A/N: Really not a huge fan of this chapter, but ah well. This also bleeds into 7x12 because so does the Mexico storyline. Also Agent Navarro is played by the guy who plays Jasper Sitwell in the MCU, and that just really makes me laugh because he's been literally thrown off a roof while being interrogated. I like to think that Steve McGarrett would like Steve Rogers.

7x11 Ka'ili Aku

Kono really felt like the whole "going back to the way things were" was really working. Of course, she was still head-over-heels in love with him, but other than that, things had resembled some form of normalcy. It had been a month, and she was really feeling confident in their progress as friends. Of course, it was nights like Chin's birthday that she felt the urge to just give in. He was wearing a black button up and gray slacks, and he looked really good. She kept glancing over at him, seeing him laughing during the festivities. Once, she caught his eye, and he winked at her. She smiled and looked away, trying not to let him see how much he still got under her skin. Then as she brought out the cake, she saw Chin running. Steve didn't hesitate and went after him. Kono was not far behind them, but by the time she made it outside, Steve was already in his truck. She got there just in time to watch him pull out of the parking lot, driving like an insane person. Danny came up beside her.

"What the hell just happened?" he asked. She shook her head.

"I have no clue," she told him.

It was only ten minutes later when Steve called Danny.

"Hey, man, you got the rest of the team. What's going on?" Danny asked, putting it on speaker for Kono, Grover, and Jerry to hear.

"Sara has been kidnapped. We're heading to Mexico to get her back. Meet us at HQ, so we can figure out what's going on. The DEA is going to call us once we're there," he said. He hadn't even finished talking when Kono was already heading away from the group.

"Okay, we'll be there in a couple of minutes," Danny told him.

Kono found one of her aunts.

"Auntie, Chin Ho and I have to leave. His niece Sara has been kidnapped. Can you handle the rest of the party?" she asked. The woman gave her a pointed look.

"Why are you still here? Go! I've got it!" she told her. Kono smiled, but it was short-lived when she remembered why she was leaving in the first place.

"Thanks, auntie!" she called over her shoulder, already headed to the parking lot. She made it to HQ before Danny, Grover, or Jerry. Danny gave her a very stressed look when he saw her again because he knew how fast she had driven to get here. She didn't even care. When she had first arrived, Chin had been a mess. Steve had been trying to talk sense into him, and she had never been more grateful for Steve's laser focus and strategic planning skills.

Kono sat strapped into the seat, Chin next to her and Steve across from her. Chin was sleeping restlessly. She couldn't fall asleep, so she chose to study Steve instead. He was asleep stretched out, his long legs taking up a ton of space. His head was leaned back, and his mouth was open just a little. His arms were crossed, and Kono wondered how he looked so commanding, even while asleep. As she was pondering this, she noticed Danny watching her watch Steve. He was sitting next to Steve, and he was giving her this very pointed look. She blushed a little, looking away. Danny looked around, saw that Grover was sleeping as well, and then unbuckled and sat down next to her.

"What's, uh, what's going on in that head of yours?" he asked, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. Kono pursed her lips, trying to figure out what to tell him.

"I'm just thinking about everything. About Sara," she lied.

"Kono, I'm not a detective for nothing. I know you're still in love with him," Danny called her out. She worked hard to contain her reaction.

"It's just that…" she trailed off, not sure how to explain to him what she felt. "When I first realized that I had feelings for him, we were stealing $10 million to save Chin's life from a bomb Victor Hesse strapped around his neck. His loyalty and selflessness toward his ohana is one of the things I find most attractive about him. That and his abs." She couldn't resist the chance to make a joke. Danny grinned and shook his head. "But, now we're heading to Mexico to save Sara, and Steve followed Chin right out the door and was ready to get on a plane as soon as he heard," she explained. She looked away from Danny, eyes refocusing on Steve's sleeping form.

"All those feelings you've been trying to bury came rushing back," Danny said, knowing the exact way she felt at that moment. He had been through that more than once with Rachel.

"Yeah…" she said, letting out a sigh and looking back at Danny. "I'm in love with him still. But nothing's changed. We can't be together because it's too complicated. But I can't bear to lose him, so we're friends. But damn, do I wanna just shove him against a wall and-" Danny cut her off.

"Whoa! Okay, I got the idea!" he interrupted, throwing his hands up in the air. She laughed. If either of them had been watching, they would've seen Steve's mouth twitch upwards into a small smile too.

Agent Navarro had said not to visit Ramirez. So naturally, Steve wanted to visit Ramirez.

"Are you kidding me right now? You're just going to walk in unarmed?" Danny asked, squinting at his partner, trying to figure out if he had actually lost it this time.

"I'm unarmed, but Kono will be there. She'll have the rifle pointed at him. I mean, what's he gonna do, shoot me? Kono would have him and most of his men down before he can even finish his sentence," Steve told him.

"I got it, brah. We'll be fine," Kono chipped in, winking at Danny.

"You two are going to enjoy this danger thing, aren't you? God, I hate you adrenaline junkies," he said, shaking his head, resigned to the idea they had presented.

"Love you too, man," Steve replied, already getting ready to leave.

"Couldn't have asked for better back-up," he told her when he picked her back up again from her sniper position.

"Ha ha," she said dryly, remembering when she had told him that very same thing. Except that time, she really meant Five-0, SWAT, and half of the HPD.

"No, I'm serious, Kono," he said, his face becoming serious as he drove. "I literally couldn't ask for better back-up. I wouldn't have wanted any other person out there with that rifle. There's not a single sniper in the Navy or even the world that I would trust more," he told her. She shifted in her seat, uncomfortable with the compliment. She wasn't sure what to say.

"Thanks, boss," she said. She was pretty sure he flinched when she called him boss, but she knew it was for the best. He needed the reminder, and honestly, so did she.

And then Chin turned himself over to the cartel. She watched as Steve picked up Chin's badge, and everything in her wanted to fight, to hurt someone to get her cousin back. Instead she hugged Sara, wishing she could protect her from all of this.

Steve was torturing a cartel member for information. Kono paced outside the door. She had asked to do it herself, but he had reassured her that he could effectively handle it alone. He was trained in interrogation techniques that wouldn't be legal had they been in the state of Hawaii. She finally gave in and resorted to pacing instead.

They got a location from the guy. She met Steve's eyes as he came out of the room, and she could see a steely resolve in his now dark and cloudy blue eyes that would have given her chills had she been the bad guys they were after.

They got Chin back. It was quick and easy. They were in and out in fifteen minutes. As they were cleaning up to head back to Hawaii, Kono took a minute outside, standing in the night air, relieved for the first time since Chin's party.

"Hey," she heard him say, realizing she hadn't even heard him approach. She opened her eyes, seeing him leaning on the SUV in front of her.

"Hey," she said. Steve looked at her fondly, and she silently urged him to stop doing that.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I am now," she told him, nodding. He nodded too.

"Good," he said. She wondered where this was going, because right now it was a weird conversation.

"So, I'm gonna-" she started, trying to figure out an excuse to leave as she started to turn toward the house. He had closed the space between them in a heartbeat.

"Wait," he said, grabbing her hand with both of his. She willed her heart to stop doing its gymnastics routine in her chest. "I just wanted you to know that I would have done anything to protect him and Sara," he told her. She nodded.

"I know," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

He hugged her. She wrapped her arms around him, feeling like she had come home all of the sudden. It felt so right, so natural. She wished it didn't have to end, so that reality wouldn't set back in.

It was Danny's approaching voice that pulled them apart, leaving both of them longing for more. Kono bit her lip, and she saw Steve notice it. She swallowed hard and turned away to at least attempt to listen to Danny's rant. She was Steve's friend, and that's all they could be. That didn't stop Kono from watching him sleep on the flight back, wishing that wasn't all they could be and wondering if she'd ever fall out of love with him.