Notes:
1) Even if this story is a sequel to my story "Gravity", I don't think you necessarily have to read "Gravity" first to understand what's going on.

2) This story is dedicated to all the people who read "Gravity" and encouraged me to write a sequel – you guys are awesome.

3) We don't know yet about Kono's and Malia's fate – I do hope that both women will survive that evil cliffhanger at the end of season 2. But if not, well, I think then we have to consider my story as slightly AU.

4) Fair warning: I love whump and I really love cliffhangers… just saying ;-) Better be prepared!

5) English is not my native language, so please forgive me my mistakes.

Disclaimer:
Unfortunately I don't own anything of Hawaii Five-0, it all belongs to CBS. But I wouldn't mind at all sharing my couch with the Five-0 team – feel free to come around whenever you like.

Thanks:
montez and sherry57, thank you so much for betaing, for all the time and effort you put into my story! MAHALO, you are both really and truly the best and I'm honored that you do all that work for me! :-) Don't know what I'd do without you!

Chapter 1:

Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett knew one thing for sure – he hated going shopping.

His face rigid, his chin pushed forward, Steve left the supermarket, two heavy bags of groceries, cosmetics and cleaning products firmly pressed against his chest. He stomped across the parking lot, cursing silently when he felt one of the bags starting to slip from his hands. Briefly stopping, Steve made an awkward movement with his right arm to balance his load before he resumed his pace, faster than before, making a beeline for his car at the other end of the huge parking lot.

Yes, Steve definitely hated going shopping and for that reason he tried to avoid the big supermarkets as much as possible. It was not helping that it was Friday afternoon and the sheer amount of people and cars were making Steve's mood even worse.

There was this nice little mom-and-pop store only two streets from his home where he regularly bought his daily ration of fresh fruits and vegetables, the tiny shop belonged to Auntie Amana, the old lady had owned the place as long as Steve could remember. He still remembered vividly the very first time his mother had taken him there, over thirty years ago, how amazed he was about all the different kind of colorful fruits. Even then Auntie Amana had been old – at least from the perspective of a sassy three-year-old. So it was to his immense surprise, Steve had found not only the shop still intact when he'd returned to the Islands after the death of his father, but that Auntie Amana was still alive. She looked exactly the same as he'd remembered her from his childhood days, her face weathered and wrinkled but here eyes still sparkling with glee and her tongue and wit sharp as ever.

Steve didn't mind going to Auntie Amana's little store but he had to admit that going there was not so much about shopping but rather spending some quality time with the old lady, listening to her stories and wallowing in long lost childhood memories. But the range of products in the old shop was limited and even an Ex-SEAL needed cosmetics and cleaning products from time to time, and that's why today his path led him to one of the big supermarkets that he hated so much. McGarrett knew somewhere deep inside that it would probably be much easier to come here more regularly, buying smaller amounts of all the stuff he needed to keep his house – and himself – nice and clean, but he stubbornly refused to give in to that logic, avoiding the dreaded place as long as possible.

Gritting his teeth, Steve tensed the muscles in his arms to prevent the large bags from slipping further down, the sharp edge of whatever it was he had bought uncomfortably jabbing into his ribs. He breathed out a relieved sigh when he finally reached the end of the parking lot, his big blue truck waiting at the very end of a long row of cars.

He had only a few more steps to cross when he suddenly felt something painfully slam into his back. Stumbling forward, Steve couldn't help the surprised groan of pain that left his throat as he desperately tried to regain his foothold, but the weight of the two heavy bags in his arms was too much, the momentum of the blow sending him to the ground.

McGarrett tried to release his grip on the bags but it was already too late, he hadn't the slightest chance of breaking his fall, only a heartbeat later his forearms painfully made contact with the rough asphalt, the shopping bags bursting, spilling their contents all over the place and under the parked cars.

Pushing aside the dull throb in his back and the burning sensation spreading along his arms, Steve struggled to his feet, wildly looking around as he tried to identify the source of his fall, when he felt something tugging at his belt.

"Thanks for that, dude!"

"What the hell…" McGarrett stammered, staring incredulously at the small hand waving a gold and blue item directly in front of his face. His eyes travelled from the hand to the smirking face of a teenager but before Steve could even think of raising his own hand to grab for his stolen badge, the Hawaiian boy ducked, swiftly turned around on his lime-green rollerblades that perfectly matched the color of his helmet and took to his heels.

Finally shaking off his rigor, Steve jumped over his scattered shopping, ignoring the surprised and appalled cries around him as he chased after the young thief. Limping the first few steps until he adjusted to the pain in his back where the boy had tackled him, McGarrett raced to the end of the parking lot, turning to the left where he'd just spotted a glimpse of green, disappearing around the next corner. He sped up, carefully dodging the few pedestrians who were strolling on the sidewalk but when he reached the street corner not even half a minute later the boy was nowhere to be seen.

Looking around for any sign of the lime-green helmet, Steve stopped in his pursuit, catching his breath as he unconsciously rubbed the sore spot on his back. After another unsuccessful minute of searching the area he finally admitted defeat, disappointed and angry he jogged back to the parking lot, astonished at the group of people that had gathered around his car. He was greeted by a cacophony of voices as he drew near, everyone was shouting and talking at him, but all he could make out where the words 'robbery', 'police' and 'ambulance'.

Steve ineffectively tried to calm down the crowd but he wasn't able to raise his voice over the noise, so he finally put his fingers to his mouth and blew out a long shrill whistle. Almost immediately the uproar died down, a weird silence filled the air when all eyes were aimed at McGarrett.

"Thank you." Slightly spreading his arms, Steve nodded once, gazing at the people around him. "Was anyone else attacked?" he asked, his voice calm and businesslike.

A young man stepped forward, his red and white striped shirt identified him as an employee of the supermarket. "No, sir, you were the only one," he said, nervously knotting his fingers as he looked at McGarrett. "We just were about to call the police when you returned…" his voice trailed off as soon as he saw Steve's defensive gesture.

"That won't be necessary, I am police," Steve replied, smiling slightly as he introduced himself. "Commander McGarrett, Five-0."

"Oh… okay," the other man stammered, clearly unaccustomed to talking in front of such a large group of people and intimidated by Steve's authoritarian demeanor. "We… uhm… we're also wondering if you need medical attendance."

Steve raised his eyebrows, astonished at the question, as he stared at the young man. "Why do you think I would need medical attendance?" he asked in a friendly tone, his curiosity piqued.

When he peered around he was rewarded with blank and worried looks on all the faces. Steve furrowed his brow in confusion and very slowly he finally became aware of the burning sensation that pulsed through his forearms. He raised his right arm to take a closer look, hissing in pain as he cautiously touched the bloody wounds that covered all the skin from his wrist to the elbow, dirt and grit deeply embedded into the scrapes.

"I'll call an ambulance," Steve heard one of the women around him calling out terrified.

Looking up, McGarrett resolutely shook his head, "No, it's okay, I'm fine. I don't need an ambulance." Silencing the emerging murmur of voices with a sharp gesture, he put on his commanding tone, as Danny liked to call it, nipping any upcoming resistance in the bud as he said, "Really, I'm fine, and I'd like to thank you all for your help." Picking up the two bags with his shopping items, Steve threw another glance at the group of people who surrounded him, nodding a thank-you to whomever helped gathering and repacking his belongings. "Thank you," he repeated politely as he opened the door of his truck, stowing the bags away.

Waiting a few more moments until the crowd around him began to disperse, Steve finally climbed into his car, breathing out a long sigh as he started the engine, eager to leave the dreaded supermarket, heading home to nurse his wounds that actually hurt more than he cared to admit.

Steve shook his head in frustration, the events of the day definitely didn't help to make shopping more enjoyable.

Paul Baines, former owner of Imperial Cosmetics Inc. and once a well-respected personality on the island of Oahu, snuggled deeper into the driver's seat of his unremarkable silver compact car, adjusting his sunglasses as he watched the busy comings and goings in the parking lot. Reaching for the radio controls, he switched on his favorite station, listening to the powerful sound of his beloved opera music as he patiently waited for his prey to show up.

He didn't mind waiting, and he considered patience one of his strongest suits. Baines had waited his whole life, he had learned early that only patience would finally bring the desired results. He cocked his head a little to the right, pursing his lips as he thought about that statement. Well, patience was not all – a well placed murder now and then never caused any harm, and Baines had never been shy about getting rid of the people who'd tried to upset his mighty plans.

Baines' gaze slowly travelled to the other end of the parking lot, where the man he waited for finally showed up. A malicious smile crept across Baines' features as he watched him struggling with the two heavy shopping bags that he pressed against his chest. Closely eyeballing his foe, watching the grim determination on the younger man's face, Baines wondered if Commander McGarrett knew about the intimidating impression he had on other people.

When McGarrett had almost reached his car, Baines slipped off his sunglasses, punching the radio button to silence the music as he straightened up in his seat. He leaned forward slightly to have a better look at the scene, waiting patiently for his plan to unfold.

Ever since Baines had been forced to get rid of those two employees of his, who had been stupid enough to tell the police about his ongoing experiments with synthetic drugs almost a year ago, he had worked on his revenge. Patiently hiding on one of the beautiful Hawaiian Islands, he planned his revenge not only for the demise of his drug experiments but also for the death of his beloved foster mother.

A flash of lime-green raced over the parking lot and Baines watched in fascination as the boy he'd hired two days ago slammed at full speed into McGarrett's back, tackling the man to the ground and sending the shopping items all over the place. Almost clapping his hands in delight, Baines waited patiently until the boy had snatched McGarrett's badge, causing the Commander to race after him, before he exited his car. With two empty shopping bags in his hands he slowly strolled over toward McGarrett's car, kneeling down as he helped the two women who were busy gathering the scattered items. Presenting the empty bags, he motioned to the women and only a few moments later all of McGarrett's belongings were safely stowed away.

Baines was long back in his car when McGarrett finally returned to the parking lot; he wasn't able to hide his taunting smile, secretly replacing one of the items in the bag had almost been too easy. Rubbing his hands with glee, Paul Baines switched on the radio, happily singing along with Mozart's Papageno.

Step one of his plan had been more than successful.

(tbc)