A/N: This compilation of stories is going to be primarily based on the secondary characters of Five-O. All of the men and women that have showed up to help the team and have captured or stuck a chord in all of us. I'm hoping to keep these as one shot stories, but any time I feel like the others need a little love, this is where you will find their adventure. I'm calling them The Consultants in much the same spirit as The X-Files' - Lone Gunmen and Supernatural's - Ghost-facers. Occasionally the main cast will pop in to make appearances, but rest assured, these stories are about the B-Team not the A-Team.
I hope you like them! Thank you so much for reading. Comments are always welcome!
Chapter 1: Partner Parallels
Commander Steve McGarrett walked into the Five-O bullpen, one morning, followed by his new friend and overly eager house crasher, Jerry Ortega.
Jerry had been searching around Steve's house - with Steve's blessings - after having found co-ordinates on the Champ Box that Steve had overlooked. Steve was a curious as a cat to see what else was hidden in his home and if it was conspiracy related he knew that Jerry would be the one to find it, and get to the bottom of it, but on this morning Jerry was looking for something a little more high-tech and had asked the Five-O commander for access to the task-forces' Smart System.
The request seemed innocent enough to Steve, but as they arrived in the bullpen and Jerry moved excitedly toward the equipment he'd seen before but had not touched, he was stopped by the death stair that was shot in his directions by the Five-O hacker in residence, and acquaintance acquired by Detective Williams.
"Whoa there stranger, don't touched the hardware." Toast warned.
"Steve said I could use it." Jerry retorted childishly.
"That's why I called you in this morning," Steve added with a dismissive wave toward Toast.
"Ah, so, what Steve meant was you can place an inquiry with the professionals and I'll see what I can do for you." Toast explained.
"Steve, this is very sensitive research I'm going to be doing. I can't trust someone I don't know." Jerry whined as he spun on the commander - before Steve could escape to his office.
"Jerry, this is Toast. Toast, this is my friend Jerry." Steve stated and back away slightly from the two angry men. "There, now you two are no longer strangers. I hope that you two can find a way to resolve this conflict and work together. Jerry, Toast has been working the Champ Box case for a long time. He's well versed and very competent. We've used him on several cases. I assure you, he's trust worthy." Steve added and brightened up as Danny walked in.
"Do you have anything new for us?" Danny asked as he arrived on the scene in the bullpen. "You must if Toast is here."
"Danny, thank God! Can you deal with this. I have a lot to do and the morning check in with the Governor to get done. I really appreciate it." Steve stated shook his partners hand as Danny looked at him in confusion, and then he rushed off to his office.
"A hand shake? Really? What the Hell McGarrett?" Danny yelled after his partner.
"Love you too, Danno." Steve waved and shut the door.
"Sure. Right. Appreciate isn't the word I'd use for this!" Danny stated sarcastically as he continued yelled at Steve closed office door.
Danny then turned on the two men who believed that the sheer force of their will would make the other relent and move away from the scared vessel that was the Smart Table.
"My office. Now!" Danny yelled and pointed at the empty space.
"Whoa, calm down Skinner!" Jerry and Toast stated together and then jumped at the shock of hearing the reference from each other.
"Don't give me none of your sass, I don't have time for this. Now step away from the Smart Table and take a seat in my office." Danny ordered.
The two men obeyed and scuttled off toward Danny's office.
"This is just how I wanted to start my day." Danny stated sarcastically and cursed Steve under his breath. "I haven't even had coffee yet."
5-0
Once the two men were safely settled in his office and Danny has paced around them for a long moment looking as menacing as he could muster at the early hour. After and audible sigh, from Danny, the two men both moved to speak, but Danny silenced them again with a glare that screamed 'don't push me' and then spoke.
"If you'll excuse me, gentlemen, for just one moment, I have to speak briefly with Commander McGarrett about this...inconvenience. You'll stay here." Danny ordered but both men defiantly move in protest. "You'll stay right where you are or I'll hand cuff you both to the chairs." Danny threatened.
"They aren't even bolted to the floor. We can still leave." Toast retorted defiantly.
"Fine, I'll handcuff you to the chairs and each other and I'll lock the door, if you want to act like children about it. This is your time out." Danny added threateningly and saw the two men relent as their eyes dropped to the floor. "Good. You two just sit tight, and I'll be right back." He added with an overly sarcastic smile and left the room.
"The nerve of some people," Jerry huffed as he sat in his chair, crossed his arms and sulked.
"That's just how Jersey is," Toast sighed. "There is no use fighting it. Plus he has a pre-teen. He knows discipline."
5-0
"What the hell were you thinking?" Danny yelled as he stormed into Steve's office - and the two men could hear the force of Danny's yelling through two closed doors and the expanse of the bullpen. They watched silently through the open blinds, but Danny's voice seemed to quiet after the initial yelling.
"I figured that Toast and Jerry could work together - to help me solve the mystery of the Champ Box - while Five-O does what they usually, and were hired, to do. I pride myself on being a good judge of character - most of the time - and those two just seem like they would make a really good team. Hacker and Conspiracy Theorist - I'm sure I saw that one TV or something. Besides, you're always saying we have to deal the the here and now, and this frees us up to carry on with police work. Our job is to protect and serve these islands, so why not pass this stuff off to people like them who do seem to live in that world already." Steve explained calmly.
"This isn't a TV show!" Danny huffed. "You just don't see it do you?" he gasped as the realization of the weight of the situation hit him and he had to sit down in front of his partner to make his point and emphasize the gravity of the situation.
"What am I missing, Daniel, enlighten me." Steve looked across the desk and was as sarcastic as Danny could ever be.
"Why did you think they would work well together?" Danny asked trying to get to the truth and prove his point all at the same time.
"Because, what they do is the same thing." Steve answered.
"Not really. In your previous line of work, maybe they would have been dangerous and lumped together for terminations sake, but they really aren't the same." Danny tried to be as gentle as possible.
"Then why don't you enlighten me, Daniel?"
"Because you don't listen to me, Steven."
"I'm listening."
"Well, you see, Toast is a hacker, but he was trained in a much more legal realm. He deals with computer systems and making them do what he wants them to do. He doesn't find needles in haystacks, he makes them and then he threads them when no one is looking."
Steve looked at Danny and was full of confusion.
"And, well, our friend Jerry is a conspiracy theorist. He believes in the needle in the hay stack with all his heart and soul, and his goal is to prove that it exists when people are saying the exact opposite."
"How is that different? By your reasoning, they are both dealing with the needles."
Danny face-palmed himself knowing that he wasn't going to get anywhere with Steve now that he'd set his heart on those two men working together.
"It means that, sure, they may work toward a common goal but they are from two different worlds."
"Like you and I."
Danny fell silent.
"Look, Danno, I just want them to work together to find the needle that is my mother, and all the stuff that she's trying so desperately to hide from me in this giant web that is the haystack. I think that pairing those two up is the best way to do that, so what I need you to do is convince them, or threaten them, into believing that they are just like Mulder and Scully, and that the truth is out there for them to find - together."
"What, why do I have to do that?"
"Because, Jerry is crashing at my place right now and he'd been watching a lot of TV - one show in particular, and I think that by using that show as an analogy for them, it may get him off my case. Also, you're my friend, so you can be that authority for me, while I try to convince Jerry that he'll always be useful to us, but get the hell out of my house."
"Okay, pal, whatever you say, but you think that I'm the right person to get them to work together?"
"Yes."
"How so, and make it good." Danny stated and his voice was full of venom. "Because, you haven't even given me a change to have coffee yet."
"I don't know why I think you are the man for the job. Just do what I did to get you to work with me and I'll go out and get you coffee."
"You want me to get them shot today as initiation into working together?"
"No." Steve said with a shake of his head. "Dangle a case in front of their faces and then take it away from them, and do it in such a way that it seems like a conspiracy against the wellbeing of this island."
"But you didn't actually want me on the case. There wasn't any dangling, except for you off the side of a shipping container. You press-ganged me into this."
"And I'm doing it again. And, for the record, I did want you on the case because as soon as you left my dad's garage, I realized you were the only other man who had devoted all his time to the case. I needed you."
"I feel so important." Danny mocked.
"Just, give the guys a common goal, and tell them that it's been elusive to us. That should be enough to hook them."
"Okay, so what am I dangling in front of them, exactly?"
"Doris."
"But I don't actually have Doris, because she's off playing super spy while her son thinks he can be a super SEAL and order me around."
"Exactly, and that will remain the plan. The truth is out there my friend, now go set them on the right path, and I'll get coffee and hopefully land us a case." Steve stated proudly.
"Who's been watching way too much TV - you or Jerry?"
"It's a good show."
"Right." Danny said with a shake of his head. "What does that even mean?"
"Never mind. Just one of these days watch the X-files and you'll get it. Now go and get them settled while I see what the Governor has for us this week." Steve stated and jumped out of his chair and headed for the door.
"Don't forget my coffee! You owe me!" Danny called after him.
"I got it."
5-0
"All right gentlemen, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. It's time to clear up a few things." Danny said as he walked into his office and around his desk before taking his seat and facing the odd couple before him. "We apologize for the inconvenience. I am now well aware of the situation at hand. Firstly, Steve wasn't very eloquent when he introduced you, so let's start off on the right foot." Danny over exaggerated his every word and it was clear that the smile he'd plastered on his face was as fake as his tone. "Adam Charles, also know as Toast here and around the islands, this is Steve's very good friend Jerry Ortega. He's a conspiracy theorist and he's helped Five-O with a few recent cases. Jerry, this is Toast, our resident hacker. If we need information, or if something happens to out physical system here in the office, Toast is the man we call. He also cracks any other system we may need to get into in a hurry, and because of our Immunity and Means, we are able contract outside of regular HPD channels. He's become somewhat of a Five-O fixture."
The two men turned and looked at each other with intrigue.
"Your mission, gentlemen, should you choose to accept it, is simple. Steve would like the two of you to work together with the assistance of all of our technology, and Immunity and Means, to find former CIA agent Doris McGarrett. We believe that she may have returned to the CIA and we are convinced that while she was with us, she told us nothing but lies. Steve would like for you to crack all of her codes, hack all of her channels and find out what exactly is she hiding. We here at Five-O have affectionately dubbed this the Champ Box Case and it was started by Jack McGarrett, who was investigating code name Shelburne - who turned out to be his wife who faked her own death and disappeared when Steve was only a teenager. That woman is Doris."
The two men sat in shocked silence as they hung on Danny's ever word.
"We believe that the two of you, with your very different fields of study, may be able to hone in on Doris and the mysteries of the Champ Box where we have turned up dead ends." Danny concluded, folded his hands on his desk and smiled dramatically.
"Why do I feel like there is more to this than you are telling us?" Jerry asked.
"Because you are paranoid, and there is," Danny answered and continued to smile.
"Why do I feel like you are feeding us to the sharks?" Toast asked.
"I'm not, but Steve may be." Danny answered again.
"Are we going to be in danger if we look into this?" Toast asked fearfully.
"I would assume so," Danny continued to smile unnervingly, "but I trust that you both would know how to cover your track, or better yet, don't make any."
Both men looked to each other and swallowed hard.
"If you don't want to take on this case, that's just fine with me. I don't particularly agree with Steve for bringing you into this. Toast you can go back to your commercial computer repair and we'll call you back when we need you. Jerry, you can head back to your mother's basement because no one is going to look for you there. If you are uncomfortable with what Steve is asking of you, that is completely understandable, but you'll be cut off from our equipment if you don't take the case."
"We'll take the case." Both men jumped and agreed.
"I knew you'd come around." Danny smiled again. "Toast you have access to all the work we've already done and Jerry you have the Champ Box and access to Steve's house, and I'm assuming you have outside sources as well. Anything you find, report directly to Steve."
"Not to you?" Jerry asked.
"Hell no, this is Steve vendetta. He can deal with you from this point on. My only task was to get you two to work together." Danny stated dismissively.
"You're not in the least bit curious?" Toast asked.
Danny shook his head.
"Why not? What are you not telling us?" Jerry asked suspiciously.
"Look, this case brought Five-O together, and it nearly tore us apart. We're already in it way too deep. It got me shot on my first day as Steve's partner, and I believe that we have exhausted all our avenues until we can find Doris and make her tell us the truth. All the suspects that we were in search of for the murder of Jack McGarrett are dead or in custody. The man who contracted the kill is in a max security prison on the mainland and he isn't telling us anything. As far as I'm concerned, Five-O is finished with this case until new evidence can come to light - that's where you come in. It's up to you now."
"Oh."
Danny nodded, "now off you go, Mulder and Scully, because I've got paper work to file and a partner to wait for.
"We're more like the Lone Gunmen than Mulder and Scully." Jerry stated.
"Yeah, you and Steve are Mulder and Scully." Toast added with a nod.
"I don't even know what that means, it was Steve analogy." Danny said with a shake of his head.
"You're Scully." Toast and Jerry stated together.
"And you'll be affectionately know as The Consultants."
"That's a little mainstream for what we're doing, don't you think?" Jerry asked.
"I have named you, it is done. Now Steve said that the truth is out there and my job was to get you two to go out there and find it." Danny said and waved them away.
"Oh, it is out there, Detective," Jerry stated as he stood and Toast followed, "and you had better beware. If you are in as deep as you say you are, then there is no escaping it now."
Danny looked at the two very mismatched partners questioningly.
"Trust no on, Detective, not even yourself." Jerry added and left the room with Toast.
"First Max, then Lori, what is Steve doing, assembling a circus?" Danny asked himself and then shook off his displeasure as Steve walked back into the bullpen with coffee in his hands.
