"Black SUV." Steve nodded toward the circular driveway. The vehicle was hidden by a once intricate landscape design of small palm trees and bushes which were now in bad need of maintenance. The place had seen better days.

Danny hissed. "Just like my pizza guy said."

"Can't be-" Steve shook his head, hand going for his weapon.

Danny already had his gun drawn. "A coincidence, I know."

They both dropped beneath the edge of one of the low walls bordering the driveway. Steve calculated his next move, formulating a plan. Danny leaned into the cool stones. He didn't want to be there. He didn't want to be anywhere. His heart pounded in his chest. He had a flash of being tossed into the back of that SUV. The memory came upon him so fast.

"Hey Danny?" Steve grabbed his arm. "Hey, you alright?"

"Yea, fine." He nodded like he was convincing himself. "What's our move?"

"Just." Steve held up his hand. "Give me a minute."

Danny pulled out his phone, motioning for Steve to do the same. "You call Chin. I'll call HPD. We need backup."

"It could be nothing. We got this, Danny." Steve peered over the wall.

Shots rang out. Phone calls would have to wait until they could get this situation under control.

"This is a whole lot of not nothing, Steven."

"That doesn't make any sense, Daniel."

Danny checked his gun. He really wasn't prepared for this.

Steve risked a quick scan of the perimeter. "I see three shooters. Cover me. I have a clear shot on one of them."

Danny nodded, following his partner's lead. Steve motioned toward the front door. Danny popped up, safely firing off a few shots. Voices could be heard from inside the house, orders barked in an unfamiliar language. In the confusion, Steve fired one expert shot, hitting his mark.

One of the thugs stumbled out of the open door, crumbling to the ground. His weapon skittering across the walkway.

One down. Two to go.

"We've gotta get closer to the house." Steve was stern, all business. Danny nodded, ready to follow his lead. "Cover me."

Steve popped up and ran for the other wall. Another round of gunfire. A few seconds later the large bay window shattered. Stumbling just a bit, he made his way across the open space. He dove for the far wall and then motioned to Danny to follow.

Ready or not, here I come. Danny screamed in his mind and he took off for the far side of the driveway. A sudden surge of automatic weapons fire sent the detective scrambling to his left, farther away from his partner than planned. But there was no other way. Steve was pinned down. He and Danny shared the briefest of looks. It was what it was.

Springing to his feet, Steve fired at the house again. He gave his partner what little help he could. And then he was blasted flat on his back.

Danny's heart was in his throat but he couldn't' stop running. All he could think about was getting to cover. And Steve on the ground.

One more brief burst and then it was quiet again. Danny felt like he'd been stung by a bee, but he knew what it was. He kept moving, adrenaline surging at the sharp prick of pain.

Rolling to a stop near an ornamental bush, Danny crawled for the wall. He couldn't see his partner.

"Steve?"

"Danny." The voice was practically a whisper.

Oh thank God.

"You good?" He held his breath and waited for Steve to respond.

The only thing he heard was more gunfire. From this angle he had a better view inside the house. He could clearly see one of the gunmen through an open window. He took his shot. Relief flashed through him as the man dropped, though the good feeling was short-lived.

"Steve? You good?" Still no answer from his partner.

/././

Chin maneuvered deftly through the late afternoon traffic. "I don't have a good feeling about this, cuz."

"I know, Chin." Kono set her phone in her lap. "HPD is on the way too."

"Are Danny and Steve okay?" Eric sat in the middle of the backseat as they hurtled down the street. There was no happy answer for the kid. Only honesty.

"We don't know, Eric." Kono turned to him, eyes wide with worry and kindness. In this moment, she actually felt bad for the kid.

"I never wanted it to end up like this. I thought I could help myself out of this jam."

Chin looked at the boy in the rearview mirror. He wanted to scold but bit his tongue and kept driving. He was thankful his cousin was keeping her cool.

"We know, brah. Danny knows. Just hold on and do what we say."

"She's right." Chin slowed for traffic, laying on the horn and tripping his pursuit lights. "We don't know what we'll find. So I want you to stay down and stay put. If something happens to you-"

"Do what we say." Kono reached back and squeezed his knee. "Okay?"

Eric nodded, trembling. "Okay. I'll do what you say. I promise."

"Good." Kono smiled. At least the kid wasn't freaking out too much. He was already scrunching down in the seat a little bit.

/././

"Ah Danny. I'm hit."

"Steve, where?" Waiting for an answer was pure hell. "Steve, how bad?"

He was answered with a broken cough and then unsteady words. "Rounds hit my vest. My arm."

"I'll get to you. Stay where you are, Steve."

"No, you stay where you are. You're injured too. I'll be alright."

Danny didn't feel a thing. "It's nothing. Just a few scratches from the damn glass. Don't move."

Bullets whizzed overhead. Danny crawled across the ground, exposing himself and ignoring his own discomfort. He was certain his wound was minor, superficial. If Steve wasn't moving, he was worried it had to be worse than he was letting on.

He stopped halfway, seeing his shot. Firing, Danny took out the last of the gunmen. In the distance, sirens blared. Help was on the way.

"Danny – I told you to stay put." Steve had propped himself up against the low wall.

"Shut up." Danny slid closer so he could get a better look at his partner. Glass littered the ground, snagging and tearing his pants. He ignored it.

"Hold still. Let me get a look at you, babe."

Danny took a quick inventory. Steve's arm was bloody, probably from the spray of broken bay window that had showered both of them. It was the damage to his vest that gave him pause. He didn't know what he was about to find. Carefully, Danny loosened the vest, praying it had done its job. Steve tried to bat him away, wheezing. "No Danny, we gotta get up."

"I took out the last guy. Help is on the way. And you got the wind knocked out of you, Steve. Relax a minute." Danny undid a velcro strap. The lack of blood was promising. Tears burned the corners of his eyes. The bullets had not pierced the Kevlar. "Thank God." Danny whispered, closing his eyes with a quick word of thanks to the universe.

"I'm okay then?" Steve grinned. The color was returning to his face. When Danny nodded he added. "Told you so."

"You're gonna have a nice bruise, babe." He carefully freed his friend from the vest.

Steve sighed, relieved to get some of the pressure off. "It's nothing, Danny. I'll be fine in a minute."

"You, my friend, are not fine. You took two rounds to the chest. And you are panting. I won't be surprised if you cracked a rib."

Steve pointed at Danny. "What about you?"

Danny looked down at his shirt. "Mostly your blood, my friend. Your arm's gonna need some stitches."

Steve closed his eyes and applied pressure to the jagged gash in his upper arm, blood running through his fingers.

"You were right, Danny."

"Of course I was right. I am always right. Wait, what?"

Steve's phone buzzed from his pocket. He pulled it out, the phone slipping through his fingers. Danny grabbed it.

"It's Chin." He answered the phone. "Hey Chin. You must be a mind reader."