I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.

Note: this is the end, but an Epilogue will likely follow. My thanks to my awesome beta, CinderH and to Jazzie and Synbou for HUGE amounts of encouragement and ideas! And to everyone who was so patient with the silly need to repost. Thank you for the great reviews and comments. I will mark this 'complete' after the Epilogue.

Chapter 21

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Shortly after Byrnes left, Steve insisted that Chin take a break with Kono, promising that he would do the same upon their return. He had studied her blotchy face while she continued to sadly hold Danny's hand; understanding then why Byrnes had so clearly stated that Danny's frightening episode was no one's personal fault. So before making his demand, he caught Chin's eye and looked meaningfully at the man's cousin. The slight smile confirmed his agreement and he was on his feet as Steve spoke.

"I want both of you to go home, get cleaned up and then come back in a few hours." Kono glanced up with a mutinous look, but Chin was already holding his hand out and gesturing to the door.

His next words got her moving because they made sense and it would be the only way to compromise and help each other. "It's almost midnight. Steve will do the same after we get back. Let's go."

Alone, Steve pulled the Pooh paperweight out of his pocket. The crack ran deeply inside the hard glass and it practically made the quote impossible to read. If a bit more force had been used, Steve didn't doubt that it would have fully broken in half. He sighed as he got to his feet and went to the bathroom to rinse the remnants of dried blood from the etched glass. It was then that he noticed the crack also split the background image of the Pooh bear through its middle. And the new flaws were so bad; the bear's upper body appeared to be floating out of alignment with its bottom legs.

Returning to the bedside chair, he made sure the family photo was where Danny could see it should he awaken again before morning. But sitting down, he mulled the damaged paperweight and then started a search for a replacement on his cell phone. When he found what he wanted, he placed the order and leaned back tiredly in the chair.

Danny was sleeping soundly as Byrnes had promised and might even be released within twenty-four hours as long as he had family to help in the first week or arranged for a home health care nurse. Looking at him now and witnessing the effects of the flash-back, Steve didn't think it was possible and had said as much to the doctor.

"You know that we can't do much for a broken rib. He can rest as easily at home, as he can here and it will lift his spirits. Sick people stay in hospitals. The surgery to repair the vein was straight-forward and he's stitched and stapled. His lungs are fine and healing nicely. If there are no other complications .." Steve didn't miss the disgusted look on Byrnes face as he shook his head about the odd host of non-medical complications that could arise. But he continued gallantly.

"With proper support .. he can recuperate in his own bed in a more pleasant environment .. peacefully. He's over the worst of it .. the flash-back was residual trauma. If anything, a home environment will be better."

But still on edge, Steve couldn't sit still for long and stood up only to pace briefly in the small room. The case was technically closed now except for finalizing the Mickman Enterprises portion. Because for all that was lobbed against them, no one there or in the Jacobsen family knew about their long lost son, Phillip, now Jack Miles, and his dangerous and quite personal vendetta.

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By the middle of the next afternoon, they were together at HQ finalizing plans and attempting to dot every 'i' and cross every 't'. HPD and Five-0 had pieced together the entire story with help from State-side resources and Kono had additionally contacted Mickman Enterprises. Phillip, Senior at the age of eighty-six was understandably an honorary board member. However his second son, Jack's half-brother, was well involved with the family interests. Kono had enough family names and history to investigate a rather disconcerting chain of events though she was having trouble thinking of Jack as Phillip and was using the names interchangeably.

"Jack or Phillip's mother died in a single car accident when he was ten. She went off the road in a snow storm and the car rolled down an embankment. And the father re-married only a year later. Marshall was born ten months after that to add insult to injury, and that's evidently the beginning of when young Jack started to act out. His earliest truancy report from school records puts him at eleven or twelve years of age. He took his mother's death hard and must have resented the step-mother and then a new baby. So this seems to be the likely family scenario."

Kono paused as she pushed Boston PD faxed police records to the middle of Steve's desk. "It's true that after he ran away, the elder Jacobsen disowned Phillip. We can piece together the timeline of increasing acts of juvenile delinquency, boarding school expulsions and then actual criminal acts. There must have been horrendous fights and arguments. Attempts at counseling and tough love even. Boston PD has an instance of the elder leaving him there overnight for marijuana possession. But after Jack left, his father recanted just a few months later and tried to find Phillip ... going so far as to hire a private investigator .. they filed a missing person's report. But they never found him. Phillip became Jack .. and Jack walked away."

"What a mess. Did he know that they wanted him back?" That one sliver of truth immediately ate at Steve's conscience. But neither Kono nor Chin of course knew. Steve couldn't help repeating himself as he considered what that might have meant to the troubled youth.

"I wonder if he ever knew. It could have changed so much for him."

"I agree .. it's almost not fair. But I don't think we'll ever know." Chin confirmed before briefly running through what they'd learned from Trudy and from their massive data collection on the foreman's more immediate activities. "Jack never left the island. He stayed low .. hiding out up in the mountains just ... hiding, thinking and planning. Killing Sandt was never on his immediate agenda, but he was getting closer to his goals and was on a path of no return. Sandt became an unexpected road block."

Chin threw his hands up in the air about his next hypothesis. "And Danny? I can only conjecture that he hesitated because he liked him, respected him for the work he did on the case .. some odd kinship with the construction workers and Union.. for saving Belle? I honestly have no idea. But there was a common thread of Jack feeling like he needed to apologize and turn himself in .. and only to Danny."

Accepting it as one of the things they would never truly understand, Chin completed his summary. "And then according to Trudy, when he showed up this week at the hospital, he was on edge, emotional and flustered. He came to her first to explain what had happened .. why he had to do what he did to get back at the Jacobsens through Mickman Enterprises. But he was remorseful, and mentioned that he came back to also turn himself in."

Steve heaved a sigh and closed his eyes as he envisioned the violent argument in the hospital parking lot. "And she told him off instead. She told him to get out and not to come back. She threw it all back at him including Sandt's murder and she was afraid, so she also denied him Isaac. He didn't expect her to know .. he felt threatened again, and it set him off."

"He broke her car window and flashed the gun. Not only did her rejection set him off, it completely changed his mind about turning himself in. If she left him and took the son .. then why bother? He ruined Mickman, but also his family. For a smart guy, Jack was terribly deluded about Trudy's reactions to the truth." Chin pulled together the key facts from what Trudy said and compared them to what Danny could remember about what the man had shouted in anguish.

"One lie led to another. Each case of arson became more bold and the increasing use of strong accelerants support that theory. He went too far by hurting people he didn't intend to implicate in any way. But he simply couldn't stop and by the time he thought he wanted to .." Chin tapped the Miles' family photo in their files. "He never counted on them knowing as much as they did or the complete rejection."

Kono mumbled sadly as she compared the two pivotal issues in his life and then sighed. "He was rejected twice. Completely and utterly shut down. Bad decision after bad decision."

Going through additional documents, Chin placed together a timeline of events. "Property records show Mickman Enterprises first on the Islands about two years ago to buy up properties. We assume that's when Jack began to make his personal plans. He used his position in the Union to get access to information about the company. He used his skills to set near-perfect fires at the construction sites that would do the most damage. And that would slowly unravel and set the stage for his birth family's financial ruin."

"Okay." Steve said as he absorbed the story. "Life insurance? Anything out of the ordinary there?"

Chin shrugged as he put another document under Steve's nose. "He bought standard insurance about twelve years ago. Nothing special or out of the ordinary. He added Trudy's name before they got married. Average and standard practices."

"So she could collect something?" Kono asked. They all felt sorry for the registered nurse and her young son and hoped the Union or now insurance, might help in their future. But Chin made a face about that as a fact.

"It's fairly obvious that he didn't take out insurance for a large family pay-out and he's over the two-year suicide clause and requirement that most insurance companies would leverage. But, they could still deny based on his fraudulent name change and current felonious activities. I really don't know."

"What else?" Steve asked as he checked his watch. Each wanted to keep the ball rolling on the case, but they also needed to get back to the hospital.

"Just one more thing, boss." Kono said quickly. "Marshall is ten years Jack's junior and you'll be happy to know, arrived in Honolulu last night. I'm told by the Mickman home office that Marshall expects to visit with the insurance company and review each of the fire inspectors' reports for the arson cases. He wants to talk to HPD about their findings. But he last saw his older brother when he was only five or six years old. And in terms of the larger case, he's clueless about Jack, Trudy and the particulars regarding what's been going on here."

"Good." Running his hands through his hair, Steve made a face. At that point they all just wanted to be done with the Jack Miles and the case at large.

"Find him and bring him in or get with HPD. He's about to learn all there is concerning his long-lost, big brother, Phillip and this personal vendetta." Steve made a disgusted sound as he tossed the file folder haphazardly onto his desk. "Then we're done with this once and for all."

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"Patience Daniel. You may need it at some point." Not even out of the car yet, Danny was now griping about the wheelchair in the back seat of the Camaro. In fact, he'd been griping about something since Doctor Byrnes had strode in with the release papers that afternoon. Steve was only slightly relieved that he'd gotten over his issue with respect to needing help. But the good doctor had put that complaint to bed by threatening to tear the release papers in half.

"Family, Detective." Byrnes had been adamant and then justly angry at his patient's nonchalance over how he would best recuperate. Folding his arms across his chest, his next words shut Danny's mouth mid-objection.

"Or, prove to me you have a daily health care nurse lined up. If you can't do what I ask, then I'm ripping these up and handing you another gown."

The next problem unexpectedly reared its head in the hospital parking lot when the attendant rolled Danny up to the Camaro in the wheelchair. There was a barely concealed huffed sound of surprise as Danny walked away from the open passenger door. Almost missing the curb and a dangerous stumble, Steve hissed at him as the attendant gingerly grabbed his good arm for support. "What are you doing? Get in the car!"

Instead, Danny walked the length of the vehicle and then peered into the interior inhaling carefully. It was nearly enough to send Steve over his first tiny ledge of patience as he and the attendant tried to sit him down. "Are you sniffing? Sniffing the car, Danny?"

The glare he had received said all, as Danny finally allowed himself to be helped into the front seat. "It's not smokey."

"I know that." Steve said in disgust as the attendant folded the wheelchair and helped him put it in the back seat. "Thank Chin later. Now just sit there and relax before I re-admit you myself."

Arriving now at home, Steve parked the car in his driveway. But he leaned sideways into the door to look at his partner across the short distance. The passenger seat was strongly reclined to ease the stressful ache across Danny's chest. He'd driven slowly and carefully, but Danny was undoubtedly uncomfortable which added to his general crankiness. And he knew that his own expression was laced with exasperation as he tried to practice what he was preaching. But if the last two hours were an indication, Steve wasn't sure how he was going to manage both of them in the same house for at least a week, possibly longer if Danny's still healing chest had anything to say about it.

"Again. The wheelchair is just in case .. just in case you get tired or need a break." Going for tolerant, Steve vainly schooled his expression. But he wished he had some of Byrnes' medical ammunition and natural moxie to corral his partner into submission.

The responding tone was full of belligerent distaste with a huge dose of offended Danny. And Steve knew he'd lost as Danny's right hand thumbed a gesture towards the back seat of the Camaro. "Good because it's staying in the car .. or you know what? The trunk. Just put it back there."

"Whatever." Steve muttered as he finally got out of the car and opened the passenger door. When he saw the disagreeable face, his own temper warred at him. But Steve beat it down as he held his hand up in front of Danny before he could move a muscle.

"Bed, lunch, and meds. In that order. Do not pass go. Zero arguments."

The face never changed, but Steve couldn't help smirking at the aggravated mumble as he helped Danny out of the car. "Whatever. Fine."

The doctor had also given them portable oxygen. Another 'just in case' item should Danny become out of breath or uncomfortable. That at least hadn't been a topic of any negative discussion. In fact, the instructions were oddly basic in nature and maybe that was why both men seemed out of sorts. Short walks in the house, no exertion or undo stress were top of the order. And of course, breathing exercises to strengthen his lung.

But then, the four letter word of 'rest' seemed already to be the most problematic. Stunned and then fascinated by Jack's true identity and connection to Mickman, Danny had started to troll for information about the company, his family and their take on Jack Miles. Even though the case was closed, he was still equally concerned for Trudy and Isaac after learning about the altercation in detail, wondering about their future and pending insurance woes. In one short day, the team was finding it difficult to keep his fingers out of the files.

And now in the house, he was searching frantically through his small overnight bag packed for him at the hospital by Kono. "Where is it?" Danny was sitting stiffly on the edge of the bed making a one-handed mess of the clothing that had been packed so neatly; while Steve gathered enough extra pillows to help him stay comfortably wedged upright to aid his breathing.

"I can't find it. Where is it?" There was a breathless, pained aspect to his voice as his aggravation grew and Steve frowned over his shoulder.

"Calm down. Relax and control your breathing. Where's what?" Steve demanded, his voice muffled as he rifled through the top shelf of the closet looking for bedding, pillows and blankets. "What?" He asked again as he turned around, arms full of supplies.

Danny's face was lined with annoyance as he slapped the bag with one hand and then winced as the movement jarred his chest. "The paperweight. It's not here." Steve smiled in understanding as he walked over to the bed to lay down his stacked pile. Once his hands were free, he pointed to the side table nearest the bed.

"Over there .. I accidentally brought it home with me that night." It was a partial white lie, for Steve had brought the originally damaged paperweight home in his pocket once Kono and Chin returned that night after Danny's surgery. But what he now handed to his partner, was the new one he'd found to replace the broken gift. It was completely identical down to every dimension, etched figure and lettered word.

With a flourish, he picked it up and handed it to Danny who hefted it in his hand with relief. "I thought I lost it." Danny muttered to himself. "Thanks, Steve."

With a grin, Steve was already moving on, fixing the extra blankets and piling up the pillows into a deep high-backed nest. "Any time Danno. Get settled in bed and then we'll both have lunch."

He didn't try to hide his growing smile though as he turned to watch Danny rub the smooth and newly untarnished surface. Once again, the simple gift created peace, closed a loop and signified a happy ending that Danny was strongly hanging on to. But the original paperweight from Belle was hidden high in Steve's own bookcase. Shoved far back behind a stack of very dusty, unread tomes. He had tried twice to throw it away in the garbage, but each time had hesitated. Uncertain about why it felt so wrong, he had decided to simply keep the damaged glass Pooh bear paperweight.

Out of sight, but not necessarily out of mind.

~ End ~