Hawaii Five-0: Act 2

Danny held his gun at the ready as he walked down the metal ramp of the C-130, the Hawaiian sun nearly blinding after the dimness of the metal sardine can they'd been bouncing around in for hours. Los Angeles had palm trees, but they weren't these palm trees, and when had seeing Pearl started to feel like a comfort instead of a reminder he was on a sun-drenched rock with volcanoes and McGarrett explosions around every corner?

He watched the four NCIS agents start to clear the area, and held up a hand to keep Chin behind him. If these sons of bitches who were after Steve were out there, he wanted a clear shot at them.

Danny was glad he had his Chucks with him, not his work shoes, as he paced down the metal ramp, the ridges barely sufficient to keep traction for dress shoes. For once, he was glad this had interrupted a vacation, not a work trip, though Steve was still going to hear about this forever. Once he was safe and Doris was dealt with and they could get rid of all this cloak-and-dagger nonsense and get back to actual police work. The kind-

A balding man in a suit approached and Danny heard Sam say something.

"A stranger? Well, did you expect them to send somebody you knew?" Danny said. "It's not like this is civilized society and the bad guys walk up and sit down for tea and crumpets before mowing us down."

Sam turned to face him. "No, I said 'Granger,' as in the assistant director who oversees our office," he said.

"So a friend," Chin said from behind him.

"Maybe," Callen said. "Sometimes, even we aren't sure of that." But he and Sam holstered their weapons and motioned for Tony and McGee to do the same.

Danny wasn't so sure — he kept his out.

"You people land in more trouble than any team I know," Granger said. "And I hate to ruin your day, Agent Callen, but I'm here to help."

Danny wondered about that, but decided not to ask as Granger motioned for four black SUVs to drive over and take them all to Five-0 HQ.

"I'll be in touch, Agent Callen," Granger said. "The CIA is sending an agent to assist you. Director Vance will provide you with more information once you're safe."

~NCIS~H50~LA~NCIS~H50~LA~

Steve recognized that he wasn't in charge, and forced himself to sit back and let Agents Gibbs and Callen take charge. At least until they got back to HQ. Once inside, he turned to Danny.

"Before we do anything else, we need to get Grace someplace safe," Steve said. "Kamekona?"

"I have to pick between Shamu and Rach?" Danny asked. "Are you trying to drive me insane? No, wait, that goes without saying."

"Danno."

"Fine, Kamekona," Danny said. "At least then we won't have to explain why we're back two days early and why Grace is caught up in your crazy again."

"Have Kono bring her over," Steve said. "We need to figure out a plan."

"Have Kono-" Danny sighed. "Yes, Steven, I will have Kono take my daughter to a shrimp truck safehouse." He walked off and Steve watched him go, wondering how much trouble Rachel was going to cause over this.

"You don't think Grace is in danger?" Callen asked.

"Not with Kamekona, and not on the island," Steve said. "Danny might be, once Rachel finds out about this whole mess."

"That's Grace's mom?" Callen said.

"Yeah, and she and Danny are cordial at best," Steve said. "She couldn't live with the kind of danger Danny put himself in as a cop, and any time she thinks Grace might be in danger because of his job, things get ugly. Uglier." He sighed. "The governor — the old governor — stepped in once, and I've spoken to Rachel a couple of times, but one of these days, something will happen and she won't listen."

"Danny doesn't need to worry," Callen said. "Hetty and Jethro will talk to Rachel if need be."

"Two agents who don't have kids?" Steve said. "That's not going to help."

Callen was quiet for a few seconds, then said, "Jethro had a daughter." He paused again. "She and her mother were killed while he was in Kuwait in Desert Storm. They witnessed a murder of a Marine by a cartel member, and Shannon agreed to testify. The Mexican drug dealer killed both of them, and the two agents protecting them."

Steve looked over at Callen, whose face was a careful blank. "How old?"

"She was eight," Callen said. "I was five when my mother was killed in front of me and my sister. They didn't try to kill us. Just her, because of who she was."

"Wo Fat didn't come after me or Mary until he thought my parents were both dead," Steve said. "But Danny doesn't make enemies like that."

"It doesn't have to be an enemy," Callen said. "And I've seen Danny — he protects her. If anything happens to Grace, it will be in spite of him, not because of him. Hetty and Jethro will make that clear to Rachel if she tries to make trouble."

"Let's hope that after today, that's our only worry," Steve said. "Because if we don't stop this crew from whatever they're planning, they have bioweapon in their hands that could wipe out the world, and that's a pretty good consolation prize if they fail to get my mom."

Before Callen could reply, McGee called them over.

"We've got trouble," he said when everybody except Kono was gathered around the table. "Vance just sent us a secure message. The agent the CIA sent to help us is Kort."

~NCIS~H50~LA~NCIS~H50~LA~

"Kort?" The Washington and LA teams spoke in unison, except for Nell.

"Who's Kort?" Danny asked.

"Trent Kort, CIA scumbag," Tony said.

"You've worked with him?" Callen said.

"Not by choice," McGee said. "We have… history with him."

"You're not the only one," Callen said, his tone grim.

Nell was tapping away at the computer table. "His file is highly classified and heavily redacted, but he's listed as inactive," she said.

"Trying to get back in the game," Gibbs said.

"Every time he tries to get back on the floor, we end up taking all the fouls," Tony retorted. "If you see a guy with a British accent and an eyepatch, go the other way as fast as you can."

"We're running from Capt. Jack Sparrow?" Danny said. "Great. I can hear us trying to explain this one to the Governor now."

"I thought Director Vance said Kort was here to help us," Chin said.

"Kort doesn't help anybody but himself," McGee said. "If he's here, it's because he thinks we can help him."

"Is that what happened in what was it, Operation Lodestone?" Danny asked. "The one you mentioned back in Washington."

"Don't mention that fiasco," Tony said, his tone starkly tenser than at any other point. "Just… don't."

"Yes, Lodestone was where we first met Kort, but we've had several run-ins with him since then," McGee said. "None of them ended well. The last one ended with SecNav resigning."

Steve whistled. "I heard there was something unusual about that change of command, but I never heard details."

"You don't want to," McGee and Tony said.

"If Kort's on our side, who does that leave on the other side?" Chin asked.

"Probably nobody good," Nell said. "Sam…"

"What?"

"Agent Snyder is assigned to the Honolulu office — they pulled him off the Siderov case and sent him here."

"Now I'm really glad Michelle and the kids are in New Orleans," Sam said. "If Frisbee is involved, we've got even bigger problems."

"Don't ask," Callen told the others. "Let's just say we don't have a lot of regard for Agent Snyder."

"We need a plan," Steve said.

Nell's phone dinged. "Eric and Abby have something for us," she said.

Chin pulled up the video conferencing software and connected them with the OSP office.

"Guys, we've got a location," Eric said.

"Not a location, location, like where they're hiding out, but we know where they are now," Abby said. "Kaleidoscope — Gibbs, we need to get this for McGee to use — located the cars that were parked by the building in the warehouse district. They're down at a beach. Pupukea."

"Bad guys who take a beach break?" Kensi said. "Eric, are you guys sure about this."

"That's not just any beach," Chin said. "That's one of Kono's favorite surfing spots on the North Shore, and everybody up there knows her."

"So they can show up, pretend they were supposed to meet her there for some reason and get the people on the beach to help them find Kono," Callen said. "Find Kono and you find the rest of the team sooner or later."

"Babe, if they're up on the North Shore-" Danny said.

But Steve already had his phone out.

"Who's he calling?" Tony asked.

"Kawika," Danny said. "Head of the Kapu."

"The Kapu protect the North Shore," Chin said. "Kawika will make sure nobody gives out any information until we get there."

"Looks like we're going to the beach," Callen said.