So I know I'm supposed to be working on my other story, which I am I promise lol Just had to write this little ficlet hehe. I really liked the episode but of course we all know they won't really touch on what happens after the episode so this was my own version of it.
Enjoy :).
The minute Danny opened that door his heart fell to his stomach. A dead Wo Fat at his feet meant nothing right now, not when Steve was a few feet away laying motionless. It took everything in him to keep his gun trained looking for anymore threats instead of just running to the side of his fallen partner. Steve wasn't moving and Danny hadn't even realized that he had said Steve's name.
"Steve..." It came out weak, it came out broken, but he wanted Steve to sit up, needed Steve to still be alive.
Once he safely assured that no one else was in the room he made his way over to Steve and knelt down.
"Steve you alright?"
"Imalright," Steve's body jerked up immediately as Danny and Chin got a steady hold of him.
"You're alright, you're alright c'mon," they eased him into a sitting position against some shelves
"You alright?" Danny placed a steady hand on the back of Steve's neck, partly hoping to ground Steve but also partly out of pure selfishness of needing that closeness with him, because they had just come that close to losing him...again. "You alright?"
"Yeah."
Danny took in Steve's wide eyes and dilated pupils and knew that he definitely was not alright and his suspicions were confirmed by the next words out of Steve's mouth.
"Yeah, where's my father?"
Danny was sure he had stopped breathing as he watched Steve start scanning the room trying to find his dad.
"Where's my father?"
This was not happening.
"I wanna see him," everyone was frozen in spot not knowing what to do or say. "I wanna see my dad."
Danny hated Wo Fat with every fiber of his being, if the man wasn't already dead Danny would've walked over right now and put a bullet through his eyes.
Never in a million years did Danny think he would ever have to remind Steve that his dad was dead. Why was this happening, what did Steve do to deserve any of this?
Danny tightened his grip around the back of Steve's neck to try and ground him before he broke the news.
"Buddy, your dad died 4 years ago okay," Danny's heart broke as that sentence left his mouth and as he looked up and saw the confusion and heart break in Steve's eyes it took everything in Danny not to completely break down himself. To have to tell your best friend that his dad is dead and had been dead for years...that look in Steve's eyes was something that was going to haunt Danny for a very long time.
Everyone continued to watch Steve trying to grasp the reality of what Danny had just told him but Steve kept his eyes on Danny because right now the hand on the back of his neck and the soft voice of his best friend were the only things keeping him from completely going under.
"You alright?"
There it was again, Danny's soft voice.
Danny knew how stupid that question was but he had to say something, he needed to hear Steve respond.
"Yeah...yeah..." he tried to act strong, tried to keep the emotions at bay, tried his best to shove all the heartache as far down as possible.
But he was not alright. Dead...4 years...but I had just seen him, just had a beer with him...dead.
Suddenly the weight of it all became too much and as much as he tried to keep it together for his team, as much as he tried not to show his walls stripped completely bare, he cracked, and for the first time in a very long time, Steve's vulnerability was on full display as he sobbed for the father he lost years ago but felt like he had just lost again.
He felt Danny's hand become more firm trying to ground him.
"You're alright, you're alright," a soft mantra Danny would find himself repeating over and over for the next few minutes.
There it was, that voice, his anchor of sanity, he grabbed onto that as if it was his last lifeline.
"I'm alright," Steve sobbed out as he pulled himself out of his downward spiral and tried to pull himself together as best as possible.
Everything inside Danny shattered; he had never seen this Steve. Sure he'd seen a hurt and sad Steve, but he was always so stoic, always so strong. To see this, see Steve completely broken and dejected, it struck something deep inside Danny. Everything about this was wrong.
"Alright, let's, let's go," Steve's voice brought Danny back as he had been waiting for the moment to take Steve out of this hell hole.
"You ready, c'mon let's go, let's get out of here," Steve held onto Danny's soft words as he felt his partner and Chin help lift him up.
As they made their way towards the door, Steve needed to stop.
"Wait...wait."
Danny and Chin stopped as the trio were standing over Wo Fat's body. Danny stole a glance at Steve wanting nothing more than to put as many miles between Wo Fat and Steve as possible but knowing that this was something Steve needed to do.
As Steve stared down at the man who had destroyed his entire life; the man who had murdered his father, he felt himself starting to lose his composure again. The lifeless body of his arch nemesis did little to ease the devastation and pain he was feeling inside. His father was dead, and Wo Fat's drugs had made him believe that he was alive, that everything was okay, only to be brought back to this harsh, cruel reality. In those fleeting moments he thought of everything Wo Fat had told him about Doris, everything Wo Fat had done to him over the years, but most of all he thought of everything Wo Fat had taken from him, how much of him Wo Fat had been able to destroy; it was nothing short of devastating.
Danny started to feel Steve's body shake, heard Steve's rapid breathing, and saw the tears threatening to pool over in Steve's eyes. Danny had never in his life hated anyone more than Wo Fat, except for maybe Peterson. He looked down at the monster who had taken so much from his best friend and despite what happened with Reyes, Danny knew that if Wo Fat were alive and in handcuffs he would shoot him dead, because he would be damned if he gave Wo Fat a chance to ever lay another hand on his partner ever again.
As Danny started to hear the short gasps coming from Steve he looked up at his partner and his heart shattered for the umpteenth time as he could see Steve on the verge of another break down. He knew it was time to go, enough was enough, Steve needed to be anywhere but here.
"Come on man," Danny started to walk towards the door and Steve didn't argue.
Kono took point as Lou walked behind the trio, all wanting nothing more than to get Steve as far away from Wo Fat as possible.
As they made their way out HPD was standing by with an ambulance. As they loaded Steve onto a gurney and into the back of the ambulance Danny jumped in with him, with Kono, Chin, and Lou ready to follow the ambulance to the hospital. The paramedic had confirmed what they all knew to be true, Steve had been drugged.
As the ambulance doors closed Danny noticed Steve tense up a little.
"Hey, hey, babe I'm right here, you're okay, you're okay."
Steve relaxed a little at Danny's voice, but that lasted a whole two seconds before the paramedic tried to stick the IV needle into Steve's arm.
"Ahhhhh," the paramedic's scream was loud as Steve grabbed a hold of his hand that was holding the needle and twisted it, with full intentions of breaking said hand. The needle immediately fell out of the paramedic's hand as he wreathed in pain.
"Whoa, whoa, hey Steve! Steve!" Danny grabbed a hold of Steve's hand, placing his other hand on the side of Steve's face. "Steve look at me, look at me!"
Steve's wild eyes found Danny's.
"Steve you have to let go of his hand okay, it's just an IV babe, that's all, it's going to help you okay, it's going to help flush out the drugs."
Danny could see the confusion in Steve's eyes, could see the fear of being injected with more drugs, so he got a little closer, with his hand still cupping the side of Steve's face.
"Steve, I promise you, I promise you man, he is not trying to hurt you, you know I wouldn't let him, you're safe, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere, you're safe."
Steve finally started to let up on the paramedic's hand as he concentrated on Danny's voice. Danny would never let anyone hurt him just like he would never let anyone hurt Danny.
"That's it babe, he's only trying to help okay."
The paramedic hissed in pain as he grabbed his wrist.
Steve looked from Danny to the paramedic.
"I'm...I'm sorry..."
The paramedic looked up at Steve and Danny prayed that he didn't start to rip into his partner because he really, really, didn't want to have to punch out the paramedic.
"It's okay Commander, you've been through one hell of an ordeal, you have nothing to be sorry for."
Danny smiled appreciatively at the paramedic and turned his attention back to Steve.
"He's going to insert the IV now okay, just look at me, just keep looking at me."
Steve nodded as he kept eye contact with Danny.
"Done," the paramedic then connected the needle to the IV bag.
Danny sat back a little with a sigh, still holding onto Steve's hand. He started to examine Steve's body, all the bruises and contusions and the marks that he knew were from a cattle prod. The only reason he knew that was because of the last time Wo Fat had taken Steve. Danny swallowed the bile that was threatening to rise. The thought of what Wo Fat must have done to Steve, and the realization that in the days to come they would find out exactly what happened, made Danny sick to his stomach. He could only imagine all the ways that Wo Fat had thought up to torture Steve.
Danny couldn't help but smile a little at the thought that Steve had finally got to kill Wo Fat, at least that's what it had looked like. Drugged, bruised, and beaten, Steve still managed to save himself, still managed to fight; Grace was right, Steve was a superhero.
Danny's thoughts were cut short as the grip on his hand became increasingly tight as Steve's entire body started to convulse as Steve wreathed in pain.
Danny's eyes shot up to the paramedic.
"What going on?"
"It's okay Detective."
"THIS IS ANYTHING BUT OKAY! What the hell is happening to him?"
"The drugs are just passing through his system, it's causing muscle spasms and convulsions, and unfortunately it's something he's just going to have to ride out."
Danny closed his eyes. You have got to be kidding me. Steve just could not catch a break.
Steve started to ease out of his first convulsion as he loosened his death grip on Danny's hand.
"That's it babe, you're okay, you're okay."
"Gah!" And there was the second one. Danny's hand was going numb from Steve's death grip but he didn't care.
"Breathe through it babe, concentrate on my voice, Steve concentrate on my voice, just breath through it, just breathe."
Steve's shaking body started to still itself.
"That's it babe, just breathe."
Danny could see how much these spasms were taking out of Steve and it killed him. He wanted to switch spots with Steve; he wanted Steve to be the one who was okay.
Steve suffered from three more spasms before they reached the hospital and then four more at the hospital. They couldn't give him any drugs for the pain since they were trying to flush out all the drugs in his system.
Danny's heart broke, every time Steve's body started to convulse Danny gritted his teeth and could do nothing but stand by and watch painfully until it ended.
Two days, that's how long Steve had been in the hospital, and Danny hadn't left his side. Steve had been in and out of consciousness but never lucid enough to hold a conversation.
Danny was holding onto Steve's hand, talking to him like he usually did, when Chin walked in.
"Hey, how's he doing?"
Danny looked up and Chin noticed the dark circles and the haggard look of Danny. He knew Danny wasn't sleeping well.
"The same, in and out of it, never fully conscious enough to talk."
"Yeah...the doctor said that's expected though right, until the drugs are fully flushed out?"
"Yeah." Danny looked back at Steve as he rubbed a tired hand down his face.
"Danny, he's gonna be okay," Chin said placing a reassuring hand on Danny's shoulder.
"Yeah, did you wanna sit with him for a bit?"
"Uh, not right now, I actually came to talk to you, can we go outside?"
Danny looked up worriedly, this was obviously something Chin didn't want Steve to hear, unconscious or not.
As Danny followed Chin outside he noticed the folder that Chin had in his hands.
"What's up Chin?"
"So we canvassed the whole warehouse where Steve was held and the team came back with this stuff," Chin reluctantly handed the folder over to Danny. "I wasn't going to show you it till later, till Steve was out of the hospital, but I know you need to see it. I'm warning you Danny, it's not pretty."
Danny took a deep breath as he opened the folder.
One by one he started going through the pictures in the folder; the cloth and bucket of water, the syringes, the IV bags filled with liquid drugs, the cattle prod, and finally the white room with the projector.
Danny swallowed the lump in his throat.
"What's this room?"
"Steve seems to have been held there at some point. The projector had clips of Steve's childhood with his dad, of the news report on his mother's death, and Danny uh...the room, it wasn't just a room, it was a gas chamber."
Danny's eyes grew wide as he looked up at Chin. Did he just hear correctly?
Chin noticed how pale Danny got and instinctively reached out to the detective.
"Are you okay?"
"A gas chamber?"
"Yeah," Chin looked down at the picture. "Apparently the vents in the room would periodically fill the room with a toxic gas that would knock Steve out."
"Oh my god," Danny closed his eyes as he sat down on the chair behind him. He was gripping the side of the chair so tightly that his knuckles were going white.
Chin took a seat beside him.
"I know..."
"Oh man," Danny wiped a hand over his face.
Chin could see Danny's hands shaking and he felt for the man. Although they were all family, although they all loved Steve, Danny and Steve shared something special. The relationship they had was like nothing Chin had ever seen before in two partners. They were brothers, and Chin knew if you lost one, you would lose the other too. Not to mention Danny had just lost his baby brother so he could only imagine what the thought of almost losing Steve was doing to him.
"He's going to be okay Danny, he'll get through this, we all will," Chin squeezed Danny's shoulder.
"Yeah...yeah, I uh, I should go back in, I should go sit with him."
Chin nodded his head knowing that Danny was rattled, and if he wasn't going to leave Steve's side before, he sure as hell was not going to do it now, not after everything he had just heard.
"Sounds good, I'm going to head back to headquarters, go through the rest of the stuff with Kono and Lou."
"Okay."
As Chin got up to leave Danny grabbed his arm.
"Hey, thanks...for coming here to tell me."
"Don't sweat it brah," Chin gave a soft smile as he headed out the hospital.
Danny took a second to collect his thoughts and stood up and headed to Steve's room. The minute he opened the door and saw Steve's prone figure just laying there, everything Chin had just told him came rushing back and Danny found himself in Steve's bathroom unloading all contents of his stomach into the toilet.
Once he was done he went to the sink, washed his mouth, and looked in the mirror. Gas chamber...a freaking gas chamber, Danny completely lost it as he thought of everything Wo Fat had done to Steve. A few seconds later Danny noticed that his knuckles on his right hand were all bleeding and he realized he had punched the bathroom mirror into tiny pieces.
Danny shook his head.
"Get it together Williams."
One of the nurses ran in as she heard the sound of breaking glass and as Danny looked apologetically at her she smiled a sad smile. Everyone on the floor knew of Steve and Danny and the close bond they shared, they also knew what had just happened to Steve.
"Don't worry about it Detective, I'll get someone in here to clean this up right away."
Danny nodded his head.
"Thanks."
"Let me take a look at your hand."
"It's fine, really."
"Don't be stubborn just let me look at it," she softly took Danny's hand. "Doesn't look like you'll need any stitches but wash it out thoroughly, I'll bring you some gauze for it."
She smiled as she left the room.
He rinsed his bloody hand under the sink and when the nurse came back with the gauze he put it on and made his way back to his partner's bedside.
The next day Danny was sitting beside Steve's bed reading a magazine when Steve started to stir.
Danny immediately put the magazine down and stood over Steve.
"Hey babe, can you hear me?"
Danny could see Steve trying to focus and this was the first time Steve actually looked lucid.
"Danny..." Steve croaked out. His throat felt like sandpaper. "Water..."
Danny quickly grabbed the cup of water with the straw and after a few sips Steve put his head back on the pillow, thankful for the soothing liquid coating his throat.
"How long have I been out?" Steve looked over at Danny.
"Today's your third day at the hospital, you've been in and out of consciousness but with the drugs still being pumped out of your system you weren't lucid."
Steve nodded his head, remembering the numerous needle pricks and the gas in the white room.
"I'm going to go get your doctor; I'll be right back okay?"
Danny didn't move until he got the okay from Steve.
"Yeah."
After the doctor checked Steve out he was certain that all the drugs were out of his system and that he would be able to go home tomorrow if he stayed stable overnight.
"Thanks doc," Danny smiled at the doctor as he left the room.
He then sat down on the chair he had become so accustomed to over the last few days.
Danny watched Steve staring up at the ceiling, not really sure what to say or where to start. Luckily for him Steve spoke first.
"You've been here the entire time haven't you?" Steve smiled as he looked at his partner.
"Well you've proved to me time and time again that I can't leave you alone without you getting into trouble, so I haven't moved from here," Danny joked back as he looked from Steve to the ground and then back up at Steve. "How you feeling?"
"Sore."
"Yeah, I bet...do you remember what happened?" Danny looked intently at Steve.
Steve looked from Danny then back up to the roof.
"Yeah, Wo Fat."
Danny just nodded his head not wanting to push Steve for details until he was ready.
"He wanted to know where his father was, he kept asking over and over again, I kept telling him I didn't know, but he didn't believe me."
Danny gritted his teeth at the thought of Wo Fat repeatedly torturing Steve for information he didn't even know.
"He called Doris his mother."
Danny's head snapped up as his eyes went wide.
"But you ran the DNA test, it came back negative. Did Doris tamper with it?"
"No, he wasn't biologically her mother. When she realized she had killed Wo Fat's mother instead of his father she took him in as her own, she raised Wo Fat for a few years until the agency found out and made her leave him."
"Wow..." the shock on Danny's face was evident as Steve looked at him.
"Yeah."
The two sat in silence for a few minutes before Steve started laughing.
Danny looked up at his partner,
"What's so funny?"
Steve smiled as he looked at Danny.
"The drugs he gave me sent me into this alternate universe, you guys were all in it, just...you weren't really you."
"What do you mean?"
Steve spent the next few minutes explaining everything to Danny, and Danny almost spat out his own water when Steve got to the part about him.
"Hawaiian shirt, shooting knee caps to get answers, you liking me driving you around...man what he gave you was strong," Danny and Steve both laughed. It was nice to hear Steve laugh, but that was short lived as Danny expected.
"I'm sorry."
Danny's head shot up to Steve.
"What the hell do you have to be sorry for?"
Steve looked away from Danny, not wanting him to see the emotion in his eyes.
"For asking for my dad, I shouldn't have put you in that position, you shouldn't have had to remind me that he was dead."
Danny furrowed his eyebrows not believing what he was hearing.
"God Steven you're so lucky you're in that bed or I would smack you for being an idiot. Why the hell would you apologize for that? You were drugged, you had just lived through some very lucid hallucinations, you were disoriented and confused, don't you dare put any of this on you!"
Steve saw the conviction in Danny's eyes and nodded in appreciation. They were silent for another few minutes before...
"It felt so real Danny, all of it. My dad..." Steve choked up.
Danny reached out his hand and grabbed onto Steve's, anchoring him back.
"Right before you guys came into that room I was with my dad sitting in front of his house. We were sharing a beer and he was telling me how happy he was that I was home. God Danny, looking at him, seeing him there beside me, it felt so right."
Danny nodded not sure what to say.
"I miss him so much," Steve held back a sob as he closed his eyes.
Danny squeezed Steve's hand a little tighter. This was the first time Steve had ever said those words out loud and it was heartbreaking to hear.
"I know babe, and I'm so sorry you had to go through all of this, to have to think he was alive only to realize he wasn't."
Steve opened his eyes a few seconds later.
"Things would have been so different if he lived; everything seemed to be so much better. Not only did I have my dad back, but you guys were all happy, you were all really good. You were happy Danny, happy with Rachel, happy with Hawaii. Chin was the Captain, Kono seemed happy modeling."
"Should I be offended that you wish we never got to know eachother?" Danny joked as he smiled at Steve.
"I didn't mean it like that Danno."
"I know," Danny smiled.
"But it did make me realize that you guys would've been okay without me."
Danny's shock must have been evident because Steve let out a laugh but Danny just shook his head, disturbed at what he just heard and in no mood to laugh it off.
"We're all better off because we met you. Chin wouldn't even be a cop if it weren't for you and my life is better because I met you, Grace's life is better. If we had never met, if you had never started up this task force, I would've still been going through a bitter divorce and still hated this pineapple infested island, that wouldn't have changed. You're the biggest reason why this island is now my home, why I actually kind of like this place, and could never think of leaving it. You're the reason I got to keep my daughter when Rachel wanted to move her to Vegas, you're the reason I kept it together when Grace was taken, you're the reason I've stayed sane through these last few weeks after Matty. Yeah if we had never met I would've gone on with my life not knowing what I was missing out on, but I can guarantee you it would not have been better, it would've been worse. I actually can't imagine this life without you Steven."
"You'd be okay Danno," Steve smiled at his partner.
Danny looked up at Steve and the pain he saw in Danny's eyes took his breath away.
"You know when I opened that door and saw you laying there, motionless, I started to go to the worst case scenario, because well, it's me and that's what I do. And then I realized that if you didn't wake up, if I didn't feel a pulse, I actually didn't know what I was going to do. And my mind went to Matty and how I had already lost him..."
Steve swallowed the lump in his throat as he was right back in that cellar with Danny as Reyes' men rolled out the barrel.
"Danny..."
"And I kept thinking I couldn't lose you too, not you, I had already lost one brother, I wouldn't be able to take it if I lost another, especially not you. Aside from Grace, you're the one other person I don't think I could live without," Danny choked out. "Even the thought of it...so don't tell me that I would be okay without you. You're the one who gets me through things when I think I can't, you're the one who I come to when I can't go to anyone else, you're my best friend, partner and brother rolled into one. I can't lose you or Grace, I just can't."
Steve's heart broke.
"I'm sorry Danny, I shouldn't have said that. I wouldn't be able to take it if I ever lost you either."
Danny just nodded, too emotional to say anything else at the moment.
Steve squeezed Danny's hand.
"You okay?"
Danny wiped his eyes as he looked up at Steve.
"I should be asking you that, you're the one who's in the bed."
Steve smiled.
"I'm good Danny, well I will be, and so will you."
Danny smiled as he looked up at his partner. He knew Steve meant more than today, he meant Matty, he meant everything they had ever been through and everything they would go through in the future.
He also knew that no matter what happened, no matter what heartaches and bone-breaks the future had in store for them, as long as they had each other to lean on they would get through it together, just like they always do.
THE END
