AN: Thank you for the reviews! This next one is from Lori's POV. Enjoy me luvvly jubblies.

Warnings: None

Disclaimer: Sigh. If this were mine there would be lots of man sexin'.

Nuances

Agent Lori Weston was good at her job. She was a former FBI profiler. A damn good profiler, which is why she couldn't understand how she'd missed it. Had she been so blinded by her own burning lust for the walking wet dream known as Steve McGarrett that she'd disregarded it? Or was it because on so many levels the notion was wildly unbelievable?

She saw the seconds long caress Steve had feathered over Max's hand during movie night. But she had still dismissed it. She deemed the commander 100 percent heterosexual. Even if he swung both ways the idea made her scoff. Steve and Max? In a relationship? Absurd. Or so she had thought.

Lori cursed as she climbed out of the car. Well, it was at least worth finding out. So, Agent Lori Weston was going to put her feelings aside and do her job. Through profiling she would deduce if the commander and the M.E. were a couple or if she still had the hope of showing Steve her sexy skin-tight leather outfit. So, she took a step back and observed.

It wasn't long before her skills were employed. The whole team stood around the surface desk eyes on Max as he disclosed his findings during an examination of the corpse. God where was a dictionary when she needed one? Her kittenish eyes darted to McGarrett. The commander stood with his arms folded—as usual—but she caught the slight way he seemed to gravitate to Max.

She perceived the way his eyes followed the doctor's movements briefly while managing to return to the screen within hundredths of a second. Max unconsciously ran a hand over the back of his neck, using the other hand to gesture to the screen. He only his eyes took off the screen to address a question, looking at Danny with slight annoyance when he interrupted his explanation to make another inquiry. She saw the way he would cut his eyes to Steve, letting them linger fleetingly on the commander's piercing blues then the smile that threatened to curve his lips when he turned away. Okay this was not normal behavior between a boss and his employee.

The phone in Steve's office rang prompting their boss's departure. While Chin, Kono, and Danny's attention flipped to the surface desk she noticed Max's gaze followed Steve before switching to her. She quickly averted her gaze to the surface desk.

A few moments later Steve returned. "We've got another one."

"I will meet you there," Max stated before exiting the main room.

The team stood over the corpse, faces grim. Not even the pleasant temperature or sunny day could lighten the mood. For the corpse was that of a child. Lori looked away from the naked body, the contusions and lacerations sickening her. There were monsters in the world.

"We have got to catch this sick bastard," Danny all but growled, anger strangling his voice.

Chin ho returned. "Okay, the driver that found the body said he saw the man dump it out and that he got the plate numbers."

Steve nodded his acknowledgement. "Chin run the scans. Kono and Lori, search the area for any additional evidence. Danny check for any missing person's reports." He glanced around. "Where the hell is Max?"

A minute later, the M.E.'s canary yellow Camaro stopped, followed by the coroner's van.

Lori, who had pointedly stayed closer to the secluded road, studied the spectacle while appearing to be hard at work.

She saw Max stop, his demeanor seeming to sadden at a few words from the commander. The Asian doctor sighed and squatted, drawing back the cloth covering the child almost timidly. Her searching gaze shifted to the commander. He towered over the other man requesting the cause and time of death, normal inquiries. But his expression was gentled and actually compassionate.

Without an ounce of guilt she used her lip-reading skills.

Max, I know performing autopsies on children rehashes old demons, but we need to catch this guy before he strikes again.

She saw Max sweep the body, no doubt spouting information in that clinical way of his. McGarrett nodded, digesting the information. The doctor stood, staring down at the body numbly. Steve lay a hand on the center of Max's back—which had no romantic connotations—until the thumb of his hand began drawing soothing circles on the other's back. The glance the two shared cemented her conclusion.

It was true; Steve and Max were a couple. Sigh. She supposed she wouldn't get to wear that sexy leather suit she bought a month ago. Damn, maybe she was too good at her job.

And that's it. If I'm being honest I will say that this chapter was a little harder to write. I don't know maybe it's because it was from Lori's POV.