A/N This is long overdue, so I thank you for your patience! All grammatical/spelling errors are mine. Please let me know if you come across any and I will make the appropriate corrections. In the meantime, I hope you all enjoy this latest installment. Any mysteries will become clear in the next chapter! ~Kelcor

McGarrett watched as Henderson recklessly crawled through the bush, propelling himself with both elbows and knees. Steve glanced toward the village several yards away and knew that, at any moment, they were going to hear the commotion coming from the trees. With a grunt of anger, the Lieutenant Commander took off after Henderson, silently promising to kill the kid himself if the enemy soldiers didn't do it for him. And, if his stupid actions caused the death of the Rear Admiral's little girl? Well, then, death would be too easy for the idiot. Reining in his anger - a little bit - Steve knew he wouldn't actually kill Henderson… or torture him… but, wow, did he ever want to right now!

As he neared Henderson's position, he heard the younger man cry out in pain. Forgetting his anger completely, Steve switched directly to SEAL mode and moved in to protect his own. When he arrived, however, he was more than a little surprised to find Henderson alone, writhing on the ground. After a quick scrutiny of the area, McGarrett crawled over to his fallen comrade. He halted his approach as soon as he heard the hissing and the… rattle?

A foot or so away from Henderson, a large rattlesnake was guarding its young. Apparently, in his mindless charge toward the village, the Lieutenant had pushed himself through a nest of rattlers - and had been bitten for his intrusion.

McGarrett stared at the snake, who seemed to be eyeing him right back. After a brief test of wills, the snake thought better of the confrontation and backed down, returning to its young and, effectively, ignoring the two SEAL's.

A moment later, Steve was at Henderson's side. "You stupid, stupid - "

"Okay, okay. I get it. I'm sorry, all right?"

"No, Henderson. You know what? It's not all right! You just jeopardized our mission and probably sacrificed a ten-year-old little girl in the process!"

Henderson reached up a hand. "Okay. You can read me the riot act later, okay? For now, can we please get outta here?"

Shaking his head, Steve hauled Henderson to his feet and draped one of the younger man's arms across his shoulders. They turned to go back the way they had come… and came face to face with several armed villagers, guns aimed straight at the heads of the two SEAL's.

H50H50H50H50

Danny watched the booted feet standing on the other side of the camouflage he had set up to hide the mouth of the cave. Upon close inspection, the large leaves and branches wouldn't do much to conceal their little hiding place. He slowly reached for the machine gun lying on the ground at his hip, keeping one arm wrapped securely around the still shivering and twitching McGarrett.

He sighed with relief when the feet stomped off in the direction that he himself had taken the night before. He released McGarrett and, after ensuring that his partner wasn't going to topple over onto his side without support, Danny moved quietly to the mouth of the cave. He peeked between the large leaves - the likes of which he would never find anywhere on the mainland, let alone in New Jersey - and watched the thugs move away from the cave.

"That's right, follow the trail, follow it all the way to the end," Danny muttered. Not wasting another minute, he set the gun down and grabbed the satellite phone out of the satchel once again. Keeping an eye on the thugs, he dialled Five-0 Headquarters.

H50H50H50H50

Two soldiers dragged a badly beaten and barely conscious Steve McGarrett down a long corridor of sorts. The Lieutenant Commander could feel the dirt and pebbles beneath his feet and legs. He could smell the musky earth and vegetation all around him. Underground. Perfect. That's just perfect.

They tossed him into a cell, then shut and locked the door. Steve remained where he was, curled up on the floor in the centre of the cell, arms curled around his possibly broken ribs, knees pulled to his chest. He tried to breathe through the pain, knowing full well that he wouldn't have much time to recuperate before having to break out of here and find the little girl… and Henderson.

"Steve? Come on, baby. It's time to wake up."

Unable to believe his ears, McGarrett lifted his head and was more than a little shocked to see the dark haired beauty staring down at him, her blue eyes filled with love and concern. "Mom?"

"Yes, sweetie. It's me. You have to save her. You need to get up."

"But… you're dead. You died in the accident…" his voice trailed off as a horrible thought entered his mind. He didn't know how he knew it to be true, but he did. "No. You were murdered. Who killed you, mom?"

"That's not important, right now," she said softly, tears streaming down her face as she cupped the side of his face in her hand. "You need to get up, baby. You need to save her…"

Steve felt the panic rise in him as her form began to dissipate. "Mom! No, don't leave me! Please! Don't go!" Even as the words were torn from his very soul, his mother disappeared, leaving McGarrett alone once again.

H50H50H50H50

Danny continued to watch as the thugs followed the trail that he had created for them the night before, even as he kept an eye out for the helicopter that should be arriving with back up any minute. A cry from behind him startled him from his surveillance.

"Mom! No, don't leave me! Please! Don't go!"

With a final glance outside, praying that their pursuers had not heard his partner's outburst, Danny quickly made his way over to McGarrett's side. Steve looked up at his approach…

"Dad?"

Danny froze. Steve's condition had just taken a giant leap from horribly bad to worse! Come on, Chin! Hurry up! We're running out of time, here!

H50H50H50H50

Steve watched as his father lifted him slightly to lean against the wall, then crouched down in front of him and gripped the back of his neck with one hand.

"I'm so sorry," Steve confessed, his eyes filling with shame.

John McGarrett gave his son's neck a firm squeeze. "Sorry for what?"

"I wasn't able to save you!"

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Steve!" He cupped the side of Steve's face with one hand, forcing eye contact. "You hear me? Nothing!"

Steve had a flash of a Hawaiian detective telling him that his mother's death wasn't an accident. That his father knew and had been investigating the case for years. He wasn't at all sure how he knew the detective but he did. Steve stubbornly set his jaw against the tears, refusing to let them fall. "Dad, why didn't you tell me? About mom. I had a right to know."

"I didn't even know for sure myself until more than a year after her death, Steve. And, from the moment I figured it out, my heart filled with this insurmountable hatred for the men that killed her and an undeniable need for revenge! I didn't want that for you and Mary, Sport. You're my children! I wanted to protect you!"

The exhaustion coupled with both the physical and emotional pain became too much for the SEAL. He was no longer able to stop the tears from overflowing. John pulled his son against him and wrapped his arms firmly around his back.

"Just promise me one thing, okay, Sport? Promise me, you won't make the same mistakes I made. Promise me, you won't cut yourself off from everyone who cares about you. Let them help you, okay? Can you promise me that?" When Steve nodded mutely in agreement, he felt his father's lips brush against his temple, then heard the whispered plea… "You have to save her, Steve. You're the only one who can."… then he was alone once again.

Taking a deep fortifying breath, Steve forced himself to his feet and moved for the door.

H50H50H50H50

Danny wasn't afraid to admit, at least to himself, that Steve's condition was scaring him. He also admitted - to himself - that Grace wasn't the only one who would be upset about losing the ex-SEAL. At least the tears seemed to have stopped but the fever and hallucinations were getting worse.

"Awww, now ain't this cute?"

With Steve still cradled in his arms, Danny spun around to face the armed intruder. One of the thugs must have heard Steve's cries and sent someone back to investigate. Crap! Leaning his partner gently against the wall, Danny stood to face the guy who was almost twice his size. He warily eyed the gun still lying on the ground where he had left it, several feet away, next to the mouth of the cave. Moreover, the thug currently stood between him and the gun, anyway. Mentally chastising himself for being stupid enough to lower his guard like that, he nonetheless fisted his hands at his sides, and prepared to pull a Steve and recklessly launch himself at the sasquatch before him. Because he would not let anything more happen to his partner - enough was enough already!

H50H50H50H50

Steve made his way down the tunnel, checking each room he passed for the little girl and Henderson. Two rooms down, he found Henderson, groaning and writhing in pain. When he approached him, the Lieutenant squirmed away from him in terror. He clearly didn't recognize his commanding officer and feared what he would do to him.

Upon closer inspection, the guy didn't seem to have been beaten like Steve had been. The only wound Steve was able to see was the snakebite. Apparently, the locals knew that to be better torture than anything they could do themselves. Steve did his best to calm Henderson down but he just wasn't listening, or maybe wasn't able to, depending on the severity of the hallucinations. Either way, his yells were going to attract the wrong kind of attention. Which, right now, was any attention at all!

McGarrett checked his watch - 0430. The chopper was supposed to meet them at the pre-designated spot at 0515. Allowing a half hour travel time, that left him with just 15 minutes to find the Rear Admiral's daughter. Heart heavy with guilt, Steve left Henderson behind and went in search of the girl.

A few minutes later, he heard a scuffle coming from one of the other rooms. He peeked through the doorway and saw two men in hand-to-hand combat. The larger of the two clearly had the advantage but the shorter one was surprisingly holding his own. Then Steve noticed something rather odd… the shorter one was wearing a dress shirt. Though the shirt was torn in several places, he still seemed somewhat out of place in the middle of the Venezuelan jungle.

"Danny?" The name left his lips before he even had a chance to decipher what it meant. Did he know a Danny? Something in his heart told him he did. But he didn't know how. Regardless, the larger opponent now had Danny pinned to the ground. He elbowed him in the face, then got to his feet and aimed his gun at Steve's partner… Partner? Really? Without wasting another second, Steve dove for the knife lying on the ground a few feet away and hurled it through the air. He watched with grim satisfaction as it embedded itself between the huge man's shoulder blades!

H50H50H50H50

Danny watched the mammoth-sized goon fall to his death with a knife in his back. As he fell, Steve came into view behind him. Danny stared in confusion at the still shivering form of his partner, leaning against the wall.

"Danny?" It was both whispered plea and warning.

Danny leaped to his feet and lunged for Steve just as his eyes rolled back into his head and he sank to the ground. Wrapping his arms around his partner's waist and chest, he was at least able to slow the descent and cushion the fall. The heat was still coming off Steve in waves as Danny held him close.

"Super Seal to the rescue once again," Danny muttered sincerely, not surprised when there was no response from his partner.

A moment later, the sounds of a chopper filled the air…

TBC

A/N Thanks for reading! Please Review? And, amblue36? I will use one or both of your wonderful suggestions in the next chapter!