San Vicente Del Caguan, Colombia - Wednesday Afternoon

[hatesparadise]

With just barely enough time to rest up after the stuff in Annie's version of New York, Danny had finally gotten a response to his inquiries into Marco Reyes from a buddy in the DEA.

Which meant Steve had somehow managed to wrangle a military transport to get them there, which Danny would be forever grateful for even as the trip left him with more and more if a pit in his stomach.

Nothing about this could end well. Absolutely nothing about it.

[for the partner canon typical violence and murder]

Comments

[grenadesandohana]

"Danny--" Steve said, reaching out to pull him back before he got everyone killed.

[hatesparadise]

That shit-eating grin only got wider at it, though.

"You listen to me," Danny said through gritted teeth, struggling a little under Steve's grip. "You better put me down now, or I swear--I swear I'll kill you."

[grenadesandohana]

Which was when Reyes' men jumped them, naturally. Can't threaten the boss all openly like that, Danny, it's a bad look for the bodyguards.

Steve being Steve, curled himself around Danny to make it tougher for the goons to get to him.

[hatesparadise]

"No, you listen to me," Marco shouted over the noise. "Take my advice: go home. And if you love your daughter, you won't ever come back to Colombia again, do you understand?"

Oh, threatening him with Grace was a poor choice. Danny went still and silent at that, no longer struggling against Steve or the guards.

[grenadesandohana]

Reyes, in Spanish, ordered his men to take them away and Steve's eyes snapped to Danny's. He didn't think this was going to end in a ride back to the airstrip.

[hatesparadise]

No. No, it would not.

Danny cold-cocked the guard nearest to him. Because it was very similar to that quiet rage with Peterson. You did not do this to his family and not have some repercussions.

[grenadesandohana]

Steve almost casually disarmed the first guy who pulled a weapon on Danny for that, making eye contact with Reyes for a second before laying the bodyguard out cold on the floor.

Invest in better bodyguards, Steve was saying.

[hatesparadise]

Danny looked from the oil drum, to Reyes and back again, rage giving way to absolute dismay at what had become of his brother.

There was the sound of shouting in Spanish as more of those guards were rushing into the house to join them as Marco stumbled back, maybe a little worried for the first time since they had arrived.

[grenadesandohana]

The new guys weren't as accommodating as the current ones in the area of not shooting at absolutely everything that moved.

"Danny," Steve called, tossing him the gun he'd acquired and going off to get a new one. As you do. If you're Steve.

[hatesparadise]

When the back up that had arrived weren't fairing nearly well enough against Steve, Marco was backing up more until he hit the table with the money on it.

Which renewed the rage because all of this had been over money. Danny took several deep breaths like he was working through some anger techniques and finding nothing working at that moment. "What did I tell you?" Danny asked in a low almost hiss, lifting the borrowed gun to point at him.

[grenadesandohana]

Steve shot Danny a worried look but was too busy keeping the rest of Reyes' bodyguards busy to intervene.

And he didn't really want to intervene.

[hatesparadise]

Which would probably be A Thing for them after this. But they were big boys and could make their own choices.

"What did I tell you?" Danny demanded again, aiming and firing before he could think twice about it.

A gunshot was probably not helping them here, but that wasn't exactly where Danny's mind was at as Marco slumped to the floor with a bullet between his eyes.

[grenadesandohana]

It took Steve a minute to look up from the extensive exchange of weapons fire down at his end of the room and realize that he and Danny were the only ones standing.

"Danny?" he asked, his voice suddenly loud and echo-y in the space.

[hatesparadise]

Danny let out a shaky breath at that, what he'd just done sinking in. "We need to leave," he croaked.

[grenadesandohana]

Steve nodded, pulling his sat phone from one of the pockets of his cargo pants and resting his hand on Danny's back. "I need you to ditch that gun right now, Danno," he murmured, placing a call to the DEA rep at the embassy in Bogotá.

[hatesparadise]

"Jesus, Steve. I--" Danny took a deep breath and nodded in understanding. "The money?"

[grenadesandohana]

"Take Annie's back, ditch the rest?" Steve suggested.

His eyes lingered on the barrel. "Want the Embassy to handle Matty?" he asked quietly. "They'll make sure he doesn't show up in Jersey like this."

[hatesparadise]

Danny just nodded because there was a lump in his throat that he couldn't get rid of. Never had he been more grateful for Steve to be with him than right now.

[grenadesandohana]

Steve's hand slid up to squeeze Danny's shoulder, hoping to ground him a bit as his call connected to the DEA agent and he spun a completely bullshit tale of anonymous tips from Honolulu and arriving to find, oh no, some kind of internal power struggle in the cartel and all of these bodies.

"We can file a report remotely," Steve said as he disconnected. "Grab the bag and let's go."

[hatesparadise]

Looked like they had money to bury again! And at least Annie would get her savings back...

"Thanks," Danny managed, avoiding Reyes' body in a jerky motion as he grabbed one of the bags.

[grenadesandohana]

Steve squeezed Danny's shoulder one more time before he checked his weapon for ammunition. "Almost done," he said, herding Danny out of the room as he got back on the phone to confirm the plane was ready for extraction.

Logistics he could do. Emotional fall out needed to wait until they were back in the air.

[hatesparadise]

Or never!

No, no that wouldn't happen. Danny just had to get through telling his folks about this. Then he could have a meltdown. But he had to be the good son right now even if he was going through the motions with Steve here.

Luckily it seemed Reyes had completely underestimated them and the guards who had been shadowing them through the town had been the ones killed. Which made it seem all too quiet as they made their way out of there.

[grenadesandohana]

"A little more to the east," Steve said as they headed back into the jungle. "Almost there."

He had a little internal clock that had been counting down how long he thought it would be before Danny's shock wore off, and he felt it was getting pretty close.

[hatesparadise]

Well, it was clearly just the humid air that caused Danny's breath to catch and him to be unable to get it back on a proper rhythm. Yes. That was clearly why he was trying not to hyperventilate right now. Not adrenaline drop or shock.

[grenadesandohana]

"There you go," Steve murmured, nodding to himself. "In through your nose, out through your mouth, Danny," he said, crouching in front of him.