AN – Hi everyone, thank you for all the support you've given with your lovely reviews, you guys inspired me to write! In answer to Kate Weaver Smith and anonymous's review about Steve's smoking - I do know he didn't smoke in the show but in my world he smoked when he was in the navy and like my dad when he quit - he didn't like anyone smoking because he says he still gets the urges to smoke, especially when he is nervous. There's also a bit of swearing in this chapter, please be warned!

The unmarked police car pulled up a few blocks away from the Go Go Lounge before rolling to a gentle stop just in front of the parking meter. Danny put the transmission into park before turning his head to look at the Polynesian detective seated next to him. Ben had a better chance of going undercover as he was a new recruit to Five-O and was not well known on the islands just yet. With Steve's life on the line they had to be careful not to jeopardize his clandestine investigation. As Danny looked at Ben's calm face, he prayed that Steve was going to forgive for going against a direct order to steer clear. He had no doubts that this was going to have resounding repercussions on their friendship, but he was too far-gone to care. Steve's life meant more to him than this assignment. "Okay. Run it by me one more time."

Ben took a deep breath before reciting the plan almost verbatim. "Go in there, sniff around a bit to see where the dice have fallen. Recon and nothing more. Don't want to tip our hand to them."

Nodding his head, Danny replied in a solemn voice. "If you manage to see Steve, and he's in any kind of danger, do not make any sudden moves. Stay calm – whatever you do, do not blow your cover. At the first sign of trouble we will storm the place."

The new detective patted his shirt, just where the wire was securely taped to his body as he grinned at Danny in an attempt to cover up the nervousness he was feeling. "You betcha. You'll be the first to know if they give me any trouble." Moving to open the car door, Ben stepped outside and just before he slammed it shut, he shared a long hard look with Danny, before turning away and heading up the streets, his footsteps echoing along the well-worn pavement. Once Danny could make out the sight of Ben entering the club, he put the headphones onto his head and switched the wire on, instantly being hit with the raucous sounds of partying and heavy bass. As soon as there were any signs of trouble, he was going to call for back up and get both Steve and Ben out of there.

x-o-x-o-x-o-heartbeats in stereo-o-x-o-x-o-x

"Fuck." Federico muttered as he stared down at the fallen detective on the ground. Using his steel capped boot to nudge at Steve's head, he has supremely dismayed to find that it rolled uselessly side-to-side. "The cop's already given out, just when we were getting started. Useless piece of shit." Sneering at the knife protruding out of a rapidly blooming pool of red on the floor, he moved to wipe his blood stained boot on the fabric of the detective's shirt, the sneer turning into the grimace as he turned away to stare at his subordinate officer Malasuerte, who was leaning against the desk smoking a cigarette, blowing rings of smoke into the air. "Check to see whether he's alive."

With a nod, the stocky Hispanic man stubbed out his half smoked cigarette on the ashtray lying next to him on the desk before crouching over the body of the unconscious detective. His stubby fingers sought out the soft underside of Steve's neck, seeking the steady thrum of a pulse. "Yeah, the cop's still alive, but barely. Not going to take much more to kill him. You want me to finish it and make it so that no one ever finds him?"

"I want you to bring him back here. I don't care how you do it as long as he is awake and responsive to everything I want to do to him. I'm going to make sure that he never has the nerve to darken my doorstep again." Federico fumbled in his pocket for a cigarette before lighting up, and sighed with satisfaction at the sight of his arch nemesis on death's doorstep. "Only then, when he is a toothless tiger will I deliver the final blow. There's no point now, there will be no satisfaction in striking down a fallen man."

"Understood." The crouching man stood up and moved to extract a small leather covered case from his leather jacket, before unzipping it to reveal a small selection of tourniquets, needles and vials tightly strapped inside. The Mexican man then rolled the sleeve of the unconscious man's shirt up before securing the tourniquet on his upper arm, smiling nicely as he pulled on it to make the vein show up. Taking a needle and vial from the case, he gently laid it on the floor before using the needle to draw an entire syringe full of clear liquid. Tapping the side with his thumb and index finger, the henchman squeezed a little out of the nozzle again to get rid of all the air bubbles before seizing Steve's arm and inserting the needle into the vein in the hollow where the detective's elbow was and depressing the plunger. He had just given the detective a lethal dose of amphetamines – but if it didn't kill him then it was certainly going to wake him up and make him more responsive to whatever Federico wanted to do to him.

Once that was done, Malasuerte moved to stand beside Federico as they waited for the potent drugs to kick in. He turned to look at his boss. "Jefe, the pig is loco for pulling a stunt like this." Shaking his head, a grin surfaced on his scarred face. "Who'd have thought that the head of Five-O would be so reckless as to attempt to go undercover when things are so hot right now?"

Federico allowed a truly sadistic grin to cross his face as he reached inside his shirt collar to pull out the heavy gold cross he wore around his neck. It glinted duly in the soft light as he replied. "Call it God's will, amigo."