Time to rescue Sophia! It will happen in the NEXT chapter, I promise. We're getting ready to see some Steve whump!
However, THIS chapter is all about introducing a new character; Its someone who is important in Sophia's life. We might see just a tad bit of "jealousy" from Steve in the future until he realizes there is nothing to worry about. ;)
Since our beloved Five-0 Ohana characters are all based around "real" tv characters for which we have faces, I thought it would be fun to base this new character on someone else a lot of us probably know from television.
We're going to meet Dr. Brian Morris…..a friend Sophia has known since college and who will be loosely based on Dr. Mark Sloan (aka "McSteamy") from Grey's Anatomy. Keep that handsome and sexy man in mind as we meet Dr. Morris. ;)
*NOTE: I don't own anything related to Hawaii Five-0 OR Grey's Anatomy, so just putting that little disclaimer in here. No copyright infringement intended…..Just having some fun and feeding my need to write. Lol.
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The team started putting together a quick plan to get Sophia back and keep Mary safe in the process. They only had a couple of hours to pull it all together, and knowing that Mancini would be watching them put everyone on high alert. They were going to have to be stealthy.
Duke called Steve's phone so he answered. "Hey Duke. What's up?"
"McGarrett, there is a Dr. Brian Morris down here looking for you. Says he's a friend of Sophia's who just flew in and went by her apartment before coming here to see what's going on. I thought you might want to talk to him."
The name sounded familiar, but Steve couldn't remember why. "Yeah, send him up."
A few minutes later, the doors of Five-0 opened and a tall man who looked to be in his mid to late 30's walked in. "I'm looking for Commander McGarrett?"
Steve stepped forward to meet him, "I'm Steve McGarrett," he said reaching out his hand to shake the other man's. "What can I do for you?"
"Hey..I'm Brian Morris…. A friend of Sophia Manetti's. I just flew in and went by her apartment and saw the police tape across the door. I know you served as a SEAL with her brother, so I came straight here. Can you tell me what's going on?"
"Follow me. We'll talk in my office."
Then, remembering that Joannie was in his office, he re-routed. "On second thought, just follow me," he said before going in to Danny's office and shutting the door.
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As soon as the door was closed, Mary looked towards Kono. "Seriously? Talk about a long, tall, drink of cool water!" She whispered as she pretended to fan herself.
Kono couldn't help but chuckle appreciatively while the guys just grimaced or frowned. At the same moment, Abbie returned from a visit to Max's office. Seeing everyone look towards Danny's office, she turned that way as well.
Recognition hit her.
"Wait. Is that the Dr. Brian Morris?" She turned back to look at the rest of the team. "Why is he here? Did I miss something?"
Chin gave her a surprised look, "You know him?"
No one could miss the slow smile that crossed her face as she looked back towards Danny's office.
"Yeah I know him…..Well sort of…I mean…..not really," Abbie shrugged.
Lou's eyebrows shot up in question, "So which is it? Yeah…..Sort of…..Or Not Really?"
"Dr. Morris is a very well-known OB/GYN who specializes in high-risk pregnancies and infertility." Abbie explained as if trying to defend the man currently talking to Steve. "He's also a Board Certified plastic surgeon. He handles mostly high risk pregnancies, gynecological surgeries, and female reconstructive surgeries other doctors won't even look at. We used him a few times as a professional consult on cases I worked."
"What kinds of cases?" Kono asked.
Abby took a deep breath before sighing sadly. "We consulted Dr. Morris on several cases involving serial rapists….or domestic abuse…where the victim had been injured and/or severely traumatized. He even did some 'pro bono' work for us no matter if it was some sort of gynecological surgery…or plastic surgery to repair damage from abuse….It didn't matter. He performed any surgery necessary, and helped them heal. He's very good at what he does."
Danny was the next one to speak. "He's a gynecologist?"
"Not only a gynecologist," Abbie corrected. "He's an obstetrician, gynecologistand plastic/reconstructive surgeon." She leveled a look at all of them. "The man is a genius. Top of his class all the way through school and has performed countless procedures with women and babies that got him recognized as one of the best in the world."
Danny asked the obvious question. "So why is he here?"
They all turned their gaze back towards Danny's office.
"That, ladies and gentleman, is the question of the day." Lou said.
Hopefully they would have the answer to that question soon.
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As soon as Steve closed the door, Brian asked again, "What's going on, Commander? Is Sophia okay?"
"Mr. Morris…" Steve began.
"Doctor Morris...", he interrupted. "But please call me Brian."
"Okay, Brian, Uh…..I need to ask you one question."
Brian Morris shook his head and folded his arms across his chest. "Ok."
"How do you know Sophia?"
"Is she in some sort of trouble?"
"Can you just answer my question please?"
Brian released a sigh, "Sophia and I have been friends for 15 years, alright? We met at Southern Cal when I was a senior and she was a sophomore needing a tutor to get through Chemistry. Yes, I was a wide receiver on the football team….and she was a cheerleader…..but I was majoring in Pre-Med and tutoring on the side to make extra money. I was her tutor…..and we've been friends ever since." He took a breath and let it out again, "I don't mean to be rude, but what does that have to do with anything?"
"Let's sit down." Steve said as he motioned to the chairs in front of his desk. Once they were both seated, Steve offered the doctor a friendly smile, "Now I know why your name sounded familiar. I've heard about you. You were at Gio's funeral, right?"
Steve remembered hearing Gio talk about the friend Sophia met while at college. Although Sophia had always insisted that she and Brian were just friends, her big brother had worried….and lost sleep...wondering if there was more than friendship between them when Sophia was younger. After all, she was only 20 when they met.
Then, during one 3-month leave their SEAL team had in the States, Gio apparently met Brian Morris and was fairly certain after that that his sister and Brian were indeed "just friends".
From what Steve had interpreted in Gio's conversations about Morris, it had given him a certain amount of peace knowing Sophia had a friend looking after his sister when he wasn't there.
Gio had even called Morris a few times while they were overseas and he wanted the "real scoop" on how his sister was doing (since she had a tendency to keep things from Gio as a means of "not worrying" him).
The first time Steve saw Brian Morris "in person", however, had been at Gio's funeral.
If memory served him correctly, Dr. Morris was now a world-renowned specialist with his own practice in Los Angeles.
"Yeah. Can you please tell me what's going on?" The look on Brian Morris' face was one filled with worry. "I just flew in from L.A. a couple hours ago. I've been worried about her since Gio died. Whenever we talk, she tells me she's 'fine', but I've known her long enough to be able to hear in her voice when she's telling me the truth. …..and I know she's been lying to me about that. She's gotten progressively more depressed, so I finally decided to come here myself and give her a surprise visit. I needed to see if my worries were warranted. So what's going on?"
Steve leveled a look at the man in front of him; Someone he was certain loved Sophia almost as much as he did and would do whatever was necessary to protect and take care of her. "Brian, there's no easy way to say this….but Sophia has been kidnapped."
Brian shot to his feet. "What the hell? She was kidnapped?! Who took her?...And why??"
"We're going to find her," Steve said confidently as he stood feeling a need to reassure this man that they would get her back.
Steve and Brian were the same height, so standing up allowed them to look eye to eye.
"We've been in touch with the kidnapper and are working on a plan to get her back right now." Steve said.
Brian ran a hand through his hair, "But is she okay? Do you know that she's okay?"
"We talked to her briefly." Steve didn't want to give too many details just yet. Honestly, he didn't know if Sophia was "okay" or not. Just thinking about what Mancini may've done to her was putting his stomach in knots and he didn't feel it was fair to put that burden onto one of Sophia's closest friends.
Brian seemed to take some consolation hearing that Steve had talked to her since she'd been kidnapped even though his look was wary.
"So does Momma Rosa know about this?"
"No," Steve said emphatically. "And I'd like to keep it that way as long as we can. I'd rather wait until we get Sophia back before saying anything to Rosa." He looked at Brian, "And yes, I know she's probably going to put my ass in a sling when this is over, but I don't want to worry her right now."
Brian couldn't help but smirk. Yep, Rosa would not be happy about being kept out of the loop, but he knew McGarrett was making a wise decision. Momma Rosa would just worry herself sick if she knew something had happened to Sophia, and at the moment, there were enough people worrying and working to get her back.
"Look…..I need to get back out here with my team to work this out. Do you have a hotel or somewhere I can reach you?"
"Uh….No….. I went to Sophia's as soon as I left the airport and then came here." He closed his eyes and released a deep breath before looking Steve directly in the eyes. "I hope you don't take this the wrong way, Commander, but I'm not leaving here until I know she's safe. Sophia's talked about you and her brother ever since I've known her. And I know you and Soph have gotten…."
He paused for a minute…."Let's just say, I know you've gotten closer....since Gio died. With that in mind, I believe this is 'personal' for you, too. It's not 'just anothercase', right?"
Steve admired the man's boldness, and knowing that Brian and Sophia were such old friends, he could appreciate the candor.
"Right." Steve agreed.
Brian continued, "Okay so I'd like to stay….if I can. Coming from one man who cares about her to another, I'd really like to stay until you get our girl back."
Steve didn't know if it was a wise decision or not, but he decided to go along with his request. Besides, there was a good chance Sophia was going to need a doctor when they rescued her. The realization of that fact made his stomach knot….. BUT, if that was going to be the case, so who better to have along than a 'world renowned OB/GYN'? And someone she already loved and trusted.
"Okay," Steve agreed. Then, he patted him on the back, "I promise I'm going to get her back. Okay?"
Brian didn't speak….just shook his head. Then, followed Steve out where everyone else was talking.
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Two hours later, Five-0 was placed as inconspicuously as possible around the warehouse Mancini had instructed as the meeting place. The plan was that Mary would go into the building with the memory card. Upon receiving the card, both Sophia and Mary would be released.
Of course, that's not the way it was going to happen; All of them knew that full well. No career criminal at the status of Dominick Mancini and Gabriel Waincroft's was going to let two witnesses go free, but Five-0 was certain they would get both women back out safely.
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I promise the next chapter will show Steve's rescue of Sophia and what happens afterwards. Already working on it and can't wait to see what happens. Let me know what you think of this chapter. ;)