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Without any further yada yada yada...
No major warnings for this chapter.
Chapter 10.
"What?" Steve asks.
"They found her." Danny says.
"Where?"
Steve watches as the gang leader slowly grins.
"So that brat is worth something, eh?" He asks.
"Nothing to you, sleemo." Danny says, making the gangster aware of the gun pressed to his back.
"Where is she?" Steve demands.
"Probably still resisting any method of torture hired hand try to inflict and instead turning it into a joke. These past years have been...uneventful, we'll say."
"Well you won't be saying anything after I lock you up for the kidnapping of 3 children." Steve hisses.
"Too bad they agreed to it," The gangster said, and it only took half a second for Steve to knock him out.
They found Lili having a staring contest with hired intimidation. Apparently, he just wasn't intimidating Lili, or she just wasn't showing it.
Lili doesn't indicate she's been rescued until she sees her hands. She hasn't seen her hands for the past 2 years. They'd always been tied behind her back.
When Steve asks her is she's ok, she nods.
Only once she's reunited with her siblings does she speak. Even then, it's minimal.
Steve still can't get to the bottom of it.
One night, after a particularly long day, Steve hears Lili muttering in her sleep. None of her siblings are awake, and Steve steps into their room so he can hear better.
"No, my fault, my idea," She seems to mutter over and over again. And Steve knows.
She blames herself.
He confronts Kale the next morning.
"So, it was an exchange. You 3 or more for me." Steve recaps.
"Yeah. She agreed to it with no question, did as she was told, and completely annoyed her captors, that all I know. They separated us." Kale explains.
"She blames herself for anything that happened to you or Alex because of her non-questioning attitude and willingness. Anything that happened to anybody was because of me. Because of the need for an exchange." Steve says, more to himself than Kale. But Kale heard anyway.
"You can't blame yourself."
"It's better than Lili taking the blame." Steve decides, and later he will confront Lili.
"You can't take blame." Steve says. Lili immediately knows what he's talking about and feigns stupidity.
"I'm not taking the blame for anything. You want someone to blame for this...fiasco that occurred for the past 2 years, blame the gangs. Not you, me, Alex, or Kale." Lili says, walking away without waiting for an answer.
"Hey Steven!" Danny calls out to Steve before he can leave HQ.
"What?" He asks.
"I can't just say goodbye to my favorite SuperSEAL? It has to be relevant?" Danny aks.
"No, Danno, you can't. Now what did you want to tell me?" Steve asks.
"Um, well, your adoption papers are complete. Kono and I finally found the missing papers and now CPS can't cut in." Danny says, handing a file to Steve.
"Wait, so for 2 years, 5 months, and 9 days they weren't actually my kids?" Steve asks. "But how-?"
Danny cuts him off. "CPS didn't butt in because we labeled it as part of the case when they first started living with you. When they went missing, CPS, Kono, Chin, and I all agreed it only made sense for Ollie and Eke to stay with you because they already knew and trusted you. You know, the 'stressful circumstances' made it easier for CPS to agree. But, now you have the kids, the papers, and the custody, so...good luck with your five little problems, Steve." Danny says, walking away from a speechless Steve.
"Danny," Steve calls out. "Your office is that way." Danny turns around and walks back towards his office.
"I knew that, Steven. Not one word."
Steve came home. He opens the door. He walks in. He kicks his shoes off. He grabs a beer from the fridge and settles outside with the file. He looks over the file slightly smiling when he sees the words.
Legal Guardian: Commander Steven McGarrett
Is says it on each child's form. Steve checks. Then it hits him.
Where are these kids?
As soon as he opens the door to their room, he shuts it. He opens it again, not believing his eyes. He shuts the door. He takes a breath, then opens the door and enters.
"So, why are you kids reading parenting books?" Steve asks. The kids, having seen him open the door multiple times are not at all fazed at his entering.
"To help you out." They respond.
"You guys are crazy."
"So are you." Lili says. "You adopted us. Today was the deadline, and if your detective friend hadn't helped you out, I'd be frantically trying to switch guardianship to Kale before CPS butted in." Lili says, not looking up from her computer, successfully putting her new trackers online while browsing the internet for parenting tips.
"What she said." Kale sums up.
"Sooooooooooo, somehow you know?" Steve asks.
"You can thank Mr. Williams for that also." Alex says, still reading.
"Yeah, you can thank him for a lot." Eke adds.
"You guys want to celebrate?" Steve asks casually.
"You want to celebrate the last night of your life where you'll still be sane?" Ollie, who has been quiet the entire conversation, speaks up.
"What?" Steve asks.
"What he said." All of Ollie's siblings say in unison.
"What's for dinner?" Steve asks.
"Pasta,"
"Tacos,"
"Pizza."
"Mac and cheese,"
"Ice cream,"
Steve sighed. Ollie was right.
THE END
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