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Steve and Danny had just finished interviewing a witness when they heard the disturbance next door. "I'm going to kill you, you piece of shit! Take that! That'll show you!"

Without needing to speak, Danny and Steve's hands slid to their guns, and they cautiously approached the house. The screaming was still going on, and they could hear the sounds of flesh hitting flesh. "I'll teach you not to disobey me! I'll beat it into you!"

"Five-0, put your hands up!" Steve and Danny burst into the house just as a gunshot rang out, and a scream of pain filled the air.

The man ignored them, intent on kicking the figure in front of him. Looking at it, Danny realized it wasn't the body of a woman as he expected. "Shit, Steve, it's a dog."

Steve didn't spare a glance, gun pointed at the man. "Drop the weapon and put your hands up."

The man didn't stop kicking the poor animal. "You won't disobey me again! I'll fix you!"

Danny leveled his gun at the man as well. "Leave the dog alone or I'll shoot you," Danny said, livid, finger tightening on the trigger.

"Danny, don't," Steve cautioned. He didn't miss the irony of him telling Danny to hold his temper.

"He hurt a dog, Steve. I'm not going to let him get away with that."

"He won't, Danny. Take it easy."

The man was still waving the gun around and screaming at the dog. "For the last time, drop the gun and put your hands up," Steve ordered.

The man waved the gun towards them. "You can't tell me what to do!" He aimed it shakily at the two men. "I'll shoot you, you sons of bitches!"

Danny aimed for the man's heart, but Steve beat him to it, shooting the man in the shoulder. "Don't, Danny. This piece of shit isn't worth the trouble you'll get into for killing him."

Danny's jaw was clenched. "He shot a dog."

"I know," Steve said, cuffing the guy. "And he'll pay. Let me take care of it. You look after the dog."

That broke through Danny's rage. Holstering his gun, he approached the whimpering figure on the floor. It was a German Shepherd, panting laboriously and bleeding from a wound in his side. "Shit, I have to get him to a vet!"

"Go," Steve said. "I'll call for backup and take care of this scumbag."

Danny approached the dog cautiously. "Hey, boy, it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you." The dog whimpered and tried to wag it's tail, implicitly knowing Danny was there to help him. Danny petted the dog gently. "There, there, we'll get you fixed up. I'm just going to lift you, okay? I'll try not to hurt you too much." Gingerly, he lifted the dog. Close up, he could tell the dog was emaciated, which tugged at Danny's heart, even though it made his job easier. "Okay, boy, we're going to take care of you." The dog weakly lifted it's head to try and tentatively licked Danny.

Danny carefully stowed the dog in the back seat of his car, for once not caring about the blood on the seats. He only knew one vet, the one Steve used for his cat, Ninja, and he punched in their number as he got behind the wheel. "Hi, this is Detective Danny Williams. I have a dog from a crime scene. He's been shot and beaten and needs immediate medical attention."

"Okay, Detective Williams, bring him in. We'll be waiting for you."

Danny careened into the vet and parked haphazardly, halfway out of the car before the engine was even off. He opened the back door. The dog seemed to be having even more difficulty than before breathing, and his eyes were glazing over. "It's okay, boy, we're here, you're going to be okay." To his ears, Danny sounded more like he was begging than stating a fact.

He carried the dog inside the vet's office and was immediately met by a tech who carefully took the dog from him and headed towards the back. Danny started to follow but was stopped by the receptionist. "I'm sorry, sir, but you can't go back there."

"But, I have to! I have to know how he's doing!"

"Don't worry, he's in good hands. The doctor will come out in a little while and let you know how he's doing. Is he your dog?"

Danny took a deep breath, trying to calm down. He realized he was shaking from the adrenalin. "No, we found him at a crime scene. His owner was beating him, and then he shot him." His hands clenched at the memory. "I'll kill the fucker."

"So will HPD be paying for treatment, then?"

Danny took another deep breath, then another, then realized it wasn't working and gave up. "No," he answered the receptionist. "No, I'll pay. Whatever it takes. I just want the dog to be alright."

"We'll do our best," she assured him. "Now I just need you to fill out some paperwork."

Danny took the forms. He filled out the sex and breed and left a question mark for age. He hesitated on "owner's name". "Danny Williams," he wrote. He paused again at "pet's name," then carefully wrote "Bullet". Danny was sure Steve would have something to say about getting attached and naming the dog—Danny would have plenty to say if Steve were the one doing it—but he didn't care. Danny could freely admit that he had every intention of keeping the dog. He'd saved him, and if he wanted to claim it as his, no one could stop him. If the dog survived. No, he wasn't going to think about that. The dog would survive. He had to.

Danny wasn't sure how long he sat there, head in his hands, trying to think positively, trying to convince himself the dog would be okay, before a technician came into the waiting area. "Detective Williams?"

He looked up. "Yes?"

"Follow me."

He followed the tech into an exam room. He looked around, expecting to see the dog, but the room was empty. "Where's Bullet?" He asked, not even realizing he'd used the name he'd given the dog on the spur of the moment.

"Dr. Ordahl will be right in to speak to you," the tech said, avoiding the question.

That led to another few anxious minutes of waiting, until an older man wearing the obligatory white coat with a stethoscope draped around his neck came in. "Detective Williams? I'm Dr. Ordahl."

Danny shook the doctor's hand. "How is he, doc?"

"I won't sugar coat it. The dog's in bad shape. He's in surgery to remove the bullet, but it punctured a lung, and he's lost a lot of blood. Plus, he has several cracked ribs. Add to that he's severally malnourished and dehydrated. It doesn't look good."

The doctor's words were like a punch to the gut. "No, he has to be okay. He has to!"

"We'll do the best we can. Now, I suggest you go home. It'll be a while yet before there's any news. We'll call you, I promise."

Danny didn't want to go; he wanted to stay there until Bullet (he couldn't help thinking of him that way, thinking of Bullet as his) was out of surgery, but he knew he really didn't have a choice. With a heavy heart, Danny reluctantly left the vet's office and went home.

When Steve found him several hours later, Danny was sitting on the couch in his place, head once again in his hands, still trying to think positive, but losing hope with every minute that went by and the vet still hadn't called.

"Hey," Steve said.

"Please tell me the asshole bled out," Danny said, not looking up.

Steve sat down beside him. "No such luck. I just winged him. Doctor said he'll make a full recovery."

Danny pounded the couch in frustration. "It isn't fair. Bullet's fighting for his life, and the motherfucker that did this to him walks away with just a scratch. I should have killed him when I had the chance."

"No, you shouldn't have. Asshole wasn't worth the bullet. How's the dog."

"I don't know. Bullet was in surgery when I left. The vet said he'd call when he had news, but it didn't look good."

"Bullet, huh? Naming him now?"

"I can name him if I want. He's my dog."

"Danny," Steve put his hand on Danny's shoulder. "He's not your dog."

Danny jerked away. "Yes, he is! I saved him, I'm going to keep him! You are not letting him go back to that fucker!"

"No, Danny, nobody said that," Steve soothed. "It's just—you need to think this out."

"I have thought it out," Danny said stubbornly. "I'm keeping him, Steve. That's final."

Steve tried again to talk him out of it. "You should really think about contacting a rescue."

Danny wasn't having any of it. "No! That poor dog has been through too much already! I'm not turning him over to strangers!"

"Okay, okay," Steve said, once again putting a hand on Danny's shoulder, trying to soothe him. "Just calm down."

Danny's shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry, it just makes me so angry. That poor dog, lying there, broken and bloody while that asshole beat the shit out of him for no reason. He shot him, Steve! The motherfucker shot a poor, innocent dog! And now they don't even know if he's going to make it! Bullet doesn't deserve that, Steve! He deserves a good home, with someone who loves him, and now I don't even know if he's ever going to get that chance!" Danny broke down, sobbing.

Steve put his arms around his friend and drew him to his chest, letting him cry, not saying anything, rubbing soothing circles on his back. Danny was just starting to calm down when the phone rang. It was sitting on the coffee table, so Steve picked it up. "It's the vet, Danny."

Danny took a deep breath, trying to get himself under control before answering the phone. "Detective Williams."

He listened for a minute. Steve watched his face, looking for some sign either way, but he couldn't tell anything from Danny's face. "Okay, thanks for telling me." He hung up and took a shaky breath.

"Well?" Steve asked.

Tears filled Danny's eyes again, and Steve feared the worst. "He made it through the surgery. They got the bullet out and repaired the damage the best they could. His vitals are stable. They think he's going to make it." Danny sobbed with relief this time. "They think he's going to make it, Steve!"

Steve hugged Danny to him again. "That's great, Danny, that's great."

At last, Danny pulled out of the embrace and pulled himself together. "Yeah, yeah it is."

"So," Steve said. "Guess tomorrow we'd better go get everything you need for when Bullet comes home."

Danny beamed. "Sounds good to me."

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A/N Thanks everyone who weighed in on Danny's dog! The big dog people won, though I appreciate everyone's suggestions. The dog being a rescue was never in question-I'm a big rescue fan. I tend to think in breeds because that's how I was raised, but there's many purebreds who need a good home. Besides, I couldn't come up with a good picture of how I wanted a mutt to look. :) I seriously considered jrallfan's suggestion of a retired police or military dog, but then Danny wouldn't get to take him through obedience training, and I think that would be hysterical. So I went with a guest's suggestion of a dog from a crime scene, but I wanted to make it different from the dog that made a brief appearance on the show. So, I ended up with a domestic disturbance with a dog, every bit as despicable as beating a person, as far as I'm concerned.

Yes, there will be more Bullet the dog stories, and yes, he and Ninja will meet. :) The icon will be my other dog instead of a generic German Shepherd, because I want to. So there. :)