Note: thank you to Phoebe and for the idea which created the "Epilogue" TO THIS Epilogue! (yes, another final chapter of sorts is coming) I hope you all enjoy it. And thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read this "fix it" and leave a happy word or two!

Epilogue 1

Wearing only a clean pair of boxers, Danny sat on the edge of the toilet seat, closed his eyes and let his head drop to his chest. Nine days after waking up in the hospital and three days being discharged, apparently didn't total enough time for him to manage on his own. Even if one arm was still painfully out of commission, his body still was one ball of aches and pains. He just couldn't do it.

Seeing himself in the mirror had brought on an unexpected emotional trauma too. Discolored skin, deep muscular bruises? Those were bad. The bullet wound though was worse and he probably never should have tried to change the bandage himself. His entire torso was littered with a not so pretty multicolored rainbow of abuse that was going to be very slow to heal. He marveled over the weight he'd managed to lose in just a short period of time, too.

"You good in there?" Steve asked from the hallway and Danny cringed self-consciously. Danny had begun this exercise a few minutes after Steve had left the house for a swim. No biggie. Danny figured the quiet time would allow some privacy to clean up a bit. But he couldn't properly manage a one-armed sponge bath and hell, just forget about his hair. All he'd managed to do in an hour was the basics, including a shave. Thank god for small favors. Even if they were miniscule.

And then. There was the way he looked … Danny opened his eyes.

"Danny?"

"Yeah, M'fine," he said and then sighed dejectedly. The bathroom was a mess and he was exhausted. He was desperate to lay down. He glanced up when he heard the tell-tale squeak of the door hinge.

Shit. He was suddenly desperate to cover himself up, but he didn't have a single thing ready.

"A little privacy'd be nice Steven ..." What Danny wanted though didn't quite matter as the door began to open. "I'm fine, I said …"

"Well you don't sound fine," Steve interrupted as he poked his head around the corner. He frowned as he pushed the door open even wider. He looked at Danny, then the state of the small room and then back towards Danny. His eyes wandered over Danny's neck, chest and rib cage. His nostrils flared at the same time his shoulders tightened; an anger rippled through him before it was noticeably squashed.

"I said …," Danny tried again but Steve shook his head. His jaw worked hard as he fought to recover some of his equilibrium. Danny almost apologized or said he was fine again and then thought better of it. Steve was working hard on not imploding as it was. An apology would send him off the deep end in seconds.

"Geez what a mess. What are you doing in here?" Not exactly the words Danny had anticipated were nonetheless good words as Steve deflected his anger to win his internal battle. Damp towel slung over a damp shoulder and wearing his swim trunks, Steve controlled his temper and worry over Danny. Still, he practically stalked into the bathroom, leeching concern. Completely at a loss now for excuses, Danny gave a half-hearted shrug about his predicament.

"I can't … uh, get up," Danny explained. "And well, I need help." He made a face as he watched Steve tally up the sponge, balled up towel on the floor and miscellaneous other products which included fresh bandages, as yet, unopened. The old dressing had been flung into the tub, out of reach but visible enough.

"Seems like there's a few other things …" Steve started to say but shut his mouth when Danny glared his way.

"I don't want to hear it," Danny said. "Yes I tried. But I'm too tired to get a lecture from you … I need to lay down and I can't get up."

Steve pursed his lips, his entire expression now unreadable as Danny sat stranded on the toilet bowl lid. When he started to move, it was to drop his own damp towel in the corner and to begin cleaning up the mess Danny had made. He seemed to ignore Danny as he readied the sink with clean water, and lined up what he'd need to redress Danny's healing wound. Being ignored was farthest from the truth though. It wasn't as if Steve hadn't seen the results of what Deiyu Mei had orchestrated. He just hadn't seen it all at once and so unexpectedly. Danny got it because he'd even surprised himself in the mirror.

He opened his mouth and then closed it soundlessly, thinking better of saying anything at all, as Steve shook out a fresh towel. He laid it over Danny's lap and their eyes met. There was something else there now and Danny felt a heat rise to his face. He blinked a few times, knowing what was coming next and yet, not knowing what to say at all. Yes, he'd tried to take care of himself. Had even declined a part time health care aide because he thought he could manage. But he hadn't considered this kind of help. Not exactly embarrassed, intrigue won out. Even as a small part of him wanted to argue his case, the other part was mesmerized by what Steve clearly intended to do.

No permission was requested. Steve's hand moved just out of sight as he stood over Danny. A lid popped open and the soft semi-medicinal scent of soap preceded the sounds of water in the sink's small basin. Danny closed his eyes just as Steve began to wipe down his neck with the sponge. Pausing every so often to rewet it in the warm water, wring it out, to continue down Danny's back, his arms, his torso. Gentle over damaged skin, even to his hands, Danny focused on Steve's methodical touch. Firm but gentle as he skirted over Danny's chest and damaged ribs, Danny tried to relax for Steve's sake knowing the man would be mortified if he thought he'd hurt him. Eyes still closed, Danny shivered when Steve laid a second, dry towel over his shoulders. His skin tingled from the gentle cleaning, the touch of the sponge handled with care by deft fingers. But Steve wasn't quite yet done as he finger-combed through Danny's hair, rubbed his scalp; massaged the base of his neck.

Danny heaved in a shattered breath of air and then forced a slow exhale through his nose. He was shivering, but not from being cold. His emotions were in an uproar as Steve catered to every single one of his needs.

"Steve?" Danny whispered the name as a comb was run through his hair. He wanted to open his eyes - thought he should - but then, didn't want to break the connection. It was better to just be where he was, half hiding behind closed eyes so he wouldn't lose himself to his emotions; instead, allowing his other senses to focus just on Steve's presence in the room.

"I'm just going to put on a fresh bandage … then we're done, Danno," Steve replied. "I know you're tired … then you can get off your feet." His breath puffed over the side of Danny's face as a soft whisper of air. He must have knelt down now to care for the wound. The sound of a paper clued Danny in to that truth as fresh bandages were unwrapped. He steeled himself but once again, Steve was far too gentle for Danny to have been concerned and then he was being eased to his feet. The towels were left behind, and still intentionally blind to the world, Danny was being helped back to bed. Only there in the bedroom while perched on the side of the bed, did Danny open his eyes just enough. Steve's back was to him. Still in his swim trunks, still damp from his swim, the man was at the dresser, apparently getting a clean tee-shirt.

"Why did you try to take all that on by yourself? You're wiped but you look better now,' Steve said, smiling when he turned around. He flicked the pale blue shirt open before slipping it over Danny's head as if he were a child. Helping him with the rest of it, too. "You need to eat, you're nothing but skin and bones. But rest first … eat later, okay? "

"Steve?" Danny swallowed hard not knowing what to say about these kind, gentle reprimands on the heels of such care. Maybe he was dreaming again. But of course, he wasn't as Steve sat next to him on the side of the bed. Danny heaved in a lungful of air. Tears pricked his eyes again. Yeah, this was indeed quite real.

"Yeah Danno?" Steve was still smiling, his expression filled with a fond love. He ran his hand through Danny's hair again, smoothing it down. "Why didn't you ask for help? What were you thinking?" Steve asked as a non-question, while all along, his thumb traced the ridge of Danny's cheek.

Unsure of what to say and thinking that a mere thanks would sound stupid, Danny simply stared up at his best friend ... and now, the one person he loved unconditionally and wanted to be with. Just three words seemed timely and so, Danny said them. "I love you." He was sure his eyes were glassy with tears as he found a smile which made Steve smile even more, the deep lines around his eyes finally easing.

"I love you, too. Get some rest Danno," Steve whispered. He leaned closer, his lips brushing a chaste kiss across Danny's forehead. "I'll be here. Lay down and try to get some sleep.'

"In a minute. We should talk first," Danny said. He wrapped his fingers around Steve;'s wrist, an ask that he stay.

"About what?" Steve chuckled. He raised an eyebrow and Danny nodded. He got it. The question was a big one. About what, indeed.

"Well, about … us …" Danny started to go down a certain path but Steve stopped him cold in his tracks.

"She did us a favor you know", Steve interrupted. He sat back on the edge of the bed, arms folded. There was an odd, pleased smile, curving his lips upwards: the cat that got the canary.

"Who? What favor?" Danny asked in confusion. "Deiyu …?"

"Oh no, not that bitch … though she might have, too," Steve half-snarled before rediscovering that odd pleased grin. "I mean Catherine. She's the one I'm talking about right now."

"Say what? Have you lost your mind?" Danny made a rude noise. "How do you figure that Catherine Rollins did us a favor?"

"Think about it Danny. You never would've come for me at the airport… Admit it. You were upset but you had zero intention of following me until Lou told you what was going on."

"No, ..." Danny objected automatically as his mouth flapped open in amazement. Not a single sound came out after that though. In fact, he didn't know what to say at all. It might've been a true statement but he wasn't sure. He mulled it over and had to admit that he had no answer - not even an argument to broach. "I?" He breathed out the one syllable and shook his head. Would he have followed Steve so damn fast if Lou hadn't spilled the beans back on the beach? Maybe he would've continued to respect Steve's wishes. Maybe he would have stayed on the beach… Alone and miserable. All he could do was study Steve's face, his fingers still tight on his friend's wrist.

"Well, am I right?" Steve prodded gently. "If Lou hadn't brought up what Cole had done or told you about Catherine … we wouldn't be here right now. Together. Talking. You would have still been sitting in that damned chair."

"I... no?" Danny tried again and failed. Yeah, he probably would have still been sitting in that damned chair staring out at the ocean. So, he even though it was a shit statement and sure as hell didn't want to thank Catherine Rollins for a damned thing, Steve was right.

But he also had a question for Steve now - something along the very same lines.

"Okay, so here's one for you. Let's say that I did come. And Catherine wasn't there. No Cole. No Catherine. No signs of any stupid intervention . Would you still have come home with me or would you have kicked me off the plane?"

Steve blinked as he paused thoughtfully, his gaze briefly distant. "Honestly, I'm not sure. I don't know what I would've done. I'd like to think now that I would've come home with you. I do know that I didn't want to go anywhere with her. The original point of my plan was to be alone and decompress."

"Walk the earth like a monk," Danny interrupted.

"Yeah, Danny. Walk the earth like a monk!" Steve repeated with a laugh. "But the point of it all was to finally find some peace. To not have any hold or ties to anyone. And when Cath showed up … she ruined that for me."

"So you might not have come with me," Danny mused.

"And you might not have left the beach in the first place," Steve countered softly.

Two of them sat together side-by-side, silent for a very long time. Finally Danny leaned into Steve resting his head on his shoulder.

"But I did," he whispered.

"And I'm here now … and it's good, Danno. It's right," Steve murmured in kind. "I would have made a big mistake."

"So," Danny breathed out. "I think you're right then… It was a good thing that she showed up when she did," he said. "She gave us both a good kick in the pants didn't she? Even if she didn't want to. She did us a massive, massive favor."

"She sure did," Steve chuckled as he pressed a kiss to the side of Danny's head. He wrapped his arms around him, to pull Danny closer to rest against him. "She damned sure did."

End.