I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.

Summary: Mr. Hoppy is a girl! And he/she is channeling the saber-toothed bunny! Enough said.

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Chapter 1

Grace was almost in tears when Mr. Hoppy was finally returned to her welcoming arms. Her new best friend Jake had talked her into letting him take Mr. Hoppy home for a long weekend while Grace, Rachel and step-Stan visited Maui. But Jake had then neglected to return the rabbit for over a full week. And so Rachel had to resort to phoning Jake's mother. And Grace and her mother were now returning home after safely retrieving the beloved bunny.

"I hope you won't do that again, Grace." Rachel gently scolded her daughter who was sitting in the back seat now and holding the rabbit in her arms.

"Sharing a pet is not like borrowing a book. And put him back in the cage while I'm driving please."

Quietly and with a final hug, Grace did as she was asked. And as soon as they'd gotten home, she put Mr. Hoppy back in the small hutch Stan had bought from the local pet shop. It was already heaped high with fresh hay and within minutes, Mr. Hoppy also had a mountain of his favorite treats as the little girl fawned over him. But the next day Grace was in tears again and holding her bleeding finger out for Rachel to doctor with a small bandage.

"He made a funny noise and then he bit me. For no reason!" Gracie sobbed. "I just went to take him out to play and he ran in the back of the cage."

Rachel smiled and shook her head as she cleaned the tiny cut. The rabbit was well cared for and very healthy; he was probably just plain tired of being carted around to strange houses and being picked up all the time. In fact, there were some days where Grace just couldn't keep her hands off him. The poor bunny had even been dressed up in doll's clothes and rolled around in a baby carriage.

Scooping her up into her lap, Rachel gave Grace a big hug. "It's only a tiny little nip. I think Mr. Hoppy just wants to be left alone for a little while. Why don't you make sure he's got enough treats and then go do something else today."

With a sad sniffle, Grace agreed and ran off. She made a face as Mr. Hoppy growled at her again when she plunked the small pile of baby carrots into his bowl. A solid thump sounded in the small hutch as he kicked the wall in a warning.

"Now you stop that!" Surprised and just a little afraid of her bunny, Grace tried to be stern with him. "That's not nice." With a final tearful glance at him, she left the yard and decided to read a book instead of playing with the cranky rabbit.

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Steve could tell any time when Danny was on the phone with his daughter. He also could judge the mood of the conversation by the ever-changing expressions on his partner's face. At that moment, he and Danny were currently having lunch in a loud diner and Steve grinned as Danny's face practically melted when he heard Gracie's voice. Five seconds later though his face had changed again into one of sad, fatherly concern.

"I promise, Grace. I'll stop by after work. I'm sure he's fine." Ending the call, Danny sighed and then picked at his sandwich. He was frowning and deep in thought as he stared out the window.

Steve waited and then finally gave out with a long-suffering exasperated sigh. "Well? Are you going to tell me what that was about or do I have to guess?"

"That stupid rabbit is sick. Step-Stan's not home to take it to the vet and Rachel doesn't have time."

There was a snort that was quickly followed by a barely stifled chuckle from the other side of the table. "It's not funny Steven. My daughter's very upset about Mr. Hoppy." But Danny's glare fell short and it was all Steve could do to not laugh out right at the predicament.

"Do you have any idea how funny that sounds? Mr. Hoppy." He had to bite his lip to keep from laughing as Danny continued to make annoyed faces at him. But Steve was now wholly unable to stop teasing as he added, "I'm sorry Danno. Really! Anything for Mr. Hoppy, of course!"

But later that day, the two men peered into the evil rabbit's hutch in total confusion. Grace was clutching Danny's hand and practically hiding behind his legs.

"Is that a growl?" Steve asked in surprise as a ferocious sound came out of the little furry throat. "Is that thing actually growling at me?"

"See!" Grace squealed as she pointed at the hutch. "He's mean and nasty. And now he's pulling all of his fur out!"

Everyone looked down closer into the recesses of the hutch. Sure enough, there were mounds of rabbit fur that Mr. Hoppy had studiously plucked out of his own tummy. When he moved in the cage, Danny could see the ugly bare patches of missing fur on the rabbit's body and he made a face.

"Well that's attractive."

Secretly, Danny was pleased that the inferior little creature had lost its tiny mind. His daughter would have been much safer and happier with the monstrous plush pink rabbit he had originally purchased. Step-Stan's fantastic gift had finally shown its true colors. But he nearly choked when Steve's hand strayed unconsciously towards his weapon.

Eyes wide, Danny hissed at him angrily as he covered Grace's ears with his hands. "What are you crazy! Don't even think it! That's my daughter's pet!"

"No, I'm not crazy! But that thing sure is!" Steve watched in fascination as Mr. Hoppy nipped angrily at his food and then gave out another loud growling warning. Then a series of nasty hind leg kicks rattled the small hutch. "I think the damned thing is possessed!"

Their argument almost had Grace in tears again as she wailed about her poor bunny and that he was terribly sick. "Danno, fix it!"

With a disgusted sigh, Danny found the small carry crate and opened the hutch door.

"Vet. We'll just take him to the vet and find out what's wrong with him. Don't worry Monkey, we'll get him better." Carefully, Danny reached in and tried to pick up the rabbit. But Mr. Hoppy had now aggressively backed into the farthest corner of the hutch. And as Danny went to pick him up, the growling intensified and another solid thump shook the hutch. The surprising noises made him jerk his hands hastily out of the way and Danny slammed the door shut with a gasp.

"What's the matter Danno? Afraid of a little bunny?"

"You get him wise-guy." Eye's narrowed as Danny dared Steve to catch the clearly angry and very dangerous rabbit. With a grand display of his hands, Danny took a full step back from the hutch and motioned for Steve to do the honors.

"There you go. Have at it. Mr. Hoppy is all yours."

Grace stared up at them with wide eyes and then showed Steve her small bandaged finger. "Be careful Uncle Steve. He bites!"

At that, Steve smirked at Danny as he reached into his jacket, pulled out his black gloves, and waved them in Danny's face. "Improvise, partner. Get that little crate ready and we'll just dump him in it."

Mortified at Grace's tearful gaze, Steve quickly changed his words to calm the little girl. "Gently. Not dump. Gently put him in his travel box .. thing."

With a barely tolerant shake of his head, Danny got the little crate ready and held it open for Steve. And within seconds, Steve had triumphantly snared Mr. Hoppy by the scruff of his neck. But as he went to put him into the crate, the rabbit kicked out viciously with his hind legs. Danny watched in horror as Steve's eyes went wide and a wide swath of bloody, scratchy furrows appeared from his left wrist down to nearly his elbow.

"Son of a …!"

"Language Steven!" Danny croaked in alarm as Steve nearly dropped rabbit in his haste to get him in the small crate. He then slammed the small crate door shut as Steve clutched his arm in pain.

"Vet. Now." Steve nearly growled himself as he inspected the painful bloody streaks running down his arm. Mumbling about stupid demonic pet rabbits, Steve turned on his heel as both Danny and Grace slowly trailed him to the car. He entirely missed the highly amused smile that stretched across Danny's face.

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It was all Danny could do to not stare at Steve as he angrily drove to the veterinarian's office. And then, when he did look over, he didn't know if he could keep a straight face.

"You okay there Steve?" Danny said lightly as he leaned forward to try to see the oozing scratch marks. "When we get to the vet, you should probably clean that up a bit." The only answer was a thin-lipped and clearly aggravated look that said 'back off Danno before I regret what I may do.'

"Or not." Danny muttered with a barely stifled grin as they pulled into the veterinarian's parking lot which was mysteriously empty. With a rising feeling of fear, he looked over at Steve who also seemed to have noticed the lack of clientele.

"They're closed? They can't be closed." The increase in unhappy sniffles from the back seat made them both stare in horror at each other and Danny whipped around quickly to calm Grace.

"The doctor closes early on Wednesday's sweetie. But we have another idea. Right Uncle Steve?" Danny's tone and expression were both pleading as he worriedly glared at the man to help.

"We have a plan .. because we're going to go ..?"

And Danny made a 'what do we do' gesture in Steve's direction indicating that he should chime in now to help him finish the sentence. Grace was obviously becoming more upset again and waiting anxiously for the two men to come up with a solution.

Steve raised his eyebrows in undisguised panic and gave him an answering "I have no idea!" look before he slowly stuttered out the first thing that came to mind.

"Umm. Because … we're going to go see … Max?"

But that nearly sent Danny into a choking paroxysm and his face paled considerably. The outburst came out as a low angry wheeze and Grace's eyes slowly widened at her father's tone.

"A morgue, Steven? I'm not taking my daughter to the Medical Examiner's office! The rabbit is not .. you know .. "

"He has tools. Equipment! He's a doctor …isn't he?" Steve hissed in total frustration as he threw a small token smile in Grace's direction. "It's okay sweetie, we're just tossing around ideas."

"Bad ones." Danny muttered disgustedly. "Really .. bad ones."

Seconds later the two were grinning at each other happily. At the same time, both Danny and Steve came to the same conclusion and practically shouted "Ramirez!" in unison. Confused, Grace tried to smile as she carefully looked into Mr. Hoppy's small crate. The rabbit was scrunched down in the back and seemed content for the moment. But when he saw his little owner looking at him, a small evil thump sounded.

Nervously, Danny looked at Steve who was already putting the car into gear. "Drive!"

A few minutes later, Doctor Ramirez looked up in surprise from his paperwork as Steve and Danny walked determinedly into his office. There was a bit of blood on Steve's left arm that had stained the body of his white t-shirt. But before he could say a word about that, his eyes went to the small box he was carrying and then over to the child in Danny's arms.

Both men were obviously stressed and the child was teary-eyed and very sad as she blatantly stared back at him with all the trust in the world. Tears were streaming down her face and Danny was grim as he rubbed her back soothingly.

"This is Grace? Am I right?" Ramirez said pleasantly, but still very confused by the unexpected interruption. "It seems as if something's wrong .. what can I do to help? Are you hurt?"

With dual relieved sighs, Steve and Danny relaxed significantly. And then Steve plunked the small box down on the doctor's desk and opened his arms wide as he asked for help.

"Can you please .. please .. look at Mr. Hoppy?"

~ to be continued ~