Sorry for the delay! For some reason, this chapter uploaded wrong, but I couldn't fix it at work. :( Here it is:
Across town at headquarters in Iolani Palace.
Will Grover, dressed in a tieless suit, nervously enters into 5-O headquarters, hoping his father is 1. not busy and 2. in a good mood because he's got a big favor to ask. As he approaches the doors, he sees all the members of 5-O laughing around their smart table. It takes a second before anyone notices him.
"Hey Will!" Uncle Steve calls out and now everyone has turned their head and begun shouting out their greetings as he approaches.
"Boy, where are you going dressed like that?" His father asks. Lou sniffs the air, "boy I know you don't have on my cologne." Will chuckles because he sure did go through his dad's medicine cabinet and pull out Lou's date night cologne.
Tani chimes in, "I think Will has a hot date!" Which causes Uncle Danny – no, no Mr. Williams—to visibly recoil and fake vomit.
"Yeah, I guess I have a hot date. I am taking Grace out to lunch for her birthday, it's gonna be special I think. It's a uh a really nice restaurant, which is kinda why I am here. Dad I need money, please." To that, all of 5-O begins cracking up and making jokes as Lou pulls out his wallet, obviously bothered.
"Boy, I give you money every day, how much? How about $20? Well no seeing as you're all dressed up and I know the little miss is getting dressed up to the nines, how's 100?" Lou flashes his son that specific smile that translates into "this is all I am giving you and you bet not ask for more or I gonna embarrass yo' ass." Will knows this look very well. Over the years Lou has perfected that smile, but Will is on a mission and ready to play ball.
"Well Dad the place we are going is really nice, so I think I need more like $250." Danny and Lou literally guffaw.
"Where in the hell are you eating? You can't afford $250 dinners! Hell, I barely can. Y'all kids have no business going anywhere that damn expensive." Now that he's got the attention of all of the team it's time to make his play. As Lou fingers through his wallet, Will pretends to check his phone, he already knows Grace has texted saying the lunch was Catherine and Scott's treat, but the new Air Jordans come out next week and who knows if his father will be feeling as generous come next week.
"Oh, wait, dad, never mind – Scott's paying the bill." He throws out the bait, waiting for which fish he's gonna catch. At the introduction of yet another boy name, it's Danny.
"Who's Scott?" His father backs Danny up, "yeah who the hell is …Scott and why is he paying for my son to take his girlfriend out?" Now Will knows he's got them.
"Scott is Grace's aunt's boyfriend. He's dope. Don't worry about the money – Scott's loaded and Ms. Catherine said he's gonna pay so he definitely is gonna pay."
"Catherine? Wait Grace doesn't have an Aunt Catherine unless you're talking about Catherine as in she dated your Uncle Steve." Danny says to Will with a weirdly placed anxiety communicated through his eyes.
"Yes, that Catherine; the one who dated Uncle Steve. Yeah, her boyfriend. He's gonna pay. Which means I better get going, I'm already late and my uber's arriving." With that Will turns around and begins walking, a second later his father is calling him back and handing him the money. Will smiles, it's like taking candy from a baby, a big 6'3 grumpy baby. He's out of there without as much as a "thank you dad" because that would give his con up, he just nods his head in appreciation. Maybe he needs to come dressed up in 5-O more often.
Steve cannot believe what he is hearing. Catherine is back, back? Without so much as a drop by to say hello? And she has a place on the island? That can't be right because she's moved out of the house in Aina Haina unless she's moved somewhere new? And what the hell is this about her dating someone? Steve reasons he can't judge her because he's still dating Lynn and it's been about three years, not that he can even believe it. Even hearing her name conjures up memories and a feeling of loss he's expertly submerged until he's alone and able to emote without the nosy eyes of his team. Steve knows his next reaction is crucial; the team is checking his response specifically – Danny and Lou. Thankfully, the Catherine saga was before Tani and Junior's time, and Jerry is about as aloof as one can be.
With his emotions whirling as he tries to figure out his next move without looking incredibly disappointed that Catherine didn't even care enough to check in, he barely registers that Danny has suggested the team go to Kamekona's before starting paperwork in the afternoon. He tells Danny he's fine to drive, but judging by their speed and the near two accidents Steve almost causes because he's so preoccupied, it's a miracle they make it to the shrimp truck. Today is definitely a longboard day, no matter what shrimp concoction Kamekona cooks up.
The team begins joking at Lou and Danny about their kids dating, which allows Steve a bit of time to collect his thoughts. It shouldn't annoy the shit out of him that she's back on the island, and he wasn't the first to know, but it does. In fact, her presence, but still absence pisses him off, saddens him, and weirdly infuriates him. He's happy she's back and probably safe, but he's never encountered a Catherine who hasn't come back to him, even in the friend capacity. Steve isn't looking to get back with her or anything – at least he thinks, but still, it's common decency between friends to alert your friend when you come to the other's island. Even if Steve and Cath aren't indeed "friends" the way they claim to have been following their mission, she should have told him she was back. Catherine wasn't even aware of how often she's occupied his thoughts, her safety, and her life one of the constant worries he's learned to live with. And yet:
Somewhere, some guy is wining and dining his ex-girlfriend and his darling niece; that would irritate anybody, Steve reasons. He knows now is not the time to voice said annoyance, but he can't help that every few minutes his mind drifts. Kamekona comes in clutch with his excellent seafood fast-food cuisine. When he approaches the table to chat with 5-O, he jokingly teases, "Big Kahuna why the long face? Detective Williams talking about your stinginess?" The joke makes everyone except Steve and to a lesser degree, the perceptive Danny, laugh.
"No Catherine is back on the island," Junior says too quickly before he notices that wasn't his place, but the glare given by the table and the kick Tani aims at his shin lets him know he crossed the line. He coughs away at the awkwardness.
Kamekona misses the stares, too relieved to finally acknowledge Catherine's presence. "Yes, she is, I'm so glad. The island life does her well. I still don't know if I like her hair now, the Kame is not really a bangs man, but if Grace told her they're in, I guess they're in. The boyfriend is nice, but he doesn't hold a candle to you, boss." Kame doesn't exactly notice that the rest of the team is looking bewildered that he knows that she's back and been in contact with Grace. Judging by the comfortability he's exuding, and he's known this fact for a while. It's only when he sees Steve's "aneurysm face" is he aware he's said too much.
"Wait! Kame you knew she was back, and you didn't tell 5-O?" Leave it to Jerry Ortega to point out the painfully obvious.
"Maybe, maybe not." Kame's never been good at backpedaling. He's not able to gauge how mad Steve is, but the body language is saying he's the definition of not pleased.
"How long?" Those two words come out with an iciness that everyone feels. Steve doesn't want to get emotional in front of the team, but he's pissed, and he's hurt. Kame doesn't answer him. He repeats himself.
"I don't know I say, a few months she's really been back. I guess it's been a year since I picked her up from the airport, but she was gone for months with the new job. But yeah now that training's done she's been back a few months. She's the best tenant I've ever had, even with the cat." Kame digs his hole deeper and deeper.
"Adam, what do you say, it's been about a year right?" Kame adds before he realizes Steve's not asking out of curiosity, but anger and hurt. The table turns to Adam to explain himself, and it's all Steve can do not to break the longboard in his hand. His mind is in overdrive. Does his whole team know that she was back and worse had they hidden that fact from him?
"Look, Steve, I didn't know she was back, back. She stayed at my house for two or three nights and then she was gone. Kono said not to look for her. I just thought she had a mission or something and didn't want to tell you. She didn't say why she was back and I didn't ask." Upon this omission, Steve felt his blood boiling to a level only Doris and Wo Fat had previously made him capable of reaching.
"Who else knew?" Silence. "I am not gonna ask again! Who else knew?!" He's yelling now. He turns to Danny trying to decide if there's deception in his partner's eyes.
"I didn't know Steve, I promise you. I would have told you, babe. Grace never mentioned it." Danny says, and Steve believes him. But Steve is too upset to register that Danny's not the enemy too.
Lou is second to pipe in that he definitely didn't know she was back. Jerry, Tani, and Junior don't have to answer because they obviously don't even know the severity of what is transpiring.
Kame hates what he's about to say, but it needs to be said. "Big Kahuna, listen, I don't think she wants to see you. I think she's really been happy. She's made a lot of progress this past year. It's not my place, but I don't want you to send her back to the hospital, that was scary." Kamekona's so lucky Steve hasn't punched him in the face because he's so incredibly mad. But he wants to know more information before he goes apeshit.
"Kamekona what the fuck are you talking about? I've never sent Catherine to the hospital; I would never hit a woman. What the hell are you insinuating?" And now Steve's up standing toe to toe with Kame, steam blowing out of his ears.
Danny, Lou, and Junior mediate before anything can go down. They love the big guy, and they love their boss; nobody wants to see a fight between the two, especially Danny as he's in business with the both of them – but that's neither here nor there.
"Get off me. I'm fine. No, I wanna hear what he has to say." Steve whisper-shouts. Steve needs to punch something, shoot something, and by the way he feels he doesn't mind if its Kamekona. This doesn't get Grover or Junior to back down, but they stop touching him. Once Steve sits back down, Kamekona feels okay to lay it on him.
"When sistah got here, she was a mess, broken and lonely. She came here crying so loud, sent all my customers away. I had to take her to the hospital. Had something called a panic attack." Kamekona continues, "A few days later she moved into one of my rentals. Got herself a job, a boyfriend, a cat. Sees somebody to talk about her issues. She's happy you're happy with Lynn, she found her happiness elsewhere." That omission guts him. Steve's anger is deflated. He needs to leave the shrimp truck now because the sadness is overcoming him. Somehow this is worse than when she left for "Nepal," this feels final, and he's about to get sick.
Without so much as a word, Steve drops Danny's keys on the table and begins walking away. Danny tries to catch up with him, but thinks better of it; Steve needs to be alone. If Steve needs two six packs at 3 am Danny will be there, if he needs to cry Danny will be there, if he needs to shoot guns and missiles, Danny will go. It kills him that his partner is in such pain.
"Back to the office. Finish wrapping up our cases. I need to make a call." Danny barks to the team, and they comply without so much as a word. Kamekona knows he might have lost his best customers for a while, but he feels a weight has been lifted as he no longer has to lie by omission to Steve every time he sees him.
Across town, Grace's birthday lunch is going along swimmingly. She had been a little hesitant to have lunch with Auntie Cath's new boyfriend, almost as if she was betraying Uncle Steve. But her heart melts a little every time she sees Catherine glance over to Scott and smiles; her auntie is finally happy, and that's one of the best birthday gifts she could ask for. Oh, and that Louis Vuitton bag – her first, that Scott bought, that went a long way in Grace's mind.
The food was delicious, the conversation was refreshing and adult, which made Grace feel good. Auntie Cath had never made her feel like a baby, and she loved that, it had made Catherine's leaving all the more painful. Auntie Cath had given her and Will tickets to see Lil Halawa – the newest rapper out of the underground Hawaii rap scene; her friends would be so envious when she posted on Instagram.
By the time dessert had been served, she excused herself to answer the three calls and voicemails from her father. Her dad did tend to be a bit overdramatic when she was out with Will, making sure they weren't having sex or sneaking alcohol out of the house and into parties with friends.
"Danno, what's wrong?"
"Grace, you're in big trouble. Come home, now."
"But Danno! "
"Now Grace!"
"Danno you're scaring me, what's wrong?" Her father was usually never this irate. Had he found out about her lunch with Auntie Cath? But even so, why the yelling?
"Grace I am your father, I do not have to explain myself to you. You have thirty minutes to get home, or I am coming to get you. Thank your boyfriend, I hope you kiss him because this is the last time you'll be out with him before college." With that Danno clicked off the phone. It took Grace a few seconds to realize he knew about Auntie Cath and as much as she loved her father if she was already grounded, she might as well go out with a bang. It was stupid for her to be in trouble for eating lunch with Catherine and she was gonna enjoy it. Yep, her father was not ruining this birthday lunch and what little was left of it.
Grace put on her most neutral face – the face she used when her emotions threatened to overtake her measured composure. Usually, this face was reserved for the few times her parents were together with her and Charlie, and they all looked happy. She wanted that permanently, but she knew not to get her hopes up.
Coming back to the table ten minutes later was embarrassing; she didn't want them to think she had to poop or anything. She makes an excuse that the bathroom line was long and that she ran into one of her mother's friends. No one at the table seemed to question her story, and so she finished her cheesecake while laughing at Scott's hilarious impressions of people he works alongside. By the time Scott had taken care of the check, it had been 20 minutes. She shot Danno a quick text letting him know she was on her way, but traffic from downtown was taking long.
Catherine could tell everything was not right with Grace. She volunteered a girl's car and a guy's car once again so she could figure out why her beautiful niece was now all moody and sullen. Will had readily agreed, the opportunity to ride in a Ferrari twice in one day, too good to pass up. "You, my dear, will have to settle with riding in the Corvette," Catherine said as if her car was not impressive whatsoever.
"Funny Auntie Cath. Do you think you could drop me off at Danno's?" Grace could tell her aunt was reluctant to comply. The plan had been to drop the younger couple off at Rachel's, this sudden change and Grace's strange behavior following her bathroom trip made Catherine suspicious.
"Gracie, what's going on?" She tried not to show how conflicted she was about going to Danny's, but she figured Grace had caught her bluff.
"I don't know how, but he knows. He knows you're back." Catherine's breath catches.
"Who?" She's not sure if she's prepared for Grace's answer.
"Danno. I don't know how he knows; I didn't tell him! I swear! But maybe you could speak to him, so he knows you asked me not to tell him. Apparently, I am grounded because I didn't tell him." Grace's tears begin welling in those big puppy dog saucers she has that Catherine's never been able to refuse.
"Sure honey. I will talk to your dad. Don't worry about being grounded, and I am sure this is a misunderstanding. He's just upset, but it's me he's upset with, not you. I'll talk to your dad and sort this out with him okay?" Catherine hopes this assuages the girl's worries, but Grace is silent for the remainder of the car ride.
