'Danny said softly, "Steve, tell me what happened to Wes and Andy"...'

Steve brought his hands up running them across his face. They sat quietly for several minutes before he spoke, "We were in Serbia. The son of a well-known American politician had been kidnapped by a rebel faction. The politician had had an affair with a Serbian spy and she had stolen classified documents from his office. The rebels took his son and they were threatening to kill him and expose US National Security secrets unless we released two high level members of their organization who were being held in prison in Miami on drug and murder charges. My team was sent in to extract the teenager. For three nights before the mission I sent advance teams in to scout the placement of the rebels"

Steve sighed deeply and continued, "The night of the attack Andy and I were in position as snipers, we were about seventy yards apart.
We knew of twelve rebels on site, eight at the camp and four in the wooded hillside perimeter surrounding it. Andy and I took out the four on the hillside quietly and fairly quickly. Then on my orders my other six men converged on the camp in the valley below us. Andy and I took out three men on the ground before I heard the machine gun fire from Andy's position. Then I heard Serbian being spoken over his radio"

Steve voice quivered slightly, "There had been two more men near Andy that I hadn't spotted...I missed them Danno and Andy paid for my mistake with his life. By the time I got close enough to them where I could take them out, they had fired at my men on the ground as well. Wes was hit and injured. There had been a total of fourteen rebels, not twelve...I missed them Danno, I fucking missed them... the guys on the ground took out the remaining five rebels and we evacuated the site with the hostage, Wes and Andy"

Danny's eyes never left Steve's as he laid the mission out for him. Danny had always had the utmost of respect for anyone who served in the military. He was a cop and he put his life on the line too, but the military and to an even higher degree the Special Forces...those men and women bled red, white and blue and they were very special and unique people. But they were human, mortal just like anyone else. Danny looked into the tortured eyes of his partner wanting desperately to say the right thing...

"Steve, you did everything you could. You scouted the area for three nights"
"Danny...my men counted on me. Andy counted on me. His wife and daughter, his parents and his brothers...they all counted on me and I failed them"

"You didn't fail anybody Steve. Those were bad dudes and sometimes things don't always go as planned. You were sent on a mission and you executed that mission successfully. You saved that kid and unfortunately it cost you the life of a good man, a good friend, but it wasn't your fault buddy. It was nobody's fault, it could just as easily have been you...It's not your fault partner"

"Danny...stop please..." Steve's breathing became very rapid as he struggled to keep his composure.
"Steve...you have to calm down man..."
As Danny reached out to him the SEAL pushed away, "No...go...pplease ggo..."
"Hey, knock it off, I'm not going anywhere...Shit, I can't go anywhere remember?"

"I'm sorry Ddanno... I've failed sso mmany people...Damn it Danny, so many people have died because of my decisions..."

Tears welled in Danny's eyes, "Fuck you McGarrett. You're stronger than this man! I know you're still sick and let's just assume that's why you're not thinking clearly alright?" Danny grabbed Steve's shoulders, "Steve, nobody blames you for this, I promise you. You have to stop blaming yourself partner. Andy knew the risks, just like you did. He was a hero buddy, just like you are"

Suddenly the floodgates opened and Steve's body shook as he was wracked with tortured sobs.
Sitting back on the bed, Danny pulled Steve to his chest and held him. He let the man cry offering the comfort of his shoulder as he rubbed his partners back lovingly, whispering "It's going to be okay Steve, relax..."

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A couple of days later Steve's fever finally broke. They kept him in isolation for an additional forty eight hours during which time they removed his feeding tube and the IV's.

Then deeming him no longer contagious they moved him from the infectious wing to a 'normal' room. It was hard to tell who was more excited about the move as they removed Steve's catheter and the diaper and Danny could shed the protective gear and finally see Gracie!

The men chatted as they waited for Chin and Kono to arrive. Danny was still in 'nanny' mode and was not willing to leave Steve alone while he went to see Gracie.
"Hey Danny, about the other day..."
"Steve, I'm your partner but more importantly, I'm your friend and I worry about you"

"You don't have to worry about me. You were right, I wasn't thinking clearly...it doesn't mean that there aren't times when I question myself and the things I done" his voice lowered, "I miss the brothers' I've lost every day Danno"

"I know you do and that's one of the things that makes you such a great man. You said that I couldn't do anything to help you and I know that's true. But Steve, please believe me when I say you're not alone and that I love you. If you ever need to talk, EVER...I don't care what time of the day or night it is, I'm here for you partner…always"

"Thank You Danny...thank you. Hey would you mind helping me get to the head?"
"Sure, let's do this slow okay"
"No problem there buddy…"
Danny helped move Steve to the edge of the bed and he bent over placing slippers onto his feet. "Okay, you ready?"
"Uhh…huh"
Danny helped pull his partner to his feet for the first time since he had become ill. Steve kept one hand on the bed as he leaned heavily against Danny.
Danny held his waist tightly as he watched him closely. His eyes were closed and he was pale, "Are you alright buddy?"
"Yeah…..a little dizzy Danno…give me a minute 'k?"

"No hurry partner. Take some deep breaths babe, I've got you"
A couple of minutes later he was ready and they slowly shuffled to the bathroom.
Once Danny had him back in bed he gave him a drink of water and within minutes an exhausted Steve was sleeping.

He sleep through the afternoon waking when Chin and Kono arrived, Danny changed into some 'real clothes' that Kono had picked up for him from his apartment and then he left the excited trio to catch up on things as he left the hospital.

Before going to pick up Gracie he decided to stop at Steve's and grab him some pajamas so he could get out of the hospital gown.