A little hurt/comfort set between the first and second episodes, since ep1 was all we got to see of the friendship development before it turned into ohana in ep2 I thought I'd bridge the gap.

05/05/11

Soon To Be

Morning came all too soon for Detective Danny Williams, prying him from the alluring, blissfully unaware state of sleep. His face twitches as a parade of something cool and wet stomps across his cheek and tickles its way over his lips. Water. Danny's sleep fuzzed brain concludes, must have left the window open. Somehow that conclusion makes perfect sense, despite the fact that Danny would never leave the window open at night, not when his apartment is sitting on the ground floor. He's seen far too many break in scenarios to be that careless.

The water continues to fall, gentle splatters impacting on his skin and sliding down his face in an endless routine created especially to drive him insane. He idly wonders if somehow Steve is behind it, the detective wouldn't be surprised to open his eyes and find his partner standing over him with a jug of water. The guy has made it his personal mission to send him to an early grave and surely being sleep deprived would spur the process along.

A particularly heavy drop strikes him right over his eye lid and instantly his level of irritation is more than his partially conscious mind can take. Danny's eyes snap open but it's not the amused face of an over grown SEAL that greets his vision, nor is it the wall of his tiny apartment, what he's met with is a small pool of water settling over a concrete surface.

A dull ache begins to spread across his body as Danny stares at the ground beneath him, trying to formulate the significance of what he's seeing. So far all he's getting is that he is definitely not in his apartment and that Steve probably isn't responsible for his predicament, well at least not the water.

Bracing one hand palm down on the wet ground, Danny pushes himself onto his back in an attempt to get a better view of his surroundings. Unfortunately with the twist of his body sharp pain shoots down his torso, sending his head spinning and prying a gasp from his lips. The detective slumps against the ground panting hard, clamping his eyes closed he waits for the dizziness to subside and the pain from what he's sure is a couple of bruised or broken ribs to ease. A chill drives itself through his body as the cold water below him seeps into his shirt and fresh drops plummet onto his throbbing chest, but Danny remains motionless focusing solely on steadying his breathing.

Confident that he's ridden out the worst of the pain, Danny slowly lets the outside world back in which happens to consist of only darkness and water, a fact that he pushes aside while his mind works wildly trying to sort through his jumbled thoughts and piece together how he came to be unconscious in the rain. He hopes he's not on a case, that somehow he'd managed to get knocked out and left one of his team mates without backup, but that doesn't seem right. He remembers leaving work for the day. Leaving when it was still light and not raining.

It occurs to him to move, do something to help himself, but the pain isn't much of an incentive, it's far more pleasant to lay still. So he does. For about two minutes before his mind overrides his body. Cop instincts kicking in, Danny realises how vulnerable he is, he's defenceless and he doesn't know if whoever left him here is coming back to finish the job. So he'll have to suck it up, after all, he has a daughter to think about.

Leaning himself over to the side, Danny's instantly assaulted by a protesting rib, but keeping his breathing steady the detective presses on, grinding his teeth against the onslaught while bracing his arm against the ground and slowly heaving himself to his feet. Swinging his arm out, Danny finds purchase on a nearby dumpster and wrapping his fingers tightly around the cool metal rim, he rises, pulling himself to his full height. Glancing around all he sees is a swirling mass of light shining down towards him from the mouth of the alley and he blinks trying to clear his vision as his head joins the party, thumping sharply along with the hammering in his torso. In hindsight he figures he probably should have sat up before he attempted to stand. With one hand still firmly clutching the dumpster, the other seizes his head, wincing as his palm comes into contact with what he assumes is his newly decorated flesh. He hadn't noticed how stiff his face felt until now.

As his world stills and the thumping fades to a manageable level, the detective begins to scan his surroundings, which are only just distinguishable under the distant illumination of a nearby street light. From what he can make out the dumpster appears to be his lone companion, with only trash lining the otherwise bare concrete floor. Something catches the light and squinting through the black fog, he spots a familiar object lying over a plastic bag. Not relishing the thought of having to pick it up, Danny shuffles towards it regardless to find his badge staring up at him, his cell phone sitting mere inches to its side.

"He's a cop!"

"Leave it, they can track those!"

Voices filter through his scattered mind, memories filling in the blanks of his night. Quickly searching his pockets, Danny comes up empty, his wallet and car keys missing. Mugged. He was mugged, but when his attackers discovered that he's a cop they must have left in a hurry, leaving his cell in fear of being found through the GPS.

As if his night couldn't get any worse, his attackers were probably some punk amateurs out for an easy buck and they got the jump on him, an experienced cop with many cases under his belt. He's not looking forward to reporting this to HPD, they'll no doubt have a good laugh at his expense.

Swallowing back his humiliation Danny looks down at the items in distaste, not willing to bend down to pick them up, yet knowing he has to if there's a chance the hoodlums didn't destroy his phone when they flung it to the ground. Considering they left his phone and took his car, which would be much easier to track down, he figures that they are probably stupid enough to leave him a functioning means to call for help. Releasing a deep sigh, Danny slowly lowers his body towards the ground, wishing he had another dumpster to offer him support. He drops to his knees keeping his torso as straight as possible and managing not to exacerbate the pain. Eying the items in front of him, he realises he's still going to have to reach for the wretched things. Placing more weight onto his knees, Danny leans forward, one hand securely on the ground, while the other stretches out to sweep the phone and badge closer. The expected pain fires across his chest but grinding his teeth in what he's sure will mean a trip to the dentist; the detective snatches both items from their resting spots. A triumphant smile streaks across his battered face at the success of his feat and with one item in each hand, Danny pushes up from the ground. Instantly he's pierced with a fresh stab of agony, twisting the smile into a tight grimace. Falling back onto his hunches, Danny breathes deeply, hoping to God that his actions weren't in vain.

Allowing himself a minute to recover, the detective then forces his concentration away from the pain and on the task at hand. Pocketing his badge, Danny focuses on his phone and pressing a few buttons he's relieved when the device lights up, but frowns at the large crack cast across the face of his little girl. Casting aside his annoyance at having to buy a new phone, he decides to simply be glad it's working. His fingers hover over the buttons as his mind searches for who to call. As far as options go there's an ambulance, but that seems a little extreme and then there's Rachel and he's sure she'd just love to hear from him at this hour. He would prefer to call a taxi, but given his wallet is missing that idea is definitely a no go. Danny has been on the island for six months, one week and two days and during that time he is yet to find someone he feels he can call upon in a time of need. There is Meca, his old partner in HPD but Danny hasn't seen him since his shift to the task force and he doesn't really want to pull the man away from his family at any hour, let alone the early morning.

Scrolling through his contacts the detective halts as the screen highlights the name of his new partner. His first day of knowing the man may have been a disaster but in the last few days of working with the borderline psychotic SEAL the guy has actually grown on him. Sure, he's reckless, has the tendency not to listen and will no doubt be the death of him, but all in all, Steve's a pretty good guy. Danny may not have anyone else to turn to but he's silently confident that his partner won't let him down. Pressing the dial button he waits for the familiar voice to answer, hoping his instincts are right.

The shrill cry of his cell phone instantly jolts Steve from sleep and he reaches out, grasping the device from the bedside table. Taking a glance at the caller ID he briefly wonders why his partner is calling him in the middle of the night before pressing the talk button.

"Hey, Danny, what's up?"

"Well, not me but I'm hoping to change that so if you're not busy with any night time SEAL antics I could do with a lift home."

"Seriously, you're calling me at," Steve checks the clock on his night stand, "0240 because you want me to pick you up?"

"Yes, Steven, I just thought I haven't spent enough time with you at work these past four exhaustedly long days so I figured we could use the wee hours of the morning to bond over a beer or two!"

"Why didn't you call a cab?" Steve asks, ignoring the sarcasm as he climbs out of bed, slipping on his cargo pants and pulling a shirt from a draw. "And what happened to your car?"

Danny sighs and suddenly Steve gets the impression that there's a lot more to the situation then his partner is letting on.

"Please, come and pick me up."

"Ok, where are you?" Steve asks, Danny's tone putting haste into his actions.

"Ah...I don't know, hold on."

"You don't know? How could you not know where you are?" Steve demands, his worry hardening his voice as he rushes down the stairs, out his front door and into the rain. Six months is plenty of time for Danny to get to know the city, especially as a cop, so he figures the situation to be more than his partner getting lost. That and Danny would be too stubborn to admit it. "Are you ok?"

"I'm not having the greatest of nights if you must know, and no I'm not ok, if I was ok do you really think I'd be calling you at 2:40 in the morning?!"

Steve hears Danny curse and mutter something about long streets.

"I don't see any street signs, but across the road there's a surf shop."

"Not really narrowing it down," Steve replies as he climbs into his truck and starts the engine, finding the right surf shop in Honolulu is the island's version of the needle in the haystack. "Do you know roughly where you are? Give me a direction to head in."

"Downtown Honolulu, maybe near that bar Kono took us to, I was there earlier."

Steve idly wonders if maybe Danny is drunk but quickly casts the thought aside. He may not know the other man too well but he's not the kind to get wasted with work the following morning, his job means too much to him.

"I thought you said you didn't like it," Steve replies instead.

"Yeah, well I wanted a beer and it was close."

"Ok, I'll be there soon, don't move," the former SEAL commands.

"Ok."

Steve disconnects the call and concentrates more fully on the road, the rain's not too heavy, but the last thing he needs right now is to end up in a ditch. He knows something is very wrong with the detective, he doubts the stubborn man would have called unless it was a last resort. The sooner he finds his partner, the better. He's pretty sure he knows where Danny is, having been in the area a couple of days before but he's been finding himself in need of becoming reacquainted with the streets of his hometown, a lot has changed since Steve last called this island home. If he doesn't have any luck he'll call Danny back and gather more information, or head to the Palace and trace the phone's GPS.

After passing the bar it's not long before Steve spots a figure leaning against a building in an otherwise deserted street. Pulling the vehicle to a stop, he watches through the rain as Danny slowly pushes off from the wall and makes his way over to the curb.

"Hey, still need that lift?" Steve greets as a saturated Danny opens the passengers door.

"Yeah, thank you."

Danny settles himself into the seat but his movements are awkward and stiff, a small gasp alerting Steve to the fact that his partner is definitely hurt.

"Are you alright?" He asks, repeating his earlier question, hoping this time it will be taken seriously. Danny turns to him and its Steve's turn to gasp. "What happened?" He demands at the sight of the bruises littering the side of the blond man's face. "Damn, you're bleeding." Steve states eyeing the cut above the detective's eye, but to his relief it isn't deep, the blood having mixed with the rain making the laceration appear much worse than it is.

"Got mugged," Danny replies, sounding slightly ashamed by the admission.

Rage fills Steve and he silently vows to hunt the bastard down, no way is anyone going to get away with hurting his partner, and that there is a strange thought. He hasn't even known Danny a week and yet he's ready to kill for the man.

"They must have gotten the jump on me, took my car, but I don't really know what happened," Danny continues.

Steve glances again at the wound on Danny's head, wondering if it is in fact worse then he'd thought. "You want me to take you to the hospital?"

"Probably should, I'm betting at least one of my ribs is broken."

"What about your head? You dizzy? Nauseous?" Steve asks, listing off concussion symptoms, again amazed by his concern for someone he barely knows. Perhaps it's because he feels responsible, Danny, Chin and Kono are a part of his team, people who look to him for leadership, if anything happens to them it's on him and obviously it makes no difference whether it's during work hours or not. The more time he spends with them, especially Danny, as vocal and frustrating as he is, Steve realises that they are more than simply his team, they're his friends. And right now, someone hurt his friend.

"I was dizzy when I woke up, but I'm alright now," Danny answers, leaning his head back against the seat, angling his body away from Steve and towards the window in a move that just had to be painful.

"They knocked you out?" Steve quizzes, craning his neck to ensure his partner's eyes remain open, knowing all too well the effects of a concussion, so he has no intention of letting his partner sleep until a doctor's checked him over.

"No," Danny snaps, twisting back around, "I thought the wet alley was a perfect place to take a nap," he adds, shooting Steve a 'what the hell do you think' glare. The SEAL grins and satisfied that the detective is alright, he pulls out onto the road heading toward the hospital.

"I'll put an APB out on your car, we'll catch them," Steve claims with conviction, thinking he'll make an example of the thugs. No one touches his team and the SEAL is going to make damn sure everyone on the island knows it.

Pulling up to the hospital, Steve quickly climbs out and rushes around to the passenger's door to help Danny to his feet. Under the light cast in the parking lot, Danny's mottled face appears worse, igniting new anger through Steve's veins.

"I'm ok," Danny assures him, but the admission doesn't stop the detective from grasping Steve's arm when he's caught off guard by a sudden surge of pain. Danny smiles thankfully at his partner's support, but his expression clearly displays his awkwardness at needing help.

A few stitches, a couple of phone calls and one tightly wrapped bandage later, Steve pulls up outside Danny's apartment. The sky has cleared and the sun is beginning to rise, casting light over the small building as both men climb out of the vehicle, Steve shadowing Danny, should he need any assistance for the short walk to the door of his place. Once he's satisfied that his partner is safely and somewhat comfortably seated on the sofa Steve turns to leave, thinking he'll head home for his morning swim.

"I'm going to head off, but you can give me a call if you need anything and don't bother coming into work today."

Danny nods. "Alright, and ah, thanks for this."

"No problem, that's for partners are for, right?"

Danny smiles. "Right."

Closing the door behind him Steve heads back towards his truck but the call of his cell phone stops him short as he plucks the device from his pocket.

"McGarrett."

"We've pulled over the vehicle matching your APB and apprehended two men," the voice of a HPD officer informs him.

"I'll be there in ten."

Steve can't help the small grin of anticipation that crawls across his face as he pockets his phone and climbs into his truck, looks like he'll have to take that swim later.

Thanks for reading!