H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O

Steve grinned as he glanced over to the passenger seat of the Camaro where his partner was sitting. He playfully tapped the Camaro's steering wheel with both hands, a hollow-sounding off-tempo.

"We don't have to do this you know," he offered the suggestion as he watched Danny reload his weapon and ensure that the safety was still on. Danny sucked his lip between his teeth and shrugged.

"Yes, we do," he replied. "We're obligated."

"Obligated?" Steve repeated questioningly. He made a face about this unexpected side-trip on a late Friday afternoon. A beautiful afternoon on the cusp of a long holiday weekend when they had better things to do and much to look forward to doing together. Still, he couldn't lose his happy mood and his grin returned, only deepening when he caught Danny's eye.

"I can think of other obligations I'd prefer to follow up on," Steve teased. "Like ... let's say ... mattress shopping."

"That's because you're an animal," Danny replied as he casually snapped his sidearm back into its small holster. "Where I am an officer of the law first and foremost." His cheeks pinked slightly though as he battled his attempts to not give Steve the satisfaction of a smile.

"Are you?" Steve chuckled. "At least are you ... first ...?"

"... and foremost," Danny coughed the two words out in a vain attempt to stop the burble of a laugh which finally broke free. "I hate you! Keep your eyes on the road and your hands ... !"

"Where Danno?" Steve grinned triumphantly as Danny sputtered out. He flexed the fingers on his right hand while steering the Camaro with his left. He made a show of examining the back of his hand, then the palm. "Where would you like my hands?"

"Oh my God, you are an animal," Danny slapped Steve's hand away when he dared flick his fingers over Danny's thigh. "Knock it off; we're back on duty. Let's see what HPD's issue is first; then I'll make some other ... recommendations."

"Promises, promises," Steve chuckled softly as he gripped the steering wheel with both hands, accelerating through traffic with a careful, practiced ease despite the volume of travelers on the road. They were only a few minutes out from the convenience store where an altercation had been reported between store employees and a customer. It was likely going to be a mundane call and something more typically in the regular police department's wheel-house. But as Danny had duly noted, because they were so close, there'd be no harm in stopping in and lending a hand. After all, it was the least 5-0 could do when HPD had consistently backed them up time and again.

Steve parked next to the first cruiser, nearest the store, recognizing Sergeant Duke Lukela right away. The older man was near retirement and yet still game to manage a scene. The older man was in deep conversation with one of the store employees and it was he who Danny and Steve immediately approached.

"So? What's going on?" Steve asked Duke as he shrugged into his tac-vest. "What's with this altercation?"

"I'm still trying to figure that out," Duke said, his tone flat. "This young man here? This is the store manager who called it in to 9-11 ... but we've not gotten too far that determining a woman has locked herself inside the restroom in the rear of the store."

"Hey," Steve said to the clerk, frowning after Duke's brief update. "That's it? You've been here the entire time, right? So what's going on?"

Steve was surprised when the convenience store clerk made a face as if bored with the questions. No more than a kid, Jordy according to his name-tag, was looking everywhere except at him and Danny, or even Duke. If Steve wanted to be fair, which he most certainly did not, he'd have given the clerk a break on age alone. Quite suddenly though his mood shifted from what he'd been feeling in the car. Light-hearted turned sour and suddenly, Steve was far from feeling ... benevolent. Selfishly, he and Danny were on the cusp of their first long weekend together; a real weekend and young Jordy's sheer lack of engagement was nothing short of ... criminal.

He and Danno. Together.

Alone.

Not even Danny's kids would be there. And most incredibly to Steve, Danny was okay with that. For the first time since Steve could remember, Danny was content with practically everything in his life and it was in no small part due to how they'd finally settled in together. Glancing at Danny, Steve's gaze softened for a split second before he covered it up.

Right then, Danny was primed and ready for action all over again as he fastened his own tac-vest over the clean white tee-shirt he'd changed into before leaving the office. Eyes flashing as brightly as his sarcasm, Danny was practically bouncing on his toes as he eyed the kid-clerk and took stock of everything and everyone around them. He was thrumming with adrenalin and Steve grinned as Danny flashed him an impish look from under his lashes. Danny's mood had equally shifted. He and Danny were on the same page and Steve had to hide behind a faked cough lest he burst out laughing.

Young Jordy was soon to be in for a real ride if he didn't wake up a bit.

"This is ridiculous," Danny said impatiently as his expression darkened. "Can't you tell us anything else?" His moody scowl matched Steve's disapproval as Jordy gave out with an audible sigh. Duke cleared his throat in warning, but the kid was clueless.

"Hey … come on this is serious," Danny patiently prodded the boy. "You called us ... remember?"

"Yeah, but like I said already, some lolo locked herself in the bathroom," Jordy said. "I think she had a knife ... I dunno. Maybe a gun." He shifted from foot to foot communicating that he had a lot more important things he'd much rather be doing than talking to them. Steve could easily commiserate but he was unimpressed. Young Jordy was just that ... young. So he sighed loudly as Jordy's attention drifted towards a group of teenagers off to the side in the parking lot. Jordy was grandstanding and putting on show. Steve became even less impressed. Danny, though? He took two steps to block Jordy from his view of his friends, making an obvious show of is own.

"That's a big difference in weapon. Knife? Gun? Which is it?" Danny noted in disgusted. "Let's start with something a bit easier. How long did you wait from when you first thought something might be wrong, until you called 9-11?"

"What? Called … who?" The kid asked sounding stupid and Steve shook his head uselessly as Jordy glanced from his friends back to Danny, over to Duke and then towards Steve. "Um. Oh. You mean 9-11?" His brow furrowed in confusion, his smile tentative when Danny began to grin.

"You believe this guy, Steven?" Danny laughed out right. Steve grinned at Duke as Jordy thought he might smile, too. The kid was oblivious and this wasn't going to wind up going in a good direction.

"Nope," Steve replied calmly. He folded his arms across his chest."Why don't you do the honors, Danno?"

"Yo, knucklehead," Danny said as he got in Jordy's personal bubble only to rap his knuckle twice on the side of the kid's head. Steve snorted comically through his nose as Jordy literally yipped in surprise. Duke backed up a step, the back of his hand covering his mouth to hide a laugh. The kid was lucky getting away with just the flat of Danny's knuckles. If he'd been a real felon, his partner would have actually knocked his head into a brick wall. And hard. But an under-aged part-time convenience store clerk?

Nope. Still the kid acted as if he had been struck by a lead pipe and Danny rolled his eyes towards the heavens before meeting Steve's with a wide-eyed, incredulous look. Steve grinned in response: this was Danny at his finest and it was always something to behold.

"Seriously? Who? Of course 9-11!" Danny scoffed as he mockingly examined his knuckles as if looking for damage. "Steven? Is our friend Jordy here, for real?" An eyebrow was raised in askance next, his head subtly cocked in the clerk's direction.

Steve smirked as he took a step back to stand next to Duke in order to watch the show before waving Danny on to proceed. Danny despised repeating himself but maybe he wouldn't have to. As he rubbed at his head and stared at Danny, Jordy seemed to be on board now.

"May I?" Danny pressed and Steve nodded.

"You're doing fine, Danno. Continue. Please," Steve said, granting full permission. Something that was well worth the devilish expression which raced across Danny's face; a look which Steve never got tired of seeing.

"The woman…," Danny began. "... when did she first get here before you thought something could be wrong? How long was she in the store or the bathroom before you heard something at least? Like … banging? Before the thud you said you heard... like a body hitting the floor? Sharp objects? Maybe a shiny thing that shoots projectiles? Just ... maybe a little kid ... crying for help? You said a kid was involved. Ring a bell much? How. Long. Ago. Did. It. Really. Happen? And just so you know, the answer I'm looking for is typically expressed in minutes. Whole numbers please."

The kid-clerk scowled at Danny as he kept rubbing at the side of his head, but at least he was paying attention now. "I dunno. Maybe fifteen minutes before I realized something might be wrong, brah. I banged on the door first and asked her to hurry it up … she screamed back at me. Real nasty. Mean. We're right off the beach so we get a lot of people coming and going. All types. The kids can be loud ... some are rude … and all the time, somebody is fooling around in the store; using the restrooms for everything and anything. They steal stuff. It's a real drag to work here sometimes; I don't have time to watch the clock but maybe it was another ten minutes before I heard … that noise."

"I sympathize," Danny drawled next, clearly annoyed. "But now you tell me that you did try to get this woman to come out of the bathroom… you didn't say that before. Did she have a child with her?"

"No, yes, ...I'm not really sure," Jordy quickly recanted when Danny bounced forward on his toes, rubbing idly at his knuckles. The kid was finally paying attention as he glanced worriedly at Danny's hands and then shrugged in confusion. He didn't know.

"Yo, like I didn't exactly see a kid, you know? But that sound ... it wasn't like real crying. I might have heard some kind of weird howling noise ... it was like some kind of animal or something. All I know is that somebody else wanted to use the restroom and couldn't get in ... I tried to open the door and thought I heard something fall ... something big ... and then that weird animal noise. So, that's when I called the police. Then, I had to watch the register, you know, brah? It's my job."

"So now it could be an animal?" Steve sniffed, intentionally sounding rude. "You're right Danny, this is ridiculous. Could be armed with a weapon; but might not be. And we've gone from a single woman, to maybe one with a kid, and now maybe it's an animal."

"Good. Maybe you can have a bonding moment," Danny murmured just loud enough for Steve to hear.

"Shut up," Steve hissed back between his teeth.

"Like I said, brah," Jordy was saying. "I don't really know. A woman for sure; but I'm not sure of anything else. I just heard a weird noise. I have a job to do and I had to stay up by the register."

"And I'm sure you do a fine one, too," Danny replied in a droll tone. Duke Lukela snickered, needing to briefly walk away to compose himself. Steve didn't bother hiding anything at all though. When Jordy looked at Danny, more confused than ever before, Danny elaborated slowly, thumbing towards the entrance to the convenience mart. Steve hung on every word and coy expression, relishing his partner's many faces.

"Job I mean. A fine ... job."

"Oh," Jordy breathed out with a nervous bob of his head. "Yeah, brah."

"Oh my God," Steve coughed into his fist. He was done; they were getting nowhere as time wasted away.

What the clerk was saying didn't make too much sense, but in an odd way, it did. He might have been on his phone, playing a game or texting. Danny and Steve had to give Jordy the benefit of the doubt and assume he really had been working. Regardless of the reason, valid or not, it was all they were going to get from him. Compounding things, the store's general clientele weren't going to be the most reputable or reliable of witnesses. If any had even bothered to hang around to check out what the commotion was all about. With luck, maybe some of what the clerk at least intimated was true and could be of some minor value. With any luck at all, at least there was no weapon involved and certainly not a child. Their best case scenario was that the issue was a non issue and only a stupid prank.

"That's it," Jordy said. He shrugged helplessly when he ran out of words and no more questions seemed to be coming his way. He flinched dramatically though when Danny put his hands on his shoulders to turn him around and push him towards an HPD unit.

"Was that so hard? Now go sit. Stay. Over there, by those two nice police officers," Danny instructed. "Sergeant Lukela will help you find your way over there."

"Let's go," Steve said. "He's zero help and I think you've scared the crap out of him anyway." He was smiling though, chuckling softly to himself as Jordy trotted off, a baleful look over his shoulder aimed solely at Danny as Duke followed the young clerk.

He and Danny went to the rear of the store where a short, narrow hall led to a unisex restroom. Another HPD officer was already there, holding a key strung to a piece of wood, looking confused.

"There's definitely at least one person inside," he reported. "I heard someone moaning when I called out and announced myself ... then ... it's weird though. There was something else. Like a shuffling sound or ... like someone was sliding something around on the floor. I unlocked the door but can't get it opened. Something heavy is blocking it on the inside."

Steve frowned as he sized up the heavy industrial door. He tested the handle and used his shoulder to push against the door, Danny and then the officer joining in to help. But even with their combined strength, the door refused to budge.

"Something sure as hell is blocking it from the inside," Danny said. "What the hell would be inside a bathroom that would be that big or heavy?"

"The better question is ... why," Steve added. "Why the hell would anyone lock themselves in?" He nodded towards the officer, indicating he wanted something before he pointed back outside towards the parking lot. "Ask that store manager, Jordy ... find out what else is in here. Maybe it's used for storage?"

"Wash bucket and janitorial stuff," the officer reported back seconds later. "He was in the process of cleaning it out ... if we can't open the door, he thinks it's probably the long pole from the mop."

"Makes sense - for a change," Danny remarked with a short laugh. "Wall to door. If someone didn't want to be bothered ... that's the way to do it. Any windows from the outside?"

"Nope," the officer said. "No windows … no point of egress at all. We checked that out already, too. No windows; just an A/C vent and this door. There's only this one real way in or out."

"This is plain ridiculous," Danny complained. "What do we do? The hinges are also on the inside."

"We might need the fire department," Steve admitted as he paused. He made a face. "Hey!" He called out then and knocked firmly. "Hey! Police ... Five-0! We're here to help ... can you open the door?" When nothing was forthcoming, Steve dropped his head and stared at the floor, considering his options. Sure they could call the fire department, but there were other things too ...

"No," Danny said, interrupting his thoughts.

"What? No what?" Steve asked in surprise. "But ..."

"No!" Next to him Danny was looking at him now and shaking his head in exasperation.

But ... it's a sound plan. Silently, Steve thumbed in the direction of the Camaro. He pantomimed opening the trunk and grinned when Danny's eyes widened before he wildly shook his head to the contrary.

No! No way!

Oh come on! Steve stuck his bottom lip out in disappointment, because what other immediate plan did they have but a small incendiary? Please? He tried again, adding a smarmy smile now, but Danny was firm.

Bad idea. Danny insisted while making a funny teasing sound in his throat. He gestured to the door itself and pointed to his own gun. His new message was clear: seriously? What if the perp or the perps had a gun in there Steven?

Rolling his eyes, Steve mimicked the sound Danny had just made: No - you're wrong! Because gunfire likely would have already been exchanged by now, Daniel.

Between them and completely ignored, the HPD officer looked from one to the other uncertain of the silent barrage which oddly, was clearly an argument of sorts.

"No," Danny hissed at him through clenched teeth. "No ... but ... hold on. Wait ... what's that sound?"

They all paused, barely breathing. The three men froze outside the door, listening hard, eyes narrowed in concentration. Ever so faintly, just audible, the sound of a sniffle came on the heels of a soft rustling noise... and a tiny sound, much like a sob, eked softly through to them.

"That was different," the HPD Officer whispered. "Could that be a little kid?"

"Shit," Danny whispered. His expression completely changed to one of worry, even alarm. "I think so. There is a little kid in there; must be." Moving closer he raised his voice, calling out more loudly. "Hey, sweetie ... can you hear me? It's the police and we're here to help. Are you okay in there?" They all held their breath again to listen. But now, there was a disturbing vacuum of silence.

"If it's a kid, I hope he's not hurt," the officer said. "So now we got a woman according to the store clerk ... and a child. An ambulance is on the way and should be here any minute; but I'll CPS, too. Just in case. No matter what though, we need to get in there ... how are we going to do this? Hinges are on the inside ... can't pop the door. Fire Department?"

"Not sure how to get in there yet," Steve said slowly as he visually examined the heavy metal door. "But … yeah, call CPS. Call the Fire Department and in the meantime, how's this… we can take the handle off and look inside ... see what we've got?"

"Smart man," Danny grinned happily, squeezing Steve's arm in gratitude as he left on a run to find some tools. When he returned, Danny had a number of things in hand.

"C-4 would be faster," Steve muttered as he selected a screwdriver from the small stash of tools, ignoring Danny's blatant moan. Nevertheless, it only took a few minutes to get the silver-toned latch, handle and the matching metal plate with its mounting screws removed from the door itself. Since the lock was't engaged, the opposite side of the handle fell into the bathroom with a sharp clang, leaving Steve with a round hole which was slightly larger than fist-sized. Certainly big enough for someone to at least look inside.

"Let me see," Danny insisted when Steve got the mechanism off the door. On his knees, Danny related what he could see. "There's a woman on the floor ... maybe early twenties. There's a needle ... drugs. So yeah, probably an overdose. She's not moving; can't really see her face. I think ... I think she might be breathing. Bit of blood on the floor. And okay ... there's the janitorial supplies ... water on the floor. Mop handle's wedged ... like the clerk said ...she must have ...oh."

Danny's voice petered out and he quieted, jockeying for a better position in an attempt to see more of the small room. He paused and then rocked his forehead into the door, peering intently at something until Steve heard the soft curses.

"Oh. Oh, no. Shit," Danny whispered. "This ... it's not good. It's not fair."

"And?" Steve prodded, his hand falling to Danny's shoulder. "What? Danno?"

"Ah, Steve," Danny mumbled, taking a brief pause to swipe at his eyes and pinch the bridge of his nose. "We gotta get this door opened ..."

"What? What's wrong?" Steve urged again, easily sensing that his partner had become very upset and already knowing the answer to the question he asked next. He just didn't want it to be true based on the terrible scene which Danny had just described because that was bad enough.

"Is there a kid in there too?"

There was a long pause as Danny tried to jockey his body for a better view of the interior. He quieted and stilled, his expression changing again to one of sadness and concern. He was clearly very upset. Silent now, Steve squeezed his shoulder in askance.

"Yeah ... yeah, it's a little boy. Little, like Charlie," Danny finally confirmed. "And Steve? He looks absolutely terrified."

~ to be continued ~