Hey friends 3
Just a heads up and little reminder that I am the og writer of this fic. If you don't believe me please feel free to look up the other one. I posted a tenth chapter explaining that I had moved accounts and was going to finish the story on this account. I heavily apologize for any confusion!
Please enjoy chapter 4 3
Steve walks up to Chin who is talking to an officer on the scene. "Thanks." Chin says and then meets Steve part of the way. "Looks like whoever hit this place wanted to just blast and run."
"They didn't take anything?" Steve asks and Chin tells him no. "What's the point of shooting up the store if they didn't want anything. Any civilians injured?"
"No casualties and no injuries." Chin Ho confirms. "Just one big mess. It doesn't make any sense."
Steve assesses the scene and his phone starts to ring again. "McGarrett." He answers his usual way. "Yep, on my way." He hangs up and looks around again. "Chin, you and Kono look into what happened here more. I'll check back with you later."
"Sure thing, boss." Chin notices Jay in the truck and gives Steve a wondering glance.
"It's a long story." Steve replies and then leaves.
"That was fast." Jay says as Steve gets back in the truck and he just stares at him for a moment.
"No injuries and no casualties." Steve repeats what Chin had said, "why would someone shoot up a store but not rob it?" The question piqued Jay's interest.
"Could be that they were trying to get someone's attention or maybe they were causing a distraction." Jay mentions to Steve and that causes him to go deep into thought before answering. He knew someone would do something like that but last he knew he had died.
"That's not a bad assumption." Steve says. "Regardless, Chin and Kono are going to take lead on the investigation. I have another call I have to respond to."
"They'll figure it out." Jay agrees and Steve looks at him in wonder. "I mean, I've looked into everyone on your task force as a precaution. I know they're very capable is all." He responds awkwardly and Steve gives him a look that's tells him he's not wrong.
They drive in silence again, their destination roughly another thirty minutes from where they just were, and Jay begins to fidget again the closer they get to Steve's new crime scene. "Something has you nervous." Steve accuses.
"What? No, I'm fine." Jay defends himself. "What makes you think I'm nervous?"
"The constant fidgeting." Steve answers quickly. "The shaky breaths from earlier and you went a little pale."
"Oh, the fidgeting is nothing. Just something that happens." Jay tells him as nausea creeps in. "Uh, what are we doing here?"
"Responding to a crime scene." Steve tells him as he pulls into a very familiar driveway.
Jay starts breathing a bit heavier, almost like he can't catch it from the weight on his chest. "No, no this isn't happening." Jay's voice is shaky. "What's the crime? Please, Steve, what was the call for?"
"Homicide." Steve considers hesitating because he can see that the kid is on the verge of having a panic attack.
"I can't breath." Jay pulls on his door handle and nearly falls out of the truck.
Steve is quick to react and meets him on the other side. "Jay, it's going to be ok, you're having a panic attack. Take a few deep breaths for me. In through your nose and out through your mouth."
He struggles to listen as he slides down the truck until he's sitting, one leg up and the other one down, but he forces himself to try it. He breaths in through his nose and exhales through his mouth five times when Steve tells him to slowly inhale and then slowly exhale after counting to ten. Jay follows the instructions and he notices the weight releasing its hold on his chest.
"Thanks." Jay breaths.
"You get panic attacks often?" Steve asks as if he cares. Jay shakes his head and tells him it was his first time. "Well, I don't think I should leave you alone in case another hits. C'mon," He leans down and pulls Jay to his feet.
"No, I can't. I can't go in there." Jay fights him. "Please don't make me go in there. He was my best friend."
Steve stops pulling on him and looks at the kid. "Your tech buddy?" He asks and Jay doesn't have to respond for him to know the answer. His look says it all. "Follow me. I'm not going to have you go inside but I'll have one of the officers sit with you."
Jay agrees and follows him to where a female officer stood. "Hey, can you hang with him while I go take a look?" Steve asks her and she looks at Jay.
"Of course." She says with a worried expression. "You ok, kid?" She asks as Steve walks away but Jay doesn't respond.
He sees that her last name is Cortez and he thinks how cliché a cop with the last name of Cortez is. He's seen many movies and tv shows where at least one cop always has that last name.
He's pulled from his thoughts when his phone vibrates in his pocket and he pulls it out. He feels his breath hitch in his throat and he fights the tears that want to form. He can't tear his eyes away from the screen either as it holds a picture of Zach, Jay's childhood and life long best friend, and he's laying on the floor...dead.
"Who is this?" He quickly types and sends the message.
His phone buzzes again but it wasn't an answer to his question. It was a statement that made his stomach drop. "You're next."
Without thinking, Jay darts away from Officer Cortez, and climbs the stairs that lead to the front door two at a time. "Hey!" He hears the officer call after him but that doesn't stop him.
He can hear Steve talking to someone once he's inside and he stops to listen. "What do we have, Max?"
"COD was a gunshot wound to the head but there was a struggle before that. He's got some bruising around his wrists, therefore, I'm assuming there was a fight." Max tells Steve and Jay thinks he could be sick.
"That would explain the trashed room and house." Steve says and Jay looks around. He sees the living room lamp knocked onto the floor, papers everywhere, and the TV barely hanging by the chord. "Thanks Max."
Steve walked to the door way where he briefly caught a glimpse of Jay standing in the kitchen. His phone was in his hand and he looked like he was about to fall over. "Jay?" Steve said and left the room he was in. "Jay, what are you doing in here?"
Jay's eyes glanced around the room. They met Steve's and he acted without any thought again. He attempted to run towards the room Steve had just left. "I gotta see." He mutters as Steve intervenes by wrapping him in a bear hug. "Let go!" Jay says desperately. "I gotta see him!" Jay fights the arms around him.
"Calm down." Steve says in hope that Jay would quit struggling. "Stop fighting."
"He's dead." Jay begins to break down. "He's dead and it's all because of me." Jay stops fighting Steve's grasp.
His weight grew in Steve's arms and he knew that the kid was done struggling to escape. He let's him sink into him, he knows what it's like to lose friends, and he gets them over to a wall before he lowers them to the floor. A knot had formed in Steve's stomach, that same one that would appear when he had to break bad news to someone, and he struggled to find the right words to maybe comfort the kid.
"I can't confirm or deny who is in the other room." Steve tells him but Jay shakes his head.
"You don't have to." Jay says. "I already know." He shows him the photo that was messaged to him a few minutes prior.
The knot in his stomach grew bigger as he looked at the picture. It matched the victim in the other room but that isn't what bothered Steve the most. "Who sent this?" He asks.
"I don't know." Jay tells him. "I asked but they didn't say. Why would they?"
Steve was bothered by the text below Jay's response. "This says you're next."
"Yep." Jay confirms. "This is what I feared would happen if my identity got out."
"Hey, listen, I couldn't save your friend but I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. You got that?" Steve tries to reassure him but he can see it doesn't do much. Jay gives him a nod and Steve tries to lighten the mood. "I guess I really can't let you out of my sight now." He thinks about what he just said and wonders if his humor actually sounds like that...humor.
Steve stands and offers his hand to Jay. "Come on." He says but Jay hesitates to accept the offer before grabbing his hand and allowing Steve to help him up off the floor.
He follows him towards the room and he's not so sure he can actually handle seeing his friend in person. He sucks in a breath and doesn't know if he can take another step when Steve turns to face him. "Wait here. The less traffic in there," Steve points to the room, "the better. The scene is still fresh and anything we can find is going to help bring your friends killer to justice. I'll be right back."
Steve walks into the room and Jay feels as if time had all of a sudden started moving extremely slowly. He sends a quick text to Joe and let him know that something bad had happened to Zach. A moment later, Steve came back out of the room, and he told Jay to come with him again. Jay followed him back outside and to the Silverado.
Jay kept his head help down looking at his hands as he rode in the passenger seat for what felt like billionth time that day. The events that had unfolded since that morning kept running through his head and he wondered where it had gone so bad so fast? Where did he mess up and make a mistake? He knew he was the reason Zach had been killed, nobody would want to hurt him otherwise, and even though he did everything he could to make sure he was untraceable, it hadn't been enough.
Jay felt as if a huge lump had dropped into his stomach, like a rock into water, and he felt like he was going to be sick. He had to find whoever did that to Zach but there wasn't much he could do with the Neanderthal beside him. Steve wasn't going to let him help in an investigation that Jay knew was more than likely going to leave them empty handed. Jay knew that the trust wasn't there, and why would it be, he went about approaching Steve the wrong way. He shouldn't have ever showed up on his doorstep, started throwing out names like Shelburne, but he needed to grab his attention.
He looked at Steve out of the corner of his eye and could see the brooding look on his face. It was as if the expression had been slathered on with a butter knife and Jay let out a sigh. He looked out of his window and wondered how he would be able to dodge Steve. He felt bad for feeling the need to bail on him but he was adamant to help with this case. As of now, though, he didn't have any excuses that would be good enough. He also didn't have any plans as to how he could help bring Zach's killer to justice, but with a little bit if time, he would. He had always been good with stuff like that. Then an idea hit him and he acted on it.
"Where we going?" Jay asks.
"I need to do some research." Steve answers. "So we're going to the Palace."
Ah, yes, the famous 5-0 head quarters. Jay sneakily messaged Joe to meet them there. He knew Steve would let him leave if he was going with someone he did trust. Now all he had to do was wait. "Cool." He responds.
I'll see y'all in chapter 5 :3