Chapter Text
Finally catching up to the ruthless pirate, Wo Fat, had been a milestone for the McGarrett pirate clan. Steve could taste the bittersweet tang of victory on his tongue, and smell it in the air – a heady mixture of gunpowder, oil, sweat and blood.
Wo Fat, and his family of pirates, had been taunting the McGarretts for several generations – some legends would have had Steve, and pirate fans the world over, believe that the two pirate clans had been at war for several centuries bleeding into the present.
In reality, the war was only a few generations old, stretching, not into centuries, but mere decades. The hatred, though, felt centuries long, and was bone deep. Wo Fat had murdered Steve’s father, and was an ever present threat to Mary, Steve’s sister, who ran her own pirate crew.
Following his father’s death, Steve’s mother, Doris, had been on the run for most of Steve’s life, and he could barely remember what she looked like. Though he equated the smell of vanilla and lilacs with her, he had no idea why.
It had been years since Steve had been taken in by Joe White – a Navy man. He’d taught Steve everything he knew, and helped Steve start up his own pirate crew a few years ago, even though he’d expressed disappointment that Steve had quit the Navy in favor of carrying out his family’s vendetta. Though their paths rarely crossed, now that Steve had established a name for himself, they came to each other’s aid when necessary, Joe turning a blind eye to Steve’s piracy.
Milestone victory or not, McGarrett had every right to be proud, even if he didn’t quite feel it yet – he didn’t like losing good men and women in battle. The Wo Fat pirate crew had been terrorizing the open seas, and the islands they debarked on for rest and relaxation, for far too long, and he was giving pirates a bad reputation the world over, causing the Navy to treat all pirates as enemies.
The Navy had problems of its own – corrupt leaders who could be easily bribed, many of whom were on Wo Fat’s payroll. Now that Steve and his crew had brought down one of Wo Fat’s ships (he had several), there was hope that the Navy would stop breathing down the necks of the good, mostly law-abiding, pirates.
Wo Fat’s pirate crews, however, were known for their lawlessness, and they often got away with their crimes, because of the loose laws which governed the sea. The Navy, though it was large, and loomed over the pirate world, like a dark cloud, had surprisingly little power and authority to bring any justice to pirates who acted mercilessly, which was why Steve had left the Navy, disgruntled and weary of never making any headway against pirates like Wo Fat and the Hesse brothers who ruled the sea with terror.
The vast majority of pirate ships were legitimate business enterprises that saw no bloodshed, but there were a few – the Wo Fats and Hesses of the pirating world – who were bloodthirsty and did not hesitate to initiate hostile takeovers, often killing entire crews who didn’t agree to join them, and then using extortion to buyout their business partners. They were enemies, not only of the Navy, and smaller police forces, who governed the seas, but of other pirates who were trying to uphold legitimate business practices.
Feeling more weary than victorious, Steve spotted his second in command, and gestured toward the downed Wo Fat, not quite believing that the infamous pirate was really dead and bleeding out from a gut wound, entrails spilling out on the bloodied deck. The battle was still fresh, and Steve could taste the copper of blood and peppery gunpowder on his tongue.
He’d gotten lucky, chasing down a rumor he’d heard while trading goods with a small island. The trader had mentioned something about Wo Fat overtaking a cruise ship filled with passengers headed from the mainland Americas to the sovereign Hawaiian islands. There’d been nothing broadcast on the radio news about it, but Steve had known, in his gut, that what the trader had said was true.
Wo Fat, and his crew, had, according to the rumor, overtaken the ship, and had butchered the mostly wealthy passengers, keeping only a few alive to trade, or to service their own needs. Before bringing their few captives, and the booty that they’d attained from the cruise ship over to their own, they’d disabled the life rafts, and then sunk the ship, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, with many of the passengers still alive.
The sunken ship’s whereabouts remained unknown, but Steve had heard that, finally, after several months missing, the Navy was investigating the mysterious disappearance of the cruise ship. That Steve had found Wo Fat before the Navy had, was a godsend, because, for once, justice had been served.
There was little Steve could do for the families of those who’d been killed by the pirates, but, what he could do – set those who’d survived free – he would.
“Chin, I’m going down below decks to see if there are any more surprises waiting for us. Secure the prisoners, and make sure that your cousin doesn’t inflict too much damage on those who’ve willingly surrendered to us.” Steve winked at the man he trusted more than anyone, and tried to ignore the sharp, questioning look that Chin shot in his direction, which encouraged him to be careful, and cautioned him against going alone.