A/N: I do not own Hawaii Five 0. The characters belong to CBS. Everything you recognize doesn't belong to me. This is a new fic, Case based but with some drama around it. An attempt to do something a bit different than my usual stuff, but I still hope you'll like it.
Please tell me what you think.
R.
The explosion happens early in the morning, when he's out on his morning run.
He starts off like in any other day. He parks the car in his usual place at the edge of the ridge, and walks to the highest point, to take a look at the glorious diamond sea beneath him. He makes a few stretches, and makes sure his shoe laces are tied properly, before he starts his usual round.
He runs the trail for an hour and a half, lets the rhythmic sound of his feet hitting the ground guide his pace. He cleans his mind from any foreign thoughts about the case load, the governor, the paperwork, and concentrates on his muscles trying to fight the steep elevations, and the winding gravel road. He surrenders himself to the burning sensation and to the heat of his muscles, feeling how the sweat soaks his clothes. He takes deep slow breaths of clean air into his lungs, and releases them slowly, methodically, in coordination with the constant pace. It's a long, strenuous, vigorous exercise, and he's all alone there, on the deserted trail. Everything around him is quiet and still, the sun which is steadily elevating in the sky above him, illuminates the world in a mixture of orange and white.
When he reaches the truck again, he stops for a second to take off his sweaty shirt, and to throw it in the bed of the truck. He pulls out an energy drink from his backpack that is waiting for him there, and walks over to the end of the ridge, to drink it and watch the sea for a while. It's his favorite time of the day. The only moment of quiet he has for himself, before he goes home to get ready for work. Just standing there, alone in the precious silence, it makes him smile, as he looks at the long coast line that stretches before him. God, he simply loves this place.
He finishes his drink, and pulls the car keys from his pocket, then he turns around and clicks open the car from a distance of about fifteen yards. The moment he pushes the button, he feels like the air is suddenly sucked out of him, as the car explodes and sends him flying on the rocks.
/
/
Chin is the first one to find him there. The guy has a magical way to sense everything that happens on the island. He has the uncanny ability to recognize every change in movement, every shift of energy, and today is no different. He is spending the morning in HPD, going over the arrests reports from the previous month, when they get a call about a big explosion near the Tantalus route. He knows it's Steve's favorite running spot, and he feels the cold icy grip of fear around his spine, way before Milai is looking at him horrified, mentioning a blue pickup truck.
/
/
He lies in the hospital bed, his ears ringing, his muscles all strained from the blow caused by the shock wave. His back and chest are bruised from the impact with the rocks, and his head pounding like crazy. The doctor who stands above him, which he can't really see properly due to the strong light of the lamp behind her, tells him again and again how lucky he is for surviving this with such minor injuries. It's still hard for him to absorb everything that happened, and he hears only half sentences at this point, but he really doubts 'lucky' will be a good way to describe it.
When Danny barges into the room, half angry, half relieved, half worried out of his mind, he finally has something familiar to focus on. He looks at him steadily, wishing him silently to keep his voice down, and whispers hoarsely "where are they?"
/
/
"They're in HQ" Danny tells him "As is Mary Ann. I called Kono the minute I've heard. I told her to park the car away from the street and to wait for us inside."
"Good" he exhales, laying his head back on the bed. They're alive. They're protected. They... his throat tightens when he realizes they're still in great danger.
"It wasn't an accident, Danny" he looks at him seriously "they've targeted my car. My own fucking car. The one I drive when I'm picking her up. The one she uses for shopping, the one we took camping last month, the one... Danny..." he swallows hard "I... "
"I know, babe. Just... Chin is already on top of this, once I've seen you're doing well here, I'm going back there myself. I'll talk to her, I'll make sure we have a proper plan for all of them. I won't let any of them out of my sight. Trust me."
/
/
Danny leaves when they wheel him up to the floor. He argues all the way up there, explains repeatedly that he's fine, that he has only superficial injuries, that the reason he looks like a bloody mess is because he had no shirt on when the damn car blew up, and demands loudly that they'll let him go. Fortunately there's a big military nurse there who'd seen enough in her days, to ignore his quite vocal refusals and to push him gently, but firmly back on the gurney when he tries to get up. The fact that his head is still throbbing, and that the dizziness attacks him when he tries to make sudden movements, helps her to keep him listen to her eventually, and to obediently let them do whatever they want.
/
/
It's half an hour later when he realizes he has no phone on him. The phone was in the car when it happened. He's not entirely sure which floor they put him on, and he has no idea how his team is doing, and he has no idea what she said when Danny told her... he presses the red call button for the nurse, violently. When nobody comes he starts shouting desperately for someone to get in the room. He's half way out of bed, overwhelmed by nausea and pain when the military nurse finds him fighting to breathe, and pushes him back on the mattress.
"What the hell is the matter with you?" she scolds him "are you trying to kill yourself?
"A phone" he mumbles when she still holds his shoulders "I need a phone. Please, I'll behave, I promise. Just give me a god damn phone."
/
/
"Kono?" he mumbles when he hears her voice, on the other side of the line.
"Steve" she breathes out "Steve..." she says again with a whisper, and he can hear a door closes near her "I wanted to come see you, but Danny said..."
"I'm fine" he smiles in relief "where are you?"
"We're in HQ" she tells him quickly "we were driving, when Danny called. Please baby, I want to come see you."
"No" he says quickly "it's not safe. I just... Kono..."
"Steve, please" she says quietly "I don't want you to be there alone."
"I'll be out of here soon" he reassures her, sending a careful look at the nurse who shakes her head at his overly optimistic assumption "just... for the mean time, just do what Danny and Chin say. They have more information than I do, anyway."
"Okay, Steve" she whispers "we'll be right here, waiting... just take care of yourself."
"It'll be fine, baby" he sighs deeply "We'll get through this in one piece. I promise."
/
/
He falls asleep after he speaks to her. Her soft voice, her amazing ability to stay calm despite her worst fears. The fact that she's safe, that they all are. It's the only thing that makes him relax enough to make it possible.
He wakes up an hour later. Breathing better, moving better, with no more ringing in his ears. He sits up on the bed gingerly, and tries to assess his balance, before moving to stand on his feet. He is able to make two steps forward, without toppling over and breaking his neck in the process, the fact that it works, makes him smile tiumphantly. He decides to take it as a positive sign. When he raises his head, and looks towards the door, he sees Joe white standing there, leaning on the wall.
/
/
"Joe" he calls his old CO's name with surprise. Instinctively it feels like it's the right man showing up exactly in the right time. But when he looks at the old guy's grave expression, he suddenly has a bad feeling about it. A very bad feeling about it. The guy went off the grid months ago. He tried to get a hold of him, repeatedly, without any luck. The fact that he's showing up now, after his entire world literally exploded around him, that can't be a good sign.
"What's going on Joe?" he asks quietly, stretching into attention and tightening his fists.
"Steve, you look like shit" Joe sighs "I'll tell you, but you'd better sit down for this."
/
/
He stops registering what Joe is telling him somewhere around the second sentence. His body hurts, his head throbs with pain, and his mouth suddenly filled with bitter taste of disgust. Maybe it's the fact that he's still injured, maybe it's the fact that he sits there in the hospital, without being able to work with his team, maybe it's because his whole world just collapsed around him, leaving him scared and worried out of his fucking mind. Maybe it's all these together, maybe it's none of these at all. Maybe it's the fact that Joe just stands there, and telling him Wo Fat is back from the dead, coming to take his revenge.
/
/
He's back. He's back and he's angry, and he's out for blood. Wo Fat. His old time nemesis, only this time he crossed the line. When Joe says the name, and starts to explain about the way the guy rebuilt his organization, gradually finding a new hold on the island, he can hardly hear the words. All he can feel is the blinding rage, and to think about the lines that were crossed, when he got too close. He went too close to his family. He could have... he can't even think about the possibility... He looks up at Joe with bloodshot eyes, the guy is fucking dead.
"I'm getting out of here" he tells Joe, ignoring his skeptical glare as he pulls out the IV.
"Fine" the older man shrugs after a few moments "but I've seen your nurse out there, I'm not explaining it to her."
/
/
He spends the entire ride to HQ talking on the phone to the governor, explaining what's going on. He makes another call to a buddy of his, working for the FBI and begs for a protection custody for his family. He makes the guy promise that a team of agents will meet him in the Five 0 headquarters, with a detailed security plan. Then, finally, he can lay back in the passenger seat, and relax for a few minutes.
When he walks into HQ, still wearing the hospital's gown, Chin is still on the scene helping with the searches and supervising the collection of evidences, Danny is on the phone trying to get visuals from traffic cameras in the area and Kono is in his office, hunched over a map on the floor.
/
/
"Where is she?" he asks when he enters his office, making her look up at him with surprise.
"In the basement with Mary Ann and two HPD cops" she says quickly, before jumping on her feet and running towards him, hugging him, burring her face in the crook of his neck.
"I'm fine" he murmurs, stroking her hair "it's fine. I swear" she only nods silently, before moving away from him, letting him move slowly towards his desk to pull out some extra clothes.
"What are you doing with the map?" he asks her when she jus stands there looking at him putting his clothes on, biting her lower lip, silently, at the sight of his wounds.
"I was looking at the trail" she mumbles "the ballistic analysis suggests that the bomb had to be put in the car when it was parked. That there's no way it was there before you drove it from the house to the ridge."
"Okay" he looks interested "so what's with the map?"
"I've talked to Charlie. He looked at the wiring... well, what was left of them anyway. You know him, he's a genius. He went to the parking lot, found a similar truck and tried to assemble the device himself."
"He did?" Steve smiles "that's... well? what did he find?"
"It took him 18.2 minutes" she tells him.
"18.2?" he smiles "that's very precise."
"Yes, but he's not a demolition expert" Kono explains seriously "so we estimated an expert will need about ten."
"And the map?"
"I know you, I know there's no way you were followed all the way from the house. You would have noticed them" she says picking the map up, and laying it on his desk "you were late by about twenty minutes today, because..." she smiles sheepishly at him, referring to their morning's very sepcific activity "anyway, I think they were waiting for you to get there."
"I was the only one there" Steve says thoughtfully "there wasn't a single car around."
"Right" Kono nods "so I looked at the trail. Most of it is exposed, you can see around you for miles, but the last part... there's about four miles where you're on a lower plain, and you don't have direct sight to the... anyway, I think they must had a lookout somewhere, they were waiting for you to go over the hill before they had someone come over to rig the car."
"If they had a lookout, they could have just shot me" he mumbles "why make all this effort..."
"close range shooting was not an option" she looks up at him, her voice a little shaky when she discusses his potential killer's logic "and a sniper rifle. You're a moving target, trust me, with the sun coming up from that side, it's practically impossible this time of the morning. And besides..." her voice trails off, her lower lip trembles a little.
"It was a clear violent message" he completes her thought "a threat for the rest of you..."
"Yes" she whispers.
"Okay" he coughs after they just stand there looking silently at each other "so, what are you thinking?"
"If it was up to me, I would have put the lookout here" she marks an X on the map.
"I agree" he tells her "just before the bend in the trail. I'll send a team out there, see if they can find any physical evidences."
"I was just about to go over there" she informs him quickly "I'll take a team from the lab with me, and try to work this angle. I also told Danny. If we got it right, we're looking for two cars."
/
/
He stands there in his office, listening to her plans. She looks determined, focused, looking back at him with resolve.
"I'm sorry babe" he says gently, shaking his head. She looks at him worriedly, if he thinks for a single minute she'll sit this one out...
"I'm going with a team" she says again, desperately "it won't take too long. It's a crucial aspect of this case, I know exactly what I'm looking for, it's..."
"Kono" he says again, a little bit more firmly "you're not going anywhere."
/
/
Chin's return back to HQ back from the scene, incidentally followed by a six FBI agents, makes it impossible for her to respond. Before she knows it, Steve is out of his office, shaking hands with all of them, and makes the proper introductions between them and the Five 0 team. Chin, Danny and Joe are standing beside him, all three of them look serious, their expression grim. When she comes out of the office too, and stands there awkwardly, neither one of them is able to look her in the eyes.
"We have precise orders, commander" the head of the team tells him when she's getting there "if you want, I can give you the details, so you'll know exactly where..."
"No" Steve shakes his head decisively "I... it's fine. Are you ready to leave immediately?"
"The cars are ready" the senior agent tells him "we can practically leave now."
/
/
"Steve" she says quietly, but he doesn't answer "Steve" again, he only bites his lower lip, not even looking her way "Steve" she says again, her voice strangled "please don't do this."
"Thanks man" he says to the head of the FBI team "I really appreciate it. I think you can leave now. They're just about ready. Danny, can you get the girls...?"
"Steve" she takes a hold of his arm, turning him towards her, but when he raises his eyes towards her, she can see only the cold guarded stare of his blue eyes.
There's a moment of silence when nobody speaks, and they just stand there looking at each other, and she can feel the quivering shake of his arm under her hand.
"Steve" Chin calls from behind them "are you seriously not going to ask where they're taking them?"
"I don't want to know" he looks at her pleadingly "I can't risk... I need them away from me, and I need them protected. I need deniability, in case we'll be compromised" he looks at Chin pointedly "I know that it's hard for you, but neither of us can know, I need to know that they're safe."
/
/
"Okay" Chin says finally "Okay. You two, follow me" he pulls her and Steve to his office and opens a metal safe in the back wall. He takes out a shotgun, and a small Beretta. "The shotgun is for you, the Beretta is for Mary Ann. She's a resourceful girl, she'd be able to use it in case... "
"Yeah" Steve says, his voice finally steady enough "you have your own gun too, this is just for extra protection. You know how to use it, Chin do you have enough ammo for her?" Chin only nods, putting everything in a small black bag he pulls from under his desk. "I want you to leave your cell phone behind" Steve continues "Chin, how much cash can you give her?"
"I have four hundreds" Chin looks inside the safe.
"No packing" he orders "you don't go by the house. I don't know where they'll take you, but if you have to shop, or order food, never use any of our regular places, or any of our usual brands..."
"I got it" she promises, looking at him carefully, running her eyes on his tired and bruised face. He keeps talking, explaining, repeating his instruction for the second time, his blue eyes are distant and narrowed, and never meeting hers.
Her cousin is too, pale and serious, his eyes bloodshot and sad when he organizes the bag. Both men go over the bag together, checking the weapons again and again, and again, and again...
/
/
"Will you at least say goodbye?" she asks, her eyes filled with tears when she looks over her shoulder, and sees Danny coming back from the basement.
"I don't think I can" he whispers, shaking his head slowly "I'm... you go" he smiles tightly "it'll be better this way."
She takes the bag from Chin and throws it over her shoulder, then she nods once and walks out of the office.
Chin looks at him for a second, but he doesn't move, so the older man just makes his way after her, following her to the main room.
/
/
He stays in the office, hands on the desk, trembling, breathless, nauseated with pain. When he feels like he might scream, but is still too scared to look up and watch them walking away from him, he turns his back to the main room, and stands with his head pressed to the window.
He spends a few more minutes fighting every fiber of his being that screams at him to run after them. Out there in the main office, his sister, his wife and his sweet little girl are being escorted out, to an unknown location.