AN - mahalo to the fantabulous traw for putting up with my ranting and ramblings, and for making this story awesome. A gift for all of the readers who have been supporting me over the past few months here, drop me a review if you liked it/want more :)

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Pulling the Camaro into his usual parking spot, Detective Danny Williams got out of the silver sedan and slammed the door shut, locking the vehicle with a press of the button on his car key. There were plenty of other places the cop could have been at this hour but he wanted to get a head start on the large amount of paperwork left over from the past two weeks, which had been an unusually busy period of time for the ohana publicity wise.

For starters, they had caught the guy who wanted to supersede Sang Min's position as the biggest snakehead on the Islands in a bust which ended spectacularly when Steve had tackled the perp down by the docks, the momentum causing the two grown men to roll off the side of the pier. Some nosy reporter had managed to capture the exact moment when McGarrett had one fist planted firmly against the man's cheek as they half-dangled off the edge.

Moving on, a wealthy socialite had tried to kill her wealthy husband during sex by "accidental" asphyxiation. Jameson had personally requested Five-0 to handle the investigation into the attempted murder as the husband was one of her main benefactors. The Governor wanted the task force to play the elements of the crime to maximize the hurt victim angle.

His sigh was huge and audible as he reached the front steps and began to slowly climb them.

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"Brah, ya know dat if 'dis goes pear-shaped da shit's gonna hit da fan." The Hawaiian man mumbled anxiously as his beady brown eyes took in the tranquility of the Iolani Palace at this time of morning. Despite every inclination that it was going to be yet another pristine, cloudless day, there was the chance that this was going to turn out into the worst day for Harry Kaimuki possible. He brought a thick hand to wipe at the beads of sweat on his head. "If dat source of ya's-"

"My source is always right." His Japanese companion Hiroyuki Okina cut across as he drummed his hands on the steering wheel of the van in an attempt to control his nervousness. They were parked in a spot just outside the Palace along the street, blending in innocuously with the other cars. Apprehension ate at his gut because there was so many ways that this could go wrong. He had so much riding on the success of this operation. "Relax, Harry. Everything's going to be alright."

Swallowing past the lump in his throat, Harry leaned out of his seat and pressed his fingers against the line of window glass before checking his watch. It was 7.23am. "Ya might be right dere. Shit, when is da fucking haole gonna turn up?"

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Danny arrived at the office early to try and think of an approach to mollify the Governor and finish the rest of that report on the snakehead file. If he didn't get a start on these tasks they were never going to get done. Kono and Steve balked at the mention of "that forbidden p word" and vehemently asserted that the paperwork should be left to the professional yesterday before leaving the office.

"Guys, I would like, really appreciate it if you could just write these out-" Danny had started after managing to cage the two frightened animals in the corner where the water cooler was.

"Nah brah. No one's better than you with the words." Kono had replied, breezily moving to the side to make the great escape. However she was thwarted when Danny raised his hand blocking her egress.

"Just do what you usually do and sign my name on the dotted line," Steve shrugged with a nonchalance that somehow got under the ex-Jersey native's skin.

Pinching the bridge of his nose to try and stave off the oncoming migraine, Danny took a deep breath and continued in a forced even tone as he flicked his clear blue eyes to his partner. Arching an eyebrow, he groaned, "Steven, I am going to pretend that you never said that, because that, my friend, is not what cops do. But then again cops don't dangle people off roofs nor do they thrown them in shark cages. They broke the mold with you."

"He's Navy," Chin interjected as he walked out from – somewhere. Danny had not been paying attention to anything else except the two mischievous children in front of him and keeping their attention span on him beyond three seconds. "He's not schooled in the ways of you and I."

"It's never too late to make a start," the shorter detective stated meaningfully as he directed his gaze over the rookie and the Commander. "Besides, paperwork-"

"There is that word again." Kono winced before suddenly falling back against the wall behind her, raising a hand to cover her eyes. "I don't think I even know what that means."

"Just do a squiggle, Jameson will never know." Steve added quite seriously.

"You can't teach an old dog new tricks, brah." Chin smirked, ignoring the blonde man's scoffing. "Come on, it's time to knock off anyway. It's five o'clock."

"So I can write what I want in these reports?" the blonde haired man mock-clarified, allowing a pensive expression to settle on his face. "So I can say that Steve tickled the daylights out this perp and the momentum caused the two grown men to tumble into the large pool of chocolate waiting below." He grinned at McGarrett, who was now staring at him as if he'd grown another head.

"Maybe I better just double check what you write." The Lt Commander confirmed, surprised when his partner shook his head.

Too easy! Danny thought as he took a step closer to McGarrett, resisting the impulse to poke him squarely in the chest. "No, if you trust me enough to write the thing for you in the first place, you should trust my attention to details. I always make sure to write down everything is as much detail as I can in these reports."

Clearly recognizing this as another of their work colleagues' platonic carguments sans the car, Chin and Kono shook their heads as they headed for the door, muttering beneath their breath about how the Navy SEAL and his partner should just get it out of their systems already. Danny was more focused on the fact that he had Steve somewhat interested in paperwork and missed their exit. If Captain America could cross that final frontier then there was hope for all of them.

"It's too late," Danny added, before grinning. "Once that squiggle goes on the line-" he paused to make a dramatic, sweeping hand gesture. "That's it. It's official and nothing can be done. Though of course, it'd be totally different if you were to - I don't know, try writing them yourself."

The blaring of a car horn on the road outside the Palace gates snapped him out of reliving that daydream and he walked up the steps, a little spring in his step as he climbed the dark koa wood stairs. He had to swing by the District Attorney's office later in the afternoon to discuss the specifics of Iortchenko's – the socialite's – case. There had been discussion of getting a gag order on the press to stop them tampering with the jury pool and to stop the trial by media of the woman, who they had taken to nicknaming "Lady Fingers." If he could finish these two things then he could go home a little early and get things ready for the weekend with the light of his life – Gracie.

There were no lights on in the office when he finally reached the landing. This meant that McGarrett had not arrived yet, despite the taller man's rather emphatic assurances that he would. Danny sighed as he realized that he had drawn the short stick again as he pushed the key into the lock, opening the front glass door with a click. Stepping inside, he reached out for the light switch and flicked it on, bathing the space in bright light. He briskly walked past the main space where the computer table was to head down the long corridor towards his office. He took a deep breath, savoring the quietness that he knew was not going to last. As soon as the master of chaos and his fanatical disciple arrived, the peace and quiet would quickly become a thing of the past.

If he was being honest with himself, he was looking forward to preparing a cool and rational argument to present to the District Attorney on why they needed a blanket gag order on the media to let Natalia Iortchenko. His bum knee had been acting up again lately following a rather spirited chase along the pier where he ended up landing hard on that knee and jarring it. Every time he looked down at it the large, purple bruise was a constant reminder of the fact that he was not obeying the doctor's orders. Danny didn't need to use his cane but that was only through sheer refusal – he hated using the thing.

The physician had warned that Danny was going to totally destroy his ACL if he didn't take things easier on the job. The detective had tried to explain that the doctor's request just couldn't be done – he was for all intents and purposes stuck with the biggest walking, ticking time bomb on the islands. Trouble followed McGarrett like a magnet – in fact, Danny would not have been surprised if the man's middle name was not John, but was in fact some horribly pompous sounding word meaning trouble. Preferably in French. After a lot of finagling the tired and exasperated medical examiner had finally given him a prescription for some really strong anti-inflammatory tablets and told him to try and take it easy. The pills worked when they were taken but Danny didn't want to become dependent on them, he didn't want to come to rely on anyone, or anything.

A quiet morning in the office would do him some good. Entering his dark office, the detective switched on the light and moved to sit down at his desk. He placed the bag of fresh malasadas and strong cup of coffee on the corner of his desk that was not cluttered. Last night he had left the office suddenly and the paperwork from the Iortchenko case was still open, ready for him to continue. Danny seized the cup of coffee and took a sip, sighing in happiness at the rich flavor of the aromatic brew as he waited for the computer to start.

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"You ready, brah? You know you only have one shot at this. Make it work."

"Yeah, I gotcha. In 'n out, like we discussed." Pressing the package closer to his chest, Harry opened the door of the van and stepped outside into the morning sunshine, making a straight beeline for the Iolani Palace steps.

Okina watched the Hawaiian man disappear into the darkness of the interior of the Palace, his thin lips pressed into a grim line and he waited – and prayed - for a successful outcome. If he could get to Danny Williams then everything would be smooth sailing from now on, and he could move up to the ranking of First Lieutenant within the Honolulu arm of the Yakuza. The snakehead would get the blame and the competition would be cut out.

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Danny was contemplating the bizarre twenty minute gap between the emergency 911 call and the time that Max had given them as the official time of death, having just scribbled a note onto his writing pad when he heard the front door creak open before an unfamiliar male voice called out.

"Hello?"

"Anyone here?" the voice called out again, this time accompanied by louder footsteps.

"Coming!" Standing up, the detective rushed out of his office to greet the visitor. The quick movement caused a twinge in his knee, causing him to stop and rub the joint for a few moments before continuing down the journey. Mentally cursing his recalcitrant partner and the pills, the detective soon came face to face with a deliveryman waiting just inside the front door. He was wearing a FedEx uniform and carrying a parcel wrapped in brown paper that was about as big as an A4 sized book. "Hi, who's that for?"

"Hi!" The man greeted warmly, a smile stretching across his wrinkled features. The deliveryman, in his late forties/early fifties, looked down to the clipboard clutched tightly in his left hand before appearing to scan down the page. "Are you Detective Danny Williams?"

"I am," Danny replied, temporarily confused as to what the parcel could be. He had no memory of ordering anything online OR requesting it to be sent to the office. "Is that there for me?" The detective asked, eyeing the unobtrusive package tucked under the courier's right arm as he took a step closer.

"Yes, sir." The other man replied, before handing the parcel to Danny. The blonde haired man took the slightly heavy box and placed it on one of the wooden corners of the computer table. The courier then handed the detective a clipboard and a pen. "Sign here please." He requested, pointing a gnarled finger to the dotted line next to Danny's name.

The ex-Jersey cop signed as requested before handing the pen and clipboard back to the deliveryman. He was standing close enough to read the name sewn onto the front of the shirt – Harry. The fact that Danny wasn't able to recall either why or from whom would he receive a large parcel like this disturbed him. Something nagged at the back of his mind but he was unable to quantify exactly what it was. "First delivery of the day for you, eh Harry?" he asked jovially, trying to find out some more offhand information about the delivery.

"Yes, sir," Harry replied, before replacing the pen back into the clip at the top of the clipboard. "I have a lot of other deliveries to do across the Island today. By the end of the day I will have gone from Koko Head all the way to Hanauma Bay…have a good day today!" With that the Hawaiian man flashed Danny a warm smile before turning on his heel, leaving the offices.

The detective stood there for a few moments after the top of Harry's head could no longer be seen as the man had disappeared down the koa wood stairs. Turning around, Danny walked over to the table to pick up the package. He lifted it and held it against his ear, listening for the telltale tick tick tick that would signify a bomb. Feeling foolish, he lowered the package and shook his head, amused at his own paranoia. He tucked the wrapped cardboard box under his arm and walked back to his office, keen on performing a closer inspection of the parcel.

As soon as he crossed the threshold he closed the door behind himself firmly with a kick of his foot before crossing to his desk to throw the package onto his desk. Swiveling around to the other side, he reached out to turn his desk lamp on. Fluorescent brightness flooded onto his desk, causing the package to cast shadows along the smooth, dark wood. Danny pulled the package closer to him. As soon as he did, he let out the breath he didn't know he had had been holding when he saw Rachel's familiar cursive script spell out his name and the address of Five-0 Headquarters. Still, he wondered why Rachel would send him something. Their highly fractured relationship was still highly strung and they had merely just begun to be able to be civil to each other. It was not in her character to be this forthcoming with the olive branches, he knew better than anyone that when the woman wanted to hold a grudge no one could best her.

Danny pulled open his desk drawer to extract a pair of sharp scissors. Positioning the blade over the brown string, he carefully cut across the thin line, causing the knot to unravel. Slowly peeling the brown crinkly paper off, he was strongly reminded of The Sound of Music of all things as the wrapping yielded to reveal an ordinary, unassuming looking brown box sealed with some packing tape.

There was a sense of anticipation in the air as he hurriedly cut across the seal. The detective ran the edge of the scissors down the middle of the top of the box. Once the tape was cut, the blonde haired man moved to open the lid and that was the last thing he was going to remember for a very long time as he was blinded by an intense white light before everything when dark as he was engulfed in pain – it seared his arms, legs and face until he could no longer stand it as a loud explosion rocked the office and everything went black.