DISCLAIMER: I do not own, nor am I ever likely to, Hawaii 5-0 or it's characters.

A/N: I'm back with another story, but it's not the one I had intended! This kind of stole my attention. I hope you like.

Chapter 1 - Prologue

He lay on the ground of the dirty warehouse surrounded by the sound of gunfire. The pain radiating from the left side of his body meaning he was struggling to move so that he could defend himself from the gun runners that they'd come to arrest. Yet another shining example of how things can go to hell in a hand basket no matter how much you plan. Yes, this time they'd had a plan and back up.

"Man plans and God laughs!" Thought Danny Williams, not for the first time. He tried to move so that he could protect himself from any further attempts to take his life from him but he was finding it increasingly difficult to breathe. His vision was starting to darken at the edges and the sounds of gunfire around him were starting to fade and become muffled. Danny wasn't sure if that was because HPD and 5-0 were finally getting the situation under control or if his hearing was fading.

"Danny!"

Well that cleared things up a little, it was his hearing since the voice of his partner was also muffled and distant but he could feel the air around him moving as Steve rushed to his side and dropped on his knees, grabbing his hand to move it away from the gunshot wound, quickly inspecting the damage before pushing down to stop the bleeding, tearing a groan from his injured friend.

"Chin, I need medics!"

"On it!" replied the oldest member of 5-0.

"Come on Danny, stay with me man! Open your eyes," Steve was practically begging.

The tone of his voice was laced with… was that fear? Danny knew he was in trouble when he heard that tone in the voice of his Navy SEAL, blow things up, shoot first and ask questions later partner. It was rare that Steve was the one with the tone, he always accused Danny of being the one to let how he was feeling show in his voice, the SEAL was the one you had to be looking at to see what he was thinking or feeling. Over the months they'd been working together Danny had got very adept at reading Steve's faces, going so far as to name them. Forcing his eyes open he looked into the worried eyes of his partner and there was a face he hadn't named, but it was an easy one. Fear. Danny needed to remove that look, he didn't ever want to associate fear with his partner.

"'M OK," the words sounded wrong, even to Danny's ears. Laboured breathing and the feeling that his tongue had stopped co-operating meant that his voice was barely audible.

"You will be," Steve assured him, though it was as much for his own benefit as the injured man writhing under the pressure of his hands pressing on the wound.

Their youngest team member, Kono, appeared next to Steve with a first aid bag in hand, rummaging through it she pulled out what she was looking for and handed it to her boss. There was a slight easing in the pressure at his side and then it was reapplied with even more force than before.

"Shit!" growled Danny.

"I know it hurts brother, but I need to at least slow the bleeding down," Steve tried to soothe.

Kono moved round to Danny's other side and grasped his hand, which he squeezed gratefully. It said something about how he was feeling that he wasn't trying to reassure her that he was going to be OK. Despite trying to assure Steve he really wasn't sure that he'd live to tell the tale about this one. He'd been shot before but nothing like this. The pain was white hot but his whole body felt cold, though not yet enough for him to feel numb.

A sound behind Steve drew his attention away from staring at his partner and mumbling words of encouragement.

"Jake! Andy!"

The paramedics had arrived; Danny knew those names, better than he'd ever wanted to. It seemed to him that every time one of the 5-0 team needed medical attention, Jake and Andy were always the medics on duty.

"Steve, what have you got?" asked Jake taking immediate control of the situation.

"Gunshot wound to the left side, no exit," replied Steve, relinquishing control with only a little difficulty. He may have control issues but even he knew it was in his friend's best interests to get help from the professionals.

Jake took a quick look under the dressing that Steve was pushing down on before pulling another dressing out of his kit and putting it over the top, with the help of Andy, Steve and Kono he secured it around Danny's midsection, the pressure bandage pulling it tight. Danny's eyes closed and he groaned, the darkness pulling at him.

Steve had moved to allow Jake and Andy easier access but he leaned in and spoke quietly but firmly in Danny's ear, "I know you're in pain and you're tired but you fight! Fight to live, do you hear me Danny? Grace needs you, this team needs you! Fight!"

Steve had expected that at the mention of Grace his best friend would have rallied and shown signs that he was indeed fighting to live, but he didn't get the reaction he had hoped for. Nothing changed and Danny's eyes remained closed.

"Steve, help us get him on the backboard," Jake requested after Andy had secured an IV line and connected up some saline in an attempt to combat some of the blood loss. An oxygen mask had also appeared.

The SEAL gave Danny's shoulder a squeeze and moved to help the medics. It was only a few minutes from their arrival to when Danny was being loaded into the ambulance, but to Steve, Chin and Kono it felt like a life time.

"I'm going with him," Steve told his other two team members.

"We'll see you there," responded Chin.

The doors to the ambulance were closed behind Steve and the vehicle left the scene behind, siren wailing and lights flashing through the night. Steve watched as Jake monitored Danny's blood pressure, pulse and oxygen levels. He willed the man that had found his way into his heart as his brother as well as his partner, to fight.

Danny was only dimly aware of what was happening around him. The move onto the backboard had sent wave after wave of pain through his body. On some level he knew that he must have been given some medication to help with the pain but it was clear to him that it wasn't enough. He heard Steve say he was coming in the ambulance and felt the movement as well as heard the sirens as they left the crime scene behind but everything felt far away. Sounds were muted and there was a feeling of being disconnected from the things around him.

He felt as Steve took his hand and managed the briefest of responses as he squeezed the SEAL's hand to let him know that he was still there, on some level at least.

"That's it Danny, keep fighting. Stay with me," Steve encouraged as he felt the slight pressure, "Grace needs you. I need you."

The mention of Grace brought a whole different wave of pain, this time emotional as opposed to physical. The light of his life, his reason for moving to this pineapple infested hellhole, the daughter that enabled him to keep his sanity when the world around him was going mad. It had been a week and a half since he'd seen or spoken to her. The last words he'd heard from her ones that no parent worth their salt wanted to hear. "I hate you and I never want to see you again!"

The mere memory of those words tore at his heart, already weakened by blood loss the additional weight of losing the most precious thing in his life was too much and the machines in the ambulance started screaming as Danny's broken heart stopped beating and the breath left his body.

-5-0-

A/N: I would appreciate some feedback here because my best friend read the last couple of paragraphs and told me it was too melodramatic. Maybe it is so I would like the views of the Hawaii 5-0 fan fic readers please as I was tempted to change the ending of this chapter because of her comments!