CHAPTER EIGHT

Steve knew that his time was almost up. His body shook with uncontrollable tremors, he had a deep, intense ache in his chest (as if an elephant was standing on it), and each breath was a painful struggle that came out as a raspy gasp. His difficulty breathing was magnified by the fact that he had chronic, intense coughing fits every few minutes that left him wheezing and heaving for air that his lungs could barely take in in the first place.

And although he had begun to lose feeling in his various stab/gunshot wounds, he by no means was in any less pain. A raging fever had taken over his body. He was burning hot and freezing cold at the same time. His head ached and pounded and felt like it was imploding so much that Steve practically prayed to lose consciousness.

He had no idea how long it had been since the last visit by his captors. Time had lost all meaning. Every moment Steve spent was focused on the next breath, the next stabbing pain in his head, and the way that his lungs felt like they were being severed from the rest of his body.

One day after their breakthrough, the 5-0 team was working furiously and nonstop to find out what and why Wo Fat had invested half a million dollars to the Yakuza for. Unfortunately, it was not an easy task.

"The Yakuza aren't stupid," Danny sighed as yet another lead turned into a dead end. "They know how to cover their tracks."

There was a silence from Chin, Kono, and Catherine. They, like Danny, had also been turning up nothing but dead ends, and had all reached the same conclusion.

Kono sighed. Catherine sipped her fifth coffee numbly. Chin ran his fingers through his hair.

"You know, maybe we're doing this wrong." Catherine mused.

"How do you think?" Chin asked.

"Well," Catherine said slowly, "what we're doing now is just trying to trace what the Yakuza used the money for. Maybe the Yakuza never actually used the money for something specific."

"You think that the Yakuza transferred the money along to someone else?" Kono worked out, eyebrows raised, pondering this possibility.

"Almost like a middleman…" Danny said, frowning slightly. "That doesn't really seem like the Yakuza's thing, you know?"

"Yes, but I don't see any other explanation," Catherine sighed. "I mean, it's the only reason why we haven't found anything yet."

"Maybe Wo Fat simply paid them to get the job done, and the Yakuza took it upon themselves to hire on outside help." Chin theorized.

There was a pause of silence. Then Danny nodded. "Ok. This could work. Let's change our strategy, come at it from this angle."

Spoken words quickly faded, replaced by the sound of furious typing on keyboards as the members of 5-0 worked to bring Steve home.

Steve was not sure how long he had been asleep when he was awoken with a jolt by another relentless and particularly draining coughing fit.

When it had finally passed, and Steve desperately gasped for air, he realized with a jolt a disturbing and alarming development.

The hand he had been coughing into was suddenly covered in blood.

Three hours later, the silence at 5-0 headquarters remained unbroken. Until...

"Shit." Chin breathed. Normally his curse would have been acknowledged as an exclamation of frustration. This time, however, it was different. He said it in a way that clearly expressed wonder and shock, attracting the attention of everyone else in the room.

"Danny…" Chin said slowly, not taking his eyes off his screen, his eyebrows knit together it concentration. "I… I think I got it."

There was a brief silence. Then, simultaneously, the sound of chairs being scooted out and pushed aside filled the room as everyone converged on Chin.

"Let's hear it." Danny said.

Chin took a deep breath. "$400,000 was wired last month to an off-shore bank account belonging to a prominent black market dealer, known only by his alias 'Brimstone'. From what I've been able to turn up, it appears that Wo Fat, through the Yakuza, through Brimstone, has indirectly purchased a submarine."

Danny took a second to let this information sink in. "A… submarine?" Danny repeated slowly in disbelief.

"It would appear so," Chin said dryly.

"Great," Kono said, her eyes flashing. "Steve could be anywhere under the fucking ocean and we have practically no chance of finding him."

"Not quite," Chin said, and much to everyone's surprise, he smiled. "See, the sub in question has been out of commission for years. It no longer functions as a completely submergible vehicle."

"What are you saying?" Catherine asked sharply.

Chin grinned, looking up at them. "I'm saying that there is an almost 100% chance that Steve is being held in this submarine. And this submarine is incapable of going anywhere anytime soon. It's a stationary sitting duck."

"Chin," Danny said quietly, trying to ignore the explosion of cartwheels and fireworks igniting in his mind, "Please, please tell me you have a fix on the location of that submarine."

"You bet I do."

Steve floated in and out of consciousness. His vision was blurred and tinged with random colors. He thought he heard voices. He didn't see anyone, so he assumed they were in his head. However, he could not make out what they were saying.

He was dizzy. He couldn't think, and his breaths had shifted from quick, short gasps to shallow, slow wheezes.

He could feel the frantic, booming beat of his heart, fast in his chest, struggling wildly against the fever that was trying to take over. It pounded in his chest, pulsing, boom boom boom boom boom.

It was to the sound of his ailing heart that Steve passed out once again.

"Chin and Kono – status!" Danny barked from his office as he hurriedly gathered up his gear.

"Almost ready," Chin's voice came from a location unknown on the other side of 5-0 headquarters.

"HPD is enroute, we're going to meet up with them on the way," Kono said, appearing outside of his door, her gear ready and in hand.

Danny took a deep breath and nodded, already feeling clenching in his heart in anticipation of what was about to transpire. He and Kono walked over to join Chin and Catherine.

For a moment they all just looked at each other, acknowledging the significance of the moment. Then Danny said with a sigh, "Alright. Let's bring him home."

A/N: so, this one is kind of short, but it was pretty significant! Rescue time! Yay! (or aw, to those who wanted more whump... sorry lol) Yeah. So the story is sort of drawing to an end now. I'm thinking 2 or 3 more chapters? Maybe more, I honestly have no idea.

WE PASSED 100 REVIEWS! YAAAAAAAAY! YOU GUYS ARE FANTASTIC! and I was pleasantly surprised by all of the reviews last chapter... not one person was mad about my lack of updates (guiltguiltguilt), and it amused me how many people also do not give a crap about the plot. Haha I'm glad I'm not the only one! It's all about the whump :)

DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW. EVEN IF IT'S JUST A SMILEY FACE. reviews=liquified sunshine. (that doesn't even make sense... oh well)