A/N 1: Once more, I want to thank all of you for the amazing reviews that I got for the last chapter. It makes me both want to update immediately and stretch it out as long as I can to make the happy feeling I get from each review last.

A/N 2: By the end of this chapter we're now heading into territory that diverges from my original story. I personally think this ending is much better than I what I originally had but it also means that I'm writing the rest of it now. I don't think you'll have to wait any longer between updates and so no one worry! The next (and probably final, minus the epilogue) chapter will be up probably within the next four or five days. But anyway, I hope you enjoy this and that the changes were worth it! :)

Disclaimer: I still have no rights to Hawaii Five-0 and I get nothing from this story other than the enjoyment of writing.

They were sitting in Danny's hotel room, not speaking to one another. After the fight; Danny's concern-filled rant about going into a knife fight with a pen; Steve's refusal to go to a hospital; Danny's worry-filled rant about that; and then Danny's refusal to stay in the apartment with the body, they had packed Steve's stuff up and come here. Once they had come back, Danny had watched—and helped—as Steve stitched both of his wounds closed, then changed into another black t-shirt and black cargo pants. The whole time Danny argued that the SEAL should really go to a hospital, but he got nowhere. Steve continually refused to seek medical treatment, and once the refusals reached a point where they were too annoying, Danny switched tactics with the compromise that he could wait until they got back to Hawaii. To which Steve had replied that, while he was grateful for Danny coming, he wouldn't be going back to the islands with him. Danny had argued, cajoled, even begged and pleaded, but he still got no as his answer. This had led to stony silence on both of their parts.

Danny knew he wasn't getting anywhere with his stubborn-ass partner, so yet again he tried something different. "Come on, Steve. Think about Grace. She wants her Uncle Steve back."

Whereas before he had gotten polite refusals, this one earned him anger. "I am thinking about Grace!" Steve yelled at him. "And Kono, and Chin, and you! I'm thinking of my sister, and my girlfriend and my mentor, and I'm thinking especially about your little girl! I'm thinking about the fact that this could happen again, but that maybe I won't be able to take out the target first and that all of you could end up dead! I was thinking of you when I left! I was thinking that all of you didn't need to be put in danger because of me! I've always been thinking of Grace and how to protect her!"

"You can't just leave because you're scared though, Steven! You don't know something else is going to happen."

"It just did, Danny! Barely an hour after I'd taken out one threat, another came knocking."

"That was directly related to the first, so it doesn't count."

"Damn it, Danny! Are you even listening to yourself? The 'first one'—you don't know who else might come after me in the future. I've made a lot of enemies over the course of my career, and any one of them could decide to get revenge. If I'm not in Hawaii, everyone I care about is safer!"

"But we're not, Steve! If your enemies know that you have connections to us, we could still be used against you, but you wouldn't be there to protect us. You keep us safe by being there. Besides, we all know that you come with a past. We knew that in the beginning and with Taylor, but we stayed. And you're not the only one. We all have history, and while yours is a bit more treacherous, we still know what we signed up for." He could see Steve's resolve weaken just a tiny bit, and so he plunged ahead. "Besides, as Grace's overprotective father, I get to say who gets to be trusted around her. And you, my friend, are at the top of the list. I know you would do anything to keep her safe and whatever I asked of you, but I'm not asking you to just leave or disappear." He went in with his final push. "Besides all of that, we miss you Steve. I miss you. You're a pain in the ass, but you're my best friend. You make that pineapple-infested hellhole better and I can't watch my best friend walk away just like my brother did."

Steve closed his eyes, and Danny looked at him unflinchingly. There was a cut on his forehead, bruising around his eye, and he was pale. Before he shut them, Danny had seen pain, guilt, anger, and sadness in his partner's eyes, and Danny just wanted to give him the hug he looked like he desperately needed. But Danny held his distance as Steve thought about what he had said, adding only, "Besides, I think you want to come back too. It's your home now, and a life away from us isn't fair to you at all."

They were both silent, before Steve finally quietly and wearily said, "I do want to come back, and I don't want to walk away like Matt did—that's the last thing I want to do to you. To all of you. But I don't see how I can come back without putting you all at risk. I'm not safe."

Danny's mind flashed back to another conversation similar to this almost a year ago, and once again he struggled to find the right words. "You're making me repeat myself, Steven. We all have baggage, and yours is not the only one that can be dangerous. Things from my past may not be classified, but it was my ex-partner that almost got my daughter killed." He swallowed the lump in his throat that grew every time he thought about that ordeal. "Chin's history might be a well-known issue, but maybe next time we're targets because of something he did on the force. Kono…well she doesn't really have a history, but maybe a lover scorned comes to take us all out." That one earned him a thin smile. "Hey, you never know. That girl is a heart breaker, mark my words. But my point, again since I've already said this, is that you leaving doesn't take the danger out of the equation—it just means that you won't be there to help us get through it, whatever angle it comes from. We work in a dangerous profession, and whether you're there or not, the danger won't go away. Now, will you please come home?"

If he had been expecting a quick turnaround with an affirmative answer, he was bound for disappointment. Steve just gingerly ran a hand over his face and turned away. "Let me sleep on it, Danny. We both need the rest."

Danny's heart sank, but at least it wasn't a complete rejection. There was still hope.

When Danny awoke the next morning, Steve was gone. The couch where he had slept was empty and the room was silent. Immediately he started to panic, and was pulling out his phone to frantically call Joe when Steve walked through the door.

"You stupid son of a bitch!" Danny yelled at him before collapsing down on the bed again. "You left?"

Steve held up the coffee cups balanced in his hand and said sheepishly, "Sorry. I just thought you'd want coffee before the flight home."

"Thank you," Danny grumbled. "But it was still ridiculous to leave…" He trailed off, his mind running over what Steve had said. "You said 'the' flight, not 'your' flight."

His still too-pale partner gave him a small smile, although his eyes were still stormy. "I thought about what you said last night—a lot. I had been so set against ever coming back that it was hard to see it another way. I was so sure that leaving would be the best thing, that it would protect you all so much better, that as much as it sucked to never see any of you again, it was the best thing. It was a sacrifice I was willing to make to keep you out of harm's way. I was such an ass to you yesterday, because if I talked to you like old times I was so afraid I would lose all of my determination. But then I started to think about what you said, and it made some sense. And I also realized that I would go crazy not being there if something actually happened, always wondering if everyone was okay. It seemed a bit like defeating the whole of leaving if something might happen anyway and I wasn't there to help." He shrugged, and Danny saw him wince in pain. "So I'll come back."

Danny could believe it. His hellish month might actually have a happy ending. "So you're completely serious? You're not just saying that to get me to the airport where you can then ditch me?"

"No, Danny, I swear. I'm coming back."

All of the things that Danny wanted to rant at Steve about fell to the wayside in that moment. It seemed like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders, like he could breathe again in a way that he hadn't been able to for weeks. He wasn't going to have to go home alone and face not only being without his best friend, but also face explaining to everyone why he failed. "Good. That's really, really good." He smiled broadly for the first time in ages, but it disappeared just as quickly when he thought about what had happened last night. "What about Schmidt?"

Steve rubbed a hand across the back of his neck, and as his shirt rode up Danny could see the red and angry skin under his new bandage "No one is going to find Schmidt's body anytime soon—I threw his body in the Moskva River while you were asleep. And Interpol is going to be more concerned about what he's done then where he is right now. They got an anonymous tip this morning that Gregorovitch and a man fitting Schmidt's description were seen together last night. That's going to raise more questions than Interpol is prepared for and will keep the focus off of his death. But it doesn't matter anyway because there are no cameras in that building and no way to trace him to me—it won't be a problem."

"Why didn't you take him out earlier, once you'd gotten the information you needed?"

"I was going to let Interpol deal with him, to be honest. He wasn't a direct threat, and I—I didn't want to kill anyone other than who I had to."

He couldn't deny that that lessened the nagging worry in the back of his mind about his partner's moral compass. "And are we even going to be able to get out of the country? Is your ID still good?"

"It's solid. I should be able to clear customs just fine."

"And how is your," he motioned towards Steve's side, "you know?"

The SEAL's hand ghosted over his wound, and Danny noticed how he avoided contacting the skin directly. "I'm okay to fly."

Danny nodded, mostly satisfied by Steve's answers. "Okay then. When do we leave? Oh, and you're buying my ticket because those things are not cheap and it's your fault I'm here."

Danny updated the team and nearly four hours later they were sitting in front of their gate. Danny was just itching to be on the plane and back to Hawaii, back to normalcy. Things weren't awkward with Steve, but they weren't typical either. The SEAL was tense, constantly checking around him like there were going to be bad guys jumping out from behind every corner. Danny wanted to talk about everything that had happened; figure out what the month had been life on Steve's end; tell him how amazed he was at Steve's shooting and fighting; yell at him for leaving; and a thousand other things, but starting a conversation with the man was almost harder than starting one with Rachel sometimes. Steve didn't ask any questions about home or the rest of the team. He barely spoke at all. If he weren't so happy to see him, the silence would have driven Danny nuts.

They boarded the plane and Danny couldn't have been more grateful for the first class seat. "Your alter-ego must be loaded," he remarked quietly.

Steve shrugged, wincing again. "I've been putting away almost a thousand dollars a month for a decade; being deployed and living on base meant that my monthly expenses weren't that much. That allowed me to put enough away."

Danny sputtered. "Enough? Enough?!" He did quick calculations. "That's over a hundred thousand! At least! Why the hell did you put away so much?"

There was that stormy look in McGarrett's eyes again, but it passed just as soon as Danny saw it. "I expected that if I ever had to use the identity, it would be long-term. I wouldn't be going back to my old life for a while, if ever. I needed enough to keep me going."

"Well I'd say that was enough. Since you are coming back, can I have that for Gracie's college fund?" His joke fell flat though, apparently, because Steve just turned to look out the window.

He was saved from having to try to make more conversation when the plane finally took off, and Steve lapsed into a fitful sleep not long afterwards. Danny assumed it was just the weariness of the past month finally catching up to him—it didn't look, after all, like his partner had really slept or ate decently for a while. Steve neglected his health at the best of times, it seemed, so Danny could only imagine what it had been like whilst on the chase.

At one point, he too fell asleep despite the coffee he had consumed earlier for many of the same reasons. The constant waiting and stress of the past month had left him with uneasy sleep, filled with nightmares about never getting answers or finding his friend dead. He didn't know how he would have felt had he known Steve during his active duty days, never knowing when or if his friend was going to be coming back from a mission. Likely he would have slept even less then he had been.

As soon as they landed in California, Steve was even tenser than he had been. "Will you calm down? Gregorovitch is dead, you said your ID was good, and I haven't spotted anyone following us. Just relax already. We're almost home." McGarrett nodded absently at Danny's words, but his eyes continued to scan the terminal around them regardless.

They made through customs without a problem but even when they settled on the next plane the SEAL couldn't calm down. It was driving Danny nuts. He was excited to just get home, see his daughter, and tell her mission accomplished before proudly revealing his partner. And said partner had to go and ruin everything. "Seriously, McGarrett. You're acting like you're America's Most Wanted." It didn't help Danny's mood that Steve was still acting moody, and he had yet to really crack a smile. He was having a hard time figuring out exactly why Steve was still acting distant because it had seemed like they had turned a corner this morning in Moscow.

"The man four rows behind us and to the left came through security with us and has never been out of sight of us since Moscow."

"Gee, maybe that's because we went straight through security and to the gate. You're being paranoid. You could say the same thing about a dozen other people on this plane."

"I'm serious, something isn't right."

"And I'm serious, you've been on the run too long and are seeing bad guys behind every shadow. You're not Alexander Lynch anymore, and you're not fighting off terrorists. Take a few deep breaths. You're killing the mood."

Apparently it just wasn't his day to please his partner, because like before, Steve ignored him and turned to the window, exuding tension and a little anger. But this time, Danny fell asleep first and therefore was spared the pain of anymore awkward talk with the man who was supposed to be his best friend.

Things felt better when they reached Hawaii, though, and even McGarrett seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Danny tried calling Kono when he landed, to let them know that he'd actually managed to bring Steve all the way back to Hawaii, but his call when straight into voicemail. He tried Chin Ho but received no answer there as well. He even called Joe, but it just rang and rang and rang. He hated to jump on the McGarrett bandwagon, but either everything was ignoring him or something was wrong.

After calling Kono for the third time, Danny cursed quietly and slipped his phone back into his pocket. "Danny, what's wrong?"

Danny glanced up at his partner, as they were moving slowly towards the front of the plane. Even though he had slept basically all the way from Moscow, he was paler than before—if that was possible—except for the bright spots in both cheeks. He wanted to bring it up but knew that Steve wouldn't even respond to a request for medical treatment until he knew what was going on. So he just sighed and spilled what was worrying him. "No one is answering their phones."

Steve immediately straightened out, despite the pain he seemed to be in. "When was the last time you spoke to any of them?"

He wracked his brain for a moment. "Before we went to the airport in Moscow, I talked to Kono on the phone and everything was fine. I texted her when we landed in California, but I didn't hear back. I just assumed it was because they were busy with a case or something."

"Yeah, or someone," McGarrett responded darkly. "You're sticking with me, Danny. I don't want you out there on your own."

"Don't you think you're overreacting, just a little?" he argued back weakly. He was arguing just for the sake of doing so, because he too was growing uneasier by the minute. He knew that what he had said to McGarrett in California was true—Gregorovitch was dead and no one appeared to be looking for them—and yet he couldn't help but glance over his shoulder to the man his partner had pointed out earlier.

"You're staying with me and we're going to find them before you can go home. Just humour me, alright?" Danny nodded; not missing the way Steve's eyes were now making full sweeps of the airport as they finally stepped out of the jetway. His stance had retained the tense and rigid posture that Danny had first seen across the street in Moscow and his stride was long with purpose. Within moments they had reached the Camaro in the parking structure where it had been left for them.

Steve started to move towards the driver's side, but Danny moved in to stop him. "No, no, no. I did not just fly halfway across the world and back to fetch you home just for you to faint at the wheel and die in the streets of Hawaii. You and your stab would and your stitches can sit in the passenger side while the non-injured one of us takes the wheel. Got it?"

Steve stared at him—and then past him—for a moment and then quietly stepped aside. "Just get to the Palace as soon as you can. Even though it's late they might still be there if they have a case. We just need to find them."

"I'm sure they're fine, Steve. You got Gregorovitch. Nobody is coming after us." But once again, the words rang hollow because deep in his gut, Danny knew something wasn't right. Never once through this whole ordeal had Chin, Kono, or Joe not picked up when he had called, and they wouldn't ignore him for this long of time.

The tension was thick in the car as they drove towards their headquarters, and in the yellow wash of the streetlights, McGarrett looked even unhealthier than before. Danny rubbed a hand across his face, worry about everything swirling in his gut. Both of them were silent, lost in their own thoughts; that silence was interrupted though by the sudden ring of Danny's phone.

He looked down and saw Kono's name flash across the screen, along with a text message. "Oh, thank god." He quickly unlocked his phone, a sudden rush of adrenaline and pure relief making his fingers shake a little bit, and then handed the phone to his partner. Now he just felt stupid for letting McGarrett's paranoia bring him down. "What does it say?"

"It says 'We're at McGarrett's place—just wanted to check in on the boss ourselves before we headed home.'"

"That's it?" Danny asked, slightly annoyed that there was no mention of why everyone had ignored him; but nonetheless he turned around to go to Steve's place. "Nothing about where they've been all day?"

"That's all she wrote. Do you want me to ask?" The normalcy of Steve's reply caught him off guard and for a moment he forgot all that had happened.

"Uh, no. I'll just ask her when we get there." He paused, and then the stress ratcheted back up as a thought occurred to him. "You think this is a trap?"

"Probably. I guess there's only one way to know for certain. You haven't your retrieved weapon, so while normally I would say to go around back, I think you should stick with me just in case."

Danny nodded, and then both occupants of the car were then quiet for a moment, the sound of the car's engine the dominant sound. Finally Danny spoke as they sped closer to Steve's home. "Are you going to be okay with this? I mean, seeing everyone like this, right now. If it isn't a trap."

Steve didn't say anything for a moment, just watched as the Hawaiian scenery passed by. "I guess we'll see."

Danny didn't know how to respond to that and so he just drove a little bit faster, feeling an odd parallel to when this whole journey had started. When they finally pulled into the driveway, he looked at his partner for a moment; the man was drinking in the sight of his house like it was a ghost.

"You, uh, want to lead the way, Super SEAL?" Steve nodded vaguely, and they both exited the car at the same time. Danny followed closely in his partner's steps up to the door, both to make sure that he wasn't being an obvious target and that Steve wasn't going to faint. After a long moment's hesitation, Steve moved to open the door, but it opened in front of him.

"Hey Boss," Kono said, and Danny could see her leaning against the door. Her voice was tight but she didn't indicate anything was wrong. "Welcome home." The door opened wider, allowing them both to come in, but when Danny stepped forward something hard connected with the back of his head. He fell forward, and everything started to go dark. His vision was swimming in and out when he heard an unfamiliar voice—a Russian voice—start to speak. "Yes, welcome home, Commander McGarrett."

A bit of a cliffhanger, but hopefully it's worth it! Please let me know what you think!

Charlotte