Wow! Its almost time for season 2! I'm so excited I cannot wait! I didn't get to watch SOTB, but I'll check it out on youtube tomorrow. Hope you guys enjoy the next chapter! P.s. I do not ride horses so sorry if some of the info is a little shaky!
Disclaimer: I would be permanently smiling if I owned them! But I'm not!
Sunday had come and gone, and so had Monday. The team members of five-0 filed into the office. Kono had been the first to arrive and started working on the smart desk immediately. Steve and Danny walked in together and noticed Chin sitting in his office. Chin looked up and waved a greeting at both of them. He seemed in a better mood and for that Steve was grateful. The day had progressed like any other, they worked on their case and eventually called it a day at around 5pm. They had all gone their separate ways and were to meet up in the morning before Steve and Kono headed out on their undercover operation.
Tuesday had arrived, finally, Kono thought to herself. She hated being in the office so much and would rather work outdoors. She made her way into the offices and saw Danny, Steve and Chin talking around Danny's desk.
"Hey."
"We're just discussing the case." Steve turned from facing her and carried on talking to the group as a whole. "So Kono and are going in as a young couple having a week away from it all." Steve ignored the raised eyebrows he received from both Danny and Chin. "We'll be staying in a cottage behind the main admin block. We can't take any bugs with, the horses might spook and then they might get suspicious. The guy we are going to be keeping an eye on is Markus Chapman. He's been running the place for the last 8 months, when the reports started about the meth. We'll keep in contact with you via phone. Don't call us, we'll call you. Right, that should be it. Any questions?"
"No questions, just a statement…"
"Danny!" Steve warned him .
"What? I don't even get to have an opinion anymore." He turned to Chin. "I'm starting to feel very hurt by this new partnership developing here." Chin gave Danny a smug smile, enjoying him teasing Kono and Steve.
Steve rolled his eyes and left the room, taking Kono with him. "You ready?"
"yeah, my stuff is in my car."
"I think we'll take my van. We'll leave in about 10 minutes okay?"
"Good."
All four members gathered at the vehicle once they had packed in their stuff.
"Well, good bye G.I. Joe, G.." He nodded at both Steve and Kono. "Behave yourselves."
"Bye Danny." Kono hugged her friend.
"We'll call in everyday around 10am." Steve noted as he headed towards his drivers door.
Chin walked up to Kono. "Be careful cuz."
She smiled at him. "I will." She pulled him into a hug and when she eventually let go she ran to the passenger door, climbing in and settling down. "Don't let Danny eat too much Pizza." She shouted as they drove off, waving back at them. She knew it would only be for a couple of days, but she would miss those two being around.
"Sooo.."She stretched out the word purposefully. "I hope you got some tips from Danny."
"Tips from Danny? What could Danny possibly give me tips on?"
"How to behave around a girlfriend." Steve looked surprised, but relaxed his facial expression when he saw the glint in Kono's eyes.
"I think we need to put a wager on this." He lifted his eyebrow as if asking if she was keen.
"Okay, what were you thinking?"
"Well, if by the end of our UC you still don't think I've done well as a boyfriend then… you can dare me to do anything and I'll have to do it."
"Anything is a bit broad."
"Okay, anything within reasonable limits."
"Still broad, but okay. I can live with that."
"I get the same courtesy if you admit that I've been good."
She nodded at him. "fine."
They pulled up to the Happy Days Ranch and Kono scrunched her face at the sign. Steve parked the van at the reception area and walked around to Kono's door. He opened it and held out his hand.
"I hope you know I did in fact pack my A Game." He smirked at her.
"Well, this should be interesting to say the least then." She smiled back at him as he helped her out of the truck. Steve manoeuvred his hand so that his fingers were entwined with hers. They both walked together into the reception area and checked themselves in.
"Mr McGarrett." Steve said introducing himself.
"Good day Mr McGarrett and Mrs McGarrett?" The lady at the reception desk seemed nice enough.
Kono looked up at Steve with a questioning face as if waiting to hear his answer.
"Not yet," he smiled down at her, "But one day." Kono half laughed at his answer, then turned and smiled sweetly at the receptionist.
"Please let me show you to your room." The lady walked around the desk and guided the couple out the door and to a small chalet at the back of the main building.
"Thanks Mandy." Kono read her nametag and followed, Steve close behind her.
They entered their room and said farewell to Mandy. Kono looked around the rather large one bedroom cottage. Steve placed their bags on the double bed in the room. The main room consisted of a double bed to one side and a small lounge area leading to double doors which revealed a deck overlooking the valley at the base of the mountains. A small bathroom to the side of the bedroom had both a shower and a bathtub inside. Everything they needed was there and Kono thought to herself how if they had really wanted to they wouldn't need to emerge from the cottage except to get food. She sat, bouncing, on the bed as Steve looked around.
"So what now?"
"Well, I think to make this more believable we'll have to stay in the room for a while, then we'll go and explore the area. Keen for a horse ride later?"
"If its in the job description I'm there. I wouldn't say keen though."
Kono reached into the side table next to the bed. "Ah ha." She revealed a pack of cards that had been in the drawer. "Wanna play rummy?"
Steve smiled at her. "yeah okay, we can play rummy."
They stayed in the room and played rummy for almost an hour. Eventually Steve pulled himself off the bed, holding out a hand for Kono to take. She acknowledged that it was time to get to work and took his hand, smiling a broad grin at him. No words were necessary and they walked out of the cottage and started to explore the ranch they were staying on. They first walked past all the stables, looking at the horses and secretly checking out the building inside. Nothing. They made their way around all the gated area and after what seemed like forever came full circle, back to the main building. They went inside to the small bar area and dining hall. There were two men sitting at the bar. One man stood as Kono neared the bar area, the other stayed seated and didn't seem interested that the couple had entered the room. The man now standing on Kono's right, Steve on her left, greeted her with a eager smile. She felt herself lean into Steve a little and he picked up on the movement and gave the man an extremely fake smile. The man nodded in return and began to speak.
"Hi. I'm Ronald. I work here. Horse trainer." He looked at Kono to see if she was impressed. She continued to smile politely at him. He was a ragged looking man. He was thin, had hair to his shoulders and seemed a little dirty, obviously from working on a ranch all day.
"Nice." Kono replied. "I'm Kono, this is Steve. We're here for a couple of days, just taking a break from city life."
Steve ordered two beers and pulled a chair out for Kono at the bar. She looked at him with a smirk on her face. "Thanks babe."
"Pleasure honey." The sarcasm was noted by Kono and she grinned even further.
That sat and talked at the bar for a while, telling Ronald about how Kono was an inexperienced rider and would probably need a lot of assistance. Ronald seemed more than willing to help the lady out. Normally Kono would have decked a man for looking at her like he was, but just continued to smile sweetly at him for the sake of the case.
After a short lunch Steve and Kono walked out to the stables to see if they could go for an afternoon ride. They met Ronald there and he introduced them to Jack, the trail guide and assistant. He was a strapping young man, around Kono's age. She smiled at him, rather flirtatiously Steve noted. He looked at her and then at the young man again. Kono gave Steve a look as if to communicating to him that he should stop stressing. They decided to go for a horse ride and Jack saddled up two horses for them. Kono looked at her horse with uncertainty.
"You're going to be fine." Steve stood behind her.
"I know." She tried to look confident.
Steve mounted his horse under the instruction of Jack. The young man then helped Kono onto hers. It was one of the most terrifying experiences she had ever been through. She could handle guns, bad guys, but having a large beast under you, controlling it with a thin piece of leather wasn't her idea of brilliance. She looked at Steve with a furrow on her brow.
"Don't over think it. Just go with the flow."
She nodded in response. Steve knew that when she was quiet it was generally because she was over thinking something. Jack held the reins for her and waited until she felt more comfortable before handing then back to her. Kono was so preoccupied with controlling the horse that she never saw the handler poke something into the side of the horse. The horse reared and then bucked. Kono was holding on for dear life. Jack made out that he was trying to control the horse. Steve quickly dismounted from his horse and went closer to Kono's horse, but it was too late. She couldn't hold on and the horse bucked, sending her flying forward through the air, hitting the ground hard when she landed on her back, have flipped over in the air.
"Kono! Are you okay?" Steve ran to her side.
She turned on her side, wincing as a rush of pain ran through her body. She tasted the dirt that had flown in the air as her body had dislodged it from the ground. She was in pain, but didn't think anything was broken.
"aaargh."
Jack ran to her side aswell. "I'm so sorry ma'am."
"Kono, where does it hurt?" Steve looked her up and down trying to figure out where the pain could be emerging from.
She sighed and let out a large breath. "My pride and everywhere else."
Steve shook his head at her and put his hand around her back and his other arm under her knees, scooping her up and carrying her to the nearest seat he could find. Her face was covered in dirt and she adjusted her body every now and then trying to work out the kinks that had suddenly formed. She looked up, only to see a definite frown on the face of her commander.
"I'm okay. Really. Just, I specifically said that if I got bucked off of a horse thee would be trouble."
He laughed at her. "That was on Saturday. Today is a new day. Come on, you need to take some aspirin and lie down for a while."
"I'm fine."
He bent down and whispered in her ear. "This is your boss speaking. That was an order, not a request." He raised an eyebrow at her and her knees seemed to go weak.
"Okay." She didn't whisper. "but only if I get carried to my suite." She raised her own eyebrows suggestively at him.
"For you, the world."
With that he picked her up and carried her to their cottage, only putting her down to unlock the door and open it. She limped to the bed and sat down, the relief showing on her face. Steve fetched her a glass of water and two aspirin and sat on the bed next to her as he offered it to her.
"Thanks."
"Why did the horse rear?"
Kono looked at him with a furrow on her brow, partly because the concern for her seemed to be short lived and the Navy SEAL was back to work.
"Don't know. I didn't even move, it just spooked I suppose."
Steve seemed disturbed with her answer. "I'm going to go check out that horse in a bit. You need to lie down for a while. I'll come back soon okay?" He leaned forward and planted a kiss on her forehead before getting up and walking out the door.
Kono sat on the bed, stunned for a moment, but soon a girlish grin dawned on her face. She stood up slowly, feeling her body ache and walked towards the bathroom. She was determined to have a shower before she went to sleep. She undressed and climbed into steamy shower. The heat on her muscles seemed to bring her some relief and she could feel the aspirin taking effect. She stepped out of the shower and turned her back towards the full length mirror, adjusting her head to stare at the rather nasty bruise that started to form on her back. A small draft blew across her body. She felt uneasy. She looked around to figure out where it came from. That's where she noticed that the bathroom window was open. She grabbed a towel and walked towards the window, cautiously looking around to see if there was anybody around. She didn't see anybody so she closed the window and proceeded to dress in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, comfortable sleeping clothes. She drew back the covers to the bed, her hair was still slightly wet but she didn't have the energy to dry it completely, and soon found herself drifting into a peaceful sleep.
Steve walked around the stables, checking the perimeter as he stalked into the building. He passed a few stalls before he came upon the horse that Kono was supposed to ride. He opened the gate to the stall and slipped inside. He ran his hand over the horses' neck. He suddenly noticed a small patch of dry blood on the horses' leg. It was small and would seem rather insignificant to the untrained eye. Steve observed a little closer and a worried look passed over his features as he came to a sudden realisation. He quickly exited the stall when he heard the sound of voices coming towards the stable. He slipped out the back door of the stables and walked back to the cottage area. Opening the door to the cottage, he peered at the bed where Kono lay. She had obviously gone for a shower and was sound asleep. He noticed how she had moved to the centre of the bed and was effectively hogging both sides. Satisfied that she was sleeping peacefully, Steve opened the double doors leading to the porch and pulled out his cellphone. He dialled Danny.
"Hey. How are the two adrenaline junkies doing?"
"Hi Danny. Its okay thanks."
"And the rookie, is she enjoying all those sweaty beasts around her." Steve took note of Danny's intended innuendo.
"Actually, she got thrown from a horse today."
"What? Is she okay?"
"Yeah, she didn't break anything. She's sleeping now. But.."
"Aargh, I hate it when you say that word."
"But, Danny, it seems it was planned. I found a needle mark in the horse she was meant to ride. I want you to check out two guys that work here. One is Jack Jensen and the other is Ronald Cornwell. Find out what you can about the two of them and send me a picture of Markus Chapman, the manager, I still haven't seen him."
"Wow, sounds like you two are in your perfect world. Danger, bad guys and the big outdoors."
"Yeah okay Danny." Danny took note of how tired Steve sounded.
"What's up Steve?"
He sighed a heavily burdened sigh. "I just don't feel right about this place."
"Okay. We'll look into these guys and get back to you soon."
"Thanks Danny. I'll call you later."
Steve ended the call and sat down in the wooden chair on the deck. He leaned backwards and was thinking about the day's events before he drifted off to sleep.
Kono stirred in the bed. She had been sleeping for almost two hours and observed how the sun was setting when she finally woke. She saw the porch doors open and slowly made her way to the double doors. She leaned against the frame and examined her partner asleep in the chair. She saw the peaceful side of him. She went to stand facing him. She stood, leaning on one leg, the other bent at the knee supported on the ground by her toes. She cleared her throat and crossed her arms. Steve woke up startled. He looked up to see Kono's tussled hair blowing in the gentle breeze, her face dark in comparison to the bright sunset background.
"Hey," he rubbed his eyes with his palms. "How you feeling?"
"I'm doing good, a little sore, but I'll live. You?"
"Me? I'm fine thanks. I'm not the one who got thrown off a horse."
Before Kono could reply she noticed out of the corner of her eye a figure walking towards their cottage. She stepped towards Steve, climbing on his lap, her legs on either side of his waist. He looked confused at first, but then followed her roving eyes. He played along, wrapping his arms around her waist as she straddled him in the chair.
"hmm… your back seems perfectly fine right now."
She laughed a little and leaned in to whisper to his ear. "I would be a great undercover agent." The smile she gave him seemed to generate a response in him. He pulled her closer. She swallowed hard at how their bodies gelled together. He shifted in his seat, straightening his back so that their eyes were level. Kono bit her lip in anticipation. Steve was breathing heavily ,though rhythmically and Kono's breathing pattern seemed to fall in line with his. She had wrapped her arms around his neck and their faces were extremely close. She fiddled with the hair at the back of his neck, all the while staring into his eyes. When she had assessed that the figure walking towards their cottage was no longer present she quickly moved to stand up on her own two feet, but Steve clung to her waist, eyeing her reaction. She smiled a cocky smile at him. "A-game remember?" And with that she stood and walked into the bedroom again, satisfied that she had her revenge on him for the moment before he threw her into the pool at the waterfall. Steve sighed in frustration, but quickly followed her into the bedroom. He cleared his throat and walked towards the bathroom talking to her as he entered it to turn on the shower.
"Should we go for dinner now?"
"Sure, I'll get ready in here while you shower." She started rummaging through her bag of clothes.
He closed the door behind himself and Kono could hear as he entered the shower. She briefly imagined him in the steamy room, but snapped out of her distracted mind in order to get ready for the evening. She picked out a dark blue, thin strapped sun dress that sat just above her knee. She paired that with a pair of black sandles and progressed to brushing her hair and styling it in a comfortable updo pinned with 2 hair sticks.
A knock coming from the bathroom door amused her. "Safe to come in?"
"Safe."
Steve entered the room wearing the white towel that had been provided in the room. His body gleamed as little droplets of water cascaded down his skin. Kono swallowed inconspicuously as she eyed him for a brief minute. It looked to Steve that she was looking for somewhere to run to. She turned her back to him allowing him to quickly change into his jeans behind her. He let out a low chuckle. "Safe."
She smiled and turned around again. It was so not safe. He stood their shirtless, wearing only his jeans. Kono watched him intently as he dressed into his black dress shirt. The casually smart look suited him. Steve observed her in return and decided to help alleviate some of the pent up tension that was beginning to make the room seem a hell of a lot smaller.
"I went and looked at the horse."
"Oh yeah? What did you find?" She was appreciative that she was now distracted from her own thoughts.
"Well, looks like Jack must have stuck a needle or something into the horse while you were on it, causing the horse to freak out."
"Why would he do that? He doesn't even know me."
"Not sure. I don't have a good feeling about his though. Something is not right here." He had finished dressing himself and after clipping his watch on and putting a few items in his pockets he gestured for the door. "Just be careful around the guy." Kono nodded at him and made for the door.