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Steve shook Danny again when his partner failed to take a breath the first time. The wheezing sound had yanked the military man from the dreamless sleep he'd fallen into some time after Kono and Chin had left. And now he was shaking the smaller, injured man with a ferocity that probably wasn't warranted, but he didn't care. Steve was desperate to wake his silent friend.

"Danny?!" He breathed in a worried hiss, "Take a breath, man! Come on. You can do it. Breathe. Just breathe."

A sudden intake of air had him sinking back onto the corner of the hospital bed in relief as Danny pulled in the badly needed oxygen and his eyelids slid apart allowing his blue eyes to roll for a moment before they landed on Steve's worried gaze.

"S'tve?" he murmured softly.

The silence he'd been so intent on the last time he'd awakened seemed to be absent and the SEAL was never more grateful for anything. The sound of irritation and the confusion in Danny's voice was music to his ears.

"Wh'tre you d'ng?"

The slurred speech concerned the navy man for a moment before he decided to ignore it and take the small victory they'd been granted. Danny was awake and he appeared to have his memory and voice back. So, while that may not be a good thing in the long run, at the moment it was fan-fucking-tastic! "Keeping you on this side of the dirt."

Confusion filled Danny's blue eyes and he swallowed thickly. "What?"

"You weren't breathing." While he managed to say it without his voice breaking, his heart was another matter. Steve could not watch Danny die. He wouldn't come back from something like that. Not under these circumstances. He'd lost too much already.

The smaller man narrowed his eyes, "Was too."

It took a moment for Steve to realize that Danny was bantering with him. Part of him had assumed that aspect of their relationship was a thing of the past. He was intensely grateful that that didn't appear to be the case. "No really. Your lips were turning blue; you looked like a blue-gill I caught on vacation last year." Daring another previously normal action, he reached out and ruffled the detective's blonde hair. He wished he hadn't pushed it a second later.

Danny immediately shrank away, and his eyes widened in fear at the physical contact. It was such an a-typical a reaction for him that it actually startled the dark-haired man staring down in shocked silence.

After several heartbeats, "Shit Danny, I'm sorry." Steve choked out miserably when he saw the panic in his partner's face.

Several minutes passed before Danny found his words, but eventually he muttered, "S'okay. Just surprised me."

But it wasn't okay, and Steve knew it. The damage was deeper than any of them knew, even Danny. So how did they go about fixing what they couldn't anticipate?

This time it was his friend's turn to feel uncomfortable in the long silence, "Steve?"

The tremulous tone in the other man's voice turned Steve's stomach.

"What did they do to you?" The question was out before he could stop it and it caused Danny to shut down completely. It didn't appear that he was slipping away again; it was like he went blank as the emotions skittered along the edges of his blue eyes.

"Awe Danny, I'm sorry. I just—" His apology was cut off when Danny surged up out of his cocoon of white and wrapped his arms around his friend. Steve was startled into silence and it took his several seconds before he realized what was happening.

Danny didn't move, but his actions spoke the volumes that he wasn't able to say.

Steve finally lifted his arms and settled them gently around the smaller man's shoulders. It was nothing more and nothing less than comforting one another. The truth of their ordeal was echoed in their actions. Both men sought reassurance that the other was truly okay and that they were together and safe.

The military man had no clue how long he sat at the awkward angle before his ribs began to protest loudly enough to cause him to shift slightly. The detective pulled in a hitched breath and leaned away in order to look up.

"You okay?" Steve asked.

A small shake of the head, followed by, "Not yet, but I will be."

A tremulous laugh rippled through Danny. It didn't really hold any humor in it, but it made his partner feel slightly better just the same. He didn't know why, but he believed his friend. Like everything else that they'd faced throughout their partnership, they would face this together and they would win. Because there were no other options, not as far as Steve was concerned.

He wondered if Danny wanted to—"You…maybe want to talk?" he asked hopefully.

The blonde shook his head once and settled back against the pillows, pulling the blankets tighter. "Maybe someday, not now." His words were soft, but at least they were out loud so Steve would take that as a victory.

Danny's blue eyes panned the room and he frowned. "Where's e'vyone?"

"They were here most of the night. Rachel finally insisted that Grace come home and sleep in her own bed." He watched as his words crushed Danny and Steve felt his anger rise up. He'd told Rachel that Danny would want to see Grace when he awoke, but she'd been adamant that the little girl not miss anymore school. It hadn't sat well with him, but he wasn't a parent, so he'd stayed quiet.

"Oh." Danny's response was soft and flat. He picked at the blanket with his good hand before settling back into the silence that Steve was coming to hate more than WoFat, and that was saying something.

He didn't miss the note of disappointment in his friend's tone, "She's coming back after school." Steve amended quickly.

No answer, but Danny did lift his gaze and nod once. He was still far too withdrawn for Steve's liking, but he was engaging with the world around him. Steve took the opportunity to say what he'd been holding back for close to two years.

"I'm sorry, Danny."

Confusion lit up the blonde's face, "For what?"

It was Steve's turn to look incredulous. "For what?! Are you fucking kidding me?" When Danny seemed to fold in on himself, he instantly regretted the outburst. "Oh God, Danny…I'm sorry. I'm such an ass."

The silence reigned supreme for a several uncomfortable moments before, "True." Danny responded slowly, lifting his hooded eyes and visibly swallowing his unconscious reaction to Steve's outburst.

In a much softer voice, the SEAL continued, "I'm sorry for everything. The fight two years ago. Not being there when that asshole Russian yanked you out of the doctor's office. Getting you shot the first day we met. Never letting you drive your own car…so many things." He paused at the slight smile on Danny's face. But he wasn't done yet, "And pushing you away afterwards. I'm so god-damned sorry, for all of it." His throat closed off as the emotions surged to the surface with a vengeance that he could no longer deny. Steve's shoulders started to shake under the weight of his guilt. He hated that he couldn't control the tremors that were now infecting his normally even voice, but there was nothing to be done about it.

H50 H50

The old Danny would have had some snarky comeback for the heartfelt apology. It wouldn't have been a slight against Steve or anything; it was just how the blonde dealt with things. He joked and snarked about them. Watching Steve struggle would have been too much for either lawman to comprehend in a manly fashion.

This new version of the Jersey detective said, nothing. He allowed Steve's words to settle over him, wrapping him in something he hadn't thought he'd ever feel again, hope.

Hope that he could come back from this whole mess and that his relationship with his best friend would return to some semblance of normal. Well, their version of normal anyways. Danny had been terrified that his stint in the Colombian prison had damaged him on a level that couldn't be repaired, not by anyone. But the small warm feeling deep inside him had him wondering if that might not be the case.

It wasn't a stretch to say that the man he had been before the prison hadn't been the one his team had brought home. He was a shattered shell of that man and he didn't know how to fix it. Pain lanced through his heart at that thought. But hearing Steve's soul deep apology and the equally clear agony embedded inside his friend hurt more. He had to try. For Steve, he would try.

"They broke something." He whispered.

Steve whipped around and stared down at him. Uncharacteristically silent, he sank down into the chair near the bed.

Danny inhaled a halting breath, "What they did—" his voice broke and his hands shook as the fear and adrenaline rushed through him. Staring at the wall with a blank look, he pulled himself together. "I can't…" he wheezed when he couldn't work past the overwhelming power of his mind.

Steve leaned forward, but he didn't touch his friend. Not this time. There was something about the shattered way Danny had ended his almost confession that terrified the SEAL that he would push the other man over the danger ledge he was balanced on.

Danny noticed the restraint and a part of him broke just as another part of him stitched itself back together. He was so far from okay it was laughable, but he knew he didn't have to go through this alone. The worried expression on his friend's face told him that in no uncertain terms. And while he couldn't imagine facing the darkness alone, he knew that he could inch his way into that horror-filled nightmare with the support of his Ohana. A small chain seemed slip from around his soul and he felt a little closer to a light he thought he'd never see again.

End of previous chapter...

Chapter 18

Silence and Truth

Chin sat outside the hospital room, his head resting in his hands and his mind wandering over the events of the last week. They'd found Danny and Steve. Thank God they had arrived when they did. But despite the fact that they'd moved as quickly as they could, they hadn't been in time. Both the leader and the second in command of Five-O had suffered severe traumas that may never fully heal.

Inhaling the scent of sanitizers and antiseptic, he felt a bout of nausea roll through his stomach. Nothing had been easy. Truth be told, it had never been easy for the members of the elite task force; over the past two years they'd each suffered catastrophic losses or injuries. He swallowed when Malia's face flashed in his head. She'd been everything to him and losing her to Delano's petty revenge still tore at him in all those raw places deep inside his heart. He'd finally convinced Kono to go home and grab some sleep. She'd argued, but Adam had gently taken her lax arm and guided her toward the door. She would be back first thing in the morning, Chin was no illusions about that.

The night nurse paused near the door across from his seat as she read the chart before disappearing inside the dark room. Chin sat up straighter, leaning against the wall, his arms naturally folding across his chest. He'd taken this round of "Steve and Danny" watch because it meant he wouldn't be at home trying to pretend he was getting any sleep. His tired eyes lifted to the wall clock and he wondered if the cafeteria would be serving hot coffee yet?

It was a little after 3:00am and the emotional turmoil of the last days had begun catching up with him. He scrubbed his hand down his face and slowly pulled himself to his feet. Trying to stretch out some of his kinked muscles, he rolled his shoulders and twisted from side to side. Chin's gaze was drawn to the large wooden door that led into Danny and Steve's shared room. Initially, it had been due to the lack of space, but it had become a necessary accommodation as both the assigned men slowly accepted that neither of them was ready to be alone.

Chin couldn't imagine what those days of being separated had been like. He'd have been a wreck himself, and he wasn't quite as close as those two were.

A tiny smile caused his lips to twitch as he thought of his friends. Chin was grateful beyond measure that they hadn't lost either of them in that Colombian prison. Deep in his heart he knew that if they had lost one, they would have lost the other. Regardless of the fact that the two Haoles argued like old women, their lives were so inter-twined at this point that it was hard to see one without seeing the other.

Part of him wondered if they were even aware of that fact. Steve was always heavily involved in all of the Williams's family gatherings. Both Grace and Charlie thought of the ex-navy SEAL as more than just an 'uncle', even though that was what they called him. It was more like having a second father than an uncle that visits every so often.

The lights in the hallway had been dimmed to help patients sleep, so when he carefully pushed the door open Chin wasn't expecting much. But as he checked in on his friends, his eyebrows knitted together when he saw only one lump in the bed closest to the door. The soft snore was definitely Steve, since Danny didn't snore and was very quick to tell anyone that would listen that his lumbering partner could peel paint with his snores. Hearing it now, Chin had to disagree with the detective. Yes, McGarrett snored. No, it wasn't loud or at all obnoxious.

Chin pushed through the door to see if the light was on in their shared bathroom, perhaps Danny was in there? But when his eyes saw no movement, he frowned. The lights were out, and the door was wide open. So, not in there. He considered silently.

"Danny?" Careful to keep his voice low and quiet, he listened for an answer. The closer Chin got to Danny's empty bed the more concerned he got. At least until his eyes landed on the multitude of wires and leads that now trailed off the side of the hospital sheets. Not sure what he would find, he was a bit reluctant to step around the bed; but his concern trumped any sort of propriety. "Danny?" he whispered again.

A soft keening noise was his only answer and the lieutenant quickly moved toward the pitiful sound. What he saw would forever be branded in his mind. Danny was sitting on the floor, his legs drawn up against his chest, his injured leg bleeding through the white bandage wrapped around his thigh. The sleep shorts he'd been wearing were hiked up and Chin got a full view of the sickly bruising that was only just starting to heal, they stretched from his knees up his thighs and then disappeared beneath the shorts only to reappear along the detective's ribcage. The injuries to Danny's shoulders had required immobilization, which meant that they were secured against his chest in a set of loose slings. Both feet were wrapped in puffy gauzy slippers complete with a compression stocking just over his right calf.

The IV port was still visible near his clavicle, though no lines were currently running to it. The damage to Danny's veins had prevented using the usual areas for medication administration as well as the strong drugs that were being used to counter the systemic infection.

His blond head was leaning forward, resting on his upturned knees and he was rocking back and forth. "Danny?" It was heartbreaking to see the strong Jersey detective brought so low by his circumstances.

The moment Chin said the other man's name all motion and soft sounds ceased. Danny Williams went stock still. His entire frame frozen in whatever nightmare he'd been caught up in. Chin didn't know what the hell to do now. He knew he should probably get the nurse, but the tiny tremors racking the blonde's body halted that.

Deciding to take a chance, Chin knelt down in front of Danny. Not quite touching him, but close enough that he could, if needed. "Danny, you okay?"

Blank blue eyes lifted to meet his dark concerned gaze. The normally incredibly vocal man said nothing. He simply stared out with a vacant expression at something only he could see. Moments later, Danny's eyes dropped back down, and he leaned his head back on his knees. He folded in on himself in a way that was wholly wrong and at odds with everything that Chin knew about his friend. This was a shell of the man Danny Williams was.

Rather than chance scaring the traumatized man, Chin moved to Steve's bed and lightly touched his ankle. Steve, in true special operations training style, came into full awareness all at once. His eyes spinning around the darkened room for any threat. "Steve, calm down. It's just me."

The commander of the task force groaned and scrubbed his hand down his face before levering himself up onto his elbow. "Chin? What's up?" His head twisted toward Danny's bed and his eyes widened at the lack of a body shaped lump. "Where's Danny?" He was already moving before Chin could answer him.

Stepping out of Steve's way, he pointed to the small space between Danny's bed and the wall. "He's just this side of catatonic. I have no idea why."

Steve was moving with a speed that belied the severity of his own injuries. He moved with an efficiency that would have been startling to anyone but his closest friends. Chin watched as he too knelt in front of the small bundle that was doing his level best trying to hide in the shadows. "Danny?"

Unlike Chin, Steve did reach out and lay a gentle hand on Danny's heavily bandaged foot. All movement from the other man stopped, including the trembling of his injured muscles. But his head remained bent, almost like he didn't dare lift his eyes in case he didn't see what he wanted to. "Danno? Come on buddy. I need you to come back now." His deep voice was plaintive and soft. Tones that Chin didn't think he'd ever heard from this man with anyone other than Danny.

Their friendship, their relationship, was something truly unique and special. While no member of Five-O was any more of less important, there were partnerships within that small task force that were forged in steel.

"Chin, can you hand me the blanket?" Steve held out his uninjured hand in expectation. His eyes never leaving Danny as he took the offered white material and gently wrapped it over his friend. He was careful not to touch Danny directly, allowing only the soft blanket to touch that fevered skin, though Steve could clearly feel the heat rising off Danny's skin.

Turning back toward the older man, "He's got another fever." He debated on calling the doctor back but opted for the night nurse instead. "Can you go get the charge nurse?"

Nodding Chin hurried from the room.

H50 H50

Steve watched Danny shiver beneath the blanket. His own heart breaking for his friend. Jesus, I can't even offer him any comfort because of what those bastards did to him in that cell. Five days, it had only taken five days for those sons a bitch's to break integral things that made Danny, Danny. Every time he thought about it his blood boiled and he was left with a hell of a headache that would take prescription medication to alleviate.

Without considering what he was doing, Steve made a decision. He reached up and pulled the other blanket from Danny's bed and wrapped it around his own shoulders. Settling in against the wall, he created a physical barricade ensuring that no one could touch Danny without him knowing.

It happened in increments, but slowly Danny's shaking slowed, and his body relaxed ever so slightly. His head lifted and he leaned it against the cool painted brick of the exterior wall. His knees slipped down, just a bit, until they rested against Steve's own raised legs. The contact was light, but it was there and despite the fact that Steve knew it was because Danny was exhausted and feverish, he still reveled in the small victory.

If Danny could relax in his sleep, even just a bit, and allow physical contact with someone else, then maybe, just maybe, he'd get past what they'd done to him. Tamping down on the surge of anger, Steve shifted slightly, and his partner's legs relaxed even further. The anger was instantly replaced with emotions that the commander of the task force didn't want to examine too closely. His feelings for his partner had passed that of simple a friend long ago. What he felt now was closer to that of a brother. He was reminded of the soul shattering pain he'd worked through when his father had been murdered, but even that was different than what he felt at the thought of losing Danny. Binding those thoughts away, he focused on what was happening in front of him.

Watching the smaller man, Steve knew that his chosen position couldn't be comfortable, but it was the most contact he'd seen Danny allow since that first day, even from his own child. Once his memories had settled firmly into place, the conditioning had taken hold with an iron grip that none of them had been able to break. That had been heartbreaking to watch. He could see Danny's desire to hold his daughter was clearly shining through those dark glassy blue eyes, but he just couldn't.

Part of Steve knew that this thing with the Colombians wasn't over yet. And he was glad. Because he wanted blood for what they'd done. And yet, he couldn't focus on vengeance right now, that wouldn't help Danny at all. Running through some breathing exercises, the ex-SEAL managed to calm his breathing down and focus only on the small tentative breaths of his partner. Because it was Danny. It was Danny breathing and alive. That had been something that he hadn't expected to happen. Everything had gone too far sideways. Their mission had been fraught with complications and every one of those complications could have ended either one or both of their lives…but they hadn't. No, we both came home buddy. We both came home.

He had asked the nurse to leave them where they were when she came in conducting her night rounds. She hadn't been very happy about it, but it was the first time she'd seen the blonde man sleep without heavy sedatives. Steve had to promise that if anything changed, he'd call her immediately.

The minutes turned into hours and he found his eyelids slipping closed more often. The floor wasn't comfortable, though he'd slept on worse, and Steve wouldn't say he was 'warm' but this was doable. Danny's breathing remained even despite the uncomfortable way he'd folded in on himself. There was no doubt in the SEAL's mind that he was hurting from his forced position, but he couldn't bring himself to wake his friend.

Leaning his head back, Steve felt the exhaustion of his own body slip over him before sending him into unawareness.

It felt like seconds before a light feathery movement across his skin brought him back to a full state of readiness in the blink of an eye. Shifting quickly, he hissed as his own stitches pulled painfully. His dark blue eyes shifted over to where Danny had been sleeping.

He was awake and staring at Steve with some semblance of recognition in his wide eyes.

"Danny? Buddy, you okay?"

He watched as the other man's throat bobbed several times before a single shake of his head told his friend that he wasn't. Danny's gaze dropped to his battered body and carefully pulled away from the light contact he'd had with his partner. Steve couldn't stop himself, without thinking he reached out to stop the movement. Danny's froze, his eyes blowing wide before he snatched his leg back planting it firmly in front of himself like a wall.

The small tremors ravaging his body could have been from pain, fear or the cold that was leaching up through their thin cotton blankets. "Danny, come on man. You're safe. You're home."

H50 H50

Danny stared at Steve trying his best to communicate with his eyes that which his mouth wouldn't say. 'Thank you for coming for me.' But he couldn't form the syllables to create the sounds that would allow it. So, his eyes dropped away from the hurt and expectant expression on his best friend's face. His own feelings jumbling up in a way that he didn't understand and couldn't untangle.

He knew that Steve wanted him to speak; was desperate for him to speak. To prove that together they could overcome the conditioning that had happened inside that room, but it wasn't that easy. He wanted to. Oh God, did he want to. But something inside him had been twisted and he was having difficulty untwisting it. Pain ricocheted through him and he tried to hide it. But the way McGarrett was studying him told Danny that his partner hadn't missed it.

The room was cold, and Danny couldn't feel his legs anymore. The thick bandages surrounding the ruined flesh of his feet were heavy and the pressure wrapping around his thigh was enough of a reminder that his time with the hands wasn't imagined; he couldn't believe he was safe.

Yes, Steve was here. And yes, he knew that Steve would protect him, but that wasn't the dynamic strength of their relationship. They were equals. Partners in every sense of the word. But even McGarrett the super SEAL couldn't abolish the images inside his own mind. Steve couldn't fight this battle for him.

Both men were strong-willed, good at their jobs and willing to sacrifice themselves for others. While he would yield to Steve's incessant pestering, he was every bit the alpha male that his partner was. And now? Danny wasn't sure they could go back to that. If he didn't figure out how to compartmentalize what had happened to him, then he couldn't be the partner that Steve needed. Hell, he couldn't even be the father that Grace. So, what good would he be.

Round and round the argument went inside his muddled head. All the while Steve watched in silent concern as the waves of emotions crashed over his partner's normally animated features. Danny knew that they were too attuned to one another for anything else. Knowing that didn't make it any easier.

His wrists felt like they were being slowly wrenched from his arms. The pain was constant now and it had enveloped his entire body. The silence and the darkness were taking their toll on his sanity. The only thing that Williams heard, on occasion, were the tiny scratching skitters of the rodents that called this hell-hole home. Given the choice, Danny would have preferred to hear nothing.

His legs were leaden and seemed to pull him down in a disproportionate way. The stab wound was infected, he could smell the slowly festering wound among other bodily functions that he'd rather leave to the imagination. His mind wouldn't release the sound his friend had made as he'd dragged away from Danny's cell.

An image of Steve distracted him from his own misery for a moment and he tried to take some of his own weight. He didn't want to feel so broken, but no matter what he did, he couldn't seem to get around it. He'd killed Reyes in cold blood. Yes, the bastard had murdered and mutilated his little brother. That sent a wave of anguish through him that nearly stole his breath. Gathering his thoughts, Danny realigned them and focused on his part in that tragedy. He'd started struggling the moment they were out of the cartel leader's eyesight. Steve hadn't asked any questions, he hadn't need to. Instead, the ex-SEAL had jumped into the fray as soon as he realized what Danny was doing. Their individual fights had been quick and the endings permanent.

He'd taken the handgun off one of the bodies and turned toward the stairs. It had never occurred to Danny 'not' to go back and take blood for blood. 'But it should have.' He thought sourly.

The stairs had been old, but there hadn't been a single squeak of a loose board to announce his return as he'd descended into that dank dark basement. And then? He'd seen nothing but a red haze of anger and hate as he stared across the narrow expanse between himself and Reyes.

He'd warned the man to kill him, hadn't he? So, wasn't that enough of a warning? While he didn't regret the fact that Marco had died and he didn't regret the fact that he'd been the one to kill him, he couldn't quite forgive himself for how it had happened. Steve had told him that he would've done it if Danny hadn't. But would he really?

The slow scrape of a door over concrete pulled him from his musings and he shivered involuntarily. "Who's there?" he called hoarsely. When no one answered, his heart rate increased ten-fold. He was already fevered and his leg was severely infected at this point, he wasn't sure if he was really hearing something or if it was his imagination.

"Hey! Say something you bastard."

To say that the response to his outburst was bad would be an understatement. He'd felt the 'hands' slide down his outstretched arms. Twisting violently to try and get away from the unwanted contact only proceeded to send white-hot fire racing along his entire body. He groaned involuntarily.

The light slide of those fingers again feathered along his hot skin and he couldn't stop the instinctual response of his own body as it recoiled. This time the touching didn't stop. The hands followed his movements before a finger was jammed into the infected wound in his leg.

'Son of a bitch! Stop!' This time the outburst was followed by a series of blows that left the detective incapable of shifting anymore. But the contact didn't stop. The 'touching' didn't stop. Systematically, every injury he had was brutalized by those hands, he even gained some new ones. But every time he vocalized his pain, his humiliation or his anger, he was left on the point of unconsciousness. One time he did lapse away from the waking world. The next thing he knew ice cold water with a dirty metallic ring to it shocked his body back into full awareness. And the entire cycle had started over.

He didn't know how long he hung there with the roaming 'hands', or how often he was punished for making so much as a sound when the pain became more than he could stand. His mind was wandering in and out of awareness with little to no understanding of anything beyond his own misery. In the quiet moments when he was completely along, except for the rats that were becoming bolder, he allowed his mind to turn to Grace and Steve…to his entire Five-O Ohana. Danny was grateful that they would never know the extent of his humiliation. They would never know what he had succumbed to, what he had been subjected to; and that was for the best.

Steve's worried voice would pull him back from the edge of darkness every so often, but then the 'hands' would come and the cycle would begin again. Eventually, he'd learned not to say a thing. He found the strength to keep his pain and his anger to himself and it had eaten at him as sure poison would have. His fear of confined spaces became the last thing he was worried about as he allowed his mind to sink deeper and deeper into himself. But no matter how much he tried to simply 'let go', he couldn't.

The faces' of those he loved kept him clinging to his last vestiges of sanity. But he was different now, he'd learned some of those lessons very very well and unlearning them would take exponentially longer. Although, he didn't believe he would have to worry about that. While Danny wasn't giving up, he didn't believe that he would leave this pit alive. His punishment for taking Reyes's life would be his own death.

Finally, his friend, his partner had had enough. "Danny, what can I do?" The anguish in Steve's voice cut through the miasma of torturous thoughts plaguing him. Lifting glassy blue eyes, he shook his head.

He couldn't take the broken look on Steve's face as he watched Danny suffer. Knowing that he shouldn't talk, at least this time, couldn't stop him from reassuring the man watching him with a combination of hope and despair. Taking a moment to shove down the fear inside him, he answered softly. "Don't give up on me."

Steve's eyes widened and his face took on a stern, if almost paternal, expression. "I would never do that. Hell Danny, I followed you into a Colombian prison to make sure you weren't alone. Do you think I would abandon you now that I have you back?" His voice broke on the last part and Steve diverted his gaze while he gathered control of his raging emotions.

TBC…

Author's Note: So yeah, this one has been a while coming. So for that I apologize. I am finishing it up and will likely have one last follow up story in this series. The final season of this series was tough to watch, I kept wanting something different than what was presented. However, I did hone in on the finale, though I hated the ending as it didn't ring true to the McGarrett character or Danny's, but I digress. I'm not planning on crossing to the slash field with this particular story, however, I won't make the promise with the next one. However, appropriate warnings will be applied, if I do.

Reviews: If you're feeling generous, reviews are always nice. Plus, it would be good to know if anyone is still out there?