Mel and Kono went downstairs into the back of the studio where there was a darkroom so that Mel could develope the film she had taken earlier that day. Mel set to work while Kono called her boss. Mel had been adamant about her not telling him anything over the phone. Kono had already cleaned and bandaged her wound and after half a dozen pain killers the pain had settled to a dull pulsating throb. She knew that this day wasn't over, she was still in danger, but that wasn't what she was worried about at the moment.

At noon Steve McGarrett still sat behind his desk sifting through files. No one else had dared to enter his office and he was sure that Danny had warned them. He hadn't even seen Kono in a couple of hours. Just as he was beginning to wonder where she might be his phone rang on his desk and her name showed on the caller ID.

"McGarrett." he answered as always.

"Hey boss. I need a favor." she said slightly uncomfortable at asking her boss for help.

"What is it?"

"Well I can't really get into it over the phone but a friend of mine is in trouble and she can't go to the police."

"What kind of trouble?" he asked intrigued.

"Our kind."

"Where are you?"

She rattled off an address and he wrote it down before hanging up and exiting his office to the curious glances of Danny and Chin. He told them what he knew and they got in Danny's camero while he chose to take his truck heading for the address Kono had given him. He was unsettled by the secrecy of it but he trusted Kono and knew that if she didn't feel comfortable talking about it over the phone then it must be bad.

Kono sat on the couch in Mel's apartment waiting for the rest of the team to get there. She noticed how impersonal the room was. There were no pictures of Mel or any possible loved ones she may have. She was unsettled at the fact that she knew absolutely nothing about the woman she called a friend that was leaning against the kitchen counter with a loaded gun tucked into the waist band of her jeans at her lower back.

"Why do you have a gun?" she finally asked as unaccusingly as she could.

"Protection." Mel answered simply. "I've never actually fired it off the range before." she admitted.

Before Kono could question her further they heard two cars pull up and the doors slam shut. She went outside to meet them while Mel just stood there in the kitchen as the minutes ticked away slowly. She assumed that Kono would be filling them in before they came inside. She hopped up on the kitchen counter trying to calm her nerves and compose herself. Then she heard the door open.

She heard three men talking to Kono, mostly asking questions and her heart nearly stopped when she heard his deep husky voice. He walked around the courner ahead of the others and their eyes locked. Her's showed remorse and guilt while his held shock and anger.

"Melinda." he said, barely above a whisper, gaining the attention of the others.

"Steve." she replied.

"You two know each other?" Kono asked as she and the other two men walked into her line of sight.

"Why do you think I let you call him?"

"I'm surprised you would want me here." Steve remarked.

"You're the only one I can trust who's in any position to help me."

"So you need my help. It's good to hear you atually say it." he said with a smirk.

Jumping off of the counter she stalked up to him to point a finger in his face, not letting the near foot he had on her height intimidate her. "You know what, this was a mistake. In the last three hours I have witnessed the murder of a cop at the hands of another cop, been chased for miles, and I've been shot! I do not need you being a narcissistic jackass on top of that!"

By the time she was finished she was shouting and he never once flinched but his eyes softened at her last statement. She was right. Despite the fact that she had hurt him she needed his help and he was being a jerk. The other three people in the room stared at them in shock. They had never seen anyone stand up to their fearless leader the way that she just had and he wasn't doing anything about it.

"You're right." he said softly, noticing her bandaged arm for the first time as well as the glinting rings hanging from a chain around her neck. "Does it hurt?" he asked referring to her arm.

"Not so much since I took a few pain killers." she admitted, no trace of the anger that had been in her voice just moments before.

He took a step closer to her, barely an inch remaining between them. To the others it looked as if they might embrace but Mel knew better. She knew exactly what he was doing and didn't resist as his hand slid inbetween her arm and side to retrieve the gun at her lower back. He removed the clip and the bullet already in the chamber laying it all on the counter beside them. She didn't even question how he knew that she had it and where to find it.

"So how do you two know each other?" Danny broke the silence, reminding them that they weren't alone.

"I'm sorry, you'll have to forgive my rudeness. It's been a hell of a morning." Mel said embarrassed as she stick out her hand to shake his and the other man's. "I'm Melinda McGarrett."

"McGarrett?" they all asked simultaniously.

"Yes."

"How many sisters do you have boss?" Kono questioned.

"Just Mary Ann." Mel answered for him.

"But..." the man who introduced himself as Chin started but cut himself off.

"Melinda is my wife." Steve stated as if it was nothing.

"Wait a minute. I must be hearing things because I could swear that you just said wife." Danny joked.

"I did."

"You can't be serious."

"I am." Steve said giving him the look. "But that's not what's important right now."

"So you'll help me?" Mel asked.

"Yes."

"Then there's something else that you should know."

She told them about the names that she had withheld. The boss Clancey and to cop Artie. Steve sent Chin and Kono back to headquarters to run down the names. He told Danny to go get her car and have it towed back to the apartment and try to find the camera that she had dropped in case the guy chasing her left any fingerprints behind. After they all left Mel and Steve stood in a slightly uncomfortable silence.

"Thank you." she said quietly. "For agreeing to help me."

"I may still be angry about what happened between us but I don't want to see you get hurt. I doubt I could live with myself if I let anything happen to you." he confessed taking a step closer to her, lifting his hand to brush the hair out of her face.

It was a simple gesture, simple but caring, loving. It brought back the guilt and the pain and her heart ached. She turned away from him trying to hide the few tears that rolled down the sides of her face but he saw them. He wanted to hug her, to wrap her in his arms and comfort her, forgive her but his pride just wouldn't let him.

"I need to, uh, go back downstairs to finish developing the photographs I took this morning. They might be able to help." she stated after drying her tears and composing herself.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight until this is over and you're safe." he said sternly.

"Then I guess you'll just have to follow me."