, Catherine turned and smiled at me. "Steve."

"Hi, Cat." I stepped forward and hugged her, breathing in her familiar scent. It was comforting to be around someone that I'd known for years instead of all of these people that I'd only just met. "Thank you for coming."

"Of course." She pulled back. "I think Edward was just saying that we were going to go over the layout of the museum."

I nodded my approval. "Yeah, let's do it."

For the next hour, we all sat in the living room while Edward talked to Catherine about the museum's layout. He was obviously pleased at how quickly Catherine caught on, and I felt a bit proud of her for it. Then, they practiced the hand off and Catherine was equally adept at that. After only two hours of what Edward called "training", Catherine was deemed fit to perform the job and we all went in to dinner.

Melba had fixed a feast of roast chicken, potatoes, green beans, carrots, and rolls, and everyone dug in with gusto. Everyone tried to make Catherine feel welcome by including her in their conversations, and it wasn't long before she was regaling them with some of her crazier adventures since we'd broken up.

"What did you see in him, anyway?" Kol asked at one point.

Catherine laughed while I wondered how much damage I could do with the butter knife in my hand. "He's a good guy. Even if the idea of romance is lost on him the majority of the time."

Everyone laughed while I looked at Catherine, wounded. "I can be romantic. I just choose not to be most of the time."

"Sure."

After dinner, it was my turn to help Melba clean up. Catherine also volunteered to help, and she caught me up on what she'd been up to. Mostly humanitarian stuff, but she'd been on a couple of missions as well. I got the feeling that the humanitarian stuff was what gave her purpose, though, and I expressed that I was glad she'd left me to pursue something that made her so happy. Even though it had been incredibly tough at the time.

"It was tough for me, too," she told me as we left the kitchen and headed outside to take a walk around the gardens. "I didn't want to leave, but I also knew that I was missing something. And I'll be honest… a small part of me was hoping that you'd wait for me, even though you told me that you wouldn't."

"And now?" I asked her.

"Now, it makes me happy to know that you've found someone that makes you even happier than I did." She smiled at me, and I knew that she meant every word. "So, tell me about her. Danny gave me a topline, but…"

And so, I gave her Allie's biography. How she'd grown up in the world of con artists but had made a new life for herself with the CIA. I talked about all of the different law enforcement fields that she'd tried out, and then told her how the governor had put her on my task force without my consent.

Catherine laughed at that. "That must have driven you insane. You hate not being in control."

"You and Danny," I muttered.

"So, what's she like?"

I only had to think for a moment. "She's stubborn – in a way that I can respect, even though it drives me crazy. And she's brave. Talented. Driven. Kind. You know… as close to perfect as a person can get."

Catherine's expression had softened. "You're more in love with her than you ever were with me. I can tell." Before I could say anything, she held up a hand. "I don't say it to make you feel bad or to feel sorry for me. I'm so happy for you. And for her. I can't wait to meet her."

"Just don't be trash talking me," I teased her.

"Only a little." She laughed. "And you're going to be a father… wow. You must be so excited."

So, we talked for a little bit longer about the baby and about impending fatherhood. And it felt so nice to be talking about the future without worrying about the present.

But all good things must come to an end.

"You should get some rest," I finally told her. "Big day tomorrow."

She nodded as we headed back for the house. "There's nothing to worry about. I've got this."

But I was going to worry anyway.