You Owe Me

by njborba

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

13. Chapter 13

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

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You Owe Me
Part 13

By
N. J. Borba

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Steve walked into Five-0 HQ with Evan cradled against his torso in a fabric sling carrier that Mick had bought.

He was pretty sure Mick had just tossed one of every baby item into a cart after being summoned to shop by Doris.

With his hair trimmed short again, and the beard completely shaved off, Steve could see Chin, Danny and Kono starring open-mouthed at him, "Happy Father's Day to me," he announced with a shrug, "I forgot to bring the cigars," Steve proudly kissed the top of his sleeping son's fluffy head of hair. "You're all probably thinking that because I currently have a baby strapped to me I won't be running off half-cocked, but there's only one problem with that theory…"

"I know, I know," Danny groaned. "Catherine's still in danger and you just found out you two have a kid together, which means you're likely to go off fully cocked, or… you know what, that didn't sound right," the detective shook his head as the others chuckled under their breath, "Never mind," he sighed in defeat. "What are we in for Super SEAL?"

"Not exactly sure yet, but…" Steve hated that there were still so many unknowns, "I managed to wrestle a car seat into the back of my truck this morning, secured it properly, and got a wiggly baby strapped into its crazy five-point harness system. Not to mention I made this ridiculous sling contraption work, so… I figure I can work out a plan to get Catherine home."

Danny nodded, "And apparently you wanted to be clean shaven for the event?"

"Just wanna be sure Wo Fat sees me coming this time," Steve responded with a distinct note of animosity.

"Ah…" Danny exhaled exaggeratedly, "So clearly the whole being a new dad thing has mellowed you."

"Your uncle Danny thinks he's a funny guy," Steve spoke softly to the boy whose warm body was pressed against his chest. He wondered if Evan could understand any of what was going on, either asleep or awake. Steve hoped not.

Kono had Nick Lawson's journal open atop the computer table, "This thing is full of entries Lawson wrote starting shortly after the time his wife and son died, spans until just before he disappeared," she ran a finger along the lined notebook and began to read one of the inked entries:

"John McGarrett is to blame for all of this and I'm going to make everyone see that. I know my son wasn't perfect, no one is. But I could've helped Matt. If that idiot McGarrett had just backed off, I know Matt would've come home. I could've gotten him the help he needed, rehab and therapy. Matt would still be alive now. I had such big dreams for him, joining the Navy like his old man and maybe later working with me at the private security business I was planning to start."

"Sounds kinda mild," Danny shrugged, "Grieving father unable to move on."

Kono flipped to another page, "The entries go on like that for a while with Lawson repeating how he could've saved his son, seemingly daydreaming about what the future should've held. But then things get a bit uglier," she read some more:

"I don't understand how that foolish judge could dismiss my case, is he blind? Doesn't he see how McGarrett is reckless and irresponsible? He should be the one in jail for driving the way he was, causing my son, my only son to die. Well, he should beware. I've done some research on John McGarrett and I know he has a son. What if his son was the one dead, or the one in trouble? How would he feel if I decided his son's fate? How would he feel if his only son, Steven McGarrett, was dead?"

"Sounds like the guy has been planning something for years, boss," Kono regretfully relayed.

"I doubt he was serious at first, just angry," Steve guessed.

"All the entries we've read are about Lawson and his son, Matthew," Chin added, "There are about eighty pages, all two-sided, and he never mentions his dead wife or even his daughter who was still very much alive back then. Guy was fixated on his son."

"So maybe that's why Melanie agreed to help him," Steve mulled over the possibility, "If she thought it might gain her some attention in his life?"

"The photos of Billy and Catherine were his first attempt at trying to get you jealous," Danny realized. "See if he could push you over the edge."

"When that didn't work he had Melanie kill Cathleen Dugan, thinking it would lead to Billy being a prime suspect," Chin noted, "But even though you did suspect Billy for a time you kept your cool, mostly," he recalled, "Then she killed Chase in a further attempt to implicate Billy, because of Chase leaving Billy all his money. So it seems like Lawson was clearly escalating each time trying to get you to attack Billy, maybe even kill him?"

"If you had killed Billy he would've had some sense of vengeance," Danny guessed, "A chance to see you broken down, watch you go to jail. Sending you to jail the way he was never able to follow through with your father… that's seriously messed up."

Steve sighed, "Lawson set everything in motion and then when things didn't go his way, because I figured out Billy wasn't involved, he made sure he could turn it all around on his daughter." Steve still couldn't imagine why Catherine might've willingly returned to such a demented man, "What else have you been able to find out?" he asked, unconsciously holding his hands over Evan's small ears. "Lawson had to have surfaced somewhere."

"The place Lawson worked as a security guard before his son's death was a technology company called Jaro Tech," Chin began to fill in some details.

"But when I tried to run a search for Jaro Tech I ended up on a website for a company called Minan Tech instead," Kono jumped in, "On their company history webpage," she had the site pulled up within a second and displayed for all to see, "It says the tech corporation was re-named Minan Tech in January 1994 after a huge investment backer stepped in to help guide the company into the next millennium. I bet you can guess who that was."

"Wo Fat," Steve stated. "And in February of 1994 Lawson's house was suddenly paid off."

Kono nodded, "Wo Fat was only about twenty-four or twenty-five back then, right?"

"And already well on track to becoming the crazy international terrorist that we've come to know so well the last few years," Danny pointed out.

"Minan Tech mainly specializes in super high-tech security systems, but they do have some research facilities for other branches of technology, even several big contracts with military branches around the world," Chin explained. "It was a relatively small upstart at the time Lawson worked there," he relayed, "But has grown steadily since Wo Fat stepped in. They have offices all over the world now, though most strongly in China and Europe. I tried to find someone who still worked there that might've known Nick Lawson, but came up empty."

Steve mulled over the information, "Anything else?"

"Yeah," Chin nodded, somewhat hesitant, "It's maybe not a significant point, but you know how I feel about coincidences," he took a quick breath before continuing, "One of Minan Tech's lead security systems designers for the past two years is a woman we've met before."

"Who?" Danny asked.

"Billy's fiancé, An Zhou," Chin revealed.

Guilt instantly began to upset Steve's stomach, causing him to wonder if he'd been wrong to dismiss his concern about An - if his failure to follow through had resulted in Billy's death.

"What is that look?" Danny called him out, "Why don't you seem surprised to learn about An being connected to all this?"

"I think she might be the one who shot Billy last night," Steve finally revealed. "The other dark haired woman we saw on that ship with Wo Fat," he further detailed his suspicions, "How about ballistics on the weapon I found in the stroller?" he persisted, "Or prints?"

Chin hated to disappoint, but he gave it to Steve straight, "Rifle and stroller were both clean of prints. Charlie examined the gun and bullets and neither could be traced back to any location on the island. Pretty sure both the weapon and ammunition were illegally smuggled onto Oahu."

"So we've got no reason to go after An, other than my gut feeling and Chin's coincidence theory," Steve concluded.

The door closest to their command center opened and Doris entered HQ, striding with purpose toward Steve. She had a file folder clasped in her right hand, "I figured you'd be heading out today to..." she glanced around at the Five-O team her son had built, "I guess to do whatever it takes to get Catherine back."

"Did you come to help?" Steve challenged, a protective hand against Evan's back, "Because if not, I suggest you get out of my way."

"Help? Yes," Doris agreed, "Although, if it's alright with you I think I'll sit this fight out and stay to watch after my grandson," she offered, her eyes re-focusing only upon Steve, "I'm sorry about last night, walking out and leaving both of you the way I did."

His head shook, "Don't be sorry," Steve's tone softened just a little, "As much as it pains me to say it, you were right."

Doris hadn't been expecting an apology and wasn't sure she deserved one as she presented the file to him, "I took this from the house last Thanksgiving, but you probably already know that. What you don't know is why I took it," she laid the file on the computer table and flipped it open to reveal a picture, the postmortem photograph which showed the dove brand on Cathleen Dugan's hip. "I lied when I told you I'd never seen that symbol before."

Steve's anger returned, "Why?" he growled.

"That dove symbol is something I've seen before, more times than I care to admit," Doris replied, having anticipated his irritation toward her, but finding it difficult to be on the receiving end of, "It was the human slave trade symbol of a very horrible business man who I was sent to infiltrate about forty years ago," she revealed, "He was also the father of two young children, one of which was a baby girl named An who I vowed to protect."

"You know who An is?" Steve looked his mother in the eye for an explanation. "An Zhou?"

"Yes," Doris' nod was stiff, "An is Wo Fat's sister… well, they share the same father but different mothers."

Steve stood there silently for a minute as he tried to digest that information. They'd just figured out An likely had some sort of distant connection to Wo Fat, but he hadn't been expecting his mother's revelation. "Are you serious? Jenna Kaye did extensive research on Wo fat, she never mentioned a sister."

"Because I killed her," Doris replied, "The same night I killed her and Wo Fat's father, Wo Min."

"You killed her?" Steve was confused.

"Obviously I don't mean that I killed her in a literal way," Doris explained, "I only made Wo Fat believe she was dead. I never actually harmed her."

"Of course not, you're very good at faking deaths," Steve was already on the edge of exasperation.

Doris could see he was fuming. "When you told me last night about your friend, Billy Harrington, being shot and killed in connection to all that's going on with Wo Fat, and also that he was engaged to a woman named An…" Doris took a breath, "I felt something was off. I spent all of last night trying to figure it out in my head, but I still… I don't believe An could be involved. But I knew I finally needed to be completely honest with you. I took An away from that life, away from what Wo Fat might have done to her. And then I…"

"Then you what?" Steve asked, "If you want to be honest then you need to tell me everything you know," he insisted.

She anxiously wrung her hands, "I first met Wo Fat just a few weeks after he'd turned five. Most five-year-old boys find it amusing to knock down wooden block towers or race cars around a room on their hands and knees like you did," Doris looked Steve in the eye, "They're still learning how to write and count," she added, "But not Wo Fat, he wasn't like most little boys. He could already write and read in Chinese and in English. He was also learning Japanese. His father was rearing him for the family business even at such a young age."

"Wo Fat's father, Wo Min," Steve interrupted, "What was your association with him before you killed him? You said infiltrate?"

"I made sure An was given a nice home," Doris did a good job of dodging his direct question, "Parents to take care of her, to love her like she was their own child. I found a kind couple to raise her, set them up with a little money, a birth certificate they would need to prove An was their daughter. I did everything for An I felt I could. I did for her what I never got the chance to do for her mother, my dear friend Li Jia. Keeping An safe was the only way I could think to amend for what I'd done. I knew I couldn't save Wo Fat, even at five-years-old he had vengeance in his heart. But I saved An, and then I left the CIA. Within a year I'd met and married your father, then had you…"

Steve wasn't interested in her emotional appeal to him, "It seems your plan failed," he accused, "I'm pretty sure An is one of the people responsible for holding Catherine all these months. And I think she may have even been the one who killed Billy Harrington yesterday, a man who loved her."

Doris did her best to sort through the events that she'd been plagued by for so many years, they events that she still couldn't quite face, "That night in the safe house here on Oahu, the one you set me up in with Catherine…" she took a quick breath, "I told Wo Fat that his sister was alive, and I gave him the location and number of a safety deposit box that I'd opened after returning from China in 1975. I paid in full up front for that box to remain untouched all these years."

"What was in the box?" Steve pressed.

"Information about An," she revealed, "What little I had - the location of the village in China where I'd left her, a letter about her birth mother."

He regarded her, feeling there was more, "You never kept tabs on An?"

Doris' head shook a little, "No, I thought it'd be better that way; a clean break from all of it.

"That's right, another thing you're good at," Steve looked his mother in the eye, still conflicted every time he tried to figure her out, "Walking away and not looking back." He blew out a breath, needing to clear his wandering mind, "So you're responsible for all of this, Wo Fat finding his sister and going after Catherine."

"Steve, you have to know I never could've foreseen this outcome," she pleaded with him, "I thought making up for what I'd done all those years ago could only help Wo Fat. He said he'd stop going after you if I gave him the information on his sister."

"And you believed him?" Steve scoffed, "You're not that naïve."

She sighed, "Steve…"

"Who is she to you, Doris? Who is An?" he asked.

"Just a little girl I tried to save."

"Stop lying."

His anger and frustration was apparent, and Doris had an idea where he was going, "She's not my daughter, if that's what you've been thinking," Doris stated clearly. "You and Mary are the only children I have, but… I guess under the circumstances I could've…" she paused, "I went undercover to subvert Wo Min's slave trade business. This all happened about a year before I met your father, nearly three years before you were even born," she relayed to Steve.

"I was so much younger then, and eager, I had no family or obligations to tie me down," Doris expanded, "Thought I could handle anything, any case. So I pretended to be part of the American contingent of slaves that Wo Min had brought over from Hawaii. An's mother, Li Jia, was one of Wo Min's special slaves. She was one of a handful he had living in the house with him and Wo Fat. I got to know Li Jia after positioning myself in Wo Min's good graces."

"What does that mean?" Steve needed more details, "Good graces, which is code for…"

"You're a big boy, Steven," Doris sighed, "I'm pretty sure you can figure it out. It means I gave myself to him physically," she revealed. "I had to sell it to him, had to find a way into his house, and that was the only way."

"The CIA sanctioned that?" he wondered if there were no limits to the agency's cruelties.

"I volunteered for the assignment in the hopes I might be able to save countless other women from a similar fate," Doris steeled herself against his critical gaze, "I knew the risks of getting close to Wo Min and… I took precautions," she sighed. Doris turned to her left and drew up the red shirt she was wearing, trying instead to appeal to him.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Steve looked momentarily embarrassed as she also pulled down the waistband of her black pants.

She didn't reveal anything more than a narrow patch of skin above her left hipbone. "This right here," Doris showed him and the others in the room the mark on her hip. It was about a one inch patch of disfigured flesh. "That same dove symbol was branded on me, but I had it burned off after the case was closed," she revealed, "Wo Min was the one who personally branded me. Ironic, isn't it? A peaceful dove used as a symbol for unspeakable things perpetrated against all those women he held prisoner."

Steve silently reached out and gently pushed her shirt down.

"Just before you found me two years ago," Doris went on, "I'd discovered that Wo Fat had revitalized his father's old slave trade. I knew he was keeping himself clean of it all, though. I figured out he had someone running things for him, but the man was extremely good. He kept his identity well hidden. I can only assume it's the man you mentioned last night, Nick Lawson. Whoever it is they know their history, even down to the dove mark."

"Wo Fat probably saw it as a child," Steve guessed.

"Maybe," she shrugged, "But that's why I tried to appeal to Wo Fat that night at the safe house, why I gave him the information on An. I thought if he had family to think about he'd give up the same pursuits that had corrupted his father."

"Except now he's made An a part of them," Steve concluded.

"If she is helping him, it can't be willingly," Doris argued. "Part of the information in that safety deposit box was a photograph, a Polaroid picture I took the day An was born. She was being held by her mother. Jia was probably the sweetest, kindest woman I've ever met. She had this quiet manner, but she was a fighter. Reminds me very much of Catherine," Doris sighed, "Jia somehow managed to never let Wo Min destroy her spirit. She even gave her daughter the name An because it means peace, like the dove," she recalled.

Doris persisted, "I prayed that Jia's kindness would be what prevailed in baby An, and I knew I had to get both of them away from Wo Min if that was to be the case. I was one of a few slaves allowed into the village to shop for the others, which is how I managed to slip away and be in contact with my handlers. I got ahold of them shortly after An's birth, started to make the arrangements for Li Jia and An to flee somewhere safe, but…"

"We already know that didn't work out," Steve's tone was critical again.

"They were all meant to be gone by the time I returned to Wo Min's compound that night. Wo Fat was to be taken as well," Doris remembered, hating to relive that night, but knowing Steve deserved the whole truth this time. "As soon as I was inside the compound I knew something was wrong. The baby was screaming and when I went to the nursery, I…" she bit her lip, "I found Jia lying on the floor, her throat slashed. There was nothing I could do for my friend so I tried to comfort An."

He gave her a moment, but Steve knew Catherine might not have any extra moments, "Then what?" he prodded.

"An couldn't be consoled so I put her back down and used the baby's cries as cover," Doris continued, "I snuck into Wo Min's bedroom, crawled into his bed and…"

"You used sex," Steve guessed.

Doris could only nod, "He latched onto me in the dark, not even carrying what woman was in his bed, thinking them all too stupid to fight back. I proved him wrong that night. I didn't care that we hadn't figured out all of his slave selling locations, I stabbed him in the stomach with a dagger I knew he kept by the bed," she recounted, "I'd been waiting for that moment for months, but the CIA repeatedly told me to hold off. Every call I made they'd say to me they needed just a little more Intel on his operations," she recounted.

"Wo Fat appeared in the doorway as I hovered over his bleeding father. When I saw the unforgiving look on his little face," Doris gulped, "I knew I couldn't take him with me. So I grabbed An and I ran as fast as I could. I took care of her for seven days on my own until I was able to find her a home," she recalled, "For a few of those days I even considered adopting her myself, but I knew I was in no position to do that. I gave An the life I believed she deserved, free from Wo Fat and her family's atrocious history."

With a shaky breath, Doris looked Steve in the eye again, "Then I betrayed her and her mother's memory by giving her back to that monster."

Steve released a heavy sigh, still trying to take everything in as he stood there with Evan asleep against his chest, "Sometimes nature is stronger than nurture."

Her head shook defiantly, "I don't know why An would be a part of any of this."

"She's got Wo Min's blood in her, doesn't she?" Steve accused.

"That doesn't automatically make her evil," Doris protested his simplistic reasoning, somewhat shocked by it.

"No, but all your wishes and prayers that she be like her mother doesn't make her a good person either," he countered with a forceful tone, "She was engaged to Billy, she worked her way into his life and then she killed him," Steve outright accused. "She was hoping to kill me, but…" he hated how deep all of the different threads seemed to be woven, "You should've put a bullet in Wo Fat that night at the safe house."

Doris stood there with a blank look, figuring there wasn't much left to say in her defense as far as her son was concerned.

"You kept An from Wo Fat all this time and you thought he'd be grateful to finally know her," Steve scoffed, "You didn't really believe that would end it all, did you?"

"Wo Fat's mother died in childbirth, he never knew her," Doris responded, still trying to reason with him, "And then I killed his father and took his sister. I destroyed the only family he had left. I snatched that away from him, Steve. What right did I have to do that to such a little boy?"

He sighed, "I'm sorry you feel that way, but your guilt and trying to make amends for something beyond your control may very well have gotten An involved in all of this. She had to be helping Wo Fat and Lawson. She had access to Billy's office. She could very likely be the one behind the photos of Catherine and Billy that were meant to rile me, all those threatening notes that were sent to me," he wondered what other tasks she'd been a part of, "Maybe she was responsible for getting Catherine off that plane, though I still don't know how…"

"We don't have time for those answers right now, or to play a game of who is superior," Doris interrupted, "You need to focus on finding Catherine. She's all that matters right now. She needs our help. And as of this moment I'm done with the CIA and running away. I want to be a grandmother, that's all. I just want to help you and Catherine by taking care of your son," Doris assured, "So you go and get Catherine back. Then we can all spend the next twenty years in therapy together," she offered, "Or you can kick me out of your life for good."

Steve could only focus on his son as he removed the boy from the carrier and carefully transferred him into Doris' arms. "I'm coming home to you, champ," he whispered, "I'll always be coming home to you," Steve's promise to the boy echoed the one Catherine had made to him many months ago.

"I hope you know I'd die before I let any harm come to him," Doris expressed, cradling her sleeping grandson.

"I do know that, mom," Steve nodded, though he was still plenty pissed at her, "But I'm not about to lose anyone else I care about," he declared. "You'll stay here at headquarters for now, it should be safest," Steve led them down the hall to Chin's office since the window in his corner office was still only patched by plywood, "I've got HPD watching the Palace round the clock," he assured his mother. "But if you need extra diapers you'll have to call Mick into service again," Steve said before kissing Evan one last time.

After making sure his mother and Evan were settled in Chin's office, Steve went to rejoin the others.

"Boss," Kono approached him before he could reach the command center.

He could tell by the sound of her voice that something was bothering her, "What's wrong, Kono?"

"Something that kept me up last night," she replied, "I couldn't stop thinking about Catherine and why she'd leave her son the way she did. I know I latched onto that medallion she was wearing, but what about that fabric scarf thing around her neck?"

"Figured it was part of her wardrobe, probably dictated by Lawson or Wo Fat," Steve couldn't be sure which man was calling the shots.

Kono frowned, clearly not satisfied with that explanation, "But she seemed quick to change her other clothes when she was here, yet not that fabric scarf," the officer pointed out, "What if it's not just decorative? I was thinking it might be more like one of those house arrest bracelets?"

"I guess it could be," Steve honestly hadn't given it much thought, too distracted by other issues. "You think they were able to track her?" he questioned. "If that was the case why wouldn't she just remove it like she did with the tracker I put on her?"

"Maybe she can't remove it," Kono offered, "I came in early this morning and went over all the security footage we have of when Catherine was at HQ yesterday morning. In studying the scarf I wasn't able to make out any sort of Velcro or zipper closure, like it was sewn in place. And it's much thinner than any house arrest bracelet I've ever seen. But knowing what we do about this Minan Tech place, and with An being involved, it makes me wonder if it's some high tech shock collar, or even a…"

"Miniature bomb?" he caught on to what she was implying. Steve recalled a similar situation when Chin had been collared by a bomb, though that one had been huge. He also recalled how Billy had talked about An being too smart, her background in chemical and electrical engineering.

"Made to look purely ornamental to anyone unsuspecting," Kono voiced, "It's possible Catherine had no other choice but to return to Lawson or Wo Fat," she offered, "Or maybe to An. If she thought they were the only ones with the ability to remove or disarm it," Kono could see how that news was disturbing him, "I'm sorry, Steve," she gently squeezed his forearm in a comforting manner. "But I know we'll figure it out when we get her back."

Steve was comforted most by Kono's pledge that they would get Catherine home.

"We've got an address for An," Danny interrupted.

"Good," Steve decided in that moment to remain confident in Catherine, to trust that she knew exactly what she was doing. It was the easiest way to go forward. Danny edged toward the door, ready to take off when Steve gave the word. Kono returned to the main computer to search for more leads. "Chin," Steve called the man over, a few paces away from the others. "I need you and Kono to stay here for now, watch over Doris and Evan."

"Absolutely," Chin Ho nodded, "I should've told you about Doris before. I thought…"

"Don't worry about it," Steve dismissed, "She was never going to stop interfering, and the auction invitation was actually helpful," he shrugged.

Chin nodded, "I just want you to know I'm with you on this, whatever you need."

"Thank you," Steve said before he took off with Danny.

000

The only address they'd found for An was at Minan Tech headquarters in downtown Honolulu.

"Minan Tech," Danny pondered the company name as they walked through a lobby that was modern and sparse, glass partitions, polished concrete floors, tall wispy grass in low concrete planters that lined the walls, "I'm guessing Wo Fat named the business after his father and sister. Interesting way to honor loved ones."

"I'd rather not know how Wo Fat's mind works," Steve dismissed.

"I'll second that," Danny agreed.

They approached a bank of three elevators and Steve pushed the up arrow, knowing the Minan Tech offices were on the top floor. "Did you get to see Grace last night?" he asked as a distraction, his mind still unable to focus on much other than Catherine and Evan.

Danny's delighted smile told the story, "I got a huge monkey hug and some quality time. We went to dinner and I decided to be completely honest with her about what's going on with Catherine, although keeping some details to a minimum," he noted, "Grace handled it all surprisingly well, confident that Catherine would come back to us. She actually said us, which I found very sweet," his smile turned proud, "Also told her about Evan, and Grace was sure that he'd turn out to be her cousin."

"Smart girl," Steve couldn't help smile when he thought about Grace, but his thoughts trickled back to Evan, "I wasn't prepared for it, Danny," he sighed, "Fatherhood."

"Who's ever prepared for it?" Danny scoffed as they entered the elevator. "No one," he stabbed the twentieth floor button.

"At least you had several months to prepare before Grace came along," Steve pointed out as the elevator doors slid closed, "You got to do all that painting the nursery stuff and buying a crib, picking out miniature clothes. All I got was a DNA result document slapped against my chest by Doris, and an overnight crash course in parenting," he leaned his head against the metal elevator wall, "Do you have any idea how far a baby boy can pee?"

"I did have nephews," Danny chuckled, "He got you wet?"

"Little bit," Steve confirmed, glaring at his partner out of the corner of one eye, "This is information you felt like keeping to yourself?"

The detective snickered a little more, "I have news for you, my friend - you never really get over that feeling of being unprepared," Danny shook his head, his laughter fading, "It pretty much follows you every step of the way. Grace is twelve and I still have these deer in the headlights moments where I have no idea what she needs." He slapped a hand against Steve's chest, "Listen to this… last night at dinner she tells me there's some boy she likes at school. Do I look like I'm ready for that? I'm not ready for her dating… ever."

Steve cracked a tiny smile, "He's a twelve year old boy, Danny. I think you and I can handle him," he offered.

Danny grinned, thankful of his friend's support, and glad to see Steve returning to some semblance of his old self. But by the time they stepped off the elevator both men had reverted to business mode, "So from what Chin could uncover we know An has all of her mail sent to this office," Danny recalled, "She's gotta have some sort of place where she goes to sleep and relax, though, right?" he figured. "Maybe she was living with Billy?"

A shrug was the only real answer Steve had to that question, "I have no idea," his guilt was settling in again, "You know Billy and I didn't keep in touch this past year. I got so caught up for a while in being jealous, thinking maybe he had motives for working with Catherine other than the job. And then I focused a bunch of my anger on him after the plane crash. You had a front row seat for that encounter at the cemetery."

"Listen to me, babe, you could go down that road a very long way," Danny acknowledged, "Heck, we both could. I planted those jealousy seeds in your head about Billy just as much as you did, maybe more? And I feel pretty crappy about it now. Harrington was a good guy. He protected you because he really did care about Catherine, enough to know that the two of you need each other. But none of that is going to do us any good right now. We need answers, not guilt-trips."

Steve nodded as they stepped off the elevator.

Just a few days ago he'd still been stuck in a state of limbo, not sure if his desire for Catherine to be alive had overshadowed all evidence to the contrary. But after spending a night with their son, living and breathing proof that Catherine hadn't died in that crash, Steve's determination had been renewed. He pushed open a glass door, surprised to find the offices open on a holiday weekend. "Five-0," he flashed his badge at the male receptionist seated behind a desk. "I need to know where An Zhou's office is."

"She's out of town right now, sir," the man responded. "My name is Grant. Can I help you with something?"

"Yeah, maybe you didn't just hear my partner," Danny stepped forward. "We need to see her office, meaning we don't care if she'd in it or not. We weren't expecting her to be."

The receptionist nodded and stood, "This way," his tone was curt.

"So," Danny said after they'd been led down three different hallways in a maze of office space, "You don't celebrate Thanksgiving weekend?" he asked the man.

"I got to leave two hours early for the holiday on Thursday. We're a twenty-four hour a day, seven days a week, international business, sir," the receptionist responded with equal parts annoyance and efficiency, "We have clients in countries that don't even know what the US Thanksgiving holiday is about. If they need their security system repaired or upgraded they don't care about a turkey dinner or football game going on thousands of miles away."

Danny eyed Steve and they both had to nod in agreement to the man's point. A moment later they finally arrived outside a large mahogany door with no knob or handle.

The receptionist typed in a short sequence of numbers on a keypad lock and the door automatically swung open for them. "I ask that you please make sure the door is securely closed when you're done," Grant said before leaving them on their own.

A sequence of lights came on as soon as they entered the room; motion sensitive. Steve was certain they were being monitored on security cameras, although he couldn't find any outward evidence of them. Everything he'd seen so far in the Minan Tech headquarter offices was clean, efficient and miniscule. An's corner office was huge with floor to ceiling windows on two sides, and industrial charcoal carpet. But the space was mostly empty.

"This is odd," Steve noticed something on the floor near the corner junction of windows, "Circular marks on the carpet," he pointed out to Danny.

The detective nodded, "Probably there was a desk here at one time, very recently," he noticed the four perfectly round indentations where the carpet had been matted. If connected they would've formed a rectangular shape like that of a desk. "You think she moved locations?"

"They are an international business," Steve mocked the snooty receptionist, "Maybe she decided to base herself somewhere else."

"Or someone decided for her," Danny wasn't entirely ready to dismiss Doris' belief that there was good in An, although he could tell his friend was not on that same page. "You really think she could've killed Billy?" he questioned. "He seemed to really be in love with her, how could she play a smart guy like that?"

"Remember that door on the Kappa-Shui gui," Steve responded, "The one Kono couldn't get into, the same one Catherine seemed to be headed for when I chased her," he let out a breath, "It had the same sort of number and letter keypad entry as the door to this office."

With a shrug, Danny had to agree he was right, "Sure, but there's probably a lot of folks in this world who use that same sort of lock system."

"Probably," Steve agreed as he walked across the room to where there was another door. It actually had a handle but was locked when he tried to open it. Giving up there, Steve glanced around the space and noticed the walls were mostly bare except for one Impressionist style painting of ocean waves crashing against a beach. "It couldn't be that easy," he spoke mostly to his self as he went to the picture and removed it from the wall.

"A wall safe," Danny noticed as soon as Steve sat the picture down on the floor, "You've gotta love originality," he noticed there was a keypad on it as well, "Any idea what the half-sister of Wo Fat would use as a code?"

Without a moment's hesitation Steve typed in a code and tried the safe's handle. It didn't budge. "Not the same as the door code the receptionist used."

"You were paying attention to that?" Danny had to admit he was impressed, "Any other guesses?"

"Just one," Steve tried a letter combo instead, not thinking anything would come of it. But when he tried the handle, the safe opened for him.

Danny looked at him expectantly, "And the winning combo was… 1, 2, 3, 4, 5," he guessed.

"No," Steve removed a small stack of papers from inside the safe, "Billy."

"Huh," Danny mulled that fact over, "So maybe she really did love Billy?" He dropped the topic immediately, sensing his partner wasn't interested in anything other than the safe's contents at the moment. Danny took half the stack of papers and discovered the first one atop his pile was a property deed, "I may have just found where An hangs her hat, or whatever women wear that they might hang up, purses, jackets…" he rambled a second as he scanned the document, "Beachfront house near Kahaluu."

"Kahaluu is at least a half hour drive from the Kahuku Golf Course, closer to forty depending on traffic," Steve realized, "If anything close to the truth was finally coming out of Larry Russell's mouth then An's house is probably not the location where the Russell's were taken Monday night. But it is very close to where Catherine ditched the first tracker."

"And apparently it's not even An's house. Name on the deed is Shane Jaro," Danny revealed. "Kono mentioned the company being called Jaro Tech before Wo Fat changed it."

"I think we should inspect that house," Steve concluded, "The rest of this looks like technical details for various electrical components, probably patented stuff," he shoved the papers back into the safe, "But there's something else I want to check on first," he rehung the picture, locked the office door behind them and then returned to the receptionist's desk. "Now I need to see the security footage from An Zhou's office from the last few days," Steve commanded the man.

The receptionist immediately tried to protest, "That sort of sensitive information is not something I'm authorized to…"

"Look, we can waste time by going and getting a search warrant," Danny jumped in, "But it'd be easier if you just helped us out now," he concluded.

"Fine," Grant got up again and led them through another maze of halls until they entered a massive security room. A blonde headed man in his late twenties was seated at a station with a dozen different monitors, "This is Henry," the receptionist introduced, "He can help you with security footage. Will that be all?"

"Yes, thank you, Grant," Danny was as polite as possible.

Steve paid the receptionist little attention, focusing on the technician as he dictated what it was they needed. It didn't take long for the young man to pull up the footage. The familiar interior of An's office came into view within moments, "What day is this?"

"Yesterday," Henry replied, "The security in our offices only spans for twenty-four hours before it automatically re-writes."

"Saturday might be all we need," Steve mumbled as they watched An enter the office. "Time stamp is 6pm last night," he noticed, "Just after the shooting." He and Danny watched the woman pace her office, running both hands through her hair long, black hair. "You think she's upset that she didn't shoot me?"

"Or upset that she shot Billy," Danny wondered.

The two of them continued to watch as An walked around the room, obviously agitated. There still wasn't much in the office. A glass-top desk sat in the windowed corner where they'd guessed. Steve could see the back of a few picture frames on the desk, but the angle didn't show the pictures. Some papers and files were stacked neatly on the desk, but no laptop or other computer was visible. A leather chair resided behind the desk. And a cell phone rested on the edge of the glass-top.

An picked up the phone and chatted animatedly with someone on the other end for a minute.

Then she threw the phone across the room, picked up the chair and bashed it against the desktop. The glass shattered. An stood there staring at it for a long time until she crossed the room and unlocked her wall safe. The contents removed appeared to be a nine millimeter handgun and a small black metal box. Then she fled the room.

Danny and Steve continued to watch as the office was cleaned up later that night, the desk, chair and everything else removed. "I need you to record this footage and send it to," Steve grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down the information for the technician, "Chin Ho Kelly at Five-0 headquarters," he gave an email address as well as a phone number.

"I can have it done right away," Henry was agreeable.

Steve led the way back to Grant's front desk and heard the man's exaggerated sigh as they approached, "What can I help you with now, sir?"

"An Zhou's office was trashed last night according to surveillance. What do you know about that?" Steve questioned.

"Wasn't aware of it," the man responded, "I was told she'd be out of town for another week. There shouldn't have been anyone in her office."

Steve actually believed him, "The office was cleaned up. Do you know where they'd take the things that were on her desk?" Steve asked, "Specifically, there were some framed photos."

Grant shrugged, "Housekeeping might've just trashed them. If so they'd be down in the dumpster, alley behind the building."

"Thanks," Steve replied before he and Danny finally left the office floor. He was on his cell by the time the elevator doors slid open, "Chin, I'm having a technician here at Minan Tech send you some footage of An in her office yesterday. I need you and Kono to go over it again, see if you can pull any information up for us that might be useful. Danny and I are headed to an address in Kahaluu. Do you know where Grover is?"

"Everyone's stretched thin right now," Chin replied, "Grover's got his teams up north searching all of those ten-to-fifteen minute routes from Kahuku like you wanted, see if Larry Russell's claim can be backed up. But I can call Grover back down for you."

"No, that's fine," Steve replied, "I seriously doubt the house in Kahaluu is going to give us much since An left information about it behind. But run it through the system for me, deed owner is Shane Jaro," he explained, "Danny thinks it might be connected to Minan Tech, formally Jaro Tech. Maybe a company held property. Other than that, keep digging through An's life," Steve instructed, "My mother might be able to help you out with that," he suggested.

"You got it," Chin signed off.

They stepped off the elevator onto the main floor and Steve immediately spotted and stopped an older woman in a custodial uniform. In less than a minute he managed to get a couple pairs of rubber gloves off her cleaning cart, and asked her for a rear building exit. Upon finding the exit, they entered the shaded alley and found two large dumpsters a few yards to their left. "This isn't going to be another short guy thing, is it?" Danny groaned, "Toss me up into the dumpster?"

"No, group effort," Steve directed Danny to the farthest one from them while he took the nearest.

A few minutes into their search, Danny had found several bags filled with paper and food. "You'd think a high tech company wouldn't use so much paper, or at least recycle it," he complained, "And they eat way too much takeout food."

"Check this out," Steve called his partner over, "I found the desk frame and the broken glass…" he dug through the dumpster carefully to avoid being cut. There was a black trash bag near the desk remnants and he tore into it, first finding a bunch of files and loose papers until he noticed a picture frame. "Got 'em," he pulled both frames out of the trash, brushed some broken glass off them and studied them with Danny at his side.

The larger of the two was the same photo Steve had seen in Billy's office, Harrington and An seated on the beach. The smaller picture was older, showing An standing between two people, a man and woman in their late fifties. All three of them wore happy smiles and An appeared to be dressed in a long black graduation gown. It was the only time Steve recalled seeing the woman look happy, "Those must be her parents," he guessed.

"So she has pictures of Billy and her parents on her desk, uses Billy's name as a code," Danny pointed out, "Kinda hate to say this, but family seems important to her."

"Maybe," Steve still wasn't sure what to make of it, "I just wonder how she feels about her long-lost big brother?"

000

With his determination back behind the wheel of Danny's Camaro they shot across to the windward side of the island in record time.

"I missed out on so much," Steve said while actually slowing down to take a curve.

Danny didn't need any further clarification to know what his partner was talking about, "It's okay if you're angry. I know I'd be pretty upset if I'd missed out on Rachael being pregnant, or the first several months of Grace's life."

"Weird thing is I'm not very angry," Steve responded in a calm tone, "I'm sorry that I missed those things, but… I just keep thinking about my buddy, Freddie," his thoughts drifted as he remembered the brave friend who'd died for him. "Freddie never even got to meet his little girl, never got to hold her or tell her how much he loved her. I mentioned to you once about how many guys I knew in the Navy who missed out on seeing their kids born, or first birthdays," he sighed, "But holding Evan last night for the first time and carrying him around this morning, the only feeling I had was thankfulness. Getting to be a part of his life in any way makes me feel like the luckiest guy in the world, Danny."

The detective couldn't help smile, glad for his friend. But he could also see the shadow of doubt flickering behind Steve's eyes. Doubt that Danny read as his partner wondering if Evan would grow up with both of his parents, or just one, "We're gonna to do everything we can to get her home."

Steve nodded. His determination slipped back into place as he pulled up outside a two-story plantation style house in Kahaluu. With white plank siding and wide-hipped roof, it was situated on a large corner plot of land bordered by water on two sides. Nearest neighbors were at least three hundred yards to the north. Located a goodly distance from the road the densely-packed hala and palm trees around the property made the place relatively secluded.

They approached the front entrance, knocked. "Five-0, open up!" Danny called. There was no answer. He tried turning the brass doorknob but the locked door and traditional keyed deadbolt stared back at him without budging. Danny spent a few seconds searching for a hidden key under some nearby pots and a door mat, but he hit a dead end.

Walking around to the other side of the house, they were blasted by a gust of wind off the coast. From the covered back porch Steve could see dark storm clouds closing in. A worn wooden dock stretched outward into the vast ocean that was currently rather choppy, waves splashing up and over the dock. There was a large boathouse attached to the south side of the dock, covered in corrugated metal siding that was a bit rusted from years of waterfront exposure.

Another locked door greeted them at the back of the house. "We should break it," Steve motioned toward the glass door panel.

"Hold on a second, Rambo," Danny replied with a distinct note of reservation, "I was actually thinking this time we should wait for Grover and SWAT to get here," he suggested, though he didn't want to come right out and remind Steve of the last house they'd searched. He knew Billy's loss was still on both their minds. They at least both had their Kevlar vests in place this time, slightly more prepared than they'd been in Pearl City.

"Chin said Grover's still up north, we don't have time to wait for SWAT," Steve pushed Danny out of the way and used his booted foot to smash the glass panel. He carefully stuck his arm inside and unlocked the deadbolt. An alarm immediately sounded when the door was breached, but Steve simply drew his gun and headed inside.

Danny followed him in with a grimace, "The one time I forget my earplugs," he humorlessly joked as the alarm continued to shriek.

Steve found the alarm panel just to the right of the door and tried a few codes, but nothing worked to lessen the shriek, "This place is locked up too tight for anyone to be around. Why don't you head down to the boathouse and see what you can find there," he suggested.

"Gladly," Danny agreed, instantly turning and heading out through the back door, happy to escape the horrible sound.

The blaring whomp-whomp-whomp of the alarm didn't bother Steve much. He searched a few rooms on the main level before making his way upstairs to sweep the second floor.

Nothing stood out as significant until he came across a ground floor door that was locked with a keypad like the ones in An's office. He typed in Billy's name again and the door hissed open. There was a landing and then five steps down into what Steve guessed to be a modified garage, finished to serve as a storage room. The space was lined with metal shelves that were stacked with wires, cables, circuit boards, every type of technology you could imagine. Several items Steve couldn't identify.

It looked a lot like a warehouse. There was no workstation, no desk or computer.

Something caught his eye on a low shelf. Steve moved in closer and picked up the shiny object, realizing it was the medallion Catherine had been wearing the other day.

That small clue led him to further believe the storeroom was the most likely place Catherine could've found her duplicate tracker unit.

He clutched the medallion and exited the main house via the back door, headed straight out to the boathouse. Steve crossed the unkempt lawn as the blustery wind kicked up again. He passed the old dock and pushed the wood-framed door open, "Danny, I think she was here. I just found…" he trailed off, noticing the interior was extremely dark. Steve found a switch just inside the door. "Danny?" he called out again, flipping the lights on. The space was lit by several fluorescent tubes hanging from the high ceiling beams. The space was larger than Steve had expected, sporting a decent sized workshop and room for the fifty foot yacht that was berthed there.

"Danny?"

A high tide and the brewing storm caused water to haphazardly surge against the docked boat. Steve rounded a corner and nearly tripped over his partner. The detective was sprawled on the wooden floor, gun clearly not on him, a bit of blood trickling down his forehead. Steve bent down, "Danny…" he reached out to search for a pulse.

"He's alive," a voice said from behind Steve. "And if you drop your weapon he'll remain that way."

Rising to his feet, Steve tightened his hold on the gun in his right hand. He turned around slowly, "Give me a good reason why I shouldn't shoot you right now and…" Steve froze, seeing the perfect reason before he could say another word.

Catherine stood in front of Wo Fat. He had one arm wrapped about her waist, and a gun pressed against her ribcage. "Please just do what he says, Steve," she pleaded.

Steve's heartbeat quickened as he locked eyes with her.

Wo Fat wore a smug grin as three burly men stepped off the yacht and positioned themselves behind Steve. "Take his gun, search for any other items on him that could be used as weapons and then cuff him," he directed with casual authority, "I'm sure you're thinking you can take them all on," he guessed as they men followed his orders, "And I know you could since I've seen you do it before with even more opponents, but in this instance I advise you don't."

"Why's that?" Steve asked, "You afraid to fight me on your own?"

"No," Wo Fat grinned again, assuredly, "I have a failsafe to keep you and the lovely Catherine both in line." He pulled a small device out of his left pocket. "Why don't I show you what will happen if you try to resist me," he pressed a tiny button on the remote and wore a satisfied look as Catherine grimaced.

Steve watched her face contort as she clutched her neck. She dropped to her knees, eyes watering, clearly in pain. But she didn't make a sound.

His stomach was in knots as he watched her, obviously in agony. Steve realized Kono had been right about the collar around Catherine's neck; it was obviously some sort of electric control device. Yet he was oddly proud of Catherine for not giving Wo Fat the satisfaction of crying out. Steve finally relaxed his fighting stance as one man wrenched his right arm behind his back and snapped a cuff about the wrist. That action caused Steve to react, lashing out.

Steve's left fist connected with one man's jaw, his right foot thrust outward to kick another man in the shin.

They recovered quickly, each grabbing one of Steve's arms and wrestling him to the ground. The third man sat on his legs as he secured the second cuff around Steve's left wrist.

Wo Fat's face morphed into a nasty scowl that ridged his forehead. He stabbed the remote's button again, "I don't think you're taking me serious."

Catherine writhed in pain again, hands balling into fists at her sides as she hunched over, fingernails digging into the flesh of her palms.

Still no sound emitted from her lips.

"Okay," Steve gave in, seeing the strength with which she fought his tortures. His body relaxed a little more, still hard to let go of the fight, "I'll do whatever you want, just stop," he finally begged. "Let her go and you can hand me over to Lawson if that's the plan."

Seeming happy with the outcome, Wo Fat let go of the button and slipped the remote back into his pocket.

"Wonderful technology An created for me, isn't it? Designed with featherweight, yet slash proof, wire mesh. Waterproof and stylish enough not to be noticed. It uses four points of skin contact and gives off a constant dull shock," Wo Fat explained, "It also has location software built in with programmable radius. As long as Catherine was aboard the Kappa she only endured the dull setting. However, when you foolishly removed her from the boat Friday night the pain was automatically upgraded to ten times that. And with the remote I can up the intensity even further. A pity my father never had such glorious technology in his time of controlling slaves."

One of the security thugs helped Catherine to her feet. Steve was also drawn up by the other two guards.

"Your father trained you for cruelty from the moment you were born, didn't he?" Steve couldn't help feel slightly sorry for the man, recalling all that Doris had told him.

"This life you speak so ill of is what I call a legacy, my father's legacy," Wo Fat responded, as if it was something to be proud of. "So you know about Lawson?" he moved on, "Your family always has been resourceful. By the way, how's your mother?"

"Doris is well," Steve shifted his focus to Catherine as they were forced to board the yacht. Once aboard, Steve was led down a short set of steps into the yacht's main cabin, a living room space with leather furniture and highly-polished cherry wood cabinetry. Catherine and Wo Fat followed him down. Two thugs roughly pushed him into a seated position upon a leather sofa and cuffed him to a secure rail. Catherine silently took a seat across from him, sitting on the edge of her sofa as her long red dress brushed against the floor. Steve thought she looked tired but dangerous, seemingly ready to strike at any moment.

A tall, lean figure stepped forward out of the shadows, "This is a nice surprise."

Steve glared at the gray-haired man, an older version of the retired Navy Master-at-Arms he'd seen on a driver's license picture Chin had found. "Nick Lawson," his head shook. "The two of you finding each other was completely unlikely, yet fitting. You're both completely crazy if you think you're going to get away with taking Catherine and me off this island," he felt the boat's engines rumble to life even as he spoke, "We already have coast guard and Navy patrolling these waters. The Kappa-Shui gui is a large ship, hard to hide."

Lawson shrugged, "But the ocean is larger. So far we've kept the Kappa out of your purview," he shared a look with Wo Fat, "It's good to have inside people," the man chuckled dryly as he focused on Steve again, "If you know who I am then surely you must know I still have friends in the Navy."

"You've betrayed everything the Navy stands for," Steve hissed, "Friends like David Rollins, a man whose daughter you've held captive for nearly a year," he spat.

The man remained unruffled, "I can tell you about friends like David Rollins. I held and comforted his daughter after his son died, and where was he that day? Off running training exercises," Lawson replied with a tone of superiority, "I stayed with Elizabeth and Catherine that afternoon until David could be reached. My wife made a casserole and brought it over for the grieving family. And when the Rollins family was reassigned that next year, all they managed was to send us a Christmas card. After that we completely lost touch."

"That's the Navy," Steve sighed, "I made all sorts of buddies that I've drifted from. It's just the way things happen sometimes."

"I don't forget people," Nick Lawson snapped off the words with venom, "Like your father."

Steve shook his head, "Your vendetta against my family has gone so far past ridiculous. It was never based in reality to begin with, but I'm not even going to bother arguing that point with you. If you let Catherine go, you can have me. Simple as that," he offered.

Lawson scoffed, "I don't think you understand," he walked over to Catherine. "She doesn't want to be let go, do you?" Nick asked her as he gently touched her neck, "I'm so sorry Wo Fat hurt you in his misguided attempt to make McGarrett suffer. He didn't realize I had trained you well enough to return to me on your own. But I assure you things will change as soon as Steve McGarrett is dealt with," Lawson moved across the cabin, procured something from a cupboard and rejoined them.

Catherine's eyes widened with fear as she noticed the knife in Nick's left hand. She got to her feet, standing closer to Steve and the two thugs still holding him in place, "You said we didn't have to kill him," she aimed her words at Lawson, "You said torturing him by knowing I was on your side would be revenge enough," her breath caught, "I'm with you, I swear."

"Then prove it to me," Lawson responded, "Are you honestly so naïve that you didn't realize this was always going to be my final test?" he smiled softly, holding the knife out for her to take, "You kill him and I truly believe you're on our side, then we'll go get Evan back for you and all live happily ever after as a family."

She felt her fingers wrap around the knife easily enough, the weight of it not nearly as heavy as the task Nick Lawson had just proposed.

"I'm sorry," Catherine whispered, looking Steve in the eye as she took a small step toward him, "But I don't believe in happily ever after," she declared.

Before he could even try to react, Steve watched as she rapidly spun around and lunged at Lawson with the knife.

000

His vision blurred as he tried to open his eyes. And it felt as though the wooden floor beneath him was seesawing.

"Danny?" Kono pressed one hand against his shoulder while the other gingerly inspected the cut on his forehead. "Do you think you can sit up?" she asked and received a small nod before his eyes closed tightly again, "Okay, tough guy," she grinned, taking one of his hands. "I've got you, just take it slow… keep your eyes closed for a few more seconds."

"Good advice," Danny groaned as he sat up with Kono's assistance. He waited for a minute longer before opening his eyes again.

"That cut doesn't look too bad," Chin noticed as he squatted beside his cousin. "Probably won't need stitches."

With one raised brow, Danny eyed Chin, "You a doctor?"

Chin chuckled softly, "No, brah. What happened here?" he turned serious again, "We haven't been able to locate Steve, but the Camaro is still parked out front."

"Damn," Danny grumbled, "Help me up," he reached for Kono and Chin and used them for support as he stood. The floor finally stopped moving. "You try calling his cell?"

"Straight to voicemail," it was Grover who responded as he walked over to join them, "Probably because of this," he handed a plastic evidence bag to Chin. Inside were the remains of a cell phone, broken black case with a cracked screen, "One of my guys just found that along with these," Grover presented two more bags.

"The medallion Catherine was wearing," Kono noticed.

Danny immediately recognized the other items hanging on a chain, "Catherine's ID tag and the ring Steve bought for her," he shook his head but instantly regretted the move, pressing two fingers against his left temple in an attempt to keep his pounding headache in check.

"He bought Catherine a ring?" Kono asked as she examined the object. "As in…"

"Engagement ring," Danny confirmed, "But the important thing here is he wouldn't have taken it off willingly. It's been sort of a talisman for him, just like Sam and the ring he wore all those years when he was separated from Caroline," Danny dismissed the blank looks he got, not having time to go into the details of their antique store saga, "There was a yacht docked here before I got conked on the head," he finally noticed the boat slip was empty, "Big one, maybe fifty foot, white…"

"Did you see a name?" Kono asked.

With his head still pounding Danny searched his memory, "Um, two words… something starting with an L, I think. Pretty sure it had an I-N-G somewhere."

Chin only had to think about those clues for a second before he had a suggestion, "Could it have been, Lightning Bolt?" he questioned.

"Yeah, maybe," Danny said quietly.

"In the journal Nick Lawson kept," Chin recalled, "At one point he goes on at length about his son's basketball playing. Matthew Lawson played all the way from grade school to high school before he died. And his nickname on the court was Lightning Bolt Lawson."

"At least it's something to get out to the coast guard," Grover was on his radio right away as he exited the boathouse.

Danny leaned against a work bench, still holding a hand against the side of his aching head, "I can't believe they were right here and I let them get away," he lamented, "The house alarm was on, we thought that was a sign that no one was around," his breathing grew unsettled, "Now they have Steve and Catherine, and that little boy back at headquarters is…"

"We're gonna find his parents, Danny," Kono insisted, seeing his confidence wavering a little.

"Evan is ohana now, we'll do right by him," Chin clapped Danny on the shoulder.

Grateful of their support, Danny regained his fighting spirit, "No guilt trips, I told Steve that earlier. Have you dug up anything new about An?"

"There's no airport footage of her and no TSA hits on her ID or passport," Kono replied first. "She seems to be in the wind."

"Charlie helped us go over the security footage from her office," Chin added, "Managed to get a close-up on that metal box she pulled from her safe. Doris identified the numbers on it as being the safe deposit box she told Wo Fat about."

"Any idea what's inside?" Danny wondered.

Kono's head shook, "Doris claims it was just a few documents, the letter and that picture of An and her birth mother."

"An might've stashed something else in there," the detective voiced.

"Doris was able to tell us more about An's parents, Peter and Irene Zhou, Chinese-American, both born in the U.S." Chin revealed, "They've taught English all over the world, and were teaching in a small village in China the year An was born and adopted via Doris and the CIA. We know they stayed in that village for the first five years of An's life then moved to San Diego, California, which is where Peter Zhou was born. They continued to live abroad off and on, but officially retired five years ago and maintain a San Diego home. Neighbors reported that they left for vacation in March of this year. They were only meant to be gone two weeks but have yet to return. SDPD conducted a missing person case, but nothing's come of it."

"Lawson and Wo Fat got to An's parents," Danny stated with confidence.

"You think they were using them against her?" Kono questioned.

"They force her to help them with Catherine, even coerce her into shooting Steve… claim they'll kill her parents if she doesn't," Danny mulled over the possibility, "Makes sense."

Chin was on a slightly different train of thought, "Or it could be that An was the one to get them away, hide them so they wouldn't be used against her."

"Or… she killed them," Kono put the worst case scenario out there.

Danny sighed, "It's still all a lot of speculation that doesn't help us find Steve and Catherine right now," he voiced.

"Shane Jaro is the older brother of Irene Zhou," Chin offered up a bit more information, "Jaro retired about the same time as the company changed names, and he received a hefty severance. He died ten years ago, didn't have a wife or children so he left this house to his niece, An. The deed was never officially transferred into her name."

"Makes you wonder if Wo Fat was on to something before Doris ever confirmed An's existence for him," Kono voiced.

"An's office security footage confirms she was on the island as of last night," Chin relayed, "I had Duke send a team to Billy's apartment to see if An might be hiding out there," he explained, "We've also got SDPD sending us every bit of information they have on the missing Zhou family."

"Good," Danny was glad to hear how on top of everything they were, but he had one worry, "Where are Doris and Evan?"

"Still at HQ," Kono answered. "HPD has got the Palace locked down tight. Thankfully it's a holiday weekend so there hasn't been anyone around."

His head felt a little less uncomfortable when he nodded, "Okay…" Danny did his best to take charge in Steve's absence, "Wo Fat clearly gave Lawson enough money to pay off his mortgage years ago, probably paid him more than enough to buy that yacht that was here. And if they took Steve and Catherine then they'll most likely be headed back to the Kappa-Shui gui. Which means our top priority has to be to find that ship," he stated, "We also need to consider that Lawson still has Navy connections, and Wo Fat has the money and means to influence anyone, including Coast Guard or Navy personnel."

"So we run background on everyone out searching right now?" Kono guessed what he was getting at.

"Exactly," Danny concluded.

000

He readjusted his position slightly in an attempt to mitigate the pain in his shoulders, "Catherine?"

There was no answer as she lay motionless on the floor just a few feet away, "Cath, I really need you to wake up," Steve kept his voice low, but urgent, "Please."

When she still didn't respond, he tugged more frantically at the cuffs and chain securing him to the ceiling. Seeing her just out of reach was worse than ten months of being apart.

She'd managed to stab Lawson in the shoulder before two security guards had descended on her. They'd immediately dragged her away. Wo fat had retreated with Lawson to tend the shoulder wound. Steve had been left alone, still cuffed to the side rail, with one armed guard watching over him for at least an hour or longer. His mind had covered every horrible scenario in that time, thinking they'd most likely killed Catherine for what they viewed as a betrayal.

He'd sat all that time with his senses on hyper-alert, listening and waiting. The yacht had finally slowed and docked somewhere. Steve realized they'd arrived at the Kappa-Shui gui when they eventually transferred him over to the much larger ship. They'd led him up to the third deck and the cabin he recalled Catherine being headed to Friday night. Even as they'd strung his arms above his head with wrists cuffed again, this time to a ceiling apparatus, he'd been relieved to find Catherine slumped over on the floor across from him.

Steve was worried that she'd been knocked unconscious twice in two days, not to mention jolted by her shock collar and whatever else they might've done to her.

At least able to sit on the bed, Steve felt the gentle thrum of boat engines beneath him and a slight sway that almost always accompanied a ship cutting through open waters. Boarding the Kappa, he'd seen they were still within the storm's eye. But the main object of his focus now was Catherine, the way her head rested in what looked like an uncomfortable position against the wall, her closed eyelids. Steve tried to move toward her again, but was rewarded by the greater dig of metal cuffs into the flesh of his wrists.

"I know you probably just want to keep your eyes closed," Steve took a deep breath, "Try to block all of this out," he guessed, noticing how her red dress clung tightly to her body, her hair done the same as when he'd seen her the other day, half pulled up in a bun held in place by a red stick of some sort. "I can't really blame you," Steve hated to think how she'd been treated, clearly dressed up like some version of Wo Fat or Lawson's perfect woman.

A weary sigh shuddered past her lips, and her eyes opened slowly, "I've been awake," Catherine revealed.

He wasn't upset by that admission, too happy to hear the sound of her voice.

"Welcome to my prison," she sat up with some difficulty and glanced around the room, not allowing her eyes to fall upon him.

Steve watched her closely, not sure why she wouldn't face him. He decided to aim his efforts elsewhere for the moment. "My hands are cuffed, how about you?" Steve asked, not seeing her wrists, "Can you get free? You did in my office."

She scooted forward a little, her butt against the floor of the room she'd spent most of the last nine months in, "I'm not cuffed, tied," Catherine lifted her arms as much as she could to reveal the tightly knotted nylon ropes binding her wrists behind her back. Another short length of rope leading from her wrists was fastened to a grommet on the floor, "Lawson figured out I could do that handcuff trick with my left hand after I cracked open the skull of one of his guards. They learned their lesson the hard way."

With a frustrated sigh, Steve remembered they weren't dealing with a stupid criminal, just an unreasonable one. Lawson had been planning his revenge against John McGarrett for twenty years, and he was doing one heck of a good job at drawing it out, not settling for anything less than the complete destruction of the McGarrett family. "Catherine…" he suddenly wasn't sure what to say to her. He wanted to apologize, wanted to ask her a tons of questions, wanted to take her in his arms and not let go for the next thirty years or so.

"How's Trooper?" Catherine finally asked.

"Trooper? How's Trooper?" he repeated her question, rather dumbfounded by it.

She nodded.

"You've been gone for almost a year, Catherine," Steve shook his head at her, "So naturally you want to know how the dog has been doing?" he could see she wasn't going to give him anything more at the moment, "Trooper is good," he gave in, "Does her name proud. She was missing you big time but after a while she put all her effort into helping me get through the day. She'd wake me up, make sure I ate. Maybe that sounds silly, but I swear it's true. We helped each other through."

"It doesn't sound silly," Catherine's tone was flat, "She loves you. You rescued her and she'll always be grateful to you."

"She's pretty much spoiled now," Steve tried to keep things light the way she seemed to desire, "Sleeps in bed with me at night, and I feed her muffins as a treat even though I know I got on you about doing the same thing. She's a bit tubbier, but we started running again recently and..." he paused, not sure why they were still talking about the dog, "Wouldn't you rather try to figure out how we're going to get out of this situation? Or how about Evan, don't you want to know how he's doing?"

Her head shook, "No, I can't think about him right now," she turned her gaze toward one bank of windows.

All of the blinds were closed, just the way she remembered waking up in the room that first time.

"Really?" even in the dimly lit space Steve could see the pain she was trying to mask behind her avoidance. "How's that working for you?" he pressed.

"Not very well," she admitted with a shaky sigh, glancing down at the red silk dress, "And now I'm leaking," Catherine noticed, "Didn't figure those nursing shields would hold out much longer. The last time I fed him was over twenty-four hours ago."

Steve could see the wet spots on the front of her dress and felt even worse for her. Being apart from Evan was killing him inside and he'd only just met his son. He imagined the pain of separation was several times more excruciating for Catherine. A stretch of silence filled the space between them as they sat across from one another, closer than they'd been since his office. Yet still so far apart. He watched her head dip, chin to chest, "Cath, are you okay?"

"Okay?" she mumbled the word, head still lowered. "Yeah, I'm great," her voice was filled with sarcasm. "Had a nice long vacation, extended cruise… got plenty of fresh air and they fed me well. Oh, and while I was away I had your baby, our son. His name is Evan, which you already know. I named him in your dad's honor. And I've spent every day since his birth hoping you'd get to meet him. But other than feeling alone and depressed half the time, and trying to figure out how to be a mom the rest of the time…" she shrugged, "I'm great."

"Are you done?" Steve asked, realizing how desperately she was trying to stay in control, "You can stop pretending to be fine because I know you're not," he tried to sympathize, "Do you think any of this has been easy for me?" he let the question settle between them but realized quickly she wasn't going to respond. "I was at the crash site, did you know that? I went on dives to recover wreckage. Max identified your finger, and… within that context a single finger seemed like enough evidence to prove your death. Your parents believed it."

Steve could see how those words hit home with her, the sag of her shoulders and the sniff that had him wondering if she was crying since she still wouldn't face him. He felt bad for causing her more pain, but he knew it was the reality she'd need to face eventually. "But it never sat right with me, Catherine," he let her know, "Now are you going to give me a straight answer and tell me if you're okay? Did they hurt you for stabbing Lawson? Or…" he swallowed nervously, "Is something wrong with the baby?"

She finally glanced up at him, her eyes filled with regret. "How…"

"I managed to pull a very short audio feed off this boat about a week ago; I heard you tell Wo Fat and Lawson about the baby."

Catherine bit her bottom lip, not sure where to start.

"A child for Wo Fat was always part of Lawson's plan. His only goal is to make you suffer as much as possible and having Evan and I under his control became a huge part of that, but the prospect of Wo Fat raising your son and his son…" she swallowed, "Think about it, wouldn't that be the ultimate coup for Wo Fat and Lawson, and this whole bizarre father-son issue they've both clearly got going on with you? Wo Fat would get to raise your son and his as brothers knowing they'd grow up to protect each other, love and care about one another. Or the alternative, they grow up to hate each other's guts. Either way, that's the kind of completely twisted thing Lawson was aiming for."

His jaw clenched for a moment, "And he succeeded," Steve finally gulped, "You're pregnant with Wo Fat's child."

Her head shook, "I'm not."

"But I heard you tell him…" Steve noticed her eyes were aimed at him, their dark orbs piercing, "You lied?"

"I lied," she nodded, "And that lie gained me more trust and freedom out of my captors in the last week than the whole time I've been aboard this ship."

Steve was disgusted, but still impressed, "You know they never really trusted you? Lawson proved that by trying to get you to kill me."

"Of course they didn't fully trust me, but I had built up some rapport. Until you showed up on this boat the other night and took me," Catherine's tone was accusatory. "Why do you think Wo Fat made that demonstration to you back at An's house?" she asked, "They haven't used the collar on me for months."

"So that was my fault?" Steve suddenly felt like he was under attack again, "I was just supposed to let this all go, let you go?"

"They don't have Evan right now, do they? And they didn't have you. You should've made sure it stayed that way," she insisted.

"Catherine, you can't mean that. I…"

"After I told Wo Fat and Lawson about being pregnant," she interrupted him, "I was given the door code to my room, this room. I could come and go even though there were a ton of guards still patrolling the ship. But I discovered those guards like to chat with each other, so I listened. When I learned about the baby auction, and realized we were anchored near Oahu, I worked out a plan to get Evan off the boat. Friday night I worked the room, picked wallets from pockets, dug through purses, whatever I could to find a local address. I stumbled upon the Russell's and overheard them talking about their place in Hau'ula. I also heard them talking about baby lot A03, a girl they planned to bid on."

Catherine shrugged, "I figured Evan wouldn't mind if I put him in a pink blanket for a little while."

He both hated and loved the way her mind worked, "You switched Evan out, we know."

"When I was sure Chin and Danny had Evan, I made my way back to An's house and waited for Lawson or Wo Fat to show up," she concluded.

"Back? So you did stop there to pick up the second tracker. How'd you know about the tracker I put on you?" Steve asked.

She smiled, but it wasn't the same carefree and genuine smile he'd always known from her. It was smart and calculating, "I know you, Steve. I know how much money you spent on that tracker program you had installed on my cell phone. And I know how tight you are with money. I also know you love your mother despite everything she's done. And I know Doris taught you those sleight of hand magic tricks. Hiding it on my collar was sneaky," she granted.

"Obviously not sneaky enough," Steve was impressed. "But why did you go back to them?" he was still confused.

Catherine maintained eye contact with him, "After I gave birth I made a deal with Lawson. As long as he allowed Evan to stay with me I'd do whatever he wanted, including having a child with Wo Fat as he'd already made that plan known to me," it pained her to admit, "I knew Lawson wouldn't be able to resist a chance to have me in his arsenal against you. I knew Wo Fat would feel the same once he was released and brought into the fold. I knew if I had your child and Wo Fat's baby that he and Lawson wouldn't be able to resist seeing how that hurt you. I knew that meant returning to Oahu eventually. I just wasn't quite prepared for it to happen so soon."

"Soon? You've been gone for almost a year," he sighed.

"After we came up with the idea to lie about me being pregnant, I tried to renegotiate the deal," she diverted, "I wanted to get Evan away from here, needed him to be off this boat for my plan to continue. I tried to get them to agree to give you Evan and tell you that I was staying with them. I figured that would hurt you enough for them to be satisfied."

"You really thought that'd work?" Steve asked, finding it hard to suddenly get all the answers he'd been hoping for.

"I know Lawson's vendetta against the McGarrett's is completely irrational, but he isn't stupid," she reiterated what Steve already knew. "He prides himself on trusting very few people, just like Wo Fat. Their thugs are expendable, but Lawson spent a great deal of time on me the last few months. He made sure I was his willing pawn before he ever dared to get Wo Fat into bed with me. And I sold them both exactly what they wanted, made them believe the sex was real, made them believe that what you and I had was nothing more than a friends with benefits arrangement all these years. I even told them I'd refused your marriage proposal."

"Except I never got a chance to ask," he pointed out.

She shrugged, "They didn't know that."

"Catherine, why…" Steve was beyond frustrated, "Why didn't you just tell me all this at my office? I would've gone with you to get Evan back and..."

"And I would've wasted everything I've gained with them," Catherine didn't let him finish. "If they knew I willingly had contact with you they would've come after all of us, or scattered to opposite ends of the globe again. The way I was able to turn it around, I escaped from you and made it seem like you were taking Evan from me. Then I tried to get Lawson to agree to cut our losses, leave Evan behind and we'd still have the baby I told them about. Lawson wants some version of family, distorted as it may be," she concluded.

"But that lie was bound to play itself out eventually," Steve argued, "Say in nine months when you gave birth to nothing."

"We had a plan for that, too," she replied, taking a deep breath, "I figured I'd be dead long before they could find out the truth. And you were meant to take Evan and protect him, not let him out of your site. He was supposed to keep you from doing something stupid like going after Wo Fat again. Instead you foolishly came after me," her voice hitched, "Now our son… now Evan's going to be completely parentless."

Steve's heart ached to hear the sorrow in her voice as he finally realized her true plan, "You weren't just trying to protect Evan, were you?"

"What would you do to protect me, Steve?" she asked, "What did you do when El Condor held me? You turned against Grover and SWAT; you released international terrorists in order to free me. Don't you think I'd do the same to protect you? I walked into North Korea with you because I feared losing you. Don't you realize I'd give anything, sacrifice myself if it meant keeping you and our son safe?"

He could see the commitment behind her dark eyes and it tore him apart inside, "Catherine, when I first held Evan it was at arms' length," Steve recalled, not believing that moment had occurred less than twenty-four hours ago. Steve felt like it had been years already, "And when I read Max's confirmed DNA test results, I…" he was overwhelmed, "Suddenly someone completely helpless had been dropped in my lap. It freaked me the hell out."

"That's how I felt the day he was born," she whispered.

"I don't know what kind of father I'm going to be, Cath," he admitted, "I have a feeling I'm gonna screw up a lot of stuff over the years where Evan is concerned," Steve knew she was the only one he could ever reveal his fears to. "But loving him… loving him happened instantly. All I had to do was look into his eyes, your eyes. And I realized I really didn't want the first thing I screwed up to be allowing his mom to die," Steve insisted.

She smiled even as a lone tear trickled down her cheek, "I'm sorry I hit you the other night."

"You were surprised," he was glad to hear her real voice return, the Catherine he knew and admired, "Guess the shaggy hair and beard caught you off guard?"

"I knew it was you, but I had to fight," Catherine revealed. "There are cameras everywhere outside this boat," she glanced at his hair, "But I see you're back to regulation," her emotions were so scattered she wasn't sure where to start, "Steve, I'm sorry I… I never expected you to be on the boat. I had to believe that those couples were here Friday night because they were desperate to have a child, and that they'd love any baby they took home. I watched and listened to the Russell's, heard how happy she was, how nervous he was."

He knew she was still struggling with her decision. "We must have missed some of the couples leaving with babies earlier," Steve realized.

"There was a lot going on that night," she recalled.

"So you really weren't planning to get off the boat?" Steve asked the hard question.

"I couldn't leave," Catherine answered. "I had to figure out a way to lure Lawson and Wo Fat back to the boat, both at the same time. The two of them being together in the same place is a rare occasion. That's why I had to get Evan out of the snake's nest, before I cut off the snake's head. Or, more likely, blew them up," she revealed, "And me along with them."

"Jeez, Cath," he sighed. Her plan broke his heart, even though she'd already established her dedication to protecting him and Evan.

"What else could I do?" she asked, "I knew they'd never allow themselves to be together anywhere you'd be able to capture them."

Catherine chewed her lip, "Lawson's been working with Wo Fat for nearly twenty years without anyone knowing. Luring them into a trap was the only choice I could see," she tried to make him understand that.

"Watching them auction Evan off that night… I almost stopped it all. But as much as it tore me up inside to let him go, I knew it was the best way. If I'd succeeded in blowing up the ship then I figured once the Kappa was found with Wo Fat and Lawson dead, and evidence of the auction…" she paused, "I guess I hoped you'd figure out people on the island had bought babies, and that would somehow lead you to Evan. But then when you got me off the boat I changed tactics slightly to go after Evan first, to make sure he got to you. I also had to revise my mission of getting Wo Fat and Lawson together."

"Sounds like there were a ton of risks in that plan," Steve realized.

"If he never made it to you then…" she bit her lip again, worried about how he'd take it all, "I hoped Evan would at least be better off with some parents, rather than him being dead, or worse… with Wo Fat raising Evan to think he was his father."

Steve couldn't argue with her reasoning, even as much as it pained him to think about it. "We would've found Evan," he did his best to sound confident for her sake, "Kono studied that medallion of yours," he revealed, recalling the way Lawson's thugs had taken it and his other personal effects from him before they'd left the boathouse. "We figured out the message on it and Evan's name… well, we deciphered the letters in his name."

"The medallion? You actually spent time figuring out my stupid medallion message?" Catherine was surprised.

"Stupid?" he hadn't been expecting that response from her.

Her head leaned against the wall again, "Do you have any idea how much time I spent locked in this room? Twenty-four hours every day for months on end. I slowly gained privileges, deck time, walks around the ship, although I was always watched by guards," she revealed, "You see that TV right there," her head nodded toward the thirty-inch monitor mounted to the wall just a few feet from where she was restrained, "It's not the kind that picks up romantic movies or dog shows on cable. Lawson used it as a communication device since he and Wo Fat were rarely on the boat. There's a webcam above it."

"It's been broken," Steve noticed the round opening's fractured lens.

"The only eating implements I was allowed were chopsticks," Catherine's eyes raised to indicate the red stick still holding together the bun of hair atop her head. "I used them more to destroy webcams than I ever did for eating," she revealed. "I'm surprised they didn't make me eat with my fingers," Catherine sighed, "I'd check the room every morning for cameras or other surveillance equipment they might've snuck in while I was asleep. Those first few months I'd try to stay awake as long as possible, but I slept a lot when I was pregnant."

"Do you think they're listening to us now?" he wondered.

"Does it even matter?" she asked, "I'm pretty sure me stabbing Lawson in the shoulder means what tiny bit of trust I had has been shattered," Catherine only wished her efforts had been more successful since she'd been aiming for his heart. "Too bad those guards are quicker than they look," she sighed, her thoughts scattered as she glanced around the room, "I had books to read. After I found out I was pregnant, An brought me all sorts of books about baby names, breastfeeding, every baby topic you can imagine, none of which actually prepare you for the moment your child emerges screaming and helpless from your body."

He nodded his agreement, not that he'd gotten any baby books read before Evan's sudden arrival in his life. Nor did he know what it was like to experience childbirth, not even from a father's perspective. Steve did his best to remain grateful for ever getting to know Evan, but thoughts of his son back on the island spurned him to tug at the chains and cuffs holding his hands above his head. They didn't budge any more than they had the first several times he'd tried to loosen them.

Catherine watched him struggle against his restraints. She flexed her hands, keeping the circulation going even as she felt them starting to numb, "Most of the time it was just me and this room," she continued her account, "Usually with a bowl of nuts and only my thoughts to keep me company. And the baby," her last few words were whispered longingly.

"So the medallion wasn't a message for us?" Steve realized she hadn't made it back to that point yet. "What about your note in the diaper bag?"

"Lawson gave me that medallion. I recognized the Chinese symbols, life, love... cheesy, but at least they were nice sentiments to hang on to. I spent months etching those tiny letters with a small piece of mirror I'd broken off," she used her head to indicate the large mirror hanging on a wall to their right, "Not for self, but for family. It became sort of like therapy, a way to reaffirm my commitment to what I was doing here, the agreement I'd made to protect my family, especially Mary."

"Mary?" his sister's name came as a shock.

She sighed, wishing that bit of information had stayed put inside her head a while longer. But the look on his face let Catherine know she couldn't back out of it now, "Just after Lawson first revealed himself to me, he gave me a choice to either help him or he'd use Mary instead. I couldn't let that happen to her. If I resisted him I was sure he'd kill me anyhow and take Mary, and then you'd lose everything. I knew I'd be able to handle it all better than she could, and that you'd handle it better if it was me and not her."

"Catherine, that's not true," he protested her assessment, "I haven't handled anything well since you've been gone. I…" Steve shook his head, "I'm so sorry I said those things to you in my office yesterday, accusing you of willingly working with Wo Fat," he regretted those words all the more knowing how she'd protected Mary.

"Don't apologize," she replied, looking him in the eye again, "I knew you didn't mean it, that you'd only done it to get a reaction out of me. I couldn't tell you what I had in mind. I only really wanted you to find the email message."

"You owe me," he uttered the words.

She nodded, "You understood what it meant."

Steve smiled softly.

"The medallion message, the note in the diaper bag, I…" Catherine shrugged a little, "I don't even remember what I was thinking with all of that. Lawson told me that everyone believed I was dead, so I guess I figured if I blew myself up along with Wo Fat and Lawson you might not realize what I'd done. And if you did find Evan with the Russell's maybe you could know who'd taken me," she sighed, "I can't even be sure now what I was hoping you'd discover. I just wanted Evan to have at least one parent to take care of him."

"And you decided that should be me," he could see in her eyes that she was still thinking the same, "He needs you, Catherine. He needs his mom," Steve was having a hard time thinking about the little boy now, same as he guessed Catherine was, "I'm sorry."

"Why do you keep apologizing?" she asked.

"Evan," he whispered, "I know you never wanted to have kids."

"Steve…" Catherine felt tears prick her eyes again, giving up on not thinking about the baby, "Do you have any idea how much I love him?"

His head shook.

"As much as I love you," she smiled sadly, "It's different, though, it's…"

"I know," Steve acknowledged, not needing details. There was no way to describe the kind of love he felt for his son, but it was very different from what he felt for Catherine.

"I guess all that talk about not wanting kids was pointless," Catherine realized, "Nothing's gone to plan."

"When has anything in our lives ever gone according to plan?" he asked. "The night I met you…" Steve couldn't help smile at the memory of dancing with her, "That night I never imagined how completely you'd turn my life upside down… in a good way."

A tiny grin reemerged upon her lips, "You know when and where Evan was conceived, don't you?"

Steve's brows bunched, "About a year ago."

Catherine nodded, "Not long before last Thanksgiving. Same day I told you I didn't want kids," she revealed.

"The back of my dad's Mercury?" he realized with a raised brow and a proud smile, "Old school."

"It's the reason I named him after your dad," she noted.

"Catherine," an avalanche of questions still weighed on his mind. It felt like the wrong time to ask any of them, yet he feared they might not get any other time than what they had now, "Did you know you were pregnant before you left for Russia?"

Her head shook, "I just thought I was tired from work and stress."

"But when you called me from the plane in Paris, you said we needed to talk about something when you got back."

"I only meant about Billy," she assured him, "Everything happened so fast that day. It all still feels like a blur. I was at the ice arena with the ambassador's family one minute, and then rushed to have my shoulder stitched up, next thing I knew I was on a plane. And after that…" Catherine paused, still finding so many holes in her memories of that time, "They kept me pretty out of it for about a week, maybe longer," she still wasn't sure about the details, "Other than being tired I had no clue I was pregnant until An told me."

"You were on birth control," he wasn't sure why the trivial things were bogging him down at the moment, "I was paying enough attention to know that."

"After I retired I switched birth control," Catherine explained, "And there's always a margin for error."

"I wouldn't call Evan an error," Steve was quick to respond. The proud grin on her face was all he needed to know she didn't think of the baby in that way either. His thoughts finally resettled on their current predicament, "Catherine, you've mentioned An a few times. You know who she is?"

"Another one of Lawson's puppets," she answered, "I know he managed to blackmail her into helping him. She was with him the first time I saw them on screen in this room. Last two people I ever would've put together, I'm still not sure why…" her thoughts shifted, "I knew there was no reasoning with Lawson so I focused my attention on An. She actually seemed to care, and when she first started visiting the boat I was able to have time alone with her. I slowly got her to open up about what was going on."

"Her being a partner in your abduction," Steve stated.

"No, her being a victim just as much as I was," Catherine declared, "An was forced into helping Lawson so she could keep her parents and Billy safe."

"Catherine, that might not be the truth," he replied, "And there's something I need to tell you about Billy."

"He's dead."

Some of the burden was lifted from his shoulders as she softly spoke those words, but not much, "You know?"

Her head nodded regretfully, "Lawson showed me news coverage last night," she confirmed. "Why was Billy at that house with you?"

"That house was where Lawson used to live on Oahu with his family," Steve revealed. "Billy insisted on helping us search for you. He figured out your codes. Without him I probably still wouldn't even have your 'you owe me' message worked out."

"I hoped the two of you would work together. I was counting on Billy remembering our unit code," her words escaped along with a tear. "You know he wasn't well?" Catherine watched as Steve nodded, "We only spoke about it briefly that morning in Russia, but I know he was embarrassed about it. He hated being pulled from combat, the end of his Navy career. Billy was so afraid of suffering a major seizure and ending up in a coma, wasting away in a hospital bed," she gulped.

"He died a hero, Catherine," Steve swallowed with some difficulty as he spoke those words, guilt still eating him up in regard to his friend, "Billy wanted you to know that he was sorry about not being there for you in Russia, and he also…" Steve recalled the last few things his friend had tried to say. Billy hadn't gotten all the words out, but Steve knew them nonetheless, "He wanted you to know he loved you."

She smiled sadly, "I already knew," Catherine whispered, "He wasn't very good at being subtle about his feelings toward me."

Steve nodded, feeling there was so much more to be said. But finding a way out of their current predicament was top priority, "Catherine, I don't think An was being honest with you," he broached the subject again, "She's not who you think she is, not just Billy's fiancée. An is Wo Fat's sister."

Catherine's brown eyes narrowed as she listened, "No, I don't think… An never would've been so nice to me or… she and Wo Fat were friendly, but…"

"An used you, Cath," he tried to break the news gently, seeing that An had obviously been the only sort of friend to Catherine in many months.

"I don't think so," she maintained, "An helped me. I never could've fooled Wo Fat without her ingenuity. She's the one who talked about constructing a bomb and…" Catherine shook her head in denial, "An was helping me, Steve. I know she was forced to work with Lawson against her will."

"Then why was she free to come and go while you've been locked up? And where is she now?" Steve challenged, "Is she here on this ship trying to help you?" He knew telling her the rest of it was going to upset her even more, but he needed her to face the truth, "At the house where Billy was killed last night," Steve pressed forward, "The gunman was aiming for me. Billy took that bullet for me, Catherine. And I'm almost certain the person who fired that shot was An."

Her bottom lip bore the brunt of her denial, teeth biting into the soft flesh as she tried to deal with what he was telling her. Catherine was more confused now than she had been the duration of her captivity. She'd trusted An, but she trusted Steve more than anyone. "Where's Evan?"

Steve felt his heart break for her, seeing how she was struggling with the conflicting emotions of their ordeal. She was clearly trying to mask her feeling of betrayal with something she hoped would be comforting. "Evan is safe," Steve assured her, "He's with my mom at Five-0 headquarters."

"Good," Catherine shifted her weight and took a deep breath.

"So you're okay with Evan's first introduction to my family being Doris?" he asked.

"Our family," she corrected with conviction, "And yes. I bet she already loves him as much as you and Mary," Catherine concluded as she closed her eyes.

He watched as she transformed herself into a state of concentration and relaxation that he'd witnessed before, "Are you actually doing some sort of yoga meditation stuff right now?"

"This yoga meditation stuff is very useful," Catherine declared, eyes still closed, "It's how I got through the pain of childbirth," she rolled her shoulders back and brought her knees up to her chest, curling into the smallest ball possible. Catherine concentrated on trying to squeeze her butt and legs through the circle of her arms, even though they remained tied at her wrists. After several minutes of attempt she gave up and caught her breath, "Maybe if I dislocate my shoulder…"

"Catherine, you're gonna hurt yourself," he protested.

She opened her eyes and faced him, "I know you're a big, tough, overprotective Navy SEAL. I've learned to love that about you. I seriously doubt you can chew through metal handcuffs, though," Catherine pointed out, "But if I can get my hands around front then I don't care if I have to lose every tooth in my mouth by gnawing through these ropes."

As much as he worried about her, Steve admired her tenacity.

He watched with controlled apprehension as she used the wall to slowly try and move her left shoulder into a position of near breakage. Catherine didn't get very far when the door behind them opened. A sudden cool breeze swept through the spacious cabin. "If you wanted to be set free, all you had to do was ask," Lawson said as he entered the room.

"How's your shoulder?" she asked with little concern.

"Stitched," his right arm rested in a sling, taking pressure off his shoulder. He motioned for a couple guards to enter. "Free her," Nick instructed.

Steve sat quietly as he watched the two guards begin to untie Catherine. He remained cautious, not sure what Lawson had planned.

"I knew if we let you chat long enough you'd come up with a plan for us," Lawson stated, "All you want is one parent to make it home to the boy," he watched Catherine closely. "I think instead we'll see how he manages as an orphan."

"No!" Catherine protested as the guards released the ropes but each kept a tight hold on one of her arms.

Two more security brutes arrived and began to remove Steve's cuffs. They held him in an iron grip as the group all moved toward the exit and out onto the deck. The third deck was the highest, overlooking the rest of the ship as well as overhanging the ocean. A cluster of dark gray clouds loomed overhead, threatening to send down rain and a possible lightening storm. The equally dark ocean thrashed about wildly beneath them, creating dangerous swells.

Wo Fat was waiting for them outside.

One security guard cuffed Steve's right hand to a section of guardrail attached to the cabin's exterior wall.

Catherine got shoved away from Steve, toward the outer deck railing where Lawson had joined Wo Fat. She was held in check by a man nearly a foot taller than her and roughly three times her circumference. "Zhu, I'm sorry about what happened earlier. I…" she choked as the familiar burning sensation shot across her neck. Catherine could see Wo Fat holding the remote, controlling it with morbid pleasure.

She dropped to her knees, the guard's hold on her slipping. Catherine clutched the hem of her gown with both hands as she tried to fight through the pain. "I honestly never meant to hurt you," she spoke to Lawson, "I just wanted to create a distraction for Steve to escape. That's all I've ever asked from you, isn't it, his freedom? I'll do whatever you want, Zhu," she pleaded, again calling him by the moniker he'd once forced her to use, "If you let Steve go I'll..."

"How can I just let him go to be with his son?" Lawson interrupted, reaching over to halt Wo Fat's use of the remote against her, "My son is dead and always will be. McGarrett here wasn't broken by your death, or by what should've been your betrayal," he was clearly frustrated by that turn of events, "But heading to your death knowing your son will grow up without ever getting to call you mommy or daddy," Nick took a quick breath, "That's the best suffering I could imagine for either of you."

The guard helped Catherine to her feet, but she swayed a moment, disoriented.

"Take me," Steve offered again as he saw how much she'd already suffered, "If you kill me I'll never get to see my son grow up. That should be revenge enough. You don't need Catherine. You never needed her. If you feel a McGarrett still has to suffer then I'll pay the price."

"Don't listen to him," Catherine protested, "Zhu," she tried again to appeal to Lawson on a personal level, "Being part of the plot to kill John McGarrett didn't quell your anger, you said so yourself. Killing his son won't either," she pleaded, "If you kill us both Evan is the only one who suffers and I know you don't want that."

Steve could see that the man actually appeared to be swayed by her words.

"Kill me for real this time," Catherine spoke the words with a heavy heart, "Steve is here, he'll be assured of my death. Let him suffer my loss, but not that of his son. Then let him be with Evan. Allow this to finally be over."

Lawson stood quietly for a moment until he turned to Wo Fat, "What do you think?"

Wo Fat didn't appear terribly interested either way as he kept the remote grasped in his hand, "I'm not afraid of being able to hide from him," he glared at Steve, "Do whatever will make you happiest, jingcha," he gave his final answer.

It still wasn't clear to Steve which man had higher authority in their bizarre partnership, but it almost seemed as if Wo Fat looked to Lawson as a surrogate father.

"Do you have a preference as to how?" Lawson asked her, his decision made.

"No," Catherine shook her head, "But may I at least have a moment with him?"

Lawson nodded, casting a directive look at the guard holding her.

As soon as Catherine was released she rushed toward Steve, knowing they'd have precious little time together. His free arm immediately drew her in, circling her waist. She pressed one hand against the base of his neck, her other arm secured tightly around his back. Steve tried not to think about anything other than being able to hold her for a moment. Catherine allowed the weight of her weary body to sag against his stronger frame, forehead resting upon his shoulder.

They clung to each other, both knowing it wasn't the reunion they'd been hoping for.

He relaxed his hold a fraction of an inch to look her in the eye. Unable to find any words to convey what she was feeling, Catherine closed her eyes. She moved her hand away from his neck to caress his cheek while brushing her lips ever-so-softly against his. He couldn't help notice how different her kiss felt. Over the years her kisses had always either been playful or tender, and always desirous. They'd never been hesitant or sad like the one she shared with him now.

Steve worried the kiss was her way of saying goodbye, which caused his arm to grip her even tighter and his head to burry against her shoulder.

"I need you to make sure Evan doesn't forget what his mom taught him," Catherine's words were more resolute than her kiss.

Wo Fat stepped forward and tugged at her arm.

Steve tried to keep hold of her, confused by what she'd just said to him.

They'd talked about a lot in a short period of time, but he was certain Catherine hadn't mentioned anything that she'd taught Evan. Wo Fat finally snatched her away, and for a moment Steve feared she'd finally given up. But as she stood near the deck railing with Wo Fat, Steve noticed the completely relaxed appearance that suddenly washed over her. He'd seen that look before, most recently as she'd tried to free herself from the ropes. Steve couldn't figure out why, but she seemed to be in complete control.

He found that to be both a comfort and a worry. "What're you up to, Cath?" he whispered to himself.

Her strike came without warning - an elbow jabbed upward into Wo Fat's nose. It was enough to startle him and send his remote control skittering across the deck.

Struggling against his restraint, Steve wished to join her. But he was only able to watch as she continued to fight, ducking low to avoid Wo Fat's fists.

Lawson kept the other guards at bay, allowing the fight with Wo Fat to be her chosen method of dying.

The dark clouds overhead brightened temporarily as a streak of lightning cut across the afternoon sky. A loud crack of thunder followed almost immediately.

Catherine remained crouched low to the deck for a moment as she carefully pulled the red chopstick out of the bun in her hair. Steve's eyes widened to see that the small wooden utensil had been altered into a weapon. The tapered end had what looked like a jagged piece of glass secured to it with some sort of cloth binding strips. He remembered the sliver of mirror she mentioned using to carve on the medallion. Steve was further impressed by her resourcefulness, and momentarily fixated on her movements as he watched her fight.

She sprung up and stabbed the chopstick-knife directly into Wo Fat's neck.

He stumbled backwards, immediately pressing a hand against his bleeding throat.

Another bolt of lightning zigzagged in a downward manner. The boom of thunder that followed echoed for several seconds.

Raindrops began to pelt the deck, a small drizzle that promptly turned into a downpour.

The mirror shard had broken off her weapon, but Catherine advanced on Wo Fat again with only the cracked wooden tip to defend herself. She didn't make it far. Her teeth clenched tightly to stave off the agony of fire rippling along her neck more intensely than any other time. Falling to her knees, she could see Lawson standing over her holding the remote Wo Fat had dropped. The chopstick remained clutched in her hand, her grip on it still tight as she fought to level her gaze upon Steve.

Her lips moved, but no sound emitted.

Steve was abruptly reminded of the last words she'd said to him… what his mom taught him. Her wording finally caused Steve to realize the true message she'd been trying to get across. His free hand instantly reached behind his back as he recalled the way Catherine had specifically said: what his mom taught him, instead of: what I taught him. Catherine had meant his mother, Doris. And the sleight of hand magic tricks she'd taught Steve.

He realized the kiss Catherine had given him hadn't been a goodbye, it had been a distraction.

One hand against his cheek where they could see, her other hand behind his back hidden from their view. Steve finally found it, a small metallic object in his back pocket. He needed only to run his fingers over it once to know exactly what it was, the skeleton key Catherine had found and used in his office. His cuff came off easily with the key and Steve used stealth to his advantage, everyone else still focused on Catherine's predicament.

He snuck up behind one of the four security guards, jumped him and snapped his beefy neck before the man even knew what had happened.

Still remaining unnoticed by the others, he took out a second and third guard. Steve was on his way toward the fourth security guard when Wo Fat spotted him.

Wo Fat scrambled over to where Catherine knelt. With one hand still pressed against his neck he managed to grasp a clump of Catherine's hair in his left hand. He yanked her to her feet and then cracked her forehead against the wet railing. Without a moment's hesitation he easily pushed a dazed Catherine over the railing.

"No!" Steve exclaimed as he tried to reach her. The fourth guard caught him by the leg, but Steve kicked him in the teeth.

He rushed toward the railing again, but was stopped when Lawson and the recovered guard each grabbed one of his arms.

Steve could see Wo Fat leaning over the railing.

His heart raced as he spotted Catherine dangling off the other side. She had one hand clasped to the rail while Wo Fat attempted to pry her fingers off.

Blood ran down her face and mixed with the rain, seeping into her eyes and blinding her as she struggled to hang onto the slippery railing. She felt dizzy and sick to her stomach from the blow to her head, but somehow managed to use every bit of strength in her core to swing her other arm up and latch onto Wo Fat's hand. Catherine's dead weight shifted his center of gravity just enough to pull him over the rail as her hand slipped off. The two of them plummeted together into the ragging water.

Steve ducked a wild punch Lawson tried to get in. He easily kicked the older man's feet out from under him and stomped on his injured shoulder. Steve looked up just in time to watch as Catherine and Wo Fat went over the rail, "Catherine, no!" he cried out.

The guard lunged for him, but Steve barely flinched, punching the man as hard as he could. The large man crashed face-first against the deck with a slick thud, out cold.

Without paying Lawson another moment's notice, Steve headed for the railing. He leaned against it and scanned the choppy ocean below for any sign of Catherine.

Behind him he could hear another troop of security guards approaching, but Steve ignored them. He couldn't see Catherine, but that didn't stop him from ripping off his boots and leaping over the rail. He jumped feet first into the storm-ravaged water, torpedoed in and resurfaced within seconds. Steve scanned the area again as the sky was lit by several flashes of lightning. A clang of thunder rang out just before Steve dove beneath the water.

Due to her head injury Steve knew she might've lost consciousness after hitting the water, which spurned him into a frantic search pace.

The seconds stretched into agonizingly long minutes.

When he finally came up for air, Steve spotted a body floating on the surface a few yards away.

A distinctive red dress fanned out around her legs. Steve's arms expertly sliced through the water, wasting little time to reach her.

"Catherine," he gasped, positioning his body beneath hers as he floated on his back. Steve felt a faint pulse against her neck and sighed with relief. "Come on, Cath," he whispered to her unconscious form. "Do not give up on me," he willed her to wake up, knowing for sure this time she wasn't faking.

Unable to see land anywhere on the horizon he knew his only real choice was to return to the ship.

Steve shifted her to a swim rescue hold, one arm secured about her torso as he began to cut through the water toward the Kappa.

They hadn't gotten very far when the sky lit up and another boom of thunder sounded, except he realized pretty quickly that it wasn't lightning or thunder when it didn't end after a few seconds. Steve glanced over to see most of the ship was in flames, several more loud explosions causing fire and wreckage to rain down on them. He did his best to shield Catherine from debris, trying to figure out what had just happened. His only conclusion was that maybe Lawson had decided to end it all by blowing himself up.

The sound of a boat's engine caused Steve to look up again, hoping that Danny and Five-0 had figured out where they were.

Instead he saw the shadow of a boat that looked very much like Lawson's yacht. And it was speeding away from them.

"Damn it," he mumbled, realizing Lawson was getting away and there was nothing he could do about it.

Steve could only focus on Catherine as he positioned her atop his chest again; managing to keep them both afloat, though he wasn't sure how long he could maintain that. "You promised to always come home to me," he softly spoke in her ear, "And I made a promise to our son this morning that I'd be coming home to him. I'm still planning to hold up my end of that deal, so I suggest you do the same," Steve pressed a kiss against her wet hair.

"I promised not to say these words unless I was looking you in the eye, but… screw it," he exhaled sharply. "I love you, Catherine. I love you and I'm proud of you."

He felt a tear roll down his cheek even as it mingled with the rain. "You've fought so hard, don't you dare give up now," Steve whispered.

---

To be continued…