Chapter 7

Danny, true to his word, had given her five minutes then called to make sure she made it to the room. He'd kept it short, telling her to go get some sleep.

And then he'd spent all night thinking about her.

He woke up that morning and wanted to text her, just to say hi, but held off, thinking it might be too much. He made it into the office early, and was responding to email and sending a few notes to people he'd met the day before.

A light rap sounded on his door and Danny looked up to find Kono standing there, an expectant look on her face.

"Hey, what's up?" Danny asked.

"I was going to ask you the same thing. What happened last night?" She took a few steps inside his office.

He shrugged. "What do you mean?"

"Danny," she drew his name out, dropped into the chair in front of his desk, and gave him a sad look. "What happened with Cassie?"

"You know, Grace does the same thing." He leaned back in his chair. "Doesn't work on me either."

She huffed. "I do you a favor and this is how you repay me?"

He made her wait a few seconds more, then sighed. "Fine. Thank you, Kono. You convinced her, for which I am grateful."

She waited. Danny just watched her patiently until she asked, "That's it?"

"That's it."

"That's what?" Chin asked, walking into Danny's office.

"Danny won't tell me what happened at the conference yesterday."

"Really?"

"No, I won't tell her what happened after the conference yesterday, which is what she really wants to know. I'm happy to talk about the conference itself."

Chin looked between his two teammates, both stubbornly staring at each other, then finally said, "So, how was the conference?"

Danny leaned forward, breaking eye contact with Kono. "Good. I got a note from the governor this morning - he's pleased. I've got a handful of contacts that want to talk to us about something or other - those are mostly going to Steve, but I have a couple of tech companies that you might be interested in talking with. One of them guaranteed that he could make the smart table better, even idiot proof. I think he meant that in the nicest way possible. I decided it was probably over the line to ask him if he could make it bulletproof."

Chin gave a little laugh. "That would be something. Thanks again for covering for me."

Danny waved him off. "No problem, really. It was fun."

Kono spoke up again, head tilted, watching Danny closely. "Just how fun was it, Danny?"

Danny looked at Chin. "How long do you think I can annoy her by not answering until she snaps and uses lethal force?"

He didn't get a chance to answer, because Steve rushed in, saying, "Oh, good. You're all here."

"And having a staff meeting in my office, it seems." Danny murmured.

"Not anymore. We've got a case."


Six hours later, they walked through the door into the Five-0 office. Steve looked at Danny and said, "That's a record, right?"

The case had been fairly straightforward - a local, well-known banker had been murdered - but the fact that the wife was missing along with the contents of their bank account had raised concerns of a kidnapping situation.

"Maybe." Danny considered it. "I think it might actually be. Though to be fair, we didn't have to work very hard for this one."

Steve shrugged. "A win is a win."

"Oh, I am not complaining, my friend. Simply noting the fact that our perp literally walking up to our front door and turning himself in makes for an easy case."

It turned out that wife had run away with her lover after taking the money, but she'd insisted that her husband had to die so he wouldn't come after them. The man had run after pulling the trigger, but was so distraught about the act that he'd basically run straight to the Palace. The team had been able to find the woman with his help, and had wrapped up all the loose ends and turned everything over to HPD.

Steve ran a hand over his head and sank down in his office chair. "I'll take it." Danny looked at him closely, noting that Steve seemed more tired than usual.

"Everything else okay?" Danny sat down in the other chair and leaned forward.

"Yeah. Just not sleeping well, I guess."

Danny cocked his head. "You talk to Catherine lately?"

Steve huffed a sigh. "Not in the last few days."

"Ah." Danny knew that Steve had been torn about how to handle Catherine's sudden reappearance a few months earlier, but that he respected her decision to continue working in Afghanistan. Catherine had found her place working with the State Department, being an on-the-ground advisor for their humanitarian and education programs in the country she'd grown to love. She was able to stay in touch with Steve mostly by email and the occasional Skype call so they could see and hear each other.

Steve looked at his partner sharply. "What does that mean?"

"Just that you sleep better when you've talked to her."

Steve started to object, but at the serious look on Danny's face, he stopped and thought about it. "Yeah, I guess I do. I've always slept better when we were in the same place, but now, I just want to know that she's okay."

"That's understandable. What's she working on now?"

"They asked her to check out a village school. It's in an area that's been safe for the past year or so, but apparently all the girls in the area have stopped attending, so they want to know why." Steve leaned his head back against the chair. "She was going to try and call yesterday. I know everything is fine, but…"

"You'll feel better when you've actually talked to her."

Steve closed his eyes. "Yep." He opened them again. "Hey, you want to do beer and steaks on the beach tonight?"

Danny shifted uncomfortably. He hated to not be there for his partner, knowing that Steve could use the company while he waited on the call from Catherine. "Um, normally I would love to, but I can't."

Steve sat forward, looking interested. "You have plans?"

Danny tried to figure the path of least resistance out of this conversation, which he was so not ready to have. "I do, actually."

Steve pursed his lips and asked, "Big plans?"

"Not elaborate plans, but I'm looking forward to them." Steve waited for more, but Danny just looked back at him evenly.

Steve sat back and nodded. "Another night, then."

"You bet." He had a thought. "Hey, I may be done around 9 or 9:30 - you want me to stop by late? Have a beer, see if there's a game on?"

"Danny, you don't have to change your plans for me."

"I know that, babe. And I'm not changing anything. If you think you'll still be up, I'll stop by."

"Yeah, if you're sure. I'll text you and let you know."

Danny nodded and stood. "I'm going to go write up my report and get out of here then."

"Thanks, Danny."


Danny finished typing his report, emailed it to Steve, and grabbed his keys to leave. On his way out, he stopped by Chin's office, opening the door partway and saying. "Hey, Chin, the files are with Steve. He wants you to take one more look at them for a connection to the other thing you were working on."

"Thanks, man. Headed out?"

"Yeah. Have a good one." He started to leave, but Chin called him back.

"Hey, Danny?"

"Yeah?"

"What did happen after the conference yesterday?'

Danny sighed. "Really?"

Chin grinned at him. "Kono made me promise to ask."

Danny raised his eyebrows. "If she made you promise to jump off a cliff, would you?"

Chin laughed, and waved him out the door. "Go, before she gets back. See you tomorrow."


Danny walked into the hotel a few minutes early and scanned the lobby for Cassie. He saw her exit the elevator, wearing a long flowy skirt and a simple deep blue halter top that left her shoulders and arms bare. It was the first time he'd seen her with her hair down.

Her face lit up when she saw him, and he was frozen to the spot watching her move toward him.

She stopped in front of him, tilted her head, and said, "Hey there."

Danny's response was to slide one hand behind her neck and pull her in for a kiss. When he leaned back, she looked amused. He took a tiny step back and stuck his hands in his pockets. "I, um, might have thought about doing that all day."

"Did you, now?"

"Well, it was a relatively boring day." She shook her head and Danny could tell she was trying not to laugh. He grinned at her. "Bet your day was way more exciting."

"Mmmm, yes, meetings and more meetings. On the bright side, I did get to talk a group of school kids today, which was fun."

"See, way more exciting than my day." He held a hand out towards the door. "Ready to go?"

Cassie nodded, and said as they moved toward the door, "By the way, Susan said to tell you hi. And that she approves."

Danny huffed a little laugh. "She was part of the cabal to get us out the door together last night, so I hope so."

"There was a cabal?"

"Susan, Kono - I'm pretty sure Linda had something to do it, too. If i didn't know better, I'd think Chin was involved, getting me to take his place at the last minute."

She nodded knowingly. "The universe conspiring against you?"

"Actually, in this case, I think it was conspiring in my favor."

Cassie looked sideways at him and saw he wasn't joking, so she tucked her hand around his elbow and leaned into his side. "Well, I like to think I have some pull over the universe, given where I work and all."

Danny was surprised into a full laugh. He looked at her and thought about kissing her again, but they'd reached the door and he was pretty sure if he did that, they'd block foot traffic. For awhile. So he steered her out the door and to his car.

"You up for a short drive and a walk? I thought you might like to see a little bit of downtown."

"That would be perfect. We're still doing pizza?"

Danny opened her door and waited until she was settled before he walked around and got in behind the wheel. "We are. At one of my favorite places on the island."

"How did you find it?"

Danny pulled out of the hotel parking lot and headed toward the Palace. "Funny story. So we worked a case a couple of years back, and one of our persons of interest turned out to be a retired cop from New York. He told me about this place, and I've been going there ever since." He looked at her. "You sure you don't want to go to something more traditionally Hawaiian?"

She shook her head. "I've got ten more days here, and plenty of Hawaiian things on the schedule. I'd love to see how Hawaii does New York."

"You'll like this place, I think." He pulled the car into his normal spot outside the Palace. He was fairly certain they wouldn't run into anyone from work, but even if they did, Danny wasn't sure he minded. He nodded out the window. "That lovely building right there is home to Five-0, as well as some other state agencies." He unbuckled his seatbelt and opened his door. She also unfastened her seatbelt and started to open the car door. Danny looked at her and then the door pointedly.

She shook her head. "I can open my own car door."

Danny held up both hands. "I know that, babe. But we're outside my office, and if any of the guys see me not opening your door, I will catch hell."

She waited for him to walk around the car. When he opened her door, she said, "You said the guys. What would Kono say?" She got out of the car.

Danny snorted. "She'd tell me to ask you what you wanted and then kick my ass if I didn't do that." He pointed her in the direction they needed to go. "For the record, I said I'd catch hell. I didn't say they would assume you couldn't open your car door."

Cassie laughed. "Oh, so you're talking about family."

Danny nodded, slowly. "Brothers and sisters, all of them."

Cassie smiled fondly. "It's amazing to find your chosen family, isn't it?"

Danny asked, "Chosen family?"

Cassie nodded. "There are the people you are related to, and they're awesome, but some people become part of your family of choice. They are the people you want to belong to."

Danny thought about it. "Ohana." He looked at Cassie. "The Hawaiian word for it." They walked quietly for a minute, Danny thinking. He said, almost to himself, "You'd like them." Then he kind of shook his head. "They'd like you. You'd all have fun getting together and busting my chops."

"So, you did catch hell for calling Kono last night?"

"She's digging to find out what happened after the call." Danny grinned. "I would have told her, but she ambushed me this morning and has been dropping hints all day. Not telling her anything is way more fun."

"You're incorrigible." She nudged him with her shoulder.

"I told you, it was a boring day."

She laughed and leaned into him again, and Danny enjoyed the feeling of that closeness as they walked. He pointed out certain buildings and shops, and told her funny stories about shopping with Grace just so he could hear her laugh.

When they got to J.J. Quinn's, Danny stopped and waved a hand in a flourish. He opened the heavy wood door and put his hand on her back to walk her in. Inside it was cool and dark, with tiny booths dotting one wall, a long bar down the other side, and tables scattered in between. The hostess, a young woman with strawberry blond hair pulled up in a ponytail, met them with a bright smile.

"Detective Williams! Good to see you." She grabbed a couple of menus. "Would you like a booth or would you rather sit at the bar?"

"Hey, Beth. Booth, please." He quickly checked with Cassie and she nodded.

Beth led them toward the back of the restaurant, saying over her shoulder, "Jack is still talking about the ridealong you arranged for him. He's convinced now that he wants to go to the academy." She stopped in front one of the small booths.

Danny said, "Tell him he finishes school first, and then we'll talk."

"Mom will appreciate that." She set the menus down and stepped out of their way. "Can I get anything started for you - drinks, maybe?"

Danny looked at Cassie as she slid into the booth. "You trust me?" She nodded decisively. Danny told Beth, "Could we get a Pipeline and the Wailua?"

Beth gave him a look of approval. "You got it. They'll be out in a second."

"Thanks, Beth." Cassie was looking around, and Danny studied her face for a reaction.

She looked back at him and said, "What a great place." She nodded in the direction of Beth at the bar talking to a woman who looked like an older version of the hostess. "You've obviously spent some time here."

Danny leaned back in the booth and laid his hands on the table, fingers punctuating his words. "It's a family place and they're good people. Beth just started college, but she stayed her so she could keep working. Her younger brother Jack wants to be a cop, so every time I come in here, he has questions for me. Maggie and John came out here from New York about twenty years ago, before the kids were born." He waved a hand which looked like a dismissal. "This place reminds me of home, and it's nice to have that." But Cassie knew that gesture was more an indication of how important his words were to him. "I wish I'd found it sooner, because moving here was not easy." He shrugged. "And I'm glad I didn't, because it would have been too easy to plant myself here every night and forget where I am."

He looked up to see a woman carrying two glasses towards their table and looked at Cassie. "Ah, by the way, sorry in advance."

Cassie gave him a questioning look but before she could say anything, two pints of beer appeared on the table and Danny stood to give the woman a hug. She patted him on the back and said, "Good to see you, Danny. Now introduce me."

Danny grinned and as he slid back into the booth, he said, "Maggie, this is Cassie Wallace. She's here this week bringing East Coast joy and cheer to our little corner of the Pacific. Be nice to her and maybe she'll drag her co-workers over here for lunch this week." He looked around the busy, crowded restaurant and said off-handedly, "Sure looks like you could use the business."

"It's a good thing I like you." She patted his shoulder. She reached out to shake Cassie's hand. "Maggie Quinn. Welcome to Honolulu. This your first time to Hawaii?"

Cassie nodded. "It is."

"Well, you've got one hell of a tour guide here."

"I'm getting that. And I'm so glad this is one of my first stops. I have a feeling it could be... informative."

Maggie threw her head back and laughed. "I'm sure I could tell you some stories."

Danny sighed and said, "But you like me, so you won't."

She lifted one shoulder. "We'll see." Turning back to Cassie, she asked, "How long are you here for?"

"Not quite two weeks. I'm here for work, so mostly it's meetings and events."

"And rocket launches." Danny chimed in.

"Balloon launch." Cassie corrected him with a roll of her eyes as he grinned at her. "With a small rocket on it."

"Ah, you're one of the NASA group."

Danny murmured, "By the way, she knows everything that happens in this town."

"I tend my own bar, Danny. Of course I know everything that happens around here." She looked at Cassie again. "They were in here over the weekend, said they'd just gotten into town."

"The ground team. They came out a few days early to get adjusted to the time difference."

"They were nice young people." She gave Cassie a frank look. "And how long have you known our Danny here?"

Before Danny could intervene, Cassie said matter-of-factly. "Not quite 48 hours. We kept running into each other, and decided it was in our best interest to take the universe's hint."

Danny cleared his throat and Maggie finally looked at him. "You brought her here for your first date?"

He heard Cassie smother a laugh, and he sighed, "Yes." He held up a finger, looking at Cassie. "For the purposes of getting out of this conversation, this is our first date."

Maggie gave him a long look. "Well, then." She turned. "Cassie, would you like to order something off the menu, or would you like to go with what Danny usually orders?"

"I'm good with what Danny's having."

"Don't I get to decide what I want?" Danny waved a hand at Maggie.

"No." She smiled at Cassie. "You two enjoy your date. Cassie, it was lovely to meet you; I hope we get to see you again." She gave the back of Danny's head a soft thwap and said, "Make sure you take her for something other than pizza while she's here."

She walked away as Danny gave her a crisp, "Yes, ma'am." He looked at Cassie, who was still trying not to laugh, then looked down. "And that is why I never bring dates here."

Cassie stilled, but Danny didn't notice and she didn't ask for him to elaborate. It meant something that he'd brought her here, then, and that's all she needed to know. So she took a sip of the porter Danny had pushed in front of her. "Oh, that's good. Local brewery?"

Danny nodded. "If you'd asked me six years ago if I thought Hawaiian beer was a thing, I would have said no way. But these guys know their stuff." He gave her the other beer to try.

She drank and nodded and said, "Okay, that one is good, too."

"Which would you like, the porter or the wheat?"

She squinted a bit and tilted her head, thinking. "You got the porter for me, didn't you?"

He huffed a laugh. "Yes, coffee girl, I did."

She smiled brilliantly. "Thank you." She took another drink of the porter. "God bless whoever thought of putting coffee and beer together." She set the glass down and said, "So, tell me about your boring day."

Danny hesitated, taking a long drink of his beer, trying to work out how much detail he should give her.

Cassie tapped the table with one finger to get his attention. "Hey, Detective." Danny looked up at her and she cocked her head and her forehead wrinkled up in a worried question. "If you don't want to talk about it, because you'd rather leave work at work, I get that. I imagine dwelling on the stuff you see isn't great for long-term mental health. Just don't not tell me because you think I can't handle it. If you get to a point where it's too much for me, I will let you know."

She leaned back and the worried look disappeared replaced by a look that Danny was pretty sure preceded some kind of fun trouble. "Besides, I intend to tell you all about my job in glorious detail. Briefings with congressional staff, budget passbacks, so many meetings - oh, and wait until I get to the white papers."

Danny looked at her, shook his head like he was disappointed, and said, "And I after I gave you coffee beer." She grinned at him, completely unrepentant. He decided that he wanted nothing more at that moment than to pull her out of the booth and find a dark corner somewhere, but getting caught making out in public wasn't really his style, so instead he told her about his day.

He wrapped up the story as their pizza was delivered, noting that their cases usually weren't this easy. She nodded as she grabbed a slice of pizza and said, "Easy or not, it still sounds like a good day."

Danny took a slice. "Yeah, it was."

Cassie asked, "Is it weird having a skill that you hope you never have to use?"

Danny realized that there wasn't any judgement in the question, just a curiosity about how he saw his work. He thought about it and then said, "I do wish I never had to use the skills I have. If the world were such that I didn't need to be a cop, I'd be fine with that." He shrugged. "But I've seen enough to know that won't ever be the case, and I'd rather be the one using these skills than to hope someone else will step up and do it."

"Is it going sound too cheesy to say that I wish the world didn't need you to do this job, but I'm glad you are?" Danny raised his eyebrows and she shrugged. "I may seem like a hardcore DC bureaucrat, but I'm really a total sap."

Danny waved one hand expansively. "It's always nice to hear praise from our adoring public."

Cassie wrinkled her nose. "Eh, adoring might be taking it a step too far. I'd say quietly appreciative."

Danny snorted. "In that case, tell me about your day, NASA."

Cassie leaned back. "You know, it really was a good day. The meetings were just meetings, but the students I talked to were so much fun."

Danny listened to her talk about the great questions the kids had asked, and how excited they were about space. He realized at some point that they had been talking for an hour and he hadn't noticed time passing. Maggie brought them the check, which turned into an argument, which Cassie won. And Danny thought might really enjoy losing arguments to Cassie.

After dinner, he took her to a little beachside bar so that he could watch her sit there in the light of the brightly colored paper lanterns, eyes closed listening to the music and the surf, looking delighted. She opened her eyes and saw him watching her, and she studied him back for a moment. Then she leaned over and kissed his cheek, lingering against him for a long second.

"Thank you, Danny." He tilted his head in question, and she added, "For this. For dinner. For…" She breathed deep. "I'm just so damn happy right now, so for that." She leaned into him, putting her head on his shoulder, and Danny wrapped an arm around her. They sat quietly for a minute or so, then Cassie said, "I'm really comfortable, and I'm really happy, so I'm just gonna fall asleep right here, okay?"

Danny chuckled softly, trying not to jostle her. "Come on, babe. Let's get you home."

She burrowed her face in his shoulder. "Sorry, Danny."

"Nothing to be sorry for. I've done the trip enough times to know that the jet lag takes a few days to get over. Besides, I find you to be utterly adorable like this."

She lifted her head to glare at him, which just made him laugh. He pulled her to standing, then held her hand as they walked to the car. When they got to the car, he opened the door for her and made sure she was inside. As he walked around the car, he pulled out his phone. Before he started the car, he sent a quick text to Steve.

"Everything okay?" Cassie asked. She'd fastened her seatbelt, but had also turned so that her knees were tucked up and her head leaned against the seat.

"Yeah. I told Steve that I'd stop by his house on my way home," he looked at her pointedly, "because I knew you were going to fall asleep on me again." She crinkled her nose at him, and he grinned. "If I kiss you right now, am I going to get hit?"

"If you kiss me right now, you might be late getting to Steve's."

"I'll take that chance." He leaned over and cupped her chin, pressing his mouth to hers. She shifted forward and wrapped a hand around the back of his neck. Danny couldn't remember the last time he'd made out in a car, but he thought there was a reason it was a time-honored tradition. Or maybe it was just the woman he was with.

His phone rang and, really wanting to swear at Steve, Danny pulled back. He leaned his forehead against hers. "I am so sorry."

"S'okay. It's Steve, isn't it?" Danny nodded. "You should answer it."

He did, mostly worried that they'd caught another case, but Steve was just checking in to see if he really wanted to come over. Danny could hear, even though his partner's words denied it, that Steve wanted company. He told Steve he was on his way and hung up the phone.

Cassie watched him, her head against the seat, and when Danny hung up the phone, he reached out and brushed her hair back from her face just to touch her. He said, by way of explanation, "Long story, but Steve…" He searched for a way to sum up Catherine and Steve, but when he paused too long, she finished his sentence.

"Steve needs his friend right now." He nodded and Cassie reached out to touch his hand. "Then you should go."

Danny said, "Can I see you again tomorrow?"

Cassie smiled softly. "I'd really like that." Then she laughed. "I promise to stay awake until at least 10."

Danny ran his fingers over her cheek and then down the side of her neck. "Honestly, I don't think I'd mind you falling asleep on me as long as I get to spend time with you."

She leaned into his touch and sighed. "I wouldn't mind that either."

Danny kissed her one more time, drove her back to her hotel, and went to go be a good friend.