Chin rapped on the doorframe with his knuckles causing Kono to jump to alertness and glare balefully at her cousin.
"Don't do that!" Kono snapped. She grabbed her mug and gulped down the remnants of her cold coffee, grimacing at the taste. Slamming it on the table with a disgusted groan, she rubbed her tired eyes. Chin's lips quirked in amusement.
"I think it's time you headed home," Chin said as he stepped forward towards her desk. He gently pried the pen she had been using to fill in the paperwork out of her fingers, capped it and dropped it into the pen holder on her table. "We've been awake for the past 24 hours, the paperwork can wait."
"He's right," came another voice from the door. Steve had snuck up on the two unsuspecting cousins and was leaning on the doorframe. Kono snorted in a rather un-ladylike manner and leaned back against her chair, crossing her arms,
"You're only saying that because Danny's doing your paperwork for you after you completely messed it up the last time round," Kono replied. Steve grinned, his tired features lighting up.
"True, but payback's a bitch. No one told him to leave malasada crumbs all over my kitchen floor," he said. "Besides, Danny's a big boy. He'll stop when he's reached his limit." He paused as he surveyed her. "You, however, have reached your limit. I want you packed up and ready to leave in ten minutes." With that, he turned and disappeared into his office.
Kono sighed and reached for the pen Chin had took from her but was thwarted by Chin as he batted her hand away.
"Steve's right," Chin said. "I'll go rescue Danny once I'm sure you're done. Then I'll walk you to your car."
"I don't need a babysitter, Chin," Kono snapped. "I'm not tired." She struggled to stifle a yawn. Chin raised an eyebrow.
"I can see that you're not tired at all," he deadpanned. He crossed his arms and looked at her pointedly. Kono knew that she wouldn't be completing her paperwork today, not if her overprotective cousin could help it.
"What about you then?" Kono replied defiantly. "You going home?"
"Nah, I've still got some work to do."
Kono's eyes narrowed as she sorted out the sheaves of paper before her and stacked them neatly on her desk. "We've been awake for the past 24 hours, Chin. The paperwork can wait," Kono said, throwing Chin's words right back at him. Chin smiled ruefully. He ran a hand through his dark hair, exhaustion showing briefly on his features before he schooled his expression back into one of concern.
"Fine," Chin said reluctantly. "I'll leave with you. You pack up. I'll go save Danny before he kills himself."
"Or Steve," Kono replied with a laugh. "Sure thing, cuz."
Chin offered her an affectionate smile and disappeared out the door. When she was younger, he always ruffled her hair fondly when he smiled at her like that. She suddenly found herself missing those times. It was a simpler life where she didn't have to worry about bastards like Rodney Mason who kidnapped and sold girls to brothels for a living. With a groan, Kono dropped her head into her hands.
As much as she enjoyed snapping the handcuffs on the creep back at the shipyard where they had ambushed him, she didn't think she would ever forget the fear she could see in the eyes of each and every one of the girls they had pulled from the container. It had been a long and tough case. Mason had been a pro at hiding his trail and it took all of Five-0's considerable skill to track down the collection point and lay the ambush. After 24 hours of no sleep and an unhealthy amount of coffee, she was hellishly tired and ready to call it a day.
Chin cleared his throat and Kono was jerked out of her thoughts once again.
"I thought I said pack up?" Chin was leaning on the doorframe, his arms folded across his chest as he stared at her pointedly. Kono sighed, resisting the childish urge to stick her tongue out at her older cousin the way she used to when she was little. She could feel the exhaustion weighing her down now that she was getting ready to leave. Chin crossed the distance between the door and her table.
Picking up the rock which served as a paperweight, he dropped it on the stack of documents she placed on the table previously. Kono smiled her thanks as she dragged herself off the chair and tossed her stuff haphazardly into her bag. When she reached for her car keys, Chin placed a hand on her arm and she looked up, startled.
"Maybe you shouldn't drive," Chin said softly. Kono raised an eyebrow.
"I'm not that tired." Chin's eyes narrowed as he picked the keys from the table and pocketed them.
"Hey!" Kono protested as she tried to snatch them back.
"I'll drive you home then return you your keys. You're too tired to be driving. I'll come pick you up tomorrow morning."
Kono scowled.
"Come on, cuz, I can drive myself home fine. You spent the same amount of time on the case as I did and you're gonna be driving."
Chin sighed.
"You probably don't realise how tired you are, Kono. You can barely keep your eyes open."
Kono rubbed her gritty eyes and tried to think past the haze of exhaustion.
"You must be tired too," she replied.
"Yeah, I am but I've had more experience pulling 24 hour shifts than you do. Until you're able to tell when you're too exhausted to continue, I'll be doing it for you. Come on, Steve and Danny are already packing up."
Kono sighed. She knew she'd lost the battle. Reluctantly, she shouldered her bag and they both stepped out of Five-0's headquarters, calling their goodbyes to Steve and Danny who were too busy bickering over paperwork to do more than wave through the glass separating Danny's office from the main room.
"So are you going to Aunt Kiki's birthday party next Saturday?" Kono asked conversationally as they strolled towards Chin's car. The sun was setting in a brilliant blaze of colors that Kono had seen too many times to be truly dazzled by. Chin stopped walking as he rummaged in his bag for his keys.
"No, I'm not going," he replied quietly, fishing them out of the front pocket and fiddling with them. "I don't think they want to see me there."
Kono's expression hardened.
"Aunt Kiki invited you," Kono said, turning to stand in front of him. "It's her birthday party, she can choose whoever she wants to invite. You don't have to let their stupid prejudice dictate your life, cuz."
Chin said nothing.
A familiar-looking man appeared from his crouched position behind a parked car, sunlight glinting off the knife in his hand.
Chin froze as the man charged soundlessly forward, the knife positioned to stab Kono in the back. His heart caught in his throat as the world seemed to slow. Without a second thought, he shoved Kono out of the way. He barely registered her shocked expression or her surprised gasp before a stunning burst of liquid fire exploded in his gut and he collapsed to his knees, barely able to keep the strangled yelp from escaping his lips.
The man's eyes widened, a stunned look of surprise on his face. He'd meant to stab the girl. A wild glint entered his eyes as a grin stretched across his face. Ah, what did it matter?
Kono pushed herself off the floor and darted towards him, aiming to tackle him to the ground. She wrestled him to the floor pinning him down just as Steve and Danny came out of HQ. Kono could still hear them bickering about something. Adrenaline was coursing through her veins and she felt numb with shock and fear.
"Steve!" Kono shouted. "Danny!"
The duo turned towards the noise. Stunned looks of disbelief flashed across their faces and were quickly overtaken by purpose. Both of them ran forward, Danny pulling out his cell phone and dialing for an ambulance, the phone pressed to his ear as he dropped to his knees beside Chin who had rolled onto his back on the baked asphalt. Kono jumped off the assailant the moment Steve arrived to take over and rushed to Chin's side, her heart hammering in her chest. Her exhaustion had fled ages ago, the attack leaving her with a disturbing clarity which meant that she would remember everything that happened in vivid high definition for the rest of her life. She could see the blood pulsing out of the wound and pooling beneath her cousin. She dropped to her knees beside him as Danny screamed into the phone, begging the paramedics to please hurry up.
Steve pulled out his handcuffs and snapped them on the assailant. For a moment, he was torn between staying with Chin and throwing the assailant in a holding cell.
"Go," Chin rasped out between breaths, his hands curling reflexively into fists as he tried to battle the pain that radiated from the knife sticking out of his torso. Kono pulled her cousin's head into her lap and cradled his chin as he groaned. Steve nodded, unable to speak. He manhandled the assailant towards the holding cells.
"Hang in there, cuz," Kono whispered as Chin panted, his breaths coming out in shallow bursts. His eyes were closed, his jaw clenched shut as he tried to stifle the groans that were working their way up his throat. Sweat beaded his forehead and Kono wiped them away tenderly with the heel of her palm. A bone-deep fear burned its way through her as she continued whispering to him, urging him to just hold on.
A loud wailing siren announced the arrival of the ambulance. Danny roughly shoved his phone into his pocket and placed a hand on Chin's shoulder.
"Hang on, Chin, EMT's almost here," he said, tone tense.
He looked up and caught Kono's eye, seeing the naked fear displayed in their depths. Chin had turned an unhealthy shade of grey and the pool of blood beneath him was growing. With a rattling gasp, he fell limp. The doors of the ambulance banged opened just as it pulled into the parking lot, paramedics jumping off with kits in their hands. Danny had to forcibly drag Kono away as they worked to stabilize Chin for transport. Danny wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his chest.
"Please, Danny," Kono muttered as she fought him. "Please, brah, he needs me."
"You have to let the paramedics do their job," Danny said, struggling to hold the taller woman back. He didn't want to hurt her but the way she was taller than he and the way she was thrashing against him was threatening to unbalance them both and send them sprawling to the ground. Just then, Steve sprinted out the HQ doors. He reached them and pulled Kono from a grateful Danny's grasp before wrapping his arms around her and pinning her against him.
"Calm down," he said, trying to stop his frantic teammate from hampering the paramedic's progress. They had Chin prepped for transport and was moving him towards the ambulance.
"No!" Kono cried. "I want to go with him!" She fought against Steve who was holding her in a tight grip. Danny, who'd been conversing with the driver of the ambulance, returned. They exchanged helpless looks as the ambulance doors slammed shut and it peeled out of the car park, sirens wailing.
"C'mon," Danny said as Steve struggled with Kono who was still fighting against him. "I'll drive."
Steve nodded.
"Kono!" he shouted in an attempt to get Kono's attention. Kono immediately stopped fighting, her body falling limp in his arms. Both Steve and Danny looked at each other in alarm.
"He took that knife for me," Kono whispered softly. "Why was he so stupid?"
Tears glimmered in her eyes as she steadied herself. She wrapped her arms around Steve and began to cry, her exhaustion and fear releasing a floodgate of emotions that she would normally have been able to control with ease if she were more well-rested.
Steve gently guided her to the Camaro and they piled in, Danny taking the wheel while Steve sat in the back with an arm wrapped around Kono. Without saying a word, Danny flipped on the sirens and floored it all the way to the hospital.
I will be posting a new chapter once every four days (:
The title of this story is taken from the song I'll Come For You by Nickelback and I think it's quite an apt song to describe how this story will go. This is my first multi-chaptered story out of the Harry Potter fandom so I do hope you'll like it.
Thank you for reading! :D