Hello! I've been working on several Magnum stories lately and this one sorted itself out before the others. Not a lot of deep plot as per my usual, but plenty of friendship plus hurt and comfort for poor Thomas! This story is complete so should go up fairly quickly. As always, I sincerely hope you enjoy. -abby

Higgins wasn't at Robin's Nest. Magnum knew that for certain. She'd called from the market and mentioned that she had another few errands to run before coming back.

Kumu was gone too. In fact, most of the staff was gone. Saturdays were typically pretty quiet, and usually Thomas appreciated the solitude.

Usually.

However, on this particular Saturday the dogs were out. And there was no one to call them off.

Thomas eyed the dobermans from his position in the water. He had yet to drag the surf ski back onto shore, because he knew he was being watched. Zeus and Apollo were sitting perfectly still at the edge of the beach, just inside a small copse of palm trees. The private investigator could barely see them, but had no doubt they were waiting for him to get back on dry land. As far as Magnum was concerned, their one redeeming quality was that they didn't like to swim. The water was one place where he was always safe, but he couldn't stay out there forever. He sighed softly as he debated the options.

In her defense, Higgins hadn't left them outside on purpose. She'd thought they were safely in the house. And they had been, until one of them managed to nose through a window screen, snarling and snapping as Magnum walked past.

The private investigator had been on the way down to the beach anyway, ready for his morning rowing session. So he just picked up the pace a little and continued on, hoping that Zeus and Apollo would lose interest while he was on the water.

They had not.

"Go away!" Thomas shouted toward the trees, knowing full well that wouldn't do him any good. "Ugh. Freaking velociraptors," he grumbled. He was tired and hungry, having rowed further than usual, and was rapidly growing impatient with the situation. "This is ridiculous," he finally decided. He had never truly believed that the dobermans would actually attack him, and decided it was time to find out for sure.

Surf ski in tow, Magnum slowly moved into shallower water. Unfortunately he was paying far more attention to the dogs than to the sand and shells beneath his bare feet.

Still keeping an eye on his canine stalkers, Thomas was mere steps from shore when a sharp pain ripped through the bottom of his right foot. Agony lanced up his leg like a bolt of lightning and took him out at the knee. He cried out and stumbled, barely managing to catch himself before ending up with a faceful of sand.

"Ah, god!" Still halfway in the water he clenched his fists, pressing his forehead into the ground and locking his jaw against the fiery pain. After a moment it receded slightly and he managed to crawl the rest of the way onto the beach. Panting hard and fighting nausea, with an effort he rolled over to inspect the damage. A deep, ragged gash started at the ball of his foot and tore across the soft pad of the arch, ending just shy of his heel. It was bleeding heavily and looked even worse than it felt. "Fantastic," Thomas muttered through gritted teeth.

He pulled off his ratty old workout shirt and wrapped it around his foot, tying it off as tightly as he could to try and stem the bleeding. "Mmmmm," he hummed on an inhale, breathing deeply in an attempt to control the pain.

Suddenly Magnum heard a sharp bark and remembered the dogs. Apollo and Zeus had finally come out of the trees and were approaching him slowly. "Back off, guys," he said wearily. To his relieved surprise, they didn't growl or lunge but simply sat, cocking their heads curiously. "Atta boys," Thomas managed a faint smile before collapsing on his back.

He drifted then, gratefully succumbing to the darkness that hovered at the corners of his vision.