Author's Note: Woohoo, I got over 100 reviews! I never thought I'd see that happen… ever. Thank you all so much for your unwavering support. It really spurs me on. Apparently very literally, too, because this chapter just wrote itself and couldn't wait to be published.

I want to profusely apologize that I didn't do an acceptable job with warnings at the beginning of the last chapter. I never mentioned anything about rape being part of the content, and I'm incredibly, incredibly sorry if that caught anyone off guard or upset anyone. From here on out, I'll include warnings at the BOTTOM of the page so that you can choose to forewarn yourself, or you can choose to get punched in the gut repeatedly by my dastardly plot.

Surprisingly, no warnings for this chapter. Let's all give our hearts a break from the deadly sprint that they've been involved in from the beginning and soak up the love and comfort that our boys give each other from afar.

CHAPTER 6

The return to consciousness was slow. Slower than he assumed it would have been anyway.

He first became aware of an annoying feeling on his fingertip and soon realized it was a pulse-ox monitor, which he only knew because his Neanderthal partner got injured so often. He had become eerily familiar with the various equipment utilized by hospitals over the last four years. Not to mention knowing every detail about every piece of equipment that was hooked up to his daughter at the moment…

"Gracie!"

Danny sat up in bed like a bolt of lightning. Kono, who was slumped over in a chair beside his bed, jumped like she received an electric shock.

"Danny!" she responded, equally surprised at his abrupt return to consciousness.

"Hey, settle down, you're okay," was her stereotypical and completely unhelpful response.

"What…what happened?" he asked, finally opening his eyes and looking around at the equally stereotypical hospital room.

"Um…you, uh, you kinda passed out, brah," Kono said as she placed a hand on his arm.

"Kono, that hardly warrants a hospital stay." Danny's confused mind was trying to remember what the hell was going on. But then he saw the sympathetic look on Kono's face as she tried not to look him in the eye and it all came flooding back to him.

Reyes!Steve!Santos!torture!Wo Fat!Grace!Columbia!suffering!

The force of the memories almost knocked him sideways. In fact it knocked him back into the pillows where he slumped and buried his face in his hands, breathing heavily.

Kono was alarmed when her older friend literally turned white before her eyes. She stood quickly and felt around for the nurse's call button, hoping that she wouldn't have to use it.

"Danny, brah, calm down. You have to breath, brah. Slow, deep breaths, okay? Good." When Kono was satisfied that he was calm again, she continued. "Danny, you didn't just pass out. Well, you didn't even really pass out at all, not for a bit anyway. After the call with Santos," she paused and looked at him pointedly to see if he even remembered that happening, "you were completely unresponsive. It was like you didn't even react to what had just happened, you just shut down so completely. We didn't know what to do. Well, we were all in shock, but it's like you weren't even there anymore. Then you mumbled something and walked away. Chin found you puking your guts out in the bathroom and then you…well, he says you fainted." Kono looked away when she said this. But it wasn't out of pity, at least Danny didn't think so.

Danny was immediately suspicious. "Kono, what's wrong?" he asked, acutely aware of the rookie's avoidance. Well, she wasn't really a rookie after four years, but he would always think of her that way. Technically, Lou was the rookie now. He almost smiled at the thought, but then remembered that he still had no clue what was going on and that this was no time for humor.

"I'm out too," she said and looked incredibly ashamed. "We're totally sidelined, brah. Duke took one look at me and drove me straight here, told me to keep an eye on you. But I know it was a dismissal. I'll keep a line between you and Rachel and let you know how Grace is, though. That's the upside. Amber was by earlier. We didn't tell her anything, she doesn't know anything about what we told you. Lou and Chin aren't holding up much better, either. They don't blame me, and especially not you. This is just too much – no one is equipped to handle this."

That was a lot of information for Danny to try to organize, especially after he just woke up and felt like he'd been hit by a truck. "Wait…what?"

Kono sighed and sat back down. She was skipping around too much and didn't even know how much Danny remembered. Of course he would be confused. She started again, hoping to avoid her own faux pas this time around. "What do you remember?"

Danny hesitated for a moment, pondering the question, then felt an incredible guilt that filled him and washed away every other emotion. "Santos has Steve." Then after a beat he added, "It's all my fault." He looked straight at Kono, his eyes as big as saucers, tears pooling at the bottom.

"Danny," Kono said with exasperation, once again avoiding his gaze. "God, Danny. You can't think like that. I don't – I don't even know what to say anymore." She sat there, looking younger than her years. Danny felt pity for her, being in this tough situation.

"Just walk me through it. What happened after he hung up?" he asked while she hesitated. "C'mon, I've got to know," he added, hoping that he would be able to forgive himself for what he was about to hear.

"Fine. Okay." Kono shifted in her chair, clearly uncomfortable with where this conversation was headed, and full of regret that she had to be the one to do it. "Santos hung up, and we all stood there for a while. Just…standing. Well, not Lou. He ran to his office and called Kamekona immediately, told him to keep a sharp eye out for anyone suspicious buying the drugs that Wo Fat used on Steve, and anyone suspicious trying to buy a… cattle prod." Kono winced when she said this and refused to meet Danny's eyes, but she continued. "Then I guess he called Duke, or HPD and Duke was the one who showed up, or something like that. You," she poured herself a glass of water from the pitcher by his beside and took a sip, "well, all of us; you, me, and Chin, we just stood there. Like a bunch of idiots. At some point you just turned around and walked away. Chin said you were trying to puke your stomach out in the bathroom. I only really know that Duke came up to me and led me down to his car and drove me here. I guess they called a bus for you. You were really bad off. The docs told us that your blood pressure was through the roof and that you were dehydrated and in shock. You've been here, hooked up to an IV for about four hours now," she finished sadly.

"Four hours!" Danny exclaimed. "I have to go see Grace! I have to-"

"Danny, stop!" Kono shouted, hoping that she wouldn't have to physically restrain him. "Grace is doing okay. The tests this afternoon went well. Her doctor is going to come by and give you an update soon, we had to wait for you to wake up first, and you were sleeping like the dead. I'll go out to the desk in a minute and let them know. Okay? But you've got to promise to stay put, alright?" she pleaded with him.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever," replied Danny, extremely distracted. He was running over everything in his mind, embarrassed. Had he really freaked out like that? Totally lost it?

"Four hours, Kono?" he asked as if he were hoping it wasn't the truth. "What's wrong with me?"

Kono opened her mouth to answer, but realized she had no idea how to respond to that question and ended up just squeezing his forearm tightly, and didn't let go.

"I'm gonna go let the nurses know that you've woken up, and that you'd like Grace's doctor to come and talk to you. I'll let Rachel and Amber and the team know as well." She gave his arm an even tighter squeeze and stood up to leave the room.

But suddenly Danny didn't want to be alone. Almost more than he wanted anything else he wanted Kono to stay with him right now. As she let go of his arm he grabbed her hand and held it tightly. Danny looked in her eyes and looked like he wanted to say something, but he just held tight instead. Their hands were a lifeline and Danny didn't know what would happen if he let go. His world was falling apart around him, couldn't she see that? Why would she leave him? He stared at Kono for a long minute.

Finally, she gave him another sympathetic look and said, "I'll be right back. Two minutes, tops," gave his hand a final squeeze and left him alone with his thoughts.

His dark, depressing, guilty thoughts. Of those he had a plethora. But he didn't get a chance to think them all. Danny felt himself getting tired again and he wondered why he felt so sore and wrung out. His last thoughts were of his daughter as he sank back into the pillows and fell back into a restless sleep.

...

In – two three four.

Hold – two three four.

Out – two three four.

In – two three four. Hold – two three four. Out – two three four.

Steve?

In – two three four. Hold – two three four. Out – two three four.

Hey, Steven! Babe, what the hell are you doing?

'Breathing, Danno. Leave me alone. Gotta focus,' he replied to the voice in his head.

In – two three four. Hold – two three four. Out – two three four.

You think that's actually helping? Doesn't look like it me. You're shaking like a leaf, babe. Talk to me.

'It's a technique to combat stress. This is a stressful situation. I'm combating it.'

In – two three four. Hold – two three four.

Babe, I don't think it's helping much. I'm inside your head, and I can tell your heart is pounding like a herd of stampeding rhinos.

He blew out the rest of his breath heavily. 'Danno, what the hell do you want me to do? Santos is probably out there, picking up everything he needs to torture me in the exact same way that Wo Fat did. He's gotta go get a fun drug cocktail, find a cattle prod somewhere and make sure that he's got a good supply of water for the waterboarding. If I'm really lucky, maybe there's power out here and he'll show me some video clips to make my life even more unbearable. Is this better? Am I more calm now that I'm talking about my impending torture!?' Steve shouted at Danny-in-his-head.

Sorry, babe. I don't really know how to help. But I know dwelling on what's coming isn't going to help at all. Settle down. I'm sorry, alright.

'Then what do you suggest?'

Well, let's keep trying to figure out Santos. What's his deal? Why does he seem a bit unstable? How can we use that?

'We?'

Hey, I'm here to stay whether you like it or not, okay, Steven? So let's figure this out.

Now that breathing was the out of the question, since Danny's voice wouldn't let him focus on it anyway, Steve decided to catalogue everything he knew about Santos and try to figure out what he didn't know.

He was Marco Reyes' best friend. He wanted to cause Danny so much pain, which he was going to accomplish by kidnapping Gracie and…

Steve cut himself off from that thought. He couldn't go down that road. It didn't lead anywhere good.

So Santos was stuck with Steve instead to use in order to hurt Danny. Which Steve was incredibly thankful for, and Danny probably was too. Oh, Danny would hate himself for having that thought. But Steve was trained for this. It was okay, better that it was him and not Grace. It was the cold hard truth and Steve didn't have to like it, but he was glad for it, regardless.

The phone call. Think back to what he said when he called me.

Okay. Hmm. He said that Reyes was his best friend. Like his brother. He said he controlled the cartel and he wanted Danny to suffer. A lot. There was a lot of talk of suffering. Steve couldn't help but be biased and think that he'd gotten the shorter end of the stick. Oh course he understood that this would tear Danny apart, especially with Grace also being injured. But Steve was so very aware of the pain that he was about to face, and it was horrifying.

Don't go there, Steven. Back to the phone call, babe, let's go.

Oh! He said something like, 'my family is dead because of you.' Did Santos mean that Reyes was his only family, or was there something more to that statement? Was it worth digging into or would it cause Santos to become more unstable, and therefore cause Steve more pain?

And how the hell did he get his hands on the police report, or the medical report!? That was a serious breach in security. Was someone on the inside helping him? If Santos was the new leader of the cartel like he claimed, he must have unlimited money and means to get things done.

Alright, there may be something there, babe. We'll have to wait to find out. How about we put together a plan of action?

'But you told me not to think about what's coming up, Danno,' Steve pointed out, slightly mocking. It was almost fun, the banter between them. It seemed incredibly normal, and Danny was right, it was calming him down a lot better than the breathing technique had.

Yeah, well, who isn't a hypocrite at some point in their life? Guilty as charged.

Steve laughed at that. It was just so Danny. He didn't really understand why this was happening. He was literally having full-on, no holds barred conversations with his partner inside of his own head. It would be disconcerting if it weren't so comforting. Maybe it was the stress of the situation that was making him conjure it up. Whatever. Steve didn't want to explore it too much for fear that Danny-in-his-head might disappear, and that wouldn't leave him all alone with nothing to save his sanity…unless his sanity was already gone. This was so confusing.

Whatever, Rambo. I already told you, I'm here to stay.

Steve smirked at that, but it disappeared just as quickly. 'Danno, what if he gets the right drugs? What if I hallucinate my dad again, or something worse? Will you still be here?'

I honestly don't know, Steve. All I know is that I'll be here when you get back, and that's Danno's 100% Guarantee.

'Man, those are serious.' Steve remembered the last time Danny had given "Danno's 100% Guarantee". It was to Gracie for the father-daughter dance and it had almost been defeated by a suicide bomber in the international marketplace. That was such a stressful day. It was when Danny first told him about his partner in Jersey, Grace. And the tragic story of where he was on September 11th. Borrowed time, Danny had said. He was already on borrowed time.

Well then what the hell kind of time did that make this? He should have been done for after Wo Fat, or Afghanistan, or any number of his missions with the SEALs.

Strawberry Fields?

'Leave it, Danno! It's classified.'

I'm in your head, Steven. You don't think I can poke around and find out for myself?

'Really helpful, Danno. Thank you for being such a great and considerate friend right now,' Steve snarked back.

Love you, too, big guy.

Ugh, Steve could practically hear the sarcastic smile in Danny's voice. Despite where his thoughts had led him, Steve was still comforted by Danno's 100% Guarantee.

Steve didn't remember the trip back into the bunker. He had no clue where they'd been to make the phone call either. He didn't want to think back on that shameful moment in his history right now anyway. But he'd been sitting in the dark in this room with only Danny for company for at least an hour. Steve really wished he could get rid of this damn hood. He didn't even know what Santos looked like, might never know. That didn't sit well with him. It dramatically lowered his chances of escape, too. Well, the restraints were a better deterrent than the hood any day, and he sure wasn't getting out of those anytime soon. Wo Fat's restraints never broke, it was the chair breaking around them that had released Steve from them. He couldn't see this chair, but it seemed sturdier than the last one.

Steve was starting to realize how different this was going to be; how unlike every other unfortunate run-in with torture he'd had in his life. Santos wasn't looking for information. Santos didn't want anything from him except for him to suffer and break. Steve didn't know how to fight that, didn't know how to not break or not give-in to his captors when he wasn't fighting against anything in the first place.

He was just going to feel pain. Useless, purposeless pain.

That didn't sit well with him.

That didn't sit well with him at all.

...

When he next woke up, Chin was sitting by his bedside, looking threadbare and distressed, which was really saying something, because it was Chin.

"Mmmhh," he tried to clear his throat to let Chin know he was awake, but all that came out was a raspy grumble. It had about the same effect.

"Danny, hey," Chin said as he reached for the water glass on the bedside table. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got run over by a truck," Danny answered without humor. "How long?"

Chin didn't need to clarify what he was asking. "You slept through the night, brah."

Even though he just woke up, Danny didn't feel like he had enough energy to respond to that statement. He didn't feel like he had the energy to do much of anything at all. So he didn't respond. Not even a twitch. Not a sound.

This situation was entirely, completely his fault.

Danny had voluntarily attended more than a few therapy sessions since Matty's death, and had been coming around to the idea that the situation was out of his control, that he couldn't have saved his brother and that it wasn't actually his fault. But now everything he had learned, all the progress that he'd made, it was all washed down the drain in an instant when he picked up the phone and Santos was on the other end.

Stop it, Danno. You don't wanna go down this road, man. You gotta keep it together…for Grace.

"Did you say something?" Danny asked Chin out of the blue.

The older detective had been letting Danny sort through his thoughts for a moment and neither of them had said a word until Danny broke the silence.

"Nothing, brah. I didn't say anything."

Danny, however, still looked suspicious.

"Look, Danny," Chin started, sounding like he was steeling himself for a doozy of a conversation. He ignored whatever weirdness was going on with Danny hearing things. "What really happened in Columbia?"

The ice water returned to his veins. Danny felt cold all over, but could tell that he'd broken out in a sweat. He and Steve had agreed on an abridged version of events to tell the team. It's not that they didn't trust Chin, Kono and Grover. More that they wanted to keep them safe from being involved in any way, or give them the chance to be able to honestly deny any knowledge of the events.

The events being the cold-blooded murder Danny had committed.

He and Steve hadn't really talked about it since. Sure there was the funeral, and Steve had bugged him plenty about that. Like a good friend, Danny thought as he looked back on it. But he didn't let Steve in. Didn't let him help. After that the team had been caught up in a few more cases and then everything happened to Steve in that torture chamber with his nemesis. It was like something out of a bad movie. It was –

Danno, shut up. And tell Chin what's going on. I thought you only talked a lot out loud. I had no idea it was this bad in your head as well. And you think I'm strange? C'mon, buddy, you know you can trust Chin. You've got to tell him everything. They need to know. And given current events, they deserve to know.

Danny frowned, listening to the words bouncing around in his head. He swore it was Steve, it sounded just like him. But that was crazy. Or maybe he was crazy.

Jesus, Danny. Sometime today would be great!

Sheesh, fine. He would listen to the voice in his head, but just this once!

"Chin, I – I don't really know where to start. Um," Danny swallowed thickly and preoccupied himself with the sheet pulled up to his waist. He wouldn't look his friend in the eye right now. He worried at the cheap cloth between his fingers, resembling a distracted grade school child wishing he were anywhere but the classroom.

"Well, you and Steve told us that you went to Columbia to get Matt back, that he was… that he was dead when you got there, and that you had to fight your way out. And that you personally killed Santos in the firefight," Chin started for him. "Now, none of us quite believe that that's what actually happened. But we all respect you enough to accept that you guys told us that for a reason, probably to protect us. But Danny, we know it's not the full truth and if we're ever going to get Steve back, we need to know what really happened in Columbia," Chin implored.

Chin was so calm and quiet about it, like it didn't really upset him that he'd been lied to by the people he trusted most in the world. It was disconcerting and Danny felt even worse that he and Steve had thought that the lie had ever been necessary.

"Well," Danny started again, his voice flat and emotionless, "It happened pretty much like that actually. Steve and I carried the money to this shady bar in the middle of the day. We were led down to a creepy, dark basement. Reyes," he grimaced when he said the name, "was seated at this little table like it was a fucking throne. Said that we'd barely made it, had just one hour to spare. If it wasn't for Steve," tears filled the detective's eyes as he recalled how his partner had been there every step of the way, "if it wasn't for him, we never would have made it in time. Not that it would have mattered," he added bitterly. "Reyes checked the money and then told me that I could have my brother back. I – I called out to Matty, to let him know that I was there, that we came for him." Danny squeezed his eyes shut at the tears that threatened to fall overboard as he relived one of the worst moments of his life.

C'mon, Danno. Keep going. I was there with you then, and I'm here with you now. You got this, buddy.

Steve's voice, whether real or imagined, gave Danny the push he needed to continue. He looked over at Chin, sitting patiently but tensely beside the bed.

"They rolled him out in a fucking barrel."

He didn't say anything else for a while, and Chin didn't press. But eventually he surfaced from his thoughts and told Chin what he needed to hear. "I kinda – I lost it a bit and Reyes' thugs had to hold me back. I think they clocked Steve with the barrel of a gun, but he never said anything. I saw blood in his hair later, but I wasn't – I didn't say anything about it. I was – anyway, Reyes said we'd saved our own lives by repaying him, or something, and that if we didn't take – take Matty with us and get out, then he'd keep coming for me. He threatened Gracie, Chin. He threatened my daughter. I told him, right then I told him that if I ever saw him again I would put a bullet in his head.

"Steve and I were led back upstairs. I think Steve might have been as pissed as I was once Reyes mentioned Grace. He looked at me and did this sorta nod thing, and I knew what we were gonna do. We, uh, we took all the guys out, killed most of them I think. I don't know how we didn't get shot. Then I got a gun, and Chin, I didn't even think about it. I just marched right back down the stairs. I marched right back into that dungeon and put the gun to Reyes' head. He never – he didn't even say anything. He had his eyes closed, the bastard. I yelled at him to look at me. 'Look at me!' I said. And, and I said 'What did I just tell you? What did I just say to you?' And once he looked at me, once I looked him right in the eyes, the man who killed my brother, I just – I pulled the trigger, Chin. I killed him in cold blood. I killed him because he killed Matty, and because he threatened Gracie. I see his eyes every night in my sleep, I see his scared face. But I'm glad I did it. Well, I was. I guess now my other brother is going to be killed because of my actions. Steve is gonna die because of me," Danny finished. Retelling the story had exhausted him beyond belief. If anyone had asked, he would have turned down seeing Grace right now because he was such a wreck.

"I'm a murderer, Chin. But I keep wearing the badge. I don't know what to do anymore," Danny looked Chin in the eyes and saw something there that he didn't expect: understanding. And not just understanding in that Chin recognized why Danny did what he did or thought he was validated, especially given the threat to Grace. No, this was a deeper understanding. Danny furrowed his eyes and focused a questioning gaze on the other man. The tables were turned now, and Danny sensed that Chin was about to follow up Danny's confession with one of his own.

Chin looked out the window for some time and fidgeted in his chair for a moment. But being the collected soul that he was, he composed himself quickly and dived right in. "I killed Delano."

When, after a long moment, Chin didn't offer anything more Danny responded, "I know that, Chin, but it's not the same. You were in a shootout at the time." As soon as the words left his mouth, Danny realized what Chin was really saying.

"No, Danny… we weren't. He, uh – his gun jammed. Aimed his gun at me and it just clicked. Maybe it was out of bullets. I don't know. I would have been dead if he'd had a single bullet left. Point blank range. But I didn't care. I almost welcomed it. But when I realized he was defenseless, and I'd already hit him, he was lying on the ground bleeding, I just stood over him for a minute. He actually challenged me, you know? The bastard told me that I wouldn't shoot an unarmed man. He was about to repeat it when I pulled the trigger."

Danny didn't know what to say. Both men sat in silence, staring at their hands.

"I've never told anyone before," Chin said, and it seemed to Danny that this was his real confession. "But you needed to hear it. We've both done things we're not proud of, but we're still good people, Danny. You're still a good cop."

"I don't know about that," he denied. After a beat he added, "I'm sorry you had to go through that alone. I get – I know how horrible it feels. But I had Steve, he knew. You just -," Danny paused and had another thought. "You understand why we did it then, why we lied."

It was a statement, not a question, and Chin just looked at him and nodded his head solemnly.

Both men sat there, thankful for the others man's presence and the mutual understanding that they had come to.

Good job, Danno. See, that wasn't so hard, was it? Now, ask him about me!

Steve-in-his-head sounded like a little child begging for attention. Regardless, Danny obliged because Steve-in-his-head had a damn good point.

"Where are we with Steve? And who the hell is this Santos guy?" asked Danny.

"Nothing and nowhere, that's where we are. Sorry, Danny," Chin realized that he was being insensitive. "Well, we did get a hit on the blood from the accident scene, over where we think Steve fought someone. Some gun-for-hire that Santos brought with him from Columbia as far as we can tell. No address here, no information on him at all really. It doesn't tell us anything new, just that Santos brought his own guys with him, so hopefully that will help Kamekona get something on them. They aren't going to know the island, or at least one of them won't. We don't know if Santos has hired any locals. HPD is also coordinating with some agencies in Columbia to figure out what the hell happened after you guys left. HPD is taking the lead on this one, by the way," Chin added, watching to see how Danny took that information.

"Yeah, Kono told me. At least, I think she did. Said she was sidelined."

"Yeah, she, uh – she didn't handle it too well. The phone call I mean. Well, none of us did. Lou was the only one who did anything about it. I just stood there, looping the scene in my head when we found Steve a week ago. And Wo Fat with the hole in his forehead. We thought it was over…" his voice trailed off.

Danny didn't want to relive that scene again, so he said, "Be honest with me, Chin. Why am I really in the hospital? I mean, if I just passed out you guys could've sat me on the couch in Steve's office for an hour or two and then smacked me around until I woke up. What's going on here?"

Chin shifted in his seat. "Well, brah, you did pass out. Just not for a while. After you puked up everything and then dry heaved for a few more minutes," well, that explained the soreness, "you were just – gone. It was like you were catatonic or something. Your eyes were open, but there was no one home. I'm sorry, brah, but I just didn't know what else to do. Hell, there was nothing I could do. So I called for a bus, and you passed out a few minutes before they got there." Chin looked embarrassed to tell him this, but Danny couldn't tell what it was embarrassment for. For the fact that Danny completely shut down and couldn't handle the information he'd been given? The fact that they'd all stood around like idiots when they should have been trying to find Steve? Did Chin feel bad that he'd put Danny in this awkward situation and now his breakdown was semi-public and he'd probably have to talk to a shrink to get out of this bed?

Not that he actually felt like getting out of bed any time soon. He was still weirdly tired.

Well, this conversation had taken a lot out of him.

"How's Grace? Kono said the doc was supposed to come talk to me, but I guess I fell asleep again. Some father I am," he added with disdain.

"Hey, now, none of that. You're a great father and you know it. We all think so. And I don't think anyone should be expected to handle that much horrible information and still be functioning correctly afterwards. I'll go ask about the doc now. Grace is doing pretty well, considering. I don't think she's really said much yet, but she's woken up quite a few times, and the doctors all seem pretty pleased. They don't seem to be worried about anything major. I'll go talk to the desk, see what we can find out," Chin said as he stood and turned to head out the door.

"Chin," Danny called to stop him from leaving just yet. "Um. Thanks. For – for everything. And, I'm sorry."

"No worries, brah. It's in the past. We've got to worry about the present now." Chin stated it like it was an order.

"Yeah. We do," Danny agreed. Chin gave him a tiny, distracted smile and walked out the door.

Danny fiddled with his IV for a moment and tracked it up to the bag of Saline it was attached to. Catatonic? That was no good. But of course he wouldn't have handled all of that information well. No one would handle it well. And Danny was far more concerned about the phone call from Santos than he was learning about Amber's situation. He didn't know what kind of person that made him, though. He didn't really know what to make of anything anymore.

Danno, if you start thinking horrible thoughts, I'm gonna ninja escape from wherever I am and come and kick your ass until you cut it out. You got that, brother?

'Sure thing, brother' Danny replied to Steve-in-his-head. As disconcerting as he found it, hearing Steve's voice in his head, he also thought it was comforting. A bit of light in the void of darkness that he was enveloped in. The void that he couldn't see an escape from.

...

TBC

Up next, the break is over and the action and horror will return tenfold next chapter. But I hope that you can wait in peace after this somewhat calm and comforting chapter, like a beacon of hope in a sea of darkness.