Author's note: We are almost there, guys. After today, we only have the epilogue and a short, silly "after the credits" type chapter left. Thanks again for hanging in there with me. I hope you all find the resolution (and answers) satisfying.

And now, to the girl...

Chapter 14

Steve knew exactly where he was.

And he knew where he wanted to be.

So he ran.

The last time, he had been running to save himself. This time, he was running to save someone else.

He ran as fast as he could down the dock toward the freighter, his feet pounding hard on the concrete. He ran to the girl who 19 months ago, had been a frightened child about to be killed unless Steve agreed to help; who he had taken under his wing and protected from the other men on the ship; who he let sleep in his bed every night while he tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable on the too-short couch; who had never spoken, yet he spent hours talking to her in both Mandarin and English, trying to draw her out of her shell; who had no friends or family, so he became both; who had no known name or birthday, so he created them for her in efforts to remind her of her humanity; who he gave presents to on her birthday and at Christmas and whenever else he could, to remind her of the good in the world.

But mainly, he ran to the girl who reminded him of why he stayed with the trafficking operation each and every miserable day; to the girl who reminded him of who he was; to the girl who reminded him that it was all worthwhile.

So he ran.

He ran to the girl to set her free.

The night was dark, lit only by the moon and the swirling lights on the police cruisers, but Steve made the leap onto the ship with ease, Danny trailing right behind him. The crew, already subdued and handcuffed by HPD, provided no resistance. And Steve didn't even spare a glance at the men that had worked for him for over a year. Nor did he look up and down the dock to see the exact same scene playing out on the other freighters.

Once inside the hull, the lighting on the freighter was muted and minimal, providing just enough light to see. Steve ran down the stairs as quickly as he could, he feet sure on the steps. One flight down, he stopped and sprinted down the corridor before stopping abruptly outside the door to the Captain's quarters.

His quarters.

Steve reached out and turned at the door handle, but it didn't budge. The door was locked from the inside and he had lost the key on the mountain three long nights ago.

"Sweetie, it's me. Uncle Steve," he called thorough the door to the girl he knew was waiting on the other side. "Please open the door."

Nothing.

Steve exchanged a quick glance with Danny, then tried again, this time speaking in Mandarin.

Still no response.

Steve pulled out his gun. It really wasn't his first choice, but Qīng Lài had been locked in his room long enough. He wasn't going to make her stay in there one second longer.

"Get away from the door, ok?" he called through the door. "I'm going to shoot off the lock and I don't want you to get hurt."

"Don't you just want to kick it down?" Danny mumbled, backing up behind Steve to avoid any potential ricochets.

Steve shook his head. "It's reinforced steel. The only thing I'd do is break my leg." Then he took aim at the door handle and fired.

The handle broke off easily and Steve put his shoulder into the door, muscling through it to the other side.

And there he found Qīng Lài, huddled on the floor in the far corner, crying.

Steve covered the distance separating them in three long strides. He knelt down beside her and gathered her into his arms, hugging her tightly, his cheek resting on the top of her head.

"Shhh… shhh…" he whispered as he cradled and rocked her gently. "It's ok, I'm here. You're safe now."

It killed him to know she had been locked in the room for three days, all alone. He had taught her well—she never came out of the room when he wasn't on board; it was just too dangerous for her to be around the other men. He always left the kitchenette stocked with food so he knew she had not gone hungry and the bathroom was right there, attached to his quarters, so he knew she was able to take care of her needs. But still, she must have been terrified, thinking he was never coming back.

And how he had wanted to come back. The second his memory came back to him and he remembered, he wanted nothing more than to rush down to the dock and save her. But doing so would have risked the entire operation. After 19 months, he had to trust her to hold on for just a few hours more.

And she had.

Qīng Lài's sobs eventually began to die down and Steve pulled away just far enough to wipe the tears off her cheeks. "I told you I'd come back," he told her.

The little girl nodded and sniffed, eliciting a soft smile from Steve. "That's my girl," he said, brushing the hair off her face and planting a fatherly kiss on her forehead.

"Ahmmm," Danny interrupted, clearing his throat. Steve looked over his shoulder, having totally forgotten his partner was even there.

"Do you want some Kleenex or something?" Danny asked, hiking his thumb over his shoulder toward the bathroom.

Steve laughed lightly and wiped his own eyes. "Yeah. Some Kleenex would be great."

Danny stepped into the bathroom, then returned quickly with an entire roll of toilet paper. "I didn't see any," he said with a shrug, offering the roll to Steve.

Steve took it. "This will do fine." He tore off a few squares and wadded them up, using them to dry the little girl's tears. Then he tossed the paper into the trashcan just an arms-reach away, noting it was full of used Kleenex and an empty box. He realized Qīng Lài must have used them all up, crying while he was gone, and the knife in his chest twisted just a bit more.

But he was here now, he reminded himself.

And Qīng Lài was never going to be left alone again.

"Care to introduce me to your friend?" Danny asked, squatting down beside them.

Steve smiled at the girl and tucked some stray strands of hair behind her ear. "Of course. Danny, I'd like you to meet Qīng Lài. My, uh... best girl."

If Danny was surprised by Steve's choice of words, he didn't show it. "It's very nice to meet you, Qīng Lài," he said conversationally and held out his hand.

The girl looked at Steve tentatively and after he nodded, encouraging her, she took Danny's hand and shook it.

Danny grinned. "Qīng Lài is a beautiful name," he continued, obviously at ease in talking to preteen girls. "What does it mean?"

The girl looked at Steve, confused, clearly expecting him to say something.

"Qīng Lài doesn't talk, Danny," he explained. "She never has. At least, not since I've known her."

"Ah." Danny nodded at the realization before he furrowed his brow and looked at Steve. "Then how do you know her name?"

Steve shook his head. "I don't. I asked around to the other girls, but nobody knew who she was. So I named her myself."

"And you picked Qīng Lài," Danny murmured as he looked back at the girl. She smiled shyly at him, her long dark hair and eyes shining.

"Yeah, I did," Steve said softly, looking at the girl, then back at his partner.

"And to answer your question, Danny…" Steve's voice trailed off and he smiled.

"Her name means Grace."

*H50*

It was after midnight before they left.

Danny watched with amusement as Qīng Lài busied herself around the room, gathering her stuffed animal collection together and wordlessly directing Steve to remove the Hello Kitty posters from the walls. He had to hand it to his partner—the entire room was an eleven year-old girl's fantasy. From the animals to the posters to the pink and purple sheets and heart shaped pillows, his partner had done it up right. Nobody who entered this room would ever think it belonged to Steve McGarrett.

Which was only appropriate, Danny supposed. The past 19 months had changed Steve in more ways than one. He had always been good with kids; not only with Grace but with the kids they encountered on the job. They had all been at ease with Steve, even in the midst of some horrific circumstances. But watching him now, Danny could tell Steve was completely wrapped around Qīng Lài's finger. He was going to make a terrific father one day. If not to Qīng Lài, then to some other lucky little child.

Once all her possessions had been gathered and placed into the trunk of the Camaro, Steve had climbed into the back seat and settled Qīng Lài in his arms. She was asleep before they even drove out of the marina.

Danny glanced at Steve through rear view mirror. His partner was still holding the little girl, looking down at her with a bittersweet look on his face.

"What are you going to do with her?" Danny asked gently.

"Take her back to China," Steve replied, not bothering to look up. "She has a family there. I'm sure they've missed her. I know she's missed them."

"Do you mind if I ask why you didn't do that before?" His tone was curious, not accusing.

"I didn't know where she was from," Steve replied. "She was taken before I jumped onto the ship. I asked her but she wouldn't talk and none of the other girls knew her. I tried to get her to point to her hometown on a map, but she just shook her head. She didn't know. She was so young when she was taken; it's really not a surprise. And rural areas of China don't exactly have the best educational systems, either."

"So how do you know where to take her now?" Danny looked in the rearview mirror again, trying to catch his partner's eyes.

It worked; Steve looked up. "I found her file in Zhào's house. He kept all the records there- files on the girls, files on his contacts, smuggling routes, you name it. It was the only place he kept copies."

"Seems kind of stupid to keep documents like that," Danny remarked. "They're fairly incriminating."

Steve shrugged. "I guess Zhào had utmost confidence that he wouldn't be discovered. His men were loyal and his place was secluded. The only way anyone was going to find him was from the inside."

Danny smiled sadly. "Then I'm glad you stayed."

Steve held Danny's gaze in the mirror for a moment, then he dropped his eyes back down. "Yeah. Me, too."

Danny was silent for a minute as the detective gears turned in his head. Then he realized something.

"Hey Steve?"

"Hmm?"

"When we got to Zhào's, you were cleaning up in the shower. And then the captains began to arrive. When did you have time to look through his records?"

Steve didn't look up.

"Unless…" Danny continued, piecing the story together as he talk out loud. "You didn't look at them tonight." He cocked his head to the side. "Is that where you were three nights ago when lost your memory? You were at Zhào's looking for Qīng Lài's records?"

Steve still didn't meet Danny's eyes but after a moment, he nodded.

Danny sighed. So that was how Steve got hurt and lost his memory- putting his life on the line to try and find out information about a little girl. Although, glancing at her asleep in Steve's arms, Danny realized Qīng Lài had transformed from "a" little girl to "Steve's" little girl a long time ago.

And seeing her there, sleeping peacefully after all she had been through, was both heart-warming and depressing at the same time. Because Qīng Lài had been saved. But the other girls—the hundreds of other girls, just like her, just like his Grace—had not been so lucky.

"It kind of makes you wish you could take them all back to their homes, doesn't it?" Danny asked wistfully. "Do you think there's enough information in Zhào's records for us to find them all?"

In the backseat, Steve startled and looked up, confused, his brow furrowed. "Didn't I tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Danny asked.

"I've already returned them."

It was Danny's turn to be confused. "What?"

"I returned them," Steve repeated.

"All of them?" Danny asked incredulously.

Steve nodded.

"How?"

Steve grinned. "That's the best part. Sang Min helped me."

"Sang Min?" Danny replied, surprised. "The disco weasel? Why would he help you?"

"He needed the money. He's been out of the smuggling business since he's been in hiding. All of his boats and most of his people were idle and it irks him to be low on business ventures." Steve paused and shrugged. "So I made him an offer. He would meet me at the docks when a shipment came in and then he used his resources and know-how to return the girls to their homes. As it turns out, smuggling people into Asia isn't all that different than smuggling them out."

Danny shook his head. "You must have paid him well."

"I did," Steve said, nodding. "I paid him really well. It was a dream come true for him: borderline legit and highly profitable with a side of danger and slime."

Danny grinned. "Do I even want to know where you got the money? I mean, do I need to call HPD and tell them to go count the money in the evidence locker again?"

Steve grinned back. "Nah, it's all there. I gave him my take of the profits plus a little more I won playing poker."

Danny whistled, long and low. "Your job must have paid really well."

Steve smirked. "I might have been employee of the month a few times."

Danny chuckled. "I bet you were. But what about the girls that came in on the other ships?"

"I paid Sang Min to return them as well," Steve replied. "He originally had to buy the girls from the middle men on the island, but then he slowly earned the trust of the captains and convinced them to sell directly to him instead. My payment to him was just a flat fee for getting the girls back to their homes so by cutting out a layer, the operation became a lot more profitable for him."

Danny shook his head, taking it all in. "Heaven help us if that man ever goes legit for good. He could give Kamekona a run for his money."

"Lucky for us, Sang Min doesn't cook. And don't ask me how I know that," Steve added on quickly.

Danny grinned. "Ok, so answer me this—if Sang Min knew all the boat captain's names, why didn't you just get them from him and hand them over to us? We could have shut them down."

"Sang Min doesn't just 'give' things away, Danny. Everything has a price. But I did buy their names," Steve explained. "However, I'd never met most of them or Zhào. I actually didn't even know his name or where he lived until a week ago. Zhào was smart; he staggered our runs so we'd never have more than two ships in port at the same time. And before tonight, we'd never even been all together in one place."

"And you couldn't just hand the names over to us because when we busted the captains, Zhào would have realized we were on to him and he would have disappeared for a while, only to start over with new captains somewhere else," Danny concluded. "Not to mention, he might have figured it out and killed you."

Steve nodded. "Exactly."

"So Zhào never caught on?"

Steve shook his head. "No. The girls were delivered and he got paid. He really didn't care what happened to them after that." He shrugged. "But I did."

Yes, you did, Danny reflected as he looked McGarrett at in the mirror. As a father, he couldn't even begin to imagine how a person could be so callous as to exploit children for profit. The little girl sleeping in Steve's lap wasn't but a year or two younger than Grace. If he had been in Steve's position, he didn't know if he'd have been able to handle it. All of the plotting, all of the waiting, all the duplicity and constant vigilance… for 19 months. And all the while, having a young girl to protect as well. It would have taken a toll on anyone.

No wonder Steve looked exhausted as he sat in the backseat, mindlessly stroking the girl's hair as he stared out the window. Danny almost hated to break the peaceful silence, knowing his partner deserved some rest, but he had a question.

"So how are you going to get Qīng Lài back to her family?" he asked quietly, trying his best not to disturb the sleeping girl. "She doesn't have a passport."

"I'm going to contact to the Chinese consulate to see if I can get one expedited for her," Steve answered. "I was hoping the Governor might be willing to make a call and help speed the process up."

Danny snorted. "Don't hold your breath. I don't think you're on the Governor's Christmas card list anymore."

"Probably not. But I know you probably aren't, either." Steve looked up and this time it was Danny who avoided eye contact. "I know you're been avoiding him and dodging his calls so I could stay on the case."

Danny shrugged and looked out the side window. "It was no big deal."

"Well, it was to me," Steve said sincerely. "Thank you."

Danny hesitated for a moment before meeting Steve's eyes in the mirror. "It was the right thing to do. And who knows? Maybe tonight's bust will buy both of us some goodwill."

"As long as you keep your job and I get a passport, I'll be happy."

Danny smiled sadly before his face turned serious. "Just make sure you come home this time, ok?"

Steve briefly returned his somber smile. "I can't make any promises, D. But I'll do my best."

To be continued…