A/N: Thank you again to all who have reviewed. Reviews make me giddy so keep them coming. :-)
Danny and the others stood as the door opened and two men with guns drawn sauntered into the room followed by the ringleader. Two other armed men stood just outside the doorway, one smiled as he patted his holstered gun and flipped a knife in the other hand.
"Williams and Kalakaua stay here. The others come with us." The leader motioned.
"Tell Steve I said hi," Danny flippantly told Chin as he and Grover started towards the door. "Tell him not to do anything I wouldn't do."
"You just take care of yourself." Grover squeezed his arm as he passed.
"Oh, we'll be just fine." Danny smirked at the knife-flipping thug. "We're just going to sit here and wait. We're good. All good."
The door closed but Kono and Danny didn't sit. They heard low voices on the other side of the door. Then a distant engine rumbled to life and disappeared from ear shot.
Kono glanced at Danny. "Now what? You know they won't just let us go."
"Of course not." Danny glanced around. We have to get out of here before they make the swap. As soon as the prisoners get handed over, we're all as good as dead."
"We don't know how many they left behind," Kono pointed out.
"My guess is no more than two." Danny grimaced and put a hand on his side where blood slowly oozed between his fingers. "They need full strength to watch Lou and Chin as well as keep Steve under control... they think... when they make the change. And I'm injured so not much of a threat and you're a woman…"
Kono glared at him.
"Relax, rookie." Danny laughed. "I know you're a badass, but those thugs don't. We're gonna use that. We take whatever chance they give us and get out of here."
Kono nodded. "Copy that."
The words were no sooner out of her mouth before the door opened again. Danny watched the knife flip into the air and back into their captor's hands twice before allowing himself a small smirk. "You think you're pretty handy with that, don't you?"
"You wanna find out?" Their captor pointed the knife at him but didn't step out of the doorway.
"Sure. Put the gun down and let's see what you've got."
The man laughed and then pulled something from behind his back. He tossed something shiny at Danny. "Put 'em on."
Danny caught the handcuffs against his chest. "Sure, if that makes you feel better."
"Put one on you and the other on her." He flicked the knife in Kono's direction.
Danny and Kono obliged, clicking the handcuffs into place.
"Now back up against the wall."
Danny stepped slowly back to the wall, grabbing Kono's handcuffed hand with his own. Their captor stepped towards them as they stepped back. Danny squeezed Kono's hand. The door was open behind the man. No one else was in sight.
"Boss said I couldn't kill you until he calls, but he said I could mess you up a little." The man grinned as he brought his knife up to Kono's face and looked at Danny. "Whose pretty face should I mess up first?"
"Trust me when I tell you that you better not touch her."
The knife's focus shifted to Danny's face. "Why not, pretty boy? You gotta thing for her do you?"
Danny didn't flinch. "Not what I'm saying."
"I think it is." The man dragged the point down Danny's face, pausing at his neck. Danny still didn't flinch. The knife point shifted again and pressed into Danny's shoulder. He kept pushing until blood spotted his shirt. When Danny still didn't flinch, the man smirked and quickly moved the knife to tap Danny's bullet wound.
"Stop," Kono pleaded. "Just stop."
The man smirked more and started to push the knife point into Danny's wound. "I could take that bullet out for you."
"It's a through and through, idiot." Danny gritted his teeth but refused to flinch.
After a moment's thought, the man pulled the knife out and started to point it at Kono again.
Danny was ready and immediately raised his cuffed hand up, bringing Kono's with him. They neatly wrapped their joined hands around the knife and twisted to snarl the knife with the short handcuff chain.
Kono quickly reached over and made a grab for the man's holstered gun. Just as she grabbed it, his free hand clamped down on hers. She twisted their entwined hands, pushing his wrist farther and farther back with Danny's help. With one more quick push and twist, she heard him yelp in pain as his wrist went in a direction it had no business going. She quickly secured the gun and freed their wrists. With a kick, she sent him sprawling to the other side of the room.
Before he could get up, Danny stepped over and placed a foot firmly on the broken wrist, bent down and picked up the knife from the man's lax fingers. He tapped the knife against the man's cheek. "I tried to warn you about her."
"C'mon, let's go," Kono urged, tugging gently on their tethered hands.
"Yeah," Danny acknowledged. "Take care of him."
Kono waited for Danny to move aside before she swung the gun into the man's temple, knocking him unconscious.
"You okay with that left handed?" Danny indicated the gun.
"It'll do until we can get out of these cuffs."
"Let's move in case he has a buddy around."
Kono grabbed Danny's cuffed hand in hers and squeezed, "You gonna be okay?"
"I'll be better once we're out of here." He clutched the knife tightly and urged her forward. "After you."
They made it to the front of the house with no issues; a quick scan of each room showed them nothing. It seemed to be an abandoned house with nothing to offer them clues about where they were or anything that could help them out of their predicament. They froze as they approached the front door. Someone was talking on the other side.
"This way," Danny quickly turned them around and sent them down a short hallway. He quietly opened the door and peered into a musty garage. As their eyes adjusted to the gloom, they spotted a door on the far side. "That's our way out, let's go."
When they opened the walk-in garage door to look outside, they felt like they could reach right out into the forest. It was no more than ten feet away.
"At least we don't have far to go for cover." Kono whispered.
Danny paused and listened to the man's voice around the corner. "Sounds like he's on the phone. Let's go while he's distracted."
They had just made it to the tree line when they heard a shout followed by a shot. Bark flew from the tree next to Kono. They started to run, leaving all caution and thoughts of quiet behind.
Woo-hoo, an escape! I'll be back soon so we can check in with the rest of the team.