A/N: I'm not new to fiction writing, but am relatively new to the Hawaii Five-0 fandom. A huge thank you to Irene Claire for the read through and for encouraging me to post this here. I hope you enjoy, and I'd love to know what you thought.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Hawaii Five-0, CBS, and the like; and gain nothing from writing this story.

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Chapter 1

Steve, Danny, Chin and Kono were tired. Check that. They were beyond tired. The team had been stationed at the Palace practically around the clock for the past few days, working to break up a drug trafficking ring that had tried to take hold at Kukui High School.

Steve and Chin obviously had a very vested interest in what happened with their alma mater, and Danny abhorred any combination of drugs and children. Kono had spent some time volunteering with at-risk youth, and had seen what happened when the kids felt like they had no other choice in life. Needless to say, this one had become personal for the entire team. Despite their efforts, however, 3 teenagers were found dead, thanks to a contaminated shipment that had been traced back to a group of local kids trying to carve out a niche for themselves on campus.

The three deceased teens were not your typical high school drug users. In talking with the families of the dead high school students, they were given much the same information regarding all three kids. Decent grades. After school jobs and/or helped around the house. Good behavior in school. They were vanilla, for lack of a better description. Nothing stood out as memorable where they were concerned.

The team had interviewed a few classmates of the kids, and reported back almost identical notes. Most of the kids they spoke with had a hard time even placing just who the victims were. A couple of them knew of their names. A few might have recognized their faces. But most had no real idea just who these kids were. None of the three dead were students who would have been considered even remotely popular, which apparently made them the perfect target for the drug distributors.

After a few dead ends, the team had finally gotten a break. They had done their homework, and were slated to make the bust within the next hour or so. They were just waiting on HPD to provide some additional manpower and backup, and they wanted to have an ambulance on standby, just in case.

Danny snorted to himself – Steve actually had agreed to wait for backup. Maybe Grace had gotten through to him? A couple of weeks ago, Danny had overheard part of a conversation she had had with him during one of their get-togethers on Steve's lanai. He hadn't heard the entire conversation, but from what he could gather, her 'friend' Tommy was mouthing off again.

As he flashed back to what he heard, he had to laugh. His daughter had managed to get through to Steve in one conversation, whereas the entire team had spent months trying to get it through the SEAL's thick skull that waiting for backup was not a bad thing.

"Uncle Steve? Can I ask you a question?" Steve could tell that Grace was tentative, so he put down the grill utensils and reached for her hand, leading her towards the chairs that faced the ocean.

He sat down and turned toward the dark haired little girl. "Sure, Gracie. What's going on? Are you okay?" He looked concerned. It wasn't like Grace to seek him out for any type of serious conversation, and he was a little apprehensive at what might be the matter.

She looked down and stared at the grass underneath her feet. "I'm okay, Uncle Steve. I'm just worried about Danno."

Steve looked toward where Danny was standing with Chin. He looked okay. Was something wrong?

"He's okay right now, Uncle Steve. But…" She trailed off, not sure how to say what was on her mind.

Steve could tell that she was struggling, and wanted to make things easier if he could. "You know, Gracie. Sometimes when you have to talk about things that are hard, it's easier to just spit it out. Don't think too much about it, and just say it."

Grace dropped her eyes to her lap for a few seconds before squaring her shoulders and taking a deep breath. "It's just…well…Tommy said that Danno was going to get really hurt working for Five-0 because you guys have a really dangerous job. He also said that his dad told him that you were a danger magnet, which is stupid, because people can't be magnets."

Steve chuckled softly. She was so much like her father when it came to her conversation skills. He forced himself back to what she was saying, not wanting to miss anything.

"…and I told him that he was being a jerk face, and that what his dad told him was wrong. You know what the word backup means don't you Uncle Steve? It's not a hard word, so that must mean that Tommy's dad was wrong, wasn't he?"

Steve shook his head. He had missed a bit of what she had to say, but he got the gist of things pretty quickly. Apparently, Tommy's dad was spouting his mouth off again, which had Tommy sharing the wealth, and which had Grace pretty afraid for Danny's safety. "Aww, Grace. Don't worry. Tommy doesn't know what he's talking about. Of course I know what the word backup means. Danno will be fine. Don't you worry."

As he said that, however, he realized that while he knew what it meant, he owed it to Grace (and to himself and the rest of his ohana) to actually practice the concept more often. Danny was his partner, as well as his best friend. It was his responsibility to do whatever he could while out in the field to make sure that Danny made it home to his daughter – that they all made it home to their loved ones.

He let out a soft grunt as Grace flung herself into his arms. "Thank you for listening, Uncle Steve. I knew Tommy was wrong. I knew you would keep Danno safe all the time. I love you."

Steve couldn't help but get choked up a little bit. It wasn't often that he allowed himself to get emotional like that. He couldn't help it where Grace was concerned, though. It was no secret that he wasn't especially comfortable around kids, but Grace had managed to chip away at his insecurities, and he quickly came to realize that there wasn't anything he wouldn't do for that little girl.

So it was because of his internal promise to Grace that he and Danny were leaning on the hood of the Camaro, a block from Kukui High School. This should be a relatively easy take-down, although it wasn't without risks. It was a half-day on campus, and there were going to be more students around than any of 5-0 were comfortable with. Hopefully by not waiting in the school's parking lot, they would avoid any of the drug sellers getting spooked ahead of time and preventing them from doing anything extremely stupid. They could get in and get out, and end this thing once and for all.

In theory, it was a good plan. The bust was not without incident, though. Danny was involved in an altercation with one of the suspects (why did they always run?), and as he tackled him to the track next to the football field, had landed wrong. He immediately felt a searing pain in his shoulder. "Shit! You dumbass! I told you not to run. Why didn't you listen to me?"

The teenager smirked. "Dude. You're old. I figured I could outrun you."

Danny roughly shoved a knee into his back, and snapped the cuffs on him one-handed. He grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt. "Up. Up. Get up." He propelled him back towards where the team was, the look on his face daring the teenager to try to run.

The pain almost took his breath away, and he had to shake his head to clear the dark spots from his vision. He had dislocated his shoulder before, but this was a whole other level of hurt. Something felt very different this time around.

He got back to where Steve was waiting, and quickly pushed his suspect into Duke's arms. As soon as he was free of his capture, he bent over at the waist and grabbed at his left shoulder. He needed to sit down, now.

Steve quickly jogged over and placed a hand on Danny's back. "Danny? What happened?" He wasn't going to ask him if he was okay – it was obvious that he wasn't.

Danny forced a breath out through his teeth. "Tackled him. Shoulder's out. Hurts." Danny wasn't a wuss by any stretch of the imagination, but he was struggling. He was starting to have some numbness down his arm along with the searing pain all through his shoulder, and was afraid that he had really done some damage this time.

Steve carefully guided him toward the waiting ambulance, as Chin and Kono met up with them.

"D? You okay?" Kono was definitely concerned at how pale Danny was, and shared a quick look with Chin.

"Um. No?" Chin moved to Danny's other side, quick to lend a hand if he was needed. They quickly got him seated on the waiting gurney, where they were glad to see one of their 'usual' paramedics on shift. Noah had come to know Five-0 – mostly through Steve and his propensity for explosions – and normally liked to joke with the team, but could tell that Danny was not in the mood, so he rapidly ran through the usual poking and prodding. He quickly got Danny on some oxygen, not liking the way the pain was stressing out his blood pressure or his breathing.

Danny blanched as the EMT tried to check for range of motion in his shoulder, and had it not been for Kono standing behind him, he may have toppled backwards off of the gurney. As it was, he had to breathe deeply to clear the tunnel vision that was threatening to pull him under.

Noah apologized, and carefully finished his exam, knowing that Danny needed to get to the hospital and get this taken care of. He gently placed a pillow in between Danny's arm and chest and used an elastic wrap to secure it in place. Once that was taken care of, he and Steve helped Danny turn so that he was resting against the back of the gurney and buckled the straps securely. They got him loaded into the back of the ambulance, before Noah motioned for his partner to head for the hospital.

The ride to the hospital didn't take too long, but Danny wasn't really paying attention. He had broken into a cold sweat, and his whole upper body felt like it was on fire. He was concentrating on keeping his stomach inside of him where it belonged, and at the same time, not breaking his 'non-puking' streak. Danny could handle pain – he had Steve for a partner – but whatever was going on with his shoulder was off the charts.

Once he arrived at the ER, things moved fairly quickly. Steve waited in the waiting room and got the paperwork sorted out, while Danny was sent for some imaging tests. Once he was back in the cubicle, he asked his nurse to find Steve and send him back. He knew that he would be stuck here a while, and the company would be welcomed.

Steve poked his head around the curtain and grinned at the slight glaze in Danny's eyes. He was on the happy juice, thank goodness. "Hey. How are you feeling?"

Danny blinked owlishly a couple of times before finally getting his thoughts together. "I think I'm numb. Which is good. So very good. Compared to earlier – I mean, damn, that sucked."

Steve could see that Danny still had his arm strapped to his side and was resting somewhat uncomfortably, but at least he was resting. "Any word from the docs yet?"

Danny shook his head. "They should be in pretty soon. They were going to read the scans and come and let me know what was going on. Hopefully it's nothing serious."

Steve nodded as there was a slight knock on the door frame. Danny motioned the doctor in once he poked his head through the curtain. "Dr. Maclean? So what's the damage?"

The middle-aged doctor caught the rolling stool with his toe and moved it towards the gurney. He plopped down with a sigh and looked at Danny while shaking his head. "There's no easy way to say this, Danny, but your shoulder is a mess. If you remember the last time you dislocated it, you were told that there was a higher likelihood of it happening again. But this time, not only are we dealing with the dislocation and a slight fracture of your collarbone, you have also damaged ligaments; and because of some of the numbness you are experiencing, I'm worried about possible nerve damage."

Danny swallowed hard at those last three words. Even though it was his left shoulder – his non-shooting shoulder – he was still worried about his career, especially if he had permanent nerve damage. There wasn't much of a job market for one-armed task force members that he knew of.

Steve lightly squeezed his unaffected shoulder, drawing him back to Dr. Maclean's explanation.

"So as I was saying, the procedure is pretty straightforward. The surgery can be done arthroscopically, although we may have to do an open repair if things are messier than we thought. Regardless of the method, though, we will go in and reset your shoulder, repair the ligament damage, and deal with the damage to the rotator cuff. I'll also have a vascular surgeon available in case we see any damage with the nerves or blood vessels, although I'll be honest when I say I don't think we're going to find any problems. The initial numbness that you felt is starting to resolve, which is great news. Surgery, provided there are no complications, will take a few hours, and then depending on your recovery, we can get you out of here a day or two after that. We really need to keep a close eye on things for the first day – fever, infection, and the like. Also, those nerves are delicate, and we want to make sure everything looks good before we send you home, especially with your job."

Danny was trying to take it all in, so Steve tried to think of what he would want to know if he were the one lying on the gurney. "Once the surgery is over and he's home again, what is the prognosis for recovery? How long before he's back up to full speed?"

Dr. Maclean took a deep breath. He had a feeling that his patient would not like his answer, but frankly, he didn't have a choice in the matter. "Provided that there are no complications, Danny is looking at a minimum of 8-10 weeks for full recovery, although that time could vary a little in either direction. He'll be in a sling following the procedure, and will need to be diligent with physical therapy in order to fully heal." Noticing that Danny was once again paying rapt attention, he turned his focus back to his patient.

"The 10 weeks is for a full recovery, although you will be able to go back to work sooner than that. You will be on restricted duty, but you will be at work. It's important that you follow your recovery plan, or you are looking at complications that you don't want. You need to have full range of motion, and full strength before we will consider your recovery complete. Please understand, though, if you push things or don't follow your rehab program, you could have to have surgery again. So please, Danny. Let us do our job."

Danny nodded, although he felt a bit like he had been kicked in the gut. At least it wasn't his shooting hand, so there was that. He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. "Okay, Doc. What's the timeline? When can we get this party started?" He knew Steve was surprised at how quickly he had agreed to everything, but Danny knew that the sooner he got this taken care of, the sooner he could get on with things.

He was due to have Grace this weekend. Stan and Rachel were in England visiting Rachel's mother, so rather than pull her out of school, Rachel had decided that Grace could stay with Danny for the entire two weeks that they would be gone. Grace was going to be spending the next two nights with her best friend, and Danny would pick her up on Friday night, as planned.

Dr. Maclean checked the computer before looking over at the detective. "You're in luck, Danny. We've got an OR free, so within the next thirty minutes or so, we'll take you back and get you prepped. We're going to go ahead and get some pre-op meds on board, so you might be a little out of it. Do you have any questions for me?"

Danny shook his head and looked at Steve. "Steve? How about you?"

Steve could tell that Danny was a little apprehensive – who wouldn't be? But it all sounded pretty straightforward. "No…I think you've covered it."

Dr. Maclean finished entering orders into the computer and reached over to shake first Danny's, and then Steve's hand. "Don't worry. We'll get him taken care of." With that, he left the curtained area to go and prep for the surgery, while a nurse came in with a variety of syringes.

It wasn't too long before Danny was starting to float, without a care in the world – all thanks to the wonders of modern medicine. Little did he know, however, that his world was about to be upended and blown to pieces. How those pieces would fall remained to be seen, but one thing was certain – things would never be the same again.

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Grace Williams might only be 10 years old, but ever since she was a little girl, her Danno had stressed the importance of always paying attention to the things around her. He never obsessed about it, but quietly taught her how to be safe, making it an important part of her everyday life.

Right now, Grace was paying attention to some very important things. She was scared, she was alone, her hands and feet were tied up and she had a cloth covering her mouth so that she couldn't cry out. It was dark, and she was getting more and more anxious with every passing moment, although she tried to stay calm like Danno had taught her. Just thinking of Danno made her want to cry from missing him, and she blinked furiously to keep the tears from falling.

Her head hurt – she thought it might be from the cloth that the man put over her face. It had a sweet smell, and now that she was starting to wake up, it was making her very sick. She vaguely remembered kicking at the men who had taken her from her nanny while she was on her way to Alana's house, and her throbbing cheek was evidence of them not being very happy with her fighting back. She was Danny Williams' daughter, however, and there was no way she was going to go anywhere quietly.

She felt a rocking motion, and assumed that she might be on the water somewhere, but couldn't hear any sounds that would clue her in to who had her or what they wanted.

What Grace couldn't tell, though, was that she was about a mile offshore, locked inside a trunk and adrift in a small boat– all because one Mr. Randall Murdock couldn't stand the fact that Detective Danny Williams had put him in prison for the past six years. Never mind that he had been convicted of selling assault weapons to a minor. It was Danny's testimony that had sealed the deal, and therefore, all of his problems were Danny's fault.

During the duration of the trial and sentencing, he had developed a twisted sense of right and wrong. Over the course of those long six years, that feeling had never gone away. While he was in prison, his marriage had fallen apart. His son wanted nothing to do with him. He had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. With all of those things weighing on him, Randall knew one thing. He truly had nothing to lose, and someone needed to pay for the wrongs that had been thrown at him. That someone was Detective Danny Williams.

Knowing people who were tech savvy was an unexpected bonus for Randall, and he used it to his advantage. Now that he was finally out of prison, he would use the information that he had collected over the years about Danny and his family. He now knew where Danny was, and just who was most important to him. He would strike quickly, and would show him what it felt like to lose everything, just as he had.

He believed that Danny owed him in some way to right the wrongs that he felt had been done to him. There was no need to worry about being caught. He really didn't have that much time left. But after this one last loose end, his work here was done.

Arranging to have Grace Williams taken away from her father would be his ultimate vow of revenge.