A few hours later, Danny awoke feeling groggy and in desperate need of coffee. His stomach grumbled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten much of anything the day before.
He sat up and took in his surroundings, needing a moment to remember why he was in Grace's room. He felt the despondency return but then lighten as he recalled the conversation with Steve in the early morning hours. He was very lucky to have friends, ohana, like his teammates. He took a deep breath and headed to the kitchen to start the day.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," Steve slid a mug of coffee towards him as he entered the kitchen.
Danny narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "Why are you so damn cheerful this early in the morning?"
"It's 6:30. It's not that early." Steve pointed out.
Danny rolled his eyes, "Whatever... thanks for the coffee. Where's Chin?"
"He went home to shower and change. He's coming back to get me so we can meet with the governor at 8:00."
Danny nodded, not knowing if he should feel grateful to not be included in that meeting or not. He felt like his life hinged on the outcome of the meeting, but he knew it he was in good hands with Steve and Chin fighting for him. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door, "Who in the world is that at this time of morning?"
Steve gave him a shrug as his friend sighed and put the much needed coffee back on the counter.
Danny opened the door to find a bright light in his face and a microphone shoved in front of him as a too-perky reporter, with camera man close behind her, invaded his space, "Lila Adams, Action 6 news... Detective Williams, is it true that you have been on paid administrative leave before the incident Friday night? What did you do last time? That was in New Jersey, wasn't it? Is that the reason you moved here to Hawaii? What do you have to say about shooting an unarmed teenaged girl? Do you feel any remorse at all?"
Thankfully, Steve walked out of the kitchen in time to hear the reporter's questions. He mentally cursed himself for not realizing sooner that a knock on his partner's door at 6:30 a.m., after the events of the last few days, was probably not going to be a good thing. He'd worried that the media would find out Danny's address and accost him, but he was more affected by the sleepless night than he realized when he didn't think of it as a possibility as soon as he heard the knock.
Danny's sleep deprived brain could not come up with a response to the reporter's abrupt appearance and overly rude questions, but thankfully he was saved from having to come up with something as he felt himself pulled back into the house as his partner took his place in the doorway.
As Steve suddenly loomed in the doorway, the reporter took half a step back and sputtered in surprise. The camera man had to quickly adjust his camera up from his view of the front of Steve's dark blue shirt which had suddenly appeared and stumbled as the reporter backed into him slightly as he did so. The reporter recovered quickly and soon had the microphone in Steve's face, "Commander McGarrett, are you here because there's more trouble with Detective Williams? Do you have an update you'd like to give us on the shooting death of Susan Winters?"
Steve glared at the reporter who, to her credit, didn't back down, "How did you get this address?"
The reporter blinked rapidly but held her ground, "I can't tell you that. But we're here now, and I'd like an update on the Susan Winters shooting. What can you tell us?"
"I can tell you that you need to get off this property right now before I arrest you for trespassing," Steve's hand hovered near his holster.
"Is that a threat, Commander McGarrett?" The young reporter tried to sound tough, but the slight waver in her voice betrayed her.
"Not in the least," Steve's smile was icy calm, "I'm just letting you know what will happen in about ten seconds if you don't leave. Now."
The reporter opened her mouth to protest but then clamped it shut again as she thought of how she could spin what they had into her story for the midday newscast. She nodded and lowered the microphone, "Very well, Commander. We'll be right over there on the sidewalk if you change your mind. We're going on at noon with whatever we have, like it or not... C'mon, Manny, let's go."
Steve watched as the reporter and Manny, the camera man, went as far as the sidewalk by the street and stopped. He glared at them for a moment, daring them to move, before stepping back inside and closing the door. He sighed heavily and turned to find Danny lurking in his shadow, teeth set on edge and fists balled in anger, "Forget them, Danny."
"Forget them?" Danny's hands flew as his words picked up and he started pacing. "How am I supposed to 'forget them,' Steven? Now I'm under siege in my own house, and they have a camera pointed this way in case I decide to do anything else that they want to misinterpret and put on the news for everyone to see. I can't do this much longer, Steve. I can't. We've got to figure this out and get them off my back..."
"Danny!" Steve grabbed Danny's shoulder to stop his movement, "I'm sorry. I should have known this would happen; I should never have let you open that door."
Danny took a deep breath, trying to control his rising anger, and to control his knee-jerk reaction to take his anger out on Steve, "It's not your fault... none of it is. You're not the one giving out my information, I trust."
Steve took his hand off Danny's shoulder as he felt the man relax just a little, "I'm sure Duke will figure that out soon enough. I know he's mad that one of his men is talking to the media without authorization especially when it concerns something like this."
Danny sank into the couch and laid his head on the back, hands rubbing over his face, and moaned, "This is all too much for this early in the morning. Where's my coffee?"
"I'll get it," Steve smirked at his partner.
Before Steve made it two steps to the kitchen, the doorbell rang. Danny straightened quickly and groaned, "Now what?"
Steve held a hand up to keep Danny where he was, "I got it." Steve wrenched open the door, other hand resting on his gun, "I told you..."
Danny tried to see around Steve without coming into view of the person on the other side of the door in case it was the pesky reporter again. He watched as Steve's hand went from his gun to motioning someone inside. Danny breathed a sigh of relief, "Al, what are you doing here?"
Robert "Al" Robertson, HPD, held up a pastry bag, "I brought malasadas."
Danny grinned at the young officer who had helped them on several cases, "I knew I liked you for a reason, but how'd you get past our media watchdogs out there?"
"I saw them," Robertson frowned, "They're next door talking to a neighbor."
"Terrific," Danny muttered, "I'm fairly sure she's the one that called CPS on me."
"C'mon," Steve motioned towards the kitchen, "let's get some coffee and talk in there."
"I also came by because Duke wanted me to fill you in," Robertson explained as he sat at the kitchen island and accepted a mug of steaming coffee.
"What's going on?" Danny took a swig of his cooling coffee and grimaced.
"He wanted to let you know that they're wrapping up the investigation on the Susan Winters shooting that happened Friday night," Robertson glanced over at Steve. "He's going to send you the report as soon as he can before he sends it off to I.A. with his findings and recommendation."
"I'm sure it's good, Danny," Steve assured his friend as Danny looked panicked and hopeful all at once. "You and I both know it was a justifiable shooting."
"You weren't there," Danny pointed out.
"No," Steve agreed. "I wasn't, but I know you, Danno, and I know that you wouldn't have shot unless it was justifiable. I'm sure the findings will show that as well. Have faith."
Danny snorted, but said nothing.
Steve glanced at his watch, "I think I'll call Duke before Chin gets here. I'd like to see that report before we go talk to the governor."
As Steve pulled out his phone and left the room, Danny grabbed a malasada and waved it at Robertson before taking a big bite out of it. He savored each chew and smiled as he swallowed, "Thanks, gup gup. That hit the spot."
Robertson sighed at the detective's nickname for him. He'd forgotten why, exactly, Danny had decided to call him that, but he was pretty sure it had to do with a fish. He smiled anyway, "You're welcome. I figured you could use some cheering up."
"So what have you been up to? We haven't seen you around lately."
"Oh, you know... this and that," Robertson hedged.
Danny swallowed down the last of the quickly consumed malasada and raised an eyebrow at the younger officer, "You do know you're talking to a detective, don't you? Even if I am on administrative leave, and there's the possibility that my badge will be taken from me, and I'll be thrown in Halawa for murder, I'm still a detective... what do you mean 'this and that'?"
Even after knowing him for a couple of years, he was still amazed at how quickly a simple conversation could turn into a rant for the Jersey native. Robertson smiled almost shyly at the detective's question, "This and that... and planning a wedding."
"A wedding?!" Danny squinted at him and regarded him in silence for a moment. As Steve walked back in, pocketing his cell phone, Danny pointed at Robertson and back at himself, "You and I need to have a talk about that... there's still time to get out of it."
Robertson shook his head at the cynical answer and simply smiled. He'd heard a thing or two about Danny's opinions on marriage.
"What'd I miss?" Steve wondered as he heard the end of the conversation and saw the amused look on Robertson's face.
Danny waved him off, "Nothing. So what did Duke have to say then?"
"Duke found the unauthorized informant," Steve told them.
"Do I want to know?" Danny poured himself another mug of coffee.
Steve shrugged, "I don't even know if you know him. Officer Carew."
"You're right, I don't think I know him. So what did I ever do to him that made him turn me into such a bad guy to the media?"
"You might not have done anything," Robertson frowned. "I've worked with Carew some. He's got an uncle high up in the government, or something, so he thinks he's got connections. He's only been out of the academy a year or so, but he thinks he knows everything. I hear he used to argue with the instructors on policies because he always thought he had a better way. One of his main arguments was on lethal force and whether or not it was ever justified. He always argued that he was a good enough shot to disarm a suspect without shooting center mass. That's probably why he's stuck his nose into this."
"Terrific," Danny muttered as he finished off his second cup of coffee. He didn't think it was helping yet. "So now what?"
"Duke's already assigned him to walk a beat for a while. He also assigned him to the outdoor music festival next weekend up on the north shore. You know, the one that HPD gets called to every year and ends up arresting half the concert goers for being drunk and disorderly." Steve smiled grimly. "He's hoping to work the attitude out of him. He said to tell you he was sorry one of his guys caused you grief."
"Wasn't Duke's fault."
Steve glanced at his phone when it dinged, "Chin's here. We're going to go talk to the governor. Don't worry, Danny, we'll get everything straightened out."
Danny snorted.
"Trust me, Danno," Steve grinned.
"Oh, I do," Danny smiled. "God help me, I don't know why, but I do."
"Hey, Al," Steve paused in the doorway, "Would you mind..."
"No, problem," Robertson didn't let him finish. "I'll stay and keep Danny company."
"Don't you have to go to work at some point?" Danny wondered.
Robertson grinned, "Actually, Duke said this was my job for the day. He wanted me here to help you with whatever you needed and to keep you company because he knew Steve was meeting with the governor."
"See," Steve matched Danny's dour expression with a grin, "you're all good."
"I don't need a damn babysitter," Danny growled under his breath, but with no heat whatsoever. He was happy for the company as he watched his partner leave to meet with the governor. A meeting that could, quite possibly, decide his fate on Five-0. More importantly, the fate of his future with Grace.
A/N: I have fallen behind on replying to all of your wonderful reviews. Hopefully, I've responded to each person at least once, but know that I sincerely appreciate each and every comment I get!