17

Author's Note: This is literally years overdue. But I am finishing for three reasons. First, it is the first day of the new year and I wanted something I didn't have to worry about anymore. Second, I still get reviews on this little dramedy. Third, a lovely young person named 1814bealla or Beth has persistently and sweetly asked me to finish it and I could no longer disappoint her. I don't know why it took so long. I go in and out of finding my muse. I have also gotten really disappointed in the show although I pray its remaining episodes are good. I sincerely apologize to those of you who had an interrupted ride with this story. The last chapter is unexpected. I hope it meets expectations. Sheila

Auntie

Chapter 9

….

Chin sat on a concrete ledge at the highest point in Oahu looking over the best of what the island had to offer. There was a strong wind, and, for a moment, it took him back to that late afternoon ten days ago when they had looked over the cliff at Danny's mangled car. A lot had happened in that time. Chin had slept in his own bed maybe twice, and never for more than 4 hours at a stretch.

The dread he'd anticipated over this final showdown was overshadowed by an unexpected feeling of relief. Whatever the outcome, he wanted an end to Gabriel's reign of terror. Thoughts of the boy he was or the potential he once had were secondary to the man he'd become.

"Chin, you hear me?"

Chin nodded imperceptibly. He had no doubt that Gabriel had his people staking out the area.

"You ready, brah?"

Chin nodded again.

"Me too. I just wish it was Kono behind the scope instead of me. I've never seen a hand as steady as hers."

Chin allowed himself the whisper of a smile. Kono was the most talented of them all. If Steve ever lived long enough to retire, he could picture her taking over.

"Just remember that the bullet is mine. I carry this for all of us."

Chin wanted to tell McGarrett to shut up already about carrying the weight for everyone. No amount of rationalization was going to release each of them from their particular role in this act.

The large black SUV sounded on the volcanic gravel, but Chin didn't turn. Facing Waincroft was going to take every ounce of his concentration. The vehicle stopped and he heard his name. He didn't turn. Part of him wanted to pretend that Waincroft was still a bright, misguided kid- the kind of kid who could change the world with just the right guidance.

"Where is the sniper, Chin?"

Not a muscle moved in his face. His gaze stayed on the sapphire blue horizon. Gabriel stopped beside him and pointed to a distant shore. "We used to ride that water over there. Remember?"

"That was a million years ago, Waincroft."

"Am I in position yet for your sniper?"

Chin chortled. "Why did you come if you thought I was going to take you out?"

"It wasn't personal, brah. Taking out Williams was the distraction I needed in order to establish my trade. I went a bridge too far. I see that now. Let's truce this bitch and go back to our lives."

Chin turned on him, eyes blazing. "I don't need a sniper! I will kill you with my bare hands! There's no truce. Ever. You soulless son of a bitch!"

Gabriel threw back his head and laughed. "You're standing too close to me, brah, and there's a wind. Even your beautiful cousin wouldn't risk a shot right now. You could get hit."

"Why did you even come?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Like I said, I just wanted to explain."

Then he grabbed Chin by the front of his shirt, but as Chin grabbed him back, he felt the steel of a sharp blade against his neck. "Just walk me to my car, brah. That's all I need."

Gabriel breathed into his neck as he walked him toward the SUV. "I don't blame you, ya know. I would do the same."

Gabriel opened the car door, and pushed Chin away. A glock appeared from the darkness of the car's interior pointed at Chin's face. Gabriel shook his head. "The problem with you is that you don't remember the old days. I miss my big brah."

Chin backed up slowly. "I didn't forget anything. That boy went away and you showed up in his place. One of the biggest tragedies of my life."

The door closed and as the SUV sped off, bullets sprayed the ground the vehicle. Still, it wasn't enough and it disappeared in a cloud of gravel dust.

"You all right, Chin!" Exploded into his earpiece.

Chin shook his head and looked up at the hill. "The two of us are worst assassins in the history of murder."

"Just get in the car and come get me. Gabriel is rattled. Who the hell knows what's coming next."

….

"This is crazy, Spicy," Sang yelled from the back of the helicopter.

Kono ignored him and turned to Kamekona. "This intel better be good. If we blow up a pineapple warehouse, there's going to be trouble."

"For you, sister," he clarified. "I am here under duress. If it goes bad, I'm going to say you commandeered my sky ride."

"Always got a sister's back, don't ya."

"I'm a businessman. Protecting the brand is job #1. You sure they aren't going to hit us with gun fire. My baby is delicate."

"You take us down quick. We drop the explosives and then you get us the hell out of here. Simple plan."

"Yeah. Too simple," Kamekona sighed.

Kono turned to the back. "You guys ready?"

Sang shook his head. "These homemade devices aren't going to take out a warehouse this big."

"We just need enough to start a fire. These old warehouses are tinderboxes. Winds coming off the west are at 22 miles per hour."

"You hardcore, Spicy. God help the criminal element if you ever take over 5-0."

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Kono said pointing at the looming warehouse. "On the count of three, you start dropping the cocktails. Once Sang drops four, you get this bird up and out of here fast."

Kamekona's eyes widened. "I see guns."

Two men were on the roof of the warehouse pointing semiautomatics at them. At first, it just looked like they were pointing them. Then a ping sounded and another.

"They're hurting my baby!"

"Steady big guy!" Kono turned to Sang. "On my count. You got it?"

"You so sexy hot right now!" He grinned.

All of a sudden, she jerked and grunted.

"Spicy?" Sang's eyes widened.

There was a red stain growing on the upper left side of her chest. Kono dropped against the seat and covered her chest with her right hand.

"Fat man! She hit!"

Kamekona turned his head. "We getting out of here!"

"No!" She shouted. "You stay on course! On my count!"

With a grimace, she turned her head toward the warehouse. "One! Two! Three! Now! Now! Now!"

Sang started dropping cocktails. The pings kept coming.

"I'm outa' here!" Kamekona yelled. "You getting a bill for this, sista'!"

Kono groaned.

"Sista? She okay, Min?"

Sang was shirtless, pressing his balled up tee over the hand on her wound. "Get out of here, big man. Go!"

Neither man looked back at the warehouse as swirls of smoke started rising up from various points of the roof."

…..

Kamekona's island hopper landed on top of Honolulu General in a spot reserved for much smaller medical choppers. It had taken a lot of screaming at air traffic control to get permission until Sang Min found the good sense to call McGarrett. Nobody bypassed authority better than the head of 5-O. Chin was already on the roof when Kamekona landed the beast. Kono wasn't conscious and the air coming out of her mouth sounded like a bad engine. Chin couldn't get to her. A team of doctors and nurses swarmed her, got her on a gurney, and disappeared down an elevator. Chin grabbed Sang Min by the shirt and started yelling at him but the blades of the helicopter made communication impossible. Then Steve appeared on the tarmac and pushed both men into an elevator.

Sang sagged against the wall, blood staining shirt and pants. Instead of attacking again, Chin leaned over, hands on his knees as if he wanted to puke. Steve stood between them. "Tell us what happened."

Sang sighed. "We dropped cocktails on his warehouse. His guys were already on the roof. Thought they wouldn't be so sharp."

Steve slapped stop on the elevator door. "Of course they're sharp! Look who they are working for!"

"Spi- Kono ran the operation like a pro. She wouldn't let us peel even after she got hit. Made us drop our load. Then we headed straight here. Hey man, it was a lucky shot."

Still hunched over, Chin shook his head. "I swear to God that if she doesn't come out of this, I will kill you."

"Sure. It make you feel good maybe, but you gotta know it wasn't my idea."

Steve blew out air. "Agitating Gabriel. Sounds like a Danny move. No one can get under someone's skin like my partner."

Chin stood shakily and Sang stared him down. "You and me doing to dance?"

Chin looked at Steve. "Just get me down there to see her."

…..

Chin Ho and Kono's relatives littered the waiting room. When the doctor came out of trauma, at least 10 people launched themselves out of chairs to greet him alongside Chin. Steve stayed seat. He was ohana but he respected that it was different than being someone who watched who had watched her grow from a little girl with scrapped knees to the beautiful woman on his team. He watched the faces, particularly Chin's. He saw shoulders relax and hugs, and then Chin look his direction for a moment. The fear on his friend's face was draining and Steve closed his eyes.

"How long you think Gabriel going to be occupied with a burned out warehouse?"

Steve turned to Sang and stared. "He…uh, comes for Chin or Kono. We'll put SWAT all over this floor."

Sang shook his head. "I know to think like snake. He want his day with Chin, no doubt. But right now, he has an itch. This whole thing started to keep you distracted so he could move product. Now, he lost everything. Even worse, he got an unfinished job out there."

Steve blinked. "Danny?"

"It make him look bad- like he don't know how to get a job done. He gonna lose a lot of cred over this."

Steve winced. "We left him alone with no one to protect him but a couple of old women."

Sang got up. "Listen, my auntie no joke. She survived the Cultural Revolution. Still, I'm going over there to grab her and her witch friend and pull them out of line of fire."

The fear that had faded only moments ago when he saw the relief on Chin's face came back like a hurricane and he pulled Sang along with him.

….

Danny had to threaten them a number of times to stay out of the way. He was executing the dumbest of all plans, but it felt right in his stubborn Irish Jersey gut. He'd refused any more pain meds, and aching had turned to agony. Still, he sat on the lawn chair out on the lanai watching the surf. He blinked at the orange sun setting in the distance and worried that this showdown was going to happen in the dark. Yet, he waited.

The ethics of putting down Gabriel didn't bother him as much as it should. He'd taken Reyes out, and, other than the occasional nightmare, he generally believed his soul was still intact. It did leave a blackness in him, and he was aware that he was aware that killing Gabriel would deepen that darkness in a way that would probably make it impossible for him to continue as a cop.

It should've been easier to support Chin and Steve, and yet, he'd balked. He argued with Steve, throwing out moral platitudes that he wasn't sure he believed. It was the moment that Steve said he was going to assassinate Gabriel for Danny that settled the issue. The Seal had always made sacrifices for him, pushed him out of the way, went first through the door- all sorts of hero behavior. Danny knew he did it because he was hardwired for it. The arrogance of being a Navy Seal left the man certain he could handle any and all dangerous situations. Yet, there was more. Danny knew he was the only one with access to the inner workings of Steve McGarrett. He was ohana in a way that no one else could touch. He also knew that Steve loved him and the kids fiercely, and, that somewhere along the line, had decided that he would sacrifice all to keep them safe.

Danny appreciated all of that, but the piece that Steve failed to grasp was that Danny felt just as protective of Steve. He'd spent the last three weeks trying to make sense of the world's weirdest kidnapping, but that was nothing compared to the strain he saw on his friends' faces when he was recovered- especially Steve's. To say that the man had suffered was to completely understate the depth of his friend's pain. He looked like he'd aged ten years. Danny's body might not be ready for action but he was still capable of bringing the action home.

He heard rustling in the bushes, and his gut seized but he stayed still, waiting. The sun was dipping below the horizon giving them only the last half hour of dusk to make this work.

Danny felt no relief when Gabriel came into view with no weapon. He probably planned to beat him to death, and there wasn't much Danny could do to stop him.

Gabriel folded his hands in front of him and shook his head. "Did you even wonder why they haven't returned home yet?"

Danny narrowed his eyes. Injuries and lingering pain meds in his system had left him only able to focus on one thing. Thoughts of when friends would return had been secondary.

"You scored a win, Williams. You burnt up my product. Good for you. But there was a glitch. My men were ready. Kono took one to the chest. My sources tell me it doesn't look good."

"You're lying."

Gabriel spread his arms. "Well, where's the gang? They hit the warehouse four hours ago, and before that, my own brother-in-law tried to pull off the world's clumsiest assassination. Why did they leave their flank exposed? Maybe, they're too distracted hoping she comes out of surgery alive."

Danny's face reddened. It all made too much sense.

Gabriel shrugged. "By the time they get back, I'll have broken every remaining intact bone in your body. But we'll stop from time to time so you can really experience it. Sound good?"

Danny closed his eyes. These ideas were messing with him. Success had everything to do with timing. He only had a second and it had to be the right one.

"Let's have some fun." Gabriel came at him, and Danny reached under his chair and pulled hard. Rope and fish netting leapt out of the sand, scooping Gabriel up and dangling him from the roof of the lanai. Gabriel started yelling.

Danny blinked. It had been a wild idea at best. He hadn't really imagined that it would work. He remembered himself and yelled, "Aunties!"

Aunties Joon and Liang appeared from the basement. Auntie Joon laughed. "Just like in Manjalara when drug lord steal Bunjang. Good plan, haole boy!"

"Shut him up!" Danny yelled.

Liang had already grabbed a canoe paddle and started whacking at Gabriel like he was a piñata.

"Don't break the netting! Be careful!"

The third whack caught Gabriel on the side of his head and he went quiet.

Auntie Joon looked at him. "What now, Danielle?"

Danny stared at the swinging bundle. "Bring me the gun they left for us."

She looked at him with wizened brown eyes. "You sure?"

He nodded.

Joon signaled to Liane who disappeared in the house. Moans sounded from the bundle and Gabriel's eyes opened again the thick fish netting. He regarded Danny. "Wasn't expecting that."

"I didn't think it would work, honestly."

"My guys are waiting for me. They are going to be here any second. You hurt me and they'll take you and those two old birds apart limb by limb."

Danny looked at Joon, but there was no fear on her face. "We got nothing to lose, Gabriel."

Gabriel scoffed. "Easier than shooting fish in a barrel. I'm helpless. You willing to live with that?"

Danny swallowed. "Let's face it. You haven't been helpless since you were in diapers."

Liang came back with the gun and handed it to Danny.

"Okay. So do it. Shoot me." Gabriel stared at him through the netting. "Murder me."

Danny's eyes stung. He wasn't prepared for that. He turned to the women. "Aunties, go inside."

Joon shook her head. "Not leaving you, Danielle."

"Witnesses are no good. Leave."

"We say nothing to nobody," Liang said darkly.

"Go!" He kept his eyes on Gabriel.

Gabriel chuckled. "You can't do it. You don't have the guts. I love this. You'll call it some kind of moral compass, but the truth is that you got no cojones Williams."

Danny took a deep breath and leveled the gun. "I got enough balls to do what needs doing."

"What we talk about," Liang said sharply to Joon.

"You right. It too much for him," Joon replied.

Danny swung his head. "I want the two of you out of here now!"

"I hear something," Auntie Liang said.

"Garrett coming home for sure," Joon added.

Gabriel smiled. "I guess I got a little time coming for me in a Supermax. But just know that I'm not going to be there long."

Danny stopped but couldn't hear anything. His still concussed brain couldn't process all of the complications. It didn't take much for Joon and Liane to grab his wrist and wrestle the gun away. Joon pulled it from Liang and, in one fluid movement, raised it and emptied the clip into Gabriel.

…

In the twenty minutes that followed, the two women laid plastic on the concrete to catch the steady flow of blood that emptied out of a dead Gabriel Waincroft and then argued about how to cut him down. Liang, of course, was in favor of burying him in a pineapple field. The fight settled into their native tongue, and Danny stopped asking for a translation. On the ground, lay the gun. There were so many considerations. As an officer of the court, protocol popped into his head and he mumbled things about not touching the weapon and preserving the crime scene. But this was different, and he wasn't sure he was capable of being that man anymore. He carefully slid off the chair, struggling to ignore the pain from his broken ribs and ankle. He lay on his side and grabbed the gun. It felt important that he touch it in as many places as possible.

"Danielle! What you do!" Joon scurried out and helped him sit up. She tried to help him back into the chair but he shook his head and settled against the wall. He pointed to the chair and she sat.

Liang walked out and put her hands on hips. "We have to bury him now!"

"Stop," he said. "Stop. We've gone as far as we're going to go with this."

There was something about the quality in his voice that got their attention and Liang sat down next to Joon. "Why you worry Danielle?"

Danny sat staring at the gun in his lap. "You did what I couldn't do. It's not right. It was my fight. I should've finished it. I've put you at risk, Auntie, and I am so sorry."

Liang shook her head. "We know this is to be a problem. We discuss it together. We just know you work to protect, not to hurt. This is not job for you. You have to know that we not monsters, haole. Joon and I don't come to Hawaii from our home many year ago because we don't like China. We saw many things. Sometimes, we had to do bad things to survive. We know that price. We know how to live those memory. Wainwright always a bad man. There is no peace when he breathe."

"Okay," Danny nodded. "So, I protect. And I'm going to protect you now. Auntie, you told me once that police get to shoot people and not go to jail. So…since that's true…I shot him. Just me. When you came out, he was already dead. You understand?"

She shook her head. "No good. His people come for you. That bad for you."

Danny shook his head. "I have a feeling that Gabriel didn't engender much loyalty. I don't think anyone will care that he's dead."

Liang rolled her eyes. "Gendered? I hate when you talk foreign."

"I not have shame, Danielle," Joon said, glaring at him. "I tell the rooftops."

"No," he shook his head. "That's not our story."

"Is this for real?"

All heads turned to find Steve and Sang in the doorway to the lanai.

"I shot him," Danny said.

"No, I shoot him," Liang said as she got up and grabbed for the gun in Danny's lap. He wrestled with her as she yelled, "My print everywhere!"

"I shoot him," Joon said, still sitting in her chair. "I not sorry either."

"Shut up, Auntie," Sang said, eyes blazing. "Both of you need to shut your mouths."

Danny shut his eyes. "Take them inside please."

Sang herded them through the door.

Steve felt an exhaustion overwhelm him and he sat on the concrete beside Danny. "You okay?"

"No."

Steve stared at the gruesome sight of Gabriel Wainwright dangling from his lanai. "Did you get this idea from a Tarzan movie?"

"Manjalara."

"Ahh," Steve said nodding. "Of course."

"Fish in a barrel. Not exactly an imminent threat."

"Just shut up for a little bit. Okay?"

Danny narrowed his eyes. "I should be feeling something."

"How about relief that Grace and Charlie aren't at risk anymore? Or Kono? Or Chin?"

Danny's breath hitched. "Is it true about Kono?"

Steve put a hand on his arm. "She's out of surgery and doing well."

Danny let out air. "My idiocy knows no bounds."

"Agreed."

Danny looked up at Wainwright. "My first premeditated murder. What other lines am I going to cross?"

"You didn't pull the trigger."

"I did."

Steve sighed. "We have numerous competing confessions. This is going to be a hot mess."

"Oh my god! Is this what I think I am seeing?" Grover and Joe stepped onto the lanai and circled the corpse.

"What are you doing here?" Danny mumbled.

Grover looked at him. "I distinctly remember you saying that we needed to get here yesterday."

"Right."

"You got a story to go with this."

Danny sighed. "Yeah. I-"

"Shut up!" Joe's voice was sharp.

"Right. Don't talk without an attorney." Grover pulled out a cigar and started chewing on one end.

"We don't need attorneys," Joe said. He pulled his cell to his face and stepped out into the darkness.

Danny looked at Steve. "We going to let him do this?"

Steve nodded. "Damn straight we are."

Danny looked away.

Steve looked up. "Grover, you got a problem with this?"

Grover crouched down and puffed on his cigar. "I don't like it. Chin and Kono will have to know. They can't be spending any more time looking over their shoulders for something that isn't there."

Steve shrugged. "So, we keep it in family. I trust everyone."

"The Aunties know," Danny mumbled.

"What about 'em?" Grover said.

"Doesn't matter."

Grover stood. "Look at me, Danny. I just spent the last couple of weeks with your kids. Just 'cause I don't like what I see doesn't mean I don't see it needed to be done. You won't have any problems with me."

Joe stepped back into the light. "I got a crew coming in 30. Are we straight on all this 'cause I could use some help getting it all organized?"

"I'm your man," Grover boomed and followed Joe around the side of the house.

Steve waited until it was quiet. "I know what happened."

Danny stared straight ahead and said nothing.

"You didn't want me and Chin doing it. So, you set it up for you to finish him."

"I'm tired, Steve."

"You're not even on your feet. Yet, you bring him here with the idea to finish him. That's wild. I bet Kono didn't know that the endgame was him swinging from my lanai."

"Can we talk about this another time?"

"No, Danny. We can't. Tonight is the last time we will ever talk about this."

Danny threw up a hand. "So, what's your angle? I betrayed you…betrayed the team. Or what?"

"No angle. You just got impatient and went back to work. You ignored the fact that you can't get to the bathroom on your own, and went back to work. There were risks for us, and you couldn't live with that so you and the old lady gang spring a trap. Only it gets too real and you realize that you can't shoot him all trussed up like that. Luckily, the Aunties intervened."

"Is there a point to this conversation?" Danny asked.

"No." Steve stood and leaned over, lifting him gently under the arms. "Come on fella. I bet you could use a nice pain pill."

Danny groaned but didn't protest as Steve guided him in the house. "Two or three maybe."

Steve smiled. "The day you walked into my life was one of luckiest days of my life."

"Wish I could say the same."

"That's my boy."

Danny stopped him. "Steve, the Aunties are going to want to undress me for bed. They're always pulling my clothes off me like I'm seven. I don't like it. Don't let them do that to me anymore. Please."

Steve laughed. "I got ya', partner. Don't you worry about a thing."

….

Danny smiled into the sun as he lounged on the lanai. "I get to go home today. Last day at Chez McGarrett. Steve's picking me up any minute."

"More like McGarrett State Penitentiary," said Kono as she rested on her good side.

"Oh, it's not that bad," he said patting her hand.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Well, they like you. You're the sweet haole boy that Auntie Joon brought back to life."

"You just have to be nice to them."

"I am not drinking stinky lizard tea."

"That's what I said in the beginning."

"And then you grew to like it?" Kono asked warily.

"No. Auntie Joon would just drug me and make me drink it."

"That's a crime, Danny."

"Well, I got better so it doesn't matter."

"Take me with you."

"Can't. Adam is still in Halawa."

Kono groaned.

"What time is it?"

"Oh, for god's sakes, Danny. Tembam and Bujang are not going to hold hands today."

"Tembam's brother has left the café with his crew. What if today is the day that they stop the drug lord from feeding Bujang to the crocodile?"

"I hear you Danielle," came a singsong voice from the kitchen. "Today is the day. I have tape measure. Tembam and Bujang hold hand today."

Joon came out with Liang behind her. "I hate your stupid show, crazy woman. Nothing ever happen forever. Tembam is fat and ugly and Bujang no good thief."

"Every day you complain but you still watch, Liang. Make me wonder who crazy."

"Oh my god," Kono groaned. "Don't leave me to this, Danny."

"We have stinky lizard tea for you, sweet Asian sister," Joon said in an artificially sweet voice. "It will make you well and healthy for a husband."

"I'm not thirsty, and I already have a husband," Kono frowned.

Liang laughed. "She want you for no good Sang. She know he like you."

"I'm married!"

"Maybe not forever, sweet sister," Joon soothed.

"Danny!"

Danny helped Kono up. "Let's go in and watch."

"You can't leave me with them," she hissed at him.

"Hey. Auntie wanted me to get Sang a job in insurance. Is Sang in insurance? No. These ideas run their course."

"It okay sister," Joon said patting the seat next to her. "Danielle take all of Sang's crimes off the computer and make him squeak clean. Then he can be insurance man. He good for marriage to Asian sister cop. He handsome boy, you think?"

Kono turned to Danny. "So, uh, when are you going to be wiping the system of Sang's offenses?"

The front door opened and Steve came in. "Did I miss anything?"

Liang gestured. "Garrett, you sit next to me."

"Danielle, you clean computer of Sang crimes tomorrow, okay?"

Steve's eyes widened.

Danny grimaced. "Auntie, you know I can't do that."

She slapped her knees. "But you know this important to me. We make Sang into good citizen."

Steve gave Danny a look. "Yeah, but we have to follow the law."

Danny sat between Joon and Liang. "Sang has to find his own way. But he's doing a good job."

"Then Sang marry sweet Asian sister cop Kono," Joon said with finality.

Kono groaned. "I am married already."

"Yeah," said Steve. "Plus, remember how mean Kono was when you first met her."

Liang pointed. "This true."

Joon frowned for a moment and then the familiar sounds of Manjalara started. She brightened and grabbed Danny's arm. "Today is day, haole. I feel it."

Liang folded arms. "I only watch garbage because I am loyal friend."

Danny leaned forward, watching intently. "I think you're right, Auntie. Today is the day."

…..

The End