Warnings: Mentions of torture devices
Chapter Seven:
Duke Lukela is ready for the day to be over. So far, though, even if it's almost twilight out, all officers are on duty.
He and a handful of others are assisting the fire department with another arson case. Unlike the first one, there is a body, but until the blaze is out, no one can do anything.
He puts in a call to Max Bergman anyway. He also notifies Detective Williams. As he hangs up, the fire chief finally declares the scene open and lets Duke and two others retrieve the body.
Max arrives before they even step out of the building. Things move quickly as Duke entrusts one junior officer to watch over Max while the rest of them begin grabbing statements from all the trailer park residents.
"She was killed before the fire," Max tells him when he checks on him. "Unfortunately, the damage is too extensive for me to give you her identity. I will update you after the autopsy."
"Thank you," Duke says. "I appreciate it."
Derrick Hayman, a haole-native, approaches with a bag of things. Needles, the pipe and burst bulb of a lamp, and a steak knife's blade.
"Found these in the back room. Fire barely touched 'em." He points at the blood on them. "We'll have to ask the coroner if she's been tortured, but we could have another victim."
"This day isn't going to end any time soon enough," Duke sighs. "All right, take them to Fong. See if he can't tell us who bled on them."
Another officer approaches, a young pregnant woman in tow. "Sergeant? This lady says she saw who set the fire."
"It was a man, not a haole, not a native. He looked Asian, not Chinese or Japanese, but kinda similar. He was hurt, there was blood on his shirt. He carried out another man, naked and bloody. Oh, the guy also had blood on his arm. I saw it when he came back outta the house."
"How long ago was this?" Duke leads her over to the back of a patrol car. She smiles gratefully as she lowers herself to the seat.
"It must've been about ten minutes before I called 9-1-1. I waited to make sure he wasn't coming back before I tattled on him."
"Thank you. One more question, did he see you?"
"Must not have. He had a gun in the back of his pants, but he didn't come after me."
"Thank you again. Officer Mahalo will take you to HPD for a full statement." Duke lets the officer pull away with the woman still sitting in the backseat. He needs to update Danny again. But, as soon as he pulls out his phone, Hayman returns, another evidence bag clutched in his gloved hand.
"Sergeant," he says, and Duke hears the shock and fear in his voice. Hayman hands him the bag. It's a speculum. A fully extended, bloodied speculum.
"We're gonna get this sonofabitch," he murmurs, turning the object over in his hands. He shoves it back at Hayman. "Make sure Five-Oh doesn't hear about this. I have to tell them myself."
"Yes, sir." Hayman reluctantly accepts the evidence bag back and leaves Duke alone again.
Oh hell. This never gets any easier, Duke thinks.
Williams answers on the first ring. "What's going on?"
"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, Detective Williams."
ooOoo
Chin briefs the SWAT team quickly, handing out shotguns loaded with tranquilizers. There's no way in hell he's letting them go in with live ammo. Steve's already suffered enough. Danny is not coming with them. He's working with paramedics instead, making sure they have absolutely everything they'll need to deal with something he refuses to tell the others.
Kono's also sitting this raid out. She's helping Kale guard Mary in case Wo Fat slips away from them.
Chin wishes a lot of things right now, but he can't think of a specific thing to focus on. He can't even concentrate on the whispered prayers to the ancients of the people around him.
He blinks, and they're pulling up to the wooded area around Wo Fat's safe house.. "Quietly, people," he says one last time before they disperse and the vehicles leave. Deep, slow breaths, Chin reminds himself as he slips through brush and trees. Easy, easy.
He's on the south side, nearest the back entrance when he hears the first gunshot. A few seconds later, a man starts yelling. Chin breaks into a sprint, stopping at the door as two more shots go off. The man is silent.
Chin's radio crackles. It's the offensive commander doing the countdown. When he reaches zero, team leaders kick open doors, while secondary leaders throw tear gas canisters into the room, and the third man up starts sweeping.
They find them in a room in the center of the shack. Steve is unconscious, covered in blood and naked. Joe White is doubled over, coughing even as a member of one of the teams gives him an oxygen mask.
Wo Fat is pinned beneath two of the biggest SWATs. He's also unconscious.
Chin moves to Steve, slipping another oxygen over his face. He tries to ignore the shock he feels when he notices blood on Steve's lips. Using gentle fingers, he checks all of the visible injuries on Steve's torso, swallowing convulsively at all the sear-marks covering Steve's chest.
Steve jerks suddenly, clawing at the mask. He's making soft, breathy noises of pain as he moves.
"Easy, Steve," Chin soothes, "easy, brah. You're safe now. We're friends." Steve's eyes crack open and he stares at Chin for a long moment with no recognition. Then, slowly, he smiles.
"About damn time, Chin," he says, voice muffled and strained, but damn if his smile isn't getting bigger. Chin feels tears burning his eyes, but he leans closer so he can whisper words of encouragement while he presses field bandages against the gunshot wounds.
The team of paramedics and Danny arrive, and Danny takes over for Chin as Steve is transferred to a gurney. Chin steps back to let them pass.
Someone finds the light switch and the building is flooded with sterile light. Where Steve was is splashed with streaks of red, but the rest of the room is clean. There aren't even any implements of torture here. Chin knows it, can't deny it. Wo Fat brought Steve here to kill him.
Shelburne should not be worth the path of destruction Wo Fat has wrought upon Hawaii and the McGarretts. Chin makes a promise to Steve, Mary, and himself: he is going to find out everything there is to know about Shelburne and he is going to hold Shelburne responsible for the hell Steve has just gone through.
ooOoo
Mary scrunches down into her chair. Although it is wide, the plastic keeps it from being very comfortable, and her priority right now is to keep her butt from going numb. Kono watches her as she shifts again. Steve's still in surgery with Five-Oh, Kamekona, and herself clogging the waiting room.
They've been here for almost eight hours now. No one's slept yet either.
Every so often, Danny's phone rings and he steps outside for a few minutes. When he comes back in, his mouth is set and his eyes are hard. Chin paces a long circuit, down the hall to the unisex bathrooms and back, avoiding everyone in the room.
Kono reads all the pamphlets and magazines multiple times, flicking through them quickly. Mary pretends, as they all do, that Kono's not wiping away tears.
Kamekona is the only one who looks normal, squeezed into a couch for three, "free food" heaped on his lap, a box of tissues handy as he watches a string of soaps and a movie that make the depressed air thicker.
Mary moves to another couch and curls under her jacket. Within minutes, she finally drifts off.
She only sleeps for a couple of minutes, because Danny shakes her awake. "Steve's doctor," he says.
She glances up at the woman smiling at her. "His surgery went well. He is strong and his recovery looks good."
"What was done to him?" Mary stands up, as she does she notices Danny's recoil from her question. The doctor's smile falters.
"Let's talk somewhere private," she says.
Mary shakes her head, "Whatever you've got to tell me, they can hear it too."
"Okay, please have a seat then."
Kamekona mutes the television as the others sit in chairs around him. Mary slips in next to him and he puts his arm around her.
"Commander McGarrett suffered extensive injuries to his back, torso, and left arm and hand. He has gunshot wounds to his right knee, left shoulder, and upper left thigh. He also has a mild concussion." She pauses, staring into Mary's eyes, "We also found evidence of rectal trauma."
"What?" Mary feels cold, feels her heart beating wildly. Rectal trauma? "Oh my god! That bastard raped him?" Kamekona hugs her tighter.
The doctor nods. "I'm sorry it happened. Right now, your brother is resting comfortably. You can sit with him tomorrow. For now, he's in a sealed recovery room."
"Infections?"
"Yes. He's doing well, but we don't want to put him at further risk today. He should be awake about mid afternoon, if you'd like to visit then. I only ask that you limit his visitors to family or trusted individuals during his stay here."
Mary nods mechanically. She's still stuck on the fact that Steve, her tough-love brother, was raped. How is Steve going to deal with it, she wonders.
The doctor leaves after a short discussion with Danny.
"How's about I take you home, little sistah?" Kamekona shifts her. "We'll go home, get some rest, and be back and ready for McGarrett when he wakes up."
"Danny?" Mary stands up, fingers clenched tight in Kamekona's sleeve. "Did you know about the…the rape? Before the doctor told us?"
Danny looks sad. He doesn't confirm or deny her question, but somehow, she knows he knew before the rest of them.
"It's okay," she tells him. "I'm not mad you didn't tell me. I just want to know: how do I talk to him? Do I change or do I stay the same?"
"You take your cues from Steve," Danny speaks after a long moment of silence. "You can get away with treating him with kid gloves for a little while because he's obviously injured, but if I know Steve, you're going to have to treat him as if nothing's happened. He'll tell you when he's ready. You have to wait for it—you can't push him."
"And how are you going to treat him?"
"I'm going to use him as my cues and then I probably won't treat him any differently than I do now."
"What happens if he wants to be treated differently now?" Mary accepts the tissues Kamekona shoves at her. She wipes at her eyes, glad her mascara is long gone. "I mean, what if I'm no good at reading his cues."
"You'll do fine," Chin finally speaks, and Mary looks at him, noting that he's a little gray. "As long as you do your best, and we'll be with you to help you every step of the way, you will be okay. Steve will be okay too. It might take a little while, but you've got your ohana right here."
"That's right," Kono adds, hugging her quickly. "We'll always be ready to help."
Danny grabs her hand, and the others lay their hands on top. "To ohana," Danny says, and they all echo. And it might just be Mary's imagination, but it doesn't sound as hallow as she knows they all feel.
Kamekona leads her outside to his truck, delivered by a cousin he'd called when Kale dropped them off earlier, and Five-Oh trails after them. They spend a few minutes exchanging contact information, hugs, and plans before dispersing to their vehicles.
Mary cries when Kamekona takes her to Steve's house. It needs to be cleaned since the crime scene unit is done. She's mildly surprised when Danny and then Chin and Kono show up to help her clean while Kamekona cooks lunch. Mary falls asleep shortly after.
A/N: So ends Part I. Let me know if you see any mistakes or grievous missteps. Thank you!