CHAPTER 14

Hello there my dear readers! It has come to my attention that the automated e-mails that fanfiction sends whenever a story you're following is updated haven't been functioning very well, so I apologize if you haven't found out exactly when the chapters have been updated. I know it's not my fault but I just wanted to let you know. Since we don't know when this problem will be fixed, you should stay tuned to find out when I post the next chapter!

That being said, I hope you guys have liked the previous couple of chapters and I can only hope you find this one as interesting as well! I've already started working on chapter 15 so you should be expecting it soon enough… in the mean time… Enjoy!

Danny arrived back at the hospital with some time to spare before his partner was even finished giving away the necessary blood so the doctor could operate on Annabeth. He had decided to stop for some coffee on his way back and when he saw the cousins deep in conversation exactly where he had left them, he handed each one a steaming cup, double shot and extra-large. It was still early in the day, but he had a feeling they would need the caffeine just as well. He knew for a fact that he did.

- Any word? – he asked when he sat down.

- Not yet brah – Kono answered, pleased to see that he had changed his clothes and freshened up a bit. Now he resembled more the confident loud detective that he was; not that he was feeling any confidence right now on the inside. He let out a long and heavy sigh and rested his elbows on his knees while holding the cup with both hands, trying to get some of the warmth to transfer to him because even in the hot afternoon of Hawaii, there was still a chill running down his body – Danny, she's gonna be okay. We know she's tough. She's been shot before – Kono tried to reassure him, putting a hand on his shoulder for support.

- I know she's tough but you didn't see her there Kono. She looked like she knew that she wasn't going to make it. I think... I think she might have been trying to say goodbye – Danny's expression was solemn and his eyes sad.

- Who knows what might have been going through her head at the time – Chin intervened after some time. They all had noticed that, since learning exactly what had happened to Annabeth he had gone uncharacteristically quiet, and he wasn't someone who actually talked a lot. They knew this reminded him of Malia's death.

- She better survive this – Danny stated then heatedly – she wanted me to say something to Steve but she didn't get the chance to tell me. I swear to God if I have to live everyday for the rest of my life wondering what it was and beating myself up about not being able to get the messagge across... – the threat hung in midair because he wasn't even sure what he would do if such a scenario came to happen. Also, he decided not to continue down that train of thought because it meant admitting the possibility that she might not come back from this alive.

Speaking of his partner, Steve came walking out of the doors to the emergency rooms holding his left arm up and bending it at the elbow. He was done donating as much as it was safe for him to do so and so he joined his friends on the waiting room.

- You're looking a little grey around the edges boss – Kono noticed when he sat down next to Chin.

- Thanks – he said, as if she had payed him a compliment and rested the back of his head against the wall – they're operating now. The doctor said she had three entrance wounds on her stomach and no exit wound. He expects some damage to her internal organs but says that as long as she doesn't reject the blood, they should have enough time to repair it – he finished.

- So she did take all three hits – Danny said, angry with himself for not having reached her sooner – Damn it! – he cursed, standing up from his chair and starting to pace in front of them, throwing his now empty coffee away – some backup I am!

- Danny... – someone started to say but he didn't let them finish.

- No. No. Don't tell me it's not my fault. We were undercover, we were both out in the field and I didn't have her back. I couldn't even get to her in time. Three shots? Gosh! How do you even come back from that? – if his voice broke at the end of that sentence, no one said anything. Steve suddenly got up from his chair and starting walking towards the exit – hey! Where the hell are you going? – Danny asked after him.

- Outside – he replied without looking at them. The other three members of the team stared at the spot he had disappeared to and something about his posture worried them. His shoulders were hunched and his pace lacked the usual confidence that only a Navy SEAL could carry around.

- Someone should go talk to him.

- If he just walked out of here it means he doesn't want to talk – the blond detective responded. He wasn't exactly sure why he was feeling angry at his partner. Could it really be that it bothered him that much the fact that Steve and Annabeth had never told him the truth about their relationship? They had been partners for almost three years now. More importantly, they had been good friends ever since. Danny was even willing to admit that Steve might have been the best friend he's had but, even after everything they had gone through, as friends and as a team, they still didn't trust him enough to tell him something like that? How were they supposed to have each other's back if they didn't trust each other completely? Not that he was much of a backup, he thought, considering what had went down today.

- Danny... – Kono's tone was something between sympathetic and reprimanding. The look she sent him was no better either.

- Fine... I'll go – he agreed with a sigh and then went out to search for Steve.

He found him sitting on a bench just outside the hospital with his elbows on his knees and his head between his hands. Whatever anger Danny had been feeling died down at the sight of his partner in such a vulnerable state. He never, ever, let his distress or emotions show this much in a public place. Taking a huge breath, he walked over to him. He sat down beside him without saying anything for a while, just letting him know that he was here now, showing support. Danny knew it had been the right thing to do when Steve leaned slightly towards him and their shoulders bumped together, letting him know he appreciated the support. After a couple of seconds, Steve himself was the one to break the silence.

- She doesn't know – he stated and then turned his head to look at his friend's reaction.

- Know what? – Danny asked, wanting to make sure he was actually understanding what Steve was saying.

- She doesn't know who I am. Actually, she doesn't know who she really is – he clarified. Danny had not been expecting that.

- And who is she exactly? You know, I was just getting used to the idea that she was this freaking amazing teen spy that crushed into our lives by accident. Just, how on earth can she be your sister? How long have you known about it? Does Mary know? Did your father or your mother had a fling with someone else? And I'm sorry for asking that but I just don't understand how it can be possible – Steve let out a timid smile because it was just so much like his partner to ask that many questions in a row.

- No, the DNA test shows that we share the same parents. My dad was also hers and Doris is her mother too.

- But – Danny did the calculations in his mind.

- Yeah – Steve confirmed even before he could say what he had suddenly understood – that means she must have been pregnant when she faked her death and left.

- Well... That's messed up – that statement janked a laugh out of Steve.

- And it gets worse. So Annabeth doesn't know; but the thing is, I think Doris doesn't realize who she is either.

- Wait a minute. You haven't told her? Ask her about it? – Danny asked, getting more and more confused by the second. Steve just stared at him.

- No one knew but me – he said gravely, trying to make him understand how important an information like that was to him and, maybe, how much of a toll it had taken on him carrying that around over the years alone.

- And how did you find out? – Danny decided to let Steve tell him the whole story from the beginning without as many interruptions as he was used to because so many different questions just managed to derail the conversation, and the thing was hard enough to understand as it was. Steve told him about the rescue mission right from the beginning and until the moment he and Annabeth parted ways.

- So I left and with time things just got messier and messier in my life until my sole focus was finding the Hesse brothers and then my dad getting killed – Steve said – I never thought I would see her again.

- So that's why you freaked out that much when we bumped into her at that bar – Danny said.

- I did not freak out – he tried to save some of his dignity but his partner wasn't buying it. Or maybe he had learned to know him so well even after only a couple of months working together.

- Babe... You did – the detective stated with certainty.

- Fine... I did – Steve conceded.

- Why haven't you told her? Why insist on keeping this a secret? – he took his time to reply, knowing what the answer was but not exactly knowing how to express it out loud.

- I didn't want her to freak out and leave and... – surprisingly, his voice broke but Danny gave his shoulder a squeeze – and I didn't want her to know that I left her maybe when she needed me the most. When I rescued her on that mission I knew she was in a bad place, not only physically but especially emotionally; she told me that apart from Alex, she didn't have anyone else. She had just lost him and gotten through literally hell and I just left because I couldn't handle the truth at the moment. How was I supposed to just accept that I had a sister that young? If the doctor would have told me she was my half-sister or something, I could've understood better; I could have even accepted that my father, on his grief, found consolation in another woman. But having the same parents, both of them... Danny you have to understand, my mother was supposed to be dead. I knew the years didn't add up and I couldn't handle that. There must have been a mistake because my mother was dead. She was dead...

- Except she wasn't – added Danny, his heart aching for the pain he could see latched inside his partner's eyes.

- Except she wasn't... – Steve repeated then he looked up with pleading eyes – Danny I just didn't know what to do, you have to understand that.

- Hey, I'm not judging you alright? I can't really imagine the level of confusion you must have had. For a control freak like you to have something as important as your mother's death questioned and the sudden appearance of a long lost relative, it was too much to handle.

- But I still left her. Even when I had the proof, the DNA test in my hands, I suppose I was in denial or something and I left her to fend for herself after everything she had gone through.

- Okay, I can see why that bothers you. But you've done right by her ever since. You took her in, you gave her a job, you gave her a family. She's said it before, she was in a dark place before coming to Hawaii.

- And I still never told her. I'm not even sure I would've ever told her – Steve said.

- Steve, you gotta tell her now. You can't keep this a secret anymore – Danny insisted.

- I know, I know. I'll tell her when she wakes up. If... She wakes up. God Danny what if she doesn't make it? – he asked, looking devastated at his friend.

- Hey! Since when did you become the pessimistic one? That is my job, okay? And even I know we shouldn't be thinking like that. She's a badass and she'll pull through – for a moment there, Danny wasn't sure if he was trying to reassure his partner or himself. After a couple of minutes of silence, Steve spoke up again.

- I'm sorry I didn't tell you Danny.

- It's okay. I understand now – and he did, because as much as he found the situation more than a little bizarre, he wasn't sure if he would have done things any other way if the roles were reversed – for now let's just focus on her getting out of this alive. Then we'll worry about how you'll tell her.

They way Danny used the word 'we' wasn't missed by Steve and right now he couldn't feel more grateful about having such a good friend. He felt the support coming in waves from him and he hoped that maybe someday he would be able to show him as much comfort as he was providing him now.

Well… that was an emotional chapter to write. I think a good bromance moment between Danny and Steve was long overdue and so this chapter was born. I hope it wasn't too cheesy for your taste or that the characters didn't seem too OC. I just imagine how unsettling this all must be for Steve.

Now… next chapter is already in the making but I'm trying to decide if I want Annabeth waking up already or not just yet! Muahahaha. What do you think? Remember to leave a review!

Until then!