I do NOT own anything, but the plot.
Nalo a loaʻa
-loosely translate to "lost and found"-
CHAPTER TWO
The sinking feeling in Danny's stomach didn't dissipate between dropping the kids off and heading to Denning's office. This place held its own ghosts, but he always hated attending the building without Steve.
What he wasn't expecting was to see the rest of the team waiting.
"Huh, you got the same text, too?"
"Yeah, Brah, what do you think it means?" Kono asked, her brow furrowing. "We decided to wait out here for you to get here."
"United front and all that," Chin remarked, smirking.
"This ain't how I imagined the week to start off," Lou commented, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Also, don't like the feeling in my stomach over it."
"No one likes to deal with the governor," Kono joked. "Only one person was able to get around him."
Lou may have laughed, but the burning grief in him flared as he remembered the last time being here was with Steve when they both had an axe to grind with the other. The very idea that things had changed so much since their rocky beginning was too much of a lump to swallow.
"Yeah, because of that incorrigible grin he used to get," Danny stated with a half-hearted humour and an eyeroll. "Won anyone over."
"The McGarrett charm," Kono quipped, laughing. "Maybe you'd have a better relationship with Denning if you had it?"
"No, Kalakaua, because that grin also came with a trunk full of explosives and a death wish."
The three other members of Five-O laughed, not one willing to disagree, as Danny led the charge inside. They were all led through the building, a tension radiating off every member of the staff they passed. Danny's gut instinct told him something was wrong when they didn't even need to wait and were taken straight through the governor's office. Usually, he had a chance to moan and groan about being left waiting when they were there on time, and bitch about being there in the first place.
"He's been expecting you," the secretary said, opening the doors and allowing them to enter.
Barely making it three feet into the room, Danny stopped dead in his tracks, almost allowing the others to walk straight into him.
"Danny!" Lou exclaimed. "What the hell, ma-"
"Shit," Kono stuttered.
Sat at the governor's desk was a ghost they'd all laid to rest.
"Ah, you're here," Governor Denning welcomed the team, standing up to greet them properly. "And I know this may come as a shock to you all, but as you can see the matter at hand is quite sensitive."
"I didn't know the governor of Hawaii possessed such power," Danny rebuked, yet to move even an inch forward.
"Well, I'll be damned," Lou commented, shaking the silence a bit more than Danny's soft sarcasm had.
"I know seeing Commander McGarrett alive and well may be a shock to you all, but there was a matter with only one way to resolve."
"Rambo played dead," Danny scolded, his eyes not leaving Steve's turned down head. "Should've known it was a mission only he could do alone."
If he could, Steve would've hung his head so much lower.
Sweeping a gaze over his best friend, Danny took in Steve's posture, took in the entire man from his combat boots to his casually worn shirt with black jeans. It felt like a mirage, something Danny had begged for and wanted, but now he had it, he felt himself harden to the world around him.
From the way the others barely moved or made a noise, Danny deduced they were feeling the same.
Clearing his throat, Danny spoke, "So, go on, pray tell, what's the explanation for this?"
"Please," the governor said, gesturing for them to sit down. "Sit and I'll explain what has happened in the course of the past five months."
Steve looked up, his gaze going straight to the governor's, silently pleading with him not to give all of the details. There were some things Steve wanted to do in his own time, not be ousted like he was right now. As the team settled, Danny was left to take the seat nearest Steve and the anger was palpable in the small space.
"On April 9th, a threat against your lives was made and by April 12th..."
"... Steve was dead." Danny's announcement cut the governor short and was bitter to the ears. "Quite a gory, fiery one at that if I remember correctly."
In actual fact, Danny remembered every last detail of that day because it was the day he and Steve were caught in a burning warehouse and after being saved by Steve had to pull his mortally wounded best friend from the wreckage only to lose him a few hours later on the operating table.
There was not a moment of that day that had lost colour to him, not a second had hazed with the passing days. No, because Danny walked away that day defeated and destroyed because he had failed his partner at being the perfect backup.
Apparently, he hadn't.
"The coverup of Commander McGarrett's death was so extensive we couldn't let a single soul know. That included any one of you. We had to make it look real."
Danny snorted – that was the biggest understatement of the century.
Frowning, Denning's carried on. He knew Danny Williams was a cynic at the best of times, he also knew that this wouldn't wash well with him after seeing the aftermath transcend, but they had done what was necessary.
"We had to get the heat off the team and make it look believable. Franklin Wright poised a very real threat to you all and would've used each of you to get to Steve."
"If Steve died before this Franklin Wright had a chance, then we were safe?" Chin asked, his tone the most settled.
"That was the original plan, yes," Denning said, giving a short, firm nod. "We decided that by removing McGarrett from the entire game we could see if Wright was still focused on you four and consequently your families."
"And this Wright … why exactly was he after us and Steve?" Chin asked, trying to make sense of the situation.
"Op in Kabul went sideways," Steve finally spoke.
His voice was rough and low, but to the team it was like hearing music for the first time.
"About nine years ago …" he started, only to pause, unwilling to bring his head up. "Franklin's little brother was a SEAL on my team. The mission was FUBAR, and Tommy died as a result. Franklin held me responsible."
"So Super SEAL ran away rather than opted to let us help," Danny chided, distain lacing his words. "Go figure."
"There are a lot more details to go through, but I can imagine this is a real shock and you need time to come to terms with this." Denning's tried his hardest to handle this softly, but he knew that was never going to happen. "As of today, I'm reinstating Commander McGarrett as head of the task force. You may need to get him up to speed with where you are with cases, but I've seen how you've worked previously, I know soon you'll be running on all cylinders and as efficient as ever."
"So, it's safe to assume that the threat is gone?" Lou asked.
Denning's nodded his head.
"Franklin Wright was killed yesterday when being apprehended. We had to wait for paperwork and formal identification to deem it safe for Commander McGarrett to return home and to his civilian job."
The room became silent for a moment, the tension becoming unbearable.
"I'll give you a moment," Denning's said, excusing himself.
Steve hadn't uttered more than the small details he had given since they had entered. Fuck, he hadn't said more than a mouthful since he was released from the confines of the safe house he had been kept in. It hadn't done him good to be cooped up, away from the normal day-to-day action, living with every thought and feeling and no way or no one to distract him.
He'd spent months trapped away and nothing had prepared him for when he was told his freedom was granted. This was nothing like when he was arrested for Governor Jameson and Laura Hill's murders. He was locked up in protective custody with a room that was no bigger than his bathroom back home, but to be locked up in an isolated villa allowed for nothing but the ghosts of his past to roam had really done a number on his psyche.
Nothing was louder than the silence.
The team sat staring at their fallen leader, stunned at his silence. Granted, Steve McGarrett was a man of few words on a good day, but this silence was crippling. It didn't bode well for their assumptions over what had happened.
And the fact Steve was yet to meet their eye? That screamed guilt to all four of them.
"Got anything you want to tell the class?"
Steve cringed at the sound of Danny's voice.
"I didn't plan this," Steve murmured, his voice hidden by his hunched stance.
"You never plan anything," Danny chided. "So, that's no surprise to me or the wonderful people you call Ohana behind me, you putz."
"It just happened."
"I won't repeat my prior comment," Danny rebuked with an eye roll.
Raising his head, Steve tried his hardest to look at them all, take their anger and rage because he knew just how justified they were to the storm brewing in all of them. This was a level of deceit he knew they couldn't just gloss over, but ever the optimist, Steve lived in hope.
"I know this is a lot to take in, but I hope we can all move on from this and work together."
In all honesty, Steve knew it wasn't going to be that simple. Not by a long shot. He had hoped against his better judgement that he would waltz back in, shoot them a grin, and the last few months would fade away. The hostility in the air told him otherwise.
Every single fear he had while gone morphed into each member of his team, but the biggest one was sitting right in front of him - all five foot five of it.
"You hope we can all move on from this?" Danny asked, laughing mirthlessly. "How ever did you say that with a straight face, Steven?"
Unable to find the words, Steve's silence left Danny centre stage to get every gripe off his chest and land them on their intended victim.
"Y'know for someone who lost his mother only for her to come back from the dead, you'd think you of all people would understand the consequences of it." Danny's rant was full force now and unwilling to slow. "But apparently, you are as braindead as I always suspected because clearly you didn't learn."
"Danny..."
"Look, I know you, Steve, you don't think of consequences when you're in the moment. So, I guess the moment I dragged your sorry ass out of a burning building was the perfect opportunity for you to duck and run just so you can feed your hero complex." Laughing incredulously, Danny couldn't stop himself. "We crossed enemy lines for you ... I went to North Korea to save your ass, Afghanistan too, and this is how you repay all of us? You walk back in here like the last five months of our lives never happened and we can move on from this. I have two kids that need me, but I always put you before them when really I never should have when this is the bullshit you're going to rain down on us all."
Steve felt his breathing alter in that moment. Every regret he had in life came back at him full throttle, made worse that the one person he trusted most in this life was the one now using them as a weapon for attack.
"I know this is hard," Steve started, not far from grovelling. "Think how hard this has been for me…"
"No," Danny cut him off from continuing. "Until you have to bury your best friend, I think you should keep your damn mouth shut."
Danny regretted that comment the moment he said it having stood by Steve when he and Catherine had brought Freddie home for a proper burial. Steve had buried his best friend and then looked Freddie's daughter in the eyes straight after. The guilt Steve wore was still raw and he'd made a mockery of it.
"I deserved that," Steve accepted solemnly, not even reacting with the ire that comment flared in him.
Unable to sit still, Danny got up to pace the length of the room.
"Look, I know this is a lot, but I was hoping we could sit down and really talk," Steve all but begged. "For Ohana sake."
He regretted saying that last comment when it seemed to inflame Danny's carefully contained anger.
"Ohana," Danny scoffed with total derision. "Maybe you need to be retaught the definition of that. Your Ohana did just fine without you. There's loyalty amongst family … you showed how little you have towards us." The look his threw in Steve's direction was one Steve thought he'd never have to personally experience. "Fuck this. I'm going to work."
Danny didn't utter another word; he simply left the office and Steve knew a quiet Danny was definitely a dangerous thing. Steve got up, almost ready to follow him, but he reminded himself he had no right.
"Guys …" he said turning to the remaining team members.
"Sorry, Brah, this is a lot to take in," Chin stated as he stood, his voice never wavering. "Let's get to the Palace and go from there, hey?"
Steve nodded but let him follow Danny. He paced his breathing before his faced the youngest of the team.
"Kono?"
"I'll see you at the office," she dismissed his hopeful tone and stood to walk away.
Attempting to steel his emotions was harder than Steve had ever predicted. He was trained for all manner of things, could endure all sorts of physical torture, and survive the worst, but this wasn't something any of his training had prepared him for.
And actually, it was now he was home, Steve realised the last five months had done nothing but taught him how his future was going to look - lonely ... again.
Just like before his father's death.
"Good to have you back, Steve," Lou said, slapping his hand onto Steve's back. "See you at the office."
Steve knew the only reason Lou was the easiest on him was because he was the newest on the team. There weren't years between them and memories galore to face up to. Sure, they had gotten close, and he had provided an emotional crutch that Danny couldn't, but his bitterness didn't stem from years of teamwork and Ohana.
Sensing he was finally alone, he finally let his head drop back down.
"The only easy day was yesterday," Steve murmured as he followed the steps of his team.
Thank you for reading.