Chapter 3: Pain

He considered saying won't but kept his head.

"Can't" Danny said, a bite finally entering his blow-it-off tone.

"Okay then," he said and inclined his head to the man who cracked his knuckles. Before Danny could do anything a crushing blow smashed into his face. He groaned in pain but didn't speak. The man hit him again and he tasted more blood. His eyes stung and his face swelled. He was reminded again of the day when the original gang this guy was in beat him up in Jersey. He was taped to a chair then as well, and Grace… The next blow came to the gut again and he moaned and gasped. He felt sick to his stomach and tasted bile in his mouth with the blood. He spat again. He knew how this would go. As soon as he told them the would kill him, leverage gone.

"Danny," the boss said. "You know that's a great name." Danny panted, blood trickling down his face. "I went for a tour in prison you see, and all that time I kept thinking of that name: Danny Williams. It became a sort of inner mantra. A promise that I would see you again and make you pay." Another blow came to the opposite side of his face; straight at the ear. He clenched his teeth so he wouldn't bite his tongue.

Danny fell back and heard a high pitched ringing in his ear. He was disoriented, every part of him ached, and he knew they were just warming up. If one got tired the other one could start. He felt cold when he wondered if they would start breaking his bones. If this was more about revenge then drugs, he knew he was dead either way no matter if he talked or not…unless one of those two options for escape came up. What he wouldn't give to see that navy seal. But how would 5-0 find him? Hopefully the DNA left at his house would point them to his case from the past. Steve knew the story. He would know this was about revenge, if there was any DNA…

"When I was liberated by some good friends of mine, I started doing some homework on you. Daaamn this is quite the set up huh? You've been living in paradise Danny…" There was a black coldness in his voice when he said his name. For once Danny held his tongue. He sensed that things were getting more serious.

"I also learned that you sometimes go by another name…Danno." Danny blinked and suddenly everything changed; like turning on a dime. A whole new kind of cold gripped him and he momentarily lost focus. The shock of what was happening froze him in place. Instead of a racing heart it seemed to stop in his chest, to drag him to a halt by the terrible reality he didn't piece together until now. Grace…Grace…

"I guess that old partner of yours didn't make it, felt like you had to honor her didn't you? Maybe you even blame yourself for her death?"

"No" said Danny but though he intended to sound fierce it came out faint. "I blame you, you sick son of a bitch!" His voice twisted in odd ways. The huge frog in his throat distorted his voice as it choked him. The man with the cell phone came back and handed it to his boss.

"So Danno, when we picked you up we cloned your phone. About an hour ago we got some texts from a dame named Rachel about a little girl named Grace." No…no…no…no.Danny couldn't breathe. He could feel the blood drain from his face again as the cold pressed on him with a new ferocity. His muscles locked into place. "She wanted to know if daddy could pick up Gracie tonight, so we set up a meet and guess what we caught?"

"No…" Danny said aloud without any memory of choosing to do so. "No…"

"Yes, we have Grace and we can be very creative when we need to be." Suddenly a survival instinct, wild and terrible surged through him with adrenaline and his frozen limbs unlocked. The fight was back. He struggled and thrashed.

"Let her go, let he go you bastards! I'll kill you. I swear I'll kill you!" He shouted. Someone clocked him again and the chair flipped over onto the ground. Danny's skull hit the cement and little stars popped in his vision. He shook his head and the world spun. He could barely hear what they were saying, like he was submerged underwater. Someone grabbed the chain and dragged him across the floor like a fish on a hook. He jerked, trying to break free from the chair and managed to get one arm free. He flailed, punching the air around him hoping one punch would make contact, but he was outnumbered. The two muscled men grabbed him and pinned his arm behind his back. Twisting it so it hurt and he worried they would break it. He was upright in the chair again.

"Maybe your memory is a bit sharper now. Where is it?" Danny heaved heaving breaths. The sudden pain in his side felt like a white hot knife. He was certain he broke a few ribs. It was hard to breathe. Also his vision was blurry after his head hit the cement. He could barely concentrate on his kidnapper.

"Mo..Molo…k" he said weakly. "It's on Molokai."

"It's nice to know that the blow to your head helped you remember." He took out his own cell phone, dialed and handed it to one of the native Hawaiians. "Where on Molokai?" he said patting Danny on the shoulder. He cringed in pain at the contact.

"A…a warehouse…near…near the airport" he said.

"How convenient?" he said and turned to go.

"Wait!" Danny panted. "Grace…where's Grace?"

"Consider her to be an eye for an eye. You killed my friends and I get to kill her."

"No!" Danny bellowed. "No! Kill me! Take me instead. She has nothing to do with this. She's an innocent little girl." Danny's voice broke with emotion.

"See Danno, hitting you doesn't do anything. It didn't last time either. But you're a sucker when it comes to those you care about. It worked in 2001, it's going to end the same way now."

"No! Please…I'm begging you.." One of the men hit him again in the wind pipe to shut him up. He coughed and spluttered but persisted in his plea. "P..lease.." he rasped. His eye was swollen shut at this point and blood dripped down his face. They all turned to leave.

"You better hope you gave me the right address Danno for her sake….because if you didn't, you're going to be finding pieces of that little girl for weeks." The door slammed shut and all three were gone. Danny yelled a wordless agonized sound.

"No…" he moaned, voice catching. "Grace…Grace." He leaned his face into his shoulder as tears forced their way from his clenched shut eyes. He sobbed, terrified for his little girl. The only thing that mattered. 5-0 was their only hope now.