Hiya everyone so I'm so pleased with all the feedback I got back last chapter, it was all amazing! Please continue to send in your amazing reviews because I really enjoy hearing from all of you. I'm going to France on Thursday but I think I have internet and stuff because I'm staying with friends so I should still be able to write.
"Then we won't let them," Danny declared firmly "Steven J. McGarrett is not escaping this pineapple infested hellhole without me."
Kono wiped the last of her tears off her face as she pulled up outside the CSU building. She sat back in her seat, determining she wasn't ready yet as she examined her tearstained cheeks and puffy red eyes in the mirror and tutted herself. This was not a professional look and no way was she going to let the general public-let alone the CSU guys-see her in such a state. No matter what, she was not going to show Danny and Chin how much their words affected her; she was a grown woman, no longer a rookie and she could look after herself. She didn't need her teammates to carry her through every situation and right now she was the only one being sensible and accepting reality for what it was. Steve was dead. There would be time to mourn him later, as soon as they caught the SOB who killed him. What Kono didn't need were her teammates being irrational and wasting their time on a completely useless search for a lifeless corpse whilst their killer got away scot free.
She was not going to let that happen. Steve deserved better. They all needed closure.
It was now late afternoon and the air was hot and humid so that Kono was forced to turn the air conditioning right up as not to overheat. A thin sheen of sweat coated her exhausted body and she knew that the lack of sleep was catching up with her along with the emotional trauma that had been building ever since the incident. It was hard to believe something that had started so happy and relaxing had morphed into a living nightmare. Her façade faltered once more and she had to choke back another bout of sobs as they threatened to spill over her already raw cheeks. Kono cursed her rampant, raging emotions and pinched herself tightly on the arm, trying to rein in and measure her feelings before she lost control again. There was no way she could work at her full capacity if she couldn't even think straight without bursting into tears like a three year old.
Finally, Kono cleaned herself up enough so that she at least looked presentable; looking a little depressed would be forgiven given the current circumstances of which no doubt everyone on the island was aware of. Kono now was certain that the media would have leapt on the story, focussing on the suspected demise of the great Lieutenant Commander Steven McGarrett, Head of the infamous 5-0 Task force. Tonight, when she turned on the radio or the news the headline would be on the horrific disaster that befell the New Hope and the loss of a great hero; the Governor would have to comment and the rest of 5-0 would be harassed into making public statements. She dreaded seeing the CSU people stop and stare at her, whispering to each other and flashing her pitied looks. Kono didn't need their pity; she needed their help, their expertise, all their focus pointed on whoever murdered Steve McGarrett.
With a final deep breath, Kono opened the car door and clambered out; checking her badge was still firmly attached to her skinny hip. The sun glared off the glass doors as she approached and she had to hold her hand out to block the harsh sunlight. Squinting, she pushed open the heavy doors and briskly walked through the reception area; the receptionist barely looking up as she recognised Kono's familiar black boots and light step. Kono flounced through another pair of large wooden double doors and everyone in the room looked up in surprise, obviously not expecting such a bold entrance into the silent room. Most of them proceeded to avert their gaze with hushed, embarrassed sighs as they turned back to their work; trying to watch her through their eyebrows as they kept their heads lowered to the desks. Kono just rolled her eyes and gave an audible tut as she made a beeline for Fong, who had a pained grimace on his face.
"Hey Fong, Max said you had some important information for me?" Kono asked rapidly, keeping her voice as casual and steady as possible.
"Uhhh…"Fong fumbled as he scattered a pile of papers on his desk haphazardly before finally picking a couple off the table and scanned them "The bomb results came back, and I was meant to tell you that we're working on a working simulation of the explosion in the engine room. That should be back soon as well and I'll send it down to your HQ."
"Great work," Kono commented, gesturing calmly toward the papers in Fong's hands "What about the bomb?"
Fong frowned at her with a concerned gleam in his eye, before he looked down at his sheet again.
"It's made with nitrogen and gasoline-basic home grown bomb that anyone could make in their garden shed. The nitrogen has been treated with some kind of agent that we've been unable to identify due to its highly flammable nature, it acted as a kind of catalyst to the explosion and the combustion was more powerful. The gasoline was to create a lot of flames. It appears our bomber intended to burn away most of the evidence before the ship went down as a contingency plan in case water damage wasn't enough. From the looks of things the heat from the blast would have reached possibly a thousand degrees centigrade."
"No one could have survived that kind of heat though?" Kono questioned more quietly, feeling her eyebrows knot together.
"Not usually," Fong replied cryptically, revealing an image of the torched engine room alongside a generated image of the intact one "See that door there? It's a storeroom where most of the tools and main power conduits would have been kept. It seemed that the doorway had been blocked off by something; now originally we thought it could have been the blast wave however…you see those marks? Something was leaning against that, holding the door closed. Nothing in that room would have been large or strong enough to hold that door closed under that kind of pressure and there is no way if there was something it could have drifted out of the hull breech. Unless…"
"It was Steve." Kono finished breathlessly as she analysed the image "So what do you reckon happened?"
"Well, I'd just be speculating," Fong raised his eyebrows and tilted his head "But it looks like Steve managed to get into that room just in time, managed to mostly block the door and then escape through the tear in the outer hull. We found blood traces on some fragments of metal and some of the guys are trying to process the DNA but it was mostly washed away…the problem is if there's blood, it's more than likely Steve's injured and from an explosive impact like that…I reckon probably some high velocity debris. It may be a matter of Steve is bleeding to death."
Kono nodded thoughtfully and handed the images back, trying to hide the thickness of her voice "Thanks Fong, send those over for Danny and Chin to look at. Anything on who our bomber may be?"
"Bomb squad are trying to piece together the last of the detonator and some of the casing but it's a long shot to identify such badly damaged evidence. However…"Fong paused, the flicked over a page of paper detailed 'Chemical Analysis' "…the nitrogen was from a very specific type of fertiliser, only made on a farm on the North side of the Island. It's not a commercially sold product so the ingredients would have to have come from there. Along with some soil samples that were accidently mixed into the compound whilst they were being prepared…some kind of treated alkaline traces that I've unable to be track down so far."
"Thanks Fong, this is brilliant. Please send me this stuff so I can start doing my own investigating." Kono praised with a weak smile, wiping a stray lock of black hair from her face.
She turned to leave when suddenly a hand grasped her shoulder at she spun back her face frozen in shock.
"Look, Kono…if you need to talk; I'm here for you." Fong whispered quietly, staring deep into her eyes "That goes for the others as well. Not to mention that Adam is probably beside himself with worry right now."
Kono froze in realisation and her hand rushed to cover her mouth "Oh my god, I totally forgot to call Adam!"
Without even saying goodbye, Kono rushed out of the room much to everyone's dismay and tore down the hallway. She clattered past the receptionist, who stood bolt upright in fright as she practically fell through the doors and slid elegantly across the bonnet of her car. Jumping into the front seat, she just managed to throw the keys into the ignition and stamp on the accelerator. Tearing down the open road, she finally had time to think of Fong and his gracious invitation.
"Thank you Fong, but I'm not going to need it. Steve's not dead; I can finally feel it."
So uh, yeah. Hope you enjoyed that, I'm still a bit sceptical but I am both impressed and frightened at my knowledge of explosive devices (which I did not look up so if I get it completely wrong I'm sorry). Please review and tell me what you think. I promise major whump next chapter…not to mention the dark things I now have planned for Danny as well…