Thank you. You guys have no idea how motivating is to read the reviews and PMs from you. It always makes my day. I hope you'll enjoy the rest of the story as well. Let's just dive into it.

The Fire Department headquarters was on South Street, just five minutes drive from Iolani Palace. Lou and Quinn parked in a space between the two bright red fire trucks and approached the building. They pushed the door open and stepped inside.

"I'm looking for the senior fire officer," Lou said.

"Mr. Tanner? He's in the back. Who are you?"

"Captain Grover and sergeant Liu, Five-0."

"Wait here."

They waited while the officer went back into a room at the rear of the building. When he returned, the officer that Lou and Danny had spoken to last night was with him.

"Hello," he said.

"You remember me, Chief?"

"Sure I do. You were at the hotel fire last night. How can I help?"

"You got anything else on it?" On what caused it?"

He nodded. "We do. Come with me."

He took them through a door that led into a yard at the back of the building. There was a wooden lean-to built against the office. He collected a large jerry can inside a clear plastic evidence sack and put it on the ground at their feet.

"We found that around the back of the office. It had gasoline inside it. Pretty obvious what happened. Someone poured it out as an accelerant and then torched the place." He put the can back where he had found it and headed over to a vending machine next to the office door. "You guys want anything?"

"We're fine, thanks," Quinn said.

The fire officer reached into his pocket for change and dropped some coins into the slot. "Are you investigating it?" he said as he collected a can of Coke.

"No," Quinn said. "Arson's not really our scene."

"Not because of the arson," he said. "Because of the bodies."

"What bodies?"

"You don't know?"

Lou shook his head.

The officer popped the top of the can and took a long swig. "Okay," he said. "The door to the office was locked when we tried it, so we broke it down. There were two bodies inside."

"Let me guess," Lou said. "Male and female?"

He nodded. "We had forensics come over right away. A man and a woman, like you say. We couldn't tell shit, they were so badly burned up, but they were able to ID them from their teeth."

"Neil and Danielle Mitchell?"

"That's right, Captain. The manager and his wife. They took them away and autopsied them. They'd both been shot in the head. So we're thinking it's obvious what happened. Someone kills them, locks the door, and sets the office on fire to burn the bodies."

"Thank you, Chief," Lou said.

"You need anything else?"

"No," Lou said. "That's it."

Steve was taken out into a yard at the back of the building and tossed to the ground. The big man, Savage, worked him over once more. Steve covered up, protecting himself as best he could. It was mercifully brief this time, although each blow heaped pain upon pain until his body felt like one single throbbing bruise.

He was picked up and hauled back through the prison to his cell. The door was opened and he was dumped inside.

"Are you okay?"

Steve groaned.

"Hey, wake up."

Steve put his palms flat on the floor and raised himself up. He tried to open his eyes and found that his right was already swollen shut. He opened his left eye. A man was staring down at him from the cell opposite his. He was wearing the same orange prison jumpsuit as Steve. His face was deeply tanned and lined with age.

Steve struggled to raise himself. It took him a while to get into a sitting position with his back against the wall of the cell.

He tried to speak, but his mouth felt as if it were clogged with dust.

He shuffled over to his left, grimacing in pain, until he could reach the water tap. He turned it on and scooped water into his hand. He put it to his lips and poured the water in, swirling it around and then spitting it out onto the floor at his side. Then he drank, slugging the tepid water down until his thirst was slaked, and closed the tap again.

The man watched him the whole time.

"Who are you?" Steve managed to ask.

"Aydan," he said. "And you're Steve, right?"

Steve stiffened, sensing more trouble coming his way. He didn't answer.

"Relax," Aydan said. "I try to avoid violence if possible. But some of the people in here would love to get their hands on a cop. Five-0, if my information is right."

It crossed Steve's mind he could lie, but what was the point? He was screwed one way or the other. "How do you know that?" he asked instead.

"I have been here for a while. I have friends here. They talk. They told me about you. They say you murdered your ex."

Steve opened his mouth to protest and say he hadn't done that, but then he remembered Roederer's threat, the picture of Danny behind the bars, and the live feed of his son and Danny's kids. He decided against taking any chances and didn't reply.

"You haven't been in here before," Steve said, certain the cell had been empty until now.

"I pissed off a couple of wrong guys. It's a long story. They moved me here this afternoon. For my protection, or so they said. Maybe not. I don't ask questions when this happens. It would bring nothing but more trouble."

Steve nodded, a spike of pain shooting through his skull with the movement. "If you want to avoid trouble I'm not the sort of person you'd want to talk to," he said.

The old man waved that away. "You need a friend, I think. Someone to help you."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because you need it. I have done many bad things in my life, Steve. I seek to make amends for them. I try to help when I can. And I think you need help. You have made enemies in here."

Steve closed his eyes and saw Roederer's face again, the bloodlust in his eyes as he had watched Savage laying into him.

"I heard you've been beaten before they even brought you back here," Aydan said. "Let me guess. The guards led you somewhere private and let someone beat the crap out of you? My money would be on Savage. The big guy."

"You got this from your friends, too?"

"They talk. And the guards in this unit are corrupt. Everybody knows that. I knew they've got their eyes set on you the moment I've seen you walk into the canteen this morning. You shouldn't have been there. Somebody doesn't like you it seems."

Steve figured that much. "This guy - Savage," he said, wincing as he arranged himself into a slightly more comfortable position. "Tell me about him."

"He is a dangerous man. He has killed many other men for different people from here and from outside as well. I suggest you try to stay away from him."

That was easier said than done. Steve was certain he'd see a lot more of this guy, whether he wanted to or not.

"Any idea why they did this to you?" Aydan asked.

Steve had no interest in revealing too much to a man he had only just met. Especially knowing the safety of his loved ones was at stake. "No," he lied. "I'm still trying to work that out."

"You have to be careful around here," Aydan said. "This isn't a safe place, especially for you. The other notice you because you're a cop. And you've killed a woman, that'll earn you a few beatings too if they manage to get to you. Or maybe they'll find out who is your enemy and they'll want to make him their friend."

He didn't think he needed to worry about that. Roederer was clear about that. He wanted to keep him around for a while yet. To punish him before he got rid of him.

"You should be careful too," Steve said. "If they find out you're talking to me, it might not go down well."

Aydan smiled, revealing a mouth full of tar-blackened teeth. "I am an old man, Steve. I have been here most of my life. I will never leave. What are they going to do to me?"

Steve didn't say anything, still trying to wrap his head around the reason anyone would want to help him, considering he was a cop in jail and anyone trying to be kind to him was a potential target too.

"Have you eaten?" Ayden asked.

Steve shook his head before he realized it was a wrong move once again. "No," he said. "Not since breakfast."

"Here."

Ayden slid a package wrapped in paper across the hall, right to Steve's cell. "I've exchanged it for a small favor for a friend, but I just had dinner."

Steve hesitated. His stomach was gurgling. He had nothing to eat the day he'd been arrested and this morning he didn't get a chance to finish the tiny portion of his breakfast.

"Come on, take it."

Steve did. He opened it up and looked down at a handful of dried fish. He took a mouthful. His jaw ached every time he tried to chew and the food was cold and unpleasant. But he was starving, and he knew that he would need to maintain his strength if he was going to survive. He finished the fish, screwed up the paper and put it down on the floor.

"Thanks, man."

Aydan held up his hands. "You are welcome. Now, you should sleep while you can."

It was dark when a guard finally came for Danny. But instead of cuffing his hands and leading him away as he had expected, the man opened up the door of the holding cell and stepped aside.

Danny lifted his head and stared at him in confusion.

"You can go," the guard snarled. "Agent Hoffman decided to drop the charges. But you come back here again and you sure won't be that lucky for the second time."

Danny didn't understand. He had hoped for Five-0 to somehow get him out, but he didn't expect the agent would have a sudden change of heart. His guess was that his colleagues had something to do with that.

"Come on, I don't have the whole day."

Without protests, Danny stood up and followed the guard. They stopped to get Danny's wallet, car keys, and phone on the way out, then the guard led him to the reception, never leaving him out of sight.

Danny's emotions were all jumbled up by the time he walked out to the street. The rage he was feeling in the morning dissipated over the long hours, and transformed mostly into worry about his best friend. He needed to get right back to work in order to help Steve.

As he walked up to the car park, he recognized Lou leaning against the hood of Danny's Camaro. Lou's arms were crossed over his chest and it was obvious he was waiting for Danny. Expecting an unpleasant pep talk, he made his way toward his friend.

"What were you thinking, Danny?" Lou said before Danny had a chance to open his mouth.

"I…" Danny began. "I haven't been thinking, okay?"

"Of course you haven't, otherwise you would've known how stupid that was."

"Lou, that man threatened my kids, threatened Steve and Jamba, okay?" Danny said.

"Have you seen him?" Lou asked.

"Have I seen him?"

"Last night, at your place. You didn't get the plate and you said the windows on the car were dark. So have you seen it was Hoffman?"

Danny scrunched his brows. "No, but he fits Grace's description."

"Yeah, and so do another few hundreds of dark-haired men wearing a suit. You had nothing on him, Danny. Look, man, I'm not saying that asshole didn't deserve it, because he most certainly did, but look where it got you."

"He managed to get Steve hurt, Lou!" Danny snapped, barely holding his emotions at bay. "And he lied to my face about that."

Lou lifted his hands in a gesture for Danny to calm down. When he next spoke, his voice was gentler. "I know about Steve. Odell called us, that's how we figured out you did something stupid. But again, there is no proof it was Hoffman, Danny. You can't walk in the Federal Bureau pointing your finger with nothing to prove your words."

Lou was right, Danny knew that. Yet it was deeply frustrating not to be able to get a single piece of evidence he could use against Hoffman.

"We all want to get Steve out just as bad as you, man," Lou kept talking. "But you need to keep our emotions in check. If you don't, it's gonna cloud your judgment, all right? You gotta suck it up, push it aside, and focus on the endgame. Can you do that?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah," he said, rubbing his face. "I know. I just… I hate that guy."

"We all do. But this isn't the way."

"Right," Danny agreed. "So, what about Steve? Did Odell tell you what Steve had said?"

Lou's frown deepened. "Yeah, but that's not gonna help us."

"Why not?"

"Cause Steve doesn't remember a thing."

"He… what?"

"According to Odell, the last thing Steve remembers is meeting Lynn at the bar. Then he woke up in a hotel room with her body in the bathroom."

Danny shook his head, refusing to believe this was happening. This was all like a bad dream and he wanted to wake up from it finally.

"But thanks to officer Harrison's quick acting, we might know why that's a case."

"The one who had arrested Steve?"

"That's right," Lou confirmed. "She got Steve booked and had a toxicology done before FBI took over."

"And? Had he been drinking?"

"No."

"No?"

"Not a drop. But there was flunitrazepam found in his bloodstream. Unfortunately, by the time she got the results back and realized she got the wrong guy, the feds already transferred Steve to FDC and there was nothing she could do anymore."

Danny's eyes widened. "So, he's been drugged?"

"Yes, but I'm going to disappoint you if you think that's good news," Lou said. "The report she was talking about somehow happened to disappear. It's been wiped out from the system, as it had never been done at all. So once again we have nothing to use."

"What? It can't just disappear like that!"

"Not without someone's help," Lou agreed.

Danny pinched the base of his nose in concentration. He took a deep breath before speaking again. "Okay, what about the hotel manager? Did you get in touch with him after the fire?" he asked, hoping for at least some good news.

The grim expression on Lou's face told him there wouldn't be any, though. "I talked to the fire chief this morning," Lou began. "The manager and his wife had been shot and then someone torched the place."

Danny's jaw dropped. "That's not a coincidence," he said.

Lou shook his head. "There's more," he said with a sigh.

Danny looked up at him, lifting an eyebrow in question. "More?"

"What? You didn't think we've been sitting around all day doing nothing, did you?" Lou said.

"I'm not gonna like it, am I?"

"No," Lou confirmed. "It's the bar owner."

"What about him?"

"He's dead. Someone shot him as he came out of the bar last night and left him in the street."

Danny felt sick. "Did someone see it?"

"A local junkie passing by. He said someone shot the owner after he locked up, then shot him two more times while on the ground, and left. He didn't try to stop him and didn't see the shooter's face. But he says there are rumors that the owner was selling drugs and that's what got him killed."

Danny might have believed it yesterday, but after the murder of the hotel manager and his wife, and the mysterious disappearance of the only piece of evidence that could've helped Steve, it would be too much of a coincidence. Someone was getting rid of the witnesses. That he was certain of.

"I'm not buying it," he said.

"Neither are we," Lou agreed. "We've got officer Harrison in the witness protection program, just in case someone would like to get to her before she has a chance to testify. The man who witnessed the bar owner's death refused, though. I guess he didn't like the idea of staying under our supervision. We can't force him to do that, but we've got Tani and Junior keeping an eye on him right now."

"Good," Danny said. "What about the footage from the bar? Did you get it?"

"The hard disk was gone."

"Damn it!" Danny couldn't hide his frustration any longer. "We need something, Lou. Steve… he's there all alone, all right? A cop in a federal jail under the thumb of the corrupt agent. What if…"

"Uh-uh, don't do that," Lou stopped him. "I know you're worried, but Steve can take care of himself, okay? He'll hang in there until we figure something out."

Danny hoped his friend was right, but he had this feeling he couldn't explain that was eating him up. The feeling something was very wrong and they didn't have time to lose. The terrible images of everything that can happen behind the bars were running wild in his head. With a deep breath, he tried to force those images away, but couldn't. "We just got him back, Lou," he said, fighting to maintain his composure. He couldn't lose Steve again. He just couldn't.

"I know," Lou said. "And we'll get him back again."

Danny nodded.

"You should call Rachel. She's been trying to reach you," Lou said.

"Are the kids okay?"

"They're fine. In the safehouse right where you left them, with Rachel and two HPD officers."

"Did you tell her what happened?"

"I told her you were busy and that you'll call her as soon as you can."

"Thanks. Come on. I'll call her on the way."

"On the way where?" Lou asked, a confused grimace on his face.

"Lynn's mother."

"What about her?"

Danny opened the driver's door, ready to get in, but Lou stood glued to the spot, waiting for an answer. "Look," he began. "Lynn asks Steve to meet her out of nowhere, picks a shady bar, books a cheap hotel room, and then Steve gets drugged and framed of murder? I wanna know what's going on here and I need to ask her mother a couple of questions. So are you going, or…?

"No. And neither are you," Lou pointed his finger at Danny. "Give an old lady a break, will you? She just lost her daughter and you want to walk in there at ten in the evening and suggest Lynn had something to do with this?"

"I need to know."

"Look. How about we go in the morning? You go to the safehouse, see your kids, get a shower and some sleep finally. You'll start with a clear head tomorrow."

"I'm not tired."

"Come on…"

"Lou… Steve needs my help, okay? I can't sit around and do nothing."

"Danny, Steve is not the only one who needs you right now," Lou said.

Danny stiffened at that. He remained quiet for a moment, thinking.

"Besides, we're not doing nothing," Lou said. "But it's been two days, Danny. We'll all think clearer after a couple hours of sleep. We can go to see Lynn's mother the first thing in the morning, if that's what you want to do."

"Fine," Danny said eventually.

"So can I leave now without fear you would do something stupid again?" Lou asked.

"I'm going straight to the safehouse, all right?"

"For real?"

"For real."

"Okay," Lou said, straightening himself up. He kept staring at Danny for a few more seconds as if trying to determine whether it was safe to let him go. "See you in the morning, then?"

"Yeah."

Lou said his goodbye and walked over to his car parked next to Danny's and gave Danny one more look before driving off. Thinking about Lou's words and all the information he'd given him, Danny got in the car too. Lou was right. Steve wasn't the only one who needed him right now.

He sucked in a breath, put a car into gear, and drove off.

Yes, he would go to the safehouse, as he'd told Lou. But first, he had to make one quick stop on his way there.

*to be continued*

Does this count as being "a little" nice to Steve?

I hope you don't find this chapter too boring. There's not much action and not much happened either. I've written this chapter longer, but then I realized I was at almost 6000 words and not even done yet, so I decided to split it into two chapters instead.

Please drop a review if you can. I appreciate every single one.