Disclaimer: See initial chapter.
A/N: This one surprised me.
Steve couldn't make heads or tails of Danny's actions, and was, in a word, miffed. Steve was the leader of Five-0, and yet Danny had flown out ahead of them all, heedless of Steve's calls for him to come back. They had to formulate a plan, and Steve wanted (needed) to keep Danny in sight.
He had a bad feeling about all of this, and Danny's brash actions weren't helping. Oh, Steve knew that he'd get an earful if he ever voiced any of his thoughts to Danny, but he really couldn't help it, he was worried about the man that he loved, especially now that Danny was in bird form, never mind the fact that Danny's talons were sharp enough to rend flesh from bone, and that Steve himself was a bird as well. None of that mattered. What mattered was that Danny was in sight at all times, where Steve could make sure that Danny stayed safe.
Yes, there was a little girl to rescue, and, yes, it was literally a matter of life and death, but Steve's mind was focused mostly on Danny and he couldn't quite figure out why. There had to be a reason, other than the obvious. Steve loved Danny more than life itself, but usually he could tuck those feelings away until it was safe to express them, and when they weren't working a case like this.
No matter what form they took whenever Maui and Lono called them into action, Steve had always, until now, had Danny right beside him. It felt strange to have Danny always ahead of him now, leading the charge inland, like Danny was in his element.
Steve inwardly cursed as he realized that he was jealous of Danny who seemed to take to flight as though he'd been born to it, like he'd been meant to be born a hawk, rather than a human, but someone had made a mistake. Or maybe Danny'd been a hawk in a previous life.
Steve felt awkward, his large wings, bulky. He enjoyed flying planes and helicopters. It was pure joy to skydive, and there was little more he liked than hang gliding. Just him and the wind beneath him, holding him up.
Being a bird was hard work, and not at all what Steve had imagined when Maui and Lono had come to them in a vision. Of all of them, Steve had thought that he'd have been the one to take to flight and own it, but it seemed like he was the only one not enjoying himself.
Danny would accuse him of brooding, and no doubt comment on some 'face' that Steve was making, even in bird form when all he had to express himself was a beak and a pair of eyes that could see further than Steve had ever seen before. Not that it was doing him any good at the moment, because Danny had dipped out of sight, the color of his feathers blending in with that of the hardened lava.
When Steve finally caught up with Danny, he was going to give his partner a piece of his mind, and make sure that Danny didn't fly off on his own again. Except, that's not quite what happened when Steve came abreast of his partner, tapping Danny's wing with the tip of his own. Instead of turning to acknowledge Steve, Danny had flown away from him and ignored him completely to sit on top of a sign that had been swallowed by the lava flow that had started in the late 80's.
He couldn't tell if Danny was angry with him, or if his friend was simply focused on the task at hand. Too big to fit on the sign alongside Danny (and probably even if Danny wasn't perched on it) Steve circled overhead, keeping one eye on Danny and another eye out for any sign of their quarry.
Lou was flying in a great circle even higher than Danny, no doubt doing what Steve should have been doing all along.
Kono was flying lower to the ground, mere inches above it, making sweeping passes from one side of the lava field to the other.
Chin had gone further inland, toward the volcano itself, which is probably where the little girl's blood would be brought. The man would not kill her there. It would be too risky. His own life probably mattered very little to him, but Steve doubted that he'd risk the little girl's body to the lava that still flowed freely down one side of the volcano and bubbled within it. Steve could see the sparks from the fiery lava dancing in the air around the mouth of the volcano.
Danny, Steve said. It came out as a series of short, throaty chirps, and Danny's head swiveled, turning almost three-hundred sixty degrees. It was a little unnerving, as was the sharp, narrow-eyed gaze that Danny gave him. Danny's eyes were still a striking blue, and Steve wondered if his own eyes were the same color they were when he was human.
Danny flexed a wing and shifted on his post, turning away from Steve, gaze looking out toward something that Steve could not see, even with his enhanced, eagle-eye vision. A rebuff if Steve had ever seen one before. Steve tried not to feel hurt, but he couldn't seem to help it.
Suddenly, Chin made a series of loud caws that almost sounded like the words, Here, here! Over here! It was rather eerie, and Steve felt a shiver run through his feathers. He turned his attention away from Danny and searched out Chin's location before taking off in the direction that Chin's cries were coming from, Danny following a little to the right of Steve, Kono turning around mid-sweep to head toward her cousin. Lou swept above them all, his wings a stark color against the bleeding colors of the sun in the sky as it set.
Blood rushed through him and thrummed in his veins. He could feel the vibration of it in his bones. This was it. They'd found their guy, now all they had to do was incapacitate him and get the girl to safety.
