My Fault

Summary: When Steve leaves Danny behind there are devastating consequences.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any of the characters, they belong to CBS. However the plot and any mistakes are mine.

Chapter One

The case had become theirs when the third warehouse exploded and burned. HPD was more than happy to pass it off to Five-0.

It took a great deal of digging, but eventually Chin and Kono had discovered that all the warehouses used to belong to one person. Fred Coleman.

Coleman had been convicted of tax evasion and evading capture. He'd spent the last few years in prison. The IRS had seized and sold off all his assets to pay his tax bill. Now Coleman was out and it looked like he didn't want anyone else owning his properties.

There'd been a total of five warehouses sold in the sale, three now destroyed. The last two were within blocks of each other so Danny and Steve went to one, while Chin and Kono went to the other.

"I know why you picked this warehouse." Danny said when they were within sight of the huge building.

"Why Danny? Why did I pick this one?" Steve took his eyes off the road and looked at Danny.

"Eyes on the road Babe." When Steve looked ahead again Danny continued. "You picked it because it's by the water, and if Coleman runs you'll get a chance to knock him in so you, Aquaman, can take a swim."

"What? That is not why I picked this warehouse, Danny. Although that is a good idea as it's really hot today."

"Knew it." Danny smirked.

Steve pulled up beside a gate in the fence surrounding the warehouse and switched off the ignition. He looked at the warehouse then at Danny. "I picked it because it's empty, and I think Coleman will hit this one next."

"And the other one is used for storage," Danny stated, "makes sense."

"Good. Let's go." Steve exited the car and walked over to the gate and pushed it to see if they could slip through.

"Still, I bet you end up in the water at some point." Danny mumbled as he too exited the car.

"You say something Danny?"

"Yeah. I said put your vest on before we go in there." Danny spoke louder so Steve could hear him. "Safety first, Babe."

Steve walked back and took the vest Danny had taken from the trunk of the Camaro. They both fastened their vests as they walked to the gate.

"Nobody's been through here in a while." Steve pushed the gate creating enough room to squeeze through. "Come on let's go check the building out."

There was no lock on the first door they tried, so entry was easy. The warehouse was big, but not totally empty as they'd thought. There were boxes strewn here and there along the full length of the building. Danny, who was in the lead, went left, while Steve went right. Their intent was to work their way down the length of the building checking all areas as they went.

They were a third of the way down, and had neither seen nor heard anything suspicious. Danny was crossing a large gap between boxes when two shots rang out from somewhere in front of him. The first hit him in the left lower part of his vest, which caused him to turn slightly. The second hit the edge of the vest on his left shoulder by his neck. As he fell Danny saw Coleman break cover and run further down the warehouse. Then he was on the ground in a world of hurt.

Steve turned at the shots and saw Coleman break cover and run. He fired off a shot then started after him before he realised that Danny was down. "Danny?" he called as he changed direction.

"Steve, go, I'm fine."

"No Danny I'm not leaving you."

"You want him to get away? What's wrong with you, Speed Man? You should be halfway to the end of the warehouse by now." With a grunt Danny pushed himself up. "I'll get myself out of here, you go after Coleman."

Steve hesitated. If he crossed the warehouse to help Danny, Coleman would certainly get away. Danny was up and moving with his usual sarcasm in place so it didn't look as if the bullets had penetrated the vest. With a last look at Danny, Steve ran in the direction they'd last seen Coleman. There was a door in front of him that could only lead to the outside, so Steve opened it cautiously. Coleman's truck was parked at the far end of the back lot, but Steve could see no sign of Coleman. Again he hesitated. His heart told him to go back for Danny, but his training, and Danny's voice in his head, told him he had to find Coleman. So Steve ran along the side of the warehouse and then sprinted across to the truck.

Coleman wasn't there, the truck was deserted. Puzzled, Steve turned to look back at the warehouse, and was hit by a wall of heat, and a tremendous roar, as the warehouse exploded. He was thrown against the truck and slid down to sit with his back to one of the wheels.

"Danny!" Steve yelled. Then he was up and running, but there was no way he could get into the warehouse. It was wooden, and old, and now it was a raging inferno.

"Danny!" Steve yelled again as he fell to his knees. "I'm sorry Danny." He whispered as he stared in disbelief.

Steve knelt there as first the police then the fire department arrived. One of the policemen tried to talk to Steve, but he ignored him. He couldn't move. He couldn't get past the fact that he'd left Danny behind in the warehouse, and now he was dead.

Chin and Kono arrived. They knew right away that something was terribly wrong. Steve was still on his knees staring at the burning warehouse, and there was no sign of Danny.

"Cuz?" Kono whispered tears already welling up in her eyes. "I don't see Danny. And Steve, I've never seen him look like that before."

"I know Kono. Let's go talk to him and find out what happened." Chin approached Steve and knelt down in front of him. Kono followed him and also knelt down beside Steve.

"Steve? Where's Danny, Steve?"

Steve managed to look at Chin, devastation evident in his eyes.

"He's in there." Steve nodded towards the warehouse.

"What?" Kono gasped, "No! He can't be in there." Now tears escaped her eyes and made tracks down her cheeks.

"I left him behind, and now he's dead." Steve looked at Chin and growled. "My fault."

Then he was up and running away from them. He ran around the warehouse and back to the Camaro. He felt as if it physically hurt to get into the car, but he did. All the way back to The Palace he heard Danny in his head. "You finally managed it didn't you Super SEAL. You finally got me killed." By the time he reached The Palace tears were streaming down his face. Steve didn't care. He walked into Five-0 headquarters and straight into Danny's office then moved around to sit at his partner's desk.

As he sat a groan escaped when he saw the pictures of Grace on Danny's desk. "My God Danny, how do I tell Grace? How do I tell her you're gone? I can't do this. I can't do any of this without you." Steve rested his arms on the desk then lowered his head and cried.

He stayed that way until Chin and Kono came in.

"Steve? Are you alright?" Chin asked as he approached the desk. Kono hung back near the door. She had herself under control, but that control was fragile.

Steve looked up and Chin knew he'd been crying.

"No Chin. I'm far from alright. I'll never be alright again. Nothing will be."

"Listen to me Steve." Chin put his hand on Steve's shoulder. "They found a body and Max has it." Chin saw Steve flinch at the thought of Max examining Danny's body, but he pressed on. "He called just as we arrived here and wants to see us."

"What? No! I can't." Steve stood so abruptly that the chair overturned.

"We have to Steve. Until Max confirms the body is Danny we can't tell Rachel and Grace. They need to be told before the press gets a hold of this."

"It's my fault Danny's dead, Chin. How do I tell Grace her Danno is gone?" Steve slammed his fists onto the desk "MY FAULT!" He yelled as he stormed away.

With deep sadness, and tears in his eyes, Chin watched him go. Danny was dead, but Chin didn't believe for a minute that it was Steve's fault. He didn't know exactly what had happen in the warehouse, but he knew that Steve wouldn't have left Danny if he'd known there was a bomb already set to detonate.

Max met them in the outer office. Steve was glad that he didn't have to see Danny's body. He was sure he wouldn't be able to handle that.

"Have a seat I need to ask you a couple of questions." Max sat and so did Chin and Kono, but Steve stood, he couldn't bring himself to sit.

"Commander, was there anyone else in the warehouse with you and Detective Williams?"

Steve looked as if he didn't understand the question. "What?"

"Was there anyone else in there?" Max asked again.

"Yes. Coleman was there, but he ran out ahead of me." Steve answered with a frown.

"You saw him leave?" Chin asked. Steve looked perplexed and didn't answer so Max tried another question.

"How tall is this Coleman?"

Chin answered for Steve who still looked perplexed

"He's 5'10" according to his driver's licences. Why Max?"

"That is excellent news." Max sighed.

"What? Why?" Kono asked.

"Because the body I received was burnt beyond recognition, but it is defiantly not that of Detective Williams. It is too tall. I'd say the man was 5'10". I've notified the fire department to look for another body, but so far they've found nothing."

Steve walked towards the desk, disbelieve on his face.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying, Max? Are you telling us that Danny was not in that warehouse when it blew?"

"Yes Commander. That is exactly what I am saying."

TBC

A/N: This is not a long story, only three chapters, and it is complete. If you enjoy it please review as I'd love to know what people think.