A/N: There'll be more at the bottom, but for now just know that this is a sequel to my story "Come Home" and probably won't make much sense unless you've read that one. So if you haven't and you're interested, go to my page and look it up first.

Catherine Rollins had been waiting for hours to hear about her leave. All of the paperwork she'd been haphazardly neglecting for the past few months had been filled out and filed away, all of her screens had been freshly cleaned, and both pairs of her boots had been polished three times.

She couldn't see her reflection in them, but the bathroom mirror provided a good look at herself. Surprisingly, she looked calm and alert on the outside, like she had just come back from a long rest and had absolutely no drama in her life.

The Navy was good about training people to maintain that face.

It had been her life for so long. When she had first joined intelligence, her life had become one constant cycle. Sit at her station, work for eight hours, work out in the gym, grab a bite to eat, go to bed, wash rinse repeat. The occasional weekend tryst had spiced things up, and one or two semi-serious relationships had broken the monotony to a point. But for the most part, Catherine Rollins had fallen into the pattern of an invisible officer.

Her life had had meaning, certainly. She was saving other lives. She was making her small, if insignificant mark on history. She was living up to her family name.

She was simply not important in the grand scheme of things, and she was content with fading into the background.

Then her path had intersected Steven McGarrett's and her whole world turned on its head.

The motion-activated lights turned off as she stared down her own face, jolting her from self-analysis. She cracked her neck and the lights came back on as she exited the bathroom and returned to her station.

She still had nothing to do. Sleep would have been a good idea, but it eluded her in the wake of anxiety and adrenaline. Besides, she could leave more quickly upon getting leave if she was already in the office to hear the news.

Unfortunately, adrenaline and anxiety weren't enough to stave off the memories that had haunted her every idle moment for months now. She could fidget with her hair and doodle all she liked, but eventually her mind would succumb to the daydreams from hell. It was sometimes easier just to let them take her.

I am so sorry, I didn't see you.

Not a problem. Narrow corridors.

You're Intelligence, right Lieutenant?

That's right. And you're a SEAL.

Now, yes, but I used to be Intel myself. Steven McGarrett.

Catherine Rollins. I've heard about you before, sir.

Oh really?

Scuttlebutt is you gave up a promising career with us to put on a pair of flippers.

Hey, don't start on my flippers. I like my flippers.

Of course, sir.

Ah, damn, I've got to go. I'll catch up with you later.

I certainly hope you do. Commander.

"Lieutenant Rollins, what on Earth are you doing here so early?"

Catherine leaped to attention at her CO's voice. "Sir."

"I thought you'd be at home. You aren't on morning crew right now. You shouldn't be here for another hour."

"Yes, sir. No, sir, I'm not, or I shouldn't be. I was just finishing up a few odds and ends." Catherine stared above her commanding officer's head, refusing to meet his eyes while at attention, and he eventually sighed and nodded.

"At ease, sailor. Why exactly did you put in this request for leave?"

"Some friends of mine need help, sir, and I'm in a position to give it. Aside from that, I haven't had substantial leave for years." Her shoulders refused to relax under her CO's stern gaze. The tension that had been boiling just under her Navy-hardened exterior for so long was beginning to seep out now that she was on the precipice of getting to leave or being forced to stay.

Catherine's motivations were far more selfish than she cared to admit to her CO. For that matter, she wasn't keen to admit them to herself, either. As awful as Chin Ho being on death's door was, it was hardly important to her at the moment. The attack on Danny's daughter was a trifling matter to her.

She barely knew them, any of them. Sure, she'd helped them out on cases from time to time, and she'd gone out with them once or twice, but they were mere acquaintances.

Steven McGarrett, on the other hand, was no acquaintance.

The moment Danny had suggested that Steve might be alive, the moment that he had hinted that he might even be on the island, Catherine's entire focus had shrunk to one goal. Find Steve.

Of course, given that she wasn't even supposed to know that Steve McGarrett was in the hands of Wo Fat or that Wo Fat was on the island, she couldn't exactly be forthcoming with the whole of her desire for leave. She continued to stare down her boss, feeling her shoulders become more rigid with every second.

He finally sighed again. "You have three weeks, Lieutenant, with which to help your unnamed friends."

"Thank you, sir!" She nodded deeply and made a beeline for her locker. His next words stopped her in her tracks.

"And if you manage to find Wo Fat, make sure you give him an extra beat down for me. God knows I'd love to be out there helping you." She turned in shock, but her CO was already halfway through the door. Several of her teammates wandered into the room as he left, staring between him and Catherine in confusion.

"Everything okay, Rollins?"

"It's fine. It'll be fine."

During her last deployment, Catherine's repetitive schedule had begun to alarm the others. They didn't have to tell her; she could tell by the concerned expressions they wore when speaking to her, the worried inflections of their voices.

The repetition helped her to cope. Made everything easier.

Every day, she followed that pattern. Get up. Shower. Bathroom. Brush teeth. Eat breakfast. Sit at computer. Work. Bathroom. Eat lunch. Work. Email Steve. Eat supper. Bathroom. Brush teeth. Bed. Get up. Shower. Bathroom…

Every day, she wrote Steve. When the Enterprise was on radio silence, she still wrote Steve. She sent the emails en masse as soon as communications reopened.

Every day, she hoped that an email with a blue tag would appear in her inbox. On days when it all became too much, she'd check her email every time she had a spare second in between tasks. She'd been reprimanded for it more than once.

Every single day, her heart had broken again.

Every single day, she dreamed of his face.

Every single day, she missed him more.

Cath?

Yeah?

I…

…?

Be careful out there.

Yes, sir. And Commander?

Yeah?

Don't forget about our date in Mumbai.

Never.

He hadn't made the date.

She wasn't sure she'd ever be able to eat Indian food again.

"Hi, this is Danny's phone. Leave me your name and number and I'll get back to ya ASAP."

"Okay, this stopped being acceptable a couple hours ago. Call me."

Resisting the urge to chuck her phone through one of the glass panes in Five-0's office, Catherine turned on her heel and began pacing once more. She checked the time and ground her teeth furiously; she'd been on leave for nearly three hours, and that three hours had been spent in the most useless fashion possible: trying and failing to find her temporary colleagues, let alone actually investigating anything.

"If he doesn't call me back in five minutes, so help me God, my boot is going so far up his-" Her furious muttering was cut off by her phone ringing. "Finally! What the hell, Danny?!"

"Hello?" The soprano voice most certainly did not belong to Danny Williams. "Is this Catherine?"

"Yes…who is this?"

"This is Detective Hu, calling from Honolulu General. You're a friend of Detective Williams?"

"Wait, what?" Catherine stopped pacing and squeezed the bridge of her nose. "Yes, I'm a friend of Danny's. Why is he in the hospital?"

"We aren't sure of the whole story yet; he's been muttering a lot of things, but he managed to get through that he wanted us to call you. Are you able to make it down here?" Hu sounded rather bored by the whole process. Catherine wrinkled her nose in disgust. "We can arrange for a patrol unit to retrieve you if need be."

"No, I'll be there as soon as I can. Thanks." She hung up and took one shaky breath before leaving the glass-encased office.

This three weeks was going to be just as nightmarish as the rest of her recent existence.

A/N: Howdy ya'll! It's nice to be back. I've definitely missed this story, and now that my life has sort of calmed down I can start back up. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make the same update schedule I had with "Come Home". Expect updates once a week for the timebeing, probably every Wednesday.

I hope the journey through this tale is as fun for all of us as the last one was!