Hey there! I loved this episode so much, and the final scene was really intense, but I wanted more (as almost always). So this is what I think that could have happened. I hope you enjoy it.
As always, huge thanks to Lynn Minoha for betareading it and for encouraging me with her kind words. :)
I also wanted to thank again everyone who reviewed or favorited my other stories, it means a lot!
Disclaimer: I still don't own the boys, just playing with them a little.
"Steve?"
He didn't recognize his own voice. It was barely a whisper and sounded as terrified as he felt. But he had every right to feel that way, because he was sure the scene before his eyes had to be the material nightmares were made of.
He had lived afraid of losing Steve in one of his crazy, one man army stunts for years but had never dared to imagine in what condition he would find his partner. He knew the reason why though, it was because the image of Steve sprawled on the floor, motionless and covered in blood with a gun half falling from his hand was something Danny's mind refused to process.
Oh God Steve, don't do this to me. Not again, please.
The words were repeating in Danny's head like a mantra. He glanced in Wo Fat's direction long enough to register the bullet hole in the middle of his forehead and tried to suppress the urge of shooting him again, just to be sure this scene would never repeat itself – he had had enough of these situations for a lifetime or maybe two.
But as much as he wanted the bastard to be alive so he could pull the trigger himself, his priority right now was reaching his immobile partner and shake him to life.
"Steve, you alright?"
There it was. That gut-clenching sensation spreading in his lower abdomen as he saw Steve moving, breathing, alive. The same sensation he felt back in North Korea when he looked into Steve's confused eyes and in Afghanistan when he heard the words 'package is secure'. The same sensation he would be glad not to experience ever again.
But Danny's relief was short-lived as he heard Steve asking to see his father and he had to be the one to remind him he had been dead for four years. He never thought he would be responsible of putting that pained expression on his friend's face and his heart was breaking just from witnessing it.
But all of them managed to put aside their worry to focus on getting Steve out of this hellish room as soon as possible because it was clear he needed medical attention urgently.
Danny and Chin half carried-half dragged Steve through the building with Kono and Grover covering their advance while exchanging worried looks over Steve's head.
He hadn't said a word since giving the last glance at Wo Fat's body and his breathing was becoming more labored with each step he took. By the time they reached the parking lot, Danny and Chin were carrying most of his weight and they could feel how the shivering was increasing too. Danny silently prayed for the ambulance to hurry up because it seemed like the bastard had really done a number on Steve this time.
"Hey buddy, you ok? I need you to hold on a little longer, the ambulance is on its way", Danny tried to get his friend's attention, but to no avail. "Steve, hey, are you with me?"
This time Steve slowly lifted his head and tilted it a little in Danny's direction, his unfocused eyes finally finding Danny's concerned ones.
"Dan…Danny?"
"Yeah buddy, I'm here."
For all his experience in McGarrett's faces and looks, Danny couldn't quite decipher all the emotions flashing by in his friend's eyes. Confusion, relief, surprise? Why should Steve be surprised to see him? What the hell had they given to him?
"Danny…"
Danny barely made out his name being whispered by Steve as he suddenly felt all his weight on his shoulder while Steve collapsed. He tried to lower him gently to the ground with Chin's help.
"Chin, help me recline him against my chest, I don't think we should lie him flat", he didn't have to explain why, they all had seen the bucket and the towel on the room's floor.
When they had Steve positioned, Danny leaning on the wall and holding Steve against him, Chin and Grover went to the main entrance to rush the paramedics once they arrived while Kono crouched in front of Steve.
Her eyes were bright and she was making a great imitation of Steve's 'aneurysm face' while she reached to hold one of his hands between her own. Then she lifted her head to look at Danny, clearly wanting to say something but not finding the strength to do it and keep the fragile hold on her emotions at the same time.
"I know, Kono…I feel the same way. But he's gonna be alright, you know that. It's the most stubborn man on earth who we're talking about."
Kono just smiled sadly as she looked back at the hand she was still holding and suddenly frowned at the leather restraint encircling Steve's wrist, like she had noticed it for the first time. Danny could feel the anger emanating from her as she gently removed the cuff from Steve but then threw it with all her force.
"I want to shoot him myself, Danny. I want to shoot him!"
She was shouting and getting rid of the rest of the cuffs when Steve groaned softly.
"Hey partner, are you with us?" Danny tried to look at Steve's face from his position behind him. Steve still had his eyes closed, but his forehead was furrowed and his lips were tightly shut. Danny didn't know if he should be relieved that his friend was out for what was coming with the paramedics, as he knew he would hate it, or concerned about what may be happening in Steve's drugged mind.
Kono was still trying to rouse Steve while Danny checked his pulse when Chin and Grover arrived running along with the paramedics. Danny was surprised to realize he didn't even hear the sirens approaching them and based on the expression on Kono's face, she hadn't heard them either.
The two EMT rapidly pulled Steve out of Danny's hold and put him on the stretcher with Grover's help. They were rushing him to the ambulance when Chin grabbed Danny's shoulder.
"Go with him, brah. We'll process the scene and try to find a sample of what they gave to Steve, but we'll meet you at the hospital as soon as possible. Keep us posted, okay?"
Danny was really grateful that the rest of the team allowed him to go with Steve when it was clear everyone wanted to be by his side. But they needed to wrap everything here and Danny couldn't stand the thought of not being with Steve when he woke up.
"Thank you guys, I'll meet you there!"
Danny ran to the ambulance where the paramedics had already hooked an I.V. in Steve's arm and wrapped an oxygen mask around his head. He was still breathing with difficulty when Danny climbed into the ambulance.
"Hey, maybe you should lift the back of the stretcher a little. We, uh…we think he's been waterboarded."
"Okay, detective", the EMT was already lifting Steve into a more upright position, "what else can you tell us about what…happened to Commander McGarrett?"
"Happened? A son of a…", Danny tried to repress the outburst. "Sorry, uh, he was kidnapped and apart from the evident beating and the gunshot wound in his arm we found evidence of waterboarding and I.V. bags. We think they drugged him but still don't know what substance they used, our team is collecting samples right now. But I can tell you he was disoriented and confused before passing out. He…he thought his dead father was alive."
The paramedic looked sympathetically at Danny for a few seconds and then turned her attention to Steve. Her partner was already cleaning what looked like a bullet graze on Steve's head.
Oh God, they shot at each other.
Danny was overwhelmed thinking about how close Steve had been to dying. In that room, totally at Wo Fat's mercy and he still managed to kill him. Danny was so glad the scumbag was dead, that even if it made him a bad person he couldn't care less.
He was now observing the EMT that was cleaning the symmetric couples of burns covering Steve's chest and abdomen. Apparently they had to add electrocution to the list of his friend's injuries. Danny was almost shivering with rage by the time they reached the emergency room.
They were rushed to a private room that was immediately crowded with nurses attaching wires to Steve's chest and placing more fluid bags above him. Danny tried to stay out of their way and let them work but a doctor approached him.
"Detective, you'll need to wait outside, I'll go to update you as soon as we know more about the Commander's condition."
"No, listen Doctor, I'm sorry but I can't leave him alone. He was kidnapped today and needs the protection until we're sure he's not in danger anymore and besides, I'm pretty sure he will be disoriented and agitated when we wakes up and you won't be able to calm him down. He needs a familiar face in here."
"Detective, I'm sure we can handle…", the doctor interrupted himself when Steve groaned loudly.
As if to prove Danny's words, Steve started to thrash around on the bed while mumbling what Danny thought sounded like 'I told you, I don't know'. Suddenly he opened his eyes and looked frantically around him at the nurses trying to hold him down.
"Don't touch me! Let go of me!", Steve was yelling and trying to sit on the bed.
Before Danny could even react, Steve pushed away the nurse holding his arm and ripped the I.V. out of it. Then he pushed another nurse who tried to grab him, making him hit the wall with a loud thud.
Danny moved forward to reach and calm his partner but a security guard that appeared out of nowhere blocked his way. He watched horrified as another guard helped the nurses to hold Steve down and heard the doctor telling them to put restraints on him.
"No! Listen to me, you can't put those on him, he will just become more agitated! Hey doctor!", Danny tried to get the doctor's attention, but the guard tried to block him again. "Don't touch me, I'm Five-0 okay? This is my partner and you can't keep me from being at his side, am I clear enough?"
Danny turned again to look in his friend's direction just to see they had already put restraints on Steve's wrists, which made him fight wildly against them, clearly trapped in a drug haze where he was still being held prisoner.
Danny wanted to scream out of frustration but the doctor approached him.
"Look Detective, I understand your concerns, but he's my patient and I want the best for him too. I can't give him any sedation until the blood results come back and we can't have him ripping his I.V. and hitting the staff. Those restraints are only temporary, I assure you that."
"No, you don't understand a thing. He's been kidnapped and had been restrained all day while being beaten, drugged, electrocuted and waterboarded. So excuse me if I'm being rude but you're not keeping him restrained even if it's only temporarily. Now I'm going to try to calm him down and remove the restraints and if your staff is worried about getting hit they can step out, I don't care."
Danny maintained the doctor's look without blinking, not giving in an inch.
"All right, Detective, I understand. But if you can't keep him calmed down I'll do whatever I consider necessary."
The doctor and the guard let Danny go to Steve's side, who was still pulling on the soft restraints, his eyes tightly shut. Danny grabbed his hand and Steve opened his eyes immediately, trying to focus on Danny.
"Hey buddy, you're okay. Hey, listen to me please", Danny squeezed Steve's hand harder. "Are you with me? I'm here, partner. You're alright."
"Danny?"
Steve finally stopped thrashing around and the relieved look he gave Danny made his stomach flinch.
"Yeah it's me. You're alright, we're at the hospital. They need to check you out, you're gonna let them, right?"
Steve just nodded and looked down at the restraint on his wrist.
"I'm going to remove this while they clean the wound, okay?"
"Danny..."
"I'm not going anywhere, Steve. Just relax, I'm here."
Danny removed the restraint on the wrist he was holding and nodded to a nurse who slowly reached Steve's other arm and cleaned the wound before re-attaching a new I.V.
Steve didn't move but watched the nurse warily the whole time. When he finished Danny surrounded the bed and removed the other restraint too, noticing Steve's tense muscles. He looked around at the crowd observing them in the room and knew his partner was having a hard time tolerating so many people around him right now.
"Doctor, could we keep in the room just the necessary people, please?"
Danny hoped the doctor would understand him without further questions, which he did. In a minute just the doctor himself remained in the room with them, and he started preparing items and setting them on a tray.
Danny went to sit on Steve's uninjured and I.V.-free side, grabbing his hand again.
The doctor passed Danny an oxygen mask, Steve had thrown the previous one away when he woke up earlier. Danny took it and held it in front of Steve.
"Steve, I'm putting this on you, it will help you breathe better, okay?"
Steve had fallen silent again and just nodded, not fighting when Danny gently put the mask on him and leaning his head on Danny's shoulder once it was in place.
They continued to follow this method, the doctor letting Danny explain to Steve what he was going to do before doing it and waiting for Steve's nod of approval. Like this he managed to stitch the wound in his arm, bandage the one on his forehead and apply cream to the burns. He also listened to Steve's chest, and if Danny had to judge by his expression, the lungs didn't sound all that good.
Steve didn't protest or say anything for that matter during all the process but they both noticed how he tensed each time the doctor touched him or Danny let go of his hand to help with something.
The doctor motioned for Danny to join him by the door and Danny touched Steve's shoulder with his other hand to get his attention.
"Hey babe, I'm just going to talk to your doctor for a second, okay? I'll be right there, you can see me all the time."
Steve didn't even open his eyes but didn't protest either when Danny got up and laid his hand on the mattress.
The doctor started to talk when Danny joined him, almost whispering.
"Detective, we need to run more tests apart from the blood ones, we need to get some X-rays, a head scanner and some more. I'm also worried about his lungs. You can't be with him during the scanner and I'm sure he will become agitated inside of the machine, he needs to stay still and it's a very small place. Since we received the first urgent results of the blood tests and now I know it's safe to give him a mild sedative, I think it would be better to keep him under during the procedures. Do you agree?"
Danny didn't like the idea of leaving Steve's side or him being sedated, but he knew the doctor was right.
"How long will the effects last?"
"They should wear off in about three hours, although I can't be totally sure given the chemicals in his body that could interact with the sedative. But, as I said, it's a very mild one, I don't expect any complications and I really think it's necessary."
"Okay, do it. Thank you for your comprehension, I really appreciate it."
They shook hands and both returned to Steve's side. Danny decided to not alter him by telling him about the sedative since it was inevitable and just held his hand, feeling him relax while the doctor injected the medicine into his I.V.
Soon the lines on Steve's forehead disappeared and his lips parted a little, so the doctor called for the staff to take him away, telling Danny to wait there for his return.
Danny sat down on a chair, allowing himself to take a deep breath for the first time since this nightmare started. He noticed something was digging into his hip and remembered he had taken Steve's badge when they found it on the Marquis. He took it out of his pocket and left it on the table, thinking that maybe it could help his friend to focus in this reality when he saw it.
He was just sitting down again when the team arrived. He updated them on Steve's condition and they all sat together in the room, Chin telling Danny about what they had found back at the scene and Kono venting her anger by telling them all the ways she would hit someone even remotely related to Wo Fat if they ever tried to approach her boss again. Danny had to smile fondly at her despite the seriousness of her voice.
One and a half hour later Steve was brought back to the room, still sleeping. The doctor informed them that he had a mild concussion and that he was expecting him to develop a lung infection caused by the waterboarding, so he was putting Steve on preventive antibiotics for the next few days. They were also keeping him on fluids to help flush the chemicals out of his body as quickly as possible and even if they hadn't been able to discover all of them, they identified enough of them to know he could have mood changes and experience disorientation for the next days or even weeks.
The team felt like they should be grateful of the outcome given past experiences and the bullet which had been so close to kill him.
Once they were alone, silently looking at their friend, their Ohana, Kono went to gently run a hand on Steve's face and gave him a light kiss on the cheek while whispering something to him in Hawaiian that Danny couldn't understand but made him smile either way.
Chin practically forced Danny to go with them to the cafeteria to get something to eat since the doctor had told them Steve would still sleep for a couple of hours and Danny reluctantly accepted, determined to return in no more than thirty minutes.
And he kept his word. Twenty-six minutes later, Danny had sent the rest of the team home for the night and he was in the corridor leading to Steve's room when he saw nurses yelling in front of said room and the doctor running to him. He knew what had happened before hearing the words.
"Detective! Commander McGarrett is gone! One of the guards saw him entering the emergency stairs but they can't find him. I'm sorry, should I call the police and alert them to find him?"
The doctor seemed honestly concerned and Danny gave him an understanding look.
"No, I'll handle this. I have to go now!"
Danny was already running to the elevator. He was going to kill his partner, even if this was his own fault for leaving him alone.
Thanks for reading!
I would love to know what you think, your thoughts are always really appreciated!