A/N: At the end of Chapter 4 I asked you guys if you knew what TV show Annie got the "hide the flash drive in a box of tampons" idea from. For those of you who came up with the right answer, I congratulate you on being hardcore Alex fans.

For those who thought it seemed familiar but couldn't quite place it and for those who didn't know, the idea came from an episode of Alex's series Moonlight. In Episode #16, entitled "Fated to Pretend", Beth finds the backup flash drive of her murdered boss in the woman's bathroom hidden in a box of tampons. She tells Mick she knew to look there because she always hides her valuables the same way.

That's why Steve had a "peculiar look on his face" and why, when Annie told him she "saw it in a TV show once," he "smiled at her in a cute, knowing way". In my mind, in that one moment, I wasn't writing H50… I was writing Moonlight!

Ok…enough silliness. On with the story!

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Pride, Admiration and Respect

Chapter Five

The three of them arrived at Steve's house just as the sun was beginning to set. As they walked through the house and out to the lānai, Annie caught her first view of the sunset over Steve's private beach. The pink, purple and yellow swirls of color in the sky took her breath away.

She turned to Steve and said, "How on earth can you ever bear to leave this place? It's absolutely beautiful."

Steve smiled at her, a warm inviting smile that said how pleased he was that she found his home so beautiful. Danny plopped down into a chair, folded his arms across his chest and literally growled!

"What?" Steve asked.

"Nothing."

"Really? Because it sounded like you had some kind of smart ass remark to make with regard to the view. A view, I might add, that you have enjoyed plenty of times yourself, in your comfortable chair, beer in hand, after a particularly hard day. Or maybe it's not the view you object to. Maybe it's that the view is attached to the beach. Or is it because your sister seems to like it so much? Which is it, Danny? The fact that it's the beach or that your sister seems to have instantly fallen in love with it?"

Annie just laughed while Danny continued to scowl. "Don't mind him Steve. Danny and beaches have never been very copacetic," she said before a look that was both serious and perhaps a bit frightened crossed her face.

"Steve knows exactly why I don't like beaches or the water, Annie, so don't look so worried."

Annie was actually quite surprised. She knew for a fact that Danny had never spoken to anyone outside the family about Billy Selway and the tragic accident that took his life at the Jersey shore when they were kids. She also knew he never forgot that Billy died trying to save him and that it ate away at him for years. Billy had been like a brother to him and when he died, Danny had clung to family more than ever, especially to Matty. Then Danny had lost him, too. In long hours of late night phone calls between them, Annie had tried in vain to convince Danny, cop to cop, there wasn't anything he could have done to stop Matty from leaving, short of shooting him and they both knew neither one of them would have been able to do that. Steve had been there for Danny through it all. And Danny had told Steve about Billy. If she didn't think so before, she knew it for sure now. Danny had indeed found a brother to place his trust in again and Annie couldn't be happier about it.

She was just about to remark on the situation further when she heard a happy "Anybody home?" come from inside the house as Kono arrived, having picked up what she could salvage of Annie's belongings from the Hilton.

"Howzit, Sistah? They did quite a number on that room of yours. There was barely anything left that wasn't torn to bits. I did the best I could. We can go shopping for anything else you may need tomorrow if you want to."

"Thanks Kono. I just wish everything around here wasn't so expensive."

"Don't worry... it's Hawaii. You can get by with a few pairs of shorts, some jeans, tank tops and slippahs. That won't cost a whole lot. Besides, I know of a few places where the prices aren't mind blowing!" Kono laughed.

Annie felt an instant kinship with Kono. While she loved her sisters with all her heart, they never quite understood her and her desire to be a cop. They especially didn't understand her move from Jersey to New York. In Kono, Annie saw someone very much like herself, someone who also followed a beloved relative into the line of duty. She knew they were going to get along, as well as work together, very well.

"Well, now that that's taken care of, Annie, I'll show you where you can lay your head while you're here," Steve said. "You can use my sister's old room. I hope you don't mind that it's filled with Gracie's stuff. That's the room she usually stays in when she and Danny spend the weekend here."

Annie just laughed. "I don't mind in the least. As a matter of fact, I'm looking forward to seeing my favorite niece. It's been so long. I bet she's grown two feet since I last saw her."

For the first time since they all arrived Danny's face broke out into a smile. The thought of his favorite sister and his wonderful daughter spending time together again instantly brightened his sour mood.

"Yeah" he said. "Grace will be very excited to hear you're in Hawaii. She loves it here too. Crazy sand and water loving creature that she is. We spend quite a lot of time here on this beach. She and Steve are in cahoots to drive me crazy."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Cahoots, Danny?"

"That's what I said, Steven, cahoots! It's a perfectly good word and one that perfectly describes the way you have corrupted my beautiful angel and turned her into some kind of little mermaid who can't seem to let a day go by without leaping headfirst into the nearest body of water. I totally blame you for that my friend," Danny countered.

Annie looked to Kono who just laughed and rolled her eyes. "Seriously, they're always like this!" Kono said.

Once Danny was done with his little tirade, he picked up his phone to call Rachel and ask that, even though it was her week with Grace, would she mind bringing her over to Steve's because her Aunt Annie had decided to make a "surprise visit" to Hawaii. Rachel was more than happy for Grace to spend time with her favorite aunt, so after a little while Rachel dropped her off. As predicted Grace was thrilled to see Annie and Steve was sure every bird on the island took flight when the excited squeal of delight exploded out of her as she laid eyes on her aunt for the first time in ages.

"Oh my God…. just look at you," Annie cried as Gracie flung herself into Annie's arms. "Look how beautiful you are! I can't believe it! Danny, the pictures you sent home do not do this beauty justice!"

Grace giggled and beamed at the compliment from her favorite aunt. Annie, being the youngest of all Danny's siblings had a special relationship with Grace from the moment she was born. They were kindred spirits, full of life, laughter and adventure. Gracie immediately launched into a non-stop ramble about everything that was going on in her life, school and friends and cheerleading competitions. How Uncle Steve and Auntie Kono were teaching her how to surf and how Danno was convinced she was going to either burn to a crisp from too much sun or get eaten by a shark. Watching the two of them together again, Danny found himself getting a bit choked up. Finally running out of verbal steam Grace dragged Annie into the house so they could get into swimsuits and Grace could show her how good she was getting on her board. Danny was insistent that Steve go along to make sure Grace was safe from those dreaded sharks, so off he went to get into his board shorts as well.

Annie marveled at the way Steve was with Grace. She didn't expect the tough Navy man to be good with kids, but he was supportive, yet gentle, as he instructed Grace, and was boisterous in his praise when she nailed a wave. And it was more than obvious that Grace adored her Uncle Steve. Annie began to look at Steve in a new light. This man was special. Special to Danny, special to Grace. She was beginning to wonder if he could be special to her, too.

When Chin arrived, they all settled in for a bit of grilling and lots of beer and laughter. The hours flew by as Chin and Kono took great pleasure in filling Annie in on all the adventures the team had had, careful to leave out the most gruesome details, until after Gracie had dozed off. There was no reason she needed to hear about North Korea or WoFat or any of the other more traumatic events the team, and especially Steve, had lived through.

When it became clear that Grace was out for the count Danny decided it was a good time to call it a night and take her home.

"Ok... I'm gonna hit the road and put this monkey properly to bed." He turned toward Steve and Annie and shook an accusatory finger at them both. "You two behave yourselves tonight. I don't want to hear about any shenanigans the two of you get yourselves into. Do you understand me? Both of you?"

Steve innocently shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea what you're talking about Danny. Go home. Put Grace to bed. Everything will be fine. I promise not to corrupt your baby sister in the few hours you're gone."

"Don't worry Steve. I doubt there is anything you can do to corrupt me any more than I already am. You forget I grew up in the same house as Danny and Matt. Not to mention a firehouse full of my Dad's buddies always around. Add to that years on the police force in both Jersey and New York. I doubt there is anything you can show me that I haven't already seen, or done."

Danny gave a visible shudder. "God help me!"

Putting a calming hand on Danny's shoulder Chin steered him toward the lānai door. "Come on Danny. Kono and I will walk you out. Kono, grab Gracie's backpack, would you? I'll get the door, Danny, while you carry Grace."

Finally, after one last warning look over his shoulder from Danny, Steve and Annie had the house to themselves.

"Honestly, he treats me like I'm still 14 years old and the neighborhood boys came sniffing around." Annie said somewhere between amused and annoyed. "I'm going to go grab a shower. Can I trust you not to attack me while I'm in there?" She joked.

Steve laughed too but then looked at her seriously. "You know that's not what Danny is really worried about, right? You know as well as I do that he swings his words around as much as he does his arms and says things he doesn't mean as a defense against what's really bothering him." At Annie's nod, he continued. "You're a good cop, Annie, anyone can see that and you're obviously not afraid to tackle tough assignments head on. That's what worries him. The mere fact that you're here because you followed a Colombian drug lord all the way from New York in an attempt to take him out, is scaring him to death. He's always calling me a 'danger magnet' and a crazy ninja SEAL. He's worried my so-called crazy ideas will rub off on you and you'll be as reckless as he's always accusing me of being. I'm surprised he didn't warn me not to blow up the house while you're in it."

Annie nodded in understanding then asked, eyes twinkling, "Is that a real possibility?"

With a twinkle in his eye, Steve nonchalantly shrugged. "Probably not".

"Oh, well, in that case, I guess it's safe for me to shower after all," she laughed as she headed for the stairs leading to the second floor.

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It was several hours later when Steve was prodded awake from a deep sleep. At first he wasn't sure what had woken him but then…. there…. he heard something; something different from the rhythmic cascade of waves and breezes which usually came through his bedroom windows at night. Sounds so ingrained it seemed too quiet when he slept in places other than home. But this sound was out of place. Someone was downstairs moving around. It took a second, as he reached for his gun in the night stand, to remember Annie was in the house. Closing the drawer, he rolled out of bed, pulled his favorite Navy T-shirt on over his sleep pants, and headed downstairs.

He found her leaning against the rail of the lānai, beer in hand, watching what little of the waves she could make out in the moonlight. Not wanting to startle her with his approach, he softly cleared his throat.

"Hey... you ok?"

"Yeah... you know how it is. First night in an unfamiliar place is always a bit disconcerting."

Steve had to chuckle at that. "As a Navy SEAL who never knew from one night to the next where he was going to lay his head, I'm glad I never suffered from that particular malady. I'd have never gotten a wink of sleep."

"Yeah... I suppose that's true."

"You want to talk about it?"

"Not much to talk about really. I'd hoped all this noise from the ocean would drown out the gun shot this time but no such luck," she replied wearily.

Steve sighed. "Did Danny ever tell you about my dad, about why I came back to Hawaii?"

A little apprehensively, Annie replied, "Yes."

"It was months, Annie… months… before I didn't re-live that phone call in my sleep almost every night. Some nights, out of the clear blue, I'd just jolt awake from the sound of the shot. No warning. Just BAM…. AWAKE! I thought I'd go out of my mind. But eventually, it got better and the nightmares, well, they never completely went away but they became less frequent, more manageable. Catching his killer helped a lot."

Annie nodded sadly. "I guess that's part of it. Tony is dead but Cordoba is still out there. How many more, Steve? How many more will die before I can stop him?"

"Before we stop him, Annie," Steve swore. "And we will stop him. You can count on that."

"What makes you so sure? Cordoba has gotten away so many times in the past. I didn't even know what the man looked like until I saw the TSA info Chin pulled up today. Every file picture we had of him was either out of focus or obscured. Like I said before, he doesn't like to get his hands dirty so he stays away from places. Whenever he did go anywhere he used his private plane. Does make me wonder why he flew commercial this time, though. Anyway, how do you catch someone who makes it a point to stay hidden so no one can find him most of the time?"

"Annie... Five-0 has caught more than a few high profile criminals on the same level as Cordoba, or worse. I have no doubt that with our resources and your help and intel, we'll bring Cordoba down as well. But that's not all that's bothering you, is it?"

"No... it's not. I just can't put my finger on it but something just doesn't ring right. When Tony and I were sent to that warehouse we were the newest team members on that case. We were thrilled to be included at the time but looking back I can't help but ask myself why we were. I had been assigned to the case first and I requested Tony be involved, too. We were a good team, Tony and I. Up to that point, we'd both been working desks the entire time, when all of a sudden we were strapping on vests and heading to that warehouse. The task force being sent in was huge, there were plenty of officers to handle the raid. Why send a couple of newbies?" Annie puzzled.

Steve rubbed the back of his neck. "That's an interesting question and something we can look into when the files Kono requested from your precinct arrive. The files you and Tony were working on… did you find anything significant?"

"Depends," Annie answered. "There were several references to another player in the game. Someone Cordoba relied on, consulted with and sometimes deferred to. But we were never able to narrow down who he was because as evasive as Cordoba is, this guy was even worse. Absolutely no evidence as to who he could be, only vague references to "him" in the documents. But he had to be someone big for Cordoba to allow him anywhere near his organization."

Steve put his hand on Annie's shoulder. "You can't spend the entire night standing here trying to puzzle it out. Come on. Come inside and try to get some sleep. Tomorrow the files from New York will be here. With all of us putting our heads together we'll come up with something."

"Ok," Annie agreed. She really was exhausted and a good night's sleep would go a long way in helping make sense of things. "Thanks for listening Steve. See you in the morning."