If thou should come between brothers. Amber POV Koda, season 5 ep 16. One shot.

If you look closely you'd notice Steve's reaction to Amber's crying when he arrived at the hospital after hearing that Danny had been stabbed. It took a split second but i saw it, and i had to write about it. You might have noticed it too.

So here goes, i hope you like. They are always brothers to me.

...

She watched Steve half walk half run in that hospital corridor, his eyes roving, searching until he found her. Amber was standing leaning against the wall, tears of helplessness and guilt streaming down her face. Steve had been the first person she had called when Danny had been stabbed by her ex-husband, he was Danny's emergency contact after all. She felt a bit of relief seeing Steve at a time like this, and so very guilty.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" she said imploringly, needing absolution, thinking Steve would hold her and tell her she had nothing to apologize for, that it wasn't her fault. She was so distraught as she reached for Steve, needing comfort and forgiveness.

But Steve, so instinctively, so coldly moved away from her, from her touch. A wall.

It was subtle, not at all detectable to anyone who might be observing them, but it was like a cold slap on her face, a cold dose of water and she froze in place, hand hanging in the air as she searched his eyes, now unable to breathe.

The look in his eyes said, 'Don't you dare!'.

She just froze, not knowing what to say, what to do, reading his fierce eyes.

'You mess with him you mess with me,' they said, and 'He better not be dead or so help me God.' She could not breathe, realizing that she had hurt him too, you hurt Danny you hurt him and if Danny didn't make it, she was doomed!

She rumbled on trying to explain as Steve held himself rigidly away from her, an aloof impenetrable wall. He probably didn't even realize he was doing it but the look in his eyes warned her not to say it, but she didn't know if Danny was dead or not. She didn't know anything.

…

It wasn't like she had set out to find someone to love right away, not after what she was running away from, an abusive husband who was not going to let her go unless she was his again or dead. No, she had not wanted to jump into another relationship after that, not for a while, but Danny Williams was the kind of guy she had always wished for, he was the total opposite of her abusive husband. And when he had spent the whole day in her hospital room watching over her, a total stranger, she fell even harder for him. He came with no baggage, well, a divorce and kids but really, compared to what she was carrying, it was really nothing. So, she went for it, and before she knew it, they were exclusive.

Most of his family was in new Jersey, and he was actually coming from burying his recently murdered brother, he was in a bad place, but she was glad to be a light in his recently darkened world. She hadn't met his kids yet, or his ex-wife for that matter, but she had been introduced to his work friends, they called it Ohana, family it meant. She had met Steve McGarret only once, he had been happy to meet her, his handshake firm but gentle, a genuine smile on his face, if a little too assessing, suspicious maybe, but she had felt like she had gone through the third degree and passed. Only because at face value she seemed like she had nothing to hide, and she was sure that she had passed because Danny had probably given them the green light. Steve had been her biggest supporter, she could tell, and she should have come clean in the first place. She had a lot to hide but not from the police, she actually felt safe in the company of all these police people, Danny's work family, his friends. They would have protected her, could have prevented this, at the very least Danny would have been a little bit more alert. She wished she had friends and family like these, who would suspect her boyfriends and assess them and approve, because if she had, maybe she would not have ended up with a psycho of a husband. So, she could not blame Danny's friends, one couldn't just trust anybody, and they were supposed to have his back.

She had not realized how much of a close-knit family this was until Danny's life had been put in danger when her ex had showed up and gutted him. She would later find out that even the shrimp guy, Kamekona, was looking out for his own. He had been immediately spooked by that guy who had come to his shrimp truck looking for her with a photo of her and himself, an abusive husband, on a happier day, with smiles on their faces. Kamekona had thought that she was stepping out on Danny and had alerted Steve, now the whole Five O had a file open for her, they knew everything. Not that she should have had anything to hide or be ashamed of, she had been the victim and if she had come clean in the first place, they would have protected her. Now look what she had done.

Danny had been the real hero that he was and had defended her, beating her ex to a pulp but her ex-husband, coward that he was, had brought a knife to a fist fight, and Danny got stabbed. He got stabbed defending her, and she could not be more in love with him and anymore enraged at her ex, so yeah, she drove over him, she had never felt more rage or more scared. Not the first time he had hit her, and not the time she had decide to run away, being on the run from someone who wanted to kill you was scary, but nothing had scared her than the thought of losing Danny at that moment. It had never occurred to her that she would feel this scared, this alone in the world. And then she had called Steve, he was Danny's emergency contact and though she might not have anyone in the world at that moment, Danny had people and she had to notify them as soon as possible, that they might lose him, because of her. It was all her fault, all her fault. And she could not stop crying as she watched them wheel him on a stretcher into the OR, his bleeding refusing to stop. By the time she had got to the hospital with Danny, he had already lost consciousness and she was so sure she was too late.

…

Now,

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" she continued to beg, not realizing that she was already frightening Steve more by that fervent repeated apology. The Navy Seal had been visibly petrified, wondering if Danny was already dead and she was trying to apologize for that. He retracted further from her the more she apologized, the more she cried.

Then the Doctor came at that time and saved her day. Danny was going to be ok. She looked at Steve then for the absolution she had been seeking and found it. Just like that his eyes changed and his body relaxed and he took her into his arms in comfort. And then she could breathe, Danny was going to be ok and Steve had forgiven her. She cried with relief in his arms as he held her tight and told her it wasn't her fault. The whole scene had happened in not more than a minute really, but in that one minute she had glimpsed Steve's heart. That's when she knew, he wasn't just a partner, not just a friend, he was a brother. And she would do well to remember that from now on.

….

A week after.

At the golf tournament, all smiles and laughter now with Danny's hand around her, the whole Ohana laughing and including her in the fun, she felt like she was with family. They had forgiven her, she had lied about everything, even her name and Danny had almost died because of it, but they had forgiven her. They said she was a victim too and there was nothing to forgive, the same words that Danny had said to her and made her feel worthy again. But she wondered, had Danny died would they have been so forgiving? Would she have ever been able to forgive herself? Ohana, it was just as deep as blood and she was glad to be part of it.

…..