DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Hawaii 5-0 or it's characters. I make no profit from this. (Believe me if I did then I wouldn't be wondering how I'm going to afford the dental work I need!)

A/N: So here we are, another story! This one is NOT the one inspired by Irene Claire. I don't know why but this one took off quicker than the other one, go figure.

Chapter 1

It was early on a Saturday morning but for once Danny Williams was up and out of the house without complaint. What had brought about this turn of events? Grace Williams, his ten year old daughter for whom he'd do anything. Given it was his first weekend with her in three weeks thanks to the combination of her going on vacation with her Mom and Step-Stan and back to back cases Danny had let her decide what she wanted to do. Grace had wanted to go to the beach… early! Not just any beach though, oh no. It had to be one that Steve McGarrett had taken them to. It was near Kailua but was off the beaten track, meaning there would be few people, especially at stupid o'clock in the morning. There was a chance of seeing dolphins which was what had triggered Grace's particular desire to go there. She had asked if Steve could come with them but Danny knew Lieutenant Catherine Rollins was in town so had told her that the SEAL would be busy only managing to pacify her when he told her he'd try to arrange to meet with them for lunch.

That was how Danny found himself at the beach, which he hated, with his daughter, who he loved, at seven o'clock in the morning. The area was almost deserted with only one other car in the parking area. Danny got out of the car as Grace scrambled to get out behind him and he stood, taking a deep breath. He'd never admit it to anyone out loud but the early morning sun was nice and the beach beautiful. The sunlight glistened off the waves as he scanned the horizon followed by the beach. Too much time spent with Steve meant he always scanned an area before proceeding into it.

"Come on Danno," Grace tugged insistently at his hand, pulling him towards the trunk of the Camaro so that they could get their things out.

"OK, OK," Danny looked down at his daughter and laughed as he allowed her to drag him to the back of the car. They gathered a back pack with towels, blanket, sun cream, a book for Danny and a comic for Grace, various paraphernalia for building sandcastles along with a cool bag with snacks and water in. Danny checked that he had his cell which he then slid into the pocket of the back pack before taking Grace's hand and walking onto the sand.

This early in the morning the sand was cool under his feet; the fine grain was soft and gave easily under their feet as they looked for the spot.

"Monkey, I think that this will do fine," Danny told his daughter after they'd stopped for the third time.

"Danno, it's got to be the perfect spot if we want to be able to see the dolphins coming into the cove," responded Grace, using her you're being silly Danno voice. One he was sure she'd picked up from her mother.

"Well what about this spot is different from the last?"

"The sun was at the wrong angle, we wouldn't be able to see the water breaking as the dolphin's dorsal fin breaks the surface."

This was all McGarrett's doing, he was sure of it. His beautiful, intelligent daughter just hung on his every word when he started talking about the local wildlife and customs, "So, is this the spot?" he asked trying to be patient.

Grace smiled up at him, "Yup, this is it!" she dropped her things to the sand and helped Danny pull out the towels and the blanket, laying it out with the back pack holding down one corner and the cool bag the another. They then sunk down on to the blanket as Danny helped Grace off with her dress and started to smear her with sun cream. When he was sure that he had covered every part of her exposed skin he removed his own t-shirt and smothered himself with the cream, Grace helping him to do his back. He really didn't need Steve, Chin and Kono laughing at him if he got sunburn.

The pair sat quietly side by side enjoying the peace, the only other people on the beach a small group of teenagers down the far end near the bottom of the cliffs that hemmed in one end of the cove. He could hear their laughter as they messed around in the rock pools but it wasn't loud enough to really interfere with the general feeling of tranquillity of the area.

They both watched the ocean intently for signs of the pod of dolphins that frequented this particular cove. Grace was the first to spot what appeared to be a flash of light, which was actually the reflection on a dorsal fin as it broke the surface.

"There Danno!" Grace whispered in awe as she pointed in the direction of what she'd seen.

Squinting into the distance he didn't see anything for a second but then another dolphin broke the surface and he saw the familiar flash that Steve had shown them to look out for, "I see Monkey. Let's walk down to the shore, but remember you aren't to go too far in, these are wild dolphins not ones like we saw at the hotel."

"I know Danno, no deeper than just above my knees and I'm to stand still," she rolled her eyes having been through it lots of times with him just since waking up this morning.

"Don't roll your eyes at me or we'll pack up, get back in the car and head home! There will be no lunch with Uncle Steve and Catherine either!" Danny wasn't a particularly strict father but he didn't expect his daughter to disregard his instructions and her safety was too important to allow her with getting away with being so disrespectful.

"Sorry Danno, it's just you've told me the rules lots, so has Uncle Steve. I promise to do as you tell me."

"Good, let's go," he smiled down at her, took her hand and they both hurried down the beach.

They entered the water and just stood there watching the little flashes become larger until they could actually make out the dorsal fins of several dolphins. Danny had allowed Grace in up to mid-thigh; he stood next to her but very slightly in front in case one of the dolphins took it into their head to rush at her, though he thought that was doubtful since these creatures were extremely intelligent and would know that the pair standing still in the water meant no harm.

The group of teenagers had seen what they were doing and joined them, "What ya doing?" one of them asked.

"Waiting for dolphins," replied Grace looking from her Dad to the teenager that had spoken.

Danny looked over the group warily. They appeared to be around seventeen, there were three boys and three girls but they all smiled and looked friendly enough, "Yeah a friend told us that a pod comes in to this cove fairly regularly and my daughter loves dolphins," Danny shrugged in a what can you do manner as he acknowledged them.

"Would you mind if we stood with you?" asked one of the girls.

"It's a public beach," replied Danny with a smile, "Feel free. Have you done this before?"

The six teenagers shook their heads so Danny went through the rules with them and all eight stood there silently just watching. Before long the dorsal fins became distinct and they could see the pod as they rose out of the water. There were seven dolphins in total and they were definitely heading the way of the group.

"This is so cool," whispered the same girl that asked to stand with them, the awe clear in her voice as finally the dolphins came almost within touching distance.

"Do NOT try to touch them," cautioned Danny, knowing the temptation to touch the creatures was overwhelming as the dolphins clicked and swam near them.

"Look Danno, a baby!"

"I see it Monkey. Remember what Uncle Steve said though, if they have a calf with them they'll be more protective."

"Just like you Danno!" Grace grinned up at him and Danny flushed slightly as he saw the grins of the teenagers.

"Not a word," he pointed his finger at them, though the smile took away the threatening gesture and the group all mimed zipping their mouths.

They all stood there for nearly thirty minutes as the dolphins visited with them. The calf became brave enough to approach Grace and nudged gently at her leg under the water causing her to give a quiet squeal of glee. Danny held his breath waiting for the adult members of the pod to react but it was almost as if they were looking on at the scene indulgently as they just drifted around. Then there were a few clicks and the pod swam away, much to everyone's disappointment.

The teenagers stood and chatted with the father and daughter for a few more minutes before heading back to the base of the cliffs leaving Danny and Grace to return to their blanket where they pulled out the water and took a drink.

"That was amazing!"

"Yeah, it was."

"I'm glad Uncle Steve told us about this place, thanks for bringing me again Danno," Grace knelt up and placed a kiss on her father's cheek.

"I'm glad too and you're welcome Monkey."

"Can I build a sandcastle now?"

"Of course you can, just stay out of the water unless I'm with you, OK? I'm just going to read for a little bit then we can go for a swim," Danny loved watching the dolphins but he wanted to give them time to have the water to themselves for a while.

Grace was immediately intent on gathering her sandcastle building tools and played quietly nearby as Danny stuck his nose in his book, enjoying the sun and the peaceful beach with the background of the teenagers laughing in the distance.

-5-0-

A scream pulled Danny out of his book and he immediately glanced at his daughter who was looking down the beach in the direction the sound had come from. Turning his head Danny saw the group of teenagers gathered and they were moving frantically until one of them turned and started running towards him.

Danny scrambled to his feet grabbing the back pack as he did so and rummaging for his cell sensing that whatever had happened, it wasn't good.

One of the boys was yelling as he was running, "Help! Please help her."

"Come on Monkey," he grabbed his daughter's hand as he ran down the beach to meet him, "What's wrong?"

"A rock fell and Sabrina is trapped!"

"Alright come on," Danny ran towards the group, keeping his pace slow enough that Grace could keep up as there was no way he was leaving his daughter on the beach without supervision.

They reached the bottom of the cliffs where Danny could now see a series of rock pools, the teenagers had obviously been playing in them. The trapped teenager, Sabrina, recalled Danny, was thrashing about in the water; he needed to calm her down.

"Grace, you stand right here," he stopped and planted her near the cliff away from the water then handed her his phone, "Call 911 and tell them what's happening. Can you do that?"

"Yes Daddy," Grace's bottom lip trembled, but she was her father's daughter and took the phone and immediately did as she'd been told.

Danny waded into the water, climbing over the edge of the rock pool; some of the rocks were jagged whilst others had been smoothed by the constant ebb and flow of the tide so Danny picked his way carefully over but was glad he'd had the presence of mind to slip his beach shoes on which protected his feet from the lava rock that hadn't smoothed out completely. Glancing back he saw Grace on the phone and knew she would do as he'd asked. Turning his attention back to the task at hand he spoke to the girl in the water, "Hey Sabrina, I'm Danny and we'll have you out of here in no time," he told her smiling reassuringly, "Can you tell me what happened?"

"I slipped and one of the rocks moved and it's trapped my ankle," tears were rolling down her cheeks.

"Alright, you," he pointed at one of the boys who had stepped back to allow him room, "What's your name?"

"Al," the dark haired, dark eyed teenager was the calmest of the bunch.

"Al, come and sit with Sabrina while I see what's going on here," he instructed. Once the boy was sitting on the sand next to his friend and holding her hand Danny ducked under the water. It only took a couple of minutes to see that the rock had merely caught her ankle in a gap too small for her to pull out of. Resurfacing and taking a deep breath he spoke again, "It doesn't look like there's any damage but we'll be able to see more once we get you out. You," he pointed at another of the boys, this one was blonde haired and green eyed with a much more muscular build than the others.

"Don," he supplied.

"Don, I need you to help me. I'm going to try to lift the rock enough so that you can slide Sabrina's ankle out, OK?"

"Got it," he nodded and joined Danny. The two of them took deep breaths and went under.

Danny got his hands round the small and luckily mostly smooth but heavy rock and heaved as much as he could. Don pushed from the side that was against Sabrina's ankle and once he felt it move he gently eased her out and Danny dropped the rock.

Surfacing Danny pushed his hair out of his face, "Everybody back on shore," he instructed as Don scooped Sabrina up like she weighed nothing and with the assistance of the two other boys climbed out of the rock pool and waded back to the shore near Grace. Danny could hear sirens in the distance and sighed with relief.

He helped the other two girls over to the side of the natural pool; both of them were understandably upset. The first one made it over the edge of the pool just as there was a deep rumbling sound; Danny glanced behind him to see the start of a small avalanche of rocks and threw himself on the second girl, using his own body to protect her from any debris. Danny thought he heard Grace scream before all he could hear was the sound of water rushing in his ears.

-5-0-

A/N: I had the pleasure of experiencing wild dolphins up close and person in a cove in Australia as well as going out on a boat and having them swimming alongside. It was truly an amazing experience. Next time I visit my brother out there I plan to go swimming with them!