Disclaimer: I don't own Hawaii Five-0 or any of the characters.
I got excited about where the story was going and I had to post another chapter. Hope you like it!
"What's up?" Steve asked.
"What's up? What the hell are you doing in there?" Danny asked incredulously.
"What do you mean?" Steve asked folding his arms over his muscular chest.
"You're flirting with the witness!" Danny nearly yelled at him. "She's my friend and she's in trouble and you're flirting with her!" Danny waited for Steve to answer but he didn't. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"Are you jealous? You want to keep her all for yourself so you're pissed that she might like me more than you?" Steve asked accusingly to Danny. Danny looked incredulous at him and just shook his head.
"What is this high school? You're out of your mind! There's nothing going on between us! She's vulnerable right now. What makes you think that she has any feelings toward you at all?" Danny yelled.
Steve suddenly snapped out of it and shook his head. "That was stupid. I'm sorry. I don't know where that came from," he said.
"I do. It's Maddie. She has that affect on people. I, myself, had a similar issue when she and I first met…"
"When you were with Rachel?" Steve interrupted.
"No, Rachel and I were separated," Danny said and his eyes dropped.
"So…you slept with her?" Steve asked. Danny's head flew up and he glared at Steve.
"No! Would you get your head out of the gutter please? It's purely professional between us. I saved her life for crying out loud!" Danny yelled again.
"But you thought about it?"
"Of course I thought about it. I'm only human," he said lowing his voice significantly and grinning mischievously. Steve smiled back and nodded knowingly.
"Wait, you saved her life?"
"Story for another day, now I would suggest trying to not let Maddie get to you. Is it?...Is it too late?" he asked.
Steve stood in front of him for a moment, flashed him a smile and then moved to go back into the room but Danny caught his arm before he got to the door.
"Oh no you don't. We're not done with this conversation. I know that you're going to suggest that Maddie stay with you and it's no good," Danny started.
"What other suggestion do you have? She's going to be the safest with me, especially in my own home and you know that. No one can know about her so she either stays with me or you and we've all seen your apartment," Steve said defending his idea.
"Yeah I know, I'm just asking you to think about what you're doing for a moment. That girl in there is scared for her life and she is trusting us to protect her. Pursuing her in this way may not be the best of ideas right now," he cautioned.
"Who said anything about pursuing her? I'm just trying to get to know her better," Steve said and flashed that sexy smile at Danny again. He left Danny standing in the hall and went back into his office where Madeline was waiting. Danny followed him and took a seat on the edge of the desk next to Steve, across from where Madeline was sitting.
She was sitting comfortably with her legs crossed and her hands folded neatly in her lap. Steve couldn't help the thoughts running through his head. His training as a SEAL gave him a unique ability to inconspicuously take in a situation and that's exactly what he was doing as he slowly sat back on to the desk. His gaze traveled up from her pointy shoes to her crossed knees, up to where her legs came together with her body and then to where her shirt opened to modestly show her ample cleavage and then locked with her crystal blue eyes. The inappropriate thoughts vanished as he saw how tired she now looked and the thoughts were replaced with an overwhelming desire to pick her up and give her a hug.
"Maddie, we're going to have you go back to your house and pack some things. You're going to go and stay with Steve until we can get this mess straightened out," Danny said. Maddie's gaze shifted from Steve to Danny and back to Steve.
"That's very kind of you but I don't want to put you out," she said trying to be selfless.
"You won't be putting me out at all. We were thinking that because we can't tell anyone about who you really are you should come stay at my house where I can protect you. Danny's apartment is much too small and my house is a little more secluded. Plus, I have an extra room and, well, we'll be sharing a bathroom but please trust me. I know my house better than anywhere else and it's the best place I can think of for you to be," Steve said trying to make it sound like it won't be a big deal. Maddie hesitated, looked at Danny again and then nodded.
"Alright, but you must let me do something to thank you. Please tell me if I'm off base here but I'm assuming you live alone, you should let me take over cooking at the very least," Maddie offered. Steve was about to protest when Danny tapped him on the shoulder.
"You want her to cook for you. Trust me," Danny said. Steve raised his eyebrows as if questioning Danny but he just nodded.
"Okay, that sounds good but you'll have to do some grocery shopping because I haven't had a chance to in…well, a long time," Steve said and smiled sheepishly.
"Okay great," Maddie said and smiled genuinely for the first time all day. Steve's heart jumped when he saw how much that pleased her and he determined that he would make her smile like that again before the day was over.
He and Danny made plans with Maddie to follow her back to her house and do some surveillance while she went inside to collect her things. It took her some time to make sure she has everything she would need for work for the next 12 days as well as just regular clothes and comfortable clothes for hanging around the house. Danny told her to go ahead and assume she would be staying that long in case they weren't able to catch a lead quickly.
Danny and Steve canvased the outside of the rental house she was staying in and besides finding some suspicious footprints outside her bedroom window and around back by the deck, they didn't see anything out of the ordinary. They also didn't see the car that she had described seeing around the neighborhood but they dismissed it as inconsequential because she hadn't been home. The two men snuck into the house via the back door so that no one watching the front of the house would see them.
They made their way upstairs to Maddie's room and knocked. She called out for them to enter and they did. They found Maddie with a suitcase and a garment bag out on her bed and she was deep in her closet looking through her clothes that were hanging up.
"Woah, how many clothes does one person need?" Danny asked as he walked into the room and saw they clothes Maddie had already packed and compared it with what was still in the closet. Maddie and Steve both looked at Danny.
"I'm a woman. Plus you get an idea of what Grace will be like when she gets older," she said and turned back around to thumb through the hangars.
"Yeah, I kind of knew that. I'm not looking forward to how much that's going to cost," Danny said.
"You know Grace?" Steve asked. Now it was Maddie and Danny's turn to look at him. "What? Am I not allowed to ask that?" Maddie shrugged.
"Not necessarily. I just thought the less you knew about the case, the safer you would be if anything were to happen. You wouldn't have any information to give out," Maddie explained. Danny just smiled and jerked his head in Maddie's direction while looking at Steve. Steve nodded.
"I'm the one who is supposed to be protecting you remember?" he asked. "I should know the details." Danny and Maddie exchanged a look.
"Later," they said together.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Danny asked changing the subject.
"Um, yeah if you could go down to the kitchen and pack up the fridge. There are two boxes down there for whatever is in there and then I'll come down and pack the freezer and some stuff from the cupboards," she said and this time it was Steve and Danny that gave her a look. "I just went grocery shopping the other day. There's no use is wasting all that good food. Plus I can use it to make dinner tonight at your house." Danny nodded and left the room.
"I'll meet you down there in a minute," Steve called to Danny who turned around and gave Steve a look. Steve rolled his eyes, nodded that he got the message and Danny reluctantly continued his way downstairs. Steve turned around and saw Maddie coming out of her closet. She placed a blouse and skirt into the garment bag and then straightened up to look at him.
"Is something wrong?" she asked. He shook his head and stepped closer so that they were less than a foot apart.
"I just wanted to tell you, that I'll do everything in my power to keep you safe," he pledged to her. Then he leaned down, hesitated a moment, and placed a soft kiss to her forehead. He stood back up but their eyes were locked together. Maddie reached up with her right hand and cupped his cheek.
"You're a good man. I know I'm safe with you," she said and then removed her hand from his face. He smiled, turned around and left the room, his face still tingling where Maddie's hand had been. Once he was on the stairs he covered his cheek with his own hand and smiled absently.