So...Sorry? This has been sitting on my laptop half finished since before essay season started...and it really should have been updated weeks ago. I was going to split this into two chapters, but then decided that would just be nasty (it was a cliffhanger...you can probably guess where the cut off was from reading it)

But anyways. Here it is :)

"I'm going to kill him." Danny growled as he glared at the screen in their surveillance van. "I'm going to kill him and I'm going to enjoy it."

"Chill, brah." Chin answered, somehow managing to sound more composed than he actually felt. Even before he joined HPD, he'd always been the calm one. He put it down to years of experience of dealing with his younger cousins – after the fourth or fifth crisis, you tended taper down your emotions and deal with the situation. Extending that to his job had been easy. Kono...she was the exception. She was the only one who could push his limits, who could force him into a fully blown panic. And she hadn't changed.

She could do it when she was a teenager taking on waves that even her instructors wouldn't look twice at, and she could do it now when she decided to run off with her boyfriend in the middle of...Chin wasn't even sure what this was. "They know what they're doing."

"Know what they're – really, you think they know what they're – did you not see what just happened in there?" Danny was indignant, arms flailing as he struggled to convey his point. It was a side Chin hadn't really seen since Steve had disappeared. There was no need for him to chastise their resident SEAL, and nothing Kono could do was on the same level as Steve's insanity, so he'd toned it down. But now he was back in full swing. "Steve just killed six men. And he took their bodies and ran off with Kono. And let's not forget that he's kidnapped our suspect. Or that he killed six men. I am not overreacting here!"

"Guys, what do I do?" Lori's voice drifted over the speakers, drawing their attention back to the screens. She was still in the private room, surveying the damage without getting any closer. As much as she tried to hide it, she couldn't disguise the fear in her voice. She'd never seen that side of Steve. None of them had. They knew it had to be in there. That he had probably done unspeakable things during his time in the Navy.

But seeing it...watching as he neutralised his targets...that had scared her.

She couldn't quite shake the look he'd had when he told her not to follow him. It was alien, foreign. It wasn't the Steve she knew. That wasn't the man they worked with. That was Lieutenant Commander McGarrett.

At least now they knew what he meant when he said he'd worked the other side.

Before anyone could answer, the other screens flickered back to life. Danny swore under his breath as he realised what he was seeing – the security cameras were back online. Of course it had been Steve's team who had disabled them.

Chin took a deep breath before he turned his attention back to what Lori was looking at. The scene was almost clear, except for a few bloodstains and overturned chairs. There was nothing there that could help them with their investigation. They'd just have to wait. "We process the scene. Say the meeting got out of hand and someone opened fire. It looked like that when you got back with the drinks. And then we kill McGarrett when he calls us to tell us what the hell he's playing at."

[Fifteen Minutes Earlier]

Lori took a deep breath before she schooled her features and headed towards the private room. If everything had gone to plan, Kono would have caught the attention of one of these men while they were waiting at the bar and gotten herself invited in. However, since Kono's only connection to the team was an earpiece, Lori had no idea if the plan had worked or not.

Because of how close she would need to get to her target, Kono had argued that all she could risk was the earpiece. They'd be looking for cameras or a wire, so she was safer if she was clean. And then she'd reminded them that she'd gone deeper undercover with less, so she sure as hell could handle this.

Danny had ranted at that, telling her that she was insane and channelling Steve – which wasn't a good thing – and there was no way he was letting her do this. The profiler in Lori had noticed Kono tense at his words, something flashing in her eyes before she pushed it away. Lori had let her actions slide without any further thought; profiling your team was frowned upon in most cases, especially at Five-0. It was already obvious that they all missed Steve.

Three months, and all they'd had to prove his continued existence was that one phone call weeks before. Everyone one was edge.

As Chin kept reminding them, no news was good news. But couldn't he just send them a message of some kind? Anything. She was pretty sure they'd take smoke signals and traffic lights flashing in Morse code if he was responsible for it.

Attempting to keep her mind on the task at hand and off of Steve, Lori had jumped in and added that they only needed one of Steve. Anymore and the island might implode. Danny had gestured wildly in her direction, glad that someone had backed him up. However, Chin had sighed and admitted that Kono had a point.

He didn't have to like it. But she had a point.

So Kono was in there without any form of surveillance whatsoever. Chin was wired into the hotels security system, but for some reason the hotel's security cameras were down and couldn't be fixed until the next day. They were relying on the back up, which gave about as much detail as photos of Big Foot. Kono's job was to sit there, look pretty and hope someone let something slip while she was there. Lori was her backup, the one with the wire and the camera, hoping to catch something on tape while praying she didn't have to save Kono's ass.

As she entered the room, Lori spotted Kono instantly. Sitting just a little too close to one of the men, her hand under the table resting on his leg. She leant over to whisper something in his ear as Lori entered, and in response the man reached around her back, grabbed the base of the chair and pulled her even closer. He didn't take his arm back, he merely moved it so it was casually resting on the back of her chair, and to Lori's surprised Kono happily moved into the loose embrace. Okay. That was good.

Strange, but good.

"You have your own chair, cuz," Lori could hear Chin's smirk as his voice appeared in her ear, "I suggest using it instead of moving closer to our suspect's lap. I don't want to have to explain to the Governor why I shot the poor guy."

Repressing her first thought of 'slut', Lori forced herself to walk into the room as if nothing was wrong. It wasn't that she didn't like the other woman, they just didn't click. And they both accepted that. They'd never be friends if they'd met outside of work, so why try and force something that wasn't natural.

And as petty as it seemed, Lori couldn't help but see Kono as a rival for Steve's affections.

Kono was used to being the only girl on the team. And the baby on top of that. But then she'd lost her badge and Lori had come in and replaced her. Although she was back now, that had to hurt. Even Lori could admit that she would have struggled if she was in Kono's position. Being forced to work with – to be civil to – the woman who had replaced you when there were most likely still feelings of hurt and anger there? That took guts.

And there was the profiling again. She really needed to stop that.

But it was true. Kono had every right to hate her. And Lori was glad she didn't, because the 'rookie' could definitely take her.

But it was Kono's relationship with Steve that was the biggest hurdle in building any bridges with the other woman. Steve was attractive. You'd have to be blind to miss that. You only had to go out for drinks after work a few times know that women threw themselves at him.

And. He. Didn't. Even. Blink.

He didn't seem to care. He'd look, sure. Sometimes. And maybe he'd even let the girls think he was interested for a bit. But he'd never act on it. At least not when they were around. Everyone had heard Danny's rants about how ungrateful Steve was for all the attention, how he was a terrible wingman...the list went on.

And Steve would just smirk, take a sip of his beer, drape his arm around Kono's chair, because she always seemed to end up next to him, and direct a smart comment at his partner. Which would start another rant.

There was something about their relationship that confused her, even as a profiler. They acted like a couple, but they didn't. They seemed to almost orbit each other without even noticing it, yet still managed to keep each other at arm's length. They could anticipate the other's next move, and they always seemed to keep tabs on each other when they were in the same vicinity. But you could never call them unprofessional. And he'd never shown favouritism or more concern than expected for Kono.

It didn't make sense.

The rational part of her mind pointed out that Steve was like that with everyone. It was his job to know where his team was at all times, to move in sync with them...he was a SEAL. It was what he did. She was reading too much into things that weren't there.

But that didn't change how she felt. Steve was Mr. Mixed Signals. When they'd first met, he'd checked her out, but that didn't mean she wasn't one of those girls he toyed with then put down. The real problem was that Lori couldn't shake the feeling that he couldn't see her for looking at Kono.

If she had her chance, or if he told her she had no chance – hell, even if he hooked up with Kono without giving her a second glance – she's sure she could move on. But not when she can't figure out where she stands. And especially not when he isn't here and everyone is too preoccupied with worrying if he's dead or alive.

Lori looked around the circular table, trying to focus on getting a glimpse of the men so Chin could ID them. She hated this, the waiting. Steve was always on their minds. And right now, her mind should be on the job at hand.

Their guy, Alves, was directly across from Kono and her unsuspecting 'victim' – if you could ever call a man like that a victim – and facing the door. A strategic move so he could see everything that was going on. To his left sat his bodyguard, to his right were two of his lieutenants.

She couldn't see the other four men clearly, but she didn't expect to recognise them. Tonight, Alves was meeting with a few of his 'business associates' from out of town, hoping to finalise a few deals. When Chin and Danny ran their photos, they were hoping to find out what exactly Alves was into other than human trafficking.

"Hello," Lori grinned as she rounded the table to get a better look at Alves' guests. "I'm Kirsty and I'll be your server this evening. Can I get you boys more drinks?"

"I'll have a Scotch," a familiar voice came from her left, but it sounded all wrong. The words were delivered with a flawless Irish accent, but she'd know that gruff voice anywhere, "What about you babe?"

Lori's head snapped to the source, trying to control the shock that was coursing through her body and praying that her jaw wouldn't drop. She heard Chin and Danny explode on the other end of the line, but she couldn't make sense of their words.

Steve.

Sitting there, cool as anything, Steve. Asking Kono what she wanted to drink as if it was the most normal thing it the world. Kono. Cuddled into his side, lips next to his ear... Okay, maybe not now. Now she was smiling at Lori as if this was nothing and telling her she wanted a Cosmo.

This time, Lori didn't stop the unbidden thought.

Bitch.

HAWAIIFIVE0

"Tell me you got a hit off some of those guys." Lori breathed as she finally escaped the private room. Any and all skills she had undercover had been tested to the limit in the last few minutes.

Steve. Steve was here.

In Hawaii.

With their suspect. Pretending to be Irish.

Fuck.

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck .

"I'll do you one better than that, we got hits on them all." Chin's soothing tones were all that was keeping her grounded in that moment. Taking a deep breath, Lori pulled herself together and headed towards the bar. She could do this. It was a hiccup...a rather large Steve-shaped hiccup, but they could deal with it. "It's not good. Looks like Alves is setting up a deal of some kind. With one exception, his guests are all known human traffickers. Serbia, Croatia, Syria. I'd say he's trying to get his girls out of the country and fast."

"And let me guess," Lori murmured as she waited for the bartender to make ready the drinks order, "Our exception is Steve."

"Bingo." This time it was Danny who answered, sounding more than a little irate. Lori could see where he was coming from – Steve was his best friend. Danny had been more worried than any of them. Despite Danny knowing that Steve couldn't tell them he was here, and that it was impossible for Steve to have any prior knowledge of their case, Danny would still find some way to be annoyed at the SEAL. "Except his name isn't Steve. He's an Irish national by the name of Michael Blakely. Arms dealer. He's wanted for a string of offences dating back at least ten years. Murder, arms dealing, fraud...nothing to do with human trafficking though. "

"Well we know Alves set up this meet," Lori mused, scanning the room in the hope that she might be able to identify Steve's fellow SEALS. It was a long shot, but she could try. "He must have invited him. The idea has to be that one of them is thinking of expanding their business. So either Blakely or Alves have never met and Steve took Blakely's place at the last minute, or Steve's using Blakely as a way in."

"What does the Navy want with a guy like Alves anyway?" Danny didn't really want an answer to his question, he was just thinking aloud. "If Blakely is selling guns to anyone with a bank account, I can see the interest. Not with Alves. Unless there's a girl in there who means something, I can't see why the SEALs would get involved."

"Orders ready." The bartender caught Lori's attention by sliding a tray in front of her. She smiled at the kid – he couldn't be more than twenty three – and headed back towards the private room. She balanced the tray easily, the skills she'd picked up while she was in college not totally deserting her.

Danny and Chin's conversation didn't need her input as she made her way down the corridor, mostly focusing on how they were going to deal with the situation now that they had made Steve. Chin didn't want to involve the Governor, feeling it could cause a lot of tension between Denning and the Navy. And create a lot of red tape. Danny agreed. He said it would probably be a better idea to discreetly contact someone at Pearl, or try and get a hold of one of Steve's Navy buddies and ask them what to do.

Lori sighed internally when she realised she'd need to report all that back to Denning anyway. However, those thoughts quickly vacated her mind as she entered the private room.

There were two entry points to the room, both doors swinging both ways to make things easier for servers. It meant Lori opened the door with her shoulder, looked down at to make sure the tray stayed steady, then looked back up again as she faced the room. She didn't even need to look at the occupants to notice the change in the atmosphere. She could feel it as soon as she crossed the threshold.

Snapping her attention towards the table, her first reaction was worry. Fear that Steve or Kono had been made.

They hadn't. But there were two men in the room that she didn't recognise. Both wore identical uniforms to her, but these men were far too bulky to be waiters. The laundry carts against the wall and the blank expressions on their faces told her all she needed to know.

"Lori, get out of there now."

.

Steve heard the door click as Lori re-entered the room with their drinks order but didn't move his gaze from Alves. They'd had to modify their plan of attack slightly when Steve had pulled Kono into the room. Dingo had bitched, but he had altered the plan accordingly.

Instead of waiting until after dinner, they'd move at the first opportunity. Steve was pretty sure this was still a Five-0 case, but the he couldn't ask Kono and they couldn't risk someone barging in and blowing their cover. His team...he's sure they have enough sense to stay out of it.

The fact Danny hadn't come barging in the moment Lori laid eyes on him was a good sign. But he couldn't promise the same once the work started. He'd warned Kono once they took their seats. He wished he hadn't seen the fear flash through her eyes before she gave a determined nod. She'd seen him do a lot of things since they'd started working together...this was worse than all that.

Losing her over this...it wasn't an option.

Rhodes and Wilcox were on the opposite side of the table dressed as waiters. Their entrance had been almost silent and discreet, no one but Kono had noticed their arrival. The others were too focused on the argument between Steve and Alves that they couldn't see what was in front of them.

Steve tried to ignore the glances his men were throwing at Kono. There was no intent behind it – if you valued your life you did not look at your superior's girl – but it unsettled him. It had only taken a few moments for Dingo to run her photo and determine that the girl in the room was the same girl he'd called a few weeks before. They were curious. They wanted to see what kind of girl had finally tamed Smooth Dog. But this wasn't the place for that meeting.

"Okay Dog, ready when you are."

At Dingo's words, Steve straightened fully from his chair and stepped out behind it. He turned and took two steps towards the door they'd entered from. He paused for a moment, locking eyes with Lori. The blonde was frozen to the spot, clutching the tray of drinks so hard her knuckles were white. She didn't try to hide the fear in her apprehensive gaze.

Don't scream.

The exchange only lasted a heartbeat. Steve heard the creaking of the chair that signalled Kono had shifted her weight and spun back around, pulling two guns from inside his suit. As he locked onto his targets, Kono hit the floor, throwing herself under the table like he'd told her to.

He took out the two men closest to him – the Serbian and the Syrian – without blinking. In his peripheral vision he saw Alves' and his men react, but Wilcox and Rhodes had already moved in. The bodyguard and one of the lieutenants were dead before they could even reach for their weapons. Steve adjusted his angle and fired again, taking out the final visitor with a third headshot. He moved again to cover his men, but it was needless. Rhodes had already snapped the other lieutenant's neck and Wilcox was in the process of incapacitating Alves. Less than two minutes had elapsed and it was over.

"You're still in the clear, no one heard anything." Of course they didn't. The silencers reduced the gunshot to a pop. The snapping of the necks would be covered by the music outside in the bar. The biggest liability had been Lori. "Hallways are clear, let's get you lot out of there."

Steve ignored the rest of the room as he knelt down next to the table. He wouldn't apologise for what he just did. He felt no regret or remorse. This was just part of the job. But he might apologise that she'd had to see that. Wilcox and Rhodes could handle clean up, he would deal with Kono and Lori.

Steve wasn't surprised when he saw Kono staring back at him resolutely. The fear was still there, but she had a handle on it. And it wasn't directed at him. He smiled tentatively at her, as if he was trying to show her it was still him, before he held out a hand to help her back to her feet.

She grabbed it without hesitation, holding on maybe a little too tight and pulled herself up. "I'm going with you." There was a steely determination in her voice, and Steve almost laughed as he realised it was the same tone she used when did something to irritate her. He could almost imagine the 'or you are not sharing a bed with me tonight' tacked on to the end of it.

He couldn't fight her even if he wanted to. He knew when he saw her at the bar that she was coming with them. He couldn't walk away from her. And she'd make his life a living hell if he did.

Making no move to answer, he just nodded and turned to Lori. Three of the bodies were already in the carts. The others would join them by the time he was finished. He knew what Chin and Danny would see...they would see the way the whole operation was carried out with methodical certainty. The way the bodies were removed of their cell phones and weapons before they were unceremoniously dumped. It was cold, calculated and brutal. ...This was what he did. Part of it.

"You didn't see any of this." Steve didn't look at Lori, he looked at the button camera in her uniform. The profiler alone didn't pose a threat, all she could do was report to Denning, but Steve was on Navy time and everything was sanctioned. The bigger worry was the Chin or Danny – mostly Danny – would decided that they couldn't let this slide. That they were his team, his family, and he had just waltzed in and stolen their case. Danny would have a field day when he finally got a hold of him. Steve just needed to finish his mission first. "Don't follow us, don't even try. I'll let you know when you can close the case."

"We're ready to go sir." Rhodes called from the other side of the room, cutting him off before he could say anything else.

Throwing one more look at Lori, Steve turned on his heel and headed towards his men. He grabbed Kono's hand and pulled her towards the exit, noticing that she had already removed her earpiece and left it on the table. He nodded towards Wilcox and Rhodes, silently giving them their next orders, before he pushed the door open and headed into the hallway. He and Kono would go first to make sure it was clear then head to the car park to retrieve the car Rhodes had left there earlier. Rhodes and Wilcox would take the bodies to the van Dingo had waiting outside.

They were rentals. Fake names, fake IDs, Dingo had wiped the records almost as soon as they were saved...it was virtually untraceable. The number of red Audis and silver vans leaving this hotel was astounding. They'd blend right in. They'd disappear seamlessly into the chaos that was downtown Honolulu and meet at their base in thirty minutes.

Danny was definitely going to shoot him this time.