Author's Note: Sorry I haven't replied to everyone's reviews, but I thought you would rather a chapter than a reply, and I only have time to do one :( I'm in the library trying to write a chapter of my thesis (nearly done too) and if my friend knew I was doing this instead of evidence of trade and resource exploitation at Askut, she would look at me with a very disappointed face...

Second last chapter!

Chapter 10

After hanging up on the governor, Danny paused, wondering how to go about the next call he had to make. He would tell Grace when he saw her next, but Mary had to know. Truth be told, he should have called her the night before. Or when Steve had gone missing in the first place.

But if he told her she would want to get on the next flight out here. And Steve had sent her away to protect her. But she had to know. If Steve died...

Danny sighed and just dialled the number he had hoped he would never have to use.

Mary picked up on the fourth ring, her voice confused and anxious. "Hello?"

"Hi, Mary. It's Danny. Danny Williams, Steve's partner."

She paused, and he could feel the sudden tension through the phone. "Something's happened, hasn't it?"

Danny cleared his throat. "Ye... Uh, Yeah. It's Steve. He's in the hospital."

"How bad?" she demanded, her voice tight.

The detective just pinched the bridge of his nose, hating this conversation already. "It's uh, pretty bad."

He heard her stand up and start grabbing things. "I'm getting on the next flight."

"No," Danny told her before he could stop himself, standing up to pace, knowing he was right. "Mary, don't do that. Please, don't."

"Why the hell not?" she demanded angrily. "My brother's in the hospital... What if he dies, Danny? What if he dies, and I'm not there?"

"Well, at the moment it's not going to matter," Danny snapped back with frustration. "He's unconscious, the doctor has him in a medically induced coma, so even if you were here, he wouldn't know. Besides, if he's going to die, it'll be before you get here."

He couldn't believe he had just said that. Mary didn't answer, but he could sense the anxiety through the phone, and Danny sighed. "Sorry, I... Look, the doctor said if he makes it through today, then he should be fine." Okay, so those hadn't been the doctor's exact words. "Besides, this is Steve. He'll make it."

"I want to see my brother, Danny," she told him, her voice going quiet.

"And you brother wants to keep you safe, Mary," he reminded her. "The people who killed your parents are still out there. Steve will be fine, I'll look after him. But if you get hurt because he couldn't protect you, he will never forgive himself."

There was another long silence, and finally he heard Mary collapse into a chair. "Fine. Okay. I hate this, but okay. Just... watch his back, Danny. And make sure he doesn't go and do anything stupid like die on me."

"I'll do my best, Mary. I'll let you know if anything changes."

"Just remember one thing, Danny. When my father was killed, I hadn't seen him in years. I don't want the same thing to happen to Steve."

And she hung up on him, without saying goodbye. Danny didn't blame her. That family had deep issues. And he had just promised to make sure issue number one didn't get himself killed.

Great.

Kono was waiting outside when Danny finally made it to ICU. She looked up as he approached, and shook her head. "He looks terrible," she told him instantly.

"He'll make it," the detective answered without thinking. "It's Steve. He'll make it."

"You really believe that?" she asked as Chin walked out of the room, looking tired. "After what you saw, you really, completely believe that?"

Danny thought about it this time, before answering, thinking back to his conversation with Mary. He was afraid, definitely. But... "Yeah. I do." And he walked inside the room.

And stopped instantly.

'He looks terrible' didn't even begin to cover it. Someone had cleaned him up, but it just made the stark contrast between the paleness and the colourful bruises all the more obvious. And he wasn't even breathing on his own, a tube shoved down his throat. Bandages all over his torso, a cast on his wrist. A few IV lines ran into his other hand, beneath the bandage around the cuts where the cuffs had rubbed through the skin. One eye was swollen shut, his cheek puffy, his lips cut.

Danny took a deep, shuddering breath, and moved forward until he was standing beside Steve. There wasn't a chair provided, but Danny leaned over instead, gripping Steve's arm, gently. "Hey there, partner. You're not looking so good."

The detective sighed, and shook his head. "Just... hurry and get better. I promised Kono you would, so if you break that promise, I'm making you answer to her. Besides, we need you at work."

He paused, watching for any sign Steve could hear anything. There was nothing. No movement, no flicker, just the sound of the ventilator and the beeps of the monitors. Danny shook his head. "Seriously, Steve? You're super SEAL, no matter how many times you get knocked down, you always get back up. I bet you were thinking about that when you took this job. Cause you're Steven 'Can't Knock Me Down' McGarrett. Stupid son of a... See, even you couldn't pull off stupid! What were you thinking? I can answer that, you weren't! You just had to go and throw yourself under a bus for some kid you'd only known for two weeks. Bet he's lost his dad..."

He gave a sigh, and leaned down on the bed railings. "That came out wrong. Sorry. I'm trying to yell at you, and all I, uh, keep remembering is you swinging there, and that smell... Doesn't work too well."

He looked at his partner's face, and nodded. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let you do this. I'm meant to have your back. I know you're going to tell me this isn't my fault, that I couldn't have stopped you. But I was the one who wasn't watching out for you. I was at home, trying to sleep, while you were fighting for your life." He swallowed again. "And now you need to get better, so I can make up for that in the future. Remember, we apologise for getting our partners shot."

Danny sighed and let go, giving Steve one last look before heading out the door. But he would be back. And so would Steve.

They kept Steve in a medically induced coma for five days, while they kept him in ICU, allowing his lungs, heart and brain time to heal. And frustratingly, Danny only got short visits two or three times a day. What with the mess to clear up after the collapse of Jones' criminal network, it was probably a good thing the nurses stubbornly refused to let him stay, but Danny was relieved when they finally moved Steve to a ward. It meant he could stay longer, and because HPD was doing a fine job of sweeping up the remnants of Jones' crew, he did just that.

Three days after that, they took the tube out of Steve's lungs and replaced it with a face mask, and Danny was getting a little worried when that didn't even make him twitch. Young seemed to notice his anxiety.

"This is normal," he told the detective as he did some final checks. "He went through a great deal, and his body needs to do a lot of healing. It does that better when he's asleep. But it's a miracle he's made it out of surgery and through that first day. I'd say that's a good sign of Commander McGarrett's stubbornness to stay here."

Danny nodded, before asking the question that had been burning in his brain since that first day in ICU. "How far can he... Will he be able to go back to work?"

Young paused, and then looked away, thinking, putting Steve's chart away. "I'm not going to promise anything, Detective," the doctor told him gravely. "But he didn't suffer any major breaks. He might have a bit of tenderness in his left arm and hand, from all the breaks there, but physically, I can't see any issues with him regaining full mobility with the right rehab. It'll be his mind that will be the major hurdle. But with his history, my guess is he'll be able to work through that, too."

He turned to go, but something in Young's last sentence caught Danny's attention. He stood up, frowning. "What do you mean, with his history?"

Young paused, sighed, and turned. "I thought you might know. When I was looking at his x-rays, I noticed... certain markers. Evidence of... this, happening before."

"This?" Danny demanded. "You mean torture."

"Yes," Young told him simply. "A few years ago now, but yes."

Danny sat back down in the chair, and after a moment the doctor left. Danny just shook his head. "You my friend, are... crazy. Absolute bat shit crazy." But he knew he was never going to ask about it.

He leaned back, thinking about bringing Grace around. She had been bugging him about seeing her Uncle Steve. A noise at the door distracted him. Chin and Kono.

The older cousin nodded at Steve. "When did they take the tube out?"

"About ten minutes ago," Danny told them, sitting up straighter. "You just missed all the fun." And secrets. But if Steve didn't want any of them to know, Danny wasn't going to blab like a certain doctor.

"Has he woken up at all?" Kono asked, sitting down on the opposite side of the bed.

"Not even close," Danny shook his head. "But Young says that's a good thing, so..." He trailed off and shrugged, before yawning.

"Danny, you should get some rest," Chin told him.

"I'm sitting down," Danny defended.

"Some real sleep,' Chin clarified. "Else you're going to end up in a hospital bed yourself."

"Nah, I'm good. But I could use some coffee. Anyone else?" Danny asked as he stood up. And that was when he saw it. Steve's eyes moving beneath his closed lids.

Danny was leaning over him a second. "Steve, can you hear me?" A finger twitch this time, a slight shift. By then Chin and Kono were all leaning over as well. "Steve, come on, open your eyes for us. Steve?"

The lids flickered, the eyes moving about restlessly, in search of something. Anything. Any danger, Danny realised.

"Steve, it's okay, you're in hospital. Just back up for a minute, guys," Danny told Chin and Kono, stepping back himself, giving Steve room. "It's okay babe, we've got you."

The eyes stopped moving, and the lids slowly closed and Steve was back asleep.

The three conscious team mates collectively leaned back and took deep breaths. Danny sat back down in his seat, feeling exhausted. Steve was getting better, that was for sure. But he was just beginning to realise how long the road might actually be.

Just a short one... It was originally going to be longer, but I decided to svae the rest for tomorrow night... the final post... wow, that snuck up on me!