Hang on for Big Secret #2. I think I have kept this one pretty much under wraps. Again, I will hold my comments until the beginning of the next chapter...but try to stay with me until I can explain things! Here we go...

Chapter 18 – Out of the Darkness

"When you come to the end of all the light you know, and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: either you will be given something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly."

~Barbara J. Winter

Chicago, Illinois, ten years ago…

Naval Lt. Commander Steve McGarrett ran through the park, pulling the collar of his coat up around his neck and tried to duck the falling raindrops. It was no use. Why she had chosen to take this short cut through the park, he would never know. But now they were late and wet. And he was none too happy.

Where the hell was that woman?

He had been assigned to protect Harper James five months ago and it had been the strangest five months of his life. She was hard headed, stubborn, difficult to reason with, and an all around pain in his ass. And she resented his presence in her life. But when she wasn't being difficult, Steve was fascinated by her. Maybe it was the red hair. Or the full lips. Or the tight…

It was then that he saw her, off to the left, all alone in the clearing.

Dancing in the rain.

Steve had to smirk to himself at the sight of the always professional Detective Harper James twirling like a schoolgirl in the rain. And enjoying every minute of it. The Lt. Commander stopped where he was, closed his eyes, and turned his face up to the downpour. Several moments passed as he let the rain spatter on his face, and then he leveled those blue eyes at her again.

He stood there watching her as Harper danced to nature's music, unaware at how drenched in water she was. She twirled and moved her arms as if she were an angel in the heavens; as if there was a wondrous meaning to life. She turned at that moment, eyes closed, so that he could see her face. Although rain fell upon her beautiful face, he saw tears forming in her eyes and falling down her cheeks. A jolt of pain hit his heart as he thought about the complete happiness and complete sadness that consumed her at the same time.

"What are you doing?" Steve finally called out, startling Harper out of her daydream.

She stopped mid-twirl, her eyes flying open, and faced Steve. She was completely embarrassed at having him see her like that, but there was no way to back out of it now. So, she simply said, "I'm dancing with my dad."

"In the rain?"

"Well, I can't dance with him in real life. He doesn't dance anymore." A fresh batch of tears threatened to trickle down her cheeks and she just let them fall. Her face was wet from the rain and he probably couldn't tell the difference. "We used to dance in the rain all the time when I was little. I felt so alive and I..."

"...wanted to capture a little of that feeling again?" He finished for her. Things had been complicated between Harper and her father, Superintendent Mickey James, over the last few months. She resented that he had hired Steve to protect her and he could not see why she was fighting him over it. He refused to discuss it with her anymore, so they had simply stopped speaking altogether.

"My dad used to say that life doesn't end at the doors of the police precinct, Commander," she told him with a smile. "You know what they say - this isn't a dress rehearsal."

"I think I've heard that," Steve chuckled and moved toward her. "You know, my mom taught me when I was little, that if you dance when it's pouring down rain with someone you care about, or a close friend, and make a wish… it comes true."

"But you're the only one here," Harper teased, liking the way he looked all wet, with his hair plastered to his forehead.

"So, pretend that we're friends," he said, opening his arms and taking a step forward with a wide grin on his face, "Come on, let's dance."

He grabbed both of her hands and with their hands clasped, Steve stepped up to Harper and unlinked one of his hands from hers, placing it around her waist. She slipped her hand up to his shoulder and soon they were slow dancing in the rain. It poured down and they were both laughing, just moving together like they didn't know they could.

Steve led the dance, pulling the redhead closer to him. A warm sensation went through his veins at being so close to her. Then Harper released their interlocked fingers and wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling. Steve smiled back, holding her tight with both of his arms around her now.

"I had no idea you were such a great dancer," the detective mused.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me," Steve admitted, chuckling. "Besides, dancing is like sex only you do it standing up. So, I, of course..."

Harper rolled her eyes and said, "Please! Could you spare me the tales of your sexual prowess for just one evening?" Steve agreed with a grin and the rain seemed to ease up slightly as they danced around in circles, left and right and back and forth.

"Made your wish yet?" The S.E.A.L. asked, looking down at her.

Harper smiled, closed her eyes and then after a few moments, she opened them again, "Done."

"What did you wish for?"

"If I told you, then I risk it not coming true."

"When it comes true, will you tell me then?"

Harper considered his request for a moment and said, "Deal."

He grinned, leading her in a twirl, the water splashing beneath their feet, rain falling harder again.

"I feel so… alive!" She shouted to him over the sound of the rain. Steve laughed, letting go of her, allowing her go out on her own twirling once again, which was beginning to make her dizzy. Harper spun around and around several times, finally stopping, hunched over with her hands on her knees as she tried to settle her head from the dizzy spell that hit her. She was still laughing, even when Steve walked up to her, helping her get steady on her feet.

"I think we've had enough for one night. It's late…" he said, gazing up toward the sky.

The smile on Harper's face partly faded, "Not yet, Steven. I just don't want this to end."

He stood there and watched her for a minute and then realized that he was much more than fascinated with this amazing woman. It wasn't simply physical…it wasn't the red hair or the full lips or anything else. It was all of it. All of her. He loved her. The realization hit him like a freight train and before he could stop himself he blurted out the only words that popped into his head…

"Marry me?"

"What?" she asked turning toward him with a surprised look on her face.

"You heard me," he told her with a grin and then repeated, "Marry me!"

"When?"

"Tomorrow?"

"I have to work tomorrow," she told him, putting her hand on her hip and cocking her head to the side. He knew she was trying to find out if this was some sort of a joke, so she said coyly, "But I'm off on Thursday."

"Then marry me on Thursday."

Unable to stop himself, Steve pulled her into his arms again and Harper tried to catch the breath that had been taken from her. He placed a finger under her chin, raising her face to view his. She was truly beautiful. As their lips met in a kiss that would be treasured for eternity, the rain began to beat harder upon them. Deepening the kiss, Harper placed her arms around his neck, feeling the passion burn within her soul.

They were laughing when they pulled apart. Needing no words for the moment, they held on to each other and ran for shelter, suspecting that a kiss in the rain was just the beginning…

Harper James shuddered awake on the bed in a dungeon somewhere in Hawaii. The memory of the night Steve had asked her to marry him was simply that…a memory. Her mind was playing tricks on her. He wasn't there. They weren't back in Chicago. They weren't falling in love.

She was alone.

Wo Fat and his accomplice were gone.

Time and space seemed completely alien entities to her at that moment, the blanket unfamiliar below her aching fingertips as she struggled to her feet, her whole body shivering with a sense of dread and unknown doom. Was it all a dream?

No, she told herself said firmly, it was definitely not a dream.

The thought of never seeing Steve again was too much to bear. No more kisses. No more arguments. No more fiery looks shared between them. They had been given a second chance and then it was ripped away from her without any warning. A heart wrenching sob…one of complete devastation, desperation and pure and utter torment escaped her throat. It was the type of inhumane sound that caused people standing by to plug up their ears, wrench out a pain of their own and try to soothe out the agony that caused it.

Her legs were heavy as she dragged herself over to the heavy wooden door that encased within their grace her freedom and her sanity. She enclosed one of the metal bars from the small window in the palm of her hand, feeling its coldness secure itself to her flesh like ice, sticking right there and refusing to let go. Refusing to let her go.

And then she began to think.

Thinking was always a dangerous occupation. She had spent too much time thinking in the past, and that realization alone pushed her to the edge of madness, having to reconsider every little step she'd made and analyze its purpose. But she had to think, make herself think.

Harper breathed out again, the air that escaped easily defined from the dungeon draught by its warmth and vibrancy upon her paling skin. It was a shaky sigh, one that personified the doubt that eclipsed her mind at that moment. Everything depended on her.

So she listened.

She didn't know what she was listening for, but it was the only prompt she ever relied on. The whistling of the wind was often a muse, whispering ideas into her receptacle brain that she'd long to get down on paper before they evaporated into the unstable air, rejoining the natural forces that caused such rage in inspiration. But the wind was whispering fear. It whisked around the stone walls of whatever abode she was in like a circus trainer whipping a bear, causing moans of anguish that didn't seem possible in the human sphere of ability. She wondered from whom they originated, and felt her stomach churn as it dawned on her that she may not be alone in this prison. Someone else could have been captured before her, possibly just feet away. Separated by stone and dirt. They were close.

Close. The thought suddenly dawned on her.

"Hello?"

The loudness of her voice was startling for an instant, in the context of nothing being able to halt its echoes as the sound of her cry gradually filled the empty cavern. She held her breath, not daring to release it again in case she missed the smallest of replies, the smallest of murmers, of hope.

"Is anyone out there?"

Tap.

Her heart ceased to beat for an instant, too aware of every creak to take in the necessity of living. She listened again.

Tap tap tap. Pause. Tap tap tap.

Harper smiled in spite of herself. A broad, wide grin that wasn't the emblem of unsuitable happiness in the face of such uncertainty, but something of justice. Something of a job well done. Something was going to work.

Morse code.

She held out a finger that was encircled with a ring that had once belonged to her mother and held it against the metal bar.

Tap tap tap.

But what came back to her was not Morse code.

"Shhhh…." a gruff voice in the darkness hissed. "He's coming."

Before Harper could respond, the silent darkness was interrupted by another sound.

A door.

Heavy feet descending some nearby stairs.

Harper moved away from the door and laid back down on the bed, but continued to listen as if her life depended upon it. Every cop instinct she ever had was on full alert.

Doors opening and closing. Large, heavy doors. Like the one she was currently staring at. One, two, three, four. Four other doors.

And then he was close. She could feel him standing outside her door. Slowly the door opened and in the half light, Harper made out the silhouette of her captor. Without a word, the monster who called himself Wo Fat moved silently across the room and put a tray down on the table next to the bed.

He looked down at her and saw her watching him, so he informed her in a deep voice, "The food is yours. It's not a trick. I'm not going take it away the last second. I want to keep you alive, so you need to eat."

"I'm sick," she told him, only half lying.

"I definitely believe that you feel sick," Wo Fat responded with an evil laugh. "But that will pass. It always does."

As he handed her a glass of water, thoughts of Steve came flooding back to her mind. Did he realize she was missing yet? Had he even bothered to come check on her or did he simply let her walk away again? Should she have reported in for work by now? If she hadn't, would he simply assume that she was playing games and trying to make him suffer? Would no one would realize she was gone until hours from now? After taking a sip, she placed the half-full water glass on her thigh and closed her hand around it.

"Is this about Steve McGarrett?" Harper asked suddenly, causing him to look over at her quickly, "Because if it is, you're making a mistake."

Wo Fat scooted closer to her, crouched down and, Harper thought, looked ready to spring. "How is that, Detective James?"

"You probably think that taking me is a way to get to Steve. But I'm old news. We got divorced. He's moved on with his life." Harper bent her right wrist to take awkward hold of the bedpost and continued, "I'm not connected to him anymore. You're just wasting your time with me."

Wo Fat pushed out his lips, considering her words, and then shook his head as he informed her, "That wasn't the impression I got last night. In his office. After that chat with daddy." Harper stopped her movements, shocked that Wo Fat could had witnessed that. "In fact, you and Commander McGarrett looked downright cozy."

The fear Harper had managed to suppress began to well up again. Wo Fat had been watching her and Steve, maybe for just one day, maybe for longer. Knowing she needed to pull Wo Fat's focus, she offered up a suggestion that made her flush with guilt and remorse, "You have no idea what you saw. Someone is feeding you misinformation."

"The Commander means something to you, doesn't he?" Haper's stomach twisted at the frightening knowledge Wo Fat had of her movements. "I admit, that's an interesting wrinkle in my plan. But I wouldn't count on the upstanding Navy man to come to your rescue." And then Wo Fat lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, wrapping a hand intimately around Harper's calf saying, "I hear Commander McGarrett is afraid of your daddy."

But Harper wasn't listening. With a sudden movement, she smashed the lip of the glass she was clutching against the bedpost and slashed it across Wo Fat's face. He fell away with a scream as she lunged forward to stab the weapon into his chest, hoping the force would pull her hand free. She made contact and felt the shards push into his body, but with a wrenching snap she ricocheted backward, her back connecting painfully with the bed as the broken glass flew from her hand. Stunning pain flooded her senses and she knew without looking she'd broken her wrist. Struggling to her feet, she fought not to black out as she clenched her jaw to brace for the pain in her hand.

But before she knew it, Wo Fat had recovered and lifted his hand to give her a backhanded slap across her face and closed the other around her throat and brought his face down to hers as he said forcefully, "That was not a smart move, detective."

Harper was terrified and disgusted, but tried not to show it as she nodded, afraid of losing her oxygen supply, and he let go of throat as he said, "Maybe I need to give you a reason to be a little more afraid of me than you are."

Then suddenly, with one hand he yanked her off the bed and to her feet. Pulling on her arm as if he were trying to pull it from the socket, Harper yelled out as a violent pain shot through her arm. It exploded in the soft space behind her eyes and in a panic, Harper saw the stun gun in his hand and realized she had made a terrible mistake. He leveled it at her chest and shot her.

She willed herself to keep standing, to stay up, but her body didn't seem to work anymore and she slumped to the floor. He was going crazy now. The youngest James child stared at him in muted horror as he raised his boot and began to kick out at her. She could taste the blood, and feel her lips swelling. There was a hollow ringing in her ears, and she knew she was slipping into unconsciousness.

And then it was over. He was gone.

Lying in a crumpled pile on the dirty floor, her vision was blurred. But there was nothing to see anyway. With all of her training, she was unable to defend herself against him. He had seen to that with the drugs he was giving her. He wanted her powerless and he had succeeded. She started to cry hot tears, and that made her even angrier.

"You fucker," she muttered out loud, finally gaining enough strength in her arms to lift herself off the dirty floor. "You stupid motherfucker."

She didn't want to die. She wasn't ready. She hadn't accomplished all she had set out to do yet. She wasn't yet someone's wife or someone's mother. She was a cop. And a damn good one. She stared into the faces of monsters every day, but now she was going to die at the hands of a maniac.

I don't want to die.

I can beat him.

I don't want to die.

He will NOT win…

The prison was quiet again. He was gone. She desperately needed to talk to someone.

Dragging her beaten and broken body over to the door, she called out hoarsely, "Hello out there?"

Surprised by the raspiness of her own voice, she waited. When no one answered, she tried again, "My name is Harper James. I'm a detective with the Chicago Police Department but I am in Hawaii working with the Five-0 Task Force! Somebody help me!"

Silence.

"I know you're out there! I know you can hear me!" Harper yelled, her voice strengthening with her courage. "Come on! Who's out there?"

Harper paused again and waited for an answer. But there was still no response. They were scared. And they were right to be petrified. But Harper was tired of being afraid. Now she was just angry. Banging her fist on the door, she called out again, "My name is Harper James…somebody talk to me! Who is out there?"

And then suddenly, a voice like an angel came out of the darkness, saying, "That is not your name."

Someone were there! And it sounded like a man. Pulling herself up closer to the window, she called again, "What's your name? Talk to me, please, please, please. Tell me your name."

More silence. And then finally…

"Your full name is Harper Elizabeth James McGarrett."

A wave of emotions flooded over the detective as she wondered how this man could possibly know her name, so she called back, "How do you know my name?"

And then…

"Because I was at your wedding."

She suddenly recognized his voice. But it couldn't be true. Her senses must be playing games with her, but Harper knew she would never forget. Slumping down against the heavy wooden door, the redhead finally succumbed to the hot tears that were gathering behind her eyes and let them roll down her face as she asked the question again, "Who are you?"

"It's me, Harper," the voice informed her, "It's Jack McGarrett."