Burn Chapter 20: A Rookie's thoughts, a hawaii five-0 fanfic

Burn

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 at the penultimate chapter

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

Kono breathed out slowly as she shifted herself on the back seat of Danni's Camaro in an effort to make herself more comfortable, her dark eyes focused directly in front of her giving her two bosses her full and undivided attention as she listened to their conversation about the case and attempted to figure a few things out in her head at the same time.

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 Twenty

A Rookie's thoughts

Tuesday 5th October 2010

On route to headquarters

Honolulu

Oahu

Hawaii

Kono Kalakaua's point of view

This was the first time that she had been alone with just the two of them, the other times she had been with them when they were together were at crime scenes or at a case briefing, when there had always been other members of the team there.

Not that she minded, being able to see them interact, especially as Steve at least had seemingly forgotten she was in the backseat was a rare sight.

She still couldn't shift the idea from her mind that Steve and Danni had known each other before they had worked together on the taskforce. It was the only explanation which she could come up with which explained the clear connection with one another that they had.

She had seen members of her family who were in law enforcement interact with their work partners and none of them acted the way the two in front of her did. It was clear that most partners got on together and trusted each other, something which was a must if you were expecting that person to cover your back in awful situations but that wasn't how Steve and Danni were. They acted as though they had known each other for years rather than under two weeks. Add to that the fact that there seemed to be something brewing under the surface and the fact that they seemed intent of taking care of one another and it pointed to a marriage of some sorts.

The way they acted left her feeling baffled and she wasn't a hundred percent sure what to make of it all. All she knew for certain was that she wanted to find out the truth.

Chin had mentioned in passing when she had asked him if they had known each other, that Steve had never been to New Jersey before and that he had spent the majority of the past ten years of his life in training and classified missions which had sent him all over the world. Kono wasn't sure that she believed it though, picking up on the key word of classified. If Steve had been to New Jersey for a mission then he would never admit to anyone that he had been there. Danni had worked in the Homicide department running her own team so there was a strong chance that their paths would have crossed at one time or another.

If they had gone on to work together in a mission, then it would explain the strong bond already between them and why Steve had immediately kidnapped Danni from her job at HPD and made her his second in command and his partner.

Something which she was already thankful he had done, as much as she liked Steve even, she could tell that he was clueless when it came to police investigations.

Kono's observational skills were good and growing better with each passing day but she had to admit if only to herself, that when compared to Danni's or her cousin's then they were still relatively poor. What she could tell however was the fact that Steve already needed Danni by his side even if he hadn't said it out loud or even realised the fact himself. Kono had never met someone quite as calm as the blonde woman though there had been a couple of times, she had detected a flash to Danni's eyes which hinted at a fire burning beneath her cool exterior. Nothing seemed to faze her, even some of Steve's worst ideas, of which there had been surprisingly many of so far, had merely gained a raised eyebrow from the blonde, at least in public. Often when Steve made one of those ideas, Danni would pull him away and speak quietly to him in private and when they returned, Steve's idea would have been discarded and replaced with a better, more rational one.

Kono nibbled at her lower lip, thinking back to the way that Steve had been acting since Danni's fight with Barclay. His SEAL mask had been firmly in place as he and Danni had directed the crime scene. Danni had chosen to stay close to Kono, asking her opinion of the crime scene and taking the time to train her which Kono was thankful for. She was already learning that seeing something in the Academy was extremely different then experiencing it in the field. She had noticed that although they had been apart, Steve's eyes had constantly flickered over to Danni as though he was determined to know where his partner was at every moment that they were there.

There was definitely something going on between the two of them.

The question was what?

"Hey Kono, did you hear what I said to you?"

Kono started, pulling her mind away from her thoughts to see that both Steve and Danni had twisted around in their seats and were watching her, the car still beneath them indicting that the engine had already been turned off. Steve looked annoyed by her lack of attention while Danni was merely watching her thoughtfully, a flicker of concern in her grey eyes though she remained silent. Kono blinked as she looked out of the back window, realising that they were parked in the Ali'iolani Hale car park.

"Err sorry no boss, I was miles away just then." She admitted, hiding a wince when Steve's eyes narrowed at her. Clearly today was not the day to fuck anything up when Steve was in the mood which he was currently in. She watched as he opened his mouth to say something before he closed it with a snap when Danni reached out with her hand and rested it against his arm, squeezing down lightly on it before she looked towards him and gave him a simple shake of the head before she focused on Kono.

"Is everything okay with you Kono?" The blonde asked, a serious tone to her voice. "Because if there is something that's troubling you or you don't feel comfortable going into the interrogation room with Steve to interview Barclay then say so now so we can let Jack know that he's up. There's no shame if you'd rather start off small when it comes to interrogations. God knows they can be intimidating at first."

Kono shook her head quickly, a smile coming to her face in the light of Danni's concern, it reminded her of when her mother had protected her when she was a kid and her older brother had decided to try and pass the time by picking on her. It had always been a feeling that as long as she had her mother in her corner then she could face anything. It was a strange feeling to experience with someone who she had just really met and who was only four years older than she was but she placed it down to Danni's natural mothering instincts.

"No, I appreciate it Danni but I'm fine, trust me I am looking forward to getting into that interrogation room and seeing how it's done." Kono assured them, her haze flickering between the two of them, lingering briefly on the side of Danni's face where the bruise from the blow she received had began to show up in a way which must have been causing the blonde pain though she showed no sign of it. "I was just thinking about the team that's all, it's nothing serious or important." She went on to assure them.

She watched as Steve and Danni shared a long, speaking glance with one another before they both looked back at her. Steve speaking up again, his previous irritation gone from his voice.

"It's best you keep your head in the game Rookie, especially against someone like Barclay. He'll be on the lookout for any weaknesses he can find in an attempt to exploit them. Make sure you don't give him any." Steve stated before he turned and opened the driver's seat, climbing out and leaving Kono and Danni alone in the car together.

"Wow, the boss man seems like a bundle of fun today." Kono remarked, breathing out as she reached up and squeezed the back of her neck, feeling worst than she had when her instructor had told her off in the Academy for being over confident about her skill.

"Don't worry about Steve. Kono, his bark is much worse than his bite when it comes to members on his team. He's just going into his zone and preparing himself for the interrogation, there's a lot at stake here after all, not just for our victims but also for the people who he killed before he came here, their families are still waiting for closure and we might be able to give them that now so they can move on." Danni said, giving Kono a reassuring smile before she left the car as well.

Kono breathed out again, taking a second to compose herself before she joined them, glancing around her at the surrounding area before she followed the par of them up the stairs and into their headquarters, her mind replaying Danni's words.

Truth be told she wasn't sure what to make of Steve yet.

On the one hand, he seemed as though he was going to be a good boss to them, he seemed approachable most of the time and she liked that he was clearly willing to do whatever it took to get a job done but on the other hand, she had to admit it that when his SEAL side, as Chin and Danni had affectionally referred to it, showed but then it left her feeling intimidated. There was always a look in his eyes which accompanied the mood which made it clear that he would destroy anyone who was stupid enough to get in the way of what he was aiming for.

A small smirk came to her face as she watched Steve place his hand on Danni's back and guided her towards the metal detectors, his head tilted down slightly, clearly listening to whatever it was that Danni was saying to him.

Well perhaps he wouldn't destroy everything.

They headed through security and towards the elevators, Steve jabbing his finger against the call button before he crossed his arms over his chest and stood glaring at the closed doors. Kono took the opportunity to move next to Danni, looking down at the small woman.

"I know you said the boss man was getting into the zone but are you sure there's nothing else wrong with him?" She murmured quietly, meeting Danni's eyes when she turned to look at her.

"He wants this case finished and Barclay gone from the building into custody." Danni replied with a shrug. "He'll be fine once that has happened." She reached up and patted Kono on the shoulder, flashing her a quick smile before they moved into the elevator. Steve hit the button for the third floor with enough force that Kono glanced towards him with a raised eyebrow before quickly looking away. A silence filled the small space for a moment before Danni spoke. "You know if you break the elevator while we're in it then it will take even longer to interrogate Barclay." She remarked mildly, her gaze fixed on Steve who turned at the sound of her voice to look at her.

"That's clearly not going to happen Danni considering the small fact that we're already moving." Steve responded, looking away from her again before they stepped out of the elevator and headed to the entrance of the headquarters. Kono smiled slightly, her eyes dropping to see Steve place his hand on Danni's lower back, pushing her forward again, something which Kono noticed he often did. A glance past Steve and Danni as they entered the room showed Jack and Toast standing at the computer table, working away on the stack of files beside them. She allowed her gaze to linger on Jack for a moment before she set her shoulders and moved over to them, arriving just as Steve spoke.

"How s it going with the files, have we found anyone who is alive yet from the names?"

"Yeah." Jack replied, looking up at them, his pale blue eyes moving briefly over their faces. "It looks like Barclay next stop after Hawaii was Chicago. There are at five people in these files who live in the area and all of them are currently alive."

"What about the other names?" Danni asked, sighing when Jack shook his head at her.

"All of them deceased in fires." He informed her.

"How many of the files have you been through?" Steve questioned as he shot his partner a quick look, one which Kono couldn't read for the life of her.

"I'd say that we've probably gone through half of them." Toast said, speaking up for the first time since the conversation had started. "We've just come across the Chicago ones so we're hope that the rest of the files belong to potential victims as well rather than victims who… well you know, were turned into BBQ by some crazy whack job."

"Toast, how about you try and show some compassion, these people were alive with families and loved ones before Barclay came along and killed them. We don't refer to them as being BBQ, we refer to them as being victims." Danni remarked, a warning tone to her voice which made Toast wince as he hunched down as though he was trying to make his six-foot four frame as short as he could.

"I'm sorry blondie, I didn't mean anything by it, I'm still working on the compassion side of the job. I haven't exactly had to look at these sorts of pictures before, they're… well they're tough." He admitted on a sigh as he waved his hand towards the large plasma screen which was covered on one side with a variety of smiling faces and on the other a collection of the photos which had been clearly taken by the CSU unit showing the burnt-up bodies. Kono watched as Danni's face softened at Toast's admission, she moved away from Steve to stand beside Toast, reaching out and wrapping her hand around his arm and gave it a soft squeeze.

"It will get easier eventually." She promised him, her previous irritation gone. Toast nodded at her looking up at Steve when the other man spoke.

"Unfortunately, you'll soon find yourself desensitised to it all." Steve remarked before he turned to look at Danni. "I'm going to call Chin and see whether they've found something in the fourth residence, if they haven't then I'll head downstairs with Kono and begin the interrogation. What are you going to do up here Danni?" He asked her.

Danni seemed to consider his question for a moment before she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Someone had to start ringing up the other precincts on the mainland to let them know that we have some of their cold cases which can be closed off on the system. If you guys hand me over the files which you've already identified as victims who have been deceased then I'll start doing that now." She said, glancing down at the watch on her wrist with a slight frown.

"When do you have to leave to go and get Grace?" Steve asked her as he looked down at his own watch.

"I don't have to go for another hour and a half yet so I should be able to make a dent in them. The ones I don't manage to do now I can take it home with me and finish off from there since technically I will be available until five thirty for work." She said looking towards Steve who nodded at in response.

Kono watched Steve grab his cell phone and press on the number three button before he brought the handset up to his ear. She heard him speak her cousin's name before he turned and headed in the direction of his office. Danni followed his progress for a moment before she turned her own attention back to Toast, shooting him a thoughtful look.

"So how are you holding up in your first official case?" She asked him, keeping her voice low. Kono glanced away staring at the pictures on the screen though she continued to listen into the conversation. If she was going to be working with these people and placing her life in their hands then she wanted to know everything she could about them.

Toast remained silent for a moment before he sighed.

"I'm doing okay I think, I guess I didn't quite expect my first case on the job to be quite like this one. I mean some of the victims were kids Blondie, like proper kids, not even teenagers. They should have been out on the street with their friends playing soccer or throwing a football around, hell, they should even be inside playing a computer game. They shouldn't be in a morgue somewhere waiting to be cut up by someone." He stated, a shaky quality to his voice.

"You're right." Danni agreed softly, a sad note to her voice. "But life isn't like that Toast however much we might wish it was and there will be cases that we'll have to work on which will make this one seems like a walk in the park by comparison. I know that this is hard on you but I also know that you can do this. Just think of it this way, you've helped all these children be able to rest easily by bringing their killer into justice. We've done everything by the book on this one, every warrant has been served and every piece of evidence was kept in the correct chain of command. There is nothing the defence can use against us in court. You helped with that."

"Speaking of court Danni, I've been meaning to ask you. Will we be expected to testify in court on cases?" Kono asked her, tilting hr head to one side thoughtfully, a slight trickle of nerves entering her blood stream at the thought of taking the stand.

"No" Danni assured them both with a shake of her head. "Or at least not yet, going to court to testify is something which the senior Detectives on the team will do which isn't a slight against either of you so please don't take it that way. It would be the same in any precinct you ended up in."

"Trust me, I'm not taking that as a slight at all." Kono assured Danni with a smile at her. "I would like to watch you in court when you do it though Danni, if I'm going to have to do it one day then I may as well start getting the experience over how it's done now."

"That would be a good idea Kono." Danni agreed with a smile of hr own.

"So, if it's the senior Detectives then that does mean you'll be doing it all?" Toast asked with a frown. "Because no offence Blondie but that sounds like its going to be a lot of work for just one person, you'd be spending all your time down at the court house."

"She won't be the only one." Jack commented, speaking up for the first time since Steve had left, turning his attention away from the laptop he was working on to look at them all. "Danni will do some of them, probably the homicide and vice cases that we end up working on. I've been trained and have been to court several times so any white-collar cases or terrorism cases will be easy for me to do and…"

"I'll be doing any of the military based cases." Steve finished for the tall blond as he came back towards them. "You and Toast coming to watch is a good idea though Kono." He said, nodding towards her, the compliment making her smile for a moment before she frowned.

"What about Chin? What will he do? Will he go to court?" She questioned watching as Steve shot a quick look towards Danni.

"It's going to be up to Chin what he wants to do about that." Danni replied. "He obviously doesn't need the experience as he would have done plenty of court appearances when he was on the force previously and although technically, he doesn't have a rank at the moment, he's still part of our task force so he can testify on our cases. He may not want to so if he doesn't then we won't force him. Not only there is more than enough work here to be getting on with." She pointed out, shooting her office a glance before she sighed.

Kono followed her gaze, raising an eyebrow when she noticed all the files on Danni's desk, files which she was pretty sure hadn't have been there earlier on when they were last in the office.

"Speaking of Chin, he and Detective Lee are currently in Barclay's fourth residence and so far, they have found nothing. They are just waiting for a CSU team and some uniformed officers to arrive to secure the scene before they head back there." Steve remarked, looking at Danni who nodded at him before he turned his attention to Kono giving her a long look. "You ready Rookie?" He asked her.

Kono glanced around the others before she nodded at him.

"More than ready." She said, breathing out before she turned and followed him out of the room.

This was an experience she didn't want to miss out on.

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