Thanks to my incredible beta, Storyfan101, for her awesome insights into several things that were bothering me about this chapter which is why I hadn't updated before now. It is much better now with her suggestions.

And thank you all for your reviews, follows and favorites. It means a lot to me as a first time publisher in Fanfiction. Once I figure out to respond to the reviews, I will. I'm still learning how to do all this, so please be patient with me.

Just so you know, I love my Danny and miss him a lot in the show and resent like crazy how much air-time Catherine is getting. Just my own needs to see Danny's swagger, his amazing grin, etc., etc., etc. He was really great with the baby though last week.

*H-5-0*

Chapter 1 – Cat and Mouse

The next morning Danny was at the office early having woken up at 5:00 am, way earlier than normal for him. Instead of rolling over in bed to get another hour's sleep, he had gotten up, taken his morning run, enjoyed a hot shower (it was nice to have hot water in one minute instead of the ten it used to take in his old apartment!), hot coffee and some not-yet-molded bread that he toasted before heading to the office. He was the first one in, giving him time to get settled before everyone else showed up.

That didn't last long.

"Hi, Danny, what are you doing here so early?" Catherine said as she poked her head in his office doorway.

"Uh, hi, Catherine," Danny responded as he jumped at the sound of her voice, managing to spill the fresh mug of coffee he had just gotten on his shirt.

"Shit." He was glad he hadn't burned his tongue on the coffee, but it wasn't exactly cold when it spilled on his shirt and went through to his skin.

Catherine laughed in that particularly cute, annoying way of hers.

"Sorry, Danny. Didn't mean to scare you," she grinned.

Danny wasn't so sure that she didn't get a kick out of making him spill his coffee. He looked up at her and quirked a smile.

"No problem. Just wasn't expecting anyone in this early," he answered back.

"Well, I'm a Navy girl through and through and I'm used to early mornings," Catherine laughed again. God, why was her laugh so annoying, Danny thought. Just what he needed. A Navy SEALette. All right, maybe she wasn't a SEAL, but close enough if you asked him.

"Rightttt…" Danny groaned in response as he wiped at the spilled coffee on his shirt with the flimsy napkins he had found in his desk drawer. It wasn't doing anything but making it worse. He pushed back from his desk and got up, intending to make his way to the men's room to see if he could get the coffee out before it stained one of his favorite shirts. Damn it! He was in a fairly good mood until this happened. Damn it! He wanted to blame her, but she didn't pour the coffee on him so he couldn't in good conscience be angry at her. Danny stopped himself and looked up. Catherine was still standing there smirking at him.

"What?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," Catherine grinned, "Just have never seen you this early in the morning. Steve says you don't get up until you absolutely have to. Just surprised is all."

"Oh, yeah, well…" he trailed off. "Well, I'm going to see if I can get this out and my shirt dried before the rest of the troops show up." He moved around his desk towards the door of his office. Catherine hadn't moved. He looked up at her questioningly. Damn, even that bothered him. He had to look UP at her.

"Um, Catherine, is there something else I can help you with?" Danny asked.

"Well, Danny, yes, there is," she responded without saying anything more.

"Can it wait until I get back from the men's room?" Danny requested.

"Sure. I'll be in my office," and with that Catherine moved off down the hallway.

What the hell was that all about? Danny wondered. Shaking his head, he maneuvered down to the men's room to de-coffee himself.

*H-5-0*

Before Danny got a chance to ask Catherine what she needed, the others had shown up. He had just returned from the men's room to find Steve and Chin discussing their ongoing, long-term case at the computer table. Catherine was just coming out of her 'new' office to join them.

"Good morning, Sailor," Catherine purred next to Steve looking expectantly at him.

"Hey, Cath," Steve smiled at her. "Let's all go over our roles on the takedown one more time." Steve turned back to Chin and the computer table to go over the pictures displayed on the screen. Catherine seemed disappointed about something, but the look was quickly gone. A look only Danny seemed to notice. As no one was watching him, he was happy enough not having to hide the curious raising of his eyebrow.

"Hey, guys," Danny chimed in.

"Danny, about time you got here," Steve sounded annoyed, "We have a lot to do today to get this sting set up."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…" Danny started, about to point out that he had beat everybody in.

"Danny, just stop. I don't need one of your rants this morning. Just get focused, will you?" Steve growled. Steve's growing headache from the stress of silent worries for protecting Catherine and the upcoming takedown, made him a little less patient and tolerant this morning.

"Okay, mighty Super SEAL. Your wish is my command," Danny sarcastically responded.

Steve didn't even look up, ignoring Danny.

"The sting goes down tonight. Kamekona has his eyes and ears open to any noise on the wireless that could compromise the operation. HPD will have officers in plain street attire strategically placed to ensure all potential exits are covered. Chin, you and Danny will take the backside of the building. Danny, you cover Chin's six. Cath, you and I will have the front. I'll need you to keep close to me and pay attention to anyone out of the ordinary in and around the building. You'll need to keep the team informed of any outside influences unplanned for, got it?"

"Got it," Cat quickly responded, "I'll have the portable surveillance equipment on me as we discussed."

No one else spoke.

"Chin, Danny, any questions?" Steve asked.

Again, silence.

Steve looked up from the computer table, clearly annoyed, "Any questions?"

"No, no questions," Danny replied quietly. How many times did they have to go over this? The takedown had been planned for months and in excruciating detail. Any time a detail changed, the team had to review their part from beginning to end. The only difference now was the addition of Catherine at the last moment.

Chin looked at Danny and knew exactly what was going through his head. Danny was worried about the new working relationship with Catherine and Steve's seemingly obliviousness to potential problems. It felt awkward to Chin having Steve partner with Catherine and Danny with him. Chin instinctively knew that Steve felt he needed to have Catherine by his side during her introduction to working at 5-0. Danny knew it, too, on some level. The problem was that Steve hadn't explained any of this to Danny. Probably because he knew Danny would disagree with him for a variety of good reasons. Steve just didn't want to deal with what Steve would label Danny's negativity right now. Chin felt for Danny, knowing how sensitive the Detective was and how loyal he was to Steve. It had to hurt.

"Okay, then, if we're all clear on our assignments, we'll get prepped by 6:00 pm tonight. Takedown at 7:00 pm sharp," Steve said, "Study the blueprints… the layout of the building, the info we have on the suspects and their pictures, any and everything related to this takedown and get yourselves ready."

"Gotcha," stated Chin. "By the way, Danny, what happened to you?" he laughed as he looked at Danny's damp shirt.

"Just a little run in with a mug of coffee this morning," Danny chuckled, "It won."

"So why didn't you just change your shirt before you came in?" Steve said, glancing in his direction.

"Maybe because the coffee and I tussled here, Steven, before you got in," Danny smirked.

"Huh?" Steve mumbled, but Danny had already walked away.

*H-5-0*

Danny was settling into his chair in his office when Catherine poked her head into his office, again.

"Danny?" Catherine said.

Looking up, Danny said, "Hey, Catherine. What can I do for you?" Man, he was going to have to practice in front of the mirror to make sure his friendliness came across as genuine! He just couldn't quite figure out what was bothering him so much. He and Catherine had always been friendly.

"As I was telling you earlier, I was wondering if you would help me with something," Catherine stated coyly.

"Come on in, take a seat. How can I help you?" Danny, ever the gentlemen, said.

"Well, um…" Catherine hemmed and hawed, "I was wondering if you would teach me the ins and outs of 5-0 and the best way to fit in. I mean, I know you all know me, but you only know me as Steve's 'friend' and sometimes helper when I was still in Naval Intelligence. The problem is that this is a completely different role for me and I don't want to do anything to upset the balance of the team, you know?"

Danny was a little surprised. No way did he think Catherine would come to him for help. She had Steve after all and they were a little more than 'just close friends'.

"Gee, Catherine, I would think that Steve would give you all the pointers you need. I mean you guys go way back and your current relationship would give you plenty of opportunities to talk to him about anything you need in regards to 5-0. How can I help you better than Steve?" Danny inquired.

"Well, Danny, you and Steve are best friends on top of being each other's partner. Plus, you're a guy. You know him in a completely different way than I do." Danny couldn't help but snort at that. Catherine smiled and continued, "You know how he works on the job, what keeps him grounded, what he needs from a team member and when to stand down or when to get in his face. I may know how to handle him in a 'romantic' relationship and as a 'friend', but I'm not all that sure in the work place."

"Catherine, don't you think you should bring these concerns up to Steve? I'm sure he would be more than happy to help you with any issues you have. I mean, he may want to, you know? Knowing that you guys are so close and he is after all the leader of the Task Force. I don't want to overstep my bounds with him when it comes to you," Danny explained. Shit this was awkward. What in the hell did she want from him? This was hard enough as it was.

"I guess this was a mistake, Danny. I was just hoping you could give me some pointers so I don't piss him off right off the top."

"Piss him off? Piss him off? Oh, that is rich. You coming to me for pointers on how not to piss him off. I piss him off every day!" Danny was almost rolling on the floor in laughter.

Catherine pinched her nose with the thumb and forefinger of her right hand. She wasn't sure this was going to work the way she wanted it to.

"Okay, Danny, I get it. You don't want to help me. It's okay. I'll just figure it out on my own as we go. Sorry I asked," Catherine said sheepishly as she stood to leave trying her best to hide her annoyance.

"No, no, no. Stop, Catherine. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel funny about this. It's just that you and Steve are so close, I can't believe you would need help from me when it comes to Super SEAL," Danny rejoined. "I'll help you in any way that I can."

"Thanks, Danny. I really appreciate it," Catherine smiled at him. At that she walked out of his office and down the hallway, her hands fluttering behind her back in anticipation.

*H-5-0*

~to be continued~