A/N: Hey everyone. This is just a short four chapter story that came about because of my vignettes I've been working on. Hope you enjoy it. A few of my OC characters show up in this story so if you haven't read about Danny's mother, you might want to check out Makuahine and The Jersey Appeal, but it isn't necessary to this plot.

Big Thank You goes out to my Beta Kylen, who has been dealing with my terrible writing so very well. Thank you a million time!

So I hope you enjoy this little adventure.

Chapter 1: Friday

Danny walked into the office on Friday morning and the first thing Steve noticed was that Danny looked exhausted – like he hadn't even put any effort into getting ready to come to work. He stumbled toward his office, dragging his feet, with a newspaper under his arm and the largest coffee Steve was sure he'd ever seen in his hands.

The door to the office closed behind Danny and all Steve could do was watch in sudden concern.

"That was odd," Kono commented as she slipped into Steve's office and shut the door behind her.

"You noticed it too?"

"How could you not? His hair is all over the place and Danny's hair is always perfectly coiffed – if it's the only thing he does in the morning, it's his hair."

"It's gotta be that shithole of an apartment he's living in now," Steve said as he stood from his desk and moved to the window with Kono where they both peeked through the blinds toward Danny's office and noticed that the Detective had his head down on the desk. "Should I check on him?"

"I don't know. I don't think I've ever seen Danny this tired."

"Maybe I should call his mother and ask her opinion." Steve stated as he turned toward the office phone.

"Is that what you do any time you're not sure about Danny – you call Veronica?"

"Who better to tell me how to deal with things involving Danny than to call his mother – the one person in all of the universe that knows exactly what is going on in Danny's head even if she isn't here with him."

"Or you could ask him – I'm sure he would tell you what was going on."

"Ask him or ask his mom…" Steve asked himself over and over as he paced the length of his office.

Suddenly the door opened.

"Do we have a case?" Danny asked as he looked at Kono and Steve.

Danny's eyes were red and blood shot – the lids were drooping and the brilliant blue had faded to a dull and almost sickly-looking grey.

"No, not right now, why?" Steve asked as he stopped pacing.

"Because you and Kono are in here being all secretive and you're pacing. I noticed it from my office." Danny stated and fell into a chair. "You either, one, have a case, two, are keeping secret, or three, you're discussing how disheveled I am today. I'm leaning toward the last because you kept peeking through the blinds at me – not very stealthy McGarrett, and it's rude."

"He was going to call your mother – he's that worried." Kono stated as she pointed at Steve.

"Oh God, don't call Veronica – that's the last thing I need right now." Danny sighed and scratched at the scruff that had appeared all around his face.

"You didn't even shave this morning and your hair is a mess. What's the matter?" Steve asked.

"Well, considering I didn't sleep last night, at all, I'm sure I could look much worse."

"No, you look bad." Kono commented sympathetically. "I don't think I've ever seen you look this unkempt – not even when you've gone on chases or thrown yourself into the ocean after a suspect."

"Do you need some time?" Steve asked with concern. "Like you can go home and we can deal with desk work today."

"I'd love to, but there is no guaranteeing that I'll sleep there during the day. If I can't sleep at night because of noise, what would make the day time any different?"

"You could go and sleep at my place – at least get a few hours." Steve suggested.

"I'll be fine."

"Danny, you brought in the worlds largest coffee today, and has it helped?"

"I haven't even tried it."

"Go to my place, crash for a few hours and come back to work when you're rested. You are useless to me like this, and your hair all mess like that is kinda freaking me out."

"Alright, but if anything comes up, you call me." Danny stated as he stood and turned to leave the office.

"You have a key?" Steve asked.

"I still have your spare."

"I gotta get that back from you."

"Alright, later," Danny said and walked out of Steve office.

"The unkempt hair was freaking you out too?" Kono asked with a laugh once Danny was out of ear shot.

"Oh yeah, and we have got to get him out of that crappy apartment."

5-0

Four hours later, as the lunch hour drew to a close, Danny walked back into the office. He'd gotten a little sleep. His hair was fixed but he had not shaved and the bags were still surrounding his eyes.

"Feel any better?" Steve asked when Danny joined them at the smart table.

"A little," Danny answered, "what are we working on?"

"I'm just prepping for my court appearance this afternoon," Kono confessed, "and Chin's got a meeting with the Governor that Steve's going to sit in on."

"What do you want me to do?" Danny asked as he leaned on the table.

"I want you to go to your office and skim through some of the listings I found for you. I think you need to get out of that apartment." Steve ordered.

"You want me to apartment shop on company time?"

"…or get caught up on paper work."

"Paper work - got it." Danny huffed and walked off toward his office.

"Is this new place really as bad as you are making it out to be?" Chin asked once Danny was once again out of ear shot.

"It can't be as bad as the last – I mean HPD took down the last one because it was a meth den. Thank goodness Danny got out of there when he did."

"It's as bad, if not worse," Steve sighed, "he needs to just stop looking at crappy little apartments. He's getting full custody of Grace. He needs space, he needs quiet and she needs a bedroom that doesn't consist of kicking her father out of the one bed room and landing him on the fold out couch. Or in this new place's case, the couch because there isn't room to fold it out."

"There's got to be something we can do," Kono said as she watched Danny fall into his seat, through the open blinds, and push aside all the research Steve had done.

"We have to make him think it's his idea to get a better place."

"It is my idea!" Danny yelled from inside his office. "And yes, I can still hear you even with the door closed!"

"I better head out, I don't wanna be late," Kono giggled, gathered her things and waved to her friends.

"And we don't want to keep the Governor waiting." Chin sighed.

"We're heading out," Steve stated as he popped his head into Danny's office, "and we probably won't be back before you go home, so I'll pop by your place later to see how you are doing."

"Yeah, whatever, don't get the taskforce shut down – behave yourself in your meeting with the Governor. I need this income!"

"I can't promise anything." Steve laughed and left.

5-0

Danny stayed behind his desk, in the peace and quiet of the empty office, finishing up paper work that was standard operating procedures, but that didn't often get the attention it deserved because Five-O was always so busy. He finished up what he had set out to do, quicker then he usually would, and then turned toward the pile of print outs and news paper listings that Steve had piled high on his desk.

"These are all houses, or all out of my price range." Danny sighed and swept the pile into the recycling bin. "What am I going to do, baby girl?" he asked as he looked across his desk at the picture of his daughter. "I know I need to find you something, and I know that if I do and I finally settle I'll be able to save some money, but I haven't been successful yet. What could possibly be different about this time?"

5-0

Danny sat in quiet contemplation for a long time and was only shaken out of his thoughts when Kono walked back into the office.

"Why are you still here?" Kono asked with a laugh. "Your five o-clock shadow is turning into a full on beard." She teased.

Danny rolled his eyes, "just getting caught up and enjoying the silence."

"Shall I set up a cot for you and you can sleep here?"

"I didn't think that was an option."

"It's really not," Kono sighed sympathetically. "How bad is it Danny?"

"Well, last night after having spent most of the evening working our way through a huge science project for the science fair that was happening at Gracie's school today, I finally got her to bed at about midnight and I tried to crash on the couch, but my neighbours seem to think that when the sun goes down it's party time. There were two arrests made because of complaints made on the building, not by me, and the rest of the time was spent with people running up and down the hallways trying to take cover from the cops that just kept coming around, and they were sounding their sirens every single time. Don't they know that it looses the element of surprise that way?" Danny asked. "Needless to say, I didn't sleep and I absolutely wasn't going to show my face while the cops were snooping around my building for fear of being recognized and then I had to get Grace up and get her to school, but I forgot the project at the apartment so I had to go back and get it, but the cops were back again and I had to sneak back out again because I lied about why I had showed up."

"Oh Danny, you need to get out of there."

"I know, Kono, but I've been so unsuccessful, I just don't know if it will ever happen."

"Maybe it's time for you to start look for a house," Kono suggested. "There is a pretty little place going up for sale just down the street from Chin's. It's a great neighborhood and you'd probably be paying as much a month on a mortgage as you would in rent. The best thing about it would be your proximity to your neighbors and it would be a place just for you and Grace."

"It sounds so ideal."

"Because it is." Kono smiled. "You should really think about it Danny, and if you need any help, you know I've got your back."

"Thank you, Kono. I promise, I will think about it."

"Okay, I'm going to head out. I've had enough work and aggravations for one day. Care to catch a wave with me?" she asked.

"I'd probably lop my own head off out there today. I'll pass, but I will rain check you."

"Go home and try to get some rest."

Danny nodded and followed Kono out of the office.

5-0

Steve showed up, later on Friday evening, to find Danny looking just as tired as he had left him, but he had managed to shower, shave and change into something more suitable for home, then what he was wearing at the office.

"Grace is already in bed," Danny said as he led Steve into the living room – if that was what you wanted to call it. The room was tiny, hardly big enough for the couch, a chair and the TV, but Danny had managed to squeeze a coffee table in there as well. Steve was surprised he didn't have to duck to move around – the ceilings were so low.

Steve placed the case of cold beer down on the floor beside Danny and then moved through the small space to take up his place on the other side of his partner.

"Danny, I really think it's time to give up on the idea of finding a suitable apartment and change you search parameters. Include houses on the island and not apartments because the only places you seem to be able to afford are places only drug dealers and prostitutes will move into once you've moved out," Steve said as he stretched out his arms and touched both opposite walls in Danny's place as he tried to avoid tripping over the coffee table Danny had his feet rested on.

"It's funny because it's true," Danny sighed from his place on the couch. "Did you read in the paper about that drug bust last week?"

"In the last place you lived – only it was two doors down from your apartment?" Steve asked sarcastically as he fell onto the couch with his partner.

"Yup," Danny answered, "that's the one. The whole building was condemned after the raid on the meth lab and twelve more known fugitives were dragged out of there for being associated with the sales of said drug."

"Thank God you weren't living there anymore. Can you imagine what would have been said about Five-O had they found out that you lived there and didn't know that every apartment around you was rented by felons?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, I gotta get out of these shitty places and into something better." Danny sighed.

"What do you think will be bust at this place?" Steve asked jokingly.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure the second floor is a brothel," Danny answered seriously. "And there's illegal gambling out of the basement. I went down to the laundry room the other day and was invited to play poker as long as I kept my mouth shut."

"You weren't wearing your badge?" Steve asked in shock.

"With how high profile Five-O is, and how recognized we are everywhere on this island, your best is 'you weren't wearing your badge?'" Danny asked with a laugh. "I was in sweat pants and a t-shirt and I'm sure I looked like a bum but I was shocked that they didn't recognize me." Danny retorted. "Or maybe they just didn't care. How much authority could I have? I was doing laundry."

"You didn't join in, did you?"

"I'm living in this dump, where I know bad things are happening. Do you think I can afford to gamble legally, let alone illegally?"

"Good point."

"I need to get outta here." Danny sighed as the banging on the walls started again. "Last night I'm sure the first floor and lobby were used for a pit party, but it got broken up – three times. Then it would start again, the cops would come back, then they would leave, then they would come back and that is how I spent my night."

"Well, you could call the cops on the brothel and the gambling and have the building shut down, and then you would have no choice but to leave."

"Or you could be my back up and we could go apartment shopping this weekend because you know the island better then I do and maybe you'll have better luck finding something suitable."

"Or that." Steve nodded. "You know I've got your back."

"Yeah, I know." Danny sighed and sipped his beer. "For now, I just have to suck it up and maybe get really drunk so that I might pass out."

"You can't – isn't Grace here?" Steve asked.

"She is, and she seems to be able to sleep through anything."

"She sleeps because she knows you are here to protect her. She has nothing to worry about. You, on the other hand, will worry about your little girl and that is what will keep you awake."

"I can't believe I have her living in a place like this." Danny sighed. "It makes me a terrible parent."

"No, it doesn't," Steve said as he reached over and grabbed his partner's shoulder. "We'll find something that you can be proud of."

"Then, once I'm out of here, we'll shut down the building and I'll be proud of that."

"Okay, good." Steve smiled. "Then it's settled. I'll pick you and Grace up early tomorrow and we'll get this house hunting started."

"Apartment hunting," Danny corrected.

Steve sighed, but wasn't about to argue because Danny just looked too tired.