Being a father, Danny took every case involving a child too close to heart. He never could compartmentalize his emotions like all the training books said one should. Cases with kids were different and anyone who'd harm a child had a special place in hell as far as Danny was concerned.
All of those feelings lead him to this moment. Figuring out the proper impact spot on the gate so it doesn't fly back on the car and prevent them from stopping the bastard who has kidnapped Lilly Wilson and is currently trying to fly out of the country with her. Extremely grateful Kono and Chin are people of few words, he mentally calculated his speed, the plane's speed, stopping distance for both machines and angle of approach to bring the Camaro to a halt right in front of the taxiing aircraft, thus stopping it and preventing anyone from getting injured in the process.
After they cuff and book the perps, Danny checks out just how close the nose of the car is to the landing gear and grins, a small dent from the gate but not a scratch, easily fixed. Turk wishes he had the stunt on video to send to Virgil. Turning to his team mates, Danny suggests that this is one their boss doesn't need to know about especially after the whole insurance form incident. Kono investigates the area around the car's bumper, turns slightly gray and readily agrees with his assessment. Chin shakes his head in disbelief, while his face clearly states, "Shit, that was a close one."
Danny wanted to rush back to the Missouri, to get Lilly back to her father, but the brakes were hot. He didn't want to run the risk of not being able to stop so they made their way back at a more sedate pace even with the sirens. Kono quietly talked with Lilly while Chin made a valiant effort to pretend he was interested in his phone. Neither cousin mentions the sedate pace.
In true Super SEAL exceptional senses fashion, Steve detects the faint smell of hot rubber and burnt brake grease, not to mention the thin wisps of smoke still coming from the rear tires, as he puts his diving gear back in the trunk.
"Uh, Daniel. You want to explain this?"
Danny takes in the man's posture, ram rod straight, arms crossed, eyebrow raised in Confusion Face #2. "What exactly do you want me to explain, Steven?" The best defense with Steve is often a misleading offense.
"This, Danny," he says again, gesturing with one arm to encompass the car.
"This is a parked vehicle, Steve. Parked, as in what usually results in a driver disengaging the engine, turning the key to off and removing said key from the ignition," Danny remarked hoping to distract his partner from what he knows is the true topic.
"Is that your poor attempt at evading the question?"
Damn, the guy was like a dog with a bone, a very meaty bone, but he still had to try. "I'm sorry, but your question was so vague that I had to surmise what you are referring to. Evidently, I guessed incorrectly. What is the 'this' you are alluding to? Come on, use your big boy words."
"You're not as funny as you think you are, D," Steve grumbled back. "Why are the brakes hot and the tires smoking on the Camaro?"
Danny gave Steve his best befuddled face. "I don't know, Steven. Do I look like a mechanic to you? My guess is all of 'your' energetic driving has worn them out."
Steve ignored the jibe and the implied air quotes. "You should get them checked out."
"Yeah, I'll do that," Danny retorted, gearing up for a full blown rant.
Luckily for the Neanderthal pain in the ass, Chin wandered over with an update for the boss, ending their exchange. Filled with sudden unexplainable anger, Danny excused himself, telling the gang he had to go get Grace. He jumped into the Camaro, leaving Steve to hitch a ride with someone else. It was true that he need to pick up his daughter, but not for another hour, he just needed to get away from his annoying partner for a while. Oh, and while enjoying the separation, he would take the time to thoroughly inventory the contents of the trunk, curious what else (besides the diving gear) Super SEAL had stashed in there. Not that he was concerned, okay maybe a little concerned. He doesn't want to find any incendiary or explosive devices in the vehicle he uses to transport his daughter.
Gracie was the best distraction anyone could ever ask for. Danny picked her up from school, drove to his current place of abode (read rat trap even by his standards) and made baked macaroni with cheese just like his mom used to. Nothing beats spending time with his Monkey, enjoying her company and eating Mom's ultimate comfort food. If he'd known then what the next week was going to bring, Danny might have considered freezing time.
Danny would never be able to explain how he knew from looking at Amy's face that Meka was the cop everyone was talking about yesterday. The cop they'd found roasted like a pig with his badge stuck in his mouth. When he orally promised Amy he'd find out what was going on, he silently promised her that the perpetrator would pay for their crime.
Danny prided himself on being a good judge of character. He'd always been able to size up a person within minutes, sometimes even seconds of meeting them. Given his past and current professions, that skill came in handy. It was how he knew that Meka wasn't on the take. That conviction had him testing his agreement with Kamekona a lot earlier than he wanted to. The big man held up his end of the bargain, acting just shady enough to fool Steve and Chin. Did they like modern art, he'd asked. Well, Danny would make an exception if it meant clearing Meka's reputation. They had their name and Turk owed him as they both knew this didn't fall under the guise of confidential informant like Chin and Steve thought.
When Bastille refused to cooperate, Danny took action. It was hard to pick between the two things he did best, drive or fight. He chose driving as beating the living shit out of the drug dealer wouldn't get them anywhere. He should have been suspicious at Steve's silent compliance with his plan, but he didn't take the time to dwell on it. He was too busy making sure the bungee cords were just loose enough and cursing the fact he didn't have ready access to the Charger and it's high performance racing engine.
It turned out Steve was just biding his time before jumping on Danny's behavior. Fortunately he was fully in the groove and could converse intelligently without losing his concentration.
Steve interrupted the silence with snark. "Just for the record, if I pulled something like this, you'd be reading me the riot act about proper police procedure."
Not bothering to even look at his partner, Danny retorts, "No, I'd probably just arrest you."
"Compared to this, hanging a guy off a roof or throwing a guy in a shark cage is pretty tame," Steve states with certainty.
Sparing a quick glance at the idiot next to him, Danny counters, "No, I disagree; I think the shark cage was way worse than this."
"Whatever. You're wrong. I'm just saying to be clear, next time I get a free pass." Steve quiets, again maintaining his smug smile. If Danny had looked closely, he'd have seen the hint of approval in the smile as well.
When they reached the top of the parking garage and Bastille was still uncooperative, Danny took it in stride. He had a full tank of gas and all night. Hell, he'd even risk going to the track just so he could do 220mph to get the asshole to talk. He felt a smidgen of disappointment when the jerk caved as Steve started to loosen the bungees.
Turns out Danny got to use his other talent too when they figured out who the real snitch was. If Steve hadn't called to him, Danny might have beat Kaleo unconscious. As it was, his knuckles hurt for a week, but it was a good kind of hurt. He unwrapped them for Meka's funeral. The bruises and cuts were badges of honor for his friend's sacrifice.
Back at his hole in the wall after the funeral, Danny became a little maudlin. He'd tried hard all day not to compare Meka's funeral to Frank's. For the most part he'd succeeded because of all the distractions and the presence of his team mates. Since they'd cleared Meka's name all of HPD had crawled out of the walls and whatever foxholes they hid themselves in, to pay their respects. Sargent Cage humbled himself to offer an apology in the guise of condolence. Danny focused on Amy and Billy.
Alone now, the memories flooded back. Frank's wake had been eerily similar. Everyone who'd ever worked with or heard of Frank Canton, be they friend or adversary, piled into the main ballroom of the Showboat Casino and Hotel in Atlantic City (no so coincidentally the only casino on the planet that Frank hadn't been banned from). The whole crew had been there, recalling old times and getting drunk. It was the first time they'd all been in the same room together since the Banks job. Linus had been elected to speak well, cause he'd drawn the short straw. The kid did good, saying just enough without going overboard. Afterwards, the gang retired to a private room where a few hands of poker were half-heartily played. They slowly made their individual departures knowing that they wouldn't all be together again until the next funeral.
Danny was seriously contemplating the merits of the watching the SyFy channel in his boxers and getting trashed when a knock on his front door distracted him. Shlepping his way through the room, Danny pulled the door open to find Steve standing there with a case of Longboards in one hand and two pizzas in the other. Neither man said a word as they worked their way through both while watching a Cheers rerun marathon. The big lug was beginning to grow on him.