Well, here we are at the end at last. I want to thank everyone who has stuck with me this entire time and for everyone that's left great reviews. Hopefully you like this epilogue-it definitely is a lot more on the comfort/fluff side of things, but I figured it was needed after all that happened to both of our boys. Leave a review and let me know what you think, and thanks again for reading!

Standard disclaimers apply.

Danny smiled as he woke up, stretching out on Steve's much-too-comfortable couch. He rolled his shoulders, letting his body adjust to being awake before getting up and breaking the nice bubble of sunshine and relaxation he was currently bathing in.

He couldn't figure out why he was so happy and well rested, until he realized that for the first time since coming home from the hospital, for the first time in a week, his partner had slept through the night. No nightmares, no dreams of specters haunting him. Steve still didn't want to talk about whatever he had seen under the influence of the poison with him, hadn't shared anything besides that it was an op gone bad and he was one of only a few to make it out alive. But Danny had overheard his friend on the phone to Joe yesterday, and whatever they had talked about seemed to have worked something out inside of Steve's head. So Danny was willing to push aside whatever petty jealousies he had about Steve going to Joe for help instead of him, because this was a good turning point.

The smile slid off his face, though, when he got up and made it to the backdoor, only to see his partner sitting on the beach. He was close enough to the water that the waves were reaching him, the ocean lapping gently at his feet. Immediately his anger surged—anger tinged with concern, if he was being honest with himself—and he immediately pulled the door open to shout at McGarrett. "Steve! What the hell are you—do not tell me you went for a run!"

"Relax, Danny," Steve countered quickly, turning around and flashing the blonde man a smile. Danny relaxed instantly, seeing that the grin was genuine and open. His partner still looked tired and there were still some bruises fading, but the overall weariness that had overtaken his eyes and body these past few weeks was finally gone, and with it more of Danny's guilt. He'd been trying to work on his own angst since Steve came home from the hospital, and little by little he was doing what his partner had wanted: he had started to forgive himself. He still got swells of guilt when he saw his friend in pain or saw the bruises, but he was trying. And slowly things were getting better for the both of them, with every day that went by. Steve had opened up to him about what he had gone through in captivity, and Danny had done likewise; the talking had done wonders for both their mental health and friendship. "I just woke up and wanted to get out. I've been cooped up too much lately, and I knew you—and the doctors—would flip out if I actually did go for a run or a swim, so I settled for the next best thing." He paused and got an impish look on his face, and Danny could have sworn his partner, the tough Navy SEAL wanted to stick out his tongue. "Is that alright, mom?"

If he'd had something to throw at Steve at that moment, Danny would have. "You're such a pain in the ass, McGarrett."

"You love me," Steve threw back immediately.

Danny just grinned, shaking his head, and dropped down in the sand next to his friend. "You slept well last night."

"Yeah. I, uh…I talked to Joe about it yesterday…"

"I know." He glanced at his partner's face, sure that his own was reflecting a sheepish expression. "I accidentally overheard. Not the whole conversation," he added quickly, not wanting to breach his partner's trust. "Just his name."

"It's not that I didn't want to talk to you about it, you have to know that."

"I know that."

"Do you?" Steve questioned, this time drawing his gaze from the ocean to look directly at Danny. "I know that you're always there for me, and if this was any other thing, any other case, I would have come to you. You know that I've told you things before, but this one…I can't break my oath on this. But because Joe was my commanding officer, and had been read in on the case, I could talk to him about it without spilling anything I wasn't supposed to—"

"Whoa, Steve, calm down. You're rambling, and you never ramble. I'm not mad, I swear. I mean, yeah, do I want to help you? Sure, of course I do. But I also don't want to cause you any more stress by making you think that you have to talk to me about it. I'm just glad that you talked to someone, worked out whatever demons were playing out in your head at night." Steve gave him a relieved smile, and Danny felt the world just right itself a little bit more. He reached over and squeezed McGarrett's shoulder gently, glad that he was finally able to do so without hurting him. "Thank you, by the way."

The confused reply was instantaneous. "For what?"

"For not letting me give up on this," he motioned between them, "you know, our friendship, and for not letting me drive you away with my own shit. I'm just… I'm glad you're back and safe, and that we're still, you know, us."

"Me too, brah. Me too."

Danny didn't reply, didn't need to, and instead looked out at the water, letting the sound of the waves take over for conversation at the moment. He smiled, and realized, as they sat there, that he finally didn't feel like he was lost in his emotions anymore. They were fine. Steve was healing, and so was he, and for the first time in weeks he wasn't drowning. He was flying.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought!

Charlotte