A/N: Thank you to Carol and Kandi for helping me work out some of my story. I was having a little writers block. Hopefully I am close to the real story on the show.
That took Steve by surprise. He never expected her to back off. If he had to admit to it, it really stuck like a knife. In all his years as a seal, he never really let his emotions get to him. They were always locked away, guarded, until now. Although, Catherine was able chipped away it, little by little, but she was never really able to truly break free.
It wasn't that Steve didn't care about Catherine, he cared deeply about her, he just couldn't commit. There was too much pain in his life to really let go and just love someone. He had not realized that those walls he created to protect his heart, was crumbling down around him, she was pulling away and it hurt like hell, but no matter how he felt, he would totally respect her decision."Okay!"
"All right, what do you want to know." She gestured toward the file.
The Lt. Commander took a deep breath and let it out in frustrated way. For the first time since all this started, he was going to get something. He was totally psych about this, though he didn't let on how much. It meant that he was that much closer to bringing Wofat down, though he had a nagging feeling something was going to go horribly wrong! Steve pushed the feeling away and concentrated on what Elisabeth was about to tell him. "You know what I want to know; tell me about Shellbourne!"
"I don't know much," Elisabeth said, as she and Steve sat on the sofa together. "He left me alone in the house one day. He me up with your dad and the Governor." Elisabeth saw that it didn't surprise Steve in the least to hear that and she continued on. "I ransacked the place. You wouldn't believe." She laughed, remembering. "Anyway, I found a file in the desk drawer in his office, and it had some bank account numbers and addresses from Oregon, New York, Maine, and I think, New Hampshire. I think I might have written it down somewhere in here." Elisabeth took the file and leafed through the pages until she came across the page she needed. "Yep, here it is...New Hampshire." She pointed to the page. "That's really all he had at the house. Fryer and I tried following up on the bank account numbers, but we were never really able to find anything . I bet Chin could probably follow the trail on these accounts."
Steve nodded. "That's what I was thinking."
The blonde looked at him, she felt herself being drawn into his beautiful eyes; they were the prettiest blue she'd ever seen. She cleared her throat and looked away just in time to see Kono come through the door with their lunches. Elisabeth was definitely relieved to have the distraction but Kono misread the look on Elisabeth's face, believing that it meant something else entirely.
"Please tell me you didn't tell him!" Kono was terrified.
Both Steve and Elisabeth rose to their feet and she went over to Kono.
"No, just discussing the case." Elisabeth was evasive.
"Tell me what?" Steve looked and felt confused. He had his hands on his hip. He hated people keeping things from him. It seemed to be happening a lot lately.
"Excuse us!" Elisabeth pulled Kono to the kitchen. "I promised you, I wouldn't tell anyone, and I haven't. I told him about my past, well most of it he already picked up." She sighed regrettably. "That didn't go over so well."
"What happened?"
"What do you think happened?"
Kono understood; she nodded and set the food on the counter, while Elisabeth grabbed the dishes from the cabinet.
"If you want to tell Steve, that's up to you! I will support you!" Elisabeth set the plates on the counter, waiting for Kono to reply but she didn't have a chance to respond; Steve walked in and Kono clammed up, to afraid, Elisabeth figured.
"I'm heading back to HQ. I texted the information to Chin!" Steve's eyes lingered on Elisabeth before he headed out.
"Let us know what you find out." Elisabeth called but it was to late; he was out the door.
"You want to know what I think," Kono said teasingly. "I think the man is in love with you!"
"No way!" Elisabeth was surprised. She knew she had feelings for Steve, but how deep did they run? That was the million dollar question. "You think? No don't answer that. I don't want to know. I just want to put everything behind me and catch the bastard that killed my sister." Elisabeth cringed at that.
Once upon a time, she had loved Wofat and now Kono was in the same position.
***
There was nothing to be found on the numbers the night before, so the guys called it a day, it was getting late. The next morning, Chin was the first to arrive, and the first to work on getting that information for Steve. It seemed like he was hitting a wall each time, but something kept him going and until he found what he was looking for and about that time, Steve had walked through the door. Good timing, the Chin thought to himself.
The Lt. Commander was hoping to see something new on Shellbourne. "Just the man I want to see!" Steve smiled. "What have you got for me?" He glanced at the counsel monitor, realizing that may have had something.
"Actually I do!" Chin looked up at Steve a little to excited and he calmed himself down. "I stumbled a financial for Wofat. He is actually staying at a hotel nearby where Elisabeth lives."
So Wofat was definitely near the location of the crimes. Means. Motive. Location. Time of death. The case was definitely turning solid. Time to put a BOLO out on him. If all went all, Steve was going to finally put an end to this mess, and put Wofat away for good!
Chin continued on, "And, I also have information on two of the accounts you gave me account numbers for yes."
"And?"
"Get this, one of them was is a Shellbourne."
This definitely piqued Steve's interest. "So Shellbourne is a person?" Interesting. He was leaning more towards that than anything.
"Yes, Aimee Shellbourne." Chin looked down at the counsel screen. "The last known place she lived was in Forks, Oregon, and that was for the last ten years."
"Forks?" Steve thought that was an odd choice to live, especially with all the hype with Twilight over the years. "Isn't that where the those vampire movies and books were based?" Vampires? Even odder than that, Steve dreamed that he was a vampire named Mick St. John, who fought against his very nature, to help protect people. They both had the same things in common; both wanted to protect people, though the last few days didn't seem like Steve was doing a very good job. What would Mick do in a situation like this?
"Yep!"
Boggled Steve's mind!
"You have a picture?"
"Yep!" Chin slid it up on the big screen. She was in her late 50's early 60's, short dark hair, very pretty, blue eyes and it looked like she had some work done, very good work. It looked flawless.
The woman reminded Steve of Mary in someways. He missed his sister more than he realized, but it had been awhile since they last spoke. It was best that they had little contact as possible in order to keep her safe.
"Look at this..." Chin pulled up another picture and slid it up to the big screen. It was the same woman, only with long blonde hair.
"Was this woman in the witness relocation program?" Steve walked up to the big screen to get a better look. There was just something about this woman he couldn't figure out.
"I spoke to a friend at the FBI, unofficially of course, he said, they don't have any information on this woman or any of the other things that you gave me."
Steve glanced each picture again more closely.
"Max just called..." Danny said entering HQ. "Bad news."
The Lt. Commander turned to glance at Danny, annoyed. "Do I really want to know this?"
"Not really, but I'll give you the brief run down." Danny said quickly.
Could this day get any worse?
"All the evidence is missing..." Danny replied, hesitantly.
The day just got impossible worse!
"Missing?" Chin questioned. "Maybe it's just misplaced."
"If it was that easy..." The blond half joked. "Everything on his computer is gone. Max found it like that after he came back after lunch."
"Maybe I can check it out" Chin was running through his mind ways he could bring the information back.
"I think everything is completely gone. No way to bring it up. He said he's done everything you would have." Danny glanced at Steve, it looked like he was ready to blow. Maybe they should give him some space.
The Lt. Commander swore quietly to himself. It didn't seem like they were going to get their guy today or ever. Dammit Wofat!
"What about the girl?" Chin asked after moment.
"Stroke." Even Danny didn't think that sounded right.
"She's to young..." Steve replied confused.
The blonde nodded in agreement. "Max dissected the heart and for the most part, it was very healthy. It wasn't until he went to examine her body again, that he saw the tiny needle mark on her left arm."
"Wouldn't the doctors have given her medicine from a needle?" Chin wondered. He couldn't grasp how a young woman in good health would have a stroke.
Danny shook his no. "She had a central IV so needles would definitely be out."
That made sense.
"In other words it caused an aneurism?" Steve thought aloud, then his mind turned to the cop he'd busted the day before. "Where is Jamison?"
"Had to let him go after Max called. Nothing really to keep him on his. Besides which, the little bastard recanted his story!" Danny was definitely annoyed.
Yep! Wofat is getting away with scot-free and that burned Steve. He mind suddenly turned towards Shellbourne and the information that they'd found. If Wofat, assuming it was him, could erase Max's computer, then Wofat is close to finding out who or what Shellbourne was. Steve had to protect the secret at all cost.
"You couldn't have left this alone!" A man's exasperated voice came from behind Danny. Everyone turned to see who it was. "I told you to leave it alone!" They finally saw it was Joe who was speaking to them.
"If you would have told me..." Steve walked over to Joe, "I wouldn't have to do this behind your back!"
"People are going to die if you bring this up."
"So you've said!" Steve really was getting tired of hearing that. "Look, Joe, whatever this secret is, I can handle it."
Joe remained quiet. He wasn't going to speak.
"Dammit Joe! Tell me what it is. People are dying here regardless of what's happening! If you tell me, I might be able to prevent those deaths!"
Steve was right, there was no denying it. Joe finally gave in reluctantly. Maybe it would prevent more deaths if he knew. "Come on!" Joe headed toward Steve's office, opened the door, and entered. Steve followed a few seconds later, closing the door behind him.
"This is between you and I, it goes no further than this office!" Joe looked around, a little paranoid. Steve had never seen his friend like this and it worried him. Joe always seemed so strong, so poised. What had really gotten into Joe to make him this paranoid?
"Okay!" Steve nodded.
"But first, you need to sit! This will shock the hell out of you!"
Moving to his desk, Steve pulled out the chair, sat in it, and waited for Joe to continue on, all the while, bracing himself for this so called impact. Finally the truth was going to come out.
"That woman out there in those pictures..." Joe pointed to the pictures on the screen on the computer outside the office, "that is your mother!"
WHAT? Screamed Steve silently to himself. Not possible! He wasn't so sure he could handle it now! He was thinking this news was something entirely different. My mother is alive? "No! It can't be. My mother died in the car bomb explosion. I was there at her funeral. I remember it so clearly. How can you tell me, my mother is alive?"
"What did I tell you you saved me?" Joe reminded him.
A few weeks prior, Joe got himself into a whole lot of trouble, when Yakuza kidnapped him because he thought that Joe had killed his father. After they left, Steve tried once again to get Joe to let go of the secret, but he would not.
Joe cought and then said, "You realize you just started a war with Yakuza."
"No, Joe, you did that, when you grabbed Hiro Nashimore." Steve looked at Joe then straight a head again. "k...They think you killed him."
"Well, I didn't kill him." Joe paused. "I helped him fake his death."
"WHAT?" Steve looked around shocked. "WHY?"
"I can't tell you that!"
Then it hit Steve, "You faked her death?" Steve shot out of his seat, upset. "Why would you do that to us? Did my father know you did this?" He was getting more upset by the minute.
"Wait, calm down, Steve. Sit down!" Joe ordered.
Quietly, Steve did as he was told. He was a bundle of nerves, waiting for more of the story. All he really wanted to do was tear the place up or go blow something up, but something was keeping him from doing that – the truth – he wanted that no matter what it turned out to be.
"You need to know the whole story from the beginning to understand why your mom and I faked her death."
Another surprise. "My father didn't know?" Steve kept himself calm and that was a surprise in itself.
"You're mother did not want your father knowing the truth." Joe was quiet for a moment; he hated betraying Doris like that, but Steve was her son, and he did have a right to know.
"Okay so get on with it."
"Two years before your parents got together, your mom..." Joe quieted down for a moment, gauging Steve's reaction and then continued on when he was sure it was safe. "Your mom was in a destructive relationship."
"How bad was it?"
"The first few months of their relationship was pretty good, then right around the third month, the beatings started."
Beatings? Steve didn't even know what to do with this information.
"He'd apologized to your mom and she would accept it and things would be happy for awhile, and the cycle would start all over again. Your mother had had enough, especially when she found out she was pregnant."
Whoa, whoa! Back that truck up! My mother was pregnant? Steve was beyond shocked.
"I know what you must be thinking, and yes it is true." Joe nodded. "I know you're shocked, but that's not even half of it."
"There's more?"
Not more than a few minutes ago, Joe gave a bombshell of information on Steve's mom and now he finds out that she was pregnant with another man's baby, before she met his father? What more could there be that would be even more shocking?
"Doris decided to leave; she was tired of all the beatings and she was worried about the safety of the baby. She saved what little money she could scrounge up and bide her time, till it was time to leave. And when she did leave, she went into hiding. Each time he would get close, she would move again. This happened constantly, until it was time for the baby to be born, and he some how found her and dragged her back." Joe paused a moment, giving Steve a moment to absorb all of this information and then condition on. "He threw her out once the baby was born. Doris tried to get the baby back, but she had no choice but to give up. She went into hiding once again and about that time, your parents met, and she decided not to tell him anything about the child or the experience."
It was so much to take it, Steve was having trouble wrapping it around his mind, but he knew there had to be more. He took a deep breath and let it out through his nose. "Okay, so let's say my mother had a baby and kept that from her family, and she went on the run. Why didn't she tell my father? Why did she leave again?"
"The guy found her and started sending her death threats. The only way she thought she could save her family is take herself out of the equation. She figured, if she was gone, he would have no reason to come back and bother her family!"
"So she called you for help?"
"Yes! Because that wasn't my first time faking someone's death! She trusted me. I had to help. I didn't want John and you guys to be hurt by this man anymore."
"Don't you understand, we were hurt! We lost our mother anyway you look at it!" Steve sighed, sadness etched on his face. He had not asked the one important question that Joe had been waiting for him to ask. "My father must have found out some how about Shellbourne, which is why he was investigating it."
"You're missing the one important question..."
Steve sniggered, "What more is there, Joe?" Joe took more from Steve and Mary than anyone could in a life time. He didn't know if he could trust Joe or his mother for that matter.
"Who your brother is!"
Who is my brother? Steve wondered to himself. My mother's ancient history is colliding with my present. Wait...I said something similar to Elisabeth. Oh my god! Steve stood up, the realization hitting him like a ton of bricks! Wofat was his brother! "Are you trying to tell me..." He couldn't get the words out, it sickened him. "You trying to tell me...my brother...IS WOFAT?"
"Yes!"
Turning away from Joe, Steve stared at a picture of his mother that was sitting on the shelf, and he grabbed it, staring at it.
"Some how Wofat found out about Shellbourne and he's been tracking your mom for awhile now, but he doesn't know its he. He doesn't even know that you two are half brothers. He only recently found out it was a person. If he knew what you know how, he would kill your mother and he would kill you!"
"I need you to go, NOW!"
"Okay!" Joe stood up. "If you need...you know where find me." He left the office.
In a fit of rage, Steve through the picture across the desk. It hit the glass and shattered it. He was so beyond upset, he couldn't even deal with any of it. He looked down at the desk and he cleared the desk, everything went to the floor.
"What's the matter?" Danny asked as he entered the office.
"I need to be alone for awhile." Steve gritted through his teeth "Make sure to keep all the Shellbourne stuff hidden. I don't want Wofat to get wind of what Shellbourne really is."
"Sure thing!"
The Lt. Commander stormed out.
***
Twenty minutes later, Steve found himself out by the beach near his house, watching the waves hit the shore. It was such a clear day, the sky was so blue, and the water, even bluer. It was where his mother always came to reflect about things. Now he knew, it was about her past with Wofat's father. Steve needed time to process everything. His mother was alive after all these years and his brother was Wofat. He didn't know who to be more upset with Joe for keeping the story from him or his mother for lying to her own family They were pretty high up on the list. What was he going to tell Mary? Should he even tell her? Should he find hi mother? Confront with this news? How was he even going to tell Elisabeth that his own brother murdered her sister?
There were so many questions running through his mind and Steve didn't have any questions that he desperately wanted.
"Hey!" A soft voice said behind him.
Steve turned to see her, Elisabeth, and smiled. "Hey, Lis."
"Danny called and told me that you might be here."
"Yeah, I didn't want him to do that, I just wanted to be alone."
"You know you scared the hell out him and Chin." Elisabeth joked as she sat down next to him. "He saw your melt down and he was worried. He thought you were off to blow something up."
Laughing, Steve nodded;Danny was right, "I probably would have!"
"You should thank him when you see him again."
"I definitely will!"
Elisabeth moved closer to Steve, interlacing her hands with his. He smiled, but kept his eyes on the ocean. It seemed to be calming him and having her here with him, was making it even better.
"Can I ask, what did Joe say? I know it was about Shellbourne."
"I don't even know where to begin..." Steve said softly. "Can we not talk about it right now."
"Of course!" Elisabeth laid her hand on his shoulder. "Whenever you want to talk about it, I'm here for you!" She glanced up at him and he was watching her.
"Thanks!" Steve smiled down at her.
TBC