You guys never cease to amaze me…thank you so much for all of the incredible feedback! I've got some ideas brewing in my head that I'm excited for you to read! I'm having a hard time being patient to get myself there hehe

As always, not mine. Boo :'(

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When sensation first returned to him, Steve felt relatively normal. Groggy maybe, but otherwise normal. It wasn't until he tried to open his eyes that his entire body tensed up and his eyes snapped closed again to block out the blinding light. Oh…that's right…getting drugged is bad. It took a few minutes for the memories of the events leading up to the needle getting jabbed into his neck to come back. Turning around to find Danny held at gunpoint by Hesse, trying to get over the shock of Hesse even being alive, trading places with Danny…as if that particular day hadn't been bad enough already. Apparently dealing with a sobbing sister on top of his own guilt and grief wasn't enough. At least Danny was okay.

Now that he was a little better prepared, Steve decided to test opening his eyes once again. Very slowly, he slid his lids up. A dull throb nestled itself right behind his eyes, but it was nothing compared to the stabbing agony the first time he'd opened them. The ex-SEAL observed his surroundings; a relatively small room in a relatively small house from what he could tell. Any attempt to move was thwarted by the ropes binding him to the chair he found himself sitting on. The setup was very similar, he realized, to the room his father had been murdered in.

The throbbing ache increased behind his eyes, forcing him to close them for a moment. Footsteps alerted him to the fact that he wasn't alone, but he didn't have the chance to look up again before shockingly cold water splashed over his face. Sputtering, the ex-SEAL opened his eyes to see Hesse standing over him with a glass in his hand. Rolling his eyes was a mistake, but showing any sign of the pain he was in would only provide the madman with fuel against him.

"Good morning, Mr. McGarrett. So glad you could join me. I've been growing bored."

"What do you want, Victor?" Steve growled.

"I thought it would be obvious. Not only did my brother die on your watch…you killed him! And then you thought you'd killed me. I'm going to kill you for what you did to me…I'm going to make you suffer for what you did to my brother."

Steve prepared himself for the impact of the first hit, but a flash of metal in the man's fist as he swung alerted him to the fact that it would be a lot more painful than he could anticipate. It took all of his willpower to refrain from making any noise as the punch landed directly across his ribs. Steve felt as much as he heard the crack resonating through his bones, and his breath escaped him. He struggled to keep his body from curling in on itself against the agony, and caught sight of a set of brass knuckles in Victor's hands.

"How did that feel, hmm McGarrett?" He didn't give Steve a chance to respond before landing another blow on the opposite side of his ribs. It was harder for the Five-0 leader to bite back his groan of pain, but pride and stubbornness kept him quiet again. Victor knelt in front of him, staring into his face. Steve's chest was heaving with each breath and the man struggled to will the pain away. "You know, you'll be saving your team a lot of stress. They'll be happier now that you're gone."

Steve focused harder on his breathing in order to drown out the man's words. He knew the moment he started listening to what Hesse was taunting, he would reveal a weak link in his armor that Hesse would exploit the hell out of.

"Surely you've seen it by now?" Victor questioned with a sneer. He grabbed a fistful of Steve's hair and yanked it back, forcing the ex-SEAL to look him in the eyes. "They would be so much better off away from your little task force. Danny wouldn't be risking his life every day…risking leaving his little girl without a father."

Steve felt his body quiver with fury. "If you even think about touching her, you sick son of a bitch-"

"Don't worry, I've got what I want, I have no use for your little puppets anymore. Kono, though…she could start a very successful career that will actually give her a chance to make something of her life. With you, she's flying a desk half of the time and getting in the middle of life or death situations otherwise. Are you listening to me, McGarrett?" He jerked Steve's hair again, causing him to wince. "Have you noticed how much they hate you? They know that they'll be safer…happier once you're gone. No more waking up wondering if they'd be returning to the same bed. No more regular visits to the hospital."

Steve tried to fight the rising doubt in his mind. He knew some of it was speculation and taunting…but other parts had to come from someone in their office. If not someone on their team. He had felt that Five-0 had become an ohana, but it would be foolish of him to blindly assume that they all felt the same way.

"Ah, there it is. There's the doubt…the guilt. The agony that comes with dying alone. Your family doesn't want you anymore, McGarrett. Your little team of misfits at least. The rest of your family is dead. It was so nice to finish the work my partner started with your mother. Now, I just have to take care of you and I'll feel satisfied."

Hesse laughed at the shocked and irate fire that burned behind Steve's eyes, knowing that he'd pressed hard on a gaping wound. "I will kill you…"

"I'd like to see that, what with you tied to a chair and all. If you'll excuse me, I have a call to make." With that, Victor stood and left the room briefly.

Steve quickly tested his bindings, and realized that one arm was slightly loose. A little bit of wiggling was all that it took for him to get his right hand free. Immediately, he reached for his cell phone and typed a very short message and sent it, only waiting for it to send before tucking it back into his pocket and wiggling his hand back into the binding. He dropped his head to his chest, only half-pretending that he was lost in his wounded thoughts. Hesse walked back in and watched his captive for a long moment.

Five-0 might feel like they're better off without him, but there was potentially someone putting his team at risk, and they needed to know.

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What do you guys think? I feel kinda iffy about the ending. Next chapter, we'll find out how things are going with the rest of the team! Do they all feel the way Hesse says they do? ;-) hehe