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

The Hunt

By
N. J. Borba

Steve watched her close the blue Corvette's door with her hip. He greeted her beneath the arched trellis.

His hair was still damp from a morning swim. Dressed in flip flops, board shorts and a short-sleeve blue rashguard Steve leaned in for a kiss. He was a little disappointed that his lips had barely touched hers when she pulled back, "Happy Easter," Steve grinned, noticing that she was at least smiling while focused on task. He took half the bags she had loading down her arms and they walked toward the front door, "You were up and gone early this morning," he remarked, "Pretty sure the sun wasn't even awake yet."

"The sun is always awake, Steve," Catherine smiled as they weaved their way through the house and into the kitchen, "We got so caught up in that case yesterday that I never had time to make it to the store. I forgot we needed eggs for the hunt and about a million things for the salads I'm making, and I left so early because I figured I'd have to hunt down an open store this morning which would take a while," she rattled off.

He nodded along, helping unpack grocery bags filled with vegetables, pasta and about a dozen packages of plastic Easter eggs. And another two bags filled with candy. Steve surveyed the items, but his eyes kept getting caught on Catherine and the lavender dress she was wearing, "You're kinda dressed up for shopping."

"Just a dress," she shrugged.

"A very gorgeous one," Steve grinned as he halted her movement toward the fridge. He wrapped his arms about her waist and pulled her close, "Is it new?" he asked; eyes not even focused on the dress anymore.

Catherine tried not to succumb to his charms as he kissed along the right side of her neck, pushing hair off her shoulder to get to the spot behind her ear that he knew always made her weak in the knees. "Yes, it's a new dress," she closed her eyes for a moment as his lips pressed against hers, "And we have company coming in just a few hours. I need to cook and prep and…" her words got a bit lost as his hands roamed her backside, "Seriously, Steve, we…"

With a firm frown in place he pulled back, "Later?"

She nodded, "Absolutely."

Steve resumed his help with the bag unpacking, eyes still catching on her dress, "You know we're just having the usual crowd over for a late afternoon barbeque, nothing fancy. You didn't have to get all dressed up for that."

"Maybe I like the opportunity to dress up," Catherine shrugged as she took a bundle of romaine to the sink to wash it. She sensed his eyes on her and turned to glance over her shoulder at him, "What?" she asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

He leaned against the island, hands pressed upon the wooden butcher block top, "Something's up with you, what is it?"

Her head shook as she pointed to the plastic eggs, "They didn't have a lot of selection left on Easter morning. Mostly I had to settle for Spiderman and Hello Kitty eggs."

"Now I know something's up," Steve replied, not caring about the graphics on the plastic Easter eggs she'd bought, "Because you avoided my direct question, which means you don't want to lie to me. What don't you want to lie to me about?" he was a bit concerned all of a sudden.

"Nothing, it's just…" she turned around fully and rested against the counter, "I went somewhere else before shopping."

"Where?" Steve was still curious.

Catherine sucked on her bottom lip for a second before revealing, "Sunrise service."

"Oh, mass," he nodded in understanding, "You went to church. Why didn't you want to tell me that?"

She shrugged, "I know you're not really into all that," Catherine replied, "And to be honest I'm not so much either. It's just that Easter Sunday is the one day I do like to go to mass and," she sighed, "I'm sure my mother probably thinks I'm going to hell because I only attend church once a year."

He smiled and pushed away from the island. Steve wrapped his arms around her again, this time from behind, his chin rested on her shoulder, "Cath, you don't have to sneak off to go to church, okay? You can tell me, and maybe…" he shrugged, "Maybe I would've gone with you this morning."

"Yeah?" Catherine looked hopeful.

"I drag you to my dad's graveside almost every holiday, so…"

"No," she stopped him, "You do not drag me. I want to go. That's a huge difference."

Steve smiled, kissing her neck again, "Well, next time you go to Easter Sunday services… ask me."

"Okay," her smile was thankful, "I will."

"Now, about this egg hunt," Steve stepped back and glanced at the plastic eggs, "What are you planning?"

Catherine's brow crinkled, "Um, hide the eggs and let people hunt them. That's usually the way egg hunts go. Why? You have something else in mind?" Even as she asked the question his eyes lit with mischief, "Steve, what are you thinking?"

"Nothing bad," he assured her, "Just a way to make things a little more interesting."

"Funny," her eyes narrowed on him, "You say the word interesting, but all I hear is competition."

His lips curled into a playful grin.

000

Sunshine filled the yard as their closest friends lined up at the back of the house.

"Why are we all lined up like we're about to play dodge ball or something?" Danny asked, left hand against Grace's shoulder. "I thought you invited us for an Easter egg hunt and lunch," he looked from Steve to Catherine and back to his partner again. "You two look like you're up to something."

"Egg hunt," Steve nodded, "Just like we planned, except…"

Kono's curiosity was peeked, "Except what, boss?" she asked as Adam stood beside her, their hands clasped.

It was Catherine who responded before Steve could answer, "We thought it would be fun to break up into teams for the egg hunt," she declared, arms crossed over her chest and a slightly challenging smile in place, "Isn't that right, Steve?" she turned to glance at him. Seeing how his brow furrowed caused her to chuckle. "Okay, team captains are me and Steve."

"And I pick first," Steve announced.

"Whoa, wait a second there," Catherine turned fully to face him. "Who decided that?"

He shrugged, "I did - my house, my rules."

"Oh, dear," Chin winced as he listened to the former SEAL dangerously pull the 'my house' card. "Why don't you draw straws, longer straw picks first?" he suggested, hoping to smooth over the annoyed look he saw in Catherine's dark eyes, "Here…" the officer rushed over to the drinks table, grabbed two straws and cut one off with a nearby steak knife. Chin walked back and stood in front of them holding out the straws, "Pick," he insisted.

"Who picks the first straw?" Steve asked.

Catherine groaned, wondering why she was feeding his competitive nature, "Just…" she reached out to grab the end of the left-hand straw in Chin's grasp, "Take one."

Steve pinched the end of the second straw but then changed his mind, "Switch?" he asked her with an arched brow.

"Sure," she agreed as their fingers quickly changed places and they drew out their straws, "Ha!" Catherine exclaimed, "Your tactic failed. I got the long straw and you could've had it all along. That is a stroke of bad luck against you," her head shook, "Not a good start for your team."

"Okay, alright," he handed his straw back to Chin, "Let's get started. I don't need the first pick to win," Steve remained confident.

"Grace," Catherine didn't bother waiting before she made her first pick.

"Sweet!" the girl exclaimed as she rushed over to Catherine's side.

Steve wore a pout as Grace passed by him, "You're hurting my feelings, Gracie."

The young girl smiled, "Sorry, Uncle Steve," Grace said to him even as she and Catherine exchanged a fist bump.

He grinned, "Yes, you seem very broken up about it," Steve laughed as he scanned the line of possible choices. His gaze slid over to Catherine again for a brief moment, "You trying to create some girl power team or what?" he asked.

She shrugged, "Not revealing my strategy to the enemy."

"Fine," he faced the group again, "Kono," Steve made his first pick.

Kono wore a bemused face as she let go of Adam's hand and headed toward Steve, "Why do I feel like I was just picked out of spite?" she questioned.

"Trust me, you weren't," Steve did his best to reassure her, "I've seen you hunt down bad guys, eggs should be a breeze for you," he grinned, crossing his arms and turning to Catherine again, "So, how's that strategy working for you now?" he goaded.

"Danny," Catherine pointed to the detective.

As he passed by Steve, Danny smirked, "Guess you were wrong about that girl power team theory, huh?"

Steve's smile turned smug, "Not entirely convinced otherwise yet," he quipped.

With a hand pressed against his chest, Danny shook his head at his partner, "I'm hurt, babe. Gonna kick your butt, but that comment still hurt."

"I got the impression earlier you were against a team egg hunt?" Steve shot back.

"That was before I got picked for the winning team," Danny gave back as good as he got.

"Need I remind you both of the friendly aspect of this game? Hold your fire," Catherine broke up their little spat. She flashed a competitive smile Steve's way, "I'm with Williams, though, we are going to kick your butt," she waved a hand at those still in line, "But go ahead and make your next pick."

He mulled over the possibilities for a moment and finally selected, "Adam."

"Thank you, boss," Kono smiled as her boyfriend walked toward her.

Steve nodded, "Just figure it might keep the fight a little cleaner if we keep loved ones together and…"

"Chin," Catherine made her third choice before Steve could finish his point.

"Low blow, sister," Kono called across to Catherine.

Chin quietly took his spot on the team he'd been picked for. Once he was nestled within the safety of their presence he whispered to them, "We definitely have the advantage here. I doubt Adam has ever hunted an egg in his life."

Grace bit her tongue sensing things might get messy in their friendly game. But it was Danny who outright nodded his agreement.

"Max," Steve chose.

"Jerry," Catherine picked.

Amber shot a sidelong glance to Leilani and Sabrina, "Do either of you feel kind of like the least athletic kid in class who always gets picked last?"

"This group is pretty tight within their team," Sabrina replied with a shrug that said she wasn't offended, "I figured it'd go like this."

"Me, too," Leilani casually agreed.

"Amber," Steve picked.

"Ouch," Danny shook his head, "So much for keeping folks together."

"Pretty sure your team leader was the first to break that cycle," Steve replied.

"Erm…" Catherine tuned out their further bickering as she tried to pick her last teammate, feeling even worse as it came down to only two, "Leilani," she decided, "Sorry, Sabrina."

Sabrina grinned, not at all offended as Steve waved her over to his side, "Their loss is our gain, Sabrina," he flashed a smile her direction as she came to stand beside Max. Steve turned to Catherine's team and did a head count, "Seems to be an even five against five," he'd barely determined when a familiar voice called to him.

"Can you say Happy Easter, Uncle Steve?" Mary announced her presence, bouncing baby Joan on her right hip and trying to coax the little girl into talking. Mary looked to her brother again, "She's mostly only got Mama and baba down, baba meaning bottle," she explained.

"Mar, what are you doing here?" Steve asked going in for a hug and kissing the baby's cheek, "Hi there, Joanie," he spoke softly to his niece.

"Surprise!" his sister said with a goofy smile, "Well, we figured it had been way too long since we saw you at Thanksgiving so, here we are. Joan's got her Easter dress on and is all ready for her first egg hunt," Mary concluded, noticing the way everyone was broken off into groups, "What's going on, no egg hunt?"

"We were just about to start," Steve let her know, "And you'll be on my team, you and Joan."

"That's two extra bodies," Danny pointed out, "Doesn't seem fair."

"Hello, my little Easter bunnies and bunniettes," Kamekona's distinctive voice drifted across the yard and all heads turned his way, "I brought a bunny rabbit made out of shrimp with cocktail sauce eyes and nose," the haphazard entrepreneur explained his unique food sculpture.

"Kami, put that on the buffet table and get over here," Catherine called out, "You're on our egg hunt team," she declared, scanning the rest of their team for approval, "Yeah?"

Danny nodded, "Sure, he's like two extra bodies."

"Okay, here are the rules," Steve announced as Catherine began to hand out Easter baskets. He laughed as Danny ended up with a pink basket and quickly traded it out for Grace's green one. "Simple rules, the team who collects the most eggs wins. And the winning team gets served lunch by the losing team. The winning team captain also gets to choose a special prize from the losing team captain," he explained with a wink to Catherine.

Chin whispered to Danny, "Why do I feel like a pawn in the McGarrett versus Rollins foreplay Easter egg hunt?"

A snort of laughter escaped Danny's mouth, glancing over at Grace to make sure his young daughter hadn't overheard the comment. He nodded to Chin, "All I care about is being served lunch by that overly confident SEAL."

"All right, team huddle," Catherine rallied her members around, "The eggs are spread out in both front and back yards so split up and cover as much ground as possible. And I want you all to remember that this is meant to be a fun, friendly game," she insisted, looking to each of them for a moment, "That being said," Catherine glanced over her shoulder to see Steve's team in a similar huddle. She returned full attention to her crew, "Let's crush them!"

Steve's huddled team looked to him, "Okay, I'm going to keep this as simple as possible. They've got some big guys on their team but this isn't football. Linebackers and egg hunting do not mix. We have speed and agility as our team strengths so use that to your advantage. Get in quick and get out. Understood?" he asked, receiving nods all around, some more enthusiastic than others. "Let's do this!" he concluded.

The huddles broke apart and everyone stood in the middle of the backyard, baskets in hand.

"On three," Steve looked to Catherine.

She nodded, "Three."

"Two," he counted down.

Catherine took a last quick glance at her team and grinned, "One."

Steve remained serious; "Go!" he shouted.

Neither one of them figured their teams were into the hunt as much as they were, but the way everyone scattered so quickly and got right to it pleased them. "This was kind of a good idea," Catherine said as she and Steve stood next to each other, "Friendly competition is healthy."

"It is," Steve nodded, "But maybe one of us should go supervise the front yard, wouldn't want any fighting to break out."

"Nobody is going to fight," her head shook, "And you're not going anywhere. We're not splitting up. How do I know you don't just want to go out there so you can direct your team to all the eggs?" Catherine asked. She chuckled at the insulted look on his face, "Oh, please, do not try to pretend that thought hadn't crossed your mind."

He shrugged, "Okay, the thought might've," Steve agreed. "But you hid half the eggs and I hide half, so it doesn't really make sense to cheat in that manner."

"So you've got some other sort of cheating plan worked out?" she wondered.

"No," he chuckled, "And you say I'm competitive. Hello, pot, my name is kettle," Steve joked.

Her smile returned, "Look at Max and Sabrina," she pointed to the couple who were searching a patch of the side yard, "Holding hands… how sweet."

Steve glared at his team members and then shouted, "Max! This is not a leisurely or romantic walk in the park. This is a competition!"

Catherine stared at him, open mouthed, "I can't believe you just did that," she shook her head at him, watching as Max reluctantly let go of Sabrina's hand and the two of them split up to search different sections of the yard, "That is truly pathetic. I think you've reached a new low, McGarrett."

"Oh, yeah?" he smiled and nodded his head over her shoulder, "So it doesn't bother you that Jerry and Kamekona are taking time to break open their eggs and eat the candy?"

"What?" she spun around and caught sight of her team members doing exactly what he'd just accused, "Hey, boys!" Catherine shouted across the lawn, "Can I get a little less eating and more egg hunting!" she ordered. Catherine could hear Steve laughing behind her, "Please!" she finally added the polite word to her request.

His head shook at her, "Face it, Rollins; you're just as competitive as I am."

"No way," she denied.

He turned right and noticed Kono was hovering above a bush where he could see a pink Hello Kitty egg hiding so close to her feet. Steve turned his eyes to the sunny sky, "It sure is warm out today," he remarked, "Very, very warm."

Catherine glanced over at him, brow furrowed, "What are you yammering about?" she asked, having heard his odd remark about the warm weather. When she watched Kono stoop down and scoop up an egg, Catherine shook her head, "You… did you seriously just cheat by telling her she was close to that egg?"

Steve caught her eye, "I can't believe you'd accuse me of such a thing."

"Oh, you are…" she shook her head and caught sight of Grace to her left, "How's it going, Gracie?" Catherine asked the girl.

"Pretty good," Grace smiled, revealing her basket, "I've got almost a dozen so far. Danno's only found three."

"Three is okay, three is better than none," Catherine tried to be supportive. She noticed something above the girl's head and immediately stretched her arms upward, "I didn't get enough sleep last night," Catherine yawned and stretched her left arm out even further, winking at the girl. A second later she felt her arm being yanked in a downward motion and twisted behind her back, "Ow!" Catherine exclaimed, turning her head to see Steve over her shoulder.

He watched as Grace giggled and plucked an egg off the tree branch above her head. "Cheater," Steve whispered the word in Catherine's ear before finally letting her arm go.

"I was stretching," Catherine maintained.

His head shook, "Not buying it."

Twenty minutes later the teams were seated on the grass with their baskets set down in front of them. They all looked somewhat like a kindergarten class waiting for the teacher's permission to be dismissed. Steve tallied all the eggs in his team's baskets and frowned as he came up with the final count, "Fifty," he reported to Catherine.

She beamed, "That means we should have…" Catherine counted the last few baskets for her team. Her smile turned downward when she stood, "I only have fifty."

"A tie?" Danny glanced up at them, "So, did either of you stop to think that maybe you should hide an odd number of eggs rather than even?"

"We each hid fifty eggs while the other person stayed in the house," Steve recalled.

Catherine nodded, "Then we hid one together, for a total of one hundred and one eggs."

"And neither of you tried to sabotage the other by removing an egg?" Kono questioned.

"No!" Steve and Catherine answered at the same time.

"I saw Leilani find the one we hid together," Steve noted, still pondering the odd development.

Danny chuckled as he got to his feet, "Good game, guys," he remarked, slapping Steve not-so-lightly on the shoulder, "This always happens. Actually, it reminds me of childhood egg hunts back in Jersey. Mom and dad never counted how many eggs beforehand so some were always missing. And come mid-May we'd be out playing in the backyard and start to smell something real funky. Rotten Easter eggs finally found."

"These are plastic eggs," Steve remarked.

With a shake of his head, Danny made a move for the buffet table. "I'm hungry."

"Wait," Catherine stopped him. "Since it turned out to be a tie," she noticed the way Steve winced to hear that word, "Why don't we modify the parameters and have three members from each team serve three members of the opposing team," she suggested.

"Or…" Danny grinned, "We could all just serve ourselves and call your game a bust."

"I'm good with that," Chin agreed.

"Me, too," Kono seconded the motion.

"So hungry," Jerry concurred.

Kamekona nodded, "Maybe because someone wouldn't let us eat the candy," he lamented, following the others.

"Guys, wait," Steve tried to stop them as he and Catherine both stood there, hands crossed over their chests as they watched everyone break off to eat. "Catherine's idea was lame," he offered, seeing the glare in her brown eyes for that comment, "I'm just saying, we all agreed to play for winners. Which means we need to find the last egg and then we can declare a victor," he said before realizing no one was listening to him any longer.

Catherine sighed and dropped her arms, "I'm hungry, too."

"Really?" he stayed put, "After all that you just give up for food?"

She smiled, pressing a kiss against his cheek, "Let it go, Steve. Just let it go."

000

Catherine blinked, sorry to be woken up from a nice dream in which she and Steve had been surfing.

She opened her eyes fully, not knowing what time it was but seeing that it was still dark out. Catherine turned her head, still nestled on her belly atop the warm and cozy mattress. She was about to scoot closer to Steve when she realized his side of the bed was empty. "Steve?" Catherine called out to the darkened room, body twisted onto her side now as she searched for movement. Catherine listened carefully for a moment to determine if he was in the adjacent bathroom.

When she didn't hear or detect any sign of him, Catherine extracted herself from the bed and padded downstairs to look for him.

The living room and kitchen were empty and she was just passing through the dining area when a flash of light in the backyard caught her eye. "Steve?" she whispered, opening the back door and refocusing her eyes. Catherine stepped outside in her bare feet, clothed only in sleep shorts and tank top. The flash of light stretched across the lawn again and she finally spotted Steve bent over a bush along the left side yard, "What are you doing out here?" she yawned.

"Hey," he didn't seem surprised to see her as he waved the beam of his flashlight downward in a crisscross pattern, "Looking for the last egg."

She smiled, shaking her head, "You're obsessed," her hands snaked around him from behind, caressing his bare chest, "Come back to bed and I'll let you be the winner," Catherine enticed, pressing her cheek against his shoulder and closing her eyes, "I'll make you a very happy winner."

"No, I need to find that egg," Steve insisted, "It's bugging me. We hid a hundred and one eggs, how can just one still be missing?"

Catherine laughed softly as she let go of him and sat down on the grass, planning to wait him out. Her stomach tightened in excitement as she spotted the red and blue Spiderman egg beneath a bush just to the left of his foot. She leaned forward and easily plucked it out of its hiding spot. "I win," Catherine declared, holding the egg up for him to see.

"What? No," Steve nearly blinded her with his flashlight as he shown it on her, spying the plastic egg in her outstretched hand. "You were asleep a minute ago. You wouldn't even be out here if I hadn't…" he trailed off, seeing how proud she looked. "Yeah," Steve sunk down onto the grass beside her, "You win."

She passed the egg to him, "My offer to let you be the winner still stands," she relayed.

Steve clutched the egg, staring down at it. He easily let it roll off his palm and onto the ground. It was quickly forgotten as he stretched out on the grass with her and flicked off his flashlight. Moonlight shown down on them as he positioned himself above Catherine, knees on either side of her, hands at her waist and lips pressed gently against her earlobe, "Next year, Rollins," he whispered seductively in her ear, "Second annual team Easter egg hunt?"

"You're on," she agreed.

His lips hovered just above hers, teasingly, "And we draw a schematic of the yard, map out where all the eggs are hidden?"

"Yep, no egg left behind," she laughed as their lips finally met.

The End