Chapter Twenty Five
Well this is it guys, the final chapter! I have been so chuffed with the response to this story, as my first 5-0 fic I was really worried about posting this, but you have all welcomed me so warmly that now I cant wait to start on the sequel! That is assuming a sequel would be welcome. Anyway on with the story, please make sure you review!
Chapter Twenty Five
Before any of the additions to the McGarrett household knew it, Saturday had arrived and it was time for the Hamiltons to return to their normal lives. Danny was healing better than anyone had thought that he would, he had been eating light food for two days without incident and everyone felt like progress was being made. There was an element of sadness as the Hamiltons loaded up their car with their belongings ready to return home.
"I will be back in the morning to check on him, and Emily will be by in the evening to change his dressings. Any issues make sure you call me" David told Steve as he placed the last piece of luggage into the trunk of the car. Steve nodded in response and grinned as Emily joined the two men next to the car.
"Make sure you keep young Daniel out of trouble" she told the seal with a wink.
"Don't worry, I'll keep him in line" he assured her. "Thank you guys for everything. I will never be able to thank you enough for what you have done for Danny" he told them, his tone and expression serious.
"Just make sure he stays well and that is thank you enough" David replied, his arm looping affectionately around his wife's shoulders, and she nodded in agreement. The group said their goodbyes and the medical pair were on their way. Steve grinned as he headed back into his house. Chin and Kono had both gone to the palace to catch up on some much needed paperwork and Steve had assisted, or practically carried, his recovering partner down the stairs and into the lounge. Steve headed that way and found his partner unsurprisingly where he had left him, sat on the sofa with his feet up, cartoons on the television and a pile of property magazines beside him.
"You need anything?" Steve asked as he walked back in.
"A beer?" Danny asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Anything that you can actually have I mean" Steve clarified. Danny rolled his eyes.
"No, I'm good thanks" he replied. Steve was pleased that his partner did appear to slowly be getting back to his normal self. The bruising over his still pale face finally fading, and his eyes no longer constantly filled with pain.
"Found anything?" he asked, gesturing towards the papers beside his friend. Danny half shrugged in reply.
"A few, never know until you see it in person though do you" he continued. Steve sighed, feeling his partners frustration at his lack of mobility. He sat down on the arm chair next to the sofa and focussed on the cartoons for a few moments, lost in the easy viewing. He had been trying for a day or so to speak with his partner, but struggling to form the words. He knew that Danny was a long way from recovery and returning to normal, but he was so much better than he had been.
"Danny, will you tell me what happened when he had you?" he asked softly, he knew in his gut that Danny needed to share this, else it would consume him. Danny did not respond, his face paler than before as colour drained. "Please D I think you need to speak about this" he prompted.
"Why?" Danny asked, his voice more of a sob.
"I think that talking about it will make some of the hurt go away" Steve told him, not wording things as he had intended.
"Oh you think do you? You think anything can make the hurt of what that, that scum did to me go away? Nothing will ever undo this Steven. I will have to live with this for the rest of my life and all because I did my job a bit too well for his liking!" Danny retorted, his voice getting gradually louder with each word.
"Please D, I just think that you need to talk about it" Steve continued, deliberately pushing his friend into feeling and expressing some of the pain that clearly still cut deep within him.
"Why? Why do I need to talk about it? You need to know all of the gory details do you? You want to know all about how they held me down, how every time I struggled they would stamp on my leg, kick me in the head or ribs or punch me until I passed out? What Steven is it how you get your kicks to hear all about how your useless weak partner got pinned down on a dirty bathroom floor and raped? Is that what you wanted to hear is it?" Danny yelled at the seal, his face red and tears streaming down his face. Steve furiously blinked back his own tears, his emotions boiling at his friends ordeal as he verbalised what had happened for the first time. Danny Williams was a giving man, a man that would do anything to help anybody, a man that loved his family with all of his being yet now couldn't even bear to see them.
"No Danny, I wish I didn't have to hear any of it- but if by knowing what happened to you helps me to help you then yes I do want to hear it" he told him, his own voice cracking with the weight of what he was saying. He moved closer to Danny and tried not to feel hurt when his partner flinched from the touch, but he persevered and held his partner. "Danny I am so angry with Simon Turner for what he has done to you, but you are not weak- some men that I know would not have survived what you went through" Steve told him.
"I can't stand it" Danny sobbed, and Steve clutched him harder, wanting to convey so much with just that hold. "I can't look at myself in the mirror knowing how tainted I am" he cried into his partner's shoulder. His emotions overwhelming him, and his chest feeling heavy and tight at the thought that he could never go back to how he was.
"You're not tainted Danno, you are still our haole, our Jersey native that hates pineapple- and one of the best damn detectives that I have ever known" Steve told him softly, his words muffled by the blonde hair belonging to the man that he held. "I don't know what to say to make you believe that, so I will show you every day that it is how we all feel" he continued.
"Can I have a shower?" Danny asked, his thought process shifting at the flip of a coin.
"No bruh, you can't stand, plus your dressings dont get changed until tomorrow" Steve replied, hating to deny his friend, but unable to allow him to risk his recovery.
"Did you tell my parents?" Danny asked, again his thoughts drifting.
"Rachel called them, took her nearly an hour to persuade them not to fly over" Steve replied.
"Good" Danny replied softly. "Grace can come over if you don't mind" he then continued. Steve sighed in relief, his partner had been refusing to see his beloved daughter ever since his release from hospital, and that had been worrying him as much as anything else.
"Sure, I will call Rachel later" Steve replied with a smile, maybe they were getting through to him after all.
50-50-50-50-50-50-50
Steves conversation with Rachel had gone well, and he had barely hung up the telephone before she was on the way over to his house along with her daughter- both of them eager to see Danny looking better. Steve grinned at the thought, his partner would survive this, he was sure of it. Danny himself lay dozing on the sofa, getting some rest before the tornado known as Grace arrived. Steve busied himself in the kitchen, rustling up a marinade for some fish to cook on the barbeque. He knew that Chin and Kono would be back soon, and he had also invited the Hamiltons around- even though they had only just left, he wanted them to visit for a social purpose rather than out of duty. He pulled open the fridge and helped himself to a beer, the satisfying hiss as he opened it making him smile.
"Yes please" a weak voice called from the sofa. Steve chuckled in response, trust his partner to have heard that.
"You are supposed to be asleep" Steve told him, with a wry smile.
"The thought of beer woke me" he replied, looking beggingly at the bottle in his partner's hands.
"No way bruh" Steve replied, the baby blue puppy dog eyes having almost no effect at all.
"Just a small one" Danny pleaded.
"No way, no how" Steve argued, sipping from his own bottle. Not intending on teasing his friend but laughing at the reaction. Danny was practically sulking, his bottom lip jutting out and his eyes looking anywhere but at his partner. Luckily before he could continue to argue his beloved daughter arrived, Steve opened the door grinning and in a blur Grace launched herself at her father, only just remembering his injuries and stopping before she landed on him. Instead she leant in closely and hugged him tightly.
"I missed you Danno" she whispered to him.
"Me too monkey" he replied, his eyes filling with tears at the thought that he had pushed his lovely little girl away from him, because he was too enveloped in his own fear and pain to realise what he would have been missing.
"Are you almost better now Daddy?" she asked softly, looking her father over in the way that only an eight year old could.
"Almost monkey, almost" he replied, and for the first time since the ordeal, he realised that he meant it.
50-50-50-50-50-50-50
"And then Danny slipped and slid the whole way down the hill and landed in a pool of mud in his favourite pants" Steve told the assembled group, who were laughing hysterically at the story that Steve was sharing.
"Not cool babe, so not cool" Danny told him with a shake of the head and a smile. "For that you have to give me a beer" he told him lightly.
"Nope, no beer for you" Steve argued, unwilling to risk his partner's health.
"One won't kill me Steven" he replied softly.
"No, one won't do you any harm as long as it is light" a third voice interjected.
"I knew I loved you for a reason doc" Danny replied with a full grin. Steve sighed and got to his feet, he knew when he was beaten so he headed to the fridge to stop his partner's nagging.
"It's my engaging personality" David replied, his eyes twinkling. The group had enjoyed a feast courtesy of McGarrett, and for once he had seen his patient looking relaxed and happy. Sure he was sat out in a beautiful Hawaiian evening, but still had a blanket wrapped around him, and he was still pale and weak- but he had eaten more than he had in weeks and he had joined in the conversations. With a smile Dr Hamilton acknowledged to himself that he was now slightly less worried about this patient.
"Don't forget when you fell down a cliff Steven" Danny commented as his partner returned carrying the beers.
"Hey that wasnt my fault! What about when you tied that dude to the hood of your car?" he countered, enjoying the banter.
"Two words partner- shark tank" Danny replied, not giving an inch. Steve opened his mouth to reply, but closed it again.
"Touche" he finally stated raising his bottle in a silent toast to his partner. Danny clinked his bottle against the side of it and before they knew it every member of the group had joined in, before moving their respective drinks back to their lips. Danny looked around him at the assembled mix of people, the Hamiltons the latest addition- but no less worthy or loyal than any of the others, they had come through for the 5-0 in a big way, and they would never be forgotten for it. Then there was his Gracie, the light of his life, the one thing that nothing and no one could ever taint or spoil for him. He loved her with all of his heart, and knew that she felt the same. Beside her was Rachel, now there was a house of cards- one minute loving and caring and the next going on at him for his work. She held him like a lover, and scolded him like a child, yet he knew that he would always love her- he had no choice in the matter. Around the table Steve, Chin and Kono now sat chattering- his new family had given him strength when he was too weak to fight, hope when he had none and love whether he chose to accept it or not. It was those three that had made Hawaii a home for him, his forced move now one of the best things he had ever done in his life. Sure he was wounded and probably out of the action for some time to come, he had no home and he had no idea where his car was- but he had these guys and for the first time in what felt like forever Daniel Williams felt safe.
50-50-50-50-50-50-50
"Danny I meant to say, I brought you some mail back from the palace" Kono told her friend as the 5-0 officers sat with cups of coffee, or warm milk in Danny's case. The rest of the group had left some time prior to return to their respective homes and since all of his new family could see Danny was flagging they had tidied up quicker than usual and moved into the lounge. Kono handed him the pile of post- she had vetted it before even bringing it home, making sure that there was nothing work related in there.
"Thank you" he replied as he flicked through the papers, opening the odd bit and placing others in a pile. After a few moments Steve and Chin returned to the room, Kono was tidying away the last bit of washing from the batch she had done earlier, and Danny was sat staring at a card he held in now lax fingers.
"Danny? What is it?" Steve asked, concerned. At his words the other two stopped what they were doing and also came over. Wordlessly Danny handed the card to his partner. Steve looked at it in confusion, seeing a perfectly nice get well soon card with a picture of an Hawaiian sunset on it. He turned it in his hands and opened it to see what was written inside. As he read the only words he felt his blood run cold and the anger build up inside of him.
"Steve? What does it say?" Chin prompted, his own attention caught.
"It says A hui hou kakou" Steve replied.
"Until we meet again" Chin commented softly, every member of the team knowing who had sent the card, and each committed to ensuring that the person never ever did meet Danny Williams again.
The End
Well that's it- that is the end of this journey! Please let me know your thoughts on it! If people are interested there may be a sequel, as I think there is still some loose ends that can be tied and Danny's recovery or not...
shaz x