The ray of sunlight peeking through the slight gap between his curtains and landing on his face caused his eyebrows to scrunch up. He tried futilely to remain asleep but the heat coupled with the brightness woke him. His eyes adjusted to the light and he got up, stretching his arms. He looked at the time, it was close to 9am which was way later than when he usually woke. But after the gathering yesterday, he had exhausted all his energy and ended up shutting off his morning alarm. He stood up with a groan before he did some light stretch to loosen his muscles. Briefly, he wondered if Danny was awake. Probably not if the quiet of the house was anything to go by. He decided to freshen up and make breakfast before he woke his friend up. He couldn't help but smile a little thinking about Danny. Finally, he had gotten a glimpse of his old friend back. Danny's smile which had been hidden somewhere within had made a long-awaited albeit short appearance. And that was enough for Steve, to know that his friend was not too far gone.

After getting out of the shower, Steve grabbed his phone on the bedside table and headed out. He glanced at Danny's room, the door was closed and he figured he would let his friend sleep in a little considering how tired he had been the past few days. He walked down to the kitchen and started to prepare breakfast when his phone chimed with a message from Rachel. He saw that there had also been a missed call from her. Weird, he thought. Before he could open the message, his phone rang again, Rachel's number flashing on it. In an instant, his heart raced. Could something have happened to Grace? Burying the concern, he answered the call.

"Hello."

"Steve. It's Rachel." Rachel said, panic evident in her voice.

"Rachel, what's going on? You sound worried. Is everything okay?" Steve asked. His concern was building. Rachel almost never called him. Especially not sounding this distressed.

"Steve, is Danny with you?" Rachel asked.

"Danny?" Steve was confused. "Rachel, what's going on? Is Grace alright?" Steve asked, fearing something might have happened to his niece.

"Yeah.. yeah, she's okay." Rachel said. "It's not that. I'm worried about Danny. Is he there with you?"

"Yeah, he should be. I think he's still asleep." Steve said, starting out for the stairs.

"Are you sure? I.. I got a strange text from him last night. I just saw it. I asked Grace and she said he mentioned something yesterday as well." Rachel said. "I've been trying to reach him but it's been going to voicemail."

"What text?" Steve asked, quickening his steps as he began to feel uneasy.

"He apologised. Saying he's going away and.. and he's sorry to leave me to take care of Grace." Rachel said.

Steve's face paled significantly as he heard Rachel's words. No, no, Danny wouldn't do that. He would never leave Grace. He must be in his room. "Rachel, hold on." Steve said as he knocked on Danny's door.

There was no response. "Danny? Danny.." Steve called. When there was still no response, he opened the door. Only to find it empty.

Steve's eyes landed on the gun and badge on the bed. A sense of dread wrapped around him. He lifted the envelope on the bed, knowing full well what it was.

"Steve? Steve, is he there?" Rachel asked.

"No." Steve said. "He left." He really did leave.

...

Steve looked at the piece of paper in his hand, not believing the words he had just read. Danny's resignation letter. He just couldn't believe Danny would do such a thing. After all the things they had been through, his partner had left him just like that. Without a word. Anger was mixed with worry and self-reproach. Anger at Danny's actions, worry about his well-being and self-reproach because how could he have not known? He couldn't understand how Danny, the most dedicated father he had come to know in his life could bear to leave Grace, his daughter. It did not make sense. Then again, nothing had made sense for them in a while.

As his eyes drifted across the room, he saw another letter addressed to him, the keys to the Camaro next to it. He didn't know if this was a joke. Should he be laughing? Because it was darn right hilarious. What the hell was his partner thinking? He opened the letter.

Steve, I'm sorry. I know I should have told you but.. if I did I knew you wouldn't let me leave. Truth is, this is something I need to do. I have all the memories with me and that's enough. Thank you for.. for everything. I will be forever indebted to you for Grace's life, my friend. All I ask is that you take care of yourself, alright? I'll be okay, I promise. Don't worry about me, I'm not worth it. Love you, buddy. And Steve.. I do like it when you call me Danno.

"I hate you, Danno, I hate you so much." Steve gritted his teeth.

After the initial shock and anger had faded, he headed to his truck, calling Chin to inform him of everything along the way. He ended up at Danny's home but obviously, his friend wasn't there. Tracking Danny's GPS was pointless because his car was still at Steve's house and pinging his phone wasn't useful either as it had been switched off for hours now.

The team had checked to see if he had booked any flights out of Hawaii but there was nothing to suggest so. He was still on the island. Yet, this was a huge island, he could be anywhere. And if Danny didn't want to be found, Steve knew it would be next to impossible to find him. Still, the team was sparing no efforts in locating him. While the team tried to dig up anything they could on Danny's location, Steve knew where he had to go next. Grace. His niece needed him. He pulled up at Rachel's house, preparing himself to meet Grace.

"Uncle Steve!" Grace came running into his arms.

"Hey, Gracie!" Steve hugged her tight. "You alright?"

"Uncle Steve, where's Danno?" She asked, tears in her eyes. When her mom had told her about Danno's text, she had recalled his words and how he had avoided answering her when she questioned where he was going. Now, knowing that he was uncontactable, she worried that he might have really left her.

"I don't know where he is. But we're working on it." Steve said.

"Why would he.. why would Danno just leave?" Grace asked.

Steve sighed, he had no answer for her. He didn't understand either. All he knew was that his friend was hurting, probably more than he had anticipated. If only he had gotten him the help he needed. Maybe they wouldn't be in this situation. "Grace, I will find your dad. I promise, I'll bring him home and everything's going to be okay."

"Promise?"

"Promise." Steve said. "We'll be okay." He said, more for his benefit than Grace's. He needed everything to be okay. He needed his best friend back. And whether Danny liked it or not, he was going to bring him home.

...

Armed with his one duffel bag and another small suitcase, Danny had ended up in a dingy and honestly, questionable motel in the wee hours of the morning. He hadn't made any reservation to avoid any trail leading to him, hoping he was lucky enough to get a room and he was indeed lucky. Only a shady motel like this would care less about checking for ID, so it was the perfect place for him to stay hidden. At least long enough till his team stopped looking for him and till he got another place to stay.

He headed to room 217, his room which was located at the far end of the corridor. He entered the room and it instantly reminded him of the time he first came to the island. He had stayed in a motel just like this for the first couple of days. Life really did come full circle for him. He sat on the bed which creaked the moment he landed on it. The room was small, the bed, a chair which Danny couldn't tell what the original colour was, and a small table were the only furniture in the room. This was good enough, he wasn't exactly looking for comfort anyway. As long as there was a roof over his head, it was good enough. He wondered again if he had done the right thing. Yes, it was the right thing. The only way to protect the people he loved was to stay away from them. He had done the right thing, he told himself.

He had thought of leaving the island completely but in the end he had been selfish. If he stayed here he could still keep an eye on how his daughter and his team were doing. All he needed to do was to stay under the radar when he did so. It wouldn't be that difficult considering he was after all a detective, and had done his fair share of undercover.

Feeling exhaustion creep up on him, Danny lay down on the bed and shut his eyes, hoping to get some dreamless sleep. But even that was too much to hope for. He barely got an hour of sleep before he ended up being awakened by a nightmare. He woke up with his heart pounding in his chest and his body soaked in sweat, screaming out Grace's name. His chest physically hurt from the way his heart rammed into his ribs and his lungs had to work overtime to get enough air. When he finally realised where he was, he managed to slow down his heart rate but his head throbbed with the memory of the nightmare. He told himself over and over again that they were fine. Steve and Grace were fine. His rational mind knew they were fine but a part of him couldn't help doubt it. And that niggling doubt would keep him up the whole night. And for many nights to come.

...

A/N: Hi everyone! I am extremely touched by all your reviews. Thank you so so much. So glad that you guys liked the previous chapter and I hope this one is not too bad. Nothing much happens here but the next ones would be more exciting (I think). Good news is I am almost done writing the remaining chapters so HOPEFULLY that means I can update more quickly. As usual, I would love to hear your reviews so please if you have some time! Thanks for reading!