CHAPTER THREE
Title: "Salvation: Forever and Always: Elusive Dreams – PART III"
Author: Michelle Heath
Rating: MA for adult situations and language
Summary: Story #9 in the Salvation series. The bonds of family bring the Five-0 ohana even closer.
Disclaimer: I so do not own Hawaii Five-0; unfortunately! All original characters are the property of the author!
Date Written: October 27, 2012
"You ha. . . Huh?"
"We hated each other on sight; couldn't stand each other. Actually, that's not quite true."
"Are you going to explain, Beautiful?"
"Both of us had just turned twelve and we'd both just been, in our opinions, uprooted from our homes, our friends, our schools, and moved to Virginia all without anyone asking us what we thought about the matter."
"So you were both hated the circumstances; not necessarily each other."
"Yeah, Steve, but we were twelve; Caroline and I were both mad as Hell that we hadn't been given any choice in the matter and we were both determined to hate Virginia and anyone we met there. I even went so far as to tell my mother that I hated the Navy."
(And, in one of the truly rare moments of normalcy they've had since Caroline's accident, Steve smirks at Sam and sends her a disbelieving look.)
"You? Hate the Navy? Really?"
"Once again, Steve, I was twelve years old. Of course I didn't hate the Navy, but I didn't realize it at the time. The way I saw it, the Navy was the reason that life as I had known it had come to an end. . . I didn't know that the Navy would be the reason I met the love of my life."
"Yeah, I'm glad you really didn't hate the Navy, too, Sam. . So, if you and Caroline thought you hated each other, how'd you get past it?"
"Well, our mother's were always hanging out together so the two of us didn't have much choice except to hang out together, too. Our houses weren't that far apart and neither of us knew anyone else our age at school, so we just started doing stuff together. Before long, we were inseparable. We decided that, since we were both only children and new to the area, we should look out for each other at school. We did homework together, and, well, before we realized it, we were BFF's. As it turned out, we both had a natural aptitude for mathematics and a mutual interest in aeronautics, so, out sophomore year of high school, we told our parents we wanted to go to the Naval Academy and major in Aeronautical Engineering and eventually fly fighter jets for the U.S. Navy."
(A spontaneous giggle, the first one in a long time, bursts forth from Sam and Steve experiences just the slightest moment of relief before she goes on.)
"You should have seen our parents' faces the night we told them what we wanted to do. Our mothers were beaming from ear to ear and acting all proud, but our fathers were. . . Well, let's just say they both had to sit down and take a few deep breaths."
"Because, being SEALs, they both knew how dangerous flying fighters could be."
"Yep, but after they got over the initial shock, they were both on board with it and helped us secure our letters of appointment for the Academy. . . We were in the middle of our first year when my parents were killed. I don't know what I would have done without Caroline then. Before the funeral and afterwards, after we went back to the Academy, she never left me; not once. She was there for me in the wee hours when I'd have a nightmare and, some nights, neither one of us slept at all, but she never left me."
(Steve sees the tears pooling in Sam's eyes and he holds her a little closer.)
"Sam. ."
"I feel like I've left her, Steve. I feel like I'm not doing anything to help my sister the way she helped me. I feel like I'm letting her down and I can't stand it any longer! What time is it?"
"0543."
"I'm calling a family meeting. Call Danny and my folks, please, while I check on Emily. Ask them to head over here as soon as they can."
"Sam, it's 0543 hours and none of us have been getting much sleep lately. Don't you think we should wait a little while?"
"Nope. We've waited too long as it is. Call. Now!"
(And so saying, Sam is out of the bed and heads into the nursery to check on Emily. The sight of her precious baby girl sleeping peacefully sends a warm rush of love through Sam and convinces her that what she has on her mind is the right thing to do. . .
Mike grabs his cellular phone as soon as it starts ringing and glances at the clock as he does. Frowning, he checks the caller I.D. and tenses a little he sees Steve's number pop up. Quickly getting out of bed and heading rapidly for the hallway so as not to wake Libby, he answers the call.)
"Something wrong, Son?"
"No, but Sam's calling a family meeting."
"Now?"
"Yeah."
"Do you two know what time it is, Steve?"
"Yeah, Mike, I do, but Sam's got something on her mind and she thinks it's important enough to get everyone over here at this early hour."
(A moment of silence meets Steve's words and then Mike's voice, clear and alert, comes through.)
"All right, Son, if Sam thinks we need to have a family meeting right now, we'll have a family meeting. Have you called Danny, yet?"
"He's my next call."
"I'll do it and Libby and I will go by and pick him up. We'll be there in . . . Thirty minutes."
(Ending the call and tossing his cellular phone on his bedside table, Steve heads into the nursery.)
"Your folks are going to go by and pick Danny up and they'll be in about half an hour."
"Good."
"You wanna let me in on what's going on in that beautiful head of yours, Sam?"
"Yeah, I want my sister back and I'm going to get her back; one way or the other."