Thank you for the responses so far to this story. I really appreciate everyone who takes the time to comment.

Chapter Five "Bleeding"

Steve felt like his eyes were bleeding. Reading through the mounds of paperwork on Ricky Durante and trying to find something to help them was driving him insane. He really just wanted to be out looking for the SOB. But he was being reasonable. If they wanted him to go away forever, they had to get something more on him than attacking Mia. They had to wait.

Steve McGarrett hated waiting. He hated having to rely on other people to do what he needed done. HPD was looking for Durante. Kono was protecting Mia. Steve knew he couldn't do both, but he would have liked to at least do one or the other. Preferably, the latter, which surprised him.

No, he had to catch Durante in something much worse. Though, Steve wasn't sure anything could be worse than attacking a defenseless girl for no reason. But there had to be a reason. Steve didn't want to know, but he had a feeling it was key to understanding why Durante did what he did, and thereby apprehending him.

Steve found himself in his office on Sunday afternoon, not sure how he got there. He'd been on a semi-blind date on Friday. Very uncharacteristic. He'd been on a second date Saturday afternoon. To a lecture. Looking back, it did seem odd. Then there was Saturday night. All the happiness Steve had experienced in those two days seemed irrelevant. And he had been happy. Mia was incredible, and he hardly knew why.

But all that was on hold. Or over. Steve hated to think that, but it was all a little much. After what Mia had been through, she could hardly be expected to take on the drama of dating Steve. Not that Steve was dramatic, but his life was without his permission.

Looking down at the sea of papers, Steve knew he needed to focus. He couldn't be thinking of his relationship or lack thereof with Mia. It wasn't important now. And, like it or not, Steve wasn't actually responsible for keeping her safe.

When Danny came into his office, Steve almost didn't bother looking up.

"Hey," Danny said. "Chin's here to help out. I thought you could use a break."

"Huh?" Steve met Danny's eyes. "Break?"

"Yeah. It's what you do after you've been staring at convoluted files for five hours. You get some food, maybe some coffee, and you come back. Makes things so much easier for all concerned."

"I know what a break is, Danny."

"Yeah. Sure looks like it. Come on. I am starving, and you are too."

"I'm not hungry."

"Did I say you had a choice? Remember what I said about partners? We do things together and all that. This is not optional. Up." Danny motioned upward with his hands as if that would raise Steve from his seat. When he didn't move, Danny crossed his arms. "Don't make me haul your ass outta here."

"Try."

Danny was surprised at Steve's resistance. And angry. "Hey! Snap out of it. I want to find him too, but we need to take a break. You have to stop acting like you're the only person who can do anything around here. You are not solely responsible for fixing everything. Now, I know you feel strongly about this—"

Steve stood up suddenly, silencing Danny. "Let's go," he said.

H-5-O

Mia was rusty when it came to surfing. She tried to remember the last time she went. It was two years ago with her middle brother, Kirk right before she left LA. The two of them had always been the closest because they were both middle children and had a lot in common. They still did. Kirk had always been the best surfer too, except when they were little, and Morgan, their oldest brother helped teach them how. Mia secretly believed that their youngest brother, Zachary, just enjoyed wiping out because he'd never been good at surfing, but he liked it.

Kono was in another league though. Mia's family had surfed for fun, but Kono was serious on the waves. Not that she wasn't happy. She actually looked ecstatic, but Mia could tell there was something a lot more solemn for Kono than her own casual relationship with the waves.

Unfortunately, the surfing had to stop when Mia ran her knee into a rock. As she helped her out of the water, Kono hissed at the blood dripping down Mia's leg.

"Hey, my uncle's got a shave ice shop up the beach," Kono said. "He could probably help us get that cleaned up."

"Yeah," Mia said, leaning on her surfboard and holding her right leg off the ground. "It doesn't seem too bad, but it stings, and it's bleeding a lot."

"Here." Kono handed her a towel. "I'll put our stuff in the car, and then I'll help you over there."

"Wait. Hand me my skirt."

Kono pulled Mia's sarong out of her bag, not sure why she wanted it, but not bothering to ask. She was surprised when she got back to find Mia wearing it and trying to keep it from getting blood on it.

"You know," Kono said, almost laughing. "It would have been easier if you'd left it off."

"Yeah..." Mia looked down at her knee. "I don't like wandering around in my swimsuit."

Kono shrugged. Though she had no idea why, she understood the fact that some people weren't as comfortable with little clothing as she was.

It didn't take long to get to Kamekona's and he saw them coming.

"You pick up another haole?" he asked. "At least tell me this one surfs."

"How do you think she got this?" Kono asked, pointing at Mia's knee.

Kamekona put up his hands. "I was only kidding," he said. "Don't you worry; I'll fix you right up."

Kono rolled her eyes and helped Mia sit down. "He was talking about Danny," she said.

Mia laughed. "I've heard reports that he hates the ocean," she said.

"The Pacific anyway."

"Makes you wonder why he decided to stay after he and Rachel got back together."

Kono shook her head. "Not really," she said. "He was needed more here. And I don't think he'd have the heart to leave now."

"I'm not sure I follow."

Kono smiled. "It's Steve. Well, all of us, but mostly Steve. If I were you, I'd feel pretty honored that Danny thought you were right for him."

"I guess I haven't been around long enough to understand."

"When Steve was accused of killing Governor Jameson, Danny stayed here instead of going to Jersey with Rachel. He almost single-handedly cleared Steve. The two of them are like brothers if that makes sense."

"It does. I have three."

"Lucky you." Kono was only half sarcastic.

Kamekona came back outside with two shave ice cones along with his first-aid kit. Kono smiled and gave Mia a knowing look.

"You wipe out pretty bad?" Kamekona asked, looking at Mia's face.

Embarrassed and increasingly uncomfortable, Mia replied, "No, that was something else. It's just my knee."

H-5-O

Steve didn't know sitting all day could make someone so exhausted. Maybe Danny was right. He shook his head as he got out of his truck and walked up to Kono's apartment. Inside, Mia was sitting on the couch. It looked like she was grading papers with a pair of black reading glasses perched on the end of her nose. Kono was on the floor, stretching. Steve wasn't surprised at either.

"How'd it go?" he asked.

"Fine," Kono replied, getting up. "Well, there was a little surfing incident, but nothing serious."

Steve looked to Mia for an explanation and she seemed to know, without returning his gaze.

"A bit out of practice," she said and flipped a page. "Sharp rock, soft knee."

Steve was half amused and half annoyed that she wasn't really paying any attention to him. He really shouldn't have been annoyed, but he was.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked.

"Sure." Mia stuffed the papers in her lap into her bag and slipped on her shoes. Standing up, she looked at Steve expectantly.

"I'll take tomorrow," he said. "Danny and Chin will let you know what's going on."

"All right," Kono said. "See you later, Mia."

As they left, Steve tried to get his mind off the horrible day. He knew Mia couldn't have been exactly happy with being watched all the time and he thought he might as well try to be good company. He wasn't exactly doing a good job.

When they got back to Steve's house, Mia returned to her grading, and Steve let her have some time alone. He wasn't sure what he would say to her anyway. He could tell her what was going on with the case, but he got the impression she really didn't want to talk about it. And making small talk, or trying to make things like the were before just seemed wrong.

So, Steve stood on his deck, watching the waves roll in from the sunset and wondering if he'd ever get the chance to start over with Mia, if she would even want to.