Disclaimer: I don't own anything; all creative rights to the characters belong to their original creator(s).

A/N: Thanks to Diana for the support and to everyone for reading.

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She's supposed to be doing paperwork but it's just not happening right now, with workers moving shit around and being generally disruptive. Also, her pen is running out. That's right. The pen was brand new too, which should tell you how long she's been writing. She's almost done though, just needs to get to the end of this senten—damn it.

She huffs in annoyance, looks around for another pen. You'd think there would be pens in an office. But apparently you'd be wrong.

Someone clears their throat and she looks up from the desk to see Steve standing there, looking awful. His face is bruised and his arm is in a sling and he doesn't seem at all convinced this is over. They haven't found Victor Hesse's body yet.

"You got a pen?" She asks, because she literally has only three fucking syllables left. Three, brah. If only someone would give her a freaking pen.

Steve looks at her blankly for a moment. "No." He says definitively, as if it was absurd of her to even suggest such a thing. Of course. Why would he need a pen when she's the one saddled with all the paperwork? SEALs probably don't need pens, anyway. They've achieved a higher plane of existence and can just glare at reports until they burst into flames.

Kono goes back to ruffling through the desk drawers.

"You handled yourself well today." He states in a cautious voice. She glances up at him again, smiles politely.

"Thank, Boss."

He flinches. He fucking flinches. What the fuck is wrong with this guy, seriously? Whatis she supposed to call him, for fuck's sake?

"Right." He says. "About that. I think you'd make a great addition to the team, Kono. I just wanted to make sure you'd be comfortable with—everything." Everything meaning working for someone she slept with half a decade ago.

Yeah. Because the potential awkwardness has never occurred to her. Not at all.

"It's fine." She says simply. "It's a great opportunity, right?" And it is. She'd been prepared to work her ass off, keep her mouth shut and try to prove herself in spite of the perceived stigma of being related to Chin, but now…Now she may not have to.

"Sure. Of course." Steve nods but doesn't move away. Kono is beginning to suspect he's the one who's uncomfortable with this. Control issues, much?

"Look", she starts hesitantly, watching him closely for a reaction, "if this is going to be a problem for you—"

"No, it's fine." He says quickly, as his phone starts ringing. He takes it out of his pocket, looks at the caller ID. "Sorry, I have to take this." He excuses himself and she gestures for him to go ahead, relieved to be done with this conversation.

She finds a red pen in the bottom drawer, but can't remember if they're allowed to use red ink on arrest reports. Yeah. She may have to call Chin about this.

Not that that's humiliating or anything.

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When the shooting starts Kono tackles Natalie, or whatever her real name is, to the floor, trying to get her to drop the gun, but this is one stubborn bitch right here. There's a struggle and the gun goes off, hitting the nearby propane tanks that catch on fire. Shit, shit, SHIT. Why are there always propane tanks near a gun fight? WHY?

The bitch is grabbing her arm so she can't quite pull back enough for a punch, but she manages to elbow her in the mouth then she gets up shakily, running out just as the propane tanks explode, the building going up in flames.

She lands face first on the ground and seriously considers just staying there. Her whole body hurts, her face is bruising and there is no way of making it to her graduation dinner that doesn't involve the use of a time machine. So this day pretty much sucks. At least she's still alive though.

And so is their kidnapping victim. And his son.

So, okay. Maybe this day was not a total waste of make-up.

There's a warm hand on her back, Steve asking her if she's okay. This might be a trick question; she's been knocked around, beaten, nearly drowned, nearly shot, nearly blown up, and missed her graduation dinner. But yeah, sure. Can't have the boss worrying over the rookie. She manages to croak out she's fine and he helps her sit up before he's gone, off to arrest that Drago guy who somehow made it out unscathed.

"You had me worried for a second there, cuz." Chin says, putting away his weapon.

"I had it all under control." She lies shamelessly with a shrug, but even shrugging hurts at this point so she immediately regrets doing it. But yes. She could have taken five armed guys out by herself. Sure.

She could probably have done it blindfolded, brah.

Yeah.

Chin's not buying it either.

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Steve is watching the game, because that's what he's here to do. He's here to watch the game with his coworkers, not stare at Kono's legs. Which is easier said than done, given that Kono's wearing a pair of denim shorts he could swear he's seen before. In fact, he vividly recalls helping her out of them.

But this is not what he should be thinking about. Kono is his subordinate. He can care about her, feel responsible for her safety, he can even be her friend. But he has to stop thinking of her as that girl he met in a bar—because that's not who she is anymore. He's seen her in the field, and Kono can take care of herself.

He needs to stop obsessing. Danny frequently informs him it's a major character flaw.

He is resolutely looking away, trying to pay attention to the game, when she suddenly jumps up to start yelling at the ref, and this time he feels perfectly justified in staring because he doesn't think he's seen anyone so animated before. As in, ever.

It's kind of cute.

Wait. Did he say cute? He meant alarming.

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The thing about making out with Steve is—so, okay, they have to be convincing, the whole plan sort of depends on it. She gets that. She's game. Totally. Also—and not that she wants to bring this up or anything—she's made out with him before and it's not, like, a hardship.

It's actually sort of fun. In a completely inappropriate, let's add this to the things we never talk about, kind of way.

But then, what happens is—in the minute it takes to get from the bushes by the pool to right in front of the bad guys, their fake little make out session has spiraled out of control. Like, hands under clothes, actual moaning, out of control. Well. The moaning was mostly her.

Awkward.

Then suddenly all hell breaks loose and it's possible she may have used more force than strictly necessary to take out that one mobster guy out of sheer frustration. They save Sid and the bad guys are either unconscious or dead, so…job done, day saved, someone give her a medal.

Kono takes the time to straighten the silly dress she's been wearing and tries to calm down. Her skin feels tight and itchy and still sort of warm wherever he touched her and this is a train of thought that is not getting her heart rate down anytime soon.

"So, that was convincing." Danny remarks drily with a smirk, cuffing a passed out mobster. "The eating each other's face off thing." He clarifies, because that's very helpful and Danny is just a helpful kind of guy.

"Bite me." See? Kono can be helpful too.

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