Where's Kono?
By Montez
Chapter 8
Disclaimer: See chapter one

A/N: Well here it is, the final chapter of this little adventure. Again I want to thank everyone who took the time and followed this story to it's conclusion. Sorry if anyone was offended/disappointed by my version of Steve in this, it was just me view of why he's been the way they've showed him on the show. I believe the man feels thing very strongly, but has a very difficult time dealing with those feelings. If he's been OC in in my story, well that's just how I viewed him in it. For all of you who have read, reviewed and alerted my story I am very grateful for all the support, the number of positive reviews is what kept this going far longer than orginally planned, again Mahalo!-Montez

Chin glanced up as the door to Kono's room opened, a very pale, exhausted looking Steve McGarrett was being pushed in in a wheelchair by Danny, an IV line attached to a pole on the back of the chair. "How's she doing?" The dark-haired man's tired voice asked.

Kelly glanced at Danny who gave a slight shrug before the older man's attention returned to McGarrett. "Better this morning, she woke up a couple times in the night. She was still a bit out of it, but she recognized me and could remember what happened. Doctor should be here in a couple hours."

Williams stopped Steve's chair on the opposite side of the bed from Chin, then moved back to a chair near the door. A couple minutes of silence settled over the room as McGarrett took in the sleeping form of the youngest member of Five-0. "Chin…" Steve said softly, waiting for Kelly to look across toward him, "I'm sorry."

"Steve…" Chin started but was stopped as Steve shook his head.

"No, just…I should have never let things go this far. I should have stepped in sooner with IA, I should have tried harder to find out what was going on, should have seen something was up. Especially when there was no real evidence against her, it was my fault and I should have dealt with it and I didn't and though you have absolutely no reason to trust me again or forgive me, I'm sorry." Steve gaze went back to Kono.

"You know," Chin started, "Contrary to what you think, you can't possibly know and see everything that is going on. I didn't see it and I've been in IA's crosshairs before. I know you've been trying to stay in contact with her, hell I've seen you leaving her place a couple times, knowing she wasn't answering you any more than she was answering me. We've all been dealing with a lot since Jameson's murder, things just snowballed and became out of our control before we realized it. We just need to move on from here." Kelly rose from his chair, moving across the room to knell next to Steve's chair. "I trust you and that will never change and there is nothing to forgive, there is enough blame for what happened to go around, we just need to learn from this and move on."

Steve gave him a small smile, "Yeah, we do." Looking toward Danny then back at Chin, McGarrett spoke quietly, "Can I sit with her a while?" Both men knew Steve wanted some time alone with Kono, to be able to get his mind around everything and maybe begin to forgive himself for what he saw as a catastrophic failure on his part.

Danny stood, coming over putting his hand on Chin's shoulder, "How about I buy you breakfast or at least another cup of coffee."

"That'd be great." Chin smiled tiredly. Squeezing Steve's shoulder before he left he quietly said, "It's gonna be all right." Maybe a few hours ago Kelly wouldn't have been so sure, but now, seeing his team, his ohana all in the same room, despite half the team being in need of recuperation he knew without a doubt everything would be all right. The older man made his way out the door Williams was holding open for him, leaving McGarrett alone with Kono.

Steve used his overtaxed arms to move his chair closer to Kono's bed; reaching through the rails he placed his larger hand over her small one, giving it a soft squeeze as he watched her sleep.

A little over an hour passed as Steve kept watch over Kono, his head would drop occasionally from the sheer exhaustion his own body was still feeling, both mentally and physically. At first he didn't noticed the slight movement on the bed before him, it wasn't until Kono's hand brushed against Steve's, where he'd left it on the bed next to her. He sat up straighter in the chair, his hand again reaching out to gently take hers, watching as she slowly blinked her eye's open. "Hey…" He said softly, a hint of a relieved smile crossing his face.

"Hey" Kono's reply almost a whisper.

Gently squeezing her hand he spoke again, "How you feeling?"

It took her a minute to really bring Steve into focus, as she did she noticed he was sitting in a wheelchair, IV pole behind him. "Shouldn't I…ask…you?" a small yawn escaped the woman in the bed.

"I'm good, just worried about you." McGarrett's voice still so quiet.

"Sore…" Kono said as she tried to shift in the bed slightly, wincing at the pull it put on her wound.

"Hey, hey, easy." Steve move forward, watching Kono's eyes squint closed in pain. "I'm gonna call the nurse." McGarrett went to move his hand from hers only for her to squeeze a little harder, "Kono?" His worry was increasing the longer it took the young woman to answer.

"Give me a minute." She whispered out, trying to steady her breathing through the pain.

"Let me call someone." Steve's voice becoming harder with worry.

In Kono's pain-filled mind she took his tone of concern as on of anger. "I'm sorry" Her voice so soft that he barely heard it.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," He watched her eye's open, looking sadly toward him, pain still evident, but he also saw guilt. "I'm the one who needs to apologize."

"Boss…" Kono calling him boss again nearly broke what little composure Steve had managed to keep after waking that morning, especially after the very early morning conversations with Danny and Joe.

"Please Kono; you have absolutely nothing to be sorry for. I'm the one that failed you, I should have stopped IA to start with, you should have never been targeted for something I was responsible for." Steve looked intently at the young woman, hoping in the end he could regain her trust and forgiveness for letting her be placed in the position that had led her here.

"I wasn't blind to what happened; I knew what could happen to me if we were found out. You didn't force me to do anything, besides you had Laura Hills and the Governors murder hanging over your head." Kono's voice was becoming stronger.

"That was no excuse to let you be targeted and forced into this mess. Because of me Fryer saw an opportunity to manipulate the situation. I just wish you would have come to me." Steve watched his friend as she listened to his words, hoping she was seeing that he was meaning every word he was saying.

"Fryer threatened to come after Chin, after Danny and after you if he even thought you guys got wind of what he had me doing. Chin had just gotten back in with HPD, Danny had just gotten his badge back and you had just gotten Five-0 back, I couldn't jeopardize that. If I did…" Kono felt her eye's fill with tears, some from the pain in her chest, some for the pain in her heart for what she had done to her friends, to her ohana by pushing them away.

Again Steve came forward, placing his hand on the bed rail he stood up, continuing to hold her hand in his, "If you did, what?"

"Then I wouldn't have had a home to come back to." A lone tear finally escaped.

Those words tore into Steve's very soul, despite the thoughts and feelings Steve had been dealing with for the last several weeks, the ones that had nearly crippled him just hours ago, those few words from the young woman in front of him ignited something inside him so intense that he pushed his own feelings back into that box they were normally stored in in his mind and refocused his mind on the singular most important thing in his life, protecting those he cared about. Squeezing her hand firmly, making sure he had that connection, he leaned over slightly so he knew he had her attention, "Kono, I want you to listen to me. I promised you a year ago that I would do my best to protect you and again I am truly sorry for failing you on that. All I can do is ask for your forgiveness and hope you will give me time to rebuild that trust, but I want to tell you something very important, you will ALWAYS have a home to come to."Kono started to interrupt, but a slight shake of Steve's head told her he wasn't finished. "When I came back to this island I didn't have anyone. I had depended on myself for so long I didn't think I needed anyone, but I was wrong. Meeting Danny, Chin and you made me realize it was okay to let people in, that I could still function effectively with people in my life, people I grew to care about and no matter what I put you all through, for some reason, you guys seemed to care about me. That was the hardest part for me to accept, I still struggle with that, but because you all didn't give up on me, I keep trying and no matter what I will never give up on you all. I messed up this time and because of that we nearly lost you and again I can only hope you will forgive me, but like I said a year ago when Chin swore you in, we are a family and I promise you now I will never fail you again, any of you. I just ask you one thing…" Steve paused.

The expression on Kono's face asked 'what?' because the emotions she was feeling, that she had seen in the brutal honesty of McGarrett's face, would not allow her to speak.

"Do not ever let anyone force you do something because they are threatening me. No matter the consequences please come to me, I can only help if I know what is going on. I've lost too much family, I don't want to loss anymore. Just promise you will come to me." Steve finished.

Blinking through her tears Kono nodded, "Promise."

Steve smiled at her, nodding. "Now, I'm getting you're nurse, I know you are hurting and I'm going to need you back at one hundred percent before you can start kicking the ass of the bad guys that cross Five-0's path."Kono chuckled, just as the door to her room opened Danny followed by Chin entering, "That goes double for you oh fearless leader, so you better sit your ass back down in that chair so I can get you back to your room if you want to get out of here tomorrow." Williams chimed in, he and Chin only catching the last of the conversation.

That elicited a laugh from everyone but Steve, who begrudgedly retook his seat, "I thought it was later today."

"Oh again with that selective hearing you have, no my friend, tomorrow morning at the earliest, something about your electrolytes still being off." Danny moved toward Steve's chair, releasing the breaks to move him.

Before Danny and Steve reached the door, Kono's nurse entered the room, Chin having pushed the call button upon their return seeing the lines a pain on his cousin's face, knowing she was fighting it. "Hey Boss…" The young woman's tired voice called again. McGarrett turned toward her before Danny pushed him out the door, "You never told me what happened to you?" Worry heard over her exhaustion.

"Don't worry about me right now Kono, Danny's doing enough of that for everyone, you focus on getting better." He felt the slight pressure of Danny's hand on his shoulder, reminding him that he did, in

fact, have people that cared about him and would stand behind him no matter what.

"Yes, sir…" She said softly, smiling tiredly. McGarrett repaid that smile in kind as Danny wheeled him out of her room, headed back toward his own.

Epilogue: one week later.

Steve was sitting in his office; Danny was across the main room in his, Lori had left for a meeting with the governor. Steve still was not thrilled with the 'babysitter' he felt the new governor had forced on them, but surprisingly Lori was proving that she could hold her own and let the team function as Steve (With Danny's constant reminders) saw fit.

Kono had been released from the hospital the day before and the Governor, surprisingly had given Five-0 the weekend off. The case load had actually been light all week considering Steve himself had only been released from the hospital six days ago. But they knew the lull wouldn't last, so they took the respite while they could. McGarrett was planning on having the whole team at his place that night for a cookout; he'd even invited his former Commander Joe White, hoping to ease some of the older man's worry he knew the man had had since Steve's revelation in the hospital.

The things that night had brought out had been filed away again in Steve's mind, as he'd done anytime his 'issues' would surface. His training had helped reinforce the techniques Steve had learned after his mother's death when he didn't want to deal with what he couldn't control. He knew he'd have to deal with them eventually before there was a time when his friends, his family couldn't pull him back in, but now wasn't it. Now they needed to focus on getting Kono better, getting her back where she belonged.

It was Danny's voice that brought him out of his thoughts, looking up he saw the reason "Hey, man it's good to see you up and about, but should you really be here? Shouldn't you be resting?" Williams was releasing Kono from a gentle hug as Steve made his way across the open room.

"I've been resting all week; I'd go crazy if I stayed in bed any longer. Besides Chin isn't letting me do anything he thinks will cause me any problems, which apparently to him is just about everything." Kono gave her cousin a sideways look, the older man just shrugging innocently.

He then looked at Danny for support, "Just because I offered to carry her up the stairs, doesn't mean I won't let her do anything."

"Seriously?" Kono glared at him, "The elevators were right there, walk in, push a button and we're here."

Danny laughed at the interaction between the cousin, thankful Kono was back and on the mend. Steve approached the group, having heard the conversation crossing the room. "Don't give him too hard of a time; we just want you to get better." Kono had held out her hand when McGarrett approached, but he surprised her by pulling her into a gentle hug. Chin glanced at Danny with a slightly surprised look. Steve was not the most tactile person and rarely showed outward affection, but the past week had thrown them all and right now, Danny was the only one of the team who truly knew what it had done to Steve.

Kono too was surprised by the embrace, but grateful none the less. "I know and I promise to rest before tonight, but I just had to get out some and I promised Chin I wouldn't overdo if we stopped by to say hi." The young woman moved back toward her cousin, who put a protective hand around her shoulder. "Plus I wanted to make sure you hadn't given my office away, I understand we have a new teammate."

"He won't give me an office. He still doesn't like the fact I called this job 'babysitting' when we were first introduced." A new voice came from behind Kono as Lori Weston entered the bullpen.

"That's not why you don't have an office, we're only set up for four offices and those are occupied, you've been working out her in the main room without a problem." Steve crossed his arms.

"You set me up a chair in the corner of the room, it's a wonder I can get anything done." Lori countered, her posture mimicking Steve's.

"Yeah, but…" McGarrett was cut off by Danny.

"Okay, that's enough children; let's play nice since this is Kono's first unofficial day back. We don't need to give her a headache so soon." Williams countered with the wave of his arms, motioning back and forth between the two people.

Kono glanced toward Chin, wondering if this how things had been, he gave her slight smile and subtle node as the blond-haired woman stepped up to Kono holding out her hand, "I'm Lori Weston, sorry we weren't properly introduced the last time you were here, a bit to much was going on that day. I'm glad to see you are getting better."

"Thanks," Kono replied. "And just to let you know, you can use my office until I get back and if you are okay with it, we can share until something more permanent is figured out." The young woman glanced toward Steve, daring him to say anything, it was obvious he was still a bit leery of the new woman, but Kono decided she'd give her a chance. It might be nice to have another woman on the team.

McGarrett nodded at Kono's suggestion, he knew right now he wouldn't be able to deny the healing woman much and if she was okay with Lori working in her office, he was okay with it too.

Again Danny's voice broke the silence. Clapping his hands together he motioned to each of them, looking at Steve first. "We still on for your place tonight?"

McGarrett nodded, "About six if that is good for everyone and yes Lori you are welcome too." He smiled at the blond woman.

"Thank you, should I bring anything?" Since she had come to the team they hadn't done anything as a unit except work, it would be interesting to see her new teammates outside the office. She wondered if she'd get a better read on McGarrett now that the tension that surrounded what was going on with Kono had been resolved.

"You could pick up some long boards." Steve said. Weston nodded; McGarrett then looked at everyone, "Okay, Chin you need to take Kono home so she can rest…" When he saw the young woman start to protest he held up his hand, "Can't have you falling asleep just as the foods getting done tonight," He smiled, "Danny, Lori and I will finish up business here, close up shop for the weekend and see you guys at six."

"Sounds good to me, it'll be nice for all us to be back together, where we belong." Chin added as he motioned Kono toward the door.

"Yes it will." Steve said aloud watching Chin and Kono leave, Danny returned to his office, Lori making her way into Kono's, "Yes it will." he repeated softly heading toward his own.

A/N#2: For those who may be interested in the Steve story I alluded to in earlier chapters, I hope to start it soon as long as the interest is still there. It will only be a one-shot and I'm thinking of including Joe in that story along with the obvious Steve and Danny interaction. Just let me know if there is still interest. Again thanks for all the support for this story-Montez