Thanks for the reviews. Again.

If anyone's interested I posted a link on my profile to a youtube playlist of all the songs I've used in these stories.

Chapter Twenty-One "Invisible"

"You wish you were someone else. Every night you fall to pieces, knowing you can't save yourself. I can see you; I can hear you... You're not stranded on your own. You're not invisible to me."~Disciple

The days seemed to pass more slowly than before. Steve wasn't sure how that was even possible. There had been no demands, no indication that an abduction had taken place. The investigation hit dead end after dead end.

Steve felt as if he were losing crucial touch with reality. He hadn't left the safety of his hideout since his visit with the governor. He didn't want to leave.

He knew McKenzie was still alive because if she hadn't been, they would have found her by now. Wo Fat would want them to know she was dead. Of course, he presumably didn't know Steve was alive. But even that was up for debate.

Steve found himself stuck between the invented nightmares of his sleep and the real nightmare that his life had become. He didn't know what day it was anymore. He didn't know when the last time he'd eaten was.

When Danny appeared at his elbow, he hardly registered that he wasn't alone. Because he was alone, really.

"Hey," Danny said softly.

Steve didn't reply.

"Don't make this like the end of Somewhere in Time. I hate that movie."

"What?" Steve looked at Danny, confused.

"Thank you. The guy stopped eating and sleeping and eventually died... I think. I'm a little fuzzy on that."

"Okay..."

"I'm saying, you don't want to end up like that guy."

"Does it matter?"

"Does it matter? Listen to yourself! She's out there, Steve. Somewhere. And we're going to find her."

"Danny, I need to talk to the governor."

"Okay, okay. Let's think about this. She had Laura killed. If she knew..."

"She's all we have! We can't find Hesse or Wo Fat. All we know is that Jameson is involved."

"And she doesn't know we know that. We've been digging, Steve. We don't have a lot to go on. Nothing that would put her away."

"This is all irrelevant."

"I know. I know. And I'm going to admit that I don't know what to do, but I'm afraid if you tell her that you know..."

"McKenzie will be dead."

"We can't risk it."

Steve rubbed at the sides of his face. "Danny." his voice was barely there, like he was gasping for breath. "I don't know who I am anymore."

Danny put his hand on the back of Steve's neck. He could see the crisis his friend was going through, but had no idea what to do about it.

H-5-O

When Kyle was told he had a visitor, he expected to be taken to the visiting area or even one of the interrogation rooms. Instead, the guard took him down a little used hallway and opened the door to a storage room. Once Kyle was inside, he shut the door and left.

Kyle crossed his arms, wondering if dark storage rooms were the new punishment since solitary was full. But soon, he heard a scraping sound and the vent on the wall opened up. First, he saw a flashlight, and then a face.

"Told you we'd get you out," Hesse said.

"What's going on?" Kyle asked.

Hesse nodded behind him. "Let's get out of here first."

They began crawling back through the ventilation system. It seemed like hours before they were coming out on the other side of the road from the prison.

"That's convenient," Kyle said.

"They'll be looking for you soon," Hesse said. "This way."

They headed away from the buildings and not far off they came to a car. Once they were on the road, Hesse became more talkative.

"We've got a few guards on the inside," he said. "No one's gonna know what happened to you."

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere safe. Listen, do you want to help your sister?"

"What?"

"Do you?"

"Of course."

"Then listen carefully. Steve McGarrett isn't dead."

"What? How?"

"Will you shut up? I'm trying to explain. He was never supposed to be. Jameson wanted him out of the way while we cleaned up a few things."

"Jameson? The governor?"

"When did I say it was time for questions?"

"Sorry."

"She thought it would be easy enough to fake his death. I just had to shoot him. Anyone would believe that. We didn't count on his team making such a nuisance of themselves, or of him still being so active. When your sister started nosing around, Wo Fat wanted to send a message. Now, if he knew Steve was alive he'd kill her, so you can't say a word."

"Of course."

"Good. She's being held in one of his hideouts. We're headed there now. If you want her to get out safely, you need to go along with everything I say."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Now there's a good question. The governor and I have been working to take down Wo Fat. So,we infiltrated his organization. And now you have too."

"That wasn't exactly the idea."

"You gotta pick sides, Carpenter. If you want your sister to live, stick with me."

"Okay. What now?"

"Now, we work his game. I don't much care about your sister or McGarrett either way. But I do want to remove Wo Fat. And it'll be much easier to do that from the inside. Once he's gone, I go my way, you go yours. Deal?"

"Yeah. I'm in."

H-5-O

McKenzie had developed a schedule. Wake up, eat, drink some water, fall asleep again. She had no concept of time, but she did notice getting up became more and more difficult. She was still growing.

She opened her eyes sometime after her Valentine's Day memory, but she didn't know how long it had been. She tried to sit up, but found the effort to be too much. Then she heard a voice, a strangely welcome voice.

"Hey, Macks."

"Kyle?" she whispered into the darkness.

His hand met her shoulders and gave a reassuring squeeze. "I'm gonna make sure you get out of here," he said. "Just hang on."

"Hanging," she replied, having little energy to say more.

"Listen, I know this won't make things better. I know you can never forgive me, but for what it's worth, I'm sorry. I know this is all my fault."

"It's not," McKenzie argued. "Just most of it..."

Kyle let out a humorless laugh. "You knew I couldn't say no to you."

"Yeah... Sorry."

"Hey, are you okay? I mean, when's the baby coming."

"The... Ides of March."

"English, please?"

"The fifteenth... I think."

Kyle didn't say anything for a second. "Hey, just hold on. I'll get you out soon."

"'Kay."

She drifted back to sleep, this time without the push of the drugged water. Kyle looked her over. She seemed unhurt, but she was thin. Her face used to be more round, but now her cheekbones stood out and her jaw seemed sharp. He could see the way her skin clung to her shoulders and collarbone.

But her stomach was about the size it should be. At least, Kyle thought so. He remembered his mother looking like that when McKenzie was just about to be born.

He got up and left the room. He didn't know how he was going to get her out of this, but he had help. Of course, Kyle didn't know how much he could trust Hesse, but Hesse trusted him enough to let him in on whatever operation he was running.

H-5-O

Danny was driving toward Steve's hideout when his phone rang. The sound jerked him out of his thoughts of dread.

"Kono?" he answered.

"Hey, I don't want to freak you out, but we just got a call from Halawa Correctional."

Danny made some indecipherable grumbling noises. "Kyle?" he asked.

"He escaped a little while ago. No one knows how. Chin and I are about to start going over security footage."

"All right. Let me know what you find. This cannot b a coincidence."

"That's what I thought. Hey, um, how's Steve doing?"

"He's... hanging on by a thread. I don't know what to do."

Kono was silent for a second. "Just be there with him. It's all you can do."

"Yeah. Talk to you later."

"Bye."

Danny pressed "end" and sighed. Yet more bad news to deliver. He wracked his brain to remember the last good news he'd heard. He came up with hearing McKenzie was pregnant. That was almost six months ago. And now, it made things more complicated. Her due date was approaching. What if they couldn't find her by then?

Danny shook his head as he pulled into the clearing. He had to stay positive. He was the only buffer between Steve and a complete breakdown. As it was, his partner was just breaking down slowly.

When he entered the bunker, Steve was in the kitchen. Danny thought he smelled food. This was new. His stomach growled at the thought.

"You hungry, Danno," Steve asked, his voice carrying through the bunker.

Danny couldn't remember the last time he'd spoken so loud. "Yeah," Danny said, coming into the kitchen. "You feeling okay?"

There was no response at first. Steve certainly didn't look like his old self. He was thin and the circles under his eyes had seemingly endless layers of charcoal purple. But He looked better than he had a week ago.

"I"m okay," Steve said. "I mean..."

"I know," Danny said. "And whatever this is, it smells great."

"I thought cooking would help."

Danny looked confused as he sat down at the small table. "Mind if I ask why?"

Steve shrugged as he set out plates. "It's something we hated doing alone. We used to make huge messes and... and she sang. A lot."

Danny took the fork Steve handed him. He didn't say anything, but waited for his friend to continue.

"It's still not fun. Doing it alone, but... it reminded me of a lot of good things."

"So, you think you can hold on a while longer?"

A weak smile affected Steve's lips. "A while," he said.