You guys are the absolute best! Thank you so much for all your wonderful encouragement!

Now...on with the show...

Roberto Cortez had been on the Five-0 radar for months. The case, passed down from the feds who'd hit a dead end, had few leads and even fewer hopes for success. The body count, however, was high. The Governor wanted the man off her Island, failing that, locked up securely within her jail.

Steve loved a challenge.

Each murder they investigated hit a dead end. Each witness that initially came forward suddenly developed amnesia. Even Danny's shouting at one failed to provide the emotional stress to unlock the 'lost' memory. The case had been put on the back burner when a kidnapping case had landed on their desks. It only took a day for them to realise the connection.

Cortez was not only head of a crime family who trafficked drugs, but also it seemed, dealt in high ransom kidnappings.

His second in command, who also happened to be his younger brother, was the manager of this particular arm of the business.

The ransom had been demanded, proof of life had been provided. It was Steve who made the drop off, posing as the victim's cousin. It was Danny who followed the money.

It was the Five-0 team who broke through the house freeing the victim and killing three of Cortez's men.

But it was the victim who proved to be the break in the Cortez case.

Not only had she kept her wits about her and taken note of all voices and glimpses of faces, but when she pledged to testify against the man who had come to check up on the operation, the team knew they had their man. Cortez himself had come to check on his brother's side of the business. Apparently the kidnapping prior had gone badly. So badly that Cortez had ordered his brother, Fernando, to kill his two so called best men. The older Cortez strict within his business. He wasn't against murder, so long as it was deserved. He wasn't against violence, so long as it got the point across. But what he hated, what he couldn't abide, was rape.

His brother's men had crossed the line. And for that they had paid the ultimate price. If the same thing happened with the next kidnapping, he'd be closing down the whole operation. He'd made the fatal error of visiting the house where the victim was being held, of showing his face, of assuming that once they had the money, the girl would be killed.

What he hadn't planned on was the man they sent to retrieve the money leading a squad of police cars right to their door. What he really, truly hadn't planned on was an ex Navy SEAL crashing through the door knocking him flying into the other room.

What he hadn't even considered as ever being on the horizon of a distant planet as a problem, was the victim, after being freed by a very angry looking Detective, standing and pointing to him saying he was the one behind it all. When she added that she wasn't going to be intimidated and how dare they condescend to kidnap her, he knew his goose was cooked.

His brother however had made a getaway through the back door. Chin and Kono had given chase to two other men, one turning to fire upon the detectives, giving Fernando Cortez the distraction he needed to slip away.

It hadn't taken him long to rally up more men, on the promise that once the older Cortez was freed they would be rewarded well. Revenge was all he could think about. To get back a leader he needed to take a leader. And Steve was his target.

They'd grabbed him quickly, the same night after Roberto Cortez was taken into custody and booked. One man had followed the Five-0 Commander as he'd made his way back home, before he'd even made it two miles from the headquarters, his car had been run off the road. The knock he'd received as the car came to an abrupt stop gave the kidnappers the window they needed to subdue the ex SEAL. The tazer had been a bitch to endure back when Mary was kidnapped, the second time proved to be no picnic either. When he'd finally come to, Steve found himself strapped to a chair, a bright light shining in his eyes. As his vision adjusted he made out the face of Cortez's second in command. Fernando.

"Seriously. You guys take me? How's that going to help your brother's case?" Steve watched as Fernando circled him. The man was tall, 6'3 at least. Muscular in build and not afraid to go from calm to violent in the blink of an eye. Out of the whole operation, this was the one they'd been most wary of.

Typical that it would be him who got away. And now here was Steve, stuck in a situation he was sure Danny would never let him forget.

"Your people, they release Roberto, we release you. Simple."

"That's never going to happen." Snarled Steve. Fernando nodded to one of his goons who landed a fist, hard into the side of the Lt Commander. Steve felt the pressure reverberate through his body. The punch had knocked the wind out of him, but thankfully hadn't broken anything. But he was pretty sure that wasn't going to be the only punch he'd have to endure.

"Really, this is your plan? Exchange me for Cortez? My people will never go for that."

His answer was a fist to the face.

Steve spat blood to the floor. Looked up into the eyes of Roberto and grinned. He knew he shouldn't provoke the man, but defiance was his only weapon at this point in time.

"You'll never win." Another fist to the face. Dazedly Steve heard Danny's voice in the back of his head, telling him to keep his god-damned mouth shut.

"Cortez will be locked up for life for what he's done, that is providing he's not tried in another state that wants him fried."

The blow that landed against his skull was enough to send him and the chair south toward the cold, unforgiving floor. Steve grunted, tried to hold in his pain as his shoulder cried in agony, his eyes saw stars. His breathing hitched. Danny's voice shouted at him that he was an idiot. Strong hands righted the chair. A flash of a camera captured his torture. A laugh, a slap against his face. Then suddenly the room was bathed in darkness as he was left alone. The door latched, locked and the sounds of a bolt sliding into place further reaffirmed what the ex SEAL already knew. He wasn't gonna get out of this the easy way.

Steve calmed his breathing. Gave himself time to relax a little in order to bring the pain further under his control. He tested his body. He thanked whoever was looking out for him for the fact nothing seemed broken. He needed to warn Danny and the team. If they dared to exchange him….no, that would never happen. The Governor for one would never sanction a move like that. He would have to trust his teams extensive detective skills. They'd find him. Bide your time, said his inner Danny.

If he saw an opportunity, he was taking it. Inner Danny or not, it was better to be missing and free than missing and waiting to die. He knew there was no way Fernando was letting him go, even if the Governor did sanction the swap. If his team found him and advanced on the house? Well, he knew where the first bullet Fernando fired would be aimed toward.

Sorry Danny he silently apologised, as he used the blood from his bound wrists to lubricate the binds.

Steve McGarrett wasn't a man who took being held against his will all that well. Danny would call it his control freak side, but Steve just called it a need to not have some idiot with a gun keeping you strapped to a chair and beating on you. Steve had patience. The SEAL training had taught him well. Save your strength. Bide your time. Wait for your chance. It had been three hours since his last visit from Fernando. Three hours since they'd taken a picture that he was sure had been sent to his team by now.

His bloodied wrists ached with each beat of his heart. His skin was slicked with blood. His hands slowly sliding, millimetre by millimetre out of the hold from the plastic ties. He had to go slow, being bound with strong plastic could mean a deep cut. The last thing he needed to hinder any escape he could make would be blood loss. He heard a noise in the distance, footsteps gaining momentum and growing louder with each foot fall. The Lt Commander readied himself. He sat up straight, his dark blue eyes full of focus and determination.

The door opened. Fernando Cortez strode into the room. Behind him a meek, small looking man. His suit and tie seemingly out of place within the group. Steve frowned as the man walked up to a table in the corner, laying out a vial and syringe.

Fernando kept his distance. His smile vicious and evil.

"Commander McGarrett. Did you not think we wouldn't do our homework on you?"

Steve swallowed as another voice, deep within his mind, echoed those same words from a time never forgotten.

"You think you're going to break free of the binds and attack me? Gaining your freedom?" Fernando's voice had taken on a sing song quality.

"Think you're going to over power us and get out, contact your people and then make sure my brother is sent to a state with the death penalty? Oh no, no no my friend. We've taken precautions."

The suited man plunged the syringe into the vial. Slowly the clear liquid travelled through the small needle into the syringe.

Steve felt his heart drop.

"So you see Mr Police man. You're not getting out of this until I decide I don't need you anymore." Fernando nodded to the suited man. Steve struggled as one of the goons pulled his head back and to the side, exposing the left side of his neck to the mysterious suited man.

Steve's wrists worked harder, he felt one hand begin to slide through. He ignored the pain, ignored the worry about the deepness of the cuts. His focus was on the door behind Fernando. His focus was on freedom.

His left hand popped free, he brought it up hard into the face of one of the men holding him. Before he could bring up the other hand he felt the needle enter his skin, the plunger depressed as he fought against the hold of the men. He spun, kicked out and tripped the second man. Before the first man could recover Steve smacked him twice in the face. He turned, punching the second man. His suited attacker backed up, clearly not interested in having his face broken. Fernando went for his gun, Steve advanced, landed a punch hard and fast to his kidnapper's solar plexus. Fernando went down, the gun falling from his hands. Steve grabbed it, using all his force he brought the gun down hard on the back of the fallen man's head.

He ran, hard and fast out of the house, the brightness of the day temporarily blinding him. He didn't bother to check his surroundings. He was sure there were only four men in that house but wasn't willing to lose the minutes it would take to check. He needed to get clear, far and free, before the icy hand that was making its way through his veins could overcome him.

The effects had started pretty much instantaneously. The cold spreading through his body. The adrenaline slowing the progress and watering down the avalanche. But Steve knew that wouldn't last for long. As soon as the adrenaline began to ebb, he'd need to be far enough away to hide and wait for the drug to leave his system.

Only one problem remained with his plan.

He had no idea what he'd been injected with.

TBC

Dum Dum Dummmmmm! Muhahaha!