Thanks to Tanith2011 for beta-reading this story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hawaii Five-O or any of its characters.
The Interview
Che Fong awoke to white walls and the smell of antiseptics. Hmm…hospital, he thought. He shifted slightly, aware of a painful tugging at his already sore right leg. Glancing down, he saw Doc Bergman lifting the large bandage and gauze from his exposed right thigh.
"How're you feeling, Che?" asked the doctor, looking up at his patient.
"Sore," Che answered quietly. "I thought my line of work was supposed to be safe."
"Maybe you should stay put in the lab from now on," Doc quipped. "But first, you're going to be staying right here for the next couple of days."
"No argument from me, Doc. I don't think this leg will support my weight yet anyway."
"Wish all my patients were this cooperative," Doc grumbled.
Che smiled, knowing full well to whom Doc was referring. "How's Danny?"
"Doing his best to get out of here and against my better judgment," Doc muttered under his breath.
o-o-o-o-o
Earlier that day…
Che Fong was up early, shaved and dressed, and looking forward to his day. This year, there was enough grant money to hire two summer interns for his lab, and this fine Saturday morning he was off to the university to interview several eager young candidates. Che was in a good mood. Two interns would provide him with much needed help, perhaps making his long workdays a bit shorter. True to his Chinese heritage, he valued education highly and stressed this with his own son and daughter. Now that they were both grown and on their own, he enjoyed working with local science students, giving them the hands-on experience that would set them apart from their peers when they applied for jobs after graduation. Because there were no classes or labs scheduled for Saturday, it was a good day to conduct the interviews.
o-o-o-o-o
Steve McGarrett paced in his office. For the past several weeks, his team had been hard at work, gathering enough evidence to shut down the meth lab that had been a key factor in the deadly drug traffic that marred the seedier parts of Honolulu. Just the thought of promising young lives ruined or even cut short by drugs sickened the lead detective. He couldn't put away the scum that dealt the stuff fast enough.
A knock on his door interrupted his train of thought. "Come in," he said.
Danny Williams entered the office at a brisk pace, sleeves rolled up and notebook in hand.
"Steve, according to Chin's snitch, Jimmy Wong is planning to break into the university chem lab for supplies sometime this weekend," Danny began. "Kono's been tailing him since last night. He just called in and Jimmy is headed for the university right now."
"Let's go!" replied Steve as he grabbed his coat and shoulder holster. Steve bolted out of the big office with Danny close at his heels. As he passed Chin's cubicle on his way out, Steve motioned to his detective to follow. Chin was used to responding to sudden breaks like this and was on his feet and out the door with his colleagues in no time.
o-o-o-o-o
"Hi, Charlie…Kapali is it?" Che began, smiling up at the slightly nervous looking young man standing before him in the university chemistry lab. "I'm Che Fong, forensic scientist for the HPD crime lab, please have a seat."
"I'm very pleased to meet you, Mr. Fong," replied Charlie as he shook the older man's hand before taking a seat.
Che glanced through the first resume in his folder. "I see that you're a chemistry major and biology minor in your junior year. Pretty impressive grades, Charlie, and excellent references, too. Tell me, why are you interested in this position?"
"I've always loved reading detective novels, even when I was a kid. When I got to high school and started taking science classes, I knew I had found my niche, especially chemistry. The opportunity to work in a real crime lab combines both of my favorite interests – it'd be a dream come true!" explained Charlie enthusiastically.
Before Che could respond, he was distracted by a noise coming from the stockroom.
"Did you hear that?" Che asked in a hushed voice.
"Yeah, is someone in there?" Charlie responded, his curiosity also piqued.
o-o-o-o-o
Steve and Danny arrived at the university, followed closely by Chin in a second car. Kono was already there, waiting for them as he had had Jimmy under surveillance since the previous night. They pulled into the parking lot of the chemistry building close to Kono's car. Steve scanned the campus for foot traffic.
"It looks fairly deserted, Steve," observed Danny.
Kono and Chin approached Steve's car for an update.
"What have we got, Kono?" Steve asked.
"Jimmy's somewhere in dere, Boss," Kono began as he pointed at the chemistry building. "No accomplice, just Jimmy. Been in dere for five minutes, maybe. Four entrances to da building – front door is closest to da stockroom, one on each side, another around back."
"Okay, gentlemen, let's do this quietly," said Steve. "Kono, you and Chin take the mauka entrance, Danno take the makai side. I'll cover the front."
The four detectives then silently approached the building entrances with their guns drawn.
o-o-o-o-o
Jimmy Wong was hastily pulling items from the stockroom shelves and stuffing them in a duffle bag when he heard voices coming from the lab and knew his presence had been discovered. His raw nerves were already interfering with his concentration. Now there were possible witnesses, which was enough to push his control beyond the breaking point.
Jimmy panicked. He grabbed the duffle bag and ran out of the stockroom into the lab, his pistol at the ready. As he ran, he glimpsed the source of the voices – a man, perhaps a professor and a kid, obviously a college student who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. No matter, they were still potential witnesses to his crime.
Che Fong reacted in a split second. "Get down!" he called out to Charlie as he jumped up and put himself between Charlie and Jimmy, pushing Charlie behind a lab bench. Jimmy fired twice and then dashed out the lab door into the hallway.
Jimmy's first bullet hit Che square in his right thigh. Che cried out in shock even before the searing pain registered in his brain, and he collapsed to the floor clutching the excruciating wound. The second shot missed Charlie, but damaged the valve on a tank of pressurized liquid ammonia at the far side of the lab, causing the toxic gas to leak into the room.
"Mr. Fong!" Charlie cried out from the floor, trying not to let his fear paralyze him.
Charlie was wide-eyed and shaken, but after a couple of seconds he was on his feet again. Since the gas leak posed the most immediate danger, Charlie fell back on his basic lab safety training and quickly donned a pair of goggles to protect his eyes and crossed the room. He opened all the windows and turned on all the fume hoods to ventilate the room. Then he grabbed a first aid kit to tend to Che's leg. Charlie gently moved Che as far from the gas as he could, then placed a rolled up lab coat beneath the man's head and applied direct pressure to his leg wound with a large wad of gauze. Che winced from the pressure on his leg and took deep breaths, trying to control his own pain, while at the same time he tried to reassure the young man at his side.
"Thanks. You okay, Charlie?" asked Che as he attempted to steady his own nerves.
"I think so," responded Charlie, his voice a bit shaky.
"Well, Charlie, I think you've passed the "emergency procedures" portion of the interview," Che whispered between labored breaths as he managed a slight smile.
o-o-o-o-o
Upon hearing gun fire from inside the building, Steve charged through the front door of the lab, maintaining enough caution for his own safety. The thinning remains of ammonia gas hit his face, burning his eyes and throat and making him cough, but he continued towards the other side of the room. He certainly wasn't prepared for what he found when he got there.
"My God, Che!" gasped Steve, shocked to find the now pale scientist lying on the floor with a considerable amount of blood soaking his right pant leg around the gauze beneath Charlie's hand. Steve knelt down beside Che inspecting the damaged leg as he gently gripped the man's shoulder in a comforting gesture.
"How bad is it?" Steve asked, looking into his friend's eyes.
"I don't know, Steve. Sure does hurt," Che replied.
"Yeah, that I know too well, Che," said Steve, who had started to calm down. "What were you doing here?"
"Interviewing summer interns," Che responded weakly as his eyes traveled up to Charlie's face.
Steve eyed the young man who clearly had the situation under control. "Thanks for taking care of him, son. I'm going to call for an ambulance," he said firmly. "I'll be right back."
o-o-o-o-o
The other Five-O detectives had also heard the shots and quickly entered the building from the side entrances, just as Jimmy Wong bolted out the lab door. He headed in Danny's direction where the closest exit was located. Before Danny could react, the much larger man plowed into him like a freight train with the duffle bag and sent him head first, down the short flight of stairs by the exit. Danny's head struck the railing leaving him dazed and bleeding, and his left wrist took the full impact of his body weight against the cement step. Danny heard a sickening snap and cried out in pain as the bones in his wrist broke. Fortunately for Danny, the collision had also knocked the gun from Jimmy's hand.
Chin grabbed the gun from the floor and quickly checked on Danny while Kono took off after Jimmy across the lawn in front of the building. Kono tackled the large man and pinned his arm behind his back.
"Give it up, Bruddah, you ain't going nowhere!" remarked Kono as he pulled Jimmy up off the ground and cuffed him.
With Jimmy finally subdued, Kono read him his rights and hauled him away to his car and threw him inside.
o-o-o-o-o
After calling for an ambulance for Che and the fire department to deal with the ammonia leak, Steve quickly replaced the radio on the dash of his car, intending to return to the building to check on Che. He paused when he caught sight of Kono taking his prisoner into custody.
"Good work, Kono! Where're Danno and Chin?"
"Still inside, Boss," replied Kono, concern in his voice. "Danny's hurt."
That phrase caused Steve's chest to tighten. "How bad?"
Steve's question was answered by the sight of his other two detectives slowly exiting the building. Danny cradled his injured wrist while Chin steadied him with a supportive arm around the shoulder. The sandy curls above Danny's left eye were matted with blood.
A heartfelt "Danno!" slipped from Steve's lips as he reached out to help escort the injured detective to the car.
Steve and Chin gently eased Danny into the passenger's seat. Despite their best efforts, Danny winced when he hit the seat as he felt his broken bones grating together.
"Easy, Danno," Steve said as he pulled out a handkerchief and pressed it to the gash on Danny's head.
"I'm okay, Steve," sighed Danny, even as he flinched at Steve's gentle touch.
"That Jimmy Wong is one pretty big dude," Chin said to Danny. "You're lucky you're still in one piece."
"Ambulance is on the way," Steve said quietly. "I guess they'll have two passengers – Che is in the lab with a bullet in his leg!"
o-o-o-o-o
The ambulance attendants wheeled the gurney bearing Che toward their vehicle with Charlie sticking close to the patient all the way. Before they lifted the gurney into the back of the ambulance, Che opened his eyes, looked at Charlie and smiled weakly. "Thanks for everything, Charlie," Che began. "You're really something. I'd say that you've got yourself a summer job!"
Charlie beamed with pride. "Thank you so much, Mr. Fong!" he replied, hardly containing his excitement, just before Che was loaded for transport.
Steve helped Danny into the back of the ambulance where one of the attendants got him settled on the bench and began examining his arm and head wound. "I'll see you soon!" Steve called out before the door was closed and they headed for Queen's Hospital.
Steve turned to Charlie. "You really kept your head in there, son. That took guts. I can't thank you enough for what you did for Che."
"Thank you, Mr. McGarrett, I am honored by your kind words," replied Charlie, amazed that he was being addressed by the head of Five-O.
Steve grinned at the awe-struck kid. "If you'd like some more on-the-job experience, you can help Mr. Kelly clean up the scene and tag the evidence. And please let Professor Lee know that the other interviews need to be rescheduled."
o-o-o-o-o
Back to the present…
There was a soft knock on the door of Che's hospital room.
"Come on in," answered Bergman as he finished adjusting the I.V. tubes. "I'm just about finished here."
Steve entered the room with his arm around the petite form of Che's wife. Her eyes were red as if she had been crying, but she was now composed.
"Just five minutes," Doc advised. "He needs his rest."
The middle-aged Asian woman left Steve's protective support, approached the bed and gently kissed her husband as she took his hand in hers. "Thank God you're okay, my love. I was so frightened."
"I'm going to be fine, dear," Che said, his voice betraying fatigue as he smiled up at his wife. "No need to worry."
Steve and Doc left the room to give the couple some privacy.
o-o-o-o-o
Danny met Steve and Bergman in the hallway outside Che's room. His left arm was in a fresh cast supported by a sling. His head wound had been stitched and bandaged. He was somewhat wobbly on his feet but did his best to look steady in the presence of his doctor, who eyed him skeptically.
"I'm ready to go home," said Danny. "How's Che?"
"Obeying doctor's orders, which is more than I can say about you!" answered Bergman gruffly.
"Che's going to be fine, Danno," Steve said with a grin, ignoring the doctor's comment. "Now let's get you home before Doc calls for reinforcements."
"Okay, get him out of here," conceded the doctor. "But take him to your place. I don't want him to be alone tonight in case that head injury takes a turn for the worse."
o-o-o-o-o
Steve was quieter than usual on the drive to his apartment, so much so, that Danny noticed even in his battle-weary condition.
"Something on your mind, Steve?" asked Danny.
"Yeah," said Steve. It was always difficult for him to put his private feelings into words, but with Danny, it often seemed to be worth the effort.
"We could have lost Che today, Danno," began Steve in a strained voice. "I never expected to find him there in that lab. If that bullet had hit him any higher…well, it really got to me."
"Yeah," replied Danny somberly. "I never thought of Che being affected by the danger that comes with our job."
"But that kid … Charlie Kapali … he was really amazing," continued Steve. "Really gives me some hope for the future."
Steve pulled into the parking lot of his apartment building, turned off the engine and looked over at Danny.
"Well, let's get you settled in," Steve said, a smile lighting his eyes. "We're going to be without Che for a while. How are you at dusting for prints, Danno?"
Pau