His Anchor In A Stormy Sea
Summary
When others had believed Danny had dealt with what had happened and moved on, he knew better.
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The sun's dying rays stained the old grey walls of the bunker with warm muted shades of gold, pink and red, creating a vivid contrast to the blackness he had endured in its cold depths just weeks before. Swallowing hard, he stepped inside, only to be transported back to that fatal day by his memories.
The icy fingers of guilt tried to clutch at his soul as he wandered into the small, dark bunker where he and Curt had spent Curt's last fatal hours. He could still vividly remember the long hours they had spent here, waiting for what they both knew would be the inevitable ending to their enforced incarceration. Both knew deep in their hearts that Five-O … that McGarrett … would never…could never give in to terrorist demands. To do so would lift the lid on Pandora's box.
He would never know why Curt had died that day and he had not. Army had refused to reveal his reasons why he had taken the life of an innocent man instead of the life of a cop.
He slowly turned and jumped in surprise as a tall dark figure suddenly stepped into the now dimly lit doorway.
"I thought I would find you here." Steve said softly as he stepped inside the small room that had been Danno's prison cell, not only physically, but emotionally and psychologically as well. In the weeks after the kidnapping and Curt's death at the hands of the small band of wanna-be-terrorist who had named themselves The People's Attack Group, when others had believed Danny had dealt with what had happened and moved on, he knew better. He had been there, comforting the younger man when Danny had tossed and turned and cried out during his nightmares the night he had been rescued from the terrorists' prison cell, reassuring Danny that Curt's death not his fault, that the guilt he carried was the guilt of another. He seemed to be the only one who noticed the moments when the young man would drift away from them, lost in guilt ridden thoughts, wondering why he was still alive while Curt had died.
But just when he thought Danny had finally emerged from the darkness of that fatal day, having to get up in front of a jury and relive those terrifying hours earlier today seemed to have plunged him right back into it.
Stepping closer to the younger man, he squinted, desperately trying to see Danny's face in the darkness as he asked gently, "Are you okay, Aikane?"
Taking a deep breath, Danny took one final, long look around at the dark walls that surrounded him. Looking back at Steve, Danny realized something he suspected he had known for ages. Steve was much more than his boss, mentor, closest friend and his ohana. No, Steve was so much more, Steve had become his anchor in the stormy sea of life, always there when he needed him the most. As he felt the older man's arm encircle his shoulder, he smiled and nodded as they turned and left the darkness of the bunker together, "Yeah, Steve, I am now. Mahalo."