Sorry for the wait everyone. Thanks as always for reading.

Danny blinked. Joey Franklin. Standing in the elevator.

Everything slowed down. Blood rushed to his head with a roar. His legs threatened to give out. He couldn't breathe and was instantly soaked with sweat.

Then, he blinked again and everything came back into focus.

Joey was less than 10 ft away.

Standing in the elevator. Staring at Danny.

Fear and actual panic crossed the face of that madman.

Holy shit.

And thank god it took forever for those doors to slide shut. Joey worked furiously pushing the buttons to close them.

Danny wasn't moving fast, but he was determined. Launching himself down that hallway, dragging a monster of a swollen knee, he did his best impression of a run. His crutch out in front of him like he was jousting, he must have been a sight to see.

He jammed his only weapon in the doors just in time.

Before either of them could take their next breath, Danny was in the elevator with Joey, shoving him into the back railing. The doors closed and the elevator was moving.

No escape.

Joey recovered quickly, slamming his knee into Danny's injured one. Doubling over reflexively from the intense rush of pain, he left himself open to attack.

Joey kept moving until he had Danny against the doors, grabbing his bad wrist and twisting hard. Danny yelped and Joey laughed, taking delight in the pain he inflicted. He was cocky, very cocky.

And Danny saw a blessed opportunity. This idiot was taking way too much pleasure and not focusing on his opponent.

Using the distraction, he knocked Joey to his feet. Cursing when he lost his own balance as he put too much weight on his knee. Both men fell to the floor, scrambling to gain the upper hand. Punching, kicking. Anything.

Joey tried to put some space between himself and Danny. Space being a relative term in that metal box.

Another fucking metal box.

Getting lucky, Joey kicked Danny in the face. Somehow, he shook it off quickly, grabbing Joey's ankle and yanking him to the floor again. This time the madman didn't move.

Danny couldn't tell if he'd dazed the man or if he was being played. Trying to catch his breath, he leaned against the wall, holding the railing for support.

What was taking this elevator so long? If he could make it to the lobby in one piece, Danny knew he might have a chance at getting some help. Because he was fading fast.

Or he might drag innocent bystanders into his battle. Danny didn't want anyone else to get hurt. He didn't have a choice though since the elevator was heading in one inevitable direction. If he could only subdue Joey.

Without warning, Joey jumped up and charged Danny, cracking the detective's head against the wall. This time he came closer to passing out and fell forward, pushing Joey back to the floor. A jolt of pain from his knee woke him up and he managed to land a pretty solid punch, hitting Joey in the jaw. Joey responded with a knee to Danny's groin.

Then, the elevator dinged and the door slid open. Danny and Joey rolled out of the elevator like something out of a cartoon, their fight spilling into the main lobby. People screamed, scattering. Joey again gained the upper hand, smashing Danny in the face and kicking his knee before freeing himself.

But Danny was on fire now, feeling no pain. He tackled Joey, both of them falling against the coffee cart. Knocking over colorful little baskets of napkins and flavored creamers. More yelling and cursing from people standing around watching. Some of them even had their phones out, filming the whole thing.

A security guard ran over, barking orders to stop. Danny wanted to yell that he was a cop but a punch from Joey landed square in his chest and he stumbled to the side, wheezing. Joey charged the guard bellowing something that could only be described as gibberish. Danny recovered, head spinning but at least he was on his feet. He had to stop Joey before anyone else got hurt.

He pulled Joey away from the guard, managing to land a few punches and elbows. But the crazed man was freakishly strong. Or Danny was simply losing steam. Injured and maybe a little feverish now.

And then suddenly, everything changed. Joey had the security guard's weapon.

/././

Steve opened his eyes. Lying there awake, he decided he felt better. Even his mood had shifted. It felt like a weight had literally been lifted.

He pushed himself up to get a better look around his small room. Alone again, he felt his chest tighten a little.

Where was Danny?

He was just there moments ago, sitting in the chair.

Calming himself, he knew Danny was probably just out in the hall. Using the bathroom. Maybe grabbing a coffee. Steve had been sleeping most of the time, not the best company. He had to give Danny a break.

His nurse appeared in the doorway. Expecting a smile, he gave her a wave. Then he realized she looked frightened.

And Navy Seal mode kicked in. "Are you okay?"

She quickly smiled, taking a deep breath. "Yes, everything's fine."

He knew that word. Fine. And he didn't like it.

"You wouldn't lie to a dying man, would you?"

She laughed. "You aren't dying."

"But I was just twelve hours ago." She didn't seem to get his joke. So he asked another question. "Is my treatment not working? You can tell me."

"No it's not that." She shook her head.

Steve studied her for a minute. "It's my partner, isn't it?"

Her silence told him everything.

"What happened? Did he leave? Is he okay?"

She rushed over to the bed and grabbed his hand. "Steve – I mean Commander – I don't know. I really don't know."

Now he was trying to get out of bed. "What's wrong?"

"A man claiming to be Five-0 was down at the ER desk."

Steve swung his legs over the side of the bed, eyeing all the IVs and his oxygen. Tethered in bed, he exhaled loudly. "Please help me. I don't want to do this myself."

"No." His nurse refused. "I called security and your team. You, sir, are staying put."

He almost shoved her out of the way. But at the moment, he knew he couldn't put up much of a fight. Breathing was still not easy. And as small as she was, he knew his nurse meant business.

"I'm worried about your heart rate. Please lie down." She nudged him. "I'll find out what's going on, I promise you."

"Can't leave Danny." He was struggling now, unable to catch his breath.

She squeezed his hand, guiding him to lie back against the pillows. "Please. You need to calm down."

A tech ran into the room, face flushed and out of breath. "Gun. There's a gun in the building."

/././

"This is all your fault." Joey pointed the gun at Danny's chest. They were only a few feet apart.

Danny shook his head. He couldn't lie. "Don't you think I know that?"

This caught Joey slightly off guard and Danny thought about taking the weapon from him. But he was shaking too much and moving too slowly to do anything rash, especially with all the people around.

"Drop the weapon!" A pair of HPD officers appeared out of nowhere.

And things went from bad to worse.

Joey fired a shot into the crowd, hitting a huge planter. "Next one takes out this cop or maybe someone else." He waved the gun around. "Do you want to take that chance?"

"This has to end, Joey."

"Yea, yea it does Danno." Joey drug out the word with a syrupy smile.

Just hearing that name coming out of Joey's mouth broke something inside Danny. He didn't care what happened to him. He had to take down this man before he hurt someone else.

An ambulance arriving at the ER bays, sirens blaring, caught Joey off guard just enough. Danny threw himself at him and they both hit the tile floor. The gun not leaving Joey's hand. Both men fought for possession of the weapon, rolling across the floor in an odd jumble of arms and legs.

Everyone held their breath. More HPD had arrived and they were ushering people out of the lobby.

And then the gun went off.

I'm evil, yes ... I know...