A/N: This story has been running around my head since the season finale. It has some spoilers about 5x24 mostly, so be warned.

Like Taking a bullet for Charlie

The procedure had gone without a hitch. Danny had been under for about an hour, the bone marrow had been extracted successfully and Charlie was resting comfortably in his hospital room after receiving the transplant.

Danny was staying overnight at the hospital, just as a precaution after the anesthesia. Charlie, on the other hand, would have to stay a couple of days, to avoid any risk of infection.

Danny had woken up to find his partner keeping him company while he was sleeping, and while he appreciated the support, his first priority was checking on Charlie. As soon as the doctor gave him the OK, Danny was out of the bed and taking a short walk.

Steve wouldn't leave his side, but no matter the company, Danny was sticking to his walk. The fact that the walk happened to end in the pediatric ward and just outside of Charlie's room was just a coincidence.

Danny knocked on the door and poked his head inside, relieved that only Rachel was in the room at the moment. She looked surprised to see Danny up and about and motioned for the two men to come inside and for Danny to sit on a chair by Charlie's bed. "Danny! You look well. How are you feeling?" She asked in concern.

Danny smiled and sat down, grateful to be off his feet, but too stubborn to admit it. "I'm good… Everything's fine." He said with a nod. "How's he doing? What did the doctor say?" He asked instead, looking in the direction of the boy sleeping peacefully on the bed.

Rachel smiled, looking at Charlie as well. "He is doing well, the doctor should stop by in a little while to discuss some tests, but he said that the procedure had gone according to plan." She said with a nod.

Danny was pleased at the news. Looking around the room, he was surprised to find someone noticeably absent. "Stan was here for the procedure, right?" He asked without thought. He would hate to hear that Stan hadn't been around to support Charlie, no matter the circumstances.

Rachel looked surprised at the question, and Danny realized that maybe the drugs still cursing through his system were making his brain-mouth filter even more nonexistent. Steve stepped closer to intervene, but Rachel shook her head, chuckling in amusement. "He's been here with Charlie all day. He just went down to the cafeteria a few minutes ago."

"Oh.. good…" Danny said, looking a bit embarrassed, but Rachel just smiled at him, turning her attention back to Charlie.

Steve chose that moment to make his exit. "Listen, I'm going to go outside to make a couple of phone calls, I'll be back in about half an hour, ok?" He said, looking at his partner. At Danny's nod, he moved out of the room.

Danny and Rachel stayed at Charlie's room, talking quietly for about 20 minutes until the doctor arrived. He checked the readings on the monitors attached to the little boy and reviewed his chart. Once he was done he turned to look at Rachel and Danny, motioning for Rachel to step outside. "Mrs. Edwards, a word please?"

Rachel turned to look between Danny and Charlie. "Danny… Would you stay with him for a moment?" She asked hesitantly.

Danny wasn't happy about being left out of the loop, but he didn't want Charlie waking up alone either, so he nodded. "Yeah, go ahead Rach." He said with a tight smile.

Once Rachel had gone, Danny moved his chair closer to Charlie's bed and settled to keep watch over his son's sleep. About 15 minutes later, Charlie started to stir. He shifted in the bed and breathed a huge yawn before blinking his eyes open and looking around the room in confusion. When his eyes settled on Danny he seemed surprised. "Danno?" He asked, quirking his eyebrows.

Danny smiled, relieved that Charlie had recognized him. "Hey buddy. How are you doing?" He asked gently.

Charlie looked around the room, his face scrunching suddenly in discomfort. "Mommy? Daddy?" He asked in a trembling voice.

Danny frowned, moving from the chair to sit at the side of Charlie's bed. "Your mom is just outside, and Stan is coming back really soon, ok? Does something hurt?" He asked in concern, reaching to press the call button to get a nurse in the room.

Charlie burrowed closer to Danny, looking for comfort. "It hurts…" He said in a wobbly voice.

Danny insisted a couple of more times with the button and gently gathered the little boy close. "Hey… Shhh… It'll pass soon, someone's coming and they're going to make it stop hurting, ok? You'll feel better in no time…" He crooned in what he hoped was a comforting voice. If it wasn't for the fact that Charlie was clinging to him for comfort, he would have gone outside and started yelling for a damn doctor already.

Charlie hid his face against Danny's chest, his small hands holding on tightly. "I want my Daddy…" He said between sniffles, not letting go of Danny.

Danny kept rubbing Charlie's back in comfort, but he couldn't make his throat work for a minute. "Shhh… I know buddy, he's coming soon. I promise" He said hoarsely when he managed to speak up.

A minute later the door opened to show Stan, Rachel and the doctor. At the sight of Stan, Charlie pushed away from Danny's arms, extending them in Stan's direction. "Daddy!" He wailed.

Stan rushed to his side, picking him up and holding him close to his chest, careful of the IV still attached to his arm. "Shhh, I know Bug, I got you…" He said.

Danny moved away from the bed as quickly as he could, turning his conflicting emotions on the doctor. "He's in pain. I've been calling for someone to come to check on him for about half an hour!" He muttered angrily, not wanting to upset Charlie more than he already was.

The doctor looked startled and moved to the door, calling a nurse. "Yes, of course… I'll give the instructions so he can get some pain relief right away."

Danny nodded, moving to the door as well. He felt like he needed to get out of there. He wasn't needed and he felt it keenly.

Rachel moved to Charlie's side as well, looking gratefully back to Danny. "Danny… Thank you…" She said quietly.

Danny nodded again. "Yeah… I'm gonna… I'm just gonna go…" He muttered not looking at anyone and left the room.

Steve had spent some time outside making some calls and then he had moved to the cafeteria, not wanting to cut short Danny's time with his son.

He was surprised not to find Danny in Charlie's room when he came back, but his surprise was nothing compared to finding a couple of nurses cleaning up Danny's room. "Oh, you're here!" One of the nurses said in surprise. "He wouldn't even wait to sign the paperwork, so he said we should give it to you, along with his medications" She said, moving back to the nurse's station and motioning for him to follow. "His doctor wasn't very happy about letting him go, but there was no convincing him…" She said with a worried expression on her face. "Now, if you would sign here and here…"

Steve signed every paper that needed signing and paid very close attention to the instructions and warnings the doctor gave him regarding Danny's care. He picked up the meds and then rushed to his truck, picking up his phone and calling Chin to help him track down his missing partner. Danny would be surprised that he had actually called him, but Steve knew that when Danny was the one acting irrationally, it was time to call for backup.

After having checked Danny's place and finding nothing, he had headed towards Danny's favorite spot on the island. He had tried Danny's phone more than 30 times before Kono had called to let him know that she had found it on a trash can outside the hospital.

Steve was about halfway to Danny's spot when Kono called again, this time with a good lead. He listened to the information, found a place to turn around and headed back to the city.

By the time Steve reached his destination the sun had already gone down. He parked a couple of rows away from where he could see a figure sitting by himself on a park bench.

Steve got out of the truck and moved silently closer to his partner. He stood at the side of the park bench, suddenly unsure. "Hey… Mind if I sit?" He asked gently.

Danny seemed surprised to see his partner, but not particularly happy about the company. He shrugged at Steve's question, not moving from his sitting position. "How'd you find me?" He asked quietly, still looking at a point on front of him.

Steve sat down and studied his friend. He frowned at the hunched over posture and the obvious signs of discomfort. "Kono talked to a taxi driver back in the hospital. He said he'd picked you up there and dropped you off here. He was worried, because you looked like you needed to be at home, resting, and you asked to go to Ala Moana Beach Park instead." He said, looking around and wondering what had brought Danny here. "What are we doing here, Danno?"

Danny leaned forward with a pained grimace, resting his elbows on his thigs. He looked at a spot to his right, lifting a hand to pass it through his hair. "This is the spot…" He said, waving his hand to point at the place. "When Rick took Grace… When he asked me to kill Stan, I got out of the car, took the gun and waited for him to come closer. He asked what was going on and I told him that a man had Grace, and that I had to kill him, or he would kill Grace…" He stopped, needing to take a breath before he could continue. "He- He just nodded, and stood there, because it was for Grace. He stood there and took a bullet for my daughter…" He said, shaking his head in wonder.

Steve lifted his hand to place it on Danny's shoulder and squeezed gently. "He loves Grace, I now he'd do anything for her…"

Danny nodded, lowering his head to bury it between his hands. "Yeah… And I love Charlie…" He said hoarsely. "He took a bullet for my daughter, and maybe that's all this whole thing should be…" He said, gesturing at himself. "Maybe this should only be me, taking a bullet for his son…" He said, lifting his head to focus tear filled eyes on Steve and pursing his lips to keep the tears inside.

Steve immediately started to shake his head in denial. "No Danny… Charlie is your son… you need to fight to be in his life!"

Danny shook his head as well. "He already has a great father who loves him… The last thing he needs is for me to burst in his life and make a mess of everything!" He said, looking away and using the sleeve of his t shirt to wipe a traitorous tear.

Steve moved closer to his friend, placing his hand behind Danny's head and patting gently. "Danny, you would never make a mess of anything, and that whole nonsense about Charlie already having a father… It can't hurt to have a second father! I mean, just look at Mary. I know that her life wouldn't have been the same if it wasn't for Aunt Deb…"

Danny scoffed at that. "Your sister is crazy, Steven…" He said, turning a bit to glare at his partner.

Steve chuckled at that. "Yeah, she is. But can you imagine how much worse she would be if Aunt Deb hadn't been around?"

Danny leaned back in the bench to be able to glare at his partner properly. "Yeah… She could've turned out like you!" He bit out.

Steve actually laughed at that. "Yeah, probably… But she had someone that loved her when she needed it the most. And in any case, I'm not so bad now, am I? I know it could be worse… Imagine what I would be like if I hadn't had a Danno in my life!" He said with a smile. "And I'm sure Grace is as happy as she is because she also has a Danno in her life, so just think about how lucky would Charlie be if he had one as well…"

Danny blinked at Steve in surprise, caught off guard by his friend's words. "I'm not your father, Steven…" He muttered in halfhearted annoyance.

Steve smiled. "That's true, but you're still a great guy to have around…" He said with a nod. He leaned closer to look his friend in the eye. "Listen, you're probably never going to admit it, but I'm sure you're feeling like crap right now, and this is not a decision you need to make right at this moment, so why don't you give it some time, huh? Give yourself some time to feel better, and then you can decide with a clear head what you want to do, and what you think is better for Charlie and for you, ok?"

Danny leaned back and closed his eyes, lifting a hand to rub his forehead. With a tired sigh he opened his eyes. "Yeah… Ok…" He said with a nod.

Steve patted his friend's back, reaching for the phone with his other hand. "Alright, now that's settled, how do you feel about getting you home and lying down? I'm pretty sure your doc said something about you not sitting up for long periods of time, at least for the first couple of days."

Danny blew a tired sigh, getting ready to stand up. "Yeah, alright…" He said with a groan.

Before he could start to get up, Steve took a hold of his shoulder, keeping him in place. "Not so fast Buddy…" He said, before talking into the phone. "Hey Jerry… yeah, we're ready. Thanks" He said before hanging up. A minute later a blue van was pulling up right by the bench where Danny and Steve were sitting.

Danny looked surprised and finally allowed Steve to help him up. "You called Jerry?" He asked, glaring at his partner.

Steve shook his head. "No, Kono did. She took the part about you not sitting for too long really seriously…" He said with a shrug.

Danny stopped a couple of feet away from the van. "Please tell me he doesn't have a love nest in there… Who knows what I'll catch from lying there!" Danny said pleadingly.

Steve chuckled. "Don't worry, Danno… I'm sure she made sure that Jerry cleaned it up thoroughly…" He said in amusement.

Danny just rolled his eyes, finally admitting that he was just too tired to care anymore. He turned to look at his partner, needing to say something before they could leave. "Listen… For the record, it's not so bad to have a Steve in your life either… Even if you hate him most of the time…" He said, looking at his feet.

Steve laughed, reaching to open the door and help Danny inside. "Thanks partner. I love you too…" Once Danny was comfortable, he shut the door, moving to the passenger side. He knew that Danny still had a tough road ahead of him, but no matter what, Steve would be by his side every step of the way.

The End

A/N: For some reason I can't see either Danny or Stan having an easy time with this whole situation, and I can't see Danny forcing his way into Charlie's life, no matter the circumstances, that's why this story came up. I'd really love to know what you guys think about it.

I'm thinking this is a good place to end this second batch of short stories, I'll probably start a new compilation once the new season starts, because I seem to need to write Danny in some kind of pain or suffering from time to time... Anyways, thank you all for all your support of these little stories, and I hope to see you around!