Here's another story for you guys. I'm slowly working through the prompts I was given. Just a quick oneshot :)
Please read and review, because reviews make me happy!
GB xox
Disclaimer; I don't own anything other than the plot. If I did, there'd be a whole lot more bromance and probably a bit more whump!
Prompt: Someone quits their job after a long weekend away.
Jackpot
Steve stands at the smart table with two of his closest friends and colleagues on either side of him, scanning through pictures of drunken college kids, trying to work out how someone so young can be responsible for the death of twenty six people and two dogs.
"It doesn't make sense." Chin breathes, flicking another picture of a young blonde partaking in a wet t-shirt contest onto the screen, shakes his head.
"It never does when it's kids." Steve agrees. "But he's confessed. We just need the evidence to link him to the bomb."
"But there's nothing." Kono pulls up the document file from the laptop connected to the smart table, finds nothing but overdue essays and book reports. "No emails, no pictures, no documents. Even his internet history is clean."
"There has to be something." Steve insists, stepping back and staring at one of the monitors, as if a further view holds the answers. "What about his call history?"
"Nada." Kono chews the inside of her cheek.
"Okay, so let's say he's innocent for a second. Why confess to a crime you didn't commit?"
"Maybe he's scared?" Chin offers.
"What's scarier than jail time to a nineteen year old?" Steve asks, because he remembers being nineteen, can't recall being scared of anything.
"Could be a number of things." Chin shakes his head.
"Okay, so what do we know about this kid? Is there anything that could suggest what he could be so afraid of losing that he'd risk going to prison for treason?" All three look up at the monitor as Kono flicks the file of Kyle Flatt on the screen, followed by a document for each family member.
"His name is Kyle Flatt, although he was born Kyle Bending. He has two sisters, both still at high school, his father died when he was four years old and his mother remarried to Gary Flatt less than a year later; all still living in Texas." Kono reports, chasing through the files in sync. "He currently lives with his girlfriend, Theresa Hallow, and he's studying at Hawaii Pacific University. All of his friends have said he's a party goer, but has been studying extra hard lately for finals."
"Okay." Steve nods. "What about the girlfriend? Have we questioned her?"
"No, we haven't been able to locate her whereabouts." Chin shakes his head, slides Hallow's picture on to a spare monitor. "All we know about her is that she hasn't been attending her usual classes. Nobody has seen her for the past four days."
"Okay. So, let's just say Kyle is innocent. Someone has to be holding something over him, right? What if that something is his girlfriend?" Steve says, because that makes more sense to him than a random college student bent on blowing up innocent people.
"I can try and find her, see if she's left a digital footprint anywhere." Kono offers, not needing Steve to approve because she's already tapping furiously on her own tablet, pulling up call logs and ATM receipts, as she heads for her office.
"I'll start working on her family, see if there's something in her past that can be linked to someone who'd want to do this, maybe an extremist group." Chin announces. "When is Danny back?" Because it's too quiet around HQ without him, and it's only been four days, but as far as everyone else is concerned, it feels way longer.
"He should be back any minute." Steve answers, looking at his watch; 9:04am. "He just had to drop Grace off at school."
"Maybe he can get something new out of Kyle?"
"Yeah, I'll have him head down as soon as he arrives." Steve nods. "If you see him, send him to my office? I've got to call the Governor with an update." Chin nods, before turning and heading for his own office. Steve hibernates the table computer, pulls his phone out to dial in the Governor's number when his attention is pulled to the sound of the Jersey detective singing out of tune as he walks through the large, glass doors.
"Hey, you're back." Steve smiles as Danny joins him at the table. "How'd the camping trip with the Aloha Girls go?"
"Oh, you know. There were twigs and bushes and bugs. All things girls hate." Danny answers, resting one hand on his hip, the other hooking over the gun in his holster. "I heard about the bombing on the news this morning. You should have called. Did we catch the guy responsible?"
"We have a guy, but not sure if he's the guy." Steve answers honestly, as he taps in the Governor's number. "We thought maybe you could go talk to him, see what you make of his story."
"Yeah, sure." Danny nods. "Hey, Steve, I need to talk to you about something first. Maybe in your office?"
Steve looks up at Danny, thumb poised above the 'call' button, observes the Detective's twitchy eye, the way he licks at his lips, rubs at his nose the way he does when there's something he needs to say but doesn't know how.
"Sure, what's up?" Steve asks before both men head for the privacy of the glass room, closes the door behind them. Danny hands over a blank, sealed envelope.
"That's my letter of resignation." He states.
"Wait, what?" Steve looks down at the envelope, the weight suddenly increasing as he tries to wrap his head around the fact that his partner, his best friend, is quitting on him, on the team. Looks back up at Danny, sees no trace of humour. "You can't be serious?"
"I'm sorry, Steve, but I am." Danny nods solemnly. "Something's come up, and, well, I'm planning on moving back to the mainland with Grace."
"The mainland...wait...Danny is this is something to do with Rachel? Because we can fight her. You don't need to keep moving around..."
"It's not Rachel." Danny shakes his head. "I'm going for full custody of Grace, and I've got the best lawyers in the States working on it, who both reckon I'll have her in my custody by the end of the month." Tucks both of his hands in his pants pocket after absent mindedly straightening his tie.
"And you're going to move her back to the mainland?"
"Yes, that is the plan. I think she is better off at home, in New Jersey, with myself, my parents and my crazy siblings, rather than stuck here on this godforsaken island in the middle of the Pacific ocean, where they believe that it is okay to put fruit on pizza's. Is that okay?" One hand slips free from the pocket, hovers in front of him as he rubs circles on the index finger with his thumb. He waits for an answer to the metaphorical question.
"I don't know what to say." Steve shakes his head, looks back down at the envelope.
"Yeah well, it's been nice working with you too, Buddy. Even if you do get me shot at." Seems to pause for thought, but it's only for added drama. "Almost on a daily basis."
"How long?" Ignores the sarcastic jibe.
"It's all in there." Danny nods to the letter he'd taken the time to write, even though technically he didn't need to. "But until the end of the week. I need to fly back home to start making arrangements before Grace can join me, y'know?"
"But that's only three days, Danny."
"I know, and I am sorry." Danny nods, and it doesn't matter to Steve that he looks genuinely apologetic. "It's complicated, and a bit sudden, but Grace is my everything, and I need to do this."
"Right, okay." Steve nods, unable to collect any real thoughts on the matter. "Hand your paperwork in to me by the end of the day, and I'll notify the Governor so we can start processing applications for your replacement."
"Sure." Danny nods, turns on his heel and pulls open the office door. "So, who's downstairs? The guy you need me to interrogate?"
"Oh, don't worry about it." Steve shakes his head. "You can start packing your office things. Kono and Chin have a handle on this one."
"Okay, if you say so. You know where I am if you need me." Danny says before walking out and leaving Steve staring after him, the hurt evident on his face even as he tries his hardest to hide it.
"Any news?" Steve asks as he joins his team at the Smart Table a little over twenty four hours later, avoids eye contact with his best friend.
"There's not a lot to go on." Kono begins, shaking her head whilst flicking files across the table. Double taps one to open. "I've checked credit cards, ATM's, traffic cams, you name it. They all came up blank, apart from this one." Double taps another file, swoops to flick it up on the overhead monitor. A black and white video begins to play without audio. "This is Hallow's vehicle parked at Chin Sheung's sushi bar, and there's Theresa exiting the vehicle and going into the restaurant." Kono points as the video plays. "Now if I fast forward three hours, here's a guy coming out of the bar and getting into Theresa's car, and driving it away. That's the last cam to have picked up that license plate, so either someone changed it, or the car has been ditched somewhere. I've gone through another 4 days worth of footage, and there's no sign Theresa ever left, at least not by this entrance."
"Okay, so who's the big guy?"
"That's Viktor Aristarkhov." Chin answers, pulls up a driving license for the team to see. "Born and raised in Moscow until he turned twenty one, and then moved to Mexico. He's frequently crossing the border to the mainland, but uses different aliases so by the time the authorities are aware, he's already crossed back. He's wanted in four different countries for various crimes including rape, murder, drug smuggling and theft. There's no evidence of him coming to or leaving the Island."
"Which means," Danny continues, finally gets Steve's attention, but his mind is so focused on the job, he's not really paying attention to the frosty glare, "that he either came in on fake papers, or his buddies back in Russia helped smuggle him in under the radar. Either way, I am pretty certain that this guy does not want to be caught."
"So we have two questions that need answering here; where has Theresa gone, and why is this Aristarkhov driving her car?" Steve nods, addresses the group. "Kono, I need you to try and dig into Aristarkhov's background. Maybe he's linked to the bombing, knows something about it. Me and Danny are going to stake out the restaurant, see if some thing's going down there. Chin, how do you like Sushi?"
Danny sighs, picks at a loose thread on his pants as he watches university students enter and leave the sushi bar, and Steve takes his eyes from the suspect building and turns them to his partner. Something is different, that he is sure of, but he can't put his finger on what, doesn't know whether Danny wants to be asked, because usually Danny offers up some sort of hint; an extra long sigh, a mutter under his breath, or he just starts to conversation straight up himself. But this isn't normal, Danny isn't normal, and Steve wants to know why.
"So." Steve starts, scratches at his neck, wipes the bead of sweat forming on his top lip. "You're resigning, huh?" Danny waits a second before answering, doesn't look at Steve when he does.
"Yep." Is the simple reply.
"Moving back to the Mainland." A prompt for Danny to elaborate.
"Yep."
"At the end of the week." Steve prompts again, provokes a deep sigh from his partner.
"Now is not the time, Steve. I'm concentrating."
"You're always concentrating." Steve retorts, doesn't offer anything else until Danny heaves another sigh, one of defeat, and looks back at the SEAL, one eye brow raised. "Why?"
"I've told you why..."
"No, you've told me that you want custody of Grace, that you hate the Island." Steve corrects before Danny can continue. "You've been saying that since you moved here. I mean why now? Why try and take Grace away from her home, your home, now?"
"Well, I..." Danny starts, but stops as he ponders that question, looks back at the Sushi bar.
"It's me, isn't it?" Steve concludes, and Danny's eyes widen as they flick to him.
"What?"
"Well, if it's not Rachel, then it's something I've done." Steve elaborates. "It's because I got you shot."
"Which time?" Danny scoffs.
"All of them." Steve answers earnestly. "I know it hasn't been the easiest ride, and I can be a little...enthusiastic...but I thought you liked being my partner, being part of Five-0."
"No." Danny shakes his head. "I do. Look, Steve, it's not you, it's me. It's complicated."
"Even with my limited experience of people and relationships, Danno, I know people only ever use that line as an easy scape goat."
"This isn't the time, Steve. We've got work to do." Danny deflects, shifts in his seat as a young female matching Hallow's description pulls up in a Porsche 911.
"Since when has that stopped you talking?" Steve mutters, but Danny doesn't have chance to reply because Steve's cell starts to vibrate. "McGarrett." He answers, puts it straight on speaker phone, as the red haired woman steps out of the car, sunglasses covering most of her face, glances over her shoulder.
"Steve? It's Kono. Listen, Interpol have just called me. Well, you, but you weren't here so I had to answer your office line. Anyway, they called because Theresa Hallow isn't Theresa Hallow." Kono rushes.
"Kono, slow up, what do you mean?" Steve sits straighter in his seat, doesn't miss how Danny's attention is fixed to the woman standing next to her car, seemingly waiting for someone, checking her watch consistently.
"Interpol were alerted when we put a search in for Viktor and Theresa. It turns out that Theresa's real name is Arielle Friedman. She's a known arms dealer, wanted internationally in at least seven different countries, including her home country, Germany. Viktor is her right hand man."
"Okay, we've got her." Steve replies, ends the call and pulls his gun from the holster. Danny copies.
"How do you want to do this?" He asks, because despite their previous conversation, Danny trusts Steve with his life, doesn't doubt him in the slightest.
"The easy way." Steve answers, his hand on the door handle, ready to shove it open.
"Okay." Danny nods, checks his wing mirror for traffic before opening the car door, gun in his right hand, and stepping out of the Camaro. He's not sure if it's the piece in his hand or the glint of sun hitting the golden badge pinned to his belt, but something catches Arielle's eye, and before either he or Steve can announce themselves, she's jumping back into the Porsche and pulling away, speeding into oncoming traffic. Danny and Steve don't need to tell each other what they're doing, they know before they even really think it, and they're both back in the Camaro less than three seconds later and speeding after their suspect.
"So much for the easy way!" Danny exclaims as Steve weaves in and out of traffic, eliciting blaring horns and screeching tyres as brakes are slammed on.
"I didn't make her run, Danno!" Steve retorts, yanks on the wheel hard as he swerves to miss an oncoming truck.
"Woah!" Danny yells, he punches in Kono's phone number.
"Danny?" Kono answers immediately.
"Kono, we were made." Danny reports, tries to keep his tone level as Steve over takes a slower car. "Suspect on the run, we're in pursuit. Can you call Chin, get HPD on us, too. We may need a road block."
"Done." Kono replies, and Danny can hear her in the background talking to Chin via their com system.
"Woah!" Danny yells again as they round a corner, leaves almost half of their tires on the road. "This, this, is why I'm moving back to the mainland!" He yells.
"What?" Steve asks, because Danny's never really complained about pursuits before. Yes, he had a rant about Steve's driving, how they go through fifty thousand tires a year because of the way he drives, but that's normal Danno speak. He'd always end with a half-assed compliment at the end.
"You're gonna get me killed!" Danny shouts, and Steve's not sure if it's anger or terror.
"Wait, you're leaving us?" Kono's voice comes over the microphone, and Danny mentally kicks himself because he still hasn't found the time to tell the cousins. Opts to ignore her instead.
"I wont get you killed." Steve replies, slams on the Camaro's breaks so hard Danny is thrust forward, is glad that he has his belt on, is sure he's going to sue for whiplash. "Pursuing on foot, Kono. Where's HPD?" Steve yells as both men jump out of the car, starts to chase the woman down the wooden pier, both pulling their guns from their holsters.
"Stop! Five-0!" Danny yells as they run after Arielle, and Danny wonders how someone can run this fast in heels that high.
"Arielle friedman, stop running, or we will shoot you!" Steve calls, but she continues to run, and Danny's knee is aching.
Steve sees the small boat before Danny, knows it's where she's headed to, wonders if he can outrun her if he takes a detour up over the shipping container, jump over to the yacht and then down on to the small get away boat. He veers to the left, runs up the ramp to the top of the container as Danny continues at her level. It's enough to distract her, as she turns and points her small pistol in Steve's direction. He rolls, ducks just in time for the bullet to whiz past his head, and then, unsure on how Danny has gained on her so quickly, watches as Danny jumps, aims his body at the woman and knocks her, hard, sending both her and him flying in to the blue water below them.
"Danny!" Steve yells, the sirens of HPD sounding in the background, as Steve jumps down from the metal crate, runs to the edge of the pier, looks down in the water. Can't see a thing. "Danny?!" He calls out again, before diving into the waves himself, ignores the sting of salt water in his eyes as he searches for his best friend. Spots the blonde detective wrapped around the woman, doing an under water tango as they each struggle to over power the other. Steve swims, as fast as he can, as Danny manages to twist his body around and pin the woman to himself, her arms to her side, and even though she's trying to squirm free and attempts a couple of times to throw her head back to break his nose, his grip is strong. A few kicks of his feet, and they break the surface, both gasping for air, and then Steve follows.
"Danny, you okay?" He first asks, but doesn't need an answer because visually he can see that the blonde detective, whilst pissed off, is absolutely himself.
"Yeah. Fine." He pants as they allow the water to carry them to the pier, where a couple of HPD officers are leaning over the edge, hands outstretched. They lift Arielle up first, then allow themselves to be pulled free from the water.
"Nice catch, Danno." Steve smiles, genuinely, takes the towel an officer hands him as they watch Arielle get cuffed and pushed towards a row of parked cruisers.
"Yeah, thanks." Danny nods, dries his hair, tries to keep it flat to his head, but knows from the amused look on Steve's face it's already started to go fluffy.
"Water's a lot colder in Jersey." Steve half jokes. "You're gonna miss this place when you go."
"Yeah." Danny nods, his face a little sad, until panic over rides and he's frantically shoving hands into pants pockets and out again. "Oh you have got to be kidding me!" He exclaims, rushes to the pier's edge and looks down into the water.
"What?" Steve asks, concerned, joining the detective.
"God dammit!" He yells, punches thin air. "I can not believe my luck. This is your fault, you know that?" Danny accuses jabbing a finger at Steve before running his hand up through his hair, then down over his red, angry face.
"Danno, what's wrong?"
"I can't believe this." Danny shakes his head, squeezes his eyes tight shut, pinches the bridge of his nose as veins pulse visibly at his temple.
"Believe what?" Steve asks, exasperated.
"I won the lottery, okay?! That's why I was leaving!"
"Wait, what? You won the lottery?" Steve asks, sounds sceptical, but there's no sign of humour on Danny's face.
"Yes, I won the damn lottery!" Danny nods, waves his hand out to the ocean. "And I was going to use the money on hiring the best damn lawyers in the country to get Grace back into my custody, and move us back to the Mainland so I can look after Mom and Dad in their retirement years, okay?"
"Okay, makes sense." Steve nods, is a little concerned at his partners rising blood pressure. Dares to ask "so what's the problem?"
"The problem?!" Danny repeats, his eyes bulging a little, eyebrows shooting up and disappearing under floppy, blonde hair. "The problem is that the damned ticket was in my pocket before I jumped in there." Points down to the water.
"Why was the ticket in your pocket?" Steve asks, confused.
"Why is that even important right now? Can we focus just for a second, please!" Danny hisses, hands dancing frantically through the air. "It was in my pocket because I was going to fill it in and send if off tonight after work, okay? I haven't had time since getting back from the camping trip."
"Okay, well, how much are we talking about?"
"How much?"
"Yeah, how much? Couple thousand? a Million? Two?" A casual, one shouldered shrug.
"Try a hundred and twenty." Danny mutters.
"A hundred and twenty thousand?"
"Million."
"Million?"
"Yeah, a hundred and twenty million dollars." Danny snaps. "Not that it matters now!"
"Oh Danny, man, I'm sorry, I don't know what to say." Steve shakes his head, tries not to laugh, because if it were anyone else, if it wasn't someone so deserving of the cash, it would most certainly be the most entertaining conversation he'd ever have.
"I just, I can't even...Goddammit!" Danny takes a deep breath, calms a little, shoulders sag slightly. "Oh well." Defeated.
"C'mon, lets get back to HQ." Steve commands, because standing here on the pier dwelling on what could have been isn't going to help either of them. Slaps Danny on the shoulder gently as they head for the Camaro. "I'm guessing you'll want your job back?"
"Are you kidding me?" Danny exclaims, stops in his tracks, folds both arms across his chest defensively. "What makes you think I'd want to work with you now?" Sticks his chin out a little.
"You don't?" Steve's turn to raise eyebrows, spins to face the defiant Detective. Danny seems to ponder something, narrows his eyes.
"Fine." He nods. "But I'm never speaking to you again. Ever."
"Never?"
"Nope. I'm poor now, because of you."
"It wasn't my fault, Danno." Steve defends himself, doesn't think Danny is being serious, knows him too well.
"The easy way."Danny says, a hand wriggling free and an index finger points at Steve. "You said we'd do this 'the easy way', which, by the way, does not include a high speed, vehicle pursuit," counts on his fingers dramatically, "a foot pursuit, jumping in the very wet ocean, nearly drowning, and losing one hundred..."
"Danny..." Steve tries to interrupt, but Danny speaks over him.
"One hundred and twenty million dollars."
Steve seems to mull that over, because dammit, Danny had a point.
"Okay." Steve nods, giving in, before turning back to the car.
"Okay?" Danny repeats, walking around to the passenger side.
"Yeah, okay." Steve confirms, before sliding in behind the wheel, wet clothes forgotten. Danny does the same, is clearly not in the mood to complain about making the seats smell of wet dog. They sit in silence for a whole minute, both staring out of the windscreen, watching HPD officers shove Arielle into a cruiser whilst others scan for any possible evidence she may have dropped during the pursuit. "Change of clothes and then a beer?" Steve finally offers.
"Sure." Danny nods. "But you're paying. I now have to find the money to pay a thousand bucks to the lawyers I had a telephone consultation with at lunch."
"A thousand dollars?" Steve exclaims.
"Yeah, yeah. I was a multi millionaire, what can I say?" Danny shrugs. "Hey, any chance of the Governor giving a raise?"
Steve laughs, shakes his head, because they both know the answer to that one.
And even though he promised to never speak to Steve again, Danny doesn't shut up for the whole car ride home.