A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews. I really do appreciate them. Sorry I haven't had time to reply to them all individually.

Thanks again to Phoebe for editing my sick little story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any of the characters.

Chapter Six

Steve parked his truck behind the Camaro in Danny's driveway. He prayed to God his friend was there. After calling Danny's cell countless times, only for it to go to voicemail, he'd asked Kono to trace the device. Steve could only hope that his partner had put his cell on silent in order to get some undisturbed rest - sleep off his hangover. But there was that nagging doubt at the back of his mind. His friend never put his phone on silent, and definitely not in the middle of a case.

Something was off - Steve was sure of it. He held his SIG in one hand while the other turned the key in the lock.

"Danny, you there, partner?" Steve pushed the door all the way open.

No answer.

Steve's stomach dropped. This was all kinds of wrong.

"Hey Danno, you decent?" He knew the nickname would get a rise out of a hungover Danny. He was looking forward to a scolding.

Still no answer.

He closed the door quietly behind him and then moved through the house on high alert, clearing every room.

"Danny?"

Let him be sprawled on the bed, sleeping off his hangover.

Plagued by a sense of foreboding, Steve had asked Kono to dig deeper into Joseph's background, keeping his concerns from the rest of the team - until necessary. They often kidded Danny for being sensitive and their good-natured ribbing would not be helpful right now. He could still hear Lou's words. Danny's a big boy. He can look after himself. All true, except this was his partner. Steve trusted Danny's instincts. And if he thought something was off about Joseph, then Steve did too.

That's why it didn't make any sense when Danny had buddied up to Joseph. He should have checked on his best friend. He should have taken him home himself. Steve remembered Chin's comment.

He would never drink that quantity, especially during an investigation.

If the empty house wasn't enough to cause Steve's anxiety to sky rocket, the discovery of his best friend's phone, keys and badge on the kitchen counter were. Danny's home was about to become a crime scene.

He holstered his gun and was heading outside when his cell rang.

"Hey, Kono, you got something for me?" Steve paced up and down the driveway, listening intently to what his colleague had to say.

An uneasy silence fell as Steve stared through the side window of the Camaro to the empty back seat.

"Yeah, I'm still here, Kono. Get CSU over to Danny's. I want you and the rest of the team to meet me at Joseph's place now. Call HPD for backup."

He had to stop for a second to slow his breathing. His body tingled with concern and he needed to focus to keep his composure.

"And Kono. keep a safe distance. No sirens. I'll brief everyone at the scene." Steve hung up the call before jumping in the Silverado. His thoughts on his partner and the missing metronome.

H50 H50 H50 H50 H50

Elizabeth bucked her hips upwards, pushing Joseph off balance. He had other ideas, grabbing her around the waist and tugging her back under him. He left a line of wet kisses down her back, but she continued to squirm, forcing him to stop. He surrendered and allowed her to leave the bed.

"Hey, where you going?" He reached for her arm, snagging her wrist.

"Bathroom." Elizabeth tried to pull free.

"Nah, there's something else." Joseph tightened his grip, eye's narrowing.

"It's nothing. I'm just not in the mood."

"You like him?" Joseph's voice was laced with anger.

"Don't be silly." Elizabeth grimaced as his fingernails dug into tender flesh. "You're hurting me."

"Then come here." Joseph knelt up on the bed and reached for Elizabeth's other arm, only to have her bat his hand away.

"Please, Joseph. Let go. I need the bathroom."

This time Joseph relinquished his hold. Elizabeth headed for the door, picking up her clothes from the floor as she went.

"If you're not coming back to bed, I'm going to finish him now." Joseph relaxed back onto the bed, hands behind his head.

Elizabeth stopped dead in her tracks, and turned to face him. "Why? You said we had plenty of time."

"That's before I realized you liked him."

"Don't be stupid." Elizabeth quickly dressed back into her shorts and t-shirt.

"You never call me handsome. Sweetie, yes, but never handsome. Anyway, I thought you preferred your men dead."

Joseph got up from the bed and walked over to the closet. He pulled out a shirt and shorts, and began to dress.

"Fine. I like him. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"You can have him dead then, Sweetie."

"Shut the fuck up, Joseph." Elizabeth yelled.

"Hit a nerve did I, little sis?"

"I know it was you that lost me my job at the morgue. You couldn't leave well enough alone. Couldn't bare for me to be with anyone else." Elizabeth wiped at her eyes, tears of anger beginning to fall.

"This is what ma and pa wanted. This is how we were brought up. You never questioned it until that sleazebag at the morgue started taking an interest."

"He was my only friend outside of this house." Elizabeth crossed her arms protectively across her chest.

"Some friend? He showed you how to fuck dead people."

Joseph's rage was in full flow as he crossed the room towards her. He seized both her upper arms and shoved her into the door.

"I did you a favor." He used the full length of his body to pin his sister, rubbing his erect cock against her.

She tried to wriggle free from Joseph's clutches, only for him to push her harder against the solid wood. On any other occasion she would have found the situation arousing. Not today. Her emotions were a mix of anger and fear.

"Joseph, I can't breathe. You're suffocating me." Elizabeth turned her head, cheek flush against the door panel. She could feel his hot breath on her.

"Seems you need a reminder in Foster family values."

"Mom would never have approved of the way you butchered those women. And now you're gonna do it to the guy you've been so infatuated with. A cop to boot." Elizabeth let out a small fake giggle. "I get it. You're jealous. At least I have a shot at being with him."

"Those girls never gave me a second look. All dressed up. They were asking for something bad to happen, so I gave them what they wanted." Joseph pushed away, releasing Elizabeth from his iron grip.

Elizabeth rubbed her upper arms over the blossoming bruises. "So what now? You gonna kill your precious detective."

"Put him out of his misery. The internal bleeding will take days to kill him. But infection and shock, they will take hold sooner. A slow and painful death."

Joseph reached for the door handle, and Elizabeth reflexively wrapped her fingers around his forearm.

"Leave him. We can go now. Disappear before they start looking." Elizabeth kept her voice low.

"No, I need to watch the life bleed out of him. I have to finish what I started."

Joseph shoved Elizabeth to one side and pulled the door open. Elizabeth stumbled, falling to her knees.

"Joseph. No." She screamed after her brother.

H50 H50 H50 H50 H50

Danny awoke to the sound of raised voices. His head felt cloudy and unfocused, making it impossible for him make out the words. Reminded him of the adults in Charlie Brown.

Uncomfortable in his current position, he shifted, regretting it instantly. The movement caused an excruciating pain to tear through his stomach. He instinctively tried to move his arms, but the zip ties cut into his wrists. Bent forward, and in agony, he wanted nothing more than to pull his arms around and hug his stomach.

Danny sucked in a ragged breath, attempting to center himself, and take in his surroundings. The familiar tick tock of the metronome drawing his gaze to the table in front of him. He managed a small smile when, through his graying vision, he glimpsed the sloppily discarded knives.

Without a second thought, Danny shuffled forward on the sofa until he slid off the edge onto his knees. A fresh stab of pain shot through his abdomen as he hit the floor. As the discomfort subsided, he pushed himself up. He gritted his teeth and twisted his upper body, biting down on his lower lip to stop himself from crying out. The metallic taste of blood on his tongue, making him even more woozy. He could barely feel a thing as he fumbled for the scalpel. Somehow, the tips of his outstretched fingers finally made contact with the metal implement. He closed his hand tightly around the handle, letting his body slump back down, his back against the base of the sofa.

Danny focused solely on the task at hand, blocking out the distant voices. His heart pounded with such force, he thought it might explode from his chest. Each second that passed ramped up his anxiety. At last the zip ties fell away and his arms flopped heavily to his sides. A wave of agonizing tingling flowed down to his fingers as circulation was restored.

He knew he didn't have the luxury of time. Racing against the darkness again, Danny had to keep moving. After cutting through the duct tape holding his ankles, he pushed up from the floor, steadying himself with the arm of the sofa until the flash of white receded from his vision. Hunched over, with one hand pressed tightly against his stomach, he headed for the front door. Stopping briefly to retrieve the hunting knife from the table, he hesitated when he heard Elizabeth scream her brother's name. She sounded like a wounded animal, and Danny thought he might puke again.

With one hand on the weapon, he froze, his blood turning to ice when he lifted his gaze. The crazed ME stood before him, meat cleaver held at this side.

"Going somewhere?" Joseph absentmindedly tapped the long sharp edge against his bare leg, causing tiny trickles of red to run down his thigh.

~ to be continued ~