Tuesday, when they weren't manning the phones, the team spent their time alternating between paperwork, more phone calls and being interviewed by ADA Kioki. Oh, joy. Kioki was assigned to the Davis murder case which should have been a cakewalk, but the Blues Brothers wanna be's plead innocent. They were even talking about suing Steve and Danny for the pain, suffering and humiliation they endured due to their tumble into the cesspool.
Danny plopped himself on Steve's office couch, twisting his neck back and forth until he had a satisfying 'Pop'. "Man, I know that guy's got a great conviction rate, but damn, he can really push the envelope."
"I know. I started counting and he asked me the same question nine times. You shouldn't pop your neck like that, it isn't good for it," Steve said in sympathy.
"What're you, my mother? Next you'll be telling not to pop my knuckles and to brush my teeth."
"Now that you mention it, Danno, you are kinda getting gorilla knuckles and I can still smell the onions you had at lunch."
"You are seriously... Well, you're something else," Danny muttered.
"That's the best you got, Danno? You are not on your A game today," Steve teased.
"No, I'm not. These heists have got me laying awake at night trying to come up with anything useful and to top it off, Grace has decided that she needs music to sleep by which wouldn't be so bad but it's Miley Cyrus," Danny said.
"I have one word for you, pal, infomercial," Steve rejoined.
"Point. Maybe I'll dig out those black head phones you gave me. Let her use them," Danny said. "You and Catherine talking yet?"
"We talked some this morning," Steve admitted.
"And..."
"And what? It's complicated," Steve defended.
"You've been saying that from the get go, babe. Don't you think it's time to un-complicate things?"
"Yeah. I'm going to talk to her on Saturday after the barbecue. I want her to have all the info so we can clear everything," Steve said.
"She's a great girl, Steve. She deserves the best."
"Don't you think I already know that, Danny. I've known that from the beginning."
"I'm sure you have but I think is that you're not sure if you want to give it to her," Danny stated.
"I do love her, Danny," Steve admitted
"Sometimes love isn't enough, babe. Trust me if it was, Rachel and I would still be together," Danny said quietly, then louder, "Now if you'll excuse me. It's my turn on the tip line. Maybe you shouldn't wait till Saturday." Danny left that as his parting shot.
Steve waited in his office for Catherine to come back from her shift. She stuck her head in the door to let him know she was back.
"Thanks, Cath. Can we talk a minute," Steve asked.
"Is this business or personal, cause if it's personal I'd rather not talk here in the offices," Catherine replied.
"It'll only take a minute. Please."
Steve looked hopeful she couldn't resist. "Okay, what?"
"I think we really need to talk. If there's nothing going on tomorrow, how about we take a long lunch and discuss somethings?" Steve asked.
"Wow, Steve McGarrett wanting to talk about things. Alright, I'm okay with that. We leave say eleven o'clock?"
"That's good," Steve answered with relief. He went home that night feeling a little better now that Cath had agreed to talk with him.
Five men stood around the truck in various states of dress. Most were at least half way through putting on their costumes but all were a little slow in finishing up.
"I don't know, brah. Maybe we should call this one off."
"It's our last big haul. We've been planning this for months and you wanna chicken out now?"
"I don't think it's chickening out, it's good sense what with Five-0's hot line and everything."
"Yeah, they said is was an awareness exercise, but we all know it's a trap to find us."
"We could distract them, call in a bomb threat or something that'll get the real SWAT deployed."
"We don't need a distraction. This is going to go just as smoothly as the other three and we'll all be living high on the hog for the rest of our lives. Now, finish gearing up."
"I don't know, brah. The Pali is so much closer to town."
"And so much more of a payoff. You want out of this? Go. No harm, no foul, but you won't get any of the cut."
"No. I'll stay."
"Good. Let's roll."
Eleven o'clock finally arrived and Steve took Catherine to a nice spot on the North Shore where he was certain they wouldn't be interrupted. He kept his phone on, turning the volume up and leaving it inside the truck. Catherine seemed to share his desire for privacy as she did the same. They would both come to regret their decisions.
The heist itself went like clockwork until an untimely passing motorist honked and sped by, waving their phone in glee. Before they knew it, they had a helicopter overhead and sirens in the distance. The driver decided to make a run for it. By the time they make it to the city proper, they've got tails. The driver panics and makes a bunch of miscellaneous turns, winding up on Leahi Ave right in front of the Hawaii School for the Deaf and Blind.
"Screw this! We've come this far. I'm not going to give up that easily." He pulls up on the grass, stopping in at the door to the library. "You're either with me or your dead. Which is it going to be?"
At first Arianna thinks it's a joke. Five members of Honolulu's SWAT team taking over a building seems improbable until she remembers what Steve had told her about the fake team and she realizes they're in trouble.
Phones are ringing off the hook at Five-0 headquarters. Kono is calling from the hotline, Duke is calling from the scene and Grover is calling from the real SWAT truck. Danny manages to field two of the calls and Chin the third. Putting the pieces together, Danny nearly freezes in shock.
"What's the matter?" Chin asked worriedly.
"Arianna's a teacher at the school," Danny says slowly.
"I'll call Steve," Chin offers. "You try Catherine."
When both calls go to voicemail, Danny swears. "Keep trying both of them. I'll drive."
It doesn't take long to get to the school but for Danny, it felt like an eternity. Danny being, well himself, let every possible bad scenario run through his head before he managed to shake it off and think about the good possibilities. Danny pulled up behind a patrol car, got out and took off running, waving his badge to prevent being stopped. Chin was hot on his heals.
Seeing Grover speaking to Duke, the two took a direct path towards the men.
"Danny, Chin, where's McGarrett?" Lou asked upon their arrival.
"We're still trying to get a hold of him. What we got?" Danny answered and asked.
"We've got forty-four hostages; one librarian, two teachers and forty-one students. It's the same five man team that's been pulling the heists. This last one went bad. They killed a guard and shot at the passing motorist that called it in," Grover informed them.
"How'd they make it this far into town?" Chin asked.
"Pure damn dumb luck as far as I can tell. Patrols said the driver seemed to be making a lot of random turns," Duke said.
Danny asked the next question while holding his breath and clasping his hands tightly together. "Do we have any names on the hostages?"
"Yeah. The principal is working on getting all the kids, but we have the librarian's and the teachers; Hannah Stowe, Dave Iso and Arianna McGarrett," Duke replied.
At Arianna's name, all eyes swiveled to and pinned Danny. He knew the question before it was asked. "Yes, she's related to Steve. Chin keep trying to get a hold of Steve. Shit, send out an APB on him. He's somewhere on the North Shore."
"On it," Chin said walking away to get some privacy.
"Five-0 want to take this over?" Lou asked.
"No. We can't. We have a personal relationship with one of the hostages. We're here to assist only," Danny stated firmly.
"Okaaaay then," Lou said and started barking orders to his team and HPD.
Chin made his second dial. One more and he was going to do as Danny suggested. This time the line was answered.
"McGarrett."
"Steve, it's Chin. You need to get back here. We have a hostage situation."
Steve interrupted, "Let SWAT handle it, you guys assist until we get there."
"Steve, you didn't let me finish. It's the armored car heist team and they're at Arianna's school."
Steve felt all the blood drain from his face. The buzzing in his ears prevented him from hearing the rest of Chin's statement. Forcing himself to focus he said, "Chin, I need you to repeat the last part."
"Arianna is one of the hostages."
"We're on our way. Catherine, get in the truck. I'll explain on the way," Steve snapped. The combination of fear and rage in his expression had her obeying without question.
His best bet was to hit the H2 where he'd be able to push the truck to it's limits which is exactly what he did.
Back at the school, Grover and the hostage negotiator were trying to establish contact with their hostage takers. They weren't having much luck. Grover had an idea. "Danny do you have Miss McGarrett's number? Maybe they'll answer her's assuming they've taken the cell phones."
"I got it right here," Danny said ignoring Chin's raised eyebrow. Danny hit the dial button and waited for the ring.
Inside the library, Arianna's phone vibrated and flashed from the table it had been thrown on with everyone else's.
"Who's phone is that?" one of the men demanded to know, making Hannah interpret for the whole group. He swung the phone out so the caller id was visible.
Only guessing at what the man would do if he didn't get a response, Arianna spoke up, "It's mine. It's my Uncle Danny. He's a cop and he's probably outside."
"Answer it. Tell him everything is fine and we want to speak to the person in charge out there," the man ordered.
She failed to catch the phone when he threw it at her. It bounced off her cheekbone, falling into her lap. She grabbed for it, hoping he hadn't hung up. "Hi, Uncle Danny."
"Arianna, honey, are you okay? Is anyone else hurt?"
"Everyone's okay so far. They want to talk to the person in charge."
"Okay. I'm handing over the phone now."
One of the men yanked her phone from her hand and shouted into it, "Who am I speaking to?"
"This is Captain Grover, HPD SWAT."
"Well, Captain Grover," the man sneered, "we know how this works. I tell you my demands and you appear to give in, but then you have a trick up your sleeve that works for you. Well. Not. This. Time."
Lou looked at the phone. "He hung up."
"So now what?" Duke said.
"We should have the building plans soon. We'll figure out a way to get in and get the hostages out," Lou growled.
Danny's phone pinged with a text. Grover almost handed it to it's owner until he caught the message. They moved us to the top floor. dont send back phone not on silent yet.
"The hostages have a way to communicate with us for the moment," Lou said waving the phone around.
It pinged again. McG says i need to keep these short so i dont get caught
"McG? Is that the teacher?" Grover asked Danny.
"Yeah, that's what the kids call her, Miss McG."
At that moment, a HPD officer came over to their location. "Captain, we have the building plans and a list of students."
"Great, let's see if we can get into the building."
Danny's phone rang. It was Steve. Grover let him answer. "Hey, Steve, I know you want info, but you need to call back on Chin's phone. We're using mine to communicate with the hostage takers."
"Understood." Seconds later Chin's phone rang.
He handed it to Danny. "Okay, babe, here's what we know. We have five perps and forty-four hostages. I've spoke with Arianna and she's okay. They're all okay right now. Lou's looking for a way to get into the building, but they've moved everyone to the top floor. How far out are you?"
"I'm about twenty minutes out. I hope to cut that down when I reach the H2," Steve replied.
"Huh. Didn't know the Kamehameha could handle seventy. Be careful. You're no good to her if you splatter yourself all over the highway," Danny cautioned.
"I'm always careful, Danny."
"I know. See you in a few," Danny responded.
"Danny."
"I know, babe. I know."
Catherine refrained from asking any questions. She had her suspicions but they hadn't had the time for her to voice them before they'd gotten the call. She sat silently, letting Steve concentrate on driving.
Another ping from Danny's phone. there talkn bout how they want 2 get out of here
Another message: phone silent now
Lou tossed Danny his phone. "Send a message back see if the kid can get us some descriptions. Maybe we can find out who we're dealing with."
Danny handed the phone to Chin. can u describe the bad guys
It was a moment later when the reply came: all wear masks try to get where i not noticed
Minutes ticked by. i good we in the middle of the building they nervous
What are they talking about now? Chin typed.
cant hear noone can too far away
Chin read the message out loud as he typed his own. Hang in there we'll get u out.
The screech of tires heralded Steve and Catherine's arrival. Steve sent Catherine over to help Kono with the relatives while he ran to meet up with Danny and Chin.
"What's the news?" he demanded.
"Nothing new. We've been corresponding with one of the students via text, but we haven't gotten anything to help us out," Lou said. "Now that you're here, you want to take over?" he offered out of courtesy.
Steve looked torn but finally said, "I can't Lou. That's my daughter in there."
"Danny said related, he didn't say daughter," Grover responded.
Another text came: they made up demands are going to be callin
Chin passed the phone to Grover as it was ringing. "Hello, this is Captain Grover."
"Captain Grover. We've decided what we need. We want a helicopter on the lawn in thirty minutes. It needs to be fully fueled and large enough to hold all of six of us. You can move the armored truck to make room for it. I want the whole area cleared."
"All six of you? We were under the impression that there was only five of you," Grover said hoping the guy would play along.
"You think we're stupid? We're taking a hostage with us. He or she will be released once we safely reach our destination. Thirty minutes." The line went dead.
"Alright everyone, we've got thirty minutes to figure this out. Duke get us a chopper as a contingency," Grover bellowed.
"Any chance SWAT can breach through the roof?" Steve asked.
"That's what we're looking at. I think there's a good chance that we can. Since the group is in the middle, we should be able to get in through the roof door on the east side. Chin, ask if all of the bad guys are in room," Lou responded.
Chin quickly relayed the message. He received an instant reply: 3 in room 1 casing main floor 1 this floor
"Well, they're not dumb. They are trying to cover their bases," Danny said.
"I still think we can use the roof access with an entrance at the front door," Grover said. "You guys agree?" At everyone's nod, he continued, "Okay, let's check out the bottom floor. Steve you and your team can help with this. We'll see if we can locate our main floor guy through the windows and take him out then we'll go in through the roof. Chin keep the phone. Tell the kid to text with any changes in the positions."
Steve, Danny, Chin and HPD carefully circled around the building, placing themselves strategically along the wall while the SWAT team positioned themselves on the roof. Grover gave the go ahead to start checking the windows.
Danny was about to start when a thought crossed his mind. He clicked his com. "Lou, your team have a way of marking themselves?"
"What the hell are you talking about, Williams?" Grover barked.
"Well, our bad guys are dressed like SWAT members, ergo it's going to be mighty hard to tell the difference between them and you."
"You couldn't have thought of that sooner, Danny?" Steve asked.
"Better than later. Okay, the real SWAT team has a chalked 'X' after the 'e' on both sides of our vests. Everyone copy," Lou stated.
A chorus of yes's answered him. "Good. On my mark. Start your search."
Chin peeked over the window ledge catching movement. "The guy is coming your way, Danny. Steve will have to take the shot."
"Copy that. Okay, Steve, I've got him. Get ready. He'll be within your sight in three, two, one."
At Chin's words, Steve stood up and set himself to take the shot. At Danny's words, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The guy came into view, Steve fired. The man went down as expected. What wasn't expected is the window shattered in a million pieces.
Chin told everyone that everything was status quo with the remainder of their bad guys and the hostages. Danny and Chin pulled back to let HPD take the main floor. Walking up to Steve, they noticed he hadn't moved, weapon still aimed at the downed suspect.
"The guy on the main floor is not dead. Approach with caution. I have him covered from the window," Steve said through the coms.
"Copy that, Commander," an anonymous voice replied.
The two team members waited until Steve lowered his weapon when an officer indicated that he had the suspect covered from inside. It wasn't till he tried to holster his gun that he felt a sharp sting coming from his arm. He couldn't stop the hiss from escaping his mouth.
Danny immediately grabbed his partner's arm to assess the damage. Studying the shard of glass sticking out of Steve's right forearm Danny declared, "It doesn't look like it hit a major artery, but you are going to need stitches."
"Danny, I need to be here for Arianna," Steve argued.
"No. You need to go see an EMT," Danny started only to be cut off by gun fire coming from inside the building. "Chin, take him over to the ambulance. Steve, I'll get Arianna," Danny said already making for the front door of the building.
Steve tried to pull out of Chin's hand to follow but Chin tightened his grip. "Steve, let Danny do this. You can't help her with a piece of glass sticking out of your arm and bleeding everywhere."
Steve reluctantly let Chin guide him over to the waiting EMT, keeping an eye on the doors the whole time. More gun fire had him wincing more than the EMT pulling out the glass did. Catherine had seen the whole thing and raced over to check on him.
"Steve, you okay?" she asked worriedly.
"Yeah, just a scratch," he answered distractedly, shifting slightly to see around her to the doors.
"Commander, you need to hold still. I need to make sure there's no remaining glass in the wound," the EMT stated flatly.
"Sorry," Steve mumbled, eyes not leaving the spot.
Catherine watched Steve as the EMT checked the cut and disinfected it. Steve's gaze never wavered. Not even when the tech started to stitch him up. If Catherine had any doubts about Arianna being related in some way, they were washed away by Steve's current actions.
Back inside the crime scene, Grover and his team were ushering the fake SWAT guys out of the building while HPD helped with the hostages. Arianna and two students were escorted down the stairs to the main floor. Arianna scanned the area, yelling, "Uncle Danny!" the second she caught site of the man. She ran directly into his arms.
Gathering her in, he held her long enough to feel some of the tension leave her body. She pulled back far enough to see his lips, "Where is he?"
"He's out on the back of the ambulance," he managed to say before she tore from him, rushing towards and out the door.
Steve followed group after group coming outside. He was reading himself to go in when he spotted her. She broke into a dead run, yelling "Dad, Dad," as she covered ground. He pulled away from the EMT team as the guy was putting the last of the tape on. He caught her as she launched into him, rocking back on his feet. Holding her tight as she cried into his shoulder, he murmured words of reassurance hoping she would feel the vibration of his voice.
Catherine studied the pair in disbelief. She'd figured a relation, an unknown cousin maybe, not daughter. She spun on her heal, making for anywhere but where she was at. It took her a second to realized Danny had ahold of her arm. She stared at him with pure anger in her eyes and jerked her arm out of his grasp. She stalked away. Her head told her Steve was going to say something this morning when they were on the North Shore. Her heart told her he'd lied to her. Danny thought about following her, but Steve was talking so he turned his attention back to the group.
"Chin, will you grab Arianna's personal stuff from her room and bring her bike to my house?" Fishing a set of keys from his pocket he tossed them to Danny. "Danny will you swing by her place and grab enough stuff to make it through the weekend and drop it by?" The whole time he held his daughter close, face buried in his neck and arms so tight they almost hurt.
Both men readily agreed, quickly following through. Steve looked around for Catherine. He hadn't realized she'd moved away. Arianna's sobs had quieted down and he pulled back to see her face. "Come on. I'm taking you home to my place okay? You can stay there for a few days."
"Okay," she whispered not letting go.
Steve guided her over to where he saw Catherine and Kono still with the other hostages and their families. "Danny and Chin are wrapping up some loose ends. Kono, you can go as soon as you're comfortable. Cath, can I give you a lift?"
She wanted to say no but the look on Steve's face made her pause. He looked genuinely sorry and a bit desperate. In the end, she gave in but she told herself it was because she would've had to catch a ride with a patrol or call a cab rather than not being able to resist Steve.
Steve walked the two women over to his truck. Arianna made for the back door just as he tried to push her towards the front. Catherine watched the silent exchange of wills between the father and daughter and berated herself for being so blind.
The trio rode in silence for a while. Steve glanced in the review mirror to see Arianna playing with her phone. She looked up to catch his gaze. "It's my friends. I'm just letting them know I'm okay." Steve made the sign for 'good' without taking his hands off the wheel.
Arianna snorted, "It's not easy driving and talking with your hands. Eyes on the road please."
"Steve, why don't you drop me by HQ. I can get a head start on the paperwork," Catherine said.
Glancing in the mirror to see Arianna still buried in her texts, Steve replied,"Cath, we still need to talk. I really want to. Will you swing by the house tonight?"
Catherine sighed, "Okay, fine. I'd like to hear what you have to say."
"Good. Come for dinner, okay?" Steve pleaded.
"I don't think that's such a good idea," Catherine replied.
"Maybe not, but come anyway. Arianna and I can explain things. I want you to get to know her better. She's going to be a part of our lives."
Catherine sighed resignedly, "I'll be there around six."
Steve pulled into a spot near headquarters. Cath couldn't get out of the truck fast enough. Arianna, pretending she knew nothing about what had just transpired, waited until the other woman had entered the building before she switched seats to sit next to Steve.
She didn't say anything but she did reach out to grab his right hand. It wasn't easy driving one handed, but there was no way he was going to pull it back. About halfway home, Steve noticed a slight tremor in her grip. He assessed it as shock and adrenaline crash. H pressed his foot a little closer to the floor. If Arianna was going to breakdown, he didn't want it to be on the side of the road.
By the time he pulled into the drive, she was shaking head to toe. He jumped out, rounding the front of the truck to yank the door open. He pulled her out into his arms. Steve wasn't prepared to take her full weight when she collapsed so they both ended up on the ground in an awkward embrace. The roar of a motorbike caught his attention. Chin walked towards them, taking stock of the situation. He grabbed the keys Steve had dropped and jogged to the house. Hew was back with a liquid concoction they coaxed Arianna to drink. Between the two men, they managed to get all three of them into the house.