Fic: kumu (final part)
( part 4)
*h5o*wingverse*
Steve had been in the middle of his extended morning workout, focusing on the leg lifts and crunches that would most help his body maintain straight and controlled aerodynamics. Cath watched, amused.
The knock on the door was a bit of a surprise. Danny shouldn’t be awake yet and no one else would bother them unless it was important. Steve and Cath scrambled into something presentable.
Robins was waiting outside the door when Steve finally opened it. “I need to speak with you alone.”
“I can go to my berth,” Cath offered.
“No. You can’t,” Robins said. “It’s occupied and that’s the problem.”
“I’ll find breakfast in the mess.” Cath slid out the door.
Robins entered and firmly closed the door behind him.
“We didn’t think it would be a problem if Rachel sometimes bunked in Rollins’ berth,” Steve explained.
“It wasn’t Mrs. Edwards that sought sanctuary there, but Mr. Williams.”
Steve didn’t need to be told anything else; he could surmise the events. Rachel and Danny had a fight, for any number of reasons, and Danny had to find a couch for the night. He knew that Cath had practically moved into to Steve’s cabin, so it was an available room and he had access to the key. “It made a mess of security?” Steve guessed.
“Yes. The security is primarily in place for Williams and his daughter. The rest of you are secondary.” That was nothing that Steve didn’t already know. “With Detective Williams given free reign of the Enterprise, the security detail didn’t realize that he had changed his location for the night until he didn’t return after an hour. We scrambled for an extra security team.”
Steve nodded.
“This cannot happen again. If Mrs. Edwards wishes to sleep in a separate room from her… ex-husband, than she must be the one to move. Not him. And he must remain in the same room as his daughter. It is merely extra protection for her.”
Steve understood that all too well. “Do you wish for me to inform her, sir?”
“No. I’ll be the heavy for Mrs. Edwards. You need to tell Detective Williams that he must consider the cabin to be his and that in the event of any separation, he has primary custody of his daughter.”
“Has a judge ruled that?” Steve asked.
Robins eyed him. “Not yet, but it can be officially arranged. Does it need to be?”
“Not yet. I’ll talk to Danny, you’ll have a word with Rachel and we’ll see how it goes. If I see any warning signs, I’ll inform you immediately.”
“Good.”
“Anything else?”
“One of the students tried to join Danny last night,” Robins informed Steve. “To take advantage of the situation.”
“Which one?”
Robins just looked at him. Yeah, the class was small enough that it didn’t take a detective to narrow down the field.
“Would Williams enjoy it if they had succeeded? He is currently unaware of the situation.” What Robins was saying was that the guards could be ordered to let certain people pass and Rachel would never find out. If Danny wanted an affair, Robins would quietly arrange it. He wouldn’t even have to look hard for women wanting to be in Danny’s bed.
“No. Not now.” Steve was sure of it. Danno and Rachel were still trying to make their relationship work. “A subtle marriage counselor would be more appreciated; someone who can double as her personal assistant.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
*h5o*wingverse*
“More students?” Danny whined. “We’ve already got thirty.”
“Twenty-six, but only if you count 5-O.”
“I do.”
“I don’t.” Steve opened various files in front of them. “Just look them over. See if any one catches your eye.”
Danny pointed to an electronic folder on the touch table. “What’s this folder for?”
“NCIS.” Steve poked it to open it up and reveal all the personnel files.
“What’s that?”
“Naval Criminal Investigative Service.”
“Navy cops. Why do they get their own pile of folders?”
“I called in a favor with someone I know in LA NCIS to get Mary off the street fast. I had a friend listening to the news, official and otherwise. If ‘wings’ and ‘Hawaii’ were mentioned in the same sentence, anywhere and by anyone, then he would make Mary disappear into a safe house. When he did it as agreed, I offered to have him join our little wing class, but once he heard that it would make his wings very identifiable, he turned it down. He does a lot of undercover, so he can’t have people getting suspicious.”
“Ok. I get that. But why does NCIS get their own pile?”
“Sam Hanna traded his favor to get NCIS in on the lessons. And our contract says that we will be attached to the Agent Afloat during our stay, so that we are involved in any investigation to any crime that happens on the Enterprise. This way, the Agent Afloat is picked by us, will be part of Wing School and we will be included in all investigations. The agent will answer to me.”
Danny nodded his head. “It’s sad that I’m already looking forward to the first crime.”
Steve didn’t want to tell him that most of the crimes were going to revolve around the Wing School for a while. “You have to pick one from that folder, at least. Just one more.”
*h5o*wingverse*
The weight room was abandoned this early in the morning. Steve walked straight to the adjusted resistance machines. The Navy had bought three more machines and had jerry-rigged them to Danny’s specifications. None but the 5-O tea m could use them without assistance still, but the Navy was hopeful. Steve opened his wings and tried to push against the resistance cables.
His wings collapsed into shadows again and again.
Then, finally, his wings moved the resistance cables two inches in either direction.
Steve stopped at the minute success. He had learned his lesson about working too hard, too fast.
He’d be back tomorrow to try again.
*h5o*wingverse*
Rachel was not happy about her lack of control.
That was the official conclusion of the marriage counselor. She loved her child (and one on the way) fiercely and understood that their special genes put them in danger, but she was a control freak. Danny understood this even more than Steve did. He handed her a mission: plan for their house.
“Sky’s the limit, babe,” Danny told her. “I’ve seen what they’re paying me.”
Rachel demurred initially, but boredom (and perhaps a little nesting instinct) won out. She started by asking Chin what would be needed on the exterior for security. She made of list of things she would like to have and ways that she could make the security recommendations classy. If anyone could make it happen, it would be Rachel.
She and Danny would each have their separate wings of the house, with the nursery/children’s rooms in the center. Steve noticed that Danny’s wing had many guest bedrooms. Three were right beside Danny’s room with more down the hall. Rachel planned for 5-O to be right there. They would be the last line of defense against intruders.
Once Rachel had a perimeter measured, Steve and Chin began working on a shell that could withstand an attack or a siege. They weren’t interested in it looking pretty. They wanted their ‘ohana safe. Rachel could add flowers after it was impenetrable.
*h5o*wingverse*
“Kamekona sent me a text,” Chin mentioned over dinner. Cath, Rachel and Grace had joined the evening community meal. “He wants to know why you never tried to help him learn how to fly.”
Danny’s face contorted as he tried to imagine it.
“Kamekona can’t fly,” Grace piped up.
Danny wasn’t the only one paying attention to her, but he was the one who answered. “Oh. How do you know that?” he asked, just to be silly.
“He has chicken wings!” she giggled. “Chickens can’t fly.”
Kono, Steve and Cath laughed with the child.
Chin wanted to confirm with Danny. “Kamekona has chicken wings?”
Danny shrugged. “Don’t look at me. I haven’t checked.”
“I peeked last time he babysat me. He fell asleep during Mulan.”
Rachel wasn’t pleased that Danny had picked a babysitter so irresponsible. Ironically enough, Danny was just as displeased. He glared at Chin and Steve. “You said that he was a good babysitter.”
Steve chose to dodge around that landmine. “Let’s ask the expert. Grace, is Kamekona a good babysitter.”
She nodded, ponytails bouncing. “Yes. He knows all the Hawaiian words the kids say at school and all the places they talk about. Kamekona helps me make friends.”
That could easily start an argument between Danny and Rachel, so Steve changed the subject fast. “How are your teachers?”
“Miss Carmen is great,” she chirped. “I’m learning tons. Uncle Chin’s computer time is fun even if we are doing math. Mr. Ross is easier to learn from than Miss Lisa. Ms. Reinfield is always giving me tests.”
Steve was glad that they switched out Forbes for Holland. Lisa Forbes might be fluent in seven different languages but they were all easy to her and she couldn’t teach to save her life. She had given it her best shot though, half afraid that she’d only been picked to teach Grace. Danny promised her that languages had just been a bonus; she had been chosen because of her essay, nothing else.
Holland Ross had picked up Arabic and Japanese while recovering from the IED five years ago. So all of the tricks he had used to teach himself were fresh in his mind. He also had nieces and was used to girls. Lisa didn’t care for children. She had warmed up to Grace, but was too stiff for either of them to be comfortable or for her teaching to be effective.
Chin was still Grace’s math teacher. What had started as a way to extradite the girl from a possibly explosive situation had turned into a five-day-a-week lesson. Chin had ordered the appropriate books and was working his way through them. He was pleased with Grace’s progress, sure that she would be ahead of her age group within a month. Ms. Reinfield concurred. Danny and Rachel weren’t concerned with reintegrating Grace into her peer group; she would never be allowed to return to a school room setting. There were high-security schools for ambassadors and the like. Perhaps, in time, Grace would be enrolled in the nearest one. They were famous for having extremely high academic standards. The more Grace learned now, the easier her acceptance would be later.
*h5o*wingverse*
Steve was back in the weight room, alone. This time, it took less than an hour to make the resistance cables move and he moved them a full six inches. He stopped at that victory. It was time for him to take his turn landing the glider and today, Danny was going to show the students the dangers of the crosswinds.
Steve was looking forward to that. Plus, between the landing lessons and the group weight room workout, they were finally going swimming. It was going to be a fun day. He was going to go to bed sore.
There were enough SEALs among the students that it didn’t take much lobbying to get the XO to put down a net and let everyone swim in the middle of the ocean, in the shadow of the Enterprise. The net was specially made, out of metal and was more than two miles long in diameter, with buoys to keep it up. The SEALs considered the net to be stupid but command wasn’t about to lose any of their soldiers and sailors being trained to sharks. The net was a compromise between not swimming and swimming in the open ocean. Betting was already occurring on the soon-to-happen races. Steve planned on winning all of his heats.
Danno and Grace were sitting in the shade watching the soldiers, sailors and marines jump in. Even Kono and Chin were joining in. Kono’s bikini was a huge hit.
“You sure you don’t want to join us, sir?” Jamal Pella tried to cajole his teacher.
“Danno don’t swim,” Steve told his fellow SEAL with a grin.
Danny snorted. “Well, see how well you swim with forty pounds of wet feathers.”
Pella paused and Steve did too. They both loved to swim; they wouldn’t have become SEALs if they hadn’t. “That’s not something we’ll have to worry about, it is?” Steve voiced their fear.
“No idea, probably not, seeing as you have to think your wings solid. It might never be instinctive.” He threw up his hands. “I have no idea. No one has gotten as far as you. You know that. Why are you asking questions when you know the answers?”
“You know more than we do,” Steve argued. “Like just now, you knew that getting our wings wet would make swimming difficult.”
“No, not difficult, deadly, as in barely survivable and thank God that your father was available to rescue you from the ocean. I don’t like anything where I can’t touch the bottom.” He pointed at Pella. “I’m not sure about you though. You might not have too much of a problem. I think your wings are that of a loon. Something to experiment with when it’s not a mile to the bottom of the water.”
“Understood, sir.” Pella looked stunned and Steve was stunned with him (and a little jealous). He paused and asked,” What kind of loon?”
“I think it might be a red-throated, by how you duck your head when your wings are out. Which would be lucky for you since it’s one of the few birds that can take off from small bodies of water and it’s relatively fast.”
“Awesome,” Pella breathed.
“Well, there’s a down side,” Danny continued. “All loons have a hard time landing. And if your wings become permanent, you’ll molt and Red-Throated Loons molt every year, so for one-to-two months out of the year, you won’t be able to fly.”
“Well, shit.”
Danny quickly covered Grace’s ears. “Language!”
“Sorry sir, just wasn’t expecting that.”
Danny rolled his eyes. “Go. Get out of here. Swim. You’ll feel better.”
“Yes, sir.”
Steve was indecisive. Danny waved him away. “Go, swim. I’ve got money on you for your races.”
Steve grinned and jumped into the water.
Grace was tucked into her father’s side. Obviously, she was familiar with the dangers to herself. She would laugh at the antics below, but she showed no interest in joining them. Danny’s story explained the firm chorus of ‘no’ by her parents when Kono had approached them for permission to teach Grace how to surf. Danny had taken a couple lessons, which Steve now realized that he was trying to see if surfing with real wings was doable or a hazard.
Maybe someday (when it wasn’t a mile to the bottom of the ocean) Steve could help Danny and Grace gain the confidence to swim without worrying about their wings.
*h5o*wingverse*
Steve jumped off the edge of the Enterprise. Danny was close enough to catch him before he collapsed into the ocean. He just wanted to try. The wings slowed him down, but they’d been doing that for weeks. He flapped them, using all the muscles that he had been strengthening. They didn’t disintegrate into shadows.
They weren’t increasing his height either.
Danny grabbed the straps intended for him and lofted them higher.
“Seriously, Steve, seriously?”
“What?”
“You are supposed to wait until I push you out of the nest. But noooo, SuperSEAL has to jump out before you’re ready.”
“I flew,” Steve argued.
“You had a mostly controlled fall.”
“I flew,” Steve contradicted. It had been clumsy and mostly controlled by gravity, but applicable for the broadest definition of the word ‘flew.’
“Hmph.”
“It’s going to happen.”
“Not if you keep pushing it.”
Steve and Danny bickered their entire flight. It was easier to relax against the pressure up here in the clear blue sky. Every flight was exhilarating, but this one was fun. Danny started having Steve use his legs as a rudder. His hard work with the crunches and leg lifts paid off. He, not Danny, was controlling their direction. He was driving and Danny was in the passenger’s seat, just like old times.
That night, Steve used the resistance machine and managed one repetition, extending his wings fully against the resistance cords.
*h5o*wingverse*
Melody Petrarca, a pretty blonde, cornered Danny in an almost abandoned passageway. Steve happened on Danny trying to extradite himself from her amorous overtures.
“Look, lady. Not interested.”
“I can be your piece on the side,” she answered him. “You don’t have to leave your wife or Grace.”
Danny broke away from her and hurried to put Steve between them. “Not interested.” Now, Danny was looking for some protection; Steve tried not to be amused.
“Pack your bags,” Steve told her. “You’re leaving.”
Petrarca was surprised and looked to Danny for confirmation. “Yeah,” Danny agreed. “You’re leaving now.”
Steve used his phone and texted Grumberger, first, for the escort. The man could keep this quiet and would supervise her emptying her berth. Next, he texted Robins. The XO had a helicopter on stand-by for any student that crossed Danny. They were wary of his ability to see the true person.
“You’re not surprised,” Steve said as they watched the Air Force officer leave in the helicopter.
Danny didn’t answer immediately. “Not really.”
“Why not?”
“Does it matter?”
“Is it because she has the wings of a Hen Harrier?”
“I don’t judge based on wings and neither should you.”
Danny had a point, but so did Steve. “The Hen Harrier is the only hawk-like bird to practice polygamy. She didn’t have a problem with you keeping Rachel. She really wasn’t trying to steal you away from your family.”
“That might be how she works.” Danny’s tone was decidedly non-judgmental, “but that’s not how I work and it most certainly is not how Rachel works either.”
“Are you going to tell Rachel?”
“Nope and neither are you.”
Steve wouldn’t but he was sure that Robins would tell Rachel. He would point out that just because she wasn’t sure if she wanted to keep Danny, that there were many out there who would snatch him up.
*h5o*wingverse*
Steve looked at the folder detailing Matthew Williams’ death. He wondered whether or not to weed out the most disturbing data. Matty had been laundering money for a drug dealer since running from the SEC indictment and the FBI. That drug dealer had apparently decided that Matthew would be of more use if he could fly. Matthew had spent time with Danny. A lot of time with Danny, but not enough: Matty had been tossed off of a ten story building in Tokyo and had died on impact.
The only ‘good’ thing Steve could gather about the file folder was that that particular drug dealer dealt with all of his sub-par subordinates that way. Matthew Williams had been the seventh ‘jumper’ connected to that particular drug lord this year. Danny would still feel that it was his fault, but Steve might be able to lessen the guilt.
Steve stopped his line of thought. One, Danny was an adult. Two, he had dealt with worse in his stint as a detective. Three, he had probably been expecting it. And four and most important, Japan was offering the drug king pin and enough evidence to convict him in the US courts. It was a completely unprecedented diplomatic offer. In exchange, they wanted five Japanese of Danny’s choice included in Wing School. They’d probably be ecstatic with just one, since even the US was getting only twenty. Though 5-O fully believed in America, they didn’t belong to the government the way that the others did. Initiating negotiations with Japan was a decision only Danny could make.
In the end, Steve left the case file where Danny was sure to find it in private.
*h5o*wingverse*
The governor of Hawaii had sold a large portion of land to Danny for a song. It was right off a cliff, so they would be able to practice flying right out their backdoor. Steve might have preferred a beach, but he understood the safety concerns and it wasn’t his house. Danny had visited the site and had declared an awesome updraft up the cliff. It would be an easier liftoff than from the Enterprise.
Rachel’s blueprints for the house were mostly finished and construction would begin on the foundation come Monday. The construction team had been thoroughly vetted by the Navy and, more importantly, Chin. Rachel and Danny had been truly communicating for probably the first time since Grace’s birth. They had improved their relationship so much that they were both looking forward to living in the same house, albeit different wings. Chin, Kono and Steve couldn’t wait to return home to the Big Island. 5-O had much to anticipate.
*h5o*wingverse*
Finally, finally, FINALLY, it was time to fly solo according to Danny. Steve knew he was ready. He had been practicing and working out constantly. He was rather surprised that Chin was right there with him.
But where Steve was loud and determined to get what he wanted, Chin was quiet and determined. Chin had been working just as hard. They looked at each other, secure in their flying harnesses and grinned.
“Hey you two hooligans,” Danny yelled from above. “Pay attention up here. Steve, you first.”
Steve jumped off the deck of the Enterprise.
And he flew.
*h5o*wingverse*