A/N I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any of the characters.
A/N Some police departments allow officers to wear ribbons/awards on their dress uniforms and some do not. I could not find info specifically about the Newark, NJ police department. From what I have read many large northeast US departments allow it. Newark, NJ fits that category so I will go with it. Coming onto the force as a Detective, Danny was never a uniformed HPD officer so I guess that's why he wore his Newark, PD uniform on the show. Since that's what they did in the show I will go with that as well.
A/N (Last one today, I promise) Summer months are crazy busy. Independence Day weekend full of BBQ's, family wedding we must travel for next weekend and in between there's work, having the kids all home and continued shoulder trouble (which has now made me stop playing soccer but has sent me to PT. ugh) If I don't post again by Thursday, it will likely be another week before I can post. Real life gets in the way sometimes. Sorry. On a lighter note, they start filming season 7 next week. Yay. Hope we get some awesome Danny/Steve brotherly bromance.
H50 H50 H50
The man who they had arrested for attacking Danny was being brought before a Grand Jury to determine if there was enough evidence to bring him to trial. Since a large part of the case against him was Danny's own testimony as the investigating officer for the murder and as victim of the knife attack, he was called to testify.
Steve would attend as well, not in any official capacity, but as Danny's best friend.
Getting dressed for the event was problematic from the start. Still incapacitated and in pain, Danny could barely get a shirt on by himself, much less a tie. He was man enough to admit he needed help getting dressed properly. So, his ohana offered their assistance.
When Steve, Chin and Kono arrived at Danny's house, Danny greeted them at the door looking rather disheveled. It wasn't that he was trying to be a mess or that he hadn't taken care of himself. Rather, there were just some things that a man couldn't do one handed, especially when that one hand was not your dominant one and when your back flared with pain at almost every movement.
Danny stood in the doorway, with his right arm hanging unmoving at his side, his hand clenched into a muscle-contracted half fist. His uniform pants were zipped but unbuttoned. His neatly pressed white uniform dress shirt was on but unbuttoned and un-tucked. His shiny dress shoes were on but untied. His uniform jacket was lying on the coffee table but his various ribbons were unattached.
So, while Steve helped Danny button and tuck in his shirt, buckle his belt, tie his shoes, don his tie and get his arm in the sling, Kono and Chin sat in amused silence in Danny's living room trying to figure out where each of Danny's service ribbons was supposed to be placed as Danny's voice filtered in from the other room.
"Don't touch me there."
"Get your hands out of my pants, will ya? You're an animal."
"What do you think you're doing down there?"
"You're gunna choke me to death, you Neanderthal."
Tuning out the bedroom banter of their two teammates Chin and Kono mined the internet for help in the proper placement of the service ribbons. Kono searched for pictures of Danny in his Newark police department uniform, figuring they could simply copy the ribbon placement. There was only one of him in full dress uniform and she was shocked when she saw it. "Oh my goodness, cous," she whispered, her eyes flicking to the hallway leading to where Danny was getting dressed. "Take a look at this."
Chin turned his eyes away from his tablet to look and was just as surprised as Kono. Standing at attention in full dress, Danny looked much younger but awful. The left side of his face was swollen and bruised. The right side didn't look much better. Numerous stitches could be seen on his temple and cheek. His lip was split and swollen beneath two black eyes. His right arm was in a cast and, although he was standing at flawless attention, the pain it was causing him was clearly evident on his brutalized face. "What the hell happened to him?" Chin whispered back.
"Look at the date." Kono pointed. "Just after 9-11. He never said anything."
"Danny talks a lot but doesn't really share much," Chin replied. He then pointed to the screen as well. "Caption says it's the funeral for his partner who was killed in the line of duty and that Danny received a medal of valor. Wow."
"Chin, his partner's name was Grace." Kono's voice was a reverent whisper. Danny's daughter was special to all of them but knowing where she got her name was truly touching.
They heard Danny's voice drift in again. "Oh yeah, that feels so good."
The amusingly out-of-context comment changed the mood and both chuckled at the incongruous levity.
"We better get this uniform done," Chin said, pulling himself away from the tablet, feeling now that they had violated Danny's privacy somehow, even though the information they found was readily available on the internet.
Refocusing his efforts, Chin finally found a website with the information they needed and between that and the photo they got Danny's service ribbons placed properly on his dress uniform jacket.
When Danny was finally fully dressed in his highly decorated uniform, he looked impressively pressed and polished. He was certain to make a good impression on the Grand Jury, even with his right arm strapped tightly to his chest in a sling.
"You sure you're up to this?" Steve asked Danny for the hundredth time.
"Yes, mom, I'll be fine," Danny replied yet again. Although the day of testifying would be tiring and stressful he wasn't about to risk the success of the arrest by backing down.
"I wish there was some other way to do this," Kono said, also for what seemed like the hundredth time. "I'd gladly go and testify instead of you."
Danny sighed.
"I know, I know," Kono went on. "You were the investigating officer and then a victim and some things will be considered hearsay if they don't come from you…" Kono repeated all the reasons that Danny had explained to her about the proper procedure for the successful prosecution of a case.
The three men smiled. "She's learning," Chin said.
Danny nodded his head towards Steve. "Now we just have to work on this Neanderthal."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Danny started. "That means that despite all of my hard work over the last six years - six years Steven - after all that hard work you still don't know proper police procedure."
"I do too."
"Hanging people off roofs and dropping them in shark tanks," Danny prompted.
"That was then. I follow procedure now." At the looks from his three teammates, Steve went on. "I just don't exactly follow it all the time." He paused again, but their looks prompted further comment. "They're just guidelines anyway, not hard and fast rules, right?"
Danny threw his left hand in the air and headed towards the door. "Seriously? I give up. Why do I bother?"
Danny and Steve arrived at the courthouse a full 15 minutes before they were requested to arrive and were then subjected to a much longer wait until it was Danny's turn. Not allowed into the courtroom until he was called, they sat outside in the hallway to pass the time. The wooden bench where they were sitting was uncomfortable at the best of times but it was especially difficult in Danny's condition. They had fallen into a comfortable silence when Danny shifted, arching his back to relieve the pain.
"You okay?" Steve asked.
"Yeah." Danny replied, not very convincingly.
Steve glanced at his watch. They'd been waiting over two hours already. "You're due for your pain meds soon."
"I know." He didn't even have to look at the time to know that. He could feel it. They both also knew that Danny couldn't take any pain meds or muscle relaxers before testifying. They made his brain fuzzy and made him sleepy. He needed to be alert. Danny adjusted his arm in the sling, futilely hoping it would ease the pain in his back.
Suddenly Danny's thoughts turned to the nerve attacks. What if he got one now? What if one started while he was on the stand? They had discussed it with the District Attorney and he assured them that they could work around it, but that wasn't very comforting. It still could happen right there in the courtroom and that would add an entire level of embarrassment to the whole painful and tiring affair.
Pushing the negative thought from his mind, Danny stood up with a growl and began pacing the corridor. It was another half hour of pacing and sitting before he was called. He closed his eyes, took as deep a breath as he could and forced himself not to focus on the pain. Steve straightened Danny's tie.
"I got this, babe," Danny said, as much to assure himself as to assure Steve.
"I know partner."
"Don't call me partner," Danny growled as he pushed past and strode purposefully into the courtroom.
Steve paused for a moment. Danny had been saying that a lot lately. Steve had no idea why, probably in large part due to the fact that he had never asked why. But, he couldn't dwell on that now. He had to get inside the courtroom and be there for his partner – uh, best friend, brother.
Despite the enduring battle with the pain, Danny's testimony was well delivered, his professionalism showing through in spades. He presented the highlights of the investigation and explained the evidence they had against the man in custody. Additionally, despite the severity of his injury and the subsequent infection and related issues, his memory of the attack was crystal clear. While that was a problem many nights when it caused sleep to elude him, it had been a blessing in court.
When the day was over, the suspect was remanded over for full trial for both the murder of the professor they had originally been investigating and for the subsequent attack on Danny when he went undercover as Professor Ben Jeffries.
Thoroughly exhausted and way overdue for not only his pain medicine but his antibiotics and muscle relaxers as well, Danny was in a world of hurt as they finally made their way to the parking garage and into Steve's truck where he finally was able to take the needed medicine.
"You did good in there," Steve told him as they pulled out of the parking lot.
"Just basic police work," Danny mumbled tiredly in reply.
"Without you, he would have walked, partner." Steve used the term purposely to bait him and waited for the response. Nothing happened. Not a word. He looked to his right.
Danny was sound asleep and they had yet to even make it to the highway.
