AN: Happy early Thanksgiving to those of you in the US! I hope you all enjoy celebrating with friends and family. As always, thanks so much for reading and reviewing! Hope you all enjoy this chapter!

"Hey, Chin, you got a sec?"

With a soft sigh, the oldest member of the Five-0 task force turned his attention away from his computer and towards the figure hovering in his doorway. Times like these gleefully reminded him that youth was a fleeting gift. It seemed that the older he got, the more trying tasks he faced with energy constantly ebbing away as the years went by. Today, that weariness clung to him like sand after a long day of surfing - irritating and impossible to remove.

Or maybe that was just the headache talking.

He'd managed to hold off the effects of tapping into his gifts for longer than anticipated, but they refused to be held at bay any longer. Pain pounded an unrelenting beat against his skull at an ever-increasing frequency, temples pulsing as his migraine mounted. As he transferred his gaze from the blue light of his laptop to focus on his teammate, his eyes refused to properly adjust to the new lighting. Sounds grated against his eardrums, his clothes scratched against his skin, and the faint scent of coffee that clung to Danny overpowered his senses.

The last thing he needed right now was Danny's loud - albeit friendly and well-meaning - presence. No, what he desperately needed was a good four-hour-long nap in a dark, silent room - preferably on a mattress with pillows, but he wasn't all that picky at the moment.

Plus, there was something about Danny… something seemed off during the elite 'show and tell' earlier. His extra senses, still activated after the search of HPD, pinged oddly when he demonstrated his rather weak abilities. Unfortunately, the unusual sensation was uninterpretable and only made his headache worse.

Still, he mustered up a thin smile and motioned the Jersey detective into the office. "Sure, what do you need?"

Maybe Danny could tell that the sound of his own voice felt like railroad spikes hammering against his skull - or maybe Chin didn't hide that wince as well as he thought - because he slipped quietly into the room and considerately closed the door.

"You alright there, buddy? You look like you just took a bite out of a lemon."

It hurt way too much to laugh, but he allowed himself a small smile. "Headache. I'm afraid it's heading towards migraine territory."

Wincing sympathetically, Danny halted just in front of his desk. "I can come back later, if that's better?" And, in the next breath, "Did you take anything for it?"

"It won't make a difference. OTC meds don't work on this particular kind of headache." That was the thing about the side-effects of being an elite: their cost proved to be entirely impossible to mellow. He just had to ride it out. "Don't worry about it, I'll manage. We've gotta work this case anyway."

He hoped that would spur Danny to bring up the topic that landed him in Chin's office, but the haole only tilted his head. Though Chin hadn't mentioned how he got the headache, Danny was too good of a detective to miss the connection.

"Is it from this morning?" When Chin only shifted uncomfortably in his seat, Danny spun on his heel. "Hang on, I got something that might help."

If Chin had the energy and wherewithal to protest, he would've warned Danny that nothing would aid in his blight. But he was already out the door and back before Chin's battered brain could come up with the proper words.

"Here," He waved an unlabeled pill bottle in Chin's face before dumping out a nondescript white pill. "Take one of these and I guarantee that your headache will be gone in no time."

"Danny - -"

"Just trust me, alright? I've used these things before for headaches and, uh, other unpleasant side effects and they work every time."

Eyeing the pill skeptically, Chin decided he lacked the energy to fight his friend on this front. "What is it?"

Danny shrugged. "It's not a prescription, I swear. It's from some herbal shop in Jersey. Normally, I don't go for that kind of quack-job stuff, but this stuff really works. Honestly, I lost the label and I'm not really sure what's in it."

If Chin possessed the coordination to smash his friend over the head with one of his visitor chairs, Danny would have the chance to prove the magical properties of the sketchy headache pill personally.

"Fine." He held out his hand. "Probably won't hurt at this point."

Instead of handing it to him over the desk, Danny walked around the desk and handed it to him. He also gently clasped Chin's shoulder, squeezing for a moment before moving back to the front of the desk. "Trust me, those things will kick that headache in no time."

Rolling his eyes sent daggers shredding through his brain, but Chin did it anyway. "What did you need? Or did you come in here just to show off your ill-obtained medication?"

"No, I had a question… maybe a way to pursue this elite lead without revealing how we got the information." Danny slouched a bit in the visitor chair, hands flapping in random patterns. "We have security footage of the murder, right? If we could somehow 'catch' the perp on camera, then we'd have all the evidence to go after them without exposing you."

"Right, except it's impossible to get the perp on camera if they're invisible."

"Not necessarily. You compared your abilities as an elite as seeing an infrared version of the world, and that got me thinking. Is it possible to get a thermal image of the crime scene at the time of the murder? Can we convert the footage to show thermals somehow?"

"You really don't know anything about technology, do you?"

"Why would I be in here asking you about this if I did?" Danny chewed his bottom lip. "I'm gonna take that as a no."

"Pretty much. The camera has to take in specific data in order for that sort of analysis to take place. If they aren't calibrated for that, we can't get that image." Chin shrugged. "They'd have to have an infrared-specific camera in there, and they definitely don't."

"Do they have one anywhere in the precinct? One that might've been turned on and could've caught something?"

That earned more consideration, his mind scanning through his mental map of the precinct. "It's worth looking into," he finally declared. "But asking questions will only raise more suspicions."

"Well, it was worth a shot. But we should make sure we have some sort of thermal imaging available when we go out in the field - y'know, just to make sure you're covered for tracking if you need to."

Sometimes, Chin was in awe of Danny Williams. He closed 87 homicides in Newark, for heaven's sake - he clearly was the best in the business. Still, many underestimated him, and he almost thought that Danny preferred it that way.

"I guess I'll have to do this the old-fashioned way," Danny continued, oblivious to Chin's musings.

"Oh yeah? What way is that?"

Danny raised one shoulder in a half-shrug. "Well, staying invisible for that length of time would've placed enormous strain on the elite. Think about it: they needed to stay invisible for thirty minutes inside the room plus the time coming in and out. My guess is that they had to drop it at some point - possibly while they were leaving in all the chaos - -"

"- - so they might've still been caught on camera!"

Grinning, Danny quietly applauded. "Gold star for you, buddy. Now, I just gotta play Where's Waldo with the security cam footage."

"Use the smart table. It has a bigger screen and you'll be able to run analysis on the footage as it plays."

"Didn't you just imply a few minutes ago that I was completely and utterly incapable of using technology?"

"Exactly. So I'll come along and supervise."

Chin rose from his chair, smirking as Danny grumbled under his breath and did the same. If the blond said something about obnoxious, tech-savvy teammates, he pretended not to hear it. He simply motioned for Danny to go ahead of him out into the main bullpen.

"By the way," Danny said over his shoulder, "how's that headache?"

It took a moment for Chin to register the question and a second to assess his own answer.

What the hell?

Blinking, his hand unconsciously rose to his head - his completely pain-free head. Somehow, his headache disappeared; a headache that should've been completely impossible to avoid.

He halted in his tracks, staring at Danny as he sauntered over to the smart table. "It's gone," he said, his tone almost shell-shocked. "What the hell was in those pills, brah? Because, damn, they worked. "

Danny's smirking I told you so was well worth the reward of a fully-functioning, pain-free brain.

And his teammate's unquestioning support of his abilities? Well, that was just the cherry on top.

~H50~

Kono learned fairly quickly in her brief tenure as an officer with Five-0 to expect the unexpected. Surprise was not a luxury the team could afford, not in the types of cases they frequently worked. When unforeseen events inevitably reared their ugly heads, she learned quickly to shove her reactions to the side until later. After a pithy remark or two, it was back to business.

After all, they often encountered the worst traits of humanity in every state imaginable. Rolling with the punches was a survival tactic mentally just as much as physically.

So she understood Steve's request to share their powers with each other behind the closed doors of his office - she truly did. The one place no cop wanted to encounter surprises was within their own team. They eroded the fundamental trust that every partnership relied upon so heavily.

But the excellent reasons supporting Steve's decision weren't enough to make her like the idea. No self-respecting elite would. It was embedded in the DNA of anyone with elite abilities to keep those gifts a secret. To share them was ludicrous, especially with mere colleagues.

(Of course, Chin, Danny, and Steve weren't just colleagues. They were 'ohana, and that made it a little better.)

Still, she expected quite a bit of uneasiness between the team while they mentally swallowed having their deepest secret revealed. In fact, she wouldn't be at all surprised if they stayed isolated in their respective offices as much as possible.

So no one could possibly blame her for stopping dead in her tracks when she spotted Danny and Chin shoulder-to-shoulder, heads practically touching as they stared intensely at the smart table.

Clearing her throat, she smirked as both men jumped at the unexpected sound. "Uh, is there something you two wanna tell me?"

Chin raised an eyebrow and Danny pinched the bridge of his nose. "Kids." Chin's drawn-out sigh failed to hide a smile of his own.

"Don't I know it," Danny grumped back. "I should get a squirt bottle and spray her every time she makes a comment like that."

"That's certainly one option, but there's one major flaw in that plan. I've seen her repel water before."

"Who said anything about filling it with water? I was leaning more towards red Kool Aid."

Wincing, Chin fist bumped the Jersey native. "Brutal, brah. I like it."

"You guys know I'm standing right here, right?"

Both adopted innocent expressions, fooling absolutely no one, and Kono couldn't help but grin. Clearly, her concerns about her team becoming dysfunctional - well, more dysfunctional than usual - were unfounded.

Setting down the arm-load of takeout food on a nearby table, she approached the Smart Table with interest. "What're you working on?"

Chin waved her towards the table. "Scanning the security footage frame by frame to see if we can catch a glimpse of our perp. It's a bit tedious, but it's the only lead we've got."

"Wait, but I already checked the security footage and didn't find anything. Plus, you said that our murder was an elite and invisible."

"Oh, we're not checking the footage in the interrogation room, babe." Danny's hands began their customary dance that accompanied any explanation of his thought process. "See, no way someone could stay invisible for that long. That'd be an enormous power drain. I'm thinking they 'reappeared' when they left… probably while everyone was rushing towards the interrogation room."

"So we just need to find someone who randomly appears on the screen walking towards an exit." Kono nodded, not hiding her admiration for Danny's instincts.

"Exactly, but it's slow going." Rubbing his eyes, Danny reached for his coffee cup. "Chin eliminated all officers moving towards the interrogation room, but there's still a lot of people heading for the exit. Plus, the video quality isn't great."

Tilting her head, she considered the problem. "Have you tried running a headcount for a specific frame? Y'know, seeing if it increases even if no one walks in frame?"

Chin shook his head. "Too many variables to consider. We tried it, but we couldn't keep track of everything."

"Well, it might be a little easier if you run the footage at .75 playback speed."

Danny and Chin exchanged a weighted glance before Danny shrugged. "Sure, what the hell? Can't hurt at this rate."

Grinning, Kono nudged both men away from the smartboard and began working her magic. "I'll divvy up the footage and link them during the playback. Chin, take the left screen and Danny'll take the right."

Danny's grumbled yes, ma'am earned a punch in the arm from the young rookie and a smirk from Chin. Dutifully rubbing his arm, he snagged some fries and turned to his screen as Kono began playing the footage.

Even with her suggestion, their search remained equally futile and a test of patience for all three of them. While Chin and Danny continued looking over different camera angles, Kono searched for more ways to eliminate variables in the images. There had to be something - some algorithm, some filter that she hadn't thought of - that would cut through the noise and find the perp. That was the reason technology like this existed in the first place, right?

Sometimes, she truly understood Danny's deep-seated frustration with technology. Today, it remained cheerfully unhelpful in their search for the elusive - -

"Wait!"

Upon hearing her cousin's exclamation, Kono immediately paused the playback and examined the now-frozen screens. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary, but Chin's normally stoic expression gleamed with excitement.

Danny, however, was definitely on the same track as Kono. "Hate to break it to you, buddy, but I don't see anything unusual."

Undeterred by the skepticism, Chin approached his screen and pointed out what he'd spotted. "You see this figure at the very top of my screen?"

"You mean the back of that random person's jeans?" Kono squinted, not following his train of thought. She promptly magnified the image and still didn't see what caught his eye. "Wow, they're wearing Levi's jeans in this heat. That's earth-shattering, cuz."

Danny snorted loudly and Chin glared at her balefully as she carefully maintained her innocent facade. "Cute, kid. Rewind the footage 5 seconds and reduce the playback speed to .25, alright?"

Still chuckling, she complied and moved the window Chin singled out to the main screen. "Now watch that top part of the screen," Chin began as the footage started rolling, "one moment nothing's there and then…"

Twin gasps filled the room as the very legs the oldest detective pointed out appeared in slow motion at the top of the screen before disappearing out of the frame. Without prompting, she rewound the recording and played it again, still convinced she'd somehow imagined it.

But sure enough, the light in that spot seemed to shimmer and the legs appeared out of thin air once again.

"The person is out of the frame before we see their face." Folding his arms in satisfaction, Chin raised an eyebrow. "Looks like we found our guy."

"Unfortunately, they walk off-frame before we see their face." Danny tilted his head, a physical indicator of him working through a puzzle. "Kono, can you figure out the precise spot where the suspect appears and pull up all camera angles pointing at it?"

It didn't take long for Kono to pinpoint the exact spot in the precinct - thank God for technology - but no camera pointed in that direction besides the one Chin spotted.

However, that only stalled her momentarily. After all, she knew where the suspect was headed, right? At that stage, they would probably value speed over stealth in order to exit the precinct before anyone could lock it down. Therefore, she pulled up all the cameras covering the most-direct route to the nearest exit from the spot she'd pinpointed and set them all to the timestamp of the reappearance.

Even Chin whistled, impressed. "You're getting good at using the smart table, cuz."

"Looks like all those evenings getting destroyed by you in Mario Kart are paying off."

Meanwhile, Danny just shook his head. "I'm still convinced you guys programmed some sort of virus that activates at my fingerprint. How the hell do you make that look so easy, Kalakaua?"

"Simple. I know what I'm doing and I'm damn good at it."

"Alright, so you and Steve are banned from ever riding together." Hands flailing in the air, Danny's voice rose in equal measure. "You'll just feed each other's egos until you're both convinced that you can jump out of a plane without a parachute or some crazy crap like that!"

"Actually, that sounds kinda fun. Do you think - -"

"No." Chin quickly cut her off. "And before you start getting any crazy ideas, let's play the footage and see how good you really are."

As it turned out, Kono was pretty damn good. She perfectly predicted the path of their suspect, getting clear back and side profiles of the suspect as they strode for the exit. However, no camera angle managed to catch a clear frontal profile so far. They'd been able to determine the suspect was dark-haired and on the shorter side.

"Something's not right," Danny murmured, his fingers unconsciously drumming against his thigh. "I don't like this."

As she examined the slow-motion playback, Kono couldn't help but agree with her teammate's unease. Their suspect was slight - more than she'd expect from a professional assassin - and walked stiffly towards the exit. At one point, they hesitated and glanced around before continuing for the foyer.

"Alright," Kono said, fingers flying over the keyboard as she pulled up new feeds. "The front door has multiple cameras covering it with very few blind spots. We should catch a glimpse of this person's face."

All three waited with bated breath as they spotted their suspect appear on several different cameras. They wove through the normal crowd milling around the police station with body language that screamed fear. Trepidation coiled in Kono's gut, slithering like a snake until it wrapped around her stomach and began to squeeze.

A quick glance around the room showed similar reactions from her teammates. Danny had pulled a chair over and was resting against the back of it, hands clenched around the top of the chair's back. Meanwhile, Chin's disquiet only revealed itself in the tightening of his jaw.

Any second now.

Finally, the suspect stepped into a spot where multiple cameras caught them from all angles. Immediately pausing the playback, Kono ran the images through multiple filters to clarify them.

But grainy or not, the jolting image frozen on their screens affected them all. One look at their suspect's face revealed the worst quality a cop could see in the face of a perpetrator.

Youth.

An obviously terrified kid stared back at them.

"She can't be more than twelve years old." Danny's voice was strained, raspy with the perfect mixture of frozen horror and boiling rage. "Any chance this is a shapeshifter and we're just not seeing it?"

It was a decent theory, though a desperate one. However, Chin was already shaking his head. "That causes significantly more power and energy than invisibility. Considering our suspect just spent at least 45 minutes invisible, we're probably looking at her natural form."

That's what struck Kono the hardest, dishing out a pummeling worse than any wipeout she'd ever experienced. Short hair and a slight build created some ambiguity, but closer examination showed their newest suspect to be a frightened young girl. Someone who looked a lot like many of Kono's friends through school. Someone who, in another time, Kono might've known.

She felt incredibly small, like life's boot was hovering over her just waiting to crush her.

"I'll run facial recognition," she managed to say around the bowling ball lodged in her throat. Before either man could respond, she captured the image, opened a new window on the table, and began running it.

"Play out the rest of the recording, Kono," Chin prompted gently, his zen attitude fooling no one and comforting simultaneously.

It physically hurt to press play, hands trembling as they entered the necessary commands. Silently, they watched as the kid reached the bottom of the stairs in front of the precinct, steps slowing with every stride they took.

Out of nowhere, a white van screeched to a halt on the sidewalk in front of her.

Startled, Kono leapt into action, zeroing in on the nondescript vehicle even as three men jumped out and grabbed their suspect. They threw her in the back and climbed in themselves, barely closing the door before the van squealed away from the curb.

Even more horrifying, the kid barely put up a fight despite her obvious fright.

CRASH!

Whirling around, Kono only caught the back of a blonde head as the owner practically bolted from the office. The chair Danny was leaning against laid upended on the ground by a newly dented wall, one of the legs bent in an unnatural position.

She made a move to follow, but a hand on her arm halted her progress. Silently shaking his head, Chin's eyes shimmered with the same grief and fury roiling inside her.

"What the hell happened?"

Steve stormed out of his office, expression intense as he took in the entire scene in the blink of an eye. That expression - aptly named 'aneurysm face' by his partner - only heightened as he took in the busted chair, dented wall, grim teammates, and the images on the screen. His gaze paused on the screen for a moment longer than everything else before he turned to face the cousins.

"Is that our suspect?" His tone was the complete opposite of his expression, calm words amidst a stormy face.

Kono could only nod, not trusting her own voice to remain even.

Glancing at the images once more, Steve sighed - seemingly allowing himself a moment of dismay before taking control once more. "Danny?" he asked, the intention clear.

"Yeah," Chin answered when it became clear that Kono wouldn't. "He ran out of here after that."

A flicker of sorrow crossed Steve's features. He quietly moved to the mess Danny left behind, fingers skimming over the broken plaster before righting the damaged chair.

"I'll go find him," he finally said. "In the meantime, you two take a break. Eat and go get coffee or something. Once you're ready, come back and start following up on the footage."

It struck Kono that Steve was much more than everyone painted him to be. The press, other cops, even the Governor saw him as uncompromising - a man without fear. A man uncowed by the world with high expectations of his team to be the same.

In their depiction of a hero, they missed the genuine care he displayed. Only his team received that gift of seeing the man beneath Hawaii's marvel.

"What will you do?" she managed to ask, finding her voice once more.

"Might have to go bail Danny out of jail… or find him before he takes a beating from whatever fight he's looking for." Though humor weaved between his words, none of them doubted the truthfulness of his assessment. "But then, we'll go see Max. He called a minute ago and said he had something for us."

With one final look at the frightened face on the screen that broke each of them, he jogged for the door. Chin's hand on her elbow led her towards that same door and she vaguely heard him mention something about malasadas, but it didn't matter. That face refused to leave her mind, every line tattooed on the fibers of her memory.

Though she'd learned to expect the unexpected, never in a million years could she have expected this.

I'd say that I'm sorry for the cliffhanger, but I'm not. What's the point of writing if you can't torture your readers with suspense? Got some great bromance ahead, so buckle up! Thanks so much for reading!