Hawaii Five-0

Caught In The Crossfire

Chapter 27

17 hours later…

With the infection all cleared up, Danny was discharged from hospital. Gabby had picked him and Grace up, as Rachel had to stay in the hospital a little while longer, and rather than going home, Danny asked Gabby to drive him to HPD where Matt was being held until his extradition back to the mainland.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Gabby asked him as they pulled into the HPD parking lot.

"Yeah" Danny replied. "I need Mattie to know that we love him and that we forgive him"

"By we you mean you and April?" Gabby asked.

"Not just me and April; Rachel and Grace too" Danny replied. "Isn't that right Grace?" he asked as he turned to face her in the back seat.

"Yeah" Grace replied. "Uncle Matt didn't hurt us; those bad men did" she stated.

"Okay" Gabby agreed. "Grace and I will wait here"

"Okay, I'll be back soon" Danny stated as he climbed out of the car before closing the door and heading for the main entrance of HPD.

"Steve should be here in a couple of minutes"

Walking into HPD headquarters, Danny was greeted with the friendly face of Sergeant Duke Lukela at the front desk.

"Danny, it's good to see you" Duke stated.

"How are you doing?" he asked as he looked at Danny's arm in the sling.

"Good, considering" Danny replied as he rubbed his injured shoulder. "But better" he added.

"Good to hear" said Duke. "How's April doing?" he asked.

"She's still in the ICU, but she's a lot doing better" Danny explained.

"I'm thinking that baby has something to do with it"

"I'm sure it does" Duke agreed as he smiled. "I take it you're here about your brother?" he asked.

"Is it that obvious?" Danny asked as Duke nodded. "Yeah, can you take me to him?"

"No problem brother" Duke replied as he gestured to Danny to follow him.

"He seems pretty anxious to see you too"

"I bet he is" said Danny as he followed Duke to the holding cells where Matt was staying.

"Matthew Williams" Duke said as he and Danny arrived outside his cell.

"You're brother's here to see you" he stated as Matt looked up to see them.

"Thanks Duke" said Danny, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Take all the time you need" said Duke before leaving Danny and Matt alone to talk.

"Hey Mattie" said Danny. "How are you holding up?" he asked.

"Better than I expected" Matt replied. "Could ask you the same question though"

"We're all okay" Danny replied.

"April's still in the ICU because of an infection, but as soon as that clears up she'll be moved somewhere more comfortable"

"Good, that's good" Matt stated. "Ah…does the baby have a name?"

"Yeah she does" Danny replied. "April and Michael named her Jessica"

"Jessica…that's a nice name" Matt stated. "I take it that your team found Nathan?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah they got him" Danny replied. "Well not so much they…more like just April"

"What?" Matt asked.

"April shot him in the arm; but not before he shot Michael in the arm too" Danny replied.

"They're all fine"

"Why didn't she kill him?" Matt asked. "I mean she had the shot…so why didn't she do it?"

"That's a very good question" Danny replied.

"Ahhhhh anyway look…I actually came here to tell you something you need to know"

"What's that?" Matt asked.

"It's that we forgive you Mattie" Danny stated.

"We?" Matt asked.

"Yeah we" Danny replied. "Me, April, Grace and Rachel; we forgive you"

"Why?" Matt asked.

"I mean I can't even forgive myself for what happened to all of you; you all nearly died because of me"

"Hey Mattie, listen to me, you weren't the one who kidnapped us, hell you weren't the one who cut April's baby out of her body and left her and us to die in that hell hole" Danny explained.

"Now, you may be the reason that happened, but you didn't do any of this okay. You're family and no matter how badly you screw up, we still love you and that's why we forgive you"

"But you're still angry at me" Matt stated.

"Yeah I'm still angry at you" Danny agreed.

"We were all nearly killed yesterday; but I'm not here to talk about that" he stated.

"Then why are you here?" Matt asked.

"I'm here because I'm going to take you to the hospital so you can see April and Rachel" Danny replied.

"Can you do that?" Matt asked.

"I'm a cop, of course I can do that" Danny replied.

"What about Stan and Michael?" Matt asked, worried how they might react when they see him after everything that's happened.

"I mean you saw what happened when Stan last saw me"

"Don't worry about them; I'll deal with them" Danny replied.

"It'll be good for all of you; to see that you're all okay"

"Okay, I'll go" Matt stated. "What happens now?" he asked.

"Steve and I need to go and fill in some paper work and we'll be good to go" Danny replied.

"Steve's here?" Matt asked.

"Yeah" Danny replied. "He's right here actually"

"Hey Matt" said Steve.
"Thanks for doing this guys" said Matt.

"That's what family's do" Steve stated. "We'll be right back"

Forty five minutes later, after going through all the proper channels and paper work, Steve, Danny and Matt arrived at Queen's Medical Center; and of course, with much dismay to the FBI agents. As the three of them stepped off the elevator, they stopped before continuing on any further.

"What are you doing?" Matt asked as Steve reached into his pocket.

"I'm taking these off" Steve replied as he pointed to the handcuffs on Matt's wrists.

"Why? I thought I had to keep them on" Matt asked.

"Technically yes" Danny replied as Steve unlocked the handcuffs.

"But I think it'd be better for everyone, especially Grace, if we take them off for now"

"Just don't run alright" said Steve once Matt was release of the handcuffs.

"Believe me, I won't be stupid enough to do that again" Matt stated.

"That's good to know" said Danny. "Let's go"

As the three of them rounded the corner to get to April's room, they found Kono and Chin standing outside of her room waiting for them.

"Hey guys" said Kono when she saw the three of them round the corner.

"Did you get a chance to talk to Michael and Stan?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, we did" Chin replied as he looked through the window of April's room.

"They're not exactly thrilled at the idea; but they both agreed it was okay"

"Well, I guess it's better than nothing" said Danny. "Come on Mattie, let's go"

For Matt, entering his little sister's hospital room was nothing short of awkward when he was met with Michael and Stan's less than impressed expressions. But when he saw April sitting up and smiling even, though she was completely exhausted, while Grace held Jessica with Rachel looking, the feeling of awkwardness suddenly went away. Danny was right, it was exactly what he needed to see after everything that had happened; to see that his family was okay.

"Told you they were okay" Danny said quietly while standing behind him.

"Ahem, ladies…someone here to see you" he said aloud so April, Rachel and Grace could hear.

"Hey" said April when she heard Danny speak, with her voice still sounding a little weak.

"Mattie, why don't you come over here and meet your new niece"

"Come on Uncle Matt, its okay" said Grace when she saw Matt hesitate.

Matt then could not ignore the assurance of a ten year old girl; so he walked over and sat down on April's bed next to Grace before she gently handed him Jessica.

"Isn't she cute?" said Grace.

"Yes she is, she's very cute" Matt agreed.

"Can you take her for a second? There's something I need to talk to April about" he asked Rachel.

"Okay" said Rachel, leaning forward in her wheelchair to take Jessica.

"April…I'm…I'm…I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for what happened to you…to all of you…" said Matt as he held her hands.

"…Mattie…" April tried.

"No I need to say this" said Matt as his eyes began to well up.

"No matter what you say or do, I'm always going to blame myself for what happened to you. I know you're all angry at me…and you have every right to be. Danny said that you've all forgiven me…but I don't deserve your forgiveness…because of me you all got hurt…"

"Mattie…come here" said April as she gently pulled her brother in for a hug, being careful not to hurt herself again.

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry" said Matt as he sobbed into her shoulder while April looked up Danny who was giving them a weak but reassuring smile.

"It's okay…it's okay" April whispered. "You made a mistake…it's okay"

Meanwhile outside April's hospital room, Steve, Chin and Kono watched the beautiful family moment through the window and smiled.

THE END

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