50 FIRST DATES
Based on the characters and stories of Hawaii Five-0.
Hawaii Five-0 is owned by CBS and their respective creators.
A serial anthology of all the possible first meetings of Steve McGarrett and Catherine Rollins
Undisclosed Location - 2001
"Base, this is Blue Team One. We passed Jackpot. I repeat—we passed Jackpot," Steve clipped into his earpiece as he cinched the zip ties around Baahir Ali's wrists.
Freddie Hart stood just a few feet away, guarding the door to the tunnel they had breached while chasing their team's latest high value target. The HVT grunted and struggled as Steve dragged him to his feet. Freddie tsk-tsked and shook his head. They always struggled. It was almost comical.
Steve got Baahir to the entrance of the tunnel and pressed his index finger against his earpiece. "Base, this is Blue Team One. Do you copy? I repeat—we passed Jackpot. Preparing for exfil."
Static.
Static was never good when it came to HVT captures over the border of Afghanistan into Pakistan. Chasing down terrorists in the Middle East was a tricky task. Only the good guys cared about things like borders and treaties and ally countries. The bad guys had no hang ups when it came to running into other countries. Pakistan would have a field day if they found out that a SEAL team was operating inside their borders. That's why the operative goal of Blue Team's last mission of their deployment was stealth.
Sunrise was mere minutes away and they needed the cover of darkness to get the choppers in and out undetected.
"Base, this is Blue Team Two. Do you copy?" Freddie said into his comms.
There was a garbled voice on the other end and then more static. Another heart pounding moment passed as they waited for confirmation.
Freddie made eye contact with Steve. Exfil anyway? He asked with a silent look.
Steve held up his palm, keeping one hand on their target. He flashed five fingers twice in quick succession. Give her ten more seconds.
After what seemed like an eternity, Steve's favorite voice came through their comms. "Blue Team One, I read you loud and clear. You are cleared for exfil. I have your bird landing in T-minus thirty seconds. Good work."
"Thank God," Freddie groaned as they made their way out of the dirt tunnel into the early morning air.
The rest of their team members were posted outside, running security and rolling up any useful intel they could get their hands on. The heavy thumping of helicopter rotors whipped up the desert sand as they shoved their HVT into the bay and loaded up, flying back across the border to Afghanistan without a trace.
Steve kept a secure hold on their target as they flew back to base. He looked across the chopper where Freddie was grinning like a buffoon. "What?" He hollered over the engine noise.
"You finally gonna do it?" Freddie shouted back.
"Over a recorded line? Hell no, I'm not gonna ask her out! I don't even know her full name!" Steve laughed.
From the other side of the cramped chopper, Billy Harrington smirked, "Last chance before you lose her, Smooth Dog. You don't know if she'll be on the other end of your comms the next time Blue Team gets spun up."
Steve rolled his eyes and tapped his earpiece one more time. Freddie and Billy had a point. "Base, this is Blue Team One."
"One, this is Base. Go head," she said.
He cut his eyes over to Freddie and Billy who were egging him on. "Good work, Lieutenant Rollins. It's been a pleasure."
There was silence on the line, and every Navy Seal in the chopper was waiting with baited breath as they listened on their comms for her response.
"It's been a pleasure, Commander."
Lieutenant Rollins had been in their ear every night for nearly six months, guiding them in and out of missions from her intel station halfway across the world. No one on the team had met her. No one knew what she looked like. Hell, they didn't even know where she was in the world. Just that she was on the USS Enterprise. They'd never even seen a picture of their guardian angel, but every member of DEVGRU Blue Team had a crush on Lieutenant Rollins. Even the married men.
Steve cleared his throat as he said. "Hey, Base—if you ever find yourself in Coronado, there's a bar close to base. Blue Team owes you a beer."
He listened to her melodic laugh on the other end of the line before she said, "Copy that, Commander."
The bar was crowded, but that wasn't unusual for the end of a deployment. You'd think that spending six months in the sandbox in way too close proximity would mean the team wanted time away from each other, but the truth was, most of the boys were each others' surrogate families.
Being a Navy SEAL was a sacrifice in itself. It meant forgoing normal friendships. Civilian friends expected traditional work schedules—not you leaving at a moment's notice to hop on a C-17, fly around the world, and jump out of the plane at thirty thousand feet into hostile territory.
So, for DEVGRU's Blue Team, the end of a deployment was more of a relocation than a "see you later". It just meant that their family went from operating in the Middle East to kicking back at their favorite run down bar off base in Coronado.
"Alright, boys," Steve said as he clapped his hands together. "Seeing as I lost that little wager on whether or not Baahir Ali was gonna try to run, first round's on me. But after that, I'm not buying." The team cheered as Steve worked his way up to the bar to get their drinks. Sure, they were back in the good ol' U.S. of A, but he still had the Teams ingrained into him. He kept his head down, wore a ballcap to shade his eyes, and walked quickly, but not too quickly, as to not draw suspicion. He made his way to the old oak bar and rested his forearms on the wood. "Can I get two pitchers of whatever you got on tap? Something domestic." He asked the bartender.
"You look like I need a drink," a bouncing blonde said as she hopped up onto the barstool next to where he was standing. "You Navy?"
Steve grunted something unintelligible and put a little more space between him and the Frog Hog. Getting laid would be nice in between spin ups, but not with the bottom feeding bar trolls who were only interested in Team guys.
The blonde didn't take the hint. She reached out and gave his bicep a squeeze. "Or I can buy you a drink."
"Not interested," he clipped as he swatted her away. The girl harrumphed and crossed her arms, stomping away to try and bed her next victim.
"Can I get a beer?" Another woman had taken the blonde's place at the bar. She flashed the bartender a smile, "Whatever's on tap. Something domestic."
Something deeply embedded in Steve's brain lit up like a Christmas tree. It couldn't be. He was hallucinating. There was no way. The odds were impossible.
The bartender slid her a glass at the same time he delivered Steve the pitchers he had asked for. The woman smiled at the bartender and cocked her head towards Steve. "Thanks. Put it on his tab."
Steve's jaw dropped. The audacity of that woman. He was about to yell at the bartender to tell him that the crazy lady would be buying her own damn drinks. Every argument in his mind disappeared when she turned to him and tossed her long dark hair over her shoulder.
"Hey, Sailor," she grinned as she raised the glass to her lips and took a sip. "Thanks for making good on that beer you owed me."
He was dumbfounded. "You," he finally sputtered out. He looked around the bar and then back at her. Back into her mysterious whiskey eyes. "You're here."
"In the flesh," she smiled, obviously much more composed than he was.
Like a complete dope, he set the pitchers of beer back on the bar and extended his hand to shake hers. "Nice to finally meet you, ma'am."
She slid her hand into his. It fit like a key lodging inside of a lock. Like a puzzle piece clicking into place. "Pleasure to meet you too, Commander."
"Steve," he choked out, completely hypnotized by her. "Just Steve."
She let her hand linger in his. "Catherine," she said. "Just Catherine."
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Hello, you beautiful, wonderful unicorns!
I hope you're all doing well! I took a little break tonight from working on my next book to bring you a little Steve and Cath moment! I've been missing them lately! As always, tell me what you thought in the reviews!
Want to be friends? Follow me on Twitter and Instagram - XOMaggieWrites.
Want to read my books? Check out "The Stars Above Us" for a steamy, military romance, or "Poker Face" for a spicy, small town rom-com! Both are available on Amazon in paperback and ebook and on Kindle Unlimited!
You are fabulous, wonderful humans with an irreplaceable purpose. No one can be you, so don't try to be anyone else! Spread kindness, babes!
XO,
-Mags-
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