Chapter 4

Doris held her glare on him as he asked one of the toughest questions she had to answer. "He turned when he found out that I was the one who killed his mother." She said softly. "A few days before you came to me asking for help with Kono and Adam."

"He didn't know?" Steve hissed. "All that time?"

"Yeah, that would probably be cause to piss him off." Danny whispered dryly.

"He was too young to understand when I was bringing him up. He knew some things; what I did for a job, but there were only a handful of people who knew what I'd done to his mother. I didn't think it would ever get out."

"So you took that chance?"

"When I found out that he wanted me as his contact within the company, the operation would have been dropped if I'd refused… he wouldn't have gone through with it. And the same would have happened if he knew the full story. So I had to stay quiet and hope that it would never be discussed."

"But it was." Steve answered.

She nodded. "Leaked; and Cobb had to have had something to do with it." She sighed. "Wo Fat knew that Shelburne was the one that killed his mother, that's why he'd been looking. Then he found out it was me and…"

"He felt betrayed; lied too. I know how he felt." Steve growled bitterly.

"That's why I left with Kono and Adam. I had to disappear. When I found out he was in prison I thought it would be the best time to tell him what happened in my own words. Explain the circumstances. That's why I visited him."

Steve smirked with disgust. "You didn't just visit him, mom. You aided and abetted a violent and dangerous criminal to break out of prison."

"That's not true, Steve." She whispered.

"The evidence says otherwise."

Doris closed her eyes and sighed.

Steve's shoulders relaxed, possibly because he'd finally appeared to have her in a submissive state. Perhaps she now understood that he could not be blindsided by her twists any more. "When was the last time you spoke to him?"

She glared at him, pausing with the thought of how he would react when he found out the next part of the story. "He left my house, two days ago… and I didn't speak to him again."

Steve frowned. He was a wanted criminal, it was a miracle he'd gotten on the Island in the first place, after breaking out from Super Max, he found it hard to believe that Wo Fat would have left the island to visit her in another city. It dawned on him, hitting him like a tonne of bricks. "You were here? On the island? All this time?"

She hesitated for a moment before drawing back a deep breath. "I've been on the island for months." She whispered. "I came back just after I'd heard you'd killed Cobb, he was one of the major threats to my safety on the island… and I have been here ever since."

He could feel his chest tighten so much that he struggled to breathe. Just when he thought the situation couldn't possibly get any more screwed up, she proved him wrong.

"Wait." Danny coughed with disgust. "You mean you came back here when you heard Cobb had been taken out? You came back because you knew it was safe for you?" he growled as he glanced at Steve and then back to Doris again. "Cobb dropped a commercial building on us… it was a miracle we got out alive. He did that because Steve was getting too deep into your history, asking questions about your conduct that he didn't want attention on. Cobb tried to shut us down. Now you're saying that you came back because it was safe for you? What about the safety of your son? Where were you for that?"

Steve's eyes drifted down, still unable to inflate his lungs with sufficient air. To add to his problems, his stomach churned in response to her sickening admission.

"Let me make this clear." She started as she glared at Danny. "I had no idea as to what Cobb was planning. I didn't even know that Steve had been investigating any of this." She answered. "If I had of done, I would have come forward, I would have stopped him."

"You knew that I wanted answers. You knew that I wasn't going to stop until I got them." Steve whispered bitterly. "You had a chance to tell me all of this before I placed my team and myself into the kind of danger we've been in."

"I regret that day so much." She answered. "Sitting in your office, knowing that I had the chance to set things straight. Perhaps then, maybe things would have turned out better for everyone."

Steve's eyes cut through her. "When you say 'better for everyone', you mean he would still be alive."

She exhaled heavily as she looked down. "I know you couldn't possibly understand, Steve. But he meant something to me, whether you like it or not. I can't change that." She paused. "So yes, I am mourning his death. Just as anyone would in my position."

Steve grinned with disgust. "Did you mourn dad's death? Did you feel guilty that you put him in harm's way?"

"That's not fair, Steve. He knew what he was getting into." She snapped.

"Have you ever once felt any genuine sorrow for what you and your job did to Mary and I? Did to our childhood? How it split us all up and left us on our own?" he growled without a second thought to her reply. "Then you showed up, and you dragged Dad into it. And we ended up losing the one person we could count on being there." He continued with burning anger. "You come back into peoples lives. Dad's, mine, Mary's; even Wo Fat's. You do nothing but destroy people with your lies and your games. You don't seem to care who it affects or how much you push people down, just as long as your own agenda is protected and carried out." He paused.

Doris' face flickered with emotion, her eyes brimming with tears, but even that didn't ignite a single fragment of sorrow or pity in Steve.

He shook his head. "Before Dad sent us away, I used to pray to god for him to give me my mom back. To have you sitting on the chairs, out back, with Dad watching Mary and me surf. Hear your voice again, back to a time where I felt safe because nothing bad was ever going to happen. You used to tell me that, those nights you'd come into my room when I was having a nightmare. Do you remember that mom?"

She looked at him, the tears tracked down her cheeks.

"Thing is, you did come; 15 years too late, and the person you are today isn't that woman who brought us up." He paused before exhaling. "As far as I'm concerned, my mom died in that car; and she's never coming back. You. You're nothing to me. Nothing at all."

"I want to make this right. I want to be a mother to you and Mary again." Doris nodded.

"You don't think you've had more than your share of chances?" Steve frowned with shock that she could be so brazen to say such a thing. "You can't make this right. Not ever."

"I have no ties left that can put us in danger. I'm out, and I'm free."

"You've been choosing Wo Fat over your kids for years. You just know that now he has gone you've got nothing left except time for the ones you've neglected all this time." He shook his head. "It's not going to happen mom. We're not interested."

"You think I chose him over you? You are so wrong." She protested.

"Okay." Danny nodded. "So why haven't you seen or spoken to Steve since you've been back on the island?"

Steve fixed his eyes on her, reluctant to hear the answer.

Doris shuffled uncomfortably. "I couldn't."

"You couldn't? Why?" Danny pushed.

She looked at her son, her heart pacing a million miles an hour. She hesitated, her face etched with regret. "Because I would have risked Wo Fat's freedom." She nodded. "And I felt that I owed him protection."

Steve closed his eyes, squeezing them tight as he wished he could have deflected the response and not heard it at all. There it was, this was how she felt, she owed and cared more for this monster than she did for her own children.

"There was a chance that he was coming back into play. I had to preserve his cover until such time." She continued, desperately sounding like some kind of damage control.

"Did you know that he was coming for Steve?" Danny asked.

"Of course not." She snapped. "I would have stopped him."

"Because you would be protecting Steve, or protecting Wo Fat?" he continued.

"Steve, he's twisting. It's not like that. You know that I love you and; no, I may not have been mother of the year but I did what I did for genuine reasons. It has never been a competition between him and you and Mary."

"Get out." Steve whispered.

"Steve… I promise you…" she pleaded.

"Get. Out." He snarled quietly as his eyes burned through hers.

She paused for a moment, she knew this conversation was over for now. Perhaps it was over forever. Her lips trembled and her eyes filled with tears. "Steve…" she whispered.

"Danny." Steve said sternly.

"Okay…." Danny chimed as he stood up. "Time to go." He said, grabbing her arm gently.

"Don't touch me." She growled.

"You have a choice. Leave now or I arrest you for outstaying your welcome. Then we add all the other felonies you have stacking up against you, I don't need to explain to you how life will become very unpleasant if that happens." Danny nodded.

Doris stood up reluctantly. Hovering for a moment as she looked at Steve. He refused to offer her any kind of eye contact, afraid that if he looked at her he didn't know what he would do anymore. She willed him silently to offer her some peace, just something, but it never came.

She turned and headed for the door, picking up her purse before stepping out. Danny followed close behind, he was determined to make sure she had left before he'd stand down. She turned to him. "Just so you know; I'm going to get things back to how they were between my son and I." She nodded with determination. "And I don't care what or who stands in my way. I'll take them out."

"I'm sorry? Is that a threat? Are you threatening me?" Danny shrugged with amusement.

"I'm just offering you some friendly advice." She replied, her tone dripping with intimidation.

Danny straightened. "You know, I never met John; but I've heard so much about him. About how loyal he was, how he would lay down his own life and freedom for others. How he cared for people." He paused. "I hear the stories and it's like they are talking about Steve." He grinned. "He's a credit to John. He turned out better than anyone could ever expect given what he went through." He pushed. "And Mary, yeah, she made some massive mistakes in the time I've known her, but she stepped up and she was determined to be a mother, a good mother, and she's doing it with no experience or role model to go by."

Doris tightened her lips.

"The point is that the people they are today had nothing to do with you and I personally think that the best thing you ever did was disappear. If you hadn't, perhaps they wouldn't have grown into people who are honest, fiercely devoted to their friends; people who will stand up and tackle anything thrown at them and who won't walk away." He shrugged. "So you see, the only person standing in your way in getting things back to how they were, is Steve. He's done with you."

She glared at Danny with bitterness.

"So I would strongly suggest that you get in your car, you drive away and you disappear for good. I may not have known Steve for a lifetime, but I definitely know him better than you. And I know him enough to say that what just happened between you and him; that was final."

"And what if I didn't take your advice?" She whispered.

"Then you can guarantee that you and me, we're going to cross paths again on this island and when we do; I will have no hesitation in seeing how well those charges, we talked about, stand up against you."

She held her glare on him for what seemed like an eternity before breaking her eye contact and walking toward the car. Danny stood frozen as he watched her hop into the vehicle and pull away. He exhaled a breath, so deep that it was as if he'd been holding it throughout the entire confrontation. He turned and pushed his way back into the house.

"Steve?" he called out when he couldn't see him in either the living room, kitchen or office. Finally he noticed his best friend sitting in one of the white wooden chairs in the garden, overlooking the gentle swell. He grabbed two beers from the refrigerator, and stepped out into the yard, over to the vacant white chair. He slumped down and passed Steve one of the bottles. Steve looked at him and smiled thinly as he reached out and took the beer.

Danny sighed as he leant back into the chair and looked out over the clear blue water. "I got a feeling she will be back."

Steve's eyes drifted down as he gave some thoughts to his feelings. He was somewhat relieved that it all seemed so clear in his mind, for the first time in he didn't know how long. "Not in my life she won't. Not now."

"I said something similar to her." Danny said as he sipped his beer.

"You don't think she bought it?"

"I think she's a McGarrett, and your family motto seems to be 'if at first you don't succeed then just keep doing it until you piss someone off enough to shoot you'."

Steve smiled weakly and nodded his head.

"I'm proud of the way you handled it Steve." Danny nodded. "It can't have been easy."

If he was honest with himself it was like every other time she'd been in his life. Like his emotions had been shaken so many times with her it almost felt normal. But, for now, he felt a sense of relief, of calm, it felt like it was over to some degree. Steve raised his bottle to Danny as they tapped them together. "To real ohana."

"To real ohana." Danny smiled.

NOTE: Thanks so much to everyone for reading and following, a big thanks to all those who have sent me such kind reviews. I really do appreciate it. Hope to start a new one in the next few days, but for now I hope you enjoyed the ending to this one.