Title: Saving Grace

Author:Proclaim Thy Warrior Soul

Rating:K+

Summary:It should have been a simple task, taking Grace to the mall to choose Danno's birthday present, right? Wrong. Nothing is ever simple in the life of Steve McGarrett. He just hopes Danny can one day forgive him for this one…because he's not sure he can ever forgive himself.

Disclaimer:Not mine. Never mine. One day… *evil grin*

Author's Note: This one is dedicated to Jackie, the birthday girl Happy Birthday! xxx


Chapter Three:

Chin Ho Kelly kept a strong grip on the steering wheel as he manoeuvred Danny's Camaro through the heavy afternoon traffic, dark eyes shifting from the busy road to the anxious detective at his side and back again.

The phone call from the blond had come as somewhat of a surprise. Kelly hadn't expected to hear from the rest of the team until they were due to clock in with the Governor the next morning. Even Kono had prior commitments, so for all intents and purposes Chin had been looking forward to an easy day spent quite simply with his own company. Running a few errands, servicing his bike, maybe squeezing in time for a little fishing or a swim - they were meant to be the highlights of this rare afternoon off. Not a frantic phone call from the man currently sitting in the passenger seat of his own vehicle, fretting because something terrible had happened to his child.

The Hawaiian felt his heart clench at the thought that something, anything, had happened to little Grace Williams. The few times that Danny had allowed his daughter to hang out with the task force had already endeared her to each and every one of them. She was full of laughter and smiles – and had the uncanny ability to bring them out in her father and those around her. To think she was on the Island somewhere, in the hands of…who really knew? It was enough to shatter his usually unshakeable sense of inner calm.

To make matters worse, McGarrett was also missing in action. From Danny's frantic phone call Chin had ascertained that Steve and Grace had been at the mall - together, as far as everyone was concerned. At least up until Grace's terrified phone call to her father in which she stated that Steve had left her.

By herself.

Now, Kelly had known Lieutenant Commander McGarrett for a long time. If there was one thing he could be certain of it was that Steve would never abandon anyone under his care. Not unless it was for their protection and he could somehow guarantee their absolute safety, or he had no other legitimate choice. For the Navy SEAL to have abandoned Grace, only to have disappeared himself, something terrible had to have gone down.

This entire situation had disaster written all over it.

Chin let his eyes travel once more to the uncharacteristically silent man at his side, his frown growing deeper as he took in the sight of the Jersey native slumped wearily against the door, eyes downcast and his whole posture screaming defeat. In the short time he'd known Danny Williams he wasn't sure he'd ever seen him quite so...lifeless. It wasn't a good look for him; not a good look at all. Not that anyone could blame him for it. His daughter was missing and his partner wasn't answering his phone or anywhere to be found.

Whatever had gone down at the mall Chin sincerely hoped it was all some elaborate misunderstanding. Five-O were likely at the top of many a hit list these days, what with the swiftly growing number of successful busts under their collective belts. This was without taking into consideration the fact that Steve McGarrett had a knack for pissing off some very dangerous people. Hell, they all did. In reality, the beautiful little girl could be used as the weak link to any one of them. They'd all happily sacrifice themselves to keep her safe. He just really hoped it wasn't going to come down to that today. He wasn't sure Danny would survive losing Grace; wasn't even sure the team could survive the fallout of such a devastating event…

The sound of his cell phone ringing pulled Chin from his morose thoughts, his cousin's name glowing across the screen of the small device that sat on the dashboard of the car. Putting Kono on loudspeaker he settled both hands back on the wheel and returned his focus to the road.

"Hey, 'Cuz," came the familiar sound of her voice over the speaker. "I haven't been able to locate Steve using the GPS on his cell, which could mean he's got no service or his phone's been damaged, so I'm backtracking through data using local radio towers to see where his signal's been recorded within the last few hours." Kono Kalakaua got straight to the point, knowing they were short on time. "It won't give us an exact location but I can triangulate enough for it to narrow down the field of search. If Steve still has his cell on him, we should know where he is in the next few minutes."

"Thanks, 'Cuz." Chin was grateful his cousin had been local enough to drop what she was doing without much prompting. Determined to help in every way possible the rookie Officer had headed straight to HQ where she could make better use of the resources available to them. She'd already traced the signal from Grace's own cell phone, confirming that it was sitting idle in the Ala Moana Center's car park. If they could now locate Steve they'd at least be one step further in hopefully revealing the mystery behind Grace's kidnapping.

"Whoa, brah. An alert just came through from HPD. They received a 911 call a few minutes ago concerning an injured and possibly unconscious man in the car park. EMS are already on their way." Kono failed to hide the concern in her voice as she tapped away at a few keys on her laptop while Danny seemed to come back to life at the possible news on his partner, the blond man sitting up straight and running both hands through his hair. "I've triangulated Steve's cell phone signal to the same area. Guys, it has to be him."

Chin forced the Camaro to take the next turning a little faster than was strictly necessary, having to work to keep the sports car under control as it continued to race towards their destination. "We'll be there in a few minutes, 'Cuz," he promised. "We'll keep you in the loop, okay?" Kono thanked him quietly before hanging up.

The ensuing silence was deafening. Chin took a couple of deep breaths in order to regain his sense of composure as he ran through the new information and tried to configure how exactly it affected the afternoon's events. If Steve was the injured man then it would explain why he hadn't been able to stop Grace from being kidnapped, but this left Five-O with a new, more worrying problem. Whoever had taken Grace had to be either very well connected or very highly trained, especially if they'd succeeded in taking out an extremely dangerous Navy SEAL.

Chin forced himself to slow the Camaro down to a more manageable speed. It would do neither of them an ounce of good to crash, Chin knew that, but he also understood that Danny was one step away from exploding if he didn't receive some news on Grace soon. The worried father was a ticking time bomb with an extremely short fuse at the best of times. Right now it was simply a waiting game until he blew.

"Steve would never intentionally let anything happen to Grace. You know that, brah." Chin couldn't stand the younger man's silence a moment longer.

"I don't want to talk about this right now, Chin, okay? I just need to find my daughter. Can we do that, huh? Please?" It was the most Danny had spoken since Chin had found him in a crumpled heap on the ground outside the Camaro. A snappy Danny was better than an unresponsive one, any day.

Chin nodded his consent and once more returned his concentration to the road ahead, the Ala Moana Center finally appearing in his field of vision.

*H50*H50*H50*H50*H50*H50*

Hell Week.

The familiar name floated somewhere just outside the reach of McGarrett's consciousness as he stirred, memories flooding his mind unbidden.

Five-point-five days of non-stop endurance, never-ending alertness and constant, persistent, unceasing motion… One-hundred-and-thirty-two hours of hard, physical labour; blood, sweat and tears; exhaustion, numbness and pain… Seven-thousand, nine-hundred-and-twenty minutes of relentless agony; sleep-deprivation, hunger, stiff muscles and raw skin…

Hell Week.

Huh.

It had nothing on how Steve McGarrett was feeling right now.

Face-down on the warm concrete floor, the sun beating down relentlessly upon his back, the SEAL sucked in a sharp breath as he temporarily broke through the cloud of drugs that fogged his mind, the agony of his battered body making itself known with every thud of his stuttering heartbeat.

Steve's initial attempt at movement, an almost frantic need to 'get up, move, now!'had him choking on a fresh bout of nausea, his stomach and head protesting equally at his idiotic idea of refusing to stay still. Spitting out the vile taste in his mouth, both eyes clenched shut against the glare of the sun and the sharp, insistent pounding in his skull, the head of Five-O sucked in a further laboured breath as he fought to clear his head, the urge to close his eyes and return to the land of obliviousness an overpowering need.

Where was…? How…? What was he…? Shit. Biting back a growl of frustration at his inability to remember anything useful Steve forced his eyes open as he clawed his way upright.

Big mistake.

The world tilted without warning, each individual ache and pain making itself known tenfold as he found himself back exactly where he'd started – sprawled face down on the ground, gagging pitifully as his stomach tried and failed to turn itself inside out. He stayed that way for a few minutes, ignoring the pleas of his body to give in, breathing in small, shallow bursts with both eyes squeezed shut as his skull screamed loud enough to rival the police siren on his Chevy.

The Chevy

There was something he had to remember about the truck; something important, but it wouldn't surface, not quite yet. Swallowing thickly in an effort to control his nausea the SEAL once more attempted to move, eventually managing to roll over slowly onto his back, the jolt of pain from his wrist and the entire left side of his body forcing a groan past his bloodied lips.

Cracking open one eye, shielding his vision from the sun's spiteful rays with his good arm, Steve's brain short-circuited as he took in the sight of his Silverado and the shattered passenger window across the way, memories of the last half an hour slamming into him at full speed.

"Grace!" The name tore at his already injured throat as he bolted upright, the recollection of something around his neck cutting off his airway clashing with the memory of fists and feet, elbows and knees connecting with his defenceless, uncoordinated body.

None of that mattered, none of it was important. He had to find Grace and he had to find her now. He was supposed to protect her, to keep her safe. He'd promised Danny he'd keep her safe... Danny! What was he going to tell Danny?

Steve couldn't control the rush of thoughts that jammed themselves into his brain simultaneously, each one falling over the other as they fought for dominance in the SEAL's drug-scrambled mind. The scream of the sirens invading his head grew louder...closer...and were now accompanied by flashing lights...red and blue? Damn. He must have taken more blows to the head than he realised.

Pushing the latest wave of dizziness aside the head of Five-O ignored the black spots clouding his vision as he scrambled to his feet, wobbling precariously as he tried not to faceplant back onto the asphalt. His balance was shot but it didn't hold him back as he half-stumbled, half-fell in the direction of his car, the place Grace was supposed to remain safe. He'd seriously screwed this mission up, hadn't he?

"Excuse me, sir? Wait, please, you need to remain still…"

The unfamiliar voice came from out of nowhere, a presence at his unguarded back that was completely unexpected and so automatically ranked high on his danger scale. The hands that tried to steady him as he swayed were the final straw, enough to tip him over the edge into incapacitate-now-ask-questions-later mode.

The EMT was lucky. The drugs currently flowing through Steve McGarrett's system meant he was well below par for the average Navy SEAL. On a good day he would have wiped the floor with him; left him in a bloodied heap on the ground. Today he barely managed to throw the man over his shoulder before pinning him to the floor with his knee, exerting a crippling pressure on the man's wrist as he tried to clear the fog closing in once again over his vision.

Steve heard a ruckus from nearby, more unfamiliar voices assaulting his concussed brain as his heartbeat thundered against bruised ribs. A small voice whispered to him to run. The men that had attacked him - those that had taken Grace - were surely returning to finish the job they'd started.

Grace... Each time the SEAL thought of his partner's little girl he felt a sharp stab of pain in his chest, his aching shoulders slumping in defeat as breathing became that much harder. He needed to get her back...and he would. No matter what, he'd ensure she was safe.

The head of Five-O felt his eyelids flutter as the drugs once more stabbed their vicious claws into him. The man pinned beneath his weight was talking but he couldn't make out the words as the sound of the blood rushing through his ears deafened him. Steve had to readjust the grip on his captive, blinking furiously as the scenery started to sway, cursing quietly under his breath at his weakness.

Danny! Danny needed to know...he had to tell Danny that he'd lost...that Grace had been taken from him. Danny... Danny was going to kill him. Grace was his life, his everything and he'd lost her...gotten her kidnapped. She was gone...

Steve realised that his thoughts were all over the place but couldn't remember why. He'd knocked his head, hadn't he? No. Yes, but that was after...after, what? After...he didn't know. It was growing harder and harder to think. He just needed to close his eyes and rest a little. He'd be fine after that. Maybe... He could tell Danny about the table and Grace's drink...and the strange businessman later...

Steve felt his eyes closing against his will, his grip on the EMT beneath him slackening off enough for the man to reverse their positions. Steve didn't bother fighting. He let the paramedic manhandle him until he was back in his initial position – face down on the floor, except this time he had one arm twisted none-too-gently behind him. He was pretty sure this should bother him…he was a SEAL, wasn't he? Not a very good one, a nasty voice in his head snarled at him. But Steve wasn't listening…

*H50*H50*H50*H50*H50*H50*

Danny didn't bother waiting for the Camaro to roll to a complete stop before he threw the door open and stumbled out into the bright Hawaiian sunshine, easily ignoring Chin's shout to slow down. His heart was in his throat as he raced for the last place he'd seen Grace. If he got her back…no, when he got her back – there was no doubt in his mind about this fact - she was never, ever leaving his side again. Not until she was thirty, at least. He'd resort to handcuffing his little girl to him if it got the message across.

Tripping over his own feet the detective forced his way through the milling crowds of shoppers, not even bothering to apologise as he disturbed their afternoon stroll. He had to bite back a pang of jealousy as he ran around a family of three. Mom and dad were smiling down at their young son as the little redhead struggled to carry a large stuffed dinosaur under one arm. Danny would quite literally kill if it meant he could have his sweet, adorable little Grace here with him right now. He'd buy the entire mall for her; anything she wanted. He just needed her, now. Safe in his arms. Was that really so much to ask?

The familiar red and blue flash of police sirens pulled him in the right direction. Danny came to an abrupt stop as he caught sight of his partner's Chevy a few feet away. It was almost like time itself slowed down as he zeroed in on the vehicle, his breath coming in short, sharp gasps as he replayed the sound of Grace's screams as she was dragged from the truck, his daughter's voice looping over and over in his head. It was torture, pure and simple. If he wasn't careful Danny knew he was going to break; shatter into a thousand tiny pieces that could never be put back together.

Coughing suddenly, swiping unconsciously at the tears that were threatening to fall, the Jersey native tugged his tie loose from around his neck and forced himself to take a deep breath as he moved in for closer look at the vehicle. There would be time for tears later. Right now he had a job to do.

Danny eyed the truck in front of him with more than a hint of disdain. It was a rare occasion that Steve used the damn thing lately. In fact it seemed to please the SEAL a whole lot more to commandeer the Camaro, his car, and drive it at a breakneck speed down the dusty roads of the pineapple-infested hellhole he'd slowly started to think of as home. It sat there taunting him, a shiny chunk of black metal and glass.

The passenger window was in pieces, shards of safety glass scattering the floor. The logical side of Danny's mind, the part that wasn't dumbstruck with fear over what could be happening to Grace right now, pointed out that there was a good chance they could find prints on the vehicle. This guy, whoever it was that had taken Gracie, would've had to have braced himself fully against the side of the truck in order to reach through the window to snatch her. The only downside could be if the kidnaper was smart enough to wear gloves. Lifting his eyes to the vivid blue skies above, the distraught father prayed for this one simple thing. Please let him be stupid enough to have left prints... Please.

Danny had spent the journey here trying to compose himself. The last thing he needed was to fall apart in front of Chin, after all. He'd also attempted to put himself in Super SEAL's leather boots to discover why, when trained to kill in 132 different ways, he'd thought leaving a small child unprotected in his truck was a good idea. No matter which way the detective looked at it the option never, ever seemed like a good one. Was it because Steve wasn't a father? Maybe parents had a different thought process to Navy SEALs, different priorities. Had Steve put the mission before Grace? He knew the man loved to catch the bad guys but this was beyond a joke... The more Danny let his thoughts linger on the facts, the angrier he became.

Sounds from across the car park finally caught the blond's attention. Turning his back on the Chevy Danny headed for the crowd of familiar-looking HPD officers, the surrounding area bathed in the glow of the EMT's flashing lights. He forced his way through the crowd, past Sergeant Lukela who was barking orders into his radio, and walked calmly towards where he could now see his partner being treated for an assortment of injuries whilst seated haphazardly on the ground.

Steve didn't sense his approach, of which Danny was glad. He took a moment to study his partner, forced himself to really look at him. Behind the blood and bruises the man was a Navy SEAL; he was also the Head of Five-O. Danny had once thought of the guy as his best friend, but right now? Right now Danny couldn't decide if he wanted to hug him or kill him.

At the moment murder was looking the most appealing...

*H50*H50*H50*H50*H50*H50*

"You, stupid sonofabitch..." It was the only warning Steve had before the punch knocked him sideways and the SEAL realised that he'd lost time again.

A moment ago he sure he was being poked and prodded against his will by an EMT. The gruff-looking man had quickly assessed his condition, asked him the usual questions - his name, the day of the week, the current US President - to which Steve had simply grunted incoherently whilst quite seriously attempting to push the man away from him. His throat felt like he'd swallowed an entire beach worth of sand, not to mention the aches and pains that had been vying for his attention for what seemed like forever now. The nausea, at least, was temporarily under control, though that may have been due to the fact that he was sitting down, but the dizziness, confusion and the desperate urge to close his eyes and never open them again were the main contenders for the number one spot on his shit-list.

If he concentrated he could vaguely remember the Paramedic ordering him to his feet. He was supposed to follow him the few steps around to the back of the bus so they could lay him out on a stretcher and take him to The Queen's Medical Center. The man had called for assistance and Steve had been helped to his feet before he'd even thought to protest. There was no time for hospital, though. He had to go...

The sting of the blow to his already abused face left him seeing stars as he fell heavily against the side of the ambulance, the cries of dismay from the EMT's ringing just as loudly inside his skull. Steve couldn't persuade his tired body to defend itself as a strong grip on his arm spun him around. The next thing he felt was the back of his head slamming into the unforgiving metal, closely followed by the rest of him.

Forcing his eyes to focus the SEAL was stunned to find his partner before him, the shorter man's face screwed up in anger as he grabbed a fistful of his bloody shirt and pinned him to the side of the large vehicle.

"Where is she, Steven? Where's Grace? What was so important that you had to leave her on her own in your damn truck, huh?" Danny was livid, the urge to kill his friend winning out over the hug after all. "Do you have any idea how much I hate you right now, McGarrett? Do you?" He didn't bother waiting for a response. "I swear on my life if I don't get Gracie back in one piece, or some scumbag touches a single hair on her head, then we are done. Finished. Finito. Do you understand what I'm saying here, Super SEAL? I'm going to walk out on you like every other person in your damned life, and I'll enjoy doing it." The last of his words, words that were designed explicitly to hurt – to make Steve feel even an ounce of his own pain - were punctuated by an additional slam into the side of the ambulance, Steve's entire body folding in from the final blow.

Everyone was too shocked by the scene they'd just witnessed to react. Even HPD stood by and let it happen. It wasn't until Chin arrived on the scene and bodily forced the blond away from his injured partner that the crowd of police officers remembered how to move.

Chin let Sergeant Lukela take command of the furious detective, his concern for the injured SEAL taking precedence for the moment. He felt for Danny, he really did, but there was no excuse for behaviour such as what he'd just had to witness. Danny would see that for himself soon, once he'd had a chance to cool off.

Chin hurried to Steve's side, the head of Five-O wavering unsteadily on his feet as he tried to push away from the side of the ambulance. Where he was trying to go Chin couldn't even begin to imagine. "Whoa, brah. Here, let me help you out, okay?" He didn't know if Steve chose to ignore him or simply hadn't heard his words but he watched the battered SEAL flinch as he was offered a helping hand. "It's me, Chin," the Hawaiian offered as reassurance.

Steve took as deep a breath as his bruised ribs would allow him to as he felt his friend approach. He was dangerously low on adrenaline, the only thing that had kept him going through the last…he didn't know how long, but he knew he still had work to do. He needed to find Grace. Grace was the only thing that was important to him right now.

Ignoring the offered hand Steve coughed to clear his throat and forced his head up so he could meet Chin's concerned stare. "A man…CCTV…Grace…" The words were a lot harder to get out than he would have thought. He tried again, coughing once more as his vision started to tunnel. "Four…four, Chin…Grace...need to…"

Chin could do nothing as he watched Steve lose his fight with consciousness, the SEAL's eyes rolling to the back of his head as his legs gave way beneath him. Quick reflexes were the only thing that saved the injured man from hitting the floor. "I need help over here, now!" Chin yelled as he checked the downed man's airway. "Steve? Brah, can you hear me? Steve!"

To be continued…


Author's Note: Wow, long chapter. I hope you think it was worth the wait… It should have been posted last night but I had to deal with someone trying to hack my iTunes account. Not impressed… Anyhow, once again I have to sincerely thank everyone for their amazing reviews. I think I managed to respond to everyone with an account this time. If not, I apologise. To those I can't personally thank, let it be known that I appreciate every one of your comments.

Now for the serious part… Erm, thoughts? PTWS