Note: well I finally have a story for you. Apologies for the long gap. I bought a house with my boyfriend in March so have been busy decorating and adapting to living with someone which gives me less time to write. Wenwalke challenged me to write a one shot to get back into writing so here it is, but I've split it into two parts. I'll post the next part in a few days.
Just a gentle whump to get back in the swing of things.
Big thanks to wenwalke for the kick up the butt and for the beta.
Disclaimer: I do not own H50. No copy right infringement intended.
Gun fire echoed around the shipping yard, bouncing off the metal containers, and destroying a peaceful Sunday afternoon. A raid on a suspected human trafficking ring had left 5-0 in a gun battle, as their prey scattered after being found receiving a container of young women destined to a prostitution ring. Two men had already been secured, a third lay dead only feet away from the scared and cowering girls that were desperately huddling together towards the back of the container they had been shipped in. Kono had taken up a protective stance at the door, in case any of the traffickers decided to double back for the girls.
Danny and Lou weren't far away, hunting down one of their fleeing suspects. Danny looked up just in time to see one of the traffickers had climbed up on top of a crate and was rounding on Lou, who was unaware of the danger approaching. From his position he didn't have the best angle but Danny knew he had to act fast to protect his friend. Raising his gun he fired two rounds at the guy, and congratulated himself when one found its mark, sending the man reeling backwards and falling from the crate.
"I love you man." Lou shouted as he took up a better position, Danny nodded in receipt of the thanks.
A few more cracks of gun fire, a yelp of pain, and the echoes died out, leaving only a few startled birds screaming out in the distance.
"Everyone good?" Steve asked across the coms. "All clear here."
The rest of the team confirmed they were okay as Steve and Chin came to join Danny and Lou. Chin had his gun trained on a guy in zip lock cuffs, who had a wound to his shoulder sluggishly bleeding.
"What happened to your guy?" Chin forced the wounded man to join his friends.
"He took a nose dive off the crate, thanks to a bullet from my friend's gun here." Lou explained making his way over to Danny. "Get over here man and give me a hug. You really saved my sorry ass."
"No, no, really, I'm good." Danny tried to dodge the larger man's hug. Lou was having none of it though and scooped Danny up in to a bear hug as the others watched. They all realised their friend had had a close call, and the fact that they watched each other's backs so well was the only reason the day hadn't ended in tragedy.
"Thanks man, really." A few back slaps from both men and they broke apart.
Danny could see the relief on his team members face, and was just happy he was in the right place, at the right time. "You'd have done the same for..."
Danny saw the second Lou's face changed, and knew he was in trouble. Milliseconds later he heard gun fire, followed by a punch to his back. The force of the bullet sent him stumbling forward, right in line with Lou's gun that was raised in response to the threat.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion for Danny as his back exploded in pain, and he felt the momentum force him forward. As his ear lined up with his friends gun he could hear the mechanism chick as the bullet entered the chamber, then it erupted into life with an explosion that sent a wave of pain through his left ear. The skillful ex-SWAT chief had fired over Danny shoulder, hitting his target center mass.
Danny fell to his hands and knees, aware that his friends were by his side now the threat had been eliminated. However his ear was ringing, and a pounding headache had immediately set in. Taking a second he attempted a deep breath, his heart was pounding, but he realised the pain in his back was already receding.
Steve also had his back to the trafficker, so was taken by surprise when Danny suddenly fell and Lou sprang into action. Trusting his friend to successfully dispatch the threat, he closed the few short meters between himself and his partner in second.
"Danny, you ok?" Running his hand over Danny's back he found the mushroomed bullet, embedded in the back of Danny's tac vest. He started to ease the vest off. "Your vest stopped it bud." Not receiving any response, Steve started to once again get worried. "Danny? Danny, you ok? Talk to me."
Danny could feel Steve's hands over his body, supporting his back then helping remove his tac vest. He was aware that Steve was talking to him, but the ringing in his ear made it impossible for him to work out what he was saying. Finally, the ringing eased off and he looked up at four worried faces. Kono having run to join her team when she saw Danny go down.
"I'm, I'm ok." He finally replied as he shifted to sit on the ground.
"Hey, take it easy." Steve gently supported his friend, "your vest stopped the bullet but it may have done some damage."
"No, I'm good, just bruised. Just had my bell rung." Danny raised his hand to his ear and arched his back to stretch out the aching muscles. "Shit, that was loud."
Lou was crouched down by his friend's side, a hand resting on Danny shoulder. "I'm sorry Danny, I didn't think about how close you were."
"You stopped him from putting another bullet in me, I'll take the ear ache." Danny patted Lou on the hand that was still resting on his shoulder.
"Where the hell did he come from? I thought we were all clear." Steve looked back at the body behind him.
"I guess he survived the header off the crate and wanted payback." Lou berated himself for not checking on the guy. Danny had saved his life and very nearly lost his own. Thank goodness for Kevlar.
"Ambulance is a few minutes out." Kono hung up her phone.
"I don't need an ambulance, I'm fine." Danny attempted to stand up but both Lou and Steve restrained him.
"You're getting checked out whether you like it or not." Steve insisted, still concerned that it took Danny a while to respond to them.
"Fine!" Danny conceded, raising his hand to his ear he pressed his finger against it, hoping to ease the pain, and lessen the ringing that was still present. He was surprised to see a little blood on his fingers.
"Ambulance is here Danny, you ok?" Kono had seen a flash of concern on Danny's face but hadn't seen the blood.
Not wanting to concern the youngest team member Danny brushed it off, "yeah, I'm good. Give me a hand up guys. I can walk to meet them."
Steve and Lou cautiously helped Danny to his feet, both hovering near by in case they were needed.
5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0
Steve finished briefing HPD. All of the girls had been loaded into squad cars and taken to the hospital to be checked out. Reassured Danny was ok, Kono had gone with them. From there they would be processed so their identities could be obtained. Pua Kai had happily escorted the injured trafficker to the hospital so his bullet wound could be tended too, while Duke had escorted the other two back to HPD for booking. Chin and Lou were busy with Max who had arrived to collect the two dead bodies.
Happy everything was under control, Steve made his way to the ambulance where his partner was being checked over. Sat on the back step of the vehicle Danny was now shirtless, a blood pressure cuff wrapped around his right bicep, Jonah, the EMT, busy taking a reading. Ani, the lead EMT was examining Danny's back. "So, will he live?"
"I should think so." A final probe caused Danny to flinch a little, then she informed him he could put his shirt back on. "He'll no doubt be a little sore, but the vest did its job. There only appears to be soft tissue damage, an x-Ray at the hospital will hopefully confirm that."
"I'm fine." Danny piped up. "I don't need an x-Ray. It's just a bruise. I'm not going." The last bit was said to Steve.
Steve contemplated arguing with Danny, but if it were the other way around he would be doing the same. Besides he trusted Ani's opinion. She had saved all their lives on more than one occasion.
Ani knew better than to argue and leaned behind Danny to collect the paper work he would need to sign to refuse a trip to the hospital. "You can take over the counter pain medication to help with any pain, a heat pack might help too. If you experience any more bleeding I suggest you get checked out further."
"Woah, wait. What? Bleeding?" Steve looked at Danny, when he got no immediate response he turned his attention back to Ani. "What bleeding?"
A nod and eye roll from Danny gave her permission to fill Steve in fully. "It appears Danny suffered a sudden loud noise injury. There is a small amount of blood in his ear canal."
"Loud noise? The gun fire?"
"Told you it was loud." Danny had finished buttoning his shirt back up, and started rubbing at his ear again.
"I suspect he has a small perforation to his ear drum. Given that he can still hear, albeit muffled at the moment, and he isn't experiencing any dizziness, it should heal fine on its own. I'm not an audiologist though, a trip to the hospital really would be better."
Danny grabbed the paperwork from her hands and quickly signed it before jumping down and handing it back to her. "No dizziness, I promise if the ringing in my ear gets worse, I'll get help. I'm fine, really. Thanks guys."
Jonah rolled his eyes, unsurprised at the detective's decision, and started packing their equipment away.
"Come on, let's go help the guys." Danny patted Steve on the arm and started to walk towards Chin and Lou.
Steve however had other ideas and grabbed Danny's arm, halting him in his tracks. "I don't think so Danny. I'll stand by your decision not to go to the hospital, but you did just get shot and rupture your ear drum. I'm taking you home."
"In the vest. I was shot in the vest, and I'm fine. I don't need to go home."
"Tough, you're going."
"I'm not. Steven, you're over reacting." Danny refused to be sidelined over a bruise and an ear ache.
"Maybe so, but I'm in charge and what I say goes. No arguing. I'll drive you home, come back and finish off here, and then call back at your house with take out. How does that sound?"
"You really are a benevolent dictator. I don't have a choice, do I?
"Of course you have a choice." Steve smiled.
"Oh I do, do I?"
"Of course you do, Danno. You can choose between pizza or Chinese."
Danny spun around and headed to the car, ignoring the giggles from Ani and Jonah.
5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0
Any anger Danny had at Steve for being benched was now quickly disappearing. The pain in his ear had gradually increased. The ringing had disappeared, only to be replaced by a hissing noise. Deciding to take Ani's advice and take some pain relief, he headed to the bathroom to grab some Tylenol from the bathroom cabinet. As he reached the door his world suddenly tipped, as a sharp stabbing pain erupted in his left ear. Dizzy, and disorientated, his stomach flipped leaving him scrabbling for the toilet. Danny fell to his knees, forced to empty the contents of his stomach as the room seemed to spin around him. After several minutes of retching, while he hugged the toilet basin, Danny final lifted his head only for the room to start spinning once again. His head ached, and continual waves of pain ripped through his ear. Overcome by pain, nausea, and vertigo, Danny managed to lower himself to the bathroom floor. Once laid down the vertigo dialled back a notch, and the immediate need to vomit receded.
"This is just great." Lying flat on his back was aggravating the bruising that had started to form from the bullets impact. Checking his pockets, he inwardly groaned when he realised he had thrown his phone onto the coffee table when Steve had dropped him home.
Deciding he was going to have to make a move from where he was, he slowly started to sit himself up, only a little dizzy he made an attempt to get to his feet. The dizziness chose that moment to come back with a vengeance. Danny wobbled to his side, his momentum taking him over. His head made contact with the basin, knocking him unconscious.
TBC