Body Armor Works

Shakespeare's Lemonade

Rating: T

Genre: Family/Drama/Mystery/Adventure

Summary: The Five-0 team needs each other more than ever now. Steve is dealing with his mom and subsequent complications while trying to find a way to keep Danny and Grace in Hawaii. Meanwhile, Chin gets help from an unexpected source to save Kono, while Malia is still in the hospital.

Pairings: Kono/Adam, Chin/Malia, Steve/Catherine

A/N: This is set directly after the finale. I think I may end up doing this every year. Let's call it my "summer finale-based fic." That means I have to finish it before season three starts. That's four months. Can I do it? We'll see.

Prologue

Two days ago: Honolulu

Chin kept pressing his foot down harder, forgetting the gas pedal didn't go any further. He was trying to think and drive and have a mental breakdown all at the same time. He had to backtrack. He had to focus. As he turned a corner, much too fast and still much too far from his home, Chin grabbed his phone. He couldn't call the team or HPD, but he had other friends. Or Kono did.

It had taken a lot of convincing to get Kono to give him Adam's number, but Chin was glad now that he had insisted. Adam answered on the first ring.

"Where is she?"

Chin could hear the concern in Adam's voice, and realized how much he cared about Kono. "On a boat." Chin felt his voice shaking, but he couldn't stop it. He told Adam where Kono was, not wasting time on unnecessary details. Kono didn't have that much time.

"I'll find her," Adam promised.

Chin knew he would.

The rest of the drive to his house passed faster than he thought it should until he pulled into his driveway and had to slam on the breaks to avoid driving right through the garage. Malia was on the floor bleeding. Chin didn't remember much after that until he found himself waiting in the hospital trying to call Steve or Danny or anyone, and getting no answers.

One hour later: Two miles off the coast

Kono's skin burned as the duct tape was ripped away from her wrists. She shivered in the cold sea air, but she was happy to be alive. She looked up to thank her rescuer, expecting Chin, but the man beside her on the deck of the jet boat was not her cousin.

"Adam?" Her throat caught on his name, and she had to cough again.

"You're safe, Kono," he whispered, pulling her into a wet hug. Then he shouted something to the driver that she didn't catch. She was too busy clutching his shirt and praying that Chin and Malia were okay.

Meanwhile, the boat began speeding off, and Kono was too disoriented to know in what direction. Adam helped her to her feet and took her below deck. He laid her down on a bed or a couch; she wasn't sure.

"Sleep," he whispered, brushing matted wet hair back from her forehead. "I've taken care of everything.

Yesterday: Honolulu

Danny got back in the car after taking Grace home. He finally saw the message from Steve on his phone and felt like a jerk for blowing him off, especially after chewing him out for leaving a note about going to Japan. Still, Danny didn't expect this voicemail message to be about the same thing.

Danny's jaw slackened steadily as he listened to what Steve had to say: "Sorry for leaving a message like this, but you didn't answer your phone, and I have to go out of town for a couple of days. I won't be gone long. Joe... Joe is taking me to Shelburne. I guess now that Wo Fat's in prison it's safe for him to come out of hiding. I'll let you know how it goes... See you soon, Danno."

Danny dropped the phone in the passenger seat and rubbed his hands over his eyes. He wished he had taken the call now. He would have tried to convince Steve to let him come, and Steve would have said no. He still wished he had taken the call.

There was another missed call from Chin. Danny frowned when he saw that it came in the middle of the night. He had really been distracted with Grace and the custody issues.

As soon as he heard that Malia was in the hospital, Danny pulled out onto the road, lights, siren, and all. He couldn't help Steve now, but he could at least be there for Chin for what it was worth.

Same time: Molokai

Kono opened her eyes, to see pale light streaming through dirty windows. There was a musty smell around her, and the bed was sagging under her and smelled faintly of smoke and urine. Her head and chest hurt, and she remembered her near drowning incident.

Kono rolled over onto her back and saw two men by the door in her peripheral vision. They looked like they were guarding something. There was another door on the other side of the room, probably a bathroom. One of the men pulled out his phone to send a message to someone.

Kono sat up, and her head hurt worse. She pushed her messy hair out of her eyes. Her clothes were still damp. She took a moment to look around the room again. Nothing really caught her eye until she saw her gun and badge on the nightstand. Someone had to have gotten them back from the guy who took her.

Then Kono remembered Adam finding her, and she wouldn't put it past him to go after a guy like that. But what she really wanted at this point was her phone. She needed to call Chin and let him know she was okay. She needed to know if Malia was all right.

As she was thinking these things, the door opened, and the two guards stood aside as Adam walked into the room. Kono tried to stand up but became dizzy and had to sit down again. Adam rushed to her side, dropping a black duffel bag on the floor. He wrapped his arms around her and spoke quietly, perhaps to keep the guards from hearing as they left the two of them alone.

"Slow down." He rubbed her back. "You nearly drowned."

"I know." Kono's throat hurt from coughing up salt water. "Malia?"

"I just got news that she's stable."

"I need to go."

"Kono, someone tried to kill you." Adam looked her in the eye. "I brought you here so they would believe they had succeeded. I let Chin know you're okay, but you should stay here until I can make sure Delano won't hurt you."

"Adam, I'm not hiding while my family needs me."

"There's nothing you can do about Maila. Danny is with Chin. They'll be fine. As long as Delano believes he's had his revenge, you'll all be safe."

Kono folded her hands together and rested her forearms on her knees. "What did you do?" She turned her head to look at Adam. "To the hit man?"

Adam's jaw tightened. "I took care of him."

"Adam—"

"What? I should just let everyone I love die?"

"This isn't how we do it."

"Not how you do it. I don't have to follow your rules."

Kono rubbed her forehead, willing the pounding headache to go away. She thought back on everything Adam had said. It made sense for her to lie low for a while. He obviously just wanted her to be safe. Then she thought about his reasoning for killing the hit man.

"You love me?" She looked him in the eye again.

Adam pulled her closer and kissed her head. "You should know I love you by now."

Kono nodded against his chest. "I know." She closed he eyes hard, trying not to cry, not understanding why she felt this way.

They stayed like that for a while. Kono didn't like the idea of staying wherever she was. Maybe it would only be a few days. She would certainly put up a fight if Adam wanted to make her stay longer. Still, the fact that he had gone to so much trouble to save her and protect her showed her that he really loved her.

"I love you too," Kono whispered.

Today: Japan

Her long dark hair had accumulated gray strands throughout, and she kept it pulled back from her face. The lines in her forehead had deepened over the years, perhaps more due to the things she had been through than her age. Her blue eyes were as vivid and deep as they had always been. She had scars though. Scars he couldn't remember from twenty years ago. She wasn't the same person any more, though she was very much alive.

Somehow he managed to say her name. Not her name, but the name he had always called her: "Mom."

She didn't say anything, no excuses or explanations. She reached out her hand, more bony and calloused than he remembered. Her strong fingers wrapped around his arm. She was shaking. She blinked rapidly, but it didn't prevent the tears from falling down her cheeks. Steve had never seen his mother cry.

Her voice came as a whisper. "I missed you."

Then he pulled her into his arms. All the answers he needed could wait now that he had her back. Steve never knew until this moment just how badly he had missed her, how much he wanted her back in spite of reality. Or what he thought was reality.

Her arms were stronger than he remembered, but she seemed somehow smaller, diminished, as if life had taken too much from her. She held onto Steve so long that he thought she might be afraid of him disappearing.

Surprisingly, he didn't feel the least bit worried about losing her again. Maybe he should have, but for the moment—and Steve realized probably the first time in his life—he was overjoyed. He had his mother back, and the twenty years of pain and regret for all the things he never said were gone.

Steve pulled back, forcing his mother's arms to release him. He looked into her eyes again to be sure. "I missed you so much." He ran the backs of his fingers along the side of her face. "I love you, Mom."