It Belongs in a Museum

By: Dean's Leather Jacket

Chapter Twenty-Five: Too Soon to Admit

Disclaimer: I don't own Hawaii Five-0… if I did… I wouldn't be writing FanFiction… I'd be making it happen for reals… hahaha.

A week later, Pen found herself back in the classroom, being asked by her students if they could see her wound.

"No! Dammit!" Pen laughed. "Everyone calm the Hell down… today we're going to be talking about the emperor Commodus…"

Claudette had left over the weekend, back to Virginia. Pen had finally been able to show her around Honolulu and they even had taken a day trip up to the North Shore (thanks to Steve for the use of his truck) to check out the beaches. It had been a teary good-bye at Honolulu International Airport, when Pen sent her mom off. Steve had been kind enough to give them a ride to the airport.

"Why don't you get yourself a car?" Her mom had asked her.

"Ma… I live in a city. I don't need one."

"What do you do when you grocery shop then?"

"I make Danny take me." Pen had replied. Claudette rolled her eyes.

"Get yourself a car. There are always plenty of open spaces outside of your apartment. It'll make things easier on you."

"I'll think about it."

"Take care of my little girl." Claudette said to Steve this time.

"I will Mrs. Sheppard." Steve had reassured her.

There were more hugs, and Pen had told her mom to convince Gabriel to come down and visit her some time. Claudette told her that she would try her best to make him take a vacation.

"… and… no Commodus was nothing like he was in the movie Gladiator." Pen told her students. "Oddly enough, he was actually killed in the bathtub by his favorite wrestler, Narcissus. You'd probably find it funny to know that conspirators had tried to poison his food… but he puked it up… and therefore didn't die from that. That's when they sent the wrestler. So… as a general rule… when you want someone taken care of… send a wrestler, I guess?"

A collective chuckle sounded in the room, and Pen smiled. She was glad to be back.

"I brought you luuuunch! For your first day back." Kathryn sing-songed as she stepped into Pen's office. She held up a bag. "Sandwiches!"

"Bring it on." Pen said

"All riiight. So, I got you ham and cheese on French bread. I remember you telling me you liked that combination so…"

"Perfect." Pen replied, reaching into one of her desk drawers to pull out some napkins. She cleared a place off of her desk so Kathryn could eat.

"I've got a date tonight." Kathryn told her.

"Ohhh. Where's Danny taking you?"

"He's cooking for me, actually."

"You're in for a treat."

Kathryn looked worried.

"Why?"

"No! I didn't mean it like that. Danny's actually a really good cook. He learned from his mom. She makes a mean lasagna."

Kathryn looked impressed. She loved to cook as much as Pen loved to bake. They joked often that if they ever were fired, they would open a restaurant together.

"Grace is going to be there too. She's such an awesome kid." Kathryn gushed.

"You don't have to tell me, she's my goddaughter." Pen laughed.

Pen was glad to see that Grace and Kathryn got along. They had finished the sand castle together, and Kathryn had helped Grace heap up a plate of food. They had really bonded. Pen knew that some people would be a little freaked out at the "extra baggage" that a divorcee could bring to the table, but not Kathryn. She and Danny really seemed to click, in a way that Rachel and Danny hadn't. Pen was happy for them, really happy.

"Is that your phone vibrating or mine?" Kathryn suddenly asked.

Pen hadn't even noticed the noise. She opened up the drawer that held her keyboard for her computer, and realized it was her phone. Steve was calling.

"Hi there." She answered. She sent Kathryn an apologetic look, which she waved off and continued eating her sandwich.

"Hey. I had a few minutes and I thought I'd give you a call… see how you were doing." Steve said.

"I'm doing great. Having lunch with Kathryn right now."

"Oh, I can talk to you later…"

"No, no, it's fine." Pen assured him. She hadn't gotten a chance to talk to him yesterday because of the case he had been working on, and she was really missing him.

"Were your students happy to see you again?" He asked.

"I think they were more interested in wanting to see my scar." Pen chuckled.

"It's like they've never known someone who's been stabbed before." Steve joked.

"How about you? Catch the bad guy yet?"

"No, but we've got a major lead we're about to check out."

"That's good! Just do me a favor… be careful. And… try not to get Danny shot or anything. He's got a hot date tonight." Pen informed him, winking at Kathryn.

"He's got a hot date tonight? Do I have a hot date tonight?"

Pen laughed.

"Maaaybe." She teased.

"Maybe? Maybe? Well… I have a hot date tonight and you may or may not be invited."

"Fine!" Pen replied, mock hurt in her voice.

She heard his breathy laughs on the other end of the line. God, how had she found such a man?

"What did you have in mind?" She asked him.

"I can't tell you. It's a surprise."

"That's lame! Why can't you tell me?"

"Because that would ruin the surprise!"

"Ok, ok! Can I have a hint?" Pen wondered.

"Just… dress warmly."

Odd, dress warmly in Hawaii? What could he be planning?

"I'll give you a call when we're done for the day." He told her.

"Sounds good." Pen said.

"You got a 'hot date' tonight too, huh?" Kathryn asked when Pen had hung up.

"Apparently." Pen smiled.

"This is ridiculous, Steve. Can I open my eyes now?"

"Not yet… step up… there you go. Ok… you can look now."

Pen opened her eyes and gasped. It was the Ice Palace. The skating rink in Honolulu. Pen had been wanting to bring Grace here for some time now and hadn't gotten a chance to yet. The rink was empty and the lights were on. Pen turned around to where Steve was holding out ice skates to her.

"I know you said how much you missed ice skating." He smiled.

"Oh my God!" She exclaimed, like she was a little kid on Christmas. She took the offered skates and threw her arms around him. "How'd you get us in here? There are no evening skates on Mondays."

"I know a guy who knows a guy." He answered her vaguely. Pen laughed. She sat down on a nearby bench, took off her Chucks, and began lacing up her skates. She had dressed warmly, as per his instructions. She had on a pair of jeans, a long-sleeved shirt and her black pea coat. She loved that pea coat, hence why she hadn't been able to part with it when she came to Hawaii. She recognized that it would be rare she would get to wear it, but she needed it in her life. Seriously.

Steve was actually wearing jeans again, which Pen greatly appreciated. She noticed when they had walked out to his truck how well those jeans were hugging his backside. She couldn't help noticing these things. He also wore a hoodie that he had gotten from Annapolis. He looked a little nervous as he laced up his own skates.

"You sure you want to do this?" She asked him.

"Yeah! Why wouldn't I?" He asked. Pen could see through the false bravado. He was too cute.

"You know how to surf, right?"

"Yes." He replied.

"And yet, you're nervous about ice skating?"

She was hoping he would see the disconnect here.

"I'm not nervous." He told her. Uh huh. Sure.

"Ready?" She asked him. She stood and held out her hand to him. He took it, stood and wobbled slightly.

Pen led him to the opening of the rink and easily stepped out onto the ice. She swirled around to watch him. Steve held on to either side of the opening and took a deep breath.

"All you have to do is step out onto the ice like you're walking normally." Pen coaxed.

"Uh… you go ahead. I'll catch up."

Pen chuckled and worked her legs. She closed her eyes for a second as she slid across the ice. She really had missed this. There was nothing like gliding along the frozen surface, feeling the cold air hitting your face. Pen finished up her lap around the rink, and came back around to where Steve had hold of the boards. He had made it a few feet away from the opening.

"Come on." She said, holding out both hands to him. He took them, and she pulled him away from the side. "Just work your feet. Left, right, left, right… don't they teach you that sort of thing in the Navy?" She joked.

He shot her a look.

When he had gotten the hang of it, she let go of his hands and he was able to skate a couple of feet before slipping and falling to the ice. She shouldn't laugh. She knew that. But it was just too funny that this tough-as-nails SEAL who had been on countless top-secret missions around the world, didn't ice skate.

Pen held her hand out to him, which he grabbed, and then proceeded to drag her to the ice with him. She laughed even harder.

"That'll teach you to laugh at me." He said, bringing her closer to him. He kissed her then, a sweet kiss, and then smiled at her.

"You want to try again?" She asked.

"Can't back down from a challenge." He said, and then she helped him stand up.

He did eventually get the hang of it. They held hands as they did lap after lap around the rink. She asked about his day and he asked about hers.

"So, can you do triple axels and what not?" He asked her.

Pen snorted.

"God no. I can only skate. Never wanted to be a figure skater or anything."

"Want to try a lift?" He asked her, reaching for her. She shrieked and skated out of his reach.

"No way! No, no!"

"Oh come on!" He joked, skating slowly after her. He picked up his pace and grabbed her around her waist. She shrieked again and started laughing.

"Don't you dare!" She warned him. But he didn't do anything. He just spun her around and pulled her close to him.

"You're no fun." He complained.

"I don't want you to drop me. Have you seen your skating?" Pen teased.

"I would never drop you." He whispered to her. And she believed him. It was the eyes, they were the color of the stormy sea, framed by those ridiculously thick, long dark lashes.

"I wanted to ask you something." He said again, his voice taken on that husky tone she hadn't heard in a really long time. A hot flash hit her, as she took in a deep breath.

"What is it?" She asked, matching his tone.

"When you… before you passed out… back in the warehouse… you were about to tell me something."

"What was I saying?"

"You said, 'Steve, I'm falling in…" and then you stopped."

"I don't really remember." She said. "All I remember was everything going dark. Maybe I was just saying that I was falling into darkness."

This was actually a lie. Pen remembered that moment exactly, having finally remembered the whole situation. She had almost told him that she was falling in love with him. But she wasn't quite ready to admit to that. Yeah, maybe she was still a tiny wary of her heart being broken, but on the other hand, she felt pretty confident Steve would never do that. Pen had only known the guy about a month. Even though she was pretty confident that she felt something stronger than 'like' for Steve, it was way too soon to admit to love!

THE END

A/N: Thank you guys so much for sticking around to read this random idea that popped into my head one day! To all those that reviewed/alert-ed/Gizzi1213/rice117… this story is dedicated to you!

So, I'm working on the sequel so be on the look out for that. I'm calling it "My Name is Gladiator." I won't give any plot details away yet. You'll just have to think on what the title means! Hahaha!