Title: Desperate Situation
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Greg Sanders/Steve McGarrett
Fandom: CSI: Vegas/Hawaii Five-0
Rating: PG-13
Table: Horror, mission_insane
Prompt: 4, Killer
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Greg Sanders or Steve McGarrett, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Steve shook his head as he looked around the room at the rest of the team. "Wentworth is a killer. He's already murdered three people in the last three days. That's three murders on our watch, guys. We've got to catch him before any more innocent people die."

"Not so easy to do when he knows that we're onto him, boss," Kono said with a sigh, shaking her head. "He's managed to elude everything we've done so far. We're not going to be able to catch him by normal routes. We're going to have to set a trap for him to walk into."

"You got that right," Danny chimed in. "The problem is, how to create a trap that he's not going to be smart enough to realize is a trap. This guy always seems to be a few steps ahead of us, no matter what we do. He's not your garden-variety criminal."

Steve nodded, glancing at his watch. Greg hadn't shown up yet, and he'd said that he wanted all the members of their team here, even the young CSI. Greg didn't always sit in on their team meetings, but he was involved in trying to catch Wentworth just as much as the rest of the team was.

Besides, he wanted his boyfriend here. For some reason, he felt uneasy about this case; he wanted to be sure that Greg was completely in the loop on everything they were doing. Ever since Wo Fat's goons had kidnapped Greg, Steve tried to watch over him more carefully.

He was sure that Wentworth could prove to be even more dangerous than Wo Fat was, and he wanted Greg to know exactly what he was involved in by working on this case. He wasn't always safe in the crime lab; too often for Steve's taste, he was right in the thick of things.

Which meant that he should be here now. Steve frowned as he looked at his watch; it wasn't like Greg to be late, especially when he knew that they were going to try to come up with a way to trap a killer they'd been trying to find for a while now.

He had a bad feeling about this, one that he didn't want to let anyone else know about for fear that he would sound paranoid. Everyone knew that he was trying to keep a closer eye on Greg since his boyfriend had been kidnapped; they might think he was being too watchful.

After all, Greg was a grown man. He could take care of himself -- well, unless he was jumped unexpectedly, as Wo Fat's thugs had done. But other than being taken by surprise, Greg could hold his own. Steve knew that he shouldn't worry about his boyfriend so much.

Still, he couldn't get rid of the feeling that something wasn't quite right here. Greg should have show up before he did; his boyfriend had no reason not to be here. He was working directly for the 5-0 team; there were no other major cases that he was dealing with at the moment.

So where was he? Steve turned as he heard a knock on the door, expecting to see Greg coming in; instead, he was surprised to see a man carrying a package, holding it out to him with a smile. "Sorry to disturb you, sir, but I was told that this was a priority."

"Thanks." Steve took the package from the man, signing his name on a delivery slip. Whatever it was, he didn't think it could have anything to do with their current case -- and there was no return address on the plain brown package, which made him feel uneasy.

Slowly, he unwrapped the package -- revealing a small white box. With shaking hands, Steve lifted the top from the box; he had a bad feeling about what he would find inside, and he was almost afraid to look inside. He was sure that he wouldn't like what he was going to find.

Inside the box, there was a small lock of hair -- obviously Greg's hair, from the color and texture of it. Steve was sure that he knew what the folded note enclosed in the box would say before he opened it; he could feel his stomach muscles tightening, as though he'd been punched in the gut.

The note was brief, just one short line.

Meet me at the cave mouth of Kilauea at midnight or your boyfriend dies.

Sreve stared at the paper for what seemed like an eternity, feeling sick and dizzy. It was hard to believe that Greg's life was being threatened again, so soon after the last time. But this was proof that his boyfriend was again in danger -- and this time, rescuing him might not be so easy.

This time, Greg hadn't been kidnapped by a gang of thugs working for a killer -- but by a killer himself. Steve had no doubt that Wentworth would kill Greg if the 5-0 team didn't do as he told them -- or, rather, if he himself didn't face Wentworth alone.

The rest of the team was looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to tell them what was in the box. Without saying a word, he handed it to Kono, who gasped and turned pale when she was the lock of hair. "Th-that's Greg's hair," she whispered, not touching it. "He's in trouble."

"Wentworth has him," Steve replied, his voice grim. "And we all know that if the whole team shows up to that meeting he specified in that note, Greg's as good as dead. This is different from when Wo Fat's goons had him. Wentworth won't hesitate to kill him in a heartbeat."

"So what do we do?" Chin asked, frowning and crossing his arms. "We're not going to let you walk into a confrontation with Wentworth alone, Steve. He'll kill you just as quickly as he'll kill Greg. And none of us want to take a chance on losing either one of you."

"I have to go alone," Steve said quietly, raising a hand to stop Chin's words. "I know you guys want to protect me, but I have to do this alone. I'm not taking a chance on him seeing anyone else and killing Greg before I can get to him. I'm sorry, but I won't put Greg's life at risk."

"What about your own life?" Danny asked, stepping forward. "Steve, you can't go in there alone. If you do, then you're both as good as dead. I don't know about you, but I don't think that's a winning situation. We've got to find a way to get Greg away from him without risking both your lives."

Steve shook his head in frustration, wishing that he could make the team understand why he couldn't let them go along with him. He'd dealt with Wentworth before; he knew how cold and calculating the man was. He knew from personal experience that he would lose everything if he didn't go alone.

"Please," he whispered, looking at each of his team members in turn. "Just trust me. I have to do this alone. I'm going to be as careful as I can -- but I can't let you guys go with me. If you do, then Greg is dead. And if he's gone --" Steve took a deep breath, almost unable to speak. "Then I've got no reason to live."

One by one, Kono, Chin and Danny nodded, though he could sense the reluctance behind their movements. He wouldn't be surprised if one -- or more than likely, all -- of them tried to follow him to the rendezvous, thinking that they were doing the right thing.

If that happened, then he would just have to find a way to outwit them and lose them along the way. He wasn't going to let them end up in the middle of this -- and he wasn't going to let any of his team unknowingly risk the life of the man he loved.

Steve looked at his watch again, heaving a sigh. It was a long time until midnight -- and that might give him some time to think of a plan. Or he could head to Kilauea now -- and hope that something came to him along the way, before he had to face Wentworth alone and unprotected.

He had no idea what he was going to do, but he did know one thing. He was going to do all that he could to get Greg out of there, and to protect his boyfriend no matter what the cost might be to himself. If he was destined to die while saving Greg's life, then he would accept that fate.

Wentworth was a killer; there was no denying that fact. And he might be putting his life on the line along with Greg's if he couldn't come up with some kind of solution to get them both of this desperate situation. He had to think of something, and time was already running out.

***