Hello there my dear readers! I am back with the promised new story. It took longer than I anticipated for starting the new story and posting it as well but, here we are!
So, this is the story you've all been waiting for: the big confession! Where Steve finally tells Annabeth the truth about their relationship.
How will he do it? How will she react? How will the team react? Well… stay tuned to find out.
I am not giving away anything about the big moment; not about when, where or how it will happen, so you will just have to be patient and wait for the big BOOM to arrive. This should be fun to watch.
Before we begin though, I should probably tell you that this story takes place about three years after "What in the world?". I apologize if my story doesn't fit exactly everything that actually happens in the show but that's kind of difficult with an OC as involved in their lives as Annabeth is. That being said, I suppose all the major topics of the show will still be present when needed (references to WoFat, Chin's wife getting murdered, Kono's and Adam's history, mentions of Catherine), but I will not dwell too much in those. For example: Catherine won't be a recurrent appearance in my story even though on the show she gets a more active role between season three and four, which is where this new story of mine is supposed to take place. I hope it doesn't get too confusing… sometimes it even confuses me.
Well… I think there's nothing left to add for now. If I think of something else I will sure let you know at the end of the chapter or in the future ones.
I really hope you enjoy this story and leave a review once in a while so I can know what you guys think of the story! Thanks!
So… ENJOY!
CHAPTER 1
The phone woke him up at three in the morning.
He had no problem picking it up and answering as if he hadn't been deeply asleep because his training had taught him to switch from asleep to awake in less than ten seconds. That didn't mean, though, that it didn't bother him.
- McGarrett – he announced himself over the phone expecting whoever had called him would state their business quickly. He actually hadn't even bothered to look at the ID number on the screen.
- Steve – it was Duke's voice coming from the other side of the line – I'm sorry to wake you but something's come up. A new body has been discovered. It's a college girl… - he made a pause and then he added – the same college – if he actually needed anything else to be fully and totally awake and alert it was that last piece of information.
- I'm on my way. Send me the address – he stated and then hung up the phone, stretching one last time and then heading for the bathroom.
About three weeks ago, HPD had gotten the report of a college student who had been found murdered in his own house with a kitchen knife. His parents had come home after work to find a terrible mess in the living room and then a trail of blood that signaled a scary path into the kitchen where the body of their young and only son lay facing the floor.
The news of such a violent crime had travelled fast and no one had hesitated to contact the Five-0 task force given the age of the victim and his violent demise. But, even though they invested every resource at their disposal, the investigation had reached a wall. They had no suspect, no murder weapon and no apparent motive so the trail, if they ever had any, had gone cold pretty quickly.
Eventually, the case went back to HPD because the task force had to deal with a lot of other important cases in which they did have leads to follow and interventions to make. It didn't mean the college kid case wasn't important, it just meant they couldn't very well stop everything else they were dealing with in order to chase around their own tail.
A week and a half later, another college kid had been found dead. This time, a girl.
The connection of the two victims hadn't been taken seriously into consideration because nothing else, apart from the fact that they both went to the same college, called for attention. The M.O was completely different, both kids studied something different at college, they had no other activities or friends in common, so the only thing linking the two of them together had been dismissed as non-important. It was a big college after all.
Naturally, Five-0 had heard of the new victim but they never got directly involved. HPD was perfectly capable of handling this on their own like they had been doing before the Task Force was ever created.
Now, though, things had changed.
According to Duke, another college kid had been murdered and not just a kid from any college; a kid from the same college as the first two young victims. As the saying goes: if one's an incident, two's a coincidence… then three's a pattern. It was time to act.
By the time he finished getting ready, he had already called Danny to tell him what was going on. Of course he had to endure a bit of his partner's ranting about him calling so late but, fortunately, it hadn't been too long; they had a job to do after all.
Now, all he needed to do was wake Annabeth up so they could leave for the crime scene. He had a feeling that this case, which had started as two apparently unconnected murders, had become a whole lot more complicated than that and they were gonna need the whole team involved.
He crept to the door of her room and knocked slowly while softly calling out to her. Normally, that was all it took to wake her up when they were needed in the middle of the night to start on a case and, true enough, her door swung open and her sleepy face gazed at him in confusion.
- What? – she asked while at the same time trying to stifle a yawn. She never could switch from sleepy land to awake mode as quickly as him.
- We have a new case. Actually, an old case. We gotta go – she looked at him as if trying to decide if understanding what he had just said made any sense at all but then she decided it wasn't worth the trouble. She yawned again and nodded.
- Cool – and went back inside her room to get ready. She just needed a good fifteen minutes to be completely awake.
Steve smiled and headed to the kitchen where he started to make coffee. He knew Annabeth didn't like coffee, but seeing as they were going to start the day so early at least he needed a good shot of caffeine. She would find the extra source of energy somewhere else, usually from sugar and that was Danny's department.
When she came into the kitchen, Annabeth looked ready for a mission: black pants, black t-shirt and black shoes. A ponytail high in her head and a black jacket hanging from her waist. If anyone else saw her they would probably mistake her for a punk and dark kind of girl, but for those who knew her, she was just dressing to be ready for any kind of circumstances: dark clothes to blend in with both nature and crowds (especially at night), comfortable shoes to either run or fight, light up-wear with a portable jacket for any kind of non-extreme weather conditions. It was just who she was, and they had all come to terms with her sometimes eccentric way to be in the almost three years they had been working together. It was also part of her charm.
- So… - she greeted, definitely more awake than before but still with a thick tone to her voice – what do we have?
- Another murdered student from the same college as the kitchen knife vic and the strangling one. I'm beginning to think they're not coincidences – she went directly to the fridge looking for something to eat.
- You're out of chocolate – she said, while grabbing a glass and deciding to drink water instead.
- I know; I wonder whose fault is that…
- Alright, alright. I'll buy some to replace your stash BUT – she added, sounding more awake by the second – Danny should pay for at least a third.
- Agreed – Steve answered and gave one final sip of his previously full cup of coffee before setting the mug down and heading for the door.
Chin and Kono had also been summoned for the cause and so the entire team was headed to the crime scene where Duke, who had been on a night shift, and a couple of other HPD squad cars were parked in front of a house.
When the five of them made it to the police perimeter, they could hear the frantic cries of a distraught mother and the angry barks of a heartbroken father. Steve sent Chin and Annabeth to help calm the parents down, and he sent Kono to get a brief from the HPD officers about any witnesses that could have seen or heard anything of relevance. That left him and Danny to go into the house and upstairs where the gruesome sight of a suffocated young girl laying on her bed waited for them, eyes open wide in desperation and now dull with lack of life.
I know that for a first chapter, maybe this isn't the best I've written so far… but I just needed to start writing the story or I was never gonna do it. I get easily consumed by the weekly routine and finding time to write has become a bit of an issue. That's also why I can't promise any regular updates. I'll just try and do my best because I'm really excited about this story!
I hope I can read a few comments about this chapter and what would you like to read on the following ones! That always gets me new ideas and motivation to sit down and write even when what I should be doing is studing…
Well… Until next chapter then!
