Steve leant against the counter in the bathroom, his stomach churned with the thought of his current situation. How would he cope with potentially seeing Catherine meet a horrendous end? Watching her life slip away in front of him with absolutely no power to change her fate? Could he have done more to save her before she left? Could he have fought harder? Could he have convinced her to stay had he shown her the ring?

His distress suddenly shifted to anger. Anger for his own actions. Anger towards Catherine for her hiding this from him. But most of all, a deep rooted and inextinguishable anger towards his mother. Even out of sight she was ripping his life apart the way she had done when he was a child. She was nothing but a monster.

"Steve?" Lynne whispered as she approached him.

He looked up into the mirror, catching her eyes and her expression of concern.

"Danny said you were up here. He said something had happened, but I had to talk to you." She said softly.

He sighed as he stood up straight before turning. He perched himself against the counter.

"What? What is it?" she asked cautiously. "Is it something to do with guy downstairs?"

He inhaled a deep breath, turning away for a moment before focusing on her again. "You remember me talking about my old CO. Joe White?"

"Yeah." She nodded.

"Well that's him. He and an officer from the Navy just showed up." He paused as he struggled to say the words. "It turns out that Catherine is in Syria, she was working for the CIA."

Lynne parted her mouth with shock.

"She's been captured, and she is scheduled to be…" he couldn't finish the sentence.

Lynne frowned with genuine sorrow. "Oh my god…" she whispered.

"They think they have a location, and there is a team ready to move in, so hopefully they can get them out alive." Steve continued. He was nervous about what he still had to say. "But I have to be there. I want to be there, watching the feed as they go in." he paused as he studied her reaction. "I need to know that she is okay."

Lynne nodded. "Of course." She answered encouragingly. "Of course you should."

"You don't mind?"

"Steve." She shook her head. "When we first started dating, you told me how much you loved her and you said you doubted that it would ever change. You told me that you would understand if I stopped things between us right then and there."

Steve's eyes drifted down.

"It's tough living in her shadow, I won't deny that. I know that she is what holds you back from moving forward. But I came into this relationship with my eyes wide open and with a complete understanding what Catherine meant to you. Then; and now." She paused. "And, although I'm petrified of where this whole thing might leave us, this could be what you need to move forward in your life. Either with her, with me, or with someone else." She nodded as she cupped his cheek in her hand. "What I'm saying is; I understand why you have to do this."

His heart broke, she had a magnificent amount of patience and an understanding that was second to none. She was perfect in every way and yet she was right, this could be the catalyst to the end of their relationship. Where he would chose a woman who left him twice, lied about what she was doing, and yet still held his heart.

"Thank you." Steve whispered.

She smiled softly.

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Joe led the way through the halls of the Operation Command Centre at Pearl. Steve held back a couple of steps, both through respectful habit for his old CO coupled with trepidation. On the inside his heart paced uncontrollably, his stomach churned and his knees felt weak, but on the outside he remained completely composed.

Joe arrived at a door, scanning his proximity card and opening it up before inviting Steve through into the vast, wide yet dimly lit space of the Command Centre. Personnel shuffled around the rows of desks lined with computers. A hum electrified the room as people spoke almost under their breath. The large screen on the wall at the front of the room was illuminated, showing only a blue screen for now.

Thankfully Steve knew the protocol for this kind of operation, he knew what this room was about and how it worked. Nothing there was threatening to him, but he knew the familiarities would end as soon as that screen was brought to life with a live feed. Never before had he observed a mission which carried such great personal value to him. That's when he would have to face the unknown.

"How are you doing, son?" Joe asked softly as they took position at the back of the room.

Steve glanced at him coldly. In no way was he ready to forget Joe's involvement in this. Another betrayal from the man who had one time sold himself as a father figure.

"Look, I get you're angry with me, and I understand." He whispered. "But when this is over, I hope that you will allow me the time to explain."

"You mean I give up an hour of my time to listen to more lies, Joe?" Steve answered bitterly. "Yeah, I'll have to seriously consider that."

Joe didn't even want to argue the point. This was not the time nor the place, and there was no way he could reach Steve until this was over.

The screen flashed up with a shaky feed from a helmet cam. The black and white image of a group of soldiers huddled around a large gate. Guns grappled and at the ready.

"Here we go." Someone in the room called out.

Steve felt his chest tighten with an overwhelming barrage of nerves.

"Tango 341, you are a go." Commander O'Neil announced through his microphone.

"Tango 341 copy. We are a go." A voice replied through scratchy audio, as the group burst through the gates with such fury it was natural to feel sorry for anyone who was on the receiving end.

For the first part of the assault the visual feed was broken and hard to follow through all the sudden movements they made as they systematically swept through the area. Shouting in both English and Arabic could be heard between the long stints of automatic gunfire. It felt like an eternity as the team cleared the structure room by room. The primary search had been completed and with that the feed became more stable.

"This is Tango 341, heavy weapon store found, 12 hostiles down, no sign of hostages. Initiating secondary search."

"Copy that Tango 341." O'Neil replied with little emotion.

Steve frowned, this couldn't be right. They had it on good authority that the hostages were there, so what happened? And why did he seem to be the only one concerned by this.

Joe turned his head slightly, towards Steve's direction but failing to make eye contact. Even he seemed like he was unshaken by this outcome. Perhaps they knew something else? Perhaps this was the first stage of the operation? Perhaps there was a secondary location where the hostages were being held?

Steve stepped closer to the screen that dominated the large wall. His eyes scanning through the images against the operational brief which was positioned to the side. This didn't make any sense. This building seemed to be the only target.

"Tango 341, secondary search is now complete. No change to our initial report, the hostages have not been located. I repeat, the hostages have not been located."

"Steve…" Joe whispered as he placed his hand on Steve's shoulder.

"Where is she, Joe?" he asked. "Where are the hostages?"

"I don't know." He said softly.

"They had good intel." Steve replied as tears welled in his eyes. "Good intel which you all believed was pretty much a guarantee the hostages were at this location."

"You've been in this business long enough to know that good intel doesn't always yield the results that we wanted."

Steve turned to O'Neil. "Have they checked for concealed entries to subterranean floors?" he asked desperately, refusing to believe this was the end.

"They've cleared the entire building." O'Neil nodded.

"They must have missed something."

"Lieutenant Commander." O'Neil answered. "I understand how upsetting this must be for you, but I can assure you that the team on site know exactly what they are looking for and they haven't found it."

"What if they were tipped off and they moved the hostages before we showed up? We could track them."

"Satellite has been surveilling the compound since we got the coordinates." O'Neil responded. "Nothing has gone in or out that would suggest they'd moved the hostages."

"Okay, so there must be other targets that were credible." Steve replied.

"There was one, but nowhere near as solid as this one."

"But you could redeploy the team to that location." He pushed desperately.

"Even if we could get the green light from the Pentagon, it's a five hour drive from their current position. They would be entering hostile territory blind because there was no plan drawn up for it. Steve…" O'Neil answered helplessly. "I'm sorry. I really am. I wish this had the outcome we were all looking for but it is what it is, we had one shot, there is simply nothing more we can do for them."

Steve turned, placing his hands on his head and sighing with desperation. He took a moment before looking back to O'Neil. His eyes burning through him. "So what happens now?"

"We wait." He replied.

Steve pushed back the disgust and utter emotion. "We wait for their deaths to be broadcasted to the world?"

O'Neil's eyes floated down. "I'm afraid so."

"Come on Steve." Joe whispered. "Let me take you home. I promise that as soon as these guys know anything then we'll contact you."

"No, you've done enough, Joe." Steve growled softly. His eyes filled with an unmistakable fire.

Joe sighed.

"I'm done." He continued menacingly. "I'm done with you, I'm done with my mother, and I'm done watching good people, people I care about, who have served this country with distinction, get screwed over by the very institution they swore to protect." He paused as he glared at Joe. "I can't, I won't, do it anymore."

Joe nodded gently.

Steve walked over to the door and disappeared.

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By the time he'd reached home again the warm breeze was filled with a mist of soft rain, gently falling on the surrounds which offered that fresh rain smell. There was a distant rumble of traffic on the highway, the sign of an island filled with shift workers be it military, hospitality or other. But the sound of the waves crashing was somewhat comforting to Steve. It was like it was hardwired in his mind that this was home, this was a safe and happy place, and yet hardly any of his history here really reflected that.

He stepped through the front door, eager to close it behind him on the world. Dropping his keys on the counter and sliding off his jacket he hadn't taken much notice of any signs of who might still be around. His eyes were drawn to a line of people who stood somberly by the doorway to the kitchen. Kono, Lou, Chin and Danny. His o'hana. His light.

"Boss?" Kono whispered with hesitation, shaking her head softly and shrugging.

Steve quelled the emotion which bubbled in the pit of his stomach. His eyes drifted down. "The mission was a fail. The hostages weren't there; Catherine wasn't there."

Chin closed his eyes and looked away. Kono submitted to the tears that had formed, submissively allowing them to fall down her cheeks. Lou shook his head with genuine sadness mixed with a sliver of anger and Danny, well Danny knew that he needed to be 100% there for Steve. "What does this mean now?" he asked.

Steve's eyes reconnected with his best friend before glancing at his watch. "It means that, in the next thirty minutes, those hostages are going to be taken out." He paused as his face winced with sadness. "And there is nothing that anyone can do about it."

"They should have told you." Kono whispered. "They should have told you when they first found out."

"No. Joe and Danny, they were right. I would have been compelled to go over myself, going in completely blind with a rough shot at a plan. It was taken out of my hands, and I'm trying not to blame myself for that."

"You wouldn't have gone over alone." Kono stepped towards him. "Whether we would have agreed with it or not, we would have all gone with you. Catherine is our family too; and I don't think any of us would have passed up on the chance to do whatever we could to get her back home."

Steve nodded gently, his pride was brimming but short-lived when he was reminded that in reality they were never given the chance. "Lynne?"

"She went home." Kono answered softly. "She said you needed time, but if you needed her she was only a phone call away."

He nodded gently.

"What do you wanna do? You want us to leave?" Danny asked.

Steve swallowed the lump in the back of his throat. His natural instincts were always defaulted to not showing weakness, not letting anyone in, but this was too much for him to handle and he recognized that. "No." he whispered. "If someone could stay, I'd appreciate that."

The group looked around to each other, almost as if one was going to pick the short straw but in fact it was the opposite.

"I don't need to be anywhere." Kono shook her head.

"Neither do I." Chin answered.

"Renai loves a good night's sleep without my snoring anyway." Lou smirked gently.

"I'm taking the couch." Danny nodded.

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Steve had insisted the others get some sleep, somewhere around 3am. He'd tried to close his eyes himself a couple of times but Catherine's face seemed to haunt him, and his anxiousness was high waiting for the dreaded phone call which would confirm the worst. He'd made his way outside to the white chairs that had a permanent place, offering the breathtaking view over the ocean. He'd thought through so many of life's predicaments out here, it was almost a therapy area where he could naturally start to see things more clearly. But not this time.

The sun had started to rise over the crystal clear turquoise water to the left of him, it's warm orange glow had turned a palm tree, that stretched out toward the water, into a perfect silhouette. Specks of clouds added depth to the sky, catching the suns beams turning them into magical colors. The waves crashed softly to shore, pushing its gentle surge of water up the beach over the golden sand. It was another magnificent Hawaiian sunrise, and yet the world seemed so much darker for him today. He struggled to even notice its beauty or its colors.

As the sun raised further into the sky he was consumed with thoughts of what he could have done to stop her from leaving that day. He had been so close, as she walked to the car, to proposing. Would it have made her stay? Would it have changed her mind? If he knew Catherine as well as he thought then it probably wouldn't have swayed her, but then there would always be the doubt. If she had just told him what was happening he could have helped her. He could have understood. He could have gotten her out. But at the same time he also accepted that what she was doing was a mirror to what his mother did, and that Catherine would've known he'd never see it rationally.

Danny appeared, sat down next to him and sighed.

Steve glanced at him before looking back out the ocean.

"Anything?"

"No." he whispered. "Nothing."

"Maybe they changed their mind? I mean these people don't execute without broadcasting it. That's their political gain. Maybe it never happened."

"I don't know Danny, I don't know what to think anymore."

"I think you should just keep believing that no news is good news." Danny whispered.

Steve inhaled a deep breath and nodded somberly.

"Steve." Chin's voice said softly from behind the pair. "Joe's here."

Steve looked at Danny, in one expression his best friend could see his heart shatter into a million pieces. He stood up and walked quietly towards the house.

Danny stood up and started to follow him when Chin reached out for him.

"You know what?" Chin said softly. "You should let him go alone."

"Someone needs to be with him."

"There's a reason why you don't want to be in there right now. Trust me." Chin nodded.

Steve hesitated as he got to the door, thumping his closed fist against the wall with sorrow. Squeezing his eyes closed, desperately trying to contain his sadness. It took a few moments for him to conjure up the composure and the strength before he walked through the glass doors and through to the living room. His eyes locked on to one person, his face creased with disgust and fury.

"Hello, Steve." Doris whispered.