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

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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Danny wandered the hallway at his same slow pace not knowing that Steve was suffering from a min-meltdown of sorts in his own living room. Anxious, fully spontaneous calls were being made to HPD and would be soon made to the hospital. Danny had slept for hours but had been woken by a bona-fide nightmare littered with violent end-over-end images of light and dark. So vivid was the danger combined with the frightening pictures of the plane crash, he'd instantly gotten out of bed to stand like a bewildered sweaty statue in the middle of the dimly lit room. One of the nurses had found him a few seconds later, easily accepting his need to move based solely on his brooding expression.

So as his partner made lone demands, Danny walked belligerently up and down the same dull corridor with an incessant purpose until the sweat dried on his face and the images drifted away along with the vibration in his hands. He walked until the same nurse blocked his path when he began to shake from a muscular fatigue coupled with a visual hunch in his posture.

"Alright, buster. Enough is enough." Danny didn't know her name as he silently allowed her to guide him back to his room where a fresh cup of hot tea sat steaming on the side tray table.

"You didn't need to do that," Danny ruefully grinned as he eased back down. But his only reply was the small cup being plunked into his hands. "But .. thank you." She smiled warmly and left without another word, pleased when he obediently relaxed with a genuine appreciative sigh.

Not a tea drinker per se, Danny wasn't all that interested until the first sip which proved more soothing than he would have thought. His next pleasurable sip was audible because the nurse had been heavy on the sugar seeming to know that the taste would be an ultimate appeal for his stressed system. Sinking back even more, he took his time to finish the cup while listening to the nightly sounds of the few staff caring for other restless patients.

Fully calm now but not even remotely tired, Danny looked up as the nurse came back in gesturing to his cell phone which lay on the side table. "Commander McGarrett called the nurse's station. He's been trying to reach you."

Danny frowned as he reached for his phone and instantly made a thoughtful sound when he noticed the missed calls from Steve. A glance at the time confirmed he'd missed him during his late night stroll, but he was more confused by the lack of voicemail or text message. Then as soon as one finger touched the device, it was vibrating again.

"Hey?" Breathed out as a question, Danny was instantly interrupted by his frazzled partner who suddenly seemed more on edge and exhausted than ever before. "Steve...what's wrong?"

"Are you okay? Duke's on his way over." Steve was agitated and talking so fast that Danny nearly smiled if not for the genuine concern rippling over the airwaves. "I mean, where were you? You didn't pick up ... and neither did Iona."

"I'm fine." Evidently the wrong person was asking the wrong question as Danny cautiously replied. "Are you okay?" Something had clearly spooked his partner as a loudly chuffed sound mixed with relief and confusion echoed in his ear. Danny began to wonder which of them had the bad dream when the irritated noises continued and he rechecked the time. It was nearing eleven thirty and completely out of character for his partner to be so clearly agitated so Danny offered more of an explanation. "Steve, I'm fine. I was walking in the hall and didn't bring my phone. I didn't see that you had called."

"What happened?" Cocking his head as if Steve could actually see him, Danny's question reflected his own concern. "Are you okay? You sound a bit ... off."

"Off. Yeah, that's a good word for it." Steve muttered distantly. There was a rustling on the other side which was even more defined by a rough uncomfortable silence. Danny envisioned an apologetic face. Possibly even embarrassed as the rustling movement became a prolonged noisy fidget.

"Steve?" He poked, knowing that even for himself, after the startling terrified nature of his own dream, neither of them were in the mood for lighthearted jokes. But where Steve had been so desperate to reach him, he was reticent to actually speak and Danny found himself trying to draw his partner out more and more as the awkward silence droned on. "Hey, Steve. Everything is seriously okay here; but how are you doing? What happened .. what's going on? Why is Duke on his way over?"

"Nothing, Danny." Laced with a self-conscious weariness, Steve's voice was suddenly bleak and flat. Regardless of the unconscionable long sleep, he was still tired and completely out of sorts. "I thought something was wrong ... and thought the worst when I couldn't reach you."

There was a pause before Steve quietly finished his brief explanation in a series of halting words. "Or, Iona. I couldn't reach him either but he's off duty. Duke's probably on his way for nothing. It's nothing and .. I'm good."

It was hardly nothing though and it was apparent that by the last two stilted words, which were a definite after-thought, that Steve was quite far from being anywhere near good. Danny's own unsettling mood had been nearly a mirror image of the tone he was hearing now just thirty minutes earlier. In fact, he would have likely voiced something quite similar had he had the opportunity to really verbalize his feelings when they'd been so fresh in his mind.

"Get some rest, Steve." Danny winced through his suggestion expecting a smart reply, which didn't come. "It's late and we're all tired." Instead, the erratic shuffled noises preceded an agreeable murmur. The conversation wrapped on that short note and Danny ended the call only after Steve managed to grunt a brief affirmative which still clearly said he was worried, distracted and likely not to get much rest at all.

Frowning all over again, Danny stared at his phone where it rested in his lap. The call had brought him full circle back to his remembered waking state where he'd been so ill at ease. When he'd been so disoriented and tense, that he'd felt something indeed was terribly wrong. That something was going to happen .. something ... bad ... and it was nearly on their doorstep.

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Andrea took her time with a deliberate ease even though a mental clock was steadily ticking down. She piloted her small bike in and out of traffic, taking note of two direct routes from the hospital and on to the marina. There, she roused a lazy captain to remind him of their plans to leave the marina within hours.

Then she retraced her tracks to do it again using alternate routes with particular points to hide as needed. Mileage, time, number of intersections and side roads were all committed to memory. By the time she finished her street savvy reconnaissance, dusk was falling and she was hungry.

Taking a small tertiary road which placed her in a parking lot adjacent to the rear of TAMC, she left her bike hidden amongst the shrubbery. Virtually on hands and knees, Andrea hunkered down to wind her way through the tight thicket so she could examine the hospital.

"It's perfect." She remarked, pleased with her plans and options which would easily keep her many steps ahead of what would undoubtedly be coming. Andrea was ready. All she needed now was entrance to TAMC and access to her ill uncle.

Crawling backwards, she took her pack and left on foot crossing the neighboring lot to a more popular street lined with casual restaurants. Her choice was within walking distance of the hospital, had more than decent selections of food options, and afforded her both a view of the peaceful sunset plus a place to change her clothing for her final disguise.

Andrea took her time to stay at her table completely undisturbed in her private retreat. Upon paying her bill though, a critical portion of her plan was put into motion with a loud feminine gasp followed by a startling crash of glass on ceramic.

"I'm so sorry." Andrea's faked humility was genuine to the kind waiter that she'd not so quite accidentally barreled into on her way out of the restaurant. Her well-orchestrated trip sent her plummeting into his chest, knocking over his tray and soaking both of them with wine, soft drinks and appetizers.

Mortified, he helped her up to vainly dab at her clothes. "I can change. It's okay if I can please just clean up in the back?" Andrea insisted while thrusting her pack between them as a wall to force him back. "Really, it's not a big deal."

"Yes, of course!" He practically fell into her arms with appreciation as she seemed to take it all in stride with a lilting laugh. "I'm sorry. I don't know what happened ... I was ... I thought ... Please, change back here."

"It's fine! No harm done." Her breathy laugh about her ruined travel clothes helped silence him as he showed her the small employee bathroom.

"Thanks again." Andrea reassured him with a smile. Shutting the door in his reddened face, her own morphed into a serious frown of disgust.

"Damned locals." She whispered, stripping off clothes completely. Using handfuls of paper towels, she cleaned up soiled skin before dressing quickly into something neater and more average.

Moving with purpose, a cropped blonde wig followed along with newly applied fresh makeup. Neither the waiter nor that restaurant would ever see her again as she snuck out the rear alley door. A casual toss of her pack, which now held her old ruined clothing fell into the closest dumpster, leaving her hands almost free. Because for all that simple ease, two small syringes, a burner cell phone, and a pistol were hidden on her person.

Andrea smiled as she made her way down the sidewalk. She missed the few complimentary looks for the dangerous rehearsal going on in her head. Engrossed as she was, Andrea only stopped to gaze at the main entrance from under a street light. It was well dark now and she grinned while checking the time.

She was about to cross the street when an HPD cruiser entered the lot ahead of her. Two more followed and she cursed under her breath. Staying where she was, Andrea glared angrily at the older HPD officer she recognized so well.

"Damn, damn, damn." She felt her temper rising as she watched five officers enter the hospital. She would need to wait to assess the unanticipated as she was forced to recheck the time.

Rapidly coming to a new conclusion, Andrea glowered in a fury from the opposite sidewalk as she carefully contacted her captain at the marina with a new estimate. She could still well use her mapped points of escape. However, her best option to enter the facility would happen more towards dawn as hospital shifts changed and people's guards came down.

~ to be continued ~