A/N: Most of this chapter is development. I needed to try and explain a few things and bring a few things around to what might kind of be considered canon. I tried to explain why Frank would still have been alive after the events of the season three premier…now that we're nearing the end of season three for Five-O and all the other shows for that matter. Hope you like it!
Chapter 14: Danger, Danger.
The next morning, bright and early, and with the help of a few of Hetty's hangover tips, Kono made her way silently out of her hotel room, down the stairs and to the lobby, where - as promised - Kensi was waiting.
"How are you feeling?" Kensi asked with a smile as the two women greeted each other in the nearly deserted hotel lobby.
"Hetty is a genius!" Kono stated cheerfully.
"Don't I know it," Kensi laughed. "And I'm thinking tonight is going to be even more fun!"
"I'm so looking forward to it!"
"Come on, we had better hit the beach before anyone notices that you're gone." Kensi stated and the two women headed to the car that Kensi had waiting.
5-0-NCIS:LA-TBBT
As promised two vehicles were left for the Five-Os at their hotel, and after a longer shower than normal, Danny managed to throw himself across the back seat of the one Steve had opted to drive, while Chin and Max took the second. Kono had texted before anyone was awake to say that she had met up with Kensi and they had gone for breakfast before heading into NCIS headquarters to get an early jump on things.
"They went surfing!" Chin stated as the four men headed down in the elevator to the lobby.
"How, how is she fine?" Danny asked with a yawn that turned into a growl. "She went out drinking, she's got to be feeling the jet lag, and she worked all day yesterday. How does she have the energy to go surfing?"
"It's routine for Kono," Chin answered with a shrug.
"And she's young," Steve said and though he tried to cover it up, he yawned as well.
"Normally, I'd fight you on the old comments, but I'm feeling old today," Danny said and sighed as he leaned against the wall. "I could use another thirteen hours of sleep, a massage, and two days off."
"That's not going to happen." Steve chuckled as the elevator door slid open and Max bounded forward from somewhere in the lobby.
"You've missed the breakfast!" Max stated cheerfully.
"How are you chipper?" Danny asked and rubbed as his head - which had started to ache. Nothing major just that annoying pain that starts and lingers somewhere behind your eyes.
"I'm not really sure," Max answered. "I worked very hard yesterday, but I did get to bed early. Perhaps it has all balanced itself out."
"He also managed to sleep on the plane," Chin stated.
"Curse you," Danny said mockingly and then followed Steve toward the exit as he had picked up the keys at the front desk.
5-0-NCIS:LA-TBBT
The Five-Os were among the first to arrive at the boathouse. Danny made a b-line toward the couch and flopped onto it while Chin, Steve and Max took seats at the stainless steal table and went through Max's reports from the previous day. Rose's pier side conclusions had been correct. The two men had died of drowning. Water had been found in their lungs, and they had definitely been tortured. Max noted broken bones in the victim's hands and bruises to their lower abdomens. Frank Delano showed signs of recovery from several gunshot wounds - wounds Chin was curtain had killed him, but when paramedics had gone looking for the body, it was gone.
"Cockroach," Chin huffed and stood from his place at the table and began walking around the room.
"If it is any consolation Chin, I can definitively say that Frank Delano is now dead. Very Dead," Max stated.
"Thank you, Max," Chin said but continued his pacing all the same.
"Did you find anything else Max?" Steve asked as he pushed the files away from himself.
"We sent a lot of stuff away to the crime lab for analysis but the bodies told us exactly what they had gone through. Sorry it's nothing more then you already knew."
"It's all right, finding those bodies was enough to put us on the right path." Steve stated as the door to the boat house flew open and an overly exuberant Marty Deeks waltzed in.
"It's time for a party!" Deeks stated, look around and then sighed. "Where is everyone, and what happened to Danny?"
"I'm tired!" Danny grumbled from the couch.
"Jet lag?"
"Teenage girl McGarrett wanted to gossip all night," Danny stated.
"I let you sleep!" Steve stated.
"Not before I threatened to shoot you."
"That wasn't much of a thread."
"Either way, to answer your questions Deeks, yes, it's probably a combination of jet lag and exhaustion. Don't be fooled by Steve, or Chin for that matter. They aren't taking this morning very well either."
"Coffee helps," Chin stated but didn't deny that he too was feeling overly exhausted.
Danny jumped up and rushed to the coffee pot.
"Well seeing as no one else is here yet - have you guys eaten?" Deeks asked as he looked around. "There is a really great breakfast join just around the corner."
"I ate at the hotel," Max stated, "but thank you for the invite."
"I could eat," Steve stated,
"Me too," Chin nodded.
"Danny?" Deeks asked.
"Yeah, as long as it's not hippy granola or a salad bar, I'm down."
"They do almost everything you can imagine and you can grab it to go so we can run down there and be back probably before anyone even notices we're gone."
"Detective Deeks, I think it is a wonderful idea for you to get my esteemed colleagues out of the boathouse and into a more Californian state of mine. I will remain here in the event that the rest of our investigation team arrives before you have all returned." Max stated and waved his colleagues away.
"Are you sure Max?" Steve asked as he stood.
"Oh yes, I'll be perfectly content here." Max said with a nod and the three other men follow Deeks out of the safe-house.
5-0-NCIS:LA-TBBT
Upon returning Steve, Danny, Deeks and Chin found the boathouse over run. Everyone had arrived, pulled up a chair and were waiting patiently, not for the quartet to arrive, but for Hetty and their guest of honour.
"What, you didn't bring enough to share with the whole class?" Sam asked from his place at the table beside Sheldon and Howard.
"Had everyone been early - like these guys - breakfast would have been on me!" Deeks stated proudly.
"Are you sucking up to the Five-O?" Kensi asked with a shake of her head.
"Just like you are, darling," Deeks stated and motioned to Kono.
"Actually it was my idea to give Kensi a few surf lessons so that she could kick your butt on the water." Kono countered.
"Wait, as interesting as this whole rivalry has gotten all of a sudden, I can't get over the fact that Deeks bought breakfast for you," Callen stated.
"He didn't," Steve said with a laugh, "but he did show us a pretty great little joint. It's made my cranky partner pretty happy this morning."
"You wanna send our cranky partners out together again today?" Sam asked and tossed a teasing glare at Callen.
"Callen is my kind of guy," Danny stated with a shrug, "no navy SEAL shenanigans to deal with - straight forward, get in and get out."
"Gentlemen, may I offer some insight into the current situation?" Sheldon asked as he held up his hands and stood from his seat.
"NO!" The three other men in Sheldon's party stated and pulled Sheldon back to his seat.
"He's not allowed to speak anymore," Leonard stated. "We'll stay out of trouble that way."
"I was merely going to suggest that we settle this like gentlemen - the honourable way." Sheldon stated with a shake of his head.
"What did you have in mind, Sheldon?" Callen asked with a grin.
"Boxing," Sheldon stated.
"No, no, no," Deeks stated to silence the idea. "We're going to keep this civil. There will be no physical confrontations."
"I didn't mean real boxing." Sheldon stated. "Lord knows that a man of my genius and stature would be pummeled to death. No, I was going to suggest that we settle this later in a strictly virtual setting."
"Like a video game?" Callen asked.
"Indeed Agent Callen."
"You boys can do whatever you want later - we're going out with Hetty again tonight." Kensi stated as Hetty walked into the boathouse followed by a man everyone assumed to be Agent Boyd.
"What, again?" Deeks gasped. "Hetty, where's the love?" he asked and put on his best puppy dog look.
Hetty merely smirked and motioned for everyone to take up their places.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce Agent Douglas Boyd of the Defense Department." Hetty stated.
"Wow, this is more people that I initially expected." Boyd stated as he coloured slightly - he was clearly a shy sort of man.
"Nell and Eric will be connecting with us momentarily," Hetty stated as she sat down on the couch next to Kono and Kensi. "Proceed Sir." She added as the monitors sprang to life and the live feed connected with NCIS HQ.
"All right, I'm here to talk to you about Project Chameleon." Boyd stated nervously. "Project Chameleon is - well was - a top secret experimental project into micro technology that could be used to disarm weapons, scramble satellites, and track individuals as they moved through war missions. It was always meant to be used by the US military to keep track of their own men and to get in and disarm weapons that could be honing in on them via spy satellites or computers."
"What does it have to do with nuclear technology?" Callen asked before Boyd could continue.
"The devices were made to disarm and scramble singles being sent to the nuclear warheads or defense satellites." Boyd stated.
"So why destroy these?" Callen asked as he placed two micro processors on the table.
"Where did you get those?" Boyd asked.
"Out of the uniforms of Lieutenant McGuire and Holick," Callen stated.
"Two bodies were pulled out of the ocean yesterday morning. One was Lieutenant McGuire the other was wearing Holick's uniform. Can you explain how these devices would work and why Holick would want to destroy them?"
"Holick is your suspect?" Boyd asked and coloured slightly.
"Yes," Hetty stated. "Who is he to the project?"
"He's our leading researcher on project Chameleon."
"What is his background, exactly?" Sheldon asked as he adapted an air similar to Hetty's.
"He's and experimental physicist," Boyd stated and all eyes turned on Leonard.
"We're not all crazy," Leonard quipped and fell silent again.
"How do the devices work?" Sam asked.
"Using a series of Morse Code like commands a person sporting the micro units could do a number of things from activate the GPS in the devices, signal and pilot drones in war zone and even send codes and decode enemy missiles and satellites. These are just prototypes of the next generation. Holick was working to make the device more durable, so that it wouldn't break down as easily."
"How close was Holick to developing that technology?" Steve asked.
"He'd managed a second prototype that did much more and was much more versatile. Not only could he now disarm missiles but he could control them, turn them back on enemies and use their own devices against them." Boyd explained. "But the project was shut down three days ago when the new prototypes went missing and news of McGuire's death reached the DOD. Are you now saying that Holick himself is still alive?"
"We believe that he is. His uniform was found on the body of one of Five-Os suspects." Sam explained.
"This could be really bad," Boyd stated and his voice shook slightly. "The problem with the device is it was able to disarm and control our own weapons and not just that of our enemies. If it fell into the wrong hands..."
"It would pose a threat to national security," Hetty finished as the man's voice trailed off.