Everything's Changed
Zebraboymom
Disclaimer: They do not belong to me. But if I did they wouldn't be separated like they are this season.
Author Notes: Just a really short one shot that hit me after last night's episode. I know they had a kidnapping case and all, but it was over when the news came down about Kono. I know as tight as they are as a team, all of them would have been there with her. It seemed very OOC for even Chin not to be there for her. So this is my attempt to fix that. I hope this isn't the way the whole season is going to go. I have to admit that I like the new girl, but she's not Kono. I don't like the way Steve is looking at her either. Steve/Kono
Steve watched the press conference about Kono in disbelief. This couldn't be true. They had handed down the harshest punishment possible in her case. Dammit! This was because of him. His methods and the way he ran the team made the current governor mad and he was making an example of Kono. It was his way of telling Steve to toe the line or else. It wasn't fair to Kono.
He turned on his heel and left the headquarters as fast as he could. He jumped in his jeep and drove to Kono's house on the beach. She shouldn't be alone. This was his fault and his beautiful, sweet; tough, determined Kono had been hurt because of him. He fought the tears that wanted to fall. Suck it up SEAL.
When he pulled up out front, it was just getting dark and he noticed she hadn't turned on any lights. He jumped out and climbed her porch steps in two strides.
Kono sat on her couch with her legs pulled up to her chest. What was she going to do now? Five-0 was her life. She had been so proud to be a part of it. She loved the three men in her life. Chin was like a brother instead of a cousin. She felt the same way about Danny. He was like the brother she always wanted. He teased her and worried about her. They both made her feel wanted and loved. Then there was Steve. She had the biggest crush on him. He was definitely not like a brother, although she was sure he thought of her like a little sister. The great thing about that was he never treated her like one. He respected her and he relied on her. She missed all three men already. The last few weeks when they had all been separated had killed her and now this. Who was she without her badge? She couldn't stand the idea that she wasn't gong to get to see Steve every day. She didn't think she had any tears left to shed, but they came back in full force and she shuddered with grief.
It was at that moment a pounding started on her door. Was it Chin? She didn't move to answer it at first. She wanted to be alone. It was too painful right now to talk about and then she heard his voice.
"Kono, it's me Steve. Open up."
Kono wiped frantically at her eyes, but she couldn't stop crying. How could she answer the door like this?
"Kono, please, Sweetheart, let me in."
She froze at first and then eventually stood and started hesitantly crossing to the door. Before she could open it he yelled.
"Kono, open this door now or I will break it down!"
She turned the knob and opened it with her head down, trying to hide her face from him.
Steve froze with his hand in midair.
"Kono?"
Unable to speak, she backed away from the door and let him in. She knew if she did speak her voice would crack with emotion. He quietly closed the door behind him and took a step towards her. She felt his finger slip under her chin and gently lift her face up to his.
"Kono…"
She saw him catch his breath at what he saw. It only took two words to shatter her into a million pieces.
"Come here."
He reached for her and she threw herself into his arms, clinging to his neck. He lifted her up as her legs wrapped around his waist. Crushing her to him, he stroked her hair and walked them back into her living room. He went to the couch and sat down, cradling her in his arms as she clung to him and allowed the grief to pour out of her. She didn't know how long she cried, but Steve's shirt was wet and she was reduced to quiet hiccups and sniffles finally. She turned her face and laid it against his chest under his chin where she could hear his heartbeat and a sigh shuddered out of her body.
Steve rubbed his hands in soothing circles on her back. He stroked her hair and caressed her cheek. He had to collect himself before he could speak. When he did he realized he had been crying too and his voice was broken with emotion.
"I'm sorry Kono. I'm so, so sorry. This is my fault. Will you ever forgive me?"
Her silence and soft breathing alerted him to the fact that she had literally cried until she was exhausted and had fallen asleep in his arms. He leaned his head back on the sofa and let her sleep. There was no place else he would rather be than right here with her in his arms.
Sometime during the night Kono woke up disoriented. She heard soft breathing and two arms were wrapped securely around her waist. One hand had slipped under her shirt and was warm on her lower back. The other one rested possessively on her hip. She knew that smell instantly. It was Steve.
As a SEAL he had learned to sleep lightly and the instant she started to pull back from him he was awake. He slipped his arms back up around her back and kept her there.
"Stay."
"But I…"
His arms tightened around her and his voice came out soft and more vulnerable than she had ever heard him.
"Please stay."
She relaxed back into him.
"Okay."
Steve wasn't sure exactly where to start or how to tell her everything he was feeling, but he was going to make sure that before he left she understood exactly how he felt about her. That meant revealing exactly why he had been crying too and what losing her really meant to him. He was scared to death. Sitting in the dark with only the sounds of the ocean drifting in through the window somehow made it easier.
"Kono, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you today."
"It's okay Boss."
"I think at this point, given the fact that I'm sitting on your couch holding you in my arms, it would be okay to call me Steve."
Kono chuckled softly.
"Yeah, probably."
He nuzzled his nose in her hair before he continued.
"We were involved in a kidnapping case where finding her meant life and death. She needed important medication that could save her life, so we were working the entire day to find her. Only something like that could keep me from your side Kono. I hope you know just how important you are to me."
"I know the team…"
"No, Kono. Listen to me. You are important to me and not just as a valuable teammate, but as a person…a person I've grown quite fond of, a person I look forward to seeing every morning with this big dimply smile and some lame joke to tell, a woman who makes me shiver when she brushes up against me, makes my stomach hurt when she takes down a perp and takes my breath away when she surfs. A woman I think I'm falling in love with."
Kono's breath caught in her throat and she jerked up off of Steve's chest, breaking the embrace and looking into his eyes. She was stunned by his confession.
"You what?"
"I love you."
Steve's eyes started to brim with tears again and so did Kono's.
"That day in booking when I saw you there, I wanted to walk over and deck the guy that was with you. Everything you have ever done since I've known you has been for someone else. That anyone could doubt your motives even for a minute or punish you for an act of love like that…"
The most amazing feeling cut Steve off. Kono's lips were pressed softly to his. He drank her in, bringing his hands to tangle in her hair and draw her even deeper into the kiss. They explored each other's mouths for a long time before Kono broke the kiss and pulled back.
"Wow."
Steve swallowed hard.
"Yeah. Wow."
The sat looking into each other's eyes as the moonlight spilled in through the window. Steve finally spoke again.
"I don't know how we are going to figure this out, but we are going to get your badge back Kono. I promise you. Whatever it takes, I'll do it."
"I know you. I never doubted it for a minute."
Kono slipped out of Steve's embrace and stood.
"Kono?"
She reached down and took Steve's hand, pulling him up off the couch. He thought she was going to walk him to the door, but instead she headed towards her bedroom. Again he spoke.
"Kono?"
"Shh. Less talking and more sleeping. This time for both our sakes not on the couch. We will figure it out tomorrow. Tonight I just want you to hold me."
Steve smiled. He could do that. Hopefully tomorrow or the next day she would tell him how she felt about him, but this open invitation was enough…
…for now…