I realize I recently posted two stories wounding Danny in some way or another but hey... I'm a Danny whump fan apparently! This will be a three maybe four chapter short story and I hope you all enjoy and will leave feedback! I'm not a medical professional so any medical improbabilities and mistakes are my fault as are spelling and grammatical errors.

PS. I just got back from Honolulu on Oahu and had such a good time! No Five-0 actor sightings alas but still saw a few places where they filmed the show and a good sunny warm time overall!

Enjoy!

Oz

Some might call him an adrenaline junky. Some might call him the perfect soldier; others might allude to some sort or carnal need to put himself into harms way, to put it nicely. Not so nicely, as his partner would like to say, he had a bit of a death wish.

Whatever it was, whatever drove the Navy SEAL to do what he did, Commander Steve McGarrett was never one to back down from a fight or a mission. When he went on his first tour as a SEAL, his team had to infiltrate an enemy camp, steal valuable intelligence while abducting a high profile target. The infiltration and extract point were miles from where they had to collect all of that but it didn't faze the trained professionals in the least.

The mission had taken 16 hours to complete, all put one of the SEALs had been injured but none were so serious that the soldiers couldn't patch themselves up and keep on moving under their own steam.

That was a mission of many where Steve had fought hard and refused to accept defeat in any way shape or form. Stubborn or stupid he'd never know all he knew was that in the end the job got done and eventually after so many years of coming out the victor, some part of Steve would occasionally forget that some risks weren't worth taking.

And with that missing fear gene, occasionally came grave reminders that he'd screwed up and pushed a little two far.

It had been a bust like any other, Five-0 had been chasing a known terrorist around the islands for a few months and finally they'd gotten the upper hand after capturing one of the terrorist followers and getting information of the leader's location.

It had been all guns on deck, Five-0 with SWAT and even some FBI agents who'd been helping out headed toward the shipping yards where the terrorist was said to be. They'd been prepared and armed to the teeth ready to take down the bad guy and anyone else who might be there.

The problem was, the terrorist A Neo-Nazi named Oliver Utzel, who was responsible for the bombing of six embassy's across the world; had more followers than Five-0 had anticipated.

That Steve had anticipated. He was head of this mission and after going over all the information he believed they only needed a small primary force to take the building while the rest could wait surrounding that particular area of the shipping yard. For the first few minutes he was sure it had worked as they surrounded one of the shipping warehouses and threw in some smoke grenades.

Steve, with his loyal partner and teammate's right on his heels were first to charge into the building ready to take down the enemy.

No sooner had the yelled out "Five-0, freeze," was when all hell broke loose. Men started coming from every which angle and none of them seemed willing to just give up and lay down.

Before Steve knew what was going on, it seemed like his small raid party had been outnumbered almost two to one. He'd immediately barked out the call for backup as he and Danny sought cover from the hail of bullets coming in their direction.

"I told you! Didn't I tell you we needed more guys!" Steve glanced at Danny who now sat huddled beside him behind stack of hopefully empty oil drums.

"Is this really the time to tell me I told you so?" Steve called back. Danny went to reply but Steve cut him off trying to get a better view of things only to have a bullet ricochet and hot metal fragments sear across his cheek narrowly missing the eye. "Ah damn it!" he hissed.

"Steve y'alright?" Danny asked with genuine concern.

"Fine," Steve said. And he was, honestly he knew it would sting later but the adrenaline was enough pain-killer at the moment; Adrenaline and the fact that his heart was doing the samba in his chest.

"Fine… right, you just got shot in the face!" Danny snarled.

"It's a graze from a ricochet, Danny," Steve smiled at his partner. He peaked out from the barrels and fired a few shots just to let whoever had been shooting at him know he was still alive and that the next bullet was all theirs before crouching down next to Danny. "Do you have eyes on Chin and Kono?"

"No dice," Danny said shaking his head. "Last I saw they were headed to the south end of the building."

"Ground floor?" Steve asked. Danny nodded as Steve looked over to a stairwell not to far away from them. "We need to get to higher ground," he said. "We're all pinned down on the floor and they've got shooters up high."

"No," Danny snarled. "Absolutely not, we should stay here and wait for the cavalry… what is with your insane need to be a hero!?" Steve rolled his eyes and Danny just glared at him as if there weren't bullets still pinging and whizzing all around them. When Danny's eyebrows went up threateningly, Steve rolled his eyes and grabbed his radio. "Make sure I don't get shot," he said.

"Just find out where everyone else is," Danny snarled as he locked his eyes on any potential threats around them and popped off a few shots. At first Steve switched his radio to the frequency that only Five-0 was allowed to use.

"Chin, Kono, what's your sit rep?" he asked.

'Pinned down in the south corner with three SWAT,' Chin's voice replied with the echo of gunfire behind him. 'We've got a man down and two banged up, wont be able to move any time soon. We've taken out a few but it's not enough.'

"Copy that, you two okay?" Steve asked with concern. Danny gave him a worried glance but continued to focus on any and all shooters. Thankfully, he popped off a few rounds that was followed by a pained yelp and a thud. 'One more down,' Steve thought happily to himself before focusing back on his radio.

'We're okay, just stuck,' Chin replied.

'Steve, I think I've got a sniper north corner by the window behind some crates,' Kono cut in. 'He's doing most of the damage. If we can take him out it'll give us more of a fighting chance.' Both Steve and Danny glanced up to the gangway corner that was almost right above them. It was a blessing and a curse, they couldn't shoot or see anyone up there but whoever was up there, couldn't hit them either.

But then Steve caught the flash of a muzzle as he heard a shot that clearly came from up there.

"I got it," Steve said. "You guys sit tight, Danny and I got this."

'Copy that, back up is five minutes out,' Chin replied. Then added, 'be careful.'

"Always," Steve grinned much to Danny's rolled eyes of annoyance. "You heard him," the SEAL said focusing on his partner.

"I heard back up is five minutes out and there's a sniper," Danny replied.

"We need to take him out," Steve said with certainty. "We can't risk him taking shots at them anymore. Look… you sit tight, cover me while I go for the stairs."

"What!?" Danny exclaimed. "How is that a plan that doesn't result in you getting your head shot off and me without a partner!?"

"I'm faster than you, I can get up those stairs and be on top of this guy before he realizes it," Steve replied. Then without giving his partner a chance to reply or, god forbid, rant, the SEAL nodded sharply and readied himself for the sprint. "On three," he ordered.

"Steve…"

"One, two, THREE!" Steve just ran for it, he knew Danny wouldn't let him down as he heard the detective start shooting with everything he had.

The bullets pinged and bounced and sunk in around him but Steve wouldn't be deterred from his mission. With the increase in people shooting at him, he became even more certain that taking out the sniper was the key to turning the fight in his favor.

He raced up the stairs and charged through onto the gangway tackling a surprised man with a sniper rifle before the bad guy could even get up. Steve quickly managed to disarm the man of his rifle but that seemed only to enrage the shooter more.

They struggled to one up each other and Steve took a few good punches which he returned in kind. As he battled his foe he was briefly aware of radio calls indicating help had arrived sooner than anticipated and it seemed the battle was finally changing hands.

So to did Steve's own; he kicked out his assailants feet then with a soldier punch to the jaw, knocked the man out cold. Steve's heart was racing, his mind was going a mile a minute but he couldn't help but smile at his triumph of brut strength.

"Sniper's down," he radioed.

'Backup's on scene, looks like anyone left is running,' Chin replied. 'We're on the move again.'

"Good, lets clean up this mess," Steve replied. Had he not been jacked up on adrenaline he would have realized sooner rather than not that of all the radio chatter, Danny's voice hadn't been among it.

Finally realizing the gun fire had stopped save for a few pathetic "pops" that were quickly silenced and replaced with calls of "Don't shoot, I give up," Steve allowed himself a moment to take a deep breath. It was a necessary deep breath that he had to take so he could switch gears to processing arrests, interrogations and paperwork. Warrior Steve needed a break so Officer Steve could take over and settle affairs.

Calmed a bit, Steve headed back down the stairs to where he'd last seen his partner. He let out a chuckle as he thought of how much he was going to enjoy telling Danny he was right about needed to get to high ground. A slight pay back to his partner's earlier "I told you so" in the heat of battle.

"So Daniel still think it was a great idea for me to wait it out?" Steve grinned as he rounded the barrels.

Oddly enough, Danny wasn't against the barrels but rather sitting up against some crates across from the barrels. His face had a blank expression and he looked like he'd just sat down for a rest.

"Oh come on Danny, it wasn't that bad," Steve sighed. "We've been in much worse fire-fights than this." When Danny only responded with a wide eyed blink, Steve's gut flip-flopped with worry. "Danny?" he asked.

Slowly, a deep red crimson appeared seeping its way out from somewhere behind the detective. It wasn't a rapid bleed but it was a bleed none the less.

"Danny!" Steve exclaimed. He raced to his partner's side and clutched the man's hand having Danny squeeze back just as hard. "Where're you hit?"

"M, my back… I uh… I think," he croaked.

"Okay, alright just hang on partner, hang on," Steve ordered. He called out on his radio for an officer down and that he needed paramedics before focusing his attention back to his friend. "Help's on its way Danny, don't worry brother, we got this," he urged. "I know it hurts like hell but it doesn't look like it's bleeding that badly."

"S, says you," Danny grimaced. "And uh… it… it doesn't." Steve frowned in confusion.

"What doesn't?" he asked. Danny's eyelashes fluttered rapidly as his eyes got even wider, Steve knew the panic that was suddenly overcoming his partner, he could see how wild and crazed it was getting by the second.

"Hurt," Danny whooshed out. "S, Steve it doesn't… it doesn't hurt, I can't… I can't feel my legs." For a moment, Steve was sure he heard wrong, prayed that he'd heard wrong.

"What?" he gawked. Danny's hand crushed down on his as his cheeks pinked with fear and his chest started heaving with anxiety.

"I can't feel m, my legs!" he cried out. "Oh… God, Steve! I can't… I can't… Jesus I can't feel my legs! Th, they wont move! Am I… am I paralyzed? Steve am I paralyzed!?" the detective wailed.

Finally getting over the shock, Steve pushed his own fears for his friend deep down inside and clutched the man's hand and shoulder.

"Hey, we don't know anything yet," he said. "You're going to be okay Danny, you just need to breathe alright? You can't let yourself go into shock, just breathe with me Danno, come on you got this."

"Steve," Danny heaved and damn it all if a few tears didn't streak down the panicked man's cheeks. "Wh, what… what happened? Where'd y, you go?" he asked in fear, clearly shock was setting in no matter what the Navy SEAL said.

"Medics are here, what do we got?" a paramedic said dropping to Danny's side to access the detective's vitals.

"GSW to the back I think," Steve said responding to a direct question like any good soldier would. Panicking at the moment wouldn't get Danny help any faster. "I didn't move him because he says he can't…" The SEAL swallowed hard. "He couldn't feel his legs."

The two paramedics who'd arrived on scene glanced at one another, concern written all over their faces before the male medic focused back to Danny whose eyes were starting to drift shut.

"Detective Williams, can you hear me? Can you tell me what happened?" he asked.

"N'shot…" Danny slurred badly though his chest was still heaving probably from the shock. "C'n't feel m'legs."

"Okay Detective, don't worry, we're going to get you set and to the hospital in no time flat," the male paramedic told him. He turned to his partner, "Get a c-collar, back board and restraints as fast as you can." The female medic nodded and ran off in the direction they'd both come from.

"What's going on?" Steve asked.

"We need to stabilize him before we move him anywhere," the paramedic replied.

"Is he going to be okay? What about his legs?" The SEAL carried on.

"Too soon to say," the paramedic replied. Then he glanced up at Steve and clearly saw something on the Navy SEAL's face that caused him to soften his own. "Commander I suggest you find some people to help us carry the backboard back out to the ambulance; it'll be faster than trying to get a gurney in here."

Find help, Steve's brain ordered him; that was something he could do, something he could understand because at the moment, the very idea that his best friend could move his legs just didn't and couldn't make sense.

Four hours later, Steve pivoted once again and paced his way back to the other end of the private waiting area he'd been brought to an hour ago. Shortly after arriving at the hospital and Danny, who'd lost consciousness, was wheeled away, Chin had shown up for moral support. It was much longer after that, that the Nurses told them Steve's pacing was making others waiting nervous and had directed them to a private room.

Steve's pacing never stopped, he was afraid if he stopped moving he'd start thinking and that was something he wasn't ready to do just yet.

Finally a half hour ago, Kono had showed up saying things were going smoothly, ID's of the dead were being made and those arrested were being interrogated and locked away.

"You're all hear for Detective Williams?" Steve nearly snapped his ankle as he pivoted so hard, he nearly fell over to face the woman in scrubs who now stood in the room's doorway. Chin and Kono stood at her arrival. "I'm Doctor Styles, I've been treating the detective."

"Doctor," Steve said barely wasting the time to shake the woman's hand. "How's Danny?"

"The bullet wasn't a direct shot which probably saved the detective from a more severe wound," Dr. Styles explained. Clearly she knew Five-0 was not the type to be kept waiting. "There was some blood loss but we managed to get control of it and cauterize what was necessary. We're giving him a blood transfusion as we speak but I'm confident he'll recover from the bullet wound itself."

"That's good news at least," Kono breathed out.

"It is," Dr. Styles nodded but then she sighed and looked Steve right in the eye as if silently saying 'now time for the bad.' "Unfortunately we're still running tests as to the lack of sensation the detective has been experiencing in his lower extremities."

"You mean the fact that he said he couldn't feel his legs," Steve growled. He hated it when Doctor's tried to make something better than it actually was.

"Yes," Dr. Styles nodded. "The detective has been conscious and now that we've gotten a handle on the blood loss and the wound we can focus on the other issue. As of right now he has zero sensation from the waist down." Steve felt his world grey out for a second and wasn't surprised in the least when Chin pushed him back into a chair.

"You okay Steve?" he asked gently.

"Fine," Steve croaked. He shook the fear from his voice and turned back to the doctor. "What are we dealing with Doctor?" he asked.

"Nothing yet," Dr. Styles replied. "As I said, we're only now really figuring out what the extent of the damage is. Best case scenario is that the bullet fragment caused a pinched nerve or severe bruising, possibly both along the spine. If that's the case, we just need to let the swelling go down and he'll be okay."

"What's the worse case?" Kono asked. Steve was glad she did, suddenly his mouth was so dry he didn't think he could even open his lips. The good doctor hesitated but went on;

"Worst case, the nerve damage is irreparable or… the spine was actually fractured or broken by the bullet," she replied but quickly said, "But considering how quickly we got a handle on the wound itself I'm hoping for the best in this case. We'll get the swelling down a bit more and then take him up for some MRI's before I can give you a definitive answer. Commander McGarrett?" Steve only reacted to his name when Chin's grip on his shoulder tightened a bit.

"Yeah?" he gulped trying to wet his parched throat. The doctor's look was full of sympathy, sympathy he knew he didn't deserve at the moment.

"The detective asked to see you before the testing continues," she said. Steve was on his feet and following her before he realized just what he was doing.

Danny was in this situation because of him and as the doctor lead him to his partner's hospital room door, the SEAL suddenly realized he had no idea what to say.

"He'd heavily medicated," Dr. Styles warned. "Don't be surprised if he doesn't seem himself or drops off in the middle of any conversation. That said, I'd like to keep this as short as possible so we can continue with his evaluation. I wouldn't even be allowing this if he hadn't insisted." Steve just nodded before pushing the hospital room door open.

He nearly threw up at the sight before him. It wasn't that Steve hadn't seen soldiers with spinal injuries in hospitals before or he hadn't known them personally but this seemed different.

Danny wasn't just another soldier; he wasn't a soldier at all. He was a police officer; he was Steve's best friend, his brother and seeing the man as he was now just didn't seem fair. The detective was completely immobilized from the waist up and his lower half was swathed in blankets no doubt to keep him warm and help fight any shock that might still occur. There were monitors around him as well as IV's and a nasal cannula providing him with oxygen.

Steve almost didn't dare approach his friend for fear he'd upset the delicate balance of medical equipment around him.

"N'know y'there," Danny slurred out. Shockingly enough, Steve could see Danny's eyes were slightly open and quickly moved into the man's eyes sight cursing himself for not doing so sooner.

"Hey," Steve said lamely. Danny's drugged and glazed eyes found his and oddly a smile crossed the detective's face.

"Knew it," he croaked. Steve frowned.

"What did you know?" he asked. Danny just managed a wave of his hand, barely able to lift the arm off the bed.

"Y'blamin' y'self," he replied. That had Steve swallowing hard forcing himself not to show sorrow on his face but failing miserably.

"I shouldn't have left you alone," he blurted out. "It was my job to watch your back and instead... I thought I had it Danny, I thought we could make it."

"Y'got the sniper?" Steve groaned but nodded.

"I did but that's not the point, I left you out in the open," he replied. Danny's smile oddly grew even wider.

"Y'didn't," he said with a wince. "S'my fault."

"How could this POSSIBLY be YOUR fault?" Steve said waving a hand over his partner's body.

"Sh'dn't a stayed put," Danny replied. "Sh'da gone with you… Sh'tr c, came frm behind."

"Yeah where I should have been to watch your back," Steve huffed. Danny grunted and Steve knew the man would be shaking his head no if there wasn't a contraption stopping him from doing so.

"S'a… clear," Danny continued his smile gone and now seeming a bit agitated. "s'one f'ours." Steve didn't quite catch it so he leaned in closely to his friends face.

"What Danny? I didn't catch that Danno. Come on partner, what did you say?" he urged. Danny's eyes were fluttering shut and it was clear he'd been unconscious again in moments.

"N'one b'hnd us," he slurred badly. "W's cleared." A breath later and the detective's eyes were closed in a deep slumber once again.

Steve's eyes were wide however as he rethought everything they'd gone through at the scene that morning. Danny was right, when they'd split off from the rest of the group the two of them had checked the one storage room that was behind their hiding spot and it had been clear. The three SWAT officers they'd been with had gone to their left on the far side of their corner which had essentially created a safe zone.

Sometimes in the heat of battle Steve did things or ordered things to happen subconsciously knowing in the back of his mind that it would provide himself and his teammates a proverbial "beach head"; a zone where even if they had to go their separate ways they'd still only have to fire to the side and in front. A place where the only ones behind them would have been, SHOULD have been, other officers.

"Son of a bitch," Steve hissed. Because now, not only was his partner facing a potentially life changing disability but the fact was, someone had gotten behind them.

Or maybe they'd already been there.

In any case, a fire of rage lit up in Steve's gut and he charged out of his friend's hospital room not stopping until he reached Chin and Kono. Both team mates stood and raised an eyebrow at their bosses' sudden and intense look of consternation and rage.

"We've got a problem," he hissed.

"What? Is Danny okay?" Kono quickly asked.

"He's okay considering but that's not the problem I'm talking about," Steve replied.

"What's the problem then?" Chin asked.

"The shot that hit Danny," Steve replied with a grave tone. "I think it might have been friendly fire."

"Wait, what?" Kono breathed.

"Either that, or someone got behind us, which means someone escaped that warehouse," Steve said seething at the very idea he'd been outsmarted. Just then Chin's cell phone rang and he quickly answered it.

"Kelly… right… are you sure?... Alright, keep me posted." Hanging up the phone, Chin's stoic face creased into a frown. "HPD finished processing the bodies and the people arrested."

"And?" Steve asked.

"And Oliver Utzel wasn't among either group," Chin replied. "Turns out we're also missing an officer."

"HOW!?" Steve snarled standing even taller. He made a mental note to apologize to his friend later for being so aggressive.

"SWAT Officer Mitch Hadley," Chin replied quickly. "Didn't check in after the raid and no one remembers seeing him." Steve had seen him however; he'd seen the man when he and two other SWAT had promised to cover their area across the corner from Steve and Danny.

No one had seen him? What about the other two SWAT officers?

There were too many questions and not enough answers that combined with the gut searing guilt he was still feeling towards his partner's injuries and the fear of what was to come, Steve finally had something certain to focus on.

The Navy SEAL had found himself a new mission and judging by the tinge of red his whole world was tinted with at the moment; it was a mission he refused to fail. No matter what the cost.

So there's chapter one... anyone curious about what happens next? Or anyone care to GUESS where this is going? Mwa ha ha ha ha.

Thanks for reading and hope you'll favorite or review. PM if you want!

Oz