Here it is, the final chapter.
I hope you enjoyed my story, thanks a lot for reading and staying until the end.
Thanks a lot for your reviews, favorites and alerts, I really appreciate it.
Returning home
Danny woke up to the sensation that someone was in his room.
For a moment he was just lying there with his eyes still closed, trying very cautiously to take a deeper breath, but the involuntary frown on his forehead immediately faded when instead of the expected pain he just felt a slight twinge in his chest.
"Didn't I tell you that I don't need a babysitter?" Danny asked drowsily, but as soon as he posed the question, he realized that it wasn't Steve who was waiting by his bedside, nor any of his other teammates.
The person in his room had nothing of Steve's strong, self-confident, sometimes even a little arrogant charisma or of Chin's calm, down-to-earth serenity; and although Danny did sense a great amount of nervous restlessness it had nothing to do with Kono's eager, unable to sit still attitude.
Tentatively taking another deep breath, Danny turned his head to the left and opened his eyes. He needed a few moments until his eyes had adjusted to the dimly lit room but then he saw what he already had suspected; Officer Kekuku was standing in front of the window, his silhouette clearly visible against the still dark gray sky.
The young man just stared wide-eyed at Danny, nervously wringing his hands and anxiously stepping from one foot to the other as he opened and closed his mouth a few times without saying anything.
"I… I'm sorry… I… I should leave," he finally stammered, throwing a shy glance at Danny before he headed for the door.
Searching around for the controls to adjust the bedhead, Danny silently cursed his reduced mobility and suppressed a pained groan when the movement jolted his injured shoulder. After a few seconds he had finally found what he was looking for, raising the bedhead to bring himself in a sitting position.
"Jonathan, wait," he said hoarsely and even if the tone of his voice was friendly Danny's words were unmistakably an order. "Take the chair and sit down," he added a little more gently when Jonathan reluctantly turned around, nodding towards the uncomfortable looking plastic chair in the corner by the window.
Waiting for the younger man to follow his instructions, Danny briefly let his gaze travel to the window, frowning in annoyance when he noticed that the storm outside was obviously still blowing strongly. As much as he sometimes hated the constant heat and sunshine on Hawaii, he had to admit that this damned weather was slowly but surely going to unnerve him and right now he was just glad that he didn't have to go outside. With a last little sigh at the raindrops on the window, Danny turned his attention back to Jonathan, who had already sat down, intensely gazing down at his intertwined fingers in his lap. It was the first time that Danny saw the other man not wearing his police uniform and the colorful private clothes in typical Hawaiian pattern made him look even younger.
"I… I'm sorry," Jonathan hesitantly repeated his words from before, obviously needing all his courage to speak up. "It's all my fault… I'm sorry for all this." He briefly raised his head but he didn't seem to be able to look Danny in the eyes and so his glance just wandered around aimlessly for a moment before he hung his head again in shame.
"You are sorry that you saved my life? Well, that's definitely not what I expected," Danny said dryly in an attempt to bring Jonathan out of his shell, knowing full well that this wasn't what the young officer had meant.
The reaction he expected wasn't long in coming; yanking up his head, Jonathan stared open-mouthed at Danny, obviously absolutely horrified about the other man's words. The police officer looked so shell-shocked that Danny was barely able to hide his amused smile, but then he got serious again when he took a closer look and noticed the lines of stress on Jonathan's face - the young officer was a lot paler than Danny remembered him and he didn't seem to have had a good sleep in days.
"How are you doing, Jonathan?" Danny asked, trying to reach behind his back with his good hand to adjust his pillow, but before he even knew what happened Jonathan had already jumped up from his chair, helping him fluff up the pillow and making sure that he found a more comfortable position.
For a very short moment all the nervousness and insecurity seemed to have vanished but then Jonathan dropped back into his chair as fast as he had gotten up and heaved a deep sigh. "I'm not made to be a policeman," he mumbled barely audible, throwing Danny only a short, haunted glance before he looked away again.
"Why do you say that?" Danny probed curiously, narrowing his eyes as he cocked his head a little bit to the right.
Nervously fumbling around with the hem of his aloha shirt, Jonathan pondered on the question for almost a minute and it took all of Danny's willpower not to break the silence. "I don't know… I just… everything went wrong and I… I just did nothing," Officer Kekuku finally answered quietly, helplessly shrugging his shoulders as he hesitantly raised his head and locked eyes with Danny. "I'm sorry, I should have done better, I should have got up and helped you… I..."
"Woah, stop right here," Danny interrupted him sharply, sitting up a little straighter as he waved his left hand through the air. "You really think you did nothing?" he asked, shaking his head in astonishment. "Well, that's certainly not what I heard," Danny added forcefully, thinking about what Chin and Kono had told him about Jonathan's behavior in Mia's house. He himself didn't remember much of the time after he had been shot, all he could remember was the incredible pain and a strong, soothing presence by his side he could hold on to. He had no idea how long it had taken for the ambulance to arrive but he was pretty sure that without Jonathan's help he probably wouldn't be sitting here right now.
"First of all, you probably saved my life," Danny said simply, briefly nodding his head as he smiled grimly. "That might be nothing to you, but believe me, I very much like being alive." He interrupted himself for a moment, making sure that Jonathan was still looking at him and listening. "So thank you for taking care of me," he added emphatically, smiling slightly when he noticed that the other man was blushing visibly.
Giving Jonathan a little time to regain his composure, Danny reached for the water on his nightstand and took a few sips before he slowly put the glass back.
"But…" Officer Kekuku started hoarsely, clearing his throat before he continued haltingly. "But I should have got up… I should have done something… prevented Miss Hardman…"
"No!" Danny cut him short, forcefully shaking his head. "I told you to follow my orders and you did exactly what I told you to do. If you wouldn't have stayed down, that lunatic would have probably shot us both." Seeing that Jonathan still wasn't convinced, Danny sighed deeply, unconsciously rubbing his left hand across his chest. He hated to admit it but that much talking made his lungs burn and the pressure on his chest increased with every passing minute, but he would have enough time later to rest. Right now all that mattered to Danny was that Jonathan understood what he wanted to tell him.
"I know how you're feeling," Danny said sympathetically, very well recalling the days after his own graduation. Back then he had been so proud to finally be a police officer, thinking that he was able to turn the world upside down, but on the other hand he had had to gain new experiences every single day, good ones as well as bad ones. "Right now you're just lacking a little bit of experience," he continued, trying to chase away the old memories. "But you are a talented, young officer and you will become better with every passing day and with every new case. You were great when everything went south in Mia's house, you kept your cool and you certainly helped me to get through the whole mess. I'm proud of you."
Danny's words were hovering through the room, the ensuing silence only disturbed by his fast, slightly wheezing breaths and the huge raindrops that spattered noisily against the windowpane. He could see that Jonathan tried to process what he had said and the corners of Danny's mouth twitched when he noticed that the young man finally squared his shoulders very slowly and slightly raised his chin.
"But…" Jonathan started again after a long moment, his gaze briefly flickering to Danny's injured shoulder. This time he didn't cast down his eyes, but his fingers were once more fiddling with the hem of his shirt and Danny knew that there was obviously something else on his mind.
"But, what happened to you… you almost..." Officer Kekuku stammered, his voice trailing off as he helplessly shrugged his shoulders.
"Listen, Jonathan," Danny started with a sad little smile, pondering for a moment how to put his thoughts into words. "In our line of work we encounter violence every day, and sometimes it is directed against us. I guess you considered that when you chose to become a policeman, right?"
Waiting for a moment until he saw Jonathan nodding in agreement, Danny heaved another sigh, this time embracing the pain in his chest and using it as an anchor to prevent his thoughts from traveling to the past and dwell in memories he didn't want to surface.
"I really hope that you'll never have to experience the loss of a colleague or partner," he said hoarsely, briefly pressing his lips together. "Unfortunately it can always happen, even if you do everything in your power to prevent it. And the chances are even higher that you or someone close to you will receive an injury someday. Just look out for the people around you the best you can and always keep an eye on your own safety, okay?"
"I will," Jonathan promised solemnly, visibly impressed by Danny's little speech that had obviously given him a lot of food for thought. After a moment of contemplation the young man finally stood up and quietly put away the chair back in the corner by the window. He had noticed for quite a while that Danny's breathing had got more laborious and he figured that it was time to let the other man rest. Quickly refilling the empty glass on Danny's nightstand he looked around if there was anything else Danny might need help with. "Is there anything I can do for you?" he finally asked shyly, smiling slightly when Danny denied with a little shake of his head.
Silently heading for the door, Officer Kekuku turned around once more after only a few steps. "Thank you… thank you for everything," he said and Danny could see that the lines of stress on his face, even if they were still there, had already smoothed out a little bit. "And I'm sorry that you got hurt."
"You're welcome and you don't have to apologize," Danny answered as he reached for the controls to lower the bedhead a little bit. "Remember what I said? In our line of work, sometimes someone gets hurt, no matter what we do." Breathing a little more freely after he had brought himself in a slightly more comfortable position, Danny waved his left through the air and started to smirk. "I mean I prefer if it's not me but well… I gave up on that hope the moment I met my Neanderthal partner," he sighed, rolling his eyes and shaking his head in amused annoyance when only a heartbeat later the door opened and Steve slipped into the room, the same look of guilt on his face as the last time Danny had seen him.
Quickly closing the door behind him, McGarrett almost bumped into Jonathan who was still standing in the middle of the room, obviously as much surprised about Steve's sudden appearance as Steve was about his presence.
"Speaking of the devil…" Danny broke the silence with an audible sigh, almost laughing out loud about the expression of astonishment on the other two men's faces.
"What?" Steve asked perplexed, frowning in irritation when Danny just shook his head.
"Shouldn't you be in your own bed, Steven? What are you doing here again?" Danny asked, but instead of giving Steve the possibility to answer his questions he just kept talking. "No, stop, don't answer that. I don't want to know what stunt you pulled this time to sneak out of your room."
Turning his attention back to Officer Kekuku, Danny just ignored his partner for a moment and smiled good-naturedly. "Think about what I said, okay, Jonathan? And come back tomorrow if you like so we can continue our conversation."
"Thank you, I will," Jonathan agreed once more, a little smile playing on his lips, definitely looking a lot better and more confident than before. "Good-bye Danny, good-bye Commander," he said with a little nod towards the two members of Five-0 as he passed Steve and reached for the door handle.
"Hey, Jonathan," McGarrett stopped the younger man before he could open the door, briefly glancing at his partner when he noticed that Danny had sat up straighter in his bed, warning him silently not to say anything stupid. "I haven't had the chance to talk to you. I heard you were a great addition to the team," Steve said with a genuine smile, holding out his right hand. "Thank you. Well done."
Leaving both Jonathan and Danny, speechless for a long moment, Steve just stood there patiently until Officer Kekuku finally pulled himself together and very cautiously took Steve's still bandaged hand to shake it, his cheeks burning from the unexpected compliment.
Unable to hide the proud smile that had crept on his lips, Jonathan nodded once more at the two other men before he rushed out of the room without another word, silently closing the door behind him.
"Wow, I'm impressed," Danny said, looking at his partner in honest amazement as he nodded approvingly. "So, they really did examine your brain?"
"What?" Steve asked once more, the frown on his forehead reappearing as he tried to make sense of Danny's words.
"Nevermind," Danny put him off with a wave of his hand. Silently looking at the other man for quite a while, he eventually sighed once more and fiddled again with the controls of his bed to fully lower the bedhead. "That was very nice of you," he said sincerely, for once not making fun of his partner.
"Well, he will be a good policeman one day," Steve said with a little shrug of his shoulders, looking at the door that Jonathan had just vanished through. Grabbing the white chair and placing it next to Danny's bed, he gingerly sat down, the uncharacteristic sluggish movement telling Danny that Steve was also still far from feeling alright.
"Once he's fully grown up, of course, and out of puppy school," McGarrett added with a toothy grin, causing Danny to roll his eyes and mumble something about his partner being an uncouth klutz.
Staring at Steve who just tried to ensconce himself in the small plastic chair and obviously immensely enjoyed the whole back and forth, Danny finally shook his head. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he mumbled tiredly before he closed his eyes and got back to his much-needed sleep, trusting that his partner would still be there to continue their banter when he woke up.
H50 – H50 – H50 – H50 – H50 – H50 – H50 – H50 – H50 – H50 – H50
Three and a half weeks later
The sun was burning down on the asphalt of the airstrip, where Walter Crowfoot was standing in front of his trusted Beechcraft Queen Air. The old Cherokee Indian had just closed a maintenance flap at the underside of the cockpit, now leaning his back against the aircraft as he cleaned his hands with a small cloth, already daubed with oil and grease.
Wiping off the sweat from his forehead, Danny silently cursed under his breath as he and his teammates crossed the runway and approached their waiting pilot; although it was only 9 o'clock in the morning it was already far too hot for his liking and he almost wished back the rain and storm, that had had a lock on the islands for almost two full weeks. According to the experts it was one of the worst storms that Hawaii had seen in years and the weather had finally turned at almost the exact moment when both Danny and Steve had encountered some difficulties on their respective road to recovery.
Their planned discharge had been postponed due to a serious inflammation of one of the burn wounds on Steve's left wrist as well as a beginning of pneumonia in Danny's case which had luckily been detected in a very early stage. But now both men were finally free to go and Chin and Kono, who had travelled back to Oahu once the storm had abated, had come back the day before to pick up their friends.
The whole team had spent a nice evening together with Sergeant Moore, Officer Kekuku and a bunch of other local policemen; despite the cruel homicides that had brought them to the island they had been celebrating not only Five-0's first assignment on Big Island but also Steve's and Danny's recovery.
Falling behind a little bit, Danny unconsciously plucked at the sling that was supporting his right arm, immobilizing his injured shoulder. Besides being uncomfortable from the first minute he had to wear it, he was now sweating profusely under the black, tight-fitting fabric when the sun mercilessly beat down on him. Coming to a halt, Danny slowly turned around and scanned the fence around the airport grounds, looking out for Officer Kekuku.
The young man had really grown on him during the last few weeks; Jonathan had come for a visit every single day since their first conversation in the hospital and they had talked about anything and everything, but mainly about old cases Danny had worked on. They had discussed procedures and tactics and Danny had tried to answer every single one of Jonathan's numerous questions, enjoying the fact that the young officer was obviously an eager and curious listener.
Jonathan had accompanied them this morning and they had already said their goodbyes in front of the small airport building but nevertheless Danny once more locked eyes with him through the fence and nodded his head when Jonathan raised his right hand to wave at him before he turned around and slowly walked away.
"Danno, are you coming?"
Steve's voice interrupted his musings and Danny rolled his eyes when he heard that his partner once again used the nickname that was solely reserved for his little monkey. But just when he wanted to say something about the topic, he noticed that Steve glanced over to the place where Officer Kekuku had been standing only a moment before, a complacent little smirk on his face.
"Already missing your pup…" McGarrett asked, only to be interrupted mid-sentence by Danny's outstretched index finger that suddenly appeared in his field of vision.
"Don't say it, Steven, or I swear I will hurt you," Danny growled at the larger man, threateningly waving his left hand in front of Steve's face.
For a moment both men stared grimly at each other until the corners of their mouths finally started to twitch simultaneously. Obviously they both remembered that almost identical encounter at the very beginning of their partnership and when they burst into laughter, Chin and Kono immediately chimed in. Needless to say that the cousins, like every other police officer in Honolulu, had also heard about that infamous scene; back then that story had spread like wildfire throughout all levels of the police department.
Cheerfully slapping his hand on Danny's good shoulder, Steve nodded towards the small aircraft. "Come on, let's go," he said, gathering his team around him and slightly pushing them forwards. "We have been here long enough."
"Yeah, good idea, let's go home, I can't wait to finally see my daughter again," Danny sighed, narrowing his eyes a little bit when he noticed the amused looks his teammates exchanged.
"Home?" Steve repeated slowly, brightly grinning at his partner while Kono and Chin fistbumped each other behind Danny's back. "You are calling Oahu home? Are you feeling alright? Maybe you want to go back to the hospital and have another checkup?"
"Very funny, Steven, really," Danny grumbled good-naturedly. Right now he was simply glad that they were all alive and kicking and in a far too good mood to take Steve's bait.
"Oh, and by the way, nobody told me that the other islands of your godforsaken state are even worse than the one we're living on," he started a little rant, barely able to hide his own grin when his teammates started to laugh. "Compared to this desolate piece of lava here, Honolulu has at least a tiny touch of metropolitan flair." Pondering for a moment, Danny finally shook his head in feigned pity. "But you backward islanders, what do you know about real city life?" he sighed dramatically as he waved his left hand through the air.
"Well, at least you have beautiful women," he added with a broad grin when the laughter around him finally ebbed away a little bit, spontaneously pulling a still giggling Kono into an one-armed hug.
"And like they say, home is where your friends and family are, right?" Danny asked rhetorically, his good arm still around Kono's slender shoulders as he solemnly nodded at Chin and Steve. "So, yeah, let's go home."
THE END
A little bit of self-promotion at the end: I'm currently working on the final story for my "Gravity" trilogy - so, stay tuned for "The Gravity Of The Situation" which will hopefully be finished soon. In the meantime I suggest you read/re-read "Gravity" and "Time To Face Gravity" so you know what's going on ;-)
See you soon - stay home and stay healthy!
