Author's Note: I should have made note of this in the last chapter, but I forgot. The rescued SEALs were two SEALS I introduced in a previous story, Hekili Pao. I sort of liked these guys and wanted to bring them back for more!

Chapter 5

Sunday morning, 0940 GYT

The SEAL team continued its trek southbound, pausing every few minutes to listen to the jungle sounds around them. Nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be happening, but Steve knew they were being pursued. He felt it in his gut… and by the hair standing at attention on the back of his neck.

His team was a good one. The men traded off helping Boomer and Buck while he carried Aliyana in a makeshift sling made from strips of the blanket he had pilfered from the house. The strips were tied at his back and criss-crossed over his chest, holding her in place. The pouch held her and he had one arm around her, the other carrying his weapon.

The girl had yet to speak and rarely looked at her surroundings. The pink bunny was tightly held in her right hand and occasionally he saw her thumb in her mouth, but mostly she hid her face in his shirt in an attempt to block out the world around her. He knew she had to be in shock from everything that had happened in the last few days, but he was clueless to dealing with four year olds.

Especially four-year-old girls.

So, while the mission was SOP, Lt. Commander Steve McGarrett was out of his element. He moved his hand from her back up to her neck and cleared his throat.

"You know, I've got a friend name Grace who is a few years older than you. We have a lot of fun together. She likes to go get shave ice." He looked down at her. "You ever have shave ice, Ali?"

He received no response, but the thumb came out of her mouth and he knew she was listening. "No shave ice? It's good stuff. Maybe we can get some when all this is over. And I don't think I ever told you my name. It's Steve and I'm a friend of your father's. But Grace calls me Uncle Steve, so if you wanted to call me that, I guess that would be OK, too."

He continued to walk, his left hand supporting her in the sling, his right, carrying the carbine. He glanced down to see her looking up at him, but the minute their eyes made contact, she hid her face against his chest once again.

"No to Uncle Steve? That's cool, too. You don't have to talk. Let's see… I work in Hawaii with Gracie's dad. She calls him 'Danno', and I call him that, sometimes, too, just 'cause it makes him a little bit mad. He always says, 'My name is Danny, not Danno'." Steve told her in a gruff voice.

Still no response, so he kept walking and talking. "I've got two other friends who I work with, too. They are cousins, named Chin," he reached around her and touched her chin, "just like that one, and Kono. Kono's a girl, but she would probably hit me if I called her a girl. She likes to surf in the ocean when she's not working. They are my team and we work together all the time. But your daddy—" he felt her tense up again when he mentioned her father, "your daddy asked me to come and find you, so that's why I'm here with these men."

At the mention of her father, Aliyana tried to bury herself deeper into Steve's chest. He went back to rubbing her back. "You know," he quietly told her, "I heard what that woman said to you this morning. About your parents not wanting you anymore. Ali, sometimes bad people lie, and she was lying to you. I promise. Your mommy and daddy are very sad that you aren't with them and they both asked me to come find you. Mommy even gave me Mr. Flopsy to bring to you. And now Flopsy and I found you so we can take you back to live with them." He looked down and tilted her chin to try and get her to look at him, but she squeezed her eyes shut, a tear sneaking out to trail down her dusty face. "They are going to be so excited when they find out that you are all right. Isn't that right, Mr. Flopsy? What? Did you hear him, Ali? I think he said 'yes'."

It was soft, and didn't last long, but he could have sworn he heard a quiet giggle rumbling in the vicinity of his chest.

Sunday afternoon, 1315 GYT

"Commander, these men have gone about as far as they can," Grayson quietly told his team leader, nodding in the direction of their wounded SEALs. "Buck's ready to pass out." They had stopped for water and a short rest to catch their breath. Grayson had taken point and had motioned to McGarrett that he intended to check out their route ahead. He continued, "I scouted on ahead and there's a clearing for a possible chopper rendezvous about a click ahead. There's a good spot to set up camp for a bit, too. I know the men are undernourished and I don't know about her," he nodded to the girl, who had once again been lulled to sleep by the walk, "but I'm guessing she's hungry, too."

"Good call, Grayson. You lead on and we'll follow."

A make-shift camp was quickly set up in the clearing, the two injured men now resting on the ground. Grayson and Vega were hanging camo netting from tree to tree above the site.

Steve sat, leaning against a tree, pulling the strips of blanket off Aliyana. She sat up and looked around, yawned and rubbed her eyes, but didn't make a move to get up or speak. He touched her face, willing her to look at him. "You OK?" he asked, ducking his head and finally making eye contact.

She looked down, clutching the rabbit to her chest, still mute. He blew out a breath and touched the rabbit's ear. "Mr. Flopsy, maybe she'll talk to you, so use those long ears and listen really, really well, OK?"

Once again the corners of her mouth turned up, but she hid in his chest one more time.

McGarrett slid her sideways off his lap, but she clung to his shirt. 'Hey, just a second, I'm not going anywhere. I just want to get my backpack off. I'm right here," he assured her. She sat next to him on her knees, watching as he maneuvered the pack off his shoulders.

"Need any help, Boss?" Vega asked.

"Going to get the SAT phone and call us in. Grayson, you did a good job in finding the clearing. Chopper shouldn't have any problem at all finding us and I estimate we are maybe two-two-and-a-half hours from Trinidad. Guys, we should have you in a hospital soon."

Steve stood up before making the call and immediately had two small arms wrapped around his left leg, holding him in place.

"Doesn't look like you're going any place, Smooth Dog," Boomer chuckled. "Girlfriend's already got you tied down."

"I can see that," Steve replied, looking down to his leg. "Grayson," he pointed down to the child, "maybe you can…"

The lieutenant came over and knelt down at her eye level. "Ali, think you could stay with me for a few minutes so Steve could use the telephone in quiet?"

Her response was to squeeze her hold tighter.

"Not working," McGarrett muttered. "Look, Ali, I'll be right over there," he pointed. "You can watch me, OK? I need to use the phone so we can get a chop—a helicopter to come pick us up."

She still didn't speak, but she also didn't let go. McGarrett finally rolled his eyes and reached down and picked her up. "OK, we'll go over here and make the call."

"Like I said, Doggie," Boomer teased again, "you're tied to the apron strings. Guess you could do worse than the president's daughter, though."

"I hope you get well soon," Steve muttered while stepping over the injured man. "So I can kick your a—butt."

"Promises, promises," Boomer answered. "Better check with your better half there first."

~~~H50~~~

McGarrett wasn't on the phone for long. He spoke to the admiral and relayed that they had found two injured SEALs and two KIA, had set charges and blew the compound but were now being pursued by Ochoa and his soldiers. The base camp at the Embassy took their coordinates from the phone and the admiral assured him that their transport, another Chinook, would be arriving in approximately three hours.

He turned back to his men and relayed the message, eliciting a sigh of relief from all.

"What did they say when you mentioned Ali?" Buck asked.

Steve didn't speak for a moment. "I didn't," he finally admitted. "The Sanchez's are still reeling with shock right now. I don't want to give them the good news until we have her closer to home."

They all read between the lines. Their location could be compromised at any moment and he didn't want to build false hope in her parents when the entire mission could go south at any given time.

Boomer nodded. "I would have made the same call. Now… we have the time… tell me why they tagged you for this mission. And once again, I don't want to sound ungrateful, but you weren't exactly the first person I would have thought would have knocked on our door."

Steve sat down next to his wounded friend and once again settled the little girl on his lap. "Remember back in '06 when the students were kidnapped in Guyana?" He continued at his friend's nod. "I was on that team. Sanchez and I worked together trying to oust Ochoa but we couldn't get any solid proof he was involved. Sanchez remembered my name and requested me."

"Well, we've got the proof now, and we should be able to nail him."

McGarrett grinned. "And we will." He patted Ali on the back. "Trust me."

~~~H50~~~

The men kept close eyes on their watches, waiting for transport. Buck managed to sleep some after trying to eat. Boomer refused food, but the morphine kept him in a quiet state as long as he remained still.

And McGarrett was frustrated with a little girl who refused to eat. Although he really couldn't blame her. MREs didn't taste the best even when you were starving. But she wouldn't even open her mouth. He gave up on the packaged meal and felt down in his backpack.

"Hey? How about trail mix? Do you like this?" He opened the pack and poured raisins, cranberries and nuts into his hand. She looked from him, to his hand and then back again, presumably asking permission. "Go ahead… eat some." He reached for an almond and popped it into his mouth. "See… good."

She hesitantly took a couple of raisins and ate them, then quickly ate all the fruit in his hand. When he added what was left of the pack, she ate those, too, but didn't touch the nuts.

"You don't like nuts?" Steve asked.

She shook her head. Finally a response.

"Then can I eat these?" he asked.

A nod this time. More like a bounce of her head, but he would accept any response.

"Good," he told her, grinning as he threw them in his mouth, "because I do like them. Let's see if I can find some more." He reached into his pack and pulled out another small bag. "OK, here we go…some for you and some for me." He glanced up at his team. "If anyone has trail mix, I'm calling dibs. So far, it's the only thing she'll eat."

"You have anything good to trade?" Jackson asked with a grin. "I don't give up my food for just nothin'."

McGarrett placed a finger underneath Ali's chin. "Just look at that face. You going to say 'no' to that?"

"Ouch!" Jackson grinned. "The man plays hardball." He tossed over a package of trail mix. "We'll negotiate later."

"Deal."

Shortly before the three hours was up, they heard the whap-whap of chopper blades in the distance. The men stood and gathered their gear, prepared to move into the clearing for pick up.

McGarrett stood and quickly barked out, "Silence!"

They all turned to look at him, confusion written on their faces.

"Something's not right," he muttered. "The admiral said a Chinook was coming. That's making too much noise for a Chinook."

"Maybe they made a change," Jackson replied.

Steve shook his head. "Listen. I don't think that's one of ours. Everyone stay under cover."

The chopper came into view and they readily saw that it was not a United States military bird. "Get ready to move," McGarrett ordered. "We've been made."

He quickly set Aliyana down, threw on his backpack, grabbed her sling and picked her back up, then threw the strap of his carbine over his right shoulder.

They waited, not moving while the bird circled the area several times, dropping as low as it could without hitting the treetops. They remained underneath the camo netting, barely breathing while the chopper circled again and again. Aliyana had both hands over her ears and still trembled from the noise. Steve kept his left hand over hers on her ear, holding her close to his body in an attempt to stifle the noise. He tried to calm his breathing even though his own body was tense with anticipation.

After several slow circles, the chopper moved away and they all breathed out. "You know that's a good indicator that ground troops aren't far behind," McGarrett told his team.

"Yes, Sir," Vega replied. "I can watch our six."

"Good. You two," he nodded to Jackson and Grayson, "alternate by taking point and helping Boomer. Stay under cover. We'll move to higher ground and then discuss our options. Let's move out."

~~~H50~~~

They had been traveling slightly upward all day, stopping for breaks and changing off on duties. All but McGarrett, who continued to carry his own cargo. Aliyana and Mr. Flopsy seemed to take everything in stride. Still no conversation, but Steve didn't say much either, keeping his eyes and ears peeled for trouble.

They had heard the chopper twice more, but had hunkered down in the foliage during those sweeps. They hadn't caught sight of any ground troops, but McGarrett knew they were there. And not too far away. His team couldn't cover the ground as quickly as a fresh, non-injured group could.

And he knew that by nightfall, they would have a fight on their hands.

It was not something he looked forward to. Especially with two critically injured team members and a baby in his arms.

~~~H50~~~