(Author's Note)
This is pretty different from what I usually do. Still hope you guys enjoy.
Warnings: Violence, mentions of rape, and the plot is centered on human trafficking.
Disclaimer: Don't own Hawaii Five-0
There's nothing but pain when Danny opens his eyes. Pain of his body, pain of his mind, pain of his very spirit. The urge to cry is strangely strong, but he pushes it away in lieu of anger. The anger soon fills him up, takes over the pain's place.
He eases himself up and stumbles to his feet. His knees buckle, but he grabs at the side of the wall and straightens up. There's no time to falter. There's revenge to be had.
Earlier in the day
Danny laughs as Steve struggles to get a bracelet on his wrist. The string is pressed to its limit around his large hand. Just another push and it settles on his wrist, bright and girlish against the darker skin.
"I'm glad you like it." Danny grins at Steve who narrows his eyes at him.
"Of course I love it. It's from Grace," he replies, obviously put out by the idea that he wouldn't love something that the little girl's hands had made.
Danny shakes his head, grin still firmly fixed on his face. "She loves you, so damn much, you know?" he asks, though he knows the answer, knows that Steve loves her just as much as she does him. "I swear, one of these days, she's going to tell me all about the crush she has on you."
Steve makes a face. Not the aneurysm face for once. "I hope not. Might make things a little awkward." He reaches for Danny's hand and grips it tightly for a moment.
Danny hums in agreement. "Well, I am glad you finally got that on your hand," he motions to the bracelet. "We can finally get some work done."
Steve grabs at a folder on his desk and opens it. He leans back in his chair and skims it as Danny perches precariously on the edge of Steve's desk. Steve speaks out loud as he reads, telling Danny all the important parts of the case. Not that everything isn't important, of course. When it comes to human lives, the minutest detail is important.
"Um...Several wealthy businessmen are funding human trafficking...American males and females being shipped to Europe...Center of operations found to be here in Hawaii. Warehouse near the docks. Shit." Steve looks up at Danny with a disgusted look on his face. "What the fuck is going on in this country?"
Danny shrugs, not unfeelingly. He feels just as sick to his stomach as Steve looks, but he knows that getting too emotionally invested in a case is detrimental.
Steve grabs his arm tightly enough to leave bruises. Danny says nothing, just stares into Steve's eyes, their words expressing so much more than their personalities would ever allow their lips to form.
They arrive at the warehouse innocuously. No sirens, no screeching of tires as the car brakes from a too high speed. Steve was trying to be careful, Danny realized. It was such a change from his usual behavior. Just how much had this case already affected Steve?
Danny gets out of the car and allows his eyes to move over the warehouse. There was nothing outwardly strange about it, but now that he was there, Danny can feel something encompassing the warehouse. He holds his hand out in front of him as if the feeling is actually tangible.
"You okay?" Steve asks from beside him.
Danny looks at Steve for a moment before answering in the affirmative. They walk the perimeter of the building, finding nothing and no one.
The more Danny is around the warehouse, the more wary he feels, as if something awful is about to happen.
"Well...Let's go in." There is a trepidation in Steve's words. Danny's never heard anything like that from his partner. The worry in the pit of his stomach grows.
Danny and Steve stare at each other as they prepare to enter the warehouse. Steve nods at him and reaches for the doorknob. It turns easily in his hand and he pushes it and steps inside, Danny following closely behind.
The beads on Steve's bracelet rattle quietly as he moves around the room, a frown forming on his face. It is not completely empty; cages fill the large space, but the cages are empty.
Danny steps closer to one. He has a clear view of the inside through the bars. Large drops of dried blood make a path to a large blood stain in one of the corners, a shirt soiled with blood to the side of the puddle. A filthy skirt and equally filthy underwear are strewn about the cage and Danny makes a strangled sound as he realizes that they are in a very small size.
He closes his eyes as his mind unwelcomely recreates the possible scene that occurred in the cage. A body in the middle, made naked as attackers tear the fabric from skin. Probably raped and beaten, the girl moves to the corner to bleed, a shirt pressed against the deepest of the wounds received.
A hand on his back pulls him from his thoughts. He turns to look at Steve who now looks enraged. "I'm not promising to let these pieces of shit actually get to prison." Danny nods in agreement.
"I'll call forensics, see if they can get a match for the blood," Danny says, pulling his cell from his pocket as they walk toward the door.
"Blood and other things," Steve adds tiredly. Danny does not want to know what the 'other things' are; his brain already giving him all the possibilities.
They step outside and blink rapidly against the sunlight. They round the side of the warehouse, still partially blind.
Danny hears something drop beside him. He turns to get a look at it right before it explodes, leaving his ears ringing and his eyes tightly closed. He feels his cell phone drop from his hand, never having made the call.
"Flash grenade!" Steve yells as he blindly grabs for Danny's arm. He makes contact for a moment before he is pulled away. "Danny!" he yells before he is slammed against the side of the warehouse. Blood fills his mouth and metal bites at his face.
He is pulled away from the metal only to be pushed against it again, this time so he can see his attacker.
An unfamiliar man smiles at him, straight white teeth barely showing between his thin pink lips. The man is the same height as he is and built similarly, his shirt tight against his skin.
"I think you look good all beaten and bloodied!" the man says cheerfully, his forearm pressed against Steve's throat. "You would fetch a high price. All big and feisty and handsome. And that bracelet just says that you're all melty inside!"
Steve's fist flies at the man, but is abruptly stopped by an open palm. The man turns his head slightly to look at the owner of the hand.
"I think that's enough flirting, John," the voice dryly says. "Take care of our guest. Leave his friend. He's not worth very much."
John smiles at Steve, sharp incisors in full view. "Did you need to tell him I was flirting, Zach? You're supposed to be my wingman!"
John grabs Steve, pulling him tight against his chest, Steve's arms held behind him by John's large hands. They walk toward a small, dark red car.
John opens the door for Steve and motions him inside with a mock bow. Steve glares at him, but is painfully aware of the gun in Zach's hand. He slides inside and is surprised when John seats himself beside him. Zach gets in the front seat and stares at the two of them in the rearview mirror. "Keep your hands to yourself, John," he warns. Steve is not happy to see the angelic smile John gives him.
Present
Danny pulls himself away from the wall, feeling well enough to stand. He's back in the warehouse, but shockingly, not in one of the cages. He can hear men talking but can't distinguish any words. He doesn't really care. All he wants is to find Steve and hack apart their attackers. Especially that John person.
He had heard him talking about Steve being expensive. It had made him sick to his stomach; he had the stains on his shirt to prove it.
Danny crouches behind a covered cage. Billowing fabric encases it, either to keep people from looking in or to keep those inside from seeing the outside. He peeks around the corner to get a look at the men still inside the warehouse.
One of the men is coming to check on Danny, probably still expecting to see the man unconscious. Danny spies the gun in the man's hand. A shudder moves through him as he comprehends that the man has come to kill him.
The man passes by where Danny is hiding. He stands up from his crouch, knees protesting painfully, but his anger still blocks out most of the pain.
He grabs the man's head and turns it roughly. The neck snaps loudly and there is dead weight falling back against Danny. He drops the body without thought and reaches for the gun on the floor.
His fingers brush the barrel just as a gun fires. He screams out as a burning fills his entire being. He picks up the gun, swivels, and fires. His attacker's brain explodes out the back of his head, gore splattering the fabric covering the cage.
Danny presses a hand to his bullet wound. The casing is lodged in the fleshy part of his arm and didn't hit anything important, but the wound is bleeding heavily. He curses loudly and tears the sleeve of the dead man resting at his feet to tie around his arm.
While he's crouched over the dead man, he checks his pockets and comes away with a cell phone and an extra magazine for the gun. He takes both, placing the magazine in his pocket and turning on the cell phone.
He swipes his thumb over the screen. The home screen picture is of a crying young woman with a gag in her mouth. Danny closes his eyes and breathes for a moment, trying to calm himself. He opens his eyes and checks the man's contacts.
He scrolls through them before going through the phone's logs. He notes the most called number before placing the phone in his pocket.
The warehouse is quiet and empty. There is a smell in the air that Danny had not noticed before. Stale cigarettes, sex, blood, and human waste.
He passes the cages without any second glances. He's going to find Steve and together they're going to finish this case. Then he will try his damndest to forget everything about it.
Danny drives to Five-0 headquarters, this time his tires do screech as he comes to a halt in front of the doors. He doesn't even bother to park properly before he jumps out of the car, knees once again protesting vehemently.
He pushes through the doors, ignoring the comments on his appearance, the shouts of surprise when they see the blood seeping through the makeshift bandage on his arm, and finds Kono and Chin in their office. He pulls the dead man's cell phone from his pocket and tosses it to Kono. She catches it and looks it over.
"Run the most called number and track it. Now," he says forcefully. She nods in reply and turns to the computer to input the number.
"What happened? Where's Steve?" Chin asks, peering at Danny. He spies the dressing on his arm, but doesn't say anything. Something on Danny's face tells him not to try to pull his attention from the matter at hand.
"You know the human trafficking case we're working?" Danny asks, but doesn't wait for any affirmative replies. "We went to the warehouse where they were keeping the 'slaves,'" his voice catches on the word, "and it was empty except for the cages." Chin winces.
"We go outside and get attacked. Flash grenade. Steve gets taken and I get knocked out and taken back into the warehouse."
"They took Steve? How did they manage that?" Kono asks, not looking up from the screen.
"I have no idea," Danny replies, clearly frustrated. "Do you have the location yet?"
"Yeah. Looks like another warehouse. We'll come with. Just follow Chin and I. You sure you don't want to get that bullet taken care of?" She looks at Danny carefully, unsure of his response.
Danny grits his teeth and tries not to shout a response. "I'm sure. It's fine. It stopped bleeding on the way over. I'll get it out when I have Steve back." He doesn't care if they know he's lying about the bleeding having stopped.
This time, they park away from the warehouse, choosing to approach on foot. Guns in hand, they move toward the building, barely making any sound.
The warehouse is much the same as the last. Same color, same size, same feeling it gives Danny. He pushes the feeling away, puts them in the same place as he puts the pain. Both pain and anger and the unknown feeling shut out, he presses on to the warehouse door.
An unfamiliar red car is parked near the entrance. Danny gets the inexplicable urge to shoot at it until it explodes, but feels that that would probably not be worth his time and might get them all killed.
They position themselves at the door and Chin opens it. A flashback to Steve opening the other warehouse's door flashes through Danny's mind.
Kono follows Chin and Danny goes after them both, eyes adjusting to the darkness. More cages, all covered with the same cloth as the last one.
Kono reaches for a side of the material over the cage nearest the door. She lifts it slowly, but is stopped by Chin.
"Later," he murmurs. She pauses for a moment before nodding her understanding.
Danny is moving forward still, feeling that Steve is there, waiting for him. A back room begs his attention and he steps toward it, fabric fluttering as he passes.
His anger breaks from the room he locked it in, kicking in the door in the same way he is now. His eyes narrow at the man who has lips on Steve's neck.
Danny moves his gun up and fires without a pause, not even considering the danger he is putting Steve in. His partner's face is suddenly red. Pieces of skull and brain sticking to his skin, his hair, his memory.
Another gunshot rings out in the warehouse; but Danny barely hears it as he rushes toward Steve, steps over the body, releases him from his binds, and hugs him tightly. Danny's head leans against Steve's chest, and he can feel the warm drip of blood. Nothing matters but Steve's arms around him, the frantic beat of his heart in Danny's ears, the jingle of beads as Steve's hands shake.
Chin and Kono enter the room, and take in the sight before them. They say nothing, Chin just grabs a rag and tosses it to Steve after he and Danny have pulled away from each other.
"The other guy is dead?" Steve asks as he wipes at the drying blood.
"Yeah." Chin replies.
"And the cages?" Danny asks as he helps Steve clean up.
"Mostly empty."
Danny and Steve turn to look at Chin and Kono. "Mostly?"
"Dead bodies," was the only reply. Everyone had seen too much today. Too much to easily forget. Too much evidence of the depravity of man.
The next day
Danny presses himself closer to Steve's back. His fingers brush against skin, making nonsensical designs.
Steve sighs quietly and turns to look at Danny. His eyes betray so much; so much more than he would ever show to the rest of the world. Danny is the only one allowed to see him weak, breaking, hurt.
A hand slides up his side and to his neck, moving over the marks made by John. Steve closes his eyes, lets Danny touch him, soothe him, heal him.
The case is not over, not yet; but it's time to take a break, lick their wounds, and deal with the aftermath.
Steve is emotionally traumatized, Danny is dealing with what comes after being shot, Chin and Kono aren't sure whether they will ever recover from what they saw in the warehouse, and the families of the victims will never be able to return to how life was. No one involved in this case ever will.