A/N: This was a request from AzaleaLennox 

Hope this is what you wanted.

***

"You know Steve is going to kick our asses for being out here, don't you?"

You glanced at Joe and gave him a smile. "I'd like to see him try."

Joe snorted a laugh and the two of you fell back into your companionable silence. Steve, Danny and Chin were at some state event with the governor, some senators and who knows who else. Despite Steve pleading for you to accompany him, you'd managed to get out of it. You hated those types of things and your husband knew it. Of course, Steve hated them too, but he was head of 5-0. You were not.

You, Joe and Kono had been at headquarters when the call came in about a missing girl. At the time, it was unclear if she had been kidnapped or just wandered off somewhere. Kono was with the family and Joe came with you. You were a tracker. It's what you did. Even when you were in the Airforce, you'd been the one they called when they needed to find someone. Until you knew for sure what you were dealing with, there was no point in calling Steve. He was on a different island entirely and by the time he got back, the situation might already be resolved.

Stopping suddenly, you crouched down in the weeds and examined the area around you. A tattered yellow blanket laid in the mud a short distance away. You left it in place. While all evidence pointed to the girl wandering off by herself, someone had met her here. You hoped it was a good Samaritan and that even now the girl was on her way back to her family. But good Samaritans didn't tend to leave things behind.

You followed the tracks a little deeper into the weeds away from the road until your eyes fell on signs of a struggle. Shit. Returning to your full height, you found Joe a short distance away watching you. "I still think she walked off on her own, but someone grabbed her here. And they weren't friendly about it. Get locals in here to take photographs and process her blanket." You pointed in the direction of the worn fabric. "I'm going to keep following their path. You can catch up."

Joe hesitated and you could tell he wanted to argue with you going off by yourself, but just like you, he knew time was of the essence. Finally, he nodded and you continued on your way, your eyes automatically picking out the trail as you went. Anything you thought imperative, you photographed with your phone, uncertain when you'd be able to come back to it.

You kept expecting the tracks to curve back toward a road, a car, civilization, something. But they just kept heading further away from any of that. At one point, the girl's tracks disappeared as she was picked up and carried. You were surprised she made it as far as she did on foot honestly. She was only four and that was a long walk.

Eventually, you arrived at a rundown cabin. A thin wisp of smoke floated from the chimney. A glance at your phone showed no signal which didn't surprise you in the least. You'd left the sat phone with Joe so he could make the calls he'd needed to make. As you drew your weapon and eased your way toward the house you gave a brief thought to your friend and wondered just how far behind you he was.

You stepped carefully through the weeds as you approached the little hovel. Peering through a dirty window, you made out the girl laying on a small bed near the fire. It was impossible to tell whether she was breathing or not and you sighed in relief when she turned over. So, she was alive at least.

A flash of movement reflected in the glass caught your attention. A sharp, heavy blow crashed down on your temple as you turned and your world went black.

***

When you started to come to, you were surprised to feel crisp sheets under you and the heavy weight of an IV in your arm. You'd fully expected to find yourself still laying in the dirt and weeds. He must have hit you pretty damned hard, and the throbbing in your head confirmed it.

The room was quiet except for the gentle humming of the machines and you wouldn't have been surprised to find yourself alone when your eyes finally fluttered open. Instead, your gaze immediately found the broad back of a man standing by the window. He had one hand hooked around the back of his neck as he stared out at the scenery.

The fact he wasn't in the chair beside you spoke to his worry. Steve had always been a nervous fidgeter. "What's a girl have to do to get an aspirin around here?" Your voice was low and a little rough but it caught his attention just fine.

He turned quickly and ran his eyes over you, grinning when he saw you were fully awake. He was back at your side in an instant and kissed your forehead before grabbing the chair to pull it forward. After sitting right beside you, he grabbed your hand in his, being careful not to pull on any of the equipment attached to you. "How you doing, sweetheart?"

"I've got a hell of headache. How are you?"

He gave you that sideways grin that still made your knees weak after two years of marriage. "Better now."

"The girl?"

"She's fine. The guy that found her claims he just wanted to help her. Needless to say, no one's buying it, especially after he hit you. You spooked him showing up like you did and he took off. Joe tracked him down."

You sighed in relief and closed your eyes. Even as dim as the lights in the room were, they still made your head hurt. The pain was worth it though if the distraction you caused had anything to do with that girl being all right.

"I need to ask you a question, Y/N," Steve said. Something in his tone had you opening your eyes to look at him.

"Okay."

He released his hold on your hand and pushed himself to his feet. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Your brows lifted in amusement as he paced away from the bed, hands moving through the air in agitation as he spoke. "Continuing to track him on your own was one thing, but then to approach the house without backup...Were you trying to get yourself killed?"

You said nothing. When Steve got like this, it was better to just let him get it out of his system.

"I mean, you have done some stupid things in your time, Y/N/N but this takes the cake."

Okay, you knew he was upset, but you weren't going to just let him call you stupid. "I don't know, marrying you might have it beat."

Steve spun to face you with a narrowed gaze and hands fisted on his hips. "Come again?"

"Well, you know, I was out there in that grass and I totally wasn't thinking about that little girl and how scared she was or making sure she was okay. Instead I thought, God, marrying Steve was really stupid. Maybe I can get out of it by getting myself killed. Or at least if I get hit really hard I might get amnesia and forget about him."

"Ha ha. Very funny, Mrs. McGarrett, but you're stuck with me, as you well know."

"Damn it."

He looked at the floor though you could still see his lips twitching up into a smile.

"Better?" you asked and held out your hand so he could take it.

His fingers wrapped around yours and he sat back down. "You scared the shit out of me."

"It's just a knock to the head, Steve. I've had worse."

He hummed in agreement and nodded. "I didn't know that when Joe called to tell me what happened though. We'd just landed at the airport and all he could tell me was that they'd found the girl and you were alive but unconscious and on your way to the hospital."

Not having a response to that, you simply squeezed his fingers as a reminder that you were still there.

"Why didn't you call us?" he finally asked. "As soon as the case came in, you should have called."

"All indications were that she had just wandered off. And might I remind you, that's exactly what happened. She didn't get picked up until later."

He shook his head. "Missing kid is more important than sweet talking the politicians."

You huffed a laugh. "Not if you want to keep getting away with the shit you get away with, McGarrett. I don't particularly wish to have to visit my husband in prison. Besides you look horrible in orange."

He laughed. "So that's how it is, huh?"

"That's how it is. Now, how about that aspirin?"