Take Two: Chapter Twelve
Kono was upset. She stood in the middle of headquarters and frowned. She was upset that the table had been wiped. She was upset that she had been in a hole for nearly a day, putting the team off of their investigation. Most of all, she was upset that when she finally found and was able to go home and rest, she couldn't speak to her husband and tell him her fears, curiosities, and experiences. She was alone, as alone as she had been when Steve was still unconscious in the hole and all she had were her thoughts.
Lou was in his regular bedraggled mood, but he could sense Kono's anger as well. This encouraged him to complain about the weather, and for once, Kono agreed with him. Abby, for her part, was trying to balance them both. She desperately waited for the calming presence of Chin.
Chin, however, was flanked by Steve and Danny. When he finally arrived, their collective moods did nothing to assuage the rain cloud over Kono.
Kono looked at Danny, who scowled in commiseration at the wiped table. Kono scowled back. He sat next to her. She rested her head in her hands and frowned. Danny joined her, unknowingly mimicking her actions. Chin stared at the two before glancing at Abby. She offered a smile.
Steve, for his part, went into his office and grabbed his tablet. As he left his office, he noticed the door to Danny's office was slightly ajar. He poked his head in.
"Uh, Danny?"
"What?" Danny grumbled. When Steve didn't respond, he lifted his head out of hands and looked at his office. Slowly, he stood up.
His office had been trashed. There were papers strewn everywhere on his desk.
"What the hell?" Kono stood up as well. "Boss, what-?" She had been so lost in her thoughts she hadn't noticed the mess. Had she really been so blind?
A picture of Grace and Charlie had been thrown on the ground, the frame cracked. Danny stepped into his office and picked up the picture. Steve went around to the desk and began opening the drawers.
"Where do you keep your files?" Steve asked. Danny didn't answer. "Danny."
"The top left drawer." He mumbled. He cursed under his breath, looking up at his partner. "Steve."
"I know." Steve answered quickly. The drawer was unlocked, which was not a good sign. Some files had remained untouched, but Steve knew exactly what file was missing: Danny's statement to the detectives on the murder of Marco Reyes. The same detectives who had allowed him to be arrested and thrown in the Colombian prison, where prisoners beat the shit out of him. Just thinking about what Danny went through angered Steve so much that he kicked the drawer closed and cursed loudly. "Danny, it's gone."
"What is?" Abby was at the door, peering in. She had been too focused on Kono and Lou's misery to notice the shape of Danny's office. Now, she stared with wide eyes. Kono joined her. Danny was still holding the cracked picture of his children.
"Steven, close the door." Danny said quietly.
"No." Kono persisted. "Tell me what's going on. We're a team."
Steve was silent. Kono made a good point. He looked at Danny. Danny knew this too. He closed his eyes and nodded.
"Fine," Danny sighed. "You should know. You deserve to know."
When Eric walked into headquarters that afternoon, the group was all huddled in Steve's office. Eric wasn't sure how they all fit in there. Clearly, something was going on. Eric noticed Danny's office, adjacent to Steve's; it was a mess. He couldn't think of why his uncle would trash his office.
From Steve's office, the tall Lou noticed Eric, looking over his coworkers and glancing at Danny's nephew. Eric watched Lou bend down and whisper something in Danny's ear. Eric couldn't see his uncle, for Chin and Kono were blocking the view. He wondered if Danny had been told that Eric knew about Mattie and the Colombian prison. Eric didn't want to take any chances. So, despite his gut screaming at him to tell the truth, Eric put on a dopey smile and knocked on the door. Abby, who was closest, let Eric in.
"Heya guys, am I interrupting anything?" Eric asked brightly.
"Hi, E." Steve said cautiously.
"Boss, I know I cashed in on one of my personal days, but I was wondering if I could speak to you?"
"Uh, sure, E, but you actually are interrupting something." Steve said. "We're almost done."
"I won't take long."
"Neither will we." Steve tried to remain polite. He stood next to Danny, and could feel how tense Danny was. Subtly, Steve put a hand on the back of Danny's arm.
"Oh, I get that, and that's cool and all, but this is pretty important." Eric persisted with the same fake grin.
"Okay, what is it?" Steve asked with a slight sigh.
"Uh, privately?" Eric asked.
"Yeah. Okay." Steve sucked in his breath and let go of Danny's arm. He headed out the door.
"By the way, I hope you're feeling better, Uncle D." Eric called cheerily before he left the room.
Steve stood outside his office with his armed crossed against his chest. "What's up, Eric?"
Eric's smile faded so suddenly and forcefully that Steve was surprised. Eric looked utterly miserable.
"I spoke to Joel this morning."
"You went to the jail?" Steve frowned.
"Yeah, well, when you hear some funky shit about your uncles you tend to want some clarification." Eric muttered.
"E-"
"Besides everything I thought I knew being a big old lie, I thought you should know that there were some definite cartel members here yesterday, and they sacked Uncle D's office, took the flashdrive, and wiped the table."
"Joel told you this?"
"Yeah. And he said that there were some more coming today, and they're going to kill you. But, I figured, as a Navy SEAL and all, you wouldn't be too worried about that." Eric said this casually, with a slight shrug.
"Eric, cut it out. What exactly are you saying?"
"I spoke to Joel Novak. Joel Novak told me the deets so he wouldn't have to go to jail. Now everything's out in the open. So, I think I've done my job for the day, and-"
"Get the hell in my office." Steve snapped. Eric clamped his jaw shut and did as he was told. He took a seat in the unoccupied chair and rested his chin on his hands.
Steve walked in and explained the situation. Eric added certain bits of information. Joel was free, and the cartel was coming very soon to take 5-0 in for harboring a fugitive, the fugitive being Danny. They had taken the file in which Danny had confessed to murder, the only record of it left, after the case had been wiped from the records on Steve's behest – reparations for throwing Danny into the Colombian lion's den.
The Colombians didn't really have a case. They couldn't throw Danny in prison for Marco Reyes's murder; the case had already been thrown out.
"Or, they don't want to imprison him at all. Maybe they just want to kill him, you know." The flippantness in which Eric said this concerned Danny. He finally allowed himself to look at his nephew. Eric was already looking at him. His face was stony.
"That's not going to happen." Steve retorted. Eric was definitely acting strange. "Team, listen up." Steve pushed aside his curiosity over Eric for a moment and turned to 5-0. He has the team break up. The cops should be called and should surround the building, to keep on the lookout for anyone suspicious. Steve and Lou would go speak to Joel. Danny and Abby would stay here. Kono and Chin would go with the cops.
The office soon emptied, all except for Danny and Eric. Eric was still sitting in the chair. Danny was leaning against the wall.
"Well, hey there, Uncle D." Eric said with a fake cheeriness. He was still pretending.
"I know you know." Danny said quietly. "Eric, Chin told me you know."
Eric's smile faded. Danny saw, too, how hurt his nephew was. "Eric-"
"I don't really want to talk about how absolutely fucking furious I am with you yet."
"Eric-" Danny grew frustrated. "Listen to me-"
"No." Eric sat up. "No! I trusted you."
Danny was silent.
"What?" Eric scoffed. "Nothing?" He shook his head. "You should have heard Ma, when I told her. You know, your sister? She was pretty upset, you know. Or do you care?"
"I deserve this. I get it."
"Yeah! Yeah, you do." Eric said. "I thought we were family."
"We are. We are, which is exactly why…Eric, listen, you're a kid-"
"I'm not!" Eric laughed through his anger. "I'm not a fucking kid! I was a kid when I was with Mattie, and we would play hide and seek because you couldn't hide for very long. Because you were too busy playing baseball with the other kids, or getting us in trouble. I'm not a kid. I'm a few years younger than Mattie. I could be your brother, too."
"What do you want me to say? I panicked, so I made up a story, okay?"
"You're always panicking!" Eric exclaimed. "I don't understand, Uncle D. My whole life you've been panicked about one thing or another. I don't get it! Mattie never panicked. Mattie always knew what to do. Mattie-"
"Eric, no! Mattie never knew what the hell he was doing, you got that? I know you think he was perfect, because he was your best friend, okay, but he didn't know everything. Trust me, just trust me on this. Mattie panicked. Mattie panicked all the time. I mean, c'mon, Eric, if Mattie knew exactly what he was doing he'd be alive right now, okay?" Danny felt a lump in his throat.
"He didn't panic because you were supposed to save him." Eric responded.
That did it. Danny felt the tears in his eyes. He looked away from Eric. He began to shrug, his mouth opening to respond, but the words didn't come out.
The door, which had remained ajar, titled further open. Steve was suddenly at the door. His face was grim. He glared at Eric. Eric got the message, of course, but he had built himself up in his anger that he didn't waver under the commander's trained gaze.
"Eric," Steve stared at his best friend's nephew. "Did you ever think that Uncle Mattie could make a mistake or two? Or that Danny could, for that matter? Have you gotten to the point of your life that you realize people screw up?" He didn't wait for a response. "Either way, I don't care. Why don't you get some work done, okay? Cool down."
A semblance of the old, innocent Eric seemed to return for a moment. He glanced at his uncle, his eyes softening slightly. He grimaced. But his eyes darkened once more while he looked at Danny, who was looking down. Eric sucked in his breath and nodded, leaving Steve's office and heading downstairs.
"Uh," Danny cleared his throat, his hands on his hips. He refused to acknowledge the tears threatening to slip down his face. "Uh-"
"We should go." Steve said. "Let's go to my place. Before your assassins get here." He tried to laugh at this. It wasn't funny. Danny tried to laugh, too. It still wasn't funny.
"No, uh, I think I'll stay."
"You'll stay." Steve repeated numbly.
"Yeah, you know. I'd like to meet who's stupid enough to try and kill a detective at his own headquarters." He looked up, finally. "You should go."
"No." Steve said stubbornly. "No way. Why would I?"
"Abby and I will be fine." Danny said. "Seriously, go talk to Joel."
Steve frowned. "Okay." He said. "C'mere, though."
"What, you getting sentimental?" Danny laughed, but accepted Steve's hug anyway.
"He's just a kid." Steve said before patting Danny on the back and pulling away.
"Oh, he's not. He's assured me of this." Danny retorted. He finally wiped his eyes. "Get out of here, would ya?"
"Yeah, I'm leaving. I'm leaving." Steve grabbed his car keys. "I'll see you in a bit."