Forgive me... I'm still stuck on the kind of sudden"Danny is claustrophobic" thing. Please induldge the desperate whumpage/broment fan in me and read this story.

And what about Steve, he's still human isn't he? What exactly makes HIM tick? Bwa ha ha!

Enjoy!

Oz

"Only you."

"Okay this I have to hear, tell me Daniel how exactly is this my fault?"

"Only you, YOU, could get me trapped in, of all places, a furnace! IN HAWAII!" Steve McGarrett looked at his partner as he wiped the sweat from his face for the millionth time in the last hour. There was just enough light in the small room to see the look of consternation and a touch of fear on the man's face.

"For the record, it's a roasting house," Steve said calmly. "You know where they roast coffee beans... smells kind of nice in here actually."

"It's a hundred degrees in here!" Danny barked angrily. "I don't care what it smells like I care about getting the hell out of here before WE roast to death! You're a ninja! Can't you kick down the door or something?" In fact, Steve had already tried that with little success other than cramping up his calf muscle.

Four hours ago they'd arrived at an inactive coffee plantation on the North Shore. It was rumored that the store houses of the massive several acre plantation were being used as a pick up and drop off point for the Yakuza's drug running operation. So far, all Steve and Danny had found was a whole lot of nothing but store houses filled with old dried up coffee.

That was until two hours ago, finally having trekked to the other end of the property, where the processing buildings were, they'd entered a roasting room. Low and behold, in that small room was a nice new crate filled with over a million dollars worth of cocaine.

Happy with their evidence find, Steve had stepped out of the store house to call Chin and get H.P.D. back-up.

He never made it five feet from the door. Out of no where, three Yakuza had shown up and before Steve knew what was going on, one of them managed to knock him out cold. From there, all Steve knew was what Danny told him when he'd come too 45 minutes after that. Apparently, the three guys had used Steve's unconscious body as leverage, threatening to kill him if Danny didn't give up his gun, cell, back-up gun and badge before relieving Steve of the same.

Why they'd taken the badges neither Five-0 member had a clue. A trophy perhaps they surmised.

In any case, after being stripped of all forms of communication and weaponry, Danny had been handcuffed to the wall while Steve had simply been unceremoniously dumped in the middle of the room. Apparently being unconscious, they didn't think Steve posed a threat. When he'd come too, Danny had filled him in and that was when he'd first tried to break down the door.

Try and fail. Now he sat close to his partner, but not to close in the sweltering heat of the metal room, trying to undo the man's handcuffs. Another job that he seemed to be failing at and it wasn't helped by his partner's deteriorating sanity.

For the most part, Danny had grumbled and complained but nothing Steve wasn't used to. It was only with this recent tirade did the man's voice seem to pitch ever so slightly upward. That and though the man was sweating, his skin was developing a pale green hue to it.

"Tried the door, wont open, trying this now" Steve replied fiddling with the cuffs. "Don't worry Danno, Chin knows we're out here. He'll send help when we miss our scheduled check in."

"Yeah? And when was that supposed to be, eh? In three hours because we just so happened to do a check-in minutes before shoved into this furnace telling Chin everything was okay and that we'd call him in another few hours if we find something!" Danny squawked. Steve stopped the futile attempt at opening Danny's cuffs and looked his partner in the eye.

"Roasting house, Danny," he corrected. His partner's eyes flared and his good arm flew through the air nearly catching Steve in the face.

"I don't care WHAT it is! It's a bright side of the sun heated death trap and we're going to die in here! I have a daughter Steven! A daughter I would very much like to see again!" And this was what Steve had been waiting for, ever since the revelation of his partner's claustrophobia, the head of Five-0 had discreetly been mindful of leading the man into small spaces. Sure he'd razed the smaller man a few times about it but ultimately, Steve knew being part of a team meant looking out for your teammates. Looking out for them and protecting them from whatever you or they deemed necessary to be protected from.

A small part of Steve felt guilty when he woke up earlier and saw his partner's wild-eyed stare of threatening panic but Danny seemed to calm a bit once he'd started talking. Now it seemed talking wasn't helping anymore so Steve tried humor.

"You know Danno, for someone who's claustrophobic, you're sure using up a lot of air complaining," he smiled. Bad idea as it turned out, Danny's mouth dropped open, his eyes widened.

"Air? You don't think we're getting any air? I mean... I thought it was getting a little thin in here but... how, uh, how much time do you think we have?" There was true unbridled fear in the man's voice and Steve knew he had to calm the man before he got too worked up.

"Relax Danny, we're getting air, I promise you brah. I felt a draft over by the door so airs getting in okay? Take a deep breath," he said soothingly.

"Can't," Danny gasped shaking his head. "Need to save oxygen."

"Holding your breath won't stop you from heat exhaustion Danny, if anything it'll make it worse," Steve sighed. Finally his partner blew out a breath and started breathing again albeit very strained.

"Thank you voice of doom," Danny growled. Then he started struggling anew in his cuffs pulling the side Steve was working on from the man's grasp. As he did so, Steve was able to just see the beginnings of a dark red stain.

"Danny! Stop! Stop moving! You're only making it worse!" The Commander barked. It looked like in his growing panic, Danny had either tightened the cuffs or he'd jerked and flailed so much the metal was chewing through his skin to a point where it had finally started to draw blood.

"I CAN'T stop moving! YOU stop moving! I have to get out of here!" Danny yelped. Finally Steve made a command decision. He grabbed either side of Danny's face and shook him hard.

"Detective Williams I need you to calm down," he said slowly but firmly. "I'll get us out of this and help is on the way but you will not do either of us any good if you bleed to death and hyperventilate. Grace wants her Danno strong and healthy understand? Do you understand?" Very slowly possibly afraid of what would happen if he didn't comply, Danny nodded his head jerkily.

"Good," Steve nodded. He slid one hand to the back of Danny's neck and the other to the gasping man's chest. "Now breathe… just breathe okay? Good... That's good." As the detective tried to follow instructions, Steve gently applied intermittent pressure at the rate in which his partner was supposed to be taking in oxygen. Finally after several quiet moments and a few hitches, the men got Danny's breathing relatively back to normal.

Steve released his partner and sat back against a nearby wall. His head was pounding from a possible concussion and the dehydration and heat were only making things worse.

"How's the head?" Danny managed after their pause.

"Solid as ever," Steve winced and laughed at the same time. He pried open his eyes and looked at the detective who was inspecting the damage he'd done to his wrist. Most likely something to focus on and not his only just quelled fear.

"It's going to be fine Danno," Steve felt the need to repeat. "You'll see."

"Says the man who's afraid of nothing," The detective grumbled back. Steve sat up a bit more at that comment and raised an eyebrow. Something in the back of his mind screamed at him but he quickly squashed it down.

"You really think I'm fearless?" Danny snorted back a laugh.

"Normal people go into the ocean, see a shark and make a swim for it," he explained. "You, my friend, go swimming, see a shark and wonder what you're going to name it as it tries to gnaw your leg off." Steve rolled his eyes and shook his tender head.

"I am not that bad," he replied.

"Not that bad, he says," Danny huffed. His free arm flailed more naturally and Steve took that as a good sign. "You leap off buildings without hesitation. You use grenades like baseballs and you think bullet proof vests are an easier way to run straight at your target not using them for protection. You, Steven, are not just fearless, you're an adrenaline junky." Steve was quiet for a moment before speaking. Danny didn't know what he was saying, the Navy SEAL had to believe that.

"I'm going to chalk this conversation up to fear induced delirium because the Danny I know isn't this... Ornery," he replied. "Oh and I'm not fearless, no one is."

"Oh yeah?" Danny chuckled. "Losing your favorite gun doesn't count nor does ripping your favorite cargo pants. You've got what? A million pairs anyway." Something struck a little too deep for the Navy SEAL at that moment. Be it the concussion, the heat or the fact that Danny had no idea he was digging at a closely guarded secret for the Navy man. A secret only a hand full of other people knew.

For whatever reason, Steve suddenly felt trapped as distracting Danny from his own fear was starting to remind the Commander of his. And that was a place, he'd compartmentalized so well, he couldn't afford to even wonder about it at the moment.

"Let's talk about something else," Steve muttered turning his face away from Danny lest he giveaway his secret.

"Else? Something else? Are you, big bad Navy man, shy about your fearlessness? No, no! I get it! You are too proud and humble to admit your flawless sense of unshakable never-ending bravery!"

"Enough!" Steve yelled suddenly. He leapt to his feet and marched to the far side of the room. "Damn it Danny you have no idea what you're talking about! I'm trying to help you and you're throwing it in my face so just leave it the hell alone!" Where the anger had come from Steve couldn't be sure. Yes he deserved the dig considering the times he'd done the same to Danny about his claustrophobia but that didn't make it sting less. That didn't make the fear ebb in any way.

'How does it taste Mcgarrett?', Steve thought glumly to himself. He was more frustrated than angry; Frustrated that there was no one to be angry at. Frustrated that his fear was completely irrational and yet he was still afraid, terrified, all the same.

Suddenly realizing he hadn't gotten any response from his partner, Steve turned to Danny. The detective was just sitting there, staring at him in the little light that they had. Apparently his own fears had been forgotten for the moment.

"Sorry... Danny I... Sorry," Steve sighed. He got back to the man's side and started fiddling with the cuffs again. G*d he hoped the cuffs would come undone and then he could deal with a loose and panicked Danny running around the small enclosure and not the conversation he was sure his partner wanted to have. He'd broken off part of a pen he had in his pocket and was sure he could open the metal traps.

He didn't dare meet Danny's eyes and yet as moments passed the silence became more and more deafening. Danny was never quiet for this long, especially when it came to moments when he was nervous or angst ridden.

"Steve," Danny finally spoke. With his free hand he stopped the Navy SEAL from tinkering which forced the man to look up.

"What's up?" Steve answered trying to keep the emotion out of his voice. Danny's eyes were serious, deadly serious.

"What was that?" He asked. For a moment of blind panic Steve just stared as he tried to fight the emotion from showing on his face. Danny's eyebrow went up at the reaction, which made sense. The man was a seasoned detective who'd spent the better part of his career reading people. Navy SEAL or six-year old, the veteran detective only needed the smallest of hesitations to peg someone dead to rights.

"There something that genuinely scares the pineapple out of you, isn't there?" He asked carefully. Steve snapped from his trance and shook his head looking away as he tried to get his heart rate under control.

"No," he said sharply. "S'nothing." He wouldn't let it get to him. He wouldn't think about it and he damn sure wouldn't let it out in the open when he needed to focus on getting them out of their current prison.

"Babe... What if whatever it is comes up during a case and you end up taking a bullet because of it?" Danny asked. "Or worse, someone you care about? I know you've been secretly careful around me since you found out about my "thing" with tight spaces. You even offer to hold my hand." The last part was clearly meant to humor Steve for which he was immensely grateful.

"I care about your gentile sensibilities Danno," he smiled back. The detective rolled his eyes at the comment but stubbornly was not deterred.

"Good, so you should care enough to tell me what just passed through that knuckle-dragger skull of yours," Danny replied. Then he curiously added, "We're partners, you protect me, I protect you." At first Steve was going to try to deflect but then he noticed how his partner's face was focused and his breathing had evened out. This surprise outburst had completely taken Danny's mind off their predicament.

It was a bonus, considering their situation but at the same time, Steve was starting to feel the familiar rising terror of his own phobia eating at his gut. Simply thinking of it made his brain start to misfire and his heart do the Cha-cha in his chest.

"I can't," Steve finally blurted out. He stood up and started pacing. "I just... can't."

"I couldn't either for three years of knowing you," Danny said just as quickly. Then with a rouge to his cheeks that wasn't entirely heat induced the man added, "Not that I didn't trust you after a few weeks as a partner babe. It's just maybe we respect each other so much we don't want to show weakness. At least, after saying that I hope to G*d that's the reason otherwise I'm never going to hear the end of it." Steve heard the words but all he could feel was the heart constricting panic writhing in his chest threatening to overcome everything and all else that was going. Which was ridiculous considering the high temperature they were facing at the moment.

"I respect you Danny," were the few words Steve could manage. He pushed himself against one of the metal walls that was only just cool enough to not sear his skin. He drew in the warmth and tried to breathe as he'd instructed Danny to do moments earlier.

"It's not the dark," Danny started talking again. Steve's sucked in a breath because he knew he was done for. Not because of the fear but because he knew Danny was too good not to eventually hit the right answer. "Or spiders, plants, animals or heights," he went on. Steve tried desperately not to let emotion show, he glared at his partner as he subconsciously drew one free arm around himself and rubbed his shoulder.

"Enough Danny," he tried. "Let's focus on getting out of here, okay?" A desperate plea that was a plea ignored.

"It's not water, ships or weapons, that's a given considering your profession," Danny kept going. The man was clearly hyper focused on anything but his fear and while Steve was glad for that, he was equally petrified of what came next.

Giving himself a mental shake and assuring his mind he had nothing to worry about, Steve gave his biceps a good rub and went back to Danny's side. He was determined to focus on freeing the detective from his minds. For a few more minutes neither man spoke but then Danny, ever the professional came to his deduction and simply said;

"Cheimatophobia."

Steve stilled, stiller than he'd ever been in a long time; more still than he'd even managed as a sniper with the SEALs. He choked on his breath, worked his jaw and swallowed what little spit his suddenly dry mouth would allow. That was the word the doctor had used to diagnose him. It was a word he loathed and it was a word that only pure adrenaline and sleep deprivation had allowed him to overcome when he was in the SEALS.

"W, what?" he croaked.

"Cold," Danny went on. "A fear of cold."

"I know what it is, Danny!" Steve snarled; despite his angry words his limbs trembled slightly as though they couldn't find enough heat to keep them warm. Angry at the betrayal of his own body and that he couldn't control how good of detective his partner was, Steve furiously launched himself back into undoing his partner's cuffed wrist. "I'm going to get you out of here," he said.

And he tried to do so for almost another hour. Danny had tried talking him down, tried saying they'd be fine soon enough but Steve couldn't/wouldn't listen. He needed to free his partner and he needed to spend a long nice hot day on the beach at his place.

"… Ere… Steve! STEVEN! Look! Look its Chin!" Steven finally registered his partner's voice and free hands.

Free hands? When had that happened?

Steve refused to give up Danny's wrist until a sharp stinging sensation brought him back to the present. Sucking in a breath and jerking back, the Navy SEAL became aware that their were several more people in their small "roasting house" and many of them were huddled around him and his partner.

"Danny?" Steve croaked.

"We're fine babe," Danny weakly replied. "Just like you said, you got me free and help's here." Steve should have been concerned, would have been concerned if the faint buzzing in his ear hadn't ratcheted up to an ear-splitting degree that was very effectively dragging him away from consciousness.

"D… nnoooo," Steve slurred.

"I got'cha babe, hang on, just hang on."

Shortly thereafter, in an ICU room Steve woke up to the feeling of intense cold pressed against his skin, his warmest areas and had started screaming bloody murder. He didn't care if he was acting like a scared child. He didn't care if all the world knew he hated, loathed, feared and was scared-stiff of the cold, all he wanted was to be free of its icy grips.

All he wanted was warmth.

An hour of blind panic, an hour of trying to remove himself from the cold against his skin and an hour of being vaguely aware of a doctor telling him he needed "an hour" until they could remove the cold packs from his body. Mercifully, it was only a half hour before he felt a warm, firm hand in his that demanded respect and calm. It soothed him and his fear enough until, at last, Steve felt the warmth of something powerful flowing into his system taking him away from his personal hell.

It was a much more aware and much less pleasant affair when Steve came to the second time. His lids were heavy with medication, his body didn't even dare move and his mind felt like it needed to apologize for something but what, he wasn't sure.

"The only easy day was yesterday," said a voice. Then after a pregnant pause that same, seemingly offended voice barked out. "Are you freaking kidding me? Only easy day was yesterday? You're SEAL's for Christ sake! Saying that is like saying, my best Jersey pizza slice was at lunch so I might as well choke on a pineapple slice and kiss the world goodbye. I mean, come on, talk about morbid! Don't get me wrong, I'll deny everything when you're conscious again but I think the motto should be officially changed to "Ass-kickers come what may, whoo-ah… Ooo-yah" Or is it "Hoo-rah?" what ever the ending is the turn of phrase seems much more appro—Steve? Steve you awake? Can you hear me?"

Apparently the little tirade wasn't supposed to be witnessed or heard as Danny cut off half way through and started barking for "help" accompanied by the severe mashing of a call button to encourage such help to come as soon as possible.

Two days later, Steve sat next to his partner as they waited for Chin to come pick them up in their matching wheelchairs. Both had defended to the death the idea that they could walk out of the hospital on their own but both were ignored or denied.

While they could find the argument with the doctors, neither man could find an argument with Nurse Kio'oleh. They protested once against her during their stays and Nurse Kio'oleh had simply raised an eyebrow, folded her well toned arms across her chest and said;

"No." Steve and Danny had both been smart enough to accept their fate which had nothing to do with the fact that Kio'oleh had just removed Steve's catheter at the time.

"You be good, huh? No more lolo getting locked in a plantation where I have to come get you eh, my keiki's?" the elderly nurse chuckled to herself. Danny and Steve had both rolled their eyes but at the same time appreciated the woman's honesty and hard-nosed perseverance.

"You'll be here when this one gets me in trouble again wont you Kio'oleh?" Danny replied. The seasoned nurse smiled, gave him a wink then a slight but harmless flick to the back of the head.

"Better not be a next time Detective Williams, I have hospital records… I know where you live," she joked. "Leave the chairs boys, I know you wont need them past the first step and please don't make me a liar on that." Steve and Danny both laughed and bid the sturdy woman a farewell just as they saw Chin's car pull up in the distance.

As they waited for the Hawaiian cousin to make his way through a stop light and into the pick up area, Steve felt himself being watched. He turned to his partner.

"So… my "thing"," the Navy SEAL said with only a slight air of nerves. Danny smiled a bright sunshine city smile that Steve had learned only the man could do.

"Is your "thing"," the detective replied. "I get that and respect it." Then with a pensive hesitation he added, "Considering all the random crap we've been through as law professionals, I do in fact get that and I'm glad you finally managed to tell me." Steve's breath hitched in his throat for a second, just for a minute moment in time but then he found himself smiling, grinning.

"Mahalo brah," he replied. Then he put a friendly warning hand on his partner's shoulder he asked; "So you planning on telling anyone about my "thing" Daniel?" Danny stretched his neck, flailed his arms and practically leapt from his wheelchair to add a height he very rarely had and height Steve was emotionally willing to give at the moment.

"Don't say it like that!" the Jersey detective bellowed. "You make it sound like you have leverage and you, you have no more leverage than I do at this current moment in time babe! My thing is "MY thing" yours is… It's, I don't know… something else." Steve sat back a bit and hesitated in his own apprehensions.

"My flaw?" he worried with the utmost and possibly unnecessary seriousness. Amazingly though Danny rose from his own needless wheelchair and gripped Steve's shoulder without wavering.

"A flaw of many," he replied. "Flaws in all of us which only makes us stronger; it only makes us that much more human because we balance each other out." There was no denying Danny's strength, no denying that Steve knew in that moment he would die for his Ohana, be it Danny, Chin, Kono or the rare select few who'd managed to oddly worm their way into his solitary life. A moment which he knew they would do the same, phobias or not, they would be there for one another.

Chin chose that moment to pull up at the base of the hospital stairs and hop out of his vehicle.

"Danny! Steve! The governor just called, you guys up for a post-hospital new case?" the Hawaiian asked even though he already knew the answer.

Steve looked at Danny, the Jersey detective looked back at the native Hawaiian Navy SEAL.

"You game Danno?" Steve asked. The revelation of his own deep and terrifying phobia wasn't one he wanted to release to the world and yet, knowing Danny Williams knew about it wasn't as bad as he'd thought. Still, asking the man to continue to be his partner since that information came to light was something Steve was still uneasy about.

Danny, however, shrugged and looked like they'd just spent a week at a Spa.

"Why the heck wouldn't I be?" he scoffed. "Besides, you'd probably drag me there any way so might as well get it over with." Steve laughed while Danny smirked knowing it was all in good humor.

Twelve days later, at a small Tiki-bar on Waikiki, a waiter appeared with two drinks for the two solitary men who sat on the beach staring out at the night laced ocean. Apparently they'd both ordered drinks for one another while the other wasn't paying attention.

Steve picked up his hot Irish coffee while Danny raised his frosty Mai-Tai with a little umbrella that threatened to break loose from its chilled stake and take off in the open gentle Hawaiian breeze. The partner's looked at one another; a blink later and they gave a silent toast moments before they burst out laughing.

They had their fears, their hesitations, their concerns, but they had each other first… all else, they'd deal with later as those born of action quite frequently did.

"Maholo Danny, for… uh…"

"Yeah," Danny interrupted with a knowing smile. "Cheers."

Is anyone else missing the, I don't know "thing" between Danny and Steve in this season? Sure there've been moments but... Hmm.

I'm waiting for the episode where Danny gets trapped in a... let's say... meat locker? Bank vault? Uh... closet? And he and Steve have a serious BROMENT! Lol.

Hope you liked this one shot, reviews always welcome!

Oz