Here's another one shot for you all. I know I should be revising, and drafting the next chapter of Remaking Lives in between, but Sky One is showing all the episodes of Hawaii Five-0 from the beginning again, all the way through to end of season 3. Yesterday, I saw 2x14 and 2x15, and I started thinking, 'What happens afterwards?' And hey presto, this was born. I hope you like it; I was up until quarter to one refining it and trying to make sure it was perfect.
Steve stands on the pavement, staring at the seedy, rundown bar. He sighs as he pushes the door open and enters. The place is nearly empty. Only a few people are still there, sitting sullenly at either the bar or a table.
The bartender looks up as he comes in. "Are you Steve McGarrett?"
"Yeah. How long has he been here?" he replies, looking at his partner. Danny was hunched over at the end of the bar, nursing a glass of water.
"About three hours?" the bartender estimates, shrugging her shoulders. "He came in just after I started my shift at 9. I gave him a glass of water to try and sober him up a little. Here." She hands him Danny's phone and car keys.
Steve nods gratefully. "Thank you." He moves down to the end of the bar and sits next to Danny. "Hey."
Danny looks up at him with bloodshot, bleary eyes. "Wotchoo doin' here?" he slurs.
"The bartender called me," Steve explains. "She was worried that if you tried to drive home, you'd end up wrapped around a tree."
Danny lowers his gaze again. "On'y with my luck."
Steve frowns at him. "What do you mean?"
"Doesn't… Doesn't matter, babe," Danny murmurs, flapping a hand at Steve. "Go home."
"I'm not going anywhere without you. Now, come on." Steve places Danny's arm over his shoulders and pulls him off the stool, ignoring his feeble protests. As they make their way towards the door, Steve pulls a couple of bills out of his pocket and tries to put them on the bar, but the bartender shakes her head.
"Don't worry; just get him home," she says. Steve nods and offers a small smile.
He leads Danny out of the bar and over to his truck. He had seen the Camaro when he arrived; he can ask Chin or Kono to drive it back to Steve's place tomorrow.
"Okay, in you get, Danno," Steve coaxes as they get to the truck. He opens the door and Danny climbs in. Steve fastens the seatbelt for him, before shutting the door and moving round to the driver's side.
Danny is silent for the entire car ride; he rests his head on the window and keeps his eyes shut. Steve hates it. He understands that Danny probably doesn't want to talk about it, but he should. Once he gets Danny back to his house, then he can maybe try and get something out of him.
Ten minutes later, Steve pulls into the driveway in front of his house. When he looks at Danny, he's unsure of whether the man is asleep or not, but when he shuts off the engine, Danny opens his eyes again and looks at Steve. Steve stares at him for a moment, silently asking if he's okay. Danny looks away, though, and opens the door, almost faceplanting on the lawn as he gets out. Steve gets out and goes round to Danny, hooking one of his arms around his shoulders and leading him to the front door.
As they move into the living room, Danny suddenly breaks away, lurching towards the downstairs bathroom. The sound of violent retching follows immediately after. Steve sighs and follows Danny into the bathroom. His partner is kneeling on the floor and holding onto the toilet for dear life, whimpering softly as the acid burns his throat as he throws up again. Steve gets down next to him and just rubs his back soothingly, coaxing him through it.
When he finally stops retching a few minutes later, Danny sits down and leans against the wall, and rubs a shaking hand across his mouth. Steve had disappeared a moment before, but he reappears now, holding a glass of water.
"Here. Rinse, and then drink the rest of that." Danny takes the glass and does as he's told. After another minute or so, the nausea disappears, and Danny climbs to his feet with a helping hand from Steve. The SEAL leads his inebriated partner from the bathroom and out onto the lanai, sitting him down in one of the beach chairs. He then disappears again, but reappears a few minutes later, a sandwich and two bottles of water in his hands.
"I want to see that whole bottle of water gone before I put you to bed, Danno," Steve warns as he sits down in the other chair, handing one bottle to Danny.
"Don't call me that," Danny murmurs. "Don't call me 'Danno'."
It's been just over a week since Grace's kidnapping, and everyone's emotions are still raw. Steve realises that the last thing Danny wants to hear is his daughter's nickname for him when he came so close to losing her. "Right. Sorry."
Steve watches Danny silently for the next few minutes, making sure that he eats the whole sandwich, taking the plate back inside when he's done. When he comes back out, Steve chews on his tongue as he tries to figure out how to ask his question.
"Danny? What did you mean before? What were you talking about? 'Only with my luck'?"
Danny stares out at the ocean for a moment before replying. "I... I've had so much shit dropped on me 'fore. What's a little more?" he asks with a shrug.
Steve stares at him in confusion. "I don't understand."
Danny sighs and slouches down in his seat. "It's just... everything in my sad, pathetic life. It's Rachel, and the baby, and now Rick..." Steve realises that Danny's having an emotional breakdown. It's later than expected, but nevertheless, it's expected. "Rachel took ever'thin' from me. Left me with nothin'. I... I hate her. I hate her for it, but I still go running back to her whenever she calls. I was gonna go back to Jersey with her, 'cos of the baby, but of course, it ain't mine, is it? I still would've loved it, because I love her." Danny laughs mirthlessly then. "I hate her, but I still love her. How fucked up and pathetic is that?"
"Danny, it's not pathetic," Steve argues, gently grasping his brother's hand. "I know you loved her, and she loved you. Feelings like that don't just go away overnight; it takes time to move on."
"Rach didn't need any time; she was engaged to Stan before the divorce was even finalized," Danny says bitterly. Before Steve can say anything else, he carries on. "It's not just her; it's Rick, too. I should've known. I should've known Rick would come back. I mean, it's my job; I'm a detective. I-I should have anticipated him getting revenge. But I ignored that possibility, because he was like family before, y'know? I guess it's true what they say: only ignorance excuses stupidity. 'Cos that's me; ignorant and stupid."
"Danny, come on, stop it, man. You are not stupid or ignorant, okay? You couldn't have seen that Rick Peterson was going to hold a grudge; you aren't all-knowing. But what you are is a damn good cop who always does the right thing."
"Well, the right thing nearly got my daughter killed!" Danny's voice is loud and harsh against the silence of the night. His hands shake, and he sounds like he's barely holding onto any semblance of control now. "The right thing is going to make me lose my daughter! Rachel's going to use this against me to take Grace away from me." The very idea of losing Grace seems to destroy all of Danny's control. His whole body begins shaking in earnest and a choked sob rips out of his throat.
Steve doesn't hesitate in wrapping his arms around his distraught partner. "Danny, listen to me. You are not going to lose Grace, okay? Rachel cannot take her away from you. That little girl loves you - she idolises you - and Rachel would be insane to even try and stop you seeing her. And if she does try, you aren't going to go down without a fight, because that's not the Danny Williams I know. You are a stubborn, loud-mouthed haole who moved across the whole country to see Grace every other weekend, and you are going to fight to keep that, and Chin, Kono and I will be behind you 100%, alright?" Danny didn't respond, but Steve could still feel him shaking and sobbing.
"And as for doing the right thing... Sometimes the choices we make can haunt us, but you know you've got a clear conscience and morality on your side," Steve continues. "Testifying against Rick was the right thing to do. You know that. And you know that there was absolutely no way in hell you could have known that he was going to try and get revenge. This is not your fault, okay?" He gives Danny a little shake. "You hear me, Danny?"
Danny nods his head against Steve's chest. "Yeah," he whispers. "I hear ya."
"Good," Steve sighs in relief. "Now, come on; let's get you to bed." He guides Danny back into the house and up the stairs, leading him into the guest bedroom. He manages to get Danny across the room to the bed, where he collapses in a heap on top of the covers and falls asleep immediately. Steve pulls his shoes and pants off, before grabbing an extra quilt and throwing it over Danny, thinking that is much easier than trying to pull the covers from underneath him. Once he's sure Danny's sleeping comfortably, Steve looks at his partner, taking in his haggard appearance and noticing that his brow is furrowed even in sleep.
Danny's not okay, Steve thinks, not by a long shot. But he will be. He just needs a helping hand.
Okay, now that that's up, I get to go and do Physics revision. Lucky me. Drop me a review and let me know what you think. Cheers x