******* WARNING - THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS A DEATH AND GRAPHIC DETAILS OF PHYSICAL INJURIES *******
As Danny sped towards Sand Island he occasionally glanced at Steve. No words were spoken, hell he didn't even know what to say. He loved his partner and he had seen him hurt so many times. There had been several times over the last four years when he truly feared for Steve. Sometimes the fear was for his physical well-being but more times than not the fear was for his mental state.
McGarrett was the strongest man he had ever known. He had been trained as a SEAL to endure and survive both physical and mental torture, and now as he looked at him he hoped to God that he could survive this ordeal.
Tony was like a little brother to Steve and as he got to know the young man over the last year he had grown to love him as well. Tony was a tough SEAL as well, trained and mentored by the best, Steven McGarrett. And now as Danny pushed harder on the accelerator he was sweating and he was terrified. Terrified for Tony, terrified for Steve and mostly terrified for Kono. Their sister, who had found love and happiness with this macho, yet tender hearted man. Steve may be losing a brother and a piece of his heart but Kono…she was losing her soul-mate, her husband and lover, the father of her son.
Danny didn't know what to say, but it didn't matter. He couldn't have talked even if he had wanted to. The lump in his throat was huge and he fought to not let the tears fall that were welling in his eyes. He saw the pained look on his partners face and turning back to face the road he saw the numerous squad cars up ahead as they approached Sand Island.
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As Danny pulled to a stop and they exited the car they were approached by a young officer, "Commander Steve McGarrett?"
"Yes, I'm McGarrett"
"Sir the victim, he's asking for you"
"He's alive?"
"Barely Sir"
Steve dashed past the officer with Danny right on his heels.
The officer comforting Tony backed away as Steve and Danny dropped to the ground next to their fallen friend.
Steve pulled the dying man into his arms as Danny hollered out, "WHERE'S THE AMBULANCE, DAMN IT GET THE AMBULANCE HERE!"
Danny battled the nausea as he took Tony's hands into his. He had been in the hands of these madmen for only an hour and the damage they had done to him was horrific. His face was beaten almost beyond recognition. His forehead was split open and was bleeding profusely, his nose was broken and probably his cheek as well. One eye was swollen shut and the bruising, oh God the bruising.
He had been shot in the shoulder and twice in the abdomen. His shirt had been torn and through the shreds of cloth Danny could see the awful damage to his chest and ribcage. He could even see the footprints on Tony's skin showing that he had been stomped on. The left side of his chest was literally caved in, the internal damage evident as Tony continually coughed up blood. The bruising on his belly was dark, almost black indicating internal bleeding.
And as Tony's bloodied hands shook in his, he looked closer at them. Those fucking animals had ripped out every fingernail.
Danny held his injured hands, stroking them tenderly as he watched his partner.
Steve cradled Tony to his chest, talking to him softly as he lovingly wiped the blood from his mouth and chin.
"I'm here Tony, I've got you buddy"
"SS...sssttevee..."
"Yeah, it's me, I've got you...help is on the way. You stay with me brother"
"Stte...vve...KKonno ssshot..."
"We've got her babe, she's going to be fine...so are you"
"Nnnoo...ccan't...pp...ppleasee ttake ccare of hhh...hher and bbaby...ssorry...cccann't"
Tears were streaming down Danny's cheeks as he said, "Steve, the ambulance is here"
"You here that Tony, help is here...you stay with me now"
"Tell...ttell hher I ...I llove hherrr..." As the words passed his lips he gasped and stopped breathing in Steve's arms.
Steve cried out frantically holding Tony tightly, "NO...NO, NO, NO...TONY BREATHE...OH GOD…..NO…. PLEASE BREATHE"
The EMT's were drawing near and Danny dropped Tony's now still hands and moved behind Steve grabbing his shoulders, "Steve, the EMT's are here. Let them work on him now babe, come on"
Steve seemed to not hear him and Danny bent, grabbing Steve's upper arms and talking softly into his ear, "Come on partner, let the EMT's do their job, come on"
Steve laid Tony gently back onto the sand and leaning on Danny as he stood, they stepped back as the EMT's ripped off the shredded shirt and began CPR.
Steve continued to talk softly trying to will Tony back, "Breathe buddy...come on Tony, damn it breathe"
Danny knew the attempts were futile. He had unfortunately seen too much death as a cop and detective and he had seen a chest injury this bad only once before and that was on a man involved in a high speed car crash. He knew the internal damage was just too traumatic. Tony had held on long enough to talk to Steve and to make sure that Kono was okay.
The EMT's worked on him for twenty minutes before turning to the detectives and saying, "I'm so sorry, there's nothing we can do for him. The injuries are just too massive"
Steve turned away, placing his hands over his face. Danny looked at the EMT's and responded, "Thank you"
Danny knelt at Tony's side and placing his hand over his friends' lifeless eyes, he pulled them closed. His hand lingered on Tony's cooling face and tears again fell from the detectives' eyes.
Moments later Steve knelt and grasped Tony's hands in his. Danny watched his partner carefully. His eyes were closed tightly but no tears fell.
After several minutes, Steve sighed deeply, stood and moved over to a Police Captain standing nearby followed by Danny.
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Steve pointed to a nearby van that had been cordoned off with police tape. Steve spoke in a steady, calm voice "Is that the vehicle the victim was in?"
"Yes Commander. But I don't think you need..."
Before he could finish his attempt to keep Steve from the van the SEAL was moving at a fast pace directly towards it.
Danny reached his side and grabbed his arm spinning him around to face him.
His voice cracked with emotion, "Steve, stop...you don't need to see that"
"Yes I do Danny"
Danny's voice rose in pain and concern, "NO, NO YOU DON'T! YOU SAW WHAT THEY DID TO HIM! WHY DO YOU NEED TO SEE THE VAN? HUH, WHY?"
Steve defiantly pulled loose from his partners grasp saying, "Stay here if you want to"
"Shit McGarrett. Why do you do this to yourself?"
He followed Steve and when they reached the open door of the van, Danny had to turn away. The inside walls were covered in blood splatter and there was a large pool of blood on the floor. Tony's fingernails as well as several teeth were mixed in the blood.
Danny watched as Steve stared at the sight before him, not even blinking. A couple minutes passed and Steve's phone rang pulling his mind back. "Duke? What have you got? Really?...That's great...Duke nobody goes in until we get there, you hear me? NOBODY!" He turned to Danny, "Let's go Danno"
Once in the Camero Steve spoke, "Kono's elderly neighbor heard the commotion in front of the house this morning. She saw the van and a blue Chevy Lumina leaving their driveway. She got the Lumina's license number and it's been spotted at the Colonial Motel. Squads are on the way"
"Steve, maybe we need to let HPD take these guys down"
If looks alone could kill, Daniel Wiiliams would no longer be breathing. He had seen Steve intense before but nothing could ever compare to the look the SEAL shot his way.
"I'm going through that Motel door first Danny, and you're not stopping me"
Looking at the road ahead of him Danny responded, "I'll be right behind you partner"
Danny pulled next to two squad cars a block away from the Motel.
Officer Jeff Hoapili had already spoken with the Motel Manager, "He believes that all four men are in the room. There is only the one entrance to the room but there are two bedroom windows on the backside of the Motel. Lieutenant Lukela has put you in charge of the scene Commander, how would you like us to proceed?"
Steve directed two of the Officers to cover the bedroom windows with the other two taking up position behind cars near the front door. He and Danny would break down the front door hopefully catching the four men off guard.
Moments later after putting on their protective gear the two men stood in front of Room 27.
Steve looked at Danny whispering, "You ready partner?"
Danny nodded and seconds later Steve had kicked in the front door and taken several steps inside, gun drawn.
One man was exiting the bathroom and he raced towards the back bedrooms.
As Steve stepped into the room he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye a man barreling towards the door on a collision course with Danny.
He hollered to Danny to watch out as his attention was drawn back to two men, including Darius Roberts who were sitting on the bed furthest from the door. They both drew guns firing in Steve's direction as he returned fire dropping them both with deadly accuracy.
Steve turned back towards the door seeing Danny sprawled on the floor.
"DANNY, DANNY"
"I'm good Steve, GO!"
Steve raced out the front door finding Norris standing, his back to him, twenty feet away with his gun pointed at the Officers.
Officer Hoapili was trying to talk him down as Steve snuck up behind him.
Norris stiffened as he felt the cold barrel of McGarrett's gun press against the back of his head.
***** This was a hard chapter to write, even though the death was of a fictional character; I hope you will stick with me on this, there are a lot of difficult and emotional times ahead for our 5-0 Ohana - please let me know what you think *****