Steve tossed his duffel bag out of the dual head chopper onto the tarmac of the USS Carl Vinson. He followed suit, scooping it up with his right hand and made his way over toward his awaiting CO, his body slightly hunched over because of the huge blades that turned overhead.

He dropped the bag once again and stood perfectly erect, saluting the man before him.

He had to yell in order to be heard over the sound of the helicopter that had begun to gain momentum, getting ready for its decent back to the base. "Lieutenant Commander McGarrett reporting, Sir."

Captain Hershey returned the salute. "Welcome aboard Commander," he yelled. He let go the formality and then stuck his hand out with a broad smile. "It's good to see you, Steve. How the hell are ya?"

The handshake was firm as well as the eye contact showing the respect they had for each other. "I'm good, Sir. Looking forward to being here," he lied.

"Well we're glad you're aboard. Grab your stuff and we'll get some lunch while I fill you in on your duties."

"Yes Sir." He picked up his bag and followed behind him. He was impressed by Hershey's upper body structure as he wore the same camouflage colored pants of beige that he was wearing but wore only a white T-shirt, showing off the broad shoulders and proof that the old man worked out regularly. He had to be pushing sixty yet he had the build of a twenty year old. The hat he wore showed his rank of Captain and the specks of grey on his sideburns and around the nape of his neck from the fresh incoming hair was new but other than that he looked the same since the last time he'd seen him almost two years before.

They entered through a door that led to the hull of the giant ship. Once the solid steel door closed the sound of the helicopter was replaced by a soft humming of the engines below.

"How was the flight over?" he asked him.

"Smooth," Steve replied.

"Good. That pilot is a newbie, it was his first solo flight."

"He did well."

They walked down a series of corridors getting salutes from Privates every so often as they passed each other. Captain Hershey went through a door that read 'Officer's Mess Hall'.

Steve smiled at it, recalling Jenny's appalled thought that they ate in a messy hall. He looked around at the pristine area making a mental note to take a couple of pictures to show her what it really looked like.

Two men that were sitting at one of the long tables both stood up as they entered, saluting both of them.

Steve and the Captain returned it as Hershey spoke.

"Adese Gentlemen."

Steve set his bag down next to a table and followed the Captain up to the serving line. One thing about his Navy life that he couldn't argue with was that Officer's ate well. He picked up a plate and held it out as the private on the other side scooped up the daily lunch menu that consisted of a barbequed pulled pork sandwich on a fresh baked bun, corn bread, potato salad and baked beans. He waved off the beans and took an extra helping of corn bread instead. At the end of the line he reached in a bucket of ice and pulled out two single serving size containers of milk.

They sat down at the table and instantly began eating.

"Captain Hershey flipped open a file he'd been carrying, speaking with his mouth full of the pork sandwich. "I've got your orders here." He slid the papers over to him as Steve set his sandwich down and wiped his hands off on the napkin next to the plate. He picked up the sheet and began reading over the schedule.

"Night shift! Damn! What did I do wrong to deserve that?"

Hershey laughed, "Don't take offense to it son. No punishment intended. We've got some night maneuvers going on and I need someone with experience." He waved his fork at him. "And you're my guy."

"Yes Sir." He picked the sandwich back up and took another bite as he read over what looked like a normal routine, nothing really out of the ordinary. "How many classes do I have?"

"Nine."

"Nine!" he looked over at him again surprised over that number. "Are you sure I'm not being punished, or are we on the brink of some world skirmish I'm being kept out of?"

Hershey shook his head chuckling. "No, we've just had a big increase in our enlistment. A lot of guys are coming…" he paused holding his hand up to correct himself. "Let me rephrase that, guys and girls are coming through the program. Half your trainees are women."

Steve nodded, but didn't seem surprised over that. "Yes Sir."

"You ok with that?"

That question surprised him. "Sir? Why wouldn't I be?"

Hershey set his fork down and wiped his mouth off on his napkin. "That's why I chose you, Steve. A lot of guys are old school, you know. They think a woman's place is still in the kitchen." He huffed, "Which is bullshit if you ask me. Jesus, my mother could have run this ship better than me. I've known some stuff as nails broads in my day. I say promote em' all."

Steve nodded in agreement, thinking of Anna. She wasn't the Navy type but she was strong and resilient, that was for sure. He felt that first pain in his chest, missing her already. "Yes, Sir, me too."

"Hey," Hershey smiled, "as a matter of fact, guess who our chief ship doctor is?"

Steve took a bite of corn bread washing it down with some milk. "A woman?" he assumed.

"Not just any woman, Lieutenant Hershey."

That one surprised the hell out of him. "Carrie? Your Carrie?"

He smiled proudly, "That's right. She graduated med school last year and I scooped her up quick. Cost me a few favors but I wanted her on board." He quickly elaborated. "Not just because she's my niece, but because she's damn good at what she does. Top of her class."

Steve nodded in agreement. "Talk about tough as nails."

Hershey laughed. "You got that right. I told her you were coming on board." He laughed, recalling her reply. "She said, 'good' she needed to practice up on her arm cast skills."

Steve laughed, "Damn her! She almost cost me three days in the brig for putting that cast on me."

Hershey roared over that statement, slapping his hand down on the table. "That story still makes me laugh and I wasn't even there to enjoy it."

"Funny now," Steve shook his head, grinning over the memory of it.

"That's what you get son for going on furlough with a nurse and drinking too much."

Steve nodded, but knew it had nothing to do with the drinking, she had been mad as hell and someone was going to pay, and he was her target. She just had to get him stinking drunk to do it, and she succeeded. "My CO had to cut that thing off and was screaming in my face the whole time."

Hershey laughed even harder. "Be careful on this trip, she has even better instruments to work with now, and skills."

Steve held his hands up. "I'm keeping my distance." He smiled recalling other several good times that they did have together. "Maybe I'll stop by for an aspirin, just to say hi."

"I'm sure she'll seek you out, son. She seemed pretty happy over the news." He sat back, pushing his food away to the side of the table, muffling a belch behind his fist that hid his mouth. "So how's civilian life treating you? I see you're still catching bad guys for the Governor."

"Yes, Sir. The job is good, keeps me busy, but also," It felt surreal to say it out loud, but it felt good too. "I'm getting married."

"Holy shit!" he sat back in the chair, looking at him as if that were the surprise of the year, and then reached his hand across the table. "Well congratulations. Is she a Navy girl?"

"No Sir." He shook his hand and then smiled, recalling their first date together. "She's a civilian, but she can be just as intimidating as any CO I've ever had."

"Those are the best ones. Keeps you in line. I bet she's a beauty too."

Steve blew out a breath and grinned, "Ahh…yes, Sir. She's a stunner that's for sure."

"Well good for you, Steve. I'm happy for ya." He pushed away from the table. "Why don't you go get your quarters set up and meet me up on the bridge," he glanced at his watch. "How about fourteen hundred hours?"

"Yes, Sir." He stood up at the same time and saluted him getting a quick yet informal one in return.

"Adese Commander. I'll see you in a bit." He slapped him on the shoulder as he went by, saluting the other two officers' as he made his way to the door.

Steve sat back down and finished off his sandwich in one bite. He pulled his phone out of his pocket but knew he didn't have any service out on the boat, especially down inside the hull. He didn't need cell service for what he was looking for anyway. He scanned through the pictures until he found the one of Anna that he was thinking of.

She was lying on the couch after falling asleep while they watched TV together one night. He remembered coming back from the bathroom and just stopping and staring at her, the same as he was now.

He spread his fingers out on the phone to bring her face in closer as a smile appeared on his. "Three weeks," he sighed. "I can't believe what you've done to me." He shook his head and then slipped it back in his pocket. "You keep this up," he mumbled to himself, "and you'll end up swimming back in two days."

The door to his room was slightly ajar, waiting for his arrival. He pushed it open with the end of his duffle bag and scanned the small area before tossing his bag on the bed that hung from the wall. He unzipped it and began taking out the forest green shirts that all matched in color and two other pairs of pants that matched the shirts. The only thing that didn't look the same was two pairs of basketball shorts and some Nike running shoes for his time off. He'd miss his morning swims but the state of the art workout room on the ship would make up for it.

He removed the last object and saw an envelope at the bottom of the bag that had the words 'Top Secret' written on it. He smiled, recognizing the handwriting as Anna's. He sat down on the bed and tore it open, his heart reeling over the pleasant surprise. It was good to have someone back home that loved him. He'd gone on two of these exercises while with Becky and not once had she even seen him off, let alone surprised him with a letter.

But as he ventured into the envelope he knew it was going to be better than a letter. It contained a picture with a sticky note stuck to the front of it that read, 'Hi Commander, a little taste of home to remind you what you are protecting.'

He pulled off the sticky note and sighed, but it came out more as a moan. It was a picture of Anna on her bed, lying on her side with her head propped up on her hand. A white sheet was seductively and a barely covering her waist, the rest of her fully exposed.

He felt himself instantly getting hard just from the picture, and that mixed with the thought of her in that bed that they had christened so many times began to make him wonder if he could actually make that long swim home.

"Damn you're beautiful," he whispered.

"Well thank you so much."

The voice from his doorway startled him out of his trance as he looked up seeing Lieutenant Hershey standing at his doorway making fun of a seductive pose over his comments.

He turned the photo upside down and set it on the bed. "Well look what the Navy dragged in," he replied. "Nurse Ratchet."

Carrie laughed. "Excuse me, but you have to come up with a better name than that, because now it's Doctor." She pointed to the Caduceus medal on her uniform that was the symbol of medicine. "See, they gave me this as proof."

Steve laughed. "Ok then, how about Doctor Doolittle?"

Carrie cracked up over that. "At least you still have a good sense of humor where I'm concerned," she replied entering the room as he stood up.

"Barely."

"I said I was sorry," she replied, wrapping her arms around his chest since she only came up that far. She looked up at him. "But someone deserved it."

Steve stepped back. "I didn't do it!" He held his right hand up. "I swear to god almighty. I…did not…put up…that picture."

Carrie grinned sheepishly. "I know. Dan Kelly did."

Steve playfully glared at her. "Yet you punished me."

She shrugged. "Well I had to do something. I couldn't let it go unpunished. It would have made me look even worse." She bent her head just slightly and looked up at him with a childlike expression. "I knew that if I did it to you that you'd be the only one who wouldn't be mad at me. At least not for very long." She reached out and gently punched his arm. "You were a nice guy that way."

"I was mad as hell!" he blasted her, trying not to laugh.

"I know and did you stay mad at me? No. Did you retaliate against me? No. Because you knew as well as I did that I needed a comeback or that story would be remembered as the picture story and not the cast on Steve's arm story." She smiled sweetly at him. "That's why you never said anything. You let yourself become the butt of the joke for my sake. Didn't you?"

"Shut up," he grinned, not admitting it, but that was exactly why he forgave her. "I'm not that nice."

"Yes you are." She said as if it were written in stone as she went past him. "So…who were you actually calling beautiful when I came in?"

He looked down at the back of the picture on the bed. "This one will blow you away," he grinned.

Carrie turned looking at him. "Oh yea? Let me hear it."

He reached in his pocket and pulled out his cell, pulling up a picture of Anna, Eric and Jenny all sitting together while they were on a hike one afternoon. He held it out for her to see. "I'm getting married. Instant family." He pointed out each person, stating their name.

Carrie's face showed her surprise as she looked at the picture and then up at him. "Wow! Congrats Daddy." She took the phone from him to get a better look. "Now I see why you're so gaga. She is beautiful. So are her kids."

"They're not hers'. Well…" he quickly corrected himself because that sounded wrong to say. "Not technically. It's her niece and nephew. Her brother and his wife were killed in a car accident last year and she took over raising them."

Carrie's face showed the pain from the sad story and then the admiration for the woman in the picture. "She's a keeper. How did you meet?"

Steve smiled, "They moved in next door to me."

"Lucky you." She handed the phone back to him as he looked at it once more before he slipped it back in his pocket.

"Yes I am. The little girl, Jenny," he rolled his eyes, "geez, talk about playing me like a fiddle and Eric the boy…"

Carrie watched and listened as he went on about them. The pride he felt over them was obvious. It was good to see him so happy, she thought. He deserved it. "I'm happy for you Steve. I think you'll be a great dad."

He shrugged and blew out a breath, "Day by day I guess. But Anna and I, we're a good team. Naive' as hell," he laughed, "but a good team."

"That's how I feel about me and my husband," Carrie announced.

Steve mirrored the same expression she had earlier. "Really? Married? We must have drunk from the same tequila well. Who is he?"

Carrie stood in silence trying to stifle her grin.

"C'mon," Steve laughed. "It can't be that bad."

"It's Dan Kelly," she said chuckling.

"What?! What?!" he repeated even louder and then busted up laughing. "Let me get this straight. He puts up the picture of you. I get punished for it and then you marry him?"

Carrie shrugged, "He apologized many times over for it."

"Apologized," Steve huffed. "I got my arm in a cast and my CO ripped me a new one and he gets off with just an apology? That's just wrong."

Carrie tilted her head putting her hands on her hips. "What if you were me and miss beautiful had put up the pic?" She smiled knowing he'd forgive her in a heartbeat just like she had.

"Ok," he caved, "you got me there."

"Love is weird isn't it?" Carrie sighed.

Steve shook his head as if that were the understatement of the year. "You have no idea. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How do you deal with the separation?"

She knew this was probably the first time he'd been away from his fiancé' recalling how hard it was for her too. "You just deal with it. There is no easy solution. Bottom line is it sucks."

"Yea," he replied, somewhat disappointed over her answer, hoping she could give him something to ease the loneliness of missing them.

"I guess keeping busy is the solution," Carrie suggested.

That advice he took to heart.

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Anna rolled over in her sleep and reached for him. She awoke at the feel of an empty bed, glancing toward the bathroom at first and then a second later remembering where he was.

She pulled his pillow over close that she had fallen asleep hugging for the fifth night in a row, breathing in the faint smell of his cologne, refusing to change it until he came home. Her whole body ached for him, wondering if she were going to get a good night sleep at all while he was gone.

She stared at his side of the bed; running her hand over the vacant spot and closing her eyes, chuckling to herself, because she knew when he got back that she wouldn't be able to keep her hands off of him for even a second. She needed to fill this three-week gap.

She concentrated on her agenda for the next day, hoping to bore herself back to sleep. She was almost in that state of unconsciousness when she heard her phone ringing. She rolled over, excited over catching his call this night. She'd slept through the last one, cursing herself for having it on vibrate as she slept through it, but the message he left was uplifting to say the least. He said he knew she was sleeping and not to be alarmed by the call, he just wanted to hear her voice mail so he could hear her voice that he missed so much, ending it with his declaration of love. But what made her smile was the six missed calls after that knowing she wouldn't answer, but again, he just needed to hear her voice.

Steve wiped his sweaty face off with the dark green hand towel in his hand. He moved it around to the back of his neck, wondering if the humidity could get any worse. They were about two hundred and fifty miles off the coast of Hawaii and it was hotter here than there.

He glanced at his watch that read four forty three. The sun would be up soon but by then he would be in a deep sleep, he hoped.

"Good night, Commander," two of his female trainees said as they approached him, saluting him as they did.

He gave them a salute in return, "Good job tonight. Tomorrow we'll work on that landing again."

The pilot spoke up, "I'll get it tomorrow Sir, I promise."

"Practice is all it takes. Don't rush it and be careless. Better to fail three times and then get it right than to force it once and end up in the ocean or worse yet at the bottom of it."

"Yes, Sir."

He waved them off. "Go get some sleep. I'll see you at twenty three hundred tonight." he walked off not waiting for a reply but heard a faint 'Yes Sir' in the background. He had another agenda to pursue.

He opened the door to the control room that consisted of several men and women sitting at computer screens that held various maps and radar displays from around the world. He knew some were displays of their own ships and some were engaged in keeping an eye on countries that were not considered allies. At the moment none of them were relevant to why he was there.

"Commander," Captain Hershey spoke up as he approached his corner of the room. He leaned over a desk and pulled out a satellite phone from the wall, unhooking it from the charger. "Need this? I take it that top secret intelligence job you're working on needs some more debriefing?"

Steve smiled because he knew very well what he wanted the phone for and so did Hershey and it had nothing to do with a top-secret job, unless that job was coded as the name Anna. "Yes Sir. If you don't mind?"

He gave him the phone, not caring at all. He didn't make a habit of it and never took advantage of the privilege by staying on too long; it was just enough to get his fix.

"Thank you Sir."

He waved him off, turning his attention to another issue.

Steve stepped outside and dialed Anna's cell number, just needing to hear her voice again. To his surprise and pleasure she answered on the second ring.

She sat up holding the phone. Her excitement over talking to him made her hands shake as she tried to focus on answering.

"Hi!" she said excitedly, knowing it was Steve even though the caller ID displayed unknown.

"Hey there," he replied just as pleased, walking over to the edge of the boat, away from the scores of people that were doing their duties even at that time of night. "I didn't want to wake you, but I'm glad I did. How are things at home?"

"I miss you," she declared wholeheartedly, "other than that everything is fine."

He closed his eyes and sighed, hearing it in her voice, but it made him smile too. It was a good thing to hear. "I miss you too. This is harder than I thought it was going to be and I knew it was going to be damn hard."

"I got your message the other day," she grinned, "all seven of them."

He ran his hand over his hair, wiping away the sweat that had begun to form again. "I wanted to hear your voice."

"I can understand that, because I've listened to your message about a hundred times."

He thought speaking to her would ease his ache but it just made him miss her all the more. "I love you," he said quietly into the phone.

She lay back on the bed pulling his pillow up close to her face to smell his cologne. "I love you too."

"Is everything ok? Do you need anything?"

She shook her head as she spoke. "No. We're fine." Knowing if she did say yes, that whatever she did need, he somehow would have provided it to her, even from where he was.

"How are the kids? Is Eric helping out?"

"Yes. He even emptied the dishwasher last night without me even asking."

Steve smiled. "Good boy. How's Jenny? Did she send me a picture?"

"Yes. Two already," Anna replied but didn't tell him about her nightmares that returned since his departure, two in the last five nights. Worrying him wouldn't help and she knew he would. "She has another one started."

"I can't wait to get it. Mail should come today. By the way, I got your picture," he grinned.

Anna blushed slightly. "Do you like it?"

He took it out just then looking at it. "I keep it under my pillow when I sleep, and when I go out on maneuvers, I keep it in my pocket."

"So I'm with you all the time," she affirmed.

"That's the idea." He looked over his shoulder to the control room, knowing his time was limited. "Have you started thinking about any plans for a wedding?"

"Yes. I was thinking maybe something quick and easy, nothing dramatic. I don't really know anyone here, unless you want something more than that?"

"Whatever you want is fine by me, as long as you show up I don't care where it is."

Anna smiled, "I'll be there, you don't have to worry about that."

"I have to go. I'm on a satellite phone that I'm technically not supposed the be on."

She sat up still holding his pillow. "I love you. I miss you so much. I think about you constantly."

It felt like a catch-22. He wanted to hear those words from her, yet he wished he didn't have to. "I love you too Anna. I don't think I can go through this again. I don't want to put you through this again."

"Don't stop what you're doing on our account Steve. This is who you are and that's the man I fell in love with. You're there because it's the right thing to do and they need you just as much as we do. If you make that decision you do it because it's the right one for you, not for us. Ok?"

He wiped his sweaty face again on the sleeve of his shirt as those feelings of separation quickly changed to pride. "I can't believe how lucky I was to find you. Sometimes I feel like it's all just an illusion it's so perfect."

"It's not an illusion Steve, and no relationship is perfect, people fall all the time, but it's who is standing behind you to catch you that matters." Her voice softened, "You have me and I'm a lot stronger than you think."

He let those words soak in, and as they did he could feel the barriers that he'd set up to keep himself safe from others begin to crumble. The freedom he felt from that was overwhelming. He stared at her picture as it slowly became blurred, wiping his eyes on his shoulder again, only not because he was sweaty.

Anna sensed she had said the right thing by his silence, which delighted her. "You do know of course," she teased, "that doesn't take into account other women. That's a whole other slip. Then I would have to kill you, plain and simple."

Steve laughed, loving her sense of humor, but also knew her temper when she was really angry. He'd only seen a couple of times but it fierce. "No worries there," he assured her, "I consider myself safe and sound in that threat." He looked over his shoulder again, assuming he was going to see Captain Hershey standing there with his hand out for the phone. "I gotta go Anna." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, not ready to hang up just yet, but knew it was time if he wanted to keep this privilege. "I'll call again when I can. I love you. I miss you. Give Eric and Jenny a hug for me." He took her picture and put it safely back in his pocket.

"I love you too. Please be safe."

"I will. I'll talk to you soon." He heard her 'goodbye' before he hung up.

It was a good call, the best one he'd ever had. The smile on his face solidified it.

He turned, making his way back to the control room when suddenly the area around him lit up with flashing lights that reflected off the steel walls and glass windows in front of him, seeing the commotion inside the room as people fled from their desks, running in the opposite direction. It was then that he heard the noise behind him, turning his body just as the out of control helicopter came crashing down on him.