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Protective Detail – Chapter 7

Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam

Steve is still pretty miffed at Danny, and wonders if he has any right to be. After all, Danny has the right to his own opinion. But Steve always thought Danny knew him well enough to know that he would never work if he was not in control of himself. It was quite a shock to hear what his friend thought about people needing professional help dealing with their problems. And it hurt to learn what Danny obviously thought about him seeing a psychiatrist for years on a more or less regular basis. It's not that he has intensive therapy all the time, some years he only sees JoJo every other month or even less.

But right now he knew he couldn't deal with the trauma of Korea and the memories the torture brought back, on his own. Steve knows that Danny never liked to talk about him seeing JoJo. They had talked about it, sure, but they never got really into it. Danny was always very uncomfortable about the whole situation. Now Steve knows why. That's not true. Steve is adamant that he will not listen to his inner voice telling him that he might have heard something that Danny never said.

The only thing Steve heard was that if he seeks therapy he's not fit to be a full member of society and certainly shouldn't be in a position of leadership. Or in a position where lives could be in danger because of him. Danny is practically telling him that he is putting his friends in jeopardy every time he comes to work. That he can't be trusted with their safety. It never occurs to Steve even once that is not what Danny said or meant at all.

He shakes his head to get past these thoughts and concentrate on the task at hand. He needs to convince Lt. O'Hare, in front of whose office he is now standing, to arrange a transport to Andrews Air Force Base next Sunday for him and his team, including one civilian. Well, Danny is not really a civilian, but he's definitely not Navy. Steve actually has to smile at that thought for just a second, until he remembers that he is supposed to be mad at his partner.

Half an hour later he leaves the office with a big smile on his face. It took a lot of hard work and fast talk to persuade the lieutenant to get him onto that plane, but in the end he got four tickets for the military transport first thing Sunday morning.

It's barely 1130 when a slight grumbling noise reminds him that he didn't eat breakfast. His next stop should be the mess hall, but since he's not in uniform, he decides to go to the cafeteria instead. A decision that will cause him a lot of trouble and pain.

*~* *~* *~* Hawaii Five-0 *~* *~* *~*

Five-0 Headquarters

Kono Kalakaua looks over at her cousin and wonders if she should ask his advice or not. After another minute she goes over to his office where he's doing his research.

"Chin, you got a minute?" Kono asks as she enters the office.

"Sure, what's up?" Chin looks up from his computer and motions for Kono to sit down.

"I should have talked to Steve about this, but he's with Danny and I don't want him to think I can't do it, but I thought maybe you should do it, I mean, you know what I mean?" Kono uncharacteristically rambles on.

Chin just stares at her, trying to process the words that just came from her mouth. Finally, he just shakes his head. "No, I haven't a clue," he admits. "What's the problem, cuz?"

"Some of the HPD officers have been on the force for decades, they are way my seniors. I'm not sure if I'm the right person for the interviews."

"Kono, Steve has chosen you for a reason."

"Oh, great, because I'm the woman." Kono rolls her eyes at that.

"No. Because you lack experience and those years on the force. These men won't feel intimidated by you; they will feel superior. And that is exactly what Steve wants them to feel. They will tell you a lot more than they would tell Steve, Danny or me. And because you're a woman." Chin smiles at his cousin.

"Very funny."

"Kono, you will do a good job. Steve trusts you with this, and you have no reason not to trust yourself. You will do great. Remember what Steve told you and it will be fine."

"It would be so much easier if they were simply suspects." Kono grins at Chin. "Sorry to have bothered you with this."

"No, it's the right thing to do. Sometimes you have to question if you're the right one to do an interview. That's normal, self-doubt is good. It shows you think about what's important for the case, not for your own ego. I know it's tempting to do every interview yourself. It's a good thing, Kono, to talk about your doubts. Never hold back with that, not with me or Steve and Danny."

"Okay. Thanks."

"Do your interviews and call me if you need help."

"I will, thanks, Chin."

Five minutes later she starts her first interview with Sergeant Spike, twenty-five years with HPD.

*~* *~* *~* Hawaii Five-0 *~* *~* *~*

Danny Williams enters HQ just as the last HPD officer leaves after his interview with Kono, who walks out of her office looking beat.

"Kono, how did the interviews go?" Danny looks at her with sympathy. He's sure that it was emotionally draining to interview the officers.

"Like pulling teeth. None of them have seen or heard anything unusual in the last two weeks." Kono shakes her head about this waste of time.

"We didn't expect much to come out of those interviews, but they needed to be done. We weren't any more successful at the base." Danny must admit that the outcome of their interviews was kind of disastrous. Well, it was more what he said that led to the bad outcome.

"Danny, everything okay? Where's Steve?"

"He is still on base. Has a meeting with someone, he should be here soon."

"Did something happen?" Kono can clearly see that something is wrong.

"No, nothing happened. Where is Chin?"

"I'm right here, Danny. You okay?" Chin asks as he comes to the smart table.

"Everything is fine. Did you finish the background check on Dr. Webster?" Danny has no interest in talking about what happened between him and Steve.

"Yeah, just about done with it. None of her patients' names pop up in any of the other murder cases. I talked to Agent Cleland of NCIS, and they haven't found any connections either. They are not completely done with cross referencing, but he said Levin will tell us their findings, or better the lack thereof." Chin is as frustrated as the others about the total lack of any connection or any hints about the killer.

"Come on, guys, this can't be. He killed sixteen people, and we have squat? No connection, no DNA, no witnesses, nothing?" Danny can't believe that there isn't anything except the art of killing that is linking those victims.

"How did your interviews go, Danny. And where is Steve?"

"As I told Kono, he is on the base. He will be back soon."

"Why did you guys split up?" Chin just knows that something is going on with their two bosses.

Danny looks at his two colleagues and friends and decides that he should tell them at least something about what happened.

"I might have said something that Steve might have misunderstood." Danny keeps his answer vague.

"And?" Chin motions for him to go on.

"And… nothing." Danny looks at Chin and Kono, who are both rolling their eyes at him. "Okay, I said something really stupid. You happy? I didn't mean it that way, but Steve thought I was talking about him. And after thinking about it, I can understand why he did. But I swear I really wasn't. And now Steve thinks I don't trust him. I hurt him and I don't know how to fix it. He doesn't even want to listen to me." Danny looks up and is surprised to see two smiling faces in front of him. "What are you smiling at? I really screwed up. I'm not kidding."

"Danny! Steve knows that you trust him. He'll come around and he will talk to you. Besides, since when did you not talk? You two will be fine." Chin has no idea what Danny said to his boss, but he knows for certain that these two won't stay mad at each other for long. At least he hopes so.

"He stayed at the base?" Kono can imagine what that 'fight' might have been about and knows that Danny can put his foot in his mouth on occasion. And she knows that some things are very sensitive issues for Steve, one of those being his trust issue that was shot to hell with Jenna's betrayal. She often wonders how he can trust anyone anymore. She knows she wouldn't.

"Yeah, he said he had a meeting with someone. We weren't really talking at the end."

"Did you try to call him? How is he going to get back? Maybe one of us should pick him up?" Chin asks.

"I'll go," Kono volunteers to pick up their personal SEAL. "That way I can fill him in on the interviews."

"Okay, but call him first." Danny doesn't want Steve to feel like he has just been handled. If he doesn't want to be picked up, they should leave him be.

"Will do," Kono has her phone out already, but the call goes straight to voicemail. She hangs up without leaving a message. "It went to voicemail."

"That's not like Steve. Kono, go there and pick him up. If he's mad, tell him I sent you." Danny knows that Steve never turns his phone off, not even in a situation like this.

Kono doesn't need to be told twice and is out the door.

"Okay, Chin, what do we do now? Any more information from Max?"

"No, nothing new. I think we should take another look at all the crime scenes." Chin puts the pictures of the first crime scene onto the big screen.

They spend the next hour going over the photos of the brutal crimes which were committed by an obviously deranged person.

*~* *~* *~* Hawaii Five-0 *~* *~* *~*

Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam

Chief Petty Officer Dale Thomas checks his weapon one last time before he makes his way over to the cafeteria. He just knows that the commander looked right through him during the interview earlier this morning. He is sure that is the reason McGarrett is still on the base and that is why he met with O'Hare after their interview. McGarrett found out that he lied to him and he plans to rat him out. Thomas can't allow that. He can't allow McGarrett to tell the world his deepest darkest secret. Dale Thomas is certain the commander found out about his involvement after he talked to Lt. O'Hare and it is only a matter of time until they will all be arrested.

He can't do that to his wife and kids. They can't find out, ever. They can never find out that he is part of the drug ring that is operating out of the base. O'Hare is the go to guy for almost everything, and when he asked Dale two months ago to be part of it, he simply couldn't say no. He needed the money. He is only a small part of the operation and doesn't know much about how it all works, but thinking about anyone finding out about his involvement sends him into a panic.

There is only one way to avoid getting caught, and that is if McGarrett isn't allowed to tell anyone. He needs to get to McGarrett before he can make any calls. Thomas knows that he is a special trained operative and it will not be easy to subdue him, but he'll take his chances.

He has followed McGarrett since he left O'Hare's office and can't believe his luck when the man walks towards the cafeteria. It is based in one of the smaller buildings and is frequented mostly by visitors and their accompanying military personal. Obviously McGarrett has no idea that it has been closed due to a gas leak since yesterday and won't be re-opened until the end of the week. The building will most likely be deserted since other than the cafeteria it is unused.

Dale Thomas smiles when he slips in the door right after Commander McGarrett.

*~* *~* *~* Hawaii Five-0 *~* *~* *~*

Steve wonders for a moment why there are not more people on their way to the cafeteria since it's normally a busy place, with people coming and going all the time. But he is preoccupied with thinking about his 'fight' with Danny, so he is not really paying attention. Normally he's always aware of what is happening around him, but right now there are three mitigating circumstances for him being in kind of a daze. First, he's on a military base and he's sure everyone lets his guard down a little bit on home turf. Second, Danny's words had really shaken him up. And third, he was dumb enough not to take the pain pill this morning like Mark told him to. He is now paying the price in the form of a throbbing headache. And he is just sick of it. It has been months since he received all those blows to the head, but still he suffers from Wo Fat's actions.

All those thoughts are going through his head as he enters the building and stops in his tracks when he finds the hallway deserted. He moves towards the entry of the cafeteria to read the sign taped to the glass doors. But no matter what it says, it's obvious he won't get anything to eat here.

Steve is not even ten feet into the hallway when he's stopped by someone calling his name. He hadn't even realized that someone else entered after him.

"Commander McGarrett!" Chief Petty Officer Dale Thomas calls out as he rushes after Steve into the hallway.

Steve turns as he hears the call and is barely able to avoid the butt of the gun coming his way. He gets caught with a glancing blow and his knees buckle from the sheer force of the hit. If he hadn't been able to lean back a little, he would be down with a cracked skull by now. As it is, Steve is only dazed enough to fall to his knees but he's still able to draw his gun. Unfortunately, his reflexes are seriously slowed and Thomas is able to kick it out of his hand before Steve can even aim at anything.

Steve struggles to focus on his opponent who manages to get another kick in before Steve is completely back on his feet. Steve gets caught in the shoulder, which throws him off to the right, but he is able to grab the man's ankle and the added momentum causes Thomas to crash onto his back. That gives Steve the time to struggle back to his feet but Thomas is a little faster and, with a sweeping kick against Steve's right knee, brings him down hard again. Steve cries out when his leg gives way and he lands painfully on the floor, all the air rushing out of his lungs.

Dale Thomas advances on Steve like an MMA fighter on Speed. The kicks raining down on Steve are brutal and it takes a few moments for Thomas to realize that the man on the ground went still several kicks ago. Thomas is panting heavily and looks down at the unconscious commander. He is lying curled on his right side, one arm protectively at his head. Thomas can see a small cut on the side of McGarrett's head where his boot connected with his temple.

Thomas doesn't waste any time, he picks up the gun he kicked out of the commander's hand and grabs his legs to drag him behind the door of the restrooms across the cafeteria. A minute later the hallway is empty and only a tiny smitch of blood is left as a witness of the fight.

*~* *~* *~* Hawaii Five-0 *~* *~* *~*


TBC