I haven´t decided yet where this should go. It can be a short, fun story. But it could also turn into something more. Maybe some drama, some whump and some SuperSEAL-rescues-the innocent-beauty... What do you think?
Disclaimer: I don´t own the 5-0 characters, but Dawn Grayson is mine and mine alone!
Feedback is highly appreciated!
Chapter 1 - Unexpected visit
She sighed and tossed to the other side, desperately trying to find some sleep, but she knew that was not going to happen. Her thoughts were running wild, she was still mad at him and she tried to think of a way to kill him, slow and painful. Not a good combination. But then again, she was thinking about Steve McGarrett and that itself was a huge problem.
Grumbling she finally gave up and swung her feet out of bed. Maybe some water would help. She went to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. Taking a sip, she grimaced and place the glass back on the counter. Nope, water didn´t help. She couldn´t forget what had happened earlier and not for the first time she wished that she had never met him.
Since she knew him, nothing seemed to go as planned anymore. She usually was a calm and rational person, confident and loyal. She would not let some crazy control freak ruin her. She had worked too hard to have someone with a huge ego burst into her life and threaten to take everything away from her.
She sighed and combed her short hair with her fingers. She knew that she´d look terrible tomorrow, if she didn´t get some sleep. Now. When she looked outside she saw the sun was already rising and she thought she might as well go for a run instead of trying to sleep. She quickly changed into her running shorts, tank top and sneakers and left her house.
It only took her a few minutes to relax, giving into the steady routine of placing one foot in front of the other, controlled breathing and her thoughts finally slowing down. She worked hard for her money and her day almost never ended before 10pm, so she loved every moment on her own she could get. She loved jogging, nothing better to clear her head and calm down after a stressful day. She refused to admit that her lack of social life didn´t help to get distraction.
When she returned to her house an hour later, her tank top was soaking wet and her blond hair was more of a mess than before. But she felt great, exhausted and with burning muscles, but still. At least she didn´t feel the urge to kill him anymore.
After a shower, she used the dryer to style her hair, put on some make-up and then dressed in a black pants, white shirt and high heels, before leaving her house. When she opened the door to her car, she smiled. She loved her black Dodge Viper , the first thing she had actually bought when she came here. It was fast and sexy and she loved the fact that it was her money, owned by her own hands, who had paid for that car. She was used to people underestimating her, assuming that her family was paying for her, but she was beyond proving anything to anyone anymore. She knew what she was capable of and if someone didn´t realize how good she was, well, it was their fault.
Listening to one of her favorite 80s songs she drove through the sunny morning. That´s why she loved living in Hawaii, the weather was beautiful, the people were friendly and open and the view here was amazing. After nearly 10 years of living here, she felt like one of them, even though being haole still made her something exotic. In a positive way of course.
She stopped at Danny´s favorite pastry bakery and left it a moment later with a huge white paper bag, that soon filled her car with the delicious smell of fresh, sweet pastries.
When she finally stopped in front of 5-0s headquarter and turned off the engine, she considered not going in for a second. It would be so much nicer to spend the day at the beach, maybe go surfing or just relax with a good book. But she had a job to do. Giving up was no option and she wasn´t one to let this Neanderthal intimidate her.
She entered the headquarter, enjoying the staccato noise of her stylish high heels. She knew Steve McGarrett would hear her right away and she could only hope to get on his nerves.
"Good Morning Danny, what a beautiful day today, isn´t it?" she greeted the handsome blond that smiled at her brightly, taking her hand and lean down as if to kiss it.
"Mylady, the day just got so much brighter when you entered the room."
"Oh my, very charming today, huh? Don´t flatter me." she answered his smile and nodded at Chin and Kono as well who just left Steve´s office. With a smile she handed Danny the paper bag. He opened it immediately, taking in the delicious scent and moan in pleasure.
"Dawn, will you please marry me?" She bumped her shoulder to Danny and chuckled.
"Hey Dawn, you´re early." Chin greeted her with a genuine smile and once again she was impressed by his confidence and grace. He seemed to be completely at ease, settled within himself. She envied this attitude, it would be really helpful when she was confronted by such a thick-skinned macho such as McGarrett was.
"Oh you know, the early bird..." smiling at Kono, she gratefully accepted the mug from Danny and enjoyed the smell of fresh, hot, dark coffee.
"So, what are you going to do today?" Kono asked, slapping Danny when he tried to steal her Doughnut.
"I´m not sure honestly. I thought about taking a day off and spend it surfing on the North Shore." Dawn saw Kono´s eyes flash with appreciation. The Hawaiian had showed her the hidden beach, only known to local´s. And they had spend some time there, catching the waves and just having a good time. "Well, but than I remembered that I actually have a job to do." Her voice left no doubt that if it wasn´t for the job, she would have been in the middle of the high waves by now.
"Ms. Grayson." Dawn closed the eyes briefly when she heard the dark, hard voice behind her.
"Lt. Commander McGarrett. " Dawn answered by mimicking his short nod when she turned and felt anger rise in her immediately when she saw him. He was wearing cargo pants, his combat boots and just a white shirt today. Dawn strengthened her shoulders and tilted her head upwards.
She heard Danny chuckle but chose to ignore him. She really didn´t want to get into another fight with McGarrett right now, there were more important things on her schedule.
Her eyes were drawn to his broad chest, the muscles in his arms that filled the shirt perfectly. Suddenly she felt him looking at her, his right eyebrow raised questioningly and she felt heat rising in her face. Oh god, he had seen the way she had looked at him! This was embarrassing and she was mad at herself for letting her self-control slip.
"Can I help you, Ms. Grayson?" his voice was sweet, soft and dropped a level until it seemed too intimate. Dawn clenched her fists, not sure if she was fighting the urge to slap his face or to pull him close.
"Thank you, Commander. I think we both know that you´re the last person I´d ask for help." She heard Danny chuckle again, ignoring him again. Her eyes were locked with Steve´s and she had to admit that she loved the fact, that her words made him press his lips to a thin line.
"You made it clear on more than one occasion, Ms. Grayson." he nearly purred and Dawn felt the soft hairs on her neck stand up. He was such a tease and if he wasn´t who he was... well, she might be interested in him. But it was useless to think about that.
"I´m glad that we have a mutual understanding here, Commander." she nodded and sighed inwardly. He was way too dangerous to play with.
When Steve leaned closer until they nearly touched each other, Dawn´s eyes widened and her heart started beating furiously. She felt the warmth emanating from him and the faint scent of his after-shave made her dizzy.
"Never said I agree with you, Ms. Grayson." he whispered and leaned even closer until their lips were just an inch away from each other. Dawn froze. And Steve reached out and grabbed a doughnut from the bag behind her, turned around, nodding at his team and left the office without another word. Dawn took a shaking breath, trying to calm herself.
"Well, if I didn´t know any better, I´d say you two have something going on." Danny teased and Dawn spun around, glaring at him until he threw his hands up in mock surrender, but still laughing.
"Come on Dawn, you can´t deny it. There definitely is a tension between you." Kono chimed in and Dawn shook her head in resignation.
"I have no idea what you´re talking about. This guy is arrogant and thick-headed. He´s a stubborn and proud alpha-male who only accepts one opinion. His own!" she said. And even if her voice was calm and she was desperate to convince her new friends, she knew at the same time that she was only lying to herself. Sure, everything she just said was true. Still she was attracted to him, and that made her furious.
"Yeah, just repeat that over and over again, maybe you´ll believe it one day." Danny smirked and quickly stepped back when her finger poked him.
"Don´t you dare, Danny Williams!" Her eyes were sparkling with anger, but he saw the small smile on her lips.
"Not convinced yet, Ms. Grayson." Danny chuckled, mimicking Steve´s tone. Dawn just rolled her eyes at him.
"Anyway, I have to go, the Governor is waiting." she turned around, heading to the door to turn around again. "Kono, let me know if you wanna go surfing after work." She shared a smile with Chin and then left, not daring to look back at Steve´s office. If she had done it, she would have seen him watch her leave.
With a content sigh she piled her board into the sand and grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler, opening it and taking a sip. She felt Kono do the same and they slumped down on their towels, letting the warm sun dry their skin. They had met after work, surfing for the better part of the last two hours. They were both satisfyingly exhausted now and the little competition between them was only adding benefits to their friendship.
They sat in silence for a while, watching the waves roll onto the beach. The sun was slowly setting and the air was cooling down. It´s been a great day, at least since she had left 5-0´s headquarter. And she even got to go surfing with Kono on the North Shore, the perfect ending for a great day.
She felt her friend look at her and turned to meet her gaze.
"What?" she asked.
"He´s a great guy." Kono said and Dawn didn´t pretend she didn´t know who Kono was talking about.
"I know." Dawn sighed and watched the waves again, not ready to admit more to Kono.
"But you chose to not like him."
"I never said I don´t like him."
Kono looked at her friend somewhat surprised, not sure what to do with this little detail. Since she introduced Dawn to Steve, they were fighting whenever they met. Dawn started to work for the new Governor, she came in at least once a week to bring them breakfast from the best bakery in town that was on her way to work.
She never offered anything to Steve, she laughed and joked with Danny, Kono and Chin but as soon as Steve would join, she was like a mad woman. She was snippy, bitchy and Steve just acted the same way. It was fun for the rest of the team to watch their fearless leader being challenged by this blond woman. She definitely knew how to push his buttons, but that went both ways.
"I don´t like his attitude. I don´t know him enough to say I don´t like him." Dawn said with a smile. "And no, I don´t want to give it a try. The time I already had to spend in his presence was more than enough."
"Okay, okay, I got it. You´re wrong though." Kono laughed and was relieved that Dawn joined in.
"Come on, I´m hungry." The two of them packed their stuff together and left the beach, giggling like little girls about a couple of guys trying to convince them to come over.
To say that Dawn was surprised about the person that just knocked at her door, was an understatement. She came home an hour ago, showered and changed into comfortable white shorts and a red top that hung loosely on her curves. She had spend the time shaving, spoiling herself with applying a rich lotion to her tanned skin and allowing her hair to dry into wild curls.
She had just opened a bottle of wine and her favorite 80´s rock CD was playing in the background, when the knock had startled her. She didn´t expect anyone.
"Can I come in?" His voice was calm and held only a hint of impatience. Wordlessly she stepped to the side, opening the door wider for him to come in. She closed the door behind him and let him to her spacious living room.
When she had bought that house after the Governor of Hawaii had signed her contract, she knew that this was the place she was looking for. Her home. It was light-flooded, spacious, located on a hill with a beautiful view over Honolulu. She had felt at home here right away and signing the contract to buy the house made her realize that she had arrived.
The man that followed her to the huge white sofa made her home seem smaller. He was talk and dark and extremely sexy and Dawn felt like he was intruding her own private harbor. But she was curious what he wanted, why he came here, so she refused to make a snippy comment.
"Can I get you something? Wine or beer?" Her parents had raised her to be polite and to offer guests something to drink, no matter how little she cared about their visit.
"I´ll join you." he motioned to her glass of wine on the small glass table and she turned and got him a glass. Pouring it in and placing the bottle down again, she sat back and looked at him.
"Thank you." he took the glass, toasted her and took a sip, savoring the fruity taste. Dawn leaned back, drew her legs under and took a sip as well, just watching him and waiting for him to spill the reason for his visit.
He didn´t seem to be willing to rush things as he let his gaze wander around first, taking in the room and noticing the little personal things that made the room a home. She knew that she showed him a new side of herself by letting him into her home. It was one thing to see him every now and then and argue or fight or just enjoy the little banter. But opening her door to her home, her private place to him, was a completely different thing.
And somehow she didn´t even fell like fighting. It was different, now that it was just the two of them. No Danny or Kono or Chin around. He seemed relaxed and she doubted that he came here to start another fight.
Finally his eyes went back to hers and she saw the small smile on his lips. Perfectly curved lips by the way. Stop, don´t you dare let your fantasy take over now, Dawn! She warned herself. Her eyes dropped to his hands holding the glass, slender yet powerful fingers with short nails. She saw the fine hairs on his strong arms, the muscles that moved under the caramel skin every time he lifted the glass to his lips.
He was a very good looking man and she wasn´t immune to that fact. It seemed that now with him being here in her house, she was reacting even more to him and for some reason, she didn´t mind. When she lifted her eyes again to meet his, she saw him smiling at her, genuinely. It warmed her face and she felt her heart starting to beat faster, when he didn´t look away.
"Tell me, what brought you here, Commander?" she asked when she was sure her voice would be more than a whisper.