Steve's Day Off
The Governor insists Steve take a day off and his team find themselves wondering how one man can get into so much trouble by himself.
Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to either Hawaii Five O or any of its characters.
"What are you doing here?" Danny Williams said as his bossed strode into the office.
Chin and Kono both looked up and stared at Steve McGarrett, who seemed taken aback by the vehemence of Danny's words.
"I work here," he said mildly.
"Did or didn't the Governor tell you yesterday that she wanted you to take a day off? I believe she was very specific. You are maxed out on your vacation time, since from what we can tell you haven't taken any time off at all."
"So, I'm maxed out on my vacation time, big deal," Steve replied, resting his hip on Danny's desk. "Why do you care?"
"Because, I've actually seen lawyers at trials claim that police officers who haven't taken vacation time overreacted in situations or have made mistakes because they were tired. You can't just ignore things like this Steve. Now you have the day off, I suggest you get out of here and start it right now. Go surfing, take a swim, swing in a hammock, have a beer, hell go shopping for all I care."
"Shopping?" Steve asked. "Shopping for what?"
"Damned if I know but orders are orders and you are taking the day off," Danny stood and grabbed Steve by the arm. Steve resisted for a moment but took in Danny's grim expression and shrugged. Danny walked Steve out the door, closing it firmly behind him. "Man, he just doesn't listen does he?"
"The Governor really talked to him about this?" Chin asked.
"Yeah, the accountants got on her about state employees carrying too much vacation time on the books. And I guess they used Steve as an example. She was not happy."
"I wonder what exactly he'll get up to today." Chin wondered under his breath. Somehow he couldn't imagine Steve lounging in a hammock somewhere.
An hour later the three were making progress on their backlog of paperwork when Danny's phone rang. "Detective Williams," he answered.
Chin and Kono looked up when they heard his gasp. "Could you repeat that please? Just a second." Danny gestured for them both to join him then pressed the speaker button on his phone. "Ok, go ahead, I have you on speaker."
"Detective Williams, this is Sergeant Ben Akanu from HPD. There was an incident at the Honolulu Center Mall. Three robbers entered one of the stores and threatened the checkout clerk. Commander Steve McGarrett was in the store shopping and, well, all three are on their way to the hospital under guard. We asked him to do a report but he told us he was under orders to take the day off and asked if he could do the interview tomorrow. He gave us a card but when we looked at it we realized it was your card. So we thought we'd just call and let you know."
Danny, Chin and Kono all realized simultaneously that their mouths were hanging open and shut them abruptly. Chin was the first to speak.
"He disarmed three men? By himself?"
"Oh yes, the store manager knows Commander McGarrett. She said he'd been heading towards the register when the robbers entered. Once he finished with them he actually asked to be rung up and insisted on paying she said, even though she would have gladly given him anything in the store."
"Was he hurt?" Kono asked.
"No, not a scratch on him. I thought we should inform you of the incident in case you get any questions. Of course everyone on the force has heard about him. Is it true he trained as a ninja?"
Danny answered, "No, at least I don't think so. He was trained as a Navy Seal. I think that means he's a super ninja of some sort. Do you need any of us to come down there?"
"No, it's covered. Thanks Detective Williams," the officer hung up.
Danny glanced at his watch. "He's been on vacation for less than sixty minutes and he's already got three arrests."
"I'm sure the rest of the day will be quiet," Kono said.
"Famous last words," Chin muttered.
They all continued to work, finally relaxing when another hour had passed and no calls had come in. Just as they were preparing to go grab some lunch Danny's phone rang.
"Hello, Detective Williams speaking," Danny answered.
"Mamo, slow down. What happened?" Danny gestured for the others to join him and they did. "Hold on a sec." He placed the phone on his desk and hit speaker.
"I said, you need to get down here. Steve left you all a present, of sorts." Mamo chuckled.
"What kind of present?" Kono asked.
"Just get down here. And you may want to bring the paddy wagon with you."
"Just tell me what happened, please," Danny's voice was patient but his eyes were rolling as he spoke.
"Just get down here," Mamo hung up.
They all stared at the phone for a minute then with a collective sigh gathered their things. They took Kono's car since there was more room and soon they were approaching Mamo's surf shop.
"Mamo," Danny called as they approached. The old man made his way out and cordially greeted them all. "Mamo, why are we here?"
"Steve told me to call the police after he was finished, follow me." He led them past the shop and there, tied to a palm tree, were three teenagers. All seemed very cowed and avoided meeting the stares of the police officers. "Steve took care of them for me. They've been coming around for weeks, hassling my customers, panhandling and stealing."
"So why didn't you call the police?" Kono asked.
"I did better than call the police, I called Steve," Mamo smiled at them. "He told me he'd come take care of things as soon as he got a day off. He came by a few hours ago and told me he was here to help. He borrowed a surf board and surfed for a while. When the boys came around I gave him the high sign."
"What did he do?" Chin asked.
"He pretended to be a tourist and let the boys hassle him. When one of them pulled a knife, Steve took care of it. Scared the hell out of them. Scared me a little too. One minute he's standing there acting like a goofy tourist and the next minute…" his voice trailed off.
"He's a super Ninja," Danny finished for him. "So are you pressing charges?"
"Actually Steve told me to tell the police he'll be pressing charges. Here's his list. He'll fill in the report tomorrow." Mamo handed Danny a list which he immediately recognized as being in Steve's neat printing. He scanned the list of charges and nodded.
"Why did you call us?" Kono asked. "You could have called any cops."
"Yeah, but I figure it's your job to take care of these things for him. If I called other cops who didn't know him he might have gotten in some trouble. I didn't want to hold him up. He said he had a few more things to take care of."
"God, I wonder what he meant by that? Seriously, what is he doing? He gets the day off and while any other sensible human being would go home and take a nap, he is out solving crimes that are HPD's responsibility." Danny was seething. He and Chin had untied the three boys while Kono called for them to be picked up by HPD. Once their prisoners had been handed off, the three of them decided to go have lunch on the beach.
Once they had settled in, Kono turned to Danny. "I know why Steve didn't say anything about Mamo's problem. Steve knew if it got handed off to HPD they'd try to stake it out with a police car for a day or two but those kids would have spotted them and stayed away. Then when the car left they'd be back and possibly more violent. Steve must have figured out a way to set them up. And I'm betting Mamo gave him a lot more information than he gave us. Those boys really headed into a trap."
"I'm sure that's all true. But the fact of the matter is he went into a dangerous situation, two in fact, today with no backup. And from what Mamo said Steve was in his bathing suit when he took those three idiots down. No gun, no knife."
"Sounds like he made it a fair fight then. No way would they be able to take on an armed Navy Seal."
"I swear if he gets himself killed on his day off, I will personally give him CPR just so I can kill him myself," Danny stated, then took a big bite of his sandwich.
When they'd finished eating they debated returning to the office, but agreed they would do so after checking out their boss' house to see if he was there. "I'd just feel better knowing where he is," Danny said.
When they drove up there was no sign of Steve at the house. They debated waiting but with the mountain of paperwork hanging over their heads they decided to return to the office. When they walked in Danny checked his watch. "It's after two and we haven't gotten any calls in over two hours, maybe we're in the clear for the rest of the day." As he walked towards his office Kono's phone rang.
"Hi Mama, how are you?" Kono answered. Danny hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath until he felt himself relax and exhale.
Kono started to wave him off but then stopped and gestured wildly at both Danny and Chin. "Turn on Channel four," she whispered, holding her hand over the microphone. "Mom, how long has it been on? Uh huh. Half an hour. And you weren't sure until the helicopter did a close up? Right, right. Yes he is a good looking man," she rolled her eyes. "Look Mom, can I call you later? We need to check this out. Yes, thanks for letting me know. Bye," Kono hung up and joined Danny and Chin in the search for the TV remote.
Danny found it and just before hitting the power button he glanced at Kono. "I'm not going to like this am I?"
"Not really," she replied. The three settled into chairs and stared at the television.
The local blonde news anchor appeared on the screen. "Repeating our top story, a woman is threatening to commit suicide from the top of an eight story parking garage in downtown Honolulu. Police have shut off the street, snarling afternoon traffic. Witnesses say she was sitting on the ledge when a man appeared and began attempting to talk her down. That man has been identified as Commander Steve McGarrett, head of the Governor's Task Force on Crime. Commander McGarrett has been talking to her for over an hour. Now, back to Ken Jones on the scene. Ken."
The camera panned to a reporter on the ground in front of a large parking structure. As he spoke an aerial shot, from the local Channel 4 news helicopter, came on. All three detectives leaned forward. There sitting on the ledge at the top of the structure was a dark haired woman dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt with a surf board on it. Not too far from her, leaning against the ledge, was Steve McGarrett. He was wearing blue board shorts and a red t-shirt. His feet were encased in simple sandals. His posture appeared very casual but his team could all tell that he was fully ready to spring into action if it was called for.
"I wonder why no one has called us," Kono said. Immediately Danny's phone began to ring.
"You just had to say something, didn't you," he muttered. He answered the phone, "Yes, Governor. Yes, we are watching this. We just got a call about it not two minutes ago ourselves. Of course we would have contacted you immediately," he rolled his eyes at Chin and Kono. "Yes ma'am this is his day off. You can tell from how he's dressed. Yes ma'am. No ma'am. Thank you ma'am." He hung up the phone and slowly banged his head on his desk.
"What did she say?"
"She wants to know why this is the third time today she's heard about Steve performing a heroic act. She wants to know why he isn't taking the day off. And she wants to know what Steve is thinking. As if anyone knows what he's thinking." Danny resumed watching the news. Danny could see Steve gesturing at the man then pulling out his phone and dialing. All three of them pulled out their cell phones but none of them rang. "Who's he calling?"
"Don't know broh. It's not us," Chin watched intently as Steve spoke for a few moments then extended his hand with the phone to the woman on the ledge. She spoke to whoever it was then nodded and handed the phone back to Steve who pocketed it. The woman then burst into tears as Steve extended his empty hand to her. Then, in the shot that would replay repeatedly throughout the evening on this and every other news channel the woman extended her arms to Steve who stepped forward and scooped her up as if she weighed nothing. Steve carried the sobbing woman away from the ledge and disappeared under the overhang of the parking structure. All three of them let out sighs of relief.
The female newscaster reappeared, "That was Commander Steve McGarrett of Five 0, a real American hero, who saved a woman's life today. More on this story at 6. We will now return to our regular programming."
"What did he do? How did he talk her off the ledge? Who did he call?" Danny was beside himself.
"Whatever it was it worked." Kono checked the clock on the wall. "It's 2:30. Do you think he's finished yet?"
"Finished?" Chin asked.
"Saving the world one person at a time. Not permanently, I just mean do you think he's done for the day? We still have paperwork to do but now all I can think about is where he's going to turn up next. It could be anywhere, saving a drowning person at the beach, rescuing a kitten from a tree." Kono smiled to show she was joking.
"Leaping a tall building in a single bound," Danny chimed in. "Did you see what he was wearing? He looks like Superman in that outfit, red t-shirt, blue shirts. I mean come on." Danny sighed.
"It makes you think though, doesn't it. " Chin replied.
"What do you mean?" Danny asked.
"Do you ever wonder if somehow we might be slowing him down? I mean what would he accomplish without the three of us making him do paperwork, follow procedure?"
"He'd be in big trouble. He's only able to do this because he knows we're backing him up today. He was able to walk away from two crime scenes because we're here backing him up. And I don't know about the two of you but after work I'm going to drop by our boss' place and make sure he's in for the evening." Danny bent over his work once more.
For the next two hours their phones rang incessantly. Every TV, radio and internet news team on the island were clamoring for an exclusive interview with the hero of the day, Steve McGarrett. The team finally asked for all calls to be redirected to the Governor's public relations team after the last call Danny fielded was for Steve to be a participant in a charity bachelor auction. The caller said that the Governor had suggested it.
Promptly at five the three headed out. They each got in their respective cars and made a caravan of sorts to Steve's house. As they drove up they could all see Steve's truck in the driveway and the lights on in the house.
Danny led the way to Steve's front door and knocked several times. There was no answer. He turned and headed towards the beach side of the house. There they scanned the ocean, assuming if Steve wasn't lounging in a beach chair he'd be out swimming. Instead Chin nudged Danny and Kono and pointed. There hanging between two palm trees was a brand new hammock. It was brightly colored with teal, orange, blue and yellow stripes. They could see it swinging gently in the breeze and went over to it. There was Steve, in the same blue board shorts and red t-shirt they'd seen him in on TV. His eyes were closed and his hands were crossed on his stomach, a half empty beer rested against his side. Over his left ankle was an ice pack wrapped in a towel.
Their eyes met and they began to turn away when Steve spoke. "I'm not asleep."
"Sure looks like it to me," Danny said.
"Trust me, I'm not. I'm merely relaxing. Isn't this what you told me to do today?" Steve had opened his eyes and was regarding his team calmly. He made no move to get out of the hammock and Danny eyed his suspiciously.
"How'd you hurt your foot?" he asked.
Steve merely regarded him. "Why do I think you already know?"
"Well just tell us, was it during the store robbery or at the surf shop?"
Steve couldn't hold back his smile. "You found out huh? Actually it was when I was surfing, I just twisted it a bit. Didn't really start bothering me until later."
"Do you realize how crazy it is that you took on some kids when you didn't have a gun, a badge or even shoes?" Chin asked.
"They weren't armed Chin. Well not really. One of them had a knife, but really they were just more threatening than anything. Once I took care of the one with the knife, the other two caved very quickly. I didn't expect any real trouble there."
"And what were you doing at the mall?" Kono asked.
"I was just following the list Danny gave me this morning for a day off. I had to go shopping so I could get the hammock. And I went surfing at Mamo's."
"And the parking garage?" Danny asked.
"I'd stopped for a beer with an old Navy buddy who's in town for the day on shore leave. I was supposed to meet him at the top of the parking garage, but when I got there that young woman was obviously in distress. He went to call for backup while I tried to talk her down."
"Speaking of which, who did you call?" Kono asked. "We all watched you."
"Oh. Well, you see she had lost her job last week and lost her apartment because she was behind on the rent. I called the folks at the sporting goods store where I'd been that morning and told the manager what was going on. I convinced her to give Elena a job. The manager even offered her a place to stay – she has a mother in law apartment that's empty." Steve smiled at the looks on their faces. "Well, what would you want me to do? Tackling her didn't seem like a good idea. I could have done without the news helicopters flying over every two minutes. You know they're really very distracting when you're trying to calm someone down. "
"Look, Superman, it's not that we're complaining. It's just this was supposed to be your day off. And if you take a day off then we can all get caught up on paperwork. But we were fielding phone calls left and right today. And you had six arrests and one damsel in distress rescue, and that paperwork we'll have to do tomorrow." Danny softened his tone as he watched Steve's face fall and his eyes took on that 1000 yard stare that shut people out. "We were worried about you."
Steve caught Danny's eye and relaxed for a moment. It had been a long time since anyone had really worried about him. "I'm fine. A sore ankle and that will be good to go tomorrow. So I have some burgers in the fridge. Would you all like to stay for a barbecue." Everyone readily agreed but insisted Steve stay in the hammock with his foot elevated. Chin went to start the barbecue and Kono headed into the house to get the food together.
Danny grabbed a chair and sat down "Well the Governor would like you to call her when you get back in the office tomorrow."
"Really?"
"Yeah, babe, I think she's going to make you pay for causing all the ruckus."
"Pay how?" Steve raised his eyebrows.
"Well it seems there is this charity event, they are auctioning off the most eligible bachelors in Hawaii. After your stunt today, the ladies are clamoring for you. I hear there is talk of a tuxedo or possibly a swimsuit," Danny grinned wickedly but was surprised when Steve's face grew thoughtful. "Steve?"
"Well, you know. I could always just take tomorrow off."
Danny stared at him in astonishment as Steve dissolved in laughter. Danny watched for a second as Steve gasped out, "You should see your face."
Danny calmly stood up and flipped Steve out of the hammock, turned and walked away.