Just an Old Fashioned Love Song Part 2/4 (Hawaii 5-0)
Just an Old Fashioned Love Song Part 2/4
Author: Tari_Roo
Rating: PG13 (Gen)
Disclaimer: I own nothing, I profit from nothing. Although if I had my way Steve would be bare-chested even more than he is, we would actually ‘see’ Danny trying to surf and Kono would be a secret Cylon. That is all.
Summary: Danny took a CPR class when Gracie was born, just in case. Danny never once imagined that he’d have to do bastardised rescue breathing to keep ‘I’m a Navy Seal, I can hold my breath for five hours’ Steve McGarrett alive. Sick!Steve Worried!Danny
Spoilers: for season 1 of Hawaii 5-0
Chapter 1
The problem with Hawaii, one of many, was the weather. It was always gorgeous - sunny and warm. Or raining, with torrential downpours and storms. At least in Jersey you got weather, an actual spectrum of weather. Cloudy days, miserable and chilly were on the menu. Danny missed those days. When your choices were two: rain or sun, something in between was kinda nice. Especially cloudy, rain soaked, depressing days. And especially on days like this.
The search for the little girl, Ashley, was over before it started. Taken from Noelani Elementary School, her broken, bloody body was found off Round Top Drive, in open brush leading into the National Park. Standing in the sun, the sky bright and hot overhead and the sound of the wind in the trees just clashed so much with the crime scene. It was all levels of wrong, wrong, wrong. The whole road was cordoned off, police cars and vans backed up down the hill.
It should be cold, dank, grey and depressing. Not weather for the beach, with people on vacation and having fun, going to walks with their dogs. A little life had been snuffed out, all her smiles and laughter and love gone. Her mother would never hold her again. Her father would never hear her voice again, see her smile, feel her arms around his neck. The sky should be black, and foul, anything but bright.
'The stars are not wanted now: put out every one; Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun; Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood. For nothing now can ever come to any good.'
Danny had hated that poem at school, but it had stuck with him like a stain on his soul. As a rookie he’d attended a service for a cop who’d died on duty, shot by some punk with a crappy gun. His wife had read Auden’s poem then and shit if Danny hadn’t remembered it word for word. It came to him at the worst times. Usually on cases with kids. Dead kids. Dismantle the damn sun.
Hell, not even Steve’s shirt was funny anymore. Danny had grabbed a tourist eyesore for Steve at the hospital gift shop because his partner was pathologically unable to keep his shirt on. Now though, the bright red shirt with blue parrots and green flowers was only a little funny when you caught a glimpse of McGarrett stalking around the crime scene.
It sure as shit didn’t help that Ashley was blonde and ten and a gut punch to his stomach close to Gracie in looks and age. Danny was pissed.
Kono and Chin were over by the couple who had found her while walking along the scenic road, listening in on the detectives from HPD. The parents, Julie and Clive Greer were sobbing off to the side, a female grief counsellor with them. There was now a jurisdictional debate on who would run with the murder-abduction. HPD Homicide or Five 0.
HPD with their resources, experience and manpower. Or Five 0 with passion and a track record bar none. Standing in the road, the plants on the verge leading towards the body flattened by a swarm of people, Williams knew he wanted it, badly. Wanted to shoot the perp in the face. But HPD was an army compared to their foursome. And you did what was best for the case and the family, not your pride and ego. Hopefully Steve would agree.
A splash of colour against the green of the dense foliage and Danny noted Steve trotting, more like running, downhill towards the parents, witnesses and media swarm. Happy to leave his morose thoughts about fathers never seeing little girls again, Danny yelled, “Oy! No running? You wanna die?”
An officer nearby gave Danny a confused look and Williams shrugged, “Kids, what you can do?” He huffed after Steve, who had dragged Chin and Kono aside. Away from the throng, almost on the edge of the downhill slope, they all looked at Danny expectantly as he approached and he groused, “What, more bad news?”
Steve ignored him, as usual, and hissed, “It’s not the same girl.” The collective disbelief slash confusion fuelled Danny’s exclamation, “And what, you just sucked that information of the sunshine because one dead girl isn’t enough fun in the sun for you?”
“The coroner might not be here yet what with the media circus down the road, but he’s going to confirm the same that I saw. The little girl over there has been dead for days, not hours.”
Something cold and hollow settled inside Danny. One dead, one missing. Shit. But Steve was still talking, “And the blood is too fresh, and not actually coming from the wounds.”
Shaking his head, Danny huffed, “Run that past me again... when did you get your forensics degree?”
McGarret slammed his fist into his hand and snapped, “No, just pay attention. It’s not the same girl, same clothes yes, same colour hair. But her face is so badly bashed in they are relying on the clothes to identify her. And I think Bergman is going to confirm that those injuries were done post mortem.”
“What? Why?” Danny asked, Kono shaking her head. But Chin pointed his pen at Steve and said, “A red herring? A distraction.”
Nodding fervently, Steve said quickly, “Yeah, totally. You find a dead girl, you stop looking for a live one. And what abductor doesn’t want the cops looking for a murderer while he gets away.” Kono though was tapping her notepad, her eyes bright. “Wait, wait. The parents... the Greers. The mother, Julie, remarried. Clive is Ashley’s stepfather. Maybe...a disgruntled ex?”
Everyone was nodding bar Danny whose eyes narrowed at the mention of disgruntled exes. Steve checked his watch and said firmly, “I think we need to check this out, now. Let HPD run with a possible murder. I think Ashley is still out there. With someone.”
Chin nodded, pulling out his phone, already dialling, ”I’ll run background checks, see if the biological father is on the island.”
“Good. You and Chin head back to base, run those checks.” Kono nodded and chased after Chin who was already halfway through the crowd, heading for the car. Danny and Steve followed a little more slowly, Williams still ruminating over everything. It was better thinking that Ashley was alive, that she could still be saved. But there was still a little dead girl up there and distraught parents. Noticing that Steve was pulling away, shouldering his way through the crowds who were more keen to see the crime scene than part and let him through, Danny picked up his pace and shouted, “What did I say about running, McGarrett?”
Catching up to Steve at the car, Danny glared his best ‘Don’t make me say it again’ to which Steve replied, “I’m fine, Danny”
Pursing his lips in disbelief, Williams laughed, “Beyonce Knowles is fine. Jessica Simpson is fine. You Steve McGarret, are not fine.” Steve stared at Danny for several long heartbeats, assessing him and said carefully, “You feeling ok, Danny? ‘Cos you know, you’re looking a little peaked.”
“Peaked? Peaked? I am not the one who was trapped underwater for 20 minutes!” Danny closed the distance between them, ignoring the curious looks of the onlookers nearby, the patrolman off to the side. Steve tried for a nonchalant handwave and huffed, “More like 5.”
Realising he was sounding more and more like a broken comedy routine, Danny threw up his hands and cried, “5? 5 minutes? You can hold your breath for 5 minutes! I did not give you mouth to mouth for 5 minutes.” Realising the police offer was staring at them, mouth open in mixed disbelieving humour, Danny pointed a finger at the patrolman and barked, “What are you looking at ... go catch a cold somewhere else.” And whirling back at McGarrett, finger still stiff with anger, “20 minutes Steve!”
“Fine. 7.”
“20!”
Giving up, Steve gave his partner a gentle shove and snapped, “Get in the car, Danny.”
Resisting the urge to shove Steve back, Danny shook his head, “No, you get in the car. We’ve had this conversation already, today. I am not letting you deprive Gracie of the joy of me driving her to the prom and threatening her date.” McGarret smiled and moved towards the passenger side. “I thought Gracie was never going to date.”
Over by the driver’s side, Danny threw the door open and snapped, “Shut up! Get in!”
Steve shut up and got in. As Danny ducked into the Camero, the smell of leather and take out and beach washed over him. He muttered, “5 minutes my ass.”
The interior of the car was blessedly cool after the heat of the day, once the aircon kicked in. Danny turned the engine over and screamed off, dodging the growing crowd, leaning on the horn to clear the road. Not too sure where McGarrett the Magnificent wanted them, he headed towards Waikiki proper. After the argument, the mood was a little tense and the urgency of the case and images of dead girls in white dresses made for grim driving.
Steve was fidgeting, his finger taping on the window, arm rest, his leg. That wasn’t usual. Happy to leave off worrying about the case and back to worrying about Steve, who was there and accessible and helpable, Danny watched the fidgeting closely. The nurse had given him a checklist of three. So check one for anxiety. Anxiety, breathless, sweating. If Steve showed 2 out of 3, or even 1 and half out of 3, he was dragging Steve to a clinic. Now, he just had to determine if the anxiety was stress of the case related or imminent death related.
Breaking the silence, needing to talk through his own anxiety, Danny sighed, “So where are we going or are we just going to drive around until some bad guy flags us down to confess?”
Steve fidgeted, straightening in the seat, and said, “Original crime scene. See what HPD might have missed.”
Annoyed on behalf of his cop colleagues, Danny couldn’t help snapping, “Seeing as they are incompetent and not you, all powerful and psychic?”
Getting that pissed off look, like Danny was really trying his patience, Steve barked, “Seriously Danny what is your problem?”
Moving right back to pissed off himself, Danny laughed, “You are my problem!”
Steve didn’t answer and bit his tongue instead and just glared out of the window, wiping away an errant drop of sweat. Narrowing his eyes Danny half checked off sweating on the list, but it was hot even with the aircon and they were on a missing girl case and arguing... about everything.
Feeling decidedly hot himself, Danny tried to calm down. But all he could think about was Steve, laying on the deck of a boat, underwater, Gracie lying dead in a field and Chin with a collar on his neck, Kono missing. Focus on the case, Williams. Focus on the case.
The thought that came through was, shit, maybe he should have let Steve drive, that way he could have googled pulmonary edema or water on the lungs and got the low down on symptoms and treatments. It wasn’t like he could get Steve to ...
Taking one hand off the wheel, Danny snapped his fingers to get Steve’s attention and said, “Get that fancy ass piece of shit you call a phone out and google pulmonary edema.”
Stunned, Steve fishmouthed and stammered, “What, no!”
“Do it or I am turning this car around and taking you back to the hospital!”
Steve glared, using all of those Navy Commander cojones he had, “Williams, just up and drive. We are on a case.” Luckily Danny was immune to Navy Seal crap and opened his mouth to say, “That..”
Steve’s fancy ass piece of shit phone rang loudly and McGarrett grabbed it, gasping, “Thank you, Chin. Yeah, Kelly go.”
Danny gripped the steering with more force than required to steer a tank and glared at the road, listening to one half of the conversation. Steve though was nodding. “Good, good. So the father has no custody and ... no visitation rights. Kay..,”
Custody and visitation and daughters, were all things that made Danny Williams pissed off, so he listened intently, shelving the imminent death of Steve McGarrett for now. Steve continued, “No connections to a morgue... funeral parlour, you don’t say. New girlfriend.”
McGarrett‘s smug face and raised eyebrows of ‘and you doubted me’ did little to improve Danny’s mood. “Yeah, yeah, you call it in. You take the father, we’ll take the girlfriend. Send it to me.”
Steve was about hang up, his smugness curled up in a massive grin but it dimmed a little as Chin mumbled on the other end and he snarled, “I’m fine, Chin. Would everyone just focus on the damned case!”
Danny smiled, and in the half a beat of angry silence, Steve deflated a little and sighed, “No. Just... go pick up the father. Kay.” Steve hung up and Danny now smirked at him in ‘told you so’ smugness. McGarrett rubbed his eyes with one hand and Danny felt a spike of guilt. Sure, the moron had booked himself out AMA, and sure he’d nearly drowned but there was a case and a little girl that was maybe with her father, so Danny said, “Girlfriend who works at a funeral parlour?”
Steve nodded, pulling his hand away, looking tired. But he packed that away, pulling on the Navy face and said, “Yeah. She had access to dead bodies. Chin said the divorce was brutal. So maybe the new girlfriend sees a girl that looks like Ashley and ...”
Danny grimaced and crinkled his nose, “They fake a kidnapping, dump an already dead body and ...that’s just wrong. Sick, man. But entirely possible, so what’s the address...”
Steve’s phone pinged and he opened the message and said, “5 Kolomona Place, in Manoa, take East Manoa Road ...”
Danny made a sharp right turn, grinning a little as Steve cursed as he slid into the door as they turned. Turning on the police lights, Danny yelled “Could have run with her already. Everyones attention is on the dead girl. You sure the dead kid is from a funeral parlour?”
“Kono is checking flights and ferries, and has put a BOLO out of both cars. Hank, the father is salesman, does a lot of travelling. Chin is going to check the recent burials at the funeral home... see if there is a match.” Steve was perking up, the surge of adrenalin making him lean forward as Danny speed down the road.
Half joking Danny asked, “Kay. Is there a hospital on the way?”
Caught off guard but suspicious, Steve drawled, “What! Why?”
Watching Steve’s reaction out of one eye, the other on the road, Danny smirked, “’Cos I am dropping you off. I can check out a house man, you need...”
Slamming his hand onto the dash, Steve cursed, “Damnit, Williams! Will you just let it go already? I am fine.” The last three words were bitten off for emphasis, McGarrett’s voice laced with anger. Losing his own temper, again, still too much on edge, his own adrenalin soaked start of the day fresh in his memory, Danny snapped, “Underwater for 20 minutes!”
“If anything you should be checked out, Danny, you...”
Danny smoothly overran Steve and shook his head, “No, I was and I’m fine. You though seem to think you can develop gills at will. I...”
Taking his turn to interrupt, McGarrett shook his head, trying to defuse the tension, backing down a bit, “Shit Danny. You sure you aren’t taking oestrogen pills or something, ‘cos you are nagging like an old lady.” It was a plea to leave it alone, back off, wait for after the case.
Picking up the old banter gauntlet, letting Steve turn the mood less tense, less ‘you nearly died’, Danny stammered, “Old lady?”
The smile was brief, “Yeah, old lady.”
Going for over the top, Danny bit out, “OLD Lady? I’ll hit you upside the head with my old lady parts if you don’t shut up.”
“Likewise.”
Williams smirked, taking a sharp turn, but Steve was prepared for it. Danny laughed, “What you have old lady parts?”
Rolling his eyes, Steve sighed, “Just drive, Williams.”
“And how about you google pulmonary edema already.”
“Shut up!” Steve sounded angry, but he was smiling and Danny was shaking his head. Fine, he’ll let it go, for now. But if Steve started sounding breathless or wheezy, or asthmatic, or whatever... Danny Williams was going to kick his ass.
*h-50*h-50*h-50*h-50*h-50*h-50*h-50*h-50*h-50*h-50*h-50*h-50*h-50
TBC
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
Author: Tari_Roo
Rating: PG13 (Gen)
Disclaimer: I own nothing, I profit from nothing. Although if I had my way Steve would be bare-chested even more than he is, we would actually ‘see’ Danny trying to surf and Kono would be a secret Cylon. That is all.
Summary: Danny took a CPR class when Gracie was born, just in case. Danny never once imagined that he’d have to do bastardised rescue breathing to keep ‘I’m a Navy Seal, I can hold my breath for five hours’ Steve McGarrett alive. Sick!Steve Worried!Danny
Spoilers: for season 1 of Hawaii 5-0
Chapter 1
The problem with Hawaii, one of many, was the weather. It was always gorgeous - sunny and warm. Or raining, with torrential downpours and storms. At least in Jersey you got weather, an actual spectrum of weather. Cloudy days, miserable and chilly were on the menu. Danny missed those days. When your choices were two: rain or sun, something in between was kinda nice. Especially cloudy, rain soaked, depressing days. And especially on days like this.
The search for the little girl, Ashley, was over before it started. Taken from Noelani Elementary School, her broken, bloody body was found off Round Top Drive, in open brush leading into the National Park. Standing in the sun, the sky bright and hot overhead and the sound of the wind in the trees just clashed so much with the crime scene. It was all levels of wrong, wrong, wrong. The whole road was cordoned off, police cars and vans backed up down the hill.
It should be cold, dank, grey and depressing. Not weather for the beach, with people on vacation and having fun, going to walks with their dogs. A little life had been snuffed out, all her smiles and laughter and love gone. Her mother would never hold her again. Her father would never hear her voice again, see her smile, feel her arms around his neck. The sky should be black, and foul, anything but bright.
'The stars are not wanted now: put out every one; Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun; Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood. For nothing now can ever come to any good.'
Danny had hated that poem at school, but it had stuck with him like a stain on his soul. As a rookie he’d attended a service for a cop who’d died on duty, shot by some punk with a crappy gun. His wife had read Auden’s poem then and shit if Danny hadn’t remembered it word for word. It came to him at the worst times. Usually on cases with kids. Dead kids. Dismantle the damn sun.
Hell, not even Steve’s shirt was funny anymore. Danny had grabbed a tourist eyesore for Steve at the hospital gift shop because his partner was pathologically unable to keep his shirt on. Now though, the bright red shirt with blue parrots and green flowers was only a little funny when you caught a glimpse of McGarrett stalking around the crime scene.
It sure as shit didn’t help that Ashley was blonde and ten and a gut punch to his stomach close to Gracie in looks and age. Danny was pissed.
Kono and Chin were over by the couple who had found her while walking along the scenic road, listening in on the detectives from HPD. The parents, Julie and Clive Greer were sobbing off to the side, a female grief counsellor with them. There was now a jurisdictional debate on who would run with the murder-abduction. HPD Homicide or Five 0.
HPD with their resources, experience and manpower. Or Five 0 with passion and a track record bar none. Standing in the road, the plants on the verge leading towards the body flattened by a swarm of people, Williams knew he wanted it, badly. Wanted to shoot the perp in the face. But HPD was an army compared to their foursome. And you did what was best for the case and the family, not your pride and ego. Hopefully Steve would agree.
A splash of colour against the green of the dense foliage and Danny noted Steve trotting, more like running, downhill towards the parents, witnesses and media swarm. Happy to leave his morose thoughts about fathers never seeing little girls again, Danny yelled, “Oy! No running? You wanna die?”
An officer nearby gave Danny a confused look and Williams shrugged, “Kids, what you can do?” He huffed after Steve, who had dragged Chin and Kono aside. Away from the throng, almost on the edge of the downhill slope, they all looked at Danny expectantly as he approached and he groused, “What, more bad news?”
Steve ignored him, as usual, and hissed, “It’s not the same girl.” The collective disbelief slash confusion fuelled Danny’s exclamation, “And what, you just sucked that information of the sunshine because one dead girl isn’t enough fun in the sun for you?”
“The coroner might not be here yet what with the media circus down the road, but he’s going to confirm the same that I saw. The little girl over there has been dead for days, not hours.”
Something cold and hollow settled inside Danny. One dead, one missing. Shit. But Steve was still talking, “And the blood is too fresh, and not actually coming from the wounds.”
Shaking his head, Danny huffed, “Run that past me again... when did you get your forensics degree?”
McGarret slammed his fist into his hand and snapped, “No, just pay attention. It’s not the same girl, same clothes yes, same colour hair. But her face is so badly bashed in they are relying on the clothes to identify her. And I think Bergman is going to confirm that those injuries were done post mortem.”
“What? Why?” Danny asked, Kono shaking her head. But Chin pointed his pen at Steve and said, “A red herring? A distraction.”
Nodding fervently, Steve said quickly, “Yeah, totally. You find a dead girl, you stop looking for a live one. And what abductor doesn’t want the cops looking for a murderer while he gets away.” Kono though was tapping her notepad, her eyes bright. “Wait, wait. The parents... the Greers. The mother, Julie, remarried. Clive is Ashley’s stepfather. Maybe...a disgruntled ex?”
Everyone was nodding bar Danny whose eyes narrowed at the mention of disgruntled exes. Steve checked his watch and said firmly, “I think we need to check this out, now. Let HPD run with a possible murder. I think Ashley is still out there. With someone.”
Chin nodded, pulling out his phone, already dialling, ”I’ll run background checks, see if the biological father is on the island.”
“Good. You and Chin head back to base, run those checks.” Kono nodded and chased after Chin who was already halfway through the crowd, heading for the car. Danny and Steve followed a little more slowly, Williams still ruminating over everything. It was better thinking that Ashley was alive, that she could still be saved. But there was still a little dead girl up there and distraught parents. Noticing that Steve was pulling away, shouldering his way through the crowds who were more keen to see the crime scene than part and let him through, Danny picked up his pace and shouted, “What did I say about running, McGarrett?”
Catching up to Steve at the car, Danny glared his best ‘Don’t make me say it again’ to which Steve replied, “I’m fine, Danny”
Pursing his lips in disbelief, Williams laughed, “Beyonce Knowles is fine. Jessica Simpson is fine. You Steve McGarret, are not fine.” Steve stared at Danny for several long heartbeats, assessing him and said carefully, “You feeling ok, Danny? ‘Cos you know, you’re looking a little peaked.”
“Peaked? Peaked? I am not the one who was trapped underwater for 20 minutes!” Danny closed the distance between them, ignoring the curious looks of the onlookers nearby, the patrolman off to the side. Steve tried for a nonchalant handwave and huffed, “More like 5.”
Realising he was sounding more and more like a broken comedy routine, Danny threw up his hands and cried, “5? 5 minutes? You can hold your breath for 5 minutes! I did not give you mouth to mouth for 5 minutes.” Realising the police offer was staring at them, mouth open in mixed disbelieving humour, Danny pointed a finger at the patrolman and barked, “What are you looking at ... go catch a cold somewhere else.” And whirling back at McGarrett, finger still stiff with anger, “20 minutes Steve!”
“Fine. 7.”
“20!”
Giving up, Steve gave his partner a gentle shove and snapped, “Get in the car, Danny.”
Resisting the urge to shove Steve back, Danny shook his head, “No, you get in the car. We’ve had this conversation already, today. I am not letting you deprive Gracie of the joy of me driving her to the prom and threatening her date.” McGarret smiled and moved towards the passenger side. “I thought Gracie was never going to date.”
Over by the driver’s side, Danny threw the door open and snapped, “Shut up! Get in!”
Steve shut up and got in. As Danny ducked into the Camero, the smell of leather and take out and beach washed over him. He muttered, “5 minutes my ass.”
The interior of the car was blessedly cool after the heat of the day, once the aircon kicked in. Danny turned the engine over and screamed off, dodging the growing crowd, leaning on the horn to clear the road. Not too sure where McGarrett the Magnificent wanted them, he headed towards Waikiki proper. After the argument, the mood was a little tense and the urgency of the case and images of dead girls in white dresses made for grim driving.
Steve was fidgeting, his finger taping on the window, arm rest, his leg. That wasn’t usual. Happy to leave off worrying about the case and back to worrying about Steve, who was there and accessible and helpable, Danny watched the fidgeting closely. The nurse had given him a checklist of three. So check one for anxiety. Anxiety, breathless, sweating. If Steve showed 2 out of 3, or even 1 and half out of 3, he was dragging Steve to a clinic. Now, he just had to determine if the anxiety was stress of the case related or imminent death related.
Breaking the silence, needing to talk through his own anxiety, Danny sighed, “So where are we going or are we just going to drive around until some bad guy flags us down to confess?”
Steve fidgeted, straightening in the seat, and said, “Original crime scene. See what HPD might have missed.”
Annoyed on behalf of his cop colleagues, Danny couldn’t help snapping, “Seeing as they are incompetent and not you, all powerful and psychic?”
Getting that pissed off look, like Danny was really trying his patience, Steve barked, “Seriously Danny what is your problem?”
Moving right back to pissed off himself, Danny laughed, “You are my problem!”
Steve didn’t answer and bit his tongue instead and just glared out of the window, wiping away an errant drop of sweat. Narrowing his eyes Danny half checked off sweating on the list, but it was hot even with the aircon and they were on a missing girl case and arguing... about everything.
Feeling decidedly hot himself, Danny tried to calm down. But all he could think about was Steve, laying on the deck of a boat, underwater, Gracie lying dead in a field and Chin with a collar on his neck, Kono missing. Focus on the case, Williams. Focus on the case.
The thought that came through was, shit, maybe he should have let Steve drive, that way he could have googled pulmonary edema or water on the lungs and got the low down on symptoms and treatments. It wasn’t like he could get Steve to ...
Taking one hand off the wheel, Danny snapped his fingers to get Steve’s attention and said, “Get that fancy ass piece of shit you call a phone out and google pulmonary edema.”
Stunned, Steve fishmouthed and stammered, “What, no!”
“Do it or I am turning this car around and taking you back to the hospital!”
Steve glared, using all of those Navy Commander cojones he had, “Williams, just up and drive. We are on a case.” Luckily Danny was immune to Navy Seal crap and opened his mouth to say, “That..”
Steve’s fancy ass piece of shit phone rang loudly and McGarrett grabbed it, gasping, “Thank you, Chin. Yeah, Kelly go.”
Danny gripped the steering with more force than required to steer a tank and glared at the road, listening to one half of the conversation. Steve though was nodding. “Good, good. So the father has no custody and ... no visitation rights. Kay..,”
Custody and visitation and daughters, were all things that made Danny Williams pissed off, so he listened intently, shelving the imminent death of Steve McGarrett for now. Steve continued, “No connections to a morgue... funeral parlour, you don’t say. New girlfriend.”
McGarrett‘s smug face and raised eyebrows of ‘and you doubted me’ did little to improve Danny’s mood. “Yeah, yeah, you call it in. You take the father, we’ll take the girlfriend. Send it to me.”
Steve was about hang up, his smugness curled up in a massive grin but it dimmed a little as Chin mumbled on the other end and he snarled, “I’m fine, Chin. Would everyone just focus on the damned case!”
Danny smiled, and in the half a beat of angry silence, Steve deflated a little and sighed, “No. Just... go pick up the father. Kay.” Steve hung up and Danny now smirked at him in ‘told you so’ smugness. McGarrett rubbed his eyes with one hand and Danny felt a spike of guilt. Sure, the moron had booked himself out AMA, and sure he’d nearly drowned but there was a case and a little girl that was maybe with her father, so Danny said, “Girlfriend who works at a funeral parlour?”
Steve nodded, pulling his hand away, looking tired. But he packed that away, pulling on the Navy face and said, “Yeah. She had access to dead bodies. Chin said the divorce was brutal. So maybe the new girlfriend sees a girl that looks like Ashley and ...”
Danny grimaced and crinkled his nose, “They fake a kidnapping, dump an already dead body and ...that’s just wrong. Sick, man. But entirely possible, so what’s the address...”
Steve’s phone pinged and he opened the message and said, “5 Kolomona Place, in Manoa, take East Manoa Road ...”
Danny made a sharp right turn, grinning a little as Steve cursed as he slid into the door as they turned. Turning on the police lights, Danny yelled “Could have run with her already. Everyones attention is on the dead girl. You sure the dead kid is from a funeral parlour?”
“Kono is checking flights and ferries, and has put a BOLO out of both cars. Hank, the father is salesman, does a lot of travelling. Chin is going to check the recent burials at the funeral home... see if there is a match.” Steve was perking up, the surge of adrenalin making him lean forward as Danny speed down the road.
Half joking Danny asked, “Kay. Is there a hospital on the way?”
Caught off guard but suspicious, Steve drawled, “What! Why?”
Watching Steve’s reaction out of one eye, the other on the road, Danny smirked, “’Cos I am dropping you off. I can check out a house man, you need...”
Slamming his hand onto the dash, Steve cursed, “Damnit, Williams! Will you just let it go already? I am fine.” The last three words were bitten off for emphasis, McGarrett’s voice laced with anger. Losing his own temper, again, still too much on edge, his own adrenalin soaked start of the day fresh in his memory, Danny snapped, “Underwater for 20 minutes!”
“If anything you should be checked out, Danny, you...”
Danny smoothly overran Steve and shook his head, “No, I was and I’m fine. You though seem to think you can develop gills at will. I...”
Taking his turn to interrupt, McGarrett shook his head, trying to defuse the tension, backing down a bit, “Shit Danny. You sure you aren’t taking oestrogen pills or something, ‘cos you are nagging like an old lady.” It was a plea to leave it alone, back off, wait for after the case.
Picking up the old banter gauntlet, letting Steve turn the mood less tense, less ‘you nearly died’, Danny stammered, “Old lady?”
The smile was brief, “Yeah, old lady.”
Going for over the top, Danny bit out, “OLD Lady? I’ll hit you upside the head with my old lady parts if you don’t shut up.”
“Likewise.”
Williams smirked, taking a sharp turn, but Steve was prepared for it. Danny laughed, “What you have old lady parts?”
Rolling his eyes, Steve sighed, “Just drive, Williams.”
“And how about you google pulmonary edema already.”
“Shut up!” Steve sounded angry, but he was smiling and Danny was shaking his head. Fine, he’ll let it go, for now. But if Steve started sounding breathless or wheezy, or asthmatic, or whatever... Danny Williams was going to kick his ass.
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TBC
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4