Although his gut disagreed, Eric had followed Lou and Joel to the warehouse. He couldn't help it. He was worried about his uncle. He was…well, he didn't quite know what to think about his uncle Danny at the moment but he at least wanted to make sure he was okay. The rest (as in Eric processing the slew of information that had just been revealed to him) could be dealt with later.

Once Eric got to the warehouse, however, he chickened out. He didn't know what to do. As a point of fact, he had never been to an active crime scene like this before. There could be active shooters or other dangers Eric did not want to face. He also didn't want Lou to yell at him.

Eric stood outside the door. He stared at the warehouse, frozen in place. "C'mon, tough guy." He whispered to himself, rolling his shoulders. "It's not so spooky."

The pep talk didn't do much. Eric spent the next hour standing outside the warehouse, fidgeting slightly, and mostly staring at the sky above him. It would rain soon. Eric hoped Lou would find his uncle before then.

It was in the three o'clock hour when the door finally lifted. Eric, who had managed to fall asleep standing up, jerked his head up at the sound of the door being lifted with a creak.

Chin and Lou emerged first. Lou was grumbling to Chin, something about an inconvenience. Chin was nodding absenet-mindedly. He looked a little worse for wear. He had some cuts and bruises on his face and arms. Sweat soaked his shirt.

Eric craned his neck to look for the rest of the team.

An exhausted Kono and irritated Steve came out next. Steve had Lou's phone and was speaking to someone at the station.

Then, Danny escorted Joel Novak out of the warehouse.

Eric had never seen his uncle look so disheveled. Maybe after they wrestled when Eric was a kid, but that was a happy disheveled. This was a miserable disheveled. Danny had a gash on his neck. Besides that, the only other problem Eric could see was a clammy, nauseous face. Eric wondered what exactly had happened in the warehouse.

Danny spotted his nephew out of the corner of his eye, but quickly looked away. He hadn't wanted his nephew, or anyone, to see him like this. His claustrophobia had not been this intense since he was maybe twenty years old, and that had been an incident Danny had not wanted to remember.

Wordlessly, Danny handed Joel to Lou, and went over to his nephew. They were both attempting to mask their feelings, but Danny could sense his nephew's trepidation.

"Well, hey, Uncle D." Eric had his hands in his pockets casually. His voice was laced with worry. "You have a rough day?"

Honestly, Danny couldn't remember most of his time in the warehouse. He cleared his throat, shrugging. "You could say that." He smiled. "You get worried about me?"

"Um, yeah. Yeah." Eric admitted. "We all were pretty worried about you guys, for a bit, there. And, as it is, I've only got one uncle left."

Danny hadn't expected that. Eric knew how much Mattie meant to Danny, and Danny knew how much Mattie meant to Eric, but they never spoke of how much they meant to each other. It just never came up.

Danny pulled Eric into a hug. Eric leaned against his uncle. He felt his uncle's shoulders relax, but Eric was stiff. He tried to focus on the moment – his uncle was safe and sound – but the feeling that had been sitting at the pit of his stomach began to rise at this close contact. He was hugging the same uncle that was going to lie to him for the rest of Eric's life. Danny hadn't said a word about Mattie or his own time in prison.

Eric pulled away.

They all needed to clear their heads. It was winter and the sun was setting, and the team was ready to rest. Steve called Duke and had Joel detained for the night. Steve would most likely be explaining the case to Duke for much of the evening, at least as much as he could without bringing up Mattie. Chin offered to go with him, but Steve knew Chin was tired. He had been on edge for hours. The normally calm man had not been comforted by Danny's antics. In the end, Lou volunteered to go with Steve. He called Abby and Jerry and told them to give further updates to Steve, and to inform Joel's family of his arrest. Lou drove Kono and Chin back to Chin's place, first.

Eric drove Danny home, silently, in his beat-up car. The car was a family heirloom. It had gone through each of the four Williams siblings before Matte finally sold it. Sentimentally, Stella bought the car back and saved it for her son. Eric had driven the car all the way from New Jersey, taking the ferry to assure the car would go with him.

"What a dump," was all Danny said as he sunk into the passenger seat. He rested his head against the cool window and closed his eyes. Eric rolled down his own window. He knew his uncle would want the air, and to feel like he wasn't trapped. Eric wasn't sure if Danny knew Eric knew about his claustrophobia, but Eric had once heard his mother and Uncle Mattie speaking about it.

Danny's place was empty by the time the car chugged home. Danny called for Grace, but there was no answer.

"C'mon, Grace!" Danny called. Eric walked into the house, closing the door quietly behind him. His hand clamped around the car keys in his hand.

"You know where she is?" Danny asked Eric, turning around to face his nephew. Clearly, Danny was too caught up in the moment and recovering from shock to realize the change in Eric, who was still processing the information to which he had become privy.

Eric shook his head.

Danny didn't notice his nephew's odd silence. He cursed under his breath and pulled his phone out of his pocket. It was dead.

"E, can I use your phone?"

"Sure, Uncle D." Eric pulled out his phone and handed it to Danny. Danny took it with a shaking hand. Eric felt a twinge of sympathy. He looked away.

Danny knew his daughter's number by heart.

"Danno?" Eric could hear Grace's voice on the other end. He watched relief wash over his uncle's face.

"Grace?" Danny sighed.

"Danno, what happened?" Grace immediately knew something was wrong. "Danno, you said you would come home."

"I know, I know, Grace, I'm sorry. Danno got caught up…uh, are you with your mother?"

"I called Mom because you didn't come home and Eric was working. I'm sorry, Danno. I panicked."

"No, no, hey, don't worry about it. I'm glad you called Rachel. That was smart. That was smart, okay?" Danny ran a hand along the back of his neck, cringing. "Are you okay?"

"Uh-huh. I left my things in my bedroom though."

"I'll bring them over. You need them now? I'll bring them over." Danny was nodding to himself, already halfway to his daughter's room. "I'll be right there."

"Danno, are you okay?"

"Absolutely. Just a long day." Danny lied. "I'm fine. I'll see you soon, okay? I love you."