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If there was one thing Rachel regrets about her marriage to Danny, it was how it ended. She could never say she regretted being with him, for it would have been equivalent to wishing Grace never existed. And she knew Danny felt the same way about her. They will always care for each other. Actually, they will always love each other a certain way.
But they could never go back to the way they were.
Rachel couldn’t recall when things between her and Danny turned the way they were – but she knew it became worse when she took Grace to Hawaii with Stan. Danny made the brave decision to transfer to the Honolulu Police Department just so he could keep the little custody he had been granted in the divorce, but he was still resentful over it. In many ways, Rachel understood. Danny had a strong family network in New Jersey, a job he loved – everything he had to give up to come to Hawaii, where he was treated like an outsider. Even within the police department he worked.
That seemed to change the day Grace ran off when she and Stan were having a very public argument.
Having public arguments with Stan was the one thing Rachel tried to avoid – especially when Grace was around. It seemed to be the one thing she and Danny could agree on. No matter what happened between them, Grace stayed out of it. She still remembered the panicked call she made to Danny. But he was out at a crime scene; and while he was certainly racing back, it would still take time. Eventually, Danny called her back saying he got a call from someone at the precinct. Grace had fled to the Honolulu Police Department since it was nearby searching for her father.
Rachel and Danny ended up arriving at the same time. There, they found that Grace was in the care of another officer. Felicity ‘Flick’ McGarrett.
So, Rachel had inadvertently gotten a front-row seat to watching her ex-husband fall in love all over again.
She thought it would hurt. Especially when she noticed the way Grace seemed to talk about her newfound friend all the time. (Something, Rachel couldn’t help but note, Grace didn’t seem to do all that much with Stan – even with all of Stan’s efforts to buy Grace’s love in the early days.) That was something that only increased when the Five-0 task force was formed and Danny started working with her even closer.
Even though Rachel was the first to move on – it was during the divorce proceedings that she met Stan, but she waited a bit to start dating him and even longer to introduce him to Grace, who was already going through so many upheavals in her life – she thought it would hurt to see Danny move on. But it didn’t.
If anything, Rachel was happy. Happy for Danny.
**
That was something that was affirmed when she met the woman for herself. She still remembered that day. She was expecting many things when she heard a knock on the door. Her ex-husband – flanked with two people carrying cases – was not one of them.
“Danny, what are you doing here?” Rachel demanded.
“Uh, I need a favour,” was Danny’s answer.
But Rachel wasn’t done with the question: “How did you even get in the gate?”
“Because the code is still Grace’s birthday. I told you to change it fifteen thousand times, but you don’t listen to me!” Danny retorted.
Rachel wasn’t going to dignify that with a response. She will concede that Danny had valid points about security and safety due to his profession and she actually took his advice to heart a lot of the time. But she wasn’t about to drag that up. Not when Danny had brought company without her knowledge.
Especially since she had a good feeling who the lone woman standing with the two men was.
“So, perhaps you’d care to explain what it is you’re doing on my front porch and you your friends are with the luggage,” Rachel redirected the conversation.
But again, she had a strong feeling she knew who the woman was. She was about Danny’s height. Maybe an inch shorter. She had brown hair that fell in gentle beach waves down to her collarbones and green eyes that watched the tense exchange between the ex-spouses with a degree of uncertainty. And the man standing next to her carrying the bulk of the gear… Rachel was no detective, but she did pick up a few things from being married to one. And it didn’t take much detective work to figure out the man was the girl’s brother. They looked like siblings.
It was confirmed when Danny made the introductions. He pointed to the man and introduced him as Steve McGarrett. Hearing the last name sent a jolt through Rachel because even before he introduced the woman, she knew who he was.
It was Felicity ‘Flick’ McGarrett – the woman she strongly suspected to be Danny’s new girlfriend.
Going against her better judgement, Rachel invited them into her home… only to regret it immediately when Danny explained what they wanted to do.
“Absolutely not!” Rachel immediately objected.
“Okay, then I’ll just talk to Stanley,” Danny decided. “Okay, he’s a goof, but at least he’ll listen to reason.”
When Danny walked further into the house shouting for his ex-wife’s new husband, Rachel revealed, “Stan is on a business trip to Indonesia.” She didn’t want to give Danny the satisfaction of knowing that it was something she strongly encouraged, given their recent marital problems. “You know, I knew that you would find a way to engage with me while he was gone.”
“Okay, this has nothing to do with you and I! You have potential murder suspects living next door!” Danny revealed. “We just need access so we can surveil?”
“Surveil?” Rachel repeated in disbelief.
At this point, Steve and Flick were just standing there awkwardly while Danny and Rachel had it out. But now, Steve found his voice.
“Yeah, surveil, and then we’ll be out of your hair,” Steve promised her. “Trust me, they’re bad people. You don’t want them walking around your neighbourhood. You got Grace and, you know…”
Rachel’s mind was starting to change. She knew they were right. And realistically, Danny wouldn’t just show up like this with no reason. The thought of living next door to dangerous people sent a chill through her. Because it was as Steve said – she had a daughter to think about. And she would never endanger Grace.
Flick finally spoke and asked, “Have you noticed anything unusual about them?”
Rachel took a good moment to appraise the other woman standing in her house. She carried herself well. She was certainly strong. She had to be to be in a workplace filled with so much testosterone on a daily basis. Also, she heard a lot about Danny and Flick’s dynamic from Grace (because, again, Grace really adored Flick). She could hold her own with Danny and call him out on his crap. Something sorely needed.
She also noticed the way Danny looked at her occasionally, and remembered a time when he looked at her like that.
Refocusing on the question, Rachel answered, “Not unusual. I think they moved in a few months ago. They’re renters.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Danny demanded, stepping forward.
“Nothing. Just that they’re only here for a short time. They tend to keep to themselves,” Rachel elaborated. She couldn’t help but to indulge in a brief moment of pettiness by pretending to dust something off Danny’s shoulder and remarking, “Sorry. You had a rather large chip there.”
“Okay, Rachel, I know this isn’t ideal, but we don’t have much time and we need your help,” Steve appealed to her.
Rachel only took a moment to consider everything. Again, she knew that this was a serious situation. It wasn’t just Danny trying to engage with her concerning their past relationship or something related to Grace with Stan out of the way. But she also knew that she didn’t want to be around to see it. Especially not to see up close Danny and Flick’s… whatever they had going on.
“Very well,” Rachel conceded. “The three of you can do whatever you like. I’m picking Grace up from school and checking into a hotel.”
It wasn’t just she didn’t want to be around this awkward situation. She wanted to keep Grace away from it as much as possible.
But when she grabbed her purse and went to do just that, Steve stopped her and said she couldn’t do that. Flick, to her credit, explained everything in a nicer way than simply saying, ‘You can’t do that.’
“It’s better for everyone to act normal,” Flick elaborated. “We don’t want them to be tipped off. They’ll get suspicious if you do things you wouldn’t normally do.” Then, she said to the group, “Maybe, though, we can find a way to keep Grace away from this?”
“I got an idea,” Danny piped in (because of course he did). “Why don’t you take Gracie over to Laura’s for a sleepover ‘cause she’s only been asking for, like, three months.”
Rachel was satisfied that Grace would at least be away from this, but she was still unhappy with being stuck – and she made it clear: “And I’m supposed to just stay here?”
“I’m not thrilled about the situation, either,” Danny admitted.
Steve cut in, “So, uh, if it’s all good, we’ll, uh, find a spot upstairs and we can get a good vantage point on the house next door and… get to work.”
**
That good place turned out to be the marital bedroom.
“This is… this is ridiculous, okay?! Nobody needs a bed this big!” Danny raged. “I mean, my whole apartment could fit into this bedframe!”
“Maybe even add mine,” Flick added.
But Rachel didn’t hear the same tone in Flick’s voice that she heard in Danny’s. It was… shock. Clearly, she had never seen a giant bed like this. After all, Flick was a single woman living alone on a cop’s salary. And she remembered from her marriage to Danny – cops don’t get paid much. (Which was something Rachel always found ridiculous, considering the amount of training they have to complete and the high dangers that come with the job – the events of September 11, 2001 immediately sprang to mind for Rachel, a day which not only saw a terrorist attack, but Danny lose his partner who would become their daughter’s namesake.)
Rachel decided to keep her thoughts to herself about the reason why she loved the big bed. She has been craving distance from Stan in bed recently.
“I mean, this room, it does have the best view, Danny,” Steve reasoned. And indeed, he was setting everything up by the window.
“You’re having fun with this? You’re enjoying this?” Danny challenged him. “I want to rip my face off and you’re enjoying this?”
At this point, Rachel decided to make her presence known and conduct herself as the perfect hostess. Something that had been engrained into her since childhood.
“Would anyone like tea?” she asked. Sensing what was coming, she followed it up with a stern, “Do not mock me, Daniel.”
“I wasn’t mocking you!” Danny objected – although, the tone of his voice said otherwise. “I think it’s cute. We’re doing a stakeout and you’re offering teatime.”
“It’s called civilization,” Rachel retorted cooly. She then turned to Steve, “Would you care for anything, Commander McGarrett?”
“No thank you, Rachel,” Steve declined politely. “But could you tell me how many people live next door?”
“Just a couple,” Rachel answered.
“So, two?” Danny pressed.
“Last I checked, that’s what a couple was,” Rachel snarked.
“That’s cute,” Danny quipped. “Oh, you know what we should do? Uh, we’re about to take them down. So, maybe beforehand, we invite them over for a game of tennis. Tea and tennis.”
Rachel’s words did not match the sweet smile and sweet tone of voice she used: “Bite me.” (He still had a way of getting under her skin.)
“That’s very civilized!” Danny fired back.
Remembering the sole female in the group, Rachel asked her, “Would you like anything, Detective McGarrett?”
“Call me Flick, please,” Flick kindly requested. “And… is there a bathroom I can use?”
Flick subtly glanced at the boys, silently communicating to Rachel why she asked about a bathroom when there was an ensuite attached to the bedroom they were more than welcome to use. But being a woman, Rachel picked up on the nuance immediately and understood why she wanted to be away from the boys.
“Come with me,” Rachel said kindly, gently guiding her away from the master bedroom to a guest bathroom that she knew would have the type of supplies Flick needed (although Flick certainly had her own on her). “Perhaps you would like some ginger tea?”
Catching onto the subtle hint, Flick gave a grateful smile, “That would be great. Thank you.”
**
Rachel told Flick to meet her in the kitchen when she was done in the bathroom. Her tea would be ready by then (Rachel decided she felt like ginger tea herself, so she would certainly be sharing a cup). She played it off as having more questions about the surveillance and feeling more comfortable talking to the lone woman in the group.
She heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. Footsteps belonging to more than one person. Curiosity got the best of her and she moved nearby. She positioned herself where she couldn’t be seen, but she could see and hear everything.
“Danny, I can handle this. You should stay with Steve,” she heard Flick saying. “There’s nothing wrong with having questions. We’re barging into her home.”
“But does it have to be you?” Danny asked. That piqued Rachel’s curiosity. Why would Danny be so worried about Flick in particular talking to his ex-wife?
‘Unless they’re dating,’ a voice in her head told her in an almost taunting tone.
“I can do my job, Danny,” Flick’s voice contained a hint of exasperation.
“I’m not doubting that. I just… don’t know how I feel about you talking to my ex-wife,” Danny admitted.
“Considering we haven’t even…,” Flick trailed off. Suddenly hesitating to say what she wanted to say. “Can we… talk about this later?”
Hearing the sound of the two pairs of footsteps going in different directions, Rachel moved back to the kitchen. The tea was ready. Fortunately for her, the person who entered the kitchen was Flick. It filled her with relief. With the mood Danny was currently in, she already knew she would need something stronger than ginger tea to deal with him.
When Rachel offered her the cup and saucer with the tea, Flick accepted it with a grateful smile and expression of gratitude.
“So, about this stakeout…,” Rachel began after taking a sip of her own tea, “I understand they’re murder suspects?”
“We think they’re going to strike again soon, but that’s all I can say,” Flick said apologetically. “I’m not allowed to discuss the details of an ongoing investigation. Even though we’re using your home.”
Rachel figured as such. She and Danny were together for a long time. She picked up more than a few things from him. But she knew that while she couldn’t ask questions about the investigation, she could ask questions about the stakeout. And maybe guide the conversation to… other topics.
As Flick told her about the stakeout, Rachel found herself feeling at ease with the younger woman. She could certainly see why Grace adored her so much. And why Danny had fallen in love with her. She was a highly competent cop with a gentle soul and a captivating spirit. She could also tell Flick was a gentle influence with a backbone (she wouldn’t survive as a cop without the backbone). Two things Danny needed in a perspective partner.
Eventually, they were done sharing laughter and Rachel asked her, “How long have you and Daniel been together?”
Flick’s response (once she recovered from nearly choking on her tea): “We’re dating? Since when?”
Rachel’s demeanour softened at Flick’s response. Flick’s last remark to Danny before going down to talk to Rachel made more sense. Flick wasn’t being a smartass (even though Rachel strongly believed Flick had the capability of being a smartass, she also knew Flick was one at an appropriate time and place). She genuinely did not know where she stood with Danny.
Flick was caught in limbo.
Rachel took a more sympathetic approach. “I see the way he looks at you. He… once upon a time, he looked at me the same way. Even if nothing’s happened yet, I believe it will.”
Before Flick could stop herself, the words came tumbling out: “it’s not that nothing’s happened. A lot has happened. But… we can’t seem to…”
And based on the conversation, Flick wasn’t the one with the hesitations. Danny was. In a way, Rachel held those same hesitations when she first started dating Stan. And Danny hasn’t had much of a love life since the divorce (at least as far as she knew; Danny wasn’t the type to ‘kiss and tell’). Flick would be his first serious relationship.
“Felicity,” Rachel began, “if you were to date Daniel, you would have my blessing.”
Flick looked up at Rachel in surprise. Flick clearly respected that Rachel would have a continued presence in Danny’s life because of Grace, and Flick definitely hoped that she and Rachel would be able to have their own amicable relationship (even if they never ended up friends) because of how much they both love Grace. (Don’t misunderstand. Flick would never overstep – she knows Grace loves Rachel and already has a loving, devoted mother in her life. She wasn’t going to replace Rachel in Grace’s life.)
But Flick never thought that Rachel would be so readily offering her blessing for her ex-husband’s new girlfriend. Especially since Danny didn’t extend the same courtesy to Rachel when she told him about Stan. (Danny didn’t go out of his way to stop Rachel from moving on, but he wasn’t exactly expressing pleasure over it either.)
“Things between Danny and I weren’t always so bad. There were definitely good parts. They’re what I hold onto. I still care for Danny and I want him to be happy. And if he can find that happiness with you…” Rachel trailed off. Wondering if it would come off as creepy to say she hoped Danny found happiness with Flick in particular.
Flick gave Rachel a grateful smile before saying she should get back upstairs, making some sort of joke about how dangerous it is to leave Steve and Danny alone to their own devices for too long. She offered to at least put her teacup in the sink, but Rachel wouldn’t hear of it. Flick was a guest.
When Flick thanked Rachel before heading back upstairs, Rachel knew it wasn’t just for the tea.
**
Things took a turn later that night. Their suspects had left the house, so Danny took the opportunity to sneak in and do some scoping of his own. Find more evidence to nail them while Chin and Kono followed their route. It should have been a straightforward operation.
But then, two more suspects arrived. And Danny was still inside.
In that moment, Rachel remembered part of the reason why she left Danny. A reason that still stood today. It was the fear. The fear of never knowing if the kiss she shared with Danny every day before he left for work would be the last. If every knock on the door would be an officer telling her that Danny had been injured or killed in the line of duty. It was something that became more prevalent when Grace was born. She couldn’t live with that. This, combined with their other problems, led to the divorce and the somewhat bitter coparenting relationship they shared today.
She told Steve and Flick that she told herself every day that Danny was a great job. One of the best. He was highly competent at his job. But it never helped. And it didn’t help now.
So, when Steve started frantically asking her for anything flammable (Rachel actually thought Grace was kidding with some of the stories she told), Rachel decided to act. Using a trick that had worked once before.
She grabbed her car and rammed the front gate. The distraction brought the two people out of the house, enabling Danny to sneak back out before he could get caught. She made up some sort of lie about thinking this was her house and not understanding why her code at the gate wasn’t working after having a bit to drink. (Rachel played it off well; making herself out to be not so impaired that she reasonably shouldn’t be driving, but impaired enough for the confusion.) Playing it off as an accident, including a comment about how upset her husband will be if she found out, she reached into her car and pulled out a notepad and pen so they could exchange details. Particularly their names and insurance.
Danny was climbing out of the bush in Rachel’s property when he saw Rachel pull up the driveway with the damaged car. It didn’t take long for him to put two and two together. When she climbed out of the car and approached her ex-husband with the pen, Rachel was all business.
“Names. Though, I’m fairly certain they’re fake. Maybe you can get prints off the pen,” Rachel suggested.
“Prints off the pen?” Danny repeated her words. But there was no taunting tone in his voice. If anything, he was impressed.
“I was married to a cop, remember?” Rachel reminded him with a fond smile. “That was the extent of our pillow talk.”
“Okay, Rachel, that’s not right,” Danny argued. “That’s not true. Not always.”
Still with the same smile, Rachel conceded, “Okay, not always. But sometimes.”
Danny figured that was the best he was going to get out of Rachel, so he turned to the car and asked, “What happened?”
“It had a little chat with the neighbour’s gate,” Rachel answered.
Suppressing his laughter, Danny praised her, “Nice work. Thank you.”
What Rachel had no way of knowing (though she could probably guess) is Danny was trapped in the pantry. Gun drawn. Ready for the inevitable fight he might not have come out of alive. So, she saved his life.
“I feel like I’ve seen this trick before,” Danny teased.
Rachel immediately knew what Danny was referring to. She was referring to when they first met. Danny was working as a beat cop in New Jersey when she rear-ended him. She was new to the States, having arrived from the London School of Economics, so she supposedly wasn’t used to driving on the right side of the road and got flustered seeing a cop car. Danny let her off and offered driving lessons in place of a ticket.
And it was as he put it to Steve and Flick when they asked: “Driving lessons turned into dates, and then dates turned into a two-bedroom in Weehawken. She woke up married to a cop.”
“Well, worked once, right?” Rachel smirked.
“Excuse me?” Danny spluttered in shock. “I’m sorry, um… are you implying that when you hit me when we met, you did it on purpose?”
Rachel’s only response was a smile. For Danny, it said everything. It was deliberate. He knew that once he processed everything, namely when this case was over, he would be laughing about this. But for now, it made him look at everything in a whole new light.
All the good parts. And the bad.
“Danny,” Rachel began, “I know you’re dating Felicity.”
Danny said the same words Flick had – “We’re dating? Since when?” – but not with the same tone Flick had. A stern look from Rachel made Danny stop any pretence and say, “We haven’t actually… I haven’t….”
“Danny, what we had… it wasn’t all bad. There were good parts, and they’re the parts we need to hold onto,” Rachel told him. “But I think we can agree… the reasons that split us up are too big for us to be anything more than coparents. Or friends.”
“Friends,” Danny repeated the word. “I’d like that.”
“Me too,” Rachel smiled. Maybe they can put an end to their bitter coparenting relationship. Start anew as friends. “And I want you to be happy. Flick can make you happy. You should pursue it.”
Danny opened his mouth to say something else, but then he heard a voice over his earpiece. It was time to go back to work.
**
A few months later, Rachel was calling Grace when Grace innocently told her that Danny was in hospital. Apparently, he had been poisoned at a crime scene. It made Rachel race back to Honolulu (she was on Maui with Stan trying to fix their marriage – a futile effort, if you asked her), even though she was assured that Danny would be okay and Grace would be fine.
When she arrived at the hospital, she went straight to Danny’s room, where she knew Grace would be. Grace happily met her mother in the hallway. It was clear her daughter had been scared – she is certainly a daddy’s girl, even though she loves both parents dearly – but the bright smile on Grace’s face told her everything really was okay.
Rachel peaked her head in and saw Danny and Flick exchanging a kiss. It was clearly a quick kiss. And it was just as clear that Flick stayed by Danny’s side the whole time. (Grace mentioned that ‘Uncle Steve’ had picked her up from school.) Seeing the exchange told Rachel everything she needed to know.
They had taken the plunge. They were together.
It was another year later when the now divorced Rachel received another visit from Danny. Seeing Danny and Flick together had made Rachel take a plunge of her own and admit that she wasn’t happy with Stan, filing for divorce. Even a positive pregnancy test did nothing to change her decision. She would rather raise her new child in two happy households than one miserable one.
Grace excitedly talked to Flick, gushing and awing at the engagement ring that now adorned her finger (even though it was not her first time seeing it) and the wedding plans. Rachel knew they were engaged. Danny had given her a heads up when he was planning to propose to her (their relationship had truly evolved into a friendship) and Grace was talking her ear off about the proposal Danny had planned. She also knew that Grace was going to have a significant role in the wedding as a junior bridesmaid.
Danny said, “We wanted to deliver this in person.”
Rachel smiled as she accepted the envelope from Danny. Opening it, she found a wedding invitation inside. She was invited to the wedding. But what she saw that took her breath away was the post it note attached to the invitation. Rachel immediately knew it was Flick’s handwriting (simply because of how well she knew Danny’s).
‘Thank you.’
Rachel glanced over at Flick, who looked at her over Grace’s head, and the two women shared a smile. They knew what the words meant.
Turning back to Danny, Rachel said, “I… I am honoured, Danny. Truly. I am so happy for you both.”
“Well, this wouldn’t have happened without you,” Danny admitted. “All the good parts… you played a role.”
Rachel beamed, resting a hand on her swollen stomach. She heard Danny say that her baby would be welcome, the wedding being scheduled for when her unborn son would be a few months old. In fact, there were plans to have him as the ringbearer. (Which really served to highlight how close Rachel had become to both Danny and Flick.)
As they went to join Grace and Flick in the living room, Rachel reflected on the words Danny said. ‘Good parts.’ She had said something like that to Flick in her kitchen so long ago. There were good parts to her marriage to Danny. And she held onto those good parts.
It may have been hard to do just that during the time when Danny showed up on her doorstep with Flick and Steve to do a stakeout on her neighbours. But that night allowed them to have talks they needed to have. That night allowed them to put their past to rest. Now, when she says she holds onto the good parts, she meant it. It wasn’t bittersweet. She and Danny were now friends, and Rachel had formed her own friendship with Flick, the two of them often spending their own time together. (Turns out they both had a lot in common.) There was no bitterness with the good parts anymore.
And now, she could say with certainty there were more good parts to come.