A/N: I think two chapters to start a story if as good a place as any, just to get people hooked.
Chapter 2: A Cup Of Tea
"Who is that?" Steve asked as he looked over Danny's head and straight at the sight of an older woman who had strut into the office as if she owned the place, causing much discomfort to the poor officer who was showing her the way.
Danny turns and then ducks down.
"What?" Steve asked as he watched his partner slip out of sight.
"It's Rachel's mother," Danny stated, "Pretend I'm not here." he added and crawled into a corner under the windows.
"She's talking to Chin." Steve stated and stood. "She's coming this way. Chin looks shocked. Make it look like your looking for something in that filing cabinet because here she comes."
"Danny, you're needed," Chin stated as he looked down and Rachel's mother peeked around him.
"Eliza, what are you doing here?" Danny asked as he stood and shot his partner an angry glare.
"You haven't heard?" Eliza asked, her accent thick with British charm and emotional stress.
"Heard what?" Danny asked as he suddenly became serious.
"I thought you were the top of the law here Daniel, how do you not know, how could you not be told?" Eliza stated with tears in her eyes. "Rachel and Stanley are dead!"
"What do you mean they're dead?" Danny gasped.
"I mean they were murdered," Eliza stated. "Shouldn't you know these things? You are the law - aren't you?" She asked indignantly.
"I don't have my finger in all of the HPD pies, if that's what you're asking." Danny stated just as indignantly. "Furthermore, if I wasn't called for Rachel and Stan it means I've been removed from any emergency contact informations pertaining to them, and as we are once again at odd with each other, I'm not surprised. My only concern is Grace and Charlie - why should I have any responsibility over that family?"
"Look Daniel, I know we've never gotten along, but my daughter, the mother of your children, is dead and I've not slept because of the trauma. I flew all night to get here and the only informations that your police department will give me is that it is an open investigations and I need to take action to make sure that Charlie is safe in hospital and Grace is safe with you. I came here to get answers. I came here to get your help." Eliza pleaded as she held tightly to her handbag.
The shock of the news was enough to throw Danny's mind into a spin, but the behaviour of his ex-mother-in-law was so out of character for the tight lipped British woman that the ground felt like it was about ready to fall out from under him.
"Forgive Me, Eliza, this is my partner Steven McGarrett," Danny said with a shake of his head. "Steve, this is Mrs. Eliza Westbrook. She is my ex-mother-in-law."
"Pleasure to meet you Ma'am." Steve said with a slight bow.
"I'm sure under other circumstances it would be," Eliza retorted.
"Steve, can you get us jurisdiction on this case? Find out what is going on and what they are not telling Mrs. Westbrook." Danny asked after a long silence was spent in staring at the woman before him and her gaze, and discomfort, cut him right to his core.
"I'll make some calls," Steve stated.
"Come, I want you to tell me everything," Danny stated as he showed Eliza the door to try to get her alone in his office rather then standing in Steve's doorway for the whole office to hear.
"I'm not one of your suspects Daniel!" Eliza snapped.
"No, you're not, and I'm only trying to give you a place to sit down and some privacy if you'll just follow me to my office so that we might give my boss a chance to make his phone calls." Danny said as politely as he could muster.
"I'm sorry. It's been a very trying several hours," Eliza said and obediently followed.
"How long have you known?" Danny asked as he shut his door and instinctively motioned to the chair before his desk so that his visitor could take a seat.
"I've lost track of the time, to be completely honest. We got the call some time Saturday, I think, Honolulu time. Which was the dead of the night for us and I was told to come as soon as I could. Needless to say I was on the next flight out of Heathrow and landed here to be escorted to the hospital where I saw my grandson and was give what little details they would give. I dropped your name, and this task force, but they would tell me nothing more and I am not allowed near the house. I've lost a whole day in travel, I don't know up from down, and the only co-operation that I was given from the police was the escort to the Five-O office that I requested to see you."
Danny paced the length of his office as he tried to make sense of the situation.
"Would you like a cup of tea?" Danny asked and considering the circumstances and his own disbelief, it was all he could think of to do.
"Do we really have time for tea?"
"Eliza, what do you want from me? This is the first I've heard of any of this. I can't do anything without information and I doubt that I'll be given much considerations with the circumstances. I may not be her husband anymore, but that doesn't mean that I'm not still involved and now I have to tell my daughter that her mother is dead and the little boy that I'm his real father and that both of the people he thought were his parents are no longer with us. Excuse me if my brain is mush and all I can think of is to offer you tea because God knows you tried damn hard to make me more civilized."
"Tea would be lovely, Daniel," Eliza said softly as she lowered her eyes. "Thank you."
"Excuse me," Danny said with a sigh and practically bowed out of the room leaving the regal lady alone to catch her breath.
5-0
"Okay, try this," Danny said as he placed a steaming cup of tea down on the tabled.
He was still dressed in his best suit and tie, with his weapon concealed and his badge at his hip.
"It's the best yet!" Rachel smiled after a sip of the tea. "You're trying so hard and you're so nervous, Daniel, but they're going to love you, just as I love you."
"I've never been good with the meet the parents day," Danny said with a sigh and sat down across the table from Rachel.
"You should have made yourself a cup of tea. It will calm you down."
"I doubt it will do anything to counter act the pot of coffee I had before coming here after work." Danny sighed.
He'd been stuck in the precinct all day - in debriefing after debriefing - only to be told they were no closer to a break in the Pelagio investigation than they were the day before. On top of that aggravation, Danny had to deal with the knowledge that he had agreed to the meeting with Rachel's parents for the first time and he knew that they were coming a very long way, with very different expectations, and he wasn't quite sure he'd be able to behave himself. He was just too uncivilized - or so he thought.
Rachel sighed. "Is that why you are so jittery? The china rattled all the way in here," she mocked playfully, "but it is a good cup of english tea. I'll give you that."
"At least I can make a cup of tea. Is that going to be enough to make a good first impression with your mother?"
"That tea and that suit might help," Rachel said supportively as she bat her eyes across the table from the man she was sure she'd spend her life with, but whom she knew was not at all what her parents were expecting. "Were you this anxious when I met your parent?" She asked and another giggle escaped her lips before she sipped at her tea once more.
"No," Danny answered honestly, "but that meeting was a surprise to both of us. This one has been in the works for months, but we know that your mother has been banking on a break-up since you told her I was a cop."
"She's going to love you as soon as she gets to know you!"
"And put aside the idea that I'll never be a doctor or a lawyer or a politician?"
"One day she'll understand how important your job is." Rachel said as she stood, leaned across the table and pecked him on the cheek. "One day, Daniel, she'll know how much you mean to me and she'll love you and respect you just as I do."
5-0
"Looks like a home invasion," Steve stated as Danny came out of his office - leaving Eliza alone.
"Do you mind checking it out with Kono and Chin, while I decide what I'm going to do with my ex-mother-in-law and while I get heightened security on Charlie, Grace, and all the places in between?"
"Kono and Chin are already en route."
"Thanks."
"I guess the children have no one else now," Steve said as he watched his partner very carefully.
"How am I going to tell them that?" Danny asked his eyes brimming with tears.
"I don't know, but tell them that we will find out who did this."
"Small consolation," Danny said with a shake of his head. He took a deep breath and carried on across the office common space.
"All right, I'll call you if we find anything. Are you going to be okay?" Steve asked as he turned to follow his partner and the concern was written all over his face.
"Rachel is dead. I'm not ever going to be okay." Danny answered and disappeared into the break room.
The crime scene was worse them he'd anticipated, when Steve had arrived and he, Kono and Chin walked together through it once more.
"This is a mess. It looks like a tornado struck this place," Steve said in shock at the mess that greeted him.
"It gets worse," Chin said with a sigh and lead Steve through the house. "Stanley was found here, at the base of the stairs. He had two gunshot wounds to the chest. Rachel was found at the top of the stairs, but she wasn't shot there. She was dragged there. She was shot in Charlie's room. It's tossed as well and Grace's room faired no better. The beds is shattered, clothing is strewn all over the place, they were looking for something in the bedrooms. HPD found a note in the kitchen. The house was build with a butlers pantry and a delivery system which is hidden within the walls. It stops in the Charlie's room, which would have made feedings easier when he was little and I'm sure would have made life much easier when he is well enough to get out of the hospital. The note was in the little elevator. Unless you knew it was there, you'd never find it."
"Were they after the children?" Steve asked in confusion and shock.
"We think so." Kono answered and lead the way to the kitchen. "The door to the butlers pantry was open. The elevator was fully visible to anyone who would have been wandering around this house. The kitchen is a mess but the pantry is untouched expect for this." Kono said and showed Steve a plastic evidence bag which contained the note.
Their blood is on your hands, Detective. Two lives, for two lives. Your debt has not been paid. I will find them, all of them, and then I will come for you. My family for yours, all of them.
"What do you suppose it means?" Kono asked as the colour faded from Steve's face.
"I don't know," Steve said but his voice was horse, "but I believe this is meant for Danny."
5-0
"Danny stop, you can't get into this. you have to let it go. One man cannot take out a generations old crime family." Detective Grace Tilwell yelled as an angry and anxious Danny paced and cursed before her.
"I will not give this up. I will not be pulled in and manipulated like the rest of this town. I will prove them wrong and see them behind bars!" Danny vowed. "I will not rest until I see my state rid of these people and their corruption and evil. I will make this a safe happy place, I need to, I need it to be safe and clean for my wife and my children. Grace, you have got to have my back on this. You're my partner. Who else am I going to rely on?"
"I've always got your back, Danny, but this is a fools errand and Jersey is safe and comfortable, in some places. You are never going to find a perfectly safe place. You should feel good about getting engaged, and talking about having children. These are good things, but you jumped to conclusions. It's not like you have to rid the whole world of evil before you can contemplate children. You'll never be a father at that rate."
Danny sighed heavily but continued his aggressive pacing.
"I know you feel like you're losing this battle, but Danny, you'll never be able to prove that every last member of the Pelagio family are crooks. One or two, maybe, here or there for sure, but you'll never crack them all. Get the younger generations off the street and then wait it out, the old men will eventually die off and that will be the end of the mob family."
"Grace, you don't get it. Taking out the young will be seen as an act of war and they know I'm the detective who just can't let it go."
"You're not the only one, Danny, we've all been on this task-force for a long time, even before you came off the beat. You've breathed new life into this case and this crew, for sure, but we've been out for these guys for ages. Hell, my father was one of the founders of this team."
"And he was killed because of it, and we can't prove it. Doesn't that burn you, Grace, that we can't prove who murdered your father even though we know who did it? We can't avenge your father's death. We can't find the cracks and we should all be looking over our shoulders because we've painted the targets on our backs. I can't think of children or bringing Rachel into this life because I can't have one of my own with a target on my back. So I have to keep fighting for my happiness and safety. I have to find a way because I want a life outside of this task-force and I want justice for the people the Pelagios have hurt."
"You could back out now and be happy." Grace countered.. "Transfer out of this unit, out of this precinct, and into something less mob centred, and settle down with Rachel. Hell, move out of state, start fresh. You can't put your life on hold for these guys."
"I'm not a quitter, Grace, and this is exactly where I've always wanted to be. This is my home. I will go after the big guy. I will get Bartholomew Pelagio and I will see his sons behind bars. I'll personally close his business, end his money laundering, and clean up this state. I will personally see him go down for murder and never, ever, see the outside of a prison. I will do this, with or without you." Danny spat and rushed off, and Grace let him go.