A/N: Me, after seeing previews for next week: OHMYGERSH, WHAT, WHY, A WEEK? NO, NO, NO, DANNO! STEVE! AHHHHH! BUILDING! DOES. NOT. COMPUTE. NO. COHERENT. THOUGHTS. And so, here we go. Based on next week's previews. ;)

"McGarrett! Danny!" I yelled again, kicking at the rubble. The sun, once burning in the sky, was slowly fading into the horizon. But I couldn't stop looking. I couldn't give up on them. "Guys?!" Tears filled my eyes. I had been yelling their names all day. Ever since the bomb went off. Ever since I'd lost every contact I had with the two people I loved most in the world. "Guys?" I whispered.

Kono jogged over after talking to Chin, who had left soon after. "Come on, Phoenix. We need to go."

"Kono, they're there. They're okay." I sobbed.

She enveloped me in a hug, squeezing my shuddering form. "They're gone, Nix. They would've run out of oxygen by now. I'm sorry."

"They wouldn't give up on us, Kono! Why should we give up on them?!"

The rookie gave me an unreadable look. Then she sighed. "Only an hour. Then you have to promise me that you'll let me take you home. Deal?"

In response I broke away from her, screaming their names once again. My voice was raw with emotion, cracking from the dryness. With all of the yelling I did today, I wouldn't be surprised if I could even speak tomorrow. Already it was hoarse from overuse. But I didn't care. "Danno!" my leg caught on a piece of metal wire, and a concrete slab scraped it when my legs tangled slightly. I didn't even wince as I felt the warm blood trickle down my knee. "Steve?!"

The sun disappeared completely behind the industrial equipment, the moon glowing softly. My heart broke as the hour I was given ticked to an end. Kono stood behind me, but stayed quiet. I stared at the sky above us. "He promised me to always be there. Both of them."

She squeezed my hand, tugging my arm. "You can stay at my house tonight, in case anything happens." Unspoken was how I would react to the empty house that symbolized what had happened today.

Wordlessly, I let her guide me to the car. As the compound disappeared in the rearview, so did any remnants of what was left of my hope. The world slowly faded as darkness welcomed me with open arms, tears and nightmares plaguing my sleep.

"Danny, how long have you think we've been down here?" I managed, shivering in the dark. Cement was piled around us, and what little light had penetrated the mounds before had faded long ago. It was also obvious the air was slowly getting thinner and thinner, the oxygen leaving the room at a faster pace than I would have liked.

There was a cough as Danny shifted beside me. "The bomb went off at four, I think. So five hours, give or take."

"Still no luck?" I asked. He knew immediately what I was questioning about. The link he and Phoenix shared that was supposed to withstand even thousands of miles mysteriously stopped working. We guessed it was because we were so far underground and out of their father's domain. Either way, it did nothing to help our circumstances.

"Even if I could get a hold of Phoenix, she's probably out right now, sleeping with too many nightmares." he shuddered. "She probably isn't taking this the best."

I laughed bitterly. "Probably? Danno, she was heartbroken when I was 'dead' before! She almost-"

"Don't go there." he spat at me, not wanting that particular memory. "She has Kono and Chin this time. And they won't let her out of their sight. We both know that."

Hacking up more dust, I curled into myself. My partner shifted next to me, sitting so we were arm to arm. There was a small silence for a second before I shook my head in anger and frustration, staring longingly at what I thought to be the ceiling. "Danny, this wasn't supposed to happen. There wasn't going to be anymore deployments. The Shelburne and Wo Fat mess is supposedly starting to wind down."

"You realize you're talking about yourself, Mr. Danger Magnet."

My stomach twisted. "I know, Danny. But-" I sighed. "Phoenix doesn't deserve someone who is half dead at least once a year, or at least hurt in some way, shape, or form every week. She deserves someone who's always there for her, loving her every second. Someone who isn't as broken as I am."

There was a beat of silence, and I felt Danny's eyes studying my face. "Maybe. Maybe she does deserve better. But she loves you. So whether you like it or not, she doesn't want anyone else. She wants you. Not somebody who's perfect. Phoenix is just as rough around the edges as you are, and she wants someone who can relate."

I gave him a small invisible smile. "She's not near as broken as I am. But I won't leave her, not as long as she wants me around."

"I'll take that."

I picked at the rock by me. "You know, it wasn't supposed to end like this. It's too soon."

He exhaled deeply, coughing slightly. "Ditto. I'll never see Grace grow up. Or even get a girlfriend that appreciates the job."

"Agreed. I had everything planned out, Danno, starting when the Wo Fat situation blew over. Preferably when he was dead." I wistfully began. "We'd get married, have a few kids. I'd stay with Five-0, but keep the stunts to a minimum. If I got lucky, then I would be able to get her to quit so she'd be safe at home."

He grabbed my hand and squeezed it. "There's still time. When we get out of here."

"When?"

"Yeah. When. But you have to promise me something. If - and when I say if, I mean when - you do get out of this alive, don't waste time. Life is short. Those promise rings were nice for the both of you, but it's not enough anymore. Trust me. Even if marriage is a stupid word that messes up almost all relationships . . . I think that you two can pull it off."

My heart clenched. "Danny, if something miraculous happens and we get out of here alive, I swear that's on the top of my list."

"Good. You're never gonna know what you can miss until it's gone and past. Now get some sleep, I'll take first watch."

Almost immediately, I vetoed the idea. "Danno, I'm fine, you should-"

"If someone is around, you'll hear me yelling." he promised.

I nodded before realizing once again that it was pitch black. "Night, Danno. I'll get us out of this."

"Just get some sleep, Super SEAL."

My eyes closed as I fingered the empty band of skin on my finger. My promise ring was one of the first things I noticed was gone, long before my phone and weapon. And to be honest, it was almost worse than either of them. It was my connection to Phoenix, my motivation. I leaned back into the concrete. Sleep. I needed to sleep. Forcing the deep black of unconsciousness to take over my mind, I slipped away seconds later.

My throat burned when I awoke in a different bed. I tried speaking. Just as I had predicted, nothing came out. Tears prickled my cheeks. It wasn't a nightmare, like I had hoped. It had actually happened. I managed to get out of bed and trudge into the kitchen. Kono looked up from a cup of coffee, dark circles underneath her eyes. The look she gave me was a clear enough indication of how the search was going.

"I wanna-" I cleared my throat, trying to get my voice to actually make more than a croaking noise. "Go and look again."

"I don't think that's a good idea." she replied slowly, glancing at the clock. I did so too, reading seven thirty-two AM.

Standing taller, I gave her a look. "I need to look one last time, Kono. I need to finish one more round. I need," I coughed slightly, "to see it one last time before I give up on them."

When she gave me another worried look, I gave her my best set of kicked puppy dog eyes. Almost immediately Kono gave in. "Okay. The construction crews are just starting to clean up the worst of the mess, so stay out of there way."

"Of course." I muttered as she grabbed her keys. Even though I was in the same tattered clothes as the day before, there was no motivation to do anything about it. So I guess it was really no surprise when we pulled up and started walking that people stared openly. Their gazes made no difference to me.

Now to Kono, it was a different story. She gave them harsh, burning, death glares every time someone even looked in our direction. It was her coping in her own way, I supposed. She felt some sort of duty to protect me now that I had no one. I felt a pang in my heart. I had no one. "Kono," I whispered, "You mind waiting here?"

"No, go ahead." she kissed my dirty forehead affectionately like the sister she pretty much was.

I took a deep breath and walked towards the worst of the wreckage. Tears streamed down my face as I stopped abruptly just in front of where I had been standing when it all happened, just about a mile out. Chin and Kono had taken me with them, and we were supposed to meet the other two here. But they had gone in without us. Most likely McGarrett's idea.

My feet carried me a few more feet, climbing a bit deeper into the wreckage, farther than I ever had before. My feet slipped slightly on the upturned concrete as I climbed to one of the high points. My eyes scanned the disaster area. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. My head hung low, I started to climb down to meet with Kono.

A glint a few meters away caught my eye.

Absently glancing at it fully, I kept going. Then stopped in my tracks as I did a double take. "Kono!" I screamed. "Here! Over here!"

Almost immediately she started a dead sprint towards me as I disappeared behind a barrier of cement and picked up a small item from the ground. "Phoenix, are you okay? Please don't be hurt, I can't lose you t-" she stopped mid ramble, seeing the object in my hand. "Is that . . ."

"McGarrett's ring." I confirmed. "They're here. I can tell, Kono. They're here somewhere."

"Can I get some equipment over here?!" She yelled at the managers of the site. "Phoenix, go to the car."

Shock and betrayal filled me, my mouth dropping. "Kono, you can't d-"

"I can and I will. Phoenix, if they aren't alive . . ." she gulped back tears. "Then you don't want to remember them like this. Now go."

I don't remember nodding or walking back to the car. Or how much time passed that I was sitting in it. I just kept turning the ring, the brother to my own, over and over in my hand. Clutching it for dear life, I stared at the bulldozer that brought tons upon tons of rock away from the area that I found my life line. An ambulance pulled up on standby. Rain, such an oddity in Hawaii, started pouring.

Everything came to a standstill in the distance. My heart went into overtime. The paramedics got the stretcher out, running at full speed towards the site, coming back with a passenger a minute later. A very live one. One with blonde hair. The door of the car flew ajar and I ran to them, yelling his name through joyous tears.

Danny's eyes filled with relief. I'm okay, Nixxy. We're okay. We're okay. A familiar voice whispered in my mind. Go see him, he refused the stretcher. As pigheaded as always.

I love you, Danno. I got out, running in the other direction.

A ghost of a smile made its way into my thoughts, then disappeared just as quickly. Two men supported another down the walls of cement. His name fell silently from my lips. McGarrett. My legs ran faster than ever before as it finally came out. "McGarrett!"

His head shot up, eyes tired but relieved. He waved the two crewmen away before I launched myself into his arms. "McGarrett." I sobbed. "McGarrett, McGarrett, McGarrett." his name was sweet on my lips.

To my surprise, I could feel tears in my hair. "Nix, I'm sorry. I didn't wait for backup. I was stupid. Like usual." he switched from self hatred to loving in a matter of seconds seeing my sobs only get worse. "I love you. I love you more than you'll ever know."

I kissed his neck with feather light touches, the best I could do with so many people around. I didn't care he was covered head to toe in soot and powdery cement. "I love you too." I croaked through hiccups.

He kissed my head, holding me close, as I pushed the ring back onto his finger. I felt him tense in surprise before only squeezing me tighter. "That's how you found us?" When I nodded, he only shook his head in disbelief. "Phoenix, now is probably not a good time, but I don't want this as a promise ring anymore."

My body went rigid with shock and betrayal as I leaned away. But the look he gave me changed it all. "I don't want to wait any longer. I want you to marry me."

I managed a sharp laugh. "You need to work on your romantic moments, McGarrett."

"Is that a yes?"

I pressed my forehead against his, using Mist to cloud the mortals' eyes. "Yes. Of course. Yes. Yes. Yes."

He captured his lips in mine, kissing me with such ferocity my mind completely short-circuited. I quickly broke away, layering the Mist on the others more. "Later."

The happy look he gave me was enough. "Later, Phoenix McGarrett."

I shuddered, loving the way it sounded. "Not yet."

A charming smile. "But soon. Very soon."

A paramedic approached, breaking the moment, but I didn't mind. My stomach was filled with happy butterflies and an almost high feeling filtered through my veins, clouding my mind. Phoenix McGarrett. I could get used to it, and hopefully, very soon.