Danny heard the sound of a key in the door and he immediately felt himself tense up. Or at least he could feel the parts of him that hadn't gone numb from lack of circulation. Steve came in first, followed by Chin and Kono. He was so relieved to see them that if Weston wasn't there, he might have started crying.

But something was wrong...very wrong.

They wouldn't look him in the eye. In fact, they didn't seem concerned for his well being at all...they barely glanced his way.

"Okay McGarrett, as you can see, your detective is alive and well."

Danny almost laughed out loud. 'He calls this well?' he thought.

"So, I noticed the paint job you did on my detective. How incredibly," Steve paused for effect, "unoriginal."

"I wanted to send a message to you…and it worked I see. Now, if you want to keep Williams alive, I suggest you surrender your weapons and do exactly as I say."

"I don't care what you do with him." Steve said nonchalantly, even though his stomach was twisting into knots.

Danny felt as if he had been punched in the gut. He looked from Steve to Chin to Kono…begging them with his eyes to tell him this was all a joke. But they just stared through him, looking cold and hard.

"What do you mean, you don't care?"

"Did I stutter?"

"Then that begs the question, why are you here, McGarrett?"

"Williams and I have a little unfinished business." Steve paused looking at Danny again with disgust for effect.

In order for the plan to work, Steve had to get Weston alone so Danny couldn't hear the next part. If he was clued in he might not be able to keep up an act in his deteriorating state.

Motioning Weston aside he spoke in a low tone. "You see, we 'borrowed' some money from HPD that didn't belong to us. You can check the news…the missing money was a big story about a year back. Williams here was in control of keeping that money until it was safe for us to access it."

"And just what does this have to do with me?"

"I have a little business proposition for you, Jake. All we want is our money...we'll give you Williams' share and you can keep him and do whatever you would like with him."

"I seem to remember you telling me that you couldn't be bought...why the sudden change?"

"I can't be bought," Steve took a deep breath. "That is unless I want to be."

"And now you want to be?"

"I figure I have to choose between the money and Williams...I choose the money. It's the only reason we have kept him around anyway."

"Tell me why I shouldn't just take you all and the money?"

"Because, before you could kill all three of us, you would be dead. My way, nobody has to die. I get what I want…and you get what you want."

"I'm already a very rich man, McGarrett."

"You could always be richer…right?"

Weston nodded his head. "I think we found something we agree on," he chuckled eerily.

Danny felt like he was in the middle of a dream; make that a very bad nightmare. What was Steve talking about? He couldn't hear a thing…but he could read the body language. His mind was racing along with his heart. He wanted to speak...to protest...but there were no words. For one of the first times, Danny was shocked into silence.

Weston's eyes lit up at the possibilities of what Steve was suggesting. "Interesting…very interesting indeed." He turned his attention to Chin and Kono who remained positioned behind their leader. "And you two feel the same way?"

Chin cleared his throat; it felt so dry. "Yeah," he said gruffly, "I can't stand the haole…don't care what you do to him." 'But if you hurt him anymore, you're not gonna want to know what I'm gonna do to you.'

"Never did like the creep," Kono asserted. 'I mean that about you, Zeke…not Danny.'

Weston turned to look at a shell-shocked Danny. "Well, well, well," he taunted, "didn't know your friends felt this way about you, did you?" Danny didn't respond. Instead he just looked down trying to hide the emotions he didn't want to give them the satisfaction of seeing. "What's the matter, detective? Cat got your tongue?"

Danny looked up and snarled, "Go to hell." He looked at his teammates and added, "all of you."

'Hell couldn't be any worse than this,' Steve thought. "So what's it going to be, Jake?"

"I'll do it your way, McGarrett. But," he waved a finger in the air, "under one condition. I need you to prove it."

"Prove what?" Chin demanded. He was growing tired of this game. For Chin, actions always spoke louder than words. And if somebody didn't take some action soon, he wasn't sure he'd be able to hold himself back.

"You say that you don't care what happens to Williams…prove it," he challenged.

"Prove it?" Steve asked.

"Did I stutter?" Weston replied, using the task force leader's earlier phrase.

"Prove it, how? We need him alive to get us the money."

"I didn't say you had to kill him…yet. That I will get to in good time. I would just like you to put on a little show for me…you know, whet my appetite."

Steve knew he had to take control of the situation and not let Weston decide the form of "entertainment" he would like to see. He sauntered over to Danny and circled around him. "I'll need him standing…Chin and Kono can hold him for me." He looked at Weston waiting for his approval and was rewarded with a nod of the mad man's head.

They got to work untying Danny's bonds. The immediate relief of being freed was quickly replaced with the agony of his circulation returning. His whole body felt as if it were on fire.

"Stand up," Steve ordered, standing directly in front of his partner; his back to Weston and his two goons.

Danny just stared back at Steve and made no attempt to move. Even if had tried to stand, he doubted his legs would support him. Chin and Kono yanked him up by his armpits and held him upright as the room started to spin around him.

Danny's eyes were glassy and unfocused; his skin, shiny from sweat, was a pale and sickly gray color. Steve could see that Danny looked as if he was going to pass out at any moment. He wished he would so he wouldn't have to experience what was to come next. Steve looked at Chin and Kono and silently mouthed, "we go on three."

Danny didn't struggle as he stood there supported by what he had thought were two of his best friends, and waiting to get beaten on by the man he considered to be his brother. He used what little energy he had left to lift his head and look Steve in the eye.

"Why?" he rasped out.

'Because I love you, man.' Instead of answering Danny's question out loud, he mouthed "three" and delivered a blow to his midsection.

Danny doubled over in pain, but was immediately pulled upright by Chin and Kono. He was gasping to take in the air that Steve had just forced out of him. He again lifted his head, but this time his eyes were vacant.

Steve felt a shiver go down his spine as he saw the look in Danny's eyes. But feeling Weston's eyes on his back, he mouthed "two" and delivered an uppercut under Danny's chin, snapping his head back. It momentarily rolled to one side, but again Danny slowly raised it back up.

Weston and his men were fixated on the show in front of them. They were so distracted that they had relaxed their hold on the weapons. Seeing this, Chin gave Steve a slight nod indicating that it was time.

Steve leaned back and slammed Danny with a hook to the side of the head.

"One!"

TBC…