Just a Misunderstanding
By
Landon Richardson
Official Disclaimer
The character of Steve McGarrett, Danny Williams, Chin Ho Kelly, Kono Kalakaua, Jenna Kaye and Catherine Rollins do not belong to me in any shape or form. I am merely using them for my own entertainment purposes.
The character of Danielle 'Danni' Richardson, David Richardson, Kevin Matthews, Jack O'Connor , Andrea 'Andie' West and Louisa Palakiko-Cowan however does belong to me so please do not use without first asking permission.
Any other character who might pop up who you don't instantly recognise will probably belong to me as well. I'll hopefully catch them in time to put above though.
Author Note
Here is the last chapter for you all.
Sorry for the delay in getting it to you, real life has been ever so slightly hectic recently.
This story is now finished though I may revisit it in the form of an one shot at a later date. If I do then I'll let you all know!
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read the story, I hope that you all enjoyed it!
Official Summary
Waking up to an empty bed wasn't exactly how Danni expected the morning after her first time with Steve McGarrett to go. She just hoped that he had an explanation for it and that it wasn't a sign that she had just made a massive mistake… (McDanni, female Danni, will feature a male Danny, Part of the brain squad saga)
Chapter Summary
"So tell me Boss because I'm dying to know, are you actually planning on hiding in your office for the rest of the day or will the rest of us on your team actually get to see you any time soon?"
Official Romances for the story
Steve McGarrett / Danielle 'Danni' Richardson (McDanni)
Mentions of past Steve McGarrett / Catherine Rollins (McRollins)
Romances mentioned during the chapter
Steve McGarrett / Danielle 'Danni' Richardson (McDanni)
Other Points to keep in mind
Please bear in mind that I don't have a Beta for this story so the odd mistake may creep in without me meaning it to. I have also never been to Hawaii so all locations are either from the show, google or made up in my own mind.
Saga
The Brain Squad Saga
Chapter Three
On the same page?
"So tell me Boss because I'm dying to know, are you actually planning on hiding in your office for the rest of the day or will the rest of us on your team actually get to see you any time soon?"
Danni started slightly as the sound of Kevin Matthew's voice broke through the quietness of her office, distracting her from her work. It hadn't taken her long to get lost in the familiar routine of making her way slowly and steadily through the files which were constantly piled on her desk. It was easy to ignore any messages or emails which she was receiving when she had her eyes focused on the forms in front of her.
Clearly though her team had, had enough of it and had elected Kevin to approach her in the absence of Rory, who she knew from a previous conversation, was currently speaking to some FBI agents about a different case.
"I haven't decided yet, it probably depends on whether you guys stop bringing me coffees" She replied absently, using the pen which she was using to correct the report, to indicate the three cups from the coffee shop across the street, which were lined tidily across the left hand side of her desk.
"Yeah, in fairness we probably didn't think that through" Kevin admitted something in his tone attracting her attention enough that she looked up to see him staring at her with a thoughtful look as though he was trying to bury into her mind.
As far as she was concerned Kevin had been one of her best finds. She had met him when her team was still new, he had come to Hawaii and was doing some work at Pearl when their paths crossed. She had been impressed with his mind and the way he was able to see patterns in things other people had done. She had thought it would be difficult to tempt him away from the air force to join them but it had turned out that Kevin was recuperating from an accident and was allowed to transfer over to them with relative ease.
As far as she had been concerned the air force loss was her gain.
"Is there something on your mind?" She asked him, leaning back in her chair and waving her hand towards the chair opposite her, silently telling him to take a seat if he wanted, something he clearly did as he turned and shut the door, twisting back around and moving towards her, his limp barely noticeable.
"There is" He told her, his dark brown eyes meeting hers as he lowered himself into the chair. "What I and the others would like to know is what has happened between you and McGarrett which is making you hide yourself away from everyone?"
Danni stared at him for a moment before she raised an eyebrow at him, her eyes narrowing very slightly. It wasn't often that she was caught off guard but this was one of those times.
"What makes you think that he has anything to do with any of this?" She asked him quietly.
"Several reasons Dan" He replied with a shrug before he crossed his arms over his chest. "Firstly the fact that you've been hiding out in here from the moment you arrived in the office today which isn't like you. It normally takes you about forty minutes to actually enter this part of the room because you're always out there talking to the external 50 team. Secondly there's the small matter of McGarrett and Rory getting into it outside our door due to McGarrett's desperation to talk to you about something. An argument between the two of them which would have had me stepping in if I didn't already know that Rory knew how to handle himself in any given situation. Even one which had him confronted by a six foot one navy SEAL."
"Maybe Steve just wanted to discuss an urgent case with me" Danni remarked, dropping her eyes back to the file in front of her as she twirled her pen between her fingers.
"Maybe so but if that was the case then you would have gone out there for the briefing which for the record you always do so if it was a case then he would have just waited to speak to you then, like he's done the other time he's had to speak to you. This, whatever it is, is personal because however much you may deny it you're hiding from him Danni which begs the question of what the hell happened because the two of you were fine with each other yesterday morning."
Danni stared at him for a moment before she sighed.
"What does it matter anyway?" She demanded.
"It matters boss because it's clearly upsetting you and because you're upset the kids out there are upset and I know you don't want that. Ronnie and Toast both upset at the same time isn't good for anyone." Kevin replied, waving his hand back towards the door. The fact that he had referred once again to his team mates as kids would normally have amused her normally, though she felt no hint of it then.
"There's nothing wrong Kevin other than the fact that I have all these files to go through and not enough hours in the day. There is nothing for you and the others to worry about and certainly nothing for Ronnie and Toast to be getting upset over." She told him, continuing to speak when he opened his mouth clearly to argue with her. "The issues between Steve and I is a personal one Kevin. I'm sure you of all people can respect why I don't wish to discuss it at work."
Kevin closed his mouth with an audible clap and sighed before he nodded at her.
"Yeah I can understand that and I wasn't prying boss. I'm just worried about you, the team is as well. We're a…" He stopped, his words trailing off as he shifted in the chair, an awkward look coming to his face which made her smile softly.
"I know Kev, the team is like a family to me as well which is why I won't allow anything to harm it. If it makes you all feel better than I'll go and speak to Steve now and get the issued straightened out." She told him, dropping her pen on top of the file and pushing herself into a standing position. "Is Steve back yet? David mentioned earlier that there was a case?"
"There is but the teams are back now, they were round the computer table when I came in here sharing Intel so it's likely that they are still there." Kevin answered her as he came to his feet as well.
"Peachy" She murmured with a sigh as she moved round the table, patting him absently on the bicep before she left the room entering the main part of the brain squad section where the other members of the team were working. There was a subdued atmosphere which she picked up on and which made her want to kick herself for allowing this issue with Steve to affect the others.
She smiled at them when they looked up before she headed to the door and pulled it open.
She would have to sort this out once and for all before it escalated further.
Her eyes instantly landed on Steve, her heart giving a lurch in her chest at the sight of him, regardless of everything which had happened she still loved him.
He looked tired she noticed, a tension in his shoulders which had previously been lacking as he held himself stiffly, listening silently with a blank expression on his face to whatever it was that Jack O'Connor was saying to him.
She stood there for a moment, breathing out slowly when his eyes suddenly flickered up as though he knew he was being watched and focused on her, widening for a moment at the sight to her. He made a sudden movement which the others clearly noticed, as though he was going to abandon the briefing half way through but she shook her head, holding up her hand to stop him before she pointed at him, followed by herself and ending up at his office, silently telling him where they would meet.
He nodded once at her to indicate he understood before he focused back on Jack again as though the whole scene had never occurred.
Shaking her head she moved across the room and pushed open the door of his office, stepping into it and looking round her curiously. She had been in Steve's office several times but the man had always been there effortlessly capturing her full attention this was the first time she had ever really just looked around.
She was there only about two minutes when the door opened and Steve walked in, closing it behind him.
"Danni" He breathed out, moving towards her, his hand reaching out for her though he dropped it when she took a step back from him. She wasn't sure she could say what she needed to say if he touched her, not when she now knew exactly how it felt to have his hands on her body.
"We need to talk about what happened last night Steve" She said briefly, crossing her arms over her chest in an effort to stop herself from doing anything stupid. "People are beginning to realise that something is off and it's effecting them. Or rather it's effecting my team and I can't have that so… so we need to get this cleared up." She told him.
"Danni…" Steve began, his voice trailing off for a moment before he continued to speak. "Last night… what happened between us… it was amazing"
"So amazing that you weren't there when I woke up this morning? Hell you weren't even in the house full stop" She said bitterly, the words escaping her before she could stop them, hurt blossoming in her chest as though he had just stabbed her with a knife right in her heart.
"That wasn't my fault Danni, if you'd just let me explain then you'd see that." Steve countered.
"Well go ahead" She said with a shrug. "Explain it to me because I would really like to know."
"I had to go because we were working on a case and Danno got it into his head that we hadn't tied up all the loose ends like we had originally thought. He rang me at four this morning on my cell telling me that he was going to head down to the suspects house and sit on it for a few hours to see if anything happened. I couldn't let him go alone Danni, not when he's my partner. Trust me when I say I didn't want to leave you. Every scenario I've had about this, and I've had a few, have never had me leaving you because why would I? If you knew how much I wanted last night to happen then we wouldn't even need to have this conversation with each other." He said, sounding frustrated for a moment.
Danni remained silent for a moment, allowing his explanation to sink in before she spoke quietly.
"See, now that is a reasonable explanation which I would have understood. If you had woken me up and told me that then everything would be fine but you didn't Steve. As far as I can see you just left me there alone without a word. Do you know how it felt to wake up and realise that I was the only person in your home? I felt like..." Her words trailed off as she looked away, swallowing hard and trying to banish the tears prickling her eyes.
"I sent you texts Danni and I tried ringing you on your cell. It's only when I got here and met Kono outside that I even knew you didn't have it. I thought you had it last night." He said, looking puzzled for a moment.
Danni shrugged, feeling her cheeks hear up indicting that she was blushing.
"I did have it with me but… well you took it from me and threw it somewhere, it might have been in your bedroom or earlier before we…"
"Before we made love in my bed" Steve finished for her as he reached up and rubbed at his forehead as though he had a headache. "Look, the fact of the matter is that I'm new at all of this Danni" He admitted, the comment causing her to look at him with a surprised look.
"New at this?" She repeated with a shake of her head. "Look I may not be the most experienced woman out there but I can tell when someone is experience at sex and you were, some of the things you did… well" She stopped and shrugged again.
"Not new at sex Danni" Steve replied fondly, looking amused for a moment before he turned serious and took a step towards her. "I'm new at having relationships. I'm going to make mistakes because I've never really been in one before, not one which matters as much as this one does to me at least. Last night Danni wasn't a mistake and if I have any say about it then it won't be the last time either."
Danni swallowed
"A relationship" She said, her eyes widening.
"See this is the sort of thing we were meant to talk about this morning with each other before Danno ruined those plans" Steve told her running his hand through his hair. "We were meant to wake up together and talk and come to the conclusion that we were going to have a relationship with each other. We then were meant to make love again and shower together before grabbing some breakfast and arriving together late into the office wearing stupid grins all day. We weren't meant to be standing in my office discussing this. You weren't meant to think that this was anything other than me wanting to be with you. I know what you're thinking Danni and you couldn't be further from the truth. You could never be just a one night stand to me because even an eternity of nights with you wouldn't be enough for me."
Danni blinked, hope blossoming in her chest, not only at his words but at the look on his face which told her that he honestly believed every word which was coming out of his mouth.
"You really mean that don't you?" She said finally.
"I do, I just… I need you to be on the same page as me Danni. I need you to be willing to make this work as well and to forgive me for being an idiot this morning. I should have woken you or written you an actual note which you could have seen." He admitted, reaching forward and taking her hand in his, his thumb stroking across her knuckles. "So are you Danni? Are you on the same page as me when it comes to us?"
Danni searched his eyes for a moment, everything slotting into place in her mind as she slowly nodded, a smile spreading across her face.
"Yeah Steve, I am."
Author Note
Thank you for taking the time to read. An especially large thank you if you left a review or decided to favourite or follow the story. I really appreciate the support!
