Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii Five-0. No copyright infringement intended.
Author's Note: Special thanks to JazzieG for her amazing Beta work and CinderH for a shove in the right direction!
Chapter 1
"No, no, no, no, no", Danny mumbled when two sets of hands roughly picked his body up off the ground once again. He didn't have the time to make an attempt at getting his legs under him while he was unceremoniously dragged towards his teammates. The injured man was having difficulty focusing on anything other than his throbbing back and his pathetic attempts at getting oxygen back into his uncooperative lungs. Shaking his head in a feeble attempt to get rid of the roaring in his ears and the gray edges to his vision was not helping. The twenty cane strikes he had endured became a gigantic tutorial in how to unsuccessfully ratchet down the blazing inferno that was now running rampant up and down his back. At least he had been able to hold back the shocked screams from ripping out of his throat as the pain intensified. What he was unable to contain was the muffled grunts as each strike contacted his bruised skin and tore new strips of flesh off his already aching ribs and spine.
The act of having each arm raised above his head, spread eagled from his torso, then lashed to a bloodied post, reduced Danny to a mass of shuddering pain. The cost of keeping his weight off his aching wrists and burden loaded shoulders was increasing tenfold as his injured knee and damaged ribcage just couldn't keep up with the demands that his uncooperative body was imposing. By the end of the twenty strikes, the Detective was bearing his full weight on his torn and bleeding wrists, his shoulders screaming in agony.
Danny was managing to keep the distressing discomfort to himself while his constantly grayed out vision focused on looking for the two members of his 'ohana. He had been aware of an initial outraged bellow and an ensuing scuffle within the gunmen watching when he was callously trussed up between the two posts. He instinctively knew the commotion would include his indomitable partner. The man just couldn't help himself. Danny needed, however, to make sure that the SEAL didn't come unglued; that Chin had his partner's back and would keep him from strategically attempting some incredibly stupid tactical maneuver. He also had to admit to himself that he desperately needed the emotional grounding to his partner, needed to know that Steve would be able to pick up the pieces when this little sidebar into insanity was finally over. That the SEAL would be able to glue the pieces of his partner back together before Danny completely flew apart again from the pain.
H50
Steve and Chin were grouped together, both men frantically searching what they could see of the makeshift camp for any signs of Danny. The severely struggling detective was torn out of both men's grasp as they were herded into camp. Only the threat of several high powered weapons and one well placed gun stock to Steve's ribcage allowed the suspects to separate the three men. Danny valiantly tried to keep up while the men were herded through the rainforest by the urgent pace the gunmen had set. The two members of his 'ohana were eventually allowed to support him after his body unequivocally gave in to the demands of the forced march. Their teammate had needed the physical support when he re-injured his bad knee during the initial skirmish for control. Chin also suspected that his friend took a couple of well placed shots to the ribs, but refused to protest his injuries, and remained relatively quiet during the forced march. The quiet had been unnerving. By the time the men were forced into the makeshift camp, Danny was covered in sweat and struggling to catch his breath.
"Chin, I don't see him", Steve growled. "Where the hell did they take him?" The agonizing responsibility of getting his partner safely out of the major cluster that had become this investigation was damn near suffocating the man in guilt. He had dropped his guard; let them get to Danny while his partner was injured and vulnerable. He was sure they had later targeted the Detective due to his knee and subsequent struggle after the pounding he had taken. The team had held their own during the initial assault, but when his partner's attacker got in a lucky shot to the knee that took the Detective down to the ground in a sudden heap, the tables had swiftly turned. The gunmen had then used their friend for leverage, placing an assault rifle to Danny's head to get the remaining two teammates to grudgingly stand down.
Chin firmly placed his hand on his friend's forearm, the man literally vibrating with tension and worry. "He's here brah. We'll find Danny", he quietly assured him. Being separated from their teammate was taking a toll on the Commander's restraint and the Hawaiian's ability to subdue the SEAL's need to locate their injured colleague in check more difficult. Chin felt the tension in Steve's forearm increase causing him to follow his friend's line of sight. Danny was being ruthlessly dragged across the rainforest floor, back towards the watching men. He shifted his body in order to occupy more of the SEAL's personal space. "Steve. Don't. Just… wait", he urgently whispered, his gaze never leaving the harassed figure sagging from the gunmen's agonizing grip. Chin was admittedly struggling with his own seething anger and rage at how his brother was being brutally handled but they weren't in a position to help their friend. They hadn't had an opening, the gunmen being well organized and eager to inflict as much damage where they could. And the damage thus far had been to Danny.
Steve's blazing rage flashed unfairly at the Hawaiian, immediately flaring back towards the advancing men cruelly handling his partner. It was when the pair realized where the semi-conscious man was being taken that Steve couldn't hold the fury that was roiling through his body in check. "Danny!" Steve roared while he lunged forward, trying to extract himself out of his friend's firm grasp. Chin hastily body slammed the SEAL, wrapping his arms around the besieged man's waist to block his forward momentum, alarmingly aware of the multitude of weapons pointed at the two men and the urgent need for Steve to stop struggling. "Steve, you need to hold it together brah. This won't help Danny!" Chin's urgent and repetitive demands for restraint, momentarily tamped the Navy SEAL's escalating vehemence. With no immediate opening for his deep-seated instinct towards eliminating the threat, the Commander was forced to return his harried gaze back on his partner.
Steve's tightly controlled body involuntarily shuddered before he was able to mercilessly box his anguish over his partner being sadistically trussed up between two hastily erected posts. The SEAL instantly recognized his best friend's repeated struggle to keep the pain of his battered and bruised body at bay so as not to augment the gunmen's excruciating handling. Steve ground his jaw in unrelenting aggravation while his partner urgently attempted to search for the two members of his 'ohana to mentally ground him. Danny's connection to his partner brutally slammed into the SEAL's constricting chest as the raw, hurting gaze finally found purchase. Steve forgot how to breathe when his best friend's pain, fear, and then unquestionable annoyance with the SEAL flickered briefly within the searing blue eyes. "Steven, don't…seriously Steven…just...don't."
Danny's eyes grudgingly slammed closed when the first cane strikes lashed across his back, forcing painful grunts from his throat. As his partner's intent stare remained stubbornly inaccessible, Steve silently pleaded with the man to maintain their inexorable bond. "Danny, no, don't you dare do this... Come on, come on, come on… Danno, look at me!" After what felt like an eternity of silent pleas, his partner's blazing blue eyes listlessly slid back into place where they belonged. Steve grasped frantically at the connection, categorically challenging his friend to allow his lidded gaze to waver away from him again.
Danny's agonizing tell became more apparent while the strikes continued. He was reaching his threshold and even Steve's furiously silent communicated demands couldn't hold him together much longer. As the last of the cane strikes landed on his back, his eyes began to roll back into his head and his vision grayed. Pain unexpectedly exploded throughout his body when he slammed into the unforgiving ground, forcing his eyes open again and his fists to clench at the hard packed earth. He wasn't cognizant of the gunmen's movement, and that the bindings that contained both wrists were cut until his entire body collided with the unforgiving ground.
"Brah, Danny's strong. He can hold on…we'll get him back", Chin ground out. Both men knew that they had to get the Detective in their midst to protect him, to make sure that the gunmen couldn't continue to mete out their frustrations on their teammate. Neither man was able to get a good look at Danny's back from where they were being restrained. But they didn't need to see the damage brandished against their friend to confirm his wounds. The cane reverberating brashly against his bare back was evidence enough. The SEAL vowed to memorize the gunman responsible for inflicting the strikes to his partner, pledging the man wouldn't live to see another sunrise.
Steve and Chin defiantly glared at the two gunmen that tersely heaved their teammate up off the ground and were callously dragging him between them as they approached the tensely awaiting men. The SEAL continued to vibrate with anger over Danny's semi-conscious state. "This stops now Chin. They don't touch him again!" Chin didn't acknowledge his teammate's ominous warning. He didn't need to. There was no chance either man was going to allow their beaten and bloody friend to be torn from their midst once he was safely returned. The Detective's defiantly rasped "no's" reached the alarmed men's awareness, causing both men to lunge urgently forward when the gunmen roughly moved to drop their burden. In the next breath, grinning maliciously at the straining men and without uttering a word, the gunmen changed directions. Both men felt the narrow muzzles of two remaining weapons aggressively pressed against their ribcage, thwarting their attempts to move further forward towards Danny as he was dragged away. Chin gripped Steve's forearm in anticipation, his fingers digging deeply into the man's extensor muscles to hold him in check.
~to be continued~