A Simple Twist of Fate

A/N: Hello, everyone! Looks like my brain can't stay still for too long… ready for another ride?

This is a case fic so there's a bit of everything – bad guys, team work, friendship, and of course the ever-present (in my stories at least) whump. I do know what fangirls like to read and would never deprive you of that. ;)

You will also meet a female original character but fear not, she is in no way a threat to either of the boys. I like them just like they are now, with no girlfriends attached, so she's only a means to an end, to get them where I needed them to be.

Hope you enjoy this first chapter. I'd love to know what you think. Depending on how well the story's received, I'll try to post more than once a week.

Prologue

Three seconds.

Sara Patterson had no idea that her already bruised heart could shatter again in such a small amount of time.

Three damn seconds. That's all it took for her to process what the voice at the other end of the line was saying.

The coffee she was holding fell from her hand, spilling all over the desk and down on the floor but she willed herself to keep listening, fighting the wave of panic that was tearing at her.

She stood there for a long moment after the phone call ended, frozen in the quiet stillness that had enveloped the room, watching the brown stain on the carpet grow larger and larger until things suddenly fell into a daze and she blindly reached for her purse, heading out of the office.

Her friend and co-worker Susan Harris spotted her as soon as she stepped into the hallway. "Hey Sara! You're not gonna believe what Michelle just told me," she teased, an amused glint in her eyes.

Sara waved her off and kept walking. "I don't have time for this, Susan, I gotta go."

"What? Where?" the other girl asked, trying to catch up. How could she not be interested in the latest, juicy office gossip? She grabbed her arm, hoping at least to slow her down. "What's going on?" Standing closer, she finally noticed the teary eyes and distraught expression and her tone immediately changed from annoyed to concerned. "Honey, are you alright?"

Sara stopped and sighed, unable to hide the anguish from her face. "Look, I can't talk to you right now. I need to go." The words had barely left her mouth and she was already running out the door, her pace quick and steady despite the storm of emotions raging inside.

"What about Andrew?" Susan wondered aloud, hands on her hips, thinking about their boss and what would undoubtedly be his not-too-pleased reaction to the fact that she was leaving work without permission. Receiving no answer, she shrugged and went back to her office. Whatever it was, she would hear about it later. She always did.

Outside, an uncertain sun slipped in and out of clouds, bathing the afternoon in a dim light. An unusually cold wind blew in powerful gusts, dragging around discarded papers and crumpled leaves.

Sara shivered, wiping a few, strand tears with the back of her hand. She looked around, her expression lost as she scanned her surroundings until she spotted what she was looking for and hurriedly crossed the street.

She was so focused on her destination that she barely noticed the truck coming from the left until it braked just inches from her. An angry horn blared a second later and she jumped, her gaze locking on the startled driver.

They stared at each other for a long moment, hearts slamming into their chests, before Sara broke the spell and started walking again, vanishing amongst the swarm of pedestrians.

None of those people spared her a second glance while they leisurely strolled along the sidewalks, laughing noisily and taking pictures of Oahu's breathtaking views and attractions. Unbeknownst to all, as the breeze kept fluttering around that January afternoon, the truck slowly resumed its ride and the streets came alive in typical Friday fashion, the island revealed its dark, hidden side and swallowed another soul.

Chapter one

"Hey, move the damn truck!"

Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett smacked the steering wheel. Hard.

He was supposed to meet up with his partner ten minutes before but had been considerably slowed down for the last couple of blocks by a delivery truck whose driver was apparently having a worse morning than him maneuvering through Downtown Honolulu.

"Come on, man, come on…" he muttered, glancing at the clock on the dashboard. He hated being late, even when he was notified last-minute on a Saturday morning.

The call had come in exactly two hours and thirty-two minutes after he'd collapsed on the couch at five in the morning, mentally and physically drained by their last case, the gruesome death of a child at the hands of his own father. The kind of case that leaves you cold inside and longing either for some human touch or a bottle of Jack Daniels. Or in Steve's case, a five-mile swim into the ocean, which had been exactly the plan before he'd passed out from exhaustion.

He briefly considered flashing his badge to the idiot that had double-parked in front of a store but quickly dismissed the though when he spotted a patrol car approaching. Let the uniforms deal with him. He had no time to waste.

According to Duke's call, the victim they were supposed to investigate on was a relative of an HPD officer. He didn't have all the details but already knew what that meant: extra pressure from the Governor and unwelcome attention on the media.

Frowning at what would undoubtedly be another difficult case and deciding he'd had enough, Steve turned on the lights to signal his presence and the rush he was in and steered left, guiding the tires on that side of the vehicle over the sidewalk and around the halted truck, effectively bypassing it.

He drove the rest of the way at full speed to make up for the lost time and reached his destination in record time, stopping his Silverado to the curb behind one of the cruisers already crowding the area. Wasting no time getting out of the vehicle he approached his partner, Detective Danny Williams, who was standing by his own car, phone pressed to his ear.

The blond detective greeted him with a 'took you long enough, Steven' gesture, his free arm waving through the air in annoyance. Steve rolled his eyes, deciding not to voice the comeback that was about to escape his lips. Their last case had hit Danny hard, and frustrating rants were how he dealt with stress and difficult situations.

Waving him off, he took a few steps forward and focused on the scene in front of him.

The buildings on the residential street they'd been called to were mostly studios and one-bedroom apartments tightly packed together, a usually quiet neighborhood in the downtown area that was now experiencing the frenzy of activity of a crime scene.

A few officers were securing the scene as best as they could, cordoning off the perimeter with yellow crime scene tape as the air around them crackled with static and metallic voices sputtering from their radios.

Danny held out one hand to get his attention. "Alright, keep me posted. Steve and I are going inside."

"What do we got?" Steve asked, following his partner toward the entrance of the building.

"Sara Marie Patterson, 28. Brother reported her missing when he showed up an hour ago and found her place ransacked."

"Kidnapping?"

"Not sure. But this guy's a cop so Duke called in a favor. You know what it's like when it's family."

Steve nodded. "You know him?"

"I don't, but I've heard good things about him."

They climbed the two flights of stairs to apartment 2B and paused at the top of the staircase where Sergeant Duke Lukela was waiting for them. His grim expression told them this wasn't just a regular B&E and that the woman was part of their family as much as her brother.

"Duke, what can you tell us?" Steve asked, putting a comforting hand on the older man's shoulder.

"This is a very grave situation, Steve," the Hawaiian Sergeant said, getting straight to the point. "I'm trusting Five-0 to do whatever is in its power to find out what happened here."

"You have my word."

"My officers and I are ready to offer our full cooperation."

"We appreciate that," Steve replied. "Do you personally know Ms. Patterson?"

Lukela folded his arms across his chest. "Yes. Her father was HPD too. I went to the Academy with him. I've known Sara since she was a kid."

"So you think it's safe to rule out drugs or a runaway situation?"

"Absolutely. She would've never walked away from her family." He paused for a moment, letting the words linger in the air. "Follow me. I think the evidence will speak for itself."

The man's tone held such a confidence that Steve instantly believed him. Duke was the voice of reason, one of HPD's best. A kind man, feared by criminals and respected by peers, who always knew when to use his authority or give out friendly advices. If he trusted the woman, then she was most definitely worthy of that belief.

Falling in stride next to him the two partners stared at each other, sharing the same concerns without even speaking a word. It was still too early to make assumptions after all.

"Hey guys," a familiar voice halted them in their tracks.

"Anything?" Danny asked as one of Five-0's younger recruits, Tani Rey, walked towards them.

"Not much," she admitted. "But one of the neighbors says she saw Sara coming home with some guy yesterday afternoon. I told her to go down to the Station so we can get a description."

"That's good," Steve nodded.

"I've also been talking to the girl's brother," she continued, pointing to a young man standing by the apartment's door. "He's convinced she didn't come home from work last night."

Four sets of eyes turned to stare at him.

Officer Josh Patterson was a small person, no more than five-eight, but there was something about him that filled the space around him. Trim, athletic, with close-cropped hair and a five-o'-clock shadow, he struck Steve as the kind of man who'd once walked the fine line that separates a cop from a criminal but had never actually crossed it and now wore the uniform with pride, still believing that in the end, good guys always win.

Realizing to be the focus of the group's attention, the man ran a hand through his hair and headed in their direction.

"These are Commander McGarrett and Detective Williams from Five-0," Duke informed him.

Steve shook his hand. "Sergeant Lukela was filling us in but I'd like to hear it from you if you don't mind," he stated as he came to stand on Patterson's left. Danny mirrored his posture on the opposite side.

"My sister's gone," the officer said flatly. "Something happened to her last night. She- we were supposed to meet up this morning to buy a gift for our mother's birthday but she didn't show up so I thought- you know, that she'd overslept or something." He leaned against the wall, hands thrust deep inside his pockets. "I tried calling her but she didn't answer so I tried her work 'cause sometimes she works extra hours on Saturdays and this scumbag, he tells me if I find her, to tell her she's fired. Says she left without saying a word and he won't tolerate that. That's when I knew something was wrong." He turned to meet Steve's gaze. "She would never do that."

"Where does she work?" Danny inquired.

"Jeffries & Gaynes. Law firm on Bishop."

"Do you know if she was having problems, something that might explain why she disappeared like that?"

The young man shook his head. "Not that I know of."

Silence stretched for a moment. Steve folded his arms across his chest, not liking the picture that was being painted. His gut was telling him that something had happened to the young woman, and he had every intention to make sure this case didn't end up with another death.

"Josh… can I call you Josh?" He waited for the man's consent before continuing. "Are you and your sister close?"

Patterson's lips parted into a weak smile. "I like to think we are, but I know there's a lot of stuff she probably doesn't tell me. She's been living on her own for over ten years, and between our schedules it's not easy to catch up. But she knows I'm there, and I know she'd come to me if she had a problem. That much I'm sure of," he finished, feeling his cell phone vibrate in his pocket. His face fell as he glanced at the caller ID. "My mother… What the hell am I supposed to tell her?" he whispered, a lost expression in his eyes.

Steve's gaze dropped. He was all too familiar with this part, having been on both ends of devastating news like this before. Memories of uniforms knocking on his doors and of his own sister locked in a trunk suddenly overwhelmed his tired mind, rendering him speechless. He wished he could offer the man a word of comfort but was unable to find any.

"We'll try to find some answers for you, alright?" Danny chimed in, sensing his friend's discomfort.

Officer Patterson wearily dragged a hand down his grief-lined face and excused himself to answer his phone. A second later, Duke muttered a "keep me posted" and walked away as well, Tani hot on his heels.

Taking advantage of the brief moment of solitude, Danny brushed his hand lightly over Steve's back. "Hey, you alright?" He knew better than to display concern at a crime scene in front of other people and fellow law enforcement officials, but he'd become a master at discreetly checking on his partner without drawing any attention or driving him mad.

The former SEAL nodded, a whispered 'yeah' the only acknowledgment before he swiped at his face and headed towards apartment 2G, determined to find at least a few of those answers.

The place was small, a one-bed apartment with a side view on the canal that looked as if it had been hit by a tornado: tables overturned, chairs toppled, books, CDs and other ornaments scattered haphazardly on the ground.

He moved further inside the living room, careful not to break any item or step on whatever evidence might be left as he surveyed the damage.

A trail of blood ran across the living room, so small you could barely notice it in all that mess. Steve kneeled down to take a better look at it just as Danny and Doctor Noelani Cunha stepped inside.

"Gravitational drops," the Hawaiian ME stated as she inspected the small, crimson stains. They grew larger as they neared the hallway, indicating whoever had left them was moving towards the front door and standing as they bled.

Steve took a couple of steps forward, following the trail. And there it was, the smear of a hand on the wall just above the light switch. He pointed upward to one of the artworks on the wall, its broken glass what had probably cut through flesh.

"Over here!" he called out. "Someone threw a punch here."

"Or was slammed against it," Danny suggested, coming to stand next to him. "Take a picture," he instructed one of the techs, then turned to Steve again. "I'll check the bedroom."

The Five-0 leader nodded and headed back to the living room. His expert eyes scanned every surface, object and piece of furniture, committing the scene to memory. Other than the obvious mess, nothing in the apartment seemed to point to a specific suspect or was enough to give them any indication about the woman's whereabouts. They'd have to wait for the forensic team to complete their exams. Whatever secret the evidence might hold, it would hopefully be revealed to them back at the lab.

What he needed now was a cup of black coffee and a few ibuprofens to get through the day. Or maybe not, he thought to himself as his stomach growled in protest, not thrilled by the prospect of downing medications without food.

"Danny, you finished?"

He'd heard his partner answer another phone call and wondered if it was related to the case so he decided not to wait for an answer and joined him in the bedroom, which seemed to be in much better condition than the rest of the apartment. A bunch of clothes had been taken out of the closet and were now lying in a heap on the floor but besides that, it looked like the intruder had either not been interested in this room or was interrupted by something –or someone.

"That, uh… that was Lou," the Jersey detective informed him, pointing to the device in his hand. "He's expecting us back at the office. The Governor's already breathing down our neck, so this case gets top priority."

Steve shook his head. "Great. Nothing better than the top elected official in the state watching your every move. Let's go."

Turning around, his gaze was drawn to a picture stuck in the frame of the mirror over the dresser. He leaned closer to take a better look at it and froze. Three smiling faces stared back at him, and two of them were familiar.

He took the photo in his hands. "Danny…" His voice betrayed a hint of distress as he looked at the young woman sitting between two men. "I need to tell you something."

They had just found the first piece of the puzzle.

TBC