Boat Trouble and Dangerous Waters

Steve dives again into the raging waters. He had to get to Danny. He had to. There was no other option. Danny always has to go home. He has Grace and Charlie to take care of. Danny was still underwater, stuck. He had no experience in situations like this, not like Steve. He'd been trained for situations like this. His SEAL ninja skills were needed. The water was dark. Steve could hardly make out anything. He'd been under for maybe two minutes by now. He didn't want to know if Danny was still fighting.

He hoped with all his might that he will find the detective alive. He couldn't forgive him if anything happened to him.

He pushed deeper, swimming with all his strength to get to Danny. The water was darkening and Steve's eyes adjusted to the non- existing light. Desperately, he looked around, hoping to see Danny. He can't fail this. He just can't. It is just not acceptable. Steve swam deeper, adrenaline kept him going. Panic was growing.

He needed to find Danny, now.

This was his only chance, if he surfaced now, Danny won't stand a chance, not

if he is trapped under water.

Steve's lungs started to burn. But he kept going. Danny's life depended on it.

He saw the boat's shadows in the water, the name clearly readable but that wasn't what Steve was interested in right not. Then Steve could make out Danny.

Trapped, under water.

By their boat. Steve closed the distance between him and Danny and the boat quckly, his lungs protesting. He had been under water for some time, searching for Danny. But the pressing need for oxygen did not matter right now, right now everything that mattered was Danny and saving his life.

All that mattered was Danny who was stuck in that boat because he didn't have the time to escape before it started to sink, that sank because someone wanted it to sink while they were onboard.

Because two minutes is a long time to hold your breath. He looked around, and then he saw someone's shadow in the water. His heart rate accelerated as he used big strokes to get over to Danny. Danny still had his eyes open, looking at him. But as Steve quickly assessed current situation, he knew Danny must be struggling to hold on. I got you, Steve's eyes seemed to tell him.

Bubbles escaped from Danny's mouth.

Steve grabbed the rescue knife from his belt to cut whatever needed to be cut.

Soon, he had Danny freed.

Danny started to swim towards the surface, his legs treading water when suddenly he stopped moving toward the surface. Crap. Danny's body was now slack, arms and legs were now moving limply in the current.

He had to get Danny who was now sinking after losing consciousness.

Steve's lungs ached as he made his way to Danny. His sight was blurring and the current strenous activity under water wasn't quite helping matters.

Steve instantly made his way through the water to Danny to help him. He'd seen this before. If he didn't get Danny to the surface sooner rather than later he'd drown, probably.

And Steve wanted to avoid that.

Needed to avoid that. Danny needs to stay alive.

There is no other option than staying alive for Danny Williams. Steve grabbed his partner's upper body and with a few kicks they were going up to the surface, he used his free arm to help propel them through the salt water, with the other he had Danny. Who was very still.

Steve could already make out the surface. After what seemed like an eternity for Steve, he broke the surface, with Danny in his arms, almost forgetting to brewathe because he was so focused on Danny.

He flailed in the water as he fought for some much needed air.

Water splashed against them, Steve gasped as the spray of water sprinkled over them. With his training he managed to stay calm and attend to Danny who still was not responding.

"Danny." Steve's voice shook as he tried to regulate his breathing.

They made it to surface. The sky was darkening. Danny's head limply leaned against Steve's shoulders. Damn it. It had been too long for Danny, Steve realized that now. With shivery fingers he felt for a pulse and to his immense relief he found one. But he wasn't breathing. He gasped as water splashed into face.

Still, he did not release his strong grip on Danny. He'd love to hear Danny rant right now. Because ranting meant he was breathing. It meant Danny was alive.

Come on, Danny. Breathe.

It was windier than earlier when they took the boat out fishing. Also, to add to their trouble the wind had shifted. Now the wind pushed them out to open water, even more exposing them to the elements.

Away from O'ahu and the life- saving coast. Waves lapped into them, continously.

Now Danny and Steve were drifting out to open waters. Steve grimaced, grimly, before turning his attention back to Danny who was still in trouble, still made no attempts at waking up and breathing.

He sputtered as his head went below water again, but he succeeded in keeping Danny's head above water which was important. "Danny, you with me?" Steve said a bit louder, as he treaded water to keep both of them above water. "Danny, answer me." He begged. He moved one hand to the man's carotid artery to feel a pulse, again. At least he hoped to find one. And Steve did find one, a strong one. Although he had one problem.

Danny wasn't breathing.

Wasn't.

Breathing.

Steve started to perform rescue breathing, tilting Danny's head back. He took a breath, held Danny's nose closed before blowing air into his lungs. After the fourth breath, Danny finally started to come around.

Danny moved slightly against Steve. Steves stared down at him, relieved that Danny was alive and breathing.

Then a cough erupted from his chest. He sputtered and hacked up water he swallowed. Steve reacted and tilted his head forward so that he would be able to cough up the water still in his lungs. He also started consider the possible complications of near- drowning.

For a few moments, Danny's breaths came out laboured as he sucked in air.

"You are doing great, Danno." Steve said.

"Just keep breathing." He added, calmly, he kept watching Danny intently. Danny's strained breaths slowly eased up and resumed to semi normal breathing pattern for which Steve was grateful.

"Wh't happ'd?" He mumbled, wanting an explanation. Breathing, still somewhat harshly.

But he was.

For the time being that was enough for Steve.

"Danny, you with me?"

"S'eve." Danny said and coughed. "That's ..." Steve breathed a sigh of relief. His best friend was alive. He did not fail in saving Danno. Although they were still in the water, could still die.

Steve was relieved that he had been able to get Danny breathing on his own again.

"You're alive." Steve said in relief. "Steve. Why are we in the water?" Danny asked, taking in a few quick, shallow breaths as talking was kind of hard of him right now, leaving him breathless. "Our boat overturned and is sinking." Steve explained, treading water and keeping both him and Danny afloat. Steve glanced at the boat that was a few meters away from them. Although it had overturned, a part of the downed boat was still above water and for now it was stable. "That's not good." Danny pointed out, letting out a cough.

"No it's not." Steve agreed, his expression dark. He knew they were screwed.

Unless someone sent out a search and rescue team, they'd have to deal with the situation. They were on their own. They were screwed. Their situation really was shitty, truth be told. Steve had a tight grip on Danny as he had yet to regain enough strength to keep himself afloat. For now, Steve was keeping them both afloat. "So, what do we do?" Danny asked, those few words left him breathless. Part of the sentence remained unspoken. 'You're the Navy SEAL, you should know what to do, how to deal with these situations. So come up with a plan.'

But it was not neccessary for Danny to say that sentence.

Steve filled it in in his mind. He had to come up with a plan to get both Danny and him to safety. Or to hold on, at least until rescue crews arrive. If they would arrive. First, someone had to notice they had gone missing. And that might take a while. Resigned, Danny pondered what might happen to them. As Danny looked at his best friend who had gone quiet. Steve was treading water while thinking hard. There has to be something he could do.

Something that did not involve swimming back to the coast and get help. Signal flare? Maybe. If he had one. But firing that one only makes sense if there's a vessel nearby that could see them.

Right now?

There was no one, except them.

Them.

Stranded.

In the damn Pacific ocean. Steve sighed. Danny would never go fishing with him, again. Ever. He was positive about that one. But back to the current situation. Steve glanced back to their sinking boat. Their boat that had overturned and was now floating face down on the water. But that might just help them. A small smile could be seen on Steve's face as realization painted on his face as to how they could use the overturned boat in their favor.

Steve treaded water as a wave splashed over them. For a moment, he just held onto Danny.

Hoping the wave wouldn't trap them under water. But soon enough, they were at the surface again. Gasping for air. Especially Danny who was still dealing with the repercussions of what happened when their boat overturned.

"You okay, Danny?" Steve asked alarmed as he treated water to keep them both afloat.

Danny had his eyes partially closed and was concentrated on regulating his breathing. "Yeah, I'm good, Steve." He sucked in a breath of air before continuing: "The wave just caught me by surprise." He added as an explanation. Steve was still worried. "You sure? Is your breathing okay?"

Danny nodded.

"I can breathe just fine." Steve exhaled deeply after hearing his answer. "Any closer on a plan to get us out of here, Steve?" Danny asked, nervous, scared. Steve regarded him with a sharp glance that told him to please stay calm and don't panic because that is going to make the situation worse than it already is. He really did not like the water, that was for sure. "I am working on it, Danno, I promise. I will get us outta here." Steve assured him.

He sounded way more certain than he was.

It was not that he doubted his abilities, his training, it had most certainly prepared him for this. Without his training, Danny would probably not have survived. It was just that he wasn't just responsible for his own safety and survival but also Danny's. Steve knew this shouldn't bother him. He'd led in battle, he should be used to this. But this was Danny and for some reason that was harder to deal with.

But the SEAL team that he led in battle were just as trained as he was.

They'd been through the same training program. That was probably why it was different for him and Danny. He was the only one who has been through the neccessary training. Steve shook his head to get these thoughts out of his head. He had more important things to focus on.

He could see the SEAL was working on a possible plan to get them through.

"Danny." Steve said, calmly, almost stoically. When Danny looked at Steve, he could see a blank expression but also determination. "I may have an idea. But I am not sure if it will work." Danny had recovered enough from his near- drowning experience and had started to tread water himself to help Steve keeping them both afloat.

"Go on." Danny told him as he glanced around, he saw water, water and more water. He shook his head in denial, and once again, this is why he hates the ocean. It always gets him into trouble. This was not good.

Steve stopped swimming as he waited for Danny to make sure the detective was able to follow him without running into any problems. When he looked back, checking. he saw that Danny followed him. "You need to get on the boat." Steve told him, calmly. Focused.

In SEAL mode, as Danny would call it.

"What?" Danny asked baffled.

"You want me to get on a sinking boat? Are you fucking crazy?" Danny stared at him, not quite understanding.

Steve nodded. "It's not really sinking anymore. It's position is actually stable in the water so it'll act as a huge flotation device for the time- being." Steve calmly and patiently explained. Danny was still looking at him as if he didn't quite know what to think. After explaining his idea to Danny, Steve started to continue to do the crawl over to the overturned boat after making sure Danny could safely swim on his own.

"It's fine, Steve." Danny told him, shrugging. "I can swim."

"I know." Steve simply said.

He was still worried and that wouldn't change any time soon. They needed to get out of this situation. A wave of water splashed into McGarrett's face but that didn't throw him off course.

When he reached the boat, he waited for Danny who was following. Steve helped Danno onto the surface of the boat. Danny was kind of out of breath when he was finally on the hard surface of the boat. Steve was right next to boat, treading water to keep himself afloat. Danny wondered why he didn't get onto the boat. "What are you doing, Steven? Why aren't you coming?" Danny asked, astounded.

"Danny, I don't know if it will hold the weight of both of us." Steve explained as if it were obvious. "So I won't join you up there. I'll just keep treading water, you rest." Steve insisted. "You need this more than I do. I'll be fine. I'm a SEAL, remember?" Danny nodded, although nothing of what Steve was spouting off calmed his nerve.

Steve leaned back, one hand on the wreck for support.

Danny sighed. "I know you think you are invincible. But you are not, you are human just like the rest of us." Danny said. Steve furrowed his brows and looked up at Danny. "I know that, Danny. But I also know that you need this more than I do. Believe me, I was fucking scared when I dove into the water, after you. Because you didn't come back up after the boat overturned. So don't argue with me on this one. You need this more, Danny."

Steve hoped this had finally convinced Danny that it was the right decision for him to stay on relatively dry ground, out of the water while both of them were awaiting rescue.

Not knowing when.

Not knowing if they'd be rescued at all.

But Danny wasn't yet losing hope. Hope is a dangerous thing to lose. It's makes people give up.

After Steve said what he said, both men fell silent. "We have anything to signal that we need help and need to be rescued?" Steve swallowed some of the sea water that continously splashed into his face because the sea really is getting rougher, the sky was darkening more and more.

"You mean like a signal flare?" Steve asked.

Danny nodded.

"Something like that, yes. We have something like that or is the signal flare on the bottom of the ocean?" Danny wanted to know. Steve took a deep breath before attempting to answer the question.

"Sure, we have one but we can't fire it unless there is a ship nearby that'll come when seeing the flare in the sky. For now we have to hold on as best as we can. And I know this situation sucks and I am sorry for it." Steve told him as he continued floating. Danny watched him trying to stay afloat. "You okay, Steve?" He wanted to know. "We should switch places, we both need to keep our strength up. Come on, Steve." Danny insisted, trying to get him to agree. But Steve was once again being stubborn.

He could float for a long time. This was easy. Right?

"I am okay, Danny. Just stay put, alright?" Danny rolled his eyes. Of course, super SEAL would decline that offer. But it had been worth a try.

H50 H50 H50 H50

Danny had just started to relax a bit. Well, as much as it is possible when stranded in the ocean. But the hard surface of overturned boat was helping. It was a great idea to use it that way. But he was a little worried about Steve. He had been treading water to keep afloat for a long time now while he had been resting for a long time. Danny sighed.

He knew the SEAL was stubborn and that he wanted to protect Danny. But what about Steve? He can't keep treading water forever. Both he and Steve knew that. Danny realized that at this point, Steve must be exhausted.

"Steve?" Danny put out, Steve was bobbing up and down with the waves that were crashing against the ship.

"Huh?"

Steve refocused his attention at his partner. Waves were stronger now and it took a lot of concentration and strength to conquer them and succeed in staying above the surface.

But he did succeed. After all, he was trained for this.

"You are struggling, Steve. We gotta switch places, babe." Danny insisted. "We don't. I am fine, Danny. Don't worry about me." Danny let out a humourless laugh. "You don't really expect me to believe that, do you?" Danny asked rhetorically. "Get on the boat, neanderthal animal." He suggested or rather demanded. Steve just gazed at him but did not budge from his point. He stayed right where he was, in the water.

Suddenly, there was a loud creaking sound that startled both Danny and Steve. Abruptly, the part of the boat that was still above the surface disappeared a few centimeters below the surface. "Crap, what was that?" Danny exclaimed, panic could be heard in his voice. Steve instantly knew that this boat would sink and that soon.

This time, it would really sink and nothing would be visible from the surface, so much was clear.

"The boat is sinking, Danny. Get in the water, in the water, Danny." Steve ordered, his voice let no room for protests.

Danny heard the urgency in the SEAL's voice and followed orders. As soon as Danny was in the water, Steve swam to his side, dragging him away from the boat. Now that was completely sinking it would create dangerous movements under water that could drag them below the surface.

When they were within a safe distance of the sinking boat, they stopped the hectic swim, pausing. Steve watched as Danny tried to regulate his somewhat strained breathing. "You..."

"Don't even ask me if I am okay, Steven. Nothing about this situation is even remotely okay." Steve relaxed somewhat. If Danny could rant like this he was probably not having trouble breathing. Which was a good thing. "We are in trouble, Danny."

Danny looked at his partner.

Best friend.

His face was grim, dark. Concern was etched onto his features.

"That has been true for some time now, my friend." Danny said, lightly. "This is serious, Danny. I can probably hold on for some time but what about you?" Steve sighed, scared for his partner's safety.

"You are worrying about me?"

Danny glanced at him, Steve's eyes met his. "Of course I worry about you." Steve gave back. "You're my best friend, partner and better half of me. Of course I worry about you." Steve confessed, emotion in voice. Danny looked away.

Then, he murmured, softly: "Thank you, Steve. You have no idea what this means to me, babe." For a moment, their situation seemed forgotten as they had a bonding moment at sea.

"I love you too, Danno." Steve used that name 'cause it just seemed so fitting.

Danny gave him a smile and chuckle. Then he became serious again as they were still in the middle of the ocean and the weather conditions were definitely worsening.

"What do we do?" Danny asked. He hated this feeling of utter helplessness.

Waves were now higher and it became harder and harder to keep afloat by simply treading water. Every now and then a wave would come and dunk them under water again and they would surface, each gasping for air.

H50 H50 H50 H50

"Look, Steve, what's that?" Danny pointed at an object in the horizon. Steve blinked and followed Danny's glance.

It was kind of difficult with the rain.

Not to mention the higher waves... those things were making their lives hell right now. Being stranded in the ocean on a calm day was one thing but being stranded at sea during a freaking storm was another.

"It's a boat. Maybe, if we can get to it, the people on it can bring us back to Honolulu." Steve said aloud. The seemed to be colder than it was before. Maybe because of the continuing rain coming down on them. "Last time, we found a body on an abandoned boat, what if that happens again. Or what if the boat is rigged and it'll blow up with us on it?" Danny said, obviously pretty pessimistic about the whole thing.

"Blow up?" Steve asked.

"Why would someone blow up a boat in the middle of the ocean. It makes no sense, Danny." Danny just turned to him. "Actually, if that boat is a trap meant for us, then it exactly makes sense." Danny saw Steve look at him. "What makes you think we were targeted, Danny? Our boat sank and yeah, we're stranded but I don't see how ..."

"I know you don't, Steve. But you couldn't repair our boat, it filled with water and it sank. So someone played with that boat's machinery, don't you think?" Danny questioned rhetorically. His teeth chattered slightly. Swimming and treading water for that long was having an impact on his muscles as they were seizing up.

"Uh, crap." He muttered, his head got pushed under water for a second.

"Danny?" Steve's voice came to ears.

He sounded kind of scared and worried. "Danny, you okay?" He asked as his partner came up again. "My leg is just cramping up a bit. I just need to rest for a sec, wait for it to pass." Steve immediately understood and put his hand around his arm to make sure Danny stays above water even with his legs cramping up, this was the situation he'd been scared of.

Swim failure.

This was not going to happen to Danny, not on his watch anyways.

And they had nowhere to go.

There was nothing but water around them. Nothing but water. Water, water, water and more water. And wind and waves and that is it. Not to mention the rain.

It was them against the elements.

So far, the elements had the bigger hand of them, Navy SEAL or not.

"We need to get out of the water, Danny." Steve said. To support his point, a huge wave with some white foam on it crashed into them, temporarily burying them under water. Steve relied on his training, on the drownproofing he'd been through, the ability to hold his breath and stayed calm even though he knew he was trapped in the wave.

But he was worried about Danny, how he was dealing with this strong force if nature. Then he saw Danny, just as trapped as he, with his eyes wide open.

It was obvious he was panicking and Steve wanted to prevent that. It would have dangerous consequenses if Danny starts to panic now.

Steve kicked a few times.

Trying to reach Danny. Maybe physical contact make it better, at least until they could safely surface again.

The moment he touched Danny's hand, the man seemed to be calmer.

Having Steve near him had a positive effect on him and about that Steve was immensely grateful. He made sure Danny's focus was on him, then he pointed upwards. Signaling they should begin to swim back to the surface.

Danny nodded almost imperceptibly. Also, in the dark water, it was nearly impossible to really make out anything.

Dark.

But Steve had adapted to lack of light down there and knew where to go.

So they began their ascend through the somewhat fluorescent but darkened water. Steve broke through the surface, quickly followed by Danny.

Steve gasped for air, his lungs burned. Salt water burned in his eyes. For moment it felt like he couldn't quite breathe as he frantically looked for Danny.

"Danny, you here?" Steve called out, worried.

"I am here, Steve." Danny was breathing heavily but to be doing overall okay.

Steve exhaled a sigh of relief.

H50 H50 H50 H50

"How?" Danny wanted to know.

Steve was right, they needed to get out of the water.

Steve shrugged. "We have nothing. We need to get to that boat." He added. "Then we might have a shot at surviving this." Danny looked at him, then to the boat and then back to Steve.

"We can get there, Danny. It's not that far out. If we can get to that current over there, it will bring us closer to that yacht." Steve explained, sure that it would work. It just had to, there is no other possibility than that.

A wave splashed over them, raining water over both of their head. The wave also had a lot strength and succeeded in pushing Danny and Steve both under water for a few seconds. For a moment, Danny wondered which way was back up. Then he broke the surface. "Steve?" He called out. The SEAL was nowhere in sight. Danny treaded water, a shudder went through his body as the water caused him to lose heat. Even in warm waters, like in Hawaii, hypothermia can develop.

"Steve?" Danny panicked slightly.

Where was Steve? He had been right next to him. Where is he now?

Then, out of a sudden, Steve also surfaced. Gasping. Gasping for air. "You okay, Steve? Just breathe." Danny swam over to him, supporting him for a moment, just until the coughing stopped. "'m fine." Steve got out as soon as he could breathe well enough to get two words out.

Danny just shook his head. "I don't believe you."

Steve calmed down his breathing, then replied with a snarky comment. "At least I am still breathing, in contrary to when I pulled your ass out of the depths of the fucking ocean, Danny."

"Wait, what?" Danny asked. "You resuscitated me?"

"Well, I had to do rescue breathing because you were not breathing on your own, so yes, I did." Steve replied, as they resumed to their floating positions in the water. For some time, they were just floating. Suddenly, Steve's voice interrupted the silence: "We need to try and swim for that boat, Danny." Steve looked at him.

"You forgetting about the currents, Steve?"

Steve's eyes flashed. "We're already out on open water. We already are in danger now, Danny. Current or no current. Also, that current will bring us closer to the boat."

"It'll what, Steve? Drag us under water and leave our bodies floating along the shore for our team to find them?" Danny exclaimed. "No, we are staying right where we are." Danny said, shaking his head as he watched Steve's face expression change. The one that says he's about to do something very stupid. Very stupid.

He was now very determined to make it to that boat.

"If we don't get out of the water, Danny we are going drown. Hypothermia will set followed by swim failure and drowning. If we stay here we are vulnerable to the elements. We have not a chance. We have got nothing, not life vests. No flotation device. Nothing. We need to get out of the water before it's too late." Steve knew they had to move fast. He was already starting to feel cold, he couldn't imagine how Danny must be feeling.

"What about the flare, Steve?"

Danny suddenly asked, happy to have found a way to the attention the boat that the could make out in distance, through the rain and the waves.

"Actually that's a good idea." Steve said, floating as he searched his pockets for the emergency flare, a rescueME flare. It's a water proof disstress flare Steve had with him on these kind of trip.

They had a seven mile radius and what wasgreat is that they are excellent for SOS signaling, not to mention the great visibility for helicopter SAR.

"Found it." He held a device up, the device was secured in his belt so that it wouldn't get lost in the water.

"This thing is great for signaling rescuers our position." Steve explained as he pressed SOS signaling on the device. Instantly, the area around them was brighter and both Steve and Danny hoped someone would see them.

But after some endleas minutes of waiting and hoping, Danny and Steve realized it was useless.

"This is useless."

Steve nodded in agreement. "We need to swim for rescue. Let me turn off the flare. I don't want spent all battery life on this."

"Because you think we might need this again. You don't know for how long we'll be here, fighting for our life." Danny stated honestly. Steve nodded in reply. "Yeah, that's why we need to spend the battery life of this flare very catefully. We don't know how we'll be lost at sea before someone comes and saves us."

"This is just great." Danny muttered under his breath.

"Hey don't lose hope, Danno."

"I am not."

"Good." Steve simply answered after securing the flare onto his belt again. "We gotta start swimming, Danno."

H50 H50 H50 H50

Steve heard Danny's teeth chatter.

"You cold, Danny?"

"Uh?" Danny was ripped from his thoughts as he heard McGarrett say something to him. Then, "yeah, I am."

"Me too."

Steve, for once, admitted weakness. "I'm proud of you, buddy." Danny smiled at him while kicking to keep floating. "So, about the boat." Steve started to ask as the wind and the waves got stronger. "We need to get out of here."

Danny sighed.

"I hate you for this, you know that, right?"

"Love you too, buddy." Steve replied, traces of a faint smile around his lips as he went into SEAL mode, using every ressource he's got to get them closer to that boat. That boat was their life insurance right now. "Follow me, Danny." Steve started swimming, with fast and effective strokes toward the boat.

Danny was following him.

After a few meters, Steve stopped swimming and glanced back to assure himself that Danny was still behind him and not at the bottom of the damn ocean. He was. A wave surprised him and wrecked his balance. For a few second, he was struggling to regain focus but was able to keep himself floating. Steve resumed swimming. After his muscles started cramping, he paused and started floating again. He took that as an opportunity to wait for Danny who was a few meters behind him and not quite able to catch up with the SEAL.

"You okay?" Danny asked. "Just muscle cramps. They'll go away, don't worry." Steve shrugged it off.

He looked toward the horizon and quickly estimated how long it would take for them to to reach that boat. "We are making progress, Danny." Steve said. "Just another hundred meters or so and we should reach it." Danny couldn't believe when he saw that Steve actually looked somewhat relaxed. In this situation.

Danny laughed.

Steve stared at him in confusion. "Why are you laughing, Danny?" Steve asked as he glanced at his partner, not quite understanding why Danny was laughing.

"I'm just thinking about how much fun this must be for you." Danny said, a smirk on his face. Steve stared at Danny, his face expressionless. "Because it is so much fun to watch you stop breathing." He gritted out, drily and sarcastically.

Danny stopped, he had not expected this reaction ftom Steve.

Not at all.

"You know was talking about the long- distance open water swims?" Danny retorted. "The ones that you so much like as you do them pretty much every morning before coming to work."

"I am not denying that I like them."

That was Steve's simple answer. "But this is not fun, this is swimming for survival. Not training open water swims." Steve added, strongly.

"Steve, I didn't mean to..." Danny began.

But Steve cut him off. "It's okay, Danny. This situation is stressful and people deal with stress in different ways. Yours might be making inappropriate comments."

Steve glanced around, it was becoming harder to see anything. Danny started to wave a hand in front of his face when Steve finally responded.

"Let's just swim, okay?" Steve avoided.

"Fine, if you say so, wouldn't want to mess with super SEAL." Danny just couldn't not say it. He loved the face Steve makes when something like that happens. Steve's well- known aneurysm face.

Steve groaned, his aneurysm face appeared. Danny smiled before once again concentrating on the task at hand. "Just shut it, Danny, and start swimming." With that, the SEAL resumed to swimming, Danny following closely behind.

Swimming.

Whoever had said deep- sea fishing is relaxing has never done that with Steve, really, Danny thought as he resumed swimming. Which was hard in this very unforgiving environment. He concentrated solely on swimming.

Making mistakes here could very much prove fatal here. Danny knew that.

Steve was aware of that as well.

He was alive because Steve had rescued him when he was trapped beneath the boat, had given him mouth- to- mouth in the middle of the ocean. Danny was grateful for that.

They were now close to the boat. "We are almost there, Danny. Come on, you can do it." Steve cheered him on.

He'd forgotten about earlier.

Steve and Danny had more pressing things to focus on. Like getting on that boat.

Go on, Danny. That's what he told himself. Danny could feel his lungs burning from the exercise and he could feel himself getting tired. He can't imagine how Steve must be feeling as he had very little to no rest in the past two hours they'd been stranded on open water.

When they got nearer to the boat, they realized that it was actually a larger fishing vessel than a yacht or a boat. Danny was out of breath from all the swimming. "This isn't a boat or a yacht, Steve." He stated.

Steve nodded as he could concur the statement. This was no yacht or boat.

"It's a ship." Steve recognized.

Steve started to swim nearer. Soon he realized that the ship was pretty much stationary, not moving. "Danny." His remark got Danny's attention. "The ship is stationary, that's why we were able to catch up."

"Is that good or bad?" Danny dared to ask.

"Don't know yet." Steve replied.

"Maybe we should scream, to catch their attention. There have to be people on the ship that can hear us screaming, right?"

"Can't hurt to try."

So they tried screaming and calling out for help but nobody heard them. "I don't anyone hears us, Danny. It's useless." Steve said somewhat resigned.

"It's not."

Danny insisted. "People will hear us."

"It is."

Steve didn't want to shatter Danny's hopes of rescue but he had a weird feeling about this, he figured it might be a long way until they were finally rescued.

"I don't think anyone can hear us. This ship seems abandoned. I got a weird feeling, Danny. I can't pinpoint exactly what it is."

Danny looked at him, searching.

Waiting for him to continue.

"I am going to find a way onto this ship. You, stay put. And don't come near the ship's marine propeller." Steve added as he continued swimming with fast strokes. As Danny watched Steve move through the water he was amazed at how natural swimming seemed at him.

Steve was truly a gifted swimmer.

Danny was relieved to have Steve here. Because having him here left him with a feeling that made him feel safe despite the urgentness of the situation. After what seemed like an eternity but was in reality five minutes Steve reappeared.

"Found a way onto the ship." Steve relayed information. "Best news I have heard in a while." Danny let out a small laugh.

"Super SEAL here always finds a way to do the impossible." Danny added, chuckling even if they were in the water, with high waves and stormy winds.

Wind gushed around them.

Harshly.

Making lots of noise.

"Finding a way onto the ship is not what I'd call the impossible." Steve countered.

"Yeah, there's that." Danny said dryly.

Even Steve smiled.

"Let's go." Steve went into SEAL mode as he lead the way to the place where they would try and board the ship.

H50 H50 H50 H50

Neither of the two men had a real idea in what trouble they were about to walk into.