This is chapter 2! Get ready for some flashbacks!
Detective Danny Williams and Commander Steven McGarrett strode out onto the field where various obstacle courses were set up. Teenage boys dressed in standard PT uniforms ran, jumped, crawled, and climbed while Captain Wright was spitting harsh words of encouragement. Steve cracked a smile and chuckled a bit at the familiar sight.
"What are you giggling about?" Danny stared up at his partner incredulously. There was something seriously off with his partner this week. Yesterday they didn't get much leads on the case except for basic information based off the coroner's report which was pretty normal. It surprised Danny when his partner hardly reacted at all when they learned that Johnny was in fact raped. Danny had a bad gut feeling about this case.
"Oh, nothing Danny. You wouldn't understand," Steve sighed while Danny harrumphed. Steve's mind was flashing back to a time he hadn't visited in quite some time; Days when he himself was a small fish in a big naval academy pond.
16 year old Steven J. McGarrett studied his peers standing in formation according to no particular order on the football field and knew they were all spoiled brats. Most of these boys came from rich families who all wished their son's to become successful military men. They all had haughty attitudes and believed they were better than each other. Steve snorted and caught the attention of a pale blonde boy standing next to him.
"Do you find something amusing?" the boy asked snottily. The front of his t-shirt had the name Anderson written neatly on the front.
"Yeah, did you write your name of the front of your shirt or did your mother? I bet the inside of your underwear looks the same too," Steve replied, easily getting annoyed.
"Excuse me. Do you know who I am? You will pay for such an insult and for your information I just so happen to have excellent pen men ship."
"Oh, I didn't know," Steve sarcastically remarked, "And how exactly will I 'pay' for insulting you Anderson?"
"Just you wait McGarrett. I'm going to beat all your scores in PT and make a fool out of you," Anderson glared daggers at him. Steve smirked, looking at the boy out of the corner of his eye. He didn't need to say anything; he would show this kid up.
And he did. Oh, did he show that Anderson kid. Steve smiled cockily in Anderson's direction after PT ended getting a scowl in return. He was wiping his forehead of the sweat that had accumulated there when a hand landed on his shoulder. Steve glanced at the person responsible and found him staring at a boy relatively the same height as him with tan skin, brown eyes, and buzzed brown hair.
"Hey. Nice job showing up Anderson, McGarrett. It's about time somebody shut that kid up." The boy laughed, his eyes twinkling with amusement.
"Didn't know he needed shutting up," Steve replied honestly.
"Yeah, well you better be careful. His dad is some fancy navy man; heard he's pretty high up in the chain of commandment," the boy warned.
"Yeah, so?" Steve squinted against the sun's harsh light.
"Oh, man," the boy laughed." I can already tell we're going to get along. My names James Miller but everyone just calls me JP. There's the bell, man. See you later McGarrett." JP waved at him about to run off when Steve's voice halted him.
"Steve," Steve corrected. JP looked up sharply, a questioning gaze in his expression. "Call me Steve," Steve smirked at him.
"Steve," JP patted his shoulder, smiling back at him.
"Steve," a voice called him back to the present, a hand on his shoulder. "Steve. Steven J. McGarrett, do I need to say your name one more time to gain your attention?" Danny yelled. Steve glanced sharply to his left where Danny was standing and met his somewhat curious and concerned gaze. "You alright? I was seriously considering that that tiny Neanderthal brain of yours couldn't handle the pressure and finally snapped." Danny held his friends shoulder in amusement. He was surprised to find Steve leaning slightly into the gesture.
"Yeah, I'm good Danno," Steve replied, smiling but holding sadness in his eyes.
"Steve," Danny's voice turned serious. "Are you sure-?" Danny's question was cut off when the Captain made himself present in their conversation.
"McGarrett, Detective Williams," Captain Wright greeted them. "What can I do you for?"
"It's standard that we interview some of the friends and family members of the victim in order to get a better perspective of where the victim was at in his life when he died." Danny explained.
"Well, I can already tell you that Johnny didn't have any enemies if that's what you're asking. Everybody loved him, he was a great boy," the Captain supplied.
"I'm sure he was Captain," Steve interjected tersely. "We would still like to talk to some of his friends," Steve and the Captain stared at each other before the Captain nodded his head.
"Of course, I believe his friends are sitting on the far right side of the wooden bleachers over there," Wright pointed to bleachers where all the boys where resting and getting a drink. Steve nodded and walked off without saying anything more.
"Thank you, Captain," Danny said politely before going after Steve. "Ok, what is your problem?" Danny asked as soon as he caught up with his friend.
"The only problem I have Danny is a dead 15 year old boy and a killer to catch. Now can we move on?" Steve didn't allow him to answer and continued towards the three boys who were Johnny's friends. They looked up as the two 5-0 officers approached them.
"Hey, boys how's it going?" Danny asked politely, staring pointedly at Steve for him to not say anything offensive. Surprisingly his partner kept quiet and studied the boys before him. They all had similar tan complexions, two had dark hair and dark eyes; obviously Hawaiian and twins. The other boy had bleach blonde hair and contrasting blue eyes.
"We know why you're here man. You don't have to act like we are three years old," the blonde one spoke.
"Alright, then. Well, I'm Detective Danny Williams and this is Commander Steve McGarrett." The boys' eyes all widened slightly at this. They all knew what that naval rank meant.
"I'm Scott Keakakona," the blonde spoke again. "And this is Kai and Makani Kakeli," he pointed to each of them, indicating which boy was which. Even though they were identical you could point out small differences. Kai had freckles and short spiky hair while Makani's complexion was clear and his hair was buzzed short.
"Nice to meet you boys. I'm sorry about your friend," Steve said sincerely.
"Mahalo," the three whispered quietly.
"Whatever you could tell us about Johnny could help with finding who did this to him. Did he have any enemies?" Danny asked.
"No, everyone loved Johnny. He was never rude to anyone and was super funny. Everybody respected him," Kai said.
"Except Keanu." Makani muttered and Kai elbowed him in the side.
"Makani," Kai hissed.
"Well, it's true!" Makani exclaimed. Danny and Steve waited for someone to elaborate and Scott spoke up.
"Keanu was just jealous of Johnny 'cause he kept beating all of his scores but he wouldn't kill Johnny. You guys are over exaggerating," Scott scolded and glanced up at the 5-0's pointedly. "The guy was a pain in the ass but he's not a killer." The academy's bell rung and the three boys stood up. Danny gave them his card with his number on it, telling them to call if they knew anything else. As they were getting up to walk away Steve noticed a bruise on Scott's back as he leaned down to pick up his water bottle.
"Hey Danny I'll catch up with you back at the car," Steve jogged after Scott, leaving his exasperated partner behind him. Steve saw out of the corner of his eye Danny walking briskly and irritatingly back to the car and he smirked. Once he caught up to Scott, he put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey Scott," Steve started to say when the boy flinched back violently.
"Commander McGarrett," Scott said in relief.
"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you man," Steve raised his hands placating.
"It's alright. What did you need, sir?" Scott said formally.
"I just wanted to ask you one last question about Johnny. Was he acting strangely before he died? Did you notice anything weird?" Steve prodded, hoping to get the answer he was expecting. Scott stiffened and stared at the floor.
"Yeah," Scott whispered. "He was always on edge, scared. The twins never noticed because he always put a brave face in front of them. I tried confronting him about it. I just wanted to know what was wrong with my best friend, you know," Scott's voice got hoarse.
"Did you guys get into a fight?" Steve asked knowingly.
"Yeah, how did you know?" Scott looked up, astonished.
"I saw the bruise," Steve pointed to his back. Scott put his hand on the bruise as if he just got shocked. "What did you ask him that got him so defensive?"
"It had been a couple of weeks since Johnny started being so moody with me and cut off. That wasn't like him at all. We were in our dorm room a couple of days ago when I finally got tired of it. I asked him what the hell was wrong with him and he shook me off as usual. I grabbed his arm to make him look at me when he winced. I asked what was wrong, if he was hurt and he just punched me. I fell, ran into the post on my bed. That's where the bruise on my back came from. Luckily he didn't punch me hard enough to bruise my face but after he punched me he started apologizing profusely. He was Johnny again. Well, for a couple of seconds anyways."
"What happened after that?" Steve asked.
"He stopped talking to me when we were alone. I never confronted him again after that," Scott shrugged helplessly, scuffing his shoe on the concrete.
"Why?" Steve whispered, already knowing what the boy would say.
"With all due respect sir, I didn't want to lose my best friend more than I already had. Now if you'll excuse me I have to get to class," Scott nodded to him respectfully.
"Wait, before you go. This is my card. Call me if you need anything, anytime," Steve smiled and handed him his card.
"Thanks Commander," Scott murmured. He exited the field, running on the black top before reaching the doors that led back into the building. Steve was about to turn to leave to go to the car when something caught his eye. He turned and saw Captain Wright standing stoically behind the fence at the end of the field. Steve could see from where he was standing the smirk on the Captain's face and the glint in his eyes. The Captain had just seen everything. The Commander turned on his heel and marched back towards the car, ignoring the anger building in his belly. Steve just hoped with every fiber of his being that he wouldn't be too late to stop him his time.
There it is people! Tell me how you like it so far! : ) I have a good feeling that I'm too interested in this story to let it go now. Be prepared for chapter 3 to come your way soon.
-Spicypeppersauce