Pressures Makes Diamonds

Chapter 13

Danny had been rushed into surgery. The doctors assured Steve that the wound, though serious, wasn't life threatening. A feeling of relief had swept over him and when his own adrenaline had left him, he had felt the weariness that reminded him that he wasn't 100%. Still, it was good to be free, for now. Danny had risked everything to keep his promise to him and he had almost gotten killed. Instead, Wo Fat had been killed. Steve couldn't truly enjoy the moment of being free and having Wo Fat dead knowing that it had almost cost him a partner and friend.

Chin pursued trying to piece together what had happened, who had killed Wo Fat or who was trying to kill them while Steve waited to hear about Danny. He had promised him that he wouldn't call Rachel until there was a good reason to do it. They had gone through enough already and Danny didn't want to scare them especially since they were now thousands of miles away and he didn't want them flying back unless they had to. Seeing how much pain Danny had been in, Steve had flashbacked to when Danny was gasping for breath after he had been exposed to Sarin. It seemed like he had barely recovered from that before getting wounded again by what Steve believed to be a misfired shot. He knew that professionals never missed so whoever the intended target was, it wasn't Wo Fat.

Flashback

"Danny, hang on. Help is on the way," Steve said, his voice betraying his anxiety.

Danny squirmed with the rising pain.

"Is it just me or is anyone else getting a sense of déjà vu here?" Danny joked, trying to lighten the mood as he rode through the surges of pain.

Danny looked at everyone's expression and realized that they were reliving when he had been exposed to the Sarin and was afraid for him.

"I'm okay, guys. Really."

No one acted convinced. Danny knew that he had to take their minds off of his situation.

"So, you thinking sniper?"

"Yeh, only thing I don't know is who was the intended target. Wo Fat or us," Steve said.

"I think the dead body speaks for itself," Danny said, clenching through his pain.

"I don't think so. I saw Wo Fat smiling as if he knew what was coming."

"What? You a mind reader now?" Danny said, feeling weariness penetrate his body. "You're the...one with the face."

"How many times do I have to tell you that I don't have a face? Wo Fat knew about the shooter so he wasn't the target."

"Lucky me then. Typical. And I got caught in the crossfire," Danny teased then lost consciousness.

"Danny? Stay with me, partner!" Steve coaxed just as EMS arrived.

The surgery had been successful and Danny was in recovery. It allowed Steve to relax a little. He then heard his cell ring.

"McGarrett."

"We found the sniper," Chin said.

"That's great news."

"Not so great, brah. He's dead."

505050

Steve had been told that Danny would be in recovery for several hours so he had decided to meet Chin at the Morgue to get whatever information he had on the sniper. While there, Max Bergman would brief them on cause of death.

Steve walked into the Morgue and was greeted by both Chin and Max.

"Ah, Commander, I see that you have fully recovered. I told Detective Williams that you would be fine once the antidote was administered. He seemed quite agitated."

Steve and Chin exchanged looks.

"Yeh, Max, I'm good. Thanks for helping us," Steve said, imagining that Danny would have been proud of his polite demeanor and self-control.

"No problem."

Chin then turned to show Steve the information on his smart phone. A picture of a short-cropped blonde haired man with a grim look on his face was on the screen.

"The sniper's name is Shaun Rossi. Former CIA."

"Another rogue CIA?" Steve said, concern and confusion on his face.

"Not surprisingly, there's not much on him."

"Maybe Jenna can find some information on him. What's the cause of death, Max?"

"Gunshot wound to the chest, at close range."

"That means our sniper knew his killer. No way a guy like him, with his skills and background, would let a stranger get that close to him," Steve said.

"So someone took him out to stop him from killing one of us?" Chin said puzzled.

"Maybe," Steve said.

"Then who killed Wo Fat?"

"Someone with a bigger grudge against Wo Fat."

"That could be a very long list, brah," Chin said.

"Maybe not," Steve said, realization coming to his face.

TBC