I am soo sorry for the delay! My fiancé came home for New Years and we were running around like crazy while he was here. And then I got a cold that knocked me on my butt for a couple of days. Holy Toledo the last episode was intense! Can't wait for the next one! I hope you guys enjoy this…possibly going to revamp it to fit in with the course of the season so far! Thoughts on that?

Not mine. I just like to play.

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Danny waited, his heart pounding in anticipation, as the phone up against his ear rang. He sent an anxious glance to Kono, who was standing across from him holding her gun at the ready. She looked just as determined, angry, and terrified as he felt, and he knew that Chin was feeling the same way behind him.

"What the hell do you want, Leighton? I'm in the middle of somethin'," a deep voice growled at him abruptly. Danny returned his attention to the call and gave a dark grin.

"I'm sorry, Leighton isn't available. But thanks to him, I'm going to find you and then you're going to wish you'd died that day on the freighter."

Danny enjoyed the shocked gasp across the line. Hesse was silent for a moment, and the Jersey detective wondered what was going through his head, until an agonized cry threatened to tear his heart out. Steve's hoarse voice cut out suddenly, and Danny heard a strangled choke. Having heard more than enough, Danny hurled the phone away from him and kicked in the door in front of him. "Get the hell away from him!" he ordered, forcing himself to keep his attention on the cockroach standing over his partner. He knew if he looked at Steve, he ran the risk of distraction that he couldn't afford.

"You're too late!" Hesse shouted. Movement out of the corner of his eye alerted Danny to the other presence in the room. An Asian man was running for the back hallway. Acting instinctually, Danny aimed his gun and pulled the trigger. The man jerked as the bullet struck him in the shoulder, but kept running. Hesse ducked behind Steve, returning Danny's attention to his partner's captor. He watched as Hesse cut bindings holding an injured McGarrett to the chair he was slumped in.

"Don't even think about it, Hesse. Leave him where he is!"

The man ignored his order, and yanked Steve to his feet. The taller man groaned weakly, which fueled the fury burning in the Jersey detective. He stepped forward as Hesse stepped back and raised a knife to his throat. Danny silently prayed that Hesse was only using Steve as a shield until he got out of the room. He kept his gun trained on the man. "This isn't over," Hesse growled, releasing Steve abruptly and running beyond his line of vision. Chin automatically took off after him, but Danny's attention locked on his partner.

He finally allowed himself to catalogue Steve's injuries, and fear took a strong hold. Blood stained the tan cargo pants from a wound in his side, and bruises marred most of his face. Steve's eyes fluttered shut and his body swayed. The smile that crossed his partner's face would haunt Danny for the rest of his life if he didn't make it through this. It was enough to jolt the detective into action. "Kono, call an ambulance! Now!"

Arms wrapped around the former SEAL as his knees gave out. Danny eased his partner to the ground with his head on and then tore his shirt open. The extent of the visible injuries sickened him; purple bruises suggested broken ribs, and the source of the bleeding was suddenly evident as a gaping hole in his right side. "Hang on, partner. Don't let him win. Help is on the way."

Steve's eyes fluttered open at the sound of his whisper. "Danny…I-" his voice cut off as a grimace crossed his lips. "I'm so sorry…God…I'm so sorry. This is…all my fault," he sobbed weakly. Danny leaned over him, but realized when he met his partner's gaze that Steve wasn't looking back at him. It was as if the man was looking through him.

"Steve, everything's okay. Save your energy, man. You need to relax, we've got it from here." He placed a steadying hand on Steve's sweat-drenched forehead even as the wounded man struggled to lift his head. The firm grip didn't release, so Steve could only look up at his partner. Danny's heart wrenched at the grief and guilt he found in the dazed blue depths.

"No…I'm sorry…I can't tell Gracie. I can't ever look at her again…she'll hate me."

Confusion made Danny hesitate. "Steve…what are you talking about? Why will she hate you?"

His partner's body arched suddenly, and his face twisted in pain. His hand reached across to grip Danny's shoulder. While waiting for the episode to pass, Danny reached up and squeezed the fist to reassure the injured man. "Because I killed you…I'm…I'm the one to blame. I'm…so sorry, Danno. So sorry."

Shock slammed into Danny. Steve thought he was dead. Steve thought he was responsible for his death. Steve bleeding out thinking he was dead was really, very bad. "Steve…I'm here. I'm alive. I need you to hang on so I can prove to you that you're not to blame for anything, okay? Gracie still loves her Uncle Steve…she needs you to stick around. You hear me?"

Steve shook his head. "I'm so sorry…"

The paramedics arriving eased some of Danny's mounting panic, and Kono urged him to ride with them. He watched the pain dance across his partner's face as they moved him, and felt his heart break when Steve cried out when they rolled him to get him onto the stretcher. He glanced up when Chin hurried back into the room to find out about Steve. The Hawaii-native shook his head in frustration when he met Danny's eyes.

Once he knew Steve was going to make it, he would begin the hunt for Hesse. Once he found him, he'd make sure the son of a bitch and his little accomplice knew just what it meant to screw with Five-0.

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I am SO sorry this is so late…I dunno what my problem's been but this chapter has been fighting me tooth and nail! I hope you liked it, your reviews for my last chapter were amazing! I'm going to try to get this next chapter out much quicker, I promise!