Title: Unseen

Author: Annaliesegrace

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Hawaii 5-0 does not belong to me, though I wish Alex O sure did.

AN: Hello, readers. While I have written much for NCIS:LA, I am a first time H50 writer. I just got so…irritated about how they wrote Steve/Kono and their interactions earlier this season that I felt I had to write something to explain their behavior (as in, they never mentioned each other, at all). I read something from one of the producers that not everything is seen "onscreen", and that things happen but we don't see them. Great, but they couldn't at least do a throwaway line from Steve that he tried to contact her or…something. Anyway, I've rambled on long enough about that.

AN2: Those who followed from LA, I am still working on the fill in for The Call, but got stuck and had to get this out of my head first. It will happen.

Please enjoy and leave a review on the way out, it is always appreciated.

Surfing had always been an escape for her, a way to forget the day's troubles and focus on something else. Even after she had blown her knee out and knew that competitive surfing was no longer in her future, Kono had loved going out to the ocean and feeling the power of the waves. Of riding that power until she was so amped up it felt like she could take on the world. There was just something about the sun at her back, the water under her and corralling nature that was better than drugs. Maybe surfing was her drug.

It kept her sane at the most insane times of her life, and this was certainly no exception. If possible this was the most insane time of her life, and that included the period after her surfing career was officially over and she was contemplating the rest of her life.

So as she returned to her small house from the beach, she sighed and mumbled "son of a bitch" under her breath.

Because standing on her porch was none other than her (former) boss, Steve McGarrett.

And his expression was what Danny would so charitably call his "aneurysm face". Only as she approached she realized it was less "aneurysm" and more furious.

It had been two weeks since the news conference announcing her removal from 5-0 and subsequent investigation by IA for theft. And for two weeks she had successfully avoided both calls and visits from Steve. While she tried to push Chin away, her cousin was persistent, but that would be expected from family, so his frequent visits did not raise flags with Delano. McGarrett, however, too many visits from him might cause unwanted attention.

So she ignored his calls and didn't answer when he rang her bell. Unfortunately he was more determined than she gave him credit for and she concluded it was probably better to get this over with then continue the avoidance game.

Steeling herself to push him away as she had done with Chin, Kono took the last couple steps onto the porch and without acknowledging his presence, unlocked the front door and stepped in, placing the board just inside the door. While she didn't expressly invite him in, Kono left the door open and, unsurprisingly, he walked in, closing the door behind him a little more forcefully then was strictly necessary.

Continuing to ignore him, she walked to the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of water, quickly opening it and downing half the contents (she was always thirsty after surfing). Only then did she look at him and a pang of guilt (or maybe regret) settled into her stomach at his face. Which was still furious, but also held confusion and maybe a little guilt.

"What the hell are you doing?" he finally asked in that tone he usually reserved for interrogations and yeah, it sucked being on this side of McGarrett's questioning.

"Well, hello to you too," she started snippily, using the same tone on him she had on Chin. "It's been a couple weeks, howzit goin?"

He advanced on her. "Kono, I'm going to ask again. What the hell are you doing?"

"Currently? Getting yelled at by my former boss; former being the operative word here. Which makes this conversation a little confusing, really. I wasn't aware you cared." Oh, she was aware, what with his at least one phone call a day habit.

He softened, but just barely. "You know I care, Kono. Which is why I've been calling you for two weeks. Then I find out from Chin you've been hanging out with Frank Delano and his crew? What are you doing?"

She shrugged and finished off the water. "Hanging with my kind, I guess."

Now he ran his fingers through his hair and clenched his fists as they returned to his side and Kono was reminded how imposing her boss could be when needed. And now he was turning it on her. The only problem was she knew him, the real him and the imposing game…it didn't work as well. "You're kind? These are criminals, Kono!"

"Maybe you missed the memo, Steve," she put special emphasis on his name. "But so am I, just ask IA."

"IA is full of shit and you know it."

Now it was her turn to turn on the anger and she approached him. "But they aren't, and we both know it. I did what they are accusing me of, Steve. I took that money, we both did. But I'm the only one with IA all over my ass."

And for the first time since she had met him, Kono watched Steve falter just slightly; she had used what she knew of Steve McGarrett against him. He was the kind of guy who was fiercely protective of those close to him, his team at the top of that list, and she knew the fact that he had gotten away with it while she took the punishment was probably silently eating away at him. The look on his face as she levied the accusation confirmed it for her.

"Kono…" he started softly and again closed the distance between them. "I'm sorry."

Oh God, this was killing her, lying to him. Almost as much as lying to Chin, which surprised her more than anything. This man was her boss and probably would be considered a friend, but her guilt surpassed that of lying to a friend. It felt like lying to someone you cared deeply for and panic built in her chest as he reached out and grasped her shoulder gently, fingers hot on her exposed skin.

So she struggled to gain control of this, and while she wanted to say "nothing to be sorry for, it was my idea, I took the risk" instead her response was sharp, cutting, as she pulled away from his touch. "Sorry doesn't cut it, not when my career is toast, and my name has been put out there as a dirty cop. Not when you get to go back to being Commander McGarrett and I get meetings with IA." Her voice started to rise. "Not when you move on and I'm left behind."

There was a certain amount of truth to her words and that stung more than she expected, the realization that they had moved on without her. "So excuse me if I find people like me to hang with, people who were thrown away. I've got a lot of time on my hands these days."

"Kono, I-"

She had to stop him, if he kept pressing; kept looking at her with that soft, pleading expression she would cave. Which would completely ruin any chance she had of returning to them (him), and only make it worse by putting Steve and the rest of them in range of IA as well. Fryer's instructions were clear, 5-0 was not to know what she was doing, Kono wasn't an idiot, she knew why, McGarrett would protest and protest loudly at using her for bait and then probably take over. So while her heart clenched a little tighter she stood straight up and stared him down.

"Please leave," she stated simply and watched his slate blue eyes narrow at her, that laser focus on her and yeah, this was an incredibly uncomfortable place to be. Despite her request he continued to stand in her kitchen, feet away from her, clearly thinking this through, weighing his options. Something she knew his SEAL training allowed him to do in seconds. And Kono wanted to remove his options, not allow him to think about it.

"Steve…please-" she started again and stepped back from him, but before she could go far he reached out and grasped her wrist lightly, holding her in place.

First she looked down at his hand, wrapped around her small wrist and she could feel her heart pounding at his nearness. The feeling was confusing and she wasn't sure what to make of it.

Then he leaned in toward her, those blue eyes never leaving hers. "If you ever need anything; if you're in too deep and can't figure out how to get out, call me, ok? Anytime."

"I know what I'm doing Boss - Steve." Kono flinched at the use of "Boss", but quickly recovered, pulling her hand away and crossing her arms.

Clearly startled by her choice of words, he pulled back and searched her face, Kono tried to keep it impassive, expressionless, but something must have given her away as he backed up, nodding with some kind of understanding. "I hope you do."

"I do…" she all but whispered. "But now I think you need to leave. And not come back or call me. There is nothing for us to talk about anymore."

Again he nodded and moved toward the door, calling out "offer stands" as he closed the door behind him, leaving her standing in her kitchen seriously regretting ever accepting Fryers offer.

If having Steve in her kitchen staring her down was bad, sitting in that blue tinged fucking interrogation room with him questioning her about finding her driving around with a dead body was just this side of hell.

And despite his pleading, his begging, she remained completely silent. Because what the hell was she supposed to say? This undercover was quickly starting to unravel in front of her and she had absolutely no idea what to do except hope that Fryer got word she had been taken in by 5-0. And she nearly laughed aloud at the idea that she was relying on IA to rescue her from her former teammates. Just one of many things that were completely wrong in her life right now.

So she remained silent and watched as Steve went from confused to angry at her (not the first time in recent memory for sure) before finally giving up and departing the room with an annoyed huff, leaving Chin to finish what he clearly couldn't.

It wasn't too long after that Fryer arrived and spilled the beans to Steve and Chin, reading them in on the whole mess. And while explaining herself to Chin had been hard enough, the screaming match Steve had gotten into with Fryer regarding her was worse. Never had she been so happy to have Delano call her phone before, it had forced a cease fire and a temporary allegiance.

After arranging the meet, the group started to leave the small room, Fryer first followed by Chin, before Kono could reach the threshold, a strong hand on her upper arm stopped her and she turned to see Steve looking at her with an expression she couldn't define.

When he realized she wasn't following, Chin turned around only to be waved off with a look from Steve. Chin gave Kono a sympathetic look before disappearing around the corner.

Steeling herself, she turned to face Steve, who was pacing the small room.

This was gonna be bad. Real bad.

After he stopped pacing not far from her, Steve ran a hand through his hair before speaking, "You could have told me."

She shook her head. "No, I couldn't."

"This was…too much for you. An undercover assignment with no backup…"

"Fryer was my backup."

His eyes narrowed at her and she resisted the urge to step back. "Did he have your back every time you were with Delano? Was he shadowing you those nights you spent out?"

"No," she admitted.

"Then he didn't have your back." Suddenly he went back to pacing, moving closer to her with every round.

"I had it under control," she finally said.

"Really? What about today Kono? Today we found you driving around with a dead body in the car. That doesn't seem very under control."

She faltered. "I don't…it went sideways so fast…"

"That's what tends to happen when you aren't prepared."

Now she bristled, was he actually questioning her abilities? "I was prepared, Steve. I had it under control until today when Delano's man got shot. My cover is still intact." Her tone was icy.

"That's not…I don't mean you weren't prepared. I mean Fryer shouldn't have used you for this, you haven't done long term undercover work, it's hard, really hard. Especially when things go sideways."

There was silence as she stared at him, still irritated with his words, his implication that she couldn't handle the task.

Taking a few steps closer to her, he spoke again. "You wouldn't have been in that position if…"

Her voice softened. "That doesn't matter, Steve."

"It does to me…I never should have pulled all of you into my fight. It almost destroyed us."

"It doesn't matter Steve…we're ohana, we would do anything for each other. Anything."

Now his hand ran over his face, frustration clear. "I didn't. I…didn't do anything for you."

"You tried, I pushed you and Chin and Danny away." She stepped closer now, grabbing his forearm. "Can we not…do this? I have to meet Delano in fifty minutes."

"You don't have to." His voice was soft, very un-Steve-like.

"I do and you know it." Now she gave him her brightest smile. "Besides, now I have you to watch my back, right?"

Suddenly his hand came up and clasped the juncture of her neck and shoulder gently, eyes boring into hers, pulling them closer than they probably should be. "Always."

For a long moment they stood there, eyes locked, body's inches away from each other, a distinct hum of…something between them. It was the same hum she had experienced with him before, when they exchanged glances or spent down time together with the team. It was weird, but not all that unwelcome.

They had shared looks before, many of them in fact, but usually from a distance, never this close. Never so close she could feel the heat from his body, the tension that radiated off every tightly wound muscle.

It was Kono who pulled away first, looking down as she did, suddenly uncomfortable. "I, uh…I have to go."

"Ok," he croaked out before clearing his throat and standing up and away from her. "Ok…meet you upstairs."

She just nodded and walked out the door, sparing him a quick glance before turning out of sight.

Sitting in the back of the ambulance, an EMT patching up the bullet graze on her arm, Kono watched the chaos unfold around her. HPD and more ambulances and 5-0 were moving quickly around the area. From across the road, she locked eyes with Steve, giving him a small, tired, smile. His expression was one of concern and she brightened her smile slightly and nodded a signal that she was ok.

It wasn't long after that that Steve made his point to IA by punching Fryer right in the jaw. His team was not to be messed with. And that team included her.

When her doorbell rang at nearly 10 pm that night, Kono wasn't entirely surprised to see Steve on the other side, a 6 pack of beer in hand as a peace offering. For a moment she eyed him warily before opening the door and letting him in. Quickly they settled on her couch, the evening news playing quietly in the background.

After opening them each a beer, Steve took a long drink before speaking. "You did good today."

"Thanks, Boss." She smiled a little on the 'boss' part.

"Can't you just call me Steve?"

She shrugged, "I like calling you Boss. Would you rather I called you Commander?"

The memory of Catherine calling him that stuttered through Steve's mind and he shook his head almost violently. There was something too similar about the way the women said it and he wasn't prepared to look at Kono the same way he did Catherine. At least, he knew he shouldn't look at her in the same manner. That didn't mean he was oblivious to the heat between them, even in the small doses it seemed to come in.

"Just…we're a team again; I don't see myself as your boss, but a colleague."

Taking a long drink of the beer she considered that. He thought of her as a colleague, not an underling; and she wasn't sure if she felt up to the task, he was a SEAL for the love of God. She was not even two years out of the academy.

"I don't know…your super SEAL training probably trumps what they give us in the academy." A sly grin crossed his face and she narrowed her eyes at him. "What?"

He grinned. "We can fix that, you know…"

This will be about 4-5 chapters and run closely to the show (as close as I can remember, I dont have them on the DVR anymore siiiigh), filling in the blanks as it were. And dont forget to leave a reivew, they really do inspire, especially a new writer.