A/N: Looks like I'll be off schedule for a week more. I'll still try to upload a new chapter next week, I hope that you will like this one.

The sound of the coming helicopter filled the air. At first Steve thought that it may be a hostile helicopter but as it came closer to them they realized - it was help. Chin and Kono were in there along with a rescue team. And although they were high in the air, their relieved faces were something that the trio down on earth instantly noticed.

Once Steve, Danny and Catherine were on board, the game of '20 million questions' began. The three took turns to explain but the one that talked the most was Cath. She told them everything she managed to gather about Hassan. Mostly about the hideouts he had around the area of Afghanistan.

Steve would personally make sure that all of them were getting checked and secured. He wasn't sure what had happened to Hassan, though. It was yet for the investigators to specify the cause of the explosion and recover the body - bodies even, as he had no idea how many people were in there.

For now he tried to focus his attention on Catherine. She was being strong but he could clearly see that she was in pain. The wound on her hand looked worse than before and her leg was nastily swollen. He didn't even want to know what other internal injuries she had.

And just like so they were back in Hawaii, in Tripler to be exact.

-H50-

They have just reached the hospital. Catherine was currently having an x-ray and Danny was diagnosed with a minor concussion so the doctors decided to keep him overnight. Steve successfully passed the routine check. It seemed like he had got away just with scratches, something quite unusual for him.

Now all he wanted was to hear what happened with the investigation. And by some strange chnace said investigation was led by Lieutenant Trevor Robbins, an old friend of his.

"Trev, something I might want to know?" Steve asked once his friend picked up his phone.

"Steven, I didn't expect you to call so soon. I thought you were beaten up a bit more."

They both laughed.

"Well we are still searching around here but it seems like the building was empty, except for you and that guy. Oh, how is Cath?" Lieutenant Robbins knew Catherine thanks to Steve. He liked the girl and was quite shocked when he heard what had happened.

"She is.. well she is not fine but it could've been much worse." Steve sighed.

"Oh." A few seconds passed before Robbins spoke again. "There is something we found, though. Important as well."

-H50-

Catherine was finally in her hospital room alone. They made a bunch of tests and checks on her, most of them she thought as pointless. The first thing they did was to clean her wound and bandage it. It came out that it was more of a scratch than a serious wound, which was something she was happy with. Her leg, though, was another thing. The x-ray showed that it was broken at two places - her ankle and somewhere under the knee. That meant she was stuck with a cast for at least 5 weeks. And aside from that she had three cracked- and one broken ribs, a few bruises and a lot of scratches. With four simple words - She was a mess.

Someone knocked on the door and a few seconds later Steve came in. He smiled at Cath as he sat on the chair next to her bed. He took a look at her. Her face was covered in scratches, her arm was bandaged and nasty bruised and her right leg had a white cast up to her knee. And she still managed to smile back at him, still looked beautiful.

"Hey." He whispered and leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.

"Hi." She smiled at him, like nothing had happened.

"How are you feeling? Are you in pain?" His voice sounded worried.

"My leg hurts a little but I am fine." She lied. Her whole body hurt and she knew that she couldn't fool him but she tried.

"Liar." Steve laughed.

"I have a great example when it comes to injuries." She returned the tease. But although Steve was smiling and laughing she knew something was on his mind. "What's wrong Steve?"

His original plan was to lie to her but the seriousness of her voice and the fact that she was a smart woman made him change his mind.

"I talked with Lieutenant Trevor Robbins. You remember him? He leads the investigation."

Catherine nodded.

"I called him before I came here. They found nothing in the hideout but-"

"Come on, Steve, tell me."

"They found Amir's body near the hideout." He sighed.

"No..." Catherine muttered. She tried to turn to one side but her injured ribs didn't let her to. Instead she just curled into a ball - as much as she could - and started crying.

"Hey, hey. Don't." He stood up and stroke her cheek that was now wet from tears. "Please, Cath. Amir died a hero."

She turned towards Steve and looked at him with red eyes.

"He has killed Hassan. He left a message."

"What?" She whipped her tears with her good hand.

"He has left a bloody message."

"Oh God." Catherine really didn't know how to feel right now. Probably she had to feel miserable. She couldn't help Amir's family nor kill Hassan for what he did. She couldn't help but shed a tear again. "Where is his body?" She said, her voice shaky.

"..." Steve was choosing the right words. "They didn't find Hassan's body, Cath."

"I meant Amir." Her face paled and she forgot about crying. "What?! How do they know he's dead then?"

"They aren't sure, they trust the message for now. They were near a forest, Cath. Something must have took his body."

"But Amir's body was there." She looked angry now. "Steve, no way Hassan is alive. Tell me what else you know."

"He has a few gunshot wounds. The investigators think Hassan has shot him and then Amir him. And with his last strength he wrote the message. But they can't know before they get the report from the pathologist."

Catherine chose a more comfortable position and sighed loudly.

"Omar Hassan is alive. I can feel it."

-H50-

Steve watched how Catherine fell asleep. It had been a hard week for her, indeed. He was thinking over her words. The more he thought, the more it seemed logical. But then he thought even more and he changed his mind. The only thing that was odd was the missing body. But it could be explained with the wild animals in the forest.

After half an hour his head started hurting. He decided to take a rest and go see Danny. If seeing Danny could be called a rest.

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