Friend zone part 2

Authors note: Hey guys! I'm back with a new chapter! I'll try to update sooner this time, mainly because my exams are finally over. So yay! Anyway, you guys let me know if you like this chapter, okay? Leave a review please!

Chapter 2

"So what do we do now?"

The question hung in the air, three heads turned towards their team leader as Steve himself looked intently at the amount of papers spread around the table, thinking, trying to come up with a solution.

The thing is, they'd all done that. Every day for the past week, every little break through they made got them right back here, staring at the evidence, attempting to make sense of them, while they just stared back at the team, like a door that simply wouldn't open no matter how hard you pushed it.

"Nothing."

And yes, that was exactly the word they were trying to avoid. Steve stepped back from the table, letting out a small sigh of… what was it, disappointment? Sadness? He brought his head up, and somehow guilt and regret was written all over his eyes, even though this was all but his fault. "We can't do anything."

And without knowing why, Kono was already prepared to hear Danny's high pitched voice telling him that there had to be something they could do, nobody could be this smart, procedure be damned, they were gonna get this guy. Surprisingly, it wasn't Danny who said such a thing.

"What?"

It was her.

"You're telling me, we're just going to let him go free? Just like that?" she questioned, her eyes hard and intent on Steve as she just couldn't believe this, this was not what they had taught her, this was not what he had taught her.

His eyes focused on hers, and he swallowed the lump forming in his throat. "Kono, there aren't enough evidences. We're never gonna convince a judge that this guy is guilty."

She shook her head and grabbed the gun wrapped in plastic from the table. "What about this, huh? It's got his fingerprints all over it!"

"Kono," she felt Chin's hand resting on her shoulder, and she honestly wondered how the hell he could be this calm in a situation like this. "You know that's never gonna stick in court. James Morrison reported it missing two months ago, he's claiming someone stole it and killed those kids."

She turned her body fully towards him, a flash of anger passing her brown eyes. "He's the one who did it! You know it! I know it! Hell, everyone in HPD knows it!"

"Kono-" this time it was Steve who interrupted her, feeling Danny's eyes switching between him and Kono, Steve remaining in his side of the table. The thought that Danny hadn't said a word in a long time crossed his mind, along with a random 'thank God', but he focused back on her. "We can't prove it. These things happen. We all know that."

"They don't have to happen!" She snapped, dropping the gun on the table. "We have to prove this, I am not letting him get away with this!"

Out of the corner of their eyes, they saw Danny stepping away from the room, pinching the bridge of his nose in what they had all learned was an old habit of his, and they vaguely registered the sound of the door to his office slamming shut. Steve huffed and went around the table until he was facing her, diverting his eyes from hers, avoiding the disappointment and distressed look she was shooting his way. "Kono-"

"No." she growled, nudging him (hard) with her finger, almost stabbing him with it and she planted it on his chest. "Do not dare tell me we can't do this. Those kids died because of him, now he's damn well gonna pay for it."

And with that she flew past him, taking decisive steps towards the door and leaving the building before either of them could stop her, talk some sense into her, make her understand.

Because she wouldn't. She just wouldn't.

"Don't." of course it had to be Chin to make him stop dead in his tracks, forcing Steve to turn around and shoot him a quizzical look. "She doesn't need that right now. She'll come around, eventually."

Steve really couldn't explain the urge to punch the guy in the face and growl at him that Kono needed him right now, and Chin wasn't gonna stop him, but he forced himself to remain calm. Close his eyes. Take a deep breath.

"What am I supposed to do then?"

Chin's expression doesn't change, it's still that stoic stance and that murderous calm, and Steve couldn't help but think that maybe Chin knew everything that just went though his head. "Just don't do anything. You how she is, she'll come to you when she's ready."

He did know that. He knew that. But you know what, maybe he just wanted to ignore that right now.

That was exactly part of the reason why he could still hear Chin's sigh of disapproval as Steve continued his path, crossing the glass doors and leaving the building. He was gonna help her, and he was gonna do it now.

"I'm not home."

"Kono-"

"Leave."

A shake of his head, a sigh falling from his lips and he was back at pounding on her front door, caring that last bit of hope she would open the door this time, let him come in, let him understand. But nope, she wasn't giving up.

"I'm not gonna go away." But then again, neither was he.

"What do you want?"

He had to repress a groan at how her voice sounded to him from across the door, broken, racked, miserable, strained. "You to open this goddamn door. Before I break it down." The last word leaves with an edge from his mouth, and he knew that she was smart enough to get that he wasn't kidding, not when he was speaking in that tone.

It wasn't long before he heard light, slow footsteps heading towards him, and some sort of relief washed over Steve when her face appeared in front of him, soon enough opening the door completely. She was dressed in the same clothes she had been when she was at work, and a glance at the small leaving room behind her allowed him to take in the splattered case files on the floor, the papers on her coffee table, and looking back at her, the bags under her eyes that he hadn't noticed throughout this week.

"There, the door is open. Are you gonna leave now?" Her voice was harder, an edge to it that could easily match his, but he realized a long time ago that this was just a cover, just a way to protect herself, just a way to be independent like she always is. And it sometimes killed him to know that she probably got that from him.

"No." a step forward. "You know I'm not." Another step forward and he passed right by her and into her house, remaining there until he saw her taking a calming breath and closing the door behind her.

"Did Chin send you here?"

He wanted to roll his eyes at this, but the painful look she pinned him with as she turned around was enough for Steve to feel awfully guilty all over again. "No. He was trying to stop me."

"You should have listened to him." Was her harsh reply before heading towards her sofa, gathering the papers from here and there and placing them in a neat pile on the top of the coffee table.

"You don't mean that." She didn't. Of course she didn't. She was just too damn stubborn to admit it.

"Either help me with this or get out. Pick one and stick with it."

He closed his eyes, squaring his jaw and just praying for some understanding here because this wasn't her. This wasn't the cheerful, kickass, amazing women that had joined and had been a part of his taskforce for two years. This was a broken shell, a racked person standing in front of him, all because of some guy they couldn't prove killed five kids. Kids.

"This isn't gonna work. We can't prove anything. You know that."

She just ignored the words and focused on the stack of papers in front of her, scrutinizing every last bit of information. "There has got to be something here. Nobody commits the perfect crime. Wasn't that exactly what you taught me, boss?"

And… ouch.

"No, it wasn't." he spoke, disregarding the sharp, actual pain that had just caused him. He moved forward, his eyes never leaving her as he took a seat next to Kono, taking in the way she never even looked at him, trying with all her being to keep it all inside, to just give all of her attention to James Morrison. "I taught you to know when to back down. To know when there's no point in pushing something that won't ever budge."

She took a sharp intake of breath and swallowed thickly. "Don't do this."

It's killing him bit by bit, the pleading behind her voice, but he knows she has to break, at least so she can put it all back together.

"It's over, Kono. We can't save everyone, and we can't bring everyone to justice. It just doesn't work like that." his hand covered her own, resting on the sofa, and the words sounded ironic to him from the countless times he had already heard those same words, just directed at him. Maybe that's what made him so fit for this, the fact that he had been in her place more times than he cared to admit.

Her eyes are pure black as they turn towards Steve, imperceptible trembles assaulting her hand under his, and it doesn't take long (it was sooner than he had expected, really) for her mouth to open, her bottom lip quivering slightly as she just says those words, those key words that are the reason she insisted so much on this in the first place. "They were kids."

"I know." It rushed out of his mouth, because he gets it, he gets it too well, and somehow he did wish he could never understand what she was going through, because it was just a dreadful, sucking mass of pain that kept pulling them back. It is a dreadful, sucking mass of pain that keeps pulling them back. "I know." He repeats, and his arms encircle her small frame not a second later, and coincidentally, it's exactly when the sobs rack her body and she break to a million pieces in his arms, falls from that clouded space and finally, finally, lets him in.

She wasn't beautiful like this. The tears cascading down her cheeks didn't make her eyes look brighter, her body pressed up against him didn't make him feel warmer, the fact that she was only doing this with him by her side didn't make him feel special. Her loud cries only reminded him (and her) of how there was always gonna be a case like this, there was always gonna be one more life to loose, and how there was always gonna be that one that got away.

They say girls look beautiful when they cry. She didn't. She looked awful, but that as just because it hurt him to see her like this. And so Steve had no choice but to tighten his arms around her and to press a warm kiss to her shoulder, keep whispering those soft words and tell her it was ok. It was ok. It is okay.

He didn't remember when she stopped crying. Didn't recall when the sobs subsided, or when her piercing cries ended. Then again, it didn't really matter. What mattered was that she was gonna be ok. They all had to move on from things like this. This was just her turn.

Authors note: Hey guys! So I hope you liked this chapter. Make sure you leave a review, just to let me know if it's worth continuing. Next chapter will be funnier, though, and not so heavy. Hope to see you then!