Justified – Story 1 in the Unbreakable series
Disclaimer: Characters belong to the writers & producers of Hawaii Five-0. My own characters belong to me :-)
Rating: T (for romance)
Pairing: Steve/OC, Steve/Danny (friendship - no slash)
Author's Note: More setup for Steve and Julia, but also a lot of procedural stuff that makes H50 such a great show. Hope you like the chapter - comments please! Updated chapter.
Her heels clicked on the linoleum floor as Josh prattled on about his dilemma of finding an appropriate topic for his research paper. Julia was keenly aware of the two men walking behind her. She forced herself to take another deep breath as the four headed toward her office on the second floor.
She reached for the glass door of the department, surprised to find the dark-haired man opening the door for her. She smiled at him briefly, then stepped inside. Kathy, the department admin, was on the phone but looked up and casually gave a wave to Julia. Julia checked her box and picked up a few items before heading with her entourage to her office.
She turned to the two men and smiled. "Please wait here. This will only take a minute. Josh?" She opened the door and headed into her office as Josh followed her in.
Steve could hear Dr. Abbott talking to her student about some sort of research the kid was working on. He and Danny exchanged looks as they stood awkwardly outside in the narrow hallway leading to Julia's office. The other offices on her hallway were closed, and he could just see a bit inside her office. Along one wall of her office was a huge floor-to-ceiling bookcase. In front of it was a leather couch paired with two end chairs on either side and two small tables, forming what looked to be a comfortable meeting area, while a large wooden desk in front of a tall window filled the other side of the office.
He had been surprised to find that the 'forensic accounting guy' Fong had referred them to was a young woman, and an attractive one at that. When they had arrived, the secretary told them that Dr. Abbott was giving a lecture up in room 330. He wondered why Dr. Abbott had invited them to her office without letting them introduce themselves or finding out why they were there. But then again, they didn't exactly blend in on campus, and their badges and guns were a dead giveaway. Given Fong's recommendation, it was likely that she had worked with HPD before. Still, he was reluctant to trust someone he didn't know with this case, someone he knew nothing about.
Julia handed a book from her desk to Josh, smiling inwardly when she saw that the two men were staying, as requested, in the hallway. Refocusing on the task at hand, she stated, "Josh, here's a great reference on partnership accounting you can borrow. Let me just grab you a second book." With that, Julia walked over to the couch in front of the bookcase, kicked off her heels and proceeded to climb onto the couch, not an easy thing in her black pencil skirt. She really should move the couch and grab her stepladder, she thought, but she was in a hurry and it wasn't as if she hadn't balanced precariously on top of the couch's narrow edge before. Julia put one stocking foot on the top of the couch and pushed up off the cushion with her other foot as she balanced on the top edge of the couch and tried to grab a book off of the high shelf. Just as the tip of her fingers touched the edge of the heavy book, she felt two strong hands wrap around her waist as she teetered back off-balance to step back on to the seat of the couch.
"Here, let me help," the dark-haired man stated calmly as he offered her his hand while still keeping one hand gently on her waist. Julia placed her hand in his, and stepped down on to the floor. A small tremor traveled down Julia's back and she felt her cheeks flush as she smiled at him. His hand was smooth and soft, but strong. As he dropped his hand from her waist, she could still feel the warmth where it had been. She could feel her heart pounding, as she tried to calm the intense feelings his touch had brought out in her.
"Um, it's that thick one there with the maroon binding. Taxation of Partnerships and Pass-Thru Entities. Thank you, Detective." Julia pointed to the book in question.
"Actually, it's Commander," he replied quietly, retrieving the book and offering it to her.
Julia smiled politely at the man, turned, and handed the book to Josh. Refocusing, she continued speaking to Josh, "You should compare GAAP's treatment of partnership capital accounts to the IRS's treatment in the Tax Code and case law. I think you'll find a topic worthy of an interesting paper somewhere in there. Take a careful look at the practical applications rather than just the theory. We can talk more next week after you've done a bit more legwork."
Danny leaned against the wall of the hallway, his arms crossed as he watched Dr. Abbott. He had admired her long, shapely legs when Steve helped her down from the couch. Her skirt hugged her figure in all of the right places, Danny noted with a smile. He would have sat through hours of accounting and finance just to look at her legs, let alone the rest of her. As Josh stepped out into the hallway carrying the books and walked past Danny, he joined Steve in her office.
Steve watched as Julia reached down and slipped her 3-inch heels back on. She was about five foot seven, he thought. By the tiny size of her waist, he estimated she was 120 pounds and active – probably a runner given the toned appearance of her legs and hips. Julia's soft ivory skin was uncommonly pale for Hawaii. Her hazel eyes looked back at him through long, black lashes, while her chestnut hair fell softly around her shoulders, untinged by grey. She seemed to be in her mid-thirties, but there was something in her eyes that looked much older, as though she had experienced more pain and trauma than she ever should have. No ring on her finger, so she was probably single. Steve chastened himself at thinking about her marital status when they had a murder to solve. That was Danny's arena. He had to stay focused on the task at hand.