Ho'okahi, Chapter 9
Danny sat up on the side of his pull-out couch. "What do you mean, 'he's disappeared'?" He reached for his pants, holding the phone beneath his chin. "How the hell did you manage to lose him?" he yelled back at the doctor.
"I'm on my way to the hospital to find out," she admitted. "He was there at midnight for the nurse's check, but was gone at two. They searched. He's not there."
"OK, I'll send Chin to the hospital. There are security cameras, aren't there?"
"Yes, on the entrances. I didn't think of that. I knew I shouldn't have trusted him."
"How so?" Williams asked, standing and pulling up his pants.
"He conned me into taking out the catheter."
"Sounds like a typical McGarrett move. How did he even make it out of there on that leg?"
"Not easily, I can tell you that. And he hasn't had any pain meds since earlier in the afternoon. All right, I'm pulling in the parking lot. Sorry I yelled."
"I'll start looking for him and bring him back," Danny told her. "I'll call you when I find him."
~~~H50~~~
The house was dark, but Danny was banking on the fact that Steve came home, so he inserted his key into the lock and pushed open the front door. Before he could register alarm, he was roughly grabbed and shoved face-first against the front wall, his own gun yanked out of the holster and jammed into the base of his skull.
"Hey, McGarrett, you moron. It's me."
Then he realized Steve didn't remember him. "It's me, Danny. Take it easy, man. Geez, my ribs still hurt."
Instead of backing off, the pressure on his body increased when Steve slumped against him. But the weapon was lowered.
Danny heard the ragged breathing in his ear and tried to shimmy out from the other man. "Hey, you OK?" he asked, pulling his Heckler & Koch from his friend's hand and placing it back in the holster.
McGarrett propped his hand against the wall, dropping his head on his outstretched arm, breathing heavily. "How…how'd you get a key to this house?" he finally managed to ask between gulps of air. He had tried for a menacing tone, but even to his own ears, he sounded pretty pitiful.
Williams closed the front door and turned on the light, getting his first close look at Steve, not liking at all what he saw. "We're partners. You gave it to me," he calmly replied, reaching out to grasp McGarrett's arm. "Come on, sit down before you fall down."
Steve pushed off from the wall and jerked away from Danny's hand, limping across the room holding onto every piece of furniture he passed. "Can't sit," he mumbled. "Might not get back up." Holding onto the wall, he turned and disappeared around the corner into the dining room, not stopping until he reached the kitchen.
Danny took off after him. "Hey! Where you going? Sit down, you idiot. And I must say, my compliments to your tailor."
He flipped on the kitchen light and took a closer look his partner who covered his eyes from the sudden light. "Jeez, McGarrett, where did you get those clothes?"
Steve leaned against the kitchen counter propped on his elbows, his head bowed down, easing some of the weight off his injured leg. He was sweating, breathing heavily and had trouble even speaking. "Down the hall… man in hospital. Looked like he… wasn't gonna use them for a while."
"You are unbelievable," Danny said, with a shake of his head. He took in how Steve was shaky, pale and sweating, panting instead of breathing. "OK, I insist. We are going back in there and you are going to lie down. No arguments."
"No," Steve shook his head, and then winced as the movement ratcheted his headache a couple of notches. "M' good." To him, the lie sounded convincing enough.
Danny thought otherwise.
"In what universe could you be considered 'good'?" he yelled, watching as the other man winced. "Now, stop arguing with me." He tugged and grabbed Steve's arm, wrapping it around his own shoulder. "How you even got here is beyond me."
"Taxi. Whoa…" He listed to the side and leaned heavily on Danny, swallowing convulsively. "Room's spinning."
"No doubt."
Danny took as much of his weight as he could and forced Steve into a slow walk back to the living room, both of them limping on gimpy legs. He had one hand tightly holding onto Steve's wrist, the other, grasping the back of his pants, prepared to drag the taller man, if necessary. "I can't believe any upstanding taxi driver would pick up something that looked like the cat dragged in. Or hacked up like an ugly hairball. Especially in front of the hospital. What was he thinking? And how the heck did you pay the cab fare?" he asked, continuing with his rant. "Certainly not on your good looks because right now, with all your purple bruises my friend, you could pass for Barney, the idiot dinosaur!"
"Nurse… gave me wallet and phone. And house key. And this." Steve reached his hand into his pants pocket and pulled out his badge for Danny to see.
They finally reached the couch and Danny turned them around so they both could sit. A very uncoordinated move, but he managed to get his partner down on the sofa. He lifted Steve's arm and scooted out from under him before Steve melted into the back of the couch. He stood up and then told him, "Be right back." When he returned, he carried a couple of pillows and blanket, holding his phone in the other hand. He dropped one pillow on the end of the sofa and spoke into the phone. "Chin, I've got 'im. Like I suspected, he came home."
"Spotted him limping out the front door on the video feed. Tell me, what the heck is he wearing?"
Danny laughed. "I'm guessing your video feed is black and white. You should see this butt-ugly shirt in living color. The yellow and brown plaid really sets off the nice hue of the pea green work pants. And it all blends together into one, colorful McGarrett bruise."
"Ow!"
"Danny? What's wrong?"
Danny whipped around and glared at McGarrett. "Mr. Personality just threw a pillow at my head."
"Hey, the doc is here and I think she wants to talk to you."
"Joy."
"What was that?" Dr. Palakiko retorted.
"Nothing, Doc. I found your wayward patient."
"How bad does he look?"
"Well, it's not pretty, and he's totally exhausted, but other than that, about the same. There's some blood on the bandage on his arm. Can't see what his leg looks like, but he's managing to hobble around on it."
"You can tell him that yesterday's explosion was nothing compared to the one he'll be hit with when he next sees me."
"I, ah, OK. What do you want me to do?"
"Just keep him immobile if you can. It's late, so I'll check him out in the morning. If he's not dying at the moment, I can't see any reason to haul him back here right tonight. Make him rest and call me if anything happens."
"I can do that. See you later. And tell Chin I said thanks." He disconnected his call and picked up the pillow from the floor, fluffing it before tossing it back onto the couch.
"Where'd you get those?"
"The pillows? Hall closet. Like always."
Steve glanced around the dimly-lit room. "Seems you know more about this house than I do."
"You'll unlock your brain soon. Speaking of, Doc says stay put and she'll see you later in the morning. If you have any flame retardant clothing, I would suggest you wear them because she sounds like she might peel the hide right off your bones."
"Pissed?" Steve sighed, once again leaning back against the couch, rubbing his forehead with his hand.
"Oh, yeah."
"I couldn't stay there," Steve tried to explain, letting his arm drop tiredly back down to his side. "Nothing… seems real. I can't..." He glanced up at Danny and shrugged. "Can't explain it."
"Come on, give yourself some time," Danny warned, helping Steve turn to lie down so that his head was on the pillow. He took the other pillow and placed it beneath his partner's leg. "You were blown up less than 48 hours ago. Your head has a reason to be wonky this time."
Steve squinted to get a better look at Danny through his fuzzy eyesight. "Were you there, too?" He pointed to the cuts on Danny's face and neck. "Noticed you limping earlier."
"We were all there, and we'll all be fine."
"So everyone tells me."
"Hey. Trust us."
"Sorry. Easier said than done," Steve admitted. He reached up to rub his eye before his wrist was snared by Danny's hand.
"Where is that bandage?" Danny asked. "I've never seen eyes so bloodshot. No rubbing."
"I took it off because I wanted to look at something, but… "
"But… what?"
"Nothing." He sighed and closed his eyes in exhaustion. "It can wait."
Danny covered his partner with the blanket and watched as the injured man opened his eyes once again to stare blearily at him.
"Why?"
"Why, what?" Danny asked, shrugging his shoulders.
"Why'd you come?"
"Why did I come? Just because, you dimwit. Because you are my partner. And that's what partners do. Now go to sleep."
Danny barely heard the whispered words, "Never had a partner."
He watched as Steve's breathing evened out. "Well, you do now." He checked to ensure the doors were locked before settling down in a chair beside the sofa and trying to get some rest.
~~~H50~~~
Danny spent the remaining hours of the night lounging in the chair. Not the best few hours of sleep he ever had, but certainly not the worst. He woke periodically, assuring himself that McGarrett hadn't escaped again and that he was still breathing. The sky's deep purple hue was changing to the pink of dawn when he was awakened by a pain-filled grunt.
"Steven? You awake?"
He got out of his chair and moved to his partner who was gasping and struggling to sit up on the couch.
"Hey, what's up? What can I do?"
Steve was gritting his teeth, squeezing his leg above his knee in a vice grip. Finally, he managed to grunt out the word, "Cramp" while breathing through his clenched teeth.
"OK, let me try to help," Danny offered before Steve got a good look at his surroundings.
The injured man startled and glanced wildly around him. "Where-?"
Danny placed his hand on Steve's shoulder. "Hey, you're home – remember? You're OK." He looked closely at his partner. "Remember, you went AWOL from the hospital last night and I got elected to come find you and return you to Dr. Palakiko."
Steve slowly breathed out and nodded. "But you didn't."
"Doc said she would come see you today instead. But that doesn't mean she won't haul your ass back there."
Steve continued to grasp his leg while shaking his head. "Not going." He rocked forward, trying to massage out the cramp.
"Here," Danny offered. "Let me help." He used his fingers to knead the bunched up muscles in the injured leg, trying to relieve the Charlie horse.
"Why are you still here?"
Danny glanced at Steve while continuing his work. "We discussed this last night, but you must have forgotten. I am here, Steve, because I am your partner and that is what partners do."
Steve sighed and eased back down on the pillow when the muscles began to relax. "If you say so. But you must hate it, so why bother?"
"What do you mean, 'I must hate it'?" Danny asked. "Of course I don't hate it."
"Sounds like you don't like me much," Steve muttered, closing his eyes.
Danny continued to knead the cramped muscle. "What the hell are you talking about now?"
"You. Us. Partners," Steve tried to explain. "We must not be a very effective partnership if your favorite word for me is 'moron'."
Danny stopped working on the leg and stared at him in confusion before a small smile crept out. "Steven. Look at me."
Steve slowly opened his eyes, blinked, and then grimaced. "There's three of you, which one do I pick?"
Williams' smile widened and he shook his head. "Listen, I'm sorry, I just didn't think. I'm treating you like I have always treated you, and right now… for a minute space in time," he hastened to mention, "things aren't the same. You aren't the same. But you need to understand," he added, pointing to himself. "I'm from Jersey, and pretty much, what you see is what you get." He grinned with pride. "We can be a rude bunch of people, but I swear, if I didn't like you, you would know it. I wouldn't bother yelling at you or calling you names." With a smirk, he added, "Just look at it this way. 'Moron' is a term of endearment. Come on, man, we're friends. In fact, you were my first real friend on this island."
Steve continued to watch him, and while he wanted to, he wasn't sure whether to believe the man or not.
Danny stopped his massage. "How's that feel?" he asked as he stood.
"Better. Thanks."
"Look, I know none of this seems real to you. Wish there was some way to help, but once your brain decides to cooperate, it will all make sense. We will make sense."
"And if it doesn't?"
"Well, Mr. Positive, can we just give your noggin a chance to heal itself before we go all gloom and doom? Just hang in there."
Steve placed his arm across his eyes and blocked out both Danny and the room. "Whatever."
"I found some Tylenol in the kitchen last night," Danny told him while carefully stretching his own sore muscles. "I'm going to take a couple. How about you?"
"Nah, I'm good now that the cramp is gone."
"Sure you are. Silly of me to think that a building falling on you might hurt," he muttered while padding on bare feet into the kitchen. He took two bottles of water from the fridge and snared the bottle of pills from the counter. As he did so, he knocked against the laptop, causing it to wake up. The screen showed a square box with the words "invalid password" written in red.
"Hmm," Danny mumbled, closing the computer and tucking it under his arm, taking it into the living room as well. He set down his items and left once more, snaring another pillow. Once he returned, he looked at his partner, knowing by the hitch in his breathing that the man wasn't asleep.
"You awake?" he asked.
It took a couple of beats before Steve replied with a muttered "Yeah."
"Then sit up some. I've got you another pillow."
"No, I'm—"
"Yeah, yeah, I know, 'you're good', but sit up anyway. Do you need help?"
Steve huffed and bit out, "No, I can do it myself."
"Then get a move on."
Steve stifled the groan and finally managed to sit up, grasping the back of the couch and dropping his right leg to the floor for balance. Danny stuffed a second pillow behind him and bunched them up so he was propped up when he laid back.
"How's that?" Danny asked.
McGarrett breathed out through his mouth. "Give me a minute for the room to slow down." After a few seconds, he opened his eyes and blinked. "OK, better."
Danny handed him an opened bottle of water and shook three Tylenol into Steve's palm. "Take them," Danny ordered, pouring out three more for himself. Danny swallowed his own and watched Steve.
"And no funny business, like hiding them under your tongue. Swallow them."
"Yes, Dr. …" Steve had the pills halfway to his mouth when he paused, a stricken look on his face. He dropped his hand and glanced at Danny, admitting, "I don't even know your last name."
"It's Williams. Right now, it's Dr. Danny Williams, so take your pills."
"Thanks, Danno." Steve washed the Tylenol down with a couple gulps of water, then glanced at Danny who was staring at him, a goofy grin on his face.
Steve frowned. "What? Now what's wrong?"
Danny shook his head. "Nothing. Do you realize what you just said?"
"Uh… no? I said, 'thanks, Danny'. What's wrong with that?"
"You said 'Danno', not 'Danny'."
"Well… OK, sorry."
Danny's grin got wider. "No, you're not. You never are. Trust me." He shook his finger in his partner's direction. "That brain is working. Just give it some time and things will come back to you. Think you can go back to sleep?"
Steve leaned into the pillows. "Not really." He glanced outside, noticing the early morning sunlight beginning to make its presence known. "Used to getting up early."
"Yeah, I know," Danny agreed. "Hey, I brought the computer in. Noticed you had it on last night. Any reason?"
"No," Steve replied, a bit too quickly. He glanced at the look of disbelief on Danny's face and said, "I saw the computer on the counter and wanted to check something, but… I couldn't remember the password," he finally admitted.
"What did you want to look up?"
Steve closed his eyes, ignoring him. "It's not important."
"Really?" Danny asked. "Must have been important last night. Bet you twenty that I can crack your password."
Steve rolled his head on the pillow and stared at his so-called partner. "Not possible. It won't be anything obvious, I can assure you."
"So, you take my bet?"
"Damn right."
Danny picked up the computer and set it on the coffee table, pulling the table closer to the couch. He moved down toward Steve's feet and said, "Scoot. Make room for me." He perched on the edge of the sofa and laced his fingers together, stretching his arms in front of him. "OK, let's fire this baby up. Now… password." He began typing and spoke the word, "SuperSeal".
McGarrett chuckled. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Nope, that's not it," Williams said. "How about, "SexyEyes."
Steve stared at him once again. "Say what?"
"It's a song. A really, really bad one, but a song, nonetheless."
"I know what it is. Why the hell do you think it would possibly be my password?"
"All I know is that you happen to think it's catchy. But don't worry, it didn't work."
"Trust me, I could have told you that."
"Bossman," he muttered. "No, that's not it, either. OK, here's one. How about 'Uncle Steve'."
"Why would I be 'uncle' anybody? Mary doesn't have any kids." He paused a beat then lifted his head off the pillow, panic mixing with the grimace on his face. "My sister doesn't have any kids, does she?"
"No, she doesn't. But you happen to be 'Uncle Steve' to the most adorable little girl on the entire planet." He reached for his phone and hit the screen to light it up. Turning it toward his partner, he explained, "My daughter, Grace. For some reason that I can't quite fathom, she thinks you hung the moon."
Steve reached for the phone and held it close to his eyes. "Cute," he acknowledged. "But I don't do well with kids."
"So I noticed. But, like I said, this one happens to like you. There is no accounting for taste."
"You're married, then?" Steve asked.
Danny made a face. "Nope. Divorced." He pointed to the phone still in Steve's hand. "Gracie's the reason I came to this hell-hole in the first place. Her mom and step dad, not-so-fondly known as 'Step Stan', moved out here and three months later, I followed. I couldn't stand not being with her. And while Hawaii is not home, I would do it all over again, just to be with her."
Steve nodded, in thought. He still didn't 'know' this man, but he knew enough to realize Danny was dedicated and would fight for what was important to him. Steve wasn't sure where he fit in that scheme of things, but it looked like this 'partner' of his wasn't one who gave up easily.
"Good luck on that password," Steve said, handing back the cell phone. "You're not going to guess what it is. And you'll probably crash the computer after a few more tries."
Danny thought again and began typing another word. "74Marquis," he muttered and watched the screen blink before accepting the password. He pumped his fist into the air. "YES! Got it."
Steve reached a hand up and held it over his ear, wincing at the sound. "You don't have to yell. What's the password?"
"74Marquis. And if I don't yell, you can't hear me."
"What'd you say?"
Danny glanced at his partner and found a smirk on the other man's face. "You heard me. And you owe me twenty."
"Oh. Well, you see, I had to pay the taxi last night, so I'm sort of light on cash right now."
"Good to know some things never change," Danny mumbled. "But on the positive side, that is good news. Your short term memory is intact if you can remember the taxi trip home." He pointed to the computer. "So, tell me what you wanted to look up."
"It's probably stupid," Steve replied, glancing first at the computer screen and then at Danny, an almost wistful expression on his face.
"Hey, you went to a lot of trouble to get home," Danny told him. "And I went to a lot of trouble getting the password. So don't shut me out. Now, come on, what do you want to look up?"
"Are there any news articles about… my dad? Or about Five 0? I… I need some sort of validation. Some way to know who we are… who I am. And I need to read what happened. You, uh, know… about everything."
Danny stared at his partner, seeing past the physical pain that was etched on his face, and looked deeper. He knew Steve hadn't really taken the time to grieve over the loss of his father and realized that for better or worse, in order to heal, that had to happen. He set aside the computer and got comfortable next to Steve, leaning back against Steve's feet and propping his own on the coffee table. "You can search for and read the articles for yourself when you can see again. But, ask me and I swear I'll tell you whatever you want to know. Come on, ask away."
Steve hesitated, and then decided "For starters, I guess, how'd we end up as partners? How did this team begin? Tell me about Five-0."
"Well, let me preface this by saying that the first couple of times I met you, I really hated you. Totally. And I had no intention of ever working with you."
"What changed your mind?"
"What, you ask? Well, let me tell you." Danny's hands began punctuating the air with each sentence that came from his mouth. "You came to my apartment and shanghaied me. That's what happened… First thing you did was steal my crime scene. Standing right there in the garage, you called the governor, stole my crime scene, and then the next day, you showed up at my apartment, banging on the door, standing in the pouring rain and told me… not 'asked me politely', but told me, that I would, as of that moment, be working with you… And I'm telling you, things went downhill from there… Did I mention that you got me shot that first day?..."
~~~H50~~~
