Notes: Mari and Sammy – I have absolutely no doubt that I'm better for knowing the two of you. Thank you for the love, support, and Nonna hugs!

Esther – thank you for always listening and for always bringing your enthusiasm and invaluable insight.

Readers and REAL McRollers – I'm so grateful to you all for the amazing support you give the REAL World. I'm a little behind in review responses, but please know I truly appreciate every word!

I hope you enjoy the story!

Better For It (A McRoll in the REAL World)

Steve was standing in the living room when his phone buzzed, and he pulled it from his pocket, glancing at the screen before he answered the call.

"Cody, hey, what's going on?" he asked.

"Hey," Cody's voice came over the line. "I wanted to uh . . . I wanted to ask you something."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Remember how you said . . ." Cody started. "Remember my friend Jadon . . . you said you wanted to meet him?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Well, I thought maybe . . . I thought maybe you could. This week," he clarified. "I mean, maybe he could hang out with us . . . so you could meet him. If you want. I mean, unless there was something else you wanted to do this week."

Steve smiled. "No. No, that sounds great. I do want to meet him."

He could hear the smile in Cody's voice when the teen said, "Okay. My mom said she'd call his mom. So Ms. Davis'd know it's okay."

"That's good," Steve said with a nod. "What do you guys want to do?"

"Oh . . . uh, I don't know."

"Really? No ideas? Come on," Steve prompted.

"Well . . . I was telling him about when we went to uh . . . you know, to Kamekona's, and he said it sounded pretty good . . ."

Steve looked up as Catherine entered the back door with Cammie. The dog headed for the kitchen and her water bowl, and Steve smiled at Catherine before returning to his conversation.

"So you want to get lunch on Saturday?" he asked Cody.

"Yeah, that'd be cool."

Steve smiled. "Okay. Tell Jadon it's my treat."

"Okay."

"We'll plan for noon but let me know if that doesn't work."

"Okay." He paused. "I uh . . . I guess I'll talk to you later."

"Yep. Bye, Cody."

"Bye."

Steve ended the call and turned to Catherine as he pocketed his phone.

"Jadon?" she asked.

"Cody's best friend. He called to ask if I wanted to meet him this week."

Catherine's eyebrows raised in happy surprise. "He wants you to meet his best friend?" She smiled. "That's great."

"Well, I mean, I had said I wanted to when he told me about Jadon a couple weeks ago."

"But he called to suggest it?"

"Yeah."

"That's huge, Steve," she said seriously, touching his arm.

"I know," he said with a nod. "I think . . ." He glanced toward the back door and the deck outside. "I think meeting everyone at the barbecue . . . I think that made a huge impression on him."

"Of course it did. He's realizing his family has grown exponentially. They all are." She smiled. "And you know what?"

"What?"

"We're all better for it."

He smiled.

"Yeah," he said and nodded. "You're right about that."

On Saturday, Steve and Cody sat at a table by the shrimp truck waiting for Jadon to arrive.

"There he is," Cody said, standing as he saw an old white Malibu pull up.

Steve stood as well, and they walked in the direction of the car.

A teen got out of the driver's side and a woman in her mid-thirties slid out of the passenger seat.

"Hey," Cody said as he and Jadon exchanged a hand slap and fist bump.

"What up?" Jadon returned.

"Hi, Ms. Davis," Cody said.

"Hi, Cody."

Cody motioned at Steve and said, "This is my . . . um . . ." He swallowed. "Er, this is . . ."

"Steve McGarrett," Steve said and held out a hand to the woman.

"Oh, I know who you are," she said, shaking his hand. "I've seen you on the news."

Steve chuckled ruefully. "Occupational hazard."

"Kendra Davis."

"Nice to meet you," Steve said.

He offered his hand to Jadon.

"Jadon, good to finally meet you."

The teen looked a little surprised. He shook Steve's hand and said, "Uh, yeah. You, too, um . . ." He glanced at his mother and then Cody.

"You can call me Commander McGarrett," Steve supplied with a smile.

"Okay," Jadon said. He looked Steve up and down. "You a lot taller than you look on TV."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah." He raised his chin and squinted slightly. "You arrest anybody today?"

"Jadon!" his mother said.

"What?" he asked with wide eyes. "I just asked . . ."

"Boy, will you ever think before you open that mouth?"

Steve chuckled. He looked at Cody and nodded toward the shrimp truck.

"Why don't you guys go check out the menu?" he said. "Figure out what you're gettin' to eat."

Cody nodded. "Come on," he said, leading Jadon away.

Steve and Kendra watched them go.

"Sorry about that," she said.

Steve shook his head. "Not a problem." He nodded toward the boys. "Cody says they've been friends since middle school."

"Yeah. Right around the time Jenna finally kicked Cody's dad to the curb for good."

Steve glanced at her.

"Jadon was going through some things, too. They been really good for each other," she said. "Cody's kept J out of a lot of trouble. Kept his grades up, too."

"He's an incredible young man. I figure if Jadon is his best friend, then he must be, too."

She laughed. "You let me know if you still think that way after a couple hours of his non-stop mouth," she said, though her look toward her son was affectionate.

Steve chuckled as he looked at Jadon who was indeed talking a mile a minute.

"I've got a few things to do," Kendra said. "But I wanted to meet you in person."

"Of course," Steve said with a nod. "Totally understandable." He jerked his chin toward the boys. "I was thinking about two hours. If that works for you?"

"That's good. Jadon's brother has a basketball game later this afternoon."

"Okay."

"Here, let me get you some money . . ." she started, turning back toward the car.

"No, no," Steve said, waving a hand. "It's my treat."

Kendra looked hesitant.

"I insist," Steve said.

She sighed. "Well, thank you."

She glanced over at the boys and Steve followed her gaze.

"For the record," she said, turning back to him. "I think it's really great . . . what you and your team are doing with those kids. Jadon and his brothers all have mentors. I been telling Jenna she needed to sign them up through the school or something."

Steve nodded.

"I can honestly say it's one of the best decisions I've ever made," he said. "I think we're all better for it."

She gave him a genuine smile.

"I'm really glad to hear that."

He returned her smile.

She looked toward the boys and called, "Jadon!"

"Yeah?" he yelled back.

"I'll be back here in two hours."

"A'ight, mama," he said, starting to turn back to Cody.

"Two hours," she repeated. "Dre's gotta be at his game at three."

"Okay." He waved. "Bye, mama."

"Bye, baby."

She turned back to Steve.

"See you in two hours, Commander."

"Steve," he said. "Please."

He held out his hand again, and she shook it.

"Two hours," he said with a smile.

Steve joined Cody and Jadon just as Cody asked, "So you got it?"

Jadon pulled out his wallet and opened it.

"Bam!" He showed them his Provisional License. "Check it."

"Dude!" Cody took the wallet for a closer look. He laughed as he handed it back. "Your eyes are barely open."

Jadon sighed, cringing at the photo. "Yeah, the lady wouldn't take it again." He looked at Steve. "Hey, do think you could talk to them?"

Steve chuckled and shook his head. "Driver's License photos aren't really Five-0's jurisdiction."

Jadon sighed and looked at the photo again with a forlorn expression.

Steve clucked his tongue. "Ah, you only gotta put up with it for a couple years."

"You ever take a bad ID photo?" he asked.

Steve kept his face serious. "No. Never."

Jadon groaned, and Cody laughed. Steve grinned at them.

He looked at Cody and asked, "You about ready to get yours?"

"You gotta be sixteen," Cody said.

"Okay," Steve said with a shrug. "You're gonna be sixteen next month."

Cody glanced at Jadon and looked back at Steve. "I got my learner's permit in January so I could take Driver's Ed at school. But I need more practice before I take the Road Test." He shrugged. "I don't like asking Mom after she's been working all day, and someone would have to stay with the others so they didn't all have to come."

Steve nodded, his forehead creasing in thought. "Do you have to be with a parent when you drive?"

Jadon shook his head. "Naw, my uncle went with me a lot."

"It doesn't have to be," Cody said. "At least not unless it's like, after 11 at night."

"Okay," Steve said, folding his arms. "So you drive with me."

"With you?"

Steve nodded. "Yeah."

"You mean . . ." He threw a quick glance at Jadon. "I could drive your truck?"

Steve raised an eyebrow as his lip quirked in a half smile. "You want to drive my truck?"

Cody gave a little shrug and looked over at the blue Silverado. "Little cooler than my mom's van," he admitted.

Jadon nodded his earnest agreement.

Steve chuckled.

"Plus she needs it for work," Cody said more seriously.

Steve nodded.

"I passed Driver's Ed," Cody told him. "I can show you my certificate."

"I believe you," Steve said.

He paused and his eyes narrowed as if he was thinking hard, and both boys waited expectantly.

Steve smiled. "Okay. We'll clear it with your mom and then we'll get you all the practice you need."

Jadon smacked Cody's arm and pointed at Steve. "That's what's up."

Cody straightened, sharing a smile with Jadon. He looked at Steve and nodded. "Okay."

"Okay," Steve said. He nodded toward the shrimp truck. "We eatin' today, or what?"

"Yeah," Jadon said, grinning.

"Come on, I'm starvin'," Steve said and led them around to the window.

Halfway through their meal, Jadon looked across the table at Steve.

"So you a Navy SEAL, right?" he asked around a mouthful of food. "Like . . . Special Ops and stuff?"

"I was," Steve said. "Yeah."

Jadon swallowed his food. "Dude, that's . . . raw."

"He can't talk about the classified stuff," Cody said from his seat beside his friend.

Jadon looked at him and then at Steve with wide eyes. "Classified? For real?" He put his fork down and sat back. "Oh, man, I know you got stories, dawg."

Steve raised an eyebrow.

"Er, sir," Jadon corrected himself.

Steve paused, his lip twitching as he said, "I can neither confirm nor deny . . ."

Jadon's eyes widened even more. "Dude."

Cody looked between them, a small, pleased smile on his face.

Steve ate a forkful of shrimp and rice and asked, "You got a couple brothers, right, Jadon?"

The teen eyed him suspiciously.

"So that's like . . . changing the subject from the classified ops, huh?" He nodded. "I get you."

Steve chuckled. "Can't put anything past you, man."

"All Day J, that's what they call me."

"Nobody calls you that," Cody said and took a drink.

Jadon gave him an annoyed look but couldn't hold it, snorting instead.

He turned back to Steve. "Yeah, I got two brothers," he said. "Andre, he eight, and Lil' Reggie."

"How old is he?"

"Six." Jadon took another bite of his meal.

"He's in Jacob's class," Cody said.

Steve nodded and asked, "Andre's the one with the game today?"

"Yeah."

"You go to a lot of his games?"

"I go to all his games," Jadon said seriously.

"That's good," Steve said approvingly. "I bet he appreciates it."

Jadon nodded. He took another bite. "So you've like . . . jumped outta planes and stuff, right?"

Steve huffed a laugh at his persistence. He nodded. "Yeah."

"Into like . . . enemy territory?"

Steve quirked an eyebrow. " 'Enemy territory'?"

"Yeah."

Steve held his gaze, his face impassive, and stayed silent.

Jadon sighed and flashed a quick look at Cody.

He looked back at Steve. "Guess that's classified, huh?"

"Got it in one," Steve said with a nod. He shook his empty water bottle. "I'm gonna get another drink. Either of you want anything else?"

"I'm okay," Cody said.

"Me, too," Jadon echoed.

"Okay, I'll be right back."

Steve stood and walked around the table behind the two boys. He bent to pick up a napkin that had blown from another table and heard Jadon say, "Bro, that dude is stone cold awesome."

"I told you," Cody said.

Jadon ate another forkful. "And he's gonna teach you how to drive?"

"I already know how to drive, man," Cody said defensively. "I just . . ."

"I know, I know. Practice. But, Cody, man, think about it. I bet he knows some like . . . Fast and Furious moves."

Cody laughed.

"It's not like that," he said. "I mean . . . yeah, he probably does, but . . . that's not why I . . . that's not why we hang out, you know?"

There was a pause and then Jadon said, "Yeah. I know." He paused again. "It's cool, bro. I get it."

Steve straightened and headed for the shrimp truck, a small smile on his face.

After Jadon had driven off with his mother and two brothers in the car, Steve turned to Cody, his arms crossed.

"So that's Jadon, huh?"

Cody smiled, looking down. "Yeah."

"I like him."

Cody looked up.

"You got a good friend there, Cody," Steve said with a nod in the direction the car went.

Cody nodded. He bit his lip, pausing.

"Did you ever uh . . . did you try to find your old friend?" he asked. "From before you left the island? Michael?"

Steve nodded. "As a matter of fact, I did. He lives in Phoenix, and I called him up. He's actually coming to the island on a business trip in a couple weeks."

"Are you gonna see him?"

"Yeah. You can meet him, too, if you want."

Cody looked surprised. "Really? You want me to meet him?"

"Of course. I mean, if it wasn't for you, I might never have looked him up."

Cody blinked, still surprised.

"Thank you for that," Steve said sincerely.

Cody shifted, shrugging. "Oh, it . . . I mean, I didn't really do anything . . ."

"Yeah, you did." Steve waited until Cody met his eyes again. "That family thing we talked about? That goes both ways."

Cody was silent but he held Steve's gaze.

"What we've got going here," Steve continued, motioning between the two of them. "It's really good. And the reason it's good . . . is because we're helping each other."

"We're . . . I'm . . . I'm helping you?" Cody asked, a hint of disbelief in his voice.

"Yeah, you are," Steve said seriously. "You and me? Hanging out . . . talking . . .?" He swallowed, nodding. "I think we're both better for it."

Cody paused, looking down with a knitted brow.

" 'Better for it,' " he said quietly, his expression softening. He looked back at Steve. "I like that."

Steve gave him a small smile and nodded. "I do, too."

After a moment, Cody asked, "So what do we do next?"

"Next? Next we make sure you're an expert behind the wheel so you pass that Road Test the first time. How 'bout that?"

Cody smiled. He nodded and said, "Yeah."

Steve put a hand on his shoulder and steered them toward the truck.

"That's what's next."

Hope you enjoyed!

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