CHAPTER 30

Tuesday afternoon, Kapiolani Boulevard construction site:

"There was a shot. I heard it. I think…I think Steve's dead," Danny whispered as the tears began to fall down his face.

Kono gasped at Danny's news. She felt her eyes filling with tears as she watched Danny fall apart. Her cousin, usually stoic and calm, looked murderous with rage. Matt had walked away, his hands resting on the back of his neck.

"I knew that plan was stupid. I told him he would get himself killed. He promised me he would be careful. Stupid, idiotic, Neanderthal animal!" Danny yelled at the top of his lungs, startling the HPD personnel in the vicinity.

"Danny…you know it was our best chance of getting to Grace. Steve took the risk…" Chin reasoned.

"He shouldn't even have been able to take the risk. He was supposed to be in the hospital, not out playing SuperSEAL," Danny argued.

"Danny, we don't really know if he is…you know. It could be Fuentes playing with us again, trying to knock us off our game. What about Steve's friend? Tillman? Have we heard from him yet?" Kono asked, trying to focus their attention on the matter at hand. They would have time to grieve later, or hopefully, not at all.

"No, he hasn't checked in yet," Chin said.

Danny, for the first time ever, appeared to have nothing to say. He looked lost and incredibly sad.

"Danny!" Matt yelled.

The sound startled the group, turning to see Matt running towards them, waving his hands in the air. They later realised Matt had Steve's phone in his hand. Danny didn't even remember dropping it.

"Danny," Matt said, panting when he reached the group and handed Danny his phone. "It's Steve!"

Danny grabbed the phone from Matt, not daring to hope. Just as Danny was about to press answer, the call disconnected. Danny quickly tried to call his partner back, but he couldn't get through.

"Come on, Steve. Answer the phone, damn it" Dany said as he held the phone to his ear.

A few minutes later, his phone rang again. Quickly checking the caller ID, Danny saw it was Steve. Danny answered before the second ring, putting it on speaker so the group could hear.

"Steve! Steve? Are you okay? Did you find Grace?" Danny yelled into the phone.

"Danno?" came Grace's voice.

Danny almost deflated with relief. "Gracie! Gracie! Monkey, are you okay?" Danny asked, desperately needing to know if his daughter was hurt.

"I'm fine, Daddy. I'm really scared. Uncle Steve…he told me to run and call you. Like when I was in the forest. I ran, but I heard gunshots. I think the mean man shot Uncle Steve!" Grace sobbed into the phone.

Danny held the phone over his heart as he thanked the Gods above that his monkey was okay. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kono on the phone, already organising a trace. God, he loved this team.

"Okay, Gracie. I know you're scared about Uncle Steve. But he's SuperSEAL. He's going to be fine. Right now, I need you to tell me where you are, so I can come and get you," Danny said into the phone.

"Um…I'm outside Uncle Steve's house. There was an explosion. I think Uncle Steve blew his own doors off," Grace said, giggling lightly.

The team exchanged confused glances. They thought Steve was going to the warehouse. Why was he at his house?

"Huh, of course he did," Danny muttered, rolling his eyes at the cousins, who grinned back.

"Daddy?" Grace's scared voice came through the phone. "There was another gunshot. Uncle Steve, he told me to run and to be brave. But I'm scared. I think he's hurt, like more than before."

"Okay, Gracie. We are on our way. Can you do me a favour Monkey?" Danny asked.

"Uh huh," she said.

"Can you go and find a really good hiding spot and wait for me?" Danny asked as he raced to the Camaro and started in the direction of Steve's house.

It reminded Danny of a week ago, when Grace called him, scared out of her mind and worried about the absent Steve McGarrett. Danny hoped this wasn't a repeat of that day. This had to end, and soon. Chin was in the passenger seat, a calm influence on him.

"Grace. How many bad men were at Uncle Steve's house?" Chin asked.

"Um… three? No, I think four," was Grace's reply.

"Thanks Gracie," Danny said. "We are coming to get you now. We will be there soon."

Danny heard Grace sniffle before she whispered, "Please hurry Danno."

Danny pressed his foot to the floor, causing the car to speed up to hopefully reach his daughter sooner.

Tuesday afternoon, McGarrett residence:

Steve squeezed Grace's shoulder and he felt her move, hopefully running out to the balcony like he had told her to. He knew she would be able to climb down the tree, because she had done it so many times with him. Steve knew Danny wouldn't approve, so both he and Grace had decided not to tell him about their tree-top adventures. Steve prayed that Grace wouldn't encounter any of Fuentes' men and would be able to call Danny. Steve just needed to keep Fuentes distracted long enough for Danny to arrive and make sure Grace was completely safe.

As soon as Grace had moved, Steve's hand had moved to his thigh holster. Once Grace was clear, he aimed at Fuentes. Steve's yell had distracted Fuentes enough for his bullet to miss, burying itself in the wall behind Steve. Steve's aim was also off. Instead of hitting Fuentes in the shoulder, he actually hit the phone in the man's hand. While in itself an impressive shot, it wasn't what he had intended. However, it did distract Fuentes long enough for Steve to kick the gun away from Fuentes' other hand. The gun skidded to the other side of the bedroom, out of their reach.

Steve turned his head to see if Grace had successfully climbed down the tree. It was a rookie mistake, taking your eyes off your opponent. Turning back to Fuentes, he saw the man was already on top of him. Steve stepped back, slipping on the rug at the base of his bed. His own gun slipped from his hand due to the unexpected movement as he landed on his back. Using his leg, Steve kicked out at Fuentes, hitting him in the side of his knee, causing the leg to collapse underneath him. Steve rolled away and reached out to his gun with his injured arm. Steve quickly swung the gun around, aiming it in the direction of Fuentes.

Fuentes was on him instantly, delivering a punch to Steve's injured shoulder, causing pain to shoot down Steve's arm and across his chest. Steve let go of the gun and used his left arm to block the next punch. Steve wrapped his legs around Fuentes and rolled over so Fuentes was on the bottom and Steve was straddling him. Steve aimed two good left hooks to the man's face, following up with an uppercut. Fuentes' head bounced off the wooden floor.

Fuentes was not to be deterred. Fuentes managed to get a knee underneath him and pushed against Steve's ribs. Hard. Steve lost his hold on Fuentes as the pain took his breath away. He was sure he felt a crack. Fuentes delivered a vicious punch to Steve's abdomen, followed by a right hook to the face, causing Steve to fall to the side, panting for breath. Fuentes stood and grabbed Steve's head, delivering a knee into Steve's face. The blow caused Steve to fall onto his back. Steve rolled and stood, the change in position not doing anything to help with Steve's concussion.

He saw Fuentes coming at him, but wasn't sure where to aim. With his double vision, he just aimed somewhere in between the two images. Fuentes grabbed Steve's outstretched arm, his injured one, and pivoted, twisting Steve's arm behind his back. Steve felt the pop as his shoulder re-dislocated, bringing Steve down to his knees. Fuentes applied more pressure to Steve's arm, causing Steve to cry out.

Steve tried elbowing Fuentes to get him to release his hold, but he deflected the hits by moving his hip. Steve's elbow met bone. Out of desperation, Steve reached into his pocket and pulled out his knife. He stabbed into Fuentes' thigh, causing him to howl in pain and let Steve go. Steve fell forwards, his right arm now useless and numb, his left arm bracing his body, stopping him from falling face-first onto the hardwood floor.

The sound of a gun cocking stopped Steve. He had heard that sound so many times in his life. Steve looked up, seeing Fuentes standing over him, gun pointed at his face. Steve smiled when he saw the blood dripping from the wound on Fuentes' thigh.

"You have been a pain in my ass ever since this whole thing started. Why do you continue to fight? Why do these people mean so much to you? All they have done is draw you into this mess and now they expect you to clean it up?" Fuentes asked.

Steve knelt back on his toes and looked up at Fuentes. "I don't expect you to understand this, Fuentes, but I care about them. I fight for the good people. They deserve my protection. Also, they are Ohana, or family. I am a man who protects my family. They would do the same for me. Unlike you. You would have let your brother rot in jail if it came to it," Steve said, smirking at Fuentes.

Fuentes shrugged. "Probably…Well, I guess it's time for us to say goodbye. It has not been nice knowing you," Fuentes said as he aimed the gun and fired.

Steve knew he couldn't out-manoeuvre a bullet. But he could try. He dodged to the side, trying to avoid a hit to the head or chest. He felt the punch of a bullet ripping through his side. He pushed the pain to the back on his mind as he surged up and grabbed Fuentes, pushing him against the back wall. Steve chopped at Fuentes' gun hand and delivered two quick elbows to the man's chin. Without pausing, he delivered two punches to the abdomen and a left hook to the side of the head. Steve grabbed one of Fuentes' arms and swung him over his shoulder, slamming the man to the ground, causing the air to rush out of his lungs.

Fuentes tried kicking out at Steve from the ground, but Steve jumped to avoid them. Fuentes rolled and stood as Steve dropped to the ground, scissoring his legs and bringing Fuentes down hard again onto the wooden floor. Steve grabbed Fuentes' arm before pulling him into his waiting elbow. Steve smiled when he saw fear in the other man's eyes. Steve just glared back. Steve would make him pay for what he has done, not just to him and Danny's family, but to the FBI agents and their families as well as the countless other lives Fuentes has destroyed.

Steve rolled with Fuentes, wrapping his arms around his neck as he did. Fuentes grabbed at Steve's arms, trying to pull them away from his throat. Steve held tight, not willing to let go. Fuentes delivered an elbow straight into Steve's side, conveniently where he had acquired a new bullet wound. Steve hissed in pain, his vision going white for a moment, but he still held fast. Fuentes became desperate, scrabbling to get any purchase on Steve, any surface he could push against to get free. When he started to make desperate choking sounds, Steve only squeezed harder.

"This is how your victims felt," Steve whispered in Pedro's ear. "You hunt them down, threaten their families and take everything from them. Now, I'm going to do the same thing to you. I did say I would be the one to lock you in your eternal hell…Say hi to your brother for me."

With one, swift movement, Steve grabbed Fuentes' head and twisted abruptly to the side, breaking the man's neck. It was quick and efficient. Steve felt relief, relief that the man couldn't harm anyone else. He also felt remorse for killing a man, whether he deserved it or not. Suddenly, Pedro Fuentes' body became dead weight in Steve's arms. Steve didn't have enough strength left to push the man off of him. Reaching down to his side, he groaned when his hand came back sticky and covered in blood. He let his hand fall back down, the energy to hold it up no longer there.

Blood.

His.

A lot of it.

He was too slow. He didn't move fast enough.

Cold.

He felt dizzy and exhausted. The light was fading out.

He had broken his promise to Danny.

Now Danny was really going to be pissed.

That was Steve's last thought as he let his body float away into the growing darkness.

Mission completed.

Tuesday afternoon, McGarrett residence:

Danny drove the Camaro like he was trying to outrun a tsunami and an active volcano simultaneously. He skidded to a stop in front of Steve's house. From the front, it looked like nothing was amiss. Danny knew that wasn't the case. Danny knew that Steve and his old commanding officer had a plan, but he wasn't aware that coming here was part of it. Danny made a mental note to ask Steve later. If he could.

Kono pulled up a moment later, her red Cruze skidding to a stop beside the Camaro. Evidently they had left HPD behind in their haste to get to McGarrett's house.

"Grace!" Danny called, hoping to see his daughter.

"Danno!" Grace's voice came from the house behind him.

Grace ran to her father, who picked her up and hugged her like the precious cargo she was. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. She had scratches on her arms and legs, from what Danny assumed was running through bushes. He put her down on the ground gently so that he was at eye level with her.

"Gracie. You have been so brave, so very brave. Do you think you can be brave a little bit longer?" Danny asked.

Grace nodded her head quickly.

"Okay, I need you to go with Auntie Kono and wait with her in her car. She's going to show you how the lights and sirens work. Is that okay?"

Grace looked at Kono, then back to her father. "But, I want to go with you, Danno. I want to help Uncle Steve, like he helped me."

Danny sighed. "I know, Gracie, but I need to help Uncle Steve put the bad guy in jail. Then you can see him."

Grace smiled. "You really are like Batman and Robin, except you are both Batman. Would you give him a hug and a kiss for me, to tell him thank you?"

Kono stifled a laugh behind her hand at Grace's comment, which Danny silenced with a glare. Looking back at Grace, he replied seriously, "Of course I will, sweetheart."

Danny watched as Kono left with Grace. Danny knew Chin was behind him, waiting on his move. Approaching the back of the house with their guns raised, Danny and Chin inspected the area. Danny noted the serious lack of a back door, the one that had only just been repaired. He was definitely going to be having words with his partner about his use of explosives, particularly around his daughter.

Stepping over the mass of spent casings, Danny and Chin entered the house. They paused, listening for movement. There was nothing but silence. Two bodies littered the floor, one burnt and one with a bullet in the head. Stepping over the bodies, they cleared their way through the house. Danny made his way up the stairs, stopping when he approached another dead body. This one had a stab wound through the chest.

'Hmm… where were the rest of Fuentes' men?' Danny thought.

Steve's bedroom door had been broken in. Entering the room, Danny stopped in his tracks. He found two people lying in the middle of the room. Fuentes was lying on top of Steve, his head at a weird angle. Steve was lying underneath Fuentes, a pool of blood seeping out from underneath the two men.

"Steve!" Danny yelled.