A Tangled Web

Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii 5-0. I do borrow its characters every now and then for my own pleasure.

Happy New Year. My muse finally was hit with some inspiration and I have a new story to tell. I am not trying to deal with any of the show's current storylines but will make references to events that have happened in season 2. I hope you enjoy this…there is definitely some Steve whump.

Chapter 1

"I hate babysitting," Danny William's voice buzzed in Steve McGarrett's earpiece.

"Patience Danny, we have a job to do," Steve responded softly as he sat at a table against the wall in The Trade Winds, an upscale restaurant in Honolulu. His eyes remained glued on a table several feet away where his assignment was enjoying dinner with a friend and two young ladies. "The Governor gave us this job and we have to see it through."

Five days ago, Governor Denning had summoned Steve to his office and informed him that there had been a kidnapping threat discovered that involved the son of the French delegate to the UN. The young man was vacationing in Hawaii with a companion that the boy's family had chosen to keep an eye on him and the State Department feared that the boy was targeted to be used as a lever in an upcoming important UN vote. With Washington concerned that the French were a swing vote on this issue, they had insisted that Denning put his best people on the job of protecting Michael Tremain. And that had led the 5-0 team to become babysitters.

"That does not mean I have to enjoy warming a bar stool with a glass of water instead of a beer," Danny grumbled from the opposite side of the room where he sat at a long polished bar.

"You could have ordered pineapple juice," Steve suggested with a smirk.

"You are not funny Steven," came the growled response in his ear.

"Hey…..would you prefer to be out here, watching the parking lot?" Chin's voice broke in on the communication link.

"How about out here on the back deck? It's beginning to drizzle out," Kono chimed in from outside. "I'll trade places with any of you."

"Nope, rookies get the damp jobs," Danny quipped.

"I'm not a rookie anymore," Kono shot back.

"Cut the chatter," Steve ordered quietly but couldn't help smiling at the banter. He liked how the feeling of family was returning to his team.

"You know…I could be home with my wife," Chin said with a sigh.

"Michael is only going to be here three more days. Life will return to normal after that," Steve reminded them.

"Lori sure picked a great time to be assisting Agent Morrison and ICE on the big island," Kono said plaintively. "If she were here, she could be the newbie out here in the rain."

Steve would have suggested silence again if at that moment a table of ten hadn't gotten to their feet, blocking his view of Tremain's table.

"Danny, I'm blocked…what is happening?" he said tersely as he caught a glimpse of Michael standing up as well.

"Looks like Michael is planning to leave," Danny responded. "I'm on him." He slipped off the bar stool and moved towards the foursome only to have his path blocked by a waitress with a large tray of food. As he detoured around her and another table he saw that Tremain's party had left the table.

"Damn it. Steve he gave me the slip," he said urgently.

McGarrett had been on the move, trying to get past the slow moving group from the large table. He tried to head to the exit, expecting to find the French boy's group. He alerted Chin and Kono to keep their eyes open and suddenly bumped into Paul Martine, Michael's companion. The man was in his early thirties and had not been happy to have McGarrett's team usurp his control his charge.

"Commander…..Michael wanted to walk on the beach. He went out through the kitchen. He would not listen when I tried to stop him," the man announced nervously as he pointed to the kitchen doors.

"Stay here Martine," Steve ordered and moved hurriedly towards the kitchen. "Did you get that Danny? Follow me."

"Copy that," Danny replied as he saw Steve disappear through the kitchen doors. Dodging patrons and waitresses, he made his way across the room.

"I'm heading that way," Chin announced as he exited his car and hurried along the length of the building towards the side entrance to the kitchen.

Steve stepped out into the warm drizzle and looked towards the beach. He could see a couple walking several yards down the sand. Without hesitation, he headed after them while scanning the area for any threat to the pair ahead of him. It appeared that they were alone on the beach.

"He's on the beach," Steve relayed to the team as he increased his pace to a jog. "Michael…..it really isn't a good idea to wander off," he called out.

As he closed the distance, moonlight broke through the clouds and Steve slowed, sensing something wasn't right. The pair had stopped and as they turned to him, McGarrett could see it wasn't Michael Tremain. Both the man and woman had guns and they fired before he could reach for his own weapon. A sharp, needle-like object struck his neck and as he reached up to brush it free, a second one imbedded itself just under his other ear.

Collapsing on the wet sand, Steve's world went dark just as Kono's voice announced that Michael was on the deck with one of the girls.

Danny burst out of the kitchen as Chin rounded the corner from the front. Both men headed for the beach as they saw Steve fall to the sand. They were too far away as his assailants rushed to him and a black van roared down the beach, halting next to the shooters. They picked up Steve and dumped him inside the van and closing doors, the van kicking up sand as it sped away. Danny and Chin ran after it, firing at the vehicle but unable to stop it or get a look at the plate number.

Out of breath, they stopped at the spot where Steve had fallen.

"Kono, keep Michael in the restaurant. Steve has been taken," Chin contacted his cousin. "And make sure you have Martine also."

"Roger that. Wait….what do you mean that Steve's been taken?" she asked anxiously. On the deck she took hold of Michael's arm and ushered him into the bar area. The girl followed them inside.

Danny bent down to pick something out of the sand and straightened up holding a dart gingerly by the feathers with two fingers. His eyes met Chin's grimly.

"Tranquilizer," he said harshly.

"They had to be close enough to know who they were shooting," Chin commented seriously. The meaning of that statement hung in the air between them.

"Yep," Danny nodded as his stomach flipped sickly. "They weren't after Michael, they wanted Steve."

"He was set up," Chin agreed.

"Guys…..what is going on?" Kono's voice rang in both their ears.

"It was a trap," Chin answered.

"What?"

"Steve was tranquilized and taken away in a van. We were too late to stop it," Chin explained.

"We couldn't get a plate on the van," Danny added. "You have Michael and Martine, don't you?"

"I do," she confirmed.

"Good, Martine's the one who sent Steve out to the beach. I have a few pointed questions for him," Danny growled. "We are on our way."

"I've put them in the manager's office for privacy," Kono answered. "We are waiting for you." The steely determination in Kono's voice reassured Danny.

Glancing down the beach at the tire tracks that indicated the van's trail, Danny let out a sigh and looked back at Chin.

"Someone went to a lot of trouble to set this up," he stated.

"We thought Nicholas Downing was here to grab Tremain, he might still be our prime suspect," Chin said thoughtfully, holding out an evidence bag for Danny to drop the dart in. Closing it after he did, they headed back to The Trade Winds. "Could be the same kidnapper, just different target."

"Martine has a hell of a lot of explaining to do," Danny said tightly. "If Downing engineered this snatch then he has a client waiting for delivery that is his style. And that means we had better hurry…Steve doesn't have much time."

End chapter

So…what do you think? Am I on to something or should I give my muse a new assignment? Please send feedback. Thank you for reading.