Chapter 12: The Truth About Max

McGarrett House

That night Steve sat in the kitchen as he went through the things in his dad's old toolbox. He was able to figure out that it was evidence, but of what? He replayed the last conversation between him and his dad, trying to think if the older McGarrett had coded anybody's name (like he did with "champ"). There had to be someone who knew what everything, or at least something, was in the box. If Steve could only find them and ask them how all the items were connected. He was left with a medal, a postcard with dancing stick figures, and a tape recorder. He knew there was a tape in the small electronic, he just hadn't had time to listen to it in its entirety.

Steve looked up at a clock that had been hung on the wall since he was a kid; it was half past seven and Ali was coming in thirty minutes. Steve put everything in the toolbox, stood up and went upstairs to change from his work clothes.

As he changed from his work clothes into a dress shirt and jeans he thought of the case the team was working on; in Katia Maksasinskya's hotel room Danny had found a photo of the victim and a man… evidence of a boyfriend. Tomorrow the team would find that man and determine whether he was apart of this entire conspiracy.

There was one other detail that bothered Steve. Ali mentioned her cover had been blown, but she still managed to throw Francois in a holding cell. How did Francois manage to escape, find Ali (whom the CIA made sure was protected from people like Francois) and sneak into the United States? He couldn't have done all of that by himself; even bribing someone wasn't a possibility for Francois because the terrorist's assets would have been frozen as soon as someone realized he escaped. Someone else had to be behind this. This person had to have helped Francois break out of prison, funded Francois's getaway and even hired the Russian mercenary that was after Ali.

An incessant beeping noise made itself audible just as Steve stepped out of his room. He felt like kicking himself when he realized that it was the stove. He had forgotten he put lasagna in the oven before he started going through the evidence in the toolbox. He cursed under his breath and bolted to the kitchen. Luckily there wasn't any smoke surrounding the oven which Steve took as a good sign. He carefully brought the lasagna out, set it on the table and was relieved when he saw that it wasn't too burned.

Just then, the doorbell rang making him smile. His guest, possible date, had finally arrived.

"Just a second," he shouted as he quickly grabbed two beers out of the fridge and placed them next to the main course.

Steve ran to the front door, opened it and was shocked to see Danny standing in his doorway holding a small envelope.

"What are you doing here?" Steve asked as he surveyed the street behind Danny.

"That's how you greet guests?" Danny retorted back, his eyes wide at his partner's uneasiness.

"You didn't answer my question," Steve pointed out.

"Well you didn't answer mine," Danny shot back.

"No, that isn't how I greet guests," Steve answered grudgingly as the Danny's face contorted into an unusual expression. "Are you okay?"

"What is that scent?" he questioned.

"Lasagna," Steve answered.

"That is what real food is, babe," Danny remarked.

Steve was becoming a little anxious. Danny had shown up unexpectedly and Ali was due to come at any moment. The leader of the task force didn't know how Ali felt about their kiss, or if she had even told anyone. Danny already suspected that something was going on between Steve and Ali; he asked Steve about it on the way to Katia's hotel room.

"Listen, I'm expecting company," Steve informed as Danny walked in, closing the door behind himself.

"Calm down," he assured. "I'm not here for a friendly visit – which I don't know how someone does consider you friendly- I'm here because someone left this at HQ for you."

Danny handed the envelope he brought along with him to the apprehensive man. Steve was able to see that his name was written in neat cursive on the front of it; it was, however, unfamiliar handwriting.

"Who left it for me?" Steve asked.

"I would imagine a human being left it, Steven," Danny replied in a sarcastic tone.

"Someone came in to HQ and you didn't see them leave this on my desk?"

"No, someone came in to HQ and Chin dealt with it while I was in the bathroom," Danny explained. "Why are you so angry?"

Steve tried to relax, but the look on his face must have given him away.

"Company my butt! There's a woman coming here!"

"That's excellent detective work," Steve reiterated one of the first things Danny said to him when they met.

The doorbell rang again and Steve felt like strangling Danny. How would Ali feel if she saw the Jersey native? She would think Steve wasn't being discreet about whatever was happening between them.

He sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to avoid Danny from seeing his guest. He opened the door for the second time in five minutes and saw Ali standing in his doorway with a smile on her face. He tried controlling his grin, but he was pretty sure he looked like a complete idiot. He couldn't help himself, though, even with Danny standing a few feet behind him; Ali looked very pretty. She was wearing shorts and a red shirt that wasn't too low cut, but not exactly covering her chest either.

"Hi," he said, letting her in, but not closing the door

"Hey," she greeted, her eyes immediately falling on Danny.

"Ali is the woman who is coming over?" Danny asked in disbelief.

"I told you I was having company," Steve snapped back.

"Hi Danny," Ali greeted slowly with a confused look on her face.

"You two are dating?"Danny asked Ali, making her cheeks turn pink.

Steve knew it was time for him to say something, so he cleared his throat and nodded towards the street.

"I'm leaving!" Danny assured as he began walking towards the door, mumbling about lasagna.

When Steve finally closed the door, he let out a laugh. His friend was probably one of the most annoying people he ever had to deal with, but Steve wouldn't ever trade him for a different partner. Danny had a lot of excellent ideas at work and he wasn't a cop who involved himself in the politics of the job. He was a cop to make the island safer for his kid.

"You like Italian, right?" Steve asked nonchalantly, returning his focus to Ali.

"No," Ali replied making Steve look at her in disbelief.

He then saw that she was trying to suppress a smile, but failed to do so.

"I'm kidding!" she laughed allowing him to relax.

"I, uh, made lasagna," he informed her. "I hope you like it."

"Oh Steven, you know I love food," Ali remarked making him laugh.

"Well you can tell me how my cooking skills are," Steve replied entering the kitchen.

"Will do," Ali assured as Steve pulled out a chair for her. "So why was our dear friend, Daniel, here?"

"He dropped something off for me," Steve answered, reminding himself to open the letter before he went to bed.

"Oh," Ali said.

"I hope that wasn't awkward."

"It was definitely close to it."

"Because he thinks we're dating or because you weren't expecting to be ambushed by him?"

"I can't really complain about the first part, can I?" Ali remarked as she opened her beer.

This struck Steve oddly. What did she mean by that? Did she think it was a pain to have to deal with people- okay, maybe just Danny- thinking that they were dating?

"What?"

"I mean, you're just so brave and smart and, uh," she hesitated. "Good looking, I took it as a compliment when he assumed we were together."

Steve was dumbfounded because of what she said. From what he gathered, Ali just paid him a compliment. He didn't expect the reserved woman to have said that.

The evening was going great, in Steve's opinion. He told Ali of his time at the Naval High School and she shared stories about how scared she was while undergoing espionage training.

"It was all a test. Everything you had to do was a test," Ali was telling Steve as he opened his second bottle of beer.

He nodded; he knew exactly what she had been put through. Even in high school, the Navy broke a man down to the point of tears. Steve remembered one night he lay in bed and tried very hard to not cry. It had been one of those days where he let the chief petty officer's vicious words get to him.

"It for sure wasn't Kukui High School," he responded.

"The worst part was not knowing whether you were a good person or not," she said. "I mean put me in a room with a terrorist, a known terrorist who has killed people, and I'll be the first to shoot him, but sometimes… some of the things were just so… evil."

"Ali," Steve said, making her look up at him with her azure eyes. "I know you would find a way to do it differently, the moral way."

Ali smiled weakly, "You're the first that's ever said that. Usually people think it's Odette who thinks of ways to do it the honorable way ."

"They don't know you," Steve replied. "Is that what was bothering you at the office?"

"Not knowing if I am a good person?" Ali asked.

"Yes."

He noticed that Ali hesitated.

"No, it was Odette," she disclosed.

Steve was confused as to why Ali would be bothered by her friend; maybe she too felt that Odette seemed devious.

"Why?"

"This will sound… juvenile."

"I'm not here to judge you, Ali," Steve assured. "We've known each other a long time."

He wished he could have reminded her that they've shared a kiss and that he wasn't likely to arbitrate her because of that intimate moment between them

"It feels as if the world favors Odette just because she looks the way she does," the blonde operative confided in Steve.

It dawned on him that what Ali was really saying was that she felt insecure. Her remark earlier, about how she took it as a compliment when Danny asked if they were dating, translated into "I don't deserve you". Ali deserved way more than Steve had to offer her. He couldn't understand why such a beautiful woman would feel that way. More importantly, why couldn't she see that her personality made her a thousand times more attractive?

"Don't let yourself feel that way. Not everyone thinks that Odette has the upper hand," Steve said, taking her hand in his.

"I know, I know," Ali half smiled. "Max would make fun of me."

"He was your big brother, it would've been his job," Steve smiled.

He thought of his deceased friend and was ashamed that that he missed the funeral; his dad had shunned him for doing that. He was even more ashamed that he was best friends with Max, but didn't know anything about the day he died.

"Ali, I want to ask you something," Steve began as Ali nodded her head. "About Max."

"Yeah, I guess I owe you that much," she agreed. "Can we go outside, though? I need some air."

They both stood, still holding each other's hands, and walked to the backyard. The moon was a thin crescent in the sky and the waves calmly hit the shore as the pair strolled around the backyard. Steve wanted to be able to hold her more intimately, but he knew how she felt about that and he wanted to respect her (his father also had lectured him about that when he started high school).

"How did Max die?" Steve asked.

"Um, the agency usually keeps people who've known each other prior to joining, separated. It's to make sure nobody takes stupid risks, but since Max and I worked really well together, they made an exception. It was one of my first missions and I don't know which it was for Max," Ali explained. "Anyway, we had to find a contact and find out about a possible WMD in Iraq."

"You just had to talk to the contact?"

"Yeah. The thing was he didn't show up and when we went to investigate his room, we walked into an ambush, it was three men against us." Ali continued. "We were able to lock two of the attackers on the balcony and kill the other. Max started working on a small explosive from the equipment they had. He told me to call Langley while he worked on that. I was stupid and argued that he didn't have the man power to hold them on the balcony by himself."

"What happened next?" Steve asked, still holding her hand.

"Um," her voice quivered. "One of the men must've had a phone on him because we ended up having more company. Max and I were able to get out. We ran and all I can remember is that I lost sight of Max while I was running and then I heard something blowing up behind me."

"He blew the bomb?"

"Yeah, to give me a fair chance," Ali answered, her eyes shimmery from tears which threatened to fall.

"Ali, I'm sorry," Steve said as he stopped walking so that he could embrace her. "I know how close you two were."

"It's my fault," she said, her voice cracking.

Steve looked her in the eye when he said, "He was your big brother, Ali. He wasn't going to let his little sister die."

"I just have this guilt. I could've have stopped, made sure we hadn't separated," she confided. "My brother killed himself for me and what have I done for him?"

"The day my mom died," he began slowly. "She went to the store to get cleaning supplies she asked me to pick up. I never got those supplies and I felt so guilty about it. If I had just gotten them then she still would be here."

"Steve that isn't your fault, the guy who decided to get drunk and drive… that's his fault," Ali said.

"I know, that's what my dad said," Steve explained. "He's the one who also told me that if I felt guilty, I should do certain things every day in honor of my mom. I decided that I would start working hard in school for her."

"Thank you for sharing that with me," Ali half-smiled, then lifted his hand and slipped her fingers in the spaces between his.

He felt an unusual feeling inside; it wasn't the deep love which old married couples shared, but he knew it was evolving into just that with each second he spent with Ali.

Medical Examiner's Office

The next day Ali walked alongside Chin as they entered the medical examiner's office. The walls of the office were painted a gloomy, gray color. The stench of putrefaction made Ali wish she stayed at headquarters to search for Katia's boyfriend, but even so, nothing was able to ruin her bright mood. She spent the previous evening eating dinner with Steve and holding his hand as she told him the truth about her brother. On their walk (this was the main reason why Ali was in the happiest of moods) they even ventured to talk about the status of relationship. They had agreed to officially label themselves as a couple, but to not go public until they solved the case. The stench became so strong, though, that Ali couldn't take it any longer.

"Explain to me why anyone would want to be a pathologist," she remarked making Chin let out a short laugh.

"It hauls in a lot of kala," Chin pointed out.

"Yeah, it also costs a lot of kala to become one," Ali jested upon their entrance of the laboratorial part of the office.

A short Asian man with glasses stood over their victim, performing the autopsy.

"Oh," he mumbled when he saw Ali and Chin. "Hello, I'm Dr. Max Bergman."

Ali noticed the way he greeted them, his words were quickly spoken; it wasn't because of nervousness, though, but more because he wanted to get to the point (at least that is what Ali assumed).

"Hey Max," Chin smiled. "I'm Chin Ho Kelly and this is Ali Sarna."

"I presume you are officers that want to question me about the victim," he postulated.

Ali nodded, not bothering to explain she wasn't technically an officer or even an investigator.

"The victim is a twenty five year old female. The official cause of death is loss of blood due to the rupturing of the iliac and deep iliac arteries and veins," Max explained without pausing to take a breath. "Toxicology analysis has not been done yet, but I found an unusual tattoo on the victim's dorsal region."

Ali and Chin waited for Max to explain what the tattoo was, but Max just continued peering into Katia's chest which had been split open with rib spreaders.

"So, Max," Ali began after she exchanged a confused glance with Chin. "Do you want to show us this tattoo?"

"Oh right," the doctor said. "I am unable to move the body because that would result in organs on the floor, but I did take a photograph in case something like this occurred."

Max turned around, walked a few feet to a metal counter and lifted a small Polaroid picture of Katia's lower back. He handed it to Chin, who held it so that Ali was able to see it also. The tattoo was of a white tiger that had its feet atop a serpent.

"Thanks Dr. Bergman," Ali smiled.

"Keep in touch, Max," Chin said as he turned towards the door. "Do you think it's the cults?"

"I don't think so," she replied, following Chin. "Only men were allowed to have tattoos and the tattoos had to be of pentagrams."

Chin arched his brow, "That's really End of Days."

"Yeah, you should have seen their religious garbs," Ali said. "Anyway, I'm thinking we should take another trip to the professor just in case this is another symbol."

"I'll call Steve," Chin informed as he pulled out his phone and handed the picture to Ali.

She took one more look at it. What had this woman entangled herself with? Was she another spy? Ali sighed as she wondered when the nightmare would end and allow her to walk without having to look over her shoulder every few minutes.

Hi everyone! Thanks for reading! Sorry for taking forever to upload the chapters. Teachers this time of year seem to think we have no life outside of their class. Anyway that was chapter twelve! I hope you all enjoyed it. :)