A/N: Hey Everyone! Happy 4th Of July tomorrow! Or today depending on where you are. I hope everyone has a wonderful, safe, holiday (to all you Americans out there) the rest of us have Fanfiction to fall back on.

So here is another chapter. It's a bit of filler, kinda to get in Danny's mind. It's more the other guys getting on the same page as Danny.

Enjoy!

Chapter 10: Guardian.

Steve and Chin arrived at the farm to find it a buzz with activity. The farm was a blaze with light but not from the fire - that had been extinguished in record time. Sirens were silenced but the emergency lights flashed as spot lights and flash lights lit up the property as if it were day light. Hundreds of people had arrived from all over the island to help out and Steve was certain that, if there were any other hostiles, they had long since moved on.

The barn was in better shape than Danny had anticipated, though the back of the barn was scorched from the fire in the hay stacks, it did little damage to the siding on the stable or its roof. Inside Brooks and McKewitt had managed to free the horses, and their prisoner, before returning and spraying down the horse stalls with the cleaning hoses and keeping the fire to a minimum. Structurally the stables would be all right. All of the feed had been destroyed but the neighbouring farmers had already stepped forward to help out. The horses would remain outside for the night, with all of the additional people who had arrived on the scene, and in the morning when the fire inspector had done his review the neighbours were ready to help to rebuild whatever needed their attention.

George Snelling and Kawika were already making phone calls to all of their friends to get the food needed to the farm, not only for the horses, but for all the people who had arrived to help out. These two men, after Steve, were the first people Danny contacted knowing how close Gloria was with both of them. It was only right to have them on the farm in this time of need. Once they were finished with the farm - as they had already sought out Danny and he'd made the situation known to them - they would head in to the hospital and hold their own vigil over Gloria, but for now they were still on the site, calling the shot, when Steve and Chin arrived.

Steve and Chin moved through all of the organized chaos in their search for Danny. As they moved along they were given all of the good news. The farm was safe. The fugitives were moved to HPD lock up to a wait questioning - they had been checked out by paramedics on the scene. One was taken to hospital but would be moved to HPD, in all likelihood, before Steve and Danny were ready to conduct their questioning. The third man was dead, verified and pronounced on the scene. He was heading to the coroners office where Max would make him a priority. Aside for their captives, the fire was out and calm was returning to the sleepy little farm. The horses were fine, and so was the cattle - it was clear to everyone present that they had never been the initial target.

`All seemed to have worked out for the better - except for Gloria whose condition was still unknown - but Steve was worried about Danny.

Passing through the crowd and seeing a dark figure off in the field, Steve and Chin broke away from the official investigation and made their way out into the field cautiously as to not spook Danny or his horse.

Danny sat atop his horse like an omen in the field. He didn't look real. He was dressed in his black clothing - still - but was stationed at the highest point in the field. From there he could look down on the world and he looked very much like an apparition or a ghost. Steve was sure if he blinked the figure would be gone, and again he would have to start his search all over.

"All right, John Wayne, are you ready to come back to reality?" Steve asked as they drew nearer.

"He's more like King Kamehameha up there." Chin said trying to get Danny attention.

Danny's back was to his friends as they arrived, but as he turned Chin and Steve could make out the discomfort and fatigue in his features. Danny's eyes were sad and red. His shoulders were hunched, and he seemed to breathe in a series of sighs. There were traces of blood on his clothing, a bullet proof vest secured to his torso with a semi-automatic weapon slung across his chest, and a pair of night vision goggles strung around his neck.

"Where did you find those?" Steve asked suspiciously as he pointed at the goggles.

"The back seat of your truck," Danny replied as he got down from his mount and stood with his friends.

Danny looked and sounded ragged and warn out. His horse twitched in silent stress as his ears moved with every sound, and like Danny, he just couldn't be calm.

"What are you doing out here, all by yourself, with no back up and no one really knowing where you'd gotten to?" Steve asked as a noise from the jungle made Danny jump as his attention was snapped toward the sound and away from Steve's voice.

"The men came out of the jungle." Danny answered bringing the goggles to his eyes and scanning the edge of the property that was bathed in darkness. "I don't believe that was all of them."

"So you were going to hang out up here - like a sitting duck - and just wait for more hostiles to appear and shoot you down?" Steve asked and his tone was surprisingly similar to one Danny always used on him.

"What else was I supposed to do?" Danny asked and lowered his goggles again. "I'd already left Gloria unprotected. I wasn't about to let these bastards sneak up on us again."

"You could have gone to the hospital with Gloria - you should have gone." Steve stated.

"No, I promised to protect the horses." Danny stated, grabbed a handful of Target's mane and hoisted himself back onto his horse. "I promised. You can take care of the rest of this." he added and then took off toward the tree line.

"Danny, they aren't coming back tonight. It would be stupid!" Steve yelled but it was a waste of breath.

"He's not okay," Chin said to Steve when Danny was out of earshot, "and he's not thinking straight. I mean, I believe he's right. I think the hostiles will come back, but they won't be back tonight and he can't be out here all by himself."

"I know," Steve replied with a sigh. "I'll get Kaulike and I'll go after him. You see if there is anything else we can do."

Chin nodded his agreement and jogged off toward the farmhouse where the real crimes had taken place while Steve watched his partner for a moment more, and then sprinted off toward the horse pens.