Hey guys! Just a heads up, I don't know if I'll be able to finish this story as fast as ya'll would like. I busted up my wrist pretty bad and I have surgery next week, so it may be a while! Very sorry! Oh, and by the way, for those of you not familiar with the pronunciation of Swedish names, Elin in pronounced ee-lin.

When Steve dragged himself out of bed, he was surprised to see that he had slept for twelve hours. He still felt exhausted. His phone started ringing shrilly.

"M'garrett." He answered tiredly.

"Steve! I've been calling you and Danny all morning! Where the hell are you guys?" Chin's half angry, half concerned voice yelled through his phone.

"Sorry man. I guess I was more tired than I knew…wait. You said Danny isn't answering either?"

"Yeah. I was just about to go to your guys' places." Steve felt his heart contract. Danny had taken more and worse blows in yesterday's fight and if he himself felt this awful…what about Danny? He remembered all of the impossibly hard punches that had struck Danny in the head, chest, and abdomen. What if he was laying in his apartment right now, slowly bleeding out internally? He got up and, as quickly as his achy body would allow, got dressed and ran to his car.

"Ok, we'll be in soon. I'm gonna stop by Danny's and see how he's doing."

"Yeah, he looked pretty bad yesterday. Call me if you need to take him to get looked at, ok? And don't ignore your own health. I swear you two are the worst. Always so concerned with everyone else's safety, but neglecting your own." Chin hung up and Steve raced towards Danny's apartment. Seeing that the Camaro was still there, he banged loudly on the door.

"Danny? You awake man?" Nothing. He tried again. "Danno! Can you hear me? If this door isn't open in thirty seconds I'm coming in!" He heard shuffling inside, then the lock turned and the door swung open. Danny stood before him, looking worse than he had last night. He was pale and a bit unsteady, with circles under his eyes as dark as the livid bruises that covered his body. He looked up with hazy eyes. Steve could see that he was about halfway through getting dressed. He had his shirt on, with his tie half finished, but he still wore only boxers on bottom.

"Jesus, Danny. You look like shit." He said as he walked inside.

"Feel like it too. Those suckers could really land those punches. And I wouldn't talk just yet babe. You seen yourself this morning?" Danny said hoarsely, motioning Steve towards the mirror. Steve studied his appearance. Damn if he didn't look almost as bad as Danny.

"Well, we won't win any pageants."

"Guess not. Uggg…sorry. I didn't mean to sleep in. I really should have been in earlier with a case like this."

"I literally woke up ten minutes ago so don't feel too bad."

"Lemme put some pants on then we should get going." Fifteen minutes later, both men were walking into HQ, each slumping with fatigue. Kono raised an eyebrow when they entered.

"Damn…you guys sure you shouldn't have stayed home today? You look awful."

"We'll be okay. Besides, case like this is all hands on deck." She shrugged in agreement and they continued over to the Smart Table to join Chin.

"Hey guys. I've been looking into GenTech. I called Catherine and she was able to get me some back door access to the company's servers. At first glance, totally legit. However, the company's CEO, Thomas Briarley, has made several trips to Hawaii in the past month or so. He left the island just before Okela escaped. I also looked into company gossip. Word is that Briarley and his top scientist, Elin Valburg, have been working together closely on some secret project that is supposed to change the world, and maybe save it."

"Save it? From what?" Danny asked.

"I don't know. That's apparently what Briarley and Valburg have put out there." Chin responded.

"Ok, so what do we know about this Elin Valburg?" With a deft flick of his hand, Chin pulled up a photo of a stunning woman around thirty years of age. She was tall and slender, with long, silvery hair that fell in cascading waves to her ribs. She had perfect pale skin, high cheekbones, and piercing silvery blue eyes.

"Dr. Elin Valburg, age thirty two, is a Swedish biomedical researcher. Her area of study is, get this, infectious diseases. She joined GenTech a year ago and immediately started working closely with not only Briarley, who people suspect she has a relationship with, but also doctors Alice Harmening and Silas Marchbanks. The two doctors from the warehouse."

"This can't be a coincidence. Do we know where Elin is?" Kono asked.

"TSA reported her coming into Hawaii two months ago, but never leaving. She may still be on the island." Chin paused a moment. "Steve…Danny? You guys with us?" he asked, noticing how the normally actively participating men were staring off into space.

"Wha- yeah, yeah. Elin's still on the island." Steve said, as they both snapped out of their stupor a bit. The cousins gave them a concerned look, then Kono began running Elin's face through facial recognition.

"This could take a while." She said. "Why don't you guys go home until I get a hit. We have no other leads I promise we'll call as soon as we know something. Until then, you two really look like you're in desperate need of some sleep." Chin nodded in agreement.

"She's right. You two are barely on your feet as is. I'll drive you home. How's that sound?" he asked. Too tired to argue, they agreed and silently walked out of the office, trying to keep their much too heavy heads up just a little longer. Before they left, Chin and Kono shared a look. While they had wanted Danny and Steve to agree to go home, it worried them that they hadn't put up the slightest bit of a fight.

After Chin dropped them off, they each fell into bed, still in their clothes, and were asleep instantly. When they woke up, it took them a moment to notice that they weren't in their beds anymore. They were tied to hard metal chairs in a cold cement room. Steve was the first to regain consciousness. Looking around to quickly take in his situation, he saw Danny slumped over in his identical chair. He looked terrible. He shivered, despite the fact that he was sweating heavily. His skin was devoid of color and his breathing looked shallow and sounded wheezy. Steve realized that he himself felt awful.

"Danny?" he called out in a hoarse voice. He tried again when he received no response. "Danny? C'mon man, open your eyes." A moment later, his partner's dull eyes flickered open and came to rest on Steve. "You with me Danno?" Steve asked. Although he felt like shit, he could tell Danny felt ten times worse. He was starting to suspect that maybe this was more than the after effects of yesterday's fight.

"Y-yeah." He said weakly. Steve was scared by how little strength he seemed to possess.

"You okay?" Steve asked.

"Where are we?" Danny responded, avoiding Steve's question. Truth was, he felt more than awful.

"I don't know. I just woke up." Danny tried to reply to him, but instead, he broke off into a painful coughing fit that shook his whole body. When the coughing stopped, he was left gasping for each ragged and shallow breath. Steve could only watch as his friend struggled to breathe. Then, the big metal door at the end of the room opened, and a woman entered. She was beautiful, with silvery hair that matched her silvery eyes. Her face was serene, almost dreamlike.

"Welcome, gentlemen, to the re-birth of the world." She said, with the same peaceful voice. Her calm words sent shivers through their spines.

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