A/N:
TL;DR:
Alex Hunter is based on Hawaii 5-0 character Steve McGarrett; Josh Williams is based on Danny Williams of the same show. Much OOC for both, but basically they are the same guys.
The long version:
It's been a while since Yul and I published something, but we did write. Mostly to ourselves. It began as writing characters to a roleplaying game (Werewolf- the apocalypse), based on our beloved pair- Steve and Danno.
The setting (Lost pups in Winnett Montana) was dictated to us and we took it from there, and before we understood what was happening, it became the longest character sheet in human history. I think. We wrote about how they met, how they fell in love, how they learned about each other. And then… we just couldn't stop. The game itself is still running, but our guys now have an alternate reality in which they experience a different life.
In our obsession to write more and more, we took inspirations from episodes, pictures, random tags and even dreams. We are unsure if these would be interesting to anyone but us, (it feels a bit like parents telling one boring story after another about their children), but… the internet tolerates everything. Maybe someone will enjoy this. Maybe that someone will write back to us to give us inspiration for more of these stories.
Steve McGarrett was the inspiration for Alex Hunter, the son of the county Sheriff, who grew up and spent his whole life in his mother's horse farm then took it upon himself to keep it after she died.
Danny Williams became Josh Williams, a Deputy in the local police force who pines for everything Jersey, but can find peace for his wild nature only in the primal landscape of Montana.
Chapter 1: The Fine Line
Alex takes off his boots at the front porch of the little house. He uses this time to brace himself for the monthly Friday night dinner at his dad's house. Why his father still bothers with this is beyond him. These dinners usually end up with both of them upset- Dad goes out for some fresh air, Alex goes to the kitchen, or the other way around - and Patt busies herself in some peace talks until she settles on the couch murmuring something about stubborn Hunters.
But Sheriff John Hunter insists, so Alex sacrifices one Friday night per month until he'll break.
There is an unfamiliar pair of boots on the rug. Alex frowns at them for several seconds. Dad hasn't mentioned a guest. They seem to belong to a man, so it's not one of his (and Patt's) usual ambush-matchmaking attempts. With a slight curiosity he knocks on the door, then opens it without waiting for an invitation.
Inside are dad, Patt, and a young man he has never seen before. Which is quite rare around here.
"Alex," Dad greets him in his usual severeness, "You are late."
Alex checks his watch. Six thirty five. Five minutes late. He swallows his snide answer, it's too early in the evening and he is too curious about this man. "Hi Dad. Patt." he walks over.
"Alex, this is Deputy Joshua Williams" His father introduces the man, "our latest recruit to the county police. Williams is your age, you were in high school together."
Ah. So it's a learn-from-this-fine-young-man kind of ambush. Alex offers his hand with an unfriendly frown to accompany it. He knows it's not the guy's fault, he was probably manipulated as well, but he can't help it.
"Nice to meet you Willson." Alex greets him. He got the name, He can't help being obnoxious as well, just to annoy his dad. "I am sorry, I don't remember you. You are not from Winnett." Alex states.
"It's Williams, and you can call me Josh." The guy doesn't seem to take it to heart. His accent is weird, but has a nice ring to it, and the smile he wears is contagious, to Alex's dismay he finds himself smiling back. Josh continues, "And not originally. I came here as a teenager, lived with my aunt & uncle at the Williams' farm during high school, then moved back to New Jersey right after."
"So what are you doing here now?"
"The few years I spent here were enough for me to fall in love with this place." Alex thinks his answer sounds rehearsed. Or maybe he had to answer it many many times. "It just took me getting back to Jersey to realize it."
"Then," Dad adds "After a few months on his uncle's farm, our good friend Ed Williams, we talked and he decided to go to the Academy and become an officer of the law."
"Wow, Dad. Did you file for adoption yet?." Alex says flatly.
"Alex!" Sheriff Hunter starts his annoyed reprimandation, but Patt steps in immediately, looks at Alex with a reproachful glance and says "Be nice, Alex." She looks back at the other two men "Dinner is getting cold. John, could you bring some beer from the fridge?"
Dinner, as expected, is tense and annoying. Alex almost takes pity on poor Joshua Williams for having to endure this. But it doesn't stop him from throwing nasty remarks anyway. Also as expected, sometime before dessert, dad bangs on the table and Alex excuses himself to get some fresh air.
Why he keeps letting these things get to him, he has no idea. He should have stopped caring about his father's ideas, about what Alex should do, long ago. He should have stopped seeking his approval long ago. He recognizes his own achievements. Alex runs a farm, a successful one, at his young age. He keeps his Mother's memory alive for both of them, or three of them if you count Mary-Ann, and he is doing it without the esteemed Sheriff Hunter's help. So why does these feeble attempts to show him what's right, annoy him so much?
He doesn't feel like getting into his boots just yet, but he welcomes the cold air stinging his lungs. It figuratively and literally cools him off. So he sits on the steps leading to the street and lets the silence and the crisp air do their work.
The door opens behind him. He doesn't bother to look who that is.
"Hey." The warm voice breaks the silence. Williams approaches behind him, then sits on the steps next to him.
Alex rolls his eyes "My father sent you to teach me some manners?"
"Huh? No, I just used you as an excuse to avoid helping clear the table."
Alex turns his head to him in surprise. "What?"
It's Williams' turn to roll his eyes "You are not very good at that humor thing, are you?"
"Neither are you." Alex answers. "Look, you don't have to do this. Just go tell my father that his plan failed, you did your best to befriend me but I am too obnoxious to your liking. He'll believe you."
"Of course he will. You are obnoxious. Seriously, what is wrong with you?"
Not the response Alex has expected. He stares at Williams for a few seconds. "I'm just too tired for this." He finally answers.
"What is 'this'?"
"Doesn't matter. You did your part, you can go."
"So I have a part. And there's some grand plan."
"Seriously, dude, I am doing my best here to get you off my back."
"Listen, I don't know what you think I'm here for." The guy says, nodding his head, "My boss invited me to dinner, I need him to like me, so I came."
"Well, he likes you. Congratulations. You are the son he always wanted. Wears uniforms, polite, follows orders even on his free time and doesn't smell like horses."
Josh nods in agreement "Also, looking for a good place to drink."
Again, an unexpected answer. "What?"
"I thought we were talking about me."
"Sheriff Hunter didn't take you to that respectable pub you cops like?"
"He did. I am looking for something else. There are only six cops here, I do not want to see them all the time."
"You picked the wrong place to live in"
"Also," Josh continues without interruption "My girlfriend works there. I need a night without her now and then."
Alex smiles. That he gets. "Well, I am not sure anyone will welcome you where we're going, but you can join my friends and me tomorrow night." Did I just invite my father's pet to Joe's with us?
"Great."
No. it's not great! How did that happen? "Just leave your uniform at home."
"I will, if you leave your hostility."
"No. The hostility might go after we see how well you hold your liquor."
"So, you know a guy only when he's drunk? You'll be disappointed, I don't get drunk easily."
"You're sure you want the sheriff to find out you got drunk with his wayward son?"
Josh waves his hand in dismissal "Since I'll obviously be there to watch you, we're safe."
Alex frowns "I should have known. Bye Williams." He gets up and goes to his boots
"Wait, man, you really really have no sense of humor. I am not working for your f… well I am, but I have no intention to report to him on my free time, and you are not a project. I was joking, Relax. I just want to meet new people, and have a few drinks, and you look like a guy who knows the right places."
Alex relents, turns around again to face him "Didn't you say you spent your high school years here?"
"I did, but I was all about going back to Jersey then. I had little interest in making friends and staying. It didn't work out, I somehow found my way back here and now I'm here to stay."
"You are a weird guy, Williams." Josh just shrugs and shoves his hands into his pockets. Alex examines him for a bit before he says "OK. Can you ride?"
"Sure."
"You know where my farm is?"
"I do."
"Ten o'clock, tomorrow."
Joe's is one of these hardcore places, out of the way, known only to locals. News of good service concept have never reached this place and it is highly unfriendly to any outsider. Josh learned that until recently it could only be accessed by horses (or ATV, if you want to annoy the patrons and owner). The dirt road leading to the place is used mainly for getting the goods more easily to the pub. The gate down the road is usually open, the sign stating it's a private property and vehicles are forbidden is old, worn and unreadable in general, but if you know what's good for you, you will not approach the place using any kind of a noisy engine without having a very good reason.
But if you are one of the select few, just as Alex, Nick and Freddie seem to be, it's like drinking in your own living room, only someone else has to clean up after you. Josh thinks that, as he was invited as part of this group, maybe he should feel at home too. But it feels like Alex is doing his best to make him feel an outsider. Freddie, establishing his position as the nice guy of the three, seems embarrassed by it, trying from time to time to talk about old high school days hoping that the worn out subject of Mrs. Andrews, the chemistry teacher's choices of shoes would be something Josh may relate to. But each such effort is stemmed by Alex.
Too bad. Josh could have liked this place, as rough and unconventional as it was. He isn't a stranger to being an outsider, he didn't feel he belonged anywhere since The Change, but Montana felt right for him. The woods, the space, the sense of freedom. He really hoped it could be more than a place he could run around. He really wants it to feel like home.
The guys do seem intent on getting Josh drunk, however. Beer is quickly replaced by stronger, cheap drinks , and they keep coming one after the other. At some point he excuses himself to go to the bathroom, which is actually an excuse to get away from that loathsome Alex- who does he think he is, anyway?- and his stupid, annoying lackeys- maybe not Freddie, what is a nice guy like him doing with this rude Alex anyway? He washes his face, and then bends down to drink some water from the tap and thinks the better of it before he actually does. He doesn't need this gruesome place. He doesn't need Alex. He has his friends from the county police, good decent men and women. He will get back to that table, take his things and leave. If this wasn't his Boss' son, he would also punch him in the face to teach him a lesson. Maybe he would settle for a few harsh words, like civilized men would, not annoying, territorial neanderthals that can't put up with a new, well mannered, civilized guy in town.
He walks out of the toilet, worked up and ready to insult, but the table is empty. He looks around, they are not in the Darts area. The pool table is occupied with another bunch of primitive monkeys. No one is at the bar or in front of the TV.
"Excuse me, miss?" Josh asks a waitress passing by "Did you see the guys that sat here?"
"Yes, they left. Closed the tab."
"What?!" He is really angry now. Words would not be enough. He steps outside quickly, hopefully they left the horse he borrowed, these immature apes. But all their horses are still there. Where the hell did they go? He steps back in, catches the waitress again. "Excuse me again, miss. Their horses are still outside. Do you happen to know where they might have gone on foot? It's my first time here."
She snorts, then shrugs and turns away.
"Hey, wait." He walks quickly around her, getting in her way again, putting on his best smile. "Look, I'm the new guy here, they promised they would take me somewhere but they were really mysterious and forgot to tell me where it is. Is there any chance you can help out?"
She looks at him, frowning. "You seem like a nice guy" she says after a few seconds "and I saw how they treated you tonight. I suggest you forget about them and go home."
"If I forget about them and go home, what will they learn? That they can abuse the new guy? I don't think so."
She smiles at him. "I guess not." She looks around and then signals him to follow with a small nod. She leads him behind the counter, throws a defiant look towards the barman nodding his head, goes through the kitchen and opens the back door. "Follow the path northwards. It's not far. Be wise and check what's going on before you enter. Good luck."
"Thanks, miss."
"And drop the miss, if you ever hope to be mistaken for a local. My name is Suzy."
"Thanks, Suzy" he smiles again and walks out passed her. The door closes, and he is left in the darkness. That would have presented little problem if he was in some form of a wolf now, but he is human, he can't change, and he is completely unfamiliar with this region. Maybe he should just forget about it and go back. He will find another chance to bite the head off of that dim-witted, undeveloped, immature, rude, infuriating man! He takes out his phone and uses the dim light to find his way through the woods.
The walk is not long. He sees the light first, then the structure. Then he hears voices. Claps. He looks inside through a half barred window. There are five men inside, the three stuck-ups and two others he didn't see before. Alex and Freddie are standing in the middle of the small space, both shirtless and stretching. What the hell is this? Josh opens the door and steps in, before anyone has a chance to figure out he is there, he is marching, furious, toward Alex. "What the fuck were you thinking?" he is shouting at him, hands flying around to emphasize his anger.
Alex is rolling his eyes at him, and that does it for Josh. Civilized cop or not, he allows his anger to take over, finishing his advancement with a right hook straight to his jaw.
Alex's head flies to the side, he stumbles a little. Freddie is already on Josh, Nick catches up and both of them are holding him back. Josh is not fighting them.
Alex's look of surprise changes quickly to a spasm of anger, but when he looks directly at Josh a strange smile crawls to his lips.
That infuriates Josh even more. He struggles a bit with his captors "It was your idea, right?" he yells at Alex "Mess with the new guy? You don't do that, you piece of shit! There are other ways to tell someone he can't join your little, childish clique. You can just say 'Sorry, Josh, I'm busy being a jerk this Saturday, maybe next time?'. Short, to the point and would not cause me to break your jaw!"
Alex's smile is broadening, a glint appears in his eyes. His glance moves from Josh to the men holding him, a slight nod. The lackeys release him and move back. Alex holds his chin up, provoking. "You think you can break my jaw?"
"I don't think ." Josh replies. Hands crossed over his chest, shoulders pulled backwards. "I know."
"So maybe you should stop talking so much and show me?"
Josh's arms drop to the side "Are you serious?"
Alex moves his hands up to a boxing position, steps forward, feigning in his right and punching Josh's center mass with his left. He steps back as Josh stumbles and grunts, the air pushed out of his lungs. The pain is not that bad, he is just surprised. He looks at Alex for a second. OK. You're on! . He jumps forward, fists raised, crouching low.
Alex is larger than himself, his attacks feel organized, calculated, and his body feels like stone when Josh manages to get a punch in. But he himself is faster, and angrier. Much angrier. At some point he needs to reign down the animal inside him. He needs it to be over. If he could only get in a right hook, this time he will put all of himself into it. Or most of himself, as much as he hates the guy, he doesn't really want to kill him.
"Ten minutes!" there is a yell from somewhere. Alex is dodging a punch, and then launches forward, pushing Josh back. He didn't see it coming. Stumbling backwards he falls on his backside. Alex straightens his back, drops his hands to the side, flexing his fingers. Then he moves forward and holds his hand out, offering it to Josh. "My jaw is still intact." Alex says half smiling at him, blood dripping from a split lip. "Maybe next time?"
"Next time?" Josh is perplexed from the sudden change of demeanor, "What are you talking about?" he grabs the offered hand and gets up, breathing hard. The other four men in the room are clapping.
Alex looks...content. "You fight well" he tells Josh. "And I'm not sure how you did it, but you are definitely not as drunk as I thought you'd be." He pulls him to the side, "You're welcome to join us again if you'd like, just… don't tell my dad." Freddie and one of the other guys step to the middle of the small space they just vacated.
"Join? What are you…" The other two are starting to fight, Josh trails off. Then "What,is this like a fight club? First law of fight club…?"
Alex releases a short laugh "Yeah, you can call it that."
Josh looks silently at the two guys fighting for a few seconds. His lip is sore. So is his eye and his right cheekbone. He touches it trepidatiously, his fingers come out stained with blood. But he feels good. The animal is calm, he is high on adrenaline. No trace of the consuming fury he just felt, even when he looks back at the smug expression on Alex's face. "Only if you stop being such a schmuck."
"Schmuck?" Alex raises an eyebrow and winces a little. Thin streak of blood is flowing from it down the side of his face. "If I wouldn't be such a… schmuck, you think you'll be able to beat me?"
"Don't worry," Josh assures him "I'm sure I would find other reasons to knock some sense into you. You probably have annoying habits like...not recycling or picking in your ear with the car keys" Alex snorts "or running away in the middle of a dinner with my boss…"
"Hey!" Alex protests "it was either that or punching him in the nose. I made the right choice!"
"You just planned on getting punched at a later date…" Josh smiles at him.
Alex smiles back. He has a nice smile. Even with the beginning of a swelling on his lip. Kind of goofy. "Yeah, lucky you." He opens a small office refrigerator, takes out a frozen bag of...something, and hands it to Josh. The second one he puts on the left side of his own jaw.
"You have a strange definition of the word 'luck'" Josh comments and holds the bag against his eye.
A/N: So, would you like us to keep Josh & Alex, or would it be better to call them Danny & Steve?