I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.

Notes: So this is the original chapter 6 (now chapter 7). I have to work this weekend and bringing in the baddie will be tricky, so the next chapter might be slightly delayed. ;-)

To the Guest that asked about Mindgames over on A03: yes, it's definitely still in progress. Absolutely! Swifters mostly owns the next chapter but is in the midst of getting a new job and has had some required travel. I think we might be back in the more regular swing of things by the end of this week or over the weekend.

H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O

He looked outside again, noting that the driveway was still empty. His hand-picked, stalwart team of protectors were just feet away at the curb in an unmarked police car. He'd been home 12 days. The first 10 with Steve by his side; these last two, mostly alone.

Steve was at work … Danny thought that he'd like to get back to work, too, even if he needed a street map to do it. Something in his bones disliked this idleness. He needed to do something constructive. Possibly even find out who had tried to kill him because he was sure that had been his attackers' objective. Leave him for dead on another remote island, an urge at play some terrible game to torment his family because, if this supposed plan had worked, they'd never have found him. It was mean-spirited and reeked of a dedicated sense of evil; it made Danny genuinely afraid if he had to admit that out loud.

He shivered at the thought of those vague dark memories which he'd described to Steve in the hotel room. Those images were in his dreams, always waking him and leaving him with a sense of desperation.

Danny left the window to walk through the house for the umpteenth time, his fingers trailing over photographs, furniture and linen. Almost 3 weeks had gone by since he'd been brave enough to confront Steve on the Big Island and he'd slowly fallen into a pleasant enough routine. He was happy for the most part. The looming elephant in the room was that he still had no memory of his life before the Big Island. Nothing whatsoever.

In some ways it was a terrible half existence. He didn't feel wholly part of anything and was never certain who might be friend or foe. Not that Steve would ever allow anyone within 100-feet of him without a proper shake-down.

Other things were absolutely perfect though.

The pictures which Steve had shown him on his cell phone hadn't done Grace or Charlie justice. In person? He'd loved his children on sight. Fiercely. They each loved him back unequivocally.

Steve loved him, too. And probably just as fiercely as Danny adored his kids. He was reassured of that truth every hour of every single day. And as he looked towards a certain framed print, Danny smiled because... he loved Steve. In fact since that first night in the hotel room, he had fallen in love with Steve all over again without a single reservation.

"Neanderthal," Danny whispered to himself as his smile grew tenfold. Steve was preening like a peacock over that one, insisting that Danny had known he loved Steve even earlier than that. Back at the diner, one foot bare and one not. Steve was convinced it had happened then. Love at first sight. Karma. The meddling Hawaiian Menehune at their finest.

No matter when it happened though, it was entirely true. Danny had indeed fallen in love with the ex-SEAL all over again.

When he couldn't count on his own stupid brain to provide insight to anything else, he retreated to those rock-solid facts. Thankful beyond measure that he'd waited for Steve that one day at the diner and then forced himself to knock on the window to that rental car.

If he hadn't? If he hadn't …. Danny didn't want to consider the consequences of where he'd likely be. Sick. Dying. Dead. And he wasn't being extreme in those thoughts either because the infection in his bloodstream had been severe enough to warrant a 7-day hospital stay akin to house arrest because Steve had rarely left his side. While hospitalized, Steve was the last person Danny saw before falling into a sickly, often drug-induced sleep and then the first upon waking, often bleary-eyed and confused. And there had been very little change when it came to that particular habit. Steve was both obsessive and doting.

Danny snorted softly to himself at that before revising the words inside his head: Steve doted obsessively ... something which Danny never failed to appreciate.

As he slowly walked from room to room, Danny returned to the living room to once again pause by the windows and stare out at the beauty of the mid-afternoon day, unconsciously glancing to the empty driveway. Cognizant of the unmarked HPD police vehicle parked at the curb with its two plainclothes occupants. Steve could be downright neurotic at the best of times. Just then though, Danny ignored the plainclothes team outside his home because he was determined to revel in the peace and quiet of the house. And that was only because Steve couldn't chastise him for thinking too hard; running through a self-induced series of mental gymnastics, self-designed to force his brain to work.

The kids were at school and Steve was back at work. Day two for his Commander at the 5-0 offices. Day one hadn't gone so well though and Danny smiled at the thought as he glanced towards their empty driveway. Steve was having a bad case of separation anxiety. Though the track record on this new experiment was abysmally short, there was a decent chance that day two would turn into another epic fail and Steve's big truck would come rolling in, hours too soon.

Danny heaved in a lungful of air before sighing, long and low. Frankly if he were to be honest, while he appreciated this new period of alone-time, he was nervous about it, too. The black hole that was his mind was a frightening place. His little experiments in testing himself weren't working and he usually wound up frustrated. Left to cope with violent migraines. He found himself in a strange place where everything was too new and he feared making a mistake. He alternately craved Steve's steadfast presence and wanted time to find himself. But his biggest fear was not knowing the face of his attacker and wondering what might happen should he or she show up un-announced. As he slowly resumed his lazy walk, Danny carefully rotated his arm. It was sore but healing well. His worst issues related to the knock he'd gotten on his head. Migraines, neck pain and occasional dizzy spells were common. Nothing too debilitating; except for the waves of fatigue which might come out of nowhere.

Still ... Danny hummed softly as an idea came to mind. It was a given that Steve would come home for lunch with some excuse or another. Though not quite cleared for actual work, Danny saw no reason why he couldn't return to the office with Steve for just a few hours; before Charlie was dropped off for dinner. Danny could check things out. Jog his memory and get re-acclimated. See if that kick-started anything. At minimum, he could make some rounds, get re-introduced to the concept of working.

"Check my files," he muttered to himself thoughtfully. He could do that ... check his own case file. Review what his team had uncovered so far; read through the forensics reports. Steve wouldn't like it. And the rest of that idea soured quickly though when he realized he didn't know his password or login credentials.

"God dammit," he growled out in frustration. He'd still lobby to go in though and tour his own office. Sit behind his desk and just ... maybe he'd written down his password ...? He couldn't shake this new idea now. Not only did he need to go in to the office, he absolutely needed to see his case file. Just maybe, there was something in the file correlating to his fractured dreams of a dark moonlit night, a feeling of falling ... needing to crawl out of a dark ... maybe a shallow ... grave? His stomach churned at the thought and he wobbled as he walked, nearly losing his balance, rudely shoving that terrible thought away. A better question might be figuring out the reason behind his strange uneasiness around uniformed officers. Or was it the gold of the ... badge?

Completely distracted with his ideas, Danny accidentally careened off a doorway. Hard. Pain ricocheted though his bad arm and he gasped out loud, seeing stars.

"Shit! Shit ... owe!" Danny yelped, then hissed in pain. "Crap." He sucked in a breath of air over his teeth, using his arm to dab away a brief spate of tears from his eyes before blinking wildly, surprised at where he now was. Cursing under his breath again, he rocked to a dizzying stop in the kitchen, holding his aching arm and wondering how the hell he'd gotten there when he'd just been in the living room. He was doing it all over again. If he wasn't berating himself over his empty head, he was getting lost in what he thought he did know about that night. The moon, the white fluff of clouds ... the pain he'd been in. Snippets of things - maybe the dim timbre of a voice or two - all of which could be entirely fabricated by his fusty, damaged brain.

Steve had been urging him time and again to stop playing detective; to let him and the others take care of things. Swearing that they'd find the unsubs responsible. Danny was still rolling his eyes at that charming piece of advice. How do you tell a Detective not to be a detective, even if he was suffering from amnesia? Certain things were simply ingrained in ones very fibers. It was precisely why he couldn't turn off his own brain as if it were damned light switch! Besides, he owned this faint memory and parts of it had to be valid as he circled back round to that one last question he'd posed to himself. About himself.

If I'm a cop, why am I afraid of the uniform?

He needed to go into the office. That was the only answer he had for himself and he damned sure insist upon it when Steve came home. Which Danny knew he would - maybe very soon, in fact. Until then though and with a disgusted, self-deprecating snort for his clumsiness, Danny re-started his aimless wanderings, trying to remember at least the things in his house. This home he shared with Steve. Touching this. Poking at that. Willing himself to remember anything … something of their life together. After a time though when the dull throb of his head threatened in earnest, he had to quit.

Moody and over-tired, he found himself out on the lanai where he wound up standing, facing the ocean. Danny closed his eyes, his face turned upwards towards the sun, consoling himself with the most basic of truths.

Grace. Charlie. He'd loved them on sight. They each loved him back with a reckless abandon.

Steve loved him.

He loved Steve.

This was who they were. Partners. At work … at home. Danny's family absorbed into Steve once solitary life to make one comfortable and very content whole. Danny could never walk away from that, no matter the circumstances. Lost in those pleasant thoughts, Danny never heard the front door open or the faint footsteps coming through the kitchen and then out to the lanai.

"Everything okay?" Steve's voice startled Danny from behind a millisecond before his hands settled comfortably on Danny's shoulders. Warm, soothing.

"Freaking ninja," Danny groused, already forgiving Steve for the not so impromptu visit as Steve draped himself over Danny like a blanket, reeling him in backwards into the safe harbor of his arms.

"I'm not," Steve replied with mock indignation. "You were just a million miles away. Again. What have I told you about dwelling, huh?"

"You should be at work," Danny admonished weakly after a distracting kiss was planted on the top of his head, another on his cheek. "Catching the bad guys. Keeping the island safe for my kids, Steven."

"I missed you," Steve said without apology, his chin now resting comfortably on top of Danny's head, making Danny wonder if he was offended … or not … by that.

"You're going to have a helluva big issue running 5-0 if you can't make it through the second full day of work," Danny pointed out glibly. He continued to stare out at the ocean, focused dumbly at the silhouette of a lone sea-kayaker, trying to ignore the heated warmth of the body wrapped around him.

"I just came home for lunch, Danno," Steve said. "Make sure you were okay."

"Lunch? You said that yesterday," Danny reminded him as he felt a blush spread up his neck to his cheeks. "Lunch became … something else and well. Things happened, didn't they. But you never actually made it back to work. So I was thinking ... about today ..."

"Funny thing there, Danno," Steve interrupted with a sly, soft laugh. "I don't quite recall hearing any complaints from you ... yesterday." Behind him, Danny swore he could literally feel the smirk spreading across his partner's face.

"We have time," Steve virtually cooed in his ear. "Besides ... I'm the boss, remember?"

"Steven, because you are the boss ... you have half the force setting up camp in our front yard. Now, let go ...," Danny sighed patiently as Steve refused to allow him to budge an inch out of his arms. "Nothing's going to happen in a controlled environment. And frankly, police work usually works better if you're actually in the field … trying to find the bad guys. You need to be visible. So, I was going to suggest ... about today ..."

"Shhh... stop talking," Steve interrupted again, he merely tucked his head back under his chin. "I'm enjoying the moment, Danno."

Danny winced, his expression became a bit more alarmed as Steve hugged him closer. If anything, Steve's hips had taken up a little to and fro sway of their own, disconcerting at best when Danny was still stuck inside the circle of Steve's arms.

"Steven, let go …" Danny wriggled, gaining only another kiss on his temple in lieu of winning the subtle battle of wills. "I ... uh, and Charlie ... he'll be here ... soon."

"Soon ... isn't now. Soon is 3:30 this afternoon and it's barely Noon," Steve whispered softly as he snuggled Danny more deeply by criss-crossing their arms into a mutual hug. "And you need to stop thinking so hard; you'll remember. When the time is right … you'll remember Danno. Stop trying so hard; it's only been a couple of weeks."

"A couple of weeks of pure hell," Danny objected as he gave another wriggle in a vain attempt to break out of their bear hug. He bit his lips, breathed in a lungful of air and tried to ignore Steve's overwhelming pull on his libido. Evidently, his body sure hadn't forgotten a damned thing about their relationship even if his brain was dead-empty.

"So," Danny started and then nearly stopped breathing as Steve sucked a wet circle on his neck. He could do this. He could. "Umm. As I was going t-to say ...s-so, Steve ... office. I w-wanted ... yeah."

"Oh, I see...," Steve purred softly into his ear. "This is hell, is it? If I remember it right, this? This ... was your idea yesterday, buddy. I was the one who didn't want to take advantage of you ... or your ... damaged psyche."

"D-damaged?" Danny breathed out as Steve increased that swaying motion. He made an embarrassed face as a soft thud/bump was added to the rhythm. He cleared his throat to stifle a moan, wriggling his own hips in a vain attempt to gain space; that idea a bad one as Steve dropped his lips to a particularly sensitive spot on Danny's neck, just below his ear.

"Stop thinking so hard," Steve whispered. "I think you need a distraction and what I'm thinking about is much more fun. Definitely way more fun than going into the office, Danno. Trust me." He rolled his hips even more seductively, bumping Danny gently from behind before wrapping him up like an octopus. Danny did moan then as one hand began a wayward search of his chest, those lithe fingers sinking down low towards the apex of his sweatpants.

"Shud'up... l'eggo," Danny stammered brokenly, stuck when his head wound up resting against the breadth of Steve's shoulder. "W-work."

"This is work," Steve said through a series of kisses and soft caresses. "I'm helping you remember; work through your issues."

Danny closed his eyes, his knees beginning to soften and wanting to buckle. He lost his balance, dizzy for an entirely new reason, Steve easily bracing him against his chest. "Steve ..." he said as he closed his eyes, seeing stars behind his lids. The problem was - there was no problem - when it came to Danny's attraction to Steve.

"N-nn-'nderthal," Danny whispered brokenly as he was manhandled around, still snug into Steve's chest, his arms trapped there between them. He squinted back up into those dark, azure eyes before giving in. Before he simply raised himself up on his tiptoes to nip at Steve's lips while a soft voice flit through his head. Happy. Content. Reminding him that this was who they were.

Love at first sight. Karma. The meddling Hawaiian Menehune at their very finest.

"Lunch ...office ... just ... but," Danny murmured stupidly, his dismal excuses fading away one by one. "Charlie ..."

"Shhh. Later," Steve whispered as he kissed each reason away. "We have time."

Danny's voice trailed off as he got lost in Steve's eyes and an indulgent smile, not at all bothered that his partner was once again, preening like a peacock.

~ to be continued ~