So I know I'm supposed to be working on Part 2 to my other story and I promise I will really soon. I've just been re-watching the first few seasons of Hawaii Five-0 and this idea popped into my head and I had to go with it. Should be done in 3 chapters! This is my version of the Peterson episode, some of the beginning is word for word from the episode, but then the rest is my story. Enjoy :)

Chapter 1

"I really wish things were different, I really do," Danny was trying to get through to Rick anyway possible.

"So do I. Uncuff yourself."

Danny took the keys and did as he was told.

"Alright drive."

Rick still had his gun trained on Danny.

"What are you doing?"

Rick looked down as if contemplating his answer.

"Making things different."

Danny watched from the corner of his eye as Rick scrolled through the contact list on his phone and swallowed the lump in his throat when he realized what number Rick landed on.

"What the hell are you doing?" the fear in Danny's voice was evident as he knew whatever Rick wanted with Steve; it wasn't going to be good.

"Take the phone; tell Steve you need to meet him in the alley on Kahala and Manoa. Tell him to come alone or Grace is dead."

"Hold on just wait," Danny had a feeling where this was going and as much as he was trying to hide it from Rick, the fear and anxiety was slowly taking over.

"Would you stop arguing with me and get on the phone," Rick yelled as he pointed the gun at Danny's head.

Breathing heavily, Danny was praying that by some grace of god, Steve for some reason or another didn't have his phone on him. His heart sank the moment he heard his partner's concerned voice on the other end.

"Danny!"

"Steve, listen I need you to meet me in the alley on Kahala and Manoa...and please don't bring Kono or Chin, Grace's life depends on it."

Danny pulled up to the alley and turned off the engines.

"See that trash can over there, there's a gun taped inside. Go get it and go meet Steve at the corner over there," Rick was using his gun to point to an area to their left.

"Rick...Rick would you please just listen to me for one second okay," this was it, it was now or never, he had to get through to Rick, because the alternative was not an option.

"Stop whining, please. Put this on," Rick handed Danny an ear piece. "And when you get out, if you so much as look around, start to run away, deviate from anything I tell you to do, I swear to god the little girl dies and it's going to be your fault."

"Why are you doing this Rick," Danny hated how shaky his voice sounded. "Why are you doing this, this is about you and this is about me, this is not about Grace and this is not about Steve, why are you doing this!" Danny was frantic, he needed to get through to Rick, he needed to stop this, now.

"I want you to pull the trigger when you see him, I want a shot straight into his chest, I want him to bleed out slowly from the inside out, suffocating on his own blood. I'm going to be in a building above, I'll be able to see everything, so you better shoot him exactly the way I just described it or I swear to god I will kill your baby girl."

Danny felt like he couldn't breathe. How was he supposed to do this, how was he supposed to shoot someone who had come to mean so much to him over the past two years, the one person he has been able to count on more than anyone else, the one person who has always been there for him at the drop of a hat, the one constant in his life besides his beautiful little girl.

"I'm not going to do it, I'm not going to kill my partner, I'm not killing Steve. Rick, c'mon this is insane."

"I don't care if you don't want to do it; you're going to do it."

"What do you think this is going to do Rick, what do you think this is going to do, I'm going to go to prison? Huh? You think I'm going to go to prison for murder under duress?" Danny was hysterical and on the verge of a panic attack, there was no hiding the utter devastation in his voice anymore. He couldn't do what Rick was asking him to do, he couldn't, he wouldn't kill Steve.

"I don't care if you go to prison," Rick looked at Danny maliciously. "I want you to suffer, the same way I've been suffering since you locked me up, and this is the best way to do it. I've done my research, I know what your partner means to you, I know how close you two are, how you consider him family. So you're going to lose someone who means a whole lot to you, you're going to lose your brother, and I am going to enjoy watching it happen. Now enough talking, get out!"

"Rick will you just lis-"

"GET OUT OF THE CAR D! Don't make me ask you again! I swear to god I will kill her, you have 5 seconds to GET OUT OF THE DAMN CAR!"

Danny's shaking as he stumbles out of the car. Grace. Rick has Grace. Danny has to keep telling himself that in order to make the painstaking walk over to the dumpster to retrieve the gun he's going to have to shoot Steve with.

As Danny's standing in the middle of the alley, gun in hand, he finds himself praying for the umpteenth time that day that Steve for some reason doesn't show up, that something keeps him from stepping foot in this alley.

Five minutes later, just like his previous prayers, this one goes unanswered.

Danny's heart sinks the minute he sees Steve appear from around the corner; he closes his eyes, silently willing Steve to turn around and walk back in the direction he came from.

"Danny," Steve was in a full sprint towards his partner.

"Stop, stop, stop Steve listen to me," Danny cringed as he saw Steve recoil the moment he pointed the gun at him.

"Danny, what are you..."

The look of confusion on Steve's face was something Danny was never going to be able to wipe from his memory.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I have to, if I don't..." Danny felt like he was running out of air.

He could see the wheels turning in Steve's head and he knew that Steve had figured out what was going on.

"His vest needs to come off NOW! Keep stalling and your precious little girl is dead!" Rick yelled into the earpiece.

Vest. Steve's vest. If this were any other scenario, Danny would've laughed at the irony; the one thing he always made sure to remind Steve to put on was the very thing Rick was forcing him to tell Steve to take off. Steve's safety was always on Danny's mind; his partner was so driven, so focused on catching their perps that Danny often took it upon himself to ensure that Steve wasn't being careless.

For a moment Danny just stood there, staring at his partner. In the 2 short years that he had known Steve, the SEAL had shown him the kind of friendship he only thought existed in movies and stories. He had never met anyone as devoted and loyal as his partner, a partner he would willingly take a bullet for, willingly die for without thinking twice, and here he was, pointing a gun, about to shoot and possibly kill that very same man. How was he supposed to go through with this, how was he supposed to kill someone he considered a brother.

Dreading the words he was about to say, Danny closed his eyes; the thought of seeing the understanding and acceptance in Steve's eyes was too much to bear.

"Take…take off your vest," when the words finally left his mouth, Danny could no longer hold back the tears as they started streaming down his face; each painstaking word cutting through him like a knife. He was asking his best friend to give his life for his daughter and he knew that Steve would do it without thinking twice.

Steve's heart broke as he finally locked eyes with Danny. He could see the turmoil and anguish that was clearly displayed in those blue eyes and he couldn't imagine being in Danny's shoes. He knew that if Danny thought he had any other choice he wouldn't be standing here right now pointing a gun at him.

"He's watching isn't he?" Steve started looking around at the building windows in the alley.

"I'm so sorry Steve, I'm so sorry, I can't...I...it's Grace Steve...he's going to kill her if I don't...I," Danny was finding it harder and harder to breathe. He was pointing a gun at the one person, other than Grace, who meant the world to him. Memories of the last two years of their friendship started to bombard his every thought; Steve paying for 3 nights at the Kahala hotel for him and Grace when they first met, Steve calling in a favor with the Governor to keep Grace on the island, Steve taking care of Grace after he was poisoned on a case, Steve standing by him and trusting him when he was trying to clear Meka's name. Memory after memory flooded in of the kind of man and the kind of friend Steve was.

"It's okay Danno...it's okay," Steve coaxed as he started to remove his vest, if there was more time he would try to stall, but he'd be damned if his stalling was the reason Grace ended up dead.

The use of the familiar nickname he only allowed Steve and Grace to call him by, accompanied by the sound of the Velcro snapping off Steve's vest, shattered any resolve Danny had left as he let out a loud sob. He wanted to wake up from this nightmare; he wanted all of this to be some cruel form of torture his warped imagination had conjured up during a night of restless sleep. He didn't want to have to kill his best friend in order to save his daughter.

"Remember what I said, if you shoot him in the shoulder, Grace is dead, if you shoot him in the leg, Grace is dead, you make sure you shoot him in the chest or else Grace is dead!"

When Steve and Danny locked eyes again, Steve knew it was time, he knew that Rick was in Danny's ear, he knew the minute he saw the earpiece on Danny.

Danny took a good look at his partner and the sad smile of acceptance Steve gave him, and the acceptance etched in those soulful eyes, made him sick to his stomach. It wasn't fair, Steve didn't deserve this, he was the best person Danny had ever known. He didn't deserve to be ambushed, he didn't deserve to be collateral damage, but most of all, he didn't deserve to be a bargaining chip...again. Steve's life was worth more than that, and Danny had worked so hard since the day they had met to instill that belief in Steve. When Jenna had ambushed him and handed him over to Wo Fat in exchange for her fiancé, it had taken Danny some time to help Steve through that, to help him see that he was worth more than that.

And now here he was, going back on everything he had worked so hard to instill in his stubborn partner. It completely crushed him that what Jenna did wouldn't even hold a candle to what he was about to do. He was Steve's best friend, which made this betrayal a hundred times worse than Jenna's ever could be.

Behind the stoic demeanour, Danny could see Steve's walls slightly crumbling, he could see a painful truth embedded in those determined eyes; the belief that his life wasn't worth much to anyone, that sacrificing him to save another wasn't a hard decision to make, and it broke Danny's heart that this time he was responsible for making Steve believe that.

The guilt Danny was feeling was starting to eat him alive and the gun in his hand instinctively started to drop.

"I see you've made your choice kid, I'll be sure to drop by your daughter's funeral."

Danny's heart plummeted.

"NO! NO RICK DON'T I'LL DO IT, I'LL DO IT!"

And just like that Danny's gun was up and trained at Steve once again.

"Steve...I'm so sorry."

TBC...