Disclaimer: Ideas are fictional; not making any money on this. Hawaii 5-0 belongs to CBS. That's okay because none of this would work on TV.
Spoiler Alert: Contains details from Episode 10, Ki'ilua.
Steve hoped that the week before Mom and Dad Williams arrived for their visit would be uneventful. It was anything but that for Chin. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and he lured Malia out for a picnic lunch. He had an ulterior motive. In a very smooth move, he unhooked the chain around Malia's neck. On bended knee, he slipped the ring onto Malia's finger. Malia accepted the ring and the kiss. She never stopped loving Chin. The magic ended when Chin got the call.
Steve and Danny were cleaning up the breakfast dishes when they notified about the death by HPD. Bethany Morris, a reporter at the Pacific Register, was dead. Steve had a lunch meeting with Jenna Kaye, so Danny responded to the call. Steve and Danny decided to take Grace (and her science project) back to Rachel's. They would be tied up for the rest of the day on the case, and Rachel and Stan would appreciate the extra time with her.
Bethany's neck had been broken; the intruder took her CPU. Max estimated time of death at around midnight, just after she tried to call her editor. Bethany thought she was being followed, and she was killed before she could send her editor a file. Bethany received death threats after an expose on a shipping company caused the stock price to plummet.
Danny and Chin interrogated Sam Schulte, who admitted to making the death threats but denied killing Bethany. He had been following her for a while, and tailed her to Maui where she visited a woman named Jane Woodley. On the night of her murder, Schulte saw someone enter Bethany's building and exit fifteen minutes later with something under his arm. Schulte also got a partial plate number on the suspect.
Steve's lunch meeting with Jenna did not go particularly well. Jenna had located her fiancé; he was being held by a rebel faction in North Korea. She asked Steve to accompany her to the ransom drop. Steve wasn't thrilled with the idea of paying ransom; that had not worked out well with Victor Hesse. He owed Jenna for helping secure his release, and reluctantly agreed to go.
Steve tried to get the SEAL team involved in Anton Hesse's capture as backup, but the team was elsewhere assigned. Danny tried to dissuade Steve from going with Jenna, but he knew that Steve's loyalty left him no other option.
"Danny, remember what I told you the last time. You and Grace will be provided for in case something happens. This is a potentially more dangerous situation because I won't have my team behind me. I wish I didn't have to go, but you know I have to. Tell Grace that I love her." Steve broke their rule about PDA's at work and hugged Danny tightly. "I love you Danno. I'll be back as soon as I can."
Danny held on to Steve. "I love you too. You'd better come back. You don't want to miss Mom's turkey or pumpkin pie. She'll never forgive you." Reluctantly, they broke the embrace. Steve had a plane to catch.
Chin and Kono checked out the lead on the person Bethany visited on Maui. Jane Woodley was gone, but the manager had a copy of her driver's license. Jane Woodley was Jenna Kaye. Jenna was supposed to be in D.C. for the last three months; she had lied to them.
Steve and Jenna arrived in Korea and were on their way to the ransom drop. Steve reiterated that Jenna should not turn over any money until she could positively ID her fiancé, Josh. The rebels took a hooded man out of their truck and threatened to shoot him. Steve realized that the hostage could not be Josh; he was too fit and tanned. Steve opened fire on the rebels and either killed or chased them away; then, he heard Jenna cock her gun.
"I'm sorry", was all she could stay. Steve was attacked from behind and dropped to the ground. Wo Fat stood over him. Steve's hands were tied behind him, and a thick noose was around his neck. Wo Fat and his team, including Jenna, led him through the forest to an old bunker. Every few steps, someone would hit him. Steve tried to question Wo Fat about Jenna's part in the plan but received no answer.
Steve's mind was in turmoil. How could Jenna betray him like this? Was she ever on their side? Would Wo Fat finally triumph over him? Would he ever see Danny or Grace again? Would his death traumatize Grace the way his mother's death had Steve?
The remaining 5-0 team tried to contact Steve to warn him about Jenna, but Steve didn't answer. They decided the first priority was to find Bethany's killer. The partial plate led them to Sung Pack; Pack killed himself when he heard the approaching sirens. The team found Bethany's hard drive, but a virus ate away most of the data.
Kono was able to salvage some data from Bethany's computer; there was an article about 'Operation Switchback', a CIA op. Langley claimed no knowledge of the op, but there was evidence that it was a joint op between CIA and military forces.
Danny chased down Joe White, who was building a boar blind with Wade Gutches, the SEAL CO. The men were not in a position to provide any information. Danny explained the situation: Steve was in North Korea with someone they thought they could trust. Danny seemed calm, but he was in panic mode on the inside. He couldn't lose Steve, not now, now ever.
Jenna watched two of Wo Fat's men wrestle Steve into a room; she could hear the beating through the door. She asked to see Josh, now that she had done what was asked. Unfortunately, Josh was dead; he had been dead for a while. Jenna attacked the guard and barricaded the door; she called Danny on the satellite phone and gave her location as best she could. She threw the phone out a window to prevent the men from discovering her phone call, then dug into Josh's flesh to pull a surgical pin out of his knee.
Danny went to the governor for help, but there was nothing that could be done in time to help Steve. Time was running short. Joe couldn't get any help from the government, but he did get some information on 'Operation Switchback'. It was a CIA operation in North Korea that went bad; Joshua Hirsch was captured. Bethany had been asking questions about the op and claimed she had a source in South Korea who evidence that Hirsch was alive. Jenna was the intel officer for the op, so Bethany went to see Jenna. The un-redacted file gave the location for the bunker; it was a purported cache for Wo Fat. Joe and the team made plans to bring Steve home.
Danny made a detour by Rachel's house. He gave her a brief explanation about his trip. "Rachel, I've got to try to bring Steve home. Wo Fat will kill Steve, or even worse, he might keep him alive indefinitely to torture him. I can't let that happen. If something happens, can you explain it to Grace? I know that you and Stan will take care of our girl."
There was a time not so long ago when Rachel would have ranted at Danny about putting their family first. She couldn't do that anymore. Danny had been so supportive of her reconciliation with Stan. They wouldn't be as far as they were today without Steve and Danny. She knew that they would all be devastated if Steve and Danny didn't make it back. For the first time, Rachel felt like she and Grace would survive if that happened.
Rachel hugged Danny. "I won't need to tell Grace anything. You and your friends will bring Steve home, and you'll have a wonderful holiday with your parents. You've got a wedding to plan. Grace will be your flower girl. You take care; I'll tell Grace that you and Steve are on a case." Rachel said her good bye to Danny and prayed that she would see him in a few days
Joe arranged a plane for their transportation; they were going in under the guise of a humanitarian mission. Joe collected their ID and badges; if they were captured, there would be no rescue. Even if they were successful, they could face various charges when they returned. He also warned them they had no military supplies or backup. No one made a move to leave; they would bring Steve home or die trying.
Unexpectedly, a military vehicle pulled up with Gutches and three of his SEALs. SEAL Team 9 owed a debt to McGarrett and 5-0. Gutches and his men were here to pay their debt. He claimed that they were on R & R en route to Seoul. Danny saw that Lt. Jacks was part of the rescue team. Danny was grateful for their help. He thought that maybe their rescue finally had a chance.
Steve was beaten sporadically through the night. He knew that there would be no SEAL team coming for him. He was on an unsanctioned personal mission. He only hoped that Danny and the team would not attempt a rescue; he couldn't lose him any of them too.
After a while, the guards dragged Jenna in and left her with Steve. Steve had to know why Jenna would betray him. She did it all for Josh. Steve had his answer: she traded Steve for Josh. She told of a reporter who came to her about a possible survivor held prisoner in North Korea; Bethany believed Josh could have survived. Jenna told Steve about Josh's accident and how he had pins in his knee. That was the night that Josh proposed. Steve told Jenna that the reporter, Bethany Morris, was dead. Wo Fat was her source.
Gutches briefed 5-0 and his team. He pinpointed the location of the bunker; they would need a helo to get to their location. Joe's old friend, Frank Bama, came to the rescue with his Vietnam-era helicopter, Tangerine. The team expressed some dismay at the condition of the helo; it was reminiscent of Luke Skywalker's first look at the Millennium Falcon. Kono stayed behind to set up satellite surveillance.
Wo Fat tortured Steve with something resembling a cattle prod. He wanted to know about Shelburn and asked what Joe knew about it. He was merciless in his beating. Steve realized the Wo Fat didn't know who Shelburn was. Jenna could only watch and weep. Suddenly, a guard came into the room; Jenna's phone call had been discovered.
Jenna knew her time was short. "It wasn't for nothing," she told Steve. Then she slid the pin over to where Steve could hide it with his foot. He watched Wo Fat shoot Jenna twice. Wo Fat told Steve that they would be getting on a plane in one hour and Steve would take him to Shelburn. Steve was finally alone.
Steve nimbly grasped the pin with his toes and swung his feet up to his hands. Steve was free in seconds. He took down the guards on the way outside the bunker, but Wo Fat and his men were waiting for him. His escape attempt had failed.
Bama landed near the bunker and Gutches, the SEALs, Danny, Chin, and Joe hiked in to find Steve. The bunker was empty except for Jenna's body. Jenna's body was still warm; Steve couldn't be far. Danny took a long look at Jenna; this woman had saved him from the Sarin. There was nothing he could do for her now.
Steve was loaded into the back of a truck. The three-truck convoy headed west toward the river. Kono alerted Lori, who was riding shotgun in the helo. Steve was unconscious as the trucks forded the river toward Kaesong. Lori reported the convoy's position to Joe; he instructed Lori to slow the convoy down.
Frank suggested that Lori use the RPG to take out a bridge. Lori carefully assembled the weapon and took steady aim. The bridge burst into a fireball just ahead of the convoy. Wo Fat had no option but to turn back.
Danny knew that their only opportunity to rescue Steve was imminent. He was relieved that his crisis of faith was over; he prayed, "Please God, let us save Steve and go home in one piece. And Mom and Dad McGarrett, if you're watching, we could use a little help here."
The rescue team waited for Wo Fat and his convoy; they had barricaded the road with a burning jeep. When the trucks stopped, the SEAL threw smoke grenades under the trucks. Danny and the teams opened fire as the guards came out of the trucks. Wo Fat's men went down quickly. The team secured the area and searched for Steve. He was in the last truck, alive. Steve was shocked to see Danny lift the flap of the truck. Then again, he wasn't surprised that Danno had come halfway around the world the find him.
Steve's first thought was for Wo Fat. He tried to tell Danny, but Danny didn't want to hear it. Steve was alive, and they needed to get him out of there. Chin and Joe came around to check on Steve. Wo Fat was getting away again.
Frank landed the helo again as Danny and Chin helped Steve cross the distance. The SEALs and Joe were alert to any danger, but they all boarded the helo without incident. Lori jumped out of the helo to give Steve a welcoming hug. Steve and his team were her family now.
They were going home. Joe gave to order to take off as the SEALs kept watch. Steve hurt in so many places now, but he was going home to Danno and Grace. Joe patted Steve on the back and gave Gutches a hand slap. Steve looked over to Danny; he knew how Danny hated helos, but today Danny was a willing passenger in a helo with no doors.
"Oh don't, you can thank me when we get back to Oahu." Danny knew that Steve would take a while to recover, but Danny would be there every step of the way to help Steve.
Chin had a better idea. "You can thank me by being the best man at my wedding. I'm getting married." Danny advised Chin not to do it. Then they made a bad joke, but it was all in fun. They had another reason to celebrate. Chin refused to let Malia stand by him when he was disgraced. Now, he was a lieutenant in good standing and he had his Malia back.
The jubilant team made their way back to Seoul. Steve was poked, prodded, and x-rayed at the military hospital there. He had some cracked ribs and a bruised kidney. There were also numerous cuts and contusions. The medics pumped him full of antibiotics and pain meds. Steve was able to clean up some and eat a hot meal with the team before they boarded the plane back to Hawaii. Steve had lost track of the days. Korea was nineteen hours ahead of Hawaii, and they had almost eleven hours of flight time to go.
"I don't even know what day it is. Danny, are your parents in Hawaii yet?" Steve felt a little fuzzy around the edges. Danny was unsure of the date or time back in Hawaii. Joe finally helped them. "It will be late afternoon on Wednesday when we land. You've got more than a week before Thanksgiving. Does this mean we're invited for dinner?"
Danny knew that without the Navy backup, there would be no giving thanks this year. "Sure, Mom won't be happy unless we have a houseful for Thanksgiving. If you and your men are free, we would love to have you over for dinner."
On the flight back to the island, Gutches explained that his boss was smoothing things over with the governor. Governor Denning might give Steve a hard time about his little foray into North Korea, but there would be no other repercussions.
Steve was fighting his fatigue and his last dose of pain meds. Danny shifted closer to Steve. "You can lean on me if you want to. There is no comfortable position in the back of a cargo plane, but maybe you could get some sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."
Steve picked Danny's hand up and laced his fingers through Danny's. "I was sure that my luck had run out. I didn't think that I would ever see you or Grace again. How did you get the Navy to provide backup?"
"Babe, officially no one could help us. We were getting ready to load up when Gutches and part of SEAL Team 9 drove up. They didn't forget what you did for Jacks. They claimed that they were going to Seoul on R & R. They wanted to pay their debt."
"There was no debt to be paid. They serve their country well. I couldn't let any more of them die on our island. I'm not surprised they came to the rescue. I guess I'm one of theirs too, and they leave no man behind."
Steve drifted off to an uneasy sleep. It would be a while before he recovered from Jenna's betrayal or the nightmare of Wo Fat's torture. Several times during the flight, Danny leaned over to soothe Steve. "It's okay Steve, I've got you. You're safe, and in a few hours we'll be home. You can take a hot shower, and I'll fix you my special pancakes. Grace will come over and spend the night with us. She was really worried about you."
Steve was too far gone to understand Danny's words, so Danny used the same tone of voice that comforted Grace through many nightmares. In just a few hours, they would be home for the holidays. Danny liked the sound of that a lot.
This is the last chapter of 'Life in the Open'. The next story, 'Home for the Holidays', will be posted soon.