I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.

Notes: work is in the process of spontaneous combustion! if the next one or two chapters take a bit longer, please be patient.

* H50 * H50 * H50 * H50 * H50 *

Chapter 14

Steve sent Kono and Chin directly to the house to ensure that HPD not only properly took the two men into custody where they lay in his driveway, but also to protect Ellen and both girls should something else go wrong. Two additional ambulances had been dispatched, were due to arrive within minutes of each other and Steve refused to relax until he'd seen personally to every detail. He held his injured arm protectively to his side as he jogged back, pleased to see that the two men were being heavily guarded. He was additionally delighted to see no less than four FBI agents on site, too. Regardless of the blood streaming down his bicep to his wrist, he roughly toed the man Ponch had taken down. The man was arrogant but couldn't hide the agony in his badly broken leg as Steve glared at him with a distinct warning.

"Curtis made a mistake. Which means you made a mistake." The FBI agents sauntered closer to flank Steve almost protectively. They had all been working with Chin Ho Kelly and Kono Kalakaua over the last few days and had only the utmost respect for the two Five-0 team members.

One agent blatantly ignored Curtis's men to introduce himself to Steve. "Special Agent Jim Marcus. It's been a pleasure to work with your team."

Older and portly, the agent gently guided Steve towards his house where Chin and Kono were currently inside with Ellen. "You need to get that arm looked at."

"Eventually." Steve huffed a disgusted sound as he motioned the man to follow him. "Besides these two, I have another gift for you." From the kitchen, Steve first took down his weapon from the top of the refrigerator, automatically checked and strapped it on. He then tossed the small black velvet bag to Marcus.

"Kono or Chin likely informed you of these." The man nodded with a wry smile.

"They did. Amazing that a child had these and for so long." Marcus' displeasure echoed Steve's own as he shook his head dismally. "You need to know that Curtis is on the island. He's actually been here for weeks with his men plotting and planning to take down Joanna Pearce and obtain these diamonds and that thumb drive. Of which, he's partially succeeded so far."

Marcus held his hand up so he could continue over Steve's growing anger. "Our office in Vegas has been building a case against Curtis for almost three years now. It's taken time and patience to get this far. Pearce and her kid wound up unfortunately in the middle. However and with your help, the thumb drive is in our possession and these diamonds are part of a larger stash Frank Curtis coordinated stealing with his cousin, Butch Curtis. This all solidifies the case against him."

Steve waited because more was obviously coming. "Frank Curtis is planning to hold a high stakes game here. Tomorrow night actually. We're trying to find out where and we want to take him down in the midst of the action. With him, we'll have the opportunity to apprehend key players."

It made sense and Steve nodded in agreement. With the data, established proof that he orchestrated a kidnapping and murder, and now the pending game it would be a coup for the FBI. However, the agent almost paled and then swallowed hard before trying to find his voice which suddenly seemed to fail him completely. "We have one insider near to Curtis's inner circle. She's close enough to glean certain aspects of the gaming and prospective clients and she came into some very startling intel this morning."

"Okay. What are you getting at? From what I understand, much of that client data was on the thumb drive. What else have you learned?" He was hesitant to ask based solely on Marcus's abrupt change in tone. Something was wrong and even the FBI agent was unsettled and greatly disturbed by whatever they had recently learned. Before answering, Marcus broke eye contact to stare at Lord Ted who was laying carelessly on his side where he'd been abandoned on the sofa.

"Frank Curtis sent these guys this morning to abduct Joanna Pearce's kid. He's not sure if we have the drive and he assumed wrongly that she had it in her possession." Steve nodded since it was his team's assumption as well. He did interrupt now though to set one key thing straight with Agent Marcus.

"Rebecca. Her real name is Rebecca Ramirez. She has a family here and her father is on his way." He didn't say it unkindly and he fully understood that for the FBI, the Pearce's were ingrained in their automatic processes. To his credit, Marcus smiled warmly and nodded in agreement.

"Yes, of course. Rebecca. We got a call this morning from our Vegas field office to confirm that the game is on, but he's not playing strictly for cash winnings this time. It's .. special." Marcus was still eyeing the teddy bear and Steve felt his own dread rising as the agent pointed to the plush toy.

"He's arranged for a new type of client to participate and one such man has already arrived in Honolulu. These new clients have direct ties to trafficking and they all prefer young girls. Very young girls. Frank Curtis wants Kasey Pearce - your Rebecca - for an entirely different purpose. Even though this abduction failed, the child may still be in danger."

He had to sit down at that point; Steve could hear Ellen's soft tones upstairs between the master bathroom and the bedrooms as she tried to clean up both Grace and Rebecca. Kono and Chin were obviously there too based on the intermittent interjections and gentle offers of help. He ran his hand over his face and into his hair where it stayed momentarily stuck in place.

"Joanna Pearce, she ... I'm sorry." Marcus sighed to correct himself. "Amy Ramirez killed Butch Curtis in Vegas before she fled with her child. Frank wants full and complete retribution for what she not only stole from him but for the murder of his cousin. He will go as far as humanly possible to prove his point."

"He's not human. This is a sick move." Steve ground out in a fury as he heard Grace's tearful broken voice upstairs. The man had almost succeeded and might not stop even though his men had so far, failed. The right girl or the wrong girl wouldn't even matter in the long run once the game began and the clients were in place. The thought of the man almost abducting Grace or Rebecca that very morning for such a terrible scheme was unfathomable.

"Oh my god." His voice was barely audible as he closed his eyes. The situation was worse than any of them could have imagined. "We'll keep them in protective custody but he may be desperate and go after another child. Or will he cancel the game if he thinks you're too close?"

"We aren't sure. He's a dangerously lethal man. Once he gets a bone he's tenacious and he won't let it idle by." Agent Marcus shrugged with both hands held high.

"His back is against the wall and these clients will not appreciate being rescheduled or postponed, or whatever you'd like to call it. He's made extravagant promises that he's bound to want to keep. He's also likely paid a very high premium for the secret location. My bet is that Frank Curtis will adapt and he will adapt quickly to cater to his customers. We need to be ready for anything."

* H50 * H50 * H50 * H50 * H50 *

Grace was still hiccuping as her tears dried on her cheeks while Ellen cleaned her up in the bathroom. Becca was standing in the doorway and listening with a rising fear as Grace tried to explain what happened with the man who thought she was Kasey. She began to tremble when Grace said the bad man wanted to take her away to someone named Mr. Curtis.

Becca's not so old terror bubbled to the surface as she backed away from the adults. The Asian man was there and he was very nice. Both her Aunt Ellen and Grace seemed to know him well, plus the pretty girl named Kono who was also a police officer. Both smiled reassuringly at her, but Becca wasn't interested in them as she listened to what was going on around her. With Grace in a clean set of clothing and beginning to calm, her Aunt Ellen prodded them all downstairs to check on Steve who was speaking to a strange older man in the living room. Fearfully, Becca paused on the stairs unsure of what to do with so many people present in and around the big house.

She sat stiffly with Lord Ted on the sofa while her Aunt gently propelled Steve into the kitchen to care for his re-injured arm. She listened as Ellen asked for an emergency first aid kit from one of the police vehicles. They were getting ready to all leave for the hospital after that to see Danny, her Uncle Ponch and to meet Grace's mother.

Becca was momentarily forgotten as she sat perched on the sofa with her bear. Grace was upset and was standing with Kono in the doorway to the kitchen watching Ellen go to work on cleaning Steve's arm. They had to step aside when Chin came back in with the first aid kit. She watched him run back upstairs to get a clean shirt for Steve but refused to return his gentle smile. Becca was caught up in her urge to run. Her lip trembled as she considered her well-known private hiding places in the city. She was fast and good at staying low; her fright pushed her to act as the adults made plans to leave for the hospital.

Their combined distraction worked to her advantage as she faded into the background with Lord Ted crushed to her chest. She felt an overwhelming urge to leave and hide as Grace tearfully tried to remember what the man had exactly said for Steve's benefit. Becca melted away from them all when Grace repeated that he had come looking for Kasey and that someone named Curtis was waiting for her.

The bad men had taken her mother and now they wanted her, too. They wanted Kasey and maybe even the diamonds that Steve promised were locked up safely. She liked being Rebecca again but was afraid she'd be forced back now to her lonely role of Kasey. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked out the open front door towards the street. She needed to get away because they were too close and she was sure now that no one could protect her. Grace was crying, Steve's arm was covered in blood and Danny had been taken away in an ambulance. Becca got up and walked slowly to the open door to peek outside. There were too many people still milling about as HPD and two more ambulances took the bad men into custody.

Becca was silently crying now when the man with the broken leg was moved to a gurney. He caught her eye from where he lay handcuffed and surrounded by police, the FBI men and EMT's. They loaded him by Steve's truck and were going to wheel him down the street towards one of the waiting ambulances. His shocked expression alarmed her as it changed to a knowing gleam of anger and unshielded threat. He had the gall to give her a tiny wave and mouth "Hi, Kasey" and she nearly fainted in fright on the spot. The older FBI agent who had been talking to Steve saw the terrible gesture and glanced at her in sympathy. He glared and then not so accidentally bumped into the man's injured leg causing him to shout out in pain. But it was too late as Becca scrunched her fingers into Lord Ted's clean fuzzy fur and backed up rapidly into the shadows of the house.

In an instant, her frantic eyes searched the room for a place to hide because it wasn't safe anywhere. The closet beckoned her again and as her name was called out from the kitchen, she was already hiding deep in the closet's back corner with the familiar blanket covering her small body.

Closing her ears and eyes to everything, Becca hid from her much too recent past as Kasey Pearce. Only Lord Ted heard her quiet continual cries of "I'm Rebecca."

"Where is she!?" Ellen's startled shout came from the upstairs bedrooms where she'd immediately gone after not getting an answer on the first floor. Her anxious footsteps rang from room to room until she was positive that her niece wasn't there.

"Where's Becca? Steve, she's gone! I can't find her in the house!" Concern turned quickly to anguish as Ellen fruitlessly went from room to room calling her niece's name.

She was frantic and approaching hysterical as her fast walk became a jog through the house. "She's gone! Suppose someone got in ... suppose someone took her."

"She can't be gone. And there's no way anyone got into this house!" Steve was shocked as he strode from the kitchen where Ellen had just cared for his arm. Fresh bandages were wrapped expertly around his bicep, but stained with spots of fresh blood as the wound continued to sluggishly bleed. They had left Becca sitting on the sofa with her teddy bear. Each was sure of it and Chin was stunned as he voiced the same thing.

"She was sitting there the entire time!" Chin scooped up Grace's hand while Steve and Kono went outside to gather officers to search for the little girl. Inside, Ellen and Chin - with Grace in hand - anxiously began another room to room search. Ellen began to cry softly as each room yielded the same silence.

With options running out, Ellen pointed out towards the lanai and the rough ocean. "Maybe the beach?"

However, it was Chin who finally heard the faint raspy sniffles from the dark closet.

"Ellen. I need help here." He called out to the distraught woman softly as he knelt outside the downstairs closet with his hand resting on a small lump under a dark blue naval blanket. Chin's voice was soft and soothing, but he got no reply at all from the frightened little girl.

"Rebecca? Can you come out?"

Grace was staring at the blanket with eyes that once again filled with tears. Lord Ted's fuzzy paw poked out from under the blanket as if telling them all his tiny charge was hidden in that exact spot. The little girl refused to come out or answer Chin's gentle questions as he tried to get her to show her face. All he could hear was a frantic chanted mumble of what sounded like nonsense as the blanket rocked under his hand.

"Come on out, Rebecca. It's okay." He looked up as Ellen virtually dove into the room to kneel down near the closet.

"She's too scared and she doesn't know me at all." Chin whispered in warning as soon as Ellen's knees buckled in relief next to his own. Leaving her for the moment, Chin picked up Grace and left to tell the others that Rebecca had been found in the house.

"Becca? Rebecca!" Ellen was crying openly as she pulled the entire quaking bundle into her lap, blanket and teddy along with the child. Her niece's arms were shaking as they automatically circled her neck and she cried as if her heart would break from the terrible scare.

"I'm Rebecca. I want to stay." Her Aunt heard the plaintive mumble of her name over and over again as she tried to soothe her while pulling off the too hot blanket. Rebecca's face was blotchy and red from feverish tears as she clung desperately to her.

"Shhh. Yes, you are our Rebecca. They won't get you, sweetie. We won't let them." Ellen ignored the heavy footsteps behind her as Steve barged back into the house to find the two cuddled up together on the floor by the closet. But when the child refused to calm as she vainly tried to wipe her tears away, Ellen struggled to her feet with Rebecca in her arms.

"Hospital. We need to go now." She passed Becca to Steve who insisted on carrying her to the Ramirez's large SUV. She lay limply with her eyes closed and her cheek resting on his shoulder while barely fisting his shirt with one hand. Each raspy breath was panted out in a short tremor of fear and Steve wasn't even sure if she knew where she was at that point. Chin was anchored to Grace as they left the house together for the SUV; he would drive with Kono following to the rear.

Ellen slid first into the large back seat of the truck and held out her arms so that Steve could pass the exhausted child over. Rebecca's eyes remained tightly shut as she weakly clung once again to her Aunt. On the opposite side, Steve and Chin placed Grace protectively in the middle of the seat.

"Go." Steve whispered softly to Chin as Grace fell sideways into him with a sob. "Come here, Gracie." He wrapped Danny's daughter safely onto his lap and held her tightly as both girls sought refuge from the frightening events of the morning.

Their arrival at TAMC was met with curious stares as the group virtually stalked into the emergency room looking anxiously for Doctor Ramirez. He met them halfway down the corridor with widely splayed questioning arms.

"What took you all so long? Danny's downstairs having tests done .. but what took you so damned long?" Ponch was at first seemingly angry in his concern as Steve strode purposefully towards him with Grace in his arms. While it was clear that she had been crying, she was much better and calmer now that they were at the hospital and she could eventually see her father.

Ponch's face remained stern until he saw that Chin was behind Steve, carrying a much too limp Rebecca, with Ellen looking uncharacteristically distraught.

"What happened?" Pulling a gurney over, he insisted that Chin lay his niece down as Ellen ran for a blanket and medical supplies. Rebecca was pale and trembling with her long, dark eyelashes sparkling from tears. He was anxious as he whipped his stethoscope out and checked her vital signs.

"She's in shock. What happened?" He glared at Ellen who studiously ignored his reaction as she returned with the supplies and wrapped Rebecca in a warm blanket. Without waiting for an answer, he turned and readied an IV for fluids and fastened a pediatric oxygen mask to the little girl's colorless face. His decision to next give his niece a mild sedative was met with mixed emotions by his wife who still had yet to answer his first question.

Ellen's eventual answer was whispered quietly only after the two had settled the little girl and she'd fallen into a sleep with the aid of the sedative. "She ran away to hide when she found out the men came for Kasey. She's petrified that they will take her away from us, Alphonse."

She didn't need to continue as Ponch rested his hand on Rebecca's warm cheek. He cleared his throat against his angry mix of emotions and without turning around made a single demand. "I suggest you get this man, Commander. Before I do."

* H50 * H50 * H50 * H50 * H50 *

The Five-0 team established themselves as the personal guards to both girls. Ponch admitted Rebecca for the evening and used his signficant clout to secure a room in a private section of the hospital. The location was near the ICU where Danny lay sleeping and afforded them all easy security and surveillance. To support them, Steve had additional HPD backup on staff to monitor all coming and going around the wing.

"Danno?" Grace was leaning up against her father's bed which was a scant two doors down from Rebecca's own room. She knew that Doctor Ramirez had given him a lot of medicine and his face was hidden under a very special oxygen mask. Her mother and Steve were in the doorway to the room as they watched her try to rouse him from a deep sleep. Other than the purplish imprints of the man's fingers on her ankle, Grace had bounced back with flying colors and now only wanted her father to be well.

"Come on, Danno. Wake up." He was propped partially on his right side to take any pressure of his badly bruised left lung and Grace could easily see his face.

"Grace." Rachel quietly walked into the room to put an end to her daughter's persistent prodding. "Doctor Ramirez said that he would sleep a long time. He needs to rest in order to get better."

"We should go home and come back tomorrow." Grace's expression fell sadly at her mother's suggestion.

"I don't want to." She complained while leaning determinedly into the bed and wrapping her hand around his quiet one. "I want to stay until he wakes up."

Four hours had passed at an excruciatingly slow pace. According to the various test results, Danny was suffering from a pulmonary contusion meaning that his left lung was bruised and not only his chest wall. An alarming variety of things could progress decidedly not in his favor and the good doctor had Danny drugged heavily.

"Go home and get some rest, Gracie. I'll be here." Steve's arm was back in a sling after once again being flushed and re-sutured. She sighed unhappily and then nodded as she took her mother's hand but before leaving gave Steve a hug. From where he stood in the doorway, he turned to beckon two HPD officers that would escort Rachel and Grace home. They had orders to remain at the Edward's residence until further notice. Wordlessly, Steve kissed the top of Grace's head and smiled his thanks to Rachel.

Once they left, he approached the bed to stare worriedly at Danny's lax face. No one could say that they were happy, though there were some things for which Steve willingly acknowledged his relief. Danny's face was no longer deathly pale or wracked with pain. His breaths were short and shallow but finally even and holding a calm steadiness.

Steve reached down and picked up his hand. He had to admit that was better too with its natural warmth versus the ice cold rigidity from a few hours earlier. He sighed as he carefully sat down and closed his eyes. Becca was also improving under the hawk-like protective care of her Aunt and Uncle. In fact, her father Mike had called and would be arriving early the next morning. He would be on one of the first flights able to visit Honolulu from L.A. now that the storm had ended and the airports were reopening to business.

To help the FBI, Steve had discreetly contacted Kamekona to cast his own net to see if he could find out the location for the coming underground high stakes game. If anyone could find out, Steve had faith that their Hawaiian friend would know just the right connections for circumspect questioning.

"So, Danno. At the risk of sounding like your ten-year old daughter, why the hell won't you wake up?" He sighed around a sarcastic smile as he muttered the words under his breath. He also knew why based on the strong pain medication that their friend had prescribed for the ailing man. The objective for a successful treatment was proper pain management and supportive care that would allow the bruise to heal on its own. As Ponch described it, this was like any bruise that could show up a day later after banging a knee, shin or elbow. Except this time, the resulting bruise was internal and twice as painful where it lay on the sensitive lung. It could take up to seven days to heal and Doctor Ramirez was adamant about complete bed rest.

His partner's care was a stepped-up aggressive progression of orders should he not respond in the way Doctor Ramirez expressly desired. Steve smiled again because Ponch desired a lot and had virtually lobbed the demands at Danny while he lay unconscious before him. The worst case which had thankfully yet to be deployed would be full sedation and a ventilator which had its benefits. However the machine could adversely damage the sensitive healing lung tissue. It could also lead to pneumonia and a wide host of other major issues.

"I suggest you listen to Ponch, Danny. He's not a happy man right now."

Steve studied the tightly fitting specialized oxygen mask that Ponch had said was an excellent non-invasive option to improve Danny's oxygenation levels with the least amount of stress on his healing chest. The flow gently blew air into Danny's damaged lung at a certain pressure that stayed the same between each inhale and exhale. The process seemed to be working well and once Danny woke, the apparatus would allow normal talking, coughing and swallowing. It also distinctly lacked the severe risk of infection that intubation brought along with it.

"It's bad .. but not too bad, Danno. Gracie just left with Rachel and she's fine." Steve was tired as he blinked his eyes stubbornly open and mindlessly smoothed the blanket over Danny's hand. "She's a strong kid. Smart, too."

He waited for a reply that wouldn't come for hours yet and sighed as he rubbed his face. Steve leaned back in the chair and cradled the sling to his chest. Ponch had insisted on a pain medication for him as well, and Steve was beginning to feel the drowsy effects. There was a spare cot nearby and a bank of chairs in the waiting room, but Steve was simply too lazy to get up at that point. Closing his eyes that were burning from fatigue, he fell asleep sitting upright in the uncomfortable chair.

"Steve?" Ellen Ramirez was holding a small tray of covered food in her hands as she entered the quiet room. Her soft query wasn't answered and she smiled in understanding. Rather than waking him, Ellen put the tray down on the small end table. She then spread a blanket over Steve's long legs before sneaking out to once again sit quietly with Rebecca.

~ to be continued ~