Tag for the S4 premier that I watched an insane amount of times, particularly the Steve & Catherine scene in the jungle. I just wanted to follow them home … so I did.

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Aftermath

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McGarrett Residence 3:00 a.m.

She comes awake slowly, opening her eyes in the near complete darkness. Even the short time it takes to orient herself is unusual, since years of travel and multiple duty stations have made her used to knowing where she is within seconds of waking up. That delay is a little alarming in and of itself, and she thinks briefly, 'are we safe?' but the thought flits away, the question answered 'yes' by two facts. First, the hand she'd curled under her chin while sleeping is intertwined with Steve's. The second being he's completely relaxed against her, his arm casually across her torso. There's no tension in his body, and Steve McGarrett would never relax, not even in his sleep, if danger were present.

The change in Catherine's breathing and her beginning to stir penetrates Steve's consciousness just enough that he tightens his grip slightly without waking up. Him sleeping spooned against her, as opposed to his normal flat-on-his-back position, combined with the pain that slams into her face when she stifles a yawn, brings complete awareness in less than a second. The events of the previous day crash into her consciousness in an instant.

Being taken, the anger, the fear, the hits to the head, including the kick to her face that left her cheek throbbing by the time they'd finally called it a night. They'd left Danny and Chin a few hours after decompressing over the beers she'd promised after Steve had landed the helo. Because they'd all refused a hospital, Danny had called Max, insisting he check them out, so Danny could enjoy his beer without worrying about concussions for her and Chin and 'worse brain damage' for Steve.

Still nowhere near wide awake, she gives herself a mental shake, thinks 'water' and 'Advil' and shifts to disentangle herself from Steve so she can get both.

"You okay?" He mumbles the question he'd asked her multiple times yesterday. "Are you okay?" Over and over in the jungle, when he'd found her and she thought her heart would burst with relief and from the way he'd held her, almost as if he didn't believe she was real. "Are you okay?" In the car, on the way to the bar where they'd gone after the hell that had been their day. "Are you okay?" after the adrenaline dump had exhausted them to the point where they were stumbling up the stairs, leaning on each other after Max and Kamekona had to drive all four of them home because, while none of them were drunk, there wasn't one functional vehicle between them; and "are you okay?" practically every time she'd shifted in the night.

"I'm good." She turns, reaching over him to switch on the light. The bruise on his forehead, from where he'd hit the helo windshield is purpling. She's sure it matches her own, and she puts her hand up to touch it lightly.

"Where ya going?" Steve's eyes cloud at her gesture, and he gently pulls her hand away, touching her cheek. "How bad is it?" his gut clenches at the bruise, more prominent against her pale skin than it was when they went to sleep.

"Just need more Advil. Looks like you could use a few yourself, Commander."

"I'll get them." Steve slips out of bed, moving slower than normal, and she says, "I'll get some water, we should drink something." and heads for the stairs.

Steve goes into the bathroom, grabs the Advil, and dry swallows four. When Catherine returns, he's sitting against the pillows, holding the sheet up for her to crawl in beside him. She does, and he hands her three pills, which she chases down with a third of the liter bottle she's holding, offering the rest to Steve.

"I'm good."

"No, you're not. Please drink, Steve. You need to rehydrate and need to keep the meds I know you dry swallowed, down. Besides, I'd like about 100 more hours of sleep without you getting sick on me, sailor."

"You taking lessons from Danny?" Steve smirks a half smile at their familiar banter. Glad she's there, Glad she's alive to banter with. 'It's okay this time, Dad' flies unbidden into his mind. "Gimme." He gestures for the bottle, wrapping his hand around hers for a second when she holds it out.

Steve downs the water, tossing the bottle away. Sliding down, he pulls her into his embrace and holds her there, arms wrapped around her, hand cradling the back of her head like he did yesterday in the jungle, and she stifles a sob.

"What?!" He pulls back, looking into her eyes, his own wide with worry.

"Nothing. I'm sorry, it's just, thank you. You risked every … you let them … Steve, thank you."

"Told you, I couldn't lose you." He answers simply, hoping she understands, knows what he means.

She does.

They settle back down, resuming the position they'd held for most of the night; his arm across her, their fingers entwined. When she hears his breathing even out, her last thought before she gives in to the sleep that's pulling at her is 'Me, too, Steve, I love you, too.'

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End, thanks for reading.