Sammy and Ilna, love you to the moon. REAL McRollers and Readers, thanks doesn't seem like enough, but thank you always.

Watch your Back

Steve and Catherine stood at the edge of the field, both clad in protective gear. Steve adjusted his goggles, a small grin playing on his lips as he watched his wife do the same.

"You ready to get your butt kicked, Lieutenant?" he teased, as he checked the paintball gun in his hands.

Catherine rolled her eyes. "Please. You're going down, Commander, so watch your back."

He chuckled, "We'll see."

As they stepped onto the field, splashes of paint marked the terrain, and makeshift bunkers stood at various spots. The referee called for silence, some of the local players around them fidgeting in excitement when they recognized the head of Five 0 and the governor's chief of staff were in the early morning free-for-all game.

"Three, two, one … GO!"

The sound of scuffling feet filled the air as the players scattered. Steve ducked behind a barrel, peering through the sight of his paint gun. A quick glance confirmed Catherine had taken cover behind a nearby wall, he could recognize her movements anywhere.

"Flank me!" he called out, knowing her body language as well as she knew his. She would break for the left from that position so he went right.

"On it!" she shouted back, crouching low and darting toward a nearby bunker.

Steve followed, and as his adrenaline surged he could hear her call, "Man out."

Catherine fired as she ran, catching another of the paintballers in her sights. The splat of paint against the canvas of the player's uniform elicited impressed murmurs from some of the players.

Steve smirked at her prowess as he fired his own series of shots. He took cover behind a stack of wooden crates, watching as Catherine moved with agility, drawing fire. As soon as they eliminated the rest of the field, it would be down to the two of them. He reloaded, then launched himself forward, paintballs flying as he advanced.

The game unfolded with players' shouts of victory and curses of defeat filling the air. "Cath, at your three!" he yelled as an opposing player tried to sneak up on her.

She spun, sending a barrage of shots flying, one hitting the man square in the chest.

"I'm out!" he said as he staggered back a bit before regaining his footing. "Nice shot, Lieutenant Rollins. Wait til I tell my wife who 'killed' me, she'll be impressed. She really admires you." She thanked him, grinning, and moved to take cover.

Once the field of players had been eliminated, Steve and Catherine recouped and took aim against each other. Her eyes sparkling behind the safety goggles as he took a running leap over a stack of barrels to avoid her shot.

Ten minutes later after an intense back-and-forth, the referee called the match. "Time! Game over!"

Breathing heavily, Steve lowered his gun, wiping his forehead. "Okay, that was close," he admitted, glancing at Catherine, who was grinning ear to ear. "You're buying lunch."

"No way, Commander," she declared, stripping off the goggles and putting her hands on her hips.

"Count the hits," he countered, shaking his head with a smile.

"Three each." She pointed to each of their colors on the other's clothing. "Tie."

"Fine, a tie." He wrapped an arm over her shoulders as they walked from the field, passing a few players who'd stayed to watch them face off against each other.

"You guys were raw!" one of the college age kids called out, and they grinned at his use of one of DJ's frequently used terms.

"Thanks, you weren't too bad yourself," Steve replied, "you got a few great shots in."

The young man beamed and was back-slapped by his two buddies who were no doubt going to tell their friends who was in their paintball game that morning.

After a stop home to shower and a quick romp in the soaking tub, they headed to lunch. Catherine pulled out her phone, her expression shifting as she noticed a missed call from Danny with a follow up text that said 'nothing's wrong'.

"Let's see what's up with Uncle Danny," she said, putting it on speaker to call him back.

"Hey, people who don't get shot at enough in real life," Danny's voice came through the speaker. "How was your date?

"Great," Steve said. "Where are the kids?"

"Outside pretending to play paintball with water pistols. Three guesses whose idea that was. Want me to get them?"

"No, let 'em have fun. We'll call again later. Thanks, Danny."

"Okay, I need to go cover Gabby, because DJ's got killer aim and Angie's all stealth."

Steve laughed and said, "Watch your back, partner," before they ended the call just as they pulled into the parking lot of a casual restaurant.

Inside the restaurant, the atmosphere was relaxed, and Steve and Catherine settled into a corner booth.

As they scanned the menu, Steve said, "I'm thinking loco moco."

"I'm getting a poke bowl," Catherine said just as the owner, Moku, a contemporary of John McGarrett's who knew Steve and Mary as kids, approached to say hello.

"Steve, Catherine, welcome." He looked at the man he'd known since he required a booster seat when eating with his parents. "Hauʻoli nā maka," he used the phrase for having happy eyes, and Steve chuckled. "I'm looking at Catherine so that's definitely true."

"Where are my favorite keikis today?"

"With Danny and Gabby," Catherine said. "We'll tell them you said hi."

"Date night or technically date day, I guess, as you young people say," Moku chuckled. "Perfect day for it, not too hot. What can I get you…"

After lunch and some more alone time at home, they'd headed out to pick up the kids.

As they stepped inside Danny's front door, the sound of laughter greeted them. DJ and Angie were sprawled on the floor, eagerly listening to Danny's animated recounting of an adventure at the Jersey Shore.

"And then Aunt Angela totally missed her shot," he said, eliciting moans of, "No!" and "Awww," from the kids. "So I took the basketball and made the next one for her. She won the giant bear. I think it's still in her spare room."

"You were being a very good big brother like DJ!" Angie complimented and Catherine couldn't help smiling when her daughter grinned at her own brother before turning towards the door.

"Mommy, Daddy! You're back!" she squealed, jumping up to hug Catherine, followed by DJ who stood to hug Steve.

"Who won?" he asked.

"We tied," Steve told him with a smirk for his wife.

"Ha!" Danny said, "of course you did."

Gabby entered from the back hallway, saying, "Stay for dinner? The kids helped us make dessert. My mom's cherry cheesecake."

"I put the cherries on," Angie confirmed.

"We can't say no to that," Catherine agreed as Steve nodded. "Besides, we already worked it off," she added, making Danny roll his eyes.

"Can we play paintball with you next time?" Angie asked as Steve lifted and carried her upside down to a hail of giggles.

"We can play laser tag," he said, anticipating the question. "Paintball is for when you're older." He turned her upright and kissed her cheek.

"Okay! Laser tag!" She swiveled to see her godfather. "Will you and Aunt Gabby come, too?"

Danny barked a laugh. "Only for you and your brother would I spend a day off getting shot at with your father. You're on."

"Yay! We can do teams. I'll be with you, Uncle Danno."

Pointing at Steve, Danny smirked. "Perfect. Your turn to watch your back."

# End thanks for reading

Find all our stories (in chronological order!) on our website: marirealmcroll dot wixsite dot com backslash real-mcroll

Or in the McRoll in the REAL World community here on fanfiction dot net Find us on Tumblr: mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com

You can join our mailing list by emailing us realmcroll at yahoo dot com with: Add me, please! in the subject line. Or just drop us a line to say hi! We love hearing from our readers.