Danny walked by Steve's office and noticed his partner standing at the window, his hands clasped behind his head, his elbows pulled in tightly.
He opened the door and took a couple of steps inside. "Steve, are you alright?"
"Can you give me a minute Danny?"
Danny heard the shakiness in his partners' voice and he knew that Steve had been crying.
"Sure…I'll be back in a few minutes man"
He moved to the outer room and approached Chin and Kono.
"Hey, do you guys know what's wrong with Steve?"
Chin glanced towards the bosses' office, "No, what do you mean? He was fine"
Kono added, "He went to take a call from Joe"
Danny sighed and ran his hands through his hair, "Great…what the hell is he telling Steve now?"
Chin looked at him confused, "What's up Danny?"
"I don't know, but he's been crying"
Kono's hand moved to her mouth, "What?"
"He wanted a minute alone….I tell you what though, I've had just about enough of Joe. He's brought nothing but heartache to Steve since he came to town. He's playing games with his emotions and I for one am sick and tired of it"
"Danny calm down bro, you don't know what it's about….talk to him first"
Danny threw his hands in the air and he moved back to Steve's office.
He found his friend sitting at his desk, his elbows on his desk, his chin resting on his cupped hands. Danny stepped into the office and he sat facing Steve. Their eyes met and Steve spoke softly, his voice full of raw emotion, "Joe called. One of my men is dead"
"Jesus Steve, I'm sorry. What happened?"
"It was a car accident. His name is Lee Dorsey, his wife is four months pregnant with their first baby Danno. He left the SEALS not even a year ago…"
"Where did it happen?"
"Just outside of Dallas. I need to fly out as soon as possible"
"Of course. I'll handle things here brother" Danny moved around the desk and Steve stood to embrace him, "I'm so sorry partner"
"Thanks Danny. I need to call the other guys now"
Danny left the office closing the door behind him.
Danny filled Chin and Kono in on the details he knew and then they all moved to Danny's office to begin looking over a cold case file.
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Steve called the remaining members of his SEAL team to inform them of Lee's death. This team had been together as a unit for three years and they were in every sense of the word, brothers.
They had lost two of their own during a daybreak mission to save a kidnapped Korean diplomat from a rebel faction and that loss forever bonded these men. That battle had been extremely bloody, but successful. The eight man SEAL team headed up by Steve had managed to kill numerous heavily armed rebels and rescue the diplomat but the personal cost had been extremely high. Steve and Jeff Parker along with two others, Lee and Omar Gonzalez had stormed the tent that held the hostage in a densely wooded area. As the other four did their best to fend off the rebels Steve and Jeff entered the tent as Lee and Omar fired at approaching rebels from outside the tent. Steve was untying the hostages' feet as Jeff was working on his hands which were tied behind his back. Suddenly he heard the horrible thud of a bullet hitting flesh and bone and Jeff toppled to the ground, struck in the throat by a round fired through the tent canvas. Steve threw Jeff over his shoulder and grabbing the diplomat by the arm they exited the tent and sandwiched between Lee and Omar they followed their escape plan, making their way towards their rescue helicopter. The gunfire from the other SEALS continued to erupt around them as Steve used his body to protect the diplomat while holding on tightly to Jeff. Once they had reached the chopper Steve's eyes searched the horizon and he spotted the four remaining team member's racing towards them with Tony Reddick carrying an injured Chris Milliner over his shoulder. Steve, Omar and Lee jumped from the helicopter and fired at the ten to twelve remaining rebels who were on hot on their heels. Once the men were all on board the chopper lifted off, carrying the men from the scene.
Steve's eyes first went to Jeff. The young man was clearly dead and he placed his hand over Jeff's face, closing his lifeless eyes. After insuring that the diplomat was uninjured, he then turned his attention to Chris. Chris had very quickly become one of his best friends and his heart sank as he looked down at him. Steve had been the best man at his wedding and was the Godfather to his ten month old son, Christopher Steven. Steve knelt next to him taking his bloodied hand in his and squeezing it firmly. He had taken three shots to the gut, just below the protective vest and unbeknownst to Steve he had also taken a hit to the lower back causing paralysis. As the others worked on the wounds trying to stop the bleeding, Steve spoke to his friend.
"Hey buddy, you're going to be fine...you hang on for me"
Chris' eyes were hazy and Steve reached up to wipe away the blood that dribbled from the corners mouth.
"Steve? I don't...think...I...I'm gonna...mmakke it buddy"
"Of course you're gonna make it Chris. These guys are taking good care of you. You stay with me man. I'm going to get you home to Sara and Christopher and you're going to get some time off to enjoy that little boy of yours"
"Steve...it ddoesn't eeven hurt..."
"That's good buddy, that's real good" He knew that Chris was going into shock and he kept talking to him, encouraging him to hang on.
A short time later Chris began to cough up blood and as Steve looked back at his fellow SEALS, Omar nodded to his leader that there was nothing more they could do.
"Stteve...SStevvee..."
Steve took Chris's face into his hands, "I'm right here partner, I've got you"
"Tell Sara...I llove..." and with that Chris exhaled deeply and he was gone.
Steve pulled him to his chest and held him tightly for several minutes as the chopper flew towards the rising sun.