A/N: There may be a sequel after this. But as it stands now, it's complete.

As far as undercover ops went, this one was pretty simple. Steve was just another sailor coming home, anxious to see the people he had left behind. The uniform was familiar, and as he stepped off the carrier, he found himself thinking back to his time in the service.

He'd never had Kono waiting for him, though. Her face lit up as soon as she spotted him, as though she hadn't seen him for months and he found that he didn't have to put any effort into the smile that he gave in return. His steps quickened as he hit the dock, and he didn't even register that he had dropped his bag before she launched herself into his arms.

She kissed him. Steve knew that it was all a part of their cover, but she kissed him. Her nails scratched against the back of his head and her tongue slid into his mouth and he suddenly couldn't get her close enough. One of his hands slid under the thin t-shirt she wore and pressed against the warm skin there. A small moan escaped him, and her hold on him tightened convulsively.

"Welcome home," she murmured once they had pulled back half an inch to breathe.

"Wow," he whispered before he could stop himself.

Kono grinned. "Enjoying this one, Boss?"

"I'm not sure there's a guy alive that wouldn't." He kissed her once more - briefly - and then buried his face in the crook of her neck. "Any possibles yet?"

Her mouth was right up against his ear and he only just suppressed a shiver. "Not that I've noticed. Danny and Chin are around, though. They'll watch our backs."

Steve pulled back slightly, but fought against the urge to look her in the eye. Instead, he focused on her lips, giving her feather-light, teasing kisses.

"So does this mean I get to take you home now?"

Kono simply nodded.

The killer had been focusing on reunited couples. They never would have found that link had Kono not sat with three grieving mothers, providing them with what little comfort she could. She sat there longer than any of the guys could have, long past the point where words were making any sense. And in the end it had paid off.

There was no way to know for sure that he would be at the carrier's landing, but it was a good bet. Steve had seen his fair share of homecomings to know that nothing topped lovers seeing each other for the first time in months. Their guy should be there, and hopefully he and Kono had put on enough of a show to catch his eye.

He wasn't entirely sure what to do with her once they were in the car and she was driving them to the house they had appropriated for the op. If this were real, he wouldn't have been able to keep his hands off of her. On the other hand, it wasn't like the guy could really see what was going on in the vehicle.

In the end, Steve settled for sliding his arm around the back of her seat and leaning in closely.

"You're not gonna start anything in here, right?" Kono asked, eyeing him nervously.

He had been hoping for a slightly better reaction than that. "Just trying to make our cover convincing."

"I'm pretty sure a car accident would hurt our image."

He narrowed his eyes at her for a moment before his gaze moved down from her face. "Sensitive neck or ears?"

She blushed slightly but kept her eyes on the road. "Anything between the chin and shoulders, actually."

Both of Steve's eyebrows went up at that. "Really?"

"You can test it once we're inside the house. For now, let's just make sure I get us there in one piece."

He glanced over his shoulder once and then moved closer to her, pressing his forehead against her upper arm. "We've got company."

"Silver Acura?"

"Yeah."

"Let's hope we catch this son of a bitch then."

Kono pulled into the driveway and it was time to get back into the act. She was out of the car first and she headed straight for the front door, while Steve abandoned his bag and followed quickly. He reached her before she could turn the key and he spun her around, pressing her up against the door and kissing her deeply. Kono molded herself against him, her nails once again scratching through his short hair, and he honestly fumbled for a minute with the key before he could get the lock undone. He almost snapped the damn thing as he pushed her through the door and yanked the key back out, tossing the whole ring down on the floor and kicking the door shut behind them.

Somehow they made it to the bottom of the stairs, Steve slamming her up against the wall hard enough to rattle the pictures, but Kono didn't seem to mind. Her hands moved over his torso and arms, sometimes slipping underneath the fabric, once even dipping down to squeeze his ass. That dragged a moan out of him that wasn't quiet in the least and he slid her up the wall, mouth descending on her neck. He was pleased to find that she really was sensitive there, her body shivering and scrabbling for a better hold on him.

Making it to the top of the stairs was a damn miracle, and it took them a long time - not that either was complaining at this point. A part of Steve was listening for the man that had followed them, and he heard the screen door downstairs get jimmied as someone forced their way in. That made Steve push Kono up a few more steps to the landing, and she quickly got the picture. They may have been enjoying themselves - Steve was seriously starting to wonder if his skin was going to just catch fire from the way she touched him - but they had a job to do, and that always came first.

Kono dragged him to the bedroom door and that was where he forced himself to break away from her. They were both panting and Steve wanted to kiss her again. He wanted to pull her clothes off. He wanted to lay her down on the bed and keep her there for the next three days. He wanted so much that he was practically shaking, and he reached out for the frame of the door, pushing against his until his arms hurt.

"Just let me clean up real quick," he murmured, kissing her softly. "I'll be in in a minute."

Kono nipped at his ear and he could feel her shaking as well. "Hurry," she whispered.

He disappeared into the bathroom, mostly closing the door behind him. Pulling out the gun he had in the ankle holster on his right leg, he counted to five before slipping back out into the hallway, heading straight for the bedroom.

The bastard was pointing a gun at Kono and never saw him coming. Steve stepped right up to him and pressed his own barrel to the back of his head.

"You touch my girl and I'll kill you."

It distracted the would-be attacker enough that Kono was also able to pull her gun. "Five-0," she said coldly. "You're under arrest for murder."

Danny and Chin were already in the house, moving up the stairs. Sharing one long look with Kono, where things were said that he couldn't even begin to understand, Steve turned away and let his partner handle the arrest.

Steve tried to drown himself in work. When that didn't do the job, he thought about trying to drown himself in a bottle. The truth was, though, he had never been a hard drinker, and he knew he would pay for it in the morning when he went for his swim. Better to just go home and try to get some sleep.

Not that he expected that to work, either. Not when he could feel her body moving against his own every time he let his mind wander.

So he didn't let his mind wander. Waving off Danny and Chin's offers to go out, he headed to the grocery store and then went home. Cooking would keep his mind focused for awhile, and it had been longer than he cared to remember since he'd had the time or the inclination to make himself a decent dinner.

He had just set his sauce to simmer when there was a knock on the door. Frowning, he hoped that it wasn't Danny. His friend knew him better than Steve wanted to admit, and he wouldn't be surprised if he had noticed that there was something off with him. But Steve didn't want to talk about it. He didn't want to face it, or deal with it, or even admit that there was anything wrong.

A part of him told him that it was because he knew exactly what was wrong and what he needed to do to fix it.

But when he opened the door, it wasn't Danny standing there. It was Kono, her eyes as haunted and hungry as he knew his own were, hands clenched into fists at her sides. He knew that stance. Knew it intimately because he had had to use it not once, but twice, to keep himself from surging forward and dragging her against him.

The fact that she was fighting it too completely unraveled him.

He hooked two fingers through the belt loop on her shorts and pulled her inside. He wasn't sure if she was the water that would douse the flame, or the explosive that would make him combust. But as his lips found hers and she let out a needy moan, he found himself hoping that it might be the latter.