Some Kind of Curse (Hawaii Five-0)

Chapter Thirteen

The next few weeks feel surreal to Kris; life couldn't be better, if she's being completely honest. The team is amazing, and so far, they are all doing really well with their training. Kris and Steve definitely feel a lot better about bringing them out in the field with them following their SWAT training and many, many trips to the gun range.

Kono has really found her calling on the team. It turns out that she has the best shot out of all of them, meaning that she is the designated sniper. Kris was surprised by this, but she was mostly very proud of Kono, who was beaming with pride. Kono is due to graduate from the police academy in a few days, and as soon as she steps off the stage, Steve and Kris will be right there to swear her in officially to the team. The swearing in before was unofficial, as she was not a police officer yet. This time around, she will officially be a member of the team, and work for the governor of Hawaii.

Chin has found his confidence again. Going through the training with the team and realising that they truly had his back (unlike the officers at HPD who thought he was dirty), he began to relax a little and accept the fact that he was a cop again. Chin always knew that he could trust the McGarrett family to look after him, but now that he works with Steve and Kris, he knows that they are his family now, even if they aren't blood related. They took a chance on him, just as John did back in the day, and he couldn't be more grateful for that. He was also very thankful that they were so welcoming to Kono too. He knew deep down that as soon as HPD found out that Kono was related to Chin, that she would be shunned and unable to thrive as a cop there. He was so glad that Kris and Steve saw her potential just as he did, and happily welcomed her to the team.

Danny on the other hand, was a little harder to convert into loving the team. Danny often worried about his safety every day as a cop. He knows that every day he leaves the house, he could never return. He could easily get shot by some thug who gets scared in a cop's presence. There's no way for him to really blend in here either, he's found. His uniform that he wore in New Jersey, something that he is not ready to give up quite yet, is something that makes him stick out like a sore thumb. Danny was a little hesitant to take part in the SWAT training and specializations that he didn't think he ever wanted to do, as he really did not want to be in situations that called for those skills, but he knew that it was for his own safety. Steve and Kris promised him when they first met that they would do everything in their power to make sure he goes home to Grace each night, and he knew that with this training, they were helping him improve his chances of not getting killed on the job.

Danny ended up excelling at the training too- unbeknownst to the rest of the team, Danny was actually a very fast sprinter, despite being the smallest on the team. He was the fastest on the team for the 100m dash during their fitness tests, which Danny credited to his glory days of playing collegiate baseball back in Jersey.

All of Danny's baseball talk lead to a fun evening at side street, the bar close to HQ, where everyone had a few beers and told some funny stories about their younger years. The team continued to bond more and more, which was something that truly made Steve and Kris happy. It was always great to have a team that worked well together, and Kris was glad that everyone on the new team had clicked pretty much instantly.

On the Friday of the second week with the team, Kono is set to graduate from the academy. Unfortunately for her, the team gets their second case, and she gets caught in the middle of it all, causing her to miss her graduation. Kono took a bit of a beating on the case, but she was excited to have finally graduated from the academy. She may have missed the ceremony, but back at HQ, Chin asked her to change into her uniform so she could at least get sworn in officially by Steve and Kris.

                                         -----

When Kono returns from the locker room, she is met with the rest of the team, dressed in their respective uniforms, smiling at her.

"congratulations, Kono." Kris says quietly, wrapping her friend in a tight hug. "You have proved to be a perfect fit for the team. We couldn't be happier to have you. I know you'll have our backs any day. Welcome aboard... officially." Kris smiles, patting her friend on the arm. Kris then reaches in her pocket and pulls out a swiss army knife, and hands it over to Kono.

"you handled yourself well with a pin today, but I think you should have one of these just in case. They do come in handy, trust me." Kris grins. Kono takes the knife and thanks her.

Steve steps up next and congratulates Kono, giving her a new sidearm, a Kel-Tec PF 9, which she thanks him for, hugging him. Danny gives her a St. Michaels pendant on a beautiful silver chain for good luck, saying that he has always kept his on him since his training sergeant gave him one back when he graduated. Chin gives her a flashlight with a engraved message for her, and then Steve asks Kono to raise her right hand. He and Kris swear her in, and officially welcome her to the team. Chin beams with pride as he watches his cousin get sworn in and wraps her in a big hug afterwards.

Kris then invites the team over to hers and Steve's house for Dinner, which starts a new O'hana tradition.

Friday night dinners become a staple in the team's lives. Each Friday, the team (sometimes with Grace, if she is with Danny that weekend) pile into the McGarrett home for a lovely homecooked meal and some beers. A few weeks in, Danny offers to help cook dinners too, and he ends up introducing the team to his mother's homemade lasagna, which the team declares as "the best thing they have ever eaten.".

As the weeks go on, looks and touches linger between Danny and Kris. They both long for something that is simply out of reach for them right now, but they always manage to keep each other within their grasp. The deal breaking moment for Danny is when Kris makes a call to the governor – anonymously of course- and scares Rachel and Stan into dropping the custody battle after Danny protects her at a football game.

That night, while the team sat in the conference room watching an old football game of Steve's, Danny couldn't get his mind off of Kris. He had only known her for a few weeks, but she has already gone out of her way to make sure that he is happy and healthy and well looked after, despite everything that is going on in her personal life right now. Kris should be focusing her time on figuring out the clues that her father left behind for her and Steve, but instead, she is taking the time to take care of Chin, Kono, Danny and Steve, and make sure that they are all adjusting well and if they need any further help from her and Steve. Danny truly admires her devotion and care that she has already put into the team, and now he definitely understands how she was allowed to lead her own SEAL team- this woman was cut out for leadership, and she is one hell of a person to work for.

"so, why 50, Steve?" Kono asks, taking a sip from her beer. She laughs as Steve gets absolutely sacked in the old game the team is watching.

"yeah, what's a quarterback doing wearing that?" Danny asks, snapping himself out of his thoughts about Kris.

"its not fifty. Its five-o." Steve replies, as he sits down at the table and puts his feet up.

"we always wore five-o in volleyball and basketball. It's what our dad called our family because we weren't native Hawaiians." Kris explains, smiling.

"yeah, after the fiftieth state in the union- I don't know. It just worked. We wore it even through university. It made us feel like we belonged some place, I guess." Steve explains.

"I like that. I think it would be a good team name." Kono nods.

"five-o." Danny says to himself. He likes the sound of that.

He looks over at Kris, who is smiling. She has a hint of sadness in her eyes, but he can tell that she likes the thought of honoring her father like that.

"what do you think, big kahuna?" Kris smiles, as she steals a bit of popcorn from Kono. She looks at Steve, who can't help but smile too.

Steve crosses his arm and looks at the screen, which is paused on a frame of him in his Kukui jersey, setting up the next play in the game.

"five-o..." he says, grinning. "I think it's perfect." He agrees.

Everyone in the room breaks out in a smile. Now their newfound family has a name.

Five-O.

They all raise their beer bottles, and clink bottles. "To Five-O." Kono smiles. "To Five-O!" everyone else repeats, smiling ear to ear.

To family. Kris thinks to herself as she looks around the room. Finally, she has a family again.