CHAPTER 9

Tuesday morning, temporary Five-0 offices:

Chin and Kono stared at the strange item sitting in the middle of their boss' desk. It had been sitting there when they had arrived together five minutes earlier and they realised they couldn't take their eyes off the offending object.

"It's got to be a joke, right?" Kono asked her cousin.

Chin scoffed. "You mean like the dead rat?"

"To be fair, we can't prove that wasn't a practical joke. This, on the other hand is—"

"Creepy?" Chin suggested.

"I was going to say weird, but creepy fits too."

The cousins stared apprehensively at the nauseating object. It was just so abnormal and strange.

"Hey guys," Danny said as he entered the office space.

The cousins turned around and stared at Danny, wide eyed with surprise. Danny looked at them suspiciously and they stepped aside, revealed the object sitting in the middle of Steve's desk.

"What on earth is that?" Danny asked, pointing.

"We were hoping you'd know," Kono answered with a shrug.

"Why would I…how would…what?" Danny sputtered.

"It's addressed to him and everything," Chin exchanged a look with Kono. "We already checked."

"Who in their right mind would send SuperSEAL roses?" Danny wanted to know.

A dozen bright red roses sat on Steve's desk, a small white card attached with his name printed on it. The flowery fragrance was almost overwhelming in the confined space.

"Do you think he knows about it?" Kono wondered.

"He didn't say anything to me about it. Maybe Catherine sent them to him?" Danny suggested as he stepped closer to inspect the flowers.

"Steve and Cath don't seem like the kind to send each other flowers," Kono argued.

"Maybe it's from a secret admirer," Chin joked.

Danny and Kono shared concerned looks before looking at Chin with similar expressions of disbelief.

"Or maybe not," Chin added contritely.

"Where is Steve? I thought the two of you were coming in together?" Kono asked.

"Yeah. We did. He's outside on the phone with the Governor. He'll be in shortly," Danny answered, his eyes still on the roses.

As though he heard his name being mentioned, Steve suddenly appeared in the office. He saw his three teammates gathered around his desk and cleared his throat to announce his presence. They turned around simultaneously with identical smiles on their faces.

"Hey boss. Welcome back!" Kono exclaimed, rushing forward to give him a hug.

"Thanks Kono," Steve answered, happily returning the embrace.

"Good to see you, Steve," Chin said.

Steve nodded at Chin with a smile before turning to Danny.

"It's good to have you back," Danny said, clapping his partner on the back.

Steve's smile turned into a grin. "Thanks, Danno."

Steve walked towards his desk and stopped short when he spotted the dozen roses littering his desk. "What's this?"

Danny rolled his eyes at his clueless partner. "They're flowers."

"I can see that, Danny. Why are they on my desk?"

"Because they are addressed to you," Danny explained with all the patience of a parent with young children.

"Why would someone send me flowers?" Steve asked incredulously.

"I'm sure you have some idea who would have sent them," Kono said with certainty.

"No, I don't."

"Why don't you read the card?" Chin urged.

Steve removed the card from where it was nestled in the flowers. He pulled a small piece of card from the envelope. His eyes moved across the card once and his brow furrowed in confusion.

"What does it say?" Danny demanded.

"It just says 'welcome back'," Steve said as he turned the card over for a clue as to who may have sent it.

"Well, whoever sent them has good taste. They are beautiful," Kono added.

Steve nodded at Kono's comment but his attention was still on the flowers. He folded his arms over his chest and contemplated the bouquet.

"What is it?" Danny asked, quickly catching on to Steve's uneasiness.

"I never told anyone I was coming back to work today. I only just mentioned it to Danny yesterday," Steve muttered, more to himself than the others.

The team stared at the flowers. They appeared harmless enough, but Steve's comment made them all feel a little disturbed. After a minute of awkward silence, Steve gathered the roses and the card and discarded them into the trash receptacle in the corner of the room.

"Let's get to work," Steve ordered.

All thoughts of roses and mystery cards were pushed to the side as the team started dissecting the case like nothing had ever happened.

Tuesday afternoon, temporary Five-0 offices:

Danny tried, and failed, to concentrate on the files spread out on his desk. He really, really missed the smart table and the way he could view multiple files at once without it turning into a pile of miscellaneous paper documents that had no sense of order to it. Not that he'd ever admit that to anyone.

The lack of smart table, however, was not the reason he was preoccupied. He rubbed his forehead and tried to go back the pages in front of his, the text blurring in and out as he tried to force his eyes to focus. However, within a minute he found himself staring at his partner again.

From his position across the room, Danny could see his partner's attention was completely focused on whatever document was in front of him. Ever since they had caught him up to speed earlier that day, Steve had spent the next four hours reviewing everything. The familiar intensity with which Steve attacked the task was reassuring.

In those four hours, Danny had watched as his partner declined two incoming calls with a scowl on his face before returning to the piles of paper on his desk. So naturally, Danny's curiosity had been piqued and he couldn't help the knot in his stomach telling him that something was up. He shook himself, thinking that the presence of the roses had just aggravated his sense of protectiveness towards his partner.

Danny saw the moment when Steve's brow furrowed in confusion as he flipped between multiple pieces of paper and Danny wondered if Steve was like this when when he working in Naval Intelligence. The team had seen snippets of his intelligent mind at work, but it was only ever that - snippets. Danny shook his head; his partner was a puzzle wrapped in a puzzle.

Danny returned his concentration to the matter at hand. He was supposed to be finding inconsistencies in the Lieutenant Governor's statement. The more he analysed the evidence, the more Danny conceded that the explosion had nothing to do with Michael Kamaka or politics.

His attention once again wandered when a file was slammed down on his desk. He looked up to find his partner standing there, arms crossed over his chest.

"Did you see this?" Steve asked.

"See what?" Danny asked as he picked up the file and searched for whatever had Steve discovered.

"A complaint was made against the Braithwaite's last year," Steve announced.

Intriguing. "What for?"

"Apparently there was an altercation inside the shop. According to the report, Kevin Braithwaite came to blows with a customer after a rather heated argument. Mrs Braithwaite was present at the time."

"Okay. What does this have to do with why four people are now dead?" Danny asked.

"Because the complaint came from Sama Mamea."

Danny looked up at Steve in surprise. "The leader of the Samoan's?"

Steve nodded. Danny noticed Chin sit up straight at the mention of the Samoan's.

"Why would the head of the Samoan gang report an assault to the police?" Danny wondered.

"I'm hoping Mrs Braithwaite can tell us."

"She's still on the mainland with the kids."

Steve's eyebrows rose. "Still?"

"Yeah. We made the notification and she said she would be on her way back to Hawaii as soon as possible," Danny answered.

"Her husband died almost a week ago." Steve's voice held an angry edge. "Surely she could have caught a plane back anytime?"

"Hmm." Danny hadn't realised how much time had passed. "You're right."

"I know," Steve answered with a bemused expression.

Danny ignored Steve's comment. "What about the customer Braithwaite had the altercation with? What do we have on them?"

Steve shrugged. "Nothing. There's no name on the report. The person had fled the scene by the time HPD arrived."

"Which is why you want to talk to Mrs Braithwaite," Danny concluded.

"Yes. But she's not available, so…"

Danny groaned, realising what Steve was alluding to. "So we talk to the only other person that was there. You know, sometimes I really hate you."

Steve grinned. "No, you don't. Come on, let's go."

"Woah. Where do you think you are going? You are supposed to be sitting behind a desk, reading files and doing paperwork. You are not, I repeat, not going to talk to the head of the Samoan gang!"

"Danny," Steve said, his tone bordering on bored. "We are just going to talk to the guy. Nothing else."

"I can't believe you just said that with a straight face. You do realise the last time we went to 'talk' to someone, it ended with bullets flying passed my head and several dead bodies. I don't want to give you an opportunity to start a war with the Samoan gang! You will find some way to get into trouble and I will be the one explaining to your doctor why you weren't following his medical advice."

"Danny, it's not like I'm planning an armed siege," Steve rebutted.

Danny turned to Chin, who had been watching the argument with a look of amusement on his face. "Chin, help me out here."

Chin held up his hands. "Sorry, brah. He is still the boss and technically it's not field work."

Danny glared at Chin. "You're not helping."

Chin smiled. "I'm not trying to. You know how it goes, Danny. He's going to do what he wants anyway. Might as well just go with it."

Danny turned back to Steve. "Is there any way I can talk you out of this?"

"Nope," Steve replied smugly.

Danny breathed out harshly. "Fine. Let's go talk to the head of the Samoan's. Just do me one favour? Don't get me shot!"

Steve grinned and followed Danny out of their office space. He enjoyed riling Danny up and Chin was right; this was not technically field work. They were going to conduct an interview. The interview room would just happen to be outside the HPD precinct.

They dodged the busy HPD officers roving around the bullpen as they manoeuvred their way to the door. Steve nodded at several as he passed them, but paused when one of them glared at him with so much hatred in his eyes that Steve almost shuddered.

Danny grabbed Steve's arm and dragged him towards the door. Steve followed Danny reluctantly, feeling the officer's eyes burning a hole in his back.

"What's his problem?" Steve asked once they were outside.

Danny sighed. "That's Lieutenant Clarke."

Steve looked at Danny, his stance asking his question for him.

"Rogerson's old partner," Danny added.

"Oh."

"Yeah," Danny said noncommittally as he walked over to the driver's side of the Camaro.

The rumble of the Camaro's engine was the only thing to be heard on the drive to Sama Mamea's home. Steve hadn't even argued with Danny about driving, which concerned Danny. Danny flicked his eyes over to Steve and briefly took in his brooding and pensive posture before returning his attention to the road.

The silence was broken when Steve's phone rang. He pulled the device out of his pocket. He glanced at the caller ID and grimaced before declining the call. Danny frowned. That was the third call that morning that he'd seen his partner ignore.

"Who was that?" Danny asked casually.

"Just someone I can talk to later," Steve said as he shoved his phone back in his pocket.

"That's the third time they've called."

Steve turned in his seat to look at his partner. "Are you keeping tabs on me Danny? It's no one important. I'll call them back later."

"Fine. It's your business."

"Yes, it is," Steve replied shortly.

"So, it's not the person that sent you those flowers?" Danny asked.

"What? No. I have no idea who sent those," Steve answered.

"Weird," Danny said.

"Tell me about it."

"So…other than that, you're okay? There's nothing else you want to talk about?"

Silence.

Danny sighed inwardly. He'd wondered if there was more to Steve's reluctance to return to work other than having Catherine around for the week. His partner was a psychologist's white whale, a treasure trove of trauma to sort through.

He suspected that working was his partner's way of coping and, ultimately, forgetting. Forgetting that he'd nearly died, that someone from his past had tried to kill his family and had succeeded in killing many others.

If Steve was working, he wouldn't have to face what happened. In the end, he wouldn't have to deal with the pain deep in his soul that he somehow managed to shove deep down in a locked box inside his mind. Danny knew Steve saw it as a weakness and pushed his emotions down until he couldn't feel them anymore.

Danny had witnessed the way Steve had jumped at the opportunity to focus his mind on the case and ignore everything else and knew this was just a distraction. One of these days, Danny would get his partner to open up and admit how much he was hurting.

"Steve?"

"There's nothing to talk about Danny. I'm fine," he snapped.

Danny highly doubted that, but let it go nonetheless. Now was not the time. He would wait until Steve was ready to talk.

"So, what made you look into the Braithwaite's?" Danny asked, changing the subject.

"Just a gut feeling. Besides, you're the one that told me to look at all the evidence," Steve replied. "Maybe they had some kind of shady side business going on and a disgruntled customer decided to take action against them."

"You mean by blowing up their shop?"

Steve shrugged. "Maybe."

"Okay. What about the Navy guy? If he was stationed at Pearl, what was he doing on almost the other side of the island?"

Steve smirked. "I'll give you one little guess."

"What?" Danny said, turning his head to look at Steve. As he did, realisation dawned on him. "Oh."

"Trust me. Once you get leave, you use every moment to your advantage. Even if it's only twelve hours. Ensign Parker probably had a girlfriend on the island."

"You sound like you're talking from experience," Danny probed.

Steve grinned. "You could say that."

Before Danny could respond, they arrived at the address Kono had sent them. In front of them stood an imposing two storey house with large glass windows and a large front gate with an intercom system. Danny turned to look at Steve as he pressed the button for the speaker.

"This is how civilised people enter other people's homes," Danny pointed out to Steve. The gate had triggered a memory of the time Steve had driven the Camaro through the gate of a known member of a drug cartel.

"That was one time, Danny. Cannon had it coming."

For once, Danny agreed with his partner. "Yeah, he did."

They watched as the gate slowly slid open to reveal two well-built Samoans. They approached the driver's side and addressed Danny.

"Yeah?" one of the men said.

"Hi. Detective Danny Williams, Commander McGarrett. Five-0. We're here to talk to Sama Mamea about an incident he reported last year," Danny explained with as much civility as possible.

"You got an appointment?" the other man asked.

"No, we don't but this won't take much of his time. We just need to ask a few questions and then we will be on our way."

The two burly men looked at each other before nodding. They stood aside and let Danny steer the Camaro inside. They saw the gate sliding closed behind them as they exited the car.

"This way," the first man said.

Steve and Danny followed the man inside and up a set of stairs. They walked down a short hallway and entered what appeared to be a study. A large man was sitting behind the desk, phone to his ear. He flicked a glance at the men, his eyes narrowing at the sight of Danny's badge on his hip and he quickly ended the call.

"Gentlemen," the man said as he waved away the two men that had escorted them inside. "May I ask why Five-0 is interrupting my business?

Sama Mamea cut an imposing figure. He wore a striped business shirt that did nothing to hide his bulging biceps. The watch on his left wrist glistened in the light along with his waxed head. There was a small scar on his chin that was almost completely hidden by a goatee.

"We don't want to take much of your time, Mr Mamea," Danny explained. "We were hoping you could give us some more information about an incident you reported last year."

Sama Mamea frowned. "What incident?"

"September twelfth, you called HPD and told them there was an assault in progress at an AT&T store on Kapahulu Avenue," Danny reminded him.

Mamea shrugged. "Yeah, I figured it was the right thing to do."

"Well, someone blew up the store six days ago and killed four people," Danny added.

Mamea stood up and leaned his arms on the desk. "And you think I did it?"

"No," Danny reassured the man. "No, we don't. We think whomever the owner had the altercation with did. Whatever information you have may help us find them."

Mamea relaxed and returned to his seat. "What do you need?"

Danny breathed out a breath of relief as the man sat back down. "Do you know who they were? Or maybe what they were arguing about?"

"The conversation started as a hushed whisper, which caught my attention. The owner was saying something along the lines of 'no more'. When the other man heard that, he got angry and tried to punch the owner."

"The man, do you remember what he looked like?" Steve asked.

"Asian man. He had tattoos on his arms," Mamea answered.

Danny's mind went straight to one particular group on the island. "Yakuza?"

"No. Triad," Mamea replied confidently. "I'd recognise the ink anywhere."

Steve and Danny exchanged looks. If the Triads were involved, well…things could get sticky.

Steve smirked. "So calling in the assault was not just about being a concerned citizen?"

Mamea shrugged innocently. "What can I say? Two birds, one stone."

"Thank you for your time," Steve said. "We'll let ourselves out."

Danny followed Steve, confused as to why Steve had cut the interview short. He waited until they were safely nestled inside the Camaro before calling Steve out.

"What was that about? Why did you cut that so short?" Danny asked.

Steve shrugged. "He couldn't help us anymore. He made the report for selfish reasons."

Danny's brain finally caught up. "So, our good Samaritan called in the altercation in the hopes that HPD would stop the Triads from conducting business?"

"It would seem so," Steve confirmed.

"Why don't you seem surprised?" Danny asked.

Steve shrugged. "It's what I'd do if someone was doing business on my turf."

"Your mind is a scary place, my friend."

Danny's comment was met with silence.

"Now we just need to find out why the Triads were arguing with Kevin Braithwaite," Danny started brainstorming, only to be met with more silence. "Oh, you already know why, don't you? Your SuperSEAL brain is going into overdrive."

Steve grinned. "I'm thinking we need to check the store's annual income. I'm guessing we'll find our answers there."

"Money laundering?" Danny asked.

"It would explain the argument and why Mrs Braithwaite hasn't returned to the island. She's either a witness or she's involved."

"Great. So not only do we have to deal with the Triads, but the only people that can confirm what was going on in that store are nowhere to be found!"

"Look on the bright side Danny. At least I didn't get you shot."

Danny flicked a finger at his insufferable partner and Steve guffawed.

Just like old times.