I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.

NOTES: thank you all for these great comments!

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Still virtually hanging by his wrists, Steve blinked through a grayish haze. At first he couldn't even remember the last few seconds of time - or it might even have been minutes. With no way of knowing, he gazed stupidly at the man in front of him before lazily bobbing his head towards where Danny lay. The last jolt from the Tazer had left his brain sluggish, his neck rubbery and uncooperative. Steve frowned, confused but on guard as he tried to remember and focus his thoughts.

"What .. the hell happened?" Steve rasped, his throat inexplicably dry. As way of reply though, the man holding the Taser merely shrugged. With a queer smile on his lips, he didn't say a word. Instead he let his eyes fall on the Asian handler's back and then beyond to Danny's blanket-wrapped, trembling body.

Blanket? Steve blinked again. Utterly confused and completely uncertain as to what he'd missed. But he certainly could hear the tension: Danny's breathing was harsh. Loud and abnormal, it was practically the only sound in the room except for a litany of broken pleas for help.

Shit. He remembered the snake then and realized that the damned reptile was under the blanket. He cursed again, in a fury that the voltage had left him so badly disoriented and he felt his desperation growing in getting to his downed partner.

"What ... what's going on? What did you do" He asked as he hacked through the dryness in his throat and forced his knees to lock. Trembling from the after-effects, Steve shook his head to clear the vestiges of vertigo, his attention now completely on his partner and the choked quality of his every breath. "Danno?"

"St...s ...teve? Make him ... take ... it ... away ... please," Danny begged, the pulse-beat in his neck visible as panic set in when the slender man simply stood, stared at him without saying a single word and then quite inconceivably ... walked away.

"Where's he going? Get that damned thing off him!" Steve demanded as he quickly caught up, his voice suddenly stronger. Even from where he was, he could see the snake moving under the blanket. He looked to each man and then stared up the staircase at the handler's retreating back. No one was speaking; not a soul except for Danny who seemed unable to catch his breath, a painful hitch obvious within every discordant inhale.

"God dammit! Why are you doing this!?" Steve shouted helplessly. "Danny, Danny! Try to stay calm ... try to control your breathing." He pulled hard on the cuffs, the iron eye-bolt creaking as grayish soot of rock-dust fell. He grinned triumphantly at the man holding the Tazer when he glanced up, surprised and honestly taken-back to see the heavy iron had actually loosened a few good inches inside the wall.

"Five minutes," Steve drawled dangerously. "Just give me five minutes with you and you won't know what the hell hit you. Get that damned thing off my partner. Now!"

"Don't .. leave," Danny whispered when the Asian disappeared from sight. Unable to put a stop to body-wide tremors, he closed his eyes in utter denial. He couldn't do this. There was no way that he could deal with the snake as she began a further investigation of his body. He tried to breathe slowly and then completely failed. He jolted at the shock of the slide of her scales as part of her long body looped down over his lower back.

She was so big. Long ... and muscular. He could literally feel her power as she enveloped his body, front to back.

It made sense now: why Ray's henchman had so gleefully unbuttoned his shirt to move it aside. It gave the python better access to wend her way under the material, affording almost constant access to the warmth of his skin.

"Nnn...no,' he groaned in fear as he suddenly felt the python's tongue flicker under his chin. She was on the move and her head was near his face. His breath stutter-stopped and his tremors increased while he wedged his eyes even more tightly closed. She was carefully investigating every part of him, the cool slick of her scales eerie and causing a stomach-churning level of distress. Bound as they were, Danny's hands were balled fists, his thoughts only of being sprayed in the face by venom.

Blinded. Wracked with pain. On a thin whine, he pleaded senselessly to anyone who might still be standing nearby. "Get ... him. Bring ... him back. Please ... get him." He shuddered when Ray's voice came to him through the comm link instead. Steady, calm but with a distinct tone of sarcasm, the man sounded bored by Danny's reaction. He certainly didn't offer a single word of which Danny wished to hear or listen to.

"She's a ball python ... completely harmless to humans," Ray explained with a proud lilt to his tone, his last words ending on a pleased laugh of sorts. "But I see ...you don't quite care. Do you? Are you even listening to me? Detective? Can you hear me?"

Ray was a liar. A murderer. A sociopath. Danny had no reason to believe a single thing the man said. Unable to answer, Danny heaved in a strangled tendril of air as the four foot python continued to move, her dislike of the cold, damp cellar obvious as she investigated his chest again, moving higher up the rise of his clavicle, briefly pausing when she stayed even with his throat. He felt the flick of her tongue constantly as she paused, evidently resting ... or waiting ... or God help him, readying to strike.

"Please ... get it ... off me," Danny choked out. Harrison had moved back to stand over him, avidly watching the outline of the snake's body under the blanket. He could easily tell where her head was and he had to laugh when it eased out from under the blanket as if verifying daylight. Her tongue flickered, just in line with the detective's jaw as she scented his body, no doubt tasting his fear, smelling the fresh blood, and confused by the too many acrid smells in the dank lower level. She paused for a long period of time, her head elevating higher in order to survey the petrified man's face as if considering what to do next.

Completely unable to help himself, Danny forced his eyes partially opened when he felt the change. Stunned, he literally stopped breathing when he saw her ruby-red eyes so so close before her trek resumed, her head dropping to ease back under the blanket and then, beneath the gaping material of his shirt, slowly and with purpose.

"Oh, God ... get ... it this thing ... off me," Danny begged brokenly. He found Harrison's eyes now, his terrified plea broadcasted directly upwards.

"Ha, he was right," Harrison chortled out loud. He ignored Danny completely, captivated as the python sought warmth to avoid the chill around her. He glanced over his shoulder to his two peers and laughed incredulously while pointing towards the blanket where her outline was easily seen. Only then did he acknowledge Danny, once more crouching down to balance on his toes while daring to stroke the slithering bulge under the blanket.

Narrowing his eyes, Harrison's voice turned to ice. "She's looking to get warm ... I bet that's a bit weird though. Eh, Detective?"

"You son of a bitch," Steve cursed. "Why are you doing this? Who are you working for - it's sure as hell not Gibbons! So, who is it!?"

Danny focused on the sound of Steve's voice as he tried to tune everything else out. It was virtually impossible though as the snake shifted again. She seemed to move reactively to his smallest fidget and objected Harrison's hand, but damned if he had a hope in hell of controlling his spasming muscles. His entire body felt as if it were shaking with a palsy. His chest was on fire, made worse by fear and the simple weight of the creature who'd managed to drape herself just right over his most injured mid-section.

Eyes partly opened, Danny fought to hang on and keep his body quiet in order to just breathe. He was beginning to hyperventilate though. Much like his claustrophobic reaction to small spaces, his body was taking over to do the same from an inflicted terror. Already short of breath due to injury, his throat was closing up and he was losing what little normal flow of breathing he had to a full scale panic attack.

"Steve," Danny choked out and then coughed, rattling himself painfully. The blanket made him feel as if he were being smothered, the snake's weight a miserable reminder of his predicament which kept the evil cycle ever worsening. Scarcely able to breathe now, his vision dimmed dangerously around the edges, a gray aura creating a frightful milky haze. Dizziness brought on a wave of being removed from the here and now, and Danny blinked as the room swam in front of his eyes. Steve's voice tunneled, as did the drone of Franklin Ray inside his head, and he closed his eyes. Sick and nauseous, he felt the cold sheen of sweat coating his skin and only vaguely wondered what the python might think of that change.

"Sick," he mouthed weakly, his eyes winking back open to finally settle on a spot just in front of his nose. He tried to just listen to Steve's voice. But he could also hear the anger and then the ferocity of the warnings which their captors flung back his way. Danny knew they'd tase him again; Steve certainly knew it as well. Nonetheless, Steve was pushing and testing their limits in a vain attempt to find an escape.

"Don't. Steve ... don't," Danny whispered as the shouting escalated into a crescendo which lacked words. But then, he saw the sparkle of glass again - his jagged piece of glass which he'd lost at some point. He scowled not remembering when he'd accidentally dropped it but he needed to have it back. Terror pushed him forward then, fueled by a short-term flux of adrenalin which Danny would never be able to sustain. Ever so slowly, Danny shifted more to his side so that he could move his bound hands a few inches from underneath the hem of the blanket. He painstakingly scrabbled his fingers towards the glitter which seemed both close and yet much too far away, the python displeased but not yet interfering. And a moment later, Danny was incredibly rubbing the sharp edges with his thumbs.

"Who the hell are you people?" Steve growled out. If Danny had been having trouble before, he was nearing a dangerous point of no return now. Steve knew his partner. He knew the stages which Danny might go through at any given time - the initial self control, the inevitable slip towards a sarcastic mouthiness before losing his temper completely and lashing out. After, there could be a round robin of remorse, misgivings and doubt ... but not this. What Steve was seeing with his own two eyes was completely different; its foundation built out of one terrifying past experience.

The lack of interaction and the utter weakness meant that that Danny was well beyond his usual thresholds. Danny was shutting down and Steve was without doubt, growing more and more ... scared.

"What do you even want? Get that thing away from him! He's hurt and he can't breathe ..." Steve argued as Danny lay shuddering on the ground. "You're going to kill him!"

"Kill him? That would be the point," Harrison laughed in return. "And you ... you get to watch before it's your turn, McGarrett."

"Why?" Steve asked. He was shaking too, but that was only an indication of his anger. However, as he tore uselessly at the cuffs around his wrists, he still had no options to leverage. In truth, he still had no idea who had managed to get Gibbons on board to such a plan. "Who's doing this? Who do you really work for?"

He didn't know. Steve still didn't have a clue and Danny might have laughed at any other time. The realization had been excruciatingly slow to come and with a sudden spark of clarity as he hung on to the sound of Steve's voice, Danny realized that his friend totally didn't know who was behind their attack even though the proof was literally slithering over his own skin.

"Steve ... it's Ray," Danny choked out hoarsely, his voice weak and distant. "Franklin ... Ray," he repeated to make sure that he might be heard. Trembling from fear, Danny's head fell back to the concrete floor with a soft thump. Done, his energy officially depleted, he had nothing left.

"Steve. It's ... Franklin Ray. It's ... Ray," he whispered one last time before his voice completely failed hiim. Closing his eyes, Danny's focus changed to the simple act of trying to breathe.

"What? Franklin Ray?" Steve questioned as Harrison smiled happily, his agreeable nod enough to spark another surge of Steve's temper. To him, it still lacked credence because Angelo Gibbons simply didn't work with anyone. He didn't understand, but that hardly mattered now. But Danny missed the stunned expression which flew across Steve's face when he realized then who had been talking to his partner the entire time. Heart thudding off-kilter, Danny missed the volley of words and threats exchanged for the whisper of words inside his ear.

"He doesn't deserve this!" Steve shouted. He was stunned by the news - almost embarrassed that he'd not considered the former doctor at first sight of the python.

"Get that damned thing off him and let him go," Steve demanded as he shook his head in both anger and denial. Danny had been used for Franklin Ray to execute a terrible plan to get him. But this? No. It wasn't right and it certainly wasn't fair.

For one, long agonizing minute, Steve thought that he couldn't breathe either. His attempt at finding a calm was obvious as he stared directly into Harrison's face. "He was a victim then ... and he's one now. You said this was my fault ...Ray said this was because of me ... so why this? What the hell are you doing?"

"That's for him to explain," Harrison noted much too blandly. "I don't owe you any explanations. In fact, it's time for you to shut your damned mouth!"

"Now we all know," Ray laughed to Danny as he listened to Steve through the link and heard Harrison's smart reply. Things were progressing even better than he'd wanted and Harrison had been quite the godsend. He'd have to remember to thank Gibbons personally.

"We all know, Detective ... and isn't a fine day for retribution ... for payback?"

"No," Danny silently mouthed while he listened to the timbre of Steve's voice rise one last time in his defense. A moment later, his words were cut off without preamble though and Danny shuddered in response as to the reason why.

"... are you with me Detective? Isn't she lovely?"

Without Steve to buoy him, Danny finally closed his mind to Ray's voice. He fought to breathe and to keep still as a low, plaintive whine caught in his throat. It seemed as if the python's entire length was directly against his skin now, her weight exacerbating his injuries. Without his partner, the snake's constant weight was the only thing which existed in his immediate reality. He could feel every scale as she slowly disappeared beneath his shirt, seeking warmth. He could feel the ticklish flick of her tongue as she tasted him and he trembled more, wondering what she'd do as her head progressed and most of her body glided behind on a circuitous path over his injured ribs, towards to his back, finally wedging herself between his shoulder blades.

"She's ... cold ... and you're warm," Ray happily goaded him more, rightly assuming that his words only served to terrify Danny to new heights. "So warm ... keep her safe for me ... just for awhile. There's more ... so much more I'd like to show to you listening to me, Detective? I hope you are ... you need to listen. McGarrett is next ... this is entirely his doing ... his fault and now he'll pay."

Unable to think, Danny moaned deeply in his throat as a cold sheen beaded his forehead and pooled at the base of his throat. His first meeting with Ray hadn't been much of one at all; but he had met the psychotic man's beloved children. One in particular that had nearly killed him before taking his sight. Danny remembered all too well what Doctor Franklin Ray excelled in doing. He knew the man's perversion to cause pain and watch death. The nightmares both before - and then after - had persisted for months.

"Help me," Danny senselessly pleaded to no one at all, his eyes wedged shut as the python failed at finding room for all its ample length along his back. Almost as an afterthought, she partly reversed direction, her lower half moving to slowly anchor a coil or two of her tail around his left forearm so she could remain draped more comfortably. He grimaced unhappily as her grip undulated to an almost painful level, rivulets of sweat tracing the side of his face now as she tucked herself into him to leech all the warmth she could from his body.

He couldn't do this. There was no way he could last.

So distraught by the vise-like grip on his arm and paralyzed by the terrifying tingle of a flickering tongue, Danny never heard the final struggle as Steve was tased into semi-consciousness and torn away for him. Nor could he hope to ever understand the sly drawl of Doctor Franklin Ray as he explained and tutored his unlucky victim before finally ending their one-sided conversation. He completely forgot his mantra to stay awake as his heart thundered in his chest and he began to truly hyperventilate, his breathing irregular and panic now a given.

Curling and wrapping herself in the folds of his shirt, scenting the freshness of his wounds, and tucking herself anywhere she could so that she'd be warm under the blanket, the python settled most of her mid-length around Danny's stomach. Her upper half draped over his side where she rested her head nearest his shoulder blades. As was her nature, her tongue ceaselessly taste-tested what she could of the inhospitable world around her. She eventually subsided to a degree, oblivious to anything more than seeking warmth within her disturbing environment.

She quieted, but she was distinctly displeased by the erratic movements of her warm roost and so, quite far from being able to find her more normal placidity. Uncaring of what she was doing to her one source of poor comfort, Danny was completely alone when he lost consciousness to the frightening touch of scales as they rippled across his skin.

~ to be continued ~