Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Danny had been quite relaxed. Sure, he'd been worried out of his mind, but he was surprisingly relaxed. He was in charge at the office and he'd had a little fun with requisitions, only to realize that it was no different than usual while he forged Steve's signature on the paperwork.

He'd gone home feeling a little bit weird. He put it down to the worry settling in his stomach. He'd found it difficult sleeping and he'd put that down to being alone in the bed without the dip of Steve's weight beside him.

When he woke in the morning, his eyes were gritty, his insides didn't feel good and his head hurt. Typical. Steve left him and now he got sick.

It was a good job it was a Saturday, one without Grace, and he could only hope his luck would hold for the weekend. He stayed in bed longer than usual and it was closer to 11am before he realized there were things his body needed to do, sick or not. He contemplated phoning Steve as he thought it would make him feel better knowing Steve was okay, but he knew he'd sound sick and Steve would hear it, so he didn't want to displace the worrying to Steve.

He tried to eat some lunch, but the only vaguely appealing thing was some toast.

When the phone rang during the early afternoon, he was contemplating between bringing a blanket to the sofa, or just going back up to the bedroom. Whichever he chose, he was going to wallow for the day and contemplate the fact he was on his own while sick.

"WIlliams."

"Danny, it's Joe White. Just wondering if you were running late or FIve-0 caught a case I wasn't aware of."

"Wait, what?"

"You were due here half an hour ago. This is a weekend where Grace is staying with her mom. Last I checked, you and Steve were due a two hour session with me at one o'clock."

"Urgh," Danny flung himself down on the couch. The back of his hand ran over his forehead, mopping up sweat from the low-grade fever he was sporting. "I'm sorry Joe, I'm sick. And Steve's not here anyway."

"What do you mean 'Steve isn't there'?"

"He's helping a friend."

"He left you on your own when you're sick?"

"I got sick after he left."

"I'm sure if you called him he'd be right back for you, I know what he's like."

"He would, but it's a bit more complicated than that. He's not exactly in the States right now."

"He's not in Hawai'i? He went to the mainland?"

"No, he's not in the States. Plural. He's gone to Korea."

"He WHAT?" At Joe's shout, Danny had to pull the phone away from his ear. "What part of 'together' didn't the pair of you understand?! Hold on, I'll be right there."

Before Danny could say anything, Joe hung up. He wasn't up for visitors, but at least it answered the question of bed versus sofa. A little while later there was a knock at the door and Danny shuffled to get it, knowing who it was before opening up.

Joe didn't stand on ceremony and pushed past him into the house, then made a point of helping Danny back over to the couch, making sure he was okay. He started checking Danny over, a hand on his head, looking in his eyes and mouth, though he was no doctor. Danny batted his hands away with a scowl.

"What are you doing?"

"When did he leave?"

"Yesterday. Why's it such a big deal to you that Steve isn't here?"

"Because, you're supposed to stay together. What the hell possessed you to split up like this?"

"What do you mean 'together'? We are together, he's just away for a few days."

"You in Hawai'i and Steve in South East Asia isn't together, you idiot."

"You've got to be kidding me," Danny moaned as he stretched back on the couch. "How were we supposed to know you meant 'together' to be literal when everything else has been so excruciatingly vague!"

"To be honest, I figured the two of you were nigh on inseparable if Steve's attitude was anything to go by. I thought he understood."

"Well he didn't. Neither of us did. He'll be back soon anyway."

"I don't know that we can risk that. You're sick because of the separation and it could get worse. I don't know if he's affected the same way or not, but if he is then it'll be a lot more difficult for him to get back to you."

"Shit," Danny muttered, his stomach sinking. North Korea was dangerous to begin with and Steve had gone out on an operation without back up. As in no backup, none, no Army, no Navy, no Five-0, no Danny. If he was sick too, then it could compromise him and he could be killed. "I hate to bring this up, but aren't I a bit sick to go running after him too?"

"Not if we do it soon. If he is sick, he won't know why, if he isn't, he won't know that you are."

"He has a satellite phone with him. Call it, let him know."

Danny gestured to his own phone, telling Joe to scroll through to find the right number. As Joe sat, he kept looking at his watch as if trying to work out time differences and more. He kept trying but there was no answer. Which just worried him more.

"Okay, here's the plan," Joe said, putting the phone down for the sixth time. "I'll call Lori, get her to come sit with you and I'll use Guild contacts to see if we can find Steve."

"Wow, you really are out of the loop. Lori isn't here either."

"She went with Steve?"

"No, she got a call. Brother's not good. Went to be with him in San Diego."

"Lori doesn't have a brother."

"Brother, family, whatever, she's gone off. She's not here either."

"San Diego?" Joe frowned down at Danny, which is when Danny realized he'd sunk further into the sofa and was losing a battle with gravity. His limbs felt heavy. Joe picked up the phone again and before Danny could ask who he was calling, Joe was talking to Chin. It was decided that he and Kono would come to the house and then they'd work out what to do.

By the time they arrived, Danny had managed to pick himself up again with some Tylenol and orange juice. They all sat on the couches with him as he began. "We've tried Steve's satellite phone twenty times in the last hour. No answer."

"The area they're in is all deep forest. It may have blocked the signal," Kono suggested.

"No, something is wrong," Danny said. He had a sinking feeling about it.

"We don't know that for sure," Chin put in. "There could be plenty of logical explanations."

"Trust me on this, something is wrong," Danny said again, looking around them.

"It's possible that Danny's connection with Steve is still strong enough for him to know if Steve is okay or not. The problem right now is the connection is so strained that Danny's sick."

"Hold up a minute," Kono said, waving a hand. "Since when did Steve and Danny have some kind of connection that meant they had to be practically tied together."

"They don't," Joe answered. "Not per se, but separating themselves over two continents wasn't exactly something I expected to happen. Especially right now while Danny gains more access to his power with Steve's help. I didn't expect for Steve to have left for so long and such distance, not this first time."

"Okay, so, magic means they have to stay together?" Kono asked, still confused.

"My working theory was that Steve and Danny are almost sharing the magic. We pretty much proved that in a practice session two days ago. Danny can't do a huge amount without Steve present, which means something in Steve is sustaining Danny's magic," Joe explained.

"So without Steve here to sustain Danny," Chin began.

"Danny got sick," Joe finished. "If a plant doesn't get energy from the sun, it wilts."

Danny didn't like the analogy, but it made it understandable. Then he realized they were talking about him like that. The fact that his life not only emotionally revolved around Steve these days, but also his physical well-being? If the witch who created this damnable spell was around, he'd have some very strong words for her. If possible, he'd kick her ass too, woman or not. This Shelburne project was going to be the death of him, he just knew it.

"So is Steve sick?" Chin asked.

"Possibly," Joe contemplated. "I suspect if he does feel anything it would be a bit like withdrawal from not being around Danny and the magic in him. But he's also a vampire, and vampires don't get sick, so it could go either way. As much as you're all looking to me for answers, it's new to the Guild too, this is a unique situation."

"Yeah, and I'm still waiting to find out why it's Steve and I that got all this crap flung at us in the first place," Danny pulled himself up on the seat when he found himself slipping again.

*

Steve was pulled and prodded into what looked like an old run down army base of some kind. The place was dark, damp and starting to fall apart. He wanted to try and escape but the knife still lodged in his heart had weakened him too much, and he couldn't risk doing anything while Lori still had Jenna captive.

"Was it all a ruse, to have me get Steve here?" She asked, getting brave. "Or do you really have Josh. Please, I need to know."

"Your fiancé died, Jenna. They found his body here months ago," Lori spoke back, unfeeling.

Even though Steve was ahead and being forced as he walked, he could hear the sob Jenna let escape. The two vamps that were holding Steve took him into a room and threw him onto the ground before starting a beating. He was kicked repeatedly, and he couldn't help the noises coming from him. The pain, the force, the shock of the hits. He had no idea how bad it was going to get before they let up.

Jenna hadn't been brought in with him. He could only hope she was being spared the same treatment as he.

*

The group gathered in Steve and Danny's living room were contemplating just how fast they could move on this, and what they could tell various government agencies, when Danny's phone rang.

He leaned forward for it and recognized the number. "Hey it's Jenna's. Chin can you do a trace through the laptop?"

Chin nodded, firing up the various programs connected with HQ. They'd turned the living room into a makeshift office since Danny was sick.

"Hey, Jenna? It's Danny, where are you?" He thumbed the phone onto speaker so everyone could hear.

"Danny, Danny, I'm sorry, I screwed up, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, it's okay, just tell me, where's Steve"

"Victor Hesse. Hesse has him Danny and I led Steve right to him. We didn't know, Danny, we were betrayed."

"Jenna, where's Steve. Where are you?"

"A town… south…"

"Jenna, you're breaking up, where are you?" They all waited. There was the vague sounds of scuffling and white noise intervening but nothing from Jenna. "Jenna," he tried again, but still no response.

They couldn't get a trace close enough to narrow down the grid before the phone cut off.

Adrenaline coursed through Danny enough to jolt him into action. He stood, albeit woozily. "Okay, so I was right, and something is very wrong and now we know what that thing is. I need to go speak to the Governor, see what can be done."

"I'll check with my own contacts," Joe said.

"Kono, you can drive me since I don't think I can make it alone," Danny began, then turned, "Chin, Jenna said something about being betrayed. We need to see if we can look into that, find out who could have had contact with Hesse lately. It's a long shot, but you might dig up something."

*

They decided this time to meet back at HQ properly, since the important equipment was there, and better than the remote access their laptops gave them. Plus, with the Governor's office in the Palace anyway, it meant Danny didn't have far to go after meeting with him.

Chin and Kono were waiting for Danny to come back down when Joe came in with Danny, a hand steadying Danny's elbow. "Well, we can forget it," Danny said, "because even if the Governor appealed to the State Department about launching a diplomatic mission, something like that could take weeks, maybe even months to be approved."

"We don't have that kind of time," Kono said.

"Something needs to be done now," Chin turned to Joe. "What did you get from the Guild?"

"Nothing yet in terms or rescuing Steve, but I did find out more about Operation Switchback, which was the Op Jenna's fiancé was on that went bad. Jenna is listed as the Intel Officer for the Op. The last person to go looking in that file was Lori Weston."

"Jenna said Lori had been helping her get more information. She told Steve that already," Chin said.

"Yes, she did. Then Danny told me Lori took leave to go see a brother on the mainland who'd been in an accident. I was positive, but I checked the records again to be sure. Lori doesn't have a brother, she was an only child."

"So where'd she go?" Kono asked, even though all of them looked worried that they knew where this was heading.

"We don't know," Danny said. "But it seems a bit coincidental that Jenna told us we'd been betrayed and Lori's disappeared on us."

Chin turned away from them and headed for the table computer in the middle of the room, the others following, though Danny was slow moving. Chin made quick work of whatever search he was doing, then looked up at them. "She's not booked on any flights out of Hawai'i that were headed for San Diego, like she said." He looked down and expanded the search. "I'm not seeing her listed at all, and I've checked back through the last 24 hours for all outgoing flights. There's nothing."

Joe nodded. "There is one good thing in this. I have access to the un-redacted file, Lori didn't. It listed a bunker that was suspected to be a cache for Victor Hesse."

"So what are we gonna do?" Kono asked.

"We're going to go get Steve and bring him home." Danny said, not caring about how bad he felt right now. He had enough in him to do what was needed, and that was about getting Steve back. Anything else would be a bonus.

*

They went home to pack essentials and then met at Hickam where Joe had said he'd get a Guild plane to take them where they needed to go. He'd said that using Steve's status for Danny would be enough to get the Guild to play along, albeit unofficially. They had to be careful, as Hesse could have spies anywhere. Certainly if Lori couldn't be trusted, who knew who could be, so they were treating it like an undercover op.

Kono had done the driving once again for Danny and helped him around the house. They were the last to arrive as they'd had to sort out everything for the two of them. After grabbing their stuff from the car, they wandered over to where Joe was leaning against a pile of crates of medical supplies. So that was going to be their cover story - inoculating kids in South Korea.

"So what happens when we land in Seoul?" Chin asked.

"We're on our own," Joe answered, then held out a bag for them. "I'm gonna need your badges and IDs. The minute this plane leaves the ground we're just civilians. That means no military supplies, fire support, or friendlies in the area. If the mission is compromised we go on escape and evade. The Guild only unofficially support this, so if we draw attention to ourselves, we could still face prosecution, so the key is to stay low. Danny needs to go or he'll get worse, but if any of the rest of you want to back out, now is the time. There's no shame in it. We come back with Steve or we don't come back."

He looked around them as they stood, giving them their chance to back out. Honestly, if Danny had more of a choice, he considered if he'd turn back, for Grace, but in his heart he knew he'd go. He wouldn't have been able to look Grace in the eye and say he abandoned Steve to whatever Hesse was doing to him. He swayed slightly, another woozy feeling coming over him. Kono and Chin each took an arm and tightened their grip. He looked up and smiled to see them both still there with him, every step of the way, just like always.

A black SUV pulled up, and for a moment, Danny worried it was someone coming to stop them. Then a team of men came out, in cammo gear.

"Right, who's ready to kick some ass and take some names?" The guy in charge approached Joe and smiled. "You got room for a few members of SEAL Team Nine on this little… uh, what are you calling it?"

"Humanitarian mission," Joe answered.

"Right, that's what I thought. Load it up, ladies," he said to the team behind him.

They hadn't expected military back up, and they weren't getting it, not officially. But SEAL Team Nine, Danny knew Steve had worked with that team before meeting Danny, clearly there was still a sense of family in them. They didn't care what Steve was. Danny had been told they actually respected him more for being able to become a SEAL considering vampires not often were able to make it into such tough echelons of the military. They had a cover story, flimsy that it might be, and if they were willing to help then Danny was going to take it. Joe must have reached out to them in some form, and Danny was very grateful for it, favor owed to Steve or not.

*

Steve had been hung by his arms in the center of the room. The chains were thick and heavy, tight around his wrists. He'd been lifted up so his feet couldn't touch the ground unless he stretched his toes down. The pull was sore on his shoulders in it's constancy, and his heart was slow to heal from where they'd finally taken the knife out. He didn't know how long he had to heal before they likely stuck it back in once more, which would give him the fresh pain all over again. They'd done that twice already.

He was battered and bruised and he had no idea how long he'd been there. Hesse hadn't come in to see him or ask him anything. He didn't know why he was being kept alive. His one good thought was that Danny was safe at home, but it was crowded out by so many negatives. If Hesse killed him, would Danny be next? Was he saving Steve from death right now until he could bring Danny here? What about Jenna? Where was she, was she hurt? Why had Lori betrayed them, and if she had, were there others in the Guild who had too? Was it all lies? He had too many questions and so few answers. It was driving him crazy but his mental anguish distracted from the physical pains throughout his body.

Slowly the bruises healed, but others landed on top of them. He'd broken one of his legs but he could feel it knitting back together. He'd used up so much energy that he'd be needing blood soon to sustain it. His healing ability would slow down and that would not be good. The curse of the fast healing, was that fresh pain, the shock of pain bursting through the body, was easily wrought upon him and he always thought that was worse than the dull aches of mending skin and bone.

The door opened and Jenna was brought in, thrown to the floor in a weeping mess, and her arm was shackled to the wall. In her presence he knew his senses would be dulled. He had to try not to let it show. If Hesse didn't know how magic truly affected vampires, it could still be an edge to have.

"What happened?"

"I'm sorry, Steve, I swear, I didn't know about Lori. And Hesse. I just wanted to get Josh back."

"Tell me the Guild aren't behind more of this. Tell me Lori is rogue."

"I don't know what she is, I really don't. I wasn't a part of this Steve."

"Okay, but how does someone like Lori fall in with Hesse, willingly? Does he have something on her? What do you know about her?"

"Just because she's Guild, it doesn't mean we know everything about each other. All I know is she was involved with the Shelburne project for a long time, that's why Joe brought her in. After I got reamed for doing my investigation without authorization, I was sent back to D.C. Lori contacted me, said she might be able to help me find Josh. She knew he was why I'd been tracking Hesse as long as I had."

"Okay, is Josh here?"

Jenna's lips quivered, and her eyes fell and Steve knew what that meant before Jenna said anything. In the end, she couldn't say the words, she just shook her head. He wished he could comfort her but there was nothing he could do. They had to figure a way out of this. He had to get home, he had to get to Danny. That constant pull to be by his side was tugging him back to Hawai'i. Thoughts of Danny being alive, and well, and happy were what was getting him through the beatings.

Sooner or later, Hesse would come to him and he hoped sooner. He worried about what Hesse was doing when he wasn't in sight.

*

Arriving in Seoul, Joe decided to keep Danny with him for safety. He wanted to monitor Danny's magic. He had to go meet someone he knew who'd be able to help, an old Guardian who had retired to Korea, or who hadn't really left the place in many years. The guy had a helicopter and various supplies they could need, and everything would be off the radar.

Danny had been feeling stronger. He didn't know if his body was getting used to how he felt, the rush of adrenaline for the rescue mission had been keeping him active, or if being closer to Steve's location was actually making a difference, but he didn't feel like he was behind himself every time he took a step. His brain didn't feel as fuzzy as it had, nor his limbs so heavy. He could only sigh in relief because he had a feeling that guns were going to be involved at some point soon, and he was determined to be holding one on the front line, not being held back and protected, the weak link in the operation.

The guy, Frank, had given Danny odd looks but he hadn't asked anything. He seemed like the kind of guy who'd been doing a lot of shady things in his life and had learned not to ask, so whatever he was thinking was going on, no one was going to enlighten him and he wasn't going to ask. The less he knew, the safer he probably was.

Preparations were slow, but Danny was more of an odd man out. He hadn't been given anything specific to do. Frank dealt with the helo, Chin and Kono set up the computers and satnav, and the SEAL boys were sorting weapons. Joe had been overseeing the whole thing and Danny was left to just sit on the helo and wallow in thoughts, letting his mind bog down on what was going on with Steve right then.

Joe kept shooting him looks and he was sure he caught all of them. As he was feeling a lot better, he was much more aware of the worried glances from the team around him, at least, from those who knew the whole deal. The SEALS were aware that Danny was ill, but had no idea what it was. No matter what Danny told Joe about how he was feeling better, he still ordered Danny to rest up for now.

It was frustrating. All he was doing was waiting. He put his head in his hand as Frank tried for a second time to get get the 'copter started by using the butt of his gun to hit the damned thing.

Danny hated helicopters.

*

Steve reeled back and cried out as the cattle prod stung his belly. The electricity coursing through him hurt like hell.

Finally Hesse had come into the room. He seemed like a man on a mission. There was very little of his usual attempts at banter with Steve that they'd always done to try and put each other off, but then, Hesse had him strung up like a hunk of meat, so he definitely had the upper hand now.

The pain receded, and the red welts on Steve's stomach would heal soon.

"Tell me about Shelburne." Hesse said, his tone cool and even.

"I don't know what Shelburne is," Steve responded. He was doing his best to fall into his military training, to put aside his vampire emotions, and focus on what being a SEAL had taught him. The use of the word 'Shelburne' by Hesse had surprised him. He didn't know if Hesse knew everything and just wanted to know what Steve did too, or if he genuinely didn't know about it but wanted to. He didn't know what Lori had or hadn't told him. Steve would not give up Danny to Hesse, he would not. Hesse could keep going like this as long as he wanted, but Danny was safe inside Steve and he would die protecting him. That thought outweighed any torture that could be brought upon him, he was certain of that. Hesse might as well kill him now.

The cattle prod stung him again and Steve rocked on the chains, the pull on his shoulders worse as he moved back, pulling his stomach muscles in trying to protect himself.

"Shelburne is all about magic, and suddenly you are surrounded by magic, Steve. I may not see it, but I tasted it, I know your partner is magic. I know the Guild have been sniffing around you for months now. You can't seriously believe I'd just think that was a coincidence?"

"You're wasting your time," Steve gritted out, his voice low and gravelly from his screams as well as his determination to keep quiet.

"What about Joe White?" Hesse asked amidst another round from the prod.

"Joe White doesn't know anything about Shelburne, okay?"

"Now I know you're lying." Hesse put the prod aside. "I have it on good authority that Joe White has been heading the Shelburne project since the beginning."

"You have Lori. Hasn't she told you what you need to know already?" Steve asked, hoping and praying that Lori hadn't said anything about Danny, but could only assume that she had given them both up if Hesse knew about Joe. Danny and she had become a lot closer in the last few months. He'd been jealous at times of them being around each other, but now that he knew he had to be there for Danny's magic to work properly, he'd felt better. Evidently, Lori hadn't. That might have been a part of her betrayal. Maybe she wanted Danny for herself, in which case, would she have said anything about him?

"She doesn't know where Shelburne is," Hesse said.

Steve looked at him, confused, genuinely. "Shelburne's alive?" He'd assumed the old witch had died. If not, why had everything still been so vague? Why hadn't they just asked her what Danny and Steve were, what they meant, what had happened?

Hesse just gave Steve a disbelieving stare and began pounding his fists against him, knocking the air from his lungs and forcing his body to swing on the chains painfully again.

When he let up for a moment, Steve asked, "Why is it so important to you to find her? Why do you care?"

"A friend of mine wants to find her."

Steve looked at Hesse's frustration, the torture not having worked so far. He laughed as he spat blood from his mouth. "Get in line, buddy."

Hesse was then distracted by a guard waving a phone at him that Steve recognized. He went over to investigate, asking where they'd found it. Jenna took the opportunity to get Steve's attention.

"I did what I could," she said as she threw over a pin that he grabbed with his foot. He had no idea where she'd got it, but it must have happened when she'd been taken away separately to begin with. Whatever she'd been up to, she may have helped, and it put his fears to rest over her allegiance.

Finishing his discussion, Hesse looked back over to them and went over to Jenna. He knew that she'd used the phone, which meant they were compromised. This was a good thing for them if they could get out of it.

Hesse stood between his two captives, but turned his head to Steve. "I don't know who she called but I wouldn't be surprised if it was to your cute little partner. Maybe he'll try and come here and rescue you. Tell me where Shelburne is."

"I. Don't. Know." Steve answered.

"Very well then," Hesse shrugged, turned back to Jenna and put two bullets in her. She fell back, a look of shock on her face and Steve knew she was dead. He reared back, his arms bearing the pain. He gaped at what Hesse had done. It hadn't shocked him that Hesse was capable of it, but Jenna shouldn't have died. He'd planned to get them both out of this. She shouldn't have died.

Hesse came closer and spoke in Steve's ear. "If you don't tell me, your partner will get the same treatment. Right in front of you."

At Hesse's threat Steve shook himself, and pushed his body forward. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! I'M GOING TO CUT YOUR HEAD OFF!" He was angry, he felt like he'd never been so angry in his life. Jenna was dead and yet, with Hesse's threat, his mind could only play back the same images but with Danny in her place, pulling on memories of Thomas from all those years ago as he had died.

His heart couldn't take it, couldn't take the pain of being without Danny and his anger took over. He bared his teeth, he let his vampire side take charge. As weak as it was with blood loss and pain and bruising, it had the strength to kill Hesse. He would find that strength because he would do it. Finally, he would kill this son of a bitch.

Hesse left him, uncaring that Steve continued a tirade of abuse at him as he walked out the door. Steve kept it up as he lifted himself, ignoring the pain as much as he could so that he could bring his feet up and pluck the metal pin into his hands. He used it as a pick to free himself of the lock on the chains. He cried out as the pain hit him as he lowered his arms from their painful position.

He had a bloodlust now. He could escape from here, but he was after Hesse. His scent was still in the air and Steve began tracking him. He took out two guys on his way, both of them human and easy to take down even in his weakened state. He moved through the compound and was able to grab a weapon, fully loaded. He pushed open a door, and found it led to the outside. He wavered, he could make a break for it, or he could continue to search out the scent that led to the right.

He turned, lifted his head into the scent and growled. He was going to kill Hesse.

He lifted his gun as two vampires came out from behind the bushes and pointed theirs at him. Then he heard the chuckle from his right. "You never learn, do you, Steve?"

Steve growled again. Still fully vamped out, he intended to take Hesse down. Now. "I'm going to kill you," he said again.

"All this because I threatened your pet? I'm beginning to think there's more to him than meets the eye. After all, what self respecting magic holder would enslave themselves to a vampire? And what vampire would stoop so low as take one of the crafty whores for himself?"

He laughed as Steve charged at him, but being outnumbered and weak, Steve was soon restrained on the ground and Hesse knelt down to see him.

"We're going now," he said, ordering his men but keeping his eyes on Steve's the entire time. "We're getting this one secure before going on the hunt for the blond. He'll have the information I need."

"No!" Steve struggled.

"I thought as much. The vampire doth protest too much."

*

Danny paused over Jenna's body.

She didn't deserve this, she didn't deserve to be dead. He moved further into the room, right towards where there were chains dangling from the ceiling, still swaying in the air. He reached up to grab hold of one and his hand came away with blood on it. He knew instantly that Steve had been hanging from these chains.

"Where is he, Joe?" he asked, registering the shock in his own voice, fighting off the shaky feeling in his limbs. Steve couldn't be dead, he was sure he'd know if Steve were dead.

"Come on, Danny. The body is still warm which means they couldn't have left that long ago. We need to move."

Joe had the only radio and it crackled to life with Kono's voice. She'd stayed back to keep eyes on the satnav, and she'd found a convoy not too far from them. That had to be Hesse and Steve. It spurred Danny back to life as he almost ran after Joe to get them going.

The convoy were already a mile ahead of them and who knows where their destination was. The time it took for them to catch up could easily be enough for them to get away. Joe barked orders into the radio for Frank and the SEAL they'd left on the helicopter for air support to do what they could to slow the convoy down. In the meantime, the rest of them found and took the last remaining vehicle that had been left behind and made their way down the same trail to block the other direction.

They all fanned out, taking places in the high ground of the trees and waited. Once the three trucks were all in sight they attacked, subduing everything that moved.

They got to a point where they didn't notice any enemy fire. The SEALs took off first, taking point as they approached the vampires in the group and pulled out knifes to behead them.

Danny looked around them and headed for one of the trucks, pulling up the tarp and knowing immediately what he'd find behind there.

Steve.

He was alive, he was awake, it was Steve.

"Hey, I got Steve!" He shouted and not waiting for a response, he jumped in and headed straight for him.

"Danny?" Steve questioned, disbelieving.

"Don't you ever do this to me again, you hear?" He struggled with the ropes around Steve's hands but got them off finally and pulled Steve into the fiercest hug they'd ever shared. He felt like the way Steve was wrapped around him he'd never let him go.

"Where's Hesse?' Steve asked into his ear.

"Don't know."

"What about Lori, I haven't seen her in a while but she was working with him."

"Haven't seen her either. Priority was getting you."

Steve pulled back enough to look Danny in the eyes. "We can't let them get away, I've got to stop them, you don't understand, Hesse was going to hunt you for information on Shelburne."

"We need to get you home, there's quite a bit you missed out on too, okay?"

"That can wait." As Chin pulled back the tarp with Joe, Steve scrambled to the edge and pushed himself off. Chin held out a blood bag for him and he immediately set about devouring it.

"Are you okay, son?" Joe asked, watching Steve drink. "Have you been sick or is this all from the beating you took?"

"Just the beating, but it'll heal fast. Why would I be sick?"

"We can discuss that once we're back somewhere safe," Danny said. "Can we go? Please? I'm not exactly enjoying this vacation."

Steve raised his nose to the air when there was a rustling in the trees up the trail. He threw the empty blood bag to the ground and vamped out. Chin did too, in reaction, thinking at first to defend himself but then realized Steve's attention was elsewhere. Danny patted Steve on the chest carefully. "Come on, babe, leave it alone, let's go."

"It's Hesse. He's out there."

Before Danny could stop him, Steve was off at a run to go after Victor. Danny shrugged his shoulders in defeat then took off after him as well. He dodged a new hail of bullets. It seemed the team hadn't cleared everyone, and now they were busy fighting off another wave of Hesse's men. Maybe even Lori was among them.

They came to the end of the tree line, which lead into a lush green clearing with yellow flowers scattered in the grass. Hesse was standing there, waiting for Steve. He thought he had the upper hand still, that Steve was no match for him in his weakened state, and seeing Danny he smiled.

"Thanks for coming, blondie. Saved me a trip back to Oahu to fetch you."

Steve stood in front of Danny. "You won't touch him, Victor."

"He has information I need. Torture may not work on you while you do your brooding vampire stoicism, but he's human. He's more likely to fold under the pressure. And I know he has a daughter he'll want to protect."

Steve launched himself forward, bounding towards Hesse and knocking him down. The two vampires tossed and turned on the ground, each getting in the punches as they fought. Hesse was able to get his feet between them and pushed Steve away and to the side where he landed badly on his shoulder, dislocating it from the sound. Danny rushed forward, trying to get closer. He felt useless standing at the side and he tried to distract Hesse himself with a few punches, receiving a few back into his abdomen for his troubles. Steve called his name as he folded over in pain, wondering how strong Hesse would have been if Danny's magic hadn't dampened his abilities.

As Steve brought himself to his feet he got between Hesse and Danny again and that was when Victor pulled out a knife and once more was able to plant it right into Steve's heart, making him stumble back against Danny and then go down in his arms. The pain seemed overwhelming, and worse than Danny had ever seen Steve in. He'd been so weakened, his body wasn't healing as fast as Danny had seen before.

He pulled the knife out and threw it to the side, trying to help, then felt a painful tug on his hair, lifting his hand to the source, he found himself standing back up as Hesse pulled him higher.

"I'll behead him and get it over with unless you tell me where Shelburne is," Hesse threatened into Danny's ear

"What? No!" Danny argued, not understanding. In response he found himself dizzy with pain as it exploded over his face. He felt the blood trickle from his nose and the corner of his mouth after a second hit landed on him, jerking his head in different directions. More blows rained down on his body. Steve weakly called his name and tried to stand but his legs weren't allowing him. Danny was dragged away a few feet by Hesse when Steve tried to grab his ankles.

Danny took a knee to the stomach then sank to the ground, spitting blood. "I don't know anything," he tried to reason with Hesse as he held himself on hands and knees.

"Victor, no!" The cry came in from nearby, and Danny looked up to see Lori there, holding a gun on all of them. "Danny wasn't part of the deal!"

"Deal's changed, sweetheart," Victor answered.

"I need Danny, I'm supposed to protect him, it's my job. My job. Not Steve's, you can kill Steve."

Danny saw his opportunity. If he could get Lori to stay calm and be back with them, the three of them had a better chance against Hesse.

"Lori?" Danny called, trying to get her attention.

She smiled over to him. "Danny. It's okay. Once Steve is gone, you'll see that I'm your protector, it's what I was always meant to be."

"I thought you were supposed to have the magic I got," Danny said calmly, trying to keep her talking.

"They were wrong about that, I get it, I really do. I was there, though, I told you. And I got tested all those times for something, right? I didn't fail, I was just supposed to be the other half. Joe said when he hired me for this, he thought I was the other half."

"Why didn't you say something sooner?"

She kept the gun trained on Hesse but it moved to Steve quickly then back again. "Joe wanted to wait, didn't want to overwhelm you with the knowledge. Then Steve got in the way. He never left you alone after he decided protection was his job."

"Okay, Lori? If you really want to protect me, we've got to stop Hesse, okay?"

"I don't think so, blondie," Hesse pulled a gun from the back of his pants and raised it, able to get a shot off before Lori could. She sunk to the ground, unmoving. Danny turned back to him in shock. "Never trust someone who betrayed others for you. Means they can easily do it again." Hesse looked at the weapon then pointed it at Danny. "Gotta love modern weapons. Makes killing magicians a whole lot easier."

Danny's lip curled at the derogatory words, but he held his hands placatingly. He wasn't going to move while the gun was pointed at him. "What do you want?"

"I want to know where Shelburne is and don't start telling me you don't know who Shelburne is. I've been through enough of that already."

"Why should I know?"

"Because if I'm putting the pieces together correctly, you seem to be entangled in this just as much as Weston was, so cough up the information or I kill one of you, or both of you, I don't really care, but at least one of you will be dead."

With a strangled cry of 'no', Steve tried to push himself to his feet again but collapsed back down when the gun went off and blood trickled from a hole in his side. Danny didn't know what to do. He tried to think. Hesse's abilities were dampened in his presence but he had a gun and that pretty much trumped the issue. Steve may not be affected by Danny, but he was weakened from the torture so he wasn't much use and Danny's magic wouldn't work on Hesse.

But it might distract him.

Danny had been told that it would fizzle, but he didn't know when it would. He might be able to get something off that would surprise Victor enough to let him make his own lunge for the gun. He'd been feeling stronger in Steve's presence again, their connection rekindling in their proximity and he felt the magic quite strong within him.

He focused on Steve, on knowing that this could work and save him. In a flash he conjured up a fireball and threw it at Hesse.

It connected with his gun hand, the heat from it, and the surprise, making him drop the weapon.

All three of them took in what had just happened, how it wasn't supposed to be possible, but it had. Danny recovered the fastest and brought forth two more, throwing them at Hesse with great accuracy, the vampire's clothing bursting into flames while he ferociously tried to pat himself down to put them out.

Steve grabbed the forgotten knife from the grass and pushed himself up. As Danny let go of two more fireballs, Hesse fell to his knees as it burned his skin. Steve was careful as he moved behind Hesse. He sunk the knife into his back, penetrating to his heart and pulling it out again moving back to let Hesse's head hit the ground with a thump.

Danny came forward. He waved his hand over Hesse's body and the flames went out, leaving charred and blackened flesh on display. He winced as he looked at Hesse's mottled body. Steve grabbed into Victor's hair, pulling back to expose his neck.

"This is for my family," Steve said plunging the knife into Victor's neck, pulling it to the sides, severing his head. Danny had to look away, the knife making slopping work of the beheading and he really didn't want to have nightmares about what he witnessed.

When he looked back, Victor's head wasn't attached anymore and Steve was covered in more blood than before. Steve threw the knife aside and looked up at Danny.

"He's dead?" Danny asked, dumbfounded, not entirely believing it but knowing he had to be.

"Finally," Steve said, a small smile on his lips. "My family is avenged. And Thomas. All thanks to you."

"Me? You cut his head off."

"I wouldn't have got so close without your magic."

"Speaking of," Danny said, "How come that worked?" He moved over to Steve when he realized the vampire was having trouble getting to his feet. He hooked one of Steve's arms over his shoulder, not the dislocated one, and pulled him away from the body.

"Another mystery to add to the pile. Wait," Steve stopped, forcing Danny to as well and looked around. "Where's Lori?"

Danny followed Steve's lead and looked, but Lori's body wasn't where she had fallen. She must have still been alive and escaped into the trees. "Damn," Danny said.

"What did she mean about her job and talking to you about it?"

"That's a long story and it can wait for now. Seriously, we just killed Hesse, we're both still standing. Mostly. Let's get back to the others."

Before they could move too much further, the SEAL team, Chin and Joe came bursting through the trees at them. Some of them were the worse for wear but none looked as bad as Steve. Chin helped Danny move him. Joe tried to help to give Danny a chance to move aside, but neither Steve nor Danny wanted to be separated right now.

They made it back to the helicopter together and piled in. Steve and Danny were kept to the center, bracketed by the others. They were kept safe as they took to the skies again, clutching at one another, Steve's hand like a vice in Danny's.

*

"So you lied to me?" Steve shouted at Danny.

"I didn't lie, I just forgot about it. I didn't think it was important."

Danny was beginning to hate Steve's ability to heal fast. Currently, Steve was pacing in the small hotel room with nothing but a minor limp from where Hesse had broken his leg the day before, and a wince every so often for his shoulder or heart. Even the scratches and bruises had vanished in the last few hours. Danny, however, was sitting on the end of the bed, a hand periodically checking his swollen jaw or rubbing gingerly against his battered and bruised torso. Even his hair still hurt from where Hesse had yanked it up, and he didn't think hair was supposed to hurt.

He was tired too, barely up for this conversation as it was, but Steve had asked him again about what Lori said and he'd explained about how she'd been the original baby chosen.

"How is Lori's involvement in that not important?"

"I just… she trusted me enough to tell me about it. I didn't feel right spreading the information around."

"So you didn't forget, you decided not to tell me."

"No," Dammit, he was digging himself into a hole. "I was trying to decide if I should tell you, then a case got in the way and then I didn't even think about it."

Steve sighed, rubbed both hands into his hair then dropped them to clench into fists at his side. "Danny, how can I do my job properly if I don't have all the information? The whole point of my job as leader of Five-0, as well as being here to help you, is that I can make decisions based on the facts."

"And what would you have done if I'd said about Lori?"

"I'd have watched her a lot more carefully! Going through what she'd been through in life was a recipe for an unstable mind and she proved that when she betrayed us."

"She didn't want to be me. I got that from her quickly."

"No, she wanted to be me in the end, didn't she. And she's still out there somewhere, probably planning a new way to get rid of me so she can get herself back involved with this."

"The Guild would never let her back in," Danny argued.

"She won't consider that. She's unhinged, not right in the head."

"And you'd know all about being unhinged," Danny murmured.

Steve picked it up with his focused hearing. He stopped in front of Danny and frowned down at him. "Now is not the time to joke about that."

"I'm sorry," he said, meaning for both the joke and the whole situation. "I really am. I never thought this would happen and I didn't mean to keep secrets from you. I know how much trust you place in me, and I appreciate it. I don't want to damage that."

Steve sighed and sat beside him. "It wasn't malicious, I know that. But you've got to promise me that you'll come to me with anything that can affect us. If it's to do with magic or the people who use it, other vampires, anything that could jeopardize us, I need to know too."

"I know, babe. I promise, from now on, everything out on the table. So long as it goes both ways." He put his hand into Steve's where it rested on his thigh and squeezed. "Partners."

"Partners," Steve smiled. He looked worriedly at Danny as he saw how the other man bit his bottom lip. "Is there something else? Already?"

"No! I mean, yes. Just, it only happened in the last few days so it's not like I kept it from you, or anything."

"What is it?"

"I told you things had happened back home that you didn't know about." At Steve's nod, Danny continued. "Well, turns out that Joe literally meant that we're supposed to stay together. Like there's a cord between us with the magic and when you left Oahu to come to Korea you pulled apart the damn thing too much."

"I didn't feel anything. Wait, did something happen to you?" Steve pulled his leg onto the bed between them so he could face Danny full on, trying to gauge what he'd missed.

"I got kinda sick. You didn't. Joe thinks it's 'cause you're a vampire and vampires don't get sick so somehow you escaped that little side effect and I got the full whammy."

Steve reached out and ran a hand over Danny's forehead and down his cheek, skirting carefully over his jaw. "I'm sorry, I didn't know. You should have called."

"By the time we did, you were already caught."

"How sick were you?"

"It wasn't too bad, not really," Danny hedged, trying not to worry Steve. "Headache, a little dizzy, kinda slow moving." He didn't say that he'd felt like he was at death's door with really bad flu and had just wanted to curl up in the fetal position. But since he'd managed to summon the strength to get to Korea to help Steve, he figured maybe it hadn't been so bad. "I got here fine anyway, and once I was here, it got better."

Steve smiled. "So you have to stay close to me or you get sick?"

"Oh no," Danny clocked the smile for what it was. "Oh no, don't you be getting more ideas about sticking to me like glue, that is not fair."

"It's not my idea, you just told me we need to. I don't go looking for excuses," Steve smiled through his words, enjoying every moment of it.

"Uh huh," Danny narrowed his eyes at Steve. "Look, I'm exhausted, I need sleep. Did you get enough blood?"

"Yeah, Chin brought enough to see me until we get home."

"You don't need…?" Danny gestured at his own neck.

"No, no, Danny, you're injured and you were sick before, I'm not going to risk taking from you. Not until we're home and safe."

"Okay," Danny leaned forward into Steve's space and laid a light kiss on his lips. "Come on, you can keep me company in the bed." He pushed himself up the bed so he could lie with his head on the pillow. Toeing off his shoes, he couldn't be bothered taking off anything else.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Steve smiled as he shucked his borrowed shoes and lay on his side, a hand caressing carefully down Danny's chest. He leaned down and captured Danny's mouth again in lazy, relaxed kisses. His hand trailed up and down Danny's chest and into his neck with light touches. Danny's hand came up and curled in the back of Steve's head. He bent one of his legs up as Steve's made his way between them, tangling their bodies together.

"Babe," Danny started between kisses. "Babe, as much as I'd love to, really love to, I'm not up to much right now."

"I know." Steve kisses the end of Danny's nose, then his cheek, down behind his ear. "Just relax, I got you." He pulled himself tight into Danny's side. "Get some sleep, I'm not going anywhere," he whispered as Danny curled against him in response.

Danny didn't know how long it took him to fall asleep. He was comfortable despite the cheap hotel mattress and funky smells coming from both of them, too tired to shower yet. They'd be going back to Oahu in the morning, and it couldn't come fast enough. He really hadn't been fond of Korea.

As he drifted, he heard faintly as Steve spoke quiet, calming words in his ear. He had no idea what the endearments were, but they were comforting, with strength and love behind them.

They'd made it this far together, they could take on anything, of that they were both sure.