The Beginning
By
Landon Richardson
Official Disclaimer
The characters of Lieutenant Commander Steven 'Steve' McGarrett, Chin Ho Kelly, Kono Kalakaua, Victor Hesse, Anton Hesse, Former Detective John 'Johnny / Jack' McGarrett, Mary McGarrett, Kamekona Tupuola, Lieutenant Catherine 'Cath' Rollins, Frederick 'Fred' Doran, Detective Meka Hanamoa, Amy Hanamoa and Billy Hanamoa do not belong to me in any shape or form. I am merely using them for my own entertainment purposes.
The character of Detective Sergeant Danielle 'Danni' Williams probably can be considered to be mine by now. Although she was originally based on male Danny, she soon evolved becoming her own person. She has her own background, her own family, her own history and her own distinct personality. This isn't to say that the Danny Williams we all know and love is completely gone, he still emerges through her at times. I like to think of female Danni as what Danny could have been if everything in his life had gone his way. As in full custody of Grace and a decent relationship with his ex.
The character of Grace has also changed slightly due to the change in Danni. Her surname is Taylor as this is her father's surname and was Danni's married name (Danni reverted back to her maiden name when she was divorced). Her parents also are amicable which has also impacted Grace but never fear, she's still the sweetheart we know and love, if anything she's more a sweetheart now.
The character of Duncan Taylor, Detective Rory Clements, Supervisory Special Agent in charge Ryan Moore, Special Agent Kale Meade, Special Agent Alexis Moss, Jeanine Landon, William 'Will' McGarrett, Noah Landon, Anna Michaels nee Landon, Theresa Law nee Landon, Deborah 'Debs' Landon and Michael Landon also belongs to me as does any other character who you do not recognise from the show. Please do not use them, or my version of Danni and Grace without first asking for my permission to do so.
Thank you.
Author Note
Here's the next chapter for you all.
Please enjoy
Official Summary
When Danni Williams moves to Hawaii, all she wants to do is keep her head down and survive the time she had to stay there. The last thing she expected was to meet Steve McGarrett, a man who seems more intent on getting her blown up and finding out everything about her life than he is about following proper procedure. Danni has a job to do though and one way or another she is going to do it.
Chapter Summary
Danni drained the last of her coffee before she came to her feet and began gathering together her rubbish, thankful for the snack which she knew would keep her going until she was home in her own kitchen.
Overall Romances
Hints of Steve McGarrett / Danni Williams (McDanni)
Hints of Steve McGarrett / Catherine Rollins (McRollins)
Mentions of past Duncan Taylor / Danni Williams (Dunni)
Hints of Ryan Moore / Danni Williams (Rynni)
Meka Hanamoa / Amy Hanamoa (Mekmy)
Mentions of past John McGarrett / Doris McGarrett (Joris)
Michael Landon / Karen Landon (Micren)
Chapter Romances
Hints of Ryan Moore / Danni Williams (Rynni)
Warning
This story features a female Danni Williams in place of a male Danny Williams. Although in some stories I write, Danny does exist, he does not exist in this one.
If this is not your cup of tea then please hit the back button.
Other note
I do not have a Beta so please forgive any mistakes which may creep in, I always do my best to edit the story and check it but sometimes mistakes do creep in.
The places I've mentioned in Hawaii are ones which come from google, including the addresses. I've never been to Hawaii myself in person so I apologise for any mistakes which I may make, these are not intentional.
Chapter Twelve
Any chance you have Cherry?
Thursday 23rd September 2010
The Canteen Tent
Pearl Harbour
Honolulu
Oahu
Danni drained the last of her coffee before she came to her feet and began gathering together her rubbish, thankful for the snack which she knew would keep her going until she was home in her own kitchen. Chin has been gone for ten minutes and she could tell that Steve was growing more and more impatient with every moment that passed if the way he kept glancing down at his watch was any indication for her to go by.
"He'll be back soon Steve" Danni reassured him, breaking the silence which had fallen between them as she reached out with her free hand and clapped it down lightly on his tense shoulder, squeezing down on the muscle in a comforting fashion before she let go. She collected his rubbish together, focusing on the task at hand before glancing round her, looking for a bin. Her eyes landed on one nearby and she moved towards it, dumping the bag and empty coffee cups into it.
For a moment she stayed there, stretching her arms above her head and held the pose for a second before dropping her arms again and twisting on the spot before heading back towards where Steve was sat her attention shifting from him when a movement to the side of her caught her attention, freezing her for a second in place.
Blinking she realised that Chin had joined them again, wearing a shirt which she was more used to seeing on Meka since her former partner seemed to have a love affair going on with brightly coloured Hawaiian shirts. Shaking her head, she moved towards them again, speaking when she was close enough to be heard by them both without shouting.
"That's quite the shirt you have on Chin" She stated, her eyes dropping to the shirt in question. She squinted against the bright green material, making a note to find her sunglasses and wear them to protect against eye damage.
Chin turned to her and grinned, the smile taking off at least ten years from him before he pinched the bright material between his fingertips and looked down with a critical look.
"Thanks Danni, I'm glad you like it" He remarked, the comment causing Danni's eyebrow to rise.
"I don't remember saying I liked it" She responded, smiling at him to make it clear that she was teasing him.
"Oh?" He said, giving the shirt another look before he focused on her. "You know this is actually quite tamed compared to some of the other shirts which I own." He told her, a wicked gleam coming to his dark eyes.
"You consider that shirt to be tame?" She queried back, breathing out nosily when he nodded his head at her. She glanced towards Steve but he remained absorbed with reading something on his cell phone so she focused back on Chin, clearly there would be no help from her new partner. "Well it's good to know that, perhaps we could swap our cell phone numbers and you could text me when you find yourself struck with the urge to wear one of those other shirts. That way I can prepare myself by making sure I wear my sunglasses to protect my eyes from any lasting damage from your shirt." She remarked, unable to keep her smile from widening when he laughed at her comment, the sound extremely pleasant to hear.
"I'm more than happy to swap phone numbers with you Danni but I don't think I'll warn you about my shirt. It would be far more entertaining for me to keep you guessing every day. You'll just have to make sure you always have your sunglasses close to hand." He responded, grinning when she sighed and rolled her eyes at his suggestion.
"Well that's team work for you I guess" She responded dryly with a shake of her head, looking towards Steve again when he suddenly looked up, his gaze moving between the two of them with a slight frown before his eyes focused on Danni.
"How come you haven't offered me your cell number yet? I'm your partner, it's more important that I should be able to contact you rather than Chin at this moment in time." He remarked to her, slipping his cell phone back into his pocket and coming to his feet.
"Why haven't I offered you my cell number yet?" Danni repeated, turning to face him head on as she mirrored his pose, her arms crossed over her chest as she scanned his face thoughtfully. "Well it's fairly simple Steve, the reason I haven't given it to you is because we both know that you already have it listed on your phone. You've probably had my cell number and my house phone number plugged into your phone from the moment you decided to make me your partner. The cell number would have been listed on my file and as for my home number, well you probably got that at the same time you got my home address from whoever it was you contacted to give you that information, because I know for a fact that it's not listed on my file. You've probably got someone else doing a complete background check on me and my nearest and dearest because that's the way you're build because you're a SEAL. You were probably planning on calling me later tonight, once I was distracted by Grace so you could make out to me that I had given you my number earlier, knowing that I would be too busy with my daughter's nightly routine to question it. Am I right?" She queried curiously.
She smiled when she caught sight of the startled look which came to Steve's face at her assessment before he forced his expression back to his usual unreadable look.
The damage had been done though telling Danni that she had hit the nail on the head with her observations. She glanced over her shoulder, grinning when Chin started laughing again, the sound rich and warm as he glanced between them before focusing on Steve.
"She read you like a book there Brah" Chin remarked, holding up his hands in front of him in a peaceful gesture when Steve tilted his head to the side with a glare at him. "It's just the truth, take some advice from someone who speaks from experience, sometimes in a situation like this where you've blatantly been found out. It's easier to just admit defeat and make a note in your head that Danni can read you. It might save you a lot of needless trouble in the future" He stated, still sounding amused though he made an attempt to keep the smirk from his face.
"Can we get back to the matter at hand here which is the case?" Steve demanded. "Can we reach your guy on foot from where we are or do we need to drive there? Where is he based?"
Danni and Chin shared one last amused look with each other before Chin spoke, his voice turning serious.
"It's about a twenty-minute walk from here to where we need to go so it would easier and quicker if we drove over there. I'm guessing that things haven't changed that much since I've been gone from the force with how the investigations are run. Every second counts, especially on a case like the one we're currently on." He remarked.
"It does" Steve agreed before he turned his attention to Danni, holding out his hand towards her, his palm facing towards the sky. "Car keys please Danni" He said firmly, his eyes watching her carefully. Danni looked back at him torn between disbelief and annoyance. She had to hand it to Steve; he was certainly persistent once he had set his mind on something. At the rate it was going she might just start letting him drive the car just to get some peace and quiet over the topic.
Still, she wasn't quite ready to give into his demand yet and especially not this quickly. If she did then he would take advantage of it whether he planned to or not. She also had the feeling that if she gave in to him then Steve would lose some of the respect he had for her and for some reason it was important to her that he respected her.
She looked down at his exposed palm and smile slightly to herself, reaching out with her own hand and slapping it down on his in a classic high five before she turned to Chin who was watching their interactions with each other with a wide grin on his face which he made no effort to hide from them.
"Do you need a lift to the location of your guy Chin because if you do then there's enough room in my car for another person to come as well? I can throw Steve into the backseat and you can take the passenger seat up front if you want." She offered, glancing back at Steve and smiling when she caught sight of the enraged expression which came across his face at her words. He caught her gaze, searching it for a second before he made a slight, huffing sound and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Thanks for the offer Danni but I'm good for transportation." Chin answered her, attracting her attention as he led them out of the canteen tent and towards the main car park where Danni had parked the car. "This is my ride right here" He announced, coming to a stop next to a gleaming black motorbike. Danni looked at it, her eyes widening as she ran her hand over it.
"A Harley Davidson model, this is very nice Chin" Danni started with a smile at him.
"Indeed, it is" Chin answered, looking at her with renewed interest. "Do you know a lot about bikes?" He asked her. Danni considered the question for a moment before she shrugged at him, holding her hand in front of her and tilting it side to side.
"That's a surprisingly tough question to answer Chin. I know enough about them to recognise the make of it but I wouldn't exactly refer to myself as being an expert on them by any stretch of the imagination." She answered, looking back towards his bike critically. "I can tell that this is a Harley Davidson for example but I couldn't tell you what the make of a Harley it was. She looks fast though, what's your limit on her? It looks like you've had some additional work done on it, it co-" Her words became muffled when a large, warm hand was placed lightly over her mouth, stopping the flow of her words.
"We'll follow you to the location in the car Chin" Steve told the other man from where he stood behind her, using his free hand to lightly grip her arm and twist her round, moving her towards the waiting car. He let go of her once they were out of Chin's hearing range.
"Was that really necessary Steven?" Danni snapped at him with a glare as she stopped beside the driver's seat. "If you do something like that again then I'll bite you, consider this your only warning about it." She told him, fishing the car keys out of her bag and unlocking the car, climbing in and dumping her bag into the passenger seat just as the door opened and Steve climbed in.
"It was necessary Danielle, by the time you would have finished your discussion about motorbike then it would probably have been night time and we would have lost the rest of the afternoon. You and Chin can bond later on together over motorbikes when we actually have the time for it." Steve stated blunted as he pulled on his seatbelt.
"Can we now? How kind of you to give us your permission for that Steve." Danni responded back as she started the car, gripping the steering wheel tightly in her hands. "What else are you going to do? Are you going to allocate us a little time each day that we're at work where we'll be allowed to discuss things which aren't work related? Maybe if you wanted you could make a timetable and hang it up in headquarters where we can all see it and allocate us each with a colour and you can just colour that colour into the time slot to indicate when we can speak. What about you and me Steve, are you going to allocate us time to talk as well because if we are then perhaps we should make right now a let's not talk slot because that is something I could seriously go for right now." She told him angrily.
"No" He responded sharply, his hand curling into a fist where it rested on his thigh. "There's not going to be a timetable hung up in headquarters or any colour codes for the team or anything else which your mind can come up with right now Danni."
Danni glanced towards him, her eyes flickering down to his fist before she looked back out of the window screen with a shrug.
"You know Steven if my attempting to get to know someone who is going to be my new team mate through the art of conversation bothers you so much then maybe you should just partner me with Chin now and then you can go and pick someone else who is exactly like you in personality to be your partner. I mean the Governor gave you a free rein over who you wanted on your team right? Well maybe you should think of hiring someone from the Navy who used to serve in your unit. I bet they'll be exactly what you want and are clearly looking for." She commented.
"No" He responded, his voice rising showing his annoyance as he turned to her. "I didn't take you from HPD for you to be partnered with someone else Danni. I took you from your department so you could be my partner and that is what you'll be. You won't be Chin's partner, you won't be the partner to whoever the fourth member of the team is and you aren't Meka's partner either. What you are is my partner so I suggest you accept this in your mind and move on so we can actually get on with the job which we're here to do which is to stop Hesse from leaving the island in case you had forgotten that fact."
Danni fell silent for a moment, replaying Steve's words in her head. She wanted to yell at him or better yet hit him as she reminded him that she was not his but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Not after everything which Steve had clearly been through recently. Perhaps he saw this taskforce as a chance for him to re-established some sort of order to his life. He needed the stability that having a team to rely on could give him, the same way his old SEAL team probably did. She knew that Steve had been high up in the ranks of the navy, his title alone indicated that, but she wasn't sure how a SEAL team actually functioned as a unit.
Did being a Lieutenant Commander mean that Steve had been in charge of the team?
If that was the case then she could just about understand his reaction to her comment. He has chosen her to be his partner out of everyone else, meaning that he saw something in her which he needed. She just wasn't sure what it was and whether she would be able to provide it for him.
She cleared her throat, the sound loud in the otherwise silent car and spoke, her voice back to its usual quiet tone.
"I need to explain something to you and I want you to listen to what I have to tell you without interrupting me until I've finished. Can you do that for me?" She asked him.
She was aware of Steve turning to look at her but she didn't look back at him, instead keeping her eyes focused on Chin's back through the window screen, watching as he moved easily through the slow-moving traffic on his bike.
"I can do that" He replied, equally as quietly.
"Okay that's good" She said before taking a deep breath and starting "I understand that I'm your partner now and while I might not be singing and dancing over the change I can accept it. There could be much worse partners out there who I could be partnered with after all. I admire your knowledge on your chosen fields and I admire your dedication and for as long as you need me to be your partner then I will be your partner unless something happens which is out of my control. It's not always going to be easy though and you shouldn't expect it to be either. I'm well aware of my faults and I could list them out for you but I'm not going to because it's important that you learn them for yourself, the same way as you need to learn what my good points are as well." She told him, taking another deep breath before continuing. "I am not however one of your navy SEALs, the same way as I'm not part of the military so you can't order me around like you when you're working with them and just expect me to fall into line. That's not the way things work when you're in a partnership with someone. If this is to work then we have to do it together, and by that, I mean that you don't demand me to do things, instead you ask me. You don't push me around or drag me to a location you want to go to by my wrist. You show me respect and you allow me to do it for myself."
"Danni I-" Steve began to say, stopping when she held up her hand again, giving him a warning look before she continued speaking as though he hadn't interrupted her.
"I need you to explain your decision to me even if you don't explain them to the rest of the team and you can confide in me as well if you need you because that's what partners do. I'm your partner now and I'm your second in command but how can I be either of those things and be taken seriously in front of the other member of the team and other departments if you treat me as though I'm beneath you or you don't respect me by, oh I don't know, putting your hand over my mouth to stop me talking to someone." She said as she came to a stop by a red light. Taking the opportunity, she turned to look at him, taking in his unreadable expression and sighing. "I know this is a lot to take in and it's not how I wanted day one of this partnership to go but this is a deal breaker for me Steve. If you can't do that and you still want me to be a member of your taskforce then it would be best if you did partner me with Chin or with the new member of the team when they are hired. Otherwise send me back to HPD because I can't work with a partner who doesn't respect me and who doesn't listen to what I have to say. Do you understand me?" She asked him.
The silence between them in the car was deafening for a moment before Steve spoke.
"I understand you" He told her, his hand relaxing out of a fist.
"Well that is good then, with the whole issue of me talking to Chin. The two of you clearly have some long-term history with each other, you know each other and you know that you can trust him but I don't know him at all Steve, just now is the first time we've ever met each other. It's important to me Steve that I start building up a relationship with one of the people who I have to trust to have my back when we're out in the field or in the middle of a gun battle. I need to build that relationship the same way I need to build it up with you, so it's almost second nature. I'm not doing it just for the sake of talking, there is a purpose behind it."
"I guess that I can see where you're coming from Danni" Steve conceded.
"Good" She replied with a sigh of relief. "See this is how strong partnerships are made, by us being able to communicate freely with each other about what is troubling us or is on our mind. If we don't have this then the two of us are simply never going to work together.
"I know that we're going to work Danni, this partnership between us will work" Steve stared, waving his hand between the two of them.
"Well that still remains to be seen Steve but it would be nice if the partnership could work. I don't want to have to change partners again after just changing this time." She answered back.
"So, do you actually like motorbikes or do you just happen to know about them?" He asked her after a pause, changing the subject between them.
"I neither like nor dislike them, to be honest with you, I don't really have that much of an opinion on them. Why do you ask?" She questioned him curiously.
"I'm just trying to get a read on you Danni. You seemed to know a fair deal about Chin's bike back in the parking lot." He remarked with a shrug before he crossed his arms over his chest and continued to speak. "You knew what type of make of bike he had and the fact that he had, had some additional work done on it. Not many people would have been able to notice that from a single glance over it. If you're not bothered by them, then how would you have picked up on that detail? Was it from a case back in New Jersey or since you've been here in Hawaii?"
"It's nothing like that, though I won't deny that the knowledge has come in handy on one or two cases which I had back in New Jersey." She admitted, her mind slipping back to them briefly before she focused her attention on answering Steve's question. She had the feeling that normally when he wanted to know something about someone then he would simply use one of the many connections he seemed to have littered around the place or simply used his own abilities to find out. For him to simply ask, must have been a big deal.
"Well, what is it then?" Steve prompted, clearly feeling that she had been silent for too long.
"I come from a large family Steve which is mainly made up of boys, my parents were very much in the mind set of the more the merrier when it came to us. My brother Elijah is four years younger than I am and comes directly after me and my twin brother. He also happens to be a complete and utter freak when it comes to motorbikes. He loves them so much that sometimes I think he loves them more than his current girlfriend which should say it all. When I left Jersey in February he had three of them, all different makes and one of those three happens to be a Harley Davidson bike which looks extremely similar to the one which Chin happened to be riding. Elijah had extra work done on it because he does some racing on it when he has some spare time which is hardly ever though what those extras he had done is beyond me. He realised that I didn't mind motorbikes so he invited me to go on a few rides with him so we could spend some time together and just hand out. He figured that sharing something he loves so much was a good way for us to bond and I agreed with him. I even helped him pick out his last bike before I left." She told him, blinking in surprise when she realised how much detail she had just given him about her. She normally kept quiet about her family back home.
"So, you went with him for these rides and to help him pick his bike out so you could bond more with him even though bikes don't really interest you?" Steve pressed with a curious look on his face.
"Well yeah Steve" She replied, confused by the question. "I mean he's my younger brother so it what you do when it something which involves family. You find a common interest with them and then you use that interest to strengthen your relationship with them. The more you have in common with them, the easier it is. Elijah and I share a similar sense of humour for example so we'll go and watch movies together occasionally, or at least we did when I was still in Jersey, it's a bit harder now to go and catch a movie."
"So, will you do the same sort of thing with Chin then?" Steve asked, looking thoughtful for a moment.
"Maybe, A lot of it will depend on what sort of things we both enjoy doing. I know that Chin likes bikes and I don't mind bikes which means that I should be able to hold a conversation with him about them as long as he doesn't use too many technical terms on me. He knows that I know a bit about them so hopefully that can be used as an ice breaker between us. The more conversations we have, the more I'll learn about him. Its like us for example, we don't actually know much about each other but we're learning it as we go, I for example know how you take your coffee now, I know you consider a muffin as pure junk and I know that you want to be behind the wheel of the car quite badly. That's not bad when we've only know each other for a few hours." She remarked dryly, looking toward Steve and smiling when she caught sight of his half smile again.
"I guess that it's not too bad for a start" He agreed before he straightened in his chair, tilting his head to the side so that he was watching her closely as though he wanted to see her reaction to what he was about to say. "So, you mentioned earlier that you went riding with your brother. Do you mean that you went on the same bike as him or can you ride one yourself? Do you own a motorbike Danni?" He queried.
"No, I don't own a bike" She told him with a shake of her head. "But I can ride a bike, I mainly rode on the back of his but occasionally I did head out on my own with him, using one of his bikes. I'm no way near racing standards but I can handle one well enough that I wouldn't end up as road kill or with my head lodged in a tree somewhere. If you trying to ask me whether I could manage riding in the streets of Hawaii then the answer to that is yes, if push came to shove I could probably manage it but we're talking far in the future when I'm supremely confident that I know my way around the place."
"I can ride a motorbike as well" He informed her, the comment causing her to laugh softly as she shook her head.
"I would be far more surprised Steve if you told me that you didn't know how to ride a motorbike. Something like that would be standard training for you guys wouldn't it? I mean you can never know what situation you might find yourself in next right? Riding a motorbike may have been your only way out of a sticky situation and you would be seriously screwed if you don't know how to do it." Danni responded.
"That's true" Steve responded with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "You know that there are places here in Hawaii where you can rent a motorbike for a day or so. Have you ever thought about getting one and using it to explore the island?"
"It sounds like a nice idea but I can't see myself doing it" She told him truthfully. "I only ever went out riding with Elijah, I never went out by myself on a bike. If I didn't do it alone when I lived in New Jersey, a place which was home to me and where I knew the streets like the back of my hand then I certainly won't be doing it here. I'd get lost within minutes and that would be highly embarrassing, especially if one of my friends happen to hear what happened. I would never hear the end of it from them. Maybe I could ask Chin to take me out one day if I am suddenly struck with the urge and he happens to be free but not yet like I said" She leaned forward in her chair, frowning slightly. "It looks like we're here now" She announced as she hit the indicator and pulled into yet another car park where she parked up into the first free space.
Killing the engine, she grabbed her belongings and stepped out of the car, shading her eyes from the bright overhead sun as she scoped out the surrounding area thoughtfully.
She recognised the beach they were on instantly as one which she had come to with Amy and her family several times over the past few months. It was still crowded regardless of the fact that the day was creeping steadily forward with tourists and surfers who all seem intent on getting themselves a tan or making the most of the waves which were crashing against the shoreline.
"It's this way guys, follow me." Chin called out to them, as he came to their side, glancing at them both before he turned and headed away from the vehicles and towards a large wooden hut which was situated at the edge of the sand.
Danni stopped when they stepped onto the beach, slipping off her high heels and throwing them into her bag, she glanced down at the warm sand beneath her feet and smiled, wriggling her toes into it.
"Danni, is everything okay?"
Danni looked up at the sound of Steve's shout, meeting his gaze from where he stood slightly ahead of her and nodded at him, taken aback for a moment by the concern that she could see in his gaze. She headed after them, catching up with them just as they reached the hut. Tilting her head back, she read the sign above there heads with a slight frown.
Wailoa ice shack.
Danni brought her head back down, watching curiously as Chin approached the large, heavyset man who stood behind the counter, speaking to a customer who was in the process of passing some money over to him. Chin waited until they had moved away before he spoke to the man.
"Kamekona" He called out, reaching across the counter and hugging the man, his arms barely making it half way around him. "What flavour is good to have today? Anything interesting which would catch my fancy? I know you're always inventing new flavours for people to try."
Kamekona's wide face broke into a large toothy grin as he slapped his hand across Chin's back with enough force that it sent the other man flying into the side of the counter.
"That had to hurt" Danni muttered to herself, wincing on Chin's behalf. A hit like that was bound to leave a bruise behind.
"Got to keep it fresh brah to keep the customers coming in. We've got all flavours here, you know that. Personally, I'd go for the passion fruit or the Lychee or there's always Cotton Candy, everyone loves Cotton Candy after all, I…"
"How about a name instead Brah?" Chin interrupted, keeping his voice low as he leaned towards Kamekona, a serious expression coming to his face.
Kamekona leaned back from Chin, his smile disappearing from his face as he stared around him, his small dark eyes landing on Steve first, narrowing slightly with a look of suspicion before they focused on Danni, a sudden bright smile coming to his face again as he winked at her before finally turning his attention back to Chin who was waiting patiently beside him.
"We'll talk Brah but your little sidekicks over there will have to wait outside but only after they've paid for services rendered. Let's start with two cones, what flavours do you want?"
Danni blinked at the sudden question before looking over towards Steve, immediately picking up on the tick which was pulsing in Steve's jaw line, indicating that he was pissed.
"Steve" She murmured, an undercurrent of concern to her voice. He tilted his head towards her, meeting her gaze for a moment before he breathed out slowly, giving her a single nod as he stepped towards Kamekona and Chin.
"Cotton Candy will do" He stated flatly, crossing his arms over his chest.
"One order of Cotton Candy to go" Kamekona called back to the two men who were working behind him before he turned his attention to Danni who was studying the menu absently. "And what are you having my pua nani a'o" He queried. Danni glanced down, frowning slightly at the unfamiliar Hawaiian phrase which he used to address her. She glanced towards Steve again, noticing that his face had gone blank again making it impossible to know what he was thinking.
"Is there any chance that you do a cherry flavour here?" She asked Kamekona curiously, her smile growing when Kamekona beamed at her, she couldn't help it, not when the other man had to kind of smile which was impossible not to respond to.
"You're in luck my pua nani a'o". I've just got a fresh lot of cherry flavouring in this very morning. It was clearly fate that the two of us met each other today" He told her as he slapped his hand down on the counter top making the jars on it shake slightly. "It's the best cherry on the island as well."
"Well that does sound like it's a lucky break for me then" She agreed with a smile. "I'll have a cherry flavoured shaved ice please."
"You hear that boys, we got an order for a cotton candy cone and a cherry flavoured one as well. Make sure you add two t-shirts to go as well." He stated, jerking his thumb towards a stack of t-shirts which were folded beside him on the counter.
Danni blinked in surprise when he reached out and plucked one of the pale blue t-shirts from the pile and shook it out, holding it against him. She saw Steve turn to Chin, his eyes narrowing at the amused expressions which covered the other man's face before he sighed, clearly realising that arguing at this point would be a waste of his time.
"Fine, I'll take a medium sized one for me" Steve stated before he turned and glanced at Danni, his eyes flickering up and down her before he turned back. "And an extra small or small one for Danni please."
"Make it an extra small one for me please" Danni confirmed, some how she had the feeling that an extra small here would be the equivalent of a medium to large everywhere else.
"No can do Brah. These fine t-shirts only come in extra-large and up. You wouldn't see my face on anything which was smaller than that." Kamekona announced proudly, with a nod towards the t-shirt he was still holding against himself.
"Oh, dear god" Danni said quietly, her eyes widening at the sight of it. "That is quite the t-shirt which you're selling there. It's really quite large as well, is that the extra, extra large one?" She asked raising her voice, her heart sinking when he shook his head at her.
"This is the smallest size right here pua nani a'o" Kamekona told her with another wink in her direction.
"Of course, it is" She said, reaching up and rubbing at her forehead, she looked towards Steve when he looked towards her, picking up instantly on the amused glint in his eyes as his shoulders relaxed, some of the tension he had been holding in them easing out. He pulled his wallet out from one of his cargo pants pockets and took another step towards Kamekona, who was waiting for him, watching Steve with a careful expression which screamed of mistrust.
"How much kala Bulleh?" Steve asked the large man, flipping his wallet open. Danni moved her position so she could see the look on their face. Kamekona looked impressed despite himself. Clearly, he hadn't been expecting Steve to know the local language.
"So, you speak bird then?" Kamekona asked, an undercurrent of curiosity coming to his voice. Steve nodded at him.
"Yeah, I grew up here" Steve answered. The large man nodded slowly at the response, clearly mulling it over in his head before he spoke again.
"It don't matter" He said simply, his eyes narrowing again. "You still look Hauli to me." He turned from Steve and focused his attention on Danni, his eyes sweeping up and down her as he spoke. "And what about you? Did you grow up here pua nani a'o" He queried.
"No, I didn't grow up here" She answered him with a shake of her head. "I only moved out here about six months ago at the end of February. I lived in New Jersey before that."
"New Jersey" Kamekona repeated as though it was a foreign word to him. "So, you've been here since February and I've never seen your face before? You come down to the beach often?" He asked.
Danni raised an eyebrow at Kamekona's random question, opening her mouth to answer when she stopped, turning to glare at Steve when he snorted at the question. She continued her glare until he held up his hands in a peaceful gesture. Only then did she turned back to Kamekona who was clearly waiting for her to answer his question.
"I don't come to beach often because I don't have much spare time I'm afraid" She explained to him with a shrug of her shoulders.
"I bet" Kamekona responded with another wink at her. He looked away from her as Steve slapped down a fifty in the palm of Kamekona's hand with a little more force then was strictly necessary. "You know this one is looking a little lonely Brah." Kamekona remarked, his hand still held out towards Steve. Steve glanced at him before he looked around at Danni who smiled sweetly at him in response.
"You heard the man McGarrett, that note which he is holding is feeling a bit lonely. We can't have that so you best reach back into your wallet and give him another one to help ease that suffering." She commented lightly, her smile growing when Steve scowled at her before he reached into his wallet again and pull out another fifty which he handed to Kamekona.
"That's more like it Brah" Kamekona remarked, closing his meaty hand over the money. Steve reached out and took the two t-shirts and two brightly coloured shaved ices from Kamekona's waiting assistant. He nodded once to Kamekona and Chin before he turned his attention back to Danni.
"Let's go Danni, Chin, we'll be waiting for you by the car, meet us there when you're done" He stated, heading back towards the area where they had park, Danni falling into step beside him.
"There's one more thing I'd like you fine Haoles to do for me" Kamekona called after them, the almost gleeful tone to his voice making Danni wince as she slowed to stop and looked back at him, already dreading the words which were about to come out of his mouth. "I'd like you both to put the t-shirts on and wear them while me and our fine mutual friend here partake in a private conversation. It will be good for business you see, I'm sure you both can understand that."
Danni's mouth fell open in horror when Steve simply nodded at him, turning and handing the ice cones to Danni before he took one of the t-shirts and pulled it on. Danni's heart dropped when she saw how much the material swamped his tall, muscular frame. If it did that to Steve then god only knew what it would look like on her. She could only pray that no one from HPD saw her, she couldn't take the comments she would receive if they did. There would never be an end to it.
"Here you go Danni, this one belongs to you. Put it on so we can get out of here." Steve said, holding out the second t-shirt to her and using his other hand to take back the shaved ices. Danni blinked at it.
"You have got to be kidding me right now Steve. I can't put that on" She hissed quietly at him, shaking her head and taking a step back away from her. Steve smiled, moving back into her personal space.
"Come on Danni, we've all got to do things which we don't want to do so suck it up and put the t-shirt on." He stated.
Danni glared at him before gingerly reaching out and taking the t-shirt from it, holding it awkwardly out in front of her. She sighed, casting a quick look at Chin and Kamekona before she pulled the t-shirt on over her dress. She adjusted it slightly with her fingertips as she looked down at it and shook her head, feeling her cheeks burn with embarrassment as she shut her eyes. The t-shirt was so big on her that she could have easily fitted a second person in there with her and still have room left over.
She glanced up at the sound of Steve's laughter, glaring at him again as she tried to ignore how nice his laughter actually sounded.
"Words can not describe how much I hate you right now." She told him.
"You're looking mighty fine there my pua nani a'o" you definitely going to being in the customers. I may have to use you more often for this" Kamekona called out to her, giving her a thumb's up sign when she glanced towards him.
"That's a lovely offer but I'm afraid I'm going to have to pass on it" Danni said weakly before she took her shaved ice from Steve, her eyes focusing on Chin whose face was twisted with barely supressed amusement. "Say a word about this to anyone or even laugh right now and I will get into my car and run your baby over." She promised him before turning and storming away from the hut with as much dignity as she could muster. She held her head up as she stopped beside the car and leaned back against it with a sigh. She was tempted to take the t-shirt off but knowing her luck, Kamekona would have a security camera littered around the place which he was probably watching. She glanced up as Steve approached her before she stabbed her plastic spoon into the shave ice with a sigh. "Just… just don't say anything okay?" She said on a sigh, tilting her head to the side as he leaned against the car beside her.
"Trust me when I say that I'm not gong to" He replied. "I just hope that all of this was worth it and Chin comes back with a name we can use, otherwise we have wasted this time for nothing. Time we can't afford to lose." He commented after a pause, staring into the distance with a thoughtful frown.
"Chin seemed pretty confident that Kamekona was the guy who we needed to speak to when it came to information like what we need so we just need to trust that Chin knows what he's talking about. He knows what is at stake" Danni said in response, taking a bite of her shaved ice. She made a pleased sound at the back of her throat as she looked down at it in surprise. "What do you know, he actually wasn't lying about the cherry flavour. This is actually really, really good. Possibly the best tasting shaved ice I've had since being here." She stated happily before she tilted her head to the side so she could see her partner. "I didn't realise that you spoke to local dialect here" She commented curiously.
"Yeah, I learnt it when I was younger, I'd forgotten some of it but it's beginning to come back to me now that I'm back on the island." He replied, shifting on the spot.
"I've learnt a bit of the language since I arrived here. Well the extreme basics of it. Hello, goodbye, thank you. Anything more than that though and I begin to struggle. I should probably find the time to learn more of it so I at least know what people are calling me. Both Amy and Meka have individual nicknames for me but I don't know what it actually means. Take back there for instance, I have no idea what Kamekona was calling me." She stated, taking another spoonful of the shaved ice.
"Beautiful flower" Steve told her quietly, an undercurrent to his voice which she didn't understand.
"Beautiful flower" She repeated in surprised, looking back towards the hut. "Well, I suppose it could have been worse. At least it wasn't an insult this time." She remarked.
"No not this time, he was complimenting you. He clearly thinks you're beautiful and wanted to let you know that he did." Steve commented still in that strange tone.
"A compliment" She said with a wry laugh as she shook her head. "I had forgotten what one of those sounded like since I moved out here. All I tend to hear in my directions is insults."
"Danni-" Steve began to say, stopping when a small girlish voice interrupted them.
"Are you cops?"
Danni turned away from Steve, her gaze dropping to focus on the small girl standing in front of them who was staring up at them with questioning dark eyes.
"I am, do you need help with something?" Danni asked her in concern. The girl shook her head at her.
"No" She replied confidently. "I'm okay, if you're a cop then what are you?" She asked, turning to look at Steve. Danni watched with a raised eyebrow as Steve leaned towards the small girl.
"It doesn't matter, do you like Cotton Candy?" He asked her, offering her his untouched shaved ice. "Go and find your mother." The girl shot him an unimpressed look as he straightened again.
"I don't like cotton candy" She told him stiffly. Danni couldn't help the smile which came to her face when she caught sight of the constipated look which came to her partner's face.
"I've got something which you might like." She commented as she moved to the back of the car and opened the door, she reached in and pulling the large pink bunny which she had originally bought for Grace out. "Would you like this instead?" She asked. The girl nodded eagerly, her face lighting up. "Then you can have it" Danni said, handing it over to her before she shut the door. "I hope you enjoy it."
"Thank you" The girl stated happily, turning and running back towards a harassed looking woman who was nearby who was clearly her mother. Danni watched her, until she was sure that she was safe before she looked back at Steve, tilting her head at him with a questioning look when she noticed he was staring at her with a look of disbelief.
"What is it? Is something wrong?" She asked him.
"Is something wrong?" Steve repeated. "Do you always just happen to have a large, fluffy pink toy bunny in your backseat?"
"Yeah… doesn't everyone?" She replied innocently, grinning when Steve's face broke into a smile at her comment. For a moment she stared at him before she forced herself to look away from him.
"Well just look at the pair of you." Chin called out from behind them as he approached them, clapping his hands together with a wide grin plastered on his face as he looked between them, clearly loving their embarrassment. "You're both looking really good."
"You better have a name for us which we can use Chin" Steve threatened, the smile on his face disappearing as he turned to the other man. Danni only waited for Chin to nod before she placed her shaved ice on the floor beside her feet and stood up, ripping the t-shirt off and scrunching it up into a ball which she threw at Chin, smirking when it hit him square in the face. "Good shot Danni" Steve complimented with a smile at her as he reached down and pulled off his own oversized t-shirt, throwing it through the partially opened window of the car into the backseat.
Danni smiled as she bent back down and picked up her shaved ice again.
"Why thank you Steve, three years on the school netball team will do that for you" Danni replied before she looked towards Chin, her gaze turning serious. "We should head back to the headquarters so we can look up the detains on the name Kamekona gave you. We'll have to come up with a way to bring them in for questioning."
"That's a good plan" Steve agreed with a nod before he focused on Chin "Chin, meet us at the Ali'iolani Hale, our office is on the third floor" He instructed Chin, throwing his untouched shaved ice into the nearby bin before he headed around the car towards the passenger side.
"We'll see you there shortly" Danni added, flashing a warm smile at Chin before she got into the car and started it up, waiting until Steve had sorted himself out before she held out her cherry shaved ice to him. "Hold onto that please and don't even think about trying it" She warned as she pulled out of the space and followed Chin's motorbike out of the car park, a slight smile coming to her face when she saw Steve automatically take a bite of her shaved ice. She caught him wince from the corner of her eyes and smiled. "Suffering from some brain freeze perhaps?" She queried. "That my friend is what we call Karma."
"Just step on it Danni, we've got work we need to do" Steve answered, a tinge of amusement to his voice.
"Well, I suppose since you asked me so nicely I could." She answered dryly with a shake of her head.
He was right though, they certainly had work to do and not that much time to do it in.
Author Note
Thanks for taking the time to read. An especially big thank you if you have left me a review, favourite the story or decided to follow it.
I really appreciate it