~H50~
Chapter 6
Danny met Steve and Eric at the front door, letting them both into the house and shutting the door before starting his pent-up rant. "What the hell were you thinking Eric?! I get a call from Steve in the middle of the night telling me that the nephew I thought was sleeping in my guest room was actually half-way across town, and had been illegally consuming alcohol after stealing my car!"
Eric had come into the house holding the drink carrier with two full coffees, and now shoved it indignantly at Danny as he responded to the verbal assault. "Hey, I didn't steal any—!"
Steve cut Eric off with firm hand landing on Eric's shoulder, followed by a variation of what Danny always thought of as the 'Navy SEAL Death Glare'. Eric adjusted his eyes to the floor at Danny's feet, then let out a sullen "I'm sorry Uncle Danny."
Even though Eric was actually looking contrite, Danny couldn't help his reaction to Eric's apology. Setting the coffees on the end table by the couch, his voice rose again, "You're sorry? I hope you're sorry! Is that all you have to say?"
Steve cleared his throat before cutting in, "Danny, can I talk to you alone for a few minutes?" Danny hesitated in continuing his rant, and shot a look to Steve before turning away and running a hand through his hair in frustration. With Danny remaining silent for the moment, Steve turned to address Eric who hadn't moved his feet since Danny's first words. "Eric, go take a shower like I told you. Clock's ticking."
Danny saw Eric gave a brief glance in his direction, then took off down the hall when he didn't receive any objections from the irate uncle.
With Eric out of sight, Danny finally noticed Steve was moving to set a pack of Longboards that he had walked in with onto the table by the door. Given the whole reason Steve was at his home in the middle of the night, Danny just gaped silently at his friend and gestured in question toward the beer.
Steve didn't take the bait, but verbalized a question of his own. "Danny, I thought you were going to try to reign it in before we got back?"
Danny started pacing. "Yeah, well, I tried. I do think I've calmed down a little since you first called me. I was about ready to put my fist through a wall right after we hung up. Why the hell did you bring beer?"
"Hey, take a breath. I'll tell you everything in a minute, including about the beer. I want to make sure we are on the same page before we talk to Eric again. I don't want to step on your toes here—I think you can handle him just fine on your own—but he made me a part of this when he called me tonight and I'd really like to be involved in the next steps. You're a brother to me, Danny, which makes Eric family too. So I want to help set him straight."
"McGarrett Boot Camp? Yeah, I've been warming up to that idea even more since I got your call this morning. After we texted earlier, I had kind of decided on doing something like that, in addition to bringing back a thing from a few years ago between me and the kid. But your 'boot camp' and my other thing were only going to be maybe a weekend punishment. This stunt he pulled tonight just made me realize how much both need to happen now, and that the severity of the problem has just ramped itself up to eleven."
"So, what is this 'thing' you were going to bring back?" Steve asked. He reached for the carrier holding the coffee and started to move with Danny toward the large dining room table.
Danny paused for a moment, then said lowly, "Corporal punishment. He and I have a little history with it, and I think it worked for a while. The only time we sat down and really got the most out of it though, was only a few months or so before I moved to Hawaii. I haven't been around his life enough in the last three years to make it consistent at all, but he seemed to respond alright to it at the time."
Danny watched Steve take a drink of coffee before any response was formed. "Yeah, I've noticed this look he gets, where I could see that type of punishment working for him," Steve finally agreed. "Here's your coffee, by the way. I've already gotten one cup in Eric, plus a whole liter of water. Hopefully those plus a shower will sober him up enough to follow our discussion tonight."
Danny gratefully took the coffee Steve handed him. "I don't think I'm in the right frame of mind to start that kind of punishment tonight. Plus I want Eric to be as clear-headed as possible to try to get through his thick skull. I do want to at least get the conversation started tonight for what he can likely expect for the rest of his stay here with me."
Danny paused for barely a moment, before continuing. "When you're around him this week and you think he could do with some swats to keep him in line, I want you to know that I trust your judgment to not go overboard with him. I don't think it would do him much good emotionally to have too much of the full-out over-the-lap version that I'm planning, but if you think it is needed then I don't want you to second-guess yourself. Especially if it's just a couple of swats as a quick reprimand."
Danny saw Steve contemplating that for a moment before a small smile tugged at his mouth. "Wow Danny. I promise if I do that I'll only use it sparingly, and I won't abuse your trust."
The moment of significance passed over the men quickly, and Steve plunged straight into the next strain of conversation. "Before Eric gets back, I think you should probably know what has gone down so far tonight. Eric called me around 1:30, asking me to come pick him up from the Thirsty Boar. You know, down by the Hilton? I had guessed he had been drinking, but I wasn't positive and wanted to get more details first. Sorry I didn't call you right away, but I didn't want to wake you without all the information. That's why I waited until after we were on our way here."
Danny was a bit miffed learning that Steve had waited so long to call him. But he did understand the logic of waiting to have solid information, and Danny decided to take another drink of his coffee and just let Steve continue with his debrief.
Steve started digging into one of his pockets as he kept talking. "So I got to the bar and saw he was physically okay except for being drunk. Here are your keys for the Camaro, by the way. I got them from the bartender before I asked him about serving alcohol to minors. The car looks fine, and I'll take you to pick it up later."
Danny followed Steve's hand as he set a driver's license with Eric's picture on the table next to the Camaro key fob. "I also confiscated this fake ID from Eric. I talked with the bartender, and he had checked it but didn't even realize it was a fake. Eric also apparently used it to purchase that 6-pack of Longboards before getting to the bar. He only drank one from the pack, and swears to me he only drank it after parking at the bar. Not sure I believe him, but that's something we can ask him about again. We also might want to check on the convenience store he got the beer from, but I'm guessing if he had such a good fake, he probably would have used it."
When Steve finally paused in his story, Danny took a deep breath while picking at the seam on his coffee cup. "OK, so why the hell did he call you instead of me?"
Danny turned his gaze back to Steve, as his friend formulated his response. "The closest I've gotten out of him is that he got cut off by the bartender and then realized he didn't have enough cash to take a cab back here, but didn't want to call you about it. I think it might have had something to do with some of the conversations between you two earlier today, plus he was very drunk and obviously not thinking straight."
Steve smirked and huffed a laugh at Danny before continuing on. "Apparently your stories of our time together have been missing some of the good parts, because he thought I would be the better choice for picking his drunk ass up from the bar. He actually said that if any of his stupid actions would cause you to lose your temper with him, that this would be it."
Steve paused again and shot a grin to Danny before finishing with, "He did mention that I was more likely to be the quieter option between the two of us."
Danny and Steve had both finished their coffees by that point and got up to make their way into the kitchen. Danny filled three glasses with water and checked the clock on the microwave. "How much time do we have?"
"I told him 15 minutes from when we walked in the door, so we should only have a few left." Steve paused again and Danny briefly wondered what had him suddenly self-conscious.
Steve didn't make him wait long. "And I should warn you, I already laid down a few rules before we got here. Mostly about showing more respect to the both of us, particularly this weekend while we work out what happened tonight and what his punishment will be."
Danny couldn't help but feel a little wary about what Steve's rules might be. "Ooookay. What exactly did you lay out for this respect?"
Steve propped himself against the nearest counter. "Nothing too big, I don't think. Just that he is only to call me 'Commander' or 'Sir' until I say otherwise. And unless you have other preferences, or think it is too much, he is to only call you 'Sir' or 'Uncle Danny' until you tell him that his punishment is complete. You, of course, have veto power over the monikers I gave, but I thought it would be a good place to start. I also told him to knock off with any sarcasm, whining, or using 'bro', 'dude', or 'Uncle D' for the near future. And I sort of threatened him with exercise if he failed to address us like that. I'm working out ways to enforce those rules, and I'll let you know what I come up with."
Danny considered the various antics that Steve had used on suspects over their years together, and thought that Steve's current plan actually sounded pretty solid. "Yeah, I can agree to all of that. And you're not stepping on toes, Steven. I completely agree that we are family in this, and frankly I'm glad you're backing me up. It's easier to 'parent' with a partner; it spreads out their disdain for you so it isn't so focused."
Steve looked skeptical at Danny's last statement, "What do you know about disdainful kids? Gracie's an angel."
The guys had made it back to the dining room table with their water glasses, and were settling in. "Grace is a pre-teen, and I'm dreading her first rebellion. But I'm talking about when I was helping Stella before I moved. And I was a teenager myself once—I've been on the other side of it."
Steve glanced at his watch, then looked up at Danny, "So, what kind of schedule are you looking at tomorrow?"
Danny shifted in his seat as he looked toward the doorway Eric would be coming from. "How much time do you think you want for the first session of McGarrett Boot Camp?"
"Well, I'd like about 3 hours, at least for the first day. But you shouldn't really plan much for at least another hour after that, because I'm not sure how much use he will be after I'm done with him. Either a 9 a.m. to noon followed by lunch, or a 3 to 6 followed by dinner. Whichever works for you. I have a 9 o'clock with the Governor, but I could try to reschedule. I'm meeting with him to discuss Stephens' research on Ni'ihau."
Danny's eyebrows raised when Steve mentioned the Governor. "Denning is meeting with you on a Saturday morning? Lucky you."
Steve just brushed off Danny's comment by taking a sip of water before speaking, "Well, he has other meetings tomorrow, and was able to squeeze me in."
Danny just smiled. "You know what? I have another idea for the morning and early afternoon. You can have the 3-6, and we can meet for dinner. Then Eric and I can have our 'discussion' tomorrow night after dinner. Does that work for you?"
Danny saw Steve check his watch again, then both looked toward the hallway as they heard Eric scuffle and thud into a wall in his rush. "Sure Danny. I'm with you on this, all the way."
~H50~
To be continued…
