I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.

Notes: thanks everyone for the continued kind reviews! CinderH, Jazzie and Synbou === saving the plot as always for me! thanks for the last minute Beta AGAIN when the muse gets an idea!

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Chapter 11

"She's at a cop's house. There was a problem with getting her back to that same foster family because they were evacuated by a mud slide. Whoever this cop is, he's keeping her at his place until other arrangements can be made with CPS."

Frank Curtis happily rubbed his hands together. Everyone had their little informant even within the ranks of the supposedly illustrious police family. It didn't matter that little Kasey Pearce was currently being housed with one of the blue. He only needed to grab her and force the gems and thumb drive out of her ... one way or another. Not to mention the other plans he had in mind for her with the game only one day away now. With the weather clearing beautifully, one or two more clients thought they would arrive in time. Plans were humming along quite well.

He listened as his man described the setup and nodded. "Roads are still closed due to flooding and downed trees. The guy's got a beach house. We can walk or boat in .. either may be possible. I won't lie Mr. Curtis, it's going to be tricky regardless."

"I'm leaving it to you." Frank never turned around from the window where he gazed at the now sparkling ocean. The surf was rough and churning from the storms' after effects. The brightness of the sun and blue skies belied what had happened just a few short hours ago. In the distance, he could see small dots of people walking the wet beach still respectful of the ocean. It was peaceful and beautiful and he smiled happily. This was the Hawaii he wanted to experience.

"Don't disappoint me. I want what's mine and I want that kid here today. No excuses."

"Sure, Mr. Curtis. You'll have her tonight." He left then and made plans to survey the cop's house, street and possible storm damage within the hour. They'd likely stick to a quick snatch and grab as long as they could gain some type of road access for a getaway.

After dumping the brat's dead mother in the ocean before the storm, he had no interest in dealing with the violence of the Pacific for a second time. He could pilot a boat, but the recent experience in real ocean surf made him miss the more benign waters of Lake Mead.

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Steve left Ponch and Ellen to get acquainted with Becca. Her Uncle was fussing over her with his stethoscope and checking to determine how badly she was congested. He tsked over her fever and let her know that antibiotics were in her future. From the doorway to the kitchen, he grinned at her and she smiled back. She was content and pleased with this type of attention that wasn't too much different from the Anderson's. But this was family and inherently natural. There was still some residual shyness, but that was fading quickly as her Aunt Ellen tried to find out about her favorite foods and soups since she was much too skinny in her opinion. He had to bite back a chuckle because even Lord Ted E. Bear was smiling inanely from his post next to where they sat together on the sofa.

Sneaking quietly back into the kitchen, Steve needed to see to Danny who was listing dangerously to the side as the morphine worked against the pain in his chest. Tired to begin with, Danny was at least now extremely relaxed and less pale. Grace was standing next to him at a complete loss of how to help.

"Grace, the doctor wants Danno to lay down for a while. We're going to borrow your room." She nodded before getting yet another fresh ice pack from the freezer but that was as far as any one of them got since Rebecca's shocked outburst even brought Danny shakily to his feet.

"It's gone!" Her stunned outburst brought Steve back on a run with Danny and Grace following more slowly. Becca escaped her Uncle's embrace to back up quickly with Lord Ted while the fingers of her right hand disappeared and fisted around in his empty pocketed tummy. Though the little girl flatly refused to let them help, Ponch and Ellen were both on their feet and reaching out to her in total confusion.

"Steve? What's she looking for?" Ellen was beside herself as her niece began to panic and talk to herself. "We only wanted to take her picture and send it to Mike. She said she had an old picture in Ted to show us too, but now she's so upset!"

Becca was still backing up blindly until she hit a wall and Steve knelt down in front of her. "It's gone! I'm in trouble. She's going to be so mad. I'm in so much trouble!"

Her face was stricken in terror as Steve gently grabbed her arms and gave her a soft shake. Danny had reversed course to return to the kitchen to carefully reach up to the top of the refrigerator for the black velvet bag which he tossed to his partner.

"Hey, stop. Becca, it's okay because I have the bag. I found it before your bear got washed and it's safe." Steve was on one knee while she tried to pull away from him to get away. She wanted to run and he could feel that panic in an instant. He pushed the pouch under her nose and then untangled her fingers from Lord Ted to dump the diamonds into her small palm.

"Look. They're right here. I had to take the bag out of your teddy so it wouldn't go in the washing machine."

What sounded almost stupid to his own ears calmed Becca immediately. "I decided to keep them safe and locked away so you don't have to worry about them anymore. I didn't have time to tell you." Steve waited as she counted the nine and her face calmed considerably.

"Are they all there?" His question was meant to be equally calming but it made her expression darken as she mumbled an almost angry yes.

"What are you two talking about?" Ponch quietly asked as he knelt down next to his niece and thumbed a few tears off her cheeks. Unable to believe what he was seeing, Ponch found himself riveted to what she was holding in her hand.

"What do you have, Becca?" The why was silently demanded of Steve and he sighed heavily before rubbing his hand over his face; there was no need to say it any other way.

"Diamonds. Rebecca was taking care of a small bag of diamonds inside her teddy."

"Mommy made me keep them." Becca offered more as an innocent explanation without thinking twice. Steve held the bag open as she again counted the nine one by one into the velvet pouch. He was stunned and too slow for her when she quickly snatched the pouch into her own fist.

"I kept them safe for her after she got them in Las Vegas. We had to leave the night she got them. We had to go really fast in the dark and she made me promise to hide them. When we got here there were ten, now there are nine. Mommy took one and left me."

Her anger and sense of betrayal were clear as she stared hatefully at the bag in her hand before whispering it again. "She left me."

"I know and we're sorry." That lonely, lost whisper was enough for Ponch and he silently picked her up. Lord Ted had already fallen out of her one-handed grip, but the diamonds stayed anchored in her other fist.

"But we found you, sprite."

Becca closed her eyes and hugged her Uncle hard as Steve stared at her and glanced towards Danny. He shook his head in disgust and mouthed, "Vegas."

"Vegas." Steve snorted as he breathed out the word. Right there was the precise link to Frank Curtis and Amy Wilkerson-Ramirez from the mouth of a child. If the woman had been alive and in the room, Steve wasn't sure what he'd have said or done to her to endanger her little girl so severely. He glanced once to Ponch and saw the confusion and blatant questions running through his mind; he would fill the Ramirez's in on everything later.

"Can I have those back?" To be clear with Rebecca, Steve tapped her tight fist and held out his hand. "So, is it okay if I keep them for you? Can I do that, Becca?"

She froze in Ponch's arms before coughing and closing off her face completely from all of them. She wasn't sure if she could or should go that far. Her hand fisted the black velvet as she buried the small prize in her chest. Even though she didn't want them - she still did - protecting them was her job and it was very important. Steve's hand fell back down to his side. He didn't want to push her or rudely take them away, but she obviously couldn't keep them. From behind them, Danny offered a subtle suggestion which Becca began to mull over seriously.

"I bet you had a special hiding place all this time. Didn't you?" She nodded quietly feeling the nubby diamonds poke her fingers from inside the pouch.

"I bet it was really hard to keep them safe, too. You did it all by yourself. It's been a big job, Becca, and you did it for a very long time." Danny had her full attention as he tried to reason out her fears. He smiled as she nodded again. It was a big job and she didn't want to do it anymore.

"I have an idea but you have to agree. Steve and I have a place in the police department where we lock things up tight as a drum. What do you think if we were to lock them up there? There are so many police it would be like having your very own private security team. No one could ever get to them except for us. Then you wouldn't have to worry so much."

Steve raised his eyes in surprise because all of it was truthful to a great extent. The bag would go to the FBI in reality, but to their evidence locker. He glanced approvingly at Danny's almost too self-satisfied face before chiming in.

"He's right, they would be very safe. I don't know of any place better."

Becca thought about it hard. All she had now was Lord Ted and the soft, plush animal was really no good for long-term hiding. She wouldn't be going back to the apartment and Steve's house didn't seem right. She was smart and the idea of having them really locked up tight would be a relief. Biting her lip, she looked at Ponch, Ellen and then Danny before finally settling on Steve.

Steve had his hand out to her again but seemed ready if she said no. He wouldn't force her to do it because it was completely her decision.

"Okay." She held the bag out to Steve before blurting out her true private thoughts. "I hate them. I don't want them back. Ever."

He smiled and cupped her cheek. "Good. You got it, kiddo. I promise we will take care of them and keep them safe."

Ponch and Ellen were still shocked but wisely said nothing as they watched the exchange. Steve looked meaningfully at them and pointed to the cell phone that had fallen to the floor by the sofa. The old photo of Becca and her father lay next to it, face-down and rumpled.

"I think you wanted to take a long overdue family picture for Mike? A new one." The blank expression on Ellen's face suddenly changed as tears welled in her own eyes. Before Steve knew what was happening, Ellen was in his arms and hugging him as she softly cried. Only he could make out her mumbled confused words about Amy and what she'd forced on the little girl for so long.

Steve was off-balance and rocked in place when Ellen suddenly released him to go for the camera and Becca's old picture. She wiped the tears from her eyes and beamed happily at her niece.

"Yes, you're right." She patted the sofa and repeated her very original question. "How about it? Can I take a picture of you and your Uncle?"

"Okay." The shyness was still there but the fear was gone. She left her Uncle to lean on her Aunt Ellen's knee to show her the old photograph first. And then the only thing Becca asked was to see the new pictures before Aunt Ellen sent any to her father. With Grace there too, she spontaneously decided that both she and Grace should be in one picture together. So in the end, a few pictures were sent to Mike Ramirez with a short text message. Ellen then called Mike immediately to explain what was happening and why.

Fully in control now, Steve watched in awe as Ellen walked composed and seemingly unruffled towards the window to talk quietly. It was her turn to try and calm the newly distressed man across the thousands of miles as he got each of the new photographs. A few minutes later, Ellen glanced over to where Ponch was sitting; she was tearful again but smiling happily as she finished speaking.

"I don't know, Mike. We can try." Ellen walked back to her husband and tried to give the cell phone to Rebecca. "Do you want to say hi to your daddy?"

Her expression pleaded with her niece as she tried to patiently wait. But Becca's eyes widened in surprise at the question and then she gasped. She understood what they had been doing with the pictures but didn't think she'd really be able to speak to her father so quickly. She wasn't sure if she wanted to or if she knew what to say. Unable to find her voice, Becca managed an insecure shrug and stared at the phone as if it would bite her hand.

"It's okay. No rush." Though she was saddened by the reaction, her Aunt continued to smile reassuringly as she sat down.

"She's not sure, Mike. Talk to your brother for a minute." Ponch's smile proved that he wasn't worried at all as hugged Rebecca closer.

"Hey, Mikey." Ponch took the phone and then cleared his throat against a happy tightness. "Can you believe this?" The phone was eerily quiet as his brother struggled for control and a new fear that his daughter might not be able to speak to him.

"No. Yes. Ponch, I don't know what I am. I need to get there. What's wrong with her?" Mike's voice was brittle and hollow as he grappled with the sudden conversation. He had his own phone on speaker as he drank in the picture of his daughter.

"Ponch, she's so .. small. And she looks so damned tired. Why won't she talk to me?"

"I know buddy. Get here .. take your time .. she's safe and we've got her. Don't worry too much, Becca's only a bit confused and she's a little sick." Ponch gently jiggled Becca on his knee before asking again. She was holding her Aunt's hand nervously but listening to every word he was saying to her father. Ponch whispered down to her and waved the phone teasingly by his own ear.

"Can you say hi just once?"

"Sick?" Mike was beside himself and hanging onto every word. "Sick .. Ponchie?"

"A bit of fever and maybe bronchitis. I know it's impossible, but I don't want you to worry, Mikey." The father and daughter were dancing around each other. With his happy tone, Ponch could see Rebecca's resolve fading as he pushed just a little bit more. She almost giggled at Grace's own exasperated eye roll and dramatic hand gestures to talk to her father on the phone. Aunt Ellen squeezed her fingers gently. Steve and Danny were also smiling at her and trying to get her to open her mouth.

"So, sprite. At least say hi to your daddy." He almost didn't give her a chance then. Before she could say no or duck away, he held the cell phone directly to her ear. "Just say hi that's all. It's one tiny word!"

"Mike!" Louder and for his brother's benefit, Ponch's voice boomed in the room and Becca almost laughed as she felt the strong vibration in her back. "Mikey. Talk!"

She sat on her Uncle's lap breathing as hard as her father on the other side of the line. She could hear him and then the anxious tone when he said her name. It made her blink in surprise as she felt something that she couldn't quite describe.

"Rebecca?"

"Hi." The word was almost too soft and she swallowed hard. Becca's expression was nearly unreadable but with her eyes closed, she took a breath and tried again. "Hi, Daddy?"

"Rebecca. Sweetie." With those two words, she took the phone away from her Uncle and jammed it to her ear to listen harder. In the background, Danny laughed as he rubbed at his chest with a very pleased expression on his face. He caught Grace's eye and gave her a bold thumbs-up sign and she beamed back at him.

Mike Ramirez was beside himself as he talked much too fast into the phone. "Becca? I"m coming to see you as soon as I can. Stay with your Uncle Ponch and Aunt Ellen. Please."

He sounded like he was crying and Becca's screwed her eyes even more tightly closed than before. He sounded exactly the same but different. "Okay, Daddy." She coughed and then rubbed her nose because she had missed him so much. Her tears surfaced as her next question burst out on a fast exhale.

"Daddy, can I come home?"

"God yes!" His choked sob startled her as much as her question did him. "Yes, Becca. Just stay with Uncle Ponch. I'm coming for you."

"Okay. I will." She nodded while relaxing into Ponch with a content smile on her lips before handing the phone to Ellen. Then she grinned to Grace with a happy explanation.

"My Daddy's coming here."

Her Aunt was openly crying too when she took the phone back. "Mike? We'll keep her safe. There are a bunch of people here that aim to do just that."

"No kidding." Steve folded his arms where he had propped himself up against the wall. Becca was grinning at him as his proud claim made them all laugh out loud.

"There is absolutely no doubt of that at all!"

~ to be continued ~