CHAPTER 14

Thursday morning, unknown location:

Steve resurfaced late that morning with a fuzzy head and throbbing neck. He drifted on a sickly tide for about an hour as he waited for the drugs to work their way through his system. Consciousness was fleeting. Every time he thought he was waking up, the drugs would pull him back under. It took another hour for Steve to even become cognisant of his surroundings. Steve groaned as he slowly moved his head from its current position on his chest.

His body wasn't yet ready to obey commands, it appeared. He was able to move his head, but nothing else. He neck felt stiff and every time he moved, it reignited the pain in the side of his neck from the injection site. He was sure there was a bruise there from how hard Fuentes had jabbed the needle into his neck.

Eventually, his eyes fluttered open. It took a bit of effort to get them to stay open. The drug he had been injected with still had quite a strong hold over his bodily functions. He noticed he was in the same room as before; the chair Fuentes had been sitting in was still placed in front of him. He looked down, noticing his hands and feet were still bound tightly to the chair. His muscles were starting ache from being in the same position for so long.

He looked around the room, hoping to spot something that could help him break the ties. The cursory glance revealed nothing remotely useful. Looking down at his wrists, he thought about dislocating his thumb, but he left that as a last resort. He looked around the room again, deciding it was probably a lost cause, when something caught his eye.

A nail!

There was a loose nail sticking out of a floorboard about two metres to his right. He shuffled himself and the chair in that direction. The movement made more noise that he had thought it would. Steve stopped moving and listened carefully for any movement outside the room. When he heard nothing, he continued the awkward shuffle across the room.

He finally reached the area where the nail was, panting hard from his effort. Now came the hard part; actually getting his hands on it. He realised he was going to have to knock the chair over to get his hand close to it. He began to rock the chair, waiting for enough momentum to topple himself over. He hit the ground with a dull thud. He belatedly realised he had landed on his injured shoulder. He could feel the pain pulsing through the wound.

Ignoring the pain, Steve realised he still had to shuffle around to get close to the nail. Using his right foot, he was able to pull himself, chair and all, closer to it. He felt around for it with his right hand. When he finally had his hands on it, he realised it wasn't as loose as it had first looked. After a few minutes of wiggling and pulling, the small nail came loose. Without allowing himself to catch his breath, he starting using it to cut through the zip tie on his right hand. It was awkward and he dropped the nail three times, but after about ten minutes, he finally cut through it.

Shaking his right hand to get the blood flowing back in it, he quickly turned to his left hand to repeat the process. It was easier with one hand free and it only took a minute before the pressure around his left wrist was released. Sighing with relief, Steve allowed himself a moment before moving on to his ankles.

Now that both hands were free of the zip ties, he made quick work of the ones on his ankles. Within minutes, he was completely free of the confines of the chair. He rolled out of it and stood carefully. The head rush that greeted him, although not unexpected, was unpleasant. It nearly sent him to his knees. He wasn't sure if that was a side effect of the sedative he had been given or his concussion. Probably a combination of both, he decided.

He waited for the dizziness to pass before making his way to the door. His legs felt like jelly as he walked over to the wooden door. He tried the handle, not surprised to find it locked. He felt along the door, looking for weak points he could exploit. He noticed the lack of hinges, indicating they were on the other side of the door. That meant the door swung outwards. Steve smiled at that.

Taking a few steps back from the door, Steve prepared himself to kick the door down. Just as he got into position, he heard footsteps from somewhere in the building. He quickly went back to the chair and brought it over the where it was originally. Picking up the pieces of zip ties, he placed them carefully around his extremities again, to make it appear as though he was still restrained as best he could.

He waited patiently for his captor to enter the room. Steve could hear the sound of a single person's voice as they approached the room. As it got closer, Steve was able to identify it as Pedro Fuentes. A moment later, the door opened with a loud bang and Pedro walked into the room, a phone glued to his ear.

"Ah, you are in luck, Detective," Fuentes said into the phone. "It appears he is now awake. You may talk to him now."

Fuentes brought the phone close to Steve, placing it on speaker.

"Steve?" Steve heard Danny's voice coming through the phone.

"Hey Danny," Steve replied.

"You okay?" Danny asked, concern and relief evident in his voice.

"Just peachy," Steve replied succinctly. "Grace?"

"She's fine, thanks to you. How's the wound?" Danny asked. Nothing got past his partner.

"Um…it's fine. The accomodations are a bit crappy, though." Steve glared at Pedro, who only smirked in response.

Steve heard Danny huff an amused laugh at that. Pedro removed the phone, turning off the speaker function and bringing to his ear once again.

"You see, Detective. I keep my promises. How is your end coming along?" Pedro asked.

Whatever Danny had to say was obviously long-winded as Pedro rolled his eyes at Steve and turned his back to him. Steve saw the opportunity instantly. He stood up slowly, waiting for the right moment to take action. When Fuentes turned slightly to the right, Steve ran at Fuentes, tackling him into the wall. The force of the impact caused Fuentes to drop the phone.

Steve didn't waste a second, throwing two punches to the right side of Fuentes' face. Pedro recovered quickly, pushing off the wall and launching himself at the SEAL. Steve stepped to the right and grabbed Pedro's outstretched arm. He pivoted on the spot and threw Pedro over his shoulder in one swift move. Steve heard the huff as the air let the other man's lungs when he hit the ground.

Steve straddled Fuentes, hitting his twice again in the face before delivering a cruel uppercut to the man's chin, knocking the back of Pedro's head into the hard wooden floor. With that, Fuentes stopped moving, having been knocked out cold. Steve sat up and took a moment to catch his breath. The fight had caused the throbbing in his head and shoulder to increase.

Panting, Steve looked around for the phone. Spotting it in the back corner of the room, he rushed to pick it up.

"Danny?" he said into the phone.

"Steve? Steve, is that you? Are you okay? What the hell happened?" Danny said anxiously.

The sound of Danny's rapid-fire questions caused the pounding in Steve's head to increase, yet again.

"Calm down Danny. I'm fine. I just need to get out of here. How is the trace coming?" Steve asked, knowing that Chin or Kono were tracking the call as they spoke.

"We need another few minutes to triangulate your location," Danny explained.

Steve knelt down next to Pedro and patted him down, looking for a weapon he could use. Finding none, he stood with a small groan.

"Okay, I'm on the move. If I get caught, I'll make sure I put the phone somewhere safe and leave it on. Fuentes is really not going to be happy."

"What did you do?" came Danny's accusatory voice.

"I took him out," Steve replied succinctly. He didn't have time to explain as he ran down the hallway. He had to keep his eyes open for hostiles as well as find a safe passage out of wherever he was.

He ran down the hallway until he reached a large room with rows, upon rows of shelving units. He ran through the room, hoping to find an exit somewhere. Instead, he just found another large room like the one he had just left. The shelving appeared to go on for miles.

"I think I'm in a warehouse of some sort. It's huge. I don't know much more than that. If I could see outside, I might be able to tell you more. The son of a bitch drugged me…" Steve said as he continued running.

Steve turned a corner and skidded to a stop when he was faced with five armed men at the end of the corridor. "Oh, crap…" he muttered into the phone.

"What? Steve? What's going on? Answer me!" Danny yelled into the phone.

"Took a wrong turn," Steve huffed into the phone as he turned and ran back the way he came. "I'm going to have to drop the phone," he said as he continued his sprint for freedom.

Steve threw the phone under some of the shelving units and continued running, hoping to find an exit before the men following him caught up. As he rounded the next corner, he came into a large, empty warehouse floor. He ran towards the door at the other end. Just as he crossed half of the distance, the door in front of him opened and three more armed men entered the room.

The three men aimed their guns at his chest. The five men that had been chasing him entered a moment later. Steve heard the sound of five guns having the safety taken off. Steve skidded to a stop and put his hands up in the air, to show he meant no harm. Eight-to-one were never good odds, even for a specially-trained Navy SEAL.

"You thought you could escape? I thought I told you it was pointless to try?" Pedro Fuentes said, emerging from behind Steve. He moved so he was standing in front of Steve.

Steve smirked at the sight in front of him. Pedro Fuentes had what looked to be a fractured cheekbone, a serious black eye, fat lip and bruised jaw.

Pedro withdrew a gun from his waistband and pointed it at Steve's head. "Get down on your knees, hands behind your head," he ordered.

Steve obeyed, not wanting to risk being shot again. Fuentes walked behind Steve and suddenly grabbed his injured shoulder. He groaned at the pressure that was being put on the wound. Then he felt Fuentes jab something into his neck.

'No, not again!' Steve thought as he felt the familiar sensations of being drugged flow through his helpless body. Within seconds, he had succumbed to the sedative, his body falling limply to the ground. He didn't feel Fuentes' men lift him up off the cold floor, drag him outside and dump him into a truck.

Thursday morning, Five-0 Headquarters:

Kono nodded to Danny, indicating the trace was up and running. At Kono's nod, Danny quickly answered the phone.

"Detective Williams," he said.

"Hello again, Detective," the voice that they were beginning to hate echoed throughout the bullpen. "I was just checking in to see how the search for your brother was going? Have you found him yet?"

"We are still working on it. We have a potential location for my brother and will hopefully be able to bring him to you soon," Danny bluffed. Chin and Kono looked at him quizzically, but he waved them off.

"Good. I would hate for your partner to have to suffer because you weren't able to hold up your end of the bargain."

"I want to speak to Steve," Danny demanded.

There was a moment of silence from Fuentes before they heard the sound of echoing footsteps in the background.

"Let me see if he is available," Fuentes said.

They heard the sound of the lock on a door being disengaged followed by a loud bang as the door swung open.

"Ah, you are in luck, Detective. It appears he is now awake. You may talk to him now."

There was a slight rustling sound as Fuentes brought the phone to Steve.

"Steve?" Danny asked hesitantly.

"Hey Danny." The team sighed in relief when they heard Steve's voice.

"You okay?" Danny asked, unable to mask his feelings.

"Just peachy," was Steve's tight lipped reply. "Grace?"

Danny's heart clenched at the concern in Steve's voice. He wanted to assure his partner she was safe, but he didn't know how much longer they would have to talk to Steve. he decided on a quick answer, before getting to more pressing matters.

"She's fine, thanks to you. How's the wound?"

The team smirked when they heard Steve's hesitant response. "Um…it's fine."

Typical SuperSEAL, downplaying the severity of his situation so as not to worry anyone.

"The accomodations are a bit crappy, though," Steve joked.

Danny tried to stifle his laugh at his partner's snarky comment. He was sure he did that just to piss off Pedro. He was relieved his partner appeared to be well enough to be making snide comments. That relief was short lived when Pedro began speaking again.

"You see, Detective? I keep my promises. How is your end coming along?"

"Like I said, we have a potential location for my brother. If he is there, then I will call you. If not…" Danny veered off as a series of sounds occurred in the background.

They heard a grunt and then what sounded like a loud thud. It sounded like the phone had been dropped. Distantly, they could hear a series of thuds and gasps of breath. It sounded like a fight. Then Steve's voice came through the phone again, this time breathless.

"Danny?" Steve asked.

Danny quickly grabbed the phone, speaking into it earnestly. "Steve? Steve, is that you? Are you okay? What the hell happened?"

"Calm down Danny. I'm fine. I just need to get out of here. How is the trace coming?"

Danny glanced at Kono and she indicated she needed more time to find the location. Danny nodded he understood.

"We need another few minutes to triangulate your location," Danny said.

Danny wasn't surprised Steve knew they were tracing the call. After all, Steve had put together an amazing group of people, each with their own special skill set.

The sound of a groan brought Danny out of his thoughts. He exchanged concerned glances with Chin and Kono.

"Okay, I'm on the move," Steve said. "If I get caught, I'll make sure I put the phone somewhere safe and leave it on. Fuentes is really not going to be happy."

Danny did not like the sound of that. "What did you do?"

"I took him out," was Steve's response.

Danny could hear the sound of Steve running and panting as he moved. "I think I'm in a warehouse of some sort. It's huge. I don't know much more than that. If I could see outside, I might be able to tell you more. The son of a bitch drugged me…"

There was a sharp intake of breath, then Steve cursed. "Oh, crap…"

Now Danny was concerned. Despite being a Navy man, Steve rarely swore. It usually only happened when bullets were flying.

"What? Steve? What's going on? Answer me!" Danny yelled into the phone.

They heard Steve panting before he responded. "Took a wrong turn…I'm going to have to drop the phone…"

They heard the unmistakable sound of the phone hitting a hard surface, then skidding across said surface. A few seconds later, they heard what sounded like yelling and a group of people running past the phone. After that, there was silence. The phone was still connected, but Steve was gone.

'Got it!" Kono yelled suddenly. "I know where he is!"

"Nice job, Kono!" Danny exclaimed.

They raced to grab their tactical gear and sprinted out of headquarters to their vehicles. No one stopped them. By now, everyone had heard about the abduction of the head of Five-0 and knew better than to get in the team's way.

They could feel the adrenaline surging. They knew where Steve was. They finally had a solid lead. The fact that he was actually close by meant they could get there faster. They just hoped he was still there when they arrived.