Steve approached the two birds with trepidation, a condition making him feel slightly ashamed. His mind kept telling him it'd been weeks since his last episode. His nerves simultaneously told him it was a helicopter ride that brought it on and they weren't making a short trip to Diamond Head. Moloka'i was twenty-five miles away.
Lou strolled up beside him. "Here eat this," he commanded handing over a ginger candy. At Steve's questioning expression he added, "Renee restocked our supply.
"Thanks," Steve said quietly.
"Yup. Now how about we get this circus on the road."
Though still disgruntled he couldn't be one of the pilots, Steve climbed aboard feeling better. Kono and Jerry sandwiched him in on the rear seat. Jerry's equipment out across from them. Lou, Chin and Danny rode in the second chopper, guarding Valentine. Jerry helped take Steve's mind off the trip by coaxing the commander into practicing the conversations Jerry planned to use as lures for their targets.
The altitude changes forced Steve to continually pop his ears. He relinquished the driver's seat to Chin for their trip into the camp. Valentine, an observant bastard, picked up on the underlying current.
"There something wrong with him? the killer asked Danny, "cause if there is, we are going to have problems with Bagosa. We need all the manpower we can get."
"He's fine," Danny replied succinctly.
Valentine rolled his eyes. "You need to be in top form going up against Bagosa is all I'm saying."
"Why don't you let us worry about that while you worry about him getting to you before we get him," Danny snarled, effectively shutting the other man up.
By the time all the targets had vacated the camp, Steve was fighting fit. It was a good thing too as he was the only one on the team to get into a physical altercation with the hit men. Landing on the ground after flying through the window knocked the wind out of him for only a second. He immediately fought his assailant, his movements quick and smoother than ever. He would reflect later and attribute it to his daily exercises.
It didn't take long to cuff and gather all the crooks, handing them over to the local police for processing. The FBI would be involved in short order. They took Nick Mercer back with them to Oahu. The guy may have had a change in perspective but he still needed to answer for his crimes. At least on Oahu, the team could vouch for his cooperation.
If the day hadn't already been long enough, Steve finds himself in the air once again, this time on a privately owned Boeing 777. It belongs to a friend of a friend of a friend who happened to owe Steve a major favor. That's the story he tells Danny and will go to his grave swearing it's true. It was a small thing to cash in on the debt. Danny had been frantic at the thought of transportation to Columbia. "One simply doesn't take $18.5 million dollars onto a commercial flight in their carry-on, Steven."
Danny's only comment when they arrived at the airport was, "I'll gladly take 'classified' as a response to my unasked question."
The large plane allowed them the freedom to move around which was a good thing as Danny couldn't stop pacing. Steve tried a couple of times to get Danny to sack out but gave up, realizing it as futile. Thankfully, Steve wasn't having any issues other than being bone tired. He checked on Danny one last time and succumbed willingly to sleep.
Steve woke to the sound and jar of the landing gear locking into place. He tried to stretch but was hindered by a weight on his leg. He raised his head enough to see his partner's head pillowed on his thigh and said partner was drooling. He jiggled his leg a little. "Hey, Danno. Rise and shine, we're about to land."
They are pushed for time so they hit the ground running. It's amazing what adrenaline can do for a body. They made it to the address Reyes gave them with little time to spare, a fact the drug dealer pointed out quickly. Steve stayed quiet, hiding his symptoms from Danny. This was so not needed right now. He kept his shit together in order to make sure Danny kept this shit together. Again, adrenaline is amazing.
The pilot didn't blink at the oil drum that replaced the duffle bags. She was paid way too much to be asking questions. Steve settled Danny into one of the four seats still in the plane and excused himself to the lavatory, positive Danny didn't notice his absence. Not really the place he wanted to do deep breathing but he sure as hell wasn't going to add to his friend's burden, besides on the positive side if he started throwing up, it was convenient.
He must have been in there longer than he thought because the door was being wrenched open and he was facing an irate partner. "What the hell, you stupid son-of-a-bitch! Why didn't you say something!" Steve threw up on Danny's shoes.
Danny managed to get Steve out to the main cargo area and seated with one of the two buckets he'd found sitting on his lap. Danny used the other bucket and some bottled water to clean his shoes and the floor. He rejoined Steve in short order. "How you doing?"
"Better," Steve managed.
"Liar," Danny accused.
"Maybe."
"You know, as far as distractions go, this one's a doozy."
"Hey, I try," Steve said on the exhale.
"Go big or go home, huh?"
"Something like that."
Danny had left Steve sitting on the floor, leaning against the seat because the seats were fixed and there was no way to recline. "You wanna move up to a cushion?" he asked gently.
Steve debated for a moment. "Yeah, this floor is getting harder by the minute."
Just as he managed to control fall into the seat, the plane lurched with turbulence. Danny grabbed the seat back and armrest in an effort to stay upright, he barely succeeded. The pilot's voice echoed in the bay, "You guys might wanna buckle up. We've hit a storm front and it looks like we're in for a bumpy ride for a while." Steve will never admit he whimpered and Danny'll back him up on that.
"Okay, this is how it's going to go. You, babe are going to stay right where you are while I'm going to empty and rinse both these buckets. You will not toss your cookies while I'm doing this. I will then come back here and join you. At that point, you are free to utilize the bucket as you need though I'd rather you'd refrain from doing so as I am sure you would also. Are we in agreement on this plan of action?" Danny declared. He interpreted Steve's tight lipped groan as a yes.
Danny compared his self appointed task to the time he'd let his siblings talk him into going into the new fun house that had just opened on the boardwalk. He really didn't care for them but he gave in under the pressure of three sets of puppy dog eyes pleading with him. He vividly remembered the shifting floor, the spinning tunnel and the padded maze. Right now, he felt like he was back there again except he was carrying buckets instead of Matty. Matt had gotten scared about halfway through when the clowns popped out of nowhere. He'd leapt into Danny's arms and clung to him like a limpet. Danny didn't have the heart to make him get down. Oh, god! Matty!
Danny relished the feel of the pair of strong arms that wrapped around him, holding him tight and secure in a warm embrace. He let himself gradually relax into his best friend as he listened to the soothing cadence of Steve repeating, "I've got you, buddy," over and over.
It could've been minutes or hours, he wasn't sure, till he got his act together enough to notice they were sitting on the floor, inches away from the seats. Steve was holding him much like the way Danny held Grace when she needed comfort. He blushed to the roots of his hair but Steve didn't seem to notice or he was ignoring it. It was most likely the later because Steve is exceptionally observant.
"I think we've found a cure for your episodes. Your partner just needs to have an emotional breakdown and cry all over your shirt," Danny joked to break up what he considered an awkward moment.
"I'll gladly go through a hundred episodes if it meant you'd never have to go through another breakdown like this," Steve replied earnestly.
"I know you would. That's why I love ya, babe."
Steve pulled back a little. "And here I thought you loved me for my willingness to put both our lives in danger."
Danny gave him a water smile. "That too, babe."
"How about we get our asses of this floor? I don't know about you but mine's cold and going numb. We will be landing in a couple of hours. I think we should both try for some shut-eye in the interim," Steve suggested.
"I could go for that," Danny agreed. It took them a couple of minutes to disentangle and settle in the seats. Steve chose to keep a bucket on his lap, simply precautionary. Both men fell into fitful dozes.
Steve was pleased to see that he'd woken before Danny. He had things he needed to do for his friend and he was certain Danny'd bitch and argue with him about them. Steve made sure he was relatively balanced and worked his way to the cockpit. He needed to know how far our they were and if it was safe to use his cell.
Standing as far away from his partner as he could, Steve made several calls. He asked Chin to pick them up from the airport. He got Kono to make sure there was enough food at Danny's to last for a few days, easy to make stuff. Max agreed to meet them at the strip to take care of Matt's body.n The last call he made, the one that would piss Danny off the most, was to Clara and Eddie Williams. Danny would forgive him eventually.
He was back in his seat when Danny roused. "Are we there yet?"
Steve smiled a how young Danny sounded. "Almost, partner."
Danny stretched, popping several joints in the process. "Man, I feel like crap and I know," he paused to take a whiff at his underarm, "I could use a shower."
"You and me both, pal. I'm in serious need of a toothbrush as well."
Danny stretched again as a grim expression settled on his features. "I need to make some phone calls."
"The most urgent ones are already done," Steve said cautiously. Danny stared, stunned, long enough to make Steve blurt, "I wanted to help, save you some."
Danny shook himself out of his amazed stupor. "I don't know what to say."
"Nothing to say. Ohana remember."
"Thanks," Danny whispered.
The announcement they'd be wheels down in twenty prevented Steve from answering. Neither of them had even noticed they were that close to the islands. They buckled up and mentally prepared for what awaited them upon landing. Well, they prepared as best as they could anyway. Everything was as Steve requested when they disembarked.
Steve sagged against the door as it closed behind him, relieved to finally be home. It was late or really early, depending on how you looked at it. Danny'd insisted on accompanying Matt's body to the morgue. Steve and Chin weren't about to let him go alone so they manhandled their teammate into Steve's truck and followed the ME's van. Danny remained eerily stoic during the whole process only uttering, "not that he deserves it but thank you anyway," response to Max's heartfelt, "I promise to take good care of him, Detective Williams."
Chin volunteered to stay with Danny so Steve could go home and get some sleep, only Danny argued. Steve pushed off the door and took a step before he realized he didn't have a destination in mind, Hunger gnawed at his belly, exhaustion fogged his brain and stench cloyed his body. Okay, food first. He snagged two slices of left over pizza, eating them on the way up the stairs and into the bathroom where he stripped and stepped under the spray, water as hot as he could stand it. He stayed in till the water ran tepid. Screw the three minute rule. He collapsed into bed without completely drying off.
He woke to a text from Danny. You called my folks. We will be discussing this at length when I get my shit together, Steven. I'll send you my itinerary when I know it.