Please keep reviewing guys I love hearing from you. I apologise if I offended any of you by saying I don't like Catherine or some of the other female characters it's just my personal opinion and I accept all of your arguments. I generally don't like female main characters for some reason, I don't know why seeing as I am a girl but…you know, just life. Also sorry to my fans who don't like torture and so only read Danny chapters, next Steve chapter shouldn't involve any torture so if you want to try and read that and also beware this is one of those torture reveal chapters so Danny will see what has happened to Steve since last time. That's all I have to say. Love you guys. Morgan xxx
Steve was not going to die. Not yet, not ever.
Danny stood over the interactive table, staring at the evidence but nothing new jumped out at him. No patterns or new leads; just a few pages of unrelated information that was completely meaningless. With a sigh, Danny put his head in his hands and tried to dispel the pounding headache that made all of his thoughts just abstract mush.
He had to be missing something. A minute detail from some buried document.
A groan escaped his lips as he recounted his explanation of events to Catherine. All things considered it had actually gone quite well. Catherine didn't end up in hysterics or fainting and unlike Danny she hadn't vomited when she saw the picture of Steve after the torture. Afterwards she had left to get some air-shortly followed by Kono-and hadn't come back since. Danny reckoned she had absolved to pursue her own line of inquiry. Hopefully she would have more luck than he was.
It was growing dark and Danny gingerly laced his fingers through his messy blond hair now sticky with sweat and wished that someone was here; he could have used the company. The feeling of loneliness was slowly chewing at his gut and Danny longed for someone to talk to, to just relax with. Danny stumbled into Steve's office and lay down on his couch. It was cool in the room compared to the stuffiness of the main area and Danny revelled in the soft breeze from the air conditioning unit somewhere above him. He closed his eyes, easing into the comfortable, pliable leather and rested; allowing his breathing to slow and deepen, and his mind to clear.
Danny was awoken suddenly from his exhausted slumber by a frantic buzzing in his pocket. Sliding it out, Danny squinted at the screen and blinked away the bleariness of interrupted sleep. It was Grace. With barely a hesitation, Danny thumbed the answer button and raised the mobile to his ear.
"Heya Monkey, how ya feeling?"
"I'm okay Danno. How are you?" Grace's innocent voice drifted quietly through the speakers.
"Danno's okay, baby. What are you doing up this late?" Danny asked gently, analysing the intricacies of Steve's office ceiling.
Grace paused for a moment before replying "Don't tell Mommy or Stan but I stayed up after bedtime…"
Danny sat up, moaning quietly as he stretched his stiff limbs "Sleep is really important honey and you have school tomorrow."
"I know Danno, I'm sorry." again she fell silent before she whispered "Have you found Uncle Steve yet?"
Danny bit his lip anxiously, uncertain how to reply "Not yet Gracie…but we will."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
The phone bleeped noisily, signalling another incoming call and Danny cussed sadly before sighing.
"I have to go now Grace, I have work. You need to sleep okay? Danno loves you."
"I love you too, Daddy." Grace breathed and then the call cut off and Danny answered the other one briskly with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"Williams."
A panic voice replied "Danny, its Fong. I'm sending you a web address; it should arrive on the table. It's Steve…and you're not going to like it."
Danny leapt to his feet-ignoring his aching muscles- sprinting back to the collection of monitors and opening the link that had popped up on the screen. A live video feed flashed up and Danny gulped in shock.
Three men stood around a large silver table that was tilted slightly back. A heavily bandaged figure was lying restrained upon it, large black-like circles in their wrists. There was a horrendous sound of choking and coughing as one of the men poured water from a bucket over the victims face that was half hidden beneath a piece of cloth. The figure writhed desperately as water flowed over them and down their body, forming an ever spreading puddle on the floor beneath their elevated feet. It took Danny only a second to recognise Wo Fat amongst the other goons looking incredibly pleased with himself and grinning at the camera as if he could see Danny's face on the other side.
The second thing Danny was drawn to were the marks on Steve's wrists and he shuddered as he recognised the heavy bolts protruding from his skin. Not only could he see how disgusting they looked but Danny was imagining the agony Steve must be in even as he gasped for breath as his lungs filled with liquid and he started to drown. There was a muffled sound and Danny lifted the phone back to his ear however his eyes never left the screen.
"-nny, Danny! You there! Please answer me!" Fong yelled down the phone, his voice desperate and flustered.
"I-I'm here Fong, where is...this…from? Can you track the source?" Danny asked as a scarce whimper.
Fong seemed to calm slightly at the sound of Danny's voice "No, the web address changes every ten seconds and is travelling down around a hundred different routers. There's no way to tell where it's coming from…I can't even stop the stream."
"There has to be something we can do!" Danny screamed, his hands curling into aggravated fists "Absolutely anything Fong!"
"I'm sorry Danny," Fong said quietly "There is absolutely nothing we can do but watch."
Danny panted harshly, wiping the terrified tears from his eyes as he watched the torture continue on screen and the sickening sounds blare around the office.
"There's something else…"Fong murmured sorrowfully "Over a thousand people are watching this video live, and more are joining by the second…by tomorrow, everyone's going to know about this."
Danny gagged, a strangled groan forming in his throat as he cursed once more and stood back at the prolonged horror on the screen as he watched his friend slowly dying, slowly breaking. He was overcome with a throng of emotion as he watched Wo Fat leave Steve's side and approach the screen, a giddy smile plastered on his face so big that he looked like he was a child at Christmas.
"Enjoy Detective Williams. This is only Day Two."
A bit of a sick, demented ending but I thought it was fitting with the current level of tragedy that's been going on this fic. I apologise to anyone who hates these torture scenes but I needed to make it clear had badly this is both affecting Steve and Danny and although Steve is physically suffering, Danny isn't faring much better psychologically.