Title: The Amazing Danno, Part 2
Author:
kae_kaeRating: PG
Characters Involved: Steve, Danny, Chin, Kono, Jenna, Max, OCs
Word Count: 8,923 (total)
Summary: This time Danny has superpowers. The rest of Five-0 has to save the day.
Notes: This is a direct sequel to
The Fantastic Five-0, which I wrote way back in the summer for the
h50_flashfic AU challenge. It’s probably a good idea to go read that one first before you tackle this one, although I did try to make this one make sense for new readers as well.
This one was written for The Morning After challenge at
h50_flashfic (even though this takes place not exactly the morning after the first story but a couple days later). Very much AU, especially after the premiere of season 2.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Part 1---
A visit to Akoni’s house turned out to be a bust. It was apparent he hadn’t been home all day, so as a second try they went to the university to see if he, too, was working as late as the rest of them.
“That’s Akoni’s car,” Kono noted as Steve pulled up. “We found him.”
The lab was mostly deserted as Kono and Steve walked through the door. One man in a white lab coat was bent over a table, adjusting some equipment. Steve recognized him from the picture on the screen back at HQ. “Akoni Kaeo,” Steve called across the lab. “Five-0, we have some questions for you.”
The man looked up from his work. His dark eyes narrowed before looking down to Steve’s badge and gun. Instantly, he turned over the table and bolted out the back.
“Go, go!” Steve shouted, signaling for Kono to go around while he followed. Kono backtracked the way they’d come in.
Honestly, Steve was glad Akoni bolted. He needed to burn off some of the tense energy that had been building steadily since Danny had walked out of the office with Dr. Venaski. He vaulted himself over the broken glass and equipment and followed Akoni out the back door. He was smart, knocking things down along the way to try to slow Steve down. Whoever this Akoni guy was, he’d been chased before. Steve was sure of it, although why a researcher had been chased was anybody’s guess.
The problem was that Akoni’s tactics were working. The things being knocked over were slowing Steve down just enough that he wasn’t closing the gap between them. With a frustrated grunt, Steve pulled out his gun, completely prepared to take the shot to slow him down if necessary.
It turned out not to be. After rounding a corner, Akoni ran straight into Kono’s elbow. The sickening crunch was followed by a howl of pain as Akoni fell to the floor.
“Nice work,” Steve panted as he holstered his weapon. He had a passing thought that Danny would have been yelling about the gun being excessive force in a chase with the other guy unarmed.
“Thanks, Boss,” Kono replied as she pulled Akoni up with both arms behind his back. “Where you off to, huh?"
“P-please, I was only doing what Venaski told me to, I was just observing-“ Akoni stuttered, blood pouring over his mouth.
“What did Venaski tell you to do?” Steve barked.
“He said.” Akoni stopped to take a deep, shuddering breath. “He said keep an eye on you, that’s all. When you found Charon’s Stone, just keep an eye on you.”
“Keep an eye on Five-0, you mean?” Kono asked. Steve was pretty sure her grip tightened.
“Yeah, yeah. He just wanted updates, like on your powers. Please, I was just doing what he asked!” Akoni sounded close to hitting the deck out of panic.
He was saved only by Kono’s cell phone ringing. She shoved Akoni in Steve’s direction before answering it. “Yeah, cuz? Sure, hold on.” Kono set her phone to speakerphone. “Go ahead, we’re both listening.”
“Max just got back to us with notes on Venaski’s research,” Chin explained. “Apparently he’d been researching Charon’s Stone before it went missing last year. He wrote a proposal to try to use a serum based on Charon’s Stone on willing suspects, but it was shot down by Kregg.”
“Let me guess, it’s the stuff he gave to Danny?” Steve asked.
“Very similar,” Chin replied, voice tight with the same anger Steve felt burning deep inside. “What he gave Danny looks like it has a slightly different chemical makeup, but the idea is the same. That’s not the worst of it, though.”
“It gets worse?”
“Apparently, since he only had one shot with the stone itself, Venaski was researching using the subject’s blood to possibly make a compound that would give others metahuman powers.”
“So he’s using Danny as his own personal science experiment.” Steve yanked on Akoni’s wrists a bit to get his attention. “Have you talked to Venaski in the past 24 hours?”
Akoni nodded, his hair flopping up and down rapidly. “He called about an hour ago, wanted me to meet him. Said he had something big, big like an earth-shattering discovery.”
“Danny’s his earth-shattering discovery. We need that address. Now,” Steve barked. Akoni nodded again, head lowered and blood dripping from his nose.
---
Steve could see that Kono was holding on for dear life as he sped through the nearly deserted streets. Her driving rivaled his own, so if she was gritting her teeth and bunkering down then, yeah, he was probably driving too fast. But he just didn’t have time to slow down, not if they were going to make it to the meeting place on time. It was all the way on the other side of the island, and they had to make it in time. Danny was there.
Chin and Jenna were going to meet them there with SWAT. However, they wouldn’t arrive until after Steve and Kono made it. Steve was mentally weighing his options about going in alone and leaving Kono to meet everyone when they arrived.
Steve’s thoughts were derailed by his phone ringing. Kono picked it up before Steve had a chance to even reach for it, gesturing for Steve to keep his eyes on the road. He was definitely going way too fast.
With a small noise of surprise she hit the talk button. “Danny?”
Steve slammed hard on the brakes as he hit a red light, turning his head to stare at Kono as Danny’s voice filled the car.
“Yeah, I don’t think I got a lot of time, but this Venaski’s a whack job-“
“We know, we’re on it. You ok?” Steve asked in a rush. There’d be time to get details later.
“Sore, but yeah,” Danny answered. Both Steve and Kono let out a small sigh of relief. “Apparently now my metabolism has kicked into overdrive and he can’t keep me knocked out with the crap he shot me up with. I hit him with a pipe.”
Steve felt a grin cross his face. Danny was ok, he was really ok, and he’d improvised a weapon, thank God. “Hold tight buddy, we’re coming, ok?”
“Not much else for me to do, babe. I-“ A thumping sound cut Danny off, followed by a hard thud.
Just like that, the relief hardened into dread. “Danny? DANNY?” Steve screamed.
“The call cut out, Boss,” Kono said, worried eyes meeting Steve’s.
Steve turned back to the stoplight just as the light turned green. He floored it.
---
When Steve pulled up, the place looked like a war zone as dawn broke over the horizon. People in blue SWAT gear were running around, some going into the building, some running out. The building itself looked blown, smoldering somewhere toward the back. Kregg stood in the middle, barking orders to a small group of men gathered around him. Other than being covered in ash, no one looked hurt, although paramedics were on the scene.
Kregg turned to the sound of the slamming truck doors. “No. No way, McGarrett, you were told specifically not to-“
Steve cut him off. “Where’s Danny, what the hell did your guys do-”
“My men didn’t do anything, the place was already smoking when we arrived-“
“I just talked to Danny on the phone, so obviously something-“
“If you made contact, Commander, you should-“
“Go ahead, tell me what I should have done, Director, since you’re not-“
“ENOUGH!” Jenna’s voice cut out high and sharp as she and Chin jogged toward the scene. Both men turned and glared at her.
Jenna recoiled a bit, but didn’t back down. “Arguing isn’t going to do anything to find Danny.” After a moment’s hesitation she added, “Boss. Sir.”
“She’s right, brah,” Chin offered, trying to be diplomatic. “We’re obviously still a step behind Venaski, we can’t afford to waste time.”
Kregg hesitated for a moment, then offered through gritted teeth, “Venaski is no longer a problem.”
“What do you mean, he’s no longer a problem?” Steve asked warily.
Kregg nodded behind him. A body was laid out on a stretcher behind him, covered by a sheet. The sheet had a blood stain growing across the abdomen.
Steve felt himself deflate a bit. “Venaski?”
“Yeah.” Kregg sounded frustrated and tired, and he rubbed a hand down his face. Steve noted he looked close to as tired and frayed as Steve felt. “Your man’s not inside, Commander. Whoever took out Venaski, he’s got him.”
“Then we need to figure out who the hell did this.”
Kregg growled at Steve’s snappy response. “Not we, I need to figure-“
The anger Steve felt earlier suddenly sparked back to life. “Kregg, I am not walking away-"
“What about Akoni?” Kono asked, stopping the argument immediately.
“Who’s Akoni?” Kregg demanded.
“Nobody your team needs to worry about,” Steve answered quickly, crossing his arms. “My team’s looking into him. Unless you’d like to include us in on this investigation, and we can maybe stop this island from being a metahuman construction clinic thanks to your dead Metahuman Development Researcher.”
Kregg’s face twisted into a snarl. “Clearly you’ve talked to someone, McGarrett. Their heads will roll, I’ll see to it.”
“Fine,” Steve answered simply, making a mental note to check in with Max to make sure he covered his tracks well enough. “Are we in? Your team can go in first, but my team follows right behind. Unless you refuse, then we’ll continue to be in your way.”
“That your team will follow sounds like a concession on your part, Commander.” Kregg still looked murderous, but nodded. “Your team stays behind mine, got it?”
“Understood.”
“Now.” Kregg pulled out a tablet, typing on the screen. “What’s the last name of this Akoni?”
After a small nod from Steve, Kono spoke up. “Akoni Kaeo. HPD picked him up about an hour ago.”
Kregg typed the name into his tablet, cursing as he got the results. “Akoni Kaeo is a known alias of KOA.“
Jenna’s soft gasp told Steve what he needed to know. “A metahuman,” Steve guessed, turning to her.
Jenna nodded. “He’s a villainous metahuman last known to be operating in Korea, although he’s originally from Hawaii.”
“Yeah, and decided he’s some great warrior,” Kono added, the disgust evident in her voice.
“Well, yeah,” Jenna agreed. “His powers include increased strength, speed, and reasoning skills. I was part of the team investigating his movements through Korea.”
Chin called HPD. “I need an update on Akoni Kaeo, suspect picked up about an hour ago- he did. Thanks.” He hung up and turned to the team. “HPD lost him shortly after picking him up. Knocked out both officers that had him in custody.”
Steve should have just shot the guy when he had a chance. “So this KOA, he now has Danny. That means we have to find him,” he said.
“Not as simple as you make it sound, Commander,” Kregg replied. “He’s eluded our forces for years-“
“I don’t care. We’re going to find him.” Steve met Kregg’s eyes, unblinking.
Kregg nodded. “Never leave a man behind, right?” he asked, gruffly, with a knowing look in his eyes.
“Something like that.”
---
Kregg had set up his operation from a small base office that was kept on Hawaii for when it was needed. The space was cramped, but looked organized. People were bustling about, although everyone moved instinctively out of the Director’s way as he led Steve and the team across the office.
“NAMA has offices set up in all 50 states,” Jenna provided as the Five-0 team moved into the main conference room. “It’s necessary that they be ready to intercept a villainous metahuman with little notice.”
“Great, Kaye, you remember your handbook. Move,” he pointed her to a corner out of the way. Jenna shuffled to the side out of instinct. Steve met her eyes and gave her a small nod, hoping it looked reassuring. Jenna gave him a small smile in thanks.
“Here are KOA’s known hideouts, although they’re likely to be empty by now. I have teams heading to each as we speak.” Kregg pointed out the locations that someone had already pinned up on a bulletin board.
“Do you have a direction where KOA left the building with Danny?” Steve asked, examining the pictures carefully.
“North.”
“North of here would take him into the Ko’olau Mountains.” Steve turned from the board.
“There are plenty of places for him to hide there,” Chin added. “If he’s native, he’d know them.”
“Yeah, but he’s not the only one who knows them,” Steve declared. “I can find him up there.”
“If he’s up there,” Kregg argued.
“It’s the perfect place to lay low for a while,” Steve countered. “That’s where I’d go, tactically. If he’s as smart as you think he is, I’m guessing he’d make the same move. It’s the one that makes the best sense. You know it is.”
Kregg sighed, although it sounded more like a hiss than a true sigh. “You’d better know what you’re doing, McGarrett. And you’re taking members of my tactical team with you. You’re only going because you know the land, and because of your training. That’s the only reason, you hear me?”
Steve nodded, but he wasn’t really listening anymore. He was planning out where he would hide if he were up in the mountains looking to lay low.
---
The tac team that Kregg had insisted go with him only proved to slow Steve down. The only thing that kept Steve from racing up the mountain without them was their safety. Sure, they were trained tactical officers, but they weren’t trained for this kind of combat. Nor were they trained to track someone through the jungle. Steve, on the other hand, was. Steve led the team up, through trees, over rocky cliffs, and across open plains. One of the men had questioned Steve on how the hell did he know they were still on the trail. After the verbal lashing Steve laid into the guy, nobody else questioned him.
Steve raised his hand in a stop motion, straining his ears. He heard movement up ahead, the sharp snaps of broken branches mixed with the rustling of leaves. It wasn’t the careful movement of an animal native to the mountains. They’d finally caught up. Steve motioned for the team to divide, sending two men around to flank him, while Steve and the remaining officer took the other direction. Steve checked his weapon. He knew that he wouldn’t win a physical fight with this guy, not if what Kregg and Jenna said was true, but perhaps he could get a good shot or two off.
When Steve managed to get a visual on KOA, he was standing above Danny. Danny was sprawled across the ground unconscious, obviously dropped for the moment while KOA checked something on his phone. Steve couldn’t get to Danny without crossing past KOA, and for now Danny appeared to be safe. Steve would have to leave him there for now. He moved closer, weapon drawn.
Things went to hell pretty quickly. One of the guys from the other team broke a branch, which signaled to KOA that someone was there following him. He immediately lunged toward the sound, faster than Steve had ever imagined possible, faster than he’d been able to move when he’d had his own superhuman abilities. Steve moved into a better position, where he noticed that one man was already sprawled across the ground with a head wound that he knew would prove to be fatal. KOA was not only fast and strong, but he was a smart fighter too. He was only striking and spending energy when he was in range to do major damage. He took out the second SWAT member with a quick strike to the neck that was left vulnerable in his gear.
Steve managed to get a couple shots off himself, none of them hitting their target, before KOA moved in close, breaking his weapon with a simple twist of his wrist before Steve could move it out of the way or fire another shot. This close, Steve could see that KOA’s face was a bruised, swollen mess from Kono’s elbow earlier, which told Steve that damage could be done to him if he could get a hit in. KOA snarled at Steve before moving out of Steve’s space to throw the remaining tactical member into a tree, knocking the guy out cold.
KOA turned back to Steve. “You. We have unfinished business. Is that how you treat all the people you question, by assaulting them?”
“You ran.”
“Not fast enough, but if I was fast enough you would have suspected me before you did.” KOA cracked his neck, standing tall as he smirked at Steve. “Your intentions are honorable, I suppose. But it’ll do you no good. You’re not leaving this jungle alive, and your friend here is going to help me create a new race of metahumans to take down NAMA.”
Steve shook his head. “You’re going down for kidnapping and murder.”
“Oh, you mean Dr. Venaski?” KOA asked. “The doctor was no longer useful, and had second thoughts about working with a villainous metahuman. Shame, since his research was so promising.”
“You’re going to-“ Steve started. Even though Steve had braced himself (or thought he’d braced himself anyway), he wasn’t ready when the first punch landed in his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him completely. He wasn’t able to track KOA; the villain was just too fast. Another hard hit to his back had him sprawled on the ground.
“You’re a Navy SEAL, right? You can do better than that.”
Steve rolled, swinging a leg to try to sweep KOA off his feet, a move he didn’t think would work, and he was right. However, it did move KOA out of the way long enough to let Steve get back up on his feet and throw a few punches himself, one landing but not doing much damage. In the blink of an eye KOA moved around to Steve’s other side, grappling his arm behind him and yanking. Steve gritted his teeth as he felt his shoulder pull, not quite dislocated, not yet, but it wouldn’t take much more pressure.
“You know,” KOA hissed in his ear. “If you weren’t so high and mighty with your morals, you’d make a good first candidate. Your partner’s blood turning you into something more. Don’t you miss the strength? The speed?”
Of course Steve missed it, never so much so as right then. However, a quick glance to where Danny still lay motionless on the ground reminded him of why he gave it up. “To tell you the truth, I miss the flying more.” Steve chanced the damage to his shoulder, twisting just enough to get KOA over his shoulder and onto the ground. He felt something rip, although the joint itself didn’t pop out so he counted it as a win.
KOA pulled himself back up to his feet. “Impressive. That was more of what I was expecting. Now that you’re showing me your best, let me show you mine.” With that warning, Steve had only a second’s notice to put his guard back up. It did him little good - he was kicked, punched, thrown, scratched, pulled so fast and so violently, there was no way he would be able to keep up. Not that Steve didn’t try, he did, but blocking one attack meant he was open to another. By the time he even registered that attack KOA have moved to another vulnerable part of his body. Steve was outmatched in a way he’d never been before.
Finally, KOA hurled Steve through the air, and he landed close to the edge of the rocks with a sickening thud. His vision blurred, but he could see as KOA walked closer, slow and sure of his victory. Steve knew that behind him was a steep drop, but he couldn’t force himself to move fast enough to put some space between himself and the cliff, his body too bruised and broken to follow orders at the moment. KOA picked him up, holding him by both arms, digging his fingers into Steve’s shredded shoulder. Steve’s sharp hiss of pain brought a maniacal grin to KOA’s face as he moved Steve closer to the edge. Steve knew in that instant he was going over the edge. There was no stopping KOA from throwing him, although he brought an arm up to try to fight back regardless.
“Hey!”
Both Steve and KOA turned toward the shout. Danny was up on his feet, looking a bit shaky but determined.
“Steve, duck!”
Without thinking, Steve pulled out of KOA’s now loosened grip and hit the dirt, covering his head with the one arm that would move. He felt a blast of white-hot heat pass above him, and smelled burning hair and flesh. KOA howled as he fell over the edge of the cliff. When Steve picked his head up, Danny had moved to stand next to him, shooting some sort of white energy from his hand down the cliff.
“Laser beams?”
“Don’t mock the laser beams, Steven. They just saved your ass.” Already, Danny was looking more and more unsteady on his feet. Steve couldn’t really pull himself up to do anything to help him. Danny lowered his hand, although the center of his palm still glowed bright white.
“My hero,” Steve answered, realizing as he said them just how true those words were. He had been seconds from tumbling down a cliff to his death.
“Yeah, well, don’t you forget it.” With that, Danny’s knees buckled and his eyes rolled up. Steve raised an arm to try to break Danny’s fall, feeling a sickening sense of déjà vu.
“I got you, Danno. You’re gonna be ok. I got you,” Steve repeated over and over, feeling the dark edges of unconsciousness creeping in as his own injuries caught up with him. Before he blacked out, he could hear a helicopter overhead. One of the fallen NAMA SWAT team members must have called for backup.
---
“So, do you want the orange jello or the cherry jello?” Danny held out two cups for Steve to choose from.
Steve squirmed in the hospital bed, scowling at Danny. “Remind me again why you’re still here if you healed up from everything in less than 24 hours? If it’s to annoy me, you can do that over the phone you know.”
“It’s not my fault that apparently having randomly generated superpowers also gives me fast recovery time,” Danny retorted, still holding out the cups. “Pick one.”
“I don’t want jello, Danny.”
Danny huffed, obviously annoyed. Which was just fine, since Steve was feeling pretty peeved himself. “God, you are a frustrating patient. You won’t hit the morphine button, you yell at the pretty nurse, you won’t eat the damn jello. You have to start stomaching something or they’re never going to let you leave, babe.” Something softer, kinder passed over Danny’s face. “You want to go home, right?”
“Yes I want to go home. Of course I want to go home.”
“Ok then. Now, orange or cherry?” Danny wiggled the choices under Steve’s face.
“Orange,” Steve huffed, and Danny put a spoon in the orange jello cup before passing it to Steve.
“Take it easy with him, brah,” Chin said from the doorway. “He’s probably still groggy from the pain meds.”
“He can’t be groggy from pain meds he refuses to take,” Danny replied with a roll of his eyes as Chin, Kono, and Jenna all entered Steve’s hospital room. “I swear, someone distract him so I can hit the damn button myself.”
Steve’s frown grew deeper as he choked down a bite of orange jello. God, he hated jello. “It doesn’t hurt that much right now. Don’t you have someone else to go nag?”
“Nope. Nobody else is in the hospital, so you’ve got my full attention, Steve.”
“Lucky me.” Steve turned to Chin. “Did they find him?”
Chin nodded. “He wasn’t dead, but he was weak enough that they could take him into custody. NAMA will deal with KOA now.”
“I checked in to see how Carlos and Martin were doing. The doctors think they’ll both make it,” Jenna added gently. Steve nodded, although even one casualty from this mess was one too many. He’d already had Chin send official condolences from Five-0, but Steve figured he’d try to come up with something more than that. Later, when he could think straight.
“You’re looking better, Boss. You have color, and you’re more aware of what’s going on,” Kono offered, sitting gingerly on the bottom edge of Steve’s bed.
“Yeah, cutting back on the morphine button has helped with that,” Steve said pointedly. Danny threw his hands up in the air in frustration.
Danny’s rant was cut off before it even started by a knock on the door. Steve looked up to find Kregg standing there, looking uncomfortable yet commanding all at once. “Commander,” he greeted Steve, face twisted into a grimace. Steve wasn’t sure whether it was from looking at Steve’s bruised and battered body, or the fact that he had to talk to Steve at all.
“Director,” Steve replied.
Kregg walked toward the bed, standing at attention when he reached the side. Old training was hard to break, Steve knew that fact well. “Even if you’ve been a pain in my ass since the day you found Charon’s Stone, McGarrett, I’m glad to see you alert and doing better today.”
“Thanks, Kregg. What kind words,” Steve replied. He tried to keep the sarcasm in his voice to a minimum.
Kregg nodded before continuing, letting Steve’s tone pass. “Much as I hate to admit it, and I do hate to admit it, believe me, you were clearly the right man to lead the team. Not the right man to fight KOA,” he added quickly, “but the right one to lead us to him. Luckily, your man there was able to back you up, or none of you would have made it back down that mountain alive. You both have NAMA’s sincere thanks.”
Steve nodded somberly. Danny mumbled his own answer, clearly not expecting to be thanked for anything at all.
“As a thank you, your medical care will be provided free of charge, compliments of NAMA,” Kregg continued.
“Just his, or mine too?” Danny interrupted. “He has veteran benefits that cover this kind of stuff, I don’t.”
Kregg turned to Danny, giving him a gruff nod. “Both of you. And you, Detective, will be happy to know that Venaski’s notes mention a way to reverse the effects of Charon’s Stone, in case his experiments went horribly wrong. Within a few days, we can have you back to normal.”
Danny grinned, turning to the team. “Now that’s the best news I’ve heard all day. We’ll finally be able to leave this superhumanfreak crap-“
“Metahuman,” Jenna corrected immediately.
“Metahuman crap behind us,” Danny finished. “We can go back to just being cops that chase insane criminals across a tropical island. No superpowers necessary.”
Steve felt himself laughing loudly, which didn’t seem like an appropriate response, especially since no one else was laughing. When he caught Danny’s eyes, the glint there told him that the bastard had indeed hit the morphine button while he wasn’t looking. Jerk.
But, it seemed like it would perfectly safe to take a nap, at least for a little while. After all, Danny was ok, in better shape than Steve certainly was. Danny hadn’t left the hospital since his own health had been cleared, taking his job of watching over Steve seriously. Which was both annoying and appreciated, depending on what he was actually doing to help Steve. The rest of his team was there with him, each and everyone one of them having a part in taking KOA down and saving his partner. KOA was locked up. It was safe. He could afford to sleep for a while.
The last thought Steve remembered before he drifted off was that Danny never got a superhero costume even though he was a superhero. Steve figured Danny’d look kind of cool in spandex, no matter what Danny said.
Amazing, even.