I'm rockin' and rollin' people! This will be another three possibly four shot story, why? Because it's almost finished I just need to see how many words it is so I can divide it properly into chapters.

Have I mentioned I'm on a Steve-whump kick? For those reviewers and readers who might recognize a familiar character from my most recent 3-shot story, your reviews made me post this. I blame you, LOL! That said, it isn't necessary in the least to read "The Hunt" to follow and hopefully enjoy this short 3 possibly 4 shot.

Also PS, I'm not a hunter myself though I appreciate those who live off the land and hunt only to use every single bit of the animal to survive. It's not a sport, it's a way of life and shame on those who kill big game for fun.

Thank ye kindly!

Oz

Danny couldn't breathe, he couldn't think, there was just no way what he thought just happened... well... HAPPENED.

A little over two weeks ago, Steve had approached him brandishing hunting licenses for both of them. Danny had scoffed at the idea, almost busted a gut laughing at the very idea that Steve thought he was going to traipse into the jungle, be "one" with nature and shoot an animal. A dangerous animal undoubtedly large enough to do serious harm to his body should he miss.

But then, his fearless leader, the manipulative bastard, had appealed not to the idea of spending time in the jungle but rather the manly act of hunting. It was in man's DNA to hunt and provide for their family and since Danny now refused to go back out on a boat deep sea fishing, hunting a boar apparently seemed like the next best thing.

"Provide for your daughter, Danno," Steve had said. "It'll be fun," he said. "We'll catch a boar and then Luau in your honour of being a man's man," he said.

Damn him, Danny thought to himself as he tried to still his shaking hands. More so, damn himself for being sucked in by that smug grin and challenging gaze. Steve might as well have called him "chicken" and ever the proud man, Danny had folded like a deck of cards and agreed to the experience.

Which lead to the problem, the stunningly horrific problem he now faced.

A short while ago, Danny could have sworn he saw a boar, he knew he heard it, so using all the training Steve had given him combined with his own shooting skills; he'd patiently waited for the right moment then taken the shot.

Only to hear a cry of pain, seconds later... A human cry.

No. No, no, no, no, no, NO; was Danny's first and foremost thought. It couldn't possibly be…

"Steve?!" Danny called out rising from his shooting position. Receiving no answer the detective immediately charged in the direction of his shot. "STEVE!" he hollered.

Please let me be wrong, Danny silently cursed as he charged through the bush.

"STEVE! Where are you!?" Danny yelled. He could have sworn the man had said he was going to be off Danny's back-left shoulder. In fact, the last time Danny had glanced back, he saw the scope of his partner's rifle. Steve had given him a thumbs up... so what the hell had happened? Yes he'd focused on the boar and it's sounds long enough for Steve to have moved but why the hell would the idiot have-

Danny came to a jarring stop and nearly swallowed his tongue, it was confirmed by the sight before him; he'd just shot his best friend. Steve lay splayed out on ground clutching a ragged and bloody wound in his shoulder and his eyes screwed shut in pain.

"Shit," Danny cursed. He quickly got to his friend's side and ripping the first aid kit out of his pack he quickly found some gauze then moved Steve's hand to press it against the wound.

"Aaaah," Steve hissed. It seemed to bring him around as he looked up at Danny in blurry-eyed shock. "Danny?"

"I'm sorry... damn, I'm so sorry... I swear... I thought... Steve..."

"Call rescue," Steve muttered. His eye lids were fluttering, he wasn't going to stay conscious for long if the flowing blood was any indication of that. "Sat phone..."

"Right," Danny said in a bit of a panic. He kept one hand pressed to the wound and pulled out their phone. Shortly after making the call to Grover and the rest of Five-0, Steve passed out leaving Danny alone with his damning thoughts. He'd shot his best friend. He'd shot his partner. He shot another human being without any reason to do so.

Just when the helicopter flew over heralding paramedics would soon be coming to them with a stretcher to get Steve out of the jungle, the SEAL decided to come too again.

"D'ny," the man slurred badly. "S'okay... w'sn't y'fault..."

"Just hang on Steve, helps almost here okay?" he urged. The pale man nodded but then his eyes once again started to close... this was bad.

"Medics!" a voice called out.

"Here! Over here!" Danny yelled. He only allowed himself a little bit of relief when Steve was quickly swarmed by medical help and loaded onto a stretcher. It was only when two more uniforms appeared to help lift Steve did Danny realize the paramedics hadn't come alone. It didn't matter however; he went to at least help lift his friend when a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Hang on Danny," said a familiar voice. "They've got him." Tearing his eyes away from his partner's still and pale form as it disappeared beyond the tree line, Danny turned to the voice. Josey Lafayette was one of the Game Wardens for Hawaii. He'd originally come from Montana but after a pretty unique case that had the man brought to the islands quite literally; it seemed Josey never wanted to leave. Odd considering he'd almost died during that case. Still ever since the event, he'd remained fast friends with Five-0 as many others did who owed their lives to the teams efforts.

"Josey... what are you doing here?" Danny asked still shaking a bit. An odd and sympathetic look crossed the man's face.

"They uh… usually call us in for stuff like this," Josey said gently.

"Stuff like this?" Danny asked confused. The Warden pointedly looked at the rifle that was still slung over the detective's shoulder. It took Danny a split second of horror to realize what "stuff like this" as Josey had very kindly put it, was.

"Sorry, Danny, I gotta take the rifle," he said reaching out. Having known Josey for a while now, Danny understood what was happening and his face flushed with shame. With trembling hands he handed off his rifle not able to look his friend in the eye. HPD would be out to process the scene once the Wardens service came to the conclusion that the "hunting accident" was more than that. And there was no doubt that this was more than that. It was just a matter of deeming it a true accident or if Danny had meant to take the shot at his partner.

He hadn't, of course, but that wasn't up to him to decide.

"A second chopper is coming in to take us out," Josey explained. Then after a pause he asked, "Danny what happened?" as gently as possible. Danny sucked in a deep breath and blew it out slowly.

"It was a boar," Danny whooshed out. "And Steve was right behind me, I KNOW he was right behind me. I didn't... I didn't mean to..." Shoot him; Danny thought the last part as he just couldn't bring himself to say the words again.

Just then another Warden approached from the opposite direction of the helicopter, he glanced at Josey and shook his head.

"There are signs of one but no boar," he said.

"Okay," Josey nodded. He put a hand on Danny's shoulder, whether to contain him or comfort him, the detective was to in shock to know. Above them the second helicopter hovered over before heading to the closest clearing. "I'm sure it was an accident Danny," Josey urged. "It'll be okay, Steve'll be fine." Danny didn't reply. He couldn't. He just allowed himself to be guided back through the jungle to the waiting helicopter.

Thankfully, Josey had been kind enough to take Danny to the hospital to meet the other members of Five-0 and wait for information on Steve's condition. It didn't go unnoticed however that the Warden was staying as close as possible. Danny didn't blame the man; he was doing his job as he should. Allowing Danny the chance to find out how Steve was doing before the investigation started was more than a kindness on the Wardens part.

When he entered the waiting room, Chin and Lou stood up.

"We haven't heard anything yet," Chin said. "They took him to surgery almost as soon as they got him here. All they told us was he lost a lot of blood." Danny closed his eyes and wavered a bit, if Steve died...

"Easy," Josey said. "Come on sit down Danny, we don't need you passing out from shock." Finally seated with the others around him Danny opened his eyes as his gut filled with remorse, anger, guilt and shame.

"I shot him," he finally said out loud. Lou and Chin went wide-eyed. "I shot him and if he dies, I murdered a decorated Navy SEAL and state officer, my partner and my best friend."

"He's not going to die," Lou stated firmly and quickly. "And I don't believe for a second you're to blame for this."

"Lou..." Danny tried.

"No Danny, he's right," Chin jumped in. "Steve's a "warhorse", he wont go down without a fight and as for it being your fault, brah something had to have gone wrong out there."

"I thought he was behind me and he wasn't," Danny shot back. "I lost track of my partner and still took the shot... that's still a pretty big hunting no-no isn't it Josey?" The Warden winced but nodded.

"Technically," he replied though clearly bothered he had to admit the truth. Danny turned back to the other men trying to convey how sorry he was.

"I'm sorry guys, I blew it," he sighed.

"The scene still needs to be looked at," Josey tried. "Maybe Steve moved at the last second and-"

"So it's HIS fault he got shot?" Danny asked incredulously.

"No but it's possible he moved because he saw something and wasn't thinking about potential consequences," Josey explained. "I've seen it before, hunters so focused on the kill and jacked up on adrenaline that they don't even realize they've walked into the line of fire."

"Yeah that still sounds like you're blaming Steve," Danny growled. "I shot him, I had control of the weapon, it's MY fault okay!?"

"Danny you gotta calm down," Lou urged. "Let's just make sure Steve's okay before placing any blame."

"He's right, Kono's going out to the sight with HPD to check things out," Chin added. "She'll call when she's got something so for now there's nothing we can do but wait."

"Yeah," Danny huffed sinking lower into his chair and unable to meet any of his friend's eyes. "Wait to see if I'm charged with attempted murder or plain old murder." No one said anything after that; they knew there was nothing they could do to make the Detective stop from blaming himself.

Three long hours later, a man in surgical scrubs came right up to the team causing everyone to stand.

"Gentlemen, I'm Doctor Koa, I operated on Commander McGarrett."

"Is he going to be okay?" Danny asked.

"He is a very, VERY lucky man," the doctor replied. "His wounds were clear through and through's. They were considerable in size and one did knick an artery, hence the blood loss but they missed anything else vital. Thanks to the quick responses of you detective and the flight medics the Commander's got a strong fighting chance. The only concern at the moment is the blood loss. I won't lie, his heart stopped once on the table because of it but we got him back quickly. We're transfusing him with blood and monitoring him closely in the ICU until he wakes up."

"But he will, right? Wake up, I mean," Danny asked.

"If your team's reputation is anything to go by, Detective, I'd say a very strong definitely," Dr Koa nodded. "The next 24 - 48 hours are crucial but... he's strong and extremely healthy, that goes in his favor. Once we get him settled I'll allow you to visit one at a time. Any questions?" Danny couldn't think of any as he was struck dumb by the fact that Steve was going to be okay.

"Not right now, thanks Doctor," Chin said putting a hand on Danny's shoulder.

"Hang on," Josey spoke up. "Doc you said his wounds? As in plural?" The doctor nodded.

"Yes, it's what made the area such a mess," Dr. Koa explained. "The bullets entered in a tight grouping in his shoulder, it would have been extremely painful... am I missing something Warden?"

"Yeah," Josey nodded. "Danny you said you only fired once." Blinking and forcing his mind to focus, he thought back to that horrific moment. He'd cocked the rifle and pulled the trigger... Once, only a single bullet.

"I'm sure of it," he nodded. A deeply pensive look came over Josey's face; he looked away for a second then back to the doctor again.

"Doc any chance you could venture a guess on the angle of the shots?" he asked.

"Well I'm not a forensic scientist but if I had to guess I'd say high and from behind," the doctor shrugged. "That's why the front of the wound was bigger and messier; it was the exit point of two high powered shots." For a horrifying second, Danny thought he hadn't just shot his friend, he'd shot him in the back. "Now if there's anything else the nurses know where to find me and one will come get you when the Commander is ready for visitors." The doctor gone, the group turned toward the Warden.

"What are you thinking Josey?" Chin asked.

"I'm thinking Danny didn't shoot the Commander," Josey's voice echoed through his brain and he looked at the man in confusion.

"How do you figure?" he asked.

"High and in the back? High powered shots? Danny, the rifle you were using wouldn't have caused that much damage even if you did shoot twice. That and if Steve had circled around to cover the boar from another angle, he still would have been facing you," Josey explained. Danny didn't dare hope... but secretly started to pray what he was hearing was true.

"You're saying you think someone else was out there?" Chin asked.

"I'd bet money on it," Josey nodded. Then smiled at Danny, "Plus... I don't think the detective is that good a shot," he joked.

"I'll call Kono, let her know they may be searching for a shooter," Lou said pulling out his cell phone. Danny wanted to believe it but there was still something holding him back.

"I only heard one shot and it was mine," he said with certainty.

"By what the doctor said, it sounds like the bullet wounds were in an expert level grouping," Chin said clearly getting on board with Josey's idea. "Taken in rapid succession... I've hunted in that area Danny, there's a strong echo off the cliffs. It's entirely possible whoever shot Steve used your shot to cover their own. You didn't hear the second shot because you probably thought it was just your echo." Danny just blinked, it was so plausible, so believable... then he remembered what Steve had said to him in his brief moments of consciousness.

"He said it wasn't my fault," Danny breathed out.

"Steve?" Chin asked.

"Yeah, just before he passed out again... that's all he got out, that it wasn't my fault," Danny said. Finally Danny let it sink in, at least enough that he was willing to entertain the idea that he was innocent of his friends shooting; he'd wait until the evidence was in to be sure. But just the idea and having people around him believe in him more than he did allowed the vice grip on his heart to release just a little bit. "He could have seen something and... that's why he might have moved from behind me," Danny breathed.

"He must have, Steve's a good hunter but he's a better sniper, he wouldn't get caught up in adrenaline and put himself at risk for no reason," Chin nodded. Just then Lou came back shaking his head.

"Kono already knew we're looking for a different shooter," he said.

"What? What did she find?" Danny asked.

"HPD were searching a mountain ridge line close to and in the sight line of where you were hunting," Lou replied. "They found an abandoned sniper rifle hidden under some foliage."

"Sniper rifle?!" Danny exclaimed.

"Someone was purposefully out there to hit Steve and make it look like a hunting accident," Josey said shaking his head.

"That's the thing," Lou said. "The clearest line of sight wasn't to where Steve got hit... it was to where Danny was laying."

"Me?" Danny practically choked. He had to sit down, he dropped back into the chair he'd been sitting in and tried to make sense of it all. A few hours ago he'd been convinced he'd shot his partner, now not only was the real shooter on the loose but apparently he was gunning for the detective, not Steve.

"Steve must have seen him or the scope and went to closer to check it out," Josey replied. The gut wrenching guilt returned full force as he realized what that meant.

"He took the bullets meant for me," Danny said almost in disbelief. "That… stupid self sacrificing moron Rambo GI Joe action hero smug bastard took the shots that should have hit me!"

"Getting upset isn't going to solve anything Danny," Lou replied. "Particularly getting pissed at Steve."

"Until we get this sorted Steve would want someone with Danny at all times," Chin said. "We'll also need to pull any threats made toward him and have HPD analyze them for any potential suspects."

"What can I do to help?" Josey asked.

"You can get the Wardens to check to see if there's been any strange activity in the area," Chin replied. "Talk to any residences that live close by, see if they've seen anything."

"Will do," Josey nodded. Then he looked at Danny who was still to stunned to really think properly. "We'll get this guy Danny and Steve'll be fine," he encouraged. The detective forced himself from daze and nodded. He stood up and tried to collect himself.

"I should make a list... anyone I think might want me or Steve dead," he said. "I should get back to the office and-"

"Your list can wait Danny," Lou said with empathy. "Something tells me you're not going to be any good to anyone until you see Steve's okay with your own eyes."

"Agreed," Chin nodded. "Lou, Kono and I can handle this for now, we'll get an HPD officer to stand guard outside Steve's ICU for both your sakes."

"Fine," Danny relented. "But keep me in the loop... I want whoever did this and I want to look them in the eye when we catch them."

"You will, Danny," Chin said giving his shoulder a squeeze. Just then a nurse appeared with a smile.

"The Commander's ready for visitors," she said. With a final gaze of certainty from the other men around him Danny turned to follow the nurse.

The next morning Danny still sat diligently as his partner's bed side. The man looked like hell, he was pale as a ghost and most of his upper body was wrapped in gauze and had been immobilized. An oxygen mask over Steve's mouth and nose clouded every now and then giving the good sign that the man was breathing normally on his own.

When visiting hours ended the night before, Danny had spun a line that he was there on protection detail and the HPD officer outside was as well for backup sake. The doctor and nurses looked like they didn't buy it for a second but they'd taken pity on him and let him stay. He'd spoken to Chin a short while ago who said they didn't get anything from the sniper rifle but they'd found some evidence of a person who'd been camped out in the woods. Josey as well was headed out to interview a local land owner who'd apparently been noticing some odd things disappearing from his home and land. Things that one could use to survive in the elements and that had conveniently been disappearing for the last two weeks or so. Right when Steve had introduced Danny to their new hunting licenses.

Confident the team was handling things without him, Danny remained at his partner's side after Chin promised they'd be in later to check in. Steve's moan drew Danny from the pad and pen in his hands; he'd decided to start writing down names of people he thought could potentially be out to get him or even Steve. Yes Danny had been in the main sight line but that didn't mean the shooter wasn't out to get both of them.

"Eh babe, you with me? Steve?" Danny urged standing next to the man's hospital bed. The Navy SEAL moaned again but turned his head slightly toward the sound of Danny's voice. "Come on McGarrett that's enough nap time, open your eyes you lazy bum," the detective ordered. Ever the soldier, Steve's eyes took a moment but then blearily blinked opened and found Danny's. "Hey," the detective smiled.

"Nngh.. h'pn'd?" Steve slurred.

"We were hunting," Danny said as he pressed the call button for a nurse. "You got shot." Steve's drugged gaze wavered a bit but a second later his eyes sharpened with amazing clarity.

"Sniper," he said trying to pull his oxygen mask off his face with his free hand. "There was a sniper."

"There was don't worry, we're working on it," Danny said. "Will you stop that? Easy! You need the mask as long as the doctor says." Steve struggled a bit more but the fight soon left him and he settled for looking at Danny with a hard look.

"He was aiming-"

"At me, I know," Danny replied. "And you decided to be a hero and take the hit for me didn't you?" Steve's eyes glazed a bit more as it appeared the adrenal kick had left him just as soon as it came.

"Wsn't goina let'im shoot you, Danno," he muttered. Then added, "M'tired."

"Get some rest then," Danny said with a shrug. Steve snorted softly.

"Y'just woke me up," he replied sounding slightly annoyed and confused.

"I'm a complicated guy," Danny smiled. His partner snorted a quiet laugh as the pull of drugs and fatigue brought his eyes closed again just as the nurse stepped through the door. "He woke up," Danny explained proudly. The nurse nodded and agreed to go get the doctor allowing the detective to take up his seat once more and frown at his ever growing list of suspects.

He was going to need more paper.

Got little to say here cause I'm working on the edit of the next chapter! See you soon and thanks for reading, reviewing and favoriting my stories. I appreciate it and am truely honoured.

Onward! *cracks whip on current writing binge*

Oz