A/N – I put this somewhere in season two. Maybe before Thomas and Juliet became partners.

A/N2 - Many thanks to honus47 for the story's title and her amazing beta skills!

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Chapter 1

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Juliet Higgins eyes snapped open and she was wide awake in a second. She had no idea what had woken her from a deep sleep, but she knew it most likely wasn't good. She looked at the clock on the bedside table, startled at how early it was, just 5:26. She shifted her eyes to stare at the shadows the early morning light made on her bedroom ceiling and then closed them when it didn't come to her. With her eyes closed, she focused on her other senses, mainly her hearing. Finally, she caught it. The dogs. They were barking furiously somewhere outside. The sound was faint but there, enough to have gotten her attention, even asleep. She instantly threw the covers back and reached for the jeans and t-shirt she still kept handy by the bed, old habits dying hard. She slipped out of her pajamas and into the more appropriate clothes for a foray outside, in just a few seconds, jamming her feet into a pair of sneakers, waiting for just this situation. Without even thinking, she opened the bedside table drawer and pulled out her Walther-PPK, automatically checking that there was a round chambered. All in all, it took less than a minute for her to be ready to head out and face whatever Zeus and Apollo were upset about.

Stepping quietly out of the main house, she stopped, listening for the dogs. When she realized that they were coming from over by the guest house, her stomach clenched with worry. She knew it wasn't Rick or T.C., or even one of the women he used to bring over. They wouldn't react like that. She realized she'd put his one-night stands in the past and that he hadn't brought anyone over in a while, ever since the first time Hannah had shown up on the island. She had thoughts about that but kept them relegated to the back of her mind, for now.

Pushing those thoughts aside, she carefully made her way to where Thomas lived. Approaching the dogs, she quietly called them off. They both came to her side, quiet but whining softly. They may harass the man, but they knew he belonged there. In truth, she thought the two Dobermans simply enjoyed the game of chasing Magnum around the estate, happy when he obliged them by running. A fun game that, in their small minds, both parties enjoyed. Holding the gun in front of her, her finger just off the trigger, the three of them made their way to the door. The fact that it was standing open, made the churning in her stomach ratchet up. There was no way he'd leave the door open, no way he'd even leave it unlocked. For all his devil may care attitude, she'd seen that he was careful. Stepping up to it, she pushed it open with the barrel of the gun. There was no sound inside, it was quiet as a tomb and nothing, and no one, jumped out at her.

Taking a chance, she called out. "Magnum?" When there was no response, she carefully made her way inside, gesturing for the dogs to stay put. The utter chaos of the living room made her jaw drop open. It looked like quite the fight had gone down, making her wonder why the dogs had only just now set up a ruckus or if she'd somehow missed their barking earlier. Moving slowly, the gun held out in front of her, she called out again. "Magnum?" She waited a second. "Answer me!" Still no response. She anxiously cleared the room, something inside her wanting to throw away all her training and run carelessly through the house until she found him. She knew he'd been home last night as they'd shared a burger on the grill and a couple beers before each going their own way for what remained of the evening. She also knew he hadn't left the estate nor had anyone come in. The alarm on the gate would have alerted her, even in her sleep.

Moving quietly, she made her way into the kitchen. She stopped short, frozen in place at the sight of the sneaker peeking out from behind the center counter, recognizing it as the ones he'd had on last night. Shaking it off, she moved closer with plodding steps, fear about what she would find making her feel like a raw recruit instead of a seasoned, albeit disavowed, MI6 operative.

She rounded the corner and stopped short once more. One of Magnum's lifeless eyes stared back at her, the other swollen shut from the beating he'd taken, seeming to accuse her of not helping him sooner. A low keening noise filled the room and it took a second for her to realize it was coming from her. She ran forward, no longer caring whether or not there was still anyone in the guest house, her only focus the man on the floor. She fell to her knees in the almost dry blood pool surrounding him and shakily put a hand to his neck, knowing there would be no sign of life. The eyes said it all. He was cold and when she found no pulse, not even a hint of movement, the scream that erupted from her throat caught her by surprise.

"Thomas!"

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"Thomas!" Juliet sat up abruptly in the uncomfortable chair the hospital provided. Something she'd earlier decided was specifically designed to keep visitors to a minimum and usher them on their way as soon as possible. Rick and T.C. quickly had her, both having kept watch when she'd earlier fallen into an exhausted sleep, each holding on as she almost slipped from the chair onto the floor, the nightmare still holding her in its grip.

"Higgy!" T.C. said quietly.

Rick followed up with a quiet comment of his own. "Jules."

Gasping, she asked. "Magnum?"

"Still with us." T.C. said.

"Oh, god…."

"Juliet, he's strong, he'll survive this, just like he has everything else." Even she, in her barely awake state, heard the fear in Rick's voice. There were no guarantees, something the doctors had been sure to make them very well aware of. The damage was severe, and they weren't sure of anything at all, telling them that they'd done all they could for him at the moment, and it was now up to their patient, that he needed to fight. That he'd do that, went without saying. Whether or not he'd be successful, was another story. She looked over at the still form in the bed, surrounded by machines, one of them breathing for him, and bit her lip. Nothing had changed.

The door opened and a portly uniformed HPD officer stepped in, being careful to make as little noise as possible. Magnum was well known amongst the police on Oahu and most actually liked the man as he was always on their side, and on the side of the innocent, even if HPD didn't know it at the time. The ones that didn't, were either in it for the collar and hated that a P.I. had beat them to the punch, weren't too honest themselves or, like Katsumoto was, were a stickler for following the rules, something Magnum and his friends skirted on a regular basis. Still, they got results. Higgins thought that the detective had seen that and, while not always liking the way they got there, had appreciated the outcome. Both Rick and T.C. had crowed about the fact that the man had admitted he considered both her and Magnum friends when they'd been yacht-jacked. Still, he hadn't shown up at the hospital, and it bothered her, a lot. She knew Magnum had been trying to make amends for going behind the detective's back about the whole operation in Myanmar that had resulted in Hannah's death, but Katsumoto was being stubborn. He wouldn't answer Magnum's calls, wouldn't see him if he dropped by the station. She got it, she did. He felt betrayed. Felt like he couldn't trust him again. What she didn't get, was why he couldn't put it behind him, temporarily at least, and be here for what might their friend's last hours on earth.

"Miss. Higgins, I hate to ask this, but I need your statement." Officer Kai said. He'd worked with 5-0 enough to know that this was not a good time, but that there really wasn't any other option. The longer they waited to gather evidence and get statements, the better the chance that whoever did this would never be found. What he didn't know, was that the two men and one woman in the room would never give up looking for the perpetrators, whether Thomas lived or died, whether or not HPD eventually decided it was a cold case and moved on to something else. Not if it took them the rest of their lives.

Juliet straightened up and nodded. "Of course." She was about to shake off the hands of T.C. and Rick, when she realized what those hands meant. They were there for her, as much as they were there for Magnum. She remembered the feeling when T.C. had pulled her into the group hug when they'd come back from Myanmar, claiming that "Higgy baby" was part of their family. It had warmed her to her core. She patted each hand as she stood up, conveying her appreciation of their support. Looking at the officer, she decided to mention the missing HPD detective.

"I would have thought Detective Katsumoto would be here." She said quietly, in deference to the man lying in the bed, when she really felt like screaming it out loud. Officer Kai had the grace to look uncomfortable.

"Detective Katsumoto requested that someone else handle this." He admitted.

Juliet saw red. Magnum had done nothing wrong, not really. He'd wanted the detective, who he considered to be a friend, to have plausible deniability over the whole Myanmar debacle. He hadn't wanted to pull the man into the morass that his life had become. A morass that could have permanently derailed the HPD detective's career. "Really?" She asked snidely, T.C. and Rick rising to their feet at her tone.

"Yes, well, I'm really sorry to have to bother you." The officer said deferentially, hoping to distract her from whatever had set her off. She calmed down, for now. Her friends subsided behind her. The man in front of her had nothing to do with the current situation and did not deserve their fury. That was to be reserved for someone else.

"Fine, let's get on with it then." She stepped outside Magnum's hospital room where she slowly, and succinctly, gave her statement. The officer thanked her and left. When she stepped back into the room, the hold on her anger released. "I have to go." She said baldly. Both men looked at her in shock, and then it morphed into understanding. Neither made a move to stop her. She walked up to the bed and stroked a hand down Thomas's cheek, leaning down to say something to him that was private. "You need to fight this, Thomas. You understand me? You can't let them, whoever they are, win. You fight, do you hear me? You fight and you come back to us!" She stood up and left. The two marines silently watched her leave and didn't envy the man in her sights.

Outside, she slipped into the Ferrari she'd driven from the estate in a daze, following the ambulance that had taken Magnum to the hospital, leaving HPD behind to process the crime scene, not really noticing the missing detective. Something that hit her now. Before, when something had gone wrong at Robin's Nest, specifically with Magnum, Katsumoto had somehow always been the one to show up. When he'd been kidnapped by Hannah's ex-cohorts, he'd been concerned and ready for whatever was thrown their way. Yes, since Myanmar, he'd kept his distance from the P.I. and his cases. Still, this situation had warranted a friend, a real friend, to put aside his hurt feelings and be there for the man. She sat in the driver's seat and felt like it was wrong. Magnum drove this car, no one else. She gave him grief about it being Mr. Master's car, but still, it never felt wrong when she was in the car with Thomas in the driver's seat.

Grimacing, she started up the precision engine and gunned the car out of the hospital parking lot, heading towards HPD. She never questioned whether or not her prey would be there. In her mind, nothing else would do. She made it there in record time, not really surprised that she hadn't been stopped for speeding, sure that it was fate. It gave her a feeling of inevitability, that this was where she was supposed to be, what she was supposed to be doing. Pulling into a spot that just happened to open up as she pulled in, reinforced that feeling. She turned off the car and took a deep breath, preparing herself for the confrontation ahead of her. Stepping out, she locked the car. Looking back, she pondered the incongruency of a convertible car, currently without its roof, being considered secure by simply applying an alarm. Putting that aside, she stormed into the HPD building.

"I want to see Detective Katsumoto." She said, keeping her voice low and cordial, even when she wanted to scream it from the rafters.

The officer behind the desk nodded and asked. "Who may I say is asking?"

"Juliet Higgins." Her name was said with more force than really needed and the man recoiled, nodding while an eyebrow went up. Her tone of voice told him she wouldn't accept any other result than being let in to the see the detective.

"I'll let him know you're here." He stood up and went into the back, unaware that the woman who'd somehow scared him spitless, had followed.

He went into the office Katsumoto had assigned to him and said. "Detective? There's a Juliet Higgins here for you." The man addressed looked up and saw the Mi6 agent behind the officer. Sighing, he nodded. The man turned around and almost passed out at the sight of the angry woman behind him. Regaining his equilibrium, he scuttled back out to his post.

"What can I do for you, Ms. Higgins?" His words put would hopefully put the woman firmly in her place, someone who was not a friend.

"Really?" Juliet spit out the words. "Ms. Higgins? Is that how you want to play this?"

Katsumoto pulled all his anger into play. "Yes, that's exactly how I want to play this. What. Do. You. Want?"

Juliet looked at him. "Thomas is in the hospital. Why aren't you there?"

"Why would I be? Other officers, other detectives, are working on it." He wanted her to know that he wasn't at Magnum's beck and call. That this was just another case, nothing that was of concern to him.

"Because…" She said fiercely. "…he's your friend."

"A friend wouldn't have gone off to Myanmar without listening to a word I said! Wouldn't have lied to me at every turn! Gone without a single person backing up him and his supposed friends!" Katsumoto spit back at her, forgetting to play it cool, allowing his hurt to show through.

Her eyebrows went up and she replied, not believing what he'd said. "Do you really think he went without backup? You have to know he was naval intelligence! Do you really think he didn't have a plan? Both MI6 and his old naval unit were read in for Myanmar! They were both on site. Do you really think he survived eighteen months of torture without knowing what had to be done?" The sudden paleness of the detective clued her in. "You didn't know, did you?" She whispered.

"Torture?" Katsumoto whispered back and didn't know what to think. He knew Magnum and his friends had been held by the Taliban. Even if they had never specifically mentioned it, the imprisonment and their escape was public knowledge. What went on there, wasn't. Immediately, the Sako case came to mind. He'd always wondered how the P.I. had connected with the young kidnap victim when no one else had seemed to be able to. Suddenly, his stance wasn't feeling so self-righteous.

"Yes, torture! Where did you think all those scars came from? None of them will tell me any specific details but I assure you they were not receiving turn down service with a chocolate on their pillow each night!" She spat out. The sudden increased paleness of the detective clued her into the fact that he really didn't know, that he hadn't seen the scars, that he wasn't pretending. That Magnum had kept this, too, from him. Not many people knew. She also remembered the Sako case, how he'd opened himself up to the young girl, no matter how painful the memories had been.

"I…"

"You need to put all your personal concerns aside and be at the side of your friend as he dies!" She interrupted.

Katsumoto was taken aback again. Nothing he'd heard had indicated that Magnum was that bad off. The preliminary reports had simply said there'd been a break in and that the P.I. had been injured. "Dies? Aren't you being a bit melodramatic?" He asked, feeling like the ground beneath him had become porous.

"Yes, dies!" She paused. "He's…he's…not doing well." She knew her tone had the man in front of her floundering.

"What does that mean?" He sounded hesitant, almost as if he didn't want to know.

"He was stabbed several times, one of which nicked his liver. He was also beaten with a baseball bat." Both had been left at the scene, covered in blood and now in the hands of the HPD as evidence. "They broke four of his ribs, one puncturing his left lung. The doctors were able to fix both of those issues while dealing with significant blood loss. What they couldn't immediately fix, in his condition, was the damage to his head. He has a skull fracture and is in a coma right now. They…they aren't sure he'll make it. He's bleeding inside his skull and his brain is swollen." She really wished she hadn't looked that up on Google. Med MD was not her friend right now. "They're worried that they'll need to operate again. In his current condition, the chances of his surviving a second surgery are extremely small but if the bleeding doesn't resolve itself or the swelling gets worse, he won't survive without it. Even if they operate and he lives through it, there's a chance he might be permanently disabled." Her voice had slowly lowered, thick with unshed tears, her pain evident.

"I…"

"Yes, you said that before." Her voice was stronger and her contempt evident. "Now, what are you going to do?" Her words challenged him.

"Let's go!" He stood up and headed out, Juliet on his heels. He should have checked into things more carefully instead of nursing his own feelings of betrayal. He should have taken the case, not shunted it off to someone else. He'd thwarted every attempt the P.I. made to contact him over the last few weeks. Maybe if he hadn't, things would have turned out differently. He could only think that the attack had to do with whatever case Magnum was currently working on and that, if he'd allowed the man to pull him into it like he usually did, whoever did this might already be behind bars or at least the case would be solved and the motive for the attack would have been rendered moot. He felt sick to his stomach and incredibly selfish. If he'd just listened to Magnum's side of the story, learned that he'd had agencies from two countries backing him up in Myanmar, then maybe he could have put aside his feelings over the man not listening to his orders to not do anything. The CIA had certainly not deigned to bother telling him that little piece of information. Stupid spy need to know crap. He knew part of his issue was that he'd been left feeling foolish, having actually thanked Magnum for listening to him for once, when the whole time he'd been doing nothing of the sort. He'd also been concerned that the man would charm him into trusting him again, something he hadn't wanted to do. It hurt too much when things went sideways, like it usually did with the retired SEAL.

He stopped at one of the desks and told the Officer on Duty where he was going. She nodded and then looked at Higgins. "Can you let Thomas know that we're pulling for him? That he's in our thoughts and prayers?" Juliet blinked a little, then nodded, while Katsumoto looked shocked. Apparently, the rest of the force was more informed than he, as to the seriousness of the other man's injuries. He also knew that most of the P.I.'s on the island were known by HPD and were almost universally disliked. It appeared Magnum had charmed at least some of the people here, although there were a couple who actively loathed him. He shook his head as he realized he was in the former category, to the point where he really did consider the man a friend. Maybe that's why the other man's actions had pained him so much. He shook off his introspectiveness and turned to head out again.

He and Juliet parted ways in the parking lot as she headed for the Ferrari. He got into his unmarked car and pulled out, the sports car almost immediately on his bumper. Then, the straight and narrow detective broke a minor rule. He reached out and turned the sirens on. You weren't allowed to use them for personal reasons, but he was worried that he wouldn't make it to the hospital on time or, worse, that neither would Higgins. She'd left her friend's side to come rip him a new one and talk some sense into him. If Magnum died while she was away doing so, he wasn't sure if the woman would ever forgive him. Truthfully, he wasn't sure if he would forgive himself.

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