********** This chapter contains extreme violence and scenes of torture **********

Steve held his breath, exhaling as the clicking of metal on metal in the empty chamber brought him momentary relief.
He reached across the table and grabbed Jack's shaking hands as Rostoll pulled the gun from his grip.
Steve spoke softly, "That a boy Jack" Steve noticed to his left a shadow move across the tent canvas and he knew...help had arrived, his men were here. He needed to stall for a few minutes.

Rostoll slammed the gun down in front of Steve again, "Your turn Commander"
"Rostoll enough of this, we've both played your fucking game now no more!"
"You're not running this 'game' as you call it McGarrett and it's not over until I say it's over! You've got ten seconds Commander or I will end your game permanently!"

Rostoll began counting, "TEN, NINE, EIGHT….."
Steve picked up the gun.
"SEVEN, SIX, FIVE, FOUR, THREE"
As he placed the gun barrel to his head his eyes remained transfixed on Jack's. His ears perked, his senses fully aroused. Waiting until the last possible second…..hoping for his men to arrive….Steve McGarrett held a steady finger to the trigger.

"TWO…"
Steve's mind was racing, 'Come on guys, where are you?'
Once again without any hesitation as Rostoll hollered "ONE", Steve pulled the trigger.
Jack's eyes were wide with terror as he watched his commanding Officer again bravely pull the trigger and both men exhaled loudly as again metal hit metal in the empty chamber. Both men were sweating profusely as Rostoll moved the gun back to Lynch. With three empty rounds fired from the six shooter….the men's odds of survival were decreasing dramatically.

Steve spoke in a steady, firm voice, "Lynch, you're strong son. These bastards are not going to win. Do you hear me soldier? We've got it here kid. These bastards are NOT going to win!"

"Yes Sir…..I hear you Sir" Martin Rostoll swung the butt of his rifle again, striking Jack's nose. Blood spattered as the nose broke with the blow.

Steve's eyes frantically searched his surroundings, 'where were his men?'
Turning back to Jack he saw the horrible fear in the young man's eyes as he raised the gun to his head.

The next few minutes were a total blur as everything happened instantaneously.
Steve lunged towards Jack as he fired the gun….the entire tent lit up in gunfire as three remaining members of SEAL Team Three stormed the tent with guns blazing. Steve threw his beaten body across the table barreling into his young team member and driving them both to the ground. The shooting was over in thirty seconds and as two of his men worked on releasing their leader from the chains that bound his feet, Steve's second in command Drew Fulton leaned down over the fallen bodies.

"Steve, it's Drew…..we've got you partner"
Steve responded quietly, "It's too late Drew…..it's too late"
Drew looked down at his friend who sat cradling young Jack Lynch in his arms. Help had come but it had come seconds too late. The bullet had crushed his right temple and Jack had died instantly, his eyes open, the fear and horror still evident in them. Drew reached down and tenderly closed the young man's eyes as Steve repeated, "It's too late….it's too late"

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Rachel continued to stroke Danny's forehead and with her other hand she wiped tears that fell from her eyes.
"My God Danny. That's horrible. How could he ever get over that?"

"He couldn't sweetheart. He never got over any of it. He just learned to live with it. The stories he told me babe, the men he lost, the nightmares he suffered…."

"So the young SEAL he had to kill….."
"Malloy, Spencer Malloy….after everything had gone down we found out that he had been released from the SEALS after a mission where he was captured and tortured. He was never able to recover from the trauma and the military had no other option. He saw himself as a failure though, and according to his family he had stopped taking his medication for depression and his condition just spiraled out of control. They found a letter after his death that proved he had no intention of surviving that day"

"And yet Steve blamed himself for killing him?"
"It wasn't so much that he blamed himself…it was Spencer's eyes"
"His eyes? What do you mean?"
"Steve said when he looked into Spencer's eyes, he saw Jack…..he saw the fear, the torment. I could never have done the things Steve did Rachel. You said earlier that he was a hero, he was much more than that. I think Gracie had it right, he was simply Super SEAL. Oh God, how am I going to tell her he's gone?"

"All we can do is tell her the truth. She'll be devastated. She loved him so much"
"And he loved her. He would do anything for his little angel. She brought him so much happiness" Danny sat up and took her hands in his. "A couple of weeks ago we were talking about….about your moving to Nevada. He made me see how angry and selfish I've been. This can't be about me or you….it's about our little girl and it's not good for her to see us fighting. Rachel, I trust that whatever you do will be in Gracie's best interest. I won't fight you any longer"

She leaned in and kissed him gently on the cheek, "Let's not talk about this now okay? I'm here for you Danny and I always will be"
He responded softly, "Thank You"

A few minutes later Danny went upstairs to shower and Rachel stood on the front lawn waiting for the dog to finish his business.
She noticed the black SUV parked across the street from her home. She had noticed it when Danny had arrived a couple of hours earlier as well. She wasn't too concerned, in fact she actually felt a bit paranoid and silly. Deciding it was nothing, she went back into her home closing and locking the doors behind her.

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The thugs approached Steve and again with no words being spoken they injected him with another gram of meth.
As the needle entered he screamed out in anger, "You son-of-a-bitch, I'm going to kill you…..you know that, don't you?"
"I don't think so tough guy. A few more hits of this and you're gonna be begging me for more"
"Fuck you. You're a worthless punk and you'll be dead…..soon"

Bruno Alvarez lunged at Steve throwing punch after punch to the SEALS torso, chest and face. Cordoba allowed him to continue for several minutes before having the others pull him away.
"Let me finish him off Cordoba!"
"BRUNO, BRUNO STOP! You know the plan…we have to stick with the plan"
"Well I don't like the plan Sebastian! I say we just finish them off and get out of here. We've got our money"
"This isn't just about the money…we're sending a message and you'll do what I say do you hear me boy?"
Steve watched Bruno's reaction closely as the men argued and he continued to try to figure a way out of this mess. While the drugs made his senses extra intense they also were making it harder for him to form a coherent escape plan in his mind.

The men made their back upstairs arguing the entire way.
"Jesus Christ Steve, are you okay?"
Steve turned and lifting his head from his chest he spit blood and grinned at Matt, "I'm fine. These punks can't hurt me"
"YES THEY CAN! They can do more than hurt you! For God's sake Steven, stop giving them more reasons will you!"
"You're sounding just like your big brother, you know that?"
"Well, if you ever want to see Danny again you'll listen to me and stop egging these animals on!"
"Matt, Bruno's wound tight as a drum, he's ready to snap. I've got to take him out first"
"How in the hell are you going to do that?"
"I'm thinking….I'm thinking. How are you coming with those ropes?"
"I'm not making much progress. Bruno tied me up last, he ties pretty tight….."

"What do yo mean last? They've been untying you Matt?"
"Just to let me eat"
"Good, that's good. Matt, I need you to think now. Is there anything else they've been doing that could give me an upper hand?"
"Um….yeah, yeah…...this morning when they were feeding me Cordoba said they would have to make a food run into town Thursday morning. Hell, I don't even know what day it is"

"It's Tuesday…..this is good Matt. I can take this shit for one day. Thursday morning….Thursday morning" Matt watched as Steve's eyes closed and he surrendered to the pain of the beating and passed out.

Every two hours throughout the night the evil would return and more meth would be injected into Steve's arms.
But now the SEAL did not agitate his captors. He did not speak, his mind was thinking ahead to Thursday morning as he plotted their escape.

********* Much more to follow – reviews are greatly appreciated, I hope you're enjoying ! *********