Sarcasm or Suckage

Sam said goodbye to Matt, one of the hunters on the West Coast and turned to Dean, closing his phone. “We have a case.”

Dean waited. Sam wasn’t telling him everything. “And?”

Sam’s shoulders hunched a little. “It’s in Hawaii,” he said.

Dean felt his stomach turn over a couple of times. “That means a plane,” he muttered.

“Yeah,” Sam put a hand on his arm. “Are you up for it?”

“Flying,” Dean declared as though it was Armageddon. Which it certainly felt like.

“I can ask around,” Sam offered. “Send someone else.”

Dean shook his head. “I can do this,” he assured Sam. And himself. “It’s just a tin can a couple of miles in the air. How hard can it be?”

Sam looked doubtful. “If you’re sure?”

Dean nodded. “Tell me about the case,” he said.

“Four dead so far,” Sam told him. “Massive blood loss. Not much left of the victims.”

“And we think this is ours because?” Dean raised an eyebrow and scowled when Bobby moved his whiskey glass away from him. “Cut that out!” He looked in Bobby’s general direction.

Bobby didn’t reply, didn’t show himself but Dean could feel the disapproval in the air and he left the glass. “I’m going to leave the flask on the mainland,” he told Bobby. “Then you won’t be able to come with us.”

“Stop messing with Bobby and pay attention,” Sam said and Dean turned back to him with a last pointed glare at the empty space where he was sure Bobby was standing.

“Okay, all ears,” he said.

“The Medical Examiner hasn’t been able to establish a COD because there isn’t much left of the bodies.” Sam pointed at his laptop screen. “Mostly body parts.”

“Wonderful,” Dean muttered. “Sounds like fun.”

Sam turned the eyes on him. “It’s Hawaii, Dean.”

“And?” Dean asked.

“It’s the vacation capital of the world?”

Dean sighed. “Honestly, you’re such a princess, Sam.”

Sam stood up and kissed him quickly. “Our flight leaves in four hours, we’d better get moving.” He went into the bathroom to begin clearing their stuff.

Dean contemplated killing his brother. He would if he didn’t know that Sam would totally come back and haunt him. “Like some other jerks I know,” he mumbled.

Bobby tripped him as he walked to his bed to start packing. “So leaving the flask behind,” Dean threatened.

*********

Steve sat back on his heels. “Well that’s new.”

“Ya think?” Danny asked and they both looked down at the body.

“We’re making progress, bra,” Chin told Steve.

Danny’s eyes went wide. “Progress? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Chin squinted at him. “Well, we actually have an entire body now, for one.”

Danny’s chest puffed out. “And what makes you think that this is the work of whoever’s been taking the others?” he asked.

Steve wanted to step between them but he’d learned his lesson the hard way with Chin and Danny. He left them to their bickering and focused on the body.

“Exsanguination,” Max came up next to him and crouched down.

“Blood loss?” Steve watched Max take out the thermometer.

“Indeed,” Max stuck the instrument into the gash below the deceased’s ribcage. “And we should have T.O.D. in about,” he pulled the thermometer out, “now.” He grinned.

“And?” Steve prompted.

“Some time between midnight and two a.m.”

Steven nodded and stroked his chin. “What could drain a man of blood like this?” he asked, not really expecting an answer.

“Vampire?” Max suggested. Steve suspected that he was only half-joking.

“There’s no such thing as a vampire,” Chin said. “Perhaps it’s a Kupua?”

Danny bit. “What’s a kapua?” he asked.

“They’re tricksters,” Chin explained. “They’re able to appear in different bodies and destroy anyone they catch.”

“So much more real than a vampire,” Danny noted to Steve with a small grin. He tried not to grin back but Danny’s smiles were like drugs. Once you got one of them, you just wanted more. Steve’s brain veered away from that train of thought.

Chin was almost scowling at Danny. “You don’t know everything about the islands, haole,” he pointed a finger.

Danny held his hands up. “And you don’t know everything about the mainland, Ho.” Chin’s lip curled dangerously and Danny took a step back.

Steve decided to stop this right now, blood was about to spill. “It’s not a vampire or a Kupua,” he told them and Max peered up at him.

“You know what it is?” he asked.

Steve shook his head. “I’m not even going to hazard a guess on this one.” He folded his arms. “We’ve got five bodies now, each at the time of the full moon.”

“Remains,” Max corrected.

“Remains,” Steve agreed. He frowned. “This one makes five, one a month.” He looked at Danny and his mouth was grim. “I think it’s fair to say that we have a serial killer on our hands.”

Danny nodded. “But we don’t know how they’re being snatched, what the killer is doing to them or why.”

“Well,” Max offered, “we do know how they’re dying.”

Steve grimaced. “Being drained of blood isn’t really a cause of death, Max.”

Max blinked. “Well, let’s see how well you live if you don’t have any blood,” he suggested.

Danny waved a hand. “I know what he means,” He pointed at the body. “Exsanguination is the result, not the cause.”

Steve made his fingers into a pistol shape and ‘pulled’ the trigger. “Got it in one, Danno.”

“Oh my god,” Chin looked between them. “No wonder the entire HPD thinks that you two are sleeping together.”

Danny’s mouth opened and closed several times, face going a little red. Steve bit his lip, trying not to laugh. “Fuck you,” Danny told Chin.

“No thanks, I’m married.” Chin looked up as Kono came over. “What did the witness say?”

She shook her head. “Nothing much. He’s pretty freaked out about it, cuz.” She looked over at the jogger who’d discovered the body. “He literally fell on top of him.”

Danny gave a full body shudder that Steve resolutely ignored. Not looking at Danny had become a full-time job. “That’ll give him nightmares for years,” he said.

Steve grimaced. “Shit happens.”

Danny stared at him. “Seriously, Steven, that’s what you’ve got? ‘Shit happens’?”

Steve decided to ignore Danny and he turned back to Max. “So, what is your expert diagnosis?”

Max blew out a breath. “I hate to admit this, especially when there are others around, but I don’t have a clue.” His shoulders went tight. “Perhaps after I have examined the victim in my laboratory I’ll be able to give you more information.”

Steve nodded and waved at the ME officers waiting to take the body. “Okay, Max, I’m relying on you to get to the bottom of this. You told me that you needed more evidence than a couple of hands and feet.” Max scowled at him. “Well you’ve got almost an entire body now.”

Danny and Chin pointedly looked at the ground as Max narrowed his eyes. “Are you suggesting..?” he trailed off.

Steve held up his hands. “Hey, not questioning your capabilities, I swear,” he said. “I’m just frustrated and needing to know what the hell is going on.”

“I am doing my best,” Max walked off to the ME’s van, looking a little dejected.

Danny bumped Steve’s shoulder. “Way to upset off the resident genius, babe.”

Steve sighed, “I didn’t mean to do it.” He stepped carefully away from Danny, trying not to appear as though he was actually stepping away from Danny. The frown on his partner’s face told him that he hadn’t been all that successful.

“What’s going on with you?” Danny demanded.

Steve fought the urge to hunch his shoulders. “Nothing,” he said and turned to leave.

Danny’s hand on his arm stopped him. “Seriously, Steven, what the fuck?” His eyes were confused.

Steve shook his head. “I just…” he felt helpless and Danny pulled him away from the crime scene, face concerned.

“Talk to me,” he urged.

Steve sucked in a breath. “I can’t,” he said and he felt like a shit when Danny flinched. “I just can’t, Danno.”

“We’re supposed to be partners, best friends, able to trust each other with everything,” Danny sounded a little wrecked.

“Not this,” Steve insisted but he tried to smile. “You wouldn’t…” He shook his head again. “Don’t push this, okay?”

Danny looked like he wanted to push but he just pressed his lips together and walked away.

Steve could see by the set of his shoulders that Danny was pissed at him. It couldn’t be helped though. Steve just had to get over this ridiculous Danny-crush and things would go back to normal.

Kono came up to him after seeing Max off. “You’re making a mistake, boss,” she said. “He deserves to know how you feel.”

The blood flushed through Steve’s body, painting his cheeks hot and red before he paled again. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he told her.

She snorted. “Even a blind man can see how you are about him.” She watched Danny crouch down and poke at something in the dirt. “Don’t waste your chance at happiness.”

“There’s nothing…” Steve began and then stopped when she levelled a stare at him. Kono was fucking scary when she looked like that.

“Stop kidding yourself.” She patted his arm. “You and Danny are totally supposed to be together. There’s a reason why we all joke about you being married.”

Steve glared at her. “That is so offensive on so very many levels.”

She shrugged one shoulder. “Eh, it is what it is.”

Danny had called Chin over and they were animatedly discussing whatever it was that Danny had found. Kono and Steve walked over to them.

“Find something?” Steve asked and watched as Danny had a brief internal debate as to whether he should answer him or not. Danny was such hard work sometimes.

“Looks like some kind of skin or hide,” Danny said eventually. The cop side had won. This time.

“Human or animal?” Steve asked and Chin shrugged.

“Now that is for the lab to tell us,” he said. He bagged the evidence and labelled it. “There’s something weird about these murders.” Chin looked over at Kono. “I think we need to talk to Aunty,” he said.

“Aunty who?” Danny asked before Steve could.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, cuz,” Kono frowned. “Aunty’s still pissed at you.”

Chin raised an eyebrow. “You mean she’s pissed at you,” he corrected.

Kono lifted her upper lip in a snarl and both Steve and Danny took a step back. “Your fuck-up,” she told Chin.

Chin sighed. “So, are you going to call her then?”

Steve raised a cautious hand. “Why would you be calling your aunt about this investigation?” he asked.

Chin and Kono exchanged a silent thought and then Chin replied, “My aunt on my dad’s side…well she’s his granny’s sister, is a shaman or kahuna.”

Steve waited for him to continue but it looked as though Chin was done. “And?” he prompted.

Chin stared at him. “Well, Aunty will know what to do.”

“How will she know about a serial killer?” Danny asked.

Kono’s expression was the same as Chin’s. It was their ‘seriously, haole, why aren’t you following this conversation?’ look. Danny had been the recipient many times. Steve, not so much. “Kono?” Steve asked.

She pursed her lips. “Boss, this killer - I’m not sure, but I’ve been thinking. Looking at the lack of evidence and how Max can’t figure out what’s going on, you know, maybe the killer isn’t human.”

*********

Dean’s fingers dug into the armrests. He fucking hated flying.

“Take deep breaths, man,” Sam’s voice was a low sound to the right. Dean so wasn’t turning there. There was a window and sky and death right next to Sam’s shoulder.

“Fuck off,” Dean growled. He flinched when Sam’s hand dropped on top of his but allowed his brother to unclench his fingers and turn his hand over so that they were palm to palm. His nails dug into Sam’s skin instead of the unfeeling material of the armrest.

Dean heard Sam suck in a breath and then he forced himself to relax his hand. Hurting Sammy was never an option.

“Think happy thoughts, Dean.” Now Sam was just trying to piss Dean off.

He turned his head a little and let Sam see his death glare, not particularly effective out of the corner of his eye. “I swear on all that is holy, I am going to kick your ass from Hawaii to the mainland when we land,” he promised.

Sam chuckled, a rough sound that made every hair on Dean’s arms stand up in interest. “Sure, Dean, whatever.”

“I …” Dean sucked in a breath when the plane did a mid-air hop and his stomach stayed a couple of feet above the rest of his body. “Fuck, we’re going to die.” He knew that he was freaking out but couldn’t seem to stop himself.

“Shut up and stop thinking about where we are,” Sam instructed. “Think about the case we’re heading towards.”

Dean couldn’t think of anything but open sky and deep sea and big sharks with bigger teeth.

Sam sighed. “Okay, I really didn’t want to have it come to this…” Before Dean could ask him what he meant, Sam was leaning across, his mouth soft and warm against Dean’s.

Dean stopped thinking about dying. His mind went to less philosophical places with Sam’s tongue seeking entrance to his mouth and his big hand cupping his chin.

He made a small sound and melted into the heat of Sam’s body.

The noise of a throat clearing brought him back to himself and he blinked his eyes open to look up at the cabin attendant. “Hi,” he greeted her.

“Hi,” she smiled at them. “I just wanted to ask if you gentlemen would prefer chicken or beef?”

Dean sucked in a breath. “Peanuts,” he said, “and please keep ‘em coming.”

*********

Steve couldn’t remember a moment when he’d been more confused. After the cryptic ‘Aunty’ conversation with Chin and Kono, he’d put it behind him and focussed on catching a killer who was getting increasingly bold. And violent.

Max had decided to talk to him again – after Steve had bribed him with a limited edition Doctor Who mug. “The cause of death is exsanguination,” he began and then frowned at Steve’s impatient expression. “Is there something wrong with my diagnosis?’’ he asked Steve.

Danny gave Steve a not-very gentle kick in the ankle. “No!” Steve assured him. “I’m just interested to know what caused the exsanguination.”

Max frowned. “I was about to explain that,” he replied.

Danny made a ‘zipped lips’ motion to Steve who just sighed. His entire team was just so much hard work.

Steve waved a hand at Max. “So, amaze me,” he said and caught Danny’s eye-roll out of the corner of his eye.

Max narrowed his eyes at Steve, as though trying to figure out if Steve was being facetious. He let out a short breath and then pointed at the spot where the victim’s neck met his torso. “It appears as though the initial point of trauma was here.”

Steve leaned down and squinted at the mangle of flesh. “How the hell can you see that?”

Max made a sound. “It’s my job,” he told Steve and allowed a small curve of his upper lip. “And I’m a genius.”

Danny grinned at him. “It’s why they pay you the big bucks, Maximillian.”

Max turned his gaze on Danny. “I get paid by the government,” he said.

Steve bit his lip. Danny stared at Max and then shook his head. “Of course you do.”

“Max?” Steve snapped his fingers. “Body, cause of death, actual police work?”

Max scowled at him. “If your Laurel and Hardy show would allow me to finish my diagnosis…”

Steve held up his hands. “I’m all ears.”

“And all …” Danny grinned at him innocently. “…muscle,” he finished when Steve glared.

“As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted…again,” Max levelled a glare at Steve and Danny, “the initial cause of major blood loss was the wound to the victim’s liver.” He pointed to the same spot. It still looked like mincemeat.

“Knife?” Steve asked.

Max shook his head. “I’ve not managed to determine how the skin was broken but my best guess, which is usually correct, is it was caused by something similar to a jagged spear.”

“A spear?” Danny sounded disbelieving. “What the fuck is a spear doing as a murder weapon?”

Max permitted himself a small smile. “That’s for you to start investigating, Detective Williams. It’s why they pay youthe big bucks.”

Steve thought that the veins on Danny’s neck were going to explode as he pushed him out of the lab ahead of him. “Let us know what else you find, Max!” he called over his shoulder, shoving at Danny to keep moving.

“I swear to God, Steven,” Danny fumed as they headed back to Five-O, “one day I’m going to do serious damage to that guy.”

*********

Dean wanted to kiss the runway when he hit the bottom of the stairs. The pretty woman hanging a bunch of flowers around his neck stopped him.

“Aloha,” she smiled, “welcome to Hawaii.”

Sam smiled a little in return and lowered his head so that she could reach up and put another bunch of flowers around his neck.

Dean snorted. “Figures you’d get flowers, Sammy, but can’t they see that I’m too manly for this?” He tried a patented ‘Dean Winchester wants you baby’ look at the woman who kept her smile professional. Must be losing his touch, he thought.

Sam wrapped his fingers around Dean’s and towed Dean towards the terminal. “Just once, Dean, could you not flirt with every woman you see?”

Dean shrugged, but moved up next to Sam. “Aw, baby, you’re jealous. That’s adorable.”

He could practically hear Sam’s eye-roll. “Sure, whatever.”

Dean bumped his shoulder against Sam’s. “You know you’re the only girl for me, Sammy.” He tried to keep the smile hidden when Sam shot him a suspicious glare.

“I’m going to make you pay for that, Dean.”

Sam’s low statement sent a shiver down Dean’s spine. He couldn’t wait.

“So, where are we headed?” he asked Sam instead, putting thoughts of payback to the back of his mind. It was time to focus on the case now that they were back on solid ground.

“We’re going to the headquarters of Five-O,” Sam told him as he hauled their bag up off the conveyor belt. The easy strength in Sam’s muscles distracted Dean for a moment and he let his eyes trail over the movement beneath Sam’s shirt.

“Five-O?” he asked, trying to ignore the ache that never seemed to go away where Sam was concerned.

Sam shot him a look that told him he knew exactly where Dean’s brain was right now. “I did tell you about this on the way to the airport,” he said and then grinned, “and on the plane.”

Dean waved a hand, dismissing the words. “I heard nothing but the sound of air between my body and the ground, Sammy. You’re going to have to go through it again with me.”

He followed Sam to the car rental desk where another pretty woman greeted them again smiling at them. Dean thought that the smiling was creepy. Must be something in the water. He wondered if there was a creepy smiling monster on Hawaii. Sam got their rental keys and headed to the car lot.

The rental was small and Dean watched as Sam tried to fold his long legs into the driver’s seat. He eventually gave up and stalked over to the passenger’s side. “Not one word,” he pointed a finger at Dean who tried his best to look innocent. That hadn’t worked since Dean had turned fourteen.

Dean managed to squeeze himself into the car and watched as Sam pushed the passenger seat as far back as it could go. “Guess we’re not going to try and make out in this one?” he said eventually and cracked up at Sam’s expression.

“You are such a jerk,” Sam told him and slammed the door.

“Takes a bitch to recognise a jerk,” Dean agreed and headed out. Sam pointed to the road they were supposed to be on and Dean followed his instructions. Sam stayed quiet and eventually Dean reached out one hand. “Thanks for being the wind beneath my wings up there,” he said and Sam started laughing.

He held Dean’s hand all the way to the Five-O headquarters.

*********

Steve looked up when two strangers walked in. They were dressed casually in jeans, t-shirts and boots but there was a look in their eyes. It was something that he recognised. These men were soldiers. They had seen combat. He stood up and waited for them to come to him.

The tall one held out his hand first. “Sam Wesson,” he said and then indicated his companion, “My partner, Dean Smith.”

“Commander Steve McGarrett,” Steve shook Sam’s hand and stared at him, eyes narrowed. “You’re not cops,” he said eventually.

Sam looked at Dean who gave a small nod. “No, Commander,” Sam admitted. “We’re hunters.”

Steve stepped around them and closed his door. “Call me Steve.” He waved them to seats and then perched on the desk in front of them. “What do you hunt?” he asked.

They looked at each other again and Steve could see that they were in sync with each other. They had a way of saying things to one another without a word. Sort of how he and Danny did sometimes.

Dean spoke this time. “We hunt anything that kills people,” he said, voice deep and rough. It was a voice that commanded attention. Somehow he thought Dean was all too aware of his effect on people when he looked up and met an amused green gaze.

“So why are you here then?” he asked and hated that his voice cracked a little.

Dean smirked and he looked at Sam. “Sam thinks that we can help you,” he said and there was something in his gaze, a softening, that told Steve that these two were partners in every sense of the word. He'd seen it before. In his fellow marines, especially those who had been through Seal training together. There was a level of trust, a certain sense of total reliance that only came in the heat of battle.

“Help us with what?” Steve wasn’t going to give them anything. Despite the fact that he found himself wanting to take them into his confidence.

Sam looked at him and his eyes were hard. “The creature that’s killing people on your island,” he said bluntly.

Danny burst into the office and his face was flushed. “Steven, we need to talk…” His voice trailed off when he spotted the strangers. “Who’re you?”

Steve heaved a mental sigh. “Detective Danny Williams, this is Sam Wesson and Dean Smith from…” he looked at them.

Dean smiled. “The mainland,” he greeted and held out a hand to Danny, offering to shake his hand.

Danny stared at him and then smiled back. “Not cops,” he said.

Dean laughed. “Not cops,” he affirmed.

Danny was still holding onto Dean’s hand and Steve wasn’t sure how he felt about that. It was obvious how Sam felt about it. He scowled at Dean who smirked at him before letting Danny’s hand go.

“So what are you then?” Danny asked. Steve tensed up when Danny came to sit next to him on the desk, the heat from Danny’s thigh burning through Steve’s cargo pants. Dean’s eyes were very knowing when they met Steve’s.

“They say they’re hunters,” Steve said and inched away from Danny. The glare from his partner told him that he’d made yet another mistake.

“What do you hunt?” Danny asked and he folded his arms across his chest.

“Anything that kills people,” Sam said and Danny looked at him.

There was something about Sam that Steve liked. His few minutes with these two made him feel a little like he was watching his own dynamic with Danny. It was a little weird.

“We’re here to help,” Dean said again and Danny’s gaze went back to Dean.

“Help with what?” Danny asked and Steve chuckled at the almost word-for-word repeat of the earlier conversation.

“You have something that’s killing people on your island,” Sam told him. “We might have an idea of what it could be.”

Steve looked at Sam. “What?” he asked, not missing the careful wording.

Sam beamed at him as though he was a proud teacher. “Yes, ‘what’,” he confirmed.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Danny demanded, hands on his hips and glaring at all of them.

“Your killer isn’t human, Detective Williams,” Sam said quietly, mouth firm and serious.

Danny’s arms crossed defensively. “So, amaze me with your genius, genius?” He sounded annoyed.

*********

Dean shrugged when Sam looked at him. “I’m not even going to try to explain this one, Sammy. It’s all on you.”

He could practically see the annoyance on Sam’s face. “We’re hunters,” Sam said, squaring his shoulders and shuffling his feet like he always did when he was trying not to be impatient.

“Yeah, so why are you here?” Dean watched the irritated set of Detective Williams’ jaw. He was obviously the more of the two. Dean could relate. He let his gaze wander back to the commander who was watching his partner with a sort of fond smile. Yeah, Dean could relate alright.

“We’re here to help you,” Sam told him and sucked in a breath. “Okay, here goes. We don’t hunt animals, we hunt ‘things’.”

Dean watched the confusion rise in the eyes of the two men in front of him. “Huh?” Detective Williams asked succinctly.

Sam looked at Dean again. He decided to step in this time. “We take out the bogey-man in the closet and the monsters under your bed.” He opened his hands, “We’re kind of a real-life Angel Investigations team.” He paused for effect.

“Huh?” McGarrett asked.

Dean stared. “Angel Investigations, you know, Angel and Spike and Wesley and Cordy…” he trailed off when he caught Sam’s glare. “Fictional series about guys who hunt the things that go bump in the night,” he ended.

“Are you high?” Williams asked.

Sam bit his lip, obviously hiding a smile. “I know it may seem hard to believe right now, but he’s actually pretty awesome when you get to know him a little better.”

“Hey!” Dean protested, feeling the need to defend his honor. “I’m totally awesome.”

“That’s what I said,” Sam agreed.

Dean’s eyes narrowed, trying to find the trick. There was always a trick with Sammy.

Commander McGarrett cleared his throat. “Bump, monsters, bogey man, could you please talk in English?”

Sam sighed. “When we hear reports of supernatural activity, we go out and try to help the locals figure out what’s going on.”

“Supernatural?” Detective Williams stared at them. “You are high!”

Dean shook his head. “No, we’re not. And we can prove it.”

Steve held up a hand when his partner started talking again. “How?” he asked.

Sam spoke, “Let us see the body.”

Dean watched as Steve thought about it and then finally stood up. “Okay, I’ll let you see the body. I'm going out on a massive limb here, by trusting you two.”

Dean held out a hand again and Steve McGarrett shook it. “You won’t be sorry, Commander,” he assured him.

“Steve,” he reminded Dean and then looked over at Williams. “Come on Danny, let’s take them to Max,” Sam was right on Steve’s heels and Danny sputtered a little, taken by surprise.

“Who’s Max?” Dean asked as he headed out of the office.

There was a short silence and then Danny started laughing. “Max is going to skin you alive,” he crowed.

“Who’s Max?” Dean repeated.

“The smartest guy you’ll ever meet,” Steve told him as they walked out of the Five-O Headquarters.

“And the scariest,” Danny added.

They stopped in front of the hired car and stared at it.

“We can go in our car,” Steve suggested and pointed to a silver Camaro. Dean practically drooled.

“Our car?” Danny asked as he climbed into the passenger seat. “May I remind you that this is my car, Steven. Which I am not driving. Which you do not let me drive. My car.”

Dean hid a grin as he clambered into the back with Sam. “They sound like us,” he noted. “Us, 2 point 0.”

Sam snorted a laugh. “Except that the sane person gets to drive,” he said.

*********

Steve patted Dean on the back when he got out. “You okay?” The self-professed hunter was pale and shaking.

Danny shook his head. “See what I have to work with?” he asked Sam who cackled at Dean.

“Finally someone who can out-crazy you,” he grinned. Dean flipped him off while bending over and sucking in deep breaths. Steve McGarrett was the craziest motherfucker ever to get behind the wheel of a car. He may have left his stomach back at the last traffic light. The Camaro handled like a dream but McGarrett was insane.

“I think I saw my life flash past my eyes,” Dean said. “About three times.”

Steve grinned. “What can I say, it’s a gift.”

Steve walked into the Medical Examiner’s office with Danny at his side. “What’s up with you being all Mr. I’m So Awesome and Helpful and Cool?” Danny hissed.

Steve looked at him. “You mean I’m not awesome and helpful and cool?” He tried to put on a wounded tone.

“Don’t,” Danny pointed at him. “Don’t try to con me with the face and the eyes!”

Steve grinned again. “I like them,” he said and it was that simple. In the field, in the middle of a fire-fight, you had to trust those with you. For some reason, he trusted these two.

“You don’t like anybody,” Danny reminded him.

Steve shrugged. “i don't know, they remind me of my Seal team, brothers in arms.” He couldn’t explain it any more clearly, but Smith and Wesson…he stopped, turned to the other two. “Smith and Wesson?” he asked. Dean beamed and dimples drew deep lines in Sam’s cheeks.

“Winchester,” Sam said. “Sam and Dean Winchester.” The names gave Steve a nudge at the back of his mind but he ignored it. He’d deal with that later.

“Why the fake names?” Danny’s eyes were narrowed as he looked at them.

“We always use fake names with law enforcement,” Dean told him and his smile was guileless. “It makes things go easier.”

“Really?” Danny sounded sceptical. “Sounds more like you have shit to hide.”

“Potato, potatoh,” Dean shrugged. “It’s all the same.”

Danny looked at Steve who pushed the door to Max’s lab open. “And you trust these guys?” his voice went a little high.

Steve had seen their eyes. They had been in combat, had seen people die. It changed a person, made them better, stronger. “Yeah, I think I do trust them,” he said quietly Sam heard him and looked at him. Steve met his gaze and nodded.

“Thank you,” Sam said and then pulled up short. “Um…”

Inside the Medical Examiner's lab, back to them, Max was wielding his saw like a baton, arms waving to something by Bach or Beethoven or something equally not classic rock.

Steve felt the need to give them some sort of warning. “Max is a little bit…different,” he said eventually.

Danny snorted. “Different, yeah, that’s the right word.”

Dean shrugged. “We deall with different every day,” he said. He exchanged a look witgh Sam that hinted at an inside joke that Steve really wanted to understand.

Steve went to the stereo system and put the music off. The sound of the saw was incredibly eerie in the sudden silence.

“Hey!” Max protested, swinging around, the saw going off abruptly. He spotted Sam and Dean. “Who are you?”

Steve held up a hand. “Max, before you start interrogating anyone, this is Dean and Sam Winchester and they’re…”

Max’s eyes went wide. “You’re the Winchester brothers?” He dropped the saw with a clatter onto the table and Steve winced when blood and bone went flying. Max ignored it and stared at Steve. “Do you know who this is?” he demanded.

“Steve just told you, brainiac,” Danny said.

Max glared at Danny and then beamed at the Winchesters. “I know everything about you!” he told them.

“Oh god,” Dean dropped his head and Sam flushed.

Steve was fascinated. “What are you talking about?” he asked Max.

“These guys are like real-life superheroes!” Max explained, obviously excited. “They kill demons and make friends with angels and slay vampires and can I please get your autographs?” he scuttled to his desk where he rummaged around and came up a second later with a book in his hand.

“Oh god,” Dean said again and looked at Sam. “I am so fucking going to kill Chuck when I see him again.”

Max shoved the book at Dean with a pen. “Please?” he begged.

Dean sighed and opened the front cover and scratched a signature across the title page. “Kill Chuck dead,” he promised Sam, his tone dire.

Max gave the book to Sam who did the same as Dean and handed it back to Max who clutched it to his chest as though it was something infinitely precious. “Thank you,” Max breathed.

Steve cleared his throat. Max looked at him and went a little pink. “It’s the Winchesters!” he said defensively.

“Related then?” Danny asked and raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, we're brothers,” Dean replied and it seemed almost like challenge in his face.

And yeah, Steve had not gotten that vibe from them at all.

“Why are you here?” Max asked and then looked back at the body he’d been working on. “Oh!” he exclaimed, “you think the killer is supernatural in origin?”

Sam nodded and asked, “What have you discovered so far?”

Steve was bemused when Max behaved as though he and Danny were invisible, waving the Winchesters over to stand around the autopsy table. “Well, I’ve tried to clear away the animal bites around the initial wound but it appears as though the killing blow was made by something long, pointed and with teeth.”

Sam leaned down, absently pulling on a pair of latex gloves. “Have you made an impression of the wound yet?” Danny and Steve exchanged glances, waiting for Max to tell them that he knew how to do his job.

Max didn’t. “I’ve used some of my own invention,” he beamed and went over to the small metal table in the corner of the room. He brought a basin back with him and produced something that looked like a flat sword with teeth running down either side.

Dean took it from him, also wearing latex gloves and stared at it. “Huh,” he grunted and passed it to Sam.

Steve cleared his throat again. “Max?” he asked.

Max blinked. “Oh,” he looked at Steve, “I apologize, Commander McGarrett, but I surmise that the weapon of choice for this particular murderer is obvious now.”

Danny made an impatient noise. “And?” he prompted.

“A sawfish,” Max replied as though it was obvious to everyone.

“A sawfish?” Danny gaped at him.

“A sawfish,” Max affirmed and then turned back to the Winchesters. “What do you think it could be?”

“You just said a sawfish!” Danny said.

Max shrugged. “But it can’t be a sawfish,” he stated definitively.

“Can I kill him?” Danny asked Steve. “I swear I’ll make it look like an accident.” He was whining.

“No,” Steve said and walked over to where Sam was examining the mould. “You said you needed to look at the body.”

Sam looked up and Steve took a breath. This was the man he'd seen a glimpse of when he'd first met the Winchesters. A warrior, a soldier, an ally. “It’s not human,” he said.

“Not animal though either,” Dean added and poked a finger into the wound.

“Hey!” Danny protested when Max didn’t.

“Just checking for…ah,” Dean pulled his finger out and on the tip was a type of substance that looked almost like…

“Is that gold?” Danny asked and grabbed Dean’s hand to get a closer look.

“No,” Sam said and Steve noticed how subtly he moved so that Danny was forced to let Dean go and step back. Brothers my ass, he thought.

“What is it?” Max picked up a glass dish and scraped the substance into it, ignoring Danny’s question.

“Max?” Steve walked over to where Max was peering through a microscope at the stuff. “Any ideas?”

Sam tugged off his gloves and threw them in the available trash can. Dean followed suit and it all looked casual and comfortable, like something they had done many times before.

“Who the fuck are you guys?” Danny voiced the question that was on the tip of Steve’s tongue.

“They’re the Winchester brothers,” Max told them, eye still glued to the microscope.

“Which tells me precisely nothing,” Danny griped and pointed at Sam. “Talk.”

Sam looked at Dean who gave a short nod. “Okay, but I don’t know how much of this you’re going to believe.”

to part 2 here