As Steve and Danny crashed through the classroom door, it only took a split second to take in the scene. To the left, huddled in a corner, was the teacher trying to shield several students. To the right, were two men dressed in black, both armed. The man closest to the door seemed to be holding a camcorder which he was pointing at the back of the room. The man farthest from the door, and partially blocked by the man with the camcorder, was pointing a gun towards the back of the room where a young boy was tied to a hard backed wooden chair while another man dressed in black, stood behind and slightly to the side of him, also with a gun in his hand.

Steve, bursting in from the right, saw all of that as if it was a picture framed for his viewing. He also noticed that the man farthest from the door seemed to be in charge and was getting ready to fire. Steve couldn't get a clean shot on the leader due to the camcorder wielding suspect. One shot had the camcorder falling to the floor as that suspect took a shot to the side and went down screaming. Steve adjusted his aim for the second man just as the suspect opened fire on the back of the room. Steve's shot killed him instantly but not before he had gotten off three shots.

Danny, bursting in from the left, also took in the scene in a heartbeat. Trusting that Steve would take out the two men on his side, Danny sprang for the boy tied to the chair. He couldn't risk a shot to take out the man holding the gun on the kid, but Danny's priority was making sure the boy was safe. Taking a step, he then stepped on a little desk and launched himself over the row of desks and grabbed the boy, bringing him down chair and all. Most importantly, Danny was between the boy and the shooter. He heard the three gunshots while pain simultaneously bloomed on his back and shoulder.

Danny heard Steve yell at the other gunman to get down and a request for EMS, but he was too busy trying to draw a breath and he wasn't letting go of the boy until he knew the threat was over. He felt hands on him but kept his grip tight on the boy. He didn't loosen until he heard his partner's worried voice, "Danny? Danny, you okay? C'mon, buddy, talk to me. EMS is on the way so hang on."

"Steve?" Chin's voice came over their comm unit, momentarily startling the two men as they suddenly remembered they were connected to the outside world. "What's going on? How's Danny?"

"The room is secure, Chin," Steve informed them. "I'm checking Danny now."

"EMS and SWAT should be there any moment to pick up the suspects."

Steve looked up as he heard noise at the door. He started to raise his weapon but just as quickly lowered it again as he saw Luka enter and gesture at the group of students still huddled in the corner. Luka quietly helped the teacher get the kids out to the hall where HPD officers were waiting to escort them out of the building. Luka approached Steve, "Is he okay? Can I help?"

Danny squirmed under Steve's hands, "Get Micah out of here. I'm okay."

Steve quickly righted Micah's chair and used his knife to free the boy from the duct tape holding him to the chair. "You okay, Micah?"

The boy nodded, tears swimming in his eyes.

"C'mere, Micah," Luka held out a hand to the youngster. "Let's get you out of here."

Steve nodded gratefully at the man. "Get him to the command center. My people are working on getting in touch with his dad."

Luka nodded and led the boy out of the room.

Steve returned his attention to Danny, "Alright, Danno, let's take a look at you."

Danny sat up and gave Steve a look, "I'm not that kind of guy, McGarrett."

"Very funny, Danny. Now, c'mon, where are you hit?"

"Hey, guys," Chin broke in. "Not that I want to break up a moment or anything, but Kono would like to fill you in on Judge Severson and I think Gabby is about to run in there unless you tell us how Danny is."

"I'm fine.. OW!"

"You sure about that, brah?"

"I will be once our Neanderthal leader gets his hands off me," Danny groused. "Really, tell Gabby I'm fine, and we'll be out soon."

"Will do."

"Chin, Micah Severson is on his way out. He's okay, but he'll need to be looked over just to be sure. Kono find out what was happening with Duke and Judge Severson?"

"I just heard from Duke," Kono informed them. "Turns out the ringleader at the school had an accomplice in the courtroom, a couple cousins trying to keep the defendant out of jail. They managed to get a pad to the judge and were sending him live images of Micah and the other kids as hostages."

"That explains the guy with the camcorder," Steve noted.

"As soon as the accomplice saw that Judge Severson wasn't going to do what they wanted, he pulled a gun and tried to shoot the judge."

Steve and Danny exchanged looks before Steve had to ask, "Everyone okay?"

"Oh, yeah, brah," Chin deadpanned. "Turns out he was sitting near half a dozen out of uniform HPD officers who were waiting their turn to testify."

Danny laughed, "Nice!"

"Make sure Judge Severson knows Micah is okay. We'll be out soon." Steve told him.

"Okay, we're disconnecting comm. See you in a few."

"Alright, Danny," Steve looked over his partner. "Take off your vest and let me see."

"I told you, McGarrett, I'm not that kind of guy."

"Shut up, Danno, and let me take a look at your back. And EMS is going to have to look at your arm; you're bleeding."

"Alright, alright," Danny gave in. He hissed a little as Steve helped him take off his bulletproof vest and then lifted up his shirt.

Steve whistled, "That's going to hurt."

"Going to?" Danny flinched.

"You took two to the vest. That's going to be a nice bruise, and it looks like the third shot just grazed your shoulder and the top of your arm."

Danny slowly moved his arm, "Not even as bad as the first day we met." The two grinned at each other momentarily as they remembered their first less than stellar outing as partners.

"Sir, may I take a look at that?" A paramedic gestured at Danny's arm.

"Sure," Danny sat up against the wall and held his arm out. "Knock yourself out."

The paramedic quickly and expertly dressed Danny's wound, "You're going to be bruised there on your back. Even though your vest stopped the bullets, it's not a bad idea to let a doctor check you out to make sure you don't have any internal damage."

Danny nodded, pulling his shirt back down and the sleeve over his now-bandaged arm.

"C'mon, partner," Steve held out a hand to help him up off the floor. "Let's get out of here."

"I'm with you," Danny gratefully accepted the hand up. He suddenly felt a hundred years old. "This was the longest day of school in my life!"

As the two men left the school building, they paused to watch the frenetic activity still taking place. The last of the kids were being taken by bus while the bomb squad entered to take care of the explosives on the front door.

Danny sighed, "This could have been so much worse." He shuddered at the thought.

"But it wasn't," Steve pointed out.

"Yeah," Danny looked up at his partner with a grateful smile. "Thanks."

"Look on the bright side," Steve encouraged him. "I bet Judge Severson will give us a warrant any time we want one now."

Danny chuckled, "You have a point."

Steve nodded but was unable to respond as Gabby came running towards them.

"Danny!" Gabby threw herself in Danny's arms and hung on tightly. "Thank God you're okay."

Danny winced as the force of her hug sent twinges of pain radiating from the wound on his back and arm. "I'm okay." He gently pushed her back to look into her eyes. "You okay?"

Gabby smiled and nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. I'm so thankful you two put an end to this."

"So are we." Steve agreed. "Hey, Danno, go. The paperwork will wait for tomorrow. Go get Grace and go on your date. We'll see you tomorrow."

"I won't argue with you." Danny assured him as he put an arm around Gabby's waist and started to lead her away from the school.

"Good night, Gabby," Steve smiled. "Good night, Danny."

Danny led Gabby away without once looking back at the school building. Suddenly it wasn't nearly as intimidating as it had been a few hours before. He was just glad that he had been able to attend Career Day for his daughter so he was in the right place at the right time and all the kids were able to go home that night and be back with their families. It had been a good day.

A/N: I hope that made up for my nasty cliff hanger the other day! Only a little epilogue to go before this one is complete. Happy Labor Day tomorrow to all my American and Canadian readers.