About an hour after they returned to the house Danny was talking with Kono on the phone when Gracie's blood curdling screams came from upstairs.

"I'll call you back Kono!" Throwing his phone onto the coffee table he ran, taking the steps two at a time followed closely by Rachel.

"DANNO! DANNO! NO DANNO NO! PPPPLLLEASE NNO DANNO!"

Moments later Danny was sitting on the bed cradling his baby girl whispering softly to her, "Sssshhhh Monkey, Danno's here. Danno's got you…sssshhhhhhhhh relax baby"

Her screaming had woken Charlie and Rachel took the screeching infant from the room closing the door behind her.
Danny held Gracie to his chest for a long time as she sobbed hysterically. He would catch an occasional word or two as she sobbed for her SuperSEAL, one of her closet friends. How could he be gone she asked? How could God have taken her beloved Uncle Steve? Danny had no answers, he had the same questions. He held his little monkey and he rocked with her for more than half an hour.

Rachel and Charlie came back into the room and sat on the bed next to them.
"Gracie, are you okay honey?"
"No Mommy….my heart feels like it's breaking in half"
"I know sweetheart. Do you remember when Aunt Chloe died? Do you remember how sad I was?"
Danny watched Rachel intently. Just before moving to Hawaii with Stan her seventeen year old sister Chloe had been hit in a crosswalk by a drunk driver and killed instantly near the family home in upstate New York. Rachel was ten years older than her sister and she had not seen much of her once she had re-located to New Jersey for College and then she had met and married Danny. Rachel had mourned her death so severely that her family had feared she was having a breakdown. Danny reached over and took hold of her hand, squeezing it firmly.

"Yes Mommy I remember"
"I was so sad because I loved Chloe so much and I never thought I could live without her. It hurt so bad to get up every morning that I sometimes didn't even get out of bed. And then one day, your Daddy here came to visit me and do you know what he said?"

"No, what?"
"He reminded me of how much Chloe loved me and how much she loved you. And he told me that Chloe would never want me to be sad forever. Chloe would want me to be happy and to make sure that you were happy. Honey, Chloe is always in my heart, she's not gone, ever. She's a very important part of who I am and I will always love her. Do you understand what I'm telling you honey?"

"Yes…..that Uncle Steve will always be in my heart and I will never forget him"
"That's right. And it's okay to be sad and to cry. But Uncle Steve loved you very much and he would not want you to be sad forever"

"But why would God take Uncle Steve Mommy?"
"There are things in life that we can never understand. We just have to believe that God needed Steve more than we did. Steve is in heaven now Gracie"

"Uncle Steve took such good care of Danno. Who will take care of my Danno now?"
Danny grinned at his daughter leaning down and kissing her forehead, "Hey you don't worry about me"
"But Daddy, if Uncle Steve could die….so could you"

"Monkey, I can't promise you that I won't die because you know that everybody dies. That's why it's so important to show the people we love how much we care about them every day. But I do know a promise that I can make. I can promise you Gracie Williams that your Uncle Steve loved you with all his heart and that you made him so happy. He loved spending time with you baby girl. You brought a peace to him that no one else could. I can't even tell you how many times he told me he loved you"

"He loved you too Danno"
"I know honey and we both loved him and we'll miss him greatly" Danny's voice choked with emotions as he continued softly, "Like your Mom said, it's okay to cry and it's okay to talk about him because we loved him. SuperSEAL will always be with us baby, always"

"I know Daddy"
Danny smiled at his little girl as she began to tell her Mother a story about a camping trip they went on several months ago with Chin, Kono and of course Steve. Before sunset on the first night Chin had fallen while hiking and sprained his ankle, Danny had tripped over a branch helping Chin back to camp and had fallen into a patch of poison ivy and Steve had cut himself in the hand while cutting branches for a fire! Kono and Gracie had played nursemaid to the three men all weekend long!

Danny felt Rachel's hand squeeze around his…..they would make it. It was going to be hard but they would make it.

5050505050505050505050505050

Steve finished the lunch and a bottle of water and then as Pedro Cordoba looked on he whispered to Matt, "Follow my lead"

Matt looked on as Steve jockeyed the blanket to make sure the scissors were covered before calling out loudly, "I told you. I'm fine Matthew….now back off!"

Matt stood up and held his hands out, "Hey, I'm just worried about you that's all"
"Well you should have thought about that before you screwed these guys over. Now we're going to die in this God damned cellar and it's all your fault!"

"Steve, man I'm sorry. You didn't have to come for me, I didn't call you"
"You're a useless piece of crap you know that" And without warning Steve uncovered himself and lunged his still naked body at Matt. The move caught Matt of guard and as the SEAL's shoulder drove into his mid-section they both fell to the hard ground. Both men gasped in pain as Steve straddled Matt's body pummeling his face with blow after blow.

Steve glanced over briefly at Cordoba, happy to see his move had earned the desired results. The young punk was laughing as he watched the two men at odds and fighting. Steve tried not strike Matt with his full force and after five or six blows he clutched at his own rib cage and breathing heavily he rolled off Matt and while on his knees he gasped, "You're a stupid son-of-a-bitch Matthew"

Steve again glanced at Cordoba before staggering back to the cot. He was careful to keep the scissors hidden as he slid back onto the cot covering himself with the blanket. We couldn't contain the moans of discomfort as pain coursed through his beaten body. His mind was reeling and he struggled to focus his thoughts. Step one, get untied…step two, make the captors over confident….in fact he had even gotten a bonus in finding the weapon…Steve smiled weakly through his pain. Everything was falling into place. He figured he could rest a bit. He ran a hand across his abdomen, his skin was raw and painful from the ropes that had bound him. He knew he had at least some cracked, if not broken ribs on his right side. He hurt horribly but he was used to blocking out pain…..both physical and emotional pain. He closed his eyes, deciding to allow the drugs to help him rest...…..

Matt crawled back towards the cot as Cordoba laughed loudly, "Better watch out Williams…looks like your 'partner' ain't too happy with you, is he?" Matt sat with his back against the cot. He tipped his head back and he too closed his eyes. He remembered Danny's advice to him when they were on the run from Cordoba the first time, 'You do whatever Steve tells you to do and you'll get out of this. He's the best at what he does and he'll do everything he can do to protect you' He was finally getting used to life in Washington, now if he survived this he knew he would have to be relocated again. Oh shit…...life is so fucking complicated…...hearing soft snoring from the SEAL, Matt too slept.

******* Much action coming soon – hope you're enjoying! ********