A/N: This story is set at the end of the episode Ki'ilua, wherein Steve runs off to North Korea because he'd do anything for a friend. This is just a scene I think was missing from the end of the episode, and, if it was a two-hour show (if we start a petition, I think we can make it happen), totally would have been included. I don't own the characters or the established plot, just this one little segment. Friends don't let friends get sued.

Steve McGarrett sat in a small, rusty helicopter several miles off the ground. He didn't know where it had come from, or how it had found him, but he didn't care. All that mattered was that the chopper was full of friendly faces in a dangerous land. As they flew over the DMZ and back into the almost-friendly area of South Korea, Steve looked out over the fields and forests and wondered how any of it could be real.

The pain was real. He knew for a certainty that the pain which had followed him from the bunker to the truck to the chopper had to be real. He knew that the bunker had been real, and the truck Wo Fat had stuffed him in. But the rest…. How had his team found him all the way out here? How had they stopped Wo Fat? Part of him knew that his team, his friends, would do anything to save him from the deranged criminal, but the rest of him insisted that even if they did know where he was, which they hadn't, there was no way they could have taken on all the armed Koreans he had seen loading the trucks.

Steve wanted to shake the thoughts away, but his head hurt too much. Instead, he looked up at Danny's confident smile and nodded, determined that everything would be okay.

The helicopter took them to a small airport in Seoul, and as they exited, Joe said a few words to the pilot. Steve watched the bird lift slowly back into the air and take off in the direction from which they had come, back to the farm from which Danny had told him it originated. That, at least, explained the smell the helicopter had carried with it.

Danny walked with Steve into the bathroom of the airport, supporting his weight and keeping him on his feet. Danny grinned as he told Steve he should probably clean up before they boarded the next plane. Danny's stifled groan as he half-dragged Steve into the bathroom sounded real, his tense muscles beneath Steve's arm felt real, but once again Steve was plagued with doubt.

As he looked up into the mirror, Steve splashed the first handful of cold water over his face, and it stung. The blood dribbled down his chin, and Steve and Danny were left to count the cuts and bruises on his face, each silently vowing to make Wo Fat pay for every mark, every crack, every moment of captivity.

Steve probably could have walked out to the main hall of the airport on his own, but Danny refused to leave his side, and, really, it was easier to get around with Danny's support. Coming back into the hall, Steve and Danny were surrounded on both sides by their team. Steve noticed Joe's smile and averted gaze, and Chin and Kono's grins as they passed by. As Steve and Danny passed her, Laurie lowered her eyes to the floor.

When they reached the door which would lead them out to the plane Joe had somehow managed to get for their return, Steve slowed to a stop and straightened, letting Danny take more of his weight to keep him on his feet. The members of Seal Team Nine who had accompanied his friends stood in a row next to the door. The three men stood rail-straight, heels together, eyes on the far wall, saluting proudly. Steve turned slowly, trying desperately not to limp as he did so. He raised his arm, ignoring the pain from the likely broken ribs on his right side.

As their arms dropped, the Seals looked at Steve and smiled. They crowded around him with their congratulations and their questions, but their commander stepped in. "The man's been through a lot boys. How about we try this when we set down?" He winked at Steve before leading the men away, and Steve and Danny continued on to the plane, their friends following behind.

The team settled into the seats in the forward cabin, preparing for a well-earned rest during the long flight home. At first, they wanted to hear about Steve's mission, how things had started, when he had realized it had been a trap. "Only if you're ready," Danny had said, his eyes reinforcing the concern in his voice. Steve told his story, up to the point that Wo Fat had captured him and he had realized Jenna had lied.

When he stopped for a moment, Kono told him their story, of the reporter who had been used to lure Jenna to Korea, then killed as a loose end. Steve could see the anger and betrayal in the eyes of his friends, and he couldn't help seeing Jenna's eyes as she died, so filled with rage and fear.

Steve continued his story, giving them the details of Jenna's capture, the lengths she had gone to trying to help him escape, her death. As he pulled her necklace from his pocket, Kono looked away with shame and tears in her eyes. Chin's jaw tightened as he turned to look out the window, trying to hide the pain all over his face. Laurie looked down, shaking her head.

Danny simply tightened his grip on Steve's arm, staring at the necklace and trying to swallow his rage. She had lied to them, she had betrayed them, but Jenna had been one of them, and Wo Fat had taken her away. "I'm sick of losing to him," Danny said under his breath, just loud enough for Steve to hear. "Never again, do you hear me?"

Steve turned and looked into Danny's eyes. He nodded, then relaxed back against his seat.

The rest of the flight was passed in silence. Some slept; some stared out the windows, trying not to think; some just say, staring at nothing, lost in their own thoughts. Soon there would be a time for celebration and joy, but for now, they would remember, they would mourn, and then they would try to forget.

Never once on the long flight home did Danny's hand leave Steve's arm. It was no longer there in support, but protection. Danny needed to know that Steve wasn't going anywhere, needed to keep him near. To Steve, the warm, strong hand on his arm was the only thing that could convince him that this was real, that he was really going home.

Ignoring everyone around him, Steve put his head on Danny's shoulder and tried to get some sleep.