So here we go...Steve's point of view.

Steve excused himself and went to use the head, cursing the champagne he chugged. 5 glasses total. Not only was he pissing like a racehorse, but his whole body now had that dull sort of ache that often accompanied his drinking any alcohol these days. God, he wished he could hold onto a buzz. He needed it. Amanda was driving him crazy.

He was half expecting her to make some sort of move, and he really didn't want to humiliate her. Not that he wasn't flattered in a weird way. But when she'd talked about dinner and then breakfast with a wink, Steve knew he'd blushed ten shades of red. Maybe that was her plan all along. She simply loved torturing people.

Danny was right. Danny was always right.

He needed to call his best friend to apologize. Hell, Steve even thought about asking for help getting out of there. He checked his pockets. Shit. He'd left his phone on the end table.

When he walked back into the plush sitting room, Amanda had his cell. She greeted him with the most devilish smile.

Cringing, he studied her. He didn't want to yank the phone out of her hands. That would be rude. Even though she'd just violated all kinds of privacy. From now on, he'd use a lock screen. Didn't matter if it made Danny crazy trying to crack it. Once Danny found out what just went down, he'd make it Five-0 policy.

"Amanda, may I have my phone back?" He cleared his throat and added. "Please."

"Sure, thing, Steven."

It dawned on him that the text messaging app was open. "What -"

She interrupted. "Did I do?"

"Yes." He felt dumb holding his hand out but he wanted his phone back. ASAP.

"Why, I texted Daniel and pretended to be you, of course."

She said this like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Steve could feel his face turn red again, but not from embarrassment. "You did what?"

"Now, Steven, I know you're not deaf." Amanda was enjoying her game. Too much.

Nostrils flaring, he held his tongue. She returned his phone, letting her fingers linger. He cleared his throat again.

"My dear handsome boy, I do hope you aren't coming down with something. Do you have a bit of a tickle in your throat? I have just the thing to help with that." She tilted her head and smiled, no teeth showing but a twinkle in her eyes. "Go ahead, see what I texted."

As he opened the screen with a slide of his finger, she got up and grabbed her purse.

"Now, please give me a head start. I'd like - say - 20 minutes with Daniel alone before you rescue the poor boy. He can be such an emotional wreck when stressed. I bet he's already drowning his sorrows in alcohol."

Steve read her text and frowned. "You're meeting him at the bar?"

"Great, you can read. I knew I liked you."

With that, she exited the room, moving quickly like she assumed he'd stop her.

Instead, Steve froze. He suddenly couldn't breathe. Thoughts raced through his brain. He was so out of his league.

Should he give her 20 minutes? How angry would Danny be? What the fuck was he doing?

He quickly texted Danny. Only to have the little send icon spin and spin.

"What the fuck? Why don't I have service?" Steve growled at his misbehaving phone.

Heading for the balcony, he hoped to have better signal out there. Because he wasn't ready to see Danny. But he could warn him.

He tried again and the same thing happened. His damn phone. He'd been thinking about replacing it for the last week. Restarting was the only fix, so he powered it down and waited. Watching and scowling. Danny was going to kill him. By now, she could be there. God, what had he done? He should never have let his phone out of his sight. But who does that? Who uses someone else's phone and pretends to be them?

God, he understood why Danny couldn't stand her.

Now part him just wanted to slink away like the Smooth Dog he wasn't. No way could he do that to his best friend. He'd already screwed up enough today.

His damn phone was taking too long to restart and his text message failed to go through and now it was happening again. What a rotten time for this to happen. Steve jumped up and headed for the hotel bar.

He pounded the wall by the elevator when pushing the button yielded nothing but a ding. The display showed the car was two floors below him and on its way down. He was not looking forward to taking the stairs; he was so run down from drinking too much expensive bubbly. He never drank alcohol anymore because of his liver.

Danny's liver.

Today had been a huge mistake. A mess. He'd hurt his best friend. He should have stood up for him more than he did. He should have told Amanda Savage off.

Steve considered his pain a penance and headed for the stairwell. He jogged down the steps determined to catch up with Danny. He'd interrupt the little meeting if he could. Set the record straight.

He scanned the bar. No Danny or Amanda.

Shit, he was too late.

He stalked through the lobby, a man on a mission. Apology and groveling on his mind. He owed Danny so much more than words. Steve hoped he could catch up to his friend before he left the hotel. He'd treat him to dinner. Hell, he'd pay for the next million meals to make up for the day.

Steve did not expect to find Danny lying on the pavement, barely conscious with Amanda crouched beside him, babbling something in a heavy British accent.

"Did anyone call for help?" Steve bellowed as he sprinted to his fallen partner.

"Yes, I did!" The father of a small family a few feet away answered. "They said they'd be here in five."

Steve nodded a thank you and everything zoned out.

"God, Danny, hey buddy, can you hear me?" Steve assessed his friend, not daring to move him.

Jaw tense, Steve fought back a wave of flashbacks. He couldn't lose control, so he focused on the scene.

"What happened here?" He asked the crowd. He had to be sure the threat had passed.

"He was hit by a car." Someone in the crowd yelled.

Steve was shocked. "A car?"

"He apparently didn't move fast enough." Amanda quipped.

Feeling a bit stung, Steve didn't have a reply for a few seconds. He turned back to Danny, praying he'd open his eyes.

Another witness added their two cents. "He saved her life."

"What?" Steve glared at Amanda. "Danny saved your life? Seriously? What the fuck happened?"

"Why, I don't know about all that." She leaned in, inspecting Danny like he was a bug. "He doesn't look all that bad off."

Steve pushed her out of his way. "You've done enough here. Go stand over there."

When she didn't move, he shouted. "Go stand over there now!"

"But I..." She stammered, both horrified and annoyed at his treatment of her.

Steve didn't give a shit. "Now, Amanda, I don't have time for you. Wait for the police. Get yourself checked out."

Certain there was nothing he could do for his partner until help arrived, Steve looked to the crowd for answers. He needed a distraction so he didn't tear Amanda apart.

"Who did this? Where's the car?"

"They sped off that way." The person pointed toward the street. "Shouldn't be hard to find them. He cracked their windshield pretty good."

Danny groaned and the whole world disappeared.

"Easy, buddy. Help's on the way. Try not to move."

"Can't move." Danny whispered, his breathing labored.

"You can't move?"

Their eyes met. Tears ran down Danny's face. He closed his eyes, and he shivered against the pain.

"You're gonna be okay, partner." Steve put his hand on Danny's shoulder, afraid to touch but desperately needing the connection. "Whatever happens. I've got you."