A/N: Thank you for reading. I appreciate a lot the reviews!
Chapter 30: Silent drive
The trip from the hospital to Danny´s house, at their actual low speed and at peak hour, would take at least forty five minutes, if not an hour or more due to Steve´s choice to look for roads which were less transited and highways with less traffic to evade any undesired high horn or even a series of possible insults.
Keeping with effort the foot pressed very lightly on the gas pedal, Steve alternated his sight between the road and his quiet friend. Danny hasn´t moved, and was evident that he didn´t intend to, as an effort to avoid the resurging of the killing pain on his head and to help the pills to start making effect. His arm, still crossing his eyes, was tense and was clear evidence of his awareness and of his awaked state.
Steve returned his attention to the road. They had already left the tree-surrounded streets and now Steve coupled to the freeway for a few miles, with a beautiful coast view. But he didn´t pay attention to the sea. Instead, his brain plagued him with the dark memories of the day he had flown through the city streets and this very same freeway towards Danny´s house, at a speed too much exceeding the permitted limit. That day, more than four months ago, in which his world was turned upside down, Danny didn't came to work at his usual time in the morning. He had called him a few times, thinking maybe his friend wasn´t feeling ok. Just when he had decided to go check on him, a disturbing call from Grace had his flesh on goose-bumps and the hairs on the back of his head to stand. His niece had found his father´s wallet, gun, badge and keys neatly placed one beside the other by the entrance door of his house, along with an envelope addressed to the 5-0 task force. The broken and crying voice of Grace still was and will forever be embodied on his brain. The girl was clearly scared, and what she was saying to him was almost unintelligible. On his frantic search for his truck keys and with his own heart loudly pounding on his ears, Steve could only elucidate something about his father being gone, being taken… After that, everything was eternally revealed on his private memory, and everything seemed to go at full speed, as he had forced his truck to go that morning heading to Danny´s house, barely avoiding hitting something when he passed every red light, making use of his sirens and blinded by rage and protectiveness.
That trip had been nothing like this one, actually, it had been the complete opposite, so fast and this, so slow. Steve glanced again to his partner, still quiet and still silent. He had to make sure he was still there. Sometimes, when he woke up, he still had to use a few seconds to remember if Danny has been found or not, like every time one wakes up from a nightmare, but the nightmare, in this case, being the reality.
Danny had dropped his arm to rest on his chest. Apparently, at first sight, he had fallen asleep. His lax face and lack of pain wrinkles told his partner that he was, for the moment, out of this world of painful memories. Steve returned his sight to the road and for the first time realized how tall the palm trees at the side of the road were. The relief of seeing Danny at his side made him able to admire, at least for a few moments, the beautiful scenery at his side. The crystal color of the ocean made him smile when the waves made him remember one of Danny´s famous rants. The slowness of his drive made him appreciate many things that the accelerated life pace, especially in the tumultuous and difficult four past months, made him lost track of. His eased mind allowed him to start admiring again the beautiful sceneries and alleviated his heart of painful spasm at the rhythm of disturbing memories. Although this, the silent moments always brought something of this troubled thoughts back, even when Danny was already found and at his side, like in this case.
Steve lifted his foot from the gas pedal. Subconsciously, he had accelerated a little, at pace with his growing distressful thoughts which he could not evade and caused him great discomfort. A road bump made him lessen the speed again, and immediately look at his partner, who, thankfully, had not been pulled out of his slumber. More concentrated on the road and in maintaining always the same speed, the Commander sighed and rested his head on the seat. The memory of Grace sitting on the floor by her father´s belongings at the entrance of the house and her red and crying eyes when he approached her running; her desperate embrace and the envelope she handed him, assaulted him one more time.
The envelope, the damn white envelope with an awful handwriting saying "five-0". The paper and the one inside where completely clean, no fingerprints, no DNA, no nothing. It had been very frustrating, because apart from that, it had been their only clue, their only contact and the only thing that could give them a hint of where or why Danny has been taken. The entire time his partner has been kidnapped, they had not had another instruction or request, and they were moved only by the disturbing words written on the notebook ripped sheet that was inside: "Want him back? What a shame, because you can´t give us back what´s ours. Maybe, eventually, you´ll find him, maybe alive, maybe dead, but in the meantime, until you figure things out, let´s have some fun. It´s up to you, the more you delay, the more he suffers and the slower he dies. Isn´t this fun? At least it is for us. Consider this payback. You had been notified."
Steve knew these lines by heart. He knew every way each letter was written and the way each one connected with one other. The paper and ink were already worn out because of the high amount of time the sheet had been on Steve´s hands and his fingers passed each word while the ex-navy-seal´s brain was absorbed thinking every possible theory about his friend´s disappearance again and again. Those words were the only link to Danny´s fate, and they were squeezed to death. They knew that there were at least two people, probably more, according to the plural writing style; they also knew that they had lost something, probably something valuable materially or maybe a member, of family or gang or from whatever group they formed. They assumed, due to what they had written, that they didn´t want anything in exchange, but just to make them suffer as they probably had. That made them start looking into those who had lost someone on every case they had intervened. The fact was that they had gone through every case and interviewed hundreds of people and suspects. At the lack of results and at the pass of precious time in which Danny was suffering, desperation finally had kicked in, and Steve´s and everyone´s spirits started to go down and made them wonder if they will be able to get to Danny in time. The lack of actual facts about Danny´s confinement had made his partners heart and mind go wild thinking of every obscure possibility.
Steve shacked his head and blinked his eyes slowly a couple of times, making and effort to put those memories aside, at least for the moment. Today was a happy day, a crucial day on Danny´s recovery. He was taking him home, Danny was at his side and he could not let himself be plagued by those feelings now. They were only like ten blocks away now, and he glanced at his friend. Danny was still asleep. Choosing a nice tree shadow, Steve parked at the side of the quiet road, hating the fact that he had to bring Danny back from his tranquil sleep. Turning off the engine, the resulting quietness was soothing and at the same time made him be more aware of his task as he turned towards his side and reached his hand to grab his partner´s knee and squeeze it a bit to achieve waking him up. It worked, and Danny took a deep breath and let it out equally slowly, aware that his head felt a little better and not wanting to upset it again.
"Danny, we´re almost at your house buddy"
"Just give me a minute" Danny rubbed his sleep away from his face and yawned tiredly. "Ok, help me straighten the seat, would you?"
Steve silently reached down and pulled slowly the seat straight. Clasping his hand on Danny´s shoulder, he smiled when his friend looked at him. He could clearly see Danny´s anxiety, but at the same time his happiness. He affectionately tapped his shoulder and happily announced their next stop as he turned forward on his seat and started the engine again.
"We´re going home buddy!" He laughed, trying to evaporate his friend´s anxiety and let him have only happiness. Looking at Danny again, he could see him smiling, and with a full heart he drove the last ten blocks that separated them from their destination.