I SHOULD HAVE INSISTED…

This story is set after Ka Iwi Kapu. I own no part of Hawaii Five-0 or its characters. This is just for fun!

CHAPTER 1

Steve was talking to HPD and giving them the information on what they'd found when they arrived at the property where Garrison had been hacking up the bodies to sell the parts. He reported on finding the multiple drums of formaldehyde and Garrison, when cornered by the 5-0 team, dropping the lighter despite their pleas to put the lighter down. He can still see Garrison igniting the chemical on the floor around him, lighting himself on fire in the process. He'd smelled it before, but he'd never get used to the smell of burned hair and flesh – it was pungent in the air still as the fire department worked on putting out the few hotspots remaining from the fire.

He caught sight of Danny and Chin examining their vehicles and the damage they'd sustained from being so close to the explosion and fire. As could have been predicted, Lori Weston was searching through the cooled rubble looking for evidence for the inevitable mounds of paperwork that was in their immediate future.

Just as he started to look from Lori back to the HPD officer that he was providing information to, he noticed Lori rubbing the back of her head and stretching her neck and shoulders. She stood up, immediately leaning over onto one of the nearby police cruisers and writing in her notebook. He made a mental note to check on her later on back at the office. He'd already told her to get checked over by EMS. She'd told him she was fine, but he told her to get checked anyway.

5-0 – 5-0 – 5-0 – 5-0 – 5-0 –

Lori had been picking up pieces of evidence from the scene of the explosion and fire. She leaned over to get another piece off the ground and felt a little dizzy. She braced herself by planting her hand firmly on the ground. After a moment the feeling passed and she stood up. She had a slight dizzy feeling upon standing and noticed her boss looking over at her at the same time.

She immediately leaned over onto the hood of the police cruiser and pretended to be writing in her notebook, while chanting to herself, "Please don't come over here, please don't come over…."

"Hey," came the familiar voice of Lt. Commander Steve McGarrett. "You okay?" he asked leaning on his elbows on the front of the police cruiser and looking at the top of her head as she fervently wrote in her notebook.

"What…? Oh, yeah, just gathering up some evidence and making some notes," she answered, only looking at him briefly. Thankfully, the dizzy feeling had passed after a moment, but she did have a dull headache beginning.

"You got checked out…, by the medics…., right?" he asked her.

"Yes," she said with exasperation. "It was unnecessary, but I got checked out. I told you that I was fine," she said, closing her notebook and turning to lean against the cruiser next to him, facing the scene of the crime scene technicians going about their work.

"Alright, just making sure," he told her. "You took a pretty hard hit; it knocked you out," he reminded her.

"For one second!" she told him again. She really had no idea HOW long she'd been out. She just remembers hearing Steve at her side and reaching up to grab his arm as he helped her up. She'll never forget the look of concern on his face. Who knew someone with such a tough reputation couldn't hide that?

"Uh huh," he said with a smirk. "Let's pack up and get back to HQ. It's been a long day. The paperwork can probably wait until the morning," he finished, walking away to round up the others and hand over the scene to HPD.

5-0 – 5-0 – 5-0 – 5-0 – 5-0 –

"G'night," Steve called after Kono, Chin and Danny as they left the office to head home, getting over the shoulder waves from the three team members as they headed down the stairs. Everyone was exhausted, but they'd just spent the last two hours talking and winding down from the ordeal.

Steve turned to head back to his office to grab his keys and noticed that the light in Lori's office was off, but he didn't remember her leaving. He looked toward the restroom and noticed a light under the door. Maybe she was just hitting the restroom before heading out he thought.

He wandered back into his office, put a couple of things away, locked up his desk and headed out of his office. The light was still on in the restroom. He walked over to the door and knocked.

"Lori? You in there?" he asked, getting no reply. "Lori?" he called louder, knocked harder. No answer. He pushed the door open, half expecting to find her sprawled on the floor. She did look a little more the worse for wear than the others had. He walked in, calling her name and looking around. No one there.

"Hmmm, maybe I did miss her leaving while I was on the phone with the Governor before," he thought, turning to leave, shutting off the light and closing the door behind him. He glanced around the office again and headed out, locking the main doors behind him.

5-0 – 5-0 – 5-0 – 5-0 – 5-0 –

Steve shook off his uneasy feeling and continued down the stairs to his truck. He said goodnight to the desk Sergeant on duty in the lobby, pushing through the glass doors and taking in the cool nigh air, drawing in a deep breath. It refreshed him a little bit and he looked around and started out to his truck.

He made it to the parking lot and had the key in the door lock of his truck when he looked up and noticed Lori's car still in the parking lot, looking abandoned. He looked around for any sign of her, looked back at the building to the upper windows – nope, still no light on.

He walked over to the vehicle and looked inside – no one in there. He tried the door handles finding the car was still securely locked. He walked back to the building and into the lobby again.

"Hey, Sarge – did Agent Weston pass by you a little bit ago?" he asked, subconsciously drumming his fingers on the reception desk.

"Just when you all came back in, Commander," the officer answered. "I just saw Officer Kalaukaua, Lieutenant Chin and Detective Williams leave a few minutes ago," he added.

"Thanks," Steve threw over his shoulder as he started back up the stairs, two at a time, digging into his pocket for his office keys.

TO BE CONTINUED….