Burn
By
Landon Richardson
Official Disclaimer
The characters of Lieutenant Commander Steven 'Steve' McGarrett, Chin Ho Kelly, Kono Kalakaua, Adam 'Toast' Charles, Governor Patricia Jameson and Detective Meka Hanamoa, do not belong to me in any shape or form. I am merely using them for my own entertainment purposes.
The character of Detective Sergeant Danielle 'Danni' Williams probably can be considered to be mine by now. Although she was originally based on male Danny, she soon evolved becoming her own person. She has her own background, her own family, her own history and her own distinct personality. This isn't to say that the Danny Williams we all know and love is completely gone, he still emerges through her at times. I like to think of female Danni as what Danny could have been if everything in his life had gone his way. As in full custody of Grace and a decent relationship with his ex.
The character of Grace has also changed slightly due to the change in Danni. Her surname is Taylor as this is her father's surname and was Danni's married name (Danni reverted back to her maiden name when she was divorced). Her parents also are amicable which has also impacted Grace but never fear, she's still the sweetheart we know and love, if anything she's more a sweetheart now.
The character of Supervisory Special Agent Jack O'Connor, Detective Abraham Lee. Doctor Rosie Lange, Kent Deacon, Ross Hall, Sasha Hall, Nicole Hall, Brent Cox and Special Agent Walker Humphries however do belong to me as does any other character who you do not recognise from the show. Please do not use them, or my version of Danni and Grace without first asking for my permission to do so.
Author Note
Here we are with the next chapter and we're close to the end now!
Please enjoy!
Overall Summary
Fire, fire burning bright, which member of Five-O will you try to claim tonight… When Five-O are tasked with hunting down an arsonist who has graduated to murder, they didn't expect themselves to become potential targets. Now it's a race against time to find the murdered before it's too late.
Chapter Summary
"Jesus, this place is a mess, it's going to take a while to work through all of this."
Overall Romance
Hints of Steve McGarrett / Danni Williams (McDanni)
Mentions of past Duncan Taylor / Danni Williams (Dunni)
Hints of Ryan Moore / Danni Williams (Rynni)
Meka Hanamoa / Amy Hanamoa (Mekmy)
Chapter Romance
Hints of Steve McGarrett / Danni Williams (McDanni)
Warning
This story features a female Danni Williams in place of a male Danny Williams. Although in some stories I write, Danny does exist, he does not exist in this one.
If this is not your cup of tea then please hit the back button.
Another note
I do not have a Beta so please forgive any mistakes which may creep in, I always do my best to edit the story and check it but sometimes mistakes do creep in.
The places I've mentioned in Hawaii are ones which come from google, including the addresses. I've never been to Hawaii myself in person so I apologise for any mistakes which I may make, these are not intentional.
Chapter Sixteen
I'm okay Steve
Tuesday 5th October 2010
28970 Watson Avenue
Honolulu
Oahu
Hawaii
Steve McGarrett's Point of view
"Jesus, this place is a mess, it's going to take a while to work through all of this."
"Yeah, fuck knows how Danni-girl held the guy off for as long as she did, did you see the size of the guy that they dragged off while we were coming in, he was massive and I mean let's be honest It's not as if Danni is exactly tall or built."
"That's an understatement right there my friend, you take away the heels that Danni loves wearing and she's tiny, not that I'd tell her that to her face though."
"Yeah, say that to her and you'd simply be asking to have your ass kicked."
Steve tilted his head slightly in the direction of the quiet conversation he could hear going on beside him, the voices were low and hushed as though they didn't want to be overheard by anyone as they worked. He swallowed, blocking the two men out as he looked around the room himself, his eyes narrowing as he noted, almost absently, the blood on the wooden floorboards and the rugs. Blood which could have belonged to Barclay or could have just as easily belonged to Danni.
What had happened in this room just a short time ago was his fault and he knew it.
He should never had left her alone here to check out the other residence that belonged to Barclay.
He should have listened to Danni when she had told him her plan and stayed with her in the house until backup had arrived before even thinking of heading out. If he had then he would have been here when Barclay had arrived with the victim, he could have backed Danni up or even better fought the other man in her place. The two CSU Agents had been right when they had indicated that Danni surviving as long as she had against someone like Barclay was some sort of miracle and one which could have easily ended in a different way if Steve had arrived mere moment later then he had.
"Hey, Jack and I were wondering where you had gotten to Steve, you holding up okay?"
Steve blinked at the sound of Chin's voice and looked over his shoulder toward the door way, his eyes narrowing again slightly as he gave the older man a simple nod of the head before looking away again, his arms crossed over his chest.
"I'm fine." He stated. "What about Barclay? Is he secured?"
"He is" Chin confirmed. "I saw Jack put him in the back of a squad car and tell the uniforms behind the wheel to take him back to our headquarters now and stick him in one of the interrogation rooms until one of us are ready to interrogate him." Chin told him as he moved fully into the room and came to a stop next to Steve.
"Did Kono get the statement from the victim about what happened here?" Steve asked, tilting his head so he could watch the other man's face, noting the way Chin's jaw tightened.
"She did." He confirmed before going silent for a moment.
"And? What did she say? Was it a solid account?" Steve prompted sharply, his tone making it clear that he wanted an answer to his question.
"Danni came into the room with her gun and told Barclay to get on the floor, obviously he didn't and they fought and then you turned up and saved her." Chin said, the simple answer making Steve bite the inside of his mouth.
"That's it?" Steve questioned. "That's all she is saying happened here? Barclay didn't say anything to Danni in return, he just launched straight into an attack? He doesn't seem the type not to gloat or backchat."
"Steve" Chin began to say, stopping with a sigh when he clearly caught sight of the look on Steve's face. He straightened and began talking, his voice taking on a professional tone as he carried on with the report. "From what the victim had said he did speak to Danni before and after the attack. He called her the Queen of the Governor taskforce apparently and made it extremely clear that he was happy that she was alone. He planned to kill her because he believed Danni's death would break the team apart and…" Chin's voice trailed off for a moment before he straightened his shoulders and continued. "He made a point of saying that he had never expected to get her alone or for you to leave your new prized possession unguarded."
For a moment Steve stood still, shoulders tense as he absorbed Chin's words, his mind flashing back to him entering the house and heading into the living room, gun raised, only to see his partner on the floor with Barclay straddling her and a poker pressed against her neck. Seeing that scene had unleashed something in him, something dark that had taken over. How he had held back killing the other man was something he would never know, perhaps it had been the knowledge in his head that Danni had been watching him which had stopped him from breaking Barclay's neck and putting an end to the other man once and for all.
His first instinct after he had helped Jack out of the house with Barclay was to go straight to his partner but he had seen her being helped to the ambulance by Chin so had made the decision to wait while she got the treatment which she needed before they spoke, instead he had headed back into the living room, forcing his mind to focus on the crime scene rather than just how close he had been to losing his partner.
"I see" He said finally, aware that the silence between him and Chin was stretching on far too long.
"I know it may not seem it right now with Danni being hurt but this is a win-win situation Steve. We got Barclay off of the street and into custody and managed to save his last victim. That's not a bad day's work considering how long he's been active and doing this." Chin pointed out softly.
"Try telling that to Danni." Steve said, shifting on the spot. "How was she when you took her to the ambulance? Was she okay?" He demanded, finally asking the question he had been wanting to ask from the moment he had heard Chin's voice.
"She's going to be okay Steve. She's battered and bruised from the fight and they will probably take a few days to clear up but she seemed herself, brushing off what happened and eager to get the medical check done so she can get back to work. She found some files upstairs linked to all of this so her mind is a bit fixated on them." Chin said, nodding his head towards the living room door, in the direction of the staircase. "You know what happened here isn't your fault Steve and Danni would be the first one to tell you that, hell knowing her, it be one of the first things she tells you when she sees you. Fights with suspects are unfortunately a perk of the job, always has been and always will be." Chin told him, the simple remark causing Steve to snort in disbelief.
"Yeah, well maybe she should be blaming me for this Chin." He replied, keeping his voice low as he met Chin's concerned gaze, the ball of anger in the pit of his stomach growing as he continued to speak. "This task force hasn't even been running for two weeks and I've already nearly gotten my partner killed because I didn't listen to her and left her here, at an active scene, with no back up at all. Isn't that rule 101 or something, never leave your partner unprotected without any form of help or backup?" He demanded angrily.
For a moment Chin remained silent, staring at Steve thoughtfully before he spoke in a calm, steady voice.
"We were in a tough situation Steve with a time limit which was ticking down fast. Our goal was to save someone's life. You had no way of knowing that Barclay would bring the victim back to this house or that it would happen after you left. The decision you made was based on the facts we had at the time. There was a fourth house to be checked and we all knew it had to be checked and you didn't leave Danni completely alone, back up was already on route to the address and she's shown that she can keep her own in a fight and defend herself if need be."
"Really? Because it didn't look that way to me Chin when she was lying flat on her back being choked to death by a damn poker." Steve countered swiftly, dropping his arms from his chest, his hands balling into fists at his side as the memory began replaying in his mind.
"So, give her hand to hand training and teach her how to better defend herself so that she has a better chance on winning if something like this happens to her again." Chin instructed him as he reached out and placed his hand on Steve's shoulder in a show of comfort. "You must have picked up more than enough techniques while you were being trained, there's got to be one which would suit someone like Danni and she knowing her she will jump at the chance to learn more. Danni is the first person who is going to admit that her fighting ability is her biggest weakness, she's well aware of it from what I gather but she's also extremely fast and agile and she's is intelligent and able to think quickly on the spot. She might not have won the fight but from what I heard from Kono, she's certainly made him work for every hit he got and gave him a few of her own." The older man said, sounding almost proud for a moment.
Steve allowed his eyes to close for a moment, breathing in and out a couple of times before he turned his head and looked at Chin, his mind focused back on the topic at hand.
"You said that Danni was talking about some files she found and was eager to look at them? Where were they?" He asked.
Chin nodded, stepping away from Steve and let his hand fall away from his shoulder, clearly taking the change of subject for what it was meant to be. A way of redirecting the conversation onto more sold ground.
"That's what she indicated when I helped her over to the ambulance. She had been upstairs in one of the rooms when Barclay arrived to the house which was why he was unaware that she was there straight away. She said they looked as though they were Intel profiles for each victim though she didn't know where they were ones which he had already successfully targeted or ones which were to come or even a mixture of both. She wanted to go through them and pick out the ones who were deceased so she could contact the police stations and the families to give them closure." Chin said. "Or at least that's what she said in so many words, the conversation was a bit rushed."
Steve frowned slightly, giving the living room one final glance before he walked out, leaving it in the hands of the two CSU agents who were still working in there and headed towards the staircase.
"Where exactly are O'Connor and Kono now?" He asked as he began to climb the stairs.
"Kono is outside with the victim still, I think she plans to remain with her until her family arrives and Jack is…" Chin's voice trailed off for a moment, a slight frown coming to his face which cleared a second later when Jack's voice drifted out to them from one of the room.
"I'm in here." He stated, sticking his head out of one of the nearby rooms. "I think I've found the room that Danni was in when Barclay entered the house because her bag is in here." He told them before he disappeared again from sight. Steve entered the room, looking around him, his eyes stilling when they landed on his partner's bag before he focused on Jack who was standing beside a desk, a file in hand which he was flipping through.
"Are those the victims files which Danni mentioned?" He asked the blond man who looked up at him and nodded.
"It looks like it." Jack confirmed. "I'm just reading out some of the names and basic information to Toast so he can start using the database to see whether they are dead or alive." He told them, nodding his head towards his cell phone which was resting on the surface of the desk.
"Hey guys." Toast's voice said, coming over clearly on the phone line. "Glad you're both safe, how is blondie doing? Is she okay? Jack said that she ended up in a fight with the Barclay dude?" He queried; his voice sounding concerned.
"She's going to be fine Toast, she's with the EMTS now who are taking care of her." Steve told the younger man as he came to a stop beside Jack and looked at the files. "How many of the names have you been through so far?" He asked them, going to pick up one of the files before stopping himself, as a voice in his head which sounded suspiciously like his partner's voice reminded him that he wasn't wearing gloves and therefore should touch nothing.
"We've only gone through three of them so far and all three names are listed on the system as being deceased and their causes of death was fire, a fire which the cops placed down to Arson. I should also add that all of them are currently listed as being unsolved." Toast responded.
"They aren't unsolved anymore." Chin remarked quietly, the comment causing Steve to nod along in agreement.
"Jack, take the files and head back to headquarters with them, you and Toast can work faster on them if you can split the work between the two of you. Chin, I want you to head over to the fourth house now and see what is there. I didn't manage to get there in time before Danni's text came through, Take Detective Lee with you and see whether there is anything which we can use. I want to make sure that this case is airtight so that Barclay can get the highest sentence possible." He instructed the two men, waiting until they nodded at him.
"What about Kono?" Chin asked.
"She's going to remain here with Danni and me until we have everything from here that we need." Steve answered. "Make sure that you keep in contact especially when you reach other fourth residence. I want to know what is there." Steve stated before he nodded at them and headed back out of the room, making his way down the staircase and back out of the front door into the sunshine. He ignored the activity around him as he headed over to the ambulance which he had seen Chin lead Danni over to earlier.
Just as he approached, the back doors opened and Danni climbed out, a smile on her face as she turned to the female EMT who had followed her out. Steve was close enough to hear his partner's words as she began speaking, obviously carrying on from a previous conversation.
"Thanks for everything Hazel. Hopefully the record will be longer next time around."
"It better be Danni, we're currently on what four days is it?" The EMT replied, the comment causing Danni to laugh before she turned around, her eyes focusing on Steve.
"Something like that, I'll see you later." She said to Hazel before she headed over to Steve. "Hey, are you okay?" She asked him as she came to a stop in front of him, her grey eyes scanning his face.
Steve couldn't help the small disbelieving laugh which escaped him at her question. She was the one who was banged up and injured and yet the first thing she did was enquire after him.
"Shouldn't I be the asking you that question?" He responded, reaching out without thinking and wrapping his large hand around the back of her neck, holding her still while his eyes roamed over her face. She had butterflies' stitches in the cut at her temple and he could already see the bruises forming on her pale skin but her eyes seemed to be bright and clear. "What did the EMT say?" He demanded.
"She said that I'm fine Steve." Danni assured him softly. "Just some cuts and bruises and a headache from where he hit me around the head but there's no concussion or anything to be worried about. I'm just going to resemble a rainbow for a week or so." She told him with a shrug before she brought her hand up and rested it against the side of his forearm. "I should thank you though for arriving when you did and helping me out of that situation. I was beginning to run out of ideas."
"Run out of ideas?" Steve repeated. "Damn it Danni, you could have been killed by him." He told her, his grip tightening for a moment before he forced himself to let go of her and take a step back.
"I could have been but I wasn't Steve." She reminded him as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I knew that you were all coming so all I had to do was keep him busy and his attention away from Sally Clements long enough to give you time to arrive, which for the record I did. How is Sally by the way? Is she okay? She looked pretty shaken in there."
"I'm not sure how she is, Kono is the one who has stayed with her." Steve told her, nodding his head in the direction of the other ambulance where Kono stood talking to the victim who was seated on the steps leading up into the interior of the vehicle.
"What about the others? What are they doing right now?" Danni questioned.
"Jack is taking the files you found upstairs back to headquarters so he and Toast can go through them using the database and start informing the various police departments that we found their guy for the cases while Chin and Detective Lee are going to head over to the fourth house now to make sure there's nothing there which we can use to strengthen the case. You, me and Kono are staying here to run the crime scene." He explained.
"Sounds like a good plan to me." Danni responded, shooting him a smile before she turned from him and headed across the grass towards Kono. Steve followed her, coming to a stop beside her when Danni came to a halt, her attention focused on Sally Clements. "Hey Sally, how are you feeling?" She asked the other woman quietly, her voice coming across as calm.
"I'm okay thanks to you, the EMTS are going to take me into hospital to flush out the remaining drugs that monster injected into my system but my husband is five minutes away so they've agreed to wait until he gets here so he can some with me. I… I don't want to be alone." She admitted, her voice shaking. She dropped her eyes for a moment before she looked back up at Danni, meeting her eyes with a grateful look. "If you hadn't of been there Detective then who knows what he would have done to me… I…" Her voice trailed off as she shuddered, gripping the blanket which someone had draped over her shoulder and pulling it tighter around herself.
"Try not to think about what might have been but focus on what happened instead. You're safe and he is going to be locked away." Danni advised her, reaching out and placing her hand on the other woman shoulder.
Steve reached out and gently wrapped hand around Danni's elbow, using the light grip to pull her away from the victim.
"Kono" He said to the younger woman, nodding his head towards a quiet area to the side of them before he guided Danni over there, ignoring the look she shot him, once Kono had joined them he spoke. "What did she tell you?"
"Not a great deal Boss" Kono told him. "She said that she had seen Terry Barclay around once or twice in the café which she works at. He would come in and always sit in her area and stay for about an hour or two at a time. She didn't pay much attention to him because he was quiet and tended to keep himself to himself. The length of time he stayed didn't concern her either because apparently people staying that long is a normal occurrence. People often come into the coffee shop with a book or a laptop or some work and will sit there for hours working away at it."
"I can personally vouch for that behaviour." Danni said with a nod. "I used to do it all the time when I was studying at university. You had fresh hot coffee always at hand and the staff tended to leave you in peace to get on with things as long as you kept buying coffees or goods from them."
"What happened today then?" Steve asked after a quick glance at Danni, he realised with a jolt of surprise that he was still gripping her elbow and forced himself to let go of her.
"She said that everything had been normal when she was at work and that as far as she had seen, he didn't come into the cafe today. She finished her shift around two, left the premises about two fifteen and was on her way to her car. After that she said that things turned a bit hazy so I'm guessing that he was waiting somewhere along her route to grab her." Kono reported.
"How did he manage to get her to the car without her raising a racket?" Steve remarked with a frown.
"Well she did say that she felt a sting in her neck which she had assumed was a wasp stinging her so…" Kono answered with a shrug,
"Its more likely he drugged her using a needle to the neck." Danni said thoughtfully when Kono's voice trailed off. "It would have been easy for him to do especially if she wasn't paying any attention to her surroundings and who was following her."
"She would have been paying attention surely?" Steve said, raising an eyebrow when both Danni and Kono shook their heads at him.
"She wouldn't have been paying attention." Danni corrected him. "Most civilians aren't trained to keep an eye on what s going on around them like we are Steve. No one ever thinks that they will be a victim until it happens to them directly."
"And by the time they realise then they are never the same again." Kono added sadly with a shake of her head.
"So, he comes up on her when she's walking to her car and gives her an injection of drugs, the drugs would have made her woozy and compliant so it would have been an easy matter to get her to his car or truck without her raising the alarm to anyone. He probably wrapped his arm around her shoulder or waist and pulled her close and used the hold to carry her over." Danni stated thoughtfully, looking towards Kono when she nodded.
"That's what I was thinking as well, it would be the easiest way for him to do it and anyone who happened to past by them would have thought that they were a couple. Both of them are pale so the locals would just have assumed they were tourists." The younger woman said.
"Today has been hot as well so any sluggish symptoms she exhibited that people spotted would have been mistaken for someone who wasn't used to being out in the sun for too long." Danni commented, reaching up and rubbing at the back of her neck.
"Exactly, which means that all he had to do was bring her back here, finish the job by burning her and the house down before escaping which he would have done if you hadn't of been there already Danni." Kono remarked, her dark eyes focusing on Danni's face, lingering on the bruises. "How are you feeling by the way?"
"I'm a bit sore but all things considered I'm good, Hazel the EMT has already given me a once over and she's happy that I'm okay, I just might be feeling it a bit later on tonight and tomorrow but considering tomorrow will be a paper day I shouldn't have to move around much." Danni remarked with a smile at the other woman.
"You'll definitely be taking it easy tomorrow Danielle." Steve told her sternly before he looked back at the house. "Let's finish up here and get back to headquarters. Kono, I want you to be in the interview with me when I talk to Barclay. I'll be taking the lead in the interview. Danni, I want you to start working on the paperwork for us. I get the feeling that we're going to have a lot to get through with this case." He said. Danni nodded at him, clearly ignoring the startled look that Kono shot the pair of them. "Kono, finish taking Sally Clements's statement and then meet us." He told the Rookie who nodded at him.
"You've got it boss, I'm nearly finished with it, so it shouldn't take me too long to do the rest." She smiled at them before she turned and headed back to the ambulance leaving Steve and Danni alone together.
"Care you tell me why I'm being benched for the interview Steve?" Danni asked him mildly. He looked down at her, searching her battered face as he pushed down on the rage which swept over him again.
"Because I don't want to give Barclay another chance to see you." He stated simply, watching as her eyes widened at his statement.
"Steve…" She began to say, stopping when he spoke over her.
"I know how people like Barclay think and in his mind you and Sally Clements will be the ones who got away. He's going to think about you enough without parading you in front of him, especially as your face is already bruising up and he will know that the bruises are there because of him. The further away you are from him at the moment, the better especially with it being fresh in his mind." Steve told her.
"You are aware that I'm more than capable of handling the situation Steve." She reminded him.
"I'm not saying that you can't handle it, hell if anyone can then its you." He replied. "But I've already messed up once today and I'm not going to do it for a second time. Barclay is not going to look at you again if I have something to say or do about it."
"What happened in there wasn't your fault Steve." Danni said quietly after a moment of pause.
"I'm your partner Danno and I left you alone in the house with a violent suspect. I should have waited until I was sure that back up was here before I took off to check out the other house. If I had been any later Danni then…" He stopped abruptly, unable to finish his sentence, wondering as he did why the thought of Danni being hurt while on his watch was affecting him so badly.
He was a Navy SEAL who was more than used to being in combat and seeing those on his team be hurt or in some cases worse. He had seen Kono injured from a fight on their last case but somehow seeing Danni hurt, walking into that room in time to see her losing in her struggles against her attacker and almost dying from it had done something to him and he was determined not to let it happen again. The only way he could stop himself feeling that way again was to keep Danni safe and he was willing to do anything to accomplish it.
"Then nothing because you did arrive in time Steve. If you keep thinking about things which might have gone differently then you're going to burn out extremely quickly in this job. We can't second guess ourselves. You made the right call and that's all there is to it so don't beat yourself up over it. Barclay said in there that he had been watching us and that he had already realised that you and I were close for partners so when you head in there with Kono to interview him you have to be aware that he will probably try and use that against you. Promise me that you'll keep your head in there and don't allow him to play on your doubts about your decision." She told him firmly, her eyes boring into his. "You did nothing wrong. If you want to blame someone for what happened to me then blame Barclay because he was the one who hit me. You didn't."
"I guess so." He said finally, the comment causing her to laugh softly even as she shook her head.
"There's no guessing about it Steven." She corrected him with a wave of her hand. "Now how about we get back into the house and help tear it apart to see what we can find to use against him. Hopefully there is enough in there to make him squirm."
"That we can do" He agreed with a nod, watching as she turned away from him and heading into the direction of the house. His mind already whirling with way he was going to make Barclay pay for what he did.
Author Note
Thanks for taking the time to read. An especially big thank you if you have left me a review, favourite the story or decided to follow it.
I really appreciate it