Guardian
A/N: It's been an emotional string of chapters, so I think it's time to let them all catch their breath a bit This chapter was fun to write since I used to help teach women's defense.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and make no money doing this. I'm just having fun playing with them although it's starting to feel like I'm torturing them.
Chapter 20
With seven of them, it took little time to unload the rest of Danny's belongings. Aside from the clothes, most of the boxes ended up piled in the den. They'd deal with them later.
"Can you show me now?" Grace ran up to Catherine and Kono. "Please." They'd promised to give her a demonstration of some of what they'd learned over the years.
"Tell you what, Gracie," Steve interrupted, "why don't we all throw on our swimsuits under some comfortable clothes. Then we can for a swim before dinner after we get all sweaty." The Seal had no doubt the simple demonstration was going to lead to most of them getting sweaty. They always enjoyed a chance to spar and most of them could use the chance to unwind a bit.
The little girl gave him a quick hug before scurrying up the stairs, leaving the adults smiling after her.
"Just take it easy on my right side today." Catherine eyed all the men. "I took a misstep on the ship. Looks worse than it feels, but play nice."
The three looked concerned. "We don't want you to end up getting hurt worse. We can always just attack Kono today." Chin offered.
"Oh no. I'm not missing out on the fun. It's mostly healed up anyway, just looks horrible."
Twenty minutes found everyone out on the beach. A few blankets spread for those not actively participating at any point. Grace grinned up at Beth, she'd seen the team spar together before and it was always fun to watch.
"Just wait, Grandma. You'll never believe the stuff they can do." The older woman grinned back. She had to admit she was looking forward to seeing what this bunch could do.
As everyone else watched, Catherine and Chin stood on the sand. They'd decided they'd start slow, explaining what was going to happen and each step of what Cath would do to defend herself. They'd work up from there so she could see how well the two trained women could react to a surprise attack, but wanted to tread careful to see how she reacted.
"First, I'm going to come up behind Catherine and try to grab her." He got his arms around the women, trapping her arms beneath this own.
The Navy officer grinned at the other women. "I'll try not to hurt him too bad." Looking over to Steve, she laughed. "We should probably get some training pads to help prevent injuries before we get too far into their training."
"Good call." Steve and the other men laughed.
"In the meantime, yes, please take it easy. I don't want to walk around the island looking like I've been beat up." Chin laughed as he attempted to brace for what was coming next.
Before moving, Cath explained her intended targets. "I'm tall enough to have several options for fighting back, but even if you're much shorter, you should be able to use one or more of these techniques. First, the intep stomp. This one is good in just about any shoes or even bare feet, but down right fun in heels."
She went through the motion of slamming her heel down on Chin's foot; careful not to hit hard. "That will often startle them enough to make them loosen their grip. Remember you can always do it more than once. Your heel is far tougher than the top of their foot, so they'll cave before you will."
"Please don't." Chin whined playfully from behind.
"Oh, come on cuz, don't be a baby." Kono laughed at him, making Grace giggle beside her.
"Yeah Chin, take it like a man." McGarrett teased. He could feel Danny's laughter vibrating through his chest where his partner leaned back against him. Steve had pulled his partner to sit in front of him when they were all finding their spots. Not usually one for public affection, the Seal just couldn't resist the chance to be close to him.
"I don't see you volunteering to let Catherine beat you up." The Hawaiian retaliated.
"That's because Kono called dibs on that honor, so I'm already spoken for." Steve stuck is tongue out at his friend.
"Okay boys, you're both beautiful." Danny mocked the men. "Now can we let Catherine finish the job?"
The woman in question laughed from her still restrained position as she imagined Chin's expression mirrored the one on Steve's face. "Thanks Danny. Now, as I was saying, you can always do the instep strike more than once." She hit a bit harder the second time making her aggressor yelp.
"Another option is a head strike. The back of your head is a lot harder than the assailant's nose. You really want to put some force behind it, lean forward and then slam your head back hard and fast." Knowing was coming, Chin leaned his head sideways in case she got a little too enthusiastic.
"I moved," he commented, "but typically you won't announced you're getting ready to do it, so the attacker wouldn't have the chance."
"One or both of those moves is pretty sure to make them lose their grip at least a bit. If they let go enough that you can get lose, then you run. If they don't let go completely, you go for the elbow to the kidney." Careful not to put any real force behind it, she demonstrated where to aim on Chin.
The man released his hold on her. "Trust me, even with those basic moves, you're likely get away."
As the afternoon progressed, Beth watched in awe at the abilities of the entire group. Of the bunch, she noticed Danny was probably the least comfortable with hand-to-hand combat, but he would be able to hold his own.
When the other three ganged up on Danny and Steve, she glanced down to see how Grace was handling it and was surprised to see her smiling widely. Seeming to sense her grandmother's eyes on her, she looked up. "Watch. This is always the best part."
Looking up, she watched the three aggressors circling the pair. Danny and Steve were back to back. Had she not been watching closely, she would never have believed it. Before anyone could get a hand on her eldest, the Seal had Kono and Catherine on the ground and Chin in a chokehold.
Looking back at Grace, she just mouthed, "Wow."
The little girl shook her head and giggled. "It gets better."
"What the hell, Steven. Are you ever going to let me defend myself? Every time we do this, you go all Super Seal Ninja on them and I never get to play. Every time!" Danny was in the Seal's face, hands flailing. "What the hell is it with you and your need to play Superman?"
The other three kicked back on the blankets watching the rant.
"Just because you can handle them yourself doesn't mean you can't let me help. We are partners, Steven. Partners work as a team. Partners do not have to take on every attacker themselves."
Having stood stoically through the first part of the rant, Steve finally broken into a grin that made Danny lose his train of thought every time.
"May I speak now?" The Seal tried not to laugh.
"Yes." The detective was too distracted to remember where he was in the rant.
"Good." Instead of defending himself, Steve wrapped his hand in Danny's hair and pulled him in for an all too brief kiss, remembering their audience.
Beth looked at the others as they all watched the scene in front of them. "Do they do this often?"
"Every time we spar." Kono laughed. "Though this time the boss's method of diffusing the rant was far more effective than usual. I wonder if Danny will ever realize that no matter how much Steve may intend to let him defend himself, when actually faced with an attack he just can't do it."
Beth smiled. She'd often worried about her son and his line of work, but seeing them all this afternoon, she realized that Kono was more right than she knew. Every single one of them was exceptionally talented and would use those skills to protect their ohana.
Danny and Steve finally sat down with the others. The entire task force and Catherine were all hot, sweaty, and far more relaxed than they'd been earlier. If felt good to work out some of the physical frustration they all felt; the pent up anger they all held toward Stan.
"That was awesome." Grace laughed. "Think I can learn to do that when I get older?"
The adults all laughed at her eager enthusiasm. "Gracie, something tells me you'll put the five us to shame by the time you're our age." Chin smiled. "After all, you have the benefit of learning from each of us."
Beth loved seeing the group together like this. "Why don't you kids go cool off?" She pointed toward the water. "I'll go grab us some drinks."
As Mama Williams made her way up the beach, Grace looked over the water longingly. She had her suit on under her clothes, but when she put it on earlier, she'd realized how bad the bruises looked and was hesitant to take the shirt and shorts off.
Sensing her unease, Danny and Steve were trying to figure out how to make her more comfortable, when Catherine interceded. Walking up to Grace, she pulled her own shirt off, revealing the massive bruise she'd mentioned earlier. Both men winced as it looked painful.
"Grace, did you see what I managed to do?" She angled so the little girl could see. "Lost my footing on the ship while we were out to sea and managed to bang myself up pretty bad."
The little girl looked up at her, in awe of the older woman's confidence.
"It's ugly, but it'll fade soon enough." Her eyes met Grace's. "I bet all of us have had some pretty nasty bruises before. We're all kinda used to it."
The Five-0 team quickly agreed, throwing out reminders of the multitude of bruises they'd all sported.
Grace smiled up at Catherine. She was smart enough to know what she was up to, but had to admit it helped. It reminded her that the bruises would fade, but even while they lingered she didn't have to hide them. Not here; not with her family.
Peeling out of her own shirt and shorts, Grace grabbed Catherine and Kono's hands and ran toward the water.
The men were left watching them for a moment. Steve was a bit surprised when Danny spoke. "I'm really glad Catherine decided to come. She and Kono are great examples for Grace, especially now."
"You're right. We can't protect her from everything, but with their help we can damn sure teach her that she doesn't have to be a victim." He was glad they were able to do something to help.
Looking down at his partner, Steve raised an eyebrow in challenge. Before Danny could question him, the Seal gave Danny's backside a quick squeeze before sprinting toward the water.
"Neanderthal!" The detective hollered before chasing after him.
Before Chin could follow, Beth appeared at his side. "I know there's a long way to go, but it's good to see them all smiling." She smiled at the man next to her. "You better go keep them from drowning each other."
Watching him join the others, she set the tray of drinks on the small table in the sand settled into one of the two chairs.
Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she pushed a few buttons before waiting for Paul to answer.
"Hello?" Her husband's voice came through the line.
"Hey there, handsome." She smiled when he picked up.
"How are things? I wish I was there with you." She could tell he missed her. The house in Jersey would be far to lonely for his liking.
"I wish you were here too." She watched the kids all playing in the water. "Paul, I talked to the boys earlier. It's time to sell the house."
He laughed. "You sure?"
"Yes, I'm completely sure. You see them together. It's everything we've ever wanted for Daniel. Things have changed since we came last time. This group isn't just a group of friends and coworkers anymore. They're family and they are all ready and willing to invite us right in."
They'd often talked about how much they missed the days of having a house full of people around every weekend. Things in Jersey just weren't the same when it was just the two of them to fill the big house.
"I'm glad to hear it. It's too lonely here."
"Do you want me to come home to help?" It would be a while before she was ready to leave Hawaii and her children to do it, but she didn't want to leave him to handle it all.
"No. I started getting quotes from movers right after you left. I suspected this might be the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back to get you to move."
She smiled into the phone. "Should have known you'd see this one coming. Well, get them scheduled then. We should have listings to start looking through tomorrow from Chin's cousin. He wasted no time getting us connected today."
"I look forward to seeing them." He'd be watching his email for them. "Hopefully we can find the right house quickly. I'll get things started to list this house too."
"Sounds like a plan. I'll email you the listings as soon as I have them."
"Excellent. Now what are you doing on the phone with me when you should be doing something with the boys and Grace. Give them all a big hug from me. I love you, Beth."
"Love you too! I'll be sure to pass along the hugs." Disconnecting the phone, she set it on the table next to the drinks before peeling down to her bathing suit and joining the rest in the ocean.
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