A/N: Thank so much again for your lovely reviews; it's very encouraging to know that some of you are still with me :)...I just wanted to let you know that the warning from the beginning applies to this chapter (if you know the movie, you know what will happen!) It's longer than the others, that's why the update took a little longer… Sorry for letting you wait...I hope you still enjoy...

Chapter five:

90 hours after the rockfall

The next morning:

Steve watched Danny put on another shirt. The bruise and Danny's pained stricken face were hard to miss.

"Danny, what happened to your shoulder?"

"Nothing," Danny said and shrugged. After all, there was no reason to worry Steve.

"Nothing, huh? ….Then where did the huge hematoma come from?" asked Steve worriedly.

"Okay...you're not going to let this go anyway...

A stone slid down and fell on me as I rushed back to you yesterday..."

Steve closed his eyes for a moment, shook his head and took a deep breath.

Oh man, what could have happened? And this is all my fault...

"Nothing serious - just a bruise," Danny replied, noticing Steve's guilt instantly.

"I'm sorry, man... I... um... I'm really glad you got here safely."

"It's okay, Steve ... It's not your fault."

But of course Steve felt the opposite.

"Buddy, as hard as this may sound right now, but ..." Steve cleared his throat…. "You have to leave today, Danny. Please, do me that favor."

"No. I won't leave you alone. I told you that yesterday and it hasn't changed one bit today."

Danny's voice sounded surprisingly calm - but totally determined.

Steve sensed that Danny could no longer be convinced on an argumentative level; he had to pour his heart out to him and tell him honestly how he felt. He took another deep breath and sought Danny's gaze:

"Danny... um... This whole thing here... You and I - we both know that this trip was all my idea. I... I talked you into it. And who else is responsible but me? I was stupid and I overestimated myself - I thought I had everything under control... and... um... THIS... showed me that I have nothing under control... Danny...I...I'm so sorry I wasn't careful enough."... Steve swallowed; tears threatened to fall... "Danny, you are the most important person in my life and... I... I'd never be able to forgive myself if you...", he could barely continue..." You... you have to go back to your family - no matter what happens to me here."

Danny couldn't hold back his tears either. He walked over to Steve and took him in his arms, tears were flowing freely, but they didn't care. It was as if that was exactly what the two best friends needed at that very moment.

After a while, Danny pulled away to meet Steve's gaze…

"Steve...um...I know how you feel, buddy...and again, it's NOT your fault! None of it…. And in case you haven't noticed: I'm an adult and I make my own decisions. I came here with you, and I'm going back with you. I may not have the logical arguments for it, but EVERYTHING about leaving you feels so wrong…. I know you want me to be safe - and I really appreciate that - but we'll get through this together..." Danny paused, struggling for words... "And... besides... ... I'd rather die here in peace with my best friend than breaking my neck out there alone..."

Despite the deadly seriousness of the subject, they both had to grin at Danny's last comment.

Steve knew that the point had been reached, that Danny's decision had been made. After ten years, he knew his partner well enough.

"Okay... - I get it, Danny. Your decision is completely unreasonable, but I guess I have no choice but to respect it."

"Finally," Danny said... "Thank you!" and made a praying hand gesture.

There was deathly silence between the two for about an hour. Haggard and exhausted as they both were, they needed a break and time to think. Steve couldn't take it anymore; he was tired of being stuck on this rock. How much he had longed for Danny to leave! To know that his best friend had a real chance of survival was all he wanted. Once he'd been alone, he would have just left his sleeping bag out the next night and the cold would have done its thing eventually... He certainly wouldn't have waited until he was dying of thirst. But now that Danny was there to watch over him, that was no longer an option...

Steve tried to focus again, going through all the possibilities once more. They had tried EVERYTHING, hadn't they? Time for plan C...

"Okay, Danny, you're making me do this..."

"Making you do what?" he asked in astonishment.

"Give me my knife!"

"Your knife? - Steve, what on earth are you up to?" Danny asked, completely baffled.

"Steve? ... WHAT?... NO! ... You're not going to ... in front of me?

"Come on, give me my knife. PLEASE!"

"Only if you tell me what you're going to do with it."

"Okay, if you must know: I'm cutting me free."

"You're going to do WHAT?"

"You heard me correctly... I'm going to cut myself loose and I need you to assist me."

"Steve, have you completely lost your mind? I'm not going to watch you mutilate yourself and bleed to death in front of me!"

"Danny, the blood flow to this hand has been compromised for days. There won't be much blood left anyway... Besides, you leave me no choice. Since you won't leave without me, I have to find a way for us to get out of here together.

Danny was at a loss for words that his partner had come up with such an extreme plan again, especially without telling him... He wanted to scream and shake Steve!

"So when did you come up with this crazy idea of yours, huh?" Danny asked finally, still trying to process.

"Last night," Steve said.

Danny shook his head in disbelief...

"You're telling me this now, after you spent most of the morning trying to convince me to get out of here? - I can't believe it, Steve. What about our talk we just had? I thought we were being honest with each other..."

"... And I was! - Danny, I meant everything I said to you, okay... but… I was afraid I wouldn't be able to convince you..."

"Oh, were you?" Danny cut him off, obviously upset.

"Danny... I ... I needed to know first... I mean, there was still a chance you might have changed your mind..."

But Danny didn't wait for Steve to finish. He took a few steps away until he was out of sight. Once again he had to accept that his best friend was going to carry out a crazy plan without even allowing him to be a part of his thoughts... And there was nothing he could do about it.

After a while, Danny's anger subsided and he began to really think about Steve's plan.

He walked the short distance back.

"Listen Steve, I'm really pissed off that you didn't think it would be necessary to talk to me about this in the first place... But...um...maybe...maybe...you're right."

"Oh yeah, about what exactly?" Steve snorted back impatiently, because he'd had to wait for Danny all this time. - "That it is the only way we both can get out of here."

"Nice that we finally agree on something... Now, are you going to help me or not?"

"Steve, not so fast…. I want us to go over this again carefully. Maybe we are still missing something?"

After all Danny hadn't had all night to think about it and it was still too fast for him...

"Danny, we've tried everything to move this thing. We've been stuck here for 5 days with barely any water left and you refuse to go alone... If you don't change your mind, I don't see any other way.

A few minutes passed...

Steve could literally see it rattling around in Danny's head...

"They'll kick you out of the Navy," Danny remarked, quietly hoping to dissuade Steve from his plan because it was still unimaginable to him.

"Yeah, they probably will," Steve replied and ran with his free hand over his face. Danny could feel that Steve was suppressing his rising emotions.

Just thinking about it made Steve sad, but at the same time he tried to remain as stoic as possible. He didn't want to think about all the things he wouldn't be able to do if he lost his left hand. But dead, he wouldn't need his hand anyway! And to save Danny's life, he would give anything, even part of his body. His best friend's life was worth it to him. And Danny had already done something similar by giving him part of his liver a few years earlier.

"But you have us. We're your family - ohana, right?" Danny sensed that he had hit a sore spot with his comment and immediately regretted bringing up the subject.

"Yeah, it's different than back in Afghanistan when they wanted to amputate my foot. Back then, my SEAL buddies were all I had, and I couldn't risk being kicked out of this family."

"WHAT? They wanted to amputate one of your feet? Why? - You never told me that," Danny replied in total surprise.

"How could I, the whole operation was classified."

"Classified – Ah…of course! - And now?"

"Well…long time ago… it doesn't matter anymore." Steve's tone still betrayed his sad thoughts.

"So what happened? Will you tell me?" Danny tried to distract Steve and was quite curious about the story he obviously didn't know yet.

"What happened? ... Well it was ... a fragmentation grenade. It had hurt my foot badly ... They didn't know if they could save it. They tried, but I got a serious infection. Then they wanted to amputate, but I was conscious and they couldn't do it without my consent."

"And you refused to give it?"

"Of course I refused. I would have rather died than lose a foot back then".

"Stubborn as ever, aren't you?"

"Yeah, maybe, but I'm not the only one here…" Steve replied, giving Danny this sidekick. They both gave each other a meaningful look.

"So, even though my chances of survival would have been much better with an amputation, I decided they should watch and wait."

"Watch and wait…aha…and then?"

"Well…nothing. It got worse and worse, I thought I was going to die and it wouldn't have taken much to it. But with a lot of patience it got better and eventually my foot was fully restored."

"Wow...sounds like almost a miracle to me…. did you know they can do that with hands by now?" Somehow the thought occurred to Danny...

"With that shattered one here, which hasn't been supplied with blood for days? ... Surely not..."

"Steve... that's not what I meant – okay, never mind… one step after another... ... Anyway, about your plan... how would you even do that? I mean, you are aware that we don't have any medical equipment here... It's not like there's an operating room nearby, Steve…. I'm no doctor, but there are bones... How... I mean, how do you get them through?"

"By breaking them... "

"You're not serious, are you?"

"Of course I am serious, how else would you do it?"

"You, my friend, are REALLY crazy!" Danny shook his head in disbelief.

"But we don't have much of bandages either, let alone proper painkillers..."

"Danny, don't worry about it. Like I said, I can't feel anything in my hand anyway."

"But in your arm you can, huh?"

Steve ignored Danny's objection.

"We're going to put a tourniquet on the upper arm above the elbow to completely cut off the blood flow, then we'll break the forearm at a thin point and then we'll cut it off." Steve explained the procedure as matter-of-factly and informatively as if he were a surgeon briefing his team on an upcoming operation.

"Come on, get the first aid kit, disinfect the knife as best you can and then help me apply the tourniquet," Steve instructed.

"Maybe you should at least take a few painkillers first?"

"Huh?... Okay, give 'em to me, we don't have the really good stuff anyway, do we?"

"I'm afraid not, but there are some tyllenols."

Danny handed Steve three pills. Steve took them with a tiny sip of water, as sparingly as he could.

He already had a climbing rope with a hook wrapped around his upper arm, just above the elbow. The tighter he twisted the rope around the hook, the more the blood supply was cut off. But it was harder and more painful than he thought. Danny disinfected the knife and Steve's arm with the small spray bottle of disinfectant. He was well aware that Steve was breathing heavily.

"D Dn... Danny... I think I need your help with this." Steve admitted involuntarily.

Danny was on the verge of making an ironic comment, but then he bit his lower lip and refrained. Instead, he wordlessly took the hook and pulled the rope tighter. The sight of this and Steve's pained face was enough for Danny, but he was aware that this was only the beginning.

Once the tourniquet was in place, Steve instructed Danny to bend his forearm as far back as possible.

"Are you sure, Steve?" Danny hesitated, checking Steve's eyes again to make sure this was what his best friend wanted.

"I am... - Come on, let's get this over with."

"Okay..." Danny said, still hesitant.

Danny tried to calm down and took a deep breath. Even though everything inside him was rebelling, he did as Steve asked. Steve pushed as much as he could, breathing heavily against the pain.

"Come on Danny, you have to press harder."

At one point there was a loud crash and Steve let out a scream he couldn't hold back.

"WOU OOHOO... Hey partner, don't pass out okay! Breathe, Steve, keep breathing!" This time it was Danny who had to give Steve the instructions.

"Steve? Oh shit... Hey, stay awake, babe! Stay with me!" Danny panicked as he saw his friend turn pale and crumple...

"Steve? HEY STEVE!" Danny gently patted Steve's cheeks. ...

"M still here," Steve reported in a weak voice.

Danny breathed a sigh of relief….

When Steve had recovered a little from the pain, he felt where the spot would be to cut through.

He took the knife and began with the procedure. It took all the effort he could muster, but he tried to ignore the pain and imagine that it wasn't his own arm.

Danny looked at the somehow unreal scene: How could it have come this far?

He tried to support Steve as best he could and wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead.

After a while, Steve stopped. Despite his enduring SEAL training, he was visibly struggling to keep the pain under control.

"Steve?" Danny looked at Steve's distraught face, contorted with pain.

"No more blood flow, huh? Man I knew it!" But Danny also knew that an 'I knew it' accusation wouldn't help his partner now.

"Danny, I... please... you have to take over... I can't do it alone," Steve handed the knife to Danny after cutting off about a third of his arm himself.

Danny looked into Steve's eyes and shook his head. He was reluctant, but he saw in Steve's expression the seriousness, the pleading, begging and desperation at the same time that he couldn't help but grant his friend's request.

"Danny! PLEASE!" Finally, Danny reached for the knife, which he stared at hesitantly...

"Danny, come on..."

It took him even more effort to cut into the muscles and tendons of his best friend's arm.

"Okay buddy, but please don't pass out. - You can yell at me, there's no one else around... But please stay awake."

Steve tried, but it was easier said than done. Despite his excessive training in enduring torture, he felt he couldn't last much longer. The former SEAL knew his limits well enough. The days on the rock had already taken too much.

Steve moaned and the louder he moaned the worse it got for Danny. It was torture for him to listen to his suffering friend and he felt sick to his stomach.

He couldn't think about what he was doing. He had to amputate his friend's arm - and he had to do it while he was fully conscious. He fought to keep his composure and focus on the task.

"Dd... Danny ...wait a minute."

"What is it Steve?" Danny stopped immediately.

"I think I need a minute," Steve said quietly.

"Okay. No problem, buddy. Maybe ... uh ... you should take another sip of water." Danny was already handing him the bottle.

"No, I'm fine..."

"Steve... don't give me that crap... you're going to take a sip now. We need to keep your circulation stable." Danny's words were soft but firm. He left Steve no choice.

Finally he took a sip.

"Are you ready again?"

"Do I have a choice now?" Steve asked half-seriously.

"I'm afraid, partner, there's no way back now ..."

Danny continued. It felt merciless. His face revealed how much he was suffering with Steve. But Danny knew he had to go through with it now, no matter in what agony his friend was in.

"Buddy, you're doing great, just hang in there, I'm almost done..."

"How much...long...er?" Steve had closed his eyes, trying to distance himself mentally from what was happening.

"Just a few more cuts..."

Danny couldn't believe his own words...

But then, after what seemed like an eternity, he made the final cut, freeing Steve from the rock.

Steve instantly collapsed and fell to the ground. Danny hadn't seen it coming and barely managed to keep his friend from hitting his head.

"STEVE, hey Steve, come on, stay awake, we did it, you're free!"

But the badly injured man didn't answer….

"Hey buddy, come on..." Danny shook Steve, but he remained motionless.

"STEVE?... Hey wake up….!"

Then Danny realized Steve's chest wasn't moving. With shaking hands, he searched Steve's neck for a pulse...

He held his breath and continued to search, but was horrified to discover that there was no pulse to be felt on Steve's carotid artery!

OH NO….. - Oh my gosh... What have I done?

TBC

A/N: I know, I know…that's another mean cliffy… but I promise I won't keep you waiting long. Your reviews are more than welcome and make me type faster :)