Chapter 9
Steve ran over to a gate-cut wheelhouse and sat down on some pallets to take a breather. He glanced at his wound and winced, the wound was deep and bleeding badly, he had to find a way to stem the flow of blood before he lost too much. He thought of Charlie, his man might be able to treat him, but he couldn't risk going to his house - the police were probably already staking out the front. Once in the bathroom, he cleaned and bandaged the wound as well as he could, but he knew he needed better care. He began to list the places he could go as he opened the toilet door, but immediately turned back, as a police car had parked in front of the exit. Steve sat down on a toilet and hoped the officer would leave without spotting him, but he didn't. The man approached his cubicle and stopped in front of it. Steve braced himself and when the man tried to open the door, he hit him with it, a fight ensued in which Steve got the upper hand, effectively disarming the officer and knocking him out in the process. Then, he didn't hesitate long before swapping his clothes for the agent's and taking off in his car. He drove to the only place where he could get help without attracting attention: Max's house. He parked the car a few blocks before his destination and finished on foot. He could feel his strength ebbing, he knew he was losing too much blood, but he held on. He thought he was going to turn a blind eye when he realized the house was empty and locked, but he pulled himself together and broke a window to get in. He made it to the kitchen, but fainted before he could patch his wound.
Steve was brought to his senses by Max's voice; he was shirtless on a sofa, torso bandaged.
"The least you can do is call me Steve after you've nursed me back to health."
He saw that the doctor was touched, but Steve couldn't help wondering how he'd managed to set him up there and heal him alone, he wasn't a small man and Max wasn't a force of nature.
"Sorry about your house, I had nowhere else to go."
No problem, I'm even honored that you came to me. However, I'm curious to know where you got that wound, I'm leaning towards a sharp object made of unsterilized metal…"
"I was stabbed in prison."
"So, then, you didn't acquire this uniform legally?"
"You don't watch the news, do you?" asked Steve, surprised that Max didn't seem aware of his situation.
"I try not to. It's terrifying."
This response amused Steve, who figured that Max really was unique, but not so unique that he could carry him alone on the couch.
"Max, did you have help fixing me up?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, he'd like to see you, alone."
Steve worried who it was, especially as Max left the house, still talking.
"My roommate sees family on the mainland. You're about the same size." he said, pointing to some clothes on the coffee table.
The soldier grabbed the shirt and began to dress defensively, expecting someone to arrive, but not knowing who to expect. He drew his gun, tense, and turned with a start when he heard movement behind his back. Relief washed over him when he discovered Charlie. He put his gun away and joined his man, who embraced him as soon as he was close enough. They exchanged a passionate kiss, but didn't make it last.
"I didn't expect you to come out like this." whispered the sorcerer.
"Neither did I, but I didn't choose to."
"Let me heal your wound…"
"No, if I get arrested, I won't be able to explain why I'm not hurt anymore."
The pain Steve read in the ocean eyes hurt him; he knew Charlie wanted to see him well and not bleed to death, but he wouldn't risk exposing his secret.
"Come with me to Romania."
"Charlie, I…"
"Forget it."
"Charlie..."
Cut off by the opening of the front door, Steve was immediately on his guard and placed himself between Charlie and the door, his gun pointed at the latter. He felt relieved to see Danny and Chin enter and then Max, who closed the door behind them.
"What's wrong with your head?" shouted Danny at once. "I mean, in your heads? You! Break out of prison? Assaulting a cop? And you, disappearing without warning? No, but you know he'd cut me to pieces if Wo Fat fell on you?"
"Why are you shouting?" intervened Steve before Danny could get too angry with his man.
"I'm not shouting!" shouted the inspector.
"Your way of expressing yourself is very noisy, to be honest." Max interjected.
"Motus, Kermit." Danny cut off the doctor's intervention before turning back to Steve. "Are you out of your mind?"
"What choice did I have?"
"What choice did you have? What's that supposed to mean?" snapped Danny, only to be cut off by Chin.
"Are you all right?" the Hawaiian worried.
"Thanks for asking. I'm great! Thanks to Max, and Charlie."
"Mahalo for the call." Chin thanked, looking at Max before turning to Charlie.
He held out a hand, which the Englishman shook without a word.
"No one followed you?"
"A civilian unit, but we lost it."
Chin and Steve worked out a few details, before Danny put his phone on speaker so Joe could talk to him and give him a meeting point. As Steve confirmed he was coming, Danny protested, but then gave in and agreed to do as Steve wanted. The four team members organized themselves, but Steve wanted to clarify a few points before they set off.
"Charlie, please take cover." he told him, aware of Chin and Max's curious glances at them and Danny's concerned one.
"You know I don't take unnecessary risks."
"I don't want Wo Fat or Joe to find out about you."
Steve stared at his man for a long moment, hoping he'd agree to his request. He understood that he would, but that there was a counterpart when Charlie approached him at a slow pace, giving him time to stop him, took his chin to make him lift his head towards him and placed a chaste kiss on his lips before leaving the house under the stunned gazes of Chin and Max. Steve followed him with his eyes, his heart clenched, before turning to his friends.
"Keep this to yourself." he said simply before motioning to Danny that they should go.
The two friends climbed into Max's car, Steve lying in the back, Danny behind the wheel, and discussed their private lives. The serviceman discovered that his friend's ex-wife was returning to Hawaii to get back together with the man she'd left him for, and that she thought the baby she was carrying was not Danny's, but Stan's. Then Steve explained to the policeman why he didn't want Joe to find out about Charlie, why he didn't want the army to see him differently because of his relationship with a man, and why he didn't want to be the source of the hallway noises at the military base.
The man Steve met told him that his father had collected enough evidence to bring Wo Fat down, and told him about his encounter with his father. Disturbed, Steve left Japan with Danny and Joe, and went to find Jenna, a CIA agent who was helping them look for Wo Fat, who gave them the key to a locker at the airport where they could find the evidence in question. What they found was a memory card on which they discovered images of the Governor with Wo Fat in her office. They decided that Steve would remain hidden behind the Kamekona toilets while Chin and Danny went to see if the camera was still in the decided that Steve would stay hidden behind the Kamekona toilets while Chin and Danny went to see if the camera was still in the office. The wait seemed long to Steve, who was worried about Charlie and thinking about his father at the same time, realizing that he hadn't known his father very well after all. He confided in Joe about his fears of learning things he wouldn't like to know about his father, but Joe reassured him while evading the question, which reinforced his decision not to tell Joe about Charlie. He felt his mentor wasn't telling him everything he knew.
They were interrupted by Kamekona, who informed them that the cops had wanting to risk his friends getting hurt, he walked out of the building with his hands up and knelt down in was relieved to see Danny, Chin and the new governor arrive and demand his release even though the handcuffs hadn't yet closed on his wrists.
Together, they returned to Kamekona's back room to view the video that cleared him, but did not incriminate Wo Fat. Outraged, Steve expressed his frustration and got his team reformed, without Kono, under internal investigation and with fewer rights than under the previous governor. The team rushed to the docks where Kono had informed them of an exchange between Wo Fat and a buyer, but while they were able to arrest the buyer and one of their enemy's henchmen, they couldn't get hold of him. The interrogation of their suspect was equally fruitless, and Steve decided to release him.
The team met up again at the 5-0 offices with Kono and Joe to share a beer, but Steve couldn't celebrate, worrying about the lack of response to the messages he'd sent Charlie and about Danny's morale, who added to his worries by showing him an exchange between his father and Wo Fat on the videos they'd just recovered.