Hey there! First of all I want to apologize for taking me so long but as I told you I was out of town and then well, I had trouble deciding how to finish this, it's a very special episode for me and I wanted it to be right. Finally I had to make it end at some point because it was kinda running wild!

This chapter is Steve's POV, I hope it completes the other two chapters well enough and that you like the resolution so at least I made you wait for something enjoyable.

Thank you so much to everybody for your kind reviews, I really appreciate them so keep them coming! :)

And of course thanks to my sweet Lynn Minoha and her always encouraging words ^^

Ok, so here it is.

"Mom? Where are you? Mom!"

Everything was dark and blurry but he could hear voices and laughter in the distance, so he kept running in their direction.

"Mom?"

"Stevie?"

There they were. At the end of the dark tunnel he was running through Steve could see his mom holding his baby sister and his dad, all of them smiling and waiting for him in the sand of their private beach.

Steve happily sped to cover the distance between them.

"Mom!"

"Stevie? What is it, honey? Come here!"

Doris had the arm not holding Mary opened in an inviting gesture, ready to embrace Steve and he held out his arms too, eager to jump into his mother's arms.

But as he was about to reach them, everything suddenly became pitch-black again and Steve felt like something was pushing him deeper into the darkness.

Until something ice-cold hit him.

Steve breathed hard and slowly opened his eyes, just to discover he was bent forward, his wrists restrained in a chair. That chair. He was in that hellish room again. He lifted his head and glanced at Wo Fat who was standing in front of him, holding the bucket he just used to damp him with icy water.

"I'm glad you decided to join us again, Steve. Shall we continue?"

Steve just continued glaring at him, trying to get his breathing under control and observing with increasing rage that the bastard was smiling at him, enjoying this.

"Well, are you going to tell me now where my father is?"

That unceasing question pushed Steve to find his voice.

"I already told you I don't know! Why don't you ask Doris, huh? Ask her!"

Wo Fat just smiled wider at his outburst, making Steve futilely try to launch himself forward to wipe that smile off his face.

He was groaning in frustration for not being able to get out of that chair when another voice reached his ears, making his blood freeze in his veins.

"He already asked me, Steve, but I don't know it. Are you sure you didn't discover it in one of your thorough investigations, honey? Why don't you tell him?"

Honey. It was his mom's caring voice calling him that. It was his mom who was standing in front of him, looking at him with a warm expression like he wasn't restrained to a chair and showing clear signs of having been tortured by the same man she was asking information for.

It was just too much to deal with and Steve couldn't stand it any longer, so he started to trash and fight wildly against the restraints, barely refraining himself from yelling out his frustration.

He could feel himself slipping into a dark haze, not being able to think anymore, just trash and fight the hands grabbing his wrists and holding him down.

Wait, hands? When did hands start to hold him and whose were those hands?

"Steve, listen to me. Steve, stop it! Hey!"

Steve knew that voice, but it sounded distant and he couldn't really place it, so he kept fighting until a new push in his wrists that effectively held him down was followed by a gentle squeeze.

"Dammit Steven, stop fighting me! You're okay, I got you. Now stop, please. You're gonna hurt yourself even more."

That was it. Now Steve recognized the voice. This mix of concern and irritation was unmistakable.

"Da…Danny?"

"The one and only, buddy. Now could you please open your eyes, huh?"

Another gentle squeeze and Steve forced himself to slowly lift his eyelids, realizing he was breathing hard and his body was drenched with sweat. As he opened his eyes, his partner's face appeared right in front of him. Danny was still holding his arms down to the mattress while his face showed deep concern and a small trace of blood running from the left corner of his mouth, disappearing on his chin.

Steve looked down to his own undershirt to discover a drop of blood there and as realization hit him he tried to get out of Danny's hold and turn, run, just do something to escape the guilt building in his chest. But Danny didn't release his hold an inch.

"Danny, let go of me, please."

"I won't until I'm sure you're completely with me and you're not going to run and hide somewhere to freely pump your auto inflicted and really misplaced sense of guilt. Now would you look at me so I can decide if I let you go or not?"

Steve didn't want to look at him and see the proof of his acts but he knew Danny wasn't giving him any other option, so he silently complied.

"Good, now I'm letting you go and you're staying right where you are, am I clear?"

Danny released Steve's arms and sat on the side of the bed, waiting for an explanation Steve wasn't ready to give. Fortunately, his partner knew him well enough to know when he shouldn't push him.

"Steve, I shouldn't even need to say this, but it wasn't your fault. Would you just let it go?"

Danny put a hand on his arm to get his attention and Steve looked at him.

"Of course it is my fault but you shouldn't have touched me either, Danny, you knew this could happen and I…", the hand on his arm tightened his grip, cutting him midsentence.

"Hey, stop it right there. First, it's absolutely not your fault and I don't want to repeat myself about that. Second, I'm very aware and fond of the don't-startle-sleeping-superSEALS rule, but it doesn't apply if I hear you yelling in distress and when I arrive here you're trashing wildly and have already hit the nightstand, causing yourself a gash that I want to check now, by the way. So I needed to stop you, and you caught me with a glancing blow. No big deal, okay?"

Steve lifted himself into a more upright position and reached with his hand to touch Danny's jaw, as if he needed to make sure he haven't done any serious damage. Danny didn't flinch at his touch but Steve could see the small flick of pain in his eyes as he gently pressed the bone trying to feel any possible bumps.

"I told you, I'm okay. I think I just bit my cheek and that's why it bled a little. Now stop worrying and let me check your arm."

Danny grabbed Steve extended arm and turned it to look at the wound in the forearm that Steve was noticing for the first time. It was a gash but it didn't seem too deep and was only slightly bleeding. Danny gently prodded around it a little before laying his arm again on the bed.

"It looks like a pretty superficial cut. Let me grab the first-aid kit from the bathroom and I'll clean it, okay?"

Steve nodded and was already absorbed in his thoughts again when Danny returned, first-aid kit in hand and no sign of blood on his face. He silently watched him work on his arm, cleaning the wound and then bandaging it while trying to put together the pieces of his dream – no, his nightmare – before he could think about whether he wanted to talk about it or not.

But deep inside, Steve knew talking helped. Danny had showed him that the last few days, he read him like a book and offered companionable silence or a rant about whatever nonsense he could think of when he noticed Steve needed to take his mind out of the recent events, but he also picked up the signs when Steve felt like he needed to take something out of his chest and gently pushed him to talk about whatever was weighting him down.

The sound of said partner's voice brought him back from his thoughts.

"Hey, you okay babe? Need something? I'm done here."

Steve looked at his newly bandaged arm and back at Danny, realizing he needed a few minutes to compose himself to be able to act normal so Danny could lose his concerned look.

"Yeah, I'm uh… I'm going to the bathroom and then I'll join you downstairs, okay? I can smell coffee and I could definitely use a cup of it."

Danny got up, glancing at Steve a last time before heading to the door.

"Okay, I'll fix you something to eat then."

"Thanks, Danno…for everything."

Danny turned to look at him from the door.

"Oh, no worries buddy. I'm writing down the amount of paperwork you're going to do for me as payment for my expert nursing services."

He smiled at him and headed downstairs before Steve could even reply.

Steve smiled, watching his partner disappear before going to the bathroom. Letting out a deep sigh, he leaned on the sink and looked at the mirror, scrutinizing his own reflection.

A whole week has passed since the team had found him in that room. The bullet graze on his left temple was healing nicely, just like the one on his arm, which still had stitches that would probably force him to have his tattoo fixed on that spot.

The rainbow of bruises all over his body was fading and the burns from the cattle prod were almost cured too. The most evident remains of his ordeal were the fact that he still burst out in coughing fits a few times a day due to the lung infection he developed and the dark circles under his eyes due to… nightmare-infested sleep.

Steve wasn't sure how many hours of sleep he caught a day but he did know they weren't enough, judging by the constant tiredness settled in his body.

Pleasant dreams about his father and nightmares about Wo Fat and his relationship with his mother still flooded his subconscious each time he closed his eyes and even if he wasn't confused anymore and could always tell they were dreams once he woke up – or Danny woke him up – that didn't make it feel less real while he was experiencing them.

That constant reminder of his father's death and his mother's lies had him in a sorrow mood that he knew made his friends worry. Danny hadn't left him out of his sight since they arrived home and the rest of the team had been visiting everyday too, taking turns to deal with Five-0 cases and bring them food, meds, sit on the lanai talking about everything and anything at the same time and just doing everything they could to try and pull him out of the dark place Wo Fat had left him in.

Steve really appreciated it, any distraction from the insistent images bombarding his mind was a great relief.

But he could tell his friends were walking on eggshells around him, unsure if they should encourage him to talk about his father and the emotions that seeing him again, really thinking he was alive had awaken in him or if they should just try to help him forget it. Not that he could blame them, how could they know how to handle him if even himself didn't understand how he was feeling?

Everything was contradictory, Steve felt like he was mourning as hard as his father had died yesterday and while a part of his brain told him to realize that pain was in the past, another part told him to allow the feelings he couldn't deal with back then.

So all in all, the only conclusion Steve could come to was that he was a mess and that he needed to start wrapping his mind around the situation because that was the only way his team would stop looking at him like he was a glass figure about to explode in a million pieces.

Keeping that in mind, he straightened and rolled his tense shoulders before going to find his partner, sure that Danny would be already about to come back to check on him.

What he found upon entering his kitchen was his friend leaning on the counter, a mug of coffee in one hand while the other held an ice pack to his jaw, but said ice pack was quickly thrown into the sink as soon he noticed Steve's presence.

Danny motioned for Steve to sit and handed him another cup of coffee so he complied, taking small sips while trying to figure out what to do next, aware of his partner's intent gaze.

"Hey, are you okay? You should eat before taking the meds, I made sandwiches", Danny was already placing a sandwich in front of Steve.

"Thanks Danny, but I'll eat later if you don't mind. In fact I, uh… I want to go for a little run…"

Steve was barely letting the last word out of his mouth when he heard Danny's reply.

"Absolutely not!"

"Okay, I knew that would be your reaction but Danny, a whole week has passed, I'm okay and I really need to get out of the house and clear my mind a little. Besides, I'm an adult who can take his own decisions, you know?"

Uh-huh, bad answer. Steve knew he was about to experience what Grace felt when she found herself on the receiving end of one of her father's angry tirades.

"I know you're an adult, Steven. But let me tell you, SEAL and all, you have the self-preservation instinct of a toddler, which is why the doctor made me promise him I would make you follow his instructions and I plan to do it. So, he said no strenuous activities until your lungs are clear and I'm sorry babe, but they're far from being clear."

Yeah, definitely time to change strategy.

"Okay, what about I only run for ten minutes or so, at a slow pace, just to burn some energy and then I walk back along the shore?"

Steve observed Danny's expression go from stern to defeated before he finally sighed.

"I guess you'll do it either way so I'm coming with you and you stop running as soon as your breathing starts sounding like an old train."

Steve couldn't repress his own stunned expression.

"You're coming with me. For a run."

"I do know how to run, thank you very much. As I told you many times before I just choose not to do it for fun, but no way I'm letting you go alone and transform a ten minutes run in a tour around the island so go ahead, let's get changed before I regret this. More."

Steve chuckled softly at this last part but followed Danny out of the kitchen and went to change his clothes.

Five minutes later they were jogging by the beach, at a calm pace, Steve really enjoying the wind on his face and the sound of the waves. He was simply glad to be taking some distance from the house for something different than a trip to the hospital for tests. He was also enjoying his friend's silent company, glad that Danny was allowing him to be lost in his thoughts even is he was watching him for distress signs like a hawk.

So Steve let the freeing sensation take over and started speeding without really thinking what he was doing, until an arm grabbed his bicep and forced him to stop, making him realize he was wheezing. He was bent over, hands on his knees, when Danny's face appeared in front of his.

"Hey, you okay? What did I tell you about turning this into a marathon, huh?"

Steve just looked back at him, trying to even his breathing and coughing a little.

"Okay, take it easy. That's it, buddy."

Danny had his hand on his shoulder, waiting for him to breath with ease again before producing a bottle of water Steve didn't know he had brought with him and handing it over.

"Here, drink a little. You okay now?"

Steve took the bottle and drank a little before answering.

"Yeah, I'm okay, just got a caught up in the race. I missed this so much, Danny."

"I know, babe. What about we go sit on those rocks over there? Enjoy the view while we rest a little?"

Danny smiled at him pointing in the direction of a nice spot he knew Steve liked because he had found him there, staring the ocean more than once when some of the crazy shit in his life was becoming too much to just ignore it and keep going.

They sat down and silently watched the small waves crashing against the rocks near them, Steve's breathing almost normal again and Danny patiently waiting for him to be ready to talk. He didn't have to wait very long.

"How is your jaw?"

Danny looked at him but Steve was still staring at the ocean.

"Perfectly fine, Steve. Better than your arm, buddy. So, that seemed to be a bad one, want to talk about it? It was your mom again?"

Steve sighed deeply.

"Yes…and no. It was Wo Fat, the room and my mom again, but also my family when I was little…my father. I keep seeing him, I don't think it's real anymore but…it's making me feel what I felt when he died all over again and I can't help it."

"I think it makes total sense, babe. When he died, you were focused in catching his murderer, suddenly you were running Five-0, following Hesse and investigating your father's toolbox…you never gave yourself the time to mourn, Steve. You are mourning now and I get it's disconcerting, but you should allow it. It's natural."

Steve turned to watch his best friend, whose ability to read him never ceased to amaze him.

"I guess you're right. I just…I'm having some trouble dealing with all of it", he gave Danny a sad smile and started to get up slowly, extending an arm in his direction. "How about we go back home? I'm kinda hungry."

Danny reached out and let Steve help him to get up.

"Best idea you've had all day."

"Thanks for coming, Danno. I actually enjoyed running with you, you know? We should do this more often."

Steve grinned at Danny, waiting for his friend's answer.

"Oh no, don't get used to it, Steven. I'll be back on my normal person ways of fun as soon as I don't have to worry about your wheezing lungs giving up because you decided to train for the Olympic games."

Steve just laughed at that and started to walk towards his house.

After getting home, fixing something to eat and take a shower, Steve was lying on his bed, feeling a little irritated for being tired after so little exercise but also enjoying the slight ache in his muscles, his mind also at more ease after the conversation with Danny. Speaking of Danny, he could hear his friend's voice even if he couldn't understand what he was saying, so Steve figured he would be talking with Grace on the phone out on the lanai.

The next thing Steve was aware of was his name being called from downstairs, which made him startle. Thinking he must have dozed, he sat on the edge of the bed and checked his phone to realize that in fact he had slept for almost an hour. Danny called him again.

"Hey Steve, you awake? Come down here please, I need your help with something!"

Steve got up and headed for the stairs, finding it strange that Danny called him instead of coming himself to his room as he always did and a little worried that something had happened.

"What is it, Danny? Everything…?"

He cut himself midsentence upon seeing the scene in front of his eyes when he reached the main floor. All of his team was there, standing in his living room, wearing formal clothes and looking at him.

"What…what is going on? What are you doing, guys?"

Everyone smiled at his stunned face before Chin answered him.

"We are here to go with you to the cemetery, brah. We're going to pay respect to your father, like he deserved to."

His face should be showing just as much surprise as before that answer, because Grover tried again.

"Wipe off that face, McGarrett. We weren't there four years ago, but we are here now, so that's it, we're going."

Before he could reply, Kono spoke up.

"He's right, with the…recent events we realized you were surrounded by HPD and a lot of people who cared for your father, but you didn't have there your Ohana…and we want to be there for you, boss." She came to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "So why don't you go change? We'll be waiting here for you, okay?"

She gently turned him to the stairs again, and he started to make his way to his room, still unable to produce a word. He heard Danny's yell when he was already entering the room.

"You can also change your stunned face before coming back, buddy!"

Yeah, he should change his face, because even if he never had imagined he would be doing something like this, a warm feeling was spreading in his chest just from thinking about having this moment of closure surrounded by his friends, his family. He quickly put a suit on and went to meet his team, they all already waiting for him by the cars.

He approached the Camaro while Danny went for the driver's seat.

"Hey Danny, you did this? You called the team?"

Danny didn't even stop walking to answer him.

"I neither confirm nor deny."

"Oh you're mocking me now?"

"I'm sorry, that's classified. Now get on the car, please."

Steve opened the door, amused of Danny's rant about how satisfying this was and how he was gonna use it each chance he got form now on.

They arrived to the cemetery and made their way to John McGarrett's grave, Kono holding a bouquet of roses he had in the car from which they all took a couple of flowers and laid them on the grave after silently paying their respect.

Then all of them stood right behind Steve, flanking him while he said good-bye to his father, this time surrounded by the Ohana he was sure his father would have liked as much as he did.

They just stood there, Danny and Chin gently laying a hand on his shoulders, until he was ready to leave. They didn't pressured him to say anything, didn't need to say anything themselves, their presence there was more than enough for Steve.

An hour later they were all on Steve's lanai, Danny and Grover arguing by the barbecue about the right way of preparing the steaks they were cooking while he enjoyed the spectacle with Chin and Kono from the table.

They were all laughing at their banter and Steve couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the day's events. Yeah, there were so many fucked up things in his life, but this? This was all he needed and much more than he could have asked for. His own blood family was a mess, but this Ohana he somehow got lucky enough to find along the way was just perfect.

That night, after all of them had hugged him before going home and Danny had insisted he went to rest while he finished putting everything in order downstairs and locking the house for the night, Steve was lying on his bed, bone-weary and barely managing to fight sleep when he realized that for the first time since all this madness began, he didn't feel like falling asleep was a bad idea. The visit to his father's grave and his team's support had helped him make peace with everything he was feeling, and with the sensation that somehow he was going to be okay, he fell into the most peaceful sleep he had in the last week.

Or at least it was until he woke up gasping air and halfway sitting on the bed. He looked around the room, the sun was already up but he was sure it was still pretty early. Well, he wasn't going to complain, he slept well all night and didn't even remember whatever he was dreaming when he woke up. He got off the bed and changed into running clothes, feeling the need to go take some fresh air. Descending the stairs as quietly as possible, figuring Danny would still be sleeping on the couch and not wanting to disturb him, he went to the kitchen door without turning on any light and was closing it when a voice almost made him jump.

"So, ready to get your ass kicked by an amateur runner, buddy?"

"Danny! What are you doing out here? What are you even doing up so early?"

"Oh I heard you trashing around upstairs, I think you're losing your ninja touch, babe. So, are we doing this or what?"

Danny was grinning from ear to ear, clearly enjoying having surprised him, and Steve felt grateful once again for having such a good friend in his life. He was passing by Danny's side when he said "Let's go then, Danno" before starting to run towards the water, totally expecting the irate reply he heard.

"Hey, I was trying to make it a fair race, and this how you want to play it? Okay, McGarrett, you're on!"

Steve just continued running and smiling while the footsteps of his partner sounded closer and closer.

Ok, so that's it! Thanks for reading and I really hope you enjoyed it.

Can I hear what you think please? :)