A/N: Hey there, It's been a while. And yes, I know there's some unfinished business between us with the "stakeout" fic. This is just a one shot about Kono and Steve and Danny who always makes things complicated. Chin has an important role too.

Please tell me what you think.

"No!"

He practically runs through the glass doors, causing them to slam into Danny's face when he's not prepared for it "leave me alone, Danny. I'm warning you."

"But why?" Danny is relentless, chasing him across the room to Chin's and Kono's great amusement.

He turns around, his finger pointing at his partner threateningly "It's none of your business why" he growls "let it go, Danno." It's all they say before they both disappear inside Steve's office.

She looks at her cousin thoughtfully "chocolate!" She declares "he offered him chocolate and he refused. Danny was chasing him with the spoon and spilled chocolate all over his shirt or something. I'm pretty sure he was wearing a different blue shirt this morning, it looks like he'd changed."

"Mmmm…." Chin rubs his chin thoughtfully "nice theory, but it looks like something much more important than chocolate." She looks at him questioningly, what does he mean more important than chocolate?! There's nothing more important than chocolate."Besides" he points at their team leader pacing around in his office, flailing his hands and looking like he might murder Danny right there and then "nobody can tell which blue shirt he's having on anyway, it's way too confusing. No, I think it's something else… it looks more… personal…"

"It always is with these two" she sighs in resignation as they're making their way towards the quarreling duo "it's so exhausting."

"Are you deaf?!" Steve screams when they open the door "I said no! N.O.! How many times do I need to repeat myself?"

"You can't just say no." Danny doesn't show even a hint of concern in the face of his partner's almost knees shaking outburst "you've got to give me a reason."

"I don't have to do anything" he declares, crossing his arms on his chest looking at Danny with a murderous look. Danny only smiles, claps his hands together, and turns towards the curious cousins like he's about to say something "shut up Danny" Steve warns "I will not let you turn it into a bigger mess than it is."

He just purses his lips together, sits on the edge of Steve's desk and watches Kono and Chin with anticipation. It's minutes that they are all just standing there, looking at each other nervously. Steve is furious, sending death glares towards Danny who looks way too confident and secured for the situation. You can practically cut the tension with a knife and it's clear that Steve wants to keep this recent conflict private just as passionately as Danny wants to bring it up for a group discussion. He always does, comes to think about it. She used to think it was his way to build up his argument and gain support from Chin and her. After all… that makes sense, more than often the cousins find themselves arguing on Danny's behalf. They are, after all, very reasonable, and normal human beings, so they have to agree with Danny. She looks at the anger in Steve's eyes, she really starts to think that Danny's entire point is to torment Steve and make him explode in front of them. She has no idea, but if this is his meaning, it's very effective.

"Okay" she raises her hands in the air after about five tense minutes "I give up. We can't just stand here for the rest of the day. We have work to do. Why don't you tell us what it's all about and we'll get it over with?"

"We're not discussing it!" Steve leans on his desk his hands gripping the edges with such force, his knuckles turn white.

"I have all day." Danny shrugs, making himself more comfortable on Steve's desk and sends a steady glare towards his partner.

"We're really not" Steve insists, sending her what she can only describe as a desperate and pleading look.

"Do you really think you can win?" Danny asks him curiously. There's an appropriate amount of doubt on Steve's face when he tries to make up his mind.

It's the mother of all battles because four minutes later, Steve is still holding his ground, while Danny is still sitting there, looking, well… pretty impressed with his team leader's performance. Then Steve's phone rings and they find out that they have a new case.

As she's looking at the two partners getting set to go on the road, while Chin and her do the same, and they both look entirely professional, like the past pathetic conflict didn't exist at all she thinks back on Steve's quite atypical resilience – suddenly she's really interested in what it was all about…

()()()

"A dead end" she sighs, taking her seat next to Danny on the bench at Kamekona's a few hours later. "We've searched the entire complex, found nothing. He's like a ghost."

Chin and Steve, bring the food and sit opposite to her and Danny, and Chin dispenses the beers "same with us" Steve adds "nobody even heard about him."

"You think the girlfriend sent us on a goose chase?" Kono asks, pulling a nice looking shrimp from Steve's plate, he frowns at her. For some reason she seems to think the food on his plate is much better than on her own. He could never get used to her feasting on his meal like that without even asking. Back in the SEALS this kind of behavior would have sent her to do several laps, in full gear on the coast line. During their early days on the team, when he slapped her hand away once, making them all look at him like he just kicked a small puppy in the face or something, it lead to a full scale rant from Danny about friendship, comradeship and the ancient tradition of breaking bread with your fellow man… God! He didn't do it since, let her devour his meals as she chooses because it seems not to be worth the fight. But he still hates it.

"The girlfriend looked scared" Chin says "I think we need to get her to trust us, maybe question her in a different place, maybe bring her over for a chat in the office, make it look less like an interrogation."

"Maybe we should have someone else do it" Danny looks at Steve deliberately "when you raised your voice at her, she was shaking like a leaf."

"She's the girlfriend of a convicted murderer" Steve glares at him "I'm pretty sure I'm not the most frightening man she'd ever encountered."

"Well…" Danny scoffs, as they all smile at him mischievously.

"I'm getting another beer" he growls, moving towards Kamekona's truck.

"You are very sensitive, Steven" Danny shouts behind him.

"So…?" she looks at Danny expectedly.

"What?" he looks at her puzzled.

"You know what" she hisses "what was it all about this morning in Steve's office?"

"Oh that… it was nothing" he shrugs.

"Nothing? Steve was ready to tear you limb from limb."

"He was overreacting." He mumbles, concentrating on the plate of shrimps in front of him.

"Of course he was overreacting" she rolls her eyes at him "but what was he overreacting over?!"

"A date."

"A date?" she raises her eyebrows with surprise "like… a date as… from a palm tree?"

"A palm tree… what the hell? No, not a palm tree. A date" he looks at her with annoyance "a date. A real date with a girl. I wanted to fix him up with Suzy."

There's an uncharacteristic alarm on Chin and Kono's faces when Steve walks back and takes his seat next to his teammates. They both look at him like he suddenly has two heads, while Danny just sits there smiling at him fondly from behind his shrimp. Great, he thinks to himself. That's absolutely fantastic. What the hell did he tell them? He takes a long sip from his beer, looking at them apprehensively, waiting for the other shoe to drop. When neither of them says anything he sighs in resignation and says "well, go on with it then."

"Who the hell is Suzy?" Chin and Kono ask simultaneously.

()()()

"She's Gabby's sister." Danny explains as Steve stares at him blankly "she's new in town, and she's very sweet, and beautiful and I thought Steve and her might hit it off." She looks at Steve curiously; his eyes are like cold blue steel, his jaw muscle clenched as he looks at Danny with fury. "She's nice. She's smart. She's sexy. They'll make a perfect match."

"So…?" Chin asks carefully "this sounds… good?"

"No!" Steve spits.

"Yeah" Danny looks at him with contempt "that's the only thing I got."

"Well" Chin is more courageous than expected in the circumstances "why not? We all like Gabby, and this is her sister. It could be really nice. Steve, maybe it's time. It's been almost a year and a half since Catherine…"

"You see?" Danny cries triumphantly "Chin thinks the same. Will it kill you once in your life to listen to reason?"

"I said no!" Steve leans closer to his partner.

"Kono" Danny turns towards her "tell him. He'll listen to you, he trusts you."

"Well…" she coughs slightly, trying to formulate an answer as Steve sends her a threatening look "maybe Danny has a point. I mean, he says she's beautiful, and sexy… maybe you should… at least for a date…"

"I'll kill you" he hisses, leaning over the table to emphasize the genuineness of his intentions.

"I can't see why not" she smiles innocently "and besides, she's Danny's girlfriend's sister. If you all hit it off, and everything will work out, at the end of it, you and Danny might end up being related." By the horrified look on his face, he's most definitely going to kill her.

()()()

Three long and annoying days later they still have no clue about the whereabouts of their fugitive. They form a stakeout outside his girlfriend's apartment but it has no results. Well, if you count out the most obvious result of having Kono and Chin pissed off at each other, up to the point of having a full scale screaming fight in the middle of the residential street they are parked at. Something to do with her mother's dinner invitation, and what Kono considers 'the unsupportive behavior of Chin and Malia', it ends up with Chin offering to call her mother and explain something, an offer Kono takes as an act of war. It took Steve and Danny three seconds to decide they're not going to ask about it. Ever.

Either way, it's getting ridiculous. There's an active APB on the guy, spread to the entire law enforcement community on the island, and soon after that the papers picks it up and create the worse kind of bad publicity for the state, making the governor climb all over Steve's back. They spend days and nights trying to figure this mess out. The emphasis is on trying.

"Nothing" Danny and Chin barge into Steve's home, early Saturday morning and crash on the couch tiredly. He is just coming back from his morning swim, barefoot, in his bathing suit, dripping wet on the lanai. Chin throws him a towel, and he steps into the living room, drying himself up and trying to assess the situation.

"We've followed the tip we had about the cargo ship in the north shore" Chin tells him "we waited there from three in the morning, watching the crew. Nothing. He didn't show up."

"Shit" Steve shakes his head "I really thought we had something. It was the first solid lead we had so far. He probably left the island already and we missed him."

"Or maybe he never left" Danny sighs "went to one of the smaller islands, disappeared into the jungle. He's a local. He can survive for…"

"Steve, baby?" Kono's shout from upstairs stops Danny midsentence and almost choking him to death as he's fighting to breathe "baby, did you see my sleepers?" Danny's mouth is still open, and Chin's head is turning painfully slowly before they both just sit there looking at Steve standing in the living room eyes almost popping out of their sockets in sheer panic. "Hey babe" she smiles fondly, as she steps casually into the living room, still sleepy, her hair all messed up, wearing his tee-shirt and nothing else. She walks towards him, and moves to plant a short kiss on his lips, missing completely the way he looks at her, like he'd seen a ghost or something "oh" she cries happily when she spots her sleepers on the floor next to him "here they are" it's not as surprising as she might think. She'd left them there four days ago, even though he told her, repeatedly, to put her stuff away and be more careful. She puts her sleepers on, and turns towards the kitchen "did you make coffee, sweetie?" she asks casually "hey guys" she says when she suddenly spots her teammates, sitting on the couch, gawking at her, amazed "I'll be right back" she throws over her back, making her way to the kitchen. Before she makes even three more steps it finally sinks in. "Shit!" she gasps horridly, turning around swiftly to look at Danny and Chin, their expressions now transformed from pure shocked to furious "it's not what it looks like." She says quickly, but Chin's raised eyebrow makes her change her tactic "well, it is. It is what it looks like. But it's fine. I can explain."

"Fine?" Danny cries in protest.

"Fine?" Chin's color changes into a specific shade of red she'd never seen before.

"Don't kill me" she cries as she's running back, hiding behind Steve.

"Chin" Steve starts to say in a calming voice "wait, let us explain…"

"Explain?!" Danny shouts "explain?!"

"How long?" Chin asks, still making his way slowly towards Steve and Kono who step back slowly, trying to make an honorable retreat.

"Emmm… A few months…?" Steve mumbles.

"Thirteen" she admits with remorse "thirteen months…"

"A year?!" Chin cries in horror.

"More than a year" Danny corrects, helpfully.

"I'll kill you!" Chin spits.

"Who of them?!" Danny asks.

"Either."

"This is why you didn't want to go out with my girlfriend's sister?" Danny asks suddenly.

Chin turns towards him, furious "it's not about you right now, you do realize it, right?"

"Right" Danny says apologetically "still…" he frowns "he could have mentioned something."

"You see Chin's face?" Steve points to the older detective's, by now, almost purple face "this is exactly why I didn't."

"You don't understand" Kono says from behind Steve's back. At this point the both of them are already near the staircase "we're serious. We've been living together for a long time now."

"Living together? With him? Somehow, it doesn't make me feel any better" he growls.

"My mom knows. She's okay with it."

"Your mom?" he looks at her genuinely surprised "she likes Steve?"

"Well…" she says thoughtfully "I wouldn't say like…"

"What?" Steve turns towards her, obviously hurt "you said she loves me."

"I might have… sugar coated it a little bit..." she mumbles, he only frowns "I love you" she smiles, trying to make peace "that's the important thing, right?" when he smiles and leans in to kiss her, Chin's strong arms pull him away from her slamming him against the wall.

"Are you seriously going to do this now, in front of me?" he asks icily.

"Leave him alone Chin" Kono shouts "we love each other. It's serious. We're getting married."

"You're what?!" Chin and Danny turns towards her so quickly she's afraid they'll break their necks. Chin is still holding Steve secured against the wall. The fact that Steve is looking at her with the same amount of amazement when she says her last sentence is quite a discouraging thing if you ask her.

"I found the ring" she smiles sheepishly, looking at Steve with tingle in her eyes. He only closes his eyes with disappointment. "I'm sorry. We were going to the shooting range and I was looking for extra bullets so I searched you drawers…" he only sighs, shaking his head "I kept quiet because I wanted to see what you're preparing, so I wouldn't ruin it…" her words trail off when she realizes she'd just ruined it completely "the ring was for me, right…?" she looks at him, suddenly embarrassed "I mean, it's been a month now since I found it and you still didn't say anything…"

He raises his head, looking at the ceiling, wishing for strength. Since she came into his life it's all been a complete chaos. His house was a mess, the sneaking around was taking its toll, now Chin is about to skin him alive… he looks at the wild woman in front of him, she's the best thing that had ever happened to him, he looks at Chin, his grip is still firm on his chest, looks at Danny who seems to be quite amused with this particular chain of events. "Will you marry me?" he asks finally, and it takes them all a few moments until they realize what he's saying.

"Wohooo!" there's a sudden wild shrieking sound coming from Kono's mouth as she jumps towards him. She pushes Chin off, and crashes into his chest, knocking the living hell out of him.

"So, that means yes?" he smiles excitedly towards her.

She only nods enthusiastically before she kisses him forcefully again, drawing all the air out of his lungs.

"Ehem…" Chin clears his throat audibly, making them break the kiss eventually. She turns towards him, smiling, her cheeks burning red.

She lets Steve go, and steps back "do whatever you need to him" she says to her cousin "I'm going to the shower now, I'll be right back."

He looks at her incredulously, as she's running up the stairs, still shrieking with happiness "Kono… don't leave me here" he cries in despair "they'll kill me."

"Don't kill him" she shouts back "and don't touch his face. I want him beautiful for the wedding photos."