You Could Save 15%...
Black-Angel-001: i've been looking for a new car...well, a used new car anyway. during this little process of searching, i have discovered a few things i did not know before about car buying and insurance. and so it has translated into this two part crack humor. please enjoy!
Disclaimer: Don't own H50 or it's characters. On a totally unrelated side note, happy birthday and best wishes to Mr. Caan and Mr. O'Laughlin. Enjoy your day you two old coots!
You Could Save 15%...
So Danny was an hour late. Not that Steve was worried because Danny had told him way in advance that he would be. He'd said so last night that he couldn't pick up Steve, and he would be late. He'd called not fifteen minutes ago to say he was nearly there and not to worry or send a search party. So no, Steve wasn't worried.
He was, however, curious.
The head of the Hawaii 5-0 task force could not think of one good reason why Danny would be unable to carpool and be late at the same time. Sure in the last case the Camaro had gotten a little banged up, but nothing that affected the engine. He thought. Besides, Danny would've ranted six ways to Sunday if that were the case, Steve was sure. If Danny was upset or thought you should know about something (especially if he thought that something was your fault) he told you about it in long, complicated sentances with hand gestures to punctuate his points and distract you from them.
By nine, Danny was walking through the doors looking a little harried and hurried and annoyed. The Jersey native completely bipased his own office, mumbled a response to Chin and Kono's 'Good morning' and headed straight for Steve. For his part, Steve pretended to be completely engrossed in a report he should've finished the other day but he was covertly watching his partner. Danny stormed into his office without knocking or permission and stood staring at Steve with his arms crossed over his chest for what seemed like forever, just watching and glaring. Finally unable to stand anymore of the silent accusing stare, Steve looked up.
"You owe me a car," Danny said without much preamble.
"Exscuse me," Steve replied, honestly surprised. Even for Danny, that was really left field.
"I said, you owe me a car."
"I owe you a car?"
"What did I just say?"
"That I owe you a car?"
"That's not a question, Steven, it is a fact. And yes, you do." Danny's arms were still crossed and he was still glaring, but now a finger was tapping against an arm and his frown was deepening. Steve had seen the exact same stance and expression once, when Danny had used it on Grace for something she'd done. It had been quite a few years since he'd felt like he was yay big for doing wrong, but he was starting to feel it.
"Okay. Why do I owe you a car?"
"Because HPD took it."
"Exscuse me?"
"Oh no, we aren't going through that song and dance again." Danny's arms finally uncrossed. One hand went to his hip while the other pointed an accusing finger at Steve. "HPD gave me that car for proffessional and personal use because I couldn't afford to transport my car from Newark. I signed a contract with them saying that I would take care of that car or else they'd take it back. Well, they took it. You know why they took it?"
Before Steve could so much as open his mouth to respond, Danny went on.
"They took the car because of you and your insane ways. Thanks to you using my car like you were a driver for NASCAR and for cover from bullets, HPD decided to take the car away. Said that the repairs were getting ridiculous. So now, you owe me a car."
"You got the Camaro from HPD?"
Danny threw his hands in the air. "Do you have selective hearing or something? Yes, yes I did!"
"Why don't you get another one from them?"
"Because I don't work for them anymore, techniquelly, I work for you. So now as my boss and the whole reason for this mess, you get me a car."
"I don't have to. You can just ride with me in my truck."
Danny stared at him with wide eyes and slightly open mouth for all of two seconds before he exploded. "I can ride with you in your truck? I can ride with you in your-how the hell do you expect me to get in your truck, Steve?"
"There's a runner and handle, you can step, grab, and pull."
"Great, just a few problems with that plan. One, my knee wouldn't be able to take it for long term. Second, my weekends with Grace. Third, my own personal use, like grocery shopping. Fourth, Grace."
"You already said Grace."
"No, I said my weekends with Grace, which is an entirely different matter from Grace herself. Grace can't climb in your truck anymore than I can, and she's as young and healthy as you can get."
"I can pick her up and put her in, just like I could with you."
"...Do you want to keep your kneecaps?"
"Danny, I'm just saying that I'd be willing to take you to and from work, to take you and Grace around, and whatever else you need."
"And I'm just saying that you owe me a car."
"There's no way you can get it back?"
"Do you want me to transfer back to HPD?"
"No!"
"Do you want me to continue being your partner?"
"Of course, what kind of question is that?"
"The kind of question that's one of the requirements to get the car back without actually buying it."
The two stared at each other for a few minutes. Danny's hands, which had been gesturing and waving through the air franticaly as he got more and more agitated were still at his sides. The report Steve had been half looking at was on the desk forgotten. Finally, Steve nodded.
"I'll take care of it." He picked up the file and bent back over it.
Danny blinked. "What do you mean, you'll take care of it?"
"Exactly what I said."
"You do know every time you say something like that, or get that face I get extra paperwork for the next month and my ulcer gets bigger, right?"
"You don't have any ulcers and I don't get a face."
"Yeah, you do," Danny said, nodding emphatically and waving his hands. "It's your 'I'm gonna do something that might make Danny pissed' face. And how do you know I don't have ulcers, you aren't my doctor."
"I just know." He gave Danny a pointed look. "And I don't drive like a NASCAR racer."
It took Danny a few minutes to get it. "You so do. It's like you think you're in the Indie 500 or something. You probably gave Jeff Gordon lessons."
Steve pointed to the door. "Get outta here. I need to finish this."
Danny scoffed but moved to the door anyway. "Yeah right, you're gonna stare at it for a whole hour before you toss it onto my desk." He was nearly to his own office when he shouted over his shoulder, "You better deliever on my damn car, McGarrett!"
"I'll take care of it," Steve shouted back.
Chin and Kono shared a look of their own and quietly went back to their own work, deciding they'd find out sooner rather than later.
Two days after HPD took the Camaro, Danny had gone from annoyed and inconvinienced to aggrivated and inconvinienced. He took the bus to work, caught a ride with Chin or Kono home, and did the same when they were called on a case and went to a crime scene. Steve hadn't offered use of his truck again, and Danny was glad. However, Steve also hadn't said anything else about the subject and that was just starting to piss Danny off. It was his weeked with Grace and how was he supposed to take her anywhere, much less pick her up, without a car? Not that there was anything wrong with using a bus, but it was beyond crowded and Grace had a touch of clausterphobia.
Danny was still contemplating his weekend dilema when he stepped out of his front door at the crack of dawn to get to the bus stop. The route to the palace had five stops, one transfer, and then three more stops before his own so it required an early rising. Another reason he was getting aggrivated, not as much sleep. He was so focused on making plans and discarding them that he completely walked by the two vehicles parked in the front and the two people standing next to them. When he did realize, he cursed himself then turned. And froze.
There was Steve and his truck, and there was Chin and the Camaro. Danny blinked a few times.
"What the hell?"
"I told you I'd take care of it and I did," Steve said smugly.
"Okay, who did you threaten and who do we owe favors to?"
Chin grinned in amusement and Steve looked vaugely hurt.
"I didn't threaten anyone. I bought it."
"You what?"
"I bought it. From HPD. I thought about getting a new one, but there aren't a whole lot of car dealerships here, and it's already rigged with lights and sirens. Besides, I'm used to it."
"How in the world can you afford to buy it from HPD?"
Steve shrugged. "Can't really use money overseas in a jungle, so I have alot saved up from then. I still get pay in the Navy anyway, and I don't have a lot of bills; the house and truck are paid for." Steve shrugged again.
Danny stared at the Camaro. "So, what, you just bought it and are giving it to me?"
Steve rolled his eyes. "First you tell me I owe you a car, demand I do something about it, and when I deliever on it you think there's strings attatched."
Danny's gaze snapped to Steve. "Are there?"
"No. Danny, I looked at the paperwork HPD had on this and you were right. The Camaro was taken because of me so I decided to get it back for you. The title's in your name and the insurance is taken care of."
"Huh." Danny stared at the car again then looked over at Steve and Chin. "Why are you here this early anyway?"
Chin shrugged this time. "We looked at the bus schedule and figured out which route you'd be on. Wasn't too hard, brah."
Danny nodded. He looked at the Camaro again, then smiled over at his friends. "Thanks."
Steve and Chin smiled back. "No problem."
"Now give me the keys already so I can go back to bed for another two hours."
Laughing, Steve did so.