You leaned back in your seat as you watched land get ever nearer outside the boat's window. Nerves gnawed at your belly. Eighteen months ago, you'd nearly died at the hands of the largest drug runner on the islands. The DEA faked your death and swept you off to witness protection without so much as a 'hey, how ya doin'. Everyone in your life thought you dead, including your fiancé and your team.

The truth was, you weren't in much shape to argue with them for a long time. Once you'd recovered, they'd all but locked you up after you tried to come home the second time. Even then you'd tried to find a way to contact Steve. You understood that they wanted you protected until you could testify against the asshole, but he had a lot of money and was taking full advantage to continuously postpone his trial. Rumor was he was searching for their witness which only made the DEA lock you down tighter.

For months, Five-0 had been slowly dismantling his operation a piece at a time. The DEA had been furious but you expected no less from your team. They had full immunity and means and they weren't about to let the bastard that killed you get away with it without doing everything they could to make him pay. Then two weeks ago, Lucas Martin, the asshole himself, was shanked in the prison yard and everything changed.

Suddenly, there was no trial and you didn't have to hide anymore. You could go home and return to your old life. Finally. Hopefully. The DEA flew you to Hawaii to clear you through final processing. When they finished, they finally allowed you use of a phone. But you were so close to home, you decided the news was better delivered in person.

Once the boat docked, a car met you at the pier and drove you to the palace. When you stepped out, you took a moment to just look at the building you'd begun to think you'd never see again. God, it was good to be back. Taking a deep breath, you headed inside and up to the office. You paused with your hand on the door, looking through the glass. The entire team was gathered around the main computer.

You stepped inside quietly and eased the door closed behind you. Tears pooled in your eyes. This was your family and you'd missed them more than you thought possible. They were engrossed in their work and hadn't even noticed you yet. You sucked in a breath. "Steve?" Your voice was quiet, timid.

They all turned to you, shock contorting their features as they caught sight of you. Steve had his back to you and he glanced over his shoulder, a questioning look on his face. When his gaze fell on you, his mouth dropped open and his eyes went wide. In a blink, he had turned to face you with a furrowed brow as he tried to process your presence. You felt sick with anxiety as he stuttered out your name. "That—That's not possible."

Danny put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "It's her, Steve. We all see her."

He closed the distance between you in four long strides and swept you into his arms. You wrapped yours around his neck and buried your face against him. He lifted you from the floor as he held you against him. After a moment, he fell to his knees taking you with him. He pulled back to look at you, framing your face with his hands. "You're really here. You're real."

Tears ran down your cheeks as you nodded your head. "I missed you so much."

He tugged you forward and pressed a kiss to your lips. Once. Twice. Three times. Then he pulled you back to him, the two of you just clinging to one another.

"I hate to interrupt this touching moment and all, but is anyone else wondering how she's here?" Danny said. You opened your eyes to look at him over Steve's shoulder. "Not that I'm not thrilled to see you, babe, but this morning you were dead and now you're not."

You owed them answers, you knew you did, but right now you just wanted Steve.

"Shut up, Danny," Steve ordered. He stood, sweeping you into his arms as he did. "I'm taking the rest of the day off."

You laid a hand against his chest as he carried you out of the office. "Steve, I can walk."

He glanced down at you. "It's going to be awhile before I let you out of my arms, sweetheart. Just deal with it."

You pressed your lips together and said nothing further. You'd give him what he needed. The happier he was, the less likely he was to be pissed at you for disappearing for eighteen months with no word.

The two of you ignored the stares as you moved through the building. He carried you to his truck, setting you down only when he had to open the door. You climbed in and he made sure you were settled before going around to the other side. You were quiet as he drove you home. He tapped the steering wheel with his thumb, his other hand covering his mouth as he leaned his elbow on the window. He kept shooting glances at you but you stayed quiet, waiting for the inevitable questions.

Finally, he straightened. "I'm going to assume your appearance two weeks after Martin's death isn't a coincidence?"

"It's not." You cleared your throat. "DEA had me in witness protection."

He gripped the steering wheel and shot you a look of disbelief. "So you just let me think you were dead while they hid you away?" And god, he sounded so hurt, so confused.

"Not exactly." You let the conversation die for a moment as he pulled up in front of the house. You hopped out with a grin. "I missed this place."

The corner of his mouth kicked up in a small smile. He didn't say anything as he passed you to walk to the front door. You fell in behind him, pausing when he punched a code into an alarm system that hadn't been there before. He cleared his throat. "I put it in after Martin took you."

You nodded once in acknowledgement. Lucas Martin and his goons had taken you from the house during one of the infrequent times Steve wasn't there with you. This poor house had seen more than its fair share of bullets and blood.

You followed him into the kitchen, looking around as you walked through the house. There were a couple of minor changes here and there but it looked pretty much the same. He opened the fridge and pulled out a beer for both of you. After twisting off the tops, he passed one over. He took a drink of his before setting it on the counter. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the counter behind him.

Following his lead, you took a drink and set the bottle on the small island in the middle of the floor. You gripped the edge and were thankful for the barrier between you at the moment. You swallowed past the lump in your throat. "The dying part was true enough."

His brows shot up and he leaned forward ever so slightly. Just enough for you to pick it up. "Excuse me?"

"I died and they brought me back. When I woke, I was alone in some non-descript hospital room. I knew from the moment I opened my eyes that something was wrong. You weren't there. No one was there." You stared at the top of the island as you talked. "The doctors wouldn't tell me anything. That afternoon I got my first visit from the suits. DEA. They informed me I was in involuntary witness protection."

You glanced up then to find those blue eyes studying you intently. He was biding his time, letting you tell the story without interrupting. You weren't sure if you were grateful or not.

"At first, I wasn't in any shape to argue. I certainly wasn't doing anything on my own. As I recovered, I started looking for ways out. The second time I tried to escape, they dragged me out to the middle of nowhere. They made sure I didn't know where we were. It sucked."

He huffed a laugh at that.

"Then I tried to contact you. I was...resourceful. I almost succeeded once. I'm fairly certain they were getting ready to ship me back to you out of annoyance." You glanced at him again to find amusement dancing in his eyes. "I wanted nothing more than to come home but they weren't buying my argument that a Navy SEAL was better than a dozen of their agents and you'd protect me."

His brow furrowed. "You still feel that way after what happened?"

"Steve, you weren't even home that day. What happened isn't on you. It's not on me either. I took down five of those assholes before they took me." You'd been so angry with yourself that day, certain if you'd tried just a bit harder you could have taken them all.

"Six, actually, by our count. How many did they send?"

You shook your head. "I don't know. One of them finally knocked me out and when I woke up, I was at the warehouse."

He studied you for a moment. "How accurate was the M.E.'s report?"

"Spot on." You'd read the fake autopsy report out of morbid curiosity. It read like you'd been ran over by a truck. You'd been in pretty sad shape. And you'd had to recover on your own with only the tender mercies of medical personnel and DEA agents.

"Christ, sweetheart." He held open his arms in invitation and you moved into them, finding your place tucked against his side with your arms around his waist.

"So you're not mad at me?"

"No. Of course not." There was no hesitation in his answer and the weight that had been sitting on your shoulders eased. He kissed the top of your head. "I can't believe you're here. I have something for you. I'll be right back."

And he was gone before you could even think to protest. You grabbed your beer and went out back to take in the view from your favorite spot in Hawaii. You sat in your chair and sipped your beer and thought again about how happy you were to be home. It wasn't long before you heard the door behind you.

"I should have known you'd migrate out here."

You smiled but kept your focus on the ocean in front of you. "You know they had me stuck in some cabin in the middle of a forest. I went months without seeing the ocean. I hated it."

He sat to your left and immediately took your hand in his. "You're too much of a water baby to be happy away from it for long. So the ocean, me, the team, this view. What else did you miss?"

"I missed everything. I even missed getting shot at because you pissed someone off."

He looked so offended you couldn't help but laugh. "Why do you say that like it's my fault every time someone shoots at us?"

"Because it is 99% of the time, baby." It really wasn't but you and Danny couldn't help but give him shit for it. Your team did tend to get shot at more than the average cops.

You grinned as he grumbled something under his breath. He lifted your hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. A moment later something cold slid onto your ring finger. You glanced over in surprise to find him sliding your engagement ring back where it belonged. He kissed it once it was settled in place.

"They gave it to me at the hospital. We were all waiting for word. Someone had come out to tell us once or twice that you were in bad shape or that there were complications, but I told myself that they didn't know you. They didn't know what a fighter you were. I convinced myself you would be fine until they placed that ring in my hand." His voice broke a little and he tugged on your hand, pulling you toward him. You moved over to sit in his lap and he wrapped his arms around you. You laid your head on his shoulder and he pressed kisses to your forehead.

"We missed our wedding date," you told him as if he wasn't already well aware of that fact. You were less than three months out from the date when Martin took you.

"We'll pick a new one. Pick any date you want. All that matters is you're back." You smiled at the sincerity in his voice.

"Tomorrow."

He pulled back to look at you but you kept your focus on your ring. Finally, he placed his fingers under your chin to tilt your head back. His eyes searched yours and he got that little cockeyed smile you loved so much. "Are you serious?"

"Absolutely, Commander."

His lips found yours and you hooked your hand behind his neck to hold him to you. This was perfection. Sitting in your backyard with the love of your life the day before your wedding. This was home.