2-4-1
Chapter 4 of 5 - "Aftermath"
A/N : For those of you who had figured out what Steve's plan was, then you obviously know where I got the title of this story from. It made sense that he would be in SEAL mode right to the very end.
A/N 2: And finally, because you have stuck with me through this story, even Steve's death, I shall reward you with one more chapter that is an alternate ending.
TWO DAYS AFTER THE EXPLOSION...
"Excuse me, Detective Williams." Sargeant Duke Lukela said as he stuck his head in the door to the late Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett's office.
Danny spun in Steve's chair he was currently seated in. He had been turned around, staring at the model ship his late partner kept in his office. "Hey, Duke." He said somberley.
Lukela noted that the emptyness had not left the Detective's tone or expression, not that he had expected it to. Everyone in Five-0 and HPD missed Steve McGarrett, but no one more than Danny. "There is a Commander Wade Gutches and a Lieutenant Tiko Durbin here to see you."
"Uh, yeah, sure. Send 'em in, Duke." Danny said as he stood from Steve's chair and walked aroud the desk to greet the men as they entered.
"How ya doin', Wade?" Danny asked. The men had taken to calling each other by their first names after their little trip in Tangerine.
"I've been better." Gutches answered honestly as he accepted Danny's hand to shake. The truth was it hurt like hell to loose any one of the SEALs. He was just good at that whole comparmentalizing thing. "Danny, I'd like you to meet Lieutenant Tiko Durbin."
Danny turned to greet Durbin, "Lieutenant Durbin."
"Detective Williams." Durbin greets as he shankes the man's hand. "I wish we were meeting under better cirucmstances."
"Better cirucmstances?" Danny mumbles out, looking between the two men, wondering if he should know something he obviously doesn't, and definitely hoping another shoe wasn't about to drop. He'd had enough, to say the least.
"Danny, Lieutenant Durbin was better known to his SEAL Team 5 as 'Beamer'." Gutches clarifies as they nod in understanding.
There was no mistaking how the man had earned the nickname. Tiko Durbin was a tall slim man with very dark skin. One could quickly and easily figure out that if he were dressed in all black that the only part of him anyone would be able to see at night were his eyes.
"Oh, right. Sorry. It's been a,... uh,-" Danny trails off, not finishing his sentence. "Well, you know." He adds with a hand wave.
"I understand, Sir." Durbin replies, because he does. "I served under Lieutenant Commander McGarrett for several years."
The respectful use of Steve's full title did not go unnoticed by Danny. "Then you were lucky." He said, conviction now in his voice.
"Yes, Sir, I was." Durbin agres, wishing he word 'was' didn't sound so,... permanent.
"So, Wade, what are things looking like for Thursday?" Danny asked, turning again to the man.
"Beamer here, and the other three surviving members of SEAL Team 5 have all arrived and are ready to serve as the pallbearers on Thursday." Gutches assured.
Danny didn't bother to say anything further on that topic. "So, we went to Gutches here," Danny began, gesturing first to one man, then turning to the other "then he went to SEAL Team 5, and now you're here. So, the last step is to find out what Diego 4 means."
"Well, Sir, there's only so much I ca-" Durbin began, only to be cut off.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop right there. If I hear the word 'classified' right now,-" Danny said, hands waiving about, but didn't finish.
"It's not classified, Sir." Durbin assured him. "Diego 4 was something specific to our SEAL team. Something that started out as, well, an inside joke really. I simply cannot tell you the story behind it's origin. What I can tell you, is what it means."
"Good. That's good. So, what's it mean?" Danny asks, rocking back on his heels in anticipation. This little mystery had been bugging him since he had heard about it.
"The 'Diego' part means that Lieutenant Commander McGarrett knew he was going to die." Durbin said. Danny's flinch not going unnoticed. "The '4', indicates that it was his goal to take as many Tangos as he could with him."
"Tangos?" Danny said out loud. He knew what a Tango was and wasn't even sure why he made it sound like a question. No, if he had a question, it would be how anyone could consider knowing they were going to die to be an inside joke. 'Must be a SEAL thing.' he told himself and let it go.
"Yes, Sir. A 'Tango' is an enemy combatant." Durbin explained unnecessarily, although he didn't know it.
Again, Danny did not bother to say anything further on that topic.
"In other words," Gutches said, with his shoulders square and his jaw set, "Mission accomplished."
MEANWHILE...
"I'm glad you picked that one." Mary Ann said, referring to her grandmother's rings that sat in the dining room table where she and Catherine were currently having coffee.
"Put I haven't picked one yet." Catherine said in surprise, since she hadn't picked between Mama and Grandmother McGarrett's rings yet.
"Yes, you have." Mary Ann said, a teasing tone to her voice. "You've keep looking at that one."
Catherine smiled, "Yeah, I guess I have been. It's just so pretty." She paused, picking up the small velvet box that held the rings. "Is it alright with you?"
"Steve told you to pick whichever ones you wanted." Mary Ann reminded her.
"Yeah, I know he did. But whichever one I don't take, gues to you. So, I want you to be happy with the decision, too." Catherine said, setting the box back down.
"Actually, I'm glad you picked Grandma's rings. I have,... oh, I don't know, it's just that," She paused after her stumbling words before continuing, "I guess the idea of having mom's rings, just makes me feel closer to her."
"Did you ever know your Grandmother." Catherine asked, not as familiar with the McGarrett family tree as she wished she were at a time like this.
"Yeah, I did. But, she died when I was just a kid and Steve was a lot closer to her than I was." Mary Ann answered. "I think Steve would have been happy with your choice."
"I hope so." Catherine said, picking the box back up and taking removing the rings.
"May I?" Mary Ann asked, and saw the confused expression on the other woman's face. "On behalf of my brother." She added while extending her hand.
Catherine saw it as an unusual request, but the woman sitting across from her was one of her few connections to her fiance. She nodded and handed the rings over.
"On behalf of my brother." Mary Ann said as she slipped both rings onto Catherine's finger. "Guess this makes us like sisters-in-law now, huh."
FOUR DAYS AFTER THE EXPLOSION...
The four remaining members of SEAL Team 5 carried Steve's flag-draped casket from the hurse to his final resting place beside his parents. They were followed by Joe escoring Mary Ann, Danny escoring Catherine, and Chin escoring Kono.
The path they took was lined on both sides with Navy personelle standing at attention and saluting as the casket passed their position.
The very large gathered crowed watched as the four SEALs placed the casket on a stand, before the pastor began to speak, followed by several others. It had been decided that shorter, more personal comments should be saved for the gathering at the Governor's mansion that was to follow.
The American flag was then folded precicely into it's triangular shape and presented to both Catherine and Mary Ann as they each extended hands to accept it and placed it partially across both their laps.
The four SEALs then began to carry out the SEAL tradition of pounding their gold Tridents into the dark mahogany wood. The procedure continued for the next twenty minutes as many other SEALs lined up to do the same and soon the Navy logo engraved in the center was surrounded by Tridents.
The predominant military presence in the large gathering was probably used to the Firing Of The Volley gun salute, but those not accustomed to it winced at all three firings.
There was a heavyness over the crowd as Taps was played, and when it was finished Danny, Chin, and Kono all stood and placed a floral spray of tripical flowers on top of the casket to represent the Five-0 Task Force. Then Joe stood and placed a lei to one side of the arraingement, and Catherine stood and placed a dozen red roses on the other side.
The four SEALs took their places again as pallbearers, and with great ceremony lifted Steve's casket from it's stand and placed it over the open grave while everyone once again stood at attention and in absolute silence as it was lowered into the ground.
ELEVEN DAYS AFTER THE EXPLOSION...
It was nothing new to William Berris, Esquire; walking into a room of people seated at the large round table in his law office's conference room. Men and women, young and old, some native islanders and others from the mainland, a true cornucopia of life. But always with one common denominator; grief.
Berris took note that all eyes were on him as he took his seat at the table, his secretary Briana Takae to his right, everyone mentioned in Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett's will taking up the remaining chairs.
Perhaps it was because of the uniquie way this will had been completed. Perhaps it was because Berris knew he could have been the last person McGarrett had spoken to before he died. Perhaps it was because Berris himself was a Veteran. Whatever the reason, this gathering of loved ones for a will reading was definitely harder than most.
Berris had met several of of the people now in the room with him, but not all, so after introducing himself and Miss. Takae, he asked the person to her right to introduce himself and give a brief mention at how he knew Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett.
"I'm, uh," Chin paused, 'So much for me being the calm and composed one' he thought to himself before being able to continue, "I'm Lieutenant Chin Ho Kelly, Five-0." He paused again, feeling only slightly calmer. Getting his own name out of his mouth was a major accomplishment, but at least it could be done without much thought. Now came the harder part, "I first worked with Steve's father, John McGarrett. That was back when Steve was just entering high school and John and I would go to his football games. I held the passing record at Kukui High School for several years, until Steve broke it." Chin paused, the small smile on his face surprised him, but it felt good to think of something happy, even just for a moment, "After John died and Steve returned to Hawaii, he asked me to join a Task Force he was putting together. We've worked together every since."
After a long pause it was obvious to Berris that that was all Chin had to say so he gestured to the lady seated next to him to do the same.
Kono nodded in understanding and hoped she could get through the next few sentences without throwing up. She took a deep breath before speaking, "I'm Officer Kono Kalakaua, Five-0. I met Steve before I had even graduated from the police academy. He needed an undercover and my cousin Chin recommended me. I've worked with Five-0 every since." The words had come out surprisingly fast, but she'd gotten through her little schpeel without throwing up, so that was good enough as far as she was concerned.
Again, Berris could tell when someone was finished. He'd learned a long time ago not to give folks to long to speak or ponder, or they'd be there all day. He gestured to Danny to go next.
When it came to communicating, Danny was about two things; words and hands. His hands cooperated fully as they went from making a speeple pressed to his lips, to white-knuckled fists, to running through his hair, then back into fists again. But in this rare instance there were no words to accompany the movements. After a very long moment, he finally closed his eyes with a heavy sigh and managed to speak, "Steve, was, um, ... Steve was my partner." was all he got out before pressing the heels of his hands into red-rimmed eyes that had shed many tears over the past week, although never in front of anyone, and it was clear that he was not about to let that change now. No one had to know Danny for long to see that he was an emotional person. He knew it, and they didn't have much choice but to know it once they'd met him. But in this case, Danny had decided to be strong. Strong for Grace, strong for Chin, for Kono, for Catherine, and Mary, and Joe. Strong for everyone but himself, and that meant that he couldn't let any of them see him weak. Speaking at this moment was not conducive to that decision. "I'm Detective Danny Williams." He managed to say next, realizing that he'd skipped that part. But that was okay with him, he'd gotten the most important information out first, and that was definitely not about him. "Like Kono, I also met Steve when he returned to Hawaii. I had been assigned to investigate his father's death, which did not make Steve happy, so he decided to make me his partner." Another pause, another deep breath, another moment to calm himself, "Steve started out a partner that day, a business colleague, so to speak. But he ended up a brother and a friend."
Mary grabbed a tissue from one of the many boxes on the table before nodding to Berris, indicating that she knew to go next.
Mary began twisting the tissue almost immediately as she felt all eyes on her. She didn't need it for drying tears, but for something to do, something to keep her hands occupied. The tears had came and went shortly after she'd gotten the call from Danny, leaving only a few to be shed at the funeral three days ago. She knew that didn't sound nice, but after losing her mother, then being sent away and never seeing her father again before his death, and now losing her only brother,... well, the truth was, it had hardened her, and she knew it. "I'm Mary. Mary Ann McGarrett. Steve was my big brother." She said, surprised to hear how shaky her voice sounded. "I, um, I hate to admit it, but I hadn't seen him in a long time. Since he sent me back to the mainland, almost a year ago." She paused, somehow the words sounded worse out loud, "We talked, though. We talked on the phone every Christmas, and every April 19th." Turned out Mary was wrong; she did have more tears.
The pattern of going around the table was pretty obvious, Berris thought, but the lady he knew to be named Catherine was clearly more concerned with comforting Mary at the moment. She was speaking quietly to her as Danny rubbed gentle circles her back. Fortunately Berris was a patient man and after a few minutes Mary was much calmer and Catherine looked to him for confirmation that it was her turn.
"I'm Catherine. Lieutenant Catherine Rollins." She began, then looked down at the ring she was spunning on her finger. "Steve and I met over eight years ago, when he worked in Naval Intelligence. Since we both worked in the Navy that meant looking forward to being on leave." She paused, an expression on her face that seemed reminescent, and everyone assumed she was thinking about a time long past and probably a place far away. She was. "Our, um, 'dating', was anything but conventional, but no matter what, we were always together on his birthday." She said and could see the surprised looks on their faces, not that she would expect anything else. "Well, as you know, most of Steve's work was cla-"
"Classified." She heard everyone around the table mumble in unison.
She smiled at the thought of them all knowing Steve so well and nodded in confirmation before continuing. "Well, one of those classified missions included Steve leaving no man behind." She paused as she knew they would all know what she meant. Steve was a dedicated SEAL and would never leave a fallen brother behind. "Well, the man he brought back was the son of a captain who was just grateful to have-" She looked up from her hands where she had been spinning the ring, again, realizing her words had not ended up where she wanted them to go. "I mean, well, the Captain was very grateful and since his son and Steve shared the same birthday, he made sure Steve got his birthday off on leave every year." She explained. "It became the one time we could count on being together." She decided to stop there, with a happy thought, not wanting to explain for the umpteenth time how Steve had proposed to her over the phone just before he died. She took another moment to be grateful she'd had the presence of mind to record their conversation, but she would never tell anyone else that. It was a special memory she chose to keep only for herself.
Berris looked to the man next to him, the water bottle in his hands long emptied and now nothing but a barely identifiable twisted piece of plastic.
Joe put what was once a water bottle down on the table, forcing his hands to still before he spoke. "I'm Joe White. Steve's former Commanding Officer. I trained him in the SEALs." A brief pause was all that was necesssary for the man that had called on his own training and skills to compartmentalized his emotions. "Steve's father John was a close friend and I was privilaged to be known as Uncle Joe,... until his kids outgrew it, that is." He added with a smirk towards Mary, who managed a small smile back at him. "When Steve was sent to the mainland, John asked me to keep an eye on him. I made a promise to my friend that day... and in all honesty, I'm not sure if I kept that promise or not. Steve would say I did, but I'm not so sure." Joe paused at thinking his friend might be disappointed in his failure to keep his son safe, or at least his lack of success anyway. "Steve and I spent so much time together that I developed a habit of calling him 'son', and he never said a word about it." Joe paused again, SEAL training kicking in again; controle the breathing, compartmeltalize everything, focus. Failure. "Damn that was a good feeling."
Forty minutes later...
Berris didn't want to play the recording of his conversation with Steve, but after a brief who-gets-what, every one of them had insisted. Claiming that they needed to hear his voice one last time. He knew it wasn't a good idea and advised against it, but it hadn't worked. He was right, it wasn't a good idea, and dispite the empty tissue boxes they all still disagreed.
"Danny," Mary said as everyone else filed out of the room. "I wanted to talk to you about something."
"Sure." He replied, still trying to contain the shakyness of his voice, "What's up?"
"I wanted to talk to you about the house." She began, then clearly needed several deep breaths before continuing, "I, um, I don't want it." She finally managed to say. "I mean-" A whooshing noise could be heard as she exhaled heavily, as if releaving stress. "I mean,... my life is in Los Angeles now. And although this is a nice place to visit, I'm not sure I can do that for a while. Oh God," Another pause, another deep breath as she tilted her head back before being able to continue, "Ya know, for years, I wanted nothing more than to come back here. After mom died, and all the years after, but it never happened. And now, I'm here, because my only brother is dead." Another long pause was needed, but Danny understood how difficult it was. "I've already spoken with Catherine, but she isn't home often enough to take care of a house. Besides, you have Grace, and we'd both like to see you have a home you can raise her in."
"Um,.. wow, Mary. That's really nice of you to think of me, and Grace." Danny paused, more than just emotions playing in his mind. "But in all honesty, I'm not sure a house on the beach would be in my budget. I mean, I appreciate it and all, it's just that-"
"Danny," She stopped him, "Steve gave you his half of the house, and I'm more than willing to sell you my half at a very reasonable price."
"Oh." Was all he said in surprise.
"I'm sure we can work something out. In fact, it'll probably come out close to what you pay in rent anyway." She said, "We could have Mr. Berris write something up for us." She suggested, but the truth was that she had already talked to the attorney and found out what she could sell the house for, while making sure it didn't go over what Danny was currently paying in rent. She really wanted him to have that house.
"Yeah, sure. We could talk to Mr. Berris." Danny agreed.
THIRTY-THREE DAYS AFTER THE EXPLOSION...
Chin, Kono, Danny, Catherine, and Joe were all gathered at the McGarrett house. Or maybe it was the Williams house now,... no, it would always be known as the 'McGarrett House' no matter what. Mary, along with one of Steve's dog tags and a few momentos, had already flown back to Los Angeles the day before. She promised to return for a visit, some day, when the pain wasn't still so fresh. Part of the selling agreement was that there would always be a guest room in the house for her or Catherine whenever they wanted. Danny was most happy to comply.
Before everyone pitched in to help the Williamses move in, Danny insisted that a few things come out first. To start with, the trophy case from Steve's childhood bedroom. Although Steve left only the momentous football to Chin, Danny wanted him to have the entire cabinet, contents and all, which included several tophies and Steve's letterman jacket - although Danny could not figure out why anyone would own one of those in Hawaii. Chin was most grateful and it meant a lot to him, something he made sure Danny was well aware of as they loaded the cabinet.
"Steve was right." Danny stated, causing Chin to look up at him as he closed the back of his SUV. "He was right about, his father being right."
Steve had been correct in saying that Chin would know exactly what he meant. Steve had trusted Chin because his father had trusted him first, and that trust had never been broken. Words escaped Chin at that moment, so he just nodded in acknowledgement and appreciation.
Second, was the surf board Steve wanted Kono to have. "Here, this goes with it." Danny said, handing her a framed photo of John McGarrett clad in boardies and standing on the beach with his young son, the surf board stuck in the sand behind them. "He really was proud of you, ya know."
"And I was proud to have worked with him." Kono stated, feeling the slight sting at the back of her eyes. She had cried so many tears over the past weeks that it didn't seem even possible to be able shed any more.
"Come on, let's get this board and rack down." Danny said, hoping the distraction would help keep the tears at bay. Seeing how Steve's death had effected his friends, his ohana, just made the loss seems so much more difficult to bare.
"You keep the rack, Danny." Kono said, "I've got several. Besides, you're going to need it to store surf boards once Grace completes her lessons."
Danny nodded in concedement, more than in agreement, then ran his fingers over Malahono's autograph before turning with Kono to leave the garage.
He paused on his way out to look at the Marquis. Steve had been right, again. Danny had ranted about it, and the idea of he and Grace working on it together the way Steve and his father should have, then he'd ranted even more at the though of Grace driving it,... or more precicely, Grace being old enough some day to drive, because no father ever wants to think about that. But before Danny knew it he was smiliing, smiling at the thought that he would teach his daughter how to change the oil, and the spark plugs, and that he would surely end up pushing that thing, that 'temprimental classic' along the highway at some point, probably several times in fact. Yes, Danny would honor Steve's wishes. He and Grace would finish what Steve and his father never managed to do. Then some day he and Grace would drive that car... in Steve's memory.
Next came the shadow box from the master bedroom for Joe. It felt strange taking something out of the room that had become Steve's. "Here, Joe, Mary wanted you to have these, too." Danny said as he handed over a small wooden box.
Joe flipped open the top of the box to reveal John McGarrett's military medals. A small nod was all he could manage as he closed the box and looked up with watery eyes. Comparmentalizing was not always a lot of help when it came to the death of a friend, a son, and that's exactly what it felt like to the retired military man.
Joe slowly closed the box and set it on top of the shadow box. He felt Danny's hand on his shoulder as he wordlessly picked them up and exited the room, still not convinced that he had completed his obligation to his friend,... or his friend's son, even if he hadn't been seventeen anymore.
Danny exited the back doors to see Catherine leaning against the railing of the lanai. She had that distant far away look, again. He was used to seeing her spin the rings on her finger, but not today. Today she used one hand to hold the small wooden box that held Steve's military medals to her chest, and with the other she aimlessly swung his dog tag that hung on the chain around her neck. It was safe to assume she hadn't taken it off since Mary gave it to her.
"Are you ready for us to start moving your and Grace's things into the house?" She asked without breaking her gaze on the ocean.
"In a minute." He said, taking a few steps closer to her. "How are you doing?" He asked, care and compassion obvious in his voice, or his 'tone', as Steve would have said.
She turned to finally look at him, "Better." Was her simple answer, not that he expected anything else. But she surprised him anyway, "I gave most of the money to a children's fund." She noted the surprised look and explained, "It's for children of fallen SEAL's, to help them go to college."
Danny smiled, "Steve would have liked that."
Catherine turned back towards the ocean before speaking again, "I'm taking a trip soon." She paused to let the news sink in, as much to herself as to Danny, "Steve and I traveled the world, with our jobs, and on leave. The first place we ever went to together, was Rio."
"And you're going back." Danny stated.
"That's where we fell in love." Catherine stated.
Late that afternoon...
Danny stood alone in the master bedroom, a shadow box in his hands. It had been true, that Steve McGarret was not a materialistic person, keeping only things that had meaning and not much else. Although Danny appreciated the furnishing the house came with, which was probably more than everything he had ever owned in his entire adult life all put together, there were two things that he was glad to have been given, glad that they had been recovered; Steve's badge and gun.
Now that he and Grace's things had been moved in, not that there was very much, there was just one finishing touch. Danny hung the shadow box on the wall where the previous one had been. He wanted, no, he needed, to see it every day, to remember his partner, his friend,... and it would help him heal.
A few minutes later Danny stepped out onto the lanai to the sound of voices and Kono laughing as Catherine spoke to her. Probably another story about something that crazy SEAL had done. He took note of Chin manning the bargecue as Joe dug Longboards out of a cooler. Danny realized he was smiling, and that was okay, because this is his ohana. This is part of the healing process,... and Steve would have wanted it this way.
HAWAII FIVE-0
*Don't forget... there will be one more chapter that is an alternate ending. Does that mean that Steve won't die? Well, I promise nothing, only that it will be a different ending.
*I Researched SEAL funerals and Tridents, which is quite fascinating by the way, and I just want to say that I hope I did Steve's funeral justice. When to stand and when to salute is quite specific in it's etiquete.