Okay.. I'm humbly seeking forgiveness for not updating...again :/ This time though, it was thanks to the awesome virus my computer got. The good news is, it's fixed and I didn't lose anything! So hopefully I can be better at updating this time! Thanks everyone who has read this story for patiently waiting for updates.. Please R and R :)

Additional note: While the name of this mystery plant is real, the rest of the info about it is 100% made up... A botanist I am not, lol ;)

Catherine decided to go back to Steve's house before going to five 0's HQ, just in case this was some sort of cruel joke. It was anything but funny to her, and yet faced with the alternative, she hoped that's all this was. A joke. It still didn't seem like anything that could be real to her.

She thought about how Steve had always faced the threat of someone him and the rest of Five 0 had put away seeking revenge. And it had happened, but never with Steve at the centre of it like this time. That part was the hardest to get past in her mind. The idea of him being pulled out from under them right there on the island, an island he knew so well just didn't feel real. She silently begged him to be standing right there in his living room as she quickly put her car in park and ran up to the door.

"Steve!" She called, trying the door she had locked that morning. She knew the fact that it was still locked was a sign no had been there, but it didn't stop her from scrambling to get her key in the lock anyway. "Steve, are you here?" She called again pushing her body against the door as if that could make it open faster.

Even seeing the living room exactly as she had left it didn't deter her from checking the kitchen, dining room, and then running up the stairs. She just couldn't face the idea of what was quickly become a hellish reality.

Seeing the bedroom exactly as they had left it certainly didn't help her feel any less scared. It only reminded her that just a few hours before, they were wrapped in each other's arms making up for their time apart. And now, they were apart for a very different reason. She sat down on his side of the bed and put her hand on his pillow. As scared as she was, se couldn't help but smile a little thinking about how specific Steve was about his pillows when he slept. She was reminding herself about one time specifically when her phone began buzzing in her hand. She looked quickly, STILL thinking it was going to be Steve with a giant gotcha! And then that laugh she loved so much.

She was let down once again though. "Danny." She snifled slightly. "Did you..?"

"No, I haven't heard anything yet, sorry." After hearing the emotion in her voice, he unintentionally let the worry sound in his for the person they mutually cared a lot about. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay, it's been half an hour since you wanted to meet at HQ, so.." He trailed off, unsure exactly how to say what he wanted.

"Oh," she put her hand to her forehead and looked over at the clock, realizing how long she'd been there. "I'm sorry," she felt horrible, realizing she had him worried something had happened to her too. "I'm on my way right now." She stood up and headed back downstairs. "I stopped back at Steve's because I thought..." She stopped, realizing once she heard herself say it how stupid it sounded. And in turn, how harsh the reality of the situation truly was.

"Hey," Danny picked up on the fear in her voice. "We will find him, whatever is going on, wherever he is, we'll get him, Catherine."

She sighed as she turned the lock once more and headed back to her car. "Yeah." Was all she managed to say. The potential gravity of the situation was really hitting her now, and as much as she knew staying positive and agreeing with Danny was important, she couldn't quite voice it.

"I may pretend to ignore him, make fun of his ways, and disagree with everything he says," he let out the smallest of laughs after hearing Catherine letting one out too. "but if anyone can find our superSEAL it's the team that he trained, right?"

"Yeah." She agreed, a little more confident this time. "Okay, I'm in the car now, I'll be there in less than fifteen minutes."

They quickly said bye and hung up as she peeled out of the driveway.

All the way to the palace, Catherine was going through everything in her head over and over again, reminding herself she had to keep a clear head to figure this out. It was all gone in a split second though, when she spotted the dark blue Silverado parked in its usual spot. Seeing no one inside it, she ran to the main door, up the stairs and down the hall to the Five 0 offices. But the hope she'd so quickly built up was gone in seconds. "Where's Steve?!" She asked Danny and Chin, who were standing at the smart table. She looked into his office as she asked again. "Where is he? He's here, right?" she was almost breathing heavy now.

"Did you hear from him? Or the mystery caller again?" Chin asked, sharing a confused glance with Danny.

She shook her head. "His truck is outside," she pointed with her thumb behind her. "He's here..." She trailed off, seeing the completely blank look on his team's face.

"What?" Danny asked, sure he misunderstood her. "Are you sure?" He asked, turning to Chin.

"Guys," she said with a hint of desperation. "Go look!"

Without hesitation the four of them ran outside.

"What the..." Danny trailed off, as they visually confirmed what Catherine had told them. He started running, followed by Chin. He silently motioned to Chin to take the passenger's side while he took the driver's side, both with guns drawn. Finding nothing but a small box on the drivers seat, he was audibly surprised.

"Oh crap." He said aloud, prompting the girls, who had caught up to them to step off the curb and go towards where he was standing.

He very slightly shook his head when the girls standing by the front bumper were going to follow. "Just Chin, and come slowly." He said, breathing a little bit heavier.

"What is it?" Chin asked as he slowly made his way around to the drivers side. He didn't want to think the worst, but he had plenty enough experience on this team in the last few years to know that 'come alone and no sudden movements' quite often meant some sort of explosive device. And the look on Danny's face certainly didn't make him think anything different in this moment.

Both women stopped in their tracks on the other side of the truck, waiting to learn what was causing Chin and Danny to be so cautious.

"Have you ever seen that before?" The detective motioned, only with his eyes, at the small box sitting on the drivers seat.

Chin looked from his friend, to the box on the seat of the truck. "You mean the plant, or.." he trailed off, silently motioning to the device surrounding the potted plant.

"Yeah, the plant." Danny replied quickly, not sure what to say yet about their other discovery on the driver's seat.

Chin instinctively looked at his cousin next. "It looks like a.." He shook his head in disbelief, still looking at her.

"What is it Chin?" She asked, noticing how his facial expressions had changed.

"Stay there Kono." He cautioned in his best authoritative voice.

"Well what is it?" She asked, annoyed.

"I don't know for sure, but it looks like a piece of a Gardenia brighamii plant."

After scanning the small terra cotta pot with the plant in it, he looked back up at his cousin as he finished his sentence.

"What is that?" Catherine asked. "Is it one of those preserved species that only grows throughout the Hawaiian Islands?"

"Not this one." Chin corrected her. "It only grows in one place, near the North Shore. This stuff is extremely rare.

"And I'm guessing ones with bombs strapped around them are even more rare, huh?" Danny asked rhetorically, still keeping one eye on the device locked around the pot. " So, should we be going to where it grows? Kono?" He looked over at her, because she had been so quiet once Chin offered his findings.

"At Pau'lua beach." Kono specified. "That's the only place in the world other than Australia that it grows."

"Okay, is this a clue to where Steve is you think?" Catherine asked, glancing between Chin and Kono.

"It could be," Chin gave a short nod.

"But also-"

I'm deathly allergic to it." Kono cut him off and said as plainly as could be, looking at her friends and coworkers. "I think this is for me." She looked at her cousin, who shared her look of concern.

'That might be," Chin agreed. "But if it is for you, then who is the bomb strapped to it for?"

"Well, this is just ridiculous." Danny spat. "I'm so over this sob, and we don't even know a single thing about him yet."

"Except that he knows us." Chin reminded him. "That's the only way to explain the truck, and the plant. He's been doing his research, and probably following us."

"Yeah." Danny nodded. "It's about time we start doing the following." He turned on his heels and walked with conviction back towards their offices.