They'd borrowed the Governor's plane to get them to LA as fast as possible. Once in the air, they had struggled to make contact with the NCIS team on the mainland, but they would get there as fast as possible. Steve had already had a word with the pilot, trying to get them to push it faster.

Danny forgave him his abruptness. He was worried about Grace, and knew that Steve had sensed that in him and was following suit. Although further than LA and out of whatever range this epidemic could start in, she was still far too close to it for Danny's liking and he kept rubbing his hands together with nervous energy.

"Maybe Danny can do something to get us there faster," Sam said. Steve shot him a dark look and Danny just rolled his eyes at the bad assumption.

"Because teleportation is a real thing witches can do," he answered sarcastically. "Seriously, even if there is something, I'm probably terrible at it."

"Don't say that, Danny," Steve said, taking his seat beside him and hooking his arm over Danny's on the armrest.

"I don't think fireballs are useful or encouraged in a small, confined space such as this," he gestured around the plane's interior.

"Your skills are developing fine," Steve hated when Danny talked himself down.

"I know, but I've only been training for about a year. I don't expect to be saving the world yet, babe." Danny squeezed Steve's arm and sat back. "Let's just concentrate on catching this guy with some good old fashioned detective work."

"I wish you'd stayed back on Oahu," Steve mumbled. Aware of the words spoken briefly before and how they didn't really need to elaborate because it was the same kind of conversations they'd had before.

Danny turned his head to Steve and gave him a look that spoke volumes about how done he was with said conversation. He didn't bother to say anything. Even if he was going to, the connection to the NCIS base seemed to be getting better.

"Callen?" the tinny voice came through the speakers.

"We're here, Nell. Can you hear us?" Callen answered her.

The joy of finally being back in contact with the world was short-lived: the plane with Prodeman had already disembarked. Sitting on their own plane there was nothing they could do, and they had to hope the team on the ground would be able to catch up to him.

They were picked up from the airstrip by a black SUV, which Danny decided not to comment on, even though it was tempting. Their driver didn't say much, but he was NCIS and in on some kind of government loop because Callen and Sam had no problem discussing matters of the case in front of him.

When they arrived at the NCIS office, it certainly wasn't what Danny expected. The old building, with its Spanish influence must be a good disguise, but it made him wonder why they felt it so necessary to hide their 'special operations' from prying eyes. If black helicopters were involved, he'd never hear the end of it from Steve.

Inside, the building still held onto its architectural and design history, except there was a clear modern touch with the amount of desks and computers and whatnot in various conclaves, but they weren't being invited in to critique how the place looked; they had a job to do.

Callen introduced them to Detective Marty Deeks, but they already knew Kensi.

"Wish we were meeting again under better circumstances," Danny nodded to her.

"How's everything going anyway? You look good," she said, while fixing her pony tail.

"Yeah," Danny glanced over at Steve, noticing his frown. "Yeah, things are better, there's been advancement, I guess, you could call it."

So… you're a witch too?" Deeks asked looking between everyone like he was the last to find out.

"Something like that," Danny smiled tightly.

"Something indeed," a voice came from behind, including herself into the circle and looking Danny up and down. "When you burn as brightly as you do, Detective, 'something' can be a bit of an understatement."

"I'm sorry, I uh…"

"Operations Manager Hetty Lange," Sam put in, introducing them. "This is Detective-"

"Detective Daniel Williams and Lieutenant Commander Steven McGarrett. I appreciate you being here to help us out, gentlemen."

"We felt we had to see it through," Steve finally spoke. "There's too much at risk to step back now." Steve's eyes were carefully on Hetty. He already knew Kensi was a witch and his vampire prowess would be dampened, but Danny wasn't sure if the presence of two witches would severely weaken Steve further. And he also didn't know if Steve realized Hetty was a witch, too. After all, Kensi had spoken to Danny on her visit to Hawaii, not Steve, and they hadn't spoken in detail of the conversation, leaving that as a private thing between two new friends.

"Indeed." Hetty, for such a small statured woman, clearly had no fear of the large vampire Navy SEAL in front of her and just gave him a steady look. "Perhaps having a vampire will play in our favor. We seem to have assembled quite a strong supernatural team here. Quite coincidental, of course."

"So you're a vampire," Deeks pointed at Steve then to Danny, "And you're… magic. That leaves Sam and I as the only real humans around here? That's a little weird, makes me feel a bit…"

"Inferior?" Sam put in.

"No, no, I wasn't going to say that…"

"Well, whatever you say, leave me out of it. I'm a Navy SEAL. I don't need any other powers than that."

Deeks shook off whatever he was feeling with a laugh and clapped his hands together, "So, let's move on. We were able to detain most of the passengers and flight crew at baggage claim. The health department is looking over them now."

"Any word on Prodeman?" Callen asked, having been rather quiet up to now.

"Eric is looking into it," Kensi answered.

"Perhaps the two of you," she motioned to Kensi and Deeks, "can look after our guests while I speak with the two of you." She pointed at Callen and Sam to follow her.

Danny and Steve moved to a set of desks where they were able to dump their packs and be brought up to speed on what had been happening in LA while they were in the air. They were told more about the dead woman that had been found on the plane. While Kensi was following up on more information, they were left at rather a loose end. Danny moved closer to Steve who seemed focused.

"You okay?" He asked.

"I'm just…" Steve pointed to where Callen and Hanna had disappeared with Hetty. He was visibly straining, his ability dampened with Kensi sitting across from him.

"Are you eavesdropping? That's not right, Steve," he admonished. Steve shushed him, then dropped his hand to Danny's wrist and held it lightly. His concentration seemed to relax with the touch.

"They're talking about what'll happen if this goes public, it's nothing top secret."

"That doesn't matter. You don't listen in on private conversations. If you were supposed to know about it, they'd have invited you."

"Hetty is a witch, isn't she," Steve said. He must have cottoned on after all, and Danny just gave a curt nod. "Then she is also likely a lot older than she looks. She's been around long enough to know vampires have excellent hearing, even if a witch's presence does normally dampen it. She probably knows I'm listening in, or at least trying to."

"That still doesn't give you an excuse-" Danny stopped as Steve's hand tightened on his wrist. "And what 'normally'…"

"They're coming," Steve cut Danny off.

A few seconds later Hetty came around the corner flanked by Callen and Hanna and was carrying a box with her. Kensi hung up the phone, telling everyone they had the address from a taxi company for where Prodeman was dropped off. Deeks had an address on the dead woman they'd found in the plane.

"Excellent," Hetty said. "But Detectives Deeks and Williams need a smallpox inoculation before we can go any further."

"Why just us?" Deeks looked worried.

"Because everybody else already had the vaccine, or doesn't need one." Sam practically sing-songed, enjoying the look of fear in Deeks' eyes.

"Is there a pill we can take?" Deeks hedged.

"A patch?" Danny put in, not liking the sound of it anymore than Deeks.

"Nasal spray?" Deeks put in as a valiant effort. "Uhm, okay… guests, we have guests. He should go first."

"I gotta work on my sleeve here, buddy," Danny smiled over to him, futzing to push his up. "If there's one thing I wish I'd got alongside the magic, it would be immunity to diseases. Ironic, really," he turned to Steve, knowing only his partner would understand that point. If Danny was supposed to be some magic cure for all the world's ills, it would be nice if he himself didn't have to worry about these things.

"We don't take chances, Danny," Steve pulled on Danny's wrist, drawing him closer so that he could get his jab. "Besides, I still think there's something off about that theory anyway."

Steve had never overtly said he didn't believe what they'd theorized about Danny's purpose and that gave him a momentary surprise that allowed Steve to shove him towards Hetty. Sure, they'd discussed things, debated, but he'd never outright said he didn't think it was right. This was the closest statement he'd ever come to that. But he didn't have time to think about it now, because the needle was rather large, and Deeks was already on the floor.

They headed to the hotel Prodeman had checked into, following behind Sam and Callen who were leading the way. Deeks and Kensi were off looking into the dead woman from the plane.

Walking up to the doors of the hotel, Steve's arm shot out to stop Danny in his tracks. When they realized they were on their own, Sam and Callen turned back.

"Everything okay?" Callen asked.

"Yeah," Steve was looking around them and took his time answering. "You check the room, Danny and I will have a word with the manager."

Sam nodded and with a lingering, questioning look, he and Callen turned back to the door and headed in.

Danny turned his eyes onto Steve. "I thought you liked having opportunities to break down doors."

"I don't always break down doors."

"I would argue that, but it isn't my point. We're hanging back?" Danny knew his glare was making Steve uncomfortable by how he shifted from foot to foot. Danny just waited for his answer. He knew he'd get it; the silence wouldn't last for long.

"The virus might be in the room."

"Ah," Understanding dawned. "I did just get a jab against it, you know. And even if it is up there, I've got no plans to touch anything without gloves on. I'm not an idiot."

"I know, just… humor me," Steve's eyes were soft.

"I'm not going to argue with you," Danny sighed. His let his shoulders relax and turned to have a look around the outside of the hotel. Steve spoke to the manager about Prodeman's room, but he didn't have much information for them. Danny wandered around, trying to get a feel for the place and headed back outside into the sun, feeling Steve's eyes on him, despite the fact that the vampire should be paying attention to the manager. There were a few people hanging around and he showed them the picture, but he got nothing that was remotely helpful to the case, just one whack job.

He stepped up to a young man who was leaning against the wall of the building next door. He pulled out the photo and asked him if he'd seen Prodeman, ignoring the prickle at the back of his neck that warned him about the man. He looked at the photo, but only after giving Danny a flirtatious smile and sidling a little closer to look. Danny just went with it, in case the guy had information that was useful. He took his time looking and was about to answer when he looked up and his eyes blackened at the site of something behind Danny.

With a turn, Danny saw Steve walking up with wide steps, teeth bared. When he turned back to his possible witness and saw how dark his eyes had become, he realized this was a vampire.

"Hey," Steve's voice rang out. "Use your nose, buddy, he's off limits. Scram!"

"Hey, hey…" Danny tried to call him back, but the vamp was darting off into the crowd with a cursory glance behind to make sure Steve wasn't after him. "Well, thanks for scaring away the witness," Danny scolded Steve.

Steve patted down Danny's arms, like he was wiping away invisible lint. "He didn't know anything."

"And how would you know, and would you stop it?" Danny pushed Steve's hands away.

"No one else you've talked to saw him, and that guy hadn't been standing here long, there's barely any scent on the wall. He was just trying to get close to you." Steve leaned forward and took a deep breath in at Danny's neck before pulling back. "Even with your magic dampening him, he should still have smelled me on you. I can smell me on you."

"Yeah, but you did it from about a millimeter away from me, he didn't."

"I didn't need to, I could smell it from over there," Steve pointed over to the door to the hotel he'd come out of.

"So why…?" Danny gestured to his neck, wiping his hand where Steve had just been.

He didn't say anything, just smirked and turned, seeing Sam and Callen back outside again and he began walking over, expecting Danny to follow.

They ducked under the crime scene tape.

"Manager says Prodeman's had no incoming or outgoing phone calls or visitors. Room's only rented for one night, so he hasn't even been here long enough for staff or guests to get a good look at him."

"You try the locals?" Callen asked.

"Yeah, not so helpful," Danny took over. "Though I did speak to one woman who saw Jesus fishing off the pier, and Steve chased off a vampire kid who pushed his luck. And I thought Hawaii was where all the crazy lived."

"Maybe you just attract it. Better get out before the full moon," Sam joked.

Danny half laughed, "Very good. Werewolves are extinct though."

"Who said anything about werewolves?" Sam's eyes danced with amusement at Danny's expense and Steve, the idiot, just stood there with an unhelpful expression as he gazed forward.

"Maybe we missed him," Callen offered.

"Maybe not," Steve said and everyone's eyes turned to where he was looking. The lone figure in dark clothing with a backpack in front of them in a sea of tourists. They hadn't been very subtle so he could obviously see them all looking at him. It didn't take a genius to work out what would happen next, as Prodeman turned and bolted.

Hanna shouted out to him, announcing them, but it didn't work. It rarely did. The two SEALs took off at a run while Callen and Danny hung back. There was no point in all of them chasing him down and besides, this is why they made Navy SEALs, right?

Danny admired Steve's running, tilting his head to follow his progress around people, stands and signs until Prodeman made a mistake, tripping up on the beach and now had two men much larger than he, kneeling on his back.

"Think that hurt as bad as it looked?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, that's gonna leave a mark," Callen answered.

Danny called Grace while Steve kept an eye on the interrogation of Prodeman. He missed his little girl so much and with everything going on around them, he found it difficult to find a moment to speak with her. If anything happened, he needed to know that he'd told her how much he loved her.

She was due to fly back to Hawaii in a few days, but if this went south, she might be stuck on the mainland. One thing he'd immediately thought about after being given the smallpox jab by Hetty, was that Grace hadn't had one. But he refused to dwell on those dark thoughts and where they led.

He kept upbeat on the phone, listening to her talking about how her grandparents were and what they'd been up to. He let her voice and enthusiasm wash over him and relaxed hearing it. All too soon he had to hang up and turned to find Kensi and Deeks had returned.

They gave him an expectant look as he hung up, thinking he may have been digging up more information for the case. "I just thought I should call my daughter," he explained, his voice giving a small break that drew Steve's attention.

"We get anything from Prodeman?" Kensi asked.

"Just a name; Doctor Rachel Holden. Your techs are running it down now. You doing okay?"

Steve's eyes followed Danny as he paced by the desk. "Yeah, fine. Just debating where the safest place on Earth is and how fast I can get Gracie there, is all."

"She'll be fine. You'll both be fine."

"I'm still worried," Danny repeatedly clenched and opened his hands as they hung by his sides.

"Join the club," Steve took the last few steps between them and ran a hand down Danny's arm and into his waiting hand. "Stop stressing. Why don't you do some of those relaxation things Joe taught you."

"Not going to happen. We've got work to do. And we're missing something here," he said as he turned back to the small group and tried to help with researching.

"None of the victims in Hawaii have any links to Holden or even to LA," Deeks put in before leaning back in his seat with a yawn. They'd been at it for an hour and were failing to come up with anything useful, or even plausible.

"Without an actual link, what we're missing is motive. If she doesn't have anything to do with Comescu, then what does she get out of this, huh? With Comescu it was his whole blood feud, terrorist thing. Prodeman is a disgraced scientist; he was just in it for the cash. What's this Holden chick up to and why? On paper, she's got a good life."

"We can ask her when we find her," Steve said then scowled. "When was the last time you ate?"

"No idea, why?"

"You need to eat."

"I'm assuming they don't have a whole lot to eat here in this secret hideout…?" He looked at Deeks expectantly.

"There's a taco truck around the corner."

"It'll do. I'll go grab something and be back in five," Steve stated, like he was doing a strategic op.

"Woah, hold on, what about you? When was the last time you fed?" Danny grabbed Steve's wrist before he could dash off, his chair pulling back onto two legs with Steve's momentum before it dropped back to all four.

"Back in Hawaii before we left, but I'm fine, I can go days without." Steve pulled Danny's hand from him. "Vampire, remember? No need to worry about me." He bent down and laid a quick kiss on Danny's lips and then turned and left before Danny could say much else.

Kensi was staying quiet beside them, staring at her laptop intently, letting them be while Deeks was grinning like an oaf and Danny couldn't help himself. "Can I help you with something?"

"Nothing, just marveling at the cuteness. You guys practice all that?"

"Cute?" Danny laughed. "That's nice, thanks."

"Hand holding, stealing kisses…"

"You're sounding a bit jealous there, my friend," Danny's eyes darted to Kensi then back to Deeks.

"Jealous? Of what? I'm not jealous, why would I be jealous?"

"Maybe if you put a little effort in," Danny waved one hand in the general direction of Deeks' head. "You know, before leaving the house? Then you might attract someone."

"Hey, style by pillow," Deeks pointed to his hair. "This is my look."

"It's not a look, it's a mess."

Deeks ducked his head and gave a rye laugh. "That's funny, it's good, you're funny. I hope my witty banter isn't this annoying."

"Whoever said you were witty?" Kensi put in, stopping the back and forth.

"Oh, touché," Deeks smiled to his partner.

Danny looked between the two of them, sensing the ease of their partnership and in jokes that he wasn't a part of. It didn't matter though; he knew what it was like and what it meant to have a partner like that. He'd had three great ones in his time and had loved all of them, even if one was a deranged vampire SEAL. Kensi had an easy way about her around Deeks and Danny could understand how the LAPD cop, despite his insufferable nature, could bring out something good in her. She needed it, that time to banter and enjoy some fun around her job and her witch training. He felt much the same, and was relieved to think about how he had Steve and Grace, not to mention Chin and Kono, to keep him grounded and sane.

"Is that it? Are you out?" Danny asked.

"I'm out," Deeks responded, giving up on their banter.

"So," Kensi shifted gears. "I know you've been looking for Shelburne. Any word?"

"Nothing," Danny sighed. "Joe seems to think she'll make herself known when she's ready. Only thing is, I don't want to work to her schedule, I want to work to mine."

"It's possible Hetty knows something," Kensi said. "But whether or not she'll tell you is up for debate."

"I got that impression," Danny nodded. "But it's worth a try. Once all the crazy dies down."

Kensi's phone pinged and she grabbed it from her pocket. "We've got an address on Holden." She nodded to Deeks who stood to go with her.

"Don't break anything while we're gone," Deeks threw back at Danny, as they left, leaving him alone waiting for Steve.

He rubbed a hand over his face. With the noise around him dialed down he realized how exhausted he was. His head fell into his hands as he sat with them braced on the table.

"You look beat," Steve's voice carried over from behind having arrived back.

"Yeah, I'm getting used to it though," he lifted his head and turn to give Steve a smile as he placed food in front of him.

"Maybe you should try and get some rest after you've eaten," Steve placed a chaste kiss on Danny's head as he sat next to him.

"I'll sleep when the case is closed."

They had more information on Rachel Holden. At least, they knew now that she was planning to leave the next morning so they were running out of time. And they also knew that in order to protect herself, she'd had to have someone steal the vaccine Danny had been so forcefully introduced to earlier in the day.

Their best lead, since they couldn't find Holden, was to find out what the thief knew, which put Steve, Danny, Sam and Callen at a beaten down trailer by the beach, which wasn't an ideal location because, well… the beach. And most people, unlike Danny, actually enjoyed going to the beach for fun and seemed to be out in force today.

Steve and Danny scouted the area while Sam and Callen watched from the car and kept abreast of anything happening back at their office.

"So we've got three out front, two on the inside, as far as we can see anyway," Steve said, leaning in the passenger window next to Sam. Danny approached on Callen's side of the car.

"And every one of them is packing," Danny put in.

"This place will clear out when the sun goes down, but we don't have time for that," Sam reasoned.

"SOP would be to lock down the area and send in a tactical hazmat team," Callen said.

"I like that," Danny agreed, "Send in the professional bug hunters."

"Unfortunately," Callen continued," These people are paranoid by nature, they see us clearing the area they're going to go ballistic. Same thing if they see someone in a hazmat suit."

Sam and Steve both nodded their agreement, and Danny had to reluctantly admit they had a point.

"Callen's right," Steve looked between them. "We can try and take these guys quietly but if they decide to open up with all these tourists around it could lead to a bloodbath."

Sam had been watching something else. "Maybe we don't take them quietly."

Steve turned to see where he was looking and there was a matching pair of SEAL smiles. The crazy, it must definitely come from the SEALs.

"Why are you smiling?" Danny pointed at Sam, then Steve. "Steve, babe, why are you smiling? Why are you smiling now too, why is everyone smiling apart from me?"

"You can smile," Sam turned his grinning face to Danny.

"No, no, I only smile when I'm happy and this doesn't make me happy, it makes me nervous."

"So give me a nervous smile."

Danny did his best; actually enjoying hearing the other three give proper laughs to alleviate any tension before they did whatever crazy stunt they had planned.

"Something like that," Sam laughed before high-fiving Steve and getting out of the car.

They actually played a game of rock, paper, scissors to decide between the two SEALs to see who got to drive the digger, and Sam won. You would have thought the noise would give it away, but the perps still seemed surprised and thought it was an earthquake a first; which pretty much summed up their IQs. It didn't take much to subdue them once Sam had thrown their trailer onto its side. Then all they could do was round them up and call out the hazmat team.

Steve, Danny and Callen all waited around by the police cordon tape while Sam donned gear and headed in with them.

"Let's just hope the vials are there and nothing has been passed onto Holden yet," Danny said to the other two as he rubbed his hands together impatiently.

"I dunno. If they had them, you'd think they'd be doing something more than sitting around playing cards," Callen argued.

"Considering how dumb they are, we could be in luck," Danny hedged.

Sam came out of the trailer and took his mask off. Even before he said the words, they just knew what it would be. "It's not here," Sam confirmed.

"Say hello to square one," Danny sighed.

It was depressing. As they dug into Holden's history they came across disturbing evidence that she was more of a nut than in this for profit. Money was always a much easier motive to deal with, but when it came to steadfast belief, there was usually very little you could do to talk someone down from a ledge.

If Holden truly believed that letting off a plague to thin the human population was somehow a way to save the Earth, all they could do was hope to catch up with her and stop it. They had very little hope in her backing off from her scheme.

"Maybe she plans to take the virus with her," Danny supposed.

Steve shook his head. "Costa Rica seems more like a place to hide out, not a place to spread a pandemic. She'd need somewhere to spread it as quickly as possible."

"Like an international airport." Callen had a point: she could release it before getting on the plane.

"We've had all the airports on high alert, she's got to know we'd be looking for that," Danny argued back.

"I think I've got something," the small red-headed witch approached them. Nell? Danny was sure that was her name. He hadn't spent any time with her yet, but he could see the strong magic in her and they both gave each other assessing glances before concentrating on the matter in hand. "Two months ago she ordered enough office supplies to stock a small business. Didn't think anything of it until I found this." She put an image on the screen in front of them of a shirt order form. "An order for 300 custom t-shirts from a local clothing company and when I called the office supply store they confirmed that most of the order was school supplies."

"Wait a minute, she's targeting kids?" Danny asked, sickened.

"They're a dispersal mechanism," Callen realized.

"The British gave blankets infected with smallpox to the Native Americans," Sam said.

"Give a kid a t-shirt, he takes it home, he infects his family," Steve rounded up.

"She could be donating them to schools," Sam tried, then Kensi gasped from behind them.

"Do you remember when we were at the airport?" She asked Deeks. "There was that group of teenagers at baggage claim."

"A class trip of sorts," Deeks remembered.

"Too late for spring break, right?" Danny thought.

"No, no, there was a group of Japanese students and I'm pretty sure I heard other kids speaking German." Kensi concentrated on her tablet computer then swore under her breath as she sent what she'd found to the monitor. "International Leaders of Tomorrow. High school seniors representing 36 different countries are gathering for a series of lectures and exercises designed to encourage dialogue, understanding, tolerance and friendship."

"We need to shut it down," Sam sighed.

"That's too late," Callen inclined his head at the screen. "It started an hour ago."

The courtyard was crowded with teenagers and teachers. There were stands everywhere for charities and events and all of them were giving out free stuff to the kids to try and drum up support, which made it more difficult to spot Holden in the crowd.

They kept to their regular partnerships as they made their way around, trying to work in some form of grid pattern. It was Steve and Danny who saw something first, noticing the logo on the t-shirts the two kids were digging out of brown bags.

They ran over, shouting to them to put the bags down.

"What's your damage, dude?" One of the teenage boys asked.

"My 'damage' is that I'm a cop and I just saved your life," Danny snapped back.

"Where did you get these?" Steve asked.

"They're giving them away for free at the stand over there," he pointed back the way he'd come. Steve was immediately telling everyone else over the comms units that they had a location on Holden in the south east corner.

Kensi and Deeks were nearer and they heard Deeks yell out to Holden that they were Federal Agents but as with all criminals, she heard the call and then ran for it.

All six of them gave chase, ducking and weaving, trying to keep track of her as she shoved people and things out of her way in attempts to block them from all angles. Danny noted that she was nearing the edge of the stalls and decided to run round and try and cut her off while she still concentrated on the others chasing her. He ran down the side of the road, glancing back every so often to check how far in front of her he was.

She made her way to a car and was able to get in before Sam and Callen caught up to her. In her efforts to evade them, she gave little regard to the kids around her and the two agents had to pull two teenagers out the way of the car, giving Holden a chance to get further away.

As they cleared the built up area, the other five were able to draw weapons on the car. But before they could do much there was Danny ahead of the car, facing it down, stunned for a moment over what to do as it sped towards him.

He heard the cry of his name, he heard the fear in Steve's voice and then, on instinct more than anything else, he threw his hands up in the air, screwed his eyes shut, and stood his ground.