You have a Jewish Uncle?
AN: Futzing with the time line a bit: Ocean's 11&12 took place years before Danny joined the force but 13 took place three years before Danno moved to Hawaii (which is also when the movie came out). So that means that He had to go from New Jersey to Vegas to help Reuben. It doesn't really come up in the chapters but it is my head canon.
"The governor wants us to talk to some hotelier who's building some big casino-resort up in Pearl city. We're going to swing by there on the way to the office." Leutenant-Commander Steve McGarrett said as he slid into the drivers seat of his partner's Camaro. Detective Danny Williams, used to being relegated to the passenger seat just nodded his assent. He wondered if he knew the hotelier. He'd spent a great deal of his youth in casinos all around America (and a few in Europe as well).
Steve and Danny were still in the getting-to-know-you phase of their partnership – if such a thing could exist after Steve got Danny shot (and Danny retaliated by punching the SEAL in the teeth). Danny wanted to keep Steve from getting to know Danny's past before he joined the police force. He hated being forced so close to the governor. His plan was to be a beat cop (maybe a detective) in some Podunk station and remain anonymous but then his ex moved their daughter to the pineapple hell that was his new home. Danny grumbled to himself, he made an effort to keep the words of his rant unintelligible.
Danny's background was more than what most reasonable people would call 'a little shady.' Luckily he'd gone by a childhood nickname and his mother's maiden name and the people he worked with were good enough that his face didn't bring up any flags. That didn't stop the terror from creeping up his spine when he thought of the jail time he'd owe if he was caught. He didn't even think about what it would do to Grace to have a con for a father.
"What does the Governor want us to do, exactly?" he finally asked.
"Apparently this guy had some issues a few years back in Vegas. He got forced out of a deal by his partner and had a bad heart attack, it nearly killed the guy. Next thing to hit the news was how that casino paid out so badly during opening night that it had to close it's doors. The slots paid out, the black-jack tables paid out, the man's diamonds were stolen.
"The Governor wants us to make sure that doesn't happen again. Apparently he's good for the economy and that," he emphasized the last word, "is bad for it." Steve swerved around a Grand Caravan full of teens. Danny fought not to grip the door.
He knew that disastrous Grand Opening. He was there. He rigged a few of the games and helped cause an earthquake too. That meant the hotelier must be Reuben.
"I heard about that. Didn't the NGC investigate for foul play after that?" Danny already knew the answer. Danny Ocean got pinched for violating parole – again. As usual the NGC was more than useless. Danny was sure it helped that Linus' dad pretended to be FBI long enough to destroy most of the evidence against Reuben's crew (the name they eventually settled on because the Bank Job was for Reuben after all). Danny tried to hide his discomfort by looking out at the passing ocean, he cracked his window letting in the hot, humid sea air.
The resort was near completion but the name wasn't yet on the side. Danny wondered what it's name was. Danny had clear memories of the hotel it was replacing. It had been about half the size and really crappy. He'd stayed there for about a week. The drab brick building and tiny windows was gone. In it's place was a modern monstrosity of glass and white-washed Mediterranean-inspired towers and villas. Danny was surprised. Reuben's other hotels in Vegas and Atlanta always looked older.
Steve rolled to a stop half a block from the construction entrance in deference to the heavy vehicles rumbling in and out regularly. Danny was both surprised and relieved by it. He half expected his insane partner to drive right into the lobby.
Danny swallowed and loosened his tie as the two climbed out of the car. He breathed deep the thick air, such a sharp contrast to his home that it was taking him a long time to get used to it. The heat and dust native to the construction site certainly didn't help matters. The two observed the chaos in the lobby for a moment before Danny saw Reuben. Besides the power tools creating a staccato baseline the air reeked of wood-stain and paint. Off in one corner two men in long pants and tacky Hawaiian shirts carefully put together luggage carts. A woman and a man argued loudly about table settings and a second woman was making an effort to show a local how to tie a bow-tie. It didn't look like she was getting anywhere. Danny finally saw the familiar shape of Reuben through a curtain of translucent plastic set up to protect the completed sections from the construction.
Danny led Steve through a slit in the plastic before the SEAL could cut his own. Reuben, looking truly alive in a way Danny hadn't seen in years not since before the Bank Job. He was in the middle of directing his troops (it looked like house keeping). He wore a rich mauve smoking jacket over navy pin striped slacks. His thick horn-rimed glasses magnified electric eyes from their precarious perch on the tip of his noes. The old man's arms waved dramatically as he made his point. His momentum carried him around to see where Danny and Steve had entered.
"Well I'll be damned. Turk Williams. Ya know they said you'd moved out here. I didn't believe them but they said it." His thick New York accent, not lost by years in Vegas still coloured his voice. Danny didn't fight the smile his words brought on. In that moment he remembered being Turk. All the fun he'd had, starting a worker's revolution, arguing with Vergil, and (perhaps most of all) driving his own damn car. Reuben dismissed the house keepers with a wave of his hand.
"Reuben," Danny clapped the older man's hand, "I know Linus told you I moved out here."
"He told. I didn't listen. You know how he gets with his." Reuben motioned with his left hand. Somehow he conveyed Linus's habit of over analyzing the lives of the people he cared about. Reuben pulled the cop into a brief but tight hug. When they separated the Mogul looked Steve up and down, "Who's your friend?"
"Ruben this is my insane partner, Steve; Steven this is my honorary uncle Reuben Tishkoff." Steve's expressive face pulled into a frown of surprise but he nodded at Reuben so Danny didn't make a thing of it.
"Steve, hu?" Reuben asked. He kept his face to the SEAL but his eyes sought out Danny's, "This the guy that got you shot and conscripted?"
"Oh so you didn't believe Linus when he told you I moved but you believe Danny about my Job?" Danny couldn't keep the teasing contempt out of his tone. Danny Ocean called the night after Steve took over his father's case. The detective felt compelled to rant at the older Danny.
Reuben laughed, "I got no reason not to believe him, Turk. You and I both know that Linus loves a good story."
Steve had on his aneurism face so Danny knew he had to change the subject. Too much of the same and Steve might start asking awkward questions. The commander was too curious by half.
"Listen, Reuben, is there somewhere we can talk?"
"I have an office-trailer. Can you believe that? An office-trailer!" Danny couldn't tell if Reuben's voice was I've-Never-Been-So-Insulted or I-Can't-Believe-I-Never-Thought-of-This-Before.
"Well then, lead the way," Danny made a little head nod like he did whenever he pretended to work for Reuben in the past. It was a slip but Steve didn't seem to catch it.
888/***
The trailer was gaudy in a typically Reuben fashion. The man had always had a thing for glitz and glamour. Red satin cloth hung loosely from the roof brought both colour and texture to the taupe rectangle. The floor sported area Persian rugs (mostly blue but Danny could see one red and one pink). The harsh overhead lighting threw shadows from the few cabinets behind the mahogany Presidential desk. The chair behind the desk was simpler than Danny expected, just a rolling desk chair. Not even a very good one at that. The two guest chairs, however, were tall, white leather, wing-backed monsters.
Reuben settled behind his desk and motioned to the monster chairs. He poured two glasses of scotch, he motioned with the decanter to Steve. Steve just frowned.
"He'll take a cup." Danny said as he reached for his own. He'd already taken a sip when something between Steve's aneurysm face and bewildered confusion even registered. "What?"
"You never drink on the job."
"Are you kidding? I've never known Turk to turn down a drink." Reuben sounded outraged on Danny's behalf.
"I've never known him as Turk." Steve countered.
"Anyway," Danny cleared his throat loudly, "Steve and here are here because the Governor is afraid that you might find yourself in another Banks situation. She says your resort is going to be too good for the state economy for another Ocean's Retribution. She wants Five-0 to make sure that doesn't happen and you know it will happen if you get all... Sad again. You know how Ocean's Eleven are." Danny forced himself to use the stupid nickname Benedict gave them. He said his bit all in one breath before downing the rest of his scotch. He poured himself another.
Reuben sipped his own drink smiling all the while. He didn't speak right away instead he set down his cup and settled back in his dinky office-trailer chair. "If you bothered to keep in touch, kid, you'd know Rusty is my partner in this. Hard to double cross yourself."
"Wait, Rusty? In Amsterdam you said he was too irresponsible." Danny fumbled his drink. Steve took a sip of his own.
"Well that was years ago. Besides, he likes this island about as much as you do, he's the money, I'm the brains."
Steve shifted and suddenly Danny remembered he wasn't alone. "Alright then. We should get going. I'll be by for the opening." Danny didn't finish his second scotch instead he hauled himself upright and practically dragged his partner out of the office-trailer to the sound of Reuben's full-bellied laughter.
Danny was muttering darkly to himself by the time Steve pulled the car out from the curb.
"What was that about?" Steve asked. His voice was even but his hands gripped tightly to the wheel.
"What was what about, Steven?"
"well to start with, why did he call you Turk?"
"You keep going on about ohana, right? How it doesn't have to be blood?"
Steve shot him an annoyed look but nodded, "Well Reuben and I are like that. My brother and I, we don't get along with our folks. We met Reuben when we were young and impressionable. We were impressed. There are more, of course: Linus, Rusty, of course," Steve nodded, He'd heard the two discuss them after all, "and there's another Danny too. He's older though so I got to go by my childhood nickname. I don't even remember where the name Turk came from." Danny finally confessed. It wasn't a lie. Turk was a nickname. Malloy was his mother's maiden name. Saul suggested he and Verg go by Malloy for safety sake.
"Apparently Reuben learned from last time, and Rusty learned too. A few years ago his first hotel was in major debt. I guess he must have listened to Reuben's advice." Danny rambled.
"Is Rusty another Daniel?" Steve snarked about the nickname.
"Ha ha, babe. Rusty's short for Russell."
"What's Ocean's Retribution."
"What?" Danny was blindsided by the subject change.
"You called what happened to Bank's place 'Ocean's Retribution'" Steve elaborated needlessly.
"You don't know about Ocean's eleven do you?" Steve didn't get an answer before Danny ploughed on, "Of course not. You were too busy blowing up terrorists to hear about the biggest heist in Vegas history.
"Basically what you need to know is that three of Benedict's casino share a vault. One night a team of experts knocked over the vault. The rumoured take was north of 150 million. Only one man was identified on the tapes: Danny Ocean, but nothing could be pinned to him and it was estimated he'd need a team of nearly a dozen. They managed to build a replica vault and change out the security feed to trick Benedict. They were caught out after because Benedict put in some floor work a few days before the hiest. A few years after that and Interpol put out reports of nine Americans, one Brit and one Chinese national running around playing a 'game' with a French thief. The prize was rumoured to be more than 150 million dollars to be payed to Benedict."
"Ocean's 11" Steve cut in.
"yeah babe, I'm not done yet though. The most popular theory was that this was the team that hit Benedict's casinos.
"After Bank gave Reuben a heart attack and his hotel failed spectacularly in 2007, once more Danny Ocean was in the reports as a by-stander. It's well known that Reuben and Ocean are friends after all (hell I've even met the man a time or two) so some people think that the con man orchestrated the failure of The Bank.
"As with the rest, nothing could be proved. Like you said before the Bank kept paying out but that wasn't all. Someone found out who would be doing the Diamond Review," at Steve's blank look Danny gave a brief explanation. "Anyway, they found out who he was and trashed his room, gave him food poisoning and skin rashes. They impersonated hotel staff and kicked him out for his smell. Finally, sick and tired and just wanting to go home, he won 11 million from a Bank-owned Airport machine. The same type of machines that hotel guests kept winning on."
"Is that it?"
"there are rumours that they started an earthquake. I don't know if I believe that one though."
"I hope not. If someone started an earthquake at Reuben's new place they could set off a reaction with the volcanoes." Steve's outraged voice surprised Danny. He never expected his partner to believe his old crew had actually started a seismic event.
"And just how does a Cop from Jersey know so much about crimes in Vegas?" Steve continued as they rolled up to HQ.
"Well first of all: I wasn't always from New Jersey and B, I told you already Reuben and I are like family. I visited him when he was convalescing." Danny grumbled about pyro Brits and false noses as they clambered up the front steps.
Steve was quiet for more than a minute, "So what do we tell the Governor?"