A.N. – In this somewhat longer chapter, Danny recalls his experience from the first season episode "King of the Hill" so, of course, this story line is not mine.

Chapter 10

The fire blazed and crackled in the stone fireplace providing some blessed warmth to the two well chilled officers. Danny bent down by the hearth and poked the burning logs into place with a stick from the wood pile. Then he straightened up and scanned the room for items that could be burned after the fire had consumed its current source of fuel. He grabbed the two ladder back chairs from the cabin's small table and began breaking them up for kindling, kicking the pieces of wood apart at the joints with the full force of his weight. The chairs wouldn't burn for long, but it was better than nothing.

O'Neal's eyes were glued to her busy colleague; Williams couldn't seem to stop moving. After regarding him in silence for several minutes, she spoke her mind.

"You don't wait very well." It was a matter-of-fact statement and not meant as a criticism.

At Jenny's comment, Dan glanced up from his task and met her eyes. "I guess I don't," he replied in all seriousness. After a moment he added in a lighter tone "But I wait a lot better than Steve does." Danny smiled wistfully as he thought about his boss and the man's many fits of impatience he had witnessed over the years they had worked together. Then he noticed Jenny wince as she flexed her leg, even though she tried to hide it. His smile disappeared and was replaced by a look of concern. "How are you doing?"

"Fine," Jenny lied, avoiding Williams' gaze.

"How's the pain?" Danny persisted.

"Still there," O'Neal replied, fatigue evident in her voice.

The woman's eyes looked heavy and her head was starting to droop. Dan was worried that she was probably worse off than she was willing to admit and he was afraid that she might lose consciousness. When he finished breaking apart the last chair, he piled the broken pieces atop the remaining firewood then took a seat on the floor beside Jenny, reached over and gently squeezed her shoulder.

"Hey, stay with me, okay? I know that I don't wait very well alone," Danny said softly. "I guess we'll have to postpone our lunch. Why don't you tell me more about your dad?"

"Okay," Jenny whispered, meeting Dan's eyes. She paused a few moments to gather her thoughts. "Dad was career Navy. He graduated from Annapolis in 1936 and served on a destroyer in the South Pacific. He never wanted any other life until the day he met my mom when he was on shore leave."

Danny noticed that O'Neal's focus on telling the story provided a good distraction from her pain. Her voice sounded stronger. She shifted her legs again. Danny had also settled down from his bout of nervous energy and was no longer looking at the window every few minutes to check the storm.

"They got married and started a family right away," Jenny continued her story. "Dad knew that it wouldn't be any kind of life for them if he returned to sea, so he planned to retire from the Navy and become a cop. But those plans changed when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Though he was torn between his family and defending his country, he felt duty bound to return to the Navy. After the war was over, he did become a cop. He never regretted it, either. At least that's what he told us. My folks had a good marriage. It just ended all too soon." The woman's gaze dropped and there was a hint of melancholy in her voice.

O'Neal looked back up at Dan. In spite of all his activity, the curly haired officer was still visibly shivering and he raised his open palms toward the fire to capture its warmth then rubbed his hands together. "You warm enough, Danny?"

"Sure," Williams answered. He drew his legs up close to his body and wrapped his arms around his knees to conserve his body heat.

O'Neal didn't really believe him, but decided to let it pass and changed the subject. "You promised to tell me about Chin Ho and Koko," Jenny reminded him.

"Kono," Danny corrected her, his blue eyes crinkling with humor. He found himself enjoying O'Neal's company; he just wished that the circumstances were different – very different. Danny told Jenny all about Chin, his wife and eight children and how his twenty years on the force brought stability and wisdom to their team. He told her about Kono's large extended family, his larger appetite and his proud ancestry that traced back to Hawaiian royalty.

Jenny listened to Danny's stories with genuine interest, but there was something else she wanted to know. And there was something about the personable young detective that made her comfortable enough to risk the question. Finally, she took a deep breath and broached the subject.

"Danny, is it okay if…um…may ask you something personal?"

"Sure," Danny responded honestly. "What's on your mind?"

"Have you ever taken a bullet?" Jenny gazed straight at him as she spoke.

The question hung in the air for a few seconds. Danny wasn't sure what he had been expecting her to ask but that wasn't it. His mood became serious as painful memories from years past resurfaced.

"Yeah, a couple of times," Dan answered soberly. "Is this the first time you…?"

"Yeah," Jenny replied quickly before he could finish the question. She regarded Dan with a deeper respect and admiration. "Do you mind if… if it's not too difficult…would you tell me about your first time?"

Dan took a deep breath. "Jenny, the first time I was hit, it wasn't even in the line of duty. It was just a bizarre accident that spiraled out of control and I happened to be right in the middle of it," Danny explained. He ran a hand through his sandy curls before he continued; his tone deadly serious. "It turned into a hostage situation; it was the longest day of my life."

Jenny's grey eyes widened with surprise. "What happened?" she heard herself say.

So Danny started at the beginning. "Five-O sponsors a kid's baseball team and I'm the coach." Dan relaxed and smiled as he remembered the small group of local boys who looked up to him and hung on every word he said concerning baseball. "One Saturday we were having practice and this Marine came by. He was on leave from Viet Nam. He watched the practice for a while then he asked if he could help. We were having a great time. Auston, that was his name, was helping our catcher behind home plate. He was squatted down right beside the boy when our batter took a home run sized swing. The bat slipped out of the boy's hand and connected with the Marine's head. Auston dropped like he'd been shot. I couldn't rouse him so I sent the boys home then radioed HPD and an ambulance."

Dan took another calming breath. He didn't realize how difficult it would be to recount the terrible ordeal that he had been fortunate to survive. The gap of silence was filled by the frigid howling wind outside the cabin and the fire crackling in the hearth. Jenny sensed Danny's unease but the compassion in her eyes urged him to continue.

"We got Auston to the hospital and into an examination room. The intern on duty needed to know what happened, so he was listening as I gave my statement to the HPD officer. It was then that Auston started to come around. The trouble was that, due to the head injury, in Auston's mind he was back in Viet Nam surrounded by VC. Before any of us knew that he was awake, Auston grabbed the officer's gun and fired three times. I took a round in the gut and the other officer took one in the leg. Somehow the intern managed to get the officer out to safety, but I was left alone in the room with Auston who was determined to shoot anyone who came near us."

Jenny cringed at the thought of being shot in the gut at such close range. "I'm so sorry, Danny," she said as she reached out and took his hand in hers in a gesture of support. "And I thought my leg was painful. I can't imagine what you must have endured."

"I've never experienced pain that bad before or since," Dan admitted. "But that was only the beginning. As I said, no one could get near us without Auston opening fire. So there I was, curled up and bleeding on the floor, in a hospital, no less, and no one could help me. It must've been hours before Steve figured out that he could get into the room if he dressed in combat gear and pretended to be a corpsman providing medical aid." Dan paused and squeezed Jenny's hand, drawing strength and comfort from the physical contact. "If it hadn't been for Steve, I know I would have died."

"Hours? How did you hold on all that time?" Jenny whispered in awe.

Danny smiled poignantly. "It was Steve. All the time I was lying on that floor, I could hear Steve's voice in the hallway, barking orders, yelling at the doctors, calling my name to make sure I was still alive..." Dan's voice caught a little as he continued. "When my strength was gone and the pain was overwhelming, I just focused in on his voice. I knew that he wouldn't give up and because of that, I didn't either. I passed out before Steve got to me. The next thing I remembered was waking up in a hospital bed with Steve standing beside me."

"Wow," Jenny said, still holding onto Danny's hand, mesmerized by what he had just shared.

"Yeah," Dan agreed.

Their eyes remained locked for a brief interval. Then Danny glanced out the window and breathed a sigh of relief. "Storm's almost over," he said with a grin, giving Jenny's hand a final squeeze before standing up. "I'm going to try the radio again."