Standard Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or anything related to the show, a fact which always causes me much sadness. This is all just for fun!

Prologue

Everything changed when Steve's mother died and he hated her for it, even though he knew it was wrong. Mary became clingy and fearful, following Dad around like a puppy. Steve had to see the school counselor once a week and so he started skipping school. Predictably, his grades began to suffer but his teachers were very sympathetic. Everyone seemed to treat his family different and he hated that too. He wanted things to go back to normal but he knew they never would. Instead, everything just got worse.

School had just started, it was only the second day, and he'd come home to find Dad sitting at the breakfast table nursing a bottle of whiskey. Not an unusual circumstance lately, but there was something heavy in the air and Steve knew he didn't want to hear what his father had to say.

"I'm sending you and your sister back to the mainland. You're leaving tomorrow."

Nothing could've prepared him for that, and he sat down heavily in the nearest chair. His backpack thudded to the floor.

"What?"

"Mary's going to stay with Aunt Deb. You're going to be with Aunt Leigh and Uncle Tommy. It's the best I could do."

"I just started junior year. Why are you doing this?" Steve tried to think of some scenario where this made sense and couldn't come up with anything. His dad was sending him away so he could, what? Wallow here all by himself? Stop looking at the faces that reminded him of his wife?

"It's not safe for you here anymore. You have to go now."

That made even less sense, though he could see his dad absolutely believed that to be true. John McGarrett had changed the most these last four months. The fun, boisterous man that used to take Steve hiking and taught him how to fix a car was gone, drowned in grief and alcohol. There was something else underneath that but Steve couldn't quite put his finger on it. It was like his dad was keeping a secret and felt guilty about it. Or maybe it was just because he was sending his children away, and had probably been planning it for months without telling them.

"You're gonna stay."

"I can't leave. I still have work to do here."

"You know what? Mom would never have sent us away." Steve knew it was a low blow, but the vague anger that had been hovering around him since his mom died was starting to coalesce and he focused it on the man who seemed determined to take what was left of his life and turn it completely upside down.

"Well, your mom is gone, okay?" His dad finally lost his temper, his own face twisted in anger. "Now it's just me!"

Steve got out of his chair, glowering. The anger couldn't mask the hurt at his dad's words. Like he hadn't noticed that mom was gone, like they all hadn't been suffering.

"Listen, I…Steve, you'll be graduating before you know it and pretty soon you're gonna need to decide what kind of man you are."

"What kind of man are you?" he countered. "Breaking up our family."

"I'm the kind of man that can't walk away from a fight. My first responsibility is not my safety – it's yours. And you don't have to like it. I just hope someday you can understand that. Steve – you may not hear from me for a while."

There'd been no changing his mind and no amount of arguing on his part or crying on Mary's made the least bit of difference. Dad couldn't even give his children each other to cling to; they left Hawaii on separate planes headed to separate destinations, with barely enough time beforehand to pack their things, much less say goodbye to their friends. Steve hated his dad for that, hated him for tearing apart their family when they most needed to stay together.

Steve especially hated his dad for sending him to New Jersey, so far from the ocean and the island he loved so much. He felt as if he'd lost a limb. And as much as Aunt Leigh and Uncle Tommy tried to make him feel at home, he couldn't fake being happy for them. There was nothing familiar for him here, apart from his uncle's strong McGarrett features – no salty tang on the breeze, no palm trees, no casual greetings of "howzit" from friends. Everyone here seemed so serious, and the air was choked with smog and city smells and the sound of shrieking car alarms.

He refused to go out, sitting in his room reading or just staring out the window at an unfamiliar, hostile landscape. Aunt Leigh dragged him out school shopping, which had been torture. The clothes that were suitable back home wouldn't work here; he needed winter things, warm things. His dad called the night before school started but Steve refused to talk to him; he hadn't remembered to call for his son's birthday and so Steve was punishing him the only way he could. He did talk to Mary, though, because she understood what it was to be cast aside.

I wish you were here, you big jerk, she sniffed. This stupid state is landlocked. At least you have an ocean.

"Trust me, it's not anything to get excited about. I bet none of these haoles knows how to surf."

We're the haoles now, big brother, Mary pointed out quietly. That had only depressed Steve more. He and Mary hadn't been the best of friends even before Mom died, but at that moment he would have given anything to be in Indianapolis with her. What good was having an ocean when it was the wrong one?

Are you nervous about school?

"Nah. School is school, right?"

Yeah. I'm not nervous either.

Steve could hear that she was, though, and wished he had something to tell her that would make her feel better. Not that anything could.

Tomorrow he'd be starting his junior year all over again at a school full of strangers – the school year here started a month later – and the thought had his stomach in knots. No-one would care that he was Steve McGarrett, class president and football star. He would be an outsider, a haole just like Mary said. He didn't cry himself to sleep, but it was a close thing.

September 1992

Steve stood in front of Trenton Central High and felt completely overwhelmed. The school was huge and imposing, the red brick so different from the clean white walls of his old school. Students were pouring off buses and out of cars, strangers with acid washed jeans and big hair. No-one gave him a second look, standing there in his baggy carpenter jeans and red Kukui High hooded sweatshirt.

The warning bell rang and he reluctantly got moving, joining the tide of students entering the building. Steve heard them comparing summer vacations and class schedules, and felt a pang of loss when he thought about doing the same thing just weeks ago with his friends back home. Now they'd be talking about how he was gone and wasn't that sad and who will be taking his place on the football team.

Steve pulled his schedule and a map of the school out of his pocket, trying to smooth out the wrinkles while he walked. His locker was on the second floor and it was easy enough to follow the other kids up the stairs. He kept his head down, surreptitiously checking locker numbers out of the corner of his eye. It didn't take long to find number 1265, and open it up with the combination scrawled on the back of his map.

He didn't have much to stuff in there, just his mostly-empty backpack. He kept out his brand-new notebook and a couple of pens, stuffing the latter into one of his pants pockets. His first class was English with Ms. Olsen. He slammed the locker door shut and started heading up the hall, when he heard a mocking voice behind him.

"Check out the kook, D."

Steve froze, his jaw clenched. He made himself take a deep breath; after all, he didn't know the guy was talking to him. The next words out of the idiot's mouth killed that illusion.

"Kook High? I bet you were at the top of your class." There was laughter, a lot of it, and Steve's hands balled into fists, his schedule getting crinkled up in one hand and the spiral binding of his notebook cutting into the other.

"Shut up," he said, turning slowly. There were three guys standing there, and he didn't know which one had made fun of him so he prepared himself to fight all three.

"Well how do you say it then?" asked one of the guys. He was shorter than the others, blonde hair spiked up and wearing a red flannel shirt over a plain white tee.

"It's pronounced koo-Koo-we," Steve said tersely. "Why don't you think first before you open your stupid mouth?"

"Hey, don't bite my head off!" The blonde guy stepped forward and poked Steve in the shoulder, hard. "I was just..."

Steve didn't wait to hear was he was just, he merely pulled his arm back and popped the guy in the jaw. Not surprisingly, he went down fast. The surprise was how quickly he sprang back up and landed a fist to the side of Steve's head, knocking him back into the lockers.

With a roar of rage, Steve launched himself at the short blonde, catching him around the middle and slamming him into the far wall. He was dimly aware that they had drawn a crowd, but the rush of blood in his ears kept him from hearing anything they might have said. He grappled with his opponent, pushing at him without any real plan of attack.

The next thing he was aware of was someone pulling him backwards and away, holding him by the collar of his shirt so tightly he was almost choking.

"That's enough! Both of you!" The voice was adult and masculine and the only thing that made Steve stop pulling to get away. "The Superintendent's office, now!"

"He started it!" the other guy complained.

"Zip it, Williams. Move."

The firm grip moved from his collar to the back of his neck, keeping his head faced forward. Steve tried to calm his breathing down, the rage melting away and leaving behind annoyance and dread. This wasn't the first day of school he'd been imagining and if they had to call his aunt and uncle he knew he'd be in even bigger trouble; especially when his dad heard about it.

By the time they'd reached the Superintendent's office Steve had calmed down considerably. He stared down at his feet, ignoring the guy standing next to him. He was ashamed now of his behavior. McGarretts didn't solve anything with their fists, that was one of his dad's cardinal rules, and this was the first time he'd broken it.

"Mr. Williams. Mr. McGarrett. I can't thank you enough for helping to get this school year off to a positive start." The Superintendent, Mr. Baers, sat behind his desk with his hands folded and a passive look on his thin face. "The first bell hadn't even rung and you two were…what exactly was it you were doing?"

"Mr. Baers, I'm very sorry for the altercation," the Williams kid said. Steve fought the urge to look over at him. Altercation?

"And what prompted this altercation?"

"It was a misunderstanding, sir."

"I see." Mr. Baers stood up and started to pace behind his desk. "Cultural differences, was it? Mr. McGarrett, I understand you've transferred here from Hawaii."

"Yes, sir," Steve replied.

"Is this typical behavior for a first day in Hawaii?"

"No, sir."

"Do they have detention in Hawaii?"

"Yes, sir."

"Wonderful, then I won't have to explain how it works. Mr. Williams, you and Mr. McGarrett can become acquainted and resolve your cultural differences all this week after school."

Steve wasn't looking forward to explaining that to his aunt and uncle. And he didn't understand why Williams was covering for him; he threw the first punch, after all, so he was clearly in the wrong.

"Mr. Baers, I have an after-school job. I can't have detention." Williams was sounding a little panicked, and Steve wondered if he'd change his story now that the sentence had been handed down. He looked over at him out of the corner of his eye, amused at the way his hands were waving around.

"Mr. Williams…"

"You don't understand, I need this job. Honestly, it was just a mistake. It won't happen again, I swear it won't! Can you please be a little understanding here?"

Steve felt his mouth drop open. Williams had a lot of nerve, talking to the Superintendent of the school that way. Was he crazy? Possibly not, since Mr. Baers merely sighed and sat back down in his chair.

"You will serve detention after school today, and then you will be Mr. McGarrett's welcome wagon and personal guide to all things Trenton Central for the next two weeks."

"But…"

"It's either that or detention, Mr. Williams. You decide."

"Fine."

Steve exchanged a look of mutual consternation with Williams before returning his gaze to his own feet.

"Mr. McGarrett, you will be a model student from here on in, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Both of you go to the nurse for some ice, and you may remain there until second period begins. Report to the library after school for detention."

"Thank you, Mr. Baers," Williams said, though he didn't exactly sound sincere. He accepted the scrawled hall pass and led the way out of the office and back into the main part of the school.

"This way," he said and started walking. Steve shuffled along behind him. He could work with one day of detention, fudge it so his aunt and uncle didn't know. God, he hated New Jersey!

"How's the head?" Williams asked after a little while, throwing Steve a quick glance over his shoulder.

"Look, no offense but we don't have to play friends. Okay? I already have all the friends I need."

Williams snorted. "Yeah, I can see them. Look, I'm sorry okay? Dale was being a jerk, he can't help it most of the time."

"Whatever."

"You know what? Fine. Be all moody. I don't care. Unlike you, I have actual real-life friends." Williams stomped into the nurse's office and went straight for the mini freezer that housed the ice packs; clearly he'd had need of one before today. The nurse looked them both over with a raised eyebrow.

"Looks like one heck of a first day, boys."

"Mrs. Rossi, you have no idea." Williams tossed Steve an ice pack, then spent the rest of first period sitting on the edge of the nurse's desk regaling her with tales of his summer trip to the shore. Steve lay back on one of the beds and tried to wish himself back to Hawaii. He wasn't successful.

*o*o*o*

Steve sat at one of the library tables, doing the little bit of homework he'd been assigned and trying to ignore the headache that had been pounding most of the day. The Williams kid – Danny, he'd learned – sat at the table next to him doodling on a piece of notebook paper. They pointedly ignored each other.

The rest of the day hadn't gone as badly as the first ten minutes, though the big bruise on his head had drawn a lot of attention. Danny had received a hero's welcome amongst his friends, presumably for having kicked the new kid's ass. Whatever. Steve didn't care. No-one had given him so much as the time of day, and that was fine. He wasn't here to make friends.

Steve finished his English essay and flipped his notebook over, drawing on the back cover. He'd called Aunt Leigh and told her he was staying after school to talk to his class advisor about what subjects he might not be up to speed on. He felt bad for lying, but he wasn't about to admit that he'd gotten into trouble already. Of course that left him without any way to get home once detention was over.

He drew a big wave with his pen, and a surfer shooting the curl. He missed being out in the ocean, missed his morning swim and surfing with his friends. Mom had always said he was part fish because he was happiest in and around the water. He felt like he was slowly dying here without it.

"You surf?"

He flipped the notebook over, hiding his drawing, and scowled at Danny. He hadn't heard him move and now he was sitting at Steve's table, tipped back in his chair. His jaw was swollen where Steve had decked him.

"Jeez, don't have a cow. I was just asking. There's always guys surfing at the shore in the summer. I never personally saw the point of it."

"You always talk this much?" Steve grumbled, tucking his notebook into his backpack.

Danny rolled his eyes. "Look, we're stuck with each other for the next couple of weeks, right? I'm just trying to make the best of it. You don't have to be such a dick."

Without thinking, Steve hooked his foot under Danny's chair and pulled, sending both the chair and Danny backwards to the floor with a very satisfying thud.

"Daniel," the detention monitor sighed. "How many times have I told you not to sit back in your chair like that?"

"Sorry," he muttered, getting up and shooting a death glare at Steve.

"Are you okay? Do you need to see the nurse?"

"I'm fine." Danny sat back in the chair, his hands clenched on top of the table. Steve couldn't help the chuckle the bubbled up and he ducked his head.

"You think that's funny?" Danny hissed. "What's the matter with you? Were you dropped on your head as a baby?"

Steve just ignored him, resting his head on his arms and making like he was going to take a nap for the remainder of detention. He could practically feel Danny quivering with frustration next to him.

"You know, I was gonna offer you a ride home. Now you can walk."

Steve shrugged. The less time he spent with annoying Danny Williams the better.

"You're a real piece of work, you know that?"

Steve flipped him off without lifting his head. He couldn't make sense of the guy. He'd laughed along with his friends when they made fun of him, and then covered for him with Mr. Baers. Now he was chatting him up like they were buddies.

Back home he had a lot of friends, but his best friend was Joseph Chung. They were both on the football and paddling teams, and competed amicably for the top spot in class. Joseph hadn't really understood what he was going through after Steve's mom died but he sat and listened and offered support.

When the bell rang and detention was over, Steve was out of the library like a shot. Once he was outside the school he paused to get his bearings. He'd always had a good sense of direction and figured it wouldn't be that hard to get back to his aunt's house.

"'Scuse me." Danny pushed past him with a smirk. "I have to get to my car."

Steve scowled at his back and took off down Chambers Street. Back home he hadn't needed a car; he knew so many people that if he wasn't fine just walking or riding his bike he could easily hitch a ride. He missed that feeling of being known, and hunched his shoulders.

"Hey! McGarrett!"

Steve sighed. What would it take to get Danny Williams to leave him alone? He just kept walking, a dark blue vehicle slowly pacing him. He shot a quick look at it and almost laughed when he saw it was a minivan.

"Come on, don't be a jerk. Get in."

"What do you want from me?" Steve asked, exasperated. He stopped walking and glared at Danny through the passenger window.

"I want you to get in the damn car and not walk all the way back to your house."

"Get used to disappointment. Later." Steve banged twice on the roof of the minivan and then strolled off, putting on a show of I-don't-give-a-fuck. He heard Danny curse and then he finally drove off, leaving Steve to continue walking the unfamiliar streets of Trenton. By the time he finally made it back, Aunt Leigh had dinner waiting and he was exhausted. He only hoped that Danny would leave him alone from here on out; he just wanted to get through his exile quietly.

*o*o*o*

Steve got through the next two weeks by ducking Danny as much as possible. He was tardy every day, lurking in the bathroom until classes started. He ate lunch outside on the bleachers by the football field. During the few classes he and Danny shared, Steve endured the narrow-eyed looks and was always the first one out the door. It seemed to do the trick and eventually Danny was pretending he didn't exist.

He insisted on walking home after school every day, as much to stay fit as to became more familiar with the neighborhood. He saw the blue minivan a lot, usually parked near Italian Peoples Bakery; Steve assumed that was Danny's after school job, but he never went inside.

Dodging Aunt Leigh was more difficult. She'd look at him from across the dinner table with pity in her eyes, asking about his day and how classes were going. He tried to let it go, but one night over meatloaf he lost his temper.

"Everything's fine! You don't have to interrogate me every day."

"You wanna watch how you talk to your aunt," Uncle Tommy said, pointing his finger at Steve.

"Steve, we just want you to be happy."

"Then send me home!" Steve cried a little desperately. "Can't you talk to Dad?"

Uncle Tommy's hard expression softened a bit. "I may not agree with your father on this, Steve, but I'm sure he has his reasons."

"If you could just try to make some friends," Aunt Leigh started to say.

"I have friends." Steve pushed his plate away, his dinner only half eaten. "They're all five thousand miles away."

"It's okay to make new friends, too. Your friends in Hawaii would understand." Aunt Leigh reached for his hand but he pulled it away.

"I hate it here." Steve got up so quickly he almost knocked over his chair. He was out the door and down the front steps before he had any idea where he was going. He ended up across the street at the park, sitting on one of the tables with his head in his hands. He'd never needed the sanctuary of the ocean more than he did at that moment. When he was swimming everything else just faded away until he was in his own peaceful little bubble.

Steve wished he could talk to Joseph, who understood the call of the ocean. Maybe if he offered to pay his aunt and uncle back for the long distance call they'd let him do it. He just really needed to hear a familiar voice.

"You know, New Jersey isn't so bad." Danny plunked down next to Steve on the table. He sighed.

"What're you doing here?"

"I live on the other side of the park, on Emory." Danny waved his hand in the general direction. "I come here after dinner sometimes, to get away from all the estrogen in my house."

Steve just stared at him.

"I have three sisters," he elaborated. "And Pop has bowling tonight, so he left me to fend for myself."

"Sisters can be a pain," Steve agreed.

"Yeah? You speak from experience?"

"I have a younger sister. Mary. She's in Indiana." Steve sighed again, picking at the seam of his jeans. He should call her, see how she was doing. The last time they'd talked had been when Hurricane Iniki passed over Hawaii and they'd anxiously waited for word that Dad was okay; luckily Oahu had avoided a lot of the damage, though John McGarrett had been busy helping out with disaster recovery on Kauai and had taken a while to let them know.

"Now, see this?" Danny gestured between the two of them. "This is a conversation. This is how normal people communicate. Good to know you have some interpersonal skills."

"Shut up," Steve replied. He pushed at Danny with his shoulder and got pushed back in return.

"Look, I know you've got this whole lone wolf thing going for you, but if you get bored with that you can always call me."

"Why do you even care?" Steve asked, honestly curious. Danny just shrugged.

"Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto to hang out with."

"So you'd be the faithful Indian companion in this scenario?" Steve fought back a grin as Danny rolled his eyes.

"You know, it wouldn't kill you to be a bit more likeable."

"It might."

"Oh, ho! It has a sense of humor!" Danny grinned. "Will wonders never cease?"

Steve just ducked his head. Danny rattled off his phone number and kept badgering him to repeat it until he had it memorized.

"I've got it, jeez. You're like a dog with a bone."

"Persistence can be a virtue," Danny replied airily.

"Keep telling yourself that," Steve shot back. He hopped off the table and flicked a wave at Danny. "Later."

"Yeah. Later."

AN: So, I've read a few fics with the Five-0 characters in high school, and they almost always seem to be set in Hawaii. I thought, what if the tables were turned and Steve had to go someplace he didn't like and had to try to fit in? And so this fic was born.

This is AU, obviously. In the season two flashback episode, Steve was being sent to the Army and Navy Academy boarding school in California. I decided to send him farther afield for my own evil purposes, though I did use much of the same dialogue.

Also, while Danny was a cop in Newark I put his family home in Trenton just so he could live in the 'Burg, like Stephanie Plum. ::grins:: I do not now nor have I ever lived in New Jersey, so it's all Google searches and Wikipedia giving me that info. Pretty much made up his whole family. If you're wondering what I did with his brother Matt, that will come up in a later chapter.

1992 was a long time ago. LOL! Again, there was a lot of computer research involved to try and keep things current to that time as much as possible. As with all things, I did the best I could and hopefully none of my mistakes will detract from the story.

Special thanks to smiles2go and my hubby for their suggestions and input. Love yous guys!