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Hello! Thank you so much for choosing to read this story! This is my take on what happens after the season 9 finale, so if you haven't seen that yet, there might be some spoilers in here. Fair warning!

My plan is to have the story finished by the time that season 10 premiers, which is supposed to be on September 27. That will mean that I will have to put up two chapters a week in addition to the one chapter a week of my other story, and I think that I can do it. Especially with encouragement from you all in the form of reviews, favorites, and follows! I also welcome private messages – I love communicating with my readers.

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own the Hawaii Five-O characters, though I certainly wish that I did. All of the OCs are of my own creation. And, similarly to my last Hawaii Five-O story, I will not be following the timeline of the show, nor will I use every single plot that they've introduced. I really only use the characters and a few of the storylines. So, if you're reading something and you think, "no, that can't be right because Steve had already met Catherine" or "but that doesn't make sense because Danny said this in season two…" just know that it does make sense in my own little Hawaii Five-O universe.

This chapter is going to be much shorter than all of the others, because it's really only a prologue. The other chapters should be longer – and probably better, haha.

Happy Reading!

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Chapter One: Merciless

Azra spoke from behind me as we walked down the hall, towards the exit. I could barely register her words, moved as I was from her apology. She had watched me essentially kill her husband in front of her and her son, and yet she had come forward to apologize and ask to move on. Had he been alive, I knew that Joe would have loved it.

"You know, I ask God every day for His mercy…"

I heard her drop her purse, and then a smattering of steps, which I assumed was her young son rushing to pick it up for her. But then I saw the look in Jerry's eyes as he froze in front of me, facing her, eyes wide with fear and shock.

"Gun!"

I moved to turn and see what was going on. Had someone broken into headquarters while Danny and I had been talking with Azra and her son? Was it Aaron Wright?

Azra continued to speak, her voice strong and angry. "Because I have none!"

She was holding a white gun – likely some kind of plastic or acrylic.

And it was aimed at me.

As she pulled the trigger, my hand moved for the gun at my side, but I knew that it would be too late. She hadn't come to Hawaii to apologize and extend mercy. That had been a ruse so that she could get close enough to kill me and take her revenge.

Danny was rushing up behind her to tackle her, but it was too late to stop the bullet that had exploded from the chamber and torpedoed into my chest.

I felt it enter my body with enough force to send me stumbling backwards. There was fire in my body, rushing through my veins, bringing pain to every last part of me. I felt myself tremble with the weight of it, and then I sank into a state of just barely conscious, unable to move or speak. Only able to feel the pain.

And the regret.

If I had said no to meeting her… If I had never offered to walk her out… If I had asked her to simply speak to me over the phone… If I had reacted sooner when Jerry's face had told me that something was wrong… If I had let her walk in front of me…

"Oh, my God," I heard Danny say, and then I felt some pressure on my chest. But the area felt numb, and I realized that I didn't really feel much pain anymore. I was too weak for that.

There was shouting from above me and I tried to pick out individual voices, tried to hear what they were saying, but I just couldn't. I could feel myself slipping away.

I was jolted back to reality when my body was lifted and then placed down again. There was a rushing sensation, and I belatedly realized that I was being wheeled away on a stretcher. Dead? No, I could feel my heart beating, albeit weakly. And there was a needle in my arm. They wouldn't waste an IV on a dead man.

Another jolt as I was loaded into the ambulance, and then I heard Danny's voice next to my ear. "You stay alive, Steven. Do you hear me? You are not allowed to die on me. No matter how bad it hurts, just stay alive."

I wished that I could tell him how very badly I wanted to, but I couldn't open my mouth, nor my eyes. I had to settle for thinking it very, very loudly and hoping that he would somehow get the message.

"Pulse is weak and thready," an unfamiliar voice said. "The cuff isn't measuring BP."

"What does that mean?" Danny's voice was panicked.

"He's in rough shape."

Danny's hand suddenly gripped my arm. "You're obviously not listening to me, Steve. You. Are. Not. Dying. Not today. She is not going to win, okay? We're almost to the hospital. You have to hold on until then, and then the doctors will take good care of you. Just hold on. Hold on."

If only he knew how hard I was trying. How desperately I wanted to live. How badly I did not want to let Azra win. I had so many more things left to do in this world before I passed on. I didn't want to miss out on my chance.

"We're here," Danny informed me moments later. "We're going to get you in there to see some doctors. Just keep fighting for now, okay? You have to keep fighting."

Of course I was going to keep fighting.

I didn't know how to do anything else.

I was moving again, and I knew that they were wheeling me into the hospital. As the stretcher jolted beneath me, a sharp wave of pain shot through my body and I felt a moan escape.

"There you go, Steve," Danny said from somewhere near my head. "Feel the pain. Stay alive."

Everyone around me started speaking at once, shouting out numbers and words that I had no hope of puzzling out. Especially not with the burning pain that had returned to my chest. I felt like I was going numb… drifting away…

"Hold on, Steve…"

Was that… my father's voice?

"Just hold on, son."

That was definitely Joe White's voice.

But Joe White was dead…

Right?

"It's not your time yet, Steve. You just have to fight it off."

Okay… that was definitely my father's voice, and I was hearing it just as clearly as if he were standing right next to me.

"You're stronger than you know, Steve," Joe's voice told me. "But for now, get some rest."

"You'll need it," my father's voice agreed.

Suddenly, I saw an unearthly, blinding flash of light.

And then there was nothing.