#Koa Maloko|Steve McGarrett

[brooklynislandgirl]

- “You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

He'd been off the grid for weeks, tracking Wo Fat, determined to catch him and bring him to justice for the previous murder of his mother and ordering the murder of his father. He'd cut off all contact with the entire task force and that included Beth. Steve thought it better that way and safer for his entire task force. Not that his partner was happy about that.

But none of the team had a choice, it was Steve's operation and Steve's choice but in the end the entire mission involved the team in one way or another, especially after Steve had captured Wo Fat and then the plane they were traveling in back to Hawaii was made to crash in hopes to end Wo Fat's life, by orders of Adam Noshimuri, who's father Hiro Noshimuri had been murdered by Wo Fat.

The team had to work together in order to find a way to bring Steve home safely and while it worked, Steve ended up hijacking the helicopter belonging to the men hired by Adam who had been hunting Steve and Wo Fat. Finally landing in Hawaii brought relief to Steve even though he knew that Adam and more men would likely be there to meet them.

Standing his ground though Steve was able to hold off until backup arrived and Adam was talked down by Kono. Steve's eyes landed on Beth, seeing the expression on her face when she laid eyes on him for the first time in weeks, looking past Danno, only half listening now to what his partner was complaining about, his focus zeroing in on Beth, a small smile lifting his lips.

He rested a hand on Danny's shoulder as he stepped past him towards where Beth stood, now letting a little wider grin form on his lips as he stopped in front of her. He could see the emotion on her face at seeing him again though and wondered if she had thought she'd lost him, "You look like you've seen a ghost!" He teased her

A seawall is a solid barrier, built parallel to shore to protect land from the effects of waves, tides, tsunamis. While Hawai'ian law prohibits them as they are known to damage and erode the natural environment, sometimes they are allowed to be built as a last measure to ensure public safety. Steve McGarrett should thank whatever he believes in that there are no such laws concerning Beth and, in fact, that she's spent a lifetime building up emotional seawalls to keep in the sometimes frighteningly unfathomable depths of her feelings. Because every instinct right now tells her to run. To leap like a gazelle and throw her arms around him. Maybe to squeeze so tight that he struggles to breath and has to pry her away from him. Then again another equal instinct is to walk calmly and clearly over to him, raise her hand and slap him so hard for this latest misadventure that the sound of it will echo all the way back to New York. Those emotional barriers keep her rooted in place. She stares him down and eventually catches his eye while he's talking too quietly to Danny for her to really hear anything. Time becomes elusive and she doesn't know how long they hold one another's gaze but eventually he begins to prowl toward her and she feels her belly tighten in response. Muscles tense and there's a prickle at the backs of her eyes, the sting of unshed tears. She purses her lips and swallows hard. Wants to force all those sensations down and not let him see the cracks in her that began with Andy and haven't ever closed. Which in turn allowed the idea of losing Steve after only reuniting with him comparatively recently break them open. But here isn't the time or place to be having a talk like that or exploring the ache in her that his disappearance caused. She doesn't know what to make of that smile, or the little quip about ghosts. "Well, if you expec' me to turn away and lay down in a ditch, cause you've become part of da Huakaʻi pōa, then you've got anoddah t'ing coming." He and her brother used to delight in scaring her and Mary by sometimes pretending to be the fabled Nightmarchers. She's still afraid of the dark to this day. "But for what it's wor'd, I'm glad you've come home." She doesn't realise that one of her hands have caught his wrist and her fingers are encircling it, thumb rubbing lazy circles against the beat of his pulse.

[brooklynislandgirl]

Tension fills the kitchen like a winter blanket. Heavy, oppressive, tight. Makes it a little hard to breathe but maybe it's just her. What should be an autonomic action, literally the easiest thing a person can do and does every day without thought is a struggle. A weight on her chest she can neither see nor move. Funny thing is? She can't really pinpoint why. She's never had that reaction around Steve before. Of course, the last time they were this close to one another was a lifetime ago when scabbed knees and homework ~and parents at each other's throats~ was the worst order of the day, so that could account for it. Adults have different perceptions after all. She swallows and cranes her head just a touch to keep him in view. He was always taller than she could hope to be, and that isn't something that's changed. Then, slowly she shakes her head and reaches for an easy grin before he thinks she's staring. Beth is great at hiding things behind those closed-lip smiles. "Fact," she repeats the clearest word she hears mid-embrace, still really not regarding their coworkers. Beth knows that people will whisper things like favouritism and whatever other gossip is most entertaining to them however innocent someone might be. She can almost feel the bile rise when she skitters across the memory of her college days. Now she sheds those fears like water off a duck's back. It feels good to hold him so close. To accept the warmth and fondness of an old friend settle into her bones. And she knows when to let go and settle back onto her feet. And stand back a pace or two. However it doesn't mean she doesn't feel a pang of loss in doing so. Were it appropriate, she could have spent a small eternity just like that, his arms around her waist, his breath in her hair. Maybe some of that longing lingers in her leaf-bright eyes. "Oooh, dat sounds so serious." A velvet chuckle follows her dip into pidgin before swimming back to the surface. Does he still remember local slang? Had the Navy stripped him clean of being kama'aina, turned him into a pristine haole? The idea of it hurts just a touch. She doesn't know if the mainland made him happy, but he had a home and a life here once. Every bit as much Hawai'ian as she is, in his own way. "But seriously, mahalo for givin' me a chance." She offers him a true smile at his confirmation of what she suspected when she made the offer. Didn't try to hide the tips of her pointed little teeth like she does with so many others. "Door's always open, an' if it's not? You know where I hide the key." Just then, she rises on her tip-toes and spins around to gaze at her assembled co-workers. Before she can fall to temptation and spin a wild story about who she is and why she's here, she holds up her hand and throws a friendly shaka their way. "Steve an' I are old friends, neighbours back in little kid times, neighbours now. So if you evah need me to spill the tea..." The threat of throwing Steve under the bus hangs in the air.

Steve could see her studying him, taking him in, felt her eyes watching him, studying him and while she studied him, he in turn studied her, letting himself take her in as well. It had been years since they had seen one another or spent time with one another but even though they were both older and more mature there was also some aspects between them that hadn't changed. He'd be lying if he said he didn't miss her while he'd been away and he had sure missed her brother and been heartbroken to learn of his death but that was all in the past.

Even though she didn't realize she had taken a half step toward him, his practiced eye didn't miss it at all. He noticed the movement even though he didn't say a word to draw attention to the fact that she had done so. He'd let her discover that fact for herself in the time that they were now reuniting for the first time since they had said goodbye so many years ago when he had been sent to the mainland.

He could tell she was following along with his explanation as he explained to her how exactly he was involved with the task force, watching her take the news in, in that typical fashion that she had always done, even back when they had been kids. Yes he had not been expecting to see her application to join Five-0 but when he had gone through it her qualifications met exactly what he was looking for so of course he would choose her as a new member of the task force.

An eyebrow raised as another quirk of his lips lifted them a bit higher, letting amusement play across his features that were followed by a soft chuckle, "Is that a fact?" He teased, his lips now lifting into an actual Steve McGarrett smirk that stretched across his entire face to show he was only teasing and the fact that he knew she was also only teasing. He didn't think there would be any kind of HR problem. Not for them.

Before the conversation went any further she was finally moving forward and stepping up onto her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck and hug him. He slid his arms around her waist and brought her in closer, letting himself return the hug, ignoring the fact that the rest of the team was staring with confusion and curiousity on their faces as they took in the reunion between the two old friends.

"I've already been over your file and you meet the qualifications needed to be part of Five-0, I don't think you need to worry about me deciding you don't belong within my task force....It's good to be home. As for staying in my house, yes I am. Well now that I know for sure you're here too I most certainly will do that." He told her with a grin. It would be nice to do that and relive old times, renew a friendship.