Notes at the end this chapter, but I do want to say THANK YOU for all wonderful reviews, I got an absolute ton the last go around and appreciate them from the bottom of my heart. Hope this chapter lives up to the last one!

Chapter 5: The End of the Beginning

The burning sensation had started in her legs, thankfully far later than she'd expected. Eyes closed, she focused on the water around her and the struggle to keep her head above it despite the fact that both her hands and legs were bound. At one point she adopted a mermaid style movement legs that managed to keep her from drowning, but was also causing the burn. It wouldn't be long before the burn would be agonizing. But she wouldn't quit.

She couldn't.

Soon, it would all be over soon, she just needed to hold out a couple more seconds, and then she would get some relief. However brief.

"Forward," his voice called out in that distinct SEAL tone and she complied, flipping herself forward in the water four times before returning to bobbing for a couple seconds before his second command was barked out, "Back."

This way was harder than forward what with her hands and arms tied, but she managed to back flip four times as well. The change in movement relieved some of the burn in her legs, so she opened her eyes as she surfaced, surprised to find a small crowd gathering on the pool deck behind Steve. Apparently her activities had gathered attention from the other SEALs training in the pool.

Steve had been mostly joking when he'd suggested drown proofing as their next "lesson" and when she quickly (and enthusiastically) agreed he had been clearly taken aback, attempting to backtrack the suggestion. When he described what it was and the difficulty level she merely nodded and still responded she wanted to try, commenting, "Steve, I've been surfing since I was nine…pretty sure I'm drown proof already", he had sighed and agreed.

Yeah, now she was regretting goading him into letting her try; because despite how easy it seemed when she read about it, doing it was much, much harder.

"Down," he commanded and she complied, swimming awkwardly toward the bottom of the pool and snagging a small ring of metal keys from the bottom of the pool with her teeth. Reversing, she returned back toward the surface, breaking the water and showing Steve the object.

He nodded tersely and as she dropped the keys he spoke again, "Bob, five times."

Cocking her head at him, she smiled and challenged him. "Seven."

His eyebrows shot up and the SEALs behind him snickered their approval of her challenge.

Instead of accepting, he shot back, "Ten."

"Done."

That earned whistles from the gallery.

Despite the fact as soon as she started the bobs her legs burned, Kono applied the same determination she did to everything and pressed forward. Focused solely on the task, she almost didn't realize that the crowd was counting with each bob until they got to five. Half done.

The pain was almost unbearable, her legs cramping painfully. It still wasn't as bad as the pain when she tore both her ACL and MCL, destroying her knee and career, so she continued undeterred.

"Seven…eight…

Agony…this was agony and even the knee that never bothered her anymore was starting to ache deeply.

"Nine..."

The throbbing in her muscles was incredible …painful really, and she was suddenly so completely exhausted – bone weary, really – that it took immense effort to complete the last bob, but when she did cheers erupted and that was enough to keep her above water as Steve jumped in next to her, swiftly cutting the ropes that bound her.

Immediate relief flooded through her when they were released, enough that she was able to at least swim over to the edge of the pool. But before she could test her muscles to see if they would allow her to pull herself out, strange hands were doing it, depositing her gently on the deck.

As Steve pulled himself from the pool and sat concern covering his face as he took her in, Kono's arms and legs started to shake, almost violently. This was not unexpected, the adrenaline that had been keeping her moving was wearing off and muscles were adjusted back to their natural position.

They were just far more severe than she expected.

A towel appeared in her line of vision from somewhere and she took it gratefully pulling it as best she could around her shoulders. "That's…" Kono literally couldn't come up with a word that aptly described drown proofing "…challenging."

"They don't call it drown proofing for nothing," one of the men behind her commented.

"Yeah, I guess not," she replied with a broad smile that belayed the effort it was taking her to control the shaking.

"Nice job by the way, impressive as hell for a civilian." Another man said and the others nodded in agreement.

"Thanks…"

Suddenly there was a shrill whistle from the other side of the pool and a stern voice clipped out, "Back to work boys, break time is over."

As they passed her, each man gave her congrats before moving on; the last in line, a man closer to Steve's age patted her on the shoulder and spoke to Steve, "This one's a keeper McGarrett."

Steve looked up at the man and nodded, "Couldn't agree more, sir."

Kono's eyes snapped up to his and Steve merely smirked at her. "What? It was impressive and you are a keeper."

As she started to respond her arms and legs started shaking harder, which was causing the rest of her body to vibrate. Steve moved directly in front of her and started slowly rubbing up and down her arms, trying to get the muscles to relax and blood flow moving and to give her something to focus on.

Eventually the shakes began to subside and she leaned forward, placing her forehead on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry…" he mumbled into her ear. "I shouldn't have pushed. That's a pretty punishing exercise."

"I pushed…it's good…" she said and pulled herself farther into his lap not because of the shaking (which was all but gone) but because she had missed him. It had been nearly a month since he had held her while they danced and later kissed on the beach after Chin's wedding. And in all that time Kono had found herself aching for him, for his touch. The strength of the feeling was nearly overwhelming, and what wasn't helping was in the last four weeks Steve had taken to paying more attention to her at work. They had teamed up several times in the last couple cases, far more then they usually did. Kono had even caught Danny looking at Steve funny the last time he had done so.

On top of that there had been the treats that kept appearing on her desk. One day malsadas, a few days later coco puffs, coffee from her favorite place a couple times, then he had taken her out for lunch one day in between interviewing witness. It was subtle and yet got the point across; he was continuing to give her something to think about.

And thinking she was. She was thinking that maybe they were worth giving a shot; that they could make it work.

As of yet she had been unable to tell that to Steve, mostly because she was enjoying the time they were spending together outside the label of a relationship. Kono had a terrible track record with real relationships with men. Of course, a lot of that had to do with her chosen professions. Not many men could compete with a champion surfer or cop on a special task force. And then there was Steve. Navy SEAL, task force head, he understood and could more than compete with her job.

Finally the shaking came to a complete stop and she started to pull away from him, but his arms wrapped around her shoulders prevented her from going far.

"Steve…" she said with a touch of warning and after holding her another couple seconds he released, allowing her to sit up.

"Maybe we need to give the lessons a rest for a bit."

"Maybe I need to listen when you tell me it's hard."

"Well, yeah. But you're awfully stubborn; don't think I could have stopped you if I wanted to."

Snorting she stood. "I'm stubborn? Says you of all people…"

He followed her up and they slowly walked to the locker room. "What? I'm working on being more…receptive to other's ideas."

"Uhhh huh." Her tone was not-quite believing.

A smirk crossed his face. "I said working on it. I didn't say it was successful."

Shaking her head she pointed back to the locker room. "I'll meet you at the truck." She really wanted to get out of the wet clothes; a wet swimsuit was one thing, but wet clothes she couldn't stand. Steve had made it clear she should wear long cargo pants and a long sleeved shirt. Which seemed ridiculous until she realized the why; without the clothing covering her ankles and wrists, the wet cord he had tied her with would have cut into her skin. As it was there were rings of light red where she had been bound.

"Of course. See you out there." Almost as an afterthought, he leaned over and kissed her temple before heading into his own locker room to change. She watched him go a moment before turning and heading into the room, amazed at how easily he had just leaned over and kissed her. Clearly their relationship was moving along without them, though she didn't mind. Not at all.

This is getting ridiculous, Kono thought as she vaulted over a small fence.

They ran from her almost every damn time, it was starting to grate on her nerves. Rarely did suspects run from Danny or Steve.

Always from her. Kono knew why, she was a woman and on top of that she was small, so suspects figured they could outrun her or beat her in a fight. They were always proven wrong on both points.

A flash of red turning into a thick tree line between two houses had her slowing down before making the same corner carefully. She knew her teammates wouldn't be far behind, though she had a significant lead on them. When the suspect had bolted out the backdoor as she cleared the kitchen, Kono had about enough time to yell out what happened before she was chasing Jason Ganz through the backyards of one of Honolulu's upper class subdivisions.

Raising her gun, she yelled out for Ganz to show himself, but was met with silence. The sun was setting and the space between the houses was filled with foliage, making it hard for her to see even the distinct red shirt of her suspect.

Moving slowly she saw red a second too late as Ganz came out swinging with a medium sized tree branch, knocking the gun from her hand first, and then aiming at her mid-section. The gun went flying into the trees to her right and the shot to her abdomen had her crashing to the ground, knocking the wind out of her. If it wasn't for the vest, she probably would have been in more pain (and trouble).

As she tried to rise, Ganz tossed the branch aside and straddled her hips, pinning her down. Almost instantaneously his fists were pounding around her head.

It was all she could do to get her hands up fast enough to protect her face, and yet he still caught her head several times. When she tried to swing back at him, he deflected the attack and a fist came down hard on her jaw, sending shooting pain through her head. Everything was starting to get incredibly fuzzy, black slowly rolling into the edges of her vision.

Kono continued to deflected as many as she could even as nausea threatened and one of her eyes swelled; even getting in a couple good shots, but she was quickly losing as the attack became relentless, fists striking her head, face, shoulders, anywhere he could.

At some point his weight lifted from her and before she could even think about moving, kicked her in the side, right below the vest. Kono cried out when stabbing pain shot through her back and tried to move away but found her limbs just wouldn't cooperate at the speed she wanted them to. Or at all really.

The next few seconds happened so fast, later Kono wouldn't be able to recall exactly what happened. She saw Ganz pull his leg back again to kick her – this time in the head, and then there was Steve's voice shouting, the sound of running and then a dull thud on the ground near her. For a moment there was silence then familiar hands were ghosting over her skin and removing the Velcro of her vest.

"Kono…"Chin's voice was soft, but insistent, then farther away as he talked to someone else. "We need a bus here."

"No…" she managed to croak out even as every move she made caused pain to come from somewhere on her body.

"Don't argue cuz, you look like you went twelve rounds with Tyson and lost."

When she moved to roll to her uninjured side and felt like throwing up Kono knew the battle was lost and simply nodded.

Suddenly Steve was kneeling in front of her and God, all she wanted was to curl up in him. Then he signaled at Chin, who was on the phone with dispatch, to hang up.

"No bus, we can take her."

Chin relayed the info and quickly hung up. "I'll grab the car."

Danny, who had been standing back, holding onto Ganz, yanked on the suspects handcuffs, pulling him back toward the house they had started at, his voice could be heard as they walked away. "…and now you can add assaulting a police officer to the list, dumbass. Nice job…what are you on? Meth? Crack? Idiot…"

The blondes rant had a smile crossing her face as Steve helped her into a sitting position, leaning back against his chest, his arms wrapped protectively around her.

"Chin will be here soon."

"K…" she mumbled, pressing her cheek into his chest and moaning slightly when she shifted and pain shot up her back from the kick.

"I know it hurts…just hang in there."

Squeezing her eyes against the pain she nodded slowly.

The next time a suspect ran from her, she was shooting first.

The hospital had taken nearly two hours before they confirmed mostly bruises and a mild concussion, thankfully the kick hadn't done real damage and as a compromise they allowed her to go home if someone stayed with her. Both Steve and Chin had agreed but in the end Steve won out, telling Chin he should go home to his wife.

Steve was pretty sure the older man saw right through his lame attempt to stay with her, but if he did he didn't say a word, merely nodding knowingly.

It wasn't long after that that Steve was pulling into her driveway.

"Convinced Chin to go home did you?" she muttered from her place leaning against the door. There wasn't even much pain anymore thanks to the medication from the hospital, mostly now she was just exhausted and was really looking forward to her bed and about twelve hours of sleep.

"He's got a wife these days, you know. Is it a problem I wanted to keep an eye on you?"

Despite everything she still smiled and shot back, "As long as it's just an eye."

He snorted and pulled a duffle bag from the back of the truck cab before opening the door and walking to her side, opening the door and helping her down. Kono allowed Steve to take most of her weight as she leaned against him on the walk from the truck to inside and finally to her bed (oh, her bed never looked so comfortable), where he set her down.

He looked at her a moment before tilting his head back toward the living room. "You need anything?"

"No…thanks. There's a pillow and blankets in the hall closet."

Nodding Steve stepped forward, sitting gently on the bed beside her. His hand came up and slowly ghosted his fingers across her face, just touching the bruise at her temple, before moving down, sliding over her partially swollen eye, mottled cheek and finally stopping at her jaw, where a dark bruise covered the skin from ear to lip. There his thumb moved over the split in her lip and she leaned into the touch, sighing as she did.

She sensed him moving but did nothing to stop it as he leaned in; placing a careful, chaste kiss against the cut at her lip then tilted his head and kissed her flush on the lips, just as chastely.

"Get some sleep," he whispered and pulled away, standing. "Call me if you need me, ok?"

"Ok," she nodded and he quietly left, closing the door behind him.

It didn't take long for Kono to change into a pair of cotton pants and a tank top then slip into bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

When she woke, Kono knew it was at least late morning based on the brightness of her bedroom and after consulting her clock realized she had, indeed, slept nearly 12 hours. Rolling over she groaned, it seemed like every muscle was sore, her head was just shy of pounding and there was a deep ache in her side where she had been kicked.

Getting up gingerly she moved to the bathroom, looked at her face with a passing frown and lifted her tank top, revealing a deep purple, nearly black, bruise on her side that wrapped around her back. Moving back to her bedroom to grab her cell which sat on her night table, Kono noticed two things that were not there the night before.

The bottle of pain medication from the hospital and a small bottle of water.

A small smile graced her face at the gesture and she quickly downed two pills, taking the water with her as she moved toward the kitchen. The second she stepped into the hallway, the smell of food, specifically eggs and bacon, assaulted her and her stomach grumbled in anticipation. When had she eaten last?

Making the turn into her living room, Kono stopped short at the sight in front of her.

Steve McGarrett was in her kitchen; he had found the music stations from the satellite TV and was bopping along to classic rock while cooking with a towel thrown over his shoulder, turning the bacon over.

It was terribly domestic and felt…right to have him here in the morning. To wake up to him making breakfast (even if the hour was much closer to lunchtime). It was a strange and yet comforting realization, only confirming his presence in her personal life was welcome, and wanted.

"You gonna stand there all day, or are you going to eat?" he asked without looking up from placing a generous portion of eggs, bacon and some fresh pineapple on a plate for her.

Wordlessly she approached and took the plate. "That's an awful lot of food there, McGarrett."

He snorted and made another plate. "I've seen how you eat, Kalakaua."

Not having an answer to that she took the plate to her small breakfast table, sat down and quickly inhaled several forkfuls. He sat across from her and did the same, they ate in silence for a while before he spoke, "How are you feeling?"

"Sore…really sore. And this," she waved her hand around her face to indicate the bruises that had darkened overnight and half-closed eye. "Is not a good look. I think I'll be staying in the office for a couple days."

Steve started to say "It's not that bad…" but only got out the "It's" before her don't-humor-me look stopped him cold.

"Ok," he agreed between bites of egg.

"Thanks," she said. "And not just for the food, but for staying and leaving the meds."

"Anytime. I need to head in this afternoon; Denning wants all the reports about yesterday filed to him today. Chin wrote up yours from the statement he got at the hospital, so we are good there. But when I'm done…ok if I come back and check on you?"

Kono eyed him carefully, it was phrased as a question but she knew perfectly well he would be there regardless what she said. "That's a polite way of saying you're coming over no matter what I say, isn't it?"

"Maybe…"

Standing, she moved to his side of the table, leaned down and kissed him gently on the lips. Taken by surprise it took Steve a second to react, but then he carefully pulled her toward him, returning the kiss just as gently.

When they separated she merely nodded and gathered the now empty plates, heading toward the kitchen to clean up.

When Steve finally walked into her house that night (using the key she had supplied), it was far later than he anticipated due to a last minute meeting with the governor to discuss the task force then having to man the computer while Danny and Chin apprehended an accomplice of Ganz's, he was unsurprised to find the place dark. Quietly he moved to her bedroom and found her face down on the bed, the covers flung off her body, tank top riding up her side. The visual gave Steve an odd sense of peace he hadn't felt in a long while.

Moving toward her, he pulled the light sheet back over her body, but not before leaning down and, using his cell phone, really looked at the bruise on her side. It was worse than he thought, larger and darker in appearance. Settling the sheet down, Steve checked to make sure the pain pills and a bottle of water were next to her phone before leaving and (after removing his shoes and shirt) settling down again on her shockingly comfortable couch for the night.

He could have easily left her a note and headed home, but he wanted to be there instead. He wanted to be there when she woke up the next morning. In a stunning moment of clarity, Steve realized he wanted to be there when she woke up every morning for the foreseeable future.

"A hundred bucks?"

Pursing her lips at him she said, "Two." And then smirked; Kono knew Steve McGarrett, and a challenge would never be left alone, especially one like this.

"Two hundred bucks that Eli Manning beats Tom Brady in the SuperBowl?"

"Yup."

That's when Chin decided to speak up from his chair across from her. They were sitting in Steve's living room, waiting patiently for kickoff. "I'd be careful Steve, Cuz has been watching football since she was five. I mean c'mon, the girl does fantasy football."

"I'm feeling confident," Steve replied before staring at her. "Ok, you're on."

Then she winked at him. Winked. And Steve was suddenly a little unsure.

Seated next to Steve on the couch was Danny, Chin and Lori were in chairs across from Kono. Lori had watched their wager with interest; Chin had merely shaken his head when Steve agreed to her number.

And when the first scoring play was a safety by Tom Brady, Steve let out a little moan - Kono just smiled evilly.

When the first half ended, Steve was feeling more confident about his chances, the Patriots had pulled it out before…besides this was Brady.

About that time Lori said her goodbyes, insisting she had plans elsewhere.

Kono watched her walk out the door before turning to the others. "Are we too much for her?" she asked in a concerned tone. For the first half the group had been pretty loud and boisterous, Danny was of course rooting for the Giants, which lead to him and Kono frequently ganging up on Steve.

At several points there had been shouting at the TV, with Kono even standing a few times as the Giants marched toward the end zone.

"No, Cuz. I think she had a date. I overheard something the other day." Chin commented and reached for more chips.

Kono looked at her cousin like he had two heads. "Who plans a date on SuperBowl Sunday?"

He just shrugged. "Not everyone is as insane about football as you are, Kono. And we do have tomorrow off, guaranteed, not even on call. Probably her best shot to get some uninterrupted time with whoever the mystery man is."

Kono just shrugged and got up - picking up several empty beer bottles and taking them into the kitchen. She surveyed the dozen or so already on the counter and called back out into the living room, "Do we need to collect keys here? Steve, you better get the guest room ready."

There was no response and she just shook her head, wandering over to the fridge and (knowing they could sleep here if needed and there was still another two hours of game to go) pulled out four new beers.

When she closed the door and turned, Steve was standing directly behind her and Kono was so startled she almost dropped the beers.

"Holy shit, Steve. I nearly-"

Then his lips were on hers, cutting her off and pushing her against the fridge, his fingers just ghosting down the outside of her arms as his lips moved leisurely against hers. Kono's eyes fluttered closed as lips moved across her jaw, leaving a trail of hot kisses.

And, oh God, she wished they were alone. The heat was pooling quickly in her belly and her body felt like it was on fire, desire was practically overtaking her senses, making her forget the rest of their team was in the next room.

As suddenly as he was on her, Steve pulled away, the beers now in his hands. "Second half is about to start."

"I…yeah."

Then his lips were at her ear, whispering, "I was kinda hoping yours would be the only key's I'd be collecting tonight." Then turned and walked into the living room.

Eyes widening in shock at his brazenness, Kono remained pressed against the fridge until he was long gone from the room, she needed a moment to collect herself and cool her overheated body.

Brazen indeed.

When she finally rejoined the group, Steve did nothing but smile at her, which she returned and sat back down in the chair, taking a long drink from the beer on the table in front of her. The rest of the game passed quickly and in the end Kono and Danny had mocked Steve mercilessly and she had gone on at length about what to buy with her two hundred dollars.

Once Danny and Chin decided to go she lingered, offering to help clean up and as Steve bid the other two men goodbye at the door, she carried things into the kitchen, placing them where they needed to go, or if she wasn't sure, on the counter.

As she was washing the plates they had used for the wings, Steve came back into the kitchen and approached her slowly, stopping directly behind her. Kono didn't stop what she was doing or acknowledge his presence.

That didn't last long, however, when his warm hand landed on her upper arm and his lips pressed gently to the skin at the top of her shoulder where her tank didn't cover and heat rushed through her body causing her to pause her washing momentarily before continuing, though at a more erratic pace.

Not deterred by her seeming indifference, Steve's other hand rested on her opposite hip, the tips of his fingers just finding the warm skin between her shorts and tank. Again she stuttered in her washing, but didn't react otherwise.

Until his lips found the nape of her neck, exposed when she had tied her hair in a high ponytail to clean up, then she actually shuddered slightly and Kono could practically feel him smirk against her skin as his lips moved down, kissing the juncture of her neck and shoulder. Her hands stilled and she dropped both the plate and scrubber into the sink.

The hand that had been at her hip slid across her abdomen, pulling her back flush to him.

"Steve…" she whispered, not sure herself if it was mean to encourage or discourage him.

Lips near her ear he spoke quietly, "Just trying to work off the money I owe you."

"Mmmmm….interesting idea," she mumbled as his hand slipped under her tank, sliding over her skin.

"I thought so. That way we both win," he said and slowly spun her around, keeping his hand under her shirt as he did, fingers ghosting over her spine.

Now she shivered in earnest and his lips descended on hers again, more fiercely this time and he pressed his body against hers. She let out a low moan when his tongue pushed between her lips, sweeping against hers.

"Stay," he mumbled as they parted and gasped for air. It wasn't a question; it was a statement, though Kono knew if she said no he would back off and let her go.

Good thing she had no intention of saying no this time. The potential of this – of them - was worth what she knew would be a challenging relationship, because this was Steve McGarrett after all, nothing was simple.

"Stay," he said again and kissed her softly.

As he pulled away she murmured "yes" before kissing him back.

This was where she wanted to be.

END

Tis the ending and I hope you enjoyed this one as much as the last. The sequel to this one, Undone, will be up in a couple weeks. Here's the bonus part for you guys. I know what the end game of Undone is, but I'm giving you, the lovely readers, an opportunity to give suggestions for scenes or scenarios that you would like to see written. Not entire plots, just…scenes you've been wanting to see. I'll use suggestions that will fit into the plot I already have and give credit when one is used. Feel free to PM.

And don't forget to leave a review, even on the last chapter they are welcome. See you in the next one.