Hey guys!
It's me again and decided I would post the little sequel I wrote after my last story "Baby Fever". You don't need to read that one before if you hadn't but it could be easier for you to understand :)
For those of you who hadn't read the story this sequel is continuing to: John is the (now) 12-year-old son of Steve who had raised him as a single father after Catherine had died right after he was born. That's all you need to know!
I decided to write down my thoughts how this could continue after John had grown up a little more and this is what I came up with.. hope you like it!
There is no warning, it contains some angsty stuff and a little bit of whump :)
And please keep in mind, English is not my native language but I did try my best.
"Steven!"
Danny yelled as his partner who was holding his loaded SIG in his hand and was about to shoot the suspect right into his leg. The suspect who was sitting on a chair in the interrogation room and obviously didn't want to talk at all. A problem to solve by shooting him – well, that seemed to be the solution alá McGarrett.
"A word!", Danny grabbed his partner less softly and pushed him outside the room to have a little talk. He closed the door and glared at Steve who started to pace in front of him. "Care to tell what the hell you think you are doing?!"
"I'm interrogating."
"No, you're not! You do everything but interrogating!", Danny waved his arms while his voice got to the next higher range. "He won't talk with a hole in his leg either!"
"You don't know that."
"I don't know that, he says... Do I need to remind you who we are? We are the Governor's Taskforce! Which means, we're under the command of the Governor of Hawai'i! Do you volunteer to explain to said person, how the hell our suspect got shot after we arrested him?!"
Steve glared at him with a thousand-yard-stare and didn't say a word. Danny glared back, nearly losing his mind with his partner. He had met Steve as Rambo, Ninja Freak and caring about nothing regarding any rules. But the day his son was born, he changed. Still Rambo but the softer side of his friend had grown bigger and bigger and he hadn't been as suicidal as he had used to be – since now. The last 2 months Danny had noticed a change in his friend. He seemed to be extra stressed, less patient and not really great at dealing with his impulsive emotions. And this had been represented in a lot of situations like right now.
"Spill it."
"What?", Steve still glared at his partner who was about to punch this ridiculous kind of a look off his friend's face.
"You obviously got something going on for a while now and I want to know what! Spill it, now."
Steves glare faded and he turned away from Danny. He rubbed his face and suddenly, he looked exhausted. The anger and frustration had vanished and were replaced by desperation.
"It's John. We had a lot of fights in the last 2 months, last evening another one. Third one this week and it's only Thursday.", he finally came out.
Danny raised his eyebrows and placed his hands onto his hips. "What did you do? Threaten him to shoot him in the leg?"
Steve didn't even react to his partner's mocking and that made Danny loosen his tension. His anger about the former SEAL's behaviour had faded the second he recognised the face his friend had put on. This really seemed to take a toll on Steve.
"What happened?", Danny asked instead, letting Steve the space to calm down a little by take a few steps to the side and back.
"I wish I knew. He came down in the morning, I was making breakfast…"
.. earlier that morning..
Trampling footsteps from upstairs announced the arrival of his 12-year-old son who walked into the kitchen a second later.
"Morning, buddy. What did I tell you about walking down the stairs?", Steve greeted his boy as he looked up from making eggs.
John rolled his eyes at his father – his new favourite thing to do – and grabbed himself a cup from the cupboard. "No running, no trampling. I know, Dad."
"Well, if you already know it would be nice to put the theory into practice. Breakfast is ready in 5."
John nodded and poured himself a warmed milk into his cup. "Dad, I need 10 bucks for the excursion on Friday."
"Sure. Where did you say you're going?"
"Pearl Harbour. Mr. Lennard got us in for a look around with a real soldier!", John announced with excitement.
Steve gave him a look before grabbing two plates from the upper cupboard. "Oh yeah? Does he show you around or does he try to get a bunch of minor students to get signed up for the Army?"
"Dad!", his son sounded annoyed. "It's part of our history class this semester. Besides, I'm not interested in the Army."
"Well, doesn't matter at this point."
"I still want to go to the Navy when I'm old enough!"
Steve had put the eggs on the plates and within the words of John, he slammed the plate down with a pretty forceful movement. "We already talked about this a hundred times! You are not signing up for the Navy as long as Im alive!"
"You can't decide on me what I want to be or not!", the 12-year-old shot back.
"I am your father, I can!"
"Not once I become eighteen!"
"So please help me when this day arrives.", Steve took a deep breath.
John stamped his foot angrily in the ground. "You don't ever listen to me! I hate you and I wish Mum would be here!"
With that he stormed out of the kitchen back upstairs. A second later a door slammed and Steve found himself slumped against the kitchen counter. He rubbed his forehead, eyes closed and breathing like he would have to punch something in order to get calm again. It had been the one and same conversation every time again… leading to an argument, to yelling and door slamming. Steve felt like he was loosing his grip on his growing kid. And that made him really scared.
..back in the present..
"… yeah and that's it. He didn't even let me take him to school, he walked. It wasn't the first time and it's probably not the last.", Steve ended. He had leant at the wall as he had started telling about his morning and now, he was crossing his arms in front of his chest and closed his eyes. There was it again – the incoming headache which followed him around constantly for a few weeks now.
Danny sighed and took his place next to his friend. "You know he didn't mean what he said, right?"
"Yeah well, that doesn't help me at all, Danny!", Steve snapped back, regretting his tone immediately. He didn't have any right to talk like to his friend, Danny was just trying to help. So, he took another deep breath and whispered a soft "m sorry, I didn't mean to yell."
"It's alright. The boy's got your weak point and he is your weak point at the same time. But I meant what I said… he didn't mean what he said. He's twelve, Steve. A child, an ongoing teenager. It's called puberty. He will be angry, annoyed and frustrated for no reason and he will be yelling at you just because feels he need to. Don't let that get to you, okay?"
Steve had hold his position, staring right into the floor in front of him. "Maybe he is right. Maybe that's the time he would need his Mom."
"Don't be ridiculous. Yes, a woman's hand can have some wonder effects but that doesn't mean it's needed. Give him some time and he will calm down."
Steve shook his head. "You don't understand. 2 weeks ago, there was this parents-kids meeting at his school. John's class teacher organised some picnic in class one afternoon for the parents and their kids. Well, have a guess… invitation was written to 'Mum's and Dad's'. The minute John had read it, he refused to go. So we didn't go."
Danny sighed again. Damn, this was going to be some hard stuff. "Steve, he is still grieving. Of course he is, even tho he didn't really get to know her. Look at you, tell me youre not grieving anymore?", he glazed at his friend who didn't say a word or some other kind of reaction. But that was answer enough for Danny and he continued. "He's getting older and the only person he is able to let go of his anger at, is you right now. You and him always had some deep connection and bounding - don't let that slack. It's all you two have together."
Steve looked at him and nodded. "Thanks, Danny."
"You're welcome. Now, can we go back to questioning this kid ? Maybe without any bullets or fists included?"
That was the first chapter!
The story is already written, so I will update in about 2 days :)