A/N: So as I work on this story I have really started to feel sorry for Kono and Chin. Now this will be one of the first times I've ever had to write major scenes exclusively for them. I am more comfortable writing Danny and Steve, but they're trapped in tight spot, so I have to write Chin and Kono, and the team they will pull together. I'm bringing Lori back because of the role she played in the first story in this set. I know there are a lot of people out there don't care for her, but I need the additional person.
Anyway, this chapter is a lot about the state of affairs for Kono and Chin, and bringing Doris into this world. Hope you like it, and yes, I really have a soft spot for Toast. He's in all of my stories.
Chapter 4: The Voice of Nightmares
"Who are these people?" Doris asked as Kono finished reading the letter.
"They are monsters, they are ghosts, they are our nightmares," Kono answered as she looked out over the yard.
The sun was rising to the east, sending long shadows over the yard toward the water, and Chin worked. He'd gone all the way out to the chairs first and found one bottle on the table and the other on the ground. There was beer still in both of them. He sprayed the luminol on the chairs and on the ground near them and prayed, but the blood was revealed. Not enough to worry about blood loss, but enough for a sample, and to know that someone had ended up hurt.
"What did you find?" Kono asked as she left Doris in the house and came toward her cousin.
"There's blood," Chin answered and sighed as he worked. "Two bottles here and glass enough for two more at the door. Whoever attacked Danny and Steved, waited for there to be distance between them to take them with ease. Multiple attackers, I'm going to guess that Danny was here and the attackers came from near the neighbour's yard and the tree cover." Chin explained.
"I'm going to call a forensics team out here Chin. They'll go over the yard and the Camaro. If there is evidence to find, they will find it. You need to stop." Kono said and reached out to take a hold of her cousin's shoulder.
"I can't, we have to help them. It's just us this time!" Chin stated almost frantically and fought Kono's touch.
"No, it's not. We need to regroup. Gladys has named us all in the letter. It's time to get the whole band back together so that we can keep each other safe, and try to save Steve and Danny while we're at it. You need to read the letter, it's all she going to give us, but if her henchmen left evidence to find, I'm going to guess that she's going to have to tie up loose ends to make it harder for us to find her. We need to stop those deaths from happening, we need to clear our minds and get them back in this game. What would Danny do? He's dealt with these people before."
"He'd get every last forensic detective out here and make this yard priority number one." Chin stated.
"And, he'd retrace his steps from today and the days leading up to now. Maybe these attackers were following them. Maybe they were waiting for the perfect moment. Yesterday was a symbolic day. It was the day, a year ago, that Danny shot and killed McMahon. I doubt that was a coincidence." Kono explained.
"You're right. We need all hands on deck for this one." Chin stated and closed his field kit. "We need to start looking."
5-0
"Why does it have to be so dark?" Danny asked out loud hoping that the only person who could hear him was Steve, but knowing that if experience had served him correctly, someone else was bound to hear it all, and deep down in the darkest parts of his soul, Danny knew exactly who was to blame for this situation. He'd been waiting for it - knew it would come and here it was.
"Just stay calm." Steve said from somewhere in the darkness.
"Calm is easy for you. You weren't the one buried alive." Danny panicked but tried to keep it together.
"At least we're together this time. We can get out of this - together."
"Oh I highly doubt that, but do try. It will be ever so entertaining." A voice echoed off the damp dark walls.
"Gladys." Danny gasped.
"Fear doesn't become you Daniel, what would my brother say?" Gladys responded with a sick sort of tone that could drive anyone to their deepest fears. "He'd say, 'Daniel, your mind is playing tricks on you. Fear is nothing more than a figment of your imagination. Imagine it away, or embrace it as your strength, but don't fall victim to your fear.'"
"You're brother is dead, I shot him and silenced him forever." Danny retorted.
Gladys chuckled. "Oh Daniel, if that were true, you wouldn't be so afraid. You hear his voice every time you close your eyes. You hear him taunting you and you hear him now in me. He will always be here. There is no silencing the ghosts that haunt your mind."
"Danny, stop talking to her. Don't let her get inside your head."
"It's too late Stevie boy, we're all trapped inside Danny's noggin!" Gladys mocked. "Trapped together this time, and trapped is where you will remain - unless your two lovely partners – Chin and Kono - back in the light can find their way through my little rat race and into the darkness. Unlike my brother, I'm not about to give them any links to you or bread crumbs – though they know exactly who they are dealing with. I gave them that much. They have seen my face by now. They'll have to find you all on their own. But, I'm not completely unfeeling - Lord no! There is one way out for you, Daniel and Steviekins. One escape. One plan B. There is one thing you can do to make this work to your advantage."
"It can't be death. You would have left us our weapons for that." Steve stated.
"Exactly Stevie - not just another pretty face are we? And to clarify, you were un-armed and completely relaxed when we found you, so your weapons are exactly where you left them. No indeed, death would be a waste of my time and effort, and I have been planning my revenge since that moment you locked me in that dark, dungeonous military prison cell. How do you like it now? There is one way out of this darkness for you two - it will be hard. It will test you, but if you can figure it out on your own, well, then I will turn myself in and I'll gladly go back to jail - or you can kill me Daniel." Gladys mocked.
"And what if our friends find us first?" Steve asked.
"Well if they are smart enough for that, I'll be long gone before they get to you. You had better pray for a sunny day - chasing the clouds away..." Gladys sang the familiar tune to the children's show and made all of the hairs on the back of Danny's neck stand on end - it was like he was listening to her brother in the moment when he realized he'd been buried alive.
"You'll never get away with this!" Danny yelled.
"Oh Daniel, I already have!" Gladys said and laughed a laugh that dripped and echoed off the walls of the dark place and then it faded away to nothing but silence.
5-0
Doris followed Kono and Chin into the office but the two Five-Os barely spoke to each other, they hardly moved, they hardly even breathed as they moved through the office awkwardly.
Finally, looking disheveled and half asleep, Toast walked in.
"Have you touched anything?" he asked - his eyes red and blood shot.
"No," Kono stated and Chin shook his head.
"All right, hand me your phones and leave me to this. I'm going to pulse this office with an electro magnetic pulse to kill any bugs, then I'll continue with a full sweep. Don't worry, you won't loose anything, I've been backing everything up - with Catherine's help - to a naval database and cloud site. When I'm satisfied that the office is under our control, we'll get back to work." Toast explained as he started to pull random, home made, devices out of the satchel he'd looped over his shoulder.
"Who are you?" Doris asked as she's never seen such and unprofessional officer before in her life.
"My name is Adam Charles, but my professional name is Toast." he answered. "Who are you?" he asked suspiciously.
"Doris McGarrett."
"Ah, the dead done. Got it. Hand me your phone and please step into the hallway with Kono and Chin."
"Absolutely not!" Doris stated.
Toast looked to Kono and Chin and raised and eyebrow.
"She's a former CIA spy," Kono stated.
"Yeah, I know. I hacked the files for Steve, but does she not know who we are dealing with here?" Toasted asked.
"You did what? That's impossible." Doris gasped.
"That's such a load of CIA bullshit," Toast winked. "You people are not as high and mighty as you think you are. That being said, I'll ask you again. Please hand over your phone and step into the hallway. We're dealing with a very delicate situation here and we don't want to fall victim to old tricks. I understand that you weren't here for the first case, so you are unfamiliar with what is going on - I'll be turning you over to Chin and Kono for further debriefing - but for now you have to understand that the McMahons have a knack for the electrical age, so I need some time with the system to make sure she's still ours."
"Please, Doris, the sooner this is done, the sooner we can get to work." Chin stated and led the way out of the office.
"Fine," Doris stated and handed over her cellular phone and followed obediently.
Kono, Chin and Doris sat in the hallways, watching through the glass doors as Toast worked.
"I can't believe you called a hacker in on this case," Doris grumbled.
"He'd officially on the payroll, thanks to your son and the Governor, so if you have a problem with it you'll have to take it up with Steve when we find him, and Governor Denning. Toast was named in the letter. We need him here to keep him safe just as much as we need him to help us find Steve and Danny." Kono explained and there was a shortness that she'd never adapted before with Doris that came through. "We will gather all the people in that list together to keep them close and to use them for what they did the last time. It was a team effort and because of that team, we were able to rescue Danny."
"And you don't think this master criminal has already though of that?" Doris asked moodily.
"I'm hoping that she has. If she comes after any of us while we're trying to find Danny and Steve that will be the slip we'll need to follow her trail." Kono stated.
"Then we'd better get started. Denning should be the first to know what's going on. I'll stay here while you and Doris go to the Governor's office and get all the go-ahead we need from him, and Kono, check your car very carefully first." Chin stated to end the argument. "Take every precaution Kono."
Kono nodded and stood.
"What does the Governor have to do with anything?" Doris asked as she got up ready to follow Kono.
"Half of his Task-Force is missing. He's got to be the one to call in our back up." Kono stated and marched through the halls of the historic building and out to her Red Cruze.
A/N: Today's pop culture reference is brought to you by Sesame Street