Take Two: Chapter Eleven
A/n: Thank you for your continued reviews.
Steve managed to get some sleep after a very long night. The sleep, especially in his own bed, had been much needed. He had spent the rest of the day speaking with Duke as carefully as he could about the case. The rest of the team had gone to their respective homes, except Lou, who had been away from the warehouse in the first place, and wasn't exhausted. Duke knew something wasn't being said, but he couldn't determine what exactly, and wasn't going to push Steve. He knew better than to interfere with 5-0.
Afterwards, Lou offered to take Steve to dinner to speak about the case further, but Steve declined. He instead went to Abby and Jerry and switched them out with cops, so they could relax. Now, cops were looking after Joel's family, and Joel was in custody. Finally, Steve drove home and took a quick shower and went to bed.
He woke up later than expected. Perhaps that should have been expected.
Now, sitting in a diner and watching Danny eat, Steve was still troubled about yesterday's mishap.
Danny was oblivious. He had gone home to shower, shave, and change after spending the afternoon and night asleep on Rachel's couch, and by the time he met Steve, he was feeling quite like himself again. His face had regained color and he no longer trembled. He had taken a seat across from Steve, and Steve had caught a whiff of soap and mouthwash. The two sat silently as Danny ate. Steve was sipping coffee, and staring at him, lost in thought.
"So, what was it like?" Steve asked suddenly.
Danny rolled his eyes. He swallowed. "Babe, you have to use specifics."
"Being in that hole for that long? With your claustrophobia, I mean. At some point you must have felt just numb, right?"
Danny didn't answer. He was infuriated by the question. Steve didn't register this, and asked again.
"I don't want to talk about it!" Danny threw up his hands. "It's not a cheery subject, okay? What's the matter with you?"
"What! I'm just trying to understand, Danny, c'mon."
"Well, what, you want me to spell it out for you?"
"Sort of! I mean, okay, for example, this place."
"What about this place?"
"It's a confined space, is it not?"
Danny didn't know how to respond to Steve's ignorance. He scoffed. "No."
"What do you mean 'no'?"
Danny explained the place had windows and doors, and being able to see outside was very important for Danny. That's why he wasn't afraid in cars, because the door was close and he could always see out. Unlike elevators, which were one of his worst nightmares.
"Oh, right, I remember." Steve nodded. "Okay, but how do-"
"Hey look, it's our old pal, Chin." Danny interrupted, happy to end this intrepid conversation. He waved Chin over to them. Danny was relieved to see Chin, but also a little sheepish. This was his first time seeing Chin since their not-so-happy time in the hole.
Chin could sense Danny's embarrassment. "Hi, Steve." He sat down in the booth next to McGarrett. "Danny," he leaned forward. "Don't worry about yesterday."
"Yeah?" Danny laughed nervously.
"Yeah. I understand. I'm not here to judge." Chin crossed his arms against his chest. When the waiter came by, Chin ordered a cup of coffee. Danny looked down, grateful.
"So, Chin, why did you want to see us?" Steve asked, reaching across the table and taking a slice of bacon from Danny's plate. Danny attempted to slap Steve's hand away, but Steve was too fast. Danny and Steve were heading to work soon, but Chin had texted them to see if he could meet them early.
"Just thinking about something." Chin shrugged. "When the four of us were at the warehouse, Abby and Jerry were with Joel's family. Then Lou and Joel went to find us. Headquarters was practically empty."
"No," Steve shook his head. "What about Eric? Eric was still there."
"Actually, uh, Eric came to see me." Danny admitted.
"Right." Chin sucked in his breath. "That's the problem. When Eric left to come find you, Kono and I don't think he locked our floor. After you went home and Steve went with Duke to take Joel to jail, Kono and I went back to headquarters and-"
"Okay, wait." Danny protested. "I get it. Eric doesn't have a lot going on where his brain is supposed to be. But he knows how important his job is, and he sure as hell just wouldn't leave all of our evidence out in the open. He has some focus."
"What happened, Chin?" Steve asked, sensing there were things Chin had yet to say.
"The flashdrive's gone." Chin said. "And someone wiped the table of the documents from the flashdrive."
"Are you kidding me?" Steve was dumbfounded. "What about the security cameras? What about the identity verification?"
"By all accounts, Eric forgot to turn the security system on when he left."
"Stop, Chin. I love you, man, but you're not making sense. Eric wouldn't do that."
"He may have been a little distracted." Chin responded. "I spoke to Lou, and he said right before they left, Joel recounted in some detail how your brother died, how you killed Reyes, and your stint in the Colombian prison."
Danny's eyes grew wide. He and Steve exchanged a wary glance.
Chin looked at the two. "But Eric already knew all this, right? You told him what happened?"
When Danny didn't say anything, Steve stepped up. "No, Chin, he didn't. Eric was told a completely different story."
Danny banged his fist on the table. His glass of water nearly spilled. "Son of a bitch."
"What, Danny?" Steve was angry, too. "What did you expect, huh? You thought Eric would never learn the truth?"
"Steven, I swear-" Danny snapped.
Chin was curious. "What did you tell Eric?"
"Why does it matter?" Danny blew up at Chin. "Why does every last person want to know every little thing I do, huh? This guy-" Danny gestures towards Steve "-wants to know just exactly how my claustrophobia feels, you want to know the details about a private family matter, Rachel wants to know why my daughter was left alone for hours-"
"You spoke to Rachel?" Steve asked. "What did she want?"
Danny took in Steve's accusatory tone, remembering how comforting Rachel's words had been. His eyes narrowed. "She was just being a good mother, Steve, okay? Besides, for the last time, it's none of your goddamned business."
"This whole case has been about your goddamned business, Danny." Steve retorted. "Okay? Listen to me. This whole case, no matter how set up it has turned out to be, is about you. It's about you, it's about Mattie, it's about the cartel. We haven't made all the connections yet, but until we do, your business is our business. And besides, your business was my business anyway, since I got you shot."
"Oh, you mean on the first day we met?" Danny muttered. He had settled down. He sighed loudly. "Okay." He shook his head. "Fine. I'm sorry." He glanced first at Steve, and then at Chin, who had his arms crossed across his chest.
"I understand." Chin nodded evenly. "But for the record, Danny, I do hold some interest in your brother's murder. I was the one who provided the money for his ransom, okay?"
"I know. I'm sorry, you know how much that meant to me…I can't put into words how much that meant to me." Danny said. "I…if you want to know, I, uh, I told my parents the truth. They know. But my siblings, and the kids, my nieces and nephews, they don't know. They think, uh, they think I saved him. I saved Mattie, in Colombia. But before we could get on the plane, he was shot. And I held him in my arms. And he died, and there was nothing I could do. It just, uh, sounds a little bit more like I tried, more than I did. And no one, no one, knew about prison."
Chin rubbed a hand along his chin. He was troubled by this. What an elaborate lie. He glanced at Steve, but Steve was silent. So, he already knew this. Chin wondered how long it was before Danny confessed the lie to Steve.
"Have you spoken to Eric about this?"
"No, no, I haven't seen him." Danny shook his head and let out a weary breath. "I…he took me home yesterday, but then I went to see Grace, to make sure she knew I was okay, you know, and, uh, when I got back today Eric was already at work."
Steve looked up. Danny had spent the night at Rachel's place? Before he could ask, Chin cut in.
"No, Eric's not at work."
"What?" Danny frowned. "No, my place was empty when I got there—Steven, it's not what you think."
Steve held up his hands in mock surrender.
"Eric took a personal day."
Danny was dumbfounded. He looked down.
"Okay, to summarize, what you're saying is-" Steve started.
"The doors to HQ were open, someone came in, after removing the security cameras, wiped our table of all files on the cartel, and took the flashdrive." Chin said. "Kono's there now, with Abby and Lou."
"Danny, pay for the meal. Make sure to leave a big tip for all your yelling this morning. Let's go."
Duke led someone down to the jail in the police station. The usual belligerent drunkards were still sleeping off their night, but one prisoner was awake.
"I'll give you thirty minutes, but then you have to leave." Duke said to Eric. Eric was silent. He nodded at Duke before looking at Joel. Joel was staring at the ceiling, but craned his neck when he heard the footfall of Eric and Duke.
"You work for 5-0, don't you?" Joel said, sitting up. "I remember you."
"Yeah, I'm going to need you to shut up for a sec, okay?" Eric did not acknowledge the question. "I want you to tell me again what exactly happened before, during, and after Matthew Williams's murder in Colombia. Got that?"