I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.
Summary: Steve finds out that Danny likes deep sea fishing and used to go yearly off Long Island, NY with his father. For Danny's birthday, Steve charters a local sport fishing boat off Kona which is attacked by drug traffickers. Whump and fun ensues!
Okey dokey – here we go! Any and all comments are very welcome.
Thank you all for the great feedback so far too.
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CHAPTER THREE – A Birthday to Remember
Exhausted, Danny leaned back in his chair, wiped the sweat off his face, and stretched until he heard his back cracking. He was sure that nothing could ever wipe the open smile off his face as he watched The Cleo's mate prep his very first sailfish for release back into the ocean.
"Holy shit, did you see that thing jump!" He hadn't stopped thanking Captain Royce for his skillful handling of The Cleo. In fact, Danny was well aware of the teamwork it took between himself, Tyler the first mate and Royce to get the impressive five-footer on board.
Steve who hadn't experienced anything like it in his life was equally now in love with the physicality and skill of the sport. Royce was exceptional, knew the waters and catered to his customers. He himself had been impressed with his first decent sized tuna and the healthy feel and challenge of the game had completely satisfied him. But when Royce reacted to a change he virtually smelled in the water and setup a sailfish rod and reel, the real game was on. Danny was handed the equipment and with Royce's skillful instruction had hooked the exciting fish within minutes. Maneuvering the powerful boat to keep the line tight as the irrational sailfish dove, leaped and changed course awed Steve and appealed to his Naval training.
"Almost thirty-five minutes, Steven. Did you see that?" Danny was unable to stop talking and had taken an endless amount of pictures of his first major sport fish catch and release.
"Yup, I was here the entire time, Danny!" And just as enthusiastically, Steve was still taking pictures on his own camera and not only of the sailfish and Tyler, but of Danny who had started to mug it up for the camera. Now on their way back to the marina. Danny quietly toasted Steve in thanks. Danny was sure he'd be talking about the experience for weeks to come. "This was the best day I've had in a long time, Steve. I can't thank you enough." Sun-burned, wind swept and beaming from ear to ear, Danny was the happiest Steve had ever seen him.
"Any time." Steve replied sincerely, and he meant it. "I think we should definitely do this more often Danny. This was fantastic!'
Pointing the neck of his beer bottle at Steve, Danny smirked contentedly. "See! You don't need to get wet, Steven. No pointy spears required. This is the gentleman's way to fish."
Laughing heartily, Steve agreed and the two friends sat back as their talented Captain began to pilot them home.
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A few short minutes later, Royce who was on the upper helm deck spotted a boat off his port side and pulled out his binoculars to look towards the horizon. Frowning, he found that he was unable to successfully hail the second vessel by radio.
Calling down to Steve and Danny, he pointed to draw their attention. "We may need to make a small detour for a minute here. We're closest and it's our duty. The one person I can see on board seems to be in distress. Won't take but a minute to check it out."
Standing, Steve shielded his eyes as Royce turned towards the distant object. As they got closer, he could easily see an average looking Asian man waving his hands over his head in a silent plea for help.
But crouched to the entrance of the cabin, Hito held a high caliber rifle at the ready. Even with Benji's best efforts, their boat had finally and completely seized. They'd been dead in the water for hours and Hito had nearly gone mad in his fury after learning the radio had also been tampered with. Uncertain of what Kenzo had additionally done to the boat, he simply wanted off the vessel as soon as possible. It felt bad and Hito only trusted his own reliable feelings.
And as Benji looked on wordlessly, Hito had been unable to control himself. Pulling out his small handgun, he subsequently shot Kenzo's already dead body multiple more times as he screamed obscenities at the corpse. He then heaved his victim overboard leaving the deck bloody and full of gore.
Spying The Cleo, Hito's simple plan was to commandeer the charter, transfer his goods to the new vessel and kill its occupants. Hiding in the shadows as Benji appeared to be the sole, frantic human on board, Hito looked through the powerful rifle sights and counted four men. Identifying the Captain first, all others were expendable as long as his means were satisfied. He was pleased and his lips formed a small evil smile; he could easily handle four men.
As The Cleo came closer to the stranded smaller boat, Royce cut the engines and changed places with Tyler, putting his younger first mate at the helm. Steve and Danny flanked him to help and as he readied a short tow rope to tie the vessels together.
In broken English, Benji was repeatedly thanking and bowing to Royce, but watching his boss out of the corner of his eye.
"My thanks." Benji loudly called as he caught the tow rope and tied off to The Cleo. "My thanks. Engine no good. My thanks."
Giving a subtle queue, Benji ducked and simultaneously pulled out his own weapon. As Benji went down, Hito got two quick and well aimed shots off as he aggressively came out of hiding. The first hit Tyler squarely mid chest and sent him tumbling to the deck. The second hit Danny's right shoulder, spun him completely around, and sent him sprawling clear to the opposite side of the boat. Landing in a heap and partly under the sport fishing fighting chair, he didn't move.
Instinct kicking in, Steve reacted almost immediately when he registered the first movement and metallic glint behind the stranded Asian. But he was already too late.
"Down! Down! Down!" He bellowed as he body blocked Royce out of the way and hit the deck with his back to the railing. Stunned at the speed of the attack, Steve then only had eyes for Danny and scrambled on his hands and knees towards his friend.
"Oh my god. Nonono." Danny was on his right side and turned away from Steve. Blood was already pooling on the deck and Steve was gentle as he pulled Danny onto his back to check the wound. Danny's eyes were closed, he was breathing hard and Steve could tell that he was already going into shock.
Hearing a soft, pain filled moan, he mumbled, "Easy Danny. Easy. Let me see." But an all too familiar sound at his head caused him to freeze and his hands slowly released Danny. He raised them in surrender as Benji coldly took aim at his temple.
"You stand." He demanded, as Hito joined him on The Cleo. Carefully and very reluctantly, Steve backed away from Danny and then stood to his full height. Pushing him roughly in the chest with his rifle, Hito forced Steve back up against the rail near Royce. Both Asians were well-armed and ready to continue their murderous spree if necessary. Steve had no doubt about the level of danger they were all in and with Danny down, he had zero available options. Shell shocked, Royce would be of no help. The Captain was pale, shaking and staring at Tyler in mute horror, who was without a doubt, quite dead from Hito's well-aimed first round.
Lying on the deck, Danny curled back into himself and softly moaned. "Steve?" He whispered as he tried to understand what had happened. He was barely conscious and only knew that his shoulder was on fire. In pain and going into shock, he shivered and coughed once.
Hearing Danny's moans nearly undid Steve's self control. "I need to check him." Steve indicated his desire to treat Danny and made his statement as calmly as possible. But his heart was frantic. There was so much blood and he hadn't been able to get a good look at the bullet wound. It took every bit of his willpower and professional training to school his features and to restrain himself.
Shrugging, Hito was ambivalent and succinct. "He's of no concern to me." And Steve's eyes narrowed dangerously in his own silent fury. "Who are these guys?"
Glancing to Benji, Hito kept his weapon trained on Steve and Royce. Motioning towards Tyler's body, he gave instruction. "Get rid of that." Without comment, Benji did as he was asked and easily leveraged Tyler's body up and over the railing and into the ocean.
Royce was mortified as he moved forward to stop him with both hands out-stretched in appeal. "Please. Please. Don't do this!" he protested repeatedly.
"No!" Steve shouted, as Royce moved off the rail to grab at Benji.
Raising an eyebrow, Hito swiftly intercepted the traumatized Captain by brutally bringing the rifle's stock down on the man's outstretched arm. Screaming in pain, Royce dropped to his knees cradling his forearm. Leaning down gradually, Steve never took his eyes off Hito as he eased Royce up and back against the railing. Raising his hands again in an act of surrender, Steve could barely keep his rage in check as he choked out. "What do you want from us?"
Having been previously instructed by his boss on what was needed, Benji nodded towards the stranded boat. "You will move our cargo to this boat. And then? Well then, we see."
~ to be continued ~
