Author's Note: I would love to give credit where credit is due, thank you to Ava Waverly for the inspiration to start this story. I of course do not own anything Hawaii five-0 related to the characters or the show. I give all credit where credit is due. I am not making anything off of writing this. I do hope you enjoy.
Saraya McGarrett tightened the hold of her new Sitch backpack as the crowd began to grow around her as she waited patiently at the baggage claim. Each new person seemed to be in a bigger hurry to get nowhere than the last person to join the bustling and busy area of the Honolulu International Airport. She turned her head around trying to look between the people that were standing around her for any glimpse of her Uncle Steve. Saraya had met him once and even spoke to him a little at the meeting with the lawyer when he came over to the mainland to finish up the affairs that all the adults talked about after her father had been put in jail for the crimes that he had committed. Due to all the overwhelming emotion and the speed that everything was handled Saraya didn't even remember what they had spoken about all those weeks ago. She had pulled out the picture that she had of him before the flight landed so that she would remember what he looked like so she would be sure to recognize him, hopefully anyway.
Saraya caught sight of her two overstuffed normal sized luggage bags rolling towards her on the conveyor belt. She managed to pull the older blue suitcase off the belt, but found herself stumbling along the straight away trying to pull the black suitcase back towards her, cursing its weight and her very apparent lack of strength. She had been 7 years old when she watched her first avengers movie and became enthralled with the heroes and was determined that even though the black widow was completely fictional, she would grow up to be the next best thing. This had led to running around outside in tight black pants and top, holding a dowel rod three-feet long and using it as one would a staff to fight with. She also spent every Monday and Wednesday evening happily breaking boards and sparring at the local Taekwondo dojo. She spent every Tuesday and Thursday evening at the academy learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Classes came to a halt when her father had been arrested and she had been sent to a group home for emergency foster placement. Practicing kicks and punches had been replaced with therapy in uncomfortable chairs and watching a lot of crappy reruns on television. Saraya had regretted missing her classes because of the abuse allegations and being stuck in a group home where all of her fitness routines were considered violent, but her loss of physical fitness was just another brick added on the pile of shit she had to deal with.
A muscular arm suddenly reached past her, grabbing her bag and lifting it easily up and off the belt before lowering it to the ground on its bottom end on the wheels. Saraya felt herself steadied from behind as she regained her balance and footing on the floor. She turned to face her rescuer which happened to be her Uncle. "Hello, Thank you" she said feeling completely out of her element. Uncle Steve was tall, probably 6'0-6'1 with dark colored hair and dark blue eyes, and he was obviously very fit and strong. This wasn't really a shock, she thought she remembered her case worker saying he was a cop or in the military or something. She caught a glimpse of his gold badge hanging on his belt and the hand gun holster on his hip confirmed it.
"Aloha Saraya" She was startled when she felt him putting something over her head, it turned out to be this beautiful purple and pink flower necklace. "How was your trip?" he spoke as he lifted both of her suitcases with ease and turned towards the exit of the airport.
"Oh, fine, I'm good." Saraya hurried to turn on her heels and quickly catch up and keep pace with her Uncle. They reached the midnight blue silverado and Steve lifted her two suitcases into the back of the truck behind his seat, then walked around and opened the door for her to get in, he offered her his hand to help make sure she didn't fall when climbing up into the cab of the truck. She tucked the backpack down onto the floorboard between her feet. She wrinkled her nose a bit because of the starck difference between the floral scents of the lei and that new car smell coming from the air freshener in his vent. She hadn't been in anything this new in awhile, the last car she was in was the old sedan that her friend Brooke's mom had. Her and Brooke had secretly learned how to drive that car in an old abandoned shopping mall lot because Brooke's mom could never stay sober enough to take them anywhere. She smiled at the memory of Brooke and that old car.
Steve slid into the driver's seat and started the truck. Once they were on the way out of the airport parking lot, Steve nodded over to the cup holder that was holding a purple iphone. "That's for you."
"Oh." Saraya said surprised. "I can't afford this." she stated. She held it in her hand. It was much nicer than anything she had in the past. "Don't worry about the money, I want you to have it," Steve said as he noticed the apprehension in his new charge's face and body. "Thanks" she said quietly as she started playing with the settings and setting her home and lock screens. She made sure to enable the biometric fingerprint scanner to operate the phone. Steve noticed this as he was driving, nodding in approval.
"My number's programmed in there, as are the numbers of my team. Just in case you need anything. It's also set to recognize my print as well, just so you're aware." Steve said in casual conversation. He couldn't help but wonder if he was telling her too much at the current time.
"Uh...sure, ok." Saraya stated as she stared down at the new phone, unsure of what to think about him having access to it. Something else had caught her attention when he was talking. "Your team?"
"Yes, I was on a task force, we are called Five-0, the governor's task force. It's made up of several other people, some permanent places and some that come and go as needed." He explained. As if their ears were burning, Steve's cell phone rang. "McGarrett." Steve listened briefly as he listened to the person on the other line. "How long? Ok listen I've got to drop my niece off at the house, then I will be there. Have HPD seal off the perimeter." Steve stepped down on the gas causing his truck to pick up speed quickly. Saraya heard Steve curse under his breath as he started bobbing and weaving out of the high traffic flow.
"Is everything uh...ok?" Saraya asked as she checked the tightness of her seatbelt.
Steve blew out the breath he wasn't aware that he was holding, he gave her a regretful look. "Listen, I'm really sorry to do this to you on your first day here on the island. I can't predict when a case is going to require my task force's attention or when we are going to catch a case. I'm going to have to drop you off at the house and then I've got a crime scene I have to get to. You can watch TV and order a pizza if you want. Just keep the doors locked and stay inside."
"Uh ok, whatever" Saraya said feeling her own mood and spirit start to drop. Steve made a sudden turn into a driveway of a two story house. Saraya had barely grabbed her backpack before her uncle had both of her suitcases up and out of the truck and through the front door. Saraya broke into a light jog to quickly catch up to her Uncle. He had started up the stairs once he reached the top of the stairs there was a door to the right. "This is your room. It has its own bathroom." He then pointed through the sun room, "through that room is my room." He set her bags down inside her bedroom and turned to her, "Here's some cash, there's a magnet on the fridge for the number for pizza. Remember to keep the doors locked, I'll be back as soon as I can okay?" Steve turned on his heels without waiting for a response from her and before she knew it he was down the stairs and she heard the front door shut.
She followed the stairs down to the main floor and locked the front door as instructed. "Great" she thought to herself. Saraya became very aware of her current surroundings and the silence and emptiness around her. Taking a deep breath she returned upstairs to her new room. She was slightly excited at the prospect of decorating her own room. Her old room at her house was very much still a little girl at its core with its princess wallpaper and all the dancing ballerina stuff on the walls. Her foster home room hadn't been much better it was very simple with offwhite walls and a simple desk and chair along with a bed. The group home didn't allow for individuality.
Saraya took inventory of the room, she felt her stomach sink as she realized how much this room looked like her group home room. The biggest differences being that at least the furniture in this room didn't completely suck. The headboard and the bookshelves matched an old fashioned armoire that looked to be made of a pretty white wood, the wallpaper was a faded monstrosity with old beach scenes. There were seashells and sand dollars that were framed hangin on the walls. It looked great for an old folks home. But it would have to due for now, at least until she could make the money to do a total makeover of it, that was if Steve would even allow that.
Saraya sank down on the mattress of the bed while noticing that the bedding also matched the walls of the room with its faded underwater themed blanket on the bed and the pearl blue sheet that accompanied it. The mattress sank under her weight which she didn't find to be uncomfortable. She took a deep breath to keep from letting the emotions over run her now that she was alone. A light breeze blew in from behind the white curtains that were hanging in the window, Saraya hadn't even noticed that the window was open until then. She got up and went to the window, pushing the curtain aside and her breath was taken away at the view in front of her. The ocean was literally in her new home's backyard. That was amazing to her, there was a small beach area out back leading to the water. Saraya calmed her racing heart as her emotions had started to calm down again and she forced herself to listen and look out at the ocean. She could hear the low crashing of the waves against the beach, she watched as the waves crashed into the unforgiving ground and watched as they returned to the ocean. She saw a few birds flying in the sky. It was a very clear day today, not many clouds in the sky. Saraya wasn't used to that, where she came from on the mainland the weather was unpredictable and hot. The heat here seemed different, there was no humidity so it was a dry heat. She hoped that it wouldn't be too hard to learn to swim in the ocean, she could swim in a pool or lake just fine but she had never swam in the ocean before but she knew that the sea was a different kind of beast altogether. She remembered that she had only packed the one swimsuit, thinking about that now, she knew that she would need more than one if she planned on doing anything in the ocean.
Just then a grumble from her tummy reminded her that she hadn't eaten since she had left for the airport the day before, she had left her home airport at 11pm the night before, it was a 14.5 hour flight from her home state of Indiana to her new home of Honolulu, Hawaii. She had arrived at the airport at 8pm so that she made sure there was enough time to get through everything and be on time for her departing flight. She had arrived in Honolulu at 7 a.m. but it was actually 1:00 p.m. the next day by her current watch which was still set to Eastern Standard Time, when she landed on the island her new phone alerted her to the new time zone she would need to familiarize herself with. She adjusted her watch to the current time, matching it up with her new phone. She hadn't realized that there was this much of a time difference between her old home and new, it was a 6 hours difference. Her tummy grumbled again.
Saraya made her way downstairs heading towards the kitchen. She was able to take in her surroundings better now that she wasn't rushing around. The house had a very open floor plan, it was very neat and kept up. Nothing looked out of place, the walls were mostly neutral colors, the living room was done in a soft beige color on the walls and a copper color wood flooring. It had a very nautical theme to it. The furniture was dark brown leather in the living room, it had a tv that was at least 60 inches if not more from what she could tell standing by the couch. A matching Recliner and loveseat and sofa all matched the coffee table and the entertainment center that the tv was sitting on. Saraya noticed a study and what looked like a dining area ahead of her, followed a lanai leading out to the beach area of the back yard. She then turned to head towards the kitchen, noticing another bathroom on her way to the kitchen. Taking in everything so far, it was hard to tell she was living with a bachelor as it was very kept up, free of clutter, and seemed to be organized and almost perfect in a sense. Saraya then remembered an old picture that hung on her mother's bedroom wall of a group of guys, they were wearing some type of uniform. Things started coming back to her as she thought about that, she remembered that her mother had said that Steve had served in the military, Navy she thought. She remembered her mom talking about how proud she was of Steve and everything that he had done in the coming days of her death. She had told Saraya many stories, but they didn't make much sense at the time, but now they had started to.
A.N- Well please send me a review if you like it, love it, or hate it. In the next chapter we delve into saraya's former life back on the mainland and see what eventually lead her to Steve and his Ohana.
