Myriam was in the elevator at 5-0 HQ to pick up evidence and any of their results while Shep went to pick up Sebastian from the airport. Steve happened to enter the elevator at the last minute to her dismay.
“Jeez, you are everywhere, aren’t you? Also stalking me like some pervert,” Myriam said a bit angry.
“Well – my office is in this building,” Steve quietly replied, smiling at her. He took a moment and watched her curiously. “Question. If you knew that a bunch of people from a sister agency wasn’t doing a thing, wouldn’t you do something?”
“No, I’d call their superior and bring this issue to light. Then I’d take over.”
“Lunch?”
“What?”
“Do you want to have lunch with me? I can explain myself better and show you that I’m not the bad guy and merely have Hawaii’s best interests at hand.”
“No, sorry. I’m busy.”
“Busy with what, if I may ask?”
“My case, of course,” she replied, rolling her eyes and sighing. “It took a rather unexpected turn. I have an agent from the team I was last working with coming out who is also a skilled lab technician so I may not need the accommodations of your lab much longer if I get my way.”
Steve nodded, his eyes narrowing a fraction. “I get it. I do. But just so you know, Agent Mikaelson, that we really don’t have to be enemies here. We can work together. I have no issue with you using our resources when you need, but little interagency respect would be appreciated.”
Myriam continued to stare at the elevator door. “Attempting to take cases that are clearly not your jurisdiction as they are being worked by their agency is being respectful? Duly noted.”
“And that stops now. You’re a capable leader; we don’t need to help NCIS out now that they’ve sent someone over who does the damn job.”
She let out a breath through her nose that if she’d been a fire-breathing dragon might not fair well for other occupants in the small space as she turned to face him. “There was one agent in that group of morons that was and is competent and did his job. By doing what you did, diminished his abilities and image as well. Perhaps instead of just blindly taking cases from lazy imbeciles, you might have tried looking at them entirely and found that there was one trying to do the work for four until the situation was recognized to be resolved. Which it’s being done now. We may be short staffed at the moment, but we will be fine.”
“I have no doubt that you will, ma’am,” Steve smiled at her. “So, lunch?”
“Is this professional or personal lunch you’re asking, because if it’s personal, then you’d have to get both of my brothers’ approval and – even then, not even in your wildest dreams,” she rolled her eyes.
“I’m a catch; I’m sure your brothers will approve.” Who even wanted their family’s approval for lunch? “It’s just lunch.”
She could only chuckle in response, glancing him up and down. “Then you know nothing about my family. I thought such a great investigator like yourself would have already looked into my history,” she smirked and stepped off the elevator as soon as it opened. “I’m sure I can find 5-0 offices on my own without your help. Have a good day, Commander.”
~o.O.o~
Myriam was looking at CCTV footage from around the time the sailor was supposed to have left the barracks while Sebastian was happily playing around in the lab. He had put most of the lab in quarantine but had carved out a little corner for himself where he could work safely without fear of cross-contamination.
The good thing about Sebastian’s arrival was that he had brought Pride’s Gumbo with him and she was eating that while doing her job. Shep was digging into their dead sailor’s life, but all he could find was what his mother had already told them about him. He was a good kid; made some bad mistakes and got into trouble. That’s it.
Myriam looked up when the door opened, revealing Steve McGarrett carrying two bags of food. “What the hell?”
“I was hungry, and you’re busy, so I figured I’d swing by to have lunch with you while you worked.”
She was so dumbfounded by his actions that she had actually had a loss for words. Blinking, she continued to stare at him for a moment before pointing at the food she had on her desk beside her. “I have already, right from New Orleans,” she spoke, still confused and glanced over at Sheppard. His expression seemed just to want to piss her off as he turned back to his work and seemingly ignored her and her visitor. “What is this really about?”
Steve sat down in the chair in front of her desk and started to grab food out of the packaging. “Lunch. Hunger. Getting to know one another.”
Myriam was about to object when Sheppard stood from his desk. “I’m going to go drop these off by Sebastian and see how he’s making out with the lab. Hopefully, he’s able to make heads or tails with that mess that Isa left behind,” he winked as he saluted the Commander as he walked by. “Good luck,” he murmured at the end.
“Asshole,” Myriam glared at him as he left the office and focused on the man across from her. Sitting back in her chair, she crossed her arms and sighed. “Seriously. What is it you want? I doubt it’s really just to get to know me because my jacket says enough and it’s enough to make people run the other way.”
Steve nodded. “One brother dead, another in jail… dead mother… father in the wind, possibly dead… Oh, and back in the day, your family ruled New Orleans like some mob,” Steve summed up. “Me? Dead father. Spy Mother. My mother seemingly died in a car crash when I was 15; dad sent both my sister and me off to the mainland. She got to live with my aunt; I got to join the navy. But surprise, mother not dead,” he said as he looked into the bag and handed her his file. “That’s my jacket. Nice and cozy. I shredded yours after reading.”
She shook her head, amused. “I guess NCIS or whoever was supposed to, never bothered to update my information because both of my brothers are alive and free. And there is no proof that my mother is dead, so she could be wherever my father fucked off to,” she replied. “I don’t know where you got access to my information, but they only got it half right and are sorely out of the loop for old and recent gossip. Thank you, Commander, but I don’t need your file. I could just call Director Vance if I wanted anything on you. Or Hetty Lange. Now, she’s got the good shit on people.”
“She has good people,” he nodded. “Kensi was here a few years back, and Sam Hanna and I are brothers.”
The smile she had on her face fell at the mention of the team as she couldn’t stand one of them. “They’re alright.”
Steve took a bite from his food and motioned around. “Love what you’ve done with the place. It looks a lot more organized already.”
“I’m thinking of having the walls painted orange,” she shrugged. “Never know when someone from DC visits.”
“Blue, orange is so… sickening. You’re in the tropics now, blue! Water!”
“Have you ever been to DC offices of NCIS?” she questioned.
“Ah, no, can’t say that I have, but if they have their walls painted orange, I doubt I’ll ever set foot in there,” he smiled as he put another fork of food in his mouth. “What you having?”
Myriam looked over at her lunch container, hesitating as she glanced back at him. “Gumbo, from New Orleans.”
“Like… from New Orleans?”
“Came on the plane with my colleague this morning.”
“Nice! New Orleans has all the good food, but the food here on Hawaii is better, trust me. Loads of seafood.”
“No gumbo,” she replied, deadly serious. “Or jambalaya. And the so-called po-boys you have here suck. It’s sushi on bread.”
“The spam and shrimp meals are amazing; you just need to find the right place.”
“Now you’re just making me nauseous,” Myriam sighed, pushing her food away from her. “Lunch is over, so that means bonding time is at an end. Is there anything else I can do for you today Commander McGarrett?”
He looked inside his container and shrugged. “I’m not finished yet.”
“Do I have to shoot you to get you out of my office?” she questioned as she picked up her cell phone and texted a number HPD given her if she had any questions.
Not five minutes later, Danny Williams walked into the office. “Finally! He took our lunch inside and told me to wait in the car!” He exclaimed as he put a lid on Steve’s food. “I’m starving, bro!”
Steve turned and glared at Myriam. “You texted my partner?”
She smiled and shrugged. “Perhaps HPD isn’t completely useless. They gave me his number if I needed anything and I needed him to get rid of you,” she sassed.
“Oh, this isn’t over,” Steve laughed as Danny pulled him to his feet. “Have a good day, Agent Mikaelson, enjoy your Gumbo from New Orleans.”
Danny scolded him on the way out the door. “Are you fucking nuts? You do know this girl is insane, right? She texted me to come to get you if we didn’t want our boss to be laid up with a GSW to his umm. I’ll just show you the text,” he hissed.
Steve looked at the text and shrugged. “I’ve had worse.”
“I doubt your junk could recover from the bodily injuries she had in mind if you didn’t get out of there when you did,” he responded. “We don’t know shit about her. Everything is classified.”
“And why do you think I’m making an effort then, Danny?”
“Oh, I don’t know, fresh meat?”
Steve scoffed. “I can’t believe you think that low of me.”
Danny nodded and texted a bet to the rest of the team and shoved his phone back into his pocket. “If I’m wrong, then you won’t do what I just bet the rest of the team. If you’re interested in her like I think, then you will. We shall see.”
“What did you text them?”
“Now that would be telling. Come on lover boy. Let’s get you off this base before she comes after you with a grenade or something because the last thing we need is a female you hooking up with you,” Danny sighed, shoving him ahead of him.
~o.O.o~
It was nearly 0400 when Myriam made her way down to the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee. Popping in the Keurig pod, she waited at the counter for the machine to finish, she debated on checking to see if her brothers were home or not.
She knew Cole had been spending a lot of his free time exploring the city and the beaches, enjoying the freedom he now had. She wasn’t sure about Nick, though, which concerned her. He seemed to be lost with himself, wanting something to do without getting into trouble. However, she wasn’t sure if he knew how not to get himself into some sort of illicit activity. She wondered if she could talk him into enrolling in a cooking school as she knew he was enjoying cooking now and then, but he rarely took direction well.
When her coffee was made, she sipped it as she made her way through the house, checking the windows and locks and grab the morning paper before she would head out for her morning run. When she stepped outside, she scowled at what she found waiting for her. “I’m going to have to get my brother to bring the paper in for me in the mornings now, aren’t I?”
“What? You don’t like to have a coffee before you run, with your paper? What’s that in your hand then?”
“Oh, I do, however never once do I recall asking you for coffee, my news, or a run,” she replied with a sigh. “However, since you are here and I feel bad to wake up Detective Williams at this hour, you may as well come in until I leave for my run. Otherwise, I might wake the neighbors with my attempt to murder you.”
“So what? You can attempt to murder me inside?” Steve laughed. “Sure. Look, I know that I might come across as-”
“A stalker?”
“Well yes. But I’m not.”
“Just so you know, once you step inside, your every move will be recorded, so will our conversation,” she said as she walked back inside.
He paused at the door and eyed her. “Why the hell are you recording your house?”
She looked up towards the stairs. “I don’t trust some people and am having a hard time getting to know others again. Plus, I had an incident recently, so my brother suggested it. Regardless, I don’t know if I can trust you, but I thought I’d let you know.”
“I am nothing but honorable, I promise. Just curious how you got this house, as far as I know, nobody was murdered in it.”
“Do you need to ask?” Myriam shook her head, a playful smile on her lips. “Seems like your information about me was way off base. Perhaps you need to go back to your source and tell them to do a better job. I mean, it’s not like it’s classified. It’s pretty much the worst kept secret where I’m from.”
“I already told you yesterday that your family used to be a mob in New Orleans… wait, you still have old money?”
Myriam rolled her eyes at that. “Close enough.”
Steve nodded as he watched her move towards the lanai and glanced around. “So I’d guess that before your father took off, your brother managed to move most of the family money before the feds were able to get a hold of it otherwise it would have been seized. It had to have been hard growing up like that.”
She took a sip of her coffee as she took a seat on the sofa overlooking the water and motioned for Steve to do the same. “My parents weren’t parents of the year. I preferred my brothers anyway. No matter what they did, they always made sure I was safe and acted in my best interest. They never wanted that life for me, so they kept me out of it.”
“Is that when your one brother killed the other?”
Myriam smiled at him, raising an eyebrow. “Didn’t I already say that you needed to get your information updated. You do that first before you ask me more about my family. Okay?”
“You’re going to make me work for it?”
“Totally.”
“Challenge accepted.”
She shrugged and took a sip of her coffee. “You might regret that decision,” she said and turned her head toward the stairs, hearing movement upstairs. “Sounds like you may have the opportunity to meet one of my brothers. Joy.”
Cole made his way down the stairs and shuffled his way to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee as his sister watched his movements. She rolled her eyes as he was in nothing but his underwear and scratched his ass as he took his mug and went out to join them. “Morning, sister!”
“You’re disgusting,” she complained as she continued to glare at him.
“Hi, Cole Mikaelson,” he held out his hand to his sister’s friend. “It’s funny, sis, I never heard you bring anyone home last night.”
She frowned at him, annoyed. “That’s because I didn’t. He ambushed me when I went to get the paper this morning. You’ll be getting that for me from now on, so you better set your alarm clock early.”
“Ah, my apologies,” Cole said as he sat down. “So is your friend a mute then?”
“He may be now because of you and your current state of undress,” she pointed out.
Cole shrugged. “Our house. I can do whatever I want.”
“At least put pajama pants on in the common areas.”
“Oh come on, Asparagus, I have a fabulous body.”
“Cole, all you have to do is bend over, and we can see your junk hanging out. No thank you. Go annoy Nick.”
Cole grinned then as he set his mug of coffee on the table and got back to his feet before running back inside. “Nick! Our baby sister has a male friend over, and they’re on the veranda drinking coffee! Come look!”
“Maybe he should have stayed in jail,” she muttered as she narrowed her eyes on his back as he disappeared into the house. “He’d be a lot safer from me right now.”
Steve blinked at her words. “He was the one in jail? How the fuck did he survive? He looks like he’s like… twelve.”
“Family name goes far in New Orleans. And he’s smarter than he looks, unfortunately,” she sighed.
A few minutes later Nick came downstairs, fully dressed. “Myriam, what did I tell you about inviting people inside our home?” He then stopped dead in his tracks when he saw that it was Steve McGarrett. Well fuck.
Myriam glanced between her brother and the 5-0 agent and rolled her eyes, quickly putting pieces of the puzzle together. Sighing, she set her coffee down and stood up. “Get over it, Nick. If you have a problem, then I’ll find a place of my own. You are the one that insisted on us all living together after everything. But I still have a run I need to do before work and another task added to my to-do list before I get to the office, so what do you want?”
“A head’s up next time, that’s all. How can I keep you safe when you invite strangers in?”
Myriam barked out a laugh. “Brother, this place is a fortress, and I told McGarrett that if he’d try something he’d be recorded. He doesn’t have anything to hide. Do you?”
“Of course not! I’ve not done anything! Well, not in the last several years that I can recall,” he shrugged, blinking as he attempted to think of what he could have done that would piss his sister off. “At least nothing that I hadn’t already told you.”
“Good, let’s keep it that way,” Myriam nodded before looking at Steve. “You ready? I’m ready to kick your ass.”