Ship: Steve&Lori

A/N: Okay, I love this ship. I mean... those looks, that flirting... I so hope they get together. I'll probably end up doing a few epsiode tagged chapters, but regular updates are not my strongest suit... I'll update as and when my muse/my workload allow! I'm already planning a post-ep ;)

Spoilers: season 2, episode 2

Warning: None. Flirtatious looks ;)

WAILANA COFFEE HOUSE
WAIKIKI

Steve observed the anxious-looking blonde sat across the cafe from him, over the left shoulder of the surprisingly calm blonde opposite him. He was - despite Danny's strong objections - very good at reading people. That wasn't to say he always paid attention to their state, but he knew how to read people, certainly. He'd done a course along those lines during SQT training whilst qualifying for suty with his platoon as a SEAL. And the woman sat across from him was completely at ease. There was no anxiety, anticipation, nerves... she should have been wired. Let alone the fact it was her second day with 5-0, she was facing a kidnapping situation, they were on a timer. But not a thing about her body language, expression... nothing suggested nerves.

"Porter's late." sighed McGarrett. Lori could see from the tension in his shoulders, the skittish look in his eye that he was impatient. Typical military man. Five minutes early and you're already late. Military psychology was fascinating, but profiling them was a relatively simple task. They were all programmed to think in the same way, so figuring out their body language, their thoughts was one of her simpler jobs.

Not that reading her new - boss? Partner? - colleague's thoughts was on her to-do list.

"Yeah, he'll show." she replied easily. She knew he would. And she was rarely wrong in her assessment of people. The problems came when idiotic law enforcement saw psychology as a 'soft science' and refused to believe her.

Steve brushed the handle of his cup rhythmically as the smiling waitress topped him up. he really didn't need the additional caffeine; his adenelin was already switched up high enough, coursing through his veins at full speed. Any more in his system and he would have to switch to controlling his breathing to lower his heartrate. He knew from his days behind a sniper rifle that a high heartrate caused inprecision, and inprecision lead to mistakes. Steven John McGarrett did not do mistakes. His thank you to the waitress was slightly more forceful than it needed to be, but his mild annoyance at Weston's blind optimism and casual, controlled manner started to seep through. She was perfectly poised, perfectly in control, despite being brand new to the team.

Truth be told, he rather wished the angry, dangerous woman who ripped into him the previous day would make a reapperance. Other than making her even more attractive than she already was, he had more respect for people that stood up for what they believed in.

"Don't you just hate that?" Lori broke the silence. Not that the silence was awkward, per se, just intense. There was a tension, two lions sizing each other up.

He frowned at her, glancing at his cup. "Hate what?"

"The top-off." She replied as though it was obvious, doe eyes widening slightly as she glanced at the offending topped-off coffee sat on the fornica between them. "You know, you get just the right mix going; coffee, cream, sugar all working in perfect harmony... then when you're not looking, waitress comes and tops you off. Ruins a perfectly good cup of coffee, that's why I switched to tea. they don't mess with that."

He smiled throughout her little speech, tongue glancing over his lower lip. There was absolutely no reason for that simple, innocent explanation to seem so... sexual. It was something about the way she held his gaze, the slight smile around the edges of her eyes. Few people were inclined to challenge Steve McGarrett, and this felt like a challenge. He smirked at her, slightly amused. She was full of surprises, that woman. One second she's all buisness, describing her profiles of the kidnapper and victim, and the next she's complaining about the irritating conduct of waitresses everywhere.

"What? Just saying." Her eyes widened again, the same half-defiant, half-whatever look that backed up his theory about her dangerous side. the side that would punch a man i the face and chase down a gunman... and yell at her new partner. on her first day. They both took a quick drink, never breaking eye contact.

Lori bit back a triumphant smirk as she watched McGarrett stiffle a grimace, a quick tighteneing of his jaw, twitch of the thick muscles in his neck, narrowed eyes. It was brief, smoothed out into his almost-relaxed expression as he reached for the small pot of cream. "Hmm." he failed to be inconspicuous as he cleared his throat slightly of the bitter liquid.

"Told you."

"When you're right, you're right." He poured his cream quickly, watching as Lori shifted in her seat, relaxing against the backrest. She folded her arms, already looking at ease with him.

"You know I expected someone who graduated top of his BUD/S class to take his coffee black, but mm-mm." Her eyes widened yet again - her best feature, he presumed (not that there was shortage of competition, it had to be said) - as she gave a mock-sigh, shaking her head.

Steve refused to break eye contact with her for a second longer than necessary, a rare smile on his face as he glanced towards the window before leaning forwards. So close, he could smile her perfume. Violets, vanilla, patouilli... one of those things he read about in Women's Day earlier. It was fresh, but with a slight muskier note... something he had a feeling reflected her absolutely. He hadn't noticed the colour of her eyes before. Green, with specks of gold around the centre. They were pretty.

Lori leaned towards him automatically. He smelled like soap, salt and coffee. It was a nice combination, as though he'd been for a swim in the sea that morning. And going by her little research project last night, that was the most likely explanation.

"Did you pull my file?" He looked vaguely uncomfortable with that. Surprised, and just a little bit uncomfortable. Lori presumed he didn't want everyone to know he'd been seconded for the CIA. It didn't take a genius, looking at his long-range weapons qualifications and awards to guess what his role in the Company was. It didn't bother her at all. She had worked with the CIA on one memorable occaision, and it had been the field operatives, the snipers and killers that had been the best company. The pencil pushers and beauraucrats were insufferable.

"Mhmm. Last night, which is when I assume you pulled mine." There it was again, Steve realised. The dead calm of her voice. The challenge. She was actually challenging him. He sat back, brow furrowed slightly in concentration as he tried in vain to figure her out. The defiant chin lift, the eye contact, the slight smile... If them working together didn't kill one of them on its own, Danny might, he thought to himself. This is going to be fun.

He glanced back towards the window, scanning the street for any sign of Porter. "You graduated with honours from Penn State but you switched from bio to criminal justice in your sophmore year."

She nodded. "Mhmm."

"What happened, you couldn't hack the sciences?" He quirked one eyebrow, smiling slightly as he took a sip of his coffee - its equilibria now restored for maximum taste.

"Uh-huh, something like that." She dropped her gaze for a moment, before her eyes resumed their attention on his face. There was the slight smile again, but it was quieter. Something in her voice had changed, and Steve knew there was a story there. He'd find out.

He made a noise of agreement, before glancing over at Julie, who remained in her seat, looking towards the door. She was getting restless, it wouldn't be long now either way.

"Phys Ed was more my style." she deflected neatly, the confidence back.

"Phys Ed?" he smiled, nodding. There was a flirtatious look in his eye, his interest piqued. If she wasn't careful, she was going to end up being referred to as the femal McGarrett. By Danny, of course. But he was impressed, nonetheless. "You care to elabourate on that?"

"Mm-mm." she shook her head coyly, lips pursed. "Maybe when I know you better." There was a promise there, somewhere. Her expression, her tone... he was going to get these stories out of her somehow, sometime.

"Okay." he grinned.

"Okay."

He cleared his throat, touching a finger to his earpiece. He held her gaze for a second longer as he addressed his colleagues. "Hey, uh, any sign of Porter out there?"

"No. How's the date going, buddy?" Danny's voice was slightly tinny over the comms, but his tone was unmistakable. Loud and obvious... he was not going to forget this anytime soon, and Steve knew he was going to face some serious questions later.

He glanced back at Lori with a slight smirk, pointedly ignoring his friend's comment. "Chin?" His change of topic was obvious as he took a steadying breath. Weston was beginning to make him dizzy - this whole... situation was.

"You didn't answer Danny's question."

"I will take that as no sign of Porter." He watched Lori as she shifted restlessly. Not so obvious that a civillian would notice, but he knew.

Lori frowned as Lori glanced in her bag, sliding out of her seat.

"I think she's done waiting." Steve announced, ready to move.

"I'll see if I can stall her."

"Go." Lori moved before he had the chance, moving smoothly towards their target. He tried not to notice how good she looked in her tight black jeans, he really did. He was interested to see if she could pull this off. He doubted it - Julie was strung out like she was on meth - but her eagerness and determination was something. Really, he wanted to see how fast she could move.

"Hey, you're Julie Knowles, right? I'm-" Lori didn't get chance to say anymore as Julie took off at a run, darting out of the coffee shop. Lori grabbed the waitress blocking her path, pushing her out of the way as she took off at a sprint after the woman. "Julie, wait-"

"She's running, she's running!" Steve called over the comms, chasing after the two blondes. One thing was for sure, the new chick could run.

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