Title: Renegade
Characters: Danny Williams, Matt Williams, Grace Williams, the mother of the Williams’ kids, mentions of other Williams’ relatives
Fandom: Hawaii Five-O AU
Series: Honolulu 96731 'verse
Summary: Danny deals with some changes in a semi-mature way.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers Prequel to Together Can Never Be Close Enough
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: No one recognizable belongs to me. “Renegade” by Styxx also does not belong to me.
Author's Note: So this is not on my list of things to write today. Clearly I should not let my mind wander while I’m cleaning and listening to my mp3 player…but I don’t think anyone is going to argue with finding out how/why Danny ended up in Hawaii.


Danny set his feet on the ground, switching his Kawasaki off as he studied his dejected brother who was sitting on the front steps. Matt was normally the more upbeat of the Williams’ brothers so the sight of him with his head propped up on his hands, staring glumly at the sidewalk was a worrisome view. He hadn’t even looked up at the sound of the bike which was a clear clue that Danny had returned.

Walking up to the younger boy, Danny kicked his sneakered feet gently. “Who ate your dough, bro?” he asked.

“Where ya been, Danny?” he asked, jerking his head up. “Ma’s been calling you!”

Danny dug his phone out of his pocket, swearing when he saw six missed calls. “Shit. Gracie’s okay, right?”

“Gracie’s fine,” Matt assured him. “But Ma’s on the warpath. She’s pissed as hell that you didn’t answer.”

Jerking a thumb at the bike, Danny reminded him, “I can’t hear it when I’m riding. I wasn’t doing anything, just making sure the seals held on the tweaks I made…and I took her out on the…”

“DANIEL WILLIAMS!”

Both boys winced at the yell from inside the house. “You better go talk to Ma,” Matt said.

Danny’s lips quirked up in a slight grin before he disappeared into the house. “Hey, it wasn’t the full name treatment. I can’t be in too much trouble.”

As soon as he stepped through the doorway, a heat-seeking missile hit him around the legs. Luckily he’d been expecting it and he didn’t do more than back up a step. Picking his little sister up, he tossed her over one shoulder and continued into the house to the accompaniment of her giggles. Entering the living room, he stopped at the sight of his mother, arms crossed and glaring at him. “Where. Have. You. Been?” she demanded.

He let Grace slide to the ground. “Monkey, go play in your room, okay? I need to talk with Mommy,” he told her. Once she ran off, he turned to face their mother. “I went for a ride. I’ve been working on the bike and I went for a test ride. I’m sorry I didn’t hear the phone, but it was in my pocket.”

“I got a call from the school.”

Danny sighed. “That wasn’t my fault. Durgan was picking on Matt and swung at him. I just stepped between them.”

“But fighting. Danny, we’ve talked about this,” she said with a sigh.

“So you’d rather I let him beat the crap out of Matt?” he demanded. “I didn’t hit him! I stepped between them and I backed off as soon as he stopped trying to get to Matt. That’s it!”

“Then I guess it’s just as well I got the news I did today.”

“What news?” Danny shrugged off his leather jacket, tossing it onto the couch. “I’ll take it into my room, Ma,” he said when he saw her wince. “What news did you get?”

“Greg called from work,” she said. “He got a transfer. We’ll be moving before the new school year starts. You three can finish out this year, but we’ll pack up and move before the summer ends. I know it’s your senior year so if you want to stay, I’ll make arrangements with your aunt Margie. But Matt and Grace will be going with us.”

“Where?” Danny cleared his throat. “Where did Greg get transferred to?” He’d learned to tolerate his step-father. The man was good to Grace, took Matt to ballgames, and was actually civil to him, but he would never replace their father. Grace didn’t remember their father at all, but used to ask Danny for stories about him. Now she barely talked about him at all. Danny didn’t blame her, she’d been barely four when he’d been killed, but it still hurt.

“Hawaii. Honolulu to be exact,” his mother answered.

For a moment, Danny just stood in their living room. Greg hadn’t pressured them to move after he’d married his mother. He’d calmly moved into the house, arranged himself around the home they’d already built, but now. Now he wanted to move Danny’s family almost six thousand miles away. And he was willing to let them leave Danny behind. “I’m not letting you take Grace. Or Matt. Away from me,” he told her.

“They aren’t your children, Danny,” she reminded him.

“No,” he told her. “But I promised Dad I’d look out for them.”

“Fine. But you’ll stay out of trouble once we get there.”

Danny sighed again, picking up his jacket from where he’d thrown it. It wasn’t like he went looking for trouble. It just seemed to find him.