Disclaimer – I don't own Hawaii Five-O. If I did, Steve McGarrett would be shirtless all the time. And they wouldn't be covering up any of AOL's tattoos. I'm just toying with the characters for a while.
A/N: Okay, here we go, peeps. Hang tight and keep breathing. Stay with me!
Nearly fourteen hours had passed since the ambulance carrying Claire left 5-0, bound for the same hospital where Ray was undergoing surgery. Exhaustion seeped from every pore on Steve's skin, the direct result of endless recaps of the shooting with HPD SWAT, NCIS and Governor Denning. Now cleared of the shooting and with all reports filed, he strode through silent hallways on his way to the ICU where Claire's father was recuperating from a lengthy surgery to repair his torn aorta.
She stood just outside Ray's room, watching through the window, absentmindedly toying with the silver locket around her neck. Her hair had been pulled back loosely, gathered at the base of her neck, revealing the small cuts to the side of her neck. The bandage adorning her left arm peeked out from the t-shirt she'd changed into when the ER released her.
"Hey," he said quietly, not wanting to sneak up on her after everything she'd been through.
She turned and greeted him with a slight smile. "Hi," she said before returning her attention to her father.
"How is he?" Steve asked curiously, peering into Ray's room. The older man lay motionless on the bed, his chest bandaged with various tubes poking out from under the gauze. A breathing tube had been placed down his throat.
"They say the first 48 hours will be critical," she answered softly, "the doctors are 'cautiously optimistic' he'll make a full recovery."
"Ray's a fighter. He'd have made a hell of a SEAL," Steve replied with a grin, silently congratulating himself when she gently laughed. "Where's Danno?"
Claire sighed and unconsciously lifted the locket again. "He's at the house with Coop. Making Danny take him was the only way I could convince Cooper to go home."
Steve admired the boy's devotion to his mother and grandfather. He was just about to say that to Claire when her soft voice interrupted his thoughts. "How the hell did this happen, Steve?"
He ran a hand through his hair and took a breath before answering. "Trainor was going to testify against a guy he was locked up with in the brig while awaiting trial. Guy's coming up for parole and Trainor claimed he'd confessed everything when they were in the same cell. So, NCIS transported him back to Hawaii. He faked a heart attack and took out the ambulance drivers and an agent to escape. Went to your dad's bar first, looking for you. Shot Ray when he refused to tell Trainor where Coop was."
Steve's heart broke as tears began silently streaming down Claire's cheeks. "I kept picturing my dad having to tell Cooper I was dead," she said almost inaudibly. "I knew I was provoking Todd but…I just…he's my son. I'd die a thousand times over to protect him. Then I found out my dad had been shot and Coop…he would have been all alone…"
"Hey," he said, gathering her petite form in his arms as she began to sob, "Hey, you're fine. Coop's fine. Your dad is gonna be fine." Her hands balled in his shirt and he pulled her tighter to his chest as the sobs continued to wrack her body.
He rubbed his hand down Claire's back, as he'd seen Danny do countless times, hoping the gentle touch was as soothing from him as it was from Danny. He rested his cheek on the top of her head and held her close as her crying gradually eased. He tilted her chin up to his face and spoke. "Coop wouldn't have been all alone, Claire. Danny's an incredible father, he worships that boy and we all love him just as much as we love Gracie."
She smiled knowingly. "Thank you," she said quietly, emotion heavy in her voice, "for saving me today."
He wasn't sure if it was his imagination or if Claire really leaned into him ever so slightly, but the urge to show her everything he couldn't say with words overwhelmed the part of his conscience screaming at him to stop. Time froze the moment his lips grazed hers. When she gasped, he took advantage, deepening the kiss and pulling her impossibly closer to him with his free arm.
A fireball of need and desire shot to the pit of his stomach when his tongue met briefly with hers before she used the fists still balled in his shirt to push him away. "No," she said, her voice strangled by another sob as she attempted to break from his embrace.
Steve tried unsuccessfully to fold her fully back into his arms. "Claire…"
"NO!" she said more forcefully, stepping further away. He watched helplessly as every emotion from disbelief to disgust to anger played out behind her eyes.
She took off down the hall, leaving Steve motionless in her wake. His heart thudded painfully in his chest…one…two…three…four….before his legs would cooperate with his brain and allow him to run after her.
"CLAIRE!" He reached the end of the hallway and looked both left and right, hoping for some indication of which direction she'd gone. There was none. He bent at the waist and rested his hands on his knees for a moment before kicking the wall out of frustration.
TBC...