Steve woke up to the sound of the waves crashing onto the shore. A week ago, there was a storm, and it seemed like it was finally moving away from the island. He got out of bed slowly and carefully, making sure not to wake his partner. Danno was grumpy in the morning if he hadn't slept as long as he wanted.

Steve walked to his dressed and put on a pair of swimming shorts. He walked out of the room, grabbing a towel from the linen closet on his way, and made it out on the lanai. The sky was clear with the beginning touches of sunrise.

He walked into the ocean until the water reached his mid-chest. He made a small jump in a pseudo-dive. The water moving past him always had a way of making him feel at home. He felt like he could be out there for hours but couldn't. He stayed in the water until he saw the sun further up in the sky. He slowed down, taking a few cool-down laps before walking out.

Steve made his way up the slope to the house, grabbing the towel from one of the patio chairs. He rubbed the fabric through his hair quickly. He opened the sliding door again and was greeted by the smell of coffee. Danny had his back toward him as he grabbed a cup of coffee. He was dressed in his usual attire of dress pants and a shirt. Steve was walking toward him when the Jersey native spoke up for the first time that morning.

"If you try and hug me while you're still wet, you will sleep on the couch for a week."

"I wasn't going to do that," Steve tried the assure him.

The blond man glanced over his shoulder as if daring Steve to continue along that train of thought. Steve gave him his innocent I'm-not-trying-anything look that Danny didn't believe for one minute.

"Go take a shower before we are late for work. Again."

Steve didn't bother giving Danny a response. He knew they would be late if he continued along his line of thinking. He raced up the stairs and into the bathroom, not even bothering to close the door behind him. He dressed in a T-shirt and cargo pants. He strapped his holster to his thigh and jogged his way downstairs.

Dany was still in the kitchen with a bowl of cereal in front of him. He looked much more awake than he had before. Steve walked up to him and hugged him from behind.

"Get off of me, you animal," Danny muttered.

"But you're so huggable," Steve joked.

"You haven't even had coffee. You are much too awake."

Steve continued to stand behind Danny, taking whatever bits Danny offered him while Danny leaned back against his chest. The moment was interrupted but the ringing of Steve's phone. He picked it up, not looking at the ID, saying "McGarrett" sternly into the phone.

"Good morning, Commander," Governor Denning's voice came over the speaker. "I would like for you to come to my office this morning."

"For any specific reason?" Steve asked, going over what Five-O had done since his last meeting with the governor to warrant this. Nothing came to mind.

"You'll find out when you get here."

Denning didn't bother saying goodbye. He just hung up the phone.

"Who was that?" Danny asked.

"Denning. He wants to talk about something."

"Maybe it has something to do with the grenade you threw into a suspect's car."

"It wasn't a grenade; it was a smoke bomb. I wouldn't have done it if he would have just stopped driving."

Danny just shook his head in despair. Yes, Steve had calmed down some, but he still has his moments. He moved to stand up and put the bowl in the sink to clean later that night.

"Time for you to go to Denning's, which means I actually get to drive my own car today."

He walked to the front door with Steve trailing behind him. They each grabbed a set of keys from the bowl next to the door. Before Danny could open the door, he felt himself being turned around and pushed into the door. He looked up to see Steve's playful face directly in front of him.

"You're such a neanderthal," he informed Steve,

"You love me anyway," Steve said cheekily.

"I don't know what's wrong with me. Probably all of the explosions you've put me through."

Steve leaned his head against Danny's and captured his mouth in a kiss. He prevented himself from making it deeper as they both had places to go. Once they started to lose their breaths, they let each other go and gasped for air.

"Well, good morning to you too," Danny said as he gained the ability to breathe again, "but we really need to go. I really don't want to hear you complaining about how Denning was mad at you for being late." Danny gently pushed Steve off of him and opened the door.

"I wouldn't have been late," Steve noted.

"After putting the entire island at risk with your driving, I would hope not," Danny called over his shoulder.

He hopped into the Camaro and waved goodbye to Steve before taking off to the Five-O headquarters. Steve followed suit after locking the door and setting the alarm. He hopped into his truck and went the familiar path to City Hall. Steve had been there so many times that he could practically find his way there with his eyes closed.

He entered the practically empty parking lot soon after leaving. He walked the way to the building, surveying his surroundings as he went. A couple of people walked along the sidewalk, either talking on their phones or tourists going site-seeing.

Steve walked into the building, feeling the cold air punch him in the face. For whatever reason, this building always had the air conditioning turned up way too high. He walked over to the receptionist, who looked at him with an unimpressed look. She pointed for him to sit on the couch and went back to work as he followed her order.

He sat in the comfortable couches that were lying around the lobby. There were a couple more people there wearing professional attire. He jiggled his led as he waited. There was no telling when Denning would actually call for him. He looked at the magazines that were sitting on the tables. They were ones he had read before while waiting for; there was nothing new he could glean from them. In his head, he started to imagine dismantling his weapon, cleaning it, and putting it back together again. He repeatedly did this with the many weapons he had used over the years when the receptionist called him over.

"The governor is ready to see you now," she said.

Steve walked down the hallway to the governor's office and walked right in. The governor was at his desk writing on some document. The man didn't look up as Steve walked in.

"I'm glad you could make it, Commander. We have something to discuss."

"And that would be?" Steve asked him,

"Why don't you sit down," Denning ordered Steve, finally looking up at the man.

Steve took a seat in the chair in front of him, uncomfortable at having his back to the doorway. Once he was sitting, Denning continued.

"Commander, I have some concerns that I would like to discuss with you. Now, I realize you will not let me exactly place a new person on your team per se, but I would still like more oversight."

"What problems are you seeing?" Steve asked blankly.

"Nothing too special. Problems that most police departments go through, especially those that are lacking personnel. There is a major backlog of all kinds of reports that a normal precinct would not have without a major investigation. Now, I have already given you and your team some major leeway with your investigation, but some people are questioning you. Now, you were in the military; just think of this being civilian oversight. They won't be investigating, just doing administrative duties."

"I'm guessing that you already have someone in mind."

"I do. In fact, you can meet her right now." Denning turned toward the phone on his desk. He pressed a button, saying, "Bring her in," after a buzz was heard.

Two minutes later, the door was slowly opened. Steve turned behind him and saw who was coming in. The woman seemed to be peaking around the door rather than coming in. She had blonde hair tied up in a bun and seemed to be wearing a suit jacket.

"Please, come in," Denning told the woman.

She slowly walked in and waited for a beat before closing the door behind her.

"Commander, this is Claire Sullivan. Ms. Sullivan, I would like for you to meet Commander Steve McGarrett."

"Hello," Clair said while holding out her hand. "I recognize you from the news."

"Nice to meet you as well," Steve said while shaking the woman's hand.

"Now, there is some information I would like to talk to the two of you about," Denning said, gesturing for Claire to sit in the other seat in front of him.

"Okay," she said timidly as she went to sit. "I'm a bit confused as to why Commander McGarrett is here. I thought I was just going to be another personal assistant."

"you will. You'll just be the personal assistant for Five-O. You'll be working under the capacity of my office for them. You will be doing all of the administrative tasks. You were the most qualified and experienced of all the applicants. Instead of hiring multiple people, I will be hiring only one. I didn't write the exact position because I didn't want the wrong people applying for the job."

"I guess that makes sense," Claire told him. "Did you know about this?" she asked Steve.

"I found out just before you walked in."

"I knew he would try and refuse if he knew beforehand," Denning explained. "Now, you've already signed all of the forms, so everything is going to be left to you. I trust the two of you will make it work. Now, are there any questions I can answer for the two of you?"

The room was quiet for a bit before Steve heard a rustling beside him. Claire was sitting there, staring out into the air while she was thinking. Before she could ask what it was, a fluffy white cat jumped into her lap before jumping on Denning's desk. The cat made a small little circle before it made itself comfortable, looking toward the two in front of it.

"You have a cat?" Steve asked abruptly.

"Yes," Claire said. "Will this be a problem? Is anyone allergic?"

"Why do you have a cat?"

"He's my ESA. He's been trained and everything, so there's nothing you should worry about. He never misses his litterbox, and I'm completely willing to clean up after him if something were to happen."

"I'm sure that the commander can work around that," Denning said to them. More forcefully at Steve, he continued. "It is against federal law to discriminate against someone with a support animal."

"As long as it doesn't mess with a crime scene, I have no problem with it," Steve said reluctantly. Steve's food started ringing, and he felt relief swell inside of him. "McGarrett," he said into the phone."

"Got called into a scene that Duke wants us to look into," Danny's voice came from the other end. "And, no, this isn't to get you out of your meeting with Denning."

"Where is it at? I'll meet you guys there." Danny rattled off an address that Steve quickly put into his memory before he hung up. "I have a case to get to," Steve said, standing up, preparing to leave as soon as dismissed.

"That's fine, Commander," Denning said. "I've said all I would like to discuss with you."

Turning toward Claire, he said, "I trust that you can make your way to the office on your own."

"Umm," Clair said with a blush on her face, "I don't have a car, and it's a couple of miles away."

Both men looked at her with strange looks on their faces. Denning was the first to speak up.

"How have you been getting here then?"

"The bus stop's about a ten-minute walk from here. Unfortunately, the bus stop over there had been rerouted somewhere else for the rest of the week. Something about construction."

"I'm sure that McGarrett can give you a ride to the office from here," Denning told the woman. "You may leave now."

Hearing the clear dismissal in his voice, Claire stood up and grabbed her cat from Denning's desk and would have run to the door had it not been for the heels she was wearing. Steve followed after her, his long legs keeping up with her easily.

"I'm sorry about this," Claire said. "I'm probably intruding and what-not."

"If it wasn't you, it would have been someone else."

Steve knew that Denning would have something cooked up for him for a while. It was just a matter o time before he was let in on it.

"I suppose. Doesn't mean I don't feel bad and what-not."

"There's nothing we can really do about it now, so we might as well back the most if it," Steve told her. "I'm also assuming that the position came with a background check."

"Yes, I've had to practically unbury my entire life with the amount of paperwork and identification they asked for. Not having a driver's license or passport didn't make that easy in the slightest."

"You don't have a passport?" Steve asked her.

In today's time, it was practically unthinkable that someone wouldn't have one. It made him instantly suspicious.

"I don't have the money to go anywhere, so why would I waste money on a passport?"

It was a reasonable answer, Steve thought grudgingly. They had reached the outside by this point. Steve was happy not being stuck in the heavily air-conditioned room. He quickly walked over to where his truck was parked, knowing that Claire would follow closely behind him. He would like to be at the crime scene as soon as possible and feel for the area. He unlocked the truck and quickly hopped into the driver's seat. Claire put her cat into the truck first before lifting herself in the passenger's seat. Once buckled in and settled, Steve quickly raced to the crime scene. Clair, not use to his driving, had her hands gripped against the door and glove box in front of her in fear. Steve couldn't help but feel a little bit of satisfaction but didn't let it show. Maybe if he showed he was as off-kilter as Danny thought he was, she would leave, and Denning would forget about this little experiment.

Steve reached the crime scene in record time. He parked his truck behind the Camero that was already present. On the other side of the street, he saw Lou's SUV and Kono's tiny car. Steve took the keys out of the engine and opened the door.

Over his shoulder, he said, "Don't move."

Before he could close the door behind him, he heard her mimicking him. Behind him, he heard the door opening. Instead of getting out of the truck as he expected, she just unbuckled herself. She got comfortable, seeming to be talking to the cat in her arms. Steve walked ahead, making sure to gather everything he could from the scene.

It was a nice neighborhood, all things considered. The only thing seeming to disturb the peace was the string of vehicles that lined the street. He walked into the house that he was led to. Everything was clean and immaculate from the looks of things until he took a couple of more steps inside. Directly to his left was Kono, leaning over a pool of blood, looking at things that we're settling in the liquid.

"What do we have?" Steve asked as he walked up to her.

Kono stood up and gave him the rundown.

"Wife comes in this morning, back from a business trip and sees this pool of blood immediately when she comes home. She goes looking around for her husband, who's nowhere in sight. Called HPD immediately."

"Any specific reason why we were called?"

"This buy, Bernard Lowry, works for the DoD and works on a lot of contracts. He is a handy person to kidnap if someone wanted to get information of any kind. I've been trying to figure out what's in the blood. It's weird; that's all I can say. We'll probably need the techs to identify it."

Behind Steve, he heard heavy steps coming down from the stairs behind him.

"Well, other than the blood, there are no other signs of disturbance, Lou said. "Wallen wasn't touched, and buncha valuables were still present. I would say he was grabbed and put up a fight on the way out."

"No signs of forced entry, meaning that he opened the door for his kidnappers," Chin continued.

From another area of the house, Danny walked in, looking at a stack of mail.

"Any signs of threats?" Steve asked him.

"Nope, just a bunch of bills and junk mail," Danny informed him. "Our best option would be to find out why he would have been taken." Danny put the mail on the small table that was beside him. "Now, you have to tell us what Denning wanted."

"Yeah, brah," Kono agreed. "He usually doesn't call you first thing in the morning."

"Apparently, he is not completely satisfied with how we're doing, so he decided to put in someone to babysit up," Steve responded.

"I would have thought he would have learned that doesn't work for us," Chin said with a blank look on his face. If you looked at him closely, you could see the gears running through his head.

"So, do we get to meet them?" Lou asked.

"She's outside," Steve answered.

"She?" Kono whopped. "I won't be alone!"

The four guys chuckled at her. She often mentioned that more women should be, but they never could agree on a good fit for their team.

Steve led the team outside as everyone else took their gloves off and threw them in a nearby container that the techs brought. Steve walked along the sidewalk back to his truck, where he noticed that the door was still wide open. Through the window, they could see the woman fanning herself with her hand. Kono was the first one to reach the truck and instantly started talking to her.

"Hi!"

The woman screeched in shock at the newcomers she hadn't noticed walk up to her. After calming down a bit, she responded.

"Hi...," she said, unsure of herself as she saw the four other guys coming up to them.

"I'm Officer Kono Kalakaua. You can just call me Kono."

"Claire Sullivan," the woman responded. "I just go by Claire."

"So the guys who are awkwardly standing there are Danny Willimas, Chin Ho Kelly, Lou Grover, and I guess you've already met Steve." The guys waved hello as Kono pointed to each of them. "So, what are you going to be doing?"

"I'm pretty much going to be the overworked secretary, I guess," Clair informed the group.

"What do you mean by that?" Chin asked.

"Governor Denning wants to me to do all the scheduling of events, payroll, making sure paperwork is sent out in a timely manner, purchase supplies, keep a log of everyone who comes in and out, be the first person of contact if anyone calls you, and probably more that he just hasn't come up with."

Claire said all of this in one breath. Everyone was looking at her in shock at the amount of work that was now on this woman's shoulders.

"You're doing the job of about five people," Lou told her.

"When I signed the paperwork, I assumed there would be other people around to help me with all of this, but apparently not. I'm supposed to be making your lives easier, and what-not, but at least the pay is good."

At this point, the cat sitting on Clair's lap let itself be known, making an annoyed meow at the people in front of them.

"Aww, who's this little guy?" Kono asked her.

"This is Stitch. He gets really sassy when he's not the center of attention."

Kono went closer up to the cat and started petting down his back. The cat lets out a satisfied purr at the attention he was now receiving.

"Well, you can always ask us for help," Kono continued. "Or Jerry. I'm not exactly sure what he does during the day."

"That would be great. Thanks."

"Us girls need to stick together." Turning toward her cousin, Kono announced, "Chin, you've been kicked out of the car. I'm going back with my new best friend."

She looped her arm into Claire's as she helped the woman out of the truck. Claire giggled as the two headed for the other side of the street. In a fake whisper that everyone could hear, Claire said:

"Thanks for that. I really don't want to see my breakfast again."

"This will be interesting," Chin informed the members of the group left.

"We really don't need Kono making another version of herself," Lou agreed. "We should probably go after them before they get too far."

Lou and Chin ran away to the SUV to go after the women quickly, leaving Steve and Danny standing alone.

"You've been quiet," Steve noted. "That's unusual for you."

"I think I knew her."

"Really?" Steve asked with interest.

"I feel like I know her; I just can't place it."

"The governor did a background check, but we can always have Chin do a deeper search. He had it sound like it was random, but anything is possible."

"That'd be a good idea. I'll feel better once I could place her," Danny looked at Steve gratefully. "For now, we have a kidnapping to solve. See you at the office, babe."

Danny finished by giving Steve a small smirk, giving the Camaro keys a slight shake. Steve just shook his head, letting Danny have it for just today, before heading to the other side of his truck.