Title: You Act Like An Idiot, And I'm Gonna Call You Out
Summary: Eric's actions finally have some consequences, and 'Uncle D' is definitely not as courteous as he had been earlier. Steve is also there to help Danny set Eric's attitude straight. That's what Ohana is for, right? Takes place during and after Season 3 Episode 12 "Kapu", and set in the beginning of January to match the air-date of the episode.
Warnings: Story contains underage drinking, corporal punishment and disciplinary spanking of a teen and young adult.
Disclaimer: All recognizable dialogue and plot belong to CBS and the writers of Hawaii Five-0. Story title is a direct line of Danny's from the episode.
A/N: I don't believe it has been specified in the show, but for the purposes of this story Eric is somewhere around 18½ years old during his visit in Episode 3x12. I currently have about 16 chapters planned, but that may change since I am still doing final editing.
~H50~
Chapter 1
On the helicopter ride back from Ni'ihau, Steve tried to take his mind off the case that had occupied his whole day. So instead of greedy murderers and little kids with rare illnesses, Steve's thoughts jumped instead to his partner Danny, as they so often did. It hadn't surprised Steve that Danny was able to stay professional for the case, while simultaneously trying to corral his delinquent nephew all day. Steve hadn't really known what to think in those early hours of the case, when a brash teenager had shown up in the middle of his crime scene talking about a decomposed murder victim as if he was at a Halloween fun-house instead the middle of a science lab at Oahu State.
As Steve and Danny had arrived at the crime scene separately, Steve's first real interaction with Eric after their introduction was when Eric bee-lined to the computer table and started messing with the interface. Steve was so taken off-guard that this kid was bold enough to mess around with the task-force's equipment that he could barely put up his protest to get Eric to stop. Thank God that Danny was apparently used to Eric's disruptive behavior and had jumped in to stop him before any damage was truly done to their system. From Danny's earlier information about Eric and combined with the whining back-talk the teen was currently giving, Steve's opinion started to form on the motivation behind Eric's recent conduct.
Steve did not fail to miss the small look that briefly crossed Eric's face when Danny reprimanded him and sent him out of the war room. The flare of emotion that flickered over Eric made Steve flash back to when he was a teenager, and all he had wanted was his father's attention and approval. Eric was quick to cover it up with a mask of indifference, but Steve could tell that Danny's opinion meant a lot to the kid. Eric was desperate for approval, and wanted his Uncle's approval most of all. When Danny made the comment about Eric's lack of impulse control, Steve had internally agreed that Eric could probably benefit with a little more discipline.
A couple minutes later definitely had Steve thinking that Eric could use a lot more structure and discipline, after he saw Danny's reaction to the emailed charity photo. It only took a moment to realize the breach in privacy that had occurred if Eric was sending prank emails through Danny's office computer. But Danny had not yet asked for Steve's opinion regarding Eric, so he had decided to continue observing the situation until either Danny asked him, or something happened that would make Steve feel like he had to speak up.
Eric had been quiet in the car on the way to the Sorority house, still carrying the "kicked-puppy" look that had surfaced when Danny had laid into him in the office. Danny was still a little wound up from his rant at Eric, so the atmosphere was a little tense between the three of them during the short car ride. Soon enough they were walking into the Sorority and Danny seemed to be back to his baseline as they asked about the girl they had come to talk to. Danny even managed to tell Eric to behave himself without making it sound like he was still as angry as he had been in the office.
As Steve and Danny ran back through the house on their way to give chase to Rebecca, Steve had a brief moment to wonder if Eric would cause them any delay in leaving for the car. Steve beat Danny to a barked command of "Eric we are leaving NOW" and grabbed him by the back of the t-shirt collar to haul him out to the car. Luckily Eric either recognized the urgency of the command or, more likely, was too shocked to react, and the three had caught up to Rebecca's scooter with hardly any delay.
Throughout the day, Steve couldn't help but notice that Eric was beginning to be more productive with his interruptive commentary. In the hallway outside the lecture hall Steve tested a theory about Eric's behavior around Danny, and threw Eric a compliment about his insight with the cheating guide on the pop can. As Steve had suspected, Eric had beamed a smile at the praise, the fist bump and the use of his silly nickname. Steve's earlier idea of Eric craving attention from the authority figures in his life became more solidified after seeing Eric's reaction to that little bit of recognition.
When Steve had been younger, he had longed for that same acknowledgment from his own father. Aside from his own experience with seeking approval, Steve had seen a lot more behavior similar to Eric's once he had started to be in leadership positions over other recruits in the Navy. A lot of kids came through training that had needed to be given the discipline of routine actions and the reprimands for wrong-doing. While Steve obviously wasn't going to recommend that Danny have Eric enlist (what a conversation that would have been), he started to wonder if some of the structure from the Academy and the Navy training could be adapted on a smaller scale to help Eric.
That last thought had fermented in the back of his mind over the rest of the afternoon, temporarily set aside while making sure Stephens was safe, but pushing back to the forefront of his thoughts as the helicopter sped back to Oahu. As the lights of Honolulu came closer, Steve finally texted Danny his idea about Eric's need for a little discipline and structure, and offered to spend some time doing training exercises with the teen before he returned to New Jersey.
Danny immediately responded to Steve's text, and their conversation continued until Steve landed and got to his truck to drive home after their long day.
~H50~
To be continued...