1x03: "Malama KaʻAina" - "Respect the Land"
Original Episode Summary: "The team fall witness to a shooting between Triad and Samoan gangs during a high school football game, what they were watching, and during the game, Danny introduces Grace to the team. Chin Ho chases a suspect, only to find it is Sid (Sidney Liufau), his cousin, who later reveals himself to be working undercover in a gang unit. Sid refuses to have anything to do with Chin Ho because of Chin's past with the HPD and also because of the corruption charge that Chin has. McGarrett and Danny discover that Frank Salvo (James Russo), a Mafia boss from New Jersey, is meeting with the head of the Samoan gang, after which there could be a full blown gang war. The team manage to stop the meeting. Meanwhile, Danny fights to keep shared custody of his daughter Grace following the gang shooting, as she was present; his ex-wife ultimately drops the case. In the end, the team decides to name themselves "Five-0", after McGarrett's high school football jersey number."
Plus: Grace meets the rest of the team and Steve's family.
THE PALACE – REC ROOM - TEAM HQ
It was like some kind of prize giving ceremony, but they all knew what they were going to get.
Chin was leaning against the makeshift kitchenette they sued to make coffee and for Danny to heat up leftover takeout, much to Steve's annoyance.
And Steve used to readily leave baked goods made by his wife or daughter, much to Danny's joy.
Their 'boss' stood moving between them all, handing out makeshift red and white tickets, complete with tear off stubs.
Kono could barely contain her excitement, stood as she was by where Danny, the only one sat in one of the waiting room style armchairs, watched Steve as warily as he always did, leaf through the tickets and pick them up one at a time.
"A Kukui football game, is this just going to be an opportunity for you to brag about beating my records?" Chin chuckled, staring down at the ticket in his hand Steve held a bunch of in his.
"Absolutely not." Steve deadpanned, turning to Kono but still speaking to Chin, "besides Jake has it set by the end of the season he's going to have most of mine beat anyway so it's kind of irrelevant."
"No part of anything you say when planning something is irrelevant. Trust me, I know this, I have figured it out whilst getting shot at." Danny gestured to his arm before reaching it out to grab two tickets from Steve who was stood staring at him, lifting an eyebrow.
"I can't tell if that's a compliment or not Danno…"
"It's not." Danny assured him, reading the information on the ticket, "you know this coincides with me having Grace this Saturday."
"It's not a coincidence." Steve stated as he turned to Kono, "Catherine really wants to meet her, and thought it a) might be nice to all meet her together and b) do it somewhere she won't feel like she's in the spotlight."
"Oh this is Catherine's idea… I get it now…"
"What does that mean?" Steve turned eyes on his partner defensively, "and what do you 'get'? There's nothing to get Danny…"
Chin chuckled ominously, sharing a look with Kono as Danny shrugged.
"Well I'm just saying it's very thoughtful." Danny mused, with a shrug.
"Yes it is."
"And not something you'd have thought of yourself."
"Wha-" Steve sucked in a breath and closed his eyes briefly, reminding himself he had two teenage kids, he could cope with Danny, "You know what Danny just bring Grace ok?"
"Orders received. Tell Catherine we accept."
Steve ignored him, knowing he was being busted when Danny saluted.
"Same here." Chin fluttered his ticket and Steve this time grinned.
"Yeh brah, woo" Kono let out a breath, turning it over to waft in the air as she beamed, "I don't think I've been to one since I left."
"Yes those three years have certainly flown by." Danny muttered, shuddering at the thought that Kono was about as near to having left high school as Grace was to joining, give or take a few months which Danny clung to.
Kono smacked him with her ticket and Danny feigned hurt.
SATURDAY – KUKUI HIGH SCHOOL
"So you're sons on the football team right?" Kono glanced at Catherine beside her, and then at Steve who was just behind them with Chin. They had met outside before the game started, even arriving a little early to match when Steve and Cath had to drop Mia and Jake off for their pre-match warm up. Danny had texted saying he had had to go across the island to pick Grace up, and whilst still coming, would be a few minutes late.
He hadn't sounded too happy on the phone, but it was a Saturday morning, and Danny appeared to have been messed around by Step-Stan and his ex's plans, so his blatant mood was nothing new.
"Yeh," Catherine laughed, eyes still on the play while she clapped and cheered with Kono, "Number 50, same as his dad." She glanced back at Steve who beamed.
"50?" Kono frowned but her question was cut off by Steve saying.
"He'll make starting quarterback by junior year I'm sure of it, breaking both our records," he shared a chuckle with Chin, "he made the team straight from middle into High School, no try-outs."
"Just like Mia with the cheerleading team." Catherine said nonchalantly, eyes tactfully on the play, and Kono full on laughed when she saw the proud Grin on Steve's face wobble with pain.
Seeing his eyes now locked on the cheerleaders at the corner of the field Catherine groaned and dug her elbow backwards into his shin, "Steve…"
Kono was still laughing, "Not a fan of cheerleaders huh boss?" she glanced at Catherine, "and be careful how you answer that."
"I can appreciate cheerleaders in their own way." He said diplomatically, breathing deeply, "and I am very proud of her for making the team, but," he huffed a breath like he was in pain, "what I can't get behind is…"
He paused like he couldn't even say the word.
"The uniform." Catherine told Kono with a wink.
Steve shuddered.
"Why not? Kono tried to ask innocently, clapping a brilliant pass on the field as Catherine cheered.
"What do you mean why not?" Steve lifted his eyebrows at the rookie, and Catherine's disappeared into her forehead accompanying her eye roll. She had heard it all before.
"What is there to like about it?" Steve demanded under his breath as if he genuinely wanted an answer, "it's not like there's a lot of it!"
The crowd erupted into boos and hisses in their stand, when the referee waved away a fowl.
"Ooh…" Steve and Chin winced, but applauded the team to encourage play on. Morale was everything.
That however wasn't enough for Cath and Kono.
Both of them leapt to their feet, pointing at the field and official in question, hurling pieces of their own advice.
"Come on!" Catherine fairly screamed, cupping her hands over her mouth as Kono accompanied her.
"How'd you miss that face grab ref?"
"He only tried to gouge the kid's eyes out!"
Some parents turned around to look, but seeing who it was, chalked it off and looked back to the front with a chuckle.
With a glance at the two women Steve leant in towards Chin, "glad they are both on our team right?"
"Yeh, I think Catherine like Kono is just getting started." He laughed, "Footballs always interesting…"
"Yeh tell me about it she's a Dallas Cowboys fan."
"Thought you were redskins?"
"I am."
"And the kids?"
"One of each."
"Lemme guess, Jake takes after you."
"Not even close…"
"Oh wow…" Chin nodded as he laughed and Catherine and Kono, onslaught of the referee finished, sat back down.
Steve shook his head, proud of his children until the end about anything… except his son's choice of football team.
You could only have one in life, and as far as Steve was concerned he had chosen wrongly.
"Sorry we are late!"
The voice came from their right, and wasn't that of someone shrill screaming at their kid.
Danny, of course wearing a dress shirt rather than anything remotely casual, followed who they all knew to be Grace up the steps to their seats.
"Hey!" They all chorused, Kono and Catherine going as far as to wave their foam fingers and clap them, causing the young girl to giggle slightly less nervously.
For Catherine especially, she wanted the young girl to feel at ease with her. She already knew without Steve admitting that he had a good relationship with Danny, and it soothed her to know that the east coast blonde had her husband's back. If Steve and Danny were to become, as she suspected they would, more like brothers than partners, it was important for Grace to feel at ease with them all.
Having moved around a lot as a kid when her dad was in the Navy, Catherine knew how nervous meeting new adults could be as a pre-teen.
But more than that, she really wanted Grace to like her. They all did.
"Hey." She said again and Kono patted the seat Catherine had vacated to slide back and sit next to Steve, "here you can take this spot."
"Thank you." The girl said politely, flushing slightly.
Danny sat down beside her in front of Steve, who couldn't resist saying, "Nice hands brah," at the foam finger his partner was wearing.
Danny smirked and Catherine tapped Steve lightly in the arm with her own, and when he feigned a possible bruise, Grace giggled.
The ice broken, Steve leant n with an extended hand, "hey Gracie," taking her small palming his he gave it a half shake and squeeze, "It's great to meet you finally, your daddy talks about you all the time."
"He talks about you a lot too." Grace grinned, unsure really why the adults around her chuckled knowingly.
"Out of the mouths of babes…" Catherine sing songed, sipping her soda with a wink at Grace before handing it and her foam finger to Steve.
"We er, commiserate together actually…" Danny tactfully kept his eyes on the football field, "it's a father daughter thing… speaking of is that Mia doing the handstand in that skirt?"
As Steve's head whipped around to the corner of the field Danny spoke of the laugher turned away from his partner and what Grace had said as the rest of the group took turns introducing themselves.
"And I'm Uncle Chin."
"Are you a football player?" Grace hadn't missed his jersey.
"I used to be," Chin said somewhat nostalgically, "I used to play quarter back for that red team."
"Yeh he was a legend too," Steve bumped fists with Grace with a wink, "until I came along and shattered all his records." She hid another laugh behind her hand.
Seeing her delight Danny beamed, but a football fan through and through, could only half tear his attention away from the game, and mulling over the morning.
"Hi I'm Kono," Kono beamed, "That's a really pretty tennis outfit."
"Thank you." Grace tugged at the hem of it, "it's not as pretty as my cheerleading outfit though."
"Yeh I had to pick her up today at a country club," clapping his hands together before reaching to cover Grace's ears, and dropping his voice as low as it Steve assumed it ever went, Danny decided to soothe over the cheerleader comment from his daughter as it threatened to turn him grey, and instead seized upon all his annoyance from the morning. "Step Stan decided that she should start taking tennis lessons."
"What's wrong with Tennis Danny?" of course Steve interrupted him, but his question was genuine. And more to the point he knew Danny would tell him exactly what he thought.
"I tell you what's wrong with Tennis," Danny's voice rose a pitch, unable to be tamed, "it can be played on a table which makes it an activity not a sport. You throw the ball, I catch the ball," he playfully moved Graces head from side to side, "that is a sport. It is my duty as a father to teach my daughter the difference."
Thinking about his son's choice of football team and his daughters correct one: that statement was something Steve could get behind, so he nodded.
"Danno I can still hear you," Grace widened her eyes and the adults chuckled as Danny's entire face softened.
He put his temple to graces and scolded her with a tickling squeeze, "well you're not supposed to be listening to me you're supposed to be paying attention, because its football, it's a sport."
"Like the Jets right?"
"Yes monkey like the Jets." Danny nodded proudly, grin lighting up the entire stand.
Steve rolled his eyes at the mention of Danny's beloved team and muttered, "Come on…"
"Hi I'm Catherine," His wife introduced herself and accepted a hug from the young girl.
"Wow you're really pretty, Danno said you were."
"Did he now…" Steve muttered and poked his partner in the back of the head with Catherine's foam finger.
Danny huffed, "You are such a child."
"Thank you." Catherine was still speaking to Grace.
"He also said that your daughter was pretty too," Grace carried on even though Steve scowled at Danny, nudging him again with the red foam hand, "and that Jake looked like his dad…"
"Yes he does, takes after him too." Catherine then made Grace Giggle by scolding Steve and taking the foam finger back. What made her laugh even more was Steve's look, about as close to a pout as he ever got.
"Mia is a cheerleader monkey," Danny continued to say helpfully, "she's the really pretty one on the far right." He pointed across the field.
Steve hated that uniform.
Steve nearly swore under his breath, "Bite me Danny."
Catherine patted his leg soothingly.
"Wow that's really cool!" Grace thought it genuinely was, and thought that Mia and Jake at fifteen, were so grown up and of a similar adjective.
"I'm sure you'll get to meet them soon. We'll have a Barbeque." Steve declared, his voice extending the invite. With another wink at Grace he added, "You can even bring Danno if you want."
Danny's shoulders dropped as he scowled deeply, and everyone laughed at his expression.
"Danno I'm hungry." Grace said, and didn't whine like Catherine and Steve had both strongly scolded their children for doing the few times they had growing up.
"How can you be hungry when we ate an hour ago?" Danny asked dramatically but with no malice.
"We didn't eat nachos an hour ago…"
"What was I thinking about of course we didn't…" he took her hand and stood, "come on lets go."
"Bye…" Kono and Catherine waved.
"Hey get me some." Steve said without reaching for his wallet.
Danny rolled his eyes and went to keep walking, but Catherine stuck her hand in Steve's pocket, making his jump slightly but otherwise to move. She produced a folded note and held it out with a serious expression but then a wink at Grace.
"No seriously get us some."
MCGARRETT HOME: 19:30
Tired but happy, Steve opened the front door to his home to be greeted by warmth the smell of cooking, as well as loud but cheerful and much loved voices have a generous helping of back and forth.
"Shotgun."
"You can't shotgun a person onto your football team Jake. Especially not an eight year old girl."
"Erm yes I can. NFL teams do it all the time."
"Seriously? Listen to what you just said…"
Steve took in the scene before him, his daughter sat on the couch, son on the recliner, tossing a ball as well as banter back and forth. The TV stood in the corner, on loud, playing to no one in particular.
"If you guys are talking about what I think you are, I hope you are fighting over me too." He teased as he dropped his keys in the bowl on the coffee table by the door.
Jake laughed, "Mom's invited Danny and Grace over this weekend for a barbeque, and seen as we always play family football at the weekends…"
"He's trying to change it from boy's vs girls the way he always does," Mia caught the ball and instead hurled the insult back at her brother, "coz me and mum always sack you and dad."
"Err…" Steve and Jake not only screwed their faces up in matching looks of insult, but also tipped their heads identically and said in unison, "Don't think so."
"Besides it's not just about us," Steve said when his daughter rolled her eyes, so very like her mother, "Gracie might really want to be on my team."
"I'm sorry your team?" Jake frowned at his dad as Steve leant against the recliner.
"Yeh, my team." Steve caught the ball in one hand Mia tossed to Jake, "and with passing like that," he bounced it in his hand, "Why would she want to be on the girl's team?"
"Umm because mom is on that team and she and grace are like BFF's. They spoke for half an hour on the phone after um invited them." Mia said as though it were obvious.
"Really." Steve lifted and eyebrow and chuckled before looking around, "where is your mom?"
"She's n the kitchen making dinner. Ragu." Jake offered and took the ball back from Steve who turned and walked into the kitchen.
"Hey." He greeted, finding her stood by the island washing pasta, the picture of domestic bliss.
"Hey." She looked up and grinned at him, accepting a kiss when he came to stand beside her, snaking a tomato, "have a good day?"
"Yeh." He grinned and kissed her cheek, "You?"
"Well I certainly woke up in a good mood…" she laughed and he chuckled, stepping up behind her and wrapping his arms around her middle. As he placed a kiss on her neck she lifted an eyebrow, "is that a badge on your hip or are you just pleased to see me?"
He laughed, and it struck him them how easy it all was, even after so many years. Out of the shadow of his father's death they'd in some ways created a new life for themselves, still in the same house, still the four of them… but their family was expanding.
"The kids said you had invited Danny and Grace over this weekend?"
"Yeh." She smiled, reaching for her bowl of sauce, "and Chin and Kono. I hope you don't mind…"
"You know I don't." He kissed her cheek, grateful beyond words she had accepted his team into the family so readily. But he knew it was more than that, because Cath counted those who kept him safe as a family.
"Jake and Mia are already arguing over who gets who on the football teams," he told her, "seems you spoke to Grace for a little while?"
"Yeh. She wanted to make sure everyone was ok after the football." Here voice turned quiet and soft, hands slowing as she added the sauce to the pasta, "she's such a considerate little girl."
Steve watched her face for a moment, cheek against hers, chin on her shoulder.
He hugged his arms tighter around her middle, kissing her ear, "Not getting broody are you?"
She chuckled and turned her face to look at him, kissing him softly, "fifteen year age gap between our kids seems a little big don't you think?"
"mmm'maybe." He hummed and rubbed his hand over her flat stomach, "but if you ever did think about it… you'd tell me right?"
"Of course." She breathed, "and you me?"
"Of course."
She kissed him again, "Ok. Will you set the table?"
"Sure."