Author's Note: Thank you as always to everyone who has read, alerted, or reviewed. Thank you so much for the overwhelmingly positive response you gave me after the last chapter.

Disclaimer: Not only do I not own or profit from anything Hawaii Five-0, I also borrowed Steve's SEAL team from a series of novels written by Elle Kennedy. They are fun, but smutty, romance novels that I read at the beach this summer.

Catherine McGarrett watched her son sleep peacefully in his bassinette. John Daniel McGarrett was ten days old. When Cat looked at him, she saw his father's nose and eyes. John was too young to smile yet, but she knew he would have Steve's cocky smirk. To Catherine, he was perfect.

Her parents had tried repeatedly to convince Catherine to come home to Chicago and have the baby, arguing that she would have her family there for her. The unspoken criticism of her husband's absence came through loudly. Catherine firmly turned down their invitations. Hell, they'd never approved of her decision to join the Navy in the first place. She'd stayed in Hawaii and surrounded herself with Steve's family instead.

Ever since Danny had gotten Steve's email, Catherine felt like the world was holding its breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop. The incidents, which she now knew the truth about, were spreading. The Media had begun to call it the Red Rage when the first outbreaks began in Europe. At lunchtime, CNN had been reporting an outbreak in the New York / New Jersey area. Cat had tried to call Danny, to see if his family was okay, but Five-0 was out on a case.

John stirred, opening his eyes briefly.

"Don't worry, baby," Catherine gently traced circles on his stomach, "Your daddy will come home, and when he does, we'll be right here waiting for him."

As John returned to sleeping, Catherine checked the baby monitor before heading to the kitchen to start dinner. Gabby and Danny would definitely be coming over. There was a good chance that Kono or Lori would stop by, maybe both. Malia was working an evening shift at the hospital so Chin would join her for dinner there, but Max had surprised them all by stopping by twice since she had brought the baby home.

As she left the room, Catherine made sure the 9mm was tucked securely in her waistband. After hearing the CNN report, she had taken the weapon out of the gun closet and decided to keep it on her person. The baby was so small and Danny had been teaching 13 year old Grace how to shoot, so she wasn't worried about having the gun around.

Catherine was not the shot her husband was, but she was close. Steve was coming home but, in the meantime, she was perfectly capable of keeping herself and her baby safe.

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Danny was just returning to the office from a raid on a cargo ship when his cell phone rang. A glance at the caller ID made his forehead crease with worry.

"Mom, it's the middle of the night there. What's wrong?"

"I hate to bother you," Susan Williams sounded hesitant, "Have you seen the news today?"

"No, we've been working on a human smuggling case. We were out in the middle of the ocean. I've been a little too busy to check the news," Danny didn't mean to snap. The lead on the cargo vessel had come after 3 grueling days. Then, just they were about to board the ship, take the smugglers into custody, and release their human cargo, a Navy ship had arrived. The Navy had seized control of the case and dismissed Five-0 without so much as a thank you for tracking the ship down in the first place.

Susan overlooked her son's irritation, "There was a Red Rage attack in Long Branch."

Danny swore softly. None of his family lived in Long Brach but they were all within a few hours' drive.

Susan would normally have chastised her son for his language. Now, she had other things on her mind, "Robby Morris, he was one of the first officers to respond, before they even knew it was the Red Rage."

"Is Robby okay?" Danny demanded. The Morris family had lived a few housed down from the Williams. Robby had been one of his best friends all his life. They had gone to the police academy together, then been hired by different departments.

"He called his wife after the incident and told her that he'd be late but he was fine," Danny could hear the fear in his mother's voice, "He never came home. Angie called his precinct. They won't talk to her. Men who were at her house with their wives last weekend won't talk to her."

Danny fought to keep his voice calm, not wanting to add to his mother's distress, "Has she heard anything? Maybe from a Federal Agency? How long has Robby been gone?"

"It's been almost 12 hours. Angie got a number to call from his precinct. Someone took some information from her and said they'd call her back," Susan hesitated for a minute, "Angie's so worried. I hate to ask this, but do you think that you could call some of your friends in your precinct? See if someone has heard something?"

Danny froze. He knew too much. His hunch was that Robby had been bitten and the government had him. Danny wanted to tell his mother everything, do anything to keep his family safe. But he couldn't trust the phone lines.

"Danny, are you still there?"

"What? Yes, I'm here, Mom. I was just thinking about who I can call. Get some sleep and I'll call you back in the morning, your time," Danny knew he was just stalling for time.

"Don't wait for morning. Robby's parents are both gone and Angie's folks are up in Rhode Island. We've always been close." She left it unspoken that Robby had, in many ways, filled the hole left by her own two sons, "Your father and I came up to stay with Angie and the kids. Just call either of our cell phones as soon as you hear something."

"Sure," Danny paused, not sure how to ask the next question, "Do you know if Robby kept any guns beside his service weapon in the house?"

Susan was taken by surprise, "I think so, there's a gun cabinet in the study. Why?"

"If there's been an outbreak of the Red Rage, you need to be able to protect yourselves," Danny thought that seemed reasonably concerned, without giving anything away, "I'll call you as soon as I can."

Three hours later, Danny sat at his desk, racked by guilt. No one at his former precinct had answered their phones. He had left messages but no one seemed inclined to return them. Danny admitted that he hadn't exactly kept in touch with anyone, even Robby. Things had just been so busy with Five-0, Grace, Gabby, all of his new friends and family in Hawaii. Time had just slipped away. He couldn't really blame any of them for not having time for him now.

He didn't know what to do. Should he tell his parents everything? Would they believe him? Would it even make a difference? What would happen to him and the rest of his family in Hawaii? Would they disappear like Robby?

Danny dialed his mother's number, still not knowing what he would say to her. It turned out that it didn't matter. All he could get was a message saying the number was out of service. He got the same message when he tried his father's phone, and again when he tried each of his sisters. Even their landlines gave him only busy signals.

On a hunch, Danny opened CNN's website. They were reporting widespread phone outages as part of the follow-up to the Red Rage story. Feeling helpless, Danny sent an email to his entire family asking that someone call him as soon as possible.

It was time for him to leave to pick Gabby up at the museum, and then they were headed over to Catherine's for dinner.

On his way out, Danny impulsively pulled out his cell phone, "Hi Rachel. I know it's really short notice, but can Grace come to dinner at the McGarretts tonight? I won't keep her out late."

Rachel must have heard something in his voice, some hint of desperation, because she offered only the smallest token argument before agreeing. Danny's thank you was heartfelt. He needed his girls, Gabby and Grace (and maybe, for now, Catherine), where he could see them.

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Watching Kono through her office window, Lori thought the Hawaiian woman looked like she wanted to smash the cell phone in her hand.

"Everything okay?" Lori asked, poking her head through the door "Is the Navy giving you the run around?"

"No, I gave up on that about an hour ago," Kono smiled wryly. "Whatever reasons the Navy had for suddenly seizing our case, they weren't interested in talking about them."

"Then what's going on?" Lori settled herself comfortably on one of the visitor's chairs.

Kono looked embarrassed, "Ben was supposed to be back in Honolulu tonight. We were going to have dinner."

"Kono!" Lori shook her head sadly, "Isn't Ben the same man who took off – again – three months ago, without even saying goodbye?"

"He needed to visit the Coral Prince factories in Taiwan. Ben is very concerned with the conditions in the factories," Kono's eyes pleaded with Lori not to be too hard on her.

Lori took pity on her friend, "At least he called this time. What's his excuse?"

"His flight was cancelled," Kono sounded worried, "He tried to get another, but all the flights from Asia to the US have been cancelled."

"There are NO flights from anywhere in Asia to the United States?" Lori knew that Kono had a blind spot where Ben was concerned, but this was too much.

"It's true," Kono insisted, "They're rebooking the flights but there's nothing until the end of the week." She grabbed her keyboard and began typing, "See these new regulations. All flights have to go through Las Angeles or Seattle."

Lori glanced at the screen, seeing that Kono was correct. The two women exchanged a telling look.

"Okay, this isn't good, but Ben will be back at the end of the week, right? He'll be fine," Lori tried to make her voice sound reassuring.

Kono sighed, "He will be, but I'll feel better once Ben's back on Oahu."

Lori gave her an understanding smile, "Hey, since you don't have plans for tonight after all, why don't we head over to Cat's? We can take turns holding the baby."

Out in the hallway, they spotted Danny headed out of the building. Kono considered calling out to him but he was on his phone and seemed agitated. She decided that she'd talk to him later.

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Chin and Malia settled their trays on a small table in the back of the hospital cafeteria.

Malia studied her husband for a moment. She hadn't seen much of him for the past few days. Five-0 had been working around the clock on a human smuggling case. Chin had called her that afternoon to tell her the case was over and to make the dinner arrangements, but something seemed off.

"Did you want have dinner at Catherine's house?" Malia asked, "You usually all celebrate the end of your harder cases together."

Chin gave her a tired smile, "It doesn't feel like there's much to celebrate. We found the ship, but he Navy arrived before we could board. They sealed everything down and sent us on our way."

Malia frowned, "Why would they do that?"

"I don't know," Chin sighed, "I'm sorry, Ku`u Lei, I didn't mean to scare you. Why don't you tell me about your day?"

"That's going to be just as unsettling," Malia tried to keep her tone light, but she glanced around quickly to make sure no one could overhear them, "There's a team here from the CDC holding mandatory meetings for all the doctors in the hospital. Mine was today. We're not supposed to talk about it."

It was Chin's turn to study his wife, "Should I be concerned?"

"The whole thing was just so weird. They had a demonstration on the proper way to retrain patients, even infants," she shook her head disbelievingly, "It was about the Red Rage, of course. They stressed over and over again that we were not to attempt any treatment, not matter what the patient's condition, just wait for an evaluation team to transport the patient to an 'appropriate' treatment facility. We're doctors, this is a hospital, we can't just ignore injuries."

Chin glanced around again to make sure there was still no one in earshot, "Malia, I told you about the instructions we've been given, and about the email. Your meeting today falls right in line."

"I know," Malia nervously shredded her napkin, "It's just that I don't know Steve like you do. I don't think that I really believed his email. I believed that you believed it, but . . ." She shrugged helplessly, "After today it all seems more real."

Chin reached across the table and took both of her hands in his, "It doesn't matter what happens anywhere else, we'll be prepared and we'll be safe. I promise."

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Steve McGarrett gripped the side of the helicopter and watch the Agra Fort, where he and his men had been sheltering for the last month, disappear below them.

The last eight months had passed in a blur of geography – first Korea, then Cambodia, a brief stop in Nepal, and finally a trek through India – and faces.

Korea had been a clusterfuck from the beginning. Steve's team of SEALs – Thomas Becker, John Garrett, Will Charleston, Ryan Evans, and Carson Scott – had been joined by 4 other teams. They were sent into the remains of an apparently abandoned village, without being given any useful warnings, and told to gather intel. Of the 24 SEALs who went in, only 14 made it out. Of the 14 who made it out, only 9 were alive a week later.

Steve and his team had front row seats for the horrific end of Will Charleston. At first, Steve had thought his team had somehow gotten away from the nightmare attack of undead villagers unscathed. They were the only team intact as the evac helicopters took them to a secure location in South Korea.

The next morning Will was drowning in sweat and running a fever. Before any of them understood what was happening, the entire team had been locked in makeshift cells in the basement of a factory. Will by himself, Steve with Ryan and Carson, and Becker with John.

It was from his cell that Steve saw doctors examine the small bite on Will's shoulder. During the frantic retreat from the clawing, biting villagers, one must have gotten through the joint in his body armor. Despite determined efforts on the part of the medical staff, the area around the bite had festered as Will's fever had worsened. Eventually, he lapsed into a coma.

Three days after their successful escape, Will Charleston was dead. The doctors all hurried out and left the body. Several anonymous men in black suits stood guard. No one would answer any of their questions.

Three hours after he died, Will Charleston's eyes snapped open. He lurched unsteadily to his feet with a haunting moan. For a heartbeat's worth of time, Steve thought that Will was still alive. Then he looked into his eyes.

The Dark Suits (Steve was certain they were CIA) drew their side arms and opened fire. The first few shots made Will jerk in a macabre dance, but it wasn't until a bullet penetrated his forehead that Will finally went down for good.

The other SEALs were shouting angrily and shaking the bars, trying to come to their teammate's aid. They hadn't seen what Steve had. Steve had watched Will's eyes. He had seen the terrible emptiness, even while the bullets were taking chunks out of his flesh. That thing was no longer Will Charleston.

The SEALs were still shouting and the Dark Suits turned their guns on them. The situation was quickly escalating out of control.

"Silence!" Steve shouted, "Everyone stand down!"

The silence was deafening. A moment later, a fleet Admiral entered the room. At his nod, the agent in charge signaled to the others, who holstered their weapons and unlocked the cell doors.

Steve came to attention in front of the Admiral. The rest of his men followed his example.

"Lt. Cdr. McGarrett, you and your men are to join the other SEAL teams and prepare to move out." He left without saying another word.

Steve glared defiantly at the dark suited agents as he stopped by Will Charleston's body to retrieve one of his dog tags. He was very careful not to come in contact with the body.

Now he ran his fingers over the dog tag as the aircraft carrier Enterprise came into sight. For whatever reasons, the top brass had finally decided to order them home. The encoded orders had come two days ago. They were being sent to Norfolk for deployment in D.C.

It was the wrong coast, but it was a start.

Later that night, Carson knocked lightly on the door to Steve's quarters, "You have a minute?"

At Steve's nod, he closed the door, "We circulated through the mess like you wanted, catching up with guys we went through basic with, that kind of thing. Garrett got reliable info that there was an outbreak in the New York / New Jersey area in the past day or so."

The mention of New Jersey made Steve immediately think of Danny. He pushed it aside. There was no reason to think that Danny was in New Jersey and he didn't have the luxury of worrying about his friend's family members.

"That's not that far from Washington," Steve remarked, "It makes sense that we're being deployed there."

Carson shifted uncomfortably, "Do you think they'll be able to contain it?"

"Has it been truly contained anywhere so far?" Steve sighed, "No, I don't."

The two men shared a knowing look, both thinking of the gruesome things they had seen over last 8 months. It had been while sheltering from a storm in a cave in Nepal, wondering if the moans that floated on air were the wind or the undead, that the team had first started to talk about what would happen if this plague reached the US.

Where did duty lie between country and family? The rest of the team all had wives or girlfriends in the San Diego area. Becker had a baby girl, born just weeks before they deployed. Steve had to suppress a strong spike of envy every time Becker mentioned her. By now his own baby had been born, but Steve didn't even know if he had a son or a daughter. He refused to consider that Catherine might not be okay.

"We're all still in agreement?" Steve asked.

Carson nodded, "If things get bad enough, if we can't make a difference, we're going home."

Steve returned his nod, "We decide together." It seemed almost surreal that they were seriously discussing desertion.

Carson nodded again and left, leaving Steve alone.