On Love and Other Things
Summary: Danny and Kono have a talk about things.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything H50.
Thank you everyone for reading, reviewing, commenting and inspiring, as usual. To all the readers who added my story to their alerts, thank you so very much as well.
A/N: I've never mentioned this before, but OLaOT runs parallel and in between the episodes that we've seen, except this one, which is set before Ho'ohuli Na'au, because I just don't know how to deal with that Fong kid.
Nine.
# # #
Lanikai Beach
Oahu
"You did good today Danny," Kono said, bumping her shoulder against his as they sat on a stone wall, facing the ocean.
The sun was already out and their surfboards leaned against the wall, flanking them. Danny looked down at the sand and traced simultaneous circles with his big toes. He smiled before turning to face her, squinting to block out the bright Hawaiian sunshine.
"Thanks... rookie" he said, chuckling softly.
Kono snorted and shook her head. "Of course, Danny," she said with a smile.
"Although, I have to admit, you're definitely not a 'rookie' when it comes to this." Danny swept a hand towards his board and then out toward the ocean. "I, uh, thanks for not telling Steve about these surf lessons too, Kono."
She gave him a knowing look. "You eventually did fess up, right? I mean, he did see a surfboard crammed into the Camaro once. You're lucky he gave up hounding you about it and let you tell him in your own time."
Danny laughed, reaching up to rub a hand across the back of his neck before pulling lightly at the collar of his t-shirt to adjust it. "Yeah, I did. But that man... Steve's like a piece of chewing gum that you just can't get off of the bottom of your shoe. Tenacious as fuck, most times."
"Danny!" Kono admonished. She shook her head and shrugged, eventually laughing too.
"You know I'm right, don't you?" Danny smiled as he pointed at her. "Guess that's what makes him so lovable," he added.
Kono nodded as she threw a tank top on.
The haole studied her and then said, "that's it?"
"That's it, what?"
"He's lovable. And you..." he trailed off, wiggling his brows and gesturing with both hands now.
"What? Gees Danny." Kono shook her head slightly and turned back to study the ocean.
"Don't 'gees Danny' me, young lady. What? You don't think I noticed? All the covert glances? The way Steve gets almost goofy around you and vice versa? You're a smart girl, you know what I'm getting at don't you?" Danny asked.
"Yeah, whatever," Kono answered, finally looking back at him. "And what if I decide to ignore whatever you're getting at?" she said back sassily.
"Oh, don't be such a... alright. Alright. You want me to show you? It's easy. It's like this, I love him," Danny said simply, shrugging his shoulders. " I love Steve."
Kono shook her head stubbornly. "Why Danny? What are trying to do to me?"
"Whattya mean? Just say it. Acknowledge it, for crissakes."
"And what will that prove?" she asked.
"For one thing, if you just accepted how you feel about him and came to terms with it, then all that damn awkwardness that's been going on in HQ just might go away. And me? I would get to work in a department with no weird, squishy type feelings floating about. And I tell you what, your cousin? Chin? He would no longer need to sneak peeks out of his office every 15 or so minutes to check on where you guys are," Danny explained, huffing slightly.
Kono just stared at him. "I don't know if I love him," she said finally.
Danny looked at her, shocked. "Wait, what?"
"I mean, am I seriously, like seriously, attracted to him? Yes, for sure brah. But, is it love?" shaking her head, Kono looked down at her hands. "It if is, Danny, I'm not sure I want it."
"Are you crazy? Kono, honey, you," he said pointing at her, "you don't get to choose."
Kono snorted. "You're telling me it's Fate then?"
"Yes! Yeah – look, tell me this much, all that tension in the team, primarily between you two, you feel it right?"
She nodded.
"And Agent Kaye, whenever she's in his office with him, you get a little jealous?"
"Danny... "
"Answer the question, Kono," he prodded.
"Yes, but... " she started but he cut her off, holding up a hand.
"And when he's around, you have to force yourself to focus on your work, on the case, or whatever, otherwise your mind wanders to thinking about... possibilities?"
"What possibilities?" she asked smirking.
"You know, like – uh, what it would be like to kiss him or - eww, something. You, uh - aww, please don't make me say it... " Danny actually started to blush as he scrunched up his face.
Kono giggled and nodded reluctantly. "Fine, Danny, I get what you mean. But, all you're saying brah, is that I like him."
"Aha!" Danny said, jutting a finger out to her, feeling his point proven. "But you like him more, than Chin or I do. We're just fond of him," he added, crossing his arms across his chest.
"Fond? Really, Danny? I'm fond of Steve too then."
"No, no, no. You like him more, you're more fond of him than we are," he explained.
Kono threw her arms up exasperatedly. "Brah, I don't know where the hell you are going with this, but for your information? I have come to terms with how I feel for him, okay?"
"Wait," Danny straightened slightly. "You have?"
Kono smirked and narrowed her gaze at Danny. "You're doing this for Chin, aren't you?"
He rolled his eyes and sighed heavily.
"I thought you were fishing for Steve," she said laughing. "And then I got confused, because, Steve and I already talked and... " She stopped, noticing Danny's interest was suddenly peaked. "Eh, mind your own business," she said switching gears and narrowing her gaze even more.
"Oh, no... you do not get to pull that on me," Danny said, waving a finger at her again.
"Yes, I do," she said in a tone that wasn't to be argued with. "Tell Chin, I know, okay? I mean, I don't think I know exactly what to do, Danny. But you're right you know? You don't get to choose. Fate, took my knee that day for a reason."
Danny's eyes flickered with understanding as he turned to look out at the beautiful Pacific again. Turning his gaze up and down the white sandy beach, with palm trees lining the shoreline, swaying from the ocean breeze, he couldn't help but think Fate had something definitely in mind when it brought him here. Not just for Grace, but for his new found ohana as well.
"I care for Steve, very deeply Danny," Kono said softly. "Is that what you want to hear? But, I care for all of you deeply, I just..."
"You just care even more deeply for Steve," Danny finished for her. He smiled and patted her on he knee. "You act like it's a bad thing."
Kono gave him a withering smile. "It's not. It's just that we're a team, you know? I don't want anything to come between any of us."
"Why the hell are you so sensible?" he asked, laughing. "Nothing is going to come between any of us, alright? You know why?"
She shook her head and smiled.
"Because there's no way in hell we would ever let that happen," he promised. "C'mon, Kono, we're talking about you and Steve." Danny was all too aware of why Kono was so sensitive about the fracturing of the 5-0 family. After what Chin had gone through to protect their uncle all those years and after her urging him to come clean and confess about what their uncle had done, it was no wonder she was so hesitant to disturb the current stability of the team. "I get that you're worried about the 'what ifs' Kono, but seriously babe? No one lives like that. You, don't live like that."
Kono bumped her shoulder against his again and smiled. "Williams, who'd have thought, huh?"
"What?" Danny asked, grunting slightly.
"That you would be so Dr. Phil," she explained.
"Dr. Phil? Dr. Phil?" he questioned, acting affronted. He chuckled as he gestured to himself. "That's cute." He waved a hand dismissively. "Whatever, I – I happen to have a bit of experience in this whole relationship thing okay?"
Kono arched a brow at him.
"Let me tell you why, okay?" he asked, not really acknowledging Kono rolling her eyes in response to his rhetorical question. "I don't regret a single moment, minute, argument, glare-slash-look, kiss and other things, Rachel and I ever experienced. And if I had lived in a world where I never took any chances, I would never have those memories of Rachel and I would never have Grace," he finished, watching Kono closely.
Kono rolled her eyes again, acquiescing. "Okay, Danny, I get it," she said, chewing on her bottom lip. She turned to squint towards the ocean. "But, can I ask you something?" she asked.
"Sure, go'head."
"You didn't just grill me about my feelings for Steve for Chin, but for yourself too, right?"
Danny laughed loudly, pointing a finger towards her again. "I told you, you're a smart girl."
# # #
Hilton Hawaiian Village
Waikiki, Oahu
"Another Friday night watching the fireworks show?" asked Chin, taking a long pull off of his beer and leaning back in his chair. He glanced around to take in the crowd that had gathered at the Hilton's oceanfront restaurant.
Danny smirked. "I uh, I could think of worse ways to spend a Friday night," he added, glancing around as well.
Chin shook his head, "what was her name again? Sandrine?"
"Hmm?" Danny asked, feigning interest. In truth, he had already inquired if the beautiful server that Steve allowed to sign his cast was working and she was, but he had yet to spot her.
The older man just smirked and shook his head again, noting that Steve was headed their way with a couple of more beers.
"Hey," Steve greeted as he took a seat and handed a beer towards Danny. He looked around and leaned back in his chair.
Chin and Danny exchanged a look, then Danny mumbled under his breath to Chin, "watch this." He redirected his attention to Steve. "Hey uh, Steve, being the good wing-man that I am, I thought, maybe you'd like to know, Sandrine is working tonight," he said smirking and arching his brows.
"Who?" Steve asked appearing distracted.
"Who?" Danny asked back, almost dropping his beer onto the table for emphasis. "The 'cast signer,' you remember her, right? Kamekona wanted to take her off to the beach to uh, 'matriculate' with her?" he reminded, chuckling.
Chin's eyes crinkled and he joined in, chuckling at the memory of Kamekona with a tablecloth wrapped around his arm.
Steve grinned "Oh yeah, her."
"Her?" asked Danny, not at all surprised. He knew where his partner's attention really was. He just wanted to see if he could irritate Steve, but it wasn't working.
Steve shrugged. "She's cute."
Chin quirked a brow towards Danny, who snorted. "She's more than cute, Steven. Cute is Gracie, alright? She's a cutie-patootie in my book for sure. I may be biased, but I'm pretty sure I'm not," stated Danny. "On the other hand, Sandrine is - "
"Yes?" asked Sandrine, as she stepped up their table after hearing her name called. She smiled brightly at Danny and then switched to Chin and then Steve.
"Uh, we'd like another round of beers, please," Danny said to her, pouring on the charm. "You look lovely, by the way," he said, for added measure.
Sandrine giggled, her smile widening. "Thanks, I'll be right back, boys," she said.
All three men laughed. "Smooth, brah," said Chin as he shook his head.
Steve glanced around again. Chin and Danny knew what was going on and they finally decided to give the guy a break. "She's out there," Chin pointed, directing Steve's gaze towards the beach. The sun was quickly setting, and out on the sand, where few people were walking along the water, a lone woman strolled in a short, plum colored, spaghetti strapped, sun dress. "She looks kinda like she needs some company, don't you think brah?" Chin asked.
Steve looked at Chin questioningly with a lopsided smile.
Danny snorted. "Go. What're you waiting for, an invite? That was your invite."
The grin that then spread across Steve's face, somehow, made his blue eyes appear even bluer. Both Danny and Chin smiled back as an understanding passed between the three of them.
"You hurt her, I'll do more than beat you, you know that?" Chin asked as he watched Steve get out of his chair to join Kono.
"Yeah, I know. But I wouldn't ever do something like that to her," Steve said. It was a promise.
"We know," Danny said. "Please go. She's been waiting for you, you know? Go already," he added, shooing him away.
The two men watched as Steve ran up to Kono. They grinned as they saw a smile and a few words exchanged between the two. And, as the golden hues of the sunset disappeared, now replaced with the explosive colors of the fireworks, they saw Steve wrap a protective arm around Kono's shoulders and knew that all would be good, in the end.
End.
# # #
A/N: I know, sad premonition going on here with what Danny promises Kono. Though we don't know quite yet what the end of the season holds (holy crap, Chin!), this story is quickly turning into an AU... sigh, oh, well, it was gonna happen sometime. LOL. And also, I have decided, that this will be it. Epilogue is next. Fear not, OLaOT may be ending, but it will free me up to do other KoVe stories. Thank you for reading!