I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.

H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O*

CHAPTER TWO

On Monday afternoon, a new case demanded that he and Steve once again borrow Kamekona's helicopter. Armed to the teeth, Danny just accepted what they needed to do to get the latest job done. And it had been pedestrian enough with the lead a total bust and the need for the chopper complete overkill.

"Ain't that the truth." Danny muttered to himself as he braced for Steve's skillful landing of the helicopter and considered how two worlds collided to bring him where he was present day. And it almost seemed like many things he had or didn't have were the results of some collision or another. And almost always thrust upon him without having a choice. "Yup, that would be the story of my life."

His idle weekend thoughts had been barely under the surface as his work week kicked back in to its hectic and totally unpredictable pace. Again, seemingly without a say in the matter, Danny found himself reminiscing about becoming the unwilling partner of someone who wasn't originally properly trained in law enforcement. And not just anyone but a decorated Navy SEAL and excuse me, but how does something like that happen?

"Because it's the story of my life." He sniffed again but not unhappily as he was lightly jolted by the landing. Oh and let's not forget to mention getting placed on a spontaneously created, totally off the cuff, Governor's task force with the most incredible non-rules he'd ever heard of.

There was a time not so long ago where Danny had yearned for a life-saving predictability. He needed that to breathe and to get from day-to-day insanity of his personal life because of the divorce and the volume of changes heaped on him by that volatile world. A predictability that would counter the insanity of his ex-wife and allow him the respite of an unyielding faith that maybe, just maybe, something could be salvaged and go back to the way it had been.

On a continued high after the news about the custody hearing, Danny was still marveling about his own easy acceptance of remaining in Hawaii regardless of what the outcome would have been. And maybe it was easy to think about that since things were resolved in his favor. But Danny felt the stirrings of a giggle as he recalled their first marching orders as a team, which had since been redefined by Governor Denning. Sometimes it had worked for him and other times, the stretching of or sheer lack of rules bothered his innate sense of right and wrong.

"Full immunity and means?" He softly grinned the sentence out of his mouth. "Perfect."

Certainly some of it had gone completely against his beliefs of a properly meted out righteousness within the appropriate guidelines of the criminal justice system. He had to remind himself often that his partner was not a real cop. Steve McGarrett was different and by being different, Danny Williams had learned to adapt quickly.

"Full immunity and means?" He said the words once more as he hopped out of Kamekona's helicopter – yes a real helicopter – that his oddball partner could actually fly. There were days now when he felt like a kid in a candy store and all the treats were free.

"Super SEAL loves his toys." The grin after the words couldn't be hidden at that and it brought back a startling flood of realizations that had become more and more impossible to believe. First and foremost that none of this would happen in the life of a normal Jersey cop. But normal had fled his life the moment he stepped foot in Hawaii.

And anything normal or predictable had definitely taken a back seat the day at McGarrett senior's house when a supposed trespasser at the crime scene was sworn in directly in front of him by the prior Governor. And then mere hours later without a choice in the world, Danny would never know a predictable normality again as he was adopted by Steve McGarrett as his new partner.

Danny grinned anew as he snuck a peek at Steve's face while he did a post-flight check. Steve was enthralled with the process and completely in another one of his special elements. Danny began to wonder if Five-0 would be obligated to gas-up their newest and very unofficial toy for Kamekona since it was being borrowed more and more often. He didn't want to be around for that conversation with Governor Denning about the illicit use of tax-payer dollars.

That thought only led deeper to the ancient wreck of a chopper he'd been subjected to in Korea. A helicopter named Tangerine.

North Korea. With a band of brotherly renegade SEAL's to track down, save and retrieve his missing partner. In a defunct military chopper named Tangerine. Not so predictable and yet all of it had become good. And it made some of his personal issues with his ex-wife incredibly lackluster and just maybe, smaller in the grand scheme of things.

The concept of leaving no man behind had also entered Danny's own life and he could feel the importance of it in his soul.

His loud snort of laughter made Steve glance over to him quizzically, but Danny just waved him off as he stowed the high powered rifle near the stash of grenades.

"Damned Army nut." The whisper was louder than he intended and Steve actually stopped this time to blatantly stare.

"What?" Steve asked from the opposite side of the chopper. Shrugging aimlessly, Danny continued his chuckled whisper under his breath as he corrected himself. "Sorry .. NAVY. Navy nut case. But grenades. Really?"

Yup. Not the usual flash-bang or benign smoke canister that he'd occasionally used, but live grenades. And if one might need a grenade at short notice, well there was always the glove compartment of the Camaro.

The second snort of laughter bubbled up again and once more Steve turned and just studied him as he wiped an errant tear from his eye.

"Problem there, Danno?" Steve asked as he joined him to walk back to the parking lot. "You didn't get hit .. or something .. did you?"

Barely evading the inquiring fingers that tried to snag his shirt, Danny completely ignored the head to toe examination that his partner threw his way. The man could be a worry-wart at times perhaps knowing that he'd virtually stolen a normal, every day person from a mundane police officer's life and tossed him into the most impossible of situations.

"Nope. It's all good." It was a standard and automatic reply that Danny was having trouble with as a goofy grin spread across his face. There should have been too many problems to count. But the new Danny didn't see these things as problems anymore.

His thoughts were interrupted as Steve snagged his car keys from his fingers and slid into the driver's seat of his car. "You have Grace next weekend?"

Danny was still smiling as he automatically changed course for the passenger side. "You bet I do."

And Steve's reply summed it up again with a tone that was laced with pleasure on Danny's own behalf. "Good."

"Yes it is." Danny huffed out happily. And Grace adored 'Uncle Steve' .. Uncle Steve the Navy SEAL and Danno's partner that had somehow become also his best friend.

Danny didn't fail to see the matching grin plastered across Steve's face. Evidently the never-ending potential for Danny to possibly leave Five-0 had lived persistently in the back of his mind too. The initial announcement that Danny would stay and fight for Grace had eased some tension that neither knew existed. And that was wholly gone now after the custody hearing. Things were also quite good in Steve's world when it came to the new stability of his partner, co-worker and … best friend.

An implausible reality for two people that never should have crossed paths on the planet in the first place and yet, worlds had collided.

Steve was the only person he would willingly entrust his beloved daughter to at a moment's notice with nary a question or look back. He couldn't think of a soul back in Jersey that he would feel the same way about when it came to Grace. And Steve had already proven that trust more than a few times.

Danny had learned to overlook the occasional grenade in the glove compartment of his own car. Life was good and predictable was certainly over-rated.

~ End ~