Her mind and body goes into action the second she hits the cold water. She's not sure whether 'Toothpick' has done this before or if Delano knows about her youth because she has her hands taped in front of her allowing her to rip the tape off her mouth without any hesitation. Next, she begins gnawing at the tape that binds her wrists together, doing her best not to swallow any water whilst doing so.
The moonlight is fading as she sinks deeper, the light from the boat long gone. But Kono keeps tugging at the tape with her teeth until it's practically off and all it takes is one strong pull and she's free.
Kicking her joint feet, Kono manages to get enough momentum with her free arms to get close to the surface. Her lungs are burning and this went beyond the drown proofing she had acquired when on the pro-circuit.
Finally breaking the surface, she gulps a huge mouthful of air in a way she knows she shouldn't. But this is unlike any other moment in her life, nor one she has thought about and trained for. Her first instinct is for air, and she greedily takes everything she can.
She can't last above the water for much longer and is soon sinking back in again. She dives for her feet, undoing the tape as quickly as she can but the panic makes her falter and she makes mistakes. Her lungs beg for oxygen and the release of the toxic carbon dioxide that's building up. Just when Kono thinks she can't take it anymore, her left leg feels lighter and suddenly she is free.
This time, she slowly breathes in the air she needs whilst paddling in the water. Her whole body aches but there's no time to focus on that. If she gives in, she dies.
Looking far and wide as much as she can in the absolute dark, she blinks and wipes the water and what feels an awful lot like warm tears from her face as her eyes adjust. She's alone. She knows that. Chin would have gone to save Malia. She doesn't blame him, no matter how her eyes water in a way that the seawater has nothing to do with. It makes sense. She could survive the water, however bound. It was her turf. Malia couldn't survive a gunshot. Didn't mean it didn't hurt though.
Blinking lights in the distance, very faint and only recognizable when her eyes adjusted, caught her attention. From their height, it might have been on land. Maybe even where she had been taken to before being transferred onto the boat then dumped.
Kono pushes away all those thoughts and focuses on swimming over. Her muscles cramped and she coughed up water when she accidently swallowed some. She's not entirely sure she didn't have a concussion either from where she had banged her head against her kitchen table when 'Toothpick' had overpowered her and knocked her out before taking her.
The swim takes a while but she couldn't tell you how long for sure. Everything blurs together and the only thing that keeps her going is the blinking light that gradually turns into multiple round lights guiding her back home.
She doesn't see the shore, not even in the moonlight or the lights around her. She finds it when she hits the sand with her knee and then her hand. She doesn't even bother to get out of the water but just sits there on her knees and aching legs to simply catch her breath and breathe and rest.
The cold ocean breeze makes her shiver and eventually move by gathering enough energy from the end of the adrenaline rush that surely got her this far.
Stumbling, it takes three tries before Kono can actually walk, still tripping over the stones and twigs in the sand as she drags her feet. It's not far to the fence that would surely lead her to some sort of civilization. But it takes longer than it should because she needs to take breaks in between; to breathe, to let her legs stop shaking, to keep herself together instead of breaking down in how horrible and alone she feels. She knows why Chin isn't there, but by now, Kono's sure it must have been over 15 minutes, so why aren't there people looking for her? HPD? Steve? Danny? Delano would have been long gone by now, as would have 'Toothpick' and the other man who had had Malia. Even if they were still tapping into Chin's phone, what could they do?
So where were they? Were they looking in the wrong place? It was possible but HPD was huge, and with Chin knowing where 'Toothpick' had taken her, they should be covering the search area by now in which she's sure she is in.
And where were Adam and his men? They had plans tonight, and even if Chin hadn't called him, he should have been to her place already and seen the obvious mess that indicated trouble. She was never one who needed or relied on someone to rescue her, but Kono knew when she needed help. Right then, she needed help in more than one way.
She makes it to the dunes and up the path to the grassy sidewalk a while later, thoughts still churning in her head and stomach. The area was virtually deserted, which only made sense if it was in the same vicinity of where 'Toothpick' had taken and dumped her.
Another shiver runs up her spine when she takes a glimpse back into the cold, dark, unforgiving waters. Kono shakes her head, cold drops hitting her collar and arms to send a jolt through her. She needs warmth. A shower, her bed, more clothes - dry clothes - anything. She needs it to chase it all away and awake her from this misery.
Coming across a payphone, she pauses to lean inside the box. 'Toothpick' had taken her gun off her but her phone, wallet and badge were at home. But she remembers that afternoon (was it really only that afternoon?) when she went to see Max in hospital and bought a bag of sweets for him as a 'get well soon' gift. She had stuck the change from the note she had broken to pay for it into her jeans' pocket. When she digs into them, she finds the coins still in her right one.
The first number she dials is automatic: Chin's. It rings and rings until it eventually rings out into the voicemail. Kono opens her mouth to leave something but nothing comes out. In that case, if he had answered, what would she have said?
She shakes her head and hands up before inserting the next coin and dialing Adam's cell phone number. The personal one that she knows he has on him at all times, though she hopes he'll pick up a call from an unknown number.
She's about to give up hope when the ringing stops and he answers with a curt and hurried "Hello?"
A/N: My first non-McKono fic for this fandom. These two are my guilty pleasure. Another one after Danny/Mary Ann. What do you lot reckon? There will be background on Adam/Kono too, how they got together and met, and everyone else's reactions too, to both them together and what happened to Kono. I will update again tomorrow, depending on feedback. I work better with motivation, good or bad feedback helps. Otherwise, in a few days.
Special thanks to cm757 for proofing this. And to the tumblr fandom for motivating me to write this.
Disclaimer: Not mine.