This is my first Hawaii Five-0 fic ever! And I'm super excited. I love these guys. It's kind of AU. It doesn't deal with any of the main plot lines or Catherine or Jenna. I just think that this would be a way for Steve and Kono to get together that I really like.
To anyone who reads my NCIS story "Coney Island", yes I will update. Eventually. I've been really busy but I promise to get on it soon.
H5-0 * H5-0 * H5-0
He couldn't stop reliving that moment.
The gunshot rang in his ears, somehow louder than the others flying through the warehouse. It was even louder than his own that had just killed the hostile before him.
He heard two more shots, but closer. He heard the sound of impact in soft flesh, a soft gasp and the dull thump of a lifeless body falling behind him.
He turned, quickly scanning he room as he went. All the hostiles were either down, or being arrested. Then he prayed that the body he was about to see was a hostile, but knowing it wasn't.
He would never forget seeing her beautiful face turned away from him, her dark, silky hair covering it.
He remembered murmuring her name to himself and falling to his knees next to her. He said her name again but she didn't move and he rolled her over so that her torso was on his lap. He pressed his fingers to her throat and found a pulse but also a large purple knot forming on the side of her head. She was only unconscious because of the hit to the head. She was still alive but barely.
He remembered unconsciously saying, "No, no, no, no, no…" as if it might rewind time.
He pulled his hand away from her left shoulder, feeling it sticky with blood. She had taken a hit, right on the edge of her vest. He wrapped his hand around back and felt for an exit. It was there, a through and through. From the angle it hit, he could tell that it probably hadn't hit her heart or any other vitals but she was losing blood. He reached down, undoing her Kevlar vest, to release pressure on the wound slow the blood loss. Then he reached up to undo his own, tossing it on the floor and following it with his shirt. He tore and folded his shirt into thick pads. He moved her onto the ground and placed a pad in each hand. He pressed them onto the entrance and exit wounds on either side of her shoulder, waiting for them to soak through before he placed fresh ones.
He looked up to see where she had been shooting. It had been a man on the balcony above.
It didn't make any sense. She had been on the other side of the warehouse. That hostile was in his range, not hers. Granted, that one had been behind him and he had never known that he was there. Then he had realized that she must have taken the bullet meant for him.
H5-0 * H5-0 * H5-0
She's alive, she's alive, she's alive. That's what he kept telling himself as he remembered the moment. He focused on the warmth of her hand that he kept pressed to his forehead. He held it between his two, much larger hands, as he sat on the right of her hospital bed, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, head bowed forward to meet their entwined hands. He kept his eyes closed, trying to stay calm.
It was his fault. He knew it. The team was his responsibility, especially her. She was a rookie, not that she acted like it. She was his responsibility. That shooter had been his responsibility. The bullet had been meant for him but instead something possessed her to jump in front of it. The likelihood that the bullet would have even hit was small, which just made it worse in his mind.
At that thought, his face scrunched up and he shuddered before letting out a long sigh.
Then he felt it.
The slight twitching of her fingers, that had been still and lifeless in the 16 hours since the bullet hit her.
He opened his eyes and lifted his head to look at her.
Her beautiful, gorgeous, sweet, kind face was scrunched up, in a combination of confusion, pain and simply because she was waking up in a bright hospital room.
She groaned and began to open her eyes. He watched as her gaze focused, saw the bed and then moved towards him.
"Mmmh, boss?" she moaned groggily.
"Hey, kid," he whispered.
"Where's Chin and Danny?"
"Booking the surviving suspects and doing paper work. How ya feeling?" he asked quietly, sitting up and pulling one hand out to brush the hair out of her face. He let his hand stroke her forehead comfortingly as she started to talk.
"Like a fucking bus hit me." He smiled, glad to see that she still had her attitude. "What happened?"
"You were shot, stupid."
She closed her eyes. "Oh… right. The bullet… the shooter… aimed for your head, when you stopped moving… the angle… would definitely have killed you… you moved at the last minute." Her disjointed, sleepy but caring words set him off. He knew that they shouldn't have but they did.
His hand stopped moving on her forehead and her eyes opened. He pulled away from her dropping her hand. He stood and began to pace around the room.
"What's up boss?" she asked, surprised.
"What's up? What's up? What's up is that you put yourself in danger! What's up is that you took a bullet for me! What's up is that if anyone should be taking a bullet it's me for you, not the other way around!"
"Wow boss, you really have no respect for me," she said, on the edge of being angry, but too tired to go all the way.
"Excuse me? I have a ton of respect for you!"
"So, you can put your life in danger for us, can do all the stupid stuff that nearly gets you killed, but I can't? Do you think that you are the only one who feels a responsibility for the team?"
"No-"
"Look, I saw the shooter. I saw him aim. I saw his target. I saw you stop to drop that last guy. So I ran. I ran to warn you, to push you out of the way, but instead you took the shot at your guy and I had no choice but to take out the other guy and that just happened to put me in the trajectory. Do you think that I didn't think of the risks? Do you think that I didn't estimate where that bullet would hit me? I don't have a death wish!"
He had been standing perfectly still as she yelled at him, but now he walked quickly over to her, coming to stop right next to her head. He was much taller than her now and she felt herself shrink into the pillows.
"You estimated where the bullet would hit you, huh?" he said quietly, and frighteningly calmly compared to their yelling. It was cold and scary, but she could see in his eyes that it wasn't because he wanted to frighten her, but because he was scared. And frankly, that scared her.
"Well, what were you going for? As close as possible to your heart or as far away? The vest or your shoulder? Because I can tell you where it hit. Just off your vest. One and a half inches from your heart." He said the last part quietly, slowly, now purposefully trying to scare her.
She stared up at him her eyes widening slightly.
"One and a half inches." He held his fingers up, showing her the distance.
She swallowed. "Well… that's slightly closer than I estimated."
He stared down at her for a long moment, obviously in awe of her unwavering strength and resolve. She wasn't afraid of her insane act and that impressed him, especially since she was making a joke out of it.
"You're amazing," he whispered. His right hand came up to stroke her forehead again. She closed her eyes for a second and smiled at his touch.
He let his hand come down to rest on her shoulder as he reached back to pull the chair closer to her. He sat and took her left hand in his and raised his right hand to her face again. He stroked her forehead for a minute and then brought his hand down to cup her cheek and raise her chin. He looked her straight in the eyes, their faces only a few inches from each other.
"But if you ever do that again, I will personally kick your ass."
She laughed slightly. "Fine. But we take care of each other. That's what an ohana does. And you can't take full responsibility for every accident or injury."
Now he laughed, moving to stroke her forehead again. Her eyes closed and he could see that she was falling asleep again. "Okay. I'll try. Now you go to sleep. You need your rest. But you also have a bad concussion so you're going to wake up every few hours. "
"Mmm," she moaned groggily, her eyes still closed. "So that's why I have this pounding head ache?" She forced her eyes open slightly to look at him. "Boss, will you stay?"
"Will I stay? Of course I'm staying. And this time, I am passing on that promise I just made and I am taking full responsibility. I'm not leaving until you are discharged and then you're coming to stay at my place until you are approved for duty, got it missy?"
She was smiling, her eyes closed again. "I got it boss."
"Steve. You really need to get used to calling me Steve."
"Yes Steve."
"Now go to sleep," he whispered, stoking her forehead. "I'll be here when you wake up."
As her breathing leveled out and her head and hand went limp under him, he whispered to her, "I'll always be here, sweetheart. Nothing you do or say will every make me feel less responsible or push me away. Nothing. I will always love you, Kono."
He meant it in a purely brotherly way. Sure he had feelings for her but they were only as a friend, he told himself. He leaned out of his chair to kiss her forehead gently. Then he sat back and set his watch to alarm in two hours.