Kono: Warrior Princess

Chapter Two: My Hercules

zebraboymom

Disclaimer: They do not belong to me…they do not belong to me…they do not belong to me…they do not belong to me…

Author Notes: Steve certainly acts like he's half God and half man. Now we see him from Kono's perspective.

It had been two weeks since Kono's five against one incident and she was as confused as ever about Steve's behavior that night and the following day.

Steve never answered her question about why he was holding her hand and stroking her hair in the hospital. He gave her some brotherly answer about her being Ohana and then had refused to leave her alone in the hospital after the doctor said they wanted to monitor her overnight.

He had slept all night sitting up in that stupid chair right next to her bed and more than once she had felt him lay his hand on her chest and feel to see if she was still breathing during the night. She also felt his hands ghost over her cheek and into her hair more than once along with a soft kiss to her forehead that had lingered. She had never felt so cared for in her life, which made the next day even more confusing. When she was released he had taken her home without saying more than a dozen words and then peeled out of her driveway without looking back.

For the next several days he couldn't seem to make eye contact with her and then things had gone back to normal.

Today they were once again in one of her least favorite places; the docks in Pearl Harbor. There were cargo containers stacked five and six high all across this particular dock and it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. There had to be at least a couple of hundred containers and she had to climb up on several before she finally saw something that made her stomach drop.

Steve was five stacks over from her wrestling with the guy they had been after for three days. He was attempting to disarm the guy and they struggled over the gun. They were perilously close to the edge and it looked like it was a two-container drop where they were. Steve spun the guy around and tried to pull the gun out of his hands, but as the guy lost his footing he never let go of Steve. The two men disappeared from her sight and the she heard the bone crushing sound of their bodies landing.

She slowed as she reached the edge of the last stack; afraid to look down and see her boss and the man she looked up to broken or worse…dead.

Her instincts cut in and she quickly reached the edge and started down a ladder to the two bodies lying way too still at the bottom. As she reached the top of the container they had landed on, Kono called the guys.

"Danny! Chin! Steve is hurt. We're about 35 rows in on the north side."

She switched her radio to another frequency and yelled.

"Officer down! Officer down!"

She stayed on long enough to give the number of the dock and approximately where they were among the containers and then carefully rolled Steve off the body of the man he had fortunately landed on. The guy looked dead, but thankfully he must have broken some of Steve's fall.

Steve groaned as Kono gently rolled him over. His shoulder was at a terrible angle and she was sure it was dislocated. His wrist was also at a funny angle as it looked like he landed on it. She gently slid her hands under his shirt and ran them across his ribs. He hissed as she touched one in particular.

"Damn Kono. Are you trying to finish me off?"

Kono smiled. He was okay. Thank God he was okay. She suddenly had the desire to cry, but she brushed the one offending tear aside with the back of her hand, closing her eyes in relief.

Before she could pull herself completely together she felt his good hand reach up and cup her cheek. She blinked and looked down at his affectionate smile.

"I'm okay Kono. I promise. It's just a scratch."

"Yeah. Right. I watched you pitch off that spot up there Hercules and I thought you were dead."

Steve attempted to sit up, but Kono gently pushed him back down.

"You stubborn ass. Just lie there and wait for the paramedics. You could have internal injuries."

"I can climb down out of here and meet the ambulance…"

Kono fixed him with a stare that could kill a man on the spot.

"You are not moving an inch. I will cuff you if necessary so…be…still."

"Okay. Okay. Bossy."

"Yeah? Now you have a taste for what we go through."

"Am I really that bossy? Wait. Did you just call me Hercules?"

Kono grinned at him.

"Maybe."

"Hmmm. Didn't Xena and Hercules have a relationship at one time?"

Her soft laughter drifted through the air.

"Not one that lasted."

"Xena was a fickle woman."

"Hey! I am not fickle."

"I'm just saying. Xena was a love 'em and leave 'em kind of gal."

Steve thought he saw a flash of hurt cross her face.

"I'm kidding. I promise Kono. Thanks for having my back."

Kono ran her hand through his hair just like he had hers once.

"Just promise me you'll be more careful. My heart can't take another episode like this."

Steve's eyes started to drift closed.

"Tired."

"Steve? Stay with me. Do you hear me? Stay awake. Please Steve."

"I'm trying. I'm try…."

Kono was certain now that he had internal injuries and she screamed into her Com.

"Where are you guys and where's the bus?"

Kono leaned down and placed her ear carefully over Steve's heart. She could here it was beating and a huge lump formed in her throat.

Danny suddenly dropped down from the container above her and waved at Chin who was looking down from the top of the one Kono had been on.

"We're here Kono. Direct the bus in will you Chin?"

Chin started moving along the container towards the parking lot and Danny squatted down beside Kono.

Tears were flowing freely down her cheeks now as she grabbed onto Danny.

"He passed out Danny. Steve never passes out. I moved him onto his back. Maybe I punctured something…a lung or…or…"

"It'll be okay Kono. Listen. I can hear the ambulance."

It took the rescue team of paramedics about 10 minutes to get Steve secured and lowered to the ground. Kono stood watching the men work as she chewed on her fingers. She had grown quiet and refused to respond to her cousin or Danny.

Danny sent her along with the ambulance and they stayed to wait for the coroner, so when they arrived at the hospital she flew into their arms.

"They took him straight to surgery. He ruptured his spleen."

Chin and Danny sank down into the chairs in the surgical waiting area and watched as Kono wore a path in the carpet. She was still chewing on her fingers and mumbling something to herself.

Danny turned to Chin.

"Does any of this seem familiar to you at all?"

"You talking about two weeks ago?"

"I am."

"Yes. Definitely. The only problem is they're too blind to see it. We'll just have to wait them out."

"That may be harder than you think."

"You underestimate my cousin."

"Oh yeah…the whole Xena thing. You may be right."

The surgeon took that moment to come into the waiting area. Kono was on him immediately.

"Is he…?"

"He'll be fine. We removed the spleen. He lost a lot of blood, we reset his shoulder and his wrist will be in a cast for a few weeks. Other than that, I expect a full recovery. You can see him in about an hour."

"Could I…could I just sit with him until he wakes up?"

The surgeon smiled.

"Sure. Come with me and a nurse will take you to him."

After Kono disappeared the two men looked at each other.

"Yeah, this is going to be interesting."

"That's an understatement."

They smiled and sat down to wait.

Kono walked into the room Steve was recovering in and crossed quietly over to his bed. She took his good hand in hers and lifted it to her lips. Her other hand went into his hair and she hovered over him. She wanted to kiss him, but the first time she did it would be nice if Steve were an active participant.

Just when did she start wanting to kiss Steve? Her lips landed on his forehead and she sat down as close as she could to his bed and watched him. Her heart started to slow down finally as she accepted that he would be okay.

Kono leaned her head on the bed next to his hip and drifted off. The feeling of fingers running through her hair awakened her. She opened her eyes to find hazel ones looking at her affectionately.

"When can I go home?"

Kono's eyes blinked twice and widened in anger.

"You just got out of surgery Boss. You are not going anywhere for a couple of days."

"We'll see about that."

"Yes we will. I'll go to the governor if necessary Steve. I mean it. You are staying here until they say you can go."

"What happened to Xena? The Warrior Princess would say, "let's go", the Barbarians are attacking."

Kono looked down at her lap and refused to meet his eyes as tears formed once again. Steve lifted her chin and brushed the tears aside.

"So, what's going on Kono?"