This story was inspired by one of HipsterMaybe's own one-shot. I owe her a debt of gratitude for encouraging me to give free rein to my inspiration and try to turn my ideas into words.

I intended for this story to be two or three chapters long at the most, but somehow I got bitten by the writing bug. Damn these things can be nasty! I didn't go into details as I didn't want to lose myself, seeing how this is my very first attempt at writing. All mistakes are mine and please know that I am not a doctor, therefore I didn't elaborate on the medical terminology. This is by no means an original story idea but I hope you'll enjoy nonetheless.

Plenty of Danny and Steve whump and a special appearance by an old friend in earlier episodes. This story is set in Season two.

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At the Five-0 headquarters, Chin, Danny and Steve were gathered at the smart table cudgeling their brains as to the arm dealers' next move. They had been slaving over this case far too long and it aggravated Steve that they hadn't made some headway in the last few weeks. Once they got a whiff of Five-0 nosing around in their business, the crooks went into hiding and ground all of their Hawaii-based dealings to a halt as they waited the task force out, taunting them.

Their last tip came from a bartender in Waikiki who had led them to a possible hideout, but the crooks had up and flown the coop before Steve's team could move in on them. Kamekona had even put out feelers but to no avail. Now a month later, the case was stalling with no light in sight at the end of the tunnel.

Then suddenly, it came. Kono erupted in the room bearing good tidings.

"Guys, Kamekona came through. The dealers have relocated in a condemned building on Sand Island. I have the exact location right here." She plugged in the USB key under the table and flipped the open file onto one of the wall screens for everyone to see. She then zoomed in on the decrepit two-story building that once housed a beachwear store. "There it is. I have the exact location."

"Kamekona is sure of his information?" Danny asked.

"Yeah. He says his nark once used to run the business before it went under two years ago. He could never sell the building afterwards but kept it just in case something came up. When the city condemned it for demolition last month, he went back to inspect the structure and that's when he noticed evidence that someone had been there. He staked out the place and sure enough he spotted shady activities with thugs moving in crates into the building. When he went to check out the place, those boxes were nowhere in sight. He was able to positively identify one of the suspects."

"Why didn't he report it before?" Steve was suspicious.

"Says he didn't want to get his hands dirty. The building was to be torn down anyway."

"Oh Steve, I smell a trap." Danny's hair stood on end at the thought.

"Is Kamekona's informant on the level?" Steve asked Kono.

"Says he is. Apparently the thugs are there right now, moving in crates and bags."

"If he's a friend of the Big Guy, chances are he once dipped his toe into unholy waters. Better beware. I mean why would they move the merchandise in broad daylight? Someone is bound to ask questions. This mole could be leading us into a trap. How do we know he's not one of them? This could very well be an ambush." Once again Danny issued a strong warning that he sincerely hoped his reckless partner would heed.

"Duly noted, Daniel, but we can't afford to let it slip by without at least inspecting the area. We'll go with backup this time," Steve teased Danny who closed his eyes in relief.

"Chin, called Duke and ask him to meet us at the location without sirens blaring. Advise them to park out of view of the building. We wouldn't want to alert them of our presence and risk scaring them away."

"Got it!"

"Okay people, strap on and let's go."

They each checked their gun magazines for ammo and grabbed automatic rifles before heading out to the parking lot.

Danny opened the trunk of his car to grab his Kevlar vest. As he strapped on the body armor he couldn't help but cringe at the case of grenades Steve had stashed away for emergencies.

"What's the matter?" Steve asked casually as he donned his own vest.

"THAT!" Danny pointed angrily at the metal box, "That's what's the matter. I will never understand why you feel the need to tote around so many grenades in the trunk of MY car," he griped, putting emphasis on the 'my'.

"You'll never know when they might come in handy or save your life for that matter. Besides they're not cumbersome."

"Perhaps but they are dangerous toys to carry in a trunk, especially with a ten-year-old girl in the car. What if some drunken punk rear-ended us and set your pineapples on fire? We're literally sitting on a powder keg here. "

"Danny, relax. It's safe I assure you. I would never put your life in jeopardy, and certainly not Grace's."

"Why can't you keep them in the back of your own truck?"

Steve shook his head in exasperation at his partner's annoying grievance. "Daniel we've been through this before. I don't drive my truck when we're going on raids. It's not built for chases."

"Well it makes me nervous, more so when you're driving like a lunatic."

"You worry too much." Steve dismissed with a smirk.

"Says the guy who's been in hospitals more often than germs."

"Hey! I haven't been there for the last three months!" Steve retorted.

"What about last week?" Danny demurred.

"Last week was for a silly scratch on the forehead."

"Correction! It was a gash."

"It didn't require sutures! I was let go minutes after they slapped a bandage on it."

Chin came up to the bickering pair and interrupted on an amusing tone. "Girls, girls! Can we postpone this squabble till after the raid?"

"Fine!"

"Fine! Hand me your keys."

Danny rolled his eyes in annoyance and grudgingly tossed the keys over to Steve. "I should get myself a station wagon," he mumbled underneath his breath.

"What's that?"

"Nothing."

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They arrived at their destination where Duke and his men were already scouring the area.

"Duke. What have we got?"

"A few of my men have gone around the building. They located three entrances. That one in front and two other out back, north and south, but they're both locked from the outside with padlocks."

"Meaning their only way out in through the front door," Steve deduced.

"Right, unless there's a cellar with a passageway. We searched the outside premises and didn't find any concealed door that would lead to such."

"From the blue prints Kono obtained, there's no basement. The office space and storerooms are all located on the main floor."

"If you look there," Duke brought Steve's attention to a monitor set up on the hood of his car. "The thermal imagining is picking up three medium-height human forms roaming about. Two are on the main floor and one is on the top floor."

"We've got to be careful those are not curious tourists ghost hunting or something? We'll need to be vigilant when we charge in there," Danny's caution received an approving nod from Steve.

"Is there a vehicle parked nearby? We could probably start rummaging through it," Steve suggested.

"We looked around and found nothing. They were probably dropped off and left to sort out the merchandise. Wait!" Duke pointed to the screen. "There's a fourth one. Now where did he come from?"

"There's perhaps a makeshift root cellar or a vault down below, probably where they are stashing the goods. Could be recent, reason why it's not on the blue prints," Steve said as he studied the thermo scan before he checked his gear. "Ok Chin, Kono, you take the south back entrance. Danny and me will take the north. Duke, you and your men cover the front. Shoot on sight if needed. Try to aim for the legs. The governor wants at least one alive to grill him. But no happy trigger finger. Danny's right. They could be innocent bystanders. " All nodded and he then signaled his team to break up into two groups. "All right, let's go."

While Duke and his men assumed their tactical position, the Five-0 team circumspectly advanced on their targets with guns equipped with lights if needed to guide them through the dark areas. After shooting off the padlock on the door, Steve and Danny proceeded warily inside the building, scanning every room and space as they slowly made their way to the main room where the four moving forms were spotted.

"So much for the effect of surprise!" Danny quipped to Steve without letting his guard down.

"How else was I going to break the padlock? Besides they can't be far," Steve was confident that they were closing in on them. He could smell them cowering in a corner as he carefully scoured the surroundings with a keen eye and sharp ear.

Minutes later, the four members met in the middle of the main floor.

"Nothing at our end, Boss," Kono said with an edge of petulance in her voice. She was visibly looking forward to kicking some butts.

However out of the corner of her eye, she spotted one trying to flee the scene. All four aimed the weapons in his direction. "Freeze! Five-0" Steve shouted, stopping the crook dead in his track. "On your knees! Hands laced behind your head."

While her colleagues kept their guns trained on the thug, Kono stepped up to him with a menacing stance and after a swift body search to check for concealed weapons, she roughly slapped the cuffs on him. She then hoisted him up by the shirt collar and brought him to her leader.

"Where are they others?" Steve asked calmly.

"What others?" the man taunted with a smug.

Steve stepped up to him to stand inches from his face and raising the tone to a domineering pitch, he reiterated, "I'll ask just once more. WHERE ARE THE OTHERS?"

"You must have me mistaken. I was here looking around the place. Heard it was on the market," he fibbed.

"So you're saying you're just a house hunter?"

"That's right."

Steve pulled out a few pictures from out of his pockets. He chose one and held it in front of the man. "Then why do you look like one of the eight wanted men of this arm dealers outfit?" Before this irrefutable evidence, the man remained tight-lipped. "There were four of you here. Where are the other three hiding?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," the ruffian spoke condescendingly, raising Steve's hackles to a degree where the SEAL grabbed him by the neck.

"Easy, Steve." Danny spoke soothingly and grabbed his partner's arm to force him to release his grip on the choking man. "We want him alive."

"All right, if he won't tell, we'll blow them out."

"Woa, woa what blow, what, what do you mean blow them out?" Danny stuttered in shock.

"I'm talking about the cute little pineapples in the trunk of your car, partner. I told you they would come in handy."

"You're not seriously going to blast this building?"

"Danny, you, Chin and Kono stay here and look around some more. Perhaps you'll be lucky and find them so I won't have to use my grenades."

"Did he say grenades?" The thug's smug melted into a frown at the word.

"Yes he did." Danny smirked.

"He's not serious, is he?"

"You bet your last AK-47 he is. The man here is a former Navy SEAL. You know what those guys are? Animals but they get the job done."

Steve removed the scum from the premises and marched outside to hand him over to Duke's men. "We didn't find the three others so we'll scare them out."

Steve left to go fetch a few grenades and returned to Duke with the items safely tucked in his pockets.

"McGarrett, I hope you know what you're doing here? You said it yourself. We need them alive."

"Relax Duke. I'll use just the right amount to rattle the building and shake them out of their rat hole. I've looked around for anything potentially dangerous that could set secondary explosions and the floors were clean. There aren't any buildings around and the coast is clear."

"Those cute little toys of yours are liable to set the building on fire. This is a very old structure, made mostly out of wood. It'll light up in a flash."

"If it does, I'll be doing the city a favor anyway."

Steve spoke through his earpiece. "Chin, Kono, Danny, any luck?"

"No. We can't even locate a trap door anywhere."

"Okay clear out of there. I'm about to throw the grenades."

The team dispersed and headed toward the exits. Danny went back to where he first came in.

"Are you in the clear, Kono?"

"I'm out, boss," she confirmed.

"Chin?"

"I'm clear, Steve."

"Danny?"

"Yeah, just a sec." Having heard a slight noise coming from a cloakroom by the exit, he went to inspect it. "False alarm. Ok I'm clear." Danny was inches from the door when his feet got entangled in some barbed wires and tripped down on the floor, losing his earpiece. "Crap!" Before he could free himself, he heard a loud bang and his world went black.

It wasn't long before the thug's four associates were seen staggering out by a secret entrance on the side of the building catching on fire, coughing their lungs out.

"Hands in the air where we can see them!" Duke ordered through the loud speaker. "Get on your knees."

"There were five of them in there and I bet there are more hiding," Steve said.

"With that blast I say we scared them all out," Duke surmised and turned to the burning building on the verge of collapsing. "If there are any more, they'll get out before the roof caves in."

"Or they will use an underground passageway. These five might have been cut off from the trap door, reason why they were forced to get out of the building."

"S'kay, Steve. We got five. One of them is bound to spill his guts and we'll dismantle their network."

"Yeah," Steve agreed, but was nonetheless edgy at the thought of others escaping. "We'll need to sift through the rubbles afterwards and see if we can find the stash."

"Good job, boss," Kono praised with a pat on his shoulder.

"Danny? Have you seen Danny?" Steve asked as he looked around nervously to spot his partner.

"No. He did say he was in the clear?" Chin queried with some qualms.

"Yes he did. Danny?" Steve called out, his adrenalin shooting through him. His body tensed and his breath shortened at the sudden realization that his partner might have been trapped inside at the time of the blast. "Danny? Danny, where are you?" With numbed horror, Steve stared at the now raging fire before him. "Oh my God! He's still inside." He took to his feet before anyone could stop him.