Disclaimer – still don't own Hawaii Five -0 - just toying with their lives for a while. And my lawyer and psychiatrist both agree that I still don't own Steve. Dammit.
Steve crouched behind the wall to the kitchen, keeping an eye on Lori as she stood just to the side of the television, in a blind spot to anyone coming through the front door. He listened to Catherine's careful descriptions of what was going on outside.
"Vehicles parked just outside the drive on the street," she said. "I count eight Unsubs."
"Any of 'em our man?" Jennifer asked from upstairs.
"I don't know," Catherine answered. "Two are headed into the neighbor's backyard. I'd be willing to bet they are going for the garage. Three coming to the front door and two more are about to hop the fence into the backyard."
"That's only seven," Danny replied. "Where's eight?"
"Guarding the SUV," she stated.
"So Wo Fat is either in the SUV letting these goons do his dirty work," Steve surmised.
"Or Mary's in the SUV," Jennifer concluded.
The mere hope that his little sister was close enough to see their home sent a rush of adrenaline down his spine. The urge to break position and head straight for the SUV was overwhelming.
"Don't…even…think…about it," Jennifer whispered over the comm.
Danny snorted. "It's like she knows you."
The door knob turned and Steve aimed his weapon at the front door. "Steve, they're going for an all-out attack," the terror in Catherine's voice was palatable as she began to rattle off coordinates. "Three at the front door, one at the back and I've lost the other."
"Coming in the second floor through the master," Jennifer announced quickly. "Danny, take this guy, I'm going down."
"No," Steve whispered forcefully. "Double team the guy upstairs, we need at least one of them alive."
The knob on the front door slowly turned. He held his hand up high enough so Lori could see his fingers and began counting down 3…2…1… He opened fire on the man coming through the back as Lori fired at the men coming through the front, killing one instantly with a clean shot to the temple. The other two fired back and Lori took two shots to the chest, which knocked her back against the wall. As she slumped down from the impact, Steve fired again twice, shooting the gun out the hand of one and fatally injuring the other with a slug to the chest. He moved quickly, kicking the guns as far away from the two men as possible.
"We're secure up here," Jennifer announced. "Coming down." Steve could hear the muffled shots emanating from Kono and Chin's sniper rifles from their perches on top of the house and the garage. "Clear," they both said several long moments later.
"Dead," Jennifer announced, checking the pulse of the man sprawled on the lanai.
"Check Lori," Steve ordered, deliberately stepping on his captive's mangled, bloodied hand. "Where's the girl?"
"What girl?" the man spat out.
Steve stepped harder and the man wailed in agony. "Blonde, 5 foot 5, answers to the name Mary, ring any bells now?"
"Oh yeah, the little blonde bitch we've been entertaining. She's very…co-operative." The tone of the man's voice made Steve's blood run cold. "Where is she?" Steve demanded.
"Probably off having fun with one of my associates," he replied, sucking in deep breaths while tears pooled in his eyes from the pain. Steve kicked him in the head with his steel-toed boot, rendering the man unconscious.
Danny stomped down the stairs with his own prisoner. He threw the man onto the couch before turning to examine what was left of the unconscious man's hand. "That looks like it's gonna hurt…a lot…"
"We're going after number eight and the SUV," Steve announced. "You good?"
"Peachy," Danny surmised after a cursory look around the living room and kitchen.
Jennifer had already taken up position at the front door after checking Lori. Steve crept up beside her. "Ready?" he asked. She nodded her reply.
Steve stepped carefully out onto the porch with his rifle extended, sweeping back and forth across the expanse before motioning for Jennifer to join him. She strode down the driveway, checking under the vehicles for threats. Once she was in position, he crept closer to the bushes separating his property from the street. "Approaching on your left from behind, Steve," he heard Chin's voice and glanced back quickly to verify the other man's position. With Chin on his left and Jennifer covering the right, Steve quickly rounded the bushes to get his first clear view of the SUVs.
He scampered around the hood of the first, approaching the second where the guard stood currently facing the bushes, slowly completing a turn to the right. He ducked down so as not to be seen through the darkened windows of the second SUV. With his fingers on the handle, he began to count, "three, two, one…"
He lifted the handle and opened the door as Chin and Jennifer announced themselves to the remaining guard shouting "Police!" As they fired at the guard, Steve stood quickly, gun trained on any occupants of the vehicle and his eyes focused on their latest heartbreak – Wo Fat with a revolver to Mary's temple, tape covering his sister's mouth, her hands bound, her face streaked with tears and blood thanks to an uncleaned gash cutting diagonally down her forehead. She whimpered as her eyes landed on his and began thrashing about – telling him the only way she could to leave.
"Drop the rifle, Commander," Wo Fat said icily.
"Let my sister go," Steve countered.
Wo Fat grinned and pulled the trigger of the revolver in his hand. Mary shut her eyes tight against the shot. Steve screamed and Mary slumped down in the seat.
"Steve!" Jennifer's voice demanded over the comm. "Steve!"
Wo Fat laughed before hauling an uninjured Mary back up. "Six shot revolver, Commander. She was lucky this time. Will that luck hold out if I pull the trigger again?"
Steve's heart beat uncontrollably in his chest and he fought the overwhelming urge to retch on the street beneath his feet. Instead, he held his hands up. "Stay back," his voice cracked with relief.
"Drop the rifle," Wo Fat said again. Steve placed it on the pavement and kicked it away. "Now the pistol," the mad man continued.
"Guys, out front now," came Jennifer's thin and pained voice through the comm as she watched Steve take his pistol from the holster and set it on the ground.
"What do you want?" Steve asked carefully.
"The same thing I have always wanted Commander," the older man answered. "Shelburne. Step back…please."
Steve did as he was told and watched helplessly as Wo Fat tightened his grip on Mary before shoving her out of the SUV. His legs landed on either side of her. Steve instinctively reached down to help her up but Wo Fat intervened, dragging her from his reach. "Touch her and she dies, Commander. These are not difficult instructions," Wo Fat spat out. He slipped one hand under her arm and pulled her back up. "Walk," he instructed with a nod to the courtyard.
Steve shut his eyes quickly and took a deep breath. "I'm coming around the bushes. Nobody fires," he announced.
"Back them up to the porch, Commander."
Steve's eyes looked heavenward for a moment as if some alignment of the stars or miraculous gift from God would be there telling him what to do. "You heard him, everybody on the porch."
As the trio rounded the bushes, he saw Jennifer and Chin slowly backing themselves up, keeping their weapons trained on Wo Fat. Danny was already on the porch waiting.
"It's just you against all of us," Steve said deliberately. "Not good odds."
"Steve!" Catherine's voice boomed through the comm. "Everybody away from the house NOW!" she screamed.
The man laughed again. "Insurance, Commander."
He heard the shrill hiss of the rocket-launched missile before he actually saw it – zeroed in on his home – Jennifer, Danny and Chin on the porch – Kono and Lori inside with the men they'd captured – his mother and Joe hidden in the garage.
Wo Fat's voice taunted him from behind "Five...four...three…"
TBC…