ANOTHER SIDE OF PARADISE

A/N: Not really much of an author's note here, but I wondered how a romance between Kono and Danny would be, simply because I saw some Steve/Danny ones, and I figured I'd try something different. If you don't like that for various reasons (such as, he's too old; she's too young,) DON'T READ.

For the purposes of this story, I have played around with their ages just a smidge. Also, Danny has two middle names.

Disclaimer: Don't own jack squat, except my story. Hawaii Five 0 is owned by CBS, based on L. Freeman's characters.

Kono Kalakaua studied the cards she held in her long, shapely fingers. Her dark eyes left the ones in her hand and darted from her cousin to her fellow teammates, Steve McGarrett and Danny Williams, but they were well versed in poker face techniques, and she could not read their emotions at all. Kono was wondering if maybe, just maybe, her cousin had set her up by practically insisting that she play a card game with her fellow officers. She knew that Chin was dying to sample the food at the Top View of Oahu restaurant and, given the expense, not dying to pay for the food there.

So, here she was, playing poker with the fellows and enjoying herself immensely whilst trying to figure out which cards Steve, Danny and Chin had in their hands.

"So, what do you all have?" Danny asked, smiling just a little.

Chin Ho Kelly said, "Three sevens and two eights."

Steve chuckled, but was otherwise silent. When his turn came, he threw down his cards on the table and said, "Four jacks, read that and weep." His eyes flicked to Danny and Kono as Chin folded on his hand.

"Speaking of houses, Manalua's House of Barbecue serves some of the best barbeque pork in Hawaii," Steve told his friends, his mind conjuring up an image of eating himself sick with a smile on his face.

"Yeah, well…" Danny said, "it ain't over 'til the Fat Lady sings." The blond cop smirked a little, his blue eyes lighting up with mischief.

"Deal me another," Kono requested. Steve fished out a card from the back of the deck and handed it, face down, to her. She knew what she needed to win the game.

Sure hope it's...She thought; then, she looked at the card without showing it. When she placed the card with the others, forming her winning hand, Kono smiled inwardly as she fingered them.

I've got you now, she thought triumphantly toward all of her teammates. "Man, Danno!" Steve protested, misreading Danno's expression. Danny ignored the leader of Five 0, focusing all his attention on Kono.

"Put up or be forever indebted to me," Danny told her.

Now it was her time to smirk, as Chin raised his brow, saying, "Forever? As I recall, the bet was that the one with the worst hand would take the winner out to lunch wherever he, or she, wanted to go."

"And, with that word from my cousin gentlemen," Kono said with flourish, "ta daaaa!" She threw her royal flush down on the table. While Steve and Chin groaned, Danny revealed the worst hand she'd ever seen: one two, one three, one four and two fives.

"Guess we know who the victim will be," Steve said while Chin snickered. "Better luck next time, Danno."

"You're gonna need it," Chin Ho said to Danny. "My cousin may look like she's a vegetarian, but she packs down quite a bit of regular food. You, ah, need us to help cash in your T bills for the grand total the waiters will give you when she's finished eating lunch?"

Kono gave her fellow relative a look which stated, say one more thing about my eating habits and you'll be next on the menu!

"Okay you two," Steve said, micromanaging the pair, "me and Chin want details; extensive details, got it?"

"Oh, yeah, we got it," Danny said as he rose from his seat. "I'll take a porno shot afterwards and send it to you two at Christmas."

"You know how the S. S. Arizona is buried under Pearl Harbor?" Kono asked, smiling, before Chin Ho could kill Danny.

"Yeah," Danny told her, adding, "so?"

"So maybe there'll be someone new buried under the Harbor when I get my hands around your neck," Kono said to Danny. "And I mean that in the nicest possible way."

Steve and Chin exchanged a glance, both smiling at each other. This was gonna be fun!

"All right, you gotta take her out before noon Friday, since Wednesday is a pay day, Danno, and no welching on the bet," Steve said. "Those are the rules."

Danny assumed a mock hurt expression and said, putting his fingers on his chest, "Moi? I've never welched on a bet in my life!" His eyes found Kono, promising an afternoon of fun and possibly something more.

Kono just patted her pocket where her handcuffs were stored. If need be, she knew how to restrain Mr. Daniel B. J. Williams.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning was usual for the Five 0 team. After deflating a counterfeit ring and putting a madam behind bars, the time was fast approaching for the lunch Danny was dreading. He kept telling himself that it was just Kono, his teammate, and lunch was no big deal. The blond cop pictured drilling his pencil though his head, but somehow, he didn't think that would get him off the hook. He was so wrapped up in his apprehension that he failed to see Chin Ho sitting on the side of his desk.

Before Danny placed the pencil back in the drawer, Chin grabbed it from his hands. When Danny looked up, Kono's cousin stared at him with determined dark eyes, making sure the fellow cop would remember everything he was about to say.

"Danny, I want to talk," he said. The other cop nodded.

"I hope you understand, I'm rooting for you guys," Chin Ho told his friend and coworker.

Danny relaxed a little in his seat. "Thanks, Chin," he said sincerely. "That really means a lot."

The Hawaiian cop fingered the pencil, shaking it up and down as he said, "But if you screw this up…if my cousin is in any way dissatisfied and unhappy I will personally come and separate your head from its shoulders. Got that?"

Really nervous, Danny swallowed. "Got it," was all he managed. Chin Ho deposited the pencil in Danny's side pocket, patting it, and he walked away.

"Steve, I need to…" Danny told his partner.

"Yeah, I know," Steve said. "Go home. Figure out what you'll wear." Smirking, Steve added, "you'll probably want to wear something more casual."

Danny gave him a look, and as he rose to leave the office, ran right into Kono. She looked like she always did, from her moss green t to her hip hugging denims. For a moment, neither cop said anything. They both looked at each other; then, Kono gazed down at the shiny floor. She shuffled her feet, clearly anxious about something.

"Hey, K," Danny said. "You can back out of this if you don't want to go out with me."

Kono looked up into his eyes. Had they always been that blue, like the water in Hanama Bay? Although her heart did a leap frog into her chest, she managed a brave look and said, "No, no, I don't want to back out."

Looking at her, he replied, "Oh, that's great." He assumed a glib expression as he said, "Because I was all ready to let you off the hook, but if you want to go, that's great. Where would you like me to take you?"

"How about Bubba's in Ala Moana Shopping Center?" Kono suggested.

"Sounds great," Danny said. "I'll pick you up at one. Got some errands to do first."

Kono's expressive eyes lit up. "So this is a date, then?" She asked, taking in his jacket and tie.

Danny hastily moved to deny that. "No, absolutely not," he said. "A date would require dressing in fancy clothes and teasing hair, or whatever, and you'd have to get ready too."

Kono laughed, a deep rumble that tickled her lips and, he decided, made her eyes twinkle like the stars. "Maybe we should meet at the restaurant," she suggested.

"See you at one," Danny said. They walked out of the office then went home separately to get ready for lunch.