A/N: This was meant to be part of Chpt 1, but I'm not computer savvy enough to do what I intended to do. This chpt is much longer than the first. Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoy!

Chpt 2: Across the Border

Across the border, Cpt. Franc Bama safely landed his old faithful. Lori stood back as Danny and Joe helped Steve from the helo as gently as possible. He was in pain, that was obvious, but his color was good and he could stand on his own. Kono sprinted off the porch and, reaching Chin first, threw her arms around his neck. They exchanged a quick few words and Kono turned her attention to Danny and Steve. Lori watched as Kono exchanged hugs with the two remaining men from her team. She thanked Joe with a friendly pat on the shoulder and nodded her thanks to the SEAL Team9 members. Lori smiled warmly as the scene unfolded in front of her. She couldn't deny the longing she felt to be a part of this group and lamented at the damage, not only physical, but emotional, that Agent Kaye had inflicted. With her arms wrapped tightly around her chest, she headed for the cabin porch. Bama, Joe, and Steve loaded into Bama's jeep and, she assumed, headed for town to find medical help. Chin was the first to join her on the porch.

"Hey, you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. You all had the hard job. Anybody else hurt?"

"Nope. We came, we saw, we conquered."

"That you did."

"I heard you did some pretty fancy shooting up there."

"Lucky shot," she scoffed.

"Damn lucky, at that."

Danny and Kono made their way to the porch. "We're all heading back to town. Bama said there are rooms over the bar where we found him. Not much to look at, but he says they're clean enough. We meet the transport plane tomorrow morning."

Danny piped in. "Hold on, hold on, what exactly does Captain Bama Sparrow consider 'clean enough'? Because, from where I'm standing, this guy's personal hygiene habits leave, well, an enormous amount to be desired. I'm just saying."

"Hey, Brah, anything under roof is better than out there in the jungle," Chin offered with a grin.

"I'll give you that." Danny conceded.

Hours later, Steve, Joe, and Bama joined the rest of the group at Bama's bar.

"Hey, look who's back," Danny shouted over the crowd. They all turned to see the three men approaching. Steve was stiff, but he seemed to be ok. " You guys hungry? I'm not sure what we ate but..."

"It was..." Chin began, but Danny cut him off.

"I don't want to know, but... It wasn't too bad if you're hungry."

"No thanks," Joe answered, "we had a burger in town."

"A burger," Danny questioned with his hands in the air. "Really, Bub?" He rolled his eyes at Steve. "What, saving your sorry ass doesn't even rate a burger these days?"

Bama lifted a plain white bag clearly full of greasy burgers. He dropped it in the middle of the table and stepped back. The group dove at it like they were the last burgers left on earth. Lori watched as a gratified smile graced Steve's battered face. He and Joe shared a laugh and Lori felt the warmth that passed between them. Lori was seated at the end of the tables that the group had pushed together. Steve caught site of her watching he and Joe. Her smile was just a little sad. Joe and Bama walked past him to join the group and grab a beer. Steve circled around behind Lori and leaned in over her shoulder, "You ok?"

She twisted in her chair to face him. "Shouldn't I be asking you that question?"

"I'm fine. No permanent damage."

"Good," she said and gave him a warm smile.

Steve stepped back and nodded to a corner away from the group, "Could I talk to you for a minute?"

Lori furrowed her brow in question, but stood to follow him.

He half stood and half sat on the tall stool at the bar. He winced a little as he maneuvered into a comfortable position. Lori instinctively reached for him but stopped just short of touching him, remembering him recoil from her hug in the jungle. She shoved her hands in her back pockets and took a deep breath. "What's up?"

Steve's eyes swept across her face and he clasped his hands in his lap. He started to speak, but Lori cut him off.

"I'm sorry about earlier."

Steve was caught off guard. "What?" he asked in confusion.

Lori was chewing on her bottom lip. She shifted her weight to one hip and wrapped her arms around her chest. "I was just so glad to see you. I reacted without thinking. It won't happen again."

Steve shook his head trying to understand. "Wait," he paused. "You think I'm upset because you hugged me?"

"Aren't you?"

Still confused, Steve furrowed his brow and asked, "Why would I be upset with you for hugging me?"

"Well," she began, "considering you were just betrayed by an outsider that you had accepted into the fold, so to speak, I think, being an outsider myself, I overstepped my boundaries."

"But you're not an outsider," he said as he placed a hand on her hip. His sincerity caused an unexpected lump to well in her throat. "You risked you're life to come and get me."

"I stayed in the helo," she said flatly, looking away from his intense stare.

"From what I understand, you blew the bridge that caused the convoy to turn around." The corners of his lips turned upward with approval as her eyes flashed back to his. She instinctively wet her lips in response to his cocky little grin.

He searched her eyes to try and discern just what it was she was thinking. "You think we don't trust you?" It was really more of a statement than a question as he began to understand what was running through her mind. He again winced as he stood from the stool. He bent just a little to try and find her eyes as his other hand found her waist. "Lori?"

She shifted her weight to her other hip. "You have no reason to trust me. I mean," her eyes dropped back to the floor. "I feel like I was making progress with the team, but... I'm not exactly the warm and fuzzy type." Her eyes swept back to his when she heard him chuckle and she immediately missed his touch as his hands fell back to his sides. Her hands went back to her rear pockets. "As a profiler, I worked mostly by myself. It was just me and my intel, you know? I'm not always sure how to function as a part of a group. And, now, after all of this... Well, it's bound to make trust an issue."

Steve crossed his hands over his chest and adopted a wide legged stance as he gathered his thoughts. "Look," he urged and waited for her to lift her eyes to his. "I didn't do anything to make your transition to FiveO any easier than it already was. It was clear that neither one of us wanted you there". He caught her chin as she started to drop her gaze. Lifting her eyes back to his, he continued, "But, I'm glad you're here. Not just here now, but here with us as a part of the team. You have to understand, you came along at a tough time for us. The team had been disbanded and then put back together after the governor was killed. We were feeling really protective of one another; We didn't know what was happening with Kono and... in trying to protect her, we shut you out". He shrugged. "It's what family's do". He paused, searching her eyes to see if she was with him. This time she held his gaze and gave him a small nod of understanding. "Since then, I think things have been going pretty well, don't you?"

She snorted at his sardonic tone and returned the big goofy grin he shot her. "Yeah, I think so," she conceded. She took in a deep breath as her smile faded and her tone returned to all seriousness. "I just want you to know that, even though you didn't ask for me, I'm here to help however I can, and I'll be here until the Lt. Governor pulls me..." She paused not sure she should continue, but "as long as we're being honest" she thought. " You know he asked me to report to him concerning FiveO activities."

"I figured as much."

They surveyed each other for a moment. "I've sent him three reports. Would you like to know what they said?"

"I don't know... would I?"

"I'll send you copies when we get home."

"Deal"

Lori nodded in acceptance. "Listen," Steve began, "for what it's worth, you give pretty good hugs". It was her turn to chuckle. "How about another one?" he asked as he opened his arms to her, and then reached for her sensing her hesitation. She felt her arms circle around his neck without having made the decision to do so. She also felt his arms close around her waist. The heat of his touch on the exposed skin of the small of her back sent sparks up and down her spine and made her stomach do a little flip flop. "Where did that come from," she wondered. They held each other for longer than what was maybe prudent, each needing the contact. Reluctantly, they parted and, without a word, Lori turned back to the group of friends celebrating in the middle of the bar. Steve carefully fell back onto the barstool and watched the celbration. He felt an overwhelming sense of pride and affection for the people in front of him. He watched as Lori sidled up next to Danny a playfully bumbed his elbow.

"Hello, Agent Weston. Nice shooting today," he said as he bowed playfully to her prowess.

"Thanks," she answered in earnest.

"Buy you a beer?"

"Sure, thanks"

Danny motioned to the barkeep and tapped his beer, holding up two fingers. "What were you and Steve discussing? It looked pretty intense over there."

"Oh, a little of this and a little of that," she answered coily. They were both watching as Kono and Seal Team9's Jacob McCalister became increasingly more comfortable with each other. Danny thanked the waitress for the beers and nodded in Kono's direction. "Kono and SEAL team Hotty #1 seem to be hitting it off pretty well."

Lori nearly spewed her beer but managed to, not so gracefully, swallow it down instead. "You heard that, huh? On the transport over?"

"I have ears you know. They perk up when I hear two grown women giggling like little girls."

"Well he is hot..."

"Oh, clearly," Danny acknowledged.

"Besides, we called him that before we knew his real name. Seal Team Hotty #1 is actually named, Jake."

"Yes, and it appears that Jake and I are going to have to have a little chat."

"Was that your 'Dad voice'?"

"Yes, it was. That's the same voice I'm going to use with hotty seal over there." Danny took a long draw from his beer and left the empty bottle on the table. "If you'll excuse me..."

"Go get him, Dad." Lori watched as Danny interrupted the conversation between Kono and Jake much to Chin's obvious relief as well. Not long after, the celebration began to give way to tired bodies and the anticipation of an early flight home. They drifted up the stairs as a group, peeling off in pairs as they each reached their rooms. Kono fiddled with the lock as Lori directed her attention across the hall. Steve caught her staring as he allowed Joe to walk past him into the room. Her cheeks flushed as his gaze unconsciously traveled from her eyes to her lips and down to her toes and back. She again unwhitingly wet her lips as his eyes returned to hers. As Chin and Danny crossed between them in conversation, Lori seized the interruption and stole away into her room. Needing a distraction, she asked Kono about Jake.

"You and Seal Team Hotty #1 seemed to be hitting it off."

Kono grinned in response. "He's even hotter up close. Smart too."

"You two gonna' go out when we get back home," she asked as she turned the covers down on her bed.

"I wouldn't say 'no' if he asked. What about you and the boss? Looked like the two of you had a moment."

"A moment?," Lori asked worried that Kono had seen her reaction to Steve in the hall.

"Yeah, down in the bar. It looked like you two were discussing something important. He worried what the Lt. Gov's gonna' say when we get back?"

"Yeah, something like that."

Kono flopped down on one of the cot like beds and stretched. "My adreniline is officially gone."

"Yeah, I'm tired too. It's been a long day."

"We did good though, you know."

Lori smiled in the darkness. "We did, didn't we... Goodnight Kono."

"Night." Even the endless buzzing from the bar downstairs could not interfere with the much needed and well deserved sleep they quickly diappeared into.

Well, there you have it. Should I continue? I have more buzzing around in my brain of anyone is interested. Thanks again for reading. Now, if you don't mind, let me know what you thought. All reviews appreciated!