CHAPTER 10

Tuesday afternoon, unknown location:

The sound of doors slamming roused Steve from his doze. Though the sound was muted through the solid concrete walls, Steve was certain he could hear multiple people moving throughout the house, talking and dragging things along the corridors. The sound of chatter faded, indicating the people were moving away from the house, potentially outside. There was a period of silence that followed.

This was probably the only time Steve could put his plan into action. Even if there were still people in the house guarding them, it meant there were possibly fewer people he would have to go through to get Grace to safety. Deciding it was the best odds they were going to get, Steve nudged Grace to wake her up.

Grace woke with a start and looked at her Uncle Steve with a confused expression, obviously wondering why he was waking her up. The next second everything must have flooded back to her because her eyes widened and she sat up quickly.

"Uncle Steve? What's going on?" she asked in a trembling voice.

Grace hoped that her Danno would have come to rescue her and Uncle Steve. She hoped this was all a really bad dream and that she would be home, safe in her own bed very soon. Unfortunately, that was not the case as the oppressive cement-lined room reminded her of their current predicament.

"Gracie, I need you to listen to me very carefully, okay? I have a plan. I think it's time we gave Danno some help in finding us," Steve explained.

"I thought Uncle Matt was going to get us out of here?" Grace said innocently.

Steve attempted a comforting grin. "Uncle Matt is doing his best to help us, but we will get out of here quicker if we are able to call Danno."

"How are we going to do that? We don't have a phone," Grace said, stating the obvious.

Steve's grin widened. "We are going to borrow one from the nice gentlemen outside the door."

Grace's eyes narrowed as she understood what her Uncle Steve was saying. "Are you going to be SuperSEAL?"

Steve snorted. "Yep. Okay, here's the plan Gracie. Listen very carefully."

Steve made sure to explain the plan very carefully. It was essential that she understood everything if he was going to get her out of there. The plan itself wasn't very difficult to remember, but if Grace was anything like Danny, her stubborn nature could cause the plan to derail.

When Steve was led out of the room where the ransom call was made, he had noticed that the house was in a secluded bushland area. That meant lots of green to get lost in, or an area difficult to find something in. That's what Steve had based his plan around. The single light bulb in the room could provide something to cut the ties around his wrists with if they could somehow break it. However, the sound would bring in their guards. At that point, Steve would take them out and grab their guns while Grace searched them for a phone. Together, they would run up the stairs and through the middle door, leading them outside.

It wasn't the greatest plan, but it certainly beat sitting around and waiting to be rescued. Steve suspected that every moment Matt didn't comply with Fuentes' conditions was a moment that could mean Grace getting hurt. They had taken Grace for a reason and every minute she was in their hands was another traumatising moment Grace was away from her family.

Steve also realised his plan wasn't foolproof. There were so many things that could go wrong. So Steve had explicitly told Grace that if anything happened to him, she was to continue running into the bush, find a great place to hide and call Danny. She was not to move until someone in a police uniform came to get her.

"Are you ready, Grace?" Steve asked, making sure she understood the plan.

Grace nodding somewhat hesitantly, despite her face being set with determination. She took off her slipper and threw it up at the bulb hanging above them. Her first two throws missed, the third hitting the bulb, but not breaking it. On her sixth throw, the sound of glass tinkling on the concrete floor signalled her success. She quickly felt around on the ground for a piece and handed it to Steve.

Steve started sawing away at the plastic restraining his wrists. He kept his ears alert for any movement outside the door that would suggest they had company. Luckily, no one appeared to have heard any of the ruckus they made. After a few minutes, Steve had successfully managed to cut through the ties and was now rubbing his wrists to get the blood flowing in them again.

Standing up, he moved over to the door. Making sure Grace was standing behind him, he banged on the door loudly, hoping to gain the attention of anyone on the other side. He didn't have to wait long before the door flew open and one man entered, looking around bewilderedly. Steve took that moment to grab him from behind and put him in a chokehold. He was relieved when no one else entered the room after him.

After a few moments, the man lost consciousness and Steve lowered him gently to the floor. Patting the man down, he found a gun and one spare ammo clip, but nothing else. Steve ducked his head out the door to check for any other assailants before motioning for Grace to exit the room. He closed the door behind them, sliding the bolt across and effectively locking the man inside what had been their cell.

Checking to make sure Grace was still behind him, the pair quietly moved along the corridor and ascended the stairs. Steve opened the door enough to see if there was anyone on the other side. Luckily for them, no one was there. Instead of going to the room on the right, Steve let them straight through to the door in the middle. He hoped this door would lead them to the outside.

Before they could even open the door, another man came through the door on the left. The man spotted Steve and Grace and instantly reached for the gun that was strapped to his hip. Despite having a gun of his own, Steve knew as soon as gunfire erupted, more men would be upon them. He knew this required some stealth.

Steve ran towards the man and tackled him, the sound of air rushing out of the man's lungs a joyful sound to Steve. It gave him the upper hand for a moment as he delivered a sharp upper cut to the man's chin and then a hard right hook to the side of the head. The man slumped unconscious on the floor. Steve searched the man's pockets, again finding more guns and ammunition. Steve was about to admit defeat about finding a phone when he reached the man's feet. Tucked into his sock was a small burner phone. Steve's spirits soared when he saw the phone was fully charged and they had reception.

Grabbing Grace's hand, Steve tugged her towards the middle door. Opening the door, he was pleased to see it opened to the front porch and beyond that dense foliage. Steve scanned the surroundings, looking for the other men and particularly Fuentes. He noticed they were very secluded. There wasn't another building in sight and they were far from any main road if the large gravel driveway was any indication.

He heard movement coming from behind the house and without thinking, he pushed Grace in front of him, passed her the phone and quietly told her to run. Grace had stopped for a split second before looking into her Uncle's determined eyes. Then she took off towards the bush, disappearing into the green mosaic. Steve made to follow quickly. The movements from the back of the house became louder and he could hear people talking.

As Steve made his way from the house to the brush, a volley of bullets peppered the ground just behind him.

"Uncle Steve!" he heard Grace yell from the bush.

"Keep running, Grace! Don't stop!" he yelled back as he turned to see five men emerging from the back of the house with their guns aimed in his direction.

Steve picked up his pace, crossing the last of the distance in record time. The gunshots, although not entirely unexpected, were really unwelcome and, if he was honest, inconvenient. So much for his plan. As he entered the bush, he returned fire with one of his borrowed handguns. He had to keep the bullets away from Grace. He hoped she was calling Danny at this very moment.

He kept running, following after Grace's trail. He eventually caught up to her somewhere in the middle of the dense forest. He knelt down in front of her, hating what he was going to have to ask her to do.

"Gracie. I need you to do what I ask you, okay?" he whispered. Grace nodded. "I need you to go find a really good place to hide and call Danno. You can't move from your hiding place until either Danno or Chin or Kono come find you. Do you think you can do that?"

Grace's eyes welled with tears. Steve could tell she was terrified, but was trying so hard to be brave.

"What about you, Uncle Steve?" she asked, sniffling.

Steve sighed. "I have to go make sure the bad guys don't find you. Grace, whatever you hear, don't look back, just keep running. And remember that Danno loves you, okay?"

Grace pinned Steve with a serious look. "Don't get hurt! Danno will be so mad if you do."

Steve chuckled slightly before the sound of a twig snapping brought them both back to the seriousness of their situation.

"Go, Grace," Steve said as he pushed her forwards.

Grace hesitated before she started running. Steve sighed as he watched her go, hoping she would be safe and that Fuentes' men wouldn't find her. He didn't want to send her out on her own, but he needed to take out as many men as he could. Besides, Danny would trace the call and would be here soon. He wouldn't have to wait much longer for help to arrive. Or so he hoped.

Steve had no idea how many men were after them, but he guessed at least five, maybe six, if the volume of bullets flying was anything to go by. For not wanting to hurt their prisoners, Fuentes was doing a really bad job of keeping his promises.

Steve stood, listening to the noises around him. He couldn't hear Grace moving anymore. Then he realised he couldn't hear anything at all. No birds or trees rustling. It was deadly quiet. The sound of a twig snapping to his right caused Steve to spin around. Before he knew it, someone came up behind him and hit him in the side of the head with the butt of a rifle. He hit the ground, hard. That was the last thing he remembered before everything went black.

Tuesday afternoon, Five-0 Headquarters:

"Williams," he answered.

The voice on the other end was definitely not Matthew Williams.

"Daddy!"

"Grace?" Danny almost dropped the phone out of surprise.

He rushed out to the smart table and motioned for Chin and Kono to join him. They ran from their respective offices to meet him. 'Grace' he mouthed to them and Kono quickly started a trace as he placed the phone on speaker.

"Daddy, please come and get me! I'm really scared," Grace said, panting.

Danny was overjoyed to hear the sound of his precious daughter's voice. Despite the fact she was scared, he revelled in the sound of her breathing in as she ran.

"Grace. I need you to tell me what happened. But first, can you tell me where you are?" Danny said, anxiously gripping the phone in his hand.

"I don't know. There's lots of trees. We were in a house. There were no other houses around. Uncle Steve said to run and hide and to not come out until you found me. He said to call you when I was really well hidden."

"Okay, Grace. We are tracing the phone now and we'll be there as fast as we can. Where is Uncle Steve?" Danny asked, hoping nothing untoward had happened.

"I don't know. There were a lot of gunshots, but Uncle Steve shot back at them. The bad guys stopped shooting for a while, but I think they are looking for us. Uncle Steve said he was going to make sure the bad guys didn't find me. I didn't want him to go. I think he didn't want to leave me either…Danno, I'm scared. I thought Uncle Steve would have been back by now. The bad guys are looking for us. What if they hurt him?"

Danny looked up at his teammates, noting their concerned looks. The fact that Steve and Grace had been separated was not good. The gunshots were also concerning. Was Grace safe from Fuentes' men? Was Steve okay? Where was he?

"Uncle Chin, Auntie Kono and I are on our way now, Monkey. Don't worry about Uncle Steve. He's SuperSEAL, remember? I doubt a few scary bad men will be able to stop him. So, you just stay where you are and we will come and get you. Remember, Danno loves you."

Grace sniffled. "That's what Uncle Steve said."

Danny's heart hurt to hear that. "You know why he said that? Because it's true. Okay, now keep the phone on and we will find you. I need you to use your ears and listen for anyone coming. Can you do that?"

"Yes. I love you, Danno," she whispered.

"I love you too, Gracie. So much."

Kono looked up from the computer with a large smile on her face. "We found her, Danny. She's up on the North Shore."

Danny felt as though a new surge of energy was flowing though his veins. They finally had a lead! Gathering up his tactical gear, Danny sprinted from the room to the front of the Palace. He didn't have to look behind him to know Chin and Kono were following him without hesitation. Danny held the phone to his ear, listening to Grace's breathing as he got into the Camaro.

"Gracie, we know where you are. We are coming to get you, okay? Just stay quiet and stay hidden. We are almost there, Monkey," Danny said into the phone.

He didn't hear a reply except for a small sniffle from Grace's end. He was pleased she was listening to instructions so well. Chin got into the passenger seat next to him, a laptop already open on his knees as he continued to track the phone Grace was calling from.

Danny turned the phone on speaker so he could use both hands to direct the vehicle. The sound of Grace trying to calm her breathing permeated throughout the car. Danny couldn't help the panic rising in his chest about his partner. At least Grace was safe; well, relatively. Obviously, Steve had devised some crazy plan that had allowed Grace to escape, but not himself.

The father and partner in Danny fought for dominance as he fluctuated between the relief knowing Grace was okay, and worry about his partner's absence and the consequences of his actions in freeing Grace. He wondered what Fuentes would to to Steve if he found him. Danny shuddered at the thought, causing Chin to give him a side-eye.

Danny focused on the buildings flashing by as he drove at horrendous speeds through Honolulu. He tried not to imagine Steve lying dead on the forest floor. He focused on the sound of Grace breathing instead, putting all other nightmares from his mind in a box to be dealt with later. When (not if) they got both Steve and Grace back.

Tuesday afternoon, unknown location:

When Steve awoke, he found himself in a seated position, his head pounding in time with his heart. Keeping his eyes closed, he tried to ascertain as much about his new environment as possible. As far as he could tell, he was alone in the room. He could hear voices in what sounded like the room next door. His head was throbbing too much to identify individual words, but they sounded angry.

Opening his eyes to slits, he surveyed the room he was in. He groaned when the light penetrated his skull, causing the pain in his head to ratchet up a few notches. Opening his eyes fully, he blinked away the remaining dark spots. Everything was a little bit fuzzy, but he put that down to having a concussion, if the pain in his head was anything to go by.

The room was drab and run down. In the room was only a table and some chairs, one of which he occupied. He went to rub his head with his hand before realising his arms were restrained to the chair. Looking down, he saw his ankles were similarly immobilised with more zip ties. He jerked at the restraints, hoping to find a weak spot he could exploit.

Suddenly, the door slammed open, revealing Pedro Fuentes. Steve hadn't realised the arguing in the other room had stopped. He cursed the concussion for his inattention. He glared at Fuentes, or one of the two he was currently seeing.

"I'm glad to have you back with us, Commander McGarrett. You have made a lot of trouble for yourself," Fuentes said with a sly smile.

Steve felt a jolt go through him at that. He couldn't remember why he was concerned about what Fuentes said. Stupid concussions, he thought.

"Yes, I know who you are, Commander. Just as you probably know exactly who I am and what I am capable of," Fuentes remarked.

Steve wasn't sure how Fuentes had figured it out, but at least he didn't have to pretend to be Danny anymore.

"I make it my business to know people who threaten other people's lives," Steve growled in response.

"I see. And that is commendable. Now, as I much I would love to have a verbal sparring session with you, I must attend to some other matters. As you probably know, it was not my intention to have you as my hostage. Speaking of, would you like to tell me where you sent the little girl?" Fuentes asked with a false sweetness.

Steve jerked on the restraints as he leant forward as much as possible. "You stay away from her!"

"Relax, Commander. I intend to keep my original promise and will not harm her. You, on the other hand, well, that is another matter altogether," Fuentes said, pointing to Steve's shoulder.

Steve looked down at his right shoulder. There was a cloth pad over his shoulder which had been secured by duct tape. It was rudimentary at best, but it did the job. Steve hadn't even realised he had been hit. Adrenaline was sometimes a wonderful thing.

"I must admit we didn't do all our homework. Otherwise your partner would be sitting in your place. It was an oversight on our part. I assure you it won't happen again."

"I have one question; how did you even mix us up? We couldn't look any more different if we tried," Steve asked curiously.

"Like I said, it was an oversight…" Fuentes answered nonchalantly.

"You have made a huge mistake. You have the entire state of Hawaii looking for you, right now. Not to mention one really pissed off father. When my team finds you, you will rot in prison for the remainder of your pitiful life. And I will be the one to lock you into your eternal hell," Steve said in a low voice, barely containing his rage.

Fuentes laughed, not at all threatened by Steve. "I wish you luck with your endeavour Commander. However, once my new plan is in place, I will have what I want and you won't be able to do as you so bravely threaten."

Steve smirked. "It's not a threat. It's a promise."

"I see. Either way, it won't matter. You are just a means to an end. After that, I will have no use for you."

With that, Fuentes walked out of the door, closing the door loudly behind him. The sound of a lock engaging echoed in the room, reminding Steve of the helplessness of his situation. Although his plan was not foolproof, he was glad he took the chance to get Grace to safety. Knowing Grace wasn't in the hands of a sadistic drug lord gave Steve hope. Steve remembered the look of absolute terror on Grace's face when he had told her to leave him and run. He knew he would never allow anything to scare her like that. Ever again.