Finally, Steve is here.

…

Damn it. Steve is here.

Danny's ability to think was fuzzy at best, but he knew something was wrong. Steve was not where he was supposed to be. His voice was not right above him, coaxing him to rejoin the living. It was distant. Steve was not helping him get his hands free, or rolling him over to evaluate his injuries, or supporting him in an attempt to pull him up to sitting. He was there, but he wasn't where he was supposed to be.

Chin.

He had heard Chin's voice as well, telling Steve to calm down, of course, but also addressing… Gabriel. That was the other person's voice he had heard.

Damn it. Party? What party? He must have heard that wrong.

"Danny?"

There it was again… Steve.

"Yeah," he heard himself say.

He sounded angry. He wasn't angry, not at Steve at least. It was the frustration, and the fatigue, and the unsettled stomach, and the pain.

The back of his head was throbbing, however the space between his eyes was making a determined fight to win this ultimate battle of worst headache in history.

Purposefully wanting to turn down the sharpness of his tone, he swallowed and found that task to be a much harder chore than he anticipated.

What he wouldn't give for a drink of… anything, at this point. Even one of Grace's disgusting green, Kombuch… whatever would be welcome as long as it was in the form of liquid state of matter.

After taking far too long just to accomplish that menial task, he finally finished his answer, "yeah, I'm here."

"Then let's see those eyes then, okay?"

His eyes were open, weren't they? At least, that's what he had thought. Now he was going to have to take a shot at another difficult task, raising his eyelids so he could see what the hell was happening right now.

He managed to open just one first and heard footsteps nearing. Black pant legs, not cargo pants, and dress shoes, not combat boots, stepped into his line of vision and stopped. Curiosity won over and he forced the other eye open. He could see Mr. Dress Shoes squatting down to get closer to his level. He rolled onto his side to get a better view of his visitor. In the same movement, he pulled his arms from above his head toward his body, dragging the length of castoff rope with them. A grunt escaped his lips when his right shoulder objected to the change in position.

Something was wrong there.

He felt himself gritting his teeth as he fought through the screaming in the joint and probably stopped short of his intended goal of bringing his arms down to his body. They were now stretched out in front of him.

That was far enough and at least it was better than it was.

Even from the improved position on his side, he still had to tilt his head up to see who was squatting down beside him. He heard himself release a defeated sigh.

"Gabriel," Danny breathed out in disappointment.

"That's right, Detective. You're missing out on all of the fun. Glad you could join us."

Gabriel held a pistol in one hand that looked suspiciously like Steve's SIG. The gun was pointed toward the ground, loosely held from a bloody arm that hung in front of him. His other hand was gripping a nasty looking wound on his arm.

Too bad Steve, or whoever delivered that shot, wasn't just a little more accurate.

As his head cleared and his range of vision increased, he let his gaze wander around the room. This was the first time he had been in this part of the building, or at least the first time he had been allowed to see it.

What the hell is this place anyway? Where was Steve and Chin?

He had heard them… somewhere. He did not have to search long, when he saw two figures behind Gabriel. He recognized Chin first and then his focus tracked over to the other… Steve. Both of his friends were on their knees, sitting back on their haunches with their hands clasped behind their necks.

Yep. Confirmation. Damn it.

More questions began to clutter his weary brain.

How did they get here?

Where was the rest of the team?

Had Tani made it back to them?

He was not the only one that was weary. Although Steve's eyes looked sunken and tired, they were wide open as he stared at him, obviously scrutinizing and evaluating, trying to get a read of Danny's well-being to reassure himself. Chin kept flipping back and forth between watching Gabriel and watching Steve. Danny could see Chin was concerned that Steve was going to do something foolish, and knowing his partner intimately, he couldn't disagree.

"So, I was just telling your buddies, here, that we were about to have a party… a payback party. And guess what? You… are the esteemed guest of honor. Now, don't you feel lucky? You have missed out on some of the details leading up to this, so let me give you a brief summary. My brother-in-law, here, promised to bring my daughter back to the island, said he did bring her back, and was supposed to trade her to get you and the lovely Five-0 lady back. Well, surprise, surprise, that did not happen."

"Gabriel…" Chin tried to stop the ranting.

"Let me finish!" Gabriel snapped. "Anyway, cutting a very long story down to a short one, this has brought us back to you, Detective. They," he pointed the gun in Chin and Steve's direction, "didn't come through on their end, sooo, that means I have to follow through on my promise. Now, unfortunately Ms. Rey won't be here to join us, so you are what's left, but don't worry, you won't feel a thing."

Danny flashed his eyes toward Steve, worried that Gabriel's taunt would make him fly off the handle. He could see the storm raging behind Steve's eyes. He could feel the tension coursing through him that could snap at any instant. He dared a glance behind his partner to the man with the pistol pointed so close to the back of his skull. He, too, was on edge. He could see a tremble in his hand. The man obviously understood the responsibility his boss had put on him and knew he could not let him down. He could pull the trigger even at the slightest inkling of trouble. So, Danny did only what he knew to do. Danny smiled at Steve.

Did he get it? Did he know it was okay?

Don't you dare sacrifice yourself for me.

Gabriel rose from his crouched position and pointed the gun toward Danny. Danny instinctively shut his eyes, preparing for the end.

"Whoa, whoa," Steve interrupted in desperation. "Who else is coming after you?" The words came rushing out in a race to beat Gabriel's trigger finger.

Intrigued by the off-the-wall query, Gabriel cocked his head to the side and relaxed his stance.

Feeling relief for the reprieve, Steve slowed his speech and continued, "Out at the air strip… that second wave wasn't your men like we first thought. They weren't firing at us. They were firing on you. So, who are they?"

Gabriel released a small, nervous laugh and shook his head slightly as if he were confused by the question.

"You know. Don't you?" Steve was persistent.

"You're stalling, Commander. Delaying the inevitable. I don't know what you're talking about."

He was stalling. However, his question was legitimate. The helicopter and vehicles that had shown up before SWAT, had not been firing at Five-0. They also didn't seem to care if Five-0 got in the way, but they were not the main targets. Gabriel and his men had fled from them just as much, if not more than Five-0. He would most definitely question him about it.

Hell, yeah, he would use it. He would do whatever he had to do to find a way out of this mess. Where is Adam and Kono?

He just hoped it was enough to keep him engaged.

"So? Who else has it out for you?" Steve urged.

"I'll bite. What else have we got but time?" He harshly pushed Danny's shoulder with the bottom of his foot. "Right? You don't care, do ya?"

Danny groaned loudly as the bad shoulder shifted from a bearable stationary position. He consciously snapped his mouth shut to muffle the noise, not wanting Gabriel to have any additional satisfaction and not wanting to add any fuel to the "foolish" fire that he knew was burning in his partner. His body rocked to his back, but he pulled himself forward again so he could again see what was going on.

Steve felt his jaw clench, yet again, at Gabriel's merciless cruelty, but he maintained his composure.

"That little incursion at the air strip was none other than my… well, I guess my now former boss, Hajime Masuda. He has not been very pleased with my performance lately. So, as it would seem, it looks as though I'll be needing to look elsewhere for a livelihood and a new residence after I deal with some loose ends. I hear San Francisco is nice this time of year."

Chin knew he was trying get his goat, to turn the knife just a little more before finishing this, but he didn't take the bait. He would not give Gabriel anymore gratification than he was already getting from this fiasco that was playing out before his eyes.

"Masuda? Yakuza. Hmm. Doesn't sound good for you, my friend." Steve continued his strategy and was pleased to see Gabriel approach him. At least he was putting space between him and Danny. "You may want to look a bit farther away, maybe… Antarctica? How did you manage to get yourself on his bad side anyway?"

"Ironically, it was your fault, well probably more my brother-in-law's there." Chin and Gabriel exchanged a look, but his attention fell back on McGarrett. "He didn't appreciate the extracurricular time you were costing me."

"So, sounds like this is your fault," Steve proposed.

"Enough! You think I'm going to fall for your tricks?" Gabriel spun around.

"No, no, no," Steve tried.

Gabriel went back to stand above Danny, pointing the gun toward his head.

"I swear, Gabriel, I will kill you. If I have to hunt you to the ends of the earth, I will find you, and I will kill you," Steve vowed.

"Don't think so. Cause after I take care of your little 'buddy' here and let you watch, then I'm going to take care of you two. Any last words, Detective?"

"See you in hell," Danny managed to mumble.

"Well then, let's get on with it." Gabriel lined up his shot and moved his finger to the trigger.

That was all it took. Steve was a dead man after all. What did he have to lose? He had a gun trained on him, point blank. Chin was in the same situation. He hated that his actions could be the cause of Chin being shot, or worse, but it was inevitable anyway. He had to do something. Danny was hurt and defenseless. At least his hands were free. He had to save Danny, or die trying. Steve rose and propelled himself toward Gabriel in one artful movement.

He heard a loud bang, followed by a deformed whirring sound as he could swear he heard the bullet flying through the air as if in a time warp. Then he heard the thud of the bullet cutting through flesh and muscle, finding its intended terminus after its short journey.

~to be continued~

\,,,/BronsonL