Final Chapter 18

Hey guys, here's the finale chapter. Again it's long but i hope you will enjoy it and send reviews my way. Thanks so much for the support, i really appreciated it.

What I've learnt from a soldier
Every man is a son to a daughter
And we only remember
When we see the blood

...

Erick had come along with the squad cars; he was still forensics after all. He was the only one left now, the insider. HPD squad cars had now circled the area when the shot rang out. It all happened in a flash and now he just stood stupefied, unable to move from the horror he was witnessing. He could not look away from the scene but from his peripheral vision he could see, or rather imagine Duke mimicking the same horrified look.

Once he could shake off the ice to function for a moment, all he could do was scream, "Noooo!" As he rushed to the scene.

….

The sniper hustled to dismantle his gun and packed it. It really had been a matter of judgement here; he had had no choice but to do what was less damaging for all. It had turned out a disaster still, but one he could better explain at least. There was no way out for Kaleo, the guy had played it too close. Yeah, he was his friend, as much a friend someone like him could have in this sort of industry anyway. He had even helped him execute his little vengeance. But he knew that if it ever came to choosing between his 'friend' and a mission or his cover, the latter two would win. It was just the nature of the job. And he was all ready to help Kaleo, really, had helped him thus far with all the frames and tech. It had been a little fun too, he would admit. But the guy had was a tit bit emotional, his hatred for Williams had surpass sound judgement and he knew the consequences of that. He could not risk him being captured. The guy wasn't that good at this subtlety thing, the way he bragged about being government and all, it was just too risky to let him be captured, to even take the chance. So, he had made a judgement call with the time limit he had, he really hadn't had a choice. With no remorse whatsoever, he picked his way silently through the jungle, good sport he had picked for sure. By the time they reeled from what had happened, through all that chaos, he would be long gone. And if he didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be found. He had taken care to make sure that even his shoe-prints would not be found, but just in case he had left one or two out there, he bent down and took off the fake shoe prints off his shoes, leaving a different type of print all together. Let them pick through that and solve that mystery.

…..

Danny had pulled the trigger, he really had. The shot had rung out, that much he had heard. Two shots? One shot? He really didn't know. Steve didn't know if he was still moving on autopilot or not, he didn't know why or how he was still moving, walking, running to Danny, because he was supposed to be dead by now. He had moved and a shot had rung out, but he didn't feel anything. Couldn't. He didn't even have time to check himself, to see if he was bleeding from anywhere, if the bullet had found his heart and this was just the last kicking's of a dying horse or if the bullet had missed him. All he had to do; all he need to do as get to Danny.

God no. God no no no no. Please no. He screamed in his head as he took one finale step to catch Danny as he fell, full body weight bringing him down on his knees. The hand holding the gun going limp on Danny's side, weightless as the gun dropped to the ground. Steve couldn't breathe. His mind was fuzzy, reality was unfathomable at the moment.

At first, he didn't register it, but Danny was breathing. He couldn't believe it until Danny knelt with the strength of his own knees and away from Steve, shock registering in his eyes. They were both in shock that they just stared at each other. Danny was alive. Steve had seen him squeeze that trigger, he had heard the shot, he had moved too late. How was he still alive?

Danny was thinking the same thing as soon as his brain began to function. Steve had moved, Danny had heard the shot, he had pulled his own trigger towards his own chin to blow up his head, but he had feared that he had been too late. Steve had moved, the shot had rung out. How was Steve still alive?

"How are you…? How…just how…?" Steve stammered as he checked Danny, head was still in one piece, no blood anywhere. Danny was unharmed it seemed. Just how?

Danny didn't know how to answer that question. He had been caught in a trap no doubt, he had pulled the trigger he had had no choice. His gun had been loaded. Now, as his mind came into focus, he realized that the shot he had heard was not from his own gun. What he heard from his own gun was a loud click. Loud but not a shot, no.

"My gun jammed." He said to Steve, voice barely a whisper. The shock of it all still robbed him of strength. When he had pulled the trigger he remembered letting go, losing strength as he prepared to go down, only to have Steve break his fall. Steve, who was supposed to be bleeding out from a gunshot right now. Then where had the shot come from?

They could here Eric running towards them now, yelling. He came and knelt down with them.

"You OK? Uncle D? What the…? I saw you pull the trigger on yourself…. what…what the…?"

"I'm OK Eric. I'm fine. My gun jammed." Danny rasped.

At that Steve came to the full realization of the whole situation, the implication of it all. He dropped his head trying to catch a breath and get into a better head space. Failing to achieve that, he got up, walked away a few steps and bent on his knees, trying to regulate his breathing. They were both alive, Danny was alive. Just how?! Gun had jammed. For God's sake! What was that?!

Providence, a voice inside him said.

Then all hell broke loose as the FBI moved in, yelling Federal jargon Steve wasn't in the right head space to analyze at the moment. They had just dodged a bullet. Thank you, God! Thank you.

"You're under arrest! Put your hands behind your head!"

Steve wasn't paying attention; he was still in a trance. Then he saw Agent Nelson putting cuffs on Danny, who was not resisting, he seemed weak.

"You're under arrest for multiple counts of murder Daniel Williams. Including this one." Agent Nelson said with a gleeful look in his eyes, pointing at a body at a distance with a pull of blood pulling around it.

Steve couldn't protest as by now he had his own hands being cuffed to his back. HPD officers were there for back up, guns pointed at them as if they were some sort of low-grade criminals.

"Wait, which other one?" Steve asked, turning, for the first time noticing the body on the ground. It was Kaleo, bullet had gone through the right side of his head, dead.

"Now, Nelson, whatever else you can pin on us, fine. But you're not pining that body on us. Look at the trajectory of that bullet. Look at the side from which that bullet penetrated. I know you don't believe I can could have shot him from this other side of him and Danny was standing right in front of him, no way he could have made that shot." Steve protested.

"It's not about what I believe McGarrett, it's about what I can pin of you." Agent Nelson snarled, yanking at the cuffs on McGarett's wrists, propelling him forward to a squad car while the other Agent did the same with Danny. "And believe me, I can pin this one on you, no problem."

"The whole of HPD witnessed what happened, even if you claim not to. CSU is here, no way you can temper with that scene, Nelson." McGarrett argued.

"I'll do the best I can." Nelson said with a smirk. He had them now, and scene or no scene, they were going down!

Danny whispered something to Eric before he was forced into the squad car next to Steve.

"That son of a bitch is trying to nail this on us!" Steve hissed.

"Eric is on it, it's gonna be OK." Danny reassured calmly.

Steve would have questioned Danny's uncharacteristic calmness on any other day, but today, forget that he had a gun jam in his head, the guy had been through hell and back for quite a while now. Steve focused ahead; he was just grateful they were both alive. Neither one had much to say, still processing all that had just happened. They were taken to HQ, feeling how ironic it all was as they were pushed through the interrogation room and secured onto their metal chairs, chains and all.

As soon as the FBI and the HPD officers went out, Danny started to shake with laughter.

"What?" Steve asked, he still had his aneurysm face on, not seeing anything funny about this.

"Don't tell me you can't see the irony in this Steven." Danny said, looking at the chains securing him on to his chair, then at Steve's.

Steve smirked, "Maybe we need to put of cushion on the chairs, these are damn uncomfortable. Hard to tell who might be sitting in these chairs one day."

"They are effective." Danny quipped. He could not help laughing.

"You're hysterical, buddy." Steve pointed out.

"I just had a gun jam in my head, Steve. Exactly how?!"

"Don't think about it, just be grateful." Steve said soberly. "God knows I'm."

"I just…I could cry right now Steve. Just how it could have turned out, man." Danny shook his head in wonder.

"I know." Steve said in wonder too. "But right now, we've got another mountain to climb. We could be going to prison for a while buddy."

"Better alive than dead, right. But thanks for coming along with me. Through hell and back, you've got my back." Danny said with gratitude.

"Yeah, you'd do the same for me. But don't ever do that to me again Danno." Steve said somberly.

"I'll try." Danny said with a smirk.

He seemed to be in a better mood than Steve. Could be that plan of his was giving him new hope, or just the fact that they were both alive was enough for him for now.

But f this plan Danny had didn't work out and psycho Nelson got his way, then they will be going to prison for a long time, and uncomfortable metal chairs would be the least of their worries.

….

Agent Kurb was watching his partner Agent Nelson closely. The guy was a psycho, everyone knew it, that's why he felt stuck working with the guy. Something was wrong with Nelson upstairs and he wasn't past tampering with evidence to get what he wanted. Agent Kurb still doubted the shirt evidence that Nelson had miraculously come up with, he knew the guy had developed an unhealthy hateful obsession with McGarrett, for whatever reason. They didn't usually need a reason to be on Nelson's bad side but being all 'Commander I'm McGarrett' will sure do it. However, as annoying as the guy was to Kurb himself, he was not going to let Nelson cook evidence to put the guys away. This whole thing was starting to become something else entirely. Kurb was inclined to believe that William was being framed, the new dead guy, and who had shot him? It certainly wasn't Williams or McGarrett from where they had been standing. If they had not all witnessed the shot that had come from far off in the jungle, McGarrett and Williams would have a one-way ticket to prison. But now things were proving to be a bit more complicated than they seemed. Whatever may come, Agent Kurb would make sure that justice was served. Real justice.

The Governor was there, biting every morsel Nelson was feeding her as they circled the round computer table at 5-0 HQ. Nelson wanted this crown and it seemed he was eyeing the Palace as well, the way he was cozying up to the Governor.

The Governor sighed in resignation. "Ok, I guess all the evidence is here. I think from this point it's time to let the courts handled it.

Nelson nodded, barely able to contain his joy, Agent Kurb had serious misgivings, a lot was being pushed under the rug, reasonable explanations being cooked up instead of real evidence for the sake of expediency, but what could he do? The sooner this was over the better he could move on to better cases. McGarrett and Williams' fates were sealed, as well as the whole of 5-0.

…

Steve and Danny didn't question it as they were released from their chairs only to be taken out of the interrogation room, wrists still cuffed. Danny's plan hadn't worked, Steve could bet his badge they were now being transferred to HPD holding. They knew the drill; they wouldn't leave the cuffs on if they had been proven innocent by some miracle. He wasn't holding his breath for two miracles in a space of one day.

They were led to the computer room, seeing Nelson and his FBI cronies surrounding the computer table as if they owned the place rankled Steve, but seeing the Governor there too knocked the breath out of his lungs.

The Governor cleared her throat before addressing Steve and Danny, "Gentlemen, it's sad that it has come to this, but I think it's time the courts took over from here." Then she signaled for the waiting HPD officers to proceed with them outside.

Steve couldn't utter a word in protest. The game was over. Even in death, Kaleo still managed his checkmate.

Then at that moment, Eric burst through the doors, panting. "Wait wait, Uncle D. I got it. Right here." He was holding Steve's phone one hand.

"Thanks Eric." Danny said with relief, then turned to address the Governor. "Governor, when I went to meet up with Kaleo this morning, I had an idea that I would not come out of it alive. I knew that. But with my last breath I was going to prove my innocence and that of my friends who were only trying to help me. I hid that phone on record mode in Steve's truck and made sure Kaleo bragged about everything he had done to me. If I may just have a minute of your time ma'am, I would like you to listen to the recording on that phone." Danny pleaded with the Governor.

The whole room went still. Agent Nelson cleared his throat, "It's inadmissible in Court."

"You a Lawyer too?" Steve snapped at Nelson.

"But it is admissible to me." Said the Governor. "Play the recording."

Eric jumped at the prospect and played the recording. The room went quiet as they heard everything on the phone.

The Governor turned to Steve and Danny, "Well, it seems this doesn't need the Courts after all. Take off their hand cuffs and give them back their badges." She said to the HPD officers.

"Just like that?" Nelson protested.

"Just like that." The Governor concurred. "You heard everything on that recording Agent, and I'm sure you can make an unbiased judgement here."

"We… uh… we got it Governor. They are free to go." Agent Kurb said, he didn't want to be embarrassed any further.

"Seeing as the real culprit is dead now, this is the only evidence we have and all the evidence we need. In the meantime, we have a sniper on the loose who may be a rogue Government Agent and I would like my team to deal with it." She said, addressing Steve now, ignoring Agent Nelson's disgruntled grunts.

Steve accepted his badge back as Danny also did when his hands were cuffed. This had turned out so much better than he had hopped. He would never underestimate a miracle again.

"May I also request that the rest of my team be released from holding. Whatever they did, they did under my command." Steve said.

"I have no problem with that. They will be released as soon as possible. I'm sure you're going to need all hands-on deck to go after this professional sniper." The Governor said.

"About that ma'am," Steve said, "I'll rather give the honors to Agent Nelson and his partner here. This was their case after all, and I say they are not finished yet since they haven't got the real culprits. I wouldn't want to take that opportunity from them." Steve said, barely containing his smirk at Nelson.

The Governor seemed to understand then nodded. "I understand that, and I know you and your team have been through a lot, so yes, you can sit this one out, unwind. I'm sure the FBI can handle this. After all."

"Thank you, Governor." Steve said, then turned to Nelson. "I believe you trail is getting cold, you might want to get on with it."

"I'd say start from the jungle." Danny added, "The trajectory of that bullet pointed to somewhere deep in the jungle. Wouldn't you say so Steve?"

"Deep deep in the jungle. You might want to start from there." Steve agreed.

Erick snickered. Agent Kurb wanted to bang his head against the wall for having to work another endless case with psycho Nelson again. Their partnership had been on a trial basis, for this case only, and now it seemed he was stuck with him a while longer.

Agent Nelson didn't know how he managed to control his temper seeing that triumphant smirk on McGarrett's face. But he knew if he let himself lose control now, he was sure going to be the one confined in a loony bin instead of Williams. He remembered his childhood's near miss and got hold of himself. He didn't say another word as he made his way out of the building.

…..

Epilogue

Much later, on Steve's backyard, the team sat around with long-boards while Steve took care of the barbecue. He was going to make it extra good for his team, for all they had done today. Grace and Charlie had been glued to their father for a while but now they were busy playing with Tani in the sand. Rachel didn't seem like she would be leaving Danny's side anytime soon. Steve had not told anyone the gory details of what had actually happened, what could have happened, but Rachel seemed to have a sixth sense about it. Today, she would have lost Danny for good. They all would have.

"So, you think the guy we caught messing with those computers in that tiny apartment was the accomplice?" Lou said, taking a drink from his long-board, relaxing in his chair.

"Had to be." Adam said.

"That scrawny little guy is an assassin for the CIA, government or whatever?" Lou laughed. "Looks sure are deceiving."

"And i bet that's why he got the job. A sniper who looks anything like it. " Steve contributed for where he was turning his barbecue. "And with a guy like that, good luck for the FBI finding him."

"I bet that's why you handed then the case boss." Junior joined.

"They wanted a case so much, they got a case." Steve said with a smirk. "Better them than us chasing after a guy who's long gone. I just wanted them out of my territory asap. That Nelson guy is a bit of a psycho."

"You noticed it too?" Danny said. They laughed as they continued their leisurely conversations over long-boards.

Danny was contemplating the same as he looked at his Ohana now with a new light, seeing the real meaning of the word. Such loyalty was too big for words. Ohana, his family, in every sense of the word. He felt like he had a new lease on life, and he would use it wisely. He hadn't just dodged a bullet there, his gun jammed in his head for God's sake! Danny had been cleared of all charges, the recording more than enough evidence to cleared everyone of the 5-0 members. Of course the Governor had enough reach to make it happen, immunity and means, 5-0 never really needed due process and protocol but in a case like this one, the governor had to have used a lot of muscle to gt them cleared. Much like when Steve was cleared of the Governor Jameson's murder by Governor Denning in that tiny room in Kamekona's backrooms. The whole of Five 0 had been cleared right there and then, badges handed over and immediately dispatched on another mission to capture Wo-Fat. All they had needed was that video recording. All except Kono. It seemed being on the Governor's task force had a lot of fly, and Danny could appreciate it now. Had he been with HPD still, he would be still be in holding by now waiting due process, along with his 'accomplices'. Another thing to thank God for, that he was with 5-0, in the Governor's back pocket and had Ohana like this.

Looking at his Ohana now, if he didn't believe in miracles before, he did now. Someone was sure looking out for him and he murmured a silent 'thank you' directed upstairs.

...

Thanks lots guys. Forgive the mistakes.