Family
By
Landon Richardson
Official Disclaimer
The characters of Lieutenant Commander Steven 'Steve' McGarrett, Chin Ho Kelly, Kono Kalakaua, Governor Patricia Jameson, Roland Lowry, Ethan Lowry and Detective Meka Hanamoa, do not belong to me in any shape or form. I am merely using them for my own entertainment purposes.
The character of Detective Sergeant Danielle 'Danni' Williams probably can be considered to be mine by now. Although she was originally based on male Danny, she soon evolved becoming her own person. She has her own background, her own family, her own history and her own distinct personality. This isn't to say that the Danny Williams we all know and love is completely gone, he still emerges through her at times. I like to think of female Danni as what Danny could have been if everything in his life had gone his way. As in full custody of Grace and a decent relationship with his ex.
The character of Grace has also changed slightly due to the change in Danni. Her surname is Taylor as this is her father's surname and was Danni's married name (Danni reverted back to her maiden name when she was divorced). Her parents also are amicable which has also impacted Grace but never fear, she's still the sweetheart we know and love, if anything she's more a sweetheart now.
The character of Supervisory Special Agent Jack O'Connor, Agent Ben Krause, Agent Megan Thurston, Duncan Taylor, Hal Watkins, Eli West, Officer Carl Nelson and Officer Zevran Patel, Lincoln Morris and Austin Johns also belong to me as does any other character who you do not recognise from the show. Please do not use them, or my version of Danni and Grace without first asking for my permission to do so.
Thank you.
Author Note
Welcome to the Eleventh chapter of 'Family'
This chapter and the next chapter are sort of a lull before the storm before the action kicks in.
I find that with every chapter that I write there is more and more issues which arise which I then want to explore further. I know the basics, how the relationships work out, who like who, who becomes friends with who and who just don't get on with each other. All the aspects like that are planned for in advance but how the characters end up that point is something I'm not sure of. Mainly because I've always allowed the characters to write themselves and see where they lead me.
An example of this is with Steve being in charge of the taskforce, he may believe he is but the truth is that he is and that Danni is as equally in charge as he is and he just doesn't quite realise it yet. Which then begs the question on how he will react when he realises the truth or does he already know and is just choosing not to address it with anyone.
See, so many questions to answer!
Anyway, please enjoy the chapter and thank you for sticking with me.
Official Summary
When Steve McGarrett came to Hawaii to avenge his father's death he never expected to transfer to the reserves and stay on the island. He especially never expected to be given his own taskforce to run. Now, with the life of an ex NSA Agent on the line, Steve had to prove his ability to run his team and show everyone that they are here to stay.
Chapter Summary
Danni smiled reassuringly at Toast when his face dropped into a half wary, half suspicious look at Steve's coolly uttered statement.
Overall Romances
Hints of Steve McGarrett / Danni Williams (McDanni)
Hints of Steve McGarrett / Catherine Rollins (McRollins)
Mentions of past Duncan Taylor / Danni Williams (Dunni)
Hints of Ryan Moore / Danni Williams (Rynni)
Meka Hanamoa / Amy Hanamoa (Mekmy)
Mentions of past John McGarrett / Doris McGarrett (Joris)
Michael Landon / Karen Landon (Micren)
Chapter Romances
Hints of Steve McGarrett / Danni Williams (McDanni)
Mentions of past Duncan Taylor / Danni Williams (Dunni)
Warning
This story features a female Danni Williams in place of a male Danny Williams. Although in some stories I write, Danny does exist, he does not exist in this one.
If this is not your cup of tea then please hit the back button.
Another note
I do not have a Beta so please forgive any mistakes which may creep in, I always do my best to edit the story and check it but sometimes mistakes do creep in.
The places I've mentioned in Hawaii are ones which come from google, including the addresses. I've never been to Hawaii myself in person so I apologise for any mistakes which I may make, these are not intentional.
Chapter Eleven
This is unreal Blondie
The Compound
Ka'a'awa valley
Kaneohe Bay
Oahu
Hawaii
Danni Williams's Point of View
Danni smiled reassuringly at Toast when his face dropped into a half wary, half suspicious look at Steve's coolly uttered statement. She couldn't blame him really, Steve was making no attempt to make himself look approachable, if anything he was focusing on making himself look as intimidating as he possible could. It was a method which she knew from experience wouldn't work with Toast, the younger man was skittish around law enforcement at the best of time, probably rightly cautious considering his past experience with them. He had once told Danni during one of his highs that she was the only person in authority that he trusted and Danni needed him to trust her partner as well.
She waited quietly until Toast's eyes flickered over to hers, searching them for a moment before he nodded at her, a small warm smile replacing his previous expression before he turned his attention back to the table he had been working on and began saving something on his laptop. Danni took the opportunity to deliver a sharp jab into Steve's side, waiting until her partner looked at him before she spoke, her voice barely above a murmur.
"Stop it Steve" She told him, nodding her head towards Toast. Steve rolled his eyes at her, but she saw his muscles loosen as he uncrossed his arms, letting them fall to his side in a more relaxed stance. She nodded at him with a smile when his eyes flickered towards her before she turned her attention back to Toast as the younger man stood up, hunching down and picking up a rucksack from the floor beside his chair. He threw it onto the table surface and opened it, stuffing his laptop into it.
Danni couldn't hide the grin which came to her face when Steve saw for the first time that Toast was a good two inches taller than he was. She had the distinct impression that Steve was normally used to being the tallest member of any group he found himself in.
"So, where exactly are you taking me then Blondie?" Toast asked, moving around the chair as he shouldered his bag, his eyes focusing on Danni as he waited for her to answer him.
"Nowhere sinister Toast" She assured him. "We just need to take you somewhere because there's something there that we need you to take a look at for us."
Toast nodded, slowly at her before his eyes moved to Steve, a slight frown coming to his face as his hands tightened on the strap of his bag. Danni followed his gaze, rolling her eyes when she caught sight of Steve's face again. He has crossed his arms over his chest again, his face fixed back into the same unreadable look which turned his eyes dark and cold looking. The look which she had had began referring to as his SEAL look. At the rate they were going they were going to need to start making a visual guide to be able to chart and name all of Steve's different expressions just to see what mood he happened to be in.
"Is that guy okay?" Toast asked Danni, his eyes flickering back towards her with a question look in them. He jerked his head in the direction of Steve to indicate who he meant, clearly unbothered by the fact that Steve was still standing there and could see him.
"He's fine Toast" Danni assured the younger man as she placed her hand on Steve's forearm and squeezed down hard on the muscle, her fingernail lightly digging into the warm skin. She shot him a sharp, warning look when he turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow. "Are you ready to go?" She asked him, keeping her voice polite.
"Yeah I am" Steve answered her, Danni gave him a single nod as she took her hand back, watching as he turned away from them and headed back through the building without a backward glance at them. Danni resisted rolling her eyes once he had disappeared from her sightline and instead turned to look at Toast, attracted by his long drawn out whistle.
"What does that guy do again because there is no way someone like him is a cop like you, or if he is then they should send him off to some classes so he can work on his people's skills because the one he has sucks." Toast complained with a shake of his head. Danni made a sound of amusement at the comment before she lightly touched Toast on the back and pushed him forward.
"McGarrett is the head of the newly formed Governor taskforce Toast. He's also a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy though he's currently a reservist with them so he can focus on doing this instead. So, while he's technically not a cop, he is still part of law enforcement." She explained, raising an eyebrow when Toast snorted at her explanation.
"He's a Lieutenant Commander? More like he's Lieutenant Commander hard ass or Lieutenant Commander no sense of humour? If that is what they are like in the Navy then I'm glad I didn't sign up." Toast stated.
"Toast" Danni replied, trying with difficulty to keep her face straight as they headed through the room, her eyes looking around them carefully, lingering on the other inhabitants of the building who all but ignored them minus a few looks of mild concern and interest which she was grateful for. The last thing they needed to do was waste valuable time explaining to a group of people who were clearly out of their head, where exactly they were taking their friend.
"What?" He asked her, looking back at her, a wide grin coming to his face as he continued to speak. "You know as well as I do that I'm right. I'm so right in fact that its what I'm going to call him now. Commander hard ass and blondie"
"How about instead of coming up with nicknames you watch the road Toast unless you want to fall down." Danni suggested as they made their way down the rocky path towards where the car was parked. Steve was already in the driver's seat, the engine on, staring at the two of them through the window screen with a look of impatience on his face. "Can I give you one piece of advice for you before we get in the car Toast?" She asked him.
"Yeah, of course you can Blondie" Toast said, glancing at her with an expectant look.
"Do not, under any circumstances call him Lieutenant Commander Hard ass to his face, trust me on that" She stated, waiting until he nodded before she waved her hand towards the back of the car. "Get in the back please." She instructed, giving him a push towards it before she twisted round and headed round the front of the car, pulling the passenger door open and climbing in. She took a moment to pull her seatbelt on before focusing her gaze on her partner who had turned to look at her. "Everything okay?" She asked him, keeping her voice low so Toast wouldn't overhear her as the younger man pulled the door open.
"Everything is fine" He stated, his gaze turning from her to look in the mirror. He barely waited for Toast to take his seat or to close the door before he threw the car into the correct gear and did a sharp U-turn. The action causing Danni to glance behind her, directing her comment to Toast who was pushing himself away from the door with a disgruntled look.
"Its probably a good idea if you put your seatbelt on for this journey Toast, Steve likes to use the acceleration pedal a bit too much." She told him, turning back around to the front as they emerged from the dirt road and back onto the main one.
"You know you still haven't told me where we're going or what you even need me for yet." Toast piped up from the backseat after about a minute of silence.
"We're investigating a kidnapping Toast" Danni answered. "And the guy who has been taken has a high-tech computer system at this place which we need to crack but which is beyond our capabilities to hack. We need to see what is on it so…"
"So, you want me to take a look at it and see whether I can hack into it for you so you can see the information stored on it" Toast finished for her.
"That's it" Danni agreed, looking over her shoulder as Toast opened the large bag of sweets, she had given him. She smiled softly when he searched carefully through selection, humming to himself before he pulled out a lollypop which he unwrapped and popped into his mouth. He glanced up at her, noticing her look and held the back out to her with a questioning look.
"Sweet?" He offered, the word coming out muffled around the lollypop.
"I'm okay at the moment Toast but thanks for the offer" Danni declined with a shake of her head before she looked towards Steve. "What about you Steve? Do you want a sweet?" Steve shot her a look which caused her to grin widely at him. He was staring at her like she had offered him poison instead of a simple lollypop. "I'll take it from your look that it's a no thank you as well then" She said lightly, shifting in her seat so she could stare out of the passenger window, her expression falling into a slight frown.
Time was rapidly slipping away from them and it wasn't good. Every moment that passed was yet another moment which Lowry didn't have.
She blinked when her cell phone went off, the sound of the beach boys breaking the quietness of the car. She answered it without bothering to check the screen to see who it was. The ringtone had already told her who was calling.
"Hey Kono, how are things going over there? Any phone calls from the kidnappers come through yet demanding a ransom?" She asked hopefully.
"No, there's been nothing at all yet" Kono answered her quietly. "I'm beginning to think that they aren't going to call and demand a ransom which means-"
"Which means that they are planning on killing Lowry once he's given them what they want. They have no intention of letting him live and probably never did." Danni finished, reaching up with her free hand and rubbing tiredly at her eyes, her mind filled with images of Evan and how he would react to the death of his father.
"Yeah" Kono said, she remained quiet for a second before she started speaking, her voice turning brisk and professional. "I've just spoken to Chin and he filled me in on what happened at the hotel earlier. He said that both he and Jack have taken turns working on Ivanovich but that he was giving nothing away so they are going to take him to the hospital to get treatment for him gun shot wound. They've contacted HPD to let them know what is happening and have requested for some uniforms to be placed outside so no one unauthorised can enter and he can't leave." She informed her.
"That sounds like a good idea to me, the last thing we want is for him to die from his wound while in our custody" Danni agreed. "I'll call Chin shortly about it, we need to make sure the uniforms stationed check every ID and compare the photo to the actual person who is wearing it. It's easy enough to miss something and Ivanovich is a loose end for them now, one which they'll want to deal with as soon as possible. Either they'll break him out of the hospital or they'll simply kill him. Given their time limit they'll probably pick the option which is the easiest to accomplish at the time."
"Which would mean killing him because they'll want to make a quick escape off the island once their business is concluded here. A severely injured man would only slow them down and bring unnecessary attention to them." Kono remarked thoughtfully.
"We need to ID the crew who he arrived with" Danni said. "Then we can supply the photos to the Immigration staff at the airport so they can pick them up before they escape. Can you speak to Jack and get him to contact Interpol, If Ivanovich is refusing to talk to us then we may as well hand him over to the people who have an open warrant out on him, either way the man is about to serve a very long stretch of jail time somewhere." She commented, shrugging even though she knew that Kono couldn't see her.
"Yeah, that's not a problem though, the man deserves to go down for what he did." Kono commented, not bothering to hide the satisfaction from her voice.
"Hey, how are things going with Lowry's girlfriend?" Danni asked, changing the subject. She glanced towards Steve unsurprised to see his eyes flickering between the road and her, making it clear that he was listening in on her conversation.
"Well put it this way Danni-girl, there is definitely something about her which feels off to me, I just can't figure out what exactly it is. She's been attentive towards Evan ever since we arrived back here, trying to make him eat something or at least drink something, consoling him when he needs it and reassuring him. She's doing everything which you would expect someone to be doing if they were in this situation but like you would expect them to act if they didn't know the person. She's not showing any sign of worry or grief herself which considering he is meant to be her boyfriend of a year just doesn't seem right. She should be showing something even if she doesn't show it in front of Evan."
"So, she's showing nothing at all?" Danni questioned with a frown.
"Nothing" Kono confirmed. "She's not even showing anything when she's alone. She is constantly asking me for updates on what the rest of the team are doing but she hasn't asked me what I'm doing, not even when I set up the track and trace on her phone."
"That is strange" Danni said slowly. "Normally the families are obsessed with that because it's the one thing they can see happening."
"That's what I thought as well" Kono agreed. "She hasn't even looked at it, unless she's done it when I was out of the room with Evan."
"Did you give her any details about what the rest of us are doing?" Danni asked her.
"No" Kono answered instantly. "All I've told her is that the rest of you are following leads and that if any of us can find out where her boyfriend is then it will be our team. Have you guys found anything about her yet? Anything that I can use?" She queried as she lowered her voice further which probably meant that Natalie was nearby.
"I haven't actually had the chance to look yet Kono, I haven't been back to the office since we left earlier, but just give me a moment okay, there maybe something which I can do now." She said thoughtfully, waiting until Kono made an affirmative sound at the back of her throat before she lowered the phone and twisted round in her seat. "Hey Toast" She asked, waiting until he looked away from the window to focus on her. "I don't suppose you still have access to the HPD database on your laptop, do you?" She asked, her mouth quirking up into a smile at the way his eyes suddenly widened and skittered away from hers.
"Err the HPD database you say? Well… no, no I mean why would I have access to that on my laptop when I'm a civilian. You have to be a member of HPD to get access to that and I am most certainly not that, at least not when I last checked anyway." He said, his voice coming out in a rush.
"Toast" Danni said patiently. "I'm not going to arrest you okay? I just need to know if you have it because I need you to look up something for me, something which is important okay?"
Toast remained silently for a moment, his eyes moving side to side as though he was trying to work out whether she was trapping him into admitting something he didn't want to admit before he sighed, his shoulders slumping down in defeat.
"Yes, I still have access to that database." He admitted reluctantly, reaching into his bag and pulling out his laptop, opening the lid and powering it up.
"Good, I want you to log onto it and find out everything which you can about a woman called Natalie Reed and I mean everything. She lives at-" Danni brought her cell back to her ear again. "Hey Kono, sorry where does Natalie Reed live again?" She asked.
"We're currently at 6754 Russell Street" Kono answered.
"She lives at 6754 Russell Street Toast" Danni repeated out loud for Toast's benefits. "Don't leave any stone unturned."
"Leave it with me" Toast assured her, his fingers already flying over the keyboard with an intent look on his face before he suddenly looked up with a casual look which placed Danni on edge. "You know it would be easier if you gave me your password Blondie, if I had that then I could-"
"That's not going to happen Toast" Steve responded for her, a tone to his voice telling Toast not to push it any further. Danni smiled when she heard the sound of frustration Toast made from the back before she turned her attention back to Kono who was still waiting on the phone.
"I've got someone looking into her right now Kono, as soon as they find anything then I'll call you okay?" She promised before she suddenly frowned, her gaze landing on the clock which was in the dashboard. "Kono, you're running out of time to get back to HPD for your graduation. Why don't you call Chin and ask him or Jack to take your place at Natalie's house so you can head back to headquarters and get ready for it." Danni commented. "If you leave now, then you can still make it back there with some time to spare. The ceremony isn't for another hour and a half."
"It's cool sis" Kono answered her, a warm tone coming to her voice. "There are more important things at stake right now. Me walking across a stage to collect a piece of paper can wait until we find Evan's father alive. I appreciate it though Danni, just give me a call if you find anything, I'll hold down the fort here until I hear otherwise. Speak to you later."
"Speak to you later" Danni confirmed before she ended the call on her end, looking down at the handset for a moment with a sinking feeling in her stomach. She looked up at Steve when he spoke.
"What did Kono have to say to you then? Has something happened over there?" He asked her as he hit the indicator pulling into a street to the left of them.
"She was just checking in with us" Danni answered. "The kidnappers haven't rung with a random demand yet. Lowry was taken over two hours ago so the chances that they will contact the family now"
"Is zero" Steve finished for her flatly. "Which means that Lowry is seriously running out of time, especially if he has already broken and is doing whatever it was that they wanted from him." Danni nodded, her eyes dropping to Steve's hands as they tightened on the wheel before she looked back up at him.
"If he has broken Steve" Danni said softly into the silence which had fallen after his words. "There is still a chance that he hasn't yet and we are beginning to make progress now with the case. We know why he was taken and we know what gang took him. All we need to do now is find out where they have taken him."
Steve nodded slowly, tilting his head to the side slightly so he could look at her with the same look in his eyes which she had seen a few times from him but which she still couldn't read fully.
"What did Kono say about Chin and O'Connor?" He asked.
"She said that Chin had just called her to give her an update on everything. They've tried to break Ivanovich but he hasn't told them anything just like you said he wouldn't. It sounds like his wound has gotten worse so they've taken him to the local hospital for medical treatment. Chin spoke to HPD and have made arrangements for uniforms to be stationed outside the room to ensure that no one who isn't meant to comes to pay him a visit. I've asked Kono to contact Jack to get him to contact Interpol so they can bring him into their custody but since you were listening in to that part, I'm sure you already figured that out."
"Send Kono a text Danni and ger her to ask O'Connor to find out if Interpol know who Ivanovich ran with. A crew like the one he is part of are going to be extremely close and have probably been working together a long time." He instructed her in a commanding voice.
"Okay" Danni replied, turning her attention to her cell phone and swiftly writing the text as Steve requested. She sent it, looking back towards Steve when he spoke again.
"So, everything is coming down to us breaking the code so we can see exactly what it was that Lowry created and what it can do. We have no idea if it was a full key or whether it could only do certain things due to it being a prototype." He commented, his eyes flickering away from her towards the mirror so he could look back at Toast who was ignoring their conversation as he worked.
"So, it would see" She replied following his gaze before she spoke quietly again. "He's very good at what he does Steve, trust me on that, Toast will understand the code and he'll break it and give us the answers we need."
"I hope you're right Danni" Steve said.
They drove in silence for a few minutes before Steve pulled the car to a stop outside of Lowry's house again. They exited the car and made their way back to the gates, nodding at the two officers who were still there before Danni unlocked the gate and held it open for Steve and Toast, stepping back and allowing them through before she followed them, closing the door behind them.
"This is a nice place." Toast commented with a whistle as he looked around him with an impressed look on his face.
"You can look around the place later on" Steve remarked coolly. "Right now, we need your mind focused on looking at the code and breaking it for us."
Toast rolled his eyes at the comment before he nodded, standing up straighter.
"Okay, take me to it then, I'll see what I can do with it" Toast replied, directing his comment towards Steve.
Danni raised an eyebrow, looking between the pair of them as Steve nodded at the other man and led him down the path towards the main house. She glanced around her, her eyes lingering on the corners of the garden for a moment before she followed them into the house, heading towards the living area they had been in before,
She watched as Steve headed across the room to the bookcase, pulling it open before he stepped back and made a gesture at Toast to enter. Danni followed him into the small room and looked around her again, a small smile coming to her face when she saw the way Toast's eyes widened at the sight. He looked as though he was in heaven.
"Whoa" He said, dragging the word out as he took the seat in front of the computer screens, his eyes moving across them all as he pressed on the enter button on the keyboard, bringing up the same screens which Steve had looked at earlier. "Okay your kidnapped dude whoever he is has seriously made himself one sweet ass setup here. He clearly is someone who knows what they were doing." Toast commented, sounding impressed.
Danni breathed out slowly, turning and looking towards Steve who gave her a pointed look before he looked back towards Toast, clearly expecting her to deal with the Hacker and to keep him focused on the task at hand.
"Roland has a lot of experience when it comes to computer systems" She explained to the younger man. "We need you to look at this and tell us what it is. It might be our only chance of being able to find him Toast"
"Plus, it's only national security so it's not as if it's anything important." Steve added, a tinge of sarcasm to his voice. Danni closed her eyes briefly before she turned and shot him an unimpressed look, waving her hand at him to quiet him. He shrugged at her, remaining quiet.
"How about I take my time and do it right unless you want me to just guess because I can do that though I doubt you would like the results" Toast remarked, turning to look over his shoulders at Steve, raising a challenging eyebrow at him. Danni blinked in confusion as they got into a staring match, neither of them clearly wanting to be the first to look away and back down.
"Guys" She said sharply, waiting until they both turned to look at her before she continued speaking. "Could we perhaps focus on what is important here please, you can have your pissing match later on when Roland is back with his son and safe."
"Of course, Blondie" Toast replied, turning from them both and focusing his attention back on the screen, his eyes scanning them. "Any chance I could have a smoke?" He asked hopefully.
"No" Danni replied, her mouth quirking up into a smile when she heard Steve give the same answer at the same time as her.
"Very harsh Blondie, I expect it from Lieutenant Commander hard ass over there but not from you." Toast commented lightly.
"Toast, focus on the task please" Danni said, biting down on her lower lip to keep from laughing when she caught sight of Steve's face at Toast nickname for him. Her partner looked ready to leap forward and shake Toast until his head tattled. She moved over to him, patting him on the back, attracting his attention back to her. "We need him alive remember" She told him softly. "You trying to make him self combust with the power of your glare really isn't helping the situation at all so rein it in."
Steve looked down at her before he sighed, making a point of rolling his eyes so she could see it.
"Yes Mom" He said, his eyes flicking to the corner of his eyes as though he was trying to see her reaction, his mouth was twitching as though he was trying not to smile.
"Don't call me Mom" She replied back instantly.
"Okay then, yes Danno" He corrected himself, the smile escaping him.
"Don't call me Danno either Steven" She stated with a glare at him. Steve tilted his head to look at her, his eyes glinting with amusement as he opened his mouth to reply when Toast suddenly spoke across them, attracting both their attention to him.
"No freaking way" He exclaimed loudly. Danni took her hand away from his back and moved towards Toast, her mind slipping back into work mode She stopped beside him, looking down at him with a questioning look.
"What is it?" She asked, "Have you found something which we can use Toast?" When Toast remained silent, she glanced back towards Steve before looking back when the younger man finally spoke.
"This is unreal Blondie, like Unicorn style unreal" Toast remarked with a shake of his head.
"Unicorn style?" Danni repeated in confusion sharing another look with Steve who merely shrugged at her in response. She sighed, looking back at Toast who has gone back to staring intently at the screens in front of him. "Toast" Danni said as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "I have no idea what you're talking about right now so you're going to have to explain to me what you've seen okay?" She said, patting his shoulder.
Toast glanced down at her hand before he looked up at her and grinned causing Danni to roll her eyes at him as she pulled her hand back.
"Okay, let me explain it to you" He said slowly, leaning back in his chair with a thoughtful look. For a moment he remained still before he moved, running his hand over the top of his head, his eyes moving side to side before he spoke. "I've heard rumours about this guy online but I always thought that he was an urban legend, you know like Vampires or big foot or something like that."
"Vampires?" Danni said flatly.
"Yeah you know what vampires are, the undead who suck your blood." He explained.
"I'm well aware of what a Vampire is Toast. I just don't see what they have to do with this conversation." Danni told him impatiently.
"Because this guy whoever he is, is the same guy who hackers aspire to be like. He's literally the best of the best. There were rumours going around that he was working on something, something big which would change everything if he managed to pull it off but like I said it was just a rumour, no one really believed it but-" his voice trailed off for a moment before he shook his head and continued. "But it's not a rumour Blondie, he's actually gone and done it. This man" he said jabbing his finger at the screen. "Is an absolute legend."
"Okay so Roland is a legend in your community" Danni said, glancing towards Steve when he moved towards her and stopped beside her, his gaze intent on Toast. "But exactly has he done which has impressed you so much because I know you Toast and you're not someone who gets impressed easily over stuff like this."
"What he did Blondie was build a skeleton key. A skeleton key in this case is basically a worm which can bypass asymmetric encryption on high grade security networks and it also allows remote access to infrastructure systems." He stated.
"So, it's just like what O'Connor told us" Steve remarked,
"It appears so" Danni agreed with a sigh, reaching up and rubbing at the back of her neck trying to ease out the sudden tension in her muscle. "Toast can you give us an example of what it can do?" She questioned.
"Yeah I can do that" he said, typing away on his keyboard as he brought up what looked like a grid of some kind. "Here, check this out" He told them, nodding towards the main monitor.
"That's a rendering of the power grid of the entire island of Oahu" Steve stated, leaning towards the screen, resting his hands on the surface of the desk. "And that one is the radar array of Honolulu International airport." He informed them, pointing to the other screen as he tilted his head to the side so he could look at Danni.
"Just like Jack said again" She said, repeating Steve's words from earlier as her heart sank, her mind already skipping over all the possibilities which would now be open to whoever was in possession of that key. They could do anything, literally anything and they wouldn't know about it until it was too late. "Toast, what do you make of all of this then?" She asked him.
Toast shrugged in response as he nibbled at his lower lip, his eyes moving between the screens, all of which were showing a different set of grids and maps.
"I don't know yet Blondie, I'd need more time with the systems to figure out exactly what the guy did but you're talking about places with heavy-grade asymmetric encryptions, that kind of system is the best of the best. It would take me weeks to hack into them but your boy Roland did it in days and he made it look easy as well. Trust me when I say that its not easy to do what he has done here."
"And he managed to do all of that by using this computer?" Steve demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.
"No" Toast replied thoughtfully with a shake of his head. "What you're seeing here are the archives of his logs, you know, a sort of reference for him to look at to show him what he's already done so he doesn't waste time repeating himself. The skeleton key itself wouldn't be in this drive, he would have been keeping it somewhere else." He explained as he stopped the keyboard back onto the surface of the desk and coming to his feet, his eyes looking around him in a searching manner before he moved to another hard drive to the side of them which seemed to be missing a component to it. "If I had to guess then I would say that her stored the actual key in here and that he disconnected it and took it with him somewhere. Everything would have been on that."
"He probably took it out this morning when he was on his way to Hickam to meet up with the General. It must have been what he was going to hand over." Steve stated with a frown.,
"So now we know for definitely what he was doing which means that right now we, and the island of Hawaii, are in a world of trouble" Danni said.
"We aren't yet Danno, the key hasn't been activated yet which means that we still have time to find it." Steve answered.
"You're right" Danni agreed, interlocking her fingers together and pressing down hard, using the pressure to focus her attention back to the issue at hand. "So, Roland has created something which could be used to hack into the island infrastructure?" She said, running it through her mind.
"Yeah Blondie, he could legit hack into anything he wanted to as long as it was reliant in some fashion on technology, which this day and age is everything important." Toast corrected her, leaning back against the desk. She nodded her thanks at him before looking at Steve when he spoke.
"It would explain why he was kidnapped, whoever has him wants to use the key for something and they knew that the only way to do it was for him to do it for them." He turned his attention to Toast. "Okay Toast, I want you to stay here and carry on looking through this and see what you can make of it. Will you be able to tell from here whether the key is brought online?" He demanded.
"With the way it is right now I can't" Toast replied simply. "But give me twenty minutes and I can use what's here and my laptop to create something which will allow me to do that here."
"Good crack on with that then" Steve said with a nod before he turned to Danni. "Danni, me and you are going to head back to headquarters to meet up with Chin and O'Connor to see what they have. Hopefully Kono has spoken to O'Connor and he'll have something to tell us about the group who Ivanovich has been running around with recently. If we can figure out who they are then it will be easier for us to locate where Lowry is."
"Sure" Danni agreed before she turned back to Toast who had pushed himself away from the desk and taken his seat again. "You've got my number Toast, the minute the key comes online please call me okay?" She asked.
"The minute I know is the very minute you'll know Blondie, you've got my word" He promised her.
She watched for a second as he stretched his arms out in front of him, interlocking his fingers together and cracked them before he shook them out and began typing, both of them clearly forgotten from his mind as he focused on his task.
"Come on Danni, it's time to go" Steve said, reaching out and gripping her arm, using the hold to pull her towards the door. "We've got a job to do."
Author Note
Thanks for taking the time to read. An especially big thank you if you have left me a review, favourite the story or decided to follow it.
I really appreciate it