A/N:

I'm very thankful for your reviews and interest in my story. I appreciate it so very much.

I do not own Hawaii 5-0 and I do not make any profit with this.

As always, enjoy the next chapter.

oooOOOooo

Together, they hobbled in small jumps towards the exit and made it outside. Neither of them could say how long it took or how they managed to get out of the cockpit. Yet, at some point in time, they were outside. The storm had let up considerably and both men could actually make out blue sky in the distance.

"What now?" Steve asked.

Danny was perplexed. It was rare – had it happened at all before? – that Steve asked what to do. The man always seemed to have an answer or a plan up his sleeve.

"The boat fills with water and it will sink sooner or later."

"Hopefully later", Steve said flatly.

"Anyways, the Titanic will sink. And I have no intention to play Jack's role in this."

"So, you're Rose on the door?"

"The both of us are going to be Rose!"

"Where's the door?" Steve asked as he looked around.

Danny didn't pay any attention to Steve's comment. Steve was too out of it obviously. The blonde man knew they needed to get off the boat as soon as possible before it was actually too flooded to stay afloat. He had no intention for either of them to be still on this wreck when that happened. And it would happen. The tear in the cockpit leaked water steadily and the boat tipped over more by the minute.

Looking down at Steve's leg, the man wouldn't be able to swim with that injury. And Danny wasn't very keen on water treading himself. They needed something – like a door – that would float and that Steve could lay down on.

But before Danny could find anything usable for that purpose, he heard the unmistakable crack of wood and the front of the boat almost disappeared completely.

Shitshitshit.

"What was that?" Steve asked but his mind didn't catch up to what he was seeing.

"The boat", Danny replied somewhat too calm.

"That's not a good sound for a boat to make."

You think, Steve?

"I'm going to lower you down here. You have to slip into the water then. We have to get off this boat. Now!" Danny instructed firmly.

At least, Steve didn't question his orders. He would have to mark this day in the calendar. If he ever got a chance to.

Danny helped Steve to sit down on the side of the boat which was almost to the waterline of the ocean. Then Danny gently turned Steve around on his butt so he faced the ocean, always mindful of his injuries.

"Ready?" Upon Steve's nod, Danny slowly lowered Steve into the water. Hearing his friend's hissing and moaning had Danny's stomach clenching. He didn't like to cause Steve any further pain nor did he like having him go into the ocean out here.

But what choice did he have?

It was either staying on the boat which would mean certain death. Or getting off and having a slim chance to survive given there was a miracle about to happen. But he'd take a slim chance and a miracle over certain death every time.

At least, Steve still wore the life vest which would keep him above the water and he wouldn't have to swim with his hurt leg and head and who knows what other injuries he had.

As soon as Danny was sure that Steve was safe in the water – what a contradiction in terms - he followed and ended up in the water as well.

Danny swam over to Steve. The pain in his hurt shoulder and the pull in his stomach caused him to hiss but he didn't give it much attention. All he could think of was getting them away from the sinking boat.

The ship will sink and create eddy water and then just pull us down with it.

Afraid of eddy water, he grabbed Steve's vest and pushed as hard with his legs as he could to get as much distance as possible in between them and the boat.

Grace made me watch 'Titanic' way too often.

Steve moaned lowly. Upon feeling Danny's legs move under him as he pulled him through the water, Steve tried his best to help moving.

A loud yell escaped his lips as the pain shot through his left ankle.

"Don't move, babe. You're hurt."

"I forgot", Steve mumbled breathlessly.

"Yeah, even Ninja-SEALS like you don't heal within a couple of hours."

"Too bad."

Indeed. Though I'd rather you hadn't been injured in the first place.

"Keep still and let me do the work."

Steve didn't say anything but breathed through the subsiding pain in his leg and ankle. Danny was glad because his own focus was on swimming and keeping himself above the water. He was exhausted and just hated how this day had turned out to be.

"It's going down."

When Danny heard Steve speak, he stopped his strokes and both men floated in the water. They watched the boat disappear silently beneath the ocean's water and whitecap. It only took a few seconds until it was all covered and no longer visible.

Danny was astounded how fast and quiet it all had happened. He sighed.

"Danny?" Steve asked. The worry evident in his voice.

"I'm here."

"You okay?"

"Sure." Except for you being badly injured, the boat at the bottom of the ocean, us in the water, being lost in the sea.

"It's going to be okay", Steve mumbled. Danny just nodded.

"You're not wearing a vest", Steve said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, there just wasn't enough time in getting one on you and us off the boat to put one on myself."

"I'm the better swimmer. You should wear it." Steve fumbled with the straps.

"But you're hurt. You can't swim like that." Danny's words stilled Steve's clumsy movements.

A few feet away, some wooden boards broke the surface of the water and bobbed in the shallow waves. It seemed big enough for Steve to lay on it. At least he wouldn't have to float in the water any longer.

Danny just had to get the plank and get Steve on it. Holding on to Steve, Danny took a few strokes towards the wood. It was bigger than he through but nowhere near big enough for the both of them.

"Steve, I'm gonna get you on the wooden board here. But I'm gonna need your help."

"The door?" Steve asked.

"No, it's not the door from Titanic. But close", Danny replied. "Help me help you get on top of it."

Both men pushed and struggled quite a bit with getting Steve on the relative safety of the board. Steve cried out and moaned as his wounded leg was jostled. He pedaled with his right, uninjured leg and without realizing kicked Danny in the stomach.

"Oof."

Steve didn't notice as he was too occupied with pulling himself onto the board and managing his own pain without passing out. He felt Danny's hands on him as the other man pushed him from behind so he wouldn't slip back into the water.

After Steve eventually lay on his back on the plank, it rocked dangerously wild in the waters for a few moments threating to throw the man on top off. But Steve held onto it tightly and Danny stabilized the wood as he grabbed the sides of it by Steve's head and treaded water.

tbc…

oooOOOooo

Thank you for reading. See you next time.

Cheers

Biensche