Sparks

"Hello, Duke. You got a body for me?" Grace asked as she got of the elevator at the 23rd floor. Max had gotten a call about a dead body at an office building in downtown Honolulu, but didn't have the opportunity to handle it due to two other cases and a trial, so he'd asked her to take the case. "This way," Duke said and walked through the glass doors leading to the offices that occupied the floor. "Victim is the CEO, Dale Peterson, his assistant found him when she got here this morning." He explained as he leads her through a maze of cubicles. As they approached the corner office, which she guessed belonged to the victim, she saw a familiar figure looking around the room.

Steve was looking around the office of Dale Peterson, seeing if anything seemed out of place, when he heard the glass doors open. "Here you go," he could hear Duke say before the doors closed again. As the person entered the room, he immediately knew who it was. Normally it'd be Max, but this time it was Grace. She smelled like a mix of vanilla and lavender, a smell he'd grown quite fond of during the two months they'd known each other. He could also sense her presence whenever she was in the room with him, he didn't really know how to explain it, he just felt her. It was like a magnetic field surrounded her or something.

"Morning, Commander." Grace said as he turned around to look at her and gave him a warm smile. "Steve," he replied with and equally warm smile. Grace couldn't help but feel a little giddy due to the fact that they were now apparently on a first name basis. "Only if you call me Grace." He nodded at her request before turning his attention back to the victim. "Dale Peterson, CEO and tech mogul. His assistant Lisa found him when she arrived this morning. She said she left before him last night and that he's wearing the same clothes as yesterday, so we know he didn't go anywhere else before he was killed." Grace took in all of the information while putting her bag down and kneeling next to the victim.

"Well from what I can tell cause of death is a gunshot to the heart, looks like a 9mm," she started before putting her hands under him and turning him away from her to look for an exit wound. There wasn't one, meaning the bullet was still in his chest. She gently put him back to the way he way laying before and grabbed some forceps from her bag. "There is no exit wound, which means that the bullet," she carefully used the forceps to try and get the bullet out. "Is still in his chest," she said as she pulled out a slightly deformed 9mm bullet." She took a look at the bullet through a magnifying glass to see if there were any fibers or residue on it. When she could find any, she put it in a small evidence bag and put it in her bag.

"The only other thing can I say so far is that the gun was presses into his chest when it was fired. There is gunpowder on his shirt and an abrasion ring is forming on his chest. I'll know more when I get him back to the morgue." She said and started folding out the body bag and rolling him onto it. Realising that she'd need help putting the body onto the stretcher, Steve got down to help her. They quickly got the body zipped up and onto the stretcher. Grace packed up her bag, double checking that she put the evidence bag with the bullet in there, and got up to start rolling the victim to the elevator.

Walking next to each other towards the elevator, Grace took the time to look over at Steve for a quick second. He looked tired, but focused. It was one of the things she admired most about him, no matter how tired he got or how hard things were he would always keep going. She thought back to one of the few times they'd shared a table at Wailana's, she knew he'd been exhausted after working for 16 hours straight without a break and even though the case was a tough one, he'd pretended like it was nothing and talked about Danny and how he was driving him crazy with his complaining about how Stan was spoiling Grace her too much. Knowing he'd never take a break before finishing something, made Grace feel like she had to tell him to slow down and take a breath. Maybe it just was her natural sense of overprotectiveness talking, but she knew she couldn't do it. It wasn't her job.

As they reached the elevator, most of the officers that had been guarding the floor was gone. There was one left to watch the crime scene until CSU and eventually the cleaners showed up. Steve pushed the button and the doors opened. He let Grace roll in the stretcher before he entered himself and pushed the button for the ground floor. "So no Danny today?" Grace asked, breaking the silence. "He's testifying in court today." Giving a smile and nod in return, Grace wished she knew what to do to make the elevator ride any less awkward, but the only thing she wanted to do was ask how we was doing and she knew she couldn't do that. It wasn't her place, they weren't friends, they were acquaintances who sometimes worked together.

Steve couldn't help but feel like he had to say something. He wasn't sure what, he just wanted to talk to her, about anything. The only sound was the steady beeping as the elevator descended floor by floor and Grace's almost silent breathing. All of a sudden a loud jarring sound came from above them as the entire elevator started shaking before making a big jolt and stopping completely. Trying to get the elevator to start again Steve pushed the button for the ground floor a couple times before pressing the alarm button, realising they were stuck. "Great," Grace muttered under her breath, making sure Steve couldn't hear her.

As the minutes went by the tension in the small space became more and more apparent, and it didn't take long before both Grace and Steve became desperate to get out. She rolled the stretcher all the way into to the back wall and slid down onto the floor, wanting to create as much distance between her and Steve as possible. Not wanting to sit down next to the dead body and not wanting to stand for much longer as the temperature in the elevator kept rising, his only option was to sit down next to grace. As he did, she could feel her own temperature rising due to the close proximity, and small droplets of sweat started appearing at the back of her neck. Not wanting to become a sweaty mess in front of Steve, she decided to take her blouse of, leaving her in only a tight fitting tank top.

The second she took her blouse of Steve stiffened and he felt the hair at the back of his neck rise. He took a quick look at her in his peripheral and gave her a once over. Her once knee long pencil skirt had risen to her mid-thigh and he could barely see a small line of lace from the top of her stockings. Her semi sheer, white tank top clung to her like a second skin and he could see the imprint of the lace on her bra. Her chest rose in a steady pace, making it hard for him to keep his eyes of her chest area. He had never been one to stare, but then again he wasn't used to being stuck in an elevator with the most beautiful women he'd ever met, whom he had an indescribable strong attraction to, even though he barely knew her.

Desperate to keep her attention away from the man next to her and the feelings she felt by him being so close to her, she decided to ask him something she'd been wondering about since the first time she heard it. "Where does the name Five-0 come from?" Surprised, but yet happy she broke the silence, Steve turned his head to meet her eyes. "It's what my dad used to call us. Since we weren't natives he wanted us to feel like we belonged somewhere or to something so he called us 5-0. It was the number I used on my jersey when I played football." He answered with a small smile, thinking back to when his parents were both alive and life was a lot easier.

"I heard about what happened to your dad from Max, I'm really sorry." Grace said without thinking much about it first. As she realised what she'd just said, she got nervous, wondering how he'd react. He smiled at her sentiment, and it even reached his eyes which was rare for him and took a deep breath. "Thank you," he'd never realised how little he had talked about his father and his death until now. And surprisingly enough he didn't feel uncomfortable about it. "What about you, what are your parents like?" He asked, steering the attention onto her.

Aware that this moment would come eventually, Grace didn't feel the usual level of gloominess when he asked her about her parents. She quickly glanced down at the floor before looking back up at Steve. "My mom died right after my 4th birthday, cancer, and my dad died when I was 10." Suddenly feeling like punching himself for bringing it up, Steve felt that feeling he'd had in the pit of his stomach since the day he'd met her grow. His expression softening noticeably, he gently put his hand over hers, ignoring the spark running up his arm as he did and gave her a look that told her everything she needed to know.

"So… uh… you know any good hiking trails? My regular run along the beach is getting a little boring and I could use some variety." It was partially true, she was getting bored with her regular route, but she also knew about several hiking trails and didn't really need any help finding them. Not really surprised she was a runner, considering her toned and athletic physique, Steve immediately thought of one specific trail.

"The Kolowalu Trail is my favourite. It's not the easiest trail, it's rocky and steep, but when you get to the top. There's no other feeling that compares. I was planning on going this weekend, if you want to join." He hadn't thought about what inviting her along would sound like or look like, but now that it was out there he couldn't take it back.

"I would love to," Grace said, accepting his invitation. He didn't have to know that she'd already planned on hiking that trail this weekend anyways. The thought of the two of them alone in the middle of nowhere, miles away from civilisation made her feel both nervous and giddy. "Great." Neither of them sure of what to say or what to do next, kept looking at each other. It wasn't in an uncomfortable way, it felt natural. Feeling like she could stare into his eyes forever, Grace noticed his hand was still on hers sending sparks through her entire body.

The tension in the small space kept rising to a point where you could cut through it with a knife, and they both just sat there looking at each other. Suddenly a sharp sound came from the doors, causing them to snap their heads in that direction. After a few seconds they heard the same sound again and the doors moved a little. Realising they were about to be rescued, they both jumped to their feet and Grace quickly pulled her blouse over her head again.. Feeling like something was missing, she looked down at her hand and saw that Steve's was not there anymore.

After a few more loud bangs and some rattling of the doors, they were finally pried open by the fire department. "Everyone okay," one of them asked Grace and Steve and they both nodded in return. Coming to realise that if she didn't get the body to the morgue as soon as possible it would start to smell and evidence would become corrupted, Grace picked up her bag from the floor and started rolling the stretcher out of the elevator. Some of the firemen held the doors of the building open for her and helped get it into the van. She quickly said thank you and headed to the front. Before she got in she caught a glimpse of Steve talking to some firemen and the police officer that was placed at the 23rd floor earlier and their eyes met for a second. As she closed the car door and turned on the engine she finally let out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding in.

A/N: I was planning on posting this yesterday(sunday), but things got a little hectic and I had to babysit my cousin so I didn't get to finish it.

Please leave a review if there is anything specific you want me to write about and of course if you liked it. Favs and follows is also greatly appreciated, it gives me more motivation to write and helps through writer's block(even though I don't have it yet)

Hope you enjoyed!

XOXO
Hannah