I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.

Notes: Missing Scene/Tag for "Ho'opio (To Take Captive). Couldn't help it because they are still the good guys.

H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O*

There was a glimmer of doubt. Then almost a feeling of regret. Both of those feelings were natural because he was naturally empathetic. He also had a strong penchant for playing by the rules. His life was dictated by rule upon rule and a strict sense of right and wrong. But this time, he wondered if he'd gone too far. His bruised knuckles sat idly in his lap. Both hands. Both knuckles. His right, slightly more swollen than his left. They ached and throbbed dully as he watched the streets fly by.

The sirens were blaring and the lights were flashing. But other than that, there was no sound in or around the car. His silent glance towards Steve, echoed his internal sentiment. Stone-faced and equally silent, Steve doubted what he had allowed to happen. What he had willingly turned his back on, too. And though Danny had found his badge waiting for him quietly on the passenger seat, Steve might have been having second thoughts.

The two of them sat together loudly communicating their doubtful feelings in an absolute stillness as they raced to the site where Ray Beckett finally admitted to hiding his only leverage. However, doubt toyed with Amanda's death and how she had been found. Shot in the back and left in a shallow grave. Taken and hidden for years until she was no longer needed. Doubt still crept in even though Ella was selected to be her replacement.

When they finally found Ella, the tendrils of doubt were completely erased. The callous reality to how she had been secreted away took an axe to that doubt and it was hewn in half. The empty expanse of silent jungle. A red rag left haphazardly in a bush as a marker for a child that would be used as a commodity. A living meal ticket until she also became too old and a replacement would be needed. She would be discarded as easily as something like that old red rag; in fact, just like Amanda.

So it started with those images; all of which corroborated the death of doubt to a justified resolution. By the time he saw the narrow bamboo pipe that let in a trickle of air to replace the child-sized exhale of carbon dioxide, it was completely forgotten.

Because that was not expected. This was beyond acceptance. It was well beyond all rational reason and Danny couldn't wrap his mind around the concept as he dug with everyone else to reach the box. Bare hands and small shovels scraping out inches of dirt to reveal the lid to a box. A metal box that had been buried into the very floor of the jungle; just big enough for a 6-year old child to curl up in. She had been there alone and in the dark for hours.

So when they finally found Ella, there was no doubt. It had been entirely forgotten and replaced by a singular feeling of vengeance. The feral urge to do more settled across them as they shared an incredulous look.

The man had been tied helplessly in a chair and yet, he had gotten off far too easily. Regardless of the broken ribs, black eyes, cracked jaw or the arrogance that had turned into pained wheezes and pleas.

For Amanda. And now for Ella.

They actually might not have done enough to soothe their souls.

But doubt? No.

~ End. ~