When Danny and Kris arrive back at the palace a little while later, Kono and Chin are already there, talking in Chin's office. When they see Kris and Danny return, they come out and follow them to the conference room off to the left side of their headquarters, past the main room and gun storage by Kris and Steve's offices. Danny has a seat at the table and takes off his vest, breathing a sigh of relief. Kris takes off her vest and throws it on the table, then leans against the windowsill, and takes a deep breath herself.
"I need a beer." She mutters, apparently loud enough for Danny to hear and chuckle at.
"You and me both." Danny replies as he gently rubs his sore arm, which has stopped throbbing from yesterday's gunshot graze, finally.
Kris raises her eyebrows in reply, then Chin and Kono make their way into the conference room.
"where's the big kahuna?" Chin asks, wondering where Steve went.
"he got a little banged up, he's just getting patched up at kings right now. He'll be okay." Kris tells both Chin and Kono.
They nod. "And Hesse? Did you guys get him?" Kono asks.
Kris takes a second to think about her answer. "Yes and no. Steve and I took him down, but he landed in the water. The coast guard is currently searching for his body. I don't know if we will ever find it though." Kris explains.
Chin and Kono look at her with sympathy.
"there's no way he could survive a hit from both of you. I hope they find him soon, for your sake." Chin says reassuringly. Kris nods, thanking him silently.
"How was the rest of the warehouse raid? Did everything turn out okay?" Danny asks.
Chin and Kono nod, then tell them that everything went well, and that Duke and HPD took over the arrest of Sang Min and made sure all of the immigrants were looked after properly. Kris thanks them for doing a good job, and pulls out her phone to see if Steve has sent her an update.
'on my way back now, all patched up. See you in a bit.' Steve says. Kris shoots back an 'okay' and puts her phone back in her pocket.
"You guys have dinner plans?" She asks Chin, Kono and Danny. They all shake their heads.
"great. Dinner is on us. What's good around here? I'm a little rusty." Kris asks.
Chin ends up ordering some Chinese food for everyone, saying that he knows a really good place downtown. Kris thanks him, then steps out of the room for a brief call from the governor.
The governor just warns her that people will be coming in and out bringing more furniture for the rest of their space, including bunk beds for an emergency crash pad, and equipment for their own gym, which will all be on their floor. The governor also lets her know that there will be new security systems added within the next week or so, then bids Kris adieu, reminds her of their meeting tomorrow morning, and ends the call.
Kris then shoots Steve a quick text to pick up some beer on his way home, and heads back into the conference room.
"well guys, looks like we're getting spoiled." Kris begins.
They all turn to look at their new boss, urging her to continue. "that was the governor. She told me that were getting our own gym and bunk room, too." Kris tells her team, who all like the idea of having their own gym and bunk room.
"So, what are we going to do for training?" Kono asks.
"well, definitely some fitness tests to make sure everyone is okay once were all healed up. I mentioned to Danny earlier that Steve and I want to make sure that you guys are all feeling as safe as possible, so we might do some SWAT training to make sure that we are all on the same page about raids and pursuits. You guys are probably all well versed on it, but Steve and I probably do things differently." Kris explains. "We are going to meet with the governor tomorrow to clarify everything." Kris reassures them. She then hands out her phone number to everyone, just to make sure that they all have it, then heads out to pick up dinner, telling everyone to go and make themselves at home in the office.
A little while later when Kris returns with the takeout Chin ordered, steve is back, and in the conference room with the rest of the team, all sipping on beers. Danny seems a lot more pleasant around Steve, which means that Steve must have done something to mend the burning bridge between them. Kris silently thanks anyone who would listen, and heads in the room. Everyone excitedly huddles around the food and grabs what they want, then they all dig in after a long morning and afternoon at work.
A few bites in, Kris stops and holds up her beer glass. "a toast, to a new team, and new beginnings." She smiles. "thank you, guys, for trusting us and taking a chance on us. We are looking forward to working with you all and getting to know you better." She adds once everyone raises her glass.
"What she said. We're looking forward to working with you and getting to know you better. Thanks for trusting us and embarking on this journey with us. It's gonna be great." Steve adds, clearing his throat awkwardly.
Everyone smiles and clinks their bottles together, saying cheers, then take a sip.
Kono is the first one to speak up following her sip. "y'know, I think we need a cool name... something like strike force." She suggests.
Everyone nods their head, weighing the option in their minds.
"I've got one." Chin speaks up, "what about: a'ohe hana nui ka alu'ia." He suggests.
The room goes silent for a second, then everyone begins to laugh.
"absolutely not, brah." Kono laughs, patting her cousin on the back.
"how about we keep thinking about it," Steve suggests, still chuckling a little bit.
The new team spends the next few hours coming up with ridiculous potential names while they get to know each other better. Kris and Kono end up making plans to go surfing together once Kris' arm is a little more healed. They all agree to meet up at the office in the afternoon tomorrow to do some cardio and make sure they are all in pretty good shape. Kris makes sure to hand out the spare keys she got for the office to everyone so they can get in tomorrow, or whenever they need. She also tells Chin, Kono and Danny to meet with security tomorrow to get their badges and clearance.
When the evening hits, everyone heads home for the night. Steve and Kris pile into the SUV riddled with bullet holes and head home too. They spend the night on the beach, sipping on beer and talking about things they need to make sure are done so they can settle back in on the island.
---------
The next morning, Kris and Steve arrive fifteen minutes early to the governor's office, both sans shoulder slings, as both of their arms are feeling better already. Thankfully, Steve's bullet wound was just a flesh wound, so he is more than ready to carry on with everyday life, pretending that he wasn't just shot a day ago.
The meeting with the governor goes well. She explains that for the time being, they will be acting under her orders as the governor's taskforce.
"As you already know, you will be acting directly under my supervision. You two are sharing command as chief investigators. At some point, you will need to choose a second in command- a chief investigator. Everyone else will be investigators I-III. I am also giving you two authority to swear in your team members and give them their temporary badges, which I have ready for you here. I pulled all of your images from your files. New pictures will be taken when you decide a name for the team, then you will get new badges too." Governor Jameson explains.
She also hands them each a set of keys for new trucks, both equipped with lights, sirens and radios that will connect them to HPD. She then tells them that they have full acess to the HPD's training facilities too, so they can train their team however they like. The governor then tells them that everything looks good for their transfer to the reserves still; their COs were more than happy to transfer them when they found out that they were going to be working for the governor of Hawaii directly. They were due for some shore leave anyways, so thankfully everything was going smoothly.
Steve and Kris stay for a little under an hour, then head back to HQ, where Chin, Danny and Kono should be already.
Thankfully they are. When Steve and Kris walk into HQ, the three other members of the team are standing around the table, all chatting.
"merry Christmas to you all, you all get temporary badges!" Kris says jokingly, tossing everyone their badges.
"Now, everyone, raise your right hand and repeat after me." Steve says, smiling. He proceeds to swear in Chin, Kono and Danny, and officially welcomes them to the Governor's State Taskforce. They thank him and Kris, then they carry on with their day.
The new team spends most of the morning in the gym, running and doing some workouts together, so Steve and Kris can get a feel for their level of physical activity, and to get to know them a little better too. Jokes are passed around the room, and by the end of it, everyone is having a good time and all of the remaining tension between the new team members has been completely dissolved. And, surprisingly, Danny only calls Steve a moron once for acting like he wasn't shot the day before and continuing to work out with everyone else today. Thankfully, he didn't say anything to Kris, as she was in a sling when he first met her a few days ago, but she appeared to be taking it easy, unlike Steve, and not using her left arm too much.
Later in the day, Kris finds herself in her office, on the phone with Aunt Deb, who is working to get hers and Steve's stuff sent over to the island from their storage unit in LA, where Aunt Deb could keep a close eye on it. Everyone has gone home, including Steve, who said that he was going to grab some groceries and grill up some dinner for himself and Kris.
Towards the end of the call with Aunt Deb, the mood changes from lighthearted and helpful to serious and concerned.
"And Kristine, I'll only ask you this one time. First, I need you to drop the tough girl act. I'm not your boss. I'm your aunt and I'm concerned about you two." Deb begins to say. Kris feels her heart sink in her chest, knowing that Deb is about to unlock thoughts that she has been pushing away for too long.
"Are you two okay? Are you happy with this decision?" Deb asks simply.
"That's a loaded question, Deb." Kris chuckles as the tears begin to come out and cloud her vision.
She sniffs. "doing as ok as I can be, I guess. Its-" Kris stops herself and takes a deep breath.
"I know, honey. You two are the strongest people on this planet. You two can get through it, together, like you have for so long." Deb says quietly.
Kris feels the emotional dam beginning to crack in her mind. If she continues to talk about this, everything from the last 16 years that she has kept bottled up is going to make its horrifying reappearance, which is something that Kris does notwant to happen right now.
"I know you two are probably blaming yourselves right now, just like your father did when your mother passed, but I'm going to say the same thing to you that I did to him all those years ago, okay?" Deb says sternly, and pauses for a moment.
Kris takes a deep breath and wipes the tears from her eyes and cheeks.
"His death is not on your hands, Sweetie. His death is on the hands of the person who pulled the trigger. Now, you two were across the world, so it definitely wasn't you who did it. I need you to remind yourself of that, so you aren't riddled with guilt like he was. I cannot see you two do that to yourselves. Don't push everyone away. Accept the help, the love, and the opportunities you are given." Deb explains to Kris, who just sits at her desk and listens, feeling tears roll down her cheeks freely once again.
"I'm going to play the bad guy and the mom here and tell you that I cannot see you two wither away from grief and guilt like John did- it killed me to see him like that. I loved him more than anything in this world, and I love you three just as much. I can keep a close eye on Mary-Ann, but not you two. I love you both so very much, and I need you two to be okay and happy. If staying home in Hawaii is what you need to achieve that, then I fully support you. I always will."
Kris sniffs again and wipes the tears from her eyes so she can see properly. "Thank you, Aunt Deb. Thank you for everything. Always." Kris manages to say.
"I love you, Kit. And I will always be here for you, okay? Please, call me if you need anything ever, okay?" Deb says softly, using an old nickname for Kris that she has not heard in a very long time. The nickname Kit makes Kris' heart swell; Kit is a reminder of an old life, and a happy childhood before everything fell apart.
"I love you too, Deb. Thank you for being our support system. And thank you for looking after everything, as always." Kris sighs, trying to calm herself down a little bit more. Tears still pour out of her eyes.
Kris can feel Deb's smile through the phone. "of course, honey. I'll talk to you later once I get your stuff on the go, okay?" Deb says to her niece fondly.
"alright. Thanks again. Bye Deb." Kris says quietly.
"bye sweetie. Remember what I said."
Kris smiles and hangs up the phone and takes a deep breath to try and lock everything away in her mind again but fails. She puts her head in her hands and just lets the tears and emotions purge her mind and body. The guilt about getting her father killed and being unable to catch Hesse has been eating away at her for these last few days, and now it has finally caught up with her. Kris knows that there was nothing that she could have done to prevent both situations from happening, but that does help her feel any less guilty- her father was dead because of her mission that went wrong, and his killer is still out there somewhere, alive or dead, she does not know, now will she until he washes ashore somewhere.
Kris sits there and has a good cry for a few minutes, then slowly gets herself to regain composure. Following her little crying fit, she notices that she already feels a little bit better and at peace with everything that has happened. Crying has always been a good way for her to release all of the emotions pent up inside her brain, but it was something that she rarely allowed herself to do, especially in the Navy, when she had a reputation of being tough to keep up.
When Kris is finally composed enough to lift her head up again, she looks up to see Danny, walking towards his office but looking over at her, concerned.
They make eye contact, and Danny can feel his heart breaking in his chest for Kris, who looks so hurt and vulnerable right now. He knows that he probably wasn't supposed to see her in a state like this, but of course, he forgot his god damned cellphone in his office, so he had to make another trip back to it after tearing apart his apartment looking for the stupid thing. Danny wants to go into her office to check in on her and make sure she is okay, but he has a feeling that he may be crossing some lines, as she is his boss, and they only met a few days ago. Danny suspects that Kris never lets anybody see her cry or show emotions like this, as she has already proven to him and everyone else that she truly looks after everyone else before herself. He could probably bet Grace's college fund that Steve has never seen her cry or elicit emotions like this.
Danny goes into his office to grab his phone and tucks it in his pocket. He still can't decide on what to do about Kris. He really wants to go in and talk to her, but he is also afraid of crossing any boundaries that lie between the two of them.
'fuck it.' Danny thinks to himself, and then leaves his office. He makes his way to Kris' and knocks on her door softly and enters before she can respond. Right now, her head is back in her hands, and she is looking down at the desk.
"Hey," Danny says softly, and makes his way over to her desk. She sniffs in reply.
He crosses around to her side of the desk and kneels beside her so he isn't towering over her, hoping to make her feel a little more comfortable too. Kris continues to take some deep breaths to calm herself down. She feels embarrassed that Danny has to see her like this.
"Is it okay if I touch you?" Danny asks, making sure that Kris won't freak out if he puts his hand on her knee.
"yeah." Kris says quietly, and rubs her eyes, hoping to get rid of the tears that are still flooding her eyes.
Danny gently places his hand on her knee, and squeezes it, letting Kris know that he is there for her now.
"I'm sorry for making such a scene. I thought I was alone." Kris says to him. She looks over at him with red eyes, which makes Danny's heart pang in his chest.
"hey, its okay. Is everything just hitting you from the last few days?" He asks her quietly.
She nods. "Yeah."
Danny smiles sadly at her. "It's okay to cry, Kris. You don't need to hide around me. I will never judge you for being human." Danny whispers to her with sincerity.
Kris lifts her head up and looks at Danny. He smiles at her.
"There she is. Hi." He says to her, smiling. Kris sits up in her chair and takes a few deep breaths, wiping her eyes and face once again.
"the best thing to do is just let it all out. Trust me on this." Danny says to Kris, who just chuckles.
"That's the plan." Kris mumbles.
"you need time to grieve, Kris. You and Steve both." Danny tells her.
"I know. But I can't. If I let myself fall into that hole, I won't be able to get out of it." Kris explains to him.
He shrugs and nods, understanding that. He always knew that there was a lot more to Kris McGarrett than meets the eye, but he figured that was a story for another time. This encounter makes Danny feel that he will get to know her more one day. Today is a good start, he thinks.
"Just... I know we just met, but I don't like to see anyone I care about hurting. If you need to talk, or just sit in silence with someone, just give me a call, okay? I'm here for you. Always. You two kind of made that official today." Danny smiles at Kris, who just smiles sadly in reply.
"Thank you, Danny. Really, thank you." Kris manages to say. There are a lot of things running through her mind right now that she wishes she could say to him, but she just cant figure out how to say it all.
"Can you stay for a few minutes? Tell me something, anything to distract me." She then asks, hoping that he can distract her enough to push the emotions to the back of her brain again and lock them away indefinitely.
Danny smiles at her. "of course. As long as you need."
"tell me about Grace?" Kris asks, smiling a little bit.
Danny's eyes and face lights up at the mention of his daughter, who is the light of his life. He dives into a story about her first day of kindergarten, and how he cried for the entire morning after he and Rachel dropped her off at the school. Kris finds his smile and laughter awfully contagious and can't help but smile at his animated story about his daughter, which makes her feel a lot happier and less burdened than she did a few moments ago.
Perhaps Danny was the thing that she was missing from her life for so long. Deb had always wanted Kris to find someone who could care for her the way she cared for others, and right now, Danny is proving to her that he is more than capable of doing that.
Three Grace-centric stories later, Kris feels a lot happier, and actually has the ability to laugh again at Danny and his antics. Kris knows, right away, that she has found her person that Aunt Deb was telling her about all those years ago.
Little does she know that Danny is thinking the exact same thing only a few feet away from her.