Fic: Malasada's H5Obigbang chapter 1 part B
Part B
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“You know what the really sad thing about my life is right now?” Danny swore and then popped out from behind the shiny black suburban he and Steve were using for cover to fire off a few bullets before ducking back down and glaring at the three unconscious, cuffed men heaped at their feet.
“No idea, Danny,” Steven McGarrett, the navy seal bane of his existence, responded with an insulting amount of disinterest as he swiftly stood and fired a few rounds of his own at the two remaining gunrunners before dropping back under cover. “Please enlighten me.”
“I am sensing a distinct lack of concern coming from your end of this partnership,” Danny growled. Steve sent a mildly irritated look his way, which Danny missed as he was reaching around and firing a few more rounds at the hostiles. The two men with an apparently never ending supply of ammunition were getting closer and closer to the factory’s wide open loading doors. They had clearly done this before as they were managing to make good distance while holding Danny’s entire team in place.
“No really, I’m concerned, tell me all about your sad life and maybe later we can get some mani-pedis and rent Legally Blonde.”
“You’re overwhelming me with sympathy right now,” Danny calculated that the trigger happy hostiles would reach the doors in another minute maybe, unless they decided to just break cover and run, in which case it would be ten seconds or so. He tensed in preparation. “And I prefer Sleepless in Seattle, but the reason-“ Danny flinched when the last bit of the rear window’s remaining glass crumbled onto his shoulder. “The reason that I live such a sad, sad life is because when I rolled out of bed this morning I expected to have bullets flying in my direction at least once today!” He declared pointedly.
“That’s a problem?” Steve spared him a quick glance before peeking around to check on Chin and Kono, who were crouching down behind a forklift forty feet to their left. A bullet shattered the glass in the last remaining driver side window and Steve ducked back down with a frown.
“Ignoring the fact that you apparently don’t think it is, it clearly shows that insanity is contagious. Otherwise I would have transferred back to the HPD the very same day you hijacked me into joining your little super-squad where I would have only, maybe, been shot at once every eight years or so. But that’s not my point-”
“I figured you’d probably get to that sometime tomorrow,” Steve sent some hand signals at Chin and Kono while Danny fired the last of his clip at his targets, hitting nothing but the massive crate they had ducked behind and the giant corrugated wall beyond. Little holes of light were shining through in about a dozen places, the sunbeams reflecting off the dust motes flying around. At another moment in time it might have been pretty, if one liked that sort of thing.
“The point is that I need to be institutionalized because I wake up expecting to get shot at, five times out of ten this expectation is turned into reality, and I still come into work everyday. On time,” he tagged on, because punctuality had always been important to him. “I want a raise.”
“I’ll take it under advisement,” Steve responded as expected, “They’re almost out of bullets, down to the last extra mag that they had on them,” because of course Steve had seen this in the split second they’d had between restraining the first group of unconscious men and then diving for cover when these last two yahoos popped out of the woodwork.
“And of course you’ve been counting bullets,” Danny muttered and pretended he didn’t see the ‘what? You haven’t been?’ look Steve gifted him with. Instead he braced himself for the final push, knowing that it was coming. The adrenalin sang through his veins and pounded in his ears and he waited patiently for Steve’s signal to attack. The man had that intense, assessing look on his face that he always adopted in the heat of a battle. It was the look that reminded Danny again and again of why he didn’t leave this team for a safer position with the HPD. Danny instinctively trusted that look, even if to a lesser man it would be as intimidating as hell.
He saw the moment Steve made the decision to move, when the bullets from the opposition were coming from just the one guy and were sporadic enough that it screamed they only had a few shots left. So of course that was when things went squirrely, and not in a good way.
The men they were trying to apprehend were only ten feet from the massive bay doors, using the few large crates left as a last ditch cover before they made a run for it. That was when Danny heard the unmistakably startled cry of a woman. A woman who should very much not be there but was undeniably present as both gunmen stepped out from their cover. The one with the still loaded gun had her back pressed into his chest and a thick arm around her neck holding her in place. Her wide terrified eyes tearing up in terror as she clutched at the man waving the gun in front of her face.
Taking in her attire Danny realized she must have been one of the warehouses employees who had taken cover when the bullets started flying. They hadn’t realized they’d missed anyone.
“Stay back or I’ll shoot her!” The gunman threatened, his panic clear as his partner fell into step just behind him and the girl. He used them both as shields as he began guiding them backwards out the door.
“Let her go,” Steve ordered firmly, looking over to make sure Chin and Kono were still where they’d been ten seconds before. “You haven’t killed anyone yet and you do not want to graduate to that level! She’s innocent.” He tried to appeal to whatever might be remaining of the criminal’s morals and for a moment Danny was so proud of Steve for actually making an attempt at negotiation, as opposed to just shooting them first. Then he recognized that it was an impossible shot to make from this angle, unless Steve took out the hostage as well, which was generally bad for business. “There’s no need to drag her into this!” Of course they were just assuming she was innocent, what with working at a place where smuggling was apparently a fairly regular thing. Danny was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt what with the very real fear on her face.
Predictably their answer was to fire another bullet at them the moment Steve stood up and then used the distraction to hustle out the door and out of sight. Danny’s team surged up from behind the vehicles and moved swiftly to the door the moment the gunmen and hostage disappeared. Chin got there first, Kono pressing against the wall at his side as he quickly stuck his head around the wall and pulled back.
“They still have her and they’re moving fast,” he told them which was all the encouragement Steve needed to slip right past him and out into the wide open docking bay. Danny swore and chased him out onto the raised platform, scanning the opposite direction of where the idiots and their hostage had gone just to make sure no one would be sneaking up on them. Aside from the grouping of industrial sized garbage bins, a row of stacked broken crates and wooden skids and the wall of the building opposite there was nothing of interest to note and no sign of danger. The sharp retort of a gun shot echoing around the docking bay had him twisting around and crouching slightly.
“Kono! Keep an eye on the guys inside!” Chin ordered and Danny saw her nod and duck back through the bay door from his peripheral vision, not willing to take his eyes off the scene before him.
Instead of jumping down to the ground level immediately the men had moved along the upper pathway that was designed for large trucks to back into for deliveries, dragging their victim along with them. She was desperately grabbing onto the thick arm wrapped around her throat for balance as she tried to keep pace and keep her feet under her. The man holding her had fired the shot, just missing Steve who didn’t even flinch as it zinged past and through the wall beside his head. Instead their leader began stalking after dangerous perps, his weapon raised steadily in front of him as he kept them solidly in his sights. Danny, sharing a quick look with Chin, moved quickly to the edge of the docking platform, crouched down and jumped off. He landed well, his bad knee only twinging a little as his feet hit the ground and he shifted as close to the chest high cement platform as possible. He moved forward quickly to match Steve’s pace, his weapon raised and trained on the group.
The man holding the girl saw this and apparently didn’t agree with their methods. He retrained his weapon on Danny and fired and Danny thanked his lucky stars the guy couldn’t seem to hit the broad side of a barn as the bullet hit the pavement ten feet to his side. The hollow clicking that came next as he tried to re-aim at McGarrett was music to Danny’s rather cultured ears. Gotcha Danny thought darkly.
“He’s out of bullets,” he announced unnecessarily since Steve had picked up his pace the moment the gunman’s eyes had gone wide in dismay.
Predictably the bad guys panicked and, like all self-respecting citizens who had decided to make a living by hurting others, launched her bodily off the dock and took off. She shrieked as she sailed through the air, her arms pin wheeling wildly, before hitting the pavement with a painful sounding crunch.
The moment this happened the team let up on the last of the brakes, snapping forward in a rush Steve and Chin sprinted to the end of the platform and leapt through the air to hit the level ground. They didn’t spare a second glance at the hostage, intent on getting the bastards that already had a short lead and were rounding the corner at the far end of the building.
Of course they were able to do that as Danny had already been rushing to the woman’s side. On a good day Danny could keep up with his teammates, but he was under no illusions about being the slowest sprinter of this trio and right now his role was better served helping the downed woman. He also had no doubt that Steve and Chin would get the guys and, for once, no real worry as their prey was now unarmed. Without his team’s safety to distract him he fell to his knees beside the woman, ignoring his bodies protest as he did so and noting the sirens off in the distance. She lay half on her stomach, one arm outstretched above her head and the other tucked awkwardly beneath her chest. Her dark hair tumbled from its ponytail and he could see heavy bruising creeping across her forehead.
“Hey, hey there. I need you to talk to me now, can you hear me? You okay?” He knew it was a stupid question, of course she wasn’t okay, but he really needed a response. The best he got was a groan. He frowned, his fingers twitched responsively and a the familiar tingling heat began to build within his chest as he looked her over. He resisted rolling her onto her back for fear of aggravating a spinal injury but it was really impeding his ability to see her face.
“Come on now, I need you to respond to me here, tell me how you’re doing,” he demanded and was satisfied when her visible eye fluttered open, wide and pained and she cried out as she instinctively tried to curl up.
“Easy, easy, you’re safe now, I’ve got you,” he lowered his voice, trying to sound as sincere as possible and moved his hands to gently hold her in place as she began to struggle to sit up. Tears trailed down her cheek and she was having difficulty focusing her eyes. It looked bad, really bad, and the bruising across her forehead was livid. “Hey, you need to stay still, okay? Nobody else is going to hurt you but you shouldn’t move.” His senses were telling me that she was only going to get worse as he tried to get her attention. He wasn’t surprised when her already pale skin bleached even further due to shock.
“Shit shit shit,” he muttered as her eyes rolled back in her head and she began seizing, her limbs flopping around and legs twitching. He placed a hand under her cheek to try and protect from further injury and took a deep breath. This was really not good, he wasn’t exactly trained beyond basic first aid, which in his darker, private moments amused him to no end, but he knew this was bad. Possible brain hemorrhaging and soon to die bad. He could feel the truth of this, could sense that this was it for her, the last fight before her long goodnight and the pressure that had been building within his chest began banging for attention as his instincts reacted to seeing someone hurt, in pain, dying. It was always like this, even for something as minor as a damn paper cut his hands would start tingling and reaching out of their own volition. Normally he would acknowledge the feeling and then shove the instinct aside with ruthless control. Today he let it come. He let the energy build within and didn’t force it down.
He couldn’t let her die, she didn’t deserve this, she was just a victim in one of their own stings. It wasn’t right.
She was still seizing, shaking uncontrollably under his hands and he looked up to see that Steve and Chin had not come back around the corner yet; Kono was still inside. The coast was clear. He brought the hand that wasn’t cushioning her skull up and laid it gently over her forehead, right on bruised and scraped skin, and took a deep, steadying breath. He focused on the warmth that had become almost overwhelming within his chest and then pushed it, like a rushing tide, up through his arms, into his hands, out his fingers and let the energy sink deep within her skin.
His hands did not glow, there were no sparks or divine lights singing around them, just the warm gray of the old, cracked asphalt and the bright scarlet of her work shirt. Almost immediately she stopped thrashing, her limbs stilling to rest on the ground, her deathly white skin began to transform back into its lovely olive hue. He looked her over carefully, keeping his hands in place, noting that the obvious swelling and flushed red skin on her right arm was retreating, shrinking back to its natural size and colour until nothing of the previously fractured limb remained. He kept sending the energy into her, willing her to heal. Another five seconds, ten, and something within him flipped and told him it was time to stop. She was healed, done, everything within her was as it should be, and he sank back to sit on his heels and dropped his head for a long moment, taking a few deep breaths to steady himself and regroup. The warmth within him retreated as soon as it was no longer needed, leaving him with his normal temperature and his rapid heartbeat falling back into acceptable parameters.
He felt drained. If there was one thing he remembered from the few times he’d used this gift it was that he always felt so drained afterwards.
He opened his eyes to see that her own deep brown irises' were gazing up at him sleepily. He smiled and pulled his hand away from her forehead, the skin beneath it healed and unblemished but for a smear of still wet blood from where her flesh had scraped. He reached out and wiped it away with his thumb and then wiped his own hand on his pants. That morning he had cursed how badly he needed to do laundry, having only black pants to wear in the sweltering heat of Hawai’i, but now he was thankful as it easily hid the coppery fluid. He helped her sit up, no longer afraid of damaging her.
“Hey there,” he said softly as she blinked at him before looking around, her eyes widening in alarm. “It’s okay, you’re okay,” he soothed, steadying her. “I’m Detective Williams with Five-0. You’re safe with me,” she relaxed a little at that though he doubted she knew what the Five-0 actually was. “Can you tell me your name?”
“Anani Palakiko,” she replied, reaching a hand up to probe her forehead and looking confused when it didn’t hurt. “I thought… I thought I was hurt,” she looked at the raised delivery platform looming solidly before them and then to work shoe clad feet, trying to put together the facts. It was generally like this after the few times he had helped someone who wasn’t his Grace; they were always confused and tired and he never felt the slightest bit guilty when he manipulated that to its fullest and began helping her to her feet.
“No Anani, you’re understandably a little dazed from the fall, but it doesn’t look like you’re hurt anywhere. You’re one lucky lady,” he smiled kindly but was distracted when he thought he heard something coming from behind him. Turning, his hand travelling to his holstered weapon, he scanned the area but there was nothing to see. He frowned. He could have sworn it sounded like footsteps, a sort of rushed shuffling. Before he could turn his full attention back on his victim Kono emerged from the bay door, three trussed up and pathetic looking thugs trudging morosely before her as she herded them out. That explained the suspicious sound and he relaxed a little more. She spotted Danny, a quick look taking in the scene about him before deciding that everything was okay and a smile that rivaled the sun beamed across her face.
It was always disconcerting to see that smile when she had a gun in her hand.
“You guys okay?” She asked lightly as her group approached and he nodded, keeping his hand on his weapon just incase their prisoners decided to try anything.
“Just fine. Miss Palakiko took a little involuntary dive onto the ground here but she seems to be in full working order,” he gave her a comforting smile that she returned faintly.
“Glad to hear it. The Boss and Chin have the last of this group around the corner and the squad cars are just pulling in,” she announced between directing her own prisoners to sit on the platform and then shove off to join Danny on the ground before joining them herself. Like a pro she had them marching in front, apparently not needing to warn them about trying to run off, and she gave Danny a closer look as he guided Anani along. “You okay Danny? You’re looking a little pale,” she pointed out not unkindly.
“It’s nothing, just didn’t hydrate enough this morning is all. Nothing a bottle of water won’t fix,” he lied with practiced ease, feeling only slightly guilty when she bought it hook, line and sinker.
He kept a steadying hand on Anani, watching her from the corner of his eye. She was healthy and walking and looking nothing more than exhausted and emotionally traumatized. She would probably fall asleep the moment she sat back down, before then if they kept her standing around for too long, and he didn’t regret the risk he’d taken for a moment.
He never did.
As they rounded the corner and finally came upon Steve and Chin, healthy and whole and looking very pleased with themselves as they loomed over the secured men at their feet, they didn’t notice a metal door on the opposite warehouse closing quietly.
They didn’t hear the car that started up on the next street over and quickly pull away.
They didn’t notice the folder that had Danny Williams picture in it being folded up and shoved into the glove compartment, along with the gun and silencer that were unceremoniously shoved on top.
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They had one weapon with a silencer and it belonged to Eric. He gripped it fondly as they tailed Williams and his team from the boardwalk and when it became clear where the group was headed they parked a street away from the warehouse. Moving swiftly they edged to the corner of the building they were using as cover and peered around to see the four cops pulling on their kevlar and checking their weapons. Bryce had honestly been surprised when bullets had started flying only minutes after they moved into Nelson’s hideout. He hadn’t expected the gunfight that erupted to happen so damn fast! Their plan had been to sneak into the warehouse behind the police team, find a suitable place to duck down, get their sights on the target and take Williams out when the inevitable shit hit the fan: Nelson and his crew had a reputation for not going down quietly, and apparently Five-O didn’t take no for an answer.
“We can’t go in that way,” Eric decided and glared at the echoing retort of gunshots before turning and moving swiftly to the space between the two giant buildings. “If they come out of the building in pursuit then they’ll probably come out the docking bay,” and sure enough that was exactly what happened a good five minutes later. They hid behind one of the large dumpsters, the stink of garbage rotting in the heat wafting over them, and they waited. There was a lull in the gunfire and two men appeared dragging a woman out of the warehouse and waving a gun around. The military guy, McGarrett, was on them only a moment later, moving with a cat like swiftness that impressed Bryce even though he hated the police on principal. It was barely a moment later that Williams barged out after him and they barely had time to duck down behind the dumpster as the short haole first looked in their direction to make sure it was clear.
From one moment to the next the entire team split up and the only person left in the space between the warehouses was the woman and Williams himself. It was almost too good to be true and Bryce shared an incredulous look with his brother before they began to move out and approach the blonde detective from behind. He didn’t notice them, clearly too distracted by the injured woman. She started seizing just as they pulled up close enough to take him out easily, one or two bullets to the back should do it. Eric raised the gun…and hesitated.
Bryce nudged him warningly; trying to get him to finish the job already because crazy ass McGarrett and the rest of the team could reappear at any moment, but instead of pulling the trigger Eric slowly lowered the gun. Bryce glared at him and made to take it when Eric shook his head sharply and jabbed a finger at Williams’ hovering form. Bryce looked, a lifetime of working together warning him to take the suggestion seriously.
Turns out not shooting the detective just might turn into the greatest idea of their lives.
Detective Williams was in the process of healing the woman in his arms. With nothing more than the touch of his hands.
They were close enough to physically see the swollen, red flesh of her obviously broken arm reduce to normal size and pigment. Her previously glazed eyes, wandering and vacant, were now clear and pain free. He knew what he was seeing, he also knew he was a bit too stunned to fully comprehend it but he didn’t resist when Eric gripped his shoulder and quickly hustled him back behind the dumpster. Eric carefully reengaged the safety and tucked his favourite weapon into the waistband of his pants. They looked at each other, Bryce with disbelief and Eric with a gleam of excitement that he hadn’t seen in a long, long time. One thing was undoubtedly clear to them both however: Detective Williams had somehow healed that woman back to what looked like perfect health.
It was…it was hard to believe, but they’d seen it. Bryce’s lips twitched and curled into a smile as he caught onto why his brother looked so freaking ecstatic.
What they had here was a man that could heal. By the looks of it he could heal anything. Of course they would have to figure out a way to test this, make sure it wasn’t a one off thing, but judging by the way Williams lied so easily to his female partner only moments later Bryce was willing to bet the man had healed before. Maybe even frequently.
People paid a lot of money for their health. Ridiculous amounts of money. Far more money than a one off lump sum for an assassination would pay.
Far, far more.
There was no way in hell he and his brother could pass up an opportunity like this. They retreated quietly to their car once the coast was clear and drove away in silence.
They had some plans to make.===================================================================================
Steve moved from his desk to his office doorway and leaned lightly against the frame. The atmosphere of the office was as complex as it always felt after the end of a case, and this had been one of those cases that had turned abruptly sideways and then spun around a few times just for the hell of it. They been trying to nail Nelson and his crew on and off for a few months but it had only been a few days ago that a sketchy anonymous tip came in that finally pushed the judge into signing off on a warrant.
The ensuing gunfight had always been a possibility, especially considering Nelson’s product of choice, but that didn’t mean that it was Steve’s preferred way to end a case, no matter what Danny posited. The added hostage situation had definitely not been a scenario Steve had thought they’d have to deal with when they’d stormed the warehouse that was supposed to be closed for the day. He was still battling the occasional tremor that came with the adrenalin dump he typically experienced in those situations. It was cases like these that made him truly appreciate the adaptability of his team.
Steve watched Chin for a moment as the man flipped through files on his touch screen computer table. Chin looked up and met his eyes almost immediately, a stern look explaining that there were no emotional traumas he needed help with after the shooting and even though Steve had already known this was the case he’d felt better with the confirmation. Chin gave a knowing little half smile and nod and then looked over to Kono when the sound of chairs scraping across the floor demanded their attention.
Kono stood swiftly from the conference table she’d been working at and smiled warmly at Anani Palakiko and the young woman’s rather large father. He was glad to see she was finally finished taking the young woman’s statement and she looked over at him and gave a little nod. He recognized the summons immediately and pushed away from his doorframe.
“We’re all finished,” Kono announced as he swiftly moved beside her and Steve hoped he looked sincere as he produced a business card from his pocket, glad he’d had the foresight to grab it earlier, and handed it to the young woman.
“Thank you for taking the time to give your statement today,” he said softly and Anani smiled weakly at him, clearly at the end of her rope for the morning. “What you went through wasn’t easy, so if you need someone to talk to about it, someone who might understand what you experienced,” he shared a look with her father to convey that he wasn’t trying to overstep his bounds or insult his support in any way, “then please give this woman a call.”
“Thank you,” she said softly, palming the tiny square of paper and looking around the room. “Is Detective Williams still here?” She asked hopefully as Danny popped through the doorway behind them just in time to hear the question. He had the massive mug that Grace had given him for father’s day clutched tightly in his hand and he quickly shook his head negatively before ducking swiftly back into the break room to hide. Steve resisted rolling his eyes and shook his head apologetically at her.
“No, he had to step out. Is there a message I can pass on?”
“That’s all right,” she shook her head and her exhaustion that had clung to her since the warehouse finally seemed to be overwhelming her. “Thank you for helping me,” she said by way of parting and didn’t resist as her father led her out of their office to disappear down the hall. Danny appeared a second later, looking pale and exhausted himself and cradling his steaming mug of coffee close.
Steve hid his concern as best he could, because Danny rarely responded well to questions about his health and while that normally wouldn’t deter Steve he felt he had to prove that he could actually be discreet when it was appropriate. When he chose to be. Their conversation before the warehouse ordeal still weighed heavily on his shoulders, right alongside the crater left by the bomb that had exploded about Danny’s upbringing in freaking foster care! Steve was self aware enough to know that the main reason he had launched into questions about Danny being in the system right then and there had been in part because Kono and Chin were also equally stunned and clearly wanted to understand more. The bigger reasoning behind his immediate push for answers was because he personally felt that it shouldn’t have taken a year and a half to learn this rather large fact about his friend. It had hurt his feelings, his tough manly feelings, but feelings all the same.
He just figured that after everything they’d been through together, after the personal things Danny knew about him, and the fact that his partner was rarely quiet for longer than two minutes, it would have been something that came up before a chance meeting with Rickwood had dragged it into the light. It had been a bit of a slap in the face.
Still, Steve could be tactful and subtle when he wanted despite what Danny seemed to believe and he proved that now by not pointing out how Danny looked even worse than Anani. He was pale and his whole body kind of sagged in exhaustion and Steve really wanted to lay a hand on the guys forehead to see if he was coming down with a fever or something. He resisted because he was pretty sure Danny would bitch-glare him into next week. Besides, he wasn’t the only outspoken member of this hardheaded team.
“You look like crap Brah,” Kono announced for Steve, crossing her arms as she looked Danny over critically and Danny leveled the expected glare at her.
“Please, stop, or you’ll damage my delicate self-esteem,” Danny punctuated his statement by taking a pointed drink of his no doubt still scalding coffee and leaning a hip against the table. Chin materialized beside them soundlessly and eyed the mug in a way that had Danny holding it more protectively against this chest.
“We all finished with the paperwork?” Steve cut in before she could dig further and pretended he didn’t see the grateful look Danny sent his way or the knowing look from Chin.
“I just need to proof it and then you can sign off on it,” their rookie answered first. “Miss Palakiko gave a solid statement, it should hold up in court.”
“The forensics crew going over the warehouse will be a few days yet, but once they confirm our own statements things will be finished on my end as well,” Chin explained and they looked to Danny, who only seemed to be half paying attention to the conversation as he stared out the large window on the opposite end of the room. For once he didn’t look like he was going to jump in and add his two cents and then some. Steve frowned, looking him over closer in case he’d missed an injury or something. It wasn’t like Danny to hide it when he was injured, especially not when he believed it was the fault of someone else, but he was apparently better at keeping things close to the vest than Steve had thought.
“I’m just glad Anani wasn’t hurt,” Kono filled the momentary silence for them, looking to Steve for direction and he nodded in agreement.
“I could have sworn she’d smacked her head when she hit the ground,” he thought out loud. It was the one thing that didn’t make sense to him out of this entire day and Chin nodded beside him, his sharp features pulled into a contemplative frown.
“She didn’t have a single bruise,” he agreed, “it’s unusual.” The comment seemed to snap Danny back from wherever his mind had drifted off to and he looked quickly between them before shrugging.
“Some people just don’t bruise easy,” he decided with finality and then looked at Steve. “Man, I am wrecked and I have to take Gracie to her surfing lessons in a few hours. You mind if I cut out early and finish the paperwork tomorrow?”
“Yeah, sure man,” Steve agreed instantly, relieved that Danny had asked instead of having to order him to head home and get some rest. “You need a lift?”
“Nah I’m good,” Danny gave him a tired, grateful look. “See you in the morning.” He left to a chorus of goodbyes and Kono practically sprinted for the break room to get at the still fresh coffee. Steve watched Danny disappear down the hall, trying not to look overly concerned and apparently failing when Chin shifted beside him.
“He’ll be fine, Brah. Today was a heavy day for him, he just needs some time to adjust to us knowing more about him.”
“For all his talk he really doesn’t say much,” Steve shook his head wondering at the skill and Chin snorted.
“He just says it loudly.”
“I still could have sworn Palakiko took a header when she was tossed,” he swung back to the issue of the clearly uninjured woman, because there was something about the whole situation that was pinging in his gut, telling him he was missing something. He looked towards Danny’s office and noted that Danny hadn’t even bothered to shut off his computer. It was out of character enough for his sometimes anal retentive partner that it worried him a little more. Maybe he’d drop in on the surfing lesson later and check up on him; he could always say it was coincidental that they ended up at the same beach. Danny wouldn’t believe him of course, but that had never held Steve back before.
“It wasn’t a smooth landing,” Chin agreed, recapturing Steve’s attention and he looked at the shorter man, hesitating a moment before deciding to just say what was on his mind.
“You think we’re missing something here?” He knew he was frowning as he asked and he was only slightly comforted when Chin gave an agreeing nod because the look that chased the agreement clearly stated that he had no idea what it could possibly be. Of course his next statement, the only one he could really give, countered his agreement.
“It’s pretty straight forward,” Chin shrugged after a moment. “I don’t think there’s anything left to worry about,” and then he nodded his head towards Danny’s office. “I’m gonna go close up for him.” Steve watched him move swiftly into the glass walled room and sit behind Danny’s desk, briefly looking over the picture of Grace before setting to work.
Kono came out of the break room and gave Steve an assessing look before wordlessly going back to work and Steve wondered when he had become so transparent that his team, hell his employee’s, could so easily read his moods. He never would have dropped his guard this much in the Seals. He’d barely dropped it this much since his mom had died.
He looked down the hallway where Danny had retreated minutes before and shook his head in irritation. He was being ridiculous, trying to ferret out an explanation for a gut feeling that was based on precisely nothing. He didn’t even know what he was looking for. He was just worried about his partner.
He’d still drop in on Danny later though, just in case. With that in mind he marched back to his office. Chin was parked behind Danny’s desk but he was staring at the picture of Danny’s little girl as opposed to the computer he was supposed to be shutting down. Steve passed by silently, knowing Chin would work out what he needed to in his own time, like they all did.
With a sigh he slid back behind his own desk and spent the next few hours pretending to get something done.
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Chapter 2
Masterpost