Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the TV series, Hawaii Five-0.

Life has been busy, but I finally had some time to write today so here is a short holiday story for you all. I will hopefully be getting back to working on another H50 story of mine very soon.

Happy Easter

The Second Hunt

By
N. J. Borba

Catherine leaned in and gently kissed him on the cheek.

"You leaving?" he mumbled, still clearly sleepy. Steve opened his eyes slowly, "It's still dark out."

"It typically starts before sunrise," she quipped, "That seems to be why they call it sunrise service."

He chuckled sleepily, "Yeah, yeah…" Steve yawned and stretched his arms above his head. "Do I have time for a shower before we go?"

"We?" Catherine smiled, "Steve, you don't have to go with me."

Steve sat up, the sheet falling to his waist. He watched as she crawled off the bed and stood. She was wearing a pale blue tank dress that hit her just above the knee. Her simple golden arrow necklace hung around her neck. Steve recalled the previous Easter in which she'd managed to sneak out to attend mass on her own and how he'd mentioned maybe going with her the next year. It was already next year. And it had been a hell of a long year, mainly because she'd been gone for most of it.

"Cath, I want to go with you," he pushed the covers off and stood by the side of the bed, stretching again. "But I need a shower first."

Her lips curled into a pleased smile, "You have time," she agreed.

With a quick nod he walked toward the bathroom, but turned back. "Care to join me?"

She chuckled, watching him stand in the doorway. The soft bathroom light lit his muscular body and she couldn't deny she was tempted to strip down and shower again just to be close to him. A great deal of the past year had been spent apart and she felt lucky to have been welcomed back so warmly by him, "I'm already showered and dressed," Catherine replied, resisting temptation, "But I'll definitely take a raincheck on that offer."

He flashed a lopsided grin and shrugged, "Your loss."

Catherine watched his adorable backside as it ambled into the bathroom.

A half hour later they arrived at St. Joseph church in Waimanalo. The very first tendrils of sunlight were coming up over the water and illuminating the intricate stained glass windows at the front of the church. Steve sat beside Catherine as she went through the motions of a somewhat lengthy Catholic mass service. They stood and sang, and kneeled and sat, up and down several times. He was confused by most of the rituals, but he liked giving thanks and exchanging peaceful handshakes with strangers.

He especially enjoyed the messages of hope and renewal the priest spoke of in his homily.

Catherine took his hand as they exited the church. "Want to take a quick walk?"

"Sure," he easily agreed. "Maybe even a leisurely one."

"We need to be home in time for our guests, and the egg hunt," she reminded him.

"I know," Steve grinned, "Trust me; I have every intention of being home for the egg hunt. This is my year to win."

She leaned against his side as they strolled down to the beach. "I thought you liked the way last year's egg hunt ended, didn't I let you win?"

He nodded as they each kicked off their shoes and walked along the water's edge. Gentle waves rolled upon shore and frothy water danced against their toes and ankles. Catherine admired the heck out of him for having put on his best cargo pants and even a mostly ironed navy-blue button shirt. He'd made an effort to be there with her, to do something she liked to do on the holiday. But she smiled to see him walking along the beach barefoot.

Steve always looked the most at home to her, the most relaxed, when walking along the beach or splashing in the ocean.

"You did let me win," Steve agreed. He let out a long sigh, "But it was shortly after that egg hunt that I…" he struggled a moment, "I lost you."

Her hand gripped his tighter, their fingers threading together as the morning sun warmed their faces.

000

Sunshine filled the backyard as they stood facing their friends who'd dutifully lined up despite last year's egg hunt mishap.

"Alright, this year we have 215 eggs hidden in the front and back yards," Steve announced. "That's an odd number so it should come out with one team having more eggs than the other this year, as long as we find them all. And we're going to do things a little different this time," he went on. "Catherine and I have each chosen a team captain to lead instead of ourselves," Steve insisted. "So the two of us need to be chosen for different teams."

"Because it's still McGarrett versus Rollins," Catherine added. "And so we can each take a more active role in the egg hunt," she added. "I selected Chin as one captain."

"And I picked Danny as the other," Steve nodded at his friend. "Hopefully that'll keep things fair."

Chin and Danny walked forward. "But it is still a competition, right?" Chin questioned. "You two are fighting to win and have some sort of wager going on?" he guessed. They all knew the two former Navy officers were too competitive for their own good.

Catherine caught Steve's eye, "Yeah, we have a bet going."

"Does it involve us?" Kono wondered, "Because last year's bet was for losers to serve winners lunch," she remembered.

Grover chuckled upon hearing that news, though he wasn't surprised.

Steve smiled, "To make things fun we agreed that this year the losing team gets to wash the winning team's cars," he announced, "All of them."

"They say fun," Danny groaned, "And we end up as pawns again."

Adam nodded, "And slaves."

"I don't have a car, Uncle Steve," Grace pointed out.

He put a hand against the girl's shoulder, "In that case, the losers will wash your bicycle." Steve brought both his hands back together and rubbed them against one another, "Alright then, let's get the 2nd annual McGarrett versus Rollins Easter egg hunt in motion. Team captains, start us off," he gave them the go ahead to begin.

"Who picks first?" Danny asked.

Kamekona stepped forward, "Heads or tails?" he asked, producing a shiny quarter. "Winner picks first."

"Heads," Chin called.

"I'm good with tails," Danny agreed.

The shaved ice, shrimp truck, and helicopter tour proprietor flipped the coin and allowed it to land on the lawn. Grace crouched down to read it. "It's tails!" she declared.

"Danny, you're up," Steve pointed to the man.

He instantly called out his first choice, "Grace."

"Thanks, Danno," the girl beamed as she skipped across the short expanse of grass to join her father.

Chin scanned the line of potentials and smiled when he locked eyes with his girlfriend, "Leilani."

"Keeping it in the family so far, I see," Steve chuckled as he eyed Catherine. His gaze promptly returned to the two team captains, "You guys do realize that in order to make this McGarrett versus Rollins you each have to pick one of us. I believe that was already stipulated."

"Sure," Danny nodded before he pointed, "I'll take Adam," he declared.

"Kono," Chin easily decided on his cousin.

"I'll take…" Danny scanned the line, "How about Grover," he shrugged, "Big guns couldn't hurt."

The former Chicago cop ambled toward Danny's side, glancing over his shoulder to Steve, "Thanks for inviting my family to this gathering of yours. That was real nice of you and Catherine," he was civil for a moment, "This egg hunt should be fun as long as I get to kick your butt," Grover grinned.

Steve shook his head at the man's comment as they continued to pick teams.

"Jerry," Chin selected.

Danny took Max and Sabrina. Chin got Mary and little Joan as a package deal. Danny picked Grover's son and Kamekona. Chin chose Grover's wife and daughter.

Catherine and Steve stood there glancing at the teams that had formed with eight members each. They shared a glance with one another and couldn't help laugh. "Guess this is a sign that people think we're too competitive," Catherine was the first to recognize the fault.

He reluctantly nodded, "You might be right." Steve turned back to the team captains, "Okay, very funny, choosing us last."

Danny stood with hands on his hips, "You know, come to think of it… how is it you two get to play this year when it's your yard and your eggs that you hid."

"We didn't hide them," Catherine spoke up first, hoping to ease things over better than Steve might. "We spent all yesterday stuffing them, but we had an impartial third party hide the eggs for us. We weren't even here this morning when it happened. I give you my word," she swore.

"She's right," Steve nodded along, "Doris hid the eggs."

"Doris?" Chin was surprised by that comment. "And she's impartial?"

"Well," Danny grinned, "If Doris hid them then we probably won't find any of those eggs for a good twenty years." His words did the trick, breaking up the slight tension that had formed. "Okay, you two," he pointed to Catherine and then Steve with a warning finger wag, "If you can promise to play fair and not turn this into a Navy scrimmage, we'll put you on our teams. Is that a deal?" Danny spoke to them like children.

"This is my house, Danny," Steve protested, "My rules, you have to pick us."

Chin easily made up his mind, "I want Catherine," he declared, thinking her the lesser of two competitive evils.

Danny frowned, "Fine, get over here," he waved Steve across the lawn to join their group.

As soon as Danny's team was in a huddle, Steve spoke, "Okay, guys, this is what we need to do…"

"Eh-hmm," Danny cleared his throat loudly, "Pretty sure I'm team captain here, am I not?" he eyed Steve.

"Good lord, help us all," Grover grumbled.

Steve took a deep breath and finally nodded, "Yes, I made you captain," he reluctantly complied. "Go ahead then."

"Good," Danny glanced around the circle at everyone and smiled at his daughter, "The game plan is to find as many eggs as we can, but more importantly…" he eyed Steve, "We're gathered here today to celebrate the spirit of Easter with our family and friends, which means let's just have some fun."

They all gave a quick cheer of agreement as they broke up their huddle. Steve clapped Danny on the back, "Nice sentiment."

"Thank you," Danny graciously took the compliment.

"Now, do you want your precious Camaro hand washed by Catherine and Chin or not?" Steve hoped to incite some small bit of competitive nature in his friend.

Danny sighed, "Yeah, yeah… of course I do."

Chin's huddle across the lawn was quiet as they looked to him. Catherine smiled warmly, nodding for him to take the lead. He glanced around and quickly realized that other than himself and Jerry they'd formed a mostly female team. And one of their nine players, little Joan, was only two years old. Chin smiled at the girl in her pink Easter dress. "Alright, I will admit I'd love to have my car washed by Steve, Danny and Lou, if for no other reason than to snap a picture of that scene," he laughed.

"And I'd like to watch them towel dry my corvette," Catherine spoke up.

"But…" Chin flashed a slightly warning look her direction, "We are here to have fun, first and foremost," he unknowingly reiterated Danny's same feelings. "I've always felt like this is a day meant to be about overcoming the hard stuff and moving forward, starting anew. I think we've overcome a lot this past year, now we deserve some good things."

Catherine's smile increased. "You're right. Let's go out there and have fun."

A cheer in the huddle went up as they all reinforced those words, "Let's have fun!"

Chin walked beside Catherine for a moment as they set off to start the egg hunt. "Thank you for insisting on the fun part," she said to him.

"You already knew that was important," Chin replied, "Just needed a little reminder." He watched her nod, "Now let's make sure those guys have to wash our cars!"

She chuckled, watching him and Leilani veer toward the front yard to begin their hunt.

Catherine spotted Steve walking toward her. She couldn't help smile at the lavender and orange woven-plastic Easter basket he was carrying in his left hand. It looked completely out of place on his tall, masculine frame. "Sexy basket," she grinned.

"I've already got two eggs in it," Steve boasted, leaning forward to peer into her basket. "Aw, too bad… looks like you have none."

"Wow, nice," she narrowed her eyes at him, her smile gone, "Taunting me and trying to distract me from hunting. Not really in the spirit of this being fun."

"It'll be fun when I watch you waxing my truck," he grinned.

"Uh, no," her head shook as she moved toward the edge of the lawn. "I'm pretty sure we agreed to a wash job, not waxing," Catherine spotted a red and white polka dot egg resting against the trunk of an iron wood tree. She reached down but Steve swooped in and snatched it up just before she could grab it. "Really?" she stood back, frowning, "You going to shadow me the whole time so you can sneak up from behind and take all my eggs? That's real mature."

He shrugged, "Can't help it if I'm faster and have longer arms," Steve teased.

She rubbed up against his left side, "How about a little private deal," Catherine proposed, lowering her voice, "If you let me win, I'll let you win tonight… several times if you like."

His mouth hung open for a second, almost persuaded. "No," he took a step backward, his right index finger pressed against her chest, "Trying to seduce me," Steve tsked, "You realize that would be cheating… and cheaters never win," Steve wore a smug grin.

"Okay," she shrugged and turned away.

Steve was surprised she'd given in so easily, until he glanced down at his basket and found it was two eggs lighter. "Catherine!" he bellowed while watching her scurry away toward the side yard. "Cath, that's called stealing. And stealing is cheating, too!"

Her laughter echoed across the yard as she waved to him without turning around.

"You two are pathetic, boss," Kono shook her head as she lunged in front of him and grabbed an egg he hadn't seen resting near his foot.

"Geesh," Grover approached Steve, having also witnessed the earlier scene, "You and Rollins are worse than my kids," he stated.

A half hour later, when they felt all the eggs had been found, the team captains set about counting. Chin looked a little upset by his count, especially as he watched Danny count and recount all the eggs in his team's baskets. But the detective looked decidedly dejected as he faced the group, "107," Danny announced his team's final count.

"Wait a sec," Chin stepped forward, "We only have 107. You should have 108."

"Not another tie like last year," Grace lamented. "I was kind of looking forward to having my bike washed."

"No, that's not right," Steve stepped in, "It can't be a tie this year. There were 215 eggs hidden so we must have missed one."

"Could be that Doris just miss-counted when she hid the eggs," Catherine offered an explanation.

"I specifically gave her 215 eggs," Steve insisted, "After we stuffed them all I counted them out before I put them in the bags. Then I left them in the tool shed so mom could hide them while we were at mass this morning," he went over everything that had happened, trying to figure out the mystery. "You know what, why don't you let me do a re-count?"

"Steve, I'm telling you we only have 107 eggs," Danny was firm, "I counted ours three times already," he insisted.

Chin nodded, "I counted ours four times and I got 107 each time."

"Okay," Catherine stood beside Steve and placed a calming hand against his chest, "I trust that you counted 215 last night, but if they were in the shed overnight some kids might've found them. Easter is unfortunately a time when kids play tricks… throwing hardboiled eggs at houses and cars," she said.

"I think you're confusing Easter with Halloween pranks, and these weren't hardboiled eggs," Steve responded as he set about counting all the eggs himself. Everyone else gave up on the recount and went off to grab some lunch. "It's not here," he mumbled to himself, "How is it not here?" Steve wondered where the last egg was.

Catherine rejoined him, holding a paper plate with one hand as she nibbled on some food, "This ham you smoked is really good," she remarked, watching him glance around at the many baskets of eggs, "How's it going? You find the missing egg, or was it hoodlums?" she chuckled and his frown only deepened her amusement, "It could've happened."

"Right," he stood, staring down at the baskets in the middle of the back lawn. "Some Easter hooligans took one of our eggs, one cheapo plastic egg?"

"You never know," Catherine shrugged and took another bite.

He thought it over some more, "I do know. I know it's still out here," Steve maintained. "How could you possibly have screwed up hiding eggs, mom?" he grumbled.

"What have I screwed up now?" Doris asked as she and Mick walked into the backyard to join everyone.

Steve turned toward the woman, aiming an annoyed look at her. He hurried to her side and whispered so no one could overhear, "You were meant to hide 215 eggs this morning, but one is missing," he glanced over his shoulder to see Catherine chatting amiably with Mick. Steve looked to Doris again, "Where is the egg I asked you to hide for me?"

"Right where you instructed," Doris tried to point, but Steve stopped her by grabbing her hand and pushing it to her side, "It's in the bush by the bench," his mother said.

He sighed, whispering back, "No, mom… I said under the bench by the beach."

Doris rolled her eyes, "So I must have heard you wrong," the woman shrugged.

Steve walked back over to Catherine as Doris and Mick went to greet Mary and Joan. "Mom says the missing egg is still out there," he revealed.

Catherine easily noticed the eager grin on his face. "And you really want to win this year," she chuckled. "Okay, well, why don't I go back to hanging out with our friends and eating while you find the last egg? You can be the egg hunt winner this year," she winked, "And we can both still win tonight."

"No," he caught her hand and his expression turned from excited to dour in an instant, "Come on, Cath," Steve squeezed her palm. He walked her over to a wooden table and gently took her plate. Steve sat the food down and guided her back into the middle of the yard, "You and I both know it's not a win unless I'm competing against someone," he insisted, "And remember the agreement we made last year? No egg left behind."

"Oh, goodness," she groaned good-naturedly. "Yeah, sure… and what about the other thing we agreed to do differently this year?"

"You mean making a schematic of the yard where all the eggs are hidden," Steve recalled, "But we decided to be part of the hunt this year so that didn't apply."

She chuckled, "Fine, I'll look with you."

"Not with me," he was sure to correct as he dropped her hand, "Against me, right? This is for… for the car washing privileges."

Her head nodded slowly as they set out again, "Uh huh, car washing," Catherine agreed. For some reason she figured there was more going on than just him wanting her to wash his truck. She went about the motions, though, searching the grass and along the tree line. She ducked down to peer beneath the small deck near the beach. She even craned her neck to look upward, recalling an egg that had been hidden on a tree branch last year.

Steve wasn't looking very hard, not at all really.

He was more interested in watching her search. He spotted the egg in the bush by the bench, just as his mother had mentioned. Steve was surprised no one else had discovered it there since it wasn't very well hidden. He smiled, knowing it was the right one - the iridescent purple one he'd specifically picked out. He checked on her progress again and laughed to see her looking into the open end of a water hose. "Really, Cath?"

"Okay, laughing is mean," Catherine chided, walking toward him.

He was pleased that he'd gotten her closer to the bench. "You really think an egg would fit in the garden hose?"

She scrunched her nose up at him, "No, but I seem to be running out of places to search. Eighteen people already combed this yard, front and back. If there really was a two hundred and fifteenth egg I don't know what happened to…" she trailed off as her eyes spotted something shiny and lavender in the bright green bush near his right foot, "Aha!" Catherine bent down and snatched up the plastic egg, "Got it, I win!" she exclaimed, waving the egg above her head.

"Ten minutes ago you weren't even interested in searching for that," he tried not to look pleased, "Now you're claiming victory?"

"Guess I don't have to try very hard to beat you," she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Real mature," he echoed her earlier sentiment, "So what'd you win?"

Catherine started to pry open the egg, "I don't know, probably the same candy and lame plastic toy thingies you and I spent all of Saturday filling them with." She got it open and pulled out a piece of paper. Catherine went to unfold the paper when something fell into her palm. "Oh, look; a cheapo ring that is really…" she eyed the ring, "Huh, it's actually really nice… really… I think this is real…" she looked up to see that he was grinning. "What's going on?"

He glanced at the ring, "That does look pretty real," Steve tried to play dumb, "Maybe the paper says something," he suggested.

She fully unfolded the note and read, knowing it was his handwriting. "Would you do me the honor of wearing this ring as a symbol of my love and intent to be married to you for the rest of my life?" Catherine looked to him again and saw that he was down on one knee. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Asking you to marry me," Steve replied, amused by how well he'd surprised her, "Figured that was obvious by now."

Her lips curled into a huge smile as she glanced at the ring again. It was very real; a modest sized solitaire oval diamond, gold band with scrolling filigree along the sides. Catherine clutched the note, "Marry you?" she questioned, "I don't know… I just got a really fancy ring and a very nice proposal from the Easter bunny. I think you're going to have to make me a much better offer," Catherine taunted, "Not sure if you have it in you."

Steve's grin broadened, loving to see her playful side reemerge. It had taken a while since she'd been back. He reached out and took the ring from her, keenly aware that all of their friends and family were now watching. "Catherine, I missed you like crazy when we were apart and I don't ever want us to be separated like that again. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, loving you, competing with you, sharing my life with you," he held the ring out to her, "Will you marry me?"

"You didn't search, did you?" Catherine realized. "You didn't even try to hunt for this egg because you knew… you let me find this. That's not a fair hunt."

He laughed, still down on his knee as she made him work for it, "No, not really fair, but you won," Steve shrugged, "Unless you don't want to win?"

"No, no…" Catherine realized how cruel she was being. "I do," she agreed, trying to hold back tears now, "I definitely want to win."

"Yeah?" Steve eyed her.

"Yes, I want to win," she nodded.

Steve remained on one knee, holding the ring, "We are talking about you agreeing to marry me, right?"

Catherine chuckled, "We are," she agreed as he slipped the ring onto her finger.

000

Catherine opened her eyes as the happy dream she'd been having about Steve drifted from mind.

She looked around the dark room and wasn't sure why she'd woken up in the middle of the night until she noticed that Steve wasn't lying beside her. Catherine reluctantly left the cozy bed behind in favor of searching for him. She walked barefoot through the old house and finally found him standing in the back yard, arms folded across his chest as he stared out at the water. A full moon hovered high above the ocean and illuminated the crest of every wave.

"Hey, we found all the eggs this year," she wrapped an arm around his waist, her engagement ring glinting in the moonlight, "So what are you doing awake?"

Steve unfolded his arms and placed one comfortably about her shoulders. He kissed the side of her head as she rested it against his chest, "I guess I'm just too happy to sleep."

"Happy," Catherine repeated the word, seeing his smile as he looked down at her, "But… you look a little worried, too," she noticed.

He sighed, gazing into her dark eyes, "I just want this to work, you know… I want us to last."

"We will," her response was sincerely confident.

"You sure?" Steve questioned.

Her heart ached a little as she heard the way he was searching for reassurance, "You're still worried I might leave again," Catherine voiced his apprehension aloud. They'd talked about it some, but mostly they'd just been glad to be together again. And they'd tried to take things slow and easy as they figured out how to be a couple again. "I'm not leaving, Steve. Not the island and not you," she tried to comfort him with her soft tone of voice.

His hands went to her face as he brushed hair behind each of her ears. He pulled her closer, slowly, hands at the back of her neck as his lips touched hers. She closed her eyes and relaxed as he kissed her, allowed herself to hope that they'd never endure another year of being apart.

"Steve," she knew they needed to talk it over a bit more, "When I told you not to wait for me… I… I know that hurt you a great deal and I will always regret that. I was scared and worried. I wanted us to always be friends and I thought maybe if we were more than that…" she sighed, "I'm probably not saying this right, but I just never wanted to lose you. You're my favorite person in the whole world. I never want that to change."

"It won't," he kissed her again, hearing more in her words than what she let on, "You're not going to lose me, Cath. I promise. But the next time you or I get scared, or we're worried about something… let's agree we'll work it out without running off. Okay?"

"I promise," she nodded, grateful of his support and understanding.

"Good," he took her hand and they sat down on the cool lawn, "Now the most important topic we need to discuss is… what we're going to call the egg hunt next year?"

Catherine looked at him like he was crazy, "What do you mean?"

"For two years it's been a McGarrett versus Rollins egg hunt, but we're engaged now so I assume we'll be married by next year."

She nodded, realization dawning, "And you clearly assume I'll be taking your last name after we're married," Catherine watched him gaze at her questioningly. "Yeah, okay, you assume correctly," she gave in. "So I suppose it'll have to be the 1st annual McGarrett versus McGarrett Easter egg hunt. And by my count, I've won both McGarrett versus Rollins egg hunts. I think that means you're going to have to put in a lot more effort in the coming years."

"Oh, is that right?" Steve tackled her to the ground and tickled her until she relented in a fit of laughter. He laughed, too. Their joy mingled with the night air and wafted across the yard. "The way I see it," he regained his composure, propped up on an elbow beside her, "Either way, my name wins," Steve declared. They laid there on the grass for a long time, starring at each other and up at the bright round moon, "Do you think maybe we should stop competing now since we're about to be married?" Steve asked.

Catherine frowned at his suggestion, "You're joking, right?"

"Yes, of course I'm joking," Steve nodded, "I love competing with you, Lieutenant."

"And I love beating you, Commander," she concluded.

The End