On Love and Other Things

Summary: Kono meets Agent Jenna Kaye.
Disclaimer: I do not own H50.

Thank you all for your patience while I was on vacation. I cannot thank you all enough for reading/reviewing/commenting and inspiring.

Seven.

# # #

Five-0 Headquarters
Honolulu, HI

"Oh, hello. Agent Kaye, is it?" asked Kono as she regarded the young woman with the pixie haircut in the break-room.

"Right, you're Officer Kalakaua, correct?" Agent Kaye asked.

Kono smiled. "Please, call me Kono," she said back warmly. Having heard from Steve about Agent Kaye's insights into who Wo Fat was, Kono was glad to finally get to meet the CIA agent.

Agent Kaye smiled in return and said, "Jenna, please."

With a nod, Kono smiled again and went about getting a cup of coffee for herself.

"I hear you almost died the other day," Agent Kaye said softly.

Most people would be put off by the young CIA analysts' bluntness, but Kono for some reason found it refreshing. She snorted and smirked slightly before responding. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. Though technically, I really just fell from the roof of one building onto another."

"Oh, just," giggled Agent Kaye lightly. "They were right about you," she said smiling.

Kono gulped her coffee. "They who?" she asked, quirking a brow. "And what did they say?"

"Steve and Danny mentioned to me how tough you were," Agent Kaye explained.

"Really?" Kono scrunched up her face. "Tough? That was the adjective they used to describe me?"

"Uhm, yeah. Why? I thought that was a good thing," pointed out Agent Kaye.

Kono tilted her head as if considering something. With a slight nod, she continued, "I guess yeah, it is a good thing. At one point though, it felt as if I was always trying to prove myself to them," she added with a soft chuckle. "Then again, I'm pretty sure I was just trying to prove it to myself."

Agent Kaye, tilted her head. "I guess we're hardest on ourselves. Then again, I kinda got the impression from Danny that he always thought that way about you," she added.

Kono chuckled. "I think I may scare Danny sometimes."

Jenna laughed. "But, Steve on the other hand, seems more guarded about revealing things about you... " Kono's eyes widened slightly and though Agent Kaye was never in the field, she noticed Kono's change of expression immediately. "...guys... his team really," she continued, eyeing Kono curiously.

Kono quickly composed herself. "Hmm, yeah, he's pretty stoic at times," she said as she took another sip of her coffee.

Agent Kaye pulled a mug down from the cabinet and poured herself a cup too. Feeling suddenly self conscious she said, "I'm sorry Kono. Obviously it appears that I've been prying into the team's dynamic. I apologize, I'm just curious really. I'm sure Steve's told you all about how I impersonated a field agent in order to try and get a hold of his father's files," she said sheepishly.

"Actually, it's okay," Kono said, feeling sorry for Agent Kaye's awkwardness. "One thing about Steve, is that he doesn't dwell much on anyone's shortcomings. He's really good at seeing what you're good at and utilizing your skill set to the team's best interests."

Agent Kaye looked relieved.

"It's always water under the bridge with him, he doesn't seem to ever hold grudges. Unless of course, you're Wo Fat." Kono gave her a slight smirk. "But, then again, if you're wrong, he'll definitely let you know about it."

"Oh," Agent Kaye said softly.

Kono shook her head in mild dismay as she watched the younger woman. "Now, that's a good thing," she reminded.

"Right, right, of course," Jenna half halfheartedly agreed.

"Anyway, it was good to finally meet you, Jenna," Kono said as she made a move to go.

Agent Kaye nodded and smiled, then as if remembering something, she asked, "Kono? How did you do it?" At Kono's questioning look, she clarified. "How did you get them to start to taking you seriously? I mean after my fiancé was killed along with his team, instead of keeping me on the case to assist because I knew the most about Wo Fat, they took me off of it. I mean regardless of his death, I feel confident that I could, can maintain objectivity."

Kono shook her head. "There is no way," she stated knowingly. "Let me ask you this, what exactly are you doing now? I mean why are you here in Hawaii, studying Steve's files? You're not being objective at all. Especially because you even tried confiscating them first."

Agent Kaye shook her head sadly, like a chastised child. "I know, I'm sorry." She snorted. "I've got the bill for the door repair from the hotel just yesterday," she said referencing the incident where Steve kicked in her door.

"That's maybe the least of your issues right now," pointed out Kono. "Do you think you can handle what will happen when we finally encounter Wo Fat?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it," she said it with such conviction.

Kono looked doubtful. She had no idea.

"I know you don't believe me, you don't have to," Agent Kaye said. "But like you, I'm sure I'll be able to prove my worth."

Kono smiled tightly and nodded, realizing that Agent Kaye was resolved to finding Wo Fat to hold him accountable for what had happened to her fiancé and colleagues. She wondered briefly if Agent Kaye was remotely capable of actually dealing with Wo Fat when the time came.

Tilting her mug towards the younger woman, they exchanged another smile before Kono turned to return to her office. But at the sound of two men arguing in the foyer of the Five-0 offices, both women exited the break-room to find an extremely animated Danny and a slightly bruised in the face Steve.

"What happened?" Kono asked walking up to the two men. Agent Kaye hung back, seemingly interested in the show that was about to take place.

"I told you, I told you didn't I, Steven? I told you that punk was going to sucker punch you. You're off your game babe," Danny said, almost gloating.

"Eh Danny, shut up okay?" Steve grunted, tweaking his face at the pain he was starting to become evident.

Kono threw her hands up. "What? Are you okay, Boss?"

"I'm good, alright?" Steve answered, his pride seeming a little wounded. "We ran into Kawika, he was having a bit of a problem with some disrespectful punks down by the beach and we decided to step in and give a helping hand," Steve explained with a smirk.

"Yeah, only Super SEAL here, almost got mobbed," added Danny. "I'd never seen anything like it, it was like a match for the UFC, except the was no cage," he chuckled, shaking his head. Danny shoved his hands into his pocket and looked at Steve. "You got it mostly in the face though," he said, jutting his chin out.

"I'm good, alright," Steve clarified, giving Danny his aneurysm face.

"Last time we take the scenic route to work, okay babe?" Danny couldn't help chuckling at Steve's expression. "Alright, I'm gonna go help Chin sort things out at HPD, I'll be back," he said as he walked back out the door, but not before giving a nod to Agent Kaye, who he noticed lurking in the background.

Steve continued forward and walked into his office as Kono made an about-face to go back into the break-room.

When Kono came to his office a few minutes later she was surprised to find Agent Kaye in there. She was standing just a few feet way from him, reaching up to his face as if to trace the outline of the swelling that was about to take place on his left cheekbone. Steve's eyes were on Agent Kaye but something caused him to look up. And when he did, he saw Kono's retreating back. He quickly stepped around Agent Kaye and exited his office.

"Hey, Kono," he said, hoping to get her to stop. "What's up?" he asked.

Kono sighed and turned slowly, holding up an ice-pack. Shifting her weight from foot to foot, she said, "uh, I was going to offer this, but looks like you may have other ideas for reducing the swelling?" she asked, arching a brow.

Steve stepped forward, closing the distance between them. He grabbed the ice-pack from her hand, but held on to the hand that was holding it. "Thank you," he said, his voice deepening. He was relieved that she didn't pull her hand away, just bringing it down so that their locked hands hung in between them.

Kono looked at his face then, allowing her gaze to take in all the swelling and bruising about to come. She stepped closer, shaking her head slightly, she said, "why'd you let those punks get that hit in? You're lucky it didn't turn into a cut or worse."

Steve shrugged and then his eyes softened a bit as he stared at her. "If it did, would you help me take care of it then?" he asked.

Kono withdrew her hand, letting him take the ice-pack and crossed her arms in front of her. Rolling her eyes playfully, she said, "please, seems like you have a volunteer ready and waiting for that job." She smirked, reigning in her jealousy.

His blue eyes twinkled. "Nah, I kind of already have the perfect person in mind for the job," he said, wanting to reassure her of his intentions towards her.

Kono's eyes met his. "Boss," she said, shaking her head.

"What?" he said, looking into her deep brown pools.

"Don't," she said simply.

"Why? Because I was hallucinating when I saw how worried you looked when you first saw me? Tell me I was wrong Kono," he said, almost daring her.

She continued to stare back at him, at a loss for words.

"Kono, tell me I was wrong," he said again, this time bringing the ice-pack to rest on his sore cheekbone. He never moved out of her personal space.

Kono chewed on her bottom lip lightly as she finally looked away from his intense gaze. "No."

"No, what?" Steve asked, quirking a brow.

"You weren't wrong," she said stepping back. "You looked bad, and I was worried at first, but I'm glad it's something you can take care of yourself," she explained as she watched him, purposefully stressing the last part.

He got the hint and he was a bit disappointed. She needed to back off for some reason. "Thanks for the ice, Kono."

She winked flirtatiously and gave him the smile that he loved. He couldn't help but turn his oncoming smirk into a full blown smile of his own. Shaking his head, he turned back to his office where Agent Kaye was already seated in one of his chairs.

Kono turned back to her office, hands in her pocket, smiling to herself as she went.

# # #

"You lucky sonuvabitch," Danny greeted Steve as he walked into his office. "Tell me," he said, his hands out in front of him. "Tell me, Kaye and Kono weren't all over you after I left you this morning?" Danny asked as he plopped down onto one of Steve's chairs.

Steve smirked and rolled his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about, Danny," he answered as he crossed his arms across his chest, leaning back in his chair.

Danny tilted his head back in disbelief, studying Steve's face. Gesturing to his own, he said, "you uh, telling me you didn't get some sympathy from the girls for that lovely bruise over your cheek?"

Steve pursed his lips slightly. "I got some," he said with a sly smirk.

"Come on, gees. Oh, you can't say it like that, for crying out loud!" Danny started ranting.

He started laughing. "Danny, you asked," Steve said, shaking his head. He paused, enjoying how put out Danny seemed to be getting. "Okay, I got a little bit of sympathy."

"So... from Kono?" Danny asked with a slight smile.

Steve's eyes lit up and he smiled in response.

Danny shook his head, chuckling softly. "And, Kaye?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Whattya mean it doesn't matter? Listen to me, you may be the 'Devourer of Dreams' and all," he said jutting a hand out towards Steve. "But I'd still like to know if that uh, new facial decoration got some kind of reaction from her," Danny said. "She's CIA for crissakes, about as near to accountants as you can get, but still... I'm curious..."

"What matters is, I got a reaction from the one that counted," Steve said.

Danny tilted his head back again."Huh, good for you," he said, realizing that he wasn't going to get anymore from Steve. He blew out a breath and rubbed a hand over his mouth.

"Besides," Steve began, "she's like twelve or something." He said, referencing Agent Kaye's youthful appearance and behavior.

"Twelve? Twelve. What, they're accepting tweens in to the CIA now?" the blonde detective asked rhetorically, chuckling.

End.

# # #

A/N: So, this may not have been worth the wait, I fear this may be more of the same slow burn. I'm a sucker for that. No worries though, be confident fellow KoVe fans, these two will end up together. In my world anyway.