Rewrite
AvalonReeseFanFics
A/N: Well Hello my wonderful readers. So. I have some bad news. With the new job, and my lack of ability to write, I'm going to be putting the story back to 1 update a week. I know this is not ideal but I just cannot keep up with the 3 updates a week. I will say that I'm going to be attempting to post on Wednesdays from now on starting next week. (Unless you guys would rather a different day, let me know in the review section). Also, I attempted to re-read what I've written, trying to get into the mood and damn do I make a lot of mistakes. I was thinking of getting a Beta reader to help me go through the previous chapters, and any of my new ones. So, if you're interested let me know, send me a PM and we can work it out. As for this chapter, we've got some fun stuff going on. I actually had a lot of fun writing most of this! So hopefully you guys enjoy it. As always don't forget to leave a review, if you're interested in being a Beta let me know, feel free to drop a fav or a follow and I'll see you guys on Wednesday.
Chapter 383
Steve had been called for a case, Nahele was off at school, her brothers were up to criminal activity on the island, and Rowan had nothing to do.
She had no music meetings, all her songs were written, no melodies or lyrics were bouncing around her head. Steve didn't want help with his case. Wo and Con wanted her no where near the job they were on because it was on island and they didn't want Steve to find out. All her five-0 friends were on the same case as Steven.
She was bored.
She had this big empty beach house and nothing in it to entertain her.
She could read but one could only read for so long, even if they loved it. And none of her books were exciting her at the moment.
Oh they excited her enough to buy them but now, now they weren't doing it for them.
She had hit a block in the writing of songs. She had melodies and she had lyrics, but none of them went together.
Steven and Nahele loved her baking, but she had been doing a lot of it recently and they were weak, they couldn't turn her baking down. They had respectfully asked her to stop because their work outs couldn't keep up with how much she was baking.
Yeah, Rowan officially had nothing to do.
So, when Adam called and asked if she'd be okay if he came over she was over the moon.
Hell yes, it was okay for him to come over.
As soon as he hung up, she went about getting the house ready. She tidied up the living area and kitchen, washed the dishes even though it was either Steve or Nahele's turn to do them, she set out her tea service, with her three-tier plate that she covered in snacks for him to much on. She got out her favourite teapot and tea cup and then went about making him coffee because she knew how much he liked coffee.
She picked a nice mug for him but not one of Steve's favourites. He was very protective of the two Nahele had gotten him and had been very upset when he found Wo using one, so now she was certain to keep them in the cupboard for him to use.
He rotated through the two mugs on a daily basis, one or the other. He'd literally hand wash one of the mugs if they were both dirty, that's how much he liked those mugs.
By the time Adam showed up everything was set up and ready to go, she ushered him in and towards the living room couch and then went about pouring his coffee for him.
"Wow, getting a real stay at home Stepford mom vibe from you right now."
To normal people this might have been an insult, but it was all Rowan had ever wanted. To play mom or wife to her own family and do things better than her mother. Prove that a women could have a career and still be an involved parent.
Rowan smiled widely at him. "I know, right?"
"I bet you're wondering why I'm here."
Oh, straight to business. She saw how it was going to be. She reached out for her tea cup and brought it to her lips, taking a long sip before glancing to Adam over the trim.
"I'm assuming Kono sent you here."
"She did, she thought you could help me."
Rowan had a narrowed look about her at that point. Rowan really could only offer illegal help. Help from her brothers. What could he need their help for?
"Do you need my brothers? Cause, I mean I can ask but it's up to them to say yes," she said. "I can call them see if they're done whatever those two are doing today and if they can come down…"
"They're on the island?" he asked and then paused. "You know what it's not important. I don't know if she's told you but I've been having some issues finding a new job now that I sold my company. No one wants to touch me and my bad Yakuza blood."
Oh, this was about a job?
"And she thought I could help you?" she asked.
"Well yeah, Kono says that you've been making investments in businesses on the island and that you might be able to help me figure out what direction I go to."
She nodded solemnly, starting to regret telling Kono that she had been investing in local businesses. It was because she had so much money to burn that she didn't want to get taxed on. She figured investing it would make her feel better than buying things she didn't really need. She got to help local businesses thrive and flourish and that was a good feeling to have.
The very first business she invested in was Kamekona's, to help him with a new line of ads, and because he was looking into getting an actual building to operate out of. She gave him enough money to actually earn her shares of his business. Which meant that she was getting returns from that investment.
She had also invested in a few smaller businesses, like a mermaid experience for children, a few scuba shacks and a surf shop.
"Are you looking to invest like me? Because in that case I'd talk to Kamekona. You should see his business plan for a restaurant. That thing is flashier than a Vegas show girl."
"Well, I don't know if that's really what I'm looking for. Gambling with my money I mean," he said and she nodded.
Fair.
She was making a lot of money, not including all the money she was sitting on from the different heists she had helped her brothers through. Adam wasn't making money like she was anymore.
"Well what exactly are you looking for?" she asked.
Adam sighed. "That's the problem. I don't know. I know I'd like it to be business related…"
"Okay, not helpful Adam," Rowan said and chuckled a bit. "I don't think I can help you until you figure that part out. If you need a reference, you can use me."
Adam smiled it was very nice of her to offer that to him.
He inclined his head in a polite nod. "Thank you."
"I suppose Kono wants a little more help than that though," Rowan said. "Are you any good at accounting? Maybe you'd like to manage my investments?"
At that Adam laughed. "You're just hiring everyone huh?
"It's an option, you don't have to take it," she said with a shrug.
"I could be an accountant… I'd need to take a few more courses…"
"Oh and you need money for it?" Rowan asked lunging for her purse.
"Oh, no, Rowan…" he started but she was already pulling out her cheque book.
"How much do accounting lessons cost? Two thousand? …" "—Rowan." "…No? Five thousand?" "—Rowan." "… Okay. Ten thousand should cover the lessons and all the supplies, maybe even some spending money to update your wardrobe." "—Rowan… wait what's wrong with my wardrobe?"
Rowan was busy scrawling on her cheque. She didn't even look up to say: "Your appearance is a reflection of how you perceive yourself. If you're going to put your best foot forward you need to first put it in the best shoe. And the rest of you must match."
That was Wo Fat talking and Adam knew that. Because the man had the same outlook.
"I don't want your money," he said to her and Rowan's face drop.
"Are you sure? I still have to invest so much so I don't get taxed. I don't mind investing it in you."
Adam found himself smiling. "Well, thank you for having so much faith in me, but uh… I was hoping for more moral support."
"Oh yes, but that is implied in situations like this," Rowan said and he found himself laughing again.
Of course Rowan assumed that moral support was a given.
"Would you like to help me look at the different options?"
"Oh!" Rowan cried clapping her hands together. "Maybe we'll find you something else you'd like better while we're looking! I'll get my laptop, you poor more coffee!"
Adam watched her go with a smile on his face. Kono was right. Being around Rowan was going to help him, and it did cheer him up.
Maybe while he was here, he could figure out a way to make it up to her. And he started with refreshing her cup of tea.
H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O
This case was hitting him closer to home than others because the victim was one of the last surviving crew members of the USS Arizona.
He had been out with his granddaughter for ice cream, to cheer her up since her boyfriend had broken up with her.
A few blocks over a crew had hit a credit union, and while they were fleeing they ran through a stop sign. They hit the car, passenger side first, completely t-boned it, going above 70 at least.
Leonard Patterson who had survived WWII, Pearl Harbour, and two bouts of cancer had been killed on impact.
His granddaughter had been driving. He had asked her to take him out for ice cream to cheer her up over a recent break up.
So understandably, she felt guilty. Because if she wasn't upset about this break up then her grandfather wouldn't have been with her.
That was a lot to take in.
This case, it was personal to Steve. He had lost his grandfather in Pearl Harbour. He was interned on the USS Arizona. He was a Navy man, through and through.
This was extremely personal.
And that affected the way he approached this case.
The men that hit the car, car jacked a completely different car to complete their escape. They had just robbed a bank.
So far this crew had hit two banks, both Military credit unions. One was a coincidence, two was a pattern.
They were all sporting M4 carbine rifles, which were standard issues for US infantry.
They were smart too. They were in and out of the place in 2 minutes, they only took the cash in the drawer and they knew police response times.
Yeah. These guys were military, or ex military. They just had to be.
From there they used the blood they found in the car at the scene of the accident to run through the military's database.
They had DNA on file for all their soldiers in case they ever had to identify remains.
From there they found Nicholas Rider and his house up in Punaluu. It was his blood in the car, so he was one of the men on the heist.
He was so determined to not get arrested, to not leave any evidence that he blew up his own house. Steve had to jump through a second story window onto the roof to not get hit by the blast, and it still knocked him off the roof.
Then there was the chase. A chase where he found himself huffing and puffing and the world blurring around him.
He took a shot to the chest, hit him right in the Kevlar thank god, but it took him off his feet. He hit the ground and he was winded but he used it to his advantage.
Rider came to check on him, as Steve knew he would, to make sure he was down, and when he got close enough Steve popped up and shot him.
Right in the head.
Take that you asshole!
Then, shockingly, Steve couldn't get up right away. He was still breathless. He was gasping for air, but it wasn't helping. He just couldn't catch his breath. And now an ache had filled his body.
The same kind of feeling he got late at night. If he started sweating, if he got the chills, he'd call his wife. She was the only thing that could stop it if it got to that point.
But Steve managed to get himself up, he completed a check on Rider, and yes, yes he was dead. Then, while he and his team were conferring about what to do next, he dug the slug out of his Kevlar.
Everyone was impressed. Other then Danny of course.
But Rider wasn't a dead end. He was just dead.
They found out that Rider used to work for Paladin security. A private security team that work in Afghanistan. The whole company was dissolved after the DOD cancelled their contract. There was a pending investigation and they weren't keen on talking but they got them to comply.
The company was headed by Lee Campbell. He had a team of about five people, the investigation was into four of them, one of them being Rider who was dead.
They were contracted to provide security details for key civilian personnel in Afghanistan.
They were being investigated as there was an incident that involved the death of several Afghanis.
At first, they assumed it was revenge, for loosing their contract but it was so much more than that.
Steve put people on Campbell had them following him, but he had flagged them immediately and told them to tell Steve to talk to him himself. So Steve went down to the diner and chatted him up.
This was about revenge alright, but for their fallen boy. One of his men was killed in actioned and the murdered Afghanis that was payback for it.
And the heists? They were all about getting the money to save that man's house. His widow was about to lose it.
Was it a noble cause, hell yeah, but they killed Leonard Patterson, an innocent fucking bystander. And Steve was going to make sure that somebody paid for it.
They couldn't do anything though. They didn't have enough evidence to arrest, and these guys weren't going to confess to anything, nor would they roll on their team.
They had to catch them red handed.
And they were ready when that silent alarm went off at a credit union in Waialua. Steve had Duke send a boat load of HPD officers to the scene and then he was heading down as well.
But while they were on the way all the alarms started going at once, the whole windward side lit up like a Christmas tree. Steve originally had no idea what to do, all these alarms for banks going off at once, he figured Campbell had to be playing them.
He wanted them confused, except Campbell didn't know one thing. Steve had a psychic wife.
He asked Jerry which of those alarms was isolated, because Campbell clearly wanted them distracted. There was one alarm that was isolated, at a jewelry store. That had to be them.
Then he called Rowan asked her if she could confirm.
She did some humming and hawing and eventually came back with yes, he was on the right string. But then she told him to be careful, cause he was going to get into a fight he couldn't win.
That was ominous but Steve laughed it off and told her he would be careful. He was always careful.
Okay that wasn't entirely true but that didn't matter.
Steve rolled up on that scene as they were trying to flee. They cut off their point of exit and then opened fire when Campbell's team opened fire on them.
Then Campbell ran with the money because the objective was what was important there, and Steve. Well… Steve gave chase.
H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O
It was supposed to be an easy day, making even easier money.
Pick up the merch. Drop off the merch. Get paid.
Nothing had gone right.
His sister had popped a portal to her place, Con and Wo didn't have time to chit-chat so they had left her there promising to be back for dinner or something. Then they went to get the merch.
37 kilos of raw heroin.
And it was fucking missing.
Seriously, why the fuck was everyone fucking stealing from him these days? Seriously?!
What they just traded in fucking with Rowan to stealing his shit? As if it wasn't going to illicit the same response from him.
There was also a secondary motive to finding this merch instead of just letting it go, like he should have. He had something to prove, specifically that he could be asset in certain situations, which his future all hinged on.
Something that he couldn't talk to Con about because the man wouldn't understand. And he didn't want to upset him when this wasn't a done deal yet.
The rest of the day was about figuring out where that shipment went. Didn't take long, they tracked it down to a shipping district in Honolulu in an hour. Obliterated the crew sitting on that merch in less than twenty minutes.
Now he and Con were standing outside that warehouse filled with 37 kilos of raw heroin and seven bodies calmly smoking like they hadn't just murdered the competition.
They were out there together not really talking. They rarely talked, rarely engaged in idle chit chat. They were good with companionable silence.
Rowan was the one who usually filled their silences and when she wasn't around, he learned that he was no longer used to silences like that. He kept saying he didn't care for the chattering but she had effectively ruined him.
So, Wo Fat was actually excited when his phone rang and his sister was on the other side.
"Hey, not going to lie, I've been majorly delayed may not make dinner," he said.
"Oh, I know, that's okay," she said and wow that was so typical of her. "Are you close to Kalakaua street?"
See, now if his sister was looking at strings why was she asking him that? Didn't she already know the answer? Why was she asking him questions that she already knew the answer to? Who did that? His sister, that's who.
"Yeah, I'm like two blocks from there, why?"
"Well there's a jewelry heist…" "It's not me." "Obviously! What I was trying to say is that Steve's responding to it and… well the strings are making it look like he's going to get really hurt could you… if you see him, I mean… could you just watch out for him?"
Wo Fat sighed. Typical. Fucking typical of his sister. He rolled his eyes and bit back his groan so she didn't know how much this annoyed him.
"Alright Rowan, if I see him, I'll keep an eye on him, okay?"
"Okay, thank you!"
And then she had hung up. Wo Fat pocketed his phone, his cigarette had gone out a bit, which meant he'd have to light it again. Con was still happily puffing away on his.
He didn't even look at him as he asked: "Steve in shit again?"
"When is he not in shit?" Wo shot back as he dug through his pockets for his matches. "Apparently he's up the block from here…"
Gunshots peppered the air, around them people started to panic. They were all running and ducking inside, but neither man moved. Wo Fat shook his head while Con groaned beside him.
"Aww, we don't have to ride into that clusterfuck do we?"
Wo shook his head. "No, she said we only have to get involved if we see him, so I figure if we stay here, we won't see him."
"You know if something happens, she'll be upset, right? That we didn't go check on him…"
"Hey if you wanna go, be my guest," Wo said.
Con leant back against the wall with a scowl. "I don't want to go."
"Then shut up."
The two stood there smoking for a little while longer before Con started laughing. He then elbowed Wo Fat who was in the process of relighting his cigarette.
"Look at this idiot running through traffic," Con said. Wo looked up and then watched as a man ran by.
The man was in a fancy suit, without the jacket and he was carrying an automatic weapon and duffle bag. He turned down a walkway into a shopping/shipping district. You know, warehouses with loading bays and little kiosks set up in rows.
But it was the man chasing after that one that Wo recognized immediately as did Con, and the two of them just watched him run past after the suspect he was chasing.
Con groaned. "No…. tell me that is not our idiot!"
Except it was.
That was Steven, sprinting off after a suspect. And he'd probably need help as well. As a dutiful big brother Wo Fat would at least have to make sure his little sister's husband didn't get himself killed. Though at this point it was starting to feel like he had adopted yet another sibling. Because the amount of times he had to ride off to rescue Steve was getting close to the amount of times he had had to rescue Rowan.
He threw his cigarette to the side with a string of curses.
"It is, you follow him I'll loop around and cut them off," he said and the two took off. This was not how they wanted the day to go.
H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O
Steve chased after Lee Campbell as quickly as he could, ducking and weaving through traffic until he took him down a little alleyway filled with kiosks and stalls.
By the time he turned the corner he had lost him. He was slowly moving, trying to figure out where the guy had gone when he tackled him from behind and into a stall.
Steve went down and suddenly his world started to go dizzy, his chest was constricting, he was panting and it was getting hard to catch his breath.
No, not now!
Steve got up and Campbell punched him, then grabbed Steve and just threw him threw a door. The space wasn't a finished yet, they were clearly doing renovations, plastic was handing from the ceiling to create make shift rooms, there was rebar and wood lying about. At least no one was inside to get hurt.
Only Steve.
Steve hit the ground and the world around him went hazy. No, now was not the time for whatever this was to be attacking him, it just wasn't.
Not when he had a wife and a kid to go home to. They needed him.
Steve struggled to get up and Campbell kicked him in the face, sending him sprawling back and giving him a completely different reason to be dizzy.
While he was trying to recover, Campbell ripped a piece of plastic down from the ceiling and wrapped it around Steve's face.
Now Steve had a really good reason to not be able to breathe. He was struggling to get a good grip on Campbell's hands to get the plastic off of him and failing. He had managed to crawl away, to get back up to his feet. If he could find a wall, he could push off it, knock into Campbell and get the upper hand. Or at least be able to breathe again.
And then someone must have tackled the man off of him, because his grip was dislodged violently. So violently that it took Steve off his feet.
Steve collapsed, coughing, choking, struggling to breathe even now that the plastic was off of his face.
What he didn't know was that Lee hadn't been tackled, but punched. Con had only been a little way behind him when Lee tackled him through that window. He had just got there when he kicked Steve in the face, and yes he did pause a bit before attacking.
Because he had a feeling Steve wouldn't really want him to intervene. That and, well, Con's life would be much easier without Steve in it. He might have gotten his own chance at happiness if Steve wasn't in his life.
But the second the plastic went around Steve's head, Con knew he had to act. So he did.
One sucker punch to the face got the man to let go of the plastic. The high kick to the man's chest got him away from Steve.
Con left Steve to get the plastic off of him himself. Blocking this man from getting back at Steve who clearly was no in a position to fight.
Seriously what was wrong with him? Usually, he was better at hand-to-hand combat.
The man in the suit was looking him up and down clearly confused about who Con was and why he was there and that was fine, Con wasn't sure why he was dealing with this either.
"Pick on someone your own size ese!"
Which was probably stupid because this guy was bigger than him.
The man went to tackle him, clearly hoping to use his multitude of muscles to take Con down. Yes the guy was built a little wider and muscular than him, but the was still Con's height.
But Con had been wiry all his life, and he knew how to hold his own against gorillas.
So, the tackle took him down and that was fine, close quarters was going to be this man's death warrant.
Con punched up first, the blow crack his finger against the man's jaw. Con bit back the pain and punched again. This time to the arm that was holding the man up.
The man buckled and this time when Con punched him it was to the face. Nose broken the man's eyes started to water.
Con hooked a leg around the man's waist and with his leverage got the man flipped over and on the ground. Con punched him rapid fire three times before the man managed to shove him back and off of him.
Then they were both up. The man tried to tackle him again but Con dove out of the way. The man turned, already aiming for a spin kick.
Con tried to block but he wasn't in the best position. His arm absorbed most of the blow but he still lost his feet.
The man went to bring his heel down on him but Con rolled out of the way and back up to his feet.
The third kick, Con caught. He then kicked the other leg out from under the man, before punching him once more.
The man hit Con's leg and his grip faltered and then the two were backing away from one another, just to get up and come back together.
Like boxing in the ring, circling one another with their hands up until the man tried to grapple him again.
Jesus this guy liked hugs.
There was a click of a gun but Con didn't panic, cause he knew it was just Wo.
"Stay still!" he shouted at him but Con couldn't stay still, he was trying to avoid a stronger hold, which meant a lot of twisting.
And as much as Con trusted his big brother figure to not shoot him by accident, he didn't want to chance it since they were in such close quarters.
"I got this, check McGarrett!" he ordered as he kicked the man away from him.
The man hit the ground near a pipe. Aw fuck.
He picked it up and Con kicked him again, trying to shove him back down. He staggered away but when he got up again, he swung the pipe. Con ducked the swing and then he punched him, twice in the chest.
The guy had to be getting tired. How was he not winded?
He blocked another swing, grabbed the inner arm and twisted it, the brought the man down onto his knee.
Now that winded him, and it got him to let go of the pipe.
But that just meant he was grappling to grab Con again. Con twisted that arm, put it over his shoulder and just flipped the man over him.
The plan was to get him on the ground and kick his face in until he stopped moving, he didn't see the rebar stick straight out of a pile of rubble until the man was in the air.
Well, that would work too.
He brought the man down onto the rebar with such force that the metal pole slid through him like a hot knife through butter.
For a minute the man twitched, and gasped, clearing trying to deal with the immense amount of pain he was in. And Con just stood over him staring down at him, until the twitching stopped and the man eventually stopped breathing.
"You good?" Wo called and Con eventually looked away from the now dead body.
"Yeah, I'm good," he said breathlessly as he went to where Wo was crouched over Steve who was still gasping. "Guy was built like a bear."
Wo was crouched down beside Steve who was just lying there on his back panting. Wo had a hand on Steve's shoulder and was looking at him clearly very concerned with what he was witnessing.
"What's going on with him?"
"I don't know, he can't seem to catch his breath."
Steve finally looked up at them. There was something off about his eyes, they weren't focusing in on either him or Wo, and he was still huffing away like he had just run a marathon.
A shaking hand reached out to him grabbing first at his pants and then his sleeve. Wo Fat was in a panic, he turned wide eyes up to Con.
"He wants you to hold his hand," Con said, though he was just as amazed about it as Wo was.
Wo took his hand and Steve's breathing began to level but barely.
"Don't tell Ro," he kept saying, through giant gasps for air. "I'm fine… I just… please. Please, don't tell Ro."
Yeah.
Like they could keep this a secret.
But to appease them they told him that they wouldn't. And when his team caught up and the two could go back to their own job, they agreed that they wouldn't seek Rowan out to offer up Steve's secret. They didn't want to worry her after all. But if she asked, hell yeah, they'd tell her everything.
H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O
Danny had made a call, asking Rowan if she was still looking for investment opportunities and she was.
She took the details, then went to get ready. She started by putting on her most severe of suits, a blue Prada pant suit with a light blue blouse. She did up her make up with subtle winged eyeliner and put on her heart locket with her husband's naval ID on the back.
Then she headed over to the Veteran's Federal Credit Union.
She walked into that bank and went straight to the customer service desk, smiling largely at the woman standing there so she knew not to be afraid of her.
"Hi, I'd like to see someone about a mortgage that is in foreclosure?"
And then she was directed to the bank manager. A warm man in a Hawaiian shirt. He shook her hand, ushered her into the seat across from him and they exchanged pleasantries. You know normal stuff.
However brief it was.
"You mentioned you were here about a mortgage that was in foreclosure?"
Rowan nodded quickly. "Yes. Kiana Warren has her mortgage here? Right? You guys are foreclosing on her house?" The bank manager squirmed in his seat. "It's okay, I'm not mad or anything, I was just wondering."
He made a big show of going through the paperwork before looking back at her.
"I uh… yes she does have her mortgage here, but uh… well, as it turns out, it's not just in foreclosure, it's a lien and uh… if you're here for an extension…"
"Nope, not looking for an extension," she said. "I'm here to pay it."
Now that shocked the man. "You're… you're what?"
"I'm here to pay it for her. I believe they said she's missing about 40 thousand, is that correct?" Rowan asked and the woman nodded.
"Yes, Mr. Campbell put down 30 thousand but we need the full 70 thousand to…"
Rowan simply ripped the cheque out of her cheque book and put it down on the desk in front of him.
"40 thousand, feel free to cash it right now. Lord knows I'm good for it," she said and the bank manager's mouth dropped. "I wouldn't be insulted if you didn't believe me. So go on, go make sure I'm good for it."
"I… uh… why…"
"Why do you care?" Rowan asked. "As long as you get your money it doesn't matter. And, just for the record, I'd like to remain anonymous. But uh… a charity receipt would also be nice, thank you."
Then Rowan sat back as the man looked over the cheque in his hands. She struggled to keep her smile to herself.
It felt good to take something bad and turn it into something positive
H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O
Nahele got home after school to his mom already in the kitchen making dinner.
"Hey mom!"
"Hey sweetie, how was school?"
Nahele smiled. Was it stupid that he loved coming home to someone asking silly mundane questions? Cause he did.
"It was fine. I saw Dad's truck in the driveway, is he home?"
Now that wasn't a silly question because his dad could be anywhere if he took his Uncle Danno's Camaro.
"He sure is. Your dad's upstairs. He's had a bit of a hard day, maybe go up and give him a hug?"
His dad had had a hard day? Oh lord, why? He hadn't gotten hurt, had he?
"Sure!" he said trying to come off as chipper as usual even though he was worried.
He pounded up the stairs, finding his dad in his room, just crouched in front of a huge case. He didn't look gravely injured, though he had a clear head wound. He looked rather somber though.
"Hey dad," he said moving in to hug him. "What happened to your head?"
"Went through a window," he said absently. "I'm fine."
Nahele settled down beside him. "What are you looking at anyway?"
Steve took a deep breath. He had been forwarded the full interview Patterson had given a film maker. Part of the video tributing the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbour. That same film maker later hit up him because he had heard his name in a different interview. This interview, from a different survivor, retold the events on the ship and his grandfather's heroic actions.
Those actions ended his life, but he saved he lives of others. And it was why he had been awarded the purple heart.
Steve hadn't known that before today.
So when the case was over and his mind was going over the personal parts of this case for the millionth time, he pulled out his grandfather's footlocker and taken it up to his room to go over the contents.
"This uh… this was my grandfather's stuff," he said. "Your great-grandfather."
He offered some old pictures for him to look at. "So, he was in the Navy?"
"He was. He uh… he served on the Arizona," Steve said and Nahele looked down at the pictures.
"He did?"
"He did… and uh… he wasn't one of the men who… you know, made it off," he said and Nahele frowned.
He wasn't sure what to say though, so he simply put a hand to his dad's arm and said: "I'm sorry Dad."
"Aw, it's okay, kid, it's okay," he said. "But uh… recently, during this case. I learned why."
"You did?" he asked. "Really? Can you tell me?"
"It's in this documentary. The CO of the ship needed someone to flood the ammo room so it wouldn't blow. If it did…. Everyone trying to get off, they'd have died. My grandfather offered to go himself. He gave them a few extra minutes to get people off of that ship before it blew."
"Wow, so that's where you get your bravery from."
Steve half laughed at that. He pulled out the purple heart. "I knew my grandfather had been posthumously awarded that purple heart, but I never knew why. And now… now I do…"
He handed it to Nahele and let him look at it. "Wow, dad, this is a pretty big deal. I can't believe you never told me any of this before."
Steve just smiled. "Well, now you know," he said wrapping an arm around his kid's shoulders. "Figure it's about time you learned the family history."
"Well thanks dad."
Steve took out his grandfather's tags and offered them up to him.
"Your mom has mine," he said. "But uh… if you'd like to carry a little history around…"
Nahele looked down at them almost in shock. "Really? You'd give these to me? You don't want to wait to give it to your real son?"
It was a valid question because with the way his dad and mom went at it, it was only a matter of time before they had a child of their own. Nahele figured once they had a real kid, a kid made up of both of their DNA they wouldn't really want or need him anymore.
"What are you talking about? You are my real son. So yeah, you wanna wear them, or want them, sure, but you gotta promise to keep them safe for me…"
Nahele slipped the tags over his head loving the way Steve smiled at him when he did. This was a big deal and both of them knew it.
"Thanks dad, I'll take really good care of them I promise," he whispered and then Steve pulled him in for a hug.
Nahele held his dad as tightly as his dad was holding him. He loved getting the reminders that he was wrong. That those deep dark worries and fears about his perfect family not wanting him forever were unfounded.
He was going to wear these dog tags with pride, for as long as the McGarretts wanted him to. Hopefully that was for forever.