CHAPTER FORTY

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: March 5, 2013

A/N: Thank you all so much for all the reviews and private messages! I had received several p/ms from readers wanting to see some serious Sam and Steve issues and even got a couple of suggestions along the lines of what's currently going on in the story right now. Hopefully, I am doing justice to those suggestions. If not, please p/m me and let me know. You guys are simply amazing and I love each and every one of you. BTW, the Caroline and Danny storyline isn't done yet, so please be patient. Thanks! Michelle

(Libby is somewhat surprised to find that Sam has not yet arrived when she comes back downstairs carrying a sleepy, but clean and sweet-smelling Emily. Glancing at the clock, Libby sendsa worried look in her husband's direction. Mike, more than a little concerned about their daughter's absence himself, reaches for his cellular phone just as it starts to ring. His frown only deepens when he sees his son-in-law's name and number pop up on the caller I.D. Mike has no idea of what to say to Steve but he doesn't have to worry because Steve launches into rapid-fire questions before Mike can say a word.)

"Do you think Sam will talk to me, Mike, or is she still totally and completely pissed at me? Not that I blame her; she has every right to be pissed at me, but . . . Damn! Will it help if I come over there, get down on my knees, and beg her to forgive me?"

"Steve, Son, Sam's not here."

"She's not there?"

"No, Son, Sam hasn't been here."

"She hasn't . . . Oh, my God, Mike, you don't think she's been in an accident, do you?"

"No, Steve, I don't and, if you were thinking clearly, neither would you. Don't you think H.P.D. would have notified you if your wife had been involved in an accident?"

(And Steve, feeling extremely sheepish and, to be honest, pretty damned stupid at the moment, takes a deep breath, counts to ten, and finally gets his head out of his six and starts acting like the responsible and capable adult his is.)

"I'm so, so sorry Mike; I've been behaving like an idiot."

"Glad you finally realized that, Son; although, my daughter is about the only person I can think of that could cause you to act that way. Of course, Sam's been behaving pretty idiotically herself. Now, Sam isn't there and she isn't here. Let's just slow down a minute and think about this logically and rationally, shall we?"

"Yeah, okay."

"First thing I want you to do, Steve, is explain to me exactly why you thought you needed to treat Sam like a suspect in one of Five-0's interrogation rooms."

(There is silence on the other end of the call and Mike isn't certain Steve knows the answer to that question himself. Finally, Steve's voice comes across the phone line but he sounds extremely remorseful and slightly defeated.)

"I'm not really sure, Mike. With the accident and everything that went on with Caroline and the baby and then what Sam put herself through emotionally in order to bring Caroline back from wherever it was she went mentally, I just . . . Damn it!"

(Another long silence stretches between the two men while Steve is mentally beating himself over the head and Mike is letting the younger man figure out for himself what Mike already knows; that Sam and Steve are so in tune with one another, that they are so in love with one another, that they are each other's perfect match in every possible way that, just as they love so fiercely, so will they fight fiercely. When one of them is extremely upset about something and the other doesn't know what that something is, they each come close to sheer insanity in their need to find out what that something is and eliminate it from the other's life as quickly as possible. This time, the thing that has come between them is something that isn't going away quickly and they have temporarily "lost" their ability to know what the other is thinking and how the other is truly feeling, and this "disconnect" is driving both of them over the edge and making them both act completely out of character. Sighing heavily, Mike tries gently nudging his son-in-law in the right direction and speaks very quietly.)

"You can't help her this way, Son, and you can't help yourself, either."

"I know that, Mike. I just went a little . . Crazy after I talked with Capt. Stewart earlier. The more we talked, the more I thought about the fact that Sam had shared very little with me about her biological parents, and . . How can you love someone if you don't share everything with them, Mike? How can you not be honest with them about every aspect of your life? How can you lie to them? I thought I knew Sam, but . . ."

"Steve, I'm fairly certain that you know Sam better than Libby and I will ever know her, and we've known her a lot longer than you have, and I don't, for one second, believe Sam has ever lied to you. You don't really believe that, either. She isn't capable of lying to you, Son, she loves you too much."

"Then why won't she tell me what happened when the Murdock's died that has her so upset it's nearly paralyzed her?"

"Maybe she can't. Maybe whatever it is scares her so badly that she can't talk about it."

"Sam's never been scared of anything in her life."

"That we know of . . Steve, neither you, nor me, nor Libby knows what happened when Anne and Jonathan died, not really, and we don't know what happened in the days leading up to the accident."

"What are you getting at, Mike?"

"I'm not sure myself, Steve, but I want to talk to Capt., Stewart again as soon as possible. Maybe he can get Sam to tell him what she won't tell us."

"Yeah, Mike, maybe, but, right now, I just want to find Sam and tell her I'm sorry, tell her I love her, and beg her to forgive me."