CHAPTER 1

Commander Steve Mcgarrett was having a really bad day. Being a US Navy SEAL he had had his share of shitty days, but today counted as one of the worst yet. Not only had he been shot at, his friend Chin almost got blown to smithereens, Steve was also singlehandedly responsible for borrowing ten million dollars from the evidence locker, which burned to ashes while he helplessly just stood there.

There was a positive spin on the day since he was able to finally get rid of Victor Hesse, who had become the bane of his existence. Everyday that went by the need to find the man who had killed his father had burned inside him like an acid. Now he could finally come to terms with his fathers death, not that he enjoyed taking the life of a man no matter how evil he were, it was something that was unavoidable. Although, now this new headache with the money would not let him rest easy.

Danno had already chewed him out about it, and he had managed to shut him up so they could enjoy a good Christmas with the team and Grace, but he knew how Danno was. He was like a dog with a bone – a stubborn dog with a bone. So now he needed to get out of the house and go for a drink. They had all enjoyed a great evening at home celebrating with people who he now thought of as his family, but sometimes a guy just needed to be alone so he could brood.

Steve said goodnight to everyone, "G'nite Steve, Merry Christmas" said Grace as she jumped up on him and hugged him enthusiastically. He still hadn't gotten used to how affectionate she was, he was just plain not comfortable around kids, but Grace forced her affections on him and he could not resist.

As he sat on a barstool in a bar that was more nightclub than anything, he wondered how the hell he had landed here? He was so not a nightclub guy, even though he had been to a few over the years. The way he was feeling, it didn't matter whether he was in a honky tonk or an upscale cigar lounge, as long as he was sitting with a freezing bottle of beer in front of him he didn't care. Yeah, the music was a bit too loud but as long as no one bothered him he was cool.

Just as he thought of that, someone bumped into his back making him spill his beer down his chin and onto his shirt. He cursed under his breath which wouldn't have made much of a difference the music was so loud. The mood he was in he was capable of decking the guy who had banged into him. He turned to do just that, but he was lucky he didn't get the chance to. Because the person who had bumped into him was no guy, it was actually a girl.

He scowled at her, just because she was a girl didn't mean he wasn't pissed at her. Although when he looked at her, what really registered was how small she was, probably five foot nothing, on the plump side, dressed in a slinky black dress and high heels that she held in one hand and an unlit cigarette in the other. Her hair was raven black and long with bangs that came into her black eyes, and she looked at him, squinting a little, making him want to laugh. She then steadied herself, puffed up her impressive chest and smiled, showing off a tiny dimple in her left cheek. She raised her smoke to her lips that were painted a rich berry red, "you gotta light?" her voice was not as smokey as she probably wanted it to be, but it was still a little on the husky side, with a hint of sweetness.

A hint of sweetness? Where had that come from? He looked back at the girl and noticed that in spite of being dressed like a party girl with too much make up, she didn't look very comfortable. He had to smile at the way she was holding herself up with the smoke to her lips, "Sorry sweetheart, I don't smoke. And neither should you judging by the fact that you're probably not legal. In fact you shouldn't even be here" Steve said and wondered when he had turned into Danno.

To his surprise the girl didn't protest but let out a breath like she was relieved, turned to him with slightly panicked eyes and said, "Please if you can use that excuse drag me out of here, I cannot stand being in this place". She looked back toward the crowd but he wasn't sure what she was looking for. His first thought was that she was in trouble.

"Are you in some kind of trouble?" he asked pulling her to face him back.

"No God no I'm not in any trouble. I came here with a group of friends and I want to get away. I hate nightclubs" was her reply as she again turned toward the crowd. Just then he noticed a tall blonde woman with legs a mile long walking toward them with a huge grin plastered on her face.

"So you managed to snag his attention, I see" said the blonde to the short brunette, then turned to him, "I'm Natalie, and you are?"

Steve looked at the brunette standing close to him with her eyes closed and mumbling something, "I'm Steve and I'm leaving. Nice meeting you ladies".

"Wait I though you guys hit it off and were leaving together. I came to say goodnight" the blonde looked a bit worse for wear as well. And just as Steve was about to tell her he had every intention of leaving by himself, he looked at the brunette again and she had an expression that did not read as disappointment of being rejected but of being left behind in the club.

So gentleman that he was he said, "Actually we were headed somewhere a little less noisy so we could talk. Goodnight" without further delay he grabbed the brunette's small hand and started walking out the door.

Once they were out and in the parking lot, Steve turned on his baggage that was trailing behind him. "Are you insane?" he almost yelled, for some reason the fact that this girl had walked out with him – a stranger to her, without knowing what kind of person he was, really made him mad. "Are you out of your mind, lady?"

Instead of cowering as he had expected since he had used his best SEAL voice, he was surprised when she rose on tiptoe and looked him into the eyes, or as much as she could, "Do not yell at me dude!" she yelled at him. "You have no right to tell me what I can or cannot do. I needed to get out of there and you helped. Thanks. Now I'm leaving" she turned and marched off toward the main road.

Steve watched as she walked away from him, her plump butt moving under her tight black dress, looking mighty appealing. Her little fists were balled up with her shoes in each hand and her purse under her arm. As he watched her, all Steve could think of was he couldn't let her leave alone and go to wherever she needed to go.

With that thought Steve Mcgarrett started into a slow run, figuring with her short legs he would catch up with her.