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Rollercoaster (1/1)
There was a soft tap on the door of the HPD private conference room. A second later the door opened and Jadon poked his head in.
"The duty officer said you wanted to see me …" He paused when he noticed the other two men in the room. "I can come back if you're busy."
"Not at all." Duke motioned him in. He nodded towards Steve and Danny. "We all want to talk to you."
"Is it about Leonard Levach," Jadon guessed. "I have a meeting with the PA handling his case next week. She wants to go over my statement about what happened the night he tried to make a run for it from the hospital."
"That's good," Duke said. "But this isn't about that." He forced himself to look stern. "Come in and take a seat."
"I want to start off by saying, and I truly mean this …" Duke said, "You are an exemplary young officer. One of the finest it's been my pleasure to know over the course of my very long career."
"Thanks," Jadon said around the lump in his throat. "That means a lot to me. You've taught me so much since I joined the force."
"You have an amazing attitude," Duke continued. "You're cool under pressure, you take advice and direction well and you never complain about the paperwork."
Steve and Danny chuckled.
"I've enjoyed having you under my command."
A look of concern crossed Jadon's face. "Enjoyed? Past tense. Did I do something wrong? Am I being fired?"
"Welllllll." Duke intentionally dragged out the word. "In a manner of speaking."
Danny covered his mouth to hide a smile as Jadon's expression turned to panic.
"Let's get to the point before he has a panic attack," he teased.
Steve schooled his features.. "As you may be aware, Jadon, the task force now takes on more cases than we ever have in the past. Which means more and more it feels like we're being stretched thinner than I feel comfortable with. Than any of us feel comfortable with. Not only as a matter of safety but also we want to make sure we give every case the attention it deserves."
Jadon nodded.
"I've been impressed…" Steve stopped and considered his words. "We've ALL been impressed by the way you handled yourself whenever we called on you for a little extra help. Guarding Leonard Levach for sure, but there have been several other instances."
"Thanks," Jadon said tentatively, still not sure exactly where this was all headed. Duke's words, in a manner of speaking, were pounding inside his head.
"We've talked to the governor and she agrees that we need to do one of two things," Steve said. "Get a little extra help, or scale back our workload."
"There's no way you guys would ever willingly scale back your workload," Jadon said.
Steve and Duke's expressions remained stoic.
"Which is why we agreed we need some additional help," Steve said.
"So you want me to kind of … be available when you need me? Like a pinch hitter?" Jadon's eyes lit up as he immediately warmed to the idea. "I can do that. That'd be awesome!"
Steve exchanged a glance with Duke. "That's not exactly what we were thinking."
"Sorry. I shouldn't have assumed." Jadon began to squirm. He wiped his sweaty palms on his pant legs.
As amusing as it was watching Jadon's emotions rocket from high to low in record speed, Danny decided it was time to let him off the hook.
"These two are trying to have a little bit of fun with you, All Day J," Danny said. "Give you a bit of a hazing. Luckily you have me around to keep it from getting out of hand."
"I'm sorry." Jadon smiled slightly, somewhat relieved at Danny's use of his familiar nickname. "What are we talking about? Did I miss something?"
"We've decided to add a new member to the task force," Steve said.
"And you want me tooooo…" Jadon struggled to understand what was going on. "Help with interviews? I'm sorry again. I just don't understand what's happening."
"I've never seen you this flustered," Steve said in his Commander McGarrett voice as Danny and Duke both struggled to keep from laughing.
"I don't think I've ever been this flustered," Jadon said. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying…" Steve finally allowed himself a small smile. "That we want you to join the task force."
Jadon froze.
The other three men waited for Steve's words to finally hit Jadon's brain.
"I apologize SuperSeal…err I mean Steve … no I mean Commander." Jadon shook his head briskly like a dog shaking off water. "I don't think I understood you. I thought I heard you say you want me… me…..to join the task force."
Steve nodded. "That's what I said."
"Oh I get it now." Jadon slapped his knee. "I must be sleeping." He pinched his arm as hard as he could.
He looked up, then down, then up again.
"I'm not sleeping," he said.
Steve chuckled. "No, you're not."
"I can't … I don't …I need a minute." Jadon leaned over and put his head between his knees.
A few seconds later his head popped back up.
"There's a weird buzzing in my ears," he said. "Is that normal?"
"You're fine," Danny assured him. "It'll pass."
"All teasing aside," Steve said. "Chin, Kono, Danny and I talked about this and we all agree you're the right man for the job."
"I don't … I have no idea what to say," Jadon stammered.
"Say you'll take the job," Steve suggested.
"Of course I'll take the job," Jadon said. "I'm honored to be asked. And also stunned."
"I may have forgotten to mention a few things," Danny said. "Mainly, the new guy is responsible for all paperwork, any sprints over 100 yards, and any trip this animal might lead into a mud pit, swamp, garbage pile, bee's nest or … well, you get the idea."
Steve rolled his eyes at his partner.
"I'll be happy to sit down and go over the real specifics with you before you formally accept if you want," he told Jadon.
"No way!" Jadon insisted. "I don't need to hear any specifics. This is…" he swiped at an unexpected tear on his cheek. "This is my dream job. I can't wait to call my mom and tell her."
"Why don't you take the rest of today to finish up here, hand off anything you have in progress, and report to Five-0 first thing Monday morning," Duke said.
"Will do!" Jadon said. "Thanks again. I don't know what else to say. This is the most amazing day of my life."
"You do realize we're just looking to get you trained up before Angie takes over, right?" Danny teased.
Jadon barked a laugh. "Anybody on this island who doesn't think we'll ALL be working for Angie someday is just kidding themselves."
THE END
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