Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The wind whipped the rows of cornstalks, they all stood row upon row, like a green ocean, rippling in the wind, it seemed like a beautiful and serene place, had it not been for the fact that dust was also blowing in the air, this dust was kicked up from the soil of Hawaii and pushed all over the islands, causing many people to have lung problems. Danny Williams, a former cop, and a widower. He had been a farmer for the past decade, his knee was giving him grief and he was a proud father to Grace Williams and Charlie Mcgarrett, and it was years ago when food supplies started going down at stores and prices spiked dangerously high and Danny knew with his stagnant paycheck that he could no longer afford to feed three mouths on a cop's salary. So Danny reluctantly packed his family up, moved to the middle of bumfuck nowhere (As Danny deemed the farmland that Steve Mcgarrett had purchased) and they settled down. Even Chin Ho Kelly and Kono sold their homes and moved to whatever farmland they could afford together, and they tried to make it work. Money was incredibly tight and the ohana had to stick closely together during these difficult times as food literally was vanishing from the shelves of grocery stores and even pineapples were dying out and as much as Danny hated to admit it, hearing that pineapple crops were dying, it broke his heart a little bit because he knew this was not going to end well and this was one of the first dominoes to fall.

One day Steve became extremely unwell and he collapsed on the porch, feeling feverish and dizzy and he was rushed to the hospital, only for Danny to find out that there was nothing more they could do for Steve becuase there was no more penicillin, anywhere in the world and the infection killed Steve within the week and Danny had him buried next to John Mcgarrett but the pain Danny carried with him was very heavy and very real and it was an inescapable reality he could only learn to live with as he tried to rebuild his life as normally as possible. Chin Ho Kelly helped with programming the tractors for Danny's farm and Danny would help with the financial aspects, and they were great business partners and they built a decent business selling corn, but they knew the writing was on the wall: Earth was doomed at this rate if the Blight kept consuming and killing crops, and there was a feeling, a suspicion better left unsaid about something else as well.

One day Danny woke up gasping with a dream lingering on his mind, it was a dream that left ripples in his subconscious. Danny turned over in his bed, gazing at the empty space in bed, missing Steve's presence and steady warmth when Grace came in and asked him "Danno? I thought you were my ghost" and Danny dryly scoffed "There are no such thing as ghosts, Monkey. There isn't even any scientific evidence of one" Grace frowned as she asked "Same dream again Danno?" and Danny hummed groggily as he turned over in bed to face her bleary looking face and mumbled "Yea...but you gotta head back to bed. You have school first thing in the morning" Grace yawned sleepily and headed back to bed reluctantly. This was the very ordinary life of Daniel Williams and he expected every single day to be the exact same as the last one before. Danny did wish however that there was more to life than just being the so called "Caretaker Generation". He once remembered how innovation and science were once the pillars of society and everyone was competing to show off their technology. But ever since the Blight rolled around, all of the idea of science, education, heck the idea of looking up towards the stars and aspiring to become something more; it was all part of a distant memory that Danny couldn't quite explain to his children, like the idea of walking to school unsupervised or leaving the doors unlocked.

Danny got up bright and early at five in the morning, showered within three minutes (not that he had much of a choice considering the insane amount of water shortages) and dressed in his humble denim blue jeans, a tattered t-shirt that had seen better days and dusty work boots and he went to the kitchen and made the kids breakfast, which was cornflakes in a bowl with corn bread with corn on the cob. Ever since the Blight had been killing crops left and right, people were forced to improvise food out of whatever was left still growing and Danny wasn't the world's greatest cook, he had to admit, but ever since Steve passed away, he had no choice but to take over and do everything and that meant learning how to make delicious meals for his children.

Grace told her father "I need to show you something" and Danny stood up to follow her to her bedroom and Danny could see her bookshelf neatly arranged, except for a few empty spaces, near the center of the middle bookshelf and Grace added "The ghost did this" and Danny sighed "Sorry Monkey but I'm pretty sure your bookshelf isn't haunted. Eat your breakfast, get dressed and get in the car". Grace sighed and went downstairs, Danny was not in the mood to talk about the supernatural, not now, not ever since Steve passed away. That loss left a gaping void in his heart that could ever be filled.

After dropping off the kids at school, Danny came back home to start with work when he saw that all of his automated tractors were all surrounding his house and it was odd becuase they were not supposed to be doing that at all. Danny called over Chin and even Chin was perplexed with the issue "If this house was built on iron ore, this problem would have occurred when I first set up the tractors...no this is very strange" and then he quietly went to work and it took him several hours as they caught up on small talk, how life was treating them, etc. But Danny couldn't help but have a tiny spark of feelings, and he tried to quash it, he didn't want to make things awkward between him and Chin, or worse Kono would use him as fertilizer. Soon Chin was done and told Danny "I basically told the internal computers to offset for the anomaly" "Which is..." "I don't have a clue" and Danny looked down at the dirt in disappointment "Grace claims that there is a ghost haunting her bookshelves. I of course don't believe that" Chin softly replied "Science isn't always about knowing everything, not for the lack of trying. There are just some things that are beyond science's narrow perception of the world, let alone the whole universe" and Danny had no serious argument about that becuase deep down he knew Chin was right. There was an infinite amount of possibilities that science ignored for a rational explanation for everything, and sometimes a rational explanation was not the one-size-fits-all approach to everything.

Danny still thought of that as he picked up the kids from school, argued with the principal and Grace's teacher for Grace punching another student over the Apollo missions being faked. Danny was infuriated that the school system was now trying to falsify and change history to suit their own agenda and it was so utterly painful becuase his grandfather had told him the story of the Apollo lunar landing and how utterly courageous Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong really truly were in stepping out into a unknown world, the Moon. To change history and to demonize that heroic act felt like a slap to Danny's face, he felt like in a sense he, Chin and Kono were also steadily being erased, being treated like relics of a bygone era, like the steady blowing dust that was being pushed across the hills, erasing everything in its path.

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Danny and Chin were in the middle of taking inventory of Chin's shed when Chin spoke first "I heard that your meeting at the school didn't go over so well. What's bugging you?" Danny paused for a moment as he tried to gather the right words to express the deep rage and resentment at the world and he sighed "Our history, the history that our grandparents and parents made? It's being steadily erased, and not just that...we're being steadily erased, like relics of an ancient and wasteful era. Like we're...we're some...I have no words to describe how utterly stuck I feel right now" and Chin looked at him with sympathy, Danny used to be colorful and have a never-ending stream of words. Ever since Steve passed away, all of that came to an end and Danny became more careful, more precise with his words. Steve's death had rocked Danny's world and broke him in more ways than one. Danny had been devastated by Steve's death and had yet to recover from the loss. Chin confessed "I feel the exact same. We used to be something more. We used to solve crimes and protect people, and I felt alive and now I feel exactly where I was when I was just a part time security guard at the local gift shop. Like its Groundhog Day and I'm the news reporter in a time loop"

Danny agreed as he echoed "I don't want anything to do with this so called 'Caretaker Generation'. We used to be explorers and pioneers; we used to take risks. Steve was the bravest of us all...it's a crying shame people like him are being shoved into boxes and being safe, boring and pedestrian. You know how exactly how I feel about taking risks. I take calculated risks, and these people are making a choice by choosing not to choose. And that is a reckless risk" and Chin hopefully supplied "One day we might find our way back again" and Danny sighed "It can't happen soon enough. I've done the math and it looks like the rains might be coming even later...late may" and Chin muttered "Shit...this year's yields were already bad enough" and Danny shook his head "I already have several other farmers in deep debt to me. This year is going to be horrible" Chin didn't know how to reassure Danny as they sat on the porch staring at the corn rippling in the breeze, and a constant steady stream of dust blowing about. Eventually Danny went back to his own house just across the street from Chin and Kono's houses and started on making his kids dinner when Grace told him "Danno I need to show you something" and Danny sighed "Is it more books flying off the shelves" and Grace shook her head "No I promise it's not, please can you at least take a look?" and Danny saw her wide sparkling eyes and he sighed. Danny couldn't say no to those nice eyes and he went up the stairs and he saw her bedroom window was open and the curtains were fluttering, dust was in the air, but what was odd was that there were a series of dust lines on the floor, some thick and some thin and Danny was suspicious, so he carefully stepped around the lines, grabbed old and aging books on space, gravity and did as much research as he could, before concluding that this had to be the result of gravitational waves but from where or when? Danny had no clue and Danny was very afraid as he told Grace "Grab your pillow and blanket, you're sleeping in Charlie's room"

Grace sighed and grabbed her things and went to Charlie's room while Danny tried to figure out the lines and what they meant. As he analyzed the lines, he realized they were of two thicknesses, thin and thick. Danny realized that there was only two different codes that could account for this, either Morse or binary and since there were no dots, he had to conclude that it was binary. Thick lines would be one, and thin would be zero and he wrote them down on a sheet of notebook paper and asked Chin the next day to translate the code. Chin of course was confused but gave Danny the translation and added "I think you just received coordinates. But...who gave you these coordinates?" Danny honestly answered "I have no clue...gravity?" and Chin looked at the numbers and pulled up a map and then Danny easily found the location "Looks like I'm going on a road trip" and a tiny voice behind them spoke up "I wanna come too Danno" and Danny sighed "I and Chin will be going there becuase we don't know what we might find. You'll stay here with Kono and Charlie until we come back"

However, Grace was not as willing to be brushed aside and while Danny was busy notifying Kono and getting his things ready, Grace snuck into the back row of the Silverado which had seen better days. Danny sat in the passenger seat, still unable to bring himself to drive the Silverado, his heart felt like a heavy boulder and memories would hit him whenever he tried to bring himself to drive the truck. Danny handed the keys to Chin and Chin wordlessly drove the truck, neither of them willing to bring up the pain and sorrow associated with driving Steve's truck, especially since he was no longer around to commandeer other people's vehicles. Suddenly Danny's phone vibrated and he saw a text from Kono "Grace isn't in the house, check the truck, she might be with you" and Danny turned around and yanked the blanket off and Grace yelped and Chin suddenly slammed on the brakes and Chin turned to see Grace in the back row and then Grace chuckled awkwardly "S...Small world, am I right?" and both men began to chuckle and Danny shrugged, amused at the whole situation "Well, since you're already in the truck, you might as well come with us anyway". Then Danny texted Kono to update her on the situation and they went on their way to whatever was waiting for them. Soon hours passed by as Chin kept driving and Grace had quietly fallen asleep in the back and Danny draped a blanket on her and smiled softly and then suddenly they came to a halt before a locked fence marked "Do Not Enter" and Chin sighed "Well I guess that's the end of the line then" and Grace groggily opened her eyes and replied "Didn't we bring the bolt cutters?" and Danny smirked "That's my girl" and then Danny grabbed the bolt cutters and cut the chain on the fence and was about to open the fence when suddenly a bright, blinding LED light shone into Danny's eyes and he felt a taser on his neck and he groaned as he heard Grace and Chin scream, and then he suddenly blacked out.

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Danny suddenly opened his eyes, he could feel the hard and cold steel chair that he was handcuffed to and he could see the intense and bright light shining in his eyes when he could hear a voice that was strangely human and yet had the undertones of artificial intelligence. The voice angrily demanded "Who are you and how did you find this place?" and suddenly the glare faded and Danny saw that he was face to face with an artificial intelligence powered robot that was stainless steel plated and in the shape of a rectangle prism with rectangular arms that stuck out from its sides and the face was a computer screen with text rolling down the screen as Danny retorted "A military robot from the army? Seriously? C'mon this is pathetic! Now where's my daughter Grace, and where's my friend Chin Ho Kelly? I'm not telling you jack squat until you bring them to me RIGHT NOW!" Danny knew whatever they wanted to know, it was leverage and he was going to use it to get his daughter in his arms immediately, whatever it took. The robot marked TARS vertically down it's side demanded "You had the coordinates for this place marked in your map, where did you get them?" and Danny raised his voice louder, thrashing in his cuffs as he tried to stand up "Where's MY DAUGHTER!? TELL ME NOW OR I'LL USE YOU AS AN OVERQUALIFIED SPRINKLER SYSTEM!" and TARS growled "Sit down or else I'll take you down" and Danny laughed "You? Take me down? I used to take down professional hitmen on an average Tuesday, try me. Now. Where. Is. My. Daughter. I will not ask again. I'll make sure to be kind enough to turn you into a A/C unit once I'm through with thrashing you" and a man's voice spoke "No you won't"

Danny saw that the man was wearing a military uniform, which utterly confused him since all of the armed branches were disbanded due to extreme shortages in recruitment and whoever was left, would also resign their posts due to extremely low morale and supplies were chronically in short supply for everyone, and that meant that the United States Armed forces were the first to suffer cuts and as people starved to death and died, it was entirely disbanded. Feeding people became a national and political agenda, or in some cases a weapon.

The brunette man came over towards Danny as Danny added "If I were you, using a decommissioned military robot wouldn't be one of my brightest ideas. Their hard drives according to a friend of mine that you took, says that they're unpredictable and prone to crashing due to how outdated they are". The man sighed "My name is Mr. John Benton, I'm a Warrant Officer. We're not here to harm you. We can assure you that your daughter and your friend are both safe" and Danny snapped "Then prove it by bringing my daughter and Chin Ho Kelly over" and then Benton told the robot "TARS, bring Grace and Chin Ho Kelly to the board room. We will meet them both there". Danny asked the soldier as he was released from the chair by TARS, and TARS wheeled away and then Benton took Danny down a long hallway as Danny asked "Can't you let us all go and we'll be on our way out?" "I'm afraid it can't work that way" "Sure it can, what do you mean it can't? I don't know where I am or what this place is for?" Benton gave an amused smile "Yes you do" and then he opened the door to a board room, and then Grace ran into his arms "Danno!" and Chin came over "Thank goodness you're here. These people are really determined to find out how we found this place" Danny looked around the warm wood paneled room and, on the wall, written in steel were the letters "LAZARUS" and pictures of astronauts, some beaming, others with neutral expressions and some with serious expressions on their face, all hanging up on the wall. Danny could see a middle aged man, dressed in business casual clothing sitting at the head of the table next to another man wearing a military uniform that was similar to that of Mr. Benton's but he had more ribbons on his chest, and he was wearing a mustache and the man in the business casual clothing spoke first "Please do take a seat" and Danny suspiciously sat down next to Chin and Grace, facing towards Benton and the other uniformed gentleman and then the man at the head of the table spoke "I'm Dr. Brand, the head of NASA, this gentleman right here is Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge Stewart. He and Mr. Benton are liaisons from the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce" and Danny was confused "NASA? Wait just a minute. Before I tell you anything, I need assurances" and the man wondered "Assurances?" "Yes assurances, you know, that we will be leaving this place" and Danny quickly held his hands over Grace's ears "And not in the trunk of some beater" and then the older military man looked bemused as Dr. Brand assured him "We can assure you that nothing of that sort will happen. Now can you tell us where you got these coordinates?"

Danny gulped "Well...it's sort of complicated really" and the Brigadier probed "Complicated how. Seems quite simple to me, you must have known about this place from someone. Are you spying on us?" Danny shook his head "No I'm not. I found out about this place through gravitational waves" and that's when things picked up speed as Dr Brand explained "About forty-eight years ago a wormhole near Saturn opened up. It was ten years ago when we sent twelve brave astronauts known as what was called the Lazarus missions to find a habitable place" Chin dryly commented "Lazarus? Sounds cheery" Dr. Brand replied "Lazarus came back from the dead" and Danny snorted as he scoffed "Lazarus had to die in the first place though" and Dr. Brand took them out of the room while Benton took Grace to grab some sleep in a break room and several floors down and several long hallways later, they were in a giant chamber and in that cylinder-like room was a rocket and Danny added "You do realize that the closest star is like a few hundred light years away and that doesn't even qualify as futile in terms of finding a place that's sufficient enough to support the amount of people still left alive" "A star system with three planets is hardly futile" the Brigadier cut in. And Danny sighed "So what about those whose planets didn't qualify as habitable" and then the Brigadier reminded him "Hence the bravery" and Benton explained "As for the astronauts whose planets that qualified, they would ping a thumbs up and then bed down for the long nap to conserve resources and wait for us to arrive and meet them, see what data they've collected and then can decide from there whether to bring everyone over".

Danny wondered "How long could this take?" and Dr. Brand warned him "This could take years. In the meantime, our crops are rapidly failing. Soon corn will be next. The problem with the blight is that it thrives off of nitrogen" and Chin realized "People could start suffocating" and Danny's heart sank, he thought of Grace and Charlie dying before his eyes and being unable to save them and then he asked Dr. Brand "What can I do?" "Go out there and save your kids" and Danny was confused "And how?" "Remember your botanicals training? You will need that when you go on a new mission. And in the meantime, I will find the equation that will help us leave Earth once and for all. Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart will go along as he has experience in the Royal Air Force and Benton will go as a specialist in Physics" and Danny told Dr. Brand "If I'm going, I'm taking Chin with me. He's great at technology" and Danny was worried about his kids and who was going to take care of them while he was in space. When Danny told Grace everything on the way back, Grace was upset and ran to her room and slammed the door as Danny pleaded "Kono will take care of you and Charlie".

Danny was hurt that Grace was shutting him out as he pleaded "You know I have to do this. I have to leave and I'm so sorry" Chin sighed "You have to make things right with her" and Danny snorted "What do you think I'm doing?" and then he knocked on the door and pushed it open as Grace had blocked the door with furniture and he slipped inside and sat next to Grace who was curled on her side in her covers when she told him "Go away. You might as well go now" and Danny pleaded "Please don't let me leave like this Grace, please. I have to fix this before I go" and then Grace retorted "Then I'll make it stay broken so you stay!" and Danny hurt inside, it hurt, ached and burned for him to leave his daughter for potentially years, missing out on milestones of her life. But there would be no point in staying if she was going to suffocate or starve to death and Grace added "The bookshelves were trying to send a message. You wanna know what it is? It says Stay. Stay" Danny sighed as he hugged her "You know I'd choose to stay if there was even one other option. But there isn't and I have to go. You know what Stevie told me, he said to me 'Now we are here to be memories for our kids' and I...I can't be your ghost. I have to go out there and be something more" Danny pulled out a Seiko watch and told her "Now when I head to space, I want you to think and remember me becuase time will run differently for me. It might run more slowly for me, and we might even be the same age when I come back. Now think how cool that would be?" and Grace looked outraged "You have no idea when you're coming back Danno. No idea at all!" and she hurled the watch at the wall as she cried and Danny left to the door and turned around and told her, trying to reassure her "I love you now and forever my Gracie. I will be back, this is my promise to you as your Danno." and Danny left with Chin after saying goodbye to a crying Charlie, tears in his eyes as he left his home, not knowing if or when he would see his children again and Kono wept uncontrollably as well, saying goodbye to her cousin.

Danny just hoped there would be a planet to come back to when the mission was done.