Vacation
"Steve, are you really sure that it's safe?" Dan asked, his skepticism written on his knitted brow. He looked up at his boss from one of the white leather chairs in the well-appointed corner office, hardly daring to believe that he might get some time off.
The head of Five-O stood leaning against his large desk with arms folded, eyeing his youngest detective. "I can well understand your caution, Danno, but it's been four months now and no activity at all.
"What about Trevor Dawson?" Williams asked nervously. "According to the coconut wireless, he's surfaced recently and he's more dangerous than ever."
"Dawson? Don't worry about him. I'm sure that he will be safely behind bars very soon. There's no way he can get away with everything he's done," McGarrett attempted to reassure his second in command. "And once we get him, it will give John something to do," Steve continued, referring to John Manicote, the county's district attorney. "He's been bored out of his mind for I don't know how long."
Dan had to admit that the caseload had slowed way down, breaking all records of inactivity for the elite state police unit. Perhaps this was the perfect time to use some of his accumulated vacation time. His expression relaxed and a quick smile lit up his boyish face. "Okay, Steve, I'll gladly take two weeks off. But if you need me, you know where to find me." Williams rose from his chair and turned toward the koa wood door of the private office. "See you later!"
"Have a good time, Danno," replied the tall detective, following the younger man to the door. He affectionately clapped his colleague on the shoulder, fully confident that, for once, Danny would be perfectly safe out there.
Dan Williams packed every activity possible into his two weeks of leisure time. He went surfing with no foreign agent attempting to stab him with a diving knife from beneath the ocean surface. He went hiking and camping, the woods totally devoid of deranged hunters who wanted to stalk a man. Dan attended parties and never once did anyone slip an exotic drug into his drink. He played tennis and no one broke into his locker to poison his towel. He drove his sports car with the top down – no bombs rigged to the engine or doors. He played baseball without Marines on leave from Nam imposing flashback-induced dangers. He went horseback riding – no jeeps chasing him, no bullets. He walked around Waikiki in broad daylight with no snipers taking shots at him. He ate out at a fancy harbor side restaurant and there were no kidnappers hunched down in the back seat when he returned to his car. No one hid out in his apartment ready to jump him when he opened the door. Not even any suspicious white powders planted in his mail.
Best of all, Dan had met a really nice girl on the second day of his vacation. They spent nearly every day together and when his two weeks vacation ended, both Dan and his new girlfriend were still in perfect health!
On Monday morning, Dan was back in the office at the Iolani Palace. There was a smile on his face and he hadn't looked so relaxed in years.
"Welcome back, Danny!" greeted Jenny Sherman, the secretary and office manager. "We missed you."
Dan gave the petite woman a quick hug. "Thanks, Jenny. I had a great vacation, but it's good to be back."
"The boss is waiting for you," said Jenny while nodding in the direction of McGarrett's office door.
"Thanks," Dan replied quickly, grabbing a cup of coffee before entering his superior's private domain.
Chin Ho Kelly and Kono Kalakaua welcomed their colleague back with lots of good natured teasing until McGarrett decided that it was time to get down to business. The mood became serious once again as he began the morning staff meeting. But before Steve had even finished voicing the first item on the agenda, his desk phone buzzed.
"Yes, Jenny?" he replied, after depressing the blinking button on the instrument.
"Doc Bergman's on line two for you, boss. Sounds important. Can you take the call now?"
"Sure, love, thanks."
Steve pushed the appropriate button that connected the call with the county coroner then issued his standard greeting, "McGarrett," followed by "What can I do for you, Doc?"
"Hi Steve, I'm just calling to let you know that I'm taking the next two weeks off."
"That's a surprise, Doc. I can't remember you ever taking an extended vacation."
"My wife says the same thing. Anyway, we haven't had a dead body in the place going on four months now, and you boys over at Five-O have been uncharacteristically healthy."
"That's a good thing, isn't it?"
"Well, yes, but I've cleaned and polished every last scalpel, bowl, rib spreader and microscope slide in the place at least twice. Frankly, I'm bored and I'm getting tired of my assistants beating me at poker."
"Okay, Doc, thanks for letting me know. Aloha."
Steve hung up the phone and sighed then looked at Chin and then Kono. "Either of you gentlemen want to take some time off before those fan fiction writers come back?"
Pau
A.N. – The character Trevor Dawson belongs to Tanith2011 and is used in this story with her permission. Dawson appears in her epic story "Sweet Little Annie Harper" – highly recommended reading!