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: A huge thank you to Cokie316 for being my first beta reader & advisor. She caught so many errors – big and small – and helped me tighten up the story. Thank you also for all of the reviews – please keep them coming! Based on interest I may be starting the second story in this series – so tell me what you'd like to see in it. Oh, and big reveal in the very last chapter, which will be coming soon. I've been rewriting it and I think it's really coming along. Mahalo!

Steve looked at the caller ID briefly before putting Julia's hand gently aside and answering the phone. "Danny? Did you find something? I've got Julia here with me, I'm going to put you on speaker."

"Hey, where are you guys anyway?" Danny asked. "I checked at HQ but only Chin was there, said you two had disappeared a while ago."

"What did you find, Danny?"

"Fine, avoid the question but you know I'll find out. Hello, Julia."

"Hi Danny. We're waiting with bated breath. Please tell us you got a lead from one of the staff at the fundraiser?"

"Even better, we've got a sketch. Chin ran it through facial recognition and the guy has a record. Akamu Lenola. Two stints at Halawa, one for armed robbery, the other for assault with a deadly weapon, paroled six months ago. He's a two-striker, so he's likely going to run like mad. Chin pulled his address from the DMV and his parole officer confirmed it's current - 245 Leowahine Street in Waipahu, unit #103. He missed his last two check-ins, so his P.O. gave us permission to haul him in regardless of what we find."

"We're only about five minutes from there. We'll meet everyone there. Be careful."

"Be careful? With you and guns a-blazing? Lenola is only about half as dangerous as you, Steven. You still didn't answer my question about where you two are."

"See you there in five."

Steve helped Julia up, tossed the blanket in the back of the truck, and pulled out his vest, strapping it on. Julia looked at him expectantly, her eyebrow raised. "You're not coming on this one, Julia. In spite of your experience, you're still a civilian now, and it's far too dangerous. Wait in the car while we go in."

"I'm not waiting in the car without at least a vest. I assume you have an extra?" Steve pulled another vest out of the cab holder and handed it to her. As Julia expertly strapped it on, she opened the door to the cab and cursed. "Damn!"

"What is it?"

"I left my purse at the office. I can't believe I did that! It's such a foolish thing to do."

"It's not like you need your wallet right now. What's the problem?" Steve asked, looking impatiently at Julia.

"My side arm is in my purse. I'm unarmed. Damn it!" Julia was frustrated. She should never have put herself in this position. She knew far better than that. She had been distracted and tired, and that's when she made mistakes. Mistakes that could wind up with someone getting hurt, or worse.

"You don't need a weapon," Steve sighed. He didn't have time for this right now, and with what she had just shared with him, he wasn't in an overly generous mood with her.

She heard the irritation in his voice. He has a right to be annoyed, she thought, but that didn't change the facts. Julia looked at him, giving him a sly grin that made his stomach flip. "Steve, would you wait in the car while a team stormed in to a potential killer's apartment without at least a backup weapon?"

Steve thought for a minute and realized that not only would he'd never wait in the car, but also that he was never unarmed except when he went for a swim or a surf. He grudgingly admitted she had a point. Regardless of his feelings, she had a right to protect herself. He reached past her into his glove compartment and handed her a Glock 33 in an ankle holster. "It's got quite a kick. Can you handle it?" he asked, warily.

Julia smiled knowingly at Steve as she reached into his truck to retrieve a half-filled water bottle. Walking about 50 feet, she placed it on the stone wall, stepped back to the truck, checked the ammo, dropped the safety, and fired a single shot holding the weapon with one hand, the recoil barely registering. Steve watched her shot knock the bottle off the wall, and as she chambered the weapon and returned the safety, he went over to pick it up. A single hole centered directly in the center of the small neck of the water bottle. A brief smile flickered across his face. He was still confused and upset about the news she'd shared with him, but damn, she was a hot shot in more ways than one.

"We'd getter get moving," Julia stated with a grin as she climbed into the truck. She fastened the holster to her ankle under her jeans, and clipped the Glock into place. "By the way, I was the top sharpshooter in my SATC class, 195 on my last qualification. It's all math, you know."

Starting up the truck and pulling rapidly out of the parking spot, Steve grinned in spite of himself. As much as he still wasn't sure what was going on with Julia, he had to admit that her cockiness was rather, well, attractive. And tempting. He looked over at her wearing the tac vest, remembering the feel of her curves underneath. She gave him her sly grin as she pulled her hair into a low bun. He looked back at the road, his mouth a bit dry as he thought about how her hair had felt in his hands. He cleared his throat before looking back at her. "We may have to have a little shooting contest when all of this is over. SEALs aren't exactly slouches when it comes to marksmanship." Julia looked at him and chuckled. "What? I'm sure you already know, but I'm double ranked in shooting."

"Yeah, I know. Expert Rifleman and Expert Pistol medals. Very impressive. But you know who the Navy comes to for marksmanship expertise. I'm just sayin,' it's not as though the Secret Service just chases down baddies. There's the little factor of protecting POTUS. But anytime you want to throw it down, babe, I'm game," she grinned at him. She did miss this – not the action, not really, but the camaraderie and the teamwork. She also missed being a woman working with macho men. It was rather fun to challenge them, particularly when they made the mistake of thinking of her as just being this little sexy thing. It was an advantage Julia had long enjoyed over some of her male colleagues, not to mention her enemies.

As he continued driving to Waipahu, Steve realized Julia had been about to tell him something before. "What was it you wanted to tell me, before Danny called?"

Julia cleared her throat briefly. "Now's not a good time." She looked at him carefully, but thankfully he seemed to be already thinking about apprehending Lenola. "I'll fill you in later, I promise," Julia said.