Chapter Text
The next afternoon after Kono was released from the hospital, Steve and his team gathered at his house, Steve and Danny relaying the story of what happened inside the house with Pele. Kono was stretched out comfortably in Steve’s recliner, Chin sitting closest to her on the couch while Steve and Danny sat close to each other on the other side of the couch.
“So the rounds you were using…?” Chin asked curiously.
“Something Hailey and Edison’s team came up with,” Steve explained, “I guess they have these things called in’tars that fire something sort of like a simulation round. Hailey modified the rounds to emit an electrical charge on contact to take care of anyone under the effects of nish’ta, then Lyon added a sedative to keep everyone else unconscious.”
“While SuperSEAL and Blondie were busy causing a commotion inside,” Danny continued, “Me and the others got, I kid you not, beamed down outside, like we’re in an episode of Star Trek. We started making our way through the house all quiet-like until we got to the basement. The whole thing was filled with all kinds of weird alien equipment. Apparently, whatever was blocking the sensor signal thing was of ‘Ancient origin’,” Danny made air quotes accompanied by an eye roll, “so basically all they had to do to turn it off was to think ‘off’ at the thing, which is why it took them way less than the thirty-five minutes we planned on.”
“What about John though?” Kono wondered, “You didn’t have weapons when you got to him, right?”
“Sticky fingers,” Steve smiled, “Simmons made a couple stronger rounds, able to be triggered by remote. EJ provoked John into getting close enough so she could slip a couple in his pocket. We each had a remote in our pocket, just waiting for the right time to trigger it.”
“What about the part where this psycho was petting you?” Danny turned to Steve, “I’ve yet to hear why that was a good idea.”
“Their docs replicated the nish’ta and infected me before we left, in case she tried to use it on me. I had to pretend to be under her control otherwise things could have been a lot worse,” Steve paused then smirked at Danny, “What’s the matter, Danno? You jealous?”
“Am I jealous?” Danny questioned, “Why would I be jealous?”
“You can admit it if you are,” Steve leaned back on the couch, dropping an arm on the back of the couch behind Danny, “We’re all friends here, you can tell us.”
“Let me tell you something, Steven-” Danny started only to be cut off by Steve’s phone.
“McGarrett,” Steve answered, still smirking at Danny.
“Hey, SuperSEAL,” EJ greeted him pleasantly, “Anyone besides your team at your house right now?”
“No, why?” Steve answered warily.
“Thanks,” EJ hung up.
“That was weird,” Steve hung up his phone, sliding it back into his pocket.
A bright wash of light filled the room, then John and EJ appeared. John was dressed short-sleeved black BDUs, American flag patch in place on one shoulder, the same empty upside almost-triangle on the other, his Colt .45 strapped to one thigh and a strange cylindrical weapon strapped to the other. He had a stack of folders in one hand, the other linked together with EJ’s. EJ was dressed in the black BDU pants, Glock and strange weapon in a mirror-image of John’s, but she had on a fitted black tee-shirt instead of a uniform shirt, her black sling again holding her left arm immobile across her body. The cut on her cheek was held together by two small butterfly bandages and other already healing bruises on both sides of her face were clearly visible with her long, blonde hair up in a simple ponytail.
“Hi guys,” EJ smiled brightly at them.
“Told you,” Danny pointed a finger at John and EJ, looking over at Chin and Kono's stunned faces, “Like Star Trek. Beam me up, Scotty.”
“That’s pretty cool,” Chin raised an eyebrow.
“I can’t believe I missed the spaceship,” Kono pouted, “That’s just not fair.”
“What are you guys doing here?” Steve asked, pointing to the folders John held, “More things for us to sign?”
“No, actually,” John handed Chin, Kono, and Danny each a folder with their name on it, “We’re heading back to the City tonight, but Emma wanted to stop by to say good-bye and give you a few things before we left.”
“I realized that I had gotten Steve a thank you gift, but not the rest of you,” EJ raised a hand at Danny’s open mouth, “Before you tell me it wasn’t necessary, I used to make a shit-ton of money before I started at the SGC. I don’t have any use for it, so it either sits in an account doing nothing, or I use it to buy things for my friends. It’s not in any way charity, just some stuff I thought you might enjoy.”
“Besides,” John interjected, “figuring out the right things to give each of you kept Emma mostly out of trouble in the infirmary.”
“Did you try to throttle anyone this time?” Danny asked evenly.
“No, Jersey,” EJ sighed heavily, “I did not try to throttle anyone.”
“She made three nurses and two doctors cry,” John drawled, “after the truth roofies wore off. You don’t even want to know what she did while she was still under the influence.”
“Anyway,” EJ glared at John, then turned to Kono, “Kono, your present will be delivered sometime in the middle of next week. I have a…business associate who customizes shoes. You’ll be getting a pair of nude-colored Louboutin pumps and a pair of black Prada motorcycle boots, each with a concealed mini-taser in one heel and a small, detachable knife in the other heel. Also a pair of red strappy sandal heels from Jimmy Choo that don’t have any special purpose other than being super cute. There’s pictures in the folder. If they don’t fit or you don’t like them, just call the number there, and my associate will take care of it.”
“Oh my god,” Kono looked at the pictures in the folder, “These are gorgeous. A mini-taser in the heel. I can’t wait to try them out.”
“Chin,” EJ motioned to his folder, “A technician will be by the Five-O offices first thing Monday morning to install new hardware for you. He’s putting in next-gen crystal based tech that won’t be available outside the SGC for another five years at least. He’s also going to upgrade your security, making the Five-O servers basically unhackable by anyone on Earth. You all got the sub-Q transmitters yesterday and Hailey switched the four of you to a different encrypted frequency, so you'll be able to use them to locate any of your team members anywhere in the world at any time.”
“When did they get transmitters?” Steve wondered curiously.
“In the hospital,” Chin answered as he look over the technical specs in the folder, “A nurse in a uniform came by and made us sign a waiver. This is really advanced tech, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“That’s because it’s alien-based,” EJ clarified, “Same designs they use on the Apollo. It’s at least twenty times faster than what you have now. The tech will leave a direct number for you to call if you ever have any problems with it.”
“What about me?” Danny questioned, flipping open his folder, “A new car perhaps, something along the lines of a nice red…”
Danny trailed off as he looked at the papers in the folder.
“Danny?” Steve asked cautiously, “What is it?”
Danny set the folder in Steve’s lap and stood up to walk over to EJ, wrapping his arms around her for a big hug.
“I thought that would be best for you,” EJ returned Danny’s hug with her one good arm, “even though it’s not really for you.”
“Thank you,” Danny replied quietly as he pulled away, rejoining Steve on the couch.
“What is it?” Kono wondered.
“A trust-fund in Grace’s name,” Steve read the papers in the folder, “set up to pay for her college education. Tuition, housing, books, everything she could ever need for any college in the world, all taken care of.”
“Grace is brilliant, Danny,” EJ smiled softly, “She’s going to do great things.”
“You don’t have to tell me that,” Danny returned the smile, “She’s my little girl.”
“And how you spawned that smart, beautiful child is a complete mystery to me, Jersey,” EJ rolled her eyes, “She must take after her mother.”
“Shut it, Blondie,” Danny grinned.
“There’s one other thing,” John pulled two flash drives from his pocket, “Not really presents, but you’re going to need them.”
“What’s on the drives?” Steve questioned.
“That one,” John tossed him the first one, “is everything the CIA has on an operative named Doris McGarrett, codenamed Shelburne, as well as some information on her from a few alternative sources.”
“How did you know about my mother?” Steve narrowed his eyes.
“There’s a lot you don’t know about her, Steve,” EJ answered carefully, “You need to be careful around her, even if she is your mother.”
“This one,” John tossed the second drive to Steve, “is everything we could find on Wo Fat from every government we could access.”
“Wo Fat is in a supermax facility in Colorado,” Danny looked between John and EJ, “locked up in solitary. Unless you know something we don’t.”
“Not definitively,” John replied vaguely.
“You think Wo Fat’s going to escape from supermax?” Chin inquired calmly.
“I think that I’ve been held a lot worse places than Colorado,” John shrugged, “No place is completely inescapable.”
“I tried to have Wo Fat moved to a more secure SGC facility,” EJ stated evenly, “but my request was denied. He doesn’t know anything about the program, so they won’t take him.”
“You’re going to need that information soon, McGarrett,” John gestured to the drive in Steve’s hand, “I wish I could be more specific, but it doesn’t really work like that.”
“Psychic powers, right?” Danny raised an eyebrow.
“It’s best if you don’t ask,” EJ linked the fingers of her right hand with John’s left, leaning her head against his shoulder, “We have to get going. They’re dialing the ‘gate in half an hour. After this week, I’m ready to go home.”
“Back to your sentient alien City?” Danny wondered.
“Yup,” John agreed easily, “Have to make sure nobody blew it up while we were gone.”
“Did you ever figured out what Pele wanted with John?” Kono asked curiously, “Steve didn’t give us a reason when he was telling the story.”
“Would you like to tell them, carissime?” EJ raised an eyebrow at John.
“Not really,” the tips of John’s ears pinked.
“Pele wanted have John’s babies,” EJ grinned, “She wanted him to father a daughter so she could have a pretty new host with the Ancient gene and the genetic memory of a Goa’uld. Create a genetically advanced host so she could better control all the tech she had in the basement.”
“You got kidnapped because you’re...pretty?” Kono bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing.
“There was more to it than that,” John insisted.
“Not really,” EJ shook her head, “You got kidnapped because you have the Ancient gene and you’re pretty. That’s pretty much it.”
“Wow,” Danny started, “That’s just…wow.”
“Apparently, it’s not the first time an alien woman has kidnapped Sheppard for his,” Steve looked John over, “special genetics. I understand there were quite a few others.”
“Oh really?” Chin asked with a grin.
“John thought it was a great honor,” EJ nodded.
“I was being mind-controlled,” John insisted, “I obviously wasn’t thinking straight.”
“He wasn’t the only one not thinking straight,” Steve smirked, leaning back on the couch again, “I seem to remember something about someone enjoying the sensation of-”
“Did you tell Kono she won the pool?” EJ interrupted quickly, “Since you and Jersey finally pulled your heads out of your asses and made out like a couple of teenagers before we left for Pele’s house.”
“It’s about damn time,” Kono grinned widely, “Dinner’s on me next time, guys. I just came into a nice wad of cash.”
“I thought you were leaving,” Danny glared at EJ, “Don’t you have someplace to be, Blondie?”
“We’re going,” EJ laughed, “If you guys ever change your minds about leaving the islands, give the SGC a call. We could use your team.”
“Maybe in a couple years,” Steve wrapped his arm around Danny’s shoulders and pulled him closer as he looked around at his team, “I think we’re all pretty happy here.”