Author's Note: Happy Fourth of July to my fellow Americans! I finished this chapter on the first but didn't have wifi until now. Sorry for the wait, I hope you enjoy!
Forgot to mention this is not a McDanno. There is no slash, or sex at all. The farthest I'll go is some very deep bromance, as already displayed.
Thanks for the reviews! To the guest "cath": Thank you for reviewing and reading! Chin, Abby, Grover, and Kono will appear soon, no worries. I doubt I'll include Catherine unless it's a flashback, because I'm personally not a fan of her. Sorry, hun. I doubt there'll be much romance in this story at all except maybe a moment with Chin and Abby.
Ha'i'ana wahi (Breaking Point)
Chapter 2
Danny's grip on the phone tightened until his knuckles were white. "I'm listening."
"First of all, no calling your Avengers buddies, Five-0. I'm monitoring your phone. I'll know."
Danny's deep, blue eyes shifted to Steve, and he shifted his weight nervously.
"Done," Danny lied, biting his lip afterward.
"Next, you're going to take that pretty, fancy car of yours and drive up to Kona and Piikoi. There's a parking lot behind a Chinese restaurant. Wait there for further instructions."
The line went dead, phone falling limply from Danny's hand and crashing to the floor; thankfully, the device refused to smash into smithereens.
"Oh god, oh god," he breathed, bpm increasing steeply with every passing second. Every passing second a moment his family was in danger.
"Danny, he can't track you. Or else he'd know you're with me. I'll follow behind, he won't know. I'll take the Marquis," Steve reasoned, struggling to stay calm and collected for Danny's sake.
Danny reached the edge of shock, not comprehending a word from his partner's mouth. "Not again. Grace, Charlie, Rachel. Oh god," he ran his hand down his face.
"Danny! You have to leave now, or he'll think something's up!" Steve raised his voice.
Something in Danny snapped. "How many guns do you have here?"
"You kiddin', bruh? C'mon," Steve led him to his upstairs closet, sliding the doors to reveal a personal arsenal.
"Holy shit, Steven. Is this even legal?" Danny gawked at the array of hand pistols, shotguns, and rifles.
"Take whatever you need," Steve grabbed a thigh and ankle holster, strapping both on.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You're not coming," Danny exclaimed.
"What do you want me to do, sit here? The guy doesn't know I heard the phone call. For once, I'll be your backup. You don't have to do this alone, Danny."
"Yes, I do! Or he's gonna kill my children!" Danny was on the verge of a panic attack, the fear rising in his throat, suffocating him into darkness. The darkness where you sat in the fetal position and cried for seven straight hours.
"That's my family too, man!" Steve argued.
The panic was almost past his throat and into his brain, but Danny didn't have a comeback, because Steve was right. Grace and Charlie called him "Uncle Steve" for a damned good reason. Because the Navy SEAL would go through hell a million times over to save them, with the same devotion Danny would.
"Fine, but we have to be careful. I know that's not in your vernacular, but please for once in your life… this is Grace and Charlie, Steve," Danny said, pulling out a Glock 9mm and a peashooter.
Steve nodded. Pulling out Kevlar vests for the both of them, they strapped up like they were heading to a shootout. Hell, maybe they were.
"I have a wire, too. I want you to wear it," Steve pulled out the minuscule microphone.
Danny knew it was the right choice, but bit his lip, torn at the choice of possibly pissing off the kidnapper.
"Okay, but hide it well."
Quickly completing the task, Danny looked like the definition of "secret operation."
As painful as it was, Steve was forced to drive the speed limit, not desiring to draw attention towards himself. Thankfully the windows were dark-tinted, hiding his questionable Kevlar vest and Armalite AR-15 rifle with ammo on the passenger seat. He'd lost Danny a mile ago when the Camaro taillights twisted through traffic at an unnerving speed without the police emergency lights. Everything in Steve rebelled against driving so slow, so far away from the action, and each inch farther away from Danny. He wanted to weave through the traffic on the pitch black Camaro's tail, but couldn't. He'd learned stealth in the SEALS, but he never truly mastered the art of patience.
When he reached Piikoi Street, Steve parked parallel on a curb facing the parking lot. Danny's sleek Camaro sat in the middle, the driver window rolled down so Steve could watch Danny's shaking hands as he picked up his ringing phone…
"Hello," Danny answered, sweat dripping down his forehead. For once, the damn Hawaiian humidity and heat weren't to blame.
"Detective Williams, I see you've made it. Now, I want you to go into the restaurant. Ask for a waitress named Cindy. She's expecting you," said the voice that would haunt Danny for years to come.
"I want proof of life. Hey!" Danny shouted when the "voice" didn't respond. "I want proof!"
"Here's your proof," said the voice, then a gunshot rang out, blasting through the phone speaker. Danny might as well have been shot in the head when he heard a girl's scream cut short by the line disconnecting.
He shivered from head to toe. Grace.
Oh, god no.
The cop inside him wanted to track the number and go in guns blazing, but the father inside him wanted to tread carefully, following the directions. He couldn't risk it.
There was a good reason he was a father before he was a cop.
Fighting back tears and the anxiety and panic attacks building in his chest, he took three deep breaths then stepped foot outside the Camaro. Steve observed from across the street as Danny crossed the parking lot with his distinctive gait, fists balled at his side and swinging with the determined sway of his short frame. Recognizing the behavior immediately, Steve knew Danny was angry and becoming over-protective.
Don't do anything stupid, Danno," Steve thought, wanting to punch the living shit outta something.
Danny entered the restaurant, practically empty for the time of day. 3:12; past lunch, and way too early for dinner. One of the waitresses whimpered upon noticing his gun.
"I'm Detective Danny Williams," he announced, producing his badge. "I'm looking for a waitress named Cindy."
The same waitress breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, Mr. Williams-"
"Detective," he interrupted out of habit.
"Sorry. Detective. Your friend said you'd be coming by to get his keys. Here you go," she said, pulling a single key out of her apron pocket, attached to a Corvette logo keychain.
"Thanks," he muttered, sprinting out of the restaurant and pressing the red panic button. Not surprising, Danny's gut felt like someone clicked the panic button on him, heartbeat echoing the loud alarm.
A car chirped in the back of the parking lot. An outdated silver Corvette from the '90s, and Danny rushed towards it. Steve watched his friend thinking, Now what, buddy?
Truth was, Danny didn't know himself.
He reached the door and unlocked it, sliding into the seat after taking note of the position. The seat was far back. A big guy drove this the last time, Danny's detective skills kicked in automatically. Sliding in, he gripped the steering with an iron grip just close to crushing it, fumbling with the keys, and sliding them into the ignition. He almost turned the engine when an unfamiliar ringtone filled the car. Searching around, he clicked the glove box open, sending a cheap flip phone tumbling out. Danny answered it, his heart beat loud enough to compete with an orchestra, and said, "Hello?"
"You took longer than I thought you would, Detective. I thought your family meant more than that," sneered that sickening, distorted, disguised voice.
"Please, for the love of God, don't do anything stupid. I'm doing everything you want. Please, don't hurt my family," Danny ran his fingers through his blonde hair, desperation suffocating his chest.
"Stupid? I assure you I am not a stupid man, Williams."
Danny licked his lips.
"The next thing you're going to do is throw your phone, badge, and gun out the window. You won't need them where you're going. And I don't know where you got that fancy Kevlar vest, but lose that too." When Danny scanned the parking lot frantically, the voice continued. "Yes, I'm watching you, Williams. Roll down the window and throw them out."
Oh, shit. Steve. If the kidnapper realized Steve followed Danny, Danny's family was as good as dead. He must send a signal somehow, any way to warn his partner.
Rolling down the power windows, Danny tossed out the Glock, 5-O badge, and his smartphone.
"Okay, done, done," he panted.
"Excellent. I'll give you directions on your way. Pull out of the parking lot and make a left on Kona."
Danny started the car, sending a telepathic message to his thick-skulled partner. Please dear God, don't let Steve follow me.
Lou lifted his head at the sound of a light rap on his office door. There was still plenty of paperwork left over from the human trafficking case, and so far Chin and he were the only two at the office after Jerry's late celebration last night.
"Hey, have you heard from Kono? She wasn't at the party and I haven't seen her since we closed the case," Chin asked, eyebrows furrowed as he leaned inside clinging to the door handle.
"No, man, sorry. I haven't heard from Steve or Danny either. I don't think they were coming into headquarters today but neither of them has answered my texts. There's the Jets game today, so I can see Danny not answering his phone, but Steve? Steve always picks up his phone," Grover stood up from behind the desk.
"Let's try calling them on the smart desk," Chin suggested, motioning for Lou to follow.
First, they tried Danny with no luck, but on the fifth ring Steve picked up his.
"Hey, Chin," Steve answered, his voice lower than usual, signaling to his teammates he was in 'Commander Mode.'
"Steve, is something wrong?" Chin asked, sharing a concerned glance with Lou.
"Secure the line," Steve replied.
With his hands flying across the smart table, Chin stabilized the line using technology Lou didn't want to even begin to understand.
"Okay Steve, go ahead," Chin reassured.
"Someone took Danny's family. Charlie, Grace, and Rachel. I'm tailing him right now. The kidnapper doesn't know I know about this. Danny was just forced to change cars and throw out his gun, badge, and phone. I picked them up from the parking lot," Steve explained, sounding distracted from driving.
"What can we do?" Lou questioned.
"Can you connect to Danny's phone? The kidnapper contacted Danny maybe two hours ago. I want you to track the number. Find out who this motherfucker is."
"You've got it, bruh," Chin nodded, although Steve couldn't hear him.
"This guy seems serious. And smart. He distorted his voice. I wouldn't underestimate hi-"
Steve's voice was suddenly cut off by a screech of tires.
"Steve?!" Lou and Chin shouted in unison.
The only response they received was the click-click of an automatic, as Steve cocked his AR-15 and tightened his grip. Indecipherable voices yelled in the background and the sharp cracks of bullets resounded, followed by a staticky voice: "McGarrett! Out of the car with your hands up!"
"No chance in hell!" Steve answered, much clearer.
Lou and Chin could only listen, helpless and terrified. Chin recorded the phone call starting when they heard the scream of tires. The sound of exchanging bullets echoed through the Palace, deafening Lou and Chin.
"Steve! Steve!" Lou tried to get an answer from his boss; the boss who was caught up in an unexpected firefight.
Lou and Chin swore their blood froze when they heard Steve let out a grunt of pain and a loud "fuck!," followed by more cussing.
"Steve, say something!" Chin lost his cool, a very rare experience.
"Find Danny!" Steve's strained voice ordered.
Three more blood-chilling gunshots, then the line clicked dead.
"Take the next right. There's a storage facility. Go to the front service desk. Your name is on the list. Ask for a shed 13 key. Go inside the storage unit, or else," threatened the voice belonging to a man Danny wanted to strangle. Multiple times.
"I'm pulling in," Danny replied, before realizing the man hung up. Steering the foreign Corvette into the parking lot at a 'Steve-slow-the-hell-down-you're-going-to-kill-us-speed,' he observed the abandoned scene. It was a rougher part of town, with little to no traffic. Leaving skid marks and a haphazard parking job behind him, Danny sprinted towards the worn down office with peeling paint, and yellow, uninviting windows. The bell jangled when he slammed the door open, the stench of death overwhelming his senses. Danny instinctively brought his sleeve to his nose and stinging eyes. No matter how many times he discovered a body, the disgust still churned his stomach.
When he finally lifted his gaze, he saw a dirty blonde haired man, twisted at an odd angle, using his own pool of blood as a pillow.
Danny reached for his gun on his side without realizing it, until his hand grasped air. His Glock was lying in a parking lot behind some sketchy Chinese restaurant. Although he wasn't a gun nut, and only used one for the job, Danny missed the comforting feel of protection on his waist. For a second, he considered pulling out the peashooter hidden in his ankle holster; however, if the kidnapper was watching, he couldn't risk it. He advanced towards the victim, years of acting as a homicide detective aided him in instantly picking up details.
The man was wearing a uniform, lips blue and body rigid and cold when Danny hesitantly pressed his fingers to the man's neck for a pulse. Out of habit, he always carried latex gloves in his back pocket for situations like this. Slipping them on, he gently forced the stiff body back in the man's chair to make out his disfigured, swollen face. A nametag pinned on his lapel read, "Stan."
Danny knew that wasn't a coincidence.
It was a warning.
But the real warning came when Danny discovered a paper the victim was holding in a tight fist. Prying his cold fingers with care as not to break them, Danny retrieved the lined notebook paper with the unit 13 key taped to the top.
Two words, a binomial nomenclature name, was scrawled vindictively in blood.
DANNY WILLIAMS.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading! Please review! :)
