CHAPTER 21

Friday afternoon, Five-0 Headquarters:

The black screen mocked them, reminding them of how in the dark they were, of how much they didn't know. The sound of Steve's pained grunts continued to resonate through their minds. At least they knew Steve was still alive. For now. If that was just the start, they shuddered to think about what would be coming next.

"Any luck on that trace?" Danny asked quietly.

Kono shook her head. "No, sorry Danny. If it was a live feed, we may have had better luck."

Danny leant forward, his arms resting on the table. "What the hell was he thinking?" he wondered, not expecting a response.

"He was doing his job," Catherine's quiet voice broke the sombre atmosphere.

The team jumped at the sound of her voice. In the confusion, they had forgotten she was still in the office.

Danny rounded on her. "What do you mean he was 'doing his job'? He's going to get himself killed if he keeps pushing Fuentes. How is this part of his job?"

Catherine took a deep breath before explaining. "All I meant was that he was doing what he was trained to do. Achieve the mission, no matter the cost. He's buying time, allowing you to get a bead on Fuentes."

"What, by getting the crap beat out of him?" Danny questioned loudly.

"Unfortunately, yes. He will hold out for as long as he needs to. Or until he feels he has completed the mission," Catherine explained.

"What mission?" Danny asked, confused.

"Making sure your family is safe…"

"But my family is safe. The FBI has them stashed at a safe house right now. Even I don't know where they are. What could Steve possibly have left to do?" Danny said exasperatedly.

"Steve doesn't know that your family is safe. In his mind, Fuentes is still a threat. Steve knows that your family won't be truly safe until Fuentes is out of the picture."

Danny understood. He really did. But why did his partner believe he had to shoulder it all, take responsibility for someone else? Why was his partner so selfless all the time? Did he believe he meant so little to the people who loved him that he would willingly put his life on the line to protect them?

"Look, I've known Steve for a long time. It's who he is. Once his mind is made up, there is no way to stop him. He will do whatever it takes to complete the task, regardless of the consequences to himself. I've seen it first hand. If he doesn't do this, he will never forgive himself," Catherine said quietly.

Danny sighed. "Stupid military and their stupid mission outcomes," he muttered under his breath.

The other's smirked when they heard Danny's muttered words. They understood how Danny felt and this was his way of letting off some steam. They knew Danny often despised the way Steve would act without thinking. But they also knew that without Steve's intuition and knowledge, a whole heap of their cases would never have been solved.

The sound of a phone chiming brought back a sense of fear. Everyone looked at Danny, expecting him to be reaching for his phone. Instead, it was Kono's phone ringing.

"Stand down, guys. It's Kamekona," she said with a small smile. "Hey big guy. What have you got for me?" she answered.

Kono listened for a few moments before hanging up with a promise to visit the shrimp truck soon for lunch.

"Kamekona said he has a potential location for us," she announced.

"Nice. Where?" Chin asked eagerly.

"His source heard talk of a Columbian fellow up on the North Shore. Kamekona warned us to be careful, said the guy was sneaky," Kono explained.

"How reliable is his source?" Danny asked.

"Kamekona said he hasn't steered him wrong yet," Kono said.

"Good enough for me," Danny said.

"Isn't that where the house was where Fuentes held Steve and Grace?" Chin asked.

"It is, but I think it's a different place. Kamekona said his guy heard about it this morning," Kono explained.

"Okay. The only problem is that the North Shore has a lot of tourists up there. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack," Chin surmised.

"That's true, but somehow I don't think Fuentes would be the surfing type, if you get my drift. Fuentes would stand out amongst the tourists," Kono countered.

"The North Shore is a large place. It's sparsely population and very spread out. We don't have time to search the entire area. How do we clear that much land?" Danny asked.

"We stay focused, eliminate all improbable locations and narrow down out search field," Catherine said with confidence.

"Kono, can you bring up all the properties located on the North Shore," Chin asked.

Kono quickly brought up a list of properties. One hundred and seven of them, in fact.

"Okay, let's narrow this down," Danny said. "Can you highlight the ones with a shed or shack on the property."

Kono nodded. "Sure."

That left twenty three potential locations. It was still a lot of ground to cover, but at least it was a start.

"We're coming Steve. Hold on," Danny muttered under his breath as his eyes roamed over the potential properties.

Friday evening, unknown location:

Steve groaned when he shifted his sore body. His entire being was one giant ache. He was sure that even his bruises had bruises. There were gongs going off inside his head. The beating Fuentes' men had inflicted upon him had only made his headache worse, in addition to increasing his list of ailments. Being the object of Fuentes' wrath was worth it, especially if it kept Danny and Grace safe.

The men had left only a few minutes ago, leaving Steve to recover from the brutality of the beating. Steve took stock of his most recent injuries. His left eye was almost swollen shut. His jaw was severely bruised, but not broken. He was sure his ribs were at least cracked, if not broken. It was difficult to breathe. His bullet wound was, thankfully, no worse. His left thigh was severely bruised, thanks to a heavy hit from the bat. He hoped he would be able to walk on it later.

He hated the fact that Fuentes was taunting Danny with a video of him being tortured. Steve knew he had to find a way to tell Danny not to fall for Fuentes' taunts. He knew Fuentes would refrain from killing him until he had Matt, but that didn't mean that he would stop torturing Steve. If he had heard correctly, he had three hours until Fuentes returned for the next round of torture.

Steve turned to his restraints. If he could just get one hand free, he'd have a chance. It wasn't like at the warehouse, where he was lucky enough to find a nail. He'd need time and something a lot bigger and stronger than the nail to get out of these ropes. And time wasn't something he had a lot of right now. Determined not to give up, Steve wiggled his arms and legs, hoping to at least loosen the bindings somewhat. He ignored the blood that emerged from the shallow cuts he was beginning to make on his wrists and ankles.

The sound of grass crunching underfoot outside the door made Steve stop his efforts and sit up as straight as his restraints allowed. Pedro Fuentes swung the door open, bringing a stool with him into the shack. Fuentes settled the stool in front of Steve and sat down.

"My, my. You don't look so good, Commander," Fuentes remarked.

"Guess I could say the same about you, Fuentes," Steve spat.

Fuentes ignored Steve's jab. "You know, there are so many things I could do to you. As a Navy SEAL, I'm sure you have experienced most of them in one way or another. How would you like to experience them in a very real manner?"

"Go to hell, Fuentes," Steve snarled.

"Oh, I'm already there Commander. Soon, so will you. You will die for what you did. But Matthew Williams, he needs to suffer before I kill him."

"This isn't about the money, is it?" Steve asked.

"No. It never was. This is what he gets for selling my organisation out to the FBI. As soon as you are gone, I will find Daniel and Grace and make Matt watch as I gut them alive. Or I could make little Grace watch as kill her Uncle slowly. Or I could kill Grace first, after I let my men have some fun with her…" Pedro whispered in Steve's ear.

"You sick bastard," Steve said angrily, jerking at his restraints.

"In the meantime, I think it's time to send another video," Fuentes said with a sly grin.

Steve looked Fuentes in the eyes defiantly. Fuentes left the room momentarily and returned with a camera, tripod, two buckets of water and … a cattle prod.

Saturday morning, Five-0 Headquarters:

The team had spent the night searching through the locations on the North Shore and eliminating the unlikely candidates. So far, none matched the criteria they were looking for. Additionally, unless the video was a live stream, they couldn't trace the location it was uploaded from. After Toast had revealed that devastating news, Danny had excused himself to find some coffee, when in reality he tried to sort through the jumbled mess in his head.

All Danny wanted to do right now was to hold his daughter, hear her laugh and see her smile. Ever since her kidnapping, she hadn't smiled once. Now, she was living God knows where with a bunch of FBI agents watching her every move. Danny sighed. He just wanted everything to go back to normal. Logically, he knew that wouldn't happen until they found Steve. Only then would his daughter start to recover from her ordeal. Grace meant everything to Danny. She was his life and the only reason he stayed on the islands.

'That's not true', he thought to himself.

Danny now had more than one reason for staying. He had found a family; a family had that appeared at the time he really needed one. He had also found a best friend, a brother. Danny sighed. Steve had sacrificed himself to protect Danny's daughter. That was a debt he would never be able to repay. Now, his best friend was facing torture at the hands of a mad man all because of Danny's brother. It wasn't fair. His partner was all hard edges and a no-nonsense attitude on the outside, but on the inside, he was a giant teddy bear with a big heart. And that's what worried Danny. What would happen to Steve when this was all over?

'Why do so many people think they can use Steve? Use him because he genuinely just wants to help people?', Danny thought in frustration. 'Why does Steve let them? Does he not think he's worth it to anyone?'

That gave Danny a moment of clarity. 'Hmm, maybe he doesn't. After all he's been through with his mother, father and sister. The man hasn't had a real family in a very long time.'

The arrival of the coffee alerted Danny back to the real world. He didn't remember making it to the coffee shop around the corner from the Palace, or even ordering the caffeinated beverages for the team. The person at the counter smiled nicely at him, obviously noticing his inattention. He thanked the barista, took the coffees and began walking back to the Palace.

Danny's phone beeped, indicating an incoming message. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened it, expecting to see a text. Instead, it was an email. His blood ran cold. Throwing away the coffees, he sprinted back to the Palace. No one stopped him. He was a man on a mission. Danny continued up the stairs until he reached the office, where Chin and Kono were convened around the smart table.

Without a word, he slammed his phone down on the table and pointed to it, gasping for breath. Without questioning Danny's state, Kono immediately opened up the email so they could see it on the large screen above the table. Opening the message found it was from Fuentes. Just like the previous email, it was another link to a webpage. Chin and Kono looked at Danny, silently asking if he was ready for this. Ready to witness his best friend being tortured.

Reluctantly, Danny nodded. Chin opened the link and pressed play on the video. Initially, all they saw was black. Suddenly, the screen went really bright. After a moment, an image resolved on the screen. What they saw was worse than they could have imagined.

Kono gasped audibly when she saw Steve's condition. He looked worse than in the previous video. If they had to guess, the beating had continued long after the video had ceased. Steve was slumped in the chair and appeared to be unconscious. His face was a series of bruises and cuts. His clothing covered everything else, but if one were to guess, the rest of Steve's body would look about the same as his face. Bloody and bruised.

Suddenly, a bucket of water was thrown over Steve. Steve's return to consciousness was obviously not pleasant as he sputtered, trying to expel the water from his face. Steve grimaced in pain as he moved to sit up straight and stare at Fuentes with a steely gaze. The sound of water sloshing in the background was ominous and everyone knew what was coming, especially Steve. Steve, however, showed no sign that he knew he was about to be waterboarded.

Fuentes stood in front of the camera and spoke into it. "You can stop this, Detective Williams. All you have to do is give me your brother. He will pay for his mistakes, I promise…Commander McGarrett on the other hand…what has he done to deserve this?"

Fuentes turned to face Steve, a pair of long, sharp scissors in his hand. The team tensed in anticipation. The sound of ripping fabric resonated throughout the bullpen. Fuentes had removed Steve's shirt, revealing the impressive bruising on Steve's chest and abdomen.

Fuentes paced in front of Steve. "You know…I've never tortured a SEAL before. This should be interesting, no?"

A towel was placed over Steve's face, his head forced back and a bucket of water poured over the towel by one of Fuentes' men. Steve showed no sign of distress as the waterboarding continued. That, apparently, frustrated Fuentes. Fuentes delivered a wicked punch to Steve's abdomen, causing him to involuntarily suck water into his airways. Steve began bucking against his restraints, pulling hard on the ropes that restrained him to the chair.

Instead of stopping the torture, Fuentes' man continued pouring water over the writhing Steve. Danny started yelling, begging Fuentes to stop, even though he knew Fuentes couldn't hear him. Then Fuentes gave the command to stop, his man removing the towel and allowing Steve a brief respite. Steve coughed and gagged as he tried to expel the water from this lungs.

A few seconds later, Steve's head was wrenched back and the process started again. This time, the punch came before the water, leaving Steve without any oxygen. Within a few seconds, Steve started flailing. The sound of Fuentes cackling echoed ominously in the empty room. Then, as quickly as it had begun, the second round ceased, leaving Steve coughing up a lung, trying to breathe.

"Perhaps this is too easy for you, Commander. Shall I make it harder?" Fuentes said with a feral grin.

Steve glared at Fuentes. "Do your worst," he said. His voice sounded pathetic. It was raspy, like an eight pack a day smoker.

Danny turned away from the screen at that point, his fists clenched by his side as he tried to contain his anger.

'What the hell are you thinking, Steve? That's the threat you're going with?' Danny thought furiously. In any other situation, Danny would find his partner's cavalier attitude amusing, but right now, it was down right disturbing.

Round three began with the water being poured over Steve's face. Fuentes turned to the camera with a malevolent grin, holding a long, black stick in his hand. Danny shouted a warning, forgetting it was pointless, that Steve wouldn't hear him. Fuentes jabbed the stick into Steve's stomach, causing all of his muscles to seize up as the current ran through him.

A few seconds later, it stopped. Steve was allowed to breath again, or rather, cough. The coughing continued violently as Steve expelled the water trapped in his lungs. Steve leant forward as much as his restraints allowed, spitting the water into the ground. Sitting up after having finally caught his breath again, Steve looked at Fuentes defiantly.

"Is that all you've got?" Steve taunted. His eyes were unfocussed and his voice rough, but the taunt was clear.

Danny turned and walked away. He didn't need to see his friend go through that much pain again. He reached the restroom and rushed inside just before his stomach expelled its entire contents into the toilet bowl. Danny could hear the sound of Steve grunting in pain from the bathroom. He wanted more than anything for it to stop, for his partner to be okay.

"Danny," he heard Chin's voice yell. "Get back in here!"

Danny raced back to the outer office where Chin and Kono had remained at the smart table. He returned in time to see Steve grab the cattle prod from Fuentes' hand. Somehow, Steve had managed to get a hand free.

The man that had been pouring the water came at Steve. Steve rolled himself, chair and all, out of the way. With a grunt, Steve managed to pull the armrest off the chair with his other arm still attached. The man approached Steve and Steve grabbed the outstretched arm, pulling the man down and head-butting him. While the man was down, Steve quickly untied one of his ankles.

Before Steve got the chance to release his other ankle, two more men arrived and held Steve down to the ground. There was a brief struggle before Steve got the upper hand. Steve used the arm still attached to the armrest to hit one man in the face; the wood giving the blow extra power. Steve was then able to lever the other man off him with a well-placed kick to the groin.

The first man recovered, drawing his gun from his waistband and charging at Steve. Steve stood, one leg still attached to the chair. Swinging that leg, he took the man's legs out from under him. The weight of the chair caused Steve to lose his balance and he toppled over, landing on top of him. The two men struggled before the sound of a gunshot caused them both to freeze.

The screen went black.