Chapter One: Unwanted?

Chin Ho flashed a grin across the bar at his cousin. The party was loud and raucous. The room filled with off-duty personnel from HPDand H5-0. Sweeping his gaze around the bar he picked out McGarrett swigging down a beer laughing with a couple of friends. His boss raised his bottle in mock salute then shrugged. Chin shrugged back, mouthing 'I don't see him'.

It was a little strange. All three H5-0 detectives had gone out of their way to invite Danny to the party, an end of the tourist season celebration in late September. Not that there weren't any tourists, there always were tourists, but the sheer volume dropped off until Christmas. He was bumped on the shoulder by Kono.

"No sign of our haole?" she asked, slightly tipsy.

"Naw," he replied, "kind of surprised. Really thought he'd show." A loud laugh caught their attention and they turned to face a very 'happy' pair of HPD detectives.

"That scrawny piece of shit won't be showin' up, don't you worry, bro!" Samuels said. "We took care of 'em personally for you and McGarrett." Kono and Chin exchanged glances.

"What do you mean, you took care of him?" he asked slowly.

"Let's just say we let the mainlander know he isn't wanted," the big man chortled.

"Yeah," chimed in Davies, "We all heard through the wireless for months and months what a problem the jerk was."

"Always another snide comment to his boss," Samuel said. "Rude s. o. b." Kono slipped away and returned during the bragging session with Steve. Samuel and Davies' group extended to four other detectives and a couple of beat officers. Three were explaining just how they helped H5-0 with their Jersey problem. Face pale McGarrett just stared at the large group. Three men planned and carried out some sort of attack on his partner. Bragged to others about it. Made sure the 'message' that he wasn't wanted on the force was loud and clear.

Danny rolled over, head spinning. He'd lost all the contents of his stomach. Several times. His body refused to cooperate. Maybe if he rested a little longer he'd be able to move.

He had to admit he never knew how much his team hated him. He really thought all the teasing had been friendly, that they actually liked him. That they had his back. It seemed liked they did.

Well, except Steve always seemed to get him hurt. He'd never been hurt as often as he had in the past year. Three bullets, concussions, cuts, near drowning. The list went on. You'd of thought they'd let him get killed and gotten rid of him permanently. Not kept him around.

Maybe he was a whipping boy? His mind drifted back over the story Gracie had been so angry about. Yeah, a whipping boy. Or like a great racehorse, they always kept something like a goat with it to take its temper out on. That's what he could have been. Scapegoat.

But now it was really clear he wasn't wanted at all. If he could sit up he'd see his trashed loft. Every dish. Every glass. the contents of the refrigerator spewed out on the floor melting and rotting. God alone knows what they did in his bedroom. Probably ruined all of his suits. They'd been clear real detectives in Hawaii never wore suits or ties. Probably destroyed the sofa bed as well so getting up to lie down wasn't even a possibility.

If he could get up. Not gonna happen for a while.

The words of hate and derision replayed in his head. If he hadn't been such a tough bastard he'd cry. The wetness on his face had to be sweat, not tears. The voices swirled around taunting him.

Party. They'd invited him to a big party. Kono and Chin and Steve, together and separately. Steve kinda mentioned he'd kick his ass if he didn't show up. Must have meant if he'd shown up. Why the hell had they insisted he go? It was abundantly clear he wasn't wanted.

The next thing he heard was the door swinging open and the muffled curses. Probably the landlord. Damn. He'd never get back his security deposit now.

"Danno?" the strained voice of Steve McGarrett filtered through the room.

"Kind of busy," he muttered. "Gotta keep the floor in place." Why that had come to mind was beyond him. More curses and a very concerned face bent over him.

"What hurts?" Steve asked. Danny took some time considering the answer, tentatively flexing muscles.

"Everything," he said. "They carried out your orders perfectly." Might as well be honest. "Not sure if anything is broken, but it's all bruised."

"What orders?" McGarrett asked. Danny closed his eyes. He would NOT cry.

"You know, you could of just fired my ass," he said conversationally. "Sent me back down to HPD. But then, they don't want some damned haole from the mainland, do they?"

"Fire you? Why the hell would I fire you? I just got you broke in," Steve shot back. Wrong words.

"I don't think any thing's broken, but you can go ahead and kick my ribs again," Danny turned his head away. "Pretty close to broken."

"I would NEVER kick you," Steve exclaimed indignantly.

"Sorry, that's what the orders were, from you," his voice nearly broke. Dammit! He would NOT cry. He felt hands run gently over his face, arms, body, legs. The deep tissue bruises just flourishing. He winced as the sore spots were pushed. Then he felt Steve move away, off to the kitchen area. Rustling sounds and water running. Muted curses.

A warm, damp cloth was used to clean his face and neck where vomit clung. Then an arm went behind him and he was carefully sat up, his head limply rolled against his partner's strong shoulder.

"Sip," soft voice, cool water. He pulled in a small mouthful, savoring it, swishing it around his bloody, vomit-coated mouth. Spat that out on the floor away from Steve and then drank again, hoping it would stay down.

"Danno, I know what they told you," Steve said. "I know they kept saying me, Chin and Kono felt that way. But we don't, I don't!" He watched Danny's face crumple up trying not to cry, failing miserably. So he pulled him closer and held the shivering body close letting him hide in his shirt.

"Steve?" Chin called from the door. He and Kono picked their way through the thoroughly trashed room. He knelt down next to the battered man.

"Hey Danny," he gently ran his hand up and down the shaking back.

"Call for an ambulance," Steve nodded towards Kono. She located the land line, looked at the battered handset ripped from the base, then flipped open her cell phone.

"We called IA," Chin reported quietly. "Took down names and arrested the three who had admitted to... to this." Steve nodded and pulled the shaking man closer.

"It'll be ok, Danno, we have you!" he tried to comfort and felt the injured man try to push away.

"No! I know you guys don't want... want... want some damned haole," Williams spat out. But neither Steve nor Chin were moving.

"Danno, we never said that!" Chin tried.

"I'm not... not stupid!" came the sharp retort. "You all... all call me that! You all give me grief about my clothes! My food! My... my baseball team..." He struggled again, small cries of pain punctuating the jerks.

No amount of talk was going to change William's mind at that point. He was in too much pain, too much fear, to listen or accept any other message. So McGarrett sat fully down, leaned against the wall and cradled his partner on his lap and in his arms.

He pulled Danny close, surrounding the shivering wreck with his warmth, whispering nonsense. It frightened all three detectives to hear their friend starting to sob. It was so entirely out of character for the brash, mouthy man they wondered if he would ever be the same.

The wail of the ambulance drew near and soon the emts came up the stairs and into the loft. Danny had slipped into a light sleep and reacted violently when they tried to move him from the warmth and safety of McGarrett's arms.

"Sh, sh, it's ok aikane!," Steve whispered.

"No!" Williams clung like a burr to the only thing resembling safety in his world.

"It's ok, bro!" the paramedic soothed. "Let me take a peek!" Carefully, not disturbing the shaking man much, the emt did a visual check of exposed bruises and gently prodded his ribs and abdomen. Blood pressure cuff. Respiration. Pulse.

The second paramedic called in the vitals. There was no head trauma and the 5-0 detectives wondered why their friend had vomited. An IV was set up with a small dose of diazepam to calm him.

"Uh, why was he nauseated?" Kono finally braved the question. Without looking up the EMT adjusted the drip.

"Trauma to his groin," he said matter of factly. Both male detectives winced at the thought. Once the medication had begun to take effect it was simple to transfer the limp body onto the gurney although Danny continued to grip Steve's hand like a vise.

"Lock up here and meet me at the hospital," he directed his team.

After the medical team had left Kono and Chin sighed and looked around the wrecked room. It would be left for the forensic team to check over.

"Awue! Look at the bookshelves!" Chin turned and saw the shelves shattered and the books tossed onto the floor, wet. It looked like beer bottles had been emptied on them then smashed against the wall. The kitchen area was demolished; the fridge open and all the contents strewn haphazardly throughout the area.

A quick glance into the bedroom showed just how complete the destruction was. Jackets, slacks, ties were cut as if having a sharp knife run through them and tossed to the floor. Drawers had been dumped. But the worst damage was found in the bathroom.

The tub/shower had something burnt in it. Closer examination revealed his personal photos were now trashed.

"god, they really destroyed everything!" Chin remarked as he turned to face his cousin. Kono had tears in her eyes.

"No wonder he didn't believe us," she said sadly. "They really screwed him over."

"Yeah," he agreed softly. "Let's get that door secured and get to the hospital."

(Note: too out of character? The idea kept nagging me after last week's show and all the 'haole' comments. Feedback appreciated.)