Chapter One
Steve steered the helicopter over the pitch-black ocean and as the island of Oahu became visible by the horizon, his nerves suddenly hit him. He hunted down dangerous criminals and ran head first into gunfights for a living and it did not face him the slightest. But facing the woman he liked had him shaking in his combat boots.
It had been weeks since Steve last saw Kono and he couldn't wait to see her. He feared though that the feeling was not reciprocated. If Kono had done what he did and take off for Japan for several weeks without a word, he wouldn't be too happy with her. He could only imagine the words she had in store for him when he returned.
From the minute Steve first met Kono, he became aware of the attraction that existed between the two of them. Something about Kono drew him in and the more time they spent together, the more Steve wanted her to be a part of his life and he went out of his way to include her in the team. Whenever they went out for drinks after work or stayed behind at the office to watch old football-tapes Steve made sure that she felt welcome to join. It even went so far that he started to ask her out for morning surfs, only because he wanted to spend time with her without the presence of Chin or Danny.
The attraction only grew stronger over time and so did the budding feelings Steve have for her. They started to flirt and banter over the smart table and just a few weeks before he left for Japan, things really started to develop.
One night after the entire team had been over at his place for a barbeque, Steve had snapped. Danny and Chin had already left to go home and drop Grace at her mother's. The two of them had been left alone on his lanai where they had talked and laughed until Kono took a look at her watch, several hours later. She had made her excuses and said that she was going to finish her beer and be out of his hair. Without thinking he had leaned over his chair to press his lips against hers.
Steve had felt that the mood had been right and he had been sure that she felt the attraction as well, judging by her responses and initiatives to flirting. But then and there he was convinced that he had made a mistake and was just about to pull back since Kono did not respond when she kissed him back. When they broke apart for air, Steve pulled her into his lap and that is how they stayed for the rest of the night. First when neither of them could keep their eyes open they got up and Kono left to go home so that they could get some sleep before work the next day.
Things had gone just fine until the point when everything with Shelbourne had blown up in his face and he had gone off to Japan to hunt him down. Steve did not regret going after the person who was the main reason behind his parents' deaths. What he did regret however was that he did not determine his relationship with Kono or tell her how he felt and what he wanted.
He had done the same things with Catherine and after a while their relationship had just run out in the sand. Neither of them knew what the other wanted and eventually neither knew if their efforts were wanted, and therefor they stopped. The thought of the same thing happening with Kono and her meeting up with someone else had his blood boiling. He wanted her to be there when he got back and for them to pick up where they had left off so badly. Just hearing her voice over the phone this morning caused a sharp ache in his chest. Steve had the nagging feeling though that that was not going to happen.
Steve landed with the helicopter on the deserted parking lot and just as he was about to bring Wo-Fat out, several black SUVs busted through the iron gate at the far end of the parking lot. Within seconds they were surrounded by men from the Yakuza, guns pointing at them, and Adam Noshimuri in the front. Things did not look good.
"This isn't your fight McGarrett. I don't want to hurt you." Adam said. The man was obviously worked up and upset. His hand was shaking badly, and the eyes were those of a tortured soul. It was eyes Steve knew way too well.
"I'm taking him to jail, Adam. He's going to prison and he's going to rot there!"
"It is not enough!" he yelled.
Steve understood his pain. The sight he had been met by in the hotel bathroom in Japan was more than enough for him to understand Adam's quest for revenge. But he also knew the pain that came from losing your father, the man you had looked up to for most of your life. The reason Steve was standing here right now was because he had been hell bent on achieving the same thing as Adam. Only he had realised that putting Wo-Fat in the ground was not the way. It would not give them peace. Their fathers would still be dead, and they would always feel hate towards the man who killed them.
"Adam!" came Kono's voice from behind him when Adam didn't seem to take his words to mind. Steve swirled around and there she stood. She was all dressed in black and she had her gun at the ready. He tried to catch her eye, but her focus lay solely on Adam. "Put the gun down." she pleaded.
Steve did not know what hurt the most. The fact that Kono wouldn't even look at him or the soft tone her voice took as she pleaded with Adam. It was intimate, like there was a history between them and he did not like it. He didn't like it all because it made his fears so much real. That he and Kono was over and that she had moved on.
Kono's pleading worked and Adam slowly started to lower his gun, but that was not the end. The lawyer started to whisper in Adam's ear and when he realised that Adam was not about to do what they came here to do, he decided to take matters into his own hands. But Kono was faster.
As soon as HPD arrived Steve gladly handed over Wo-Fat to their custody, so he could turn towards his team that was waiting for him. Danny was grinning like the goof that he was and embraced him with open arms and so did Chin, which only left Kono. He wasn't quite sure how to go about it. Was he supposed to hug her, kiss her or just greet her from a distance? He didn't have to wait long though, because Kono walked timidly up to him and gave him the long-awaited hug he had waited for all day.
"You don't write, you don't call…" she teased, making him laugh.
"It's good to be home!"
Steve stifled a yawn and threw his arm around Kono's shoulders. This had been one of the longest day of his life. His entire body ached from being on high alert all day and engaging in deadly combat, not to mention the fact that it had been over 24 hours since he got some proper rest. All he really wanted to do right now was to go home and go to bed.
He yawned again, but this time he didn't even have the energy to hide it from the others.
"Come on babe!" Danny laughed. "I'll give you a ride home."
After a quick goodbye to Chin and Kono, Steve let himself be led over to the silver Camaro and before he knew it, they were parked in his driveway.
"You good babe?" asked Danny.
"Yeah, I'm good. I'll see you tomorrow." he said and got out of the car.
The house was covered in complete darkness and just inside the door lay a large pile of mail that Steve only gave a fleeting glance. He couldn't be bothered to care about the mail or turn on any of the lights. He just dumped his bag onto the floor and climbed up the staircase to the bedroom. Well inside, he shrugged of his shoes and fell face down onto the bed and within seconds Steve was asleep.
Kono was nervous and she was never nervous, but it wasn't every day you were on your way to meet your boss that you liked for the first time in weeks.
The team was meeting up at Kamekona's for lunch. It was their day off and what better than to have a reunion at their regular place? Kono would rather be back home, hiding under her covers. But here she was, parking her car next to Danny's. If Danny was here than Steve was probably here as well.
She could feel how her heart pounded faster and faster in her chest as she approached the green area where Kamekona had set up his food truck. She had no idea how she was supposed to act. Did he expect something of her or did he no longer care for her as anything more than a colleague and a friend? So many different scenarios flashed around in her head and before she knew it, she had arrived at their regular table and was forced to face her demons.
"Hey guys!" was the solution she came up with.
Chin was sitting next to Danny who had Grace on his other side. This only left Kono with the option to sit next to Steve on the opposite side. She sat down carefully and cast a sidelong glance at Steve. He smiled slightly at her and his slightly tense stance made her think that he did not know how to act either.
Kamekona came over with their usual orders and a couple of beers and after a few minutes it started to feel like every other meal they have shared. Danny and Steve kept up their normal banter while Kono and Grace laughed at their silly antics, Chin hid his amusement behind his bottle. It felt good, but Steve and Kono never addressed each other directly and if the others noticed, it was not something they mentioned.
Sometime during the lunch, Steve had moved closer to her on the bench. The distance of several inches that had been there at the beginning was now non-existent. How she had missed it happening she did not know. Before she could sort of ignore him and forget for a minute that he was there. Now though, she was painfully aware of his presence. Steve's thigh was pressed up against hers and Kono could feel the heat radiating from him on her bare skin as she was only wearing a pair of short shorts.
She kept her eyes firmly placed on the table and did everything in her power to ignore what his closeness did to her. She was so intent of thinking of anything, but the feeling of Steve pressed up against her that she did not even notice how everyone at the table was staring at her.
"Kono? Are you alright there babe?" Danny's question brought her back to reality.
"Yeah, I am fine." she said.
"You haven't heard a word we have said!" laughed Chin and Kono blushed and looked back down at the table. She had thought she had been discreet.
"I'm sorry. What were you talking about?"
"Grace here," Danny spoke and pointed to little girl at his side. "Wants to start her with her surfing lessons again."
"Of course we can." she said and leaned forward to Grace. The girl smiled at her before digging back into her shrimp plate.
Kono couldn't help but smile at the little girl too. She had missed spending time with the girl. It was always a lot of fun. They would hang out at the beach and work on Grace's form for a couple of hours and on the way home they would stop for pancakes at Grace's favourite place. It was a nice, innocent break from the disturbing cases that was starting to become a permanent fixture in her everyday life. Grace was always so happy and in such a good mood and it never failed to cheer Kono up after a rough couple of days.
Just as Kono was about to dig back into her plate as well, she felt a hand land on her thigh. She froze and almost dropped her fork onto the table. The hand on her thigh was very familiar. It had touched plenty of times before and brought her an immense amount of pleasure. The hand moved higher and higher until it reached the apex of her thigh and then it went around her lower back to rest on her hip. She was sitting as close to Steve she could without sitting on his lap.
The subtle scent of his cologne filled her nostrils and she swooned. There was something about Steve McGarrett that just had Kono swooning. It was that laid back, confident way her bore himself. His amazingly blue eyes and to die for body was just a very nice bonus. That combined with his touch had her weak at the knees.
She had found him incredibly attractive from day one and it had only grown more prominent as she got to know him. He was a good man. Loyal and thoughtful, for the most part. There was no better person to watch your back.
Steve was looking straight at her and he smiled that lazy grin of his and her smile only grew at the sight. She was truly glad that he was back.
The first week after he left she didn't think much of it, she figured he would be back before they knew it or at least get in touch with them. But when the second week came and went, she realised that it was not going to happen and that is when the anger and doubt set in. Maybe she had just imagined the whole thing. Maybe it meant more to her than it did to him. Why else had he not called her to just let her know that he was alright.
It was a couple of days ago, in the safety of her dark bedroom, that she admitted to herself that she missed him. Adam had been the one who made her see it. As of late they had grown rather close. She and her best friend Kelly had met him in a club in one of their rare nights out six months ago and since then, Adam and Kelly had been inseparable. When he later came to her, about a month ago, asking for help to legitimise his father's business she happily agreed. It had been a welcomed distraction from Steve but spending a lot of time with someone eventually led to talking which lead to Steve. Adam had listened and then proceeded to give it to her straight. He wasn't fooled by her front and told her very clearly that she was missing him. Words she had then proceeded to pounder that night in her bed.
Perhaps he hadn't meant anything towards her with his disappearing act and she had just read too much into it. He wasn't a bad person who deliberately went out of his way to hurt people. He could just be a little thoughtless sometimes, he acted first and thought it through later. So she leaned in slightly in his embrace as an acceptance and hoped that he got her message.