Aloha! I haven't posted something serious (not a oneshot) for quite a while yet- aside from 'Captor', which will be updated soon, I promise- and this one's been in my head for a while. Lately I've had a lot of ideas, but none have them have even made it this far. I'm still not 100% confident that this will go where I want it to, so this is a BIG gamble. If you guys like it- and I'm hoping you will- then I'll knuckle down and get it together. If it doesn't go as well as planned, I'll wrap it up as a twoshot thingy and maybe work on something else.

I just thought I'd let you know, before you start reading, (sorry, I talk too much) that there will be some Danny whump. Not necessarily physicalwhump, because we all know Danny well enough to figure out that if Grace really did disappear, there would be some emotional whumpage involved. I kinda wanted to experiment with that. It will be sad- I felt sad when writing it!

Anyway, enough of the jibberjabber- let's get reading! As mentioned, review/favourite/follow/all of the above if you want to see something else come out of this. And I don't own Hawaii Five 0. Still.

Unlucky for Some

Chapter 1: Hau`oli la Hanau (Happy Birthday)

Danny looks out across the crowded field, strands of his dirty blonde hair dancing in the breeze. He shields himself from the glaring sun and finally spots her. Grace.

A smile flickers across his lips, stretching into a grin as he remembers the morning's events. He stuffs his hands in his pockets and tilts his head back as his eyes glaze over in thought.

Idle chatter fills the small apartment. The smell of burning candles floats through the open windows, the view barred by a small figure sitting in front of it.

'Can I look now?' Grace swings her legs from the stool she perches on, her heels tapping on the wall behind her. She moves a finger from across her face and peeks at the scene in front of her.

'No peeking!' Kono says, covering her eyes once again. Grace groans but doesn't protest, just waits for her father to finish.

'And… There!' Danny shouts, laying a cake down on the table in front of her. Her eyelids flick open and she gasps.

'Danno! It's beautiful!' Grace stares down at the cake, taking in every detail. 'Thirteen' is written on the top, while one little candle sits in the middle, surrounded by a mountain of sprinkles. The words 'Hau`oli la Hanau' adorn the bottom.

She smiles and bends down. With one breath, she blows the candle out, watching as the flame flicker to nothingness. Booming applause follows.

'Happy birthday, Monkey,' Danny whispers to Grace as the remains of the cake is passed round. She turns, staring at him with the same brown eyes that used to melt him all those years ago. 'Thanks, Danno.'

He blinks; suddenly a thought crosses his mind.

What happens when she gets too old for it all? When she's too old for 'Danno' and 'Monkey', for the pigtails and teddy bears? He remembers the father-daughter dance. The day he thought he would never see her again. He remembers the surf lessons, the ballet recitals and the trips to the beach. He remembers it all, and realises that whatever happens, however many years go by; he'll never truly be able to let go of it all.

'Danny! Get over here! It's present time.' Steve shouts. Danny joins Steve, Kono, Kamekona and Chin, grabbing the small box with Grace's gift hidden inside.

'Gracie,' he kneels down, face to face with his daughter. 'I know that everything's going to change pretty soon.' He clears his throat. 'And I know that I'm not really going to like it. But whatever happens in the next few years-' He looks up at Steve. '-Whatever idiotic situation SuperSEAL Steven over here decides to throw me into, whatever it takes for you to let me know that you're not really a little girl anymore…' He stops as he notices the lump in the back of his throat.

'We're going to get through it together.'

He lifts the lid of the box, revealing the necklace he spent so long choosing for her. A single charm hangs from the leather cord.

Grace ducks her head and he tightens the silver clasp. She fingers the tiny object.

'It's… a monkey.'

Danny nods. 'It's you. You're my Monkey. My Gracie.'

She brushes a tear from her cheek. 'Oh Danno…' She pulls him into a hug.' I'll always be your little girl.'

'You found her yet?' Danny is pulled from the daze as his partner's voice reaches his ears.

'Over there,' the detective gestures to where he caught sight of his daughter. 'She's racing next.' He shakes his head, trying to focus on the mass of people in front of him, looking past the identical blue polo shirts and khaki shorts.

Steve nods, just as the bell sounds and both watch Grace and her classmates get into position on the running track. Her long pigtails sway as she runs to her spot.

Silence descends. The shot rings out across the field and the girls start running. Danny fixes his eyes onto his daughter and follows her as she speeds past and pushes into second place.

Grace's legs pump faster and his fists clench in concentration as she lifts her head and sprints to the finish line, leaving a cluster of tired competitors in her wake.

'Atta girl, Gracie!' Danny laughs as pride overwhelms him.

'Go Grace!' Steve yells, slapping his partner on the back. 'That's some daughter you've got there.'

Danny nods. 'Don't I know it,' He looks again to the track, frowning suddenly.

'You okay?' Steve asks, suddenly concerned.

Danny looks puzzled. 'Something's wrong. I can't see Grace.'

Steve follows his gaze. 'You think she's alright?'

The Jersey detective remains worried. 'She must be inside.'

'Don't sweat it, brah. She's probably just with her friends-' Steve hears Danny shout as he sees Grace fall to the ground.

'Gracie!' Danny is immediately by her side.

'Danno,' Her voice is barely a whisper, her face contorted in pain.

'What happened?' Steve leans down and clutches her hand, while Danny grasps the other.

'It's my… knee,' Grace mutters, 'hurts…'

Danny looks up at Steve. 'She needs to get it checked out.' His eyes are wide with concern. 'It's okay, baby, it's okay,' He whispers to the distraught figure beside him, 'Danno's here,'

Steve twists round and glances back at the scene. 'Looks like the nurse is coming over.'

In a matter of minutes, Grace is up on a stretcher at the foot of an ambulance. Danny doesn't leave her side, his face becoming deathly pale when the EMT finally comes over and delivers the verdict.

'We need to take he in to get the knee examined. Right now we're confident that it is nothing too bad, but the swelling makes me want to take a closer look.'

Seeing the panicked expression on the detective's face, the EMT rushes on before Danny can open his mouth. 'We'll take good care of her, Detective.'

Steve shuffles in the hard chair, staring at the grim posters lining the walls of the waiting room. He tilts his head to stare at the clock, wondering if time runs at a different rate inside a hospital.

As if reading his mind, Danny mutters: 'How long has it been?' His eyes are closed and there are deep creases etched into his forehead.

'She's going to be okay, man.'

Danny rubs a clammy hand across his face. 'You didn't answer my question.'

Steve turns, pushing himself up from the chair, as footsteps echo through the halls. 'I don't need to,'

Danny runs over to the doctor. 'How is she? Is she okay?' He looks down, hoping against hope-

'She's going to be fine.'

He lets out a sigh of relief, not even realising he was holding his breath.

'We've noticed the swelling and tenderness around the knee. This makes me think it is a ligament injury, but since the amount of swelling is at a minimum we're right now I don't need to take her in for a scan. We'll bandage it up and take it from there.'

Danny smiles for the first time in what seems like forever. 'So it's nothing serious?'

The doctor shakes his head. 'Not right now.' He talks for a while longer, but the man opposite him is hardly listening. He's just counting down the seconds until he sees his daughter again.

'Is something wrong?' The doctor asks, as Danny shakes himself out of the daze.

'I'm fine.'

'No- I thought I heard something coming from your daughter's room,'

'What?' Danny takes off down the hall, ignoring various cries of protest. He pushes open the door, shouting when realisation hits him.

'What is it? What happened?' Steve runs in, eyes wide with fear.

Danny looks straight at his partner, forcing back the tears.

'Steve…' He clenches his fists, suddenly feeling more terrified than he's ever felt in his life.

'She's gone, Steve. Grace is gone.'

That's Chapter 1. Thank you for reading! Will it be properly continued? You decide... Make your thoughts and ideas known to me if you want this to go further!