BabyBoothy, this is for you! Thank you for still reading this story and encouraging me.
Thank you to everyone else who read the last chapters. I appreciate every single reader, even if you don´t leave a review.
Flashback
"Daddy, Daddy, Mr. Tony is here!" The little 6 year old girl jumped up and down, her long blond curls dancing around her small shoulders. She was so excited, not able to wait until her Dad opened the door.
"I know, Honey. Just let him come in first okay?" her father tried to calm her down. He opened the door and before he could say something to the visitor, the little girl had launched herself into the arms of the man.
"Mr. Tony, you really made it for my birthday! Tell me, what did you get me this time? Another doll? Show me please!" she babbled and her Dad sighed.
"Come in, Tony. And please, ignore this little impatient tease, I think she forgot to listen when we talked about being polite." Dawn flinched, knowing her Dad wasn´t really angry with her. But she knew that it wasn´t nice or polite to ask for a present before the guest even had placed a foot inside. She slid out of his arms and looked down embarrassed.
"I´m sorry, Daddy, Mr. Tony."
"Now, I know for a fact, Querida, that it´s okay to be excited on your birthday. I have to say that I´m really flattered by your welcome, so don´t worry, Dawn." he smiled at her gently and the little girl felt her mood lighten up again. Mr. Tony was always a very nice and gentle man, whenever he visited he had a present from one of his many trips. He was a tall, dark man, his Latin American heritage evident in his temper and his looks. He wasn´t good looking, but he had warm brown eyes and his smile was very inviting.
When they settled down in the living room and her Mom brought coffee, Dawn was allowed to open her presents. And when she opened the huge box, she squealed with delight. Showing her parents her gift, she was beaming all over and hugged Mr. Tony tightly, thanking him.
Her parents smiled at her gently.
"You know Tony, you´re spoiling her completely." her Mom said and Tony chuckled.
"As I don´t have a daughter myself, I´m totally taking advantage of yours." He still had a slight accent and Dawn liked it. When he kneeled down with her on the floor and helped her build up the beautiful dollhouse that was her birthday present, she felt like the most special girl in the world.
"Dawn?" a slightly impatient voice startled her and she forced the memories back where they belonged.
"I´m sorry, Sir." she smiled apologetically at the Governor and tried to focus again on the task ahead.
"You´re looking tired, Dawn. I know that this week has been hard for you, especially with the arrest of Anthony Vega. You did a very good job in coordinating the mission, even though I´d prefer to be consulted and informed before. But either way, you were able to put him into custody and we´re able to file charges against him. Why don´t you take the rest of the day off and start your weekend early?" Dawn met his eyes, saw the sympathy there and sighed inwardly.
"I still have to..." she began but he brushed her protest off.
"This is an order, Dawn. If you´re not willing to take care of you yourself, I´ll have to do it." his smile was genuine and she answered it with one of her own.
"Now, go home." he shushed her out of the room and watched her shut down her computer and grab her purse. He wouldn´t leave before he was sure that she would follow his order. She smiled at him thankfully, feeling the exhaustion in her body. Maybe he was right, starting the weekend early would be a good idea.
When she left the Governor´s mansion, she took in a deep breath and felt the warm sun on her skin. The breeze was great and she knew exactly what to do with the rest of her day.
She opened the glass doors to the 5-0 headquarter 45 minutes later and smiled when she saw Kono and Danny leaning over the smart table.
"Hi guys." she said and was met by two smiling faces.
"Hey Dawn, what? No pastries today?" Danny sounded disappointed and Dawn laughed.
"It´s Friday, Danny." she reminded him and when he nodded his head sadly, she laughed out loud.
"I´ll get you your pastries on Tuesday again, I promise."
"Hey, is something up or why are you showing up on a Friday at..." Kono looked at her watch. ".. at not even 1pm?"
"Well, my boss threw me out, told me to get an early weekend. I heard the waves are great today and I thought I might as well take advantage of it." Dawn said and she saw excitement on Kono´s face.
"Mind some company?" she asked and Dawn leaned against the table.
"I had hoped you´d say that. In fact, I have a cooler filled with sandwiches, water, some beer and delicious ice cream. Too much for one person so I need help with that."
Kono looked past Dawn and smiled.
"Hey boss, how about an early weekend?" she said to someone behind Dawn and she instinctively froze.
"Ms. Grayson." he nodded at her politely when she turned around.
"Commander." she couldn´t help the smile growing on her face and for a change it was genuine and warm. Their eyes met and held each other for a second. Kono and Danny shared a knowing look.
"So, you wanna take Kono surfing?" he asked and Dawn felt her heart starting to race when he wouldn´t take his eyes off of her. She knew it was pathetic, but it felt like Kono and Danny seemed to disappear and they were the only two in the room.
"Yeah, I was ordered to leave so I thought I´d get to do something fun." 'Really now, Dawn? Rambling? Get your shit together, girl!' she cursed at herself.
Steve´s smile never faltered and his eyes never left her face. She felt a warmth spread through her that she quickly hid. This was still McGarrett and she didn´t understand the sudden change in his behaviour. Since he helped her catching Vega, something had changed. And she wasn´t sure, she liked it. A charming, flirting McGarrett was way more dangerous then a fighting and arguing McGarrett.
It would be so easy to forget the reason she was here. But she couldn´t let him have such an obvious effect on her. She just couldn´t allow herself to give in to the feelings he caused in her. No matter how much she wanted to. Still, for a second she enjoyed feeling his eyes on her and just loving to feel his attention. What would it hurt anyway?
He watched her back, the soft tanned skin when he slowly paddled towards her. He knew that she heard him, he didn´t mean to sneak up on her.
"Hey." she said when he settled on his board by her side. She should be surprised that he was here, that he showed up when she and Kono had decided to start the weekend by going surfing. But he was here and she wasn´t surprised. It felt good.
"Hey. You okay?"
"Yeah, I´m okay. You weren´t worried, were you?" she smiled at him and he smiled back. They sat in silence for a moment, enjoying the sun and all that could be heard was the … silence. They were too far out to hear any sound from the beach. It was peaceful and Dawn lifted her head to the sun again, closing her eyes and feeling strangely content that he was here.
"I´ll be investigated." she said finally, not looking at Steve. She heard his little "Shit".
"My connection to Vega is under investigation, but the Governor said I´d have nothing to worry about. Still it doesn´t feel good." she admitted.
"Makes you feel like a failure. You did your job and did your best, still people try to find something wrong." Steve said and she knew that he understood her feelings better then anyone else.
"It´s not a surprise, I was expecting that. But yeah... I think knowing someone like him for years – even without any contact for the past 5 years – makes me look suspicious." She opened her eyes and looked at him. His eyes held sympathy and she sighed.
"This guy is trouble, even now that he is in prison waiting for his trial. The CIA is sure that there is someone working for him and dealing information. And I´m working for the Governor, so that makes me their best bet."
"Will they find something?" he asked calmly and Dawn shook her head no.
"I´m sorry." he said quietly, his hand reaching for hers, holding it. Instantly it felt like fire spread through her veins and warmed her body from the inside. His touch was soft and assuring and she just looked at him.
"I feel like I have to defend myself."
"Just let them do their job, cooperate and work with them. They won´t come up with anything."
"You sound very content."
"I know you have a hidden agenda, Dawn, don´t get me wrong. I don´t know how to trust you completely. But so far you haven´t let us down, instead you were our back up more than once. You were loyal. To 5-0. And to me." he said and Dawn smiled at him. His words were like a warm blanket over her bothered inside, soothing away her doubts and worries.
"I´d never betray the team, Steve." He nodded.
"At least with that piece of information you just gave me, I can scratch one thing on my list about you." he said, making her smile. "You´re not working for the CIA." he grinned.
"You have a list about me?" she laughed, squeezing his hand thankfully.
"I do, Ms. Grayson. It´s a long list." he played along.
"Now I´m totally curious. What is on your list, Commander?" This time the formal usage of his rank was more gentle and felt more like a pet name than any official title.
"Oh you know... " he tried to back off and for a second he actually blushed. Dawn was intrigued and found that little detail incredibly attractive.
"No, I don´t know. Why don´t you enlighten me?" she teased. His hand let go of hers and the next thing she felt was cold water on her sun-heated skin. She gasped and looked at him incredulously.
"You didn´t just... Woah, McGarrett, that means war!" she laughed and splashed water back at him. Within seconds they were both having a water fight, laughing hard. When they finally stopped, both were breathing heavy, but the smiles on their faces were huge.
"Thank you. Again." she said. Like he did the evening when they booked Vega, he had helped her again. His believe in her – even though not completely – made her feel better. Their eyes met and their legs touched when a wave shoved her board closer to his.
Dawn didn´t think at all when she leaned closer, placed her hand on his face and gently brushed her thumb over his wet cheek. They were close, she felt his hands grab her board to steady her. The air between them started to heat up and all Dawn could think about was how badly she wanted to kiss those lips and taste him.
"One day you´re gonna tell me the truth." he said so close their lips nearly touched. Dawn just looked at him. She knew that one day she would tell him everything, but right now she didn´t know how. She didn´t want to ruin the moment. This was not about the job or about her intentions. This was personal.
Dawn refused to answer, not sure she´d know what to say anyway. So she did the only right thing and leaned closer.
