Bull's eye

"Police, drop your weapon!"

Chin and Kono could hear Danny's muffled voice just as they were about to crash through the back door. Kicking against the frail wood of the door, they exchanged a grim glance when the words were quickly followed by a single gunshot.

"Hurry up," Kono urged her cousin as they raced through the kitchen, her words drowned out by a shrill voice from the living room.

"Noooooo," Mia Hardman screamed maniacally at the top of her lungs. For the blink of an eye it was dead silent inside the small house and Chin accelerated his steps in a sense of foreboding.

He was the first one to burst into the living room - Kono close on his heels - just in time to see Mia furiously marching across the room, straight towards Danny who had obviously been hit before. His right arm was limply hanging by his side and blood was gushing out of a wound on his shoulder, soaking the fabric of his already rain-wet shirt. It looked like he was trying to raise his hand to defend himself, but his gun was just uselessly slipping from his grasp and tumbling to the floor.

Tobias Eberlein, who had been sitting on a chair in the middle of the room, hunched over and bleeding from a nasty head wound, seemed to be confused about the whole chaos and noise that had erupted around him. Laboriously standing up, he swayed dangerously for a moment before he grabbed the back of the chair for support, his slightly cross eyed look indicating at least a mild concussion.

Blocking Chin's and Kono's way with his unfortunate move he took away their last chance to get a clear shot at Mia and so the cousins could only watch in horror as the woman pulled the trigger over and over again until the magazine finally clicked empty.

Danny didn't seem to have either the time nor the strength to react in any way to Mia's new assault and so his body twitched with every bullet that hit his vest mid-chest, causing him to stumble backwards against the wall. His eyes and mouth wide open in utter shock and pain, he groaned hoarsely just as his knees started to buckle and he slowly slid down the wall.

"Danny," Kono exclaimed terrified, helplessly trying to get past Tobias who was stumbling directly into her way, almost pulling her down with him when he grasped her shoulders as his legs also gave way.

Not waiting for his cousin to free herself from the unwanted embrace, Chin didn't waste another second. With Tobias out of his way he dashed forward and crossed the room in three or four large steps. Uttering an uncharacteristic angry growl he leaped at the blonde woman, knocking the empty gun out of her hand with an experienced move and within moments he had easily overwhelmed her before she even knew what happened. Rudely pushing Mia to the floor, Chin ignored her spat out curses and screams, handcuffing her maybe a little bit tighter than strictly necessary.

"Danny, you alright?" Chin asked urgently, his voice deep with tension and concern. At the moment he wasn't able to look after his teammate because the screaming and kicking woman in his grip demanded his full attention. "Danny?" he pressed again, grunting in surprise when Mia furiously lashed out and kicked him in the shin. "Hey, Danny, can you hear me?"

Hearing Danny's wheezing gasps somewhere behind him, Chin knew at least that his teammate was still alive but he also knew from experience what it felt like to take a hit to the vest. Getting shot more than once from such a close distance had to hurt like hell and Chin could only hope that the vest had indeed been able to stop all the bullets and the wound in Danny's shoulder wasn't life-threatening.

"It's okay, Detective… Danny," another voice said behind his back and for a moment Chin was completely startled until he finally remembered that Officer Kekuku had joined them. "Help is already on the way. Just try to stay calm." Jonathan's voice and presence was completely different from before, the shy, insecure stuttering replaced by a calm and reassuring manner.

Chin could hear how the young policeman called for help, ordering two ambulances before he explained the situation in a few words and asked when the previously ordered backup would be here. Trying to avoid more kicks from the angry woman, Chin quickly dragged a still fighting Mia across the room, stopping next to Kono who had crouched down at Tobias Eberlein's side. The injured man was barely conscious anymore, the wound on his right temple still bleeding sluggishly.

"How's Danny?" Kono asked breathlessly, turning her head to throw a look over her shoulder.

"Alive," Chin said clipped, shaking his head a little bit when a few drops of water from his rain-soaked hair trickled down his forehead and into his eyes. "Not good," he added hesitantly when Kono frowned worriedly at him. "Jonathan has already called an ambulance, I'm sure help will be here soon." Chin just hoped that his words were true; he didn't need to mention the bad weather conditions, fallen trees or blocked roads, the look on Kono's face told him that she was thinking exactly the same.

"OK," Kono said with a sharp nod of her head as if to reassure them both that Danny would be alright. Her whole body was strained and slightly trembling, but Chin wasn't able to tell whether it was from stress and worry or from the clammy wetness of her clothes and hair. He knew that his cousin was torn between the duty to stay at his side, helping him with Mia and Tobias, and the need to see Danny's injuries with her own eyes.

"Go, see if Jonathan needs help with Danny," Chin sent her away. He wanted nothing more than to also be at Danny's side but he knew that his cousin would provide him with any news about their friend and that Danny would be in good hands. "I'll deal with these two," he added through gritted teeth when Mia started to lash out again, still shouting profanities at him. Really needing her out of his way to finally tend to Tobias, Chin quickly scanned the room for any possibility of something to safely tie her to, worriedly listening with half an ear to the soothing murmuring and pained moans behind him.

H50 – H50 – H50 – H50 – H50 – H50 – H50 – H50 – H50 – H50 – H50

Danny wished he was dead.

Never before had he been in so much pain, he simply had no words to describe what he was feeling right now. The first shot had set his right shoulder on fire, immediately causing his arm to drop to his side just like one of the palm trees that had been logged by the storm. An uncomfortable tingling sensation spread from the wound down his arm until it reached his slightly shaking hand and he barely felt how his gun slipped from his numb fingers and clattered to the wooden floor.

Groaning in shock and surprise when the next bullets hit his vest in rapid succession, he wasn't able to keep his stance anymore. With each hit the air was violently pressed out of his lungs as he stumbled backwards against the wall from the sheer force of the impact. Mia's furious face was blurring before his eyes as she came closer and closer but otherwise the world around him seemed to have come to a halt; for the length of a heartbeat Danny's body and mind were completely numb before the pain exploded in his chest without warning.

He didn't realize that his knees started to buckle against his will and that he slowly slumped down. Danny hadn't taken a single breath since the bullets had hit him directly in the chest, his body obviously in too much shock to perform that simple task, essential for surviving. But now, as he gradually slid down the wall, his reflexes kicked in again; the first involuntary breath of air was accompanied by an agony that blanked out every other feeling. Feeling his chest cramping in unimaginable pain, Danny tried frantically to fill his lungs. His vision grew dim and the blood was loudly rushing in his ears as he fought for air.

Half sitting, half lying he leaned against the wall, one leg uncomfortably folded underneath his body, the other one outstretched in front of him. Blindly groping around Danny raised his visibly shaking left hand to his throat as if to open the collar of his shirt while his right arm was still uselessly hanging by his side, the fingers slightly twitching now and then while the blood from the gunshot wound slowly formed a gluey puddle on the ground.

Someone - maybe Chin? - was calling his name but the simple task of staying awake and breathing in and out required Danny's whole strength and concentration.

"Can't… breathe…" Danny whispered almost inaudibly between wheezing gasps, the fingers of his left hand now clawing at the neckline of his vest. He had the feeling that a heavy weight was pressing against his chest and a surge of panic flooded his mind.

"Can't… breathe…" he repeated frantically, his eyes widening without really seeing anything as the pressure and pain in his chest became almost unbearable.

"It's okay," another voice seeped through the cloud of pain in his mind; a voice he couldn't quite place at the moment, strange but familiar at the same time. "Help is on the way. Just stay calm."

The words turned into a distant murmur but at the same time Danny felt how someone fumbled around at his side and an involuntary moan escaped his tortured lungs when the buckles of his vest snapped open and the pressure on his chest finally ebbed away a tiny bit. Being able to take a few deeper breaths was pure bliss but then the pain spiked again when the wet fabric of his shirt was hit by a gust of fresh air.

Starting to tremble, slightly at first, Danny felt how goosebumps crawled along his whole body and before he knew what happened he was shaking from head to toe, his teeth chattering audibly. The uncontrollable movement sent another wave of agony through his injured shoulder which in turn caused his breathing again to accelerate.

Suddenly the somehow familiar voice by his side was back and a calming hand was placed on his good arm; Danny couldn't comprehend what the man was saying and although his words had a somewhat soothing effect, Danny just wasn't able to bring his breathing under control.

Drawing in the air in fast, shallow gasps, Danny frowned in distress, every other of his breaths accompanied by a low, hoarse groan. His vision was rapidly blurring around the edges and the last thing he saw was Kono appearing at his other side, her face contorted with worry and fear. Turning his head a little bit to follow her movement as she crouched down next to him, Danny tried to give her a reassuring little smile.

"I'm okay," he wanted to say but before he could even open his mouth, his whole body went limp and he welcomed the warm, pain-free darkness that embraced his mind.

H50 – H50 – H50 – H50 – H50 – H50 – H50 – H50 – H50 – H50 – H50

"Danny," Kono exhaled tonelessly, her eyes widening as she watched in horror how her teammate slumped down, the ghost of a pained smile still playing around his lips.

"Hey, Danny… stay awake!" she tried to get his attention, rocking him a little bit, gently at first but then more strongly, frightened to the core when Danny's breathing evened out, the movement of his chest barely visible anymore.

Stopping her futile attempt to wake him up when Danny showed absolutely no signs of reaction, Kono pressed her lips together, for a short moment not sure what she was supposed to do right now.

"His pulse is still strong," Jonathan's voice prevented Kono's thoughts from spiraling out of control and she just noticed how the young officer pressed two fingers against Danny's neck. "But we need to stop the bleeding," he added, briefly nodding towards the nasty gunshot wound before he started to stand up. "I'll go and get something," he said with a last glance at Kono. "Stay with him, I'll be right back."

Hesitating for the blink of an eye he was obviously not sure about his next move and for a very short moment Kono could see his old, insecure self shining through but then Jonathan bent forward and shyly touched her forearm. "He will pull through," he murmured, jumping up and hurrying out of the room before Kono was even able to answer.

Her thoughts momentarily distracted from her injured friend, Kono stared after Jonathan, slightly shaking her head in astonishment. How was it possible that the stammering, nervous, inexperienced young man had suddenly become their tower of strength in all that chaos?

Heaving a deep breath, Kono forcefully pulled herself together before she turned her head to look at her cousin. Their eyes met across the room but neither of them said a word; they knew without talking that Danny's condition was serious and so they just kept eye contact for a long moment, giving each other the strength they needed to go on.

It was only now that Kono noticed that it was suddenly much quieter than before. She hadn't realized that the whole time the room had been filled with Mia's outraged screams and curses, but now the female voice had died down; only some incomprehensible grunts could be heard and Kono smirked in grim satisfaction when she saw that Chin had gagged the woman and tied her hands and feet together so she could barely move anymore. The smirk on Kono's face grew even bigger when her glance travelled back to her cousin who only raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders, offering only the slightest hint of apology about what he had done.

A faint moan behind her back made her turn around again and when she looked back down at her teammate, Kono saw that Danny had started to tremble again despite the fact that he hadn't regained consciousness so far. All their clothes were still soaking wet from the rain outside and Kono also couldn't prevent the cold shivers that ran down her spine, but her own well-being was not important right now. Pinning a strand of wet hair behind her ear, she let her gaze travel through the living room in search of anything that would provide a little bit of warmth for her injured friend, just as Jonathan hastened back into the room.

The young police officer was balancing a small pile of towels and, to Kono's relief, two cozy looking woolen blankets. Providing Chin with a few of the towels so that he was able to tend to Tobias Eberlein's head wound as well as to dry himself a little bit, Jonathan dropped the rest of the supplies in front of Danny's slumped body.

Snatching one of the blankets he threw it on Kono's slender shoulders, completely ignoring her angry frown and the mumbled words of rejection as he motioned her to help him. Creating a makeshift pillow from his doffed vest, the two of them worked together to gently but swiftly lie Danny down, the movement eliciting another soft moan from the injured man.

Jonathan bent forward a little bit to examine the gunshot wound, worriedly furrowing his brow when he noticed that there was no exit hole and that the bullet was obviously still lodged in Danny's shoulder. "Keep pressure on the wound," he instructed briefly as he handed Kono some of the spare towels while he grabbed the second blanket to cover Danny's shivering form.

The puddle of blood on the floor had reached an alarming size by now and when Jonathan checked Danny's pulse again he didn't tell Kono that it was not nearly as strong and steady as before.

(tbc)