1

Steve McGarrett rolled onto his side and opened his eyes. He smiled when he saw Chrissy, looking peaceful and quiet next to him. Getting used to this wouldn't be too difficult. He hoped last night made that perfectly clear to her.

Taking Chrissy to the Navy SEAL Gala had been a no-brainer when Steve had realized just how much she meant to him and vice versa. I mean, not every woman would tell you she loved you while a metal beam was crushing your torso. Not only that, but she'd been there for him the entire aftermath. She'd willingly rode with him to the hospital in the ambulance and sat in the ER, waiting for news. Not only that, but when he'd finally been allowed to return home, she'd become his nurse. She changed the bandages across his ribs faithfully, despite the fact that his wounds were pretty grotesque. Actually, she'd pretty much lived with him in the month since the explosion at the warehouse.

As Steve watched her sleep, he began thinking about the status of their relationship. I mean, they'd only been on one date and shared a few kisses during the past month. He couldn't even honestly say they'd made out. Calling her his girlfriend seemed a little premature, but she wasn't exactly just another girl to him either. He hoped the question didn't come up because he didn't have an answer yet.

Slowly, Chrissy stirred and her eyes flickered open. She sighed and smiled up at Steve. She emitted, "How long have you been up?"

Steve replied, "Just a couple of minutes."

Chrissy inquired, "Were you watching me sleep?"

Steve nodded, "Yes, I was."

"May I ask why?"

"I don't know. You just look so peaceful when you're asleep. I don't think you're ever that calm when you're awake."

"Probably not. Sleeping is when I can actually relax. Most of the time, I'm not very relaxed when I'm awake. Not only that, but I had a very exhausting evening yesterday."

"When did going to a Navy SEAL Gala become 'a very exhausting evening'?"

"That's the difference between men and women, Steve. When a man goes to the Navy SEAL Gala, all he has to do is put on his uniform and he's ready to go. For a woman, it's a whole process. We have to put on makeup, do our hair, put our clothes on, and do touch-ups. That's a couple of hours' worth of work, not counting the shower or bath most women take before doing all of that."

"Okay, but to me, that doesn't sound like very hard work."

"You're a guy. You don't have to wear make-up. Guys usually wear their hair too short to have to worry about styling. That's a lot of work."

"Danny would know something about that."

"Steve! That's mean. After all Danny does for you, I think you should treat him with a little more respect."

"Don't tell me you have the hots for Danno!"

"No, I don't. You know you are the only guy I have the hots for. I'm just saying that Danny does an awful lot for you, and I don't think you should be as hard on him as you are. I mean, when you gave him that letter the night of the explosion, he really didn't have to give it to me. However, he knew exactly how important it was to give me the letter and that he would be letting you down if he didn't. After doing that, you really shouldn't be giving him a hard time."

"You're never going to stop talking about that letter, are you?"

"Of course not. God, the things you wrote in that letter were things I wasn't sure I'd ever hear from a man. When I thought you were dead…I was a wreck, Steve. It would have killed me to know I'd lost the only man I'd ever fallen in love with. Still, I don't regret getting that letter. I think it expressed how you truly felt about me in the purest way."

"Do you still have the letter?"

"Yes. It's in my room at home in my Treasure Box."

"You still have a treasure box?"

"Yeah, but not like the one you have when you are a kid. I've kept different things that I think are important and help me remember different points in my life. For example, I have a movie ticket from the first date I went on in seventh grade, my corsage from prom, my acceptance letter from college, the pregnancy test I took that told me I was pregnant with Sarah, my father's obituary, and your letter. Those are all things that played a huge role in my life and who I've become. Sometimes, I like to go through it and I can remember exactly what I was feeling when all of those events occurred. It's interesting, and I hope I have a full box to show my children and grandchildren someday."

"You will. Besides, now you have a ticket from the Navy SEAL Gala to add to it now."

"You're right, and I will add that to my box when I get home. However, instead of going straight home, I was thinking that maybe I could go to work with you today."

Steve sat up in bed and stared at Chrissy, a little bewildered, "Chrissy, do you realize that you have a daughter?"

Chrissy batted her eyes at Steve, "Danny told me that he would bring Sarah to Five-0 headquarters if I asked him to, so I'll probably just text him and ask him if he could."

Steve chuckled, "What are you and Danny? Texting buddies?"

Chrissy smirked, "Sarah happens to be at Danny's place now because she and Gracie had a sleepover last night. Yes, I have been texting him to check up on Sarah. He actually answers my texts, unlike someone I know."

"Well, I'm glad Danny has time to chat with you via text message, but I'm usually doing a little thing called working."

"You know, that's something else I wanted to talk to you about. Do you remember what happened to you when we were at the safe house in Kauai? You collapsed, or maybe you forgot that vital piece of information. What did Max diagnose that as? Oh, that's right, overexertion, or exhaustion. Sometimes, I don't hear from you for days when you're working a case, and you always tell me it's because you were too busy to call me. You're overworking yourself again, and I'm just afraid that you're going to kill yourself doing it."

"I won't kill myself, and these cases are pressing matters. People's lives are in danger in most of my cases, and it's essential that I work hard on those cases. I'd rather overwork than find another dead body that easily could have been prevented."

"It's a useless argument with you, isn't it, Steve? I'll never be able to convince you that you work too hard, will I?"

"No, you won't."

"I'm only telling you because it worries me. You've worried me enough since I met you. I mean, that evening in Kauai, I thought you were having a heart attack. Thank God it was only overexertion and that it could be fixed. Then, the night at the warehouse, I thought you were dead. I was pretty convinced of it, too, considering that the building exploded and you were nowhere in sight. However, I got that call from you and found out you weren't dead but hurt badly. You've spent the last four weeks trying to recover from the wounds to your torso, but it's been a slow recovery because you insist on working as hard as you ever did. How many times do I have to tell you I love you, and that the last thing I want is for you to be dead because you worked yourself to the grave?"

"Chrissy, that has nothing to do with it. I know you love me, and I love you, too, but if I don't work hard, then I don't feel that I'm working to the best of my ability."

"I understand that, but working hard doesn't mean killing yourself doing it. You're one of the most driven people I've ever met. You always work hard no matter what. I would just like to see you calm down a bit so you can enjoy life."

"I understand what you're saying, but I'm just not used to that. I've never really had a woman in my life consistently. When Catherine and I were together, we didn't see each other regularly. That's probably why we were together for so long. We were barely together long enough to discuss anything. Actually, that was the reason we broke up. We never talked. We did…other things. Anyway, I've never really been in a relationship where I saw my partner regularly, so it's weird to be able to see you basically whenever I want. I'm just not used to having someone in my life who wants my attention that is not one of my co-workers."

"I'm not exactly a relationship expert, either, Steve. This is as new to me as it is to you. However, I just want you to know that I am concerned about you and your health."

Steve leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. He whispered, "I know you do. It's just that I feel so passionately about justice that working day and night seems normal."

Chrissy turned toward him, "I know you're driven, and I love that about you. Just don't work such crazy hours. I want to spend some time with you."

Steve laughed, "And you're going to work with me today to do that? Don't you have a job?"

Chrissy sighed, "We don't work on Sundays, and I really am thinking about quitting. I hate it."

"Where are you working again?"

"You mean you haven't pulled all my files? My, my. That doesn't sound like the Steve McGarrett I know."

"Trust me, Ms. Raines. I've pulled all your files. Your place of employment has just slipped my mind."

"Getting forgetful in your old age, Commander?"

"Honey, I wouldn't talk about age. You're less than a year younger than me."

"Okay, fine. I'll remind you of my employer. I work for Roshad and Eastberg, Attorneys at Law. I'm a secretary."

"I knew that."

"Just reminding you."

"Okay, so you hate your job there. What if I offered you a job at Five-0?"

"Steve, you can't just offer me a job because we have a relationship! Besides, I'm not qualified to work with Five-0."

"What qualifications do you need to be Five-0's secretary? Maybe a little secretarial experience, but that's about it. Chrissy, I'm honestly not giving you the job because I like you and have an outside relationship with you. I want you to take the job a) because Five-0 honestly needs someone to organize case files and other paperwork and b) because you're definitely qualified. I would never offer you the job unless I thought you deserved it. Not only that, but then we could see a lot of each other."

"I'd be working for you, wouldn't I?"

"Technically, you would be working for the task force and the state of Hawaii, but yes, you would primarily be working for me."

"That would give you an awful lot of power over me."

"Yes, but our work relationship would be completely different than our relationship outside of work. At work, I would be your boss. Outside of work, I'm your…well, I'm not sure. Don't take that the wrong way."

"I didn't. In fact, I'm not sure what to call you, either. I guess we can just wait and see how it goes."

"Does that mean you'll take the job?"

"No. It means I'll consider it."

"Are you always this hard-headed?"

"No more so than you are about working too hard."

"Good point."