One night a week after Steve's encounter in the forest clearing Danny woke to the knowledge that something was wrong. The room was dark, but he could feel that he was not alone.
"Get the lights," a male voice ordered.
Blinking in the sudden brightness, Danny saw six tall figures in his bedroom, five arrayed around the bed glowering down at him with folded arms, and one by the light switch. Well, I knew something like this was coming as soon as I saw that interview Loren gave the Star Advertiser, he thought.
"Get up and come with us," the one at the lamp ordered curtly.
I might as well face the music. Even if I could get away now, sooner or later they'd catch up to me, Danny thought as he was marched from his building and seated in the back of a black car between two guards.
After a period of driving on city streets, they made their way up a winding road in poor condition, rising in elevation as the forest on either side grew denser, a smell of damp earth and vegetation in the air. When the car stopped, Danny was marched into the forest and escorted along a narrow, muddy trail. It wound through an overgrown tangle of trees and climbing plants, fallen leaves damp and slippery under his bare feet, the night a little chilly for pyjamas. After walking a distance he found hard to judge, they reached a clearing, open to the starry night sky and lit by flickering torches.
The clearing was filled with activity. Some individuals were bustling around setting out an array of folding tables and chairs, while others conferred in small groups. A few were unclothed, but many wore loose belted robes or simple dresses.
The exceptions to the general dress code were the two individuals who walked up to Five-O's second-in-command and his escort. They were wearing sharply tailored suits and would have looked much more natural in a downtown office building.
"Nathaniel," said the tall silvery-blonde, extending a hand to Danny. "And this is my partner, Thomas," he added, nodding to the shorter brown-haired lawyer at his side. "We're your counsel for the trial." He waved away Danny's guards, ordering, "We need privacy to confer with our client."
As the guards complied, there was a sudden swirl of movement in the clearing. Another group of guards appeared, forcibly propelling a blindfolded man in dark blue pyjamas, his hands tied in front of him.
"Steve!" Danny cried in alarm.
"Danno? Is that you?" McGarrett asked, turning his head in the direction of the voice.
The guards escorting the head of Five-O removed his blindfold and shoved him forward to join his second-in-command and the two lawyers.
McGarrett looked around the clearing. "What the hell is going on here?" he demanded.
"Steve, are you okay?" Danny asked anxiously. There was a livid mark on McGarrett's right cheekbone, and his pyjama shirt was torn, the top button gone.
"I'm fine, but I want to know why I was brought here and what's happening," McGarrett snapped. "Danno, do you have any idea?"
"Steve...the other day, in the forest..." Danny began.
"Yes?" Steve asked, raising his eyebrows.
Danny took a deep breath. "I was the unicorn."
"How do you know about...wait, what do you mean?" McGarrett demanded. "You were the...the..."
"Unicorn. Unicorns are real. We exist," Danny told him flatly. "We look like horses with horns, like you saw...but we can also take human form. That day, I knew I'd never reach you in time as a human, so I...transformed."
"You transformed...into a...a unicorn?" McGarrett said.
"I know, it sounds nuts. But it's true. You saw what you saw...and you saw me," Danny said, looking earnestly at his boss.
Steve met his gaze for along moment, then said, "Okay, I believe you, Danno. But...what's going on?"
Danny let out a breath. "The problem is...by letting you see me as a unicorn, I broke one of our most important laws. Except for those chosen few the Council has named, we must never let a human see us in unicorn form."
"The Council? Are you telling me there's a unicorn government?" McGarrett demanded. "And these people, they're actually...unicorns?" He looked around the clearing with renewed speculation.
"Yeah. This Gathering is for my trial. Judge, jury, audience, all unicorns," Danny explained. "That's why they're dressed this way. Unicorns don't feel the same psychological need for clothing unless they spend a lot of time around humans. Also, it's inconvenient to be dressed if you want to transform."
"Are you two unicorns, too?" Steve demanded of Nathaniel and Thomas. "Everyone else here looks like they're in some sort of naturist commune, but you look like lawyers."
"We are lawyers," Nathaniel told him. "We're Dan's counsel. We also work as lawyers among the humans, and we thought he might feel more comfortable seeing us in the costume of the trade."
"Very realistic," McGarrett said drily. "So, this is a unicorn court. Who's in charge?"
Nathaniel gestured towards one of the groups conferring across the clearing. "The tall blonde is Fiona, the Regional Governor for the Western United States. She will be the judge at Dan's trial."
"This trial-If he's found guilty, what is the penalty for his crime?" Steve demanded.
"They're charging him with premeditatedly revealing himself to a human," the lawyer said seriously. "The penalty is very severe. It can be permanent exile, or even death."
"Death?" McGarrett exclaimed. "And what is permanent exile?"
"The unicorn's horn is surgically removed. As a result, he transforms to his human state, and can never again regain his true form," Nathaniel said grimly. "Some consider it a penalty worse than death, but..."
Danny broke in. "Nathaniel, why is Steve here? And what's with the furniture and everyone in human form? I'd have thought for me they'd do the opposite."
"We don't know. It's all extremely unusual. Possibly your lover is only here to serve as a witness, but for someone in a position of power in the human world to see so much of our society...I worry they cannot risk letting him go afterwards," Nathaniel said.
"Lover?" McGarrett demanded.
"You think they'll kill him?" Danny exclaimed at the same time.
"He is not your lover?" Nathaniel asked Danny, raising his eyebrows in surprise. "But you revealed yourself to save him!"
"Remember their rules," Thomas told his partner gently.
"Oh...that is right. By the rules of human society, because you are both males, you are not permitted to mate." Nathaniel turned to Steve and said, "Our people believe differently. We may enjoy love wherever we find it. Thomas here is not my partner only in the law," he added, putting his arm around the other man.
Danny felt his face growing red, and didn't dare look at his boss. If they don't kill us tonight, how will I ever explain this to Steve? he thought desperately.
"As I was saying, I believe that given what Steve has seen, they will not let him go free," Nathaniel told Danny, oblivious to his embarrassment. "One in his position in human society could be very dangerous to us, a far greater threat than the criminal who gave the interview to the newspaper. Officially, unicorn law enforcement has no jurisdiction over humans, but unofficially we all know that sometimes they feel it is necessary to...take steps. As officers of the court we are under strict obligations to uphold our laws, but we feel that this should not extend to extra-legal actions of the Council Enforcers."
"What can we do?" Danny asked worriedly, sneaking a glance at Steve, who was looking somewhat stunned.
"Thomas and I will try to make a chance for you. When we do, the two of you must get away," Nathaniel said, exchanging a look with his partner, who nodded in agreement. "There's something going on here that I don't understand, and I don't like it. The Council already has enough blood on its hands, in these Islands and elsewhere."
"Nathaniel, Thomas, thank you. I know the penalties if they decide you conspired to free me," Danny said seriously. He turned to McGarrett. "Steve, if I get a chance, I'll transform, and we'll try to get out of here. Have you ever ridden bareback?"
"Never with my hands tied, but I think I can handle it," Steve said with a grim smile.
"Now, in case that plan doesn't work, we'd better discuss your defense," Nathaniel said briskly. "Steve, if you wouldn't mind waiting for us over there at the defense table?" he invited with a wave toward a small folding table that seemed inadequate to the title.
A short time later, McGarrett, sitting on a metal chair beside his second-in-command, looked around in wonderment at the proceedings that were taking shape. They seemed oddly informal, perhaps because the human trappings were all clearly temporary. What appeared to be the judges' bench was formed from a huge fallen tree whose upper surface had been flattened. Moss and fern grew about it, the natural elements a stark contrast to the rows of folding chairs set out for the audience and the pair of card tables, one at each end of the tree. Danny, Steve, and the two lawyers sat behind one, a small, dark-haired unicorn who was presumably the prosecutor behind the other.
It's hard to believe. These are all unicorns? Danno is a unicorn? And this is a courtroom? Steve thought. But what kept intruding over all was, Can it possibly be true that Danny feels...like that...about me? He didn't deny it when the lawyer brought it up.
Various unicorns in human form were taking seats, filling the places behind the bench and the rows of chairs for the audience. As he watched them, Steve realized that there was a certain something about them all, something attractive, regardless of their physical appearances. With a shock, he recognized it as something he'd seen in Dan Williams since they'd first met. It draws people to him. How he looks and his personality certainly don't hurt, but he's always had this indefinable quality about him. I think after this if I meet a unicorn in human form, I'll know it. If there is an 'after this,' of course...
The proceedings looked to be nearly ready to begin when suddenly Thomas jumped to his feet, staring fixedly into the forest.
"What was that?" he cried. He ran into the trees, pursued by Nathaniel, both still in human form. Others followed them, some as humans, and some transforming first with a series of sharp reports as the air around them was displaced.
Steve had no time to wonder at the effect or the sight of the unicorns. As the clearing erupted into chaos, Danny transformed, bits of maroon pyjamas flying outward from his equine form. He knelt in obvious invitation, and Steve mounted him.
The chestnut unicorn wheeled and galloped back down the track they had entered from, in the opposite direction to the one Thomas had taken. McGarrett leaned low over his mount's neck, clinging tightly with his legs and twining his fingers in the curly mane.
They hadn't gone far when sounds of pursuit came from behind them, and Danny increased his pace to one that seemed foolhardy over the narrow and uneven trail, whipping around trees and springing over fallen logs.
If we can just reach the road, get down to where there's traffic, surely they won't risk showing themselves, Steve thought, finding it easier than expected to stay with his mount's sudden moves despite the lack of saddle or bridle. I suppose we're used to being attuned to each others' reactions as humans...
As they rocketed around a curve, he looked back over his shoulder briefly, alarmed to see unicorns pursuing them, two of them carrying human-form riders with ropes. As the fleeing pair neared the beginning of the trail, one of the unicorns behind them gave a sharp whinnying call.
There must be guards left by the road, McGarrett thought grimly as his mount gave a snort of alarm.
Four more unicorns came into view running toward them up the trail from the direction of the road.
Danny stopped abruptly, nearly pitching Steve off over his shoulder. He wheeled and plunged off the path, but the check had allowed the pursuing group to catch up, the riders readying their ropes. Crashing desperately through the forest growth until a vine caught one of his hind feet, he was jerked to a stop, falling, his passenger thrown through the air.
McGarrett tried ineffectually to catch himself with his bound hands. Pain exploded through his arm, then his forehead hit the ground, and everything went black.