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: Thanks for the continued support, reviews & comments! I've started the next story and will post the remaining chapter of this one. I think you'll like the end - a number of key questions are answered, but there's still a lot unsaid :-) This chapter I hope will be a bit of a game-changer... let me know what you think!

Thanks again to Cokie316 for her help in editing and reviewing the story!

Steve and Julia pulled up quietly outside the entrance to Lenola's apartment complex. Danny and Kono were already there, and Chin was driving up in one of the SUVs.

"What's she doing here?" Danny commented, looking at Julia sitting in the truck wearing the tac vest, her window open.

"Hi Danny, nice to see you too. Why thank you, I'm doing well. I appreciate your asking," Julia retorted sarcastically.

"I didn't have time to drop her off at HQ. She's going to stay in the car while we go in and pick up Lenola. Is he home now?"

"His P.O. said he's not working, and that's his car there," pointing to the beater that was boxed in by their cars. "How do you want to do this, Steve?"

"Quick and painless. Everyone's geared up?" Steve and the team slipped their ear pieces into place, and checked their weapons. Steve leaned on the passenger window and looked at Julia, his eyes and face firm. "You'll stay here, in the car."

"As promised. I'll be here. See you in a bit." As much as Julia knew about Steve's extensive training as a SEAL, she was still a bit concerned about what he and the team might encounter inside Lenola's apartment. As a two-striker, Lenola would do his damnedest to avoid a third, lifetime felony charge. Even with the most highly experienced and trained team, there was always the risk of the unexpected happening.

"You bet," Steve grinned confidently. As he turned to give directions to his team, she saw he had his game face on which relieved her. From what she had read and seen, Steve was very, very good at his job and his team seemed to know exactly what moves they were going to make. He gestured toward the apartment, taking Danny with him while Kono and Chin circled around the back entrance.

Steve made eye contact with Danny, who stood to the side as backup as Steve kicked in the door with his gun drawn. He quickly scanned the trashy living room before arriving at the kitchen door. With Danny in place, Steve flashed his gun into the empty kitchen while Kono and Chin entered from the back door. Suddenly, Steve heard a woman's screams coming from the bedroom, followed by the crash of a window breaking. He and Danny ran out the front of the apartment chasing after a large, muscular, slightly bloodied and shirtless man who was running down a side alley with a gun in hand.

For a split second, Chin looked at the woman still in Lenola's bed. Kono shouted, "Go, go! I've got her!" as she leveled her gun at the woman. Chin chased after Lenola behind Danny and Steve. "Hands up! Out of bed, get out, now!" Kono shouted at the woman, who was hysterically weeping in the bed, clutching the sheet around her. Kono heard a shout and then a gunshot in the distance. As she quickly glanced out the broken window, she heard another shot much closer and louder. She felt a searing pain in her arm as she fell back onto the floor from the force of the bullet.

Danny threw the suspect to the ground easily after he had been disabled by Steve's shot to the man's leg. He locked Lenola's hands behind his back, handcuffing him when he heard the second gunshot at the apartment. Chin and Steve raced back, calling for Kono over the mic as they ran.

Kono responded, "I'm okay! She got the jump on me, but it's just a scratch. She's headed for the front. I'm coming out from the apartment. Do you have Lenola?"

Steve reached the front entrance and inwardly he cursed as he felt his stomach drop. There, by his truck, was Lenola's girlfriend. His truck passenger door was open and the woman had Julia in a headlock with her gun pointed directly at Julia's head. God, if anything happened to her… he stepped cautiously closer to the woman holding Julia.

"Hey, hey, take it easy, it's okay," Steve said reassuringly to the woman, his gun pointed at her head, his eyes quickly darting about taking in the situation. Julia was holding on to woman's arm with both hands, her face surprisingly calm, her eyes focused on Steve. Kono came up from the apartment, holding her bleeding arm, Chin next to her with his weapon drawn. Their faces fell as they saw Julia being held at gunpoint. Danny arrived last, holding Lenola with one hand and his gun with the other.

"Drop it! Drop it, or I swear to God, I'll kill her!" the woman screamed, her gun pushed up hard against Julia's temple. Steve slowly raised his hands, taking his finger off of the trigger of his weapon, before carefully laying it down on the ground and stepping back.

"It's okay. Whatever you want, there's no need to hurt anyone. I've put down my weapon, now just let her go," Steve said carefully, his eyes locked on the gun against Julia's temple. Julia looked at Steve's face as she tightened her grip on the woman's arm that was wrapped around her throat. In spite of his confident, calm exterior, she saw a fear in him that saddened her. This is exactly what happens when emotions get involved, she thought. I can't think about his hurt and pain right now, not with a gun pointed at my head and a lunatic threatening to kill me. Julia took a deep breath as she focused on the situation, identifying all potential weapons, noting where Kono, Chin, and Danny were standing and how their guns were pointed, looking at Steve's gun on the ground, and feeling the weight of the Glock on her ankle. She saw a rusty pipe on the ground about 10 feet away, the truck door still ajar just feet in front of her. Her mind raced through potential scenarios like a supercomputer, weighing the options and identifying the best cases for survival.

"Akamu, oh my God, you're hurt, did these bastards hurt you?" Julia looked at Steve's firm but ashen face, and then she did the unthinkable. She caught his eye, and winked at him. The woman continued to talk to Lenola and Julia felt the gun fall away from the side of her head. Taking advantage of the brief moment of distraction, Julia reached up and slammed her left elbow into the woman's face several times. She grabbed the woman's arm that was still wrapped around her neck, flipping the woman violently over her head and onto the ground in one quick and dangerous move. Lenola's girlfriend slammed onto the ground on her back, screaming in pain. Julia quickly stepped sharply on the woman's right hand, releasing the gun and sliding it away with her foot toward Chin before the woman even knew what had happened.

Steve rushed over and flipped the suspect on to her stomach and cuffed her tight. The woman's face was bruised and bleeding, blood was pouring out of her apparently broken nose. As he looked up at Julia, she still had that calm look on her face, despite the fact that she had just been held at gunpoint and nearly killed. "Are you okay?" he asked her, searching her face and her eyes. She stood there, eerily calm, as the sirens blared in the distance.