Maybe one day I'll get my life together so you guys won't get one chapter a month.
Hope you guys enjoy!
Fact #167: Couples don't always want the same things in life.
Season: 5th Season
Steve gripped the steering wheel firmly. He pointedly stared ahead at the road, the shining pavement passing under the truck and drops of rain flashing in his headlights. The storm had rolled in a little earlier than the weather forecast had predicted, though the winds and the rain weren't much more than a background feature to people familiar with the island. Clusters of leaves dotted the road and the gutters ran with streams. The constant thud of rain on the windshield and roof of the cab filled the silence.
A silence that was usually comfortable between him and Catherine. Unlike when he rode with Danny and they bickered and bantered nonstop for nearly the whole ride anywhere, he and Cath could enjoy a drive together without a word.
Except this silence was tense.
"Steve-"
His frown deepened.
"It would only be for a few months."
A few months could easily turn into a year. He knew how these kinds of things worked. One gig turned into five and suddenly there was more intel than they had originally planned, or alternatively, there wasn't enough intel and more needed to be gathered before the operation could be executed. What was intended to be a two month operation turned into a six month operation.
"I know," he said.
He could feel Cath's eyes on him even in the dark of the cab.
"You're upset I already said yes."
He clenched his teeth.
"I don't need to ask you for permission to do things, you know."
"I know that, Cath, but it would have been nice to have been consulted," he said and glanced in her direction.
"Since when do you consult people? Don't you usually just do something and tell them after the fact?" she asked.
This right here is what Danny must have felt like all the time. Steve would just do things or make decisions and Danny would have to roll with whatever happened. He would loudly roll and fight him the whole way, but he would roll.
He took a deep breath.
"I didn't say yes forever," Cath said. "Just for this one job."
"It's fine."
"Yeah. It is. We used to see each other even less when we were both still in the Navy."
"I know." He apparently knew a lot of things. "I just got used to having you around all the time."
"I got used to being around all the time," she said, a grin coloring her words. Her next ones were without the grin. "I love Five-0 and working with you."
Steve thought she did, too, and that's why he had offered her the job in the first place.
"But I feel like a fifth wheel."
This time he did look at her.
"You are a valued member of the team, and the others would agree with me," he said.
"I felt like I was more useful when I was still in the Navy," she said quietly. She sighed. "I don't think I was ready to leave when I papered out. I miss the excitement of working with intel teams and spies."
He nodded stiffly.
"Cath-"
"Steve, look out!"
He swerved around the trio of wild boars that had raced out into the road. The truck skidded on the wet pavement and fishtailed for a heart racing moment before finding traction again. They sat in the middle of the road for a few seconds.
Cath had grabbed onto the handle above the door with a white knuckle grip.
"You sure you want to leave?" he asked. He gestured to the road. "Hawaii still has a lot of excitement to offer."
Cath laughed. "No kidding."
Steve eased back up to speed.
A man jumped out from the side of the road.
The tires screeched to stop.
The man ran up to the driver side window, his face shadowed by the hood of a raincoat. Steve hadn't seen much of him other than the initial jumpscare, but what his headlights had hit revealed a big man. He didn't even need to check to know that Cath had already pulled a backup weapon out of the glove compartment.
He cracked his window.
"What're you doing out here, man?" he questioned.
The man waved a hand towards a pullout on the side of the road. "I got a flat and I guess I never put my spare back into my trunk from the last time. Can I get a lift?"
Steve glanced over at Cath then back at the guy. "No cellphone?"
"Forgot to charge it. I just need a lift up the road to a place called Mo's. I've got a gig up there in…" the guy glanced at his watch, "five minutes ago."
The guy brandished a black case that looked vaguely saxophone shaped.
Cath tilted her head and loosened her grip on the gun.
"Okay. We're heading up to Mo's, too," Steve said.
The guy jumped into the back of the cab without hesitation. "Thanks, guys, I really appreciate it. Man, I'll tell you something, it's always one thing after another with that car. The oil, the starter, the tires, the headlights. One time, I was trying to get up to the North Shore…"
Their previous conversation couldn't continue as the sax player filled every available inch of silence with tales of woe where his car was concerned.
Danny thumbed through the alcohol menu. Kono and Adam sat across from him and Grace while Chin sat with Leilani to their left. Two empty chairs were waiting for whenever his partner deemed it appropriate to arrive with Catherine.
"Danno, can I have this?" Grace asked.
He followed where her finger was pointing at the menu. The menu in his hand. The one with the boozy drinks.
"When did you turn twenty-one, huh?" he asked.
She rolled her eyes and pointed at the top of the menu. "It says right here they can make virgin versions of most of their drinks."
"Oh. Good, otherwise your mother would kill me," he said. He looked over the table at Kono. "What is it with this place? They don't have any Longboards."
Kono shook her head. "Nah, brah. It's a microbrewery. Pretty much everything is in-house or from another micro on the island."
"Well what do you recommend?" he asked.
"Try the Canyon Surfer, it's a lager like a Longboard," Adam said. "Out of the microbrews here, that's the one I like the most."
"I'm going to hold you to that, Noshimori."
Kono waved the waitress over. She took their drink and appetizer orders, promised Danny that they made their virgin Leviathans with zero alcohol, and sped back into the restaurant all before Steve and Cath even arrived.
The restaurant was a newer one on the island. It was mostly made of brick and reminded Danny of some places he had grown up with in Jersey. The inside was packed with guests and so was the patio where they were sitting. Sleek shade awnings shielded them from the rain pitter-pattering down and a handful of big lanterns gave ample lighting while maintaining a comfy ambience. Vines wrapped around the patio walls, a design that would have taken a place in Jersey a year or more to achieve, whereas it had happened within two months here in this tropical environment.
What had grabbed Danny's attention was the massive pizza oven that opened into the small section of kitchen on the patio. The list of available pizzas was extensive and took up most of the menu. They even had one called The Original Pie. And don't even get him started on the dessert list.
Despite having been open for two months, the wait time for a table was imposing for this late in the tourist season and Danny wouldn't have bothered normally. Fortunately for them, Kono and Chin's cousin owned the restaurant and had hooked them up for tonight.
"I'm having a hard time imagining one of your cousins owning a pizza joint that doesn't just do ham and pineapple," Danny said. He leaned back in the cushy patio chair.
"He's always had a knack for making sure everyone's happy when it comes to food," Chin said.
"My parents hated cooking for me, because everyone else in my family loves spicy food and I can't handle it, so they always had to cook non-spicy for me," Leilani chuckled.
"My ma would cook one thing, and then you either ate it, or you went hungry," Danny said. "Let's just say the Williams could scarf down pretty much anything."
Kono stared at him. "But you're so picky!"
"Ah, ah!" He held up a hand. "I am no longer a teenage boy and have grown more discerning in my tastes."
"And now you have very strong opinions on certain foods," Chin said.
Danny started to defend himself when Steve and Cath finally dragged themselves onto the patio and over to their table. "Well, well, look who finally decided to show up."
Kono wiggled her eyebrows. "Have a little before dinner dessert?"
Danny covered Grace's ears with his hands. "Miss Kalakaua, why is your mind always in the gutter, huh?"
Grace shrugged him off.
Steve flopped in one of the empty chairs. "No."
Cath sat down next to him. Danny could immediately tell there had been no 'before dinner dessert' as Kono had put it. Something about Steve's slump told him he was mulling on something and would be pretty poor company tonight.
"We almost hit some boars and then almost hit the sax player," Cath said.
Everyone at the table leaned forward.
"Is anyone hurt?" Leilani asked.
"No. The poor guy was just soaked through and late for his set," Cath said. She glanced over her shoulder back into the restaurant. "Looks like he's setting up with his band now."
Danny finally caught Steve's eye. He raised a brow.
Steve squinted at him.
He raised the other brow.
Steve shook his head and tipped it towards Cath subtly.
He nodded slowly. Later, then.
"So," he clapped his hands together, "I ordered you two Canyon Surfers, and we're probably going to have enough pizzas to feed a football team."
"They're not all cheese pizzas, are they?" Steve asked.
"Danno didn't order all of them," Grace said.
He put a hand to his chest. "I feel slightly offended that you think I can't order food by myself. And yes, Steven, someone did order you ham and pineapple pizza with jalapenos on it."
Steve smirked.
Danny returned it and then eagerly showed them the pizza oven and started to regale them one of his old haunts in Jersey.
Next time on "Dragons", Danny just wanted to eat his leftover pizza.
I know, I know. I don't know why I planned several boring chapters one right after the other. I do have some more exciting things coming up if I can dredge up the motivation and time to work on them.
I had this one almost complete a week, week and a half ago, but wound up having an injured cat take priority over everything else. Sorry about that.
Hope you guys stay safe! Thanks for reading, reviewing, faving, and following!