Disclaimer: see chapter one, but I still own nothing.
Author's Note: Thank you so much for all the reviews and alerts for the last story. I apologize profusely for the delay in this chapter, but yet again it was a hard one to write. There was just so much I wanted to cover in this chapter and since it is more case based almost (something I had a lot of trouble with) it was a difficult to get it anywhere near ready for you guys. So I apologize in advance if the case elements in this chapter aren't that great and any grammatical mistakes that might be littered throughout.
Danny and Steve had just arrived back in Oahu when Steve's phone rang and they were called into work. Steve could tell that Chin didn't want to call and interrupt their honeymoon, but when a second couple was murdered he knew they were going to need their help. Steve didn't listen when Chin tried to apologize since both knew that Chin was only doing what Chin needed to do. That didn't mean that Danny didn't grumble about having to immediately go to work without even getting to see his beautiful daughter.
As Chin and Kono brought them up to speed, Steve couldn't help but feel angry that they were being thrown into the middle of an active investigation. It was too hard not to really know the full details when you have to hit the ground running, so HPD was not on Steve's list of tolerable people right now. "Five-0 should've been called in from the beginning and you know it." He couldn't help but remind the governor as he filled them in with what HPD had told him. Denning couldn't agree or disagree, which only served to anger Steve even more and make him hate politics even more.
But anger about the situation aside, they had a job to do. They needed to find the person, or people, responsible for murdering two young couples. Their first stop was the newest crime scene where the second young couple was murdered. Danny learned while they were driving to the scene that the couple had a three year old son Nathan, who hadn't been found upon first inspection. Danny knew that he was in the house somewhere, hiding from the people that had come into their house. They approached the house with extreme caution not wanting to scare the child even more and began searching the house from top to bottom.
Steve walked into the master bedroom, where the mother had been found murdered and listened intently for any sounds when he heard a small whimper from the closet. He knew, as if it were a fatherly instinct that Nathan was hiding in his parent's closet. Quickly clearing the room, Steve holstered his weapon and quietly opened the door calling Nathan's name as he did.
Steve met Nathan's scared green eyes and smiled hoping to make Nathan feel safe with Steve. "Hey Nathan, I'm Steve and I'm a cop. I'm here to help you not hurt you okay?" Nathan looked Steve up and down fearfully but nodded none the less. Steve walked into the closet a little bit more and bent down so he and Nathan were slightly at the same level. "I'm gonna get you outta here, so close your eyes and don't open them until I tell you to, okay?" Nathan nodded tightly shutting his eyes and throwing himself into Steve's arms. Steve held him tightly to his body and quickly exited the closet and master bedroom. He could feel Nathan shaking his arms and holding tightly onto Steve. It broke his heart and pissed him off at the same time that someone could take away this innocent little boy's parents without a second thought. "You're doing so good buddy, we're almost there." Danny caught sight of Steve walking out of the house with Nathan and smiled slightly, Steve was a natural with kids now. Steve kept talking to Nathan trying to help him relax and let him know that he could trust Steve.
Steve smiled at Leila from Child services and bent down so Nathan was standing in front of him. "Alright Nathan you can open your eyes now." Nathan opened his eyes and looked up at Laila, who was smiling sweetly down at him. "This is Leila; she's a nice lady who's going to hang out with you today okay?"
"Hi Nathan." Laila followed Steve's lead and bent down to talk to Nathan, who was now clutching the sleeve of Steve's shirt in his tiny hand. "I was thinking we could get something to eat, would you like that?" Nathan looked at Steve, almost as if he was asking for permission and Steve nodded. Nathan then looked at Leila and reluctantly took her outstretched hand. Steve smiled brightly at Nathan as they walked away and Nathan looked back at Steve once more before he got into the back of Leila's car. Steve felt bad for the kid who had just lost his parents, yet had no idea what was going on. It gave him an even stronger desire to find out who had killed his parents.
"Hey, you okay?" Danny asked after watching the whole scene from the doorway. He could tell that Nathan was scared, yet it seemed as Steve's presence had helped to keep him calm.
"Yeah, he's gonna be okay right?" Steve quietly asked still staring where Nathan had just been his mind replaying the whole scene and Steve couldn't deny that he felt almost protective over Nathan. He was remembered the pain that Nathan was feeling, even though Steve was ten years older than him when he lost his mom; the feelings of confusion and pain were easily felt. He knew exactly what Nathan was going through and he wanted to do anything and everything to make sure that Nathan was taken care of.
"Child services will try to find a relative that can take him, but if there isn't one he'll go into the system where they'll try and find a family to take him. As for the trauma he's been through I don't know if he'll ever be okay. He has no idea what's going on except his parents aren't there anymore, and the effects of this might make it a little hard to place him." Steve sighed hoping that things turn around for Nathan and he doesn't get lost in the system.
"What do we have? I want to find the son of the bitch that did this." Steve couldn't take away Nathan's pain or change what happened, but he could make sure that the person responsible paid for their actions. Danny sighed knowing that Steve might be taking his case personally, since Steve could connect with Nathan and he knew that things were going to get a little tense as Steve lost himself in the case. And when they found who did this, he just hoped that Steve didn't kill them. Danny turned to follow Steve back into the house filling him in on what they had found in the house. Cases with children were never easy for Five-0, but it seemed as if this one was going to be even harder.
They wrapped up at the scene, gathering anything and everything that they deemed important to look at and headed back to HQ. On their way back, Danny called Rachel to see if she wouldn't mind keeping Grace a little bit longer because he wasn't sure how long this case was going to take them. Steve watched as Rachel and Danny actually had a civil conversation with Rachel. It was step in the right direction that Steve's sure only happened because he managed to make Danny fall in love with him. He let his mind continue to boost his own ego as they pulled into HQ and made their way to their office hoping that they would find something to link the two seemingly random cases together.
"Please tell me you've found a connection between these two crimes." Danny dramatically called as he pushed open the door. Kono turned with an amused smile on her face but shook her head in the negative.
"Sorry cuz, but I just got the files from HPD so give me a little bit. Max said he'd call as soon as he's done, but in the meantime he sent along his notes for us." She replied swiping her finger across the screen and blowing up the notes and photos. They stood there in silence each scrutinizing the photos to find anything they could run with, while Kono pulled up the information on the first couple. They managed to find a few people that might have wanted the first couple dead and Steve and Danny went to talk to each of them, hoping they would give them something to run with.
Their first stop was the young woman, Victoria Millen's mother. The old woman was so distraught over her daughter's death that she couldn't even string two words together before she was sobbing almost uncontrollably. Danny sympathized with the woman, she had just lost her oldest daughter and she had no idea why. He sat there patiently comforting the woman hoping she could give them anything. After she had calmed down a little bit, enough to actually answer a few of Steve's questions she gave them a break when she told them that the Victoria and Kina, Nathan's mother, were friends and had been since they were babies. That little tidbit of information seemed to blow the case wide open, because it wasn't random anymore. The girls had most likely been targeted by someone who knew them, which finally gave them some kind of direction to run in.
They had just left Mrs. Millen's house when Steve's phone rang. Stopping just short of the car, Steve listened as Leila asked if he could stop by their offices, Nathan was in the middle of an epic meltdown and kept whimpering Steve's name. Steve immediately agreed and hopped into the car, dropping Danny off at HQ on his way.
When Steve arrived at the child services he could feel the tension in the air. Leila looked a little frazzled when she met Steve. "Thank you so much for coming and I'm so sorry that I had to drag you away from your investigation. He was fine for a little bit but when he just flipped and started crying and crawled into the corner. I tried to calm him down but he just kept saying your name and I thought you could help."
"It's okay, they can handle things for a little bit without me. Just give me a few minutes and maybe I can calm him down." Steve replied smiling softly at her, having already stowed his gun in the car Steve slowly walked into the room where Nathan was. Nathan looked up when he saw Steve walk into the room and immediately ran and threw himself into Steve's arms. "Hey Nathan, its okay buddy." Steve softly spoke rubbing his hand in soothing circles on Nathan's back as he sat in one of the chairs. "Nobody's going to hurt you here, you're safe." Steve kept talking feeling Nathan's tight grip relax a little bit and he could feel Leila's relief through the window. Nobody liked to see a kid suffering through so much and anything that could help them was welcomed it seemed. As Steve kept talking he felt Nathan relax even more and eventually he heard Nathan's breathing even out. He placed Nathan on the cot they had in the room and quietly walked out of the room.
"You are a natural with him Commander. And thank you again for coming down here."
"Honestly it's nothing, I can connect with him in a sense and he needs someone to be there for him. Have you been able to contact any relatives?" Leila's eyes grew sad as she shook her head no.
"Unfortunately his mother and father didn't have any family left on the island. Kina was an only child who was raised by her grandparents, who passed away ten years ago and his father James was from the mainland with no family to speak of. So most likely we're going to have to find him a foster family, but given his age that might be difficult." Steve nodded completely understanding her dilemma. In an ideal world there would be a family out there for every kid so there was no need for a foster system or child services at all. But Steve knew that the world wasn't perfect, but knowing that Nathan was probably going to get lost in the system hurt Steve deep down into his core.
Taking one last look at Nathan's sleepy angelic face Steve sighed and turned smiling softly at Leila. "Let me know if he needs me okay? I'll check in after we've solved this case and see how he's doing." Leila nodded a small knowing smile spread across her face, Steve may not know but he just made her job a little bit easier while also making her day.
Danny had just gotten back from interviewing some of Kina and Victoria's friends with Chin when he saw Steve pull up in the Camaro. "I'll be right there." Chin looked between Steve and Danny and nodded. Danny was at Steve's door before Steve even killed the engine. "Hey babe, how's Nathan?" Danny asked, although looking at Steve's face gave him all the answers he needed. "That bad huh?"
"He's scared, confused, and probably feeling really alone."
"They find a relative to take him?" Danny asked as they walked towards the building, albeit much slower than they usually would.
"Nope, Leila can't find any living relative for either parent." Danny sighed and swore under his breath.
"That's rough, that kid has been through a lot the least he deserves is a family to love him." Steve nodded his thoughts right on par with Danny's. He wished that Nathan could catch a break and get a family that would love him and protect him from the true horrors of the world. Danny looked over after he noticed how quiet Steve was and he knew. He knew with just one look at Steve's forlorn face that the answer to their questions had just appeared out of thin air, but Danny wasn't going to tell Steve that. He wanted him to figure out for himself, but Danny still sent an email to Chris so he knew to expect a phone call from them soon.
"So how'd the interview go?" Steve asked not wanting to distract himself too much from the case at hand. He would worry about Nathan later, right now he wanted to catch their murderer.
"She had nothing more to give us than Victoria's mother did because she said she hadn't really spoken to either of them since Kina got pregnant. It seemed that Victoria was the only friend Kina kept once Nathan was born."
"So we've got nothing new to go on?" Danny shook his head definitely feeling Steve's frustration. They were still trying to track down all of Victoria's friends that also had ties to Kina, but it was taking them too long. There was also the thought that the killer could strike again, which was extra motivation to do whatever it took to find the person responsible.
They worked late into the night looking to every aspect of both girl's lives and their significant others, hoping to find anything that they could run with. It wasn't until almost five the next morning that Danny stumbled upon an ex-girlfriend of James that had been calling both James and Kina frequently for a couple of weeks. That raised a serious red flag so Kono looked into Pia Hunter and her possible connection to Victoria.
"Should've known a jealous ex would be involved." Danny joked as he and Steve did a breakfast run for the team. Steve only shook his head, his mind preoccupied with thoughts of Nathan and what was going to happen to him. If he were being completely honest, Steve had grown somewhat attached to the kid which he knows sounds insane. He has only spent probably an hour with him, but Steve could relate to the kid. If anyone were going to be there to help Nathan get through this it would be someone who knows what's he's going through. Plus Nathan seemed to trust Steve completely, just take what happened at Leila's office. He immediately seemed to calm down when he saw Steve, which was a huge thing. Kids like Nathan didn't trust others so well, not after losing the only parents he had ever known. It made Steve think about their plans to adopt, suddenly it all made sense. Steve sighed as he ate his breakfast quietly, he would have to talk to Danny about it once the case was solved. "Hey Super SEAL, if you would like to join us we're going to go over what we have so far." Danny lightly joked trying to pull Steve out of his own head. Steve shook his head but nodded for Danny to do his thing.
Their morning briefing hadn't given them any new insight and until they could find Pia, they were stuck turning their wheels. Thankfully Max called with semi-good news, he had found DNA under Kina's fingernails that didn't match her boyfriend, Nathan, or Victoria which fits their theory that Kina had tried to fight her attacker before she died. Steve and Danny then decided to continue interviewing their mutual friends, while Kono and Chin kept digging into James, Kina, and Victoria's lives hoping to find something that they can work with.
Until they could find Pia, they were going to pick her life apart and find out if she really did have something to do with the murders. The four of them rarely left HQ, even going as far as to have their food delivered, they were running on no sleep, coffee, and pizza when they found damning emails between Pia and who they assume is her accomplice giving them specifics about the crime. Pia and James had been engaged when he broke it off a year and a half ago. She stupidly documented the breakup on her blog and Kono was able to tell that Pia had a mild breakdown after their breakup. She became enraged when she found out that James had moved on with Kina and had fathered her baby. After they got a search warrant for her house, they were able to find the whole crime laid out for them. They still hadn't been able to figure out why Pia had gone after Victoria first, but they had the evidence tying her to the crime. As they cataloged all the evidence and lay the crime out from beginning to end, it made Steve sick to see the lengths that Pia went to ruin James' happiness and take away the ones he loved.
Steve's mind flashed to Nathan and he feels the need to go check on Nathan. As he stepped away from the computer table, he locked eyes with Danny and Danny knew he was going to see Nathan. Danny pushed away from the table and meets him around the table. They excused themselves and made their way quietly out of the office and over to Leila's office, hoping she can let them see Nathan. Steve just needed to check and make sure that Nathan was okay; he needed to see that Pia hadn't realized that Nathan was a still alive and come back to finish the job.
"You're worried about him aren't you?" Danny quietly asked as they drove through the equally quiet Oahu streets. Steve looked over and thought for a brief second about lying, but he knew better than to try and pull the wool over Danny's eyes.
"I just need to make sure that Pia doesn't try something. He's been through enough and it's my job to protect him Danno." Danny nodded knowing exactly what Steve was feeling, even if Steve didn't. Steve was feeling the same way that Danny felt about Grace every day; that intense feeling to make sure she's okay, to know that none of the bad things in the world have corrupted her. Danny can see from the look on Steve's face that he was falling in love with the little boy.
"I know babe, I know. He seems like a pretty great kid." Danny added smiling softly at the smile that spread across Steve's face. "He seems to like you as well; I think it says a lot that he wants you." Steve's head whipped from the road to look at Danny, a weird look spread across his face as he tried to comprehend what Danny was saying to him. He wanted to question Danny about his comment but they had pulled up the Child Services and Danny had quickly gotten out of the car. Steve finally caught up to Danny as they entered the office, they smiled at those that they passed but didn't stop until they reached Leila's desk, where she was trying to get Nathan to eat something. She looked up in surprise to see both Lt. Cmdr McGarrett and his partner, but smiled in relief.
"Hey Nathan look who it is?" Leila asked a cheerful smile on her face as she motioned over her shoulder at Steve.
"Steve!" Nathan cried suddenly excited to see him. Steve smiled and bent down so Nathan could throw his arms around him. Danny smiled at the sight and looked up at Leila, who suddenly seemed overworked.
"Hi we didn't meet earlier but I'm Leila."
"I'm surprised you know who I am." Danny joked shaking her hand.
"You and Steve are kind of a big thing on the island what with your civil union and Five-0." Danny nodded and looked back at Steve and Nathan. "He has quite an effect on him."
"It helps that he has the mentality of a five year old. Do you have any idea where he's going?" Danny couldn't help but ask, he wanted to know that Nathan would be taken care of. "I'm surprised you've had him this long." Danny knew that usually kids who had lost their parents with no living relatives were immediately taken to an orphanage, but yet almost a day later Leila still had Nathan.
"I know, but after his meltdown yesterday I felt that he needed a little bit more before I just dumped him somewhere and before you ask yes my boss knows and she agrees. Nathan is a special case." Danny nodded again knowing that Nathan was probably suffering from separation anxiety and shock from losing his parents.
"We need a break for a little bit, so why don't you let us take him somewhere to get some food and some fresh air. I promise we'll have him back in no longer than an hour." Danny couldn't believe that he was asking, but seeing Nathan so calm and almost happy with Steve was enough incentive to see just how well they interacted with each other.
"Thank you. He just won't eat and I swear he only does things when Steve's around. But no longer than an hour." Danny crossed his heart and bent down so he was at the same level as Steve and Nathan.
"Hey Nathan, this is my partner Danno." Steve calmly stated with a huge smile on his face when he sensed Nathan's reluctance towards Danny. Danny put on his best Grace smile and waved at Nathan.
"What do you say that we get out of here and get some shaved ice?" Danny asked watching the gears turn in Nathan's head before he turned towards Steve, yet again looking for permission. Steve nodded and Nathan immediately lit up and nodded his head.
"Alright then shaved ice it is." Steve announced standing up with Nathan still in his arms. Leila watched them leave and she knew, that Nathan was going to be just fine as soon as Steve and Danny figured it out.
Spending some time in the sun with Nathan seemed to be just the trick for Steve and Danny. It reenergized them and when they walked into the office after dropping Nathan off at Leila's office, Kono could tell that they were even more determined to find Pia and bring her down.
They get nowhere fast until the third day of Five-0's investigation and Pia had used her credit card at a motel halfway across the island. The team was exhausted having been up for three days and their power naps were not really doing anything for them, but Danny was sure that they were going to do whatever it took to catch her. He didn't even give Steve his 'proper police procedure rant' because he wanted to end this nightmare and sleep for days. It took them less than an hour to surround the motel room and take Pia and her accomplice boyfriend down and even less than twenty minutes for the boyfriend to crack and tell them it was all Pia's idea. It was the perfect ending to a horrible situation.
Danny could tell that something was on Steve's mind as they drove home for the first time since they got back to the island a week ago. He knew that most likely Steve was worried about Nathan and what was going to happen to him and truthfully so was Danny. He could see how amazing that little kid was and he could only hope that Nathan found a family that saw it as well. He left Steve to his musings knowing that Steve would come to him when he was ready and not a moment before, so in the meantime Danny was going to sleep for days.
They quietly walked into the house disarming and rearming the alarm as they used each other to make it up the stairs and into their bed. They quickly showered together letting the warm water soothe their muscles and make them even more sleepy and crawled into bed. Steve pulled Danny against is body forcing to Danny to rest his head on Steve's chest (not that Danny was complaining).
"I want to adopt Nathan." Steve finally whispered just as Danny was drifting off to sleep and Danny's only reply was to snuggle closer to Steve rubbing his head against Steve's chest and that was that. Tomorrow when they finally woke up they would call Chris and get the ball rolling for Nathan to become theirs, they were the only people that would ever understand the trauma Nathan had been through.
A/N 2: so how was it? I hope the case-y parts weren't that bad and that you enjoyed this chapter. Like always let me know what you thought. And it pains me to say that this is the last chapter before the epilogue, but have no fear our boys will be back for another story that will catalog even more McDanno moments. Until next time ~thatredheadgirl~