I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.
Notes: So glad you're joining me on this AU romp! I'm going to try to move things fast so it's not a mammoth of a story. (haha) My thanks to Phoebe for always being there to help and share ideas!
H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O
"Detective Williams? This is Principal Fontaine. I need one or both of you to come to the school please. It's your son, C.J. He's very upset. We can't seem to calm him down."
Danny had started moving the moment he'd recognized the telephone number from Charlie and C.J.'s elementary school administrative office. He was jogging down the hall from his office to Steve's as soon as Fontaine had gotten 'I need' out of her mouth. Case work abandoned on his computer, all he focused on was the woman's voice. There was something about her tone that had instantly gut-punched him in the stomach. Her cool demeanor spelled trouble. She was curt. Quick. She was professionally concerned for his son. On a typical day, the woman was forever welcoming. Her usual preamble to any conversation - until that moment - had been a casual chit-chat about the weather or how to corral active little boys. She'd never been this abrupt. Her voice had never lacked its warm smile.
So he could sense all of that just in those first few sentences. As she spoke, he rapped his knuckles loudly on the glass to Steve's office door and motioned to the cell phone he was holding to his ear. But when Steve held up a finger, because he too was on a call, Danny used a family skill which he and his partner had acquired with an incredible ease.
'It's the school ...about C.J.' Danny finger-signed quickly through the window. 'We need to go. Now.'
No matter how hard he tried to hide it, he knew his own expression must have been communicating his own level of unease. He should have tried harder to cover that up when Steve's eyes widened and he visibly began to stumble over his words to whomever he was speaking to. If anything could adversely affect the ex-SEAL's composure, it would be something pertaining to any of the kids; but especially to the newest little member of their family.
"What?" Danny's attention refocused on what Fontaine was saying. "Recess? He panicked?"
"Yes during recess ... he literally panicked ... Mrs. Iona can't get a clear read on what the issue is. He's still very very upset ... he's only clearly asked for his brother."
"Charlie?" Danny asked in confusion. Wincing when Steve read his lips and now was now diving for his office door. On the way, he slammed his hip into the corner of his desk but barely seemed to notice. He was never going to get used to seeing the flash of raw emotion in his partner's face as Steve practically fell into him as he ended his conversation in a rush.
"We didn't think it wise to get Charlie out of his class just yet. C.J. is so visibly distraught, we were afraid that he'd frighten Charlie, too."
"What's wrong with the boys?" Steve blurted out as he descended on Danny. "C.J.?"
"We'll be right there. We'll get Charlie once we get there, okay? Tell C.J. that we're on our way and we'll be there in five minutes ... five," Danny said as he grabbed Steve's arm and pocketed his phone. "That was Principal Fontaine. It's C.J. Something set him off during recess and they can't seem to calm him down. He wants ... Charlie ... he seems to be worried about Charlie for some reason."
Steve's confused look said it all as they charged out of the Palace. For once Danny didn't argue Steve's driving. In fact, he encouraged the use of lights and sirens until they got within school limits. Taking the steps two at a time, they strode into the administrative offices as one where C.J.'s teacher, the school nurse and the principal were speaking quietly together.
"Thank goodness you're here," Principal Fontaine said. "He's so upset. He's only had a sip of water but isn't really able to explain anything." She gestured to the small sofa along the far wall of her office. C.J. was curled up on the sofa and apparently refusing to talk to anyone.
"We don't understand what happened ... what he saw or ..."
"Or, maybe who he saw," Danny finished Principal Fontaine's sentence. Immediately on edge about the boy's state. "Steve?"
""C.J.?" Steve whispered his son's name shocked by how badly the boy was shaking. "Hey little man. What's wrong? Danny? Who the hell would scare him this much? Hey buddy ...," At a loss, he just about crashed to his knees as C.J. wrapped himself around him like a second skin, overheated from sobbing. Steve bent his head trying to get the boy's attention upset he saw the small face so riddled by tears and sweat.
"What happened?" Steve signed and crooned softly. He paused to gently comb his fingers through C.J.'s damp hair and then slowly signed his question again. "Tell me and Danno ... what happened?"
Through his tears, C.J. fanned out the fingers of his right hand. Shaking badly, he put his fingers against his lips. Then he moved his hand down and away with his palm facing downward.
"Bad?" Steve interpreted in confusion. "Bad what?"
But C.J. wasn't done. With the same hand, he made the sign for daddy. A sign reserved for Steve alone ... except both he and Danny knew exactly what the child meant when the two words were slung together as a moniker.
"No way. That's impossible," Steve whispered as he ran his fingers through C.J.'s matted hair again. "He's not here, buddy." But the boy's face said otherwise, colorless except for the blotchy redness from crying, C.J. only grappled for Steve's shoulders, pulling himself tight into Steve's arms.
"Bad daddy," Danny bit back a curse as he stared dumbfounded at Steve. "It has to be a mistake. It has to be. There's no way; no way at all."
"Bad daddy? What does that mean?" The Principal asked. "I don't understand ... does he mean one of you?"
"No, he doesn't mean one of us," Steve replied as he got to his feet with his son tucked to his chest. Worry was fast becoming anger and he was struggling to control his temper.
"Danny, let's get Charlie ... and then we need to make a few calls to be sure. We have to be sure. I don't think C.J. would ever make a mistake like this; not this. I want both boys at home. Together."
"But what is it?" C.J.'s teacher asked. "What does he mean?"
"It's complicated," Danny said. Catching Steve's worry, he turned to Fontaine. "Please send someone to get my son. Has anyone been on school grounds? Has there been any reports of anyone lurking or making threats?"
"No, of course not!" Fontaine said. Clearly alarmed, she was adamant about her protocol if something like that might happen. "We have security and certain lockdown procedures. We would have contacted the authorities right way; even the parents. The safety of our children is paramount! I don't understand ... can you please explain what's going on?"
"We have a family emergency and maybe even something more if C.J. is right about who he might have seen," Danny explained before making a decision to share more information. "If C.J.'s right ... his birth father is here on the island. And if he is here, then he escaped custody and he's here for one reason and one reason only."
"His birth father?" The woman made a face and then quieted down, absorbing some of the implications. "I'll get Charlie myself. And anything else you need ... anything at all."
"Do you think he's here?" Steve said as Danny wrapped his arms around him and C.J. for a quick, comforting hug. "I don't see how ... C.J. probably thought he saw him. Maybe someone who just happened to look like him." He waited as Danny gently wiped the tears from C.J.'s cheek, softly promising the boy that everything was going to be all right.
"Well, let's see," Danny said. He took C.J.'s hand and spoke slowly, using his free hand to ask a simple question. "Where? Where was he?"
Bottom lip trembling, C.J. pointed towards the school's playground and then signed the word for 'street', followed by the word for 'sidewalk'. The finger signs were similar enough for Danny to get the gist of the description.
"And you're sure?" Danny asked, feeling sick at heart when C.J.'s bottom lip began to tremble all over again and he nodded, very adamantly.
"Danny...," Steve warned him unnecessarily as C.J. began to pull at his tee shirt when more tears welled up in his eyes. He tucked his son's head to his shoulder, eyes flashing in anger and making every attempt to control the timbre of his voice. "If he's here, I swear to God ... this is not going to end well."
"I know. Calm down," Danny hissed back. He was also starting to ride a dangerous, angry edge too and they both needed to remain calm for both Charlie and C.J.'s combined sakes. "Let's both of us try to just figure this out, all right?"
Heaving in a big sigh as he tried to settle himself down, Steve squared his shoulders before gently prodding C.J. to look at him. He smiled and gave the boy a gentle bounce in his arms.
"Shhh, you're okay and we both believe you," he said. He pointed to Danny and then towards the playground area. "Danno and I need to know what else you saw ... do you remember anything else?"
Danny tapped near his eye when C.J. looked at him. There was zero doubt the boy was scared as his breath hitched and he hiccuped from his crying jag. He put his head against Steve's shoulder and rubbed at his nose. C.J. was shutting down and only looking for safe cuddles which Danny completely understood. But he pressed on, gently tapping the area near his eye and then make the sign for 'more'.
"Did you see more outside?" He asked quietly.
Bottom lip firmly jutted out, C.J. nodded. His breathing wavered but he bravely sat up straighter in his father's arms.
'Bad Daddy waved to me.' He signed and tapped his own chest. 'Waved three times ... and laughed at me.' With another deep breath, he pointed to himself and made the finger sign for being 'scared'.
Danny blinked in shock.
"He what?" He breathed out, feeling some kind of panic welling inside his own chest. Whomever this man was, he waved and then laughed? These were calculated actions and Danny fought hard not to react as that surge of panic morphed into a very real anger. "He waved to you? This man waved to you?"
'Bad Daddy,' C.J. signed one final time.
"Son of a bitch," Steve whisper-hissed in fury when C.J. wrapped himself back round his body. His son was trembling and beginning to cry again. "He wouldn't make a mistake like this. Not about Travers." He re-tucked the boy's head back to his chest, now doing a gentle jiggle-bounce as the tears began to flow all over again, soaking his shirt.
"Danny ..."
The threat in Steve's tone was obvious now. Eyes on his partner's face, Danny quietly placed a kiss to the top of the boy's head. "This is good enough for me. C.J. believes it was Travers; in the very least, we have a possible pedophile near the school."
"Street cams; maybe some of the businesses too. Make some calls," Steve demanded next. "I want all of it."
"Of course; Lou will handle it and then ... just a few more calls to make to the mainland," Danny said with a reassuring smile aimed up at C.J. before calmly walking away to speed-dial Lou Grover from his cell phone. He was seething inside and barely able to keep his emotions in check. Emily Gardner had always called Billy Travers a snake, but this?
The criminal was supposed to be firmly in hand, behind bars in a prison in Ohio. Just what the hell was going on?
~ to be continued ~
