A/N First off all, thank you all so much for all of your support, thoughts, and prayers! It really meant a lot to me and helped me through this difficult time. Secondly, I finally sat down and put all my notes together for this chapter - I hope it lives up to all of your expectations! *hopeful smile* Any errors are solely mine, but I hope there aren't too many. Thanks again for sticking with me through this story. I will try to have it complete before the next new episode airs on January 4th!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and holiday, and I wish you all the best in 2011! Hugs! ~Kelcor

By the time he finally found some shelter, his legs were seconds away from giving out on him completely. And, despite the torrential rain that had been soaking the two Five-0 agents for the past 30 minutes, his shoulder blades felt like they were on fire! It wasn't until he laid Steve gently down on the floor of the cave that he realized Steve was the one who was on fire… his fever was raging!

Wanting to help his partner but knowing that he had to see to a few other things first, Danny gently hauled a barely conscious Steve over to the nearest wall and sat him up against it, remembering his partner's warning to keep his heart above the wound at all times. After holding a bottle of water up to the wounded man's lips and ensuring at least some of the liquid made it into his mouth to hopefully help with the fever, Danny gave Steve's shoulder a squeeze. "I'll be right back, partner. Just sit tight, okay?"

With one final glance, Danny returned to the tropical storm outside and, praying that he'd be able to find his way back, he continued on in the direction he had been heading before dropping Steve off at the cave. He stomped through the brush causing as much damage to the branches as he possibly could. Once he finally found the perfect spot, he reached into the satchel and set to work…

H50H50H50H50

Out of breath and exhausted, Danny finally made it back to the cave and went inside, ducking his head at the entrance to avoid any further injuries to his now thoroughly scratched face. The interior of the cave was darker than when he had left so it took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust. The cave was empty. Steve was gone! He panicked for a moment before hearing the ragged breathing! Stepping further into the cave, Danny followed the panting sound… and found Steve hunkered in a darkened corner, coiled for attack. He squatted down in front of his wounded friend.

"McGarrett? You okay, partner? What're you doin' way over here?"

"Henderson, are you crazy? Get down," Steve hissed.

Confused, Danny glanced back toward the opening to the cave, searching for the mysterious Henderson. Steve reached out, grabbed his wrist and yanked him forward and down, bringing Danny to his knees and close enough to feel the extreme heat coming off McGarrett. "Darn it, McGarrett! Your fever is even worse than before! When is this freakin' storm going to end, anyway? We need to get you to a hospital!"

Steve looked at him like he had three heads. "What is wrong with you? We can't leave in the middle of a mission! We just have to hold 'em off until the Commander gets here - " Suddenly, Steve's head jerked to the side, as if he'd heard something.

Once again, Danny looked around and saw nothing. He turned back to Steve, his concern escalating exponentially. "Steve, tell me what's happening!"

Again with the look but this time Steve added a raised eyebrow. "Calling your commanding officer by his first name, Henderson? That's not like you."

Deciding it best to play along, Danny backtracked. "Sorry, uh, sir. It, uh, must be the stress."

A small one sided smile quirked at Steve's lips. "Things did get a little hairy for a while there, didn't they? Listen, don't worry about it… just don't let it happen again."

"Yes, sir. Uh, could you refresh my memory on this mission… sir?"

Steve's attention returned to their surroundings but his eyes flicked to Danny for a split second. "We're here to rescue the Rear Admiral's daughter. What's wrong with you?"

"Uh, nothing, just wanted to make sure I knew the game plan is all."

Suspicious, Steve said slowly, "Well, now you know. Can we get back to the recon now?"

Before Danny could respond, Steve's eyes rolled back and he fell forward. Danny reached out at the last second, catching his partner and pulling him toward him. Holding him close, Danny placed his hand against Steve's forehead, pushing the matted hair back. Despite the raging fever, Steve was now shivering.

"Ah, crap! Anything else you wanna throw at me now, McGarrett?"

H50H50H50H50H50

The Venezuelan jungle was hot and humid. And the local insects seemed to consider this to be SEAL season. Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett was laying in some foliage, Lieutenant John Henderson lay next to him. Each held his rifle at the ready but McGarrett also had night vision binocs aimed at the small village below them.

His team consisted of just himself and Henderson for this particular mission - keeping a low profile was the priority. The Rear Admiral's ten-year-old daughter had been kidnapped and was being held for ransom, which happened to be the release of Central America's largest kingpin. It was common knowledge that the United States government doesn't deal with terrorists but apparently these particular guys thought that if it involved a ten-year-old child, the rules would change. And they did… just not in the kidnapper's favour.

"Bring that little girl back at any cost, McGarrett."

Those were his orders. Plain and simple.

As he peered through the binocs, McGarrett saw little in the way of guards. Henderson, who had looked at the same thing just moments before, whispered, "Should be a simple snatch 'n grab."

McGarrett pulled the binoculars away from his face long enough to cast a wary glance at the Lieutenant. "Nothing about this is going to be simple, Henderson. It never is. 'The only easy day was yesterday'. Always remember that."

"But there's no one down there. Just the villagers. Unarmed villagers." He made a move to get up. "Come on. Let's get this done, already."

McGarrett yanked him back down to the ground. "No." At a look of annoyance from Henderson, he explained. "It just doesn't feel right. We need to do a bit more recon. Then we move."

"Meanwhile, that little girl could be killed, or worse."

Ignoring him, McGarrett returned his attention to the village below, binocs pressed up against his eyes once again.

"You know," Henderson began, "I actually wanted to work with you. I sought out this assignment." He paused a moment, then: "Wish someone had told me back then that you're a coward."

McGarrett grit his teeth. Now was not the time to knock the guy's lights out. Later. But not now. He cursed when Henderson rolled away from their cover and began crawling toward the path that led to the village. "Henderson," he whispered angrily. "Get your ass back here!"

H50H50H50H50

Danny was sitting against the wall with his partner leaned up against him, back to chest, doing his best to keep him warm. His arms were wrapped around his chest, despite the fact that Steve's shivers were making him very difficult to keep a grip on. The shivering was so bad, in fact, that it took a moment for Danny to notice that they had graduated into full on convulsions!

Instantly, he gently laid Steve out on the floor of the cave, moved any rocks out of his reach and waited out the convulsion. It seemed to take forever but within moments the seizure had passed. Once again, Danny began to gather his injured friend up against him to provide warmth and, he hoped, a little comfort, when Steve suddenly curled in on himself in pain. Before Danny knew what was happening, Steve was vomiting.

Knowing there was not much else he could do, Danny banded one arm across his partner's chest and braced his forehead with his other hand, keeping him from face planting in his own vomit. He cringed at both the violence of the purging and the barely audible whimpers coming out of his usually unflappable ex-SEAL partner and friend.

The vomiting finally stopped but, unfortunately, the whimpers continued. Part of Danny was glad that Steve was too out of it to realize how vulnerable he was right now, as he gently gathered the Lieutenant Commander up against his chest once again, this time with Steve curled into a tight ball, his shoulder braced against Danny's chest. As he tried to breathe through the pain, Steve unconsciously pressed his cheek into the crook of Danny's elbow, grabbed a handful of Danny's shirt in his fist.

It felt weird but the only person Danny had ever held like this was Gracie, so the only thing he knew to do for comfort was to smooth out Steve's hair and rock him back and forth. Oddly enough, it seemed to help as McGarrett's breathing became less and less ragged until he eased into a fitful sleep.

Danny had no idea how long they stayed like that but, at some point, the sun had gone down and come back up again, the rain had stopped… and their pursuers had found their little hideout!

TBC

A/N Please review? I need to know if I'm still keeping with the characters... extreme h/c scenes notwithstanding, of course! LoL ~Kelcor