Ahhh, the weekend! Why must it end so soon? At least Mitch and I found some time today to write you all up a little something. Ben is in an excellent mood today! Lots of laughs and smiles. Anyway, since, as usual, we don't know when we'll be able to post again, here's a little one shot. Thank you all so much for your patience and for all of the lovely reviews you leave us. They really do warm our hearts. I apologize for not responding to any of them, but please know that each one is read and appreciated. You guys really are the best!
Summary: In honor of Mitch and I's favorite high school chemistry teacher's upcoming retirement, we've decided to write a story set in a chemistry lab. We won't say more than because it'll give away the plot, but as per usual, it will contain whump and bromance. Enjoy!
"Danny!" Steve shouted through the dust. "DANNY!" Only silence accompanied the ringing in his ears. As he backed away from the wall of rubble and debris, he stumbled on a loose chunk of concrete. A broad hand on his back steadied him.
"Steve, are you alright?" Chin asked, searching his friend for signs of injury. Still coughing from the dust in his throat, Steve nodded.
"I'm fine, but Danny's still in there! He was headed towards the science wing last I saw. Finnley was headed back to his classroom to grab the flash drive." He rasped.
Roger Finnley, a private high school chemistry teacher, had decided after fifteen years, that teaching wasn't his true calling. Finnley had been fired a week ago after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. With plans to drain the accounts of all of the wealthy parents of students, he had readied his escape. However, at Five-0's arrival, Finnley had improvised. Armed with his knowledge of chemical reactions, he planted his own bombs. Moments after the school had been evacuated, Finnley blew the charges, effectively sealing himself, and Danny, inside.
"Alright, we'll get him out. Kono's called fire and rescue. They should be here soon." Chin said calmly, although his eyes shone with concern.
"Chin, he may not have that kind of time! This guy is crazy."
"You got a better idea, I'm all ears." Steve frowned, then glanced upwards at the third floor window. Chin followed his gaze.
"You're insane."
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The shock wave lifted Danny off of his feet, slamming him into the nearby lockers. Knowing that his team was still on the outside, Danny forced himself painfully to his feet and took off down the hall after Finnley. The science wing was a long corridor lined with classrooms and labs, any one of which the man could have been in. Gun raised, Danny crept quietly down the hall.
"Where is it? Damn it!" Finnley shouted angrily. Danny followed the sound to a lab on his right. Inside, the former teacher was tearing apart the shelves.
"Hands up." Danny said as he entered the room. Finnley whipped around. "Place them on your head and get down on your knees. Do it now." Danny ordered as calmly as possible. Finnley simply smiled, a crazed, unnerving smile. Then, without warning, he grabbed two bottles from the shelf and threw them onto the floor, shattering them. Instantly, a thick cloud rose up, enveloping the both of them. Danny's eyes stung and he began to cough violently.
"Go ahead and shoot, Detective! See what happens!" he screamed. With a manic laugh, Finnley began tossing bottle and jars toward the door, blocking Danny's exit. More clouds of noxious gasses erupted, burning Danny's skin. He cried out as drops of some sort of acid landed on his arm.
"Finnley…" Danny gasped, struggling to breath. His lungs burned. "You gotta stop this. We can…get you help." Danny called out before collapsing against a wall, unable to stop coughing.
"Shut up! You can't make me go there! I won't let you!" Finnley raged. Danny watched in horror as the chemist shoved paper towels into bottles, then lit them on fire like fuses. As Finnley began hurling them around the room, Danny shoved a heavy table on its side, hoping for some measure of protection. Breathing was becoming nearly impossible. His whole body burned as if he himself was on fire.
"Steve…" He whispered softly. "Help me..." The last thing he heard before his world went dark was the breaking of glass and Finnley's tortured screams.
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Steve carefully climbed through the third floor window, closely followed by Chin and Kono. Once they were sure they were on stable ground, they sprinted down the steps. Alarms were ringing throughout the building, signaling a fire somewhere. Water rained down from the sprinklers overhead.
"Danny! Danny, where are you?" Steve called as they entered the science wing. Even without an answer, they quickly found the room Danny was in. Smoke billowed out of the door, laced with a harsh chemical smell. Kono noticed a small box mounted on the wall that contained full face masks and gloves. After putting them on, the three raced into the room. Small fires still burned in places, rapidly dying under the sprinklers. Glass crunched beneath their feet as they tried to avoid puddles of unknown substances. Unable to speak through the masks, they couldn't express their horror at the sight a charred body lying near the fume hood. Steve felt his heart clench painfully in his chest. It couldn't be Danny. It just couldn't…
A weak cough from the corner drew their attention. Collapsed behind an overturned table lay Danny. Chemical burns covered his arms. His lips were rapidly turning a pale blue as he struggled to draw in each wheezing breath. Together, they lifted him as gently as they could out of the room. Despite their care, Danny still moaned with pain. Doing his best to ignore the pained whimpers from his unconscious partner, Steve continued to carry him down the hall. The fire and rescue crew had cleared the doorway and there was ambulance waiting outside. He could tell that Chin and Kono were just as affected as he was. Once outside, they helped the paramedics gently lay Danny on the waiting gurney. Ripping off the mask, he grabbed the hand that wasn't burned. Danny was still writhing in agony as the medics placed an oxygen mask over his face.
"Hey, I gotcha Danno. It's gonna be okay. You're gonna be fine." Unexpectedly, two swollen, bloodshot eyes opened halfway, locking onto Steve. Danny tried to say something, but he broke off into a fit of painful coughs.
"Easy, buddy, easy. I'm right here. Everything's ok. Everybody's fine." Steve soothed as he climbed into the ambulance with Danny. At the pleading look in Danny's eyes, he continued. "I promise, we're headed to the hospital right now. The doctors are gonna take good care of you. We'll pick Grace up and have her stay with us. It's gonna be okay." Steve assured him. Danny nodded, eyes closing. "You're gonna be okay, Danny."
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Danny awoke to a burning pain in his chest. He coughed roughly, feeling flames ignite in his lungs.
"Hey, slow breaths, Danny. Deep slow breaths. In and out, okay?" A familiar voice coached. Gradually, the coughing eased up. He open his bleary eyes, seeing a blurry version of Steve in front of him.
"Here, open up." Danny complied, not knowing what else to do, and was rewarded with an ice chip. The cool liquid that ran down his throat was heaven and he groaned in relief. "Better?" Steve asked.
"Yeah." Danny whispered, his voice rough. Steve gave him another, watching him carefully with a concerned expression plastered on his face.
"What happened?" Danny asked once the flames had been extinguished and he felt like he could maybe talk without coughing. "You know, after I passed out?"
"We got in through the third floor window and found you in the lab with Finnley. The sprinklers had put out most of the fire, so we were able to get you out and to the hospital. You have some nasty burns on your arms and legs and your lungs are pretty messed up from the fumes, but you should be okay after a few days here." Steve explained softly. "If we had been any later…" He trailed off, and Danny could see that Steve was still dealing with what could have been.
"Finnley?" he asked
"Dead. Set himself on fire on accident." Steve replied tonelessly. Taking a deep breath, he added, "So, how do you feel?"
"Honestly? Okay." Danny replied. Steve raised an eyebrow. "Lungs hurt a bit, but s'not so bad. Probably be worse once they take me off the good stuff." Steve laughed quietly.
"One bridge at a time, buddy."
"You okay?"
"Me? I wasn't the one stuck in a cloud of toxic gas." Steve said.
"You know what I mean." Danny said seriously. Steve glanced down.
"Yeah. I will be." He said, smiling at Danny. Danny smiled back. Even after all these years, Steve was still surprised by how well Danny could read him.
There you are! I hope you guys liked this! And just so you know, Mr. Lewis was NOT a crazy criminal, we just wrote the story like that. Our dear chemistry teacher is one of the greatest men I know. Just thought we should clear that up!