CHAPTER SEVEN

SEVEN MEN, SEVEN WEAPONS

SKATE HANGAR - O'AHU

Seven men. Seven weapons. Six Semi-automatics and one taser. Danny had been introduced to the taser already. The semi-automatic's not yet. And he wouldn't mind if it stayed like that. Being a detective for most of his life, Danny knew that a Semi-automatic was known for its unreliability due to mechanical failure. But Danny wasn't about to bet on six mechanical failures happening all at once. Steve had told Danny repeatedly that he needed to be more optimistic from time to time. Danny agreed; optimism was good. However, being optimistic about a statistic like that was simply stupid.

Jin Leung's son was in the exact center of the semicircle. Three men on his left. Three men on his right. The son did a step forward, and with a schmuck grin on his face, he said. "Do yourself a favor and put the gun down, Detective."

Danny stayed quiet while he did the math again. He did have a gun. He did know he was a good shooter. Yet, he was not going to win this. There was no way he could take them all out at the same time. He might get two guys down, but in the meantime, one of the other guys would clip their entire magazine into Danny's body. He didn't want that. Without saying a word, Danny obeyed. He tossed the handgun on the ground and watched it slide away.

Danny waited for someone to make the next move or say something. He waited too long and got hit with a staggering blow from behind— the guy with the bleeding nose. Danny fell to his knees. His vision went. It didn't go dim or dark. Instead, purple spots danced in front of his eyes. Before he could blink it away, two guys grabbed him underneath his shoulders. Lifted him slightly off the concrete and dragged him back inside the hangar. When they were halfway in, the two men stopped. They didn't let go. Instead, they dropped him back on his knees and made sure to keep a tight grip around each of Danny's biceps.

The semicircle of men moved into the hangar as well. They surrounded their captive this time completely, so he had nowhere to go. The world got back in to focus, and Danny searched the circle for the man in charge. He was right in front of him. Same position. Three men on his right side, but only two on the left side of him. Danny locked eyes with the man. "You might wanna go with the less official approach."

"What?" Leung's son seemed confused by the statement.

"You keep calling me detective, that's not necessary," Danny explained as he tugged both his arms to see if he could free himself from the secure grip. That was not going to happen, and it wasn't appreciated either. Hard knuckles pulped Danny's lip as the guy left holding him smashed his fist down. Danny's head snapped sideways, and his mouth filled with blood.

The son did a step forward. "Take it as a token of respect."

"Respect? That's funny," Danny smiled with blood dripping from his busted lip. "I have to agree. There's nothing more respectful than beating up a cop and forcing him to fight."

"You know my father was right about you. You do have a big mouth."

"Your father's right about a lot of things. Wise man," Danny said. "Wise enough to choose his grandson as the pride of his family. Must hurt your ego a little bit that he didn't see the potential in you."

"You think it's smart to keep insulting me?"

Was it smart? No, definitely not, but it kept the conversation going, and Danny rather be talking his way out of this than to fight. The attitude wouldn't do him much good, though, so he admitted. "No, I don't."

The son shrugged, visibly irritated. "Then why do you keep doing it."

"Take it as a token of respect," Danny said deadpan. "Or maybe we both don't know the meaning of that word."

The man shook his head, a schmuck grin on his face. "You really don't know who I am, do you?"

"Well, knocking someone out before introducing yourself might have something to do with that."

The man started to laugh mockingly. "He really doesn't know." He glanced around his armed men like he was doing a standup comedian act and tried to win over the crowd.

None of the men laughed except for the guy, third on the right. He snorted, genuinely amused, and said. "Everybody knows you're Kim Leung."

The hangar went deathly silent. Kim Leung, in question, stared long and hard at the guy on the right. Danny guessed the guy would pay for his outburst, but Danny couldn't care less. He'd gained two valuable pieces of information. One, he learned the guy's name. Kim Leung. Second, Danny might be able to get the guy, third on the right, on his side and help him. Danny guessed it wouldn't take much to win him over. If he'd give the guy a penny for his thoughts, Danny probably get change. Now that would only work if Kim Leung didn't off the guy.

Therefore Danny picked up the conversation and tried to divert Kim's attention back on himself. "You know, if this specific career path doesn't work out for you, you can always start a circus, with this clown as the main act."

It worked. The aggressive eyes flicked back at Danny. "You think this is a joke, don't you?"

"No, like I said before, I don't," Danny spit out the remaining blood from his mouth and aimed for the guy's feet that punched him earlier. The red liquid splashed on top of the guy's shoes. Satisfied, Danny looked back up at Kim Leung. "I do think you're a joke, though." As the words left his mouth, Danny knew he went too far.

Kim's gaze went up to the two guys holding Danny. With a nod from Kim, the two guys let go of Danny. They did a single step backward, giving the other five guys space to join them. Before Danny could react, the guy left leashed out and started kicking and beating him to pulp. Then more feet and fists came crashing down on him. They smashed into his back. Then his gut. Then his head. Danny dropped to the ground. The men kept kicking and punching him with a kind of force like each of them had a personal beef with Danny. To protect his injured chest, Danny rolled onto his right side, and with his arms, he covered his face to shield his head from taking massive blows. He already had a headache. Not that another big impact would've made it much worse.

However, the first rule of fighting was; don't get hit in the head. Brain damage was caused easily, and Danny could die from a brain bleed without knowing he had one. He rather not, so he guarded his head against the feet and fists that were raining down on him— jamming into his ribs. His stomach. His back. His mind was telling him to scramble over to safety, to get up and get out from underneath the force. But he couldn't. Danny didn't even dare to blink. Instead, he had his eyes locked on the Kim Leung. The man had kept his word. He was full of surprises and not in the fun kind of way. Kim watched how they kicked the life out of him, he literally watched him bleed with mild interest. The guy was completely nuts. Then with a colossal kick, a boot hit Danny twice more, low in his back, right over his kidneys. Danny's eyes widened. Gasped loudly. As they took the fight out of him, Danny lay bleeding on the dusty concrete floor.

LOU'S CAR - ENROUTE - DOWNTOWN HONOLULU - O'AHU

Driving down the H1, Lou and Tani were on their way back from interviewing a person of interest. It turned out the guy knew nothing about the art theft, so that didn't bring them any closer to finding out the truth. The meeting earlier with Gerard Hirsch at Kamekona's shrimp truck had been informative and confusing at the same time. If Hirsch was right about his gut feeling, the case might get time-sensitive after all. And now that the Five-0 Task Force was down three members, Lou and Tani had to step up their game.

Slowed by traffic on the highway, Tani got lost in her thoughts and stared ahead of herself. She couldn't help other than to be worried about her friend. Junior was on a mission someplace she probably didn't even know existed. And she also didn't know when or if he was coming home. She had slept a little better during the night, knowing that McGarrett had joined Junior's SEAL team, but it didn't help ease her heart. She still missed him. His presence. His smile. All of it.

After minutes of silence, Lou killed the quiet. "Relax. Junior and Steve are gonna be just fine," he looked aside and gave Tani a comforting smile. "It's not like they haven't done anything like this before."

"I know," Tani admitted. She knew Lou was right. She must've repeated that at least a thousand times already. Apparently, it didn't help much. She was still worried about her friend in the middle of the day and clearly not hiding it very well. That's what you get when you wear your heart on your sleeve. Luckily for her, Gerard Hirsch had noticed a rare piece of artwork when he cleaned a crime scene that morning, and at the moment, work was just the thing Tani needed. "You know, I got to say, I'm happy we have a case. Can use the distraction."

By the looks of it, Tani wasn't the only one as Lou nodded, agreeing with her. "Well, I'm right there with you, kiddo," he divulged. "What you say we check in with Danny real quick? You know how he gets when Steve's not around."

A smile spread across Tani's face. She knew exactly what Lou meant by that. "Sure, we're close by, right?"

"Yeah, we can be there in ten minutes," Lou said and changed lanes. He took the exit 27 heading toward Kilauea Avenue. "Tell me again what we have so far on the case?"

"Okay, so, the victim's Sherry Wagner. She's survived by her husband, Kurt. Kurt's family is from Gunzburg, Germany. His grandfather emigrated to the U.S. after World War II. So if he was part of the S.S., it's possible that he stole the paintings when the Nazis were looting Europe."

Lou shook his head. "Damn, can't believe Hirsch was right about it."

"Yeah, but slow your roll there," Tani cautioned. "I also spoke with the FBI Art Theft Unit earlier. They warned me that those paintings could very possibly be fake."

"Let's not forget that Hirsch was a master forger in a previous life," Lou commented. "If he says they're real. They're real."

"I think we should check them," Tani noted.

"That might be a problem there," Lou said. "Think about it, if those paintings are legit, our boy Kurt's gonna get rid of 'em quick as soon as we ask to see them," then suggested. "Maybe we should pause this art thing and focus on Wagner's killer first."

Tani agreed with that. She also had a prime suspect in mind. "Well, obviously, the husband did it."

"It's not like it's always the spouse. Some people have a good marriage. People like me," Lou objected theatrical but changed his mind as statistically speaking; the spouse almost always was involved. "We should definitely look into him."

Tani's mouth curved into another smile. "Yeah, we should."

Their conversation was cut by Lou's ringing cell phone. He quickly answered and put the call on speakerphone. "Hello?" He responded, but it stayed silent on the other side of the line. Lou checked the caller I.D. on the screen. "Hirsch?"

Gerard Hirsch then whispered. "Grover? I'm trapped."

Lou shared an annoyed glance with Tani. They should've known better than to let this guy operate by himself. "Hirsch, where are you?"

"Sherry Wagner's house. The husband just came home."

"What did we tell you?"

"I know, I know, just please hurry," Hirsch begged.

Lou turned the steering wheel and made a u-turn. "We're on our way. Stay out of sight."

Tani rolled her eyes. Lou had said it before, Hirsch was a piece of work. "I guess Danny will have to wait."

SKATE HANGAR - O'AHU

With a sickening crunch, Danny landed on the bottom of the skatebowl. Two of Kim's men had carried Danny's bleeding, bruised and unconscious body up the stairs and had thrown him into the enclosed bowl. The fall startled Danny wide awake. His lungs contracted with such force that he was afraid they would fold into themselves. He tried to take a breath, but instead, sharp pain erupted in his chest. Confused, Danny tried again, and this time he couldn't hold back the scream that accompanied the searing pain in his chest as his lungs barely took in any oxygen. What air he did get got stuck in his throat, and he started to cough. Hard. His eyes began to water, and his rib cage screamed as each cough pulled more and more air from his lungs. He was gasping for air like a fish.

"Get him up!" Kim Leung shouted from somewhere above.

Before Danny could properly fill his lungs and located his whereabouts, he was hauled off the wooden bottom by four strong hands. Danny grunted and groaned with agony as they pulled him back up on his feet. His ribcage was on fire, and his lungs in desperate need of oxygen. His head was spinning so badly that the edges of his vision went black. The strong hands let go too soon, and Danny sagged back to his knees. He doubled forward, and to break his fall, he leaned on his chained hands. Focussing on clearing the black away, Danny stared at his hands. He blinked and blinked until the world came back into view. Then he took a couple of deep breaths, and air finally made it back into his lungs.

Winded, Danny looked up and faced his surrounding. This was not good. He was imprisoned by the steep ramps of the wooden skatebowl. No shallow sides, just steep ramps all around him. No way of escaping by himself and certainly not with his wrists chained together. But maybe it was temporarily. Maybe they wouldn't force him to stay down here. Maybe they just needed him not to run off again. That was a little naive, even for Danny's thinking. They were going to leave him down here until he would beg to let him go. Until he would beg for them to keep him alive. And by the looks of it, it wouldn't be long before he would.

Earlier, he had described the skating obstacle as an empty swimming pool. Except the skatebowl wasn't empty. The four-strong hands that had hauled him back to his feet belonged to two men. Both men were dressed in only black pants. No shirt or shoes either. It could mean that these men were taken captive as well, but judging by the lack of physical injuries, Danny guessed they were there for him. One guy stood in front of him, another guy behind him. Both looked alert and dangerous. They looked like professionals. Trained and experienced. They looked like fighters.

Kim stood near the edge. He just stood there. Smiling and watching. Danny realized he was going to take his time with him. Danny realized he was going to enjoy himself.

"Now what?" Danny asked while horrible possibilities were rising to the surface of his mind faster than he could force them back down.

Kim smirked down at him. "Now you fight."

Danny's face fell slack, blood drained out and he became almost as pale as the inside of a coconut. Coming to think of it, he'd rather take the odds of getting killed by a falling coconut than obey Kim and fight. Only a hundred and fifty people die every year from falling coconuts, so right now, that statistic felt like paradise to Danny. However, something on his mind told him that if he'd argue back, he would be facing death. He'd be facing death either way if he wouldn't argue back. Because by the looks of those two guys, Danny wasn't going to win this fight. That thought was purely based on a glance at those guys' physical appearances.

Aside from that, they looked like fighters. They seemed to be in good condition. Athletic and vigorous. They both had ripping stomach muscles. The man in front of Danny was slightly shorter than the guy standing behind him but probably heavier. He had biceps the size of pineapples and a scalp shaved so close it gleamed. The guy's hairdo didn't make Danny fear for his life. Other things did, though. For instance, that it be two guys against one. That wasn't fair game. But Kim didn't give a shit about a fair game. He had made himself clear about that by his previous moves, and that did make Danny fear for his life.

In Danny's opinion, fear had a biological reason and purpose. It was a mechanism to keep him safe. It was part of his natural intuition, and he had learned to listen to it. He'd been in numerous situations where that intuition had kept him safe, despite his partner's disagreement. Danny instantly heard Steve's voice in his head. Fear is a state of mind, Danny. You got to fight through it. It made Danny smile, mentally. It also washed away the feeling of fear that Danny felt pulsing in his gut. His higher brain switched back on, so did Danny's ability to make the real choice about what to do, to make a realistic plan for a viable solution.

Danny decided that doing nothing wasn't an option. If he did nothing, they would punch his last breath out of him, and he'd be dead. He didn't want to die. He wanted to argue with his partner and to hug his kids tight. Danny forced himself upright as fast as his body allowed him. He didn't want to fight either, but he didn't see a way out of this. There was no way forward. No way backward. Especially not with the two guys boxing him in. Danny stood still. Then he rotated ninety degrees and slowly backed up till he bumped in against the halfpipe-shaped ramp. This way, he could watch both guys at once. One guy on his right and one guy on his left. On his left, the guy took a step closer. On his right, the shorter guy did the same thing.

Danny never started a fight. He was a pacifist by nature, but no one stands back and waits for his ass to get kicked. And certainly not by these guys. Danny clenched his fists as he didn't think kicking would be an option. Kicking with bare feet leads to broken bones. Feet are punier than hands. Except in karate school, where there are rules. There are no rules in free fight. Second, as soon as one foot's off the ground, he'd be unbalanced and potentially vulnerable. Next thing he'd know, he'd be on the floor, and he'd be dead. He had seen it happen before. So instead, Danny braced his right heel against the ramp behind him and waited.

The men came at him simultaneously.

Danny couldn't fight both men at once, so he had to choose which one to take down first. Knowing the bald guy on his right was a few decent inches shorter but more potent than the guy on his left made the right guy Danny's first target. He'd use most of his strength to take out the biggest threat first. Then deal with the other one with the energy that's left. The men piled on together. Both launching their fists at Danny. He pushed off the ramp behind him and ducked and spun back instantly. He clubbed the right guy with an enormous roundhouse right to the ear. No style. No finesse. Just a big ugly punch. The guy's neck snapped sideways, and he hit his other ear with his far shoulder.

By that point, Danny was going back the other way and driving his elbow deep into the left guy's gut. Danny's elbow crunched against the iron stomach muscles. He hunched over, reaching for his elbow when the left guy punched a low right in Danny's kidney. That straightened him up and put him eye to eye with the short guy. Who had recovered from the blow to the ear. With both hands, the short guy grabbed Danny's head and butted him between the eyes.

Danny went down like a sack.

— TBC / HAWAIIFIVE0 —

A/N : Thanks to everyone that has shown interest by reading, following or reviewing this story. You're all incredibly kind.

Chapter eight will be online next Monday. New week. New Chapter. New chance for Steve to get involved.

Always love to hear your thoughts...

Mahalo !