Hello, friends! :)

I want to thank you very very much for reviews. They really made my days better and writing faster.

I hope you'll enjoy the second part :)

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Chapter 9: Face to Face (Part II)

Steve had not realized how angry he had been until he left the room. Although it was the last thing he wanted to do, to leave with no credible answers, he did not have the choice. His blood had been boiling and he needed to cool down.

To take his mind off the woman sitting in middle of the interrogation room behind the locked doors, who was to be blamed for his current state of anger, he turned the attention to the phone, still vibrating in the pocket.

"I'm listening, Kono." He answered after looking at the caller's ID.

"Both Duke and Chin just arrived. Duke is on his way down to you as we speak." Kono informed him as he had assigned her to do.

"Good. Anything new?" There was a miserable chance that Kono would find something in those few minutes, but he still could have hope that for once they would get lucky.

"Not yet. I'm workin' on it with Chin. We'll find something." She answered, confident that there must be a lead of some kind. Somewhere.

"Alright. Let me know when you have something." He ended the call at the same time Duke showed up from around the corner.

He came as quickly as he could, eager to find out what had been going on. "Steve, will you tell me what-"

"Why was she at your house?" Steve asked pointing at the door, not wasting time, too.

Duke sighed. They both wanted their part of answers, but knowing Steve and how impatient he could get, he backed up to tell Steve his side first. "She is a friend." Duke said, proud to call her that.

"A friend? Really? Then do you know why your friend assaulted Danny this morning and took his gun?" Steve challenged him and hoped that Duke would see that his so-called friend was no saint.

"Whoa, Steve, slow down. Are you telling me that she's behind the attack?" Duke asked, taken aback by the new information. Was that the reason why she had come to him, what she wanted to talk about? He tried to understand but it was hard. He knew her when she was a teenager and that was long time ago. Maybe the time had changed her, but he would have never guessed that she would be able to do something like attacking the detective. There was no excuse for that kind of action. He might now understand Steve's annoyance that he had been surrounded by.

But then, he had had a soft spot for her since they met the first time. Sometimes it was hard to be objective, when the mind was clouded.

"How do you know her?" Steve asked, this time with less anger as he had time to cool down a bit, realizing that it was probably not Duke's fault and, from what he saw back at the house and what he was seeing right now, Duke was most likely as lost as Steve, if not more.

"I met her about twelve years ago when she was just a teenager. She arrived with a friend. Left the island alone a little later." Duke remembered the conditions they met under. He knew the story had still hurt Nick, but she was not here. There was only Steve, so he could tell him everything, having clean conscience as it would not trigger in Steve any unwanted painful memories as it would happen in Nick's case.

"The friend she came with, Rebeka, was murdered one night. And after that Nicole spent some time with us at our house. We weren't ready to let her leave alone or send her home. The state she was in... Steve, I have never in my life seen anything like that. She was left completely broken. The girl was the closest person she had. She was like a sister to her." Duke explained in short what happen those many years ago.

Steve looked up. He did not know what answer he had been expecting, but this was definitely not it. If he had guessed, he would have said that Duke met her while arresting her for a theft or other crimes. But this was a new information for him and he felt a slight change. Losing the loved one never got easier. Eventually, one would learn to live with the pain, but it would never disappear. It would keep surviving, constantly being brought back by one simple word, one action, one bad dream…

"I need to see that case reports." He simply stated. If it would help him understand the woman's motives and get him at the bottom of this 'problem', then he needed to know everything he could possibly get his hands onto. Steve was about to call upstairs have them look at the murder case.

"I'm make sure you get it in the morning. The cases from that time aren't uploaded in the system yet." Duke stopped Steve and reminded him that the approach he had in mind would not work. "It's going to have to be the old-fashioned way."

"I don't have time until the morning, Duke." Steve retorted as if it would change anything. He did a simple calculation in his head which resulted in the conclusion that there still might be a chance for him to get the box from the archive before the day ended. He was about to make another call that would grant him the case reports on his desk before midnight.

"Wait, Steve! Just hear me out." Duke addressed to Steve upon seeing the wheels in Steve's head turning, stopping him once again from making a call. "I know what she did today was wrong, and I don't approve any of it. But maybe you could wait until the morning. Go home, rest. Make sure Danny's okay." Duke saw that Steve was about to protest so he raised a finger. "I understand that you have your own way of making things work but trust me, give it time until the morning and then you can do your job as always." Duke noticed in Steve's expression that he did not like being told what to do and when or how to do it.

Steve had been silently listening to everything that Duke felt that needed to be said. At first, he did not want to admit the truth behind his words but on the second though, the truth was that he could use some rest. He was used to work long hours, but it did not mean that at the end of the day he would still have so much energy that he could give it out to everybody. He wanted to go home, lie in his bed and drift off to peaceful and uninterrupted sleep. But at the same time, he was afraid that whatever business had not been finished by the end of the day, it might slip away. He was afraid that in the morning he would wake up and the woman would be gone in the wind again. And he could not have that. Not now, when he finally had the chance to put every piece of puzzle together.

"I look at you, Steve, and I see you're exhausted, but hey, you caught a murderer today, so cut yourself some slack." Duke continued, arguing that wrapping up the day would be the best decision. "She's not going to go anywhere. I'll make sure of that." He answered before Steve could ask the question regarding the possible whereabouts of his arrestee.

Steve did not like the idea of leaving. He had decided that whatever would have been left unspoken tonight, it most likely would have haunted him, not giving him a time out until the morning hours. Hell, he was sure that the thoughts would not stop endlessly running around in his hear if he found out the answers to his questions. Whatever decision he made, it would not let him enjoy the peace of quiet mind.

"Let me talk to her." Duke changed the line of conversation, not arguing with the stubborn Navy SEAL about his mental state any more as it would conclude to nothing useful. But to make sure he would get some insight on the situation from the first hand tonight, he tried to negotiate. "She knows me. I think she might open up to me." Duke proposed.

Steve raised an eyebrow in a way that could be read as 'you really do think it would work' and Duke caught the unspoken question. "You tend to be quite intimidating." Duke shrugged. "And from the bits and pieces I heard, I assume she had been taught not to get intimidated." Duke internally smiled as he realized that she just might have won one point against Lieutenant Commander Steven McGarrett. The Navy SEAL knew what needed to be done to get what he wanted, and intimidation was one of his most perfected way of achieving that. But finding out, that he had failed this one time would certainly deeply hurt him. And somewhere deep inside, Duke was looking forward to that moment when the realization would kick Steve in his back.

A sound of ringing phone brought the two men back to the present time. Steve's phone had been ringing once again, interrupting the owner in an inconvenient time. But maybe it was Kono with good news. Then he would not complain. But looking at the screen of his phone, his mind subconsciously froze upon reading the caller's ID, feeling that this called was about to go only one way and it definitely was not a plus.

Before he accepted the call to face his probably very grumpy and not to forget mildly concussed partner, he contemplated Duke's proposal and concluded that he might actually have a shot at cracking this case. Even if the idea of him not being physically present was not making him the happiest person on Earth, eventually he agreed with Duke, as Steve now had to deal with another person.

„You've got ten minutes." Steve reminded Duke that although he might have his conversation, the time was limited, and disappeared behind the corner with his phone glued to his ear.

Duke turned his attention to the door that beeped, letting him know that he could freely step into the room. He opened the door, without hesitation came in only to see hawk's eyes closely observing him. He almost did not recognize the girl under the dimmed light and it sent a shudder down his spine. The change had been uncomfortable for him as upon seeing the expression on Nick's face he felt that there might be some truth in Steve's words. The scene in front of him suggested that maybe he was wrong at believing a person who had been gone for dozen years. He still did not know what had happened with her after she joined the Army. Maybe it completely changed her indeed. Maybe he did not know her at all.

Closing the door behind him, he thought about the right way to start conversation but too many questions were swirling in his head, making it impossible to choose the most important variable he needed to uncover.

"He's something, isn't he?" Nick's deep voice with evident bit of amusement echoed in the room and caught him by surprise. „The commander. Haven't expected him to be so..." Her voice died down as she tried to come up with the right word to describe the leader of the task force. „Just haven't expected him to take it that seriously." She explained when Duke had looked around the room, trying to understand who she was talking about.

„Really? That's the first thing you say?" Duke spoke for the first time since entering the room. With his eyes fixed on the woman sitting four feet in front of him he argued about the choice of her words to him, because those words and the way she had spoken them made him realize that he might not know the person at all. She had never used that tone.

"Look..." she sighed. „I'm sorry. Again. I shouldn't have pulled you into this mess. I should have dealt with it myself."

„No, no, stop right there." Duke shook his head. „I don't even want to know what would have happened if you had dealt with it on your own." He commented and then upon seeing the curious look on Nick's face he realized that the second sentence had unintentionally come out aloud.

Nick leaned back in the chair and gave out an unexpected laugh. „This is so wrong." She admitted, her eyes never leaving Duke's. „To be honest, I didn't see this coming before I came here."

„What happened?" Duke's voice softened. He assumed if he asked the question now, she would answer him with no avoidance.

„I came to see a friend, I'd say, who I met on an assignment. And he bailed out on me. He was supposed to show me around, it's been a while since I've been here. But he didn't show up. And you know, I'm a curious person, so I went to find out what caused this inconvenience. And since then, the things went straight down to hell." She blurted out, telling her story with mild modifications as there was no use in informing him about every possible detail.

This little information she gave out was enough to get her out of this heated situation with law, especially when it looked like she might have the sergeant on her side as he did not seem to be thinking that she had been lying. Which in her eyes she was not, but one might argue. For example, someone like Commander McGarrett who did not seem to believe her even when she told him her name. 'Oh, right, the factuality of my name is relative.' But he had no way of knowing as the name she had represented had solid roots.

„I assume it started when you met Commander McGarrett and Detective Williams." Duke outlined the most probable moment when said things turned to head different direction.

"Yeah, something like that." The corners of her lips rose up, but the smile did not reach her eyes. "And I'm sure you know the rest of the story from the Commander." She smiled, this time more naturally. "How is the blond one? The detective. Is he alright?" Nick asked and Duke noticed the sincere concern in her voice.

„He will be okay. He's at home now with a concussion." He pointed out not to accuse her but to make sure she knew that it was just a concussion, as something inside told him that she might be capable of inflicting much more pain and causing more problems than just a concussion. But it was still a serious injury nonetheless. „You can handle yourself in a fight quite well." He slightly changed the topic so her mind would not have to be fixed on the detective's concussion she had caused.

„Yeah, I had good teachers." She mumbled, not sure about the point, if there was one, that Duke was trying to make.

„Was Commander Joe White one of them, by any chance?" The question came out of nowhere and two surprised faces turned to the now opened door and watched the newcomer, who was none other than Lieutenant Commander McGarrett himself. Again.

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Steve picked up the phone and put it to his ear after he turned his back to Duke and was now walking away from the interrogation room. "Danny, everything alright?" He asked concerned for his concussed partner who was supposed to be taking a rest at his house.

"Hello to you too, Steve." Danny greeted like a well-mannered man he was, reminding Steve how he should start the phone call properly, but then he realized that it was probably useless trying to teach Steve good manners and not behave like a caveman he sometimes seemed to be. "And actually, I can ask you the same question. Imagine my surprise when I read the text that says you're bringing dinner. And then one hour later, you're still nowhere to be found. You know, you could have at least told me that you decided to ditch me for someone else. Do you really think I wouldn't understand that?" Danny threw words at Steve at high speed that it took Steve a moment or two to figure out what he was saying. Not that he figured the meaning at all.

"Wait, Danny! What are you talking about?" Steve asked before his partner could start another one of his talks. Danny had mastered this skill as the years of partnership went by and was able to deliver at any occasion, concussed or not.

"What am I talking about? You were supposed to be here. And you're not!" Danny tried hard to prove his point.

"Danny, you're freaking out." Steve stated the obvious.

"No, I'm not freaking out, I'm rightfully concerned for my partner. That's difference." Danny continued arguing. "You don't call all day. Then you don't show up later. I was worried!" He simply stated.

"Yeah, okay, Danny. Whatever." He said slightly irritated, which was nothing new this day. He remembered the cause of everyone's today's headache and the reality hit him almost instantly. He paused to think about the best way how to break the news to his partner. There were two choices and neither of them was pleasing to him. Should he wait to tell Danny tomorrow when he would be better? Should he tell him now and deal with whatever Danny throws at him at hand? Wouldn't it worsen Danny's health condition?

Steve had zoned out and was now completely lost in his mind, pondering over the right way to inform his partner about the most recent events, while Danny called out to him more than once.

"…Steve! Are you listening?!" Danny's shouting brought Steve back at the same time the elevator dinged, letting Steve know he was at the floor where 5-0 offices were situated.

"Yeah, Danny, sorry. There's been too much going on recently." Steve admitted as he ran his hand though his hair, walking over to his office, missing curious glances of Chin and Kono who were watching the live video footage from the room in basement.

"What… Where are you? What are you not telling me?!" Danny noticed the suspension on Steve's side and to say it alarmed him was an understatement. "Spill it out or I'm-"

"I found her." Steve simply stated as he was sure that his partner would put the pieces together. He waited for shower of unrecognizable words to be thrown at him. But there was a silence on the other side of the line and it made Steve highly uncomfortable. "Danny? You okay?"

"Okay? How can I be okay?!" Danny raised his voice again and the words started picking up speed. "Where are you? Is she with you now? Did you find out who she is and what she was doing at Joe's place?" Danny overwhelmed Steve with questions.

"I'm still working on it, Danny." Steve reassured his worried friend in hope that it would help him lower the blood pressure that was not a good mix-up with a concussion.

"Working on it? He's working on it!" He exclaimed to no one in particular. "I hope it doesn't include hanging off a roof or shark cage diving." Danny lectured Steve, reminding him once again that he did not approve of his action in the past. He suddenly changed the topic like a gust wind, back to the woman in question. "What did she tell you?"

"Not much. She's with Duke now. Hopefully, he'll get something out her." Steve voiced his genuine wish.

"Why Duke?" The revelation caught Danny by surprise. As he knew Steve, he usually led the interrogation and definitely did not like to be a bystander in one. 'Control freak'.

"Well, it seems there's much more to the story then we anticipated." Steve said and continued to summarize the last one hour or so in one short minute.

"Wow. I had no idea she's a friend of Lukela's. Good thing we didn't shoot her." Danny joked after the new information settled in, but Steve did not find it humorous. "I want to talk to her."

Steve had been waiting for Danny to say that. "You should take it easy, partner." He advised him but knew it would not change Danny's mind. "You are not cleared for duty."

"No, no, no, don't try this on me. I'm fine, and it's not like I'm not gonna be running around, chasing bad guys. It's just a conversation. She owes me!" He paused for a moment. "That, plus I don't trust you being around the people unsupervised, especially when things get personal." Danny added, not backing up.

"Okay, stand still. I'll figure something out." Steve sighed defeated. The fighting got harder by every minute as the exhaustion was slowly taking over. He was a fool. To think that nothing could wait until the morning. To not tell Danny the minute he set his eyes on the woman in the dining room. To let his personal emotions rule his common sense.

"Alright. I guess I'll see you when I see you. Be careful. She knows a way how to give a pretty nasty concussion." Danny's tired mind came up with another joke and this time Steve laughed at it lightly.

The call disconnected and as there was no use in sitting around in his office, he made his way to the two cousins who were watching the live feed.

"Anything?" Steve simply asked as he stopped in front of one of the screens.

"Nothing yet. We need to dig much deeper and I don't think our resources will cover that." Kono admitted.

"What are you saying? That we should take her words for granted?" Steve frowned at his coworker.

"That's the last thing I'd suggest. But maybe we can actually hold on to something she says." Kono shrugged and turned the attention back to the screen.

Before Steve did the same, he noticed that Chin had been quietly standing by Kono's side, not saying a word to him the whole time since he had arrived. He wanted to let it go, but the strange feeling in his gut was telling him to dig into it.

"Everything alright, Chin?" He eyed him suspiciously.

"Yeah, I've been just thinking." Chin waved it off but Steve pressed further.

"About?" Steve inquired.

„I don't know what it is... The name and her look. I feel like I saw her. But I can't place where or when." Chin shared his concern with the other participants of the conversation.

„Yeah, I might help with that." Steve offered. „Duke said that twelve years ago she was a part of a case. She came with a best friend Rebeka who was murdered. She then stayed with Duke for a while before returning home." He carefully watched Chin for any indication that he might remember her actually from that time period. Chin's input might help him find out more before he got his hands on the murder report.

And Chin's face instantly brightened up as Steve had expected, only maybe not to that extent. Steve and Kono could only silently watch him, as the wide smile broke out on his face. „Oh my God, why haven't I thought of that?" He shook his head and looked at Kono and Steve who patiently waited for elaboration. „We met a couple of times, but only briefly. She didn't talk much outside, but she quickly got acquainted with Duke. But man, could she hold her own in poker."

Kono whole-heartedly laughed at the image of a teenager winning the card game, leaving behind skilled players with dropped jaws. „Wait, I didn't know Duke was such a poker player back in the day." She joined the conversation.

„Nah, he wasn't. That was all John's doing. She spent with him more time than with Duke. She was a good player, but he helped her perfect that skill. They were like best of friends." Chin put the facts in their right places as he continued reminiscing.

„Wait a minute. Do you mean-" Kono cut the question halfway and her gaze wandered over from Chin to rigidly standing Steve.

He had been attentively listening to every word Chin said and the mention of John made him completely still, spontaneously sending a shiver down his spine. Two sets of eyes were now glued to him, watching him closely. They both could not imagine the surprised and at the same time angry look on his face when he realized who was the guest at Lukela's house and now they just might have added a fuel to the fire by telling him that none other than John McGarrett, Steve's father, had made friends with the woman downstairs.

'This gotta be a nightmare'. The duo watched him as he put a hand over his tired-looking face and when he put it back down, one of the not so many faces of Steve McGarrett appeared in front of them. This one they had seen today a few times as it was the one that was eager to get answers.

They looked at each with deep concern for everyone who was about to be involved in the storm Steve stormed out of the room to most like go back downstairs.

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Steve stepped in to the room in the right moment, surprising both Nick and Duke.

„Was Commander Joe White one of them, by any chance?" Commander addressed the question that came out as response to Nick mentioning 'good teachers', but two surprised faces turned to him. "Or maybe my father?" He directed the second question to both of them.

"I'm sorry, but what does your father have to do with anything?" Nick inquired, not sure why Steve acted so out of the skin at the mention of John.

"You tell me that!" He shouted. In seconds he closed the short distance between him and the sitting woman and he stopped in her face, the same as when he threatened her a while ago. "Who sent you?" He demanded, tired of playing any more games.

"Oh, for God's sake! No one sent me!" Nick's voice matched Steve's. She had enough of justifying herself and her actions. There were certain people who would not believe a word she said, and it enraged her that Steve seemed to be one of them. "Can't I just come to see a friend who I owe a life to? Or is it a crime now? Why is that so incomprehensible to you? Just because I punched your partner you've made it your mission to make my life hell? Please, be my guest! But I'm telling you, I've already had enough of this!" Her voice broke at the end of the sentence from shouting at Steve so much that it left her with sore throat. Steve and Duke were just looking at her in complete silence, both dumbfounded by the unexpected outburst. "From what I've heard, I presumed you'd be kind of… different." She finished her speech gravelly.

Steve came out of the trance in a matter of second. "Yeah, well, time changes people." He drily stated.

"Okay, let's take a break." Duke stepped into the conversation before it would escalate into a physical fight. As much as it might be interesting to watch them, he was genuinely concerned that with so much hatred in the air it would become a deathmatch. He observed the two of them for a moment before he came to a conclusion that they both were like two sides of the same coin. Stubborn, hard-headed, loyal to their principles, and not to forget explosive temper. Duke came out of his thoughts after he heard Steve speak.

"Get up." He ordered Nick sternly after he unlocked the handcuffs on her left hand.

"So what, am I finally gonna spend the rest of the night in jail?" She asked him like nothing had happened moments before. She told him exactly the truth that had been on her mind for a while. It was not her fault that he did not understand. That he did not want to understand. And she was just too exhausted to come up with another way to persuade him about the good intentions and her actions. In other words, she was just tired of endless and meaningless fight.

"Isn't that where you belong?" He retorted, leading her out of the room with Duke quietly following right behind them.

Duke was not wasting any word as it would probably have no impact at neither of them.