A/N: Thank you so much for checking out this story. It's my little contribution as a remedy for the summertime hiatus blues. Since we won't ever get it on the show (sadly), I wanted to explore bringing the old and new teams together and this is what I came up with.

Special Credit and Appreciation: My cover art, the awesome drawing of Gabriel Waincroft/Christopher Sean, was an original creation for this story by the great ulli_1 .12.5.24 (without the space) (Instagram). If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing her amazing work before, go check it out. She has a love for our favorite TV show as displayed in her talented drawings. She definitely has a knack for bringing out the lifelike personalities of Steve/Alex O'Loughlin, Danny/Scott Caan and ALL of our beloved characters. Danke Schön, Freundin!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that is a proper a noun. No infringement intended.

Rumors of Gabriel's Death

Danny rushed through the double doors of the emergency department at Queen's Medical Center. The facility was busy at this mid-afternoon time on a Thursday. Danny had to bob in and out of several people in the hall like a running back avoiding linebackers. He brushed up against some people in his haste and almost made an older man stumble. The occurrence made Danny awaken from his self-centered fog long enough for him to take a few seconds to directly address the man, laying his hand on the man's shoulder and offering his sincere apologies.

"I'm so sorry. You all right?"

The startled man could see the urgency on the face of the one who had just haphazardly bumped into him. His initial miffed reaction turned to sympathy as soon as saw the fear and worry in the other man's eyes.

"Yes, yes. I'm fine. No worries. Looks like you're in a hurry. Better be on your way, son," he said, releasing Danny from further obligation.

Danny nodded his appreciation. "Thanks."

He hadn't made it ten more feet when an orderly in scrubs passed him. Danny grabbed his arm to stop him. "Hey, can you tell me where I can find Commander Steve McGarrett. I understand he was brought in not long ago."

"Sorry, man, I can't help you, but the desk is right up there on the right. Somebody there should be able to get the information you need."

"Yep, thanks." Danny had been to this hospital enough times to know about the desk and where it was, but right now he wasn't thinking clearly and was desperately looking for anyone to help him. He was headed for the desk when he heard, "Detective Williams!"

Danny turned to his right to see Junior push himself off the wall where he had been leaning. "Junior, where are they?! How are they?!" Danny didn't mean to be short, but his impatience peaked at seeing someone who could actually help him.

"I'm glad you made it. Commander McGarrett is in surgery right now. I think he's in pretty bad shape. Captain Grover is in a private room, but I think he's sleeping from sedatives they gave him. He took a round to his upper thigh. He lost some blood and was in a lot of pain, but the meds are keeping that under control."

Danny had heard what he had said about Lou, but it didn't register fully. His mind had paused on Steve being in 'pretty bad shape'.

"Can someone please tell me what the hell happened?"

Junior didn't take Danny's irritated mood personally. He knew he was upset. "Tani is in the waiting room. She was there. She may have more information. She's pretty unsettled, so I didn't press her."

Danny left Junior behind and started toward the waiting room with one goal in mind. He needed to get information on what happened to his ohana. According to Junior, it sounded like Tani was going to be his best bet.

She was sitting in a row of chairs that faced away from the entrance, staring at the television screen on the wall that was playing a home renovation show. She was oblivious to the program and instead of watching, was going over the ambush in her mind. She didn't see him enter. Danny skirted around the chairs and avoided crossed legs, bags, and purses of the other concerned friends and family members that were waiting for word on their own loved ones.

Danny brushed her nearest shoulder to get her attention as he passed her and sat in the seat beside her. Junior followed and sat in the chair on the other side of Danny, leaning his elbows on his knees so he could see past Danny and be included in the conversation.

"Oh, Danny." She reached her arm around his neck and pulled him into a hug. The contact and just seeing him initiated a stream of uncontrolled tears. "I am so sorry. I don't know how this happened."

"Tani, it's okay. Just tell me what you know. First, have you heard from the doctors? Is Steve still in surgery?"

She began to nod as she reached to the end table and got another tissue from the box to dry her tears. Danny noticed that she already had a crumpled, wet, mascara-tainted wad of tissues in her fist. "Yeah, I haven't heard anything more since they took him back. He took a bullet to the chest and one to the abdomen."

Danny took a deep breath and looked away for a minute. He knew that was bad. A thin line of anger coursed through him, but he refocused and turned back to Tani. "And Lou?"

"Lou got hit in the leg. I think he's doing okay, but they gave him some strong pain meds that have knocked him out."

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"They had been spearfishing at Waialua. We had a case called in and I couldn't reach them cause they were in the water and didn't have their phones, so I headed up there. By the time I got a hold of them, they had finished and were walking toward me on the beach. I was on my way to meet them half way when I heard the shots. McGarrett went down first and then Lou. I pulled my gun, ducked behind a nearby tree, and yelled for the few bystanders that were there to get down."

"Did you see the gunman?"

"When McGarrett went down, Lou turned and looked toward a car that was leaving the parking lot. Then he was shot and went down. By the time I got to cover and followed his line of vision, the car was speeding away. For all I knew, it could have been someone who heard the shots and was getting out of Dodge as fast as they could. The gunman could have been anywhere. There was dense overgrowth on the other side of the road and lots of other cars, not to mention all of the boats at the marina. I searched in every direction, but I couldn't tell where the shots had come from. I called in for backup and an ambulance and then went to help them. You know the rest. I didn't see anything, Danny. I'm so sorry."

Danny sighed heavily. "It's okay." He stood, obviously perturbed by the lack of information. He hooked his thumbs through his belt loops and with his hands resting on his hips he turned back to her. "Did you get to talk them? Were Steve or Lou able to say anything?"

"McGarrett was out from the get-go. I don't think he ever saw or knew anything had happened. Lou was cussing and saying something about an angel as he dragged himself over to help me put pressure on McGarrett's wounds. Any talking was either to or about Steve." She caught her breath at the thought, swallowed and continued. "We were trying to get him to wake up and... to not die on us."

"That's okay. Thanks for taking care of Steve til help got there."

"Yeah... yeah… of course. He scared the hell out of us, you know."

Danny processed what she had said, then questioned, "What was that you said? Lou said something about an angel? He wasn't even hurt that bad."

"Yeah. Weird, right? I just thought he was loopy with the blood loss, but he said he saw Gabriel."

The confused lines on Danny's forehead disappeared into a blank expression. "Gabriel, huh? Well, son of a bitch. Could he have been talking about the shooter? Do you think he recognized the guy?"

"I don't know. I just figured he thought he was on death's door, with being shot and all. I guess he could have made the guy. Maybe the guy in the car?"

"You have got to be kidding me. Another one?" Danny turned away again and began pacing in a small area past Junior. Danny immediately started sorting through a mental list of any wanted suspect that Lou would have known with the same name as their not-so-dear departed nemesis. At not being able to come up with a possible explanation, he vented some more frustration. "Geez. There are freakin' two of them? What're the chances of that?"

He wasn't directing his comments toward the younger members of the team, but Junior had heard his comments nonetheless. "If I may ask, two of who?" By now, Junior and Tani were standing as well, facing Danny's back, very curious by his odd statements.

"You know Gabriel is not a very common name. A few years back..."

"Steven McGarrett family?" the waiting room attendant called out.

Danny dropped his train of thought and quickly approached the hospitality attendant. "That's me. Uh, I mean us." He looked back and gestured to include Tani and Junior.

"Are you Daniel... "

"Williams. Yes, yes. Danny Williams. That's me. I'm his authorized medical contact. How is he?"

"The doctor said he'll see you now. Right through there."

The trio entered through the door that had been pointed out to them. There was a small table with three empty chairs, two on one side and one on the other. Danny looked back into the waiting area to see if he had made a mistake, but realized he must not have when someone, probably the attendant, closed the door behind them. Danny's anxiousness spiked as he considered why they were bringing them into a private room. Had the worst happened and they thought they needed the privacy for when they broke the news? Danny could feel his heart rate increase as he realized he wasn't prepared to hear what they were about to tell them.

Having drawn a similar conclusion, Tani went ahead and sat in one of the seats. Junior gave Danny a couple of reassuring pats on his shoulder before leaning on the back wall, leaving the other seat available for Danny. It wasn't until a different door into the room opened and a gentleman in a white coat entered, that Danny decided to sit. Overcome with dread at what he was about to hear, Danny consciously tried to control his breathing. The surgeon saw how pale he was and felt sympathy.

"Would you like some water, Detective Williams? I can get a nurse to... "

"No, I wouldn't like water. I'd like to know how my partner is."

Dr. Patterson, took the hint and after introducing himself, got right to telling the enthralled listeners the details of Steve's injuries and how the surgery went.

"…he's in recovery…"

Danny grabbed onto that phrase from the doctor's first statement and wouldn't let go. Steve was alive. After taking two hits center mass, he was, at least, at the very least, alive. After hearing that fact, Danny would be the first to admit he had faded in his attention to details. He had heard follow-up words and phrases intermingled into the doctor's spiel like 'waiting game', 'touch and go', 'pragmatic', and 'extremely critical', but he was unable to process the rest.

He hoped the others were paying attention for him. He heard Tani ask about Captain Grover and found out that Lou had another physician that they would have to talk to separately. Dr. Patterson was uninformed on the other team member's condition.

At the end of the doctor's briefing, Danny had asked about, and had been turned down on, being allowed in to see his best friend. He was reminded of the delicate nature of his condition and the need for no visitors, at least for the time being. Dr. Patterson, was hopeful that this restriction could be removed in short order, optimistically hours or possibly days, but for now, the first few hours were the most critical and therefore he was going to be unwavering on this stance for the Commander's wellbeing.

Danny wanted Steve to have every chance at pulling through and if that meant not being able to see him right now, so be it, but that didn't mean he had to like it. There was silence in the room as he glared at the doctor a few moments then turned his mouth down into an 'if that's the way it has to be' face and gave him an unsatisfied nod. He quickly stood and walked out of the room, abandoning social protocol. Tani and Junior watched him leave and they took up the slack and offered Dr. Patterson their hands in gratitude.

Danny had not meant to be ungracious. Right now, he just didn't care enough about social standards to be polite. He understood the necessity of the intensive care that Steve needed right now. He just needed an outlet, and if that was not going to be visiting Steve and talking to his subconscious to pull him through, it was going to be something else.

Junior and Tani caught up to Danny at the elevator lobby. The down light was lit, but they saw him forcibly hit the button again, and then one more time for good measure. "Danny, come on. Where are you going?" Tani entreated.

"I'm getting out of here," he answered waving a hand through the air as he watched the numbers light up above the door, sincerely confused why they'd even be asking. The door opened and Danny started to step in. Junior put his hand on his chest to stop him.

"Hold up… Please." Danny looked him in the eye and again started to push through the hold to step into the elevator. Junior tried one more time. "Sir… Danny? Please." Danny sighed in capitulation. He removed his hand from holding the door and stepped back out and let the door close.

"All right. Here I am." He swept his arms dramatically in front of him. "So, now what? What the hell is so damned important that you want to keep me from getting out there and finding the asshole who did this?" He folded his arms across his body daring the two to do the impossible and convince him of another course of action.

Tani stepped in front of Junior to get Danny's full attention. She laid her hand on his arm and spoke calmly and carefully to defuse his volatile temper. "Look, I know you're upset." She glanced at Junior and then back to Danny. "We all are. And we all want to get the… 'asshole' that did this, but I… we… don't think you're in the right frame of mind at this present time. You're upset. You shouldn't be driving. You'll hurt yourself or, God forbid, somebody else."

"Oh, I'm gonna hurt somebody all right." Danny continued his dogged stance.

Tani, ignored the statement and continued. "Now, if you want to go home and shower, or get something to eat, or even get a little sleep, we'll be all for it. One of us will get you home, but running out there half-cocked, in your current state of mind, without a plan, will accomplish nothing and could make things worse."

"Worse? How the hell can they get worse? Steve is probably on his deathbed right now. I've got to get the son of a bitch who did this!"

"I know. I know. We want that, too…" She lowered her head and paused as an older couple stepped off the elevator and passed by and then began again in a softer tone, "…but why don't you wait until we know McGarrett's going to get through this? We'll all be able to breathe easier and will be able to actually concentrate on bringing in this guy. Come on. How 'bout it?"

Danny stared at her a moment, then looked to Junior to see a stalwart supporter backing up her comments. He lifted his eyebrows as he prepared to retort and raised his hands with his fingers splayed to match his expression. "That… all of that right there… was a very good speech." He chuckled derisively. "You should probably try motivational speaking sometime, but not on me. I've wasted too much time as it is… and I'm not planning on 'bringing him in'." He once again headed toward the elevator panel. "He killed Steve."

Tani knew what Danny meant. She knew that Danny knew Steve had survived and was hanging on, but the overwhelming probability of the statement coming true was enough for Danny to feel as if it were a done deal. "Fine! We'll just stay here and we'll let you know when we hear something. How's that?" Tani's calm tone was gone, replaced by an angry sarcasm. Her temper was growing to match Danny's. "You know, Lou should be waking soon. We'll just tell him you skedaddled and went off to find the shooter on your own. If I had known that you'd just run off when he told me to tell you about this Gabriel dude, I'd never have done it."

Danny was in the elevator and the doors were closing. He put his hand out to stop them at the last second and they opened again. "What did you say?" In an instant, he was in front of Tani again. Both she and Junior were bewildered by this latest behavior.

Her anger still holding on, she repeated, "I said I'll tell Lou you took off after the shooter on your own."

"No. After that, about Gabriel."

"Yeah, I said I wouldn't have mentioned Gabriel if I knew you…"

"No, Tani." He stopped her mid-statement and took her by the shoulders. "You said when he 'told you… to tell me'. Did Lou ask you to tell me about Gabriel? Think… Did he?" Danny's volume grew with his impatience.

"Yeah, yeah, I guess. Why? What's going on?"

"That's impossible." Danny turned away and ran both hands through his hair, clasping his fingers together in a hold on the back of his neck while he thought. "It can't be."

Junior looked at Tani to see if she was as confused as he was. She shrugged at him behind Danny's back. "Sir?" Junior reverted back to his more comfortable form of address. "What's impossible?"

"Gabriel… Gabriel Waincroft is alive."

~to be continued~

\,,,/BronsonL