Huge thanks for your reviews and PMs. I wasn't sure you'd like the previous chapter as I wasn't 100% satisfied with it, but I'm glad you did.
I've been neglecting this story in the past few week so I am posting this one early to make up for it. I'm sure you don't mind.
A sound caught his attention. He saw it a moment later. Racing in, several HPD cars nearing the jetty. People flooding out of the vehicles. Rushing along to the yacht at the end, where Hoffman held the squirming child's wrist with one hand, while the other one aimed a gun at Steve.
Hoffman stole a glance in that direction too, and curled his lips into an angry snarl as his eyes jumped from Steve to the child by his side and back. He made a decision. One that Steve didn't anticipate.
One second Steve was staring into the barrel of a gun, fighting to stay afloat and scrambling energy for his next move, and the next one blood froze in his veins with the sight of the tiny body being pushed overboard. He watched in abject horror as Lynn's daughter… his daughter… disappeared in the dark waves.
He heard a scream. Maybe it was his own, he wasn't sure anymore.
Without thinking, Steve started to move through the water to the best of his abilities. Whether she was or wasn't his daughter, it didn't matter. That kid's life depended on him. He had to hurry. To get her out of the water before it was too late. But… Realization dawned on him mere seconds later.
He wasn't moving forward. Not a single inch. The stormy waves were working against him and he had no strength to get through. Every time he managed to move, he was pushed back. And with every futile attempt, he could feel himself drifting more and more.
Come on. Come on, please. Just a little longer.
But he was done. Losing the grasp on his consciousness, he knew he was done fighting. No matter the motivation, there was nothing left in him. His heart was in panic mode, the thought of being unable to save the girl making him sick to his stomach.
He didn't even know her name.
The wave washed over him, making him think it would suck him in for good, but the next second his face was somehow out of water again, and he caught a glance of a figure diving off the boat right where the kid was dropped.
He could see people running and hear them shouting over. It took Steve's confused brain a couple of seconds to determine what they were saying.
Don't move. Stay where you are.
Or something like that at least. But were they shouting at him, or…
He forced himself to lift his head just a little bit. Looked at the whole scene again.
Roederer.
Out of water. On his knees, shivering as he coughed water from his lungs. Police officers flanking him on both sides, one of them with a gun trained at him while the other one cuffed his wrists.
Hoffman.
Jumping across the moored boats in a futile attempt to flee.
Quinn in a pursue of him.
Lou and Adam rushing to help her out.
A woman cutting the dirty agent off, forcing him down to his knees with a weapon trained on his chest. Kono. It was Kono!
And Chin with Junior.
Swimming over to the yacht and passing the little girl to Tani, who swiftly hauled the kid out of the water.
That was the last thing he saw.
His vision blurred out once again, and consciousness began to slip. Another wave came in. Within seconds, the ocean swallowed him whole, swirling around him, crushing him as he was sinking deeper into the darkness of the night.
He held his breath, using the last shreds of strength he didn't know he had. But soon, his lungs were on fire. Every cell in his body was screaming for oxygen that was nothing more than a wishful dream. The increasing pressure constricted his chest, slowly squeezing the remains of air from his lungs. Still, he held on.
Until he couldn't anymore.
Sending a silent apology to Jamba, to Danny, to his whole ohana he just… took a breath. Instantly, water flooded into his nostrils. The burning in his lungs and throat intensified and the world around him seemed to slow down and go completely silent. His head and his limbs felt heavier than ever before, dragging him deeper. With another breath, the light reflections breaking above the surface started to fade away. They seemed further and further every second, just like his chance of a breath.
So this was it. This was the end.
Yet, he wasn't afraid.
If he was given a choice, this was how he'd choose to go. In the ocean, which he loved deeply despite its undeniable power and dangers.
He didn't fight it as he descended further. It didn't even hurt as much as he'd expected. Not anymore, at least. Yet, it wasn't peaceful either. It was like floating in the void. There was no time, no sound, no difference between dream and reality. It was a never-ending ocean… claiming him.
And with that thought, he gave in as the last of the lights faded out.
She listened.
The Governor finally listened to him and he'd be forever grateful to the interrogating officer for finding a way to give him that chance. It was far from over and they were definitely not done talking either, as the Governor reminded him. There would be a new investigation starting over, but for now… she actually believed him. More than that.
She told him where to find Steve and Maddie.
The last person he'd expect such a piece of information from. Yet, she knew somehow.
And that somehow became obvious when two of his friends showed up in the building, telling him everything about Steve's message to the Governor. The damn fool was willing to share his location under the simple condition of his team being spared and given a chance to explain.
Barely able to calm his breaths, his brain whirled, imagining his friend in all kinds of terrible scenarios. Waiting for a backup had never been Steve's style, so the fact he went there injured and alone didn't surprise Danny at all, yet it was a deeply troubling thought plaguing his mind as the HPD car he and his friends were sitting in raced through the streets of Honolulu.
He didn't know what to expect. Feared it with every single cell in his body as he climbed out of the vehicle. More cars pulled up while he frantically searched for something out of order. But the marina was quiet, save the loud wailing of the police sirens.
"You sure it's here?" He turned his head to Kono with a dubious lift of an eyebrow.
"That's what he wanted us to tell the Governor," she said. "So, unless it was a li–"
A sharp retort of a weapon being fired, loud and unmistakable, echoed through the night, cutting Kono off mid-sentence.
Danny's heart seized. Before he knew it, he was sprinting toward the source of the sound with the rest of the group on his heels.
A shadow flickered on one of the yachts in the distance. "Over there!" he called out and picked up the pace.
The rest happened way too fast and almost all at once.
Maddie disappearing in the waves. Steve in the water, struggling to stay afloat. Roederer climbing up the jetty, coughing up a lung. Hoffman jumping over the side of the yacht to the one moored next to it. Sprinting away.
Assessing the scene, Danny froze in horror, for a second unable to act, to move, to even breathe. But it didn't take long for his brain to realize he had to do something. Before he had a chance to move, Chin and Junior were already in the water, going for Maddie, and two HPD officers were helping Roederer to get out of the water. Once knowing the kid was in good hands, he glanced in Steve's direction, then back to Hoffman.
He wanted to get the bastard so bad it almost physically hurt. But his best friend seemed like he could use a hand and it wasn't even a choice, really, to prioritize between the two.
"Go get your boy," Lou said. "We've got this." And the next second he was sprinting away along with Quinn and Adam.
Kono sped away too.
He turned back to Steve and… his friend was nowhere to be seen.
"Steve?" he called out as he finally managed to break the invisible glue holding him in the spot. His eyes laser-focused on the very spot where he'd seen his partner just seconds ago. Searched the surrounding area. But it was just a wave after wave coming in and Steve was still out of his sight. "Steve!"
He was sprinting again, his heart in panic mode when no answer came.
Without thinking, he dove off the boat. Paddled through the waves as fast as he could. Slid under the surface and saw nothing. Nothing but the blackest black underneath him and a faint reflection of the lights above.
No sign of Steve.
Fear threatened to swallow him whole, and even after coming back to the surface, he felt like he couldn't get air into his lungs. Frantically kicking the water, he checked around him, but to no avail.
No. This wasn't happening. Not again.
"Steve!" he yelled, letting the panic creep into his voice. No answer.
But it got the attention of people on board.
Junior read his panicked demeanor within a moment and even though he just scrambled up to the boat, he jumped right in, swimming in Danny's direction as fast as he could.
"I can't… I can't find him!" Danny explained, even though he didn't have to.
Before even finishing the sentence, his younger colleague sucked in a breath and disappeared under the surface. Danny followed the suit. Absolute terror gripped him when he searched the dark water but couldn't hold his breath any longer and had to come back up. What was it, three minutes now? Four? How long could Steve hold his breath for?
He wasn't an expert, but he knew that time was the key here. Mere seconds could mean the difference between life, permanent brain damage, or death. He couldn't even entertain the thought.
Diving right back down, this time a little deeper than before, Danny was on a verge of a breakdown when something brushed against the back of his arm. He turned around and found himself face to face with his best friend.
Unmoving. Pale. His limbs splayed next to his body and eyes closed.
Danny cried out, releasing nothing but bubbles out of his mouth.
Without further delay, Danny wrapped an arm around his friend and used his legs to propel them both back to the surface, which seemed impossibly far. Agonizing seconds passed, but it might as well be hours.
He didn't even realize how his lungs had been burning until he finally reached the surface and gasped for air.
"S-Steve?" he tried between labored breaths, knowing all too well his friend wouldn't respond.
Careful to keep his friend's face above water, he leaned over to listen for breathing, but Steve was utterly still and quiet, the blue hue of his lips a tell-tale sign of Danny's worst nightmare.
"Sorry buddy," he said. "But I have to do this. Feel free to wake up and yell at me, alright?"
Desperately trying to keep himself together, Danny shook off the water from his left hand, pinched Steve's nose, and sealed his lips around Steve's to provide a rescue breath. Then again. He watched his friend's chest rise and fall, but it wasn't nearly enough. He had to get him out of the water.
"Hey!" he called out, in hope of grabbing the attention of someone, anyone, on the boat. "I need help over here. He's not breathing!"
It got him the attention of Tani and several HPD officers. He trusted them to call the EMTs, while he turned back to Steve and breathed air into his lungs again.
Nothing happened.
He could feel wetness in his eyes that had nothing to do with the salty water washing over him as he kicked through the water to get them back to the boat in a steady rhythm.
Swim for a few seconds. Shake the water off. Breathe in.
Again and again, until a floating ring attached to a rope landed just inches from him. He grabbed it greedily and let themselves be pulled to the boat and then out of the water. In a corner of the eye, he caught sight of Junior emerging from the water in the distance just when he finally climbed back to the yacht.
Out of breath, Danny turned his attention back to Steve as the two officers who dragged his friend out of water laid him carefully on the floor. He dropped on his knees beside Steve in a split second, and pressed his trembling fingers to his carotid artery to check for the pulse.
At that moment, the time stopped and the world around ceased to exist.
Because there was nothing but silence beneath his fingers.
*to be continued*
You know I would warn you if this was a deathfic, right? No warning = no death.
Not sorry about the little cliffie.
Feel free to share your thoughts with me, they're always appreciated.