Sunlight
DISCLAIMER: See first post.
Interlude: A light from the shadows shall spring…
Love and loss have been a part of his life since the very beginning.
He's seen how his parents were, had grown up knowing how very much they loved each other and their children. For the rest, it was like a fairy tale, the Ranger of the North who came to claim his kingship and the daughter of the Elven-lord of Rivendell, the fairest flower of the Eldar born since Luthien Tinuviel. For the rest it was romance and sweetness, something for the young women to sigh over and dream about.
They couldn't understand the pain.
They could not truly understand what it meant that Arwen Undomiel gave up her immortality for Aragorn. That she forsook all her chances to reunite with her Elven kin, to take ship for Elvenhome and forget her sorrows there. That her choice meant that she would follow him and share the fate decreed by the One for all Men.
His mother's grief over his father's passing opened up a chasm between her and her children, one that they could not span, one that she would not cross. He'd begged her to stay, not wanting to lose father and mother in one single stroke. All of his sisters begged her to stay.
But the grief was too great, the loss too much and Eldarion's last memory of her was of her soft hand gently brushing his cheek and her words:
"I grieve but I will never regret."
He thought he understood those words then. But it's only now, at the very end of his life, that the full meaning hits home.
He has a choice to make, like his father before him. He can rest and follow all those he had loved in life who had already gone ahead. And the urge to make that choice is stronger than any other for he knows full well who will be the first to greet him, who has been waiting for him all this time.
He can smile, because he can hear his beloved's voice even now, chiding, fond, exasperated, loving. Calling him home.
And there is one other choice. To stay, outside of time, to be willingly reborn from one life to the next, to know that he could not follow his beloved for that final sleep. Not right now, not yet.
He has a vision of Miriel's ageless, beautiful face, twisted by hatred and grief. And Glorfindel's foretelling, words that have come true a few times in his reign, that she would always return to threaten him and his House, to reach out across the divide to menace his children and his children's children and all he loved. She came close far too many times and he knows that she will never stop.
He finds himself looking at his companion, the very last one to remember him in his youth and all the years of his reign. Time has not truly touched her and even now, he can still glimpse the little girl she had been, hiding behind her sister's skirts.
She too has already made the choice he himself will make. The Eldar are gone now and so is Radagast the Brown, their mission accomplished, their knowledge already passed on to him and to her and to others so inclined.
"What do you see, Isabel?" He asks her. He too has seen glimpses of what was to come, of places and times unfamiliar to him, deserts like the land of the Haradrim, lush jungles filled with strange and exotic animals and plants. Sometimes, he will hear the sea, a familiar, beloved sound, for he is of the line of the sea-kings and the sea is in his blood. He will look out to unfamiliar waters of a bright blue-green, to white sands and the warmth of a too-bright sun.
He will see his beloved there and he will know that he is home.
"My lord king," she begins and he stops her.
"You know my name. Use it, please."
She does, with a warm smile. "I believe I have seen as much as you do. That is not what you're asking."
He waits, watching her carefully and thankfully, she does not make him wait too long. "You will see your love again."
He sighs and closes his eyes, holding on to that.
She brushes a kiss across his brow, a comfort. "Sleep, my king. And I promise, I swear to you, that I will wake you once more when the time comes."
PART VI
The bruises are nearly gone from Kono's throat by the time they get back to Chin and Five-0 HQ.
Of course, Chin notices anyway.
"I'm cool, 'cuz," Kono tells him and really, she's telling the truth. Whatever Spooky did to her, the pain's almost gone and whatever the vampire tried to do to her mind was fading quickly. She can't erase the memory and there's genuine regret in Spooky's eyes when she tried to explain it to Kono. But it feels like it happened years ago, rather than a matter of hours.
"I'll show you how to counter something like that," Spooky had promised. "You already have a gift for it so I know you'll be able to pick it up pretty quick. And it helps that you have protection on you."
Kono's hands stray to the St. Michael medal that now rests over her heart and she feels better.
Chin, of course, is still waiting for an explanation and it's Spooky who sorts it out, holding her hands up in a placating gesture. "Jesus, Chin, you realize I am on your side, right?"
"I was beginning to wonder about that," Chin said levelly. "But I've been where you are now so I am waiting for an explanation."
"Rather than shoot me in the head?" Spooky asks wryly.
"Don't tempt me."
"Chin, 'cuz, Spooky is cool, I promise." Kono intervenes. And Spooky still hasn't said everything but Kono knows the other woman has her back just like the others on the team did.
Spooky sighs. "Something tells me that whatever you have on the ring, what I know about it and what just happened to us – that's all tied in together. So I want to make our report after you tell us what's going on with the ring."
Chin's not giving her an inch, because, honestly, this is Chin Ho Kelly and Kono's cousin and he is both crazy-protective and awesome in his way, even with his customary Jedi-Zen Master calm. "My cousin has bruises on her neck, you look like hell and I spoke to Kamekona about your Uncle Morrie."
Spooky's eyes are cool. "And what did he say?"
"I think I want to reserve that when Steve and Danny get here and when you make your report."
Spooky nods. "Fair enough."
And sure enough, Steve and Danny come in just in time and Steve's got his Aneurysm Face on, which just gets worse when he spots Spooky, who finally loses something of the composure she's managed to hold on to all this time and visibly slumps back against her chair. And Danny, as usual is talking, hands waving in the air. He can't help that – Kono has seen Steve reach out to hold Danny's hands down and it's like magic, stopping him in mid-rant. Of course, none of them missed the flash of temper in Danny's eyes when Steve did that but Steve just gave him what Danny has called his Patented Kicked-Puppy Look™ and it worked on the Jersey detective like a charm.
Danny will never admit it but he's a complete and total wuss for that Kicked-Puppy Look™.
"You know, Chin, I really need to thank you from stopping Rambo here from raising all kinds of hell before we had some lunch," Danny was saying. He makes a beeline for the side table, grabbing a coffee and a sandwich. "He didn't get to do it at Sackville's so I think he's trying to make up for lost time."
Steve rolled his eyes. "And he says he's got nothing to do with hobbits at all, not with the thing for food."
"Hey, the threat of the couch still stands, Steven!"
Chin clears his throat. "What did I say about the billing and cooing, guys?"
They can't help it – Kono and Spooky slant looks at each other and giggle even as Danny and Steve both blush and give the floor to Chin.
Chin had finished his investigation into Ryan Wakefield and yielded no leads at all. So he turned his attention to something else. He got into contact with the head of security at Club Denial, Kenshin Himura.
"Wait, the cute little redheaded samurai guy – that's Himura?" Danny interjects.
"Cute, Danno?" And oh God, Steve was edging towards an expression that was somewhere between Aneurysm Face and Kicked-Puppy. Beware of Jealous!SEAL, Kono thinks – honestly, she ought to put up a sign on Steve's office; she'd be doing everyone a public service.
Danny rolls his eyes. "He kind of reminds me of you. Don't know why, what being vertically challenged and the thing for wearing pink, but he does."
Spooky snorts. "I know Kenshin and you have no idea how apt that description is, Danny."
"What, he's a sweet-natured goofball whose secret identity is that of a Super-Ninja SEAL assassin?"
"Off topic, guys – let my cousin talk," Kono interjects.
Chin rolls his eyes at them.
Himura was a pretty reasonable guy and had lent Chin the security footage taken from the Governor's ball. From there, it was fairly easy to get a good, clear shot of the huge, ornate ruby ring that Wakefield was wearing and run a check on it.
It was stolen, to begin with.
And it had history – an occult history to be precise.
"The Ring of Ar-Zimraphel," Chin continued with his report. He sent a picture of the ring on the huge flat screen monitor. It really was a beautiful piece of jewelry, seen up close, the large ruby at its heart the deep red color of blood and compelling the eye to look. "It's said to be thousands of years old and was last in the possession of the Oakenshield family. One of those really old English families with a title going back to William the Conqueror."
"Hoity-toity," Danny sniffs.
"The ring was stolen from them fifty years ago and was never found."
"Nice," Danny says. "So Gaunt could be trafficking in stolen antiques. Sounds like we may have enough for a warrant."
"Gaunt has turned up on the radar for exactly those kinds of charges but it seems that they've never stuck. Anyone investigating or close to giving investigators any clues about that seem to turn up badly injured or dead."
"We can get him for the thefts," Spooky says then. "But we're not going to get him for the death of Ryan Wakefield. And he caused it, I can tell you that. It's just that the court's not going to buy a murder charge brought about by a cursed ring."
Kono flinches and she knows Chin's caught that.
"Yeah, about that ring," Chin continues, regarding Spooky carefully. "Usually, as curse stories go, they usually talk about getting cursed when they own the ring. But this one talks about being cursed if they wear it. There's a long list of stories here about deaths occuring each time the ring is worn. And strange behavior by the wearer."
Spooky's white now and she glances uneasily at Steve.
"At this point, it would be a good idea to start talking, Spooks," Danny tells her gently. "Super SEAL here was all set to go over to Club Denial for something he's still refusing to explain to me when Chin called and hauled us back in here."
"I was reading a book from Gaunt's shop," Steve says then. "It was called The Book of Lost Tales."
Spooky sucks in a sharp breath.
"I saw some things there that were…." And at this point, Steve has gone as pale as Spooky herself. "I'd like an explanation at this point, because despite what Danno here thinks, there is just a certain level of insanity that I can actually handle."
"It's high," Danny offers helpfully. "Very high. But yeah, he actually has a limit. Also, explaining why the rookie over there has bruises on her throat would be good too."
"And Kamekona told me something very interesting about your Uncle Morrie," Chin puts in. "He told me that Morrie was a good guy to have at your back but one must step carefully lest we incur the wrath of someone who happens to be akua."
"What?" This from Kono and Steve, who's gone even whiter, if possible. Kono knows what the word means but for Steve, it's obvious that he's a couple of steps ahead of the rest and has realized something that the rest of them haven't.
"Wait, what, what the everliving fuck is going on here?" Danny says. "What's this akua you're talking about?"
"Wow, where am I going to start?" Spooky says wryly. "For starters, Kono and I know who has the ring now. He attacked us at Wakefield's place."
"One of the EMTs," Kono says. "And he was a vampire. Fangs, funky eyes, also attempted to do some mind whammy on me."
"St. Michael was watching out for Kono though – nice gift, Danny," Spooky adds.
"Yeah, I'd kiss you if a certain Jealous!SEAL doesn't mind," Kono says cheekily.
"Vampire?" This from Danny and Chin. Steve closes his eyes and finds a chair to sit down on. He grabs Danny's coffee mug and drinks the stuff down like it was made of something stronger.
"That's what the ring does, actually," Spooky explains. "It was created long ago by a very corrupt, very evil wizard, using the forbidden ringlore crafted by the Dark Lord Sauron and Saruman the White. I don't remember much of when I spaced out at the Halloween party but judging by Steve's reaction, I'm going to take a guess and started telling stories about Prince Eldarion and how he woke Queen Tar-Miriel from her enchanted sleep, am I right?"
"You did," Chin tells. "Very interesting because even I know the Middle-earth stuff and all those stories were things I've never even heard about."
"The Ring has something of Tar-Miriel's essence in it and as I think you've all figured out, she's actually a very old, very powerful vampire. Ar-Zimraphel is simply just another one of her names. Whoever takes the Ring will start displaying vampiric characteristics, until they are slowly taken over by it. And just like the One Ring of old, this Ring has its own thoughts and its own will. It will take the Ring Bearer to where Tar-Miriel lies sleeping and wake her."
"Okay. I am going to do the obligatory freak-out here, since Steve's doing his too quietly. So. Did I just suddenly wake up and step into The Twilight Zone?" Danny interjects. "I mean, really, Spooks, vampires?"
"Brah, I thought it was crazy too until I nearly became lunch for one," Kono shudders.
"Sorry, guys," Spooky manages to look apologetic. "I mean, Hawaii isn't exactly ideal for your typical bloodsucker, what with the sun and everything but aside from the sun-hating variety you guys know from the movies, there are such things as daywalking vampires."
Danny throws up his hands in exasperation. "This is fucking nuts. Okay? Like we don't have to look over our shoulders for evil Chinese criminal masterminds like Wo Fat already, we have to deal with supernatural monsters too? Huh?"
Spooky sighs and spreads her hands in another apologetic gesture. "Honestly? I was hoping none of us would ever have to deal with this shit and there was a good chance we never would."
"Oh God, please listen to this," And Danny, of course, is in full-blown rant mode now and there's no stopping him. "She says that there was a good chance we'd never get into this shit. On a team that includes a crazy Super Ninja SEAL, a Ninja-Rookie in Training and a fucking Jedi Zen Master. Of course we'd get roped into it!"
The thing about Danny is that his rants can induce hysterical giggle-fits at exactly the wrong time, Kono knows. It's the reason why Steve loves to provoke them so much and as upset as Steve clearly is, she can see the tell-tale twitch of his lips, trying to repress a smile.
And of course, Kono has to throw her own two cents in. "You forgot the Badass Adorable Jersey Detective there, Danny."
Chin has to turn away to hide his own laughter. Hysterical laughter seems to be the only sane reaction to the insanity they were all currently facing.
"And what I'm trying to figure out," Danny continues, still flailing. "Is how the hell you know so much about this, Spooky? Because that's still the thing you've forgotten to explain to us!"
"It was you, wasn't it?" Steve suddenly interjects. "You were the one who wrote The Book of Lost Tales. You wrote the stories so that there would be something left behind, made the drawings, kept the record of Eldarion's reign…. because you were there all along and you saw everything."
They all stare at Steve. He's on his feet now and his eyes are intent on Spooky. The accusation is just one more thing to add to the pile of crazy they were fast accumulating. And how fucked up was it that the last explanation suddenly made so much sense?
Spooky only looks sad. She tilts her head to the side, regarding Steve thoughtfully. "You're beginning to remember, aren't you?"
"I saw Eldarion's portrait in that fucking book," Steve snarls. "It was me – no weird fucking coincidence, I just knew it was me. And I don't want to fucking remember this!"
"I'm sorry, Steve," Spooky whispers, looking like she wanted to burst into tears any second. "I'd rather you didn't remember either. But I think that's not a choice for you anymore."
Danny, of course, has gone to Steve already, putting a hand on his arm. "Steve…."
The moment breaks when both Danny's and Steve's phones ring.
Danny starts swearing, looking murderous and it's Steve's turn to try and calm him down.
"Come on, Danny, she's safe, we'll all go to HPD together and get her, okay?"
It's true – little Grace is safe. But the news is still bad.
Her mother, Rachel Edwards, has been kidnapped.
PART VII
If there was one thing that Danny and Rachel would be in complete agreement on, it was this – they were both prepared to do whatever it takes to keep their daughter safe.
"Daddy!"
Danny doesn't hesitate – he runs to catch his precious baby up in his arms, holding her tight. It's like that mess that happened with Stan all over again only it's so much worse because Grace is the only one who's running to greet him, tears on her sweet little face. It hurts that his baby doesn't have her mother with her right this moment. Even in the worst moments of their failed marriage and the disastrous second attempt at reconciliation – Danny still knew he'd do whatever it took to keep Rachel safe.
He doesn't love her anymore, at least, not in the way he thought he did, when he first thought she was the one he would be growing old with. But Rachel is still Grace's mother and she did bring his beautiful little girl into this world. That's something Danny would never regret.
Danny's aware of Steve hanging back, giving the two of them space. Danny's going to give him hell for this later – Steve should know that he's a part of this too and Grace is practically his child now as well. Danny doesn't have any words for the moment but he manages to beckon Steve forward and Steve finally enfolds both of them in his arms, pressing a quick kiss to Grace's hair. Danny's not going to care about the display, despite the fact that they're in the middle of the HPD Precinct.
"Uncle Steve?" Grace asks. "You and Danno are going to save my Mommy, aren't you?"
Steve's eyes are suspiciously wet but his voice is steady and strong when he assures her, "We will, Grace. I promise you, we'll do everything we can to get your Mom back."
They get the story out of Grace and the rookie HPD cops who saved her life. Danny's going to be eternally grateful to these two guys – Joey Kahele and Mel Planas – both of them part of Kono's graduating class. Apparently, Rachel had gone to the Sackville Costume and Antiques Shop to pick up a present for her mother, who loved antique jewelry and who would be coming to Hawaii in a week for her birthday.
Grace described a pale, red-eyed man who apparently was with Simon Gaunt, staring at her. He said, "This is the child, Master."
"They made me feel sick inside," Grace confided. "And everything seemed so cold and dark all of a sudden."
Rachel had cottoned on to what was happening when two other men tried to block the exit to the shop. She'd grabbed a vase and smashed it on one man's head and used the mace she had taken to carrying around in her bag against the other man. She'd gotten past them long enough to open the door and scream at Grace to run for help.
Grace hadn't hesitated – she'd been taught by both parents and Steve to obey without question if something like this happened. Screaming, the child ran as fast as she could, pursued by one of Gaunt's people. On the street, the little girl caught the attention of the two cops on patrol. Officer Planas was able to grab Grace while Officer Kahele got the drop on the other guy and made the arrest.
"He was acting real weird, brah," said Kahele, shuddering. "His eyes were all red and he was trying to go for my throat, trying to bite me. Plenty of things he could've done to try and take me down, yeah? But no, he was acting like a rabid dog or something."
Danny can't help but be proud of Rachel when he hears how she defended their daughter. He's just hoping he can bring her back to Grace.
Honolulu Police had already gone to Gaunt's shop but of course, there was no one there. Chin tipped them off about the possibility of stolen antiques and they were about to start inventorying the store's stock. Kono made the call to Stan Edwards, who was currently out of the country on business. Rachel's current husband would be on the next flight home.
There's no bullshit on jurisdiction right now. HPD has turned over their prisoner to Five-0 for questioning. And Kono immediately stepped up to take Grace on, reassuring the distraught child that Danno and Uncle Steve weren't going anywhere but they had to ask the bad man where her Mommy was taken.
Spooky takes Danny and Steve aside first though.
"Danny, you've got a St. Michael's medal on you, right?" she asks, gray eyes intent on his.
"Yeah – what, you think this guy's a vampire or something?" Danny has had it up to here with the supernatural bullshit.
"Danny – this is important," Spooky growls. "I can sense the wrongness in this guy and Grace has sensed it too. That medal has power in it because of your own faith – so it can protect you, if you've got it."
"Both of us have one," Steve interjects. Danny looks at Steve in surprise – Steve is not exactly the religious type and Danny likes to think of himself as a Catholic who doesn't necessarily agree with everything his Church has taken a stand on these days. At Danny's questioning glance, Steve explains further. "My mother gave my Dad a St. Michael's medal and he gave it to me when I joined the Navy."
"Gifts given with a lot of love and faith behind them – it'll do beautifully," Spooky approves. At the look on both men's faces, she rolls her eyes. "What? It doesn't always have to be a crucifix, you know!"
"What, you can't magic up some protection for us right now?" Danny snarks.
Spooky doesn't respond. Instead, she walks over to Grace, who's sitting on Kono's lap, still shivering despite the fact that she's already got a blanket wrapped around her.
"I feel sick," the child says fretfully. "Sick and cold."
The docs have already cleared Grace – it's shock and trauma, they said. But Danny can see his baby girl is too pale, her eyes are wide and staring and from the way Kono's gently rubbing her small hands, she's too cold even though the AC in their office is at a reasonable temperature.
Kono looks at Spooky. "It's almost the same thing the vampire did to me, isn't it?"
"Not quite a possession but it's just as bad and she's really sensitive to this kind of thing, poor baby," Spooky answers. Very gently, she takes Grace's hands. "Gracie, sweetie, look at me."
Danny's conscious of taking a step forward – protective instincts going into overdrive –
but he's stopped by Steve's hand on his shoulder.
"She won't hurt Grace, Danny," Steve tells him.
Danny's prepared to swear that light emanates very briefly from Spooky's hands, traveling from her to Grace. The effects are immediate – Grace's cheeks take on color and she sits up, more alertly.
"It's warm, Spooky – like sunlight," the little girl says in wonder. "I feel a lot better."
Spooky smiles, an expression that is as much relief as it is delight.
Danny's got a few things to say to that. "So what else do you do, Spooks? Do you sparkle in the sunlight too?"
It gets the rest of them laughing.
Steve and Danny aren't feeling anything remotely close to humor once they start interrogating their prisoner.
He's a big guy, bald with a spider's web tattoo that covers most of his head and the black widow that's sitting on the web has a leg that stretches alongside the curve of his right ear. He's got a rap sheet as long as Steve's arm – mostly burglaries and assault, some strong-arm jobs for gangs but the kidnapping's a hell of a lot more serious. Lucky Penny was his street name, a play off his real name of Luke Pennywise.
He wasn't talking, red eyes watching Danny like he was fresh meat. Danny's not giving him an inch – he's taken down guys like Lucky Penny before.
"See," Danny tells him conversationally. "I think you already know how we operate. I'm supposed to play Good Cop and my partner over here, Commander Tall, Dark and Homicidal's supposed to play Bad Cop. But see, that's the mother of my child you goons nabbed and I really don't have any Good Cop left in me, not right now. You might like to talk at this point."
Lucky Penny smiles. His teeth are very, very white and the eye teeth are unusually sharp and pointed. The interrogation room starts to seem very small and very cold. Danny starts getting this weird, sick, nauseous feeling in his stomach.
Danny's not going to give in.
"I bet the woman will taste delicious," Lucky Penny just says.
Danny snarls and starts forward but the fucker is smiling, just smiling and suddenly, the atmosphere in the room starts to become stifling and the sick feeling becomes stronger. Abruptly, Danny remembers what Spooky just said about their St. Michael medals and acting on impulse, he draws his out from underneath his dress shirt.
The silver glows in the dim light and Danny can see the fucker blanch visibly. Got you, he thinks viciously and he chances a glance at Steve.
And he's prepared to swear up and down that Steve is glowing too. And just for a moment, there seems to be a silver crown set with a star-shaped jewel upon his brow.
Seven stars and seven stones and one white tree.
The phrase runs through his mind like a mantra or even a prayer and Danny gets the briefest glimpse of a soaring citadel of white walls and great towers, with a great stone in its very midst like the prow of a ship. And at the same time, the dark, evil atmosphere that has taken over the room is fading.
Danny shakes his head to clear it. He's got no time for weird visions and right now he's got other concerns. He takes off his medal and brings it closer to their prisoner, noting how he flinches and is trying to lean away from the silver disk swinging from his fist. "That's not what I want to hear, Lucky. Where's Rachel Edwards?"
Lucky Penny starts struggling in his chair and Danny can see the tell-tale flex of muscle that's telling him that somehow, impossibly, he's going to break those cuffs and get free.
Steve's a lot faster, getting their prisoner subdued and down on the ground, howling. Danny smiles grimly – sometimes immunity and means can go a long way and right now, he'd be all too happy if Steve wanted to stake this son of a bitch or throw him to the sharks.
Danny hunkers down in front of their struggling, pinned-down prisoner, casually swinging the holy medal in front of his eyes, almost, but not quite touching his skin. It's actually hurting Lucky, Danny can tell and the medal glows even brighter.
"Master wants the Prince," Lucky Penny whimpers. "That's who he wants. Because the Queen wants him. Queen will want him when she wakes, wants him back, wants his blood. Must obey the Queen!"
"Where is Rachel Edwards?" Danny snarls.
"I don't know! I swear, I don't know!"
"Lie," Steve says in a too-quiet voice, the kind that belies the threat of bodily harm done in very creative, excruciatingly painful ways.
Penny snarls and tries to knock him off and clearly, he's expecting to be able to throw Steve off somehow – Danny can see him look surprised and then scared when Steve continues to keep him down on the floor.
"I am going to say this once and once only," Steve continues in that same flat, quiet tone. "And I promise you, if you give us anything but the truth, you will not like the consequences. Where. Is. Rachel. Edwards?"
Finally, Penny starts talking.
-tbc-
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Okay, I must confess that it was my Steve Muse's idea to tag Danny as "Badass Adorable." I agree with him completely. Of course, we just have to dodge the Wrath of Danny for that. :P I also owe the H50 page of TV Tropes Dot Org for this…. it is so dead useful for fic writing.
Rurouni Kenshin (Samurai X) fans will probably understand why I think Kenshin and Steve have a lot in common. I know Steve started out as the stoic, badass Navy SEAL Commander in the series. But we see a lot of glimpses into sweet and goofy Steve too as the first season progressed.
Plus, I couldn't resist doing the in-joke.
I know I hinted on some reincarnation shenanigans in the interlude. All I'm gonna say on the matter is that Danny was oddly right on the money when he tags Steve as "The Prince" and himself as "The Knight" in the fairy stories he and Grace tell each other. :P
Yeah. I'm clocking in at 20,000 plus words and I'm still not done. Oh well – being in the Insane Handbasket is FUN! WHEEEEE!