Many thanks once again for the lovely reviews, guys! Bryce x

Next part...

Steve whipped his head around at the sound of splashing, frowning hard when he saw Danny trying to help paddle the small leaking dinghy towards the yacht.

"Hey, hey, what're you doing?" he snapped. "I thought I told you to sit back and let me do this!"

Danny blinked slowly, his sunken, pain filled eyes narrowing determinedly. "I'm helping, Steven," he growled, "We'll get there faster if I help."

Leaning forward, Steve carefully eased Danny back against the dinghy side and swore under his breath when he saw the fresh blood seeping through the makeshift bandage. Cold fear rippled through his gut as he pressed his palm to the wound, eliciting a weak, breathy groan.

"Danny, stay with me, buddy, stay awake, man," he urged anxiously, nodding when Danny opened his eyes and pushed Steve's hands off him. "You gotta stay awake, and keep still. I can get us to the yacht, alright?"

"You'd better paddle faster then... 'cause I don't wanna be sitting in a floating smorgasbord for that fucking shark when there's a perfectly nice, safe boat right there," Danny mumbled.

Seeing the effort Danny was making to stay conscious, Steve decided he'd help the best way he knew how. "And I will, Danny, if you sit still and stop bleeding all over the damned place, alright?" he ordered sternly.

"If I stop bleeding-?" Danny snorted. "Oh, excuse me for getting shot, Steven!"

Resuming paddling, Steve smiled grimly despite himself, the continual soft tones of Danny's rant keeping him going. And when the litany tapered off, he coaxed even more with taunts and teases.

"Hey, you know, you got that baked lobster look going perfectly, Danno. Better not let Kamekona see you, or he might serve you up with his garlic shrimp as an appetiser!"

"Oh, that's funny. See me laughing so hard, my sides are splitting," Danny scowled sarcastically. "It'll be your fault if I get skin cancer after today. You're fault, Steven!"

"Of course it will be," Steve said, in a tone that wasn't very convincing. It prompted the right response.

Lifting his hand, Danny motioned to Steve's body, although sunburned too, his native, seasoned skin fared better. "You... You, of course, have to have the complexion of a Greek god. All bronze tan and glowing," he complained. "Me? I'll be pink, sore and peeling for weeks!"

Glancing over his shoulder, Steve grinned. "Greek god, huh?"

"I hate you so much," Danny muttered and dragged his fingers tiredly through his hair.

The silence went on a second too long for Steve and he bit his lip. "So, I'm loving the curls, Danno," he teased knowing Danny's hair was a particular sensitive subject. His normally swept back style had now dried wavy in the sun. It looked like a serious case of bed head. "You know, I bet Chin and Kono are gonna love knowing how cute you look right now with those baby curls, huh?"

"Don't even!" Glaring at Steve, Danny pursed his lips. "You fucking dare mention my hair to them and I'll... I'll...

"You'll what?" Steve taunted.

"I'll rearrange your kitchen cupboards," Danny threatened menacingly, raising his brows like he meant it when Steve snapped his head around and glared at him, Aneurism Face in full force. "I'll take all the labels off all your cans..."

"No, Danny... You don't touch-"

"You are such a control freak, Steven!" Danny ranted. "Always have to drive my car, always have to have the TV remote thingy even in my place... and your house is so neat!"

"What's wrong with a neat house?" Steve frowned confused.

"You alphabetise and date your fridge contents!" Danny shouted incredulously. "Who does that? Is it an army thing?"

"Navy, Danny... it's the Navy," Steve corrected yet again. "And no, it's not a Navy thing! I have a tidy house. So what?"

"You have a tidy house," Danny repeated, adding, "What you have, my friend, are issues... of the anally retentive kind."

"How did we get from your baby curls to me being anally retentive?" Steve scowled. Danny laughed, pressing his hand to his shoulder.

"What can I say? It's a talent, babe."

"It's a talent, he says..." Steve muttered under his breath and turned forward again, eyes on the yacht not far off now. A moment later, he looked back at Danny when he'd become worryingly quiet, panicking when he saw his friends closed eyes. "Hey! Hey, Danny!" he shouted, kicking out and cautiously nudging him with his foot. "I'd better not catch you napping on the job, brah!"

"Are you kidding me, Steven? What job, huh?" Danny slurred hoarsely, rubbing his hand over his face. "If I had my gun I'd shoot you first, and then the fucking shark just for the hell of it."

Steve shook his head and sighed shakily, closing the last few yards between them and the yacht. It looked abandoned, bobbing silently in the waves like a ghost ship, and Steve could see elegantly painted letters on the stern spelling out the name 'Katie'. But at least it wasn't damaged or sinking.

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing," Danny said softly after a while. Steve glanced over his shoulder, continuing to paddle as he did so.

"What am I doing, Danny?"

"You, my friend, are deliberately provoking me into ranting at you," he accused, his finger jabbing in his direction.

Steve flashed him a quick knowing smile.

"There," Danny confirmed, eyes narrowing.

"What?"

That innocent look so didn't fool Danny. He sighed and smiled at his friend. "Thank you."

"For what?" Steve asked.

"That. For making me rant at you, keeping me awake," Danny answered equally as softly, "For making sure I didn't give up, fought for Grace."

Simply nodding, Steve held his eyes for a moment. "Anytime, Danno."

"Oh, you know what movie quote comes to mind right now?" Danny asked after a beat. "Y'know, with the whole tiny dinghy and the huge man-eating shark situation we got goin'?"

Chuckling, Steve had a fair idea, but he played along and shrugged.

"We're gonna need a bigger boat!" Danny mimicked badly and laughed. "Get it? Jaws!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, Danno, and what d'ya know?" Steve grinned pointing at the 'Katie' just feet away, "There you go. Just for you, a bigger boat!"

Danny gritted his teeth and hauled himself up, quickly calling out, "Hello?"

Steve joined in, "Hello!"

After a few seconds, Danny frowned. "Doesn't look like anybody's up there."

"Hello!" Grabbing hold of the small dive platform at the stern of the craft, Steve noticed the empty couplings that could be used to secure a small craft. "Hey, think this dinghy belongs to this boat."

Danny saw what Steve was looking at and agreed, "Yeah."

Hooking the dinghy back on, he carefully helped Danny onto the 'Katie', hyper aware of the fresh blood staining the dinghy and dripping over the side, turning the water a grisly murky red. Resolutely ignoring it, he half walked, half carried his friend to a shady corner of the deck and gently eased him to the floor. "You alright?"

"Yeah, man," Danny gasped, breathing hard through the pain of moving. "Glad to be on a boat that isn't leaking."

"Yeah, me too." Steve stood up and looked around, threat assessing before he devoted all his attention on his injured partner. He saw suspicious signs of foul play and deduced, "Looks like our boat-jacker was onboard."

"What kind of idiot leaves this nice boat to go out in the open ocean in that miserable dinghy?" Danny wanted to know, because that made no sense to him what-so-ever!

Spotting a smear of blood, Steve grabbed a gaff and held it up for protection. "Danny, that's why."

Eyes widening, Danny instantly stiffened. "That blood's fresh." He frowned when Steve ventured towards the cabin, hissing, "Hey, what're you doin'? Be careful!"

Throwing Danny a typical McGarrett I got this look, he ignored the dramatic eye roll and slowly, cautiously entered the cabin. "I got more blood," he shouted out to Danny when he was satisfied they were alone on the boat. "Body, too. He's dead. Answers why our jacker was in the dinghy. He was fleeing a crime scene."

While he was in the cabin, he carefully tried not to disturb the evidence and raided the boat's supplies, finding bottled water, a first aid kit and grabbing a couple of blankets too, before quickly heading back up to Danny.

"Looks like our victim was shot three times, close range," he reported putting his supplies on the deck. Kneeling by his partner, he gently shook him, "How're you doing, Danno?"

Looking up, Danny nodded, slurring, "More than ready to get the hell off this ocean." Steve completely agreed with that. He busied himself uncapping two bottles of water, urging Danny to drink to get some of the much needed fluids he'd lost back inside him. He held the bottle steady as Danny's hand shook, carefully tipping it to his lips.

"A little more, babe," he murmured when Danny closed his mouth and turned his head away. He was desperately dehydrated and Steve was seriously worried about low blood pressure and the onset of seizures and shock he was ill equipped to treat. "C'mon, you need to drink, Danny."

"So do you," Danny muttered, gasping as his stomach cramped and twisted. Nausea suddenly flooded through him like a tidal wave and he pitched to the side and retched, bringing up what little water he'd managed.

"Shit!" Steve felt utterly helpless as his friend shuddered in pain and could only hold him steady until the spasms stopped. Danny then just slumped listlessly against him, panting shallow pain filled breaths.

Carefully leaning him back, Steve gently palmed his burning cheek. "Hey, Danny, open your eyes, okay?"

"Fuck... So much for my... new streak... S'all the same... t'you, gonna... pass out now," Danny mumbled. His mouth felt thick and like it was full of cotton wool and his insides were twisting in excruciating knots, his whole body one huge mass of pain, and he just wanted to escape, to give in to that sweet, sweet pain free oblivion that lurked just at the edge of his consciousness... So tempting... Luring him like a Siren's call... He groaned annoyed though when he was shaken back to his world of hurt.

"That's it, Danno, stay with me... C'mon, man, don't do this..."

"Huh?"

"Jesus, you scared the shit outta me," Steve sighed heavily when those pale blue eyes finally opened again. "Don't do that again!"

Danny blinked slowly confused. "Do what?"

Shaking his head, Steve lifted the bottle to Danny's lips again. "Slowly this time, alright?"

Steve's heart was still thudding hard in his chest because when Danny had passed out he'd truly panicked for those few seconds. He knew without essential medical attention, there was a good chance that if he fell unconscious, Steve might actually lose his partner, and Grace would lose her father. With the limited supplies they had, the only way Danny was going to make it home alive was if he fought, and fought hard, and that meant staying awake for as long as he could to do that.

Slowly swallowing half the bottle of water, Danny had to admit that he felt marginally better. Granted, he still felt like he'd been hit by a ten ton truck, twice, but the cool liquid was heavenly on his raw throat and chapped, dry lips, and drinking it slowly made sure his body didn't complain so violently.

"What about you?" he asked when he'd had enough. Steve looked exhausted and flushed, his skin dry and sunburned in areas, too.

"You good? You're not gonna be sick again?"

"Not if I can help it, no," Danny said softly and watched as Steve started to gulp down the bottle. "Hey, hey, slowly, Super SEAL!"

Steve looked sheepish having his own words thrown back at him, but then gradually downed a whole bottle until it was empty.

"Oh god, that's good," he sighed wiping his forearm across his brow. He smiled at Danny's answering grin, and then reached for the first aid kit, tipping the contents on the deck; sterile pads, salve, antiseptic solution, bandages, eye wash, safety pins, surgical gloves, OTC Tylenol and a cold pack. Not much to work with at all.

"What is that?" Danny asked as Steve carefully removed the torn strips of shirt from his wounded shoulder. He picked up the small object. "This is a 9mm, same calibre as our boat-jacker."

"What're you doing, man? It's a crime scene," Steve stated curtly trying not to show his alarm when he saw the red, inflamed, puffy mess that was his friend's shoulder.

"Oh, excuse me. I'll be sure to pack latex gloves next time we go on a fishing trip," Danny muttered back and, with careful exaggeration, put the small shell case back down.

Grabbing the antiseptic, Steve busied himself soaking a sterile pad. "Just preserve the crime scene. Just... just..."

"Okay, okay, it's preserved."

Hesitating with the pad soaked in the solution just above Danny's wound, Steve looked apologetically at him. "S'gonna sting, buddy, sorry."

"Just do it, babe," Danny nodded and hissed when what felt like liquid fire hit his skin. His fingers dug into his thighs with the intense pain, his vision greying at the edges. "Holy fuck... that hurts!"

Steve steadfastly finished cleaning the wounds, both front and back, wanting to get it over with but needing to do a thorough job. He hated causing his partner pain, but he drew on his training and got it done, finally applying the salve and pressing a clean bandage to the areas, securing them with the safety pins. "Hey, it's finished, Danny, it's over, okay?"

Swallowing hard, Danny tipped his head back and closed his eyes, panting through the pain. "How bad?" he slurred.

"Bad enough," Steve mumbled. He shook out a couple of the Tylenol and gently placed them between Danny's lips, holding another bottle of water to his mouth to wash them down. It was bad. The wounds were inflamed and infection had started to take hold, and Danny's whole shoulder was tender and hot to touch. Steve just hoped he'd done enough until he could get Danny to a hospital.

"Be alright, babe, you'll see," Danny nodded tiredly. He pointed to the cockpit, "Alright, skipper, please go up there and get this thing started. Let's cruise back to shore, let's let the crime lab take a look."

And get you some medical help, Steve silently added. "That is a great idea."

"Thank you."

"Alrighty," Steve muttered trying to start the boat engines. Nothing happened.

"I take it that's not good," Danny stated from the deck.

"No, it's not good."

"What about the radio?"

Throwing down the handset, Steve frowned. "It's dead."

"Maybe it just shorted out," Danny suggested, that dreaded hopelessness feeling creeping back into his gut.

"The rest of the boat's got power," Steve said. "I gotta check the engines." He lifted the engine cover and quickly did a cursory once over on both engines, sighing as he stood up. "Alright. Both these engines are seized."

No... "Please tell me you can un-seize them," Danny beseeched.

"I'm gonna see what I can do," Steve nodded and ducked back down into the small engine compartment. A sudden commotion had Steve jump up and made both men stare towards the stern. The SEAL grabbed the gaff and climbed to his feet, his eyes widening when he saw the Tiger Shark violently chewing through the sides of the dinghy, obviously after the blood.

"What? What's goin' on?" Danny hissed, trying to see. He held on subconsciously as the 'Katie' juddered under the onslaught of the shark attack.

"Stay there, Danny," Steve instructed and reached forward, using the gaff to unhook the couplings. The powerful shark used it's impressive, menacing strength, and razor sharp teeth to rip through the sides of the small dinghy, splashing waves of sea spray high into the air. It took a few tries, but Steve eventually freed what was left of the craft and swallowed hard as he watched the shark effortlessly drag it below the surface, never to be seen again.

"Steve?" Danny said when the noise and commotion stopped, leaving the yacht bobbing peacefully again in the waves. Steve turned and wordlessly stared at his partner, the harsh and frightening realisation of just how close they'd been to meeting a gruesome and grisly end themselves settling in with a cold shiver, draining the colour from his face. Danny sucked in a sharp breath unfortunately reading Steve's expression with frightening accuracy, and he fell back with a thump, gulping in air.

Throwing down the gaff, Steve dropped down beside Danny, hands quickly on his face when he recognised the panic attack.

"Danny, calm down, man, breathe," he encouraged. "We're okay, we're alright..."

"Fuck! The shark... We, we..." Danny looked up wide eyed, tightly gripping his friend's wrist with his one hand. "Steve, the shark... It ate the fucking dinghy! We could've been man-sushi!"

"Calm down, Danno," Steve tried again, concerned that if he didn't the desperate panting and lack of oxygen would cause him to pass out. "Slow your breathing, babe."

"Slow... my breathing? Man-sushi! You get that, you... moron?"

"I get it, but we're alright. Danny, I get it," Steve insisted. "Now calm down. We're safe now."

Chuckling mirthlessly, Danny slowed his panting. "Safe? Safe? We're still stranded, Steven!"

"Yeah, but the good news is; we're stranded on a nicer boat," Steve said hoping it would provoke a snappy come back and take Danny's mind off the whole man-sushi induced panic attack.

"That is true. With a dead guy and no radio, but it is a nicer boat!"

It worked. Steve raised an eye brow. "This is my fault, too? Huh?"

Slumping back, his breathing now calmer, if not still laboured, Danny shrugged. "I'm just saying."

Relieved that the episode was over and Danny seemed okay for the time being, Steve pulled a face and mimicked back moodily, "You're saying..." He grabbed a blanket and carefully pushed it behind Danny's back, handing him another uncapped bottle of water. "Drink that while I see if I can fix the engines, okay? And stay awake!"

"Yes, mom," Danny muttered.