Author's Note: I've been tossing an idea around in my head for a while, ever since I watched episode 7.07 last fall and started seeing parallels with another one of my favorite TV couples. I believe Steve and Catherine are meant to be together and would love to see them end up that way. This is how I think it might happen. There will be a little bit of foul language thrown in here or there, I hope it won't offend anybody.

All of the situations and dialogue you recognize from the show belong to the genius of Five-0's writers, producers, directors and cast. I can only take credit for everything else.

Although I have obsessively read and re-read this I'm definitely not perfect so I'm sure you will find mistakes which are all my own and for which I apologize in advance. I've spent months working on this, and hope it will be worth the ridiculous number of hours I've devoted to it because I think it's a great story. It's basically finished and there won't be too long between updates because I hope to have it published in its entirety before the season 8 premiere. I know there will be new teammates added this coming season but I don't want to try to write them so they'll only be alluded to in this fic.

Thanks to everyone who has read and especially those who have reviewed my previous stories. I hope this one doesn't disappoint!

Endgame
Chapter 1

McGarrett Residence
Monday in mid-May, 1600 hours

Steve was restless. He was laid out on the recliner in his living room, trying to shut off his mind so he could rest. His symptoms from Radiation Sickness had lessened, but his stamina had taken a hard hit and a series of long days and little sleep had left him feeling exhausted. He'd left work early, at his partner's insistence, and Danny had stopped by with Charlie after picking the boy up from school. He'd claimed a desire to check up on Steve and had easily observed the man in question was not looking any better so they'd stayed only for a short visit before the blonde had all but ordered his partner to get some sleep.

And Steve was trying. So very hard. But he just couldn't stop the train of thoughts that was running through his head; reminding him repeatedly that he was getting older and was going to wind up alone.

He had sacrificed so much for his government, his country, the people he was protecting. And for most of his life he did it gladly, not minding the sacrifice, because it was all about the job. But with his body betraying him more and more, eventually he wouldn't have the job to fall back on, and what would be left?

Danny had a legacy in his children, Grace and Charlie, and was an amazing father who had shown time and again that he would do anything for his kids. And Steve loved Danny's kids like they were his own. He loved being their 'Uncle Steve', and spending time with them.

Except lately being around Danny's young son tugged at his heartstrings and he was realizing he might have some regret that he never took the time to start a family of his own. It was probably too late now. Even if he started tomorrow he wasn't sure he'd be able to step back from work enough to commit to parenting the way it should be done.

And it wasn't like he didn't have anyone - his teammates and their families were his 'ohana. Chin-Ho along with his girlfriend Abby and adopted daughter Sara, Kono and her husband Adam, Lou along with his wife Renee and their children Samantha & Will were all a large and important part of his life.

But while the rest of his team got to go home to their loved ones at the end of the day, he went home alone. But that hadn't always been the case – he'd basically lived with Catherine, the love of his life, until she broke his heart for the second time two years before.

He'd tried to move on. He'd been dating a woman, Lynn, for about a year and a half. He enjoyed spending time with her but hadn't been able to get too serious because he still wasn't over Catherine. Despite everything that had happened between them and all the time that has passed, it was still only his lieutenant that he'd ever pictured himself coming home to every night.

And he'd been thinking about that more often recently, as he'd become acutely aware of how empty his house really was. Maybe it was because he'd been spending so much time there convalescing, but he was starting to long for something more. Something he feared he'd never have.

Frustrated, he rose and headed to the kitchen for a glass of water. Leaning against the counter he realized he wasn't going to be able to rest unless he could derail his train of thought so he popped a couple Tylenol for the ache in his head and headed out to the garage to work on the Marquis. He decided getting down under the car was more than his body could handle, but he figured he could sit on a stool and tinker with the engine.

He went to retrieve his tools but was missing a socket wrench and, looking around, realized his garage was kind of a mess. When did that happen? He sat heavily on the stool he'd set out and dropped his forehead into his hand. He'd allow just a few moments of self-pity before once again marshalling the strength to just get it done.

As he sat hunched his eyes lit on his father's old tool box, the 'champ' box. After a few moments of quiet contemplation, he rose from the stool and walked the six feet to stand in front of it. He stared at it for a moment before lifting the lid with both hands, reaching in and removing a small box. He opened the lid and gazed at the sparkling diamond that he'd bought with intent to propose to Catherine.

But she had left before he ever got the chance and despite having his heart broken by her, twice, he hadn't been able to let the ring go. Wanting it close, he'd kept it in a drawer in his dresser until Lynn had come across it months earlier. She'd been angry and upset, feeling he hadn't been honest with her about the depth of his feelings for his ex. And he'd realized he should get rid of the ring, but had been unable to part with it so he'd moved it to the garage where it wouldn't be accidentally discovered again.

And now as he looked at is he remembered the day he'd planned to give it to Catherine. The very same day he'd arrived home and found her sitting on the porch, bag packed and ready to go.

"I'm sorry." She told him, her eyes wet.

"You just got here."

"Look, Steve, it's not that I don't love you. I do. But I have to go away for a little bit."

He crossed his arms as if it would somehow make it hurt less. "How long?"

"The truth is, I don't really know."

He just looked at her, unable to believe what was happening. He was finally ready to make his commitment to her official, to propose marriage and promise to spend the rest of his life making her happy. He had a fricking engagement ring burning a hole in his pocket, for heaven's sake, and she was just… leaving.

"This is so hard." She inhaled sharply, and couldn't look at him. "I need more than what a relationship can give me right now."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing; she'd seemed happy and he wondered where was this coming from. But none of that mattered to him at the moment because he didn't want to lose her and part of him was willing to do what it took to keep her in his life.

"Okay," he asked. "What do you want?"

"To feel needed," She said, crying.

"You are." He admitted.

"No, not like that. See, when your phone rings someone needs you. Okay? And you can help them. And I want to feel that."

He uncrossed his arms and gestured. "So, come back to Five-0."

"No. Steve, Five-0 is you. It's always gonna be your thing, okay? I need to build something on my own."

He took a measured breath in and blew it out before moving to sit next to her on the porch, close enough for their arms to touch.

He sighed. "So, you're going back to Afghanistan?"

"No, Nepal." She looked over at him. "That earthquake hit them hard. I'm going to be running helidrops for the Red Cross. Getting those supplies to people who need it the most is where I can… I can make a difference."

"All right, well, that's a two-month op at most," he said, willing to wait for her if necessary to make their relationship work. He could handle a couple months apart, they'd done it for years.

"Could be more." She said, noncommittally, and he started to wonder if she was trying to break it off. He didn't want to believe it but…

"You know, Catherine, if you want out of this thing," he turned to face her, knowing his eyes were wet with unshed tears, "why don't you just look me in the eye and tell me you want out of this thing?"

She shook her head, resignedly and her bottom lip trembled. "If I could be at two places at once at the same time," she said, her voice breaking, "I would."

"Yeah, but you can't Catherine. And, and you're choosing the place where I'm not. I mean…" He couldn't finish for fear his emotions would take over. He looked up at the sky, pursing his lips, trying to regain control over what he was feeling. He heard her sniffle and saw her wipe her eyes. He didn't understand why she seemed upset when she was bringing this on herself – why she wouldn't just choose to stay if she loved him as much as she claimed to. But maybe she didn't. And suddenly, he knew what he had to do. "Listen. If you leave today," he told her, "I can't… I can't wait for you. Not anymore."

She nodded, tears leaking from her eyes.

"You understand?" He asked her, not able to believe she wasn't choosing to stay.

She nodded and sighed heavily. A sob escaped before she regained control and nodded again. She looked straight ahead while he watched her. "Yeah. I understand."

And Steve knew that was it. It was over between them. He felt his heart breaking and part of him wanted nothing more than to crawl into her arms and let her comfort him. But the rest of him was no longer willing to reveal to her the depth of his pain. So, he slammed the door on his emotions and got down to business. "Okay, I'll drive you to the airport."

"I already called for a ride," she told him and he noticed a black SUV approaching in the driveway. "I'd rather say goodbye to you here." She wiped at her eyes and rose, sniffling as she turned to face him and he stood as well.

"Come here." She pulled him into a hug and held him tight, sobbing on his shoulder.

And he put his arms around her, but not like he wanted to. He wanted to grab hold and never let go.

"I'm so sorry," she said into his chest, "I will always, always love you, okay?"

She released him and turned to pick up her bag. 'I will always love you too', he thought as she walked away. But he couldn't watch her leave and looked anywhere but down the driveway until he heard the car door open and close. Only then did he turn and watch as the vehicle backed up and drove away.

"Aloha." He said to the retreating vehicle before pulling the jewelry box from his pocket, opening it and looking at the ring.

Steve clearly remembered how he had felt at that moment, almost two years earlier. She was the only woman he'd ever loved, the best thing that had ever happened to him.

She'd been part of his life for twelve years and now she was gone for good.

And he was broken.

He knew he would never be the same.

And he'd never expected to see her again.

But nine months later he'd been shocked to learn that she'd lied to him. She wasn't doing aid work in Nepal, she was with the CIA and been called out on a mission in Ukraine. And her life was in danger because of it. Saving her life was the only thing that mattered so he'd put aside the pain of her betrayal and done what needed to be done. But he was left feeling a bit unsettled because there was obviously more to the story that he would likely never know.

But she'd turned up at his house unexpectedly fourteen months later and suddenly he had a chance to finally get some answers. She'd enlisted his help to rescue his mother from a CIA black site so he'd accompanied her to Morocco and they'd had a long talk on the plane and he finally got some answers.

She'd confessed she hadn't wanted to lie to him but had been under orders to do so. And when she'd admitted that walking away from him was the hardest thing she'd ever done he'd realized her heart had also been broken. And that was when he first started to wonder if he had acted too rashly and made a mistake.

But she'd left him again, destined for a location he was not allowed to know. That goodbye, on a private runway in Morocco, had been different because they'd both gotten some semblance of closure. He gazed at the ring nestled in the box and shook his head slowly, remembering their last conversation and how she'd told him would have said 'yes' if he'd proposed.

He had gone over it so many times and still wasn't sure whether that knowledge made it better or worse. But it definitely made him regret even more all the times he took her for granted. All the years it took him to say those three words. Little, stupid, words.

What had he been afraid of? What it would mean? That admitting aloud how important she was to him would somehow put her at risk? He sighed.

He had only ever said it over the phone when she was halfway around the world. He'd never said it to her face, not even when she'd returned from Afghanistan. He had been going to tell her in his proposal. But he never got the chance. Once again, he'd waited too long.

He always thought she'd been okay with their relationship, that they'd been on the same page, and maybe they were for a long time when they were both on active duty and deployed all over the world. But circumstances had changed.

What if she'd wanted more? When she'd left him the last time she had told him a relationship with him wasn't enough, that she needed more. At the time, he'd taken her at her word. Then, when he'd learned she'd been ordered to lie he'd started to wonder how much of what she'd said had been her real feelings and how much had been part of the cover.

He still didn't know… but maybe it was time to try and find out.

I hope you enjoyed this first chapter and would love some feedback. Chapter 2 should already be up and I plan regular updates going forward with the entire story posted before the new season starts on September 29th.