I Did it My Way

Black-Angel-001: i am bent and determined to get as many chaps out as possible today! i am sooo sorry for the long wait guys! if you're still reading, thanks! here's something to make the wait worth it!

I Did it My Way

Every fairly normal person has basic instincts and basic needs, like survival instincts and the need to be loved. These may be the most comon and well known, but they aren't the only ones. Some instincts and needs are stronger in certain people. Sometimes, these two basic componets of the human psyche clash, resulting in stalemates or terrible aggitation; sometimes both. Like in Steve's case, he has a strong instinct to be out and doing something. He also has a strong need to be protective of family.

Steve's instinct and need were definetely causing both agitation and stalemate. On the one hand, he wanted to be out there with Chin and Kono finding the sonsuvabitches who'd done this to Danny. On the other hand, Steve also wanted to stay at the hospital waiting for Danny to come out of surgery, for Danny to wake up, for Danny to get better and rant. Steve just wanted to wait for his partner, period.

It was a vicious, emotionally draining cycle.

Rachel was sitting not two feet away from him didn't help. Steve didn't know what to say to her; all the usual platitudes weren't really working for him, so he doubted she'd appreciate them right then. The only time she'd spoken to him was to tell him she would tell Grace when there was news.

"Steve McGarrett," a doctor in green scrubs called.

Steve stood and the doctor shook his hand.

"I"m Det. Williams' lead surgeon. If you'll come with me I'll update you on his condition."

Rachel stood, hands pressed together in front of her stomach.

"I'm Danny's ex-wife, and listed as his next of kin," she said.

The doctor pulled out a slip of paper from his pocket and looked at it.

"Next of kin and emergency contact both list Lt. Cmdr Steve McGarrett. Sorry." He led Steve through another set of doors.

"He's in recovery," the surgeon said without preamble as they walked down the hall. "As I'm sure the admitting ER doctor told you, we removed his appendex and spleen, both of which were close to rupturing. We repaired several tears in various other organs and are keeping an eye out for more. He'll be taken for some tests in the next twenty four hours to determine the state of his spine and brain swelling. To help reduce the swelling in both spine and brain, we're keeping him on steroids, which was started in the ER. You may expect the neurosurgeon and orthopedist later when the tests are completed."

They arrived at yet another pair of doors (how many could one hospital have?) and that was where they stopped.

"Normally visitors aren't allowed in recovery. However, my supervisor got a call, as did the other doctors who would be dealing with Det. Williams' case, I'm sure. Full cooperation is to be given to you and your team. As that's the case, I expect you'd want to see him right away. Five minutes only, though."

With that, Steve was finally led to his partner's bedside.

The bruises were ugly-turning black and purple all over Danny's face. Steve could even see some on his arms, the abrasions on his wrists. He found himself focusing on the vent, the woosh click rhythm.

He'd seen worse. Hell, he'd been on the recieving end of worse. But this was civillian life, there wasn't supposed to be this.

Steve sat silently in a chair for the entire five minutes.

Once Danny was in a room in ICU and had a uniformed police officer outside the door (Steve wasn't taking any chances), Steve headed for the palace. It wasn't what he wanted to do, but there wasn't anything he could do for Danny but that. He wasn't a doctor, he was an almost cop, Danny's partner. Steve couldn't help him medically, but he could find the guys who'd put Danny in ICU and put them somewhere, prefferably for a long time.

When he got to the office, Chin and Kono were leaning over the screen in the war room, talking quietly. They looked up at him, saw his haggard and drawn look, and became more concerned the closer Steve got. They waited for him to stand right next to them, a little afraid of the answers they might get.

"Steve, is Danny-?" Chin let the question hang, uncertain. He knew how quickly a situation could change.

His boss' eyes went wide. "Shit," he swore loudly. "I completely forgot! I'm sorry, guys."

Chin nodded knowingly. "We understand, brah."

Forcing his attention to where it had to be, Steve looked at the computer screen once he updated them on Danny's condition. "What have you got so far?"

Kono pulled up a photo of Danny's apartment. "CSU is still going over some stuff, but they haven't found much." She pulled up a different set of photos side by side of outside the apartment. "But here we have some blood and drag marks."

"There isn't enough for DNA testing to confirm it's Danny's* but the blood type matches," put in Chin. He gestured to the photo of the drag marks. "We think Danny came out of his apartment, heading for work, was subdued, then dragged away, probably to the truck described earlier."

Steve considered that. "Witnesses?"

"Few, far, and not looking to talk to cops," Kono replied, leaning palm and hip against the table, head slightly cocked to one side.

The neighborhood Danny lived in wasn't dangerous; Danny would never have allowed Grace over if that was the case. But the apartment building was fairly low level housing (cheap enough for a divorced, low paid cop, Danny had said) and it meant families on goverment welfare, in most cases. Plus, with the fairly well known amount of corruption within HPD, Steve wasn't awfully surprised at the reluctance.

"We found the Camaro abandoned a few blocks away, searched. Whatever they were looking for they didn't find there, just like at the apartment. They're still going over that too, but don't expect to find anything," Chin informed him.

"What about at the hospital," Steve asked.

"Good news and bad news," Chin said as he moved the photos for a video. It began to play. "We've got a good shot of the truck, and a partial plate, which we're running. We also have a good facial shot of the perp pushing Danny out."

Steve watched the older model Ford pull up to the ER, a door swing open, and Danny's limp body tumbling out. A head, some of an upper torso, and a pair of arms came out with Danny, and the head swivelled around to the left and right, as if looking around. The camera got a grainy but otherwise unobstructed view of his face.

"So what's the bad news," Steve wanted to know. They had a partial liscense plate, and a picture of one of the perps. It was more than what they usually got without dangling someone off a roof or using a grenade.

"We ran his face through the system," Kono informed. "He isn't in there."

The SEAL frowned. That was a potential problem he could admit (to himself at least); it was easy enough to jump from one island to another. Even if their perp had stayed in Oahu, there were hundreds upon hundreds of people all over the island, making it easy to blend in a crowd. Then there was the dense jungle, the mountains, the caves. A smart perp would use any and all advantages, like the other islands or jungles. A less determined cop would figure it to be a usless lead and move on.

But this perp wasn't smart and Steve was very determined.

Normally, Danny would pick up on Steve's train of thought and add his own ideas, which were usually right in line with Steve's. Chin filled the void almost hesitantly, as if he expected the blonde Jersy native to say something.

"This may be this guy's first major crime," he said. "Someone more experienced would know better than to stick his head out the door where security cameras may be. Not only that, he looks pretty nervous, almost sick."

Steve considered that. It was plausible.

"If that's the case, these guys are hired help, and this wasn't random," Steve put together.

"But why target Danny?" Kono looked at her two teammates.

That was a good question no one seemed to have any good answers to.

"An old open case from Jersey," suggested Steve, although Chin immediately shook his head.

"He would have had to wrap up as many cases as possible. To hear Danny tell it, he left cold cases. The one open murder case he had went to another team and was solved a few months ago."

"What about a solved one," asked Kono, deffering to her cousins experience.

Chin thought about it. "it's a stretch, and a big one. We'd have to consider which division, go through pracitically hundreds of cases."

"I figured homicide was most likely," mused Steve.

"Maybe, but Danny was in Narco, and major crimes. There are way too many possibilities," answered Chin.

"I don't care, well look at them," Steve said with finality. "Call Newark PD, talk to Danny's old captains. partner's, whatever, and get their help. I want a picture of that guy on my phone in less than fifeteen minutes."

As Steve walked away, the cousins shared a look. They hadn't really realized how much Danny did for the team by not putting up with Steve's Navy commanding style. Steve was seperating himself slowly from them, becoming more of a Navy SEAL commander than the leader of 5-0 and it was going to strain them. For all their sakes, they hoped Danny would get better soon.