I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or its characters, it belongs to CBS and its creators.

Chapter Eight

It was so painfully quiet.

The monitor beeped steadily, sometimes there was soft talking outside between the nurses and doctors, or there was a Code Blue and loud shouts. But right now, it was quiet.

Steve knew he should sleep, he knew that very well, since it'd been almost twenty four hours he'd been awake, but the worry and concern was eating away at him. Alyx still wasn't awake, and the doctor said that they did give her some heavy medication and painkillers, and her body was also in shock. Occasionally, her fingers twitched or her legs twitched, but other than that, she was knocked out. A nurse would come by once and a while to check on them, do a routine of checking her IV drip, her vitals and her reflexes, and then leave. It was so painfully agonizing...

And then there was when he told Danny to leave them alone. God, he didn't know if he did it because he was angry, stressed, tired or annoyed, or all four, but he was really regretting it. Steve knew that everyone was careful about what they said about Alyx around him, and he knew that he shouldn't get angry because of only knowing her for two and a half months he already felt like this was her true person. Of course his team was going to have opinions about her, she shot him for Pete's sake! But if Steve could forgive her, then they should too, but once a person commits a crime, they'll always be a criminal in an officer's eyes.

Steve wondered if this fight would cause a rift between them and the restaurant and work, and he hoped not. He hoped that just maybe, just maybe, that Alyx could be forgiven and they could see how she really is and not be so overprotective of him. Okay, sure, he got shot. Yeah, he was healed and maybe a little traumatized after all that, but he finally made peace with himself after finding out about Kai and his daughter suddenly popping into his life, so maybe they would let it go...

Steve stood up, gently pushing Alyx's bangs out her face and stroking her forehead with his thumb. Then he leaned down and gently kissed her forehead, before sitting down and closing his eyes, drifting off into oblivion.

He only woke up because of rapid patting on his face.

Steve moved his head, burying his face into the sheets before lifting his head and looking around sleepily. When he landed on Alyx's face, and seeing her amused and curious face, he didn't know what to do as his brain processed her smirk.

"Well I know where I get my drooling from now." He immediately wiped his mouth, before perking up.

"You're awake!" He exclaimed and she smiled, nodding.

"My head and side hurts like a bitch, but I'm good." Steve shivered from excitement and hugged her, and she hesitantly hugged back, before relaxing and wrapping her arms around his torso and pressing her face into his neck.

"You scared me..." He whispered quietly and she smiled a bit, nuzzling her face deeper.

"Sorry..." She murmured and breathed in his scent. Alyx had to admit that his smell was one of her favorite's: the mix of the smell of the ocean's salty air, sweet smelling body wash and apple scented shampoo, it was the best scent she ever smelt, and that was saying a lot with all of the Japanese cuisine she grew up with. His hand ran across her hair, holding her head like she would vanish from his arms. His grip was comforting, strong and protective, and for the first time her adoptive father died, she felt like she had a father again, and this time the person holding her was her real father.

"You called me dad." He mumbled, breaking her thoughts.

Alyx quickly pushed away, turning red.

"I-I-I didn't mean to! I-It was, uh, it was... Just... I-I mean, it was on the spur of the moment, and when I saw him holding the gun, I panicked, so I-I-" He covered her mouth, laughing, making her blush darker.

"You're like Danny, you panic when you're lying." She raised her eyebrow. "Alyx, I'm a cop. I analyze people for a living." Alyx gently put her hand on his wrist, lowering his hand and keeping her fingers interlocked with his fingers.

"I-I'm sorry... Did it freak you out...?" Steve laughed and shook his head.

"No, are you serious? I thought I was hallucinating when I heard that, but after thinking about it..." He smiled, a pink tint coming to his cheeks, making her stomach flip. "I wouldn't mind if you called me dad sometimes."

Alyx couldn't help but cover her heart and hug him.

"Sometimes." She mumbled, and he laughed, wrapping his arms around her waist and moving them from side to side.

"Hey, Dad, can we get jello?"

Alyx flipped the page in the book before marking it and putting it on her tray, sighing in boredom. As fascinating as the book was, she was so bored. Steve had gone home to take a shower and feed his dog, which she got so excited about, but then saddened a bit later when she realized she would never meet him. The nurse came by every 30 to 40 minutes to check on her, but other than that, she was bored. At least there was a change of scenery from her depressing cell, so she guessed that was a plus.

Alyx was deciding whether or not to take a nap, when there was a knock at the door and she turned her head to see two of Steve's teammates in the doorway. What were their names again? Tani Ray and Junior Reigns, right...? Were they here to cuff her or to rearrest her?

"Hi." Tani greeted. "Sorry to intrude." Tani leaned in, looking for Steve.

"He went home to take a shower." Alyx managed out, which sounded pathetically weak. "Probably could find him there." Tani made an 'oh' with her mouth and then she and Junior stepped in fully, Junior holding a box from a bakery. The smell of pastries filled her nose and she gripped the blankets. As good as the chocolate pudding was here, she wanted something better than that.

"We, uh, we weren't looking for him." Junior said as they walked up to her bed. "We wanted to apologize." Alyx raised her eyebrow, tilting her head.

"For what?"

"Manhandling you like that." Tani said. "We watched all of the recordings of your visits with the boss man, and did some research on you." Alyx gave a small smile, rubbing her neck.

"It should be me apologizing. Sorry for elbowing you in the stomach, and sorry for punching you across the face. I panicked." They raised their eyebrows, like they weren't expecting the apology, which they probably weren't.

"Oh, it's fine." Tani said. "Kevlar protects against even elbows." Alyx smiled a tiny bit, glancing in between the two.

"We got you these." Junior said, walking over, without caution, and set the box on the bed, pulling apart the top and opening it to reveal coco puffs and Alyx nearly drooled.

"Have you had these before?" Tani asked and Alyx nodded.

"Once, when I came back to Hawaii to visit my birth mother when she was dying in the hospital." Alyx replied and they looked at each other. Alyx rubbed her cheek, looking in between them. "You... You don't have to be nice to me, you know..." They looked at each other again before shaking their heads.

"We want to be nice to you, out of our own will." Tani said. "Besides, uh... Kind of want to know how you took down an entire team of SWAT without killing them and managed to take us down in a very fast manner. And I understand that you're a Navy SEAL and all, but geez." Alyx blushed.

"I panicked."

"You're shitting me right?"

"No, I actually panicked. When you took my wrists and were about to bind me, I panicked. So yeah, I did that out of sheer panic."

They stared at her before Tani grinned.

"I'm liking you more and more."

Physical therapy was an absolute bitch.

Two months had passed and despite her absence from prison, the governor allowed access to only the hospital and outside for walks which were required by the doctor. Of course, she still had a detail on her but they were actually making an effort to hear her side of the story and getting to know her after multiple dirty looks caught by Steve. And Alyx and Steve were getting closer with each

And now, she was going back to prison, where there would be an in house doctor to call on her to make sure her wound was healing the way it should be healing.

"Well, I guess this is time for you to put the cuffs on me now." Alyx said, lifting her wrists to Steve as they waited for the prisoner transportation van. Steve stared at her before pushing down her hands.

"Nope."

"Dude, it's protocol, isn't it?"

"Yeah... Not anymore." Steve pushed her wheelchair to the bench, positioning it so he could sit in front of her, which he did.

"So what, since I'm the daughter of a Five-0 member I'm suddenly eradicated from everything?" She asked, crossing her arms with some pain, but decided not to show it.

"No." He replied, looking down and taking a breath. "After telling a long story to the governor about what happened, because she heard the other side of the story from somebody else, and she cleared you from all charges. You are no longer sentenced life in prison. You will have to go through parole, and you will be placed under my supervision, and it took a long time to clear all these charges, so use your free will wisely."

Alyx stared at him with wide eyes and clenched her pants, tears welling up in her eyes. Steve reached and cupped her face, smiling.

"You're free now..."