Disclaimer: I don't own H50.

Chapter Two

I sat for hours in the dimly lit interrogation room of 5-0 headquarters. I'm pretty sure I slept for part of it, the long night catching up with me, but mostly I sat there and argued with myself. Now that I was there and the chips lay out before me, I was having second thoughts. If I didn't trust my own unit, how was I supposed to trust these guys? Then again, I knew I didn't have any where else to go. My unit had made it clear that they were not getting involved and it wasn't my job. I knew homicide wasn't exactly putting their best foot forward to solve the case either. 5-0 was probably the best chance I had at getting help on this case. And I could trust them, right? Eye roll. I'm too paranoid for my own good, I thought. 5-0 was made up of the misfits of HPD: two Haoles, a rookie, and a suspected dirty cop. If anything, I certainly couldn't do worse.

Suddenly, the door opened and the two men that had arrested me stalked into the room. The taller man, I was assuming this was Ltcmdr Steve McGarrett, glared down at me, his body tense. He meant business. If I was a criminal, I would be intimidated. The shorter man, Detective Danny Williams, stood back, his arms crossed over his chest. He might fit in better, I thought, if he didn't wear a tie but I kept that to myself.

"What's your name?" McGarrett asked, towering over me.

It was a split second decision, glancing from McGarrett to Williams, that I decided to take the plunge, "On the street, I go by Cherry."

"Cherry?" Williams piped up, waving his hand through the air. "Cute, get a lot of business with a name like that?"

I couldn't stop myself this time, "About as much as you would get if you didn't wear that tie."

McGarrett almost smiled but he quickly recovered, "What's your real name?"

"Officer Leilah Monroe," I answered, pleased with the startled looks I received. "I work undercover for Vice. My badge number is 02314, you can take a minute to check it out if you need."

McGarrett turned and left the room without a word, Williams following behind. I bit my lip, hoping that I did the right thing. Not for me, but for the girls. If I wanted this guy caught and rotting in jail than I had to trust someone enough to get them to help me with the case. Might as well be 5-0.

I wasn't sure how long they were gone before the door opened and they sauntered back in. Williams produced a key and freed me from the cuffs. McGarrett tossed me a roll of clothes.

"There's a bathroom down the hall," He said. "Get cleaned up and then we'll talk."

I didn't waste any time in jumping up and scrambling down the hall to the indicated bathroom. I bundled up my blood soaked clothes for evidence before dressing in the scrubs McGarrett had given me. I took a moment to scrub the make-up and dirt from the night off my face and assess myself in the mirror. Without the make-up, I looked much better; my long eyelashes framing my green eyes were more attractive without any make-up. I had freckles peppered along my nose and cheeks, courtesy of my Irish heritage. I took a moment to haphazardly pull my long curly mass of burgundy colored hair into a pony tail. Forgoing the high heels, I padded out of the bathroom barefoot. I was going to go back to the interrogation room but McGarrett appeared at the end of the hall and called for me. I found myself in a large open room, the bull pin. Williams was there, along with an older Hawaiian: Chin Ho Kelly.

"So," McGarrett leaned against the desk in the middle of the room. "Officer Monroe. Let's start with what went down in that alley."

"I found Daisy like that," I began as Kelly came forward with an evidence bag for my clothes. "I knew something bad was going to happen so when my partner, Loki left for the night, I stayed on the street."

"How did you know something bad would happen?" Danny asked. "You psychic or something?"

Confession time. This would also give me the perfect time to see if they were going to be the right ones to trust. Admittedly, I was nervous so I ignored Danny's sarcasm. "I've been asking around, trying to get leads on the murders."

"The dead prostitutes?" McGarrett asked.

I nodded even as Kelly chimed in, "But that's homicide's case. There was nothing in the file to indicate Vice was helping."

"Officially," I said dryly. "We're not. Dead hookers aren't top priority, though so I've been working the case on my own."

"Well, now the case is ours," McGarrett informed me. "Any information you can give us would be greatly appreciated. But before we officially bring you on to the case to help us, we need to clear up some discrepancies in your file."

My eyes narrowed, "My file has nothing to do with this case." I knew what discrepancy he was referring to but that didn't mean I wanted to talk about it. It was the reason I didn't trust my fellow officers and the reason I had come up with my theory about being a female Haole in HPD.

"It does if we're going to work with you," McGarrett shot back. "We need to know we can trust you and if we went by what your captain says and what your file says, I would just pump you for information then dump your butt back on the street without so much as a thank you."

"You can't believe everything HPD says," I didn't bother to keep the venom from my voice but I did drop my gaze to the floor. "It's not easy being Haole on the Force."

"You're right," Danny spoke up. "It's not. Which is why we're willing to hear your side of the story before jumping to the same conclusions your captain and fellow officers came to which would be that you neglected protocol by not informing your partner of your whereabouts, risked the lives of civilians and killed a person of interest. You were suspended for two weeks without pay and when you came back, requested a transfer. Now, what really happened that night two years ago?"

With a heavy sigh, I met Danny's gaze. His clear blue eyes were so damn trusting, his steady gaze meeting mine and I really, really wanted to trust him. "The person of interest," I found myself telling him, "Toon, was a gangster that frequented the corner I was working. He never actually paid for any action, he got his kicks from stalking the girls. If they confronted him, he would beat and rape them but the only evidence he left was the terror those girls felt after. They refused to go to the police and file a report so I was keeping my eye on him, trying to nail him red handed for anything. One night, he noticed me watching him so he started watching me."

"He stalked you?" McGarrett asked, his eyebrows raised in question. "Did you tell your captain?"

I glanced at him, but then my gaze traveled back to Danny. It was easier telling him; I felt like he understood, like I could trust him. Woah, trust him? Really? The thought scared the crap out of me, but the words were tumbling out of my mouth anyway, "I told my partner and my captain. My partner didn't think it was anything. He'd been watching and he hadn't seen anything suspicious, said I was just being paranoid and maybe I just wanted this guy too bad. My captain believed him over me. I was sent back out on the street. One night, I was standing on the corner, just like always. It was late, the other girls on that block had been picked up and there were only a few junkies huddled in doorways. Toon approached me, shoved a gun in my back and forced me into the alley. When he got physical and let his guard down, I got the gun from him. We struggled and I shot him."

"Where was your partner?" Danny asked quietly.

"He'd fallen asleep in the van down the street," My voice was emotionless as I answered, masking the pain that still haunted me. "He lied in his report so the captain wouldn't find out he'd fallen asleep and the captain believed his report over mine."

"You requested a transfer because you didn't trust your partner," McGarrett finished.

"And in this line of work," I finally tore my gaze from Danny to look at McGarrett. "If you don't trust your partner, you're as good as dead."

McGarrett took a few steps toward me, his body language and serious expression reflecting the honesty of his next words, "Well now you're working with us and we will have your back. That's a promise."