Steve/Danny Friendship/angst/h.c. Yesterday When I was Young
Title: Yesterday when I was young, part 1 of 4
Pairings: Steve/Danny
Genre: friendship/angst/h.c.
Rating: 14+ for language
Warnings/Spoilers: None
Summary: Danny’s attempt to try to be more young and carefree ends in disaster.
Word Count: 4,474
Author's note: Sadly they don’t belong to me.
Yesterday When I Was Young
Danny grinned as he and Kono walked back towards 5-0 headquarters, the two of them still bickering happily about the superiority of New Jersey pizza over Hawaiian pizza. He had to admit he’d had a really good day. He didn’t often get to work with the young police officer and he’d enjoyed the chance to talk to her and to give her some advice about doing the job.
Normally Kono was Chin’s partner and the older detective had done a good job of training his cousin but Danny had a few experiences Chin didn’t and he was anxious to share them with Kono and take advantage of a “teachable moment” as one of Grace’s teachers always says.
The detective had always loved working with less experienced officers and giving them the benefit of his skills and training. Before he became a detective he was often assigned as a training officer but he hadn’t done it in many years.
Danny particularly loved working with Kono who was so bright and talented and obviously had a brilliant career in front of her. He’d even talked to her about the possibility of taking law classes part-time as he could see a future for her as a cop with a law degree. There really was no limit to her abilities.
Danny glanced at his watch as he and Kono walked through the double doors of the 5-0 offices.
“Oh crap! I’m supposed to pick up Grace but I’ve got to get some art supplies for her before the weekend. Kono could you tell Steve I left a bit early?”
The young Hawaiian woman smiled easily at him.
“Sure Danny. See you tomorrow.”
Danny waved a hand as he turned to leave the office.
“Night Kono, have a good evening.”
The blonde man jogged down the hall and pattered quickly down the stairs and had almost made it to the front door of the Iolani Palace when he mentally kicked himself.
“Shit! The list!”
Turning quickly, Danny ran back up the stairs and shoved open the doors to the 5-0 offices. He could hardly go to the art stores to get Grace’s supplies without her shopping list in hand. Super SEAL would have nagged him to enter the list in his iPhone but he still wasn’t very handy with that technology and its cursed little buttons and preferred the comfort of a piece of paper.
As Danny entered the offices he heard the sound of Kono and Lori laughing in the break room to the right.
“I love him but he’s such a stick-in-the-mud,” said Kono snickering loudly.
Danny stopped and felt his heart stutter in his chest. Was she talking about him?
“What did he do?” asked Lori, her voice light with amusement.
“Oh he just loves to give little lectures on proper police procedure and how to handle different situations. I mean I know he means well but I’ve been a cop for over a year and a half and I’ve handled more situations than most cops I know.”
“He’s trying to help,” replied Lori placatingly.
“I know but god, I wish he’d lighten up a bit. I mean the man is 35 years old and he acts like he’s about 70. ‘Remember to keep your eyes open at all times Kono.’ ‘Remember to watch their hands Kono.’ I just want to say ‘chill out brah I know what I’m doing!’’”
“There’s nothing wrong with that advice though,” said Lori reasonably.
“No, not if you’ve been on the job a couple of weeks but I’m not exactly a newbie. I mean, I know he’s a good cop and everything but sometimes I wonder if he ever has any fun or cuts loose. Is the job his whole life besides Grace? Am I going to be that uptight when I’m 35 years old?”
Danny stood frozen to the spot, his face flushed with humiliation. He knew he should walk away but he couldn’t seem to make his feet work.
“Like I said, he’s a great guy but he’s so…old or something.”
Steve and Chin’s voices could be heard in the hallway and that propelled Danny into his office where he snatched up Grace’s shopping list from his desk and walked hurriedly towards the double doors anxious to get out of the building as quickly as possible.
He had to slide to a stop to avoid crashing into the two men as they burst through the doors. Steve grinned at his partner.
“Hey Danno, where you going in such a hurry?”
Danny fidgeted with the paper in his hand but couldn’t make himself look up at Steve for fear his partner would see how humiliated he was.
“I’m uhh…I have to get some art supplies for Grace before I pick her up.”
Steve saw his partner’s nervousness and red cheeks and the smile slid from his own face. He put his hand on the smaller man’s bicep.
“Hey, you ok? You seem upset.”
Danny looked up at the taller man and plastered a fake smile on his face.
“No, no I’m fine. Just a bit distracted I guess. I’ll see you later ok?”
Steve nodded and released the other man watching him jog down the hall. Steve turned and gave a worried look to Chin and saw the same look reflected back at him.
“He having trouble with Rachel or something?” Chin asked.
Steve shook his head.
“Not that I’m aware of.” He shrugged slightly. “I’ll talk to him later and see if he’s ok.”
Peals of laughter came from the break room and Steve and Chin couldn’t help but grin at each other.
“Do you suppose they’re talking about us?”
Chin grimaced.
“Either us or men in general.”
The two men walked into the break room and smiled at the younger women inside. Kono was perched on a chair by the table, her feet up on another chair. Lori was leaning against the counter, a cup of coffee in her hand.
“Hey, what are you two so happy about?” inquired Steve as he dug in the fridge for a juice bottle.
The two women glanced at each other and snickered before Kono looked back at her boss.
“Well...I was talking about my day with Danny,” replied a bit nervously, not sure how much to share with Danny’s partner.
The SEAL leaned back against the counter next to Lori, popped the cap off his juice bottle and took a drink before making a go on motion with his hand.
The young officer flushed slightly and shifted in her chair.
“Well it’s just…you know, I respect Danny but I was telling Lori he can be a bit of a stick-in-the-mud and kind of…I don’t know…like an old guy.”
Steve glanced at Chin who was leaning against the door jamb. The Hawaiian detective stared at his cousin in confusion.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
The young officer shrugged slightly and traced patterns in the break table with an index finger as she spoke.
“He’s just so…he loves to lecture and give advice like I haven’t been a cop for a year and a half. He’s always telling me how to handle situations and talking about the law and how I should be more interested in it; he kind of acts like my dad sometimes.”
Steve stood up straight and gave Chin a look of wide-eyed comprehension.
“He must have overheard.”
The older detective nodded sadly while Kono looked up at Steve, her brows creased in confusion.
“Danny? He didn’t overhear me I watched him leave…”
“He must have forgotten something and come back. He was upset when he left,” Steve’s voice was flat and emotionless and Kono knew that meant he was angry.
The young woman sat up abruptly, her feet thumping to the floor. “Steve I…” the young officer began, her eyes wide with horror.
“Kono,” Steve interrupted, “You’re what, 27 years old right?”
The young woman nodded mutely and began chewing her bottom lip worriedly.
“And you’ve been a cop for a year and a half.”
She nodded again.
“I didn’t hear you,” Steve snapped.
“Yes,” she blurted, knotting her hands on her lap nervously.
“Danny became a cop when he was 21. What were you doing when you were 21?” the SEAL continued his angry interrogation.
Kono swallowed roughly and dropped her eyes to the floor.
“I was surfing competitively,” she mumbled.
“What was that?” Steve took a step closer to her and put his hand up to his ear. A part of him wanted to embarrass the woman as much as she’d embarrassed his partner.
“I was surfing competitively,” she repeated, raising her voice.
Steve nodded knowingly and crossed his arms on his chest.
“At 25 Danny had been married for two years and became a father. What were you doing at the age of 25?”
Kono looked up and rolled her eyes slightly.
“Steve you know what…”
“What were you doing at the age of 25 Kono?” Steve barked making the younger woman jump slightly.
Lori and Chin glanced at each other nervously. Chin wouldn’t normally let anyone speak to Kono this way but the young woman obviously needed to learn a lesson.
“I…was in the police academy,” Kono replied miserably.
Steve took another step closer and thumped his juice bottle down on the table in front of the young officer causing her to flinch.
“Also at 25 Danny became one of the youngest police officers to make detective in the history of the Newark PD. At 27 - the age you are now - he suffered a near-fatal stab wound while doing an undercover assignment to break up a car theft ring. At 30 he became a detective sergeant. At 32 he tracked down and arrested one of the worst serial killers in Newark history.”
Steve leaned on his fists on the table top and loomed over the young woman. She could hear him breathing fast and shallow.
“Kono, you know I respect your abilities but you don’t know every damned thing about being a cop. You were born and raised on this idyllic island. You’ve lived a fairly sheltered life all things considered. You spent 10 years competitively surfing and that’s fine, there’s nothing wrong with that. You had an amazing talent. But don’t get it in your head that you’re already an experienced cop who knows all the answers after 18 months because that’s the fastest way to get killed that I can think of!”
Steve straightened up abruptly and looked down at the young woman with blazing eyes, his fists now firmly on his hips. Kono now understood why suspects nearly pissed themselves when Steve interrogated them.
“You’re lucky as hell to have to senior officers like Danny and Chin to train you and to share their experiences with you. Don’t make light of that or throw it aside. Danny may seem like a stick-in-the-mud but that’s because he’s had some of the worst experiences a police officer can endure and he wants to be sure that doesn’t happen to you.”
Kono felt her bottom lip quiver as a feeling of shame and guilt washed over her. She swallowed hard and nodded, still not able to meet Steve’s eyes.
“I’m sorry Steve. I wasn’t denigrating Danny’s skills or experience - at least I didn’t mean to sound like I was.”
Steve sighed and took a step back away from the table to present a less threatening figure to Kono. He loved all of his team but he tended to be especially protective of his partner.
“I know Kono and I know Danny can be a bit much sometimes but he really does have a lot to teach you if you’re open to learning from him. God knows he’s taught me a lot about being a cop.”
The young woman nodded and stood up, her hands clasped in front of her stomach.
“I’ll go to his place tonight and apologize to him personally. Danny’s a great cop and I do want to learn from him.”
A small smile formed on Steve’s face and he nodded once.
“Good.”
**********
Danny spent a wonderful hour or so with Grace enjoying a shave ice and letting the little girl’s happy chatter keep him distracted. But after dropping his daughter off at her mother’s home he found he wasn’t ready to return to his dingy apartment and decided to take a drive for a while to mull over the things Kono had said about him.
Danny wasn’t a delicate flower; he didn’t get his feelings hurt easily but what Kono said had cut him to the quick. He hadn’t been trying to bore the young woman by talking about his experiences. He loved Kono both as a co-worker and a kind of substitute little sister. Being a cop was a dangerous job. He just wanted to be sure she was well-armed when she went out on the streets, not just with guns but with knowledge.
He also wasn’t a fool. He knew that he could be a bit overbearing and pedantic and to a young, free spirited woman like Kono, he must seem kind of dull at times. Maybe she was right and he was a stick-in-the-mud. It wasn’t like he wanted to be that way but as the oldest child in a family with five children he’d always had to be responsible and take charge. Then as a cop and a young father he’d had even more responsibility to deal with. It didn’t leave time for partying all night or taking off with his buddies at the drop of a hat. Combine that with his experiences as a police officer and you had a man who was maybe a bit more cautious and conservative in his ways.
The detective pulled into a parking lot near Ewa beach and climbed out of the car. He sat on the hood and watched the sun set over the ocean. It was times like that that he could admit to himself that Hawaii really was beautiful, even if he would probably never fit in among the locals.
The rhythmic thump of rock music came from a nearby bar and Danny looked over his shoulder to see a small but brightly lit building with dozens of laughing young people standing inside or spilling out onto the beach, beer bottles and umbrella drinks in hand. They all looked happy and carefree and he had the sudden and overwhelming desire to join them. After all, he wasn’t that much older than they were, maybe it was time to have some fun. Maybe Kono was right; maybe he was an old man.
The detective locked his gun and badge as well as his cell phone in the strong box in his car’s trunk and slammed it shut. He knew he probably should keep his phone with him but he’d never hear it ring in that place and half the time he never felt it vibrate. Danny wished he was wearing jeans or shorts to fit in a bit better but he knew if he drove home to change, he’d never bother coming back.
**********
Danny sat at the bar nursing his second beer. He supposed that in order to really cut loose he should be getting loaded but he had his car with him and it would be irresponsible to drive drunk. The detective shook his head angrily. Cutting loose doesn’t mean doing this much planning. OK, he was going to get a bit tipsy and he’d take a cab home. Super SEAL could just come and get him in the morning. He lifted his hand to order another Longboard.
“Hey there,” A fresh-faced young woman plopped down on the stool beside him leaning back to put her elbows up on the bar and give him an easy smile. He returned it. She was petite, just over five feet, and had curly, shoulder-length light brown hair and big doe eyes. She kind of reminded him of Grace and he didn’t suppose she was more than nine or 10 years older than his daughter.
“Hey. How are you?”
She nodded her head. “Pretty good actually. I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.”
Danny shook his head and took a pull from his beer.
“No, I’ve never been in this bar before. I was nearby and it looked like everyone was having fun so I decided to stop in.”
“Cool.”
The two sat quietly for a while the girl bopped her head in time with the music. She sat up a bit and nudged Danny with her elbow.
“Wanna dance?”
Danny opened his mouth ready to say no but that didn’t sound like the decision of a carefree guy. He smiled and lifted one shoulder.
“Sure but I’m not very good.”
The young woman grinned happily and slid off her stool.
“That’s fine I’ll show you. My name is Emma by the way.”
“Danny.”
The young woman grabbed Danny’s hand and pulled him to the centre of the dance floor. At first the two danced a foot or so away from each other until Emma began undulating in a more sensual way and pressing herself up against Danny as she moved. The detective swallowed hard and looked around nervously wondering if they were attracting attention until he realized most of the couples were dancing like that. Since Danny was a newly carefree guy, he decided to go with it and mimicked the moves of some of the other male dancers who had young women hanging off them and rubbing their pelvises together or shimmying low on the men’s bodies then rising again.
After a half-hour of dirty dancing, Danny’s body started to remind him he wasn’t as young as he used to be and he suggested to Emma that they get a drink and take a break. Grabbing a couple of beers each, they pushed out the front doors of the bar and walked down to the water and plopped down into the sand.
“It’s so awesome here,” Emma sighed leaning back on her hands and looking up at the starry sky appreciatively while the waves lapped gently against the beach.
“Yeah it is.”
“I’ve only been in Hawaii for a couple of months but I love it.”
“What do you do for a living?” asked Danny before realizing carefree people probably don’t ask that question of each other.
The girl shrugged her shoulders and took a drink from her beer.
“I mostly like, surf and hang out. I wait tables sometimes but only enough to eat regularly.”
“How do you afford your rent?”
The girl laughed happily and Danny enjoyed the sound.
“I live on the beach with some other kids. We have tents and we fish or we beg for change or…whatever. People are really generous here. It’s the whole aloha thing.”
Danny stared at her for a moment rolling the beer bottle between his hands. He dearly hoped that “whatever” didn’t include prostitution. Emma seemed like such a sweet girl.
“Huh. But…I mean aren’t you scared of being attacked or something living in a tent like that?”
She looked over at him incredulously.
“In Hawaii? No way dude.”
“Hawaii has crime too you know. Besides, what about your parents, aren’t they worried about you?”
Emma dug her feet into the cool sand and took another drink from her beer bottle.
“They’re totally oblivious as long as I call once a week or so. They think I’m going to university here. What they don’t know can’t hurt them.”
Danny nodded slowly. If this girl was Grace he’d throw a net over her and drag her home.
“It’s a…different way to live I guess,” the blonde man offered tipping his beer bottle towards her in a small salute.
Emma giggled and leapt to her feet and began twirling around in the sand, head back and arms spread wide the cotton skirt she was wearing fluttering around her legs.
“I’m young. I want to enjoy myself before I’m like, too old or too broken down to have any fun. Mom and Dad are like, 40 years old and it’s like they’re dead or something - bills, mortgage, cars - that life’s not for me.”
Danny watched the girl twirling on the sand. After he got over the first horror that her parents were only five years older than he was, he found himself rather envying her. That kind of aimless existence was not something he had ever experienced and he wondered how well he could adapt to it.
Finally Emma stopped twirling and came to stand over Danny, one hand reaching down to him, a smile of invitation on her lips.
“Want to see where I live? It’s only a mile or so down the beach.”
The detective swallowed hard and licked his lips nervously.
“Emma…you’re really sweet and beautiful but I’m quite a bit older than you.”
She shrugged and smiled softly.
“I don’t care. I’m 20 years old so it’s not like I’m a child or anything. Besides, you’re cute.”
Danny sighed regretfully and gave her a small, apologetic shake of the head.
“I can’t. I’m sorry. Besides, you don’t want an old crock like me. Why don’t you go pick up one of those handsome beach boys in there,” he continued, gesturing at the bar behind them.
“I’m sick of beach boys. I want a real man.”
The blonde man smiled again but shook his head more firmly this time.
“No sweetheart, I’m sorry.”
The young woman sighed regretfully.
“OK then but could you at least walk me home? All your talk about crime kind of freaked me out.”
Danny considered offering her a ride in his Camaro but decided against it. She would probably compare him to her parents if he saw the flashy car - he’d had enough of young women thinking he was old for one day thank you very much. Danny climbed to his feet slapping the sand off his pants.
“Take off your shoes,” Emma ordered. “It’s much more fun to walk on the beach barefoot.”
Holding the young woman’s shoulder for balance, Danny slipped off his loafers and his socks and let them dangle from his hand.
“OK I’m ready. Which way do you live?”
Emma pointed to the right down the beach.
“About a mile that way past that stand of trees.”
**********
About 15 minutes later, the two entered the grove of palm trees. The moonlight through the tall trees threw dark shadows across the sand and Emma took Danny’s hand as if she were afraid. Danny began telling the girl about his last experience swimming with the dolphins with Gracie when three men materialized around them. The detective was on alert immediately.
Danny pushed Emma behind him but she took several steps away and wrapped her arms around a nearby palm tree.
“Sorry man,” she said regretfully.
Danny glanced at her in momentary confusion before enlightenment dawned. This was obviously the other way that she and her friends made their money.
The detective took a moment to look carefully at each man as they encircled him. They were all young, in their late teens and early 20’s. One was white, the other two Hawaiian. All were well built and muscled. One of the Hawaiian men had a tattoo of a dragon on his left forearm.
“How are you all tonight?” inquired Danny with mock sincerity.
“Let’s have your wallet and your watch,” said the oldest of the Hawaiian men whom Danny pegged as the leader of the little gang.
Danny shrugged slightly.
“Guys, I should let you know that I’m a police officer. You may want to re-think this whole thing.”
“Let’s see your badge cop,” snarled the white man.
Danny’s made to grab it from his belt. His heart sank slightly when he remembered where it was.
“Well, I don’t actually have it with me but I’d be happy to give you one of my business cards…” he joked reaching for his wallet.
“We’ll just take the wallet,” continued the first Hawaiian man with a cold smile, “but thanks for the offer.”
“Guys look, I work hard for my money and I’m not about to just hand it over to you just because you demand it.”
The third Hawaiian man who had not yet spoken pulled a switchblade from the waistband of his jeans and touched the trigger. The sharp, deadly looking blade sprang from its sheath and the cold steel glinted in the moonlight.
“You know those things are illegal in Hawaii,” Danny said, working to keep his voice even and neutral. “I’m going to have to arrest you for that.”
The three men moved closer to Danny. The detective stood tall but loose, ready to defend himself. The white kid snickered then suddenly pounced on Danny. But the blonde man was ready for him and used the young man’s forward momentum to throw him off sending the punk sprawling face-first into the sand several feet away.
The Hawaiian with the knife ran at Danny and slashed wildly with the blade but the detective parried him easily and sent the young man tumbling, his shoulder bouncing painfully against the trunk of a palm tree.
Unfortunately his fight with the knife-wielder left Danny with his back to the older Hawaiian thug and the man jumped on Danny’s back attempting to wrap an arm around the smaller man’s throat. The detective staggered under the weight of the man but was able finally to flip him over his shoulder and drop him heavily to the sand on his back.
Danny spun around as the white man came towards him again and threw a punch that connected with Danny’s jaw sending the detective stumbling backwards and seeing stars. Danny stayed on his feet, however, and ran at the younger man and tackled him around the waist knocking them both to the ground and causing the boy to cry out in pain. The two wrestled in the sand, Danny getting in a few good punches to the boy’s face until he heard a movement behind him and felt a sharp, burning pain in his back and knew he’d been stabbed.
The detective heard a woman scream as he rolled off the white man and attempted to scramble to his feet but the two Hawaiian men were ready for him and began kicking and punching him mercilessly.
Danny kicked out with his feet and swung wildly with his fists but while he hit flesh a few times, he was quickly overwhelmed when the white man joined the fray. Danny could do little more than roll himself into a fetal position to protect his head and stomach as the men continued their savage assault. Finally a boot made contact with the back of Danny’s head and the detective was plunged into darkness.
Yesterday When I Was Young 2
Pairings: Steve/Danny
Genre: friendship/angst/h.c.
Rating: 14+ for language
Warnings/Spoilers: None
Summary: Danny’s attempt to try to be more young and carefree ends in disaster.
Word Count: 4,474
Author's note: Sadly they don’t belong to me.
Yesterday When I Was Young
Danny grinned as he and Kono walked back towards 5-0 headquarters, the two of them still bickering happily about the superiority of New Jersey pizza over Hawaiian pizza. He had to admit he’d had a really good day. He didn’t often get to work with the young police officer and he’d enjoyed the chance to talk to her and to give her some advice about doing the job.
Normally Kono was Chin’s partner and the older detective had done a good job of training his cousin but Danny had a few experiences Chin didn’t and he was anxious to share them with Kono and take advantage of a “teachable moment” as one of Grace’s teachers always says.
The detective had always loved working with less experienced officers and giving them the benefit of his skills and training. Before he became a detective he was often assigned as a training officer but he hadn’t done it in many years.
Danny particularly loved working with Kono who was so bright and talented and obviously had a brilliant career in front of her. He’d even talked to her about the possibility of taking law classes part-time as he could see a future for her as a cop with a law degree. There really was no limit to her abilities.
Danny glanced at his watch as he and Kono walked through the double doors of the 5-0 offices.
“Oh crap! I’m supposed to pick up Grace but I’ve got to get some art supplies for her before the weekend. Kono could you tell Steve I left a bit early?”
The young Hawaiian woman smiled easily at him.
“Sure Danny. See you tomorrow.”
Danny waved a hand as he turned to leave the office.
“Night Kono, have a good evening.”
The blonde man jogged down the hall and pattered quickly down the stairs and had almost made it to the front door of the Iolani Palace when he mentally kicked himself.
“Shit! The list!”
Turning quickly, Danny ran back up the stairs and shoved open the doors to the 5-0 offices. He could hardly go to the art stores to get Grace’s supplies without her shopping list in hand. Super SEAL would have nagged him to enter the list in his iPhone but he still wasn’t very handy with that technology and its cursed little buttons and preferred the comfort of a piece of paper.
As Danny entered the offices he heard the sound of Kono and Lori laughing in the break room to the right.
“I love him but he’s such a stick-in-the-mud,” said Kono snickering loudly.
Danny stopped and felt his heart stutter in his chest. Was she talking about him?
“What did he do?” asked Lori, her voice light with amusement.
“Oh he just loves to give little lectures on proper police procedure and how to handle different situations. I mean I know he means well but I’ve been a cop for over a year and a half and I’ve handled more situations than most cops I know.”
“He’s trying to help,” replied Lori placatingly.
“I know but god, I wish he’d lighten up a bit. I mean the man is 35 years old and he acts like he’s about 70. ‘Remember to keep your eyes open at all times Kono.’ ‘Remember to watch their hands Kono.’ I just want to say ‘chill out brah I know what I’m doing!’’”
“There’s nothing wrong with that advice though,” said Lori reasonably.
“No, not if you’ve been on the job a couple of weeks but I’m not exactly a newbie. I mean, I know he’s a good cop and everything but sometimes I wonder if he ever has any fun or cuts loose. Is the job his whole life besides Grace? Am I going to be that uptight when I’m 35 years old?”
Danny stood frozen to the spot, his face flushed with humiliation. He knew he should walk away but he couldn’t seem to make his feet work.
“Like I said, he’s a great guy but he’s so…old or something.”
Steve and Chin’s voices could be heard in the hallway and that propelled Danny into his office where he snatched up Grace’s shopping list from his desk and walked hurriedly towards the double doors anxious to get out of the building as quickly as possible.
He had to slide to a stop to avoid crashing into the two men as they burst through the doors. Steve grinned at his partner.
“Hey Danno, where you going in such a hurry?”
Danny fidgeted with the paper in his hand but couldn’t make himself look up at Steve for fear his partner would see how humiliated he was.
“I’m uhh…I have to get some art supplies for Grace before I pick her up.”
Steve saw his partner’s nervousness and red cheeks and the smile slid from his own face. He put his hand on the smaller man’s bicep.
“Hey, you ok? You seem upset.”
Danny looked up at the taller man and plastered a fake smile on his face.
“No, no I’m fine. Just a bit distracted I guess. I’ll see you later ok?”
Steve nodded and released the other man watching him jog down the hall. Steve turned and gave a worried look to Chin and saw the same look reflected back at him.
“He having trouble with Rachel or something?” Chin asked.
Steve shook his head.
“Not that I’m aware of.” He shrugged slightly. “I’ll talk to him later and see if he’s ok.”
Peals of laughter came from the break room and Steve and Chin couldn’t help but grin at each other.
“Do you suppose they’re talking about us?”
Chin grimaced.
“Either us or men in general.”
The two men walked into the break room and smiled at the younger women inside. Kono was perched on a chair by the table, her feet up on another chair. Lori was leaning against the counter, a cup of coffee in her hand.
“Hey, what are you two so happy about?” inquired Steve as he dug in the fridge for a juice bottle.
The two women glanced at each other and snickered before Kono looked back at her boss.
“Well...I was talking about my day with Danny,” replied a bit nervously, not sure how much to share with Danny’s partner.
The SEAL leaned back against the counter next to Lori, popped the cap off his juice bottle and took a drink before making a go on motion with his hand.
The young officer flushed slightly and shifted in her chair.
“Well it’s just…you know, I respect Danny but I was telling Lori he can be a bit of a stick-in-the-mud and kind of…I don’t know…like an old guy.”
Steve glanced at Chin who was leaning against the door jamb. The Hawaiian detective stared at his cousin in confusion.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
The young officer shrugged slightly and traced patterns in the break table with an index finger as she spoke.
“He’s just so…he loves to lecture and give advice like I haven’t been a cop for a year and a half. He’s always telling me how to handle situations and talking about the law and how I should be more interested in it; he kind of acts like my dad sometimes.”
Steve stood up straight and gave Chin a look of wide-eyed comprehension.
“He must have overheard.”
The older detective nodded sadly while Kono looked up at Steve, her brows creased in confusion.
“Danny? He didn’t overhear me I watched him leave…”
“He must have forgotten something and come back. He was upset when he left,” Steve’s voice was flat and emotionless and Kono knew that meant he was angry.
The young woman sat up abruptly, her feet thumping to the floor. “Steve I…” the young officer began, her eyes wide with horror.
“Kono,” Steve interrupted, “You’re what, 27 years old right?”
The young woman nodded mutely and began chewing her bottom lip worriedly.
“And you’ve been a cop for a year and a half.”
She nodded again.
“I didn’t hear you,” Steve snapped.
“Yes,” she blurted, knotting her hands on her lap nervously.
“Danny became a cop when he was 21. What were you doing when you were 21?” the SEAL continued his angry interrogation.
Kono swallowed roughly and dropped her eyes to the floor.
“I was surfing competitively,” she mumbled.
“What was that?” Steve took a step closer to her and put his hand up to his ear. A part of him wanted to embarrass the woman as much as she’d embarrassed his partner.
“I was surfing competitively,” she repeated, raising her voice.
Steve nodded knowingly and crossed his arms on his chest.
“At 25 Danny had been married for two years and became a father. What were you doing at the age of 25?”
Kono looked up and rolled her eyes slightly.
“Steve you know what…”
“What were you doing at the age of 25 Kono?” Steve barked making the younger woman jump slightly.
Lori and Chin glanced at each other nervously. Chin wouldn’t normally let anyone speak to Kono this way but the young woman obviously needed to learn a lesson.
“I…was in the police academy,” Kono replied miserably.
Steve took another step closer and thumped his juice bottle down on the table in front of the young officer causing her to flinch.
“Also at 25 Danny became one of the youngest police officers to make detective in the history of the Newark PD. At 27 - the age you are now - he suffered a near-fatal stab wound while doing an undercover assignment to break up a car theft ring. At 30 he became a detective sergeant. At 32 he tracked down and arrested one of the worst serial killers in Newark history.”
Steve leaned on his fists on the table top and loomed over the young woman. She could hear him breathing fast and shallow.
“Kono, you know I respect your abilities but you don’t know every damned thing about being a cop. You were born and raised on this idyllic island. You’ve lived a fairly sheltered life all things considered. You spent 10 years competitively surfing and that’s fine, there’s nothing wrong with that. You had an amazing talent. But don’t get it in your head that you’re already an experienced cop who knows all the answers after 18 months because that’s the fastest way to get killed that I can think of!”
Steve straightened up abruptly and looked down at the young woman with blazing eyes, his fists now firmly on his hips. Kono now understood why suspects nearly pissed themselves when Steve interrogated them.
“You’re lucky as hell to have to senior officers like Danny and Chin to train you and to share their experiences with you. Don’t make light of that or throw it aside. Danny may seem like a stick-in-the-mud but that’s because he’s had some of the worst experiences a police officer can endure and he wants to be sure that doesn’t happen to you.”
Kono felt her bottom lip quiver as a feeling of shame and guilt washed over her. She swallowed hard and nodded, still not able to meet Steve’s eyes.
“I’m sorry Steve. I wasn’t denigrating Danny’s skills or experience - at least I didn’t mean to sound like I was.”
Steve sighed and took a step back away from the table to present a less threatening figure to Kono. He loved all of his team but he tended to be especially protective of his partner.
“I know Kono and I know Danny can be a bit much sometimes but he really does have a lot to teach you if you’re open to learning from him. God knows he’s taught me a lot about being a cop.”
The young woman nodded and stood up, her hands clasped in front of her stomach.
“I’ll go to his place tonight and apologize to him personally. Danny’s a great cop and I do want to learn from him.”
A small smile formed on Steve’s face and he nodded once.
“Good.”
**********
Danny spent a wonderful hour or so with Grace enjoying a shave ice and letting the little girl’s happy chatter keep him distracted. But after dropping his daughter off at her mother’s home he found he wasn’t ready to return to his dingy apartment and decided to take a drive for a while to mull over the things Kono had said about him.
Danny wasn’t a delicate flower; he didn’t get his feelings hurt easily but what Kono said had cut him to the quick. He hadn’t been trying to bore the young woman by talking about his experiences. He loved Kono both as a co-worker and a kind of substitute little sister. Being a cop was a dangerous job. He just wanted to be sure she was well-armed when she went out on the streets, not just with guns but with knowledge.
He also wasn’t a fool. He knew that he could be a bit overbearing and pedantic and to a young, free spirited woman like Kono, he must seem kind of dull at times. Maybe she was right and he was a stick-in-the-mud. It wasn’t like he wanted to be that way but as the oldest child in a family with five children he’d always had to be responsible and take charge. Then as a cop and a young father he’d had even more responsibility to deal with. It didn’t leave time for partying all night or taking off with his buddies at the drop of a hat. Combine that with his experiences as a police officer and you had a man who was maybe a bit more cautious and conservative in his ways.
The detective pulled into a parking lot near Ewa beach and climbed out of the car. He sat on the hood and watched the sun set over the ocean. It was times like that that he could admit to himself that Hawaii really was beautiful, even if he would probably never fit in among the locals.
The rhythmic thump of rock music came from a nearby bar and Danny looked over his shoulder to see a small but brightly lit building with dozens of laughing young people standing inside or spilling out onto the beach, beer bottles and umbrella drinks in hand. They all looked happy and carefree and he had the sudden and overwhelming desire to join them. After all, he wasn’t that much older than they were, maybe it was time to have some fun. Maybe Kono was right; maybe he was an old man.
The detective locked his gun and badge as well as his cell phone in the strong box in his car’s trunk and slammed it shut. He knew he probably should keep his phone with him but he’d never hear it ring in that place and half the time he never felt it vibrate. Danny wished he was wearing jeans or shorts to fit in a bit better but he knew if he drove home to change, he’d never bother coming back.
**********
Danny sat at the bar nursing his second beer. He supposed that in order to really cut loose he should be getting loaded but he had his car with him and it would be irresponsible to drive drunk. The detective shook his head angrily. Cutting loose doesn’t mean doing this much planning. OK, he was going to get a bit tipsy and he’d take a cab home. Super SEAL could just come and get him in the morning. He lifted his hand to order another Longboard.
“Hey there,” A fresh-faced young woman plopped down on the stool beside him leaning back to put her elbows up on the bar and give him an easy smile. He returned it. She was petite, just over five feet, and had curly, shoulder-length light brown hair and big doe eyes. She kind of reminded him of Grace and he didn’t suppose she was more than nine or 10 years older than his daughter.
“Hey. How are you?”
She nodded her head. “Pretty good actually. I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.”
Danny shook his head and took a pull from his beer.
“No, I’ve never been in this bar before. I was nearby and it looked like everyone was having fun so I decided to stop in.”
“Cool.”
The two sat quietly for a while the girl bopped her head in time with the music. She sat up a bit and nudged Danny with her elbow.
“Wanna dance?”
Danny opened his mouth ready to say no but that didn’t sound like the decision of a carefree guy. He smiled and lifted one shoulder.
“Sure but I’m not very good.”
The young woman grinned happily and slid off her stool.
“That’s fine I’ll show you. My name is Emma by the way.”
“Danny.”
The young woman grabbed Danny’s hand and pulled him to the centre of the dance floor. At first the two danced a foot or so away from each other until Emma began undulating in a more sensual way and pressing herself up against Danny as she moved. The detective swallowed hard and looked around nervously wondering if they were attracting attention until he realized most of the couples were dancing like that. Since Danny was a newly carefree guy, he decided to go with it and mimicked the moves of some of the other male dancers who had young women hanging off them and rubbing their pelvises together or shimmying low on the men’s bodies then rising again.
After a half-hour of dirty dancing, Danny’s body started to remind him he wasn’t as young as he used to be and he suggested to Emma that they get a drink and take a break. Grabbing a couple of beers each, they pushed out the front doors of the bar and walked down to the water and plopped down into the sand.
“It’s so awesome here,” Emma sighed leaning back on her hands and looking up at the starry sky appreciatively while the waves lapped gently against the beach.
“Yeah it is.”
“I’ve only been in Hawaii for a couple of months but I love it.”
“What do you do for a living?” asked Danny before realizing carefree people probably don’t ask that question of each other.
The girl shrugged her shoulders and took a drink from her beer.
“I mostly like, surf and hang out. I wait tables sometimes but only enough to eat regularly.”
“How do you afford your rent?”
The girl laughed happily and Danny enjoyed the sound.
“I live on the beach with some other kids. We have tents and we fish or we beg for change or…whatever. People are really generous here. It’s the whole aloha thing.”
Danny stared at her for a moment rolling the beer bottle between his hands. He dearly hoped that “whatever” didn’t include prostitution. Emma seemed like such a sweet girl.
“Huh. But…I mean aren’t you scared of being attacked or something living in a tent like that?”
She looked over at him incredulously.
“In Hawaii? No way dude.”
“Hawaii has crime too you know. Besides, what about your parents, aren’t they worried about you?”
Emma dug her feet into the cool sand and took another drink from her beer bottle.
“They’re totally oblivious as long as I call once a week or so. They think I’m going to university here. What they don’t know can’t hurt them.”
Danny nodded slowly. If this girl was Grace he’d throw a net over her and drag her home.
“It’s a…different way to live I guess,” the blonde man offered tipping his beer bottle towards her in a small salute.
Emma giggled and leapt to her feet and began twirling around in the sand, head back and arms spread wide the cotton skirt she was wearing fluttering around her legs.
“I’m young. I want to enjoy myself before I’m like, too old or too broken down to have any fun. Mom and Dad are like, 40 years old and it’s like they’re dead or something - bills, mortgage, cars - that life’s not for me.”
Danny watched the girl twirling on the sand. After he got over the first horror that her parents were only five years older than he was, he found himself rather envying her. That kind of aimless existence was not something he had ever experienced and he wondered how well he could adapt to it.
Finally Emma stopped twirling and came to stand over Danny, one hand reaching down to him, a smile of invitation on her lips.
“Want to see where I live? It’s only a mile or so down the beach.”
The detective swallowed hard and licked his lips nervously.
“Emma…you’re really sweet and beautiful but I’m quite a bit older than you.”
She shrugged and smiled softly.
“I don’t care. I’m 20 years old so it’s not like I’m a child or anything. Besides, you’re cute.”
Danny sighed regretfully and gave her a small, apologetic shake of the head.
“I can’t. I’m sorry. Besides, you don’t want an old crock like me. Why don’t you go pick up one of those handsome beach boys in there,” he continued, gesturing at the bar behind them.
“I’m sick of beach boys. I want a real man.”
The blonde man smiled again but shook his head more firmly this time.
“No sweetheart, I’m sorry.”
The young woman sighed regretfully.
“OK then but could you at least walk me home? All your talk about crime kind of freaked me out.”
Danny considered offering her a ride in his Camaro but decided against it. She would probably compare him to her parents if he saw the flashy car - he’d had enough of young women thinking he was old for one day thank you very much. Danny climbed to his feet slapping the sand off his pants.
“Take off your shoes,” Emma ordered. “It’s much more fun to walk on the beach barefoot.”
Holding the young woman’s shoulder for balance, Danny slipped off his loafers and his socks and let them dangle from his hand.
“OK I’m ready. Which way do you live?”
Emma pointed to the right down the beach.
“About a mile that way past that stand of trees.”
**********
About 15 minutes later, the two entered the grove of palm trees. The moonlight through the tall trees threw dark shadows across the sand and Emma took Danny’s hand as if she were afraid. Danny began telling the girl about his last experience swimming with the dolphins with Gracie when three men materialized around them. The detective was on alert immediately.
Danny pushed Emma behind him but she took several steps away and wrapped her arms around a nearby palm tree.
“Sorry man,” she said regretfully.
Danny glanced at her in momentary confusion before enlightenment dawned. This was obviously the other way that she and her friends made their money.
The detective took a moment to look carefully at each man as they encircled him. They were all young, in their late teens and early 20’s. One was white, the other two Hawaiian. All were well built and muscled. One of the Hawaiian men had a tattoo of a dragon on his left forearm.
“How are you all tonight?” inquired Danny with mock sincerity.
“Let’s have your wallet and your watch,” said the oldest of the Hawaiian men whom Danny pegged as the leader of the little gang.
Danny shrugged slightly.
“Guys, I should let you know that I’m a police officer. You may want to re-think this whole thing.”
“Let’s see your badge cop,” snarled the white man.
Danny’s made to grab it from his belt. His heart sank slightly when he remembered where it was.
“Well, I don’t actually have it with me but I’d be happy to give you one of my business cards…” he joked reaching for his wallet.
“We’ll just take the wallet,” continued the first Hawaiian man with a cold smile, “but thanks for the offer.”
“Guys look, I work hard for my money and I’m not about to just hand it over to you just because you demand it.”
The third Hawaiian man who had not yet spoken pulled a switchblade from the waistband of his jeans and touched the trigger. The sharp, deadly looking blade sprang from its sheath and the cold steel glinted in the moonlight.
“You know those things are illegal in Hawaii,” Danny said, working to keep his voice even and neutral. “I’m going to have to arrest you for that.”
The three men moved closer to Danny. The detective stood tall but loose, ready to defend himself. The white kid snickered then suddenly pounced on Danny. But the blonde man was ready for him and used the young man’s forward momentum to throw him off sending the punk sprawling face-first into the sand several feet away.
The Hawaiian with the knife ran at Danny and slashed wildly with the blade but the detective parried him easily and sent the young man tumbling, his shoulder bouncing painfully against the trunk of a palm tree.
Unfortunately his fight with the knife-wielder left Danny with his back to the older Hawaiian thug and the man jumped on Danny’s back attempting to wrap an arm around the smaller man’s throat. The detective staggered under the weight of the man but was able finally to flip him over his shoulder and drop him heavily to the sand on his back.
Danny spun around as the white man came towards him again and threw a punch that connected with Danny’s jaw sending the detective stumbling backwards and seeing stars. Danny stayed on his feet, however, and ran at the younger man and tackled him around the waist knocking them both to the ground and causing the boy to cry out in pain. The two wrestled in the sand, Danny getting in a few good punches to the boy’s face until he heard a movement behind him and felt a sharp, burning pain in his back and knew he’d been stabbed.
The detective heard a woman scream as he rolled off the white man and attempted to scramble to his feet but the two Hawaiian men were ready for him and began kicking and punching him mercilessly.
Danny kicked out with his feet and swung wildly with his fists but while he hit flesh a few times, he was quickly overwhelmed when the white man joined the fray. Danny could do little more than roll himself into a fetal position to protect his head and stomach as the men continued their savage assault. Finally a boot made contact with the back of Danny’s head and the detective was plunged into darkness.
Yesterday When I Was Young 2