A/n: Kit Merlot you literally made me burst out laughing. I would marry Mason too but he's already taken, sorry ladies. And if you recognize it, yes I did borrow it from Beauty and The Beast. You guys are getting this chapter tonight because I am in an incredibly good mood after watching my Blackhawks win at the United Center. Go Hawks!
Feel it coming in the air and the screams from everywhere, I'm addicted to the thrill, it's a dangerous love affair. Can't be scared when it goes down, got a problem tell me now, only thing that's on my mind is who's gonna run this town tonight?—Jay-Z, Run This Town Tonight
"I'm only going to say this once: if you want to back out of this, this is your last chance. What we are about to do is incredibly dangerous and could very well have serious consequences which could include jail time."Joe stated matter-of-factly as they huddled together just outside of Wo Fat's compound.
"You lead, we'll follow, sir." Beck replied. He looked over at the Major who nodded in agreement. Joe looked over at the 5-0 taskforce.
"Steve needs help. Ohana doesn't quit when someone needs help." Kono declared.
"He would do the same for us." Chin added. Danny didn't say anything but his intentions were clearly written on his face. His jaw was set and his eyes were sparkling with rage. He was coming out of here with Steve, consequences be damned.
"Alright then. Matthews, you go with Kono and take the front. Beck, you and Chin take the sides. Danny, you're with me in the back." Joe ordered. Everybody checked their weapons and gear one last time before Beck held out a hand to Joe.
"See you on the other side, sir." Joe shook his hand with a nod before gesturing for Danny to follow him.
They had just made it to the backside of the house when they heard a gunshot that sounded like it was coming from inside the house. Danny tensed and looked at Joe, trying not to let his fear show through.
"Don't start writing him off yet, Danny. For all we know that was Steve doing the firing." Joe stated in a whisper.
"If it were Steve it would have been an explosion, not a gunshot. He has a particular fondness for blowing things up." Danny muttered as they made their way towards the back door.
"That he does." Joe agreed with a quiet chuckle.
"You wouldn't happen to be responsible for that, would you?" Danny semi- accused.
"Nope. He came to me that way." Joe replied. Danny just rolled his eyes and shook his head in defeat.
As they reached the back door, Joe gestured for Danny to take one side while he stood in front of it. They both raised their weapons as Joe kicked in the door. The two men hurried in and were immediately greeted by two other armed men. Danny fired quickly, taking them both down without a second thought. They moved farther into the house, clearing it slowly as they went. More gunshots rang out from the front of the house and Danny thought he heard Kono calling out 'clear'. In the middle of the house, he and Joe came across a locked door. Joe shot the lock off and allowed Danny to go ahead of him down the stairway that led into a dark and dank basement...
...Mason took a deep breath as he headed out of the cell and into the hallway. He had no idea where Wo Fat's goons could be hiding so he held the weapon in one hand while he balanced Steve on the other.
"God McGarrett, even after a couple days without food you're still a heavy son of a bitch." Mason complained as he walked. Steve didn't say anything and Mason figured that he had probably passed out again from the pain.
He headed down the hallway uninterrupted for awhile until the passageway split into two different directions forcing him to make a decision. To the left it was dark and somewhat ominous looking. To the right, it was lighter but he could hear that someone was down there. If he chose the wrong way and they ended up running around like a rat in a maze, he could waste time that Steve might not have or they could end up running into one of the goons. But the little voice inside of his head was telling him to take a chance and go towards the light, so to speak.
"Let's see what's down the yellow brick road." Mason muttered as he made the decision to go to the right hoping that with any luck, they'd run into a few friendlies. He hurried down the hall and had just rounded the corner when he was confronted by Danny who had his weapon trained on him and a dangerous look in his eye.
"Put him down." Danny demanded.
"Look Danny, I'm not going to hurt him. I'm Captain Cayleb Mason. I'm a friend of Steve's." Mason replied.
He recognized the blonde from the pictures he had seen around Steve's house but there was something different about him in person. It might have been something to do with the dark look in his blue eyes that were currently trained on him, ready to strike should Mason prove to be a threat.
"Forgive me if I'm not real trusting of Steve's friends. Now put him down." Danny growled.
"Look, I'd love to stand here and explain to you how I'm not a threat but we don't have that kind of time. Steve needs help so either assist me or get out of my way." Mason insisted, the commanding officer in him coming out.
"Danny it's alright, let him through." Joe announced as he came up behind him. "How bad is he?" He asked, turning his attention to Mason and the man in his arms.
"He's pretty fucked up, Joe. We have got to get him out of here and to some medical help pretty quick or he's not going to make the trip back with us on the right side of the plane." Mason explained as he pushed past Danny who had holstered his weapon and stepped against the wall to them pass.
"Alright, I've got a helo on its way in. Any idea who the closest carrier might be?" Joe asked as they headed back up the hallway that would lead them out of the bunker. Mason shook his head as Joe looked back over his shoulder and saw that blonde was still rooted in place. "Danny, come on son." He urged. "You can freak out about all of this later but right now we've still got work to do."
The command seemed to be enough to get Danny moving again as he quickly jogged to catch up with them as they hurried out of the basement and into the night. Chin and Lieutenant Beck were waiting for them just outside of the door. They could hear the distant whirl of the helicopter confirming Joe's promise that help was on the way.
"Kono and the Major are out front making sure that we don't have any more unwanted visitors. The helo is about a minute out." Beck informed them as they approached.
"Good work Commander. We need to find out which carrier in the area is the closest." Joe ordered. Beck nodded.
"Why do we need to know about the carriers?" Danny asked as he stared at his partner draped unceremoniously over the Captain's shoulder.
"Steve needs some serious medical attention and a carrier is essentially a floating hospital. If we can get him there, they can get him stabilized till we can get him back to Hawaii." Mason explained patiently.
"How are we going to get on the carrier? We're not exactly doing Navy business." Danny pointed out.
"You leave that to me. You just worry about your partner." Joe insisted.
Any reply Danny might have had was cut off by the helicopter that was about to land in the yard just in front of them. One problem became immediately clear to him as he looked at their getaway aircraft—there was no way they were all going to fit. Mason seemed to sense the Detective's dilemma and he gave Danny a small smile before looking over at Joe.
"Sir, you take the Commander and his team and get them out of here. The boys and I will follow you later." He declared. Joe nodded and moved over to take Steve from Mason's arms. Danny turned towards the SEAL with a slightly panicked expression.
"But we can't leave you guys behind." He stated. Mason clapped a hand on his shoulder and gave him a patient smile.
"You're not leaving us behind." Mason insisted, using a tone Danny was sure he had used with Grace before. "We'll be fine, Danny. We'll be right behind you. Now go, Steve needs you." He gave the smaller man a nudge towards to the helicopter where Chin and Kono were waiting with Joe and Steve. Danny gave him a pat on the arm as if to say he understood before he ran off towards the aircraft.
Inside the helicopter, Kono was sitting up front next to the pilot with the four guys piled into the back. Steve was laid out on the floor, resting between Joe's knees while Chin sat off to his side. Danny climbed in and was about to take up the position on Steve's other side when Joe got up and gestured for Danny to take his place so that Steve could rest between his partner's legs. Danny shifted down so that he was sitting on the floor with Steve and pulled him so that his chest was against the smaller man's chest. It was the first chance he'd had to get a look at his partner's injuries and to say he looked bad was an understatement.
"Jesus Steven, what did he do to you?" Danny whispered as he held Steve's head against his own. Steve shifted slightly and Danny could feel the rumbling of his voice against his chest.
"You….you came." He said, sounding slightly surprised.
"Of course I came! You think I was going to just leave you here while god knows what happened to you?" Danny exclaimed.
"You shouldn't…. have come….wasted your time….not going to….. make it." Steve wheezed.
"Don't talk like that. You're going to be fine. I've got you. Everything's going to be fine." Danny insisted as he pulled Steve a little tighter against him.
"At least…I got to…. see you ….one last time." Steve stated, attempting to throw a smile at his husband.
"This is not the last time, Steven. You and me—we still have forever ahead of us. This is just a bump in the road, babe." Danny insisted as he placed a kiss in Steve's dark hair.
The adrenaline of the day was beginning to wear off and Danny slumped back against the seat, content simply hold the man he loved in his arms. Wo Fat was dead, Steve was alive and for the first time in nearly a week, Danny felt like he could breathe again.