Disclaimer:Nothing's mine here except the story line. :-)
Danny heard his name but didn't believe it. He had to be hallucinating. He scolded himself over and over in a matter of seconds. Can't be true. I'm hearing things. This isn't real. Then he heard more disembodied words forming themselves into strange clumps of thought. Steve's voice. It didn't make much sense. How did Steve get into the box with him?
"Danny, stay on the line. We'll come to you." That was most definitely Steve's voice. Strong and confident.
He giggled again. The warm air and failing oxygen made him sleepy. He tried to hang on but dropped the phone. It bathed the box in an eerie light, illuminating his prison. His eyes travel up the sides of the box. There really was no way out.
He closed his eyes and waited, knowing he was slipping into unconsciousness. He heard his name again sounding very far away, like the voice was coming from a tunnel. He knew that voice anywhere.
Steve.
His fingers flexed to grab the phone before he drifted away.
/././
"Danny!" Steve yelled into the useless piece of metal and plastic. Useless because it couldn't tell him what he wanted to know. What he needed to know. "Danny, are you alright?"
The phone had not been disconnected. Listening, he could hear breathing, what almost sounded like trembling. But no response from his partner.
"Danny must have dropped the phone." Steve shook his head. His voice shook ever so much.
"We'll find him, boss." Kono leaned a little closer to him, squeezing his arm.
Chin kept his head in the game and continued working the problem. "Okay, we've got a trace on Danny's phone." The others closed in around the table. Chin tapped the screen and then zoomed in on a section of a map. "Here, looks like old sugar cane fields. It's a construction site now. I've sent the information to our phones."
/././
Familiar faces popped into his head. Steve, Kono, Chin. Then Grace and Rachel. Danny smiled at the thought of his Monkey. At least he wouldn't look horrible in his casket. That's where he was now for all intents and purposes. A rather plain coffin.
There were a thousand different ways a cop could die, probably more. He'd been shot more than once and beaten pretty badly. He didn't want to think about drowning or dying in a fire. Those were too horrific. Electrocution and poison came to mind too. Neither of those sounded pleasant. And while being trapped like this was terrifying on most levels, it wasn't painful. He felt like he was drifting, floating just below the surface.
Steve would come. Stop being such a pessimist.
This thought was an intrusion. Hope carried too much weight and he was so tired. Hope also took effort and with it came the possibility of failure. He didn't know if he could handle the let down when this all turned out to be a giant hallucination.
Steve was on the way.
Part of him did honestly believe it. Steve coming to the rescue was one of the few sure things in his life. He knew his partner would move heaven and earth to find him. But right now, the darkness wore at his nerves. The walls closing in. Oxygen running out. So many negative thoughts. Only one good one.
Steve was on the way.
His phone had connected. Danny was sure of it, though he was just so sleepy. And he brushed this idea away with all the others and just lay there, breathing in and out. Taking things one moment at a time. Letting his life slip away without a care. What was it they said? Life slipped away a cool breeze on a hot summer day.
But wait a minute. Grace was there when he closed his eyes. And she was hope on so many levels.
He forced himself to stay alert. Screw this fucking place. He would not go to sleep. Help was on the way.
It had to be.
/././
It didn't take the team long to reach Danny's location. The construction site wasn't that far outside of town and it was right off the main highway. They pulled onto the dirt access road, surprised at how easy the place had been to find. None of them dwelled on this. Their first concern was finding their friend.
The three of them scanned the area, Steve's truck giving them some light to work with. Huge signs warned against trespassing, but there wasn't much fencing to speak of, and on the edges, several large pieces of equipment sat waiting, throwing hulking shadows. There'd obviously been some activity though; the ground had recently been disturbed. The spot was obvious with a corner of something sticking out of the dirt.
Steve thought he was seeing things. Could it really be this easy? He needed to focus, to get himself together and fast.
"Here!" Steve dropped to his knees, digging in the fresh earth with his hands.
Chin and Kono joined him, tossing aside their shovels. They wouldn't need them. Their prize was barely buried in the red Hawaiian soil.
"Careful, careful now." Steve brushed dirt away from the edges and cleared the top of what looked like a shipping locker or tool box. "Danny!" He put his ear to the metal and listened. "Ah God, I don't hear anything."
The box was locked with a brand spanking new padlock. Like it had been purchased just for this occasion. Steve smashed the lock with his gun to no avail.
/././
Danny covered his face. His whole body vibrated and his head felt like it might explode. He couldn't place why. Until it happened again. A loud bang reverberated through his prison. He reached up to plug his ears and banged his injured hand. Crying out in pain, he called out for them to stop. Until it registered that there was someone out there and he realized – this might be his last chance.
Beginning another assault on the metal box, he kicked and pounded, knowing he was using up so much oxygen. It didn't matter. He had to get out of there.
"Hey out there! Help!"
Each breath dragged across his sore throat. He was so tired. He had to stop after only a few seconds, tears running down his cheeks, out of breath. He thought about his last most important thing. Grace.
Mumbling and stumbling over reality, Danny closed his eyes. "Danno's here, Monkey. Danno's here."
/././
"Wait, boss." Kono put her hand on Steve's shoulder. "I thought I heard something."
They both listened but didn't hear anything. Steve pounded even harder on the lock, but still nothing happened. He entertained trying to shoot it off for a fleeting few seconds. Thankfully, Chin brought him to his senses.
"Wait, brah. You could hurt him. Or us." And then he smiled. "Besides, I have these."
"Excellent." Steve practically collapsed when he saw the bolt cutters. He grabbed them and cut the lock off. The latch stuck for the briefest of moments, and then, all three of them pried open the lid.
"Danny!" Steve fell to the ground beside his best friend, checking for a pulse, as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. Chin stepped back and began calling for help.
"Boss?" Kono was by his side.
Steve sighed and nodded. "He's alive."
He continued trying to rouse Danny. Leaning in, he whispered. "Don't die on me, Danno. Don't die. Stay with me."
His voice grew louder when his partner seemed to respond. "Can you hear me? Danny? I'm gonna get you outta here."
Chin stepped closer. "Help is on the way."
"Did you hear that, Danny? Help is on the way." Kono brushed tears from her cheeks. Her relief turned to fear when Steve shook Danny lightly. "Steve? What's wrong?"
Steve's face was pale, his eyes filled with ghosts. He stared at her for a second before he found his voice. "He's not breathing."
/././