It's so hard to forget pain but it's even harder to remember sweetness. We have no scar to show for happiness.—Chuck Palahniuk, Diary: A Novel.

It was raining again.

A tropical storm had rolled in overnight with howling winds and strobe light worthy lightning but Danny had been too tired to take much notice. This last week—the last few weeks really—had been exhausting both mentally and physically. Most of his time had been divided between spending time with Steve at the hospital, trying to get things straightened back out at work and attending therapy sessions both with Steve and alone. 'Recovery is more exhausting than the disaster itself' He thought to himself as he lay in bed listening to the rain splatter against the bedroom windows.

On top of all of this, Mason and Andrew were moving to Hawaii and he had been helping them get situated on the island in the little bit of spare time he had in return for Mason saving Steve from that North Korean hellhole. Mason had resigned his commission and had somehow convinced his partner to live out his civilian life in paradise. Danny was personally grateful to have them around. Mason was good people and he had no doubt Andrew was too. The girls adored him and it would be nice to have a couple extra hands around while Steve was still in the hospital.

Danny couldn't help but sigh when he thought about Steve. His partner's recovery had not gone as smoothly as they had hoped. His arm had healed as expected. The doctors warned that he may never have full range of motion on that side because of the trauma that the limb had endured over time but it would not be enough of a loss to keep him out of the field. His hip was a different story. He had developed avascular necrosis due to a lack of blood flow to the joint during its prolonged dislocation and as a result some of the bone tissue in the hip had died. They hadn't realized there was a problem until Steve had started physical therapy and experienced more pain than was appropriate for that level of activity. He was currently being treated conservatively with anti-inflammatories and a bone strengthening medication but the doctors had warned that there was a possibility Steve would have to undergo another surgery if things didn't improve soon.

Danny couldn't bring himself to think about it. If Steve had to go under again it would mean a poor prognosis for his career. Depending on how bad the necrosis got, it could be debilitating and if he had any kind limitations in his legs it would be hard for him to pass his law enforcement physical, not to mention the Navy. If Steve couldn't be a SEAL or a cop Danny didn't know what his partner would do. 'You're getting ahead of yourself.' The little voice in the back of his head reminded. 'You have to stay positive, if not for yourself then for Steve. The last thing he needs is more bad news.'

Steve had opened up to Danny about his father and the truth behind the McGarrett-Wo Fat vendetta. It broke Danny's heart how senseless it all seemed and he understood now why it had messed his partner up for awhile. The sessions with Dr. Lewis were helping Steve to understand how to deal with his feelings in a way that didn't involve self destructive behavior and Danny was seeing a separate counselor to help with the trust issues he still had with Steve. It was a slow and often painful process but they were starting to get back to the place they had been before Makayla had gotten sick.

A gust of wind caused the rain to crash hard against the window and Danny rolled over onto his back. Soft rustling noises filtered in through the baby monitor and he smiled. His daughter was awake and it would only be a few minutes before she started to call for him. Her little voice was one of the sweetest sounds he'd ever heard and it was because of her that he got through some days at all. Danny threw the bed covers off of him and lifted himself up out of bed, detouring to the bathroom quickly before heading down the hall.

"Good morning Miss Makayla." He greeted with a smile as he entered the nursery where his daughter was standing at the side of her crib waiting for him.

"Hi Dada!" She exclaimed, the words muddied slightly by the pacifier still stuck in her mouth.

"Hi baby. Did you have a good night? No bad dreams?" He inquired as he lifted her up and placed her on his hip.

"No." Makayla laughed as she latched onto her favorite word. He shook his head.

"Well that is good." Danny laid her down on the changing table as he worked to get her into a new diaper. He would change her clothes after breakfast, a lesson he learned after far too many loads of laundry. She was a terribly messy eater. "What should we have for breakfast, Kay? Should we have pancakes?" He asked.

"No." She responded.

"No pancakes? Well then how about oatmeal? Should we have oatmeal?"

"No!"

"No? Well then what do you want to eat?" Danny asked, already knowing what her answer would be.

"Nana Dada." Makayla answered as he stood her up on the table.

"Bananas! Of course! How could I forget?" He exclaimed, slapping his forehead with his hand which sent her into a fit of giggles. "You're going to turn into a banana pretty soon." Danny commented as he placed her back on his hip and headed down the stairs. Bananas were definitely his daughter's favorite food at the moment and no meal was complete without one.

"Kay no nana." She replied to the accusation with a frown.

"You're right little bird. You're not a banana." He laughed as he kissed the side of her head.

The nickname 'little bird' had emerged over the last few weeks because not only was Makayla was tiny like a sparrow but when she talked she sounded as if she was speaking pidgin. Once in the kitchen, Danny deposited her in her highchair and then set about slicking her desired fruit up onto her tray before adding a handful of cereal to it. He had just screwed on the top to her bottle of juice and was about to pour himself a cup of coffee when he heard the front door open and Kono's voice call out.

"Danny?"

"In here." He called back to her. "Coffee?" He offered as she entered the room. She nodded.

"Hi KayKay." Kono cooed as she bent slightly to kiss Makayla's head. 'I swear she's going to have a personality disorder if she gets anymore nickname.' Danny groaned internally as he handed both girls their drinks. KayKay was her nickname for the baby, adapted from the Hawaiian word for baby 'Keikei'.

"Hi!" Makayla smiled as she saw her friend. "Nana?" She asked as she thrust up a hand clutching a piece of mushy fruit.

"Thank you." Kono smiled back as she took the offered food from the baby's hand.

"So, what brings you by on this lovely morning?" Danny inquired, gesturing to the overcast skies as he sat down at the table.

"I needed to talk to you about something." She declared, suddenly serious as she sat across from him.

"What's up?"

"A few weeks back I overheard a couple of guys at the diner near HPD. They were talking about us—"

"Us?" Danny interrupted.

"Five-0." She clarified.

"Kono, how many times I gotta tell you, you can't listen to the things HPD says about us. They're just jealous and bitter." He reminded.

"They weren't HPD. These guys were from the Governor's protection detail. They were talking about Five-0 and the stuff they were saying sounded really shady, Danny." Kono explained.

"How so?"

"They were saying that we were some kind of experiment or rouse and that we screwed up when we went to Korea, like we got to close to finding something out and that's why the Governor reacted the way she did. So Chin and I did a little digging—" Danny held up a hand to stop her.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa, hold up a minute. You and Chin did what?"

"I told Chin about what I heard and he agreed that it sounded hinky so we put out some feelers with our contacts." She said. He frowned. "Look I know what you're going to say but don't. This doesn't just affect you and Steve. Chin and I are in on this too." She reminded and his gut clenched with a small pang of guilt.

"What did you find?" Danny conceded, knowing it was a losing battle anyways. Kono was like Steve, she could be like a dog with a bone when she wanted to be.

"Well unfortunately we don't have a lot yet. We put the word out to our cousin Syd and Kamekona to see what's going around HPD and the Coconut Wireless but so far all we got is a lot of hearsay and rumors but I don't like what I hear, Danny." Kono confessed. He sighed and ran a hand over his face. Another crisis was not what he wanted or needed at the moment. He was still trying to repair the damage done by the last one.

"Okay listen, I appreciate all that you and Chin are doing, I really do. But please just promise me that you two won't do anything crazy alright? It's taken me nearly a month to get the Governor cooled off enough that she's agreed to reinstate us. The last thing we need is for her to think we're up to something else and decide to fire us all instead." He warned.

He had had many a conversation over the last few weeks with Governor Jameson and it had taken all of his ability to smooth talk and charm to convince the politician that while yes, the Five-0 taskforce had technically disobeyed an order not to go after Steve and it had been reckless and dangerous, it had also been in the best interest of the state of Hawaii for Wo Fat to be stopped because of his ties to the crime organizations that plagued the island. By stopping him, they were fulfilling their mission to serve and protect the citizens of the state and that a reduction in crime rates would look good for her in her bid for reelection, not to mention that Five-0 also happened to be immensely popular with the good, upstanding citizen population. Eventually, Jameson bought it and agreed to reinstate the taskforce but warned that they would be some changes to the way things were run.

Danny was fine with being reigned in a little if it meant still having a job. But there was still a part of him that wondered if there was something he wasn't seeing. It might have just been lingering paranoia from the last few months but he did wonder if what Kono was telling him had any merit. If there was something unsavory going on, he wanted to know about it.

"So how's boss man doing? Isn't he supposed to be released from the rehab place soon?" Kono inquired, changing the subject as she sipped her coffee. Danny could see that a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders though now that she had confessed to him.

"He's supposed to be discharged in two weeks. Then it's another six to eight weeks of outpatient physical therapy before he will be able to come back to work assuming that everything goes as planned—which has yet to happen." He informed, pushing away his half empty cup. She reached across and placed a hand over his.

"Hey, he's SuperSEAL, he'll bounce back from all of this." She reassured with that easy smile of hers. Danny couldn't help but smile in return despite the fact that he was lacking her sense of confidence.

"Steve and I have a session with Dr. Lewis tomorrow afternoon. Would you mind taking this one for awhile?" He gestured towards Makayla who had has much mashed banana in her hair as she did in her mouth. "It's easier to have a serious discussion when you don't have someone trying to stuff your keys in your ear."

"No problem brah." Kono shrugged as she reached over and tickled the baby's belly. Makayla squealed in delight as she bucked in her highchair. Both adults couldn't help but laugh along with her.

It felt good to laugh again.

A/N; For those of you who are wondering, yes I had posted this story once before but I wasn't happy with the direction it was going so I decided to take it down while I attempted to fix it. I know the direction I want to go with it and I think I have a clearer idea of how to get there. This first chapter is very similar to that of the other version but I did change things around some. The avascular necrosis is a real medical condition and I actually got the idea from the back-up goalie for the Chicago Blackhawks. Ray Emery had avascular necrosis and required a bone graft that took bone from his fibula and used it to replace the damaged area of his hip. There was worry he may never walk again but obviously he did and he's even still playing hockey. Let's hope our Steve recovers as well as Ray did ;)