I got ths idea while reding a story from praemonitus praemunitus, which was wonderful by the way and I would really recommend, and I just simply had to write it. I hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii Five-O or its characters.
Enjoy!
Steve woke to a not so unfamiliar sound of a machine beeping next to his bed. He wished that the sound was more foreign to him, but, unfortunately, it wasn't; meaning that he knew exactly where he was the moment he woke up. Hospital. Wonder what I did this time.
Steve slowly pried his eyes open and thanked the angel that decided to leave them dimmed so that when he woke up, daggers didn't ram into his skull. He searched the area around him, smiling at the "get well cards", obviously from Grace, and the half-empty cups of coffee that he hoped weren't from Grace. She doesn't need to adopt her fathers caffeine addiction. Speaking of . . . His eyes fell on the figure slumped in the chair beside him, his fears rising as his curiosity peaked. How long has he been here? How long have I been here?
Danny was sporting a nice bit of stubble and his normally immaculate hair was . . . well . . . not immaculate. He was wearing a pair of worn out jeans and an equally worn out t-shirt, obviously dressed for comfort. Dark bags were under his closed eyes and he was a tad thinner than Steve remembered him being.
Worry immediately replaced the curiosity as Steve noticed his partners hand weakly gripping his wrist . . . right at the pulse point. Steve had had enough of his silent musing and decided that it was time to wake the Jersey native. "Danny?" He was shocked at the quality of his own voice and cleared his throat, weakly moving his hand in the process.
Danny was immediately awake, searching the area for threats it seemed and looking around in a crazed frenzy. His normally bright blue eyes were clouded with fatigue and there were stress lines now evident on his face.
Steve acted quickly, freeing his wrist from Danny's tightening grip and grabbing his partner's in return. "Danny!" He yelled, instantly getting the attention of his partner.
Danny locked his eyes on him and just stared, his face a mix of disbelief and . . . relief? There wasn't really a way to describe it. "St-" he said, taking a deep rasping breath before getting the entire word out. "Steve?"
"Yeah, buddy. It's me. Are you-" Steve's eyes went wide with his partners interruption.
"Don't! Just don't, Steve. Don't you dare ask me if I'm ok." Danny stared at Steve and Steve stared at Danny. Neither wanted to blink or even breath.
"Danny . . ." Steve finally said when the silence became so thick that he could cut it with a knife. "What happened?"
Danny's eyes went haunted and he looked down, fingering something on his arm. Steve looked down too and saw that Danny was rubbing a newly healed wound on his arm, a long gash that looked like it could be anything from a bullet graze to a knife slash. "You really don't remember, do you." It was more statement than question.
Steve didn't say anything and simply waited. Waited for Danny to continue and for the blank spaces that he suddenly realized were in his memory to be filled.
"3 months ago, we went to a warehouse. Simple gun bust. One of our CIs came back with info that some guns were being moved and gave us the location and the time. When the guns came into view, we went in . . . not knowing that it was a trap. Rounds were exchanged and long story short, I got pinned down. Like the idiot you are," Danny took a deep breath and Steve noticed that the fire that was usually in the way he said idiot was gone, replaced by something much more tender, "You came to get me. They had a grenade launcher, Steve. You pushed me out of the way and took the brunt of the explosion. It caused heavy internal bleeding and you had fluid in your brain."
Danny stopped and Steve knew that the punchline was coming. He gently squeezed Danny's wrist and waited. The Jersey cop looked up and there were tears in his eyes, a single one escaping and rolling out of the corner of his eye. "You've been in a coma for the past three months, Steve."
Steve felt himself inhale as everything came together. Memories came flooding back as he watched his partner fight to keep the rest of the tears at bay. "Danny . . ." He remembered the exact moment and his thoughts as he watched the grenade sail towards his partner, his musings as he pushed his partner out of the way. "I couldn't let you die. I . . . I couldn't live that way . . . without you."
"And what about me, Steve?!" Danny said, his voice not angry, but, instead, pleading. "Do you know what your death would do to me?! I would . . ." Danny's words caught in his throat as he fought for composure. "You and Grace . . . You're the only things that mean anything to me." He had slumped down further in his seat, fingering the scar. "I've lost friends. Good friends. But it wouldn't be the same if I lost you; and I like to think that I would recover and that I would still be there for Grace, but I wonder if that would be a lie. These past few months . . . I haven't been able to function, Steve. I drove my car for the first few days, but the first time I thought about how nice it was to drive my own car, I parked it in my garage and didn't touch it again."
Steve was crying now, too, unable to hold back the flood of emotions while watching his brother wrestle with a demon that was his fault. "Danny . . . I'm sorry."
Danny looked up at him and, for the first time, Steve saw the familiar glint, the piercing blue that reminded him that his partner was still there. "You have nothing to apologize for. You saved my life, and here I am being ungrateful and yelling at you." Danny floundered for a few moments, trying to put his thoughts together. "It's just that I can't . . . I won't . . . I . . ."
"I know, buddy," Steve said, smiling. "I love you, too."
Danny looked up at him and smiled. The smile warmed Steve's soul and he somehow knew that they were going to be ok.
"By the way, Steve," Danny said, relaxing slightly in his seat, "Sorry for freaking out earlier."
"Don't sweat it, D. Just tell me . . . Why did you flip when you woke up?" Steve was relaxed now too, leaning back into the soft white pillows.
Danny nodded and looked down at the scar. "You've got some enemies, Steve. Enemies that figured you'd be weak and defenseless and that you could be taken out."
Steve smiled. "But they didn't figure I'd have a guard dog. Is that what happened to your arm?"
Danny nodded and gave an abrupt laugh. "Guy burst in here with a scalpel. Second week. Got me pretty good, but I like to think I'm a decent fighter."
Steve nodded. "I've seen SEALs worse than you, babe. What happened to him? Is he locked up?"
Danny froze. "He was one of the men from the warehouse . . . Just happened to be the one with the grenade launcher . . . He's no longer with us."
Suddenly, Steve was back in that basement, looking at his partners back as smoke rose from the gun, but he instantly dismissed it. I wouldn't have done any differently.
"Thanks, buddy." Danny said, looking at him and smiling.
Steve shook his head, amazed. "I didn't say anything."
"You didn't need to."
They sat in companionable silence for a few moments, a stark contrast to the uncomfortable moments earlier. "Danny?" Steve asked, looking up from his twiddling thumbs.
Danny was watching him closely, waiting for him to continue speaking.
"Thank you for . . . You know . . . Everything you did-."
"You would've done the same for me, babe."
The partners shared a smile and both looked down again. When Steve looked back up, he saw that Danny was sleeping. Not the uneasy sleep that he was experiencing earlier, but the kind of sleep that showed recovery and contentment. Steve smiled, basking in the mutual love that they had for each other. It was only after he sat there grinning like a goof for a few moments that he realized he should probably be seen by a doctor, but he didn't worry. Danny was sleeping, he was alive, and they were both going to be alright.
So? How was it? Please tell me with a review!
P.S. For you guys reading The Most Dangerous Game, don't worry. I haven't given up on that. This was just a stress reliever that I didn't really have to focus on.