A/N: This is the end, except for a short epilogue I'm going to post with this. Please forgive the lag in my posting. I've been watching the World Cup to fuel my procrastination but mostly I've struggled with getting this out here because it feels inadequate. I got tired of arguing with the muse about possibly rewriting, so out of exasperation, I've decided to just go ahead and post it as the muse gave it to me the first time around. It was just meant to be a shortish story to appease the whump lover in me. I apologize if it disappoints. I'll try to make it up to you on a later story.

I'd like to sincerely thank all those who have tried the story, followed it and then even saw fit to favorite it. Then I got these wonderful comments from some beautiful people. It is so appreciated!

I'd like to give a special, huge, heartfelt thank you for a certain individual who did something so wonderful. I hope she doesn't mind me mentioning her. Astrollama, you're awesome!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is a proper noun. No copyright infringement is intended.


They were finally alone. The chair screeched its protest on the tile floor of the storage room as Steve pushed it a bit closer to Danny's bedside. He sat and reached his arms out but hesitated. His hands hovered above Danny's arm for a moment before giving in to the urge for contact. The touch let him feel the warmth and proof that he, in fact, was alive… at least for now. He wished he could promise Danny he was going to get them out of this, but he still didn't have a plan, and he reluctantly had to admit to himself that he may have actuated harm to Ellie as well.

"I'm sorry, Danny. Looks like I blew it."

To his surprise, he saw a slight movement. Was Danny shaking his head?

"Danny?"

Danny's eyes opened and sought out Steve's. "You sure are a Debbie Downer," he mumbled. "I'm supposed to be the one…" He stopped mid-statement to lick his lips and swallow hard. Steve jumped up and peeled a bottle of water from one of the plastic wrapped cases. He cracked it open as he sat back down.

"I'm not going to be able lift your head and hold the bottle at the same time."

"It's okay," Danny got out as he maneuvered himself to raise up on his elbow. He winced as he felt the pain in his other shoulder. Steve helped him take a sip as some drops rolled down his chin and onto the mattress due to the awkward position. "That's better… I'm supposed to be the one who's a negaholic," he finished. "Remember?"

Ignoring the accusation, "I thought they gave you something to keep you knocked out a while?"

"What? Disappointed? Not jumping up and going for a jog or anything."

"How ya feeling?"

"Not bad. Kinda numb. Tired."

"Here, lie back. You need to rest." Steve helped him get comfortable again. "Numb's good. Probably the meds they gave you. Looks like somebody also did a pretty good job of patching you up."

"See, they wouldn't have done that if they were just gonna kill us. … Whoa, did some Freaky Friday thing just happen here? Think we just switched places. You're acting like me and I'm acting like you. Don't like it."

Steve enjoyed the familiar attempt at humor to contrast with the gravity of their current situation but jumped right to refuting his claim. "Sorry to burst your bubble, Danno. They're just making sure they get what they're after. They fixed you up and are keeping us alive in case they need us again, but if they get that box, then we're expendable. They won't need us anymore."

"What d'ya mean 'if they get the box'? What the hell happened after they tried to turn me into a piece of Swiss cheese? Steven? What about Ellie?" Danny braced to endure some more pain as he attempted to sit up again.

"Would you calm down already? Give me a minute and I'll tell you. Here, settle back down."

Even though he got the result he wanted, Danny gave up a little too quickly for Steve's taste. He lay back, rolled his eyes, and turned his head away from Steve. If Danny wasn't going to put up a fight, he must not be as "healthy" as he made out to be. "I took them to the credit union, where the box was."

"Was?"

"Yeah, I was hoping it would still be there, that I got the timing wrong, but Ellie had already been there. She's got the box and Leone's got her name and they are looking for her. Sounds like they've tracked her to the airport. She's on her way to New York."

"We gotta get outta here. These guys would do… Well, you know."

"I know," he snapped. "I know," he more reservedly slowed and toned down his speech. "I'm working on it."

Danny was still looking at the ceiling. "You'll think of something. Just don't do anything stupid." When he realized the absurdity of that statement, he added, "This stuff's got me loopy. Of course, you're going to do… some… thing stu…." He closed his eyes and drifted off again.

Satisfied that Danny wasn't in any urgent danger, Steve hastily stood and started combing through the inventory of the room. He had to find a way out so he could get to Ellie or, at least, get help to her before it was too late. He glanced back at Danny wondering how he was going to safely get him out in his condition, even if he did find a way out of this room. "First things first," he breathed to himself as he started with the office supplies to see if there was anything sharp like a pair of scissors, envelope opener, pens or pencils, or heck, maybe he could even do something with a staple remover.

Their captors must have thought along those same lines and removed them, if they even ever existed, because he found nothing like that. He found reams of paper, ink and toner cartridges, tape, and glue, but nothing sharp. He then went to the side of the room that had cabinets and drawers instead of shelving and starting opening each door and pulling out each drawer to see if there was anything he could use to slice through their bonds and/or possibly use as a makeshift weapon.

There was nothing in the cabinets, no dishes or glasses to break into sharp pieces. He was met with the same as he pulled out each drawer, no knives, no utensils, no anything. He determinedly committed to checking each drawer, even though he knew what he'd find. As he slammed the last one closed in frustration and discouragement, a distant boom caused him to freeze and listen. He instinctually turned his head toward the sound. The sound repeated followed by other familiar pops. He looked over at Danny, but he didn't move. Still out of it. He went to the door and tried the handle for the first time, knowing what he'd find. Locked. He inspected the door to see if there was a chance of breaking it down, but it opened into the room and he knew there was no busting it down. Then he laid his ear against the door to see if he could ascertain what was going on outside the walls of this room. The sounds stopped. Silence seeped into the room.

Several minutes went by like this. There was no noise until he finally heard muffled voices and footsteps outside in the hall. His self-preservation instinct kicked in and he grabbed a large Number 10 size can of tomatoes off one of the shelves and stood to the side of the door as the voices got nearer.

"Commander McGarrett? Are you here?" The unfamiliar voice had clearly said his name. His pragmatic side immediately tamped down the flutter of hopefulness.

"Steve! … Danny?!"

A new voice was calling their names. Chin's voice… Chin's sweet, sweet familiar voice filtered into the room.

"Chin? Chin! In here!" He set his 'weapon' on the floor and banged on the door as he yelled.

"Steve! Step away, we're blowing it!"

Steve backed up and without thinking, crouched in front of Danny's head as a shield for his partner. The door handle skittered across the floor after the loud boom. What remained of the door was a mangled mess that was easily pushed open. Chin entered first, geared up with tactical vest and shotgun held at the ready. He was followed by even more armored SWAT officers.

"It's just us, Chin," Steve informed as he held up his palms to deflate the tension.

Chin dropped the aim of his gun to the floor and turned back to those that entered with him. "We're good, guys. Check the rest."

"I sure am glad to see you, buddy," Steve said in relief.

"Ditto. You had us worrie... Danny?!" Chin saw Danny for the first time and dropped to his knee beside him. "What happened?"

"We need to get him some help. I think he's going to be okay. He has a gunshot wound to the shoulder and his arm was grazed. They patched him up pretty good and they said they gave him painkillers and sedatives. He's been awake but he's pretty much out of it now."

"Looks like he's also been in the ring with a bear."

"Yeah, they did a pretty good number on him," Steve admitted.

Chin pulled his knife from the sheath on his belt. "We'll get the medics in here as soon as the place is secure. Are you hurt?"

"No, no, I'm good. How did you…?"

"Let's just call it perfect timing." He cut through the plastic around Danny's wrists and stood and did the same for Steve. "I'll tell you more later. Now let's concentrate on getting you guys outta here."

A couple more distant gunshots rang out. "Here. Gimme a gun, I can help."

"U. S. Marshalls and SWAT's got it under control. Already got two men down and four in custody. Lou and Kono's giving an assist, too."

"Six? That's all I've seen, but there could be more… Marshalls? Never mind." Steve's mind was going a mile a minute. "Ellie …Ellie! Chin! We gotta get someone to the airport now! Ellie Clayton, she's in danger."

Chin held his finger up to his boss, blatantly disregarding Steve's plea, as he touched the earpiece with his other hand. "Kono, status report."

"Chin?!" Steve was annoyed and impatient.

"Copy. Good. I've found Steve and Danny. We're in the basement. Danny's hurt. Send the medics and you all can come on down." Chin redirected his attention to Steve. "We're all clear. Gino Leone's in custody with four of his men. There're three down."

"Chin?!" Why was he not listening to him? "That's all well and good, but listen to me, we've got to get to the airport! Ellie is…"

"…right here. I'm fine, Steve." Ellie held onto the doorframe as she stepped into the room. Kono was right behind her, holstering her gun as she came in. She stepped to the side so the medics could step between them carrying a stretcher and supplies. One paused to check on Steve.

"I'm good! Help him!" He anxiously pointed to his partner. They immediately moved on to Danny's side to do their preliminary assessment.

"Ellie?!" Steve combed both hands through his hair as relief shined on his face. He blew out a lungful of air before stepping forward to meet her in a hug. Then, he pushed her to arms-length so he could take a better look. She was dressed similarly to Kono with jeans, boots, and tac vest and had her hair pulled into a loose ponytail. She was not sporting the same firepower, though.

Steve looked back at Chin. "Chin, what about Mary… and Deb?"

"They're fine. We've had a detail on them since you guys went missing."

Relieved, Steve turned back to Ellie. "What the hell? I thought… I thought they were… I thought you…"

Ellie smiled reassuringly. "No, I was never at the airport. You wouldn't believe it, Steve. Everything worked out. The timing was perfect."

"I'm gonna need to hear about this 'perfect timing' thing," Danny was awake again and gesturing his hand toward Steve and Ellie as the medics carried him out on a stretcher.

Steve grabbed his hand as he went by. The medics stopped to give them a minute. "Hey, I told you I'd have a plan to get us out of this. Didn't I?"

"Sure, babe," Danny patronized. "You had me worried there for a minute, but ya did good."

Steve conceded a small knowing smile. "Must not be Friday anymore, sounds like we're back to our old selves."

Danny nodded with a reciprocated grin as they carried him out of the room.

Ellie looked up at Steve in confusion. "What?"

He shook his head in dismissal. Ellie looked at Kono for help.

Kono questioningly shrugged at her and then swatted the air. "It's just their thing. I wouldn't waste my time."

Ellie gave a quick, accepting smile. Steve wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Sooo… why are you here?"

"I couldn't miss the fun." Then realizing she needed to make sure he understood whom he needed to blame for her presence, she added, "It's not Chin's fault. I insisted. Don't worry. He laid down the law first."

"Mm, hm." Not quite satisfied, they walked out together, eventually getting the satisfaction of seeing Leone loaded into the back of a cruiser. As Leone made eye contact with him, Steve pulled Ellie a little closer to emphasize Leone's failure.

Leone resisted the push into the car just long enough to address Steve's smugness. "I shoulda took care of the both of yous while I had the chance."

"Yeah, Gino, I guess you should have." Once the cruiser left with Leone. Steve looked at Ellie. "Let's go check on Danny before they take him off."

Ellie smiled and nodded and they contentedly made their way toward the ambulance.


~The End… sort of… epilogue to follow~

\,,,/ BronsonL