Phantom
By
Landon Richardson
Official Disclaimer
The characters of Lieutenant Commander Steven 'Steve' McGarrett, Chin Ho Kelly, Officer Kono Kalakaua, Adam 'Toast' Charles, Meka Hanamoa, Amy Hanamoa, Billy Hanamoa Mary McGarrett, John McGarrett, Steven McGarrett (Steve's grandfather/namesake), Lieutenant Catherine Rollins and Doctor Max Bergman do not belong to me in any shape or form. I am merely using them for my own entertainment purposes.
The characters of Danielle 'Danni' Williams, although originally based on the male Danny Williams on the show, is probably different enough that she can be considered her own creation since she has a different background and different personality to her male counterpart. This also in turns changes Grace to an extent as Danni has full custody but also a civil relationship with Grace's father which reflects in the way Grace is. I should also add that Grace's surname is Taylor as Williams is Danni's maiden name which she reverted back to after her divorce was finalised.
The characters of Lily Williams, Doctor Rosamund 'Rosie' Lange, Doctor Richard White, Lieutenant Colonel David Williams, Special Agent Jack O'Connor, Lieutenant commander Riley King, Lieutenant Louisa Palakiko-Cowan and Detective Liam Mead are mine as well. Any other character who might pop up who you don't instantly recognise will probably belong to me as well. I'll hopefully catch them in time to put above though.
Author Notes
Here's the next chapter for you all.
This is the first chapter which switches point of view mid chapter, normally I don't do this and instead will keep the chapter with one person but on this occasion it made sense to start off with Danni and her thoughts before switching to Steve's.
Although this story will mainly be from Steve's and Danni's points of view there will be chapters or segments of chapter which will belong to the other character. Anyone who is familiar with my writing will know my love of 3D characters and of ensuring that everyone has a moment to shine.
Anyway please enjoy
Overall Summary
Danni Williams has always kept her secret close to her heart, guarding it preciously, determined to hide who and what she is but when that secret threatens her life and those around her she realises that some things aren't meant to be kept secret. Some secrets have to come out no matter what the consequences are. (McDanni saga, McDanni)
Chapter Summary
Danni pushed open the door to the Ali'iolani Hale building and stepped into the sunshine, running lightly down the stairs before she took a sharp left heading to where she had parked her car that morning.
Overall Romance
Steve McGarrett / Danni Williams (McDanni)
Chin Ho Kelly / Malia Waincroft (Chalia)
Kono Kalakaua / Charlie Fong (KoFo)
Mentions of past Duncan Taylor / Danni Williams (Dunni)
Mentions of past Steve McGarrett / Catherine Rollins (McRollins)
Chapter Romance
Possible hints of Steve McGarrett / Danni Williams (McDanni)
Mentions of past Steve McGarrett / Catherine Rollins (McRollins)
Other Note
~ Point one – Please be aware that nearly all of the locations which are used in this story are either from the internet (thank you Google!) or made up by me. I claim no knowledge of Hawaii having never been there before.
~ Point two – Although this story is technically part of the Danni and uses many characters from the universe, it is to be considered an A/U of the world and not one which is reflect or affect any of the other stories I write unless stated otherwise.
Chapter Three
I give you my word
Danni pushed open the door to the Ali'iolani Hale building and stepped into the sunshine, running lightly down the stairs before she took a sharp left heading to where she had parked her car that morning. It was the same space it always was since Steve had insisted that they had reserved parking space, something which Danni had been glad about considering how close her spot was to the building.
She hit the auto lock button, pulling the driver door open and climbed in, throwing her bag into the passenger seat foot well. Inserting the key into the ignition she turned it and waited tapping her hand against the wheel impatiently while she watched Steve say something to Chin Ho Kelly who was heading towards his cousins car.
"Come on Steve, come on" She murmured softly to herself. She needed to be at that crime scene limiting the amount of people who saw the body. A body which it seemed from Meka's description would cause a lot of questions which would require answers. Answers which they couldn't give. It had happened before and each time it meant that the council would send in a squad to clean things up. Danni had always referred to them in her mind as hit squads though their proper name was limfaaeame, since every time they arrived the questions would stop and often involved people suddenly moving.
Hawaii was now hers and Grace's home which meant that she had to keep it safe, even if that meant safe from the council and their methods. The fact that she was here gave the islands some leeway but even her presence wouldn't be enough to keep them away for ever. All it meant that was when they came they would come in force claiming that they needed to protect her.
She glanced to the side as the passenger door opened and Steve slid in, pushing his chair back to accommodate his long legs. Danni waited only until he closed the passenger door before she was roaring out of her space and towards the exit, aware that the others would be following her. She ignored Steve's curse next to her as she took the left and headed down the highway, hitting her sirens and lights, something she rarely did unless she was in a car chase of some description.
"Are you going to tell me where we're heading or am I meant to guess?" Steve asked, sounding peeved. She glanced towards him shooting him an unreadable look before she looked back at the road, swerving in-between the cars which were going too slowly for her liking, and answered.
"According to the text I received from Meka we're heading to Makakilo Drive in Kapolei. Can you do me a favour and send it out to the others so they know the location." She asked, pressing her foot down on the pedal. Steve stared at her for a moment, trying to wrap his had around what it was exactly which had his partner so on edge, driving in a fashion which would normally have elicited disapproving looks from her if he had been the one behind the wheel driving. "Steve, the text" She said suddenly, shooting him another look.
"Yeah, I'll send it" He answered, reaching into the pocket of his cargo pants and extracting the phone. He brought up his messages and quickly sent the address to the group text he kept for these situation. He dropped it onto his lap, twisting slightly so he could look at Danni, knowing that she was too distracted with her driving to pay attention to him.
Danni had always been the most reserved member of the team, even more so than Steve was and Steve had been accused by more than one member of his team for having the emotional range of a teacup. Danni was always friendly with them, she socialised with them out of the office once or twice a month and was always available to any of them if they needed to talk to her, regardless of whether she had other plans but it felt to Steve like she kept her true self hidden from them, locked away in a box, and no matter how many ways he tried to breach it or how close they got, he still failed to unlock it.
Steve wasn't above admitting to himself that there was something about Danni which fascinated him and that it was a feeling which grew every time that he was in her presence. He had even gone as far as to end his arrangement with Catherine Rollins because it had suddenly felt wrong to him, killing the mood between them more than once. It felt as though he was suddenly wired differently and that if it wasn't Danni in his bed, lying next to him then he didn't want anyone else in there, something which his heart and body were clearly agreed on.
He lived for the small touches which she gave him, small touches which he noticed that she never gave anyone else. If someone went to touch her then she would swiftly move away from them in a subtle manner. It was a strange reaction for her to have and it was yet another mystery of hers which he wanted to get to the bottom of, especially as he could tell from the way that Danni interacted with her daughter Grace that she was actually a tactile person so why, if that was the case, did she not show it? Did she believe that it would be unsuitable for the work place? Even one which was as unformal as theirs was?
The questions were constantly badgering him, driving him slowly insane.
And there was the mystery with this new case.
Why had Meka called Danni when he knew from the last time Danni had spoken about her former partner that he had been paired with another new detective called Mead or something similar who he was breaking in? Danni hadn't even mentioned the other man, she had only mentioned Meka. From what he had gathered from the call, Meka had asked for Danni's help on his case and Danni, who Steve knew, was stupidly busy had dropped everything she was doing, disregarding the proper ways of referring a case to their unit, to go to him.
There had been something about that call between them which had clearly spooked her if the way she was reacting was any indication to go by. Steve had to learn what it was about if he was going to keep her safe like he had promised Grace he would. It was like an itch which as growing beneath his skin. He had to protect her and to do that he had to know everything that was going on.
"You know if you think any harder than your head may actually explode and I'm not exactly sure how I would go about getting brain matter out of the upholstery" Danni remarked causally, breaking the silence between them and attracting Steve attention. The headache which had been brewing behind his eyes eased away at the sound of her voice, the same way it always did.
"Well maybe Danni if you actually told me the basics of the case and what we're heading into then I wouldn't have to think so hard about it would I?" He pointed out to her as he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked around him at the surrounding area, surprised to realise that Danni for once seemed to know exactly where she was going and was even taking the same short cuts he would have taken. Either she had been this route before or someone had been teaching her the shortcuts, a thought which caused him to grit his teeth. If anyone was to show Danni around the place then it should have been him.
She remained silent for a moment, her eyes fixed on the road though he noticed her hands tightening on the steering wheel as though she was having an internal struggle with herself before she sighed, some of the tension in her shoulders easing away.
"It's a homicide" She announced
Steve stared at her for a moment before he rolled his eyes, reaching up and pinching the bridge of his nose.
"I had figured out that much myself considering the fact that Meka is a Homicide Detective who only deals with Homicides" he responded, the comment causing her to look towards him with a startled look which slowly melted into a small smile.
"Well it's good to know that you listen to me when I speak. Perhaps there is hope for you yet Steve and I'll be able to make a Detective out of you." She said, a tone of amusement coming to her voice as more tension eased out of her. "Meka called me because of the type of Homicide it is. Back when I was still with HPD before you arrived back in Hawaii, Meka and I had dealt with some cases with a similar MO. The minute he got the case and saw what it was he called me, just like he should have."
He looked towards her again, frowning when he realised that she was picking her words carefully, trying to give him the answers which he had demanded without going into too much of the details. It was frustrating but at that moment in time he would take anything she gave him and learn to work with it.
"So you and Meka were investigating a serial killer who I'm guessing you never caught?" He asked, waiting patiently for her to speak.
"We didn't so much think it was a serial killer" She told him thoughtfully. "We thought that it was more a pattern of killings. It could have been just one person but there was enough differences to make us believe that it was more likely a gang who took it in turns."
"It wouldn't be the first time something like that happened, perhaps it's some sort of initiation." He suggested.
"That was what I thought" Danni agreed with a nod. "Meka thought that maybe it started like that but that somewhere along the way they got the taste for it so they began doing it at other times. That theory would make sense as at least two of the body were identical, or rather close enough to point at it being done by the same person, if it was an initiation then there would have only been one body which looked like that."
Steve nodded, glancing towards the side mirror unsurprised to see Kono's car directly behind them. No doubt just behind them would be Jack's car as well. Clearly Danni's desire to get to the crime scene as soon as possible had affected the rest of the team as well.
"Are the murders some type of ritual or is each killing a different style?" He asked her.
"It's definitely some kind of ritual but I'm not sure what kind" She stated. "The murders are different though but there's a certain pattern which link them. I think that they purposely change the way the victim is dealt with to keep the police of their backs. They don't want us to link them all together."
"But you found that pattern?" Steve pressed.
"We think we found the pattern" She corrected. "Somehow they got wind that we were closing in on them and disappeared before we could determine it for definite. Meka and I have been keeping an eye on it but there's been nothing like it until now. We even kept an eye on the mainland in case they went over there and started up again but nothing flagged up."
"That's a good start" Steve said with a nod, running through the information in his mind before he turned to her again, his voice deadly serious in a way which attracted her full attention. "I need to know Danni that you're not going to hold anything back from me about this case, especially if they are as dangerous as you think they are. The rest of us are heading into an unknown situation, when we get back to the office I want you to run through the whole case with us from the beginning. Maybe some fresh eyes will catch something that you and Meka may have missed. Even if you don't tell the others everything I need your word that you will tell me everything. How can I protect you and the team if you aren't being honest with me?" He said.
Danni looked towards him for a moment, an expression which looked almost like fear in her eyes before she looked away and have him one single nod.
"Some of the things you ask for aren't easy Steve." She said, the comment causing him to frown as she continued. "There's so much you don't know and if you know it then maybe I lose you."
Steve's heart ached at the sudden lost tone which came to her voice, as though the thought of losing him was causing her physical pain.
"You won't lose me Danni" He told her gently, his eyes widening when she spoke, as though he had remained silent.
"I just need time okay. I promise that I will tell you and the others everything I can about the case and the rest of the stuff, the stuff about me well…." She stopped, swallowed hard as her face paled. "I'll tell you everything even though you may not want to hear what I have to say."
"Give me your word" Steve demanded through the sudden tension in the car. In the six months he had known his partner he had never known her to break her word once given regardless of the difficulty of the request. It was one of the aspects of her personality which he loved. That and her absolute loyalty to those who had earned her trust. Steve wanted to be one of those chosen few more than he had wanted anything in his life and he was determined to earn his spot in her heart.
"My words is given and it is my bond" She quoted softly, the same way she always did when she gave it. "I just need to focus on the case first and then you'll have your answers. Just give me until then" She pleaded, a look in her grey eyes which he was helpless to ignore.
"I'll give you until then but after that Danno I want to know everything. I want there to be no secrets between us anymore" He stated, watching as she nodded before she tuned to him with a sad look on her face which tore at his heart.
"Be careful what you wish for Steve."
Author Note
Thanks for taking the time to read. An especially big thank you if you have left me a review, favourite the story or decided to follow it.
I really appreciate it
