Author's note: I've not forgotten about Never Surrender, and I'll have Chapter 2 for that up soon. This one wouldn't leave me alone, so I had to write this one shot. Inspired by I Will Wait by Mumford and Sons.
Lots of angst in this one.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but I enjoy playing with the characters like everyone else.
Tick tock. Tick tock. Every movement of the second hand echoed in Danny's head like someone hammering a nail. Another nail in the coffin of his dwindling hope. Hope that Steve would return from wherever he was.
A simple op. That's all it would be, he'd been told. 'My skills are needed, Danno,' Steve had said to him. When he'd replied 'What skills are those, Steven? What can you possibly do that no one else can?' he'd been met with a wan smile from his friend. Classified. Of course.
That dreaded word. The one that brooked no argument. Ended all conversation. It had stopped that one before it even started.
Danny looked at his cell phone, silent on the table beside him, screen dark. It taunted him with its inactivity, almost mocking his tiny ball of hope that remained. He'd tried calling Steve's friend at the Naval Office, only to be apologetically stonewalled. 'No word,' he'd been told. To Danny it felt like a kick in the face.
Long ago he'd switched the T.V. off, as it had only added to his worry. Reports of helicopters crashing. Men dying. Flag-draped coffins returning home- they'd only eroded his resolve. He couldn't bear to see the tear- streaked faces of loved ones who'd lost family and friends. He was afraid he'd see himself on the screen, like some sadistic time machine, showing him one of his darkest fears.
He shook his head. 'I will wait for you.' Those words he'd said the day Steve left to board a waiting C-17 echoed in his mind. Steve had replied with 'I know,'before turning his back to leave. He'd waited. Still was.
Danny looked at the beer in his hand that had been forgotten. How many had he drank? The pit of his stomach felt like a chasm waiting to suffocate him, ready to pull his soul into a black hole, never again to see the light of day.
Even Chin and Kono had reluctantly given in to what they felt was the inevitable. 'Danny, we many have to accept the possibility that Steve died in the helicopter crash. It's been way too long,' Kono had said, a sad smile on her face. She'd held out that the downed UH-60 Blackhawk carrying a SEAL team wasn't the one that Steve may have been on, but with no word forthcoming, even she began to lose all hope as time passed.
Chin had offered support, his hand on Kono's shoulder. 'I'm sorry, brah,' he'd told a disbelieving Danny. 'We may need to-' Danny cut him off when he'd held up his hand, stopping the Hawaiian from venturing any further into a place that the blonde didn't want to follow.
Danny had gotten up, hands raised in silent platitude. 'I can't. I just can't. I won't. They are lying. He's coming home,' Danny had said with as much positivity as he could muster, as he struggled to keep his composure.
And I will wait for you.
Danny brushed past a compassionate Chin and Kono, their eyes boring into his retreating back as he'd left the office, desperate to get away. Now here he was, in the same clothes he wore the day he'd left, sitting and waiting in the only place he could think of that made him feel close to his partner. Steve's house.
Ring! Danny jumped, the sound disturbing the silence, jarring him from his thoughts. Ring! He stared at the phone as though he wasn't sure what it was or how it got there, afraid to look at the display. Swallowing, he glanced at the device, butterflies erupting in the pit of his stomach at the name on the caller ID. Colonel Hunt.
He grabbed the phone, nearly dropping it in his haste to answer. "Williams," he quickly said, afraid the other person might give up and end the call, thinking no one was going to reply.
"Yes, uh huh. I heard. On the news," he added roughly, voice harsh from lack of use. "I...-," Danny started, only to add a relieved "Really? You have no idea. Right away. And thank you, Sir."
Danny ended the call and leapt from the chair as though someone had lit a fire beneath him.
And I will wait, I will wait for you.
Wait he did. Now the waiting was over. Steve was on the plane home - due in Honolulu in an hour. Danny ran out of the house to his waiting Camaro, everything else forgotten other than his keys in his haste to leave.
The call to Chin and Kono was quick and short, with Chin reminding Danny to drive safe before ending the call with a word of thanks and relief. Danny stopped the Camaro on a dime at the airport before hastily climbing out of the driver's seat. He ran a hand through his disheveled hair, his body a nervous bundle of energy as he stood on the tarmac, rocking back and forth on his heels.
The C-17 cargo behemoth taxied off the runway, stopping surprisingly gently for a plane that size, before the rear door began to open. Danny wondered why it was taking long for the giant plane to allow its precious cargo to disembark, when a loud click signaled the end of the door's travel.
A male figure in brown camo fatigues emerged slowly, descending down the aircraft's ramp. One arm in a sling, the other hand carried a pack, which was slowly shrugged onto his free shoulder. The movements were slow and calculated. Pained. Steve stiffly walked towards Danny, with a pronounced limp that he didn't even attempt to hide.
Steve. Alive. The words rang loud in Danny's inner ears, even though the words were never even spoken. He stared like a deer in the headlights, not really believing his eyes until he could lay a hand on the SEAL himself. Clearly Steve was wounded, and given that he was not making light of the situation, the blonde knew his friend was hurting.
Once Steve was within feet of reaching Danny, it was then he could see the many scrapes and cuts on his brother's face. The sun and sand had clearly taken its toll, amongst whatever hell Steve had been through. He was sure Steve sported bandages under his uniform, and Danny let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
"Welcome home, babe," Danny finally said, once he forced his mouth to move.
Steve's tired eyes met the bright blue ones of his partner, and when Danny offered a gentle smile of relief and support, Steve dropped his pack and moved towards Danny like a stone that could no longer support its own weight.
Wordlessly Steve embraced Danny in a one-armed hug, and the shorter man carefully returned it, afraid of hurting his friend any further, offering support. Danny felt like he was flying. His hope, his dream was to see Steve return home alive.
"I love you, Steve. You know that? You're my brother," Danny said, as he watched what little control Steve had over his emotions crumble like an aging wall.
"I love you too, Danno," Steve replied, not breaking the embrace as if it were the only thing keeping him upright.
"Let's go home, babe," Danny finally managed, shouldering Steve's bag as they walked slowly to the waiting Camaro.
"Danny, you need to know that your promise was what kept me going, brought me home," Steve admitted, a sad smile on his lips.
Danny ran a hand across his face as he tried to keep his emotions in check as he recalled his final words to Steve before this whole nightmare began.
"I will wait for you, Steve. Always."
Fin.