Thanks you guys for being so nice. :) And thanks for the reviews, story-alerts, story-favorites, etc. This chapter is my usual 4-5 pages, so not super short. :)

As determined and unfazed as Steve was, Kono didn't have time to reflect on her discomfort as the two of them hurried up the stairs. She wasn't really sure what Steve's plan was. Barging into the police station and demanding to be let in on a case didn't sound quite right, but the way Steve shoved open the Department's door, Kono couldn't deny the possibility. Following right behind him, Kono became defensive. With the vast majority of cops overwhelming them—not to mention the few perps handcuffed to the benches—she feared they would be directed out at any moment. Then she saw Chin, standing by one of the back walls, and a whole new set of fears froze her frame.

"Chin?"

His head snapped up and, after a second, his eyes filled with relief. He was quick to make his way over to them, but Kono was quicker in meeting him halfway. She ran into him and hugged him in a tight embrace. Grunting on impact, Chin didn't hesitate to hug back.

"You okay?" Chin asked and she nodded, not trusting her voice enough to give a vocal answer.

"Chin," Steve said, his own relief pouring out in the name. Chin pulled away from her and Kono released him, feeling an overwhelming wave of questions crash down on her head, "Are you alright? What happened?"

After a few seconds of staring at Steve, Chin smiled.

"You remember."

Kono smiled too, the sense of déjà vu amusing her greatly.

Steve rolled his eyes.

"Chin, what happened?" Steve asked again.

"I overheard Nick Taylor—he was—"

"I know who he was. Continue."

Chin stared at him a moment. Kono found herself doing the same, curious as how to Steve knew the redhead in the first place. Was he always Steve's enemy? Sympathetic dread sunk down into her stomach.

"I overheard him tell someone to deal with Danny," Chin continued. His face stiffened into worry at the mention of Danny's name. "I ran to your room—because that's where he had gone—or, at least, that's where he said he was going to go—but I got attacked by a fake cop. They brought me here under the charge of assaulting an officer," Kono felt her heart quicken in beat as swift rage grew within her. Before the murderous thoughts could form in her mind, Chin was quick to cease any anger by quickly adding, "but when they arrested the guy who attacked me, all charges were dropped."

"Why'd you stay then?" Kono asked, a little guilty when some of her previous anger radiated off her words.

"Banachek is interrogating the fake cop now. I wanted to stay in case they found out anything about Danny."

"Have they?" Steve asked.

Chin, a grim look on his face, shook his head.

"How long has Banachek been interrogating him?"

"A few minutes, give or take." Chin said.

Impatience contorted Steve's face and stiffened his shoulders. For a second, Kono thought he was going to sprint off again, but he merely walked in a quick, stressed circle before going still once more. Kono glanced over at Chin, hoping to get some guidance in this situation, but he kept his eyes on Steve. Then, as quickly as he left, Steve came back to them, determination shining in his eyes.

"Where's the interrogation room?"

*.*.*.*

Banachek didn't mind waiting. He had dealt with guys like this before; so afraid to talk that they twisted their faces into stoic contempt and said nothing. They were already running their fake cop's DNA in multiple databases. Once they had the DNA, Banachek could use it against him and get closer to answers. For now, all he had to do was wait. Making the fake cop edgy while he waited would be a bonus.

"I know you've been in prison before," Banachek said, leaning back in his cushioned chair.

The fake cop, sitting in a stiffer chair on the other side of the table, glanced up at him.

"It's obvious. I can tell just by the way you're sitting."

The dim light above their heads shuttered, making the fake cop's stony expression appear more as a hateful scowl. Banachek didn't flinch under the light's tricks.

"I can also tell that you won't be able to handle hard time—not real hard time. A county jail? Sure. A maximum security prison though?"

Banachek shook his head.

"I almost pity you."

As expected, the fake cop gave no reaction. Underneath the apathetic veil, Banachek could see the tiniest bit of fear. It made him smirk.

Two knocks on the metal door had Banachek's smirk disappearing. Two knocks meant come out, but there is no urgency in the situation. Curious, and seeing an opportunity to get the fake cop to churn in anxiety, Banachek smirked again and calmly exited the interrogation room. As he shut the door behind him, he prepared himself for whatever information would be brought to him. He was startled to see their victim, Steve McGarrett, standing smugly besides one of his officers.

"What is it?" Banachek asked.

"Chief said to let McGarrett interrogate our perp."

"What? On what grounds?"

The female officer shrugged, shaking her head.

"He didn't specify. He just said give McGarrett three minutes."

"Three minutes?" Banachek repeated, finally acknowledging the SEAL's presence by looking at him, "You know you can't do any crazy military stuff in there, right? This is America. We have rules here."

"I'm aware of my country's rules, Detective," McGarrett said, his tone as condescending as his posture, "And, I assure you, I don't need to do any crazy military stuff."

Banachek glared at him. He didn't know how he got the chief to approve this—the chief was not a soft man, nor did he get intimidated so quickly and easily—but, as far as Banachek was concerned, this wasn't acceptable. Whatever McGarrett was doing, there was another angle he wasn't seeing. It was making his gut unsettled.

"Fine," Banachek said, as if it was his decision, "Three minutes. We'll be watching from behind the glass."

McGarrett smirked, raising his head a little higher as if taking the warning as a challenge. He then bypassed Banachek and entered the interrogation room. Banachek hurried to the room behind the two-way mirror, hoping to catch McGarrett doing something that would cut his three minutes short.

*.*.*.*

"So what do you have to do with all of this?" Danny asked, struggling with the thick tape around his wrists.

"Shut your yap," the man said, pushing Danny forward with his tone.

Despite the silent threat to move faster, Danny tried, inconspicuously, to slow his pace. The closer he got to this guy, the better chance he had of getting the gun out of his hand. However, the possibility was pointless to think about if he couldn't get the duct tape off his wrists.

"Okay, but you're getting a raw deal here."

"Would you like me to put a bullet in your head now? Is that the only way to shut your mouth?"

Danny slowed his pace a little more, hiding the fact by pretending to trip over a rock.

"As opposed to later?" Danny said, grunting out the words as he recovered from his fake trip.

The armed man behind him may have thought he was being mysterious, but Danny could see his short-term plans as easily as he could see the blue sky above him. The ocean's roars were getting louder and Danny could see the edge of a cliff in the distance. He could put two and two together.

"You're choice," the man said, but Danny knew that his captor would do his best to get Danny to the cliff's edge before he shot him.

The closer Danny was to the edge, the less amount of time his captor would have to spend carry him to it. It was simple logic. With this in mind, Danny felt courageous enough to push the armed man a little more.

"My choice? None of this would be my choice. I don't even like Hawaii—I don't want to die here."

"Then why'd you come here?" the man asked, irritated.

"Work." Danny lied, "It's always work."

"You couldn't get work anywhere else?"

He sounded skeptical.

"Hey, it's a tough economy. I can't afford to leave to a more tolerable place…like Maine." Danny said.

"Maine?"

"What? You have a problem with Maine?"

"You're the dumbest cop I have ever killed."

Danny bristled at that. The thirst for vengeance was already making his heart pound. You didn't have to know a cop to be his brother, and Danny felt deep, personal rage demanding he take justice into his own hands. However, even if his moral standpoint didn't contradict this feeling, he knew he had to stay cool and collected if he wanted to get out of this mess.

"Because I like Maine?" Danny asked after a few seconds too long, "That doesn't make me dumb. It makes me practical."

"You're an idiot. Now. Shut. UP."

"Me shut up? Why don't YOU shut up!"

His captor began cursing in another language, his tone seething. Danny was about to egg him on a little more, when a bird burst from the tree tops. The armed man startled ever so slightly, and Danny took advantage of it. Stepping back, he pinned his captor's foot to the ground and pushed his armed hand out of the way as he swung his tied up fists into his face for one massive punch. It made his captor stumble and bend over. Before he could stand up, Danny tackled him to the ground, kicking the gun away. Danny managed to get two punches in, but his enemy got several more in. Even in his dumbfounded state, he had the anger and precision to bruise Danny's face and stomach. Eventually, Danny had to face the fact that he wasn't going to win this one, and gave one, agonizing punch to the man's neck. His captor convulsed at that, and Danny used the extra seconds he had to stumble to his feet and head for the trees. A few steps later he was running, and then he was sprinting.

BANG

He heard more than felt the bullet enter his shoulder. Danny didn't give it much thought, having his focus mainly on increasing his speed and distance. The pain wasn't registering in his brain. He wasn't even fully aware of the blood that soaked into his shirt.

Faster. Faster. Faster…

*.*.*.*

"My partner—the one that cop killed in the girl's room—he tazed the haole's face, not me. I wasn't even in the room."

"You were standing outside the door," Steve said, his words meant to be condescending, but conveying a secret meaning. The fake cop in front of him—Hiroto Kinjo—and Steve knew the secret, and it scared Kinjo as much as it satisfied Steve, "So you must have saw someone taking Former Detective Williams out of the room."

Kinjo nodded, hesitant before speaking.

"It was Victor Hess."

Steve's eyes were piercing, angering emotions erupting around his pupils while his face didn't so much as twitch. He nodded—his demand for Kinjo to continue.

"He was ordered by Taylor to take the haole out—outside of the hospital. I don't know where he took him—I swear."

"I believe you," Steve said, having seen the truth in Kinjo's eyes, "That will be all."

When he stepped out of the interrogation room, Steve couldn't help but feel pleased with Banachek's shocked expression. He wished he had the time to push the detective's buttons further, but Steve had a blonde haole to find.

"Can we get security footage from the hospital?" Steve asked, making it sound more like a demand than a question.

"Yeah, we can," Banachek said, "but you are not—"

"Consider me an asset," Steve said, angling his way around the detective before striding own the hallway, "That's the Governor's orders.

He heard Banachek stuttering in the background; asking questions, but not finishing them. Steve didn't pause to listen. Instead, he quickened his speed, intending to get to Chin and Kono as soon as possible to give them an update. However, when he finally did reach them, something twisted in his stomach. This wasn't the same thing as approaching his men with orders. This was more personal. Danny was their friend—his, too. How was he supposed to tell them that a man like Victor Hess had kidnapped him from the hospital to kill him? If statistics and timelines meant anything, Danny was probably already dead by now. The thought made him cold.

"What'd you find out?" Chin asked him.

"A man named Victor Hess has Danny," Steve said, his voice deceptively impassive, "Do you know of him?"

"The name sounds familiar, but—"

"He's a drug dealer, a contract killer, a terrorist, an asset of enemy countries, and he is known for his kidnappings."

Kono looked as sick as Steve felt, though probably for different reasons. He felt guilty for not catching this killer, and now Danny was going to pay the price. So many innocent people have paid the price for his failures.

"What are the chances of survival with Hess?" Chin asked, his tone conveying the fear his face did not show.

As vague and confusing as the question was, Steve immediately knew what the older man meant.

Will Hess leave Danny alive?

"Not good," Steve said, protecting Chin from a more despairing answer, "That's why we need to find him now."

"Do you think Danny…" Kono began, cringing at what the pause implied.

"We'll worry about that later." Steve said, "Right now, we need to figure out where Hess would take a former cop."

"Probably somewhere secluded," Chin said, his detective persona playing its part, "No witnesses. Scarce chance at finding a body."

"The mountains," Steve said, nodding at the possibility. Neither he nor Chin were paying much attention to Kono, who clenched her hands together at the word "body." Mentally reviewing what he knew of Hess, Steve nodded again, "Yeah, that sounds like his MO. He takes Danny up to the mountains, knowing he has limited time before the cops realize he's missing, and knowing that there's going to more attention on his disappearance when Mary and I end up dead."

"So he needs to go somewhere nearby." Chin added.

"He'll also want to go somewhere near a private airport." Steve said, "He knows that he is a national threat, that people are always looking for him—he'll want to leave his most recent crime as soon as he can."

"Mountains, private airport, nearby," Chin concluded, scratching his cheek with thought.

"Jalene," Kono blurted, grabbing Chin's arm with a look of panic, "Jalene is always advertising her airport and plane around."

"And it happens to be located near some mountains," Chin said, his words quickened with urgency.

"Which mountains?" Steve asked, already running for the door.