MAMA, I'M COMIN' HOME

Steve's adrenaline had obviously kicked into high gear, as he was practically dragging Sam out the back door. They didn't stop until they rounded the corner of the fence separating the two yards. Steve pulled Sam around to face him. Sam, flushed and slightly out of breath from the hasty retreat and her own rush of adrenaline, looked at a stunned Steve and started laughing as he placed the tool box on the ground.

"What?" Steve asked.

"What?" Sam retorted. "What the hell just happened?" Her giggling fit continued. Despite all the years that had passed, it felt completely normal to be standing there in her yard with Steve, laughing at what had just transpired, like they were ten years old again, having just gotten away with one of their infamous pranks. Lost in the revelry of the moment, his next question knocked her completely off guard.

"So, Red, whaddaya say?" Steve's eyes were full of mischief.

"To what?"

"The job offer," Sam stilled at Steve's words. Job offer? What job offer, she thought. Steve took another half step into her personal space. At the look of confusion in her eyes, Steve explained. "The offer I just made you in the garage."

"That was a job offer?" she asked incredulously.

"Well, I mean, if you need it in writing…" he answered. Sam stared at Steve for a long moment, trying to process what he was saying. Steve chuckled at Sam as she kept opening and closing her mouth, at a loss for words. "Earth to Sam."

"Not writing," Sam said, snapping out of her trance and running her free hand through her hair. "But in plain English would be great because I am seriously confused at the moment as to what just happened. Did you…did you just quit…" Realization quickly hit Sam as she replayed the exchange in her head. She grabbed the front of Steve's shirt with her free hand. "Oh my God," she laughed at the thought. "Did you just quit the Navy?"

Steve laughed with her. "Well, you don't actually quit the Navy, but for all intents and purposes….yeah, I guess I did just kinda quit the Navy." They just stared at each other for a brief moment before another fit of laughter overtook them. This was totally insane, they both thought.

Coming down from the silly high, Steve shrugged and continued. "I'm going to transfer to the reserves and run the Governor's new task force. Jameson had me, well, delivered, to the Arizona when I landed this morning," Steve paused, realizing how little time he had been back in Oahu and how much had happened. In less than twelve hours, he'd buried his father, agreed to a new job and was standing inches from Sam for the first time in years. He found it difficult to breathe for a moment. Not only because of the enormity of what had happened in such a brief amount of time but because of where he was in this moment in time. He was in a place he never thought he would be again. Here he was, on their beach, holding her hand and staring into those stormy eyes that had haunted him all these years. Steve took a deep breath, trying to steady himself before continuing his explanation.

"Jameson wants this task force created to help combat crime on the island. I'm not stupid and I told her as much. She's looking for PR points, votes, whatever. Did using Dad's death as emotional blackmail piss me off, sure. But, she is offering full immunity and means to take Hesse and guys like him off the streets for good." Steve's excitement was beginning to grow at the possibility. The possibility to do it with Sam was even more enticing. "We can make a serious difference around here. Things have gotten have really bad, between the Yakuza and rival gangs, drug, weapon and human trafficking has significantly increase. We need to take back our island. We can do this."

Sam looked up at him questioningly. "We?"

Steve smiled. "Yeah, Red. We."

Confused and unsure of what to say, all Sam could do was stare up into Steve's eyes, hoping an answer would materialize. He wants her on the task force? But…why? Her mind raced at the possibilities that opened up. A chance to come home, to be with Mae, to maybe – just maybe – explore the future she was supposed to have with Steve. But then, thoughts of her past, of Hesse, of what she had been through and things she had done were invading those happy possibilities, chewing away at the frame of her thoughts like maggots. Within the span of seconds, hope and joy were quickly replaced with anxiety and fear. She felt torn and unsure, feelings she had learned long ago to lock away and here they were, wreaking havoc on her present.

Steve gave her a quizzical look, noting the change in her face. He was a skilled interrogator, able to read suspects and witnesses quickly and efficiently and rarely was he wrong. But now that the one person – the first person, actually – that he could read like a book was standing in front of him and he was struggling to figure out what was going on in those grey blue eyes he had missed so much. He squeezed the hand he was still holding and brushed a tendril of hair behind her ear, causing another moment of intimacy that caught them slightly off guard. "Sam?" he prodded, his voice barely above a whisper. "What's going on in that head of yours?" The fingers that trailed down from her temple to her jawline sent a shudder down Sam's spine. "Hey. Talk to me," he said.

Sam took a deep breath, still unsure of what was transpiring. They were so close. The physical proximity was making her stupid, she thought. She took a moment to make sure that what was coming out of her mouth was going through her brain-to-mouth filter so as to not embarrass herself any further.

"So that we're clear, you're leaving active duty to run a task force that will, as it's first order of business, take down Victor Hesse, after such time you will then remain here, in Hawaii, and become a cop? Am I following so far?"

Steve shrugged. "Basically. I guess. Jameson and I haven't worked out the details. But I think, essentially, yes. That is exactly what's going to happen."

"And you want me to join the task force with you? As what, your partner?" Sam queried, feeling like an idiot for not grasping what she was sure was a very simple concept, now if only her brain would catch on.

Steve took a half step towards her, staring down intently into her eyes. The moment, once again, became incredibly intimate. He leaned in so close, the tips of their noses touched. In a husky near whisper, he made one gentle demand, "Say yes."

"Yes," Sam whispered breathlessly, without hesitation, before she really knew what she was doing. Their hands still entwined, the closeness of their bodies, their lips, all it would take was just moving a fraction of an inch…

At that moment, Sam heard the French doors slam shut and heard Mae call out. "So…what have you two been up to?" she asked.

Steve winked at Sam before leaning down to pick up the toolbox. He looked up and smiled at Mae before he put his lips against Sam's ear, whispering as they finished crossing the yard. "I am so getting brownie points with Aunt Mae for bringing her girl home."

Sam just looked up at him and laughed. He would, she thought. Mae would be thrilled to have her back here full time. Lagging slightly behind Steve, Sam's mind was buzzing. Wait, what was she doing? What had just happened? This was insane. She couldn't just drop everything and move back to Hawaii, could she? No. She had a house in LA, a spot on one of the most coveted tactical teams in the world in SWAT, she had a life there. Kind of. She couldn't just chuck all the hard work of the past five years out the window and come home to play cops and robbers with the likes of Steven MacGarrett. No, she couldn't.

Or could she?

The flood of contradictions in her mind had Sam reeling. In less than 30 minutes, her life had been flipped on it's ear. It wasn't the first time that had happened, and she was pretty sure it wouldn't be the last. Especially with Steve MacGarrett around, she thought, smiling.

As they reached the lanai, Sam looked up and saw her Aunt Mae. She really saw Aunt Mae and the smile on her face faded. She took in the puffy, red eyes Mae tried to hide for their sakes. How frail she suddenly seemed. Sam had always looked at Mae like she could walk on water. She was the embodiment of a superhero to 12 year old Sam for dropping everything and rushing to her side when her parents died, making sure she didn't end up in foster care or worse. No matter how many years passed, Mae's strength and vitality and passion were what Sam used to inspire her own strength. There were moments where she was convinced it saved her life. Now, as she stood just several feet away from the woman she idolized and loved more than anything in the world, Sam saw the time, the pain, the heartache that she missed while spending all these years chasing bad guys all over the world. Sam's body was covered in scars from being stabbed, shot, beaten. But she realized in that moment, Mae was the one who had the worst scars. She had the emotional scars of sitting in Hawaii, waiting for the phone to ring. Waiting for the call that Sam had taken one too many hits. The call that started with 'we are sorry to inform you'. The ton of bricks that hit Sam in that moment nearly brought her to her knees, like Mae's words had done just a few days ago, except then, there was an ocean between them. Now, it was only several steps and she couldn't believe how she had missed it. It broke her heart. And in that instant, she knew she had her answer.

Sam most definitely could leave LA behind and come home. If for no other reason than the fact that after all the years of caring for, supporting and consoling Sam, Mae deserved that and so much more. Sam could do this for Mae. No matter what happened with Steve, or the task force, or anything else, for the first time in years, Sam took the time to really look at Mae and see that Mae needed Sam. The onslaught of fears, questions and concerns just disappeared. Sam was saying yes, for Mae.

Mae looked from one to the other, noticing their hands were clenched together. She asked again, "Seriously, tell me what you guys have been up to?" She looked from one to the other before putting her hand up to stop Steve when he opened his mouth. "Wait. No, never mind. Scratch that, I think it's better if I don't know considering I just watched you two come around the back fence and you're holding your father's toolbox in your hand. One that was in his garage the other day. I can't get my hands on that much bail money right now."

Giving her one of his wicked grins, Steve said, "Well, it is my crime scene now, so, I can do with the evidence as I see fit."

"Your crime scene?" Mae asked, an eyebrow raised. Grin still firmly in place, Steve went on to explain what had just transpired, including the job offer to Sam.

Mae turned and looked down at Sam seeking confirmation of what she just heard. "You're coming home?" she asked, voice breaking in joy, as she cupped Sam's face in her hands. Sam's eyes started to well up with tears and it was all she could do to hold them back, so she simply nodded. Mae cried out in joy and looked up appreciatively at Steve and wrapped her arms around both of them. This was the best possible news for Mae after everything that had happened over the previous few days. She started rattling off questions not seeing the look on Sam's face. But Steve did.

"Ok, so you're going to have to sell the house, get all the cars shipped because I know selling them is out of the question. So, logistics is the first thing we'll tackle. Obviously, you'll stay here until you find a place, unless you want the house and then I can buy a condo or something. Red! Oh, we have to make sure we can get a crate big enough for that beast. And Glenn. Oh, he is going to be so disappointed to be losing you but secretly thrilled that he doesn't have to deal with the Javi fallout. How soon do you need her to start, Steve? I could probably just go ahead and go to LA without you and get everything figured out. Ohh, except for your stash. That I want no part in. You're on your own on that one."

As Mae rambled and more and more fell out of her mouth – Javi, for one thing – Sam felt her face catch fire. She attempted to interrupt but Mae was off in her own little world, for she had found something she could make sense of and take control of.

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa! Mae, take a freaking breath!" Sam said loudly but with a little bit of a laugh underneath of it. Running her free hand down Mae's arm, Sam tried to slow Steamroller Mae down. "Mae. First of all, yes, I will stay here but it will only be temporary. This has been your home for over twenty years. Now, if you want a condo, then do what you want. I'm not kicking you out and taking over. Let's just take this one step at a time. As for Glenn and SWAT," she turned to Steve. "I owe it to them to go back and tell them, in person, that I'm leaving. They've given me a home, a team, a family, for the past three years and I really need to look Glenn in the eyes when I tell him I'm leaving."

Steve respected that. "That's not a problem. We'll work it out."

Mae pulled them into another embrace and kissed each of them on the cheek, followed by a wink. "I'm going to give you two some time to talk. If you need me, I'm going to throw dinner together while I start making lists," Mae said, making her way into the house.

"I thought we were going to go out," Sam reminded.

Ignoring Sam's reminder, Mae looked back at Steve. "Steven, I'm making my lasagna, so I hope you brought your appetite."

"Your lasagna? How could I possibly pass that up? My mouth's watering already!" Steve said to Mae, waiting for her to close the doors behind her before turning to look at Sam.

If Sam would admit it to herself, that stare was making her more than slightly nervous. The air suddenly felt thick and heavy. Unsure of what to say, where to start, Sam struggled to form a coherent sentence. Steve patiently stood there waiting for her to figure out what she wanted to say.

Feeling like she couldn't catch her breath, without a word, Sam finally released Steve's right hand with a small squeeze and walked past him, heading towards the to the beach. As she sat down, she felt Steve walk up beside her. After a moment, he sat down next to her in the sand, leaning into her shoulder. Sam sighed. Despite the ocean in front of her and the man beside her, she felt ill at ease in a moment that should have had her more content than she had been in a long time. Steve could feel the tension rolling off of her. Concerned, he wrapped his arm around her, rubbing her back. He put his lips against her ear and whispering, "You okay? I could have sworn I detected a little freak out moment back there while Mae was rattling off her list."

Sam huffed out the breath she had been holding. There it is again. He could still read her like a book. That scared her. It had been so long, so many years, there was no way they should be that in tune with each other. Yet, she couldn't deny that so far, he had been spot on. Sam involuntarily touched her thigh, the scar from Hesse's bullet still prominent. It had hurt like a bitch, she remembered. Well, she thought, all three hurt like a bitch.

Hesse. This was all happening because of Hesse. Finding and capturing him meant he spent the rest of his miserable life in prison. But that wasn't where he belonged. She wanted him sent straight to Hell.

And one way or another, she would make sure he was.

The only other question was…

Then what?

"I can't do it," she started.

"Do what?" he asked suspiciously, fearful that she had changed her mind just as quickly as she had made her earlier decision. Sam took a steadying breath and turned to face Steve.

"I can't slap a pair of cuffs on Hesse and just watch him sit in a jail cell while some fancy lawyer tap dances around a bunch of technicalities and his minions pull bail money together. I can't watch him get out and disappear. I can't do that. Not again."

He remained silent, his face blank, impassive. It unnerved her. He had to have known. She knew. She knew Steve had been chasing Hesse all over the place, practically since her mission failed. He had to have known that the reason the Hesse brothers had fallen into his lap was because the CIA straight up fucked up and lost multiple covert operatives in an attempt to take the brothers down for good. Steve had to have read the file and even though much would have been redacted, Sam couldn't imagine that her name had been. By that point, she was done. She was damaged goods – badly damaged – and the CIA had washed their hands of her.

"Say something," she whispered. He barely heard her above the surf, but he never broke eye contact. He knew this was hard for her. He also knew he had to protect her. By any means necessary.

"Who's Javi?"

She blinked. "What?"

"Who's Javi?" Steve repeated. The question was twofold – it would distract her and it would satisfy his curiosity about who this joker was.

"That's what you have to say after I basically tell you that I'll put a bullet in a suspect's skull instead of handcuffs? What is wrong with you?" With a look of disgust on her face, Sam stood up and tried to walk away, but Steve was fast and he was on his feet before she could more than two steps away from him. He grabbed her left elbow and whipped her around to look at him, their bodies unintentionally slamming into each other.

"What do you want me to say, Sam? I want to put a bullet in his skull, too," he said, staring intently down into her eyes. It was his next statement that both confirmed and shocked her. "And not just for my dad. For you, too." The last three words were strangled as they left his lips and she knew in that moment that he knew most, if not all, of what happened to her. Or at least as much as she had been able to remember. Sam started to chew the side of her mouth, illiciting both a smile and a head shake from Steve, who tried to pull her lip out from her between her teeth with his thumb.

"You know." A simple statement. Steve nodded. Sam broke eye contact and looked out past Steve's left arm at the ocean behind him. There it is, she thought. So, he's read the file. Well, he's read the agency's file. He hasn't read mine, she thought. Lost in her thoughts and nightmarish memories, Sam didn't realize until it had happened that Steve had wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him, clutching her close to his chest. She could feel his heart beat as she laid her head against him. Sam felt a protective calm wash over her as she settled into the embrace. God, it felt so good, so right. Then the warning bells started going off in her head. She couldn't get used to this. They were going to be working together.

He was her boss.

What the hell has she just gotten herself into? No, scratch that.

What the hell has she just gotten her heart into?

"So?"

"So what?"

"Who. Is. Javi." Steve wanted that answer. Sam chuckled.

"Okay," Sam said, pulling her head up off his chest, looking up at him. "In the order Mae's rapid fire questions came at me, here we go. I have a great house I fell in love with when I moved to LA and I've lived there for five years, accumulating five year's worth of crap which includes my bike – a Ninja – and my three cars Black Betty, Eleanor and Captain. Betty's a souped up Jeep, Eleanor is my '67 Shelby GT that I restored my first year in LA and Captain is my brand new Charger. Red is my 4 year old red nosed pitbull I rescued during a sting operation into a dogfighting ring who will slobber you to death. Glenn Wicks is my commanding officer on SWAT and he and his wife took me in when I moved to LA. I wasn't even on SWAT yet but knew a couple of guys who were. Glenn and Janie made me a member of the family. Javi…well, Javi is…er, was…well, has been, a…distraction, shall we say, for the past six months or so. Unfortunately, he is also SWAT, Mae doesn't approve and Glenn really wants to kick my ass over the fact that the fallout is going to be miserable once I dump him. Did I leave anything out?" Sam's rambling speech comes to an end and she automatically starts chewing on her bottom lip once again.

"Yeah, you left out one thing," he responded. Sam tilted her head to the side, trying to think about she missed and also dreading if the next question had to do with Javi. "Your stash?"

Sam smiled. "Uh, yeah, my stash. That would be my personal version of a SCIFF slash armory. Old habits die hard, I guess." She didn't see any reason to share with him the contents of said SCIFF, though she was pretty sure he would read between the lines.

Steve nodded. "Enough to arm a small militia, basically?"

Sam tensed at the word. If he only knew, she thought. Instead she simply chuckled good naturedly and nodded. "Yeah, basically." Once again, she stared off. Steve studied her for a moment, wondering what to ask her next. He had so many questions. Before he could pinpoint where to start, Sam spoke. "We can't do this alone."

Steve furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," she responded. "We're gonna need some help. That should be our first order of business." Steve nodded, knowing she was right. Two people does not a task force make.

"You have any suggestions?"

"Maybe," she responded with a smile. "One or two. While lasagna's under construction, let's take a ride."

"Where?" Steve asked curiously.

Sam just gave him her own wicked little grin.

The look on Steve's face said it all.

He knew she was going to be trouble.

And he was going to enjoy it.