CHAPTER 8

Friday morning, McGarrett residence:

A buzzing sensation woke Steve from his slumber. His eyes popped open and it took him a moment to recognise where he was. He took in his surroundings and spotted the familiar rug and coffee table of his living room. He felt something heavy on his legs and looked down to see Grace still curled up on the couch, her head resting on his lap.

The buzzing feeling returned and Steve realised it was his phone vibrating in his pocket. Carefully so as not to disturb Grace, he reached into his pocket and retrieved the device. He glanced at the clock and saw it was almost seven o'clock. The phone continued to vibrate in his hand and he looked at the caller ID. Unknown.

"McGarrett," he answered quietly.

There was nothing but silence on the other end.

"Hello? Who is this?" Steve asked.

There was still no answer on the other end. He hung up the phone, cursing spammers as he placed it on the coffee table in front of him. Just as he was about to lean his head back and get some more sleep, the phone vibrated again, this time much louder as the wood of the table also reverberated.

Quickly snatching up the phone before it disturbed Grace, Steve answered. "McGarrett."

"Hey, Steve," Danny Williams answered.

"Hey Danny."

"Sorry about not coming last night. I called Catherine and she said it was okay that Grace stayed overnight. I'm on my way over there now."

"It's cool, Danny. We had a good time," Steve said, a smile finding its way on to his face.

"Again, I'm sorry. We hit a few snags with the case and—"

"Danny. I said it was fine. I'll get her up and ready for school by the time you get here," Steve said as Grace stirred beside him.

"Okay, okay. Thank you," Danny said as he hung up.

Steve chuckled at his exasperated partner. Danny wore his heart on his sleeve and everyone knew Grace was the most important person in the whole world to him. Steve wondered if his own father felt the same way about him. John McGarrett had sent him away in order to protect both him and Mary, but Steve often wondered if that was the only reason. Either way, Grace was lucky to have someone like Danny as her father.

"Danno?" Grace mumbled sleepily.

"Hey Gracie. Danno's on his way. What do you say we get ready for school before he gets here?" Steve suggested.

Grace yawned. "Yeah. Okay."

Steve watched as she bounded towards the bathroom before making his way to the kitchen where he found Catherine sipping at a cup of coffee.

"I thought I smelled coffee," Steve said as he poured himself a cup. "Did you sleep well?"

"Mmhm," Catherine answered. "How about you? I don't think either of you moved from the position I left you in last night."

Steve smiled. "Yeah. My neck's a little sore, but it was worth it. Danny's on his way over to pick up Grace."

"I heard," Catherine said.

"Thanks for letting Grace come over last night," Steve said.

"Of course. I had fun."

"Me too."

It wasn't long before there was a knock at the door. They both went to answer it and found Danny standing there with a paper bag in his hands.

"Malasadas," Danny announced. "As a thank you."

"You didn't have to do that Danny," Catherine said as she accepted the bag of treats.

"It was the least I could do," Danny said. "You got any coffee?"

"Yeah, in the kitchen. Help yourself," Steve said.

Danny returned to the living room, inhaling the aroma of freshly brewed coffee before taking a sip.

"Long night?" Steve asked.

"Don't get me started," Danny said, taking another sip of black coffee. "You didn't teach Grace any new death-defying tricks, did you?"

Steve placed a hand over his heart in mock sincerity. "When have I ever done that?"

"Let me think. You taught her to climb that humungous tree outside."

"And we were lucky I taught her that," Steve said indignantly.

"Next thing I know, she'll be surfing while sharks are circling her," Danny added, showing no sign that he had heard Steve's comment. "Or she'll want to dress up as a SEAL for Halloween with real grenades."

"Uncle Steve!" Grace called from the bathroom.

Steve, grateful for Grace's interruption, immediately left the room and went to find his partner's daughter.

Danny shared a look with Catherine as Steve disappeared to find Grace. "Tactical retreat?"

Catherine laughed. "Probably."

"Listen. Thanks again for looking after her last night. I really appreciate it."

"Danny. We loved having her, Steve especially. I think it did him good to have her around."

"So," Danny said as he placed his cup on the table. "Have you guys gotten around to talking about what happened?"

Catherine paused before placing her own mug on the table. "Yeah. We did."

"And?"

"And…I'm glad you were here for him when I wasn't."

Danny looked down at his shoes. "If you can call it that."

"Danny, Steve knows what you did for him. He doesn't blame you," Catherine said with as much sincerity she could muster.

"No, he just blames himself," Danny said bitterly.

Catherine grinned.

"What?" Danny asked.

"You know him really well," Catherine said. Her smile faded. "He told me about how guilty he felt about being alive, how he almost gave up. He couldn't understand why you guys still trust him after everything that happened. He's still worried you guys are in danger." When Danny looked like he was about to interrupt, she added, "Oh, I set him straight, don't worry."

"Good."

"He's going to be okay, Danny. Having Grace over really helped to reinforce that. Steve's resilient. He won't let this change him. He's too stubborn for that," Catherine declared.

"I hope you're right," Danny said.

"Gracie? Are you okay?" Steve asked as he approached the bathroom.

"I'm fine, Uncle Steve." Steve could almost hear the eye roll in her tone.

"Okay. Do you need help with something?" He was unsure why she had called him.

"No…Maybe. Can you come in?"

Steve opened the door and had to stifle a laugh at the sight in front of him. Grace's hair was in one big mat and she was trying to brush it out with no success.

"I see what the problem is. Do you want me to get Catherine to help you?" Steve asked as he inspected the tangled mess.

"No. Could you help me?"

"Sure," Steve said. "Why don't you sit down on the toilet seat and I'll see what I can do."

Steve took the brush from Grace and started to untangle her locks, starting at the edges of the mat and working his way inwards.

"You're really good at this, Uncle Steve. Danno would have broken the hairbrush by now."

Steve chuckled. "Well, I've had some practice. You know, my sister would often have similar problems in the morning. It just takes a bit of time and patience."

"Did you ever do your sister's hair?" Grace asked.

"Sometimes. She went through a phase when she wanted braids all the time. Mum and Dad didn't always have time, so I learned how to do them for her. She would always come home from school with her hair in a mess though."

Grace giggled. "Do you think you could do a braid in my hair?"

"I'll try. It's been a few years since I last did one though. Are you sure you don't want Catherine to do it?"

"No, that's okay. I'm sure you will do a good job."

Steve's heart leapt into his mouth at the certainty in Grace's tone. He focused on getting the last few knots out of her hair as he tried to shove the sudden onslaught of emotion down.

"There," Steve announced. "Do you want one braid or two?"

Grace thought for a moment. "Hmm. Two?"

Steve laughed. "Are you asking or telling me?"

Grace grinned at him in the mirror. "Two."

"Okay, two it is."

Steve concentrated on parting her hair down the middle and then weaving the strands of hair carefully over and under each other. He remembered not to pull too tight and finished off by tying one of Grace's pink hair ties around the ends of both braids.

"What do you think?" he asked Grace. He wasn't too sure if the braids were even enough.

Grace examined her new hairdo in the mirror and smiled. "It looks perfect. Thanks, Uncle Steve!"

Grace went about putting all her stuff back into her backpack before looking at Steve pensively.

"What's the matter, Gracie? Are they not straight enough?" Steve asked, catching Grace's expression.

"No, my hair is fine," Grace paused. "Uncle Steve, could I ask you a question?"

"Sure," Steve said, not sure where this was going.

Grace looked down at her shoes. "When you were in the coma…were you scared?"

Steve's breath hitched. What on earth was he supposed to say to her? Steve reached out and held one of Grace's hands and waited until she looked up at him.

"Yeah, I was."

Grace's eyes widened. "You were?"

"I was. I could hear voices and sounds. I wanted to tell people I was there and that I could hear them but my body wouldn't let me. I couldn't tell when I was asleep or awake. I didn't know if my dreams were just imagination or reality. I couldn't feel my body, so I thought I was dead."

Grace's eyes filled with tears.

"Do you know what helped me?"

"What?"

"Knowing that you and Danno and Chin and Kono were there, even if I couldn't talk to you. I knew, on some level, that I was safe because you were there."

Grace nodded, processing the information. Steve waited, sensing there was something else Grace wanted to say.

"I was scared too," Grace whispered.

"I didn't mean to scare you, Grace. You know that, don't you?"

"Yeah, but I knew you would be okay, because you're SuperSEAL. I told Danno that too."

Steve choked on a knot of emotion that had found its way back into his throat. "Thank you, Gracie."

"The bad man that hurt you, did you send him to jail like the bad guy that kidnapped me?" Grace asked.

Steve looked at the sweet, innocent girl in front of him. She had no idea what really happened to Fuentes in their final confrontation. If Danny wanted her to believe he was still alive and rotting in a jail cell, then so be it. It was better than the alternative. She was too young to be exposed to the real horrors of their society.

"Yeah. He's in jail because he did some really bad things," Steve answered. "Your daddy made sure of that."

"I'm glad. Now he can't hurt you anymore," Grace said.

Steve's smile was strained. "That's right."

'And he can't hurt you either,' Steve added as an afterthought.

Grace suddenly flung herself at Steve, trapping him in a hug. Steve tensed for a moment, but then relaxed and hugged her back. He closed his eyes, relishing the moment that he thought he would never get to experience ever again.

"I'm glad you're okay, Uncle Steve," Grace whispered.

"Me too, Grace. Me too."

Neither of them noticed Danny standing by the door, listening to their conversation. He hadn't intended to eavesdrop, but found he couldn't tear himself away. He didn't want to disturb them, but it was time to get Grace to school.

"What's taking so long?" Danny called.

"Danno! Look. Uncle Steve did my hair." Grace showed her father the two braids as soon as he entered the bathroom.

"Wow," Danny said with genuine admiration. "They look great. SuperSEAL did those, did he?"

Grace nodded emphatically. Danny looked at Steve, whose cheeks were suspiciously tinged pink. Danny fought to keep the smile off his face. The big, bad SEAL was embarrassed. Now he had extra ammunition to go with the picture Catherine had sent him.

"What do you say we have some breakfast?" Steve asked, trying in vain to change the subject. "Pancakes?"

"Yeah!" Grace said enthusiastically, bounding from the room towards the kitchen.

Steve and Danny exchanged an amused look.

"That's some daughter you've got there, Danno," Steve said, a wistful smile on his face.

Danny smiled back. "Don't I know it."

Monday afternoon, temporary Five-0 offices:

"McGarrett! Why am I not surprised to see you here?"

Steve smiled at Danny's exasperated tone.

"Hello to you too, Danny," Steve retorted.

Danny rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Seriously, though. Aren't you supposed to be drooling on the couch or something?"

Steve pulled his release papers from his pocket and waved them gloatingly in Danny's face. "Nope. I've been cleared for light duties."

Danny was pleased to note that the cast was gone from Steve's hand and grabbed the papers and scanned the writing closely. He frowned at something that caught his eye and looked up at Steve questioningly.

"This was dated a week ago."

"Yes, it was," Steve confirmed with a small smile.

"I'm sorry. Here I thought you wanted nothing more than to go back to work yet you, voluntarily I might add, decided to take an extra week of vacation time. What gives?"

Steve shrugged. "I thought another week of downtime would be helpful."

Danny raised his eyebrows at Steve in disbelief.

"And Cath was in town," Steve added with a smile.

"Ah, Ramboette," Danny deduced with a smirk.

"Ramboette?"

"Yeah. She's smart, tough and doesn't take any of your crap. Ramboette," Danny said, like it was obvious.

Steve looked thoughtful. "Accurate, but don't let her hear you calling her that."

"So…things must be going well between you two," Danny stated.

Steve glared reproachfully at Danny. "Well, we had two uninterrupted weeks together. That's the longest we've ever been in the same time zone, let alone geographical location. We had some time to make up."

"When will she be back?" Danny asked out of curiosity.

Steve sighed. "In another two weeks. She's on a training exercise."

Danny, for one, couldn't wait for the time to pass. Catherine always put his partner in a good mood. However, now that Catherine was off doing who knows what, Steve's personality was about to take a serious left hand turn. Especially since he wasn't allowed to go into the field yet.

Sometimes Danny really hated his job.

Don't get him wrong; he loved working at Five-0 and with the team, but working with Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett was sometimes…challenging.

Even when recovering from life-threatening injuries, Steve McGarrett still had the ability to annoy Danny to no end. Now that he was truly on the mend, there would be no stopping him from throwing himself into dangerous situations without considering the consequences, mainly for himself.

When Danny had first met McGarrett, he thought the man had a death wish. After working closely with him for almost two years, he discovered that Steve was the most selfless man he had ever met. Which may sound like a good thing, but this was Steve I-like-to-blow-things-up McGarrett he was talking about.

Steve was fiercely protective of the Ohana he had created when he returned to the islands almost two years ago. Since then they had been through all manner of situations together, the most memorable being in the last nine months. As much as Steve tried to push his family away under the guise of keeping them safe, the team knew he was just vulnerable under that tough exterior.

It was hard for a man like Steve, a trained Navy SEAL and Intelligence Officer, to admit he was falling apart. He was supposed to be the one that looked after the people in his command. Underneath that hard shell was a man that possessed a heart of gold in spite of everything that had been thrown at him from a young age. Danny was determined to break through Steve's fragile walls and help him build them up again.

"So, how was the rest of your weekend with Grace?" Steve asked, shaking Danny from his thoughts.

Trust Steve McGarrett to remember his schedule with Grace, especially the impromptu changes.

"How about I tell you over a cup of coffee? That way I can also fill you in on the case, which I'm sure you are keen to get started on. By the time we get back, Chin and Kono should be done with their interview."

Steve nodded his agreement and the two walked into the HPD bullpen. Steve could feel the heated glares from the officers seated at their desks watching them pass by. He didn't turn around, but gave Danny a questioning glance.

Danny shrugged. "Things have been a bit tense around here lately."

"Tense?"

"Yeah. Ever since Rogerson's death, HPD have been steering clear of us," Danny said bitterly as they exited the precinct. "If they knew exactly what happened, then—"

"Then what, Danny? They'd still hate us. At least this way Rogerson's name isn't smeared," Steve declared.

"But ours are instead?"

Steve shrugged. "That's the job."

Danny wanted to say more about how unfair it was, but he realised that there was nothing they could do about it. The look Steve gave him told him to let it go even if he didn't like it either.

Monday afternoon, Kai Coffee:

"So, let me get this straight. You used to do your sister's hair?" the blond man asked incredulously.

Two men had sat down at the table next to her's and their conversation drew her attention.

"Yeah. My parents were often too busy to help her, so I did it. I asked my friend's sister to show me how to do the braids and Mary let me practice on her until I got them right. It was sort of a bonding experience for us," the tall, dark-haired man replied. "An experience that involved a lot of hair pulling and pain on her part and frustration on mine."

"On behalf of my daughter, thank you Mary," the shorter man said.

The other man chuckled and took a sip from the paper cup in his hand. The way the dark-haired man's eyes lit up when he smiled filled her with a warmth she couldn't explain.

"So, where are we with the case?" the dark-haired man asked.

"Nothing and nowhere. We can't find any connection between any of the victims or a reason why someone would want to kill them," the blond man explained.

"Maybe I could take a look. A fresh set of eyes can't hurt."

"Does this mean you are coming back to work?"

"I guess so."

The blond man sighed. "Time to start wearing my vest twenty-four-seven."

"Just admit it. You missed me."

"Well, it was quiet in the office without you."

She took a sip from her own cup as she listened. The blond man talked a lot and with his hands. The dark-haired man was quieter, but appeared to be amused by the other man's responses. They acted like brothers.

She smiled as she stood, making sure to take her coffee with her. She slung her bag over her shoulder as she prepared to leave. She took one look over her shoulder at the two men and smiled.

It wouldn't be long now.