0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5
~2 Months Later~
Danny sat in his office, writing up reports while looking over another case that the Governor had just given them.
The team had been on a nonstop rampage with stopping crime for the past three months and the only break they got was when Chin and Kono demanded a break or else they were going to leave on their own, they knew they're friend was still grieving over Steve but at the rate he was going people were going to get killed, and not just the bad guys.
"We need to do something about this" Kono stated, turning back from watching Danny.
Chin looked up at Danny for himself then back to Kono, "what more can we do Kono? We've tried taking him out for drinks to get drunk in order for him to become drunk enough to finally open up, we've tried getting him to see a grief counselor in which he threatened us with violence, I even got him a punching bag to pound his emotions out but I went by his house the other day and he had taken it down; he won't even visit his grave" he added, signing his name at the bottom of the report.
"He's been like this for 2 months Chin; he's acting like a freaking super soldier! He's already put one of our perps. in the hospital! We need to come up with a way for Danny to express himself without violence, if we don't do something about super soldier over there the Governor could remove him!"
Filing the report Chin stood up from his desk and walked over to his coat hanger to grab his jacket, "I'll handle it cuz, I think I know what might help him. You go home, I'll stay here and deal with Danny" Kono stood up from the chair and walked out the door, Chin walked out behind him.
"Call me tonight and give me an update" she gave him a hug then, casting one glance at Danny she walked into her office, grabbed her light jacket and walked out of the office and headed for the elevator.
Now alone Chin pulled his jacket on and stopped outside Danny's office and knocked, getting his attention he walked into the room and stopped in front of his desk.
"Hey Danny, Kono and I have finished our paperwork and she's all ready headed out so I was wondering if you wanted to go have a few drinks with Kamakona and me?" he offered, all ready knowing the answer.
Very calmly he looked up at Chin and spoke, " no thanks, there's a few things I have to take care of then I'm going to go to bed, that and I have Gracie tomorrow and I don't want to be dealing with a hangover" Danny replied.
Putting his plan into action Chin walked around the desk and much to Danny's surprise, pulled him up from his chair and just as he was about to start a rant he was silenced by the feeling of cold metal encircling his wrists and clicking closed, not too tight where it would hurt but tight enough so that he couldn't get out of them.
"Chin what the hell are you doing?" he growled, jerking around in a feeble attempt to get out of the cuffs.
Chin grabbed both his upper arms, managing to keep the shorter man from struggling too much, "just cool down brah, I'm doing this for your own good!" continuing to keep a strong hold on Danny he got the keys to his Camaro and led him out of the room and over to the elevators.
"Come on Chin, this is ridiculous! Okay I get the message, I'll get out more! Enjoy life and all that crap! Now will you please take these off me" he pled, getting a good jerk to the right in.
The elevator arrived and Chin walked Danny inside, pressing the lobby button and setting Danny to lean against the railing, the doors sliding closed in front of him.
"I seriously doubt that you, of all people, have had a sudden change on your view on life but I do appreciate seeing some real emotion from you" the elevator dinged and the doors slid open.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw that Danny was about to make a run for it but he grabbed him in mid-step and resumed his original hold.
"Would you settle down all ready! Your acting just as bad as a perp." Chin scolded, dragging him through the lobby and out the door.
"How the hell do you expect me to act? You, who I thought was my friend, has handcuffed me and is forcing me to go God knows where and oh yeah did I mention that I'm fucking handcuffed?" he exclaimed, the vein on the side of his neck pulsing.
"It may have come up" he smirked, walking to the car and unlocking the passenger and driver's side doors, he first opened the passenger door then leaned Danny, front to the side of the car, un-cuffed one of the cuffs; but before he could celebrate what he thought was freedom he was pushed down into the car and the one free cuff was enclosed around the car-door handle.
Before shutting the door he made sure that both of Danny's legs and other body parts were in the car then got into the driver's seat and drove off.
"Chin I swear to god when I get these off I am going to kill you and I won't even try to cover the crime up because I will gladly be known as the man who killed Chin Ho Kelly because he had the audacity to handcuff me and against my will drag me out of the office and now-"Danny cut his rant short when he recognized the area around him and where this road led.
Chin looked over at his 'hostage' and a faint feeling of guilt filled him when he saw sadness and other raw emotions build up inside him, but he needed to do this.
"Stop the car" Danny uttered, his heart rate picking up.
When Chin didn't comply, he spoke again, only this time he was much more verbal.
"Stop the fucking car Chin!" he violently pulled at his cuffed hand and when he had no success there he began to kick his dashboard with his feet, leaving numerous scuff marks.
Somehow Chin managed to continue to drive, even when Danny risked both of their lives and attempted to reach for the steering wheel, luckily Chin managed to deflect him.
"You need this Danny, I wish it didn't have to come to this but since you won't visit his grave this is the next best thing" he replied, making a quick turn.
Danny's emotions once again lashed out onto his dashboard and he pulled and tugged at his cuffed hand, not even feeling the metal bite into his skin and the blood dribbling down his arm and staining the window.
The smell of copper entered Chin's senses and he looked over at Danny and was horrified to see the bloody mess his friend had created.
Quickly pulling over Chin put the car in park, unbuckled himself and got out of the car, hurrying around to the trunk with the keys where he remembered seeing a first aid kit. Popping the trunk he reached inside, grabbed the blue kit and dashed around the car to the passenger's door.
Flinging the door open he got the keys to the handcuffs out of his pants pocket and freed Danny.
As soon as Danny was free he repaid Chin by curling his uninjured hand into a fist and punching Chin in the face, he could feel the hard bite of his knuckles scraping over Chin's cheek and before he was even touching the ground he jumped out of the vehicle and ran back towards civilization.
Chin lay on the ground, stunned and in pain from the unexpected blow, he knew that Danny would be angry but he wasn't expecting him to lash out like that!
A small sprinkle of blood cried down his cheek where he had been punched and he could feel the area beginning to swell and bruise.
Tripping and scraping his hands due to the abruptness of his escape he only had one goal in mind: Get as far away from this area as he could. He could hear Chin running behind him, shouting at him to stop.
It was when he chanced a glimpse behind him that he made a fatal error, with that one look behind he did not see the inconspicuous but certainly not small rock that was in his general area of fleeing.
As soon as his left foot made contact with the rock Danny only had seconds to comprehend what was about to happen before he found himself flying through the air and landing harshly on his back, smacking his head on the hard ground and black stars popping up in his vision.
Chin soon entered his limited field of vision and looked down at him, his right cheek was slightly bloody and he could see that it was starting to swell and bruise; in a way he sort of felt guilty for punching Chin but on the other he couldn't help but feel that Chin deserved the punch...just a little.
Wiping the blood away with the back of his hand Chin extended his hand for Danny to take and Danny, knowing he wasn't getting any further accepted the help and once he was back on his feet the earth swayed beneath him and he almost fell over but thankfully Chin grabbed him and balanced him and helped him walk back to the car so that he could patch them both up.
Reaching the car Danny leaned against the trunk of the car and waited for Chin to get the kit. Chin returned and set the kit down beside Danny. Opening the kit Chin took out a small tube of antiseptic and applied it to the more severe wound around Danny's wrist then, setting the tube down, picked up the small roll of gauze and medical tape and wrapped a generous amount of gauze around the mangled wrist and taped it down.
He also made sure to check the scrapes on his hands but deemed them to not be of any concern but what he was concerned with next was the possible head injury that Danny might have obtained from his fall.
Thankfully Danny had gotten the more deluxe version of a first aid kit and managed to find an unopened bag of latex gloves.
"I'm going to check the back of your head to see if you have any cuts or swelling" he explained as he walked around Danny and examined the back of his head, he gently looked and felt around the area and was grateful to see that there was no sign of any cuts or unusual puffy skin that would need stitches but that didn't mean that Danny didn't have some kind of head injury.
Taking the gloves off and, for the time being, disposing them on the top of the trunk he turned back to face Danny.
"Okay I'm going to ask you some simple questions and I want you to answer them as honestly as you can okay?" he stated, when he received a faint 'yeah' he proceeded with his questions.
"Can you tell me your name?" Chin asked, watching in a doctor like manner.
"Daniel Williams" he answered, keeping direct eye contact.
"How old are you?"
"33"
"Where do you work?"
"I'm a detective and I work with you and Kono on the Governor's task force called 5-0 and it is the 24th of March" he added testily, wanting the questioning to stop.
Chin stopped the questioning, for now, "okay you don't seem to have any symptoms of a concussion but we're going to the hospital later just to make sure" he applied a small amount of antiseptic to the small cut on his cheek and placed a bandage over the cut.
After their injuries had been tended to they sat on the hood of the trunk, neither one speaking and hardly looking at each other. When three minutes had passed Chin stood up from the hood and turned to look at Danny.
"We really should get moving, a storm is supposed to be coming and I don't want to be caught out in it. We're already here and I still think that this will be good for you, but I'm going to give you a choice, you can either come willingly or I can drag you" Chin stated, waiting for an answer.
Danny remained silent, clenching his fists at his side.
"Steve wouldn't want you acting like this he would-"
Danny's head shot up, rage burning like fire in his eyes.
"What Steve would want? And what exactly would Steve want Chin? Can you suddenly speak to the dead? Has Steve been talking to you? Or better yet! Is he here now? Telling you to say and do all this?" Danny rose from the car and stepped towards Chin, an inferno now thriving in his emotional eyes.
Chin took a step back, holding his hands up in a surrendering gesture, "calm down brah, all I meant was that he wouldn't want to see you hurting like this and not letting it out" Chin soothed, but he had a feeling that he had only made things worse by the expression on Danny's face.
"Steve doesn't get a say in the way I live my life! Not anymore! He's dead Chin! Never coming back! He left me here alone!...just as our life was beginning..." the last part was quieter than the first part, not filled with anger but drowning in deep, deep sorrow.
Tears pooled freely down his face, the sun reflecting off his glistening skin like diamonds.
Everything in that moment clicked for Chin, Danny and Steve had finally admitted their feelings for each other but from Danny's last few words they had been violently forced apart by death. God had dealt them a shitty hand, for a short time two souls were completed then he came down and took one soul, leaving the other to suffer and slowly go down a road that could take his own life.
"I'm sorry Danny...I didn't know..." Chin took a step towards but stopped when Danny walked away from him, seeming to be headed towards their original destination.
"You're not the one who should be apologizing Chin, no, the man who should be begging on his knees for my forgiveness doesn't even have a fucking body! And even if he did, it wouldn't matter, you can't bring the dead back to life" he yelled over his shoulder, his pace never slowing.
Chin hurried to catch up with him, and when he did they were entering the deep jungles of Hawaii.
They walked together for a while and when they reached the familiar setting they stopped, taking in the view around them. It looked the same as the last time he had been up here, and much like Steve had said then the only thing that had changed was himself. He was now a broken man.
"I remember the last time I was up here, Steve had practically dragged me up here on the guise of it being a hike but in my opinion it was fucking abuse. Then Steve finds that body and in the process almost gets himself killed...while we were standing here he told me that this place hadn't changed, the only thing that changed was himself and now I find that statement describing myself...how the hell did everything go so wrong?" he asked, looking to Chin for an answer of sorts.
"I wish I had an answer for you but I don't, life can be fucking cruel sometimes but we have to learn to live with our losses and move on" Chin answered, he knew how corny it sounded but if it could help Danny then he would go with it.
A gentle wind rustled through the area, whipping their hair around in a playful manner.
"So what's the plan Chin? You bring me up here and I turn into a blubbering mess?" Danny asked, uncomfortable with the silence and the whole situation in general.
Chin was silent for a moment, "this is whatever you want it to be, it can be a place just to stand and say nothing, a place where you can freely express yourself or...it's the place where you can say goodbye" Chin replied, crossing his arms.
Say goodbye?...How could he say goodbye to the man that he loved?
Danny stood in place a moment, thinking on Chin's words before he slowly began to speak, "the moment I got that text...I knew he was gone. I keep thinking that maybe if I had seen the signs sooner, that he wasn't acting like himself, I could have stopped him..." the tears that he was trying to keep at bay were beginning to break past his barriers.
Bargaining, he had to get Danny through this so that he could finally move on to acceptance.
"Don't do that to yourself brah, no 'what ifs', Steve would have gone either way because Wo Fat was involved, you and I both know that when it came to Wo Fat Steve's head was never really thinking clearly" Chin tried to reason.
"I have to think of the 'what ifs' Chin, kind of impossible not to when all of my thoughts have been on constant loop with Steve as the star!" Danny retorted, finally turning to face Chin.
Chin uncrossed his arms and sighed, "All right, I'm going to go back to the car and you can follow me when you've done what you feel you need to do" turning Chin walked away, leaving Danny to think in peace.
Watching Chin until he was out of sight Danny turned back around to look around at the view before him.
"You want a goodbye Steve, all right, I'll give you a goodbye..."
0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5
Somewhere in Kapalua Hawaii, Steve McGarret sat in the Tropic nursing a Long board, this was his third bottle and from the looks the bartender was sending him he was going to be cut off pretty soon.
"Is this seat taken?" asked a seductive voice.
Steve almost choked on his beverage from the familiar voice but managed to set his bottle down and unsubtly reach for his weapon.
Without waiting for an answer she sat down and ordered a shot of whiskey.
"I thought I told you to get out of Hawaii?" he growled, teeth clenched together.
The bartender placed the drink in front of her then went over to serve another patron.
"You did, and yes I did 'get off your island' but Kapalua isn't your island Steve and besides your all alone here, none of your ohana can help you" she taunted, picking the shot glass up and throwing it back, slamming it down and sighing in gratification.
"My ohana on the other hand..." as she said that Steve felt the pressure of what he knew to be the muzzle of a gun biting at the center of his back. He didn't have to look behind him to know that the handler of the gun was Johnny.
The bartender was giving them a strange look and Dana shook her head at him, telling him not to get involved. Thankfully for him, he took the advice and picked up a rag and started wiping down the counter at the other side.
"Leader is looking for you and he wasn't very happy to find out that you had left the island, so he sent us to come and bring you back" she stated, looking to her brother who had a murderous look in his eyes, she knew that he wanted to kill Steven but Leader had specifically told them that he wanted him back alive and unscathed, much to her brother's chagrin.
Steve's grip tightened around his own weapon but paused when he felt Dana's hand on his own, running her hand up and down the barrel of the gun.
"I would put that away Steven, someone could get hurt, someone like a few unfortunate patrons" Johnny's gun clicked and pressed deeper into his back. Johnny it seemed was very eager for a kill.
Slowly, he loosened his grip and held it out for her to take, she smiled and took the firearm, tucking it away in her purse before anyone could see it.
She got up from her stool and laid a fifty on the counter, paying for her drink and his three in the process, "now get up and walk out of here, with us, like we're old friends" she instructed, fixing her skin tight mini skirt; this action caused quite a few of the men's heads to turn in her direction.
Getting up from his own stool, quietly being instructed to not do anything stupid, he turned with Dana walking in front and Johnny walking behind him, the gun being hidden by his coat draped over his arm and their proximity.
Arriving outside he was forced over to a black sedan. His attention was caught watching Dana unlock the back doors he failed to notice Johnny removing his gun from his back, bringing it up high enough and brutally bashing the gun against his head.
He fell to his knees, clutching his aching head, his vision slowly blackening around the edges he could barely hear the exchange going on between Dana and Johnny but from the few words he could barely make out it sounded like he was being brought back.
His vision completely blackened and he collapsed on his right side, dead to the world.
Johnny, no longer able to control himself kicked Steve in the gut, managing to get a moan of pain out of Steve but the hit to the head had been too much so he wasn't able to regain consciousness.
Dana hit her brother on the arm, her eyebrows pulled together, "you idiot! Leader said to bring him back unscathed! How are we going to explain broken ribs?" she scolded, looking down at the prone body of Steve.
"We could tell him he tried to escape, and he deserved so much more than that Dana, he hurt you! I should fucking kill him for what he did to you!" he threw back, tempted to use the gun in his hand to put a few holes in the bastard who hurt his sister.
As if sensing what he was thinking she took his gun and emptied all the bullets into her purse, he watched in anger and confusion, then was stunned when she handed the gun back to him and told him to hide it before someone saw it.
He did as he was told, still mad that she had done that, then looked back down at Steve. Hearing the click of another lock he looked up and saw that Dana had unlocked the front and passenger seat.
"Put him in the back and get in the car, we need to get the hell out of here! Someone's probably all ready called the police" without waiting for her brother she climbed into the driver's seat and slammed the door.
Johnny stood for a second then knelt down and grabbed Steve under the arms and dragged him to the car, with his first heave he managed to slip his feet onto the backseat then with one final push he deposited Steve in the back.
Quickly closing the door he hopped into the passenger seat and as soon as he was inside the car took off, almost causing him to fall out before he managed to close the door.
"You should have let me kill him" he muttered, pouting like a child who had been told he couldn't have a toy that wanted.
A sly smirk darkened Dana's features, "don't worry, Leader will make Steve pay in his own way" she assured him, she turned the radio on and searched through the stations until she found a song that she liked,
Do you remember your coming down,
Forced to take sides?
Your taunted charm and your broken smile,
Touched me unexpectedly.
Smiling she turned the volume up and tapped her talon like nails on the steering wheel, the next few sets of lyrics made her smirk, causing her to resemble the devil himself.
So long,
So long you've waited in line.
Desire is a gift in life.
So long,
So long you've left and arrived,
It's time for you to stay a while.
If you chose life,
You know what the fear is like.
You welcome addiction,
This is your kingdom.
With the song blaring they drove away from the Tropica and headed for the airport where a private jet was waiting to take them back to Oahu.
0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0-5
During that, back in Oahu, Danny was still in the same place, but he was finally going to speak,
"You left me Steve, you left me here alone...All this anger that I have buried in me, it's making me do really stupid things, hell I'm beginning to even do some of the crazy shit you've done! Just today I put a perp. in the hospital! And it wasn't because he was trying to kill me or escape, I did that to him because I wanted to! I wanted someone to feel the pain that you caused!" he took a deep breath before continuing,
"I'm on the verge...next time I could kill someone...maybe even myself, but I can't think like that because I have Gracie to think about! I need to be there for her, you needed to be here for her...but you're never going to be, ever again" this time he needed to take a break not only for breathing but to vainly try and wipe away the tears that were falling, in the end he gave up and just allowed them to fall.
"I wish I could hate you...I wish I could hold you in my arms again, kiss you again...but I can't and I need to learn to live with that. With where my head is now I might do something that gets me in prison and Gracie shouldn't have to see her dad in jail, but more than likely Rachel wouldn't let her write me, let alone visit me; so I need to finally say it...I-I miss you but I have to accept that your gone and continue on with my life and remember all the good times we had, even some of the bad, because I know I will never be able to forget you, nor do I want to...goodbye Steve, I'll always love you" wiping his eyes with the back of his sleeve he cast one last look at the beautiful land around him then turned around and headed back to the car.
He arrived back at the car some time later and slid into the passenger seat, closing the door and staring out the windshield. Chin sat behind the wheel, his view much the same.
"Did you do what you needed to do?" Chin asked, averting his eyes to look at his companion.
Danny nodded, "yeah, yeah I think I did"
Chin looked back to the road and started the engine, buckled himself in then put the car in drive and did a U turn, starting their drive back into the city.
A few minutes into their driving back Danny spoke again, his voice somehow tired, "I think...I need to see a psychiatrist. I'm not fit for duty yet, I'll call the Governor and ask for some time off so that I can get my head on straight and while I'm gone you'll be in charge" he said, looking out the window.
Chin was a little stunned that Danny would willingly go see a professional especially after the huge blowout that suggestion had caused before but he wasn't going to comment, if Danny thought that he would benefit from seeing a specialist then he would support him, he was actually relieved that he was willing to see someone.
"The department psychiatrist is a pretty good guy, he helped me out a lot when I was still in HPD and he was one of the few people who believed that I wasn't a dirty cop. I have his number programmed into my phone so you can call him and set up an appointment" he offered, knowing that Dave Keakos could help his friend.
"Thanks Chin" that was all that needed to be said, and they spent the rest of the ride back in silence.
Danny may still be hurting from the loss of Steve but he had to move forward, and today was a stepping stone, tomorrow would be an even greater leap.
AN: Sorry it took so long to update but I have super busy! I hope you enjoyed the chapter and in case you were wondering the name of the song that Dana is listening to is called "Kingdom of Addiction" by IAMX. Great song and I thought it fit the occasion quite beautifully, listen to if yourself on YouTube.
Please Review!
