Pehea wau i ʻike ai i kou makuahine

Based on the characters and stories of Hawaii Five-0.

Hawaii Five-0 is owned by CBS and their respective creators.


"Commander McGarrett, I was wondering when I was going to see you around." Melissa stated as she entered her office and walked behind her desk. A stack of patient files dropped onto the desk with an unceremonial plop "To what do I owe the displeasure of having you in my office this morning?"

Steve leaned back in the cushioned chair across the desk from her, "I, uh, heard that you come in about thirty minutes early. Figured I should officially welcome you to the V.A."

She raised an eyebrow as she settled into her chair, giving him a stern once-over. "You're the welcoming committee?"

"You know, you're not very friendly in the morning." Steve chided.

"I need caffeine for polite. Sugar and carbs if you want friendly."

He chuckled, "I'll bring malasadas next time."

She tapped a staccato rhythm with her pen on top of her desk, "I'm assuming you're not here to ask about my move to Hawaii, so what brings you to my corner of the V.A. offices?"

"I'm worried about Catherine."

Melissa nodded, "Heard you guys finally got hitched a couple years back. Mazel tov." She glanced at the clock on the wall. "I've got fifteen before my first appointment. Consider this a favor for her. She was the only bunkmate I ever had that I didn't want to throw overboard." She reached into her desk and pulled out a large yellow notepad. "I've talked to her a couple times. Mostly just catching up, but she didn't really sound like herself. What's going on?"

Steve leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, "She's… she's shutting down… I dunno how to describe it…"

"You have kids, right?"

Steve nodded.

"Are they in danger or neglected?"

"No!" Steve exclaimed, "Hell no. She'd never… No. She's a great mother."

"Is she a danger to herself or others?"

Steve clenched his jaw. His fists gripped the arms of the chair so hard he was sure they would splinter, "No."

Melissa held up her hand and scribbled down a few words on her legal pad, "Don't take offense to it. I'm required to ask. It's my job." She laid her pen on the notepad and looked back up at Steve, "Has she been seen for post traumatic stress disorder or postpartum depression?"

"Yes. Both." He nodded. "PTSD a while ago and, uh, postpartum after our second was born."

She made more notes on the page, "And did she respond to treatment?"

Steve sighed, "She, uh, she was on meds for PTSD years ago." He shrugged, "So was I."

"Did they help?"

"Yeah."

"You make it sound like she's no longer taking them. Was that done under medical advisement or did she go off them of her own volition?"

Steve shrugged, "I, uh I don't really know." Melissa raised her eyebrows. "It was before her and I got back together." He admitted.

"Tell me about that. What happened?"

"It's above your pay grade." He stated.

If Melissa was fazed by his comment, she didn't show it. "Commander, I've treated patients much higher up the chain than you and Rollins. Try me."

Steve sighed. What the hell. "We ran an unsanctioned op in Afghanistan. A, uh, a little kid she knew from one of her tours got kidnapped by the Taliban and the family contacted her to help get him back."

"And was this the same unsanctioned op in which you were captured by Umar Hassan?" She wrote down a few more notes as Steve raised an eyebrow. "Like I said, McGarrett. I've treated patients higher up the chain. I know what happened in Afghanistan." She muttered passively without looking up from her notes.

"Then why'd you ask?"

Melissa set her pen down, "It's not my job to be a mind reader. It's my job to help you reach your own conclusions. So talk. You're down to eight minutes."

"I got captured and knocked around pretty bad before I was exfiled. She laid low and eventually found the kid but, uh, ended up being… coerced... into joining up with the CIA."

The staccato tapping of her pen resumed, "Being coerced into joining the agency is highly irregular."

"Did I say coerced? I meant blackmailed." He hissed. "By a traitor who ended up kidnapping her on our honeymoon. Just for the record."

"Tell me how that made you feel." A coy smile flickered on Melissa's mouth.

Steve chuckled, "Now you sound like a real shrink."

She pointed her pen at the multiple degrees on the wall behind her. "There's a few universities that would agree with you. Also, for the record, my wife hates when I ask how something made her feel. So talk. Six minutes."

"It felt like hell. I, uh, I didn't know what she was doing at the time. She didn't tell me straight up. She said she was teaching in a school in the village over there and that I shouldn't wait for her anymore."

"But you did?"

He shrugged, "What was I supposed to do? I loved her."

"When did you find out that she was in the CIA?"

He sighed, "She'd been in Afghanistan- or so I thought… for about a year… She came home for a, uh, a wedding. Friend of ours got married. Stayed for a while and then up and left. Said she was going to do aid work in Nepal. That's…. That's when I ended things. 'Bout six months after that a case Five-0 was working had us looking for a list of CIA aliases, agent names, and locations. I got a visit from an agent who wanted to know if I had been in contact with her. She, uh, she was supposed to check in with her handler and hadn't made contact."

"And how did that make you feel?" She grinned at the questioned

Steve shrugged, "Scared as hell. Pissed off. Here I was thinkin' she was teaching kids how to read and distributing first-aid supplies, and turns out she was running covert ops in eastern Europe."

"And how do you think that made her feel?"

That one stung. "I, uh, I guess I never really thought about it." He admitted sheepishly.

"What do you know about her time with the agency?" Melissa set her pen down and rested her elbows on the desk.

Steve thought for a minute. "Not much."

A knock at the door signaled that their time was up. Melissa tore the sheet of notes off of her legal pad and tucked it away in a file. "I've got a patient, so your time's up. You know my office extension. Next time let's schedule an appointment. Consider a box of malasadas as your co-pay."

"Tricare doesn't have a co-pay for this." He smirked.

She grinned, "Then consider it payment for me not telling your wife that you came in here singing like a canary." She pointed to the door, "Out, McGarrett. I've got a schedule to keep. See you next time."


"Morning, Commander." Catherine smiled as the early morning light filtered in through the curtains.

Steve chuckled and pulled her back against him, "Morning, Lieutenant." He brushed her hair aside and kissed the back of her neck, "You, uh, you ready for your first day?"

"Mmmm." She rolled over to face him, "Still doesn't feel real. You know? That I'm not going to be putting on cammies and driving to base."

His hand delved underneath the covers and left a trail of goosebumps down her ribs, "You'll adjust. You, uh, just gotta stay busy. Establish a new routine."

Catherine giggled and squirmed, "Yes, Sir."

Steve dug his fingertips into the soft flesh of her waist, "And until you and Harrington get real busy, I, uh, I plan on keeping you right here as much as I can."

She planted her hands on his chest, "In this house or in this position?"

He grabbed her waist and pulled her on top of him, spreading her thighs and settling her around his hips. "How 'bout this position?"

"I like this position." She smirked. Steve McGarrett was roughly the size of a small country. His body really should be registered as a weapon. Steve was a warrior. Biceps like boulders. Shoulders as wide as a house. Thighs like tree trunks. A body like his wasn't built in a gym- it was built with honest work and exertion and she wanted to taste every inch of it.

She leaned down and trailed kisses down his neck, nipping and sucking her way down to his shoulder. His breath hitched in his throat as she paid special attention to that spot that drove him absolutely crazy. His pulse fluttered lightly across his skin as she rocked her hips against his. The corner of her mouth curled up in a proud smirk. For someone who was such a mass of raw power, she controlled him effortlessly.

He tugged on the thin fabric of her pajama shorts and growled, "These need to go. Now."

"Or what?" She grinned while scraping her nails down his chest.

Steve groaned, "Or I'm going to rip them off your body."

Catherine leaned down and let her lips brush against his ear as she whispered, "I'd like to see that." He gripped onto the hem of her shorts and tore the fabric away from her body in one swift motion. She stared at him in awe before diving in for another kiss, "So fucking hot." She muttered. "I want you to do that again."

He fingered the airy camisole, "Do you like this shirt?"

"Hate it." She grinned.

Steve grabbed the dipping neckline and shredded the last of her pajama set with his bare hands, "That's better." He pushed the scraps of fabric away from her body before throwing her down on the mattress.

Catherine tucked her fingers into the waistband of his boxers and-

DING DONG

Steve and Catherine were startled by the piercing ring of the doorbell. He swore colorfully as he glanced over at the clock, "Too early for Danny."

Catherine looked over at her phone that was lit up like a Christmas tree. She groaned and cursed in Pashto, "It's me. Billy's here to give me a ride."

"You have a car."

She rolled off of him and padded over to the dresser, where she had taken over the middle drawer, "So do you and yet you still ride with Danny everyday."

"Yeah, because we usually end up riding together to crime scenes." He protested.

Catherine stared into the drawer, "I have no fucking idea what I'm supposed to wear. Life was so much easier when all I had to do was find a clean pair of cammies." She grumbled.

He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, "Hey. It's a learning curve, okay?" He pressed a kiss onto the crook of her neck. "What are you guys doing today?"

"He has a couple appointments to look at office spaces. He's got it narrowed down to a few options, but he wanted me to see them before he signs the lease. And then, um... we have a few small jobs this week to prep for."

"Okay." Steve reached around her. "These." He pulled out a pair of dark jeans. "This thing." He tossed a light blouse on the stack, "And those." He pointed to her ankle boots on the floor.

She cocked her head and looked back at him, "Did you just give me fashion advice?"

"How'd I do?"

Catherine laughed as she grabbed the stack of clothes, "Surprisingly well. How'd you know?"

"Because that's the kind of shirt Kono wears around the office, you like those boots because they're comfortable like combat boots but they look nice, and uh, I like your ass in those jeans." He thought for a minute, "On second thought." He pulled out a pair of his sweat pants and tossed them at her, "Wear those. I don't want Harrington seeing your ass."

She laughed and threw the sweatpants back at him, "You mind letting him in? I'll be down in a sec."

Dressed in cargo pants and a polo, his gun on his hip and badge clipped onto his belt, Steve jogged down the stairs and opened the front door, "'Ay. Come on in." Billy followed Steve into the house. "She'll be ready in a minute."

"Thanks, man." Billy stood with his hands in his pockets, "Sorry, I'm a little early."

Steve shrugged and kept walking into the kitchen. "Coffee?"

"Sure." Billy followed him, "You drink it Team style?"

He smirked, "Is there any other way?" Steve chuckled as he pulled the butter out of the refrigerator and dropped a tablespoon in his mug.

"Gross." Catherine floated through the kitchen and looked at Billy, "Please don't tell me you're encouraging that habit?"

Billy laughed and sipped his coffee, "Sorry, Rollins. You're outnumbered here." He watched as Steve topped off a third to-go mug with cream, sugar, and cinnamon.

Catherine took the mug from Steve and smiled when he pecked her cheek. "I prefer my caffeine the old fashioned way."

"In an IV drip?" Billy grinned, "Don't think I forgot how much coffee it takes to get you awake."

She chewed on her lip as Steve's eyes threw daggers at Billy. This was a trainwreck waiting to happen. No - this was an MMA fight waiting to happen. Catherine placed her hand on Steve's abs and stretched up on her toes to give him a kiss. "See you tonight?"

"Yeah." The corner of his mouth flickered with a tentative smile, "I'll call if we're gonna be working late." He stole one more kiss before releasing her from his grip.

Billy grimly slid his mug on the counter, "Thanks for the coffee." He looked over at Catherine, "We better get going."


"So how'd the, uh, the hand-off go this morning?" Danny asked as he sunk into the chair across Steve's desk.

Chin chose that moment to poke his head into Steve's office, "Catherine working with that Billy guy today?"

Steve rolled his eyes, "You two are a pair of Marys."

"Has he asked you for her hand in marriage yet?" Chin grinned.

Danny chimed in, "You gonna let him move in? You take the couch and the two of them get the bed?"

Oh, if looks could kill… "You're both aware that I carry a gun, right?" He hissed.

Chin laughed, "You're lookin' real trigger happy today."

"Always ready and willing to draw my weapon on anyone who may require an attitude adjustment." Steve reminded them.

Chin raised his hands and backed out of the doorway, "And on that note, I think I have some paperwork to do."

Steve nodded, "That's what I thought." He turned back to Danny and leaned back in his chair, "What are you still doing here?"

Danny grinned, "I'm just here for the dirt, babe."

"I miss Kono." Steve pushed away from his desk and yanked the door open. "You two have more estrogen than a sorority house."

"Come on." Danny was hot on Steve's heels, "Spill it. How'd it go this morning."

Steve punched in the code to the weapons cage and pulled out the cleaning kit and a carbine. "How do you think it went? He showed up, she got in his car and they went to work. They work together. Not like he was takin' her to the prom."

Danny glanced at his watch as Steve broke down the gun and began to clean it. "You know, you only clean guns when you're pissed."

"No, I clean the guns because I don't want one misfiring. You're welcome, by the way. I'm keeping you from losing a finger or getting shot in the face by a perp because you were too lazy to clean your own damn gun and it jammed." Steve snapped. He didn't want to admit it, but Danny had a point. He always relied on the repetition and muscle memory of breaking down weapons to settle his mind. He swiftly reassembled it and put it back in the cage, trading it out for a rifle.

"You broke it down and put it back together in forty seconds."

"I'm getting old." He grumbled.


Steve: WY20?

Catherine: ITW - 10 Mikes.

Steve: 5x5.


Danny glanced over at Steve's phone. "You know it's, uh, it's not safe to text and drive."

"Thank you, Detective Williams. I bet next you're gonna say that only I can prevent wildfires?" Steve snapped petulantly as he tossed his phone into the center console and set his eyes back on the road.

"It's also rude to text in a manner in which others cannot understand." Danny wrinkled his nose, "You, uh, you worried Billy's lookin' at her phone?"

Steve shook his head, "Nah, Billy could read that. Navy shorthand."

"Oh, so it's just me, then." Danny picked up and tried to make sense of the coded texts.

"I just asked her where she was." He shrugged, "Nothin' weird about that."

"No." Danny began, "What's weird is that you can't have a conversation with your girl like a normal human being, you- you gotta mix in the numbers and the letters like, uh, like eighth grade math."

Steve shook his head, "I asked her what her twenty was. She replied that she'd be in the wire in ten minutes. Five by five means I hear you loud and clear. Happy?"

Danny sneered, "In the wire?"

"Yeah, in the wire." He huffed, "Inside the wire means on base, outside the wire means off base."

"Base being your house."

Steve glanced over at Danny, "You're brilliant. Really. Einstein right here."

"You know, you'd think with your girl living with you, you'd, uh, be a lot more relaxed." Danny stated.

He sighed, "Yeah, well, I was before her ex showed up at my door this morning before we were out of bed."

"Uh huh. So you admit you don't like it."

"Of course I don't like it!" He exclaimed, "But Catherine's happy, Billy's a solid guy - I trust him. And, uh, and it lets her build something here. Put down roots, you know?" Steve pulled into the driveway and hopped out of the Camaro.

Danny got out and walked around to the driver's side, "Just let me know if you need him put down. The, uh, the rendition suite at HQ's been a little quiet lately. Could be fun."

Steve stared at Danny, "I'm calling it. You've been around me too much." He looked over his shoulder as Billy pulled into the driveway behind the Camaro. Steve opened Catherine's door and gave her a polite kiss on the cheek, "Hey."

"Hi." She smiled. "I see Danny lived to see another day. No car chases today?"

"Didn't go over sixty today." He sadly informed her.

She placed her hand on his cheek, "Mmm. Poor guy."

He rolled his eyes, "Alright, smartass." Steve waved Billy off and smacked Danny's shoulder before turning and walking Catherine inside. "How, uh, how'd it go? How was your first day?"

Catherine wrapped her arms around his neck, "It was different. Good… but different." She took a deep breath, "We have our first job tomorrow."

"Oh yeah?"

Catherine chewed on her lip before a coy smile formed, "I think…. I think I'm gonna like it."


AUTHOR'S NOTE

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Have a wonderful week you amazing humans!

XO,

-Mags-


.X.