After four long months, it finally felt like everything had gone back to normal for Danny. He had returned to work for a little more than a week now and it was obvious everyone was glad that they had a semblance of what everything was like before the incident. He had been slightly worried initially that there would have been some form of awkwardness when he returned to work considering what he had done and the fact that he had been away for quite some time. But he had been absolutely wrong and the worry completely unnecessary. If anything, the bond between him and the rest of the team had strengthened through his whole ordeal. Finding out his team had had his back, even risking their jobs for his... He had somehow expected such a thing from Steve, but certainly not from Chin, Kono or Lou. But he knew now, how much they cherished him and he wasn't about to let any of his team members down again. He had failed Steve once, but he vowed that it wouldn't happen again.

The first week back at work had been smooth-sailing for him. He was gradually getting back into the groove of things and the team had managed to wrap up a few cases in a docile manner unlike usual. There were no car chases, no shoot outs, no hand-to-hand combats. Just peaceful arrests. No one dying, no one getting hurt.

But good things never did last for long, as Danny had come to learn. He should have known. Should have seen it coming from a mile away. When he woke up that day, he couldn't shake off the heaviness in his chest that told him something was about to go wrong. Well, granted he hadn't been the most optimistic person around in a while but he had been working on it and that day.. That day was just different. Still, he pushed away the negative thoughts that plagued his mind as his therapist had suggested and focused on the good things going on in his life.. But maybe he shouldn't have, maybe he should have trusted his heart. Even if he had ignored all the early warning signs that were nagging him, convincing him that it wasn't a good day, he shouldn't have ignored the sick feeling in his gut which only intensified as they drove to meet their CI.

After his fifth unintentional sigh in 10 minutes, Steve turned to look at Danny. "Buddy, are you okay?"

Danny turned to his partner, not having it in him to give Steve a reassuring smile. His heart had plummeted and he hadn't been able to draw a full breath in since Steve told him they were going to have to meet Kamekona to see if he could help them on the case. The thing was, he never wanted to be back at the shrimp truck ever again. That parking lot which would forever haunt him in his nightmares, he never wanted to step foot there again. And he never would have if not for the fact that Chin, Kono and Lou were busy running the other leads and he definitely couldn't let his partner go alone.

He drew another breath in and hummed unintelligibly.

"Danny?" Steve asked, clearly not seeing what the problem was.

"I'm fine. Just drive." Danny said.

When they arrived there not 10 minutes later, Danny was sure his heart was about to give out with the erratic way it was beating. Still, he forced himself out of the car, taking a shaky breath in as he slammed the door shut. His knees weak, he swayed slightly even as he tried to straighten himself. Not trusting himself to walk without face-planting into the ground, he leaned a hand on side of the car, taking a moment to compose himself. But that did nothing for him. Everything around him reminded him of that day and suddenly he was transported to that moment again.

"Hey buddy! What took you so long?" The rational part of him knew this wasn't real but that didn't matter. He could no longer stop the flood of memories.

"Stop right there."

"Danny? What's going on? Where's Grace? You alright?"

"I said stop right there." His own voice echoed in his head.

"Okay.. You need to tell me what's going on."

"Steve.. Steve.. I've got no choice.." He could see himself pointing the gun at Steve, his partner's face instantly morphing into confusion. And he suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe.

"Danno."

"I'm so sorry.. Steve.. I'm really sorry..They're going to kill her."

"I'm okay. You have to save Grace." Then came the deafening gunshot followed by an overwhelming silence. His ears rang, he couldn't hear anything above his breathing.

"Danny! Hey, hey look at me. You're alright, buddy." Steve stood in front of Danny, hand on his shoulder to support his friend. "Shit.. Danny.." Realisation dawned on Steve a little too late. It was only when he saw the beads of sweat on his friend's forehead and where his gaze was fixed that he found the reason his friend's face had grown paler throughout the ride. "You okay? Huh? You're okay.."

Danny tried to even his breathing. He stared into the sea of concern that was Steve's eyes and swallowed though his mouth had turned dry. "St..eve."

"You with me?" Steve asked.

Danny nodded. He cleared his throat but that just made him feel even more nauseous.

"I'm so sorry, buddy. I didn't think about that. I'm so sorry. You okay?" He said, and it was true. In his haste to find the human traffickers they were after, it hadn't occurred to him that Danny might not be all that ready to be back at the shrimp truck.

With one hand still on the side of the car, Danny grabbed Steve's arm with his other hand. "I..I'm okay.." He said. "I'm sorry. I di..didn't think this would happen. Sorry."

"Hey, it's okay. Danny if you're not up to it, do you want to wait in the car?"

Danny quickly shook his head. "No.. no. I'm okay." Waiting in the car would be way worse. He had waited in the car for his friend to walk to his death. No he couldn't wait in the car. "Just need a moment." Danny said

Steve frowned. "You sure?"

Danny nodded and let go of his tight grip on his friend, walking ahead of Steve. "Yeah.. yeah, let's go."

"Jersey!" Kamekona's voice was the second thing that greeted him after the fragrance of buttered shrimp. The big guy all sweaty and grimy hugged him, momentarily eclipsing his world. Kamekona patted his back roughly which succeeded in distracting him from whatever thoughts were invading his head before. "It's been a while since I've seen you, brah." Kamekona said.

"Good to see you big guy." Danny said, managing a small smile.

"Are you here because you miss my shrimp?" Kamekona said. "Seem to have shaved off a few pounds I see. But don't worry, I'll help you with that. Just need a few servings of..."

"Sorry to burst your bubble Kame, we're not here to eat. We came to ask for your help on a case." Steve interrupted.

…

Danny took his phone out and dialled Kono's number before they even reached the car. "Kono, Steve and I are on our way to the address Kamekona's contact gave us. I'll send you the location. Meet us there and have HPD and EMS on site. They're probably holding the kids there." Danny said.

He typed out the location they were headed to and sent it to Kono just as Steve pulled away and drove to their location. Steve stole glances at his friend as Danny remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout the ride. The colour had not all returned to Danny's face and the lines on his forehead crinkled with exhaustion and worry as he stared straight ahead. "Danno. You alright?"

"Hmm yeah." Danny said. "Steve, I.. I'm sorry about what happened."

"Danny, it's fine. I should have realised it wasn't a good idea for you to be back there.." Steve trailed off.

Danny kept silent for a while. "I thought I was going to be fine.. uhh you know.. I knew it wasn't happening again. I thought I had it under control" Danny finally said. "B..But it.. it felt so real. I could hear it.. I saw you.. Steve.. I saw it happen all over again.."

"Danno.. listen to me. It's not real. Okay? You.. you were back there for the first time after what happened. Your mind was reliving it but that's just it. It won't happen again. You hear me?" Steve said. "We're okay."

Danny looked at his partner, sighing as he felt the beginning of a headache brewing. He just wanted the day to end already. Little did he know that things were about to get a lot worse for him. "Yeah.. it won't happen again." He repeated. We're okay, he said to himself.

When they arrived at the dock, Chin, Kono and Lou were waiting and all geared up. Danny couldn't help the nagging feeling in his chest that intensified as they got out of the car to meet the rest of the team. The dock was too quiet, the kind of quiet that was usually followed by chaos.

"Danny, you okay, brah?" Kono asked as Danny was gearing up, putting on his vest.

Steve turned to look at his partner, worry escalating now that even Kono could sense something off with his partner. On hindsight, that should have been his signal. He should have pulled Danny aside but he didn't and that one decision could have changed everything.

"Yeah, I'm good." He turned to his partner and nodded his assurance. There was no time to think about anything else. There were kids that needed saving and that was his utmost priority.

"Ready?" Steve asked and the team nodded as they followed his lead.

The first five minutes had been uninteresting at best. As the team surveyed the area, looking for the human traffickers they were after, they had come up empty. But all that changed when the sound of gunfire erupted. They were forced to scramble for cover as they took on heavy fire from all four directions. They were slightly outnumbered, or maybe severely outnumbered, who had the time to count. Still, it wasn't anything the team hadn't faced before. Whatever opportunity they saw, they fired back at the guys and the horrific sound of bodies dropping told them they were beginning to gain the upper hand. There were 3 more guys left that they could see. And things were going to end soon.

"Steve, get down!" Danny shouted, the urgency in his voice was not lost on Steve as he ducked and turned to where his partner was looking.

It happened too fast, as they would recall. The team had had their targets locked. The 3 guys. What they hadn't seen was the fourth guy who was creeping up on them from behind the containers. Danny didn't know what propelled him to turn in that direction but he did and he had noticed the guy almost too late. The guy's rifle was trained on Steve who was taking cover behind the container opposite him. Danny didn't have the time to process the instantaneous fear that hit him as he saw his partner being made the target. He did the only thing he could. He yelled out to his partner hoping he wasn't too late and stood up, aimed at the guy and took his shot. The guy fell facedown onto the ground. That's how it should have ended. Except, when he had stood up and emerged from the crane he'd been hiding behind, he had broken his own cover and made himself the easy target for the other guys. Three times his body jerked with the full force of bullets entering it and before he knew it, he was on the ground, fighting just to get a breath in.

His chest felt as though it was on fire and his vision was greying in the corner. The sound of gunfight grew more distant and soon it all stopped. He could only hope it was all over. And it must have been because the next thing he heard was footsteps. The rushed footsteps coming towards him.

"Danny!" The voice was muffled but he would recognise it anywhere.

Steve.. Steve's okay.. And that was all he needed to know. His eyelids were getting heavier and it fluttered closed with the knowledge that his friend was alright.

"Hey.. hey Danny stay with me. Don't close your eyes.." Steve demanded. "Danny, come on, don't do this!"

…

A/N: Hello everyone, first off, thank you for all your reviews. And second, sorry I couldn't resist one last cliffhanger. This isn't the last chapter, one more coming and I promise that's the last one. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next one. Thanks for reading and do drop a review if you can, alright? :)