Before reading this chapter, everything in italics in the beginning is Ali's nightmare and it's kind of a weird chapter. I was trying to incorporate symbolism in this chapter to see if I was any good at it, so if it isn't good, please let me know!

Chapter 17: Unconsciousness

Queens Hospital

Steve sleepily looked at his watch. It was nearly two in the morning. He rubbed his face and wished that somebody had stayed with him in Ali's hospital room. He wasn't worried so much about her wound, but the fact that she was attacked in broad daylight angered him. He knew Francois was toying with them, but now he was showing that he could do anything he wanted. He glanced at Ali; she was asleep on the bed. The doctors needed to stitch her up, but, they explained, that she had been in so much pain that they needed to put her to sleep in order to put in the stitches correctly. Now, she was heavily sedated by anesthetics and didn't need to think about Francois or Estonia or any worldly problems. Steve wondered if Ali was dreaming and, if she was, what her dream was about.

H5-0

Ali's Nightmare

Ali found herself standing in the middle of a muddy field. At least, she believed she stood in a field because the thick fog encompassing her impaired her vision and all she could see was dead grass beneath her feet. She felt weak, her entire front was aching, but she didn't know why; her head pounded, her nose was running and her throat burned.

Ali realized she was wearing nothing but jeans and a t-shirt when goose bumps rose on her skin from the cold wind that blew. That was the explanation behind her ailments…the blustery weather. She rubbed her arms for warmth as confusion began to settle in.

Where was she? This place was not the sunny and warm island she lived on. Where were Steve, Kono, Danny, and Chin? She had been with them not long ago. Hadn't she? Investigating a case, her case. She must have been, the last thing she recollected was Steve's tight grip on her hand and Kono's lips moving as if she were talking.

"Over here!" she heard a ghostly, girlish voice from behind her.

She whipped around, recognizing the voice despite its eerie gist. It sounded like someone she knew, or thought she knew? She wasn't so sure she recognized the person after all. Maybe if they weren't so distant, she could tell who it was.

Ali turned forward to continue her walk towards… towards wherever she was headed. She felt the ground beginning to descend beneath her feet, she must have been on a hill. She could now see that there was a giant willow tree to her right that swayed in the wind which was beginning to turn icy. Ali couldn't control her body anymore; she was shaking something awful and if she didn't find warmth soon she was afraid she wouldn't make it through the night. She was already weak and wearing nothing that would defend her against the cold.

"Can't you see me?" the same ethereal voice called out.

Ali ignored it along with the trepidation that was beginning to take over her. She wasn't even sure if the girl was calling out to her; what if she was just imagining it? That was when she scolded herself for being so silly. There was no reason to be afraid of the other girl in the field. She should, in fact, find her and see if she had a spare sweater so that Ali could stay warm.

"Help!" Ali shouted, pain searing up her burning throat.

"I see you," the voice said, turning into a hiss like taunt as Ali saw a dim light, covered by fog, in the distance.

"Please," Ali croaked as the wind picked up, yet again, making her feel naked.

"I see you," the voice stated, closer this time. It sounded angrier, as if Ali had done something by asking for help.

"I hadn't meant to offend you," Ali began to explain.

The light was nearer, Ali was happy that the girl was coming for her even though she was annoyed.

"Thank you," she expressed gratitude. "I don't know where I-"

A small girl seemed to have materialized from the fog. She had jet black hair, brown eyes and she held onto a lantern.

"Are you lost?" the girl asked with a smile on her face. "Do you need help?"

"I-uh- yes," Ali answered, mesmerized by the girl. Where did Ali know her from?

"France," the girl said.

"What?"

"You're in France," she explained, staring at Ali.

"How am I in France?" Ali mumbled.

"You should have stayed away," the girl said in a trancelike state as, what Ali thought was a man, appeared behind the girl, dragging a pitchfork.

When he was close enough for Ali to see, she noticed that he was larger than anybody she had met; his abdomen was both wider and longer than any normal human being. He wore a mangy, old hat that covered his face and he stared at the ground. The… man… moved his head up and Ali gasped when she looked into his eyes. They were bloodshot and crazed. He creepily smiled at Ali as she began to back away. He suddenly began swinging the pitchfork. The swings were meant to hit her, but they hit the girl and made blood ooze from where she was hit.

You have to run, her mind screamed. Why aren't you running!

Her feet were slowly moving her away from the pitchfork wielding assailant. Why couldn't she run? It was true that everything ached, but she had to run away if she wanted to live!

"Ali!" another familiar voice yelled from somewhere in the field, distracting her. It sounded like… Steve?

Suddenly she felt cold metal spikes push her to the ground and when she looked up she saw the man heaving the pitchfork up to kill her…

Ali woke with a start, her breathing was unsteady and she could tell she was sweating. She propped herself on her elbows and looked around only to see that she was not in her own house; she was in a bed, but not her own.

A hospital bed, she concluded after taking note of some hints, like her hospital gown and medical supplies on a table nearby.

She saw that Kono was sitting in a chair beside the bed reading a book while Steve, Chin and Danny were standing outside of her room discussing something.

Ali met Kono's eyes. Kono had welcoming, warm, brown eyes which were full of emotion and vivacity; they weren't red, like the ones from her nightmare. This allowed the spy to relax a little, but the man from her dream still haunted her and she wished more than anything that she could forget about the dream.

"You okay?" Kono asked.

"Yeah," she replied as she rubbed her own eyes. "Just a bad dream."

"Look, Steve, I'll keep an eye out on her," she heard Danny whisper in the hall. "She needs you out there looking for Francois."

"Alright," she heard Steve's voice.

Her heart was still racing from the nightmare, but she knew she was safe if the team was here. They wouldn't have let anything happen to her. Ali let her head fall back onto her pillow and suddenly felt a twinge of pain coming from her front.

"Hey, Kono?" she began in the form of a question.

"Yeah?" her friend replied.

"What exactly happened to my stomach?" she asked.

"You were shot," Steve answered walking into the room, kneeling beside her. "The accident involving DeBroglie was just a front for Francois to use his sniper rifle."

"I wouldn't put it past him," Ali remarked. "But, he isn't a marksman."

"So somebody else is helping him," Kono chimed in. "But if not the Russian mercenary, then who?"

"Family," Chin Ho finally implemented as everybody looked at him.

"He doesn't have any fam-"

"Everybody has family, keiki," Chin said. "Look, I wouldn't be saying this if we had anything else. Even if he is a terrorist, his family could be the opposite, but Kono would do anything for me, just like I would do anything for her and Danny, you told us that you punched a guy for scamming Grace when you were on vacation in New York. I'm just saying that we have to find out who this guy's family is."

"I'll get on that," Kono agreed, standing up from her chair. "We'll find this guy, Ali, and then we'll have an old fashion luau."

As everybody began moving, Danny glanced at Kono with a questioning expression on his face, "How can luaus be old fashion?"

H5-0

Headquarters

Steve stood in headquarters as he, Chin and Kono raked through every piece of information they had on Francois for the hundredth time. He needed to profile him in order to find out where he hid on the island.

"He's extravagant," Kono noted. "We can see that from the expensive suits he wears in the photographs taken of him."

"It doesn't mean he wouldn't dig a hole and hide in it," Steve said.

"Yeah, but right now he just shot Ali in front of everybody," Chin brought up. "He knows we don't have anything to tie him to the murder of Katia other than speculation and Aldo's letters that were unsigned. He's trying to tell us he can touch anybody."

"Not on this island," Steve stated as his phone rang. "McGarrett."

"Good, McGarrett, this is Commander Grant," the man explained. Steve remembered him from Pearl Harbor; he must have just found files on Jacques.

"Tell me you found something," Steve said.

"I called immediately when I was told," Grant informed. "Francois was married to the deceased Agnès Fontaine in France."

"That doesn't help, Grant," he replied, feeling more frustrated than before. "If she's dead she can't be a suspect."

"Maybe the fact that Fontaine had a daughter will," Grant continued. "The Fontaine daughter was sent to live in the US when she was five. Long story short she joined the CIA when she twenty."

Steve's mind was jumping all around the place. That was the person helping Francois. Chin Ho was spot on when he predicted that Francois's family was behind all this. It would explain the sniper and all of the things that the terrorist couldn't have done by himself.

"I need a name," Steve demanded.

"Odette McCullough."

Steve suddenly pictured the tall brunette that had been "assisting" them all along. In reality she had been watching to see how far the team was with the case, to see if they were close to finding out the truth. Odette needed a way to kill Ali without making it seem like she did it. He's been in situations where his own men questioned whether or not they should stay in an emergency or desert, but this was sick. Odette was betraying her own friend.

"Find Odette," Steve necessitated hanging up on Grant.

"What-"

"She's Francois's daughter, she's the one helping him, find her!" Steve shouted as he dialed Danny's phone number.

He needed his partner to answer the phone now more than ever.

H5-0

Declan walked into the task force's headquarters with a feeling of emptiness. His life was falling apart, not that it had been fantastic to begin with, but now he could be sent to prison… the CIA prison (it was a lot, lot, worse than regular prison). He pushed the glass doors and felt his stomach drop to his knees when he saw how furious Steve was while shouting orders into his phone.

"Hey," Kono shouted at Declan, pulling out her gun.

Chin followed suit and Steve allowed his phone to fall to the ground in order to draw his handgun.

"Why the hell are you here?" Steve asked.

Declan put his hands in the air, "I'm guessing you guys solved everything."

"That you're married to an assassin? You guys should make sure to destroy every single piece of evidence next time," Chin commented.

"I came here to tell you exactly what Odette and Francois are planning!" Declan bartered.

"Sit down," the commander said as he lowered his gun.

Declan looked around to find a chair, but then the SEAL said, "On the ground, sit down with your hands on top of your head."

Declan did as he was told and waited for the questions.

"When did this start?" Steve began.

"About a year ago, but Odette only spoke to Francois then," he answered. "There were never any plans to kill Ali."

"Why?" Chin asked.

"There's a new leader of Frakstioon Valitud in Estonia and conditions are terrible. The leader believes that if he sacrifices Ali then that will recompense for her breaking it apart, so he paid Francois and Odette to kill her, but then changed it to kidnapping!" Declan explained.

"So it's revenge?" Kono pondered.

"No! He's a bloody Satanist! He believes that Ali needs to die," Declan cried. "I put this all on the flash drive I gave Ali!"

"She never mentioned a flash drive," Chin said as Kono lowered her gun and developed a shocked expression.

"That's because Little Max took it," she informed everybody.

"What?" Declan asked.

"Yesterday, Leah and Max came to take Ali out to eat and I saw Max playing with something on Ali's desk, but I didn't think that he would take anything," Kono explained.

"He's a little kid, he doesn't understand what going on," Chin commented. "I'll go find Leah-"

"It doesn't matter anymore," Declan interjected. "Odette already shot Ali to weaken her. They're planning on kidnapping her and taking her to Frakstioon Valitud in Estonia."

"Why didn't you come to us earlier?" Kono demanded. "Our friend is hurt, she is going to be taken and you had no guts to tell us?"

"No! I had to call Ali's handler, Demetrio. I told him everything!" Declan explained. "He's going to help, he promised."

H5-0

Queens Hospital

Danny was sitting next to Ali's bed at Queen's Hospital. Thankfully his friend hadn't fallen asleep and he wasn't bored, but sadly, Danny was hungry.

"I really like the treatment I'm getting, but if I have stitches and I'm very careful I think I can leave," Ali said.

"Just, shut-up, okay?" Danny jestingly shot down. "You were shot and Steve would choke me with my tie if I let you go."

"Alright," Ali sighed. "Did I at least look a little badass when I fell?"

Danny could not believe her. Someone was trying to kill her and she cared about looking badass. He could, however, understand, just a little, her lack of fear. If Danny was being hunted by someone who had shot him in the daylight with plenty of witnesses he wouldn't be afraid either.

"Can I ask you something? Why is that there's an entire campus of students that are witnesses and Steve goes back to HQ to look up Francois's family?" Danny changed the subject.

"Because Francois wasn't being reckless, he knows we have nothing on him," Ali explained. "He can do whatever he wants, theoretically."

"On this island? Yeah, right. Not with the American ninja on it," Danny scoffed, referencing Steve.

"Well, since I can't leave this room, Daniel," Ali brought up. "And I'm really hungry, could you maybe find a sandwich for me?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Danny smiled as he shot up from his chair. "I've never been this hungry in my life."

He could hear Ali laugh as he closed the door to the ward and headed towards the cafeteria. He would quickly find them something to eat and return to the room.

H5-0

In the cafeteria Danny found cheap excuses for sandwiches. There was mayonnaise with tuna, that didn't even resemble tuna in the slightest bit; it was a cream with a tint of beige in it that had been slopped down onto bread. The bread was brown and therefore whole wheat, but Danny had a hard time believing that it was healthier than the loaf of rye bread he purchased from a bakery each Saturday. He sighed as he grabbed two of the sandwiches and went to the pay.

"Six fifty," the cafeteria monitor told him as he pulled out money.

"Oh, do you by any chance have coffee?" Danny asked.

"How do you like it?" the lady asked him in a tone that signified she would much rather be at home playing a lame video game on her computer.

"A spoon of sugar," he said as the monitor walked away from the cash register and behind the counter to retrieve a cup of coffee.

Danny stood there for a few minutes, hoping that Ali was okay by herself when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out and saw Steve's name on the caller ID.

"Yes," he answered.

"Danny, watch out for Odette!" Steve shouted. For a second Danny believed that his ear drum would implode on itself.

"Extra two seventy-five," the woman demanded when she returned with the coffee. Danny gave her three dollar bills, but left everything at the counter as he began to run towards Ali's room.

"The cute brunette?" Danny questioned.

"She's Francois's step-daughter and they're working together on this!"

When Danny finally made it back to Ali's ward the door was open, but nobody was inside. There were drops of blood on the floor that ended where a bloodied surgical lancet had been dropped.

"Danny! Danny!" he heard Steve shout from the other end. He forgot he was still on the phone with his partner.

"Steve, she's gone," Danny informed, unable to realize it himself. "They got her."