I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.

Notes: Confirmed nutty day tomorrow - you get two today! And the next chapter will have to be Friday.

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CHAPTER 5

Danny had his eyes closed as he half-listened to Ramirez once again try to reason with the Corporal. Something had been going on both inside and outside of the lab, but Danny was just too tired to care. Even with the blankets he was cold, trembling from shock and fading in and out of consciousness but at least the pain was at bay. Ramirez had boldly taken another stance to retrieve additional medical supplies from a large closet in the corner of the room. Carter had looked at him queerly as he pulled a set of keys from his deep pockets, but surprisingly the soldier hadn't said a word. That move had earned Danny a proper pressure bandage, an IV of fluids as well as a shot of morphine.

He blearily opened his eyes as he tried to focus on the syringe hidden in the doctor's hand and then slowly looked up to stare at resolute eyes. He frowned because Ramirez most decidedly had a face and Danny didn't like the looks of it.

"Oh no." Danny sighed in defeat. "You make faces too." Ramirez snorted softly and then explained what he was holding.

"Sedative." Ramirez whispered. "Just need a chance ..his leg needs doctoring at least, so that's my excuse."

If Danny had the energy to roll his eyes, he would have because it was a super-sized SEAL idea of a plan. But he certainly couldn't argue that things had gone on much too long and he understood the doctor's growing level of impatience.

"Okay. But .. be careful." He murmured up at the older man. Carter was angry and had stayed angry which made for a tricky situation. But Ramirez grinned sarcastically and Danny realized that except for being concerned for his well-being, the older man was almost having a good time.

"This is fun for you?" He wheezed quietly in bewilderment and then coughed tiredly. "I have this new partner.. you'd like him. He's yours ..just take him .. both of you are .. like-minded ..trouble magnets. This is all his fault anyway."

Danny's voice was weakening, but the softly voiced rant made Ramirez pat his arm soothingly.

"This will be quite the entertaining story once we get you out of here." But the doctor paused to glance towards the sink. He was sure that he had heard a small sound from under the cabinets and he froze when the door moved ever so slightly. He stared hard and the door moved again to reveal a tiny child's hand with different color nail polish on each finger. And then he glimpsed one large, very frightened brown eye and a glimmer of light blondish hair.

"Oh no." He breathed out under his breath.

Danny frowned as he watched the doctor's worry grow tenfold. "What? What's .. wrong?" Ramirez squeezed Danny's arm, pocketed the syringe, and changed position to be between Danny and the sink. Carter was directly in front of them by the one and only door as he mumbled in a fury about failed missions and losing his Sergeant.

"We have company." He whispered to Danny as he tried to get a better view of the child hiding in the cabinet. He realized she was watching him again as the door was nudged open more from the inside.

"Company?" Danny coughed out in alarm, but Ramirez quickly put his finger to his lips as he tried to make his expression clear to keep the girl safely hidden. He hoped she would understand his meaning as he stared first to Carter and then kept his finger held up to indicate again that she needed to be quiet. He was pleased when the hand disappeared and the door gently swung shut.

"Smart girl." Ramirez muttered under his breath in approval. But a little louder then, he aimed his voice towards the cell phone.

"So Carter … do you have any kids? A little girl maybe?" Carter swung around nervously before shaking his head with a nasty frown. Someone was shouting to him from below where he was on guard and he knew it was a trick. Ramirez saw the anger rising and could hear part of the conversation. Scowling, he realized that it was the hostage negotiator again and whatever was being said was not well-received by the ailing Corporal.

"No, no kids. Keep your mind on your work."

"Huh." Ramirez remarked mildly as he tried to make his point understood to the armed men making plans in the parking lot. The negotiations weren't working and no one seemed to know a child was also in the room. With Danny becoming more critical by the moment, the doctor needed to raise the bar and find a way to end the stand-off. He was no longer willing to try his hand at using the sedative because if things didn't work as he'd hoped, a child plus an injured man would both be at serious risk. It was one thing if the soldier believed Danny an ally, but he had no idea what the little girl would do if frightened. And he certainly didn't want to test Carter.

"It sounds like both our jobs are becoming a bit overwhelming." The doctor stressed the last word heavily towards the open cell phone. "We both might need better .. help. I know I do. Need better help that it is."

He could sense Danny trying to keep up with the change in conversation and as he continued, Danny's expression altered to one of complete surprise. His voice intentionally became scornful as he tried to make his message very clear. "Some things work .. and some things don't." He ignored the angry glance from the Corporal as he kept talking, but he did change his tone to become more conversational.

"As I was saying before though. I have a little girl. She likes to wear different color nail polish and play hide and seek. She's very brave ... and very, very good at hiding." Ramirez cocked his head towards the cabinet and completely bewildered, Danny slowly rolled his head to eye the doors. And then he saw what the doctor had seen; the shadowed movement of a figure.

The Corporal muttered disgustedly and turned away to look down the hallway again. Over his shoulder, his voice was rough and laced with a growing aggravation. "And like I told you before .. do your damned job. And shut the hell up."

Danny felt a fearful stirring in the pit of his stomach as he finally saw the small fingers grip the narrow opening to close it more tightly. The mood in the room was changing and Carter was approaching a new edge. And now another complication; based on the size of the hand and colorful nail polish on tiny fingers, Danny estimated the little girl's age to be around five or six years old.

"Is that .. a ..?" He muttered in confusion but Ramirez was gently shushing him as he measured Carter's reactions. The soldier was staring down the corridor and jumping at every sound as he only half-listened to the doctor's ramble. He shrugged offhandedly before waving the doctor off without really looking.

"It is." The whisper was low and urgent as the sounds of a few unhappy sobs eked from the cabinet. Danny paled as the doctor said a few more choice, but very careful words. The disgusted warning from Carter was enough to end further attempts.

"Just take care of Sarge before the evac arrives. And then shut your mouth." After that, their conversation ceased for a good many minutes as Ramirez stationed himself between Danny and the cabinets. Hoping that the messages he tried to send made it to the right ears, he stayed quiet now to not antagonize Carter as the man became suspicious. Sweat had beaded on his face as he white-knuckled the HPD revolver and reacted to every subtle noise. He had also taken Danny's own gun and laid it down in front of him on the floor. At the ready and fully loaded,the safety was off should he need his own type of back-up.

Carter suddenly ducked down as a loud welcoming shout reached their ears. It came from a very familiar voice that pulled Danny back from the darkness where he had started to drift. But Carter only hastily primed his weapon and shifted anxiously behind the gurney.

"Identify yourselves!" The soldier began to argue in earnest with the small rescue team that was slowly edging closer. Danny peeled his eyes partially open and met the doctor's pleased face.

"Steve." Danny mumbled as he blinked up hazily at Ramirez. "Crazy SEAL will get us all killed."

But Ramirez began to smile openly as he patted Danny on the arm. "Probably." He muttered back in total jest and rubbed Danny's cold hands as the injured man's lips twitched in a brief grin and his eyes slid shut.

"But he's just what the doctor ordered." He watched as Danny weakly snorted behind his closed lids and then wearily coughed. Ramirez re-checked the pressure bandage relieved to see no new bleeding, but he was becoming desperate to end the stand-off as Danny began to fade. He listened intently as Steve and a small group carefully made their way closer towards the lab; incredibly happy that a more aggressive approach had finally been planned.

Making sure he was still between the sink cabinets and his badly injured patient, the doctor kept a strong hand on Danny's arm and readied himself. He frowned though when he noticed that his friend had now lost his battle to remain conscious. Leaning over, Ramirez checked Danny's pulse rate and shook his head before looking up to watch Carter's agitated reactions.

"Soon." He mumbled softly as he slowly stood up and watched their rescuers carefully approach, "Rest Danny .. let us do the work."

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With a lot of fast talking and much convincing, it then took another fifteen minutes for Steve, Ellen and Lieutenant McRaney to infiltrate the exam room now fake military stronghold as Ramirez insisted that the three camo-clothed and fully geared-up Army soldiers were additional medics for triage and removal. Master Sergeant Adler was also in the building, flanked by Chin and Kono. Just out of sight, Adler had refined his team's plans to provide a second line of support should the situation escalate or once Carter was neutralized. He had also grudgingly agreed to Steve's plan after a brief discussion with the negotiator who had come to a complicated crossroads.

"He's a complex personality." The negotiator reported with a bit of exasperation. "And if you're telling me a child is now in that room, then I must admit a more proactive approach is called for. That doctor is telling us quite blatantly that this tact is not working. Use Carter's delusional requests to get people closer to him. He only thinks I'm the enemy at this point and we're losing valuable time."

To Steve's credit, he'd waited for Adler to come to his senses without prompting the man again. In fact, the Master Sargeant got moving immediately after one final hint provided by Ramirez echoed through the tent. "Have you ever seen a child have a temper tantrum, Corporal? It's not a pretty sight and causes a great deal of ... quite unnecessary .. problems."

Ellen had made an odd sound in her throat that was a cross between laughter and a worried groan. And then she translated for anyone that doubted what her husband was trying to get across. "Erin's coming unglued in that room. He's not going to be able to stop what comes next if Carter finds out that she's in there."

And putting the plan into motion came none too soon as more muffled sniffles had definitely begun to emanate from under the area near the sink. Listening in on the hostage side, Steve was fed valuable information by the radio controller in the staging area. That information coincided perfectly with what Carter was being told by the doctor now playing the very concerned role of Army medic with a truthfully critical patient and a still hidden child that was now beginning to fret.

Ramirez smiled happily at Ellen who entered the room behind Steve; she could more than handle herself and he was proud to see her as part of the rescue contingent. He knew from experience that her pack would hold everything including the kitchen sink to take care of his patient.

"What happened .. did you get stuck in traffic?" Ramirez didn't try to stop his sarcastic comment as Steve carefully entered the room. But all the SEAL dared do was raise his eyebrows at the snarky words. Moving forward, the doctor offered the confused soldier some support as he nervously backed up.

"This is the rest of my unit, Corporal. They were delayed by insurgent activity .. but trust me please, they are here to help."

The Corporal had picked up Danny's gun and then had moved the over-turned gurney to allow them entrance. But he still had the policeman's pistol warily aimed at Steve's chest. McRaney was bringing up the rear with his hand at the ready for the gun stowed in the back of his pants. He loitered by the doorway as Ellen lowered her gear pack next to Danny and took up a position just behind her husband. Ignoring the men, she began to unpack more supplies including blankets, a blood pressure cuff, portable oxygen tank, pain medication and additional fluids.

Ramirez lowered himself slowly back down seemingly to assist his peer, but casually pocketed the small gun that Ellen slid over under his hand. "Just in case." She murmured quietly as she followed his gaze to the cabinetry. "Oh boy." She remarked softly because now nearer the cabinet, she could easily hear the child beginning to cry.

"Erin." She mouthed and then looked pointedly to McRaney who was still behind Steve but most definitely on edge. "He's her father." But then she was back to Danny, making sure the oxygen was fitted securely around his mouth and nose.

"This isn't good." She grimaced unhappily over his poor vitals which she knew her husband was more than aware of himself. "His blood pressure is very low; as is his respiration." Out of the corner of her eye, she watched him edge closer to the cabinet to whisper something to the little girl before she began speaking directly to the skittish soldier.

"The sergeant is in shock and has lost a lot of blood. We need to get him back to base immediately." Though it was all true, Ellen smartly parroted the same words her husband had used to back up what they'd been hearing over their radios. "Choppers may or may not make it in .. we need to pack him up now regardless. We may have to walk out together."

But like the well-orchestrated ploy it was, two Army choppers did fly low over the hospital. The loud hovering noise reverberated into the building and though he didn't lower his weapon, Carter began to smile happily. Steve stood directly in front of the Corporal wearing full deployment gear and anxiously forcing himself to avoid glancing towards where Danny lay on the floor. His one quick look proved to him that Danny was in fact hurt badly and Ellen's words were very truthful. But he also knew from what he'd been told that the little girl was under the sink. With Ellen now near Danny, Doctor Ramirez had moved to purposefully block the cabinets with his body; but Steve could practically feel McRaney's agitated breath on his neck.

Their positions put Erin and now the doctor in his and her father's potential line of fire should they miss Carter. And the soldier still had too much control in the desperate situation and anything could go quite wrong. With the child present, no one was willing to do anything rash so they waited. They needed to get the Corporal moving so he was either between them or in a totally different location in or outside of the room; and then absolutely disarmed.

Steve folded his arms arrogantly and took two purposeful steps counter-clockwise while McRaney stayed in position. It did what was intended as Carter moved in kind as part of a reverse dance. He was now nearly between the two men but it was not quiet perfect since the revolver was still aimed directly at Steve's chest ... and into the center of the room.

"As your ranking officer, I'd appreciate you stowing that weapon Corporal. Now. Stow it. And stand down."

Carter paused almost angrily and Steve immediately changed course by pointing to the leg wound as McRaney readied himself for a possible escalation. "You're wounded. You held this location? In your condition .. I am very impressed Corporal. It's a very well-earned time for all of us to evacuate now that the choppers are here."

It was enough for Ramirez to weigh in as the disgusted medic to buffer Steve's compliments. "He did. And he's denied himself medical care to protect us. Now that reinforcements have arrived for a successful evac, I'd like to take a look at his leg. And then we can all get out of here."

And those combined words of praise and reason got Carter to lower his weapon and relax. "Yes Sir." He said proudly and then he nodded in agreement towards Ramirez as he holstered the gun and allowed the doctor to approach with syringe back in his grasp. McRaney calmly stepped forward asking for the now holstered weapon which Carter hesitantly gave him.

"I'll just hang onto this for you while the medic helps you out. You know the drill, roll your sleeve up." The grin shared between Steve and the Lieutenant was subtle as the plan finally came together and they were now only seconds from putting an end to the terrible event.

Claiming it was an antibiotic against infection, the doctor quickly injected Carter's arm as the man willingly held it out to him. As he knelt with intentions of wrapping the leg wound, the soldier's knees were already wobbling enough for Steve and the doctor to forcibly sit him in a chair. Without a shot being fired, it was over in a matter of minutes. And when he lost consciousness, Carter never noticed that Danny's weapon had been plucked from the back of his pants by the astute McRaney, nor that he'd been cuffed where he sat.

"Erin Jayne McRaney! Front and center! Now!" And then the anxious father was quickly kneeling down by the cabinet and opening the door. Seconds later a sobbing blur of pink and purple was catapulting out of hiding and into his arms.

"Take her out of here, Lieutenant." Steve managed to smile as the man strode from the room. Upset, happy and angry all at the same time, Steve heard him lovingly reading his six-year old adventurer the riot act for once again, not staying close to her mother.

"All clear. McRaney's coming out with the child." Steve radioed to the primary staging point and repeated himself. "All clear. It's over. Adler .. I need medical personnel and have your security team take charge immediately." He was making his demands while bending down to where Ramirez and his wife were anxiously hovering over Danny.

"How bad?" Steve asked worriedly as he took in Danny's ashen pallor under the oxygen mask. Small tremors were running through his body and his forehead was deeply lined in a pained discomfort. ""Ponch? Doc? Really .. how bad?" He breathed out again as he knelt down to gently squeeze Danny's shoulder.

His voice was barely audible as he listened dismally to Ramirez's response. "Danno. What the hell happened?"

"Bad. He needs to be in surgery now .. I need a vascular surgeon and a full set of tests to see where that bullet traveled on its way out of his abdomen." Ramirez was barking his own dire set of orders as he wiped his blood stained hands on a towel. He spared Steve a quick glance that was filled with an undisguised worry and some guilt as his medical team came running into the lab with more equipment. Chin and Kono were also with them, shocked to see that Danny was unconscious and staggered by what they heard Ramirez saying to Steve.

"I'll do my best." Steve was gently pushed out of the way as Ramirez rushed to help his team. And Steve's face was crestfallen when Danny's limp body was gently transferred from the floor to a gurney because the doctor was sullen and not making any promises. In fact, his words were the exact opposite of what the team was hoping to hear.

"I will do my best. But you need to be ready for the worst .. I'm sorry, Steve. That was a godforsaken long amount of time and I just don't know yet."

Turning to his wife, he grabbed Ellen's hand as the group moved rapidly towards the surgical rooms. "I need you too for this one. I need you to be my second brain … just like old times."

~ to be continued ~