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Some of you wondered how the team will find out about Steve's whereabouts and suggested the GPS of his truck... I must admit that this thought never once crossed my mind, I completely forgot about that little device (shame on me!) So my solution will perhaps be a bit less realistic but nevertheless I hope you enjoy the next chapter...


Chapter 5:

"Thanks again, Max," Chin said, waiting until the glass doors had closed behind the quirky medical examiner. Max Bergmann and two crime scene technicians had not only taken photos and picked up Claire Sacotte's body but also cleaned up the scene so that there was no more evidence of the horrible incident that had taken place inside the Five-0 headquarters.

Staring pensively at the now cleaned up tiles for a long moment Chin finally slightly shook his head and approached his two colleagues who gathered around the big computer table.

"Any ideas?" he asked, noticing that his cousin played around with Steve's iPhone, her brow furrowed in concentration.

"We are trying to find out what exactly Steve was doing this morning and where he has been," Danny explained, watching curiously how Kono placed the cell phone onto the table. He impatiently waited until she had swiped her fingers over the display to activate some kind of program he had absolutely no idea what it was good for.

Obviously noticing Danny's slightly confused impatience the young woman quickly pressed one last button before she turned around with a little sigh to face her teammates.

"There are only two text messages of importance on Steve's phone, no other stuff, no phone calls except one missed call from Danny, no photos of today's date," Kono explained her findings. "The outgoing text message was sent to Danny at six minutes past seven, saying that the boss went for an extended run and that he would be late."

"And then there is your… uhm, let's call it snappy answer," she added, throwing Danny a jolly grin.

"Well, what can I say," Danny said, shrugging his shoulders as he returned the smile. "I'm sure I could have done much better if it hadn't been such an insanely early hour of the day."

"The message is time stamped twelve minutes past seven, Danny. That's not really that early," Kono answered, still a little bit amused but the smile soon dropped from her face. Breathing out a little sigh, she continued, "However, the strange thing is that your answer was still unread until now."

Raising his eyebrows in surprise, Chin said pensively, "Okay, so that means that Steve either didn't bother to read your answer or that something happened to him in the few minutes between the two messages."

"Or maybe Steve didn't write the first message himself," Danny suggested quietly, nervously sucking on his lower lip, his hands unnaturally still.

"Why would you say that?" Chin pressed on Danny's assumption, feeling instinctively that the younger man might be on the right track.

Shrugging his shoulders again, Williams replied tentatively, "I don't know, just a feeling I think." Shoving his hands deep into his pockets, Danny turned toward Kono, "Could you open up Steve's message so we can read it?"

"Sure," she answered, and only a heartbeat later all three people stared at the text that was shown on the screen.

"I don't know," Danny repeated, shaking his head in frustration. "There's something that sounds strange but I just can't put my finger on it."

"I can't see anything unusual," Kono said slowly, knitting her brows as she re-read the message once more. "Except maybe from the fact that he…"

"Steven," Danny suddenly interrupted her excitedly. "That's it! He signed with Steven. He has never done that before, he always refers to himself as Steve, he never calls himself Steven. Why didn't I notice that before?"

Looking up, Danny searched the faces of his teammates, smiling grimly when he found unreserved approval.

"You're probably right, brah," Kono nodded as she bent further over the smart table. "But if Steve didn't send the message, then who did?" she asked over her shoulder, her fingers again busily dancing over the display.

"I think it's safe to assume that Claire sent the message to Danny," Chin said, throwing a quick glance at his watch.

The look didn't go unnoticed by Danny and he worriedly uttered Kelly's thoughts, "It's half past nine, which means that Steve has been missing for at least two and a half hours by now." A pained expression colored his features as he whispered angrily, "Damn, I should have noticed earlier that there was something wrong with that text message."

"Danny, don't blame yourself," Chin said emphatically. "How could you possibly have known that something was not right?"

"Hey guys," Kono interrupted before Danny was able to give an answer. "I finally got a result."

"You got a result?" Danny repeated, the confusion clearly audible in his voice. "Maybe this is a stupid question, but a result for what?"

"Oh, I tried to find out the location from where the message had been sent," Kono explained patiently.

"You can do that?" Danny asked impressed, looking from Kono to the figures on the screen and back to the young woman.

"Yeah, well, not exactly," Kono backpedaled a little bit, explaining her actions in more detail. "We know the exact time the message was sent. I checked back with the phone company and when I searched their data, I finally found out over which cell phone tower the signal had been sent."

Swiftly pressing a few buttons on the computer table, she brought up a large map onto the screens by swiping her fingers over the display. It was a map of the greater Honolulu area, a bright-red flashing dot covering the majority of the city and a small uninhabited area northeast of it.

Turning toward Chin and Danny, Kono apologetically shrugged her shoulders, "I know that's not much, it's an incredibly big area to start with, but at least we now have a tiny lead. And perhaps we are able to rule out a few locations."

"So, the text message was sent from somewhere inside that blinking blob?" Danny clarified what he just had heard. Seeing Kono's affirmative nod, he breathed out a frustrated sigh, flailing his hands through the air as he added sarcastically, "Great, I think we might have finished searching the area sometime in the next twenty-five years. Piece of cake, right?"

"I'm sorry," Kono answered silently, slightly slouching her shoulders. "But that's all we have."

"I know it's not your fault, you did good," Williams replied quickly, giving her an apologetic smile as he ran his hands over his hair. "It's just… I mean, where shall we start? Steve could be literally anywhere. We don't have a single hint where he might be."

"Perhaps we have one," Chin said pensively as he made a step toward the screen. He raised his hand and pointed a finger at a location on the map. "Here's Steve's house, clearly outside the range of the cell phone tower. That means he was probably not at home when Claire approached him. Let's assume he really went for a run somewhere else…" briefly interrupting his speech, Chin exchanged looks with his two teammates. "Any idea where he would have gone to?"

"I doubt that Steve went down without a fight, so I think we can rule out the more populated areas," Kono mused, also moving closer to the screen. "Even that early in the morning someone probably would have noticed a fight in the middle of the city, so I suggest we concentrate on the other areas," she said, drawing a virtual circle on the map to outline the region she was talking about.

"I know that Steve sometimes drives to Kamehame Ridge on the windward side of the island to go for a run," Chin threw in, pointing once more at a location on the screen. "But that's outside our search grid, so we can also forget about that."

"Hey, wait," Danny suddenly exclaimed excitedly, his eyes feverishly darting across the map. "He told me a few days ago that he'd gone somewhere else…" Rubbing his fingertips, he briefly closed his eyes to refresh his memory. "Wala… Wila… whatever Ridge Trail…" he murmured under his breath, his eyes snapping open when he heard Kono take in a sharp breath of air.

"You mean Wa`ahila Ridge Trail?" she asked, her dark eyes glistening in anticipation.

"Isn't that what I said?" Danny replied, beaming with joy, before he looked back at the map, "Where is it?"

"It's right here," Chin said, showing the exact location on the map.

"It's barely inside the range of the radio mast," Kono nodded hesitantly. "Wa`ahila Ridge Trail is infamous for its lack of cell phone coverage, but nevertheless it might be possible."

All three remaining members of Five-0 stared at the map on the screen for a long moment before Danny finally clapped his hands. "Okay, let's go," he said determinedly into the silence of the room.

"Just one moment," Kono replied, once more letting her fingers rapidly dance over the display.

"What are you doing now?" Danny asked in confusion, looking at Chin for help but the older man was just shrugging his shoulders.

"I'm just sending out a description of Steve's truck so HPD can look out for it," Kono explained, hitting one last button before she looked up with a small grin tugging at her lips. "Okay guys, I'm done, now we can go."

"I'll pack a few things that we might need, let's meet downstairs in ten minutes," Danny said as he turned around and disappeared without another word of explanation.

Raising his eyebrows about the hectic activity that suddenly had erupted around him, Chin cautiously addressed his cousin, "You both know that we're running on pure guess here, right? All we have is a vague idea where Steve possibly might be."

Staring at the man in front of her, Kono breathed out a small sigh. "Yes cuz, we know that. But that's our only lead at the moment," she answered softly.


Steve's whole body as well as his face was covered with a thin layer of sweat, but he couldn't muster enough energy to wipe the beads of sweat from his forehead. The air around him was even hotter than before; his pants were dripping with sweat, uncomfortably clinging to his aching body.

The headache got worse with every labored breath he drew in, his head was pounding mercilessly in synch with his hammering heartbeat. Steve's chest was aching from the constant struggle to fill his lungs with enough oxygen and suddenly the all-consuming pain in his body became overwhelming as he felt his stomach turn.

Tasting bile at the back of his throat, McGarrett was no longer able to fight back the ever present nausea. All he could manage was weakly turn his body a little bit to one side as far as the constricted space inside the box allowed before he started to retch piteously. He was lucky not having had breakfast, and so all his empty stomach brought up was a little bit of acid as he dry heaved for what seemed like an eternity.

Unable to suppress the small whimper that had built up in his chest, Steve sucked in the air in huge gulps, his mouth wide open in a desperate attempt to get enough oxygen. Despite the sweat that covered his body, he was feeling ice-cold and he had started to shiver heavily. Every once in a while the shivers turned into a full-blown fit of convulsions that only hesitantly subsided after an agonizingly long period of time.

One last time Steve gathered all of his rapidly waning resources, pressing his left hand as well as both feet and legs against the lid of the box, pushing with everything his broken body had to offer. Gritting his teeth, he pushed with all his might against the metal lid until his muscles started to tremble from the effort when he suddenly saw a small strip of light in the far away corner of the box above his feet. Bright sunlight was streaming inside the box, chasing away the heavy darkness, causing him to shut his eyes in pain.

"Steve?"

He almost didn't hear the voice over the rushing of his blood in his ears and over his own labored breathing.

"Steve?"

Forcing his eyes open McGarrett stared into the light, tears were running down his cheeks when his eyes began to burn. The headache spiked to a new level and with the last of his strength he willed his stomach to calm down when a new wave of nausea crashed over him. Panting heavily, his whole body shook in a desperate attempt to fill his lungs with the desperately needed oxygen.

"Danny?" Steve whispered weakly, stretching out his trembling right arm toward the strip of light.

His right hand unexpectedly connected with the metal lid above his head, painfully jostling his broken wrist. The pain sent a bolt of fire through his entire arm, causing him to groan in agony as he squeezed his eyes shut.

After a few moments when the air around him was only filled with his labored gasps, he opened his eyes again, but to his absolute horror the light was gone and he was back in the darkness, alone and broken.

"No…" he breathed out faintly, sagging gloomily onto the floor when once more all he perceived was his own harsh breathing.


Danny made it downstairs in a little bit less than the intended ten minutes, heavily loaded with a huge first-aid bag and two black backpacks that contained every tiny piece of equipment he considered useful in the search for his partner. To the surprise of his teammates he had also changed from his usual outfit into a pair of jeans and well-worn brown trekking boots.

"Hey brah, you're looking good," Kono smirked as Danny approached his silver Camaro. Her grin grew even bigger when she noticed that he changed his path at the last second, automatically having headed toward the passenger's side of the car as was his habit whenever he rode with Steve.

"Get in," Williams said clipped after he had stowed away all the equipment in the trunk. Looking over at Chin, he nodded once. "See you soon," he said before he climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine.

"I'll meet you at the beginning of the Wa`ahila Ridge Trail," Chin nodded back before he kick-started his motorcycle and swiftly left the parking lot right before Danny and Kono.

Nervously sucking on his lower lip, his fingers tightly wrapped around the wheel Danny silently steered the car through the painfully slow and heavy traffic. His rigid posture relaxed just a tiny bit when they had left the busy downtown area, heading northeastwards out of the town and into less populated and calmer areas where they were able to drive a lot faster than before.

"What's all that?" Kono asked after a while, pointing over her shoulder toward the trunk of the car. On the one hand she tried to ease the tense atmosphere in the car; on the other hand she really was curious about all the equipment Danny had brought along.

Throwing her a brief grin, Danny sheepishly shrugged his shoulders. "I just wanna be prepared," he replied, sighing heavily. "With Steve one never knows…" His voice trailed off as he shifted his attention back to the road.

"Only about five more minutes," Kono said quietly when it became clear that Danny for once wasn't in the mood to make conversation. "Take the next right, we're almost there."

And true to her words only a few minutes later they finally reached their meeting point at the beginning of the Wa`ahila Ridge Trail, finding the parking lot empty except for Steve's dark blue pickup truck, Chin's motorcycle and one other car, an outworn, red Jeep Wrangler. It was exactly five minutes past ten when Danny parked his Camaro directly next to the three other vehicles, getting out of the car and joining Chin's side in one swift move.

The older man was already busy examining McGarrett's truck, nodding a short greeting at his two teammates as he pointed to the passenger's side. "Muddy footprints, looks like the glove compartment was violently forced open," he quickly explained his findings, not wasting any of their precious time to build complete sentences. "Nothing else of importance."

Puffing out a long breath between his gritted teeth, Danny let his eyes slowly travel across the empty parking lot, raising his brows when his gaze fell on the closed gate at the beginning of the trail.

"So, we found Steve's car but what do we do now?" he asked, his voice hoarse and full of worry for his partner as he looked back at Chin and Kono. "Where on earth do we start looking for McGarrett? Even if we assume that he disappeared somewhere along the trail – which is closed by the way, in case you haven't noticed – we certainly cannot search the whole trail on our own. We have absolutely no idea what that crazy woman did to Steve or if she even dumped him somewhere nearby." He heaved a frustrated sigh, his hands angrily cutting through the air as he grumbled with a brief glare at the muddy stains in Steve's car and at the empty Jeep, "And why would anyone even go on this trail if it's not only closed but also muddy as hell. Dammit Steve, why couldn't you have stayed at home, for once sleeping in just like every other normal person would have done."

"Hey calm down brah, okay?" Kono said patiently, putting a hand on Danny's forearm to prevent any further hand movements. "First of all the trail is not completely closed and then all the mud might give us a huge advantage," she added, a small, smug grin playing around her lips.

"Why would a muddy path in the middle of a godforsaken jungle be an advantage?" Danny asked grumpily, staring sullenly at the beginning of the trail that disappeared beneath the lush green vegetation.

"Because with all that mud, it will hopefully be easy to follow Steve's track," Chin explained quietly, closing the door of Steve's Silverado as he nodded toward the gate. "Come on, let's go, let's not waste any more time."

"So, now you're able to read tracks?" Danny asked curiously while he quickly opened the trunk of his car, looking down at the equipment he brought with him. "What are you, an old Indian shaman?" he asked with a little smirk as he handed Chin one of the backpacks.

"Well, finding a footprint in a pool of mud shouldn't be too difficult," Chin answered confidently, slinging the bag over his shoulders as he watched Danny doing the same with the second backpack before he gave the smaller first-aid bag to Kono.

Slamming shut the trunk lid Williams heaved another deep sigh, clapping his hands once before he said with a grim smile, "Okay, then lead the way, wise Manitou."

Swiftly heading toward the gate, Danny, Chin and Kono began to search for their missing leader when they suddenly heard animated chatter coming from the trail. Exchanging looks they silently rushed forward, finding themselves soon face to face with a young, surprised looking couple.

After having shown their badges and told their names, Chin asked quietly, "When did you arrive here? Have you seen anyone else on the trail?"

"We came out here early this morning, at about half past seven," the tall, dark-skinned young woman answered politely. "There was only one other car at the parking lot, something big, dark-blue, I think…"

"A Silverado," her boyfriend chimed in, nodding in agreement. "But we haven't seen anyone on the trail; we were all alone the whole time."

"The trail is pretty muddy and it's closed from halfway down," the girl explained, pointing back over her shoulder. "That's probably the reason not many people are coming out here right now."

"You haven't by chance noticed any footprints, have you?" Danny asked, even if he was already sure what the answer would be.

"Hey, sorry dude, but really haven't paid attention to footprints," the young guy answered, leering down at his girlfriend as he wrapped his arm tighter around her waist. "I was kind of busy looking at other things, if you know what I mean…" his voice trailed off as he conspiratorially winked at Danny.

"Sure," Danny answered, trying to suppress a frustrated sigh. "Thanks anyway," he added, dismissing the young couple with a brief flick of his wrist. Staring after them for a short moment, Danny finally turned around toward his teammates.

"Okay, so we know that Steve's car has been parked here since early this morning," Kono said excitedly before Danny could even think of something to say. "I think we really might be on the right track."

"Let's hope so," Williams nodded hesitantly, warily looking down at the muddy ground beneath his feet. "So, where do we start?"

Making a few tentative steps, Chin let his gaze travel along the path, motioning his friends to come closer as he crouched down a short time later. "Look at this," he said, tracing the outlines of a surprisingly clear footprint. "That's definitely the imprint of a sneaker, that's what we're looking for. The young couple was wearing trekking boots just like the three of us; if we assume that they were the only other people on the trail today except for Steve and Claire, then we can be fairly sure that this is one of Steve's shoeprints."

Slightly raising his eyebrows, Danny bent down to have a closer look at the imprint. "Okay, even I can see the difference between a sneaker and a trekking boot," he finally said, his voice laced with a tiny hint of confidence. "This may really work," he added, sounding a little bit surprised as he happily clapped Chin on the shoulder.

"Come on guys," Danny said, his gaze darting nervously between Chin and Kono before he turned around and swiftly walked along the muddy path. "Let's find Steve."


White dots flashed in the darkness before Steve's closed eyes.

The task of drawing enough air into his lungs was slowly becoming too much, his brow furrowed in pain and panic when another fit of convulsions racked his abused body.

The darkness of his tiny prison started to press firmly against McGarrett's mind like a thick and heavy blanket that shut out every emotion, but Steve was plainly and simply too exhausted to care about it.

He faintly registered the tingling sensation in his hands and feet and the fact that his whole body was shivering pitifully. He even absently noticed that his breathing was no longer fast and labored and somewhere deep in the back of his mind he knew that he should be concerned about that fact.

Steve had the feeling that the walls were pressing tighter against his body, crushing him slowly and painfully, but he was too exhausted to really care. He didn't mind the leaden weight that pressed against his mind, in fact he actually felt more and more comfortable with every passing second. The tingling in his limbs got stronger, but apart from that strange sensation his whole body felt heavy and numb.

Taking in a huge gulp of air, Steve's body twitched once before he lay perfectly still, the sudden silence in the box almost deafening.

After a few seconds there was another convulsive gasp for air, again followed by a period of eerie silence. A small voice deep inside Steve's failing consciousness screamed at him to fight the deathly lethargy and to control his breathing, urging him to increase his breathing rate but it was to no avail.

There were four or five more gasps, each of them followed by longer and longer periods of silence before Steve's exhausted mind and body yielded under the pressure of the darkness. He felt his chest heaving with a last gulp of air and then he felt nothing at all when he ultimately lost his battle to stay conscious.

(tbc)


I'm sorry - really! ;-) So please don't hate me...