Hello friends:

I am embarrassed to say that I have been working on this fanfic since last November and still don't have it 100% completed. But it is at a point where I feel comfortable enough to begin posting. This is one of those stories where the characters took over in spots and did things that weren't in my notes, so I had to rethink what I was doing. I felt, at times, like I was just following along after them. I have learned that McGarrett can be very strong willed and Danny is one of the most stubborn men I've dealt with!

Needless to say, I don't own them or any of this nice franchise, but am thankful that they allow me to play in their sandbox from time to time.

Note 1: This takes place near the end of first season. In addition to the story I was telling, I didn't want to have to deal with a dead governor, Halawa, Wo Fat, Joe and Lori. I'm having enough trouble writing the four characters I have here!

Note 2: Since I began writing in this fandom, I have had the pleasure of working with wonderful betas that I call friends. Thanks so much to sockie1000 and Rogue Tomato for their invaluable help and many readings and reviewing of this. It has been so long since I started it, we all had forgotten what the first part looked like. :) Also, special thanks to sym64 and sherry57 for their review and input. This fandom has given me two more friends! All of you have made this small story much better with your comments, changes and ideas. And badgering. Did I mention the endless badgering? Mahalo to all of you.

And yes, I apologize, but this is a very short chapter.

~~~H50~~~

Ho'okahi, Chapter 1

by Cokie

"OK, with a show of hands, does anyone else think this reeks of a set up?"

Danny Williams removed his hand from the Heckler and Koch at his side and raised it up into the air, the other hand running through his hair before rubbing the tension at the back of his neck. He turned to the rest of the team where Kono waved her raised hand at him in acknowledgement and Chin nodded his agreement about the set up.

His partner remained silent, watching the supposedly abandoned warehouse through binoculars from their vantage point of a tree line dividing the property from its neighbor. The late afternoon sun was slipping behind the metal roof of the concrete structure, causing brilliant sparks of light to hinder his inspection.

"I certainly wouldn't bet against a set up," Chin Ho Kelly replied, standing at ease, holding his shotgun by his side.

"Kono," McGarrett began, lowering the binoculars. "Tell me again what the caller said."

"Not much, Boss," she replied, moving to stand next to him. "Just that the proof of Makai's guilt can be found in this warehouse. It was a man's voice, and he spoke in a whisper. He hung up before we could begin a trace."

"Even with our testimony, the DA's case against Makai is iffy," Danny added. "We need to find the guns to make sure everything is nice and legal and we can put him and his friends away."

"Yeah, I know," Steve replied, looking once again through the binoculars. "But this doesn't feel right. It's too easy."

"Well, we know going in that it feels wrong, so we're on our guard," Chin added. "But, we won't know either way until we go down there."

Steve sighed and tossed the binoculars into the open window of the Camaro parked on the side of the road.

"You're right. Let's go. When we go in, Danny and I will take the left; Chin, you and Kono head right. Watch and listen for anything that seems out of place."

"Got it," Kono said, heading down the hill, followed by Chin and Danny.

"And be careful," McGarrett warned, falling in behind his team.

~~H50~~

Reaching the warehouse without incident, McGarrett once again reminded his team of their positions, this time with sign language. Danny and Kono prepared to open the tall, metal doors so that Steve could enter, followed by Chin.

The doors creaked open and the team eased inside, blinking to focus in the near-darkness of the huge room. Metal cargo containers lined the back wall of the large space, stacked one on the other. Above them, a catwalk went around the back and both side walls.

They saw and heard nothing; the only light was from dingy windows spaced around the catwalk. The air was dank and dusty and the entire building felt unused and abandoned.

Still they moved silently, looking for signs of any habitation, not willing to give away their positions just yet.

McGarrett turned to Danny and pointed to himself, then indicating he was going to move further left toward a half-walled, concrete block partition in the room. At Williams' nod of understanding, he turned and eased around the concrete.

"Clear on the right side," Chin said quietly, as he and Kono joined Danny near the doorway. "We need to check the contents of those crates.

"There's a crowbar in my trunk," Danny told them. "Unless someone took it out to make room for more grenades." He looked around the wall and saw Steve entering another small room. "Things seem OK here, so why don't you go get it. I'll back up the Lone Ranger over here."

"Sounds good," Chin replied as he followed Kono through the doorway into the waning sunlight.

Steve stepped through the opening to the smaller room. Out of the corner of his eye, a dot of green flashed and he quickly turned his head in that direction. He heard a click and realized that he had tripped a motion sensor set up on the outer wall.

"BOMB!"

McGarrett turned and ran the few feet closer to safety, reaching for and pushing Danny toward the open doorway, all in the nanosecond it took the bomb to detonate. Behind him, the room exploded; the outer wall blew out, the inner wall burst into chunks and the concrete blocks splintered into thousands of projectiles.

It took several minutes for the debris to settle and even then, the air was thick, still swirling with particles of dust and concrete. The last trickles of sunlight now beamed through the open wall of the warehouse, following the bits of dust in their downward spiral as they settled on top of the wreckage.

Once again, the warehouse was silent, and deathly still, as nothing and no one inside moved.

~~H50~~