Steve McGarrett sat motionlessly at Danny's desk, one hand resting on the small photo of a smiling Danny and Gracie that was usually kept in the top drawer of his partner's desk in easy reach. At the sight of that familiar smiling face he had to blink back the tears that threatened to fall as his grief threatened to swallow him up as memories of his partner washed over him like a tidal wave but instead of being a source of comfort, they plunged him deeper into the depths of despair.
The office suddenly felt too small and he struggled to draw a breath of air. Pushing the photo away, he knocked it to the floor as he pushed himself forcibly from the chair and away from the desk in a claustrophobic dash from the small glass encased office into the anteroom. Leaning against the computer table, he barely stopped the tears from falling as he whispered in the deathly silence, "Oh god, I'm sorry Danny; I should have realized something was seriously wrong. You were too quiet this morning before you took the stand. Why the hell didn't you tell me you weren't feeling well? Dammit, Danny, what the Hell happened?"
The soft swoosh of the door opening halted the self-recriminations before he quickly moved to wipe the tears, cleared his throat and turned towards the door as Chin entered the office. Thankfully, his hand was dry as he brought it away from his face. The detective had made some excuse about needing to get a report from the lab after they had returned from Rachel's residence at Kahala but Steve suspected that Chin just wanted to give him some time to grieve alone. McGarrett could see the same heartbroken grief that mirrored his own on the face of his friend. "I'm just about to ring Max for his report." He said quietly, hoping that Chin did not notice the hitch in his voice as he forced the words out.
Chin slowly walked across the room to join Steve at the table. He stood for a moment studying the Navy SEAL, noting how in the last short hour Steve appeared to have aged at least ten years. His eyes were red-rimmed and he had the same horribly gutted expression as the one when Five-0 dealt with the most heinous of cases plastered on his face. Despite his attempts to convince his friend to go home rather than return to the office after leaving the courthouse, his arguments had been in vain. Steve had insisted on being the one to gently break the heartbreaking news of Danny's death to Rachel. Chin had felt grateful that Grace was at school and that Steve did not have to deal with breaking Gracie's heart by having to tell her that her 'Danno' had died. They remained with Rachel until Stan had arrived home before returning to the office to wait for the coroner's report.
The thought of the coroner's report painfully reminded Chin of the phone call he had just received and he swallowed hard, aware that the new shocking information he had for his friend was going to tear the already distraught man apart. "I'm afraid I have some disturbing news Steve." Chin began quietly, trying desperately to find the right words to say what he knew he had to say.
"Is it about Danny?" Steve asked softly as he saw the distress in Chin's eyes.
The Korean Investigator nodded, "Max just rung. Danny's body never made it to the morgue. He checked with the hospitals, they never received Danny's body either."
Steve stared at Chin in shock. "What are you saying?"
Chin looked away and cleared his throat as he struggled not to lose his composure. Taking a few breaths to steady himself, he continued. "Danny's body is missing. Nobody knows where it was taken."
"What about the ambulance attendants - surely they can tell us where it is!" Steve frowned in confusion as he pulled out his cell phone from his pocket.
"I checked," Chin shook his head in anger as he finished his heart wrenching report. "The ambulance company denies receiving a call to the courthouse, let alone transporting Danny's body. They did mention the fact that they had reported an ambulance being stolen two days ago. HPD has just confirmed the report."
The Navy SEAL froze as he turned his attention fully onto Chin, "A stolen ambulance? Are you saying that someone had Danny's death planned?" Chin shrugged uncomfortably under Steve's piercing stare as he latched onto this piece of information, like the way a person latched onto a life raft at sea. "So maybe this was a set up. But why take the body? ... To hide the evidence of how Danny was killed? ... Or maybe to hide the fact that Danny might not be dead?"
Chin stared at his boss, uncertain if Steve was aware that he was clutching at straws with such a wild theory, "Brah, the doc was there; he pronounced Danny's death in the court room! You can't really think…"
Swinging around, McGarrett glared at his man, "At the moment I don't know what the hell to think, Chin!" He growled, "So far all we have is Danny dying suddenly while on the stand - we don't know if the cause of death was natural, which I doubt, or murder to stop him testifying. His body is missing and we have reports that the ambulance attendants and the ambulance were not legitimate. Someone obviously has gone to a lot of effort to stop us from finding out what happen to Danny in that courtroom today and I want to know why! I want to know if there's even a remote possibility that the doctor could have been wrong when he pronounced Danny's death! I want composite drawings of the two ambulance attendants and when you finish; I want the drawings released with an APB. Tell HPD I want the ambulance found - top priority."
Chin nodded as Steve continued to fire orders at him.
"Also get Kono to check with the prison. I want a full list of anyone and I mean anyone that Howard has had contact with since his arrest and full backgrounds on each, even his lawyers. I want everything they spoke to Howard about, what relationship they have with the bastard, their movements since Howard's arrest and most importantly if they have had any contact with Danny at all! I'm going to talk to Max. I want to know if it's possible to make someone appear to collapse and die." Steve announced before he headed out of the office with Chin close behind.
"Steve, you don't really think there's a possibility that Danny could still be alive?" Chin asked softly.
Steve stopped his egress and turned back to Chin. The look of hope in his eyes tugged at the other man's heart, "If there is a possibility, then I want to know. If there is even the slightest chance that Danny's alive..."
Leaving the rest of the sentence unspoken, the Navy SEAL turned and hurried out of the office.
xxxx
"Damn it! What the hell happened? He's supposed to be conscious and alert, not lying in this damn bed with a freaking machine breathing for him! What the hell went wrong?"
The angry growl from the grey haired man standing at the foot of the bed caused the young doctor to jump as he quickly switched off the small penlight that he had been using to check the patient's pupil responses. Turning around to face the impatient agent, he sighed as he began to defend himself again. "I tried to warn you that the drug was still experimental and might not work the way you wanted but you insisted on using it anyway." He hissed through clenched teeth as he shouldered his way between the older man and the bed, reaching for the end of the patient's bed. The doctor grabbed the chart resting there before beginning his reprimand. "And then your boys decided that they were the medical experts when they ignored my instructions and added more of the drug to his drink. So don't even think of blaming me for this mess! You're lucky that he is even alive!"
The older man bristled at the all too accurate accusation. "I don't give a fuck about whose fault this is - that's up to Washington to decide but I want him awake and off that goddamn machine!"
The younger man laughed and shook his head in utter disbelief that the agent honestly thought that bringing the detective out of such a deep state of unconsciousness was as easy as shaking him awake. He turned and looked the older man in the eyes as he pointed towards the blond haired man who was lying motionless, connected to a myriad of tubes and medical equipment on the bed. "What do you want me to do? Click my fingers and poof - he's awake?"
"I don't care what you have to do to make him wake up!" The agent snarled menacingly as he grabbed the doctor by his white coat and pulled him offensively close. "I don't care whether you have to use torture or another untried drug. In fact I don't even care if you have to turn him into a vegetable to do it as long as his eyes are open and he hasn't got that damn tube in his mouth breathing for him." Releasing the doctor's jacket, the agent pushed him away as he turned away from the bed and stalked towards the door of the impromptu ICU room. "Just do it!" He ordered without a backward glance as he pulled the door open and stormed out.
Sighing, the young doctor turned back towards his patient, and watched the small irregular green blips that flickered too slowly across the screen of the heart monitor beside the bed. He bit his lip and shook his head before reaching into his pocket to withdraw a small vial of clear liquid. Reluctantly he reached for the unused syringe in the kidney tray and removed the sterile cap over the needle before carefully filling the needle with the correct dosage of the drug.
Walking around to the side of the bed he reached for the patient's arm and carefully slid the needle into the IV line. "I don't know what you were going to testify in court about but whatever it was; you sure investigated the wrong man." He whispered to the comatose man as he slowly depressed the plunger. "They know that Howard is terrified of what will happen if he ever goes to prison because they can dangle you over his head as a threat!" He murmured as he withdrew the needle and wiped the small portal clean. "And that's bad news for you, my friend. After Howard sees that you are still alive and believes their threats - you lose your usefulness. The world already believes you're dead!" He sighed again as he turned away, "God, how the Hell did I even get into this mess?" he muttered.