FanFic: "Ground Fire" (Hawaii Five-0) - Chapter 2 of ??
H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O*
CHAPTER TWO
For the first time, Steve's face was an open book communicating utter disbelief as he surveyed the plane's wreckage in the increasing dusk. He easily understood why the Coast Guard was relaying lack of confidence in locating any survivors. It was his emotional brain and very being that refused to accept that near-declaration.
It was overcast and due to rain again. Half the plane's wreckage rocked precariously on the surf-drenched craggy rocks with each rising swell. While a portion nosed wet sand where the one propeller should have been, the rest was a mass of twisted debris and nearly completely covered by seawater. Barely identifiable passenger seats were submerged to the rear. One wing had been literally torn off and had just recently been retrieved by a Coastie rescue cutter.
The supposition was that the pilot had tried to land on the water. By all appearances, it looked like he had at first succeeded to hop-scotch hard towards the rocky outcropping. But the underwater landscape was unforgiving and had snared the plane's wheels, a wing .. or something .. to send it on a final half-cartwheel towards land.
"There's no sign yet of the three others." Steve stood next to Chin in waters that were now waist high. Buffeted by wave after wave, he was resenting every word that the Coastguardsman respectfully and ever so kindly tried to explain.
"The pilot and co-pilot were both dead when we got here." The Coastie stated the obvious as they absorbed the positions of the two bodies still stuck in the wreckage. He then grimaced before gesturing towards open waters. "A third body was found floating face down in rough storm surge about two hundred yards out. He was wearing an FBI jacket and he was probably ejected upon impact."
He watched intently as the two Five-0 officers remained quiet but not exactly motionless. "We .. uh .. are looking for the three … uh .. other … victims." The Coastie, Abrams, was sensitive to their predicament and to the nature of those involved in the crash as he carefully chose his words.
"Choppers are up and we have feet on the ground searching the beach and inner jungle here. But there's nothing to indicate that anyone would do that." Abrams felt as if he were speaking to himself, though he was sure the two men heard each word he said. In his personal opinion and only if they were lucky, would they be recovering three more bodies eventually from the rough waters. The Piper was a mass of twisted metal and bloody carnage. Except for what was now the final location of the pilot's body, it was nearly impossible to identify by sight where the cockpit had once been.
Still, the men remained silent and so, Abrams shut his mouth about his personal feelings. Besides being nearly pummeled by the relentless waves, the Commander was absorbing every minute detail of the destroyed Piper.
"Ground fire. Probably from a boat." Steve spoke solely to Chin as he fingered a bullet hole and then three more in the ruined metal which clearly validated that the Piper had not been affected by poor weather. His jaw clenched worriedly as the water momentarily swirled lower and he spotted three more random bullet holes in a twisted passenger seat. Streaks of blood stained sections of unidentifiable bulkhead material.
He and Chin would need to move for the teams arriving now despite the inclement weather. Their jobs would be to secure what remained of the plane and to remove the two deceased men. However, it was clear to him at least that the pilot and co-pilot were assisted in death based upon the multiple bullet wounds arcing through their bodies. He didn't doubt that their medical examiner would find additional bullets in FBI Agent Ruiz's body retrieved from the waves.
"I agree they went down off shore. But I absolutely do not agree that this is quite yet a recovery." Steve's last word was meant for Abrams who took the verbal abuse in stride.
"We have three people out there. I want them found." Completely in stubborn agreement with Steve, Chin nodded at the demand as they half-swam and stumbled to higher rocks to pick their way to the unforgiving beach. Crews passed them on the way with equipment they would use to lash the metal together and, with luck, get it to a temporary home on shore.
"They aren't dead." No one heard him nearly swear out the three words. Only Chin noted that Steve's fists were clenched as he surveyed the wreckage from yet another angle and then the darkening ocean beyond.
"Call HPD. Contact Duke and have a full investigation opened against every single person involved with this mission. I don't care what he does. House arrest, jail or handcuffing them to their own beds. No one talks. No one is allowed access to a phone or computer until we get our people back."
Turning away as high winds buffeted spray directly into their faces, Chin did as he was instructed. It took time and he was impatient even with himself as he ended the call with HPD Sergeant Lukela.
Before him, Steve was stalking the beach and uselessly searching the waters. Every so often, he would turn and study the jungle behind them. In kind, Chin also turned and surveyed the bleak thick trees and vines. After receiving the distress call from the supposed secure private transport from Oahu to the Big Island, support teams had been instantly rallied to the relayed coordinates.
The Coast Guard had arrived within forty-five minutes explaining their distressing finds which worsened by every long, slow minute.
"Crash site located. No evidence of survivors. Two confirmed dead. A third body retrieved. Search continues … weather blowing in … secure what's left of the wreckage."
By the time, he and Steve had arrived on scene, they had a rather acute image painted in their frenetically stressed minds. Chin beat down demons that threatened to prove Kono was somewhere floating dead in the rough waters just offshore. The same evil thoughts envisioned Danny face-down, drowned or riddled with bullets.
He rubbed his face hard to force the painful unwelcome musings away. They had three dead and three missing. Instead of fearing loss, they needed to focus on the more positive possibilities. The preferred chances which gave hope that their friends had indeed, escaped.
"The jungle?" Chin needed to move as much as Steve. With the Coasties covering a controlled water-based patterned search grid, the two could .. and would .. manage their own mission of sorts.
They would go further inland and delve much more deeply than the small Coastie team dispatched to check the beach-head. The more Chin considered the facts of the crash, the more he felt a strong urge that it was the right one. Three of the lesser important individuals had been killed; the three higher profile individuals were oddly missing. It was a weak fact, but a fact nonetheless. It gave Chin hope that they were alive and on the run. Without a doubt, the facts he chose to listen to solidified his next decision.
"Steve. Let's gear up and get going. They're here." Chin was firm in his intent as he turned back to his friend. "They have to be. We're going to be their best bet if they made it to land."
"They made it to land." Flatly stated, Steve whirled angrily away from the plane to stalk towards the HPD chopper he'd commandeered earlier. They would take time to only change wet socks and boots for dry pairs. Then they would converge on the jungle aggressively. As he stared at the back of Abram's windbreaker, Steve ground out a simple statement under his breath. "There's actually nothing to indicate that they didn't go in there .. in fact, there's every reason for them to do just that."
Chin was already by his side and rummaging for new footwear. Though it had already been said and they were working in unison, Steve said it again. "Gear up. We bring them home - then we deal with our inside leak."
~ to be continued ~
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