Chapter 5 -

The sun was hugging the ocean, leaving a purplish blue color the sky, and the water was lapping at their toes. Time had not existed for Elisabeth and Steve, it was the two of them. Nothing else had mattered, not even the shocking news, his mother was alive. As he put his arm around her, their stomachs grumbled, making them away, just how hungry they were and how much time had really passed.

Steve laughed. "I guess we ought to get something to eat..." He stood up, turned to face Elisabeth, and she held her hands up to him, and he pulled her to her feet.

"I'll cook us dinner." Elisabeth picked up her sandals.

Together, they walked hand and hand back up to the house, quietly. Steve realized at that moment, that he wanted to find his mother and he wanted Elisabeth to go with him. He knew he couldn't expect anymore than that from her, but he was happy just being with her like this, like they had been for the few house they sat there together at the beach. She was exactly what he needed at that moment. How did Danny know?

Once they reached the door, Steve stopped them, and said, "I want to find my mom!"

"What?" Elisabeth was shocked. "Wait, back that truck up? Your mother is alive?" It hit that's why he had the melt down. "That's why you freaked out earlier.

Steve couldn't help by laugh what she said. It was the very thing he thought when Joe told him that his mom was alive.

"What?" Elisabeth seemed oblivious. "What did I say?"

"Nothing!" Steve smiled. "I want you to go with me to find my mom." The blonde gave him a look and he knew exactly what it was. "What you're doing for me today means a lot, and I know that I can't expect anymore than that."

Her look soften; Elisabeth was glad that Steve understood her feelings towards relationship. If things were to change, she definitely wouldn't mind. Being with him today, made it feel possible, and it felt good.

"I think I should probably tell you the rest before you make up your mind."

"Okay."

"Why don't you sit while I tell you."

Elisabeth nodded and she sat down on bench.

"What Joe told me is that my mom was in an abusive relationship before she meant my father. It was very difficult to get out of it and when she did, he brought her back."

"OH!" Elisabeth gasped. "I am so sorry." She could see the hurt in his eyes when he talked to about his mother and wanted reach out to him, but did not.

"She got pregnant and had to make a choice; she left the baby with the father."

It was definitely sounding like a soap opera.

"Oh that poor baby. I am so sorry, Steve! All of this..."

How was Steve going to tell her who the baby was? It was definitely going to hurt her too and he didn't want to be the one to do that.

"My mom met my father and things were great for awhile and then the man came back and wanted her back and threatened us till she was at a breaking point." Steve was quiet for a moment. "My mom wanted to protect us so she had Joe help her fake her death."

Elisabeth definitely could understand how Steve could feel like she did. Even she was mad at his mom for leaving her family. She felt like saying, 'Do you have any idea what that did to your son? No you don't because you chose to run instead of fighting to protect your family! How selfish of you to chose yourself!' And Joe, Elisabeth had a few choice words for him too, but she kept them to herself. One day Joe was going to have to pay for this too!

"Will we be finding your brother as well?"

There was no way in hell Steve would call Wofat his brother. The man was his enemy! There was only two people in his life he would call brothers! "The only brothers I have are Danny and Chin!"

That was definitely sweet, Elisabeth smiled, but she couldn't figure out why he wouldn't claim his brother too. Then it hit her. His mother's son was something that Steve knew and hated. There was only one person that could be. It was Wofat. "No!" She whispered. "It can't be?" He was the man caused her so much in her life and now Steve's. They were definitely more alike more than she realized. They both hated Wofat. "I'm not going to let that get me upset!" She finally said. "I'm not going to give him the satisfaction of screwing our lives. I will go with you to find your mother and we will get our evidence we need to arrest Wofat and then go from there!"

Did that mean things could develop more? Steve didn't know and he wasn't going to push it. When she was ready, he would be there for her!

"Where would be going? Would I need to get my passport or anything?"

"Forks to start off with, but I'd definitely bring your passport. I'm not exactly sure where we're heading or how long."

"What about the others?"

"They'll understand and hold things together while we're going!"

Their stomachs growled again. They couldn't keep holding off on eating much longer, so they went into the house, and Elisabeth went into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and notice that there wasn't a whole lot there to make anything. She reached in for something in an unmarked box, lifted it up, opened it, and smelled it. Oh yuck! It smelled like it'd been there for several months, even more. Single guy, of course, he wouldn't keep his fridge stocked, he'd be ordering his meals. "That's out!" She turned to toss the unidentified contents away.

"How about we order in. I know this grate Japanese place down the road."

"Sure why not and we could watch a movie!"

Reaching for the phone, Steve redialed a number, waiting for someone answered. Someone answered and he was speaking in Japanese. Elisabeth had only had a few lesson and picked up on a few words here or there. He hung up a few moments later. "I ordered you some Domburi tempura for you and some sushi for me."

"Sounds good."

A half hour later, their meal was brought to the house, and together they ate while watching a movie. When they were finished, they watched another movie, and Elisabeth feel asleep, her head laying on his shoulder. He reached for the remote and turned the TV off, then he stood up, picked her up, cradling her in his arms. He headed upstairs to his room and placed her on the bed and covering her up, leaned in, and kissed her on the head.

"Sleep tight."

Steve left the room. The next morning, a wonderful smell woke up Elisabeth. She sat up in bed and stretched, realizing that she wasn't at home or even at Kono's. Where was she? Then it all came back to her, she was in Steve's house, then she remember, watching TV and falling asleep. Did they sleep together? She thought to herself as she ran her hand through her hair. No, she decided.

"That I would remember!" A small spread across her face.

Pushing the blanket away, Elisabeth swung her legs to the side of the bed, stood up, and headed toward the bathroom. She ran a brush through her hair and rinsed her mouth out with the Listerine, and headed downstairs, towards the wonderful smell wavering through the house.

The blonde reached the kitchen and was impressed with that she'd seen; Steve was cooking breakfast. She had no idea. He turned around, spatula in hand.

"Oh, hey, you're up!" Steve smiled. "I thought I'd head to the store and get some stuff for breakfast."

Elisabeth walked over to him. He had made pancakes, sausage, bacon, and eggs. Everything smelled and looked yummy. She snuck a piece of bacon.

"Hey!"

Scooping every thing on a plate for her, Steve then handed her the plate, and then handed her some juice.

"Thanks." Elisabeth took her plate and juice into the dinning room, sat down, and begun to eat. A few minutes later, Steve had joined her. "This tastes wonderful!"

Steve smiled at her.

That smile reminded her that they were dangerously close to the line, that Elisabeth was fighting hard to stay away from, but with him, it was so easy to get lost. All she had to do was look into his beautiful eyes.

"I made some reservations for us." Steve took a bite of his pancakes. "We'll be flying to Port Angles, then once we're there, rent a car, and drive to Forks. It should be a little over an hour drive. We'll stay at the Cullen house B&B."

All this talk was reminding Elisabeth that she and her sister were big Twilight fans, and one day, they hoped they'd go together, now they'd never be able to do share in that. Looking over at her, Steve thought the B&B was to much and he might be overstepping his bounds.

"I promised you that nothing was going to happen and I meant it." Steve reached over and touched her hand. "Everything was booking up quickly, I had to take what was left. This weekend was the Twilight convention."

"Huh?" Elisabeth looked up, she saw the look on his face and reassured him with a sad smile. "No, no, it's not that-I believe you. I was just thinking about Sera. She and I were big fans of Twilight and we we had planned to go to Forks one day."

Steve didn't realize the pain it was going to cause her and suddenly felt bad. "We don't have to go."

"It's okay! I'm okay!" Elisabeth didn't allow herself to cry. "This is about finding your mother. You asked me to be there for you and I will be - I'll be okay!" She changed the subject; it was to painful for her to talk about her sister. "I want to help pay for some of the trips."

This trip wasn't just about finding Steve's mom, but it was also letting go of Sera.

"It's okay, I got it covered." Steve smiled at how strong she was being. He was glad that he had someone like her in his life, even if she ended up being his friend. "Why don't you go get ready for work. When I went out, I stopped by your place, and grabbed a few things for you. We can back later and pack."

All Elisabeth could do was nod. She wasn't exactly ready to go back to her apartment, but having Steve there with her would make it easier.

***
A few hours later, Steve and Elisabeth entered headquarters and they walked over to Chin and Kono. The cousin's glanced each other, wondering if something happened between their friends. They seemed a lot closer than they had been twenty four hours ago. Kono gave Elisabeth a knowing look and the blonde rolled her eyes.

"After you called this morning, I found out some more information for you. It's in your office..." Chin gestured towards Steve's office and they headed for the office.

"So, what happened?" Kono said teasingly.

"Nothing. We watched a movie and then I fell asleep. He carried me up to his room. I don't even know where he slept, if he slept at all. Although, sitting with him on the beach..." Elisabeth sighed with a smile. "That was nice."

"Uh huh!"

"Shut up!" Elisabeth said playfully. "I told you nothing happen and it won't happen either. We have a job to do, and that's what I'm focused on."

"We'll see!"

The guys returned a few minutes later.

"We have something for you..." Chin disappeared to his office, returning a moment later with a plain wooden box with a silver latch.

"What is that?" Elisabeth wondered as she glanced at her friends, but Steve shrugged, he hadn't anymore idea than she did.

"I hope we don't seem to presumptuous about this..." Chin handed the box to Elisabeth.

"What is it?" Elisabeth asked again.

"Sera – we had her cremated," replied Chin, sadly.

The blonde gasped, flashing back to the last time she'd seen her sister, dead. Thanks to Wofat. Elisabeth took a deep breath, pushing the image away, and decided that focusing on finding Steve's mom was the best thing to keep her mind off everything that had happened.

A few minutes passed in silence and Kono and Chin glanced each other, feeling guilty. They believed they were stepping over the line by having Sera cremated.

"We're so sorry," Kono finally said. "I thought...we thought that with everything happening, we didn't want you have to focus on the details of a funeral."

Elisabeth dreaded the final preparations more than anything and was totally grateful that they even thought about helping her in this way. There were no words to express what she was feeling. "No, no! You did nothing wrong. This means so much to me, I didn't know what to say!" She ran a hand along the smooth wooden box.

Relief washed through Chin and Kono and they smiled at their friend.

"Thank you!" Elisabeth hugged them. "I appreciate this and you!"

"You're welcome, honey," Kono replied, releasing her friend. "I googled La Push Beach; thought it would be a beautiful spot to release her ashes. I even printed up a map for you." She pulled it from her back pocket and handed it over to Elisabeth just when Steve's phone was ringing.

Steve said, "Hey Danny! What? She is? Is she okay? Okay, let us know!" He ended the call. "Danny is at the hospital with Rachel. The baby is coming early. He's gonna let us know what happens."

They all suspect that the baby was Danny's but no one voiced their opinion on it and never to him. If they did, it would hurt him. It would remind him of what he didn't have and what he wanted so very badly.

With all this honesty, it reminded Kono of what she needed to; she needed to be honest with everyone about what had happened with Wofat. It would definitely hurt her relationship with Chin, but he would forgive her in time, but Steve, she didn't know how he would deal with it or even if he would forgive her for lying for so long. Danny would probably forgive her. And then there was Elisabeth, she knew all about it. Kono wanted to keep that quiet because it would jeopardize the blossoming relationship between her friends.

"There is something that I need to tell you guys," Kono finally said, glancing guilty at Steve and Chin.

Elisabeth's eyes were big as saucers, she knew exactly what Kono was going to say.

"It's going to be somewhat of a shock!" Kono said a few moments later.

"What is it?" Elisabeth said, playing along. She hoped that she would be left out of the secret.

"It's been killing me. I've wanted to tell you for so long..." Kono glanced at everyone. "I just didn't know how else to tell you. I know this is the worst time for it to come out. I am sorry about this. I really am."

"What is it?" Steve finally asked worriedly.

"I let Wofat get away."

There was dead silence in the room. Kono thought there would be fire works, which she would have been okay with, but the silence, is what made her worry anymore.

"You let him get away?" Steve said slowly, annoyed.

"I am so sorry."

"She must have had a reason for letting him get away..." Chin surmised.

"I did. I...I...loved him, that I love him, still." Kono bit her lip, waiting for the onslaught.

"Let me get this straight..." Steve placed his hands on his hip, "You loved him so you let him get away? "

Elisabeth was upset. She didn't like the tone in Steve's voice and felt she needed to step in. "I think you should stop or you will regret what you say to her." She didn't even bother to let him speak, she continued on. "I was there once, remember? I beat myself up over it for so long till I met you guys and I realized it wasn't worth it anymore. Sure it still scared the hell out of me, but I had friends to back me up. Now Kono is in the same position. We need to give her the same respect and love that you've shown me!" She stood next to Kono and put her arm around her, effectively ending the conversation.

The guys were out numbered, there was nothing more that they could say.

"All right..." Chin said after a moment, then glanced at Kono. "I know that you went through hell undercover and I know that anything can happen in those situations. And you do what you have to do.

"You know my reasons why it upsets me, but I respect you and what you had to do to make your cast, but next time..."

"If there is a next time," Chin cut in.

"Right..." Steve nodded. "If there is a next time, we got your back!"

"Just be honest with us, cuz. Don't keep these things hidden, it doesn't help anyone when you keep things a secret." Chin hugged the brunette.

Kono couldn't believe it. She had the support she was hoping for. If it hadn't been for Elisabeth standing up for her, it would have been much worse. "Thanks guys!"

"What are we standing around here for?" Steve said after a moment. "We got work to do!"

***
Later that day, Steve and Elisabeth stood outside of her apartment; the crime scene tape hanging on the door knob. Suddenly she was nervous and shook her head no. Turning her to face her, Steve could see the tears threatening to spill over, and his heart was breaking. He wished he could do more for her; if only she let him.

"You got to go in there and face your fears or you will never go in there!"

Elisabeth hadn't expected to ever go back; she was content staying with friends. "I can't!"

"Yes you can!" Steve turned her to face the doorway. "You need to face your fears head on or you will be letting Wofat win!"

Wofat win? Never! It wasn't in her vocabulary! Not since he murdered her sister! Elisabeth knew she had to go in that apartment no matter how it made her feel.

"I will be here with you!" Steve whispered into her ear.

The soft whisper in her ear, momentarily distracted the blonde with fantasy's of Steve kissing her hollow of her neck. Elisabeth closed her eyes, letting her imagination get the better of her.

"Elisabeth?" Steve peaked around to see her. Her face was bright red. He wondered what she was thinking.

"I'm...I'm fine." Elisabeth opened her eyes. She knew her face was on fire and blinked a few times, clearing thoughts away.

The blonde glanced about the apartment. It was as if nothing at ever happened. There was no death, no blood. It was spotless. The furniture was set back in its position, though the TV had been missing. The death of her sister had happened; her bloody body on the floor; murdered horribly, by a man she loved love, a man that happened to be Steve's brother! "It's clean. There's no blood."

"When I came here this morning, it was like this."

Slipping her hand into Steve's, together they walked through the door. Elisabeth felt stronger with him there supporting her, but if she had to do this alone, she definitely could have done it. It might have taken her awhile to get there, but it would have gotten done!

***
Several hours later had passed when the baby finally arrived, but as quickly as he came, the doctors and nurses whisked him away. Neither one had seen him, nor did they hear him cry, and both Danny and Rachel worried for the boy's health. She reached for his hand.

"Danny..."

Danny squeezed her hand and gave a small smile. In that moment, it didn't matter if that baby was his or not, he loved that little guy as if he were his own, and would do anything he could to protect him.

"What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know, honey."

"Please find out!"

Nodding, Danny released her hand and walked over to the doctor. "Hey doc, what's going on? Is he okay?" He peeked around the doctor to get a look. There were three nurses around the table working on him. It looked as though the tiny baby was turning blue and that worried Danny even more.

The detective had to tear his eye away from the nursing performing CPR and glanced back at the doctor, who had a grave look on her face. Danny glanced back at Rachel, giving her a small smile; he did not want to worry her any more.

Just as the doctor was about to speak, there was a welcoming sound, the cries a of screaming baby. Danny felt relief wash through him and he glanced back at Rachel again crying tears of happiness, but it was not yet over.

"Can we see him?" Danny had asked.

"Yes, but only for a moment. Your son is so small, so fragile, he's going to need every bit of your love and prayers." The doctor smiled and headed over to the baby's as they were weighing him, then wrapped up in a blue blanket.

The nurse picked up the baby and held him in the crook of her arm, walked over to Danny, and handed the small baby over to him. The baby was so tiny, he fit into his right hand.

"Is he okay?" Rachel asked, watching Danny holding the baby.

"He's fine..." Danny smiled as handed her the baby.

The tears ran down Rachel's face. She was happy, sad, worried, confused, but she couldn't put any of what she was feeling to words. She glanced up at Danny, if only he really knew the truth, but she couldn't do that to him again. She could hurt anyone any longer. It was better that the secret be kept. Danny would certainly be a good Uncle Danny, but that's the way it has to be, she kept telling herself, though deep down, she knew Danny had ever right to know that he was the father of her baby.

TBC

TBC