A/N: Alright two episodes because they're short. And I've finally allowed Catherine to exist. You'll see that she and Steve have history. But for the purposes of this story, she's more like an old friend that does him favors throughout the series, not someone he's romantically involved with.
7x05 Ke Kū 'Ana
Adam was released from prison. She went to pick him up. He was glad to see her. She was genuinely glad to see him too.
"How are...things?" he asked on the ride to Kamekona's, where the rest of Five-0 was waiting on them. They had insisted on throwing a mini welcome-home party for Adam.
"By things you mean…?" she asked, but she was pretty sure she knew what he meant.
"Steve. How are you and Steve?" he asked. She took a moment to steady herself, keeping her eyes on the road.
"We dated. We broke up. That's all there is to it," she said.
"Kono, I know you. I want to be your friend. So tell me what's going on?" he asked.
"I miss him," she blurted out, surprising herself. She glanced over at Adam, who was giving her an encouraging look.
"I mean, we dated secretly. I moved into his house while he was in the hospital. But I was so worried about my reputation with the HPD that when they found out we were together, I broke it off. I chose my job over him. And I do wish we could be together. But more than that, I miss the good days before we were dating, when we were just friends who probably had more feelings than they should, you know?" she explained. Adam nodded.
"So, just go back to that," he said. She pressed her lips together.
"Thanks, smarty pants, I don't know what I've done without you. It's not that easy though," she said. Adam shook his head, chuckling.
"Oh, Kono, it is that easy," he said, "After all, I just did it, and you are completely comfortable with it. Even if you have feelings for him, just tell him you want to be friends and move on." She still looked skeptical, and Adam didn't blame her. She was absolutely right to doubt him, because he knew for a fact that that would only work for a while. Kono Kalakaua deserved happiness, and she'd only get it when she was honest with herself and gave into what she wanted.
They all sat laughing and talking. It was so natural. Lou was teasing Adam about losing weight. Kono took a deep breath and caught Steve's eye.
"Can we talk?" she asked quietly. He looked surprised but stood up and walked with her closer to the water.
"So, I was thinking that maybe we could go back to being friends," she said, looking up at him, watching his reaction. He took a deep breath and looked out at the water.
"Do you think that's gonna work?" he asked finally, crossing his arms and looking her in the eye. Her heart ached, seeing the hurt in his blue eyes.
"I don't know, but I hate this. I can't keep working with you and just ignoring you. We have to try something. I want us to go back to the way things were before everything got complicated," she explained. Steve looked uncertain still. She had hurt him, and she wouldn't blame him if he pushed her away.
"Okay," he finally said, relieving some of the burden she felt. "We can try, but I can't promise anything."
"I wouldn't expect you to. Thank you," she said, feeling hopeful for the first time in a long time. He nodded and walked back to the table without another word. She followed him, catching Adam's eye as they approached and nodding. Adam smiled kindly at her. She really didn't deserve a great friend like him.
7x07 Ka makuahine a me ke keikikane
Kono could not believe that Steve had gone to Morocco without telling any of them. Danny had called Lou, worried about what he was up to. Lou had in turn called her. She had called an old friend, who had connected her to a friend at the CIA that told her that an old friend of Steve's had gotten wind that his mother was in trouble. Doris McGarrett was in trouble, and he hadn't bothered to tell any of them. Kono wasn't just mad at him for not relying on his friends, she owed Doris one for helping get her and Adam out of town. He could've at least let her in on his plan. Fortunately his phone came online, and they got a location. They were on a plane as soon as they could be.
Steve had taken out Chin before he realized who they were. He was still catching up when he looked over his shoulder and saw Kono and Grover. She was giving him this look that said she was confused, and she might kill him.
"Well, I guess we should have knocked," Chin said, a hint of amusement.
"I should've known I couldn't trust Danny Williams to keep his big mouth shut," Steve said, helping Chin up.
"That's your partner, man. He was worried about you, like we all were," Grover said.
"We don't know what's going on, but all indications are it isn't good," Chin said.
"No, it's not," the woman who had appeared from the other room agreed.
"Guys, this is Catherine. She's an old...friend," Steve said. Kono took note of the way he hesitated before he said the word. "Cath, this is Chin Ho Kelly, Kono Kalakaua, and Lou Grover," he introduced them all. Catherine smiled warmly.
"Nice to meet you all, though I wish it were under better circumstances," she said.
"We came to give you guys a hand," Kono said, smiling knowingly at Steve, who was looking between her and Catherine. Both women had registered each other as something other than a friend to Steve and were silently sizing the other up.
"You guys didn't have to do this," Steve said.
"Oh, come on now, you're ohana. So is Doris. Whatever this is, we got your back," Chin told him.
"All right. Come in and shut the door. I'll brief you," Steve agreed.
"You're the one he's not over," Catherine said. Kono turned to look at her. Chin had just left the room, and Kono hadn't even heard the woman come in.
"Yeah," she said, not even bothering to deny it.
"He's really hurting," Catherine said. Kono swallowed hard and continued preparing the gear.
"I know. But we work together. There's nothing I can do about it," she said, trying to figure out what Catherine's goal was with this conversation. She decided not to let her get there.
"When were you guys together?" she asked before Catherine could say anything else. She glanced up and realized she'd hit her mark. Catherine looked startled by the question.
"Before he came back to Hawaii. We met while we were in the Navy. We dated off and on, but it's hard to keep up a relationship when you're never in the same place. We broke it off officially a couple months before he moved back permanently. We've remained in touch; I've done him a couple of favors over the years," Catherine said.
"That's nice," Kono said.
They didn't get a chance to say anything else because they heard Steve say, "Alright, team, let's move!"
Of course, things went sideways. Kono watched, her stomach in knots, as Steve and Doris got captured. She sat, stressed, watching and listening on the comms as they escaped. Grover put a comforting hand on her arm. They were waiting by the tunnel when the four emerged. Doris smiled, seeing her waiting there.
"Kono," she said. Kono hugged her, glad to see her again. She had actually really enjoyed the older woman's company when she took her and Adam on the run. Kono caught Steve's look over her shoulder. He was looking at them, a wistful and sad look on his face. It made her heart do a funny flip. She ignored it, pulling away.
"Come on. We've got to move," she said.
When they parted ways at the airport, Kono tried to subtly glance at Steve and Catherine as they hugged. She wasn't sure it was as subtle as she'd have liked because she caught Chin giving her a pointed look afterwards. She ignored him.
"Let's go home," Grover said, patting Steve on the back as they watched the plane take off. Steve nodded, looking weary.
"Yeah," he agreed. He looked over, making eye contact with Kono for a second before he headed toward their own ride. She wanted nothing more than to hug him. He looked so broken. He had to let his mom go again. She hated that he had to keep letting her go.
She watched him carefully the rest of the trip, from the car ride, to the plane trip back. She got in her car back at Hickam, parked two cars down from Steve's truck. She watched sadly as he leaned over the steering wheel, his shoulders shaking as he cried. She put her car in reverse, knowing she couldn't be there for him. Her chance was over.