My Name is Gladiator
By: Dean's Leather Jacket
Chapter Twelve: New Haircuts and Reunions
Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii Five-0… if I did… I'd be able to come up with more creative disclaimers.
In next to no time, it was Wednesday.
Pen and Steve were standing outside of the joint base of Pearl Harbor (Navy) and Hickam (Air Force), where inside, on a random tarmac, a random plane would take Steve to Coronado, California, the west coast base of the Navy SEALs.
Pen was really trying to keep her cool, but the longer he held her in his strong, safe arms, the harder it was getting to be not to burst into tears.
"All right, so, you and Em are all set up in my house. You have the use of my truck. You know how to use the gun, and Ram is happier than a pig in shit. If there's anything else you need, ask Danny or Kono or Chin, please?"
"Sure thing, Mom," Pen teased.
She hadn't been at all surprised when Steve pulled a Glock out of a drawer in one of the tables by his bed. Just in case, he had said. Pen knew her way around a gun, thanks to having a best friend as a cop, and she was actually a pretty decent shot. At least at the firing range she was. If she ever actually had to use it on someone, who knows if she'd ever be able to pull the trigger.
"You know I don't want to leave you," Steve said suddenly.
"I know," Pen breathed, feeling the floodgates about to open up. "I don't want you to leave me either."
"I'll be back before you know it. You've got school for the rest of the week and your cousin to entertain. You don't need me around."
Psh. What a lie. Pen needed him like she needed oxygen to fill her lungs to stay alive. That realization scared her a little. That "love" word flitted around the caverns of her mind again.
"Oh!" Pen exclaimed, remembering something. She reached into the pocket of her Bermuda shorts and pulled out an object. "I want you to take this with you."
It was a time-honored tradition, both realized, for a lady to give a token to her man before he went off into battle. Usually, it was a scarf or necklace. This time, it wasn't any different.
"Your necklace?"
Pen always wore a St. Michael medal with her father's wedding ring (from his marriage to her mother). It was probably the most important object to her, in her possession.
"St. Michael will keep you safe. And so will my dad."
"But you always wear this."
"Yeah, it just means you'll have to bring it back to me… and soon," Pen smiled.
Steve returned it, and crushed her to him, his lips colliding with hers.
Take this in, Pen, she thought. It may be a while before you get any more. Before he can hold you again. Before you can hear his voice… look into his eyes…
Oh Jesus. Hot, salty tears were starting to roll down her cheeks now.
She pulled away and tucked her head into his shoulder so he couldn't see her bawling like a baby.
Too late.
"Hey… hey…" he soothed, pulling her away from his shoulder. "No need for that."
"I'm sorry," she croaked, as he began brushing the offending drops away with his thumbs. "I'm so lame."
He chuckled and kissed her sweetly. Silently telling her she definitely was not.
"You better go now. Or I really won't be able to handle this," she warned him.
Steve tried to muster up a reassuring smile to his face, and with out saying another word, he walked on to the base, flashing his military ID at the guard to admit him entrance.
Pen didn't stick around much longer. She really didn't want to embarrass herself by becoming a crying, blubbering mess. Pulling Steve's truck keys out of her pocket, she beat feet to the blue monstrosity. Slowly but surely, she eventually made her way back to the highway and headed into the city for a final exam she had to give.
Steve was pretty sure a part of his moral fiber had just wilted. He had done some sketchy things as a SEAL, but this act left him wondering where his senses had gone. He was such a fucking liar. But he had a mission to complete, and he had to stop thinking and start doing.
After making a stop in to see a buddy of his in the Navy/Air Force Intelligence Office, he went back out the front gate and hopped into the awaiting Camaro; Danny behind the wheel.
Steve sat in the passenger seat (yes, the passenger seat), and just stared out the windshield.
"You sure you want to do this?"
Steve sighed, remembering Pen's tear stained face. His heart clenched, the gaping hole in his stomach expanded, and he felt the weight of her token around his neck.
"Yeah, let's get this the Hell over with."
The faster he got it done, the faster he could get back to Pen.
"I've checked over your new rental place… just off the H1. Everything's set. Dave Monroe is rigging up some fancy do-dad camera for me too," Danny reported.
"Good… good…" Steve said.
"Do you need to go anywhere before heading out there? Need to pick up a rocket propelled grenade launcher or something?"
"Yeah, take me to the nearest barber shop."
"What… the fuck… did you do to yourself?"
"You don't like it?"
"It's… it's…"
"Stop the presses. Danny Williams is speechless," Steve joked.
Danny had been leaning against the Camaro, waiting for the SEAL to finish doing whatever he was doing, and when Steve stepped out of the shop, he barely recognized the guy.
"Seriously… what the Hell?" Danny asked again.
Steve ran a hand through his new 'do.
It was a mohawk.
Yes, a mohawk. He had had the barber leave everything else a buzz cut length (to match his beard growth) and a short strip of his dark hair stayed longer in the middle. A member of his SEAL team had kept his hair like this for tons of missions, claiming it was good luck (it really was, the bastard never even got nicked!), and Steve thought it might be an interesting way to try and keep himself unrecognizable. He guessed Danny didn't like it judging by his reaction.
"You look like a thug," Danny commented.
"That's the idea," Steve replied.
"Why this style?"
Steve explained about his SEAL buddy and tacked on another reason.
"… and some of the paratroopers in World War II did it before they made the jump into Normandy on D-Day. They thought they'd look scary to the Germans."
Danny shook his head and rolled his eyes.
"Whatever, I don't think you're going to run into the German army," he mumbled, throwing up his hands, pushing away from his beloved Camaro, and climbed into the driver's seat.
As Steve situated himself into the passenger side, his thoughts shifted back to Pen. What would she think of him now? What would she think of his hair? He had a feeling she would appreciate his nod to the boys of D-Day. He guessed he'd find out her true reaction when this whole op was over.
"Wow… some paradise you have going on here. It's so beautiful. No humidity. Sure it's a bit too warm at times, but you've got the ocean, the beach, hot men… the list could go on." Emily was practically gushing. The two cousins had decided to take a walk on one of the public beaches in the city after Pen was done with giving her final and Pen could already tell her cousin couldn't get enough of what she was seeing. They had walked around the city a bit too with Ramses in tow. He didn't look very pleased he was the only male in this group, but he went along with them anyway. Pen could tell that he really missed having Steve to play with him.
Steve.
He had only been gone for a few hours now, but it already felt like an eternity. Pen didn't know how the Hell she was going to be able to survive through this. It really was a good thing her cousin was around or she probably would have already gone a little crazy. Months of that man never leaving her alone had a negative impact on her when he actually wasn't around her for extended periods of time.
Every once in a while, Emily would stop and duck into some random shop or other that was along the boardwalk. For lunch they had some random cuisine, Korean tacos of all things, and for the rest of the afternoon, they walked along one of the beaches. Ramses was enjoying the attention of the random little children coming up to pet him, and Emily was enjoying squishing sand between her toes.
Emily had lagged behind a few steps, having stopped to pick up a seashell. Pen turned and walked backwards, laughing at how excited she looked. Emily looked like she was ten again, back on Popham Beach in Maine, having found a really cool shell.
Pen was so wrapped up in Emily's retrograde back to elementary school, that she didn't even pay attention to what was behind her, and backed smack dab into someone. A really solid someone.
Pen immediately whipped around.
"Gosh I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed, and then stopped dead.
"Really, it's fine," the man that she had run into assured her, and then he looked up and stopped dead as well.
"Charles?"
"Penelope!"
Pen felt her stomach drop down into her butt. Holy shit. What in the hell was he doing here?
"Wow… small world," he joked lamely. Small world in-fucking-deed. Why was this happening to her?
"I forgot that I had heard you were down here," he spoke again. He was being civil to her. The very last time he had spoken to her, he had been nothing but an asshole. He was still an attractive asshole though, and Pen hated to admit that to herself. His blonde hair was neatly cut short, not a strand out of place as it had always been. He had those piercing sort of ice-blue eyes that worked wonders in the courtroom… and in the bedroom. He wore royal blue swim trunks and had a surfboard stuck in the sand next to him. Still toned and tall and bronze. Like Adonis. God damn him.
God, this was awkward. Pen didn't know what to say to him.
"What in the Hell are you doing here?" Emily asked (solving the problem for her) as she magically appeared at Pen's side. She had taken Ramses' leads a while ago, and now he stepped in front of Pen and started growling at Charles.
"Shh… Ram. It's fine," Pen hissed at him. He immediately stopped but didn't move from his protective stance in front of her.
"Ah… Em… how's it going?" Charles asked, still trying to be friendly.
"It's Emily, and I would really like for you to answer the question," her cousin shot daggers at him.
"I live here," he responded.
Pen felt faint. She legitimately thought she was going to pass out.
"You live here?" Emily asked, incredulously.
"Yeah, moved here a couple of months ago. I was offered a senior partnership at a law firm here. Couldn't pass it up… nor could I pass up the locale."
God, this fucker had been in the same city as her for months and she didn't even know it. She didn't like not knowing something like that.
"Well… good for you. We were just leaving," Emily said scornfully and grabbed Pen's arm to lead her away.
"It was nice seeing you, Penelope," he called after her. "Maybe I'll see you around?"
The very thought made her skin crawl and bile churn in her stomach.
When the three were a good distance away, Emily handed Pen Ramses' leash, and the professor walked ahead, expressing the need to take a minute to collect herself. Emily had already pulled out her phone and dialed Danny by the time her cousin had walked away.
"What's up, cuz?" He said in greeting.
"We kind of have a problem," Emily admitted.
"What is it?" He asked, suddenly sounding very concerned.
"It's that asshole, Chuck as you liked to call him. He's here, in Honolulu, apparently has been for a couple of months. And it sounds like he's here permanently."
Danny was glad he had been sitting in his car, which was parked in front of Steve's new rental place, or else he probably would've collapsed to the ground.
"You're kidding me?" He breathed.
"Nope, just had a nice little meet-and-greet with him at the beach."
"Tell me."
So Emily recounted her part of the conversation to get Danny up to speed.
"Son of a bitch."
"Yeah... he better not come near her again or you might have to arrest me for assault," Emily told him.
"Nah… I'd get arrested first for murder."
"I feel like Steve should know. Lord knows, Pen probably won't tell him when he gets back."
"You're right," Danny admitted. "I'll tell him about it…" and as an after thought, "… when he gets back."
"All right… well… that's all. I just thought you should know. Just in case you have to come and arrest me."
Danny chuckled
"Thanks for letting me know, cuz. I know you'll keep an eye on her. Try and enjoy the rest of the day, and I'll see you guys for dinner."
Danny hit the end button and sat in the driver's seat for a second. And then he started pounding furiously on his steering wheel.
He couldn't believe that pansy ass little fucking asshole was in Honolulu! Was it him or was this world shrinking every second? What in the Hell was that miserable little puke doing in Hawaii when there was a whole 2.9 million square miles of the continental United States he could live in?
He had to tell Steve. Wait… should he tell Steve? His partner didn't need any unnecessary distractions before going into the arena and risking life and limb. But then… if he were Steve… he would want to know.
Danny had just been about to crank the engine over and leave when he got the phone call from his cousin. He could see Steve in the window of the kitchen of the small house, making God knows what to eat. All he had to do was go back in there and tell him…
Right… go in there and tell a highly trained Navy commando that his girlfriend's bastard ex-boyfriend is in town.
Danny sighed.
Jesus, what the Hell do I do?
Danny decided against telling Steve… for now. He figured he could tell the guy after the operation was over. If there were any issues that arose while Steve was under, Danny could handle it.
The ex-Jersey detective found himself at dinner later that evening, just he, his cousins and Grace.
"I miss Uncle Stevie," Grace had commented at the beginning of dinner, a pout to her cute little face. Pen agreed with her goddaughter's sentiments. Grace had not been happy either when Steve had calmly told the little girl that he was going to go away for a while. She hadn't understood at first why Steve had to go, but eventually she got it.
The foursome was sitting in Grace's favorite diner, which was the same diner of which Grace loved to go to breakfast. This was the ultimate greasy spoon time place, and Pen loved it. Judging by the look on Emily's face as she took in the 1950's themed restaurant, she loved it too.
"This milkshake is fantastic," she kept saying, almost after every sip from her vanilla shake. Danny and Pen kept glancing at each other; sharing amused looks.
"So…" Danny spoke up, after he had given Grace some quarters to go play Mrs. Pacman on the machine in the corner. "Little birdy told me you ran into a certain someone today."
Pen shot an excusatory look at Emily who just shrugged.
"Yeah? It's no big deal. He's been around here for months and we're just now running into each other. It won't happen again, I'm sure."
"I wouldn't count on it," Danny said. "That guy is a disease. He pops up everywhere when you don't want him too, and he won't leave you alone."
"Kinda like herpes," Emily deadpanned.
"Exactly like herpes," Danny agreed, with the same seriousness.
Pen had to laugh a little. Herpes.
"If he just happens to show up again, where ever you may be, you let me know."
"And what are you going to do about it, exactly?" Pen asked him, slightly worried to know the answer.
"Don't you worry about it," he told her, which only made her more worried.
There's no way she would see him again. Pen was going to stick with her own thoughts. Charles had been here for months, and she was only now running into him. It would probably be another few months before she saw him again, if ever. Nah, she wasn't going to see him again.
That night, Steve lay in the bed of his rental place, wide-awake with no hope of falling asleep anytime soon. He had his hands propped under his head, and he stared at the ceiling, trying to pick out patterns in the spackle. The bed was lumpy and hard. Uncomfortable. And he felt so alone without Pen sleeping next to him. He would give anything to listen to the sound of her breathing, a sure thing that would help him fall asleep.
But no. He was doing this to himself because he felt it was right. This was seriously not one of his more bright ideas, but he couldn't deny that he didn't feel a rush whenever he had fought an HPD officer.
Steve was a man. Obviously. And men were fairly simple creatures; he'd admit that. Sex and violence. They were very real, base, primal urges, and Steve was seriously jonesing for some ass kicking. He was probably what one would label as an "alpha male" and this alpha male needed to dominate.
First thing tomorrow, he was going to set himself up in the Maika`i Gym, a boxing place that was clear across town, away from where Five-0 was headquartered and Pen, in the seedier part of the city. What better place to get established than in a sketchy part of the city that bred criminals?
For the fifty-seventh time, Steve closed his eyes to attempt to sleep. This time though, he imagined being back home, in his bed, with Pen wedged against him. Maybe they had just finished an incredible session of love making (which really had been incredible), and she was draped across his chest, running her fingertips along his arm, which he liked when she did. Maybe her curly hair (which had gotten a bit longer since they had started dating) was laid out across his chest, a bit tousled from their activities.
I love you.
He should have said it to her before he left, instead of being a wuss and whispering it to her when she had fallen asleep. What if something did happen to him on this op and he never got the chance to tell her?
Nah, he couldn't think like that. He may seem reckless and like he had a death wish. The truth was though, since his dad died (and therefore was essentially an orphan), he had zeal to live and bring down his parents' killers. And now that he had met Pen, he wanted to live… to be with her. And he had the best damn partners anyone could ever have… and he wanted to live for them.
So no, there wasn't going to be any ending up like poor Victor Freeman. He was going to kick ass, and he was going to bring his killer and this Emperor person, to justice.
The house was silent. Pen hated the saying "silent as the grave," but that pretty much described how quiet everything was around her. Ramses was downstairs, most likely sacked out on his pillow. Emily was down the hallway in Steve's sister's old bedroom, asleep. And Pen… well, Pen was alone… in Steve's bed, wide-awake.
She lay on her side, facing his side of the bed, hugging his pillow to her, trying with all of her might to imagine that it really was him. But the pillow was too squishy to be Steve. It sure smelled like him though, which helped.
I love you.
Shit, maybe she should have told him before he left. What if something happened to him before she could tell him? Training missions were training missions, but they weren't completely free from danger. Pen knew she should have told him the night she first realized it. She knew she should've!
Pen heaved a sigh and burrowed deeper under the covers. They were practically over her head, but she was nice and toasty on the inside. Ever since Steve had left her, she had actually felt cold. Cold! And then, Charles showed up out of the fucking, clear, blue sky, and made her feel absolutely arctic on the inside.
She should've known that something like this was bound to happen. Whenever she was happy, the universe went out of its way to throw a curveball at her, and present her with an obstacle to overcome. But… such was life, right?
Tomorrow was another day. Another day to give out a final. Another day with her cousin. Another day closer to summer vacation. And another day without Steve.
Pen could almost feel him with her. Feel his strong arms around her, his soft breath ruffling her hair, the rise and fall of his chest, and the steady and sure beating of his heart. They hadn't really had a chance before he left to have a repeat of the night of the charity ball, but Pen was already planning for them to not leave this room for days upon his return.
She glanced up at the alarm clock on the side table and groaned when she saw it was 2:30 in the morning. 7 a.m. was going to come sooner than she wished, but it was going to be Thursday… and then Friday… and then the summer!
A/N: God, guys I'm so sorry! I'm such a failure! I've been keeping this from you for a long time. I've had it written since before school ended (which was way back in April or May). I just, it's kinda filler. And I felt bad because I felt like the last few chapters have been filler, and you guys deserve some action. So… I'm going to get my crap together, and get this thing rolling again! Some of the behind the scenes pictures are pumping me up for the new season so… I'm gonna see what I can do. I give you all permission to send me messages to light fires under my ass to do something!
Also, the mohawk bit, if you want a point of reference, Google Johnny Messner in Tears of the Sun. That's my inspiration for Steve's mohawk. I think Steve could pull it off and still look hot?
Sorry about the Charles bit. This making your character suffer thing is kind of fun! So, when I think of Charles, a point of reference would be Chris Hemsworth aka Thor. That man is fine!
