IMPORTANT NOTE: I MESSED UP WITH THE TIMELINES. THE ENTIRE TIME I'VE BEEN SAYING 8 MONTHS EARLIER BUT IT WAS ALWAYS MEANT TO BE FOUR. IM SORRY BUT THINGS LIKE THAT HAPOEN WHEN YOU WRITE IN LIVE UPDATES. I APOLOGIZE FOR THE CONFUSION.

And brother, how we must atone
Before we turn to stone

“that’s how you found out she was pregnant?”
“yes.” He answered in a cold and chilling whisper. Toby was stroking his chin, thinking.
“and you decided to keep it?”
“after a lot of talk and thought, we did. Yeah.”
“and you proposed a little after that I suppose?”
“yes, I did a few weeks later- but what does that have to do with anything-?”
“It doesn’t, I was just wondering- “ he cleared his throat and leaned forward “she got a job for the governor, meanwhile she’s training that new kid on your team. You are finally breaking away from your family’s history meanwhile you are about to start making a new one with someone you love very much- so where did it go wrong commander?” he tilted his head.

Steve sat straight on his chair and cleared his throat. “about 2 months after my mother's death, me and my team found out that Wo Fat’s wife was on the island. She was involved on an illegal gun trafficking much like her late husband. We tried to get her but she got away.”
“you’re a smart man, I’m sure you didn’t think this was over.”
“no, we didn’t. We knew she was looking for something, we knew she would be back. She made it clear she would return”
“clear how?”
“she left me a message. Said she couldn’t wait to meet me soon.”
“and what happened?”
“we kept looking for her but it was a dead end. Until almost a week ago.” He rubbed his eyes “it all happened so fast.”
“what happened?”
“I got a call.”

4 DAYS AGO
MCGARRETT'S HOUSE

After another long day at the office, Steve came back home feeling like his body would crumble any second now. Amelia still hadn’t returned from her job, he thought about calling her, asking if everything was on with the baby but he knew she’d yell at him for being over protective. In her defense after they decided to keep the baby, after a lot of arguing and crying, she had tried to stay at home but it was impossible for her. She needed the action, the thrill, she couldn’t stay in the same place for long than an hour. Steve had accepted that. At least she had agreed to stop looking for a new house, they stayed together, almost like normal couples.

He didn't let it show when she was around but the truth was that he was terrified of the future. He was terrified of being a father, raising a child in this world, with all these enemies and all this danger. But he wanted it. He needed to build this family with her, the love of his life and their daughter. When he'd get nervous, he would go the garage and play his dad tape. Listening to his voice, soothed him. He had listened this tape thousands of times since his return to Hawaii and the words were always the same but there was a small difference now. “I asked my son Steve what he wanted to be when he’d grow up. I was be a cop dad, like you. I told him to be anything but that.” He played this line on repeat, all he could do while hearing it was imagine himself asking his daughter the same question. Her giving the same answer. His heart ached. His body trembled at the thought of his little girl going through the same madness that he or Amelia had.
Saving him from his haunting thoughts was his phone. He reached for it and answered it.

“hello?”
“is this Commander Mcgarrett?”
“yes. Who’s this?”
“My name is Michael Claypool. I’m a barrister here in London and at my client's instruction, I’ve been tasked with hand-delivering a package to you.” Said the man on the line, Steve started getting a little confused “if it works for you, I could be in Honolulu in two days' time.”
“hold up- who is your client?”
“Doris Mcgarrett.”

Steve felt his heart drop from his chest, he drew a fist with his hand. “I’m sorry. There’s gotta be some mistake. My mother is dead-"
“I know sir. Those were instructions. I was supposed to wait four months after her death before calling you.”
Steve scoffed “what’s the package?”
“I don’t know. But like I said, you'll have it in two days' time, if that is good for you.”
“um-" he looked around awkwardly, suddenly realizing Amelia was standing at the door with her arms crossed. “yes, yes two days is good.”

The man hanged up the phone and Steve slipped his on his pocket. Walking up to Amelia, he smiled, pulling her in on a kiss. She stroked his arms gently while kissing him back. “hey.” He mumbled.
“hi.” She smiled
“you good?”
“I’m fine. What was that about?”
“I’m not sure. Apparently, my mother has left something for me.”
She stroked his chin, looking at him with a little pity “you don’t look so happy.”
“I’m not" he admitted “you know I- “he scratched his eyebrow, taking a deep breath “I thought it was over. I thought I was done with her and her history and we were in a safe place to start a new family and be happy- but suddenly wo fat’s wife is back and now my mother has a message for me-"
“you think they are connected?”
“I think they very well could be! And I don’t want this for her-" he looked at Amelia’s stomach, his eyes filled with sorrow “or you.”

She tried to calm him by massaging his arms and then stroking his hair but he wasn't going to calm down unless he got that package and Wo Fat's wife was gone for good.
“we’ll be ok"
“for once I just hoped we wouldn’t have to wonder- I convinced you into keeping this baby, into marrying me-"
“ok, A) we are not married yet and B) it is astonishing to me how you can twist everything into somehow being your fault- it’s not your fault. God forbid If anything is to happen to us now, after everything we've survived, it will not get your fault.” She said determinedly “and I swear to God, if something does happen, and you come in my hospital bed crying that it's your fault, I will punch you in the nose.”
Steve couldn’t help but laugh. He didn’t completely agree with her but he saw her point. He nodded and leaned in, hiding his face on the crook of his neck, closing his eyes while leaving kisses on her neck. She let out a sigh, running her hand on his hair. “what were you doing down here alone?”

He shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t really have an answer.

“wanna go upstairs?”
“what do you wanna eat?” he mumbled on her skin
“we still gave Danny’s stakes on the refrigerator.”
Steve raised his head “I thought he said he wanted us to keep them until next week"
“since when do we listen to what Danny’s says?”
They laughed. “you see, that right here, is why I love you.”

Her eyes widened; her smile grew bigger. Pregnancy hormones had made her all the way more sentimental than she used to be “you do?” she asked, grinning and moving closer to him, she stood on her tiptoes, brushing her nose against his.
“yeah, I do.” He whispered
“well could you just say it one more time for me, please?” she asked, teasing him.
“I love you.” He answered gracefully
She collided her lips with his, pulling him closer and kissed him until they were out of breath “I love you too Commander.” She tilted her head “today, tomorrow and every day after that.”
He kissed her again and again until she finally puked away in laughter “can we finish this after dinner?”
He smirked “what about during dinner?”

She hit him playfully on the shoulder and turned around to leave. He snatched her by the waist, she tried releasing herself while they ran up the stairs, laughing. Until he picked her up in his arms, holding her bridal style and kissing her again. She couldn’t resist his lips, she placed her hand on his cheek, kidding him deeper and deeper until he let her down on the counter.

She watched him move around the kitchen, cooking and setting the table, sometimes he'd leave kisses on her neck or her lips, making her giggle.
“Kono said she found the perfect band.”
“really?”
“yeah. We should start sending the invites though.”
“I’m pretty sure everyone that needs to know, already does so why waste money on invitations?”
“because I wanna feel like a normal girly girl for ones.”
“girly girl?”
“you know what I mean.”
“yeah. Fine. But you still sure you wanna do it after the pregnancy?” he asked while putting the stake on a plate
“yeah, why?”
“nothing I just keep thinking, the sooner the better.” He says looking at her over his shoulder. Amelia got off the counter and put her arms around him, kissing his shoulder.
“stop worrying. We have all the time in the world. I promise.” He didn’t move. So, she squished his arm, forcing him to turn and look at her. She stared in his eyes “we're safe"

4 DAYS LATER

Steve stared at the wall while her words echoed in his head. We'll be safe, she said and now he was in an interrogation room and she was in a hospital bed.
“commander?” called toby, waking him from his daze.

Steve looked up “yes?”
“what happened when the package arrived?”
“nothing. Nothing happened for a while. When Mr. Claypool arrived, Amelia was still at work. He left the package and left.”
“what was in there?”
“a cipher. My mother left it to me to decode it.”
“did you have any idea what it was about?”
“no, my plan was to wait for Amelia, she'd know how to analyze it.”
“but you didn’t tell her.”
“I didn’t get to it, no.”
“why didn’t you tell her Steve?”
“because I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what the cipher was about. So, I delayed it” He rubbed his face “my mother’s mysteries have been haunting me ever since I was a kid- I didn’t want her to ruin this for me too.”
“I bet now you wish you had made a different choice.”
“yeah.”
“so just to be clear on November 18, 5 days ago, you get the call. On November 20th, 2 days ago, you get the cipher and 1 day after that, November 21st, 1 day ago, David Stewart was found dead in his hotel room in Hawaii. CIA found that the last person he made a call to was Amelia Wesley so we contacted her. That would be yesterday. On that same day, they tried to rob your house. Is that timeline correct?”
“yes.”
“so, what exactly happened yesterday?”

YESTERDAY

“Ams is still not home yet?” asked Danny while the duo sat on the chair next to the ocean.
“yeah, she had to go straight to the precinct after work.”
“you know what they called her in for?”
“no. She said it was classified and they couldn’t tell her over the phone.”
“you look worried, what is it?”
Steve took a long sip from his beer and left it out on the sand. Then he took out from his pocket the cipher that his mother had left and gave it to Danny.
“what’s this?”
“my mother's last gift.”
“this doesn't make any sense.”
“it’s not supposed to. It’s a coded message.”
“when did you get this?”
“Amelia said she can crack it; she’ll do it tonight.”
“you’re worried this might start a war?”
“I’m pretty sure it will Danny. When has my mother given me anything that didn't start a war?”
Danny blew air from his nose “I’ll tell you what, I need another beer before we get into that conversation.”

Danny stood up and walked back to the house, heading straight for the fridge, when he heard noises coming in from the leaving room. “Amy?” he called while picking his beers. He didn’t think it could be anyone else at this time. So, he called again but he got no reply, so he went in the leaving room, two beers in his hands. But the person he met looked nothing like his friend- The man across from his was dressed in black, hiding his face with a mask. “what are you doing there?” the man raised his head and reached for his gun. Danny didn’t have his gun with him, he ducked and threw the beers in his face, distracting him.

Then he quickly jumped on him, throwing his gun on the floor. The robber pushed back, sending Danny across the room and ran away. Steve entered the scene only a few seconds later, running to his friend.
“hey! You ok? What the hell happened?”
“I heard noises, I thought it was Amelia. I came in and someone was robbing your house.”

Steve stood up and looked at his messed-up desk. The envelope the cipher was supposed to be on was missing. “they came here for the cipher?”
“what?” asked Danny, wiping the blood of his lip
“they took the envelope, the lawyer left for me yesterday.”
“but you didn’t have the cipher in the envelope-"
“yes, but they didn't know that.”
“What would they want that?”
Steve reached for his phone and dialed Amelia’s number. She wasn’t picking up and he started panicking. He called two, three, five times and there was no answer- he grabbed his keys from the desk
“where the hell are you going? Steve hold on-" Danny was interrupted by Steve’s ringtone. Steve answered it in seconds but he didn’t hear the voice he was expecting on the other line.
“boss!” it was Kono “we got a situation. David Stewart died last night. That’s why Ams is in the precinct, they are interrogating her-"
“what? On what grounds?”
“apparently she was the last person he called and they were supposed to meet today. His secretary said that he was meeting her on the time of the murder”
“he was in Hawaii?”
“yes!”
“they don’t have anything big on her yet but they do have motive.”
“what motive?”
“revenge for you, for her, for hunter even. That’s why I’m going to the precinct, you should come too.”
“I’m on my way.”

♤
ONE DAY LATER

“you know what happened next, you were there.”
“yes of course, you and Amelia lied straight to my face like you are doing right now.”
“toby-"
“I told you there was a leak that day, I told you we had late Harper under surveillance and instead of telling me the goddamn truth you swore to me repeatedly that you were alone in Columbus, that no one helped you-"
“Columbia has nothing to do with this-"
“that’s where you’re wrong commander. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you all this time. Your mother died in Columbia, that’s when the clock started ticking for you and Amelia. You were standing on a time bomb. Someone knew, they knew your mother had arranged for that cipher to be sent to you after her death- they knew you would get it and they knew the exact time you would get it.”
“you think they are connected?”
“why the hell do you think I’ve had you here telling me stories this whole time? There was leak, something that connects the cipher to the mission- what is it Steven?”
“I don’t know- listen- you need to let me go, Daiyu I still out there- I gotta get her before she leaves the island.”
“commander it doesn’t matter if you find Wo fat's wife. Someone knew, someone that is close to you knows too much, that’s how she’s been ahead of you this whole time.” His tone got louder as he stared in Steve’s eyes “who is it commander?”

Steve hid his face in his hands, thousand of names and faces ran passed his eyes, thousands of enemies and bad memories. His brain was a chaos of information, a messed-up machine trying to get the right name- but Amelia was always better at this, connecting the dots, making sense, seeing people for what they truly were so he had to think like her. He rubbed his eyes, focused his mind and then it downed on him-
“Matilda Oswald.”
“excuse me?”
“you need to find Matilda now- she's-" he stood, pacing the floor “it must be her, she knew David, Amelia, knew Wo fat- that’s just it-"
“slow down- Matilda is in London. She’s on probation, her trial is next month-"
“you let her out on probation- are you insane-"
“What happened after you returned from the precinct?”
Steve looked away, remembering.

LAST NIGHT
STEVE'S CAR

“I’m just saying perhaps it’s best for you to stay with Danny for tonight. Whoever these men were that came in for the cipher, they really want it and when they realize it wasn’t in the envelope they'll come back” he said while driving.
“and if they do, you'll be alone at the house? What kind of stupid plan is that?”
“the plan in which you and the kid stay safe.”
“remind me to write that on your tombstone or you know what I’ll just tell our kid you said that every time she asks where her father is-"
“don’t you think you are being a little over dramatic?”
“you are telling me you wanna sacrifice yourself-"
“I’m not sacrificing anybody. I’m just making a point that you’d be safer in Danny’s house-"
“and you'll be safer if I’m with you.” She looked up and he glanced at her quickly before staring back at the road.
“you know-" he bit his lip “if she turns out to be anything like you, we're gonna have a problem.”
“the whole world is gonna have a problem! She’ll be able to consider world domination as her first career move.”

Steve chuckled and reached for hand. He parked the car out of their house and looked at her, tilting his head. “Duke said he'll send a few cops to stay out of the house for tonight, just in case.”

“see? We have nothing to worry about then.” She smiled. Steve pulled the cipher out of his pocket and showed it to her. “this is it?”
“yeah. Can you crack it?”
“I haven’t seen anything like this before, it would take me days” She narrowed her eyes “but I know a guy that certainly can. You can take this to him tomorrow morning, he'll have it done in an hour tops"
“that sounds good.”
“can we go inside now? I really need to sleep.”
Steve smiled “yeah let's go.”

They got out of the car and walked to the door but last second Amelia remembered she left her briefing files from today on the back of the car so she ran back to get them. Steve held the door open for her while she picked them up and everything seemed to be ok but she suddenly dropped them on the floor. He was confused, it seemed like she had seen something that panicked her but Steve couldn’t see anything. He ran to her, grabbing her arm so she’d look at him.

“are you ok? Are you in pain-"
“Matilda.” She whispered, looking around like a maniac.
“what?”
“Matilda was standing right there across the street, I saw her- “
“she’s in prison.”
“she was right there- watching us! I saw her!”

Steve shook his head. It made no sense for him that Matilda could be here. She was in London, in jail. “Ams look at me. You need rest. There is no one there- it’s just your brain-" he stroked her hair “remember? The same thing happened to you in Columbia with hunter. You told me-" Amelia hid her face in her palms, she was shaking. So, Steve hugged her just to calm her down.
“you’re right I’m sorry- it must be my imagination.”

They got back home and Amelia went straight to bed. She couldn’t sleep that night, she had her hand on her stomach, ready to protect the little being that was in her if it came down to it. She had this feeling that something was gonna go terribly wrong, the feeling that a storm was about to break. Steve's arm was laid around her for the whole night, his breath was sometimes soothing her thoughts but there was too much fear and uncertainty.

Next morning, she got up too early and made coffee for herself and Steve. She gave him the address of the guy she thought could help solve the cipher. They said goodbye, like they did every morning, kissing and smiling, pretending they were normal. Danny came to pick up Amelia, they had arranged to go together to work. Steve left at the same time they did, he couldn’t have known.

No, he didn’t know that only a few minutes after they went their separate ways a car started following Danny’s vehicle. Amelia was the first to notice, she didn’t say anything, she thought she was just panicking again for no reason but a shirt while after that Danny noticed too.

“you see that?” he asked
“yeah.” She answered.
Danny reached for his phone to call Steve, to warn him they had a tail on them. Steve answered it a few seconds later.
“uh Steve we got someone behind us. They are following us-"
“what?” he said
“we got a crazy tail on us and they are not being discreet at all-" explained Amelia, holding on to the door of the car- one of the vehicles made a U-turn in front of them, blocking their away. Two man got out shooting at them. Steve was yelling for them threw the phone but he wasn’t getting any answer.

“Amelia gets down! Get at the back!” yelled Danny. She reached for her gun and started shooting back. But the bad guys multiplied and she and Danny were outnumbered.

The two people Steve cares about the most are in danger. The big finale is coming soon, what do you think will happen?