A/N: Took a lot of liberties. Lots of artistic license, just having fun. THANKS FOR READING!


"Commander." The next call had come in a few hours later that day and again the whole team was gathered to listen to the conversation. "I have someone that would like to speak to you."

King put the phone to Danny's ear. Danny had once again been brought into the cinder-block room, pushed down onto the same chair, with his arms cuffed behind him again.

"Steve?" Danny began with a low gravelly voice.

"Danny, are you okay?" Steve heard himself speak quickly and anxiously. He took a deep breath and steeled himself.

Without answering his question, Danny went straight to what was on his mind. "Steve… Grace and Charlie? Are they okay?"

"Yeah, buddy, they're great. We've got a detail assigned to Rachel and the kids. They're safe."

Steve heard Danny's exhale of relief and he knew that his captors must have threatened his kids. Steve's anger began to rise again. "Danny, are you okay?" Steve asked again, thankful to at least be hearing Danny's voice.

"Hanging in there I guess, but actually I'd rather be swimming, or eating pineapple pizza, or sitting through couples counseling with you." Steve and the team shared reserved smiles at hearing the humor in Danny's attitude.

King pulled the phone away and put it to his ear again, looking puzzled at that last statement. He turned and faced away from Danny. "Are you satisfied now? Can we talk business?"

"What are you wanting from Five-0?"

"Well, you may recall the location where you found your partner's phone yesterday evening? In case you didn't notice, the museum's temporary exhibit that was being celebrated was a rare collection of Russian diamonds and gems valued at over 70 million dollars. I want that collection and I need your team to get it for me."

"We're not jewel thieves, I think you've got the wrong people."

"You're not jewel thieves… yet, but you know about these criminals and how they work. You've got the skills and resources to get this accomplished for me. You've got three days and I'll be in touch to make the exchange."

King disconnected the call before the trace could be completed and the group stood silently contemplating the demand that was made. Kono spoke first, "Well, it looks like we have a heist to plan."

Steve shook his head in disagreement and looked at Kono but his comments were directed at them all. "I'm not going to ask any of you to participate in this. I'll figure something out myself."

"Mm, mm, mm… we're all in this one… together. You know Danny would do the same for any of us." Lou put in his two cents worth.

"That's right, Steve. We're a team. We're ohana. You're not doing this alone," Chin agreed. "And anyway, it may not come to that, we'll continue the investigation. We may get something to lead us to Danny first. In the meantime, let's check this out."

Steve could not take the chance that the immunity afforded their group would hold up in a situation like this. He would willingly accept any repercussions for himself, individually, but he didn't like the idea of what complicity in a crime like this could mean for the future of the task force, and more importantly, the possibility of prosecution of his friends. However, he didn't argue with his team's unwavering resolve. He was not surprised in the slightest at their insistence. He hesitantly nodded his acceptance of their desire to back him up and inwardly admitted relief that he wouldn't be alone in the endeavor. He was touched by the degree of their loyalty and devotion to their ohana.

Chin started typing into the computer and pulled up information on the diamond exhibit and the museum itself. He started with only what was available to the public. Other, more detailed, information would have to come from an outside source. There couldn't be an official record of their inquiries on the government computer. "This is about all we can get from here. We're going to have to get access to more intel from a different server. We'll need a layout of the building and to find out about their security system."

Steve's eyes widened revealing the idea that struck him. "Chin, you come with me. Kono, you and Lou stay here and continue going through the gala's lists and see if you have any hits on a name or names that stand out. If so, bring 'em in."

"Copy that, boss," Kono answered.

Steve headed to the door, Chin following behind him.

~~~~~H50~~~~~

The Silverado pulled up outside the expansive, upscale, but still very eclectic looking bungalow. The men got out, went to the door, and rang the bell and knocked. It took another knock but the door finally opened slowly.

"Hey, Toast. Good to see you, man. Hey, um, we need your help. Can we come in?" Steve greeted Five-0's old friend.

Soon after Danny had arrived on the island, the techie hacker had gotten into some trouble with the law. Danny had sensed something about this gray hat and had a soft spot for him. Danny stepped up to help him out by putting in a good word with the judge. Later, Danny had introduced Toast to the team and they had called on him a few times for his computer skills to help in solving some cases.

"Ah, McGruff, where's Jersey?" He leaned to his left, looking over their shoulders past Steve and Chin to the outside. When he didn't see Danny, he continued, "You know, it's really not a good time right now," and started to close the door but Steve stepped up closer and put his foot over the threshold and used his arm to stop the door from closing. Steve and Chin could smell the waft of recently smoked pakalolo coming through the opening. The two men shared a knowing glance at each other but ignored the odor and forged ahead with their appeal.

"Like I said, we need your help." Steve's speech was controlled and his tone was low. The seriousness of his voice obvious. "Jersey… needs your help."

"Well then, why didn't you say so?" Toast pulled the door open the rest of the way and waved his arm across his entire body in a grand gesture of an invitation to the men to enter his home.

Toast dispensed with the niceties after Chin and Steve turned down his offer of refreshments. Shortly thereafter, the two men were standing behind Toast while he was seated in front of one of the many monitors in a room devoted solely to high technology. He was typing in a myriad of commands to get the information that Five-0 was needing. Chin informed him that what he was doing must be "off the radar". Because of his background, Toast did not have a problem with that entreaty. Steve and Chin chose not go into details about Danny yet, or why they were needing the information. Toast trusted them and didn't ask questions.

Toast was able to hack into the museum's database and get schematics of the building and get the name of the security company that was protecting the museum's exhibit. He was then able to hack into that security company's network and get all the intelligence Five-0 would need for the heist. Steve and Chin once again marveled at the magic worked by Toast's genius. They left with not only the information but also Toast's promise to aid them the following night, the night Five-0 would be working on the opposite side of the law.

The next 24 hours had been taken up by investigating and interviewing the gala attendees. They kept running into dead ends and their time was running out. They had not received any more contact from the kidnappers.

Under cover of darkness, at 0130 hours the team arrived at the museum. The Governor's elite task force was donned in all black and balaclavas and were geared as if they were going into a SWAT situation. Less than a block away, Toast sat in a van equipped like a mini version of his computer room at home. The team had every detail of the operation planned out, a direct result of Steve's Navy SEAL training. They each had push-to-talk radio earpieces and a direct connection to Toast.

There were three guards employed to be on site 24/7. Kono and Chin each took out one guard a piece using towels soaked with an incapacitating agent. Steve used a chokehold on the other. They were all left unconscious but unhurt. Lou took up his position as the lookout outside and to make sure the guards didn't regain consciousness before the operation was complete.

Toast was able to dismantle the security system a little at a time as the team made it through each access control point. He applied phantom guises to each video feed and overwrote the encryption at each password protected blockade they came to. He guided them through the building, relaying the moment at each checkpoint that they could continue to advance.

They finally made it into the small interior vault where the diamonds and gems were placed after the exhibit closed each day. The trays of precious stones were housed in drawers inside the vaults. They poured the stones from their trays into a drawstring bag they had brought with them. Then, as deftly as the group had entered, they made their way out again, Toast guiding them the whole way.

They met back at the van, loaded their equipment, piled in, and were off, Lou at the wheel. No one spoke a word the whole ride back. They arrived back at Toast's place where they had met up earlier that day. They were going home and would meet back at headquarters in the morning. As they turned to leave, Steve stopped them.

"Guys, before you go, I just wanted to say... thank you." Kono looked down, shook her head, and started to speak her protest, but Steve raised his hand to stop her. "No, let me say this. I want you to know how important you all are to me… each of you. I know what asking this of you means. Today, we did what we had to do. We're going to get Danny back, and then we're going to get these damn rocks back, and then we'll put whichever of the SOBs that are left standing behind bars."

Chin and Kono smiled and Lou pressed his lips together, winked, and nodded his concurrence.


~to be continued~

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