Got kind of wrapped up in RL, but I finished tweaking this last night. Hope you'll like it. /B

The fourth time

Cath stomped snow off her boots before she slammed the door to the dingy motel room open, all the while yelling excitedly; "Steve, we got him! We finally booked that son of a…! Chin managed to clean up the surveillance tape and–" She stopped mid sentence when she realized her partner wasn't there to hear her splendid news, and wrenched off her thick winter coat and knitted hat. "Steve..?"

She heard some sort of muffled croak and after turning in a circle she found there was really only one place he could be hiding. She located him in the double bed under both his and her comforters, only his hair peeking out.

"Hey there. Taking a nap?" She pulled the covers off him so that she could regale him with the awesome story, but he just mewled in protest and didn't seem to share her excitement at all. She saw him shaking like a leaf, before he grabbed the blankets and wrapped himself even tighter in them. Cath smiled at her boyfriend-turned-burrito and leaned in on him. "Still feeling a bit chilled, are you, my popohau?" When she got nothing more than an incomprehensible grunt from him she patted the lump and got up. "I'll make you some tea."

As she pottered around the kitchenette she told him all about how the case had developed after he had to… abort the mission: "- and so after you gave up, Kono caught him in a flying tackle and Danny slapped the handcuffs –"

"Diddtmgvipp!" was heard from somewhere under the blankets. Cath wasn't sure what he was trying to tell her, but the grumpy tone was easily identified.

"Come again?" she asked politely as she brought him his tea. He actually emerged from his makeshift stronghold when she sat down beside him.

"I didn't give up!" he clarified indignantly and dragged himself upright, still clutching both comforters. Cath tried to hide a fond smile at the way his short-cropped hair was almost impossibly tousled. "I had to regroup and… cut my losses," he finished and scowled at her. Cath decided to not antagonize him further when his teeth started chattering; he really did look miserable.

"Drink your tea," she said and handed him the mug. "Have you eaten anything?"

He just shook his head and clutched the warm cup, reveling in the heat it provided.

"Well, no wonder you haven't been able to warm up. McGarrett without food is like… like Popeye without his spinach, like Thor without his hammer, like –" He interrupted her with a poisonous look. "Oh, come on!" she scoffed. "You have like no subcutaneous fat. It's what helps us mere mortals keep warm." He ignored her in favor of his Earl Grey.

They both settled in a comfortable silence to let Steve finish his hot tea, with Cath slowly running her hand up and down his back trying to generate some heat to his frozen skin. "Better?" she asked and grabbed the cup, when he leaned back and sighed.

"Yeah, thanks," he all but whispered, exhausted by now. His not-girlfriend took his icy hand and rubbed it between her own. He let out a shaky sigh and tried to relax, drifting off, soothed by Cath's repetitive motion and the warmth it generated. He felt so heavy, so tired.

"How did you manage to fall into that stream anyway?!"

He almost jumped at the sudden outburst of curiosity. Cath had a contemplative look on her face. "Danny didn't see how it happened. He is dying to know too, you know. He said that you probably tried to tackle the suspect and missed, but my bet was on him pushing -"

"You made a bet?!" Steve exclaimed and dropped her hand like a hot potato.

"Of course," Cath said easily, but as 'the Wrinkle' appeared between his eyes she blurted out "Danny started it!"

"Of course he did," Steve muttered darkly.

"And he bet fifty bucks," she owned up with a sigh.

"I don't believe this! How could you? My own ohana…"

"Oh, stop with the Hurt Face – you know I never fall for that."

(Why could he never get that one right?!)

When he grumbled and turned his back to her, she just smiled and patted his shoulder.

"Come on, my non-Arctic SEAL. Don't be grumpy. How did you pass Hell Week anyway?!"

"I'm sleeping…"

"Okay, sorry. You want me to crawl in there with you? Provide some body heat?"

He turned his head and grinned. "Did it take you all this time to figure out I wanted you in bed?"

She snorted and climbed in behind him, hugging him tightly, feeling how he grew heavy against her as he drifted off again. "How did you end up in that freezing water?" she whispered in a concerned voice, stroking his hair and placing a soft kiss on his ear.

She could barely hear him when he rasped out: "I slipped on the ice."

"Hah, Chin won!" Cath blurted out. "He knows you too well, it's almost scary."

Steve just buried deeper in bed and muttered something about traitors.

Feels like Hurt Face is going to be a recurring feature in these...

Popohau = snowball (and also a plant that looks like a snowball) It's not easy to find snow related words in Hawaiian, for some reason… ;-)