Disclaimer: I do not own anyone/anything you recognize.

A/N: Sorry this took so damn long to release but here it finally is, the next chapter. I hope the content makes up for the tardiness!

Again, I cannot thank you all enough for your love and support. It feels amazing to have over 100 reviews. My most mahalos go out to quisinart4 and Tiana-P. They are undoubtedly the best betas and the best fangirls to flail and squee with, and they have my undying gratitude.

"Do you realize that this is the first time we've hung out in, what? A month and a half?" Mary said as she and Kono were having coffee at a local coffee shop.

Kono looked at her in bemusement as she took a sip of her coffee. "What are you talking about? We had lunch the other day."

"No, dumbass," Mary said flatly as she slapped her hands onto her lap in frustration. "I meant, just the two of us, you know, without my brother attached to your hip."

"He is not attached to my hip," Kono retorted with a defensive tone. She then pointed to the empty chair next to her with one of her hands. "Look, I don't see him here."

"He's only not here because he had a meeting, not because he didn't want to come," Mary replied, her voice still flat and unchanged.

"I'm sorry that you weren't born a man. I would have definitely had a crush on you," Kono teased, a small smile tugging at the edge of her mouth as she brought her coffee cup to her lips.

Mary just chuckled and shook her head as her eyes narrowed down to her coffee cup. Her voice was now pliant and soft as she twirled her empty cup with her hands. "I just miss you, you punk."

Kono just chuckled back as she lowered her cup onto the table. "It's hardly fair to say that we don't hang out when you're the one who's never home."

Mary's eyes were now back on her as she rolled them, her tone defeated. "Even when I'm right, you always win our arguments."

Kono squinted her eyes at her suspiciously before speaking again. "Where have you been, anyway?"

"Out," Mary answered simply, her eyes avoiding hers once again.

"With who? We have the same friends." Kono's mouth then dropped open in sudden realization, her index finger pointing at her. "You met someone, didn't you?"

"Maybe," Mary blushed.

"Well, who is he? When can I meet him?" Kono asked excitedly.

"You'll meet him when the time is right."

"Don't pull a me," Kono said between gritted teeth, her finger back to pointing at her again. "I'm your best friend, I wanna know who you're doing."

Just as Mary was about to speak, Kono's phone began to ring. "Saved by your phone," Mary grinned as she leaned back in her chair. "It's your work, isn't it? You should answer it. You probably have a case."

"You got lucky," Kono huffed with her finger pointing at her once more time before answering her phone.

…

"No way! What's up, Bullfrog?" Steve greeted Nick enthusiastically as he hugged him, patting his back.

"Smooth Dog!" Nick greeted with just as much enthusiasm as he hugged him back. "Been a while."

"'Smooth Dog?' You're gonna tell me what that means, right?" Kono, who was standing to Steve's right, asked him with an amused smile playing across her lips, her tone teasing.

Steve pulled away from his hug with Nick and turned around to her, narrowing his eyes in playful anger. After deciding to ignore her question, he pressed his palm on her lower back as he introduced her. "Nick, this is my girlfriend and colleague, Kono Kalakaua." He then used his free hand to point to Chin and Danny, who were standing right across from him. "And these are our teammates, Danny Williams and Chin Ho Kelly."

"It's nice to meet you all," Nick said as he shook their hands. He then averted his attention back to Steve, nudging his elbow against his arm. "Girlfriend, huh? I never thought you'd get in a relationship."

"It didn't take much for her to change my mind," Steve said, smiling at Kono.

Nick's eyes were now on Kono as he winked. "Yeah, I bet, doing 'favors' for the boss."

Nick's comment made Chin and Danny wince in disgust. Kono and Steve just looked at each other then laughed. "We've known each other since we were kids," Steve said as he turned back to Nick.

"Oh, you've never mentioned her before."

Before Steve could speak up, Kono answered with sarcasm in her voice. "We didn't keep in touch. He didn't care about me back then."

"Hey, I care about you now," Steve snapped at her playfully, suppressing a big grin. He then looked toward Chin and Danny. "Nick served under me in the SEALs."

"Oh, another one to add to the 'Dream Team'," Danny huffed sourly as he frowned.

"'Dream Team'?" Nick asked Danny with a confused expression.

"Me and James," Steve answered for him, his tone obviously amused.

"Ah," Nick laughed, understanding clear on his face. "I take it he doesn't like James very much, does he?"

"That's an understatement," Steve laughed, earning him a furious glare from Danny. Steve smirked at his reaction before continuing to speak to Nick. "Anyway, I figured you'd re-enlist until you're mandatory. When did you get out?"

"Two years ago. Got my own shop now."

Steve bumped knuckles with Nick and smiled widely. "Alright, man! That's awesome."

Laura then spoke up. "After last night's security breach, the Sandimar government decided to beef up their protective detail. They hired Nick's firm to protect General Pak and his family."

"Of course they did," Steve said as he patted Nick's back jovially.

"Wow. So, you got genocide, ethnic cleansing. It's a great client you got," Danny snarked.

Steve knew where Danny was heading with his words and kept his jaw clenched tightly. "Here we go," he murmured aloud as he took a deep breath.

Kono turned on her heels, pointing both of her fingers toward the sliding glass door that led to the balcony where they were. "I'm gonna check out the crime scene. Good luck with Danny."

"Thank you very much, sweetheart," Steve scoffed as she walked away. He then looked at Chin, his eyes and voice pleading. "Please don't leave me, too."

"Sorry, brah. Gotta help your girlfriend process the scene," Chin laughed as he walked away.

Steve just threw his head back in annoyance and sighed.

Damn it.

…

"The lady was right," Steve muttered, causing Kono to turn to look at him. He kept his eyes on the road, his hands gripping the steering wheel grimly as he recalled what the woman in Nae Shan's house had said. "I'm not a man if I'm protecting someone who shouldn't be protected."

"Steve…" Kono began patiently, her hand falling on his thigh as she gazed at him with concern. "We can't choose who to protect and who not to protect."

He continued to avoid her eyes, his jaw clenching at his inexplicable point of weakness. "I'm protecting someone who should be barred, Kono. I know that he's guilty, and there's solid evidence to prove it. Yet, I can't arrest him. I'm not allowed to. How fucked up is that?"

She sighed before continuing to talk. "Steve, I know, but there's nothing we can do. We just have to follow orders." She gave him a moment to respond but was only greeted with mere silence, his jaw clenching tighter as he tried to settle his nerves. She bent her head to meet his eyes, forcing him to look at her. "Hey, you're a good man."

He looked at her in doubt, pausing for a brief moment before speaking. "You really think I'm good man?"

"Of course I do," she scoffed and smiled softly as she moved her hand to his hair. "I wouldn't be with you if I didn't." He just looked away, a small smile pulling at the edges of his lips. She felt him beginning to relax as she gently massaged his scalp. "You treat me with such respect and warmth. You pour everything into making me feel fortunate and special. That's a good man, I think."

A smile finally broke onto his lips as he reached for her hand that was tangled in his hair, bringing it to his lips to kiss her knuckles softly. "I should be the one to feel fortunate. You know how to make me feel better." She smiled and twined her fingers with his.

They drove in a comfortable silence until they arrived back at headquarters. Just as he was about to get out of the car, she grabbed him by the sleeve of his shirt. "Wait, come here." She cupped his jaw in her hands and kissed him softly. She looked him deep in the eyes after pulling away. "Don't ever think you're anything but wonderful, okay?"

He smiled at her warmly, easily losing himself in her eyes. His mouth then acted before his thoughts, speaking without prelude. "I love you."

Her mouth began to drop open and shock settled upon her features. He realized what he had said, backtracking immediately. "Oh. You didn't want me saying that."

"No, I–" she tried, her voice a barely inaudible croak.

"Don't worry about it," he concluded without giving her a chance to try to speak again. "Let's go inside."

…

"What is it with you? You attract conflict?" Danny said as he busted into Steve's office. "I have been gone for two hours and you have conducted two raids. What do you got planned for lunch?"

Steve turned to him impatiently, putting the papers that he was holding down onto his desk. "Did you run Nae Shan's alibi?"

"Yeah, he's clean. He checks out. Why are you so edgy right now?"

"I don't wanna talk about it right now, Daniel," Steve deadpanned, his voice flat and unequivocal.

"You know I'm just gonna keep bugging you until you tell me."

"I regret asking you to be my partner," Steve huffed, sighing before continuing to speak. "I told Kono I loved her."

"You did what?" Danny asked snappishly. A small smile then appeared on his face. "Well, did she say it back?"

"Why do you think I'm edgy?"

Danny nodded in disbelief. "That doesn't sound right. The woman is in love with you, she should've said it back." He was then struck with a realization. "You panicked, didn't you? You didn't let her speak!"

Steve looked back up at him briefly before turning back to the papers that demanded his attention. Danny scoffed before speaking again. "You idiot."

"Can we not talk about this right now?" Steve asked with an annoyed sigh, a hand splaying out in the air before him.

"Fine, you're still an idiot," Danny said, matching his tone. He then pointed to the papers. "What is…what…what are you doing here?"

…

After hearing gunshots, Kono ran out to the backyard where Steve was standing over Nick's now deceased body. "Steve?" she called out with panic in her voice.

He turned around to her, wincing in pain from the injury he'd sustained after a knife cut through his arm. She noticed the blood that was dripping from the cut and stopped just a few mere inches from where he stood, worry all over her face. "Baby…"

"I'm okay, I'm okay," he assured as he reached for her hand. A contented sigh passed through her lips as he pulled her into his uninjured arm. "I love you," she mumbled into his neck before kissing the skin her lips laid on. "I love you." Without verbally responding, he just chuckled in shock and grinned, happiness stealing his breath.

She pulled away slightly as she heard Chin and Danny's footsteps approaching, her arms still resting around Steve's neck. She turned around briefly to take a cursory glance at Chin and Danny, then turned back to Steve. "I'll get a medic to look at you."

"Okay," Steve murmured as he let her go, watching her walk away with a burning intensity. He marveled at how very different his feelings were now. Never in his life had he ever thought he'd love someone the way he loved Kono. She'd become everything to him so quickly that it took him by surprise—he hadn't known that his heart was capable of loving this way. After being caught in a momentary daze, he shook himself out of it then averted his eyes toward Chin. "Chin, can you check on the General and his family?"

As soon as Chin went back inside the house, Danny shook his head at Steve and spoke in a somber voice. "You have got to start doing a better job at picking your friends."

Steve was now holding his wound, another wince coming from his mouth. "Tell me about it. I picked you, didn't I?"

"Yeah," Danny chuckled as he turned to walk away.

…

Kono let out a rough breath of air and placed her hands on her hips as she surveyed the damage done to the living room. "We have a great deal of cleaning up to do," she said without turning around as she felt Steve's presence behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, gently pulling her close as he placed open-mouthed, sensual kisses on her neck.

"Mmm," she moaned softly as she tilted her head for him, a grin quickly gracing her face. She turned around to face him, her arms automatically wrapping around his neck as his encircled her waist once again. She noticed the worry on his face almost instantly. "Hey, you okay?"

He didn't respond; he just looked at her in a way he never looked at her before, in a way he never looked at anyone before. His eyes were so filled with affection and love that it took her breath away. He then captured her lips with his own, renewing the passion they felt only seconds before. He lifted her into his arms without warning, causing her to break their kiss as she grunted in protest. "Baby, your arm. You're gonna hurt yourself even more."

"I don't care, Kono," he whispered against her mouth before kissing her again, his fingers threading through her hair.

He carried her up to his bedroom and laid her on his bed, his mouth never leaving hers. "I love you," he mumbled onto her lips as he reached for her hands, lacing his fingers with hers then bringing them over her head.

"I love you, too," she hummed contently as she stirred at his words, her eyes fluttering open to look up at him. "I've always been in love with you." They smiled at each other with perfect understanding before kissing again.

The sex was gentle, slow—for the first time in his life, he understood why it was called "making love". And when they came undone, he pulled her close to his naked body, kissing her forehead and tangling his fingers in her hair at the nape of her neck.

For once, he felt right at home.

…

Danny and Steve sat in the bar at Haleiwa Joe's with Longboard lagers in their hands. "You don't look so edgy anymore," Danny said as he sipped on his beer.

"She said it back," Steve shrugged with a smile as he sipped his own beer.

Danny noticed his smug smile then just laughed at him. "And, of course, you got lucky afterward. You're a fucking bigot, you know that?"

Steve's smile grew wider, his tone laced with sarcasm. "Aww…you jealous, Danno?"

Danny pursed his lips and shook his head. "I'm just going to get her to hook me up with her sexy friends."

"They're all taller than you, though," Steve attempted a serious expression.

"Shut up or I'll make you pay for our drinks," Danny said into his beer bottle, looking up at the television screen. Steve just smiled into his own beer bottle, sipping the excellent brew as he, too, locked his eyes on the television.

As the closing credits of the show they were watching crawled across the screen, Danny tilted his beer to him with a grin. "I'm happy for you, Steven."

"Mahalos, Danny," Steve said as he clinked his bottle against his.