Chapter Fourteen:
"It's clean," Steve says quietly, not entirely sure why he's surprised. He glances around, noting his coffee table and couch have been replaced and the wall where he'd been forced to write with his own blood has been repainted. Probably due to the fact that they couldn't remove all traces of the message.
"Thank you," he says to the others, all of them still behind him. He thinks he knows what they're waiting for, and he's certain it won't come to that. He points to Danny, and Danny scurries to his side. "I don't want to be here alone." Okay, maybe not so certain.
"You don't have to be," Danny says. "I'll be here and Mary's going to stay on for a few more weeks."
Steve smiles, an odd thing that pulls his mouth into a heavy grimace as he continues to tour his house. Danny follows him, Grace and Mary trailing after. There is no sound except the soft scuffle of shoes on old rugs.
In Steve's room at the top of the stairs, the bed is neat, and Danny's therapeutic pillow—the one Steve had bought for him after too many reminders that a) Steve never paid for their drinks, Danny did, and b) Steve's now-missing couch was damn uncomfortable. Half the room, the side Steve doesn't use, is crowded with suitcases and a new dresser for Danny's clothing. There is a glass of water on the bedside table, resting on a thick coaster from the coffee table downstairs, and Steve's medications are already set out. It's mirrored on the other side by Danny's own medication.
"Now," Danny says, breaking the silence with a soft huff of air, and Steve notices Danny's eyes are over-bright and his smile looks like it hurts, "if you don't want me there, speak now or forever hold your peace."
"Just don't put your feet on me when we're sleeping."
"Me?" Danny jabs his thumb into his own chest, a look of pretend insult drawing his eyebrows upwards. "You're the one who likes to touch my feet. Like you've got a little fetish or something."
"What's a fetish, Danno?" Grace calls from the hall where Mary and she are waiting patiently. Mary stifles a giggle.
"It's an adult way of saying they like something."
Grace eyes him critically before nodding. "I guess that's another word you don't want Mommy to know you told me."
Steve laughs and Mary high-fives Grace. "Smart girl," Steve says, and Danny just nods. "Are Chin and Kono staying for supper?"
"They'd better," Danny snorts. "They're the cooks tonight."
"We should go back before they find some secret place to go crime solving by themselves," Mary says.
Chin and Kono really deserve a night off, Steve thinks. They'd both worked so hard to rescue first him and then Danny. But, as they make their way back downstairs, and Steve totters on the stairs, clutching Danny's good shoulder all the way, he knows it's not tonight. It probably won't be for a good long while yet.
ooOoo
Chin holds Kono back from following the others into Steve's house because his phone is buzzing. She shoots him a puzzled glance as he answers with a curt, "Kelly."
"Detective," Kretscky coughs in his ear, and Chin can almost smell the cigarette the agent is undoubtedly smoking. "He attempted to escape."
Chin nods, grabbing Kono's arm again and leading her to Steve's outdoor shower. They hunch over the phone, and Chin presses speakerphone.
Kretscky coughs again, the tinny sound echoing slightly in the small, roofless room. "I had no choice but to use deadly force to stop him. He was confirmed dead at oh-fifteen hundred hours today."
"Wo Fat is dead?" Chin confirms, keeping his voice as steady as he can when he'd like nothing better than to celebrate, even silently, as Kono's now doing.
"Yes," Kretscky says, "and so is Buchanan. Apparently, someone failed to check him for cyanide pills. He was confirmed dead at five minutes past oh-fifteen hundred hours."
"Thank you, Agent Kretscky," Chin manages, and Kretscky grunts before hanging up. Chin looks to Kono, who's gone from pumping a fist in the air to sitting on the floor, face set as tears roll down her cheeks.
"It's over," she says, subdued. "Steve will never have to face him again."
"Come on, cuz," Chin says, a hand on her arm but not forcing her to her feet. "We've got a welcome home party to cook for."
She smiles suddenly, the sun breaking through the clouds, but Chin still sees something sad. "Steve won't get to find closure now. Kretscky took that away from him."
"I'm sure Steve will find another way. It's Steve after all." He hands her a tissue from a packet he keeps in his pocket for occasions such as this. "Now, let's get back before they've decided we abandoned them."
"Not in a million years," she says, clambering to her feet. They walk quickly, arriving inside just as Danny, Grace, Steve, and Mary stomp down the stairs.
"Have you been crying?" Steve directs to Kono, amazement tingeing his voice, like he's not aware of just how much Kono actually tears up. "Are you sad?"
She hugs him, and they all wait as he stiffens, holding himself still for a long moment before finally returning the embrace. "I'm not anymore," she says, although there are more tears on her face. He smiles shyly, already reaching for Danny's hand. They head outside, since it's supposed to be a luau of sorts with plenty of grilled food.
"So, where are the others?" Danny asks. "You know, Max, Kamekona, Fong, Idaho. Thought they were all invited too?"
"Yeah," Kono says, "Max called to say they'd be a little late. They've got some last minute things to get."
"Okay, well, I'm tired," Steve says, and they all know it because otherwise he wouldn't have said anything, "so, I'm going to sit here." He drags Danny to a pair of lawn chairs permanently stuck in the sand, and carefully arranges his body in one. Danny settles in the other and Grace climbs in his lap.
"Let's get the grill set up and going," Chin says, forcing himself to forgo checking on his friends despite the way his heart thrums against the wrongness of it. He fails miserably, watching how first Steve and then Grace fall asleep while Danny looks like he's found the one place on earth he wants to be that isn't in New Jersey.
Mary brings out blankets to tuck around the sleepers while Kono takes over cooking the steaks since Chin is too focused on the others to properly pay attention.
About the time the others start arriving, Chin remembers the drinks and rushes through filling a cooler with ice and whatever soft drinks he finds in Steve's fridge. Mary asks him to bring another round of Steve's meds and some of Danny's too, and Chin waves to acknowledge her. He leaves the cooler in the kitchen when he heads upstairs, intent on making it back with the meds in a few seconds he'd helped Danny stash them and knows where they're kept.
The memory of finding Steve's blood everywhere in the living room stops him cold two steps in, and he stares at the wall again, seeing the message he'd long since scrubbed off and painted over.
Danny is the only one of Five-Oh Steve's talked to about his rape, but Duke had kept him in the loop too, updating them on just how bad the rape actually was. He knows exactly the kind of torture Wo Fat used, and he knows that Steve's not okay, and probably never will be again. His brief independence from Danny hadn't lasted, and he was using weak excuses to keep from dealing with the rest of them.
Well, okay then. Chin could wait until the doctors or Steve thinks he's ready or Chin could do what Danny said they'd need to do: treat Steve normally.
Finally, he is able to drag himself upstairs. He finds the pills quickly, returning to the kitchen to find Max and Fong adding six packs of beer and soda to the cooler. Fong has another bag of ice next to him.
Max inclines his head in greeting. "Kono," he says, and it doesn't sound as weird as Chin thinks it should, "suggested we assist you in your endeavor."
"Plus," Fong adds, using a knife Steve threatens unwanted visitors with to slice open the bag of ice, "I brought ice." Chin nods at the now-empty bag and Fong has the good grace to blush a little. "We already put the rest of it in the garage's freezer."
Chin grabs one end of the cooler and Max closes the lid. Fong lifts the other end and they all head outside. Mary accepts the medication without taking her eyes off her sleeping brother. He pats her shoulder, and she spares a quick glance. At the look on his face, she backs away.
Chin speaks softly, "Danny." But, Danny still jumps a little.
"What is it, Chin?"
"I need to tell you and Steve something." Then Chin stares at Grace. Danny gets the message, nodding at Mary, who's back with a soda for Danny. She lifts Grace easily, settling her onto her shoulder and heading away from them again.
Danny asks, "Do you want me to wake him up?" Chin rattles the bottles and Danny sighs. "Steve. Hey, Steven, time for the pills."
"Already?" Steve complains without opening his eyes. Obediently he lets his mouth gape, tongue poking out so Chin can put the pills in. Carefully, Danny guides the soda to Steve's lips and waits until he's drank half the bottle before pulling it away. Then Danny swallows his own pills, finishing the bottle and handing it to Chin.
"I have something I need to tell you," Chin says. His heart is pounding in his ears, and he feels the blood rushing through his body. "It's about Wo Fat."
Now, Steve's eyes open, and he looks panicked. "Did he escape again?"
The fear in Steve's voice hurts Chin, and now more than before, he's certain he made the right call. "No."
"Is he sending more people to kill us?"
"No."
Chin glances between Danny and Steve, noticing that Steve's breathing too fast, and Danny's trying to calm him. "Wo Fat is dead." Steve looks up, eyes sharp. Danny frowns slightly, mouthing the words to himself silently.
"The CIA shot him when he tried to escape."
"Dead," Danny finally manages to whisper. "Dead? CIA?"
"I asked them to kill him," Chin admits, his voice calm despite the tremble he feels in his hands.
Steve leans away from Danny and vomits onto the ground, a thin stream of brown liquid and his dissolving pills. He smiles anyway, and Chin feels the tightness in his chest alleviate a little. They will be okay. They will.
They will.