Deceive, Inveigle and Obfuscate

Disclaimer: I do not own H50 and frankly, the way this season is going, meh. I don't think I'd like to. Keep it.
Summary: ONESHOT. Set during the scene where Kono and the team prepare for her heading back to Delano and she says some ridiculous thing about how she "couldn't ask for a better 'back-up'."
Spoilers: Season 2:Episode 5, Ma'ema'e

A/N: Italics represent actual dialogue from the episode. I apologize, a bit of Steve bashing here, but he does it to himself.

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Five-0 Headquarters
Oahu

"Fryer, I wanna be able to track her the whole time, alright?" Steve said.

Kono looked doubtful. "Delano's an ex-cop, he'll spot a tail a mile off – and no wire," she said, insisting. "First thing he'll do is pat me down when I get back. He doesn't trust me," she added.

Fryer looked at her and agreed. "Kono's right, the only reason he's pulling her out from under the screw now, is he's down a man."

Kono looked at Steve and noted the intensity with which he worked his jaw. "I'll send you a message as soon as I can," she said.

Steve appeared to tense even more. "It's not going to be that easy okay? Delano's not going to leave you alone," Steve reasoned as he looked back to Fryer and then to Kono again.

Kono gazed at Steve, hoping to reassure him. "Hey, I'll figure it out," she said, confidently.

Steve looked at Kono. "Alright, we're going to be in a van and ready to move on your word," he said. He saw how her eyes roamed his face and his mouth as he spoke and he couldn't help but do the same to her. Unsure of when it got so bad for her, Steve felt – guilty – for being too wrapped up in his own problems.

"Right, I couldn't ask for a better back-up," Kono said and she gave Steve a firm and determined look as she turned to go.

Steve's gaze dropped to the empty space that Kono left behind and he felt distinctly remorseful. He wasn't there in the beginning for her, to stop it from getting to the point that they were at now. But somehow, in her statement alone, he realized that she didn't see it that way.

Kono did what she did to protect him, all of them – AND Five-0.

It was as if she never faltered in her faith of them, despite how he had personally failed her.

Then, Steve learned in the interrogation room that Kono's loyalty to the team and ultimately to him, was her downfall. And like a selfish son-of-a-bitch, he did nothing to reciprocate her unwavering loyalty.

He could have easily blamed Fryer and Internal Affairs for putting Kono in such position. But that would be the coward's way out. He understood Chin's anger at how Fryer had clearly deceived Kono. Fryer held the fate of Five-0 and all of them over her head so that she would have no choice but to help him by infiltrating Frank Delano's money laundering ring.

He groaned inwardly and recalled what Chin said, about what it felt like to lose your badge and feeling that you had nothing else and that you weren't good for anything. Steve understood with startling clarity that, that was what Kono felt. Especially because he stupidly kept his distance – too involved in his own issues to bother calling and checking on her.

Steve couldn't help but feel disgusted with himself. Of course she would find a kinship with other "dirty cops." The alternative to being alone had to be appealing to her because she found somewhere to belong, again.

That's where Steve knew her descent into darkness must have begun. Chin's warning of Kono being in a dark place, rung in his ears. He might as well have held the ladder for her to climb down on.

Sighing heavily out of concern and regret, Steve acknowledged that he owed Kono big time – for failing miserably at protecting her, being there for her, and all out leaving her to deal with IA on her own.

Blowing out a breath, Steve looked at Danny, Fryer, Chin and Weston. "Let's go guys, let's move out," he commanded.

Steve would bring Kono back, pull her from the deceitful web that Fryer created, clear up the mess surrounding her involvement with Delano and get her badge back.

He had to.

It was the only way to show her how sorry he was for abandoning her.

End.

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A/N: So no real point to this short piece, just to vent my frustration over the un-Steve-ness of Steve. Not planning on continuing either. It was just that, the look that they shared between them – Kono was all business, so intent on handling things, getting Fryer, saving Trisha, vs. Steve – who actually looked guilty and humbled by her saying that she "couldn't ask for a better back-up."

Also, the title, I'm guessing a few of you 'out there' can guess where that tag-line came from.