The disappointing episodes lately keep spurring me to write more. This is a little something I couldn't get out of my head.

Enjoy!

***********************H50**********************

They say that when you know something terrible is about to happen, but there's absolutely nothing you can do to stop it, time slows down.

Steve had never believed this. He'd seen plenty of horrible things happen in his life, and a lot of times he wished that there was something he could have done to prevent it. But not once had time ever slowed down. Because time just didn't slow down. Not for anyone or anything.

Until now.

It was supposed to be a simple take down. Secure the weapons, arrest the men, and be home in time for steak and beer. Steve should've known it was never that simple.

He should've made sure the area was totally clear. He should've seen it coming. He should've been more prepared. He should've reacted faster. There were so many things he should've done. But he didn't.

They'd arrested the perps and were just wrapping everything up when it happened.

One man had somehow evaded capture, and he jumped out from behind a stack of crates in the back of the warehouse. Right near where Danny was standing.

Steve saw him raise his gun and point it directly at Danny. He started to raise his own gun, but he already knew that he would be too late.

A gunshot rang out.

Time slowed down.

"DANNY!" He screamed in desperation as the bullet sent his partner sprawling backwards onto the ground.

It was like a scene straight out of a cheesy cop movie. When the good guy falls backwards in slow motion and you could practically feel their pain as they hit the ground hard.

Only this time it was real. And it wasn't just some cop played by Bruce Willis or Keanu Reeves. It was Danny.

He was running towards his fallen partner before he even saw his own bullet take the man down.

"Danny Danny Danny," he was desperately saying his partners name over and over again as he dropped to his knees beside him. "Please be a vest hit! Come on, please!"

But it couldn't be that easy, could it? It never was.

"No!" Steve shouted in panic as he saw a pool of bright red blood spreading fast across Danny's stomach, staining his light blue shirt.

Two centimeters below the vest. The damn bullet had just missed the vest and instead went straight into his best friends body.

"St- Steve," his partner gasped and moaned as he put firm pressure on the wound. "S-s-stop! Hurts..."

"Shhh don't talk Danno," Steve said as calmly as he could manage. "I need to do this. Just save your breath. I got you buddy. I'm going to roll you over a little and check for an exit wound okay?"

Steve bit back tears as Danny's moans turned into pained screams whenever he was moved. He couldn't afford to fall apart right now. Not with Danny's life on the line like this.

He did a quick check of Danny's back. No exit wound. The bullet was still stuck inside Danny somewhere. Doing god knows what damage.

"Steve!" He heard Kono shout as she ran up to him with Chin and Lou right behind her. "What happened?! How is he?"

"It's bad Kono!" Steve replied, rolling Danny back over and adding more pressure on the heavily bleeding bullet hole, even as his partner moaned and writhed desperately beneath his hands. "He needs help now!"

"We already called an ambulance," Chin told him. "It's three minutes out."

"You hear that bud?" He whispered in Danny's ear. "Help is coming. You just hold on for me."

"Grace," Danny gasped out pitifully. "Steve... Grace!"

"Grace is fine Danno," Steve reassured him. "She'll be fine and so will you. I promise to bring her to you as soon as I can."

"G-Grace..." Danny rasped again before his entire body sagged and went limp beneath Steve's hands.

"Danny!" Steve shouted in alarm.

Kono immediately put her hand to Danny's throat, checking his pulse. "He's fading!" She said desperately. "Where the hell is that ambulance?!"

As if on cue, the ambulance pulled up at that second and two paramedics immediately jumped out. Before Steve even had a chance to blink, Danny was being hooked up to monitors, oxygen, and IV's and quickly moved onto a stretcher and loaded into the ambulance. Steve tried, but failed to keep up with all the medical jargon that was being tossed around by the medics. He didn't even need to understand what they were saying to know how bad this was.

"We need to go now," a medic told him. "He needs to get to the hospital. Fast."

"I'm coming with you," Steve replied, climbing into the back of the ambulance and settling himself as close to his unconscious partner as he possibly could.

"We're going to Tripler," the driver announced. "It's the closest hospital."

"We'll meet you there Steve!" Kono shouted after them.

They closed the door and then they were off in a flash of lights and sirens.

Everything was happening too fast. Time was moving too fast. Almost as if it was trying to catch up after slowing down earlier.

Steve clutched his partners limp hand tightly and moved forward until he was right by his ear.

"It's going to be okay Danny," he promised, even though that was so far from the truth at the moment. "I've got you. I can't lose you so you have to be strong for me okay? For Grace too. We need you buddy. We need you to fight."

Steve leaned back and felt the tears he'd been holding back start to slip down his face as he took in his partners ghostly pale complexion. He could hear Danny's raspy and panting breaths from beneath the oxygen mask as he struggled to draw in enough air to fill his lungs.

This was bad... This was so bad. Danny could not die. Steve couldn't let him go.

"I'm so sorry Danno..." Steve whispered in despair. "I am so damn sorry."

The bullet may have only struck one of them, but they were both dying.

********************H50*********************

Here's the thing... I kind of intend this to be a one shot. I know I usually wrap up my stories nice and neatly with a bow, but I like the idea of leaving this story open ended and letting you guys come up with your own endings.

But if this really annoys all of you, I may be persuaded to write another chapter. I'm not making any promises but maybe. I've just got a lot of work to finish this week.

Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading :)