Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews, for the favorites and alerts. I'm really, really sorry that I didn't manage to answer all of you personally but my last few days were... well, let's just say they were not so good. I was sick the whole week, caught a nasty flu somewhere, and to crown it all, on Friday evening, I had to make the decision to let my old horse go. And even if it was the right decision I'm still terribly sad :-(

I hope your weekend was better than mine, enjoy the next chapter...


Chapter 9:

The blackness pressed heavily against Steve's mind, a thick and suffocating cover that stubbornly refused to retreat. Only here and there a faint shimmer of light pierced the darkness and Steve instinctively headed toward that light, sluggishly fighting his way back to consciousness.

For a short moment he had absolutely no idea what had happened and the first thing he perceived was something heavy pressing against his face. A surge of panic immediately flooded his dazed mind when all his memories came back with a vengeance, the heat inside the box, the claustrophobic darkness and most of all the inability to draw a proper breath.

Feeling his throat constricting painfully, Steve weakly thrashed around as he shakily gasped for breath. Cool air streamed down his airways but the only thing he was really aware of was that something was covering his mouth and nose. Taking in another gulp of air, he tried to raise his arms to remove the weight from his face, but his right hand felt as it weighed at least a ton and his left hand was caught somewhere in mid-air, making it impossible to finish its intended task. A new wave of panic rolled over him and McGarrett tried desperately to free his hand as he drew in another strangled breath.

"Whoa Steve, easy," a familiar voice penetrated his troubled mind. "Everything's alright. You hear me? Everything's alright, Steve. You're in the hospital, just try to take slow breaths, okay buddy?"

Steve heard the words but he had trouble catching their meaning through the pounding headache that increased with every beat of his heart. Sucking in another breath of air, he felt strong fingers wrap around his left hand. Curling his own fingers in return, he squeezed tightly, hanging on for dear life as if that grip was his only lifeline to consciousness.

"Steve? Can you hear me?" the voice asked, concern now clearly coloring the words. "Slow breaths, okay? Come on, Steven, I know you can do that."

Furrowing his brow in concentration, Steve tried to obey, but there was still that thing pressing against his face, slowly suffocating him, giving him the feeling that he couldn't draw a proper breath and once more he tried to raise his hand to clear his airways.

"No, no, no, Steve, leave the mask where it is," the voice said half-annoyed and half-scared and suddenly Steve knew whom that voice belonged to.

"Danny," he tried to say, but all that came out was a muffled and scratchy rattle deep in his throat. Taking in another shaky gulp of air McGarrett startled when he felt someone firmly grab his shoulders and an unfamiliar voice reached his ears.

"Commander McGarrett? Can you hear me? I'm Dr. Pierson; I'm your attending doctor. Commander McGarrett? Everything's alright, but I need you to slow down your breathing, do you understand me?"

The pain in his head and the need to get enough air into his lungs was washing away every other sensation and after a few more tormented breaths Steve struggled weakly to free his left hand out of Danny's grip.

"I think the mask is bothering him," Steve heard Danny's concerned voice, barely loud enough to drown out the rushing of blood in his ears.

"Commander McGarrett?" The grip on his shoulders briefly tightened. "Try to take slow, deep breaths. There's enough air, everything's alright." There was a short pause and then, finally, the weight was removed from his face and Steve almost sobbed in relief when the claustrophobic feeling slowly disappeared. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, and with each breath the dark cloud around his mind seemed to shrink more and more, leaving behind a dull, throbbing pressure behind his eyes.

"That's it, buddy, nice and easy," Danny's voice penetrated the silence and Steve felt the grip around his left hand tighten.

"Commander McGarrett, can you hear me?" the second voice – Dr. Pierson? – said. "Can you open your eyes?"

Swallowing laboriously, McGarrett furrowed his brow as he put all his remaining strength into the simple task to open his eyes but his eyelids only fluttered ever so slightly.

"Steve? Come on, man, open your eyes," Danny said, giving his hand another squeeze.

Exhaustedly squeezing back, Steve run his tongue over his cracked lips and after another deep breath he finally managed to blink open his eyes. A new bolt of pain raced through his skull when the blinding light of the room was torturing him and he immediately squeezed his eyes shut with a piteous whimper. He swallowed feverishly against the taste of bile at the back of his throat.

"I'm sorry about the light, Commander, but it's already dimmed as much as possible," Dr. Pierson's calm voice sliced through Steve's pain-filled consciousness. "I know that it will be uncomfortable but I need to check your pupils, okay?"

Before Steve could form a fitting answer in his mind let alone voice his objection, he felt how someone lifted first his right then his left eyelid and a small flashlight was waved in front of his eyes sending an almost unbearable wave of pain through his brain. Despite the fact that he squeezed Danny's hand so firmly that he wouldn't be surprised if some bones were cracking, Steve couldn't prevent the agonizing moan that tore from his throat. He broke out in a cold sweat and his whole body was trembling slightly in an attempt to fight back the rising nausea.

"Is that really necessary?" Danny asked angrily into the silence, holding their grasp with equal force.

"Unfortunately it is necessary, yes," Dr. Pierson answered patiently. "I need to make sure that the epidural bleeding didn't do any damage to his brain before I can administer any pain medication."

Once more Steve felt a hand on his shoulder as he tried to pull himself together. "Just a few short questions, then I'll give you some painkillers and you can go back to sleep, okay?" the doctor said sympathetically, waiting for Steve's almost invisible nod, before he asked his first question. "Can you tell me your full name and rank?"

"Steven J. McGarrett… Lieutenant Commander," Steve whispered hoarsely, briefly wondering why on earth the doctor wanted to know his rank.

"Do you know where you are?"

Breathing harshly against a new wave of nausea, Steve silently cursed the doctor and his stupid questions. "Hospital," he rasped when a sudden thought raced through his mind. "Tripler?" he added exhaustedly, once again licking his dry lips.

"How do you know?" Dr. Pierson asked in surprise, not able to choke back the question.

"Military hospital," Steve explained clipped, squeezing his eyes shut more tightly when the jackhammer in his head started another attack near his left temple. "Asked for rank."

He could hear Danny silently chuckle in the background, probably exchanging an amused look with the doctor.

"That's right, Commander, you're at Tripler," the doctor cheerfully confirmed his assumption. "One last question… Do you know what day it is?"

Furrowing his brow in concentration, Steve desperately tried to collect his muddled thoughts. "Tuesday?" he asked hesitantly after a long moment of silence, not really bothering if he was right or not. All he wanted to do at the moment was go back to sleep and get rid of the agonizing headache and the nausea.

"That's correct, well done," Dr. Pierson said, giving Steve's shoulder one last squeeze before he removed his hand. "I'm giving you something for the pain and then I want to put you back on oxygen, but don't worry," he said quickly when he noticed the hint of horror on McGarrett's face. "I'll replace the breathing mask with a nasal cannula, okay?"

"'kay," Steve slurred, already feeling his body grow heavy. Whatever Dr. Pierson had given him it seemed to work really fast and a comfortable sleepiness wound itself around his mind, taking away at least a bit of the excruciating pain in his head. He was just about to give in to the pull of sleep when he suddenly remembered one important thing he needed to tell his partner.

"Danny?" he managed weakly, fighting with all his strength to stay awake for another moment.

"I'm here," Williams replied immediately, slightly squeezing his hand to confirm his presence. "Everything's alright, go back to sleep, Steven."

Faintly shaking his head, Steve breathed out a little sigh before he whispered urgently, "Woman… Danny, it was a woman." He swallowed forcefully, contorting his face with concentration. "She said… her name… Claire?" Steve exhaled faintly with his last strength, not able to fight the effects of the medication any longer.

"Don't worry, partner, we already got her," Danny reassured him. "And now stop prattling and go to sleep, you moron, we'll talk tomorrow."


Steve could feel rays of sunlight on his face, involuntarily turning his head a little bit to the right to catch the comfortable warmth. The unbearable headache from before was reduced to a dull pressure behind his left eye, his whole body was stiff and aching but other than that he felt surprisingly well rested.

Taking a deep breath he tentatively opened his eyes, slowly blinking a few times to bring his surroundings into focus. The pressure in his head increased to a dull throbbing when the bright sunlight stung in his eyes but the pain was nothing compared to the blinding agony he remembered from the last time he had been awake.

Lazily looking around, his eyes finally came to rest on his partner who was sitting on a chair on the left side of his bed, throwing him an expectant look out of tired blue eyes while he absently stirred the cup of coffee he balanced on his lap.

Swallowing against the stale taste in his mouth, McGarrett licked his dry lips before he took another deep breath. "Hey," he rasped, laboriously clearing his throat.

"Hey," Danny replied as he slowly stood up and drew closer to the bed. "How are you feeling?" he asked, involuntarily grimacing in disgust when he took a small sip of his coffee.

"Better," Steve answered in a hoarse whisper, coughing slightly to get rid of the raw feeling in his throat. "How long was I out?" he asked as he let his gaze travel through the room, shifting his weight a little bit to bring his body in a more comfortable position before he raised his left hand and awkwardly reached for the glass of water on the bedstand.

Watching his partner's attempts for a short moment, the initially curious expression on Danny's face quickly turned into a half-amused and half-annoyed snort. With a small sigh he put away his coffee before he pressed the button to raise the bed while he simultaneously handed Steve the glass of water. "You can't just ask for help, you pighead, can you?" he asked with a slight shake of his head, rolling his eyes at Steve's sheepish grin.

"Thanks," McGarrett said after he'd taken a few small sips of the water, briefly closing his eyes when the cold fluid was soothing the scratchiness in his throat. Handing the half-empty glass back to Danny, Steve closely examined his splinted wrist and his raw fingertips, then he cautiously touched the wound on his left temple, briefly contorting his face when he felt the multitude of stitches.

"So, how long was I out?" he asked again, locking eyes with his partner who still stood unnaturally quietly at his bedside. "What's happened anyway?" Eyeballing Danny's unique choice of clothes he added with a goofy smirk, "And what about that very unprofessional outfit of yours?"

Staring at his friend for a long moment, Danny slowly raised his eyebrows before he heaved a deep sigh and started to agitatedly wave his hands through the air. "Unprofessional outfit?" he replied, looking down at his washed-out jeans and his brown trekking boots that were still covered with splatters of dried mud. "Okay, first of all, Steven, let me tell you that my unprofessional outfit was good enough to save your sorry ass, so no more words about my clothes, okay?" Danny said, but his words held no real energy.

Hearing the exhausted undertone in the smaller man's voice, Steve took a closer look and finally noticed the deep lines of fatigue on Danny's face, his tense posture and his crumpled appearance. "Sorry man, I didn't mean…" he started hesitantly only to be interrupted by a sharp movement of Danny's hands.

"For your other questions," Williams went on without dwelling on Steve's apology, "I'm only able to answer one of them." Briefly sucking on his lower lip he started to explain, "Well, you dropped off our radar more than 24 hours ago, probably sometime before seven o'clock yesterday morning. We found you about four hours later…" Danny interrupted himself when the unwelcome image of his unconscious partner locked up in a tiny metal box flashed through his mind. Shoving back the disturbing memory, he ran both of his hands over his hair as he continued, "You were briefly awake yesterday evening and now you've slept for the last twelve hours. It's almost nine o'clock in the morning now."

Shaking his head as he stared at his partner, McGarrett blinked a few times, pondering on Danny's explanation. "Yesterday?" he muttered slowly, the amount of time that had passed without him knowing actually confused him a little bit and the events of the previous day were hazy at the best. A few memories sluggishly resurfaced when he threw another look at Danny's mud covered boots and he asked almost timidly, "Have you been here the whole time?"

Looking at Steve as if his partner had finally completely lost his mind, Danny replied quietly, "Where else would I have been, Steven?" He sighed tiredly when a bit of the tension fled his body now that Steve was awake and alert. "Where else would I have been?"

"Thanks man," Steve whispered solemnly, immensely grateful for the support even if he didn't remember a single second of Danny's night-time vigil.

"Don't mention it," Danny replied with a dismissive wave of his hands. "That's what friends are for, right?"

Both men stared at each other in silence for a long moment, until Steve awkwardly cleared his throat. "Are you mad at me?" he asked tentatively, unable to read the strange expression on his partner's face.

Taking a deep breath, Williams shook his head as he exhaustedly dropped back onto the chair at Steve's bedside "I'm not mad, I just wonder why we always end up in situations like that," he said as he raised his hands but the gesture completely lacked its usual energy. "It seems that lately we spend more time in the hospital than anywhere else. I mean, look at you, all those injuries, that's just not right…" Danny's voice trailed off and he heaved a tired sigh. Absently scraping off a small mud stain on his jeans a sneaky smile slowly crept across his lips and when he finally looked up, Steve could see the usual sparkling in his partner's bright blue eyes. "In a perfect world, none of us would get injured, but if it has to be the case – and don't get me wrong here, Steve – I prefer that you're the one in the hospital bed and not me."

"Glad that I could be of service, Danno," McGarrett replied sarcastically, but he was not able to completely choke back the chuckle that had built up in his chest. Despite the pounding headache and the slight feeling of dizziness it felt damn good to joke around with his partner.

He was interrupted by a quiet creak and both men turned their heads just in time to see Kono stick her head in at the door. A bright smile colored her features when she noticed that Steve was alert and sitting up.

"Hey boss, good to see you awake," she said cheerfully, quickly covering the few steps distance toward Steve's bed. Bending down, she gave him a quick hug and whispered hoarsely, "You look much better than the last time we saw you."

"She's right, brah," Chin said as he followed his cousin into the room, in passing handing Danny a small brown paper bag. "We brought you breakfast," he whispered with a wink at the Jersey cop before he turned toward Steve and gave him a gentle slap on the shoulder. "You alright?"

"Yeah man. Just a nasty headache," Steve nodded with a genuine smile, his gaze unsteadily flickering between Kono and Chin. "Thanks for coming."

"So," Steve said after a moment of silence when the only sound in the room was the soft rustling of the paper bag on Danny's lap. He sat up straighter, careful not to pull out the IV line that was attached to his right arm as he clumsily arranged the sheets around his body. "My memory is a bit holey at the moment," he admitted with a sheepish smile as he tried to fight the lingering dizziness. "Can anyone tell me what's happened?"

"Well babe, we actually hoped that you could tell us that story," Danny said muffled, happily chewing on a still warm malasada as he threw his partner an expectant look. Furrowing his brow when he took in Steve's appearance he asked worriedly, "You sure you're alright? You look a little pale. We could talk later, you know."

"I'm good," Steve retorted in typical McGarrett fashion, waving the other man to go on.

Danny held his look for a short moment before he slightly shrugged his shoulders and gulped down the last bit of his malasada. Wiping the back of his hand over his mouth he stood up from the chair and placed the bag with the remaining pastries onto Steve's bedstand with a funny little sigh. "Alright. We found your car at the parking place at the beginning of that trail with the stupid name that no one whose brain cells are correctly lined up could ever remember," Danny started, waving his hands through the air before he gestured toward Steve. "Why don't you start with what happened after you drove there," he suggested as he folded his arms in front of his chest.

Steve blinked owlishly as he stared at his friend, with the throbbing pain inside his head it took even more time than usual to make sense of Danny's words.

"He means Wa`ahila Ridge Trail," Kono tossed in helpfully when she noticed the increasing confusion on Steve's face.

"I always knew that your brain is a bit jolted, Kalakaua," Danny remarked with an impish twinkle in his eyes. "Probably from all that crazy surfing in your youth."

Glaring at Danny in feigned anger, the young woman stuck her tongue out and playfully punched him on the arm.

"Children, behave," Chin said good-naturedly, slightly shaking his head at the childish behavior of his two teammates before he turned toward McGarrett. "Go on, at least I would like to hear what you remember."

"Uhm, alright," Steve started, briefly squeezing his eyes shut as he rubbed his left hand over his face. The dizziness had slightly increased in the last few moments and he blinked a few times to get rid of the gray mist in front of his eyes. "I think I arrived at the parking lot a few minutes past six," he said slowly, furrowing his brow when he tried to recall the events of the previous day.

"Crazy freak," Danny murmured under his breath at the mention of the time, but he quickly fell quiet when his partner continued his explanations.

"All was quiet when I started my run but then maybe ten, fifteen minutes later I heard a woman crying." Letting his gaze travel through the room as he tried to gather his thoughts, Steve breathed out a weary sigh. Maybe Danny was right and it was better if they postponed their conversation but his friends deserved to know what had happened – the least he could do was tell them what he remembered before he went back to sleep. "She said she needed help… something about a child… her nephew?" Pinching the bridge of his nose he slightly shook his head. "I'm not sure what happened next… it's actually kind of embarrassing but I think she… she knocked me down," he said, his voice held an almost surprised tone as he involuntarily rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, SEALs are only human, aren't they," Danny tossed in succinctly but he swallowed any further comments when he felt Kono's elbow threateningly nudge into his ribs.

"After that, everything's a bit hazy…" Steve said as he stared at the white wall opposite his bed without really seeing a thing. "I think I regained consciousness a little bit later but then she tasered me and the next thing I remember is waking up inside a tiny metal box."

Squeezing his eyes shut, McGarrett took a deep breath when his breathing rate involuntarily increased as he thought back to that horrible time inside the box. "I tried to open the lid," he rasped, opening his eyes to look at his friends. "But there was no starting point, nothing to grasp, nothing at all where I could have started."

"It was sealed from the outside," Kono nodded, placing her hand on Steve's left forearm when she noticed his rising distress.

"You would probably never have succeeded," Danny added, locking eyes with his partner. "We needed almost twenty minutes to open the box and there were three of us and we had tools."

"Lots of tools," Kono smirked with a brief side glance at Danny.

"They came in handy, didn't they?" Williams replied with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.

"Steve," Chin raised his voice before Danny and Kono started another round of banter. "Do you know the woman who did this to you? Did she say something? Anything at all about her motives? Why she'd chosen you?"

Furrowing his brow, Steve rubbed his left hand over his forehead to keep the increasing headache at bay. He rapidly blinked a few times as he tried to remember any more details about the strange woman.

"Claire…" he murmured quietly. "She said her name was Claire. She looked somewhat familiar but I'm not sure…" His voice trailed off with a little sigh before he continued with a shake of his head. "She said she wanted me to suffer and then maybe something about her son?" he asked hesitantly, the fingers of his left hand gloomily twiddling with the white sheets. He took another deep breath and finally looked up at his teammates out of glazed eyes, "Sorry, I really can't remember anything else."

There was a short moment of silence when Steve experienced a new bout of dizziness, causing him to lean his head back onto the pillow. He seemed to melt into the sheets and he blinked tiredly against the sudden wave of fatigue that rolled over him. It was suddenly becoming incredibly difficult to keep his eyes open and he felt his body grow numb and heavy.

"Hey, you alright?" Danny asked worriedly, stepping closer to the bed and placing a hand on Steve's shoulder.

"Don't know…" Steve replied hoarsely. The room around him started to spin in racing speed and the increasing pressure inside his head made it almost impossible to think straight. "Dizzy… headache…" he croaked out, squeezing his eyes shut in hopes of fighting back the dizziness.

Feeling Danny's squeeze on his shoulder McGarrett tried to concentrate on the steady touch but he was no longer able to push back the agonizing pain in his skull far enough to open his eyes. Blood was rushing in his ears, drowning out almost every other sound. He faintly heard voices and somewhere deep in his muddled brain he knew that his friends were talking to him and that they probably expected him to answer.

White dots flashed through his slipping consciousness, the pressure behind his eyes increasing with every beat of his heart until Steve was sure that his head was ready to explode at any moment and with a relieved sigh he finally gave in to the darkness that filled his mind.

(tbc)


Sorry about that but the muse insisted on a little bit more whump ;-)