Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of this work of fiction, and no profit, monetary or otherwise, is being made through the writing of this.
A/N: Written for a livejournal challenge about natural disasters, but not posted as I chose to enter a different story instead. Recently revised for grammatical errors discovered while re-reading.
Pele, Hawaiian goddess of fire, lightning, dance and volcanoes, was not at the top of Danny's 'must-see before leaving the Big Island' list. It was a fairly short list, that, if he was honest with himself, and Danny liked to think of himself as an honest man, had one item on it, and one item only.
His visit to the Big Island, Hawaii, was not for pleasure. He, like the rest of his team, was there for business – a mandatory, as per the governor, training, where hundreds of police task forces from the mainland and even some other countries, were gathered to learn from each other and share the ins and outs of their work. The idea was to learn, network and bond as a team. Something that the governor had apparently deemed necessary after the 'fiasco', his word, not Danny's, that had been last year.
There was one thing that Danny had wanted to do before returning to Oahu, and now it looked like his trip to Kona's Mountain Thunder Coffee Plantation was as close to a bust as one could possibly get. Yes, he'd actually gotten to visit the plantation, had the coffee and a tee-shirt for Grace to prove it, but now he was stranded on the side of a road that apparently didn't see much traffic at night.
It didn't help that he wasn't alone. Actually, that almost made things worse, because, not only did he have his own safety and welfare to worry about, but he also had that of one Unit Chief, Aaron Hotchner, to consider.
Danny hadn't gotten to know the man much during their trainings and seminars because the two of them had never been paired together. Even after spending the day together, he still didn't know much about the man, other than the fact that, Aaron Hotchner, was a man who kept his thoughts and feelings close to the vest. He was a hard man to read, and Danny figured that it was his line of work that made him so.
As the chief of his unit, Aaron had been paired with other heads of units, like Steve. Steve hadn't exactly been a fount of information throughout their two-week training/seminar, and therein lie some of the problems that Governor Denning seemed to have with the Five-0 task force – lack of communication.
Danny knew that Aaron Hotchner worked for the FBI as part of their BAU (Behavioral Analysis Unit) based in Quantico, Virginia, and that he had four other people on his team, but that was about the extent of his knowledge of the man. He knew nothing about Aaron Hotchner on a personal level; not that much of their two weeks had been spent in idle chit-chat.
Team-building activities (that Steve had found one excuse or another to avoid, save for one), seminars on such scintillating topics as profiling and hostage negotiation, and real-life simulations, had afforded little time for much else during their two weeks.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner were often working affairs, with teams getting together to discuss what other members had learned and how best to implement that information in their own practice. Though Danny had worried that the two weeks would drag, they had been a whirlwind of almost non-stop activity.
Danny had requested, and had been granted, a few days leave so that he could get to see a little more of the Big Island and relax some before returning to the crowded, chaotic Oahu and the hectic routine of work. The past few months had left him feeling like he'd been placed on a rack and stretched thin as a piece of taffy.
Steve's distancing himself from Danny and the rest of the team didn't help matters much either. His partner's lack of communication had driven a wedge between them. Danny understood why Steve didn't share everything with him, he wasn't stupid, but knowing why didn't erase the hurt.
What did someone in his line of work do when they couldn't, wouldn't, trust their partner? They requested a new partner. Danny wondered how much longer he'd be with Five-0. If things between Steven and himself didn't change soon, it wouldn't be much time at all. Danny didn't want to work with someone who couldn't trust him. It wouldn't be fair to Steve or anyone else on the team.
"Can't get a signal," Aaron said, breaking through Danny's thoughts. "I think that we'll have to try and find help ourselves."
Aaron held his satellite phone up in the air over his head and hit redial for what must've been the hundredth time since they'd gotten lost. They'd been trying, by turns, to get one of their phones to work, only to have the same result; their calls simply would not go through.
"Just peachy, I take some time off to do some sightseeing, get to know the islands better, and this is what happens. I should've known that something like this would happen," Danny said in response. "Murphy's Law is the not so unspoken tenet of my life."
"It's a law that I do not take for granted," Aaron said, and the serious tone of the other man's voice threw Danny for a loop.
At the sidelong glance that Danny gave him, Aaron sighed, and added, "With some of the things I've seen as a profiler, it's just something that I've come to expect. If something can go wrong, it will. We have to prepare for that contingency whenever we take on a new case."
"Must be hard," Danny said, nodding in Aaron's direction, "dealing with all of those sickos."
"It can be, but then when I think about why I'm doing it, to make the world a better place for Jack," the briefest of smiles flit across Aaron's face as he spoke. "That's my son; it makes it all worthwhile."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Danny said, smiling at the thought of his own personal reason for fighting for justice in the crazy, messed up world that he lived in,. "I've got a daughter, Grace. She's my sole reason for…" Danny searched his mind for the right words.
"For everything," Aaron supplied and his lips quirked up in a passing smile that almost immediately devolved into a frown as he looked at his cell phone.
"Still no signal?" Danny asked, and he pulled out his own cell phone, only to shake his head as it, too, remained devoid of bars.
As they stood off to the side of the single lane highway, their rental car having broken down some time ago, Danny wondered what had possessed him to approach the rather dour looking agent in the first place during one of their final luncheons with: "Hey, I've got some time to go sightseeing, being from Jersey and all, I thought I should see more of this jungle. Though why I bother..."
Maybe it was the quirked eyebrow that had reminded Danny so much of one of his friends from the academy or the quick response of, "I'd love to," after one of his agents, Doctor Reid, had bounded over, inviting him to visit a volcano. Or, maybe it was the ever-present tie that the man wore, marking him a kindred.
They'd set off for the coffee plantation earlier that morning, and it had been a surprisingly enjoyable day, talking mostly about work and their teams, the different dynamics between the members, and past cases, but then the car had broken down, and darkness was fast approaching.
"Nothing," Aaron confirmed. "Looks like I should've taken Reid up on his offer after all."
Dr. Reid was taller than Steve, and willowy. It was hard to picture him as an FBI agent, let alone one who had three PhD's under his belt, not to mention four bachelor's degrees. Danny wondered if the young agent had trouble with others not taking him seriously, but hadn't asked. He wondered what Aaron thought of his agent, but didn't think now was an opportune time to ask.
"And visit a deathtrap under the guise of a national treasure?" Danny asked, incredulous.
"Apparently Kilauea Volcano National Park is a 'must-see'," Aaron said drily, his lips quirking upward as he started walking in the direction their car had been headed when it decided to break down.
Danny hoped it was the right direction for them to head in as he quickly followed the older man. He wondered when they'd come upon civilization. This road was pretty isolated, and they were surrounded by trees, and tall grass on either side of the highway.
"I don't understand the attraction," Danny said, tucking his hands into his pockets as he walked. He shook his head. "People flock there from all over the world to see our generation's most active volcano. Don't they understand that volcanos are deadly? The volcanic ash alone is enough to wreak havoc on the lungs." Danny shuddered at the very thought of it.
"I think that is the attraction," Aaron said. "Danger, or the possibility of danger, is appealing to many people on some basic level."
"Yeah," Danny said, thinking of Steve and the way he practically threw himself, and by proxy, Danny, into dangerous situations. "I can see that, why didn't you go with Dr. Reid and the others?"
The young agent hadn't been the only one who'd wanted to see the Volcano Park, a whole busload of visitors from the mainland and neighboring countries had ended up leaving early that morning, shortly before Danny and Aaron had headed out on their own, less dangerous, adventure. Chin, Kono and Steve had opted to join the tour as well. He hadn't even tried to convince his teammates to join him.
"I promised Beth that I'd bring back some coffee, and, to be honest, I was curious about your team and thought that you would be the best person to talk to. Lieutenant Commander McGarrett was less than forthcoming about certain aspects of your job, possibly a fallback from his time as a Navy SEAL, and the whole 'need to know' mentality that seems to follow many men in his line of work. Besides, I kind of wanted some time away from my team," Aaron admitted with a frown.
"Beth, your wife?" the question was out of Danny's mouth before he could retract it.
He too, had wanted a brief respite from his team, but wasn't willing to admit it aloud. He doubted that his real reason for extending the offer to Aaron had gone unnoticed by the expert profiler, though.
"No, girlfriend," Aaron corrected. "Haley and I divorced four years ago, my work hours, and the dangers of my job, weren't easy on our marriage."
"I know what you mean," Danny said. "I moved here, to the islands," Danny said, opening his arms wide, as if to encompass the entirety of the Hawaiian Islands, "because my ex brought our daughter here, and I couldn't imagine not being in the same time zone as my Grace. You and your ex on good terms?"
Aaron cleared his throat and shifted slightly, his face taking on a haunted look. He shook his head and grimaced.
"We were. She was killed by an unsub who had targeted me a couple years ago. Jack," his voice cracked, "survived."
Horrified, Danny reached out a hand and squeezed the other man's shoulder.
"Shit, I'm sorry," he apologized. "What happened to the unsub?"
"I killed him," Aaron said matter-of-factly, and his eyes glinted like fire in the waning light.
"Good," Danny said, his voice filled with stark approval.
Danny's mind was immediately brought back to what had happened to Grace a few short months ago, and how his life had almost been forfeit because of a run-in with someone from his past. It was terrifying when his professional life was mixed up in his personal life, he couldn't even begin to imagine how much worse things would be if he tracked serial killers for a living.
"Yeah, didn't really have much of a choice with Jack still in the house, he wouldn't have stopped at killing me and Jack," Aaron said, his eyes had taken a faraway look and Danny wondered if the man was reliving what had happened. Still the man's steps did not falter as they continued walking.
"We do what we have to," Danny said, "to keep those that we love safe."
"How about you?" Aaron asked, clearing his throat. "You seeing anyone?"
"Yeah, kind of off and on," Danny waggled his hand in the air. "She's a museum curator."
Aaron laughed, a loud bark of sound, and Danny raised an eyebrow at the uncharacteristic reaction from the older man. He'd watched the BAU team covertly, curious about the five man team, so unlike the one he was a part of, and their leader had struck him as a conservative man who didn't often allow his true emotions to show, much like Steven.
"Beth's a curator too," Aaron replied, after his bout of laughter subsided.
Danny shook his head and laughed as well.
"Figures," he said, and at the questioning look that Aaron gave him, he elaborated, "I mean, of all of the people I could be stuck on the side of the road with," and he gestured between the both of them, "it figures that it would be someone that I apparently have a lot in common with. The world really is as small as they say it is."
"That it is," Aaron agreed, nodding.
"What's that up ahead?" Danny asked, squinting in the dim light of dusk as he pointed toward what looked like a billowing cloud of smoke.
The sun hadn't quite sunk into the horizon yet, but it was close to setting and soon they'd be plunged into relative darkness. Right now, however, the sun was an orange ball of fire, the tendrils of its rays painted the distant horizon a soft shade of peach and rose. It was beautiful, aside from the dark cloud of smoke that marred the sky with streaks of charcoal gray.
Danny found himself missing the city lights of Honolulu. He couldn't remember whether there was supposed to be a full moon tonight, or if it was a new moon.
"I'm not sure," Aaron said, and he stopped walking to look at what Danny was pointing out.
The both of them stood and watched as the sun slowly disappeared into the horizon. The sound of bugs and frogs buzzed loudly in their ears.
"You wouldn't happen to have a flashlight on you?" Danny asked as they resumed their forward march into the unknown.
"No, you?"
"We're quite a pair," Danny said, pulling his pockets out to reveal that he had nothing but his wallet cell phone, and the keys to the rental car. "No working transportation, no flashlight and non-functional cell phones, which, if we use them as flashlights will deplete their batteries," he ticked each missing item off with his fingers, and shook his head.
"My team knows where I went today," Aaron pointed out.
"Mine too," Danny said.
"And when we don't return to the lodge, someone is bound to come looking for us," Aaron said, his voice held none of the uncertainty that Danny felt.
Danny knew that his team cared about him, about each other, but the past few months had done little to convince him of this. So, while he knew that Chin, Kono, and even Steve, would be worried when he didn't return to the lodge where they'd been staying for the past few weeks, he didn't know that they'd do anything about it. It wasn't something Danny was proud of thinking, that his team wouldn't come looking for him, but it couldn't be helped.
If it was Steve who'd gone missing, his team would react in a heartbeat, doing everything in their power, and beyond, to find him. But, Danny didn't know that that same amount of concern would be applied to him. Not after what had happened on their latest case, and how he'd let them all down. It was no wonder Steve didn't trust him, he thought bitterly as he recalled the unpleasant details, and how Steve hadn't been able to look him in the eye when he'd lost Five-0 their man.
There was a part of Danny that knew it hadn't been his fault, not really. That what had happened could have happened to anyone, even the most seasoned of detectives, but where Steve was concerned, anything short of perfection was unacceptable. Steve didn't tolerate mistakes. Hell, Danny didn't either. It was one of the few things the two of them had in common.
"Yeah, that's right," Danny said, trying to keep his voice light in spite of his misgivings. "The minute they notice that the two of us are missing, they'll hightail it to our remote location out here in the middle of absolutely nowhere, and rescue us like a couple of damsels in distress."
"Damsels in distress?" Aaron turned back to look at him and shook his head, a small smile playing on his lips. "I believe that one's a first for me. You know Doctor Reid?"
Danny nodded, wondering at the change of topic; dusk had good and truly fallen, bathing them in shadows darkened by the trees surrounding them. It was getting chilly, and there was the scent of rain in the air. Danny had heard that it rained a lot on the Big Island, and their two weeks there had proven it to him. He hoped that the rain would hold off until after they got to shelter.
"About six years ago, he was taken hostage by one of our unsubs," Aaron continued, his voice carrying over the still night air as he walked. "I thought we'd lose him, we almost did. His captor suffered from DID and drug addiction. He got Reid addicted to Dilaudid, nearly killed him."
Danny grunted, still not seeing where any of this was going.
"I don't know what happened to cause friction on your team, Detective Williams, but I do know that you all care about each other, the same as my team cares about one another," Aaron said with confidence. "There's no doubt in my mind that, when your team discovers that you are missing, they'll initiate the search for us."
Danny frowned, tilting his head to the side as it started to drizzle. Just my luck, he thought.
"How can you be so sure?"
"You forget what I do for a living?" Aaron tossed back at him.
"So, tell me what you know about me and my team, Unit Chief," Danny said, his voice filled with sarcasm.
"I know that you and McGarrett have something to work out, a matter of trust, and that it's affecting the rest of your team," Aaron replied.
"He tell you that?" Danny asked, and he stopped walking, suddenly angry at the thought that his partner would talk with a stranger about their problems rather than him.
"He didn't have to," Aaron said, waiting for Danny to catch up to him before he continued, "and, I think you know that he wouldn't say anything to me, or anyone else, for that matter. Your partner keeps his thoughts and feelings to himself. I think that might be part of the problem."
"Look, while I appreciate what you're trying to do here, I didn't sign up for a therapy session this week," Danny said.
"Sorry," Aaron said, holding his hands up in surrender. "Hazard of the job."
"That's okay," Danny said, feeling a little like a heel for biting the other man's head off. "I," he sighed heavily, "I just, I'm not sure if Five-0 is the best fit for me, or rather, if I'm what's best for Five-0."
"Thinking of walking away from the team?" Aaron turned to look at him. "The job?"
Danny shrugged, wiped some of the rain from his face.
"It's not the job that's the problem. I like the work, love the work," Danny said after a pause. "Don't really know what else I'd do if I wasn't a police officer. Sometimes I think it's in my blood."
"You're a good detective," Aaron agreed.
Danny snorted and ran a hand through his hair, mussing it.
"Not that it matters here," he said.
"It takes time to establish a reputation," Aaron said, shrugging. "And, sometimes you need to start from scratch all over again."
"Yeah," Danny said. "I know all about that. In Jersey I was a force to be reckoned with, people on the force knew who I was and my expertise was valued. Here…"
"You're a fish out of water," Aaron supplied.
"I just didn't think it would take so long to establish myself again," Danny said. "It's been two years and I still feel like I'm being given as much consideration, actually less than, in some cases, as a rookie, like what I have to offer is sometimes not taken into consideration because I'm not a local, not…Akamai."
"So, why did you choose not to join the rest of our team on the bus to the volcano?" Aaron asked.
"I needed some time to myself, you know, to figure out where I stand with the rest of the team," Danny answered. "And, if I, if I can do this. I don't think we managed to 'bond' very much during this time."
"I don't know about that." Aaron said. "Sometimes the best way for a team to draw closer is for members to go off on their own for a while…"
"Like some sort of soul search, or what is it that the Indians, excuse me, Native Americans, call it? A walkabout?"
Aaron nodded. "Something like that."
"So, is that what this great adventure is? Some god's, probably one of those tricksters,, sick sense of humor or justice, placing us out here in the middle of nowhere, so that we can glean some inner peace and take it back to our team for the betterment of self and society?"
"Are those headlights up ahead?" Aaron grasped Danny's arm as he made to move past him, startling Danny out of his current line of thinking.
"Looks like it," Danny said. And just in time too, he thought as it started to rain in earnest.
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