A/N: I thought this would be the last chapter, but it will take another 8-9 pages to clean up all the loose ends, and I figured an 11 page chapter is long enough. I have lost a number of readers here on fanfiction, but readers like crockettsgirl who really take the time to encourage have made up the difference. If you are out there and reading this, let me know. Sheila

The Promise

Chapter 6

Danny sat up on the bed sipping the coffee Steve ordered up from room service. "I don't think it'll work if you come with me. It's better if I do this alone."

"Not an option." Steve said as he pulled a t-shirt over his head.

"You're not right for this. You're wearing cargo pants for Christ's sakes."

Steve shrugged. "Then it's not happening."

Danny shifted uncomfortably against the headboard. "I do not need a babysitter! You will let me do what I have to do for myself and my daughter!"

"I profoundly disagree…I mean, about the babysitting part. You do need a keeper, Danny. You can barely move."

"When I stand up, I'll be fine." Danny reached for some half eaten toast.

Steve sighed. "Bottom line. I go with you or it does not happen. No more discussion."

"I can't take you looking like that. It's not Jersey. We're trying to blend in, and you look like a frickin' rock climber. Feds will spot you. We'll never make it in the door."

"What's wrong with how I look?"

Danny threw up his hands. "Where do I start? The cargo pants? The t-shirt? The undone hair? The hiking boots? You'll stand out like a sore thumb in that neighborhood. They'll think you are a tourist who maybe wants to take a picture of a real wise guy."

"I do not look like a tourist!"

"You look ridiculous!"

Steve was on his feet. "I do not!"

"I'm not going to argue with you. We're in my territory now, and I say you look ridiculous, and we're not doing this with you looking like that."

"Then I guess we're not doing this." Steve said with no small measure of relief.

"We are doing this! I have to do this! I want you to remember something, McGarrett. I wore flowers for you."

"What! Flowers!"

"The serial killer thing. I wore flowers for you!"

"This is crazy! That was a lei. It was a disguise."

"They were flowers!"

"All right, Danny. I'm done arguing with you." Steve strode over and palmed Danny's wallet.

"What the hell!"

"If I leave you alone in this hotel room, I got to trust you're going to stay where you are." Steve bent over and grabbed Danny's shoes. "I will be back in half an hour."

"Hey! You barbarian! Put my things down!" Danny hollered after him as he slipped out the door.

….

It took more than half an hour, Danny counted every minute and planned to let him know it, but when Steve opened the door, Danny was rendered speechless. Steve was wearing a leather jacket, a blue silk shirt, black pants, and loafers. Even more wild was the hair spiked high with gel, the shirt unbuttoned halfway down his chest, a gold St. Christopher necklace, gold watch, bracelet, and Knights of Columbus ring.

Danny made a choking sound and fell over onto his side. Immediately, Steve thought he was having an attack of some kind and rushed over. He quickly realized that the only thing Danny was dying from was laughter.

"Oh God, my ribs hurt so bad," Danny howled.

Steve scowled. "I look Jersey. That's what you wanted, right?"

Danny wiped tears from his eyes, still lying down on the bed. "How did you do this? I know you're superhuman, but how did you accomplish all of this?"

Steve gingerly touched the stiff spikes on his head. "There's a barbershop a couple of blocks down called Vincenzo's."

Danny smiled. "I used to have a ride a beat in this area. I know that place well."

"So I went in and there were a bunch of guys, and I explained the situation and I mentioned your name, and Vincenzo remembers you. They, uh…took over. I think they were having fun."

Danny used his hands to carefully walk himself to a sitting position again. "We're going to have to get all of this stuff back to him. Vincenzo is no joke."

Steve shrugged. "He made me sign a receipt but he said you're good for it. You really think this looks good?"

"No, it's hideous, it's horrible." Danny wrinkled his nose. "It is definitely not you, but it works for what we need to do."

"I don't think this plan is going to work."

Danny carefully slid himself off the bed. He found the worn jacket he took off Mikey and placed a leather fedora on his head. "Feel free to back out."

"Can't. We're family, right?"

Danny looked at him out of the corner of his eye and nodded. "Help me put this jacket on, you goof. Your fashion show did a real number on my ribs."

…

Steve felt like he was going back in time. The cab went down streets that were still littered with mom and pop businesses. It was a distinctly Italian area; older women were still doing their grocery shopping in housedresses and men stood in the doorways of shops and talked.

Steve turned to Danny. "Are you sure about this?"

Danny stared ahead. "That reminds me that you should probably do little or none of the talking. That surfer dude accent of yours is not good."

"I'm pretty sure Rachel's thinking of bringing Grace back to you."

Danny closed his eyes. "It's no good if I can't keep her safe. Someone puts a hit out on my daughter and they have to answer for it. End of conversation."

"Okay." Steve looked out the window again.

…..

They stopped at a rather shabby building with the name, Esposito, on the front.

Danny pointed out the window to a van down the street. "Feds. This is going to piss them off royally. They think they own these goons."

Steve nodded and followed Danny as he got out of the cab. He had little idea what Danny was going to do in there but the man was smart. He had to rely on trusting Danny and that was not a struggle for him. Danny pushed open the scuffed door and walked in. Steve followed. It was a smoky room. The men all looked up when they entered. Some had espresso in front of them and others had scotch whiskey. They were hard men. Steve could see it in their eyes. Two chairs scraped the floor, and a couple of men stood up, one of them was New Jersey's answer to Kamekona.

Danny stepped forward. "I'm here to see Joe Salvo."

An older man in a tracksuit growled. "This isn't how it works."

"Joe's going to want to see me. I have information about his grandson."

"Let me know what you got. I'll decide if Joe needs to hear it."

Danny stared him down. "Nope. I need to talk to Joe."

"Who do you think you are? Joe Salvo doesn't entertain every idiot that comes in off the streets. You're probably wired."

"I look like a fed?" Danny gestured at himself.

"Time to get out, scumbag. Take your pretty boy with you. Mario, take care of it."

Danny stood his ground, and the tracksuit nodded at the big man. He was all eyebrows and bulbous nose, and it was clear that kicking the hell out of people was probably his sole talent. Steve saw Danny grip the wooden bar tightly and knew that the Jersey boy wasn't going anywhere. Steve pushed past him and stood between Danny and the mountainous Mario.

The tracksuit smiled. "The pretty boy does your fighting? I thought he was just here as decoration."

Steve took off his leather jacket and dropped it on the bar. Danny saw the look in his eyes. Steve had spent much of the last month constrained from physical solutions. He'd been the friend to a difficult Danny and an uncle to a miserable Grace. Steve McGarrett needed a release. Danny relaxed against the bar.

Mario made a grab for Steve, and he deftly moved out of his way. Steve threw a leg into the man's gut and he howled. Steve was careful not to let the man get his hands on him. It was clear that the behemoth was very powerful, and so Steve stuck to martial arts moves, striking Mario repeatedly and unexpectedly. The big man grabbed a chair and raised it over his head. Steve moved out of the way, but a man sitting nearby stuck his foot out and tripped Steve. The chair landed hard on his shoulder. Steve howled, but he didn't stay down. He ran head long into the man's gut and drove Mario to the ground. Once there, Steve kicked him into submission. The pain in his shoulder was electric, but Steve kept at it until the man in the tracksuit shouted at him. Then Danny had a hand on his good shoulder and pulled him back and into a chair. Breathing hard, Steve looked up at him, but Danny was facing the tracksuit again. "Who's next, 'cause I haven't had my turn yet?"

For a moment, Steve feared someone was going to take Danny up on his bluff. Steve knew he was dealing with a separated or broken shoulder, and he couldn't imagine how either of them could keep this up for much longer.

The tracksuit finally stepped back. "I'll go talk to Joe."

Danny stood his ground, careful not to show the relief he was feeling. Two men helped Mario to his feet, but he wasn't lucid enough to focus any more attention on Steve. They must have waited ten minutes. Danny stayed next to Steve who struggled to mask the pain shooting down his arm and his chest. They were as vulnerable as they ever had been. Danny wasn't much for poker, but he stared down every man in that room like he was ready to throw down, knowing full well a 13 year-old kid could kick his ass at this point.

Finally the tracksuit emerged again and beckoned to him. Danny hooked Steve under his good shoulder and pulled him to his feet. The tracksuit stopped, "You can leave your muscle with us."

"Nope," Danny shook his head solemnly. "We're a team."

"I'll be okay, Danny," Steve mumbled, sweat beading on his forehead from the tremendous pain. Danny ignored him, keeping his eyes set on the tracksuit. Finally the man just shrugged his shoulders and gestured for both of them to follow. He led them down a hallway to a small room.

Inside were three old men in a bare room with toothpaste green walls. They were drinking espresso and playing pinochle at a worn wooden table. The completely bald one in the middle looked up and pointed at Steve. "He's the one who took down Mario?"

The tracksuit nodded.

The old man narrowed his eyes. "Where did you get those moves?"

"I'm a Navy Seal." Steve struggled to keep his pain in check.

The old man looked at the tracksuit. "Geno, this is what I am talking about. The guys need training. It's not a strongman kind of world anymore."

The tracksuit threw up his arms. "Joe, you want that I should enlist these guys in the Seals?"

Joe Salvo turned to the other old men. "This generation doesn't want to work for nothing." They both nodded sadly in agreement. "Geno, leave us alone now."

Joe looked at Steve again. "He broke your shoulder. Sit down."

Danny sighed. "Are you done with the pretty Navy Seal now?"

Joe looked at Danny. "You are a Jersey boy for sure."

"And I need to talk to you about something concerning your grandson."

"You talk like a cop."

Danny nodded. "Newark police 9 years. Hawaii State police the last year."

Joe grinned. "You don't want to play with the feds, do you?"

"I suspect your grandson has already talked to you."

Joe nodded. "I'm a little surprised you're on your feet so soon. You maybe need to take a chair as well."

"I'm just fine, Joe."

"You poked him just so he would come to me. Interesting strategy."

"Yeah, I did. I figured you'd need a little background before I showed up."

Joe took a sip of his espresso. "Frankie Jr. tells me you're trying to pin a crime on him. Says I'm not supposed to believe a word of it."

"Well, he's a sharp one, that Frankie."

"Tell me your story."

"He came to Hawaii 7 weeks ago, and put a hit out on me and my daughter. Hit was carried out, but as you can see, it didn't take."

"You got proof?"

"We got Frankie on camera with the assassin at the hotel bar. Money is exchanged. The assassin himself has been arrested. He'll testify. We found the Salvo contact in Honolulu. He still had pictures of myself and my daughter in his possession. It's a done deal."

"So why come to me?"

"The extradition is going to be a problem. The feds will get involved. You could hide Frankie Jr. I don't see him coming to justice any time soon."

"What? You want me to help you?"

Danny leaned forward. "If I had my way, I'd take your grandson, pull out his eyeballs with my fingers, force them down his throat, and then shoot him in the neck for what he tried to do to my little girl. But I don't get to live in that kind of world. That's your world."

"You want me to kill the boy?"

Danny chuckled. "No, Joe. That's my fantasy. I want to give you a reason to put Frankie Jr. on a plane to Hawaii, and have him surrender to the HPD."

"Why would I do that?"

Danny grabbed a chair now and slid up to the table. "Frankie Jr. is a disappointment to you. You can't get him to follow the rules."

Joe shrugged. "My problem, not yours."

"Yeah, but he came to Hawaii and tried to kill me and my child. My child is 7 years old. Her name is Grace. He had a separate contract on her life. Does that sound like an authorized hit to you? My guess is that your lovely wife goes to mass every morning. You can't help me, I just have to assume that it was authorized. I have friends at the Star-Ledger. You know how they feel about you. I'll write the damn story myself, if needed. There will be a picture of my child. She's angelic. Maybe a headline that says, "Mafia family turns to child murder." You like? My guess is that the wives in your family are going to get very worked about this. They let you and your goons get away with all your crap because they believe there are rules. Killing a child is against those rules."

"You're going to sic my wife on me? I'm going to do what you want because I gotta' sleep on the couch? This is your deal?"

Danny took a deep breath. "You don't like planes, Joe. It's just a rumor but I believe it. Your son, Frankie Sr., is incarcerated in Hawaii for the next 15 years. You got 15 years, Joe? The Navy Seal here can arrange for Frankie Sr. to be transferred to a prison not 20 miles from your house. He can also arrange for Frankie Jr. to serve his sentence here as well. You'll have Frankie Jr. right where you can keep an eye on him."

Joe cocked his head at Danny. "You think you're going to walk out here alive?"

Steve tensed in his chair.

Danny never broke eye contact with Joe. "I think you're a smart man, Joe. Send someone down to Honolulu, and we'll show him what we got. I think this idea is really going to start to grow on you."

"You're a confident little son of a bitch, you know that?"

"Now you're making cracks about my size. You act like you want to adopt my Navy Seal friend here. But me, you just want to disparage. How do you think that makes me feel?"

Joe chuckled. "You got some balls on you, cop."

Danny shrugged. "What do you want? I grew up around here."

Joe Salvo put his hands flat on the table. "Okay, meeting is over. I'll think about your idea."

"Don't wait too long. I'll go to the Star-Ledger in two weeks if I don't hear anything."

"Don't threaten me, cop!"

Danny stood and helped Steve to his feet. "You know how to reach me, Joe."

The two of them made it out to the large room. Danny waited for Joe to call for Geno, but it didn't happen. He and Steve walked out the front door with no resistance. Steve leaned over, "They gonna' shoot us."

"Not in front of the feds," Danny muttered. "Who knows? Maybe I got to him."

"He didn't look convinced."

"Shut up and keep walking."

The two of them got to the corner of the block and turned. Three squad cars were parked, Tony Valdez leaning against the hood, her arms folded. Danny let out a breath. He smiled at her, "How could you possibly know?"

"I got contacts, Williams. I see Commander McGarrett's been tuned up a bit."

"Too mad to call me Danny, huh?"

"You're an idiot. The feds can't figure what the hell just happened now, but they're not dumb, and they are going to figure this out."

"We need a hospital, Tony. Both of us."

She could see the toll that holding McGarrett up was taking on her old partner. She snapped her fingers and four uniforms trotted over and helped both of them into the waiting squad cars.

…

Danny woke up to a smell he had known for 34 years. He smiled and opened his eyes. "Mom."

She had the same blue, crinkly eyes as he did. She leaned forward and kissed him on the check. "You are an idiot, my son."

"Yes, you are right about that." He looked around the room. "Did I have surgery?"

She nodded. "One of your ribs was really a mess. Bone shards."

"How about my head?"

"Neurosurgeon doesn't want to touch it. He says that if you could refrain from any more injuries to the noggin, you're likely to heal. But it's no joke, Daniel. Your CAT scan still shows trauma that should have healed a month ago."

"Sorry, Mom."

"I've heard that before." She looked at him long and hard.

"Where's Steve? He had a broken shoulder."

She reached over and pulled the curtain that separated one bed from the other. Steve was sleeping in the next bed, a cast secured to one shoulder and arm. "He had surgery too."

Danny looked over. "Never seen him that peaceful."

"He seems like a very nice young man."

"He's one of us now, Mom. Can't tell you how much times he's had my back."

She smiled. "I've never had such a handsome, dark-haired son. Is McGarrett an Irish name?"

Danny shrugged. "Doesn't matter. That boy is 100% Hawaiian."

"Will he listen to me any better than you do?"

Danny raised his eyebrows. "Not sure. He's bull-headed, but he'll do anything for the people he cares about."

She shook her head. "Tony told me the whole story. I cannot believe you went into that social club and spoke to that criminal."

"Steve kept me safe."

"I've been talking to Rachel and Grace."

Danny looked away. "I almost got her killed, Mom. Whenever I think about it, I can barely breathe."

She took his hand. "That's not what happened and no one thinks that. Grace needs you desperately."

"Did you call Rachel about this latest…fiasco?"

"I tried but I couldn't reach her. Rachel will listen to reason. She just needs some time."

Danny shook his head. "But I am sitting there across from Joe Salvo, and I realize that I live the kind of life where I am the only thing that separates her from monsters like that. My life brings her in such close contact with evil."

Alice Williams nodded. "That's why you have to teach her to be strong and take care of herself. I don't think that a more sheltered life will necessarily prepare her for the real world. You can teach her how to live in a world with monsters. It's a gift, my son."

Danny frowned at her. "I gotta' think about that."

She patted him. "You do that. In the meantime, you need to rest. Docs say that I get to bring both of you home tomorrow. I want you to make a list of the kinds of things Steve likes. It's going to be homemade dinners and family for the next three days at least."

"He'll eat anything."

She pointed a finger. "You ask him what he likes when he wakes up. He's under my wing now and I plan to get to know him. I have to do some shopping."

Danny watched her leave. He thought about the losses Steve had sustained over the years, and he hoped the stubborn Seal would let his family fill some of that space. He looked over at Steve, and realized that the idiot still had his eyes closed, but wore a very satisfied smile on his face. Danny looked for something to throw at him.

…

TBC