Hi All! So here's my next chapter, its leading us to some more action! Hope you enjoy! Thanks again for the reviews and adds etc! This is a bit of a longer chapter so put your reading glasses on!

Disclaimer: I don't own them!

Chapter 3

The 'safe house' was nestled against the jungle. Kono couldn't help admire how cosy it looked. There was a obviously a fire going inside, she could see the smoke billowing out of the chimney and found herself longing to sit in front of it and get cosy. She felt more relaxed now that she knew Chin was going to be ok, even though she still felt guilty for not being able to sit with him while he was in the hospital. She decided that he would understand and that she needed to focus on finding the guys who attacked them all.

"Looks like Danny's gotten comfortable." She unloaded the groceries from the truck with the help of Steve. She winced when she picked up a grocery bag with her bandaged arm. Steve quickly took the bag away from her. She smiled at him in appreciation. Danny came out and assisted the two with the load.

"Well.. how long are we staying here exactly?" He mocked the copious amounts of grocery bags in the van.

"You can never be too prepared, Danno."

"yeah, yeah. Kono, are you ok? What happened with your arm?" He had forgotten to ask the question at the hospital.

"Yeah, I'm good. Its just a scratch, but the EMT was adamant that I put a bandage on it." Steve and Danny gave each other a look when she finished her sentence, but decided to leave it be.

They all walked into the house and set the bags in the kitchen. Kono sorted through the groceries and gathered all her newly purchased belongings.

"Ok, so where is my room?"

"Well Rachel, Grace and I have taken the rooms on the east side of the house, you and macho man over there can take the ones on the west side of the house."

"Ok. I'm gonna take a shower and I'll see you guys in a bit." Kono disappeared into one of the bedrooms at the end of the corridor.

"She really okay?" Danny was obviously worried about his rookie.

"She's tough. She's eager to take down whoever did this to us. I don't think she wants us to fuss too much. You know how she is."

"She's not the only one eager to hurt somebody."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The rest of the gang was sitting in the lounge area, watching a movie with Grace. Steve had been concentrating on the noises he could hear from Kono's room. He had heard her start the shower, and then it stopped. She had been fumbling around in the room for a while, but now there was silence. Too much silence for Steve's liking. He slowly got up and walked towards her bedroom. He gently knocked on the door.

"Kono?"

"Yeah."

"You ok?"

"Yeah," she sounded frustrated, "I'll be out in a sec." She let out another moan of frustration.

"Can I come in?"

She sighed in defeat. "yeah."

Steve grinned when he saw the rookie all wrapped up in gauze.

"What are you doing or at least trying to do?"

She did not look impressed with his teasing. "I am trying to re-wrap my arm, but it keeps coming loose when I re-tie it." She pulled her tongue out at him.

"Let me help you." He eventually stopped laughing at her and sat down on the bed next to her. Gently, he unwrapped the tangled mess that was the bandages on her arm. He gasped when he saw her injury and gave her a stern look. Her arm had a long cut on it. The EMT had stitched it up, but it was clearly visible how deep it had been. "I thought you said it was nothing." She looked away from his gaze.

"Compared to everything else that's going on, its nothing."

Steve ignored the comment and started to redress the wound. Her skin was so soft to the touch that Steve had to stop himself from tracing her arm with his finger. Kono could feel his breathe on her and her heart was beginning to race. She admired the way he concentrated so hard on her dressing, making sure it was perfect and that there were no loose ends that would unravel. The crease lines on his face when he concentrated were so faint, but she could tell he was deep in thought and decided that she wouldn't address his concern. She stared at him until he glanced up at her watching him, when she quickly looked away.

"Another one of my SEAL techniques" he smiled, fully aware that she had been staring at him.

"Very impressive, McGarrett." She was flirting and she knew it. A blush appeared on her cheeks. Steve responded with a lift of the eyebrow.

"There we go. That should hold for a while." He traced his finger from her elbow to her hand and held it in his grip as he stood. She stared up at him, wanting him to pick her up in his arms and embrace her. Instead, the SEAL slowly lifted her off the bed by her hand and brought that hand to his lips and kissed it.

"I'm glad you're ok."

"Me too." Kono realised her words and attempted to correct them. "you, me too, I'm glad you are ok too." She blushed and rolled her eyes at her own clumsiness. The commander gave a small smile that would have brought any woman to her knees. He loved it that she could fumble over her words in front of him. He must have been having an effect on her.

"Lets go watch the movie with the rest of the gang." He raised his eyebrow and the motion sent shivers down Kono's entire body again.

XXXXXX

Steve and Kono sat on two separate single seater couches on opposite sides of the room. Danny, Rachel and Grace sat together on the three seater. They were watching Finding Nemo, for Grace's sake. Every now and then Kono would let out a giggle at the movie as she shovelled popcorn into her mouth. Steve was glad that she was a little more relaxed. He had to drag his eyes off of her every now and then to avoid Danny noticing his stares. Danny wasn't fooled by the feeble attempt. He tapped Rachel on the shoulder and nodded his head towards Steve and then moved his eyes towards Kono. Rachel playfully shoved Danny's shoulders in an instruction for him to leave them be. Soon after the movie ended.

"Ok then," Danny started to get off of the couch and picked up his sleeping daughter in his arms. "We're off to bed. Goodnight you two."

Kono had her back leaning on one side of the couch and her legs draped over the other side. She bent her head backwards. "Night guys."

"Yeah, night." Steve sat up in the chair and rested his elbows on his knees, his hands dangling between them.

Steve and Kono watched as Danny and Rachel walked down the corridor. They both thought of how happy they were that Danny was at peace and that Grace was safe with him.

"Another movie?" Kono didn't want to go to bed, not just yet.

"Nah, I think its time we all hit the sack. You included."

"Oh wow, yes dad." She teased as she got up from the chair. She walked down the corridor and paused before she turned towards Steve who had been walking behind her. She tucked her hair behind her ear. "Night Steve."

He paused at the entrance to his quarters and stared at her for a few seconds before replying. "Night Kono."

She quickly disappeared into her room and shut the door. He stood watching the closed door for a few seconds longer, hoping she would open it again. When she didn't he walked into his room and closed the door.

Little did he know that Kono was leaning against the back of the bedroom door, listening to see if he had actually gone into his room. She had wanted him to knock on her door and talk to her for a while, but she thought that he must have been too tired.

Xxxxx

Steve was woken up by a noise in the kitchen. He was positive that he had then heard the front door close. He quickly slid on his pants and shirt and tucked his gun into the side of his belt. Slowly opening the door, he looked towards Kono's room and saw the door slightly ajar. While surveying the corridor he walked up to her door and peered in. Her bed was empty. He moved towards the kitchen and saw nobody in sight. He went towards the front door and walked outside. The moon was full and it lit the area around the house well. He scouted around to see if he could see her. He couldn't. He walked a little further out to the front area of the house and noticed a flashlight moving away from him into a wooded area. He pulled out his weapon and slowly started to stalk the figure walking up a steep, bushy hill. Steve followed closely behind, but lost the flash light when he neared the top of the hill. He walked forward and started to look in all directions.

"Are you following me?"

Steve jumped at the sound of her voice.

"Jeez Kono! You want to get yourself killed?" He let himself calm down for a few moments. " What are you doing out here, alone?"

"I couldn't sleep so I decided to take a walk and check the place out." She seemed timid at first, but soon the fire returned to her voice. " Why are you prancing around in the middle of the night?"

"I heard noises and decided to investigate. You shouldn't be walking around on your own you know. What if somebody had been watching us, what if they are still?"

"Then I would have given you a heads up, wouldn't I?" She was being extremely cocky, obviously not liking being told what to do.

Steve breathed in heavily, putting both hands on his head, then eventually letting them fall to his side. "Whats up? Why aren't you inside?" He seemed more at ease now.

Kono backed down aswell. " I've got too much on my mind. Normally I would just go surfing, but that's really not an option here."

He walked towards her and sat at her feet, grabbing her wrist and gently pulling her to sit next to him. She sat willingly. "What's going on up there?" He pointed to her head.

"Too much for you SEAL brain to comprehend." She smiled a little. He merely raised an eyebrow and pulled a face at her. She was still being defensive.

"I just…I hate being here and Chin is lying there in hospital, all alone." Her face had taken on a serious look, like she was fighting a inner battle.

"Kono, its safer for us…and for Chin, for us to be away from him. He'll understand. The last thing he would want is for you to be in danger while he can't do anything to protect you."

"Why do you guys always think I need protection? I might not be as experienced as you guys, but I think I've got myself covered." The question had obviously been bugging her for a while and the frustration of it showed.

"Kono, we don't want to protect you because we think you're weak. We want to protect you coz…we love you." Her eyes softened at the words. Steve took advantage of the ease in tension. "So now will you let us play Rambo for you for a while?"

She smiled at him and shoved his shoulder with her own. "You guys are a pain in the ass sometimes." She paused, still smiling, "A pain I would love to endure for the rest of my life though." To her surprise, Steve wrapped his arm around her neck and brought her head closer to himself. He kissed the top of her head and sighed.

"I would be happy to oblige. Now can we go back to the house."

"Suppose"

Steve stood up first and helped Kono stand. He allowed her to walk ahead of him and kept his hand at her back the whole way back to the house.

When they entered the house they were careful to be as quiet as they could as to not wake Danny. Kono paused as she entered the lounge. "you go ahead, I'm gonna put on another movie." She didn't want to sleep. She wasn't sure if it was because she was anxious or worried or afraid something would happen. She just knew that sleep was not going to come to her easily.

"Kono" Steve tilted his head a little as he said her name and walked towards her. She looked up at him as he spoke. The moon lighting his face beautifully. "Everything is going to be ok, you know that right?" He put both his hands on her upper arms. She felt better with his touch, but the look of worry did not escape her face. She shrugged her shoulders because she was too afraid to speak in case tears started falling down her face. Steve slid his one hand down her arm and grabbed her hand, turned around and started to pull her along with him down the corridor. She went along with him willingly. Her heart started to beat faster as he opened his bedroom door and ushered her in. She stood still for a few moments, not knowing what she was doing in his room.

"Come on, we're going to sleep." He walked towards the bed, took off his pants. Kono stared at the man in his boxers in the bed.

"Steve…"

"We're going to sleep. Nothing else. Just sleep." He reassured her.

She slowly walked towards the bed and sat on its edge. She pulled the pants that she had put over her sleep shorts off and climbed into the bed next to him. She was staring at the ceiling for a while, they both were. It seemed as though the whole day had finally caught up with her. A silent tear fell down her cheek. She blinked furiously, trying to stop the tears from falling. Steve turned his head towards her as he felt her suck in a quick breathe. "Hey." He shifted himself so the he was leaning over her. He stared into her tear soaked eyes for a long moment and moved his arm under her neck and around her shoulders. She leaned into him and rested her head on his chest. This is how they slept the whole night.

When morning came Kono could hear Danny and Rachel fussing about in the kitchen. She suddenly remembered where she was. A tight arm was wrapped around her and her head was moving with Steve's chest as he breathed. She tensed and shifted her weight, looking up at his face. What a beautiful face. She was so grateful that he had allowed her to sleep next to him. The safety she had felt had allowed her to fall asleep quickly. He stirred, almost as if he could feel her watching him, and opened his eyes. Looking down at her he smiled. "Morning."

"Hey."

"How did you sleep?"

"Good" She loved the sleepy look about him and his bed hair made him look even more adorable.

"Suppose we best get up."

"Danny and Rachel are awake, so you better go out first. I'll try and sneak out after you."

He smiled a broad grin. " Making sure the parents don't catch us?"

She giggled in response. " Something like that."

Steve lifted himself out of the bed. Kono missed the warmth of his hold as he got up. He put on his clothes and sat on the end of the bed and stared at her for a moment before rising and opening the door and heading towards the kitchen.

"Morning Danno, Rachel." He was surprisingly fresh.

"Steve, pancakes?" Rachel lifted a plate of pancakes in offering to the man.

"Sounds great. Where's Grace?"

"She is fiddling around in the room. Decided she wanted to go for a hike today so she is putting together a hiking outfit." Danny didn't look so enthusiastic. Out the corner of his eye he saw Kono move from Steve's bedroom to her own. He turned his head quickly in her direction. "Excuse me missy." He looked shocked. "Whats going on here?" he pointed the spatula at Steve and Kono. Kono retreated into her room as fast as possible. Danny sent Steve a confused look.

"Nothing Danno."

"What do you mean nothing? Obviously her bed was empty last night?"

"Yes Danno, but not what you think. She couldn't sleep and for her safety I made her sleep in my room."

"Oh. Her safety? Right." Danny lifted his head as if knowing what Steve meant.

"Danny."

Just then Kono slipped out of her room and walked into the kitchen, looking a little embarrassed.

"All I'm saying is not in front of my kid people." He grinned at them both.

Kono blushed. "Danny." She turned to Rachel. "Hi Rachel, need some help because I see Danny is too busy butting his nose in other people's business." He held his hands up in surrender. Steve smiled at Kono's humour.

"If you could set the table, I think we are almost done with the cooking." She gave Kono a sympathetic smile and was hoping that her change of subject would help her out.

Danny dropped the subject, but was still smiling in disbelief to himself. They all had breakfast and Steve announced that he would be going to the palace to get some files to try and figure out where the attacks on them had come from.

After breakfast Steve headed to his vehicle. He and Danny had decided to go together. Kono walked after Steve, not knowing that Danny would be the one to accompany him to the palace.

"I'm coming with you."

'Kono, you need to stay here with Rachel and Grace. Danny and I will go and be back in about an hour."

She started to look almost angry. "I need to go see my cousin Steve."

He leaned his back against his van and was trying to speak gently to her and be understanding of her emotions. "Its not safe Kono. I'll call the hospital from the palace and find out how he is doing."

"I need to know for myself." The anger in her voice was still present. She looked away and rolled her eyes in frustration.

"I know you want to see him or talk to him Kono, but please don't call him. We don't know if they are tracking our phones. I will call from the palace and get a detailed report on how he is. We'll be an hour tops. Please Kono."

She shook her head to herself, "Fine." She walked away from the van and into the house. Steve stood against his van as Danny walked towards him.

"Whats up with her?" Danny pointed his thumb in her direction.

"Just pissed she can't talk to Chin." Danny nodded knowingly at the words. They both got into the van and drove away.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

AT the palace they sorted through their files, trying to figure out what was relevant. They loaded a box full of files into the van. Steve went into his office and dialled the hospital. The doctor had told him that Chin was doing better and had woken in the night, but they had sedated him and were letting him sleep it off for a while. The swelling had subsided and the pressure on his brain was now minimal. Steve was happy about the news and sighed in relief. He would be awake tomorrow and they would all be able to see him then.

As they were leaving the building Steve's phone rang. He looked at the caller identity and gave and irritated sigh. Why was she phoning him? He had told her not to use her cell.

"Kono, I thought I told…"He was cut off by heavy breathing and her saying his name in a way that made his heart begin to race.

"Steve.."

"Whats wrong?"

The breathing was heavy as if she were running, "They found us Steve, we're going into the jungle now."

His face fell when he heard the words and he motioned to Danny to head to the van faster. "You guys all ok?"

"Yeah, we're good…for now. You might want to hurry though, there are quite a few of them. Maybe 10?"

Danny grabbed the phone from Steve. "Kono. Are Rachel and Grace ok?"

"Yeah Danny they're ok."

"Look after them, please Kono. They're my family."

"I will Danny, I promise. Just hurry and help me out a bit okay?" She sounded like she had stopped running. "I've got to go. Call me when you get here." The line went dead and Danny held the phone to his head as Steve pulled out of the parking lot, speeding down the highway.

XXX