Stormy State of Mind IV

Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii 5-0. I love the fact that there is this site that lets me play out my fantasies for these characters.

Thank you all for reading and reviewing. For those that don't review, thanks for putting this story on alert and reading. I hope you enjoy the next chapter.

Chapter 4

Sunday morning:

As he drove towards the Ahupua'a O Kahana State Park, a series of different emotions ran through Danny Williams. He began with anger…anger that his friend would do something so stupid as to go out on a difficult trail with a storm moving in. As usual, McGarrett hadn't told anyone what he was up to and now he was undoubtedly in some sort of trouble.

And realizing that his friend, his best friend, could be in some serious trouble and not just because his truck was stolen and he was stranded, Danny was worried. He was very aware that under normal circumstances even a wet, slippery trail wouldn't have prevented Steve from showing up at the check in station that morning. McGarrett would have been able to get into the station and use the phone if it was necessary. All of this pointed to the fact that Steve must have run into a situation that stranded him out on the trail.

That knowledge led Danny from worry to his final emotion that had settled into his gut and wouldn't leave. Guilt was the strongest emotion tormenting him and he couldn't shake the feeling that he should have known something was up with Steve lately. His partner had been a bit distant the last several weeks and Danny had just let it slide, figuring that Steve would share if he felt like it. Danny knew that a lot had been weighing on Steve…..Doris keeping her distance and silence, the threat of Wo Fat striking before they could find him or were prepared for him or maybe it was the absence of Catherine from the island. With his own issues with women, Danny had tried to avoid discussing her prolonged stay in Afghanistan with Steve. He regretted the harsh statements he had made when ribbing Steve about Catherine going to work for Billy Harrington, causing his friend to doubt his girlfriend's faithfulness. No wonder Steve was not willing to share any concerns about her absence. He should have been willing to listen to Steve or at least ask what was wrong.

By the time he parked next to Grover's Suburban, Danny was furious with himself for letting Steve's silence hold him at arm's length. It didn't help that he knew his stoic partner was not big on sharing and had too much thrown at him in the last four years. Getting out of his car he joined Chin and Grover as they headed up towards the check in station.

Reaching the station they were welcomed inside by a tall brunette in her forties with a serious expression. A young man in his very early twenties stood against the wall, looking very guilty. This was clearly the Zach who had last seen Steve the day before.

"Lt. Kelly, I'm Clara Ritter," the woman said coming forward, a hand extended to Chin. "This is Zach Michaels, the young man you wished to speak to."

Danny moved aggressively towards the kid who shrank back against the wall where a map of the trail was displayed.

"Did Commander McGarrett personally check himself off the trail yesterday or did you do it for him?" Danny demanded.

Grover had located and picked up the clipboard, finding Steve's name on the bottom of the list with two check marks behind it. While Lou was not a handwriting expert, he recognized Steve's signature and the first check looked like it had the same slant as the name. The second check however was not the same as the first. He handed the clipboard to Chin to look at.

"He…he never stopped by the station when he left," Zack said shakily. "My shift was done, I checked him out figuring he had gone straight to his car when he finished the hike. It was raining pretty heavy by then."

"You know our policy Zach," Clara scolded. "You should never check anyone out without seeing them leave."

"What makes you think that McGarrett had left?" Danny asked.

"It was raining and I figured he just left. We have had others do that. I would have called it in but when I got to the parking lot there weren't any vehicles in the lot but mine. That had to mean he had left the trail," Zach explained. "I was afraid I would get in trouble if I reported a missing hiker and the Commander was all ready home. I didn't want to drag the search team out in bad weather for no good reason."

"So you just went on your merry way assuming Steve had left without telling you when the weather was nasty," Danny said angrily.

"There was no other car out there," the boy said in a panic. "How was I supposed to know that he was still on the trail? For Pete's sake, the man is a Navy SEAL, he can handle himself. He sure wouldn't listen to me when I tried to warn him about the coming storm. He blew me off, I figured he didn't bother checking out with me," Zach added in his defense.

"His truck wasn't in the lot because two morons stole it while McGarrett was hiking. And we know Steve is missing because these same morons crashed the truck later last night. Otherwise your actions would have made this a bigger problem since we wouldn't have known he was missing until Monday," Danny growled as he grabbed the kid's shirt front. "Steve may be a SEAL but it is not your job to second guess him. It looks like our friend has been out in the bad weather all night thanks to your mistaken assumptions." He shook the boy slightly, glaring at him.

"Easy Danny," Chin stepped in and said as he set the clipboard down and placed a calming hand on the shorter man's shoulder. "He didn't know that Steve's truck was stolen. This is a series of bad mistakes."

"I didn't know…honest," Zach insisted.

"Zach may not have known about the Commander's stolen truck but he did know the trail protocol and didn't follow it. I'm afraid he won't be working here anymore," Clara said firmly. She looked directly at Danny. "Please release him."

Danny let go of the boy and turned to Chin and Lou.

"We need to get out on that trail," he declared.

"After I received your call I alerted the park system's search and rescue team. They should be arriving shortly," Clara informed them.

"Thank you Ms Ritter, that was good thinking," Grover approved. "We can use all the help we can get."

"I do not like to lose any hiker on my trail. Even someone with Commander McGarrett's skills can encounter trouble," she replied.

"Can I help with the search?" Zach asked quietly. "I've hiked this trail a lot." His gaze darted between the three members of 5-0. He was anxious to make up for his mistake.

Before Danny could fire off a biting comment, Chin spoke up.

"We can use all the help we can get."

"So do we wait for the others or head out now?" Grover asked. "I think the sooner we move the better, the others can catch up."

"Just let me change my shoes and I'm ready," Danny announced.

Both men chuckled as they looked down at Danny's loafers.

"That is a very wise decision brah," Chin commented. "Do you really have hiking boots in the car?"

"Since I'm partnered with "Mr. Unpredictable" I have started carrying alternative footwear and a change of clothes," Danny retorted. "So yes, I have hiking boots in the trunk along with all the assorted weapons my explosion happy partner requires."

"And we will find him," Grover assured Danny, recognizing how the blonde man's rants helped him hide his concern for McGarrett. "Steve is a survivor; he'll help us find him."

"Then let's go drag his ass out of this jungle," Danny declared and hurried out of the station to go back to his car. It was gnawing at him that Steve had to be in big trouble and they had no idea what condition they would find him in. And he planned to share that worry with his partner once they found him.

*H 5-0*

Much earlier on Sunday morning:

The second time Steve awakened, the storm had calmed but it was still dark out and there was a very light rain falling. He carefully raised his head and glanced at the luminous dial of his watch to check the time. It was three thirty and the movement to raise his head made it throb dully. His whole body ached and protested as he tried to move to a sitting position.

Heat was radiating off his skin and even with the poncho his clothes had not dried out from his earlier soaking. It did not take a medical degree to tell him that he was running a fever and that the cut on his shin was probably infected. Slowly lifting his head again, he blinked several times to clear his vision, trying to get a good look at the hillside he had fallen down in the dim light. The moon was trying to break through spaces in the clouds and he could see just how steep the climb back up to the trail would be. Once more he attempted to rise to his knees and this time he succeeded getting vertical while hugging his right arm to his side to try and quell the shooting pain in his shoulder. He had to fight off some dizziness that threatened to pitch him onto his face and leaned back somewhat as he took several deep breathes.

Steve knew that there was no way he could climb back up the slope on his own power in his current condition. Crawling wasn't even an option with his bad ankle and broken collarbone. With great care he shifted to a sitting position, relieved that the blackness didn't swallow him up once more. Pushing the poncho hood off his head he closed his eyes and relished the cool night air and light sprinkling of rain that bathed his face.

He knew now that there was no rescue party out on the trail looking for him. Someone would have been in the area by now and would have spotted his orange rain gear. He could only assume that the kid at the check-in station had not bothered to call in a report as he should have. That knowledge made him realize that he was stuck here until daylight and he had to hope that there was someone would decide to hike today. Any attempt to move to a more comfortable waiting area would only plunge him back into unconsciousness so he could only sit there and hope to stay awake as long as possible.

As he sat there his mind wandered back to the reason he was on this trail in the first place. Why had he thought he could solve his problems by going out in the jungle with a storm coming on? Would he really have made peace with his troubles by beating a physical challenge in bad weather? Catherine was probably not able to phone or text because it wasn't safe to contact him at the moment. Her silence didn't mean she was in danger…the Taliban would have made sure the world knew if they had killed her. Steve had been overreacting to her silence and he had made a major mistake in coming out here. Why couldn't he accept that Cath could take care of herself and he needed to trust her? And all this reasoning could not take away the pain that her absence brought to his life, he thought morosely.

The effort to stay upright made his head spin and his head pound more painfully. In fear of passing out, Steve slowly slide down on his left side and he took several deep breathes to hold off the urge to vomit. The pain from his shoulder raced through the rest of the body and he gasped in agony as each wave intensified. He gritted his teeth and mentally cursed his weakness. Knowing that he wasn't going to be able to move for a while, he tried to find a comfortable position and wait for daylight. Finally weariness took over and he fell into an uneasy sleep.

End chapter.

I do hope that the jumping between time frames wasn't too difficult to follow. The muse likes to mess with my head when I am writing. Thanks for reading, feel free to express your thoughts.