A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews. Sorry I haven't had time to reply to them all individually.
If anyone's interested, the song is Jennifer Juniper by Donovan from the late 1960s.
Thanks again Phoebe for all your fantastic suggestions.
Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any of the characters.
Chapter Three
Danny pressed his forehead against the cool metal of the tech table leg. Eyes closed, he focused his mind on the device he fisted tightly in his hand. Blindly pushing his aching fingers down onto the polished wooden floor, until it was on the edge of painful, forcing them to remain closed. The urge to flex them almost overwhelming him.
Clever.
Jildas had removed his ability to help himself by crippling his other hand. With his heart thumping much too loudly in his chest, he hung on for dear life.
Time stood still. Danny swallowed convulsively, throat void of any moisture, thoughts drifting from his partner, to his kids, then back again to his now clammy hand. So much was at stake.
He sensed her presence next to him. The perfume she wore, a gift from him. Tears forced their way out from under his lashes.
I loved you. Fuck. I still do.
Danny shifted uneasily on his knees. Hissing as the movement aggravated his abused ribs. His breath caught when fingers tangled with his hair. Brushing it gently away from his sweaty face.
"Don't." Her touch conjured up too many unwanted memories.
/././
Danny interlaced their fingers, backing Jennifer into the wall. Bringing their hands up to frame her face, he pressed his body against hers as he kissed her neck tenderly, slowly. He worked his way up along her jaw to her soft lips. Releasing his grip, he ran his hands down her arms. Registering every shiver with a deeper kiss.
She tangled her fingers with his hair. Tilting her head slightly, she took over the kiss, pushing her tongue into his mouth. He responded with a few playful nips before mirroring her action, their tongues touching briefly. Exploring, tasting.
He untucked her blouse, breaking the kiss only long enough to discard the offending clothing. He wanted to feel her. He was desperate for her.
Danny lavished her with affection. He felt her pulse quicken as he dropped feather-light kisses along her neck. His hands skimmed every inch of her bare skin.
Out of breath, he pushed back to appraise her. He was overcome by the fact that she wanted him too.
"What did I do to deserve you? Perfect. Beautiful. Sexy. Stunning. Heavenly. Ravishing." Each word spoken on a kiss trailed down her body towards her belly. "I love you."
/././
He jerked back to his new reality, when she tried to soothe the cut that ran along his cheek.
"I said don't." Danny turn his head away.
"I meant what I said. I do love you." Her voice was just above a whisper.
"Says the woman with a gun. I loved Jennifer, but you're not her." Danny bit his lip to stifle a sob. "Why me? Why not Steve?"
"Not my type."
"That simple, huh?" Danny opened his eyes to meet her gaze.
"I never expected to fall in love."
"I was merely a job." He huffed out a laugh. "I heard you...earlier. You're French?"
"Yes. From Paris."
"How romantic." He shook his head in disbelief.
"Daniel, I -"
"Stop calling me that. And please spare me the speech about how you never intended to hurt me." His voice raised. "Does the same apply to Grace and Charlie?"
"Please, Danny." She rested her hand on his shoulder, which he quickly shirked off.
"Don't you dare tell me you care for them. Next you'll be telling me I'm lucky Jildas only broke the fingers on my left hand." Danny groaned through gritted teeth, nudging her with the grenade. "I can't do this for much longer."
"You remember that song?" She watched his fingers flexing around the small explosive. "Jennifer..."
"Juniper. Fuck. You got me to look up the translation for that verse. You really did a number on me." Once again memories of happier times gnawed at him.
/././
Jennifer let her head drop down onto Danny's chest, he wrapped his arm around her. It was late evening, and they were the only ones left after an impromptu get together with their ohana. So they snuggled on Steve's sofa flicking through songs on Danny's cell. To Steve's annoyance he'd linked it up to a WiFi speaker and at full volume the music thrummed loudly through the house.
"One more and I'm throwing you two out." Steve dropped down onto the other end of his sofa trying and failing to distance himself from the couple.
Danny gave him a playful shove. "What's wrong with Elton John's Daniel?"
"Nothin, Daniel. Bon Jovi's back catalogue was enough for one night. I don't want to spend the remainder of my evening listening to songs with names in the title." Steve took a long draw on his beer.
"Hey, how can you not like this?"
The track started playing. Hey Stephen. The pair couldn't help dissolving into fits of laughter.
Steve tried but failed to keep a straight face. "Michael Jackson's Ben."
"Seriously? A song about a rat." Danny held his cell up so his partner could see the screen. "You don't like Taylor Swift?"
"Wrong spelling."
Danny frowned back at him.
"S-T-E-P-H-E-N." Steve huffed out the spelling.
"Potato Patata." Danny shrugged.
"What about Jennifer?" Danny's new girlfriend made a grab for his cell.
"Oh no you don't." He extended his arm, keeping it from her reach. "I know one."
"Why doesn't that surprise me. You never cease to amaze me, Danno."
"Years of being married to a Brit, babe."
/././
Struggling to deal with what was happening now, only five months on from that particular evening. They studied each other's expressions. Jennifer's full of remorse. Danny's one of utter devastation.
"Jennifer Juniper, vit sur la colline." Jennifer spoke the song words.
"Stop. I know what you're doing. Trust me it's not helping." His fingers were starting to cramp. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to block out the pain.
Ignoring his request to stop she continued.
"Jennifer Juniper, assise très tranquille."
"I fucking hate that song now." Danny spat the words angrily.
After a moment's silence she spoke again. "They're almost here. I am truly sorry, Daniel."
Danny heard a rip. He looked up, and Delphine held a strip of tape ready to cover his mouth.
"Hold up. You owe me an explanation. Why not hack in remotely? That's what you were doing, hacking our system."
She sighed deeply. "Back home I come from a very powerful family. There was a high probability some of what we needed wouldn't work remotely. Failure wasn't an option."
"So who are you trying to protect?"
Delphine shook her head. "Oh, Daniel. Always the brilliant detective. My uncle is doing a fourteen year stretch in Halawa. He thought he could do business here. Now, his life's in danger. There are ways and means other than brute force to get him out. The wheels are in motion as we speak."
"Let me guess. You get him transferred out, and then you use brute force."
"Fancy computer work will only get you so far. Armored vehicles need more of a human touch."
Danny recognized his friends' chatter drifting down the corridor. In a gut wrenching moment of clarity, Danny knew what he had to do. As if reading his mind her gaze fell on his fisted hand.
"Earlier, Jildas asked you to play your role?"
"You speak French?" She looked at him questioningly.
"Enough. I guess I'll have to play boyfriend. But I can't hold this any longer." Danny stared at the grenade. "If it's even real."
"It's real." Delphine held the tape up. "We need to do this. Now."
Danny nodded, and she proceeded to tape his mouth. She quickly covered her own, and then closed a pair of handcuffs around her own wrists. The warmth of her hand covering his allowing him to relax his grip a little.
Leaning into each other for support. Delphine rested her head against Danny's chest. Burying his face in Jennifer's auburn hair, he breathed in the sweet scent of her shampoo. Kono's laughter filled the silent void around them, and Danny wished he could magic himself away. A feeling of self loathing tore up his insides. How was he going to live with what he'd done? What he was about to do. He couldn't bare to look any of them in the face as they entered. Their amusement cut off abruptly by the familiar sound of weapons being drawn.
"Danny."
The startled voice of his best friend broke his heart.
~ to be continued ~
