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
Virginia Beach, Virginia - 1999
Catherine laid back on the sand, soaking in the warm rays as the ocean breeze blew by. Sweat and sand were glued to her skin. She squinted and glanced at the time. Just a few hours until she had to be on base for her first briefing as an intelligence officer for DEVGRU.
She was both excited and terrified at the idea of being tapped into the inner workings of the long arm of justice. She had heard the stories of other female officers who had been strapped to SEAL Teams in the Naval Special Warfare Development Group. At best, they were treated with an air of indifference. At the worst, they were harassed out of the job.
She was prepared for the worst.
A few more minutes of soaking up some vitamin D before she ran back. It could be worse—she could have been stationed on a ship somewhere, motion sick and miserable.
Catherine pushed to her feet and dusted herself off. Time to head back. Before she could even take the first step, she heard someone shout, "Hey, lady! Heads up!"
A man with a short buzz of blonde hair had chucked a football farther than his friend could catch it. Local beach bums. They both had Hampton University shirts on and were too busy showing off their gym muscles to look where they were throwing the football. Catherine ducked a little too late. The ball hit her square in the forehead and she stumbled backward.
"Hey," Two strong arms came out of nowhere and wrapped around her waist. "Hey, I gotchu." Her good samaritan lowered her back to the ground, palmed the football, and threw a perfect spiral back to the beach bum douche canoes while kneeling beside her. He tossed the college kids a middle finger on her behalf, before turning his attention back to Catherine, who was sitting on the sand. "You alright?" There was a bright red welt left on her forehead from the football. He gently brushed his thumb across it and gave her a comforting, lopsided smile. "I think you'll be alright."
There was too much about her knight in shining armor to be distracted by to even think about responding to his questions. Her hero was shirtless and glistening. Hard stacks of muscles, bunched one on top of the other. Tattoos wrapped around tanned skin on both shoulders. He had the beginnings of a beard that made him look kind of like a cowboy and kind of like a mercenary. There was a gleam in his ocean eyes that was both alluring and untamed.
If she didn't know any better, Catherine thought that maybe he was a… Nevermind. She was just nervous for her first day.
"Um… Thanks," she said, snapping herself out of the daze. "That could've been bad."
His hands lingered—one cradling the back of her head, and one on her hip. His thumb teased the exposed strip of skin between her tank top and her running shorts. "You sure you're good?"
"Yeah. Um. Yes," she stammered. "I'm good. I should probably go."
He helped her up to her feet and lingered a moment, trying to gather the nerve to ask her for her number. Before he got a chance, the pager clipped to the waist of his gym shorts went off. He grabbed it and checked the message on the tiny screen. "Crap," he hissed, running his hand over his hair. "I, uh, I was hoping to talk you into grabbing a drink, but I gotta run."
"You a doctor or something?" She finally asked.
He smirked. "Or something."
Catherine hurried through the Naval Air Station, punching her personnel code into each door handle as she made her way deeper and deeper into the heart of the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Development Group headquarters. She'd barely had time to rinse off from her run before reporting to the base for her first briefing.
She shifted the stack of files into her left arm and shoved the door handle down, using her hip to push it open. Catherine held her head high as she walked into the briefing room and laid out the materials on the conference room table. One by one, the Navy SEALs she would be supporting filed in, led by Commander Joe White.
"Lieutenant Rollins, glad to have you with us," Commander White said as he took his place, standing at the head of the table. "Alright, boys. Listen up. This is our new intel specialist, Lieutenant Rollins. She's been transferred to us from DLIFLC where she finished up her language training in Pashto. She's your eyes and ears when it comes to getting solid intel that turns into successful missions, so let's try to avoid the hazing, shall we?"
The SEALs gave her a quick round of applause and a moderate amount of acknowledgement regarding hazing. She had no doubt the boys would put her through the wringer to see if she could hang with frogmen.
Catherine got through the briefing without too much trouble and Commander White dismissed the team to take care of their personal needs before reporting back to base to leave on their operation. She finished gathering her things and spun around to turn off the lights, nearly running smack dab into the very wide and very camouflage covered chest of one studly Navy Seal.
But those eyes. That beard. Those hands.
It was him.
"You," she whispered, stumbling backwards
He slammed the door behind him and stalked into the briefing room, tracking her like a predator. He crossed one thick arm over the other, flexing his biceps over his mile-wide chest. "Chance meeting, huh?"
"You were the one who came up to me on the beach," she countered. "Exactly what are you getting at anyway, McGarrett?"
"You're the genius, Rollins," he hissed.
She wrinkled her nose. "What's your problem anyway? Can't handle a woman being strapped with your team? Are you that much of a neanderthal?"
His eyes slowly trailed down her camouflage uniform. He knew what she looked like under all of that. And he'd never forget, either. His predatory gaze softened and he cracked a smile. Tapping her forehead, he teased, "Just wanna make sure the newbie doesn't have any head trauma."
She rolled her eyes and stifled a smile. "At least you're not one of those obnoxious jerks who carry around pagers because you think you're so important, Mr. Or Something."
He leaned down and chuckled darkly. "Can't exactly go around with my trident pinned to my forehead, now can I, Rollins?"
"You frogmen have a way of making yourselves known. You're not as covert as you think you are."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah."
He cracked a grin, "You gonna watch my six?"
Catherine shrugged and started back towards the door. "I'm going to watch everyone's six. That's my job."
McGarrett cut in front of her. "You ever worked with spec ops before?"
"Are you seriously asking for my resume? Do you think I would have been brought in if I wasn't qualified?"
"You seriously taking that tone with me, Lieutenant?"
Oh, Catherine's blood was boiling. Just who did he think he was? "You don't outrank me, Lieutenant McGarrett. So I suggest you check your attitude at the door before we board that C-17 in a few hours."
He grinned from ear to ear. A few hours in a cargo plane to Bogotá would be a hell of a lot of fun with her. She was feisty. "I'm just raggin' on you, Rollins," he said with a signature swagger. "I think you and I are gonna get along just fine."
"Guess we can't get that drink you wanted so bad now, huh?"
McGarrett grinned. "Tell you what. You give us actionable intel, and we get in and out safely—beers are on me."
Catherine shook her head as he left the room and headed towards the cages. Her pulse was at an all time high. As was her radar for sexual tension. Either she was going to marry that man or she was going to kill him. There would be no inbetween.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Read and review, loves! You know the drill!
Happy one year FanFic anniversary to me! It's crazy that a year ago today I sat down on my couch and typed out my first FF chapter! (Mumbai, if you're wondering!) We've come such a long way since then! Mumbai, O'ahu, Morocco, Throwing Darts, Pehea, Wild Card, and now 50FD! So, to celebrate, I had to revisit a little Steve and Cath banter.
I hope you're all doing well! Spread kindness, babes!
XO,
-Mags-
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