Chin - Grover - get Kono and Jax the hell out of here. Understood? Get them out - that's an order.

Chin had anticipated Steve's order in the split second that they made eye contact. He'd been on the force longer than all of them; he knew Halawa well, from his days as a rookie cop, booking various perps into general security, to his days as a lieutenant, booking more serious offenders into the higher security. He'd grabbed Kono firmly by the elbow and bodily shoved her with the flow of inmates rushing toward the common areas, and ducking unnoticed into the laundry as they passed by.

"Chin -" Kono protested.

Chin grabbed her shoulders and turned her around. "I'm only going to say this once, and you're not going to argue. Steve gave a direct order. For a reason."

Kono had seen Steve under fire before, outnumbered and outgunned, but she'd never seen an expression of panic on his face until today, when he had realized what was about to happen.

"But Steve and Danny -" Kono protested again.

"Will be able to think more clearly if they have reason to hope that you and Jax are out," Chin said firmly.

"We're abandoning them . . . I can't believe we're doing this . . . " Kono choked out.

"No. We're getting you to HPD SWAT so that they can use you as a sniper, and I'm going to pull up everything there is to know about Declan Novak. There's someone or something that has been overlooked, and I'm going to find it, so we can get Steve and Danny out of there," Chin said.

"What about Grover and Jax?" Kono asked.

Chin hesitated for the first time. "I don't know, Kono . . . I hope they found a way out, or found cover. Now, move, before the backup systems kick in, and we're trapped inside."

#*#*#*#*#

Steve swallowed back a rush of nausea as he checked his pockets to see what he had to work with.

"Damn it," he muttered. "How did they take us both out long enough to get everything - gun, vest, phone, radio . . . even my damn badge?"

"Hey, this was clearly well-planned, Steve. There were at least six swarming directly on us that I could count. It would have only taken a moment," Danny said through gritted teeth, pressing his hand against his side.

The footsteps were right outside the door.

"Hold on, partner," Steve muttered, and grabbed Danny under his arms. He propped Danny in the corner behind the door and flattened himself against the wall. It was a long shot, but if he could move fast enough . . . maybe . . .

The door swung open and Steve rushed it, throwing himself against it and hearing the satisfying sound of the door colliding with someone's face. Steve rounded the door and with a sharp jab, broke the nose of the beefy assailant in prison orange; dropping him to the ground clutching his face in agony. Another prisoner rushed forward, his effort rewarded with the heel of Steve's hand firmly contacting with his solar plexus, dropping him next to his friend.

The sound of several automatic weapons being racked gave Steve pause.

"Go ahead, Commander," Declan Novak said calmly. "We can see how many you can take out before you fall, and then we'll shoot your partner."

Steve stood his ground, his chest heaving, staring coldly at Declan. He was trying his hardest not to let on that the room was spinning around him.

"Not so tough, are you, without a SEAL team to back you up?" Declan tsked. "Seems to me you've traded down, Commander. What, you just didn't have the balls for it, after daddy died?"

Steve let out a growl and rushed Declan, hands going for his throat. The butt of a semi-automatic rifle connecting with his jaw brought him up short, and he took a staggering step backward.

"What the hell do you want, Declan?" Steve said, spitting a mouthful of blood out on Declan's shoes.

"I want you to regret the day that you decided I wasn't as much of a threat as Anton Hesse," was the calm, measured answer. "I want you to answer for the hypocrisy of your country, which rewards those who sell weapons to the 'right' criminals and hunts like dogs those who sell weapons to the 'wrong' criminals."

Steve looked at the man in disbelief.

"This is about . . . what, revenge?" Steve spat. "So let my partner go, then. I didn't even know him in Afghanistan."

Declan chuckled. "No, Commander, this is about justice. An eye for an eye, yes? I lost those dearest to me while we were playing cat and mouse through Afghanistan. I want you to know how that feels."

Declan gestured to two of his men holding the semi-automatic rifles. One of them was a guard that Steve recognized.

"What happened to you, hunh?" Steve demanded. "Did he buy you out? Threaten you? What?"

"You're asking the wrong questions, Commander McGarrett," Declan said calmly.

"Yeah? What's the right question?" Steve challenged, even as he was being pushed backwards into the cell, trying to stay between the door and Danny without being obvious.

"The right question, Commander, is this: Where is the rest of your team?"

The door slammed again, and Steve smacked it in frustration.

#*#*#*#*#

Jax narrowed her eyes at Grover, and briefly considered biting his big hand as it was clamped over her mouth.

Grover was newer to the island, so it had taken him a bit longer than Chin to process Steve's panic stricken order, and he didn't know the facility as well as Chin. He did know that if he had any hope of getting Jax out, he had a very small window to find cover and an exit.

He spotted an electrical room and shoved Jax inside, covering her mouth to silence her protest while he waited for the initial flood of inmates to rush by. No doubt they were rushing to overcome and disarm the guards, raid the infirmary . . . the less violent just searching for exits and hoping to slip out undetected somehow.

When the rush of chaos moved past them, Grover shot Jax a warning glare and slowly took his hand off her mouth.

"What. The. HELL," Jax hissed.

"You're new so lemme explain," Grover whispered, "We're in Halawa Correctional Facility - Special Needs: that means maximum security, protective security, and criminally insane. All male."

"Yeah, but -"

"We'd already been cut off from Steve and Danny and he knew it. The one thing that will keep him from going absolutely out of his mind is to count on us getting you and Kono out of here, and that's what I intend to do," Grover said, squeezing Jax's shoulder sympathetically. "SWAT is going to need you as a medic on this one, okay?"

Jax looked at him dubiously.

"Come on, any minute now the backup will kick on and the locks are going to re-engage," Grover said. "We'll try the opposite direction from where the inmates were rushing, see if we can find a way clear - then I'm going back for Steve and Danny, don't worry."

Grover peeked out carefully into the hallway and gestured for Jax to follow him. They crept along the corridor which was eerily empty; although they could still hear the din and chaos from the far end of the hallway. As they passed under an open staircase, two guards rushed down.

"Captain Grover? Officer Nolan?" one of them asked urgently. "Commander McGarrett was hoping we would find you; what a relief."

"He wants us to get Officer Nolan to safety," the other said, "he and Detective Williams are searching for Novak."

Grover studied them a moment. "McGarrett looked to have gotten his bell rung pretty hard; are you sure?"

The officer laughed. "You should know it takes more than that to stop McGarrett," he said. "Though I imagine he could use some help. We can get Officer Nolan out safely, get her to HPD SWAT, let you meet up with McGarrett."

Grover grabbed his radio. "Okay, let me just confirm with McGarrett."

The officer shook his head. "Frequencies are jammed, radios are useless. Cell signals too. This was well-orchestrated. Look, I understand your concern," he added, pulling out his ID and motioning for the other guard to do the same. "You can't be too careful."

They held out their credentials for Grover to check. "I was the officer who was here when you booked Dillon Rivera," one officer prompted. Grover looked up at him, recognition lighting up his face.

"Yeah, yeah, man," he said. "Okay, you guys get Nolan here to safety, and don't let her give you the slip and go after McGarrett and Williams herself - don't put it past her."

"Yes, sir, from what I hear she could do just that," the first guard said, respect and possibly awe in his voice. "But we need to move quickly if we're going to get her out; the exterior doors will lock down as soon as the generator kicks in. Officer Nolan, if you'll come this way; and Captain Grover, they think that Novak is headed to the offices, away from the exits and the commons."

"Copy that," Grover said. He placed his big hands on Jax's shoulders. "You meet up with HPD, come in with the cavalry, got it?"

"We've gotta move, sir, I'm sorry," the guard said. "We'll get her out safely."

Grover chucked Jax gently under the chin. "Catch you later, Nolan. Go."

#*#*#*#*#

Steve slid down the wall until he was resting next to Danny.

"They break anything vital?" Danny said. His voice was weaker but the sarcastic tone was the same.

"My head seems to be taking the brunt of the damage," Steve said, closing his eyes. "How you holding up?"

"Sitting here holding my guts in while you get beat up on my behalf. Just peachy," Danny sniped.

Steve's eyes flew open and his hands immediately went to Danny's midsection. "Danny," he said, in a panic, his long fingers probing carefully at the bandage.

"Whoa, babe, it was hyperbole," Danny said, gently putting his hands on Steve's.

"Oh," Steve said, swallowing hard.

"I'm sorry," Danny said, putting a hand on Steve's jaw, wincing at the already purpling bruise. "I'm guessing there was a time . . . "

"Yeah," Steve said. "When it wasn't hyperbole. Sorry."

Danny shook his head, then thought better of it. "Don't," he said simply. "Okay, we gotta have a plan. What's our plan?"

"Danny."

"Yeah, babe?"

"What if that's not the right question?"