🌺Episode 2 – Daughter of Shadows ( Kaikamahine o ka Malu)
The morning sun spilled across the glass walls of the Five-0 headquarters, but inside the air was thick enough to choke on.
John leaned against the wall, arms folded, a silent shadow. Tia sat curled in one of the leather chairs, necklace clutched like a lifeline. Steve paced the floor, wearing down the tiles with every turn. Chin and Kono stood nearby, waiting for someone to speak.
Naturally, it was Danny.
"Okay," he said, throwing up his hands. "Somebody explain to me how my partner — my partner — the human Swiss Army knife of chaos, has a ten-year-old daughter, and I find out about it because John Rambo here strolls in like it's a family reunion."
Steve stopped pacing. His jaw tightened. "Danny—"
"No. No, don't you 'Danny' me. You mean to tell me Rosa — Rosa, who was your friend's girlfriend — somehow forgot to mention this tiny, very important detail? 'Oh hey, by the way, Steve has a kid.' She just… skipped that part?"
John's eyes flicked to him. "It wasn't her secret to tell, that was her sister's job."
Danny spun on him. "Oh, thank you, Confucius. Here's the thing, Wo Fat and his merry band of psychos found out before us. That's not protecting her, that's painting a target on her back the size of Oahu!"
Tia shrank deeper into the chair. Danny caught himself, exhaled, then crouched down to her level. His tone softened, his hands gesturing less wildly.
"Hey. Sorry, sweetheart. I yell a lot. Not at you, okay? At them." He jerked a thumb at Steve and John. "You? You're safe here. I promise. With me, you're safe."
Tia blinked at him. For the first time, the corners of her mouth twitched upward. A tiny smile. Danny winked.
Steve saw it — and for once, he didn't mind Danny running his mouth.
John sat sharpening a knife on the edge of the table, the metallic rasp scraping nerves raw. Steve stood across from him, arms crossed, fury simmering. Danny paced behind them like a man trying to talk himself out of a speeding ticket.
Finally, Steve snapped. "You should've told me the second you knew."
John didn't look up. "that's why I am here, got on the plane as soon as I knew. I can't defend Rosa's choice, but I know she did it to protect Tia."
"She's my daughter, John." Steve's voice cracked just slightly, his fists clenching. "I had a right to know!"
John finally met his gaze, eyes cold. "You had a duty. To the Navy. To your team. Rosa knew what that meant. She chose to protect Tia. And when she died. I got Tia mailed to me in a box like cargo with a letter to protect her, which I am doing. End of story."
Danny threw up his hands. "Oh great, here we go. Testosterone Olympics. Look, I hate to break it to both of you, but the kid doesn't need two guys fighting over who's the bigger martyr. She needs a father. And I for one think unless I'm crazy, which I might be, think she'd prefer one who isn't leaking blood lust."
John's hand on the side carry knife Froze . Steve's jaw worked, but he said nothing.
Chin cleared his throat. "If Wo Fat knows about her, then Rosa must have been involved in something bigger than we realized."
Kono nodded. "We'll start digging. Old files, anything connecting Rosa to intel networks."
Steve finally sank into a chair opposite Tia. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, his voice gentler than John had ever heard. "Tia… do you know why people are after you?"
She shook her head. "I just… I just know Aunt Rosa told me never to take this necklace off." She held it out, the silver catching the light.
John frowned. He'd seen it a thousand times but never thought to question. Steve motioned Chin over. "Get it scanned. Every inch."
That night, the team worked late. Scanners hummed, files opened, databases cross-checked. Tia sat curled on the couch, drifting into uneasy sleep. John stayed near her, sharpening his knife with slow, deliberate strokes like a hunter waiting for his prey. Steven likewise stayed in his chair watching and waiting.
The next morning, Chin stepped back into the office. "Got something."
Everyone crowded the screen. The scan revealed microscopic grooves inside the clasp of the necklace. A hidden microchip, encrypted beyond simple codes.
Steve's breath caught. "Tia… what were you carrying?"
Later that afternoon, Steve tried normal.
The ocean shimmered blue and endless. Surfboards leaned in the sand. Tia stood with her arms folded, staring at the waves.
"I can't do this," she muttered.
"Yes, you can." Steve knelt beside her, his tone gentle. "McGarretts don't drown. It's in the blood."
Tia's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Really." Steve smiled — small, but real. "I started surfing when I was your age."
She hesitated, then nodded. Together they waded into the water. When she finally caught her first wave — shaky, clumsy, but upright — her laugh carried back across the beach like sunlight. Steve's chest ached at the sound.
Behind them, John watched from the pier, arms folded. His face didn't move, but his eyes tracked every ripple. He didn't trust peace. Peace was the silence before the kill.
And he was right.
An explosion tore through their car that evening.
Windows shattered, alarms shrieked, children screamed. Steve sprinted towards them through smoke, calling Tia's name. John covered Tia's side with rifle ready, scanning the car park like a man back in the desert.
Steve found her huddled behind John's side, eyes wide, dust streaking her face. Relief washed over Steve, but before he could reach her, John's gun barked.
The bomber stumbled out of the haze, bloodied but alive. John pressed his pistol to the man's temple and fired. Point-blank.
The Tia screamed again.
Steve spun. "What the hell, John?!"
"He was a threat," John said flatly.
"In front of kids?" Danny's voice cracked with disbelief. He stormed up, flailing his arms. "What is wrong with you? You don't get to just shoot people in front of children! This isn't Rambo: Parent Edition!"
John's face was stone. "Threats get neutralized."
Danny jabbed him in the chest. "You know what else gets neutralized? Childhood. You just ripped away a piece of hers she can never get back. You think that's strength? No. You want strong? Strong is raising her so she doesn't grow up to believe the world is just bullets and blood."
Steve stepped between them, his voice low, furious. "This isn't the desert, John. This is Oahu and there are laws."
"And this what I do to keep her alive," John snapped. Steve's burning with rage replied " thank you for keeping her alive but next time let's do it somewhere secluded.
Before Danny could talk some sense into the seals, Chin ran up, tablet in hand. His face was pale.
"The chip. We cracked it."
Everyone gathered. The screen displayed coordinates. Not random. Not meaningless. A location buried deep in classified maps.
Steve's eyes narrowed. "An old CIA black site."
Kono's breath caught. "Here. On Oahu."
The five of them went still. The shadows were growing, reaching out from the past. And somewhere far away, Wo Fat smiled.