Disclaimer: Hawaii Five-0 and its characters belong to CBS. I just enjoy putting my own twist to this universe.

[Spanish]

ch 4 Aftermath of Matthew William's Mistake

Pedro Fuentes sat wondering how he ended up sitting in a Federal holding cell. It shouldn't have happened. That morning he was at the airport ready to take a charter flight home. Federal Agents approached Fuentes and his bodyguard announcing that they had an arrest warrant for him. Though surprised, Fuentes surrendered confident that he would be released within hours thanks to his backup plan. He didn't understand why he was still here hours later. His man Montego should have grabbed the detective's daughter yesterday afternoon preventing him from even being arrested. Up until now he hadn't been concerned that Montego hadn't called yesterday, he had never failed an assigned task before. Surely nothing had gone wrong. It was not the first time Montego had to grab a child to be held as a hostage.

A guard finally opened the door to his cell.

"Come with me Fuentes."

Fuentes knew enough to go with the guard. He really didn't wish to be dragged out of his cell, a very undignified way to go. "Very well Señor." He held out his hands to be cuffed. "Where is my lawyer? I already asked to have him called."

The guard spoke as he cuffed Fuentes. "I don't know. I'll tell the agent in charge that you would like your lawyer. Let's go."

Fuentes soon found himself cuffed to a chair in a non-descript interrogation room. Where was Montego? He should not have had to ask for his lawyer again, he had made the request of the arresting agents.

His thoughts were interrupted when the lights went out. He stayed seated and quiet at first thinking a guard would come and check on him. When the guard didn't come to check he became concerned. What happened to the lights? Why were the emergency lights not working? He began to call out. "Guard! Guar…" A knife at his throat caused him to stop speaking and halt all movement. Where had this person come from? He never heard the door or any footsteps!

A menacing voice spoke in his ear. "[Good afternoon Señor Fuentes. I'm sure you're wondering who I am and what I want? First, you needed to know that I can get to you anywhere, even a Federal facility. As for who I am? In some circles I'm known as the white ghost.]" Fuentes began to sweat. He had heard of the white ghost. He had been responsible for the deaths of several criminals who had even better security than the White House. "[This is a warning. Leave the family and friends of Detective Daniel Williams alone. If anything happens to any of them that can be traced back to you, or I even suspect you're involved, you're a dead man and it will be a long and painful death. I will also hunt down any of your associates who carry out your orders and kill them as well. The only reason you're not dead now is I want you to go to prison. I have friends who can make your time inside a living hell if you so much as step out of line.]" The knife moved from his neck. The voice came from the direction of the door; Fuentes hadn't even heard the man move! "[By the way, you're man Montego is already in lock-up. His attempt to kidnap the daughter of Detective Williams failed, he was caught along with his accomplices. It will be the only attempt made. Have a long life.]"

Fuentes was left alone, shaking. He knew he was alone even though he never heard the door. The lights came back on moments later. Fuentes looked around the room to see if there was any evidence that someone had been in the room with him. He nearly fainted when he saw the shape of a white ghost on the one-way mirror. His lawyer chose that moment to enter the room. Their discussion was short and to the point. Put out the word that Williams and his family were to be left alone. When the lawyer wanted to know why Fuentes pointed a shaky finger at the ghostly image on the mirror. The lawyer paled, he too had heard of the white ghost. He asked for no more explanations. Fuentes decided to plead guilty, maybe his time inside would be short.

Meanwhile, a tall dark haired man met with Adam Pierceton. "How did it go Steve?"

Steve smirked. "No problems. Danny's family is now safe. I thought Fuentes was going to pass out when he saw the ghost on the mirror." The two men laughed.

"Can't think of anyone who deserves to have the crap scared out of more than Fuentes. You'd better get out of here before someone else sees you."

"Thanks Adam. I'm heading to your other building to meet Danny; he wanted to let his brother know what his stupidity could have cost Danny. I can't bring Matt back to his family, but I sure as hell can protect that family." Steve shook his friend's hand before leaving.

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Matt was puzzled as he was led into an interrogation room. He had given his statement the day before, what more could they need? Danny walked into the room sitting on the other side of the table. Matt stiffened when he got a look at his brother's face. To some Danny would have appeared calm, but Matt knew Danny and his brother was pissed.

Danny placed a picture in front of Matt. "Do you recognize this man Mattie?"

Matt looked at the picture and nodded. "Yeah. That's one of Fuentes' men. Why?"

"Why? I'll tell you why. He was waiting for Grace to get out of school yesterday. He was going to kidnap my baby girl all because of you Mattie! Fuentes would have used my daughter to force you to keep your mouth shut." Matt paled so badly that his skin turned almost grey. "The only reason he didn't succeed and is in custody now is because of my partner Steve. He'd made arrangements for Grace and the rest of our family to be protected. Grace was also lucky because Steve was at the school to pick her up and recognized Montego. He made sure that Grace was whisked away to safety and then took Montego and his associates down preventing them from harming someone else."

"I'm so…"

Danny sliced his right hand through the air cutting Matt off. "Save it Mattie. You're always sorry when one of your exorcises in stupidity ends badly but you never learn. Now you're someone else's problem because I wash my hands of you. If I didn't want Fuentes put away so badly, I'd ask Agent Pierceton to rescind the deal and let you go to jail because you put Grace's life in jeopardy. If that wasn't bad enough Grace thought that I might actually leave her because of you! I talked to our folks to let them know what you did this time; dad knew that you tried to run. They talked about whether or not they wanted to see you before you go into hiding." Matt flinched. "In the end they decided they still wanted to see you, they didn't want to have any regrets because they were angry." Danny stood to leave. "I have one last thing to say before I go. You're my brother and I still love you. I'm still very disappointed in you."

Mattie regained some of his equilibrium. "I suppose your partner will be replacing me?" Matt had watched the two when they spent the afternoon at the Hilton. The two men were close, and Grace called the man uncle.

Danny stopped shocked. Though he really shouldn't have been, Mattie could be a jealous prick at times. "Steve could never replace you Mattie. He has made his own place in my life. He's become family. If it wasn't for him I might have lost all rights to Grace or did you forget about my latest custody battle with Rachel. Let's not forget he's the reason she wasn't kidnapped by your buddy! He'll also be by my side to help me and Grace deal with the fallout of your actions. Good bye Mattie."

Matt slumped in his chair. His beautiful niece Grace could have been hurt because of his actions. Instead of being grateful to Steve McGarrett, he became jealous! Danny was right, he never learned from his mistakes. He sat up deciding that whatever life he was forced to live in hiding that he would do his best to be a better person. It was the only thing he could do to repay his family. It's a shame that this decision came too late to keep him with his family.

Steve was waiting for Danny outside the interrogation room. He took one look at Danny's face and pulled his friend into a comforting hug. Danny wrapped his arms around Steve's waist as he buried his face in Steve's shoulder allowing himself a few minutes to fall apart. Something he had needed to do since the whole mess started.

Eventually Danny pulled himself together. He lifted his head looking up at Steve who loosened his hold. "Thanks Steve."

Steve released Danny giving his shoulder a squeeze. "Any time Danny. Let's head home. We have some travel arrangements to make for you and Grace."

Danny grabbed Steve's arm pulling until Steve stopped and faced Danny. Steve was smirking. "What travel arrangements? What kind of trouble are you planning now?"

Steve put a hand over his heart feigning hurt. "You wound me Danny. I'm not planning any trouble."

Danny waved a dismissive hand at Steve. "Yeah, yeah. Tell that to someone who believes you."

Steve smiled at the familiar banter. Danny would be okay eventually. "I called the governor and you have two weeks off to spend some time with your family. We've been working hard with very little time off. Each of us has been given the same amount of time; we just can't take it at the same time or I would be going with you to New Jersey. Someone has to protect Hawaii. It isn't a problem for you to take the vacation time first."

Danny swallowed the lump in his throat. "I didn't think that the governor would go for two of us taking that much time off. I wasn't even sure she would give me the time after our last attempt at a long weekend." Danny noticed Steve shift almost guiltily. "Wait, what did you do? You did something crazy didn't you?"

Steve sighed. "No I didn't do anything crazy. I told her what happened with Matt and that I felt your parents would need your support. I also expressed some concern for all four of us not having any real down time since 5-0 was started, a long weekend doesn't really count as down time. Even SEAL teams get at least a week down time between missions. We've been going almost non-stop since I came back, sometimes putting in six day weeks. All four of us need some time off. I may have played up the need for a break a little; I was only looking for one week and got two. Jameson was very supportive and understanding. I just wish we could have taken the time together. I want to be there for you and Grace. I guess I'll go visit Mary Ann when I take some time."

Danny shook his head. Only his big hearted partner could manage to pull off something like this. "I, ah, don't know what to say except thank you."

"You're welcome. Now let's get going."

Steve had one more thing to tell Danny but waited until they were on the way home. "Danny, I know you're worried about what else Fuentes might do. You don't need to worry anymore, he won't go anywhere near you or your family again." Steve told him with absolute certainty.

Danny stared at Steve as he talked noticing the fierce look on his partner's face and heard the surety in his voice. But Danny had to be sure. "How can you be so sure of that Steve? Drug lords are not known for forgetting those who betray them or their families."

Steve glanced at Danny then back at the road before answering. "I made him an offer he couldn't refuse." Danny snorted, Steve smirked. "Sorry, couldn't resist. Seriously, I can't give you details Danny because it involves my time in Navy Intelligence. Trust me when I say that Fuentes will stay far away from you and your family."

"I trust you. Are you okay with whatever you did?" Danny was grateful to Steve but wanted to be sure that he hadn't done anything that he would later regret.

Steve smiled gratefully realizing that Danny still trusted him with Grace. He was also touched by his friend's concern. "I'm fine with what I did Danny. I would do just about anything to protect my family." Steve turned into their driveway. "Now let's make arrangements for you to spend some time in New Jersey. I can't believe that you would want to go to New Jersey." Steve teased as he got out of the Camaro.

Danny responded immediately. "You don't know what you're missing my friend. New Jersey is the best place in the world to go."

"One of the best places to see smog and pollution if that's your thing."

Danny spluttered as the two men walked in the front door.

PAU