Chapter Text
It was a beautiful day, like most days in Hawaii. The sun was shining brightly with only a few clouds in the sky and enough wind to keep most of the surfers happy - including Kono.
Detective Danny Williams put one last signature on one of the papers littering his desk before stretching and checking the time
12:38
The blond had earned a break.
The case he had just finished one of the many sheets of paperwork on had kept him and his team awake for over two weeks and the annoyance was starting to make itself felt by everyone. Kono had completely abandoned them to go surf the few good waves of the day, during lunch, to clear his mind and avoid destroying the building in frustration. .
Danny came out of his office .
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Steve pinching the bridge of his nose on the phone, he must be talking to the governor, the blond thought to himself with amusement.
On the other side Chin Ho, who had just returned to work after his own lunch break, already seemed to be struggling with his part of administrative burden. Their eyes met and Danny sent him courage while his friend thanked him, all through their gaze.
The blond's stomach growled loudly, strongly resembling the latter's explicit call for food.
He decided to head to a new Thai restaurant that had just opened a few blocks from the 5-O headquarters. The blond had only heard good things about it so far, which made him want to try it.
However, he had barely crossed the street and walked a few steps towards the restaurant, passing a narrow alley nearby, when he felt a sharp burning pain in his neck before falling unconscious.
~~~
The first thing he saw was the darkness
Not the one of a dark moonless night where, no matter how wide the pupils were opened, nothing was distinguishable, but rather the one where one had to wait a moment before beginning to clearly see the environment around one.
The second thing he felt rather than saw was the tremors.
It wasn't spasms, it came from something else.
Wanting to move his limbs to visualize the volume of his prison, he finally noticed that they were tied up and given the pulling sensation he felt in his wrist, he bet on scotch tape.
In the end, after a thorough study and an intelligent deduction of his brain, he understood that he had been kidnapped.
Magnificent, he thought sarcastically
The first few minutes after this realization were dedicated to an ironic self-mockery that he knew in advance he would be entitled to, in any case, when he got out of here.
He could even bet four months' salary that he would hear about it from everyone's mouth for ages.
As he looked for something to undo his bonds, he noticed how much his captors had stripped him of. No more badge, no more weapon, no more watch. The only things he had left were his clothes and shoes.
As he wanted to turn around, the car he was in rolled into a pothole, making him jump violently up and down. He couldn't hold back a basic curse accompanied by an insult to the roads when he violently missed.
A blessing in disguise, his kidnappers did the same. Thus, he could see the presence of three people. Three men, if he trusted their tone of voice. Surely the henchmen.
The blond strongly doubted that the head of the group was with them. Usually, they were waiting for them at their meeting place, where he would be held.
His mind was racing. Trying to determine who could have done this, for what purpose and especially how to get out of there. The blond was not trained like Steve, strong like Chin Ho or intelligent like Kono but he knew how to get by.
Maybe he was considered the "weak link of the 5-O" but that did not mean that he was useless. It was mostly a false rumor fueled by his less impressive appearance than his colleagues.
A small distant voice still secretly hoped to be rescued out of pure phlegmatism.
~~~
The vehicle finally stopped and Danny clearly felt the men who had kidnapped him, get out of the car.
From experience, he closed his eyes, pretending to be still asleep when the trunk opened.
No derogatory comments flew about his condition. They simply carried him out of the car.
No one said a word.
Finally, the blond abandoned his first plan and opened his eyes, finding it more advantageous to observe the environment than to wait for information that would never come.
Thus, he discovered that he had been taken to one of the many luxurious properties on the island.
He had wrongly thought he was being taken to an abandoned warehouse, although the environment that surrounded the house was not much different from the one he would have found if he had been taken to a hangar.
From his point of view, the forest that surrounded the villa seemed immense.
The blond allowed himself to admire the mind of his captor. The best hiding place was clearly the middle of the crowd.
-Ah, he's awake, informed the man to the right of the one carrying him.
His three kidnappers were big guys. More than 100 kilos each for sure and a height greater than 1 meter 90.
Danny had little chance of defeating them. The best option was therefore to flee.
Difficult though. The ground had little dense vegetation -so little cover if the fire was opened- and the barriers seemed to be electric -who did that?-
The policeman was indelicately placed on the ground and, having no means of prevention, -his ankles and wrists being tied- his knee hit the ground badly making him clench his jaw.
He barely had time to recover from the sharp pain when a woman appeared
-Well what do we have here? Detective Williams, what a pleasure
Her voice was thin and her accent reflected her Brazilian background
-Unrequited pleasure
-Oh but we have a comedian among us!
She clapped her hands while smiling in amusement
-I am sorry for our slightly... rough methods. I hope you will forgive us. You see, it is not you that we are after but your boyfriend
Danny continued to stare at her while the men who had abducted him, installed him on a chair.
-Commander McGarrett took someone very precious from me in the past, she revealed, and you know the saying: "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth". I always thought that was a nice way to announce revenge, don't you think?
The woman was strangely friendly. It didn't bode well
-Excuse me, but why are you telling me this? asked the blond now tied to the chair he had been made to sit on
She smiled at him
-Well because you won't be able to tell anyone
A shiver ran through the detective's entire body
-Lori was the most wonderful person I had ever hoped to meet. She was sweet and very caring towards me. We had met in college and then we never left each other.
One of the three men brought her a knife
-I had managed to declare myself to her but she was the one who proposed to me
Her smile faded and her face hardened.
-He took her away from me
She punctuated her sentence by planting her weapon in the thigh of the blond sitting in front of her and Danny let out a cry of surprise mixed with pain.
-He took her away from me and he's still free
Her captor turned the knife, pushing it deeper and the blond had to bite his tongue to keep his cries to himself
-It's not against you detective, I swear, she resumed her soft voice, you didn't do anything and I'm aware of it but neither is Lori and yet she's dead
She finished her sentence then removed the penknife from her thigh and blood gushed out
-Make sure he doesn't die, she simply said to her guys, turning her back on him
/\/\/\/\\/\/\
Steve had just finished his call with the governor. It was only noon and he was already exhausted.
He boldly hated the paperwork that followed a case.
When he turned his gaze, he didn't see Danny at his desk. The brunet frowned then remembered that he had seen him pass by a few moments earlier, probably to get his lunch.
The brunet had chosen to bring his own home-cooked meal so there was no need to bother going out and spending his money. He could get some fresh air from his office while eating in peace.
He had just finished his superb pineapple chicken when Chin came knocking a little too hastily on his door.
-Danny still hasn't come back? he asked him worriedly after his Commander had allowed him to enter Steve frowned.
-I don't know
He saw the worried look form on his detective's face who didn't promise him anything good.
-Why? he asked immediately afterwards
-He left for lunch but still hasn't come back
The brunet got up from his seat and glanced at his boyfriend's office.
Indeed, he wasn't there.
A bad feeling rose in his throat.
-When did he get out?
-12:30, his friend informed him
Kono entered the room, her hair still wet.
-What's going on? she asked, seeing her boss get busy.
-Did you run into Danny? Steve asked for all the answer, a hint of hope in his voice.
The young woman frowned in incomprehension.
-No. We talked this morning and he told me he was going to try the new Thai down the street. He still hasn't come back?
Steve's haste to get out was her only answer.
The brunet went down at full speed. Even during his training he had never been so fast.
He arrived at the famous restaurant in record time.
The policeman showed his badge directly upon entering and immediately requested the boss, unable to wait for the preliminaries.
-Have you seen this man? he asked almost violently, showing a photo of Danny.
His eyes reflected the hope of a positive answer, but his bad presentiment had continued to grow since his office to here and he unconsciously prayed to be wrong, that Danny was right behind him, eating peacefully.
Unfortunately, he was right.
And for once, he hated doing it.
He asked every employee present, even those who hadn't shown up in the dining room, but none had seen the blond.
The strand felt something crumble inside him. He could have collapsed under the pressure but then he immediately went on autopilot.
He ordered the marking of the tracer present in his badge and the videos from the street surveillance cameras.
As he returned to headquarters, Kono already had the location of her colleague's badge. As soon as she transmitted it, Steve was already leaving, simply equipped with his vest and his service weapon.
However, the location of Danny's badge, did not bring Danny with him.
His phone rang suddenly.
-McGarrett, he said as he picked up the phone.
-I know who you are, were the first words of the voice that had called him.
-Who is it?
-Too bad Detective Williams isn't here, is it? I'm sure you miss him a lot.
A monstrous rage instantly seized Steve and the shell of his cell phone cracked under the pressure of his hand.
-Where is he?
-You seem very angry, the voice in the receiver laughed elegantly, I have a gift that will surely please you. It was left on your desk.
-Wh-
He didn't have time to finish his sentence before the phone rang, ending the call.
-Fuck, he swore.
~~~
A box had indeed been placed on his desk.
He didn't need to say anything as Chin was already checking the building's cameras.
The brunet could have called the bomb squad.
The gift was surely booby-trapped, there was a good chance it was, yet something deep inside him knew that it wasn't. So he gingerly opened the lid and his lunch almost came out. The box didn't contain any explosives like he had predicted, instead, there was a bloody knife on a small sand-colored cushion.
Kono then entered his office
-Boss-
She stopped dead in her tracks in front of his startled gaze then looked down at the famous container as she approached.
-Oh my god, she breathed in terror, bringing her hands to her face
-Call Max, I want an analysis of all the traces on this knife
The young Hawaiian woman immediately recovered and carried out the order.
Steve followed her out of his office then headed towards Chin
-Any news?
-The HQ cameras are not showing anything and the ones on the street are not at the right angle but we can clearly see that Danny was kidnapped there
He punctuated his sentence by pointing to the moment when the blond's attackers tasered him
-Since they didn't come out of the alley on this side, I asked for the images of the parallel street
Chin sent the video from the table to the flat screen
-And look at this. The plaque is hidden and they are all seen from behind except for one.
-The driver
-Right, so I ran a facial search and now Mr. X has a name
The detective typed a few words on the keyboard at their desk before a new image appeared in front of them
-Antonio Garcia, 39, he was already in prison for 5 years for armed robbery. He was released last year and according to my sources he has reconnected with his family and is living with his wife
-Let's go, ordered the brunet
The two detectives went down to get their respective vehicles.
They arrived in just a few minutes in front of the criminal's home.
Steve was in a rage. Chin next to him was praying hard to find Danny alive because he didn't want to see his boss if they only got their friend's body.
He walked past the brunette to knock on the door, avoiding unnecessary damage to equipment since someone came to open the door for them.
-Hello?
-5-O, isn't that Antonio Garcia's house? Chin asked.
The woman in front of him frowned.
-Yes, yes. I'm his wife but he hasn't come home if you're looking for him.
-Do you know where he went?
-No? He's been leaving early in the morning and not coming back until late at night for several days. What did he do?
The two policemen looked at each other, embarrassed. The woman in front of them didn't seem to know anything
-He's possibly involved in the kidnapping of one of our men, Chin Ho revealed apprehensively
-Oh my god
If the two men hadn't caught her in time, she would have collapsed to the ground
-He promised me
Tears were streaming down her tanned cheeks
-He told me he wouldn't do it again
-We're sorry ma'am, Steve apologized sincerely
-It's not your fault, I...do you need anything else or can I...?
Chin declined the offer and they returned to their headquarters
Steve's phone rang. He immediately jumped on it and was almost disappointed when Kono's name popped up
-McGarrett
-Steve, we have prints. They belong to a Servo Leal
-Well, what do we know about him?
-41, no kids, divorced, arrived in Hawaii six months ago and...
Kono seemed to hesitate
-What?
-The blood, it's...it's Danny's
Steve's jaw clenched so hard he could have broken a tooth if he hadn't stopped
-Find me that son of a bitch
-On it