If you recognise it… I don't own it.

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Steve sat in silence for a long period of time, all the various thoughts tumbling over in his mind.

He wasn't sure how long it had been when the door opened once again, and a familiar face entered.

"Mamo!" Steve blinked, "What are you doing here?"

"Heard you got caught up in something that should never have been brought to your door." Mamo shrugged, "You okay, brah?"

"I don't know. Just… Just everything…"

"You been shown our world." Mamo smiled softly, "Never wanted you to learn about it, brah. Kept your father out of it till the day he died. Never thought that your Danny would be one of us."

"You're…" Steve stared at his father's oldest friend.

"Yeah." Mamo nodded, "There's a lot of us that are. You wouldn't know that traditionally the Leiomano is made using our own teeth. The use of Tiger Shark teeth only came later, when we had a larger contingent of humans."

"Danny never told me anything."

"I know. I never knew. He kept that secret close to his chest. Not that I blame him. There's a meeting being called. To discuss what we do now."

"What do you mean?" Steve's eyes narrowed.

"No Komohewa has ever been allowed to settle on the Islands before." Mamo explained, "They have always been removed. Either driven off or…"

"Or killed." Steve finished.

"Exactly. And now we find that there has been one hiding amongst us all this time? Some aren't taking that at all well. They want him gone. We're having a meeting to make a decision."

"What makes you think that you have the right to decide?"

"We are the Ali'i Koko. All the members of the Royal Family were like us. We have the right because of our blood. Once we were Gods. Most the time, we don't interfere with how the Islands are run. Not like this. Through protests and politics, yes. But not actively…"

"Not actively making decisions and expecting others to go along with it." Steve muttered, "And what if you decide that Danny has to leave. How will you enforce it? Because he won't leave without Grace. And Grace has no control as to whether she stays or she goes."

"Some hotheads are suggesting that if he won't leave, he should be sent to the Ancestors."

"Over my dead body." Steve pulled himself out of the bed, "When and where?"

"Steve?"

"When and where is the meeting?" Steve clarified, "Like hell they are getting rid of my partner."

"I can't guarantee they'll listen to you." Mamo warned, "You're not one of us."

"Then I'll bring someone they will listen to." Steve declared, "When and where?"

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The argument was already in full force and they'd barely been there for five minutes, Kawika bemoaned internally. He hated it when something like this divided the community. There was so much fear and rage. He knew that the sensible thing to do would be to leave Williams alone. The Blutbad was more than most of them could handle.

To be honest, Kawika wasn't sure that he could take the Detective, not even with support from his two trusted lieutenants. He'd heard rumors of what Blutbaden could do. In the water, he was without parallel, but on land? He'd be gutted like the fish that Williams disdainfully called them.

Trying to separate Williams from the Islands was a fool's game. It would only occur with the man's death as long as his daughter was there. And despite everything the Ali'i Koko wouldn't dare touch a child. In addition, both Bumpy and Kawika had declared her untouchable, just in case; something that was only achievable due to her young age. Kawika would have extended it to Williams if he could have; for all the man's hatred of Hawaii, he would die to protect it, so that he could hate it tomorrow.

"This stops right now!" A voice cut across the arguing.

Kawika looked up, and stared at what he could see.

Right in the centre of the clearing was Steve, dressed in full combat gear; next to him was the Make, clearly armed. However, it was equally clear that both of them weren't carrying their badges of office; they weren't there as police officers.

"I don't care what your issues are with Danny," Steve snapped at all of them, "But they stop right now! I'm not saying you have to like the man. God knows he's as annoying as hell a lot of the time. But you are not running him off these Islands. You are not killing him. Or I will come after you. All of you. And I'll bring him in to help me."

The motion towards the Make was clear. Kawika saw several people shift to try to intimidate the pair. It had the opposite effect. The word Make spread like wildfire around the group.

"Exactly," Steve nodded, "He's Death. He's Make. And he has others he can call in to help him. So this is what is going to happen… You are going to leave Danny alone. He is my partner. He is my friend! He has never hurt these Islands. He is the best kind of person there is. So you are going to leave him and Grace alone. Or I will rain hellfire and brimstone down upon you. I will not stop until every single person who was involved is dead. That is my solemn promise."

"He kept secrets from you!" Someone challenged.

"And I don't care. He is still the same man today as he was yesterday. You have no part in our relationship. So stay away. Leave him be. And I won't come after you simply for existing. Harm one hair on Grace's head and I won't stop at just the perpetrators, I will go after anyone who had any knowledge of the attack."

Steve turned and walked away. The crowd parting for him.

The Make stayed behind.

"The first person who really explained to me what I was and what was going on, what I was seeing," He began, "Was a Blutbad. The same as Williams. I have a bit of a soft spot for them. And these two? A Brother in Blue and a little girl? I will hunt you to the ends of the earth for them. Heads will roll. Not that I think it'll be too hard. You don't leave the Islands."

He turned and followed Steve.

Kawika looked down and made sure that his hands were firmly settled on his knees. He didn't want anyone to see them shaking.

He believed both of them. Steve and the Make had just made Williams untouchable. The Blutbad was Hoomaluia. Not one of the Ali'i Koko would take the risk of going against that.

Kawika knew that if Williams was hurt in the line of duty it would be one thing, but anyone actually targeting him because he was a Komohewa could potentially doom their whole people.

It wasn't that Kawika had wanted Williams hurt, had wanted him protected from the usual retribution for a Komohewa. But this wasn't how he had wanted it to occur.

Kawika knew he would have to work hard to earn back Steve's trust and respect.

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"You came round quickly." Nick remarked to Steve as the Seal drove them back to the convention.

"No one hurts Danny or Grace on my watch." Steve was firm, "I still don't understand all of this though."

"Don't expect you to." Nick shrugged, "It'll take time. Take more than a few views of a Woger too."

"Woger?"

"Term for the shift. Look, you've got my numbers. Call me if you need to. Call Hank, if necessary. We'll help. It's more than a bit scary at first. And you'll make mistakes. You'll think you know everything. But you don't. I still don't. I still ask for help."

"Anything you think I need to know?"

"Blutbad are fierce protectors. High up on the danger list. But they are loyal. Loyal to death. My main CI is one. Some people didn't like it that he was helping me, so they attacked. He didn't care about the beating. It just made him more determined to help me."

"So when Danny says he's got my back?"

"He means it." Nick was firm, "Don't ever doubt it or take it for granted."

"What do I do now?"

"I don't know. That's up to you."

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"You kept secrets from me." Steve addressed Danny.

"Yes." Danny didn't flinch.

"When were you going to tell me?"

"The other side of never."

"Figured," Steve sighed, "Do you trust me?"

"I trust you with Grace."

Steve knew that that was the greatest amount of trust anyone could be given by Danny. Grace was Danny's whole world.

"Do you trust me?" Danny asked after a long pause.

"Yeah." Steve nodded, "Reckon I do. You're my back-up. Always will be."

Chin smiled in the background; the Five-Oh team were back on track. They had a stable base on which to stand. All the revelations hadn't changed them.

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Please Review. Thank you to my reviewers for the last chapter:

DaemonWolfe – Hank wins this story. He's a great character to write.

Guest – I may end up using your suggestion, but in a later story. I'm not sure with who yet either.

Guest – You're probably right about the grammar for Blutbad. But I'll keep it as is for this story. I think Steve probably would be thrown quite badly. In my mind he latched onto Danny as a point of stability in his life when everything was in flux. Danny wasn't supposed to change unless Steve changed him.

Cautionald – Well, Danny isn't all that tall. So people find it odd that he refers to himself as "big". And I've found that when a huge surprise is thrown in your face, many people latch onto the small details as a secure point. Other people, who aren't shocked, are just making commentary.

Thank you for reading.