DISCLAIMER: I do not own "Hawaii Five-0" or any of the characters. Emily Burns is my OC.
Author's Note: Please leave a review if you can. :)
Once again Danny is in the passenger seat of the Camaro, and Steve is in the driver's seat. Just as earlier in the day, he is suffering the effects of Steve's erratic driving.
"Steve?" Danny tries.
No answer, Steve is busy glaring at the road, swerving around other cars, and clenching his jaw.
"Okay, come on, you were fine twenty minutes ago. What happened?" Danny asks, exasperation filling his voice.
Steve looks sideways at Danny, then back at the road.
"Nothing happened," Steve eventually answers him.
Like I believe that, Danny thinks and lets out a snort. "Uh-huh."
They drive in silence a minute longer.
Danny has to admit, since he's known Steve, he's never seen him look at anyone quite the way he does at Emily. With a stab Danny remembers how he felt when Grace and Rachel's life were in danger, and how the fear and panic sent him out of his head. He looks back at Steve again.
"Steve, look, we've got this guy okay? We know who he is, and probably where he is. It's only a matter of time before we have him in custody."
Steve still doesn't say anything, keeping his eyes forward on the road.
"Alright," Danny continues, "Can you at least promise not to hurt the guy too badly? Can you do that for me please?" He watches for Steve's reaction.
Steve finally looks sideways at Danny, the corner of his mouth curled up in what Danny can only describe as a wicked smile.
"How about if I promise not to do any permanent damage?" Steve's smile widens.
Danny continues to stare at Steve, before nodding a few times, then turning to look back out the window. Somehow Steve is only succeeding at making him feel worse, not better.
"Why do I see another lecture on proper police procedure in your future?" Danny tells him.
The Camaro comes to screeching halt along the side of a small, run down condo building. Kono's car, with Chin in the passenger seat, pulls up behind them.
As they are exiting the cars Danny looks up at the building. "So just guessing based on this guy's living arrangements, he's not a high end criminal," Danny remarks. Chin catches his eye and nods back in agreement.
"Doesn't look like it, but looks can be deceiving," Chin reminds him.
They head for the building's main entrance, Steve in the lead, with Kono following close behind.
"Where are we going?" Steve looks over his shoulder to ask Kono.
"Second floor, number ten," she answers him.
Once Steve is far enough ahead to be out of earshot, Chin comes up next to Danny.
"Is he okay?" Chin asks tilting his head in Steve's direction.
Danny lets out a small laugh and shakes his head. He gives Chin a look "I'm going to go with no, right now," he tells him.
Chin nods his head, "Yeah, I thought I picked up on that."
"Just keep an eye on him, okay? God only knows what he's going to do to this guy," Danny warns Chin.
Chin and Danny catch up to Steve and Kono at the entrance.
"Chin, Kono, I want you to head around back, cover any other building exits. Danny and I are going upstairs to get this guy," Steve tells them.
Chin nods in agreement.
"Got it boss," Kono tells him. They both turn to move around to the back of the building.
Danny and Steve climb the stairs and take up positions outside of unit number ten. They stand with their backs against the wall, on either side of the door.
Steve looks over at Danny and gives him a nod, Danny nods back.
Steve reaches out sideways with his arm and gives a sharp rap on the door. "John Lincoln, this is 5-0, open up."
After a brief silence, a loud crash can be heard from inside the condo.
"You hear that?" Danny asks looking at Steve.
"Oh yeah, I did," Steve answers him, before turning and kicking the door open.
Steve enters through the door into the condo unit, gun drawn, followed by Danny.
They can hear a sound from the back room, and hurry in that direction.
When Danny enters the room, he can see John Lincoln sliding shut a glass door that leads to a balcony. Lincoln freezes when he sees Steve's gun pointed at him, but his hesitation is only momentary. Steve has almost reached the glass door. Lincoln turns to the balcony railing, pulls himself up onto it, and after a quick backward glance, he jumps off of the railing.
"Shit!" Danny yells.
Steve rushes toward the door, yanks it open and runs through it. He reaches the railing, grabs it with both hands and vaults his legs over, dropping out of Danny's view.
You have got to be kidding me, Danny thinks. "Damn it," he says under his breath.
Danny runs up to the balcony railing and looks down to a concrete patio that runs behind the entire length of the building. John Lincoln is lying on his side, his right leg pulled up towards his chest. He is moaning in pain. Steve is standing next to Lincoln, and from the looks of it, he is uninjured.
"What, so you're Superman now? You can fly, is that it?" Danny yells down to him.
"I can, but it looks like he can't," Steve gives a quick glance down at the suspect before smirking back up at Danny.
"Glad to see you're in a better mood," Danny groans.
"Can you get down here, please?" Steve asks him.
"Uh yeah, I'm going to take the stairs," Danny tells him.
"Yeah okay, wimp," Steve responds.
Danny turns back and leaves the balcony.
Danny meets Steve, Kono and Chin outside of the building's front entrance. Steve is dragging John Lincoln, hands cuffed behind his back, and Lincoln is limping, avoiding any weight on his right leg. They come to a stop, and Steve lets go of Lincoln's arm. The suspect decides to take the opportunity to make a run for it, but with his injury, he doesn't get far, stumbling and dropping to his left knee. He ends up crashing to the pavement, and lands with a yelp of pain, his cheek against the ground.
"Where do you think you're going?" Steve asks him.
Lincoln writhes on the ground in protest. Steve walks over to him and plants his boot on the suspect's head.
"Hey!" the suspect yells.
"You stay," Steve tells him.
Danny gives Steve a pointed look. "No permanent damage, remember?"
"Bruises aren't permanent," Steve growls without taking his eyes or his boot, for that matter, off of the suspect.
Danny shakes his head in irritation.
In the background, a police siren is approaching.
Danny squats down next to the Lincoln. "Just wanted to give you a piece of friendly advice," Danny smiles at him. "Next time you decide to go attack someone, really you should do your homework. Because see, if I were say you, which thank God I am not, I would think twice before attacking a woman who has a Navy SEAL that works in law enforcement, protecting her."
Danny points up at Steve who lifts his boot. The suspect cranes his head over his shoulder to look up at Steve, who gives him a menacing smile and a small wave.
"Just saying," Danny finishes.
An HPD cruiser enters the parking lot. "Looks like your ride is here," Steve tells him.
Steve hoists the suspect up and starts pushing him toward the cruiser.
"I'm going to head upstairs and start processing," Kono tells Chin and Danny.
Chin gives her a nod, and she heads toward the front entrance.
"Glad that keeping an eye on him worked out so well," Chin remarks to Danny.
Danny just shakes his head.
Danny gets back into the Camaro for the drive to headquarters. Kono and Chin are processing the condo, while Steve and Danny are leaving to interrogate the suspect. Steve is driving, but more calmly this time. Without warning Steve starts talking.
"She has a boyfriend," he says flatly.
"Excuse me?" Danny asks. He wants to make sure he's heard Steve correctly.
"Emily," Steve pauses before continuing, "She has a boyfriend."
"Ohhhh…" Danny nods his head, finally understanding.
Steve's voice cracks with irritation. "Oh what, what does that mean?"
Danny looks over at Steve to explain. "It means now, I understand why you were so aggravated earlier. Normally going after a suspect makes you almost happy, but not today. So that's what she told you in your office?"
Steve shakes his head, "No, actually she didn't tell me. She fell asleep. I answered the phone because I didn't want it to wake her up."
Danny cocks his head to the side considering, "And he was on the other end of the phone?"
"Yep," Steve replies, gritting his teeth together.
Danny bursts out laughing. Steve glares in his direction.
"It's not funny Danny," Steve bites out.
Danny is struggling to get a hold on himself. Finally he manages to respond, "Yeah sorry, of course not." He pauses before he continues, "You really should have known better than to answer her phone though. You were kind of asking for that to happen."
"No kidding," Steve says.
"So how was this guy taking the whole stabbing thing? He wasn't on the next plane out here?" Danny is confused.
Steve looks sideways at Danny. "She hasn't told him yet."
Danny turns in his seat toward Steve, his eyes wide. "She hasn't told him yet? You've got to be joking. How could she spend a night in the hospital after being stabbed and not call her boyfriend to tell him?"
Steve shakes his head, "No, look, I know Em, if she didn't call him it's because she didn't want to scare him. I'm sure it doesn't mean anything."
"Yeah, but she didn't mind scaring you," Danny reminds him.
Steve nods his head a bit as he responds to Danny. "Yes but, I do live here, close to where she was in the hospital, as opposed to her boyfriend in L.A. Plus," Steve pauses, "I kind of owe her in that department. I mean, while we were together, I was either off in a war zone or chasing Victor Hess around the world. I know she spent lots of time worrying about me," Steve stops talking and Danny can see him clench his jaw then swallow. "I couldn't tell her very much about what I was doing to make her feel better, although, to be honest, if I could have told her what I was doing, that wouldn't have helped either, really. In the end, if I have to worry about her a bit, I guess I deserve it."
Danny shakes his head in disagreement, "You don't deserve it. You were doing your job. It's not like tit for tat. Besides, didn't you say she worked drug cases in San Diego? You must have also done some time in the worrying department."
"No, that's true too," Steve agrees. "And the worst part was it's not like I was even in town to keep her safe half the time. That's why when she got that job offer in L.A. …" Steve's voice trails off.
"You let her take it," Danny finishes for him.
Steve lets out a sigh and wobbles his head from side to side a bit before finally nodding in agreement.
"I just wanted her to be safe, man." Steve tells him, his voice quiet.
Danny waits a few seconds before saying anything. "Um, Steve, I've got news for you. That's not working out so well."
"I'm noticing," Steve remarks dryly.
"So does she know?" Danny asks him.
Steve looks at Danny, confused, "Know what?"
"Does she know that when she dumped you," Steve narrows his eyes at Danny, "You didn't try to change her mind because you thought she'd be better off?"
"Danny, hell I don't know… I mean I didn't… there wasn't exactly…" Steve is stumbling for words and stops, watching the road ahead of him, "She probably doesn't know that, no."
Steve continues, "But look, when we broke up, she was very clear that she thought she'd be better off in L.A., isn't that enough?"
Danny shakes his head, "Steven no, that is not enough. There is a very big difference between her thinking that you let her go, without protest, because you wanted her to be safe, and her thinking that you let her go because, she just wasn't that important to you."
Steve voice rises, sounding more than a bit angry to Danny. "Come on, she should know that is not the case. She knows she's important to me and I want her around."
"Wait, are we speaking in the past or present tense now?" Danny asks.
"What?" Steve glares at him in confusion.
"You said, 'she knows she's important to you,' like it's a current thing. Not a when we broke up thing," Danny points out.
"Danny, you're giving me a headache."
Danny chuckles, "Really? Because I would have thought the jump off the second story balcony would have done that."
Steve shakes his head. "Look, I don't know what she was thinking then, and I don't know what she's thinking now."
"You just know that you want her around." Danny says.
Steve doesn't answer him but continues to watch the road.
Steve finally looks over at Danny, "Let's just focus on interrogating this guy for now, okay?"
"Whatever you say buddy," Danny tells him.
Danny is inside the interrogation room, keeping an eye on John Lincoln.
Lincoln has been cuffed to a chair in the center of the room. With its dim lights, and quite frankly, unpleasant smell, the interrogation room is one of Danny's least favorite places, and he's looking forward to getting out of it. Of course this is something that won't happen if Steve doesn't get back in here.
What the hell is taking him so long, Danny wonders? Although he's fairly certain the delay probably has to do with a certain blond, parked on Steve's office couch.
Danny takes a quick look at Lincoln, who has mostly been studying the floor, and occasionally grimacing in pain. After they are finished with him, Lincoln's knee will need to be looked at by a doctor and his injury treated. Danny figures Lincoln will keep for a little while longer and steps outside the interrogation room. He leans his back against the hallway wall and pulls his phone out of his pocket. He checks the time.
Good, late enough in the day, he thinks.
He pulls up his address book and hits Rachel's number.
"Hello, Danny?" she answers the phone, her voice full of concern. "What's wrong?"
"Wrong, what? Oh, no, nothing is wrong. I was just calling to, uh…."
Yes Danny, why were you calling again? Maybe this was a bad idea. Danny decides to move to plan B.
"Is Grace there? I just wanted to see how her day went." Danny asks.
"Oh," Rachel pauses. Danny closes his eyes, lifting his free hand to run it over his face. "Yes of course," she tells him, "Hold on."
Danny can hear the phone being shuffled around before Grace's voice comes on the line.
"Hi Danno!" her voice is bright, and a smile spreads across his face. "What's up?"
"Hey monkey, nothing's up. I just wanted to see how your day was going."
"It's good. Mom took me to the beach after school. Can I take surfing lessons? Can you tell Mom I want to take surfing lessons?" her voice comes out in a rush.
Danny laughs, "Surfing? What happened to tennis?" he asks.
"Yeah I know," she tells him, her voice serious, "I still like that, but I want to learn how to surf too."
"Okay, well I'll take that up with your Mom at some point alright?" he tells her. Danny can hear Rachel's voice in the background.
"Danno, I gotta go. Mom says we're going out to meet Stan for dinner."
Sounds like fun, Danny thinks annoyed. Instead he tries to force the smile back on to his face. "Yeah, of course monkey, go on. I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"
"Okay, sounds good. Love you Danno, bye," she tells him.
"Love you too," Danny answers her. Grace hangs up the phone.
Danny continues to stand, staring at his phone a moment longer, before Steve's voice interrupts his thoughts.
"Danny?" Steve asks.
"Huh?" Danny's head shoots up to look back at Steve. "Oh yeah, just checking in with Grace."
Steve nods at him. "Okay."
"She wants to learn to surf," Danny sighs.
Steve laughs back at him. "Well, that was bound to happen eventually you know."
"Uh-huh," Danny says shaking his head.
"You should ask Kono to take her out," Steve suggests.
Danny nods his head considering, then changes the subject. "So where were you?"
It is Steve's turn to shake his head. "I convinced Emily to go back to my house with an officer. There's nothing else for her to do at headquarters. It took a few minutes to talk her into it," Steve tells him.
"You ask her about the boyfriend?" Danny gives Steve a look.
"Um, yeah, gonna save that conversation for later," Steve tells him. He looks over at the door to the interrogation room. "You ready to do this?"
"Absolutely, after you," Danny holds out his hand toward the door.
Steve opens the door and they enter the interrogation room.
As Steve enters the room with Danny following behind, Lincoln's head pops up. His eyes are wary. Danny is guessing that Lincoln remembers Danny's warning about Steve and his relationship to Emily and is nervous about it. His eyes hit briefly on Danny but mostly stay fixed on Steve, following him around the room.
"So John," Steve begins speaking, his voice low and dangerous, "Why did you attack Emily Burns?"
"I… I have no idea what you're talking about," Lincoln stammers.
"Really," Danny jumps in. "That's interesting, because we have video of you leaving her hotel room and tracking bloody footprints down the hall." Danny pauses a moment to allow this information to sink in. "How are your eyes, by the way, all better now?" Danny asks with a nasty grin.
"They're fine," Lincoln spits out, before his eye widen, realizing he's acknowledged his involvement.
Lincoln's eyes dart back to Steve, who has leaned against the far wall, arms crossed over his chest. Steve's eyes do not leave Lincoln's face. Danny can see one of Steve's cheek muscles twitch with tension.
After waiting and staring at Lincoln in silence a bit longer, Steve slowly starts to cross the room toward Lincoln, his hands at his sides.
"So who sent you John? What did you want from her?" Steve's voice is still particularly quiet.
Lincoln starts to shake as Steve approaches.
"I don't know…" Lincoln is avoiding Steve's eye contact as he gets closer. "I can't…" his voice is weak and he doesn't finish the statement.
Steve is standing directly in front of Lincoln now. Lincoln is shaking hard enough that Danny can hear his handcuffs clank against the metal chair.
"I think you can, John." The expression on Steve's face is making Danny distinctly nervous.
Steve leans over Lincoln and places a hand on Lincoln's injured right knee. Danny can see Steve's hand begin to tighten.
Lincoln starts to shriek.
"Who sent you, and why?" Steve asks again, louder this time.
"Stop, please stop." Lincoln is yelling.
"I think you'd better answer the man's questions John," Danny informs him calmly.
"I can't, I can't please," Lincoln moans. "I was just supposed to scare her, that's all. Please let go."
"Who wants her scared?" Danny asks.
Steve squeezes Lincoln's knee again, and Lincoln yells again, his volume increasing.
"My Uncle," he finally shouts, "my Uncle, William Lincoln. He told me where to find her and to get her files. Just scare her off, he said. Please, please let go," Lincoln whimpers.
A grimace of disgust crosses Steve's face, but he lets go of Lincoln, standing up and walking away.
Lincoln's head drops to his chest and his eyes close.
Steve catches Danny's eye and nods toward the door. Danny nods back. They both head toward the exit.
"Oh and John," Lincoln's head pops up to regard Steve, naked fear planted on his features. Steve's voice is almost normal now. "We're not done with you yet," Steve tells him, a glint in his eye.
Danny and Steve leave the interrogation room.
"Steve?" Danny's voice comes out a warning, just as the door has shut behind them.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Steve waves him off, pulling out his phone. He looks sideways at Danny, "I'll try to behave, okay?"
"Where have I heard that before?" Danny mutters.
Steve just smiles at him. He raises his phone to talk into it.
"Kono, I need you to look up a William Lincoln," Steve says into the phone.
Danny watches as Steve listens to Kono's answer.
After a moment he speaks again, "Really? Okay, we'll see you when you get back."
Steve hangs up his phone and looks back at Danny.
"What did she say?" Danny asks him.
"She said that she's already looked up William Lincoln because he's the co-owner of that condo, but he is also an employee of…"
"Wait, let me guess," Danny jumps in, "Richardson Wine Importing?"
"You got it," Steve tells him with a nod.
Danny nods back and looks at the hallway floor for a moment. "So what now?" Danny asks.
"Now I have to get on the phone and figure out how to have William Lincoln picked up for questioning in L.A."
They both turn and head back toward their offices.
As they're walking Danny clears his throat and Steve gives him a look.
"Yes, Danny?" Steve asks.
"Can you please call the paramedics to look at that idiot's knee now? Please?" Danny gives Steve a pleading look.
Steve just gives him a small grin in return.