A/N: Formerly posted as "Being Bossy", now transforsms into a series of one shots in the context of the "Calculated Risk" multichapter fic. You should read CR first, probably.
Hope you'll like it.
Being bossy
"Chin, Kono I need you to wait by Makita's house and take him in if he shows up" Steve orders from his position behind the desk, "Danny and I will go check out the boat."
They all get ready for their respective assignments when he sees her taking a glimpse at her watch. "There's enough time, Kono" he tells her as he goes past her towards his office door "don't worry."
She nods slightly at him. She knows she needn't worry. She was trying not to worry for a while now, but she simply can't figure out how to do it yet. She pushes it to the back of her mind, and joins Chin. It's about three o'clock when they settle outside of their suspect's apartment, and just wait.
()()()
...
()()()
They get to the marina and locate the boat, on one of the remote docking areas. It's a big white yacht that looks like a long time ago, it was quite expensive. When they climb it, with their guns drawn, and make a silent approach, they don't see anything suspicious, but there's a strange quiet noise from the belly of the yacht. Steve signals to Danny to cover him, as he kicks open the door and barges in. It's the best progress they made in this case, because they find the two missing teenagers, lying tied and gagged on the floor.
"Where is he?" Steve asks the trembling youth when he and Danny start to release them from their bonds. They don't know, he left them an hour ago, on their own. They are somewhat bruised and a little bit traumatized with the whole experience, and Steve feels like they have a good in on the kidnapers, so he tries not to push them too much. They are safe now, this is the main thing.
"If he left them here alone without even keeping guard, he should be back real soon" Danny says.
"You're right. We should keep everything quiet and just wait" Steve nods in agreement "guys, are you strong enough to walk to the end of the pier? we'll have HPD pick you up and get you to your families."
They nod silently, and while Steve is making the necessary phone calls, Danny escorts them to the back gait of the marina.
()()()
"We got the boys" he tells Chin when he answers the phone at the other location "no sign of Makita's partner though, we're hanging around here to see if he shows up."
"It's quiet around here too" Chin tells him, looking at Kono, who takes another glance at her watch "but If they had he boys ready for shipment, they are probably getting ready to make their getaway. There's a really good chance he'll show up here, to take his stuff."
"Agreed." Steve says "you two, stay put. Call me if he shows up. Now that we have the boys, we have everything we need to take him down."
"OK, Steve" Chin says, before he hangs up.
"... and Chin" he hears Steve's voice from the other side "tell Kono there's enough time. Makita is the main priority, if it'll take too long, I'll cover for her. "
Chin glances at his cousin's tight expression "sure, Steve. I'll tell her you're taking care of it."
()()()
...
()()()
It takes another hour until Makita's partner shows up at the marina. He walks purposefully towards the yacht, carrying a big duffle bag, that looks way too heavy, to be completely innocent.
"Guns?" Danny asks quietly from his location behind one of the other boats.
"Sure looks like it" Steve's reply comes out on the com "We'll take him in the minute he steps on the yacht, I want to catch him before he finds out the kids are gone, and warns Makita."
The suspect climbs the boat, dragging the big bag behind him. When he makes his way down to the bottom of the yacht, Steve and Danny jumps on, and call him to surrender. He is probably quite surprised and way to disoriented, because he tries to make a break for it, pushing against the door and almost topples Steve down. Danny can't get a clean shot without risking hitting his partner, and in the split second of confusion, the guy jumps ship.
"Well?" Danny says, looking questioningly at Steve who just stands there beside him watching the suspect swim away.
"What?"
"Aren't you gonna jump after him? I mean, the water is filthy, and there's the risk of being crashed by the passing boats, but... hell, when did it ever stop you?"
"I thought maybe, for once, you'll be the one to make the jump."
"What?" Danny looks at him in astonishment "why would you think something like that? I'm a regular, reasonable person, not a human dolphin like you pretend to be. Besides, you actually likes it."
"I thought maybe it's time for our relationship become more... equal. Why is it always me who has to be the first one?"
"Equal? seriously? did Kono pushed all these nonsense into your head?"
"No!" Steve scrunches his face "well yes. Kono ... but she only mentioned something about the amount of injuries I suffer, and the number of ruined shirts..."
"You're both out of your minds." Danny claims "and the shirts are a stupid excuse. You run around shirtless half the time anyway."
"Oh Danny" Steve smiles "I didn't realize you were looking..."
"Don't try to be funny" Danny looks at him with contempt "it's actually painful to watch, and Steven...?"
"Yes?"
"The suspect's getting away."
"Oh right" Steve notices the guy, almost reaching the other side of the doc. He takes off his shirt and throws it on Danny's head, jumping in the water after him.
()()()
"We got him" Steve's voice comes through the phone when she calls him, to see where they stand. It's already four thirty, but she tries to refrain from mentioning the time constraint again. If she'll hear him telling her again, probably for the seventeenth time, that there's still enough time, she'll have to injure him.
"No sign of Makita yet" she tells him in annoyance. God, she hates surveillance so much.
"Hang on. He's bound to show up. The partner says he was supposed to pick up the passports. Keep sharp."
"Fine" she nods "Steve, it looks like I'll be here for a while, then. I need you to..."
"I'll take care of it. I told you, will you stop worrying?"
"I'm not worried" she raises her voice a little bit "I just need you to take some responsibility and remember your obligations."
"I'm on top of it, Kono. I told you..."
"Fine. Just don't be late. Again..."
"I won't, and if I am..."
"Don't say my mother" she warns.
"I didn't!" he cries indignantly.
"And no one else from my family, either. It's too much. Did you hear me?" she says threateningly.
"Yes ma'am" she hears him smile when he says it "you're getting bossy again..."
"Yeah" she sighs "must be contagious."
"It's good" he says smugly "I like it when you're bossy. Especially when you're doing it with..."
"I see him" she cuts him off "got to go" she hangs up.
()()()
They watch Makita climbing the stairs to his flat, and they get out of the car, and take positions on the ground floor. When ten minutes later, they hear him walking down the stairs, they face him with guns drawn, calling him to stop. It's an unfortunate coincidence, because at the precise same moment the ground floor neighbor opens the door. She's an elderly woman, and she walks out with her two big brown dogs. The dogs bark, and their leashes are tangled around Chin's legs. When Makita uses this confusion and makes a run for it, Kono is the only one who is free to give chase.
She runs after him down the street, shouting for him to stop. He runs for his life, she knows, he had seen their Five-0 shields, and he can guess that they already know everything. Chin must be stuck there with the neighbor, because she can't even hear him running after her. When the guy makes a turn and runs towards the big highway, she's afraid she might lose him. He goes straight to the big intersection, and she knows he'll be stuck in the traffic there. She looks around her, and sees the big mall in front of her. if she was him, she would have ran into the mall. She enters the mall through the back entrance, which is closer to her, and runs up the escalators, and all the way towards the main lobby, where she assumes he'll show up, the minute he realized he should leave the streets. It's a gamble, but she has no back up, she can only hope she made the right assumption.
She smiles brightly when she sees him entering the mall and looking carefully around him. She is standing in the upper level, and he doesn't even look her way. She reaches for her phone and calls Chin to give him her location. It's a crowded place, and she has no idea if the guy is armed. When he starts making his way towards the underground parking lot, she follows him from above.
He steps into the elevator, and she watches the numbers of the floors changing, until they stop on -4.
"I'm going to -4" she tells Chin on the phone. He is already inside the mall, making his way towards her.
()()()
She runs down the stairs, to the right level, and peeks behind the wall to see where he is. She sees him trying to break into a car, and she runs towards him, and jumps him from behind. He has nothing to lose, trying to shake her off him, so she quickly finds herself engaged in a fists fight. He kicks her once , folding her leg beneath her, and she makes a quick spin, so he drops on the floor. When he tries to get up, she kicks his face in, and knocks him against the car's opened door. When Chin gets there, at last, Makita is already lying, bleeding on the parking lot's floor, his hands are cuffed, and his cousin is reading him his rights.
()()()
It takes at least one more hour to drag Makita's sorry ass back to HPD. Chin is handling the search of his apartment, while she tries to expedite his arrest. By the time they lock him up in HPD, and sign all the forms, and give the information to the sergeant in charge, it's late, and she's tired, and still dirty from the fight.
Chin drops her at HPD, so she could pick up her car. It's god damn six o'clock when she pulls up at home.
()()()
It's quiet in the house, when she enters. There's light in the kitchen and the living room, but nobody's there.
"I'm home" she calls, putting her phone and her gun on the table near the door, smiling at the small blue bag that is thrown near the stairs.
"In the lanai" she hears Steve's voice from outside, as well as the loveliest happy giggle. When she goes outside, Kai is running towards her, jumping in the air, greeting her with excitement.
"What are you guys doing?" she asks, standing in the doorway, watching her lover standing barefoot on the grass, and holding their eighteen months old son hanging upside-down, above his head.
"Watching the stars" he smiles towards her, as John is shrieking happily, and tries to release from his father's arms. "Look who's here, buddy" he puts the child down on the ground, and watches as he runs wobblingly towards his mother.
It's a happy reunion, as she holds him against her and nuzzles his face, kissing him a thousand times as she laughs at his happy giggles. Then he ties his little arms around her neck and looks back at his father, smiling at him proudly, like he's saying "she's mine."
()()()
"Were you late?" she asks later, when she's back with John from having a bath, and Steve is finishing to prepare dinner.
"Mmmm... about twenty minutes" he sends her a careful smile, seeing her exasperated expression "it was fine, Ms. Pine was waiting for me, she didn't mind."
"Of course she did" Kono rolls her eyes at him "she looks at me like I'm an unfit mother, every time I'm even one minute late."
"Well, she likes me..." he shrugs, trying to avoid her eyes "she keeps telling me, how difficult it must be for me, to do everything on my own, raising John with such a busy wife."
"What?" she cries in mortification "she thinks I'm the damaged parent here?"
"Looks like it" he smiles smugly "she really thinks I got it bad. She keeps asking me to have coffee, and tells me I can always talk to her about everything."
"You flirt with our son's preschool teacher?" she puts her hand on her hips, looking at him in astonishment "have you no shame?"
"I can't help it..." he laughs, pulling her towards him, kissing her neck "I have such a hard time, with my busy wife and all..."
()()()
It's much later when he lies flat on his stomach, on their bed, looking at the big white dog that is slumped exhaustingly on the floor.
"This dog is such a pushover" he says to her, when he hears her coming out of the bathroom "I mean, the kid pokes his fingers into his eyes, pulls at his hair, and at his tail. The stupid dog never even makes a sound. For crying out loud, I caught John almost pulling his nose out, and the dog didn't even bark. He only licked him on the face, and walked away, gently. How is it possible that I have such a sissy for a dog? I mean, he should bite him next time, really."
"Lucky for John, you are only his father, and not his dog. Now...turn around, lie down, and shut up."
He rolls on his back, watching with interest how she drops the towel she is holding, and walks naked towards the bed.
"What are you doing?" he smiles when she hovers above him, her hands restraining his arms, and her legs capturing his body beneath her.
"Be quiet sailor. No more questions" she whispers, her breath tickling his neck "don't interrupt me. I'm being bossy, again..."