Thank you so much to everyone who read, reviewed, or alerted the first chapter. I'm having so much fun writing this.

DISCLAIMER: The characters belong to CBS. If they were mine, season 2 would be going differently:).

Several hours later, well after midnight, Steve was once again standing outside of Danny's apartment building. He was dressed all in black, sticking to the deep shadows, to avoid the two rookie patrol officers who were supposed to be securing the area until morning.

Waiting until their patrol took them out of sight, Steve made quick work of the locks on a ground floor window. He slipped silently inside, making a mental note to see if Danny's apartment had the same locks. If it did, he'd have to change them out.

Danny's apartment was in the front of the building, but there were too many lights so Steve had entered through a neighbor's apartment along the back. Navigating through the building was child's play for the SEAL, even in the dark.

In Danny's bedroom, the streetlight provided enough illumination for Steve to efficiently pack a week's worth of clothes. He even detoured through the bathroom for his partner's array of hair products.

Once they had arrived at Steve's house, Danny had been uncharacteristically quiet. He had declined Steve's offer of a beer on the lanai, instead heading straight up to bed.

Since Steve believed in preparedness, he always purchased a replacement as soon as he opened a new package. That meant he had a new toothbrush, toothpaste, bar of soap, etc – all of which he happily gave to his friend. Danny thanked him very politely but failed to respond with his normal sarcasm to any of Steve's baiting – even the observation that at least his underwear would fit the shorter man.

It was seeing him so tired and worried that made Steve resolve to make this little raid on Danny's apartment. Remembering the way Danny had been frowning as he used his phone to check his bank balance (when he had thought Steve wasn't looking) made Steve double back and grab a handful of ties from the bedroom closet.

Of course, it was very dark so Danny was just going to have to make do with whatever color combinations he ended up with. Steve smirked a little at that thought.

Back out in the hallway, he froze suddenly, listening to the unmistakable sound of footsteps on the floor above him. Steve sighed. He had no doubt that some other resident had managed to sneak back into the building, also intent on gathering some personal items.

Unfortunately, while Steve was a trained Navy SEAL moving around on the first floor, the guy upstairs was some civilian on the less stable second floor. Steve couldn't leave him up there.

Hitching the large duffle bag higher on his shoulder, he headed up the stairs. He moved cautiously, watching for any signs of instability, but not trying to be particularly quiet. He figured that his chances of getting out without trouble with HPD were pretty much nil at this point.

At the top of the staircase, Steve paused to get his bearings in the darkness. Without warning, a man also dressed all in black rushed past him, shoving Steve as ran down the stairs. The weight of the bulky duffle caused Steve to momentarily loose his balance, leaving him tottering at the top of the stairs.

He was able to steady himself, but the other man was already at the bottom of the stairs. Steve watched him burst through the building's front door, surprising the two officers outside. Steve stepped back, out of sight, as the two rookies gave chase.

He shrugged silently to himself, waiting until was clear so that he could slip out of the building undetected. Since the other guy was no longer in danger, there was no reason for him to get caught here.

As he made the short trip to his truck, parked a few streets over to avoid detection, Steve smiled to himself as he imagined Danny's reaction to finding his stuff beside the bed in the morning.

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"Danny, I'm going to leave without if you don't get down here!" Steve yelled up the stairs.

"Not in my car you're not!" Danny yelled back, "I'll be there in a minute. I don't just roll out of bed, check yesterday's clothes for blood stains, and run my hands through my hair."

Steve sighed and leaned against the front door. Seeing his own clothes this morning had done wonders for Danny's mood. Steve was happy to see his partner back to his normal loud self, but he was making them late. Steve hated to be late.

Across from the front door was a small table with various framed photos displayed. They were the same pictures his mother had put there before her death. Steve suddenly wondered if it was time to add some memories of his own, replace a few with pictures from a team BBQ. It took his brain a minute to process the fact that someone had already made an addition to the table.

"Danny, is that a statue of Bastet sitting in my entryway?" The footsteps that Steve had been listening to paused on the stairs and then continued down.

"I'm not sure who Bastet is, but yes, I left the ceramic cat on the table last night." Seeing the skeptical look on Steve's face, Danny got defensive, "Look, we both know that thing didn't kill anyone. Kilia knows it, too. Once some time has passed, she may want her mother's statue thingy back. I figured I 'd hang onto it for awhile."

Steve shrugged, "Just remember that the laundry room is under the bathtub." He pushed himself away from the front door and headed outside. If he drove just a little bit faster than normal, there was still a chance they'd get to work on time.

Danny looked over at his partner as he buckled his seatbelt, "You were so busy timing my morning routine that I haven't really gotten a chance to say thank you for illegally breaking into a possibly collapsing building to get my things."

"You're welcome?" Steve's tone was bemused as he tried to sort out whether or not he had just been insulted.

"I mean it, man. Thank you for getting my stuff. But don't ever put yourself in danger for my ties again," Danny had to grab onto the handle above the door as Steve threw the car into a narrow gap between two SUV's, "Hey! Chin and Kono aren't going to tell the Governor you were five minutes late."

"Being on time is important, Danny."

"Being alive trumps on time."

"I'm sorry but being on time means keeping yourself and other people alive," Steve was partially serious, but he also wanted to get a reaction out of the other man.

Danny did not disappoint, "On time saves lives? We don't even have an active case. You're endangering my life for paperwork, because that's what's waiting for us at HQ."

The Palace was just ahead of them now. Steve spotted a break in the traffic on the cross street and gunned the engine. As the silver sports car shot through the intersection, a huge black pick-up truck roared out of an on-street parking space, straight into the Camaro.

Danny saw the truck coming, felt his heart stop, and knew that this was the moment he left this world.

Steve floored the accelerator, jerked the wheel hard, and spun the Camaro away from the truck and into the Palace's parking lot. Without missing a beat, he pulled neatly into one of the spaces reserved for Five-0.

"What the fuck!" Danny screamed. His hands were shaking from left over adrenaline.

Steve rubbed his hands over his face, "Danny, I'm sorry. I know I was driving fast but – I just didn't see the truck."

"Why are you apologizing?" Danny asked. He glared in the direction the long vanished truck had taken, "He went from sitting to straight into traffic. He never even looked! This is maybe the only time you've been behind the wheel of my car that you don't have to apologize to me."

The two men headed inside, Danny still ranting about bad drivers who shouldn't have licenses.

Chin and Kono both looked up from the computer table when they walked in. Danny started to tell them about his near death experience but never got the chance."

"It's about time you guys got here," Chin remarked, "We caught a case." He was already pulling up info on the wall screens.

Danny glanced at his watch. It was 8:05.