Kono's vision didn't seem to work properly.

Everything around her was in sharp focus, but she still couldn't see clearly. People surrounded her, asking questions and screaming insults, but she couldn't really hear them either.

"I have to go," she said softly. She stood from the waiting room chair and walked into the hallway, aware that her body was entirely numb to her. Someone called her name, but she ignored them and floated down the hall.

Chin Ho had died, just like she had. Her big cousin, her hero, the only person to stand by her for her entire life, had died. That he had been brought back to life was no consolation to her, because she had never felt more guilty about anything in her entire life.

Him being shot was on her. Unlike when Sang Min had shot her and Adam and Chin had blamed himself for not reading far enough between the lines to stop it, she had been there. She had been right there at the warehouse with him, and she had left him with no backup. She had abandoned him, like he had never done to her.

And he had died because of it.

"Officer Kalakaua?" She was jolted from her internal turmoil by a hand on her shoulder. It was Adam's doctor. She didn't remember coming up to his floor. "I was wondering when I'd see you again. It's been a few days."

"A lot has happened," she mumbled. The doctor didn't seem to notice her shocked disposition.

"I wanted to give you an update on his condition. You see, there have been some changes in his brainwave patterns, which suggests that…Officer Kalakaua, is everything alright?"

"No." She looked at the doctor for a moment longer before walking the rest of the way to Adam's room, ignoring his startled reply.

Adam looked exactly like he had every other time she'd been to see him: pale, gaunt, and lifeless. The flowers she had brought to liven up the place were beginning to wilt, but she couldn't bring herself to care. She just stroked his cheek gently before turning away, trying to overcome the tears that had suddenly formed in her eyes.

"Hi Kono." She looked up to see Malia smiling sadly at her.

"What are you doing here?"

"I saw your car as I was driving out, and I knew you'd be up here." Malia walked to take her hand, but Kono pulled away. "Am I interrupting?"

"Why aren't you—didn't you—you don't know?" Kono's tears spilled onto her cheeks, and she struggled to keep her chin from wobbling.

"Know what? If you left me a message on my phone, it's currently at home in a bowl of rice. I dropped it right into my glass of water last night." Kono hiccupped, and Malia's face grew more concerned. "What's happened? Did they make a decision to take Adam off life support or-"

"It's Chin Ho." The doctor's face froze. "He was…he was shot today."

"Where is he?"

"ER. I thought you were there already, that's why I didn't tell you myself." She hiccupped again as Malia led her from Adam's room. "Didn't they tell you?"

"I've been officially off duty for a couple of hours now," she said calmly. "The staff probably assumed I was at home or on my way there, but I've been down in the cafeteria with a friend. How bad is it?"

"They had to shock him back." Malia flinched slightly, but quickly retained her stalwart expression. "He was shot three times in the back, once in the shoulder from the front. Malia, it's all my fault."

"Unless you pulled the trigger, it's not even slightly your fault." Malia and Kono boarded the staff elevator, the former slapping the button so hard Kono was surprised it didn't break. "Was he conscious?"

"They won't let any of us in, and I wasn't there for it. I had to go pick up our backup, and then…"

Great to see you, but are we still going?

Of course, Fong, why wouldn't we?

I figured you and Chin Ho would be responding to the shooting.

There's plenty of people to do that.

But it's a cop.

What?!

You didn't hear?

I went through quite a bit of interference on the way here, I must have missed it. Let me call Chin…that's probably him now. Hello?

Kono.

Duke? What's…why are you calling me from Chin's phone? What's going on?! Where is Chin?!

I'm so sorry.

"Kono, don't believe for a minute that you're at fault. Chin Ho would laugh at you, and besides, he's alive now. That's all that matters."

The elevator doors opened and Malia rushed through the halls. Kono was slightly out of breath by the time she caught up to her in the ER. An argument had broken out between some of her cousins and someone else, and everyone else in the waiting room was watching with furious expressions. "You ain't got no more right than the rest of us, haole!"

"He's our family!" Malia squeezed Kono's hand for a moment before swiping her card at the trauma unit doors and sliding inside.

"He's my family too, just not in the same way as the rest of you." Danny's voice carried over the heads of her tallest family members, and Kono furrowed her brow as she made for the group. "I just need an update on his condition and I'll leave you all in peace."

"We have had no updates, and a haole cop like you is one of the last people we would give that information to." Chin Ho's mother stood up at Danny's words, and Kono winced at her expression. "You will not be investigating this crime. I will speak to your chief."

"I'm not working for HPD, I'm-" Danny was cut off by protests and jeers from Kono's family, and she could hear him sighing in frustration.

"Auntie," she said, moving to stand next to Danny, "please don't antagonize him. Detective Williams is a very dear friend of Chin's and mine."

"The fact that he is your friend is supposed to make me like him?" her aunt sneered. "Neither of you are welcome here, and that is a fact. Get out. Out!"

"Makuahine?" The entire collection of angry family members turned to see Malia standing by the admission desk. Her cheek had a smudge of blood on it, and her eyes were red and slightly puffy. "He's not yet stable enough for surgery, but they think they have him out of immediate danger. They can't tell exactly how much damage there is to his internal organs, but the worst of the bleeding has been stopped."

"I do not trust you," Chin's mother said sniffily. Malia blanched. "Get me his real doctor."

"They're probably busy trying to get him to where he can have surgery, Auntie," Kono said quietly.

"Stay out of this! All three of you, you're bad for my Chin Ho!" she snarled gesturing to Malia and Danny while she glared at Kono. "Leave, now!"

"I'm not going anywhere," said Malia. She turned and stiffly walked back into the trauma unit amidst protests from the family.

"I think it's best if we do go," Danny said quietly. Kono glared at him, but he pulled her outside before the insults began again.

"I'm not leaving Chin!" she said, struggling to free her arm. He refused to let her go, instead turning her around to face him. "Danny, let go!"

"The governor has just restarted Five-0 for the express purposes of finding out who did this and tracking down Wo Fat. I'm the leader. Will you have my back or not?"

It took her a while to process Danny's words. Five-0…Wo Fat…the governor? Danny the leader?

"Kono? I could really use your help." Danny's eyes bored into her. Her body went slightly numb again.

This was the only way she could ever come close to redeeming herself for failing Chin. If she could track down and kill the man who had tried to kill her cousin, she would probably even be reaccepted into her family, but she didn't care about that.

Revenge sounded like a sweet dish to her right now.

"I've got your back."

A/N: Aloha! I hope the emotions in this chapter seem legitimate and real. I was all in the mood to write a chapter full of angst and despair when my cousin informed me that Kingdom Hearts III has finally been put into development. As you may be able to tell by my name, I'm kind of a fan of the Kingdom Hearts series (read: I am a HUGE fan of the Kingdom Hearts series), and the fact that we fans have been waiting for well over eight years to get the final game in the trilogy has made this announcement huge. Needless to say, I'm afraid that some of my emotion in this chapter may not be deep or true, because I'm so elated at this point.

Anyhow, I'll see you on Thursday. Things might be a little different this next time 'round...