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Danny called out, "AARON…JJ….I NEED HELP OVER HERE!"
The SEAL's raced over to his side and turning on a light they looked down at their injured friend.
Jak had joined them with the medical bag and as Danny held Steve's hand and talked to him, the three men worked quickly to strip off his clothes and the bandages.

Steve's chest was moving rapidly up and down, way too fast, and he was horribly pale.
"Steve, squeeze my hand tight buddy…..I've got you"
Steve's hand tightened as he said breathlessly, "'M ggood Daanno…..sso ttired" He grimaced as Aaron pulled the blood soaked packing from the bullet wound, crying out in pain "OOOHHHH FFUCK"

Danny's voice shook as he encouraged him, "Hang on babe, just squeeze tight…you told me you're good right?"
A weak smile creased Steve's face, "Yeah D'….'m ggood"
Steve's body was shaking as Aaron asked, "Danny, if I remember correctly his blood type is B Positive right?"
"Yeah"
JJ stood, "I got it…..prep him boys"
Danny spoke softly, "We're going to give you some blood buddy"
"No ddruggs Dannoo…..nno ddrugs"
"I hear you Steve, no drugs. We're giving you blood….just blood. Slow down your breathing partner…come on now, nice and slow Steven….in, out….. in, out… in, out….that a boy, nice and slow"

Danny continued to console him as JJ inserted the IV needle and in moments the blood was flowing into his veins. JJ held the bag of blood while the Aaron and Jak worked on the wound. Steve's eyes were closed, and his jaw was clenched tightly as he focused on controlling his breathing.

Several minutes passed before Aaron spoke, explaining to Danny what they were doing.
"The bullet's too deep for me to get to but I can see the bleeder. I'm going to re-pack the wound with celox gauze and apply direct pressure. If the bleeding doesn't subside in ten minutes, I'm going to need to cauterize. How's he doing?"

Danny replied, "He's good. What's celox?"
"Celox is a high performance chitosan-derived hemostatic agent that's designed to aid in fast clotting"
Danny nodded, "Do what you need to do Aaron"
The next few minutes were very painful for Steve as Aaron inserted the gauze and then applied firm, direct pressure to the wound.

As Aaron pressed, Steve instinctively tried to push away. Jak and JJ pinned him tightly to the ground as Danny talked to him firmly. "Hang on partner…we gotta stop the bleeding"
Steve's eyes remained closed, his jaw still clenched and his cheeks puffed as he struggled to control his breathing.
He moaned softly and Danny kept talking soothingly, "You're doing great Steven…."
Suddenly Steve's grip on Danny's hand tightened as pain coursed through his body, "Ohhhh shit…"
"You're okay partner…it's almost over, ride it out babe. I've got you"

It was a horribly long ten minutes and they were all relieved when Aaron released the pressure.
Danny kept talking, "Relax buddy…you're doing great"
Aaron then removed the gauze and after several seconds he announced, "It worked guys"

Danny placed his head close to Steve's ear, "You hear that? Aaron got the bleeding stopped buddy. You relax now"
JJ handed Danny a wet cloth and as he continued to hold his hand he wiped Steve's sweat drenched head, face and neck. "Sleep now Steve, you're doing great…sssshhhhh"

Once the wound was re-bandaged and the blankets were pulled up around him, he surrendered to his exhaustion and slept.
After hanging the bag of blood on a make-shift pole, the Commanders all went back to the other end of the plane to sleep while Danny stayed at his partner's side for the remainder of the night.

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Steve slept quietly, as did all of the injured men for a couple of hours.
Danny had fallen asleep leaning up against the side of the plane, waking as Steve squeezed his hand.
Opening his eyes they fell onto his partner who was smiling up at him.
Smiling back he asked, "How do you feel?"
"Better…I feel so weak"
"You lost a lot of blood babe, but you're going to be fine now"
Steve turned his head towards Tyler, reaching out to touch him. As he stroked his son's forearm he said softly, "How's he doing?"
"There hasn't been any change. He's holding his own, they all are"
"Good….I'm so tired Danno"
"Sleep then. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere"
As Steve's eyes closed he said weakly, "Thanks buddy"

Danny watched as Steve drifted back off to sleep. His pain definitely was less and he was grateful for that but he knew there was a high risk of Steve developing an infection. As long as that bullet was in his body, the chance of infection was great.
He glanced down at Steve's watch….….five o'clock. They'd been in the air for about five hours, seven more to go.
He said softly, "Please hang on buddy"

He sat watching Steve and Tyler for a long time and his mind drifted to home. He chuckled softly at the realization that he now considered Hawaii…..'home'. They had to leave in such a hurry that he hadn't been able to see or talk to Gracie as she had been in school. He had called Rachel to tell her he would be gone for a few days but he hadn't given her any details, not wanting her to worry. Tears fell down his cheeks as he looked at the injured men lying before him and only a few feet away from them lay the body bags of their brothers, two American hero's. What would Gracie have thought if he had died during this mission and they had never said goodbye? The boys had told him that Dino was married and had four kids, a four year old son who hardly knew him and three daughters, ten, eight and seven years old. They couldn't possibly understand the evil in this world that had taken their Daddy from them. How can these men do this? How can they leave their wives and children knowing that every mission could be their last? Again Danny marveled at the honor and bravery of these men and it now truly hit him that they were not the only brave ones. The women who loved these men, who smiled through their fears, who kept their home lives stable and raised their children much of the time alone…..they too were hero's.

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It was about seven o'clock when Tyler came to. As he moaned, Danny moved to his side and placed his hands on the boy's bruised cheeks. "Tyler, it's Danny…..can you hear me?"
"Dannnoo…heey it's ggood to see you" The boy smiled at him, yet the pain was obvious on his face.
Smiling back Danny replied, "It's good to see you too kid. How do feel? Do you need any pain meds?"
"No mmore mmeds Danny"
The Jersey detective couldn't help but chuckle as he said, "You sound just like your Father, you know that?"
"WWhere iis he?"
"Right next to you" Danny turned the boys head so he could see Steve.
Noticing how pale he was Ty asked, "Is he okay?"
"He's sleeping buddy. He took a round to the belly but he's going to be fine. You're all going to be fine. We'll be home in a few hours Tyler and you just need to rest"

"I'm sso tthirsty DDannoo"
Reaching across Steve's body, Danny grabbed a half empty bottle and water and lifting Ty's head he helped him drink.
The movement woke Steve who said weakly, "Tyler?"
Danny spoke as Steve began to roll towards the boy, "Steve stop, don't move...let me help you"
Steve replied breathlessly, "Yeah, 'k"

Tyler reached over and took hold of Steve's hand as he said quietly, "I'm good Dad"
Lying Tyler back down, Danny stepped over Steve and knelt at his side, smiling as he looked down at him.
"Let me check your belly now Steven, you stay still for me"
Pulling the blankets back Danny then peeled back the bandage and examined the wound.
"Looks real good partner, no bleeding" He then put the bandage back in place and moved back to Steve, "You sure you're up to sitting partner?"

"Yes…..I'm good partner"
Steve moaned and Danny felt his body tense as he helped him sit and slide back against the side of the plane.
The man's body was shaking with pain and he held tightly to Danny's shirt collar, his head buried into his partner's shoulder as he tried to fight the pain without crying out. Danny whispered into his ear, "I've got you….relax…." It took a couple of minutes before he felt Steve relax and his body begin to ease. He then asked softly, "Are you okay"

"Yeah….I need to see Ty"
"Okay. He's doing really well Steve….he really is"
Danny then moved back so Steve could see his son. Tyler's head was turned towards him and they smiled at each other.
"Hi Dad"
"Hi buddy…are you feeling better?"
"A little...….DDanny ssays we're almost hhome"
"Yes we are and you're going to stay with me in Hawaii while you recover. I'll fly Amber and your parents in. You're going to be fine son"
"Dad…..thanks ffor coming and ffor saving mme"
"There were twenty six of us Tyler. We'll tell you all about the mission when you're feeling better but we had quite a team. Danno, JJ and your team, my old team and a Marine Special Ops Unit….Sam's Unit"

"Sam? Sam's here?"
Steve smiled, "Yeah, Sam's here. He was bit by a snake but he's going to be fine, he had the anti-venom. He's sleeping now"
"Did anyone else gget hurt?"
"Javier was shot and it's bad, but he's hanging in there, and one of the Marines took a couple rounds to the arm but he'll fine"
Tyler hesitated before adding, "Was anyone…"
Steve jumped in, "No buddy, we didn't lose anybody and you and Owen are going to be fine"
"Dino and David…"
"I know buddy. We've got them and we're taking them home son"
"Thhey ttorturred DDavid….."
Steve squeezed his hand tightly "Ty, I need you to listen to me. You need to relax and stay calm. We'll talk about this later okay son?"
"Okay…God DDad…..I hhurt so bbad"

Danny squeezed Steve's forearm, "I'll go get some pain meds"
"No mmeds Dad"
"Tyler I love you and I need you to trust me. You need the meds now and I'll be right here with you"
Steve moved his hand up and wiped the tears of pain and frustration falling from his child's cheek as Ty said softly, "Okay"

Moments later the morphine was entering his bloodstream and as his eyes were closing he said groggily, "I llovve yyou Dad"

********* MUCH MORE TO FOLLOW! **********