Thank you all for reading. Also a big thank you to all the guest reviewers who I can't thank personally.

This chapter sets the scene for the last two chapters. Yes, this story slowly comes to an end. But not to fear there is a lot more in the works. You should head over to my profile to see what is coming next.

Purple Heart – Chapter 14

Attending the basketball game had been a real turning point for Steve. Even though they never even made it to the actual game. Or to dinner.

Steve had been out for almost an hour, and when he woke up Ty was waiting to take them first to the precinct and then home to Steve's place. Steve was thankful that Catherine had taken his phone from his pocket to call his friend and explain the situation.

They had spent two hours in the precinct giving their testimony. Officer Ash had told them that Luces had already been processed and would spend the night behind bars. A judge had set him free in the morning, but he still had to face the charges of assault and battery.

After the 'interesting' Sunday Steve had been to physical therapy almost daily, finally being able doing exercises while standing up. He still used the wheelchair to get to work, but as soon as he reached the office he shared with Catherine and Ensign Lane, the chair would be parked in the corner. To walk around the building, he relied on crutches. Slowly at first and always accompanied by Catherine for the first two weeks.

But it seemed clear that the vertigo was gone for good. After the Sunday at the game he never suffered an attack again, at least none that threatened to make him fall.

"Cath, come take a look at this," Steve spoke into the quiet of the room.

"What do you have?" Cath asked as she came over to his desk and sat on the chair next to his wheelchair.

Today Steve hadn't ditched his chair the minute he had come into the office. He had had several hours of testing at the hospital that morning and his right leg was very painful. So much so, that it hurt too much to put any weight on his leg. While sitting it was okay, and more uncomfortable than actually painful. But it was definitely a nuisance and he knew better than to trust it for walking.

"You remember that there was never enough evidence left at the explosion sites to determine what triggered the explosion?" Steve asked and looked at Catherine.

"Yeah, you said they couldn't say for sure if the bombs were on a timer or remote controlled."

"Right. The explosion was always so powerful and the detonators so very well placed that they never found fool-proof evidence for either theory," Steve explained further. He had talked to a few experts over the last few weeks and couldn't believe that there really wasn't enough evidence to back either theory.

"And you have found something?"

"I'm not sure, but I think so," Steve said as he opened the video file.

The scene showed a small group of soldiers approaching an abandoned house, and then they only saw a big cloud of smoke and a few of the soldiers scattered around on the ground.

"This is about a week after the explosion I was caught in."

"This is how it happened?" Cath asked. She never saw any footage of the actual explosion Steve had been hurt in; the short footage with the helicopter was all they ever found.

"Yeah, pretty much the same. We used the same formation, checked every house and then suddenly there was a big boom. I have found a few other scenes, just like this one," Steve said and motioned to the screen, at the same time opening another video file. "Now, look at this."

It was clear that the next footage was practically identical. It was surely a different location and a different group, but it was clear that the approach was just the same. And unfortunately, with the same outcome.

"Did you notice anything in both of them?" Steve looked questioningly at her.

"Not really. What do mean?"

"Look at the top of the video, a little to the left," Steve said and played the file again.

"There's a reflection."

"Yes. And I've seen this before. An hour ago I watched footage with the same reflection in it," Steve told her of what he thought was an exciting discovery.

"You think it has something to do with triggering the explosion?" Cath asked a bit skeptical.

"Yes, I think someone was watching the scene and blew the house when the team was close enough," Steve told her, sure of his theory. "Can we get satellite imaging of the area and time?"

"We could try," Cath answered.

"If we could find out what that reflection really was, we might get closer to finding out who was setting these traps for our people."

"If, and that is a big if, these reflections are anything else than some old wreckage for example, we might be able to follow their movement and figure out where they are now," Cath said, and seeing Steve getting all excited raised her hand to calm is enthusiasm a bit. "This is a long shot, Steve."

"Yeah, but it's better than what we have right now," Steve interjected. "This could be the breakthrough we are waiting for. Come on, who do we have to go to for better imaging?" Steve wheeled back from the desk and seemed ready to go no matter what.

"Steve, this is the Pentagon. You don't just go see a guy for anything," Catherine said and had to smile at Steve's gung ho attitude.

"Why not? People are dying as we speak. I don't have time to fill out a bunch of forms and wait for weeks for something to happen. So, who do I have to talk to?" Steve asked and unconsciously intensified the massaging of his right thigh.

"Are you okay?" Cath softly asked and laid her hand on his slightly trembling leg. "You haven't walked at all today, is your leg bothering you?"

"I'm fine," Steve said, but looking at Catherine and seeing the worry in her eyes he corrected that statement. "It hurts since after PT. But I will be fine, don't worry."

"Did you take anything for it?" Cath knew that he went by without any pain medication on most days, but also knew that he was in serious pain on other days.

"No, the pills make me sleepy," Steve honestly answered. His doctor had weaned him off the heavy opiate painkiller, but the one he was taking on occasion was still a prescription drug and not some OTC meds.

"I have some Tylenol, you want those?"

Steve had to smile at her willingness to help, but those pills wouldn't do a damn thing for the nerve pain. "No, thanks. If it gets worse I will take something. Now, about that guy to see about the imaging."

H50 – H50 – H50

It took Steve almost a week to finally get the footage he wanted. He went from A to B, over C, D, E, F and finally back to A. He cashed in favors left and right, and Cath was sure that he finally got the footage because the people got tired of him relentlessly harassing them every day.

"I think this is a new record. I never got anything in one week. I'm impressed, Steve," Cath told him when he came into the office and she could show him the flash drive with the requested material.

Steve only grinned at her and limped over to his desk. Today was the second day that he came to work without his wheelchair or his crutches. Ty had picked him up and brought him to the Pentagon. He now gratefully sat down at his desk. It was harder to walk today than yesterday, probably because he was slightly dizzy and had to concentrate on walking straight. He woke up in the morning with a headache and the feeling of not being quite alright.

The headache went away rather quickly, but he was still left with a very light case of vertigo, the first in weeks. He had already made an appointment at the clinic for the afternoon; he would not risk a setback by ignoring any warning signs.

"Did you take a look?" Steve asked and switched on his computer.

"No. I think you deserve the first look," Cath answered him and handed over the drive.

"Thank you." Steve looked around the office, only now registering that Ensign Lane was not here. "Where is Dana?"

"She was called to see our CO. She didn't say why."

"Oh."

"You look tired, Steve. Did you sleep okay?"

"Wasn't the best night. But I'm okay." Steve didn't want to elaborate that he woke up from one of the worst nightmares he had in a long time.

"I'm sorry I couldn't meet you for dinner last night," Cath apologized for her very short noticed cancellation of their dinner plans.

"It's okay, Cath. How was your evening?"

"It was great. My dad wanted to meet you actually," Cath told him with a smile.

"Uh, really?"

"Yeah. He invited you to come see them next chance we have," Cath said and was not sure what she thought about her father's eagerness to meet Steve McGarrett. But she would find out what that was all about.

"Oh—kay." Steve looked at Cath, and was secretly thrilled that she had talked with her dad about him.

While they had been talking Steve had put the flash drive in and sorted through the files, finding what he was looking for. He opened the file and again was amazed at the quality of the satellite photos.

The images were all in very high resolution and they could zoom down to almost every detail on them. It was easy to spot what had caused the reflection they had seen in the video. Almost perfectly hidden from view there was a lone figure lying in the dust, aiming his binoculars at a target that they knew would be blown up in a matter of minutes.

There was no doubt in Steve's mind that they just discovered how all those explosions had always been perfectly timed. It was clear as day that they were witness to an ambush, perfectly executed by the insurgents group they were after for months now.

And this was their first solid lead. All they now had to do was follow that guy back to his headquarters and hopefully figure out where they were now. And then they could plan their counter attack and eliminate this threat to their troops.

H50 – H50 – H50