CHAPTER 17

Thursday night, unknown location:

When Steve woke, he found himself lying on his side on a cold cement floor. He groaned as his body shuddered with cold. Despite being fully clothed, his thin shirt did nothing to stop the cold from seeping through. He closed his eyes, waiting for the last of the drug to clear his system completely.

He was beginning to get annoyed. He hated being drugged. He really disliked the feelings that it brought with it; dry mouth, pounding head, inability to form complete thoughts, unable to protect himself. Opening his eyes again, he surveyed the room. He was surprised to find it cluttered with boxes and old papers scattered everywhere.

With a groan, he sat up slowly. Nausea churned in his gut as the room spun around him. He closed his eyes and rested his head on the wall behind him, waiting for the dizziness to pass. God, he hated drugs. Or concussions. Right now, he couldn't tell which one the symptoms originated from.

He opened his eyes again and slowly surveyed the room. Now that he was somewhat upright, he could see more of his 'cell'. There was a large metal door in front of him with no handles on the inside. Typical. There was a small window high up on the wall he was leaning against. Hopefully he could see out of it and figure out where he was.

Moving to stand up, Steve felt something tug at his right wrist. Looking down, he noticed his right hand was handcuffed to a chain that was attached to the wall. The chain looked solid and sturdy. There was no way he'd be able to break it. Instead, he inspected the wall he was chained to. A thick, metal loop protruded from the wall. Steve grabbed the chain and pulled, hoping to a least loosen the hold a bit. He was unsuccessful. He tried again, pulling harder and causing sweat to pop out on his forehead.

Deciding to leave it for now, he turned his attention to the window. The window was about a head taller than himself. If he jumped, he'd be able to see out of it. He jumped, but felt the chain yank on his wrist, which caused the pain in his shoulder to reignite. He leant against the wall, trying to breath through the pain. He turned his attention back to the chain, inspecting it for any weak points. Unfortunately, he didn't find any.

He was about to try yanking it again when he heard footsteps outside the door. Quickly abandoning his effort, Steve stood up straight and waited for whomever was outside to enter. The door opened, letting in a stream of blinding light that forced Steve to shield his eyes with his free hand. The door was quickly closed again. Blinking quickly to let his eyes adjust to the dim light in the room again, Steve looked around. Even though his vision was a little blurry, Steve saw he definitely wasn't alone anymore.

"Fuentes," Steve growled.

"Hello, Commander. I trust you slept well?" Fuentes said with a smile.

"You should know," Steve responded. Steve felt proud at the sight of Fuentes' bruised face. At least he had gotten in a few good hits.

"You know, Commander, you could have made this so much easier on yourself…"

"How so?" Steve interrupted.

"All you had to do was not try to escape. I had promised not to harm you until the deadline was up. The plan was simple, Matthew Williams in exchange for you. You would have gone home, unharmed."

Steve snorted. "We both know that's not true. The only reason I am still alive is because you need me to get to Matt."

"At first, that was true. Now, thanks to you, I have lost six of my men and have had to move my base of operations more times than I'd care to admit. However, I am a man of my word. If Matthew Williams is delivered to me before the deadline, I will let you go."

"What happens to Matt once you have him?" Steve asked, curious.

"I will remind him why it is a good idea to keep one's word," Fuentes said cryptically.

There was a moment of silence.

"Of course, the alternative is if Matt does not show. You are sent far away from here and I will find little Grace Williams again and make Matthew Williams wish he had never crossed me."

Steve made to lunge at Fuentes, but the chain held him back. Fuentes laughed at the sight in front of him. Steve continued to yank at the chain, ignoring Fuentes.

"Just give it up, McGarrett. It's out of your hands. You can't win, so don't bother trying. Besides, there's only seven hours left. I would hate to have to terminate a deal so close to completion," said Fuentes with a smirk.

Steve frowned.

"Just remember, I hate cleaning up blood…" Fuentes faltered as his phone began to ring.

Looking down at the phone, Fuentes smiled. He turned the phone towards Steve, showing him the called ID screen.

Detective Williams

Danny was calling Fuentes. Why was Danny calling Fuentes?

While Steve was processing the information, Fuentes had exited the room and locked the door behind him.

"Ah, Detective Williams. I take it this means you have what I want?" Steve heard Fuentes' muffled voice as he walked away from the door.

If Steve wasn't scared before, he was terrified now. The deadline was fast approaching.

Seven hours.

Steve had seven hours to come up with a plan.

Or Grace would be in danger. Again.

Was Danny really willing to trade his own brother for Steve? Or were they making a play?

Either way, Steve had to find a way to draw Fuentes' attention away from the Williams' family. He sat back down on the ground, leaning against the wall. He started planning. All options came out with the same scenario: Danny was going to be pissed.

Friday morning, Five-0 Headquarters:

Seven hours.

Seven hours left until the auction finished.

Seven hours to find Matthew Williams.

Seven hours before Steve McGarrett disappeared, possibly forever. Sold to the highest bidder.

And they were back to where they were at the beginning. With nothing.

The Five-0 team were pacing anxiously, while Agent Kipton sat nervously in his chair, watching them. The atmosphere was tense. They had spent a precious few hours trying and failing to follow Matt. It had become evident that Matt had used precautionary measures and avoided all surveillance once he left the Palace. Plus, he had taken Danny's phone. Their only connection to Fuentes.

To say Danny was upset was an understatement. He was fuming. Not only had they lost their link to Fuentes for the second time, but their only way to get Steve back had taken a runner. The rant that had followed that realisation had been long and loud. The team had left Danny in Steve's office to cool down.

They had no leads, no witnesses and no bargaining chips. They literally had nothing to go on. All they could do was wait for Fuentes to call again, if he ever did. But without Danny's phone, that would be impossible.

The team had practically begged to the Governor of Hawaii, the Director of the FBI and even the CIA for assistance. However, with no substantial information or leads, there wasn't anything anyone could do. It was like Fuentes and Steve had vanished off the face of the earth. It was like searching for ghosts.

"What about the Navy? Surely they could use their resources to help us?" Kono asked out of desperation, even though they had already talked about it.

They had already tried. It was like talking to a brick wall. If Steve was there, they would at least have some answers by now. But that was the problem. Steve was missing. Steve wasn't there to cut through the red tape.

Kipton replied to Kono's inquiry. "The Navy has been made aware of the situation. They believe that because McGarrett is not currently active duty, he doesn't have any critical information about current operations and therefore is not of major concern. They deemed it to be an unnecessary use of resources."

"An unnecessary use of resources?" Danny repeated. "Why does everyone think his life is so worthless that they abandon him when he needs people the most?" Suddenly, Danny stopped his pacing. "Not everyone. There is one call we haven't made yet."

Danny quickly retreated to Steve's office to use the landline. He emerged from the office five minutes later with a small smile on his face.

Chin saw the smile and asked, "Do we want to know who you just called?"

"Yeah, you probably do. Steve probably won't, but he can kick my ass for it later," Danny said smugly.

The implications of Danny's statement dawned on the cousins. "Ah, the lovely Lieutenant Rollins?" Kono asked, smiling.

"Got it in one, Rookie," Danny said.

"Um, who is Lieutenant Rollins?" Kipton asked, confused as to why everyone was smiling.

"Lieutenant Rollins is an intelligence analyst in the Navy. She has agreed to help us with this…situation," Danny explained.

"She has helped us before when we needed access to satellites and the like," Chin said vaguely.

"Right," Kipton said, nodding.

An hour later, Lieutenant Catherine Rollins entered Five-0 Headquarters. She was dressed in her uniform, evidently having come straight from Pearl. Her face was pinched in distress as she hugged Chin and Kono in greeting.

Danny approached Catherine, his arms spread out inviting her in for a hug. "Catherine. Good to see you," Danny said.

"Likewise Danny. I just wish it wasn't under these circumstances. What has Steve gotten himself into this time?" Catherine said, emerging from Danny's hug while looking at the FBI agent suspiciously.

Noticing Catherine's apprehension, Danny quickly made introductions.

"Unfortunately Catherine, this one is not his fault. Think of it as a case of wrong place, wrong time," Chin explained.

"Well, if what you told me on the phone is true, we don't have much time to find him. How about you fill me in on everything?" Catherine suggested, getting straight to the point.

The team then spent the next fifteen minutes explaining the sequence of events that had led up to this moment. While her face remained neutral and devoid of any emotion, Catherine's body was tense, like she was ready to flee at any moment. Catherine clenched her fists when Danny explained about being stonewalled by the Navy. She waited until the explanation was complete before commenting.

Catherine cleared her throat. "Okay. Here's what I know. The only reason the Navy is not acting on this, is that they are waiting to see the results of the auction. Every time a bid is made, they are tracing the location and sending teams to intercept the buyers. However, by the time all the buyers have been identified, the Navy may not have enough personnel to capture all parties involved."

"Wait, what?" Danny yelled. "Instead of helping one of their own, they are going to let Steve be sold so they can…what…gather intelligence?"

"Precisely," Catherine said. "Think about it. It's a great opportunity for our military. The only people interested in a highly decorated Navy SEAL would be leaders of terrorist groups. If we can get to those people, we can bring down multiple terror cells in one go. The world would be a safer place…"

Kono cut in just before Danny began an angry retort she was sure would have included some serious expletives.

"Wait, you said the Navy has been tracing the location of each bid. How did they get access to the auction? And why didn't they tell us?"

Catherine smiled. "We are actually quite good at what we do, Kono…They probably didn't want to get anyone's hopes up."

"Can you show us?" Kipton asked.

"Sure," Catherine said as she accessed the smart table with ease and brought up the auction.

There was a picture of Steve in his service uniform on the right-hand side of the screen. Underneath were several links to excerpts from his service record. On the left was a blank box in which to type in a bid. Underneath this box was the current bid. It was a surprisingly high number.

Danny let out an appreciative whistle. "Wow, 12.3 million dollars. We should have him raise money for charity when he gets back."

Everyone laughed at that, for the moment forgetting that a man's life was on the line.

"What happens if we were to make a bid?" Chin asked, getting back down to the task at hand.

"We don't know. No one's tried," Catherine said.

Kipton nodded. "Good call. Fuentes might think it's a trap and not go through with the exchange."

Kono hummed in thought. "Right, but what if we made it look like someone else made the bid, someone on the island? That way Steve stays on the island and we have a greater chance at rescuing him?"

Danny's eyes widened. "Kono, that's brilliant!"

"Know anyone who is extremely rich and has a beef with Steve?" Chin asked sarcastically.

Kono and Danny smiled, knowing exactly who Chin was talking about. Agent Kipton and Catherine only looked confused.

Danny raced to his office. "I've got to make a call. Anyone got any weed?"

Kipton just stared at Danny's retreating form. "Did he say what I think he just said?"

"Oh yeah," Kono replied, chuckling as Chin put his phone to his ear. "You definitely heard correctly."

Friday morning, unknown location:

Steve had no idea how much time had passed. He didn't think it had been too long since Fuentes had left after taking a call from Danny. Steve was anxious. If Danny was meeting with Fuentes, anything could have happened. Steve hoped Danny was smart and brought back up, whatever happened.

Steve stood up and tried to yank to chain away from the wall again. He needed to escape, to get out before Fuentes went after Grace and Danny. He wouldn't be able to protect them if he didn't. The sound of footsteps outside the door was becoming a familiar sound to Steve now. This time, it sounded like three people instead of just one.

Steve stopped tugging on the chain and stood tall. He wondered if this was it. If the auction was over and he was going to die at the hands of another man. The door opened, letting in the bright light again, forcing Steve to look away. The door was quickly closed again and Steve heard the unmistakable sound of the lock engaging.

Blinking quickly, he quickly realised that someone else was in the room, locked in with him. Steve couldn't believe his eyes. Standing before him was Matthew Williams. Well, two of him, thanks to his concussion.

"Matt?" Steve mumbled, still not sure whether to believe what he was seeing.

"Yeah, Steve. It's me," Matt replied, his voice shaky.

"What are you doing here, Matt?" Steve demanded.

"I turned myself in," Matt stated simply.

"What! Why would you do that?" Steve said, walking towards Matt before the chain stopped him.

"I came to get you out of here. Fuentes said he would let you go if I turned myself in. Besides, it's time I pay for my actions."

Steve shook his head. "Matt, you don't get it. They are going to kill you."

"If that's my punishment, I will take it."

Steve sighed. "Does Danny know you are here?"

"Um…no," Matt mumbled.

"What do you mean, no? Let me guess, Danny didn't call Fuentes. You did."

Matt nodded. "I slipped away while Danny was arguing with Agent Kipton. The FBI wasn't going to let the exchange happen, something about me being too valuable. So, I took matters into my own hands. Now Danny doesn't need to be involved and you can get out of here," Matt stated proudly.

Steve sighed at Matt's naivety. "You really shouldn't have done that Matt! Besides, Danny is involved in this anyway. They were right not to go through with the exchange. Fuentes will not keep up his end of the deal. He's going to sell me to the highest bidder, then he's going to find Danny and Grace, kill them in front of you and then probably kill you."

"But Fuentes promised…"

"Matt!" Steve yelled. "You are dealing with a drug lord. They lie all the time. Fuentes has all the cards now. He won't admit to Danny that he has you. As soon as I'm gone, he will go after Danny and Grace. No one is safe from him."

"Oh God…" Matt said as the implications of what Steve said sunk in.

Steve watched Matt pace around the small room for a few moments. Steve knew they only had a few hours left before the auction ended. He needed to get Matt out of there so he could warn Danny and protect Grace. He needed to stop Fuentes from coming after them. It was then that a plan formed in his mind.

"Matt, I need you to listen to me…" Steve began quietly.

Matt stopped pacing and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. Steve now had Matt's full attention.

"I may have a plan, but I need you to keep your head in the game for it to work. Do you think you can do that?" Steve asked.

Matt paused, then nodded slowly; a look of resolve coming over his face. Steve was reassured by that.

"Good, now here's what we are going to do…"