Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampires, Alternate Universe - Magic
Pairing: Steve McGarrett/Danny Williams
Spoilers/Warnings: possessive!Steve. Specific spoilers for the Hawaii Five-0/NCIS Crossover double parter.
Author's note: The vampire mythology I use is influenced by The Lair, The Vampire Diaries and Moonlight but is pretty much a general mishmash of random vampire lore. Hopefully it's all understandable!
Originally published (on ao3): July 2013

Sequel to 'Seeing a Light (a face in the crowd) and None Like You (You Shine so Bright), When I Stand This Close (It's Almost Blinding), Glow 'verse Interlude: 2.02, Caught In a Place (Far Away From the Light). Best to read these ones in order.

Was Hesse telling the truth when he said Shelburne was alive?

They'd been wary at first about talking to Joe. If the older Guardian was keeping secrets from them, how much should they let on that they knew? But in the end, a few weeks after they were home from North Korea and fully mended, they approached him during one of their evenings at the retreat on Mount Tantalus.

Joe, to his credit, hadn't been fully evasive, but his answer had been deeply unsatisfying for both Danny and Steve. He said he didn't tell them she was dead, and he hadn't 'let them believe' it either. He'd just simply not talked about it at all. Just been vague and mentioned her not being around, which he maintained was true.

Shelburne was in the wind. Had gone into hiding, as some witches of her ilk did. Some witches took it upon themselves to commune with the magic, to evolve spells and abilities, to strengthen their kin with new knowledge. Others saw their path as being there to train new witches (and Guardians, practitioners and manifests) with the basics, and to teach them what was already known. Shelburne was apparently in the first group. She preferred to work in solitude and kept under the radar. No one knew where she was, but whenever she wanted to be found, she could be.

Steve had been the first to ask what that meant for them. How would Shelburne know that things had happened, changed? That it had simply taken longer than expected for this 'project' to reach some kind of fruition. How would she know?

Joe's answer was simple - she just would.

According to him, whether she had people who actually kept her up to date, no one knew (or no one was talking about it). But, as with other witches over the centuries, when something happened and they wanted to be a part of it, they showed up. It could only be assumed that when Shelburne was ready to be a part of this, she would be.

Secretly, Steve and Danny had then continued their research, but focused it now on finding the elusive witch. They didn't have much to go on, but they were able to get hold of files from Jenna's belongings as well as Lori's and were pouring through them for information. It was slow going. It was lower on their list of priorities under family, work and advancing Danny's abilities now that he had been more receptive to learning.

After what happened in North Korea, Danny considered the abilities to be useful. They could be honed to use in his job, as well as keeping the people he loved safe and if he could do that, then it was worth the sacrifice of leisure and relaxation to do it. His foremost thoughts were always on Grace, and now Steve, and keeping them from harm.

He was determined and it showed in his training. He'd come far since they'd discovered the dependency on Steve as his 'protector'. Having him close was grounding, and having his touch was even more so, if impractical in certain situations. He had much more control over the fire element, and the air, but he was struggling still with water.

Earth was notoriously more complicated to control, there was a lot more in the way of learned knowledge to go with it and he was sick of the reading. He liked working with fire; it suited his temperament more, and was the first thing he'd conquered on the basic level.

There were still things that bothered him. He was being trained like any other Guardian would be, and Joe had told him he would likely be led into witch training as well and yet, according to the same people that trained him, he wasn't a Guardian or a witch. So why receive the training like this?

"Because there is no training for you," Joe answered as Danny sat after a tiring regime, Steve beside him with a calming hand rubbing circles on his upper back.

"So what you're saying is, you don't really know what I am, so you're just taking stabs in the dark with all this stuff I'm learning."

Joe gave him a glare. "It's not that. Whatever you channel your power into, the purpose you were meant for, you can't do that without basic knowledge and training in the ways of magic. We're not going to throw you in at the deep end and ask you to swim."

"So this training, this is you giving me floaties and letting me loose in the shallow end."

"Something like that," Joe answered as he sat down opposite them. "We want to believe that you, as the key, hold the possibility of saving lives. You know what the aim was when the spell was cast, that cancer could be cured, other debilitating diseases could be wiped out."

"How am I supposed to do that? I can do a nifty fireball, the telekinesis thing is coming along and I can, albeit not brilliantly, do the whole forcefield thing, but curing cancer? Come on."

Joe shrugged. "That's what Shelburne was working on."

"I don't get it," Steve said, leaning forward now, with his elbows on his knees. "Magic is all about the natural order, right? How is curing natural diseases not, well, unnatural? Plugging up a bullet wound I could see that being allowed by magic, but…" he trailed off, hoping he'd made his point.

"Like I said," Joe answered. "It's what Shelburne was working on. It's what the Guild sanctioned for her to work on for over a century. It's a common goal of mankind and though, I believe, she struggled to commune with magic over the issue, we figured she finally made headway. Convinced it. Maybe because scientific advancements were in place already. Maybe magic is moving with the times."

"I still feel weird referring to magic like it's a person, that you can argue with it."

"Sometimes it's just easier like that," Joe said, rubbing his hands on his knees then standing. "On another topic, I have news. I'm going to be leaving you for a while. I'm needed back at Guild headquarters in D.C."

Steve stood, followed by Danny. They looked at each other, puzzled, Steve the more wary of the two. "Anything we should know about?"

"There's been progress on the Weston case. She's been spotted out East. Possibly calling on old friends to help her out."

"Well, that's good," Steve said. "Means she's not in Hawaii trying to get close to Danny, and if she's been spotted then she's getting lax. You should be able to catch her, get her behind bars. Get her some help."

"That's the aim," Joe nodded. "I'm hopeful that I'll be able to get through to her once we find her."

"So how long will you be gone?" Danny asked.

"I'm not sure, could be a few weeks, maybe longer."

"A few weeks?" Danny looked between the two other men. "What am I doing while you're gone? I mean… shallow end here, kinda relying on lifeguards to spot me."

"It's okay," Joe placated, "I've asked to borrow someone to help. The Guild is feeling a little pushed right now, but I cashed in some favors and the Navy are going to lend a hand. They're sending someone who knows Hawaii. Could be a few days until the move is official, I believe she may still be at sea right now."

"Who is it? Do I know her? I'd like to have a file ahead of time so I can look into her credentials."

"She's a liaison to the Navy, a bit like me. She's got a good grounding in magic, a different kind of expertise and training. That's a good thing, it'll give you a more well rounded education. She might be able to help with the things you're struggling with, especially water." Joe was smiling, Danny wasn't sure he liked that.

"That's it, that's all you're giving us?" Danny asked.

"You'll know it's her when you meet her. Think of it as a test of your abilities. Both of you."

"You're not giving us anything? A name to go on?"

"Hmmm, nope," Joe considered. "Too easy."

It was late in Hawaii, but they were still up when the email came in for Steve. Or rather, they'd been up before the sun for no good reason other than to work on the Shelburne thing.

With Joe away, Danny had taken a few days to just relax and forego anything but basic magic exercises. They'd gone to bed early after dinner and it was entirely by choice as they'd rushed to the bedroom, shucking clothing as they pounded up the stairs and exhausted themselves the best way they knew how.

Steve had woken early. It was still the middle of the night but he needed less sleep and he was expecting news from NCIS headquarters in D.C. He had been nursing a blood pack when Danny had yawned his way into the kitchen clad in a pair of loose fitting sweat pants that framed his hipbones enticingly.

"What's up, babe?" Danny asked, his voice rough as it got used to being used so early in the day.

"Just waiting on some stuff, wanted to be up for it. Come 'ere," he beckoned Danny over with an open palm and the other man responded.

Danny leaned down to give Steve a light kiss and was pulled onto Steve's lap. He laughed against Steve's lips as he perched on Steve's knee, a hand steadying himself on Steve's shoulder. He pushed himself back from Steve's lips with a grin, and then yelped as Steve's spare hand made its way under the waistband of his pants.

"Hey, hey, we did enough of that last night. What are you waiting on?" Danny's hand caught Steve's wrist and the vampire pouted, but it didn't make Danny sympathetic to him.

"I have a friend at the NCIS field office in LA; he referred me to someone at the office in D.C. They're looking into Lori's movements for me."

"Joe already said she was spotted there, why are you asking what we already know?"

"Because I want to know where she was before then, or to see the evidence that suggests she's still there now. I just want the facts to back everything up."

"I don't think Joe would leave unless it was a good lead. You know how he's been about this whole 'key' thing. Sometimes I think he's more obsessed with me than you are."

Steve shook his head seriously, "Not possible."

"Charmer," Danny replied with ease as he patted Steve's shoulder and stood to turn the coffee pot on. Not long after it began brewing there was the telltale ding of a new email arriving in the inbox Steve had been staring at.

Danny hovered over Steve's shoulder, coffee mug warming his hands as the email was opened and a series of photographs lit up the screen. It was definitely Lori, spotted in a few pictures alone, but there were a few where she was talking with someone - someone they knew from past cases, linked to Oahu.

"Is that…?" Danny asked first, confused as to why the man would be meeting with her.

"Adam Noshimuri."

"Didn't Victor Hesse kill his father? Why would he be meeting the last person we know to have worked with him?"

Steve shook his head, unsure. "I don't know. Maybe he thinks Lori knows something. I doubt he'd want to work with her, but you never know with the Yakuza."

"Maybe he knows something we don't."

Steve just gave Danny a look and snorted. "Yeah, right."

The call came in for a new case shortly after, and they dressed quickly, thankful that they'd already been awake and Danny had had enough coffee to give him a decent amount of energy and concentration. They abandoned their research and pushed their questions to the back of their heads so they could concentrate on the case.

A quarantine was already set up when they arrived, which had confused them before they found out about the smallpox their dead guy had. The CDC were already hard at work, but the Governor had asked Steve to run a parallel investigation, but do their best to keep it on the down low.

Luckily, Max had been able to get samples from the body before it was incinerated, and also got photos of the victim. They went back to HQ and began breaking down the case, wondering how a member of the military would get small pox in the first place.

"First thing we need to find out is when and where he caught this thing," Danny summed up.

"Well, I don't think he was exposed in the tradition way," Max interjected.

"What do you mean?" Kono asked.

"Smallpox is generally transmitted through face to face contact with a sick person. Transmission through an object of clothing is also possible but less effective. However, in Mr. Palmer's case," Max took over at the table top, scanning through different photos and pointing at one in particular. "This appears to be an injection site and that is how I believe the victim contracted the virus."

"Are you saying smallpox was used as a murder weapon?" Danny asked.

"Yes, and depending on how long he was walking in public while contagious…"

"All the humans on the Island could be infected," Chin finished for him.

"You should wait outside," Steve said, game face firmly in place as they entered the Hawaii Medical Center.

"Except I'm not going to do that," Danny answered.

"I'm a vampire; I'm immune to the virus and I can get the information we need while you stay outside. Dammit, I should have brought Chin instead and had you liaise from the office."

"The family is in quarantine, Steven," Danny said with a sigh, glossing over his mention of Chin. He didn't like the idea of someone else partnering Steve, even if it was another member of the team who was immune to viruses because of vampirism. "I can't catch it when they're on the other side of the wall. There's plenty of safety measures in place."

Steve stopped halfway down the corridor, turning to Danny. "It's better to be safe, than sorry."

"Just quit your worrying and walk, okay?" Danny started moving, forcing Steve to continue on with him. "Remember the talk we had? No, actually, remember all the talks we've had on this subject? There is a line. On one side of the line is the sensible precautions we take for each others' safety and on the other is the crazy town you sometimes visit."

"This isn't crazy town, this is… mildly-concerned-ville…" Steve made a face at his own words.

"Yeah, no. We're in a hospital. I'm more at risk of contracting the flu from being around all these other sick people than I am catching smallpox from someone in a secure quarantine. Just stand down, soldier."

"That's the army, Danny."

"Whatever, hey, look where we are…" Danny waved at the kids behind the glass, getting the family's attention.

They spoke with Mrs. Palmer. It seemed unlikely that the family had contracted the small pox but the hospital wanted to keep them in for observation to be sure. Danny was sympathetic. She had done the right thing in keeping the door closed and the children safe inside their home, but she was still consumed by guilt because her husband died on the grass outside, pleading for help.

They got as much as they could before the nurse arrived to take more blood, but there wasn't a lot to go on, besides the fact that the guy had a hotel room he was likely hiding out in.

"Let's hope she's right about the dark place," Danny said.

"Why's that?"

"If he's locked up in a hotel room, he's not infecting the entire island."

"We better call the CDC," Steve reached for his phone.

"Good idea, we can let them investigate the smallpox infested room."

"We're going, too. Well, I am, you'll be staying in the car," Steve smiled at Danny, on the move already and heading to the exit.

"Hey, where you go, I go, buddy. I am not a dog, Steven, I will not be staying in the car," He watched as Steve retreated, and then shook his head before giving in to a slight jog to try and catch up with his partner. "Today is a real hoot."

Steve pulled the Camaro up outside the Breakers Hotel, where Palmer had been staying. They looked at the budget hotel with trepidation. A continuing argument on the way over had resulted in a stalemate. Danny was going to go with Steve and investigate like a normal Detective would. Steve would likely still bitch and moan about keeping Danny safe, Danny would do what he thought was the right thing, and they'd go from there.

"Is Grace still on the mainland?"

"Yeah, she's safe with Rachel, Stan and the baby. They're not due back for a couple more days." Danny watched as Steve nodded and looked around himself outside the car. The CDC truck was pulled up and agents were suited up with face masks, carrying out containers of items from the room. "I figure Chin will want to get Malia to safety if this things kicks off."

"I suspect he's already checking flight details," Steve put in. Chin had known Malia for years. She was human and in a common move in human/vampire relationships, she'd found it too intense and broken up with Chin. According to Kono, he'd been so broken up about it, it was a big part of the reason he'd left the Force, despite telling Steve and Danny when they'd met that it was simply time to move on. Kono had been convinced it was a way of trying to calm his life down and win Malia back. Yet it was having Chin back doing the job he loved again, and seeing Chin happy, that a chance meeting between the two at a hospital visit had brought them back together. Old feelings had never gone away and the two had tied the knot recently. Steve had made eyes at Danny throughout the ceremony and the reception after. Danny refused to pay attention to them, which made Steve act like more of a fool and drop more hints that one day it could be them.

Danny cleared his head and his throat, and pointed at one of the passing men. "We should see if they've got some extra masks we can borrow."

Steve shook his head. "I don't need one."

"I do."

"Not in the car, you don't."

"Shut up, Steve, I'm going with you. And, not all of us are undead, so I gotta go grab one first." Danny reached for the door handle.

"Undead? Danny, I'm not a zombie."

"You got a better term for it?" Danny asked, sitting back again to turn and look at Steve.

"Yeah. 'Vampire'. I'm a vampire, Danny."

"What's your point?" Danny asked, squinting at Steve.

"I'm not reanimated, I'm alive. I died as a human and was reborn a vampire. Undead things, like zombies, are still dead."

Danny rubbed his fingers together and took a breath. "Okay, uh… I'm going to gloss over the fact that you gave me a death lesson in which you compared the differences in vampires and zombies. Especially considering zombies aren't real, outside of comic books."

Danny's hand once more found the door latch and he pushed it open, unfolding himself from the car and taking a deep breath, he quickly made his way over to the CDC van. Commandeering a face mask, he tested out the elasticity of the band as he caught up to where Steve was.

"Hurry up and put that thing on," Steve gestured to it as they walked past the pool.

"Pretty sure if the smallpox was out here, we'd have a lot more cases by now, but thank you, Mr. Mildly Concerned."

Steve shook his head at Danny, but the smaller man ignored it. He didn't truly mind Steve's concern. He knew it if wasn't there, Steve wouldn't be Steve, and that would be even more worrying.

As they approached the last few steps to the room, Danny hooked the mask over his face and both of them donned their gloves. For a dark place, it wasn't very dark. It was a standard hotel room, with windows that looked out over the pool and to the Hawaiian bright blue sky. It had a bed, a TV, a fridge. There was no mess, but the CDC might have cleared that already for testing. Looking around the place, it didn't seem like the den of despair the man's wife had made it out to be. There was nothing around that signified a man in trouble, and with the 12 steps taped up on the mirror, it made it seem like he was really trying to get back to how he once was.

Danny opened the fridge and dug around. And okay, it's much more suspicious, when you find a box with syringes and vials in them.

Knowing there was nothing more to find, they headed back to the office. Danny checked in with Chin who, as suspected, had a constant stream of airline information in the top corner of their table top computer. He patted the vampire on the back, the reason being clear to both of them over why he was looking at them and he headed to Steve's office.

He closed the door behind him. Seeing Chin react in the same way, or at least, in a similar way to Steve, always made him dial down his frustration with Steve's vampire side. It always reminded him that it was a part of who Steve and Chin were and it was what he'd signed up for in his relationship with Steve, long before they knew about whatever cosmic forces said they belonged together, and how it was Steve's God given right to protect Danny.

He sat on the couch along the side of Steve's wall and stretched an arm across the back of it. "I think Chin will have a fight on his hands if he tells Malia she's to go to the mainland. She's a Doctor, you know she'll want to stay here and help."

"And Chin won't let her, and he'll make her get on one, even if it's a private jet," Steve leveled. "I know what you're getting at, Danny. You think I'm coming down too hard again."

"Yeah, I do. But I know why you're doing it. Just like I know why Chin is doing it. But Malia and I, we have jobs to do, obligations. Careers we chose for a reason. We can't walk away from people who need our help. It's just not in us to do so."

Steve gave a tentative smile. "It's one of the things I love about you." He lifted himself from his chair and circled his desk so he could come closer to Danny. He sat beside him with a huff, leaned in closer and wrapped himself around Danny. His head in Danny's neck, his teeth nipped lightly against his favorite patch of skin, but he made no move to deepen anything.

"How do you do that?" Danny sighed.

"What?"

"Act like an ass and then just hug me and I forgive you."

"It's a gift."

Danny frowned as he turned his head down to Steve's. "I think Gracie's been teaching you her moves."

Steve shifted guiltily. "That's classified."

An update on the syringes meant they turned out to be anti-depressants. But things just got confusing after that, considering the drugs weren't actually in Palmer's system when he died, so the puncture marks could still be how he was infected with smallpox. It all led to them needing to chase down Ken Tanner - the man who recruited Palmer for drug trials - while Chin and Kono went after the dead man's cell phone which was still turned on, wherever the hell it was.

They knocked on the door of Tanner's house and got no answer. Steve kept glancing down at Danny. "Would you quit that?" He reached out and knocked Danny's arm away from where he was scratching himself. "Bites don't heal properly if you scratch at them."

"How do you know it's a bite and not smallpox-y?" Danny held his arm up so he could inspect it.

"Because if it was smallpox, I'd have freaked out about the smell by now and you'd be at the hospital."

"You'd be able to smell it?" Danny asked. "Of course you would, with your freaky vampire nose."

"It's a mosquito bite, Danny. Stop being such a hypochondriac. Speaking of smell..."

As Steve trailed off, Danny gave him a wide eyed look, waiting for him to continue but then nothing happened. Instead, he heard something. "Do you hear that? Sounds like a car."

Both of them moved over to the garage. At the side window, Danny looked in to see a car, what looked like dusty smoke, and a man sitting in the drivers' seat.

"He's in there, get it open," he ordered Steve, who then rushed to the front and hiked the door up as quick as he could. They made their way in and grabbed the man, dragging him outside. But the body was already cold and he was definitely dead. It seemed like it must be carbon monoxide poisoning, which gave the impression of a suicide.

"Now we know why he didn't show up for work." Steve said. "Guilty conscience maybe, for Palmer's death."

Danny headed back in to turn off the car, a glove in his hand to grab the keys with. That was when he noticed the head rest on the seat. "Hey, Steve, come see this."

When Steve approached he knew instantly what it was. A vampire could always tell. "Blood," he nodded. "Maybe this wasn't a suicide."

For some reason the team had gravitated to Danny's office. Chin had met Kono on her return from finding the cell phone and getting an update on what Fong was working on. Steve had already joined Danny once they found out from Max that the cause of death on Tanner was blunt force trauma to the head.

Danny took it upon himself to brief the cousins once they joined him. "Crime scene techs pulled a print off the keys we found in the ignition and the guy's in the system. His name is Dracule Comescu."

"Who the hell is that?" Chin asked.

"He's not a vampire," Danny shot Steve a look. They'd been joking about it before Chin and Kono had arrived back. "I thought the very same thing but he's a Romanian national who is on the NCIS watch list, very specifically the office of Special Projects in Los Angeles."

"What's he doing here?" Kono injected.

"I don't know, Steve's about to phone, apparently one of his old buddies from the SEALs is a part of the team. I know, who knew, small world." Danny smiled at Chin and Kono as Steve sat, already hitting the last button to dial his friend.

Once the phone was ringing he put it on speaker for the rest of the room to hear.

"Yeah?" The voice asked, not even giving a name. Danny rolled his eyes. Lack of phone manners must be a SEAL thing then.

"Hey Sam, long time," Steve smiled.

"McGarrett? I figured you were too busy surfing to catch up with old friends."

"If only that were the case, Sam. I'm calling about a suspect we're tracking who's on your watch list. Dracule Comescu."

"This is Special Agent Callen, who am I talking to?"

"Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett, I head the Governor's special task force in Hawaii."

"Okay, Commander, are you telling me Comescu's in Hawaii?"

"We found his prints at a murder scene. You know him?"

"Yeah, very well… very personally," the agitated voice came back. Steve and Danny shared one of their looks, both recognizing that there was something serious going on that could impact the case.

Hanna took back over. "Comescu is part of a Romanian organized crime family and let's just say we ended the family business not too long ago."

"Well, whatever it is he's doing now, he may have got his hands on a smallpox virus," Steve continued.

"That's why the Hawaii National Guard has upped the WMD civil support team. Air Force is sending a bird tonight," Hanna continued.

"You able to hitch a ride?" Steve asked.

"We're on our way."

There was very little else they could do for the day. Though it was clearly worrying both Chin and Steve that there was a pressing need to get their other halves to safety, they had to rein it in as much as possible.

Danny had placated Steve as much as he could. Steve had actually eaten dinner with him: real food and not just the blood bag he'd poured in a glass to drink with it. But he'd been restless, his knee bouncing while they then sat on the couch together watching television, marveling at how the local news knew nothing of it. That was a good thing though, because the last thing they needed was a mass panic on their hands.

Danny's hand shot out to stop Steve from bouncing his knee again. "You have far too much pent up energy."

"Agreed," Steve responded.

Danny stood and moved to stand between Steve's legs; blocking his view of the TV and making him look up at Danny.

"How about we do something to take your mind off things."

Danny had been serious, but Steve's lips curled up and he grabbed Danny's hand, pulling the shorter man down and on top of him. "I think I can get behind that idea."

"Neanderthal. I didn't mean drag me back to your cave, I was thinking we could go do some exercises. I haven't done any today."

Steve's face dropped into a pout, but then a wicked smirk came over him. "I can think of some great exercises. I'm sure I can make them nice and aerobic."

With a shake of his head, Danny reached a hand out and clutched Steve's jaw to stop him from moving his head in as he tried to kiss Danny's lips. "You're disgusting, did you know that?"

"I can be," Steve attempted to say, but Danny's hold was too tight. "I can be anything you want."

Danny let go quickly and threw both his hands over Steve's shoulder and ground up closer to him. "God, I love it when you're disgusting. Change of plans, then." Steve started licking and sucking Danny's neck. He knew Steve wouldn't bite him, he never would in the middle of a case; too worried about blood loss making Danny tired, and the venom making him too blissed out to get his mind back on track. "Bedroom. Bedroom, now. And bring the beers and you can be as disgusting as you want."

"So am I to assume that all Navy SEALs know each other?" Danny asked as they drove to the airbase to pick up the NCIS agents early the next morning.

"You can assume that if you'd like but I doubt it's true. I do, however, know a lot of SEALs because I'm old and have been in the Navy a long time, on and off. Sam and I have worked together in the past. Never part of the same unit, but on joint operations. He dropped off the grid for a while, I'm pretty sure he did something with the CIA before he wound up with NCIS."

Danny nodded along as Steve spoke. "Sounds like a lot. He a vampire too?"

"No, last I checked he was all human."

"Good to know," Danny said as they pulled up in time to see the Air Force jet lowering its ramp. They got out to meet the new arrivals and Steve smiled as he saw Sam, but it turned to a frown when he took in the person he was with.

"What is it?" Danny asked, sensing the tension in Steve.

"Nothing," he answered and walked ahead to meet them.

Steve clapped Hanna's back as they half hugged. Danny held his hand out. "Detective Danny Williams, Steve's partner, nice to meet you."

"Callen," the other said, looking around, seeming to also tense when he met Steve's eyes.

"Sam Hanna," the other agent said, congenially enough, clearly ignoring his own partner's agitation.

Danny looked between them. "Okay, so there's something going on here. Steven?"

Steve kept his eyes steady on Callen for a moment. "Vampire," he inclined his head at Callen.

"Really? Okay, well he's here to help, he's not going to encroach on your space, you need to relax. Focus on me rather than him, that's helped before."

"It's not that simple," Steve said. "It took me a while to get used to working with Chin and I already knew him for years."

"Yeah, I know, buddy, but time is of the essence." Danny turned back to Callen. "Sorry about him. But I'm going to have to ask you to also keep the teeth away and be nice so we can all work together."

"I'm not a vampire," Callen said. Eyes narrowed, gauging the response. "Not entirely, you don't need to worry about me."

"What does that mean? Not entirely?" Danny asked.

"He's a half-blood," Sam answered for him. "The son of a vampire and a human. He doesn't drink blood, or have any super heightened senses, but he's a tough nut to kill."

"Interesting, I thought half-bloods weren't real, like zombies."

"They're real, Danny," Steve spoke up.

Danny turned back to his partner. "Half-bloods or zombies?"

Steve just looked at Danny and ignored the question.

"You finally going to take me for that steak dinner you owe me?" Hanna asked, relieving the tension.

"You owe him dinner?" Danny asked, turning to Steve and then back to Sam to focus on the Agent who seemed much friendlier. "What, did you have to pay last time 'cause he forgot his wallet?"

"He still using that move?" Sam asked with a laugh.

"It's his move," Danny replied, shrugging. "I've taken to stealing money out of his wallet and adding it to mine so he thinks I'm paying when really it's him all along. Works like a charm."

"I notice, Danny," Steve said, never turning his back on Callen as he turned to the other two. "You basically carry everything for both of us, I don't need a wallet."

"Nice," Sam patted Danny's back as they got moving. Steve was still wary of Callen, who also looked to be on edge, but with Sam and Danny between them they should be able to play nice.

"How bad is it?" Callen asked, getting them back on topic.

"Good news is there's been no new cases of smallpox, bad news is, CDC aren't having any luck on a back trace of our victim. The guy went missing about a week ago and we've no idea where he was," Danny filled them in.

"Which means we don't know who else he infected," Callen finished.

They continued talking on their way back over to the car. Hanna and Callen updating Steve and Danny on Comescu and how he might fit into the story here.

"What about you?" Danny asked of Callen. "I hear you have a personal beef with him?"

"Comescu tried to kill my entire family."

"Say again?"

"Blood feud," Callen said, with no hint of anything being out of the ordinary.

Danny glanced at Steve and then realized it wasn't an uncommon thing after all, when he thought about it. "Ah. Well uh, that happens."

Callen and Hanna were introduced to Chin and Kono. Chin was wary of Callen as soon as he clapped eyes on him; much like Steve had been and still was to an extent. Everything was explained again and though surprised to meet a half-blood, Chin was able to calm himself down quicker than Steve had. But then, Steve had always been more territorial. Perhaps the crazy came with age, or maybe Chin's Zen exterior hid his discomfort better, but Danny hoped they could all get along enough to solve this problem.

It turned out there were other missing men from the drug trials. They all worked to try and put together the pieces of the puzzle. Assuming Palmer wasn't meant to escape, it was possible the others in this experiment were still alive. And if Palmer's escape was unexpected, Comescu had made a mistake and it could be the key to finding him and taking him down.

"I think I can help with that," Chin said, coming back from where he'd taken a phone call in his office.

He'd run Tanner's financials and they had shown a hefty payment that he'd then used to buy medical supplies and have them shipped to a warehouse on Sand Island.

"You know what they used to call Sand Island," Kono said.

"What's that?" Hanna asked.

"Quarantine Island."

"Shotgun," Hanna said as they made their way out to the cars in full tac gear.

"Of course you ride shotgun, we both will. We don't know these roads, we don't know where we're going," Callen smiled back at his friend.

"I meant the Camaro," Hanna continued before being interrupted by Steve.

"Woah, I ride with Danny, that's just how it is. You can follow us in the other car," Steve said.

"Excuse us for one moment, thanks," Danny said, grabbing Steve by the elbow and pulling him off to the side. "We do not have time for this; it's the middle of a case. Agent Callen has a point, and if this goes south, we need experience at the wheels and that's you and me, buddy."

"Fine," Steve agreed reluctantly with full aneurism face on display. "But the rules apply here. I'm not going to be with you, so no magic." Steve sighed and looked about him. "You take Sam, he's a SEAL, I trust him. I'll keep an eye on Callen."

"Whatever, fine. I wasn't going to use magic anyway." Danny ignored Steve's rather obvious attempt to make sure Danny was 'taken care of'. His territorial issues were being a pain, but they didn't have time right now. Instead he turned, forced a grin onto his face and walked back to his car. "Agent Hanna, you're with me."

As Danny headed for the Camaro he caught Hanna giving his partner a smug look so similar to Steve's he had to wonder if the SEALs cultivated that kind of 'pleased with myself' look. Sam made himself comfortable in the Camaro and slapped his knees as Danny turned the ignition.

At the warehouse it didn't take long for things to, indeed, head down the proverbial toilet very quickly. The place had surveillance and so Comescu saw them coming. It immediately turned into a car chase along the dusty roads of the Island.

"We'll go around and cut them off," Steve said in his comms unit, while Danny continued the chase from behind.

Comescu's car headed up a ramp by a warehouse and Danny kept the Camaro parallel to it on ground level.

"Get in front of him," Hanna yelled.

"Trying to," Danny answered as he put his foot down.

"Hold it steady," Hanna ordered as he let off four shots and none of them made impact.

"'Hold it steady', you shoot like Ray Charles, come on," Danny moaned.

"Watch out for the dumpster!" Hanna pointed.

"I see the dumpster, thank you," Danny raised his voice as he swerved around it, the Camaro falling back in the chase as he had to compensate.

"You might want to work on your driving position a little, your wrists are in the wrong place," Hanna critiqued.

"My wrists are in the wrong place? What is it with Navy SEALs and backseat driving?"

"Watch out for the car!"

"I see the car!"

Danny's frustrations built as he ground the Camaro to a halt before it smashed into the one parked, or more likely abandoned, in front. He felt like he was beginning to work out which of Steve's annoying habits had been picked up in the SEALs and which were vampiric.

"You might want to turn around," Sam said, giving Danny very little time to take a breath let alone change gear.

"You think so, Doctor?"

"I do think so."

Danny glowered at Hanna, turned his head back to the road and threw the car into reverse. The wheels spun as he pressed the accelerator and the car shot backwards.

"I ask him to turn around and he goes in reverse," Hanna groaned out loud.

Danny ignored the comments as he threw the car into a spin and pushed the gear stick back into drive. "Steve, I got jammed up, do you see him?"

"No, we don't," Steve answered.

"There he is," Callen said, and Danny heard it over the comms as he floored it to catch up. He could also tell, whether by the sound of the screeching from over the comms or he just knew Steve too well, that the vampire was throwing the car around like a rag doll in order to follow Comescu before he could get onto the main island.

"Danny, cut him off, cut him off!" Steve shouted.

"We got him," Danny said, as he braked hard.

Comescu's car had no choice but to lose the game of chicken and the car careened off the road and flipped while the men in the other two cars watched on.

Weapons unholstered, the four-man team came to find their suspect, only to see the driver alone left in the car - Comescu having jumped ship at some point. Probably back at the warehouse.

They all got back in the cars and went to the warehouse again to see what had been going on. Steve and Sam took point as they entered, but there wasn't much to keep them safe from as the building was empty of people by the looks and was set up to look like a quarantine station.

Callen donned gloves and without any thought, moved through the flimsy hanging barrier and into the room. Half-bloods were probably immune to viruses too.

"Stay here, Danny," Steve said as he followed Sam to the flaps. Danny ignored him and began moving forward but this time, Steve wasn't letting him argue over it. "I mean it, Danny. Stay outside."

Danny could tell in Steve's face that this time there was no argument to be had. He lifted his hands placatingly and stood his ground. Sam shot him a curious look but seemed to let it slide as Danny kicked his toe against the concrete, his head bowing in deference to Steve's decision.

"Shouldn't we call somebody?" He asked, and no one responded. To Danny, it seemed that they were too engrossed in what they'd found. "What is it? Anyone?"

"The other three. Dead." Sam answered.

"It wasn't smallpox," Callen spoke. "Comescu executed them."

The CDC were brought out along with Max, and the others watched while everything was examined. Steve prowled around, sniffing the air, trying to find anything that the techs might miss, all the while keeping one eye on Danny to make sure he stayed back. The first time Danny had tried to get closer to the transparent tent to see in, Steve had given him The Face and a shooing gesture to back off.

Sam leaned in and asked, "So what's with the 'stay here', puppy training routine."

Danny smirked at Sam's analogy. "Puppy, that's nice." He folded his arms, keeping one up to scratch his cheek before he decided how to explain, and how much to explain. Frankly, it was none of their business and had nothing to do with the case. Not to mention its complexity and they had very little time to spare. "He uh, it's a vampire protectiveness thing."

"That all?" Sam asked, his voice sounding a little incredulous. "Because I have never seen McGarrett show that side of himself so fiercely and you act like he does it all the time."

Danny gestured over to where Steve was and back at himself. He was speechless and didn't have a clue how to respond. His mouth opened but nothing came to him quickly enough.

"They're mated," Callen answered, nonchalantly.

"I'm sorry, what?" Danny leaned forward to peer around Hanna to the other man.

"You and McGarrett, you're a mated pair. I can tell these things, it's a half-vampire thing. Plus the…" he gestured to the side of his neck.

Danny's eyes glanced over to the other side of the quarantine tent where he could just make out Steve standing and could see the small smirk on the vampire's face and knew he was listening in from afar. He put his hand up to his neck and pulled at the collar of his shirt. The marks there were pretty permanent considering how often Steve drank from him, so he knew exactly what Callen had seen.

"It's not, I mean, 'mated'? That's not how I'd put it," he frowned at his own words. Technically 'mated' made sense since they frequently got down and dirty with each other and it was a large factor in their relationship. Neither of them had any desire to be with anyone else in that or any other way, so you could say, from a basic standpoint, that they were 'mated'. But there was much more to it. Again, he could try and explain but he barely understood it himself and, again, they had very little time for this kind of thing.

"Then how would you put it?" Callen asked, a smile playing on the edges of his lips as he watched Danny fluster.

"Complicated. I'd say it's complicated." Danny nodded with a sigh, realizing that explained nothing.

"Smooth dog," Sam murmured. Danny's head shot up at the use of Steve's nickname, and caught Hanna hiding a laugh behind his hands.

"I'm pretty sure we've got more important things to talk about than the sex life of a vampire Navy SEAL. Max looks like he's about done."

Everyone looked up as the man in question began taking off his gear. Steve saw the same thing (or heard Danny, either was possible) and made his way back over and winked at Danny. Sam caught the movement and held his hand out to shake Steve's. "Told you it would happen one day," he said.

"I'm glad I never took that bet," Steve answered him, smacking his hand into Sam's and then turning so he was beside Danny and put an arm on his nearest shoulder. "Danny's special, though."

"He'd have to be to peak your interest," Sam laughed.

"Max!" Danny greeted, clapping his hands together to draw attention away from Steve's comments. "Thank god. What did you find?"

"Well, we did find smallpox virus samples but not all of them. Apparently several vials are missing."

"There was nothing in the vehicle," Steve rocked on his feet as he spoke. "He must have taken them with him."

"This is a very sophisticated set up," Max said.

"I highly doubt a Romanian thug could do this by himself," Danny put in.

"I concur," Max agreed. "Someone with very specialized scientific knowledge was involved."

"Okay then, what about the video cameras, did they pick anything up?" Steve asked.

"The CDC found footage. Evidently the suspect used it to document the progression of the disease."

"Okay, Kono can go over the footage, Max," Steve pointed at the M.E. "Should Danny, and Sam…" he added the other SEAL as an afterthought. "Should they be wearing masks right now?"

"Technically, yes." Max answered.

"Okay, out, go." Steve ordered. He pushed at Danny and let the others follow on, sauntering behind while Danny put up with Steve's more forceful strides.

While Callen and Hanna went to check with the TSA about flights to see if they could track potential buyers, Steve and Danny headed back to the hospital to have a word with the driver.

"How do you want to play this thing?" Danny asked as they wandered back in around corridors they were becoming familiar with.

"The usual," Steve answered with a nod.

"So we're doing our thing then?" Steve frowned down as Danny talked. "You'll do the crazy thing and I'll try and stop you and then the perp will talk, right? The thing where the worry is actually genuine from my side, correct?"

"That's the thing, yes."

It went to plan, of course, if Steve had a real plan in his goofy head. He took a syringe and vial in with him and told the driver he had no idea what it was. Danny tried to warn the perp that Steve was crazy and would do what he said he would and tried to get him to see reason before it was too late. As the orange liquid got closer to his arm he slowly gave up more information until they couldn't get more from him. Steve revealed it was vitamin B12. Danny wiped a hand over his face and told him he was insane and they walked out of the room.

"Would you stop whining about it all the time?" Steve asked of Danny as they left the hospital.

"Whining? Whining again? I'm just trying to do my job. Properly."

"It worked, didn't it? Once again, my plan worked."

"Mine would have worked if, for once, you gave me some time. You have no patience. Which is something I just don't understand considering how you're all immortal and everything."

"I am a very patient person, Danny. You know that perfectly well. I just don't think we have the time to waste when there's a potential smallpox outbreak about to happen. I may be immune, but you aren't."

"No, I'm not. Nor is any other human on this rock, either. You do remember about them, right?"

"Of course," Steve didn't meet Danny's eyes. Instead he made his way to the driver's side of the car as usual. After a moment of silence, he gestured for Danny to hurry up. With a shake of his head and a 'why me' glance to the heavens, Danny climbed in.

Sam and Callen had information on the buyers that they got from TSA security footage. Five-0 knew what Comescu looked like from pictures NCIS already provided, but the TSA would be sending over information on their Chechen buyers as soon as possible. There would be plenty of faces to check to keep them occupied in the meantime.

The International market place wasn't the greatest of logistical settings. The stalls were varying heights and widths, crammed together in some places and more spacious in others. There were banners blocking views, and innocent bystanders to hide with, and that was going to make spotting their targets more difficult.

Danny and Sam were teamed up again and put on the high ground above the Tree House Cafe to keep a better watch, with Steve stuck with Callen on the low level, ready for a foot chase if that were to happen. Steve had already spoken to Danny quietly about it. It was clear with Callen's history with Comescu that it would be wise to keep an eye on him, in case things escalated. Not to mention, Steve was getting a 'vibe' from Callen over it. Danny was convinced it was simply to do with his family history with the guy and was understandable, as Steve had been the same whenever Victor Hesse was involved. Steve agreed, but felt safer if he was with Callen, and Danny stuck with his Navy SEAL buddy. Oh and, there was another small reminder from Steve that Danny was to lay off the magic.

Danny didn't mind being paired as they were. Sam had a lot in common with Steve, so he knew how to handle the guy plus he had faith in Sam's abilities. It was refreshing to work with a human again, but he realized as he stood on top of the balcony, that he'd become accustomed to Steve's hovering, and to him picking up on scents or sounds much quicker than Danny could hope to. Working with a human felt somehow restrictive. He really had been taking his partnership with Steve for granted.

Danny really didn't buy the fact that this was the place to set off the smallpox. Not if Comescu was the mustache twirling villain he'd been led to believe he was. An airport made sense, or a bus station, for distribution purposes.

The marketplace was crowded but small. He pointed out as much to Sam, knowing Callen, Steve, Kono (stationed on a room balcony of a nearby hotel with a sniper rifle) and Chin (who was keeping a perimeter with HPD and the CDC) were on the other end of the comm units.

Sam had no answer for him; instead he screwed up his face and looked back at Danny. "Why do you dress like that? We're in Hawaii."

Danny peered down at himself. "It's my style." He cleared his throat. "McGarrett put you up to this or something? What is with the obsession about how I dress?"

He could hear Steve stifle a laugh through his ear piece. "I didn't say a word, Danno. I told you people would notice and they always do. I'm just thankful I got you out of ties."

Sam rubbed a hand over his face to control himself from laughing. "You wore a tie in Hawaii?"

"Eventually we're hoping to get him in an Aloha shirt," Chin laughed.

"Well that's never going to happen," Danny threw his hands up in resignation, not bothering to explain professionalism to anyone ever again on this rock and was thankful that Sam turned his attention to his own partner, asking what it was looking like down on the ground.

"No sign of Dracule yet," Callen answered, all business. "I should have been the one to question that driver." The man sounded upset, frustrated. Danny had only known him a short time but he could tell this was important to him. He expected Steve to understand the whole 'blood feud' thing considering his own family history. Perhaps, in the end, that was why Steve had been twitchy around Callen, and not just because he was a half-blood.

"Bad idea," Steve answered confidently. "Besides, he gave up everything he knew. We wouldn't get anything else."

Photos arrived and each of them checked their phones to get a good look at who they were after. Chin spotted them parking and walking in and was able to give a brief description. Kono was then in the best position to scout the area to know where inside the market they were heading. She directed that Danny and Sam were closest and once Danny spotted the black suits, he and Sam were making their way hastily down the stairs so as not to lose them.

At the same time, Callen and Steve began following Comescu, but there was no sign of him carrying anything. Danny and Sam had to assume the buy may have already happened and the bag with the Chechens may have the vials.

"We need to take 'em now, let's go," Danny said, a hand automatically checking for the service weapon he had hidden in the back of his pants.

With a quick distraction, Sam grabbed hold of the first guy, getting his arms behind him and comfortably holding them in place with what was clearly some impressive upper body strength. As his friend was caught, the other immediately put his hands up in front of Danny and gave him a strange look. But then it became clearer that the man could see how powerful Danny's magic was, because Danny could detect only a low level glow from this guy. He was intimidated by Danny's power. Sometimes it was useful to be… whatever he was.

Danny led him to a nearby bench and cuffed him to the arm of it. Sam dropped the other buyer beside him and cuffed them both together, keeping his own weapon trained on them while Danny opened the bag. They made no move to try anything and though it would be stupid to do so with a gun trained on them, even Sam seemed to tense, like he thought he was missing a piece of information.

Danny touched his ear piece. "The Chechens are in custody."

"The buy hasn't happened yet, the money's still in the bag, the buy hasn't happened yet. Repeat, the buy is still in play." Sam continued for him.

Danny zipped the bag back up as he listened intently to what was going on. He knew Steve and Callen had Comescu in their sights, and he knew that both of them would be more determined now to get their hands on him since the vials were still missing.

"There," he heard Callen say quietly. "They're getting spooked, we need to move on this."

Danny hated not being closer to the action, almost sitting back and letting Steve do something that might be crazy. The situation wasn't helped by the fact that, with so much personally riding on this as well, it was easily possible that Callen would also be pretty crazy. And two crazy people did not equal one sane one.

Gunshots could be heard, both over the comms and in echo around the area as Danny heard what sounded like Callen shouting at Comescu to stop. "Steve, what's going on? Steve!"

"Comescu's running," Steve said, sounding harried.

Danny and Sam abandoned their chained captives, shouting for Chin to come in with HPD to arrest them, and took off in the direction of the shots; the same direction people were fleeing from.

"Danny, give me eyes, but stay back. I don't want you near those vials."

"Shut up, Steven," Danny said in response as he got closer with Sam. If the situation weren't so immediate he was sure Sam would have had a 'what about me?' retort, and he was half expecting it, but everyone was too busy for any banter.

"The area is unstable now, this isn't an easy take down."

"Don't make me repeat myself, Steve," Danny spoke through his teeth.

"I'm your protector, Danny, do as I say!"

"Goddammit," Danny cursed, feeling Sam's eyes on him, but he was the one to relent and shut up, partially not wanting to clog the comm and also, not really willing to go into personal details.

The market place was clearly larger than Danny realized. It was taking him longer to get closer to Steve than he wanted, and it didn't help that there were panicked tourists at every turn and he was wielding a gun himself.

Kono was able to spot that Comescu and his bodyguard had split up, and as Danny heard Steve shout 'freeze' over the ear piece, he knew that in the melee it wasn't Comescu that Steve was after but the bodyguard. Callen had spoken quickly, but from what Danny could gather he'd left Steve in order to go after Comescu himself. As the bodyguard took a hostage, Steve had no choice but to lower his weapon. Just as he was beginning to worry, not least because he could only hear and not see the action, a shot rang out as Kono took down the bodyguard as he lowered his own defenses.

"Thanks, Kono," Steve breathed with relief over the earwig.

It was unclear where Callen had disappeared to in his foot chase, but they heard enough to know that he'd caught up to Comescu and was in a stand-off. Shortly after, as they worked out where he was, they heard the gunshots. Sam, worried about his partner, was checking down side areas and scanning where he could, determined to get to Callen, which made Steve and Danny feel like they were tagging along. Steve gestured in a different direction and spotting the move, Sam made his way down another vennel, trusting Steve's instincts and senses to help lead him to Callen.

"You alright?" Sam asked as they made it to the clearing by the small waterfall.

"We just recovered every missing vial of smallpox, so yeah, I'm good," Callen answered, out of breath.

Sam still kept his weapon trained on Comescu, despite the blood soaked shirt the dead man was wearing.

"I wasn't talking about smallpox," Sam said, closer to his partner.

"I know," was the response. In that moment Danny knew that those two were incredibly close. Maybe not on Steve and Danny's level, and not in a sexual way, but they were partners in just as true a sense. They cared deeply for the other and had a strong brothers-in-arms mentality. Sam was looking out for Callen at what might be the end of his struggle and that was good to see. He hated to intrude on the moment and settled for checking the area around them while Steve looked on with contemplative eyes.

Chin came sauntering in a few moments later, most likely able to pinpoint Steve easily with his own freaky vampire nose and he quietly informed Steve the Chechens were being taken care of.

As Sam relieved the dead Comescu of his weapon and Callen sat to catch his breath and digest the day's events, Steve patted Chin on the shoulder and turned to Danny.

"What did I say?"

"I'm sorry?" Danny asked, straining his neck closer, going for as nonchalant as possible.

Chin wisely stayed out of it, concentrating instead on his phone which now seemed to be fascinating him.

"How am I supposed to protect you if you don't listen to me? We could have run right on in here to find the poison had been released!" Steve had full blown aneurism face. Combined with the come-down of a foot chase and arrests, it was a pretty lethal combination.

"Poison?" Danny asked. "Is this about the Saran thing again? I'm fine, we're all fine and Agent Callen got the smallpox. Comescu is dead. This is a win for the good guys. Just let it go."

"Huh, 'let it go', he says," Steve snorted. "One of these days I'm not going to be able to stop something in time…"

Danny walked back up to Steve as if placating a worked-up animal and reached out to cup his face. He took his time, making sure Steve's eyes were on his before he said anything, and when he did it was almost a whisper. "Not going to happen. Besides, I had a plan the whole time. If the smallpox was released, I was going to hold a forcefield over it."

Steve shook his head as much as he could in Danny's hold. "You can't hold protection barriers for long."

"Maybe not, but I'd do it for as long as I could and even if it wasn't enough, I'd have tried. I can't sit back, Steve, you know that. I'm good at my job; you gotta let me do it. You can't protect me from everything."

"Yes, I can," Steve's hands came up to hold lightly on Danny's wrists, pulling them from his face and holding them between them, in front of his heart. "I will."

Danny could only smile. He always felt warm when Steve's determination showed. Yes, it had that hint of his possessive, protective, vampire-addled self in it, but it was a fierce determination to make sure Danny was okay. It meant Danny was still around to take care of Grace and to keep Steve from going more insane. He was perfectly fine with that, and always would be.

Being out in the open, he couldn't stay in their cozy moment for long and he pulled back, wiped his hands down his shirt and turned to take in the others. Callen and Sam were sitting on the low wall, watching as the CDC swooped in for the smallpox vials, but also keeping an eye on the Five-0 guys, probably just as curious yet respectful as Danny had felt for them.

Chin approached at Steve's side again, his shoulders slumped and his phone still in hand. "Malia is going to kill me."

"What happened?" Danny asked.

"I've got a voicemail from her. She said two airline companies have already called her today to let her know that stand-by tickets had become available if she wanted to take one."

"You didn't tell her anything last night?" Steve asked.

"No?" Chin hedged. "I thought it was safer that way. I thought the airlines would call me, not her. Now I have to explain when I get home."

Steve shook his head and huffed as he clapped Chin's shoulder. "You are in deep trouble, my man."

Chin grimaced. "If she asks, you went just as crazy about Danny's safety, okay? Maybe crazier."

"What about Kono?" Danny asked. He hadn't really thought about it before. He'd partially assumed that Chin had probably made contingency plans for his family member too.

"Seriously?" Chin asked. "If I'd tried anything she'd have staked me."

"That is true," Danny nodded.

They left the HPD techs and CDC in charge of the scene and left. There was very little they could do anymore.

Although Steve owed Sam a steak dinner, it was still only lunch time so Sam and Callen settled for taking a trip to Kamekona's instead. Sam, of course, reminded Steve that it didn't make up for the steak and he still wanted that. This should just be considered a 'welcome to Hawaii' lunch treat.

Steve was paying… at least half. He might not realize it, but Danny took twenty dollars from his wallet that morning, so they were mostly covered.

Kamekona laid on a treat for them. Steve only picked at the food. Kamekona had become so used to serving them, that he had a supplier of blood packs. He didn't sell them, he didn't have a license to do so, but Steve turned a blind eye and was instead able to get some when needed, usually disguised in a beer bottle.

Sam wolfed down a lot of shrimp and Callen seemed to have relaxed more around them. He probably had a great weight lifted from him and was finally beginning to realize it.

Although they were sitting opposite each other, Steve made a point of keeping hold of Danny's hand across the table top. It made it difficult for him to eat, but he indulged Steve and besides, he quite liked it anyway.

"So are you going to explain about the two of you at some point?" Sam asked after Kamekona left again after dropping off more shrimp.

"Explain what?" Steve asked.

"Come on, dog." Sam sat back a little, taking in the both of them with knowing eyes. "It's pretty clear there's more to you two than meets the eye. And I have ears. What's with the protector thing?"

Danny cleared his throat and leaned on the table. Steve gestured with his free hand to let Danny take the lead. "We met about two years ago, almost two years anyway. Short version is that after that things got weird. Longer version…" he weighed up how to say it and just settled for bullet points of the big fact. "Turns out I have magic. Steve can see it even though he's a vamp. The Guild found out, they're training me, and lately we've discovered the magic works better so long as Steve is with me."

"That makes no sense," Callen said. "Vampires get twitchy around magic, they can't affect it. How can McGarrett be involved in it?"

So that was why Callen had been twitchy since arriving. He may only be a half-blood, but being so close to Danny was probably why he'd been acting a little strange. He'd seemed off, and since they'd only just met, Danny had put it down to his natural demeanor and the blood feud, but Danny was probably a factor in it, even if none of them had really realized before now.

"It's a big complicated mess," Danny said. "All to do with witches and old spells and things going wrong… we don't have all the answers yet ourselves."

"Wait," Sam held his fork up and pointed it at Danny. "Kensi was in Hawaii a few months back doing something for some Guild director she knew. She wouldn't tell us what it was but said it was a complicated issue about powerful magic."

Steve nodded. "That was us."

"So you work with Kensi?" Sam nodded at Danny's question. "So that means you work with a witch in training… and your boss is a witch?" Sam nodded again. Danny turned to Callen. "So then you really must just be all twitchy all the time. A half-vampire surrounded by magic, that can't be fun."

"I've become used to it over the years," Callen responded. "And if it wasn't for Hetty, I don't know where I'd be. She never let the vampire side of me affect anything between us."

"Still," Danny moved his shoulders to act out a 'twitchiness'. "You probably thought coming here would be a bit freeing. Sorry to disappoint."

"I was prepared to meet McGarrett. Sam filled me in, told me you were territorial in a very old school way, so I was ready to face up to you," he smiled at Steve who had begun to relax in Callen's presence now. "But I was wondering why I felt off-kilter."

"Most vampires don't even realize they're around magic until they try something and fail. Danny gets a kick out of it with the perps sometimes."Steve squeezed Danny's hand. "I'm surprised a halfling would be able to notice at all."

"Like I said, when you spend a lot of time in a witch's presence, you can identify the feeling. But I didn't put two and two together here; I really should have."

Danny's phone rang in his pocket and he had to abandon Steve's hand to dip in and fish it out. "Hey, Kono, what's up, you and Chin on your way?"

"I just got off the phone with the CDC. The vials you recovered from Comescu did not contain smallpox."

Danny looked up at Steve and knew he'd been listening in as his face fell.

"Hold on," Danny turned away from the others. "What are you talking about?"

"They were saline," Chin put in across the line. "The virus is still out there."

"Comescu thought it was smallpox, he was ready to break the thing out in public to expose Callen so someone else had to switch the vials."

"We think we know who," Kono took over again. "The doctor who was running the experiments."

"Don't move," Danny turned back to the others. "Come on, we gotta go."

The four of them made their way to the cars. Danny rode with Steve this time, leaving Callen and Hanna to follow in their borrowed SUV. Danny kept his phone line open and put it on speaker once they were in the car, knowing they needed a location from Kono and Chin in order to go after the doctor.

"His name is Doctor Jarrod Prodeman. He's a formerly highly respected epidemiologist. I was able to match his voice from the experiment video to some old lectures posted online."

"Hold up, why formerly respected?" Steve asked of Kono.

"Evidently he was disgraced after he faked some data to obtain a research grant and he hasn't been able to work since."

"Great, so he decided to start making biological weapons. Perfect," Danny glanced at Steve, who was clearly not happy again to be on the trail of the smallpox they thought they were free from.

"So Comescu gets the smallpox from Russia, gives it to Prodeman to modify, but Prodeman double crosses him and keeps it for himself," Chin theorized over the line.

"But why double cross the guys he's working for?" Kono asked.

"Maybe he found another buyer." Danny suggested.

"Hold on," Kono started and there was silence on the line for a moment. "Guys, don't come to HQ. TSA has Prodeman booked on a flight departing for Los Angeles in fifteen minutes.

"Send a picture of Prodeman to TSA, tell them to ground that plane but do not move on him until we get there," Steve ordered.

Arriving at the airport, the four made their way through the terminal and were greeted by a TSA security guard who filled them in as much as he could. The plane was grounded and the passengers were being held at the gate, but they hadn't spotted Prodeman in the group.

As they took in the assembled people Sam turned to Danny. "Anything you can do to narrow him down?"

"What, like magic? No, I don't know of any way to make a criminal stand out from a crowd. If I did, the streets would be a lot safer trust me." He looked over to the desk. "But there is something else I can do."

The others watched as Danny went to the airline worker at the desk and asked her to page Prodeman and offer him an upgrade. It was sly, but it would get a reaction and that was what they needed. Except the one person who did respond was not Prodeman, even though he had his ticket.

As they interrogated him, standing there just outside the gate, it became clear that Prodeman had managed to evade them by giving this guy a sob story in order to switch tickets.

"Wait, he was traveling with a woman?" Danny asked, picking up on that detail.

After finding out the flight information, Sam put a call in to Los Angeles and to their team back there to track the flight. He hung up with a resigned look and Danny saw that Steve had once again listened in because he was barely keeping anger in check.

"We got a problem, the flight landed at LAX five minutes ago."

"So our suspect is on the mainland with nine vials of smallpox," Danny stated and then rubbed at his face.

Grace was on the mainland. They had to catch this guy.