You Owe Me

by njborba

Steve thinks he's finally ready for a future with Catherine, but nothing goes as planned.

8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the TV series, Hawaii Five-0.

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You Owe Me
Part 8

By
N. J. Borba

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"Wo Fat has been in solitary confinement under a very strict no communication lockdown ever since he arrived in Colorado," Chin revealed.

It was nearly a month since Steve and the team had learned about Wo Fat being released. And the date was quickly approaching. Steve wasn't sure if it was irony or just a cruel joke, but the master criminal was due to be transferred to Chinese authorities on New Year's Day. A new year and a possible new lease on life for a man Steve knew he probably should've killed when he'd had the chance. "So you're saying it's unlikely he's been the one behind sending me the pictures of Catherine?"

"He's not allowed email or phone access, no visitors. There's one night guard and one day guard, each the same since he was transferred there," Chin further explained. "He's in solitary round the clock. So unless he's earwigged one of those two guards then, yes, I'd say it seems unlikely."

"Never underestimate him," Steve grumbled.

"I'll run deeper background checks on both guards," Chin offered.

Danny had been keeping pretty quiet throughout the discussion, but he could see his friend teetering on the edge again. "What else do we know about the pictures?" he tried to be helpful in the wake of Wo Fat being shot down as a likely suspect. "They've been coming by mail the last several weeks, so our guy's being more cautious, not using couriers or hand deliveries. Can't you track the mail?"

Chin sighed regretfully, "I've already tried, but they keep leading back to impossible scenarios. One was postmarked from Japan, another from Russia and one even originated in Norway. It seems completely random."

"But all the pictures have clearly been taken here on Oahu," Steve was irritated. They all were.

"I know. Which means they're probably digital photos that are emailed to someone at those locations to throw us off," Chin maintained a calm position on the matter. "Tracking down where the email originated and ended up would be like… well, the old saying seems best, needle in a haystack," he shrugged. "Unless you want me to search every IP address on Oahu and in all three countries," Chin knew that would be a ridiculous undertaking, but he was willing to take a stab at it. "I wish I had something more for you. Maybe…"

Steve noticed the way his friend hesitated. "Maybe what? If you've got a better idea then spit it out. Because we've just been treading water here for the last few months."

The two other men standing around the surface computer exchanged a quick glance, but it was Danny who spoke. "Chin and I have been thinking maybe we should get Catherine to help us." He could practically see the veins in Steve's neck about to burst. "At least hear us out," Danny pleaded. "She's been able to find out more about this Yakuza boss that's after Adam than we or HPD has. She managed to pick up Doris' trail in Dubai two weeks ago, and followed her all the way to Bangkok."

"She's very good at what she does," Steve couldn't deny that fact, even though he'd missed running into his mother in Bangkok by about twenty-four hours. "But we're not telling her about any of this. I don't think it's the right way to go about things."

"Well, we do," Danny was again the one to speak for himself and Chin.

"So the two of you have discussed this without me?" Steve realized, even before they both nodded. "You've been going behind my back, talking about me."

Chin glanced down at his watch. "I should go. I need to transfer more money for Kono so she and Adam can get to Hong Kong."

After Chin quietly escaped the uncomfortable situation, Danny followed a pissed Steve into his office. "You are wound up way too tight, my friend."

"Yeah, well… maybe I'll try some yoga," Steve snapped, opening and closing one of his desk drawers with a slam. He sat down in his chair with an irritated sigh. Taking his frustration out on Danny wasn't helping. "Catherine just keeps helping me, Danny. She supports me no matter what, no questions asked," Steve said. "She can't fix her family so she's trying to fix my dysfunctional family, and… and I feel like there's nothing I can do to help her," he lamented.

The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes until Steve finally revealed what he'd pulled from the drawer. "Here," he handed Danny the envelope. "Read them."

Carefully unfolding the first piece of paper he found in the envelope, Danny wasn't sure what to expect. The note was on plain white copier paper with black computer generated letters, looking like it could've come from any printer around the world. "I know where she lives, in your family home. I know where she works. I've been close enough to slit her throat if I'd wanted, stood right beside her more than once," Danny's whole body tensed and he glanced up at Steve. "Is this from…"

"Came with a set of pictures," Steve confirmed.

"If you tell her, or anyone else, about this note I'll take her from you," Danny concluded reading the first note. He quickly sat it aside in favor of reading the second note. "I don't have to hurt her if you make amends. Your family took something from my family that I want back." The detective felt a chill rush over him as he read, realizing why Steve suspected Wo Fat of being behind the mysterious pictures. But the unfortunate truth was it could be any of a host of people from Steve or Doris or even John McGarret's past.

The last line caused Danny considerable discomfort, "If you tell her about these notes I'll kill her."

With a gulped breath, Danny went for the third note and read it aloud as he'd done with the others. "Change in plan, I'm going to use her in order to get back what your family took from me. When I'm done maybe you can have her again, but she won't be the same woman you knew before. If you try to tell anyone, you'll never see her again."

"What the hell is this," Danny was outraged, waving the current piece of paper in his hands. He stared at Steve for some sort of explanation. "Why didn't you… how long have these been coming with the pictures? Why didn't you show me sooner?"

"The last three weeks. I've been intercepting the mail before you or Chin could get to it," Steve revealed. "They said not to tell anyone."

Danny regarded his partner for a moment, noticing how still he was, silently fuming. "This… these notes are why you won't tell Catherine," he finally understood. But there was more to it than that; a heart shattering panic that Danny could see in his friend's eyes. "Shit. You're terrified." That realization sent a spike of dread through his body. Danny had never seen his friend anything less than completely ready for a fight. "You can't hold all this in, babe. You'll explode."

"I can't tell anyone either," Steve countered. "I shouldn't have told you."

"Chin can try to trace the notes," Danny did his best to focus on the case related aspects. "Find out what sort of paper it is, the ink. Check for fingerprints," he was grasping at straws, knowing they'd be unlikely to get anything from the notes. They were just as common as the photo paper used. "Hey, this has been going on for weeks with no sort of action. Maybe our guy is just a harmless bully, no guts to actually take action," Danny tried to make a case for it being hollow threats. "My advice remains the same, tell Catherine."

"No way, Danny," Steve's head shook. "Even if there's the smallest ounce of truth to the threats in these notes, I won't risk it. I can't."

"Steve…"

"I said no, Danny!" he shouted, pushing away from the desk. Steve walked around and snatched up the notes from his partner. He folded them and stuffed them back into the envelope and dropped it in his drawer. "Just let me deal with this my way," Steve concluded, exiting the office.

The man remaining shook his head, feeling helpless. "But you're not dealing," Danny whispered to the empty room.

000

"Catherine?" he called out, unsettled by the lack of lights on the main floor of the house.

Her car was parked out front, and he knew her cell phone was inside the house since he was still tracing her whereabouts at all times. Steve headed upstairs, taking the steps two at a time. The alarm had been set when he got home, which he took as a good sign. He'd been considering setting up cameras around the yard but hadn't actually followed through with that plan yet. Steve was still anxious after having told Danny about the notes. He pushed the bedroom door open, not knowing what to expect.

His mind kept conjuring up images of her in a pool of blood, throat slashed as one of the notes had threatened.

But when the door opened he found her propped up in bed with her computer on her lap.

"Trooper, look who just got home," Catherine spoke softly to the dog on the bed beside her when Steve appeared. "What do we do when Steve gets home? Do you remember?"

"Kiss me," Steve suggested, relieved to find her huddle with Trooper. As he walked toward them, he reached down to pet the animal, smiling as she wagged her tail excitedly to see him. Steve leaned in and pressed a worried kiss against Catherine's lips. He breathed out slowly, trying not to reveal how upset he was.

She caressed the side of his face. "I'm trying to teach her something, but she hasn't quite grasped it yet." Catherine looked him in the eye and smiled. "Welcome home."

"It's nice to actually see you before midnight," Steve replied as he kicked off his shoes and settled on the bed beside her. "Whatcha up to?" he asked, still trying to shake off his talk with Danny. "Working?" Steve glanced at the laptop.

"Nope, I just finished emailing your sister," Catherine closed the computer and carefully placed it on the floor, sliding it under the bed so Trooper would be less likely to step on it.

"I think Mary talks to you more than me these days," Steve remarked as he rested his head against her shoulder, his arm draped protectively across her belly, holding her close.

Catherine was a little concerned by his rather cuddly behavior but decided not to mention how clingy he'd been lately. "Maybe because I actually email her back," she replied, "Mary's been missing your mom a lot these last few weeks, and I'm not really sure what to tell her about it all. I think you should call and talk to her," Catherine suggested.

He nodded, even though he wasn't sure what to tell his sister either. Steve couldn't really focus on anything but the woman beside him at the moment. His attention shifted to the food on her bedside table. "I see you do eat in bed when I'm not around," he reached across her and picked up an empty plastic package. "Did you eat all of these?"

"Yes," she noticed the dismayed tone he used. "It was a six ounce package of dried mangoes," Catherine noted, "Not like I scarfed a whole box of Twinkies."

"But I just bought these yesterday," he sniffed the package.

"Do you want some sort of monetary compensation?" she eyed him suspiciously. "What's up?"

"No. Nothing," his head shook, realizing he was becoming so paranoid that he was worried about her food being poisoned. Steve took a deep breath and discarded the dried fruit package. "Why does it seem like every time I see you these days you're either eating or sleeping?" he snuggled up to her again.

"What's that supposed to mean," she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Cath, I didn't mean anything by it," he replied. "Although, you're the one who mentioned yesterday that you've gained a few pounds."

"You can go back to work now," Catherine shoved him away in favor of stroking the dog again.

He tried to resume his previous cuddle but she swatted him away a second time. "You're kinda cranky tonight," Steve sat up.

Seeing the genuine look of rejection on his face caused her stomach to ache a little. "I'm sorry," Catherine apologized. "We've both been so busy lately that we only ever get to see each other when we're sleeping or eating," she acknowledged. "And I guess civilian life has packed on a pound or two. All I do lately is spend eighteen hour days sitting in a stuffy van running surveillance, not eating anything until I come home. Unlike on the carrier where all I had to do other than work was exercise," she concluded.

Steve grinned. "You're gorgeous, even if you have gained weight."

Her mouth hung open for a moment, "That was so close to being a save," Catherine turned away from him again.

Not giving up that easily, Steve pulled her back to his side. "You are beautiful, Cath. And I kind of like having a little extra something to hold on to," her glare made him wince. "That was not me saying you're fat," Steve realized too late that it was the wrong word to use. "Okay, little is the most important word you need to remember me saying just now. So… are you going to have any time off next week for Christmas?"

"Smooth," she relented, not really mad at him for anything he'd said, just tired. "Billy leaves Friday to visit his dad. He won't be back until the week after New Year's," Catherine conveyed. "I'll still have some work to do, though."

"But we'll have some alone time?" Steve was hopeful.

"Absolutely," she agreed.

"Good," he felt a little more settled. "Now, what other food do you have stashed up here?" Steve glanced over her shoulder again. "I haven't eaten since breakfast. Can I have some of this…" Steve grasped a plate and examined the half-eaten sandwich on it. "What is this?"

"Bologna, cheese and strawberry jam," Catherine explained as she snatched it off the plate and took a bite.

"You brought bologna into this house… willingly?" Steve questioned. "You know that stuff is loaded with nitrates and nitrites," his nose crinkled as he did a double take, "Did you just say strawberry jam with bologna and cheese? Are you pregnant?"

"What? No," Catherine's head shook emphatically. "I just can't live on MREs and goji berry energy bars like some people," she playfully accused. "This is…" Catherine looked at the sandwich in her hand. "It's sort of a comfort food thing," she let him know.

"My dad's internal clock would usually be off for a while after a long tour," Catherine continued. "He'd get up in the middle of the night sometimes and make a sandwich. One night I joined him and it was kind of dark in the kitchen. He was making bologna and cheese while I started to make a peanut butter and jelly. But I'd only gotten to the jelly part when my dad accidently took my jelly half and smashed it together with his bologna and cheese half," she explained with a reminiscent smile. "We ended up sharing the sandwich and it was actually kinda good. It became a thing we did together every time he was home. Mom thought we were crazy, but now it always makes me think about my dad."

Steve smiled. "That's sweet," even though the sandwich sounded disgusting he appreciated her precious father-daughter memories.

"Is that even something you would want?" she asked, setting the food aside again.

"Is what something I'd want? You lost me," Steve was confused.

She shrugged, "A baby?"

His pregnant comment resurfaced and Steve's eyes widened a little, "I don't know… maybe."

Catherine swallowed. "You do know I'm on birth control to make sure something like that doesn't happen," she pointed out. Catherine noticed a sort of sad look in his eyes. "Why are you being so weird tonight? You're very cuddly and talking about babies. It's not normal."

Steve sighed. "Is it weird to want marriage and kids? It's not as though either one of us is getting any younger."

"Wow," she was taken aback by his comment. "I think you've covered marriage, kids and me getting old and fat tonight."

"Shoot, Cath… I honestly didn't mean to…" Steve stammered. "Can I go back a few minutes in time?" He shimmied out of bed before she could kick him out with only her glare. Steve stood in the doorway. "I'm going downstairs to get some real food, is there anything you want or need?" he bravely asked.

A silent head shake was the only response Steve received from her as he watched her curl up with Trooper again. He felt a little bad as he shuffled out of the bedroom, but he was thankful to still have all his arms and legs unbroken. Steve returned ten minutes later with a plate in one hand and a bowl in the other. He placed his normal turkey, cheese and lettuce on whole wheat sandwich atop the nightstand then crawled onto the bed and presented the bowl to her.

"What is this?" Catherine asked, eyeing the bowl dubiously.

"Peace offering," Steve replied, "Just a little something to help curb your, uh… crankiness," he cautiously suggested.

She took the bowl and noticed the chocolate ice cream within it. "Think you're so smart, don't you?" Catherine wasted no time licking a small bit of ice cream off the spoon.

"Well, we've only lived together for a few months, Cath, but I think I know you pretty well. And chocolate of any sort always seems to help with your… crankiness."

"You can say PMS," she actually cracked a slight smile, taking a larger bite. "Braun and brains, lethal combination," Catherine remarked reflectively as she watched him devour his sandwich in short order. "You know my mother would be pleased," she still wasn't quite sure what to do with the unexpected topic from earlier. "She'd like nothing more than to see me married with kids, which is kind of strange when you consider she had such a crappy marriage."

Steve sat his empty plate aside and faced her again. "It's not strange that she wants you to be happy, Catherine. That's what good mothers want. And, yes, maybe she only stayed with your father for your sake. But she knew how much you loved him and she didn't want to take that away from you. I don't know if that was right for her, but it was noble. And now she's happy with Ted and a new career. It's okay to be happy and married, to have a family and a job."

"I just want to be sure…" Catherine trailed off as she offered him some of the ice cream, holding the spoon for him. She smiled at the way he licked it off slowly, a slightly mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "I don't ever want our kids to think we hate each other," Catherine added. She immediately noticed a questioning look form on his face. "What?"

"You just said our kids," Steve pointed out, but didn't dwell on it. "I know what you mean about being sure," he nodded. "But haven't you ever thought about that sort of thing?"

"Having kids?" she heaped another decent spoonful of ice cream into her mouth and let it melt slowly. "Yeah, I've thought about it before," Catherine revealed. "But I've never been good with kids, at least not the little ones. I relate better to kids like Grace, or Wendy and Molly. Babies are a huge responsibility. They need you all the time and we both work jobs that keep us very busy and are dangerous, sometimes very dangerous. And babies are… they're… you know…" she struggled to find the right word.

"Messy?" Steve offered, not sure what she was having trouble with expressing.

"Fragile," her word was barely louder than a whisper. "They can get hurt even when you think you've done everything right."

His chest tightened upon hearing the underlying sorrow in her voice. Steve immediately realized she was talking about her baby brother. When he felt her head rest against his shoulder, he figured it was a good point to drop the subject. He wasn't really ready for kids either, but it was something he felt needed addressing further at some point. "We caught the guy behind that string of jewelry store robberies," Steve decided a change of topic was in order. "But the stolen goods haven't turned up yet and our guy isn't talking," he sighed, "I hate when cases go unsolved," his thoughts drifted back to the threatening notes. "I hate when things are left dangling."

"I can think of a few things I like that dangle," Catherine remarked with a smile.

"Naughty," he replied. "But I like it," Steve moved in for a kiss.

Catherine's brow arched as she pushed a hand against his chest. "I was thinking about jewelry, necklaces and earrings dangling. You're the one with a dirty mind, mister," she waved her bowl under his nose. "Want another bite?" Catherine held the spoon for him and chuckled as he took the bite. She watched as he swallowed and then moved in closer, coming back for that kiss again. This time she allowed their lips to meet in a sweet, chocolaty caress.

Steve broke away, knowing she wouldn't be in the mood for anything more. And he was perfectly content to resume his cuddling position. "What if we went away for New Years, just you and me alone for a few days?" he suggested.

"You mean like, you would take actual time off from work?" she asked.

"Yes," Steve agreed. "We've never really gone on a vacation together. We could go anywhere you want," he offered.

"How about camping," Catherine proposed.

"Camping? Really?" he eyed her, a little surprised. "I suggested going anywhere and you pick camping?"

She grinned, "I'm a low maintenance type of gal."

"Yes, you certainly are," Steve agreed with appreciation.

"The important part is us being alone for a few days, no work, and no stress." Just the anticipation of it thrilled her.

He nodded. "And I'll pack the food," Steve insisted.

000

Soft wisps of sunlight floated through the window behind their bed.

Catherine felt the warmth of the sun on her cheek, and Steve's warm body pressed against her back. She kept her eyes closed for a while, listening to the sound of his breathing against her ear. "You awake?" Catherine whispered. The past week had seemed relentlessly long as the holiday, and an actual day off, had loomed tauntingly ahead of them.

"No," he replied in a sleepy tone, "It's way too early to be awake on a day off."

She chuckled softly, shifting beneath the covers to turn and face him. A heavy lump at the foot of their bed moved as well, Trooper repositioned herself but remained snuggled up with them. "Merry Christmas, Commander," Catherine said as she kissed along his jawline.

His eyes opened and he rubbed his prickly cheek against her soft one, wrapping his arms about her waist. "Merry Christmas, Lieutenant," Steve uttered before kissing her properly, their lips tangled in a peaceful union.

Pulling back to create a small distance between their mouths, Catherine took a moment to catch her breath. "You know I'm technically not a Lieutenant since I retired," she pointed out.

"Stop," he rolled her onto her back. "You're ruining my Christmas fantasy," Steve kissed her again.

Trooper shifted and scooted herself forward so she was practically on top of them. She gave a soft bark and then licked them both on the face.

"Yeah, yeah… Merry Christmas to you, too, Trooper," Steve turned just in time to get another lick from the excitable animal. He reluctantly let go of Catherine and scratched behind the dog's ear. "Good girl," he spoke tenderly to the animal. The dog beat her tail against the cream colored comforter, growing more excited as Steve praised her.

"Trooper, calm down," Catherine gently ordered the dog, afraid she was about to be tossed from her own bed by the animal. The canine looked at her defiantly. "I don't care if it is Christmas, you're getting off the bed if you don't lie down," she gently warned. Finally the dog settled a little, seeming to understand. She rested her front paws between her human companions. "I think I'm a little jealous of my dog," Catherine remarked, even as Trooper tenderly licked her hand. "The way you stroke her and call her a good girl," she eyed Steve.

He resumed his hold on Catherine, the two of them curling up as close as possible with the dog between them. "Well, I would call you a good girl, but I know better," Steve teased.

"I can be man's best friend, too," Catherine insisted as she leaned forward. Without warning she licked the left side of his face, her tongue moving from the bottom of his chin upward. Catherine panted heavily against his ear as she playfully nipped at it.

"Good god, woman," Steve felt his body react in a manner inappropriate for a man playing a game with his dog. "I swear if you get down on all fours I might have to…" he was rendered speechless when Catherine shifted positions, straddling herself above him on her hands and knees. "Are you trying to kill me?" he gasped.

Catherine felt her breath hitch as she waved a hand at the dog. "Trooper, down," she ordered the animal off their bed. "Go downstairs."

Steve grinned; amused by the way she always commanded the dog to leave the room before they had sex.

He found it enormously endearing.

000

An hour and a half later Steve whispered in Catherine's ear, "Time to wake up."

"Hmm…" her eyelids attempted to open but felt far too heavy for the movement. "Wasn't I just awake? What happened?" she moaned against the pillow.

"What happened? I'm hurt you don't remember," Steve smiled as he regarded her, still sprawled on her belly with eyes closed. He whispered a condensed replay in her ear and watched the satisfied smile that spread across her lips and opened her eyes wide. "You remember," he chuckled.

"So that's why I feel like I might never walk again," Catherine shifted to her side and stretched.

Steve presented a box wrapped in silver filigree paper with a large blue bow. "I hope you can do more than walk, because I still have a surprise for you," he handed her the box.

Catherine took her gift and sat up to open it. She eagerly ripped off the paper but her excited manner stalled when she found a mitten and scarf set inside the package.

"Huh, these are certainly…" she was more than a little bewildered by the odd gift. "They're very pretty, and look hand knit," Catherine did her best to be complimentary as she checked out the items. They were each made of a soft cotton yarn in shades of lavender, teal and navy. The scarf was knitted in a chevron pattern, the mittens were simpler wide stripes of color. "But not really the most useful things for life on Oahu," she tried not to sound ungrateful for the gifts.

"They're for your surprise, later," Steve clarified a little.

Catherine frowned, "So you're telling me I still have to wait for my real present?"

"Yep," he nodded.

"That's cruel, you know that right?" She pulled the mittens on. "Maybe I could go get a fan to sit in front of," she laughed, placing a mitten clad hand on either side of his face. Catherine kissed him, a sweet, quick touch of lips before she sat back again. "Thank you."

He took the scarf out of the box and carefully arranged it over her shoulders and around her neck. "By later I only mean about an hour. We should shower and get dressed and then eat before we leave," he noted. "I'd like to be there about nine."

"Leave?" she questioned. "Where're we going?"

"I told you, it's a surprise," he reminded.

She sat back with a harrumph of breath. "Well… what should I wear?" Catherine wasn't giving up yet on figuring out the mystery.

"Something comfortable and maybe slightly loose, you'll be moving around quite a bit," Steve got out of bed and went to grab clean boxer-briefs from a dresser drawer. "Nothing too tight or restrictive," he lightly warned, headed into the bathroom.

Catherine stood, still wearing her warm weather attire with her satin nightshirt. "Come on, just tell me where the heck you're taking me? Should I be worried?" she pestered him, following him into the bathroom. Her eyes narrowed in thought, still trying to suss out the mystery. "Am I going to get wet? Or dirty? Are we rock climbing? Sky diving? Surfing? Oh, jeez, we're not breaking into a building by crawling through the air vents, are we?"

He laughed out loud at her last comment as he turned on the shower and waited for it to warm up a bit. "You watch too many movies," Steve teased, even though he'd done something similar with his mother. "Next time I need to crawl through air vents you'll be first on my list of partners for the task," he assured her. "You'll like this surprise, trust me," Steve said before stripping down and disappearing behind the shower curtain.

"I do trust you!" she called out over the din of the shower. Catherine looked down at her mittens apprehensively, "I just hate surprises."

000

"I can't believe I let you blindfold me," Catherine said as she heard him open the passenger side door of his truck for her.

"I can't believe you managed to leave it on," Steve responded, taking her by the arm.

She'd dressed in black cotton leggings, a silky baby-blue blouse and ballet flats, all of which he assured her would be fine. Catherine was also wearing her mittens and scarf even though it was nearly eighty degrees out already. She patiently allowed Steve to guide her as the world remained dark behind her blindfold. Catherine heard a door open and the sound of a light switch being thrown. Her heightened sense of hearing even caught the slight hum of fluorescent lighting above them.

"Okay, there's a small step up here," Steve instructed as they continued forward. "And… stop," he finally halted her.

Steve turned her a little so she was facing the right direction, then he finally removed the blindfold. Catherine blinked, slowly regaining her bearings. Her face lit with a smile when she realized where they were. "The Ice Palace?" she glanced around the indoor ice skating arena, noticing it was completely vacant aside from the two of them.

"We have the whole place to ourselves until noon when it will open to the public," Steve explained. "Remember that case I worked a few weeks back, the girl who wandered off from her school and everyone thought she'd been kidnapped? Natalie Granger."

"You and Danny found her at a park a few blocks from her house, she was on a swing," Catherine recalled, "She'd just wandered off. Another reason kids are a handful."

"Her father is the manager here," Steve revealed, dismissing her handful comment. "So I asked if he could arrange this for you," he looked over his shoulder, "And there's one other thing I need to do," Steve disappeared behind a random door for several minutes.

Catherine stood beside the rink trying to remember the last time she'd ice skated, far too long. She was still waiting for Steve when the lights dimmed and then changed color. A soft blue glow filled the expansive space. White and blue snowflake patterned lights danced across the ice, causing the whole place to look like an outdoor winter wonderland. When Steve reappeared, her smile said more than words could. "I wasn't sure you could outdo last Christmas but I stand corrected," Catherine pressed a thankful kiss against his lips.

"And now," he waved a hand at the bank of skates resting on shelves behind them. "You can't let this opportunity go to waste."

She didn't need any coaxing. Catherine slipped on a pair of skates and was out on the ice in less than five minutes. As she first set her blades upon the ice it felt like she'd never left the sport behind. It was so much better than the roller derby experience earlier that year. The motion on the ice was more fluid, her muscles recalling complicated footwork that her head had forgotten. Both feet moved as if they were remembering a long forgotten secret.

Steve leaned against the wall, watching her skate, mesmerized by her movements. She splayed her legs, gliding across the ice as if she were a part of it. When she skated backwards on one leg, the other extended, Steve felt his heart quicken. He'd seen similar moves on the movie he'd watched with Mary Thanksgiving night, but he'd attributed most of it to movie magic. He'd also seen home videos of Catherine skating as a kid, but the reality of watching her was different. She was graceful, elegant.

He'd seen her in combat situations looking nonetheless graceful, but much more dangerous. Steve liked the peacefulness that came over her while skating much better.

Without even realizing it, she'd snuck up on him. "Skate with me," she beckoned.

"Uh, no, this is your gift," his head shook. "And that's actually the one thing Joe White didn't teach us in SEAL training."

She leaned against the barrier wall. "What's that, how to ice skate?"

His head shook again. "Nope, how to fall on your butt gracefully," he replied.

"I can teach you," she offered.

"Skating or falling?" he wondered.

"Both," Catherine shrugged. "You never know when you might end up on a mission with nothing but ice for miles."

At that moment, Steve was certain she could talk him into doing anything.

He found himself looking for the right size skates a moment later. Felt his hands pull off his shoes and tug on the skates, still apprehensive but willing to do anything within his power to keep her happy and smiling. He wobbled out on the ice, grasping the side wall and then clutching tightly to her hands for dear life. Steve slowly pushed away from the wall, feeling a bit like a baby leaning to walk. But as he looked her in the eye and put his safety in her hands, he was actually able to enjoy the time with her.

Catherine kept pace with him, slow and steady, encouraging him to mirror her movements.

"How can you be doing all this backwards?" he asked, still watching her with awe. He'd always had a good sense of balance, but thin blades on ice changed everything.

"It's kinda like yoga actually," Catherine said as she glanced over her shoulder occasionally to be sure they weren't headed toward the wall. "You just have to relax, focus your mind, concentrate," she spoke softly. "And most importantly, you have to trust yourself." She couldn't help chuckle softly as he stumbled along behind her for a few silent minutes. She was positive she'd never seen such an apprehensive look on his face before.

"If you keep laughing at me I'm getting off the ice," he warned.

"I'm not laughing at you," Catherine pulled on a straight face, not wanting to risk him giving up so soon. "It's just nice to see you out of your comfort zone," she admired.

"I think that's just a fancy way of you justifying laughing at me," he remained doubtful of her sincerity.

As they rounded a corner a little faster than she'd planned, Catherine felt his hands slip from hers. She watched helplessly as he lost his footing. "Oh, crap," Catherine cringed, gliding further away from him and unable to stop his inevitable collision with the compact ice.

Steve could see her skating toward him, but he knew she'd never make it in time to halt his fall. His butt connected with the ice and his legs flailed out beneath him.

And, as if that wasn't bad enough, he heard clapping. Steve was ready to glare at Catherine when he turned to see it was actually Danny clapping. "This is perfect," Steve grumbled as he spotted his partner and Grace walking toward the rink.

"Are you okay, Uncle Steve?" Grace asked as she rushed to the wall near where he was. The girl was wearing a scarf and mitten set very similar to Catherine's only her hand knitted items were red and white candy cane stripes, which matched her current attire of red leggings and white shirt.

"At least someone in the Williams family is sympathetic," Steve glared at his partner. "Is it time already?"

"We agreed on ten-thirty, didn't we?" Danny asked, glancing at his watch. "It's thirty-five after," he conveyed.

Catherine skated over and expertly stopped herself before running into Steve, a small shower of ice crystals sparking off her blades. "How you doing down there?" she held her hands out and helped him stand up, feeling horrible they'd gotten separated.

"Fine," he grumbled. "Just a bruised butt to go with my bruised ego," Steve lamented as he swayed.

"Guess I should've taught you the art of stopping before anything else," she realized, guiding him safely back to the rink's entry/exit point.

He nodded, "That would've been nice."

"So what's going on?" Catherine asked, glancing between Steve and Danny for some sort of an explanation.

"Grace's Christmas surprise," Steve whispered in her ear before he sat down to remove his skates.

Danny turned to Catherine. "Steve's plan was for Grace to stay here with you for a while so he and I can set everything up for her surprise. If that's okay with you?" he finally asked, guessing his partner had forgotten to run it by Catherine.

"Danno won't tell me what's going on either," Grace shrugged as she looked to Catherine. "Can I skate with you?"

"I would love that," a quick nod came from Catherine as she took the girl's hand, "Let's find you some skates."

Steve finished getting his shoes on then went to Catherine's side, kissing her cheek. "I'm going to ride with Danny so I'll leave the truck for you," he handed over the keys. "I'll call you when everything is ready, maybe an hour or so. You good with that?"

"Sure," Catherine nodded. "Come on, kiddo," she left Steve behind and motioned for Grace to join her on the ice. They both waved good-bye to the guys as Danny and Steve left the ice arena. "Have you ever done this before?" Catherine asked the girl as Grace held the wall with one hand, looking a little nervous.

"Once when I was five," Grace said. "But mom and dad had to hold my hands."

Catherine flashed an encouraging smile as Grace took her hand. "Well, I'm pretty sure I'll have you skating on your own in no time," she offered as they took off slowly.

"You won't let go like with Uncle Steve, right?" Grace wanted to be sure.

"That was an accident, but I will do my best not to let go of you until you want me to," Catherine nodded. "Now, just keep your ankles locked and push off slowly to start," she instructed. Once Grace was mostly stable on her skates, Catherine taught her how to stop. For nearly an hour Catherine kept hold of the girl's hand, patiently giving her tips on how to skate. When she finally let go of Grace's hand the girl kept going.

"You're doing great," Catherine cheered. "Look at you, you're a natural," she praised.

Grace beamed as she concentrated on each push off. Before too long she was looking ahead rather than down at her feet. "This is really fun," the girl started to get excited.

Catherine skated close to grace. "Maybe you can add this to your list of sports. Cheerleader, softball and ice skating," she was genuinely impressed by how well the girl was skating.

"I'm not so sure I'm going to play softball again next season," Grace revealed as they rounded a corner. She noticed Catherine looking over at her with questioning eyes. "See, there's this this boy in my class, Peter Donovan," she spoke his name with a measure of exasperation. "He says it's weird that I play softball and do cheerleading."

Along with the exasperation, Catherine could see a small spark of interest behind the girl's eyes. "Do you think that's weird?"

"I didn't until he said something," Grace admitted.

"Well, then you should trust your gut feeling," Catherine replied. "It's not weird, Grace. You can do both. I used to figure skate and played softball, track and field, volleyball. You should do what feels right for you and not worry about what others think."

The girl mulled over that advice for a moment. "But what if…" she bit her lip nervously.

It wasn't hard for Catherine to guess what was really going on. "You like this Peter kid, don't you?"

"Sorta," Grace giggled softly.

There was a small longing within Catherine to return to a time when her first interest in a boy had sparked. But in reality she wouldn't trade her life with Steve for any teenaged infatuation scenario. "You should tell Peter that you like cheerleading and playing softball. And if he has a real problem with that then he's probably not the kind of boy you want to hang out with. But my guess is he's just teasing you about liking both."

Grace's nose scrunched a little in confusion. "Why?"

"Because he likes you, too," Catherine concluded.

The girl blushed upon hearing that. They lapped the rink again and Grace smiled as Catherine showed her a few more advanced moves like a simple spin and figure eight. "I hope you have a daughter someday," Grace said as she held Catherine's hand again. "Because she'll think you're way cool like I do," the girl concluded.

Catherine was a little surprised by the sudden comment, but she smiled softly. "Way cool, huh?"

"Yep," Grace nodded.

The ringing of Catherine's cell phone caused them both to leave the ice before they were really ready.

Catherine spoke briefly with Steve and ended the call. "Sounds like your surprise is ready," she let Grace know.

When Catherine parked Steve's truck outside the white picket fence of the McGarrett home a half hour later, she and Grace both gasped at the unbelievable sight before them. Grace pulled on her scarf and mittens again before she giddily leapt out of the truck and rushed through the gate. The girl gaped at the winter wonderland that had been created in the front yard. "This is amazing, Danno!" Grace squealed as she jumped in to Danny's outstretched arms.

"You really like it, monkey?" Danny asked.

"Love it!" she exclaimed.

Steve met Catherine at the gate and put an arm across her shoulders. "Danny and I did a pretty good job, huh?" he asked.

She looked at the scene they'd created. There were at least a dozen white sheets strewn across the lawn. And mounds of cotton balls and cotton stuffing were scattered around the ground and on the bushes, made to look like fallen snow. There was even a five-foot snowman in the center of the yard. He was a plastic lighted Christmas yard art, which fit perfectly with the winter landscape that Steve and Danny had formed. "You did great," Catherine agreed, seeing how excited Grace was to have a white Christmas again.

As they stood there enjoying the peaceful scenery, something shot across the yard and smacked Steve on the side of his face. Catherine tried to stifle a laugh but failed. "Danny, you're a dead man!" Steve warned.

"Is that real snow?" Catherine picked some of it off Steve's shirt collar.

"Kamekona donated a bunch of shave ice," Steve confirmed, pointing to two blue coolers where Danny was standing guard with another heaping snowball formed in his hand. Steve grabbed Catherine by the waist when he saw Danny fling the snowball. He spun Catherine around in front of him.

"Umph!" Catherine exclaimed as the icy ball splattered against the scarf still draped around her neck. She turned and glared at Steve who'd just used her as a human shield. "Speaking of dead men…" she pulled her mittens on and raced toward one of the coolers.

It was all out war after that.

Catherine and Grace quickly created an alliance to gang up on the guys. They snatched one shave ice cooler for themselves and fortified their position up on the porch behind a large bush. They lobbed snowballs at the enemy until Steve snuck up behind them and grabbed Grace. He carried the girl over his shoulder into the middle of the yard by the snowman. "If you don't give up your ice chest, this girl will pay the price," he declared, tickling Grace as she giggled and squirmed against his shoulder.

"Oh, no, he's got my baby!" Danny dramatically cried out. "Please, Catherine. Give yourself up, save by baby girl from the Stevenator," he lamented.

"Don't do it, Aunty Catherine!" Grace called out. "I'll be okay. He can tickle me all he wants, but I won't give in."

Too doubled over with laughter to form a snowball, Catherine called a ceasefire and edged out from her hiding spot. She held her hands up in the air in a show of surrender. "How the heck did winter wonderland turn into the terminator?" she chuckled.

"Sucker!" Steve shouted as he put Grace down and tossed a giant snowball at Catherine's head.

Shaved ice lodged in Catherine's ear and she jumped on one leg to try and displace it.

Danny and Grace followed Steve's lead, hurtling more snowballs at the unprotected former Navy Lieutenant.

"Grace? I can't believe you turned on me," Catherine took the assault, dropping to her knees as the snowballs continued to pelt her. "I thought you were my friend," she lamented, pretending each hit was causing her physical pain. Soon she was on her side, eyes closed. "Trust… no one," Catherine theatrically gasped and then went still.

"What have we done," Grace feigned a remorseful sniffle, rushing to Catherine's side. "I'm so sorry," the girl pretended to cry over her fallen friend. As Grace lay atop her, Catherine's body began to shake a little, unable to stop laughing. "This is a really fun Christmas," Grace declared.

Catherine opened her eyes and smiled at the girl. "You called me Aunty," she realized.

"That's what you are," the girl shrugged.

A moment later they were both pelted with a barrage of snowballs.

000

Catherine sat on their bed and watched him. "How come you haven't asked about your gift?"

The sun had set hours ago, another Christmas day swiftly fading into history. After their shaved ice snowball supply finally ran out, the four of them had eaten lunch together before Danny returned Grace to her mom's house. Steve and Catherine had gladly volunteered to clean up the front yard, after which they'd gone for a swim in the ocean, walked Trooper along the beach for several hours, and then ate a simple candlelit dinner in the backyard.

"I already got everything I wanted and more this Christmas," Steve replied as he removed his shirt and pulled off his white cargo pants.

"But you gave me so much today, the ice skating, the mittens and scarf, and getting to see Grace enjoy her white Christmas. I haven't given you anything," Catherine pointed out.

He regarded her, kneeling on the bed, one of his SEAL t-shirts hitting her mid-thigh. "You being here is gift enough for me," he insisted.

She sighed, trying not to be frustrated with him. "But there's something I want to give you," Catherine tried again.

"Okay," he finally sat down on the edge of the bed and held his hand out. "Gimme," Steve said, thinking maybe she had some package hidden behind her back.

Her head shook. "You have to search for it," she revealed, "You do enjoy a hunt, don't you?"

He was suddenly intrigued, even though he was also exhausted after a long and eventful holiday. "Where is my hunting zone?"

"This room…" Catherine gestured.

Steve immediately knelt down and stuck his head under the bed.

"Kinda cold down there," she reported.

His head raised and he looked her in the eye. "That how you want to play this?" Steve watched her nod. "Alright then," he got serious and stood, wandering around the room in nothing but his black boxer-briefs. Steve inspected her record player in the corner for several seconds.

"Frosty," Catherine shook her head.

He glanced around the room, realizing there weren't many hiding places. Steve went to the closet but nothing seemed out of place there. "Still cold," he heard her voice call to him.

Steve felt a chill as he walked by the dresser, worried she might've hidden something there close to the photographs he still had stashed in the middle sock drawer. Instead he went to the bathroom and began to open the linen cabinet. "You're pretty much in Antarctica there… I said this room," she reminded him.

Standing in the doorway, Steve stared at her. A smile curled his lips as he walked toward her, thinking he finally had her game figured out. "Getting warmer," Catherine grinned.

His hands went to her waist and he pulled her toward him, standing by the bed beside her. "How warm am I now?" he whispered against her lips.

"Rather hot," she confirmed, still keeping up the ruse.

As he kissed a path along her neck and across her shoulder, Steve heard her say, "I can't believe you still haven't found it."

He grinned, laying her down against the bed. Steve glanced at the t-shirt that was now barely covering her. "Pretty sure I know what my gift is," he reached for the bottom hem, his fingers gliding along her thigh. Steve had the garment up around her waist, eagerly eying the satin panties she was wearing.

"Not that," Catherine locked eyes with him again as she took his right hand in hers. She could feel the excitement he was experiencing pressed against her thigh, but there was more than sex on her mind as she placed his palm over her chest. Her hand covered his, both of them resting above her heart. "I love you, Steve," Catherine whispered.

His heart beat rapidly. Those words were the last thing he'd been expecting. "Catherine, I…"

"Other than my parents," she offered him a reprieve, sensing that the words had taken him by surprise. Catherine closed her eyes for a moment as his head dipped and his forehead rested against her shoulder. "The last person I ever said those words to was my baby brother," Catherine revealed. Steve rolled to his side but remained close, hand still above her heart. "I would go to his room every morning before school to play with him. Mostly I'd just make silly faces and he'd smile and laugh at me. He was always happy to see me," she remembered. "And before I left the house to catch the school bus I would wave to him and say… bye-bye, Ben, I love you."

Steve didn't know what to say, so he just listened.

Her eyes brimmed with tears as she continued, "One day I came home after school and there was a med van parked in front of our house. A bunch of soldiers were gathered on the front porch," she took a shaky breath. "I knew most of them. Master-at-Arms Nick Lawson was one of my dad's good buddies. He pulled me aside and told me that Ben had died. I sat there on his lap for a long time, waiting until I could get to my mom inside the house. But before that happened, one of the medics walked out with Ben wrapped in his teddy bear blanket. I stood there as they carried him to the van. And I remember saying… bye-bye, Ben, I love you."

She gulped down a sob resting in her throat. "Then I never saw him again. And I've been too afraid to say I love you to anyone else," Catherine confessed. "Which is stupid, right? He was just a baby, and that was twenty-eight years ago."

His head shook. "It's not stupid, Cath," Steve assured her.

Catherine could see he was still struggling with his emotions. "I love you, Steve. Those words are my gift to you," she reaffirmed what she'd said earlier. "But I didn't say them to force a response. I said them because it's how I've felt for a while, and I finally realized I didn't want to risk losing you without ever telling you how I feel," Catherine took a deep breath. "And maybe someday when you're ready…" she smiled.

He buried his head against her shoulder again, "I don't deserve you," Steve whispered.

"Yes you do," Catherine insisted.

000

"Should we recap the last few weeks?" Catherine asked. "What is your most important first move?"

Her two teenaged students were dressed in yoga pants and t-shirts, quietly paying attention as they sat on the large cushy mat that had been positioned along the south wall of Billy and Catherine's office space. The construction of two individual offices, one bathroom, and the tech room hadn't taken up even half of the entire floor plan that their business occupied. So they'd agreed to turn one corner into a training and workout area. And for the last three weeks Catherine had been instructing Molly and Wendy on some self-defense moves.

"I know this one," Wendy raised her hand.

Catherine leaned forward and grasped her ankles, stretching before they began. She chuckled softly at how polite the younger Flay girl often was. She'd come to realize in just a few weeks' time that Wendy only ever got in trouble by blindly following her older sister's antics. "You don't have to raise your hand, Wendy," she repeated the same thing every week.

"The foot stomp and elbow to the ribs combo," Wendy confidently replied.

Molly rolled her eyes. "Ugh, enough with the recap, mom… let's learn the good stuff this time. I think three weeks of foot stomping and elbow jabbing is overkill."

It still caused Catherine some conflicting emotions when Molly teasingly referred to her as mom. But she'd come to know the two girls well enough to recognize it was said with affection rather than distain. "Fine, we can move forward. But every week we build on the previous week's lessons, so if you feel confident that you remember everything we did last w…"

"Yeah, okay, go over it again," Molly gave in.

The front office door opened and closed causing Catherine to look over her shoulder. She recognized the dark-haired woman that immediately headed toward Billy's office. "Why don't you two stretch for a sec, I'll be right back," Catherine jumped up and walked across the hardwood floor. She poked her head inside Billy's office. "Can I help you?"

"Catherine, hello," An spun around and greeted her with a small smile. "I was hoping to find Billy here," the woman clutched her handbag and nervously drummed her fingers against the soft brown leather bag.

"Uh," Catherine breathed out. "Billy left the Friday before Christmas to visit his dad in San Francisco."

"Oh, that's right. He told me that," An replied. A moment later her shoulders slumped a little. "No, he didn't actually tell me that. I thought he was still in town. Billy made a date with me for last night, and when he didn't show I tried to call him but he doesn't seem interested in returning my calls," the petite woman sighed. "I don't understand. I know we've had some difficulty finding time for each other, but I thought things were actually going well between us," she shrugged.

Feeling more than a little uncomfortable talking about Billy and An's relationship, Catherine could only shrug. "I'm sorry. I know he's been a little stressed lately, getting this place off its feet and all." She also knew Billy wasn't entirely happy with An. At least that's what he'd told her at Thanksgiving. Although Catherine had to question the validity of his words now that she saw An looking genuinely concerned, and knowing that Billy had been quick to try and kiss her.

An nodded and moved toward the door. "Sorry I bothered you. Maybe you can mention I stopped by when you see Billy again?"

"Sure," Catherine agreed. She waited for the woman to exit the office before she headed back to the mat.

"Who was that?" Molly asked straight away. "And why was she in Billy's office? Is she his girlfriend?" the teenager didn't bother to wait for an answer. "I think she looked a little unhappy. Perfect time for you to move in on Billy," Molly concluded.

Wendy elbowed her sister. "Mol, she has a boyfriend," the younger girl reminded.

"Psh!" the older girl scoffed. "In four weeks has either of us seen this supposed boyfriend of hers?"

"I'm standing right here," Catherine groaned. "An, the woman who was just here, has been dating Billy. And why am I even discussing this with you two?" she shook her head.

Molly laughed as she resumed her stretching. "Come on, why would you not want to hit the amazingly statuesque Billy?"

"Could you be a little less crude?" Catherine implored, hoping to regain some sense of decorum where her self-defense lesson was concerned.

"They'd never work as a couple," Wendy stated. "Catherine and Billy aren't right for each other. Just like that An lady is all wrong for him as well," the girl declared. She caught her sister and Catherine staring at her and she shrugged, "It's a theory of mine."

"Oh, right," Molly sighed. "I almost forgot, Wendy and her opposite hair colors attract theory."

Catherine had mostly gotten used to both of the girls, how they clashed but were still amazingly tight. Molly had a distinct lack of modesty when it came to just about everything. She certainly spoke her mind, even if she clearly had no grasp of what was right or wrong. Wendy was a little less abrupt, quieter, but still had a very strong personality. "Do I even want to ask about this theory?" Catherine humored them.

Molly's head shook vigorously, but Wendy's eyes lit up.

"So, there's the whole saying about how opposites attract," Wendy dove in head first. "I've been studying couples lately, at school as well as in Hollywood. And it seems like the best couples, the ones that actually last, are made up of people with opposing hair colors. Or," she glared at her older sister for a moment. "It also works for eye color, racial backgrounds and height. People of the same height are usually not a good match. Shorter women and taller men always work best."

"That's just nature," Catherine pointed out.

"Can be," Wendy agreed. "But I'm telling you the other things hold true. Billy has brown hair and brown eyes, same as you. Therefore, a bad match," She turned to her sister and smiled, "You also have brown hair and brown eyes, just like me, Mol. Sorry to break it to you, but you and Billy just aren't destined to be."

"Really, Wen?" Molly scoffed. "You know I'm never going to get married. I'm not looking for destiny, just a little fun."

"You're seventeen," Catherine pointed out. "He's too old for you."

"Jeez, here you go again with the mom thing," Molly sighed. "Are you sure you don't have kids?"

Catherine sighed, "No, but I do remember what it's like to be your age."

"Please, I bet you were a saint," Molly snapped, "Saint Catherine who'd never try anything with her business partner, hunky Billy. Even if he was blonde she'd probably stay away."

Trying to be more than a bodyguard or teacher to the teenagers, Catherine worked on being someone who the girls could confide in. That task required a lot of patients, though. "Why do you say you're never getting married, Molly?"

"Because marriage completely sucks," the teenager immediately responded. "My mom and dad were seriously messed up, never happy, always arguing. That's why she eventually killed herself. She didn't want to deal with the traveling any more, or his drugs and booze. But he threatened to take full custody of us if she tried to leave him. He was a bastard to her. He's mellowed the last few years, after the rehab and everything, but…"

The pain and anger radiating from the girl caused Catherine to think about her parents. She hated that anyone else had to experience a similar childhood to her own. But it seemed Wendy and Molly had been through far worse. "I know how you feel," Catherine tried to commiserate with the teenager. "My mom never tried to kill herself but she was unhappy with my dad. Watching what she went through made me think I never wanted to get married either."

Molly wrung her hands, hating that Catherine always had a way of getting through her tough shell. "Have you changed your mind?"

"About marriage? I'm not sure," Catherine revealed. "But when you find the right guy sometimes you start to think… what if."

"Have you found the right guy?" Wendy wondered, a little less jaded than her sister when it came to being hopeful about finding love.

A contented smile spread across Catherine's face as she thought about Steve. "Yeah, I have. And he's nothing like Billy. Billy and I work together, that's it. Crossing that line again with him will never happen because I'm very much in love with someone else." It still felt a little strange to her, saying those words, but also very right.

Molly was shocked, but not by the love declaration. "Again?" she questioned.

"What?" Catherine responded.

"You said, crossing that line again. You and bodyguard Billy did have something once, didn't you?" Molly realized. "Spill it, girl."

"Spill what?"

The three women turned at the sound of the male voice that had joined them.

Catherine's smile returned when she spotted Steve standing at the edge of the mat with Trooper beside him on her leash. She got up and walked toward them, greeting Steve with a quick kiss. "Is it that late already?" she asked, bending to give Trooper some love.

"I'm early," Steve replied. "I got the truck packed and Trooper was raring to go," he said as the dog barked. "Thought I'd see if you were ready to go a little earlier than we'd planned?"

"I would, but I still have the girls here," she noted.

"Hang on a sec," Molly's mouth hung open as she and Wendy stood and moved to where Catherine and Steve were standing. "Could it be true, the boyfriend really does exist?" She exchanged an approving grin with her younger sister. "And look at his massive…"

"Tattoos," Wendy interjected, hoping to stop her sister from any embarrassing remark. "She likes big tattoos."

"Guess bodyguard Billy is all mine after all," Molly said with delight.

Wendy was more interested in Steve. She ran her sixteen-year-old eyes over his body, but not in an ogling manner. "He's taller than her and has gorgeous blue eyes," Wendy spoke mainly to her sister, but loud enough for Steve and Catherine to hear. "A very good match," the teenager nodded her approval.

Catherine rolled her eyes at both girls' comments. "Pay no attention to them," she directed her remark to Steve. "This is Molly and Wendy," she motioned while making introductions.

"Steve McGarrett," he politely offered a handshake. "Big fan of your dad, Mike Flay," Steve added.

Molly laughed outright as she shook his hand. "Yeah, I know his name. He's my dad."

"Forgive her," Wendy smiled up at Steve. "Thanks, we'll tell him you said so," she shook his hand.

"Are we done for today, ladies?" Catherine asked, "Because there's been a lot more talking going on than self-defense training."

"No!" Molly exclaimed, her focus returning to Catherine. "You promised to finally show us that over-the-back move," she was actually interesting in learning, even though her mouth tended to distract her more often than not. "You know; the thing you did in the parking lot to that photographer guy. I want to know how to do that."

Wendy nodded her agreement. "There's a few boys at school I wouldn't mind trying that one on."

Steve grinned as he remained on the side of the mat, arms crossed. "I could help with demonstrations," Steve offered.

Molly rushed to Steve's side. "I'll be your partner," she offered.

Catherine grabbed Molly by the shoulders and turned her away from Steve. "Steve and Wendy will be partners," she pronounced, chuckling softly when Molly groaned in protest. They waited for Steve to kick off his shoes and join them, leaving Trooper on her own at the mat's edge. The dog was content to lie down and take a nap.

The four of them worked on the move in pairs, but after several tries Catherine grew frustrated with the lack of results. "This isn't working. You know I'm coming at you so you're overcompensating and crouching too low," she told Molly. "It's not about escaping this time, it's about using your attacker's momentum," Catherine tried to explain.

"But I don't want you to land on me," Molly replied, actually trying to learn.

"I have a better idea," Catherine looked to Steve. "You wanna help me break this down for them?" she asked. "Maybe if they see it in slower motion it could help."

"You got it," he nodded. "Where do you want me?"

"Come at me from behind," Catherine instructed.

"I like this plan already," he quipped, winking at her.

She glared an admonishment at him, noticing the way the girls were smiling. Catherine turned her back to Steve and waited for him to strike. Even on the mat she could anticipate his moves, listening intently as his footfalls nearer. Catherine ducked slightly when he came at her full force. She grabbed his arm and flung him over her head. Steve flopped onto his back and stared up at her, a little shocked by the swiftness of her movements. "You know I let you do that, right?" he grinned. "Teaching moment."

"Uh, huh," Catherine gave him a hand up. "Whatever helps you sleep at night," she teased.

Steve and Catherine repeated the move a few more times, finally managing to slow it down. Within a half hour the girls had finally picked up on it, both of them managing to send Steve over their backs with accuracy. "Alright, ladies, that's enough for today," Catherine said when she spotted their driver looming in the office doorway. "I know the two of you are leaving for New York tonight, you should get going."

"New Years at Time's Square again, how boring," Molly said as she grabbed her bag, "Daddy is performing again and of course he's making us tag along."

"At least it's not Finland, or some other distant place where's he's oddly famous," Wendy shrugged.

"That must be hard, traveling all the time," Catherine sympathized.

Molly grinned, "I deal with the hardship by shopping a lot," she joked. "What do you and Mr. Tall, dark and muscled have planned for New Years?"

"Steve, Trooper and I are going camping," Catherine revealed.

"Camping? Wow, Saint Catherine, you really are a wild one," Molly teased. The girl walked toward the door with her shoulder pressed against Catherine's. Molly watched Steve take the dog by her leash. "You didn't tell me you had a whole family," the teenager remarked while smiling at the yellow Lab. "I'm sorry about all the shit I gave you over Billy…" the girl cringed. "And sorry about just using the S-word, mom," she promptly apologized. "See you in two weeks when we get back, right?"

"Yep, I'll text you to make sure what time works best," Catherine waved the girls off.

"Those two really are a handful," Steve remarked when the girls were safely out of hearing range. "But I can tell they appreciate the attention you show them," he smiled as he let his forearms rest against her shoulders. "You ready?" he asked.

"Um…" she ducked under his right arm. "Give me a minute," Catherine dashed to her office and grabbed her cell phone off the desk. She glanced out her door and saw Steve teasing Trooper with a rolled up piece of paper. Catherine pulled up her contacts on the phone and dialed Billy's cell. The line went straight to voicemail.

"Hi, Billy, it's Catherine. I just wanted to let you know that An stopped by the office today and she seemed upset. I know it's probably none of my business but maybe you should call her. Okay… I'll, uh, be out of the office until Monday," she disconnected.

"Now are you ready?" Steve asked from her doorway.

Catherine turned around, slightly startled, "Yeah," she grabbed her purse.

"How's Billy?" he asked as she locked up the office.

"You overheard some of that," her words weren't a question. "Steve, I'm just…"

"Worried about him," he supplied as they headed down the hallway. "I know, you've mentioned that a time or two before." Steve found that he wasn't really upset. He knew that trying to fight her on the matter any further would be futile. Steve also knew that if the situation were reversed he'd be thankful to have such a loyal, concerned friend as Catherine in his corner. "You do what you need for Billy, okay," he offered. "Be his friend."

She smiled and took his hand as they stepped onto the elevator. "Thank you."

000

"Do you know any of their names?" Catherine asked, lying on her back and staring up at the night sky through the tent's mesh-domed roof.

The tent was just big enough for their queen sized air mattress and about a two foot area near the door for Trooper to curl up beside their backpacks. Their first day of vacation had been spent covering a leisurely few miles of wooded terrain before setting up a simplistic camp. The slightly remote trails allowed for camping but there were no official sites, and no fires could be lit. But rain wasn't predicted, and cuddled next to each other atop their conjoined sleeping bags meant they didn't need a fire's warmth.

The sky was an inky black canopy above them, dotted by tiny pinpricks of light.

"The stars?" Steve shook his head a little as he lay beside her. "Not really. I can usually find the big dipper, but…" he strained his eyes for a moment. "I don't see it from this vantage point. It's a good one to know because it'll point you to the North Star. And if you know which way is north you can usually find your way around. Just a little survival tip," he turned to her. "Do you know any of the stars by name?" he asked.

"No," Catherine replied as she rolled over and propped herself up on one arm to face him. "But I remember every time we moved I would look up at the stars on my first night in the new place and think that not everything was all that different," she recalled. "That was always a comfort to me."

He smiled, picturing her as a kid gazing up at the stars. "Mary sent me letters wherever I was stationed," Steve recalled. "Once she wrote something about how if we both looked up at the stars at night then we wouldn't be so far apart. I think I ruined it for her when I pointed out that the stars where she was were different than the ones where I was."

"Always so literal," Catherine remarked. She was about to lay her head on his shoulder when she noticed the slightly repulsed look on his face. "What? You know it's the truth," she defended. "You do ruin things sometimes with your inability to suspend belief."

"I wasn't taking offense to your comment, although now…" he continued to make a disgusted face, nose crinkled. "Cath, I know we're living together and you feel comfortable doing a lot of things that maybe you didn't when we were just a casual thing, but… farting in bed?"

"Wha…" Catherine's eyes went wide, but she suddenly sniffed out something fowl. Her nose instantly upturned as well. "No way are you blaming that on me, sailor. This is obviously a case of you smelt it, you dealt it," she declared.

"Very mature," he rolled his eyes, fanning the air with one hand.

Catherine glared at him. "It wasn't me," she maintained.

"Well, it wasn't me either," Steve said just as the smell grew stronger again. The two of them stared at each other for a moment and then turned their eyes toward the dog. Trooper lifted her head and whined softly, looking rather guilty. "Jeez, Catherine… you fed her some of our muffins on the hike up here, didn't you?" he immediately accused. "I specifically packed food and even doggie treats for her in my backpack."

"But she likes muffins," Catherine held her nose and attempted to breathe through her mouth, thankful the top of their tent was ventilated. "You see," she rested her head on his shoulder once the majority of the smell had faded. "This is proof I wouldn't be a good mother," she couldn't help notice that his shoulder felt rather tense beneath her head. "I let her sleep in bed with us, I feed her whatever she wants, and she growls at people."

He smiled, leaning his head against hers. "In Trooper's defense, she only growls at Billy. You can't really blame her for that," Steve noticed the not-so-please look from Catherine and he regretted his words, still trying not to disparage the Billy issue. "She's learned a lot from you," he tried to smooth things over. "She knows a bunch of commands, some I'm sure I don't even know about," he guessed. "Most important, she's learned about love from you. You love her and she returns that. You've given her a new life, Catherine."

"You're the one who gave her a new life, Steve. You rescued her," she reminded him.

Steve nodded as the subject of their conversation crawled onto the air mattress with them. Trooper snuggled up atop their sleeping bags and closed her eyes. "You know I never imagined our kid would be blonde and have a tail," he joked.

"Obviously she takes after your side of the family," Catherine retorted.

"But she has your dark eyes," he teased her right back.

Catherine laughed but suddenly felt her stomach rumble. "As wonderful as your Beef Stew MRE dinner was," she sat up, "I'm still hungry. Did you happen to bring anything to eat other than goji berry energy bars or MREs?"

"Yeah," Steve motioned to his pack. "There's juice, crackers and some trail mix."

She crawled across the air mattress, displacing air from one end to the other and causing the three of them to wobble a bit. Catherine dug out the trail mix. She shoveled a handful of dried pineapple, chocolate chips and almonds into her mouth before spotting something else in his bag that intrigued her. "What is this?" she asked, pulling the item free.

"That's a book," Steve replied with a straight face.

It was hard to be cross with him since they both had rampant sarcastic tendencies. "Yes, it's a book, thank you for that," Catherine replied. "Where'd it come from?"

"House warming gift from Danny," he answered.

"Communicating with Your Significant Other," she read the title then flipped the cover open. There were a few sloppily handwritten words, "To Steve and Catherine, may you both enjoy many years of happy conversing. Love, Danny," Catherine stared at Steve for a long moment. "Why haven't I seen this before?"

He shrugged.

"Why'd you bring it on this trip?" she tried again to get an answer.

"You're the one who claims we don't talk enough," he finally said. "And I didn't want you to think this trip was going to be all about us having sex in this tent."

She smiled, thinking about how he'd opened up a lot more since their serious talk in his dad's Mercury. She was grateful for that, and for every small step he made to try and please her. Catherine flipped to the next page and read the first part of the book's introduction, "Conversation increases intimacy. Being vulnerable, open and honest with your significant other, expressing yourself and also listening are all an important part of intimacy."

"It really says that?" Steve was surprised, thinking a little more highly of the book.

Her fingers paged through the book some more, noticing long chapters with heavy titles such as: The Marriage Conversation, and Do You and Your Partner Want Kids? Catherine swallowed, having already hit lightly on those topics. She gravitated to a section that seemed like a simple list of questions. "What color…" she began.

"I already know your favorite color," he cut her off. "Blue. Danny and I went over some of these. You don't like Opera and your favorite comfort food is…" he stopped himself from saying he thought it was nasty, "Something special you and your dad share."

Catherine nodded. "Yes, you got all those right. But did you know I find it rude to be interrupted?" she glared at him for a second before returning to the book. "The question was actually, what colors do you like your partner to wear?"

"Oh," Steve felt sufficiently chastised, but tried to mollify her with his lopsided grin. "Does flesh colored count?"

"Black boxer-briefs," Catherine replied. "White cargo pants, and pretty much any shade of blue shirt," she caught him looking at her and smiled. "Makes your eyes look even bluer, like the sea," her voice was caught up in the moment, but she quickly recovered to add, "Dress whites."

"Really?" he questioned her choice. "Not the dress blues?"

Her head shook, "Definitely white." She snuggled beside him but could still feel the stiffness in his arms and back. "Why are you so tense tonight? You do know the meaning of vacation, right? It means to relax," she drew the last word out and then handed him the book before quickly repositioning herself. Catherine flipped him over and straddled his lower back, sitting lightly against his butt. She pushed his shirt up and began to slowly, tenderly massage the taut muscles of his back. "You pick a question."

Steve really just wanted to close his eyes and enjoy the touch of her amazingly strong hands against his back. But he kept the conversation going, reading the next question in the book, "What do you feel are your partner's best and worst qualities?" he cringed, wishing he'd picked a different question. "Can we skip that one?"

"You're stubborn," she replied without hesitation.

"Me?" Steve turned his head a little, but she gently pushed against his cheek and turned him back around. Catherine continued the massage as he answered, "Well, you're stubborn, too. And you can be a bit bossy, also kinda ridged when it comes to doing things your way, probably an only child thing," he realized she'd grown rather quiet and her tender massage had gotten rougher. Steve smiled, "You're also carefree, kind, generous," he could feel her touch lighten again. "You really care about people and bring out the best in them."

She smiled, particularly at the last two. "You have a tendency to become overly focused, sometimes to the point of being fixated on things, which is usually a good thing when it comes to work. But it can be an annoyance when I want you to relax," Catherine leaned forward, her hair brushing against his back as she whispered in his ear. "You'd do anything for your friends and family, and you have an amazingly sweet side that I've been fortunate enough to see."

His eyes did close for a moment, still languishing in her tender ministrations. Steve finally reopened them and read the next question, "Do you think you or your partner should do the majority of the housework, or share it?"

"Did you just make that one up?" she asked, glancing over his shoulder. The words were all there and she sat back. "Share it," Catherine responded. "Watching you wash the dishes or vacuum are both serious turn-ons."

He chuckled, having read ahead in the book. "Interestingly enough the next question is about what turns you on sexually?"

"A man doing chores is very sexy," Catherine maintained. "There were days I would spend hours watching those sailors swab the deck, the way they could move those mops around with just the slightest flick of their wrist…" she sighed happily at the memory.

"Why did I not know about this cleaning kink of yours?" Steve was intrigued. "First on my turn-on list includes you in an apron, baking," he laughed lightly.

"How very domestic of you," she replied.

"And then we have you dressed in anything of a camouflage nature," Steve knew she'd probably already guessed that one. "Watching you on a surf board riding a wave…"

Catherine leaned forward, pressing her chest against his backside. The massage was momentarily forgotten as she ran her hands through his closely cropped hair and kissed the back of his neck. "The way you walk when you're in a take charge sort of mood, all arms swinging and chest puffed up," she added one of her favorite turn-ons. Catherine could feel him trying to shift beneath her but she kept him pinned and glanced at the book.

"If your partner had bad breath or body odor, would you tell them… lovely," she disapproved. "Why does that question follow sexual turn-ons?"

"I'd tell you," he finally got the upper hand and shifted beneath her, rolling them both so he was on top of her. Steve kissed her neck in return, paying special attention to the junction of ear and neck. "But you always smell good," he noted, "Even now after a morning spent teaching self-defense and a long afternoon of hiking, and no shower," Steve kissed her on the lips, slowly, tauntingly. "And your breath smells like fruit and nuts."

She laughed; incredibly amused that trail mix on her breath was causing such a positive reaction from him. But Catherine had plans to make him wait a little longer. She snatched the book that he'd left open and read another of the questions, "Do you think you and your partner should agree on everything?"

Steve sighed, somewhat frustrated by her hard-to-get behavior. But he did like the challenge. "No, of course not," he answered.

"Agreed," Catherine grinned. "Do you believe love is all you need for a lasting relationship?" she asked the next question on the list before realizing the weight of it. There didn't seem to be much order to them.

The pensive look that washed over his features caused her some worry. Catherine hated that he felt uncomfortable about not being able to return her sentiments of love. "No," she answered the question she'd asked. "Love is important, but it can only take you so far. You can love someone and still hurt them. You also need to know you can depend on a person. You need trust, and you need to be able to talk about anything, at any time," Catherine revealed her thoughts.

"You need honesty," Steve replied.

Catherine nodded, although honesty was a topic she still shied away from even though he'd forgiven her for what happened with Doris and the Mangosta lie she'd kept from him for months. "Do you and your partner have pet names for each other?" she quickly covered by asking another question. "We don't, do we?"

"What would we call each other," Steve wondered, wishing he hadn't backed down so easily after bringing up the topic of honesty. "Sweetie? Honey? Baby?"

"Not the last one," she promptly replied. "My mom still calls me her baby," Catherine noted. "And Danny calls you babe," she reminded him.

"Does that make you jealous?" he winked.

Her head shook, "Not at all. Danny can have you as a work partner, but other than that you're all mine, sailor," Catherine grinned. "I guess I call you sailor. And sometimes we call each other Commander and Lieutenant," she pointed out. "I think that qualifies. I also think if you called me sweetie or honey I might puke."

Steve reached out to grab the book. He tossed it across the air mattress and pulled her toward him again. "Thank you," he said with a quick, soft kiss pressed against her lips.

"For what? Wanting to puke if you called me some cutesy pet name?" she was confused by his response.

"No," Steve responded. "Thank you for not being like anyone other than you," he clarified, holding her tightly. Steve couldn't help once again feeling like a complete hypocrite in her presence. Danny was right, he had to tell Catherine the truth even at the risk of someone finding out and following through on their threats. He was actually grateful for her camping choice, thinking the woods an unlikely place to be found out by anyone else. "Catherine, there's something I need to tell you," he managed to at least get those words out.

Catherine sat up. "Can you hold that thought for a few minutes? Because I really need to pee," she announced.

As much as he'd just been ready to spill everything to her, Steve was thankful for the interruption.

"Isn't this a romantic evening we're having," she remarked while pulling on shoes and grabbing a flashlight and the roll of toilet paper from her bag, "Dog farts, telling each other what our faults are, and spontaneous declarations of having to pee," Catherine grinned as she planted a brief kiss on his cheek. "I promise this vacation will get better as soon as I return."

"Take your cell phone with you, and Trooper," Steve instructed.

"Why?" she was already crouched by the door, hand on the zipper and looking impatient. "I'm just going to squat behind a tree and do my thing. I doubt I'll need GPS or Trooper to help me find my way back," Catherine watched him frown. "Besides, I left my phone in the truck back at the trailhead."

His frown intensified. "Take my phone, then," he insisted. "It probably gets a better signal out here than yours would," Steve realized. "And remember there are people that hunt out here, not to mention the training camp is nearby."

"Do we even have permission to camp out here?" she questioned.

"Yes, I have a permit," Steve nodded. "Had to call in a favor, but… would you just take the phone," he tried again.

"Thanks, but I think I can manage this mission solo, Commander," she undid the zipper and slipped through the door before he could try to further protest. "I'll be right back," she added once outside.

Steve sighed and tossed the cell phone back into his pack. He listened to the soft sound of her footsteps as she walked further away from the tent. Trooper raised her head, alert and disturbed by Steve's uneasiness. "How did we end up with such a stubborn woman in our lives, Troop?" Steve asked the dog.

Trooper cocked her head to one side, seemingly at a loss for an answer.

They waited inside the tent for several minutes, but when Steve could no longer hear anything from outside he threw on his shoes, clasped Trooper's leash to her collar and went outside to check the area. "Catherine?" he spoke in a regular tone of voice, his flashlight pointed around the site. The narrow beam of light glinted off tree branches and underbrush. Steve glanced down at his watch and realized it had been nearly ten minutes since she'd left the tent.

No answer followed his inquire. Steve turned his flashlight off for a moment in the hopes of catching a glimpse of hers.

"Where is she, girl?" he asked the dog, not seeing any spark of light.

The moon overhead was just a sliver of waning crescent. Only darkness ruled the night.

He hated how his mind instantly drifted to the name Ron Alberts, the man who'd taken him and Lucy hostage during a simple Aloha Girl camping trip. Steve hated that nearly everything in his life was marred by some crime. "Catherine?" his voice was raised a little, still not wanting to jump to any conclusions. "This isn't funny," he warned, even though he very much doubted she was trying to play a trick on him, especially not after what they'd both endured at the hands of El Condor a few months back.

Panic quickly seeped in when she still didn't respond to his call. He reignited his flashlight and set off with Trooper, hoping the Labrador might sniff her out.

"Catherine!" he finally shouted her name as loud as he could into the night.

---

To be continued…