Chapter 9:
"Hey Danny! Just calling to check in. Haven't heard from you in while. Hope everything is going well. Um. . .Listen, Danny, we really need to talk. . .about everything. I know what I did was-. . .I crossed some major lines-er-well more like borders." Steve chuckled nervously into the phone. ". . .and. . .um. . .Kono said you got the files and the recordings from the interviews I was put in, but. . .um. . .I just really need to talk to you about it. Um. . .Call me when you get this. . .anytime. . .any day. . .okay, I'll talk to you later. Bye."
Steve grimaced at the lame message he just left as he hung up his phone and set it down on the side table. He sat down on his recliner in his living room. He leaned forward, forcing out a big sigh and placing his face in his hands. He ran them over his face and through his hair. He looked up and then turned to glare at his phone.
Danny hadn't been to work in 3 weeks, which was fine. He had been granted time off, due to the circumstances. Steve knew Danny needed to spend time with Grace. And he needed to be away from work, for the time being. It was probably best that he spent time away from Steve as well.
Steve furrowed his brows and looked ahead to stare at a wall as he continued to think. He hadn't been able to talk to Danny at all. He had called and left messages on the third day of Danny being away. Danny hadn't returned any of them. The only way Steve knew that Danny was okay was because Kono strode into HQ everyday with news of Danny from texting him either the night before or that morning.
Danny was shutting him out. He had to be extremely angry with him for the actions he took almost 7 months ago. Steve hadn't been given the chance to explain things to Danny. Danny did have every right to be mad, but Steve needed that chance.
Steve bit his lower lip. He hoped Danny would call back. . .and soon too.
Completely engrossed by his thoughts, he jumped when he heard his phone ring. He quickly grabbed it.
"Hello?" He answered, his voice full of hope.
"Hey."
Damn, just Kono. Steve scratched the side of his head. "Hey, Kono. What's up?" Steve replied, keeping his voice even, but Kono knew him all too well.
"Expecting someone else, huh?"
Steve smiled weakly. "Yeah, but no big deal. What's up?"
"Nothing, really, just calling to talk."
Steve wasn't sure if he wanted to talk to Kono right now. He really had nothing to say.
"Do you want to talk?" She asked.
"We can talk." He replied quickly.
"Okay."
Steve could hear her waiting for him to say something and he needed no more urging.
"Ugh! Okay. . .so. . .I know Danny's mad at me because of the whole situation that happened over the course of 6 months and I haven't been able to get a hold of him or explain anything to him, mainly because he wont answer my calls or my texts and I just feel like absolute crap because. . .I just know that. . ." He paused, sighing deeply. "I just know that we aren't okay. . ."
There was silence over the phone as Steve finished. It continued for another moment before Steve became embarrassed over his outburst. That wasn't like him at all.
"Wow, boss, I didn't know you were feeling this way."
"Kono, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. . .just. . .burst out-"
"Steve, hey, don't worry about it. I'm surprised he hasn't talked to you yet. He still doesn't know what happened?"
"I don't know. You said he has the files but I don't know. It kills me to think that he still doesn't know. I really want him to know where I was coming from when I did. . .what I did. It was to protect Grace. . .and Danny too, I guess."
He could hear Kono smile over the phone. "Do you want to talk about it, Steve?"
Steve hadn't talked about the incident to anyone. He had written the report, had an interview with the governor and a judge and that had been the end of it.
"We don't have to. . .I just thought that-"
"No, no. I think it would be good to talk about it."
"Okay. Um. . ."
"What?"
"Well. . .would I be able to tell Chin? I know he's been wondering about it, too."
Steve weakly smiled. "Call him up. I'll explain everything to the both of you."
"Awesome. K, hold on."
Steve waited as he heard some taps and clicking noises. Then, he heard the ringing.
"Hey, Coz. What's up?" Chin's voice sounded into the phone.
"Hey, Chin. I'm here with Steve."
"Hey, Chin." Steve smiled as he heard the voice.
"Hey, Steve! What's up guys?"
There was a moment of silence over the phone.
"Guys?"
"Steve's ready to talk. About. . .you know." Kono finally said.
"Okay. Um. . ." Chin paused. Some shuffling was heard in the background. "Yeah. Let's talk, Steve."
Steve took in a deep breath. "It started about 7 months ago." Steve paused thinking back to it all. "It was when Seth made contact Danny. . .no, actually it was before that. . .ugh! I don't even know where to begin!" Steve rushed out frustrated, slightly overwhelmed by the task at hand now.
"Just take your time." Kono said.
"Yeah, Steve. Just start where you think is a good place to start." Chin added. "We can keep up. We're smarter than you think."
Steve laughed as he heard Chin smile over the phone. "I know you guys are. . .um. . ." He took in another deep breath. "I had been working on this case since Seth escaped from the raid that day we shot his cousin, Brandt. I looked into Seth's life. I tried finding details that would lead us to find him. So. . .when he contacted Danny that day, I knew exactly where Seth was within 30 minutes of Danny running around, trying to abide his requests when Danny knew Seth had Grace. That's what Danny needed to be doing. I'm not blaming him. . .I'm not blaming either of you guys. . .everyone did what needed to be done, when it needed to be done. You guys did right by looking into where Seth was and helping Danny out." Steve paused and swallowed.
"After I found out where Seth was at with Grace, I alerted a SWAT team. They responded and we went to the warehouse. When we got there, we snuck in. I saw Grace. . .tied up and. . .she had tears in her eyes, but never once did she cry." The memories of that day flickered in his mind so vividly. "I jumped down from the upper level and landed near Grace. That's when the fire fight started. Members from SWAT jumped out to help me. I turned to grab Grace, but. . ." He trailed off for a second. "Seth shot her."
He heard Kono gasp over the phone and Chin took in a steady breath.
"I did my best to stabilize her, in the middle of gunfire and fighting. And that's when the fire started."
"Holy crap. This is with the Benzene, right?"
"Yeah. The warehouse was full of barrels of it. It only takes a spark. . .especially with Benzene." Steve paused and swallowed. "With all the flames and smoke, and still with the gunfire, I knew I had to get Grace to safety. By the time I was able to look around, Seth was gone, along with a lot of his henchmen."
Steve took in a breath as he remembered the scene. In his mind's eye, he had lifted Grace and carried out away from the warehouse that started to burn. Steve set her on the ground a safe distance from the warehouse and ensured they were safe. He called out for help and applied pressure to Grace's wound as she choked out and gasped for air.
"S-steve!" Her small, whispered voice rang loudly in his ears as he heard soft crackles of the flames behind him.
Steve leaned over. "Gracie, you're gonna be okay. Everything's going to be okay." He felt Grace's hand grasp onto the sleeve of his t-shirt as he held his hands over her wound.
"You'll be okay, Grace."
"It hurts. . ." Grace breathed out.
"I know, babe, I know. Hey, will you tell me about some songs you listen to. . .you listen to One Direction, right?"
Grace nodded.
"What's your favorite song by them?" Steve was desperate. . .he needed to keep her going.
". . .beautiful. . ." She whispered.
"Yeah, right, right. Can you tell me how that one goes?"
Steve saw her take in a breath. "You're. . .insecure. . ."
Steve smiled. "Don't know what for."
"You're. . .turning. . .heads. . ." She faltered a little, grimacing at the pain.
"When you walk through the door. . ."
His heart lightened as he saw her smile widely and let out a small chuckle.
"Sing with me." He said.
Steve smiled with tears in his eyes as he brought himself back to the present. "Grace was bleeding out. . .she was going to die." He paused. "She would've died if the medics didn't arrive sooner. She went into surgery and while she was in surgery, Seth called me. . ."
"He did?" Kono asked surprised.
"What did he say?" Chin added.
"He said that he was glad Grace was dead. . .Danny would know how he felt when Danny killed Brandt. He also said that he'd be back. . .and that was it. I didn't correct him with Grace because, well. . .because I knew that it would keep her safe. . .does that make any sense?"
"Yeah. If he thought she was dead, she would be safe." Kono restated.
"Yeah, you make sense, Steve. We follow." Chin chimed in.
Steve sighed in relief and continued. "After that phone call, I went to call Danny. . .he didn't pick up. That's when I called you guys. . .and on the phone, right then and there, I knew that Seth wouldn't stop. He would keep up his hunt until Danny was in as much pain as he was." Steve paused to swallow. He hated that he had to lie to everyone for so long. "I know I lied to you guys, and I am so sorry."
"No, no. Steve, you did the right thing." Chin said. "That's how I feel, at least. If you had to lie to save Grace, personally, I would want you to do it again."
"I totally agree with Chin. And. . .I don't view it as a lie, I just see it as. . .you were doing your job. You had to keep Grace safe." Steve could hear Kono smile into the phone.
Steve smiled weakly. "Thanks guys. So. . .yeah, that's basically what happened. The doctor came out of surgery and said she was stable. I called the governor and some other. . .higher up people and was able to get grounds for. . .a witness protection like thing. The fire ended up working in our favor. . .you know, because Benzene burns at such high temperatures that it can't be put out by water. It kinda has to flicker out on its own. . .thank God it burns fast, though. Anyway, you know the fragments of skull the police found after the fire was out?"
"Yeah. . ."
"Well, they belonged to some missing persons. . .and I thought it would be better to let Danny believe that Grace also died by the gunshot wound and her remains-I don't know. . .if he believed it, so would Seth."
Steve paused for a moment. "It killed me to see him the way he was. . .everyday. . .and then listening to Grace every so often-"
"You spoke to Grace during the 6 months?" Chin asked. "Isn't that. . .like, a big no-no in witness protection programs?"
Steve smiled. "This was under different circumstances. . .that little black cell phone I had. . .did you guys ever see it?"
"If you had one, you did a pretty good job keeping it hidden, 'cuz I didn't see one." Kono responded.
"Yeah, me either." Chin added.
Steve grinned. "Remember that day. . .I said my sister, Mary, called?"
"Yeah." Kono and Chin replied together.
"That was the woman who stayed with Grace for the 6 months. . .like Grace's body guard. . .one of her many." Steve paused. "Any way, the phone was specially designed. It was immune to viruses, bugs, uh-calls or other things that might try to intercept the calls that were made to me. . ." He paused again. "It broke my heart equally to hear Grace's voice every night crying for her father. . .to see him, to hear him. . ." Steve trailed off for a second. "I'm just glad it's all over and everything is. . .kinda back to normal."
"Have you ever thought about talking to someone about this. . .like a therapist. . .I mean, this must have been so hard for you, Steve. And to do it on your own?" Chin asked.
"I don't need a therapist. . .I just need Danny to hear me out." Steve said quietly as the phone call slipped into a short silence.
"Why didn't you tell Danny that Grace was really alive?" Kono asked. "I'm mean, I get that if he believed it, Seth would believe it. . .but was there another reason besides that?"
Steve had thought about that for a while. He had finally come up with an answer a few days after Seth had shot Grace. "Because. . .I knew that Danny would stop at nothing to see Grace if he knew she was alive. Not a court order, prison bars, or even a gun to his head would've stopped him. . .he would've found Grace and. . .I know that if that happened, Seth would've killed them both."
There were a few moments of silence.
"Have you talked to Danny?" Chin asked.
"No, I haven't. . .like I said to Kono earlier, it kills me to think that he still doesn't know everything."
"He will. And he'll appreciate it when he finally does know the full story. . .give him time. Remember, what he's going through is tough right now. He thought he lost his daughter and he's been without her for 6 months. He'll come around when he's ready." Chin said, reassuring him.
"Yeah, and I bet he doesn't even know what to say to you. Maybe he just feels that a 'thank you' isn't enough. He'll be back and things will go back to normal." Kono said.
"Yeah, if he ever talks to me again." Steve said depressingly.
"He will. He has to. We work together. It'll be hard to do the job and not talk about what happened." Kono chuckled.
Steve knew she was right. "Thanks. You guys are awesome." He said into the phone.
Chin and Kono turned the subject to other matters. Steve listened as he thought about Danny.
A slight doubt lingered with him. Kono's words were helpful but they didn't seem to ease his worries. He and Danny would talk eventually. It would just take time. They would talk. He just had to be patient.
