I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.
Notes: Patterns of Warmth - some evils are necessary to get to the place you should have been all along. I can't thank Phoebe enough - always - for never ending volumes of help! ** hugs **
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Steve scowled in consideration of how Billy Travers might have made it out of prison as he balanced C.J. on his hip. If it were true, he couldn't fathom a guess as to how it could be possible. Emily Gardner kept a circumspect eye on the man's whereabouts; a backup to their official channels. Travers was jailed and not up for parole any time soon. They all had a good long stretch of time before that subject should ever come up - if it did.
"That's my boy," Steve said as C.J. looked up at him from the safety of his shoulder. He was surprised when C.J. sat up a little straighter. He rubbed at his nose, sniffled and then signed a few words.
'He said that,' C.J. signed. He took a deep juddering breath and signed faster, tears again welling in his eyes. He was so fast then, that Steve barely kept up with the words. If not for the general gist of the issue at hand, he might have not gotten it at all.
'He said I was his ... he said I was his ... and he laughed. I'm not his.' C.J. tapped his chest as his chin trembled. Upset and frightened, he shook his head and tapped Steve's chest. With a deep breath, he signed daddy and tapped Steves chest again.
"You bet, little man," Steve sad, blinking back a surge of mixed emotions as another terrible truth came out of this encounter. "You are not his ... or anybody's except ..." Pausing, he thumbed away C.J.'s tears and kissed his forehead.
"Nope, you're mine," Steve said and signed. "You're mine and Danno's ... and Aunt Emily's, too. But not his ... never, ever that man's." Steve kissed C.J.'s forehead then, angered by the whole situation and yet unable to show just how in a fury he was. No one had contacted them of any change in Travers' jail-time, location or situation. Things should be status quo, and yet? C.J. was convinced he'd seen his birth father. In the very least, the little boy was truly upset. Even if whomever had scared C.J. so badly might be some kind of crazy lookalike, he wanted to rip the island apart and take care of the boys simultaneously at home. He knew that Danny felt the same way as his partner paced Principal Fontaine's small administrative office.
On the outside, Danny's apparent calm was impressive, including the smile he had plastered to his face for C.J.'s sake. Steve knew though that Danny was about to implode. Beyond this serene picture he was projecting, Steve clocked the swagger of his hips and tight carriage of his shoulders. The free hand that was flailing thorough air, punctuating each of his demands. If it wasn't for the serious nature of what they were dealing with, Steve would have thought Danny's entire demeanor rather ... attractive.
"You're okay," Steve murmured when C.J. plunked his head wearily back down to his shoulder. "We'll get it all figured out."
To partly calm himself and keep that anger in check, Steve started to trace circles over C.J.'s back. As he soothed him and waited for Charlie to be brought to the office, Steve watched for the clues which proved Danny's continued percolating temper as his partner placed a series of critical phone calls for immediate follow up, not only with Lou Grover to ask the man to formalize an inquiry to the authorities State-side, but also to get camera footage off the street. Once Steve told him this additional tidbit of information though, he was positive that Danny was going to lose whatever calm he was managing to maintain. They were both going to have to fight to keep it together in fact.
"How's it going?" Steve asked Danny when there was a lull in the conversation. Danny had an intent look as he glanced Steve's way. His eyes slid over Steve's, dark and angry, before landing on C.J.'s tear-stained face. He softened the instant C.J looked up and managed to smile.
"Good," Danny nodded. But he was distracted and lost his smile, turning on his heel as he punched in another number. He was tightly focused and getting the job done in record time. By the time, Fontaine returned with a confused Charlie in hand, Danny had also instructed the Principals' assistant to contact school administration to release weeks-worth of additional security footage both inside and outside of the school. A warrant? Not a problem and Steve actually grinned as Danny's hand sliced through the air as he punctuated: Not. A. Prob-Lem. Syllable by syllable. If their intruder was Billy Travers or some other unwanted trespasser, it wouldn't take very long to identify the threat.
"Let's go home," Steve said as Charlie looked questioningly first to Danny and then to him.
"Why is he crying? Why are we going home?" Charlie asked as he pointed to C.J who was still hiding his face in Steve's neck. "What happened, Uncle Steve? Why is Danno so mad? Am I in trouble? Did C.J. do something bad?"
The questions came quick and fierce from the soon to be seven-year old. "We'll, talk in the truck. Okay?" Steve said. "Neither of you are in trouble, Charlie. We need to go home for a little while though and sort a few things out."
He smiled a little more, relaxing when Charlie made a silly face, his eyes rolling towards the ceiling. Leave it to Charlie cut the stress and provide some good distraction. He looked a lot like this father then and Steve just had to laugh a bit. C.J. felt the movement and peeked out, signing a fast hello to his brother who signed a fast question back in turn.
'What's wrong?' Charlie asked. And with that, C.J.'s breathing hitched and the tears started up all over again.
"Ah buddy," Steve sighed, sobering quickly as he tucked the little boy even closer. "Don't you worry," he whispered as Danny caught his eye and read the same anger as he was working hard to keep under wraps. "Don't you worry one bit."
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"I don't like that man," Charlie said as he played with his toys in the middle of the living room floor. "He made C.J. sad." His head was down as he interspersed his vocal distaste for a bad man he never had met with rumbling truck sounds.
"I bet he's real mean. But you and Danno will get him good. You will get him good, won't you?"
"Well, first we have to find out what happened. In the meantime, Danno and I need you to keep C.J. company," Steve said as he bent down and planted a kiss on the top of his Charlie's head. "Find a game he likes to play or pick a movie? How about a movie first, Charlie, and I talk Danno into buying us some pizza?"
"Pizza!" Charlie stopped playing and looked up, beaming at the suggestions but focusing on one thing. "Extra cheese!"
"You bet!" Steve said. He turned towards where C.J. had tucked himself onto a chair with his favorite blanket and his ever-present Captain America action figure. He'd chosen a chair that was well away from any windows. It was a blatant enough decision to Steve based on past experience and what the boy's birth father had done to kidnap him the last time.
"Play with Charlie," Steve said and signed with a smile. "We're going to watch a movie and order pizza; like a party." He was disappointed though when C.J. only shrugged. Disinterested and stressed beyond measure, he itched at his nose and snuggled more deeply under his blanket. "I'll be with Danno in the kitchen," Steve said. He pointed to the where Danny was and C.J. followed his line of sight but seemed only interested in knowing where he and Danny were in the house and if he could easily see at least one of them. Things like movies, playing or food were still lost causes.
"If we find out he's here, I'm going to find him and kill him," Steve whispered in Danny's ear as he reluctantly left the boys in the living room. "Can you believe this bastard signed that to C.J.? It has to be him, Danny. Somehow - some way - Travers is here on the island! I don't care what Lou was told by the Warden ... I want proof!"
"We'll get it," Danny said. "Lou is demanding that proof right now. He's demanding video footage, an in-person video conference call - with or without Traver's lawyer. He's already got a court order in hand demanding the right to get copies of any correspondonce and mail Travers might have recently received." Danny stopped to scrub his hands through his hair.
"I don't know, Steve. This just doesn't make sense. And yet? What C.J. says is very calculated. Travers or not, this guy knew sign language. He was stalking C.J ... what the hell is going on?"
"I don't know either but I do know one thing," Steve growled out. "I'm going to wipe the street with the guy once we find out who did this."
"Agreed. But we need to play this cool," Danny said. "Let Lou run with this for an hour or so; he will have an answer tonight. He's as mad as me and you."
Steve nodded because that was definitely true. The older Grover was just as protective as any one of them. With a natural affinity for kids of any age, Lou was a definite favorite honorary uncle of both Charlie and C.J. Their culprit would never survive the inquisition he'd brought down on his head.
"So we have to suck up movie night," Steve said, clearly aggravated. He wasn't sure how he was going to sit quietly while Lou did what he desperately wanted to roll up his sleeves and dive into. Steve nodded as he rubbed both hands down his face. He was exhausted and not happy about being house-bound when he'd rather be out combing the streets for trouble. This balancing act was just about killing him.
"I want to kill whoever this is, Danny. And I have a bad, bad feeling that C.J. is right," he admitted. "This is not going to end well if he touches one hair on that boy's head."
"Easy big guy. I know. So let's just take a deep breath and change the tide, alright? I don't like it either. But having a movie night is a great idea," Danny replied with a smile just for Steve's benefit. "We do a not so quiet and very fun movie night. We don't know anything for sure yet and we need a distraction - me and you, too. So an early movie. Some pizza. He can't see how worried we are; he just needs to know we believe him, we're checking things out with his Uncle Lou, and that we're going to keep him safe."
"You're amazing," Steve marveled as Danny puttered around the kitchen, staying visible and feeling just as angry and anxious as he, yet completely in control. "How the hell are you doing this?" He finally asked him as Danny very calmly ordered pizza for delivery.
"Because I have to and you have to, too," Danny replied after tossing his phone to the counter. "Neither one of us can leave. Thank God for Lou. He's going to bulldoze anyone who stands in the way. But don't think I don't want to kick the doors down and turn over every damned garbage can to find that bastard. And then? Hand his head to him. No one threatens our kids like this. No one, Steve."
Danny's hands were waving through the air again. Punctuating words as his eyes flashed angrily and yet, his tone was so soft. Just loud enough for Steve's ears alone. Steve raised an eyebrow, unable to stop the smile. With a glance over his shoulder towards the boys, he backed Danny up until the small of his back connected with the counter. Leaning forward, he braced his arms on either side of Danny's body, effectively trapping him in place. Instead of getting an argument as he'd half expected, Steve was pleased when Danny wrapped his arms around his waist, pulling him in, as close as he could.
With a settling sigh, Danny rested his forehead against Steve's chest. Much like C.J. had done, he wended his arms around Steve's back and just hung on. And just then, in the quiet of the kitchen, that was enough. Steve allowed himself this moment of peace before the storm he sensed was coming, hit their home head-on.
~ to be continued ~
