A/N: Sorry all for the delay again, I'm in the prep stages of moving back stateside and there's a LOT of work involved in order to be able to do that properly AND complete the work I need to do. I think I'd like to have about 60 hours in a day. I could get so much more done… or, you know, be lazy for longer and still get a lot done. And before I forget to say this – I want to thank all of the guest reviewers that I can't thank in a reply message! You've all had such kind words! I love to hear what you're thinking about all of this, so keep 'em coming. Anyway, please forgive any mistakes as I posted this after just reading it through again twice. So... without further ado...

Part Fourteen

When Kono awoke, she realized two things… the sun was already well past risen and shining, and she was on a couch that was definitely not hers. She stretched quietly, wincing as all of her sore spots were jostled, but settled back to just stare at the view of the blue ocean beyond the sliding glass windows.

It looked different at this time of the day with the sun shining on it. Welcoming and warm… Quite the opposite of what last night's ocean embrace had felt like. That had felt so cold, desolate, and hopeless… something she'd never thought she'd feel in the water she knew so well. Even when she'd blown out her knee what seemed like a lifetime ago, the water had felt comforting through her pain.

With a sigh to shake off her thoughts, Kono sat up and rubbed gently at the white gauze that had been wrapped around her wrists where the skin had been rubbed off by her duct tape bindings. Throwing the blanket that had been placed over her sometime during the night over the back of the couch, she stood. As she took the first wobbly, dizzying step, Kono realized that perhaps yesterday had taken a bigger toll than she wanted to admit.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey…" a soft, deep voice from her left cautioned. "Careful there." She looked over to see Steve standing in the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest. Kono frowned, remembering vaguely that she'd insisted on going home and letting Chin have some quiet moments with his wife… and the whole team had predictably resolved that she not be alone. So, she'd been bundled off in a haze with Steve, at his insistence.

"How long have you been standing there?" she asked with a smiling shake of her head. He just smiled back.

"Long enough to see you get a shaky start," he said back. "I was just coming in to check on you…" Kono let out a delicate snort of a laugh.

"No need to do that," she told him. But as she took another step, the world seemed to spin a bit, belying her words. Steve's ever-observant gaze caught that and he rushed over to grab her elbow, his other arm winding around her waist.

"Let's get you to the kitchen and get some food in you. That might help a bit," he said, gently guiding her in the direction of the other room. Kono shook her head.

"I'm fine. It's just that the world likes to tilt every so often," she grumbled good-naturedly. "I'd like to know what the hell they dosed me with…" She sat down as she rubbed at her temple with her fingers. Steve went to the refrigerator to pull out needed items for a simple breakfast.

"Can I ask what happened?" he asked gently, looking over at her quickly before going back to his task. Kono watched him, knowing that his air of casualness was just a cover for the inquisitive SEAL that lay underneath. And she'd worked with him long enough to cipher out the real question he was asking. She let out a breath, knowing that he would need to know eventually anyway.

"He put the drug in my favorite wine," she told him with a mirthless smile. She'd likely never drink that type of wine ever again after all of that… She'll stick to her reliable beer and take the caps off herself if need be. Steve stopped what he was doing at the counter and turned to look at her.

"Adam?" he asked for the actual confirmation, a furious frown on his face. She looked down at her hands.

"Yeah. I… I showed up and he had a glass of wine waiting for me, as promised. Asked me about my day… and then things went fuzzy for a moment, then black. I woke up on the boat with Delano in my face," she said, mortification seeping into her tone. Kono knew she was a better detective than that. And she knew full well that her instincts, if she hadn't been personally involved to some extent, would have been on high alert. When she looked up at Steve again, he was leaning back against the counter, a white knuckle grip on the edge.

"I should have been there," he growled. Kono shook her head as she stood and crossed to stand in front of him.

"Not your fault. I'm here, I'm fine. We're all fine," she told him, reaching out to grip his forearm. It took a second, but he did eventually relax under her gaze. Then she nodded to the unbroken eggs and half-chopped vegetables. "… and if I'm not mistaken, I'd heard a rumor about breakfast. And could I maybe wheedle some coffee?"

Steve smiled as she'd intended with her mock pout before he reached up and gently gripped her shoulders to walk her backwards to her chair. Kono gave a huff of frustration but followed the directive and sat.

"No wheedling needed. Coffee's brewed and coming up," Steve told her before turning to pull out two mugs and poured some of the waiting coffee into them.

"Ummm, thanks for letting me stay. I didn't mean to be so much trouble," she commented, letting her fingers tap lightly on the table top. Steve gave her a quick disbelieving look over his shoulder.

"Trouble? You collapsed onto the couch once you got here and you didn't move again. I doubt you'd have even flinched at a tsunami siren," he chuckled, turning to hand her a mug. She smiled gratefully at him as he sipped at his coffee.

"I guess I was more worn out than I thought," she said. He didn't say anything, just stared at the bandages around her wrists for a moment before looking back to her face. His gaze was inscrutable, no doubt blaming himself again.

"I think that's to be expected," he said quietly, taking another sip of his coffee before setting it down and getting back to making some food for the two of them. It was quiet for a while as he worked, and he would look over at Kono every once in a while to see her enjoying the warm coffee. But when he started to take out plates to serve them, she finally asked the question that she had been tossing around in her mind.

"How did you find me?" she asked softly. He paused slightly before setting her plate down in front of her.

"Delano called me… to gloat. And I was able to get his last location," he told her. Of course there was more to the story than that, but he wanted to keep the explanation simple. She nodded, taking the silverware he offered her and set it down.

"I don't even remember hearing him talk to you. I keep going over and over it in my head…" she told him. "We were pretty far out… I can remember the ride back in to the harbor. I'm lucky you got to me. Very lucky. I was also lucky, I think, that they over-drugged me. When I went in that water…"

Steve reached out to take her hand in his, squeezing lightly in comfort. She looked over to him, continuing.

"It took a few moments for panic to set in. Then when I finally realized I couldn't do anything about getting to the surface, I could immediately feel the burn in my body - the panic and lack of oxygen. I hadn't even realized you'd gotten me, I could barely feel anything… all I could think was that I was going to die in the ocean…"

They let silence fall for a moment. It was tough for her to say those words, but she knew she had to say them. Steve watched her closely as she swallowed hard… then she shook her head as smiled at him, picked up her fork and gestured to the food.

"Eat, boss. It's going to be a long day," she said. Steve picked up his own fork and started digging in.

"You don't have to come in today. You should take the day," he said, covering for the question he itched to ask but knew she wouldn't appreciate. When she didn't answer, he looked up at her to see her watching him with an amused look.

"If you think I'm sitting this one out, you're crazier than I thought," she told him. Steve chuckled.

"I'm not crazy."

"Well, did you think I was going to sit home and knit a sweater or do a bit of cross-stitch?" she asked. Steve chuckled.

"No… but, you know… you could just stay here, rest up, go surfing, relax for a day on the beach…" It was something she said she'd enjoyed during her leave due to the IA investigation and it took him a second too long to realize why she went still. And when he did, he mentally cursed himself. Too soon yet to mention the water. He should have known better. "Look…"

"No, no, no," Kono cut him off with a wave of her hand. "I get what you're saying. That sounds like a lovely day, really, but I'm serious when I say I'm fine. And I need to figure out what's going on just as much as you all do right now."

Steve watched her for a long moment. He could see the internal torture in her eyes, even though she was trying to hide it for his sake. But, as always with her, he could also see her determination to not let it bother her or affect what needed to be done.

"Okay," he said finally. The smile she gave him was bright and genuine.

"Good choice, Boss," she said with a wink. He chuckled.

"Not really a choice. I'd rather have you with us, then sneaking around somewhere off-grid without backup," he said back knowingly. Kono gave him a mock affronted look.

"I would never…" she started until he actually let out a laugh.

"You would. Don't even try to say something different," he said. Of course she would, she tended to think like him more often than not. Kono shrugged as she took a bite of eggs.

"I did just fine following Wo Fat without my badge," she countered.

"Not without some trouble. And you had Chin as unofficial backup," he reminded her. She shrugged again and was about to say something else when Steve's phone started ringing. Kono looked up at the clock. At this hour in the morning, it certainly wasn't going to be a social call. Steve apparently agreed as he let out a breath before connecting the call.

"McGarrett," he greeted.

"Paul Delano, as in older brother of Frank and business partner, was found dead this morning. Gunshot to the head," Danny's no-nonsense voice greeted him back.

"Are you joking?" Steve asked. There was a moment of silence on the other end.

"Would I joke about something like this?" Danny asked. Steve let out a huff of a breath and ran a hand over his face.

"No, no… sorry, I just…"

"Yeah, babe, I know. Meet you at headquarters?" the other man asked. Steve looked to Kono, who was on alert at his reactions.

"Yeah, see you in thirty," he said before disconnecting the call. His eyes met Kono's dark gaze. "Paul Delano is dead. They found his body this morning." She let out a breath.

"Frank's going to go ballistic, wherever he is," she said.

"Yeah, I think that's what I'm worried about," he nodded in agreement. Kono quickly drained the rest of her coffee and stood.

"Well, I suppose we'd better go," she said. As she moved to walk by him, he reached out and took her hand.

"Are you really okay?" he finally asked the question he'd wanted to ask since he set foot downstairs that morning. Kono smiled.

"Yep," she told him. Steve's eyes roamed her face, looking for any sort of indication that would tell him if she was lying. Her smile fell into a serious look as she realized she wasn't going to hide anything from him. "Or I will be."

As Steve and Kono entered HQ, Chin, Lori and Danny were all at the smart table.

"Do we still have eyes on Noshimuri?" Steve asked with a hard look at the three of them. Lori looked at Kono and then back to Steve.

"Yeah. There's been no movement from him from what I've been told," she reported. Steve nodded tightly.

"I want HPD to bring him in," he said. The rest of the team looked to him in surprise.

"What do you have?" Chin asked. Steve looked to Kono.

"His direct involvement in Kono nearly drowning," he gritted out. Chin's eyes snapped over to look at his cousin.

"You left out some vital details in your story last night. You made it sound like he was just in a bad place at the wrong time," he chided. She gave him a look.

"How's Malia doing?" she asked in counter.

"She's resting and will be able to go home this afternoon," he said with a sigh. Kono nodded.

"Alright, so worrying about me is the last thing you need to be doing right now," she told him. Chin leveled her a glare.

"It's a part of the case too, you know," he said. She glared back.

"Okay, so I meant 'scolding me for my poor life decisions' is the last thing you need to be doing right now," she growled out in correction. Steve quickly stepped between the two.

"Noshimuri may be our only link to Delano right now," he cut in to catch their attention, trying to end a cousin argument before it started. It was rare enough as it was, but they didn't need one now. "It was Delano on the boat, and it was allegedly Delano's hand in the rest of yesterday's happenings too. We need Noshimuri to talk. Whatever he can give us."

"Has Joe found anything of substance?" Danny asked with a frown. "You know… considering he disappeared on me and we were working the Wo Fat and Noshimuri Senior angle?"

"He sent me a message while we were at the hospital last night. Sounds like he has a solid lead on Wo Fat. He's following it right now," Steve said. His partner gave him a look.

"Can you tell your Super SEAL Yoda that it would have been nice to know that?" he asked. Steve let out a breath.

"That's not how Joe works. Just keep following Hiro Noshimuri. Chances are if Wo Fat hasn't found him by now, he won't. But if Joe has a serious chance to find Wo Fat, he works better alone. That man has more contacts that I don't even want to know about," he told the group. Danny just shook his head before looking around the room.

"Okay, then, well... Let's get that other big elephant sitting in the room out of the way," he said. Steve leaned his palms down onto the smart table before looking around at all the members of the team.

"Yesterday was a full-on, coordinated attack on Five-0," Steve got right to the point, staring at the screen in front of him with a glare as Frank and Paul Delano's faces stared out at them.

"Yep, that was actually the elephant. Thanks, Steve," Danny said with a roll of his shoulders, focusing on the screen as well.

"It was fully tactical," Chin noted. "Almost militaristic. The only mistake is they didn't have enough manpower."

"Almost militaristic," Danny snorted in disbelief. Steve had to agree.

"If it had been a military op, Danno, we'd all be dead. They'd have taken their shots when they had us in the crosshairs and been done with it. These were mid-grade thugs and the fact that this was personal saved us. It pretty much has Frank Delano's hands all over it," he said looking around the room at each member again, his eyes catching a moment longer on Kono.

"You're joking, right?" Danny asked, uncomfortable with the sudden vulnerability he hadn't given proper consideration. Steve sighed.

"Not joking. I wish I was. You can send a 'thank you' fruit basket to Frank for being an arrogant jackass later. That doesn't erase the fact that someone wants us gone and out of the way and it appears they paid Delano to do it for them. It's not just simple breaking and entering, it's not just murder, or drugs, or whatever," he said. Chin leaned on the smart table.

"With the way things are going, it looks like it's all of it," he said with a frustrated sigh. "Someone is running a show and is protecting their turf. And since both Delano and Yakuza members are showing up dead, my guess would be that someone has both Delano and the Yakuza actually in their pockets."

"With Hiro Noshimuri unfindable right now, it would be an easy time to manipulate the replacement. Especially since the replacement would be his son, who has up until now, been untested in these waters," Kono supplied. Steve's eyes darted to her, the anger in them reminding her of who put her where she'd been. Kono held up her hands when she noticed the sudden attention it garnered from the rest of the group. "I'm just pointing out the obvious." Steve nodded tightly before refocusing on the topic at hand.

Danny shifted uncomfortably on his feet and looked to Steve warily. "And now with Paul Delano in the morgue, it's safe to say that someone has the screws to Frank now too."

"You think Paul was a warning?" Chin asked. Danny nodded.

"I think that's a safe bet. I mean, we're all here and breathing. It means Delano screwed up," he said.

"Which means he had to pay a price," Kono concluded.

"Sounds about right in terms of organization psychology and retribution practices," Lori commented.

"Wo Fat would be the one I would suspect of pulling all of the strings," Chin said. Steve turned to look at him with a quizzical look.

"What makes you say that?" he asked. Chin brought up a few files that he'd found and put them onto the big screen for them all to look at.

"I was going through the Lawrence paperwork that forensics sent over. See anything on there that looks a bit suspicious?" he asked. They all examined the evidence for a moment or two before Danny let out a small groan.

"The parent company of one of their investing partner organizations…" he said. Steve's jaw tightened as he recognized where his partner was going with that.

"… has ties to an organization in North Korea," he concluded.

"Bingo," Chin said, pulling that organization's information up onto the big screen. "And who do we know that has ties to North Korea?"

Steve ran a hand over his face. "Don't remind me." He remembered all too well his little vacation. In fact, some of that lingering soreness in his tortured muscles served as a distinct reminder should he ever want to forget.

"Wo Fat has been after Hiro like a dog with a bone," Danny said. "It's feasible he wants Hiro out of the picture so he can fully take over the Yakuza here. Adam wouldn't be much of a problem right now, as he' already proved. This could be an all-out territory war we're stumbling into…"

"All the more reason to bring Noshimuri in. If his position in Yakuza is in danger, or even his life, he may be willing to talk with us and give us what we need on Wo Fat," Chin said. Steve nodded.

"Right," he agreed, then looked to Lori. "Get Noshimuri in here."

"On it," she told him before dialing HPD.

"Do we have ballistics on the gun that killed Delano?" Steve asked. Chin shook his head.

"Fong is working it now," he said. Danny gave a humorless smile.

"I can probably guess what's going to come back," he said. Steve looked over to him.

"Same guy that killed the John Does and Reyes?" he asked. Danny nodded.

"Wo Fat would have a cleaner. Absolutely. Especially as he's out running around doing errands like looking for Hiro Noshimuri personally," he concluded. "And considering our track record so far, bets are it's the same guy. Why the hell not?" He shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Then door to Five-0 opened, and a familiar face walked in. Danny groaned.

"I'm not here to exchange witty insults, Williams. I'm here to talk about Delano," Vince Fryer said in way of greeting, holding up a hand to ward off whatever Danny was gearing up to say.

"What do you know?" Steve asked, hoping it was good news for once. "Did you locate him?" Fryer shook his head in the negative, causing the group to hang their heads in frustration for a moment.

"Frank heard about Paul. He called me directly," Fryer told them with a heavy breath as he set his hands on his hips. He looked around the group. "He predictably wasn't happy."

"Oh, so the money-laundering, drug-dealing, murdering ex-cop wasn't happy that his brother was killed…" Danny said with a scoff. "Was he not aware of the occupational hazards? He didn't read the fine print on his scumbag contract?" Fryer rolled his eyes before turning to look at Steve.

"I am fully aware of what Frank pulled yesterday," Fryer said, with a lingering look at Kono before looking to Chin and Danny apologetically. "He knows that we have pretty much every agency in all of Hawaii and in our worldwide little black book on lookout for his face. He's got a huge red target on his head."

"Meaning?" Kono asked, crossing her arms expectantly. Fryer took a deep breath.

"He's desperate. Especially if he called me. We can maybe get him to agree to work with us," Fryer suggested. Danny shook his head emphatically as he looked to Steve.

"No. No way. The man tried to kill us and people that are closest to us. No. Not even remotely an option," he told his partner. Steve's frown deepened.

"You seriously want to try to work with the asshole who tried to have all of us killed?" he asked. Fryer let out a frustrated sigh.

"You never see the bigger picture, do you, McGarrett?" he asked. "If we could get Frank to spill the beans, we could have a wider reach at taking out whatever seems to be trying to take over the island. We still have no concrete evidence as to what's going on. All we have are conjectures at this point."

"And Frank has more than conjectures," Kono filled in the rest of the blanks. Fryer looked at her with a smirk.

"Sure you don't want to work for me?" he asked, knowing full well what reactions he would get from it. The frowns on all three of the other men's faces projected their thoughts rather adequately.

"So what do you propose, Fryer?" Steve asked.

"And you thought you didn't like me before," he began with another smirk. Then he indicated to Kono. "I'd like to send Kono in on this one."

A pin dropping could have been heard in the silence that followed. Then Danny's eyebrows rose in incredulity.

"You're insane. Like completely certifiable," the blond finally said, gesturing to emphasize his point. He indicated to Steve for a second. "I thought I'd seen crazy before. But seriously? This… this actually tops it all."

"There's no way Kono is going in again," Chin said with a growl edging his voice. He turned to look at the strangely silent Steve, who was watching Kono.

"Steve," Danny prompted after a moment. "Tell the man no…" Kono let out a huff.

"Thanks, Danny. Didn't realize it wasn't my choice," Kono said, her eyes locked on Steve's as well as she realized he was actually letting her make the decision. The blond man turned to look at her.

"You can't seriously be thinking about it," he said more than asked. Kono let out a humorless chuckle.

"Why not? We're not exactly swimming in leads or information at the moment," she told him. Then she looked to her cousin. "Right now, we've got two avenues. You guys can work the Noshimuri angle. I can help on the Delano angle. I was doing it before, this would just be more active a part, and this time it wouldn't be undercover. You'll all be in the loop." Chin gave her a look that said he hated when she used logic against him that he couldn't argue. He let out a breath. Before he could say anything though, Lori came back into the case room. Her profiler eyes noted the tension as her eyes went immediately to Fryer. The IA man gave her a quick nod in greeting.

"Um, I just wanted to let you know that Noshimuri is in interrogation. He's looking a bit rough. HPD had found him nearly passed out and an empty bottle of scotch next to him," Lori informed them, indicating behind her. Steve nodded as he started to think things through a bit more.

"Kono?" he asked. She nodded to him.

"I've got Delano," she decided. He nodded, even as he could see both Danny and Chin shaking their heads.

"And I've got her back," Fryer noted. Steve looked over at him with a look that said he seriously doubted it. But as he looked back to Kono, she was resolved.

"Okay. Just…" he started, and then stopped himself. He wanted to tell her to not let it get personal, but he was fully aware that 'personal' had gone out the window a long time ago for all of them. Instead, he turned to Chin.

"You've got her back," he told the other man. When Fryer made to speak up, Steve held up a hand. "Non-negotiable." It took Fryer a second or two of narrow-eyed glaring, but he finally nodded. Chin nodded as well, relieved that there would be someone from Five-0 with Kono. Satisfied that it was worked out, Steve looked to the other members of the team.

"Danny, Lori… Noshimuri's yours," he ordered. Danny raised a brow at him, but Steve ignored it. "If he does not know Kono is alive, he is not to know… yet. Understand?"

"Gotcha," Lori said before nodding at Danny that she was ready when he was.

"And you will be doing what, fearless leader?" the blond man asked. Steve gave him an innocent look.

"Watching the interrogation," he said simply, with a quick smile to placate his partner. Danny shook his head and looked to Lori.

"I hate it when he does that," he said. Lori frowned, confused.

"What? Watch?"

"No," Danny said, resigned. "Smile. It doesn't mean anything good…"

The three made their way towards the Five-0 interrogation area, leaving Chin and Kono to their discussions with Fryer.

A/N: Hope that was worth some of the wait… Worry not, I still have the itch to write for this. Time permitting, I'm hoping it won't take another month-ish to do so. Stick with this, I promise it's going to get even more interesting. Also, HF0 has snared me with the intrigue of what I classify "Look #4 Million and Three" in the most recent episode as well as the developing story with Chin/Adam/Gabriel has got me all giggly and inspired again. There will be more, promise.