Waiting Game

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Danny couldn't think. Nauseating thoughts occupied his mind while he was speeding in his Camaro. He didn't know where to go, what to do or whom to turn to. Grace and Charlie were the two most important people in his life and realizing that there was even a possibility of them getting hurt…

He couldn't think about it. Danny felt like throwing up while his stomach was twisting and turning. He was trapped in a limbo of emotions he didn't even realize existed. One moment he felt like crying his lungs out, the other he felt sharp jolts of pain which were followed by a devastating feeling of numbness, and finally he felt so angry, so agitated that he had to battle the thought of grabbing his gun and blowing his brains out.

He was sweating, constantly wiping his forehead and rubbing his palms against his thighs which left sweaty stains on his pants. Danny didn't care.

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The phone nearly fell from the nightstand from how much it was ringing. Steve smacked it with his floppy hand, still very drowsy and sleepy.

2 am

Steve stared at his phone while browsing through the missed calls log. Danny must have called him at least a dozen times.

Danny.

Steve winced, instantly getting up and storming downstairs. He'd been trying to get him for at least an hour, which seemed odd. If Danny was in trouble, how the hell would he have been able to use his phone and dial his number repeatedly? And if he wasn't in trouble, why would he have kept calling him and not have showed up at his house?

Something wasn't adding up.

Steve got dressed in a second and disappeared from the house, forgetting how dizzy he was.

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The house was dead silent. Danny walked in like a cougar hunting for prey. He was prepared for all kinds of possible scenarios. After quietly investigating every corner of the house – he found nothing. He wasn't even sure why he was expecting an intruder in his house. There was a feeling of relief in his chest as he unclenched his fist and put his gun away.

Turning the lights on, he sat down on the couch, prepared to find a solution to the situation. He closed his eyes as he started worrying, panicking and freaking out again and got very lost in his thoughts. Loud banging on the door almost gave him a heart attack.

"Danno, open the door!"

Danny was relieved, even though he felt like punching Steve in the face for scaring him. He stood up just to let him in, without any words or sounds, and returned to the sofa.

"Danno," Steve repeated loudly. "What's going on?"

Steve sat opposite him. It was clear that Danny was distressed.

"Uh, I-I," he uttered, seeming very distant. His hands were shaking. "I don't know what's going on but, I, uh, I think that someone wants to hurt Grace and Charlie," he clenched his teeth. Steve's nostrils widened.

"What?" he made a face.

"There was an envelope on my desk yesterday," he began slowly, his hands trembling. "With pictures of Grace and Charlie, taken in front of the school and in the park. Photos I, uh, don't recognize or understand-"

Steve cut him off.

"Are you sure Rachel didn't send them to you?"

"Why would she send me these!" Danny waved his hands.

"I don't know, Danny! Maybe there's a logical explanation for this," he suggested, not believing his own words. The primary objective was to calm him down.

"There isn't, Steve! I can't think of one!" he yelled. "Somebody is - stalking – my children," he couldn't even pronounce the whole sentence without feeling like he was going to choke. Steve took a deep breath.

"Okay," he sounded calm, but he was far from calm. He was like a volcano that would soon erupt and leave steaming, scorching lava all around. Danny gazed at him. Panic was in his eyes.

"Steve," he said quietly. "Whoever this is, I swear – I promise you – I will find them and personally shove acid down their throats after I pull their eyes out of their skulls," he was speaking slowly and angrily, as he kept clenching his sweaty fists. Steve nodded.

"No, buddy," he began. "We will."

Danny nodded in silence.

"I'll go back to the office and check the security cameras. Maybe whoever delivered the envelope showed their face on the camera."

"Doubt it," Danny bit his lips.

"It's a place to start, and right now, we have no other leads," he said determinedly. Danny nodded again.

"Uh, yeah, you're right," he stood up as Steve walked to the front door. "I'm right behind you."

Steve waved and walked to his car. Danny left the door open, planning to only pick up his phone and jacket when he laid his eyes on the coffee table. Another envelope, neatly placed on top of the pile of newspaper. Danny's heart skipped a beat. For some reason he was expecting to be ambushed, or that a freakshow monster would jump out of the coffee table and shoot him. He found those thoughts to be preferable once he picked up the envelope and tore it open.

There were no pictures this time but a piece of paper with one word smeared across in red letters. Danny couldn't tell if it was dried up blood or lipstick.

He read the word multiple times, hoping he'd just misread it the first time. He hadn't.

Steve's last name was written messily on the piece of paper.

Danny threw up on the bathroom floor.

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An hour later, Danny was able to sit in his car and put his hands on the steering wheel. There were so many thoughts in his head that he felt like it was going to explode.

Somebody is stalking Grace and Charlie.

Steve's in trouble.

Bloody message.

Ruined the carpet with vomit.

Danny laughed at himself for thinking about the carpet while everybody he cared about the most in the entire world was in danger. He was losing his mind – he was certain.

It was like trying to solve a complex mathematical equation that he had no skills, knowledge or ideas for.

At least math never killed anyone.

Danny felt sick again. He was faced with a dilemma – tell Steve that his life was possibly in danger while he was going through a devastating and traumatic period in his life, or try to solve it himself? Danny gave up on the latter thought – there was no way Steve's persistent, annoying ass wouldn't eventually figure it out. Danny could never keep a secret from him, even if he wanted to.

You got to know every detail of my life? What's it to you what my lunch is?

Cause you don't want to tell me! What, you think it's so fantastic I'm going to steal it? You fly in some deep-fried sandwich from New Jersey I'm not allowed to know about-

Salad, okay? Just a salad. That's it. There's nothing else in here.

He had to tell Steve.

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Getting dragged out of bed was never a pleasant experience, especially not in the middle of the night. Steve, however, had no time to spare – he ordered the team to show up faster than 'as soon as possible'. They were all in the office, engaged in a serious conversation when Danny staggered inside. He was pale as a wall, either from throwing up or being tormented by his own mind. Possibly from both.

"Danny," said Steve, acknowledging his arrival. "Are you okay?" he asked, even though it was a ridiculous question – how could he possibly have been okay after learning that somebody was putting his children in danger?

Danny simply threw the envelope in front of them and waited. Steve opened it, with Lou and Kono standing next to him. Lou walked away from the table as soon as he saw the content of the envelope and put his hands on his head in shock. Kono stared at Danny.

"Son of A BITCH," Steve cursed loudly, throwing the envelope on the desk. Chin took a look at it. Steve stood with his hands on his hips.

"Danny, listen to me," he said with a serious face. "Whoever this is, I won't let them touch Grace and Charlie. They can touch me, but not them."

"Nobody's going to touch you, okay, I will fucking strangle this son of a bitch," Danny groaned. Kono let out a sigh.

"What do we do now?" she asked. It was hard to tell. "Whoever sent you the envelopes, obviously wants something. Either from you or from Steve."

"You think he'll send another message?" asked Lou with his eyebrow risen.

"He has to," concluded Chin. "For now, he's just letting us know that he wants something. He has yet to say what that is."

"God," suddenly Kono had a revelation. She quickly typed something on the touchscreen. Loads of images and reports popped up.

"This could be connected," she announced. After hitting a dead end, they were brought back to the case that started everything. The case that broke Steve McGarrett.

Clearly some psychopath started stalking their children and threatened to hurt them unless they did what he wanted?

Yes, but the police couldn't find the guy. It was impossible to track him down.

"You think this is connected?" asked Lou reluctantly.

"It makes sense," answered Danny.

"But all of the threats were received via e-mail. And they always included a task of sorts. Those men were manipulated with, while being threatened their kids would get hurt," explained Chin. "Danny received two envelopes. No tasks, no requests."

"This is personal," said Steve after being silent for a while. "Whoever this sick son of a bitch is, he's just getting started."

The team exchanged looks. Everybody felt sick, worried and tormented.

"It's a waiting game."