Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii 5-0. It is however running my life at the moment.

Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews. For those who do not have the PM activated on your profile, I am sorry, I cannot reply to your kind reviews. I am grateful for your comments. And thank you all for being patient with this update, my real life was very busy lately.

Chapter 21

The McGarrett house, shortly before Danny's arrival:

Bart Maxwell had heard the movement in the other room and froze halfway across the space. So it appeared that McGarrett was awake and aware. Knowing that the element of surprise was now gone, Maxwell shifted his plan of attack but wasn't concerned since he believed his opponent had limited mobility. The advantage was still with him. He would use McGarrett's weakness to overcome him he decided as he crept silently to the wall separating the rooms. He held his gun ready to fire.

Steve waited, pressed against the wall, concentrating on any sound he could hear from the other room. A light shuffle on the flooring made him tense and he shifted to get a better angle at the doorway he suspected his attacker would come through. As he moved, the crutch slipped slightly and he had to scuff the hardwood with his cast to keep his balance. Hearing where his target was, Bart charged forward, pointing his weapon where he had heard the noise.

The fact that Steve wanted this man alive to finger his employers hampered his reaction to the rush of the other man. He had to improvise his reaction to the rush around the corner. Gripping the crutch tightly in his left hand, Steve swung it upward as Bart rounded the corner and struck at the man's gun hand. He succeeded in sending the gun flying out of Bart's grasp but the move caused him to lose his balance and Maxwell grabbed the crutch end and pulled. Steve fell forward as Bart grabbed for McGarrett's weapon in his right hand.

Abandoning the effort to stay upright, Steve used his body weight to take his assailant to the floor with him. The crutch fell uselessly to the side as the two men headed downward. Steve reached out with his left hand to try and chop Bart's grip on his gun hand and they hit the floor struggling for possession of the weapon. Bart rammed one fist into Steve's jaw and sent Steve rolling onto his right shoulder, sending a wave of pain through the ex-SEAL. Forced to stop his assault on Bart's wrist, Steve brought his fist up into Bart's throat instead.

Gasping for breath, Bart sent a weaker punch to Steve's face and McGarrett felt his grip on his weapon loosen. Trying to bring the gun to bear on his opponent, Steve felt his wrist twisted and he lost his grip as his fingers went numb. The gun fell free and Steve could only kick with his foot to send it away from both of them. It was clear that this assassin had had training in hand to hand combat similar to Steve's and he could not underestimate him.

As Bart half rose to retrieve the gun, Steve reached out and grasp his arm, yanking him across his body and away from the weapon. Bart shoved down on Steve, cracking his head against the floor but Steve refused to let go. Unable to move freely with the cast on his leg weighing him down, Steve struggled for leverage against the more agile man. Bart pulled his knife free and straddled Steve, trying to shove the blade through his throat. Desperately Steve hung on to the man's wrist with both hands, attempting to stop the knife's downward motion. The effort caused several of the stitches in his shoulder to pull free and pain surged up Steve's right arm. As he felt the strength in that arm give way, Steve twisted to the side to compensate and the blade moved to the side but not before taking a deep knick in McGarrett's neck near the collarbone. With a grunt of pain, the leader of 5-0 brought his knee up into Bart's stomach and kicked him backwards.

Bart landed heavily on his back and scrambled quickly to his feet, seeing Steve's gun just a few feet away. As he reached for it, he took his eyes off of McGarrett. Steve took hold of a nearby chair and levered himself up to an upright position as his opponent closed his fingers around the butt of the gun. Without time to think, Steve launched himself at the man, reaching for the gun. Both men struggled for possession and Bart tried to turn the gun into Steve's body and pull the trigger. He looked into the eyes of the man he had been hired to kill and saw cold determination looking back at him. In the battle of strength, he felt his wrist snap just as his finger tightened on the trigger and Bart Maxwell died knowing that he had gravely underestimated his target's abilities.

Steve wrenched himself away from the falling body of his attacker and fell into a side table, knocking over a lamp and sending it crashing to the floor. As he lay on the floor next to it he heard his name called out from the rear of the house and moments later Danny came skidding into view.

Breathing heavily, Danny took in the scene before him, relief flooding over him to find Steve still breathing not far from the body of the other man.

"You're late," Steve panted as he rolled over to his left side and struggled to sit up. Danny could see the blood staining Steve's right shoulder and the trail of blood that ran down the front of his T-shirt.

"You just couldn't wait, could you?" Danny scolded. "You had to take him on by yourself." He holstered his gun and went to assist Steve to his feet, slipping under Steve's left arm to help him to a nearby chair.

"He didn't seem be inclined to wait for you. I would have been happy to let you in on the fun," Steve replied as he sank gratefully into the chair. He looked at Maxwell's body in regret. "Damn, I wanted him alive and talking."

"It doesn't look like he gave you much choice here," Danny observed as he bent over the body. He moved Steve's gun aside. "He killed Phillip and gassed Wong and Marcum. You did what you had to do." He pulled a wallet out of Maxwell's pocket as the sound of sirens announced the arrival of HPD backup. "We have a name. Bart Maxwell."

"Maybe he has a phone that we can check for numbers he might have called," Steve suggested as he tried to assess the damage to his shoulder. He winced as his hand came away bloody. Danny was checking further but looked at him and shook his head.

"Not on him but most likely he has a car stashed nearby. There is probably one in there," he answered. "Are you okay?" he added as he saw the pain on Steve's face.

"I'm fine," Steve waved off the concern as there came the sound of pounding on the front door. He motioned for Danny to open it as two other officers charged into the room from the rear, guns aimed at them. "Easy officers, everything is under control," he said mildly.

Danny admitted the two at the front door and then went to get a closer look at Steve's wounds. Examining Steve's bloody shoulder, he shook his head.

"Dr. Patten is not going to be happy with you babe," he scolded. "You need to have that dealt with."

"It can wait."

"No it can't. Remember I am still in charge," Danny argued.

The determined look on Danny's face kept Steve from protesting further. After Danny gave the officers instructions on what he wanted done at the house and Steve gave a brief statement to them, Danny helped Steve out to his truck. The irony did escape Danny that this time he got to drive Steve's vehicle and there was nothing that his control freak partner could do about it.

*H 5-0*

The drug bust that Chin and Kono had joined was taking place at a warehouse down by the docks. Chin divided the unit into several teams to cover the various exits. There was definitely a drug deal going down and HPD had observed at least seven men inside. They had identified a small time dealer named Paulie Koy and two of his boys as the men making the cocaine sale to a pusher from the big island and his help, who had arrived by boat.

On Chin's signal the teams moved into the warehouse but a carless man bumped into a stack of crates alerting the suspects, causing the men to scatter in an effort to avoid arrest.

Kono and Det. John Liwai followed Paulie Koy as he broke away from the others while Chin and Captain Akana pursued the buyer. Paulie wove in and out of the crates heading for a side entrance. Kono caught up to him just as he reached the door.

"Paulie Koy….stop right there," Kono ordered.

Paulie skidded to a stop, raised his hands and turned to face Kono. He had no weapon in his hands but a gun butt could be seen tucked in his jeans. His gaze travelled past Kono and a big smile spread across his face.

Hey Liwai, I'm glad to see you," the skinny Hawaiian said in relief.

End chapter.

It looks like we have some more trouble to settle before this is all over. Thank you for reading. I am not the best at writing close physical fights so I hope this made sense.