A/N: At first a big thanks to my beta Werewolf Girl 22. I got this idea while PM with Ms. HellFire-ffacnt, it's probably not quite what you had in mind, but I hope you still like the story. And I'm dancing in joy, because I finally have a job :) This however also means that I will have to move soon and therefore will have less time to write. Hopefully my new job won't limit my time too much.
Now on to my new :)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, CBS does
Blue Morning, Blue Day
The day had started off harmless, but that was just subterfuge. Always was, when working with a maniac Navy SEAL called McGarrett. But Danny had gotten used to the fact that his life had turned into a Bruce-Willis-Action movie. And if he was honest with himself, he actually enjoyed working in the 5-0 taskforce. Not that he would ever tell Steve that. The man's ego was big enough already.
The case that turned the harmless day into the mess that it was now, came in at eleven. HPD had been called to a murder scene. And once the body had been identified, they had called 5-0 in.
Due to Steve's driving technique, he and Danny were the first on scene. While neither man had been at this particular night club before, not that they were club goers in the first place, they knew that this was one of the most popular places in Waikiki at the moment. Where normally hundreds of people were dancing every night, cops were now standing, interviewing staff and cleaners.
The big room was separated unequally. The smaller part was slightly raised and separated by glass and steel: Clearly the VIP area. They passed this area on the way to the office, where the body had been found. The door, leading to the stairwell, was open otherwise they would have nearly missed it.
The office was crawling with crime scene technicians. Danny ignored the body at first and instead looked out of the big window on the other side of the room. From the second floor he had a clear view over the dancing floor and watched as Chin and Kono made their way across it. Once the cousins had disappeared from view, he turned around and leaned his shoulders against the glass.
From his point of view, Danny couldn't see the body of Harold Paxton, club owner, but he could see the blood and brain matter that stained the wall behind his desk.
Steve was standing beside the splatter, gloved finger poking at the wall. "Bullet went right on through. I'm not quite sure how much help it's going to be."
As Danny pushed himself off the window, Chin and Kono came inside. "Big caliber, huh?" She commented.
Paxton was slumped over in his chair, head resting on the top of a cabinet, which kept his body from falling to the floor. The entry wound in the back of his head was small and only lightly caked with blood, while the exit wound was big and messy.
"I'm guessing a forty-five." Steve replied. He had given up on the wall and was now watching as one of the technicians pulled the bullet out with the fitting equipment.
"I've seen several security cameras. Maybe we got lucky and caught the murderer on tape." Danny said and pointed at a blinking red light in the left hand corner of the room.
"I'll see what I can do." Chin said and was out again.
"Kono, can you speak to the cleaning lady who found the body?"
With a short nod, the order was acknowledged and Kono too left the room. Making sure to not touch the desk, Danny leaned over and watched as Steve examined the entrance wound.
"No residue on the back of the head, hair isn't burned either."
"So Paxton must have known his murderer. Probably trusted him too. He deliberately turned his back to whoever was in the room with him." Danny said and Steve began to rummage around the drawers of the cabinet.
"Question is who would want to kill Paxton?" Steve asked when he didn't find anything important in the drawer.
"The list is endless. I'll doubt that he made many friends." Grinding his teeth, Danny thought about all they knew about Paxton. The man was the leader of Hawaii's biggest arms dealing ring. But still neither HPD nor ATF had managed to get enough dirt on him to prosecute him. Paxton had been arrested several times, but the charges had never held on long enough for him to get to court. Especially since Paxton was able to hire the best lawyers.
A hand landed on his shoulder, bringing him out of his reverie. "Hey, he's dead. Paxton won't be able to deal anymore."
"Yeah, but someone else will step up to the plate."
"We'll see." Steve said and led Danny out of the office, "Let's see what Chin and Kono have found out."
Steam rose slowly from a hot cup of coffee in Danny's hand. The team was spread around the computer table in the main room of their headquarters. He took a careful sip, let the caffeine work and listened to Kono recapture what the cleaning lady had told her. The club usually closed at 4 o'clock in the morning, clean up had started as usual at 9 a.m. The cleaners hadn't found anything unusual until one of them went up the stairs to clean the office and saw Paxton. At which point they stopped the cleaning and called the police. Still the forensic team hadn't found a lot of evidence on the scene and what little they had found was currently being examined.
When Kono was finished, Chin took over. His fingers moved over the touch screen of the table computer, opening the video file and sending it to one of the standing monitors.
"I've checked the footage. About half an hour before the estimated time of death the video turns static. Can't even try to recover any data because they don't use a hard disk recorder, but instead burn everything immediately on DVD's." Frustration was obvious in Chin's voice, while the video on the monitor showed Paxton moving around in his office, then the screen abruptly turned white before changing to snow.
"So what are we looking at: internal conflict, rival gang?" Kono asked.
"I'm leaning toward internal conflict," Steve said and pointed at the video, "Whoever killed Paxton knew where the security room was and how to manipulate the recording."
"Do we have a list of Paxton's associates? Maybe people he got arrested with?" Danny asked.
Chin nodded and his fingers flew over the console again. Seconds later lists appeared.
"Okay, Paxton was arrested twice in the past few months. First time he was alone. Second time, with a guy called Frederick Henderson and a Peter Alana." Chin summarized and pulled up more information on the two men. "I have nothing on Alana, but Henderson is a small time crook. Several arrests from illegal arms possession to assault. Done some time in Halawa."
"We got an address for him?" Steve asked and again Chin nodded, opened up another file, and the address popped up on the screen.
"Great. Danny and I will talk to Henderson, see what he knows. I want you and Kono to take a crime scene team and a couple of HPD units and take the house apart. And hurry up, I don't want whoever killed Paxton to get there before us and destroy any evidence."
"You want to try to take down Paxton's complete organization." It was more a statement than a question from Chin, but Steve nodded nevertheless.
The other three members of the team looked at each other, worry and skepticism in their eyes. That smirk never meant anything good, because it usually came out when they were about to get shot at or when Steve was planning to do something really idiotic just for the sheer entertainment value of it.
"But how? We were never actually able to prove Paxton's involvement in the arms running. Not with his night club as a legal front." Kono said.
Danny took a deep breath and hated himself just a little for his next words, but damn it, Steve was right. "Yeah, but now we actually have a reason to go into his house and turn it upside down. We never had any plausible cause before. Chances are that we will find something in there."
If possible Steve's grin got even wider. The possibilities that were opening up now were near endless. With his house now open for search and seizure, they could find the places where they stored the arms and the import routes to the islands. Not only that, they could hopefully find any information on some of Paxton's men. While they knew that he was the head of the organization, neither HPD nor ATF knewwho his second-in-command was or who else was on Paxton's pay list.
Steve was nearly giddy with anticipation. This was what he was trained to do, what he was good at. Dangling the keys to Danny's Camaro in front of his partner's eyes, Steve turned around and headed out.
"That smile means were going to get shot at today. I can already feel it." Danny grumbled.
A "Good luck, Brah," from Kono followed him out of the door.
In the silence of the neighborhood, the banging of the car doors was unnaturally loud. Instead of immediately heading over to the small, one story house at the end of the drive-way, on the other side of the street, Danny placed his arms on the roof of the Camaro.
"Do you have a plan?" Danny asked.
Almost unconsciously Steve mirrored his partner's position. "Sure. We go in, ask them a few pointed questions and go out again."
"Of course we do," Danny sighted, "If I'm going to get shot again because of you, you'll pay for my new wardrobe."
"Only if I can choose it."
"No. No way. I'll end up looking like you and who would want that?"
"I don't know, maybe you'll end up looking like you belong."
"Or like a Rambo reject." Danny replied and knocked on the door. Both men stood slightly to the right of the door, as procedure, and that was what saved them.
A shotgun blast splintered the door, leaving a huge, ragged hole.
"Shit." The curse slipped out simultaneously as Steve and Danny drew their guns in one fluid motion. A quick meeting of the eyes and a nod was enough communication and the two men moved. The rest of the wood splintered and the lock broke under the force of Steve's boot, as he kicked the door in. Leading with their guns, Steve and Danny stepped into the living room. Just a few pieces of furniture were scattered throughout the room, an open kitchen stood at the other end. But there was no sign of the shooter.
Silently they moved further into the house, checking rooms as they passed them. With every step they took a sweet smell, that penetrated the air, became stronger. It took them longer than it should to recognize the smell. They stopped at the same time, eyes wide as they meet. "Gasoline, we need to get out now." Steve said and was already stepping toward the door. They were still by the kitchen, when a door on the other side of the room opened. A gun appeared through the small gap and seconds later Steve and Danny dove behind the counter as bullets smashed into the wall beside them. On the ground the smell of the gasoline was even more apparent. The fuels burned in their throats and both men tried to stifle their coughs.
Resting their backs against the cupboards they tried to breathe as shallow as possible.
"'We go in, ask them a few pointed questions and go out again.'" Danny quoted the Seal in a poor imitation of his voice. Switching back to his own accent, he snapped, "Great plan, Steve."
The Lieutenant Commander ignored Danny's grumbling, he knew that it was just Danny venting his anger. Instead he focused on the dull throbbing pain that was burning up his arm. One of the first bullets, that had been fired, had hit him in his left upper arm. While not a serious wound, it was hurting and incapacitating. Especially since the bullet had taken a chunk out of his deltoid muscle.
Slightly worried that Steve had not replied to his prod, Danny turned to face his partner.
His eyes widened slightly as he saw the blood running down Steve's arm.
"You alright?"
Steve's forehead was wrinkled in pain as he stared at the bullet wound. "Yeah. 'S not that bad."
"See, getting shot really isn't that much fun."
Steve lifted one eyebrow, but refrained from replying. Instead he ripped off a piece of his shirt to use as a bandage.
There was a soft swish and the heat of fire spread through the room, followed shortly by black smoke.
"On to more important topics: How the hell are we going to get out of here?"
Steve looked around, there was no window in the kitchen and the flames were already licking at the walls. If they wanted to get out, they needed to move fast.
"We stay close to the ground, crawl around the counter and shoot out the window. Then we climb out." Steve's tone was calm, belying his own fear.
Closing his eyes for a second and taking a relatively deep breath, Danny nodded and started crawling forward. As soon as he was around the corner of the kitchen counter, the heat of the fire hit him full force. The smoke stung in his eyes making them water up and his sight became blurry. His heart was beating wildly in his throat, while he tried to breathe as shallow as possible. By the time he reached the window, Danny was coughing. He drew his gun with shaking hands, aimed at the window and turned his head away, protecting it with his left arm. The window splintered after three bullets hit it and Danny used the barrel of his gun to clean the last shards from the frame. It should have been easier to haul himself up and through the window, but with the smoke burning in his lungs and his arms burning with the heat of the fire, it took a considerable effort. He flops ungracefully on the grass in front of the window and rolls to the side, making space for Steve. Who, of course, had landed more elegant and rolled onto his feet in the same movement.
Streaks of ash covered their faces and Danny's hair was loose, but the roaring of an engine made them stop caring about their rugged appearance.
After Danny had stumbled to his feet, he held out his hand, "Alright Astro Boy let's go. I'm driving."
"Why do you get to drive?" Steve asked, as he followed Danny to the front yard, car keys already in his hand. A dark blue Ford was screeching out of the drive-way in reverse, before speeding away.
"Because it's my car. And you've got a bullet hole in you."
"You do realize that while you're arguing about your car, the bad guy is getting away right?" Despite his words, Steve still moved to the passenger side door.
"Just get in the car. And don't go bleeding all over the seat." Danny replied and slipped into the driver's seat. Pointing at his freshly bandaged arm, Steve sat down in the passenger seat. Danny just rolled his eyes, floored the gas and made a U-turn with screeching tires.
"This is payback for me almost breaking your May 18th record isn't it?" For the first time since he and Danny became partners, Steve held on for dear life, as Danny tore down the streets.
"Yep. The second this is over I will drag you to the ER. Now tell HPD that we're in pursuit."
William Paxton's villa was located in Kahala. A high, white wall surrounded the property, only intermitted by a metal gate that currently stood wide open. Several police cruisers and vans stood in the cobble stone driveway. Kono's dark red Cruze was parked at the front, directly in front of the steps leading to the entrance. A group of uniformed police officers were searching the garden, while the rest of the team went through the house.
The two 5-0 cops had split up: Kono was checking the second floor with several uniforms, while Chin and more men searched through the first floor.
Paxton's office was located on the first floor. Just like the rest of the house the room was large with expensive marble floors and floor-to-ceiling windows. An ornate koa wood desk stood facing the windows, a wall of files behind it. But Chin was more interested in the computer than in the files.
It was a mess of files that were not only spread throughout the hard drive, but also the desktop. Chin knew that he had a lot of work ahead of him, but he was also sure that he would find something and hoped that Kono would be equally successful.
He had worked on the organized files for maybe five minutes, when Kono burst into the room.
"Did you find something?"
Kono shook her head and placed a walkie-talkie on the desk, "Only that Steve and Danny really shouldn't be left alone."
A look of confusion passed over Chin's face, then the radio cracked and Steve's voice emanated from the radio. "Shit Danny, watch out. We're now heading east on Nu'uanu Pali Drive."
Chin drew a hand over his face. A car chase. Again. He was not going to explain to the Governor why the two of them had demolished another car. "They say how that happened?"
"No, not really. But I'm sure it's a good story."
"We're now on a dirt road, take a left at milestone 30." Steve's voice crackled over the radio. Since he was giving directions, Danny must be driving. The cousins weren't quite sure if that was a good thing or not.
"Dirt road is not a proper term." Danny's voices sounded strained and Chin worked hard to suppress the urge to hit his head against the koa wood. Sometimes he wished he had saner bosses.
"What should I call it then? Dirt on a cliff?"
"How am I supposed to know? Back in Jersey we do not have roads like this. And would you please close the damn mic?"
"Ups." Was the last thing they heard before the radio went silent again. At least this way they were spared the bickering.
"Makes you downright happy that you're not in the car with them." Kono commented and finally Chin let go and let his head drop onto the desk.
"Ups, he says. You do know that all of HPD have just heard that."
With one hand Steve held the handle above the door in a white knuckled grip while the other hand was braced against the dashboard, as Danny took the car around another curve faster than was safe.
"Afraid that I'll ruin your reputation?"
Angry eyes flashed over at Steve, before turning back to concentrate on the street. "Not my reputation, yours. You're the big bad SEAL that can't work a radio."
The Camaro's bumper hit the rear end of the Ford, breaking the tail lights and pushing the left rear tire off the road. More dirt flew up and Danny started to overtake the Ford, systematically pushing the other car further into the ditch. The front tire lost traction in the dirty incline and the engine howled in protest. Another shove with the Camaro and the Ford was forced off the road. Metal screeched as the car hit a tree stump and came to a violent stop.
Even though Danny immediately pressed down hard on the brake, it was another few yards before the Camaro finally stopped. After getting out, both men jogged over to the crash site.
"You were supposed to stop Henderson, not kill him. I'll so be driving the next time."
"If you would've driven our car would've been smashed against that tree and not his." Danny yanked open the driver's side door and pulled the dazed driver out. "See still alive. He had airbags."
Steve stepped beside the driver, took the other arm, and together they managed to manhandle him onto the dirt road.
"But you didn't know that he had airbags. And now we have to take him to the hospital."Turning the man roughly on his stomach, Danny pulled the man's arm behind his back and cuffed him. Knowing that Henderson was secure he faced Steve again.
"Don't tell me that you won't be able to interrogate Henderson in the hospital. Think of all the syringes you can threaten him with." Danny stopped for a second, realizing what he just said. "That was not a go-ahead."
"Spoilsport."
The faint wail of sirens got louder, as the trees were illuminated by flashing blue lights.
"See, they found the dirt road just fine."
He was making good progress on the crossword puzzle in the newspaper he had found, when Kono sat down beside him. A slender finger pointed to an unsolved part. "Manatee."
Danny looked up, and then filled the letters in. "Thanks."
"How is the boss?"
"Getting stitched up."
"But you're okay?" Kono asked, and pointed at the faint stains of ash that still clung to his cheeks, despite his earlier scrubbing.
Danny placed the paper on the empty chair beside him and nodded. "Nothing a shower can't cure."
"Yeah, I heard that you burned down a house."
"No. Henderson burned down the house. We were just infelicitously inside at the same time."
A snort escaped Kono before she replied, "It was a first, though."
The doors leading to the ER opened and saved him from responding. Danny and Kono stood up to meet Steve halfway. His shirt was cut up to the shoulder, a pristine white bandage peeking out beneath the shreds. The arm was in a sling and Steve was already fiddling with it. Danny slapped the hand away, "That stay's on. What did the doctors say?"
"It's a scratch, but the arm's supposed to be immobilized for a couple of days so that I don't rip the stitches." Steve had given up trying to tell Danny his version of the truth and not what the doctor had actually told him. The first and only time he had tried that, Danny had hunted down his doctor and had squeezed the truth out of him. To forgo any more questions about his health, Steve turned to Kono. "Have you found anything at Paxton's house?"
"Not much yet, but what we found is a good start. We now know a couple of warehouses they use for storage. Chin is pretty sure that he'll find the import routes by tomorrow."
"Contact ATF and set up a meeting together with HPD. We need to coordinate the busts so everything goes down simultaneously." Danny instructed.
"What about Paxton's murderer?"
"Henderson is on the fourth floor. Steve and I are going to question him tomorrow. Hopefully he knows something, if not we may find something in the bust and the following arrests."
"What? I thought we're talking to Henderson now?" Steve asked.
"His doctor won't allow it. Henderson's got a concussion, so we'll have to wait until his brain unscrambles. And I need a shower urgently, because I stink."
Steve was just about to open his mouth, but Danny stopped him with a raised finger. "And if you make a comment about roasted pigs, I swear to God McGarrett I will punch you." There was no real fire behind the words, so Steve simply smiled back at his irritable partner.
"Okay, a shower does sound good."
"I'll drive you home," Danny said and turned back to Kono. "Set the meeting up for tomorrow at one. Should give us enough time to question Henderson. You should take off after that too."
Kono nodded. "Will do. See you tomorrow and try not to burn down anymore houses." With that, she hurried out.
"Look at that, the rookie is starting to give lip." Danny said, following her out of the hospital's main entrance doors at a more sedate pace.
"Yeah, we can be really proud of her."
They arrived at the hospital bright and early, just before official visiting hours were about to start. Of course Steve hadn't worn the sling when Danny had picked him up in the morning. When Danny had pointed it out, the man had the gall to tell him that it would undermine his authority. Danny had nor rebuttal for that, but he still got to drive, so he counted it as a win.
After a quick consolation with Henderson's doctor the two cops made their way to his hospital room. A police officer had been stationed in front of the door and Henderson would be transferred to a cell later this morning.
Henderson was lying still in his bed when Steve and Danny entered the room. At the sound of the door closing, he looked up at them. While Steve stopped beside the bed and leaned against the window sill, Danny leaned against the wall opposite the beds. Both men crossed their arms over their chest in a near synchronized movement.
"Remember no needle play."
Steve waved his hand depreciatively, but was still aware of the injured man's reaction to that statement.
"Good morning Mr. Henderson. " Steve starts and he needs to suppress a smile at Danny's startled expression. It was a different approach for him, surprising Danny was a bonus effect.
"G-Good morning." Henderson also seemed to be slightly startled, a great way to start of an interrogation.
Steve smiled and hoped it looked friendly. "We know that you worked for Paxton. Who has been murdered. And you trying to set us on fire and then fleeing did not make a good impression."
Henderson shook his head, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"For the record, I asked once and I asked nicely." Steve said, turning to Danny.
Shrugging softly, Danny replied, "There is no record and you still have one free pass. So you can do whatever you want. Just no needles, please."
Grinning at the admission, Steve picked up the hospital chart from the foot of the bed and flipped through it. The metal landed on the bedside table a second later.
"Ah, no permanent damage either. Just for the non-existent record."
Steve nodded absentminded, his gaze already focused on Henderson. His hand sneaked out and grabbed Henderson's leg. The grip was still soft, just a light pressure, but Henderson's face already twitched in pain. From what Steve had gathered in the hospital chart, the man had a three inch long gash in his thigh. Perfect pressure point.
"I hate to repeat myself, but for your sake I'll do it. Did you kill Paxton?"
When the silence stretched on too long for Steve's taste, he increased the pressure on the wound. Henderson squirmed and cursed, "That's not legal, damn it. I'm gonna sue you for police brutality."
"No you won't," Danny said. "Because there's a shitload of charges that are filed against you and if you cooperate we maybe drop some of them."
Steve pressed down harder on Henderson's leg and watched as the man squirmed in the bed.
"Look, we can make this easier for you. You tell us what you know and I call off my attack dog."
Wild eyes raced between Danny and Steve, before finally settling on Danny. "Okay man. I'll tell you, but tell him to stop!"
A simple nod from Danny and Steve let off the pressure. Making a rolling motion with his hand, Danny waited in silence for Henderson to talk.
One nervous glance at Steve, who still hadn't let go and the man started talking. "It wasn't me okay. I liked Paxton, didn't even know he was dead until noon yesterday. But Alana was pissed at Paxton over something. He's been trying to raise some trouble in the gang. He was sick of being the second; he wanted to be the leader. So word is that he is the one who killed the boss."
"Where is Alana now?"
"I don't know."
Danny shook his head, partly to show his dislike at Henderson's comment and partly to stop McGarrett from dealing out more pain. It work both ways.
"Okay, damn it. Just make sure he lifts his paw off me."
Reluctantly Steve removed his hand and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He was sending silent daggers at the man in the bed. When he couldn't intimidate with force, he could do so with his manner.
"Paws are off."
"So maybe Alana is in one of Paxton's old warehouses on the pier. A new delivery is supposed to come in tonight. As the new boss he has to deal with that."
Hazel eyes met blue and both men nodded. The second they stepped into the hallway Steve turned to Danny. "That counts only as half a free pass."
The Jersey detective spread his arms wide, astonished expression on his face, "What?"
"That was harmless. About half as bad as you say what I usually do. Ergo I still have half a free pass." Steve was smirking, clearly proud of himself.
Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Danny felt the tension headache he regularly got, because of working with Steve, approach like a steam train. Better to give in now, somehow he knew that he would lose this particular discussion. "Fine, you still have half a free pass. But I get to set the conditions."
A small pout crossed Steve's face, but then he nodded. After all, they had gotten the information they needed. Now they only needed to make it through the meeting with HPD and ATF and tonight they could take some arm dealers out.
The meeting with the lead Agent of the ATF proved to be a lesson in patience. Steve and Agent Bradford fought silent glare battles over the computer table. However no one seemed to have won. Not that it stopped them from trying. They did, however, manage to come to an understanding, despite the alpha fight that was going on.
Hidden among countless files on Paxton's computer were the location of several warehouses he used, as well as names of his associates, and most importantly the name of the shipping company. There were too many warehouses to raid at once, so Chin had selected three of the more valuable ones. These would be raided at the same time, together with the offices of the shipping company and several houses owned by Paxton's associates.
From these files they also found the details of the newest incoming shipment of weapons.
The ship would land on pier 39 at the Honolulu Harbor at 8 in the evening and, once the crates were unloaded, they would be transported to a nearby warehouse. If Henderson's words were to be trusted, this was where Alana was going to be. 5-0 would raid that.
They had pulled the blueprints of the warehouse from the public services and had pored over them to find the best plan of attack.
The next hours were routine. Because getting ready for a bust was always going through the same motions. Pulling on the bullet prove vest, checking their guns, and clipping extra ammunition to their belts while they focused on the task ahead.
The sun had long disappeared behind the horizon by the time the two unmarked police cars and the transporter parked less than a mile west of the warehouse. The two 5-0 Chevy's were already there, the cops waiting for their backup.
Together with the four members of 5-0, six more officers would storm the building. Three with Chin and Kono, who would enter the warehouse from a small personnel entrance at the back, and another three would support Steve and Danny.
The two teams approached the large warehouse under the cover of the darkness. This late at night most of the street lights had already been turned off. The only illumination came from the stars and the light that spilled from the warehouse's milky windows.
They took up positions beside the main entrance door, right beside the closed vehicle entrance gate. Steve on the right side of the door, Danny to the left. The other three officers spread in a half circle between them.
Steve took a deep breath, controlling his respiration and his heartbeat. The gun in his hand was loaded and unlocked, ready for action. He went through the plan in his mind again, brought up the blue prints of the warehouse they were about to raid. Preparation was everything to the SEAL-training had made sure that he was focused on the task at hand.
A quick look over to Danny and he saw the same determination and focus in his eyes. They exchanged a quick nod, no time for words. But they still needed to make sure that the others were ready.
The headset in his ear crackled and he heard Chin telling them that they were in position, on the other side. They were all waiting for his command to start. He took another deep breath and then gave the go.
The door burst inward under the force of the battering ram, the sound of it duplicated by the second team coming in from the other side. Shouts of ´police` rang through the open space as the cops spread out.
Crates of varied sizes were spread throughout the large room. A truck was parked right in front of the vehicle entrance gate, back open and men in the process of unloading it. At the sound of the police officers, the men stopped in surprise. But instead of lifting their arms and surrendering, they drew their own guns and started shooting.
Police officers and criminals scattered at the same time, taking cover behind crates.
Wood splintered as bullets hit the crates. And this time Danny was a second too late to protect his face from them. Ignoring the small stings, he turned around the corner and returned fire with three bullets in quick succession. A howl of pain emanated from somewhere in the back of the warehouse and Danny grinned. One down, god knew how many to go. While taking the shots, Danny had also tried to locate the positions of rest of the team.
Somewhere in the back of the warehouse he heard the reports of Kono's Kel Tech going off, followed by the roar of Chin's shotgun.
It was impossible to distinguish between the guns of the police officers and the ones from Paxton's men. The only thing he could say for sure was that one of them was hiding maybe three crated down from him. He shouted that information back to Steve and, as he turned back behind cover he heard him in dual. Once through the small ear pierce and once in person, asking for a status report from the rest of the team. The responses came quick and were positive. There were no injuries on their side and everyone was in a safe location. But no one had spotted Alana yet.
More bullets were fired off in their direction, imbedding themselves deeply into the wooden side of the crates. Danny really hoped that there weren't any more weapons or worse yet, explosives, stored in those crates, because then the shit hadn't even begun to hit the fan.
Cursing silently underneath his breath, Danny looked over at Steve, wanting to see if the Navy SEAL had any idea on how to end this mess sooner rather than later. But Steve had that small smile on his face that spelt trouble and without informing his partner about his next steps slipped around his side of the crate.
"Damn it Steve, what the hell are you doing?" Danny whispered forcefully and stepped to the corner, only to see Steve waiting there.
"He's expecting us from the front, so we attack from the back." With that he was on the move again, taking long silent steps.
He stopped shortly at the edge of the third crate. In one fluid motion he slipped around the corner and surprised the other man. A quick shot and another of Paxton's men was down.
In the same second, Steve finally spotted Alana. The new boss was creeping along the side of the truck, trying to reach the cab. Steve took a quick look over his shoulder to check if his partner was still there, and then rushed forward.
Sending a quick look heavenwards, Danny hoped that McGarrett's guardian angel was doing overtime as usual, before following his partner at a more sedate, safe pace. His eyes were roaming over the dark space, expecting to see any more of Paxton's men shooting at them. Instead he saw Kono stepping out from behind a crate, gun raised and Chin at her back. They exchanged a curt nod, understanding that the situation was under control.
Alana was just getting into the driver's cab of the truck, when Steve reached him. The Lieutenant Commander grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him down.
Tumbling onto the concrete floor, Alana yelled in anger and indignation. But the second he looked up, he was confronted with two barrels. The muzzles were the size of barn doors from his position. Alana refocused his eyes and looked at the two men holding the weapons. He immediately recognized them as McGarrett and Williams and cursed.
The obligatory post-case barbeque and beer happened three days after they had arrested Alana and on the same day they finished the last of the paperwork. The coordinated busts had all been successful. Only three police officers had been hurt and no one was injured badly. They had managed to arrest thirty people and had confiscated several hundred kilos of weapons.
Unfortunately they hadn't managed to tie Alana to Paxton's murder. The bullet the crime scene technicians had pulled from the wall had been too deformed to compare. But they still were able to charge Alana in connection with the illegal imported guns.
A light shriek from the water made Danny look up sharply. The sight he was greeted with made him smile. Steve was standing hip deep in the water with Grace balancing on his shoulders. His hands were holding her ankles safely as he lifted her up and then threw her into the water. Grace came up laughing seconds later.
"Hey water rats!" Danny yelled across the backyard and three pairs of eyes turned toward him. Wondering for a second just where Kono had come from, Danny grinned. "Food will be ready in a second."
He used the barbecue tongs to turn the crisp steaks on the grill, when a sweating beer bottle appeared in his line of sight.
"Thanks." Danny clinked his bottle with Chin's and watched as Grace, Steve and Kono made their way up the small strip of sand.
"Ready for the hungry hordes?"
"Doubt we'll ever be ready for them."
Chin chuckled and held out his plate for a steak. A wet form attached itself to Danny's waist. "Feed me Danno."
Then the beer in his hand was stolen. "Yeah Danno, feed me."
Smiling at the exasperated look Danny threw at him, Steve took a deep gulp of beer.
"It's like feeding time at the zoo. I really need to train you better."
This reply only widened the smile and Danny knew that his partner was a hopeless case, but maybe he could still save Grace.
The End