Sorry for the delay guys, I've been really busy but I am please to inform you that I now have a 2.1 BA with Honours in Geography, I am a graduate!

Any way thanks for the great reviews, keep them coming, they really do motivate me to write more!

(I do not own Hawaii 5-0 nor the characters but I do own Seven)

Steve had never felt better, which was surprising considering he had nearly bled to death mere hours earlier. The team had taken Aka'ula and some of his thugs back to HPD head quarters, done the paper work and headed home to rest. Seven had disappeared without a trace, obviously wanting to avoid the questions that were bound to come her way. Steve was worried about her sudden exit but decided to give her time to formulate her answers. Arriving home he had changed and decided to go for a swim. The turquoise water was cool and he swam along the length of the beach with long powerful strokes. He decided to exit the water just before his home and walk in the evening sunshine. The beach side home in front of him was new, with clean lines and pale blue paint. He wasn't aware that anyone was living there... and then he spotted the bike. Seven's bike. He would recognise it any where, then his mid drifted back to that morning and the red headed woman in the sea.

"No way", Steve grinned, jogging up the beach towards the house. He hopped onto the veranda and knocked on the door. After a moment Seven, wearing a very large t-shirt and barefoot, opened the door. The smile of greeting on her face froze as she was confronted with a grinning, dripping wet Steve wearing nothing but his swimming shorts and a pair of goggles around his neck.

"Steve?"

"Well hi there neighbour"

"Neighbour?"

Steve pointed up the beach,

"I live two houses down"

"Oh ok...how?"

"I spotted your bike...look I'm sorry for disturbing you I just wanted to see if you were ok. You made a rather hasty exit today"

Seven looked him up and down for a moment then looked him straight in the eye. Steve held her gaze, allowing her to read him then she stepped back and opened the door wider,

"You'd better come in then", then after a moments hesitation, "I'll get you a towel"

Steve stood in the middle of an open plan kitchen and lounge. It was modern and clean, a light and airy room that didn't look at all lived in. There we're no pictures on the wall, no ornaments, no little personal touches. Seven left him in the kitchen then returned with a towel. She tossed it to him then leant against the kitchen bench. Steve was very aware of Seven watching him dry himself off,

"Are you ok then?", Steve draped the towel around his shoulders. Seven smiled,

"I'm fine thank you"

"What happened today Seven?"

Steve felt the atmosphere deflate slightly,

"I thought you were dead...I would have died if you weren't there, did I thank you for that by the way?"

Seven shrugged,

"Don't mention it"

"No I think it does need mentioning Seven", Steve saw the brief flash of annoyance that crossed Seven's face then she dropped her gaze and looked at the floor.

Steve waited for her to speak again, when she didn't he stepped forward and gently took her shoulders,

"I know you might be with holding things because it's classified or private but I'm not asking for your life story here, I just want to know what happened. You owe us an explanation at least...I know Danny is extremely freaked out", he was relieved to see Seven smile,

"I'm having the team over for a barbecue and a few beers on the beach tonight, come along, relax, have fun and if you want to talk we'll listen"

Seven looked up at him with those unusual eyes, Steve smiled reassuringly at her. After a moment she nodded,

"OK...give me five minutes to get changed then I'll walk you home Commander", she left the room, smiling over her shoulder at him and he heard her go upstairs. After a moment Steve's curiosity got the better of him. He walked around the room examining surfaces, peering through the front of glass cabinets. The only thing that seemed out of place was a battered wooden box that sat under a low table in the middle of the lounge. Kneeling down Steve slid the box towards him and , listening carefully for Seven's return, opened it.

A yellow helmet was the first thing that caught his eye. He picked it up, turning it in his hands, examining the logo on the front. It was a European style fire fighters helmet. There were a few scratches and marks on the plastic yellow surface and there was a small crack in the visor. It seemed an unusual object to have but he would reserve judgement for now. Steve placed the helmet aside and returned to the box, inside he found a photo album and a small bundle amongst a multitude of smaller boxes and objects wrapped in ageing newspaper. Sitting back on his heels he began to flick through the photo album. He was greeted by a large photo of a family, a dark headed man, a red headed woman, a deep red headed teen age girl and a mahogany headed young boy, They were smiling, the parents holding the children close. Turning the page he took in photos of family holidays, of children playing and parents embracing. He came across a series of photos of the girl, who had to be Seven, on horse back, jumping, galloping and posing for the camera. Another series saw Seven on stage. She was dancing. Some of the action shots were stunning, showing the teenage Seven hanging in the air mid leap or back flip, others of her posing or rising high on pointe. Then suddenly the family photos stopped, the dancing, the horses, the smiles disappeared. There were a few more photos before the album finished. They showed Seven in a fire fighters uniform but her eyes were dull, they showed non of the light, the joy he had seen in the previous pictures. Steve placed the album to one side and unwrapped the bundle. Three pairs of shoes rolled out onto the carpet, he recognized them from Mary's dancing days. Tap shoes, pointe shoes and jazz shoes, all of them were well worn, the pale pink satin of the pointe shoes scuffed and stained.

"Tap was more my forte"

Steve jumped almost dropping the delicate shoe. Seven was standing in the door way, leaning against the frame. She had changed into a pair of black leggings and a blue vest, a pair of sun glasses sat perched on top of her hair and she was watching him with a carefully neutral expression. Steve hastily wrapped the shoes and placed them in the box,

"I'm sorry Seven, I shouldn't have been snooping around"

"I didn't forbid you to did I?", it was more of a statement of fact than a question. She crossed the room and knelt beside him, placing the photo album and helmet back in the box before closing the lid. Steve noticed the lingering touch on the dark wood.

"You were a fire fighter?", Seven didn't look at him but continued to gaze at the box,

"For a while yes"

"Do you still dance? From the photos you look very good"

"No...no I don't...thanks"

"Do you mind me asking why?"

Seven looked at him then and for a moment Steve saw the fear, the vulnerability that lurked just behind her eyes. Then she smiled and gave a little shrug and the moment was lost, obscured behind a mask of indifference that Seven had perfected,

"Lack of time and loss of interest that's all" she slid the box back under the table and stood, holding out a hand she helped the commander to his feet. Seven went to move away but Steve kept a hold of her hand, she gave him a questioning look,

" I really am sorry Seven"

Seven gave his hand a gentle squeeze and smiled,

"I know", with that she walked away from him into the kitchen, throwing a few things, including a pineapple, into a bag whilst Steve folded the towel she had given him and placed it on the kitchen counter,

"You doing dessert?"

Seven placed her sunglasses over her eyes and opened the door, motioning Steve out ahead of her,

"I always do dessert"

Danny, Kono and Chin were waiting for them on the beach. Chin had managed to light the barbecue and Kono was dishing out the beer. The cousins smiled when they saw Seven and Kono immediately pressed a beer into the medic's hand and placed an arm around her shoulder,

"Thanks for looking out for Danny today" she said quietly while Steve went inside to grab a t-shirt, Seven smiled,

"I thought that was Steve's job"

Danny snorted,

"No Steve's job is trying to get me killed"

Steve, torso now covered, had the good grace to attempt to look hurt. Danny stood directly in front of Seven, fumbling with something behind his back,

"I want to apologise for how I acted towards you when you first arrived and thank you for what you did today, I owe you one...I really do...so here" he produced a bunch of flowers and proffered them to the stunned medic. Seven took the flowers closing her eyes as she inhaled the sweet fragrance, then to everyone's surprise grinned widely and threw her arms around Danny's neck. Danny stiffened in shock then patted her gently on the back. The embrace was brief but Seven's grin was still in place when she disengaged from him,

"Thank you Danny, they're beautiful"

A few hours later the team were laughing on the beach watching the sun set over the sea. Seven had produced a fabulous dessert of caramelised pineapple with coconut rum and chocolate sauce that even Danny couldn't complain about and the team had entertained her with hilarious stories from their exploits. Seven finished her beer and put the bottle aside,

"I think its time for that explanation I owe you all" she sat on the sand facing them, Steve raised his hands, sitting forward,

"Its ok Seven you don't -" Seven cut him off,

"No, I promised" she took a deep breath and directed her voice towards the sand,

"I work for NATO and the UN as part of a top secret specialised unit, I'm trained in hand to hand combat and the use of various weapons and I'm...a healer"

Danny sat forward, elbows resting on knees,

"A healer?"

Seven looked up at him then reached up and placed her fingers against the tazer burn on his neck, when she removed them the wound was gone. Danny's eyes narrowed, Seven sighed and picked up the steak knife from Danny's empty plate running the blade across her palm. The group winced as scarlet blood marred the golden white sand, she held out her hand and as they watched the wound closed up,

"How do you do it then?" Chin asked taking Seven's hand and examining it, Seven thought for a moment,

"All living things have a life force...an energy that allows us to heal, recover from sickness, to function, healers like me have a surplus of that energy that allow us to not only heal ourselves rapidly but we can also use that energy to heal others both physically and in some cases mentally. We can also draw energy from living things around us...including people"

Steve cocked his head to one side,

"An energy?" Seven reached out for Steve's hand pulling him gently towards her and pushing his hand into the sand. She did the same with the other three than placed her hands on top of theirs,

"Now close your eyes and concentrate on the feeling beneath you hands -"

"This sounds like a magic trick" said Danny, but he closed his eyes regardless,

"Clear you mind and concentrate" she watched them carefully and smiled when Steve frowned, then one after the other, the others did the same, Danny was last.

Steve couldn't figure it out, his fingers were tingling then suddenly, beneath his palm, he felt a pulse like a heart beat. He opened his eyes and found Seven smiling at him, her hands were now in her lap,

"That wasn't you?"

Seven shook her head, her smile widening. Steve looked to the others,

"Did you?"

They nodded. Seven continued,

"Healers tend not to do well in cities, we prefer to be close to nature"

"We? There's more than just you?"

Seven laughed at the tone in Danny's voice,

"Only a few...that NATO knows about anyway, some people may have the ability and never know and others have partial abilities...they usually become doctors, nurses, paramedics ect but no two healers are exactly the same"

"Are you immortal then?" asked Kono, thinking about Seven's encounter with a police issue 9mm slug,

"No it just takes a bit more to kill me than is usual and I can't bring people back from the dead, once they're gone there is very little I can do about it. I have to be careful not to over tax myself either or I can have what we call a burn out"

"A burn out?"

Seven looked to Chin, then scooped up a handful of sand,

"Imagine a bowl and the sand is the life force" she let the sand run through her fingers, "every time I heal I use a bit of that energy, if that energy gets below a certain level I can have a burn out...its like a fail safe that stops me using my abilities because if the bowl empties" she let the last few grains of sand fall from her hands, "I could die"

Chin spoke up again, "so what happens if you...burn out?"

"I've never had one myself but one of my colleagues did, he became very depressed, slept a lot...when a healer's centre is knocked out of balance they need to recentre them selves again before their ability will come back, some can do it on their own, others need help, he did it him self and he was fine in about a month, but like I said, we're all different so who knows what I would do"

"That sounds ominous" said Danny, loosening his tie slightly,

"Are you going to tell us your name then?" Seven shook her head at the blonde detective,

"I'm sorry Danny I can't...to be honest I've told you far more than I'm allowed to already"

The next morning Steve entered 5-0 HQ and again found Seven already there, helmet-less this time but dressed in the rest of her uniform, gauntlets, vest and all,

"Do you sleep?"

Seven laughed,

"Of course...upside down like a bat"

Steve raised an eye brow and grinned,

"I wouldn't be surprised...what's that?" Steve pointed to a large black duffel bag on the floor by the computer desk,

"Just a few bits of gear that I though might prove useful...where's Danny?"

"He has Grace today so he'll be taking her to school" said Steve, looking at his watch. Suddenly the doors crashed open and Danny staggered in. The side of his face and top of his shirt were covered with blood, his left wrist hung at a horrible angle and he was keeping his weight off his right leg,

"They've taken Grace" he croaked and before either Steve of Seven could get to him, he crumpled to the floor.